Retaining Customers Essay

BT is one of the largest communications companies in the world. One of the services they offer is residential or personal communications solutions. Even though they now have competition from other companies offering consumers substitutes for their service, they still hold the largest market share of providing residential customers with telephone lines. For BT to maintain this market share, they must retain the customers they have. I will be recommending how they can retain their customer base as well as winning new customers. I will be looking at several models and theories in order to do this. * Making Customers into Champions * The case of the complaining customer * The tip of the Iceberg Model From BT a customer receives a core service. Telephony. The customer expects the telephone in their home to be working when they pick it up. They are not going to be ‘wowed’ by the service if it is just working. However, when the customer makes contact with BT to enquire, change or add something they will use this opportunity to form a perception of BT’s Customer Service. Most people who move to a different telephone provider do so because they perceive indifference in the people they do business with at their current company. Customer feedback tells BT that one of the biggest drivers of dissatisfaction is the difficulty in registering their complaint with BT. A large part of this dissatisfaction stems from a lack of promised callbacks and an initial difficulty in escalating their issue. This feedback has been substantiated by OFTEL in that the number of customers contacting them to complain that they have not received a promised call back has been increasing. OFTEL have given BT a very clear indication that they expect this situation to be addressed and therefore it is paramount that the following recommendations are implemented immediately. * Own, Decide, Do – Training to be rolled out to all Customer Service Advisors. When a complaint is received in the 150 call centres the individual must own the complaint, make a decision about what to do with it and follow any promised action up with a call to the customer to let them know what happened. * Keeping the customer informed – With some complaints resolution may not be speedy. There may be some technical difficulties, which hold resolution up. The customer does not know this and will perceive any periods of silence as the indifference of BT to their complaint. Keeping the customer informed of progress or news (good or bad) will enhance the customers perception of BT> * EDCSM’s (Event Driven Customer Service Measures), the service that BT offer customers must be analysed in order to measure its success. Through BT’s sophisticated SMART datatbase, every contact with the customer is logged with the id of the advisor who took the call. This way trends can be spotted as well as training areas The barriers for the customer to successfully register their complaint are as follows: * The BT ‘shunt’ – BT is a huge business with over 20 large call centres taking in the freephone 150 (customer service) calls. It is very easy for complaints to get ‘lost’ in the system. * The call steering system. There are many different numbers to press for different departments. It is difficult to speak to a human * The Call Handling Time that advisors are encouraged to adhere to. This measure the amount of time they are talkng with each customer in order to keep the Percentage of calls answered as high as possible. * Poor training and coaching – target based coaching instead of skills based coaching In the longer term there are some other changes that should be implemented by BT over a period of time in order to instil enhanced behaviours in all employees. Traditionally employees of a company see a complaining customer as being a nuisance. BA challenged this when they introduced the Making Customers into Champions Model. This model can be directly applied to BT, who is, itself, striving to provide World Class Customer Service. This model labels different sectors of the customer base and how likely they are to contact BT with any dissatisfaction they may have and how easy it is to register this dissatisfaction. If the customer has a complaint and they cannot register this in any way, they may feel tempted to try a different provider. If the complaint is not registered then BT has not had a chance to resolve the complaint. If BT has a chance of resolving the issue, if it is resolved skilfully and well, research suggests that this could actually enhance the customer’s perception of BT. So, in short, a customer complaint can turn in to a glowing report for BT. Furthermore, if we make BT’s customers in to champions, BT can learn from the mistakes they have made that might have caused complaints in order that they do not occur again. * A dissatisfied customer will tell between 10 and 20 other people about their problem * A customer who has had a problem resolved will tell 5 people about their situation The case of the complaining customer is a valuable study that BT should already have taken heed of. The problems experienced by Mr Shelton almost mirror the experiences some BT customers have when things go wrong and customer relations are tested to the full. It may be tempting for some employees working for such a huge ‘cash cow’ as BT to believe that BT can afford to lose difficult customers. This study shows that whilst few customers actually take the time and energy that Mr Shelton did to complain, there are actually many other dissatisfied customers (Mr Shelton is just the ‘tip of the Iceberg’). These customers are the ‘missing in action’ group and will just quietly take their custom elsewhere and thus impact significantly on BT’s profit margins. The article points out that whilst it would be easy for us to read Mr Shelton’s contacts with the company as neurotic, in actual fact Mr Shelton has responded very emotionally to the way he feels his complaint has been dealt with. Customers should be allowed to vent their feelings, feel listened to and valued before their problem is resolved. They are experiencing feelings of powerlessness and this will be compounded if they feel that an advisor is not listening to them. Paraphrasing can be a useful tool here, to show empathy and check for understanding. TARP published a graphic representing the Tip of the Iceberg Principle. It indicates that consumer complaints to a third party are only a small portion of those that exist. They’re just the visible portion and reflect the much broader picture. This demonstrates how important it is for BT to be proactive in gaining feedback from customers at every possible opportunity. It was not the tip of the iceberg that sunk the Titanic, and it will not affect the business greatly if just those visible customers were dissatisfied with BT’s service. Those that leave quietly will have the greatest impact and BT will have little or no information as to why they left. BT must strive to deal with any customer requests the first time every time. Here is a list of my recommendations for BT for implementing across the board over the next 12 months in order to retain customers. * A review of the training process – all training should be underpinned with updated balance scorecard and appropriate coaching given by line managers * Quality must come before quantity. If all customers were dealt with the first time they called, there would be less calls * Approach customer complaints as a chance to ‘dazzle and delight’ customers and enhance a customers perception of BT – through a training programme * Work together with different departments and not as adversaries. Promote teamwork * Introduce an incentive scheme for teams and individuals who achieve excellent customer relations * Use customer feedback more effectively (EDCSM’s)- find out what customers want/expect then exceed this * Give staff more responsibility and authority to deal with complaints. Allow then to be flexible when it comes to procedural rules. Stop quoting ‘BT policy’. * Allow a measure of redress such as goodwill payments and compensation payments In implementing the above and re-training staff, BT will retain greater numbers of customers. Existing customers (especially those we have information about) are an ideal group to market new products to as well gain information from about how to improve on the products and services BT has.

Are Standardization from Enterprise Architecture

Are standardization and innovation in conflict? I have no doubt standardization and innovation are in conflict, at least to some extent, because standardization (almost by definition) reduces the amount of variation of processes or systems simultaneously used in a company. That is the whole point of standardization. If you reduce the variation allowed in the company, then necessarily you would lose some innovation â€Å"that could have happened†.I think if innovation is viewed in an evolutionary way, mass variation would be created by the local units focused on their individual needs and only the best innovations would e retained and scaled to the rest of the company. If all the companies departments are allowed to develop locally optimal solutions to their problems, certainly some of these variations will be better (at least for the unit) than by using a standardized software or technologies company-wide.To continue with the evolutionary theme, using any centrally dictated st andardized process would reduce the possible variation in which could be selected from the environment of each business unit. Think the better to view standardization vs.. Innovation as an inescapable trade-off. Does an enterprise architecture that allows a company to increase operational efficiency, ease of integration, reduce development costs, duplication of systems, simplify the acquisition of new modules, and sometimes vastly reduced maintenance costs worth some drop in the rate of innovation?I would argue that is absolutely worth it in in most instances. The key is to view this as an optimal trade-off where you can retain almost all of the innovation while also increasing standardization. An Enterprise Architecture that standardizes the types of technologies used across the many (PH/Dot. Net or Unix/Microsoft) is in the best interest of the company.When you intentionally limit the available options of each individual business units options (such as when Timber]jack decided to use Unix and that immediately removed many otherwise eligible companies) you are going to reduce the chance of finding the â€Å"perfect solution† for every possible module. Fortunately, most companies can settle on a â€Å"very good but not perfect† solution with any of the market leading platforms without getting a major drop in innovation.Agreeing on a standardized portfolio of technologies and processes, a company can then focus its resources on bringing new functionality to their users without wasting so many resources trying to hold together a Frankincense combination of dozens of systems, technologies and processes together that work â€Å"perfect† in isolation. Ultimately, using more resources on bringing new functionality will increase the total value of the IT department and the rate the department can innovate. Are Standardization from Enterprise Architecture and Innovation in Conflict? By Seasonableness

Critically evaluate the impact of social media on the business world Essay - 2

Critically evaluate the impact of social media on the business world and our life - Essay Example es users to interact between each other and exchanging details of their lives such as personal information, biographical data and professional information. The emergence of social media from web 2.0 has created a huge impact on the current scenario of commercial environment. The utilization of social media has changed the way people communicate and human relationship dynamics has taken a new perspective. The history of internet has changed drastically due to the revolution of social media and made internet technologies inclusive. Social media has become largest web presence for many businesses which overtakes email and company websites. It is really hard to find any people who does not exercise any forms of social media which can be application and websites. This essay will follow the statement about the emergence of social media has huge impact on human lives and businesses. Social media has provided people a platform that encourage them to share their views, news and opinions that are happening around the globe. Factor that enables to the growth of this technology is due to their ability of producing user-generated content. At an unprecedented level, social media allows users to connect with each other. It has become inevitable part of human lives. Social media has created a global reach for human beings via internet. The benefit of social media on human lives is enormous as it helps users to share knowledge, information and communicate. Advantages of social media are discussed below: Social media enrich human lives by helping them to communicate effectively and regularly with other people. In earlier days, technology used to be more intensive and it required experts to handle it. But over the period, development of technology and platforms helped users to actively use the services without requirement of any expertise in technological background. Social media acts as a wonderful communication tool for people to interact with each other at any place and time.

