Organic compound boiling points Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Organic compound boiling points - Essay Example In order to figure out the order of organic compound boiling point, it is important to understand their trends. The important thing to make into consideration is that the boiling point is usually indicative of the force strength bonding its molecules together. When many molecules stick together, they will consequently need more energy to break the bonds and release the molecules as gases. Three important trends are considered including branching, which decreases the compound’s boiling point, and the number of carbons as boiling points increases with the increase in carbon atoms. Additionally, the relative strength of intermolecular forces is important (Hill & John, 2011: p32). The strength of the bonds in descending order is; Ionic> Hydrogen bonding> dipole- dipole> Van der Waals forces of dispersion. The influence of these attractive forces is dependent on the present, functional groups. The first trend is the strength, relative for all four compounds, of the intermolecular f orces. Molecules that are held together by dipole- dipole interactions, formed by the polarization of C-O bonds have a lower intermolecular energy when compared to compounds with hydroxyl groups, which are, in turn, capable of forming hydrogen bonds (Macomber, 2009: p11). Organic alcohols have significantly higher boiling points than other organic compounds because of this property, as can be derived. Molecules that have relatively the same molecular weights have their boiling points determined by the present, functional group. 3-Methyl-2-Butanone has a dipole-dipole intermolecular interaction model, and so it has a significantly low boiling point as compared to the other organic alcohols with hydrogen intermolecular bonding (Macomber, 2009: p12). The positive end of one molecule is attracted and bonded to a negative region of another molecule. For molecules with a similar functional group, such as the organic compounds under investigation, the boiling points increase with a rise in molecular weight. The key force that connects molecular size and intermolecular strength is the Van der Waals forces of dispersion that are proportional to the molecules’ surface area (Mehta & Manju, 2009: p29). Therefore, as the length of the chain increases, the surface area of the molecules also increases. Consequently, this results in an increased capability of the molecules in the compound to be attracted to each other. As the length of the chain increases, regions where they line up with each other increase. Each interaction may not be worth a lot, but added up over the entire chain length, the Van der Waals forces of dispersion have the ability to exert tremendous effects (Mehta & Manju, 2009: p29). 1-Hexanol has the highest molecular weight, coming in at 102.67 g/mol1, thus provides more surface area for intermolecular interaction. With the increased energy required to separate the molecules, the boiling point is high. Both 1-Pentanol and 3-Methyl-1-butanol have a mo lecular weight of 88.15 g/mol1, which is still higher than 3-methyl-2-butanone, which has a molecular weight of 86.13 g/ mol. Molecular symmetry is yet another by-product of Van der Waals forces of dispersion’s dependence on surface area. The straighter the compound’s molecules are, the better they line up, as well as bond. The spherical the molecules become, due to branching, the lower the surface area left for intermolecula

Solving problems and making decisions Essay Example for Free

Solving problems and making decisions Essay Background As the Head Phlebotomist at the RDE Wonford site I oversee the day to day running and supervision of 32 members of staff. 20 staff members are contracted, working between 12 and 37.5 hours per week and the remainder are bank workers working on an ad-hoc basis when required. Daily we have a minimum of 15 phlebotomists working throughout the site. The role of the phlebotomist is primarily to obtain blood samples from inpatients and outpatients as requested by the doctors and clinical staff. To do this, requests are placed on an order communication system known to us as Medway. To access Medway every phlebotomist has their own laptop installed onto a portable trolley which is then wheeled from ward to ward. A daily minimum of 12 laptops require a WiFi signal to operate whilst the remaining 3 laptops are continuously hard wired into static modem ports. The department has a total of 19 laptop packages. Present Situation (Analysis of the problem) A daily problem facing the Phlebotomy team is with information technology. This includes hardware, software and human nature. Hardware –   The laptops are made up of a â€Å"package† which includes the laptop itself, the primary and secondary batteries required to enable it to last wirelessly for the 4 hour shift worked, the small label printers required to print patient identifying labels for each blood sample bottle and the chargers for both the laptop and the printer. Each of these laptop packages were purchased in 2011. Some components are now beginning to fail owing to their age, the heavy use they get and occasionally because they have not been treated or looked after as per the recommended suppliers guidelines. When one of the elements of these packages fails it declares the whole package unusable. Software – Each laptop has a minimum of Medway and WiFi software loaded to enable the phlebotomists to carry out their work. WiFi is dependent on many contributing factors to enable it to operate satisfactorily. These have been  confirmed by the operating systems department within the RDE and include physical obstructions, network range and distance between devices, signal interference and restrictions, signal sharing usage and load, poorly deployed antennas and the local environment (4Gon, 2014). All of these can and do affect the performance of each laptop causing them to slow down significantly and occasionally freeze and stop working altogether. Medway is also a very slow running programme which causes delays. Human nature – The phlebotomy team range in age from 23 to 69. Their ability to use I.T equipment is vast in range. Many of the phlebotomists has difficulties resolving I.T issues that others may find simple, for example changing passwords and logging into programmes. More complex issues that a phlebotomist may experience include identifying a WiFi issue or why a screen has frozen and how to rectify this. A lack of patience, understanding and confidence from the Phlebotomists is a restricting factor as this often causes additional problems when incorrect icons or buttons are pressed in frustration. If a phlebotomist is unable to operate every element of their laptop package for any of the above reasons they are then unable to continue their job until the problem is resolved. This often means a single phlebotomist will have stopped working for around 30 minutes each time a problem occurs. This delay causes an impact on their colleagues both physically and on morale. It also has an impact on the patients who will have a delay on having their blood taken and tested which, in some circumstances, may mean further procedures or treatments are delayed or in exceptional circumstances, cancelled. By solving this problem the phlebotomists would be able to carry out their duties with more confidence. Staff morale would be much higher as they would have equipment fit for purpose they could use without any issues. There would be no delays in patient treatment meaning the flow of patient care would be uninterrupted. There would be less time spent contacting the I.T service desk to report problems which would reduce their workload. If this problem is not resolved the department will have no working I.T equipment. Staff morale reduces which promotes frustration, conflict and sickness within the team putting pressure on the service we supply. The RDE Foundation Trust has created a  contingency plan (Appendix A) which would be implemented to ensure the service did not stop as this is not an option. Testing blood is a compulsory part of diagnosis and treatment. The contingency would include using paper forms to record blood sample requests although this would create a significant impact on the labs, causing further delays and more staff would be required to complete the workload adding financial pressure. The process would also be open to patient identification errors causing possible fatal errors in diagnosis and treatment. A contingency plan is a very short term work around it is not a solution. Investigation and identification of possible solutions to the problem Phlebotomists regularly contact me to complain about a wide range of IT problems. To begin accurately identifying and logging the problems concerned I created a small questionnaire (Appendix B) and asked each phlebotomist to complete it with as much information as possible each time a problem occurred. These were completed and collected over a period of 1 month to capture as many types of problems as possible. This information is then collated onto a spreadsheet (Appendix C). From this I identified how the main problems are grouped into the following categories: Hardware – Faulty printers Software – Medway errors, Wifi errors, Screen errors, Windows security errors Human – Password errors, Generic log in errors, Wifi errors, Screen errors Table 1 – Shows the types of problems, the frequency and the category based on the information collated. Immediately from the information gathered I can see that many problems cross multiple categories. Out of the 19 laptops and users 47% have experienced problems with 26% experiencing more than one problem across multiple categories. There were 15 problems identified which could have been caused by either category. The amount of possible causes equals 27 across all categories. The highest amount of problems are possibly caused by software issues at 44%, human problems follow at 33% and hardware problems at 22%. On average 47% of laptops with problems that have 27 possible causes a mean  average of 3.37 problems experienced each over the 1 month period. The mode average of people experiencing the same problem regardless of the cause is 2. The median average of all problems experienced regardless of the cause is also 2. Solutions to resolving these problems would be to replace or repair existing ageing hardware and to retain a small level of equipment items such as batteries and chargers in stock for immediate replacement. Replacing or updating existing software programmes. A solution to resolve the human grouping of problems is staff training. Problems that require help from the IT service desk will be their responsibility although, the generic log in problem could be avoided with staff training. By reporting these problems to the I.T service desk we can ask more specialised engineers to look into why, specifically, the WiFi regularly fails. A solution to the software grouping of problems is harder to find as the trust has purchased software that it feels is sufficient for its purpose. Staff training could help with some problems experienced in this area. Evaluation of possible solutions I have chosen to use the Benefit Cost analysis (CBA) tool (Jules Dupuit 1804-1866) to evaluate the solution options as follows: Replace or repair existing ageing hardware and stocking replacement items Benefit Cost Staff morale would increase if equipment is fit for purpose. Sickness absences due to stress would decrease saving money on replacement bank staff. The department would be able to make use of all the equipment available to them specifically during busier periods and for staff training. The equipment would be safe. Smaller faulty items could be replaced immediately maintaining continuity of use. Delays on taking and testing samples would reduce resulting in few or no delays with patient treatment/procedures. Phlebotomists would not need to contact the I.T service desk as often so reducing their workload. Contingency plan would not need to be implemented saving time, money, staff stress and treatment delays. Sickness absences have financial and health implications to other phlebotomists and the department. The department has a total of 19 laptop packages. The financial cost to replace all the equipment would run into thousands of pounds which we do not have the budget for.   The I.T service desk engineers are not always able to resolve problems immediately and can sometimes take several weeks owing to their workloads. Suppliers are not always able to provide replacement equipment. If we retain a small number of replacement items it would be the responsibility of the Head Phlebotomist to identify which item is faulty and if it could be repaired first adding to their workload. Lack of space to store additional replacement equipment. Replacing or updating existing software programmes Benefit Cost Staff morale would increase if software is fit for purpose. Confidence would increase boosting interest and competence. Sickness absences due to stress would decrease saving money on replacement bank staff. Delays on taking and testing samples would reduce resulting in few or no  delays with patient treatment/procedures. Phlebotomists would not need to contact the I.T service desk as often reducing their workload. Contingency plan would not need to be implemented saving time, money, staff stress and treatment delays. Sickness absences have financial and health implications to other phlebotomists and the department. The I.T service desk engineers are not always able to resolve problems immediately and can sometimes take several weeks owing to their workloads. Software programmes are purchased by the trust and cannot be replaced easily. WiFi is implemented through the whole trust and is so widespread it’s not easy to identify where the problem may have started. Time and funding is required to enable the systems teams to identify what area of software is causing the problem and resolve it. Disruption to ward areas whilst investigations are carried out. Staff Training Benefit Cost Phlebotomists would be more confident in identifying problems and resolving them improving competence, interest and morale and reducing sickness absences. The delays in time taken resolving problems would reduce making phlebotomists more efficient and cost effective. Phlebotomists would not need to contact the I.T service desk as often reducing their workload. Delays on taking and testing samples would reduce resulting in few or no delays with patient treatment/procedures. Time needed away from normal duties to attend training for trainers and trainees. Reducing the confidence of some phlebotomists who aren’t computer literate and may feel pressured into attending training above their ability. Some problems are erratic and happen infrequently meaning phlebotomists are likely to forget how to resolve them. Overall, the overwhelming benefit in finding a solution is to ensure there is minimal or no delay in the treatment of a patient. Using the cost/benefit analysis (CBA) I feel the first course of action to resolving this problem would be to implement staff training. Although the benefits only just out way the costs 4 to 3 my reason for this is that we would see faster results as it could be implemented immediately with less personal and financial cost than replacing or repairing existing hardware or software as detailed in the CBA. There would be regular time needed away from normal duties, maybe up to 1 hour per month per phlebotomist and trainer. This could be incorporated into their regular hours at quieter times or bank staff could be used to cover the minimum time requirement. Although it is difficult to calculate an exact financial cost saving I believe that it is fair to assume that as less people and equipment would be involved in implementing staff training the financial burde n would also be less. Also, as detailed in the CBA, phlebotomists would be more confident in identifying problems and could become more competent and interested in resolving them themselves. This would mean an immediate resolution in some circumstances reducing time wasted especially when contacting the I.T service desk. Secondly I would look at replacing or updating existing hardware and stocking replacement items. Although in the CBA the benefits out way the costs 8 to 6 the benefits are expensive. Stocking replacement items such as batteries and chargers is almost an essential although each battery is in excess of  £90 and each charger up to  £60. I believe it would be reasonable to only stock a couple of each at a time. This would enable any of the more easily replaceable faulty items identified to be replaced immediately without further delays. The more complex laptop faults would still need to be  directed to the I.T service desk. These will take longer to resolve and would involve input from an I.T engineer. I can see from appendix c that some faults are still ongoing from before October 2014 when the information in the spreadsheet was collated. Finally in resolving this problem I would look at replacing or updating existing software programmes. The CBA shows the benefits are equal to the costs. The reason I have put this last is mainly because the decision surrounding the purchase of software is made at a much higher management level. Because of this I have no influence over its capability nor do I have the power or expertise to recommend an alternative. Although issues regarding problems or faults within a software programme are encouraged to be reported it is much more likely that the programme will not be replaced for some time owing to contracts and fixes are only possible if the supplier is able to do so. We can log all software/WiFi problems to the I.T service desk. I believe these calls are then passed to the systems support team for resolving either themselves or via an external source. Software programmes are costly and, I believe, often purchased with a minimum contract term making them the most difficult and expensive thing to replace or update when looking at resolving my problem. Recommend implementation plan to solve the problem The following is a table of events detailing what needs to be done. It plans how decisions will be communicated, by whom and by when. This helps to identify the order in which steps need to be taken to resolve issues and time frames to ensure efficiency. What has to be done? Who is responsible and/or involved? How will this be communicated? When should it be done? What is needed? Monitoring/review Discuss the requirements of the phlebotomy service with I.T and explain the importance of rapid resolutions. Head phlebotomist, Phlebotomy manager, I.T helpdesk manager, service engineers Head phlebotomist to arrange and chair a meeting with I.T with clear expectations of what is required. By the 18th November 2014. All involved to attend the meeting. Minutes to be taken.  Head phlebotomist to arrange a follow up meeting 1 month later to review if expectations have been acknowledged and in progress. Order a minimum of 2 of each laptop and printer batteries and chargers for stock. Head phlebotomist to get authorisation and budget code from Phlebotomy manager Head phlebotomist to email I.T with relevant information. Today Budget code for funding. Approximately  £420.00 Head phlebotomist to email I.T on 18.11.14 if these items have not arrived and confirm delivery date. Delivery expected by 30.11.14 Discuss ongoing issues and communicate outcome of I.T meeting to the phlebotomy team. Head phlebotomist, Phlebotomists and Phlebotomy manager Head phlebotomist to arrange and chair a department meeting. Immediately after the I.T meeting has been completed. End of a morning shift 11.30am All phlebotomists working that day to be present. Minutes to be taken. Overtime may need to be paid if meeting goes beyond contracted hours at 12pm Deputy head phlebotomists to check that the minutes have been signed off by all phlebotomists within 1 week of the department meeting. All ongoing issues to continue to be logged. Phlebotomists Questionnaires (appendix B) to be completed daily Daily Deputy head phlebotomist to maintain a good supply of questionnaires. Time within shift to complete them. Head phlebotomist to review these daily and report to I.T service desk immediately if unable to resolve. All problems identified to be logged by Head even if resolved. Phlebotomists, Head phlebotomist, I.T engineers I.T service desk form on intranet to be completed by Head phlebotomist or telephone I.T service desk if urgent. As and when issues occur Time. If resolved by Head phlebotomist then explanation/training given to phlebotomist to show how. If resolved by engineer then explanation of how to see if Head could resolve in future. Daily conversation and email between phlebotomist, Head phlebotomist and engineer to ensure problem permanently resolved or in the process of being resolved. Regular monthly training with phlebotomists on how to look after equipment and easy steps on identifying and possibly resolving reasonably simple issues. Head phlebotomist, phlebotomists, I.T engineers Head phlebotomist to arrange and chair a team meeting to discuss requirements and identify any one to one training. 3rd Wednesday morning of each month before start of shift at 7.50am. Time to complete the meeting and any training required. Head and deputy head phlebotomist to be competent and confident in I.T to answer questions and assist with training. Head and deputy head phlebotomists to liaise with any team member that had questions or needed training within 2 days of the meeting to ensure phlebotomist is now confident and understands how to resolve some issues. Regular feedback to relevant areas regarding outcome of each stage above Phlebotomists, Head, phlebotomy manager, I.T engineers, systems engineers, project managers Head phlebotomist to email phlebotomy manager, I.T and systems engineers with clear concerns or positives. 5.3.15, 5.7.15, 5.11.15 (quarterly) or more often if problems persist. Time to construct the email. Contact details for each person. Relevant constructive feedback including any positive information. Head to ensure email has been received by requesting read receipt and that any actions required from previous quarterly email have been completed or in progress. Any new actions must also be acknowledged. I have also transferred the above information on to a Gantt chart to help monitor and review my implementation plan. This is because the relation of task to time is more immediately obvious and very simple to follow. There are ways in which this can be reviewed using the CPA (Critical care path analysis) or PERT (Program evaluation and review technique). The benefit of using CPA within the planning process is to help you develop and test your plan to ensure that it is robust. CPA formally identifies tasks  which must be completed on time for the whole project to be completed on time. It also identifies which tasks can be delayed if resource needs to be reallocated to catch up on missed or overrunning tasks. PERT is a variation on Critical Path Analysis that takes a slightly more realistic view of time estimates made for each project stage. Often tasks are given unreasonable time frames and this option allows flexibility (Mindtools, 2014). Monitoring and review techniques that are appropriate for my problem include meetings and questionnaires. Team meetings held monthly within the phlebotomy department wll ensure that each member of staff remains confident and competent in their role to assist in resolving the problems that we all experience. Staff will be able to ask questions regarding their concerns and abilities and the head and deputy phlebotomists will be able to identify specific needs that they can help to build up. It should be easy to identify phlebotomists who are struggling with their problems if they are experiencing the same issues regularly however with monthly support these should decrease. Department meetings held with the I.T service desk and engineers every quarter will ensure they are aware of the significance of the problem and the need for it to be resolved as efficiently as possible. I.T will be made aware of the impact of the problem if there are delays in resolving the problem for example ultimately the delay in patient diagnosis, treatment or discharge home. I.T will also have the opportunity to advise if the amount of calls made to them by phlebotomists has reduced. They will be able to explain the progress in resolving a problem and why there may be delays or recurrences. They can also advise of expected dates and times of resolutions. Questionnaires (appendix B) completed daily detailing problems would also be a good way of monitoring and reviewing the problem. I would envisage in 2 months the problems detailed on the questionnaires should become less frequent and severe realistically reducing to problems only fixable by I.T engineers. Phlebotomists will be able to explain what has happened, if they have tried to resolve it using techniques they have gained in their training and reasons why they may have or have not worked.

