A reasonable Doubt

My friend had been staying with his girlfriend and his girlfriend’s best friend in one room for a period of one year when he got accused of rape and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment. This has really affected me and the fact that after serving for 5 years the accuser came out and said it was a plot to get him since she had a crush on him!It was in a small town in the outskirts of the main city. Housing was expensive and as we were trying to achieve a few dreams of our lives, we didn’t consider renting a big house a priority since our income was not so much. I had grown up together with Ian and we knew each other so well. We shared most of our dreams.When Ian met Julie the love of his heart, he was so sure that she was the woman for her. They had dated for sometime and all along the dating period Julie was sharing a room with some other two friends of hers. One of which was her best friend while the other was a girl they had been together with in the university.They kne w that all along they would become financially stable and each would go their way as soon as their income could allow them to afford rent each one on her own.When Julie and Ian decided to come and live together, it was at first not difficult since the two girls shared the rent between themselves. Julie and Ian had stayed together for 3 months when a need arouse for Karen to move out of the town. (Karen is the other girl from the university who was now left living with Tina) Tina is Julie’s best friend.When the news reached Julie that Karen was planning to leave the town she was a bit worried about her best friend since she knew that Tina would not afford to live in there alone.However it was a tough thing to think about since the only left option was to ask Ian if he could allow Tina to come and stay with them even if for some days before she get someone to share a room with or perhaps until she could afford to stay alone.She knew that she had to prepare on the best approach to present this request to Ian. She was worried that may be it might turn out that Ian would refuse that kind of a thing.But she needed to ask him the soonest possible. A thought came into her that it would be necessary to first speak to Tina maybe she might have a different idea.She made her short journey and visited her best friend whom she found in tears. They talked after comforting her and Tina was more than happy to have realized that her friend thought about her in such ways. She knew that her problem was half solved since the only remaining part was now to approach Ian. They agreed that as soon as Ian gave a feedback Julie would let Tina know soonest possible.When Tina returned home that evening she was so restless yet she found it hard to start it to Ian. It was until Ian noticed that her concentration was divided and that she seemed a little bit disturbed. Ian walked to where Julie had sat and sat on the arm of the chair that she had occupied. He looked at her with concern and asked her ‘sweetheart is everything okay? How was your day?’Julie knew right inside her that this was the perfect moment; she knew that a chance had come and she was not going to waste any time about it. She replied to him ‘everything has been fine but I only worried about my best friend Tina, she is being left by Karen in that room we used to live the three of us. Karen needs to move out of this town as she has got a job elsewhere so she is only around here for a month.The problem here is that we had opted to stay the three of us since none could afford living alone. Just three months after I left Tina to stay with Karen now Karen is about to leave. Tina can not afford it alone’. As she spoke all these Ian just listened without interruption but when she posed Ian asked ‘so what is the problem?Are you suggesting that you want to go back there?’ she knew that this would worry Ian, he would do anything to have in his room and so she said to him ‘you see that is the only other option since it might not be ideal to you to have her here staying with us’ do you think Tina agree to come and stay with us? This was Ian asking. Julie told him that she was not sure about it but if Ian would not have a problem with it then she would ask Tina when they met next about it.Then Ian said; ‘ that is not something to worry about to the point of losing concentration, all is going to be okay for her, we can stay with her if she agrees if she refuses then it means she has a better option and therefore the problem will be solved.

Old Toen White Coffe Marketing

INTRODUCTION Old Town White Coffee, founded in 1999, made history when the company became the first, the pioneer white coffee producer to manufacture and launch the famous Malaysia Ipoh White coffee as a 3in1 instant Blend. Old town White Coffee 3in1 classic together with the original recipe from 1958 spearheaded a breakthrough in the coffee industry. The company single-handedly captured the original authentic taste of an otherwise localized white coffee, turning in into a mobile commodity a fast moving consumer good (FMCG), capturing the South East Asia market.LOGO, VISION & MISSION Logo The Old Town White Coffee goal is to let everyone enjoy every sip authentic Malaysian Ipoh white coffee anytime and anywhere. Vision To be Asian Pacific’s Leading White coffee producer providing high quality products to customers globally. Mission To promote our unique Malaysian taste- the authentic Ipoh White Coffee and continue White Coffee Legacy the rough continuous improvement and innova tion that exceeds customer expectations. By setting precedence Old Town White Coffee have made a standard that equals excellence, pushing other brands to do the same.Strive for continuous improvement, incorporate innovations and technology in our commitment to create customer value in our both product services. These continuing efforts maintain and reinforce our market leader status and more us forward to become a leading White coffee producer in Asia pacific. SWOT ANALYSIS STRENGTHS-The profits obtained by Old Town is quite high compared to other coffee shop in Malaysia. -Offer other foods, such as â€Å"heavy food†-Has many branches throughout Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong. | WEAKNESS-Old town coffee also depends an the coffee and makes them difficult to diversify their product. Innovation is slow because depend on one product only. | OPPORTUNITIES-Able to expend its operation to the global market to be introduction throughout ASEAN. -Able to re-brands and to compete wi th other company using the same material. | THREATS-Consequences from increasing of price of materials which they have use will be make the price product is also increase. -Product imitation is a very higher because they are using coffee which is very common. | STRATEGY BUSINESS STRATEGY All the store of Old Town Coffee White were located at high traffic, high visible location in each Asia market.That the market entry strategies have found to be used by Old Town White Coffee in managing their foreign franchisees when expanding into Asia include master franchising and company owner-stores. The marketing approach is essential to gain a competitive advantage for Old Town White Coffee in the foreign market the construct included market entry, site location, and market positioning. Reason for Old Town White Coffee to choose master franchise as its from of franchising is because of that the master franchising was the most popular made of entry into distant and cultural dissimilar market A sia.COMPETITIVE STRATEGY Targeting Old Town white coffee: While evaluating their consumer market the conclusion was that the ideal consumer’s economic profile will be Upper Middle Class, privileged Class. While the age demographics will be Students and Youngsters, Professionals, families, Mature Consumers. Gender and Ethnic or Religious Background was researched to have minimal or no effect on the choices concerning coffee made by consumers and their patronage of coffee houses. To maximize on brand name (signature) Costa signifies luxury, excellence in Coffee, all over the world, along with the theme of Costa.The marketing communication strategy for Old Town White Coffee is raising awareness of your product in your target market is where sales begin, and this is where marketing communications activities begin the selling process. With today's multiple channels for content to reach potential customers, the art and science of marketing communications has become increasingly imp ortant. However, no company can be sure they are using the most efficient media mix without creating a marcom strategy that is aligned with their overall strategic marketing direction.OPERATION STRATEGY RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT In 2005, it expanded vertically into the food services sector by opening a chain of cafe outlets based on the traditional Ipoh coffee shop setting and ambience under the ‘OldTown White Coffee’ brand name. Since the opening of its first cafe outlet in Ipoh in 2005, its chain of cafe outlets has expanded to around 160 cafe outlets in Malaysia and Singapore. This includes fully and partially owned, and franchised cafe outlets.The management has successfully mixed tradition with modern conveniences, revamped and revived the traditional cafe concept into a successful working model with outlets conveniently located and easily accessible to customers. PRICING Price does affect customers’ choice on products or  services. Customers are willing to day more because they higher price means higher quality one brand offers. In brand competition, the best price any brand can offer is important yet they have to be careful not to  create bad consequences for long-term. BRANDINGThe Malaysian coffee culture also being improvises by re-branding to enhance experience and increasing sales by multiple transactions from regular customer. From small spaces and only selling few selections of foods, Malaysian coffee culture has expanded by upgrading services, more variety in food and beverage, and creating nostalgia as well as being chic and contemporary. The role of branding in local coffee culture not only providing space but might be escapism for consumer and local society from different hierarchy, not to mention that this is kind of lifestyle and culture that they embrace.As a new life style and trend, Malaysian coffee culture is very popular for all public audience. It has grown along with social change needs and demand. CONCLUTION Old Town White Coffee must be diversify use of coffee product that mention does not too slow. Because of Old Town White Coffee is one coffee shop famous in Malaysia, they should open branches throughout they country to compete with other company. In other way Old Town White Coffee should provide a various service such as shipping orders to customers house. REFERENCE http://www. malaysiaco. com/search/old+town+white+coffee http://www. oldtownwhitecoffee. com/

