Gilgamesh and Odysseus Essay

Odysseus main challenge is to help defeat the Trojans in the battle of the Trojan horse. All the men who survived the war and the sea were safely back at home, other than Odysseus, he still had a long journey ahead of him. In the beginning of his journey, his challenge was brought upon him by the powerful God of the sea Poseidon. Poseidon became Odysseus enemy after a Cyclops held him and his crewmates captive. After escaping the Cyclops, Odysseus blinded it with fire and his sword. The Cyclops was the son of Poseidon, after telling his dad what happened Poseidon became full of rage and swore to Odysseus that he would pay for what he had done, and he would wander the seas for ten years as his punishment. After leaving the island of the Cyclops, Odysseus encountered Aeolus, who gave him a bag of winds that would have directed him back to Ithaca. However, one of the crewmembers was anxious to see what was in the bag, that he opened the bag while Odysseus was sleeping. Seeing that Odysseus was the only one that was directed to open the bag this caused terrible winds to come out which blew the men further off course. After many other challenges, at sea Odysseus ended up the only survivor. A few days later, he came to the island of the goddess Calypso; she fell madly in love with him, and held captive on her island for seven years. Upon that seventh year things started to change for Odysseus. Athena, daughter of Zeus and Odysseus’ protector, discussed his fate with the other gods that who assembled in Zeus’ home. All of the gods besides Poseidon sympathized with Odysseus, because of what he did to his son. Zeus however told the God Hermes to tell Calypso to let him go and give him a raft, food, and clothing for his journey to Ithaca; this did not settle will with Poseidon. Poseidon again wrecked Odysseus’ raft and which led him to have to swim to an island naked and exhausted. He woke with laughing women around him, who took Odysseus to meet there parents. They later found out who he was and his role in the Trojan war and helped him on his journey back home. A few more things that took place in his journey back home. When Odysseus finally got home back to Ithaca to be with his family he appreciated what he left behind even more. Odysseus when through many tests, all physically, mental, and emotional but he still survived and overcame his adversities. A woman- a goddess formed Enkidu from clay, by the name of  Aruru. A woman (Shamhat) seduced Enkidu. Gilgamesh sent Shamhat, the harlot to Enkidu as a gift but Enkidu was too full of himself to understand the depth and implications of it. The intercourse was for six days and seven nights. Shamhat was supposedly helped Enkidu become a man and a civilized human being. They learned that the love of a woman was valued above all others. In conclusion, the main comparisons between the journeys of Gilgamesh and The Odyssey were men facing several trials and tribulations that women had been the main cause of the problems and challenges. In Gilgamesh, Enkidu had challenges from the goddess and in Odyssey; Odysseus had challenges from the gods and goddess.

Dissertation on Teamwork and Customer Service Quality Essay

1.0 INTRODUCTION This chapter includes the background of the study, statement of the problem, purpose of the study, objectives of the study, research questions, and scope of the study, significance of the study, limitations of the study and operational definition of terms. 1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY Phil (2002) team working is a group of people who work together towards a shared and meaningful outcomes in ways that combine their individual skills and abilities and for which they are all responsible. He added that a real team does not just happen but an organization has to work at it, create it, maintain and sustain it for the development and provision of quality standards and expectations to the customers. Organizations need teamwork in order to promote innovation and synergy, improve their goal achievement, promote professional development of team members, achieve time reduction targets and get cross-boundary ownership of tasks and problems. Ronald (2004) argues that customer service depends on the expectations of the individual customer. However, all attempts to define customer service tend to focus on the relationships at the buyer/seller interface. He further added that to achieve the customer service levels expected, an organization need to ensure that for each of these two categories: the systems, measurements and the people are in place to respond to each customer group or market. Juran (2000) says that quality is the degree of excellence that is fitness for the purpose. It can also mean the degree in which customer requirements are met. Quality is built at every stage and teams solve problems where everyone is responsible for the quality of the product. A customer is a person or an organization that buys goods or services from the shop, business, etc on a regular basis. Woods et al (2001) assert that customer service quality as the satisfaction of the agreed customer requirements. This means that the total customer service quality is the mobilization of the whole organization to achieve quality, continuously and economically. National curriculum Development Centre is an arm of the Ministry of Education and sports responsible for the Inter-alia development of curricula and related materials for various levels of education. The National curriculum Development Centre was established by NCDC act chapter 135, laws of Uganda Revised Edition 2000 whose history is decree No 7 of 1973. Baale(2010) a curriculum specialist in math for secondary at NCDC, team working is very crucial in the development and review of curriculum that result into the satisfaction of parents, stakeholders, learners, teachers and the general public. He emphasized that team work cannot be avoided when developing curriculum as it includes a panel composed of members from different areas such as subject specialists, practicing teachers, teachers associations, UNEB representative, ESA representative, teacher trainers especially from some Universities and employers or parents. Team work comes when a subject curriculum is being developed. In this case a panel of 18 members from various institutions sits and develops the curriculum. Baseline survey is conducted from parents, teachers and sometimes from learners which result into child based curriculum. Then pilot study of selected teachers from few schools is done and cluster meetings held by teachers who carried out pilot study. The education system preparation trains all teachers about the developed curriculum and NCDC specifies instructional materials to the ministry of education that are purchased and sent to schools where implementation starts. In a period of 5- 10 years the developed curriculum is supposed to be reviewed. Enyutu (2005) stated that available test results from a wide variety of sources had demonstrated prior to the curriculum review that a majority of Ugandan children entering primary school were failing to achieve adequate literacy and numeric standards. Dropout rates were high with only 22% of the 1997 P1 cohort progressing through to P7 in 2003. NAPE test results in 2003 indicated that only approximately 20% of P6 students achieved basic standards of literacy. The combination of these two pieces of information suggested that of the 1997 P1 entry cohort, only 4-5% achieved basic literacy. NAPE testing also revealed very large and unacceptable regional differentials particularly between Kampala and the north of Uganda. Bearing in mind the enormous efforts and the substantial investments in primary education made by the government of Uganda with strong support from its development partners over the past 10 -15 years, these outcomes were disappointing. In all cases the proposals in these related areas have been discussed with senior staff in the Ministry of education and sports departments concerned and with the agencies and development partners directly involved in primary education in Uganda and there has been a very large measure of agreement on the way ahead. Nevertheless, the primary review team did conclude that there were significant flaws in the current primary curriculum and a failure to provide both sufficient time and an adequate syllabus concentration on the achievement of early literacy and numeracy in lower primary grades was by far the most important problem that needed to be addressed. Failure to achieve basic literacy and numeracy in any language in lower primary grades inevitably has a devastating impact on educational quality and student performance in all other subjects. Failure to achieve early literacy was clearly the issue of greatest concern to parents and the wider community that emerged from the primary curriculum review research. It was also perceived to be one of the major causes of drop- outs. National Curriculum Development Centre seems to be using teamwork when executing its functions. It is against this ground that the researcher will investigate how teamwork at NCDC meets customer requirements. 1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM Many organizations are focusing on teamwork as a measure to improve the quality of their services delivered through brainstorming, innovation and creativity. Amidst these efforts results are not achieved due to poor coordination, lack of commitment by top management and limited funds. To address these short comings of teamwork visa-a-vie customer service quality in non profit making institutions one needs to access the level of involvement of all stakeholders in order to achieve overall performance levels (Tony 2005). NAPE (2003) report shows poor performance of children in literacy and numeracy skills in either local languages or in English due to insufficient orientation, training and support provided to teachers before the implementation of the curriculum. School supervision by the district inspectorate outside urban areas was almost everywhere insufficient to ensure good school management, the effective delivery of curriculum and regular teacher attendance. Therefore it is the interest of the researcher to know whether customer service quality is achieved through teamwork. 1.3 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY: The purpose of the study will be to examine the impact of team work on customer service quality using National Curriculum Development Centre located at Kyambogo as a case study. 1.4 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY: The research objectives will be: i. To find out the benefits of using team work in organizations ii. To examine the appropriate team work techniques used in organizations to achieve customer service quality iii. To establish the level of customer service quality at National curriculum Development Centre 1.5 RESEARCH QUESTIONS i. Are there benefits of team work gained by National curriculum Development Centre? ii. What team work techniques does National curriculum Development Centre use to achieve customer service quality? iii. What is the level of customer service quality at National curriculum Development Centre? 1.6 SCOPE OF THE STUDY The scope of the study will cover the subject, time, geographical and sample scope. 1.6.1 The subject Scope: The research will be limited to the impact of team work on one hand as the independent variable and customer service quality as the dependent variable. It will also focus on the achievements of team work at NCDC towards the development of curriculum for educational institutions in the country. 1.6.2 The Geographical Scope: The study will be carried out at National Curriculum Development Centre which is located at Kyambogo near Banda Trading centre off Kampala-Jinja road. NCDC will be an ideal case study because its core values include Respect and Team work, availability of well documented data, commitment to quality and Excellence. 1.6.3 The Time Scope The study will consider an operational time frame of a period of 2 years i.e. from the year 2010 to date. 1.7 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY: The study is expected to be beneficial in the following ways: i. The study guides planners and policy makers in making factual decisions on serving customers which ensures that all the customers, shareholders and management needs are met satisfactorily. ii. To the academicians, this research gives recommendations for future research and may act as a reference for the entire world regarding contributions of team work on performance of organizations. iii. The study helps the government and customers to identify how team working at NCDC develop curriculum that is relevant to the future career of the learners. 1.8 OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF TERMS: Team work is working together towards a shared and meaningful out come in ways that combine their individual skills and abilities and for which they are all responsible. Customer service is the satisfaction of agreed customer requirements. Quality is the degree of excellence that is the extent to which something is fit for its purpose. CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.0 INTRODUCTION This chapter consists of what other people have said about the researched problem. The researcher therefore reviews some of the related literature for the better insight of the problem. The chapter includes definition of key terms, impact of team work on customer service quality, benefits of team work in organizations, team work techniques and the level of customer service quality. 2.1 DEFINITION OF KEY TERMS Team work is a group of people who work together towards a shared and meaningful out come in ways that combine their individual skills and abilities and for which they are all responsible Phil (2002) .He added that real team does not just happen but an organization has to work at it, create it, maintain and sustain it for the development and provision of quality standards and expectations to customers. Ronald (2004) argues that customer service depends on the expectations of each individual customer. However, all attempts to define customer service tend to focus on the relationships at the buyer/seller interface. He further added that to achieve customer service levels expected an organization need to ensure that for each of these categories; the systems, measurement and people are in place to respond to each customer group or market. Michael (1999) stated quality as satisfying customers’ and stakeholders’ needs by means of sufficient mutually agreed deliverables that ,meet all the agreed requirements and specifications every time, on time and in affordable manner. It can also mean meeting the requirements of the deliverables that satisfy the needs which have been identified and agreed upon by customers, stakeholders and contractors. 2.2 IMPACT OF TEAM WORK ON CUSTOMER SERVICE QUALITY According to Baguley (2002), team work has a great impact on customer service quality. He raised the following points; Efficiency: Team working is important if people are to continue to be efficient members of the organization. Efficiency is whereby employee’s performance is improved up to the standards of the organizational goals. Team working helps employees to achieve maximum efficiency in their current jobs. It also helps the organization to meet its targets for developing and keeping people with the right skills to meet future needs. It applies to all levels of employees in an organization that is the strategic level, tactical level and operational level. Improved customer service: Team working involves different members of the organization working together and combining their individual skills and abilities to come up with something that is either a product or a service that will be highly accepted by the customers (Baguley, 2002). Innovation and Creativity: Sometimes teams of employees work together to develop new products or services through contributing and combining their different ideas and skills. This helps organizations to have new services for customers that eventually improve on its performance and create and sustain customers (Baguley, 2002). Allan Woods et al (2001) stated that team working requires meetings of teams, sections or departments to understand clearly who does what and ensure reliability which is the single most important aspect of delivering outstanding customer service. The teams organize themselves to take the advantage of the individual skills team members bring with them, work together as a group in ways that bring out the best results and every member of the team must be accountable to each other for the success of the whole team. Team working makes it possible to define and insist upon the maintenance of the standards on behalf of the customers and clients as most of the times customers do not specify their needs by referring to the teams’ attitudes or reliability standards but complain bitterly when the team falls below their perceived standards. Michiel and Harold (1997) observed that cross functional teams are used in new product development to shorten development cycle times, improve quality and reduce development costs. These goals are attained because the functional areas perform their tasks in groups rather than each functional area performing its task and passing the project off to the next functional area and the key functional groups usually design engineering, manufacturing, quality assurance, purchasing and marketing work on the new product and development simultaneously. Baguley (2002) said that team working involves integrating individual skills like problem solving, communication, inter personal skills, decision-making and functional skills for the desired out comes. He further added that a good executive team provides a model for everybody in the organization that encourages cooperation and commonality of purpose at all levels of the organization. An assembly team, erection team, machine shop team add value by creating tangible out comes or products which are specific and clearly defined by others and such products meet the expectations of customers. Bradfield et al (1998) are of the view that direct competition is one of the factors that make companies form development teams. They further stated that to be effective, production has to provide a means by which an organization can focus its resources to meet the needs of their chosen customers efficiently. First it is important to know where you are starting from, second is the decision on where you wish to go in future and the outcome should be a commitment by the organization to a deliberate policy on which customers to serve with products or offerings. Woods et al (2001) further observed that the essence of team working skills lies in good communication and open approach to people and ideas and that all communication skills should be used in promoting good customer service. They also noted that for any organization to meet the needs of customers there is need for team work to obtain feedback from customers and colleagues (both within and outside the organization) as well as about the need to establish planning cycles. Each cycle of planning and doing should therefore reduce the amount of uncertainties being faced and obtain feedback not simply from planning but by doing. Adair (1990) argues that innovation calls for a special form of creativity which he called team creativity. He said that all organizations are teams or at least they are potentially so. For effective production and marketing of goods and services these days, delivery on time, at the required quality and at a competitive price calls for a high performance team work. But to improve these existing products or to develop new products and services requires a different order of teamwork (team creativity). Organizations that practice team creativity will survive and prosper while those that do not will decline and disappear. All employees need to participate as each person at work has approximately 10,000 million brain cells, together with a full range of mental faculties, analyzing, synthesizing and valuing abilities. In all of us these processes can take place intentionally on a conscious plane of thought and also less intentionally in our un conscious minds, giving us insights, intuitions, brain waves, gut feelings, intimations and the occasional pear of a genuinely new idea. As a general principle people with a â€Å"hands- on† involvement in any product or service providing they have a modicum of interest in their work will tend to have new ideas for doing it better. The important thing from the motivational perspective is the feeling of being really part of the enterprise with a full share of responsibility in developing the quality of the product or service. Developing a quality team takes hard work because development of team skills, time and patience is not something you can decide to have one day, then achieve overnight. The entire organization is part of the same team working toward meeting the requirements of its customers. Whether management, front line or behind the scenes employees, everyone’s work contributes to the end result. There are also specific work unit teams (departmental) with specific goals and assignments. Teams working together can and should be responsible for identifying problems not previously recognized; finding the root causes of problems; suggesting who should work on problems; solving manpower assignments and scheduling improvements; and providing communication throughout the organization. To be effective, teams in the workplace must develop standards and skills, and then implement ongoing training and coaching to ensure they are put into practice (Anand, 1997).