Southwest Airlines Corporations

Southwest Airlines Corporations In year of 2006, Southwest Airlines celebrated its 34th consecutive year of profitability. While other airlines paces of profitability appear to be stagnant; Southwest Airlines was announced as one of the most admired corporations by Fortune 500 Magazine (Southwest 2006). Southwests success is deeply related to the new strategies that other airlines dont even dare to consider. The corporate culture and strategic philosophy stands out, making Southwest the leader in the whole airline industry. Southwest Airlines strategy can be described as â€Å"short-haul, low-fare, high-frequency, and point-to-point carrier (Fortune Magazine 2006)†. A lot of people consider that the marketing strategy that Southwest Airlines currently using is the low cost provider strategy. Low cost provider strategy is a strategy which is committed to driving down the cost through its value chain system (Broydrick 1995)†. This strategy allows companies to compete aggressively on price earning high pr ofit margins than rivals. But the low cost provider strategy is not the cure-all prescription for all the problems. If the quality of a product or service is not guaranteed, the low cost provider strategy is not likely to work. From a macro perspective, it seems that Southwest Airlines is using the low cost provider strategy to stand out among all other airlines. Rather, it is using the best cost provider strategy because from a competitive positioning standpoint, best cost strategies are a â€Å"hybrid, balancing a strategic emphasis on low cost against a strategic emphasis on differentiation (supervalue) (Entrepreneur 1995).† In order to analyze the factors which contributed to the success of Southwest Airline Corporation more efficiently, we can use the McKinsey 7-S Model. In Peter and Watermans masterpiece â€Å"In Search of Excellence†, the book summarized that in order for a corporation to be successful; there are factors which it must acquire. The reason why that they are considering the success in this way was because that successful corporations they picked from the top list of the Fortune Magazine all possessed seven criterion. That is the famous McKinsey 7-S framework that Southwest Airline based its strategies on, which guarantees that â€Å"any intelligent approach to eventual success of organizing had to encompass (Peters and Waterman, 1982)†. The McKinsey framework includes eight attributes: 1) A Bias for Action. This attribute is based on the principle of â€Å"can do, let try.† This means that the principle favors experimentation. Southwest often goes out of its way to â€Å"amuse, surprise and entertain† its passengers (Peters and Waterman, 1982).† 2) Close to the Customer. This implies that the closeness to customers are expressed as an attitude concentrating on â€Å"valued clients† rather than valued employees of Southwest Airlines treat the customers as â€Å"valued clients† rather than â€Å"valued wallets.† They care about the customers not only just for one trip, but their futures as well. Moreover, the letters from customers are answered personally rather than using a standardized formula. Southwests CEO Kelleher actively supported that because he declared that there are three advantages which could be drawn from the service. First, it is the employee performance. Kelleher considers it the best way to value its employees. Second, the inputs from the letters which are authentically wrote indicates the real deficiencies that Southwest might encounter. Third, there is no worry about the letters because if cu stomers are willing to spend time on writing it, there is a great possibility that their concern shown on the letters are true and realistic. Southwest rarely uses survey questions to test its customers to test customer satisfaction. Because most surveys are made up of multiple choices from scales such as from 1 to 10, or from excellent to bad. It is hard from customers to think that the corporation belongs to which category. The difference between scales 5 and 7 might be real close which confuse the customers (Dauble 2005). As a result, some customers filled up the answers in guessing way that they dont even know what they are doing. They just want to get over with it. 3) Autonomy and Entrepreneurship. This indicates that in the whole corporation, every employee is a leader. They are respected just like any top managers. Everyone is welcome to submit new ideas or weakness of the corporation, and it has no hierarchy. Moreover, their will be competition within the corporation, but not suppression. Every competition is conducted in friendly manners. Unlike other corporations that the CEOs rarely allows themselves to meet the employees, the employees of Southwest can have lunch with Kelleher any day at any time (Marcial 2005). All the departments often shower free ice creams, pizza and other good stuffs to celebrate for each other when an assignment gets well done. Some employees from different departments in other corporations dont even know each other. All they do is doing their own work. Therefore, once there is a problem, it is extremely difficult for departments to work as a whole to solve the problem because they hardly know each other. This will wastes a lot of time, have the possibility of leading the corporation into the wrong direction, and intensifies the relationship of managers between departments in the situation that when they are unable to reach consensus (Lynch 2005). Furthermore, Southwest welcomes failures as well as successes because it firmly believes that failure is the mother of success. When a failure appears, it means that the success is coming down the road. 4) Productivity through People. This strategy implies that there is no existence of personality tests. Sense of humor and an outgoing attitude is a must. At Southwest, communications are frequent and concerns of old people and young people are treated by old employees and young employees with outgoing attitudes and personalities. In this way, the negative effects and misunderstandings due to generation ga ps can be avoided. 5) Hand-on, Value-Driven. At Southwest, there is a policy that in every quarter, the top managers and executives must spend one day experiencing the jobs of their employees. By working on positions such as ticket agents, baggage handlers, or janitors, people from the top level will have an authentic feel of whats going on and where are difficulties and deficiencies (Bunz 1998). 6) Stick to the Knitting. This theory indicates that corporations should never expand too fast just because their financial results in the short run show success. Southwest will not expand recently because it follows the strategy and every move it makes is conducted in an extremely careful way. Southwest understands that if â€Å"hot meat appears, your eating it fast strategy probably will burn your mouth (McNerney 1996)†. 7) Simple Form and Lean Staff. This strategy means that â€Å"keeping an organizational staff lean simplifies channels of communication in an organization (Peters and Waterman, 1982).† The reason of this is because that the more layers a hierarch has in a corporation, the longer it makes to make a decision which could result in wasting time and resources. At Southwest, it is not the janitors clean up the airlines. Rather, flight attendants and top managers are people who do the cleanings. In this way, Southwest can save both money and time. Moreover, Southwest is always loyal to its employees as they are to the Southwest. Southwest uses the â€Å"always hire and rarely fire† principle when dealing with human resources (Peters and Waterman, 1982).† It never fires its employees just because of external factors such as the stagnant of economy or internal factors such as financial loss. 8) Simultaneous loose-tight properties. This means that the corporation has both a centralized and decentralized system which de-emphasizes hierarchy. Southwest has a democratic style of corporation culture with autonomy and a tight control of finance by the CEO to make sure that money and resources are not wasted. Besides the above-mentioned eight crucial strategies that successful corporations must acquire, Southwest has two more strategies that other successful corporations do not possess. One is the University of People, and the other one is its CEO Kelleher (BusinessWeek 2005). University of People is a program established by Southwest for training new emplo yees. The trainees treat rookies just like the way they treat customers with great respect. Southwest firmly believes that the way it treats its employees will be an indicator of standards and positive motivation for employees to treat customers in same manners in the way which they are treated, or even better. As the CEO of Southwest, Kelleher is a successful executive with great responsibilities. He is also looked upon as a person with great sense of humor. An employee described that â€Å"wherever Mr. Kelleher goes, you will always hear sounds of laughs and feel an atmosphere of harmony (Gavinderajan 2002).† The successful corporation structure and philosophy of centralized and decentralized differentiation of the â€Å"Short-Haul† strategy brings a change, as well as a revolution of corporate structure innovations from old styles to the new ones. The â€Å"Short-Haul† strategy is very successful currently. Southwest is successful not only because of the â€Å"Short-Hauls† strategy. Southwests corporate strategy in areas of human resources, financial control, employee motivation and promotion, frequent communications between different levels, and the hardness for other airlines to duplicate are also factors which go with the â€Å"Short-Haul† strategy, differentiating Southwest from the rest of airlines, and therefore ensuring the success of such great achievement. However, huge problems are likely to take place in the long run. Just like Darwins Theory â€Å"survival of the fittest† indicates that every element is on its way of evolving, being unchanged will eventually be discarded by time and success in the long run. It is true that Kellehers â€Å"Short-Haul† strategy is extremely successful at present, but it will never guarantee that depending solely on this strategy will still be succes sful in the future. Looking into the history of the human kind, and look at ourselves now, how is it different from the past and the present? If all human beings have not evolved, if the science in every field has not changed, will we still have the same outlooks as what we are having now? I dont think so. Without the evolving of human kind and the improvements in scientific field, we will be no different compared with the primary humans in the early stages. Dont even mention about watching television, taking shower, surfing on the internet, flying in the airplane, or even having delicious meals. Without changes and improvements, we will still be in the primary forests where once we belonged, eating raw meat like barbarians and sharing room with animals. There is no government, business entity or element which is able to stay unchanged forever. During the medieval period, the Roman Empire was the most powerful nation in the entire world. But it collapsed. The British once said that â€Å"the sun will never set on Great Britain†! It also collapsed. China invented three of the four ancient miracles, the method of printing, compass and gunpowder more than 3,000 years ago. It was also the center of power and civilization during the Tang Dynasty which lasted for more than 800 years. China also paved the way for the first international business that never had happened between the east and the west. When Marco Polo traveled to China during the peak of its prosperity, he was shocked and thrilled to see that difference between the east and the west. When the European were sharing rooms with animals, China already had palaces made out of gold, even the miracle of Great Wall which is the only manmade mark that can be seen from space. The dynasty also collapsed. From all the examples that I mentioned above, you can clearly see t hat every nation has its ups and downs. Forever power never exists. This is exactly the same as business. I will be astonished if you can tell me a business entity which has lasted for 500 years. Many people believe that Wal-Mart is unstoppable, and unfortunately, they are absolutely wrong. Decades ago, Sears was the â€Å"Wal-Mart† at that time. Look at Sears now, how different it is between the past and present. Who can guarantee decades later, there will be no corporations replacing Wal-Mart? If Kelleher has the same concerns as I do, it is possible that he will be worried about Southwest in the future. What if the â€Å"Short-Haul† strategy stopped working? What if an underdog suddenly comes out, making Southwest stand on the border of failure? The situation for Southwest in the future is not as optimistic as it seems. However, it does not mean that Southwest is meant to be a failure. All roads lead to Rome, and whenever there is a will, there is a way. Kelleher can still use the â€Å"Short-Haul† strategy to succeed. But the strategy must be converted from a micro-perspective to a macro-perspective. In order for a company to be successful in the long run, it must expand. Kelleher said that Southwest has not made any decision to expand at present. But it does not mean that Southwest will never expand. As a business entity, corporations must expand globally to obtain more profits. Look at Wal-Mart, how many stores does it own worldwide? Need I say more? This also reminds me of an old saying which has it that â€Å"the largest fish in the river is never a big fish in the ocean†. If Southwest is satisfied just because of current profits and competitive advantages it has in the short run, it will not be Southwest anymore. I think that Southwest is on its way of planning its expansions, but with a very careful and conscientious attitude. It wants to make sure that the new strategy will work when the decision of expanding is made. There might be countless strategies for Kelleher to come up with. I know one strategy which I consider the best strategy because using this new strategy, Southwest can be very successful in the long run. It can also save time and resources. So what is this so-called strategy? I consider it the most successful not because of my arbitrary standing point of â€Å"pride and prejudice.