Achondroplasia Dwarfism Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Achondroplasia Dwarfism - Research Paper Example The DNA segments carried on the chromosomes are known as genes that codes for proteins to help build and maintain the cells and pass on the traits or characteristics like eye color, height etc. to future generations. (Louis E. Bartoshesky, Teens Health, April 2009). DNA comprises of four chemicals adenine (A), guanine (G), cytosine (C) and thymine (T) that combine to form proteins that in turn help the body to develop and grow. Diseases that arise due to the change in the genetic material of an individual are known as genetic disorders. Some genetic disorders can be harmless while other can be more serious. These disorders are of four types that can be passed on from ancestors while other may be caused due to environmental or chemical factors (Robin Doak, 2). These genetic disorders are of four types: 1. Single – gene / Mendelian / Monogenic is the mutation or change that occurs in single gene of DNA sequence. Mutation in a single gene stops its normal functioning thus causing disorder. There are more than 5000 types of single gene disorders. There are different types of single gene disorders (Robin L. Bennett, 23): Autosomal dominant where only one abnormal from one parent is enough to cause the disorder. Autosomal recessive where two mutated genes are required to cause the disorder. X-linked dominant and recessive caused by mutation of X chromosomes. Y-linked caused by mutation of Y chromosome... Dwarfism is a skeletal deformity usually inherited resulting in short stature of adults that is caused due to genetic or medical disorders where the average height of an adult is 4 feet 10 inches (William A. Petit, Christine A. Adamec, 69). There are almost 200 different types of dwarfism that are categorized into two forms: Proportionate form of dwarfism has overall small structure. Primordial dwarfism, Seckel syndrome etc. Disproportionate form of dwarfism has one or more body parts large or small than average size adult. Achondroplasia also known as ACH, Chondrodystrophia fetalis, Chondrodystrophy syndrome, Congenital osteosclerosis, Dwarf achondroplastic or Osteosclerosis congenital is the most common disproportionate form of dwarfism where converting the cartilage into bone (ossification) is affected. It comprises of almost 50 percent of all cases of dwarfism. It is a hereditary autosomal dominant disorder affecting the cartilage and bone growth (Joseph Anthony Joyce). There are 1 in 15,000 to 25,000 birth chances to be affected with this disorder worldwide. Dr. Johm Wasmuth along with his group of scientists found in 1994 that mutation of fibroblast growth factor receptor -3 (FGFR3) genes of human chromosome 4 cause achondroplasia (Who discovered it Website). The signs and symptoms of achondroplasia are: Large head with prominent forehead and Arms and legs are shorter compared to the trunk. Space between ring and middle fingers with abnormal appearance. Lesser elbow movement Bowing legs (genu varum) Muscle tone decrease Achondroplasia can be detected by prenatal ultrasound showing excessive amniotic fluid along with a DNA test to detect homozygosity (two copies of mutated genes are inherited which is fatal). Common medical

International relation's discussion Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

International relation's discussion - Assignment Example ny, without doubt is a bad person that should be captured and face charges of crime against humanity at the international criminal courts, but his capture would come with other consequences, which might prove to be disastrous. In that case, peace and reconciliation techniques should be used especially in Northern Uganda to avoid any kind aggression between the rebels and government forces. Another key factor is African matters should be dealt by African people. There is absolute no need for putting pressure on the United States government to intervene (Peter, 21). As much as African countries appreciates the wet support in terms of foreign aid and donation they have also proved to the world that they are willing and ready to solve their own problems, some which have proved to be big challenges to the world. Therefore, the campaign for western countries to intervene in Kony’s capture is very not a good idea. The realist will not agree with the idea of going all out to capture Joseph Kony. This is because there are still other ways of coming up with a good solution to that problem. Still there are treaties between counties that must be respected. Kony is believed to have left Northern Uganda for South Sudan or Central African Republic, so attempt for invasion on Northern Uganda will be only cause harm to the healing

Writing as Art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Writing as Art - Essay Example This paper highlights that writing campaigns have been in use for many years. Some have been effective while others have not. However, they serve the same purpose of educating and spreading the message, they want done. The paper will discuss writing as art, and the way writing campaign has used to protest social problems. Writers develop words, make them true, emphasize, and illuminate the words through images. Through the voices, they hold the reader’s attention and remind them of the changing tones of speech. Through the stories heard and told, they indicate the way the writer’s thoughts are molded by the narrative, how the writer shapes the lives and thoughts of others and their lives. There are features that are used to identify writing as a form of art, and they have a strong impact on the readers and writers. These features include world, story, image, and voice. Without these elements or components, the practice of writing would become disadvantaged. From this discussion it is clear that story entails structure, and meaning of the structure. Stories are narrated by voices developing images; voices also create and inhabit worlds. A writer who stays close to the character voices has more opportunities of going into the rhythm of living, of engaging the readers in that rhythm, for readers to feel that they know it by themselves. The utilization of thinking and speaking voices in writing seems to be the main quality, perhaps the most significant skill for the writer to learn. However, if the writers think about it, the voices that capture our attention are those that generate images, tell stories, and make the world real to the readers as their own. Writing as art assists us to determine the images, stories, worlds, and voices individuals inhibit and which inhabit writers, in other words, the acquired culture.

Unemployment after graduation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Unemployment after graduation - Essay Example In the American workforce, for example, millennial are less than 30%. The remaining 70% attended college in the 1970s and 1980s. This workforce educated in the 1970s is responsible for making decisions whether one can join their business based on their conservative and primitive ideas of what the ideal candidate should have. Before reaching the interview phase, someone screens out tons of resumes that a company receives. If one’s resume does not have the perfect majors, one never comes to know them in person but hopes to be the best match for the job. Lots of recruitment are not done by HR professionals but are carried out by technical managers who seek for individual with similar career and academic backgrounds as them. University and college education is more of innovation, which many managers fail to capture (Medien n.d.). Graduates who were leaving college and university found it hard to get jobs in 2011 more than students finishing A-level courses. This observation was made while youth unemployment reached its highest level since the 1980s. About one in 10 students is unemployed six months after graduation. Approximately 9% of those who finish full-time degrees are out of work. In 2011-2012, out of more than 230,000 graduates, 72% were working, 15 % were studying while 9% were unemployed (Sharma 2014). When unemployed graduates seek work for six or more months is considered as the worst form of joblessness. The consequences of long periods of joblessness are significant. The graduates face personal, financial, and health care hardships. An analysis of long-term unemployment for the period running from 2000 to 2003 reveals that people without employment for six or months has increased at a high rate of 198.2%. Job seekers with college degrees have hard times getting employment and their long term unemployment rises by 299.4%. In an effort to the jobless recovery, job creation

Peregrine Trucking Co Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Peregrine Trucking Co - Research Paper Example In 2008, a total of 758 companies in the trucking business went out of business because of rising fuel prices. This shows how crucial this issue is in any trucking company. With the uncertainty in the prices, companies lose a lot of money when there is a spike. This is why it is important to reduce the costs as much as possible. This document tries to evaluate available methods of reducing fuel costs in the company by using equipment that is the most efficient and socially conscious. It also looks at other ways that relate to rules and software which the company can employ. It also considers efficient operating methods that can help achieve this saving. Finally, it looks at the results the company can expect from employing the different methods. Body Looking at Peregrine Trucking Company, the fuel price is one of the highest direct costs it incurs in its operations. This is because it is in the transportation industry. These costs affect the performance of the company in terms of pro fits where an increase in costs leads to a decrease in the profits (Taylor & Weerapana, 2009). This is the reason why it is important to evaluate the potential of reducing fuel cost to gain a competitive advantage. ... Another rule is for employees to ensure that the mile-per-gallon is as high as possible. To ensure that they abide by this rule, the company can motivate employees by providing incentive plans in form of rewards for providing the best records over a period of time. Employees also need proper driving skills through training as some may be forceful when hitting the brakes, while others may tend to drive fast around corners, which results to an increase in fuel consumption. Training also helps reduce the period that the trucks idle as employees will learn to appreciate the effects of doing this. It is important for drivers to be informed of the importance of turning off the engine when the truck is not moving, in order to avoid burning up fuel unnecessarily (United States, 2008). Drivers are also required to be trained on avoiding shifting too many gears and try to keep the vehicles continuously moving instead of stopping and then starting again. They also need to be trained on the impo rtance of avoiding overspeeding and the use of natural speed instead of the accelerator when going up and down hills. All these will help to reduce fuel consumption. Training results in better drivers and efficient working. Looking at the equipment, the company can adapt, first and foremost, the use of speed governor. It may seem as be increasing the expenses of the company; however, the long term benefits are visible. Speed governor reduces the maximum speed in trucks, thus preventing drivers from overspeeding. An extra mile or two per hour that can be saved as a result of using the speed governor can save fuel, which, in turn, reduces the costs incurred by the company. The company can also adapt

