Essay about The Life of René Descartes - 582 Words

Born March, 31st 1569 in La Haye en Touraine France, Renà © Descartes was a very significant philosopher, mathematician, scientist and writer. He attended a Jesuit college at La Flà ¨che. Later named â€Å"The Father of Modern Philosophy†, much of western philosophies are a reaction to his books which have been studied meticulously for centuries. Many elements of Renà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s philosophy have many similarities to that of Aristotle. Descartes was a very influential figure during the 17th century continental rationalist. Descartes’ study of math led him to think very methodically, which allowed him to be one of the first modern philosophers to provide philosophical outline for the natural sciences. Descartes attempts to create a set of fundamental†¦show more content†¦Descartes continues by saying, â€Å"thinking is his essence as it is the only thing about him that cannot be doubted.† Descartes continues to prove the unreliability of the senses through the famous Wax Argument. He holds a piece of wax which has a definite shape, texture, size and color etc. When he brings the wax towards the flame the shape, texture and characteristics of the wax change, although it appears to the same thing, therefore he concludes that in order to grasp the essence of the wax he must not use his senses but his mind. With this Descartes continues to create a system of knowledge which discards the use of senses and perception as unreliable and instead focuses solely on the ability of the mind and the use of deduction. Descartes proceeds to propose that there exists a benevolent God, and because this God is benevolent he can have faith in the reality that is presented to him through his senses. God has provided him with a functioning sensory system and does not desire to deceive him through the senses. Finally, he establishes the ability to acquire knowledge of the world through both deduction and perception. Through Descartes system of knowledge would lay the foundation for rationalist philosophers of the future, proving thatShow MoreRelatedOn The Shortness Of Life And Rene Descartes Analysis1294 Words   |  6 Pagesabout what is true. Seneca, the author of On the Shortness of Life, and Rene Descartes, the author of A Discourse on the Method, are two philosophers who have sought wisdom and shared the methods they believe to be successful in achieving an exceptional way of living. In his approach, Seneca discusses the concept of time, and how to use it efficiently in order to ensure that you lead a long and fulfilling life. On the other hand, Descartes explains the method he has discovered to be notably successfulRead MoreThe Life of Rene’ Descartes: His Works and His Beliefs in God1578 Words   |  7 PagesWas Rene’ Descartes just a visionary of truth, mathematical equations or was he truly a man that knew he was born to tell the world about life, knowledge, and how it all came together metaphorically? Please see the research on Rene’ Descartes cited accomplishments. Descartes was known as the first modern philosopher. Famous for making a connection between geometry and algebra, which allowed for solving of geometrical problem by way of algebraic equations, which promoted a new conception of matterRead MoreDescartes : The Father Of Modern Philosophy1055 Words   |  5 Pagesthe fact that I am something.† (Descartes, â€Å"Meditations on First Philosophy,† 182) Rene Descartes is widely considered the father of modern philosophy. He created many new ideas about the self, which is something that has been contested since the dawn of philosophy. Even now, the world is nowhere near a unified thought on the soul. Descartes is most famous for addressing this, and is often summarized by the famous â€Å"Cogito Ergo Sum (I think, therefore I am)†Descartes offers a great deal of importantRead MoreEssay Rene Descartess View on God1300 Words   |  6 PagesRene Descartess View on God      Ã‚  Ã‚   In 1996, songwriter Joan Osborne performed a song called One of Us that was nominated for three Grammy Awards.   What made this song so successful and interesting were the powerful lyrics that basically asked, What if God were a human being?   As she was writing the lyrics to One of Us, she was wondering about God and how the world would be different if God did exist in real life and not just a supernatural force.   You may be asking yourself, What doesRead Moresituation in ethic Essay1383 Words   |  6 Pagesof biology that deals with life and living matter according to (Webster Merriam) Physiology is the processes and function of all or part of an organ. According to (Webster) Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with reality, existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind and language.The influences of philosophy and physiology are discover by ancient Greeks such as Aristotle and Plato. In the seventeenth century, Re ne Descartes suggested the concept of dualismRead MoreIn What Ways Are Descartes and Bacon Alike?672 Words   |  3 PagesIn What Ways Are Descartes and Bacon Alike? remember footnotes and don’t include first 1 on numbered pages There are many aspects of Rene Descartes’ and Francis Bacon’s practices of approaching the scientific method. When comparing the two scientists, it is clear that there are many similarities. In an effort to compare Rene’ Descartes and Francis Bacon it is important to discover the pioneer’s investigations and philosophies. Both credited with the evolution from Aristotelian discovery to modernRead MoreRene Descartes Meditations on First Philosophy1234 Words   |  5 Pages In Rene Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy, Descartes does and experiment with wax to try to prove that things actually exist in this world. This essay is going to prove how we can tell that things actually exist and what can perceive the wax. Rene Descartes starts off with a description of the wax so he can prove to us the changes that will happen throughout his experiment. â€Å"Let us take, for instance, this piece of wax. It has been taken quite recently from theRead MoreOn My Way670 Words   |  3 PagesRenà © Descartes was a famous French mathematician, scientist, and philosopher. He was arguably known as the Father of Modern Philosophy. Descartes published many works of mathematics and philosophy throughout his life. In one of his most important works, Meditations on First Philosophy, he added a number of arguments for and against skepticism. Skepticism is the doubt about the truth of something and that absolute knowledge is not possible. Like past famous philosophers before him, Plato and ParmenidesRead MoreRene Descartes’s Trademark Argument States that God is the Center of the World875 Words   |  3 Pagespage 25, part 5 of Renà © Descartes’s â€Å"Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy,† the author attempts to explain the meaning behind the way God decided to: create the world as we know it, and main tain it. Descartes uses logic-based reasoning to explain 3 things: why he has an idea about God at all, how his idea was formulated, and why it is makes sense. Renà © believes that God has had his influence in everything on this earth, natural, human, and material. Descartes starts the passageRead MoreEssay about Rene Descartes Faith and Reason1292 Words   |  6 PagesRene Descartes Faith and Reason The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries witnessed a colossal transition in the scientific view of the universe. During this period a profound rethinking of scientific theory as well as moral and religious matters took place. Traditional ideas were reconsidered by religious thinkers. Philosophers began applying rational scientific thought to problems that they considered. The main concept of the Scientific Revolution was to question everything. The Scientific

Essay Sustainable Development and Population Control

Sustainable Development and Population Control A nineteen year old pregnant Chinese girl is forced to abort because she is too young to have a child. Iran, an Islamic nation, instructs religious leaders to promote contraception as a social duty. A Norwegian international banker worries about migratory tensions that would engulf his nation with waves of third world immigrants. A Los Angles Times article decries the lack of an official United States population policy. What do these statements share in common? The underlying theme in each of the sentences above is population control. In each case the rationale is that the earths six billion people exceed the planets carrying capacity. The planet is on the brink†¦show more content†¦Rio was followed by the UNs International Conference on Population and Development (Cairo, 1994) and the Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing 1995) World Summit for Social Development (Copenhagen 1995) and Conference on Human Settlements (Istanbul 1996). Each of these successive global conferences incorporated provisions for legalizing and promoting contraception, sterilization and abortion, often under the guise of the text phrases, reproductive rights or, reproductive health. Cairo made clear the linkage between development and population: Explicitly integrating population into economic and development strategies will both speed up the pace of sustainable development -- and contribute to the achievement of population objectives.... (United Nation s) As could be expected, the target for control is women: From Agenda 21, Special attention should be given to the critical role of women in population-environment programmes and in achieving sustainable development (Ibid. para. 5.48). And, ... empowerment of women is essential and that improving the status of women through better access to education, reproductive health, including family planning and sexual health, and jobs will yield high returns through reduced fertility, increased production. It becomes clear that females in the production line increases a nations economicShow MoreRelated Sustainable Development Policies Can Reduce Urbanization Problems1300 Words   |  6 PagesThis urbanization process is causing a number of problems and can be met by sustainable development policies. In the beginning, it is important to know what is the reason for urbanization. Most people move to the city because they want to get a better life. Another important term is a sustainable development . There are some definitions for sustainable development, but simply they say that sustainable development is a development which using resources now and preserving them for future generations (AdamsRead MoreSustainability, Protection And The Preservation Of The Environment Essay1409 Words   |  6 Pagesrealize that these resources aren’t unlimited and have started thinking about sustainability, protection and the preservation of the environment. Looking at the limited supply of natural resources and the increasing utilization due to the growing population and consumption, if we do not come up with a solution to this global environmental crisis, the over depletion of resources will be ongoing which will jeopardize the standard of living for future generations. Natural calamities, droughts, decreasingRead MoreThe Economic Cost For Pursuing Sustainable Development1374 Words   |  6 PagesEnvironmental Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the presen t without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It contains two key concepts: 1. the concept of needs 2. the idea of limitations imposed by the state of technology and social organization on the environment s ability to meet present and future needs This project focus was on researching the economic cost for pursuing sustainable development. Our research analysis was conductedRead MoreIt Is Far Beyond Just Population938 Words   |  4 Pagesactions to control their populations to extreme, unethical measures. This corruption is in fact related to the idea of overpopulation, but the motivation behind it is far beyond just population control. Governments in these developing countries are vastly corrupted and are the reason behind such a suppressed population of people that seem to have no understanding of their basic human rights. â€Å"The principle focus of such programs was ‘family planning’ (i.e. birth control): ‘during the earlyRead MoreSustainability Position Paper : Natural Resources And Technology1652 Words   |  7 Pagessocial growth. However, today natural resources are being consumed very fast and this is beginning to cause long-term damage. One reason for the extensive use of natural resources is the rapid growth of population. Sustainability is required if the planet is to maintain a large human population in the future. 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Populations are all the inhabitants of a specific area/country and this population can be controlled in various methods such as population policies, like the ones in China, Kerala and France; as well as control via migration by putting on limits. A population control method that has achieve environmental sustainability is China’s one-child-policy which was incorporated into ChineseRead MoreSustainable Development Of Green Logistics1440 Words   |  6 PagesBased on sustainable development of green logistics in China and the countermeasures (2007), China is especially vulnerable to climate change due to its complex climatic conditions, a fragile ecological environment, a massive population and frequent natural disasters. Insufficient per ca-pita resources and very sharp contradictions between development and environment force China to further develop a cycling economy. Green logistics is an important tool for sustainable development. However, logisticsRead MoreUrban Growth And Urbanization1628 Words   |  7 PagesSustainable Cities One of the most extreme and rapidly growing anthropogenic pressures on the natural world is urbanization. The process of urbanization has been dynamic playing out over multiple scales of space and time. According to complexity theory, cities have been interpreted as complex, dynamics, self-organizing systems that are continually changing under pressures of certain factors due to internal processes and external factors (Galderisi). Urban areas have been growing twice as fast asRead MoreSocial Interaction1522 Words   |  7 Pagesidiots† How do you envision the city of the future? According to the United Nations, by the year 2050, 70 % of the world’s population will be living in urban areas. Cities around the world continue to grow as more and more people move into urban areas. This imposes tremendous pressure on the cities infrastructure, to cope with level of influx. The exponential rise of population and urbanization has given rise to many problems – global warming, pollution, loss of arable land, health issues, increasing