† Rather, I recognized its importance and advantages because I have done a lot of research to make sure that this approach makes sense. The strategy I am using now is one strategy from the masterpiece called â€Å"The Art of War†, written by the greatest military strategist ever in history more than 3,000 years ago. The authors name is Sun Zi. What is so great and amazing about this book is that it has listed all the strategies which can be applied and used in all scientific fields, such as military, business, geometry and all other natural sciences. Japan is renowned for its management which almost cracked down the American automobile industry, and every top manager in Japan always makes sure they the book ‘The Art of War† lays on his desk. India is renowned for its financial system which also takes some strategies fr om â€Å"The Art of War†. United States Department of Defense and its military also adopted the strategies from the masterpiece of â€Å"The Art of War†, and manipulate them from a military science standing point (The Spread and popularity of the Art of War). In order to implement these strategies appropriately, one requirement must be met. The prerequisite is that the user must have a good understanding of military science built on the views that can be related and flexibly applied and manipulated from a perspective which solves problems based on methods of essence indirectly related from all other sciences. Knowledge is similar to a big family in that every element from every field mutually supports each other. For instance, when in process of establishing a military strategy, the person responsible for it must have good understandings of sciences such as geology, meteorology, physics, chemistry and even languages as well. In order for the strategy to operate well to the fullest extent of its capacity, the central strategist must have a good command of what geological area is the enemy in; what weapons has the enemy obtained; is it possible to use the scientific competitive advantage from a military perspective; what will the weather be like when the battle takes place; what mathematical calculation is needed for the army to defeat the enemy in a timely, resource-saving and casualty-reducing standpoint; after invading the area, what language and culture pattern that the enemy uses and has, etc. For geography, it is crucial for the strategist to decide which altitudes in the region would likely to be an advantage when fighting the battle. For weapons, the strategist must know whether the wea pons invented through the methods and formulas of physics and chemistry is a helping factor, and the basic laws and functions of the scientific principles in which the weapons are made based on knowledge of physics and chemistry. For meteorology, the strategist must have a good command of whats the weather would be like when the battle takes places because fighting on a sunny day and rainy day will have different results which could be the factors leading to either the victory or failure of the battle. For mathematics, the strategist must be pretty clear that why way is actually the nearest way offering competitive advantage for his troops. For linguistics, people who speak the enemys language and understand their cultural patterns will be a good indicator to lead the way. Ignorance of these necessary elements that eventually leads to failures is countless. In the Korean War, both sides have tried everything to keep control of the highest geographic positions; the first Russian space shuttle to the moon would provide Russia with a competitive technological advantage on weapons based on the same laws of sciences that were applied to the shuttle; the shuttle never comes back because the Russian scientists ignor ed one hundredth of a decimal point, and it resulted in deaths of all its excellent astronauts; the lost of the space shuttle which the government had supported financially, the time Russian scientists had devoted themselves to, and suspicions of scientific laws; all the hard work, the money and resources was wasted, and the laws of science were meant to be retested; the American troops in Iraq resulted in more casualties as expected because the strategist ignored the power of language, and hiring locals who hate Americans as translators who intentionally led Americans to opposite and wrong directions which resulted in lost of many lives which can possibly be saved if language and cultural pattern were considered. Finally, the reason that George Bush still could not find Bin Laden is because that he has no idea of the Iraqi landforms. If he knew that well, Bin Laden should already be caught and Saddam Hussein will not be the scapegoat. The strategy that Southwest Airlines should use in order to continue its success is also based on the â€Å"Short-Haul† strategy. The difference is that the strategy must be inter-converted. Southwest can try its best to duplicate its â€Å"Short-Haul† strategy globally. For instance, it can do exactly the same business with the same strategy once again. But this time, Southwest has to do it in every part of the world. For instance, Southwest can expand its business in France, Germany, Australia, Russia, China, Japan, Poland, Greece, etc. All Southwest has to do is doing â€Å"Short-Haul† business in all the countries. Once the â€Å"Short-Haul† strategy has spread to almost all the nations with economic prosperity, Southwest can start its â€Å"Long-Haul† strategy. Its global network will be linked like the solid structure of an atom, from Russia to Germany, Germany to France, France to Australia, Australia to China, and China to Switzerland, etc. By doing this, Southwest will have an extremely solid structure of global airline network that is likely to be very durable. The structure is similar to that of an atom. The structure of an atom can be described as one of the most solid structure among all other solid elements. This strategy adopted from â€Å"The Art of War† is based on the theory of strategic transformation, especially from a micro-perspective to a macro-perspective (Chapter IV, Art of War). By duplicating its successful strategy of â€Å"Short-Haul†, Southwest will have the capabilities of accumulating more strengths little by little. When Southwest considers it the right time to transform the â€Å"Short-Hauls† strategy to â€Å"Long-Hauls†, it can connect its business in every corner of the world. Each business in a certain place can be regard as a dot; there will an enormous amount of dots that Southwest has worked on. Therefore, connections of all the dots will change the network s imilar to that of an atom. Atom is said to have the toughest element structure on earth. One atom does not mean anything; two atoms only make a molecule. But through countless chemical reactions of nuclear fissions, millions and billions of atoms will have the energy as powerful as that of the atomic bomb. This strategy is also flexible. When Southwest considers itself too hard to manage all its subdivisions, it can back up its structures to original format, transforming from a macro-perspective to a micro-perspective. It can also change some parts to macro and other parts to micro. Whenever it is needed, Southwest is capable of interchanging its structure into different forms that best fits can be calculated according to different situations. The huge advantage of this strategic has three crucial characteristics: First, all Southwest has to do to force other airlines out of business just by doing a slight shift. Once the headquarter take the move, every connections of the network over the world can either do the same as a whole or a slightly different according to its own situation. The reason that Southwest is able to do this is because it possesses both a centralized and decentralized structure which can choose the best outfits. Second, once the network is complete, it will be very durable. It can last for a very last period until the strategies made by other airlines are superior. As I mentioned above, every element is on the way of changing so that there is no forever monopoly. But when Southwest has the ability to applied the â€Å"Long-Hauls† strategy, it will already have obtained the role as the leader in the industry. It will then be extremely difficult for other airlines to innovate new ideas expecting to replace the Southwest because under that situation, Southwest have the power to make sure that other airlines do not have chances. I dont mean that there is no possibility another innovation of internal structure of corporations. But the probability is not likely because at that time, Southwest will have the possibility with a confidence interval of at least 90%. Finally, I will be thrilled and stunned if other corporations are able to come up with better strategies under such a suppressed atmosphere. In order for other airlines to jump out from the â€Å"vicious cycle†, they must have the ability to obtain two important factors, which are financial resources and time. The network at least will take Southwest ten years to complete with financing of trillions of dollars. It is not likely for other airlines to come up with trillions of dollars at once, and even Wal-Mart does not know if it possesses the ability. Moreover, there is another requirement of more importance. That i s the time. The most valuable thing in the entire world is time. There is no opportunity cost for time because time is always moving on and it is eternal. It can never stop. As a result, do those airlines have time to do it? How long do they need in order to come up with a better strategy, replacing that of the Southwests? Therefore, the possibility is extremely slight. Southwest has this advantage. It is only a matter of time! Its about how long Southwest can last! Bibliographies â€Å"Americas Most Admired Companies 2006†, Wall Street Journal, available @ http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/mostadmired/snapshots/1253.html Dauble, Jennifer, â€Å"Top Fifty Companies to Watch, October 31, 2005†. Wall Street Journal, available @ http://www.dowjones.com/Pressroom/PressReleases/Other/US/2005.html._ Marcial, Gene, â€Å"Southwest Airlines Wings North†, November 7, 2005. BusinessWeek, available @ http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_45/b3958118.htm Lynch, Pat â€Å"Southwest Airlines†, Online Blogs From Google, April 5, 2005. Available @ http://finance.google.com/finance?q=luvhl=en â€Å"Southwest Fact Sheet†, March 28, 2006. Southwest Airlines Corporation, available @ http://www.southwest.com/about_swa/press/factsheet.html Bunz Ulla, â€Å"Learning Excellence, Southwest Airlines approach†, Volume 8, 1998. Available @ http://bunz.comm.fsu.edu/southwest.pdf Peter, TJ. And Waterman, R.H. (1982), In Search of Excellence: Lessons from Americas Best Run Companies, Harper Row, New York, NY. McNerney, D.J. (1996), â€Å"Employee motivation: creating a motivated workforce†, HR Focus, Vol.73 No.8, pp.1, 4-6. Gavinderajan Vijay, â€Å"Southwest Airline Corporation†, 2002, no. 20012. Trip Tracy, March 2006. â€Å"Best Practices Case Study: Best Perks, Southwest Airlines†, available @ http://vault.com/nr/newsmain.jsp?nr_page=3ch_id=402article_id=19258