Teens and Consumer Behavior Essay Example for Free

Teens and Consumer Behavior Essay Shopping, is a word often used in everyday life in the context of the economy, both in the corporate world and in our household. But the same word meaning has evolved as a reflection of lifestyle and recreation on certain economic class society. Shopping also has a special meaning for teenagers. Consumptive Lifestyle The word â€Å"consumer† (as an adjective; see the suffix-if) often defined the same as the word â€Å"consumerism†. Whereas the latter word refers to anything related to the consumer. While consumptive more specifically describe the desire to consume goods that actually less is required redundantly to achieve maximum satisfaction. Indeed there has been no satisfactory definition of the word this consumptive. But the consumer is usually used to refer to consumer behavior that utilizes the value of money is greater than the value of production for goods and services which are not basic necessities. For example as an illustration, a person has income 500 thousand rupiah. He spends 400 thousand dollars in a specific time to meet basic needs. Time 100 thousand she spent on a pair of shoes because the shoes he has to work is damaged. In this case the person had not called the consumer behaves. But if he actually spend on shoes that he did not need (especially shoes he bought 200 thousand with a credit card), then he can be called a consumptive behavior. This example is relatively easy to determine whether someone has been behaving consumptive or not. But imagine someone who has income 1 million, to meet the basic needs of 400 thousand and 300 thousand are used to purchase goods that he did not need, while the rest used Untk increase its capital in the business. Whether he can be classified consumptive behavior? Consumptive Behavior Teenagers For producers, the age group of adolescents is one of the potential market. The reason is partly because one’s consumption pattern is formed during adolescence. In addition, teenagers are usually easily persuaded ad seduction, like the bandwagon to friends, unrealistic, and tend to be wasteful in using the money. The properties of teenagers is utilized by some manufacturers to enter the youth market. Among teens who have parents with a well-off economy class, especially in big cities, the mall has become a second home. They wanted to show that they too can follow the fashion that are currently outstanding. And fashion itself is always changing, so the teens are never satisfied with what he had. As a result, there emerged a consumptive behavior. From a number of research results, there are differences in consumption patterns between men and women. There is also a trait that differs between men and women in buying behavior. The differences are: Men: easily influenced persuasion seller often cheated because no patience in choosing goods have a feeling uncomfortable if they do not buy anything after entering the store kegiatran enjoy shopping less, so often a rush decision to buy. Women: more interested in color and shape, not on technical issues and their usefulness not easily swept away persuasion seller love romantic things rather than objective quickly feel the atmosphere of the store happy shopping activities even though only window shopping (just look around but not buy). This list can still be questionable whether it is true there are different styles in the purchasing between men and women. In addition, studies have been done yet to get consistent results whether or waniata teenage boys who spend more money. Are Consumptive Dangerous? Actual consumer behavior in adolescents can be understood when looking at adolescent age sebaga transition in the search for identity. Teens want their existence is recognized by the environment by seeking to become part of the neighborhood. The need for acceptance and become equal with other people the same age that causes teenagers trying to follow the various attributes that are in. Teenagers in the development of cognitive and emotion still considers that it is superficial attributes as important (even more important) with the substance. What is worn by an artist who became the idol of the teen becomes more important (to imitate) compared with hard work and effort that his idol artist to arrive at his popularity. Becomes a problem when the real trend fair in adolescents is done to excess. Adage â€Å"bigger than the pole peg† applies here. Sometimes what is required by teenagers outside his parents’ ability as a source of funds. This has caused many parents who complain when their children began to enter the world of teenagers. In this case, the behavior was already causing economic problems in the family. This consumer behavior can continue entrenched in the lifestyle group of teenagers. In the process, they will become adults with consumptive lifestyle. This consumptive lifestyle must be supported by adequate financial strength. Bigger problem occurs if the level of financial achievement was done with all kinds of unhealthy ways. Starting from the pattern of excessive work to use IM as a way of corruption. In the end the consumer behavior not only has economic impact, but also the psychological impact, social and even ethical.

African Allele Essay Example for Free

African Allele Essay It is a fact that Central Africa is a rural area while the United States is highly urbanized. This means that diseases are more prominent in the African territory, one of which is the malaria. This widespread illness caused evolution to favor a type of change in the human body to protect it from the deadly virus. This protection is the heterozygous make up of the hemoglobin gene, where one allele is the abnormal one that causes sickle-cell anemia. When comparing three types of persons, one with homozygous normal alleles, another with a heterozygous pair, and finally one with a homozygous pair of abnormal alleles, those with the heterozygous pair would have the greatest chance of surviving the conditions of Africa. Having a pair of normal alleles would not save a human from malaria infection, and having a pair of abnormal alleles would cause sickle-cell anemia that can also kill the patient. Thus, in places such as Africa, the population has quite a number of people having the heterozygous hemoglobin gene. The lower number of sickle-cell allele carriers in the United States can be attributed to two main reasons. First, malaria is not as prominent in the United States as it is in Africa. People then did not adapt that much and this abnormal allele haven’t evolved that much. Another is the intermarriage between Africans and Americans. If an African, who carries the sickle-cell allele, would marry an American having a homozygous healthy gene, their children would only have a 50% chance of getting that trait, as compared to an African-African marriage (both heterozygous sickle-cell alleles), where the chance of getting the allele is 75%.