Opportunities and Challenges of Benchmarking

The first question to be asked is what benchmarking can do for any organization. The process of benchmarking permits the entire organization to identify, share and use the knowledge that exists within the organization as also the best practices prevalent within the organization. The attempt is to concentrate on improving the situation of any business unit and not to just measure the best performances that have been achieved. The method for this is to apply the use of best known methods of solving the problems that are facing the business. The results come from the utilization after determination of the problems and this can come only after a careful study of the problems. On determination it is expected that the best solutions will be implemented. (Defining Benchmarking) The result will come to the organization in the form of gaining important advantages for the organization in the form of advantages. These can be in any form or more than one form – strategic advantages, operational advantages, or direct financial gains. At the same time, it also is an indirect admission that some others are better at the function that we are involved in than ourselves. At the same time, we are being wise enough to understand our own shortcomings and are trying to improve our position so that we can improve and match them in performance. If all our efforts are in the direction of development, a stage may come when we would be in a position to perform better than them. (Defining Benchmarking) The process of benchmarking is not just calculating numbers, getting briefs about sites on which organizations are to be set up or traveling through the factories of other organizations, or even copying, spying or espionage. The process does not end here and it has to continue further throughout the entire life of the organization and as the organization improves to a better position, there has to be additional steps which have to be taken so that the organization can successfully step even further. When benchmarking is not performed and a major in any industry ignores the competition levels there are chances that it would tend to fall behind in its own development and leadership qualities. It is also not the same with regard to establishing benchmarks which involve the setting up of acceptable levels of standards, so that the product or service can move forward to the next immediate step and not be rejected automatically as a result of quality control. Benchmarks are defined in terms of how many units are to be produced in one unit of time, how quickly the product line can transfer itself into manufacturing another product, how high the production levels can be from one shift, or what the minimum levels of production are which are being acceptable. The similarity of benchmarking and benchmarks is in that benchmarking tries to find out and understand the direct reasons for the production to be high in certain relevant situations and not be so high in other situations/conditions. Once the reasons are being determined then the same methods can be expanded for use in other parts of the complete production process so that the total production level can be at higher levels and correspondingly the profits of the organization as well. This is the real benefit that can be obtained from the practice of benchmarking. (Defining Benchmarking) Looking at the acts of benchmarking in benefiting the organization, one can see some direct benefits. It prevents reinventing the wheel and what is meant by that is that since the process or machinery or item has already been invented, anybody else trying to reinvent the same is only wasting money. The second method in which it provides benefits is through using tested and proven practices that have already been used successfully by others, it convinces people who do not take kindly to fresh ideas by demonstrating to them that it works, and it forces the organization to move at a rapid pace as it knows that competitors are already using the method. The third advantage is that it leads to development of some ideas that were not being used earlier and these are innovative ways to improve methods and in many cases they have come from outside the industry. The use of benchmarking also forces organizations to check on the present process and many times these may lead to direct improvements in terms of quality or quantity directly. The last use of benchmarking is also advantageous in making changes more likely as the process involves the direct participation by the owners. Today is the age of competition and it is very difficult to say which manufacturer is the best, and at the same time, this is an age when every manufacturer can claim that they are the best based on scientific studies of their machines. Let us view it in a simpler context and try to determine which team is the best in baseball, and may be you have a reason for determining this – you may love the game, you may be laying a bet on the results of the current season, or just curiosity. It is known that New York Yankees have won the World Series Championships seven consecutive times. In the opinion of quite a few of the fans, that would make them the best team. Thus one of the first points in benchmarking is deciding on the benchmark, and then one has to decide as to how the performance can be measured against the benchmark. If the required standard is not known by the organization trying to be the best then it cannot possibly reach the target. (Who's best? How good are they? How do we get that good? ) In certain cases they are measured by definitions like Mean Time between Failures or MTBF. This will help the customer also and make him ask the manufacturer as to the MTBF for the product. Then let us say that on one of the products of the client is 120 hours and on another product is 150 hours, then that will have to be mentioned to the customer. Then to be the best, the concerned organization has to find out or determine the method to get to the best possible benchmark. Now let us say that on investigation it is found out that for competitors, the MTBF is 10,000 hours. It is clear now as to which manufacturer will get the order. Thus often benchmarking is not a stand alone exercise, but a part of a Process Re-engineering or Quality Improvement Initiative. The requirement is not a management fad, but is a requirement to be able to compete in the market. Most of the initial work on benchmarking was done in manufacturing, and it is important that it is still done there, but benchmarking has now developed into a management tool that can be used anywhere. (Who's best? How good are they? How do we get that good? ) One has to develop a system which permits the organization to produce material of a certain quality, as if that is not produced many incidences may occur which are of great importance to the organization but also to the nation. Let us take a few examples of this and one of them is the case of the disaster of the space shuttle Columbia, and another is the power outages in August 2003 in New York which was followed by power failures in United Kingdom and Italy. There are reasons for this and one reason which is often quoted is â€Å"failure of maintenance†. (An Introduction to the Maintenance Scorecard) At the same time, maintenance is also a part of benchmarking and it is not a benchmarking of the product, but of the service system in the organization. Thus the problem can be manifest in many different ways in the field. There were four charges of manslaughter placed on individuals who were in charge of maintaining or managing railways in United Kingdom at the time of the Hatfield Train Disaster. The charges against these people were dropped only in August 2004. Among the people who were charged was the previous Chief Executive Officer of the company who owned all the assets indirectly. Another case is the legislation in Canada which imposes criminal liability on businesses and individuals when workplace accidents take place. In short it is becoming very important that proper maintenance is done and for that purpose, benchmarking is essential for the assets. (An Introduction to the Maintenance Scorecard) Desired future state and goals against which to evaluate alternatives It is clear that benchmarking is an activity of the individual organization undertaken with a purpose of developing the organization and giving it benefits or advantages over competition. The details for such studies are obviously not available, and we got information only from an instance when the exercise was done at the initiative of the Surface Mining Association for Research and Technology. They commissioned a research project the main purpose of which was to enable comparison of equipment performance in the mining industry, and this was due to collaborative relationships between the mining industries to gain competitive advantages at a global level. There was not much collaboration between the different units of the industry and as a start the attempt was made to establish some common definitions for availability and utilization. The entire exercise was conducted over some twenty five mining operations based in Canada and United States. (Standardization of Definitions for benchmarking) After developing the common definitions the next stage was to collect the response from different members of the industry and put them in a position where the responses could be classified. In terms of operations there were some typical events that were encountered as all the units were involved in the operation of a mine. These also had to be identified and included in the entire exercise for study. At the end of the study it was found that among the entire group the formulas and definitions for availabilities and utilizations of different parameters were similar, yet there were differences in the meanings of the formulas that were used by different units. There are also differences in classification of different events in terms of their importance. The two differences combined in the final report to show differences in the operating characteristics of different mines, and the events that we are referring are fairly common in the operations of mines. Thus it was possible to find out some common definitions for the mines in terms of operating parameters, yet all comparisons between them are meaningless. For any comparisons to be made, it is important that the discrepancies which are clearly seen to be happening due to their differences in meanings first being turned into some common time categories. In practice it was not possible to get the different mines to change their formulas or collection practice for data as these systems had been well established over many years, it was seen that it was important to develop a parallel system which could collect similar data from the existing data collection system. This of course could be done only in organizations which wished to continue in the entire exercise of benchmarking all these units and getting to some results. (Standardization of Definitions for benchmarking) This led essentially to the establishment of a central database. This is where all the units participating in the study would be able to reach the data that they wanted or needed. They would also be able to compare their own formula and definitions with the new data that was collected. This would permit them to comparisons with the earlier data that they had, or even the standardized benchmarking formula that they were using. This was the first method of industry wide comparisons. Once these were developed they would be the benchmarking definitions for the industry and thus the first step to development of industry-wise standards for required operating measures. Most of the mines understood that this was required, but very few wanted to proceed on these lines, and all their actions are concentrated to their own mines. There does not seem to be much collaboration in the industry and most organizations are doing the same thing over and over again. There is a certain amount of interest in sharing of maintenance information there is scope for a study in which the maintenance practices can be compared as also the development of performance standards in the area of maintenance. This would be of great use to the mining industry. Standardization of Definitions for benchmarking) Identify two to four potential solutions Here again the solution are different for every application of benchmarking and the solutions will depend also on the problems for which the solution is being sought, the nature of the industry, state of development, projected future growth, etc. Since we have started with the mining industry, let us continue with the same industry. One point that has to be remembered is that this industry has continued to remain behind other industries in the application of benchmarking. The reasons for the shortcomings have already been discussed to some extent – a reluctance to share information as they feel it violates confidentiality and privacy concerns with a special sensitivity to cost data; available resources within the different units to spend time on the required initiatives for benchmarking; a specific lack of commitment and support for the benchmarking exercise at all levels of the organization; and the lack of consistent and relevant indicators for performance. The problems of these organizations has to be solved by meeting the difficulties in all these respect and this makes the first solution as to stop comparisons till the operating events are clearly classified. Till this issue is resolved, there is very little value in suggesting common definitions