Final Paper

Cost is flexible in hosing the kind of product to sell in different country, so that those products can meet the right demand of the customers from that particular country. Going global is a big decision, so Cost must take close observations into many different countries and those markets before deciding the best country operate its business. Location is considered as one of the crucial factors that lead to a business's success. The business should consider any tangible or intangible costs, political or climate risks, and the proximity to suppliers.There are four methods to choose a location: factor rating, location break- even analysis, center of gravity, and transportation model. In this case, I feel like Cost has applied the center of gravity method, which means finding a location of the single distribution center serving several destinations. Cost is operating as a warehouse or retailer, so it definitely wants to find the location that is near to households and other types of bus inesses. In that way, it can act as the main source of distribution to other businesses.Besides carrying variety kinds of products, Cost also has great services in different areas. Some of them are auto program, health and dental plans, payroll services, boat and REV loans, mortgage purchase and refinancing, etc. These services are very benefiting for customers' daily life. With the hope of keep growing and improving, Cost really value customers' feedback on any kind of service that they provided. Cost always wants to bring the best services and high quality products to its customers.Cost truly value quality because it always wants to bring the best things its customers. Every product that is delivered to Cost warehouses needs to go through a quality checking yester. Everything includes groceries, appliances, automotive supplies, tires, toys, hardware, jewelry, electronics, books, clothes, health and beauty aids, tobacco, wines, furniture. Cost is known for carrying top quality nati onal and regional brands, with a hundred percent satisfaction guaranteed, at prices consistently below traditional wholesale or retail outlets.When having quality as the top thing in the list, Cost must ensure that it has an efficient inventory management system. Managing inventory is important because it keeps track of the number of inventory need of everyday, reduce the shrinkage, and avoid out of stock situation. Just-in-time (IT) is a Japanese term that describes the method of inventory control to help increase efficiency and reduce costs by receiving goods only as needed. The method requires the producers must be able to accurately forecast the demand. Cost is applying this very well.The inventory is well managed; out- of-stock and shrinkage has never a problem to Cost, because it acts as a store and also a warehouse; therefore it can hold the goods for long. Some businesses also choose Cost as their supplier, so they will buy in bulk at the rower price. Cost is not only good a t managing inventory, but it also has a great supply chain management strategy. What Cost does is sharing detailed inventory and sales data with its brand suppliers. These suppliers, in turn, are responsible for stocking the product on Cost's shelves.This helps to eliminate the potential for a bullwhip to develop as suppliers can make accurate orders to refill the stock. Cost is incentive to provide timely, accurate data to its suppliers and suppliers are persuaded to reorder appropriate quantities of Cost. Additionally, both companies benefit by avian a more reliable system to keep products on shelves for consumers. Every business needs an appropriate process design so that it can meet the customers' requirements within the cost constraints.Among the five transformational systems -? job shop, flow shop, product focused, main customization, and project focused, Cost belongs to the product focused system. This means there are more standardized products, with high volumes, but it shou ld keep a consistent quality, and emphasizes on low cost. Products and services play an important role in an organization, but we just never forget the workforce is also an essential factor. Human resources department (HER) is where the business recruiting and training its employees.In 2006, Cost had 71 ,OHO full-time employees and 56,000 part-time employees; and I believe these numbers have increased a lot since then. When hiring new employees, Cost should give some sort of job specialization to everyone, which describes the requirements of certain position that Cost is offering, and a little information on the salary. From that, the people who find he/she is fitting in certain qualifications will apply or the position. Cost is one of a few retailers that pay and treat well to its employees.According to Jim Senegal, â€Å"having a well-compensated workforce was very important to executing Cost's strategy successfully. † By providing many benefits to the employees, it also br ings Cost a significant advantage, because everyone knows that Cost pay the highest wage, and also a retailer that treats employees nicely and fairly. Besides paying high wages, Cost also provide many sources of motivation to its employees, such as awards ND bonuses; in order to make the job becomes more interesting, Cost should change its motivation regularly. Final Paper Cost is flexible in hosing the kind of product to sell in different country, so that those products can meet the right demand of the customers from that particular country. Going global is a big decision, so Cost must take close observations into many different countries and those markets before deciding the best country operate its business. Location is considered as one of the crucial factors that lead to a business's success. The business should consider any tangible or intangible costs, political or climate risks, and the proximity to suppliers.There are four methods to choose a location: factor rating, location break- even analysis, center of gravity, and transportation model. In this case, I feel like Cost has applied the center of gravity method, which means finding a location of the single distribution center serving several destinations. Cost is operating as a warehouse or retailer, so it definitely wants to find the location that is near to households and other types of bus inesses. In that way, it can act as the main source of distribution to other businesses.Besides carrying variety kinds of products, Cost also has great services in different areas. Some of them are auto program, health and dental plans, payroll services, boat and REV loans, mortgage purchase and refinancing, etc. These services are very benefiting for customers' daily life. With the hope of keep growing and improving, Cost really value customers' feedback on any kind of service that they provided. Cost always wants to bring the best services and high quality products to its customers.Cost truly value quality because it always wants to bring the best things its customers. Every product that is delivered to Cost warehouses needs to go through a quality checking yester. Everything includes groceries, appliances, automotive supplies, tires, toys, hardware, jewelry, electronics, books, clothes, health and beauty aids, tobacco, wines, furniture. Cost is known for carrying top quality nati onal and regional brands, with a hundred percent satisfaction guaranteed, at prices consistently below traditional wholesale or retail outlets.When having quality as the top thing in the list, Cost must ensure that it has an efficient inventory management system. Managing inventory is important because it keeps track of the number of inventory need of everyday, reduce the shrinkage, and avoid out of stock situation. Just-in-time (IT) is a Japanese term that describes the method of inventory control to help increase efficiency and reduce costs by receiving goods only as needed. The method requires the producers must be able to accurately forecast the demand. Cost is applying this very well.The inventory is well managed; out- of-stock and shrinkage has never a problem to Cost, because it acts as a store and also a warehouse; therefore it can hold the goods for long. Some businesses also choose Cost as their supplier, so they will buy in bulk at the rower price. Cost is not only good a t managing inventory, but it also has a great supply chain management strategy. What Cost does is sharing detailed inventory and sales data with its brand suppliers. These suppliers, in turn, are responsible for stocking the product on Cost's shelves.This helps to eliminate the potential for a bullwhip to develop as suppliers can make accurate orders to refill the stock. Cost is incentive to provide timely, accurate data to its suppliers and suppliers are persuaded to reorder appropriate quantities of Cost. Additionally, both companies benefit by avian a more reliable system to keep products on shelves for consumers. Every business needs an appropriate process design so that it can meet the customers' requirements within the cost constraints.Among the five transformational systems -? job shop, flow shop, product focused, main customization, and project focused, Cost belongs to the product focused system. This means there are more standardized products, with high volumes, but it shou ld keep a consistent quality, and emphasizes on low cost. Products and services play an important role in an organization, but we just never forget the workforce is also an essential factor. Human resources department (HER) is where the business recruiting and training its employees.In 2006, Cost had 71 ,OHO full-time employees and 56,000 part-time employees; and I believe these numbers have increased a lot since then. When hiring new employees, Cost should give some sort of job specialization to everyone, which describes the requirements of certain position that Cost is offering, and a little information on the salary. From that, the people who find he/she is fitting in certain qualifications will apply or the position. Cost is one of a few retailers that pay and treat well to its employees.According to Jim Senegal, â€Å"having a well-compensated workforce was very important to executing Cost's strategy successfully. † By providing many benefits to the employees, it also br ings Cost a significant advantage, because everyone knows that Cost pay the highest wage, and also a retailer that treats employees nicely and fairly. Besides paying high wages, Cost also provide many sources of motivation to its employees, such as awards ND bonuses; in order to make the job becomes more interesting, Cost should change its motivation regularly.