Who Own's History Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Who Own's History - Research Paper Example Reference to history is part of humanity. It is quite hard for the society to move without visiting the history of yester years in developing policies today. Historians define history as events or scenes that occurred in the past. Past is not distinct, thereby leading to the question who determines history. The question may look cheap but quite nagging. Politicians make their references from historic events. They take there time to study historic events which had greater influence to human life, develop the event to suite their current conditions and unroll it to the society. This reason has led many people argue that history would reoccur in ones lifetime. Largely, the statement makes great sense in human life. The society owes a lot to history because the governance of the day depends on the governance of the previous day. Many people have taken their time to study what took place before their existence because the life of a man is history. Some documentation about history argues t hat a man would be ignorant if he does not take his time to explore what happened before he was born. The progress that the society boost of could only be realized when history is tabled. For instance, how would a person know his great grand father who died before he was born if history does not exist? Some people fear to study history arguing that historic events are past, yet they fail to recognize that history has influenced their lives today. This paper seeks to answer the question who determines which history is anointed as the true history. The quest for who determines which history is anointed as the true history leads to explorations of events that took place in the past. Eric Foner took his time as an historian to evaluate and determine who own history. He came out with his argument, which indicated that each individual in the society has a role in creating history. Studying history provides an opportunity for owning history. The study of the past helps in shaping the futur e by dictating the actions of today. The validity of this statement lies on the role that the government plays in the society. The government has its powers upon the people, yet it cannot exist without the people. Mr. Foner’s book who own history explores the nature of life in American history, South Africa and Soviet Union. His book provides an insight why there is no socialism in America. He goes a head to point out the importance of history in the community and the world. In the beginning of his book, Foner describes his early life in communist family. He started seeing the social and political gap that existed in America, though people claim that America is a land of liberty. The communist fight against racism influenced his life. Foner’s family had portrayed concern to the blacks whom the American white neglected or viewed as second-class citizens. Foner learnt that a person’s commitment in pursuing social justice would infuse the person’s view into history. Many articles and books that people read provide some element of truth to Foner’s view. Rising in the societal rank would expose a person to be remembered in history. Foner took this opportunity as an insight into studying history and changing the society. He took the road to academic success a means that would bring him to the limelight of history. Foner provides the history of America in his book by pointing out the social issues in the American society. He paints America as a nation that has condoned racialism under the guise of the western styles (Foner 157). His history is against the American, capitalists and democratic zeitgeist. The book portrays Foner as a left thinker. The book points the rise of Ronald Reagan and failure of the government to sustain the economy. He points the