for availability and utilization. The clear resolution thus also involves on consistent allocation of operating events as per agreed time classifications. (Standardization of Definitions for benchmarking) The second solution comes from the survey interviews and that stated clearly that there is a great interest in information sharing and comparison, and still none of the organizations showed that they would be willing to accept new definitions for their operating parameters or accept new standards for the allocation of operating events so that they could get information in exchange. At the same time, there is strong interest in the exchange of data. There is a solution to this apparently conflicting position and this can be done only through information sharing taking place in a manner that existing operating data collection and reporting systems at individual units proceed on their operations unaffected, but the data that had been collected earlier are not touched through any mode. The solution comes from utilizing data storage and manipulation with a capability of existing data collection systems being utilized for this purpose. This will take care of the constraints. The third solution is from the general interest in sharing of maintenance information between different units. This arises as most of the units understand the importance of improving maintenance management systems and processes. In general it can be said that development of maintenance performance management has not developed as fast as the other production systems in mines. This area requires collaboration, but much of that has not been coming. Thus it is clear that most organizations are just concentrating on doing the same job under different names. The solution would be to implement a study comparing management practices and development of performance standards for maintenance. This would be found to be useful by the entire industry in that area. The fourth point is that once the data collection is built up, then it may be applied to other areas of the entire system so that those areas could also benefit. Some of those areas are the large tire user group that requires data common to the entire exercise; OEM availability guarantee reporting and lost control system benchmarking. It could also be seen that the structure which would be established for such initiatives could become the basis for a framework that could be used by the group for purchasing. Standardization of Definitions for benchmarking) Let us now go to another area of benchmarking that we have used earlier and this is with reference to asset management. This has been important throughout history, and yet poses a special economic challenge during the 21st century. The reason for the challenge is from our efforts to release economic value from our investments in asset investment as much as is possible and the main cause for that is the extreme competitive nature of industry and business now. The challenge has led to our tackling the issue of benchmarking asset investment in three different areas and these are through minimizing life cycle costs of asset ownership, minimizing direct costs that are related to asset management and minimization of costs associated with new asset purchase and renewal of assets. Here the question of asset renewals means the overhauls and renovations that are carried out to the assets. All our benchmarking efforts are now directed to this area so tat any new effort should give benefits in these terms. The question is whether that is enough? An introduction to the Maintenance Scorecard) Apart from this there has been a very rapid change in the use of technology and this has forced many professionals from other areas rapidly into the functional areas of management of assets. The new managers are making, managing or even otherwise deciding on assets. Do they have the capability? They have no experience or any depth of knowledge or experience in the area that they are now managing. In terms of areas, these may be system selection, implementation and regular day to day management. This is leading to decisions being taken many times on issues which are not connected to management and the decisions may not concern the assets themselves or the asset managers. These sorts of incidents are happening throughout the world. The issue of maintenance was earlier seen as a secondary rollout of a large scale system originally decided for financial or supply chain reasons, and the decision was taken whether the solution was the best for asset management or not. Another important change has been the shifting of maintenance function to outsourcing and this is also likely to affect the function. This is a change that has been predicted many times by management consultants and also recommended by them as a method of reducing direct costs, improving the level of contact with specialized skills and of avoiding the complications that exist in finding and controlling a skilled workforce. This is very useful when the total production function is being outsourced. This has also led to many changes in employment patterns throughout the world. Many technical and repetitive roles like software development, call center management and some engineering functions are being shifted away to the third world from the first world. In those countries the salary levels with the similar competencies as those in the 1st world are much lower. (An Introduction to the Maintenance Scorecard) Now that we have talked a lot about the advantages of benchmarking, let us also take a look at the other side. These refer to the times that existed before benchmarking came to be called benchmarking, and it was viewed as just application of common sense. It is always true that the best method of learning how to do a job is to see how others do the work and then trying to do it. It is said that the great Henry ford went through the operations of production methods in a Chicago slaughterhouse before deciding how to set up his own production line for which he is rightly renowned. At the time, and probably for many decades since that time, it was called a good idea – till in the 1980s, this process of learning was given the name of benchmarking. It is true that benchmarking can provide very good improvements of the product and deserved returns based on efficiency, cost savings and new revenues. The process also is able to reduce cycle times, productivity, customer service, quality and production costs. This can make them a part of an effort of the company to change the culture of the organization to a more customer oriented and results focused. Yet many companies make a mistake in letting this excellent process of benchmarking to become an end in itself. This is quite common in corporate settings which have already established full fledged benchmarking teams. (Benchmarking: The trend line) The organization ends up loosing sight of the objectives and start on benchmarking as an objective in itself. This can be seen in the case of Florida Power and Light Co. This received the Deming Prize in 1989 as it had performed excellently in benchmarking. In the same year, the company was put under the charge of a new CEO and he dismantled large sections of the company as those sections were mainly based on benchmarking and less on functions of the company. Alan Weiss, president of Summit Consulting Inc said â€Å"He found the company was more committed to winning awards than serving the customer†. (Benchmarking: The trend line) This is a loss in focus that can happen if benchmarking is made a part of the jobs of line managers and they have other responsibilities. They are more inclined to take up practical applications for their talents. (Benchmarking: The trend line) Let us take a case of a computer based service organization. The organization is trying to speed up the service of its computers when they fail as the computers are the main machines which help them keep their business in running condition. The question is that there are many parts inside a computer and every time it was repaired, there used to be a serviceman who would come and replace the part. Of course the bill for the part would be received and the amount paid. The organization decided to go through an exercise of benchmarking so that the cost of repairs can be reduced. The decision was to introduce the system of codes so that it would be known which part was failing. These codes are numbers which are cross referenced to a complete list of code descriptions. The codes may also be a series of alphanumeric descriptions. Now since computers are fairly commonplace the full descriptions of the failed parts are now being stored. (Failure codes) The storage of the complete list was in the computerized management system. The required parts are input by the person who was reporting the failure and if it was not known to him then it had to be input by the technician when he repaired the equipment. The main use of these codes is in providing statistics about machine failures. Thus one can know the reasons for machine failures and take corrective actions. (Failure codes) The risks of using such a procedure is very low as the computers also have self assessment procedures and that can often tell the region of failure. This information is unlikely to be wrong. For the technician when he comes in to repair, he has to change the required part for the machine to start running again, and thus he is also unlikely to be wrong. The risks with finding out the part number are thus very low and can be safely viewed to be accurate. The objectives of determining the part numbers are also very simple as each part stops certain functions that the machine is supposed to do. This slows down operating procedures and once the reasons for delays are known, action may be taken to speed up the entire process. Once the operations are speeded up, the organization is expected to earn more revenues. The total impact can only be assessed after the full analysis is made. This sort of a system is also used in certain organizations where computerized systems are used to deliver items at fixed schedules like newspapers, milk processing machines, etc. Present the recommended solution and the rationale behind the recommendation We are now in a period of history where we have to totally depend on machines for all our functions and most industrial tasks. At the same time, repairs and other tasks are becoming increasingly complicated as no extra persons are available. Computerized machinery is very good as long as they run, but when they fail, they fail completely and no action can be taken till they are repaired. Thus getting the machine repaired is very important. The technicians come quickly, but often they do not have the needed parts and when that happens, the machine will continue to remain out of order fro quite a few days, and that is what is sought to be avoided through this exercise. The objective is not to increase profits directly, but make the operations more dependable. The new machinery has been responsible for dramatic increases in productivity levels, but it has also led to high direct costs for asset management over the last few years. (An Introduction to the Maintenance Scorecard) The problem with determination of reliability in most cases is that some factors may be brought up by theory and through strategic planning, but they do no translate into reality at the end of the day. In many cases, the results that are achieved cannot justify the investments that are made to achieve them. There are many areas which hurt the realization of benefits. Here the change in process is just the recording of a part number and that should not take much time when compared to the total time lost in terms of production. We are talking about the requirement to note down the part numbers when the machine fails. Identify the expected impact and value The expected impact is in terms of costs is not much as has been explained earlier, but the impact in terms of value is expected to be high. The effect will be in terms of extra production capacity that should be available. The exact benefits can only be determined when the total picture is known. It is not useful to make advance calculations in such cases, as the present production is for the total usage of the company and no extra jobs can be taken up without meeting this requirement. Provide a summary of how you would approach implementing the recommended solution and measuring its effectiveness The implementation methods are very simple. Prepare a list of the parts that go wrong in the machines in different areas and hand them over to the operators. Every operator has to make a failure report and when that is submitted, the reason for failure that is given has to include the part number. Once the part numbers are made available in this way, then in the report itself they should be noted, and after a period of six months, a search program or a summary should be made of the reasons for failures. This is a totally internal exercise and we do not have to observe the other requirements now. APQC has now developed and wants adherence to the following code – â€Å"guide benchmarking efforts, advance the professionalism and effectiveness of benchmarking, and help protect the members from harm†. (Benchmarking Code of Conduct) According to this code will help the implementation of efficient, effective and ethical benchmarking. (Benchmarking Code of Conduct) The question is that ultimately the entire process is for internal development and to be done totally internally, so why are we all getting so excited about it? Make the changes that you have to after a cool consideration.

