Isys104 Tutorial -Week4 Essay Example

Isys104 Tutorial -Week4 Essay ISYS104 Tutorial – week 4 Review Questions 1. Which features of organizations do managers need to know about to build and use information systems successfully? What is the impact of information systems on organizations? Define an organization and compare the technical definition of organizations with the behavioral definition. Students can make use of Figures 3–2 and Figure 3–3 in answering this question. The technical definition for an organization defines an organization as a stable, formal social structure that takes resources from the environment and processes them to produce outputs. This definition of an organization focuses on three elements: capital, labor, and production and products for consumption. The technical definition also implies that organizations are more stable than an informal group, are formal legal entities, and are social structures. The behavioral definition states that an organization is a collection of rights, privileges, obligations, and responsibilities that are delicately balanced over a period of time through conflict and conflict resolution. This definition highlights the people within the organization, their ways of working, and their relationships. The technical definition shows us how a firm combines capital, labor, and information technology. The behavioral definition examines how information technology impacts the inner workings of the organization. Identify and describe the features of organizations that help explain differences in organizations’ use of information systems. Common features for organizations include formal structure, standard operating procedures, politics, and culture. Organizations can differ in their organizational type, environment, goals, power, constituencies, function, leadership, tasks, technology, and business processes. We will write a custom essay sample on Isys104 Tutorial -Week4 specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Isys104 Tutorial -Week4 specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Isys104 Tutorial -Week4 specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Describe the major economic theories that help explain how information systems affect organizations. The two economic theories discussed in the book are transaction cost theory and agency theory. The transaction cost theory is based on the notion that a firm incurs transaction costs when it buys goods in the marketplace rather than making products for itself. Traditionally, firms sought to reduce transaction costs by getting bigger, hiring more employees, vertical and horizontal integration, and small-company takeovers. Information technology helps firms lower the cost of market participation (transaction costs) and helps firms shrink in size while producing the same or greater amount of output. The agency theory views the firm as a nexus of contracts among interested individuals. The owner employs agents (employees) to perform work on his or her behalf and delegates some decision-making authority to the agents. Agents need constant supervision and management, which introduces management costs. As firms grow, management costs rise. Information technology reduces agency costs by providing information more easily so that managers can supervise a larger number of people with fewer resources. Describe the major behavioral theories that help explain how information systems affect organizations. Behavioral theories, from sociology, psychology, and political science, are useful for describing the behavior of individual firms. Behavioral researchers theorize that information technology could change the decision-making hierarchy by lowering the costs of information acquisition and distribution. IT could eliminate middle managers and their clerical support by sending information from operating units directly to senior management and by enabling information to be sent directly to lower-level operating units. It even enables some organizations to act as virtual organizations because they are no longer limited by geographic locations. One behavioral approach views information systems as the outcome of political competition between organizational subgroups. IT becomes very involved with this competition because it controls who has access to what information, and information systems can control who does what, when, where, and how. Explain why there is considerable organizational resistance to the introduction of information systems. There is considerable organizational resistance to new information systems because they change many important organizational dimensions, such as culture, structure, politics, and work. Leavitt puts forth a model that says that changes in technology are absorbed, deflected, and defeated by organizational task arrangements, structures, and people. In this model the only way to bring about change is to change the technology, tasks, structure, and people simultaneously. In a second model, the authors speak of the need to unfreeze organizations before introducing an innovation, quickly implementing the new system, and then refreezing or institutionalizing the change. Describe the impact of the Internet and disruptive technologies on organizations. The Internet increases the accessibility, storage, and distribution of information and knowledge for organizations; nearly any information can be available anywhere at any time. The Internet increases the scope, depth, and range of information and knowledge storage. It lowers the cost and raises the quality of information and knowledge distribution. That is, it lowers transaction costs and information acquisition costs. By using the Internet, organizations may reduce several levels of management, enabling closer and quicker communication between upper levels of management and the lower levels. The Internet also lowers agency costs. Disruptive technologies caused by technological changes can have different effects on different companies depending on how they handle the changes. Some companies create the disruptions and succeed very well. Other companies learn about the disruption and successfully adopt it. Other companies are obliterated by the changes because they are very efficient at doing what no longer needs to be done. Some disruptions mostly benefit the firm. Other disruptions mostly benefit consumers. 2. How does Porter’s competitive forces model help companies develop competitive strategies using information systems? Define Porter’s competitive forces model and explain how it works. This model provides a general view of the firm, its competitors, and the firm’s environment. Porter’s model is all about the firm’s general business environment. In this model, five competitive forces shape the fate of the firm: †¢ traditional competitors †¢ new market entrants †¢ substitute products and services †¢ customers †¢ suppliers Describe what the competitive forces model explains about competitive advantage. Some firms do better than other because they either have access to special resources that others do not, or they are able to use commonly available resource more efficiently. It could be because of superior knowledge and information assets. Regardless, they excel in revenue growth, profitability, or productivity growth, ultimately increasing their stock market valuations compared to their competitors. List and describe four competitive strategies enabled by information systems that firms can pursue. Table 3. 2 can be used to help answer this question. The four generic strategies, each of which often is enabled by using information technology and systems include: †¢ Low-cost leadership: lowest operational costs and the lowest prices. Product differentiation: enable new products and services, or greatly change the customer convenience in using existing products and services. †¢ Focus on market niche: enable a specific market focus and serve this narrow target market better than competitors. †¢ Strengthen customer and suppliers: tighten linkages with suppliers and develop intimacy with customers. Describe how information systems can support each of these competitive strategies and give examples. †¢ Low- cost leadership: use information systems to improve inventory management, supply management, and create efficient customer response systems. Example: Wal-Mart. †¢ Product differentiation: use information systems to create products and services that are customized and personalized to fit the precise specifications of individual customers. Example: Google, eBay, Apple, Lands’ End. †¢ Focus on market niche: use information systems to produce and analyze data for finely tuned sales and marketing techniques. Analyze customer buying patterns, tastes, and preferences closely in order to efficiently pitch advertising and marketing campaigns to smaller target markets. Example: Hilton Hotels, Harrah’s. Strengthen customer and supplier intimacies: use information systems to facilitate direct access from suppliers to information within the company. Increase switching costs and loyalty to the company. Example: IBM, Amazon. com Explain why aligning IT with business objectives is essential for strategic use of systems. The basic principle of IT strategy for a business is to ensure the technology serves the busine ss and not the other way around. The more successfully a firm can align its IT with its business goals, the more profitable it will be. Business people must take an active role in shaping IT to the enterprise. They cannot ignore IT issues. They cannot tolerate failure in the IT area as just a nuisance to work around. They must understand what IT can do, how it works, and measure its impact on revenues and profits. 3. How do the value chain and value web models help businesses identify opportunities for strategic information system applications? Define and describe the value chain model. The value chain model highlights specific activities in the business where competitive strategies can best be applied and where information systems will most likely have a strategic impact. The model identifies specific, critical leverage points where a firm can use information technology most effectively to enhance its competitive position. The value chain model views the firm as a series of basic activities that add a margin of value to a firm’s products or services. The activities are categorized as either primary or support activities. Primary activities are most directly related to production and distribution of the firm’s products and services, which create value for the customer. Support activities make the delivery of primary activities possible and consist of organization infrastructure. A firm’s value chain can be linked to the value chains of its suppliers, distributors, and customers. Explain how the value chain model can be used to identify opportunities for information systems. Information systems can be used at each stage of the value chain to improve operational efficiency, lower costs, improve profit margins, and forge a closer relationship with customers and suppliers. Define the value web and show how it is related to the value chain. A value web is a collection of independent firms that use information technology to coordinate their value chains to collectively produce a product or service. It is more customer driven and operates in a less linear fashion than the traditional value chain. The value web is a networked system that can synchronize the business processes of customers, suppliers, and trading partners among different companies in an industry or in related industries. Explain how the value web helps businesses identify opportunities for strategic information systems. Information systems enable value webs that are flexible and adaptive to changes in supply and demand. Relationships can be bundled or unbundled in response to changing market conditions. Firms will accelerate time to market and to customers by optimizing their value web relationships to make quick decisions on who can deliver the required products or services at the right price and location. Information systems make it possible for companies to establish and operate value webs. Describe how the Internet has changed competitive forces and competitive advantage. The Internet has nearly destroyed some industries and severely threatened others. The Internet has also created entirely new markets and formed the basis of thousands of new businesses. The Internet has enabled new products and services, new business models, and new industries to rapidly develop. Because of the Internet, competitive rivalry has become much more intense. Internet technology is based on universal standards that any company can use, making it easy for rivals to compete on price alone and for new competitors to enter the market. Because information is available to everyone, the Internet raises the bargaining power of customers, who can quickly find the lowest-cost provider on the Web. 4. How do information systems help businesses use synergies, core competencies and network-based strategies to achieve competitive advantage? Explain how information systems promote synergies and core competencies. A large corporation is typically a collection of businesses that are organized as a collection of strategic business units. Information systems can improve the overall performance of these business units by promoting synergies and core competencies. Describe how promoting synergies and core competencies enhances competitive advantages. The concept of synergy is that when the output of some units can be used as inputs to other units, or two organizations can pool markets and expertise, these relationships lower costs and generate profits. In applying synergy to situations, information systems are used to tie together the operations of disparate business units so that they can act as a whole. A core competency is an activity for which a firm is a world-class leader. In general, a core competency relies on knowledge that is gained over many years of experience and a first-class research organization or simply key people who stay abreast of new external knowledge. Any information system that encourages the sharing of knowledge across business units enhances competency. Explain how businesses benefit by using network economics. In a network, the marginal costs of adding another participant are almost zero, whereas the marginal gain is much larger. The larger the number of participants in a network, the greater the value to all participants because each user can interact with more people. The availability of Internet and networking technology has inspired strategies that take advantage of the abilities of the firm to create networks or network with each other. In a network economy, information systems facilitate business models based on large networks of users or subscribers that take advantage of network economies. Internet sites can be used by firms to build communities of users that can result in building customer loyalty and enjoyment and build unique ties to customers, suppliers, and business partners. Define and describe a virtual company and the benefits of pursuing a virtual company strategy. A virtual company uses networks to link people, assets, and ideas, enabling it to ally with other companies to create and distribute products and services without being limited by traditional organizational boundaries or physical locations. One company can use the capabilities of another company without being physically tied to that company. The virtual company model is useful when a company finds it cheaper to acquire products, services, or capabilities from an external vendor or when it needs to move quickly to exploit new market opportunities and lacks the time and resources to respond on its own. . What are the challenges posed by strategic information systems and how should they be addressed? List and describe the management challenges posed by strategic information systems. Information systems are closely intertwined with an organization’s structure, culture, and business processes. New systems disrupt established patterns of work and power relationships, so there is oft en considerable resistance to them when they are introduced. Implementing strategic systems often requires extensive organizational change and a transition from one sociotechnical level to another. Such changes are called strategic transitions and are often difficult and painful to achieve. Moreover, not all strategic systems are profitable. They are expensive and difficult to build because they entail massive sociotechnical changes within the organization. Many strategic information systems are easily copied by other firms so that strategic advantage is not always sustainable. The complex relationship between information systems, organizational performance, and decision making must be carefully managed. Explain how to perform a strategic systems analysis. Managers should ask the following questions to help them identify the types of systems that may provide them with a strategic advantage. 1. What is the structure of the industry in which the firm is located? Analyze the competitive forces at work in the industry; determine the basis of competition; determine the direction and nature of change within the industry; and analyze how the industry is currently using information technology. 2. What are the business, firm, and industry value chains for this particular firm? Decide how the company creates value for its customers; determine how the firm uses best practices to manage its business processes; analyze how the firm leverages its core competencies; verify how the industry supply chain and customer base are changing; establish the benefit of strategic partnerships and value webs; clarify where information systems will provide the greatest value in the firm’s value chain. 3. Have we aligned IT with our business strategy and goals? Articulate the firm’s business strategy and goals; decide if IT is improving the right business processes and activities in accordance with the firm’s strategy; agree on the right metrics to measure progress toward the goals. Discussion Questions 1. It has been said that there is no such thing as a sustainable competitive advantage. Do you agree? Why or why not? Students will argue both sides, and there is no definite answer to the question. There is little that a company can do that cannot be duplicated over time. Citibank and its ATM machines and American Airlines and its reservation systems are good examples. Think about companies that had strategic advantages in the 1920s or 1940s that no longer exist. In contrast, some companies, such as Wal-Mart, maintain a strategic advantage for a long time. Wal-Mart maintains its lead by striving to advance even further. Gary Hamel, whom some call the leading strategy expert in business today, says there is no such thing as sustainable strategic advantage. Hamel is founder and chairman of Strategos and a research fellow at Harvard Business School. He believes that, in the past, most companies were built to do one thing exceedingly well for an exceedingly long period of time. In today’s marketplace, companies built for scale, replication, diligence, and exactitude must learn to change, adapt, and experiment at the speed that you see in the new economy. New economy companies must master some virtues of the old economy. These companies are learning that scale, operational excellence, and global infrastructure are important. They can constitute hard-to-duplicate competitive advantages that allow them to capture the rents on their innovation. Many have been trained to think that there is no such a thing as sustainable competitive advantage. They have been trained to think about innovation in products and technology, not innovation in business models. They assume that being radical is risky and being incremental is safe. We have to rewire people with new thinking skills. 2. It has been said that the advantage that leading-edge retailers such as Dell and Wal-Mart have over their competition isn’t technology; it’s their management. Do you agree? Why or why not? Student answers will vary but here are some points their answers should include: †¢ How well has each company, Dell and Wal-Mart, used information systems to reduce transaction costs and agency costs? How well has each company used information systems to take advantage of Porter’s Competitive Forces model: o Keeping new market entrants out o Either preventing substitute products and services that may compete with their own, or introducing substitute products and services that pull customers away from their competitors o Holding onto custome rs by competing on prices alone when there is very little product differentiation o Exercising more control over suppliers How well has each company’s management used information systems to enhance o Low-cost leadership – Wal-Mart is the king at this; Dell sometimes uses this strategy o Product differentiation – Dell uses this strategy against Apple and HP (the two leading computer sellers) o Focusing on market niche – neither company uses this much o Strengthening customer and supplier intimacy – Wal-Mart wrote the book on this one; Dell uses this strategy extensively. Business Problem-Solving Case: YouTube, the Internet, and the Future of Movies 1. What competitive forces have challenged the movie industry? What problems have these forces created? What changes have these problems caused the movie and television studios to make? New market entrants and substitute products are the two main competitive forces challenging the movie industry. The traditional outlets for viewing movies – theatres, cable television, and movie rental businesses – are all challenged by new ways for customers to obtain products. The traditional outlets were very easy to control and ensured that the movie producers received compensation for their products. The distribution system was created, not necessarily for the customer’s convenience, but to provide an orderly process for all the players to make money. With the advent of downloadable movies, the system is changing to more of a viewer-centric process. The main problem is that movie studios and producers, outlets for selling the movies, and the myriad of people involved in the old system, have no way of controlling downloads from all the different Web sites that make them available. With no controls in place, the industry cannot ensure its receiving just payments and rewards for the work they produce. Several distributors have tried to squelch the download outlets but its virtually impossible to monitor all the Web sites and all their content. As NBC Universal’s general counsel, Rick Cotton admitted, â€Å"There is only so much we can do. † Some of the major studios entered into negotiations with YouTube and established licensing agreements. Other solutions follow the music industry trends of taking advantage of movie downloads and view them as another source of revenue. YouTube is helping build a revenue-sharing model with content creators and developing a filtering and digital fingerprinting technology that will help it control the unauthorized use of copyright protected material. 2. Describe the impact of disruptive technology on the companies discussed in this case? YouTube is to the motion picture industry what Napster was to the music industry. That is, it’s a conduit to new processes that are more customer-driven than the old ones. YouTube has become the most popular video-sharing Web site because it gives users what they want when they want it. People wanted an outlet for the creative video diaries and amateur films that they created using inexpensive digital video equipment. Disruptive technologies continually displace old technologies that, while they are still good products, no longer serve a customer base. That explains what is causing the changes in how customers want to receive motion pictures. Basically, once the cat is out of the bag, it’s very difficult to get it back in. 3. How have the movie studios responded to YouTube? What is the goal of the response? What can the movie studios learn from music industry’s dealings with online digital music and copyright infringement? If you want to lay blame for all that’s happening in the movie industry you could almost point your finger at hardware and software video-related manufacturers who provided cheap, easy-to-use tools for the average person. Originally the movie industry tried to fight the thousands of illegal uses of their copyrighted material—much as the music industry tried to fight their battle years ago. It was and is a losing battle—both in protecting their copyrighted content and in the public relations fight for loyal customers. Many producers have chosen to not fight their customers but are trying to find ways to meet the needs and demands of both sides—the producers and the customers. It’s a wise decision. 4. Should motion picture companies continue to use YouTube to promote their new films? Why or why not? The answers obviously will vary. It’s important to understand that YouTube continues to be the most popular video sharing Web site. With Google’s clout behind it, it will continue to be a force to reckon with. The movie industry should continue to work with YouTube to find ways to use the site, if for nothing else than promotional reasons. By putting their own short videos and film clips on the site, before others do, movie studios can thwart some of the illegal use of their films. The average person would rather see a well-produced video than a second- or third-rate clip. By taking proactive measures rather than being reactive, the industry can control (to a greater extent) what appears on YouTube’s site. 5. Go to YouTube. com and search for videos from your favorite movie or television show. What do you find on the site? Do you see any advertisements attached to the video? Do you feel this way of advertising is effective? Why or why not? Answers will vary to most of this question but it should provoke some good classroom discussions or discussions in a chat forum. Key elements students should understand is that all artists, producers, and distributors deserve some compensation for their talent, time, investments, and labor. Illegally using copyrighted material is an act of theft. Both users and video- and audio-sharing Web sites are equally and legally responsible for properly using someone else’s property. Advertising is becoming a major source of revenue for many Web sites and YouTube is no different. That’s especially true since Google, a company very dependent on advertising dollars, purchased YouTube. It’s probably true that YouTube ads help get customers excited about seeing the actual movie. Note: Demonstrating the use of Michael Porter’s competitive forces model would be a good exercise in this discussion.

