Strategic management Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 4

Strategic management - Case Study Example Joe’s has been the best option for many people because recent trends indicate people opting to purchase groceries from grocery stores rather than supermarkets. Over the years, Joe’s traders have managed to create a great customer relations who have come to trust the chain store with all their consumer needs. Also, the chain store has specialized in the area that was vacant, and it is feeling the gap. Joe’s store should, therefore, be slow and steady in its growth so as maintain quality at the same time. The company has followed the strategy clock by first offering goods at low prices, being a store selling both drugs and groceries at the same time then introducing new items such Hawaiian shirts. The next step is focused differentiation. The company is highly sustainable since it addresses issues at the market at the same time evading threats. Since the enterprise is the best ranked, it certainly meets the demands of its consumers. The management tactic is certainly feasible since it has only a few adjustments need to be

Cover letter Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Cover letter - Essay Example My goal is to follow a career as an emergency room nurse. Through my past emergency room experiences I have gained a deep understanding of a nurse’s role in patient care. I am committed to providing the best outcome possible for those who come to me for help. It has been humbling to see the miracles that happen on a daily basis at my work, and I couldn’t imagine a more satisfying job. In my current position at Beth Israel, I have learned the importance of maintaining accuracy and precision in high pressure situations. Having gained the awareness of how my decisions impact those around me, I know that one of my top priorities is being a team player. I am very interested in working for St. Johns because of the excellent reputation the hospital has gained throughout the medical community. Paying close attention to following hospital policies have become second-nature for me. I am thoroughly acquainted with the proper procedures to get things done in the most efficient way possible. I would welcome the opportunity to talk with you in person about the possibilities. I will give you a call next week to discuss whether a meeting would be appropriate. Please feel free to contact me by phone or email if you have questions in the

Social Security Systems in France

Social Security Systems in France Social security system was founded in 1910 in France. The general scheme is presented in 1945. It was firstly intended to cover the whole population. Social Security consists of a set of institutions that serve to protect individuals from the consequences of various events or situations, usually referred to as social risks. There are four branches in the social security system in France. These are illness, old age/retirement, family and work accident/occupational disease. The compulsory â€Å"general scheme† covers the general population and mostly the employees. Another one is the agricultural scheme that includes agricultural-sector employees and non-salaried workers against all risks. Moreover, the last one is the supplementary pension schemes, ARRCO and AGIRC, which are compulsory for all private-sector employees affiliated to the general and agricultural schemes.    Social security expenditures: A historical perspective The table shows that total social security expenditures between 1980 and 2013. In 2009, public social expenditure amounted to 22.1% of GDP on average in the OECD area, but this varied considerably between countries. France had the highest rate which is %32.10 of GDP in 2009. Last 8 years, expenditures increase gradually except 2011. In 2013, the total amount of social security expenditures is %33.02 of GDP. Social Security Payment system (Pay-as-you go or fully funded or a mixture), describe. In an  unfunded  defined benefit pension, no assets are set aside and the benefits are paid for by the employer or other pension sponsor as and when they are paid. Generally many countries ensure unfunded pensions arrangements, workers have benefits paid directly out of current taxes and social security contributions. We called this method as a Pay-as-you-go method. Generally most European countries are applying this method. However, many countries like France, have a hybrid systems which means they are partially funded. France set up the Pension Reserve Fund in July, 2001. The pension Reserve Fund, originally â€Å"Fonds de Reserve pour les Retraites†, has an aim of using funds from privatisalitions of state holdings to finance the future shortfall of the state PAYG pensions system. Data for Dependency Ratio (demographic data): changes over time. Show the data on a graph and describe the trend Age dependency ratio is the rate of dependents which are people younger than 15 or older than 64 divided to the working-age population which are between 15-64 age. The birth rate in France decreased to 12.70 in 2011, and death rate increased to 8.50 in 2011. Population ages between 0-14 in France was also decreased to 18.26 in 2012. The latest value for Age dependency ratio (% of working-age population) in France was 54.58 as of 2012. Over the past 51 years, the value for this indicator has fluctuated between 61.54 in 1961 and 51.31 in 1987. Income Distribution among the Aged Population The population of France was estimated 64,612,939 in 2014 and the income per household is 2,140 â‚ ¬ nets/month. France is one of only five OECD countries where income inequality and poverty have declined over the past 20 years. Income distribution among the aged population is in below; People near retirement-age (aged 51 to 65) have seen their incomes go up more rapidly than any other group. In 2009, It decreased 28,306 to 28,700. Poverty rates for this group have fallen from 10% to 5%. They have also fallen for people aged over 65 (from 10% to 8%) Describe the Structure of Social Security Tax: Employers and Employees contributions. Need also historical data for this. European countries’s social security systems collect taxes to finance their system. In France, this is financed by social security contributions. Spesific social changes(prà ©là ¨vements sociaux and contributions sociales) are seemingly a payment (to social security system), however mostly they are seemed part of the taxation system. The table below shows the contributions of the both employer and employee. They are payable. But we should consider that; the rates has changes baceuse of type of industy, companies mass, kind of job and wages. The OECD says that, the employers social securtiy contributions are 30% of the employees salary in France. The employer social security contributions in France is one of the biggest in the world rank. This is because the calculation method is still below 50% of the significant number in the table.    Collect Data for the Structure of Social Security Benefits (a measure such as the GRR) and show the re-distributional aspect of it (if present) on a graph. Social security benefits in France are Health Care Benefits, Sickness Benefits, Accidents at work, Occupational diseases, Family benefits, Maternity and Paternity benefits, Unemployment benefits, basic retirement benefits, and Death. The gross replacement rates are the most popular indicators in pension analysis. It refers to the retirement benefit per month divided by monthly labor earnings during the years before one’s retirement. In other words, GRR is only applicable for pensionable persons. One first qualifies for a full public pension after 40 years of contribution. This has been since 2003. Before that, it was 37.5 years. In recent years, there have been increased plans to raise this to 41 years. Generally, the public pension aims for a replacement rate of 50 percent after a person’s full career. There are penalties for missing years or a given number of months, such as a reduction of 1.25-5 percent of each missing year. The GRR in France is divided in three categories: low earners; average earners; and maximum earners. The low earners get a 53 percent gross replacement rate, the average earners get 39.9 percent and maximum earners get 24.8 percent. This variation in earnings across categories is based on an individual’s pre-retirement earnings. Retirement and Age Benefits: Retirement Age did not change from 2012 to 2013 in France and it is 62. The retirement age increase 60 to 62 during the previous President Nicolas Sarkozy. The average retirement age of woman is 62.17 in 2009-2013. It reached its highest level (65) in 2012 and its lowest rate (60) in 2010. The French scheme provides for two compulsory retirement systems for employees. First of all; basic retirement system, in other words â€Å"social security retirement†. This pension is implemented after the age 62. Another important point about retirement in France is pensions may be claimed later if desired. People who continue to work after the their retirement and paid contributions for more than the attributed period for a full retirement (depending on the year of birth) can be granted a higher pension. There is also an opportunity to take an early retirement under certain restrictive conditions. Early retirement is possible at age 56 for people that born in 1952. If they born in 1952 an d entered the labour force before at age 16, it means that they have validated at least 43.5 years. Moreover, it is also possible at age 59 for people that stared working before age 16. They also made at least 43.5 years of effective contributions. Moreover, pensions will be increase in certain circumstancess; those are raising child, awarded in respect of a dependent spouse and constant attendance allowance. Secondly, suplementary pension schemes are administrated by Association for Employees Supplementary Schemes (ARRCO) that covers employeees and General Association of Retirement Institutions for Executives (AGIRC) for executive staff. ARRCO includes both managerial and non managerial employees. In private sector, the pension system has two mandatory tiers: an earnings-related public pension and occupational schemes, based on a points system. For the these types of retirement the age have to be 65-67 relying on birth date. However, there is also possible to claim early retirement pensions of age of 55 or 57. The annual values of ARCCO and AGIRC points in 2011, 2012 and 2013 are: Facts and data for Benefits for Family Relations: Spouses/domestic partners Benefits, Dependent Children’s Benefit, Widowers’ Benefits, etc. Family benefits are granted for illegitimate, legitimate, adopted and foster children on condition that they are dependants of the beneficiary. Individuals should exceed age 20 to benefit from â€Å"Family benefits†. Family benefits include â€Å"basic benefits for maintenance†, â€Å"early childhood benefit† and â€Å"benefits for special purpose†. Basic benefits for maintenance are child benefit, flatà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Ëœrate allowance, and meansà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Ëœtested family income supplement. Child benefit is paid to families that live two or more dependent children in France. Since April 2014, child benefit rates are 32% of the monthly benefit base (â‚ ¬129.99) for two children and it increases to 41% (â‚ ¬166.55) for each additional child. Families that have at least three children aged between three and 21 years can benefit from â€Å"Family income supplement†. In France, individuals should exceed age 20 to benefit from â€Å"Family benefit† but there is an exceptional situation which is flat-rate allowance. A flatà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Ëœrate allowance is paid to balance the financial loss incurred by families with three or more children when the eldest chi ld turns 20. â€Å"Early Childhood Benefit† includes birth adoption grant, basic allowance, a supplement for free choice of working time and supplement for free choice of childcare. Birth adoption grant is the coverage of expenses of a child birth or adoption.The amount of the grant is â‚ ¬927.71 for a birth and â‚ ¬1,855.42 for an adoption. The amount of basic allowance is â‚ ¬185.54 per month and it is paid after the birth/adoption grant. â€Å"Supplement for free choice of working time† has a purpose to allow family to stop working or work less and to be more interested with their child. The last early childhood benefit is â€Å"a supplement for free choice of childcare† and it is is paid to parent using the services of a registered child-care worker or a baby sitter in the house. â€Å"Benefits for Special Purpose† includes education allowance for disable children, back to school allowance, family housing allowance, moving allowance or daily parental attendance allowance for looking after a child suffering from a severe disease or handicap. Widower’s benefit: This benefit paid to surviving widows. The surviving spouse without resources or whose resources are not sufficient benefits from a pension, based on the pension the deceased would have enjoyed or benefited. In the special schemes, the pension is paid regardless of age. In the general scheme, it is paid from 55. Before that age, widows and widowers are eligible for insurance widowhood. The widow allowance is paid for two years. Unemployment Insurance Benefits Program: This program is only applicable for the employed persons. To understand what this means, below is an explanatory list of requirements needed for one to qualify for the unemployment benefits (EU 22): One must be unemployed through no fault of his/hers He/she must be a registered jobseeker and willing to abide by a personalized back-to-work plan of action He/she must be genuinely and continuously looking for work He/she must be physically fit for work He/she must not meet the full pension schemes, and He/she must produced evidence of their insurance under unemployment insurance scheme for four of the last 36 months and 28 months for those over and under 50 years age respectively Those who qualify get a daily allowance consisting of fixed reference wage (and variable parts. The variable part ranges between 57.4 and 75 percent of the reference wage. This scheme allows a payment for a period of 4 to 24 months (for under-50s) and 36 months (for over-50s). It also depends on the job seeker’s prior insurance period and age (EU 22). Health Care Coverage for the eligible recipients and their dependents. In 2000, the World Health Organization declared that France selected the â€Å"close to best overall health care† in the world. France health care system is financed by government National Health Insurance and France spent 11.6% of GDP on health care and $4,118 per capita. Even if this spending on health care is less than nine countries in the OECD (for example, Germany, Canada , Switzerland) , only two countries surpassed France’s health care spending as a percent of GDP of 11.6 %. Although the country has the second highest level of alcohol consumption in the world, France’s life expectancies is 82.2 which means one of the longest life expectancies in the world. Health care system in France is financed by two system. One of them is called â€Å"L’assurance maladie† which is a state controlled health insurance social security system. The other one is called â€Å"L’assurance complementaire† which is a separate voluntary health insurance system. â€Å"L’assurance maladie† is one the four branches of social security system. There are three main schemes that administred by NHI system according to occupation. First one is general scheme (CNAMTS : Caisse Nationale d’Assurance Maladie des Travailleurs Salarià ©s) which funds almost 75% of health spending. It covers approximately 85% of the population working in industry and commerce. It also includes retired individuals. The General Fund is administered by theCaisse Primaire d’Assurance Maladie (CPAM). Individuals who live in France must register at their local CPAM for national health insurance coverage and people are issued with a â€Å"carte vitale† after registration. Card vitale is a second generation of smart card that indicates national insurance rights in electronic form. The carte vitale is not a means of payment, however it does enable the government to provide reimbursement immediately and it saves patients of the need for the huge a mounts of form filling required under the old carte sociale system. Second one is agriculture scheme (MTA : Mutualità © sociale agricole) which supports occupational health and prevention of occupational risks, and conducting activities to health and social. It covers 6 per cent of the population, including farmers, agricultural employees and their families. Final one is for the self employed (RSI : Rà ©gime social des independents) that covers artisans, traders, industrialists and professionals. Social Security Reforms: pending or implemented. To address the perceived payment gaps cited above, the Council of Ministers proposed the need to find a pension system balance (that is bring financial balance, and governance and fairness in the administration of the pensions scheme). This would ensure: the adaptation of the indexation rules; increased contribution period for full pension; reduced employers’ social contribution, among others (Embassy of France in London 1). In relation to the welfare schemes, President Francois Hollande is reportedly currently looking for ways for reforms in pension, unemployment payments and family benefits. So far, the government has relied on tax increases to account for the huge deficits discussed above. However, in the future the government might increase charges on workers and employers, as well as taxes on pensioners; raise the contribution period before one qualifies for a full pension, among others (The Economist, 2013). Problems and issues with the system. A number of problems and issues have been raised over Frances social security system. In relation to pension scheme reforms, for instance, many cited financing gap between private sector employees and civil servants. The latter’s payments were included as part of state expenditure, placing them at an advantage over the former group. Therefore, there have been calls to address what many have come to see as financing gap in pension schemes for those in the private sector and civil servants (Embassy of France in London 1). There have also been fears concerning the sustainability of the systems welfare schemes. The rising deficits are a cause for alarm. The deficits of these three on the country’s general social security systems are on the increase. By 2020, the deficits of the pension, family and unemployment pay are expected to reach â‚ ¬20.9 billion (about $25 billion), â‚ ¬2.6 billion and â‚ ¬4.8 billion respectively (The Economist, 2013).   REFERENCES Embassy of France in London. The French Pension Reform- key Elements, Oct. 10, 2013. Web, June 18 2014 European Union. Your Social Security Rights in France, 2013. Web, June 18 2014 OECD. Retirement-Income Systems in OECD Countries: France, OECD, 2013. Web, 20 June 2014 The Economist. Must We Work Harder? June 22, 2013. Web, June 18, 2014 Poindessault-Bernard, L., Zuterek, A. (n.d.). Social security systems around the globe.. Retrieved June 20, 2014, from http://www.pwc.be/en_BE/be/publications/2013/social-security-booklet-sept2013.pdf Lorganisation de la Sà ©curità © sociale. (2011, January 5).Le portail du service public de la Sà ©curità © sociale / Usagers /. Retrieved June 11, 2014, from http://www.securite-sociale.fr/L-organisation-de-la-Securite-sociale?type=part

