Applying Learning Curve Theory Essay

1. Change table distribution to decrease wait time and increase clientele which entails profitability. Originally, wait time including queue was 11 to 12 minutes. By applying these changes, wait and queue reduce to 9 minutes approximately. Also, a $454 increase of profit is attained. 2. Purchase the Plax Oven instead of keeping the old unreliable manual ovens. By doing so, product availability is increase and the queue time is reduced. Using the old manual ovens, pizza took 15 minutes to cook. Utilizing the Plax Oven takes 4 minutes. 11 minutes are saved and faster service is provided to customers. Profits continue to increase. After the addition of the oven, Mario’s Pizzeria is at $1,653 in profit. Lost sales reduced to $345. 3. Purchase the Menu Point System. This system aids in reducing the queue. Wait staff does not have to walk the order over to Kitchen Staff. Thus, queue time is diminished and profits continue to increase since the utilization wait staff is reduced from a 95% to 80%. 4. Rent Cream Puffs versus opening a new counter for pick up. Renting is a better decision since no additional operating costs would be required. 5. Renting Cream Puffs allows for the capacity of tables to increase; adding 7 tables of 4 and 4 tables of 2. This aids in reducing both wait and queue time. Wait time is at 3.21 minutes and Queue is at 2.71 minutes versus the original 11 to 12 minutes of the entire process. Profits increased to $2,040 while the lost sales came to $690. Analysis of Alternative Process in Effect Mario’s Pizzeria simulation is a tool that aids in understanding how to apply the learning curve theory. The simulation begins by illustrating the current process used at Mario’s Pizzeria and describing the current issues this pizza parlor must address in order avoid a greater loss of profits and loss of customers. The simulation allows for an alternative process to be created and implemented. By creating an alternative process, one can then analyze why one process is more effective and efficient than the other. At the initial start of the simulation, the table utilization is at a 97% and the waiting time is between 11 to 12 minutes. The goal is to reduce the wait time in order to increase customer satisfaction and increase profits. To do so, the first step was to change the table distribution. By simply rearranging the table set up, customers wait time reduced significantly; wait time reduced to 5.36 and the queue to 2.57 minutes for a total of 7.93 minutes. This means that the current process of the table set up simply created an unnecessary bottleneck approach. In order to prevent this, a performance process was changed and created a more effective way of making customers stay. This is sort of change can be used to illustrate how the learning curve theory is applied. According to Chase, Jacobs, and Aquilano (2006), the Learning Curve Theory is based on three assumptions: 1) the amount of time required to complete a given task or unit of a product will be less each time the task is undertaken, 2) the unit time will decrease at a decreasing rate, 3) the reduction in time will follow a predictable pattern. By applying this theory to Mario’s Pizzeria, it is evident that a small change goes a long way. For instance, the utilization for tables decreased from 97% to 95% on tables for four, but in tables for two the utilization was 88.9%. Although customers still walked away, the number of those who left was not as high as the initial number during the first week. Mario’s Pizzeria continued to face issued when the manual oven broke. The wait time for customers was affected because the process slowed down. As a manager, one has to take immediate action to solve the problem at hand through thought process in order to avoid high additional cost to this small business. If the learning curve theory is applied correctly, Mario’s Pizzeria will not be affected dramatically especially since they have dealt with previous wait time issues. The learning curve theory states that the more a task is done several times, the less likely it will be that a similar mistake will occur. In this situation, the metric that continues to be affected is time and the dissatisfaction of a customer having to stand in line for a long time. By not using this type of performance process and to avoid reaching the upper control and upper tolerance limits, the solution was to replace the manual ovens and purchase the Plax Ovens. The Plax Ovens cook more pizzas in fewer minutes than the manual ovens. If the current manual ovens were not replaced, the cooking time will be higher and fewer pizzas would be available, which in turn the queue would not decrease for the customers. Customers will continue to wait for fifteen minutes versus four minutes. Another option that was used in the alternative process was the purchasing of Menu Point Systems. This system will allow for the process time to drop significantly. Although, the cost of the menu system seems high in price, the return of investment is of 125%. This percentage indicates that in the long run the system is worth its price for the pizza parlor. By implementing this Menu Point System, Mario’s Pizza parlor decreased it wait time to 3.76 minutes and the queue to 2.62 minutes. Additionally, the utilization of their wait staff was at 60 to 80 percent. The utilization dropped since the wait staff no longer had to walk the order over to the kitchen staff. A change was made to the queue system. A step was eliminated in the queue section, thus, saving time. By implementing, both the Plax Oven and the Menu Point System a profit of $1, 622 was earned. If this two performances process were not in place, Mario’s pizzeria would be back to step one, waiting time at its upper tolerance and upper control limit. These are two factors that should be avoided at all cost when trying to aim for total quality management in a business. Implementing the Plax Ovens and the Menu Point System, the learning theory curve is in effect. Now, when the order is placed, it goes directly to the kitchen staff, the kitchen staff then process the order through the Plax ovens which are quicker in cooking time. Finally, after all the great implementations and changes made to the pizza parlor, business continues to increase and more decisions were necessary in order to keep the timeliness and customer satisfaction. Mario’s pizzeria rented the business next to the parlor instead of opening a pick up counter. If a pick up counter was chosen as an option, operating cost increase. However, renting Cream Puffs was the best option. Renting the business next door allowed for capacity of tables to increase which in turn increased profit and lessen the overall processing time of a customer. In the end, Mario’s Pizza Parlor profited $2,040 and the grandchild earned the trust of the grandfather.