Wentworth Medical Center Essay Example

Wentworth Medical Center Essay Example Wentworth Medical Center Paper Wentworth Medical Center Paper Essay Topic: Medical In this case we looked at data from a long-term study of individuals 65 years of age or older, sociologists and physicians at the Wentworth Medical Center in upstate New York investigated the relationship between geographic location and depression. A sample of 60 individuals, all in reasonably good health, was selected; 20 were residents of Florida, 20 were residents of New York, and 20 were residents of North Carolina. From the data collected we could know that the higher test scores indicate higher levels of depression. The descriptive statistics of the data collected are as following: GROUPSSIZESUMMEANSAMPLE VARIANCE FLORIDA2088.504.423.81 NEW YORK20131.536.583.95 NORTH CAROLINA20137.096.852.31 For the second part of this study, we considered the relationship between geographic location and depression for individuals 65 years of age or older who had a chronic health condition such as arthritis, hypertension, or heart ailment. A sample of 60 individuals with such conditions was identified. 20 were residents of Florida, 20 were residents of New York, and 20 were residents of North Carolina. The descriptive statistics of the data are as following: GROUPSSIZESUMMEANSAMPLE VARIANCE FLORIDA20284.7114.2415.88 NEW YORK20313.1515.669.82 NORTH CAROLINA20321.0116.0512.79 In both of the two tables above, we found that the residents in Florida shows the lowest mean scores than either of the other states, implying that the level of depression is lowest than others. Compare these two tables, we found that the depression mean scores and variance of health individual is far lower than the individuals with chronic health problem. First, we determine if there is any difference in depression means for the three states within the health individuals, we have conducted the following hypothesis test, with the level of significance 0.05: H0:  µ1 =  µ2 =  µ3 Ha: Not all are equal where:  µ1= population mean of depression scores in Florida  µ2= population mean of depression scores in New York  µ3= population mean of depression scores in North Carolina We use Analysis of Variance to determine whether the observed differences in the three sample means are large enough to reject H0. SSDFMSFF CRITP-VALUE TREATMENT70.75235.3710.543.160.00 ERROR191.38573.36 TOTAL262.1359 The sampling distribution of MSTR/MSE is an F distribution with numerator degrees of freedom equal to 2 and denominator degrees of freedom equal to 57. From the ANOVA table above, we found that the p-value for this test is equals to 0 which is less than the level of significance of ÃŽ ±=0.05. As a result, we reject H0 and conclude that the means of the three depression levels between difference states are not equal. For further test, we need to determine where the differences occur. We use Fisher’s LSD procedure to make three pairwise comparisons: Test 1 Test 2 Test 3 H0:  µ1 =  µ2H0:  µ1 =  µ3H0:  µ2 =  µ3 Ha:  µ1 ≠   µ2Ha:  µ1 ≠   µ3Ha:  µ2 ≠   µ3 where:  µ1=population mean of depression scores in Florida  µ2= population mean of depression scores in New York  µ3= population mean of depression scores in North Carolina We use the level of significance of ÃŽ ±=0.05. The value of LSD in this case is equals to 1.16. We only reject null hypothesis when test statistic |xÌ„i xÌ„j| LSD. The calculated results are as following: Test StatisticLSD Test 12.151.16 Test 22.431.16 Test 30.281.16 The difference between the mean for population 1 and population 2 are greater than LSD, which means we can reject null hypothesis and conclude that the mean for population 1 is not equals to population 2. Similarly, with the difference between the sample means for population 1 and 3 is 2.431.16, we can also reject null hypothesis. But in test 3, the difference between the sample means for population 2 and 3 is 0.280.05). As a result, we could not reject null hypothesis, and conclude that there is no difference between the mean of depression levels of the individuals who had a

The Discover of Dietary Vitamins

The Discover of Dietary Vitamins Vitamins are a 20th-century discovery. While people always felt properties of some foods were important to health before the opening decades of the 1900s, it wasnt until after the turn of the century that these factors were identified and synthesized. Discovery of Vitamins as a Factor In 1905, an Englishmen named William Fletcher became the first scientist to determine whether the removal of special factors, known as vitamins, from food would lead to diseases. Doctor Fletcher made the discovery while researching the causes of the disease Beriberi. Eating unpolished rice, it seemed, prevented Beriberi while eating polished rice did not.  Hence, Fletcher suspected that there were special nutrients contained in the husk of the rice removed during the polishing process that played a role.   In 1906, English biochemist Sir Frederick Gowland Hopkins also found that certain food factors (proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and minerals) were important to growth in the human body: his work led to his receiving (together with Christiaan Eijkman) the 1929 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. In 1912, Polish scientist Cashmir Funk named the special nutritional parts of food a vitamine after vita, which meant life,  and amine from compounds  found in the thiamine he isolated from rice husks. Vitamine was later shortened to vitamin. Together, Hopkins and Funk formulated the vitamin hypothesis of deficiency disease, which asserts that a lack of vitamins could make you sick. Specific Vitamin Discoveries Throughout the 20th century, scientists were able to isolate and identify the various vitamins found in food. Here is a short history of some of the more popular vitamins. Vitamin A (a group of fat-soluble retinoids, including retinol, retinal, and retinyl esters)  - Elmer V. McCollum and Marguerite Davis discovered Vitamin A around 1912 to 1914. In 1913, Yale researchers Thomas Osborne and Lafayette Mendel discovered that butter contained a fat-soluble nutrient soon known as vitamin A. Vitamin A was first synthesized in 1947.  Vitamin B (known as biotin, a water-soluble vitamin that helps the body convert carbohydrates, fats, and proteins into energy)- Elmer V. McCollum also discovered Vitamin B sometime around 1915–1916.Vitamin B1 (also known as thiamine, a water-soluble  B vitamin that plays a critical role in energy metabolism) - Casimir Funk discovered Vitamin B1 (thiamine) in 1912.Vitamin B2 (also known as riboflavin, an important role in energy production, cellular function, and metabolism)- D. T. Smith, E. G. Hendrick discovered B2 in 1926. Max Tishler invented methods for synthesizing the essential vitamin B2.Niacin- American Co nrad Elvehjem discovered Niacin in 1937. Folic acid- Lucy Wills  discovered Folic acid in  1933.Vitamin B6 (six compounds which are extremely versatile and primarily work on protein metabolism)- Paul Gyorgy discovered Vitamin B6 in 1934.Vitamin C (ascorbic acid, required for the biosynthesis of collagen)- In 1747, Scottish naval surgeon James Lind discovered that a nutrient in citrus foods prevented scurvy.  It was re-discovered and identified by Norwegian researchers  A. Hoist and T. Froelich in 1912. In 1935, Vitamin C became the first vitamin to be artificially synthesized. The process was invented by Dr. Tadeusz Reichstein of the Swiss Institute of Technology in Zurich.Vitamin D (promotes calcium absorption in the gut and enable bone mineralization)- In 1922, Edward Mellanby discovered Vitamin D while researching a disease called rickets.  Vitamin E (important anti-oxidant)- In 1922, University of California researchers Herbert Evans and Katherine Bishop discovered Vitamin E in green leafy vegetables.   Coenzyme Q10 In a report called â€Å"Coenzyme Q10 - The Energizing Antioxidant,† issued by Kyowa Hakko USA, a physician named Dr. Erika Schwartz MD wrote: Coenzyme Q10 was discovered by Dr. Frederick Crane, a plant physiologist at the University of Wisconsin Enzyme Institute, in 1957. Utilizing specialized fermentation technology developed by Japanese manufacturers, cost-effective production of CoQ10 began in the mid-1960s. To this day, fermentation remains the dominant production method around the globe. In 1958, Dr. D.E. Wolf, working under Dr. Karl Folkers (Folkers leading a team of researchers at Merck Laboratories), first described the chemical structure of coenzyme Q10. Dr. Folkers later received the 1986 Priestly Medal from the American Chemical Society for his research on coenzyme Q10. Source Vitamin and Mineral Supplement Fact Sheets. National Institutes of Health: Office of Dietary Supplements

Leadership of Collin Powell Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Leadership of Collin Powell - Essay Example From this study it is clear that   the management team have to make sensitive decisions that have positive impacts on the business. In the contemporary business environment, decision making is surrounded by the complexities of the business market making it necessary for the management team to use critical thinking skills to overcome business challenges. For this reason, there are numerous management skills that leaders today can learn from the life of Powell. Powell started his career as a military soon after joining the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTP) while still in college education. Powell found this as the best decision he made as being in the military was not only his passion but also something that he was good at. In his training, Powell portrayed strong leadership skills even before his graduation. While in the drill team, he managed to win a drilling competition and the general awarded him with a pen set. When he completed his training, he was given a leadership posi tion as an Army second Lieutenant, and it did not take long before he was awarded the position of a platoon leader. In this position, Powell was supposed to guide his troop in times of war. A keen look at the leadership of Powell, he was a leader inspired right from his childhood. He points out the success of a person lies in their ability to find they love to do and what they pretty good at. For one to be an effective leader, they should be in the line of their passion and should strive to specialize in this area. Contemporary management leaders should have an inspiration for excellence as they pursue these positions in management, and this is a passion that they have to nurture right from their early career life. In the army, started on a low tone amid challenges and worked hard to achieve be the best among his troop.  