Re-Branding Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Re-Branding - Case Study Example Utilizing the case of Hunter Boots and the case study which was provided concerning how the firm was able to rebrand and ultimately turn the company around from near insolvency to rampant sales generation and growth, this brief analysis will be able to draw a high level of inference upon the means by which re-branding is effected as well as pointing to some of the key marketing concepts and theories that are oftentimes utilized in order to bring effective re-branding about. As such, rather than merely restating the case study in question, this particular analysis will seek to define the means whereby Hunter Boots was able to effect its rebranding and turn around via several different applications of marketing strategy and theory. Moreover, rather than merely elaborating upon some of the marketing mechanisms that Hunter Boots utilized in order to bring the firm back from the brink of extinction within the marketplace, the analysis will close with a particular word of warning. Such a w ord of warning is of course with relation to the fact that such a rebranding process that is ever-mindful of the realities of the marketplace is demanded to be perpetually engaged with if such a firm wishes to continue to have a place within the market. One of the very clear and present realities of the way in which markets behave and interact with the consumer and vice versa is with respect to the rapid level of change and fast changing consumer tastes. As such, the market for Hunter Boots had all but died out prior to the successful rebranding that took place. In this way, the relevant stakeholders of the firm found it necessary to institute a series of marketing theories and concepts in order to evoke a level of positive change within overall sales of Hunter’s line of boots. The first of these was to seek to reposition the brand. Whereas previously Hunter Boots had experienced a degree of appeal among wealthier segments of British society, the allure had since been lost as the style and limited product choice had come to be seen as stodgy and outdated. In such a manner, repositioning the brand to make it appeal to a broader audience was direly necessitated. Running tangentially to this need and reality of repositioning the brand, the firm found it expedient to seek to leverage the â€Å"upmarket†. This of course is a marketing concept that useful to understand with regards to the target market that the firm is attempting to leverage. With regards to how Hunter Boots sought to upmarket the product line, it was the understanding and realization of key individuals within the management of the firm that successful rebranding should not deviate too far from the originally strength and stigma that Hunter Boots originally entailed. In such a way, the ultimate intention was to market Hunter Boots as something of a chic aspect of â€Å"haute couture† that denoted a degree of sophistication and wealth. In such a way, the rebranding effort utilize d consumer desire to represent this exclusivity as a means of not only increasing sales but increasing the price per pair of boots approximately 20% (Coster, 2009). Two further marketing concepts which were heavily utilized in order to engage the consumer were with respect to the level and extent to which product differentiation and expansion of the product line were effected to increase overall sales. Whereas before the restructuring and rebranding of Hunter Boots, there were only two specific product offerings that the firm was able to exhibit, as a result of the rebranding efforts, the firm set out to explosively increase the overall number of style

One-Tailed Test or a Two-Tailed Test Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

One-Tailed Test or a Two-Tailed Test - Assignment Example If there were foreknowledge that there was no expected difference, it would be absurd to collect the data and do the analysis. In this case scenario, the comparison is between two groups of people in which one has received oxygenation medication whereas the other one has not.   Jackson (2011) asserts that the use of one tailed analysis is predicated upon a high certainty prior to the data collection that either there is no difference or a difference exists in a certain area of the entire population. In the event that the data analysis ends in showing the existence of a difference in the incorrect region, it then becomes automatic that the difference is attributable to random sampling. This consideration or assumption is done without giving due thought to the possibility that true difference might be a reflection of the measured or calculated difference (Urdan, 2005). The Probability That Group I Is Different from Group 2 and the Significance Against the Benchmark of P < .05   Acc ording to Rasch, Kubinger, and Moder (2011), the null hypothesis can only be rejected when the t-static from tables is less or greater than t critical two-tail value gotten after computation. Therefore, if the test statistic is less than -2.12 or greater than 2.12, the null hypothesis will be rejected and the alternative hypothesis adopted instead.   The test statistic is 0.899, which falls into the rejection region, so the null hypothesis is not rejected, which states that there is no difference between the means from the two samples.  

Teenagers and modern social media Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Teenagers and modern social media - Essay Example Therefore, teenagers, parents, television producers and social media managers among others can read this article and obtain insightful knowledge. The author ensures to be as persuasive as possible so that the audience can be convinced. Mainly, the author uses facts and a combination of inference and observation to persuade the audience. For instance, the author condemns television stations for airing programmes that show teenagers drinking and using drugs as well as making some celebrity figures famous for partying, instead of focusing on celebrity role models such as Angelina Jolie (2). This is more convincing to the audience because they can relate to it and thus read the hypocrisy of the media in wanting the best for teenagers. The author uses the third person point of view. This brings about the notion that the author is well informed on the role of the media in the lives of teenagers. The author is quite disappointed by the media, especially television, thus holds a negative attitude towards them. For instance, she notes that the media is only interested in making profit and does not care whether it influences teenagers positively or negatively. In this article, the author does not include other people’s views. Additionally, she does not hold opposing views, as she only believes that the media is out to â€Å"destroy† the morals of teenagers and wash away what their parents taught them. The author does not use unfair arguments. However, her argument should have included the role of parents as well as the teenagers themselves in choosing what is morally right. When teenagers decide to watch only insightful programs, they will reduce the negative influence that the media will have on them. The author employs logos in persuading the audience through reason. She reasons out how the media is negatively influencing teenagers and proposes the best ways the media should act. Overall, this article is

Personal statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Personal Statement Example It is my belief that working hard and aiming higher is the key to successful. Other short courses include HP Certificate in Photography obtained in the year 2007. I have successfully completed a non- academic course in Germany language and academic courses in French. I complicated a two-week Translation Course in Media under the Saudi Gazette (George Mason University, 2012). The following is my educational background. Between 2008 and 2009, I studied MA Psycholinguistics and Neurolinguistics in Essex University, Colchester in the United Kingdom. I achieved my diploma in Italian Language in The Italian Consulate Jeddah in Saudi Arabia between 2005 and 2007. Finally, I attained my BA in English Literature and Linguistics in the University of King Abdulaziz, Jeddah in Saudi Arabia in the period between 2002 and 2007. I have learned computer and gained knowledge in various computer packages including SPSS, PowerPoint, Internet, MS Word, MS Excel as well as English and Arabic typing skill s. Based on the knowledge and skills that I have acquired I am in a position to handle complicated issues which require application of such skills (George Mason University, 2012). I have work experience from different institutions. In the period between July 2005 and August 2005, I worked as English tutor in the Saudi Cultural Centre, Jeddah where I taught English from level one to five. Apart from teaching, I was in charge of different activities like using computer labs for the purposes of learning computer. I also taught English in the same college between July and August 2006 still holding the same responsibilities. Between august and September 2006, I worked in the Advanced System Company, Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. My role was to translate the contracts of the company from English to Arabic language. Lastly, I worked for AlHayet Newspapers, Jeddah at the customer service. My role was to receive and call back the newspaper customers in addition to filling questions and settling an y disputes which may arise (George Mason University, 2012). Apart from working for to earn something, I have gained experience through voluntary work. I worked as a librarian in the special Library for Linguistics in the University of Essex, Colchester, United Kingdom. This took place between the months of February and June 2008. My duties involved helping students and teachers open accounts, recording down books which have been borrowed, helping borrowers in making the choice of books which would be of great help to them, putting the books in order and finally making follow-ups of books which have not been returned. I worked for The Child Legal Center, University of Essex as a translator of English into Arabic language between the months of February and May 2008.My duty was to translate legal articles from English to Arabic language so that they can be traced for on-line use (George Mason University, 2010). My hobbies include watching all kinds of movies. I am especially more inter ested in watching comedies, drama, documentaries and novel-based movies. I am also interested in understanding the history of Russia, America, Britain, Greece and Roman. In order to achieve the goals I and some other colleagues have formed groups to discuss books which document the history of those countries. From 2008, we have been meeting once in a month for that purpose. The group is mainly formed by academic

The Existence of God Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

The Existence of God - Essay Example When he does buy it that is not God answering your prayer, but just coincidence. My remarks surprised you because you are a staunch believer in God. You rejected my argument, terming it logically fallacious, saying there is a supreme being that controls our existence and nature. You continued to say that everything that happens does so for a reason, and the reason is God. That was brilliant and so enlightening. Introducing the fallacies of the appeal of faith, I stated that if you do not have faith you could not learn about God and His mysteries. Faith relies on belief and does not base on any evidence, depends on irrationalism in thinking. This implies that, if you do not believe in God, then you surely cannot learn about him. I am not a believer but know little about God, because I believe knowing about Him is not necessarily about faith but interest in learning. You could not agree with me at all from the beginning. Your response was that one has to have faith in God, to understand how mysterious He is, and termed my argument logically fallacious. Also, dismissed my argument saying that you cannot learn about something you do not believe in at all. That was a smart argument and really got me thinking. This was a revelation to me. I also brought forward the fallacy on begging the question or assuming the answer to certain problems in the society. Many people believe that spreading religion among more people in society will instill moral behavior. I did not understand how praise and worship could instill moral behavior in the society, rather than teaching moral behavior and personal choice of people. Being a believer, you explained that from God’s teachings Christians are encouraged to have good moral behaviors. Therefore, spreading religion to more members of society, to have more believers, there will be a change of morality in society. This was a truly factual argument. Receive my