Human and Monster Help People Free Essays

In the Frankenstein, there are six characters that die in the novel. What is the fundamental cause of their death? Who is the real killer? One may argue that this question is meaningless because it is obvious that the nameless monster kills almost every character except victor’s mother, who died naturally. However, the real killer should not be just the one who kills people by his hand, but the one who causes the death of so many innocent people, fundamentally. We will write a custom essay sample on Human and Monster Help People or any similar topic only for you Order Now In the novel, initially, the nameless creature is a really benevolent creature, but, with time went by, people’s discrimination gradually changed him to devil, who determined to revenge his creator by killing his beloved. Therefore, discrimination is the real killer. First, examining how the six characters died may lead to insight for the questions on hand. Caroline Beaufort, Victor’s mother, dies of scarlet fever. William Frankenstein, Victor’s youngest brother, is strangled by monster in the woods outside Geneva. Justine Moritz, a young girl adopted into the Frankenstein household, is executed for William’s murder. Henry Clerval, victor’s boyhood friend and Elizabeth Lavenza, victor’s the wife, are strangled by the monster too. Alphonse Frankenstein, Victor’s father, is overcome with grief over the deaths of his close family members. The monster is, directly or indirectly, involved every time character dies except victor’s mother’s death. But why does he do this? Is that because of his nature? No. The monster is virtuous at the beginning. The whole village was roused; some fled, some attacked me, until, grievously bruised by stones and many other kinds of missile weapons, I escaped to the open village, and fearfully took refuge in a low hovel, quiet bare, and making a wretched appearance. † (73) I found the monster’s reaction to people’s sudden attack is not him fighting back or an act of revenge, which is the normal response of ki ller or any other evil creature, but escape. â€Å"I lay on my straw, but I could not sleep. I thought of the occurrences of the day. What chiefly struck me was the gentle manners of these people; and I long to join them, but dare not†. The monster wants to merge into a warm family instead of trying to hurt them. It means he also really wants to be loved and love others. The above quotes suggest that the monster’s nature is good, meaning he is not the one to harm another purposefully. How does a nice creature, which goes after love, gradually become an evil devil? Something must have happens and gradually change his thoughts. Look at how he was born. â€Å"It was dark when I awoke; I felt cold also, and half frightened, as it were, instinctively, finding myself so desolate. (71) This description above shows the monster is left alone by Victor because of the monster’s appearance and suffered from coldness and loneliness since the first day when he was created, while it is just the start of his miserable life. Look at the first times when he met a human being. Suffering from hunger, the nameless creature went into a small hut and an old man sat there. â€Å"He turned on hearing a noise, and perceiving me, shrieked loudly, and quitting the hut, ran across the fields with a speed of which his debilitated form hardly appeared capable†(72). Once the old man notices the nameless creature and runs away because the monster’s appearance is terrifying and he assumes the monster will hurt him. We can see the old man as a representative of the ordinary people. He judges the nameless creatures by his appearance instead of quality. Imagine this situation: you are a really nice person and keep trying to make friends with others, but they discriminates you because of your skin color, gender or any other characters you have. This will make every emotional creature hurt. Actually the monster’s situation is even worse than that, because he has no companion and the only reason why everyone in this world discriminate him is his terrifying appearance which is not his fault. Therefore, it is reasonable for his inner world to gradually become dark. If people just try to avoid him, maybe, it is still acceptable. But what if his beloved try to destroy him? Please look at this sentence: â€Å"Agatha fainted, and Safie, unable to attend to her friend, rushed out of the cottage. Felix darted forward, and with supernatural force tore me from his father, to whose knees I clung, in a transport of fury, he dashed me to the ground and struck me violently with a stick. I could have torn him limb from limb, as the lion rends the antelope. But my heart sank within me as with bitter sickness, and I refrained. †(94) At the sight of the monster, worrying about monster will hurt his father, Felix spares no effort to attack the monster , while the monster is the one who had always been trying to help this family alleviate life burden and been eager to become a part to his family. Wronged and beaten by those cottagers, monster still refrained from desire to fight back, even though he is strong enough to tear Felix up. It is not the deed of a killer. How many human beings can be as tolerable as him? In a sense, the monster is even nobler than many of us. However, people regard this creature, which looks scary, as a monster, which is hostile to human. Nobody cares about it comes with a heart of gold. In this case, how does he feel? His feelings are afflicted and intensively contradictory. When I thought of my friends, of the mild voice of De Lacey, the gentle eyes of Agatha, and the exquisite beauty of the Arabian, these thoughts vanished and a gush of tears somewhat soothed me. But again when I reflected that they had spurned and deserted me, anger returned, a rage of anger, and unable to injure anything human, I turned my fury towards inanimate objects. †(97)Through these sentences, we can feel the monster’s inner struggle. He wanted to vent his i ndignation and hatred, but at the thought of his â€Å"protector†, he calmed down. Then, once he thinks of their departure and aversion to him, rage came back. However, he only turned his anger to inanimate stuff. He wants to revenge for what people have done to him but his nature tells him he shouldn’t do that. Even if he can’t control his anger, he still tries to minimize the damage by only destroying inanimate stuff. He wants to be a genuine person and gets along well with human being, but was rejected and hurt again and again. The reality tortured him emotionlessly. He was perplexed at that time. His thought was not as benevolent and pure as before. The discrimination of human being towards him made him started thinking of revenge. However, there is something worse waiting for him. â€Å"This was then the reward of my benevolence! I had saved a human being from destruction, and as recompense I now writhed under the miserable pain of a wound which shattered the flesh and bone. The feelings of kindness and gentleness which I had entertained but a few moments before gave place to hellish rage and gnashing of teeth. Inflamed by pain, I vowed eternal hatred and vengeance to all mankind. † (99) This is the description of the inner world of monster after being shot by a peasant whose daughter was saved by monster. He tried his best to save a girl and it’s the evidence of his heart of gold. However, the girl’s father never thought of why he save her life and try to restore her animation, but shot him because his appearance makes him look like a monster which will hurt human being. What if it is a human being that saves the girl? Usually, the peasant will show his gratitude and might even ask him to have a meal. If we compare these two conditions, we will find the deed of the saver is the same and but the attitude of peasant will be different. What determines the differences is the appearance of the saver. Humanlike saver is regarded as a nice person and creature which has strange or frightening appearance is regarded as devil. Isn’t that a kind of discrimination? The cruelty of reality kept swallowing his benevolence until the only thing left him to do is revenge. When the monster compromised to victor at the condition of creating a female companion for him, Victor broke his promise because he thought creating another creature like monster can only bring troubles. It is a reflection of discrimination. â€Å"As I looked on him, his countenance expressed the utmost extent of malice and treachery. I thought with a sensation of madness on my promise of creating another like to him, and trembling with passion, tore to pieces the thing on which I was engaged. † (119)This scene happened after Victor seeing the face of monster. When Victor was about to finish his work, he started to think creating another creature like monster can only bring more tragedies and decided to destroyed the monster’s female companion. It is true that the monster killed his brothers, but it is because there are too many miseries happened, revenge becomes the only thing he want to do to vent his indignation. We should notice that the monster can bring more sorrow to Victor and even other human beings, if only he wanted. However, if he didn’t do that, it means, in his deep heart, he is still benevolent creature. Nevertheless, Victor never care about how many good deeds the monster has done or the happiness of the creature he create, but only thought that the negative consequence of what the creature would make. Victor assumed the monster can never be a good creature, so his thought and decision are the reflection of discrimination on the monster. When we try to synthesis every part of novel I mentioned before, we will find the nature of this monster is good, but, gradually, the only thing in his mind is to revenge. What kind of thing makes a so nice creature become an evil? The answer is countless misery and injustice he experienced. Why does a nice creature have to suffer so much? Is that because of the fault of God? No! It is because of the discrimination. No matter how many times the monster help people, everyone in the novel, even children, thinks this creature is evil and tries to hurt people, so they avoid him, hurt him and even try to kill im. A nice creature never receives love or even sympathy because of his appearance, and, regardless of how the monster felt, his creator destroyed his last hope of being loved, so he wanted to see his creator was as painful as he was and decided to murder victors’ beloved. Now we can see that discrimination makes the nameless benevolent creature become a devil, contributing to the death of innocent people. So the real killer should be human being’s discrimination. How to cite Human and Monster Help People, Papers

Marketing Investments and Brand Equity †Free Samples to Students

Question: Discuss about the Marketing Investments and Brand Equity. Answer: Introduction: The marketing activity of Houzit in Brisbane aims at capturing a 12% market share that will increase the companys sale by 8.5%. Product Selection is one of the main marketing activities for a manufacturer or a service provider. The selection of the product greatly depends on the purchasing trends of the customers, market researches and sales experience of the products (Gbadamosi et al. 2013). Pricing is another aspect that analyzes the marketing activity of a company. The price of the product is analyzed comparing the price offered by its competitors and hence this reduce the risk factor of the product is reduced. Promotional Activities plays a major role in determining the marketing activity of an organization (Kotler et al. 2012).. In this case, the Houzit Company in Brisbane can utilize the home ware magazines for its promotional activities. The promotion for a product can increase the sale of the product and hence increase the profit of the organization. The marketing plan of Houzit plans to increase its market growth in seasonal demand in the next six month. The product selection by the company affects greatly on the marketing integration of the company. The pricing of the product influences the sales of the company. The rise in price can decrease the sale for the company while a reasonable pricing can attracts customers for the company. Promotional activities of the company can increase the demand of the products for the company. A company can mainly invest in promoting of its products through chief media devices like the digital media (Nguyen 2014). The chief digital media at present comprises of online social networking platforms and the digital devices like internets, mobiles. Monitoring of a product is mainly important for the future prospect of the organization. Monitoring of the product can increase or decrease the profits of the organization depending on these factors. There are also some factors like external factors, cost-benefits and feedback that monitors the progress of the product. If a case is considered where a cost increases sales by 20% and another by 5% then, obviously it is the 20% increase in the cost that will be taken by the company for its expensiveness (NWANKWO 2013). Feedback is an important aspect in monitoring the product of an organization. A positive feedback can increase the sales of the product while a negative feedback can deteriorate the sales of the company leading to the ruination of the organization (Van Heerde and Neslin 2017). Distributing and Pricing Distribution and pricing play a crucial role in the business and marketing activity of the company. The distribution channel that the company follows is through its own physical stores that it owns in Brisbane. The company own about fifteen stores through which it carries out it selling process. The company also maintains a premium pricing strategy for all its products as their products are of good quality in the market (Davcik and Sharma 2015). The company can allow expansion of its physical stores in more areas of Brisbane and in Australia. It can plan for an international expansion through which it can distribute its product to more number of customers. Online website launch can be a good idea of distribution because market is easily approachable through these channels. In relation to pricing, the company can reduce the price for its new products and aim the mass market. The progress of the company for the new marketing plan and objectives can be measured by the increase in sale of the product and revenue of the company after the proposed plan. Market expansion can be measured by analyzing the increase in number of physical stores and revenue from the online business (Rego et al. 2013). Mainly number of orders, revenues and number of stores is the key performance indicator for the business to judge its achievement of targets. The staffing proposals of the company for distribution of responsibilities and the delegation of roles to the staffs will include marketing manager, a PR manager, an advertising manager, in store sales team and web designer. These are the most important staffs required by the business to carry out its marketing activities smoothly. Marketing manager will be responsible for monitoring the entire marketing activities and designed promotional methods. PR and advertising manager will look after the external market promotion and sales team will carry out indoor sales. Web designer will be helpful to design a unique web page for the online website of the company (Strauss 2016). The strategies developed for the marketing of the product can be communicated to the staffs and other required personnel of the company through board meeting, staff meeting and press releases. These three will be the most effective method through which the company can share its plan to the staffs within the organization and delegate the responsibilities to the required people (Baker 2014). Staffing Support Plan The coaching and mentoring of the activities of the staffs is important for the business while carrying out a successful marketing plan. Some of the steps to mentor and coach the staff on its work is by delegating, offering performance feedback, carrying out a coaching meeting, offer words of wisdom to the staffs, set goals for the week, offer trainings and others. Some of the strategies by which the company can carry out for helping the staff carry out the planned strategies effectively are shown above (Garvey et al. 2017). Resources that the company offers to the staff to carry out effective marketing strategy can be assessed by analyzing the level of usage of the resources and the level of target achieved. For example, the financials and funds offered by the company to the marketing personnel to carry out effective promotional activities can be assessed by analyzing the total fund spent and the percentage of target achieved according to the set goals. Thus the main resources that the company can analyze includes financials, number of marketing staffs, use of information tools and others. Feedback is important for any organization to motivate the staffs and to mentoring them to offer better performance in case they lack in something. However, for the feedback purpose the company needs some model or tool in order to carry it out effectively. The model that would be appropriate for the feedback of the marketing staffs would include Feedback Sandwich. This model involves three important steps that would allow the company to offer feedback on both positive and negative performance of staffs and further recommendations. Such type of model reduces the bad effect of negative feedback on the staffs and encourages them to improve in whatever they are doing. Thus, it will help the company to reduce its employee turnover (Hardesty et al. 2014). For analyzing the performance of the marketing staffs in meeting, the required objectives of marketing the company can carry out one on one session with the staffs delegated with responsibilities. This will help them to know the challenges they are facing while carrying out their task. Accordingly, the company can offer further training and session to the staff to improve in their weakness. Further, it can publish weekly report on the performance of every staffs and arrange a meeting to discuss about the report. This will help the company to analyze the performance of each staffs and the challenges they are facing (Nguyen et al. 2014). One on one coaching is helping to improve the performance of the staffs in the organization. The manager of the company can offer one on one session to the marketing manager as he carries out the main management of the marketing activities. One on one session will be done through a meeting on a weekly basis in which the marketing managers will share the performance of every staff and the manager of the company will offer improvement plan and guidelines on it. On the other hand, marketing manager will carry out on one meeting with the advertising head, PR head and other marketing department to discuss the modification in the plan and the new target that is required to be met (Charlton 2016). The performance to date of the marketing staff has been good which is evident by the increase in the amount of sale of the company and a good amount of traffic in its online business. However, it is necessary for the business to maintain such performance in the future in order to be one of the best home-ware companies in Brisbane and in Australia. For the purpose, the actions that the marketing manager can continue to take include setting up of monthly marketing plan after analyzing the achievement of the previous months, to carry out training on marketing updates and introduction of new marketing tools and recruit staffs when necessary according to the advanced marketing techniques. These steps will help the marketing manager to continue the achievements in the upcoming years. Marketing Performance Report According to the report provided by the Lamberts Consulting on the home-ware business of Brisbane, it is seen that from the marketing activity the company has been able to increase their market share in Brisbane from $175 million to $199 million within six months of the marketing plan. Thus, the company was able to meet the targeted growth of 10 percent for the year that it planned for its marketing goals. The average stores sale also increased by the estimated target by $28,200 per week in each stores. This good growth took place due to marketing efforts. However, the web-based marketing did not show much improvement and thus, further marketing objectives should focus on more online-based sales rather than store sales. Marketing plan should be set according to the target. The success gap in the marketing plan that was set by the company was seen in the stagnancy in the number of physical stores and lack of growth of online selling channels. The gap existed because according to the set target in the KPI eh company had to achieve a growth in its physical stores and online sale. The sale of the company had increased as targeted; however, the increase in sale was all from its existing stores. Moreover, online marketing was not achieved as expected by the company. The main cause of such gap is that the marketing team focused more on increasing market sale through increasing sale rather than increasing stores. The way of achieving market share was different then the set KPIs. On the other hand, the company lacked the knowledge about online sale and thus failed to take desired steps for its development (Casero-Ripolls and Izquierdo-Castillo 2013). The marketing outcome was good; however, the company should focus on increasing the number of stores as competitors are trying to capture the home-ware market in Australia. Thus, in order to improve its strategic performance the company should focus its plan on one single thing in one time and after desired result, it should move to other strategies (Wu and Onari 2016). This will help them get the most expected result from all types of strategies. The over-performance was seen in the increase in the average store sale, which was estimated to increase only by 8.5 percent. It increased by 12 percent, which was much above than the targeted percent. This was much more then the targeted increase in the sale from the store. This was because the marketing team focused more on the in-store sale rather than other sources of sale such as online business. The trend shows that the marketing team did not take any step towards the promotion of the online business, which resulted in zero sales from the online website. Moreover, the team did not even focus in increasing more physical store from capturing the market share and just focused in increasing market share through sale volume. The targeted plan for the next one year will be mainly on online business (Holden 2013). The company will hire and train personnel about online business and invest more and more on internet marketing. The target is to achieve a 20 percent of its revenue from the online business. References Baker, M.J., 2014.Marketing strategy and management. Palgrave Macmillan. Casero-Ripolls, A. and Izquierdo-Castillo, J., 2013. Between decline and a new online business model: The case of the Spanish newspaper industry.Journal of Media Business Studies,10(1), pp.63-78. Charlton, C.T., 2016.Effects of a self-management procedure using student feedback on staff members' use of praise in an out-of-school time program. Utah State University. Davcik, N.S. and Sharma, P., 2015. Impact of product differentiation, marketing investments and brand equity on pricing strategies: A brand level investigation.European Journal of Marketing,49(5/6), pp.760-781. Garvey, B., Garvey, R., Stokes, P. and Megginson, D., 2017.Coaching and mentoring: Theory and practice. Sage. Gbadamosi, A., Bathgate, I. K., and Nwankwo, S. 2013. 1 The Purpose of Marketing.Principles of Marketing: A Value-Based Approach, 1. Hardesty, S.L., Hagopian, L.P., McIvor, M.M., Wagner, L.L., Sigurdsson, S.O. and Bowman, L.G., 2014. Effects of specified performance criterion and performance feedback on staff behavior: A component analysis.Behavior modification,38(5), pp.760-773. Holden, G., 2013.Starting an online business for dummies. John Wiley Sons. Kotler, P., Hessekiel, D., and Lee, N. 2012.Good Works!: Marketing and Corporate Initiatives that Build a Better World... and the Bottom Line. John Wiley Sons. Nguyen, A.T., Reiter, S. and Rigo, P., 2014. A review on simulation-based optimization methods applied to building performance analysis.Applied Energy,113, pp.1043-1058. Nguyen, C. 2014. Developing e-marketing tools: Case company: CASTA Ltd. NWANKWO, S. 2013. 1 THE PURPOSE OF MARKETING.Principles of Marketing: A Value-Based Approach. Rego, L.L., Morgan, N.A. and Fornell, C., 2013. Reexamining the market sharecustomer satisfaction relationship.Journal of Marketing,77(5), pp.1-20. Strauss, J., 2016.E-marketing. Routledge. Van Heerde, H.J. and Neslin, S.A., 2017. Sales promotion models. InHandbook of marketing decision models(pp. 13-77). Springer, Cham. Wu, S. and Onari, H., 2016. Production Capacity Planning with Market Shar e Expansion under Different Procurement Strategies.Int J Econ Manag Sci,5(345), p.2.