Research Methods Paper- Explore either Attraction or Procrastination Essay

Research Methods Paper- Explore either Attraction or Procrastination - Essay Example In particular, this research would dwell on the influence of physical looks in developing a romantic relationship. The study would use the normative survey technique under descriptive method of research. Descriptive normative survey is a fact finding study which goes beyond mere gathering and tabulation of data. This approach attempts to establish norms or standards based on a wide class of survey data. In addition, it is used to collect demographics data about people’s behavior, practices, intentions, beliefs, attitudes, opinions, and judgments. Since this research is concerned with commonality of some elements, the researchers would be able to gather adequate and accurate interpretations on the attitudes of young people’s valuing of physical looks when engaging in a romantic relationship. The survey method was chosen for this project since it is an inexpensive way of collecting even a large amount of data. However, a survey can also be a failure if the questionnaire is poorly constructed and the implementation of the survey was not well monitored. Also, participants may have ambivalent answers when confronted with an answer choice. It must also be taken into account that bias can also occur when the sampling is not properly considered. Nevertheless, the survey method would best fit the needs of this research since the subjects are high school students and their perception cannot be quantified. The instrument that would be used to collect data is the questionnaire. This was chosen because it gathers data faster than any other method. Besides, the respondents are high school students 13-16 who could easily read the questionnaires with ease and full privacy. Also, this method is easy to use for a large number of participants and can be arranged and quantified since it supplies standardized answers. Each question would be assigned a numerical code to ease the

Historical cost accounting Essay Example for Free

Historical cost accounting Essay Advantages †¢Historical cost accounts are straightforward to produce †¢Historical cost accounts do not record gains until they are realized †¢Historical cost accounts are still used in most accounting systems Disadvantages †¢Historical cost accounts give no indication of current values of the assets of a business †¢Historical cost accounts do not record the opportunity costs of the use of older assets, particularly property which may be recorded at a value based on costs incurred many years ago †¢Historical cost accounts do not measure the loss of value of monetary assets as a result of inflation. Current purchasing power accounting Advantages †¢CPP method adopts the same unit of measurement by taking into account the price changes. †¢Under CPP method, historical accounts continue to be maintained. CPP statements are prepared on supplementary basis. †¢ CPP method facilitates the calculation of gain or loss in purchasing power due to the holding of monetary items. †¢CPP method uses common purchasing power as measuring unit. So, the comparative study is easy. †¢ CPP method provides reliable financial information for taking management decision to formulate plans and policies. †¢CPP method ensures keeping intact the purchasing power of capital contributed by shareholders. So, this method is of great importance from the point of view of the shareholders. Disadvantages †¢CPP method considers only the changes in general purchasing power. It does not consider the changes in the value of individual items. †¢CPP method is based on statistical index number which cannot be used in an individual firm. †¢ It is very difficult to choose a suitable price index. †¢CPP method fails to remove all the defects of historical cost accounting system. †¢The use of general price index for CPP method is questioned. While general price index deals with consumer goods, business is interested in the price movement of producer goods. Current cost accounting Advantages †¢More relevant †¢Provides up to date information with financial markets †¢Takes inflationary adjustments into account. â€Å"Critics have argued market value(current cost) reveals economic realities that are hidden by historical cost accounting. †¢Investors and creditors also prefer the market value accounting. â€Å"the information about the market value at the reporting date, the changes in that value and the components of that change- all provide the investors the valuable information for his decision making.† †¢In F/S, easier to view and determine whether the asset or liability is at risk or not Disadvantages †¢Unreliable   Ã¢â‚¬ ¢Volatile, when market price of an asset and liability is not available, the value is estimated (inappropriate) Continuously contemporary accounting Strengths †¢CoCoA provides information about an entitys capacity to adapt. Chambers considers such information crucial for effective decision making †¢It solves the additivity problem-there is a common basis of valuation (net-market values) so it makes logical sense to add the various asset values together. †¢There is no need for arbitrary cost allocations through depreciation. Weaknesses †¢Not all assets will have a readily determined market price-hence a deal of subjectively will be involved. †¢Some assets can generate income within a particular entity, but have little or no value to anybody else (for example, the case of the blast furnace). The value in use of such assets is ignored. †¢It values assets on the basis of the separate disposal of the respective assets. The implication of this is that assets which cannot be separately sold are deemed to have no value-for example, goodwill. This attribute of CoCoA has attracted a great deal of criticism. †¢CoCoA has never had widespread acceptance within the business community and hence there would be numerous obstacles to its implementation. †¢Because CoCoA would represent a radical departure from current methods of accounting, its adoption could cause major social and economic implications. †¢People are used to preparing and reading historical cost accounting reports, hence there would be a need to re-educate them about the strengths and limitations of CoCoA-this might be costly. †¢If an entity does not expect to sell an asset, it is questionable whether the selling price is really that relevant. †¢Tied to the above point, valuing all assets on the basis of selling prices has been criticised if it is considered that the entity is a going concern. †¢Determining the market price of unique assets introduces a degree of subjectivity into the accounting process.

Essay --

The people around us make experiences great and unforgettable. I was oblivious to this fact before my first completely independent summer trip for three weeks. In the past, I always traveled with my parents. They were all great vacations but they were not planned or controlled by me. It was all up to my mom. This time, however, I was the one who found the opportunity to go to the seaside with a group of young people and spend 21 days there. My parents were happy to let me go on this trip; as they also saw it as an exciting opportunity. It was up to me to plan it all on my own. I learned about the surroundings of the area I was to go to, the organization which planned the trip, got to know the people and found a way to get there. You could say that this was part of my road to independence. The deadline to get everything ready was quite short, so I was mostly just trying to get all of my things together and not building any expectations for the trip. This was probably also an important part of why it had influenced me so much. I was open for anything. Nevertheless, the trip ended up a bit expensive for my family and on my road to the seaside, I was feeling very doubtful about having made my family spend so much money on me. Then I arrived†¦ One may think that three weeks is not that long, but three weeks with 50 new completely different people from different parts of the world is quite something. It took almost a whole week to only remember their names. The very first evening we had together, we all went to a cafà © in the center and it had karaoke. After having sung in a choir for a big part of my childhood, this is something I totally enjoy. I was the first brave one to come out and sing â€Å"Mamma Mia† by Abba. It has become a trad... ...y life. It made me more independent and taught me the true value of relationships. There was much discussion among participants about the organization of the trip. Many negative sides and mistakes were brought up. Regardless of all of this, the trip even now seems completely amazing and breathtaking to me. It was not because of the accommodations we had or the food we ate. The people made the trip what it was. The people gave me unforgettable memories and let me experience completely new emotions. Thank you to each and one of them for being part of that summer for me. Once I got home, my life started to change bit by bit. I continued long conversations with the guy I met and by spring the next year I got a job. That job allowed me to visit over six people from that summer’s trip. This experience inspired me to change my life and thus changed the inevitable future.

Classroom Seating Arrangements

Classroom Seating Arrangements By: Walaa Samir Fayek Classroom management is extremely effective to create a better learning environment, in which the teacher invests in space, time and materials to achieve academic and personal development to the students. Personally, seating arrangements play a significant role in creating a stress-free and a beneficial atmosphere for the EFL learners and helping the teacher in controlling the class easily. It will also reflect their performance in the activities, how much they have grasped from the lesson and facilitate free movement in the classroom.I consider the desks in semi-circles and U-shape are the ideal shapes for my EFL classroom. Arranging the class in a semi-circle allows the teacher to observe the students and also the students will be able to see their classmates and the board. It is also perfect for conducting group discussions and participating in group conversations by building the students’ self-esteem and confidence in sh aring their ideas, especially for students who are shy to present their work to others. On the other hand, semi-circle seating arrangement might not be helpful sometimes as the teacher might find it difficult to meet the students one-on-one.It is also not so handy if the class is not big enough because this seating arrangement will take much room than the normal row seating arrangement. As for the U-shape or â€Å"horseshoe† seating arrangement, it is a good choice as it allows each student to have a panoramic view of the whole class; classmates, teacher and the board as well, and gives the teacher a more direct contact with each student, promoting eye contact, improving classroom behavior and controlling discipline problems especially with young learners. Related article: Cda Competency Goal # 1Moreover, through the U-shape setup, the students won’t be able to hide or avoid participation and that will encourage them to improve their behavior. The U-shape seating allows a huge space for setting up projectors or any teaching materials and free movement in the class. Desks in U-shape require a large space, which might be a disadvantage that can negatively affect the teaching process. There are other seating arrangements that might be useful in teaching English, especially during the production stage, which are clusters and groups seating arrangement.Young learners of EFL can be placed in small clusters so they can interact easily and dynamically with one another and work on group projects. Clusters help in mixing between students of various skill levels and abilities, allowing the teachers to move around the class and observe the students. One drawback is that some of the students will end up facing other students not the front of the class which may lead to a slight distraction even if it was for young learners or adults.To sum up, seating arrangements have an effective role in enhancing the learners’ productivity and concentration during the class. There are many examples for seating arrangements like the semi-circle and the U-shape. Both of them can work perfectly if the teacher is conducting an informative lesson that needs the learners’ focus. Also, there are the clusters and groups seating arrangements that facilitate the group work and help the learners to connect their thoughts together.

