How has the UK retail sector adapted to recent changes in the economic Dissertation

How has the UK retail sector adapted to recent changes in the economic climate effectively - Dissertation Example co’s different sections 39 Figure 3: Reason of attraction of customers of Tesco 40 Figure 4: Responses regarding Tesco being the best in price, quality & service 41 Figure 5: Percentages of respondents choosing M&S different sections 42 Figure 6: Reason of attraction of M&S customers 43 Figure 7: Responses regarding M&S being best in price, quality & service 44 Abstract: It has been found that despite the fact that the UK population is only 1% of the population of the globe; the United Kingdom took fourth place in the world trade (Allen, 2010).  Mechanical engineering and transport, manufactured goods and chemicals are the main exports of Great Britain. Starting from the 70's, oil production not only has reduced imports of petroleum products, but also brought substantial gains in trade.  British Petroleum is the largest industrial corporation and the UK ranks second in Europe.  Britain provides 10% of world exports of services - banking, insurance, brokerage, advisory, a s well as in computer programming. Retail sales index characterizes the strength of consumer demand; its growth indicates an increase in the production of goods, strengthening the economy and currency. Published in the 13th day of the month has an impact on the market in the medium and long term.  This indicator is the most informative and does not include the number of cars sold, since this value is very volatile.  There is a seasonal dependence, as described by Craig Emerson (2008). Chapter 1: Introduction: 1.1 Background: The economic cycle or business cycle faces different phases that include slump, recession, recover and boom. During the last decade, the world witnessed turmoil in global market in the form of financial crisis that resulted in adverse impacts on almost every country of the world.... The economic cycle or business cycle faces different phases that include slump, recession, recover and boom. During the last decade, the world witnessed turmoil in global market in the form of financial crisis that resulted in adverse impacts on almost every country of the world. Companies face different market circumstances in different phases and they react accordingly, In order to retain their positions in the market, they have to adopt different strategies so that they are able to generate enough revenue. The global downturn during 2008-2009 is one of the worst recessions faced by the world economy. All the developed western countries like US, UK, France etc were badly hit by the global meltdown. Many companies of these developed nations were unable to cope up with the recession despite adopting different strategies and finally went bankrupt or were acquired by other companies. Lehman Brothers, Washington Mutual, Barnsley Building Society, Alliance & Leicester and Bear Stearns etc to name a few. Generally, a huge number of financial markets are still coping with the effects of financial crisis. Particularly, governments have played a significant role in supporting its financial markets to survive in midst of such financial crisis. In the British economy, retail sector enjoys noteworthy importance due to its contribution in GDP of the country.

British Colonization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

British Colonization - Essay Example In the 17th century United Kingdom the term "colonization" came to be utilized in a polemical manner to distinguish the domestic and local programs of the British explorer Captain John Smith. The major mistake or failure of the British colonizers, in an ancient tradition to identify themselves from the European continent, is that they did not classify their own programs to be as dominant as what people thinks. They did mention of "colonization", the transfer of individuals from the European continent to other regions of the world, paving the way to a â€Å"larger Kingdom† of English population. Majority of the British's colonies also failed to find benefits in organized, domestic colonization: great economic and industrial cartel desired for colonizing aid to secure their domestic assts against rivalry and international political conflicts overseas; bureaucrats desired and searched for government positions; people in the security wished for higher responsibilities and ranks; and the usual but striving desired for improved income for their businesses, ranks, and public office responsibilities. A distinctive success of the British colonization was the fact that it caused the emergence of fresh social perspectives of domination. Viewing the emergence of business unification, socialism, and other propaganda on the outset of a period of mass community in both the United Kingdom and later in the Western nations, the British colonizers strived to utilize imperial concepts to coordinate the aid of part of the economic working group. The re-energized mass media advocated colonization in various global wars that happened during the late 19th century and early 20th century. In the 15th century the "colonization" efforts of the British people also emerged to be connected to any ancient or traditional example of a larger authority initiating, or being viewed to be initiating a move, at the expense of a lower authority. The success of the British colonizers was therefore not only utilized to pertain to merciless territory-building programs, which include those of the Italians, the Spaniards or the English powers, but was also utilized uncharacteristically and/or disparagingly, for instance by both sides in communist and anti-communist movement, or to pertain to initiatives of the United Kingdom since the British government's takeover of outside borders on the onset of their feud with Spain, or in connection to the America's current position as the globe's most powerful country. 2. What were the similarities and differences between Spanish and British colonizatio

Difference Between Cost Control and Cost Reduction