Assess the view that ethnic differences Essay

?An Ethnic minority background increases your chances of arrest and conviction, some people argue that police racism in itself results in higher suspicion against black people in general. According to official statistics there are significant ethnic differences in the likelihood of being involved in the criminal justice system. Black and Asians are overrepresented in the system. For example black people make up 2. 8% of the population, but 11% of the prison population. Contrastingly whites are underrepresented. However such statistics do not tell us whether members of one ethnic group are more likely than members of another ethnic group to commit an offence in the first place; they just tell us about involvement in the criminal justice system. For example differences in stop and search or arrest rates may be due to police racism, while differences in rates of imprisonment may be the result of courts handing down harsher sentences on minorities. There are other sources of statistics to reveal link of ethnicity and offending. Victim surveys ask individuals to say what crimes they have been victims of. We can get information on ethnicity and offending from surveys when we ask what ethnicity of the person who committed the crime against them. For example in the case of mugging blacks are overly represented among those indentified by victims as offenders. Victim surveys show much crime is intra-ethnic; it takes place within rather than between ethnic groups. For example the British crime survey (2007) found 90% of where the victim was white; at least one of the offenders was also white. However while victim surveys are useful in identifying ethnic patterns of offending, they have several limitations. They rely on a victim’s memory of events. Ben Bowling and Coretta Phillips (2002) found whites may over identify blacks, saying the offender was black even when not sure. They only cover personal crimes, which make up 20% of all crimes. They exclude under 16s; minority ethnic groups contain a higher proportion of young people. They exclude crimes by big business; thus tell us nothing of ethnicity of white collar criminals. Thus victim surveys only tell us about the ethnicity of a small proportion of offenders, which may not be representative of offenders in general. Self report studies ask individuals to disclose their own dishonest and violent behaviour. Graham and Bowling (1995) found that blacks and whites had similar rates of offending, while Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis had lower rates. Similarly Sharp and Budd (2005) note that the 2003 offending, crime and justice survey of 12,000 people found whites and mixed ethnic origin groups were more likely than blacks and Asians to say they had committed offences. The Home Office have conducted nine self report studies on drugs since the early 1990s, all with similar findings. Sharp and Budd (2005) found 27% of mixed ethnicity individuals said they had used drugs in the last year, compared to 16% of blacks and whites, and 5% of Asians. Use of class a drugs, such as heroin or cocaine was 3 times higher among whites than blacks and Asians. The findings of self report studies challenge stereotypes of blacks more likely than whites to offend, though they support the widely held view Asians are less likely to offend, however self report studies have their limitations in relation to ethnicity and offending. Overall the evidence of ethnicity and offending is inconsistent. For example while official statistics and victim surveys point to the likelihood of higher rates of offending by blacks; this is generally not the results of self report studies. There are ethnic differences at each stage of the criminal justice process. To explain them we need to look at main stages of the process that an individual may go through, possibly culminating in a custodial sentence. Phillips and Bowling (2007) argue since the 70s there have been many allegations of oppressive policing of minorities, including stop and search, deaths in custody, police violence and failure to respond effectively to racist violence. Minorities are more likely to be stopped and searched by police. Statistics show Asians were three times more likely to be searched under this act. Its thus unsurprising minorities are less likely to think police acted politely when stopped, or think they were stopped fairly. Phillips and Bowling (2007) argue these communities feel over policed and over protected and have limited faith in the police. There are three possible reasons for the disproportionate use of stop and search against minorities. Police racism; the Macpherson Report (1999) on the police investigation of the racist murder of black teenager Stephen Lawrence concluded there was institutional racism in the Metropolitan police. Other have found deeply ingrained racist attitudes among individual officers. For example Phillips and Bowling point out that many officers hold negative stereotypes about ethnic minorities as criminals, leading to deliberate targeting for stop and search. Such stereotypes are endorsed and upheld by the canteen culture of rank and file officers. Ethnic differences in offending; an alternative explanation is that the disproportionality in stop and searches simply reflects ethnic differences in levels of offending. However it’s useful to distinguish between low discretion and high discretion stops. In low discretion stops police act on relevant information about a specific offence, for example a victim’s description of the offender. In high discretion stops police act without specific intelligence. It is in these stops police can use stereotypes that disproportionality and discrimination are more likely. Demographic factors; ethnic minorities are over represented in the population groups who are most likely to be stopped such as the young, the unemployed, manual workers and urban dwellers. These groups are all more likely to be stopped, regardless of their ethnicity, but they are also groups who have a higher proportion of ethnic minorities in them, so minorities get stopped more. Figures in England and Wales show that in 2006/07, the arrest rates for blacks was 3. 6 times higher than for whites. Contrastingly once arrested blacks and Asians were less likely to receive a police caution. One reason for this may be more likely to deny the offence and likely to exercise their right to legal advice. However not admitting the offence means they cannot be let off with a caution and are more likely to be charged instead. The crown prosecution service is the body responsible for deciding whether a case brought by the police should be prosecuted in court. In doing so CPS must decide whether there is a realistic prospect of conviction and whether the prosecution is in the public’s interest. Studies suggest the CPS is more likely to drop cases against minorities. Bowling and Phillips (2002) argue this may be because the evidence presented to the CPS by the police is often weaker and based on stereotyping of ethnic minorities as criminals. When cases do go ahead minorities are more likely to elect trial before a jury in the Crown Court rather than the magistrates court, perhaps due to mistrust of magistrates impartiality. However crown courts can impose more severe sentences if convicted. Thus is interesting to note minorities are less likely to be found guilty. This suggests discrimination, in that the police and CPS may be bringing weaker or less serious cases against ethnic minorities that are thrown out by the courts. In 2006/7 custodial sentences were given to a greater proportion of black offenders (68%) than white (55%) or Asian offenders (59%), whereas whites and Asians were more likely than blacks to receive community sentences. This may be due to differences in seriousness of the offences or defendants previous convictions. However a study of 5 crown courts by roger Hood (1992) found even when such factors were taken into account, black men were 5% more likely to receive a custodial sentence, and were given sentences of an average of 3 months longer than whites. Another reason for harsher sentences id pre sentence reports (PRs) written by probation officers. A PRs is intended as a risk assessment to assist magistrates in deciding on the appropriate sentence for a given offender. However Hudson and Bramhall (2005) argue that PRs allow for unwitting discrimination. They found reports on Asian offenders were less comprehensive and suggested that they were less remorseful than white offenders. They place this bias in the context of demonising Muslims in the wake of 9/11 attacks. In 2007, one quarter of the male prison population was minorities. Blacks were five times more likely to be in prison than whites. Black and Asians were more likely to be serving longer sentences. Within the total prison population all minorities had a higher than average proportion of prisoners on remand. This is because minorities are less likely to be granted bail whilst awaiting trial. There are similar patterns in other countries, for example in USA two fifths of prison population is black. There was large scale migration from the Caribbean and Indian subcontinent in the 50s, at this time it was agreed minorities had lower crime rates. However by the 70s there was conflict between blacks and the police meaning â€Å"black criminality† became more of a problem. Contrastingly by the 90s Asian crime also became viewed as a problem. Events e. g. 9/11 cemented the idea that Asians were a threat to public order. There are two main explanations for ethnic differences in crime; left realism and neo-Marxism. Left realists Lea and Young (1993) argue ethnic differences in statistics reflect real differences in the levels of offending by different ethnic groups. Left realists see crime the product of relative deprivation, subculture and marginalisation. They argue racism had led to economic exclusion of ethnic minorities who face higher unemployment, poverty and poor housing. At the same time the Medias emphasis on consumerism promotes a sense of relative deprivation by setting materialistic goals that many minorities are unable to reach by legitimate means. One response is formation of delinquent subcultures, especially by young unemployed blacks. It produces higher utilitarian crime to cope with relative deprivation. Furthermore as these groups are marginalised and have no groups to represent their interests their frustration is liable to produce non utilitarian crime such as rioting. Lea and Young acknowledge police often act in racist ways and results in unjustified criminalisation of some members of minorities. However they don’t believe discriminatory policing fully explains the statistics. For example over 90% of crimes known to the police are reported by the public rather than discovered themselves. Under these circumstances even if police act discriminatory it’s unlikely it can account for ethnic differences in statistics. Similarly Lea and Young argue we cannot explain differences in minorities in terms of police racism. For example blacks are more criminalised than Asians. The police would have to be selective in their racism for racism to cause these differences. Lea and Young thus conclude that the statistics represent real differences in levels of offending between ethnic groups and these are caused by real differences in levels of relative deprivation and marginalisation. However Lea and Young can be criticised for their views on the role of police racism. For example arrest rates may be lower for Asians because police stereotype them differently. Stereotypes may have changed since 9/11, explaining rising criminalisation of this group. While left realists see official statistics reflecting real differences in offending between ethnic groups, other sociologists have argued differences in statistics do not reflect reality. These differences are the outcome of a process of social construction that stereotypes ethnic minorities as inherently more criminal than the majority of the population. The work of neo Marxists Paul Gilroy (1982) and Stuart Hall (1979) illustrates this view. Gilroy argues the idea of black criminality is a myth created by racist stereotypes of African Caribbean’s and Asians. In reality these groups are no more criminal than any other. However as a result of the police and criminal justice system acting on these racist stereotypes, ethnic minorities came to be criminalised and thus to appear in greater numbers in official statistics. Gilroy argues ethnic minority crime can be seen as a form of political resistance against a racist society, and this struggle has roots in earlier struggle against British imperialism. Gilroy holds a similar view to that of critical criminology which argues working class crime is a political act against capitalism. Most blacks and Asians in the UK originated from former colonies where their anti imperialist struggles taught them how to resist oppression, for example through riots and demonstrations. When they found themselves facing racism in Britain they adopted the same form of struggles to defend themselves, but their political struggle was criminalised by the British state. However Lea, Young and Gilroy are criticised on several grounds. First generation immigrants were very law abiding, so it’s unlikely they passed their anti colonialist struggle onto their children. Most crime is interethnic, criminals and victims usually have similar ethnic backgrounds, so it can’t be seen as anti colonial struggle against racism. Lea and Young argue Gilroy romanticises street crime as revolutionary. Asian crime rates are similar to or lower than whites. If Gilroy were right then the police are only racist towards black and not Asians, which seems unlikely. Stuart Hall et al adopt a neo Marxist perspective. They argue the 70s saw a moral panic over black muggers that served the interests of capitalism. Hall et all argues the ruling class can normally rule the subordinate classes through consent. However in times of crisis this becomes more difficult. In the early 70s British capitalism faced a crisis. High inflation and rising unemployment provoked widespread industrial unrest and strikes. When opposition to capitalism was growing the ruling class may need to use force to keep control. However the use of force needs to be legitimated or provoke more resistance. The 70s also saw a media driven panic of the growth of mugging. In reality mugging was a new name for street robbery and Hall et al suggest there was no significant increase of this crime at the time. Mugging was soon to be associated by the media, police and politicians with black youth. Hall et al argues that the emergence of the moral panic about mugging as a specifically black crime at the same time as crisis of capitalism was no coincidence; the moral panic and crisis were linked. The myth of the black mugger served as a scapegoat to distract attention from the true cause of problems of unemployment, namely the crisis of capitalism. The black mugger symbolised disintegration of social order. By presenting black youth as a threat to the fabric of society the moral panic served to divide the working class on racial grounds and weaken opposition to capitalism as well as winning popular consent to authoritarian forms of rule to suppress opposition. However Hall et al do not argue that black crime was solely a product of media and police labelling. The crisis of capitalism was increasingly marginalising black youth through unemployment and drove them to a lifestyle of hustling and petty crime to survive. However Hall et al have been criticised on several grounds. Downes and Rock (2003) argue that Hall et al are inconsistent in claiming that black street crime was not rising, but also that it was rising because of unemployment. They do not show how a capitalist crisis led to a moral panic, nor do they provide evidence that the public were in fact panicking or blaming crime on blacks. Left realists argue inner city residents fears about mugging are not panicky but realistic. Until recently the focus of the ethnicity and crime debate was largely about the over representation of blacks in the criminal justice system. However recently sociologists have studied racist victimisation of ethnic minorities. Racist victimisation occurs when an individual is selected as a target because of their race, gender or religion. Racist victimisation is nothing new, but brought into public view with the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence in 1993 and the subsequent Macpherson inquiry into the police investigation. Information of victimisation comes from two main sources; the British crime survey and police recorded statistics. These generally cover racist incidents, any incident perceived to be racist by the victim or another person. They also cover racially or religiously aggravated offences where the offender is motivated by hostility towards members of a racial or religious group. The police recorded 60,000 racist incidents in England and Wales in 2006/7, mostly damage to property and verbal harassment. However most incidents go unreported; the British crime survey estimates there were 184,000 racially motivated incidents in 2006/7. The police recorded 42,600 racially or religiously aggravated offences on 06/7, mostly harassment. 10,600 people were prosecuted or cautioned for racially aggravated offences in 2006. The risk of being a victim of any sort of crime varies by ethnic group. The 2006/7 British crime survey shows people of mixed ethnic background had a higher risk of becoming a victim of crime than blacks, Asians or whites. The differences may be partly the result of factors other than ethnicity. For example for violent crime factors such as being young, male and unemployed are strongly linked to victimisation. Ethnic groups with a high proportion of young males are thus likely to have higher rates of victimisation. However some of these factors such as unemployment are themselves partly due to discrimination while the statistics record the instances of victimisation they don’t capture the victim’s experience of it. As Sampson and Phillips (1992) note racist victimisation tends to be over time with repeated minor instances of abuse with periodic physical violence. The resulting long term psychological impact needs to be added to the physical injury and damage to property caused by offenders. Members of minority ethnic communities have often been active in responding to victimisation. Responses range from situational crime prevention measures such as fireproof doors to organised self defence campaigns. Such responses need to be understood in the context of accusations of under protection by the police who often ignore the racist dimension in victimisation and fail to investigate incidents properly. For example the Macpherson enquiry (1999) concluded the police investigation into the death of black teenager Stephen Lawrence was marred by incompetence, institutional racism and failure of leadership by senior officers. Others have found deeply ingrained racist attitudes among individual officers.