Home Sweet Home

Woof. Woof woof. The consistent barking of my neighbor’s dog awakens me. I look outside the window only to realize its just 5 o’clock in the morning. Four hours before I need to get ready to head out with my family for a Sunday outing. â€Å"No use hitting the pillow now. I won’t be able to sleep anyhow. †, I tell myself. Having no clue how to spend these 5 hours, I start walking around my house. My room, with its orange hues, is the brightest one of all the rooms. Be it summer, winter or monsoon, the room is always airy with plenty of light.Passing by my parents’ room, I feel a sense of warmth. The beige and cascade green always make me feel warm inside. I make myself a cup of hot coffee and head towards our balcony, which faces the beautiful, lush green lawns next to the slope of the nearby hill. I take a deep breath, inhaling the beautiful aroma of the wet soil. The chirps and trills and cuckoos of the birds draw my attention. People say, birds n ever visit places where we stay. That is so not true!A person just has to get up early and have a stroll down the road near his house. It’s hard to believe that there are so many of them around us. Soon, I see a few people walking down the road. As time passes by, more people appear and so do their vehicles. The sounds of the feathered friends are replaced by the honking and beeping of the cars and scooters. Just then, my mom reminds me that I have to get ready, ending the delightful moments I just experienced. However, there would be more such mornings; and I certainly look forward to them.