Difference Between Cost Control and Cost Reduction Introduction A cost reduction program is a type of method which is to improve profitability of the organization or by expected to get a good result that flow to the bottom line of the financial statement and exempted from any serious damage to the organization itself. As this program is much more about reducing cost or reducing expenses of the organization, so a good cost reduction program is all about how to control the damage of an organization. Furthermore, a cost reduction program is said can be improved the profitability of an organization because by reducing expenses, profits are increased without making others changes. On the other hand, if the cost reduction program can matched with a sales improvement program and perhaps, finally it will get the double profit. A cost reduction program must be a complete plan that is results-oriented. A structured cost reduction program will put the company on track to achieve maximum profitability and achieve the highest performance. Moreover, this program also implies a series of program that retain all of the essential characteristics and quality of the product and thus it must be confined to permanent and genuine savings in the costs of manufacture, administration, distribution and selling, brought about by elimination of wasteful and inessential elements form the design of the product and from the techniques and practices carried out in connection therewith. What is the different between cost control and cost reduction? In fact, cost control also known as cost management or cost containment; it controls the costs of the organization at the given level. Besides, cost control emphasis on ensuring that the cost does not exceed the standard budget of the organization. Businesses use cost control methods to monitor, evaluate, and ultimately enhance the efficiency of specific areas, such as departments, divisions, or product lines, within their operations. However, cost reduction is a power exercise or is an exercise which will out all of the effort to saving cost from whatever level they are. Cost reduction does not have any standard, or anything is accepted as ideal. Every element of cost is scrutinized, every operation is screened and every procedure is analyzed to identify the ways and means of reducing costs. Cost reduction can result in saving the product cost, manufacturing cost s, and life cycle cost. There are two different concepts between cost control and cost reduction. Cost control is achieving the cost target as its objective while cost reduction is directed to explore the possibilities of improving the targets or company profitability. Therefore, cost control will end the exercise when achieved the organization target or objective. While cost reduction is a continuous process and it has no visible end. Furthermore, cost control try to attain the lowest possible cost under existing conditions whereas cost reduction does not recognize any condition as permanent since a change will result in lowering the cost. If the cost control emphasis is on past and present, while the cost reduction emphasis is on the present and future. Besides, cost control is a preventive function whereas cost reduction is a correlative function. It run even when an efficient cost control system exists. The difference between both of it can be summarized as cost control ensuring the costs is in accordance with established standards whereas cost reduction is concerned with try to improve the cost by continuous and without accordance with any of the standard. The main benefits of cost reduction programs are it can enhance profitability and enhance cash flow of the organization. It presents the key elements and factors to consider in program design and implementation. Cost reduction program is also can ensure the results will match with the goals or objective and the values of the organization. It is a widely-acknowledged fact that cost reduction program is one of the most challenging responsibilities or tasks that a company needs to undertake, especially when there are so many ways open to cost-conscious managers. Finally, an integrated tax reduction program can reduce the onerous financial burdens that can stable a companys development and can free up precious capital that can be result to the firms long-term benefit. Literature Reviews/Case Study/Research Findings There are five cases and cost reduction methods in these literature reviews. The methods including Target Costing (TC), Activity-Based Costing (ABC), Just in Time (JIT), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), and Value Engineering (VE). Case study 1 (Target Costing) Definition: Target costing also called product costing method in which an attempt at the planning and development phase of a product life cycle to attain a specified cost that is decided by management. This approach is to seek the lower costs by designing a quality product that reduces costs in the production phase. It can be described as a systematic process of cost management and profit planning. Case study: In 1993, Toyota uses target costing approach to generally reduce costs at the design stage. By using this approach, Toyota sets goals for cost reduction and then tries to achieve these new targets through design changes that will accomplish the cost reduction goal. Toyota was comparing the costs of the new design with the old design in order to guarantee a cost reduction after implementation of the new technique. This is the main idea that Toyota uses to achieve their companywide goals. There are several steps in the sequence of price, production, and cost decisions. First, Toyota decides what the new retail price of the automobile by taking the old price and adding the value of any new functions. The sales division comes up with the suggestion for the production volume by taking past numbers and indexing them to market trends and the state of competitors. Second, Toyota is focus on cost planning. This cost planning is based on the product plan and targets for retail price and also production volume. The purpose of using cost planning by Toyota is for determine the amount by which costs can be reduced through better design of the new model. Toyota establishes a profit target that is subtracted to determine their target cost. These cost planning decisions are made for three years before they release the model. Toyota estimates the approximate costs of a new model by sums of the cost variations of the new model and the old model. This technique is very beneficial to Toyota, because it tends to be less work and provides more accurate results. In addition, it also helps the specific divisions understand the cost fluctuations. Besides that, Toyota removes variable costs both models incur such as wages and indirect costs by using this approach. Meanwhile, they use their decisions on costs that change between the two models in design and production volume. The main point in this case study is to show how cost planning at Toyota is focused on the design phase. Toyota does this by setting goals for cost reductions through design changes. Toyota takes these goals and then assesses them to different divisions to make the necessary changes. Toyota believes that by changing product design to produce lower price to achieve a higher level of profitability. Case Study 2 (Activity-based