Human Resource Management †Recruitment and Selection Essay

1. A report distinguishing between traditional personnel management and the new approach to human resource management, outlining their historical development. 2. The Human Resource department in TD Travel Group. Its role and purpose in the organization. Task 2 1. An analysis of the objectives and the process of human resource planning. 2. An evaluation of the systematic approach to recruitment for NIS Europe. 3. An investigation of the selection procedures used for NIS Europe and TD Travel Group. 3. Evaluation and Conclusion 4. Bibliography Task 1 TASK 2 AN ANALYSIS OF THE OBJECTIVES AND THE PROCESS OF HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNING. Human resource planning is the task of assessing and anticipating the skill, knowledge and labour time requirements of the organisation and initiating action to fulfill those requirements. Human resource planning involves a strategy for the: * Recruitment * Retention * Utilisation * Improvement, and * Disposal of the human resources of a business. It needs to look at the following factors: * What are the skills and abilities of the current workforce? * What skills and abilities the organisation needs in the future? * Where can the organisation find its future supply of labour? * What are the future objectives of the business likely to be? * How will the business manage and obtain its human resources to meet these objectives? In order to plan Human Resources effectively a business has to undertake considerable research. Here is a table showing the things companies have consider when planning human resources: What is happening now? * Organisational Objectives * Analysis of staff numbers and age * Wage rates * Work loads * Key skills * Labour turnover * Absenteeism What do we expect to happen to the demand for products / services and therefore labour? * Changing technology * Sales forecasts * Market research * New product development * Managerial skills * Wage Rates * Union Agreements What do we expect labour supply to be like in the future? * Local unemployment / employment trends * Local skills and availability * Demographic changes * Legislation * Government training schemes * Quality of local education, housing and transport * Competition for workers All these issues raise questions, which the human resource plan should cover. The plan should include: * Organisation development * Training and management development * Recruitment, redundancy and redeployment * Appraisal and job evaluation * Promotion prospects Human Resource Planning (HRM) is a form of risk management. It involves realistically appraising the present and anticipating the future (as far as possible) in order to get the right people into the right jobs at the right time. This may seem simple at first, short of staff – hire some new staff, too many staff – make redundancies. Unfortunately its not that simple anymore and that is why human resource planning is necessary. Why Human Resource Planning is necessary: It is increasingly important to look beyond the present and short-term future to be able to prepare for contingencies. This will help to exercise control over as many variables as possible, which influence the success and failure of a business. For example, for highly skilled or specialised jobs, it will be more difficult to find replacement staff with the right skills quickly, therefore the need for new staff will have to be anticipated in advance to give enough time for extra training to be given without leaving the company short staffed and unable to provide an efficient service. For example, in the travel industry, reservation staff need to be fully trained on the computer reservation system (CRS) and have a full understanding of fares and ticketing, otherwise there would be a minimum of a six month training period, which would leave the business vulnerable and unable to provide good quality service Redundancies are not as easy to make anymore. It is a much slower more costly experience, not only in financial terms but also in loss of reputation as a secure employer. This in itself may make it harder to recruit labour when required. Rapid technological change is leading to a requirement for manpower, which is both more highly skilled and adaptable. Labour flexibility is a major issue, which means that the career and retraining potential of staff are at least as important as their actual qualifications and skills. They must be assessed in advance of requirements. In the selection process trainability is one of the most popular innovations of the HRM era of personnel management. The UK still suffers from particular skill shortages, despite high unemployment levels, for example nurses at Macclesfield Hospital, 20 nurses from the Philippines have had to be employed, as there was a shortage of suitably skilled staff in the UK. The scope and variety of markets, competition and labour resources are continually increased by political and economic moves such as the unification of Germany, the opening of Eastern Europe and continuing progress towards European Union. Computer technology has made available techniques which facilitate the monitoring and planning of manpower over fairly long time spans: manipulation of manpower statistics, trend analysis, modeling and so on. THE PROCESS OF HRP There are three main factors in HRP: * Forecasting Demand * Forecasting Supply * Closing the gap between demand and supply FORCASTING DEMAND The Demand for labour must be forecast by considering several factors: The objectives of an organisation – Organisations will normally devise a strategic plan, which will set out its objectives. This will be the responsibility of the directors who will devise their plan after discussion with the most senior managers. In some cases the directors of companies may decide to change the strategy of the business completely. This could involve getting rid of the senior managers and replacing them with a new managerial team, which can put the new strategy into place more efficiently. This happened both at British Airways and at Tesco’s where it was decided that a complete change of image was needed to improve profits. Most of the top management were replaced and in both cases the strategy was successful. This sort of strategy will obviously affect the demand for labour in general and / or for particular skills. Manpower utilisation – how much labour will be required given the expected productivity or work rate of different types of employee’s and the expected volume of business activity. Productivity will depend on capital expenditure, technology, work organisation, employee motivation and skills, negotiated productivity deals and many other factors. The cost of Labour – including overtime, training and other incentives, and therefore what financial constraints there are on the organisations manpower levels. Environmental factors – trends in technology and markets that will require organisational change, because of threats or opportunities. The recession in the 90’s created conditions in which expectations of labour demand in the short term were low: downsizing of staffs and delayering of organisation structures were the trend. FORCASTING SUPPLY The available supply of labour will be forecast by considering the following factors: * The skill base, potential trainability and current and potential productivity level of the existing workforce * The structure of the existing workforce e.g. age distribution, skills, hours of work, rates of pay etc The likelihood of changes to the productivity, size and structure of the workforce, caused by, wastage (turnover by resignation and retirement), promotions and transfers, absenteeism and other staff movements; this will require information on: * The age structure of staff (forthcoming retirement or family start-up) * Labour turnover for a comparable period * Promotion potential and ambitions of staff Other causes of changes in productivity are employee trainability and motivation, which may increase productivity and flexibility. Organisational, technological and cultural changes are factors, which may affect employee productivity and loyalty. The present and potential future supplies of skilled labour in the environment – that is, the external labour market. The HR planner will have to assess and monitor factors such as: * Skill availability, locally, nationally and internationally (e.g. within the EU) * Changes to skill availability due to education and training initiatives (or lack of these) * Competitor activity which may absorb more or less of the available skill pool * Demographic changes – areas of population growth and decline, the proportion of younger / older people in the workforce in a particular region, the number of women in a workforce etc. * Wage and salary rates in the market for particular jobs CLOSING THE GAP BETWEEN DEMAND AND SUPPLY A deficiency of labour may be met by: * Internal transfers and promotions, training and development * External recruitment or improvement to recruitment methods * Extension of temporary contracts, or contracts of those about to retire * Reducing labour turnover by reviewing possible causes (e.g. pay and benefits) and improving induction and socialisation * The use of freelance / temporary / agency staff * The development of flexible working methods and structures * Encouraging overtime working * Productivity bargaining to increase productivity * Automation (increasing productivity, and / or reducing the need for human labour) A surplus of labour may be met by: * Running down manning levels by natural / accelerated wastage * Restricting or freezing recruitment * Redundancies (voluntary and/or compulsory) * Early retirement incentives * A tougher stance on discipline, enabling more dismissals * Part time and short contract working, or job sharing * Eliminating overtime and peripheral workforce groups * Redeployment of staff to areas of labour shortage. This may necessitate diversification by the organisation, to find new work for the labour force, and/or plans for multi-skilling, so that the workforce can be flexibly deployed in areas of labour shortage as and when they emerge. There are also external constraints on HR planners when considering any of the above such as, UK legislation and EU directives, regulations and court rulings, the employer brand or reputation and other factors must be taken into account when planning to hire, ‘fire’ or alter working terms and conditions. Labour turnover is the number of employees leaving an organisation and being replaced. The rate of turnover is often expressed as the number of people leaving as a percentage of the average number of people employed, in a given period of time. The term natural wastage is used to describe a normal flow of people out of an organisation through retirement, career or job change, relocation etc. AN EVALUATION OF THE SYSTEMATIC APPROACH TO RECRUITMENT AT NIS EUROPE. Recruitment is the phase, which immediately precedes selection. Its purpose is to pave the way for selection procedures by producing, ideally the smallest number of candidates who appear to be capable either of performing the required tasks of the job from the outset, or of developing the ability to do so within a period of time acceptable to the employing organisation. The main point that needs to be made about the recruitment task is that the employing organisation should not waste time and money examining the credentials of the people whose qualifications do not match the requirements of the job. A primary task of the recruitment phase is to help would-be applicants to decide whether they are likely to be suitable to fill the job vacancy. This is clearly in the interest of both the employing organisation and the applicants. The current approach to recruitment within NIS Europe works in six stages. Stage One – Determining the vacancies Human resources would confirm what resources are needed and determine as to whether or not they wanted to fill the vacancy. This very much depends on the aim and objectives of NIS Europe. Stage Two – Considering the sources internally and externally If appropriate they would advertise the vacancy internally, or think of possible transfers. HR within NIS always gives this very careful consideration and where possible favour’s this option first for the following reasons: – * Existing employees are know to the organisation and are generally familiar with its customs and practices * The cost and time that recruitment, selection and induction procedures consume can be significantly reduced * Internal recruitment may be used as a means of career development, widening opportunities and stimulating motivation amongst existing employees If the vacancy were not filled internally then they would look to external sources. Dependent on the vacancy this would be via one of the two main means: – * Through employment agencies – governmental, institutional and private commercial * Advertisements in newspapers and journals Stage Four -Preparing and publishing information NIS Europe feels that this aspect of the recruitment process requires very special attention and skill. It is their objective to publish information, which fulfils the following conditions: * It is succinct and yet gives a comprehensive and accurate description of the job and its requirements * It is likely to attract the attention of the maximum number of potentially suitable candidates * It gives a favourable image of the organisation in terms of efficiency and its attitude towards people * It does not contravene employment laws concerning sex and racial discrimination Along with the submission of curriculum vitae, NIS Europe standard procedure is for each applicant to submit a NIS Europe application form. This falls in line with equal opportunities and allows NIS to obtain standard information about the applicant, that on a curriculum vita may be omitted. See appendix for job advert and application form. Stage Five – Processing and assessing applications When all the applicants have been received by the due date, the next task is to select those applicants who, on the evidence available, appear to be the most suitable as future employees of NIS Europe and therefore, worth the time and cost of further examination in the selection procedures. The screening process is based on the published requirements for the job. It involves a scrupulous study of the information provided by the applicants, a comparison of this information with the job requirements, and then a final decision as to whether to accept or reject the applicant at this stage. Stage Six – Notifying applicants Once the selection process from the applicants has taken place, the final step is to notify the chosen applicants of the arrangements for the selection procedures, and the rejected applicants that they have not been chosen. The letter to the successful applicants will have full details about the arrangements for the selection procedures, i.e. time and place. NIS Europe ensures that all letters informing applicants of the result of applications are sent as soon as possible. THE EVALUATION OF THE SYSTEMATIC APPROACH FOR NAVIGANT INTEGRATED SERVICES EUROPE Below is an evaluation of the recruitment procedure for Navigant Integrated Services (NIS). The aim of this evaluation is to determine whether NIS recruitment procedures succeed in getting a suitable person for the job advertised and at an acceptable cost. The methods for auditing the recruitment process follow these performance indicators: – Total