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buy custom Performance Measurement System essay The need for businesses to employ innovative ways to measure their performance rate cannot be underrated. By doing this, companies are guaranteed of short and long-term sustainability, due to improved levels of investor confidence. This paper will critically evaluate on the performance measurement used by Coca Cola Company. For Coca Cola Company, the largest manufacturer, distributor, and seller of non-alcoholic beverages globally, the firm has adopted Total Quality Management System as part of performance measurement. In Coca Cola Company, this system is known as Total Quality Coca-Cola Management System (TQCCMS). TCCQS is the Coca Cola quality management system, which guide and coordinate activities to ensure quality of the products and services is attained. The system indicates environment and quality standards, which define the results of manufacturing operations expected to be gained. The TCCQS modular framework is quality, safety, and environmental facets, where the environmental facet is composed of environmental management system. It is notable that the firm employ process model to improve, implement, and develop the effectiveness of the quality management system. To enhance quality, each department in the Coca Cola Company must maintain, implement, document, and establish the quality management system, as prescribed by TQCCMS. Further, management in the entire organizational unit are supposed to develop a quality statement that suit a given operation method. By employing TQM system, Coca Cola Company have enjoyed various benefits, such as reduced wastages, improved innovation and inventions, reduced operational costs, improved level of customers loyalty among others. The challenges of TQM systems include time wastage during the implementation phase, resistance by employees, high cost of implementation among others. To ensure the effectiveness of TQM approach, the firm has employed various evaluation methods. These include implementation evaluation, impact evaluation, cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit analysis and outcome evaluation. Generally, by using integrated TQM in the recent times, Coca Cola Company has been able to remain profitable, despite the prevailing hard economic times. In the recent times, the competition between firms operating in the similar field has drastically increased. This is attributable to raised technological knowhow, the improved management, reduced barriers of the entry among other notable factors. Therefore, in order for a business to operate in this competitive market environment, the improvement for better solution and critical processes are the key solutions to ensure sustainability. Kotter Cohen (2002, p. 53) indicate that performance measurement (PM) ensures that an organization follows the set strategies, a factor that highly promote a short and long-term growth. PM plays a significant role in maintaining attention to customers requirements as well as competitor actions. In addition, PM ensures a successful implementation of the organization strategies due to the fact that performance indicators used in organizations are based on a CSF (Critical Success Factor) concept. Performance measurement encourages an approach to evaluati ng, sharing, retrieving, capturing, and identifying enterprise information assets. It is notable that the use of information technology has led to the growth of skills, thus exposing handling of the intellectual property collection as well as the distribution of right. To meet the requirements of the society and the customer, performance management is used in line with distribution distributive knowledge management (Li, 2012, p. 1). In most organizations, performance measurement helps in evaluating productivity, efficiency, cycle time, quantity, quality, and costs of services and products in the organization. Similarly, performance measurement is based on quantities analysis where objectives and targets are accessed and established. Another approach for managing and measuring critical processes is the Balance Scorecard (BSC). The approach covers all aspects of stakeholders and organization behaviors such as growth, customers satisfaction, and customers expectation among others. To enhance the Balance Scorecard methodology, clear strategies, mission statement, and vision of the organization need to be analyzed (Anderson, Rungtusanatham and Schroeder, 1994, p. 88). Distributed Knowledgeable Performance Management System (DKPMS) () is the best approach to use in an organization in this era of data and technology. To ensure effectiveness of the development and the evaluation, there are two frameworks that are used, which include implementation and enabling factors. In terms of performance measures, DKPMS has different uses, which include making decisions, reporting, analyzing, and collecting information regarding all the processes. DKPMS is effective in transforming quality management culture in an organization. Additionally, DKPMS has several advantages during the quality information provision. They include continuous improvement, visibility, precise and correct clarity and timeliness (Kotter Cohen, 2002, p. 50). The Coca-Cola Company, founded in 1886, is one of the worlds largest manufacturers, distributors, and marketer s of non-alcoholic beverages and has over 300 brands of beverages. The company headquarter is based in Atlanta, Georgia, the U.S.A., and operates in more than 200 countries worldwide. The company mission is to refresh the world, to instigate moments of happiness and confidence and to make a difference and create value. To enhance the growth, the firm has implemented quality assurance to its services and products, thus enhancing customers satisfaction. The mission statement of the company declares its purpose and serves as the standard alongside decision and actions. The Coca-Cola Company has several values, which serve as the scope of its actions. The values include quality, diversity, passion, accountability, integrity, collaboration, and leadership. One reason for the sustainable business growth in the Coca-Cola Company is through understanding the customers local culture such as relaxation activities, recreation and work activities adopted. Likewise, the company contributes back to the community by assisting them in diversity, environment, wellness, health, and education. To improve the quality of their product, the company has adopted Total Quality Coca-Cola Management System (TQCCMS). This paper will discuss the implementation of Total Quality Management System on business performance in the Coca-Cola Company. The case study will candidly explain how Total Quality Management System was developed, frameworks used, customer strategies, customers requirements, performance indicators, as well as the processes used. Quality Evolution in the Coca Cola Company Coca Cola introduced its products in glass bottles in 1899. However, the company has unified different designs of the bottle, which has increased its market growth. Likewise, the company has diversified its brands since its evolution. For instance, in the 1980s, the firm launched a new brand extension, which had different flavors, such as caffeine free coke, cherry coke and diet coke. In the 1990s, the company expanded its package, processes, and products. Having the best quality of beverage products has helped the company to stay apart with the competitors such as Pepsi among other emerging competitors. The approach to manage quality was developed in the mid-1990s due to change in the market place. The company developed a quality management system in 1995 referred to as TCCQS (The Coca-Cola Quality System) (Kotter Cohen, 2002, p. 90). TCCQS is the Coca Cola quality management system that helps to guide and coordinate its activities to ensure quality of the products which is achieved. The system indicates environment and quality standards which define the results of manufacturing operations expected to be gained. To enhance quality, TCCQS must keep pace with the market place conditions, industry practices, quality management methods, as well as new regulations. Food safety is important for the products; hence, there is a need to create awareness to the supply and manufacturing departments in the company. TCCQS must be up to date with manufacturing practices by improving the requirements. The Coca Cola Company is working for a consumer and customers satisfaction. Additionally, the company is responsible for the citizens of the world, making TCCQS crucial in providing a framework for environmental, and safety stewardship (Li, 2012, P. 1). There are different improvements for the managing system quality implementation as TCCQS evolved. One of the improvements is the provision to external resources such as auditing and training when addressing Coca Cola requirements. The second improvement is being in alignment with external recognized standards. The third improvement is the evolvement of a structure which is modular, streamlined, and simplified. Likewise, evolution of this system enabled the improvement of business excellence and performance in several ways. Firstly, it helped in designing tools and methodologies for problem solving to improve continuously. Secondly, it assisted in incorporating Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) to Quality Management System. Thirdly, it assisted in planning new products and services by including rigorous demands. Fourthly, the evolution has the integrated preventive action for managing. Fifthly, it has demonstrated the active involvement of the top management in managi ng quality in every department unit. Sixthly, it has helped in aligning and integrating quality and business objectives to the monitor performance with metrics (Neely, 1998, p. 55). TCCQS Modular Framework The framework core of the system is quality, safety, and environmental facets. This is due to the fact that the framework allows business units to align with it. The third evolution of the TCCQS model has four layers, which include promise, control, assurance, and policy. The pyramid has the same components parts for facet such that each management system is dependent on one another. For instance, the environmental management system is supported by performance requirements. The diagram below shows the model framework of TCCQS. (Neely, 1998, P. 53) The facet has four layers. The first layer is the promise. The Coca Cola Company has promised to refresh and benefit the customer. This is supported by the company mission statement |To refresh the world (Li, 2012, P. 1). This layer is supported by the entire three facets in the framework. The second layer is the policy. The layer comprises of a policy statement. The policies found in this layer are the safety policy and the environmental policy. The third layer is as the assurance (Kotter Cohen, 2002, p. 61). The layer comprises of management systems which are designed to ensure the effective control of activities. Similarly, it ensures that the performance requirements are met. On the quality facet, the system has the Quality Management System. The system meets the requirements needed for the ISO standard certification. The Coca Cola ISO standard is 9001:2000. The standard embodies the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) management system, which qualifies the food safety standard. This has assisted the company in staying up the market since the system has all the requirements for food safety governing. Additionally, the quality management system features Coca Cola elements like the Crisis resolution and the incident management. The environmental facet has the Environmental management system. The system has a similar focus with the Quality Management System facet. The environmental system has ensured the Coca Cola Company meets the requirements to be awarded ISO Standard 14001:1996. The Safety Management System has the facet for safety and loss prevention. The system meets the necessities for OHSAS 18001:1999 standard. Coca Cola was awarded all these standards by international registrars Lloyds Register Quality Assurance (LRQA) and Societe Generale de surveillance- international Certification Services (SGS-ICS) (Kotter Cohen, 2002, p. 59) . The fourth layer is the control. The Coca Cola Company ensures that all the products are controlled, tested, and inspected to ensure quality products. The control services offered by the system include good environmental practices, cleaning, sanitizing methods, and good manufacturing techniques. Scope The TCCQS scope has benefited from evolution 3. The framework model shows the testing and manufacturing operations. The company organization units and departments are required to adhere to all the regulations of the model despite its size or type. This is to ensure that all the outputs meet the requirements of the customer. Evolution 3 changes the scope of the traditional manufacturing supply chain into three categories. These categories include inbound, transformation, and outbound. Inbound refers to gaining of raw materials. Transformation refers to conversation of raw materials gathered in to usable marketable products. The outbound category refers to how the marketable products are warehoused, distributed, and marketed. Process Model The Coca Cola Company used process the model to improve, implement, and develop the effectiveness of the quality management system. The model controls individuals on how they interact and combine with each other. This increases the ability of the company to satisfy the customers. The diagram below illustrates the Coca Cola quality management process model. (Kotter Cohen, 2002, p. 66) The Coca Cola Company has existed to refresh and benefit everybody. The quality of products should be measured and tasted. This will enhance the quality and keep the business as per the objectives. Consumers ofnon-alcoholic beverages have always chosen the Coca Cola Company products because of the following reasons. Firstly, the