The importance of expert systems in the decision making process Essay

The importance of expert systems in the decision making process - Essay Example Expert systems can be used by mangers to make official decision process and to clarify the reasoning process employed to make decisions. Expert systems have provided so many facilities in the management decision-making process and the process turned out to be faster and more consistent. This research paper based on theme of the analysis of the importance of 'Expert system' in the management decision making process.This paper provides the research on the importance of 'Expert System' in the Management Decision Making Process. It provides information in such a way that every aspect of the expert system of the Decision Making can be addressed. First of all this paper will present a brief introduction and background of the expert systems, and then it will present the structure of the expert system, the next section contains how expert system can work for the management of enterprise. The next section is literature review of the relevant research and development in the same field, for thi s purpose it will discuss the development and results of the COMMU expert system, then the proceeding section discusses expert system in business management/ financial markets discussion, here the main point of discussion would be that how expert system become beneficial for the business management and how it can support decision making process. The next section is regarding expert systems & decision support association. The proceeding section will articulate few inabilities of expert system regarding decision making. Then the next section contains the conclusion and references. Artificial intelligence or AI is a field of computer science which has concerned a group of computer specialists in current years. AI is the study of how to create computers doing things at which, at the moment, people are better. AI has two major objectives (Kenneth, 1998). The first purpose is to form an intelligent machine. The second intend is to find out regarding the environment of intelligence. AI can be separated into three comparatively independent research areas: 1) Expert systems, 2) Natural language and 3) Robotics Of the three areas, expert systems development is the mainly important practical application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) (Kenneth, 1998). One of the most recent and mainly promising information technologies is the expert system or ES. An expert system is a computer program that impersonators the decision making behavior and technique of the human expert and permits computing power to be applied to jobs those necessitate the dealing out of human knowledge (Adrian et al, 1990). Because of its intelligent abilities it has been suggested that expert system technology will have a remarkable effect on the workplace. An expert system is a computer program that goes behind human proficiency whether it is gained directly from experts or from written sources like regulations. The main reimbursements are several as given below: (Terry et al, 2000) Enhanced decision making Making eminence and reliability Minimizing Costs Extension of organizational awareness These programs are fairly diverse in their function, which comprise guidance to fresh employees, user friendly front-ends to databases, and still the making of decisions for employees by means of the expert's reasoning. Research in artificial intelligence has led to the intensification and expansion of expert systems (Terry et al, 2000). Expert system is also an elevated performance exceptional system which is developed by "confining" and coding the skill and knowledge of a specialist using unique computer language that is special for the expert system. The thought is that the consequential computer system be able to then hold out the similar level of service to a user as the original and innovative expert (Joseph et al, 2005). Developing expert systems engages two basic steps before authentic

Organization Development Change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Organization Development Change - Essay Example From this essay it is clear that  professional development deals with improvement of individual’s effectiveness in practise, while organizational development entails the ways in which organizations can be enhanced through   overall   productivity,   human   fulfilment, and the response that is necessary towards the   environment.  Ã‚  This study highlights that  scholars such as Rittel and Weber have proposed the concept of wicked  Ã‚   problems and wicked projects as a class of problems that has difficulty in definition and has no ultimate solution. Moreover, they argue that these wicked problems are found in several forms that are in different organizations, as well as, environments. It is worth noting that wicked problems generate from a dense network of interconnected factors that are challenging in understanding how a particular decision is viable towards influencing decisions in other areas.  Change has numerous definitions that go in line with where it has been used. Never the less, a change agent could be best explained as a helper, advisor, coach, and leader or consultant. Its main function is the catalyst effect that entails bringing change to an organization or businesses in specific ways.   In light of this, many companies, as well as, organizations hire change agents to foresee specific changes in organizations.  The practitioner must be adversely knowledgeable about organization development theory.... It is expected that the practitioner has self management skills which makes it easier to practise interpersonal skills to members of the organization. Besides, the practitioner must be adversely knowledgeable about organization development theory (Beyerlin and Marauhn, 2011). Of importance to note is that change is constant as it occurs in both national and international levels, over and above, physical environment particularly in ways that organizations are structured and ways in which the organizations operated politically, socially and economically. Apparently, the world has become so complex and is continuously integrated to the extent of changes that seem too far being affective. Moreover, change appear to be frequent and random, a situation that makes the world a global village. According to Fitzmaurice 2009, incredible amount of change that is being witnessed globally has put the world in a position where individuals and organizations are now able to see the big picture in rel ation to how events are affecting them and vise versa. Change Applications Application of organization development in terms of change ensures that organizations and individuals are aware of the changes and how they are affecting them. Besides, the applications of organizational development support individuals and organizations to deal with change through events such as team building efforts and improvement of functions within the organization, over and above, those that are external through the introduction of planned change efforts (Griffiths 2007). In every organization development change, there are three practitioners’ who are involved ensuring that there is change in

A Good Man is Hard to Find Essay Example for Free

A Good Man is Hard to Find Essay By the title, â€Å"A Good Man Is Hard to Find†, a reader would not suspect what the story is really about. One might assume that Flannery O’Connor’s short story is about finding love perhaps, rather than moral, murders, and convicts. Contrarily, the meaning of this story is even deeper than the naked eye can reveal. Throughout Flannery O’Connor’s short story, â€Å"A Good Man is Hard to Find† a manipulative setting, leads to domination over the other characters in the story; moreover, leading to symbolic animalistic attributes, fabricating a profound meaning of hypocritical aspects. The monkey presented in the story symbolizes the animalistic nature of humans. The monkey represents the stubborn, bias, and shallow views of the people of the time period in the quote, â€Å" a gray monkey about a foot high, chained to a chinaberry tree, chattered nearby. The monkey sprang back into the tree and got to the highest limb as soon as he saw the children jump out of the car and run toward him.†(O’Connor 325) The animal is chained to signify the limitations to the views the characters like the Grandmother and Red Sam believe. When someone poses animal-like characteristics, humans completely dominate their environment that our social structures have become ecosystems unto themselves. Animals learn to act exactly like their parents as they grow to adulthood; furthermore, once the animal is an adult, it has the behaviors, ideas, and motives of the parents that will never change and will pass those traits on to the next generation. This corresponds with the Grandmother and the story, with her children and grandchildren; for example, when a person is the most dominant character in the family, the inferior ones follow behind grasping the beliefs of the dominate character. The Grandmother’s immutable ways make her the dominant character in the allegory. It is written in the story, â€Å"..The old lady settled herself comfortably, removing her white cotton gloves.. The children’s mother still had on slacks and still her head tied in a green kerchief, but the grandmother had on a navy blue straw sailor hat.. a navy blue dress with a small white dot in the print.. In case of an accident, anyone seeing her dead on the highway would know at once that she was a lady†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (O’Connor 323) It makes the reader wonder that, why was she dressed so dressy for a prolonged drive in a cramped car? For one, this statement is also an example of foreshadowing. Later on in the story, when she is held at gun point, she constantly recites â€Å"I know you wouldn’t shoot a lady!† Ironically, she got what she wanted because when people find her dead, she will be dressed like a lady. The outfit she is wearing also tells about her demeanor. The references to the navy, for example navy blue hat, means that she was strong and domineering like the navy. Later on in the story, unfortunately leading to their demise, she uses her domineering tactics to get where she wants to go using the children’s curiosity. â€Å".. She knew that Bailey would not be willing to lose any time looking at an old house, but the more she talked about it, the more she wanted to see it once again and find out if the little twin arbors were still standing. ‘There was a secret panel in this house,’ she said craftily, not telling the truth but wishing that she were, ‘and the story went that all the family silver was hidden in it when Sherman came through but it was never found’†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (O’Connor 327) The Grandmother purposely says something false to ensure the children will cajole their dad into going there. She knew this was a lie and she knew that she was not going to talk Bailey into it single-handily. The only way possible was to manipulate the children through the use of their excitement and curiosity to dominate over her son. The grandmother manipulates all of the characters except the Misfit who turns the tables on the grandmother in the end. She tries to make the convict feel better about himself by conveying, â€Å"‘Yes, its a beautiful day, said the grandmother. ‘Listen,’ she said, ‘you shouldnt call yourself The Misfit because I know youre a good man at heart. I can just look at you and tell.’† (O’Connor 330) The Grandmother knows of the crimes this man has committed. She thinks she can manipulate him the way she does Bailey but the man can sense this all along. The Grandmother uses manipulation by saying that the Misfit is a good man so he can believe that he is a good man deep down inside and spare the lives of the family. In addition, the grandmother has a hypocritical standpoint, which makes using religion as a manipulation tool goes completely wrong. She  questions her faith in the quote, â€Å" ‘Maybe He didnt raise the dead,’ the old lady mumbled†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (O’Connor 334) The grandmother is humbled as she sees that she has lost the fight. She is now inferior to the Misfit unlike in the beginning, where she stood before him; now she sits faintly on the ground looking up to the convict. The Grandmother could be questioning her faith as if saying â€Å"How could God do this to me?† or the line could be indicating that she did not have very much faith at all. At this point in the short story; it seems as if the Misfit has more faith than she does. She tries to regain her dominance in the quote, â€Å" ‘Why youre one of my babies. Youre one of my own children!’ She reached out and touched him on the shoulder. The Misfit sprang back as if a snake had bitten him and shot her three times through the chest.† (O’Connor 334) It is as if he has encountered something very threatening. It is hypocritical because a snake is usually associated with evil or â€Å"enemy of man† like the biblical story of Adam and Eve. It symbolizes how genuine good appears to genuine evil. To conclude, this story has so many points that you have to examine in between the lines. Basically, the story is about a woman with a domineering personality that has to die to be brought back down to size. The writer conveys this meaning through the use of symbolism, domination, manipulation, and hypercriticism.