Seven Eleven Case

http://zh. scribd. com/doc/45901851/Study-Questions-2 Questions 1. A CONVENIENCE STORE CHAIN ATTEMPTS TO BE RESPONSIVE AND PROVIDECUSTOMERS WHAT THEY NEED, WHEN THEY NEED IT, WHERE THEY NEED IT. WHAT ARESOME DIFFERENT WAYS THAT A CONVENIENCE STORE SUPPLY CHAIN CAN BERESPONSIVE? WHAT ARE SOME RISKS IN EACH CASE? 1. 1 As responsiveness increases, the convenience store chain is exposed to greater uncertainty. A convenience store chain can improve responsiveness to this uncertainty using one of the following strategies, especially for fresh and fast foods:Local Capacity. The convenience store chain can provide local cooking capacity at the stores and assemble foods almost on demand. Inventory would be stored as raw material. This is seen at the U. S. fast-food restaurant franchise Subway where dinner and lunch sandwiches are assembled on demand. The main risk with this approach is that capacity is decentralized, leading to poorer utilization. Local Inventory. Another approach is to have all inventory available at the store at all times. This allows for the centralization of cooking capacity.The main risk is obsolete inventory and the need for extra space. Rapid Replenishment. Another approach is to set up rapid replenishment and supply the stores with what they need when they need it. This allows for centralization of cooking capacity and low levels of inventory, but increases the cost of replenishment and receiving. 1. 2 As responsiveness increases, the convenience store chain is exposed to greater uncertainty. A convenience store chain can improve responsiveness to this uncertainty using one of the following strategies, especially for fresh and fast foods:1. Local Capacity.The convenience store chain can provide local cooking capacity at the stores and assemble foods almost on demand. Inventory would be stored as raw material. This is seen at the U. S. fast-food restaurant franchise Subway where dinner and lunch sandwiches are assembled on demand. The main risk w ith this approach is that capacity is decentralized, leading to poorer utilization. 2. Local Inventory Another approach is to have all inventory available at the store at all times. This allows for the centralization of cooking capacity. The main risk is obsolete inventory and the need for extra space. . Rapid Replenishment Another approach is to set up rapid replenishment and supply the stores with what they need when they need it. This allows for centralization of cooking capacity and low levels of inventory, but increases the cost of replenishment and receiving. From the case study, Seven-eleven Japan Co. had provided their customers a variety of service that is difference responsive way from usual convenience store concept. 1. 7dream. comSeven-Eleven Japan established an e-commerce company which their customer can choose the product at home and pick the product at the store.Because from the survey, 92% of its customers preferred to pick up their online purchase at the local conv enience store rather than have them delivered at home. Since Seven-Eleven Japan have the distribution system that conforms with these drop and pick up system. So Seven-Eleven serve as drop-off and collection points for Japanese people. Instead of providing customers at that time the need is happen, the customers can choose the product at home and then pick up the product later at the store.The risk of this case is normally Seven-Eleven Japan established this system as a way to derive benefit from the existing distribution system. If in the future this system is popular among the Japanese, the capacity of the existing distribution system may not be enough to serve the customers such as a space to storage the goods waiting for customers to pick up (the store in Japan is smaller than other country)2. In-Store Payment Instead of selling household goods, food and groceries, a convenience store can be responsive as a payment spot.Seven-Eleven Japan add a variety of services that customers can obtain at its stores for example an in-store payment of Tokyo Electric Power bills, gas, insurance premiums, and telephone. In order to attracted millions of additional customers every year and take advantage of opening hour and number of stores to service customer. The risk of this case is when the company adopt this service every Seven-Eleven store Japan have to link with the data of the payment such as electric bill. If the employees not fully understand how the ystem works, he or she will misunderstand and take too long to serve customer. Result in lower customer satisfaction and can link to overall brand dissatisfaction. Some customer will stop buying at Seven-Eleven because the long waiting time. 2. SEVEN-ELEVEN'S SUPPLY CHAIN STRATEGY IN JAPAN CAN BE DESCRIBED ASATTEMPTING TO MICRO-MATCH SUPPLY AND DEMAND USING RAPID REPLENISHMENT. WHAT ARE SOME RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS CHOICE? 2. 1The main risk for Seven-Eleven is the potentially high cost of transportation and receiv ing at stores. 2. By using rapid replenishment system, Seven-Eleven Japan store can manage lower inventory in the store and higher shelf space available. This fit for Seven-Eleven in Japan because of smaller size of the store. But it still have some risk in case of a very fluctuated demand, when the demand raise to a very high level the inventory that the store stock might not be enough to serve customers demand. This situation will lead to loss of a sale and lower customer’s satisfaction. The rapid replenishment is a core concept to lean thinking.It’s how you can manage the flow of inventory and how you can shorten the cycle time between each delivery. Which mean seven eleven will deliver more often and the quantity of the product between each deliver will depend on the demand of the customer that forecast from the Point Of Sale and previous Data. It allowed seven eleven to be able to control their inventory level because when they deliver more often they can deliver just few amounts at a time. Therefore there are also some risks associated with this system.First, even though the rapid replenishment is a good system but the cost of replenishing and receiving is high. It’s because the system that require to put the rapid replenishment become efficient, for example they have to install the point of sale system to generate the sale information to the dc and supplier so they can deliver the good that fit for the curtain demand. For the receiving they also have to have the product scanner to scan the product when it arrives to the store. All of that equipment that’s required will raise the cost of the replenishing and receiving.Furthermore, the receiving cost also high because of the number of the delivery that higher too. Second, even though rapid replenishment helps seven eleven to maintain their inventory level that drive by the demand of the customer, to save their inventory cost. Sometime it might be risk in the shorten of inventor y(backlogs) because when seven eleven tried to micro match the demand and supply, seven eleven have to rely on the past purchasing data and the point of sale data. To be able to generate the demand forecast to deliver the product to each of seven eleven chain store.What if the demand has become so fluctuate to the point that it over their inventory level, that time seven eleven will be suffer from the empty shelf. As you know that the favorite items from seven eleven are such as lunchbox, rice ball and sandwich, so most likely if the consumer come during the high demand won’t have the food to consume. So most likely the consumer will go to other convenience store to buy the food to serve their need in that curtain time. If this scenario happen more that few time, the consumer most likely to switch the convenient store.That’s why this is also the risk that seven eleven has to face and try to overcome in order to maintain their competitive advantage. Third, the risk that they have to face is that they will not have the economics of scale in production because when they apply the rapid replenishment, the suppliers will only produce the product to match the need of the store when they need it. They won’t produce the same item for the large amount, which is if they produce in that way they won’t have to suffer from the set up cost in each batch that they have to produce.Fourth, even though the rapid replenishment will lower the transportation but seven eleven still have to concern about the gas price because if the gas price raise it will again increase their operation cost. Then again seven eleven won’t be able to raise their product price to serve that cost too due to the incentive competition in the convenience market. Fifth, Due to the system that when the trucks deliver the product to the store, there will be only the store people who scan and check the product in to the system. There will be no way of detecting the feud.The replenishment system worked on trust and did not require the delivery person to be present when the store personnel scanned in the delivery. This is a very risky system because store personnel may stoles the products. It can cause company loss in a million. 3. WHAT HAS SEVEN-ELEVEN DONE IN ITS CHOICE OF FACILITY LOCATION, INVENTORYMANAGEMENT, TRANSPORTATION, AND INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE TO DEVELOPCAPABILITIES THAT SUPPORT ITS SUPPLY CHAIN STRATEGY IN JAPAN? 3 .1 All choices made by Seven-Eleven are structured to lower its transportation and receiving costs.For example, its area-dominance strategy of opening at least 50 to 60 stores in an area helps with marketing butalso lowers the cost of replenishment. All manufacturing facilities are centralized to get the maximum benefit of capacity aggregation and also lower the inbound transportation cost from the manufacturer to thedistribution center (DC). Seven-Eleven also requires all suppliers to deliver to the DC where products aresort ed by temperature. This reduces the outbound transportation cost because of aggregation of deliveriesacross multiple suppliers. It also lowers the receiving cost.The information infrastructure is set up to allowstore managers to place orders based on analysis of consumption data. The information infrastructure alsofacilitates the sorting of an order at the DC and receiving of the order at the store. The key point toemphasize here is that most decisions by Seven-Eleven are structured to aggregate transportation andreceiving to make both cheaper. 3 .2 ? Filling in the entire map of Japan is not our priority. Instead, we look for demand where Seven-Eleven storesalready exist, based on our fundamental area dominance strategy of concentrating stores in specific areas.? hisabove statement shown that to ensure that the support of Seven-Eleven Japan ¶s facility location to its supply chain strategy, Seven-Eleven Japan has based its fundamental network expansion policy on a market dominanc estrategy. Wherever Seven-Eleven Japan entries into any new market, it was built around a cluster of 50  ± 60 storessupported by a distribution center. The main reason of applying cluster strategy, it is that clustering gave Seven-Eleven Japan a high-density market presence and allowed it to operate an efficient distribution system.There areseveral benefits of implementing the market-dominance strategy including such as boosting distributionefficiency, improved brand awareness, increasing the system efficiency, enhancing efficiency of franchise supportservices, improving advertising effectiveness and preventing competitors ¶ entrance into the dominant area. For inventory management, what Seven-Eleven Japan had done to develop capability that support its supply chain strategy is to offer its stores a choice from a set of 5,000 stock keeping units and each store could carry onaverage about 3,000 stock keeping units depending upon the local customer demand.Seven-Eleven emphasizedre gional merchandizing to cater precisely to local preferences. Each store carries food items, beverages,magazines, and consumer items such as soaps, detergents, etc. The highest generated sale of Seven-Eleven is under food category, and under Seven-Eleven Japan concept, thefood items were classified in four broad categories including Chilled items such as sandwiches, delicatessenproducts, and milk; Warm items such as box lunches, rice balls, and fresh bread; Frozen items such as ice-cream,frozen foods, and ice cubes; and Room-temperature items such as canned food, instant noodles, and seasonings.The efficiency in managing the inventory of Seven Eleven Japan could be proved by the resulted of inventory turnover rate is equal to over 50 when comparing to the second largest Seven Eleven in the United States is only about 17 in 2003. For transportation or distribution system of Seven Eleven Japan, the system was tightly linked the entire supply chain for all product categories as Seven E leven distribution centers and the information network played a key role in that regard.Its main objective is to carefully track sales of items and offer short replenishment cycle times. In 1987, Seven Eleven Japan had offered three times daily store delivery of all rice dishes and twice a day for freshfood. Its distribution system was flexible enough to alter delivery schedules depending on customer demand. When a store placed an order, it was immediately transmitted to the supplier as well as the distribution center. The supplier received orders from all Seven Eleven stores and started production to fill the orders.The supplierthen sent the orders by truck to the distribution center. The key to store delivery was what Seven Eleven calledthe combined delivery system. At the distribution center, delivery of like products from different suppliers was directed into a single temperaturecontrolled truck. There were four categories of temperature-controlled trucks such as frozen foods, c hilled food,room temperature processed foods, and warm foods. The number of stores per truck depended on the sales volume.The system worked on trust and did not require the delivery person to be present when the storepersonnel scanned in the delivery; this helps to reduce the delivery time spent at each store. Based on theinformation, it shown that Seven Eleven has continuously improve its transportation and distribution system,since 1974, there were 70 vehicles visited each store every day but later on in 1994, there were only 11 vehiclesnecessary. This dramatically reduced delivery costs and enabled rapid delivery of a variety of fresh foods.In2004, Seven Eleven Japan had a total of 290 dedicated manufacturing plants throughout the country that only produced fast food for Seven Eleven stores. The items were distributed through 293 dedicated distributioncenters that ensure rapid and reliable delivery. None of there distribution centers carried any inventory, they merely transferred inventory from supplier trucks to Seven Eleven distribution trucks. Transfleet Ltd. , a company set up by Mitsui and Co. for exclusive use of Seven Eleven Japan, provided this transportation.For information infrastructure, Seven Eleven Japan attributed a significant part of its success to the TotalInformation System installed in every outlet network linking the head office, stores, and the Seven Elevendistribution centers. Until July 1991, only a traditional analog network linked these chains. Later on, anintegrated services digital network or ISDN was installed, linking more than 5,000 stores; it became one of the world ¶s largest ISDN system. This system enables Seven Eleven to collect, process, and feed back point of salesdata quickly. Sales data generated in each stores by 11. 0p. m. , was processed and ready for analysis the nextmorning. In 1997, Seven Eleven Japan was introduced its fifth generation of the Total Information System, which was stillin use in 2004, the hardwar e system included as the following; Graphic Order Terminal, this was a handleddevice with a wide-screen graphic display, use by the store owner or manager to place the order. Once all theorders were placed, the terminal was returned to its slot, at which point the orders were relayed by the storecomputer to both the appropriate vendor and the Seven Eleven distribution center.Scanned Terminal, thesescanners read bar codes and recorded inventory. They were used to receive product coming in from a distribution center. This was then automatically checked against a previously placed order and the two were reconciled. Thisscanner terminal was also used when examining inventory at stores. Store Computer, this linked to the ISDN network, the POS register, the graphic order terminal, and the scannerterminal. It communicated between the various input sources, tracked store inventory and sales, places orders,provided detailed analysis of POS data, and maintained and regulated store equipment.P OS register; this POSdata was automatically transmitted online to a host computer. All sales data collected by 11. 00p. m. was organizedand ready for analysis by the next morning. The data was evaluated on a company wide, district, and store basis. Due to Seven Eleven done in its choice of information infrastructure to develop capability that support its supply chain strategy, the information system allowed Seven Eleven store to better match supply with demand. Storestaff could adjust the merchandising mix on the shelves according to consumption patterns throughout the day.The identification of slow and non-moving items also allowed a store to convert shelf space to introduce new items. 4. SEVEN-ELEVEN DOES NOT ALLOW DIRECT STORE DELIVERY IN JAPAN, WITH ALLPRODUCTS FLOWING THROUGH ITS DISTRIBUTION CENTER. WHAT BENEFIT DOES SEVEN-ELEVEN DERIVE FROM THIS POLICY? WHEN IS DIRECT STORE DELIVERY MOREAPPROPRIATE? 4. 1 Direct store delivery (DSD) would lower the utilization of the outbound trucks from the Seven-ElevenDC. It would also increase the receiving costs at the stores because of the increased deliveries.Thus,Seven-Eleven forces all suppliers to come in through the DC. DSD is most appropriate when stores arelarge and nearly-full truck load quantities are coming from a supplier to a store. This was the case, for example, in large U. S. Home Depot stores. For smaller stores it is almost always beneficial to have anintermediate aggregation point to lower the cost of freight. In fact, Home Depot itself is setting up theseintermediate facilities for its new stores that are often smaller. 4. There has been useful advantage of Seven-Eleven upon CDC and DSD as the centers allow smoothing of distribution operation to the stores and the provision of better quality and better information on supply anddeliveries is available and there was control of the supply chain as achieved. The presence of technology like theadaptation of the POS system can possibly move ahead and do aid the store employment and managementsituation by freeing up staff time. Seven-Eleven U. S. has begun introduce the Combined Distribution Center daily delivery of fresh-prepared foodsaround 2000.By partnering with multiple food companies, the convenience retailer will be able to offer fresh-made-daily and delivered-fresh-daily pastries, gourmet sandwiches, wraps, entrees, as well as other perishableand ready-to-eat foods once a day. This was a challenge because the CDCs are operated by several different third-party partners, and Seven-Eleven felt it did not have effective metrics for comparing performance to a reliable benchmark. This was due to many factors, including different facility sizes, building layouts and the variety of products handled by each CDC. pros yAdded choices to customers in perishable consuming. Seven-Eleven can add other specialty items to its selectionsuch as fruit salads, seasonal whole and cut fruit, fresh-squeezed juices and produce from a farmer ¶s ma rket. Theconsumers can easily get the fresh perishable products near their house. y Daily delivery means just that Seven-Eleven stores can place orders to the CDC and get fresh product by sortingfor delivery to stores at every night y With the company ¶s proprietary retail information system, each store can customize its order to provide the exactitems the customers in their neighborhood want. Receiving fewer deliveries to your store during the day. In this advantages, the stores no need to waste the time tocheck through each delivery because all needed products will be set up and combined since the DistributionCenters. y Expedite business for local food companies, which can now make one delivery to a central location fordistribution to local stores. y Reduce the holding Inventory Cost. Stores can order just the amount they sell in a day or two, so they don ¶t haveproduct sitting around on the shelves.That means that they can guarantee the freshness in the perishableproducts at Seven-Eleven. y The staffs are able to consolidate work and spend more time with your customers, growing your business. As they will check the stock and place the order to the CDC and receive the product at night. y The suppliers can delivery in large amount with one full truck load as there has a store big enough to keep theproducts with the method to keep the product longer and still perish. C ons y Much lower density (hence longer distance) of U. S. Seven-Eleven stores.Deliver a few product everyday may using too much cost with the longer distance of each branch. Need to increase density, even though setting upown system only reduce problems by eliminating delivers y Increase transportation cost at stores because of increased delivers. As Distribution Centers need to deliver theproduct everyday with a few amounts in order to keep the freshness of the product. y Losing the economics of scale advantages, as Seven-Eleven need to order the product everyday in the feweramounts. y H ig h costs of keeping the products as some products need a specific temperature to keep them 5.WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE 7DREAM CONCEPT FOR SEVEN-ELEVEN JAPAN? FROM A SUPPLY CHAIN PERSPECTIVE, IS IT LIKELY TO BE MORE SUCCESSFUL IN JAPANOR THE UNITED STATES? WHY? 7dream makes sense given that Japanese customers are happy to receive their shipments at the localconvenience store. From a logistics perspective, online deliveries can piggy back on Seven-Eleven AaA? s existing distribution network in Japan. Deliveries from the online supplier can be broughtto the DC where they are sorted along with other deliveries destined for a store.This should increase theutilization of outbound transportation allowing Seven-Eleven to offer a lower cost alternative to having a package carrier deliver the product at home. The primary negatives are that 7dream will use up storagespace and require the store to be able to retrieve specific packages for customers. One can argue that the concept may be more s uccessful in Japan given the existing distribution network of Seven-Eleven and the frequency of visits by customers. Online delivery is able to link with the existingnetwork.The high visit frequency ensures that packages are not occupying valuable store shelf space for along time. Also, the frequent visits ensure that the marginal cost to the customer of picking up at aJapanese Seven-Eleven is small. This is less likely to be the case in the United States. 6. SEVEN-ELEVEN IS ATTEMPTING TO DUPLICATE THEIR SUCCESSFUL JAPANESE SUPPLYCHAIN STRUCTURE IN THE UNITED STATES WITH THE INTRODUCTION OF CDCS. WHATARE THE PROS AND CONS OF THIS APPROACH? KEEP IN MIND THAT STORES ARE ALSOREPLENISHED BY WHOLESALERS AND DSD BY MANUFACTURERS.The difficulty of duplicating the Japan supply chain structure in the United States follows primarily fromthe much lower density of U. S. Seven-Eleven stores. This is compounded by the fact that Seven-Elevenstores are getting both direct store deliveries as well a s wholesaler deliveries to its stores. Setting up itsown DCs does not allow Seven-Eleven to get the same level of transportation aggregation as it gets inJapan. Its own distribution system would help more if all wholesaler deliveries and direct store deliverieswere stopped and routed through the DC.Even then, having its own distribution system would add muchless value than in Japan given the lower density of stores and larger distance between stores. 7. THE UNITED STATES HAS FOOD SERVICE DISTRIBUTORS LIKE MCLANE THAT ALSOREPLENISH CONVENIENCE STORES. WHAT ARE THE PROS AND CONS TO HAVING ADISTRIBUTOR REPLENISH CONVENIENCE STORES VERSUS A COMPANY LIKE SEVEN-ELEVEN MANAGING ITS OWN DISTRIBUTION FUNCTION? One can contend that a distributor brings much more value to the table in the United States relative toJapan.Given the lower density of stores, a distributor is able to aggregate deliveries across manycompeting stores. This allows a distributor to reach levels of aggregation that canno t be achieved by asingle chain such as Seven-Eleven. The big disadvantage to having all deliveries done through a distributor is that Seven-Eleven is unable to exploit having a large number of stores. In fact, it may be argued thatgoing through the distributor has Seven-Eleven subsidize deliveries to competing smaller chains that mayalso be using the same distributor.

