Purpose statement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Purpose statement - Essay Example My dream is finally almost being achieved as well as my hard work being paid off with the entry in this program of paediatric dentistry. In preparation for this great career move, I have attained an undergraduate degree in Dentistry as well as diplomas in oral health and child psychology. The child psychology has enabled me gain in depth knowledge about children from the moment they are conceived to their adolescent years and how to handle them, gain their trust and teach them. The oral health education was a preparation to the field to test my readiness and resilience. It yielded positive results as it prepared me mentally on what was expected and how I should approach the mastery of the subject. In addition to theoretical work, I have had the privilege and pleasure to carry out field work in a few hospitals and health care centres where I have worked hand in hand with dentists and seen their work. One of the field experiences had been as an intern in a dentist clinic where I got exposure to the dentistry machines as well as handling patients. Working in a children’s hospital and home gave me time to practice my child psychology education and I found myself more and more attracted to the children, their curiosity, fear and attempted bravery and I found out I had a natural talent with the children. All these have given me enough proof that I can make it in this field of paediatric dentistry. The knowledge I attain from this course will not only be utilized in extracting or filing children’s teeth but I plan on having a series of programs in schools and children’s hospitals. The programs will target not only oral health as pertains to not eating sweets or brushing teeth but will be participative. Children are very brilliant from observation and given a chance, they can teach and ask various questions that bother them on oral health. The teaching and learning will spread also from the children to other children

Han China and Gupta India Essay Example for Free

Han China and Gupta India Essay Han China differed from Gupta India politically, developing a strong bureaucratic system while India allowed local rulers to stay in control, but the Guptas focused more on trade and made more intellectual achievements than China, especially in mathematics. They established empires that were successful, but also distinct in their own ways. Although these two civilizations were notably different politically, economically, and intellectually, both were successful in bringing prosperity to their empires. During the Han dynasty, China successfully improved its bureaucracy, but in India local rulers maintained regional control. India’s territory never grew to be as large as China’s, so different forms of government were needed for each civilization. Han China retained the centralized government formed by the Qin, and expanded the bureaucracy. The bureaucratic system suited China, because it was able to support the civilization as it expanded into a large empire. The emperor Wu Ti created civil service examinations for his bureaucrats, which could be taken by any male. Wu Ti also urged Confucianism in order to gain support, as it urged respect for the government. On the other hand, India lacked an extensive bureaucracy, and local rulers were allowed to keep control as long as they remained loyal to Gupta authority. Because of its separated regions, it was very difficult to politically unify India. Similar to China, the Gupta rulers turned to religion to strengthen support for the government. In contrast to China, they favored Hinduism because they claimed to be appointed by Hindu gods. Additionally, Hinduism encouraged the rigid caste system. The empires were also similar because political power was given to landowners. Although the Gupta period is considered the golden age of India, providing its greatest period of political stability, it never developed the solid bureaucracy that Han China did. Although trade is vital to any civilization’s success, India emphasized trade far more than China did. China’s economy focused on extensive internal trade, while India developed more maritime trade. Trade gradually became more important during the Han dynasty, focusing on luxury items for the upper class such as silks, leather, and jewelry. Internal trade was made easier by the standardization of currency and circulation of copper coins. Han rulers expanded the empire, which allowed trade with more places. Some merchants even took profitable trips to India. Even though they were important, trade and the merchant class did not become the focal points of Chinese economy. This was due to the emphasis on Confucianism, which frowned upon a life devoted to moneymaking. On the other hand, the Guptas established a strong economy. It was partly based on technological sophistication, new inventions, and production. For example, Indian artisans were the first to manufacture cotton cloth, calico, and cashmere. In these areas, India and China were rivaling, but the India’s economy became more vigorous. Merchant activity was greater in India than in China, with merchants at a relatively high caste status. They traveled by land, and also by sea, increasing maritime trade. Han China and Gupta India’s economies can be compared as firmly agricultural, both relying on a large peasant class, organized into cooperative close-knit villages. Han rulers regulated agricultural supplies by storing extra grain and rice in good times, preventing price increases when harvests were bad. The Gupta period in India was known for its wealth, which was due to extensive trading both internally and by sea, as opposed to Han China’s economy, which relied more on technological innovations. The Hans and Guptas both made many important intellectual achievements, but there was more academic success in India, especially in mathematics. The Chinese studied astronomy, calculating the movement of planets, as well as observing sunspots. During the Han dynasty, scientists invented a seismograph to register earthquakes. In addition, they actively researched medicine, studying principles of hygiene that would support longer lives. Generally, the Chinese focused their studies on practical findings, such as discovering how things worked. They studied the mathematics of music that led to advances in acoustics. Like China, Indian scientists also progressed in astronomy and medicine. Many astronomical discoveries were made, such as the calculation of the solar year, the circumference and daily rotation of Earth, a theory of gravity, and the discovery of seven planets. In medicine, hospitals also stressed cleanliness, like China. India surpassed China in mathematical discoveries. Scholars created a numbering system and the concepts of zero and negative numbers. Mathematicians also calculated square roots and a more accurate value of pi. These advances in both civilizations were possible because of support from the government. In China, the government sponsored intellectual life, organizing research in astronomy. The Guptas had a vast university center in Nalanda featuring lecture halls, libraries, and an observatory. This supported the new discoveries that were being made. Both civilizations made important intellectual achievements that were advanced by world standards, but Gupta India especially excelled in mathematics. The Han and Gupta dynasties were both successful periods in China and India. Their success was due to different causes, because their societies were very unlike each other. China’s government centered on its strong bureaucracy developed during the Han dynasty, while India never advanced a decent bureaucratic system. Both civilizations had strong economies, but India focused more on over-sea trade than China did. Also, Gupta India made more intellectual achievements particularly in science and mathematics. The Han and Gupta periods were similar in some ways, but their civilizations showed distinct differences politically, economically, and intellectually.

Inequality of Wealth and Income Distribution in America Essay -- essay

Inequality of Wealth and Income Distribution in America Every American dreams of finding a job that pays well enough so that they may comfortably take care of their loved ones and themselves for years to come. Most Americans hope to find some way to make a living that they enjoy, something that they view as productive. Unfortunately, many do not have this luxury. In our society, a good portion of the population is forced to hold the base of our country in place while hardly being redeemed for their time and effort, and thus the problem of income inequality. Numbers of these people live from paycheck to paycheck, barely getting by, not because they manage their money poorly, but because the value of their time at work is negligible. Some may even sacrifice happiness at work to find a job that pays better simply because they cannot make ends meet at their current job. Some people sacrifice their sanity and eventually their life just to keep from going under financially. Segregation in income distribution is another cause of these proble ms, such as that with women or African-Americans who make less than other classes comparatively. In contrast, actors and actresses make millions in the entertainment industry, an industry that grosses hundreds of millions of dollars a year creating what adds up to be the same kind of entertainment most people could get out of watching their children play sports or sing in a choir. The question then is how to find the value of work and time in our society and what should determine income. Positive reasons for income inequality are hard to find. One reason is the incentives there are to achieving higher status of income. You are regarded as successful in the eyes of your peers, and if you financial security is achieved, your life can be a lot less stressful. It is the pursuit of these incentives, this kind of greed, which keeps the economy running strongly. People work hard if they will be rewarded for it, so they pursue a higher education to get better jobs, to create a business, and we all benefit from that. An article, The Truth About Income Inequality by John H. Hinderaker and Scott W. Johnson, which is based completely on statistics from the government, proves that income has not fallen for Americans. In fact, the distribution of income is no worse than it has ever been, and certainly better than when the count... ... If everyone in this nation were aware of the influence that income inequality has on the people’s lives, many would be surprised and outraged. While the incentive’s and rewards of higher income are what fuels the economy, and what raises our standard of living, reaching that level of income has been difficult in the past and seems to be getting worse. Income inequality has been on the rise since the 1960’s, according to the graph of the Gini index, a statistical index of (in)equality. Those incentives of higher income are becoming scarce and costly, and many people think it isn’t worth the work to reach it. The larger the gap between the social classes, the more prominent social classification becomes, and the more we, as citizens and human beings, should be prepared to make a stand for the basic right of standard of living that was initiated by our independence. Works Cited The Simple Truth about the Gender Pay Gap (Fall 2014) http://www.aauw.org/research/the-simple-truth-about-the-gender-pay-gap/ John H. Hinderaker and Scott W. Johnson, â€Å"The Truth About Income Inequality† http://www.americanexperiment.org/publications/reports/the-truth-about-income-inequality