6 Tips to Help You Get Through College

6 Tips to Help You Get Through College Sometimes, when you are bogged down with stressful homework assignments and you are unable to find a minute of free time, it is hard to remember that college is something you should absolutely enjoy. Its true! Sure, you are supposed to work and study hard as well, but you should also have a great social life and enjoy new experiences as well. Sadly, we often receive emails other messages from students who are struggling to get through college, let alone enjoy themselves. This is why weve decided to put together this list of college survival tips. After all, were not just the best college paper writing service. We also consider ourselves to be supporters of students who are struggling in any way. 1. Find Out Who Gives College Student Discounts That student ID card in your wallet is more valuable than you think. If you live in a college town, restaurants, bars, laundromats, and other businesses will often give you a decent discount if you show your ID. If you love going to the movies, check with your local theater. They frequently offer the best discounts of all. 2. Learn to Cook If you cook at least some of your own meals, youll save quite a bit of money. Sure, you may not have access to an oven or stove, but you can do some amazing things with a microwave, hotpot, and slow cooker. 3. Find a Few Places to Study Outside of Your Dorm Room Sometimes, when you have trouble concentrating, the best thing you can do is get a change of scenery. This is why it helps to have more than one study spot. Youll also establish some good will with your roommate if you can make an exit while they are entertaining guests. 4. Be Safe Make sure that you have emergency contacts on your phone. If you live far from home, make sure that at least one of those contacts is somebody who lives locally. If you go to a club or a party, watch your drink and keep make an agreement with your friends to keep tabs on each other. Finally, dont hesitate to ask campus security for an escort if you feel unsafe. 5. Dont Forget to Get Help From Reputable Writing Services Remember, if you check out college paper writing service reviews, you will find us at the top of many lists! You can also get help your schools writing lab and even your instructors. Wherever you get help, dont wait too long. You dont want to risk failing a class or dropping your GPA. 6. Dont Blow Off The Campus Tour The more familiar you are with campus the better off you will be. Your tour guide will likely show you a few off the beaten places that you may not learn about otherwise such as rarely used computer labs and rarely used student lounges which are great for taking a quick nap. College is a great life-experience. Do not miss your chance to enjoy due to shyness or lack of information!

Aravaipa Canyon Essays

Aravaipa Canyon Essays Aravaipa Canyon Essay Aravaipa Canyon Essay In Edward Abbeys essay on Aravaipa Canyon, he comments on the enigmatic nature of life on Earth. He states that the world is not nearly big enough and that any portion of its surface, left unpaved and alive, is infinitely rich in details and relationships, in wonder, beauty, mystery, comprehensible only in part. The very existence of existence is itself suggestive of the unknown not a problem, but a mystery. Our environmental problems, moreover, are cultural. Politics, for example, are being destroyed by a bad way of life, not bad politics. And to see that the problem is far more than political is to return to reality, and look at what reality permits us to see. In Mark Twains essay, Thoughts of God, he seeks to explain how God differentiates between a human being and what is expected of him or her. Twain declares that God is excused for many things for which humans would not be excused, such as the creation of the fly. The real question is, why do we excuse God for violating the moral code when humans in the same situation would not be given the same favor under the same circumstances? If God is the symbol of man and man relies on his moral and ethics, what does God rely on? This implies that there must cease to be a true concept of morality if the one person we incorporate these laws from cant even abide by them himself. Maybe the concept of morality is one which we are simply unable to understand, especially since there is no universal standard of what is right and wrong. Often times, we are faced with situations or questions where we are made to choose a certain path or specific answer. Depending on which alternative one chooses, his or her answer or choice is most certainly based on whether he or she is being moral or not. Sometimes, you a forced to make the decision that you normally would not make. This is Joan Didions idea called Wagon Train morality. In her essay On Morality, she implies that morality has little to do with the concept of being good and that everyone has a different concept of morality to justify their actions and decisions, which falls under the subject of natural ethics. People who adhere themselves to a supposedly universal moral code can mislead themselves into thinking people who do not follow that code are unfaithful and are considered less human. Sontag also implies that there is no true understanding of the nature of morality or its effects in the world, and that they can be used for almost any purpose whether it is to sa ve the world or to destroy it. And referring back to the opening paragraph, politics, for example, for many years, have been concerned with right or left instead of right or wrong. Photography, on the other hand, gets people to view the world in only one way, mainly because photographs are concerned chiefly with appearances. This then brings up the photographers whom have little and sometimes even no appreciation of the aesthetic values of experience. And when they do have such appreciation it is rarely relevant to their purposes. Therefore, photography can only strive to be a substitute for existence, but cannot hope to provide the experience which comes characteristically. Photography implies that we know about the world if we accept it as the camera records it. But this is the opposite of understanding, which starts from not accepting the world as it looks. Meaning photos show nothing of the world around them, but instead just turns citizens into image junkies. Therefore, both Sontag and Edward want to state that the world is full of mystery and therefore it can be deceiving, because everyone is so used to believing everything one sees. And since weve invent ed a new society, and new ways of looking at society and nature, its essential upon us that we also invent new ways of understanding our experience of life and society. Henry James, on the other hand, wrote The Turn of the Screw in such an ambiguous manner that it is open to many different interpretations. However, it appears that no single interpretation has the ability to cover every aspect of the story and explain it in a way that is convincing to all. To see that the problem is far more than political is to return to reality, and look at what reality permits us to see. The primary distinction between humans and the rest of the natural world is our sense of consciousness and self-consciousness.

Dark side of Technology video Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Dark side of Technology video - Movie Review Example He also looks at nuclear bomb development and how this technology has developed over the past years as well as the problems arising from it. He finally highlights the effects of global warming, which are mainly caused by development of technology and the impact it can have on the future of the human race. I agree with his position mainly because of the possibilities that he cites according to various categories of technological tribulations. According to the video clip, the speaker talks about the possibility of deadly viruses being converted into weapons and this is becoming an ever-increasing threat with development of technology. The fact that the genomes of these viruses are easily available on the internet is a threat in itself because it takes a simple download button and one has the core component of creating this virus. The sequences of deadly virus genomes such as anthrax are readily available on the internet and this itself makes the internet an open source of unlimited threat. Technology also has seen the improvement of research methods and the possibility of the creation of a super virus that has the potential of wiping out the human race. It should be noted that this problem cannot be overlooked. Nuclear energy has also seen a major improvement in technology in recent times especially in the area of nuclear weapons production. The latest technology, whereby, laser beams are used to enrich uranium has the po tential to be developed in the coming years such that it will be inexpensive thus making it accessible to many countries. One can only wonder what would happen if a majority of countries had nuclear weapons and a world war happens to break out. That thought is enough to provoke the thought of the possibility of human extinction. The other negative effect of technology development in the form of global warming has seen the rise of sea levels and in the near future, there will be a possibility of dry land being immersed in water

HIP HOP Dance (Article Responses) Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

HIP HOP Dance ( Responses) - Article Example While the article is quite informative regarding the different related dance forms, it does not talk much about the characteristics of hip hop culture apart from dance moves. Hence the reading becomes little monotonous at times and the details and given one after another without much flow or transition of paragraphs maintained. The dance form helps in maintaining fitness can be regarded as an added advantage. It has been seen that many people prefer to learn and practice a dance form like this instead of hitting a gym. This helps in combining pleasure with effort and lead to the desirable outcome. One of the beneficial impacts observed in the article about this dance form is that it helped in minimisimg violence as people charge their energy into break dancing with each other instead of fighting. This is the psychological aspect explored by the author and gives us innovative insights. We come to learn the various forms of Hip Hop dance includes Harlem shake, Snap dance, Gangsta walki ng. Thus these arouse the readers’ interests in learning more about this dance form in practice. It would not be wrong to say that this art form has become a part of our culture. Thus we see that Hip Hop has got a worldwide appeal with more than million followers over the world. Reference Oak, M. (2013), History of Hip hop dance,retrieved on September 15, 2013 from: www.buzzle.com Pedagogy of Hip Hop dance Watching Hip hop dance in the classroom instead of continuous chain of boring lectures sounds fascinating indeed. Gone are the days of Gurukul system where the learners imbibe knowledge verbally from their guru. The author Seth E. Davis comes out with an innovatively fresh approach of conducting a literature class on the beats of hip hop music and dance. The article brings out a certain diversion from education to a dance form rendering a pedagogical significance through the medium of an art form. The arcticle observes that Hip hop dance form has helped in narrowing the gap between the learners and the instructors. The view of combining the techniques of the dance form into the curriculum is supported by various scholars.Use of Hip hop dialogue through rap, spoken words, dancing, turntablism and muralism are the ways of learning taken up by students, as pointed by the scholar Rodriguez. Hence it helps in spreading knowledge among the students in an interesting way. The author here neglects the relevance of the discipline factor in a student life. Though the article facilitates healthy development of teacher – pupil relationship which forms the core aim of education but it undermines the importance of teachers in the long run. Hip hop culture manifests students to think critically on a subject matter and develop their own understanding. Inspite of the fact that the art form marks a tool for social change, it cannot be overlooked that it hampers the overall atmosphere of the classroom. Reference Davis, S. (2007 ), Hip hop pedagogy, retrieved on S eptember 15, 2013 from: http://ccr.syr.edu/~sedavi07/hiphoppedagogy.html The Evolution of Hip Hop: Is it even Hip-Hop? Is the role of hip hop limited to uplift back culture? Have the basic features changed? Kool DJ Herc is regarded as the pioneer of the hip-hop culture. However, throughout the years the culture has gone through vast changes. In the article titled â€Å"The Evolution of Hip-hop; Is it even Hip-hop?† Dushawn Roberts opines that the exclusive American-African culture has been greatly influenced as well as

Deaf President Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Deaf President - Research Paper Example Edward Miner Gallaudet was the first person to serve as the University’s president, and he served for 46 years. The second president was Dr. Percival Hall, a hearing man who served as a campus leader for 36 years. His successor, who ruled for 25 years, Dr. Leonard M. Elstad, was also a hearing man. Dr. Edward C. Merrill became the fourth hearing president of the university and served between 1969 and 1983 (Orlans, 1989, P.8, C. 2, L.6). It was during the election period for the fifth president that motions for a deaf president began. However, that did not succeed because Dr. W. Lloyd Johns stood as the fifth president of the University. In 1983, Jerry Lee stepped in as the sixth president of Gallaudet University. In 1987, he decided to step down from his seat due to the rising rate of protests from students (Orlans, 1989, P.9, C.2, L.28). Immediately, the Board of Trustees established a committee and appointed a qualified person to assess the deaf and hearing aspirants who wer e vying for the presidential position. On February 28, 1988, the committee announced three presidential finalists: Dr. Harvey Corson and Dr. I. King Jordan, who were both deaf. Finally, Dr. Elizabeth Zinser was the third finalist and was a hearing person (Orlans, 1989, P.11, C.3, L.18). On March 6, 1988, the Board declared Dr. Elisabeth Zinser as the eighth president of Gallaudet University. That date marked the beginning of a weeklong protest from the stakeholders at Gallaudet University (Orlans, 1989, P.9, C.2, L.28).