Information Security Overview Essay Example for Free

Information Security Overview Essay In this paper I will be discussing some of the benefits of having frameworks for information security management. What each of the frameworks of information security are, their pros and their cons. Which major perspectives to consider in information security management and framework choice. What organizational factors should be considered in framework choice? I will also attempt to come up with a better framework for information security. Some of the benefits of having frameworks for information security management are, that they serve as a common ground for integrating all types of information security functions. It also helps answer question of how to react to information security issues. As well as, helping identify what the important components involved in establishing and maintaining information security initiatives. Since our information faces more potential security breaches than ever before (Ma, Schmidt, Pearson, 2009 p. 58). The information security frameworks are the following: -Governance frameworks -Security frameworks -Risk management and risk assessment frameworks -Audit and assurance frameworks -Legal and regulatory frameworks The governance framework is very important because it gives us a road map for the application, evaluation and improvement of information security practices (Information Security Governance: Toward a Framework for Action). This frame work includes legislation, regulations, corporate structure, corporate culture and the importance of information security to the organization. It also acts as a mechanism to deliver value, mange performance and also mitigates risk. Another important fact about this  framework is that it gives us a way to assign accountability for each decision and performance. It ensures that policies, procedures, management and other related management techniques are all working hand in hand to achieve the organization’s goals. There aren’t many documents that define the roles, tasks and responsibilities of different senior members of an organization, just like in any other successful practice the need of support from senior management is needed. FISMA clarifies how that support has to be given. Some of the pros that governance frameworks bring to the table are as follows: It helps technology with business goals, it provided a framework for measuring and managing IS performance. It also facilitates compliance with external legislation and regulations. And last but not least, it helps ensure valuable technology solutions are delivered on time and on budget. Security standard framework consists of various guidelines, standards and regulations FISMA, NIST 800-39, HIPAA stand out to me. Each of these cover a wide range of needs that need to be followed in order to achieve a successful security framework. While FISMA is a more broad regulation that covers many government related issues, it still provides a good understanding of the division of responsibilities. NIST 800-39 delves into different risk management issues, which will be highlighted as I continue this research. Information security planning or strategy should be aligned with business objectives (Peltier, 2003 p.22) According to NIST 800-39 Risk management is a comprehensive process that requires organizations to: frame risk i.e. establish the context for risk-based decisions, assess risk and responds to risk once determined, and to monitor risk on an ongoing basis. This frame work is a fundamental requirement in which senior leaders and executives need to be committed to. There are many organizational risks, some of these are: i.e. program management risk, investment risks, legal liability risk and security. Information systems is also critical to the success of organizations achieving their objectives and strategic goals (NIST 800-39 p. 2). Some of the pros for Risk Management frame works are a) reducing the risk to an acceptable level if the risk cannot be eliminated, with which the organization it is still able to function safely. b) Risk can be transferred by using insurance policies by insuring that the company’s assets are protected for theft or destruction. Audit and assurance frameworks includes assessing and comparing what is actually happening in an  organization against what is actually supposed to be happening. Auditors can also be called to assess compliance with corporate security policies, standards, procedures and guidelines. Some times as contractual commitments, either as a specific audit or solely in the course of routine audit assignment. Legal and regulatory frameworks, ensure that organizations are abiding by the requirements given by the different regulations like, FISMA, HIPPA and others. Failure to comply with the standards listed on these and other regulations can affect organizations in various ways; ranging from fines to jail time depending of the severity of the violation and the state where the violation is being committed. The some of the pros to this framework are that organizations will be more apt to follow what is required of them all the while protecting not only the customers’ sensitive informations but also the employee’s vital information. Some of the cons to these frameworks â€Å"A secure system is one that does what it’s supposed to† (Eugene Spafford). There is no way to ensure that all systems have the same state of security. Because not all systems do the same things. Therefore each individual organization or user must choose what type of security is important. In some cases security clashes with itself. Controls that might enhance confidentiality doesn’t necessarily support integrity. With all the time it takes to control integrity and confidentiality and how complex they each are, the availability is impacted. It does not come as a surprise that it is impossible to create a universal checklist of the items once implemented, will guarantee security. Security risks aren’t necessarily measurable, since the frequencies and impacts of future incidents are dependent on many different things that tend to be out of our control. If we don’t know what skills whoever is attempting to intrude or hack our systems is working with, it would be difficult to fight it, let alone predict it. Opposite to what some might believe, according to BOA’s Smith, â€Å"senior management is not the biggest hindrance to better security. Rather, th e middle management might represent one of the largest challenges because they impact the organization daily.† Many organizations find it difficult to stay in compliance with different government laws and regulations like Sarbanes-Oxley Act and HIPAA in addition to Payment card industry Data security Standards. It does not help the fact that there is a scarcity in security professionals who have the technical and engineering skills that  know how to explain the risks/rewards and the trade-off and can sell solutions within the organization. When choosing a framework in information security management we have to keep in mind different factors in order to have a successful framework. Some of these factors are, the goals of the organization; we have to establish the information security objectives, these should be strategic, organizational focus and made by executive-level management, since they have a better grasp of the whole business goals and limitations. We also have to be aware of the fact that organizational goals, structure and information security management strategy has to change as different environmental factors like, technology business and legislation frequently evolve. Another important factor is the culture of the organization need to be the same for everyone involve, from the CISO to the administrative assistant. After all the extensive reading, my framework would have a continuous risk management and risk assessment frame work, security controls that align perfectly with the goals of the business and the culture of not only the organization but the entire workforce. I would achieve this by implementing quarterly training on the importance of ISM and how it affects everyone involved. I believe that everyone should be kept informed as to what our IS goals are by showing them how we have failed or succeeded. On the chance that we have failed we can have the employees propose how we can make it better. When we involve everyone affected they will take it more seriously. There are different types of frameworks that make up the information security management framework. Which address the needs for a functional ISM framework and details the obligations of those in an organization while providing the standards, guidelines, legislations and regulations the all have to abide by. And how the lack of a proper framework can affect those in the organization. Reference Ma, Q., Schmidt, M., Pearson, J. (2009). An integrated framework for information security managemtn. doi: Review of Business Dempsey, K., Chawla, N., Johnston, R., Jones, A., Orebaugh, A., Scholl, M., Stine, K., Johnson, A. U.S Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology. (2001). Information security continuous monitoring for federal information systems and organizations (800-137). Gaithersburg, MD D. Smith (Jonson, M., Goetz, E. (2007). Embedding information security into the organization. 17.) Eugene Spafford. (I’m sorry, but I lost the article where I got his quote from)