James Baldwins Writing Technique Essay -- James Baldwin

The Baldwin Technique James Baldwin is highly regarded as one of the great writers of his time. In the â€Å"Notes of a Native Son† he describes a very influential moment in his life. The essay’s setting takes place during the Harlem riots in New York City and Detroit. The riot in New York all began due the fatal shooting of a young African American boy by a white police officer. Protesters began to protest the police brutality, but then fights and looting broke out when some protesters became unruly. Baldwin’s essay reflects upon his interactions and feelings with and about his father. He analyzes how his father affected him and talks about what kind of person his father was. He also reflects on the impact of his father’s death. All the while, within the essay, Baldwin uses different techniques in order to obtain and intrigue his readers. He primarily makes his essay a narrative. However, he also incorporates his analysis, which usually stem from his use of binaries and contr asts. His use of repetitive words also plays a big part in his style. All of those techniques all intertwined in a way that will help the reader understand Baldwin and his ideas a lot clearer. His combination of both narrative and analysis can be viewed in the very first paragraph. Baldwin begins his essay by stating that fact that his father died on the July 29, 1943. Right after stating that fact, he mentions the rioting, which occurred in Detroit and in Harlem about a month before the death of his father. Baldwin incorporates the events that are going on around him in his narrative as a way to set up the environment for the reader. The rioting and other events that Baldwin speaks of is his way of explaining, or even rationalizing his feelings during tha... ... to compare himself with his father. He made the riots in Harlem and Detroit versus the police share similar qualities to his relationship with his father. Baldwin’s word choosing is also very effective in Notes of a Native Son. He italicizes certain words in order to portray his emotions towards a situation without even having to go into an in-depth explanation. Lastly, Baldwin’s most obvious trait in weaving both narrative and analytical writing is the use of word repetition. He continually used the strongest word that he could think of (hate) and just repeat it over and over again. The main thing to notice is that Baldwin uses the same word not only through his narrative but also within his analysis. Works Cited Baldwin, James. â€Å"Notes of a Native Son.† 1955. James Baldwin: Collected Essays. Ed. Toni Morrison. New York: Library of America, 1998. 63-84.

Migrants Hostel Essay

Migrant Hostel is an important poem when expressing belonging and not belonging as both sides of the concepts of belonging are shown through connections with character groups as well as places. It explores the barriers that prevent belonging through a variety of techniques that allow readers to fully understand the types of barriers that can prevent belonging. Stanza 1 and 4 show that characters may encounter barriers which prevent belonging. In stanza 4, the hostel is a barrier that holds the migrants back and prevents them from belonging. The barrier at the main gate is not only physical, but mental as well. It physically holds them back from continuing with their lives; whilst it also prevents them from feeling that they belong due to their lack of freedom. The line ‘A barrier at the main gate, sealed off the highway’ represents the metaphorical ‘highway of life’. The lack of control that they have over their life is what prevents them from feeling that they belong. The barrier holds them as ‘captives’ both mentally and physically. Stanza 1 shows that change can lead to a sense of not belonging. It creates ideas of uncertainty through the use of the words ‘arrivals’, ‘sudden’, and ‘left us wondering’. The changes that happen at the hostel only emphasise the lack of control that the migrants have their, and thus forcing them to feel that their life is not theirs to live. This leads to a feeling of not belonging. The 1st stanza has a negative atmosphere and shows the migrants to be uneasy. The concept of belonging is conveyed through the characters and their relationships in stanza 2. Within the migrant hostel, the migrants seek out people of their own nationalities, as it is human nature to want to be with people that are similar to themselves. This is shown through the quote, ‘Nationalities sought each other out instinctively’. The plural ‘nationalities’ in the first line of the stanza show that there are many people within the hostel, however they have no connection. The simile ‘like a homing pigeon’ represents the human desire to seek out similarities in other people to feel accepted by others. A feeling of unification can lead to a sense of belonging. Shared experiences can also allow individuals to understand one another, leading to acceptance and therefore belonging. The migrant hostel inhabitants share the experiences of war, shown through the last lines of the stanza ‘Partitioned off at night by memories of hunger and hate’. This discomfort is what allows them to understand one another and form relationships, which leads to belonging. The concept of belonging is conveyed through places. Migrant Hostel shows the concept of belonging in places by showing that a place can unite people. The recurring use of the word ‘we’ in stanza 3 and 4 show that the experiences that the migrants have had in the hostel have united them. The hostel, while it is a barrier, it also allows them to come together. The line ‘we lived like birds of passage’ shows the shared lifestyle of the migrants through the use of a simile, as well as the imagery of birds. It represents how they long to have freedom, which is a feeling that all migrants would experience. The lifestyle that the hostel creates for them is compared to the weather in stanza 3. The life at the hostel is a cycle of passage, just as the weather has cycles. The line ‘Needing its sanction to pass in and out of lives’ shows that the migrants are looking for the ‘approval’ of the hostel in order to continue with their lives. From gaining the ‘approval’ of the hostel, the migrants are able to feel that they belong. Migrant Hostel explores the different aspects of belonging and not belonging through the experiences of people who are unwanted and trapped by physical and mental barriers. they are able to feel accepted due to similarities in experience and nationalities, however are prevented from moving on with their lives due to the human wish to feel accepted and that they belong.