numbers of applicants received: Dependent on the type of vacancy NIS Europe can expect to receive on average around a dozen applicants for an advertised job vacancy. They have recently advertised for an accounts co-ordinator and have received over 30 applicants. They have admitted by not stating the salary this has interested applications, covering a wide range of experience, or in some cases very little experience. Time taken to locate applicants: Most vacancies within NIS are usually filled within one month of the advert being placed. Cost per applicant: NIS calculates à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½1000.00 per applicant, including the initial training. Time taken to process applications: NIS normally processes their applications within one week. Number of female /minority/ disabled applicants: NIS does not meet this indicator. They predominantly employ females; they have one minority employee and no disabled employees. When this was discussed with our HR department they advised this was nothing discriminate. The travel industry is known as being a female dominated environment and there have never been any disabled applicants at NIS. If there were any disabled or other minority applicants, they would go through the same process, as other applicants and no preferential treatment would be given. Number of qualified applicants: 90% of applicants are qualified for the job advertised. NIS biggest employment is of reservation staff for the travel industry. If they obtain a new account they will need to recruit fairly quickly, training is costly and time consuming so it is important that they stipulate qualified applicants only, at the advert stage, which is why they have a good success rate in finding candidates quickly for the vacancy advertised. Number of qualified female/minority/disabled applicants: About 70% of our applicants are female and qualified. NIS has very few minority or disabled applicants applying. Cost effectiveness of the recruitment methods: Dependent on the type of job will determine where NIS Europe advertises for staff. If they are looking for reservation agents they would normally get in touch with one of the industries recruitment agency’s. Most staff within the industry registers with the agencies. Many years ago jobs were advertised in industry papers the trend now leans towards recruitment agencies. Dependent on the level of salary the agencies take a percentage. For example on a salary of 17,000 they would take 10% of the gross salary. As the salary increases so does the percentage. Although working with an agency can work out costly, they do have a majority of the qualified personnel on their database and therefore gives NIS access to qualified personnel straight away. Monitoring the make-up of the workforce: NIS Europe workforce is split into the following departments and the make up of the workforce is as follows: – Reservations – within the Travel, Hotel & Conference reservations department, NIS employs 60 staff in this department, 10% of the workforce is male, 88.33% are female, none are disabled and only one staff member is a minority employee. * Sales and Marketing – NIS employs eight staff in this department, 37.5% of the workforce is male and 62.5% are female. None are disabled or minority employees. * Accounts – NIS employs four staff in the department, 25% are male and 75% are female. None are disabled or minority employees * HR – NIS employs two staff in this department, 100% are female. None are disabled or minority employees. * IT – NIS employs five staff in this department, 100% are male. None are disabled or minority employees. * Top line management – The top line management of NIS is made up of four. 25% is female and 75% are male. None are disabled or minority. From the above information it is evident that there are three groups of employees that are underrepresented at NIS Europe, male, disabled and minority. Attitude Surveys: Once you under taken employment with NIS Europe, they do not require you to fill in an attitude survey asking you if you were satisfied with the stages of recruitment and selection process. AN INVESTIGATION OF THE SELECTION PROCEDURES USED AT NIS EUROPE AND TD TRAVEL GROUP. Selection is the part of the employee resourcing process, which follows on from recruitment. It essentially involves the identifying of the most suitable of the potential employees attracted to the organisation by recruitment efforts. The crucial importance of selecting people who can meet the requirements described in the job description and person specification hardly need to be stressed. It is equally evident that mistakes in selection can have very serious consequences for corporate effectiveness. Such mistakes may adversely affect colleagues, subordinates and clients. Employee incompetence may lead to costly mistakes, loss and waste of valuable resources, accidents and avoidable expenditure on training. Employee selectors face an inevitable dilemma. They have to carry out a vitally important task, but one that at the same time is fraught with problems to which there are either no answers or no easy answers. The abiding problem is the dependence on subjective human judgment. We must take into consideration, that fallible human beings devise so-called objective lists. For example some person specifications require certain attitudes and attributes, such as conscientious or able to stand pressure, how can the selectors identify these requirements in a person whom they do not know during the short acquaintance of the selection process. In view of the importance and difficulties of the task, employers need to take selection most seriously. Appropriate investment at this stage can and will be cost-effective if it avoids the possibly enormous and incalculable cost that faulty employee selection may produce. For example, NIS Europe recently employed an operations manager through a recruitment agency, within six weeks of employment it was evident to NIS that he was not capable of the job he had been employed to do. Therefore NIS had to terminate his employment at a cost to the company of approximately à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½8,000. Other errors of the selection process could include lack of skill or experience of interviewers, stereotyping by the interviewer in the absence of more detailed information and incorrect assessment of qualitative factors such as motivation, honesty or integrity. Various selection methods are used to try to reduce the risks by gathering as much relevant information about the candidate as possible. Currently NIS Europe is working with UMIST on a competencies project where NIS is contacting their client base to investigate in terms of service, what their expectations of NIS Europe are. The information collated in turn will then be translated into competencies and then used in the selection process. Following on from our earlier systematic approach to recruitment is the systematic approach to selection Point five & six of the systematic approach to recruitment overlaps with the first & second point of the Systematic approach to selection. Stage One – Processing and assessing applications When all the applicants have been received by the due date, the next task is to select those applicants who, on the evidence available, appear to be the most suitable as future employees of NIS Europe and TD Travel Group and therefore, worth the time and cost of further examination in the selection procedures. The screening process is based on the published requirements for the job. It involves a scrupulous study of the information provided by the applicants, a comparison of this information with the job requirements, and then a final decision as to whether to accept or reject the applicant at this stage. Stage Two – Notifying applicants Once the selection process from the applicants has taken place, the final step is to notify the chosen applicants of the arrangements for the selection procedures, and the rejected applicants that they have not been chosen. The letter to the successful applicants will have full details about the arrangements for the selection procedures, i.e. time and place. NIS Europe ensures that all letters informing applicants of the result of applications are sent as soon as possible. TD Travel Group operates a very informal selection procedure. If the curriculum vitae are up to standard the applicant will be called for an interview, nothing will be advised on paper, arrangements are made on the telephone. If the curriculum vitae do not have the correct qualifications for the job it will be discarded straight away and no call to advise the applicant will be made. Stage Three – Possible interviewees â€Å"Possibles† will then be more closely scrutinised, and a short-list for interviews drawn up. Ideally this should be done by the HR specialist and the perspective manager of the successful candidate, who will have a more immediate knowledge of the type of person that will fit into the culture and activities of his department. In TD Travel Group’s case, John Owen (the operations Director) would be solely responsible for this stage, as there is no human resources department employed. At NIS Europe Barbara Sutton (Human Resources Director) and the line manager of the relevant department would be jointly responsible. Stage Four- Inviting candidates from the short list for interviews At this stage the company would require successful candidates to complete a standardised application form if not already submitted at the outset. NIS Europe standard procedure is for each applicant to submit a NIS Europe application form along with the curriculum vitae at the first stage for applying for the job. See appendix for application form. This falls in line with equal opportunities and allows NIS to obtain standard information about the applicant, that from a curriculum vita may be omitted. TD Travel Group have no standard information that is required and work off the submission of a curriculum vitae only. Stage five – Interview potentially qualified candidates. Since the interview is likely to continue to play a major role in the selection process, it seems sensible to adopt a realistic approach, which means making the best possible use of the interview. There are many different types of interview including: * One-to-one interviews – these are the most common selection method. They offer the advantages of direct face-to-face communication, and opportunity to establish rapport between the candidate and interviewer. Each has to give attention solely to the other and there is potentially a relaxed atmosphere, if the interviewer is willing to establish an informal style. * Panel Interviews – A panel may consist of two or three people who together interview a single candidate, most commonly, a personnel manager and the departmental manager who will have responsibility for the successful candidate. NIS Europe use the above forms of interview, however they also have other interviewing techniques, which can be panel interviews or one to one interviews, such as: * Audition interview – this is predominantly to assess people in leisure and service industries; it focuses on personality versus skill. This would involve exercises, which display the personality of the candidate as well as the skills. * Criteria based interview – these are specific questions which highlight predetermined behavior which you are looking for e.g. if you need an outgoing person you would ask a question â€Å"If somebody came into the room how would you put them at ease?† You would rate the response as positive or negative. * Behavioral event interview – ideally this interview is a taped interview. The interviewer would have a competence list on a chart and when questions asked and in turn answered, the competencies would be marked off. TD Travel has a much more informal interview technique. It is generally a panel interview conducted by the Operations Director with the General manager and also the Sales and Marketing Director. There are no set techniques; it is more of a formal chat about skills and qualifications, outlined on the curriculum vitae. Stage six – Selection testing Once the interview has taken place, some companies go one step further by inviting candidates for a selection test. These tests are all standardised so that an individuals score can be related to others, reliable in that it always measures the same thing and is non discriminatory. These can be in various forms: * Intelligence or cognitive testing – these test memory, ability to think quickly, perceptual speed, verbal fluency and problem solving skills. See appendix. * Aptitude tests – these are designed to predict an individuals potential for performing a job or learning new skills. * Personality tests – these may measure a variety of characteristics such as the applicant’s skill in dealing with other people, ambition, motivation or emotional stability. See appendix. * Proficiency tests – these measure the ability of the applicant to do the work involved e.g. a typist would be asked to type, and a salesperson would be asked to sell. Td Travel does not use selection tests at all. Most people are employed through word of mouth, as travel is a very incestuous business. NIS Europe use personality and aptitude tests. Stage seven – Checking references of short listed candidates References provide further confidential information about the perspective employee. A reference should contain: * Straightforward factual information confirming the nature of the applicant’s previous jobs, previous employment, pay and circumstances of leaving * Opinions about the applicant’s personality and other attributes. At least two employer references are desirable, providing necessary factual information, and comparison of personal views. NIS Europe and TD Travel Group offer the successful candidate the job subject to checking the references. Stage eight -Institute follow-up procedures for successful applicants The follow up procedures include: * Offer of employment – Assuming that the right candidate has by now been identified, an offer of employment can be made. It is common for an oral offer to be made. With a negociated period for consideration and acceptance. * Draw up a contract or written particulars – this should include all terms, conditions and circumstances of the offer must be clearly stated and negotiable aspects of the offer and timetable for acceptance should be set out, in order to control the closing stages of the process * Arrange work permits if required – Work permits are required of people coming into the UK for employment * Plan induction – Induction is a formal programme, designed and carried out by HRM to introduce new employees to the organisation, in all its social as well as work aspects. Stage nine- Review all candidates Review un-interviewed candidates and sort out those that my be kept on file for possible future use. Send standard letters to unsuccessful to applicants and holding letters to those being kept on file. NIS Europe will hold candidates on file for a maximum of one year. TD Travel group do not use this procedure, they would start their informal recruitment process again as and when required. SUMMARY OF THE SELECTION PROCESS FOR TD TRAVEL GROUP AND NIS EUROPE It is evident from the above information that NIS Europe carries out a more formal selection procedure than TD Travel Group. This is down to the fact that NIS Europe have more employees than TD Travel Group, and therefore see it necessary to have a HR department.