The Operation Of British Petroleum Commerce Essay

The Operation Of British Petroleum Commerce Essay This project examines the operation of British Petroleum (BP) in the light of established international business theories. Two major aspects are considered; Globalisation strategy and corporate social responsibility ethics. Although certain failings are highlighted BP is assessed to perform optimally on both counts. A conclusion is drawn and certain recommendations with respect to the style of research are made in the final section. Report Contents The report assesses the operations of British Petroleum to establish to which degree the operations of BP are in line with related management theory. The project starts with a brief introduction on the business of BP. This sets a stage and develops a context for further discussion. The second section discusses the research method adopted in the preparation of this project. Several methods are explored and the most feasible selected as the method of choice. The third section looks at BPs operations in two respects; international trade and globalisation strategy, and corporate responsibility and ethics. The final section of the project is a conclusion that summarises the main themes highlighted in the work, noting its achievements and limitations and sets the stage for future research. At this stage some recommendations are also made. Introduction British Petroleum (BP) is a global Oil and Gas company with its headquarters in the UK. It is one of the worlds largest businesses by virtue of its revenues. On is corporate website, it terms its self as one of the worlds largest companies, providing its customers with fuel for transportation, energy for heat and light, retail services and petrochemical products for everyday items. As of its financial year end 2009, it owned 22400 service stations around the globe, it owned operations in 30 countries around the world, it employed 80,300 people in different countries, it owned 16 refineries around the world (with the biggest in Houston Texas), it produces 2.3 million barrels per day and owned oil reserves of about 18.3 Billion barrels (BP web 2010) Research Methods This project aims to assess the operations of BP. It takes into focus two major issues in global business and strategy; International trade globalisation strategy and ethics including aspects of corporate social responsibility. The management literature proposes several qualitative research methodologies (Bryman, 2004). These methodologies include; surveys, questionnaires, case studies, focus groups, experiments and interviews (Bryman, 2004). Pursuant to the aims of this project, a case study approach is employed in which I consult several documents which discuss management theory (detailed in Hill, 2009) and I examine how their application in practice basing on the case of British Petroleum. I use the BP website as a core source to derive information for this purpose. Given the lack of resources, other research methods such as interviews, questionnaires and focus groups are impractical. The next section details the operations of BP and the related theoretical underpinnings. British Petroleums globalisation strategy Globalisation refers to the current trend where the world is becoming a global village by effectively inter-knitting, national boundaries are being relaxed and countries are increasingly dependent on each other for survival. Globalisation presents significant opportunities to businesses as well as challenges. Firms that can cope with the trend enjoy larger markets, cheaper resources and therefore higher profitability. Firms that are unable to compete efficiently are faced out. As highlighted above BP is a global company with a highly acclaimed globalisation strategy. The success of this strategy could be attributed several (three main) factors as discussed below. First-mover advantage The history of BP can be traced back to the establishment of the Anglo Persian Oil Company, a subsidiary of the Burmah Oil Company in 1909. This firm explored the Persian golf for many years and was converted to the British Petroleum company after the Second World War. Scanty reports show that the firm expanded tremendously by 1960 developing its operations beyond the Persian golf into North America. Most importantly it established a significant presence in the North Sea by being the first company to find Oil in Alaska (BP web, 2010). The above indicates the length to which BP has gone to establish itself as one of the worlds biggest and most successful companies. New Trade theory suggests that first movers can benefit enormously from certain economic and strategic advantages in terms of operations. The theory argues that for those products where economies of scale are significant and represent a substantial portion of world demand, the first movers in an industry can gain a scale based cost advantage that later entrants find almost impossible to match (Hill, 2009. p 187). First mover advantage can potentially explain the structure of the Oil and Gas industry. The industry is made up of few big players and many small players in the Western world where competition is free. In other countries such as Kuwait, Saudi, Russia, China, Iraq and Qatar competition in the industry is restricted and the major oil exploiters are government owned. BP has established itself in most of the western world due to its first mover advantage. It is able to cut costs in its operations and derive benefits from economies of scale and scope. Many firms can compete effectively in Oil exploitation, exploration, extraction and refining, and therefore they turn to engage in the provision of support services such as distribution or the derivation of chemicals for other manufacturing industries. Competitive advantage Porters findings on national competitive advantage can be extended to understand why BP locates in the regions it does. BP is a global firm but has operations at varying degrees in about 30 different countries world wide (BP web, 2010). Despite operating significantly in 30 countries, its products and services are available in over 100 countries (BP web, 2010). Porters diamond asserts that the degree to which a nation is likely to achieve international success in a certain industry is a function of the combined impact of factor endowments, domestic demand conditions, related and supporting industries and domestic rivalry (Hill, 2009. p 191). Hill (2009) argues that based porters theory a profit seeking firm should localize its operations in those countries where such activities can be performed optimally. BP operates in Africa, Asia, Australasia, Europe, North America and South America. In Africa, it operates in Joint Ventures with firms in Egypt, Angola and Algeria. Its choice to operate only in join ventures in this country can be explained by the political economy of these countries. These countries cannot be termed as full democracies and are often susceptible to civil crisis. Operating as a joint venture, curbs the firms risk in the event of a political crisis but allows it to enjoy the revenues to be derived from its operations. It also has a huge presence in the Southern regions of Africa but in these regions it engages more with the marketing of its solar energy concepts. This region is rich in natural resources (sunshine) but the development of energy networks is very poor. The countries in this region rely heavily on hydroelectricity which is usually not sufficient to provide for industries and households. BP also operates as joint ventures in Asia with operations in Pakistan, Vietnam, Indonesia, China, South Korea and Malaysia. It manufactures lubricants and solar panels in China and India where labour is cheap. BP does not explore petroleum in Australasia. Its operations in this region are geared towards the provision of solar energy. BP operates as a stand alone entity in much of Europe. Its operations in Russia are partly owned (joint venture) by a Russian company. It has major exploration and production facilities in Canada, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela and Columbia. These regions are rich in natural gas and oil necessitating BPs localisation to the areas. Products Hill (2009) noted that Raymond Vernon developed the product lifecycle theory after his realisation that firms had to keep innovating in order to maintain a demand for their products and ensure growth in revenues. The theory can be used to explain the globalisation trends, innovation drive and product mix of British Petroleum. BP currently produces a wide range of energy products including oil, natural gas, wind energy, solar energy, bio fuels and petroleum based lubricants. Two decades ago, its primary product was Oil. Research and development in the industry has led to the introduction of cleaner and more sustainable forms of energy. These forms of energy are widely regarded as the future of the Oil and Gas industry. Speculators believe that at some point in time oil will be faced out as coal was faced out with the discovery of oil. BP has realised the fact that oil as a product has reached its maturity stage and its demand might diminish with the advent of new forms of energy. The firm has taken a colossal position in the new energy market by running a major portfolio of energy products representing the mix of all bespoke and innovative new forms of energy. Unlike televisions for example, Oil cannot be re-engineered and further developed. Innovation by modification is therefore difficult. BP has turned the focus on energy efficiency i.e. researching and developing ways in which energy can be saved. Instead of devising faster or stronger energy which might be impossible BP has turned the focus to the development of equipment and usage techniques that will save energy through low consumption. This encompasses innovation that fuels the demand for its products. Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility As Hill (2009) emphasized ethical issues in international business are brought about by political, legal, economic and cultural differences in between countries- what is considered normal practice in one country might be considered unethical in another (p. 124). The ethical challenge, I will argue, is significantly increased for global firms. BP for example operates in all the different continents of the world. In keeping with Hills argument ethics is relative and context dependent. In certain countries, it is ethical to employ young people. In the UK, all employees must be above the legal age of 18 to gain full employment. The legal age changes significantly between countries varying from 16 to 21. Most multi national firms deal with this challenge by devising a set of corporate values which govern their operations in all regions. BP web (2010) argues that the company is driven by four major values; progressive, responsible, innovative and performance driven. In terms of being responsible, BP asserts that We are committed to the safety and development of our people and the communities and societies in which we operate. We aim for no accidents, no harm to people and no damage to the environment. This commitment can be seen in the fact that BP reporting covers all aspects beyond financial reporting including health, safety, human rights, environment and energy. BP is at the forefront of the cleaner energy debate. It does its bit by engaging in energy saving initiatives and constantly researching on cleaner ways in which energy can be produced and delivered. It has diversified strongly into the green energy industry engaging in the production of liquefied petroleum gas, fossil fuels and renewable energy. A major part of corporate ethics that has been pervasive in the management literature in recent years is corporate social responsibility. Hill (2009) argues that multinational corporations such as BP have power that comes from their operations and their ability to move production from country to country. Considering for an instance the revenues generated by BP annually, I find that the corporations revenues is higher than the GDP of many countries. Social responsibility advocates that managers should consider more than just the economic consequences of their decisions (hill, 2009). More importantly, importance should be placed on the social consequences of decision making. The European commission defines corporate social responsibility as A concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and in their interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis (EC website, 2010). It basically refers to the companys interactions with its surrounding communities and looks at how the company strives to promote development and social cohesion and participates in maintaining the environment within such communities. A firms community is a major stakeholder of the firm and thus needs to be considered. BPs financial reporting incorporates major aspects such as its social responsibility, its strive for cleaner energy, its contributions towards preserving the environment and its strive to improve sustainable extraction of energy. Communities take corporate social responsibilities seriously especially when it comes to Oil and Gas firms. This is largely as a result of the potential dangers that can arise from their operations with these communities. Recent crises have ranged from large explosions with severe casualties to major spillages with the destruction of flora and fauna. -A review of the BP 2010 Oil spill crisis BP faced a deep water horizon drilling rig explosion which killed 11 of its off shore workers and injured 17 other workers. The rig gushed out over 5 million barrels of crude oil into the Mexican Golf between April and July 2010. The spill was catastrophic and so were its effect on wild life, the fishing industry, the tourism sector and the surrounding neighbourhoods. In response to this BP set up a crisis management program. It publicly apologized for the distress it caused and undertook to foot the clean up costs. The company has currently set up a $20 Billion dollar fund to manage the after-effects of the crisis. During the crisis, BP showed effort employing several techniques to attempt to stop the leakage. It also arranged a compensation plan for those affected by the crisis. This attests to the fact that BP takes its corporate social responsibility and ethics very strongly. Hill (2009) also notes the social contributions or social investments of BP in Algeria. Hill notes that BP realised its communities in Algeria lacked clean drinking water and created two desalination plants to produce clean what for the public. To add to this, the company provided water cans to help residents transport water from plants to their homes. Conclusions Summary of findings This study has examined the operations of BP in the global context to see how certain management concepts are applied in practice. Two aspects; globalisation strategy and corporate social responsibility were reviewed. BP is found to have a sophisticated globalisation strategy which it has fortified over the years. This helps it to compete efficiently and to remain one the worlds leading corporations. Again, BP is found to have a robust stance towards corporate social responsibility and ethics. Its industry is hazardous and it is pruned to corporate disasters such as spills and explosions. BP has managed to keep these to a minimum and when they do occur, BP has taken necessary steps to manage the crisis and limit the damage Limitations This work is limited in the fact that it strongly relies on public information sources to assess the operations of BP. Several aspects could have been better scrutinized and invaluable insights drawn through other research methods such as interviews with key workers and focus groups to draw varied opinion. Due to the limitations in space (number of words) the aspects discussed can not be reviewed in greater detail. Future research Recommendations This research has examined BPs operations in light of established theory but has not confirmed if such a method of operation is optimal. It might be interesting to investigate whether the product strategy, globalisation strategy or their approach to ethics and corporate social responsibility affect their performance or contributes significantly towards the achievement of organisational goals and objectives. The limitations highlighted above also provide avenues for future research into the area. Several theories have been propounded in the management literature. Their understanding will only be facilitated by examining how these theories are applied in practice or by investigating the contributions of such theories to management practice. In light of this argument, this form of study is encouraged.

J. R. R. Tolkien :: essays research papers

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born on January 3, 1892, in Bloefontain, South Africa, to English parents. The family was living in South Africa for his father’s job purposes. In April of 1895, Tolkien, his mother and brother Hilary returned to England. Their father, Arthur Reuel, remained in South Africa with plans to join his family when time permitted. While in England, news came that Arthur had died. After Arthur’s death, the family rented a cottage in Sarehole Mill, Birmingham. Tolkien spent many happy years there. By the time he was four, his mother had taught him to read and write. He quickly became fascinated with words. In 1899, he took the entrance exam for King Edwards School, but failed to obtain a place. He retook the exam a year later and was accepted. During his years at King Edwards, he learned Latin and Greek and the history of the English language. It was when Tolkien was twelve, his mother died of diabetes. He and his brother were left to the care of F ather Francis Morgan, with whom he lived for many years. Tolkien met Edith Bratt, his future wife, in 1908 when he was sixteen. He began to spend all of his time with her, igoring his studies, until at last Father Francis forbade them to see one another. Tolkien began his first term at Oxford University in 1911. Edith and Tolkien remained separate until he reached the age of 21 in 1913 and wrote her, asking him to marry him. She agreed and on March 22, 1916, they were married. It was difficult for the couple at first because Tolkien had enlisted in the army and was sent to France to fight in the first World War as a second lieutenant. He only lasted until October when he contracted â€Å"Trench Fever† and was sent back to England to recover. It was in 1917, that his first son, John Francis Reuel, was born. Tolkien began working on the Silmarillion, which would not be published until after his death. In 1920, his second son, Michael Hilary Reuel was born. He was followed by Ch ristopher Reuel in 1924 and finally by their daughter Priscilla Mary Reuel in 1929. Around 1933, Tolkien first began telling a story to his children of a funny character named Bilbo. Tolkien got the idea for The Hobbit from theses stories and, in 1936, completed the book.