Mary Shelleyss Frankenstein Essay

   He wishes he was dead, feels that the world is mocking him and that he is the only one, who is not loved and cared for in the entire world. He declares war against the species and especially the man who created him. This shows us, that Frankenstein’s monster’s biggest wish really is to be accepted, and when denied this, he goes completly berserk, not wanting to face the facts that are being presented to him. We can also tell, that he has a lot of selfpity, and a great understanding of the unfairness of his situation. But the next day he goes back, because deep inside he still has hope, and he convinces himself, that last nights incident was just too much too early. When arriving at the cottage he discovers that the family has moved, and his last shred of hope disapprears, and he burns down the cottage, and heads for Genevi , to find his creator, so he can take revenge. He feels treated unfairly by Frankenstein, and calls him his â€Å"cursed, cursed creator†, but his need to find him is understandable. He wants to know where he comes from and he wants answers, which is a natural thing for any child, who is not in touch with its roots. On his way he saves a girl from drowning, but gets shot instead of being thanked, and this makes his feelings towards humans more intense. When in Genevi , he captures a young boy, who turns out to be Frankenstein’s son. He kills him and sets a young girl up for the murder. His reason for doing this is clear: he wants to inflict pain upon Frankenstein. His reason for setting the girl up for the murder is, in his own words, because he is forever robbed of what she could have given him, because of his cursed apperenace. But she gives him an idea. He wants Frankenstein to make him a bride, someone of his own species, as horrible and deformed as himself, so that he will have companionship, which is what he wants more than everything else. The main characteristic of Frankenstein’s creation, is the longing for acceptance and company, this we can tell by his approces to first his creator and later to other people, and the facts that he has feelings and intelligence. He wants nothing more than to live a normal life, and he curses his creator for making it impossible for him to do that. In the beginning he is not evil, he does not want to kill, but the actions of the humans around him, make him the monster that Frankenstein thought him to be. He feels that humans are the most decietful of species, because they build up your hopes, and tear them back down again. His hunger for revenge is born from the constant defeat he experiences from day to day and especially from the one person who is supposed to love him, his creator, who also denies him a mate. He carries a lot of frustration, that he needs to direct somewhere, and the choice falls upon Frankenstein, the first to ever betray him. Despite all of this, Frankenstein’s monster never gives really gives up his hope to find a place to belong. This comes to show in the way that he treats the girl he meets in the woods, Frankenstein’s son, and in the very end of the story, when Frankenstein himself dies. The monster begs for forgiveness and swears to kill himself. His will to live died with Frankenstein, his only connection to the human world, that he longed for so desperatly. Comparative analasys: Frankenstein and his creation are similar to each other in different aspects. Frankenstein has created a thing so dreadful, that no one will ever love it, and has in another sense already killed all the possible loved ones in his creation’s life. His monster, on the other hand, actually kills all the people Frankenstein holds most dear, continuing the evil circle. The monster runs away from people and hides in the mountans, so that he will not experience any more pain, whilst Frankenstein runs away from the monster and his thought and feelings about his creation, but they both end up being drawn to one another, and the thing that bonds them together. They are both, at some point, after revenge. The monster chases Frankenstein down to confront him and Frankenstein chases the monster, after it has killed his family. The hunter becomes the hunted. They both have big dreams, Frankenstein about creating life and his creation about living life, but none of these dreams ever come true for any of them. Sometimes it seems that Frankenstein and his monster are two halves of the same person, each half competing for the chance to be the ruler of the other half, or that the monster is the result of Frankenstein’s ego or conscience, that comes back to haunt him. They are forever bonded with each other, the bond of creator and creation, and Frankenstein’s unwillingness to accept this, leaves both mens’ lives ruined in the end. Themes of the text Invironment vs. heritage The question is very relevant for this story. This novel can be a great starting point, if you wish to discuss, if heritage or the invironment has the greatest inpact upon someone, who is new in this world. In this story, it is defienetly the invironment that has the greatest influence upon Frankenstein’s creature. You could say that everyone is born with the same basic needs. The need for love, companionship and a place to belong. Nobody is born evil, niether is the creature, despite the fact, that he is death brought back to life. He has the same needs as everybody else, but the constant rejections of his well-intended feelings and his failures, changes him into something he did not have to become, changes him into what everybody thinks that he is; a monster. In this case, the invironment has destroyed something potentially beautiful. Love and revenge: The story is based upon the topic of love and revenge, in all its different forms. The monster wants only to be loved and accepted in a society that rejects him because of his looks. This superficial society does not look beyond his scary appereance, and he swears that he will revenge himself, which he does to his fullest, killing everyone that Frankenstein holds dear. He claims to hate the human world at this point, but at the same time, he longs for it with an aching heart. Frankenstein never realises that his creation is more than a monster, and feels very little regret towards the treatment of it, he feels that it is more important to protect mankind against this â€Å"threat† than it is to take responsebility of his actions. He spends the rest of his life following the monster to the North Pole, where he dies on board a ship, never succeeding in revenging his loved ones. When the monster discoveres this, he gives up; his last connection to the world has dissappeared, and he begs for forgiveness, and swears to burn himself and all evidence of his existence. Frankenstein only felt love for his creation when it not yet excisted and was only in his mind. As soon as it came to life, he rejected it and never thought a kind thought about it again. The creation is here his opposite; he starts off only wanting to love, later wanting revenge, but with the hope of recieving love still deeply a part of his nature. The modern Prometheus Mary Shelley subtitles her novel, â€Å"The modern Prometheus†. Prometheus, an ancient Greek, stole fire from the gods, to give to the humans. As punishment for his undoing, he was chaining to a rock, and everyday a bird-of-prey would come and eat his liver, which would then grow back. Mary Shelley did not chose this subtitle for no reason. It most certainly relates to Victor Frankenstein and his creation. Victor â€Å"stole† a power from God, the power to create life, and he is severly punished for this. His horrible creation comes back to haunt both his mind and his psysical being every day for the rest of his life. Victor’s â€Å"gift† to the world causes death, and the same does Prometheus’. Though both men meant well, their interference with forces beyond their power, brings only death and destruction, especially for the two men themselves. Perspective to the period: The novel was written during an early phase of the Industrial Revolution, at a time of dramatic advances in science and technology. The fact that the creation rebels against its creator, can be a warning from Mary Shelley, that science can lead to terrible consequences, if you do not take responsebility for your actions. This was a time, where young scientist felt, that the world was at their feet and that they had endless possibilities, and experiments to try and revive dead bodies did indeed take place when Mary grew up, and has most likely inspired her to write the story. This was also a time, were people were both facinated and scared by the new science of electricity, and Mary chose to include both this science and the science of chemistry, which was of high interest to the generel public and to herself, in her book. Mary Shelley wrote her novel not long after the gothic novels heyday in the 1790’s, and there was definitely a market for these kind of stories. It is hard to make a final conclusion of this book. There are so many topics and themes, questions and feelings to discuss, that it would take forever to get through them all, which makes this book more than just a horror story meant to frighten you. This is a novel of great seriousness, and you instantly get caught in the whirlwind of emotions, that Frankenstein and his creation both have. Mary Shelley tries in her book, to dissect the human nature, while telling a captivating tale of two mens’ journey through life, and the terrible things humans can do to one another. Rikke Juelsgaard Petersen Til d. 25, september ’07 Engelsk aflevering EG, 2e 1 Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Mary Shelley section.

Priam vs Achilles essays

Priam vs Achilles essays In Homers epic poem The Iliad the great Argive hero Achilles is depicted first as a valiant but emotional character. He is given far too much to his anger and is driven by his vengeance. After being deprived of his beloved Breisis he spins into a torrent of anger and abandons his king and his countrymen to serve his own selfish pride. Achilles eventually returns to the battlefield and defeats the Trojans, but at this point in the story he is only a great warrior. He is simply an invincible hulk of a man whose only merit is literally god-given. It is only after killing Hector, the Trojan kings most beloved son, desecrating his corpse, and being implored by his father does his true honor and valor shine through. It is only through his honor of and respect for Priam that he may transform. Achilles honors a great many things in Priam. I think first and foremost, he admires his likeness to his own father. He has respect for his age and for the things he has done. Priam is a great king that has fathered many sons. He has fought long to protect his kingdom and establish his lineage. I think Achilles honors his love for his sons and, most importantly his love for Hector. He admires his wealth and excellence also. I think both of these are made evident when Achilles says to Priam, you excelled all men, old king, in sons and wealth (XXIV.639) What Achilles at one time view as a war trophy, he now sees as something more. The corpse of Hector is a symbol of a fathers pride and a labor of love. Priam produced many sons but none even compared to greatness of Hector. None fought so tenaciously on the battlefield to defend his homeland. None were so brave and devoted to morality. None cared more for his country and his family. When Priam speaks of Hector he feels ashamed of the way he treated him. He feels guilt for dishonoring such an honorable man and for treating him as a trophy. To dishonor Hector...

Tomorrow When the War began essays

Tomorrow When the War began essays There are eight main characters presented from the novel, four of which are male and four are female. The four male characters are Homer, Kevin, Lee and Chris. On the other hand, the female characters are Ellie, Fi, Corrie, Robyn. Each character develops in different ways and at different stages but generally speaking the characters develop most through all the encounters of the invaders and that the more they found out about what had happened the more influence it had on the characters feelings and emotions. This led to the developments of the characters. The male characters: Homer develops a lot since the beginning of the book, his favourite hobbies before the war were pulling pranks on unsuspecting bystanders, winding up the girls at school so they call him names, and generally being a huge pain that refuses to like sport. Homer was a very laid-back guy. However he drops the pretence of years, and discarded the stereotype he has hidden behind and showed who he really is; a leader who can inspire, encourage and invigorate. He astonishes everyone with his level headed approach when there is danger Homer becomes quick, responsive and reliable. He puts forward some good suggestions of approach. He takes charge of most of the decisions and situations; he has become the leader of the group. At the start Kevin has a big ego and shows no respect for what everyone else says or suggests. But throughout the book, he learns to become more caring and respecting to others. Lee starts as a fairly common character type, a highly intelligent intro vert. who keeps everything bottled up inside. With the camping trip Lee is exposed to quite a different environment and quite a different group of people. An outsider to start with (he was not in Ellie and Corries circle of friends and was invited along because Ellie found him interesting) he starts to fit in and is certainly part of the group by the time they return home. It is ...