Cultural impact of Macdonalds Essay

McDonald is more than a restaurant; it had known to be a prominent symbol of American standard in fast food industries. And for this company to penetrate the Arab market where they’re a huge gap in cultures, it must have to do some necessary adjustments. Even though McDonald have a strong value of its name as a brand, it wont be easy to for a foreign company to gain the confidence of a country with a strong different believe and well established culture. You see not the all restaurant could sell their products in Middle East because of this situation. It is this culture of Middle East people that had set standard and limitation of what to eat and not. Arab people are very strict when it comes to this matter and everything should be according to their laws and religion. The concept of selling product exclusively for a particular region is an effective way to reach out their potential market. For example, the introduction of Mcarabia sandwich in the Middle East. There are two versions of this sandwich, the McArabia Grilled Chicken and Grilled Kofta, which is both, prepared only using ingredients that are acceptable with the Arab Religion. This is very important part of reaching out the Arab market. Just by naming it as â€Å"McArabia† makes the Arab people feel how they are being valued by McDonald restaurant. It reflects the sincere commitments of McDonalds to reach out the market of the gulf regions. Thus, it gained a warm acceptance with Arab market and it has shown with record of successful sales of the company. With the success of McDonald, it brought out a new interest to its Arab Market. It taught its customers how they could they could enjoy American products and still stick with their culture. However, this leads to into some modernization, which I believe is now acceptable with Arab leaders. For as long as there religion is always on top of consideration, changes are welcome to Arab market. Maybe this is the reason why there’s a lot establishment and products being produce in accordance with the â€Å"hajal† standard.a