Antz :: essays research papers

In the movie â€Å"Antz† the ants posses very many qualities which are similar, and some the same as humans. The first quality that is similar to humans, is that the ants all try to work themselves to the top of the ant colony, this is one quality that the character Z has more then the others. Another quality that the ants have to live by which is they live, and follow instructions by one controller. The ants also posses many similar human characteristics. They also show similar emotions that us humans show. The ants in the movie also posses the same actions, and there is great similarity to their interaction with each other, as us humans have. These qualities are all clearly shown throughout the whole movie, and are very much similar, and some are exactly the same as human qualities. As we all know, a humans dream in general, it to get to the top of their society somehow. Humans usually seem to think that what they do is worthless, and that they have no choice but to do something that they don’t want to. Humans will always try to work as hard as possible until they are the best at what they do. This quality is similar to that of Z’s. Z is the average working ant. He is depressed about how his life is going and he feels like he is not going anywhere. He tries his hardest to not be the average working ant by switching places with his soldier ant friend. He does this because he meets the princess Bala in a bar one night, and he falls for her very quickly. He then realizes that the soldiers have to go for the royal inspection where the princess will also be. Z realizes that if he switches places with his soldier friend, then he will be able to see the princess Bala again. This is a form of working himself to the top because, in my opinion, he fell for the princess as badly as he did because she was â€Å"the princess of the colony† and if they ever were a couple then Z would eventually become the princesses mate. I think that this is some what similar to humans ways of trying to work themselves to the top. In general, humans try to find a mate who is a successful, and high to the top. If a person unsucceeds in finding a successful mate, he or she will find another person to fall in love with. If that person turns out to be a highly successful

Morality and Relagion Essay

Morality refers to a set of principles that guide an individual on how one evaluates right and wrong. People believing in religion consider morality is shaped by religion because they believe that morality can be understood only in the context of religion; therefore, those religious people insist if there were no religion, people would be out of control. However, religious beliefs give people a wrong definition of moral value, indeed, morality is shaped only by instinct and environment. Regardless of religion, morality comes from instinct. Human beings are social creatures; they have to live in groups for reproduction and survival that has not changed at all since the ancient time. Looking back to history, people live in groups to share food, to take care of infants and build social networks to meet the daily challenges of their environment. Similarly, at the present time, people value their society for the same purposes. Even though the way to live has changed for instance, in the Stone Age people hunted and shared foods for their living, unlike people who do business for their living nowadays; they still depend on each other for reproduction and survival. Therefore, people instinctively have to keep their relationship between each other, and morality is formed to maintain the relationship. Consequently, every human being has morality regardless of religious beliefs. If the religious people insist that religions shape morality, non-religious people or atheists shouldn`t have morality. However, those people do have morality and they can judge the things right or wrong like other people who believe in religion. Furthermore, people who believe in religion said that the religion shapes morality, yet there are so many different religions around the world. Some people believe in Christianity, other believes in Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam etc. Each religion worships different Gods, and has difference belief systems. Christians, for instance, believe in Jesus Christ while Buddhists venerate Gautama. Even though the same religion, there are different branches. Christianity, for instance, has Catholics and Protestants; on the other hand, Buddhism separate to Mahayana and Theravada. Therefore, if the morality is formed base on religion, the definition of morality should vary since there are many different regions. However, morality that people use in an attempt to do the right thing is the same. â€Å"Trolley Problem†, posted by Phillipa Foot in her 1967 paper, â€Å"Abortion and the Doctrine of Double Effect† help for clear understanding about morality (Clark). She was a British philosopher, and she explained if a person put in dilemma to choice for saving five people`s lives or a person`s life, he or she must choose five people`s lives to save instead of one no matter whatever religion he or she believes. Therefore, religion does not affect morality. If the religions control people`s moral values, different religions will define different moral values, and the answer about â€Å"Trolley Problem† may vary. On the other hand, not only humans but also animals have morality. Frans de Waal, Charles Howard Candle professor of Primate Behavior in the Emory University, shared the experimental results that showed the moral behavior in animals. Chimpanzees help each other to get food, and they reconcile after fighting. Those behaviors pretty much indicate their morality (Waal). Since both human and animals have morality, religion that only existence in human world could not be a source of forming moral. Environment shapes moral values. Religion does not affect moral values, but environment does affect because adaption on environment is very important for survival. Darwin`s evolutionary theory â€Å"Natural Selection† proved that all living organisms modified to adapt the environment. Consequently, moral value is different from each environment where people live. Western countries are more individualistic while Asian countries are more collectivistic. Americans, for example, individuality is a moral value; however, helping each other is a moral value in China. Mr Meier, ESL 33B professor, who has an experience for teaching both American and Asian students, mentioned that American students do not willing help each other during the test because they believe self-1 / 2 reliance as a moral value. Contrast, Asian students prefer to help each other during the test because using each other to achieve their gold is a moral value for Asian countries. Consequently, governments get involved in defining the different moral values. The US government has less control on the society; therefore, people have more freedom, and it leads to enhance the self- reliance as a moral value. However, Asian countries, where government strictly controls various aspects, have less freedom and people in those countries have to rely on each other to get to their goals. Therefore, those people regard helping each other as a moral value. In addition, cultures, which co-exist in different environments, also define the moral values. In Asian cultures, people are taught to respect and care elder people. Therefore, people from Asia believe respecting the elder and taking care of those people as a moral value. For instance, in Japan, national health insurance system is running very well because people are willing to pay insurance fees, which helps elder people who need health care services. People consider even though they do not need health services right now, elder people who need health care gain the benefits from insurance system, and they are happy to help those people by paying monthly insurance fees. However, in Western culture, people regard self-belief as a moral value, and they do not prefer to help elder people. Therefore in the US, national health insurance system does not exist, and even though President Obama tried to construct the health insurance system, it did not work well because of different moral values. Therefore, moral value is pretty much related to environment. Religious beliefs exacerbate the collapse the morality. Religion controlled its believers, and people believing in religion tend to believe whatever the rules that religion lay down. For instance, sky burial, which is take place in Tibetan Buddhism, is the most gross burial way if we think from our common sense of morality. Human corpses are placed on a mountaintop as a prey for birds such as vultures, eagles and other scavengers. Buddhist monks are subjected to the sky burial funerary. They go to the mountaintop by themselves to conduct the funeral ceremony. However, that is normal for people who believe in Tibetan Buddhism because religion teaches the believers â€Å"Humans are part of nature. (People) arrive in the world naturally and they leave it naturally. Life and death are part of a wheel of reincarnation. Death is not to be feared. † (Xinran 159). Therefore, they were controlled by religion to believe conducting sky burial is the way to return the body back to the nature. On the other hand, religious belief ignite the people`s competitive spirit that lead to break morality. Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is one of the examples that easy to understand for how religious belief stir the people`s competitive spirit. ISIS, the biggest Islamic terrorist group, attempts to create a new Islamic country in Middle East. ISIS has rapidly expanded by taking over Iraq and Syria territories. ISIS has killed so many innocents who do not follow Islam. This immoral behavior occurred because of ISIS, which was created by extreme Muslim believers, who regard their religion as the best on the world. They want to spread their religion; therefore, they force other people to become a part of Muslim believer by using immoral ways. Therefore, religious beliefs lead people to collapse the morality. In conclusion, morality is important to maintain our society. Every living organism that depends on each other to maintain life cannot survive without morality. However, humans misunderstand that religion shapes morality, but if we think critically, we can understand that morality is formed not because of religion but because of instinct and environment. Works Cited Clark, Josh. â€Å"How the Trolley Problem Works. † How Stuff Works. N. p. ,n. d. Web, 24 Oct. 2014. Waal, Frans De. â€Å"Moral Behavior in Animals. † TED. N. p. , Nov. 2011. Web. 24 Oct. 2014 Xinran, Xue. â€Å"Sky Burial. † Sky Burial. New York: Anchor Books, July. 2006. Print. POWERED BY TCPDF (WWW. TCPDF. ORG).