Johnnie walker Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Johnnie walker - Essay Example It can be firmly admitted that the brand has been serving not only as the symbol of progress but its logo â€Å"Striding?Man† and its slogan â€Å"Keep?Walking†?has also been viewed to be a supporter of progress as well as analogous to great achievement. The creation of brand actually was the idea of John Walker who was born in Scotland at Todriggs Farm in Ayrshire in the year 1805. Since its incorporation, Johnnie Walker has been able to establish itself as the world’s most prominent Scotch whisky brand (Association of Canadian Advertisers, 2011). Correspondingly, this paper intends to conduct the SWOT analysis of Johnnie Walker and further attempts to identify the inherent problems to its strategic behaviour in order to draw derive rational solutions for the identified issues. SWOT (Acronym: Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, and Threat) Analysis Strengths According to Corporate Watch UK (2005), Johnnie Walker is the world’s leading spirit brand. Reportedl y, Johnnie Walker is considered as the most valuable and respected global brand. The legacy and heritage connected with the brand can be reflected as one of its major strengths. Taking virtues of its legacy and strong brand promotion, the brand has been able to continuously build is brand equity globally. At the same time, it has been able to generate substantial revenue across the global market. One of the potential strengths of the brand can thus be attributed to increasing demand for its products such as The Gold Reserve and Blue Label, which are perceived to be the most popular in all its market of operation. Another major strength is accredited to its attention given to all the class of the people. The brand offers products to not only premium customers, but it also focuses on middle-income customers who have the increasing desire for premium spirit. Notably, not only the men but women in the Asian country are also attracted towards experiencing the value offered by Johnnie Wal ker to its discriminating consumers. Furthermore, its revolutionary advertising strategies have proven to be much effective and unique from competitors existing in the same market of its operations adding to its brand differentiation strategies. Evidently, by offering wide range of product categories at various price points along with high product quality, it has been able to attract both younger and older consumers. Nonetheless, its innovative advertising campaign has proven to be milestone for the brand to retain its customers and simultaneously, attain tremendous growth in all the markets of its operations (Mongay & et. al., 2012). Weaknesses One of the potential weaknesses associated with the brand can be attributed with its nature of business. Correspondingly, the brand primarily deals with alcoholic products, which is considered to have serious impacts on the health of its consumers and therefore raises a certain degree of moral weakness for the company. Although, it claims to produce Scotch whisky at reasonable price that can be consumed by middle-income consumers, but it is generally involved in manufacturing premium products that may adversely influence the purchasing decision of the middle-income people also causing sustainability issues for the company. At the same time, increasing cost of production can also be viewed as the potential wea