Costing) Definition: Activity-Based Costing is a costing model that identifies the cost pools, or activity centers, in an organization and assigns costs to products and services (cost drivers) based on the number of events or transactions involved in the process of providing a product or service. The concept of Activity-Based Costing has been considered a sophisticated method of cost calculation since the early 1980s. In addition, Activity-Based Costing (ABC) assigns manufacturing overhead costs to products in a more logical manner than the traditional approach of simply allocating costs on the basis of machine hours. Activity-Based Costing first assigns costs to the activities that are the real cause of the overhead. It then assigns the cost of those activities only to the products that are actually demanding the activities. Case study: Boeing Commercial Airplane Group (BCAG) is the worlds largest manufacturer of commercial airplanes. It comprises approximately 60% of Boeings total revenues. BCAG Wichita is a cost center manufacturing plant producing fuselages, noses, struts, nacelles, and thrust reversers for 737, 747, 757, 767, and 777 airplane models. In May 1999, the plant employed approximately 16,835 employees directly, and was responsible for indirect employment of 53,100 workers within the state of Kansas. As part of its overall drive to gain and retain world-class aerospace manufacturing status, BCAG Wichita is focused on developing a lean, efficient design and production system supported by an effective cost management strategy. The cost management strategy supports initiatives designed to link the manufacturing process and support activities so as to simplify the whole production process, while maximizing benefits from the use of lean business practices. Cost management strategy initiatives include simplifying production, shortening flow and cycle times, increasing quality and inventory turnover, identifying core products and processes, and linking the design and manufacturing process to decrease product time-to-market. Activity-Based Costing links and supports the manufacturing process. It provides information to tailor business streams and material management, costs of activity and processes, value added versus non-value added analysis and profitability analysis used to improve the make versus buy decision-making process. ABC also provides analysis of set-up and run costs, costs of scheduled and unscheduled maintenance, costs of asset failure, and costs of manufacturing capacity, thereby allowing manufact uring managers to manage the assets under their control more effectively. Finally, ABC provides analysis on the costs of design changes in configuration as impacted on the manufacturing floor, costs of incorporating complexity into a configuration design, and the costs of quality. The highest hurdle in achieving this type of cost management architecture lies in moving the corporate financial department from its classic accounting role as scorekeeper or policeman to the role of business partner. In a business partner role, the corporate financial department can support strategic decisions relevant to the companys continued competitive advantage by providing financial data that highlights the impact of these decisions. BCAG Wichita views a successful implementation of ABC as one that fulfills three major roles: Addresses the size, complexity, and diversity of the manufacturing process, Facilitates the integration of financial decision makers into a more supportive business partnership role, and Implements effective cost management strategy initiatives. Case Study 3 (Just in Time) Definition: Just-in-time (JIT) production also known as lean production, it is a pull system of production, means the actual orders provide a signal for when a product should be manufactured. When there is Demand-pull, it enables a company to produce only what is required, with the correct quantity and correct time. These features of Just-in-time production system accomplish close organization among work- stations. Therefore, its objective can be defined as producing the right part in the right place at the right time (in other words, just in time). Case study: From July 1990, top managers of Daioku have begun completing the Kanban production system-moving from the traditional push-type production management to pull-type production management. This type of system produces only quantities necessary to fulfill the demands of the next operation. The quantity is pulled when it is needed, where it is needed, and in the exact quantity which is needed. For instead, since beginning the implementation of Just-In-Time, many difficulties have occurred. The difficulties include: Combining the data and material flows instead of classifying them. Post the products, its store and manufacturing process instead of a flow without any post. Changing from L-shape assembly line into V-shape assembly line. This requires a set of new equipments and techniques. Problems exist between Daioku and supplier (subcontractors), for instance, traditional ways of shipping material based on the pre-determined plan is now being eliminated and every supplier are now required to collect the Kanban back from the order-post and ship their material based on the information in the Kanban. Everyone in the firm required to participate in Just-In-Time. They need to determine how to make the shop floor operations become easier and efficient. Daioku carried out discussions and meetings to find solutions to the problems in the year of 1992. Therefore, Daioku sent their experts to help suppliers to solve their problems gradually. In Daioku, The inventory part was reduced the dramatically in this year. By using Just-In-Time method, the stock levels of raw materials, work in progress, components and finished goods can keep in a minimum. However, this requires a carefully planned scheduling and flow of resources through the production process. Just-in-time method promotes continuous enhances on the products. At the same time, this method can eliminate waste. Waste results from any activity that adds cost without adding value. For example, the unnecessary moving of materials, the accumulation of excess inventory, or the use of faulty production methods that create products requiring subsequent rework. Just-In-Time should enhance the profits and return on investment by reducing inventory levels (rising the inventory turnover rate), reducing variability, improving product quality, reducing production and delivery lead times, and reducing other costs (like those associated with machine setup and equipment breakdown). In conclusion, Just-In-Time production system aims to (1) meet customer demand in a timely