CASE Analysis: Seven-Eleven Japan Co. Essay

The case describes how seven eleven has successfully established an innovative business model. Toshifumi Suzuki, CEO of Seven eleven Japan (SEJ), described Seven Eleven Stores as: â€Å"Stores where you can find a solution for any of your daily life’s problems. We always try to plan and design a store in such a way that our store neighbours, in particular, can get whatever they need at any time they want† SEJ, headquartered in Japan, leads the world wide seven Eleven chain, which had 24,912 stores in 18 countries in March 2003.In 2003 ranking of retailers by market value, SEJ was number one in Japan. Since its establishment in 1974, SEJ has never experienced a fall in income or profits. With 9,757 stores as of May, 2003, SEJ is the largest CVS chain in Japan. Its stores feature the same basic designs: large, highly visible sign in green, red and orange, a large store window, much brighter than average lightning and a spotlessly clean store. SEJ identifies their customer orientation, offering not only a rich assortment of products but total comfort to customers, as the source of SEJ’s rise to the top of the Japanese retail industry. Industry Background The Japanese Distribution System Prior to 1974: Traditional Japanese retailing consists of a conservative, multi-tiered system that combines large numbers of small wholesalers and retailers into complex exclusive networks. These networks are not based solely on economic efficiency but also on tight human relationships. The wholesale to retail level ratios (W/R) is measure of layers within distribution system. W/R ratio 1992 1998 US 0.98 – Japan – 2.3 Although the development of information technology in the industry has gradually improved the efficiency of the distribution system, small-to-medium-sized retailers owe their existence mainly to the multi-tiered and vertically integrated structure. Retail Business Environment The Japanese retail sector is still dominated by small retailers. Firms with one to four employees make up about 70% of the total number of stores. In these small shops, CVS still accounts for only 3.2% of all stores and only 5% of total sales Because of Japan’s small land area, most Japanese retail stores have too little space to maintain a wide assortment of products in either the store or inventory. These small, local â€Å"mom-and-pop† stores typically lack both managerial know-how and planning skills. In addition, given their limited size, they are often unable to bear large inventory risks and thus have to rely on manufacturers and wholesalers to bear part of that burden. Legal perspective Japanese government enforced in 1974 the Large-scale Retail Store (LRS) Law which regulated the business hours of larger outlets. Initially applied to stores over 1,500 m2, it was later extended in 1979 to stores with an area of over 500 m2. The law mandated that stores close by 7 P.M. each day and remained closed at least 30 shop days per year. Fueled by heavy pressure from abroad, the deregulation trend caused the LRS law to be changed in 1990 and practically abolished in 2001. While operating its large stores under the LRS law, Ito- Yokado, a parent company of SEJ, launched a new retail business based on small regional stores, which can effectively co-exist with large stores. As a result, CVS chains prove that small stores can compete against larger retailers by improving the efficiency and productivity of their franchise and continual striving to meet customer needs. Because of the density of the store network, CVS chains are not only places to sell products, but are also becoming an important part of the social infrastructure. Seven-Eleven Japan Ito-Yokado, a parent company of SEJ, was founded by Masatoshi Ito in 1964 as a 66-square-foot family clothing store in Tokyo. After starting a new chain of super stores offering a range of food and clothing products, he expanded his business into other distribution areas such as restaurants, department, discount and convenience stores. By 2002, the Ito- Yokado group was one of the largest retail groups in Japan with  ¥5,574 billion ($41.6 billion) in sales and 114,600 employees. Toshifumi Suzuki negotiated directly with Southland, then owner of Seven-Eleven, to bring the convenience store concept to Japan. Japanese consumers were generally more sensitive to product and service quality, more fickle and less price-sensitive. Therefore products had to be fresh, and the turnover rate very high. To meet such customer requirements within the constraint of limited shelf and storage capacity, it was necessary to forecast customers’ demand by the time of purchase, the store location and the weather. Providing the customer with well-targeted, differentiated products 24-hours a day, 7-days-a week was critical. As of 2003, SEJ is the largest convenience store chain with  ¥2,213 billion ($17.5 billion) revenue and 5,061 employees. Its market value of $21,721 million and consolidated net income of  ¥82,825 million ($690 million) are the highest in the whole of Japan’s retail industry. Strategy SEJ practice of continuous item control and well-organized delivery system, and the heavy use of information technology (IT). The basic mission of an SEJ store is to provide solutions for all the problems of everyday life. Each store offers a variety of high-quality products and services that are required daily or on an emergency basis to make life easier and more â€Å"convenient†. The two main reasons for the failure of existing retailers. They ignored: 1)  the importance of convenience to the customer and 2) the quality of the products and the service. SEJ developed some key principles to define a quality convenience store. 1. Reduction of lost opportunity: A missed opportunity to sell an item because it is out of stock is one of the most serious problems in retail business in terms of disappointing customers as well as missing the actual profit. 2. Effective Item Control and Well-Planned Product Supply Management: The American practice of keeping large inventories of a wide variety of products could not be applied in convenience stores in Japan where shelf and storage space are limited and maintaining a large inventory is prohibitive. SEJ pursued a strategy of supplying products in high demand with a rapid turnover rate and eliminating dead or slow-moving products through item-by-item analysis. The well-organized analysis and frequent replacement contributes to SEJ’s high product supply efficiency. 3. Commitment to Customer Satisfaction with Original Product Development and Friendly Service:SEJ not only sells manufacturers’ products but also researches customers’ potential needs. SEJ uses this research to provide original products at reasonable prices (such as a lunch boxes and prepared foods) Merchandising The store space available for a Seven-Eleven franchisee is, on average, only 110 m2. The items kept in stock and on the shelf are precisely selected for the targeted customers and product quality is kept high. Product turnover is high, and goods are always new and food fresh. SEJ discovered that customer loyalty was driven more by specific items than by item categories. To meet the demand and achieve such tight item-by item control, SEJ implemented the POS (Point of Sale) system in 1982, whereby storeowners could identify customer trends and enhance product differentiation. SEJ introduced its POS systems to collect sales data used to improve merchandising and the item-by-item control process. For instance, the cash register would not open  until the operator pushed the account button indicating the gender and estimated age of the customer. This information from the POS system was used for consumer trend analysis. Store Network Expansion SEJ considers its market dominating strategy of high-density, clustered store openings to be the key to efficiency and stability. The advantages of the market dominance strategy are: Improved brand awareness Increased customer visits to the stores Boosted distribution efficiency Enhanced productivity of franchisee-support services Improved advertising effectiveness Franchise Strategy Approximately 60% of SEJ stores were modified from old family owned stores (e.g., liquor or rice stores). The relationship between franchiser and franchisee is one of reciprocal obligations. The franchisee is an independent business which gives SEJ royalties and a long-term commitment, and concentrates on the tasks of selling and effectively managing inventory. The royalty that the franchisee pays to the franchiser is 43% of its gross profit. In exchange for their long-term commitment and royalties, SEJ provides franchisees with service from field representatives called Operation Field Counselors (OFC). Each of about 1,300 OFCs supervises between seven or eight stores, providing (i) advice on store operation and ordering and (ii) information on the portfolio of available items and on sales methods. This person-to-person contact with store managers is a key element of the SEJ franchise system. Each OFC visits each store at least twice a week and spends at least two hours providing adv ice and information. Such a close relationship not only motivates franchisees but also supports company-wide brand image and promotional strategies. Outsourcing Policy SEJ is known for its outsourcing policy and ability to manage supplier relationships. The rationalized distribution system crafted by SEJ created conflict within the traditional wholesale system. Over time, however, SEJ’s  system has proved highly reliable and efficient, covering everything from raw procurement to product deliveries. The collaboration between SEJ and the business partners includes shared information systems and know-how about operations management as well as quality control in the food manufacturers’ factories and delivery centres. By 2002, the company had built a network of 223 distribution centres and 195 factories dedicated to fast food production, all of them created and operated by wholesalers, suppliers and forward agents. Information Systems Strategy Daily, Seven-Eleven stores serve a total of 9.5 million customers, process five million order transactions and send 35 million sales transactions to the information systems centre where sales data is collected, integrated and analysed. The decisions have to be based on well-analysed hypothesis, order and validation. Information technology (IT) for SEJ is merely a method to support the cycle. SEJ prefers to outsource most of its information systems management to external service providers due to the speed at which the information technology market moves. This strategy allows the information systems department of SEJ to focus on developing a systems vision that fits with the business strategy, while the rest of the information systems management is outsourced. The department has evolved into a more strategic organization that links needs from stores with top management and proposes innovative system plans. SEJ regularly explores opportunities to gain first mover advantage by trying out state-of-the-art technologies: the first POS system in Japan in 1982, the first major use of Integrated Service Digital Network (ISDN) in 1991, etc. Operation Infrastructure Total Information Systems SEJ has continued to develop total information systems. In June 1999, the fifth generation total information system, in which SEJ invested  ¥60 billion ($500 million), was released in collaboration with 14 companies including NRI, NEC, Toshiba TEC, etc. High efficiency, maintainability and reliability of the total network system: The system connects 70,000 computers in stores, at headquarters and at supplier sites through satellite telecommunications, exclusive lines, ISDN and mobile networks via the most appropriate telecommunication technology. The combination of ISDN and satellite telecommunications realizes 45x faster speeds at 35x better cost performance. Terminals are constantly monitored and software and configuration can be updated remotely. The most critical systems such as online ordering and accounting systems are backed up at physically separated locations in Yokohama and Osaka. And in earthquake-prone Japan, satellite telecommunication provides an extra layer of safety. The system, now shared by 10,000 stores, is considered highly reliable due to the crisis management planning and high service levels. The store information system which encourages all store staff to participate in ordering: SEJ provides stores with multimedia information such as pictures, video, audio, text and numerical data, which is used by all employees in Seven-Eleven stores. The system platform shared with business partners: SEJ provides its business partners—vendors, distributors and manufactures—with a common infrastructure consisting of 1,800 terminals at 1,100 locations. The applications on the platform vary depending on the partner’s business: raw material ordering system, inventory management, production management, automated sorting system, for example. The broad system infrastructure facilitates collaboration among SEJ allies by improving the efficiency of delivery through the sharing of order, sales and inventory information. And finally, sophisticated analysis system which eliminates intuitive decision-making . Electronic Commerce Business SEJ categorizes its electronic commerce (EC) business into four major groups: 1) financial services, 2) Internet shopping site, 3) public and regional  services, and 4) in-store intelligent copy machines. Financial Services (settlement, finance, and card service): Launched in 1987, Seven-Eleven hasdeveloped the payment acceptance service whichprovides customers with a convenient means to paytheir bills 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Affiliatedcompanies number about 1,500 and the types ofpayment are mainly utilities: electricity, telephone,water, rent, and mail orders. This business has beensuccessful with 144 million yearly transactions witha total value of  ¥1.15 trillion (about $12.8 billion)and a 20% annual growth rate. Internet Shopping Site: 7dream.com, a subsidiary of SEJ, provides the internet shopping site by utilizing SEJ’s existing operating infrastructure in its EC activities. SEJ also ties into other internet sites and provides payment acceptance and pick-up service at the retail stores. Goods purchased via the Internet are picked up at stores 24-hours a day or delivered to customers’ homes, raising the value of Seven-Eleven stores and enhancing convenience for customers. Public, civil and regional services: SEJ’s meals-on wheels service, named Seven Meal Service, offers prepared meals and cooking ingredients to regional customers. Order can be made via the Internet. SEJ plans to expand its public services at stores via its EC platform so that customers can obtain civil services. In-store intelligent copy machines: Multipurpose copy machines at Seven-Eleven stores are connected the Internet and enable customers to print event tickets and documents created by customers at home as well as to pay for pre-ordered airline tickets. With the capability to attract 1,000 customers per day per store, SEJ is pursuing synergy between the existing retail and EC business units to encourage potential Internet users to visit Seven-Eleven stores and become new customers. SEJ also provides its EC platform service for EC partners with functions such as authentication, database, settlement, and distribution. Temperature-Separated Combined Distribution System Since 1976, SEJ has been developing a streamlined distribution system to efficiently integrate product supplies. The company established the Combined Delivery System, whereby the same kind of products coming from different suppliers can be centralized into 223 Combined Delivery Centres (CDCs). The combined distribution system allows products from different suppliers to be loaded on the same trucks for delivery to Seven-Eleven stores. Combined distribution consolidates product shipment from manufacturers to stores at similar optimum temperatures. In 22 years, SEJ has reduced the average number of vehicles visiting each store from 70 a day in 1974 to ten a day in 1998. Delivery routes and time are also well organized to maintain high efficiency. Competitors SEJ is the largest CVS chain in Japan in terms of the number of stores, sales, and net income followed by Lawson, C&S, Familymart, and Ministop. These top-five companies dominate the market with almost 90% market share. All four competitors operate franchise businesses with store networks expanding all over Japan. Competitors are increasingly investing in EC business to compete and establish dominance in a new area. In 1997, Lawson began implementing multimedia terminals in stores to gain first mover advantage. Lawson also tries to differentiate itself in the Internet shopping site named @Lawson by launching new services such net coupons, which was rare in Japan in 1999. Future Vision The company strives to achieve the maxim â€Å"the retail business should always keep up with change of customer demands† with three principles. 1. Responsiveness to changing customer needs and continuous improvement of customer services 2. Manufacturing retailer 3. The combination of demand chain and supply chain management with the common platform. Case Questions: 1. A convenience store chain attempts to be responsive and provide customers  what they need, when they need it, where they need it. What are some different ways that a convenience store supply chain can be responsive? What are some risks in each case? As In this increasingly competitive world, the whole concept of convenience stores from the existing concept of retail outlets have emerged to improve competitive advantage of businesses by enhancing customer service and by providing him with superior quality of products and experience. However, attaining this competitive advantage comes with added costs and risks. As responsiveness towards a customer’s demands increase, a convenience store chain gets exposed to greater uncertainty and risks- the risk of not having timely supply of essential goods, system breakdowns etc. A convenience store may deal in both perishable food items like processed fast foods and non-perishable items( life of more than 1 month) like frozen foods, magazines, beverages, and other consumer items like soaps, detergents etc. It is critical for any convenience store to have a tightly linked supply chain system for perishable items that need to be supplied to the final stores on daily basis. This distribution system ought to be flexible and highly responsive to alter delivery schedules depending on customer demands. The following are some ways that shall make convenience store supply chains operating on market dominance strategies more responsive- Local capacity: The convenience store chains can provide local cooking capacity that is, live counters at the stores and assemble foods on demand. The Inventory could be stored as raw material under controlled conditions at the stores and be supplied by the distributors at regular intervals. This would eliminate the need to supply fresh and fast foods from the to the outlets thrice a day thus bringing down the transportation cost of the entire distribution system and would add certainty to the production and distribution schedules. This strategy of selling fresh foods to customers would also enhance customer confidence in the brand. 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. High level of integration- One way of insuring more responsiveness is by further decentralizing the entire system. This can be attained by dividing each region further into  zones and having production plants in each zone nearer to each convenience stores. This would increase the set up cost for the parent company but in the long run but would also inhance the flow of information and service among the stores, suppliers and distributors thus increasing customer responsiveness and satisfaction. Local inventory: Responsiveness to customer demands can also be attained by having inventory available at the store at all times. This allows for the centralization of cooking capacity. But the main disadvantage of this way is not delivering fresh foods to customers thus increasing customer dissatisfaction and need for extra storage space. Rapid replenishment: Another approach is to set up rapid replenishment and supply the stores what they need and when they need it. This allows for centralization of cooking capacity, low levels of inventory, but increases the cost of replenishment and receiving. 2. Seven-Eleven’s supply chain strategy in Japan can be described as attempting to micro-match supply and demand using rapid replenishment. What are some risks associated with this choice? The main risk for convenience stores to adopt a supply chain system that works on rapid replenishment strategy is the potentially high cost of transportation and receiving at stores. The suppliers and factories are centrally located but the stores are scattered all across the city. So the company’s effort to supply fresh foods multiple times a day to all the stores increases the transportation costs. This one aspect can be taken care of by probably decentralizing the authority to produce fresh foods at convenience stores itself. Also, the fact that goods get unloaded multiple times a day reduces the store efficiency and increases customer dissatisfactions due to reduced services and frequent disruptions. This tends to fade away the customer’s experience at the store. Sudden breakdown of the information system or the transportation system connecting the stores to distribution centre and suppliers would also bring the functioning of the entire system to a halt leading to customer inconvenience and the resulting loss in sales. Thus convenience stores that attempt to micro-match supply and demand using rapid replenishment must take extra precautions to ensure timely delivery of goods, proper functioning of the information and transportation system, and customer’s convenience 3. What has Seven-Eleven done in its choice of facility location, inventory management, transportation, and information infrastructure to develop capabilities that support its supply chain strategy in Japan? Seven-Eleven Japan has chosen to operate a highly responsive operation and has chosen a supply chain design that supports this strategy. Their facility location choices are to saturate an area with stores, thereby making it easy for customers to shop and their own delivery trucks to move from store to store to replenish inventory. Seven-Eleven’s inventory system is run on an information system that transmits directly to the supplier and distribution centre; goods are produced using a pull system to replace what has been sold during that delivery period. The transportation system is flexible to maximize responsiveness while also achieving efficiency. 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 50-60 stores in an area helps with marketing but also 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 the distribution centre (DC). Seven-Eleven also requires all suppliers to deliver to the DC where products are sorted by temperature. This reduces the outbound transportation cost because of aggregation of deliveries across multiple suppliers. It also lowers the receiving cost. The information infrastructure is set up to allow store managers to place orders based on analysis of consumption data. The information infrastructure also facilitates the sorting of an order at the DC and receiving of the order at the store. The key point to emphasize here is that most decisions by Seven-Eleven are structured to aggregate transportation and receiving to make both cheaper. 4. Seven-Eleven does not allow direct store delivery in Japan but has all products flow through its distribution centre. What benefit does Seven-Eleven derive from this policy? When is direct store delivery more appropriate? Direct store delivery (DSD) would lower the utilization of the outbound trucks from the Seven-Eleven DC. 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 are large 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 an intermediate aggregation point to lower the cost of freight. In fact, Home Depot itself is setting up these intermediate facilities for its new stores that are often smaller. In case of seven eleven, the benefit of delivery through its own distribution centre is total control of the system, aggregation of demand and minimal disruption at the retail outlets. If several suppliers tried to make two or three deliveries every day, it would detract from the store manager’s abil ity to provide customer service. Each of these suppliers would likely prefer their own way of doing things, their own inventory system, truck size, etc., which would make things more difficult for the Seven-Eleven system. The demand and production data would have to be shared rather than residing on Seven-Eleven’s system from cradle to grave. For items that cannot be prepared quickly, pull production may not provide the responsiveness that Seven-Eleven desires. In this case, the DC concept allows pooling of inventory which increases their overall service level while minimizing total system inventory of those items. Direct store delivery might be more appropriate if the items being delivered do not need bulk broken at a DC, have special handling requirements (lottery tickets, newspapers, or alcoholic beverages), or the supplier has a system that is consonant with Seven-Eleven’s (perhaps a regular bread run that has an information system that integrates with Seven-Eleven’s). 5. What do you think about the 7dream concept for Seven-Eleven in Japan? From a supply chain perspective, is it likely to be more successful in Japan or the United States? Why? 7dream makes sense given that Japanese customers are happy to receive their shipments at the local convenience store. From a logistics perspective, online deliveries can piggy back on Seven-Eleven’s existing distribution  network in Japan. Deliveries from the online supplier can be brought to the DC where they are sorted along with other deliveries destined for a store. This should increase the utilization 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 storage space and require the store to be able to retrieve specific packages for customers. One can argue that the concept may be more successful 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 existing network. The high visit frequency ensures that packages are not occupying valuable store shelf space for a long time. Also, the frequent visits ensure that the marginal cost to the customer of picking up at Japanese Seven-Eleven is small. The 7dream concept allows e-commerce sites to use Seven-Eleven stores as drop-off and collection points for Japanese e-commerce customers. It has been extremely successful; a recent survey revealed that 92 per cent of the customers of one e-commerce company preferred to have their items shipped this way. It seems likely that this concept would work only for high density urban areas; It is being established in congested, less-safe urban areas for a service like package delivery. Suburban customers in the US would likely find it incredibly inconvenient and avoid it unless home delivery was not possible and the alternative was to pick up a package (for example, one that must be signed for) at the local carrier’s office. This is less likely to be the case in the United States. 6. Seven-Eleven is attempting to duplicate the supply chain structure that has succeeded in Japan in the United States with the introduction of CDCs. What are the pros and cons of this approach? Keep in mind that stores are also replenished by wholesalers and DSD by manufacturers. The supply chain structure for the US market can be close, but it can never be exactly as it is in Japan, and will probably not operate as smoothly as in Japan. Some of this is attributable to the culture and the corporate culture. Regardless of how like-minded supply chain partners claim to be, it would be extremely difficult to duplicate the collective spirit that  permeates Seven-Eleven Japan. The disadvantages of this system is that Seven-Eleven in the U.S. would probably have to run two system depending on whether the area could be treated as a dense urban location or a suburban or rural outpost. The cost of running the Seven-Eleven Japan system in middle-America would be prohibitive. The U.S. consumer in that region has too many alternatives that have 24 hour operations and are within a short drive. The difficulty of duplicating the Japan supply chain structure in the United States follows primarily from the much lower density of U.S. Seven-Eleven stores. This is compounded by the fact that Seven-Eleven stores are getting both direct store deliveries as well as wholesaler deliveries to its stores. Setting up its own DCs does not allow Seven-Eleven to get the same level of transportation aggregation as it gets in Japan. Its own distribution system would help more if all wholesaler deliveries and direct store deliveries were stopped and routed through the DC. Even then, having its own distribution system would add much less value than in Japan given the lower density of stores and larger distance between stores. Perhaps a hybrid system can be applied in select markets to test the system’s efficacy in the U.S. 7. The United States has food service distributors that also replenish convenience stores. What are the pros and cons to having a distributor replenish convenience stores versus a company like Seven-Eleven managing its own distribution function? The advantage of someone else replenishing stores is primarily cost; less transportation, material handling, and labour costs for your own system. Depending on how supply and reordering operations are designed, it might be possible for the distributors to perform the aggregation/demand smoothing function with minimal intervention by the individual Seven-Eleven franchise. One can contend that a distributor brings much more value to the table in the United States relative to Japan. Given the lower density of stores, a distributor is able to aggregate deliveries across many competing stores. This allows a distributor to reach levels of aggregation that cannot be achieved by a single chain such as Seven-Eleven. The disadvantage of the outsourced replenishment service is an overall loss of control, an increased  number of deliveries to each store, and the difficulty of integrating information flows across disparate systems. Also, Seven-Eleven is unable to exploit having a large number of stores. In fact, it may be argued that going through the distributor has Seven-Eleven subsidize deliveries to competing smaller chains that may also be using the same distributor