Noise Level Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Noise Level - Research Paper Example In order to maximize private benefits of road transportation, people very conveniently discounted the external cost incurred on inhabitants of city. Because of noise pollution caused by road transportation, city dwellers suffer from sleep disorders; severe stress on nervous systems, escalated blood pressure, hypertension, chronic heart problems, continuous headache, frustration, annoyance, noise induced hearing loss, and finally, the loss of good quality life (Ventre, & Case, 1971). The best way to reduce traffic noise pollution is to install noise barriers at the residential area. â€Å"Noise barriers diminish the decibel level by 10 to 15 decibels, which means reducing the sound in half. Sound barriers consist of two types, earth berm and noise walls. Noise readings can assist engineer decide about type, location, length and height of a noise barrier† (Ventre, & Case, 1971). Noise walls are made up of concrete, stucco, wood, masonry, and metal (Gelfand, 2009). On the other h and, earth berms are more appropriate for visual looks depending on the material and room. Just like noise wall, earth berm also blends in with surrounding effectively. Moreover, plants are added to it in order to cover it up (Ventre, & Case, 1971). However, sound barrier will only be effective if residents behind it cannot see the road, which implies that they are in shadow zone.

Alexander Wendt Anarchy Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Alexander Wendt Anarchy Theory - Essay Example Wendt is more with the realists when they say that the state system is in a state of anarchy and that the states are competing for survival. Theorists agree that Wendt's theory has important implications for the advancement of international politics. "Contrary to neorealism's static materialist structuralism, Wendt's social theory bears on the 'tranformative potential' of international politics. His theory claims to reveal the potential for a more cooperative international relations," http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Wendt International Relations is supposed to have started with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, from where the modern system of States emerged and since then, various theories have cropped up. Answering a question why we have to thearise everything, Brown says: "For the majority of theorists in this area, the answer is clear - explain in order to predict, predict in order to control, or if control is impossible, then at least to minimise the consequences of undesirable states of affairs and take advantage of whatever opportunities exist," (Brown, 2002, p.12). This word comes from the German word, realpolitic meaning foreign policy based on practical concerns, and the word attained its credence because of Bismarck. This theory assumes that the States themselves are the actors, and these individual actors are influenced by the structure of international anarchy. It is also assumed that World politics is a voluntarily self-helping system and each state is interested in its own national interest and there is always conflict between one state and another. Its one more assumption is that diplomacy is not for solving the problems, but to serve national interests and the main instrument of success is the military force. Since the end of Second World War, Realism has bhecome one of the major theories of International Relations which leads to political realism, Winston Churchill was a powerful advocate of realist foreign policy. "The perspective was well suited to the early phase of the Cold War. The power struggle between the world's two superpowers dominated international politics, and the United States sought to contain Soviet expansionism," claims (Knutsen, 1997, p.241). It could be defensive realism with national interest in its core and its interpretation connects with international security, anarchy in international relations and Michiavelli's realism. Thucidydes is supposed to be the founder of this school. Michiavelli, though condemned for preaching amoral ways during his lifetime, is the real propagator of Realism. Morganthau is crdited with systemetizing classical realism with his famous six principles. LIBERALISM Liberalism assumes that states can cooperate with one another through institutional mechanisms and bargaining and they are one key actor in the arena of World politics, and here states are not independent, but interdependent. It also argues that international institutions like Transnational Corporations, IMF, WHO, United Nations are actors in a different sphere, and have a role to play. Francis Fukuyama said that the ideology of

Mandatory Sentencing Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

Mandatory Sentencing - Research Paper Example The paper tells that crime does not pay. We can seldom argue with this premise, and the need to inculcate this idea among the local populace of our cities and towns. However there is also a fear that in our zest to single out and punish those who are guilty of crimes against society and humanity, we are creating situations where too many people are behind bars. Indeed the rate of incarcerations in the USA is one of the highest in the world, which is shameful for a country that considers itself the world’s foremost superpower and protector of human rights. Mandatory sentencing has been cited as one of the reasons behind the overpopulation in our prisons, creating situations where crime is further exacerbated by the formation of gangs, hardcore and small time criminals being grouped together, and the fact that some criminals are in need of medical attention rather than a life of incarceration that does not remedy their particular situation or suit their particular needs. Mandato ry sentencing is a form of judicial punishment in which the terms and duration of the punishment have already been set in Law depending on the crimes committed and the charges filed and proven against the accused law breaker. This being the case, there is usually no or little room for a judge to intervene and set his own ruling depending on the individual circumstances of the case. Originally the need for mandatory sentencing was seen in cases of drug dealing and related offences. But later the effect of mandatory sentencing minimums was extended to gun related crimes as well, as they initially proved an effective deterrent to crime. However as we shall see much of the initial laws have been repealed and the sentencing reduced on humanitarian grounds. Even today, the debate rages on as to whether mandatory minimums still have a place and effect in law or not. There is much to support both points of view, as we shall see. The History and Uses of Mandatory Sentencing In the USA it was the 1951 Boggs Act that started the Federal mandatory minimum penalties for drug trafficking. The length of some of these sentences was then increased in 1956. However the comprehensive reforms of the 1970 Drug Abuse and Control Act repealed the earlier Boggs Acts. This was followed by the enactment of the Rockefeller Drug Laws in 1973 which helped establish minimum 15 year and life sentences for various kinds of drug offences. Obviously the intent would have been to get the offenders off the streets for a considerable amount of time and in doing so make it safer for the targeted population. Laws such as Michigan’s 650 Lifer Law took a much harder stance on drug offences and established a minimum of life imprisonment without possibility of parole for possession and dealing with 650 grams of drugs such as cocaine and heroin- it also increased the penalties for smaller offences. In 1984, the Comprehensive Crime Control Act resulted in the creation of a U.S Sentencing Commissio n. It also phased out parole and set mandatory sentences for gun related crimes. Two years later, in 1986 the Anti-Drug Abuse Act creates new federal minimum mandatory sentences for drug related offences. One year later, in 1987 the US Sentencing Commission enacted some guidelines to help the Courts in convicting and sentencing all federal drug related offences. In 1988, the Omnibus Drug Abuse Act not only added a mandatory minimum penalty for the possession of crack but also included conspiracy convictions in the mandatory penalty scheme. This has had little positive effects on the system since ruthless drug dealers do not care who they choose to carry out their dirty schemes to transport drugs across borders and it could often be an unwary traveler that has been trapped for no fault of his own except

Farid Ud-Din Attar. The Conference of the Birds Essay - 2

Farid Ud-Din Attar. The Conference of the Birds - Essay Example A good illustration of how the context of the story helps to clarify the meaning is shown in the case of when the hoopoe is telling the tale of a poor fisher boy whom King Mas’oud befriends. Later when the king upon casting the boy’s line successfully lands a sizeable catch, he then gives to the boy. The next day the king decides to make the boy a partner to his throne The story is taken from a religious allegory and can be interpreted probability to be a fable regarding God’s grace. However once we put the story into its real context the allegory gains more prominence. The hoopoe had just been asked by a bird why he is spiritually flourishing unlike the other birds that seem to be getting nowhere (Williams 49). The hoopoe explains that this is so because Solomon has glanced at him. The Hoopoe tells the birds that this glance is worth far more than prayer but continues to explain that this does not mean that an individual does not need to pray, but rather one should continue to pray continuously until Solomon glances at him. In this story of the fisher boy, we see that the boy has been unceasingly fishing (in the same spot every day, which represents the spiritual â€Å"fishing† of constant prayer (Williams 51). According to the Hoopoes previous explanation, the king’s visit is the glance of Solomon. This story is mostly demonstrative of individual effort and grace plus the reality that both are indispensable for spiritual advancement (Davis, 8). The point of a tale may at times seem rather elusive at the first reading; therefore, it is advisable to read it again or to refer to some previous text to remind you what the question being answered by the hoopoe is. This case with the stories resembles the story of the king and the fisher boy from which we got our excerpt. Throughout the poem, two themes in particular are intricately interwoven into the very fiber of the poem. These are the need to destroy the Self, and the weight

Business Strategy in Transport Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Business Strategy in Transport - Essay Example In the running of any business, there is a necessity to have a strategic plan that defines the company, its market and the services and/or products it offers. Strategic planning, that is discussed in the essay involves making clear-cut decisions in terms of direction and resource aimed at pursuing the organisation’s strategy. One of the first strategies explained in the essay is the cost of leadership principle, that is a strategy in which the organisation cuts down on the costs of production with the aim of being the most affordable service provider. Second question focuses on the concept of cost leadership and its relevance to business strategy with reference to one of the modes or types of transport. The airline industry was specially discussed in this essay as an example, also Gareth Morgan’s concept of a 'machine' organisation was explained as well as an attractive model for organising commercial businesses for transport modes such as shipping, railways and in the twentieth century for airlines. It also refers to the transport industry in the twenty-first century to the transport industry in the nineteenth century and assess the shortcomings of machine organisations from a business strategy perspective. Investigations in the causes of crashes of airplanes, in the 19th century showed that human error was a contributing factor, especially exhaustion. From such events, the machine organisation approach cannot be used in all sectors and the approach is largely losing its popularity.