Photograhy analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Photograhy analysis - Essay Example One is in Muslim culture, whereas other is about the western Indian culture. The photographer Roberto Cattani took this shot in Shiraz, Iran. This mosque is known as Nasir al Malik mosque is one of the famous mosque. It is the representational image and the theme of the picture is the semblance of life with colors. The picture depicts the idea that ‘life is in colors’ that is also an undeniable fact .The photographer captured this photograph from an eye level in the daylight. This photograph is consisting on the interior of the mosque. The focus of the picture is on the woman, who is seen as praying in the mosque full of colors that represents the relation of the being to the divine as well as affiliation of life with colors. In this image woman is wearing white, long, and well-draped veil from head to toe and offering prayers on the colorful praying rug, as it is one of the ritual of the religion, which demonstrates soulfulness. Along which there is a sequence of colorful patterned red carpets. Right at the back of the women the wall is delight fully ornamented with the beautiful wall art the shows the essence of Muslim architecture. The walls in the surrounding festooned with the skillfully patterned kaleidoscope windows that demonstrates the value and the reflection of colors on life. In the image, the woman lays in the middle if the picture and surrounded by the beautiful pillars and kaleidoscope at uniform distance that illustrates tranquility and uniformity in the picture. The walls, ceilings, pillar consisting on sequenced, repetitive geometrical motifs and shapes (squared / rectangular and ornamental shapes) that maintains the equilibrium in the photograph. This photograph is properly focused on the kaleidoscope and its reflection as well the exuberance of colors in the surrounding. The palate of the picture shows the vibrancy of the sharp colors that is balanced with the tints of browns and the mildness of