Luca Pacioli

Fra Luca Bartolomeo de Pacioli (sometimes Paciolo) (1445–1514 or 1517) was an Italian mathematician and Franciscan friar, collaborator with Leonardo da Vinci, and seminal contributor to the field now known as accounting. He was also called Luca di Borgo after his birthplace, Borgo Santo Sepolcro, Tuscany. Luca Pacioli studied in Venice and Rome and became a Franciscan friar in the 1470s. He was a travelling mathematics tutor until 1497, when he accepted an invitation from Lodovico Sforza (â€Å"Il Moro†) to work in Milan. There he collaborated with, lived with, and taught mathematics to Leonardo da Vinci. In 1499, Pacioli and Leonardo were forced to flee Milan when Louis XII of France seized the city and drove their patron out. After that, Pacioli and Leonardo frequently traveled together. Upon return to his hometown, Pacioli died of old age in 1517. Pacioli published several works on mathematics, including: Summa de arithmetica, geometria, proportioni et proportionalita (Venice 1494), a synthesis of the mathematical knowledge of his time, is also notable for including the first published description of the method of keeping accounts that Venetian merchants used during the Italian Renaissance, known as the double-entry accounting system. Although Pacioli codified rather than invented this system, he is widely regarded as the â€Å"Father of Accounting†. The system he published included most of the accounting cycle as we know it today. He described the use of journals and ledgers, and warned that a person should not go to sleep at night until the debits equalled the credits. His ledger had accounts for assets (including receivables and inventories), liabilities, capital, income, and expenses—the account categories that are reported on an organization's balance sheet and income statement, respectively. He demonstrated year-end closing entries and proposed that a trial balance be used to prove a balanced ledger. Also, his treatise touches on a wide range of related topics from accounting ethics to cost accounting.