manner (2) at the lowest possible total cost and (3) with high-quality products. Case Study 4 (Enterprise Resource Planning) Definition: Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is a computerized inventory control and production system that was born from Material Requirements Planning systems (MRP). It is a system that organizes functions of an institution. It assists in account, finance, human resources and e-commerce applications through creation of databases and graphical user interfaces. It unifies the tasks of institutions like corporations, government agencies, non-profit organizations, powerful institutions and industries and businesses establishments. There are some businesses start to compete on a global scale, it is critical to streamline operations and processes in business to reach a higher level of productivity and efficiency in information exchange and supports e-commerce applications, for example supply chain management (SCM) and customer relationship management (CRM). On the other hand, software that comes up with functionality to various systems that will coincide with one another as a whole is required to combine all of the information or operations of a company into a single unit. Central database is one of the most outstanding parts of the ERP system. Case Study: By October 1997, a group of 50 top business executives and 10 senior IT professionals had been congregated to device the SAP project to come up with a set of best practices that would become common work procedures for every Nestlà © division which are manufacturing, purchasing, accounting and sales by adopted new pan-Nestle way. Firstly, in order to implement the technical side, a common structure across the company, the vanilla would be code 1234 in every division. The SAP system customize around the uniform affair procedure. The group decided that they are not to use SAP in supply chain because the ERP supply chain module adopted was brand-new and therefore risky. Furthermore, Manugistics supply chain module followed all the SAP standards and could easily be integrated. Nestlà © implement five SAP modules which are purchasing, financials, sales and distribution, accounts payable and accounts receivable and the Manugistics supply chain module which deployed across every Nestlà © division, by March 1998. Besides that, the purchasing company for confections pursues the identical best practices and information as the purchasing company for beverages. To beat the Y2K deadline, the best project group had overlooked the integration points between the modules. All purchasing departments now used general names and systems, and followed a general process, but their system was not integrated with the financial, planning or sales groups. A salesperson may have given a valuable customer a discount rate and entered it into the new system, however the accounts receivable department wouldnt know about it. Hence, it would appear to the accounts receivable operative as though the invoice were only partially paid as customer paid the discounted rate. The project team had essentially replaced divisional silos with process silos to unify the companys separate brands. The time constraints necessitated by Y2K had put too much pressure on the people in charge of executing the changes. The project team had lost the big picture of how the various components would work together. Hence, the existing modules had to be integrated and the team still needed to roll out another two more SAP modules which are sales and distribution on the domestic side, and accounts receivable as well as a new module for the supply chain. Since Dunn had rejected the SAP supply chain module two years before, therefore, it leads to decision to replace all but a couple of parts of the Manugistics system with APO. The last state of design was completed on April 2001 and giving the project teams a highly detailed road map to follow. One month later, Tom James came on board as director of process change for the Best project with the responsibility as a connection between the divisions and the project team. He was so surprised by the poor relationship between divisions and project team. They conducted surveys that were involved of how the workers affected by the new systems were dealing with the changes and the feedback was the users were not prepared to make process alter. ERP projects are famous and need a long period and a lot of money to done it. Dunn maintains the slow and steady wins the race. Nestlà © United State accomplishes the significant ROI with the greatest bulk of savings from better demand forecasting. The old process included a sales man giving a number to the those men and demand planner do not know what the hell they are talking about then the factory changes the number again. With SAP in place, general databases and business processes lead to more trustworthy demand forecasts for the various Nestlà © products. Furthermore, because all of Nestlà © United State also using the same data then Nestlà © can forecast down to the distribution center level to diminish the inventory and the redistribution expenses that occur when too much of a product is sent to one place and not enough to another. The supply chain improvements accounted for a major chunk of the $325 million has saved from SAP. Case 5 Value Engineering (VE) Definition: Value engineering (VE) is a systematic method to improve the value of goods or products and services by using an examination of function. Value, as defined, is the ratio of function to cost. Value can therefore be increased by either improving the function or reducing the cost. It is a primary tenet of value engineering that basic functions be preserved and not be reduced as a consequence of pursuing value improvements. [1] Value engineering is sometimes taught within the project management or industrial engineering body of knowledge as a technique in which the value of a systems outputs is optimized by crafting a mix of performance (function) and costs. In most cases this practice identifies and removes unnecessary expenditures, thereby increasing the value for the manufacturer and/or their customers. Case Study: This project was for an underground car park beneath a new shopping centre in Three Waters, Madrid. A fully ducted ventilation system was the approved design contained with the Spanish Building Regulations. However, this would be costly to install and would impact on the development programmed. Therefore, the purpose of the simulation was to demonstrate that a non-ducted, mechanical system would also meet the Spanish Building Regulations. The planning requirements often mean extensive car parks to proposed offices, residential and retail developments. The ventilation