New Balance: A Case Study

New Balance: A Case Study Abstract A case study of New Balance Corporation are discussed in 3 different perspectives such as observations on strategic marketing plan, evaluation on manufacturing processes and the company financial profitability. A complete analysis of these three perspectives and suggestion on how to stay competitive is explained further in this report. The marketing perspective will focus on the evaluation of its current marketing methods and proposal on effective marketing strategy. The manufacturing perspectives study the operation and provide recommendation quality planning. The financial perspectives will review the cost, profitability and loss in investment of New Balance Corporation. Introduction In 2004, New Balance Athletic Shoe Inc. Became on of the biggest athletic shoe manufacturer in the United State of America. by New Balance became more famous with its unique and creative philosophies that included an endorsed by no one stand, withholding of 25% manufacturing in the US, and it target middle-aged customer as its target and the company grew and gained market share in the highly competitive athletic shoe industry. In marketing perspective, the research is done on strategic marketing approaches to meet customers satisfaction. In manufacturing perspective, the research is concentrates on manufacturing process of New Balance shoes and importance of Quality planning and control together. In financial perspective, the research is about financial management while maintaining quality. This report summarizes the difficulties faced by New Balance Corporation and the solutions to the problems encountered. 1. Marketing Perspective New Balance Corporation is manufactures basketball, running, hiking, tennis and cross training shoes with offering its shoes in a range of sizes. Because of not undertake celebrity or superstar to endorse its products, New Balance Corporation lose out to gaining awareness on a global marketing. Its make their lacks endorsements in major sporting events and also make them at a disadvantages when it comes to brand building and the company also faces is its limited output. For reach their product line in marketing, the company make a few changes in management; it was well trained employees for working by team, makes them different jobs, switching tasks and also operates computerised sewing equipment and automated stitches. New Balance Corporation has been faced manufacturing cost, with its competitors outsourcing most of their manufacturing to others countries such as China 1.1 Job design Job design or work arrangement is important parts to make the companys raise productivity levels by offering non financial rewards such as greater satisfaction from a sense of personal achievement in meeting the increased challenge and responsibility of ones work. Few techniques can be use in job design and it was job enlargement, job improvement, job rotation and job simplification.[2] New Balance Corporation employed just a smaller quantity than a dozen in 1970. At that time the employees made each shoe by hand, one at the time and third pairs for daily production. [1] As the company has grown and changed, their manufacturing also changed by the improvement in the companys marketing and manufacturing. New Balance was introduced a new technologies to make the shoe and also trained the employees with working in small teams with 5 or 6 employees and technical skills.[1] When the employees work by team, there can know each other and became friendlier. This will make the companies envir onment in good situation. The company manufacturing was improved by switching task every few minutes and helping each other to make the products in quality. [1] By switching task, the employees can be more experience in kind of works. Other than that, the employees also trained to operate computerised sewing equipment and automated stitches. Its make the workers to do the work of 20. This cause the company safe the time with delivered highest quantity of products. But to reach their product in local or global marketing, New Balance didnt undertake celebrity to endorse its products and because of this New Balance face their output in limited than other competitor. 1.2 Method of work organisation To make the product reach in marketing New Balance Corporation use few method in their work organisation. The company is known for innovative products designs, excellent relation with buyers and a strong commitment to social responsibility. New Balance became famous in global after manufactured special designed orthopaedic shoe for baseball players and track and field athletes, in 1930. They also concentrate on customers target. They made running shoe with the target customers mileage, size, strength, the prices of the shoe and the running environment.[1] The company also control and adjust the new products design depends on customers interest and competitor challenges. This process at New Balance is working well. Other method used by New Balance Corporation was advertisement campaign. Bill Bruce, chief creative officer at New Balance agency, was the lead to the campaign. Example of advertisement by New Balance is Running is hard. People aspire to it because its not easy and The shor test distance between two points is not the point. [1] With develop in designs, improve quality and innovate their processes a capability is not enough for the company to reach their manufacturing process and New Balance Corporation known it, so the company share 10% market of athletic shoes in china. It would be the equivalent of 100 million customers. 1.3 Advantages and disadvantages of going global. 1.3.1 Advantages International markets able to expand if New Balance Corporation distributes their products in global marketing. The company can sales shoes with new design and comfortable price for the customers. Other than that, New Balance able to build reliable sources of supply and keep abreast of the latest trends and technologies. Payment for the workers at America is $23 to $21 an hour. But at the China the coast is very low depending on America; its just $2.63 and $0.67 an hour. The American workers receive roughly the equivalent amount of money for working 1 hour as a Chinese worker earns in a 40 hour week. This made New Balance Corporation safe the coast of the workers. [3] 1.3.2 Disadvantages Nike and Adidas were strongest global branded names. So that, New Balance has to invest the highest coast in product manufacturing such like new design, quality of product for keep strongest from their competitor.[4] Director Emeritus John Larsen Figure 1: Organisation chart of New Balance Chairman of the Board James Davis Executive Vice President, Apparel Kerry Kligerman Executive Vice President, Commercial Herb Spivak Chief Executive Officer, President Robert DeMatini Executive Vice President, Global Footwear, Product Marketing Joe Preston Executive Vice President, International Alan Hed Executive Vice President, Manufacturing John Wilson Executive Vice President, North American Sales Chris Quinn Vice President, Consumer Experience Paul Heffernan Executive Vice President, value chain Dave Crosier Vice Chairman of the Board Executive Vice President, Administration Anne Davis Vice President, Advanced Concepts Edith Harmon Vice President, Finance Bill Hayden Vice President, Global Design Development Jim Connors Vice President, Global Logistics Kevin Holin Vice President, Human Resources Carol ODonnell Vice President, Intellectual Property Edward Haddad Vice President, Responsible Leadership Christine Madigan Vice President, Retail Stephanie Smith Vice President, Sourcing Procurement Jim Scaibarrasi Vice President, St. Louis Joe Clendenny Corporate communication Manager Amy Dow Vice President Treasurer Alan Rosen Vice President Key Account Sales Peter Zappala 2. Observe the strategy formulation and processes to continuously improve to meet the customer needs, and quality at lower cost. New Balance Corporation has been carried out a lot of processes to improve their customer needs, and quality at lower cost. They have carried out many of processes continuously for a couple of years. 2.1 Strategy formulation The first step they took for begin this process is, they have started to produced close to their customers. This step allows quick turnarounds on new designs and order execution able to remain competitive at home by creatively adapt new technologies to shoemaking constantly training their employees in teamwork and technical skills work in teams, sharing responsibilities and helping one another to make sure everything gets done. Previously they faced a problem about staying in a particular country only, but now they also managed to solve that issue. Today their capable to managed several numbers of Asian suppliers and monitor them more closely. On the other hand, it is possible that current management and production methods can produce high ability with fewer workers and equalize cheaper pay in Asia[5]. They also come out with another new plan that is they have decided to give 22 hours of training in teamwork and production techniques to train the new employees. New Balance is leaving its tradition of communicating through its consumers with low-key, convincing sincerity, and approval instead a colourful commercial campaign which is known as Love/Hate[8]. Little articles that importance to capture the spirit of the experiences and relationships public have with their running shoes. The most powerful quality they have is their confident level towards their business. This fact is proven by the never ending confident level they showed in those years when the other competitors companies recorded lacklustre growth on their business, finally they succeeded [5]. 2.2 Process Quality Improvement Staying involved with the developed process helps New Balance develop better designs, improve quality, and innovate their processes capabilities. The corporation is doubling its marketing budget to make sure as many people as possible experience this special communication. In order to remain competitive, New Balance highly focuses on quality and productivity improvement. 2.2.1 Total Quality Management (TQM) New Balance introduced a new activity known as Total Quality Management (TQM) into their organization. TQM is a system for creating competitive advantage by focusing the organization on what is important to the customer[5]. Principles of TQM are Do it right the first time and an approach for zero defects[6]. According to TQM, good quality reduces time of rework and able to spent more time in manufacturing. TQM recommends management to find new ways to meet or exceeds customers needs. Awareness and skill training of top-level manager to non-manager, full employee empowerment and effective communication both vertically and horizontally of all levels must be in practice to improve the quality goals[5]. 2.2.2 Continuous Improvement (CI) Another activity carried by New Balance is continuous improvement (CI) or Kaizen. They decided to continue with this to remain competitive. CI focused in unlimited improvement of material, machine, labor use and production method and waste elimination to attract their customers [5]. New Balance started to apply some of the CI approaches such as Statistical process control (SPC), PDCA cycle, Pareto analysis, Fishbone diagram, Benchmarking and Just-in-Time (JIT) method. SPC is a tool to identify problems in production process in order to prevent poor quality by using Statistical Control Chart [5]. PDCA or Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle provides guidance on problem solving process. They carried out the process with the new improvement for continual improvement according to the customer needs. Pareto principle describes that 80% of the problem come from 20% of the cause[5]. They also stated that the solution to 20% will solve 80% of the problem. Fishbone diagram was developed to identify potent ial causes to a problem[5]. Benchmarking is an approach for setting goals and efficiency measures based on best-industry practices[6]. Benchmarking involves recognition of a process that needs progress and identification of world-lead organization that performing this process. And, analyzing data obtained by contacting the organization [5]. By implementing JIT method in Bedford plant, New Balance will deal with fewer raw materials, less WIP inventory and low finished goods inventory. Less inventories save more space, which can be rented for subcontract to other corporation. JIT is about delivery of necessary parts in the right amount at the right time and place with minimum conveniences usage[7]. 2.2.3 Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) To full fill the consumers satisfactions New Balance begins to apply Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), to update the old and outdated equipments of Bedford plant. By the help of TPM system they started to concentrates on precautionary maintenance, where inspection and maintenance should be conducted occasionally to prevent downtime. TPM also requires employees to be trained and retrained, so they are updated on machine operations. Another changes made by PTM is purchasing of new equipments to maximize productivity and designation of protective maintenance plan. Application of TPM gives out tremendous success for the New Balance Corporation. 2.2.4 Cost reduction New Balance decided to strengthen their position by producing low- cost quality products. There are two ways of cost reduction method has been used by them which is known as alternative raw material and process improvement. New Balance Company replaced their actual alternative raw material, with another raw material which has the same quality but lower in cost. For the process improvement New Balance has practiced Business Process Reengineering (BPR), where BPR brings gradual improvements in the processes. The principle of BPR is to analyze the firms plan, elimination of non- value added steps and making the remaining ones simple and flexible to accomplish desired outcome[5]. 3. Manufacturing Perspective Manufacturing perspective focuses in shoe manufacturing process and key factors in the designs of the products and services while discussing the importance of quality planning and quality control process for the company in order to achieve high performance products and services. 