company has a symbol of quality, which attracts the consumers. Secondly, the company product satisfies the. Thirdly, the company is responsible for the citizens by ensuring the products fit for human consumption as well as being healthy products. Quality Management System Each department in the Coca Cola Company must maintain, implement, document, and establish the quality management system. In addition, the system must meet all the required standards for implementation. The quality management system was developed by the company to enhance the market hence boost sales. Likewise, the system was introduced to control leadership in the company to ensure effective running of the business across the world (Kotter Cohen, 2002, p. 63). Objectives and Goals of the Quality Management System A business plan must be developed by each organizational unit in the company. The business plan comprises of goals and objectives. These will enhance organization improvement hence good effective of the system. Once the system is implemented, it is monitored to ensure the performance is in line with the objectives. The top management communicates to the employees about the business plans in every organization unit. Likewise, the progress must be communicated to the employees regularly. During business planning, there are procedures to be considered. Firstly, the factors for organizational unit success must be determined. Secondly, safety, environmental, economic, and financial factors on the organizational unit should be assessed. Thirdly, the external and internal risks factors should be accessed as well as ways to manage the risks. Fourthly, the needs and the human resource capabilities should be analyzed. Further, the needs, the availability of resources, and the quality capabilit ies should be determined. Generally, the metrics and objectives of the organization unit should be distinguished to help in determining the system type to set up. The objectives should be consistent and measurable with a quality statement. The Coca Cola Company top managers in each organizational unit must plan the quality management system and its integrity to ensure it meets the company objectives (The Coca Cola Company; Kotter Cohen, 2002, p. 68). Responsibility of the Management The management in the organizational unit must develop a quality statement that suit an operations method. There are several ways in which the management shows a support to the development of the system. One way is to ensure appropriate resources for the system which are available. Another way is to establish a quality statement that ensures that metrics and objectives are established. Similarly, they act as a mode of communication to the company on necessity to meet the customers satisfaction. Consequently, they ensure HACCP is maintained and implemented in the distribution and manufacturing operations. Likewise, they conduct management reviews as well as ensuring that the customers requirements are met and understood (Neely 1998, p. 53). Resources required to design the system should be determined to ensure a quality system is developed and implemented. This will also assist in improving the quality and effectiveness of the system. The quality statement must be documented and established by the top management. There are different qualities of a good quality statement. Firstly, the statement purpose should be appropriate to the organizational unit. Secondly, the statement should include a commitment to fulfill the requirements hence improve the effectiveness of the Quality management system. Thirdly, it should have a commitment to the food safety. The top management has the role to appoint a supervisor to manage the system development. The supervisor will ensure the system is established, implemented, and maintained as per the processes. Additionally, the supervisor is required to r eport to the top management on the system performance as well as the need for improvement. Moreover, the supervisor should ensure that promotion awareness is available. The management of organizational unit must review and analyze the system at different intervals. There are different inputs summarized by the management for analysis. One of the inputs is the HACCP plan validation and the audit result. Another output is the consumer and the customer feedback. This will help in reviewing the system for changes to ensure it meet the customers satisfaction. The data product and the performance process are the another outputs that should be reviewed. Another output to be reviewed is corrective and preventive actions as well as follow up actions. Likewise, changes that are applied to the system should be reviewed as well as need for a change to make it better (Kotter Cohen, 2002, p. 65). In addition, the recommendations that have been subjected should be reviewed to improve the quality of the system. Decisions concerning the system must be reviewed by the management to avert the risks that might affect the system. The management reviews must document all their findings for reviewing during the system change. Documents used to develop the quality system for the Coca Cola Company must be documented properly as per the standards. The documents should be numbered, approved, reviewed, and updated as well as being distributed properly to the employees in the departments. Development and Design To develop the Coca Cola Company quality system, the management planned the design first. The plan had the development stages as well as design of the system. Relevant authorities were designated for the development and the design. There was a clear communication between the developers of the system in all the organizational departments in the Coca Cola Company. This ensures that the designers are up to date with the development progress. The development gathered all the requirements which were required by the developers. The top management in the entire organizational department purchased for the materials required to ensure they were available to the developers. This ensured the system was completed in time hence easier implementation of the system. The management reviewed the system by the end of each stage to ensure that it meets all the requirements and objectives of the Coca Cola Company. The documents of all the stages at which the system was developed were documented properly for the future reference in case of the change need (Neely, 1998, p. 93). Once the design process was complete, the system was reviewed, validated, and verified before the implementation. This was done in correspondence to the objectives set during system planning. Likewise, the system was approved as per the standard of ISO certification of Quality. Consequently, the system was implemented for the use by the Coca Cola Company. To ensure effective use of the system, the Coca Cola management has developed and designed changes. The changes documentation has been recorded and identified properly for the future reviews. The changes constitute products and parts that have been delivered to the customers and the feedback that has been received from them. This ensures the company stays up of the competitors in the market. The company has also maintained action and changes, hence satisfying the customers. The measures that were taken by the Coca Cola Company were effective. There are several advantages which resulted from the system. One of the advantages is that the system has helped the Coca Cola Company to compete with its competitors (Kotter Cohen, 2002, p. 49). The system has helped in the improvement of the quality of their products by ensuring the customers are satisfied. Another advantage is commercialization of products in every department; it has ensured effective merchandising, distribution, and manufacture of new products. Likewise, the system has boosted the advertising of the products, hence making the customers aware of the new products in the market. The feedbacks use from the customers has helped the managers in the organization to review the system and to make changes which increase the sale of the products. In addition, the system has helped the Coca Cola Company to determine its safety problems faster, hence enhancing effectiveness. Another advantage is the evolvement of new brands in the market. This has increased the market of the Coca Cola Company. This has helped the company to produce quality brands of beverages due to the quality and the assurance department model. Advantages and Disadvantages of the TQM System in the Coca Cola Company As clearly stated above, the Total Quality Management System is one of the systems which improves continuously all the work force in any business, ranging from managers and directors to those workers who are involved in the production line. The main focus of this improvement programs is to raise the service delivery level to the customers as well as reduce wastes in any given firm. It is notable that TQM requires the management to get everything right from the first time as well as to continuously improve all the business production. This way, the firm is able to deal with all the upcoming challenges, especially those arising from technological changes, hence remaining profitable both in the short and long-run. Anderson, Rungtusanatham, and Schroeder (1994, p. 34) argue that there are two major characteristics of the TQM. These are focus on delivering quality services to the customers and systematic problem solving, which involves the front line workers. For multinational companies, such as the Coca Cola Company, the implementations of the TQM approach to management have had several advantages and disadvantages. One of the main advantages of the TQM approach adoption in the Coca Cola Company is the ability to reduce the overall cost of production. Neely (1998, p. 10) indicates that since the onset of the global financial crises, most of the global companies have been forced to reduce their operation costs in order to maintain a healthy growth rate. For instance, in 2008, the U.S. government was forced to bail out major firms, such as General Motors among others, due to the failure of these firms to adopt sustainable management systems. It is notable that the TQM programs enormously eliminat e wastes and defects, which reduce the overall production costs in any given firm, such as the Coca Cola Company. As a result of adopting the TQM approach in most of its enterprises, the Coca Cola Company is currently seeking to save more than $ 600 million by 2015. To achieve this, the firm will start to streamline all its technology systems, standardize business operations, as well as make all its global supply chain systems more efficient. Further, the firm expects the overall cost of integrating the Coca Cola Refreshment Unit to reduce by approximately 15% to $425 million. By reducing the operational costs, the firm will be able to reinvest into notable areas, such as marketing as well as offsetting the raised costs of commodities like packaging, corn syrup, juices among others. In the Coca cola Company, the quality improvement teams, headed by Muhtar Kent, the firms CEO, have been able to eliminate defects, to lower lead time and to indentify all the redundancies involved in the production processes. This way, the firm has been able to maintain high profitability levels, despite the raised global market volatility. The other advantage of the TQM approach is to encourage innovation and invention in any given business. In the recent years, it has become essential for businesses to remain innovative in order to remain relevant, both in the short and long-run. Neely (1998, P. 32) candidly indicates that organizations can tackle innovation and invention by developing or copying their own innovation. The second strategy is useful in those firms which enjoy competitive advantages, like easy access to the required raw materials, low wages, and protected markets among others. However, in order for a firm to obtain the desired competitive advantage, the first strategy should be embraced. For the multinational companies, such as British Airways and the Coca Cola Company, this approach is not only valid for innovations in processes and products but also for innovations in the management. It is extremely notable that multinational companies can easily apply these two strategies if the TQM is adopted. Firms applying the TQM approach are able to assimilate all innovations which are imported from other situations. This is due to the willingness of the employees to adopt new ideas and concepts which are promoted by the TQM approach. As stipulated by Anderson, Rungtusanatham, and Schroeder (1994, p. 37), one of the key elements of the TQM approach is the enormous need for sufficient customer focus. For instance, a company such as Coca Cola has indentified current and future needs of the consumers loyalty as well as the satisfaction levels. It is estimated that the Coca Cola Company is one of the global firms which enjoys the highest customer loyalty, estimated to be over 90%. Other companies, which enjoy such high loyalty levels, include technology companies like Apple Inc., Google inc. and other social media firms, such as Twitter, Facebook and MySpace. As a result of enhancing the customers satisfaction levels, the Coca Cola Company has been able to maintain a recommendable net income. This is due to the fact that 20% of the net income generated by the firm is obtained from 80% of the loyal customers. In future, the global consumers will become enormously demanding, especially with the development of quality management approaches in most less-advanced economies, such as China, South-East Asia, and South America countries. Neely (1998, p. 71) argues that any changes have to be clearly undertaken with the customers needs in mind, hence the TQM approach will stimulate the desired bbusiness innovations. The other advantage of the total quality management system is to empower the employees. It is notable that one of the philosophies of the TQM approach is to empower all employees in order to seek