The Impact of Globalization, Deregulation and Neoliberalism on Media Essay

The Impact of Globalization, Deregulation and Neoliberalism on Media Diversity and Public Service Broadcasting - Essay Example We often see the political situation of the nation today based on the media coverage around the world, making us connected together. This also keeps almost every one of us informed and updated, allowing us further to grasp a certain thought on how we decide on things that could be most favourable in our part. For instance, an international business tycoon would not be willing to invest in a country where the peace and order situation is strongly in upheaval. In particular, it would not be enticing to invest in a country where government officials have become insurgents and deliberately disagree with the prevailing policies and employed statutes. Such of this situation would be a tragic experience for any businessperson who is always on the go to optimise resources. The media are such a powerful aid for individuals who are concerned on this relevant information. Now that the media have become international or global in their coverage, there is a strong assurance of fast-pace distribut ion of information across the globe. This allows people to be informed on time to act the right way to their advantage. The ability of the media to be part of globalisation, deregulation and neoliberalism allows the public to have wide access of information, and even varied point of views to strengthen their thoughts on what is happening around the world, everyday. Strengthened freedom of the media to serve Media deregulation remarkably limits the ability of government to control proliferation of media companies in the first place (Deuze, 2010). One important implication of this is strengthening the freedom of expression of the media, allowing them to present various views that at some point may lead to diverse perspectives of information,... This essay approves that the media could stand as our eyes and ears because of their massive coverage all over the world. It therefore makes sense seeing them on a vast stretch of diversity. Their fast-pace proliferation was remarkably due to the dynamic effort of capitalists to engage in globalisation and even to further protect their welfare. Thus, this brings the birth of media deregulation and neoliberalism as a product of globalisation to guarantee further various economic advantages of media coverage and public service broadcasting on the part of both the service providers and the actual service users. This report makes a conclusion that media diversity and public service broadcasting therefore have become commercialised with substantial socio-political impacts involved as far as the existence of globalisation, deregulation and neoliberalism are concerned. The work at hand shows how the proponent explores the impact of globalization, deregulation and neoliberalism on media diversity and public service broadcasting. The proponent found that there is a significant contribution of these trends to the actual socio-economic and political concerns of the nation and the consuming public and media service providers in general. The actual impact of globalisation, media deregulation and neoliberalism on media diversity and public service broadcasting contains a great part of the business aspect, particularly a portion of marketing concept, sociological concept, economic concept and political concept. Combining all of these would lead us to conclude further that international media companies have fundamental role to play on how globalisation, media deregulation and neoliberalism create impact on media diversity and public broadcasting.

ERP system interface with another application Essay

ERP system interface with another application - Essay Example In the changing business environment the Board of Directors of the hospital recognizes the grave need of changing the legacy system and bringing in new integrated system that is based on Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) model. The board also recognizes and admits that the present legacy system cannot be renewed and extended. In spite of the desperate need for the new system the board of management does not want to scrap the existing legacy system but would like to implement the ERP system in phased manner through Crawl-Walk-Run approach. As part of the implementation of the new and modern ERP system the management has contracted the work to a very experienced software integrator company. The work of the said software integrator and developer company is to study, design, develop and implement various software modules in phased manner. During the initial phase the contractor company has already studied and brought a white paper on how to replace the legacy system and bring in the new and modern ERP system. The new system is going to be based on modern ERP framework. All the modules of the proposed ERP system will be modular and dynamic so that implementation of each phase of the individual system is easy and hassle-free. The new ERP is planned to integrate all the different primary systems like Out-Patient Registration, In-patient registration, Canteen, Medicine Shops POS and Inventory, Billing, Receipts, Refunds, Human Resource Management, Payroll, Finance Accounting, Stores, Document / Record Management, Rosters, Management Accounting, and all other functions of the hospital. At present the ERP system has already integrated Out-Patient registration, In-patient registration, Billing, Receipts and Refunds. Now to move forward towards the ultimate goal of implementation of a complete integrated, new and modern ERP system in CCH, the management has asked the company to introduce the first

History about Elizabethan theatre Research Paper

History about Elizabethan theatre - Research Paper Example Christopher Marlowe, Edmund Spenser, Sir Philip Sidney and William Shakespeare were a major influence on the progression of the Elizabethan Theater. William Shakespeare’s comedies and tragedies influenced the primary theoretical performances during their era. It is, therefore, imperative to assert that Elizabethan Theater exemplifies England’s structural, historical and theatre production principles that were shaped to a large extent by the influence of William Shakespeare. William Shakespeare’s limelight debut as a famous playwright was largely influenced by the death of Christopher Marlowe who was also influential in the molding of early theaters. At this time, he was famous for the play â€Å"Henry VI†. In 1954, when â€Å"Romeo and Juliet† and â€Å"Love’s Labour’s Lost† were performed, he became an icon in the theatre performance (Lee, 1898). Shakespeare influenced the Elizabethan Theater by determining the theme of the plays, drama and other performance as well as the role of different people in the theatre. During his time, playwrights, actors, and theaters owners acquired a new status of upper classmen in England, they got acknowledgment and rose higher in the society. Shakespeare lay the foundation for performance entertainment where comedies and tragedies were intertwined as more people were shifting from just wanting to watch comedies alone. The popularity of comedy and tragedy during Shakespeares er a led to a distinction between the two through a differentiation in their writing. Tragedy writers were guided by Aristotle’s definition of tragedy where a hero or heroine would be brought down by forces under their own control, but fate or through hubris. However, Romeo, Macbeth and Timon did not seem to adhere to this definition. Comedy was inspired by Plautus and Terence Roman "New Comedy". As such, comedies were happy tales about family affairs, domestic troubles and love but avoided politics (Arnold, 1989).

Adverse Effects of the Foreign Aid Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Adverse Effects of the Foreign Aid - Essay Example uals, organizations and governments in order to assist people or governments experiencing distress, suffering, war, disasters and other emergencies provide humanitarian aid. For instance, governments could provide aid through the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in cases of emergencies that occurred as a result of natural disasters. Development aid is the main focus of this paper. It is the financial and other resources provided by wealthy countries to low-income states in order to help spur economic development, reduce poverty, improve governance, solve population explosion, expand access to basic education and healthcare, protect the environment, promote stability in conflictive regions, protect human rights, among other objectives (Tarnoff, 2010, p.3). It is distinguished from the humanitarian assistance by the fact that the intent to alleviate suffering and poverty is aimed at the long-term as opposed to the latter's emphasis on the short- term relief. Industrialized countries have institutionalized development aid through their respective Official Development Assistance (ODA). Financial resources are provided through different channels such as international aid organizations, non-government organizations and global bodies such as the UN and the World Bank. The flow of financial resources and the part of it that is normally called aid, wrote Singer and Ansari (1988, p.180), is only a part - and a comparatively small part - of the total aid relationship between rich and poor countries. This is because other types of aid could also emerge. For instance, there are those who argue that when a rich country opens up its market to the exports of low-income countries, it is providing a meaningful aid. Ideally, the effect of foreign...This essay investigates the theme of relative ineffectiveness of foreign aid, compared with other forms of financial cooperation. The essay identifies a comprehensive list of problems that are ei ther directly or indirectly associated with large amount of foreign aid. It is expected that through the information, corrective measures could be identified made so that the delivery of financial aid is effective and could achieve more meaningful effects. Foreign aid is supposed to be an altruistic initiative. However, aids are often granted to beneficiaries in exchange for something or tied with several conditions. Then, there is also the claim that foreign aid could give rise to numerous problems on the part of the beneficiary such as its incapacitating effect on people in determining and building their own solutions to their problems. These variables, among others, underpin the manner by which large amount of financial resources and other forms of aid could cause harm to recipient countries. The absorptive capacity is the ability of a country to employ both domestic and foreign capital productively in the sense that the resources yield some minimum rate of return. This concept explains the problems and negative impacts for foreign aid beneficiaries listed by this paper. The lack of competence and capability for example, led to wastage in the financial aid, which often fall prey to unscrupulous government officials. It provided insights with regards to addressing the pitfalls entailed in giving aid.

Proton exchange membrane fuel cells Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Proton exchange membrane fuel cells - Essay Example mstance, the development of fuel cells helps in reducing dependence on fossil fuels hence reducing the levels of toxic and poisonous emissions to the atmosphere. However, this form of energy exemplified by proton exchange membrane fuel cells has to compete with reliability, cost and energy efficiency with established energy sources. The commercialization of the proton exchange membrane fuel cells are closely related to vital materials considerations including performance, durability and cost. The major setback is to find a combination of materials that will give a valid outcome on the basis of the above three mentioned factors. The proton exchange membrane fuel cell is also referred to as the polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell. This is so because the name variant depends on the type of electrolyte employed in the model. When the membrane is conveniently hydrated, the fuel cell is referred to as the polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell. In this case, there is high conductivity of protons across the polymeric membrane. Various state of the art proton exchange membrane fuel cells have been developed. Exemplified by thinner membranes of less than 40 micrometers and smaller Pt/C electrodes, some fuel cells have been devised for cost reduction. However, these models have demonstrated significantly less operating time of close to 15, 000 hours. This called for the invention of an ion-conductive polymeric membrane as a gas electron barrier. This idea was first coined by William T. Grubb of the General Electric Company in 1955. Currently, the most widely employed membrane electrolyte is DuPont’s Nafion . This is because it possesses good chemical and mechanical stability in the challenging proton exchange membrane fuel cell environment. Basically, the physical structure of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell comprises of seven components. These are feeding channels, diffusion layers, catalytic layer in the anode, membrane; catalytic layer, diffusion layer and

Psych research paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Psych research paper - Essay Example If we would listen to our physical and inner emotional needs more maybe we would not always be sick with the problems associated with stress. I say this only because I have had my share of anxiety and stress, and know that it can take a toll on a person if not taken care of properly. Lisa is a friend of mine that I have not seen since she became a L.P.N. this past summer. We started to catch up on life and even some gossip. This is when I noticed something was not quite right with her. We talked a little more and I still had a feeling she was not telling me something. Later in the week I spoke to a mutual friend and asked her if she had spoken to Lisa. It was then that I found out she had been having anger issues. Our friend told me of a couple of different incidences that Lisa was involved with. Both times she got very anger, very quickly at things that should not have mattered. The friend also told me she was drinking a little more often and when out she was either quiet or very loud to the point of being obnoxious. This was not the person that I knew at all. This was a person who always seemed to have things together. I had asked if anything was going on that I did not know about that would make her this way. The friend told me about her switching positions a t the hospital because of her being a nurse now, and said she was not handling the stress of that very well. That was all she told me about. Again I knew that this still was not her to be like this over something like a new job that I knew she was anxiously waiting to do. Later in the week I called Lisa to see if see was home. When I spoke with her again I could tell she still was not herself. I came out and asked if there was something wrong with her and she then started to cry on the phone. She then told me how the new job was not all what she thought it was going to be. It turns out to be a very stressful job with lots of patients to care for and very

PACKAGING FUNCTIONS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

PACKAGING FUNCTIONS - Essay Example Some packages exist in metallic containers but the label is visible for attraction and is different from that of the major competitor, coca cola (Amazon 1). The plastic pack also identifies take away consumers, especially people on journeys, who wish to consume the product as they travel and portability as well as inclusive container charges suggests this. The label also has important information to consumers such as ingredients. Even though the product label is not explicit on environmental issues, it indicates recyclability and the producer has taken measures to reduce amount of solid waste from the package by reducing mass of each container. This extends to ease of disposal and ozone friendliness, though the package does not communicate the information. Additional package usage is also identifiable but the package is devoid of joint promotion. Innovation is however evident as the package has undergone changes towards reduced mass (Pepsico 1; Vieceli & Valos 93-