How to Begin Your Career in Architecture

How to Begin Your Career in Architecture As in any profession, the steps to be an architect seem simple, involve a lot of hard work, and can be filled with fun. Simply put, becoming an architect involves education, experience, and examinations. Your journey from student to professional architect will move through several stages. You begin by choosing the right school for you. Step 1: School Some people become interested in designing and building things while still in high school is a great place to start to become an architect. Since the 19th century when architecture became a profession in the United States, you have to go to college to be an architect. This is the 21st century. But, many paths can lead to a career in architecture. In fact, you can become an architect even if you earn a bachelors degree from a school without an architecture program. But its a little more complicated. What is called higher education comes at different levels - undergraduate and graduate. You can earn an undergraduate degree in most anything - English, History, Engineering - and then be admitted to a graduate program in architecture to earn a professional degree in architecture. So, you dont even have to decide if you want to be an architect until after you receive a bachelors degree. Going this route, a professional masters degree in architecture (M.Arch) may take an additional three years beyond your four-year degree. You can also become an architect with a professional undergraduate degree (B.Arch), which in many architecture schools takes five years to complete. Yes, its a five-year program, and you only earn an undergraduate degree. A vital area of architectural study is the Design Studio, which is hands-on experience that consumes a lot of time. For students less interested in becoming an architect but still interested in architecture, most schools also offer NON-professional degrees in architecture - without the Design Studio. It turns out there are plenty of opportunities for architecture majors as well as for professional architects. Choosing the school that best fits your needs is the first step. If you possibly can, begin your career in architecture while still in school. Consider joining the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS). Look for a part-time job related to architecture or design. Do clerical work, drafting, or crowdsourcing for an architect or designer. Consider volunteering for an emergency relief organization or charitable program that provides design services for those in need. Whether you are paid or not, the experience will give you the opportunity to develop your skills and build a strong portfolio. Hopefully youve chosen a school with an active alumni. Does your university sponsor alumni homecomings, bringing your schools graduates back on campus? Get your face out there among the established architects - whether these gatherings are called networking opportunities or meet and greet gatherings, mingle with the people that you will forever be associated with as alumnus of the same college. Alumni are also a great source for externships. Usually short-term and unpaid, externships can do a number of things for your career. Externships can (1) kickstart the experience section of your resume; (2) help you test the waters, observing a real work environment, without the pressure and stress of having to produce a product like a project or paper; (3) allow you to shadow a professional architect for a day or work week, getting a feel for the professional side of architecture; and (4) help you determine your comfort level in a small or large architectural firm. Louisiana State University calls their externship program a chance to Get out of town! The difference between an externship and an internship is found in the name - an extern is external to the workplace, and all expenses are usually the responsibility of the extern; an intern is internal to the organization and is often paid an entry-level wage. Step 2: Architecture Experience Yay! Youve graduated from college or graduate school. Most graduates work for several years as interns in a professional architectural firm before they take licensing exams and become registered architects. For help finding an entry-level position, visit the career center at your college. Also look to your professors for guidance. But, the term intern is on its way out.  The National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB), the licensing organization for architects, is highly involved with helping architecture firms mold neophytes into architects ready to contribute to a practice. Before you can even apply to take the test to become a registered architect, you have to have experience. What used to be called the Intern Development Program (IDP) is now the Architectural Experience Programâ„ ¢ or AXPâ„ ¢.  A beginning professional needs 3,740 hours of experience before earning a professional license. AXP certification is a requirement for initial registration to sit for the licensing exams. These required hours are associated with nearly 100 tasks  - for example, Review shop drawings and submittals during construction for conformance with design intent. How do you log experience?  Now theres an app for that  - My AXP App. How does NCARB help? Architecture firms are businesses and not schools - professional hours are best spent doing the business of architecture along with training new hires. NCARB helps the new graduate transition from being a student to becoming a professional without using some of a firms billable hours. Dr. Lee Waldrep, author of the Becoming an Architect book series, explains the value of this program when it was called IDP: In a recent discussion with an intern-architect a few years out of school, she confessed that while architecture school prepared her to think and design, it did not sufficiently prepare her to work in an architectural office. She further admitted that IDP, with its training areas, simply lists out what you need to do. Step 3: Licensing Exams In the United States and Canada, architects must take and pass the Architect Registration Examination (ARE) to receive a professional license in architecture. The ARE exams are rigorous - some students take extra coursework to prepare. A new set of exams, ARE 5.0, was implemented in November 2016. Although the tests are completely online, you cannot use your own computer. NCARB, the licensing organization that creates the test questions, works with Prometric test centers who administers the exams. Study for and taking the exams are usually accomplished during the AXP experience-gathering phase of a professional career. This can be the most stressful part of the process of becoming an architect - generally, youre not getting paid very much (because you are not a peak contributor to the architecture firm), preparing and taking exams is stressful, and all this comes at a time when your personal life is also in transition. Remember, however, that you are not the first person to go thro ugh these times. Step 4: Building a Profession After completing the ARE, some early-career professionals find jobs at the same firms where they first gained experience. Others seek employment elsewhere, sometimes in careers that are peripheral to architecture itself. Some architects start their own small firms after licensure. They may go it alone or team up with ex-classmates or co-workers. A strong career network will pave the way toward success. Many architects begin their careers in the public sector. State, local, and federal governments all hire architects. Generally, the jobs (and incomes) are stable, control and creativity may be limited, but your personal life that may have been put on hold can be reawakened. Lastly, its important to remember that many successful architects dont come into their own until they are into their 60s. When most people are set to retire, the architect is just beginning. Be in it for the long haul. Summary: Becoming an Architect Stage One: Complete an accredited professional architecture program at the undergranduate or graduate levelStage Two: On-the-job experienceStage Three: Pass the licensing exams - only then can you call yourself an architect.Stage Four: Follow your dream Sources Externships, LSU College of Art Design, http://design.lsu.edu/architecture/student-resources/externships/ [accessed April 29, 2016]History of the AXP,  National Council of Architectural Registration Boards, https://www.ncarb.org/about/history-ncarb/history-axp [accessed May 31, 2018]Architectural Experience Program Guidelines, National Council of Architectural Registration Boards, PDF at https://www.ncarb.org/sites/default/files/AXP-Guidelines.pdf [accessed May 31, 2018]Becoming an Architect by Lee W. Waldrep, Wiley Sons, 2006, p. 195

Analysis of Problems Facing PETRONAS Corporation Research Paper

Analysis of Problems Facing PETRONAS Corporation - Research Paper Example This essay aims at identifying and analyzing the challenges faced by organizations in the public sector. The specific challenge that will be discussed is the poor management of the Malaysian state-owned multinational corporation, PETRONAS. The current state of the organizations are also analyzed by the researcher in the essay after reviewing various resources on the organization selected. Recommendations are also provided by the researcher on the topic of how the organization can improve its performance and be effective in modern world. The public sector organization selected and analyzed in the essay is the Petroliam Nasional Berhad (PETRONAS) Corporation. In conclusion, the researcher sums up the study and states that government-owned organizations receive high consideration and support from the government to effectively operate and achieve their goals. Similarly, PETRONAS Corporation is a Malaysian government-owned corporation that receives support from the government and enables the corporation effectively to exploit oil and gas fields in Malaysia and in other countries. Although PETRONAS is a government-owned company, it is a profit-based entity owned by the Malaysian government rather than a public utility organization. Currently, the corporation is among the top five best companies producing Liquefied Natural Gas in the world. It is stated by the researcher of the essay that the success attained by the corporation is dependent on the support of the Malaysian government.

Critical Review Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Critical Review - Assignment Example This method is accepted by both governmental and social organizations to meet the needs of the people so that groups of different linguistic range have the same chance to partake in their government and to get services from their government. Language planning preferences usually endeavor to convene these requirements by sinking linguistic variety, where a distinct language is acknowledged as a national language and a single language is affirmed ‘standard’ to encourage linguistic unity in a nation where different languages exist (David, 1988). Considering that languages are organic and active, similar to the societies that give birth to them, it is natural that they contribute to the destiny of the societies of which they form a part. A social order that is healthy with the resources to grow economically, socially, and culturally as well gives rise to a growing language, the same as is obvious in the spread of English and the supremacy of the United States in the worldwide financial system and world dealings. Several people feature the spread of English to a continued existence of most suitable, a normal and accepted course of development. They dispute that contact linking two cultures typically cause the subordination and at times destruction of the weaker culture and their language. Why should one be concerned about that? In an expressive reply, Diamond (1993) says that all must have concern regarding the destiny of languages because of the relation linking language and culture. He explains that when a language is lost, much more than the sounds and structure of that language are gone. Every language is inextricably attached with an exceptional outlook of the world, context, and literature, despite the literature is written or not. He further states that a language is the culmination of thousands of years of a people’s knowledge and wisdom. Also, it is the medium that spread and be responsible for that

Domtar corporation limited Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Domtar corporation limited - Research Paper Example Additionally the company owns and is responsible of overseeing the distribution of its products by Domtar Distribution Group. Domtar is also responsible of designing, manufacturing, and marketing of different brands of paper inclusive of sandpiper, Opaque Ultra and Husky Opaque. Currently, Domtar offers employment to over 10,000 people. Its headquarters is located in Montreal and has over 80 paper storage and distribution facilities that are located within North America. However, the center for its operations is located in South Carolina. The company is worth over 700 billion dollars. This paper focuses on the management of Domtar by making use of the SWOT analysis. Additionally, the internal and external stakeholders of Domtar will be identified, their needs and wants, and how the company is fulfilling the needs of the stakeholders. SWOT Analysis of Domtar The Domtar SWOT analysis will provide an insight on the management and other business operation carried out by Domtar. SWOT stan ds for the strengths or aspects in which Domtar has been faring well. W stands for weaknesses or areas that Domtar require to improve to enable it become more successful. O is for the opportunities that Domtar can exploit to increase its productivity. T is for the threats that Domtar is facing. Analyzing the weaknesses, strengths, opportunities and threats of Domtar will help establish the parts that are most relevant to consider when deciding whether or not to invest in the company. Strengths One of the major strengths that has seen Domtar flourish is the effective communication between the management and the other stakeholders. Another advantage is its popularity, which has made it gain numerous customers globally. Additionally, Domtar has successfully managed to manage its costs effectively such that they are able to spend less but earn much. Domtar has up to date technology. It has some of the latest machineries, which makes its operations easy but successful. A good example is the power generating machineries such as steam turbines, which greatly helps in reducing the production costs (Pump Industry Analyst, 2009). An additional Domtar’s strength is the great capability to recycle it byproducts. Domtar recycles almost all the byproducts such as paper and gypsum. This has enable Domtar maximize on it resources. Additionally, it has enabled Domtar to be recognized as a sustainable dealer with forest products. An additional strength is the strong existing relationship between Domtar and its stakeholders. A good example is with the environmentalists, who are often opposed to operation of paper dealers. However, the strong relationship between Domtar and environmental groups has made it manage to operate without much criticism (Pump Industry Analyst, 2009). Weaknesses One of the challenge hence weakness facing Domtar is the low number of shares in the market. Additionally, Domtar lacks a strong reputation considering that it is the second largest dealer of paper and paper products Opportunities Domtar has an opportunity to expand its market globally due to the emerging markets. An additional opportunity that Domtar can take advantage of is the chance to diversify its products. From its initial stages, Domtar focuses on pulp and paper products. It thus has the opportunity to expand its operations and start dealing with other wood products. Due

Is It Irrational Not to Be a Consequentialist Essay

Is It Irrational Not to Be a Consequentialist - Essay Example Thus, there is the establishment that the kind of action taken by the individual, either upright or rather morally acceptable behavior is what leads to the result. However, it also states that in the presence of morally wrong behavior, it does account for any bad or rather deeming consequences. In the paper, there is the clear exploration of the question whether it is irrational not to be of the consequentialism mind. The question is definitely one asked by people over ages and many are times that an ideal answer has lacked to emerge. Most people are of the concept that a person who sides with the consequentialism ideology is irrational. This is, however, not always true, as only the pessimists look at the ideology in that manner. â€Å"This is explained in that the thought of it being irrational is fueled by the thought of a consequence that will be very detrimental. It would hurt either the performer of the action or even the people that will be pretentious of the action either di rectly or indirectly† (Mill, 2008, 77). This basis is not legitimate on its own because of poor or ignored review of the other concept of thought and consequences of actions. This supports the notion that goes by the adage that the result of something is clearly justified by the means used to achieve it. On the other hand, there are those that are clearly optimistic by thinking that despite the manner or the method used to get to a point, the mind ought to fathom the consequences. Irrational not to be on the consequentialism ideology describes the optimists vividly. â€Å"As they are described, they just carry out their activities without the perception of the looming danger in case the idea or the project they may be contemplating working out may not conceive the desired conclusion† (Singer, 2006, 49). One of the well-known scientists in the field of human perception, Professor T.M focused his views on the issue using the concept of human rights. â€Å"The professor w as recognized to be very thorough in his explanation. He did this in an effort to explain the nature of both the ones who term the ideology irrational and rational† (Scheffler, 2004, 167). The professor explained clearly that if a person has the right to carry out a certain desired act knowing it will not endanger other people; the consequences of exercising rights are self and hence, there is the allowing of the practice. In the review of this subject matter, focusing on the general ideology is not convincing and detailed enough. Hence, the scrutiny by breaking it down to the various philosophies that comprise the general ideology of consequentialism has to happen. One of the comprising philosophies is Utilitarianism. â€Å"A famous historian by the name of Jeremy Bentham was known for his advocacy of the concept. In his explanation of the philosophy, he claimed that for a human to take a certain course of action, there are two main perceptions that linger in his mind. One o f them is gratification, while the one is misery† (Samuel, 2007, 127). The historian stated that the searching of pleasure could make a person go through misery as long as the result was going to be pleasure. For example a mass murderer who goes out on a killing spree to satisfy his pleasure of seeing people suffering. â€Å"With this notion, it is thus noted that this form of utilitarianism describes a member irrational to be a consequentialist†