3.1 Shoe Manufacturing Process Creating a group of components at a workstation is the manufacturing technique as called batch production. This will be the next step before moving the group in production. This production is common in the manufacture of sports shoes. Pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), inks, paints, adhesives and bakeries are also including. [12] Batch production is manufactured at Boston. Blend of gel inserts, heel counters, and a greater selection of sizes are manufactured by them with variants technical innovations. In order to fulfil customers need, New Balance required to produce modified and number of different product. Near location to their customers is an advantage for New Balance. [11] They able to fulfil and turnaround on new design according to their customers order. New Balance running shoes have as many as 30 templates in batch production. The basic components are the shoe has two main parts where the upper, which covers the top and sides of the foot. However, the bottom part makes cont act with the surface. There are three main parts at the bottom which are outsole, midsole, and wedge. The first step in running shoe manufacture involves die cutting the shoe parts in cookie cutter fashion. Next, the pieces that will form the upper part of the shoe are stitched or cemented together. At this point, the upper looks not like a shoe but like a round hat; the extra material is called the lasting margin. After the upper is heated and fitted around a plastic mold called a last, the insole, midsole, and outsole are cemented to the upper. Figure 2: Process of shoe stitches Die cutting the shoe parts is the initial step in running shoe manufacture where they use cookie cutter fashion. Together the upper part of the shoe are stitched or cemented. These will looks more like a round hat. The extra material is called the lasting margin. The insole, midsole, and outsole are cemented to the upper after the upper is fitted around a plastic mold. The mold is called a last. The midsole are designed for shock absorption specifically. The heel is supported by the wedge. The arch support also has been containing inside the sole. The importance of skilled man power is been realize because of the cost of producing the many components of running shoes. This proves that shoemaking is a labor-intensive process. Precision and expertise are required in each steps of production. Low-graded shoe will be a result of taking shortcuts for cost saving. To ensure better quality and to avoid human errors, computerized sewing equipment and automated stitches are provided. This all ows one person to do the work of 20. 3.2 Key Factors in designs of products and services New Balance remains competitive by adapting new technologies to shoemaking. They had also borrowed technology from clothes manufacturers by using see and sew machines aid to their products. Sewed show gives more adhesion between the templates and it also last long compared to glued type. They also keep updated with new trend by production different and latest design of shoes. Having production operations close to home where they believed they could exert greater control over manufacturing quality. This also enables them to fulfill customers order and allows quick turnarounds on new designs. They also able to ship orders on time and faster. 4. Importance of Quality Planning and Quality Control 4.1 Quality Planning The definition of quality planning is, its a systematic process that translates quality policy into measurable objectives and requirements. Its in a sequence of steps for realizing them in a specific timeframe. In order to maintain the quality of products, proper planning must be done. This is also to avoid overdue deadlines and perform shipments on time with output of good product. Total Quality Management (TQM) should be introduce into New Balance Corporations organization for creating competitive advantage by focusing the organization on what is important to the customer. Does it right the first time and an approach for zero defects are the principles of TQM. Spending more time in manufacturing will reduce time of rework. This is according TQM. Moreover, finding new ways to meet or exceeds customers needs and to provide support and direction is stress by TQM. This is to ensure the quality improvement concepts into their management and process planning is been implement. Effective communication between top-level managers to non-manager must be in practice to improve the quality goals. So, awareness and skill training must be done. They also can use guideline process like Six Sigma. This will help them for developing and delivering virtually perfect products and services. DMAIC_roadmap_75.gif Figure 3: Six sigma Initially the problem need to be defined followed by the voice of the customer, and the project goals, specifically. Then key aspects of the current process and collect relevant data need to be measured. Once measured, the data need to be analyzed to investigate and bear out cause-and-effect relationships. Determine what the relationships are, and attempt to ensure that all factors have been considered. Seek out root cause of the defect under investigation. Current process need to be improved upon data analysis using techniques such as design of experiments work to create a new, future state process. Set up pilot runs to establish process capability. Control the future state process to ensure that any deviations from target are corrected before they result in defects. Implement control systems such as statistical process control, production boards, and visual workplaces, and continuously monitor the process.New Balance should apply some Quality tools such as Process Flow Chart, Cause-and-Effect Diagram, Check Sheet,Pareto Analysis,Scatter Diagram ,Statistical Process Control Chart and Histogram to do proper planning and to control quality related issues. Process Flow Chart is a diagram of step in a process which helps focus on where in a process a quality problem might exist. They also can use Cause -and- Effect Diagram to categories the causes of the problem. Check Sheets also can be used as a toll for tallying the number of defects for a list of previously identified problem causes.Pareto analysis can be used to identify few causes that lead to the quality problems. Pareto principle describes that 80% of the problem come from 2 0% of the cause.[9] Pareto analysis concentrated only on the 20% of cause and the solution to 20% will solve 80% of the problem. Then the Scatter graph can be plot to show the identify the pattern that may cause quality problems. Finally Control Chart can be used view the upper and lower limit of the process which will enable New Balance to control and reduce the possibilities of occurrence of quality issues. 4.2 Quality Control Quality can be defined as a measure of excellence or state of being free from defects and significant variations. Consistent adherence to measurable and verifiable standards would be important to achieve uniformity of output that satisfies specific customers. Organizations must place great emphasis on managing quality controls. It is vital to ensure that the products and services offered to customers are reliable and truly meet the customers needs. New Balance Corporations financial will be affected and have direct impact by poor quality products. Both the companys revenues and its profits will be influence by this effect. Ever more demanding customer expectations, complex guideline, innovative products will be the reason of essential quality products. This is also to accomplish competitive edge over the challenges of rising competition and emerging markets. The effective growth strategies will be enhance by quality products where all operating processes and functional boundaries is been watched. Sensible and insightful quality commitment on customers evolving approach and preferences is required in financial growth. If New Balance develops and delivers poor quality products, there will be a number of consequences as it been state below. 4.2.1 A Poor Quality Company is a result from poor quality products. The companys financial performance, its stock price, product innovation, delivery on commitments is the base of a companys reputation. The major determination of a companys reputation will be the quality of a product. So, the reputation of New Balance products can be destroying by poor product quality. Customers perception when New Balance produce poor quality products as coming from poor quality company will bring even more serious impact. This inconsistencies and inability to produce defect-free products by New Balance Corporation will lead the existing customers to decline orders. 4.2.2 Lost of opportunity The opportunity to improve the bottom line will deprive by the poor quality. Improving scrap, rework, and warranty cost will bring good values. Looking for the root cause of these will be even greater because of the greater return. Quality deficiency that cause losses can be prevent if products standards are used by practicing good quality. Commitment, knowledge and effort can be discovered by losses due to quality. Moreover, this can be the source of huge opportunity and a clear competitive advantage once discovered. 4.2.3 Revenue lost Lots of time and money on unnecessary tasks and wasted materials is poor quality that leads to opportunity lost. Estimating the cost of all efforts undertaken in an organization can measure the cost of poor quality. Processes used in assembling the products that does not provide value to customers and material been use are include. These are the non value-added activities in the context of lean manufacturing. Sum of all non value-added costs divided by the total revenue thats generated will be the cost of poor quality at New Balance. The percentage from resulting measurement is revenue thats lost due to waste. Excess inventories, unnecessary motion, and supplier nonconformance are the waste that builds up from losses. More obscure wastes, such as unnecessary paperwork, large lot sizes, and excessive auditing will also see that losses can be occur. Additional losses will lead by these wastes. 4.2.4 New Balances core value is the quality. The important aspect of quality management is to determine customer needs accurately. This is because to avoid rectifying mistakes in defining customer requirements before the product been produce. This is to save cost compare to rectify mistake after the production. So, well spending the time and effort to figure out the requirement is batter. Identifying what the customer wants should be the goal of New Balance Corporation. Moreover, to ensure the customers need, New Balance should fine-tune the process. Reduced quality product will put New Balance Corporations financial endanger. 5. Financial perspective Financial perspective represents stability, viability, and profitability of the Boston based new balance corporation meanwhile explains effects of reduced quality products to their financial status. A product free from defects maintains high uniformity of output and ensures customer satisfaction and profit. Management should enhance the reliability of the product and customer service to achieve high quality standards. [13] 5.1 Reduced quality impacts on financial growth New Balance Corporation should realize that to achieve good sales, they need to achieve highest quality products. Form the article, new balance encourage multi-tasking employee in small group of five to accomplish daily target but this indirectly affects the quality of the output. New balance will experience less sales when fails to meet the customer satisfaction by releasing high percentage of defects products into the markets. Moreover new balance faced with counterfeiting issues in china, unauthorized shoe makers with new balance mark sell their products and this directly reduce the new balance markets. Quality is the bridge for pricing and customer requirements therefore below listed factors contributed low competitiveness of new balance. [14] 5.1.1 Reduced Quality diminished companys reputation In order excel in shoe marketing business, new balance must aware of its financial performance, product innovation, stock price, delivery and commitments. To achieve all these criteria, new balance must supply high quality product so they able to sustain good sales in shoe markets. When customers realize a defect in new balance shoes, they will reject orders due to inconsistency in supplying defect-free products. 5.1.2 Cost of poor quality This cost is a result of producing defective material and lead to lose of valuable resources including money, time, materials, processes and operation cost. Figure 4: Shoe manufacturing cost involved in percentage Above pie chart illustrate involved processed to manufacture a pair shoe in percentage referencing $100 per pair of shoes. Note only 2% of profit gained by the manufacture itself, when customer rejects non-value added products. New balance will lost the 2% of profit and have to bear all the wasted 48% expenditure per shoe. Thus new balance will experience distortion in their profit margin. This happen when they try to decrease the flush between desired and actual product, service quality. Cost of poor quality is sum of overall non-value added costs divided by the total revenue generated. Loses generated from supplier nonconformance, unnecessary motion and excessive inventories. 5.1.3 Cost of lost opportunity This term best to describe when fixing a rejection using resources including the rework process, labour, material, and disposition cost. Fixing a rejection means losing gained profit. However a good quality standards practice will help new balance to remain competitive in the market and eliminate all the unnecessary waste of resources. This usually happened due to the production process are not aligned with acceptable quality standards. 5.1.4 New balance quality objective New balance should reinforce high quality level standards in their daily operation. Research must be done on the shoe manufacturing process, operation cost structure, and the technology involved to guide new balance run on right defects-free tracks. In the other hand, they should investigate industry revenue growth, imports, and export and employee wages to avoid conflicts with the output quality. 5.2 Financial analysis on shoe manufacturing technology Nowadays technology growing very fast and there is high expectation on the output quality. Technological improvement in the shoe manufacturing process will be helpful to reduce the error done by human. Shoe manufacturing process involved three main step of stamping, stitching, making. New equipment will optimize the shoe fabrication time with defect-free output. Conventional operation full depending on man power clearly state that a lot of problem will arise in terms of wages and operation hours. Employee need to be trained periodically and still unable to achieve zero defects output. [14] 5.2.1 Technology application benefits High-tech equipment has the capability to run the manufacturing process smoothly. Starts with stamping process, machines able to continuously produce programmed output without and error. Its also able to produce prototypes and small test run on shoes in a short period. Equipments such as NC controlled machines can be programmed to perform a task for various size manufacturing. Robots can perform high level task like moulding, injection moulding, and trimming. These process actually designed for cost saving and design method is easy to manufacture. Through the use of the technology, the company can manufacture high output per day with reduced error or defects compared to conventional human involvement.[15] 5.2.3 Hard dollar saving idea Hard dollar saving idea originally derived from Lean and Six Sigma benefits which designed for organization to run the manufacturing business with less man power replaced by machine and equipment. The idea developed to: Minimize Defect rate by terminating the rework processes Minimize the claim due to defected product Fast delivery in order to be competitive in market. 5.2.4 Initiate continues improvement Use of technology in shoe manufacturing process surely will upgrade the new balance financial status. Delivering products with zero-defects will obtain customers satisfaction and new