Martha Stewart Lost Reputation Essay Example for Free

Martha Stewart Lost Reputation Essay Martha Stewart places her name on her products. She becomes the face of her company and the voice of her brand. When her personal misconduct occurred, she made her company vulnerable and risky as well. This case study examines how Martha Stewart managed her corporate communication when her public image and reputation were tarnished on trial for alleged insider trading scandal. The trial not only led her to prison but also hurt her brand equity. The study shows that Stewart’s early response to her crisis demonstrated lack of situation awareness. In the beginning of her investigation, she kept her public persona intact, ignoring or downplaying her role in it. As a result, what Stewart called â€Å"a small personal matter† later became a full -blown crisis. If she had managed her communication in a more timely manner, the magnitude of her crisis might have been minimized. This article also provides detailed insights for organizations to learn from her crisis response strategies. Keywords: Organizational crisis, Crisis communication, Image restoration 1. Introduction The personalities of strong business leaders can help shape and enhance their corporate image. In some cases, the leaders become the virtual icon of the corporate brand, lendi ng their personal prestige to the brand and personifying the company. They can also threaten the company when they are involved in a scandal. In this situation, the consequences for the company can be critical as in the Martha Stewart’s insider trading crisis in the United States. The crisis management scholar, Roux-Dufort (2000) points out that corporate crises as â€Å"a privileged moment during which to understand things differently† (p. 26). As such, there is a growing body of literature on organizational learning in the wake of corporate crisis (Mitroff, 2002; Shrivastava, 1998). The Stewart case, in particular, drew the attention of media for years. The crisis of Martha Stewart’s insider trading raised the issue about the Martha Stewart’s multiplatform franchise; that is, the media world and homemaking business are intricately interwoven with her persona. Stewart’s empire has an impressive business synergy as shown by her TV programs that promote her magazines, her website which sells her products, and her p roducts which are a link to her TV programs. She is the face, voice and personality behind the brand and, thus, the two – Stewart and the brand – are inseparable. After Stewart’s personal misconduct, the interlocking nature of her business proved to be vulnerable and risky. Moreover, Stewart’s crisis had both legal and public relations components (Jerome, Moffitt, Knudsen, 2007). Allegations of insider trading against Martha Stewart led to her imprisonment. Her strategic plan in response to the insider trading accusations and the media attention su rrounding this crisis left Stewart trying to take action to restore her image. In a sense, it is important to understand how Stewart herself and her company managed their corporate communication when her public image and reputation were tarnished under the investigation of the insider trading scandal. This article explores how the high profile iconic Martha Stewart responded when confronted with an organizational crisis that threatened existence. It also provides detailed insights for organizations to learn from her crisis response strategies. 2. Background of Martha Stewart’s Insider Trading Beginning with the 1982 publication of her book Entertaining, Martha Stewart made a name for herself as a homemaking diva. In September 1997, Stewart became chairperson, president, and CEO of her new company, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia has been listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol MSO since 1999. As the chief of MSO, Stewart used her name and face to make connections with various businesses including a line of housewares, television shows, radio channels, magazines and a series of books on entertaining. On December 27, 2001, Stewart sold 3,928 shares of her ImClone stock worth US$228,000 the day before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rejected approval of Erbitux, ImClone’s anti -cancer drug. By selling ahead of the FDA rejection, Stewart received about US$45,000 more than if she had sold the stocks later. Compared to her wealth, it was certainly an insignificant sum and in fact, during her Larry King Live interview, she said it was â€Å"miniscule, really, about 0.006 percent of my net worth† (Four nier, 2004). Stewart had denied any wrongdoing, insisting she did not receive any advance knowledge from Sam Waksal, the founder and CEO of ImClone about the decision on Erbitux (Pollack, 2002). Instead, her sale of ImClone stock was part of a predetermined plan to sell if shares fell below US$60. Later, Stewart was officially indicted on charges of securities fraud and obstructing justice related to her sale of ImClone stock on March 5, 2004. Judge Cedarbaum dismissed the securities fraud charge against S tewart, saying prosecutors had failed to present enough evidence on the issue (Masters White, 2004). However, obstruction of justice, charges of conspiracy, and making false statements remained. Stewart served a five-month prison sentence between October 8, 2004 and March 4, 2005 for these charges. On August 7, 2006, Martha Stewart reached an agreement with the securities’ regulators over the insider-trading civil charges and agreed to pay US$195,000 to settle a five-year legal battle. 3. Literature Review Crisis events can and do strike organizations of all types. Every kind of organization, from larger organizations to small family owned businesses, have the potential of being a victim of crisis (Seeger, Sellnow, Ulmer, 2003). In many circumstances, crisis immediately raises questions from an organization’s many different publics (Marra, 1998). In this view, for an organization to manage the effects of a crisis it must communicate to both internal and external stakeholders. Ulmer, Sellnow, and Seeger (2007) suggest all crises involve the general communication strategies of reducing uncertainty, responding to the crisis, resolving it, and learning from it. The ability to communicate quickly and effectively is clearly an important component of successfu l crisis management. Effective crisis communication can not only defuse or eliminate crisis, but it can sometimes bring an organization a more positive reputation than before the crisis occurred (Kauffman, 2005). On the other hand, Marra (1998) argues if an organization fails to respond to a crisis in the correct manner, a bad situation can be made worse. Hence, crisis communication strategies can substantially diminish the harm caused by a crisis or magnify the harm if mismanaged. In this study, the stream of crisis response models from communication scholars and public relations professionals (Benoit, 1995; Coombs, 1999, 2007) are utilized as the theoretical framework to interpret the crisis response strategies that Martha Stewart employed in her insider trading crisis. According to Benoit (1995), firms or individuals may take preventative and restorative approaches to image problems. Five strategies (i.e., denial, evasion of responsibility, reduction of the offensiveness of the act , corrective action, and mortification) make up the rhetoric or image repair discourse. Each of these strategies has a set of tactics within them. Denial is the strategy employed when the rhetor simply chooses to deny the actions he is being accused of or shift the blame from the organization to outside individuals or agencies. The second strategy is evasion of responsibility is the strategy that the rhetor can blame circumstances beyond his control. It consists of four possible tactics: provocation, defeasibility, accident and good intentions. Benoit’s third major image restoration strategy, occurs when the rhetor attempts to reduce the degree of offensiveness experienced by the accuser. To this end, Benoit includes six tactics: bolstering, minimization, differentiation, transcendence, attacking the accuser, and compensation. The fourth category of the typology is corrective action, which attempts to correct the situation rather than counterbalance it. The final image restoration strategy, mortification, requires the rhetor to take responsibility for the action and to issue an apology. Benoit and colleagues have applied the model to a variety of different crisis situations. For instance, Benoit and Brinson (1994) analyzed ATT’s defense following an interruption of its long-distance service in New York in September of 1991. Initially, ATT tried to shift blame to low-level workers. As the complete story emerged, however, ATT apologized for the interruption (mortification) and began to bolster its image by stressing its commitment to excellence, the billions of dollars invested in service, and the quality of its employees. Finally, ATT promised corrective action and introduced a comprehensive review of its operations to anticipate and prevent further problems. It also stressed its commitment to providing excellent service and its willingness to spend billions of dollars to do so. Given these corrective action strategies, ATT’s finally restored its image. Benoit (1995) also examined Union Carbide’s response to the Bhopal, India, gas leak that kille d thousands and injured hundreds of thousands. Union Carbide’s primary strategies, bolstering and corrective action, were focused on four specific actions: a relief fund, an orphanage, medical supplies, and medical personnel. Although these strategies were appropriate and timely, Benoit claimed that Union Carbide failed to address the most important question: What were they doing to prevent another tragedy? Coombs (1999, 2007) develops situational crisis communication theory, creating 10 categories of basic organizational crisis communication strategies. These strategies are further grouped into four posture: 1) â€Å"denial posture† including attack the accuser (confronting person claiming a crisis occurred), denial ( asserting no crisis), and scapegoat (shifting the blame to others outside the organization), with an attempt to eliminate the crisis by denying its existence or the organization’s responsibility for the crisis; 2) â€Å"diminishment posture† which takes the forms of excuse (denying intend to do harm or claiming inability to control) and justification (minimizing severity of damage) with the purpose of weakening the link between the crisis and the organization by claiming the crisis is not the organization’s fault; 3) â€Å"rebuilding posture† of compensation (providing money or other gifts to the victims) and apology (taking full responsibility), which strives to restore legitimacy by seeking public approval and forgiveness; and 4) â€Å"bolstering posture† which includes reminder (telling stakeholders about its past good works), ingratiation (praising stakeholders and/or reminds them of past good works) and victimage (reminding stakeholders that the organization is a victim of the crisis, too). Using Coombs’s typology of crisis response strategies, Wilcox and Cameron (2006) examined the case of Intel. In 1993, Intel initially denied there was a problem with its Pentium 586 chip. As the crisis was covered in the mainstream press, Intel used the justification strategy by assuring that the problem was not serious enough to warrant replacing the chips. It minimized the concerns of consumers. In fact, Intel mismanaged the handling of its crisis communication. First, it did not disclose to the public the information about the Pentium flaw when they initially realized there was a problem. Then when the problem finally did come out into the open, they downplayed it instead of helping the users who had purchased the flawed chips. After considerable damage had been done to Intel’s reputation and IBM had suspended orders for the chip, Intel took corrective action to replace the chips. Subsequently, Andy Grove, Intel’s president, issued a full apology. Based on Benoit’s image repair theory and Coombs’s typology of crisis response st rategies, the following research questions are posited: RQ 1. What strategies did Martha Stewart use to manage her insider trading crisis? RQ 2. Were these strategies effective or ineffective? RQ 3. What can we learn from Martha Stewart case? 4. Methodology The case study is employed in this study, as it is effective in illustrating public relations management in real situations (Hendrix, 2004). According to Yin (1994), the six sources of evidence that are typically associated with the case study include documents, archival records, interviews, direct observation, participant -observation, and physical artifacts. In this study, texts documenting Stewart’s discourse in response to incidents that threatened her image were collected from multiple sources. Specifically, this study used predominantly two types of data: documents and archival records. It began with gathering data and finding facts related to cases and defining the specific tasks. The actions and communication strategies used by Martha Stewart wer e reviewed with information from her corporate websites, press releases and media coverage. MSO is a publicly traded company. A look at the organizational archival records (e.g., stock prices, sales and annual reports) and official government records (e.g. , court records and commission reports) contributed to understand the impact of corporate scandals have had on the companies’ financial performance and their stakeholders. The media coverage on the Martha Stewart case was found through Lexis Nexis Academi c keyword search of â€Å"Martha Stewart insider trading† in The New York Times and The Washington Post. These newspapers were selected because of their large circulation, prominence and influence on public opinion. For the purpose of the valance of news narration in this study, the period of analysis covered two time frames (during the crisis and post crisis). The first time frame started from the trading day to the verdict, beginning in December, 2001 and running through March, 2004. The second time frame started from the day of sentencing to her release from prison, beginning on July 16, 2004 and running t hrough March 2005. Since the research questions of this study were related to crisis communication strategies, the unit of analysis of this case study was Martha Stewart’s response to stakeholders during and post crisis. Thus, the strategies were apparent through the types of evide nce. 14 By examining corporate communication employed by Martha Stewart during the crisis and post -crisis period, the procedures for analysis involved three steps. First, after the data were collected from multiple sources, a detailed timeline of relevant events leading up to the crisis itself, and the post-crisis process was created. For example, the chronological order of the Martha Stewart case was constructed in the following manner: 1) the investigation (January, 2002 June, 2003); 2) indictment (June – December, 2003); 3) verdict (January May, 2004); 4) sentencing (June – July, 2004); 5) in prison (October, 2004); and 6) release from prison (March, 2005). Second, after the chronological order of actual events was refined, a narrative description and process analysis of each event was thus constructed. A worksheet served as an organizing tool for evaluating each event. All data collected were analyzed using the typology of crisis response strategy. Finally, a thick descript ion and analysis of the findings of each research question was conducted. 5. Analysis of Martha Stewart’s Crisis Response Strategies 5. 1 Investigation The story about Martha Stewart’s ImClone stock sale was broken to the public in the Wall Street Journal on June 7, 2002 (Adams Anand, 2002). In the article, her lawyer, John Savarese, indicated that Stewart had set the price at US$60 for selling the stock but in fact, as of June 7, 2002, the stock price of ImClone sank to a low US$8.45 a share. Using the strategy of differentiation, Savarese further was trying to put distance between Stewart and Sam Waksal. There is absolutely no evidence whatsoever that she spoke to Sam, or had any information from anybody from ImClone during that week †¦ I am absolutely sure that there was no communication of any kind between her and Sam, no passing of any information from him to her. (Adams Anand, 2002, p. B2) On June 12, 2002, Waksal was arrested for insider trading and soon after, the stock price of MSO plunged 12 percent, closing at US$15. From June 6, 2002, when congressional investigators started looking into Stewart’s sale of ImClone shares, the stock price of MSO had dropped 22 percent. Stewart immediately denied any insider trading or wrongdoing and, in a public statement, she said she knew nothing about the pending FDA announcement. She claimed that when the share price dropped below US$60 – the level at which she had agreed with her broker – she returned a call from her broker and sold the s hares on December 27, 2001. She acknowledged that after the trade, she immediately called Waksal but could not reach him, and he did not call her back. The message she left read: â€Å"Martha Stewart called. Something is going on with ImClone and she wants to know what† (Hays, 2002a, p. C1). She proclaimed her innocence in her statement: â€Å"In placing my trade, I had no improper information. My transaction was entirely lawful† (White, 2002, p. E1). However, the congressional investigator questioned Stewart’s sale, noting that ImClone dropped below $60 at least once before while Stewart owned it (White, 2002). On June 18, 2002, Stewart tried to resolve concerns about her sale of ImClone shares and hired a new lawyer, James F. Fitzpatrick, who submitted several documents to congressional investigators. This was the first time Stewart used a strategy of corrective action as a response to the inquiries. On June 19, 2002, MSO stock rebounded sharply, climbing from US$2.05, to US$14.4 and then to US$16.45, suggesting that her corrective action was working. However, Ken Johnson, a spokesman for the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said the documents would help answer some questions but â€Å"we still don’t have an answer to the most nagging one: was Ms. Stewart’s pre-existing agreement to sell reached in late November, as she says, or in mid-December as some reports have indicated?† (Hays, 2002b, p. C7). On June 25, 2002, she appeared on CBS’s The Early Show, and when asked by the host, Jane Clayson, about the ImClone shares during a cooking segment, she replied while slicing a cabbage with a big knife. I’m involved in an investigation that has very serious implications. I have nothing to say on the matter. I’m really not at liberty to say. And as I said, I think this will be resolved in the very near future and I will be exonerated of any ridiculousness. And I just want to focus on my salad because that is why we’re here. (Clayson, 2002) Apparently, Stewart had no idea how to handle the situation and was unwilling to respond to the questions. She continued to dodge public inquiries and ignored the increasing outcry for answers about her role in the insider trading scandal.