Tainted Love Composed by Ed Cobb Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Tainted Love Composed by Ed Cobb - Essay Example Tainted Love was composed by Ed Cobb, a songwriter and originally recorded by Gloria Jones, a soul singer, in 1965. However, the song emerged a mainstream hit in 1981 performed by Soft Cell duo, Marc Almond and David Ball as a cover song. Almond and David Ball, the core of the Soft Cell band, left their mark on the generation that lives today. Both Almond and Ball came from Leeds, U.K and had a mundane music career. They had redundant failures, which made their recording company to give them one last chance to make a hit. They utilize this last chance to make the song Tainted Love not feeling sanguine when recording it. Every radio station in the United Kingdom was awash with the song. Soft Cell’s version hit the top of the U.K’s single charts and maneuvered its way to Top 40 in the United States a year later, peaking at position 8. Tainted Love by Soft Cell was synth-driven and danceable. Enriched with Marc Almond’s vocals alternating torched and sleazy, it is agreeable that this was one of the epic songs of its time. They went ahead to set a Guinness World Record for the longest consecutive stay on the U.S Billboard Hot 100 chart. Compared with the original version done by Gloria, Soft Cell’s version portrayed a darker edge. In spite of the fact that the band had it as a cover song for their album, their synth-pop approach made the song sound more original. Soft Cell virtually owned the song. Soft Cell’s Tainted Love is my favorite ballad especially because of the jocular manner in which the singer says he wants to run away because he has endured a lot. The song is indeed heart-rending and makes one feel like true love never exist. Different people can have a varying interpretation of a song. According to me, the song Tainted Love is about unconsummated love.  

Morrisons Supermarkets Plc Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Morrisons Supermarkets Plc - Assignment Example It is mainly to decrease the level of obesity among the citizens of UK. Due to which, the government of UK is presenting huge number of campaigns so as to increase the level of awareness over obesity. Side by side, they are also presenting the details or extent of the nutrients that might help an individual to attain a healthy and fit body. So, all the supermarkets are trying to present or display the products including the exact mixture of nutrients to help the customers, in reducing obesity. Side by side, they are also presenting the GDA for men and women so as to maintain a healthy body. The prime objective of such strategy is to retain the older customers and to attract the new ones so as to remain competitive in the market. Otherwise, the supermarkets like Morrison’s might lose its range of customers and reputation in the market among others. Economic- inflation offered high impact over the prices of the products of the supermarkets and many other retail organizations. Du e to which, the supermarket owners had to present products with lower prices so as to retain its brand image and range of customers. Side by side, the decrease in the rate of the disposable income also created a substantial impact over the buying behaviour of the customers. Therefore, in order to fulfil their requirements and demands, the supermarket players had to present wide range of product lines. It is done, so as to match their incomes, living standards and life styles. Therefore, only due to the presence of varied types of products, the supermarkets like Morrison’s became successful in retaining its range of customers and profit margin in such challenging scenario... This paper stresses that according to the high brand image and recognition in the market of UK, the total sale and revenue of the Morrison Supermarket is increasing rapidly. Along with this, due to the presence of varied types of products, customers of varied income groups and living standards might avail facility to purchase the products. Side by side, all the customers might very easily avail the facility of discounts on the products presented by Morrison Supermarket. So, it might be depicted that Morrison attains a very reputed position in the market as compared to others. Side by side, as it is widely expanding, its brand value and equity is also increasing significantly in the market among others. The author of the essay declares that In order to increase the popularity and brand image of Morrison supermarket, it is essential to implement an online site. This might prove effective in enhancing its total sales and revenues as well. Side by side, the organization might also try to recruit trained staffs within the organization so as assist the customers at the time of purchasing any products. This might prove effective in increasing its total sale and brand value as well. This report makes a conclusion that it might be stated that the brand value and recognition of the organization of Morrison might be enhanced by increasing its variety of products. Along with this, if the range of discounts presented over the products might be increased, then the range of customers may also be increased.

Tainted Love Composed by Ed Cobb Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Tainted Love Composed by Ed Cobb - Essay Example Tainted Love was composed by Ed Cobb, a songwriter and originally recorded by Gloria Jones, a soul singer, in 1965. However, the song emerged a mainstream hit in 1981 performed by Soft Cell duo, Marc Almond and David Ball as a cover song. Almond and David Ball, the core of the Soft Cell band, left their mark on the generation that lives today. Both Almond and Ball came from Leeds, U.K and had a mundane music career. They had redundant failures, which made their recording company to give them one last chance to make a hit. They utilize this last chance to make the song Tainted Love not feeling sanguine when recording it. Every radio station in the United Kingdom was awash with the song. Soft Cell’s version hit the top of the U.K’s single charts and maneuvered its way to Top 40 in the United States a year later, peaking at position 8. Tainted Love by Soft Cell was synth-driven and danceable. Enriched with Marc Almond’s vocals alternating torched and sleazy, it is agreeable that this was one of the epic songs of its time. They went ahead to set a Guinness World Record for the longest consecutive stay on the U.S Billboard Hot 100 chart. Compared with the original version done by Gloria, Soft Cell’s version portrayed a darker edge. In spite of the fact that the band had it as a cover song for their album, their synth-pop approach made the song sound more original. Soft Cell virtually owned the song. Soft Cell’s Tainted Love is my favorite ballad especially because of the jocular manner in which the singer says he wants to run away because he has endured a lot. The song is indeed heart-rending and makes one feel like true love never exist. Different people can have a varying interpretation of a song. According to me, the song Tainted Love is about unconsummated love.  