of these car parks can present a significant cost to the developer in terms of capital expenditure for plant, energy consumption and maintenance, as well as the implications for the programmed if extensive ductwork and plant has to be installed. The use of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is most effectively used at early design stage, also can be used as a tool for solving existing problems. The specific objectives of a project can vary considerably. The key objectives of the simulations are normally to ensure that the distribution and concentration of carbon monoxide (CO), is in accordance with Building Regulations. The Building Regulations comprise a number of Approved Documents. These Approved Documents contain design options which if adopted, the scheme is deemed to comply. Applying Value Engineering can identify potential savings in capital, maintenance and energy costs without any adverse effect on performance. Computer simulation is therefore, becoming an essential value engineering design tool. For example, a designer may question why 6 air changes per hour (ACH) should be provided when 4 ACH will accomplish the desired result. The benefits of simulation are that the proposed designs can be tested against the acceptance criteria contained within the Building Regulations before any financial commitment is made. In conclusion, Three Waters using  [i]  of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) as a tool for value engineering can significantly benefit new and existing developments by avoiding unnecessary capital expenditure, reducing construction time, and providing reductions in energy consumption, CO2 emissions and maintenance. Analyses/Discussion Cost reduction programs have classified in many types and each type of the program will provides different benefits to the companies. In this part, we are going to give the analysis of the advantages and benefits the types of cost reduction methods which shown below. Finally, analysis of cost reduction will show in the end of this part. Total Quality Management (TQM) TQM is the one of the famous method that uses the focus of quality of management process. This will increase the productivity and efficiency in the business and in the manufacturing process. If the process is used from the beginning during the manufacturing process, there is less likely of chance for incorrectly producing products or devices. Therefore, it would bring the correct product in the end of process in creating less waste in raw materials and less lost hours due to repeating of the process. TQM method is not only will increase the productivity, but it also increases the level of pride in the employees. This is because each employee becomes responsible for a higher level of quality in his or her work. Kaizen Costing (KC) Kaizen costing is the maintenance of present levels for products currently being manufactured via systematic efforts to achieve the desired cost level. In general, it is the process of cost reduction during the manufacturing phase of a product. The word KAI is means modify and change and ZEN means think, make good, and make better. So, in overall, kaizen costing is focuses on continuous and gradual by small betterment activities rather than large or radical improvement made through innovation or large investments in technology. Basically, kaizen costing imply four effects, there are paying attention to the quality and productivity, acquiring little by little kaizen and problem-solving ability, perceiving the work place as their own, and understanding the meaning of kaizen. Kaizen costing meets the goal with the continual and relentless reduction of non-value-added activities and costs, the elimination of waste, and improvements in manufacturing cycle time all contribute to the effort. In additional, kaizen costing has brings the benefit of reduction in production time, reduction in rejection, energy saving, and improved quality. Value Engineering (VE)/Value Analysis(VA) Value engineering (VE) or value analysis (VA) is a process of systematic review that is applied to existing product designs in order to compare the function of the product required by a customer to meet their requirements at the lowest cost consistent with the specified performance and reliability needed. The key focus of the value engineering is the management of functionality to yield value to the customer. For instance, not that long ago, consumers of electric kettles were offered a variety different types of metal-based boiling device. The value of a kettle is derived through heating water and therefore its functionality can be determined as temperature, capacity, reliability, safety, and else. With the same functionality of the boiling water, designers would probably look towards a kettle which made of plastic. Plastic has the same functionality as metal in terms of containing and boiling water. However the switch from metal to plastic does not impair this value and functionality with the customers. This is because the customers just want to boil water, but it gives result in a cost saving for the manufacturing company. The benefits of effective VE process can be summed up including speed of getting an effective design into the market without problems and through error-free manufacturing and assembly processes, reliability and durability of the product in the market which enhances the reputation of the product and the company, low overall cost which enhances product margin and also releases finances within the business as well as allowing the ability to engage in price competition, enhanced quality and compliance with minimal costs of warranty that allows a company to differentiate its products based this perceived quality of use and esteem, and finally the value engineering process satisfies the primary goal of any business which is to make a profit and survive. Activity Based Costing (ABC) Activity-Based Costing method is a tool which could bring about significant improvement in the quality of overhead cost allocation. The ABC process is able to incorporate both physical measures and causal principles in the costing system. The basic idea of ABC is to allocate costs to operations through the various activities in place that can be measured by cost drivers. In other words, cost units are assigned to individual activities, such as planning, packing, and quality control using a resource cost driver at an initial stage with the costs of these activities being allocated to specific products or cost objects in a second phase of allocation via an activity cost driver. The advantages are providing insight into the fastest- growing and least visible element of cost-overhead, improving profitability by monitoring