Project Closures Essay Example for Free

Project Closures Essay Everything with a beginning must have an end and a project is not quite complete until the closing stage is considered successful. (Sanghera, P.2009 p.223) Scenario one: Closing a project that has met its objective This scenario delights the project manager and his or her team as it is the ideal end to any project. It involves closing all activities related to the project both the within and without. Here the project manager (PM) meets with the stakeholders to gain their final approval of the project, ascertain that the deliverable meets the completion standards, conclude contract arrangements with vendors, transfer responsibility of project output to other people, release people and other resources, and document lessons learned. (Sunny Baker pp330-331). Scenario two: Closing a project that was terminated early In this scenario a project can be terminated for a number of reasons. From the discussion question we saw that a project can be adjudged to have failed, if it cannot meet up objective, expected to fail or are no longer in line with the objective of the company can be terminated. Bommer Pease, 1991further provided reasons like paucity of funding, technological obsolescence, changes in consumer trends, mergers and acquisitions loss of the champion and negative cost/benefit ratio. However whatever might have being the underlying cause of the termination of a project, it is still very important that the project is closed formally. In that regard, there is no difference between closing a project that has met its objectives and a project that was terminated early in its life. Both scenarios must undergo the close project process and the close procurement process. But the following differences can be observed: (1)In the first scenario there is a tangible project deliverable that can be transferred to other people, it may serve as inputs to another project. While in the second scenario there may be no tangible deliverable. (2) The emotional currents observed in both scenarios are quite different, in the first scenario the PM and everyone associated with the project are elated and feels fulfilled, leading to more latent energy for future projects and commitment to the organisation. In the second case, negative emotions may be generated which can be counterproductive to future projects and the organisation. This situation can arise when senior management arbitrarily cancels a project without carrying the team along. Administrative closure This is the process of formally bringing to an end all project activities. It relates to the closing process group and the integration management knowledge area. (Sanghera 2010 p377) The accepted project deliverable after its verification is compared with the project management plan and other closure guidelines and procedures before it is handed over to the customer. This action is necessary for both scenarios one and two. Contract closure This occurs when the terms of the contract have been reached or when there is a termination before the terms can be reached. The latter case usually involves compensation. In multi-phased projects contract closure can occur more than once while administrative closure occurs only once. The acceptance of the deliverable takes place during the administrative closure. Conclusion Administrative closure and contract closure both occur in closing a project that has met its objective and one that is terminated early. In the latter case care should be taken to carry the team members along in the process of project termination in order to boost their morale and productivity for future projects.