The Economic Institutions of Capitalism Essay Example for Free

The Economic Institutions of Capitalism Essay Abstract: This study is based on the belief that economic organization is shaped by transaction cost economizing decisions. It sets out the basic principles of transaction cost economics, applies the basic arguments to economic institutions, and develops public policy implications. Any issue that arises, or can be recast as a matter of contracting, is usefully examined in terms of transaction costs. Transaction cost economics maintains that governance of contractual relations is mainly achieved through institutions of private ordering instead of legal centralism. This approach is based on behavioral assumptions of bounded rationalism and opportunism, which reflect actual human nature. These assumptions underlie the problem of economic organization: to create contract and governance structures that economize on bounded rationality while safeguarding transactions against the hazards of opportunism. The book first summarizes the transaction cost economics approach to the study of economic organization. It develops the underlying behavioral assumptions and the types of transactions; alternative approaches to the world of contracts are presented. Assuming that firms are best regarded as a governance structure, a comparative institutional approach to the governance of contractual relations is set out. The evidence, theory, and policy of vertical integration are discussed, on the basis that the decision to integrate is paradigmatic to transaction cost analysis. The incentives and bureaucratic limits of internal organization are presented, including the dilemma of why a large firm cant do everything a collection of small firms can do. The economics of organization in presented in terms of transaction costs, showing that hierarchy also serves efficiency and permits a variety of predictions about the organization of work. Efficient labor organization is explored; on the assumption that an authority relation prevails between workers and managers, what governance structure supports will be made in response to various types of job attributes are discussed, and implications for union organization are developed. Considering antitrust ramifications of transaction cost economics, the book summarizes transaction cost issues that arise in the context of contracting, merger, and strategic behavior, and challenges earlier antitrust preoccupation with monopoly. URL: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1496720 The Economic System of Socialism Socialism—defined as a centrally planned economy in which the government controls all means of production—was the tragic failure of the twentieth century. Born of a commitment to remedy the economic and moral defects of capitalism, it has far surpassed capitalism in both economic malfunction and moral cruelty. Yet the idea and the ideal of socialism linger on. Whether socialism in some form will eventually return as a major organizing force in human affairs is unknown, but no one can accurately appraise its prospects who has not taken into account the dramatic story of its rise and fall. The Birth of Socialist Planning It is often thought that the idea of socialism derives from the work of Karl Marx. In fact, Marx wrote only a few pages about socialism, as either a moral or a practical blueprint for society. The true architect of a socialist order was Lenin, who first faced the practical difficulties of organizing an economic system without the driving incentives of profit seeking or the self-generating constraints of competition. Lenin began from the long-standing delusion that economic organization would become less complex once the profit drive and the market mechanism had been dispensed with—â€Å"as self-evident,† he wrote, as â€Å"the extraordinarily simple operations of watching, recording, and issuing receipts, within the reach of anybody who can read and write and knows the first four rules of arithmetic.† In fact, economic life pursued under these first four rules rapidly became so disorganized that within four years of the 1917 revolution, Soviet production had fallen to 14 percent of its prerevolutionary level. By 1921 Lenin was forced to institute the New Economic Policy (NEP), a partial return to the market incentives of capitalism. This brief mixture of socialism and capitalism came to an end in 1927 after Stalin instituted the process of forced collectivization that was to mobilize Russian resources for its leap into industrial power. The system that evolved under Stalin and his successors took the form of a pyramid of command. At its apex was Gosplan, the highest state planning agency, which established such general directives for the economy as the target rate of growth and the allocation of effort between military and civilian outputs, between heavy and light industry, and among various regions. Gosplan transmitted the general directives to successive ministries of industrial and regional planning, whose technical advisers broke down the overall national plan into directives assigned to particular factories, industrial power centers, collective farms, and so on. These thousands of individual subplans were finally scrutinized by the factory managers and engineers who would eventually have to implement them. Thereafter, the blueprint for production reascended the pyramid, together with the suggestions, emendations, and pleas of those who had seen it. Ultimately, a completed plan would be reached by negotiation, voted on by the Supreme Soviet, and passed into law. Thus, the final plan resembled an immense order book, specifying the nuts and bolts, steel girders, grain outputs, tractors, cotton, cardboard, and coal that, in their entirety, constituted the national output. In theory such an order book should enable planners to reconstitute a working economy each year—provided, of course, that the nuts fitted the bolts; the girders were of the right dimensions; the grain output was properly stored; the tractors were operable; and the cotton, cardboard, and coal were of the kinds needed for their manifold uses. But there was a vast and widening gap between theory and practice. Problems Emerge The gap did not appear immediately. In retrospect, we can see that the task facing Lenin and Stalin in the early years was not so much economic as quasi military—mobilizing a peasantry into a workforce to build roads and rail lines, dams and electric grids, steel complexes and tractor factories. This was a formidable assignment, but far less formidable than what would confront socialism fifty years later, when the task was not so much to create enormous undertakings as to create relatively self-contained ones, and to fit all the outputs into a dovetailing whole. Through the 1960s the Soviet economy continued to report strong overall growth—roughly twice that of the United States—but observers began to spot signs of impending trouble. One was the difficulty of specifying outputs in terms that would maximize the well-being of everyone in the economy, not merely the bonuses earned by individual factory managers for â€Å"overfulfilling† their assigned objecti ves. The problem was that the plan specified outputs in physical terms. One consequence was that managers maximized yardages or tonnages of output, not its quality. A famous cartoon in the satirical magazine Krokodil showed a factory manager proudly displaying his record output, a single gigantic nail suspended from a crane. As the economic flow became increasingly clogged and clotted, production took the form of â€Å"stormings† at the end of each quarter or year, when every resource was pressed into use to meet preassigned targets. The same rigid system soon produced expediters, or tolkachi, to arrange shipments to harassed managers who needed unplanned—and therefore unobtainable—inputs to achieve their production goals. Worse, lacking the right to buy their own supplies or to hire or fire their own workers, factories set up fabricating shops, then commissaries, and finally their own worker housing to maintain control over their own small bailiwicks. It is not surprising that this increasingly Byzantine system began to create serious dysfunctions beneath the overall statistics of growth. During the 1960s the Soviet Union became the first industrial country in history to suffer a prolonged peacetime fall in average life expectancy, a symptom of its disastrous misallocation of resources. Military research facilities could get whatever they needed, but hospitals were low on the priority list. By the 1970s the figures clearly indicated a slowing of overall production. By the 1980s the Soviet Union officially acknowledged a near end to growth that was, in reality, an unofficial decline. In 1987 the first official law embodying perestroika—restructuring—was put into effect. President Mikhail Gorbachev announced his intention to revamp the economy from top to bottom by introducing the market, reestablishing private ownership, and opening the system to free economic interchange with the West. Seventy years of socialist rise had come to an end. Socialist Planning in Western Eyes Understanding of the difficulties of central planning was slow to emerge. In the mid-1930s, while the Russian industrialization drive was at full tilt, few raised their voices about its problems. Among those few were ludwig von mises, an articulate and exceedingly argumentative free-market economist, and friedrich hayek, of much more contemplative temperament, later to be awarded a Nobel Prize for his work in monetary theory. Together, Mises and Hayek launched an attack on the feasibility of socialism that seemed at the time unconvincing in its argument as to the functional problems of a planned economy. Mises in particular contended that a socialist system was impossible because there was no way for the planners to acquire the information (see Information and Prices)—â€Å"produce this, not that†Ã¢â‚¬â€needed for a coherent economy. This information, Hayek emphasized, emerged spontaneously in a market system from the rise and fall of prices. A planning system was bound to fail precisely because it lacked such a signaling mechanism. The Mises-Hayek argument met its most formidable counterargument in two brilliant articles by Oskar Lange, a young economist who would become Poland’s first ambassador to the United States after World War II. Lange set out to show that the planners would, in fact, have precisely the same information as that which guided a market economy. The information would be revealed as inventories of goods rose and fell, signaling either that supply was greater than demand or demand was greater than supply. Thus, as planners watched inventory levels, they were also learning which of their administered (i.e., state-dictated) prices were too high and which too low. It only remained, therefore, to adjust prices so that supply and demand balanced, exactly as in the marketplace. Lange’s answer was so simple and clear that many believed the Mises-Hayek argument had been demolished. In fact, we now know that their argument was all too prescient. Ironically, though, Mises and Hayek were right for a reason they did not foresee as clearly as Lange himself. â€Å"The real danger of socialism,† Lange wrote, in italics, â€Å"is that of a bureaucratization of economic life.† But he took away the force of the remark by adding, without italics, â€Å"Unfortunately, we do not see how the same or even greater danger can be averted under monopolistic capitalism† (Lange and Taylor 1938, pp. 109–110). The effects of the â€Å"bureaucratization of economic life† are dramatically related in The Turning Point, a scathing attack on the realities of socialist economic planning by two Soviet economists, Nikolai Smelev and Vladimir Popov, that gives examples of the planning process in actual operation. In 1982, to stimulate the production of gloves from moleskins, the Soviet government raised the price it was willing to pay for moleskins from twenty to fifty kopecks per pelt. Smelev and Popov noted: State purchases increased, and now all the distribution centers are filled with these pelts. Industry is unable to use them all, and they often rot in warehouses before they can be processed. The Ministry of Light Industry has already requested Goskomtsen [the State Committee on Prices] twice to lower prices, but â€Å"the question has not been decided† yet. This is not surprising. Its members are too busy to decide. They have no time: besides setting prices on these pelts, they have to keep track of another 24 million prices. And how can they possibly know how much to lower the price today, so they won’t have to raise it tomorrow? This story speaks volumes about the problem of a centrally planned system. The crucial missing element is not so much â€Å"information,† as Mises and Hayek argued, as it is the motivation to act on information. After all, the inventories of moleskins did tell the planners that their production was at first too low and then too high. What was missing was the willingness—better yet, the necessity—to respond to the signals of changing inventories. A capitalist firm responds to changing prices because failure to do so will cause it to lose money. A socialist ministry ignores changing inventories because bureaucrats learn that doing something is more likely to get them in trouble than doing nothing, unless doing nothing results in absolute disaster. In the late 1980s, absolute economic disaster arrived in the Soviet Union and its Eastern former satellites, and those countries are still trying to construct some form of economic structure that will no longer display the deadly inertia and indifference that have come to be the hallmarks of soc ialism. It is too early to predict whether these efforts will succeed. The main obstacle to real perestroika is the impossibility of creating a working market system without a firm basis of private ownership, and it is clear that the creation of such a basis encounters the opposition of the former state bureaucracy and the hostility of ordinary people who have long been trained to be suspicious of the pursuit of wealth. In the face of such uncertainties, all predictions are foolhardy save one: no quick or easy transition from socialism to some form of nonsocialism is possible. Transformations of such magnitude are historic convulsions, not mere changes in policy. Their completion must be measured in decades or generations, not years. URL: http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/Socialism.html The Economy System of Mixed Economy A mixed economy has many of the characteristics of market, command and traditional economies. The United States is a mixed economy because its Constitution protects many of the characteristics of a market economy, including ownership of private property, limitations on government interference, and promoting innovation. However, the Constitution also encourages the government to promote the general welfare. This allows many aspects of a command economy, where needed. In addition, many American traditions still guide economic policy. A mixed economy seeks to have all the advantages of a market, command and traditional economy with little of the disadvantages. Therefore, most mixed economies have three of the six characteristics of the market economy: private property, pricing and individual self-interest. Mixed economies also have a command economy in certain areas. Most allow government to have a command role in areas that safeguard the people and the market itself. This usually inclu des the military, international trade, and national transportation. An increased governmental role depends on the priorities of the people. Many mixed economies also allow centralized planning and even government ownership of key industries, such as aerospace, energy production and even banking. Some mixed economies encourage the government to centrally manage health care, welfare, and retirement programs. In addition, most mixed economies follow traditions that have been so ingrained that they may not even be aware of it. For example, many mixed economies still fund and give some power to royalty or emperors. Most of the worlds major economies are now mixed economies. It would be difficult to avoid, thanks to globalization. A countrys people are best served through international trade oil from Saudi Arabia, consumer products from China, and food from the U.S. As soon as businesses within a country are allowed or even encouraged to export, the government must give up some control to free market forces. Second, the global economy is primarily free-market based. There is very little government control, although some regulations and agreements have been put into place. However, there is no world government today that has the power to override a countrys sovereignty and create a global command economy. URL: http://useconomy.about.com/od/US-Economy-Theory/tp/Mixed-Economy.htm The Economy System of Islamic Economics The way of defining Islamic Economics is to qualify the term modern or conventional economics with Islam. Islam is a religion from Allah SWT through prophet Muhammad SAW to mankind which means the total way of Man kind’s life, that is what ever man does or is going to do must be abided by the Islamic norms and values as well as laws and other rules and regulations(shariah). And conventional economics has best been defined by robbins as science which studies human behaviour as a relationship between ends and scarce means which have an alternative uses. Based on the definitions of the two concepts above, many scholars defined Islamic economics according to their understanding of the concepts. The following are the various definition of Islamic economics from different scholars: 1)Ahmad (1981) defined Islamic economics as a study of human behaviour in their attempts to satisfy needs from the abundant resources whose ultimate aim is to maximise benefit of self and society both in this world and the hereafter. 2)Akram(1983) sees Islamic economics as aims at the study human falah achieved by organising the resources of earth on the basis of cooperation and participation. 3)Hasnuzzaman(1984) defined Islamic economics as the knowledge and application of injunctions and rules of shariah that prevent injustice in the acquisition and disposal of material resources in order to provide satisfaction to human beings and enable them to perform their obligations to Allah and the society. 4)Mannan (1986) defines as studies of a social science in the economic problems of people to fill with the values of Islam. 5)S.M Ghazali Wafa et al (2002) defines as all human activities to use the sources which follow the law to perform their obligations to Allah. Observing the above definitions Islamic economics is the some part of conventional economics plus morals, norms and values of Islam, it covers a lot of micro and macro concepts of conventional economics like ownerships, rights to produce or create, what to produce, how to produce and for whom to produce, others include equity, returns on investments, development projects, stability in the value of money, broad base economic well being with full employment, optimum rate of economic growth, joint ventures, fiscaland monetary policies, etc . However Islamic economics ejected injustice, enforced the prohibition of interest (riba), hoarding etc. And also promote the determination of the level of individual liberty, recognition the right of property, controlling the economic inequality within the natural limits, maintaining the equality of social life, and social security. It however prohibits the wider circulation of wealth, and recognizes social and individual welfare. In conclusion, Islamic economics is designed for economy to contribute richly on the achievement of the major socio-economic goals of the society. Prof. Tariq is very talented and eloquent lecturer, in this lecture he pinpoint the following: 1.Muslims are of full of potentials 2.Universality in time and space in Islam 3.Changes and faithful 4.Things we shouldn’t confused: a)Relationship between text and context b)Difference between principles and models c)Rules and ways d)Rules and meaning. 5.Difference between adaptation and transformation vision beyond reality. 6.Dealing with rejection and projection 7.Thinking of what to produce and how to produce of halal goods to match the competition with western products. The above are the lessons we learnt from the lecture, therefore those points are what I am going use and see how Islamic economics can be developed. Firstly, the muslims are of full potentials this so because muslims economics thinkers and economist tried and developed the Islamic economics concept and its now a discipline accepted worldwide, so the other muslim economist should start striving and explore their potentials in developing Islamic economics worldwide. Secondly universality in time and space in Islam, this means mind should be active to make changes in diversity, that is Islamic economic thinkers should have active mind and develop as many theories and models as they can in the time of the their life and places they are living , their universality of Islam should be use to manage diversities, manage changeable dimensions and new challenges with the view of developing Islamic economics. Thirdly those things that we shouldn’t confused in the improvement of Islamic economics development is text and context should be clearly differentiated ,that is the context in the text of Quran, hadith and fiqh are vividly understood before applying it into the economic theory or model. The difference between principles and models should be understood by Islamic economics ulamas, where principles are universal in nature and models are historical in nature we shouldn’t confused those in developing anything in Islamic economics. The next is the rules and ways, in Islam rules are in Quran and Sunnah (shariah) then the interpretation of ulamas on some concept and issues that are not clearly interpreted in the Quran and hadith and ways are how those rules are being followed with a light of vision, those must be considered and improvement in Islamic economics will be achieved. The last one is different between rules and meanings, dealing with rules will come to a point where rules forget the meanings so this must be taken into consideration for improvement of Islamic economics. Fourthly is the difference between adaptation and transformation that is transformation is the visionary change beyond reality in a society and adaptation is transferring the idea of other society into the society, Islamic economics should be a transformation of conventional economics not adaptation. Lastly is the thinking of what to produce and how to produce of consumable goods(halal) to match the competition with western products, professionals in Islamic economics should continue with the introduction of products which will substitute haram goods and services that muslims are always consuming , this will tremendously improve Islamic economics development.