Film Portfolio Example Essays

Film Portfolio Example Essays Film Portfolio Example Paper Film Portfolio Example Paper Double Indemnity! By Chris Hale! Director! Inspiration, aims, goals! Being a director for the first time was quite a challenging task but I really wanted to experience this role and see how much of a difference I could make towards the final film. In order to get an idea of the sort of things a director does I took a look at a couple of videos, and since our task was to replicate a scene from Double Indemnity I decided it would be a good idea to have a look at the type of styles that Billy Wilder, the director for the film, had used. After some research I found out that Billy Wilder ended to use various techniques in his films such as low key lighting and the blind effect. I decided to try and use the exact techniques in my film so I could try and replicate the same effects it had on the viewers. Planning and Research! As a director I knew planning would be a key part of my role, I had to organism several things such as getting the right actors as well as finding suitable dates to film. All in all it was quite a hard task, however I found a fantastic way of communicating with my whole film group through the use of Backbone. I made a private group for ourselves and it turned out to work very efficiently. Two examples of the communication we had going on in the group I was also able to do tasks such as find out who was available on which days of the week and to keep the group informed on our overall progress. : Here is the table I used on the Backbone group to find when our group and actors were available to film We also had a long think about the actors we were going to need for the project. We came up with a list of suitable actors and then sent them a message to see if they were at all interested in acting for our group. In the end we managed to get both our priority actors whom we thought resembled the actors in the clip the most and so we were very pleased with the result. An example of one of the conversations with our actors One of the first things we decided to do was find a location, this was actually quite an easy task as I knew my house, located in Hong Look Yen, was quite a suitable match for replicating the scene in the clip. The living room was quite spacious and towards the side was an arc which very well resembled the arc in the clip. It was also quite a convenient place for myself, the roof and the actors since everyone lived relatively near to the location. The Arc in the image above which closely resembled the on the clip to the right was a big aspect of why we decided to film in this particular house We had several discussions as a group about the story board but in the end I opted not to create a storyboard since we were replicated a clip to its exact specifications and we could always use the clip as a reference if needed. Technical details! As for the technical side of things the biggest role I played was helping out the interoperable with the lighting and the camera ISO settings. We worked together in trying various ISO settings to see if we could balance the quality and lighting to get a perfect film noir-sis feel. I also used the LED light that we were given and experimented with it to see the differences in lighting as seen in the picture below. A couple of pictures showing the difference between using the LED light (right) and not using any artificial light (left) Apart from this I had a quick look at the clips we had taken and helped the editor ecocide which clips we should use for the final production since we did take many multiple shots of the same scene Just in case on any accidents. Reflection and Evaluation! In the end I think the film turned out pretty well, however we did have a few obstacles to overcome which no doubt made our lives more difficult but at the end of the day as a whole group we were quite pleased with the final production. One of the main problems we did have was finding the right dates to film since our actors were relatively busy with other events during the periods we wanted to film, adding to this problem was that one of our actors was working for another group and so it proved to be quite a hassle trying to find a suitable date to film. In the end we were unfortunate that on the day we were planning to film one of our actors was sick and so unfortunately we were only able to film once rather than twice which is what we originally planned. But the clips from the first filming take were pretty good and so it wasnt a huge problem that we werent unable to polish the film with a second film take. I think in order to avoid this next time myself as a director have to be more organized he the dates of filming and have backup dates in case anything occurs such as one of the actors being sick. Other than that we didnt run into any other major problems. The filming itself was very successful and efficient as we only had to spend around 2 hours setting up and getting the right shots. As a director I had a clear idea of how I wanted the film to be done and so I was very clear with my cinematographer showing him exactly what I wanted and even in some cases showing him the movement I wanted of the camera angles. Word count: 997