Research Proposal on Blood Donation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

On Blood Donation - Research Proposal Example an individual who is in need of a blood transfusion, approximately 41000 donations are required on a daily basis and there is need for there to be a blood reserve in case of an emergency (American Red Cross). Unfortunately, there are blood donation shortages leading to a blood shortage throughout the country. This proposal addresses the problem of blood donation shortages and how it can be addressed. There is lack of adequate research in existing literature dealing with the concept of blood donation. In fact, existing literature has not shown the need for further research as studies conducted mainly address the major reasons affecting individual’s willingness to donate blood. The research study needs to be conducted to address the reasons behind the blood shortages in the US and how they can be addressed. Although past studies have concentrated on some of factors affecting individuals’ motivation to donate blood, they have failed to concentrate on how incentives can positively influence their decision to donate blood (Hough 67). The study raises issues about offering economic incentives to encourage individuals to donate blood and some of the major reasons why individuals fail to donate blood. Various factors influence blood donation decisions including incentives, health concerns and the effects on the donor. Offering incentives is likely to have a positive impact on blood donation since it motivates individuals a higher number of individuals to donate blood. According to this theory, intentions are the major antecedents to behavior. Intention is the then paves the way for attitudes, perceived behavioral control and subjective norms. This model has been supported by a number of studies that have found that model accounts for 39 percent and 27 percent of the variance in intentions and behavior respectively. In the current study, the model can be used to explain the variance in blood donation between 31 percent and 72 percent and between 54 percent and 56

Why I want to study fashion design Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Why I want to study fashion design - Essay Example Even as a child, I remember inventing clothes for my dolls and enjoying the activity and the imagination it entailed. Though these dolls already had nice outfits, however, I wanted to give them a personal touch of my own. My parents were amazed and thrilled by my creativity and effort to transform these dolls. From just one original outfit I would make several variations. Seeing my interest, as well as my knack for it, they decided to give me a ‘My size Barbie’ and a sewing machine as a Christmas present. That was the starting point; upon entering my teens, I started designing my own clothes along with those of my friends and relatives. I also started attending modeling classes. As I moved on to my college years I decided to pursue a career in Architecture. Putting my dreams of becoming a fashion designer aside, I decided to work in an Architecture firm for a while, thinking of later working in the family Architecture firm as well. However, I did not give up my passion f or fashion, whenever I had free time I kept creating my own designs and drawings of garments. I also had the habit of cutting out designs from magazines – designs I thought were interesting and which I could use as a foundation for further creativity perhaps. A few years later, I decided to move to the United States to get a masters degree in Architecture. After I was done with my masters, I went back to the wonderful world of fashion by getting into modeling school for the second time. This time, I was convinced that I should get back into fashion designing and not give up on my childhood dream. My family and friends not only supported my decision but have been a major motivating force. What is more, even acquaintances and other people have been really appreciative of my creative designs. Their praise has been a constant source of encouragement for me to take up fashion designing on a professional level. The support and praise I receive really helps me by backing up my decis ion to be a creative fashion designer. It feels good when I create, not only because I like it, but also because my designs are liked by people. I have therefore decided to go for a professional degree in fashion designing so that I could also learn about other aspects of the industry. I believe that a degree from Miami International University of Art and Design would help me to grow not only as a person but also as a professional who would be able to meet the challenges of the contemporary world. I have a multi-cultural background, and am greatly influenced by it. It shows in my work too as my passion for ethnic designs and use of fusion is my strongest point. As a child I was much enamored with the fashion magazines that showcased the clothes of leading fashion designers of Milan and Paris. However, as I grew up, I realized that while I am fascinated with the contemporary fashion designers, I am equally captivated by the variety found in ethnic designs. Culture has, therefore, bee n a very vital part of my creativity, which, I believe, needs to be used for exploiting my potential as a designer. In the present environment of globalization, a professional degree in fashion designing would equip me with more options to capably exploit the present opportunities, as well as help me gain a competitive advantage within the fashion industry. The Art Institute is renowned for offering a highly personalized degree. At the same time, it promotes a wide scope of personal development through cross-cultural interaction and community development. Indeed, it offers the best of both worlds: excellent academic programs and opportunities of personal development, both of which are essential for professional success in today’

Ethical objectivism and Kantian Ethics ar arguments to ethical Essay

Ethical objectivism and Kantian Ethics ar arguments to ethical relativism - Essay Example Even in the contemporary world there are a strong amount of arguments in favor of ethical relativism. Some of the most prominent such arguments are advanced by anthropologists whose job it is to go into a region and develop ethnographical research regarding a culture. While these perspectives are at times convincing specifically about more grey areas issues, on a large-scale it’s clear that they are shortsighted. When extended to universal aspects of all cultures, adopting an approach of ethical relativism could potentially be calamitous for humanity. In these regards, it is possible that one cultural paradigm conflicts with the subsistence of another culture. It follows that when one’s cultural paradigm infringes on the rights and existence of another cultural paradigm that there needs to be a means of further establishing ethical responsibility. A great number of ethical theories exist in contradistinction to the ethical relativist model, with the Kantian approach to ethics the most convincing. Kant argues that, â€Å"All moral statements should be general laws, which apply to everyone under and circumstances† (â€Å"Kant†). This notion, referred to as the categorical imperative, is the understanding that an ethical action must be that can be applied in a universal way; as such, this precludes many activities that would otherwise be condoned under an ethical relativist perspective. Another prominent notion within Kantian ethics is the notion of moral duty. Moral duty argues that an individual has the duty to obey innate moral laws (â€Å"Kant’s Moral Philosophy†). The articulation of ethical responsibility as rooted in innate moral laws characteristic of all humanity is antithetical to moral relativism. Rather ethics as functioning subjectively, they are innate and universal to all cultures. Ulti mately, adopting this Kantian is model is superior to the relativist approach as the former

A Modest Proposal Essay Example for Free

A Modest Proposal Essay Swift is a renowned satirist, whose works are read even today since they represent social problems persistent through centuries. Although his parents were English, Swift was born in Ireland and lived there most of his life, though he wanted to live in or near London. His bitterest piece, A Modest Proposal is about curing the growing population and preventing the children of the poor people in Ireland, from being a burden on their parents or country. Swift is strongly against poverty as well as discrimination and presents these points his piece, A Modest Proposal. Swift pretends to be an expert or social planner who has a scheme to solve the problem of poverty in Ireland. This piece was written for the English aristocracy. It was meant to be humiliating and embarrassing for them, and it was! Swift killed people figuratively. Initially, when people started reading the piece, they agreed with Swift since he was stating facts and presenting reality in a serious tone. But when the readers reached the part where he proposes his solution to the malady, they felt he was out of his mind! This was an eye opener for the Britishers, and it wasnt too hard for them to realize that he was making fun of them and they were offended. His proposal might have sounded preposterous, but he intended it to be satiric and it was! Swifts writing was very effective and helped enhance his purpose. One of the strategies that Swift uses to draw the readers attention is by using a lot of details and imagery to clearly present his points enabling the readers to have a better understanding. One such example in this piece would be, It is a melancholy object to those, who walk through this great town, or travel in the country, when they see the street, the roads and cabin-doors with beggars of the female sex, followed by three, four, or six children, all in rags, and importuning every passenger for an alms. As people are reading this, they can clearly get a picture of what is going on and exactly what hes trying to put across. But, this is a social insult towards women since they are supposed to be at home and not on the streets with kids. He sarcastically refers to women who have dozens of kids as breeders. To make things worse, he points out how a pregnant animal is apparently more worthy than a pregnant woman. If a man found out that his wife was pregnant, he would do anything to abort the child, which would end in the mother being killed most of the times. Women were treated like dirt. By this we can say that he also differentiates between the roles played by man and woman in the society. Not only does he include men and women, but he takes children into consideration too. According to Swift, selling children negates the cost of breeding them. He says, the maintenance of an hundred thousand children, from two years old, and upwards, cannot be computed ay less than ten shillings a piece per annum, the nations stock will be thereby increased fifty thousand pounds per annum. Another way Swift grabs the readers attention is by making stark contrasts between the rich and the poor. He says, I grant this food will be somewhat dear and therefore very proper for landlords, who, as they have already devoured most of the parents, seem to have the best title to the children. He expounds how money circulates in the society with an idea of the rich giving money to the poor, and take it back. He comes up with his own unique resolutions to the problems that exist. Its basically like trying to solve a hard math problem without following any of the rules. There are a few things that Swift talks about in his piece that arthat a child just born will weigh 12 pounds and in a solar year, if tolerably nursed, increases to 28 pounds. This is very unrealistic, because the average weight of a newborn in any country was never 12 pounds and they did not weigh 28 pounds in a year either. He might have meant it to be satiric, but it doesnt work very well and doesnt fit in. His statistics were incorrect; they were either too high or too low. Although he might have used these facts to get his point across, they ruin the effect of the entire piece. He insults peoples religious e very unrealistic. For example, Swift claims, I have reckoned upon a medium, beliefs which might have helped him prove his point, but can be offending to readers even today. He tends to be repetitive and tries to emphasize on certain things so many times that they lose their value. Swift tends to get carried away with his satire and comes up with unrealistic and ridiculous so lutions. In this piece, Swift manages to maintain the readers attention by using elaborate language and expressions. His tone and satiric language helps convey his message and point of view. This piece was very effective, keeping in mind his main purpose, regardless of whether or not people were offended or that they thought he was being ridiculous. He proved his point with an extraordinary plan, which he felt could have resolved the problem. Whether it would have worked or not, would have been a different issue. Thus, in reality this can be viewed as one of Swifts greatest pieces.