Whirlpool Europe

Whirlpool Europe Harvard Business School Case Study 9-202-017 The introduction of an Enterprise Resource System (ERP) [pic] ANSWER TO QUESTION 1: The Enterprise Resource Planning System is a cross-functional information system that represents an important development for Whirlpool and an important area of activity for the information management function. Instead of focusing on the information processing requirements of business functions, ERP software focuses on supporting the business processes involved in the operations of a business.The introduction of enterprise-wide computer networking makes it possible to control all major business processes within a single software design. ERP systems are commonly composed of four major parts, covering accounting, manufacturing, sales and human resources. This forces organizations to operate along business processes. Three activities that need to be carried out in order to try to match supply and demand, with which ERP system helps: 1. Forecas t demand 2. Plan the level of capacity that the operation is likely to need to meet the forecast demand, both in the long and the short term. . Control the use of that capacity. This involves the allocation of people, equipment and other resources to the various work tasks to ensure the smooth running of the operation in the short term. There is a number of benefits that Whirlpool foreseen to gain, from the introduction of an ERP system, in various tangible and intangible areas. Observable tangible benefits come from lowering costs for data communication and telecommunication. In addition, there are intangible benefits associated with improved flow of information throughout the organization.However, increased user satisfaction and response times compensate the system complexity and potential data inconsistencies. Being an integrated solution, ERP, grants benefits from increased efficiency, and improved quality, productivity and profitability. ERP software penetrates functional depar tments and can be extended along the supply chain to suppliers and customers. The ERP system, being an industrial software, helps a business manage the important functions of its business, including product planning, parts purchasing, maintaining inventories, interacting with suppliers, providing customer service and tracking order.Hence, a smoother and more transparent flow of all of these activities will mainly enhance monitoring of the supply chain. The following table reflects a smooth presentation of Whirlpool’s foreseen benefits: |Benefits |Description of expectations upon implementation of the ERP system | |Working Capital Reduction |Make its supply chain more transparent and efficient. | | |As a result, eliminate 8 days sales of inventory (DSI) of allocated and reserved unites, 9 days of transit and 3 obsolete. | |Reduce 12 days of inventory in each wave. | |Revenue and Gross Margin |Increase product availability by: | |Increase |making the supply chain more visible a nd | | |integrating sales forecasting and inventory management. | | |Enable the company to realize an increase in unit sales equal to 25% of the improvement in product availability. | |The incremental sales would contribute to increasing the profitability of Whirlpool Europe. | | |A 0. 25% gross margin increase by the second year after implementation. | |Benefits |Description of expectations upon implementation of the ERP system | |Other Cost Savings |Simplify the processing and management of customer orders. | | |Reduce the 79 order desk employees by 18%, at an average cost of $40,000 per year per employee. | |Simplify the accounting function and result in a 15% reduction in the 60 finance employees. Expected cost saving was | | |$45,000 per year for each employee that was eliminated. | | |Reduce inventory, thus warehouse space could be reduced by 15%. | | |Reduce the number of returned units by eliminating shipping errors. | | |Reduce bad debt expense and information system expens es. |From Exhibits 3 and 4, we can also analyse the following: †¢ The â€Å"West† wave enjoys the lowest DSI; as a result, it enjoys the highest rates of units sold, revenue and accordingly margin. Unfortunately the product availability percentage is low at this stage –relatively speaking- (only 73. 5%). Whirlpool targets 92% of product availability with the introduction of the ERP system. †¢ The â€Å"Central† wave has the highest DSI, thus it is most likely to be the number one beneficiary from the DSI reduction resulting from the introduction of the ERP system. It is logical to notice that the â€Å"West† and â€Å"South† waves will notice benefit of 40% improvement by the second year of implementation; this is simply because they have already enjoyed the two lowest rates of DSI even prior to introduction of the ERP system. Similarly, the â€Å"Central† and â€Å"North† waves would notice the improvement of 40% immediatel y on implementation; again this is because they both had had the highest DSI prior to introduction of the ERP system. ANSWER TO QUESTION 2:Whirlpool has carefully considered the capital expenditures, depreciation time of capital equipment as well as implementation requirements and costs (employee training, creation, testing and documentation of new business process and installation of the ERP software). This logical calculation helps out the company to evaluate the results of introducing the ERP system and estimate its profit prior to making the decision, because such innovative decisions must be profitable; and if not, they should not be introduced.Whirlpool has done a long-term capacity planning, which is concerned with decisions that take a long time to implement, and with large amount of capital investment, such as installing the ERP system. Whirlpool has carried out operations scheduling by allocating people to processes in order to get the work done, with the following objecti ves: †¢ The product or service is delivered on time †¢ The operation performs smoothly, giving optimum efficiencies †¢ The cash flow involved in the operation is balanced. The following table shows Whirlpool’s Capital Expenditures: [pic]Figures above in US$000 Depreciation = 0. 2 million as of the third year, for 5 years The following table shows the Operational Costs: [pic] Figures above in US$000 Taking into consideration the forecasted other expense savings, the operational expenditures would be as shown in the Grand Total below: [pic] Figures above in US$000 From the figures above, we can conclude that Whirlpool would absorb resources and incur costs through balancing out the operational costs against the operational savings, as follows: IT Equipment & Software: Whirlpool will pay high costs for the equipment over the first four years of implementation. It will also buy software license for the first two years; this is for the servers and clients. On top of this comes the license maintenance which starts immediately on the second year of implementation and remains paid on an annual basis. This is extra cost that Whirlpool will have to cover and justify by long-term planning and reaching a point where all this extra cost is paid back. This is explained in the following points. Human Resources: Hiring consultants for the installation and boosting of the system. Number of consultants does not remain the same, but rather reduces over time. Consultants are expected to train staff, thus their cost will end once Whirlpool’s own trained staff continue doing the job. Conclusion: consultant’s cost stops by the fourth year of implementation. †¢ Using current employees, 50 of them, reduces the cost of hiring new ones. Building their capacity at an extra cost is more feasible than hiring and training fresh ones. Operations & Accounting: Ongoing operation and license maintenance costs would increase over time, but this is met by the reductions foreseen through: o Simplifying the processing and management of customer orders. o Reducing the 79 order desk employees by 18%, at an average cost of $40,000 per year per employee. o Simplifying the accounting function and result in a 15% reduction in the 60 finance employees. Expected cost saving was $45,000 per year for each employee that was eliminated. Reducing inventory, thus warehouse space could be reduced by 15%. o Reducing the number of returned units by eliminating shipping errors. o Reducing bad debt expense and information system expenses. From the above, it is obvious that the new operational costs are balanced with the operational savings; thus by the 2005 Whirlpool would cover the operational cost of implementing this system and start benefiting as of 2005 onwards. This is seen in the positive figure under the Grand Total (103). ANSWER TO QUESTION 3: The main highlights of the study are: 1.Capital expenditure: This includes all payment that will be mad e for the project which is in this case the price of the capital equipment and software licenses (see table below). [pic] Figures above in US$000 2. Revenue: which is the inflow of assets such as cash, amount owed to a business by debtors or reduction in abilities that arise as a result of trading operations. In this case revenue increase is expected because of implementing the application. Such increase in the revenue will be a result of integration, error reduction, inventory saving, etc. 3.Cost of goods sold: this is the cost of the goods bought then sold to customers, like transportation, storage, maintenance, etc. 4. Operating expenditures, as in the following table: [pic] Figures above in US$000 The table above shows two contrasting calculations during the implementation of the ERP system: A) A reduction of: – order desk employees (0. 18 X 79 X $40,000) – finance employees (0. 15 X 60 X $45,000) – Warehouse space by 15% – Eliminate shipping errors , reduce returns by (30 X 0. 03 X units sold) – Reduce bad debt expenses – Reduce information systemsB) An addition of: – license maintenance fees to start on 2000 by $0. 1 million each year and increased by 0. 1 each next year, – fifteen consultant in 1999, nine in 2000 and seven in 2001, four for following year (average monthly cost is $15,400 X 12 month X number of consultants), and – three person task on 2000 till 2004 on $600,000 a year. 5. Depreciation expense: This is the portion of the cost of fixed assets that has been used up in generating revenues recognized during a particular period. The depreciation rate is 20% over five years (capital expenditure X 0. ). We have to be careful to stop depreciating capital expenditure after 5 years from the year capital expenditure was added, i. e. capital expenditure of 2000 is depreciated by 2005. 6. Taxable earnings: Which is the Sum of Revenue – (Cost of goods sold + Operation Expenditure + D epreciation Expense). 7. Taxes: Each company has to pay their own tax on profit, the calculation of the tax would be based on the profit of the year (Taxable Earning X Profits Tax Rate). 8. Earnings after taxes: This is the profit minus taxes to be paid which means (Taxable Earning – Taxes). . Add back depreciation: This is the same amount of depreciation but in positive value. 10. Cash flow from operations: This is equal to earnings after taxes + the add back depreciation. 11. Reduction in need for Inventory: This is the result of DSI reduction by 12 days, and as a result warehouse space reduction of 15%. 12. Cash flow: This is the total of the transactions (Capital expenditure + cash flow from operation + Reduction in need for inventory). This is the Profit amount which starts in 2001. 13.Discount Factor: This is the rate applied to future cash flows to derive the present value of those cash flows (1/(1+r)n) where r is discount ratio and n number of years. This factor keeps reducing over time. 14. Discounted cash flow: This is the value of cash flow in the coming years which equal to (Cash flow X discount factor) = Present value for that year. 15. Sum of discounted cash flow: This is the NPV (Net Present Value) which is the total discounted cash flow from 1999 till 2007. NPV is a method of investment appraisal based on present value of all relevant cash flow associated with the project.To decide whether the project is acceptable (profitable) we check the NPV (sum of discounted cash flow). In our case it is a positive figure with 23. 883, which means that the project is acceptable and profitable. Recommendation: I recommend Whirlpool corporation to proceed with the implementation of the proposed ERP system, because the NPV is positive (>0), which means that the project will add income to the company starting from the third year (2001) onwards, and as a total cash flow after taking consideration the risk, inflation and interest rates included in the discounted factor.Please double click on the table below to see how all the calculations above are incorporated. [pic] ANSWER TO QUESTION 4: Please double click on the table below to see how all the changes are incorporated. [pic] From the changes we’ve incorporated in the sheet above, we can conclude that: The higher we increased the discount rate the more we reduced the NPV: †¢ When the discount rate was 9%, the NPV was 23. 883. †¢ When the discount rate was raised to 15%, the NPV went down to 5. 824. The IRR is the discount rate which will give us an NPV of exactly zero.If the discount rate were zero, the NPV would be the sum of the net cash flows. No account would be taken of the time value of money. However, if we assume increasing discount rates, there is a corresponding decrease in the NPV of the project. When the NPV line crosses the horizontal axis there will be a zero NPV and the point where it crosses is the IRR. From several trials on the amended sheet, the following table and charts are resulted: |Discount Rate |NPV | |9% |23,883 | |15% |5,824 | 23% |1,560 | |25% |712 | |27% |(29) | From the table and chart above, as well as from excel calculations we notice that NPV equals zero when the IRR equals 26. 82. On the other hand, since the IRR here is 26. 82%, which is > cost of capital (15%), we conclude that the project is accepted. Recommendation: I would recommend Whirlpool to consider the low discount rate if it seeks good return on its investment; otherwise the high discount rate would cause failure of the project. Answer to Question 5: Business graduate skills outcome |Example of how work on this TMA has contributed to my |Self-assessment of current level of skill – | | |skills development |high/medium/low; any actions to be taken | |Using examples and analysing case studies to enhance |Through referring back to the module as well as the |Medium, more analysis would result in higher | |understanding, support conclusion s and illustrate |accounting text book, I was able to understand a lot of|understanding. |issues concerning business functions in |accounting concepts, even prior to the lecture itself. | |organisational contexts | | | |Problem solving and decision making |When calculating the depreciation, a lot of trials took|High | | |place before finding the lost hook, which was the | | | |depreciation over 5 years is calculated from the first | | | |year expenditures are spent! | |Understanding the way in which numbers are used in |I had an idea on this before, but not with such |Medium, more accounting practices are | |the core business functions |details; this TMA has enhanced and broadened my |required | | |understanding. | | |Interpreting spreadsheets for managing numbers and |From this TMA I learned how the various calculations |Medium, it took me a while to come up with | |quantitative analysis |and formulas are made and how substantial accountants |the calculations in the spreadsheet and | | |are in the decision making process. |linking them together. | ———————– [pic]