out quality problems as well as to correct them. Within the old concept of quality, most employees were afraid to identify their problems due to the fear that the senior management might reprimand them. Consequently, productivity levels greatly reduced as the needs and challenges facing the employees were not solved on time (Westin, 1998, p. 55). However, TQM, the new quality concept, offers incentives for all the employees to indentify and solve their problems. This is due to the fact that employees are rewarded due to their ability to uncover quality problems and not punished. For the Coca Cola Company, workers are empowered to make decisions, relative to the quality involved in the production process. In other words, the firm considers employees as a key element for the company to achieve the desired production quality. Therefore, their contributions to the firm are highly valued, thus their viable suggestions are implemented. To further stress on the role played by employees in enhancing quality, TQM helps to differentiate between the internal and external customers. The internal customers are those employees in the firm who receive services or goods from others in the organization. For instance, the packaging department in the firm, such as the Coca Cola Company, is an internal customer of the transport and assembly department. Just like defective products or services can not be passed to the external customers, they should also not be passed to the internal customers. On the other hand, the external customers are those customers who buy products or services from the given firm. For instance, the Coca Cola Company sells more than 400 brands to customers in over 190 countries. Th is has enabled the firm to serve more than 1 million customers on daily basis, thus making the firm to be the largest non-alcoholic beverage company globally. By employing a PDSA ((Plan, Do, Study, Act) cycle in its operations, the Coca Cola Company has been able to reap ample benefits out of the TQM system. The diagram below indicates the main elements of the PDSA cycle (Kotter Cohen, 2002, p. 58) As a result of the total quality management system adaptation, the Coca Cola Company has faced various challenges. One of the challenges of the TQM approach is the production disruption. It is clear that the TQM system implementation in any given firm demands an extensive training of all the employees. The training includes instructions in the problem solving methods as well as tools. This is crucial in evaluating processes as well as indentifying weaknesses, like the statistical process control, brainstorming techniques among others. During the training period, productivity levels can highly reduce, thus affecting the profitability levels and the investors confidence to the firm. Further, meetings organized by the quality improvement teams take employees from their duties. Generally, it can be noted that while the overall improvements eliminate wastage, reduce lead time as well as improve on productivity, the initial phase of the TQM implementation in organizations, such as Coca Col a, enormously reduces the workers output. The other disadvantage of the TQM system is the raised level of employee resistance to change. Anderson, Rungtusanatham, and Schroeder (1994, p. 77) argue that the TQM system requires ample changes in altitude, mindset, as well as methods of carrying out the assigned tasks. One of the factors essential in reducing the resistance of employees to change is through the effective communication from the top management, failure to which the employees end up being fearful, hence raising their resistance levels. When the employees resist the TQM program, their productivity, and morale towards the business is reduced significantly. As indicated above, TQM demands for organizational changes, rather than radical organizational reforms. It is evident that the real quality improvements demands for radical structural changes, like flattening organizational structures .Further, employees ought to be liberated from tyranny of functionalisms and stifling control systems, both of which hinder the effe ctive teamwork in most workplaces. Generally, the long-term advantages of the TQM system highly outweigh the shortcomings. Therefore, the system should be implemented by those organizations which yearn for changes, especially the multinational organizations which deal with employees from various cultural backgrounds. Evaluation of the Total Quality Measurement System According to Kotter Cohen (2002, p. 108), evaluation is the systematic determination of the worth, merit or significance of the task being undertaken using given criteria against a certain set of standards. Performance measurement aims to establish on whether a certain program attains its objectives, which is expressed as a measurable performance standard. Program evaluation highly examines on the broader range of information regarding the program performance as well as its context (Kotter Cohen, 2002, p. 13). Depending on their level of focus, evaluation can examine aspects of program operations, or issues in the program environment, which may contribute or impede to its success. This way, it becomes easy to explain a linkage between the program activities, inputs, outputs, as well as outcomes. Alternatively, the system or program evaluation can assess the effects of the program beyond its set objectives as well as estimate what is likely to happen in the absence of the program. T herefore, leaders and managers can be able to asses the net impact of the system or program. The importance of evaluating the certain performance measurement impact being undertaken by a firm cannot be underrated. Performance system is a type of measurement for control. Measurement and evaluation are important as they help in assessing performance against the set plans, thus being able to correct any deviation. In this regard, evaluation is concerned with all the past data as well as the current implications. Measurement and evaluation are also crucial for accountability purposes. For instance, in the Coca Cola Company, the raising powers and concerns of customers, suppliers, shareholders among other stakeholders, as well as the ways in which their respective powers continue to drastically change, have resulted to a raised demand for accountability. Therefore, accountability is a field of the performance measurement that has an enormous significance, as it is constantly changing in nature. In this regard, the TQM system evaluation is concerned with accountability as compared to accounting. Performance measurement and evaluation are also crucial in the strategy formulation. Anderson, Rungtusana tham, and Schroeder (1994, p. 41) argue that evaluation for the strategy formulation is basically concerned with predictions. When developing its strategies, the Coca Cola Company should select a range of alternative courses of actions, especially those which are close to the current and future constraints and circumstances facing the firm. In making this selection, the Coca Cola Company must have a well-known means of evaluating all the available alternatives, in whatever terms considered relevant and appropriate. It is notable that a state-of-the-art system for measuring and evaluating performance should monitor all the vital signs of the organization. For instance, in each level, the TQM system adopted by the Coca Cola Company, should translate the high vision of the firm into individual performance measures. This way, TQM will be able to support a competitive spirit, to highlight excellence, to offer a foundation for the continuous improvement. There are different ways in which the impact of the TQM system adopted by Coca Cola can be evaluated, thus understanding its importance to the company. One of the methods that can be employed is the process evaluation, also known as the implementation evaluation. This is a type of evaluation that accesses the extent which program is operating as initially intended to. By employing this method, it will be able to assess the conformance of TQM to the regulatory and statutory requirements, the customer expectations, as well as the professional standards. The other method of evaluating the performance of the TQM system in the Coca Cola Company is through the outcome evaluation. In this method of evaluation, the extent to which the TQM system has achieved its outcome-oriented targets will be assessed. Anderson, Rungtusanatham, and Schroeder (1994, p. 22) argue that the outcome evaluation focuses on outcomes and outputs, including the unintended effects in judging the effectiveness of the program. Further, it may assess a program process, thus being able to know how outcomes are produced. The impact evaluation is the other way in which the effectiveness of the TQM system in the Coca Cola Company may be assessed. This is a type of the outcome evaluation that assesses the overall effects of the system by comparing outcomes with what would have taken place in the absence of the system or program. It is highly notable that this type of evaluation is mostly employed when all the external factors are known to influence the outcomes of the system, thus isolating the contribution of the system to achievements of its objectives. The other method that can be used is the cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit analysis. These types of analysis compare the outcomes or outputs with the costs or resources expended, in order to produce them. When these two methods are applied for the existing programs, they also form a part of the system evaluation. The cost-effectiveness analysis measures the cost of meeting a single objective or a goal; thus it can be employed when indentifying the least costly alternatives of meeting the desired goals or objectives. On the other hand, the cost-benefit analysis helps to indentify all the relevant benefits and costs, which are usually expressed in monetary value. For the Coca Cola Company, there are several techniques employed to evaluate the success of the set performance management technique. In order to enhance quality management of the available resources, every organization unit is supposed to implement audit procedures, thus being able to asses the intent, effectiveness and implementation of the quality system. To measure the effectiveness of the audit procedures, each of the departments is supposed to determine the person who is responsible for carrying out the audit activities, such as the required competency; the auditors are required to be independent and are not supposed to audit their work. Further, every department should have a documented schedule, which defines the auditing frequency. This schedule should take into consideration the results of the former audits. For all internal audits, the auditing schedule should ensure that every element of the quality system is thoroughly reviewed annually. Improving the Total Quality Management System The need for improving the management system adopted by the Coca Cola Company cannot be underrated. This is due to the fact that it is a key ingredient to a short and long-term sustainability of the firm; hence, it should be improved from time to time to counter the emerging management challenges. Anderson, Rungtusanatham, and Schroeder (1994, p. 12) argue that the key to any improved performance measurement is the growth of integrated performance measurement systems. The integrated systems revolve around unified themes like a value creation or a business strategy. They are highly concerned with evaluating the critical aspects of structures, which link processes in the firm and activities of the people to the overall intended outcomes for the firms stakeholders. In most cases, integrated systems represent the quality concerns during production, the level of customers satisfaction, the monetary discipline of accounting among other notable corporate sub-systems. The sophisticated structure of an integrated performance system is extremely beneficial to the management; though, it does not eliminate various basic difficulties regarding performance measurement. It should be noted that businesses, especially those having international interests, are enormously complex organizations. Therefore, they offer more opportunities for measurements than can be well employed by the management. In spite of all the difficulties, which face integrated performance management, the benefits far outweigh the expected costs. In regard to this, an improved measurement system, such as TQM, helps in aligning the people actions people in the organization, thus ensuring that employees work together in accomplishing the intended goals. Generally, the unified system of measurement helps in creation of a single version of the truth. This way, it becomes possible for the management and leaders to avoid workplace misunderstanding as well as conflicts arising from inappropri ate data or inconsistent data. Further, by establishing the integrated TQM system in the Coca Cola Company, it will be possible to motivate employee by conveying an enormous sense of logic and fairness in the score keeping. Employees will be able to seek to perform their best, bearing in mind that the integrated TQM will impartially and accurately measure the contributions they make to the firm as well as the extent of their respective success levels. From the above information, it is clear that the importance of an effective performance management system to the overall sustainability of a given firm cannot be underrated. By employing the TQM system in measuring as well as evaluating its performance management, the Coca Cola Company has been able to involve all the stakeholders, thus boosting the firm net profitability over years, despite the prevailing hard economic times globally. In future, companies should adopt the integrated performance measurement as it has more returns as compared to the traditional systems. This way, they will be able to ensure a short and long-term sustainability. Buy custom Performance Measurement System essay