Ralph Ellison :: Music Literature Papers

Ralph Ellison Ba-Bap. . .he hit the snare so hard and so clean-right with the bass player, and each of Elvin Jones's four extremities went into motion. The piano played one of those thick McCoy Tyner chords with that deep thoughtful jazz sound that makes my body twitch ever so slightly with momentary satisfaction and anticipation. A split-second descending right-handed run from the piano and Bshhh. . .Elvin let the symbol resonate and moved in with his deadly swinging crisp high hat cht, cht, cht, cht, just as the horns stated the melody in unison a fourth apart. Then, with a punchy five-note line the sax player began his solo. After that phrase he stopped and waited-allowing a few bars to roll by as he felt the rhythm and absorbed the harmonies the piano player offered in response to his line. With his head bent down as if in prayer, he countered with a longer, smoother second phrase that elaborated on the first one but then confidently let his last unresolved note bang out over the audience. I felt my legs moving under me and my head bobbing slightly, and my jaw began to open and shut tightly as if to sing the next phrase. As the solo progressed, I felt I had to hold my breath, waiting for each of the horn player's thoughts to finish before I could take a full breath. The phrases began to get faster and closer together until he was rapidly firing notes out of his horn, and there was increasingly less space to breathe. The notes came in clusters and bursts of creative energy. His ideas seemed to flow from deep within the realms of the uncons cious until he seemed no longer to be in control of his thoughts. Yet, despite the speed of the notes and ideas, he was completely in control and fooled everyone by deftly taking his time-moving slowly 'out' of the scale so subtly that the audience didn't even notice until five minutes later with sweat pooling on his forehead, he had taken his solo all the way "outside" of the music and continued pushing his band further on and outer still. Elvin came crashing down on his kit playing fierce poly patterns that evolved into a rhythmic game of tag with the horn player that just got more and more intense until at last the horn player reached way up and seemed to pull a screeching note out of the ceiling and scream out into the club, before physically bending that note back into the music.

The Evolution of Philippine Literature

Though relatively young compared to other world literatures, Philippine literature has come a long way in evolving from the early forms of folklore literature to the contemporary literature we know today. The changing times and the cultural influences brought about by both the foreign and local people have shaped the fate of Philippine literature. On the earliest times before the Spanish colonization, myths, legends, and tales were the forms of literature at hand. These reflected the indigenous culture and tradition of pre-Spanish Philippines.Stories were orally shared and passed down room one generation to the next. A bit before Spaniards came, the early natives had also developed their own writing system called the Alabama and the earliest writings in Philippine literature were written in that manner on bamboo, leaves, stones, and other indigenous materials. These myths usually impart of the origin of man and the world, and mostly had a transcending spiritual purpose. Balkans or th e priestesses were in charge of remembering and preserving the folklore which they preached to the people, especially to the future generations.An example of well preserved myth is the lawful ale of Began and Gauguin that talks about the marriage of a goddess with a man and the death of their son which resulted in the creation of the world's many things. Tales were in local vernacular forms and showed the diversity ad richness of culture by each region. On the advent of Spanish colonization, the earlier forms of literature were trashed and abandoned for the Spaniards wanted to convert the natives to Christianity and the only way to do this was to convince the natives into believing that these were evil and wicked.That explains why the term â€Å"yaw† meaner devil, but in fact, Yaw was a airier Babylon from Bolo. Folklore was forgotten and natives were slowly but surely became Hispanicize throughout the 300 years of colonization. Prayers, chants, and other religious acts were taught to the natives. Religion was a major topic in the Spanish era. Elite scholars were taught to read and write in Spanish and religion was the main subject matter. Since only the high class or the selected few had the privilege of education, this resulted in a few bright minds to explore the literature given by the Spaniards, the rest were only taught prayers.These fortunate people were taught to read and write n Spanish and were sent overseas. This paved way for them to discover the diverse literature of the world. This gave them an utterly different perspective of literature and other matters. These scholars were inspired by the foreign revolutionary ideas and sooner than later, sparked the will to also change the system of their native land. These foreign ideas were adopted by Filipino writers like Jose Racial, Grecian Lopez Jean, Marcelo H. Del Pillar and Pedro Pattern who contributed to important Spanish literary work in the Philippines by the way of various historical docu ments.Studying in Europe, Jose Racial was the most prominent advocate for reform in the Philippines. He wrote two books: the Nil Me Tanager and the El Filibusterer's, writings and formed the ASK for revolution. It is evident in Benefaction's poem Nag Hulling Habit Eng Filipinos (The final Cry of Filipinos) that he was on the verge of creating a revolution and that shows that on the dwindling years of Spanish rule, literature revolved around the idea of revolution and nationalism. It is true that the style and way of writing is very much affected by the need to write down the events that are unfolding.A nationalistic era results in a nationalistic literary works. At the dawn of American colonialism?or as they called it â€Å"benevolent assimilation†, the American tactic was to not enslave us but to â€Å"befriend† us. They willingly taught the Filipinos to read and write in English, targeting the youth. Through these efforts, Philippine English literature bloomed. At th e start, many Filipino writers still wrote in Spanish but gradually, as the years went by, more and more wrote in English. Since you have to learn to stand before you learn to walk, it took them a little while before Filipino writers could write literary works in English.When the Second World War exploded and the Japanese occupied the country, writers were forced to either go underground or write in Toga. Writers were enthused to write in English again when the war was over. This period produced some famous writers like like Carols Bulbous, Alexandra Roses, Francisco Recall, Nick Joaquin. Filipino writers excelled in the short stories in English. It was at this time that Filipinos felt at more ease with using English as their medium of language. They took the writing in English language and transformed it into an artistic expression.