History of Policing Essay

The function of policing has played a considerable role in American history. The policing occupation has worked toward protecting citizens’ rights and helping America to become the free nation it is today. The United States of America is built from the U.S. Constitution and its Bill of Rights, from this document we gather the rules of policing and make sure that every Americans rights are met. The evolutions of policing practices that officers have learned have changed American history for the better. As new problems in society arise, police must change and adapt to protect and serve the public. Early American policing strategies were based off of a similar British model. Law enforcement was not well organized or structured until 1200 A.D., after that time offenders were being pursued by an organized posse. In those times offenders were caught be the organized posse and were usually tortured and faced public execution. Rarely were the criminals or the accused of this time given the right to fair trail, and were not considered innocent until proven guilty like the laws we have today state, it was the other way around, where citizens that were accused of crimes were guilty before any evidence or testimony were ever provided. One of the earliest forms of policing came about in English cities and towns and were called night watches.(Schmalleger, 2009). The primary purpose of a night watch was to watch out for fires and thievery. There was also a day watch which basically was the same job as night watch, but in the day. Eventually this form of policing led to a written law being proposed in 1285 called the Statute of Winchester. This law created a watch and ward system that gave early watches a systems and structure to form themselves around. This law gave early English towns the policing practices and guidelines needed to produce a stable society, free of criminal activities, allowing the towns the type of policing that they needed to thrive. The Statute of Winchester law consisted of four main points, things that were specific to the watch of that town, the mandating of age eligible men to serve, institutionalizing the use of the hue and cry, and for answering the call of duty. Prior structuring and laws such as the Statue of Winchester propelled law enforcement into its future when prime minister of England Sir Robert Peel formed the world’s first modern police force. Peel’s model of new police became the model for police all across the globe. He formed the police with more of a military outline; giving uniforms for better origination and structure. Early American leaders followed the day and night watch approach, later American leaders followed Sir Robert Peel method, which is what American policing still utilize today. New technological advances and social reform for policing were brought about in the twentieth century. The invention of automobiles, telephones, and radios were developments of the twentieth century, which have helped police officers with their communications, speed of investigations and coordination of efforts. Automobiles allowed police a quick responds and allowed them to serve greater areas. Radios and telephones allowed for the communication and coordination of efforts between police officers. Teddy Roosevelt contributed his part of advancement of the policing system by organizing the FBI and helping to promote the first call box system, which is closely associated with the 911 system used today. The political era (1840s-1930) was an era that policing organizations were more concerned with the interest of powerful politicians rather than the rights and laws of the people. The next eras of policing came from 1930s-1970s where police became increasingly concerned with solving of more traditional style of crimes. The time from the 1970s to the end of the twentieth century is considered to be the third period of policing and the most contemporary of policing practices, acting on policing of each community. Finally present day policing is or the modern era has given way to that of homeland security, which grew after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the United States. All levels of law enforcement agencies, local; state; and federal have devoted more time and effort toward the protection of our nation and homeland security, in an effort to thwart any future attacks. Local, state, and federal law enforcement are tasked with the enforcement of the laws. Federal law enforcement agencies are government agencies whose primary function is the protection and enforcement of federal laws. State law enforcement agencies were created for specified set of needs. State law enforcement was built from one of two models. The first model combines major criminal investigations with the patrolling of state highways. The second model is the culmination of two functions which consist of traffic enforcement and other laws that need upheld. Today’s duties of the modern state policing are to assist local law enforcement in criminal investigations, operate identification bureaus, maintain criminal records repository, patrol states highways, and provide training for municipals and county officers. Today they have also stepped up to a role of homeland security, for identifying precursors to acts of terrorism. The third level of law enforcement is that of the local policing authorities, i.e. county sheriffs or town marshals. City and county agencies are both part of the local level, mayors or city council appoint the officers to their offices and their jurisdictions are limited only to the boundary of their communities. Sheriffs are responsible for law enforcement in unincorporated areas and for the operation of the county jail. Local police play their role in the new era of homeland security as well by ascertaining the changes in the community that are out of place or unusual. Local police help do this task by interacting with the public, and constantly patrolling neighborhoods and other parts of their community. The increases of population, crime, and the advancement of technologies have challenged our policing forces but it has also allowed it to make necessary changes and advancements in law enforcement evolve with the times, with each generation of Americans we continue to increase our knowledge, experience and technological advances. The structure and technologies of the policing may change over a given time but the ideal of protecting and serving the community will not. With increasing threats on the rise, the police force must be capable and flexible. Making sure they have the most innovative technologies to oppose impending threats and overcome the future challenges that may lie ahead. Reference Schmalleger, F. (2009). Criminal Justice Today: an Introductory Text for the 21st Century (10th ed.). New York, NY: Prentice-Hall. 2007. â€Å"DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY: Progress Report on Implementation of Mission and Management Functions.† GAO Reports i. MasterFILE Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed June 12, 2011). Dodsworth, F. M. (2008). The Idea of Police in Eighteenth-Century England: Discipline, Reformation, Superintendence, c. 1780-1800. Journal of the History of Ideas, 69(4), 583-604. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. Scott, J. E. (2010). Evolving Strategies: A Historical Examination of Changes in Principle, Authority and Function to Inform Policing in the Twenty-First Century. Police Journal, 83(2), 126-163. doi:10.1350/pojo.2010.83.2.490