WalMart SWOT Analysis

WalMart SWOT Analysis Wal-Marts policies and practices are designed to ensure an environment that is equitable and inclusive. To that end, Wal-Mart solicits feedback from all of their employees, annually, regarding their opinions of their work experience and the companys implementation of Wal-Marts basic beliefs and values. In addition, they provide training on working with people, leadership skills, equal employment opportunities, diversity and sexual harassment prevention. Wal-Mart is committed to providing all employees state-of-the-art training resources and development time to help achieve career objectives. They have a number of training tools in place that keeps then out in front of the competition, including classroom courses, computer-based learning, distance learning, corporate intranet sites, mentor programs, satellite broadcasts, skills assessments, and job announcements. These tools are successfully increasing advancement opportunities for women and minorities. Wal-Mart has been ranked among Training Magazines Top Training 100 companies for two consecutive years. Respect for the individual, one of Wal-Marts companys three core values, is reinforced throughout their training process. Wal-Mart is committed to the customers and communities they serve. Wal-Mart hires locally, representing the diversity and uniqueness of everyones hometown. As the demographics of the nation have changed, so has the family of Wal-Marts employees. More than 15 percent of their employees are over the age of 55, and they are the nations largest employer of Hispanics and African-Americans. Wal-Mart also uses its respectable financial position to attract and retain employees by offering stock ownership and profit-sharing programs. These programs are available to all full-time employees of Wal-Mart and make a significant impact on the earnings of employees. They are allowed to purchase shares of stock at reduced prices, which allows them an immediate appreciation of their portfolio. With the profit-sharing program, the employees receive bonuses at the end of the year based on the success of the overall company. These also provide a significant amount of compensation to their employees. Wal-Mart also has very strong community-based initiatives. They have continually gave college scholarships for high school seniors, raised funds for nearby childrens hospitals through the Childrens Miracle Network Telethon, provided money and manpower for fund raisers, school benefits and churches, Boy and Girl Scouts, park projects, police and fire charities, food banks, senior citizen centers, and more. They also educate the public about recycling and other environmental topics with the help of a Green Coordinator, a specially trained employee who coordinates efforts to make an environmentally responsible store. Along this same line, Wal-Mart has created Environmental Demonstration Stores in Lawrence, Kansas; Moore, Oklahoma; and City of Industry, California. These stores serve as a test tube for environmentally friendly building materials and experimental methods for conserving energy and water. Finally, the corporate structure of Wal-Mart is very well rounded and managed with three core values: respect for the individual, service to their customers, and striving for excellence. The management of Wal-Mart is the backbone to the entire company and these core-values have propelled Wal-Mart to the top of their industry and have allowed Wal-Mart to be the worlds largest company. (S)trengths Marketing The nature of Wal-Marts marketing is in its Every Day Low Price (EDLP) campaign. This is what makes Wal-Mart successful. Sam Walton devised a system for which price setting was to be followed. Sam wouldnt allow management to hedge a price at all. If the list price was $1.98, but Wal-Mart had paid only 50 cents, they would mark it up 30 percent, and thats it. Sams philosophy was No matter what you pay for it, if we get a great deal, pass it on to the customer. The other major campaign Wal-Mart employs is the Rollback. This occurs when Wal-Mart lowers the already lowered Every Day Low Prices. This has really been a successful way for Wal-Mart to increase its patrons. When consumers shop, they are always looking for the best deal, since Wal-Mart already offers low prices, when they rollback prices, they are able to out-price all of their competition. Stemming from the managements core values, Wal-Mart has been known for their customer oriented approach. Wal-Mart maintains one of the best satisfaction guaranteed programs, which promotes customer goodwill. One can return virtually any product to Wal-Mart without any problems. They simply take the product back and promptly refund the price of the product, nearly no questions asked. They also promote goodwill among consumers by employing a tactic, which Sam created known as the Ten Foot Rule. This is simply the idea that if a customer comes within ten feet of an employee, they are required to greet them and ask if they can help them in any way. This is also evident through employees getting to know customers on a first name basis. Finally, perhaps the single most important marketing aspect of Wal-Mart is that they create the ideal one-stop shopping experience. Wal-Mart is organized into ten distinct divisions. These include: Wal-Mart stores, SAMS CLUBS, Neighborhood Markets, International, walmart.com, Tire Lube Express, Wal-Mart Optical, Wal-Mart Pharmacy, Wal-Mart Vacations, and Wal-Marts Used Fixture Auctions. Through these divisions, Wal-Mart offers thousands of products. The Wal-Mart stores contain groceries, clothes, healthcare products, toys, electronics, bedding, sports and recreation, automotive, among other items. Because of this conglomeration of products, the typical consumer can go into any Wal-Mart and walk out without having to stop at another store for anything that they could need. Finance/Accounting Since 2000, Wal-Marts revenue has consistently increased. In 2000, they had revenues of $165,013 billion and in 2002 their revenue had increased 24% to $217,799 billion. This is astronomical growth in revenues considering the overall size and scope of Wal-Mart. Top be able to consistently grow revenues in such a large organization is simply amazing. The increase in revenues has also been very kind to their cash flow. In 1997, Wal-Mart had a positive cash flow of $4,044 billion and in 2002 this number had increased to a positive $9,961 billion. This growth also had an impact on Wal-Marts net income, which is to say that they were able to control their expenses while continuing to grow and expand their operations. In 1997, their net income was a not-so-paltry $3,056 billion, and in 2002, only five years later, Wal-Mart more than doubled their net income to $6,671 billion. The strength of Wal-Mart is also shown through its ratios. Nearly all of Wal-Marts ratios are strengths when measured against the industry averages. Through our ratio analysis, we have shown that Wal-Mart is the best-equipped company to succeed in the marketplace. (The ratio analysis can be found as Figure 3 in the appendix) Another area of strength is Wal-Marts stock price. Figure 4 shows the price of Wal-Marts common stock from October 2000 until the end of 2002. The price has fluctuated, but it has only fluctuated between $45 and $65. Including dividends, an investment in Wal-Mart would perform well. Production/Operations Perhaps the strongest aspect of Wal-Mart is in its access to distribution networks. Wal-Mart uses a system known as cross-docking. This is simply the process of continuously delivering goods to warehouses where they are sorted and distributed to their stores within one day. This enables Wal-Mart to take advantage of economies of scale with shipping trucks with full loads. This also gives Wal-Mart the ability to increase the speed of deliveries, a faster response to market demands, and a low inventory. This system has allowed Wal-Mart to decrease its sales cost by 2 to 3 percent over the industry. This savings is then priced into the products with the earlier discussed EDLP programs. This system is maintained through the most important aspect of Wal-Mart, its employees. With over one million employees worldwide, Wal-Mart definitely has the manpower to move goods. This is also facilitated with a proprietary satellite-based communication system that enables managers and point-of-sale systems real-time information on the needs of each store. Research and Development Wal-Mart does not engage in any research and development. Computer Information Systems As discussed in the production/operation section, Wal-Mart uses a sophisticated system of satellite-based communications. They also offer a safe, secure and complete website where consumers can purchase all of the same products found in the store. The website is strength because it is not only a means for purchasing products, but is also a very thorough informational site. Consumers can log onto www.walmartstores.com and do company financial searches, find employment, learn about the grassroots of Wal-Mart, email the company about problems, and learn about any recalls of products sold through Wal-Mart. (W)eaknesses Management The biggest weakness that Wal-Mart has in the management area is that it does not have a formal mission statement. While they do have core values, they do not explicitly tell their employees or consumers what their business is. This is a fundamental aspect of a company and it provides not definition and direction, but it gives a company a statement on which to rely on to stay strong and focused. Another weakness is that there are few females in top management and there are few minorities employed. With such a societal demand for equality, Wal-Mart is lacking in this category. This is not a very good ethical decision for Wal-Mart to be making. They are really hurting their corporate image by maintaining this position. The other area that Wal-Mart lacks in is with unions. Currently, Wal-Mart does not have any union involvement. This is a problem because of the perception of treating employees poorly. Unions are created to provide bargaining power to employees on issues that involve their compensation, benefits, and working conditions. This is also a weakness because of job security. With unions, job security is not as much of a concern. Marketing The biggest source of marketing weakness stems from Wal-Mart lobbying to expand into new markets. There are thousands of towns across the United States that have tried to block the introduction of Wal-Mart because of the economic impact that it has on small-town stores and shops. Wal-Mart has a damaged reputation because when they move into a location they end up forcing these types of businesses out of business. Finance/Accounting Weaknesses in Wal-Marts finances are seen in three of its ratios. The fixed asset turnover, earnings per share, and average collection period ratios are not very good. The fixed asset turnover ratio is telling us that they have made a lot of investments, but that they are not being fully used at this point in time. The earnings per share ratio is not good because when compared to the industry, they are not earning as much money for each shareholder. However, this is most likely due to the sheer number of outstanding shares. The average collection period is a cause for concern because it means that they are allowing their debtors to carry accounts with Wal-Mart for an above average period of time. This is not good because it increases the likelihood of non-payment. (These ratios can be found in Figure 3 of the appendix) Production/Operations The largest source of concern for this functional area is the slowing speed of checkout lines. This is simply a product of Wal-Marts success. Because more and more people are going to Wal-Mart, and the number of checkout lines is staying constant, the only way to compensate is for the time to checkout increase. This is a problem because it can and will cause people to choose other stores that are less congested. They are basically losing sales due to this fact. Research and Development This is a weakness because they do not actively engage in any research and development. Specifically, they do not do any prior site research before opening a store. They simply approach a local government and build. Internal Factor Evaluation The internal factor evaluation is used to evaluate the major strengths and weaknesses of a company. There are weights assigned to strengths and weaknesses based on how the company responds to them. The ratings are: 1 = poor response, 2 = average response, 3 = above average response, and 4 = superior response. (Figure 5 in the appendix) The key strengths we identified were financial position, employees, customer oriented, one-stop shopping, satisfaction guaranteed programs, employee stock ownership and profit-sharing, well-rounded business, ease of website, good reputation, and favorable access to distribution networks. Along with key strengths of Wal-Mart, we also identified key weaknesses. The key weaknesses are some ratios are not sufficient, non-unionization, no formal mission statement, few women and minorities in top management, undifferentiated products and services, site research, slow speed of checkout service, and finally a damaged reputation. The strengths were weighted: .04 for financial position, .07 for employees, .07 for customer orientation, .14 for one-stop shopping, .05 for satisfaction guaranteed programs, .05 for stock ownership and profit-sharing, .03 for well-rounded business, .04 for ease of website, .04 for good reputation, and .04 for favorable access to distribution networks. The weaknesses have also been weighted. The weaknesses weighted scores were .03 for insufficient ratios, .15 for non-unionization, .05 for no formal mission statement, .05 for few women and minorities in top management, .03 for undifferentiated products and services, .05 for site