Boychiks in the Hood Something That the World Needs to Know about the Jewish Culture. A Book Review

Boychiks in the Hood Something That the World Needs to Know about the Jewish Culture. A Book Review It is weird how little the rest of the world knows about Hasidic Judaism. Living in their own world, detached from the rest of the people and at the same time living side by side with other nations and adepts of other religions, the adepts of Hasidic Judaism have been a mystery for the Western world for years. With the help of his book, Boychiks in the hood, Robert Eisenberg has managed to shed some light on the mysterious branch of Judaism.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Boychiks in the Hood: Something That the World Needs to Know about the Jewish Culture. A Book Review specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The classification of the Hasidic Judaists provided by Eisenberg is quite impressive. Of all the types that he mentions, there are four ones deserving special attention. The first one to be mentioned is secular Zionism. Needless to say, this is a secular type of modern Jews, even though they are related to the Zionis t teachings. However, the author also describes a number of religious types of Jews that he has come across in his travels around the world. First and foremost, the Satman Jews must be mentioned, mainly because of the impact that they have had on the development of the Jewish culture, as well as on the world perception of the latter. According to what Eisenberg says, â€Å"What Pat Buchanan is to the Republican Party, Satmans are to other Hasidim† (Eisenberg, 1996, 2). Another type of religious Jews that Eisenberg mentions in his book is the so-called Ultra-Orthodox Hasidic population, or Haredi. Finally, among the present-day types of religious Jewish communities, the Lubavitchers, also known as Chabad, should be mentioned. Though there are no major distinctions between the traditional Judaism and the Lubavitcher sect, it is noteworthy that the first adepts of the given branch of Judaism believe that joy and love is the only possible way to cognize the wisdom of Torah. Takin g the most detailed account of how modern Jewish communities are organized, Eisenberg has come up with his idea of what the future of some of these Jewish communities might be. Unfortunately, some of the forecasts leave much to be desired. For example, the fate of the Harvard Haredi community seems not quite clear at present, given the instances of racism towards the Jewish population that have been spotted several times over the past few years. Another example of a Jewish community that might possibly face complexities in the future is the diaspora of the Lake Oybegone in Postville, Iowa. Living in a Jewish suburb on the outskirts of Everycity, this community seems extremely cosmopolitan, which can possibly lead to the loss of national identity. Mixing with other cultures, the members of the community might lose their roots, Eisenberg warns. Another Jewish community that is bound to face rapid changes is the Minnesota Jewish diaspora. Finally, the essay â€Å"Bungalow Summer† describing the Jewish diaspora in the Catskills, New York, must be mentioned. Seeing how the given community is completely ultraorthodox, one can expect that it will most likely cling on to the traditional way of life, and that it will not face major transformations even when the rest of the Jewish communities in the U. S. will have to change.Advertising Looking for essay on american literature? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More As for the European Jewish communities, the ones in Uman and Dombrova (Poland) can be described. The Uman community is most likely to develop further on; however, the acculturation and, therefore, the fusion with the Ukrainian culture are inevitable. The Dombrova diaspora, however, is likely to become even lesser in number, since the Dombrova ghetto is practically isolated from the rest of Poland. Moreover, Eisenberg claims that the Jewish population is going to increase; hopefully, this will mean that the Jewish people will become closer to each other and that all over the world, Jewish people will be able to become a much stronger community. As Eisenberg explains, in the future, it can be expected that the Jewish communities in the United States, as well as in the USA, will develop into larger and more influential diasporas. To be more exact, the following changes can be expected. It can be considered that the Finally, it is necessary to mention that at present, the Ultra-Orthodox Jewish community is obviously experiencing a rapid and increased growth, which can be attributed to the fact that the ideas of Torah have been widely accepted by more and more people not only in the USA, but also all over the world. That said, it is clear that the Yiddish language is the final frontier that must be held to keep the national integrity intact and at the same time encourage even more people to accept the postulates of Hasidism. It is also worth mentioning that, according to Eis enberg, Ultra-Orthodox Jews use Yiddish as their national language, which means that they relate to Yiddish and that it has become a part of their vision of national culture. Of course, the fact that the book about the modern Jewish culture was written by a person who has relatively little to do with the given culture might get a few sidelong glances. The style, details and, which is the most important, passion, which the boom as written with, however, make Boychiks in the hood an interesting read at least; at most, these characteristics turn the book into a peculiar perspective on the life of the modern Jews, their culture and traditions. Though the book has its flaws, one must give the author credit for his attempt to offer his broad audience an introspective into the Jewish culture. Therefore, Boychiks in the hood is definitely worth checking out. Reference List Eisenberg, R. (1996). Boychiks in the hood: Travels in the Hasidic underground. New York, NY: Harper Collins.Advertisin g We will write a custom essay sample on Boychiks in the Hood: Something That the World Needs to Know about the Jewish Culture. A Book Review specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More

Free Essays on Civil Rights 1964

in 1964, a month and a day before the historic Civil Rights Act of 1964 would be signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. She speaks for the mood of a race, a race that for centuries has built the nation of America, literally, with blood, sweat, and passive acceptance. She speaks for black Americans who have been second class citizens in their own home too long. She speaks for the race that would be patient no longer that would be accepting no more. Mrs. Hamer speaks for the African Americans who stood up in the 1950's and refused to sit down. They were the people who led the greatest movement in modern American history - the civil rights movement. It was a movement that would be more than a fragment of history, it was a movement that would become a measure of our lives (Shipler 12). When Martin Luther King Jr. stirred up the conscience of a nation, he gave voice to a long lain dormant morality in America, a voice that the government could no longer ignore. The government fin ally answered on July 2nd with the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is historically significant because it stands as a defining piece of civil rights legislation, being the first time the national government had declared equality for blacks. The civil rights movement was a campaign led by a number of organizations, supported by many individuals, to end discrimination and achieve equality for American Blacks (Mooney 776). The forefront of the struggle came during the 1950's and the 1960's when the feeling of oppression intensified and efforts increased to gain access to public accommodations, increased voting rights, and better educational opportunities (Mooney... Free Essays on Civil Rights 1964 Free Essays on Civil Rights 1964 When the Government Stood Up For Civil Rights "All my life I've been sick and tired, and now I'm just sick and tired of being sick and tired. No one can honestly say Negroes are satisfied. We've only been patient, but how much more patience can we have?" Mrs. Hamer said these words in 1964, a month and a day before the historic Civil Rights Act of 1964 would be signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. She speaks for the mood of a race, a race that for centuries has built the nation of America, literally, with blood, sweat, and passive acceptance. She speaks for black Americans who have been second class citizens in their own home too long. She speaks for the race that would be patient no longer that would be accepting no more. Mrs. Hamer speaks for the African Americans who stood up in the 1950's and refused to sit down. They were the people who led the greatest movement in modern American history - the civil rights movement. It was a movement that would be more than a fragmen t of history, it was a movement that would become a measure of our lives (Shipler 12). When Martin Luther King Jr. stirred up the conscience of a nation, he gave voice to a long lain dormant morality in America, a voice that the government could no longer ignore. The government finally answered on July 2nd with the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is historically significant because it stands as a defining piece of civil rights legislation, being the first time the national government had declared equality for blacks. The civil rights movement was a campaign led by a number of organizations, supported by many individuals, to end discrimination and achieve equality for American Blacks (Mooney 776). The forefront of the struggle came during the 1950's and the 1960's when the feeling of oppression intensified and efforts increased to gain access to public accommodations, increased voting rights, and better educational opportunities (Mooney...

And Then There Were None Themes Essays - And Then There Were None

And Then There Were None Themes Essays - And Then There Were None And Then There Were None Themes Trust, Deceit, & Immorality in And then There Were None And Then There Were None, a mystery novel by Agatha Christie, discusses matters of trust, deceit, and immorality. These two words and intertwined within each chapter, and they come to us in ways that do not meet the eye right away. They require a certain level of thought in order to be understood clearly. It which Agatha Christie hopes to bring out. Trust is a key element of life. We need to choose who we can confide and believe in. If the ten people on the island want to stay alive, they need to be aware of those who are truly loyal, but they need to choose wisely, for one out of the ten is a murderer. Everyone in the house has their suspicions. One of us... one of us... one of us. Three words, endlessly repeated, dining themselves hour after hour into receptive brains. (chapter 13, page 239) No matter what the circumstances are, they remain immutable about not trusting each other. Having no trust makes all of them a nervous wreck, making each of them more susceptible of being the next victim of murder. Having no trust only dings us a deeper hole to the inevitable, and when we trust the wrong person, the inevitable happens sooner than expected. Deceit, unfortunately, is also a part of life. Deceit inside And Then there Were None, however, is a part of death. Lombard and Vera face the facts when they appear to be the last ones alive on the island. So we know where we are dont we? ...This is the end. (chapter 16, page 297 & 298) Instead of being the nice man he seemed to be, he turned out to be a miscreant. Lombard fools a lot of people with his act of being paranoid of having the killer looking over his shoulder. It is his self that he needs to guard, and he is not doing a good job of that, because Vera kills him instead. Death comes about in many ways. Murder is one of them. This immorality is the basis of the whole entire book. One by one, each one of the ten people die by someone elses immoral actions. Even at the end of the book when Vera shoots Lumbard, she had committed a brutal crime. Yes, she was defending herself, but she still chooses to use her hands to take someone elses life. Immorality plagues society today deeply. We have twisted morals so much that the may think the most wrong action is OK. And Then There Were None is a book that applies lives ways in forms that come to us unconsciously. Trust is something that is so valuable to life, that if we dont have it, we can fail in something that matters greatly to us. Deceit and immorality are part of lives inauspicious human nature. These words intertwine each chapter just as they intertwine some of our own lives. We need to pick and choose which ones we want to eliminate. Bibliography and then there were none

Black holes Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Black holes - Research Paper Example 1). The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has explicitly disclosed that black holes happen when stars die and create a void or place in space where gravity allegedly is so strong that everything it comes into contact with is pulled in – even light (NASA, 2008). The current discourse hereby aims to present crucial information about black holes and the scientific theories behind them. The term black hole was reportedly coined by John Wheeler, noted to be a Princeton physicist, in 1967 (NASA, 2013). It was commendable for Hawking to aver that the theory behind black holes had originated way back 200 years ago through a paper allegedly written in 1783 by John Michelle from Cambridge who documented ‘black stars’ in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London (Hawking, n.d.). The description of the observation was analogous to how black holes are described in contemporary times, to wit: â€Å"a star that was sufficiently massive and compact, would have such a strong gravitational field that light could not escape. Any light emitted from the surface of the star, would be dragged back by the stars gravitational attraction, before it could get very far. Michell suggested that there might be a large number of stars like this† (Hawking, n.d., par. 3). Another scientist whose name emerged as one of the pioneers in the study of black holes was a French scientist who was identified by Hawkin as Marquis de La~plass (Hawking, n.d.). However, only when Einstein allegedly came out with his famous General Theory of Relativity was the possibility of black holes actually confirmed. As expressly indicated, according to Einstein’s theory, â€Å"when a massive star dies, it leaves behind a small, dense remnant core. If the cores mass is more than about three times the mass of the Sun, the equations showed, the force of gravity overwhelms all other forces and produces a black hole† (NASA, 2013,