Free Essays on Chesapeake vs New England

New England and Virginia were both settled by people of English decent. Both areas were settled at around the same period of time. However, the two developed into very different societies. The main explanation for this is the bases upon which each area was founded. The Puritans were a hard working, god-fearing people. After many years of religious prosecution in their homeland of England they sought out refuge in the neighboring country of Holland. After living in Amsterdam for a year, the group moved to the town of Leyden. For the next twelve years the Puritans built the reputation of being honest and hard working. However, life was very hard in Holland. Many families did not have enough money to make ends meet. The group resolved that they would lead a better life in America. The trip to America was a hard one, however, it brought the group closer together. On November 11, 1620 the Puritans anchored in Cape Cod Harbor. The Puritans worked extremely hard to set up a community in which they could worship their god and raise their families. Because many families had an extraordinary amount of children (Document B), it was important for them to set up a good foundation of togetherness in which the children could grow up. Each man did not work for the better of himself but for the better of the community as a whole. â€Å"†¦being by God’s providence engaged together to make a plantation† (Document D). This was needed in the initial building of houses, churches, and other structures that were crucial to their survival. â€Å"[Yet] we must be knit together and work as one man†¦We must delight in each other, make others’ conditions are own†¦always having before our eyes commission and community in the work†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (Document A). However, the people who started the colonies of Virginia did not have the same outlook on life. The Virginia Company, which funded the early settlements of Virginia, emphasized â€Å"quick economi... Free Essays on Chesapeake vs New England Free Essays on Chesapeake vs New England New England and Virginia were both settled by people of English decent. Both areas were settled at around the same period of time. However, the two developed into very different societies. The main explanation for this is the bases upon which each area was founded. The Puritans were a hard working, god-fearing people. After many years of religious prosecution in their homeland of England they sought out refuge in the neighboring country of Holland. After living in Amsterdam for a year, the group moved to the town of Leyden. For the next twelve years the Puritans built the reputation of being honest and hard working. However, life was very hard in Holland. Many families did not have enough money to make ends meet. The group resolved that they would lead a better life in America. The trip to America was a hard one, however, it brought the group closer together. On November 11, 1620 the Puritans anchored in Cape Cod Harbor. The Puritans worked extremely hard to set up a community in which they could worship their god and raise their families. Because many families had an extraordinary amount of children (Document B), it was important for them to set up a good foundation of togetherness in which the children could grow up. Each man did not work for the better of himself but for the better of the community as a whole. â€Å"†¦being by God’s providence engaged together to make a plantation† (Document D). This was needed in the initial building of houses, churches, and other structures that were crucial to their survival. â€Å"[Yet] we must be knit together and work as one man†¦We must delight in each other, make others’ conditions are own†¦always having before our eyes commission and community in the work†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (Document A). However, the people who started the colonies of Virginia did not have the same outlook on life. The Virginia Company, which funded the early settlements of Virginia, emphasized â€Å"quick economi...

Cultural Relativism Definition and Examples

Cultural Relativism Definition and Examples Cultural relativism refers to the idea that the values, knowledge, and behavior of people must be understood within their own cultural context. This is one of the most fundamental concepts in sociology, as it recognizes and affirms the connections between the greater social structure and trends and the everyday lives of individual people. Origins and Overview The concept of cultural relativism as we know and use it today was established as an analytic tool by German-American  anthropologist Franz Boas in the early 20th century. In the context of early social science, cultural relativism became an important tool for pushing back on the ethnocentrism that often tarnished research at that time, which was mostly conducted by white, wealthy, Western men, and often focused on people of color, foreign indigenous populations, and persons of lower economic class than the researcher. Ethnocentrism is the practice of viewing and judging someone elses culture based on the values and beliefs of ones own. From this standpoint, we might frame other cultures as weird, exotic, intriguing, and even as problems to be solved. In contrast, when we recognize that the many cultures of the world have their own beliefs, values, and practices that have developed in particular historical, political, social, material, and ecological contexts  and that it makes sense that they would differ from our own and that none are necessarily right or wrong or good or bad, then we are engaging the concept of cultural relativism. Examples Cultural relativism explains why, for example, what constitutes breakfast varies widely from place to place. What is considered a typical breakfast in Turkey, as illustrated in the above image, is quite different from what is considered a typical breakfast in the U.S. or Japan. While it might seem strange to eat fish soup or stewed vegetables for breakfast in the U.S., in other places, this is perfectly normal. Conversely, our tendency toward sugary cereals and milk  or preference for egg sandwiches loaded with bacon and cheese would seem quite bizarre to other cultures. Similarly, but perhaps of more consequence, rules that regulate nudity in public vary widely around the world. In the U.S., we tend to frame nudity in general as an inherently sexual thing, and so when people are nude in public, people may interpret this as a sexual signal. But in many other places around the world, being nude or partially nude in public is a normal part of life, be it at swimming pools, beaches, in parks, or even throughout the course of daily life (see many indigenous cultures around the world). In these cases, being nude or partially nude is not framed as sexual but as the appropriate bodily state for engaging in a given activity. In other cases, like many cultures where Islam is the predominant faith, a more thorough coverage of the body is expected than in other cultures. Due in large part to ethnocentrism, this has become a highly politicized and volatile practice in todays world. Why Recognizing Cultural Relativism Matters By acknowledging  cultural relativism, we can recognize that our culture shapes what we consider to be beautiful, ugly, appealing, disgusting, virtuous, funny, and abhorrent. It shapes what we consider to be good and bad art, music, and film, as well as  what we consider to be tasteful or tacky consumer goods. The work of sociologist Pierre Bourdieu features ample discussion of these phenomena, and the consequences of them. This varies not just in terms of national cultures but within a large society like the U.S. and also by cultures and subcultures organized by class, race, sexuality, region, religion, and ethnicity, among others.

Flinty Individualism That Makes Sympathy Look Like Weaknesses Essay

Flinty Individualism That Makes Sympathy Look Like Weaknesses - Essay Example One of the most important things that I believe people should not forget about when watching a reality show is that there is nothing â€Å"real† about their reality. It is made to look line a documentary of real life but there is nothing real about it. The events depicted in these shows are still scripted and story boarded for a whole season. The producers, writers, directors, and cast members know before hand what story will play out and how. The problem with this scenario is that people are not privy to the fact that they are watching a new age soap opera and thus, take everything depicted within the show to be a reality of life that should be emulated and promoted as a part of civilized society. These â€Å"reality† shows truly promote, as Francine Prose explains it, â€Å"a culture of flinty individualism† as the characters on the show continuously promote bullying and demeaning of one another as a fact of life. Self interest and winning the game is all that matters for these people and they bring themselves to the bottom most rung of civilized society in order to stay ahead and win the game. Sadly, because people think that this is the way people should be acting in real life, â€Å"reality† shows have enhanced the social problem of bullying, selfishness, and lack of respect for one another in real life situations.   As Jeff Williams succinctly explained, television has a way of making people unaware of the information being fed to them. There is no way the viewers can tell fact from fiction in these instances thus.

Academic Inflation Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Academic Inflation - Research Paper Example The educational authorities have raised the minimum education level requirements in the educational institutions and organizations which have created a significant problem in the business world. It has been reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics that the graduates completing their education lack the skills and qualifications required for filling a job as they have not been given proper training in their institutions (Lan & Winters, 2011). The cost of education has risen at an accelerating rate as compared to the increase in the financial aids that are provided by the federal agencies. According to SHEEO (2011), as people have insufficient funds available for covering the costs of college education, the number of graduates completing it has declined in the last few years. All of these factors have raised questions regarding the academic inflation that how lack of federal aids, increase in college/tuition fees, decline in wage increments and rising inflation rate are impacting the quality of college education. Academic Inflation is described as the process by which the higher education degrees’ value gets inflated; it is the point at which the minimum level of education is required when the level of employment rises. In fact, there is no real need for highly skilled or trained employees for various jobs in the firms (Odland, 2012). As a result of the academic inflation process, the bachelor’s degree value has reached a level where the graduates face difficulty in finding a suitable position in the professional world and they have to acquire degrees of much higher level such as Master’s degrees and PhDs. The primary reason for such a robust growth in the academic field for higher level degrees is an accelerating rate of competition among the peers (Singell & Stone, 2007). Along with increase in the demand of higher level degrees, the cost of acquiring them has