research, .04 for slowing speed of checkout service, and .03 for a damaged reputation. These weights show the importance of each strength and weakness of Wal-Mart. They are determined by how important that quality is to Wal-Mart and how hard of an impact each has against other businesses. We felt that the most important factors were one-stop shopping and non-unionization. These two factors are very important to Wal-Marts structure and well being as a whole. If these factors are not evaluated regularly, they could put a start to its potential downfall. We rated each strength and weakness based on how Wal-Mart seems to be positioning itself against its competitors. Wal-Marts employees, customer orientation, one-stop shopping, satisfaction guaranteed programs, stock ownership and profit sharing, ease of website, good reputation and favorable access to distribution networks all have been very successful strengths for the company. These are so successful we rated each with a 4. The financial position of Wal-Mart and the well-rounded business that it is has made Wal-Mart what it is today. Because of this success we rated these factors with a 3. In their weaknesses, we thought that minor weaknesses included: non-unionization, no formal mission statement, few women and minorities in top management, undifferentiated products and services, site research, and the slowing speed of checkout service. Since these were only minor we gave them a score of 2. We also rated some major weaknesses. These included insufficient ratios and their damaged reputation, which we rated as a 1. By using these scores in the internal factor evaluation matrix, we came to a total score for Wal-Mart being a 3.01, which is above average. They are above the average company when it comes down to its strengths and weaknesses and how they deal with them. (This is Figure 5 in the appendix) External Analysis (O)pportunities Economic An opportunity available to the industry is the free trade zone. When the government enters into new trade agreements with foreign countries, businesses in the United States have the ability to offer products from these countries in their stores. This simply increases the markets available to retailers. Social, cultural, demographic, and environmental An opportunity facing the industry is that customers want ease of shopping. To provide the ease of shopping the industry is guaranteeing that the customers will find what they want when they want it. This is supported by convenient presentation and the right level of service every time the customer shops. Political, legal, and government An opportunity facing the industry is that the Asian market is virtually untapped by the retail world. By having an untapped market it gives a huge opportunity for companies to expand. It promises unlimited potential for growth and profits. Technological An opportunity facing the industry is that internet shopping is growing. To take advantage of internet shopping, the industry is focused around the customer. The customer receives friendly site designs, efficient order fulfillment, fast delivery and professional customer response. They process returns, refunds, and rebates quickly. Competitive An opportunity facing the industry is that the value of money is weakening. The weakening value of money will help the industry because it reduces the ability of foreign manufactures to offer discounts. (T)hreats Economic A threat is that the economy is very slow right now. There is no way of preventing it and no way to change it. This impacts all businesses and causes profit margins to be reduced as price-cutting ensues to attract more consumers. Social, cultural, demographic, and environmental A threat is customer theft. Manufacturers are fighting back against customer theft by embedding paper clip sized antitheft tags, called electronic article surveillance labels, inside products and packaging. Called source tagging, the process offers several major benefits. For one, merchandise tagged on the factory floor during manufacture or packaging lets retail employees spend less time in the storeroom applying labels and more time on the show floor helping customers. Also, high-theft merchandise previously displayed behind glass can now sit out in the open, boosting sales significantly. Another social, cultural, demographic, and environmental threat is employee theft. Along with antitheft labels there are radio-frequency circuits that are hidden in packages and go unnoticed. The only time they will go off is when the bar code scanner does not deactivate the circuit, which means they stole it. This helps to prevent the two forms of employee theft, which are sweat hearting and sliding. Sweat hearting is when the employee charges the customer less than the actual price and sliding is when the employee covers the barcode at the point of sale. Political, legal, and governmental A threat is the Chinese regulations. China has one of the largest populations in the world; however, the Chinese government does not take kindly to opening their country to foreign establishments. Also, there is rampant corruption among the Chinese, and they have no generally accepted accounting principles. Technological A threat facing the industry is that technological advances may make the products obsolescent. As technology advances, products being sold today are gone tomorrow; this provides less products for retailers to sell. Competitive A threat is that the industry is not following consumer taste. To overcome the threat of not providing consumers wants the industry is expanding rapidly in the urban centers while traditional wet markets are being edged out as the middle-class enlarges and young people flock to the cities. Competitive Profile Matrix A competitive profile matrix identifies a firms major competitors and its particular strengths and weaknesses in relation to a sample firms strategic position. The ratings are as follows: 1 major weakness, 2 minor weaknesses, 3 minor strengths, and 4 major strengths. (Figure 1 in the appendix) Compared together, Wal-Mart, Target and Kmart are very close competitors. They are all retail-variety discount stores making their existence known throughout the world, except Target, which you cannot find globally. These three companies are constantly vying for the reputation as the lowest priced retailer. In the competitive profile matrix, the most critical success factor would be advertising with a weighted score of 0.25. Advertising for these competitors is very critical if they want to compete against each other for the best quality products at low prices. With this, Target was scored the highest with a rating of 4 while both Wal-Mart and Kmart are rated as a 3. This is because Target does a lot more advertising then Wal-Mart and Kmart. The next most critical success factor is global expansion with a weighted score of 0.20. This is somewhat important if you wanted to keep up with the competitors. Wal-Mart was found to be rated the highest with a 4 with Kmart was rated next with a 3, and finally Target rated as a 2. Wal-Mart was ranked the highest because they are found around world, while Kmart was ranked next because they are only found in a few other countries. Target, ranking last, does not have any global branches. This is only a minor weakness because they really do not have to go globally because of how well they are keeping up with the competitors within the United States. Price competitiveness and financial position are ranked next on the competitive profile matrix with a weighted score of 0.15 each. Wal-Mart, ranking the highest in both cases with a 4, is above all competitors. This is because they price reasonably with lower prices then all the competitors and their financial position is great. Target is ranked next with a rating of 3 in both price competitiveness and financial position. Target is known to have somewhat high prices and people tend to see that and want to go shopping elsewhere like Wal-Mart. Their financial position is not that great with the minor strength, but they are keeping up with their major competitor, Wal-Mart. Finally, Kmart is found to have a rating of a 3 in price competitiveness, and a rating of 2 in financial position. This is because Kmart does keep up with the prices of competitors, but they do get pricey in some areas. Their financial position is a minor weakness because of the Martha Stewart scandal and their bankru ptcy. Her products were being sold a lot until the scandal came out. Now they are pricing her products really low just to get the inventory sold. Next, product quality and customer loyalty is found on the competitive profile matrix to have a weighted score of 0.10. Target is found to have a rating of 4 in product quality. In customer loyalty they have a rating of a 3. This is because products found in Target tends to be top brand products, but at the same time, customers see these products somewhere else for a lower price and they tend to go to that place instead. Wal-Mart is ranked next with a rating of 3 in both product quality and customer loyalty. Wal-Mart may not have top brand products but the quality is fairly good. Customer loyalty is also ranked as a 3 because some people do like to get better products no matter how much it costs. Kmart, ranked last with a 2. This is because they do not carry quality products. People tend to go other places for what they want because of the better selection and quality. Finally, the last critical success factor is market share with a rating of 0.05. Wal-Mart and Target are both ranked 3 while Kmart is ranked 1. This is about right because as indicated by the total weighted score, Kmart is the weakest with 2.55. Targets total weighted score was in between but closer to Wal-Marts score of 3.15, and Wal-Marts was the strongest weighted score as 3.50. In conclusion of the competitive profile matrix, Wal-Mart as a competitor rises above both Target and Kmart. External Factor Evaluation An external factor evaluation matrix identifies the industry-wide opportunities and threats. Weights are assigned to the various opportunities and threats based on how well the subject company is responding to the threats and opportunities. The ratings are as follows: 1 = poor response, 2 = average response, 3 = above average response, and 4 = superior response. (Figure 2 in the appendix) The main opportunities that we identified were increasing internet shopping, ease of shopping, free trade zones, the Chinese market, and the value of the dollar. The main threats that we identified were technology making products obsolete, customer and employee theft, slow economy, the Chinese regulations, and not offering what the consumer wants. The opportunities were weighted .15 for internet shopping, .10 for ease of shopping, .10 for free trade zones, .10 for Chinese markets, and .05 for the weak dollar. The threats were weighted .10 for technology making products obsolete, .20 for customer and employee theft, .05 for the slow economy, .10 for the Chinese regulations, and.05 for not offering what consumers want. The weights and are representative of the importance the opportunities and threats presented to Wal-Mart. They were determined by considering the impact that each one has on the industry and how well Wal-Mart is conditioned to react to the situations presented. We felt that the most important factors were internet shopping, and customer and employee theft. These two factors are paramount to the industry and all of its counterparts success. If these factors are not addressed by the industry, bankruptcy is sure to follow. We rated each of the opportunities and threats based on how well Wal-Mart has been positioning itself in the market. Wal-Marts website has been a huge success with it contributing additional revenue to the bottom line; we rated this as a 4. The response to consumer demand for one-stop shopping has also been a success. The fact that you can buy a vast majority of everyday needs such as groceries, clothes, personal care products, electronics, among many other products shows the commitment Wal-Mart is making to the one-stop shopping idea. We also rated this 4. We felt that Wal-Marts continued expansion into foreign countries to be above average and thus rated it a 3. Because China is heavily regulated, we rated their response to the opportunities available in China a 2. This is still a very good score because it is very difficult for any firm to expand into China. Wal-Marts reaction to the dollar weakening has been above average because of its worldwide coverage. They have been able to take advantage of this economic factor with ease and we rated it a 3. The response to threats has been equally impressive. While technology is constantly making products obsolete, Wal-Mart has been able to position itself to be a positive avenue for selling all of the newest and innovative products. Wal-Mart suppliers definitely have a great opportunity for sales because of the vast audience that patronize Wal-Mart. We rated this as a 3. Employee and customer theft is inevitable in all industries. This was ranked as a 2 because Wal-Mart uses the same devices that the entire industry uses. The slowing economy has been a sour point to all industries as well. Wal-Mart has been able to limit its exposure by offering low prices and maintaining its market-leading share. We ranked this factor a 4. Again, because China is such a tough market to enter, we ranked their response to Chinese regulations a 2. The idea that companies offer products that consumers do not want is not uncommon. There have been thousands of products that have flopped after being introduced. Wal-Mart has been able to circumscribe their exposure by offering thousands of products across many different areas. We ranked their response to this a 4. The final score, 2.80, that was obtained from the external factor evaluation matrix shows that Wal-Mart is above average when reacting to opportunities and threats.