Effect of Carbon Atoms Number in Alcohol on Combustion

Effect of Carbon Atoms Number in Alcohol on Combustion Research Question How does the number of carbon atoms in the hydrocarbon chain of primary alcohol affect its enthalpy change of combustion? Independent Variable The independent variable in this investigation is the number of carbon atoms in the hydrocarbon chain of primary alcohol. Five different primary alcohol will be used, namely, methanol, ethanol, propan-1-ol, butan-1-ol and pentan-1-ol. Dependent Variable: The dependent variable in this investigation is the enthalpy change of combustion of primary alcohol. Enthalpy change of combustion is the energy released when one mole of fuel is completely burnt in oxygen to form carbon dioxide and water. To measure the enthalpy change of combustion, the heat given out during combustion is first absorbed by water which is calculated by q = mc à ¯Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬Å¾T where m is the mass of water, c is the specific heat capacity of water and à ¯Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬Å¾T is the temperature change of water. The heat given out is then divided by the number of moles of alcohol used during the investigation. As combustion is an exothermic reaction, a negative sign is added to give the final enthalpy change of combustion. Control Variables: The table below shows the variables that have to be controlled: Hypothesis: The higher the number of carbon is in the hydrocarbon chain, the greater the enthalpy change of combustion of the primary alcohol. One of the evidence for this hypothesis comes from the IB Chemistry data booklet. The standard enthalpy change of combustion for methanol, ethanol, propan-1-ol and butan-1-ol are –726 kJmol-1, –1367 kJmol-1, –2021 kJmol-1 and –2676 kJmol-1 [1]respectively. Another way to get this trend is to use the average bond enthalpy to estimate the enthalpy change of combustion. Though average bond enthalpies are just average values only, they do give an insight on the trend of the enthalpy change of combustion of different alcohol. The general formula for alcohol is CnH2n+2O. The general equation for combustion of alcohol is CnH2n+2O (l) + 1.5nO2 (g) à ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚   nCO2(g) + (n+1)H2O(l) When the number of carbon increases by one, the following table shows the extra bonds to be broken and extra bonds formed: The average bond enthalpies for the above bonds are shown in the table below: [2] The net change in enthalpy change when one more carbon is added = + 2 Ãâ€" 413 + 347 – 2 Ãâ€" 746 – 2 Ãâ€" 464 = – 1247 kJmol-1 Thus, the enthalpy change of combustion of primary alcohol will decrease by 1247 kJmol-1 (more negative) when one more carbon is added to the hydrocarbon chain. Apparatus: 100 cm3 measuring cylinder ( ±1 cm3) Ãâ€" 6 (one for each alcohol and the other for water) (2 d.p. ) Electronic balance ( ±0.01 g) Ãâ€" 1 Tripod Ãâ€" 1 Copper container with lid Ãâ€" 15 (one for each trial) Stand and clamp Ãâ€" 1 (use to hold the thermometer in position) Mercury in glass thermometer ( ±0.1à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ °C) Ãâ€" 2 (one is used to measure temperature of water and the other used for monitoring the temperature of surrounding) Stirrer Ãâ€" 1 Aluminium heat shield Ãâ€" 4 (to reduce heat loss) Spirit burner with wick Ãâ€" 15 (one for each trial) Lid Ãâ€" 1 (for extinguishing the flame) Stopwatch ( ±0.01 s) Ãâ€" 1 Ruler ( ±0.1 cm) to measure the length of wire and the position of the thermometer Scissor Ãâ€" 1 (used to cut the wick) Chemicals 750 cm3 of distilled water (50 cm3 for each trial) 100 g of each of the following primary alcohol at a concentration of 90%. Methanol, ethanol, propan-1-ol, butan-1-ol and pentan-1-ol Procedures Prepare a spirit burner. Cut the length of its wick to approximately 3.0 cm (the portion outside the burner) with a pair of scissors and a ruler. Measure 50 cm3 of methanol with a 100 cm3 measuring cylinder and pour it in a spirit burner. Weight the spirit burner with an electronic balance. Record the mass of the spirit burner in the table below. Measure 50 cm3 of distilled water with another 100 cm3 measuring cylinder and pour it in a copper container. Place the copper container on a tripod and cover it with a lid. Use stand and clamp to hold a thermometer in the beaker of water. Use a ruler to make sure that the bottom of the thermometer is 1.0 cm from the bottom of the beaker and make sure the thermometer is approximately located at the centre of the beaker. Record the initial temperature of the water and put it in the table below. Place a stirrer in the water. Stir the water throughout the process of heating. Surround the whole setup with heat shield made of aluminium to reduce heat loss. Ignite the wick of the spirit burner with a lighter. Place the spirit burner under the beaker. Immediately start the stopwatch and wait for two minutes. Stop the stopwatch after two minutes. Use a lid to extinguish the flame. Record the highest temperature reached by the thermometer and put it in the table below. Allow the spirit burner to cool. Weigh the final mass of the spirit burner with an electronic balance. Put the mass in the table shown below. Repeat the experiment (Step 1 to 16) two more times. Repeat the same experiment (Step 1 to 17) for other primary alcohols (i.e. ethanol, propan-1-ol, butan-1-ol and pentan-1-ol). Table for recording raw data and some processed data: Data Processing The mass of fuel used (m) is calculated by subtracting the final mass of spirit burner from the initial mass of spirit burner. The temperature change (à ¯Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬Å¾T) is calculated by subtracting the final temperature by the initial temperature. The heat (q) absorbed by water can be calculated by the formula q = mc à ¯Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬Å¾T where m is the mass of water used: 50 g (as the density of water is 1 g cm-3) c is specific heat capacity of water: 4.18 Jg-1K-1 Number of moles of fuel used can be calculated by dividing the mass of fuel used (m) by the molar mass of the fuel. The molar mass is found by adding up the relative atomic mass of the element involved. For example, the molar mass of methanol (CH3OH) is 12.01 + 4 Ãâ€" 1.01 + 16.00 = 32.05 gmol-1. The enthalpy change of combustion of alcohol is found by dividing the heat by the number of moles of fuel with a negative sign added to show that it is exothermic. A graph is plotted with enthalpy change of combustion (y-axis) against the number of carbon atom is the hydrocarbon chain of the primary alcohol (x-axis). Compare this graph with the graph in the hypothesis. Safety Alcohols are flammable. Avoid naked flame near alcohol. [1] Chemistry data booklet (First examinations 2009). United Kingdom: International Baccalaureate, 2008. Print. [2] Chemistry data booklet (First examinations 2009). United Kingdom: International Baccalaureate, 2008. Print.

Analysis of Demian by Hermann Hesse :: Demian Herman Hesse Germany Essays

Analysis of Demian by Hermann Hesse Demian is the story of a boy, Emil Sinclair, and his search for himself. Emil was raised in a good traditional home at the turn of the century in the nation of Germany. His family is very wealthy and they have a reputation as a principled, religious family. As a boy, Sinclair views the world within the walls of his home as representing all that is good, pure, and innocent. But starting at a young age, he feels an inner conflict between his own little world, the "world of light," and the outside world, or "forbidden realm" which represents sin and loneliness. Even though his mother, father, and two sisters remain within the "world of light", he constantly feels attracted to the outside realm. He ends up feeling uncertain between both of his little worlds, and not belonging to either one of them. This struggle between Sinclair’s two worlds is evident when Sinclair is about 10 years old. While playing one day with some fellow schoolmates, Franz Kromer, an older kid, joins them. In an effort to impress the older boy and his schoolmates, Sinclair makes up a story in which he and another unnamed accomplice stole a bag of apples from a fellow neighbor. Although the story is untrue, Kromer threatens Sinclair with exposure if Sinclair does not pay him off. Unable to pay the full amount, Sinclair is forced to become Kromer’s slave, ultimately sending Sinclair into depression and paranoia. Sinclair feels trapped by Kromer, forced to live within the "forbidden realm", which in turn exiles him from the "world of light" because he has defiled himself by lying and committing sinful acts for Kromer. This experience is traumatic for Sinclair and he is often haunted by nightmares, he is unable to eat, and he becomes withdrawn and sullen. His personality alters as he tries to cope with the bondage of his slavery to this lower-class, troublesome kid, but he sees no escape and reluctantly succumbs to what he believes to be his fate. The arrival of a new kid in tow n, Max Demian, is noticed by everyone due to the strange aura that surrounds him and his recently widowed mother. From the start, Sinclair feels a type of fascination for Demian, a confusing feeling filled with both love and hate. "He was in every respect different from all the others, was entirely himself, with a personality all his own which made him noticeable even though he did his best not to be noticed; his manner and bearing was that of a prince disguised among farm boys, taking great pains to appear one of them.

Apply Chain Management vs Traditional Mananagement Systens Essay

A. Approach The use of information technology by firms that want to gain competitive advantage has increased dramatically in the last twenty years. Large and small firms have been utilizing information systems to connect their internal business functions and the company’s activities to stakeholder such as suppliers and customers. (FORMAN WEB 13). Supply chain management and customer relationship management are some of the many systems used by firms to accomplish the aforementioned functions. Before comparing Supply Chain Management and customer relationship management systems to Tradition Systems, a brief description of Supply chain management and the activities it involves is fully warranted. This brief easy attempts to compare and contract SCM and CRM systems to traditional management systems in terms of approaches , efficiency, cost saving, and firm profitability. Jiambalvo (2010) describes supply chain management as,† the organization of activities between a company and its suppliers in an effort to provide for the profitable development, production, and delivery of goods to customers.† (P, 15). Sunil & Peter further describe ( ) supply chain as, â€Å"consisting of all parties involved, directly or indirectly, in fulfilling a customer request. The supply chain includes not only the manufacturer and suppliers, but also transporters, warehouses, retailers, and even customers themselves. Within each organization, such as a manufacturer, the supply chain includes all functions involved in receiving and filling a customer request. These functions include, but are not limited to new product development, marketing and operations, distribution and finance, and customer service.†(P... ...in saving costs for firms that effectively implement the systems. Alan and et al.(2009) state that, â€Å" full-scale implementations lead to system-wide inventory optimization, which in turn leads to cost improvement associated with inventory balances and turns.†(See Page 21 for note). Mikko & et al (2002) conducted a study of the cost reduction benefits of SCM and found that,† the sharing of demand information in supply chains typically increases the performance of the supply chain by increasing availability and reducing inventory related costs.† That other major distinctions between the two systems and traditional management systems is that the former need a small amount of date input and out put to perform sophisticated and complex functional, while the later takes and produces data in a large amount. A. profitability

Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) :: essays research papers fc

Chloroflourocarbons Chloroflourocarbons were discovered in the 1920's by Thomas Midgley, an organic chemist at General Motors Corporation. He was looking for inert, non- toxic, non-flammable compounds with low boiling points that could be used as refrigerants. He found what he was looking for in the form of two compounds: dichlorodifluoromethane (CFC-12) and trichloromonoflouromethane (CFC-11). In both compounds, different amounts of chlorine and fluorine are combined with methane, which is a combination of carbon and hydrogen. These two CFCs were eventually manufactured by E.I. du Pont de Nemours and company, and, under the trade name â€Å"freon,† constituted 15% of the market for refrigerator gases.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  CFCs were the perfect answer for cooling refrigerators and air conditioners. They were easily turned into liquid at room temperature with application of just a small amount of pressure, and they could easily then be turned back into gas. CFCs were completely inert and not poisonous to humans. They became ideal solvents for industrial solutions and hospital sterilants. Another use found for them was to blow liquid plastic into various kinds of foams. In the 1930's, household insecticides were bulky and hard to use, so CFCs were created because they could be kept in liquid form and in an only slightly pressurized can. Thus, in 1947, the spray can was born, selling millions of cans each year. Insecticides were only the first application for CFC spray cans. They soon employed a number of products from deodorant to hair spray. In 1954, 188 million cans were sold in the U.S. alone, and four years later, the number jumped to 500 million. CFC filled cans were so popular that, by 1968, 2.3 billion spray cans were sold in America. The hopes of a seemingly perfect refrigerant were diminished in the late 1960's when scientists studied the decomposition of CFCs in the atmosphere. What they found was startling. Chlorine atoms are released as the CFCs decompose, thus destroying the Ozone (O3) atoms in the high stratosphere. It became clear that human usage of CF2Cl2 and CFCl3, and similar chemicals were causing a negative impact on the chemistry of the high altitude air.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When CFCs and other ozone-degrading chemicals are emitted, they mix with the atmosphere and eventually rise to the stratosphere. CFCs themselves do not actually effect the ozone, but their decay products do. After they photolyzed, the chlorine eventually ends up as â€Å"reservoir species† - they do not themselves react with ozone- such as Hydrogen Chloride, HCL, or Chlorine Nitrate, ClONO2. These than further decompose into ozone hurting substances. The simplest is as follows: (How do CFCs Destroy the Ozone) Cl + O3 -----> ClO + O2   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  ClO + O

An insight into boredom, the cause and the cure for the state of mind called boredom

The Dictionary describes bored as â€Å"as dull, tedious, and lacking stimuli†. There is an inherent anxiety in boredom; people will expend considerable effort to prevent or remedy it, yet in many circumstances it is accepted as an inevitable suffering to be endured. A common way to escape boredom is through creative thoughts or ‘daydreaming' yet I define Boredom as a lack of entertainment or a stimulant. School students can very easily get bored in the summer holidays because of a lack of change in the activates what they do in their day to day life. Everyone becomes bored at least once in their life. Boredom is a condition characterized by perception of one's environment in their life. In the newspaper lately their have been reports on teenagers being bored in the summer holidays. And it is the local government getting the blame for closing down public swimming pools and under funding them. The result off this is anti social behaviour i.e. vandalism petty theft and more anti social behaviour. There are many ways in which to tackle boredom. Getting a paper round is a good idea because it gets you up and out of the house, you can also earn money from it also possessions can be bought to prevent future boredom. But the downside to having a paper round is that you have to do it and it might cut into fun stuff. Joining a youth group is a good idea because there are normally new people every time you go. Buying a new computer game is useful force to tackle boredom and it can be very expensive, and you have to have the console to play it on in the first place. To stop this dreaded lack of entertainment you should try, not to do something all the time but rather go out to meet new people. This could be the people you would normally hang around with but maybe you could choose different people to hang around with. I find going to the park every day and just hanging about very boring. Some people get drunk to avoid boredom. Although this can make things funny and interesting, it is not a very good idea and can cause trouble as well it does damage to your body mostly your liver. Boredom we will all get it at least once in our life time but it is very easy to stop being bored, just go out there and find some thing to cure it. It is very simple to avoid but it is just as easy to fall into the trap of boredom. I hope that this essay has given you an insight into boredom the cause and the cure for the state of mind called boredom.