Importance Of Continual Self Development Management Essay

Importance Of Continual Self Development Management Essay One of the approaches to leadership is the traits approach as identified by Mullins, 1999 where the assumption is that leaders are born and not created based on the theory of the so-called Great Person theory of leadership. However most of the major existing theories provide the basis that leadership skills can be developed such as the contingency model analyses the leadership styles which can be identified and learned to develop leadership skills. Although leadership and management are seen similar but it has some distinction such as; leaders may not have a hierarchical position but the manager has which was identified by (Mullins, 1999); Leadership does not necessarily take place within the hierarchical structure of the organisation. To be an effective manager it is necessary to exercise the role of leadership (Mullins, 1999). The focus of my work will be on the personal development of managerial leadership where the manager is a leader within a formal hierarchical structure and the word manager and leader has been used interchangeably. For developing leadership and managerial skills the primary initiatives must come from the individual where the opportunities are provided by an organisation. 1. Be Able to Assess and Plan for Personal Professional Development (LO 1) 1.1. The Importance of Continual Self-Development in Achieving Organisational Objectives (AC 1.1) Continuous self-development is the continuous process of developing oneself by building his/her competencies and realizing his/her potential (Rothwell, 2010). Since leaders get others to follow (Mullins, 1999) a leader cannot build talent in others if the leader cannot do it her/him-self (Rothwell, 2010). A leader should realise the importance of continual self-development. The basic concept of continuous self-development has been derived from the concept of continuous development and its objective is to achieve organisational objectives through the recognition of the links between learning and performance (Martin, 2005). An organisation is a group of individuals and as individuals develop, so do the organisations that employ them (Martin, 2005). The performance of employees is directly linked to organisational performance hence the achievement of organisational objectives and the performance of employees can be improved through continuous self-development process. 1.2. Assessment of Current Skills and Competencies against Defined Role Requirements and Organisational Objectives (AC 1.2) Sainsburys is the second retail company in UK (Retail-Index.com, 2012) has various leadership roles and here is an assessment of the skills and competencies requirements against the roles of a cafà © department manager and related company objectives; Skills and Competencies Requirements Role Requirements of a Department Manager of a Depot Company Objectives Related to the Role of Department Manager Leadership skills; Leadership skills are required for the specified role since the department manager needs to lead a group of people in the department and the manager is responsible for them. Knowledge of health and safety requirements are important for the role as the manager will have to ensure safe and secure environment for both customers and other employees. Other skills related with the operations. And all the above skills are required to fulfil the responsibilities and to achieve the objectives. To lead the entire customer restaurant operation to provide a delicious range of meals, snacks and beverages. This will involve providing leadership and coach to colleagues, making sure everyone is in the right place at the right time, and ensuring a safe and secure environment (Sainsburys, 2012). The objective of the cafà © department is to delivering an ever-improving shopping experience for the customers of Sainsburys (Sainsburys, 2012). 1.3. Identifying Development Opportunities to Meet Current and Future Defined Needs (AC 1.3) Here the development opportunities have been identified to meet the current and future needs of the role of a department manager of Sainsburys; Current Skills Needs Future Skills Needs of 2020 Leaders of Sainsburys Development Opportunities The current skills that are required for a department manager are; Extensive leadership skills, Customer service knowledge, Operational knowledge. According to Sainsburys during the next decade, the retail sector will become a very different place (Sainsburys, 2012). To achieve the 2020 vision Sainsburys need the 2020 leaders with different skills and competencies such as; Individuals with; Outstanding intellect, Business acumen and ambition (Sainsburys, 2012). The development opportunities that will be provided by Sainsburys to meet the skills and competencies needs of a department manager under the 2020 leadership programme will be in two phases. First phase: The first phase will involve an introduction to various operational areas such as stores and logistics and then move to Sainsburys local where the manager will be trained on a wider range of retail issues than in a single department (Sainsburys, 2012). The second phase; involves developing the management skills as a Deputy Store Manager or Shift Manager, supply chain management skills, exceptional customer services etc. (Sainsburys, 2012). 1.4. Constructing a Personal Development Plan (AC 1.4) A personal development plan sets out the actions people propose to take to learn and to develop themselves (Armstrong, 2003). The responsibility is taken by the individual and the support is provided by the organisation and their managers. The purpose is to provide a self-organised learning framework as identified by Tamkin, Barber and Hirsh (1995) (Armstrong, 2003). A personal development plan follows the following steps as identified by (Armstrong, 2003); Analyse current situation and development needs Set goals Preparing an action plan Here a personal development plan as a cafà © department manager in Sainsburys has been constructed below; Analysis of current situation and development needs; Current situation; A newly graduate joined as a cafà © manager. No previous work experience Development needs; To obtain operational knowledge, To obtain leadership skills, To obtain knowledge about customer services. To improve innovative and creative skills to contribute to the performance of the Sainsburys cafà ©. (Challenging) Set goals; goals is set to the areas of development needs and they are SMART. Specific: the goals should not be vague. Measureable: the goals needs to be recognised when achieved. Achievable: setting realistic goals. Relevant: have a connection with the development needs. Time bound: there is a time period for achieving the goals. Here are the SMRT and challenging goals for the development needs identified in step one; To read through the operational manual over one month to obtain operational knowledge and perform an MCQ test on operational knowledge. To study books on leadership development and use of coaching and mentor to develop leadership skills for six months and to achieve feedback from the employees. To seek for training on customer services management form the company within six months. To talk with the customers and try to identify their needs and innovate new systems or product idea for improving the performance of the cafà © department. (Challenging) Prepare action plans; The action plan for achieving the operational knowledge might be for example; to collect the operational manual from the office and make copy of them and arrange timely discussion with the senior manager to clearly understand the issues. 2. Be Abel to Plan for the Resources Required for Personal Development (LO 2) 2.1. Identifying the Resources Required to Support the Personal Development Plan (AC 2.1) A personal development plan has been developed in the previous section here the resource requirement has been identified to support the personal development plan; The availability of operational manual and access to it and also online learning resources to so that the operational knowledge can be obtained quickly. An arrangement of training facilities with academic institutions to improve the leadership skills of employees and also different coaching and mentoring facilities to improve the leadership skills. Training and workshop facilities for improving knowledge on customer services. Facilities and options of customer survey to be conducted by the departmental manager so that the departmental manager can develop innovative ideas. 2.2. Developing a Business Case to Secure the Resources to Support the Personal Development (AC 2.2) A business case is a justification of pursuing a course of action in an organisational context to meet stated organisational objectives or goals (Remenyi, 1999). The business case will look at how investment on resources required to support the personal development plan will help achieving various objectives of an organisation; Investment on the resources as identified in section 2.1 will ensure that not only a departmental manager but also other employees will be benefitted to improve their skills and skilled employees will make organisational operations efficient and effective and organisational objectives will be achieved such as minimising costs by improving the efficiency of the organisation. The cafà © department of Sainsburys requires highly skilled employees and with good knowledge of customer services. Investment on personal development resources will help the employees of Sainsburys cafà © department to improve their skills and knowledge with their self-initiatives and in a self-managed learning environment. Employees will improve their efficiency and will reduce the wastage level and minimise the costs hence improve profitability. 3. Be Able to Implement and Evaluate the Personal Development Plan (LO 3) 3.1. Discussion of the Process Required to Implement the Personal Development Plan (AC 3.1) Due to its significant importance in achieving organisational objectives the implementation of personal development plan should be taken very strictly since it is not just mere filling up a performance review from or a guidance note of what employees should do to improve their importance. The introduction of personal development plan requires the following process; Informing the employees: If the employees do not know about the PDP clearly it will be impossible to implement such plan. Hence managers, team leaders and all individuals need to learn about personal development planning (Armstrong, 2009). Participation of employees in the PDP process: Employees should be involved in deciding how the planning process will work and what their roles will be (Armstrong, 2009). Developing a culture of self-learning responsibilities and allowing time and opportunities: It has to be recognised that everyone will need time and support to adjust to a culture in which they have to take much more responsibilities for their own learning (Armstrong, 2009). Providing guidance: Guidance should be given to all concerned regarding how to identify learning needs, the means of satisfying the needs identified and how they should use the available facilities. 3.2. Evaluating the Impact of the Personal Development Plan on the Achievement of Defined Role Requirements and Organisational Objectives. (AC 3.2) We have already considered the role requirements and departmental objectives of cafà © department in Sainsburys retail stores in previous sections which are; To lead the entire customer restaurant operation to provide a delicious range of meals, snacks and beverages. This will involve providing leadership and coach to colleagues, making sure everyone is in the right place at the right time, and ensuring a safe and secure environment (Sainsburys, 2012). The objective of the cafà © department is to delivering an ever-improving shopping experience for the customers of Sainsbury (Sainsburys, 2012). If the cafà © manager prepares a personal development plan such as to develop his/her leadership skills it will help him/her to fulfil his role requirements and achieving the departmental objectives for example the cafà © manager has the responsibilities for leading a group of people and the leadership skills will help him/her in this regard and the leadership skills for example will help the manager to motivate the working group under him to work hard and improve performance of the department hence achieving the objectives. 3.3. Review and Update the Personal Development Plan (AC 3.3) Personal development is a continuous process. Personal development plan is a systematic approach and follows sequential steps in a continuous way. The Scottish Qualifications Authority has identified seven steps process of PDP where the last step is the review and evaluation of the PDP. Review and evaluation of PDP assures that the concerned people have learned something from the PDP process and they can apply the process in the future personal development planning. In the case of Sainsburys cafà © depot the manager can review after frequent interval that the objectives relating to the needs from the PDP are met and take corrective actions and make new and revised plans. 4. Be Able to Promote Healthy and Safe Working Practices (AC 4.1) 4.1. Discussion of the Relationships between Healthy and Safe Working Practices and Organisational Objectives (AC 4.1) The relationship between health and safety working practices and organisational objectives seems very vague at first sight. If we could think an organisation without people there would be no need for this discussion. Organisational objective is a broad concept and there are lot of objectives which pursue an organisations aim, mission and vision. For a simplified discussion we will chose a practical departmental objective of Sainsburys and discuss the relationship between health and safe working Practices and organisational objectives. As it has been identified the objective of the cafà © department is; to delivering an ever-improving shopping experience for the customers of Sainsburys (Sainsburys, 2012). The objective of the cafà © department is very customer centric that the customer must be satisfied. The outcome of productivity inevitably make customer satisfied and in restaurant industries it is very obvious than others. The relationship between customer satisfaction and productivity in the restaurant industry is less ambiguous and customer satisfaction in many ways embodies the ultimate outcome associated with productivity (Gu, n.d.). Healthy and safe workplaces are fundamental to achieving productive work and high quality working lives (Minstry of Business Innovation and Employment, 2012). Hence health and safety practices in the cafà © department can improve the employee productivity which in turn can achieve Sainsburys cafà © departments objective of customer satisfaction. 4.2. An Explanation of the Process for Conducting a Risk Assessment (AC 4.2) According to the Institute of Risk Management risk assessment involves mainly risk analysis and risk evaluation; Risk analysis involves; Risk identification: involves identifying an organisations exposure to uncertainty. This requires detailed information about the companys environment, operation and clear understanding of organisations strategic and operational objectives. In Sainsburys cafà © department an identified risk may be the control of hazardous substances. Risk description: This involves displaying the identified risks in a structured way for better understanding. The above identified risk of Sainsburys can be described as; various cleaning materials used in the kitchen of the cafà © department which are hazardous to health such as; bleach must be used in a guided way. Risk estimation: This involves measuring the possibility of occurrence and the measurement can be qualitative and quantitative. There is a high chance that the cleaning chemicals might become in contact with food. Risk evaluation: involves making decision about the significance of risks. What will be the consequence if such incidents happen; chemicals in food! Causing ill health to customers sues the company resulting to penalty. 4.3. Identifying the Actions Taken by the Manager in Dealing with a Breach in Healthy and Safe Working Practices (AC 4.3) Health and safety in the workplace is a legal issue and in UK it is enforced by the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The breach of the law will have serious consequences such as significant amount of penalty and also it has been described how it will affect organisational objectives by worsening employee productivity. The following plan should be under taken if health and safety working practices are breached; To arrange for workshop to improve the knowledge of the employee about the healthy working practices. To give first performance improvement plan if breached after the workshop. To give second performance improvement plan. To give final performance action plan. To dismiss form the job. 4.4. Communicating Responsibilities for Healthy and Safe Working Practices to the Team (AC 4.4) A good communication is essential for ensuring the health and safe working practices without proper communication the whole purpose will be destroyed. Appropriate communication channel must be chosen to make sure health and safety initiatives are co-ordinated and well understood. This may include; Formal: Workplace inspections, health and safety committee meetings, training, incident investigations and reports, or hazard registers; and or Informal: Suggestion box, day to day interactions, tool box meetings or leading etc. 4.5. Relevant Records to Maintain to Demonstrate that Healthy and Safe Working Practices are Met (AC 4.5) Healthy and safe working practices records are both voluntary and mandatory. In UK under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR) it is the duties of the employers, the self -employed and people in control of work premises to report serious workplace accidents, occupational diseases and specified dangerous occurrences (Health and Saftey Executive, 2012). To meet the legal requirements accident and incidents reporting books are maintained by the employers. Organisations also must keep record of health and safety policies manual, health and safety training manual etc. Conclusion Nothing can bring success unless done in a systematic and organised way. Although personal development plan is mostly practiced at organisational level it should start form personal life to decide at a career goal of life and this will bring enrichment in personal life and for the society as well and what would be the meaning of life going on like a rudderless boat when PDP can create a meaning of life.