MGT DISCUSSION QUESTION Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

MGT DISCUSSION QUESTION - Essay Example Informal work groups if well taken care of in an organisation can help in achieving not only the group’s goals but also management objectives. This is because meeting the group’s social needs will provide the necessary security that will motivate them to meet their company targets. Removing production obstacles is one way of getting an informal group, work. This is quite effective as far as I know. I once worked as a supervisor in one of the export processing zone companies, where I came in touch with an informal work groups. A major concern arose, where their leader confronted me with two issues. The first one was poor working conditions such as employees staying in the cooling rooms for more than four hours without a break and with nothing hot to drink. The second was on material shortages, which made them, do a lot of overtime without pay. I had to face management on their behalf with the issues at hand. Changes were implemented and employees were released on breaks to have some snacks with tea provided by the employer. In addition, the company increased the number of employees supplying materials to my team and I saw great productivity in the next months I worked in that

Supreme Court Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Supreme Court - Essay Example The problem, however, appears to lie in whether the children are given the appropriate moral guidance by their parental figures. Perhaps Vermont is too complacent in their viewpoints that children will naturally evolve into moral adults, thus there is no emphasis given in this aspect of guiding juvenile behaviors. This may have to do with the social class of the Vermont citizens, who are mostly middle- to upper-class who may just instinctively believe that these violent crimes simply could not be committed by their well-to-do sons and daughters. Powers describes the ease of acquiring heroin in the state, which may also contribute to the violent crime ratios and is associated with social class status, as these well-to-do youths can easily afford the drug prices. The team appears to have mixed thoughts about whether the juvenile should be given the death sentence, highlighting the strong division in the country about what to do with juvenile violent crime offenders. It appears that Powers believes that many of the failures of todays children in these affluent neighborhoods stems from parental complacency and an inability to address that violence and teenage angst occurs routinely regardless of their state of origin. Powers, it appears, believes that most of the fault lies with those who are in charge for their failures in molding positive childhood behaviors. In reference, specifically, to the New Hampshire murders, it seems that Powers is linking their murderous intentions with failure of parents to recognize the difficulties (and respond to them correctly) facing children of these teenage years. It does not appear that Powers considers the death penalty as the proper course of action, rather counseling and parental involvement is the best method. Powers points out that small towns, like any other city, maintains their fair share of juvenile-related crime, suggesting

Needs of Internal and External Influences Assignment

Needs of Internal and External Influences - Assignment Example As the study outlines the availability of each student must be considered to ensure that the curriculum set matched the availability time of the student. This greatly increases the turn up of the students in the class. Lack of student schedule consideration might result to clashing of the class time, and the time they are required to be away as most of them might be employed or have children to attend to. Determining the level of education each student has reached in his lifetime will greatly improve the in cooperation of the curriculum. This provides the teacher with a guideline on where to start teaching from, and the type of teaching methodology to use for effective teaching, lack of consideration of this matter might lead to students not understanding as they might be left behind due to lack of understanding. It is important to consider the willingness of the students in learning. This study declares that majority of the students might not be willing to sacrifice their time and resources to acquire education. Considering this will greatly save a lot of time in the design of the curriculum, as the teachers are able to determine the kinds of students that she/he teaches. The available space in the institution needs to be considered to determine the number of students it can accommodate at a given time. This will greatly help in planning the number of students each intake will hold. In consideration to the case study presented, the level of learning of the adult students should be taken into consideration since it states, â€Å"Many of these adults generally do not possess the required formal qualifications for entry into the university, and many have been distant from any form of formal education for some time†.

Supreme Court Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Supreme Court - Essay Example The problem, however, appears to lie in whether the children are given the appropriate moral guidance by their parental figures. Perhaps Vermont is too complacent in their viewpoints that children will naturally evolve into moral adults, thus there is no emphasis given in this aspect of guiding juvenile behaviors. This may have to do with the social class of the Vermont citizens, who are mostly middle- to upper-class who may just instinctively believe that these violent crimes simply could not be committed by their well-to-do sons and daughters. Powers describes the ease of acquiring heroin in the state, which may also contribute to the violent crime ratios and is associated with social class status, as these well-to-do youths can easily afford the drug prices. The team appears to have mixed thoughts about whether the juvenile should be given the death sentence, highlighting the strong division in the country about what to do with juvenile violent crime offenders. It appears that Powers believes that many of the failures of todays children in these affluent neighborhoods stems from parental complacency and an inability to address that violence and teenage angst occurs routinely regardless of their state of origin. Powers, it appears, believes that most of the fault lies with those who are in charge for their failures in molding positive childhood behaviors. In reference, specifically, to the New Hampshire murders, it seems that Powers is linking their murderous intentions with failure of parents to recognize the difficulties (and respond to them correctly) facing children of these teenage years. It does not appear that Powers considers the death penalty as the proper course of action, rather counseling and parental involvement is the best method. Powers points out that small towns, like any other city, maintains their fair share of juvenile-related crime, suggesting

Capitalism vs. Communism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Capitalism vs. Communism - Essay Example This was later followed the trade prosperity of European trade and agricultural revolution. Influential figures in capitalism included Medici of Florence, Karl Marx, Adam Smith, Jacques Coeur, Marco Polo, and Anthony Giddens. Communism on the other hand can be traced back to the early Christians and religious groups, the golden age in Greece, the manorial system in the middle ages, and modern communism. The influential people in communism include Sir Thomas More of England, Gerrard Winstanley, Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Lenin, Emmanuel Kant, and Jean Jacques. Finally, the influence of the respective philosophers’ in the modern day and age is explained. Keywords: Communism, Capitalism, Christians, Trade, Agriculture Revolution, Private Property, Lending, Profits, Labor, Demand, Supply, Resources, Community, Competition, Land, Government, Economic, Philosophers What is Capitalism? It is a system that continues to be practiced in the world, despite its lack of a standard defini tion. Basically, it is a political and economical system with an ideology of the market (supply and demand) being at the core of the single system of economic governance (Scott, 2009). Individuals can own economic resources as properties from which more wealth can be generated upon investment and production. Competition for resources is spurred up by the system, creating more wealth and capital, and facilitating personal growth and development. In a broad perspective, â€Å"capitalism is organized such that produced goods and services, down to the least basic necessities of life, are produced for valuable exchange, where even human labor-power is a commodity for sale in the market, and where the market determines all economic actors † (Wood, 2002, p. 6). Capitalism thrives in the event of competition, individualism, and where a system of checks and balances exist to achieve benefits in the marketplace and retain their market share. Origin of Capitalism and Influential People in Capitalism The periods during the18th and 19th century are marked by many as the time of the emergence of capitalism. However, the previous centuries show some aspects of the conception of capitalism. During these earlier periods, the emergence and advancement capitalism can be explained through the accounts of historical developments of human activities in search for development, acts of earlier exchanges, more production, and success through wealth creation. Since capitalism is embedded on creating more wealth, the idea of usury earlier established in the middle age and as practiced by the people introduced the act of lending at interest for more profits. Although rejected by the church during the period, it in practice indicated that given the opportunity, capitalism would have thrived earlier in the period (Backend, 2010). These acts during the time can be said to be roots of capitalism. Another kind of activity that relates to capitalism due to creation of wealth was the pro sperity of Europe through trade with other continents. The 13th and 14th centuries are recorded as the successful periods of trading activities between the trading partners (Afro-Euro-Asia, Europeans, Arabians, Chinese and the Mongols), where merchants and other traders risked their resources to purchase more resources that they would later exchange for other