Theory of Evolution and Evidence for Natural Selection Assignment

Theory of Evolution and Evidence for Natural Selection - Assignment Example Evolution occurs at different paces for different species. While it took a very long time for human beings to evolve from ape like primates into the modern Homo sapiens, for simpler organisms, evolution occurs over smaller time frames. For instance, quite a few bacteria have become resistant to anti-biotic drugs. Anti biotic drugs have been used only for the last eighty odd years and initially the bacteria could be killed by these drugs. But in recent times through evolution, the bacteria have become resistant to these anti-biotics. Evolution is caused by a process know an â€Å"natural selection† which was first coined By Charles Darwin in his famous book â€Å"On the Origin of Species† published in 1859. The idea behind natural selection is that certain features provides organisms with advantages that lead to easier survival in the environment. And this survival in turn leads to passing on of these features into future generations. A good example is that of the long neck of the Giraffe. Since longer necks allowed the ancestors of the Giraffe to access food located higher or more difficult places, those with longer necks survived better and thus the genes of the longer neck got passed on to future generations. Over time, the neck grew to the very tall stature that we observe today in the present day Giraffe. Taxonomy Taxonomy is the scientific classification of all living species. The classification is based upon a system of rankings. The primary unit in the process of classification in the domain of all living things is the â€Å"kingdom†. ... There are 5 possible kingdoms and all living things belong to any one of these with the notable exception of some symbionts like lichen which belong to two kingdoms. These are as follows: 1. Monera/Prokaryotes: simplest living organisms such as archaea and bacteria 2. Protista/Eukaryotes: unicellar organisms, i.e., living organisms with only one cell. 3. Fungi: moulds, mushrooms etc belong to this class. 4. Plantae: all plant life belongs to this kingdom, so instances are trees, grass, moss etc. 5. Animalia: is the kingdom of all animals which includes humans. The second rank in the taxonomy belongs to the Phyllum. So, the members of a certain kingdom are classified into different Phylla (plural form of Phyllum). Each Phyllum in turn is split into classes, and these classes are further divided into orders. For example, meat eating animals, known as â€Å"carnivora† are an order. These orders are further classified into families. The cat family, dog family etc are instances of families that belong to the â€Å"carnivore† order. Closely related members of each family are clubbed together under a â€Å"Genus† and the members of each genus which mate naturally are termed a â€Å"species†. There are many species in the world. For instance the crow and the raven, although similar are different species. But they belong to the same genus. These and other genus such as the magpie constitutes the crow family. The crow family along with other families such as the thrush family, swallow family are members of the order of â€Å"songbirds†. Songbirds belong to the class of â€Å"birds† and these are the members of the phylum â€Å"vertebrate†, and vertebrates belong to the kingdom â€Å"Animalia†, or the Animal Kingdom. Population Dynamics Population

The poverty in the world Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The poverty in the world - Essay Example The author also notes that the global food crisis affects mostly poor people – who have to spend most or all of their income on food. Using various examples of extreme weather events worldwide, the author argues that political or economic decisions may be related to the food crisis, but their role in the rapid expansion of the crisis can be doubted; rather the weather, as affected by the increased pollution, should be characterized as the main cause of the global food crisis. The views of the author, as briefly presented above, are critically discussed and evaluated using appropriate literature, i.e. academic studies which focus on the global food crisis. 2. Issues discussed in the paper – presentation and analysis In the article under analysis, Krugman aims to present the key causes of the global food crisis. ... However, extreme weather events - recent ones - in specific countries are used in order to prove the relationship between the global financial crisis and the specific events. More specifically, reference is made to the fires in Russia, the flooding in Australia and the dry weather in Brazil. It is noted that extreme weather events are more likely to influence the food prices – compared to the commodity prices, which cannot have an impact, in accordance with Krugman, on the food prices. However, no data or relevant reports are used for supporting the specific view. Instead, the events are mentioned followed by the personal views of the author, without using appropriate literature or findings of research made on the specific issue. The key point of the article is that the global climate change which has led to natural phenomena such as the La Nina, is the key cause of the global food crisis and for this reason the claims that ‘Ben Bernanke has blood on his hands’ (K rugman, p.1 & 3) should be opposed as non-valid. Instead, measures should be taken in order to control the global food crisis that, in accordance with Krugman, is expected to further expand, as a result of the increase of greenhouse gases. 3. Evaluation of the author’s perspective In accordance with the issues discussed above, the global food crisis, as expanded quite rapidly in the international community is quite difficult to be controlled, mostly because it is related to events that cannot be foreseen and they are quite difficult to be confronted. In fact, no matter the technology available, certain of these events, cannot be managed, like in the case of fires in Russia and the flooding in Australia