Hamlet - Is there Indecision? Essay -- GCSE English Literature Coursew

     Ã‚  Ã‚   The Bard of Avon has in the character of Hamlet (in the tragedy of that name) a hero who has been accused of hesitation and indecisiveness. Are such accusations appropriate? L.C. Knights in â€Å"An Approach to Hamlet† explains the modern appeal of the tragedy in terms of the indecisiveness of its hero: Hamlet is a man who in the face of life and of death can make no affirmation, and it may well be that this irresolution – which goes far deeper than irresolution about the performance of a specific act – this fundamental doubt, explains the great appeal of the play in modern times. The point has been made by D.G. James in The Dream of Learning. Shakespeare’s play, he says, â€Å"is an image of modernity, of the soul without clear belief losing its way, and bringing itself and others to great distress and finally to disaster†; it is â€Å"a tragedy not of excessive thought but of defeated thought,† and Hamlet himself is â€Å"a man caught in ethical and metaphysical uncertainties.† Now I am sure that Mr. James is right in emphasizing the element of scepticism in Hamlet’s makeup – the weighing of alternative possibilities in such a way as to make choice between them virtually impossible [. . .] . (64)    Is there a connection between verbal hesitation and hesitation in action and decisions? Lawrence Danson in the essay â€Å"Tragic Alphabet† discusses the hesitation in action by the hero as related to his hesitation in speech:    To speak or act in a world where all speech and action are equivocal seeming is, for Hamlet, both perilous and demeaning, a kind of whoring. The whole vexed question of Hamlet’s delay ought, I believe, to be considered in light of this dilemma. To a man alienated from his society’s most basic symboli... ...ions: Hamlet. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1986. Rpt. from Tragic Form in Shakespeare. N.p.: Princeton University Press, 1972.    Rose, Mark. â€Å"Reforming the Role.† Modern Critical Interpretations: Hamlet. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1986. Rpt. from Homer to Brecht: The European Epic and Dramatic Traditions. Ed. Michael Seidel and Edward Mendelson. N.p.: Yale University Press, 1977.    Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 1995. http://www.chemicool.com/Shakespeare/hamlet/full.html No line nos.    West, Rebecca. â€Å"A Court and World Infected by the Disease of Corruption.† Readings on Hamlet. Ed. Don Nardo. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1999. Rpt. from The Court and the Castle. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1957.         

Castles of Norway

Abstract Norway has a rugged terrain and a cold climate. Its most famous castle, named Akershus, is located in Oslo, Norway and was built in medieval times. Its architecture was advanced for that time period, and was extremely important in the protection and defense of Norway. Akershus was also a fortress as well as a castle, which led to better protection. This was also in the time of the Vikings, the much feared defenders of Norway, who were known to be very brutal in war.It was rebuilt, updated, and repurposed several times throughout history, and is now a trademark in Norwegian history and culture, serving as a large tourist hub. There have been many castles over the centuries that people have appointed the best because of their location, defense, architecture, or history; such as the Windsor Castle, Holyrood Palace, Buckingham Palace, and the Chateau de Versailles. However, another, lesser known castle seems to be right on par with these beauties: the Akershus castle in Oslo, No rway.Akershus beats the standards in all of these categories and more, which is most likely the reason it is plainly the most famous castle in Norway. It was created and protected by the Vikings in the medieval ages, and to this day stands tall in strong, just as it did at the turn of the fourteenth century. Location Norway has a very rugged, mountainous terrain, containing some of the highest points in Europe north of the Alpine-Carpathian mountain range with only one-fifth of its total area less than one hundred-fifty meters above sea level (Norway – Topography, n. . ). The main river, the Glama goes through the Southeast and is three hundred-eighty miles long. Much of Norway has been scraped by ice, and there are one thousand, seven-hundred glaciers totaling some three thousand, four-hundred square kilometers. There are many great harbors and almost numberless fjords, along with vast strings of islands stretching all along the coastal areas of Norway. Norway’s clima te is also somewhat harsh, yet seemingly mild when compared to other locations at its latitude. Snow covers the ground at least three months a year.During the summer months, when the sea is cooler than the land, the situation is different; then the west winds cool the coast more than the inland so the warmest summers are in the inland valleys of the southeast. â€Å"Average temperatures vary between negative ten degrees Celsius in January in Spitzbergen and sixteen degrees Celsius in July in Oslo. † Even though there is much snowfall, the warm waters of the Gulf Stream keep the seaports clear of ice, but the inlands are cooler in the winter months because of the mountains blocking out warm winds (Norway, n. . ). In northern Norway, there is continuous sunlight in certain parts of the summer. â€Å"In northernmost Norway, the sun stays above the horizon for about two and one-half months. Southern Norway never has continuous daylight, though it averages nineteen hours of dayli ght a day in midsummer. † The further north you go, the longer this period of twenty-four hour light lasts. The opposite happens in the winter, where the sun hardly ever rises at all. During these times, the Northern Lights, also called an aurora, can be seen in the sky (Norway, n. d. ).Defense Norway had one of the best, most feared, and well known armies in all of the medieval ages: the Vikings. â€Å"The Vikings were greatly feared for their strength and skill in battle†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Their primary choice of weapons consisted of spears, swords, and others alike (Top / Weapons, n. d. ). Viking's swords were double-sided steel and relatively lightweight. They also had large battle axes, used to cut through an opponent's armor. The wealthiest Vikings had coats of mail, which were coats of metal links put together to protect them from arrows and such.While every Viking wore a helmet, they offered little protection. This was meant to protect the rest of the body that a helmet ca n't protect. The Vikings’ helmets were made of either leather or iron. There is a common misconception that they wore double-horned helmets into battle, when really, those were only used for ceremonies. Another misconception is that they often used archery as a method in battle. The Vikings mainly used methods of archery for hunting. They also used them for battle occasionally, but mostly for long-range shooting.However, when applied in fighting, they were very useful in large battles (The Vikings, 2011). The Vikings’ main enemies were the Christian Monasteries, as they were Pagans, not Christians like most people in Britain. â€Å"A Viking robber did not think twice about robbing a Christian church. Christian monasteries in Britain were easy to attack, because the monks in the monasteries had no weapons. † (Why Did Vikings, 2012). â€Å"The unification of Viking settlements along the Norwegian coast was well advanced by the time of St. Olav’s death in 1 030.He is credited with overseeing the population’s conversion to Christianity. A period of civil war ended in the thirteenth century when Norway expanded its control overseas to parts of the British Isles, Iceland, and Greenland. Norwegian territorial power peaked in 1265, and the following year the Isle of Man and the Hebrides were ceded to Scotland. † The Hanseatic League and the Black Death weakened Norway greatly. The royalty died out in 1387, and the union that Denmark, Norway, and Sweden tried forming had also soon fell apart (History, n. . ). Architecture In Norway, one of the main resources is wood, so much of the architecture is based around that. This still reigns true today, all over Norway. There were wooden churches built on wooden posts in the ground in the Middle Ages, known as stave churches. Norway was always a little behind on architectural advances made in the rest of the world, and when they did reach Norway, they made little impact. One of the adva nced that made a larger impact was the Baroque-inspired Barony Rosendal (The Evolution of Norwegian, n. d. ).They had double-handled saw to fell a tree, wedges, crowbars, pickaxes and hammers for stonework, and the anvil, bellows and hammer for smithing; at this time, everything was done by hand, which means they needed a blacksmith, a woodworker, a mason, and a carpenter (Tools for Medieval, 1999-2012). This castle is made only of brick, and is the only one of that nature in Norway. Akershus was built on the ridge of a cliff opposite of the harbor bay, and the highest point of this ridge lays a high tower. The main entrance of the castle is guarded by a draw bridge and a portcullis.The weakest point is on the east side, guarded by a dry moat and a ring wall. This is what makes it better than most castles of that time (Hericher, 1998, p. 69-70). Specifics Akershus was first built in 1299, and has changed multiple times since then. In 1592, it was turned into a fortress, and was then changed into a Renaissance castle in 1637-1648 (Akershus Castle, 2008-2012). It is located at approximately Latitude:  59. 9, Longitude: 10. 7 and was funded mainly under the order of King Hakon V, along with some extra money from the church (Rongen, 2004-2012; Hericher, 1998, p. 0). Today, the Akershus castle is used as a source of tourism. The Armed Forces Museum is now located inside the fortress and displays the military history from medieval times to years following WWII and it's free to visit the museum (â€Å"Akershus Castle – Museums,† 2008-2011). It is used for major events in the Norwegian government as well. It also happens to be the headquarters for the Ministry of Defense. You can go on tours of the full castle, and there are many important items and rooms on display such as the one shown in Figure 1.King Sigurd I, King Haakon V, Queen Eufemia, King Haakon VII, Queen Maud, King Olav V and Crown Princess Martha have all been buried here (â€Å"Royal Mau soleum (burial,† n. d. ). In general, Akershus is the most famous castle in Norway because of its strategical location, its perilous defense, and its outstanding architecture. The Vikings and this fortress held Norway together through the medieval ages, so that Norway is a strong remnant of what a country can be when it is backed by dedication and hard work, much like what was put into Akershus.Today, it has become the celebration and joy of Norway, as they proudly display it to the world, and rightfully so. References Akershus castle [Web brochure]. (2008-2012). Retrieved from Innovation Norway website: http://www. visitnorway. com///? pid=74461 Akershus castle & fortress (Akershus Slott) [Brochure]. (1997 – 2011). Retrieved from CustomWeather, Inc. website: http://www. viator. com/-attractions/Akershus-Castle-and-Fortress-Akershus-Slott/-a2722 Akershus Castle – Museums. (2008-2011). Akershus castle (Akershus festning) [Brochure]. Retrieved from Everycastle, inc . ebsite: http://www. everycastle. com/-Castle. html The evolution of Norwegian architecture [Government article]. (n. d. ). Retrieved 2012, from The Norwegian Museum of Architecture website: http://www. norway. org/utnorway//// Hericher, A. -M. (1998). Norwegian medieval castles: Building on the edge of Europe. In Chateau gaillard (pp. 69-70). Brepols. History. (n. d. ). Background note: Norway [Database]. Retrieved from http://www. state. gov/////. htm Norway [Fact sheet]. (n. d. ). Retrieved from WeatherOnline Ltd. website: http://www. weatheronline. co. uk///. htm Norway –

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil essays

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil essays This film is an adaptation of John Berendts best selling novel and is directed by Clint Eastwood. The story is based on a series of true events involving an antique dealer named Jim Williams, played by Kevin Spacey. John Kelso, played by John Cusack, is a small time journalist sent down to Savannah to cover one of Williams elaborate Christmas parties for Town and Country magazine. Already we are beginning to see some similarities between Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil and my first text, The Keepers of Truth written by Michael Collins. Kelso like Bill, the main character from my first text is a journalist and is relatively unknown. Both characters seem to spend their time writing up pointless articles, which have no real significance to getting them anywhere where they want to be with their writing career. However in both texts a murder is the story that they have been looking for. In Bills case it was Ronny Lawton killing his old man and in the case of Kelso it was Jim Wil liams shooting his young male hustler lover. Both characters see these events as the break they have been waiting for and as something that could give their career the boost that it needs. Kelso plans to write a book about the whole incident and decides to spend time in the city of Savannah whilst Williamss court case proceeds. This brings up another similarity. Like The Keepers of Truth, Midnight is set in a relatively small American town. Each town is particularly quirky and the reasons for this are their inhabitants. Both texts are set around the early 80s but unlike the industrial death that Bills town is undergoing, Savannah seems to be travelling quite well in that department. The people of Savannah admire their surroundings whereas in The Keepers of Truth the residents dreaded their surroundings as it reminded them of what they once had. The actual setting of Savannah is similar to Bills town in size, location...

Rich Halloween Moviemakers Hire Cheap Copywriters

Rich Halloween Moviemakers Hire Cheap Copywriters Rich Halloween Moviemakers Hire Cheap Copywriters Rich Halloween Moviemakers Hire Cheap Copywriters By Guest Author This is a guest post by Kevin Craner. If you want to write for Daily Writing Tips check the guidelines here. What’s the scariest thing about Halloween II?   The chilling music?   The gore?   The sight of Michael Myers raising his blood-soaked knife to yet another helpless victim?   Well, if you care about grammar, the scariest thing is the blurb on the back of the DVD box.   Read it, and you’ll learn that Halloween Uncut grossed $80 million worldwide.   That’s plenty of money with which to hire the best copywriters, the best proofreaders, the best- well, the best everyone and everything.   So how did the error in the sentence below make it in to print? But the town’s got an unlikely new hero, if they can only stay alive long enough to stop the unstoppable. If you’re not sure what the error is, ask yourself this:  which word does the pronoun they replace?   You might think it replaces hero.   And on the face of it, that makes sense- after all, the hero is the one who will â€Å"stop the unstoppable.†Ã‚   But there’s a problem: it can’t replace hero, because hero is singular whereas they is plural. O.K, so if it doesn’t replace hero, it must replace town.   But there’s another problem: it can’t replace town, because town is also singular.   You know it’s singular because the writer used a singular verb (has rather than have).   Remove the contraction and this becomes clear: But the town has got an unlikely new hero The sentence is, therefore, a meaningless mess.   They refers to neither the town nor the hero.   The reader has to guess what the writer meant.   (If you’re wondering, there’s nothing in the preceding blurb to which the they could refer.) Remember: Whenever you use a pronoun, check that it agrees in number with the word that it replaces- that is, unless it’s Halloween and you want to scare an English teacher. U.K. resident Kevin Craner is a lawyer and writer.   He has written comedy for the BBC, and is a regular contributor to â€Å"Humor Press†- winning first place in its June/July 2009 competition.   He also writes a humor blog.   Ã‚   Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:100 Whimsical Words75 Idioms and Expressions That Include â€Å"Break†I wish I were...