total life-cycle cost and performance. It also improves the effectiveness of budgeting by identifying the cost or performance relationship of difference service level. It encourages continuous improvement and total quality control because planning and control are directed at process level. At last, is facilitating elimination of waste by providing visibility of non-value added activities and improving make or buy, estimating, and pricing decisions that are based on product cost that mirrors the manufacturing process. As a result, ABC can support managers to see how to maximize shareholder value and improve corporate performance. Enterprise Resource Planning ERP can be describes to integrate all departments and functions across a company onto a single computer system that can serve all those different departments particular needs. Hence, it is extremely important to know how to use effectively Enterprise Resource Planning for a success implementation. In order for Enterprise Resource Planning system to succeed, it must be capable of successfully integrating manufacturing with the other processes of a company. Besides that, Enterprise Resource Planning is not the cure to all the problems a business will face. A number of advantages and disadvantages exists to this technology, and those who know this will be the most likely to succeed. By the implementation of Enterprise Resource Planning, it comes up with a number of advantages that helps to solve a number of problems that have plagued large organizations in the past and used to integrate the many processes of a company or organization. Scalability is also an advantage, like Enterprise Resource Planning also helps to improve the production levels and to control costs more efficiently, and this enabled us to control the whole enterprise more efficiently. As a result, Enterprise Resource Planning is no longer just a competitive advantage in this globalized world. It is very important requirement for every enterprise. To truly be effective, it may be necessary to combine the benefits of Enterprise Resource Planning with those of Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Just in Time (JIT) Just in Time is a set of techniques to improve the return of investment of a business by reducing in-process inventory and its associated costs. In addition, the process is driven by a series of signals, or Kanban that tell production processes to make the next part. Just In time causes dramatic improvements in a manufacturing organization`s return on investment, quality, and efficiency. For an example, Toyota Motor Thailand had implement Just In time methods during the crisis on July 1, 1997. Toyota Motor showed a strong commitment to uniting with whole workforce as well as suppliers and dealers to ride out the crisis. This commitment was shared with the labor union, and the entire company together with the Toyota Group implemented through measures to make operations more leaner, utilizing the resulting excess labor to implement improvement initiatives as well as additional education of employees and suppliers. Based on the concept of just in time, energy was supplied to each process when it was needed and in just the right amount; personal wastebaskets were reduced to one quarter of their original size to encourage less paper usage; and localization was promoted by expanding local procurement to Tier 2 and Tier suppliers. Meanwhile, Toyota Motor Thailand also directed energy into the education and training employees. As a result of these efforts, without having dis missed a single full-time employee, inventories were cleared in January 1998 and production began to rise again. In 2004, Toyota Motor Thailand produced 273980 vehicles. Toyota Motor Thailand paved the way for the strides forward it is making today. There are several examples of advantages of JIT. Both inventory and the cost of holding it go down as the inventory-reorder quantity and the maximum inventory level drop. However, because inventory requires incurring an ordering or setup orders that mu

We Need Tough Laws to Protect the Environment Essay examples -- Enviro

With Adam Smith and Milton Friedman among its illustrious fathers, the theory of the free market is a widely accepted and respected one today in America. It advocates the concept of a market as a self-regulating entity. By the working of natural principles such as free competition, consumer sovereignty, and maximization of the individuals' self-interest, the market is able to decide the allocation, utilization, and distribution of resources most fairly and efficiently. This characteristic of the market, known as the "Invisible Hand", is constantly hailed as one of the most imperative mechanisms of a capitalistic economy. At the same time, it is recognized that the free market does have its few but important limitations, the most notable of which are the natural emergence of monopoly, the existence of positive and negative externalities, the need for public goods that would not be provided by the market. Such instances necessitate the interference from institutions outside of the market, most commonly the government. The degradation of the earth's environment belongs to the last two groups of market failure types. Most proponents of the free market acknowledge that a clean environment can be considered as a public good because it defies the exclusionary principle; and that conversely, environmental degradation is a negative externality. Thus, a certain reasonable degree of outside intervention is required for the cause of environmental protection. The definition of this "reasonable level of outside interference" may vary depending on personal beliefs, but generally it can be characterized as "the less, the better." Private organizations' efforts are emphasized and preferred to governmental regulations and restrictions. Even w... ... Environmental Racism. Crisis in American Institutions. Edited by Jerome H. Skolnick and Elliot Currie. Allyn and Bacon. 2000. Commoner, Barry. "Why We Have Failed." Crisis in American Institutions. Edited by Jerome H. Skolnick and Elliot Currie. Allyn and Bacon. 2000. "Free Market Environmentalism". Edited by Robert Knautz. Policy Spotlight. Volume 1. Number 5. May-June 1997. Gelbspan, Ross. The Heat Is On. Crisis in American Institutions. Edited by Jerome H. Skolnick and Elliot Currie. Allyn and Bacon. 2000. Inter Press Service. "Big Corporations are Getting Bigger and Personal". December 4, 2000. March 5, 2001. "Origins of Fossil Fuel Disinformation Campaigns". The Heat Is Online. March 5, 2001. Snell, Bradford Curie. "American Ground Transport". Transport. 1973. Ideas & Institutions in American Society Course Reader, New York University. Spring 2001.