A Comparison Of Perfect Competition And Monopoly Economics Essay

A Comparison Of Perfect Competition And Monopoly Economics Essay Introduction In order to answer the question of whether ‘the competition is always necessarily beneficial to consumers’, it is vital to address the operation of two extreme sides of the market organisation. The extreme sides of the market organisation are Perfect competition and Monopoly. Once we accustom ourselves with the working of this dichotomy of market organisation, only then we can compare monopoly and perfect competition on the basis of efficiency in the market and specifically its impact on the consumers. Thus, in this essay we would first go through a brief description of perfect competition and monopoly and how the resources are organised in these two different market structures to achieve the goal of profit maximisation. By the allocation of resources and the level of output to be produced in these two different markets, we would compare their efficiency and inefficiency and the possible benefits and limitations of these market structures in different indus tries to the consumers. Perfect Competition Perfect competitive markets are those where there are large number of small buyers and sellers dealing with a homogeneous product and a single small firm do not have influence on the price allocation and acts as a price taker (Mankiw & Taylor, 2006). In addition to this, in a perfectly competitive market the mobility of the factors of production is perfect in the long run and both the producers and the consumers have perfect information regarding the product (Frank, 2003). A competitive firm being the price taker, to achieve the goal of profit maximisation, it produces a certain level of output where the price is equal to the marginal cost of producing an extra unit of product, a ‘Pareto efficient’ output level (Varian, 2006). As the price is also the marginal revenue for a competitive firm, so the profit is maximised at the condition where marginal revenue is equal to the marginal cost (Frank, 2003). This means that for a com pany to remain in business, it has to cover its cost, which is to say the price must be at least greater than the ‘minimum value of the average variable cost’ (ibid.) Monopoly At the extreme opposite end of the market organisation is monopoly. Monopoly is a market structure, where a single firm serves the entire market and is the only seller of a particular product with no close substitutes (Frank, 2003). Moreover, being the only firm in the market, it does not take any price but instead it has influence over the market price and produces a level of output at a particular price where the firms’ profits are the highest (Varian, 2006). Monopoly is created when a firm either takes control of key resources or the government issues a license and give them exclusive right for the production of goods and services. An economy of scale is another source of monopoly for a firm, where a single firm has more efficient cost of production as compared to a large number of firms and creates a natural monopoly that arises with public utilities like gas, electricity etc (ibid.). Furthermore, a monopolist will set his price higher than his marginal cost at a point where his marginal revenue is equal to marginal cost, in order to make positive economic profit (Frank, 2003). However the demand curve is negative for a monopolist and being a ‘price setter’, it cannot just randomly set a high price. It would rather set a price that the market could bear and maximises its profit (Mankiw & Taylor, 2006).

Slavery wasnt the MAJOR CAUSE of the CIVIL WAR Essay

Slavery wasnt the MAJOR CAUSE of the CIVIL WAR - Essay Example the Convention. After the Convention the beginning was set for a new country and the new Constitution. However was this enough for the Northern and Southern States to prevent differences A new age began and also new ideas came in how the States should work together. And a wars came, with England, Mexico and the Civil War. Why dit it happen Let me take you into a short summary of the history. Rockwell JR and H. Llewellyn, Genesis of the Civil War (2000) quote: "And yet, if you listen to the media on the subject, you might think that the entire issue of the Civil War comes down to race and slavery. If you favor Confederate symbols, it means you are a white person unsympathetic to the plight of blacks in America. If you favor abolishing Confederate History Month and taking down the flag, you are an enlightened thinker willing to bury the past so we can look forward to a bright future under progressive leadership. The debate rarely goes beyond these simplistic slogans." Pratt 3 Jeffersonian Republicans and Hamiltons policies had wide angels of how the Country should be based and run. Both Founding Fathers based their idea on two different ideas. Jefferson wanted to build the nation on agriculture where Hamilton wanted to build a strong Government. He opposed to involvement to the French Revolution and staying to friendly to the British. The significant factors where most concerned about the States Rights, strict reading of the Constitution, important for Jefferson together in backing the French Revolution where Hamilton wanted a more elastic Constitution with a strong Government with no interfearing in the French Revolution. Miracosta College Proffesor...The big issue was whether they should be entitled to representation from Congress. The independence of the United States as signed in Paris on September 3, 1783 stayed optimistic for the sovereign states however it also produced many problems in the future between the Northern and Southern States. In 1790 a new Capitol was chosen for the Congress and Government, Washington a new named city took over the lead from Philadelphia.