Case Studies Of Companies Supply Chain Management

Case Studies Of Companies Supply Chain Management Dell was incorporated in 1994 by Michael Dell while he was a student at University of Texas, Austin. From its very first initiatives, direct selling model was adopted. In the beginning PCs were sold over the phone and they were customized according to customers specifications. Dell returned to its direct selling model after using the retail channel from 1990 to 1994. In mid 1990s, the company grew rapidly, thus becoming number one PC seller in the US and number two worldwide in 1999. Dells success continued over the following years, but it was not able to avoid the crisis in PC industry in the new millennium. Dells growth rate fell, resulting in the fall of its stock price. However, over the time, Dell managed to remain a highly successful company, and its growth rate continued to outperform the industry as a whole. Dells strategic choices and ways of realizing those choices have played an effective role in story Dells success. The supply chain management of the company is the key element in its successful business model. The core element of the companys business model is its direct sales model, referred as direct mode, with the build to order strategy. In this work we have a look at an organisation with its sheer strategy and competitive view of the future created a giant in the industry. It has developed a business model which has a very little requirement of controlling variables, but with few efficient and critical models it has created an industry leader. It shows how Dell Inc has changed the dynamics of the industry and how it has helped in evolved with the industry. It is an $80 billion company which is created in just in time frame of 23 years. The strategy was to bypass the dealers in the field of personal computers and sell directly to the consumers. What will urge customers to buy online? The answer to these is to make the product build to order and provide them customization. This business model gave Dell some great cost advantage over it peers. This strategy has given Dell- Information about the customer dell has leveraged that to create with its partner an infrastructure which is a global giant. The power of customer information has given Dell competitive advantage in the value chain as a result of which much of the competition is now turning to becoming partners across the value chain. Virtual integration has harnessed the needs of two very different models. The IBMs and Compaqs and HP of the world subscribed to the view that we have to develop everything. This was an engineering centric era, in this era dell was of the view why we should we make everything; we can just buy and collaborate as per our requirement. This view gave them flexibility and coupled with the excellent supply chain that they created- they became what they are. In this model there are fewer things which can go wrong because there are only fewer things which can go wrong. There is no drag effect of 50000 people working with you. The only critical problem with this business model is to establish partnership model with suppliers so that at customers end everything should seem completely integrated. The key challenge is to make money by reducing the inventory cost to the bare minimum and Dell has done that by using excellent partnership models and also building up an excellent supply chain. They have leveraged the knowledge of value chain in the process. 9.1.2 Partnership with Sony With Sony the partnership has created excellence for both of them. For Dell there is zero day inventories holding if we look at an excellent partnership model with Sony. Lets examine what Dell said to Sony- oh we are looking to buy two or three million of those monitors, why we dont just pick them up as per our need. If you cannot provide us this convenience we dont keep any of your products. They go to Sony and say-The distance between demand and supply has totally shrunk, hence we pick as per our need. The Evolution of a faster Business Model This differentiated model of dell help it creates a niche in the distribution channel and eliminates the entire mid channel members to arrive at cost leadership position in the industry. The basic principle of Resource based view is that the competitive advantage for any particular organization completely depends upon the resources which are available at any companys disposal. It is a management tool to determine the important resources available for any organization. It is very important for success of the organization that these resources are valuable and are not imitable. The two houses of strategy namely Resource based view competitive positioning had their fare share of critics. After studying them in detail it can be seen that there are certain inherent weakness in both of them and both of them are not sustainable in long run if isolated. In a long competitive environment a firm needs to invest in either product differentiation or cost leadership and then utilize the competitive positioning which will be sustainable because of our ability to defend it on the base of cost advantage. 9.1.3 Value Chain Analysis 9.1.4 Strategy for profit oriented industry in 21st century Both the views of strategy are equally strong and have their sets of critics. A competitive positioning in a competitive market is not sustainable if they dont have adequate resources available to them to maintain the cost advantage. For e.g.: Telecom industry in Singapore is an industry of price wars. Competitive positioning is effective but is only sustainable for bigger players like Bharti Telecom Vodafone International because they have valuable resources with them which allow them to sustain themselves in price wars. A profit oriented industry in 21st century should create adequate resources and develop capabilities to use them properly. On the marketing front if the environment is competitive than the firm should develop competitive positioning or till then it should enjoy healthy margins. Lets take an example of Apple Incorporation. It had the resource of great Inventions a great leader in there CEO-Steve Jobs. They utilised it with their capability to position themselves in the market. Its a highly profitable firm now. 9.1.5 Supply Chain Management The Supply Chain Market (SCM) in Asia is poised for a robust growth. (Balsmeier, 1996)The Supply Chain Management is the set of frameworks and processes helping organizations in development and delivery of products. The supply chain represents the complex relationships of an organization with its trading partners through whom it sources materials, manufactures products and delivers products or services to the customers. The supply chain links all the activities in the procurement, transformation and storage of raw materials and intermediate products, and sale of finished goods. Figure 1: Generic Configuration of Supply Chain in Manufacturing The entire Supply Chain (Figure 1) is looked across my Supply chain management, rather than a single entity or level. The SCM aims to increase alignment and transparency of supply chains configuration and coordination, regardless of corporate or functional boundaries. The growing competition among the manufacturers to retain and attract customers has compelled manufacturers to serve customers effectively by maintaining long-term relationships with the customers. In the late 1980s, organizations were looking for ways and means to improve their process efficiency, and for this purpose they revamped their internal processes. After they succeeded in making their internal processes efficient, businesses needed to make their external processes efficient so that they could reduce the time and money needed to market and distribute. For this, they had to redefine their relationship with their suppliers, retailers, distributers, and customers. An effective relationship with these entities increased the need for information sharing and made them mutually dependent. This caused a paradigm shift in competition from manufacturer VS manufacturer to supply chain VS supply chain. Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) systems, developed in early 1990s works on the principal of relating information to different entities in a supply chain- manufacturers, suppliers, business partners and retailers- and making it available to all entities. These applications are aimed to reduce the inventory levels of a company through accurate forecasting, reduced cycle times and near perfect scheduling. Customer levels are increased as the goods are delivered on time due to efficiency in the distribution process. 9.1.6 Direct Sales The direct sales model refers to the fact that the company does not use any retail channels for selling its products, but sells its products directly to its customers through its corporate website, Dell.com. The above figure shows hot the direct model of Dell was different from the indirect distribution channel of the rest of industry. In its direct sale model, the intermediary steps that add cost and time are eliminated, and the company is directly able to link with its customers. Dell directly sells to all its customers, regardless of a home-PC to worlds largest corporations. The direct relationship with individual customer creates a great source of competitive advantage for Dell. This creates a valuable information about the end customers, and thus Dell knows who are the end users of their product, what they have purchased from the company, what are their future preferences, a fact that allows the company to stay closer to their customers by offering add-on products and services. Company distinguishes three customer segments, namely large organizations, medium and small businesses and personal consumers; and the revenue of the company is not concentrated as no customer of Dell represents more than 2% of total revenues. This provides a wide mix of customers served. The focus of the company is majorly on large customers, accounting of 70% of the Dells revenues. Dell has been improving its segment from past years and with the combination of direct sales model, gives them the ability to better forecast demand. In the case of large customers the direct relationship by the company is upgraded to virtual integration. With the help of IT, customers work with Dell as partners. Dell employs two main facilities that bring them and their customers closer. Premier Councils and Premier Pages. Premier Councils are the regional meetings of the company largest customers, where salespersons, technicians and the executives discuss their experiences with Dell, and their future expectations from the company. Premier pages, now known by Premier.Dell.com, are customizes support and procurement sites for their big clients, which allows them to manage and decide their purchases from the company, thus making the role of a sales person a more consultative role. This represents Dells customized sales channel and the company has increased its premier pages manifold in these years. 9.1.7 Build in Order and Integration with Suppliers Build-to-order Supply Chain as a strategy is defines (Gunasekaran et al.)as a value chain that manufactures quality products or services based on requirements of an individual customer of a group of customers at competitive prices, within a short span of time, by leveraging the core competencies of partnering firms or suppliers and information technologies, such as the internet and WWW, to integrate such a value chain. Thus, a computer is build after the customer places and order, then just-in-time production and lean manufacturing takes place. This means when an order is placed, its configuration details reaches the manufacturing department and the assembly begins, and once the PC is configured it is shipped by a 3PL to the corresponding customer. The choice of JIT and build to order has several advantages for the company. Firstly, the level of inventories remains very low, leading to faster responses to demand changes and low inventory costs. For instance, if a new microprocessor comes into the market, the company can immediately place an order with its suppliers, as the company need not get rid of the excess inventory. Also, in case of Dell, customers pay in advance. That means the customer pay for the order prior to when the company pays its suppliers for the products, thus giving Dell the opportunity of operating on Negative cash flow cycle. The special thing about the company is its relationship with its suppliers, which is the major reason for facilitating build-to-order model. In Dell, Suppliers are viewed as the integral part of operating business and a key variable for success. This helps Dell to adopt an approach of the extended enterprise. According to Dell their supplier effectively becomes their partner. The company selects suppliers that show experience, expertise and ability to deliver value. The performance of suppliers is regularly evaluated against the pre-set parameters. A quarterly meeting is held between the company and its suppliers to discuss the quarterly performance and future expectations. The performance of each supplier is evaluated by comparing a scorecard consisting of quality, cost, and reliability with that of their competitor. The companys suppliers are also provided with the support and training to improve their processes. The company demands from its suppliers that it should provide them with inventory at a high speed. This helps Dells effort of minimizing its inventories. So instead of orders like deliver 4000 to warehouse every week, the form of orders is like tomorrow evening we need 7.25 to be delivered at door D3 of the warehouse by 6 pm. This notion of Dell, has introduces inventory velocity, and it focuses on maximizing the speed and minimizing the inventory. Dell holds an average inventory of less than 6 days, while the corresponding industry average is of 6 weeks. In dealing with these rhythms, main supplier does have to maintain inventory near or in the companys plants. All the practices above require close collaboration between the suppliers and the company; sophisticated data exchange and mutual trust are the key variables to achieve it. The information sharing facility of the company is the website ValueChain.Dell.com. Through this website, the companys suppliers get informed of the level of inventory in the companys supply chain, demand and supply data, new part transitions with customers and component quality metrics. This way the company share production, demand and supply forecasts with its suppliers. These help suppliers in deciding on production levels, avoiding bullwhip effect. 