Critisism on Curleys Wife Essay

For Of Mice and Men is a Tragedy, a tragedy not in the narrow modern sense of a mere ‘sad story’ (though it certainly is that), but a tragedy in the classic Aristotelian/Shakespearean sense of showing humanity’s achievement of greatness through and in spite of defeat. Some people seem to believe that the function of literature is to provide vicarious â€Å"happy endings,† to provide in words a sugary sweetness we would like to have but cannot always get in real life. To such people, true literary tragedy is distasteful. But the greatest writers and the best readers know that literature is not always only mere sugar candy; it can sometimes be a strong medicine: sour perhaps — at least to the untrained taste — but necessary for continued health[.] Some readers may object to the book’s presentation of low class characters, vulgar language, scenes suggestive of improper sexual conduct, and an implied criticism of the social system. But none of this is presented indecently, or beyond the ordinary norms of contemporary literature. Compared to many modern works, (or to movies and TV) this book is tame indeed. Furthermore, these features are necessary in this book in two ways. First, they are part of the accurate precise reporting of the reality of a particular time and place and environment. Part of Steinbeck’s literary point is that this is true to life. As such, the dirty details are part of Steinbeck’s enlargement of the realm of Tragedy, the democratization of the tragic world. Traditionally, the subjects of Tragedies have been Kings and other Great Ones: Job, Oedipus, Lear. But Steinbeck’s point — a truly American point — is that all men are created equal: Tragedy exists even among the lowly of the earth; even the least of us — even a Lennie or a George — has the human potential for tragic nobility. Of Mice and Men is a tragedy in the modern tradition of The Hairy Ape and Death of a Salesman. Second, the grossness is a way of presenting briefly the complex turmoil of life. This book is not stereotype melodrama. It is not a simpleminded book. There are no purely bad people in it. Conversely, there are no purely good people in it either. All the characters are complex mixtures of good and bad, or rather of bad results from good intentions. They are all — in their ability and in their outlook — limited. And they live in a gross and dirty world. Given their position in that world, they are not able to achieve much. But they are trying to do the best they can; they are trying to be good people and to have good lives. They have good intentions. They have noble aims. The tragedy is that, limited as the characters are, the world they live in is even more limited; it is a world in which the simplest dream of the simplest man — poor dumb big Lennie — cannot come true. â€Å"The best laid plans of mice and men gang oft a-glae [go oft a-stray],† wrote Robert Burns in the poem which provides the book’s title and its theme. And Steinbeck’s story shows why: The best laid plans go oft ast ray because they come in conflict with one another. The simplest good intention — simply to stay alive — of a simple mouse, a simple pup, a simple young woman, is thwarted by Lennie’s urge to pet something soft and beautiful. Lennie’s drive to touch beauty kills the things he loves. But his problem is the same problem that bothers Curley, the Boss’s son, the closest thing to a villain in the book. Like Lennie, Curley doesn’t know how to hold on to what he finds important: his young wife, his status as the Boss’s son, his reputation as a man. He loses each by trying to hold on too tightly. Curley’s aim to be a respected husband/boss/man is foiled by his own limited abilities. The similar but simpler aim of Lennie and George to have a small place of their own where they can â€Å"live offa the fatta the lan † is doomed to frustration also by their own limitations and the tragic chain of circumstance and coincidence that ends with Lennie dead by George’s hand. The point, of course, is that they all — we all — live in a too limited world, a world in which not all our dreams can come true, a world in which we — all of us some of the time and some of us all the time — are doomed to disappointment. The tragic dilemma is that for our basic humanity, for the goodness of our aims, we all deserve better than we get. But because of our human limitations, by our weaknesses of character, none of us is ever good enough to earn what we deserve. Some philosophers, seeing this dilemma, pronounce profound pessimism for humanity. Some religions promise for this world’s disappointments supernatural intercession and other-worldly compensations. The tragic viewpoint (the view of Shakespeare, the Greek tragedians, the Old Testament Job, and John Steinbeck) finds in it the chance for nobility of soul: even in the blackest of disappointments, a human can achieve individual greatness. One may be defeated physically — but one need not be crushed spiritually. One can remain true to one’s dream and true to one’s friend. We humans may die, but we can love one another. Friendship. Love. That too is what Of Mice and Men is all about. Lennie and George, disparate types, are, against all good reason, friends. They share a good dream. They love one another. They are too limited, too inarticulate, to know how to say it, but they do show it — or rather Steinbeck shows it to us readers. So the book treats the great themes of Dreams and Death and Love with simple powerful clarity. It does so with a classically elegant structure — another reason for using the book as a teaching tool: it allows a reader — especially an untrained or beginning reader of literature — to see (or be shown) how structure supports and presents content. Of Mice and Men has the classic situation/complication/twist/and/resolution plot structure uncluttered by diversions, distractions, or subplots. There is inevitableness, a starkness th at makes the point of the story unavoidable. The story has the classic unities of time and place and action. It begins in a small spot of beautiful nature, a secluded camp in the woods by a stream; it moves to the buildings of a California ranch, and ends back in the woods by the stream. The style is simple: clear, direct sentences of description and action, direct quotation of the speech of simple people. Few long words, no hard words. The action is simple: two poor and vagrant workers, big, dumb Lennie and small, clever George, take jobs at a large ranch. Lennie has trouble with the Boss’s son, Curley. Lennie accidentally — more or less — kills Curley’s wife. George kills Lennie to save him from the horrors of a lynch mob led by Curley, bent on revenge. The settings are simple in detail, and simply powerfully symbolic. The secluded spot in the woods by the stream is the uncomplicated world of Nature; the bunkhouse is the bleak home of hired working men trying to make sense of their lives and gain comfort in a limited environment; the barn is the place of working life, of seed and harvest, birth and death; the harness room with Crook’s bunk symbolizes social constraints; the â€Å"little place of our own† about which George and Lennie dream and all too vaguely plan is the Paradise on earth we all hope for. The characters, too, are simple yet significant. â€Å"Begin with an individual, and before you know it you find you have created a type,† wrote F. Scott Fitzgerald; â€Å"begin with a type, and you find that you have created — nothing.† Steinbeck begins with individuals: clearly and sharply crafted characters, a whole set of individuals who are so clearly realized that each — without surrendering individuality — becomes a type, an archetype, a univ ersal character: There is Candy, the old, one-armed worker with no place to go, as useless as his toothless dog; there is Carlson, gruffly and deliberately â€Å"unfeeling,† who can coolly kill old Candy’s ancient dog simply because â€Å"he stinks† and â€Å"he ain’t no good to you†; and there is Crooks, the dignified proud and aloof but helpless and lonely victim of racial discrimination. There is Slim, calm, reasonable, compassionate, the real leader of men. And there is Curley, the arrogant but inept Boss’s son. The man who could lead well does not have the position; the one who has the position and the authority is not a true leader. Curley hides his insecurities behind a mask of macho toughness. His competitive bravado makes him push too far and Lennie, after enduring much, is given permission by George to â€Å"get him.† Lennie in self-protection crushes Curley’s fist in his own big hand, crippling Curley somewhat as Candy and Crooks have been crippled by the punitive harshness of life. Curley is also the one man who has a woman. But clearly he does not — does not know how to — relate to her as a person. She is to him a thing, a possession, a sex-object and a status symbol. For the men, in braggadocio, he flaunts the sexuality of the relationship; and yet, out of his own self-doubts he is intensely jealous of the men’s awareness of her. The young woman has no name — she is merely â€Å"Curley’s wife.† She knows she wants — and somehow deserves — something better than this. â€Å"I don’t like Curley,† she says of her husband. She has grandiose ambitions of being a Hollywood star â€Å"in the pitchers.† She is a lost little girl in a world of men whose knowledge of women is largely limited to memories of kind old ladies and rumors of casual prostitution. All these men are afraid of Curley’s wife, afraid and aware that her innocent animal appeal may lead them into temptation and trouble. In self-protection they avoid her. Only Lennie, in naive goodness, actually relates to her as a person to a person. She talks to him. For a little time they share in their aesthetic sense; they both admi re beauty. Unfortunately, she is too naive, and Lennie is too strong and clumsy. In trying — at her invitation — to pet her lovely hair he is panicked by her quick resistance, and ends by killing her. Just as he had earlier killed a puppy and a mouse. Curley’s wife, a naive Romantic, wants love and tenderness in a harsh crude Naturalistic world; Lennie, big and ignorant, tries to give love. But he is too weak in the mind, too strong in the body. His tenderness is too powerful for weaker, unsuspecting creatures. We readers can identify with Lennie. We sympathize; we empathize. We care. We have — most of us — been in his position; not quite able to cope with the complexities of the world around us, wanting only security, peace, comfort, and something soft and beautiful to pet and love. Perhaps one reason that this book has evoked controversy and censorious action is that it is so simple and clear and easy to understand — and so painful! It hurts to read this book. And some people don’t like their books to hurt them; they want soothing. But great Tragedy is meant to hurt. One needn’t subscribe wholly to the Aristotelian doctrine of ‘catharsis’ by Art to see that one function of literature is to help us deal with the pain of real life by practicing with the vicarious pains of tragic art. Of course Of Mice and Men contains unpleasant attitudes; there is brutality, racism, sexism, economic exploitation. But the book does not advocate them; rather it shows that these too-narrow conceptions of human life are part of the cause of human tragedy. They are forces which frustrate human aspiration. Lennie and George have a noble dream. They are personally too limited to make it come true, but they do try. They try to help each other, and they even enlarge their dream to include old one-handed Candy and crippled black Crooks. Theirs is the American Dream: that there is somehow, somewhere, sometime, the possibility that we can make our Paradise on earth, that we can have our own self-sufficient little place where we can live off the fat of the land as peaceful friends. What is sad, what is tragic, what is horrible, is that the Dream may not come true because we are — each and all of us — too limited, too selfish, too much in conflict with one another. â€Å"Maybe ever’-body in the whole damn world is scared of each other,† says Slim. And George expresses the effects of loneliness, â€Å"Guys that go around alone don’t have no fun. After a long time they get mean. They get wantin’ to fight all the time.† What is ennobling in this tragedy of mice and men is the Revelation of a way beyond that loneliness and meanness and fighting, a way to rise above our human limitations: Two men — Lennie and George — who have nothing else, do have each other. â€Å"We kinda look after each other.† says George. And they do have their Dream. And the Dream is there even in the final defeat. For in the end the one thing George can do for Lennie is to make sure he’s happy as he dies. He has Lennie â€Å"look acrost the river you can almost see [the place].† And as Lennie says, â€Å"Let’s get that place now,† George kills him mercifully. It’s a horrible thing to do, and George knows that. And we know that. But in this limited world in this limited way it is all that George can do for his friend. And he does it. That is the horror and the nobility which together make up Tragedy. The Tragic pattern closes. There is a sense of completeness, of both defeat and satisfaction. In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck has shown us something about the pain of living in a complex human world and created something beautiful from it. In true great literature the pain of Life is transmuted into the beauty of Art. The book is worth reading for a glimpse of that beauty — and worth teaching as a way to show others how such beauty works.