Richard Matheson

Every author has a different style of writing and getting people to read it. If it's not exciting or different you won't want to read it. Richard Matheson's stories leave you thinking what just happened? Did that really happen? Richard Matheson uses situational irony to get you interested in reading. When reading Richard Matheson's â€Å"Girl of My Dreams† situational irony is shown. For example the story is about how Carrie dreams about people and a situation they are going to encounter, her husband Greg is controlling and cruel, to where he is making these families pay money for the information Carrie dreamed.Carrie had a dream about a boy getting hit by a car; Greg wanted ten thousand dollars in cash. â€Å"†Thursday, the fourteenth! † she blurted into the mouthpiece. â€Å"Two-sixteen in the afternoon! †Ã¢â‚¬  (Matheson). â€Å"He emphasized each repetition of the word with another savage blow across her face. † (Matheson) Greg had killed Carrie because she gave the information to the lady that Greg wanted ten thousand in cash from, but before she died she gave greg information â€Å"Street† she whispered, â€Å"†¦night.†She sucked in the wheezing, blood choked breath. â€Å"Greg. † She tried to sit up but couldn’t. Her expression was becoming one of terrified concern. She whispered, â€Å"Man†¦. razor†¦. you oh no! †Ã¢â‚¬  (Matheson). Richard Matheson’s â€Å"Girl of My Dreams† in the beginning would make you think why it is like this, and wouldn’t expect Carrie to die, but yet before she dies she has a dream about Greg and dies before she can give him what day, just like he was doing to the families.â€Å"Button, Button† Richard Matheson did the same with the Situational irony. The story was about a button that if it was pressed you would receive a payment of fifty thousand dollars but someone in the world would die. â€Å"She felt unreal as the voice informed her of the subway accident, the shoving crowd. Arthur pushed from the platform in front of the train. She was conscious of shaking her head but couldn’t stop† (Matheson). This was after she had pushed the button that her husband Arthur was against.â€Å"â€Å"My dear lady,† Mr. Stewart said, â€Å"do you really think you knew your husband? †Ã¢â‚¬ . Richard Matheson had us thinking that they could have ended up with the money and not knowing who died, but in the end it was a shock to us to find out it was her own husband who was so against it. These stories by Richard Matheson â€Å" Button, Button† and â€Å"Girl of My Dreams† both prove my point of how Richard Matheson uses Situational Irony in his stories to draw the reader in and keep his stories different and keep you in shock.

Psychology – Reflection on Self

Our universe has the general tendency to move from order to disorder. And yet look at how complex we are. The puzzle becomes: How does our universe creates complexity? David Christian said, â€Å"The universe can create complexity but with great difficulty. † According to him, we live in the â€Å"goldilocks region† of our universe – not too hot, not too cold, but just right for the creation of complexity. Then, things slightly more complex started to appear stage by stage. Each stage is magical because it creates something utterly new appearing almost out of nowhere.We have known that DNA accumulates information through random errors some of which just happened to work. But DNA actually generated a faster way of accumulation information. It produced organisms with brain. And those organisms can learn and accumulate information first-hand. The sad thing about it is when the organism dies; the information dies with them. We, humans, appeared about 200 thousand yea rs ago. What makes humans different is our way of communication, the human language. A system of communication so powerful and precise that we can share our knowledge and form a collective memory that accumulates from generation to generation.The main reason why as a species humans are so creative and intelligence. But then things started to get more complex, emotions, intuition and consciousness started to materialize. We became much more sensitive and perceptive to our environment. We began to reflect upon our different behaviours. That is when â€Å"the self† emerges out of the mere reflection upon our behaviour and social interaction. Our self-concept determines our level of performance in our everyday lives. All the changes we act on the outside begin in the inside of our self-concept.The way we think, act, interact and everything that happens in our life is the manifestations of our self-concept and the way we understand it. Our outer life is always a reflection of our inner life. It is extremely important to know ourselves in order to be very clear of our values, principles, beliefs and ideals. These elements contribute as a whole on how we behave and interact with other people. Our self-concept influences our emotions, behaviour and even the way other people respond and interact with us. The problem with that though is when we think about ourselves negatively.Everything starts to be affected from just the way we think about ourselves. We start to become helpless and depressed. â€Å"We are born with pain. We are born through difficulties,† Nik Vujicic once said. Nik Vujicic was born without limbs. He tried to drown himself when he was 10 years old because he felt like he was hopeless and abandoned. He felt like it was only him against the world. But the one thought that saved him was what will his family feel and suffer when he would kill himself saying, â€Å"You know what’s worse about being born without limbs? It’s being born without limbs who gives up on living.