A Look at Iraqi Women Essay Example for Free

A Look at Iraqi Women Essay The country of Iraq has been the venue of much turmoil and unrest. A war that began in 1980 between Iran and Iraq, which was supposed to be quick and speedy, lasted longer than expected and as a result, more males were needed for the army. More draftees meant higher mortality rates, greater costs for the military arm of the government, higher need for recruits. (Efrati, 28) All the same, the prolonged duration of the war brought about a crisis in Iraq’s economy. Factories and various companies found themselves suddenly lacking in workers as the majority of Iraq’s men were drafted to fight in the army. Women, however, being left in the country, were many and were a clear source for human resources. This led to the encouragement, by the government, of having women in Iraq take on new roles and parts to play both economically and politically. (Efrati, 28) The government came up with numerous ways to include Iraqi women in the production process of society. Economy, which was once a man’s field in Iraq, broadened to include the now strong force of women all over the country. However, this was a period of stress and turmoil. War was raging and everywhere individuals were taking on roles they never used to have. Would this change remain upon the conclusion of the war? What would these newly inducted Iraqi women have to look forward to when war between Iraq and Iran would finally come to an end? In truth, in post-war situations, women are often at the receiving end of a social backlash. When the troops come back home, roles are reestablished. The women, who were taken out of their well-carved places in society to replace the men during the war, are made to go back to the traditional gender roles they once had prior to the war. It is almost as if war has ended for the country, between Iraq and Iran, but not for its citizens as the men and women struggle to reestablish former roles. (Al-ali, 742) In present day Iraq, there is evidence of the violence and anarchy that occurs during post-war situations. Women are at the receiving end of a constant chain of abuse and aggression to a degree that is greater than even that which existed during the period of war or during the period of intervention by the military. The women are subjected to lawlessness, lack of security, abductions, sexual abuse and harassment, chaos, and even the extreme events of rape. (Al-ali, 742; Ziad, 16) These occurences may be due to the fact that the males of the society, who were once an integral part of the household of these women, are intimidated by the fact that their roles were so easily replaced and taken over. The intimidation felt by the males may have led to a lashing out at the females who, in fact, did nothing more than that which was needed and asked of them by the country during the time of war. Also, the violence and physical nature of the work they conducted for the military has carried over to bring violence even into their own homes after the war. (Al-ali, 742) This paper tries to understand and enumerate the different roles that Iraqi women play both during and after a period of war. These will be categorized into three types of roles: social, economic and political. The political role will involve any roles they have had in relation to the government and its dealings. The economic role will involve any roles Iraqi women have had to play in relation to business and finance. And the social roles will involve all other uncovered role that these women have had to play in a society that has been predominantly ruled through male hegemony. Political Role of Iraqi Women Before the rule of the infamous Saddam Hussein in Iraq, Iraqi women were known to have participated politically and some were even noted to have been activists. However, autonomous political participation of these women was cut short at the onset of the 1970s. At this time, they were encouraged to join the Baath party and to try to earn positions in the government by running for the rubber-stamp parliament. The results of these elections showed how greatly marginalized women were in the Iraqi society. In the first Baathist parliamentary elections held in 1980, only 16 women won a seat in a 250-seat Council. The results of the 1985 Baathist parliamentary elections were not all that different when 33 women candidates won seats in the Council. (Al-ali, 754) In 2003, only a scrawny 8% of the parliamentary Council were females, showing the continued decline of women participation in the political arena of Iraq. This was despite the fact that an organization called the General Federation of Iraqi Women served as the political vehicle of women in Iraq. Over 1 million Iraqi women were members of this federation and yet the political representation of women in the government of Iraq remains negligible and even questionable. (Al-ali, 754) However, Iraqi Kurdistan which gained semi-autonomy was able to become a venue wherein Iraqi women could establish civil society organizations and associations. These women soon became steeped in party politics. Although of the 20 ministers of the Kurdistan Regional government, only two were female ministers, females in Kurdistan began to be able to avail of employment in the civil service. Although political activity of women in Iraqi Kurdistan was growing and they were gaining important political roles as members of the government, their political pariticaption was often opposed and blocked off by the other male politicians. Harassment of female activists denouncing killings were often reported. Also, projects of certain women-led organizations aiming to foster a more positive social situation, especially for the female citizens, were most often met by opposition from male politicians and in most cases were shut down and discontinued due to the strength of the opposition. (Al-ali, 754) Although females were beginning to voice out and claim new positions as active movers in the political arena, their actions were unappreciated and even reviled by their male counterparts. The political roles that females played were roles that they had to fight for. These were not freely given by the society they lived in. Although during the war women were held in high esteem for the important contributions they could make to the war-torn Iraq, their roles were once again brought down to those they traditionally had once war was concluded. (Al-ali, 756-757) After the war, women were seen to be pushed further back into the background of Iraqi society. Their political roles were greater and more influential prior to the war and continued to decrease significantly as war ravaged the country and even after the war was finished. Iraqi women, although aspiring and fighting for equal political representation, are greatly marginalized in the society they so bitterly fought hard to keep alive during the period of war. (Al-ali, 756) Political research has shown, however, that greater progress can be achieved by the war-torn Iraq if women are allowed to take a more active political role. Studies of post-war countries such as Northern Ireland, Bosniz Herzegovina, Cyprus and Israel have shown that including female perspective will hasten the reconstruction progress. Women are an essential aspect of the political arena of a country and the Iraqi government has to realize this if they wish to speed up the rebuilding of their society after the war. (Al-ali, 756-757) Economic Role of Iraqi Women The onset of the Iran-Iraq war proved to be damaging to the economy of both countries. As the male citizens of both countries continued to be drafted for the drawn out war, females were the main source of labor and skill for the ongoing economic processes. During the war, females were taken out of their traditional role of reproduction to more challenging economic roles of production.

Market analysis of Sunfeast cookies

Market analysis of Sunfeast cookies The main objective of the report is to comply to the various marketing theories that has been prevailing in the market and get a proper understanding of the real market. With the help of the ITC Sunfeast various functions and strategies were being discussed and discussed in respect to policies and path they have followed since they have been a successful player in the market. The consumer insight is studied to get a sense of various needs, demands and mind set of them. This is done with the help of questioning people at different places so that there is a glimpse of their buying pattern. The people interviewed were from different places of Gurgaon. COMPANYS OVERVIEW ITC stands for Imperial Tobacco Company of India Limited is an Indian Conglomerate whose market capitalization is of US $14 billion and turnover of over US $ 51 billion. ITC is a largest private cigarette company with a diversified portfolio which comprises of hotels and paperboards, packaging, agri- business, packaged foods, confectionary, branded apparels, greeting cards and FMCG products. ITC group is the latest diversed form of FOOD DIVISIONS. The entry in beverage market was just to implement a new strategical decision to increase the market values. The core values of company lies in understanding the customer needs, reinventing brands and to establish the expertise brand. ITCs aimed at creating multiple drivers of growth anchored on its time-tested core competencies: unmatched distribution reach, superior brand-building capabilities, effective supply chain management and acknowledged service skills in hoteliering. SUNFEAST In July 2003, ITC entered in Biscuits market with the Sunfeast it was Glucose, Marie and cream biscuits. The brand connotes to happiness, contentment, satisfaction and pleasure since its mascot Sunny and slogan spread the smile. In 6 years Sunfeast has launched many new varieties and has it launched almost all types of biscuit categories. At that time, Britannia and Parle held. The rest too was firmly held by smaller players like Priya Gold which had a strong presence in the north.Things have lot changed after three year. The growth has been increased upto 12% and the overall pricing was Rs 4,000 crore ITCs Sunfeast is a different story to tell so far. The strategist looks at the game plan of a late entrant and how the biscuits industry has responded. MARKETING ENVIORMENT MACRO ENVIORMENT Developments and implementing marketing plans requires number of decisions. Making those decisions is both an art and science. To provide insight into and inspirations for marketing decision making, companies monitor customer needs and update themselves so that they can continuously adapt to the environment. In 2003 when ITC entered the market there was a organized sector of biscuits which was estimated to be 0.8 million tons with a value of Rs 45 billion and Britannia and Parle were the major competitors. But the company realized that urban India comprising 27% of the population accounts for 44% of biscuit composition that consumers are looking for innovation, variety and fun in the entire biscuit category which other biscuit companies lack. DEMOGRAPHIC ENVIORMENT Since India is diversified and demographically vivid, hence the need is therefore very different. So the company catered the need of every life cycle as there is a product for children and even for elders and also for older people. Hence there is something for everyone and by this ITC dominated the market completely. ECONOMIC ENVIORMENT The available purchasing power in an economy depends on current income, price, saving, debt and credit availability. The company realized the buying potential of the Indian market and accordingly price the biscuits in a way so that it does not push the consumer and the price corresponds to the price of the competitors. So this way the customers will have a value for money as in the same price they will have a new and a better product. Moreover the focus was on the urban population hence the price was not such a matter of importance as the people of this category has high purchasing power. SOCIO-CULTURAL ENVIORNMENT The society shapes the beliefs, values and norms that largely define consumer tastes and preferences. People absorb, almost unconsciously, a world view that defines their relationship to themselves, to other, to other organizations and to society. So ITC launched a product which was in accordance with the beliefs of India as the ingredients contained in the product are those which were generally used by the people and moreover satisfied them and it was in also tune with the changing taste and preferences of the consumers. ENVIORNMENTAL ITCs operation result mainly concern on three areas: (a) release of greenhouse gases for global warming; (b) consumption of water, both from surface and sub-surface sources, Global Warming:strategy used by company to lower the global effect are (a)Lower the energy used by improving technology and implementing it with new products. (b) greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide, through a large-scale forestry programme. Water Conservation: ITC is know about the fact that freshwater in the country is increasingly becoming a valuable resource given that India accounts for 18% of the worlds population but has only 4% of global freshwater resources. MICRO ENVIORNMENT ITCs employment practices are based on attracting and retaining talent only on merit. The Company leadership walking the talk and focusing on implementing the policy underlines the Companys approach to employment practices and creating a decent work environment. ITCs takes care of all human rights and employee satisfaction along with maintaining dignity. High standards of employment and EHS practices judge the Companys performance, help in the attraction and retention of quality talent, and enhance the equity of the Company as a responsible employer. The primary objective is to nurture a culture of meritocracy amongst a committed and enthusiastic workforce from diverse backgrounds. The organizational structure is as follows:- DISTRICT MANAGER REGIONAL BRANCH MANAGER BRANCH MANAGER ASSISTANT BRANCH MANAGER 3 CIRCLE INCHARGE (CITY, METRO UP COUNTRY) AREA EXECUTIVE SUPERVISOR SALES MAN MARKETING STRATEGY ITC is a nation company that is most valued because of its corporate culture. Chairman Y C Deveshwar considers the company as commitment beyond the market. The company seem to be committed with developing India and contributing in its own way not only to succeed in at a smaller level but making a difference at a global level in an international w STRATEGY With its one of its product which is Sunfeast the company is determined to give happiness, contentment, satisfaction and pleasure since its mascot is Sunny and slogan spread the smile which stood true to its name. The product Sunfeast was launched in the midst when the biscuit market in India was estimated to be about a value of Rs 45 billion and out of that Britannia and Parle held more than 80% of the organized sector in value terms. ITC therefore decided to enter the branded biscuits market with products that would reinforce the gratifying aspects of the brand as well as offer great taste and quality to customers. The ITC can be a classical example of study as a tobacco company who deals in various products can be successful in promoting in marketing biscuits? The core competencies on which ITC relies on the depth of distribution, brand building capability and ability of quality outsourcing which made it successful. Sunfeast which was launched in 2003 was one of its diversified arrays apart from a tobacco product leader to a FMCG player. IT has a well developed system of distribution which can only be compared only to HLL. As ITC was one company who has its intervene in all major fields so this establishes Sunfeast among all over India and as well outside India. The biscuit market is to be estimated about 4500-5000 crore with Parle and Britannia being the major players. The biscuit market has now moved to value added biscuits and key markets were U.P., Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. While the rural market prefers Glucose biscuits and Urban market is fond of cream biscuits. The establishment of brand was never easy as the market is already having lead biscuit companies which were satisfying the needs of people. Sunfeast monitored the market demand and carefully handled promotion and brand building which made the brand to gain 10% market share. The product was made exciting by launching a series of convenience goods, new tastes and flavours which lead to an interest in the brand. The company continued a series of launching of products like Milky magic, coconut, strawberry, pineapple, butterscotch and cream and it also entered the premium biscuit category with Dark Fantasy. Moreover market research revealed that consumers were looking for innovation, variety, and fun in all the biscuits cateogries. A mascot, Sunny was chosen to convey these aspects of ITCs biscuit brands. Initial offerings included the Sunfeast Glucose biscuits, targeting children and their mothers; Sunfeast Orange Marie, targeting housewives and families; and Sunfeast Orange cream, Butterscotch cream and Bourbon Cream, targeting children. Over the last few years, the Sunfeast range has expanded with the introduction of the Sunfeast Dark Fantasy range in the premium segment; the Sunfeast Milky Magic in the milk biscuit category; the Snacky in salted crackers and cookies category. In addition, ITC entered the nutritional biscuit segment with launch of Sachins Fit Kit- a range of healthy products co-created with the cricket icon. In 2007 the brand has a value of Rs 5 billion and is growing at 15% per year. CONSUMER ANALYSIS The analyses showed that majorly people consumed Biscuits and are not fond of having the Sunfeast Pastas. About 63% of people prefer having Sunfeast Marie and Sunfeast Dream Cream is being preferd by only 25% of the consumers. The products like Sunfeast Special, Sweet n Salt, and Golden Bakery are not that much appereciated as only 13% of people prefer them. In dream Cream Butterscotch, Orange and Burbon were equally appreciated. Classic Snacky was more liked as compared to Chilli flakes in Snacky brand. 90% people prefer having Marie lite over Orange Marie and the product is not just consumed by Old but almost people of every age group. In Golden Bakery choco nut was mostly liked while there was no intrest in the rest of the choices. Coconut and Butter were equally liked in Special cateogary. 63% prefer Sunfeast because of its Taste and Flavour while 25% likes them because of price, packaging, quality. People also appereciated it because of availability of large variety. It was also observed from the survey, that the products were regularly by the customers, most of them going for weekly and fortnightly purchase of the product. The major competitors for the product are Parle and Britannia which were even a threat when the product was launched. The brand loyalty seems to very weak as when consumers were asked that would they continue to consume Sunfeast even if other products were at a discount, the answer came as No. The people were specific in the categories but not with the brand Sunfeast. The television seems to be most effective form of advertisement as it spread awareness in almost every age group and was the major promotional tool. The brand was easily available to people and even remotest to smallest shops have Sunfeast for sale. The people seem to be assured of quality and said that they would recommend their friends and relatives the product.