Paranormal Activity 2 Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Paranormal Activity 2 - Movie Review Example The film is set into the exotic locations of San Diego. One of the most crucial reasons behind as to why the movie has been set up in San Diego is because that place is notoriously known to be famous as a haunted place and a lot of incidents have taken place there, and due to such reasons it is imperative that the shooting took place at a place which has a history of ghost sightings, thus adding value to the movie and in turn improving the overall picture. The Ouija Board is the tool, which is used to communicate with paranormal species. It is a board, which has the numbers, alphabets, and is used for spiritual reasons. It is a spirit board and a talking board, through which communication can happen with other spirits present around human beings. It functions in the film series as a way of communicating with the spirits. Ali and her boyfriend used is as a tool for communication and they realized that the haunted spirits were also talking to them with respect to the communication with the positive spirits as a means for spiritual enlightenment. The use of the board is misused and due to this reason there are paranormal activity taking place in the place of San Diego in USA. Toby wants the first born male instead of the female as he thinks that is more spiritually better for him and that he should follow the instincts and his gut feeling of having a first born male into the family. This crucial and imperative to note as Toby wants to have this desire for only positive spiritual reasons. Toby locks Katie and Hunter into the room thinking that the spiritual experiment he is going to perform with the Ouija Board would be a successful experiment to being back the positive spirits in his life. It is crucial to note that he wants to experience this for the sake of his experiment and nothing more. Hunter and Katie disappear outside the home of Sane Diego and no one knows by the end of the movie where they have suddenly gone and the precise reasons for the same, however, with speculation one can assume that they disappeared due to the experiment carried out by Toby. The found footage works very distinctly in the movie. The fact that spirits are found in the movie alongside the humans is the true art with which the movie is made. Editor edits the movie at the end of it and that matters since the point of the movie is to show spirits and the ghosts taking rounds with the humans as an added physical and tangible objects. It is imperative to note that the editor does this trick by including the faces and bodies of the spirits they wanted to have in their movie. The nuclear family functions in a very strange fashion in the movie. It must be understood that the roles and the relationships, which have been created in the first installment of the movie, do not apply to the second and the third installment. The characters change and shift however the entire installment of the movie remains the same. In the first movie Denis’ first wife was someone el se and she succumbed to her death due to certain unsaid reasons, which are crucial to the final two installments taking place. The characters go into limbo with respect to the movie. The concept of after life exists in the movie while the definition of heaven is a construed one. Work Cited Paranormal Activity

Gun Control Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

Gun Control - Essay Example Some people think that by banning guns crimes would be removed but this may not be so, as we know that there are many laws made but they are not necessarily followed. These laws which are not followed by the criminals have two adverse effects. First of all those sellers who are not allowed to sell arms and ammunitions become rich selling their weapons illegally. This will lead to a formation of a black market and we will lose complete control over it. â€Å"I am convinced that we can do to guns what weve done to drugs: create a multi-billion dollar underground market over which we have absolutely no control.† (Roman) Secondly, the law abiding citizens face a loss as they now have no weapons while the criminals, who don’t even bother to respect the law, will still be armed. This will reduce the number of lives saved by such law abiding citizens. This shows that the criminals are criminals because they don’t follow the laws and we cannot expect them to do so. †Å"Expecting a carjacker or rapist or drug pusher to care that his possession or use of a gun is unlawful is like expecting a terrorist to care that his car bomb is taking up two parking spaces.† (Chew) People who fought for independence also had guns. It is not the guns that matter; it is the intention of the one using it. Depriving people of guns doesn’t solve the problems but it only worsens it. Think about those nations who are now independent just because they fought for their independency. If they would have no guns, then they wouldn’t have got their independence. Like all the other things, gun control has some positive aspects as well. Guns are weapons and if not handled safely they can cause all the kinds of damage. In 1998, 30708 deaths were caused by weapons in the United States. Of that number, 12102 were assassinations, 17424 were suicides, 366 were accidents, 316 had nameless causes, and only 154 were confirmed to be in self-protection. (Guns in Our

Machiavelli Lao-Tzu Essay Example for Free

Machiavelli Lao-Tzu Essay Lao-tzu was an ancient Chinese philosopher from 6th century BC, the author of Tao-te Ching, and Machiavelli was an Italian philosopher who lived 2000 years after Lao-tzus time, author of Prince. They are both philosophers but have totally different perspective on how to be a good leader. While both philosophers writing is instructive. Lao-tzus advice issues from detached view of a universal ruler; Machiavellis advice is very personal perhaps demanding. Both philosophers idea will not work for todays world, because that modern world is not as perfect as Lao-tzu described in Tao-te Ching, and not as chaotic as Machiavelli illustrated in Prince. Perhaps Lao-tzu and Machivellis political system will not work for todays world, but some of their philosophies are still exist in some of modern issues. One of those issues is gun control, which has become a dividing line in America. Lao-tzu advised in Tao-te Ching weapon are the tools of violence; all decent man detest them. Weapon are the tools of fear; a decent man will avoid them except in the direst necessity and, if compelled, will use them only with the utmost restraint. On the other hand Machiavelli wrote in Prince, Francesco Sforza became Duke of Milan from being a private citizen because he was armed; his sons, since they avoided the inconveniences of arms, became private citizens after having been duke. For, among the other bad effects it causes, being disarmed makes you despised; this is one of those infamies a prince should guard himself against (page 36) in which he pointed out that taking arms from a people can make a difference between a prince and a citizen. To gun control activists, the issue is about crime and the regulation of the weapons used to commit crimes. In their opinion, law-abiding citizens should have no need for guns, which is similar to Lao-tzus idea. However in opposite, the nations powerful gun lobby, the National Rifle Association, argues that gun control is a violation of freedom and rights to protect themselves, which correspond to Machiavellis idea. I think that if American government take either sides, will end up in total chaos. Gun control, which means law-abiding citizens lose their right to protect themselves, and outlaw, will be the only one legally own firearm. But if there are totally no gun control, a five year old boy can bring a gun to school, and shoot at teacher as he please, even thought that he doesnt know better. Machiavelli wrote A prince, therefore, must not have any other object nor any other thought, nor must he take anything as his profession but war, its discipline; because that is the only profession which befits one who commands; He discussed that a Princes duty is war and only war. This lead to the second issue, war, which existed as long as the existence of human kind, as I am writing this essay there are still wars going on all over the world. According to Machiavelli war should be the only thing on a princes mind, because if a prince give more thought to personal luxuries than war he could lose his state and position. Lao-tzu states in Tao-te Ching The master doesnt try to be powerful; thus he is truly powerful. The ordinary man keeps reaching for power; thus he never has enough. I have to disagree with both philosophers idea, because I think that war can be looked at as a human evolution, in the ancient world war was fought for land and freedom. In modern world, war was fought for gross of economy. War is something that just happens, its not necessary and cant be avoided. Look into American History From Civil War to Vietnam War to Desert Storm, which cost billions dollars and millions lives, will the war ever end? We all know, the answer is no. As long as human lives, the war will never end. Perhaps Lao-tzu and Machiavellis political view is totally opposite, at the end they all have a common goal is to create an ideal political system. The constitution among other things would not allow that sort of government today. The times have defiantly changed, but the need for the higher forms of thinking amongst society has not.