Health Literacy and Patient Empowerment Assignment

Health Literacy and Patient Empowerment - Assignment Example Is it low, medium, or high? Explain your rating system for the three literacy levels. What are the factors that contribute to the literacy level for individuals? The three article literacy range from medium to high. The first article by Estruch, et al. (2013) about the diet for those with the chronic disease can be rated as medium as it dwells on only one type of diet and which is limited to people. The second article by Nag & Ghosh (2013) is rated as high as it discusses the rate of this chronic disease in Asia and the risk factors associated with it. This is very important information for prevention. Lastly is the article by Jeemon (2011) which is rated highly as it also provides the socio-economic reasons associated with cause and prevention as well as management of the cardiovascular disease. People as a result of the statistics on the cardiovascular diseases are running towards technology and medical books to seek every piece of information whether it is on causes, prevention or even management. The articles are peer reviewed and hence people are reviewing them mostly and relying on the information being provided. The information they present are based on research and hence are reliable. The only change would be to add more about the diet on the first article by Estruch, et al. (2013). Patient empowerment means that a patient of the chronic disease has taken time to learn about the disease and not just rely on what is being fed to him or her by the medical team. They have expansive knowledge on the area and have consulted on the best treatment plan and management methods depending on the stage of the disease or level they are in (Hebda, Czar & Mascara, 2012). A patient that is empowered is highly literate when it comes to health literacy. He or she has a wide array of knowledge that can even be used to teach others such as relatives. When it comes to patient empowerment, some of the patients are initially

Electronic Health Record, Information Site Paper Essay

Electronic Health Record, Information Site Paper - Essay Example With the urban hospitals more keen and committed in the adoption of EHR, it is of great essence that the rural hospitals take over the same trend. In as much the costs of upgrading the health records in the health facilities are considerably higher; all the concerned parties must be geared towards improvement of the same. The electronic health records systems (EHR) have been credited for their ability to address the most tasking aspects that affect the healthcare system amongst them being the quality of services being offered to the citizens. The Healthcare Financial Management Association (2006) emphasizes that, a modernized health record system makes it easy for the concerned parties to plan on the endowment of the hospitals. It is imperative that hospitals embrace the novel technology on electronic health records systems (EHR) into their systems. Part 1 The electronic health records system (EHR) is entwined with copious challenges in the quest to promote continuum healthcare. The Healthcare Financial Management Association (2006) indicates that it is tremendously tasking to make all documents electronic in particular, integrating the older documents into the new system. This interprets that there will be a niche in the homogeny of the system. The concerned parties, in this case, are forced to have these information as images in their catalog, but not as original documents of the previous files. In this context, therefore, the eventual result has been to have an inclusive database in the electronic records. It becomes intricate if the clinician used poor handwriting to fill certain forms though the scanned documents can be included electronically. It, as a result, becomes complicated to interpret the documents as well as deduce their meanings. This can be dealt with by having a duplication of feebly written copies then scanning of the same. This will create a form of equivalence in the electronic system. Lack of knowledge on the safeguarding and storage of do cuments is a barrier to EHR. The concerned parties are not fully aware on the accessibility of retrieval of electronic data. Lack of the knowledge on the creation, editing and use of electronic data negatively implicates the implementation of EHR. Inability to store data interprets that medical practitioners are unable t enjoy new data systems. This can be eliminated by conducting a matriculation program on the concerned health facilities on the need to have electronic data systems and the need to upgrade the existing systems. Security and privacy issues also surround the electronic health records. Â  According to the research conducted by Healthcare Financial Management Association (2006), privacy of patients’ documents is a responsibility of the health practitioners. The EHR has led to the accessibility of patient documents on-line, a subject to security and privacy of patient information. It is important that all health facilities come up with stringent restrains on the E HR so as to maintain the standards of keeping records in the facility. Privacy and security are of great essence in terms of patient confidentiality. Having no standard language is yet another barrier to EHR implementation. This leads to poor synchronization of data and coordination. It is important that a standardized language and program is put in place, and distributed to all medical facilities. Record synchronization will make it easier for the educators on EHR to have a uniform

Nursing reading research 3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Nursing reading research 3 - Essay Example From the article it is difficult to ascertain the consent rate because the survey was conducted in an 11-bed ICU ward and only seven family members have been involved in the study. There is no indication as to whether all the 11 beds were occupied or not, and if it were fully occupied why there remaining four were not included. In addition it is stated that â€Å"recruitment of participants continued until saturation of the initial data occurred† leaving some gap in target sample size. (Bond, et al, 2003). The mortality rate was above 57% (4 out of 7 participant’s relatives died).This data has much relevance with the research outcome, because the data reinforced the seriousness of severe traumatic brain injury and the extreme need to support families of such patients during the patients’ ICU stay†. The data size was seven family members, with dissimilar relationship, of patients with severe traumatic brain injury. Their ages ranged from 41 to 61 years. Since this is a qualitative study the small sample (7 participants) size can provide â€Å"insights about a particular group or patients† and â€Å"can illustrate qualitative findings.† The study was conducted at an eleven-bed neurological ICU in a level I trauma centre. Initial data collection was held in the privacy of a nearby waiting room, and subsequent interviews were conducted either at the hospital or by telephone, at the participant’s convenience. This study was quasi-experimental one aimed to formulate hypothesis for further research and except using inclusion criteria there were no independent variables that have to be controlled, and content analysis was used to identify common themes. Though interview method was the primary instrument of data collection, its variations like personal interview, additional daily interview, telephonic data collection, appropriate follow-up,

Managing People Based on TyCoffi Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Managing People Based on TyCoffi - Essay Example It is also important the new staffs recruited are provided with adequate training on the functioning in the organization and on technical skills needed undertake activities. The present project seeks to develop and design a complete set of HR practices for the purpose. This includes an effective and competitive compensation and rewards strategy, training and development strategy and a communication strategy aimed at motivating and retaining staffs in the organization. A complete list of recommendations is provided for each of the above activities in the organization. HR Practices Compensation and rewards strategy One of the most important components of a company’s human resource strategies is its compensation and rewards structure. Compensation and rewards need to be designed not only as per the strategic objectives of the firm but must also be competitive in the market. Moreover they must also be designed to meet the requirements of employees such that they remain motivated a nd loyal to the company. Mere increase in salaries only helps to motivate employees for a short span of time and does not leave any permanent impact. Thus salaries must be complemented with a proper reward structure which is directly linked with the performance of employees (Armstrong, Cummins, Hastings & Wood, 2005, p131). Since Mike has strong egalitarian views, it is important that there is equitable compensation in the organization. TyCoffi must not maintain any pay secrecy. The compensation structure must be absolutely transparent to the employees. This would indicate that TyCoffi does not have any defensible compensation system (Cale & Tate, 2011, p.124). This strategy would be beneficial in gaining confidence of the people on the management’s fair-handedness and concerns people leaving the organization would reduce. The first way of determining pay structure is to establish a competency based pay structure. This is mainly to draw the distinction between the House Manag ers, Assistants and the Baristas. The three category of employees have different set of skills and competency based on which their basic salaries are to be determined. The rate of pay increases must also be linked with the same set of competencies and skills. This strategy is particularly beneficial in motivating employees to gain additional skills and competencies and acquire new knowledge (Jackson, Schuler & Werner, 2011, p.383). A performance based pay is particularly recommended for the baristas and the House Managers. This is mainly intended towards motivating employees towards performing better or improving their performance. Since baristas are directly associated with the customers and remain in close contact with them, the level of customer satisfaction depends on the kind of service that they provide. Thus associating their pay with performance would help to enhance their performance standards through improved delivery of services. This would not only help to better their o wn performance but improve reputation and goodwill of the company too (Jackson, Schuler & Werner, 2011, p.383). Apart from the baristas, the House Managers are also responsible for the performance of their respective team of baristas; thus linking their pay with

Case Study - Strategic Leadership Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 2

- Strategic Leadership - Case Study Example Maytag always thrived on quality and remained customer-focused for its strategic predispositions. If a firm is operating along diverse business lines with a wide portfolio of products but not able to assure quality, even the broad line strategy fails because the proposition satisfies organization’s business and profit motives. On the contrary, if a firm operates in a single line of business and allows multiple communication streams to its customers, chances of its success are more likely on the grounds of focus on core competencies, clear vision and craving for customer loyalty by means of enhanced quality and performance every time. The strategy of Maytag matched this philosophy where its planning was aligned with supplier collaboration, involving other business entities in the decision making process of the company and a streamlined supply chain with monitoring and control at all levels. Such factors accounted for the unprecedented growth and superior performance of Maytag C orporation. Question 2 Earlier also, Maytag tried to carry on with the farm machinery and refrigeration business in conjunction with its laundry business. However, the move at that time was not accompanied by need of growth and expansion as was done during 1980s. Saturation of the laundry market compelled Maytag to revisit its decision of expanding its product line and foraying into related appliance market. Though refrigeration and home appliances were the two options available for Maytag to diversify, the latter seemed more lucrative as refrigeration had already been dropped off by Maytag. This might have made the former proposition cloudy and doubtful for Maytag. Secondly, the major rationale behind Maytag’s entering into the appliance market was to encash the availability of numerous technological advancement opportunities and bargaining power from suppliers prevailing. Maytag was already a reputed name in the market and had close connection with suppliers, better control of consumer psyche and brand image of a quality and price conscious company. These factors would definitely help Maytag replicate the legendary performance in the appliance sector as it had done in the laundry business. As such, with resources intact, Maytag should proceed to broaden its product line. In doing so, Maytag can provide greater number of connecting points to its customers with that of its business propositions and fill in the gaps with its value added products. Its collaborative relationships with suppliers and inter-functional departments will help in maximizing revenues and reducing costs through business excellence and experience. Question 3 Broad line strategy emerges after a company has performed well in serving a single market of the entire segment. In Maytag’s case, it is the Numero Uno leader in laundry segment of the home appliance market and its strategic competencies of superiority, customer-oriented philosophy, in-house production capabilities and co st economies are but obvious. Unlike laundry business, other appliance segments are characterized by technology, investment and changing consumer demands. In this light, Maytag has the alternative of either going for a licensing venture or a strategic alliance or acquisition. In the case of former, licensing will enable Maytag to concentrate on