Disease and Death :: History Journal Diary Essays

Disease and Death May 14th 1963: The jungles of Zaire are much more intimidating and humbling in person than in the brochure at the Peace Corps office. I have been dispatched here to assist in the quarantine and treatment of the locals and some wild life. While I am overcome with the beauty of the flora I can't help but ponder the sheer amount of insects and mosquitoes that this sort of environment can support... After a 5 hour bus ride into the forest we come to a clearing with clusters of lean-tos and make shift buildings. What once was a clearing for farm animals to graze and to grow crops is now a make shift graveyard and apparently the process of burying the dead has become too much of a burden on the bereaved and a funeral pyre burns day in and day out. The air of the village hangs low with the stench of death and burnt flesh while the wailing of those that have survived, thus far, greet the ears of the volunteers. The doctors have already set up a make shift hospital in the largest of the buildings and the volunteers are shown to the quarters and are expected to work right alongside the doctors as an informal nurse. May 15th 1963: I have estimated that the population of the village before the outbreak of this plague was roughly 500-750 inhabitants with an equal population of livestock. It appears that the cattle were afflicted first and were promptly skinned and burnt. The disease then ran its course into the herdsmen who were responsible for disposing of the cattle. The first case occurred a month ago when one of the skinners nicked a finger while skinning. As I gathered, from the translator who has been interviewing people since his arrival two weeks ago, that at first people thought the man just to have a common cold and headache but after a few days his eyes were filled with blood and he became hot to the touch. Then the skin became horribly bruised as if he had suffered some sort of terrible flogging. As the disease progressed his fever steadily increased seeming to cook him alive and the bruises filled with what one could only imagine as his own wretched blood trying to escape the b ody housing it.

Past Way Of Life Essay

Life in the past was characterized with lots of battles between rival territories. This resulted to the rise of powerful empires and the measure of power during those days was through the number of wars fought. Warriors of those days were called Vikings. Erik the red is one of the renowned warriors of those days. He was born in Norway and participated in wars for his mother country. A Viking also denotes a pirate, merchant or explorer. These Norsemen normally used long ships to travel in the sea to all the places of their interest and used the same vessels to fight their enemies. The Vikings are traced to have originated in the early 17th century in the German territory. The initiator of Vikings in the Iceland is Erik the red. He lived all his life ruling his people after which his son picked the mantle from him (Gwyn, J. 2000). Erik the red left a legacy during his time because he is known as the founder of the Greenland territory. He was an explorer for a long time and moved with his people to many places in the sea. After having been exiled for three years from his native home in the Iceland, Erik decided to explore the neighboring regions in the sea and finally came across the green land. His sets of Vikings were mainly explorers but they had to fight some ballets whenever they met opposition. The team led by Erik sailed further to the north Atlantic territories and finally to North America. Their main activities were looting, exploration, colonization and living a mercenary’s kind of life. The Vikings had very strict leadership and way of life. In the beginning, Erik was the leader and at some point he was referred as the chief of the land. This was mainly in green land. He actually used his cunning nature to name the land. The word green was a very strategic name so that he could attract more people into his territory. These people were mainly farmers who planted yams and corn. Under the ruler ship of Erik, the Vikings could sometimes go for attacking expeditions in the sea and they as a result came back with commodities like ivory from tucks and even sea whales. More people later got attracted into the Greenland and they formed a territory in this island. Their population however increased that they sometimes lacked food and other commodities. CHANGES THAT HAVE OCCURRED Erik the red later died and left his ruler ship to his son Seif. They later discovered that attacking were more risky and less profitable. The incoming of Christianity further played a big part in eliminating the Vikings kind of life and they later adopted romanticism culture. The Nazi people are also a fruit of the cultural setting of the Vikings. This started in the 18th century when a myth was created to enable Sweden take up Finland to their side. This came at a time when Finland had been lost between Sweden and Russia (Tomasi, M 1999). Various authors have produced publications on the subject of Vikings and this was done with intent to revive the Nordic culture in the Iceland. Many territories in the region today have taken up after the Erik the red’s kind of ruler ship. Norwegians for example have a lot of symbolism to the Viking governance. An example of this is the Norwegian fascist party. This shows that Vikings policies are still operational in the political arena of the world today. The German people are also in the same train of following closely to the Viking culture. This they do even though they claim that they have no links to the Viking settlers. THE PRESENT SETTINGS AND COMPARISON TO THE PAST The ancient Vikings culture has been written in many books today. These trace all the happenings and activities of the people. The Vikings culture has been embraced by many people in this current generation. Norway and Germany are among the countries that practice various aspects of this culture. The Norway for example embraces its political arena organized in a Viking setting. Many political leaders have also taken the way of the Vikings ruler ship and with time are applying the skills in addressing various issues. Vikings always participated in wars in order to obtain food and other supplies for their territories. They did this through sea looting and piracy. These were accepted ways of life during those days but are not accepted in the day today. References Tomasi, M (1999). World history. Oxford: Oxford publishers. Gwyn, J. (2000). A history of Vikings. Oxford: Oxford publishers