Reading Responses 4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Reading Responses 4 - Essay Example She felt like she had nowhere to go, but standing still in her grief was not an option. â€Å"Two Kinds† – A young Chinese-American girl and her Chinese-born mother live together in America. The mother, who lost her first husband and children in China, seems to have pinned all her hopes on her stubborn daughter. Hopeful that her daughter will become a piano-playing genius, she forces her to take lessons – from a man who turns out to be deaf. The young girl fails miserably at the recital, she and her mother fight, before the young girl makes a mean comment about her mother’s now dead family. They never speak of the piano again, but when her mother dies, she plays one last time. This story surprised me with its sense of humor, especially with the mother who would constantly test her daughter to see if she had some strange gift, like the ability to guess the weather. â€Å"House on Mango Street† – This is a very short story about a girl explaini ng how her family once moved every year from one awful apartment to another, all while dreaming of the great home they would someday own. The house on Mango Street they own, but it is a sad little house, not much better than the last, and one they hope to move from soon. The nun in this story made me angry the way she acted shocked at the horrible condition of the girl’s former home.

Genetics assignment three Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Genetics assignment three - Essay Example refers to variant expression of chromosomes, parts of chromosomes, or individual genes, depending on any one of the two sexes from where they get inherited. For the achievement of imprinting, genetic materials can get modified during the process of gamete creation or near the beginning embryonic growth in any of the two sexes (Judd 33). Therefore, the imprinted genes determine the traits that are articulated in a different way than would be the expected case under distinctive Mendelian inheritance. This assertion is false since imprinting is not specifically activation of the Y chromosome because with imprinted genes one can inherit only one working copy of the gene both from the mother or a father (Judd 46). Therefore, depending on the gene, either the copy of the father or the mother, by addition of methyl groups at some stage during sperm or egg formation can epigenetically get silenced. b) Turner mosaicism could have arisen through errors in early fetal cell division that resulted in some of the cells having two complete copies of the X chromosome whereas the other have only one copy. The absent X chromosome results in developmental faults in the fetus. Judd, Sandra J.  Congenital Disorders Sourcebook: Basic Consumer Health Information about Nonhereditary Birth Defects and Disorders Related to Prematurity, Gestational Injuries, Congenital Infections, and Birth Complications, including Heart Defects, Hydrocephalus, Spina. 2nd ed. Detroit, MI: Omnigraphics, 2007.

Compare and contrast reform under Khrushchev and Gorbachev Essay

Compare and contrast reform under Khrushchev and Gorbachev - Essay Example 2009). In 1934 Khrushchev became a member of the partys central committee. He had a close link to Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, and after Stalins death in 1953 Khrushchev surfaced as the new leader. He started restructuring Stalins most atrocious extremes, and as he criticized some crimes of Stalin which was considered as a dramatic development. Khrushchev as well tried to create fresh dealings with the United States; in 1959 he visited the U.S. and met with President Eisenhower (answers.com. 2009). Khrushchev delivered his well-known secret speech in 1956 wherein he exposed the reality of a letter written by Lenin prior to his death. The letter was significant of Stalin’s misdeeds, and Khrushchev made use it as weapon to condemn Stalins rules and practices, mainly the purges that he supported. This denigration led to de-Stalinization, a course that led to reforms, for instance leniency towards government censorship of the press, transference of economic decision making, and streamlining of the cooperative farm. Concerning foreign policy, Khrushchev promoted ‘peaceful coexistence,’ and reduction of strain involving the United States and the Soviet Union. At the same time Khrushchev was condemned from the start for the recommended reforms, and his political and armed forces failure in the Cuban Missile Crisis made certain his loss of control. In addition, the majority of his reforms were not working by the early 1960s (phs.prs.k12.nj.us/ewood., N.D) The Khrushchev’s duration of rule did not limit itself to the financial system. Where as he went on to demonstrate how changing financial requirements were mirrored in the social and political ‘superstructure’. The most remarkable aspect after the Stalin period was the reduction of scare and the majority of the labour camps were out of terror and more relaxed. Essential basics of the rule of law were reinstated, as the