Nursing reading research 3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Nursing reading research 3 - Essay Example From the article it is difficult to ascertain the consent rate because the survey was conducted in an 11-bed ICU ward and only seven family members have been involved in the study. There is no indication as to whether all the 11 beds were occupied or not, and if it were fully occupied why there remaining four were not included. In addition it is stated that â€Å"recruitment of participants continued until saturation of the initial data occurred† leaving some gap in target sample size. (Bond, et al, 2003). The mortality rate was above 57% (4 out of 7 participant’s relatives died).This data has much relevance with the research outcome, because the data reinforced the seriousness of severe traumatic brain injury and the extreme need to support families of such patients during the patients’ ICU stay†. The data size was seven family members, with dissimilar relationship, of patients with severe traumatic brain injury. Their ages ranged from 41 to 61 years. Since this is a qualitative study the small sample (7 participants) size can provide â€Å"insights about a particular group or patients† and â€Å"can illustrate qualitative findings.† The study was conducted at an eleven-bed neurological ICU in a level I trauma centre. Initial data collection was held in the privacy of a nearby waiting room, and subsequent interviews were conducted either at the hospital or by telephone, at the participant’s convenience. This study was quasi-experimental one aimed to formulate hypothesis for further research and except using inclusion criteria there were no independent variables that have to be controlled, and content analysis was used to identify common themes. Though interview method was the primary instrument of data collection, its variations like personal interview, additional daily interview, telephonic data collection, appropriate follow-up,

Case Study - Strategic Leadership Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 2

- Strategic Leadership - Case Study Example Maytag always thrived on quality and remained customer-focused for its strategic predispositions. If a firm is operating along diverse business lines with a wide portfolio of products but not able to assure quality, even the broad line strategy fails because the proposition satisfies organization’s business and profit motives. On the contrary, if a firm operates in a single line of business and allows multiple communication streams to its customers, chances of its success are more likely on the grounds of focus on core competencies, clear vision and craving for customer loyalty by means of enhanced quality and performance every time. The strategy of Maytag matched this philosophy where its planning was aligned with supplier collaboration, involving other business entities in the decision making process of the company and a streamlined supply chain with monitoring and control at all levels. Such factors accounted for the unprecedented growth and superior performance of Maytag C orporation. Question 2 Earlier also, Maytag tried to carry on with the farm machinery and refrigeration business in conjunction with its laundry business. However, the move at that time was not accompanied by need of growth and expansion as was done during 1980s. Saturation of the laundry market compelled Maytag to revisit its decision of expanding its product line and foraying into related appliance market. Though refrigeration and home appliances were the two options available for Maytag to diversify, the latter seemed more lucrative as refrigeration had already been dropped off by Maytag. This might have made the former proposition cloudy and doubtful for Maytag. Secondly, the major rationale behind Maytag’s entering into the appliance market was to encash the availability of numerous technological advancement opportunities and bargaining power from suppliers prevailing. Maytag was already a reputed name in the market and had close connection with suppliers, better control of consumer psyche and brand image of a quality and price conscious company. These factors would definitely help Maytag replicate the legendary performance in the appliance sector as it had done in the laundry business. As such, with resources intact, Maytag should proceed to broaden its product line. In doing so, Maytag can provide greater number of connecting points to its customers with that of its business propositions and fill in the gaps with its value added products. Its collaborative relationships with suppliers and inter-functional departments will help in maximizing revenues and reducing costs through business excellence and experience. Question 3 Broad line strategy emerges after a company has performed well in serving a single market of the entire segment. In Maytag’s case, it is the Numero Uno leader in laundry segment of the home appliance market and its strategic competencies of superiority, customer-oriented philosophy, in-house production capabilities and co st economies are but obvious. Unlike laundry business, other appliance segments are characterized by technology, investment and changing consumer demands. In this light, Maytag has the alternative of either going for a licensing venture or a strategic alliance or acquisition. In the case of former, licensing will enable Maytag to concentrate on

Team Diversity Paper Essay Example for Free

Team Diversity Paper Essay As a team, we are aware of the term diversity, and how diversity is tied to our teams strategy. A good definition of diversity is the uniqueness each team member brings to the resolution of the project at hand. This includes differences such as race, gender, culture, background, education and thinking styles. It also encompasses subtle dimensions such as experience, sexual orientation, physical appearance, and position each member takes on the team. The key objectives that are focused on are team strategy, strategic intent, valuing each other, leadership diversity and what our team believes about diversity. Diversity Positive/Negative Team Impacts. We have found that we draw upon the creativity, views, and strengths of all team members. One way that this is achieved is through team strategy. This encompasses being a people-oriented, diverse, skilled, empowered, safe and healthy team. This also includes a team that is dedicated to having the highest integrity, and working together in a barrier-free environment. Our team is committed to fostering an environment where all our members are able to feel confident that they can contribute and achieve to their highest potential, and be valued for the unique contribution they bring. To do so enables our team to work more effectively to anticipate and satisfy the needs of the assignments and maintain a quality oriented advantage. Diversity is not an initiative, it is not achieved by a number count; diversity takes hold through the collective behavior of all of us. In addition, we recognize and respect our differences rather than ignore them. Each of us feels valued regardless of our differences. Feeling valued brings us closer together as a team. Collectively we are wiser and more creative than we are individually. Greatest Impact on Team Effectiveness. The four types of diversity that were identified as having the greatest impact on our teams effectiveness are differences in skills and abilities,  occupation, age, and value and attitude differences. The following information describes how each of the four types of diversity we chose impacts our team. Differences in Skills and Abilities. Diversity in skills is one of our greatest assets. Together, we bring a mass amount of knowledge and experience to our team. This diversity in skills and abilities allow us to create maximum teamwork and synergy in our learning teams. Without diversity skills we would be ineffective members of this ever changing work world. Diversity skills are the indispensable skills needed by those who plan on being effective leaders in this ever-changing world (Enhancing Synergistic Performance Consultants, 2003). Occupation/Age. Our occupational backgrounds vary from customer oriented to people oriented type of jobs. Our group comprises over 90 years of working experience in varied cultures. Bill Pernot is a 48-year-old Team Leader at AES Alamitos Generating Station. His duties include formulating a five-year budget plan, setting salaries and bonuses, monitoring and maintaining the safety program, and the development of his team. Bill is also the facility security manager. His team includes nine maintenance and operation technicians. They are responsible for the operations and maintenance of two turbine-generating units, which accounts for one third of the generating facility. He has 18 years of management experience in both union and non-union structures and was formerly a union steward himself. Working with people of diverse backgrounds, he has gained insight in dealing with people with different attitudes and styles. Leticia is a 28-year-old National Sales Representative for Melissas World Variety Produce. She is in charge of managing her own accounts. Melissas has a team-oriented structure, which has allowed her to learn from her teammates and express her views as well. She is in charge of the  coordination of price lists with the procurement team, setting up ads with her customers and presenting new information to her customers on a daily basis. Her goal and the company goal are to increase sales by at least 25 % each year. Adriana is a 30-year-old Surgical Coordinator at Premier Laser Sight. Her daily duties are customer oriented. She is responsible for scheduling procedures for two surgeons. She also discusses and negotiates the cost of procedures with patients. Yvonne is 43-year-old Business Operations Analyst for The Boeing Company. She has over 25 years of Boeing Management/Administrative experience in the areas of Staffing/Budgets, Human Resources, Presentations and Staff Support. Having held a management position for a number of years has enabled Yvonne to become very familiar with diverse and cultural differences throughout the workforce. Value and Attitude Differences. Our difference is our strength (Cyber Trader, 2003). As a team we strive to have an open and supportive teamwork environment. This benefits the team and helps us better to easily get things done. We are all open-minded when it comes to values and cultural backgrounds. Things like gender, ethnicity, race, sexual orientation, age and physical challenges do not affect our working abilities. We find value in our different personalities, backgrounds and working styles. This helps us better service the needs of our teams. We often come together, discuss our common experiences and appreciate the opportunity to learn from each other in a supportive setting. After reviewing diversity through our team members, we have discovered objectives such as strategy, strategic intent, valuing diversity, leadership diversity and what we believe about diversity. By practicing these objectives, actions and establishing some measurements, this is our  opportunity to extend our knowledge of diversity not only in our team environment, but in our business lives as well. References: CyberTrader. (2003). Diversity Values. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on May 30, 2003 from the World Wide Web:http:// www.cybertrader.com/careers/whyct/diversity.asp Enhancing Synergistic Performance Consultants. (2003). Diversity Skills. Retrieved on May 29, 2003 from the World Wide Web: http:// www.esp.-consultants.com/diversity_skills.htm.