†Personally, I don’t know why we are born this way. But we have a choice, either be angry for what we don’t have or be thankful for what we have. If Nik Vujicic, limbless but can still smile despite difficulties and trials, then so can we. When we feel like we don’t have love and hope, we start to become helpless and lose the strength to love. We start to doubt and question our very own existence when we lose those qualities. We all have those people who are going to bring us down no matter how good our day is, or bring us even lower when we are having a bad day.But when we think and accuse those people as the greatest discouragement of our lives, we’re wrong because they’re not- we are. We have a choice to give up on living or get up. Those things are like the wounds or scars in a tree bark. Judging from how a tree grows, it will never go away. But we can grow as much as we want and let those kinds of things be a small part of our lives, or we succumb to it and die. We need to remind ourselves that we are important and special, and our values are not determined by our social status, background and the way we look.During fifth grade, I was oppressed by many people even my own teacher because I was a bad kid. There was one time I was accused of doing something and I tried to defend myself saying that what happened was an accident, but it was futile. I could only do so much. People were already saying that I was the â€Å"black sheep† of my family and that I was very different from my other siblings. What happened will forever be a scar in my memory but I have to grow. I have to stand up for myself and continue on living.Everyday we make choices, and most often the simple choices are the ones that can have the huge effect for the rest of our lives. The world needs love and hope. Let us start our day by giving just that. We are here for a reason. William Barkley said, †Å"The greatest two days in anyone’s life is the day you were born and the day you know why. † We may not be able to get a miracle but we can be a miracle for others. We need to remind other people that they are important. In order to help ourselves, we first need to become selfless, not egocentric but sociocentric.Just like one famous song would state, â€Å"Love is something if you give it away. It will come right back to you. † When I was a kid even until now, I was always inquisitive and curious. I was really thinking if an optimistic belief in ourselves and self-confidence would really make a difference. I wanted to find out how do you really become successful. Eduardo Briceno asked, â€Å"What do you think is the the key to achieving goals and success? † Most people believed that it’s hard work, persistence and focus but Briceno showed that these are all products of something more potent that anyone could develop.Josh Waitzkin, a chess internat ional master and the subject for the movie â€Å"The Search for the Next Bobby Fisher,† is an example of a person who achieved great success. No one won more international competitions than him. But even more impressive, Waitzkin took on the challenge of mastering a complete new field, martial arts. It was very different from chess. After intense devotion, hard work and some broken joints, he became a great martial artist having won two international competitions. Believe it or not, Waitzkin said that the greatest thing that ever happened to him was losing his first international chess championship.He avoided the greatest psychological trap. The key trap Waitzkin avoided was believing that he was smarter than other people and that he didn’t have to work hard. He could’ve thought of himself as a protà ©gà © but he didn’t. He said, â€Å"The moment we believe that success is determined by an ingrained level of ability, we will brittle in the face of adve rsity. † Stanford University Professor Carol Dweck discovered that some people think that intelligence is fixed while other people see intelligence as Waitzkin does as something that we can develop and grow.In a study she did, several hundred seventh graders were surveyed for which kind of mindset they had and were tracked for two years. Result showed that students with growth mindset increased their performance over time. The only difference between the two groups was a different perspective of what intelligence is. â€Å"The key to success is not only effort, focus and persistent but it is the belief that we can develop ourselves and the growth mindset that creates them. † If we are to fulfill our potentials, we have to start thinking differently.Our thoughts influence our actions because if we don’t believe it then no one else will. We have to realize that we are not constant and locked to our contemporary abilities. We can change our ability to think and perf orm. Because when we lose sight in the belief that we can do something, we are done. In fact, most of the greatest thinkers of our era were once thought of as having no potential and future. Einstein once thought of committing suicide regretting why was he even born. But along with him and other great achievers from Mozart to Robert Boyle built their intelligence and abilities.â€Å"We are what we repeatedly do,† Aristotle famously proclaimed. â€Å"Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. † Once we start to believe in ourselves, that’s when confidence and excellence comes in. Excellence is not something we are born with. We have to work our way to it. We have to make it a habit. William James once said, â€Å"Any sequence of mental action which has been frequently repeated tends to perpetuate itself; so that we find ourselves automatically prompted to think, feel, or do what we have been before accustomed to think, feel, or do.†But before excellence and success, we have to believe in ourselves. The real way of achieving self-esteem and self-confidence is not by being born with it but by working and being certain of it. The key insight of the context is the belief that we can somehow do it, being confident about it and that we have to work hard at something in order to attain it. We must be confident about what we do because we’ve done it a million times. By that, we bring our game to a whole new level. Einstein worked for 10 years in completing his equations for the General Theory of Relativity.Behind it is the understanding that setbacks and failures are part of growth. Every time we became discouraged at something we are doing at, we start to tell ourselves that, â€Å"I can’t do it. † When we hear that, let us talkback with affirmation, â€Å"I can’t do it but not yet. † Just a little faith in ourselves can create great leaps. Having an optimistic belief in ourselves does create competence and effectiveness on what we do. As I would paraphrase a key text in the Bible, â€Å"Faith as small as a mustard seed can move mountains. †