Procurement and supply chain management Essay Example for Free

Procurement and supply chain management Essay This Publication is concerned with the vital subject of business logistics and supply chain management, an area that can be essential to a firm’s competitive strategy and revenue generation. This management area has been described by many names, including physical distribution, materials management, transportation management, logistics, and supply chain management. Relevant business activities may include one or more of the following areas: transportation, inventory, order processing, purchasing, warehousing, materials handling, packaging, customer service standards, and production. The focus of this Publication is on the planning, organizing, and controlling of these activities key elements for successful management in any organization. Special emphasis is given to strategic planning and decision making as an important part of the management process. Managerial efforts are directed towards setting the level of the logistics activities so as to make products and services available to customers at the time and place required, and in the condition and form desired, in the most profitable and cost-effective way. Logistical activities have always been vital to organizations, and so business logistics and supply chain management represents a synthesis of many concepts, principles, and methods from the more traditional areas of marketing, production, accounting, purchasing, and transportation, as well as from the disciplines of applied mathematics, organizational behaviour, and economics. This Publication attempts to unify these elements to assist in the effective management of the supply chain. The Publication aims to present ideas, principles and techniques that are fundamental to good business logistics practice. It concentrates on important activities of management such as planning, organizing, and controlling, and also on a triangle of interrelated transportation, inventory, and location strategies, which are at the heart of good logistics planning and decision making. Contemporary trends that affect the scope and practice of business logistics and supply chain management have been integrated into the body of the text. Firstly, emphasis is placed on logistics and supply chain management in a worldwide setting to reflect the growing internationalization and globalization of business in general. Secondly, the shift towards service-oriented economies by industrialized nations is emphasized by showing how logistics concepts and principles are applicable to both service-producing tirms and product-producing ones. Thirdly, attention is given to the integrated management of supply chain activities. 1 LSCTMMOD1 Send for a FREE copy of our Prospectus book by airmail, telephone, fax or email, or via our website: Britain. International Headquarters: College House, Leoville, Jersey JE3 2DB, Britain Telefax: +44 (0)1534 485485 Email: [emailprotected] com Website: www. cambridgecollege. co. uk The Publication contains many practical and contemporary examples that show the applicability of the textual material and assist in the understanding and learning of the key points and concepts. Each Chapter in this Cambridge International College Publication on Logistics, Chain Supply Transport Management includes: †¢ An introduction section †¢ Examples and/or figures and diagrams to explain the concepts being covered †¢ A summary of concluding comments †¢ Review Questions designed to reinforce learning and contemplation of what is covered in the Chapter Advice on How to Study this Program Every individual CIC Member approaches his/her study in a different manner, and different people may have a particular study method that they find most effective for them. However, the following is a tested and proven Study Method, suggested to you as a CIC Member in order to assist in making your study and learning easier and enjoyable and to assist you to quickly master the contents of this CIC Publication on Logistics, Chain Supply Transport Management: Step 1: Set yourself a flexible study schedule, depending on the time you have available and what is best for you. For example, the target set could be to study for 1 or 2 hours a night, or for 8 or 9 hours a week, or to complete one Chapter every 2 weeks. There is no set or compulsory schedule, but simply setting a schedule or goal is often an important action in ensuring that study is undertaken successfully and within the specified timeframe. Step 2: Read the whole of the first Chapter at your normal reading pace, without trying to memorise every topic covered or fact stated, but trying to get â€Å"the feel† of what is dealt with in the Chapter as a whole. Step 3: Start reading the Chapter again from the beginning, this time reading more slowly, paragraph by paragraph and section by section. Make brief notes of any points, sentences, paragraphs or sections which you feel need your further study, consideration or thought. You may wish to keep any notes in a separate file or notebook. Try to absorb and memorise all the important topics covered. Step 4: Start reading the Chapter again from its start, this time paying particular attention to and if necessary studying more thoroughly those parts on which you earlier wrote notes for further study. It is best that you do not pass on to other parts or topics until you are certain you fully understand and remember those parts you earlier noted as requiring your special attention. Try to fix everything taught firmly in your mind. 2 LSCTMMOD1 Send for a FREE copy of our Prospectus book by airmail, telephone, fax or email, or via our website: Britain. International Headquarters: College House, Leoville, Jersey JE3 2DB, Britain Telefax: +44 (0)1534 485485 Email: [emailprotected] com Website: www. cambridgecollege. co. uk Step 5: There are self-assessment review questions at the end of the Chapter, and you are strongly advised to try to answer or think about them as best you can but do not send your answers to the College. If these questions/exercises highlight any areas that you feel you need to revise or re-read in the Chapter, then go ahead and do that before moving on to Step 6. Step 6: Once you have completed steps 1 to 5 above, move on to the next Chapter and repeat steps 1 to 5 for each subsequent Chapter. 3 LSCTMMOD1 Send for a FREE copy of our Prospectus book by airmail, telephone, fax or email, or via our website: Britain. International Headquarters: College House, Leoville, Jersey JE3 2DB, Britain Telefax: +44 (0)1534 485485 Email: [emailprotected] com Website: www. cambridgecollege. co. uk LOGISTICS, SUPPLY CHAIN TRANSPORT MANAGEMENT PROGRAM MODULE ONE BUSINESS LOGISTICS/SUPPLY CHAIN A VITAL SUBJECT (based on Chapter 1 of ‘Logistics, Supply Chain and Transport Management’ by Ronald H Ballou) Contents Introduction Business Logistics Defined The Supply Chain The Activity Mix Importance of Logistics/Supply Chain (SC) Costs Are Significant Logistics Customer Service Expectations Are Increasing Supply and Distribution Lines Are Lengthening with Greater Complexity Logistics/SC Is Important to Strategy Logistics/SC Adds Significant Customer Value Customers Increasingly Want Quick, Customized Response Logistics/SC in Non-Manufacturing Areas Service Industry Military Environment Business Logistics/SC in the Firm Objectives of Business Logistics/SC Questions and Problems Introduction As far back as history records, the goods that people wanted were not always produced where they wanted to consume them, or these goods were not accessible when people wanted to consume them. Food and other commodities were widely dispersed and were only available in abundance at certain times of the year. Early peoples had the choice of consuming goods at their immediate location or moving the goods to a preferred site and storing them for later use. However, because no well developed transportation and storage systems yet existed, the movement of goods was limited to what an individual could personally move, and storage of perishable commodities was possible for only a short time. This limited movement-storage system generally constrained people to live close to the sources of production and to consume a rather narrow range of goods. Even today, in some areas of the world consumption and production take place only within a very limited geographic region. Striking examples can still be observed in the developing nations of Asia, South America, Australia, and Africa, where some of the population live in small, self-sufficient villages, and most of the goods needed by the residents are produced or acquired in the immediate vicinity. Few goods are imported from other areas. Therefore, production efficiency and the economic standard of living are generally low. In this type of economy, a well-developed and inexpensive logistics system would encourage an exchange of goods with other producing areas of the country, or even the world. 4 LSCTMMOD1 Send for a FREE copy of our Prospectus book by airmail, telephone, fax or email, or via our website: Britain. International Headquarters: College House, Leoville, Jersey JE3 2DB, Britain Telefax: +44 (0)1534 485485 Email: [emailprotected] com Website: www. cambridgecollege. co. uk As logistics systems improved, consumption and production began to separate geographically. Regions would specialize in those commodities that could be produced most efficiently. Excess production could be shipped economically to other producing (or consuming) areas, and needed goods not produced locally were imported. This exchange process follows the principle of comparative advantage. This same principle, when applied to world markets, helps to explain the high level of international trade that takes place today. Efficient logistics systems allow world businesses to take advantage of the fact that lands, and the people who occupy them, are not equally productive. Logistics is the very essence of trade. It contributes to a higher economic standard of living for us all. To the individual firm operating in a high-level economy, good management of logistics activities is vital. Markets are often national or international in scope, whereas production may be concentrated at relatively few points. Logistics activities provide the bridge between production and market locations that are separated by time and distance. Effective management of these activities is the major concern of this Program. Business Logistic Defined Business logistics is a relatively new field of integrated management study in comparison with the traditional fields of finance, marketing, and production. As previously noted, logistics activities have been carried out by individuals for many years. Businesses also have continually engaged in movestore (transportation-inventory) activities. The newness of the field results from the concept of coordinated management of the related activities, rather than the historical practice of managing them separately, and the concept that logistics adds value to products or services that are essential to customer satisfaction and sales. Although co-ordinated logistics management has not been generally practiced until recently, the idea of co-ordinated management can be traced back to at least 1844. In the writings of Jules Dupuit, a French engineer, the idea of trading one cost for another (transportation costs for inventory costs) was evident in the selection between road and water transport: â€Å"The fact is that carriage by road being quicker, more reliable and less subject to loss or damage, it possesses advantage to which businessmen often attach a considerable value. However, it may well be that a saving induces the merchant to use a canal; he can buy warehouses and increase his floating capital in order to have a sufficient supply of goods on hand to protect himself against slowness and irregularity of the canal, and if all told the saving in transport gives him a cost advantage, he will decide in favour of the new route. † The first textbook to suggest the benefits of co-ordinated logistics management appeared around 1961, in part explaining why a generally accepted definition of business logistics is still emerging. Therefore, it is worthwhile to explore several definitions for the scope and content of the subject. A dictionary definition of the term logistics is: â€Å"The branch of military science having to do with procuring, maintaining, and transporting material, personnel, and facilities. † This definition puts logistics into a military context. To the extent that business objectives and activities differ from those of the military, this definition does not capture the essence of business logistics management. A better representation of the field may be reflected in the definition promulgated by the Council of Logistics Management (CLM), a professional organization of logistics 5 LSCTMMOD1 Send for a FREE copy of our Prospectus book by airmail, telephone, fax or email, or via our website: Britain. International Headquarters: College House, Leoville, Jersey JE3 2DB, Britain Telefax: +44 (0)1534 485485 Email: [emailprotected] com Website: www. cambridgecollege. co. uk managers, educators, and practitioners formed in 1962 for the purposes of continuing education and fostering the interchange of ideas. Its definition: â€Å"Logistics is that part of the supply chain process that plans, implements, and controls the efficient, effective flow and storage of goods, services, and related information from the point of origin to the point of consumption in order to meet customers’ requirements. † This is an excellent definition, conveying the idea that product flows are to be managed from the point where they exist as raw materials to the point where they are finally discarded. Logistics is also concerned with the flow of services as well as physical goods, an area of growing opportunity for improvement. It also suggests that logistics is a process, meaning that it includes all the activities that have an impact on making goods and services available to customers when and where they wish to acquire them. However, the definition implies that logistics is part of the supply chain process, not the entire process. So, what is the supply chain process or, more popularly, supply chain management? Supply chain management (SCM) is a term that has emerged in recent years that captures the essence of integrated logistics and even goes beyond it. Supply chain management emphasizes the logistics interactions that take place among the functions of marketing, logistics, and production within a firm and those interactions that take place between the legally separate firms within the product-flow channel. Opportunities for cost or customer service improvement are achieved through co-ordination and collaboration among the channel members where some essential supply chain activities may not be under the direct control of the logistician. Although early definitions such as physical distribution, materials management, industrial logistics and channel management all terms used to describe logistics have promoted this broad scope for logistics, there was little attempt to implement logistics beyond a company’s own enterprise boundaries, or even beyond its own internal logistics function. Now, retail firms are showing success in sharing information with suppliers, who in turn agree to maintain and manage inventories on retailers’ shelves. Channel inventories and product stockouts are lower. Manufacturing firms operating under just-in-time production scheduling build relationships with suppliers for the benefit of both companies by reducing inventories. Definitions of the supply chain and supply chain management reflecting this broader scope are: â€Å"The supply chain (SC) encompasses all activities associated with the flow and transformation of goods from the raw materials stage (extraction), through to the end user, as well as the associated information flows. Materials and information flow both up and down the supply chain. † â€Å"Supply chain management (SCM) is the integration of these activities, through improved supply chain relationships, to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. † After careful study of the various definitions being offered, Mentzer and other writers propose the broad and rather general definition as follows: â€Å"Supply chain management is defined as the systematic, strategic coordination of the traditional business functions and the tactics across these business functions within a particular company and across businesses within the supply chain, for the purposes of improving the long-term performance of the individual companies and the supply chain as a whole. † 6 LSCTMMOD1 Send for a FREE copy of our Prospectus book by airmail, telephone, fax or email, or via our website: Britain. International Headquarters: College House, Leoville, Jersey JE3 2DB, Britain Telefax: +44 (0)1534 485485 Email: [emailprotected] The supply chain management model in Figure 1-1 viewed as a pipeline shows the scope of this definition. It is important to note that supply chain management is about the co-ordination of product flows across functions and across companies to achieve competitive advantage and profitability for the individual companies in the supply chain and the supply chain members collectively. It is difficult, in a practical way, to separate business logistics management from supply chain management. In so many respects, they promote the same mission: â€Å"To get the right goods or services to the right place, at the right time, and in the desired condition, while making the greatest contribution to the firm. † Some claim that supply chain management is just another name for integrated business logistics management (IBLM) and that the broad scope of supply chain management has been promoted over the years. Conversely, others say that logistics is a subset of SCM, where SCM considers additional issues beyond those of product flow. For example, SCM may be concerned with product pricing and manufacturing quality. Although SCM promotes viewing the supply channel with the broadest scope, the reality is that firms do not practise this ideal. Fawcett and Magan found that companies that do practise supply chain integration limit their scope to one tier upstream and one tier downstream. The focus seems to be concerned with creating seamless processes within their own companies and applying new information technologies to improve the quality of information and speed of its exchange among channel members. The boundary between the logistics and supply chain management terms is fuzzy. Even then, logistics activities are repeated once again as used products are recycled upstream in the logistics channel. A single firm generally is not able to control its entire product flow channel from raw material source to points of the final consumption, although this is an emerging opportunity. For practical purposes, the business logistics for the individual firm has a narrower scope. Usually, the maximum managerial control that can be expected is over the immediate physical supply and physical distribution channels, as shown in Figure 1-2. The physical supply channel refers to the time and space gap between a firm’s immediate material sources and its processing points. Similarly, the physical distribution channel refers to the time and space gap between the firm’s processing points and its customers. Due to the similarities in the activities between the two channels, physical supply (more commonly referred to as materials management) 8 LSCTMMOD1 Send for a FREE copy of our Prospectus book by airmail, telephone, fax or email, or via our website: Britain. International Headquarters: College House, Leoville, Jersey JE3 2DB, Britain Telefax: +44 (0)1534 485485 Email: [emailprotected] com Website: www. cambridgecollege. co. uk and physical distribution comprise those activities that are integrated into business logistics. Business logistics management is now popularly referred to as supply chain management. Others have used terms such as value nets, value stream, and lean logistics to describe a similar scope and purpose. The evolution of the management of product flows toward SCM is captured in Figure 1-3. Although it is easy to think of logistics as managing the flow of products from the points of raw material acquisition to end customers, for many firms there is a reverse logistics channel that must be managed as well. The life of a product, from a logistics viewpoint, does not end with delivery to the customer. Products become obsolete, damaged, or nonfunctioning and are returned to their source points for repair or disposition. Packaging materials may be returned to the shipper due to environmental regulations or because it makes good economic sense to reuse them. The reverse logistics channel may utilize all or a portion of the forward logistics channel or it may require a separate design. The supply chain terminates with the final disposition of a product. The reverse channel must be considered to be within the scope of logistics planning and control. The Activity Mix The activities to be managed that make up business logistics (supply chain process) vary from firm to firm, depending on a firm’s particular organizational structure, management’s honest differences of opinion about what constitutes the supply chain for its business, and the importance of individual activities to its operations. Follow along the supply chain as shown in Figure 1-2 and note the important activities that take place. Again, according to the CLM: 9 LSCTMMOD1 Send for a FREE copy of our Prospectus book by airmail, telephone, fax or email, or via our website: Britain. International Headquarters: College House, Leoville, Jersey JE3 2DB, Britain Telefax: +44 (0)1534 485485 Email: [emailprotected] com Website: www. cambridgecollege. co. uk â€Å"The components of a typical logistics system are: customer service, demand forecasting, distribution communications, inventory control, material handling, order processing, parts and service support, plant and warehouse site selection (location analysis), purchasing, packaging, return goods handling, salvage and scrap disposal, traffic and transportation, and warehousing and storage. † Figure 1-4 organizes these components, or activities, according to where they are most likely to take place in the supply channel. The list is further divided into key and support activities, along with some of the decisions associated with each activity. Customer service standards co-operate with marketing to: a. Determine customer needs and wants for logistics customer service b. Determine customer response to service c. Set customer service levels 2. Transportation a. Mode and transport service selection b. Freight consolidation c. Carrier routing d. Vehicle scheduling e. Equipment selection f. Claims processing g. Rate auditing 3. Inventory management a. Raw materials and finished goods stocking policies b. Short-term sales forecasting c. Product mix at stocking points 10 LSCTMMOD1 Send for a FREE copy of our Prospectus book by airmail, telephone, fax or email, or via our website: Britain. International Headquarters: College House, Leoville, Jersey JE3 2DB, Britain Telefax: +44 (0)1534 485485 Email: [emailprotected] com Website: www. cambridgecollege. co. uk d. Number, size, and location of stocking points e. Just-in-time, push, and pull strategies 4. Information flows and order processing a. Sales order-inventory interface procedures b. Order information transmittal methods c. Ordering rules Support Activities 1. Warehousing a. Space determination b. Stock layout and dock design c. Warehouse configuration d. Stock placement 2. Materials handling a. Equipment selection b. Equipment replacement policies c. Order-picking procedures d. Stock storage and retrieval 3. Purchasing a. Supply source selection b. Purchase timing c. Purchase quantities 4. Protective packaging designed for: a. Handling b. Storage c. Protection from loss and damage 5. Co-operate with production/operations to: a. Specify aggregate quantities b. Sequence and time production output c. Schedule supplies for production/operations 6. Information maintenance a. Information collection, storage, and manipulation b. Data analysis Control procedures Key and support activities are separated because certain activities will generally take place in every logistics channel, whereas others will take place, depending on the circumstances, within a particular firm. The key activities are on the â€Å"critical† loop within a firm’s immediate physical distribution channel, as shown in Figure 1 to 5. They contribute most to the total cost of logistics or they are essential to the effective co-ordination and completion of the logistics task. 11 LSCTMMOD1 Send for a FREE copy of our Prospectus book by airmail, telephone, fax or email, or via our website: Britain. International Headquarters: College House, Leoville, Jersey JE3 2DB, Britain Telefax: +44 (0)1534 485485 Email: [emailprotected] com Website: www. cambridgecollege. co. uk Customer service standards set the level of output and degree of readiness to which the logistics system must respond. Logistics costs increase in proportion to the level of customer service provided, such that setting the standards for service also affects the logistics costs to support that level of service. Setting very high service requirements can force logistics costs to exceedingly high levels. Transportation and inventories maintenance are the primary cost-absorbing logistics activities. Experience has shown that each will represent one-half to two-thirds of total logistics costs. Transportation adds place value to products and services, whereas inventories maintenance adds time value. Transportation is essential because no modern firm can operate without providing for the movement of its raw materials or its finished products. This importance is underscored by the financial strains placed on many firms by such disasters as a national railroad strike or independent truckers’ refusal to move goods because of rate disputes. In these circumstances, markets cannot be served, and products back up in the logistics pipeline to deteriorate or become obsolete. Inventories are also essential to logistics management because it is usually not possible or practical to provide instant production or ensure delivery times to customers. They serve as buffers between supply and demand so that needed product availability may be maintained for customers while providing flexibility for production and logistics in seeking efficient methods for manufacture and distribution of the product. Order processing is the final key activity. Its costs usually are minor compared to transportation or inventory maintenance costs. Nevertheless, order processing is an important element in the total time that it takes for a customer to receive goods or services. It is the activity triggering product movement and service delivery. Although support activities may be as critical as the key activities in any particular circumstance, they are considered here as contributing to the logistics mission. In addition, one or more of the support activities may not be a part of the logistics activity mix for every firm. For example, products such as finished automobiles or commodities such as coal, iron ore, or gravel not needing the weather and security protection of warehousing will not require the warehousing activity, even though inventories are maintained. However, warehousing and materials handling are typically conducted wherever products are temporarily halted in their movement to the marketplace. 