We Must Regain Our Lost Civil Liberties Essay -- Privacy Act, Patriot

With our nation’s tragedy of September 11, 2001, arose a deeply shaken America, shocked by the extent of the cruelty. An act of terrorism of that magnitude had never been seen before in our country. Patriots quickly came together, supporting the president to pass legislation, known as the USA Patriot Act, to tackle internal and external threats to this nation. The debate ensued, focused on which types of surveillance technology should or shouldn't be allowed for arresting terrorists. However, the question remains as to how these devices are going to be used, and how personally are those who use them held accountable. The purpose of this paper is to confirm that the proposed monitoring and archiving of users’ information on social networking sites would represent yet another erosion of our civil liberties for only a minor gain to our national security. The USA Patriot Act or simply the Patriot Act sanctions the use of wiretaps, additional surveillance of technology, such as voice mail and e-mail, trap and trace devices, and demands for educational and business records. The Department of Justice justifies that such actions in criminal investigations, have been used for years. However, this action comes under intense scrutiny by critics such as the ACLU who maintain that the secrecy surrounding the use of such tools as well as lower criteria for attaining the authority to use them â€Å"represents a broad expansion of power without building in a necessary privacy protection† (The USA PATRIOT Act: Myth vs. Reality, n.d.). The Patriot Act was signed into law on October 26, 2001, 45 days after the terrorist attacks on September 11th. The debate over what the Patriot Act actually allows law enforcement officia... ...om http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1669540,00.html National Security. (n.d.). American Civil Liberties Union. Retrieved from http://www.aclu.org/National-Security Presidential Powers, NSA Spying, and the War on Terrorism: Americans’ Attitudes on Recent Events – Overview. (2006). American Civil Liberties Union. Retrieved from http://www.aclu.org/safefree/nsaspying/24262res20060224.html The New York Times (2009, December 12). Twitter Tapping. [Editorial]. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/13/opinion/13sun2.html The USA Patriot Act. (2005). Retrieved from http://www.epic.org/privacy/terrorism/usapatriot The USA Patriot Act: Myth vs. Reality. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.justice.gov/archive/ll/subs/add_myths.htm

Community Based Policing Essays -- Argumentative Persuasive Police Ess

Community Based Policing   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There has always been a love-hate relationship between the public and the police. When called upon to help, they can be something sent from God, but when they are writing tickets, or taking a friend to jail, the view changes from a savior to a presence that is unwanted and often hated. An effort to improve the public view of law enforcement is being attempted by many departments. Using different styles of policing techniques, mainly community based policing, has proved to be the best way to improve the image of law enforcement.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Community based policing can best be defined as, 'a collaborative effort between the police and the community that identifies problems of crime and disorder and involves all elements of the community in the search for solutions to these problems' (Sykes). Community based policing is the idea that the role of the police is not that of catching 'bad guys,' but more that of serving the public. In order for community based policing to have an effect, the presence of crime isn?t needed, in fact it?s often more effective without the involvement of crime, ?Modern police departments are frequently called upon to help citizens resolve a vast array of personal problems--many of which involve no law-breaking activity? (Schmalleger). The role of the police officer in community based policing, is to have an active part in the community. This can be something as simple as stopping in at a school just to talk to the kids, or... Community Based Policing Essays -- Argumentative Persuasive Police Ess Community Based Policing   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There has always been a love-hate relationship between the public and the police. When called upon to help, they can be something sent from God, but when they are writing tickets, or taking a friend to jail, the view changes from a savior to a presence that is unwanted and often hated. An effort to improve the public view of law enforcement is being attempted by many departments. Using different styles of policing techniques, mainly community based policing, has proved to be the best way to improve the image of law enforcement.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Community based policing can best be defined as, 'a collaborative effort between the police and the community that identifies problems of crime and disorder and involves all elements of the community in the search for solutions to these problems' (Sykes). Community based policing is the idea that the role of the police is not that of catching 'bad guys,' but more that of serving the public. In order for community based policing to have an effect, the presence of crime isn?t needed, in fact it?s often more effective without the involvement of crime, ?Modern police departments are frequently called upon to help citizens resolve a vast array of personal problems--many of which involve no law-breaking activity? (Schmalleger). The role of the police officer in community based policing, is to have an active part in the community. This can be something as simple as stopping in at a school just to talk to the kids, or...

The Cemetary and Loss in Faulkner’s The Sound and Fury Essay -- Faulkn

The Cemetary and Loss in Faulkner’s The Sound and Fury On the sixth page of the novel The Sound and The Fury, Caroline Compson informs her son Jason that she and her other son Benjy are "going to the cemetery." The sense of loss that runs through much of Faulkner's work, especially The Sound and The Fury, can be found in the quiet, black-and-white world of the dead. In a cemetery one is reminded of lives lost and lost lives. Faulkner honors both in his novel. The story reveals a multilayered cacophony of loss. The trees and the grave stones in the Laurel Grove cemetery have been around for a long time. So has the Compson family. Yet, I get the impression reading The Sound and The Fury that time is running out for Faulkner's fictional dysfunctional family. By the end of the story the...

P Cruises Marketing Concepts

Social needs Include the chance to meet new people and create a new social group, or simply the right to ‘brag' to friends about the experiences one has undergone while using this product. Individual needs could Include the chance of gallon new knowledge gathered through the locations offered and a different experience. Wants, when backed by buying power, become known as demands (Armstrong, Adam, Denizen & Kettle, 2012). The wants for this product are shaped through a persona's social background or even rich culture.Its uniqueness also forces the shape of the want and the variation of the respective of a holiday which is achieved through this product promotes the demand. The organization shapes the demand by promoting the practices that can only been seen and experiences through the product. P Cruises do not simply offer one type of product. What they achieve through their market include a service, goods and an experience, which are used to satisfy the customer's needs, wants a nd demands. The services that this organization offers include accommodation, meals, on-board entertainment, etc.The company provides the essential requirements to achieve a unique experience which creates the idea of a cruise which is then seen as holiday. The availability of overseas ports promotes the want for this service. Thus, P&O Cruises are able to use experiences detailed through service as their product rather than having a physical good or product. Customer perceived value is the difference between the values the customer gains from owning and using a product and the costs of obtaining the product (Armstrong, Adam, Denizen & Kettle, 2012).Media evaluation, personal knowledge and recommendations are all techniques which could be used to evaluate a product or service and then determine whether they outweigh their competitors in terms of value and satisfaction. Through the use of media reports, it is evident that P&O Cruises are continuing to grow as a corporation and are ab le to satisfy customers and consumers wants, needs and demands. Supporting this is the social media page ‘Backbone' with over 250, 000 â€Å"likes† directed toward P&O Cruises.An Important part of marketing Is the exchange, transactions and relationships sector. In large regards to how a company builds a profitable relationship with Its customers, It weighs heavily on this segment. The exchange process Is the act of obtaining a profit for the company In return for the service and experience the company offers. In P&O Cruiser's case, It Is the exchange of a luxurious holiday for a set amount of money. The success of the exchange depends widely on the transaction process.The transaction Is the marketing unit of measurement and involves the payment for the experiences offered by P Cruises companies and the like, depend on strong relationships with their consumers in order to succeed and create a healthy business. In maintaining and building a well- established relationship between P Cruises and the consumer, a strong positive relationship will result and a positive reputation will be created in favor of the company. In creating a long-term relationship, both sides will appreciate what is being offered.The customer will enjoy the service offered again and again as they trust the company and the company will continue to receive profits. The final core marketing concept is the potential buyers of a product or service, markets. P Cruises target market varies widely. It can include individuals looking for an adventure, couples that want to develop their relationship, elders that have yet to experience the thrills offered in this service, families with money to spend on something that will entertain the younger generation and many more.However, P Cruises do generally not advertise towards individuals who have limited time, money and/or interest in what is offered by the company. The five core marketing concepts are used to develop a successful company with going concern. P Cruises have evidently used these concepts during the business years and are now one of the leading cruise services offered. They have not marketed a physical good and have marketed their services and experiences successfully through the concepts of human needs, wants and demands; market offerings; value and satisfaction; exchanges, transactions and relationships; and market.