Operations Strategy Case Study of Factory

Operations Strategy Case Study of Factory Consultants Report |  An Operational Review  of  Ã¢â‚¬Å"The Factory† Contents (Jump to) 1. Executive Summary 2. Introduction 3. Strategic Review 4. Operational Issues 4.1 Processes 4.2 Plant/Equipment 4.3 Customers 4.4 Contractors/Supply Chain 4.5 Personnel 4.6 Environmental 4.7 Market/Competitors 5. Recommendations 6. Further Recommendations 7. Conclusion 8. Bibliography 9. Appendices 1.  Executive Summary This Report has identified the Pea Factory (the Factory)’s operations strategy as focusing on producing quality products, on time and satisfying the bespoke requirements of its customers. It achieves this through its quality controlled operational processes and procedures. Unfortunately these processes and procedures are not without problems, which are categorised under the following headings; processes, personnel, environmental, plant/machinery and market/competition. Problems encountered with quality issues can be addressed by carrying out a review of the whole process using qualitative and quantitative methods, applying benchmarking techniques and reviewing the whole system and applying total quality management methodology. The introduction of computerisation into the administrative process would eliminate human error and remove communication problems within the control room. It may also provide the opportunity of reducing costs (over a period), with the removal of personnel. The supply chain is a fundamental area for focus, as this is crucial for the survival of the business. Ensuring the supply chain is running smoothly is not only an extremely difficult thing to achieve and it can also be extremely costly. The management team need to focus on maintaining good relations with all suppliers, contractors and subcontractors. Many of the issues, such as lack of capacity, the requirement for additional equipment, increased market share etc could easily be improved with the acquisition of a competitor. This needs serious consideration, although it obviously requires investment by the parent company. In the meantime however, by implementing the recommendations in this report, the Factory can and will move closer to achieving sustainable competitive advantage and improving productivity, whilst reducing costs. 2.  Introduction This Report has been commissioned to provide an operational review of â€Å"The Pea Factory† (the Factory). The operations strategy will be identified together with an analytical review being carried out on the operational problems facing the Factory. Areas such as; how the entire process is controlled, the use and maintenance of the equipment, the focus on the customers’ needs and the use of quality control amongst other areas. The Report will also make recommendations for improvements to the operation, which will eliminate many of the problems highlighted. For instance, the introduction of a computerisation into the control room to monitor the process from start to finish would remove many of the timing and communication issues experienced. In undertaking the research for this report there were a number of other aspects of the operation that were identified, which would benefit from improvement and they are also contained within this report. 3.  Strategic Review In order to complete a strategic review of the Factory, it is necessary to first understand what is meant by the term operations strategy. According to Slack et al1], it is; â€Å"the total pattern of decisions and actions which set the role, objectives and activities of the operation so that they contribute to and support the organisation’s business strategy.† In order to develop an operations strategy, the operations manager has to consider a number of factors such as the needs of customers, as well as what the competition are doing. According to Porter(2); â€Å"an organisation should aim to achieve sustainable competitive advantage† The Factory achieves this by focusing on their customer requirements and by producing a quality product, in a timely fashion and at a reasonable cost. The ability to adapt and be flexible in its approach to its customer’s demands is an important feature in the organisation’s strategy. The Factory concentrates on its core competencies (that of the production of frozen vegetables) rather than diversifying into other products such as pizzas, pies and other products. Specialisation is key to the strategy. Whilst sufficient information is known about the Factory’s operations strategy, little is known about the Group’s strategy, and how the Factory’s operations strategy fits with it, other than to say that they are specialist food producers. 4.  Operational Issues A review of the processes and procedures of the Factory using a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis was undertaken (see Appendix 1 attached). This identified several operational problem areas, which have been grouped under the following headings; processes, plant/equipment, customers, contractors/supply chain, personnel, environmental and market/competitors. 4.1  Processes The operation’s process is coordinated from the control room. Unfortunately the control systems used are manual ones, with any change in process being amended on â€Å"the board†, this manual process could lead to errors, miscommunication and time delays. With the limited daily processing capacity, even if there was greater demand, the organisation would not be able to cope. Further, there is little room for error with the tight time line from picking to blanching. Quality issues with stock held in quarantine, and bulk peas needing to be run though the Sortex colour sorter, several times, results in wasted time and cost. 4.2  Plant/Equipment The extensive use of expensive machinery means that the organisation’s overheads are high with costly down time through failure (particularly unplanned). This has a detrimental effect of the Factory’s ability to achieve its targets and to fulfil orders, costing the organisation both time and money. 4.3  Customers Tailor made packaging for its customers may have a negative effect on the cost base. Satisfying the customer’s needs is an important aspect of the organisations strategy, but the question needs to be asked, as what cost? In order to answer this question, detailed financial information would be required for analysis. 4.4  Contractors/Supply Chain The use of so many contractors in various parts of the process does lead to problems such as communication, control and quality. Differing yields and size containers results in identification and storage difficulties. Using multiple storage contractors could result in missing stock and lack of quality control. This could result in down time and ultimately affect the quality of the product. 4.5  Personnel Fluctuating staff levels at different times of the year causes particular problems for the organisation. The need to train and re-train new staff results in delays and errors. Lack of communication causes costly delays. Such seasonal work may not be entirely satisfying thereby creating problems with lack of job satisfaction, and therefore lack of attention to detail. 4.6  Environmental Environmental issues are a major headache. The weather clearly impacts on the production of the pea crop. The varying weather patterns create uncertainty and scheduling issues. The crop rotation cycle also restricts the level of produce provided in any given region at any given time. This limiting factor can result in not enough of the product being available. 4.7  Market/Competitors An analysis of the competitive environment reveals that there is at least one privately owned competitor who is using aggressive pricing in the market. There is also the issue of the major retailers controlling the market. If one of the retailers decides to stop using the Factory then this will negatively impact the level of profitability and sustainability of the business. All of these issues need to be addressed immediately and the recommendations for doing so are highlighted in the next section. 5. Recommendations All operation managers experience difficulties and this is certainly the case at the Factory. In order to achieve operational effectiveness, Slack et al (3), agrees that there should be; â€Å"Smooth customer flow, a clean, well-designed environment, sufficient goods to satisfy demand, sufficient staff to serve customers, appropriate quality of service, a continuous stream of ideas to improve its operations†. What better way to measure a smooth customer flow than to introduce a computerised system which will track the stock, deliveries and all the processes from start to finish. This would require significant investment, but would have the benefit of eliminating human error and reducing overhead (by reducing the number of staff required to fulfil the function). Whilst this would affect staff morale, a programme of empowerment should be implemented combined with a reward scheme or performance measurement which would motivate the staff to achieve their individual and the organisation’s goals. A Total Quality Management (TQM) process should be implemented, the characteristics of which are; â€Å"meeting the needs and expectations of customers, covering all parts of the organisation, including every person in the organisation, examining all costs which are elated to quality, especially failure costs, getting things right first time, developing systems and procedures which support quality and improvement, developing a continuous process of improvement†.4] Using a process flow chart (similar to that shown in Appendix 2) would help to clearly identify what happens during the operations process and therefore show up the problem areas. Input-output analysis could be undertaken. Further analysis could be carried out using scatter diagrams, cause-effect diagrams and Pareto5] diagrams. The issue of the limited daily processing capacity could be improved with the purchase of additional equipment. Additional quality checks should be introduced into the process in order to eliminate time wasting through re-sorting the product, and the down time of equipment. This could be done through benchmarking or other continuous improvement mechanisms. According to Deming the PDCA6] (plan, do, check, act) cycle should be used, alternatively business process re-engineering which has been very popular recently. That is: â€Å"the fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in the critical, contemporary measures of performance, such as cost, quality, service and speed.†7] Although this has been criticised as being the latest fad, as well as being an excuse for removing personnel and it could ultimately result in the loss of essential experience from the Factory. Additional preventative maintenance should be scheduled which would help resolve part of the issue of the unplanned downtime. The employment of an additional maintenance person would also speed up the process. The issue of bespoke packaging of the product for the customer should be debated within [2]the management team. If uniform packaging is introduced, this could result in a reduction in costs. However this needs to be [3]carefully weighed up against the customer needs and ultimately deciding not to purchase from the Factory. A customer quality survey could be conducted in order to ascertain the possible effect of this suggestion. The supply chain is also a critical area for the Factory to keep tight control on. According to Waller8]; â€Å"The supply chain is a complex network of suppliers, manufacturers and distributors whose ultimate objective is to provide goods and services to the client in a timely manner. The reliability of this supply chain depends on all the people in the network, plus the reliability of all the equipment employed including transportation vehicles, sophisticated machines and computer based information systems.† The use of contractors is a major issue that needs to be addressed. Formal contracts should be drawn up setting out the conditions of the relationship (if it has not already been done); with penalties for missing certain key targets being made. Consideration should be given to the Factory acquiring its own transportation, storage and packaging facilities. By focusing on the JIT (just-in-time) approach within the operation, it may further improve and simplify matters, as, according to Slack et al9]; â€Å"JIT is a disciplined approach to improving overall productivity and eliminating waste. It provides for the cost effective production and delivery of only the necessary quantity of parts at the right quality, at the right time and place, while using a minimum amount of facilities, equipment, materials and human resources. JIT is dependent on the balance between the supplier’s flexibility and the user’s flexibility.† The need to keep a close eye on inventory is essential for the Factory, and to keep it as low as possible, thereby freeing up essential funds for other areas of the business. The Factory needs to address all of these issues as a matter of urgency. Some of the recommendations identified here would involve capital investment. Therefore, further analysis would need to be undertaken once the necessary financial information is available, in order to present a robust business case to the parent company. The Factory needs to; â€Å"secure essential increases in productivity (which) requires the combined efforts of all functions. The increased use of technology has resulted in maintenance making a major contribution to the effective efforts in most business†1]0) In addition to the problem areas identified above, there are other areas that could be improved in the future, and these are mentioned in the following section. 6.  Further Recommendations Purchasing is an area that is significant to the business, as Slack et al1]1)suggests: â€Å"purchasing at the right time and in the right quantity can impact on the operations performance in terms of delivery, speed, delivery reliability and flexibility.† A separate review of the purchasing process and department should be initiated at some stage. Undertaking a financial review may also identify further improvements or reductions within the business (environmental, taxes, transportation and fuel costs). Using forecasting tools such as qualitative and quantitative methods to more accurately predict risks, time horizons, and economic indicators could also identify further areas to improve. Other problem areas that may be addressed include the environmental influences on the Factory. It should be possible to produce product all year using the poly-urethane tunnels that are seen in the countryside. The use of such tunnels would extend the growing period and lifecycle and allow pea production to take place all year, without the peaks and troughs that are currently happening. Further, if the organisation wanted full control of its entire process, then perhaps it should consider the acquisition of land to produce the product itself. Finally, in terms of the competition, we already know that one competitor is privately owned. In order to achieve transformational growth, rather than organic growth and consequently achieve many of the objectives identified above, the organisation should acquire this competitor. There would, of course, be issues with the merger of another organisation into its current business, but the increase in market share, the ability to produce more products and the access to additional equipment that this would bring, would seem to be an obvious answer to many of the problems. A thorough business case would have to be submitted to the parent company to qualify and quantify this proposal. 7.  Conclusion The operations strategy of the Factory is aimed at producing quality goods, on time and to their customer’s exacting requirements. This is achieved at the Factory, but at what cost? A thorough review of the Factory has revealed a number of areas that can be improved. Areas such as by identifying the process through the use of flow charts, then any weaknesses can be readily identified. The three quality checks that are currently undertaken is insufficient to prevent quality issues occurring, therefore additional checks should be implemented. Computerising the operations process would eliminate communication problems and speed up the process together with reducing costs. Focusing on JIT and TQM would enhance the process further. Not forgetting staff morale. Their input is critical in ensuring the process runs smoothly, whether it is the manual or computerised method. Including reward schemes and introducing empowerment is a means of involving the staff in the process and in achieving the goals and objectives of the organisation. If the parent company is willing to invest further, then transformational growth can be achieved by acquiring a competitor, land, a haulage company and by producing its own packaging. In order for the parent company to consider this, a business case would need to be produced, justifying the recommendation. The Factory has a great number of strengths, not least of which is its; location, quality product and specialist knowledge, however, by addressing its operational weaknesses and threats, it is possible to achieve sustainable competitive advantage and to continue to achieve its operational strategy, goals and objectives. 8.  Bibliography Cheng TCE, Podolsky S (1993) Just in Time Manufacturing, Chapman Hall (Pages 21 – 175) Fitzsimmons JA, Sullivan RS (1982) Service Operations Management: McGraw Hill (Pages 7 – 25) Hill, Terry. (2002) Operations Management Strategic Context and Analysis, Basingstoke: Palgrave (pages 184-547) Johnston, R. Clark, G. (2001) Service Operations Management, Harlow: FT/Prentice Hall (pages 25 73) Johnston R, Chambers S, Harland C, Hanson A, Slack N (1997) Cases in Operations Management: Financial Times, Pitman Publishing 2nd Ed (Pages 5 – 503) Lowson, R. 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(2003), Operations Management: a supply chain approach, London, Thomson Learning (pages 88 595) Wild, R (2002) Operations Management, London: Continuum (Pages 17 187) www.cips.org [emailprotected] Appendices Appendix 1 – SWOT Analysis Appendix 2 – Flow Chart of the Factory Pea Production Process [1]Slack N, Chambers S, Johnston R (2004) Operations Management Ed 4, Harlow Pearson Education p77 Michael Porter from Lowson R (2002) Strategic Operations Management The New Competitive Advantage, London, Routledge, page 29 [4]4,5, 6, 7 From Slack et al p695-696 [5] [6] [7] [2] [3] [8] Deming from Wild, Operations Management p 636 [9] Slack et al p548 [1]10 Hill T, (2002) operations Management – Strategic Context and Analysis, Basingstoke, Palgrave p184 [1]11 Slack et al p478