Educational Problems in Egypt Essay

Egypt has the most significant educational system in the (MENA); Middle East and North Africa according to the Human Development Index (HDI). Although the educational system had been developing hastily since the beginning of the 1990s, Egypt had been continuously facing serious and accumulated problems in education. An exploding population, an increasing poverty, low literacy rates, drastic injustice in schools qualities; schools in urban areas where the rich can pay for education are better than other schools in different areas, Low teaching salaries and inconsistent funding for the educational system by the government, all led to a decreasing educational quality mainly in the most essential and indispensable part of the educational system which is basic education, also it led many teachers to the road of private tutoring for extra income. Moreover, memorization rather than critical thinking was unwillingly encouraged through physical punishment in schools and homes. For countless Egyptian children fragmented information was the result and that was never considered real knowledge. Yet again as a product of these causes, more and more escalating numbers of graduates are found unemployed. Egypt will continue to face an educational crisis, as lack of well trained teachers, effective schools and developed educational equipment unless a much better financial commitment is made by the government. This essay will first demonstrate the main causes of the educational problem, examine the effects of these problems on the society, discuss and analyze the previously proposed solutions and finally enlighten a solution that will most likely work in our Egyptian society.

Argumentation in the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Essay

At the beginning of the story, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck is constantly under the influence of a mother figure. That mother figure makes him feel guilty when he does something wrong, rewards him when he does something right, and also serves as a kind of protector of him. Although Huck does not realize it, he is always being looked after by something or other. At one point it’s the widow, and throughout most of the story it’s the river. In the story, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the river becomes a provider of food, transportation, and refuge, metaphorically taking over the role as his mother when he runs away with Jim. At the beginning of the story, the Widow takes Huck under her wing and tries to teach him right from wrong. She makes him wear nice clothes, go to school, and say his daily prayers. Throughout his stay with the widow, Huck does not respond to the widow’s ways of teaching very well. When the widow asks Huck to do something, he does it, however, begrudgingly. She tries to teach Huck to become a gentleman and treats him as if he were her own son. When Tom Sawyer comes back into the picture, the widow takes on the motherly role of disapproval. She does not like the way Tom acts and makes believe all the time. This is why, rather than asking to see Tom, Huck usually snuck out when she did not know. The widow can not act as Huck’s mother for long though, because Huck is kidnapped by his father and fakes his own death to get away from everybody. After Huck’s â€Å"death,† he escapes to the river where he hides out on an island while his friends and family are searching for his body. During this time the river, without Huck realizing it, kind of takes over the role of mother. It provides protection from the elements when rain hits. It also hides Huck as the steamboat sails past with all his friends and family on board. Huck does not want the people to see him, or they will know he was just faking and will take him back to the life he is not fond of. Knowing this, Huck hides in the bushes and trees that grow along the river. When a mother knows that its child is in danger, she will hide it from the world so that it won’t get hurt. The river shows this motherly trait to Huck. The first thing a mother does for its child when it is a newborn, is to feed it. While Huck is a runaway, he needs food for survival. The river, in a way, provides this when Huck finds a loaf of bread floating down the river. Also later on in the story, Huck and Jim happen upon a house boat where they find many different types of fruit among other things.

Proud to Be a Woman Essay

â€Å"First Bone of a Woman† by Patricia Wellingham-Jones and â€Å"Afternoon in the Garden† are two poems that present the creation of the first woman and explore the nature of womanhood through the behavior, speech and descriptions of her. The authors addressed the story of creation differently through the use of alliteration, figurative language and symbol. â€Å"First Bone of a Woman,† describes in full detail the configuration of the female body as it is being constructed and focuses on the beauty and strength of her figure while â€Å"Afternoon in the Garden,† involves a complete and detailed version of the first woman’s day in the Garden of Eden and the meaningful discoveries she encounters that are not explored in other versions: â€Å"Then God created the woman: But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him. And the lord  God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. And Adam said: â€Å"This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh† (NIV Gen 2:18-24). We begin reading â€Å"First Bone of a Woman† with a specific understanding that Wellingham-Jones is referring to the extraction of Adams rib to create his counterpart, Eve. â€Å"Flesh pads the jointed structure, soft skin covers the curves† is a specific example of Walders’ use of alliteration and figurative language to describe the smooth contour of a woman’s body as she is coming together piece by piece (Patricia Wellingham-Jones 6). The author’s repetition of sounds points the reader to importance of the actual physical structure that may otherwise be overlooked without the employment of such poetic device. In many ways this is reminiscent of Davi Walders’ poem when she is referring to the apricot and describes the â€Å"sun on its flesh† (Walders 44-45). The repeated â€Å"s† and â€Å"c† sounds helps to communicate that  the female body is feminine and light and should be thought of in a beautiful and fruitful fashion. As the sounds roll off of your tongue and as you read the works aloud you will find that they flow softly as the authors intend to describe the female figure. In some ways the author’s use of figurative language and symbol seem to be the strongest literary devices used in their poems to create unique portrayals of the early creation of woman and their role in womanhood. â€Å"Afternoon in the Garden† Walders describes the moment that the first woman shows her independence and uniqueness. Rather than seeing her choice to taste the fruit as a naà ¯ve and irresponsible choice that could lead to trouble, Walders presents the firs t woman’s decisions as thoughtful and experimental. Walders describes the first woman as she wonders through the garden on her exploration: There’s that other fruit. He calls it â€Å"apple†. I think It’s not. It needs another name. (Davi Walders 41-43). Walders begins to present the first woman as an individual capable of thought and decision and not merely made to be Adam’s entertainment. Although she is merely describing the picking and naming of fruit, this alludes to the idea that the first woman has a mind and ability to make judgments of her own to help satisfy her man. The fruits in this poem, apple and apricot symbolize a woman’s independence and her need for variation and excitement. This helps to support Walders’ exploration of womanhood as good and essential. The main character goes on to say: I’ll pluck one with the sun On its flesh. It will not squash Or stain, has no thorns. I’ll call It â€Å"apricot†, bring an apple as well. Then he will tell the difference. A treat to share when he awakes. Then I shall sing of the joy†¦ Of learning to be a good wife. (Walders 44-54) Not only is Walders using this type of language of describing the fruits to show that she has conscious thoughts, but she also has the ability to use them to entice and pleasure her husband. The words, â€Å"I think: and â€Å"I’ll  pluck one with the sun†¦ on its flesh† clearly emphasizes the connection between the woman’s smooth body and alluring features as she explains she will bring the fruit to her husband to share as a treat together (Walders43-45). Walders is making a clear statement that a woman has the ability to make decisions, choose to go where she wants, when she wants and return in time to still make her husband happy after he has had his time to nap for the afternoon. They both work together in the garden but they each have their own roles. She is not there to serve Adam as we have read in the Bible but more as her own person able to express independent thought and virtue. While he does the majority of the physical labor, she will go out and fill her need for change and difference and excitement while she explores her own identity and goes off to define their world as they are learning and growing each day both together and separately. If Walders did not state these words, â€Å"I think† and â€Å"on its flesh† we may not be able to conclude that she is so adamantly stating a woman has independent thoughts and deserves to be viewed as an asset to the future of our lives as we know them. In contrast to â€Å"Afternoon in the Garden† the poem â€Å"First Bone of a Woman† in its literal description of the creation of the body, â€Å"The first bone of a woman shines with a spectral glow, knits itself to another until the framework brackets its form† (Wellingham-Jones 2-3). Wellingham-Jones is describing the formation of the body and the ability for each piece to easily connect from one to the next. This poems comes across as the strong, foundation of a female structure that not only has shape, but attractiveness necessary for a woman, while â€Å"Afternoon in the Garden† concentrates primarily on the discoveries that the first woman has during her explorations in the garden. â€Å"Soft skin covers the curves† is most certainly the author’s way of reminding the reader of a woman’s beauty and sexual attractiveness (Wellingham-Jones 6). Without these lines the poem would read more like a blueprint to build a stick figure while the addition of these lines guides the audience to the sensual curves of a woman’s body. In many ways we forget that women are not only physical beings, both hard working and nurturing, but we are also loving and sensual being capable and requiring attention and affection. Patricia Wellington-Jones and Davi Walders approach their stories with unique and distinct voices. While Wellington Jones’ poem, â€Å"First Bone of a Woman† explores the creation of the  female body as first understood by the biblical story presented to us in the story of Adam and Eve, she adds her own exciting idea that once the female body begun to take on its own shape it became an individual with a womanly nature and no longer would be reliant upon a man for her definition. The man and the woman would complement each other. Davi Walders poem, â€Å"Afternoon in the Garden† explores the diversity of a woman and her abilities to make decisions and entertain herself as well as contribute to the growth and prosperity of the world. Walders depicts womanhood being expressed through exploration and contribution. Both poems present the creation of the first woman in a manner that the topic of womanhood can be viewed in a more substantial and important role than in other works available.