9.1.8 Use of E-Commerce Introduction to E-Commerce Though E-commerce was there since long, since 70s in the form of electronics transfers of documents and transactions between banks the boom of E-Commerce was evident in 90s after the introduction of WWW Platform and this was further fuelled by increasing Broadband connectivity along with increasing trust of consumers on this platform thanks to certifying agency like VeriSign ad Payment Gateways like PayPal. Amazon and EBay have been there since its inception and have survived all ups and down of industry and also have been pioneers of new concepts in industry. The technology that supporting this platform constitutes the backbone for industry. Trust of consumers of this platform is very important and it is estimated that around 40% of consumers still do not trust the platform despite using it for their purchases. In coming times this technology will be further dive deep and move from E-Com to M-Com i.e. more and more purchases will be made through mobile phones as connectivity issues become lesser and lesser and more trust gets build up among users. Since 2000s the new concept what we call as Web2.0 or Social Networking is in evolution and has completely changed dimensions of industry with more and more users demanding better and innovative technology and application to make them buy and more and more reviews and wisdom of crowd ruling the purchases made, all E-Commerce retailers have been paying much attention to leverage it and is becoming an hygiene factor for future profitability and growth. In this era of Web2.0 enabled E-Commerce application and more and more social content being the driving force behind it, its worthwhile to have a look at what products/services was being offered by the initial E driven commerce and the present E-commerce, better call it as E-commerce2.0. Let have few points comparing E-Com1.0 and E-Com2.0 and talking about what changes have taken place and why have they taken place and to what have these changes led to. Those making purchases online includes a set of users who are confident of the technology and trust the platform through which it is being offered. Such users are generally people using WWW Platform for more than two year and are generally educated at least or above college graduate. The important thing being that around 80% of E-commerce consumers trust the site through which they make their purchases. In the last decade, many start-up e-commerce companies have rapidly stolen market share from traditional retailers and service providers, pressuring these established traditional players to deploy their own commerce websites or to alter company strategy in retaliation. This effect is most pronounced in travel services and consumer electronics. According to comScore, online leisure travel bookings reached about $51B in 2005, or 44% of all online sales, which were around $122B in the same year. Either an organisation can score on cost leadership or differentiation. In this business cost leadership is not an option; hence only feasible option is to differentiate and survive. With ecommerce capabilities the organisation can differentiate. about two competitive positioning strategies -differentiation or cost leadership. A differentiator invests in creating high offering value while a cost leader has the lowest costs of the product in the market. If a firm can provide a differentiated product in the market it will create a niche for itself, while if it provides same product then it should do that at a lower cost. If the case is involving a niche then this strategy is termed as focus. Hence this strategy creates a trade off for the firm -either invest in offering higher value or invest in lower cost. The e-commerce business is characterized by large volumes of transactions, small value of individual orders, odd place of delivery, speed in internal movement, wider product portfolio, and a large number of customer spread over a wide geographical area. Manual operations have no scope in e-commerce logistics operations. The component of logistics, such as order processing, transportation, inventory management, packaging, and delivery require close coordination using IT solutions. Electronic commerce logistics solutions need to be based on the following design considerations: Online facility for organizing and tracking shipment Online order status and documentation Online dispatch documentation and invoice Auto reminder for payments Seamless interface with existing SCM or ERP systems Online alert for critical information through WAP/Mobile MIS reports on the past data analysis, delivery history etc. E-commerce logistics systems, based on the above considerations, ensure the following benefits to sellers, buyers, and 3PL service providers: Improved Communication Transparency in supply chain Improved customer satisfaction Cost reduction Improvement in efficiency On time delivery Dell computers represent one of the successful e-commerce, logistics and supply chain stories. To compete with the giants like IBM, Apple, and Compaq, Dell has adopted a different strategy to market their PCs. They chose the e-commerce route. For ordering a PC with desired configurations and specifications, the customer has to log on to the Dell website, place an order and complete the outline commercial formalities. Very often the customer gets his PC very next day, if he happens to be in USA. The electronic commerce system installed on the Dell website registers an order after online completion of commercial formalities. The system estimates the demand of the various components going into commercial formalities. The system estimates the demand of the various components going into the computer and place orders for parts with the various suppliers. The supplier delivers the parts to predetermined supply centres wherein the computer is assembled. The system, while registering the orde r, communicates to its logistics partner, the details of the customer and the delivery location as well as the assigned supply chain for picking up the consignment. The logistics partners office nearest to the Dell supply centre is activated for material pickup and delivery. The result of this efficient process is nearly zero inventory and total customer satisfaction. 9.1.9 Security Trusted Computing base or TCB is the sum total of the protection mechanisms within a network system which includes firmware, hardware and the software. It consists of one or more component which together enforces a unified security policy for the whole system. The company that I have chosen contains lot of sensitive data which is very important for national security. As expected the company will have a highly secured system for database management and security. A TCB system is expected to meet users requirements for security, reliability and effectiveness. Because no single user is responsible when it comes to data which is nationally important, operating system which manages this data uses a policy of mandatory access control. In MAC no individual takes a decision, the whole decision is based on the reference framework and the decisions are taken by the system itself. This is the case with XYZ limited which storehouse such sensitive data. 9.1.10 Other Interesting Approaches Apart from build order and direct model supply chain strategies, analysts believe that there are also some other issues that contribute to the companys success. Dells secret concerning its SCM is the appropriate matching of people and process elements. This was obvious from Michael Dells statement that our RD focuses on process and quality improvements in manufacturing and one of our biggest challenges in finding managers who can share and respond to rapid shifts. (Global retail Business) There are three central points in the companys value web model: Dells potent role in control and coordination of a value network, Its close integration with its business partners and suppliers and the importance of IT, internet and electronic communications. Analysts view the company as a zero-time organization identifying four key features apart from direct sales model and build in order, which are described in the following table: Competitive positioning is all about creating a brand for your product. Wal-Mart, the brand indicates adequate quality and low price, attracting price sensitive buyers. This is something which in long run help a firm leverages its brand equity. Firms with strong reputations are better positioned in markets involving inter firm cooperations than firms with history of failed partnership. If a firm can create a brand then it need not differentiate on any particular matter. It only needs to sustain the brand image and leverage the brand premia that it can enjoy. Let us have a look at how Nokia have created a competitive advantage. The above charts set the theme for both the views in motion. They are so well interrelated that there is a common goal that can create a competitive advantage. There are five critical blocks (Green cells are RBV while violet ones are for Competitive positioning) for RBV which when practiced can lead to two quality positions- Superior market position or Defendable market position, which in turn is key component to position a product or service competitively.. These two strategies work in junction and neither of them can be sustainable in isolation. The differentiation among these two perspectives lays in the fact that one talk about capabilities and the other does not. Competitive positioning talks how the capability of an organisation allows the firm to be competitive in the market, while RBV only stresses on the resource. Competitive positioning shows the angle of marketing deciding the strategy of the firm while RBV is more from the side of manufacturing. (Strategy Formulations) The two houses of strategy namely Resource based view competitive positioning had their fare share of critics. After studying them in detail it can be seen that there are certain inherent weakness in both of them and both of them are not sustainable in long run if isolated. In a long competitive environment a firm needs to invest in either product differentiation or cost leadership and then utilise the competitive positioning which will be sustainable because of our ability to defend it on the base of cost advantage. If a company develops a sustainable cost advantage in the industry it can kill its competitors and rules the market. Sustainable differentiation helps an organisation charge brand premia to the customer. Either of the strategy in modern days scenario will not work in isolation. A developing organisation needs to realise that in such a globalised scenario no differentiation or cost leadership can last for long. Baring an example of some technological innovation no strate gy in isolation has created a lasting organisation. Dells Supply Chain Management The company supply chain management system handles pieces and information and enormous transactions, and includes many core components necessary in keeping the operation run smoothly: Configuration management: This component of the company manages up to 1 million of Dells part numbers every year across 200 product families approximately. It also handles over 2 million BOM (Bills of materials) every year. BOMs part numbers are created for facilities manufacturing in building assemblies and its sub assemblies for the companys products. Procurement: The procurement component of Dell manages almost 1.8 million purchase orders line per year from more than 6000 suppliers worldwide. To further streamline the procurement process, the company uses an automated application including the workflow and vendors approvals and communications and enabled services like defective parts replacement. Cost: The batch mode is used to calculate the costs to the company for BOMs. All the cost components run mostly in the batch mode. The batch jobs runs daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly, and each job aggregating total material costs. Inventory: Inventory component of the company manages over 3 million movements daily from the factory floors in all Dell sites to the stock rooms, along with over 3 million messages transmitted to multiple systems for analyzing, reporting and factory scheduling. Accounts Payable: The accounts payable component of the company handles about 15,000 items per day, which includes payments to the companys invoices, receipts and all suppliers. Vendor information includes vendor id, contact info and negotiated terms. Along with these order related transactions of the company, the Supply Chain Management system also runs several other process jobs to aggregate data in intervals of week, month and quarters. (Cohen Shoanen, 2004) The SCM database consists of 3,000 database objects including packages, functions, procedures, triggers, views in the North American region. The SCM of Dell is supported by Power Edge 2650 server applications (6), internally developed web based applications (5), almost 20 system-to system integrations, and around 125 batch jobs with almost 500 user interfaces. Previous System: UNIX-based servers The earlier Dell system used Sun E6000-Class UNIX servers operating the Sun Solaris 8 OS with Sun Cluster 2.2. The Servers, within 16 processors at 336 MHZ with 11GB of memory, managed the production database on Oracle database 8.0.6. The companys disaster recovery server had 12 processors running at 336 MHz with 6 GB of memory. To make the systems readily available, the companys information technology used Sun Cluster to cluster primary and secondary servers with an active/passive configuration connecting to a shared disk storage, enabling its database to fall over to the passive node if in case the active one is failed. Conclusion Dell via its partnership model has completely changed the industry methods. It has integrated the value chain by its access to information. Industry is facing stiff competition and in such a competitive scenario Dell has differentiated at cost and also at offering. The inventory management policy and supply chain excellence has become a part of discussion for all the Ivy League Business Schools. The offering that Dell provided its suppliers has left less room with the suppliers to negotiate. This has led to excellent partnership model which has benefited everyone across the value chain. Dell has created excellence in personal computer industry and it is a pioneer in process management for this industry. The healthy competition and brilliant innovation in this industry has helped in its evolution. Customer is the ultimate one to benefit. The IBMs and Compaqs and HP of the world subscribed to the view that we have to develop everything. This was an engineering centric era, in this era dell was of the view why we should we make everything; we can just buy and collaborate as per our requirement. This view gave them flexibility and coupled with the excellent supply chain that they created- they became what they are. In this model there are fewer things which can go wrong because there are only fewer things which can go wrong. There is no drag effect of 50000 people working with you.