The supermarket industry in UK

The supermarket industry in UK The supermarket industry in UK In UK, there are a huge amount of large supermarkets and people in British are usually go to these kinds of supermarket once a week, for example, Tesco, Sainsburys, ASDA. Even though the supermarket industry in UK is not as well as the supermarket industry in America; however, it is an important part for people who living in British and a large part of supermarket is adopt the chain structure to operate and it is all over the town. Therefore, the marketing mix of the UK supermarket industry can be shown as in four parts. The price in the UK supermarket industry have connection between each firms because the price rigidity. Turning to the place of the UK supermarket industry may build in suburbs or in the city which may benefit for the consumer to choose and it have developed the service which can shop on the internet. And the promotion of the UK supermarket, they may use some advertisement in the website and billboard. This essay will be structured as four parts which is the backgrou nd of the supermarket in UK, the characteristics of oligopoly, the advantages and disadvantages of the market structure for consumer and conclusion. Moreover, the supermarket in UK can be described as an oligopoly market so that the competitive in the UK supermarket industry is very altitudinal. The characteristics of oligopoly can be divided into four parts which is non-price competition, price rigidity, L-shaped average cost curves and collusion. The structure of the oligopoly market is there is a small amount of interdependent firms which compete with each other and it can be used barriers to entry to the industry. Furthermore, the oligopolistic firms may focus on the firms which relative to their industry to consider the supply. (Anderton A, 2004) The important characteristic is the clash between cooperate and self regard. The oligopoly group will produce less goods and gather the price which higher than the marginal cost. Thus, each sellers activity may have a great influence to the other firms profit. (Mankiw N, 2009) In addition, the supermarket industry in UK is similar with the oligopoly structure. Firstly, oligopoly is dominated by few large companies which mean collusion that plan the device and make profit together. Even though the UK supermarket industry is very competitive and beneficial; however, there are four main firms in the industry which play an important role and the other firms will focus on the niche market to exist. The four firms are known as Tesco, ASDA, Sainsburys and Morrisons which are running grocery structure. The big four have become an oligopoly market structure that they have combined share of 76% of the market at the end of 2008. (BBC news, 2010) This can be seen as barriers to entry to the other various smaller companies. According to the BBC news (2010), there are about 50 UK supermarket chains have defunct. Furthermore, the price between each firms have made a price rigidity which will retain a permanent level. The supermarket market structure in UK can be seen as oligopoly market and it have brought the benefits and disadvantages for consumer. Firstly, according to the Tutor2you (2007), non-price competition has play an important role in the sales of supermarket. Because of the highly competitive of the supermarket industry in UK, firms will increase market share and use tactics to sale promotion, such as store loyalty cards, banking and other financial service and extension of opening hours. (Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4694974.stm) This figure can be shown that Tesco was dominant in the supermarket share research. Moreover, BBC news (2006) list that Tescos market share remains rising and not only this supermarket but also other supermarkets have an upward tendency such as Sainsburys. It can be seen that the measure that Tesco have use is successful to assist the company. Besides, each firm will bring out there preferential measures and provide to the consumers which can allow them to choose and every measure may have their attraction. Secondly, oligopolistic firms are very superior in the market regularly and production capacity is generally larger which means that the firms have ability to resist the risk and have advanced management technique. It is beneficial to consumers because it have indemnity that consumers can buy with confidence. However, it also bring disadvantage for consumer in two ways. First of all, one of the characteristic of the oligopoly market is interdependence between each company which means one of the companies may consider the reaction of the other firms in the marketing such as making price and some investment decisions. It may obtain the suitable profit that each oligopoly firms would satisfactory with it. Moreover, for the consumer, it may decrease the preference and the price will become indeterminacy because the price may fluctuate by the oligopoly firms. The firms may combined together and gain the monopoly price which can acquire monopoly profits. (Tutor2U, 2007) Firms may also bull operation and it is far beyond the real value of the product. It is bad for consumer because it will und ermine the interest of its consumers. According to the Top retailing (2008), because of the rising price of fuel and food which allow people seek the cheaper price. All in all, based on the characteristic of the UK supermarket and the advantages and disadvantages of the market, the oligopoly structure should pay more attention to the measure which can give people the benefit while they can make the profit. The non-price competitions which can allow consumer seek a high quality and service among the similar price between each supermarket. Company should not in their own interest but also consider the consumer that it should have many considerations such as technical and geographical to improve and perfect the system such as different discounts to the customers. Moreover, company can make a research to identify competitive suppliers, understand the information of supply market and efficient commodity strategy. 4. Reference Anderton A. (2004) Economics (3rded.) Ormskirk, Causeway Press Ltd. [Assets date: Feb, 4th] BBC news (2006), Business Economics (2009), UK supermarkets, oligopolistic competition Oligopoly watch (2003), British grocery oligopoly Structure of industry, the economics of supermarkets Author: Robert P. [Asset date: Feb, 4th] Top retailing (2008), Grocery share Author name: Nesbitt L. Tutor2U (2007), Oligopoly [Asset date: Feb, 5th]