12 LSCTMMOD1 Send for a FREE copy of our Prospectus book by airmail, telephone, fax or email, or via our website: Britain. International Headquarters: College House, Leoville, Jersey JE3 2DB, Britain Telefax: +44 (0)1534 485485 Email: [emailprotected] com Website: www. cambridgecollege. co. uk Protective packaging is a support activity of transportation and inventory maintenance as well as of warehousing and materials handling because it contributes to the efficiency with which these other activities are carried out. Purchasing and product scheduling often may be considered more a concern of production than of logistics. However, they also affect the overall logistics effort, and specifically they affect the efficiency of transportation and inventory management. Finally, information maintenance supports all other logistics activities in that it provides the needed information for planning and control. The extended supply chain refers to those members of the supply channel beyond the firm’s immediate suppliers or customers. They may be suppliers to the immediate suppliers or customers of the immediate customers and so on until raw material source points or end customers are reached. It is important to plan and control the previously noted activities and information flows if they affect the logistics customer service that can be provided and the costs of supplying this service. Management of the extended supply chain has the potential of improving logistics performance beyond that of just managing the activities within the immediate supply chain. Importance of Logistics/Supply Chain Logistics is about creating value value for customers and suppliers of the firm, and value for the firm’s stakeholders. Value in logistics is primarily expressed in terms of time and place. Products and services have no value unless they are in the possession of the customers when (time) and where (place) they wish to consume them. For example, concessions at a sports event have no value to consumers if they are not available at the time and place that the event is occurring, or if inadequate inventories don’t meet the demands of the sports fans. Good logistics management views each activity in the supply chain as contributing to the process of adding value. If little value can be added, it is questionable whether the activity should exist. However, value is added when customers are willing to pay more for a product or service than the cost to place it in their hands. To many firms throughout the world, logistics has become an increasingly important value-adding process for a number of reasons. Costs Are Significant Over the years, several studies have been conducted to determine the costs of logistics for the whole economy and for the individual firm. There are widely varying estimates of the cost levels. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), logistics costs average about 12 percent of the 13 LSCTMMOD1 Send for a FREE copy of our Prospectus book by airmail, telephone, fax or email, or via our website: Britain. International Headquarters: College House, Leoville, Jersey JE3 2DB, Britain Telefax: +44 (0)1534 485485 Email: [emailprotected] com Website: www. cambridgecollege. co. uk world’s gross domestic product. Robert Delaney, who has tracked logistics costs for more than two decades, estimates that logistics costs for the U. S. economy are 9. 9 percent of the U. S. gross domestic product (GDP), or $921 billion. For the firm, logistics costs have ranged from 4 percent to over 30 percent of sales. The results from a cost survey of individual firms are shown in Table 1-3. Although the results show physical distribution costs at about 8 percent of sales, this survey does not include physical supply costs. Probably another one-third may be added to this total to represent average logistics costs for the firm at about 11 percent of sales. Over the last decade, physical distribution costs have ranged between 7 percent and 9 percent of sales. There may be a trend of increasing costs for individual firms, although Wilson and Delaney show over the same period that logistics costs as a percent of U. S. GDP have declined by about 10 percent. Logistics costs, substantial for most firms, rank second only to the cost of goods sold (purchase costs) that are about 50 percent to 60 percent of sales for the average manufacturing firm. Value is added by minimizing these costs and by passing the benefits on to customers and to the firm’s shareholders. Logistics Customer Service Expectations Are Increasing The Internet, just-in-time operating procedures, and continuous replenishment of inventories have all contributed to customers expecting rapid processing of their requests, quick delivery, and a high degree of product availability. According to the Davis Survey of hundreds of companies over the last decade, world-class competitors have average order cycle times (the time between when an order is placed and when it is received) of seven to eight days and line item fill rates of 90 percent to 94 percent. LogFac summarizes world-class logistics performance for domestic companies as: Error rates of less than one per 1,000 orders shipped Logistics costs of well under 5 percent of sales Finished goods inventory turnover of 20 or more times per year Total order cycle time of five working days Transportation cost of one percent of sales revenue or less, if products sold are over $5 per 500 gms As might be expected, the average company performs below these cost and customer service benchmarks, when compared with the statistics in Tables 1-3 and 1-4. Supply and Distribution Lines Are Lengthening with Greater Complexity The trend is toward an integrated world economy. Firms are seeking, or have developed, global strategies by designing their products for a world market and producing them wherever the low-cost 14 LSCTMMOD1 Send for a FREE copy of our Prospectus book by airmail, telephone, fax or email, or via our website: Britain. International Headquarters: College House, Leoville, Jersey JE3 2DB, Britain Telefax: +44 (0)1534 485485 Email: [emailprotected] com Website: www. cambridgecollege. co. uk raw materials, components, and labor can be found (e. g. , Ford’s Focus automobile), or they simply produce locally and sell internationally. In either case, supply and distribution lines are stretched, as compared with the producer who wishes to manufacture and sell only locally. Not only has the trend occurred naturally by firms seeking to cut costs or expand markets, but it is also being encouraged by political arrangements that promote trade. Examples of the latter are the European Union, the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between Canada, the United States, and Mexico, and the economic trade agreement among several countries of South America (MERCOSUR). Globalization and internationalization of industries everywhere will depend heavily on logistics performance and costs, as companies take more of a world view of their operations. As this happens, logistics takes on increased importance within the firm since its costs, especially transportation, become a larger part of the total cost structure. For example, if a firm seeks foreign suppliers for the raw materials that make up its final product or foreign locations to build its product, the motivation is to increase profit. Material and labor costs may be reduced, but logistics costs are likely to increase due to increased transportation and inventory costs. The â€Å"tradeoff†, as shown in Figure 1-6, may lead to higher profit by reducing materials, labour, and overhead costs at the expense of logistics costs and tariffs. â€Å"Outsourcing† adds value, but it requires careful management of logistics costs and product-flow times in the supply channel. Logistics/SC Is Important To Strategy Firms spend a great deal of time finding ways to differentiate their product offerings from those of their competitors. When management recognizes that logistics/SC affects a significant portion of a firm’s costs and that the result of decisions made about the supply chain processes yields different levels of customer service, it is in a position to use this effectively to penetrate new markets, to increase market share, and to increase profits. When a firm incurs the cost of moving the product toward the customer or making an inventory available in a timely manner, for the customer â€Å"value† has been created that was not there previously. It is value as surely as that created through the production of a quality product or through a low price. It is generally recognized that business creates four types of value in products or services. These are: form, time, place, and possession. Logistics creates two out of these four values. Manufacturing creates form value as inputs are converted to outputs, that is raw materials are transformed into finished goods. Logistics controls the time and place values in products, mainly through transportation, information flows, and inventories. Possession value is often considered the responsibility of marketing, engineering, and finance, where the value is created by helping customers acquire the product through such mechanisms as advertising (information), technical support, and terms of sale (pricing and credit availability). To the extent that SCM includes production, three out of the four values may be the responsibility of the logistics/supply chain manager. Customers Increasingly Want Quick, Customized Response Fast food retailers, automatic teller machines, overnight package delivery, and electronic mail on the Internet have led us as consumers to expect that products and services can be made available in increasingly shorter times. In addition, improved information systems and flexible manufacturing processes have led the marketplace toward mass customization. Rather than consumers having to accept the â€Å"one size fits all† philosophy in their purchases, suppliers are increasingly offering products that meet individual customer needs. Companies too have been applying the concept of quick response to their internal operations in order to meet the service requirements of their own marketing efforts. The quick response philosophy has been used to create a marketing advantage. Saks Fifth Avenue applied it, even though big profits are made through big margins and not on cost reductions that might be achieved from good logistics management. Supply chain costs may even rise, although the advantage is to more than cover these costs through increased profits. Logistics/SC in Non-manufacturing Areas It is perhaps easiest to think of logistics/SC in terms of moving and storing a physical product in a manufacturing setting. This is too narrow a view and can lead to many missed business opportunities. The logistics/SC principles and concepts learned over the years can be applied to such areas as service industries, the military, and even environment management. Service Industry The service sector of industrialized countries is large and growing. In the United States, over 70 percent of all jobs are in what the federal government classifies as the service sector. The size of this sector alone forces us to ask if logistics concepts are not equally applicable here as they are to the manufacturing sector. If they are, there is a tremendous untapped opportunity yet to be fulfilled. Many companies designated as service firms in fact produce a product. Examples include: McDonald’s Corporation (fast foods); Dow Jones Co. , Inc. (newspaper publishing); and Sears, Roebuck and Co. (merchandise retailing). These companies carry out all the typical supply chain activities of any manufacturing firm. However, for service companies such as Bank One (retail banking), Marriott Corporation (lodging) and Consolidated Edison (electric power), supply chain activities, 16 LSCTMMOD1 Send for a FREE copy of our Prospectus book by airmail, telephone, fax or email, or via our website: Britain. International Headquarters: College House, Leoville, Jersey JE3 2DB, Britain Telefax: +44 (0)1534 485485 Email: [emailprotected] com Website: www. cambridgecollege. co. uk especially those associated with physical distribution, are not as obvious. Even though many service-oriented companies may be distributing an intangible, nonphysical product, they do engage in many physical distribution activities and decisions. A hospital may want to extend emergency medical care throughout the community and must make decisions as to the locations of the centers. United Parcel Service and Federal Express must locate terminals and route pickup and delivery trucks. The East Ohio Gas Company inventories natural gas in underground wells during the off-season in the region where demand will occur. Bank One must locate and have cash inventory on hand for its ATMs. The Federal Reserve Bank must select the methods of transportation to move cancelled cheques among member banks. The Catholic Church must decide the number, location, and size of the churches needed to meet shifts in size and location of congregations, as well as to plan the inventory of its pastoral staff. Xerox’s repair service for copying equipment is also a good example of the logistics decisions encountered in a service operation. The techniques, concepts, and methods discussed throughout this Program should be as applicable to the service sector as they are to the manufacturing sector. The key, according to Theodore Levitt, may be in transforming an intangible service into a tangible product. Problems will remain in carefully identifying the costs associated with the distribution of an intangible product. Perhaps because of this, few service firms or organizations have a physical distribution manager on their staff, although they frequently do have a materials manager to handle supply matters. However, managing logistics in service industries does represent a new direction for the future development of logistics practice. Military Before businesses showed much interest in co-ordinating supply chain processes, the military was well organized to carry out logistics activities. More than a decade before business logistics’ developmental period, the military carried out what was called the most complex, best-planned logistics operation of that time-the invasion of Europe during World War II. Although the problems of the military, with its extremely high customer service requirements, were not identical with those of business, the similarities were great enough to provide a valuable experience base during the developmental years of logistics. For example, the military alone maintained inventories valued at about one-third of those held by all U. s. manufacturers. In addition to the management experience that such large-scale operations provide, the military sponsored, and continues to sponsor, research in the logistics area through such organizations as the RAND Corporation and the Office of Naval Research. With this background, the field of business logistics began to grow. Even the term logistics seems to have had its origins in the military. A recent example of military logistics on a large scale was the conflict between the United States and Iraq over Iraq’s invasion of the small country of Kuwait. This invasion has been described as the largest military logistics operation in history. The logistics support in that war is yet another illustration of what worldclass companies have always known: Good logistics can be a source of competitive advantage. Lt General William Pagonis, in charge of logistics support for Desert Storm, observed: â€Å"When the Middle East started heating up, it seemed like a good time to pull out some history books on desert warfare in this region . But there was nothing on logistics. Logistics is not a best seller. In a couple of his diaries, Rommel talked about logistics. He thought the Germans lost the battle not because they didn’t have great soldiers or equipment in fact, the German tanks outfought ours almost throughout World War II but because the British had better logistics. † 17 LSCTMMOD1 Send for a FREE copy of our Prospectus book by airmail, telephone, fax or email, or via our website: The first wave of 200,000 troops and their equipment was deployed in a month and a half, whereas troop deployment took nine months in the Vietnam conflict. In addition, the application of many good logistics concepts was evident. Take customer service, for example: â€Å"We believed that if we took care of our troops, the objectives would be accomplished no matter whatever else happened. The soldiers are our customers. It is no different than a determined, single focus on customers that many successful businesses have. Now, you take care of your soldiers not only by providing them cold sodas, and burgers, and good food: you make sure they have the ammunition on the front line, so that when they go fight the war they know they have what they need. † This meant that when 120 mm guns rather than 105 mm guns were desired on tanks, they were changed. When brown vehicles were preferred over the traditional camouflage green, they were repainted at the rate of 7,000 per month. Environment Population growth and resultant economic development have heightened our awareness of environmental issues. Whether it is recycling, packaging materials, transporting hazardous materials or refurbishing products for resale, logisticians are involved in a major way. After all, the United States alone produces more than 160 million tons of waste each year, enough for a convoy of 10-ton garbage trucks reaching halfway to the moon. In many cases, planning for logistics in an environmental setting is no different from that in manufacturing or service sectors. However, in a few cases additional complications arise, such as governmental regulations that make the logistics for a product more costly by extending the distribution channel. Business Logistics in the Firm It has been the tradition in many firms to organize around marketing and production functions. Typically, marketing means selling something and production means making something. Although few business people would agree that their organization is so simple, the fact remains that many businesses emphasize these functions while treating other activities, such as traffic, purchasing, accounting, and engineering, as support areas. Such an attitude is justified to a degree, because if a firm’s products cannot be produced and sold, little else matters. However, such a pattern is dangerously simple for many firms to follow in that it fails to recognize the importance of the activities that must take place between points and times of production or purchase and the points and times of demand. These are the logistics activities, and they affect the efficiency and effectiveness of both marketing and production. Scholars and practitioners of both marketing and production have not neglected the importance of logistics. In fact, each area considers logistics within its scope of action. For example, the following definition of marketing management includes physical distribution: â€Å"Marketing (management) is the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods, and services to create exchanges with target groups that satisfy individual and organizational objectives. † Marketing’s concern is to place its products or services in convenient distribution channels to facilitate the exchange process. The concept of production/ operations management often includes logistics activities. Now, viewing product flow activities as a process to be coordinated, product flow aspects within marketing, production, and logistics are collectively managed to achieve customer service objectives. The difference in operating objectives (maximize revenue versus minimize cost) for marketing and production/operations may lead to a fragmentation of interest in, and responsibility for, logistics activities, as well as a lack of co-ordination among logistics activities as a whole. This, in turn, may lead to lower customer service levels or higher total logistics costs than are necessary. Business logistics represents a regrouping, either by formal organizational structure or conceptually in the minds of management, of the move-store activities that historically may have been partially under the control of marketing and production/ operations. If logistics activities are looked upon as a separate area of managerial action, the relationship of logistics activities to those of marketing and production/ operations would be as is shown in Figure 1-7. Marketing would be primarily responsible for market research, promotion, sales-force management, and the product mix, which create possession value in the product. Production/ operations would be concerned with the creation of the product or service, which creates form value in the product. Key responsibilities would be quality control, production planning and scheduling, job design, capacity planning, maintenance, and work measurement and standards. Logistics would be concerned with those activities (previously defined) that give a product or service time and place value. This separation of the activities of the firm into three groupings rather than two is not always necessary or advisable to achieve the coordination of logistics activities that is sought. Marketing and production/operations, when broadly conceived and co-ordinated, can do an effective job of managing logistics activities without creating an additional organizational entity. Even if a separate functional area is created for logistics within the firm so as to achieve effective control of the firm’s immediate logistics activities, logisticians will need to view their responsibility as one of coordinating the entire supply chain process rather than being just a local logistics activity administrator. To do otherwise may miss substantial opportunities for cost reduction and logistics customer service improvement. The interface is created by the arbitrary separation of a firm’s activities into a limited number of functional areas. Managing the interface activities by one function alone can lead to sub-optimal performance for the firm by subordinating broader company goals to individual functional goals-a potential danger resulting from the departmental form of organizational structure so common in companies today. To achieve interfunctional coordination, some measurement system and incentives for cooperation among the functions involved need to be established. This is equally true of the inter-organizational co-ordination required to manage product flows across company boundaries. It is important to note, however, that establishing a third functional group is not without its disadvantages. Two functional interfaces now exist where only one between marketing and production/ operations previously existed. Some of the most difficult administrative problems arise from the interfunctional conflicts that occur when one is attempting to manage interface activities. Some of this potential conflict may be dissipated if a new organizational arrangement is created whereby production/ operations and logistics are merged into one group called supply chain. Just as managers are beginning to understand the benefits of interfunctional logistics management, inter-organizational management is being encouraged. Supply chain management proponents who view the area more broadly than some logisticians have been strongly promoting the need for collaboration among supply channel members that are outside the immediate control of a company’s  logistician, that is, members who are legally separate companies. Collaboration among the channel members that are linked through buyer-seller relationships is essential to achieving cost-service benefits unable to be realized by managers with strictly an internal view of their responsibilities. Supply chain managers consider themselves to have responsibility for the entire supply channel of the scope as illustrated in Figure 1-8. Managing in this broader environment is the new challenge for the contemporary logistician. Objectives of Business Logistics/SC Within the broader objectives of the firm, the business logistician seeks to achieve supply channel process goals that will move the firm toward its overall objectives. Specifically, the desire is to develop a logistics activity mix that will result in the highest possible return on investment over time. There are two dimensions to this goal: (1) the impact of the logistics system design on the revenue contribution, and (2) the operating cost and capital requirements of the design. Ideally, the logistician should know how much additional revenue would be generated through incremental improvements.