World Trade Organizations regulatory regime Essay

World Trade Organizations regulatory regime - Essay Example It has often been found that the people, who toil throughout the day in order to bring food to our tables, are unable to provide for two square meals a day to their own children. This trend is especially noticeable among the farmers who are compelled to work hard amidst all adversities to meet their both ends meet. This innate hunger and poverty might discourage the farmers or other such producers from producing premium quality products that subsequently might lead to a deterioration of the health standards of the consumers. The solution to any problem could be found in the roots of that problem and thus a number of researches were carried out in this regard. Gradually the fact came to light that the farmers were actually very poorly paid which made it very difficult for them even to sustain their lives – the problem was especially acute in developing nations. This was reflected in the quality as well as quantity of the products, none of which were found to be potentially satu rated in nature. This was hampering their position in the international market, killing their prospects to earn more and thus push the nations towards a trial of development. Since the World Trade Organisation aimed towards attaining a free trade environment without any trace of a constraint, it was important to assure that the producers were fairly treated so that no obstructions came in their path of development and growth. Hence, the concept of fair trade farms came into being to ensure that the small-scale and marginal farmers.

Design and Entrepreneurship Schools of Strategy - Comparative Analysis Research Paper

Design and Entrepreneurship Schools of Strategy - Comparative Analysis - Research Paper Example Strategy formation is establishing a fit between the strengths and weaknesses of an organization and the opportunities available in its external environment.   Christensen, Andrews, Bower, Hamermesh and Porter (1982) are among the major proponents for the design school strategy The model of strategy formation of the design school is one in which leaders seek to attain a fit between an organization’s internal capabilities and the possibilities external to the organization (i.e., the need to bring together the organization’s internal state with its external expectations). The design school model proponents place primary emphasis on the appraisals of the external and internal situations.   Appraising the external situations is accomplished by uncovering the threats and opportunities in the environment.   Appraising the internal situations is accomplished by revealing the strengths and weaknesses of the organization (Wang 2008, p. 643). The external environment includ es technological, economic, social and political aspects of a company’s environment and also includes issues of forecasting and scanning.   The design school proponents also consider the role played by managerial values and organizational social responsibility important in the process of strategizing.   Mintzberg et al (1998) provided a diagram detailing the process in the design school. Rumelt (1997), one of the proponents of this school, proposed a framework to evaluate strategy making.   In his framework, a formulated strategy should be consistent in terms of the goals and policies of the organization and must be adaptive to the changes in the organization’s environment. Rauch et al (2004) examined this framework through collected empirical evidence and found that the framework has a positive effect on strategic outcomes. The proponents of the entrepreneurial school focus on the leader and his vision. The central construct of the entrepreneurship school is a vision: a mental representation of strategy created or at least expressed in the head of the leader.

Operations Management And Supply Chain Management

Operations Management And Supply Chain Management Introduction. Operations management is a process which primarily deals with the area of the production of goods and services. Operations management takes up the liability of making sure that all business operations are efficient and use as little resource as and when required, and ensures its effective in meeting customer requirements. Operations management deals with managing a system that changes inputs such as materials, labor and energy into outputs such as goods and services. Every service we get all around us whether it be in supermarkets, hospitals, police station, schools, etc all have been manufactured through the different processes of Operational Management. Operations management includes activities such as managing purchases, list control, excellence control, storage space, logistics and evaluations. The core objective is to have a prime focus on competence and the efficiency of the process. Hence, operations management often includes a decent amount of dimension and scrutiny of in-house processes. Operation Managers are the people who are responsible in taking care of the resources which consist of the different operational functions. This is an assignment which goes through a case study on Weldon Hand Tools, Europes one of the most successful hand tool manufacturers, moving into the woodworking tools market. Task 1. Calculation of Number of People need to assemble the Product. YEAR 1. 1ST QUARTER: Sales forecast for no. of units manufactured = 98,000 units. It takes 1.60 standard minutes to assemble and pack one unit. Therefore total time required to assemble and pack 98,000 units = 98,000 X 1.60 = 156800 mins. One year has 52 weeks or 4 quarters, One quarter = 52 / 4 = 13 weeks For the first quarter all new workers for the manufacturing site will have a 2 day training period. This training will include Induction to the Company, Site tour, Risk Assessment, Fire and Safety Hazard Training. Standard holiday pay package for a permanent full time employee can be put as 4 weeks in a year. Hence we can assume all full time employees will have a week off as Holiday every quarter. Amount of time lost for Training and holiday = 2 working days + 1 week = 1.4 weeks. Since one week has 5 working days, 2 working days is 0.4 weeks. Working weeks in 1st Quarter = 13 1.4 = 11.6 Now assuming full time workers working 40 hours (8 hrs shift X 5 working days) per week, Then one worker can cover = 40 hrs X 11.6 Weeks X 60 mins = 27840 mins †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.EQUATION : 1 Therefore no. of workforce required for the manufacturing of 98,000 units = 156,800 / 27,840 = 5.632 = Approximately 6 new workers Hence we can conclude 6 workers working fulltime, i.e. 40 hours each week, for the first quarter will be able to assemble forecasted sale volume. 2ND QUARTER: Sales forecast for no. of units manufactured = 140,000 units. It takes 1.60 standard minutes to assemble and pack one unit. Therefore total time required to assemble and pack 140,000 units = 140,000 X 1.60 = 224,000 mins. Standard holiday pay package for a permanent full time employee can be put as 1 week every quarter. Working weeks in 2nd Quarter = 13 1 = 12 Now assuming full time workers working 40 hours (8 hrs shift X 5 working days) per week, Then one worker can cover = 40 hrs X 12 Weeks X 60 mins = 28800 mins†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..EQUATION : 2 This worktime is for existing employees since they dont need any training. Therefore no. of workforce required for the manufacturing of 140,000 units = 224,000 / 28,800 = 7.78 = Approximately 8 workers Currently we have 6 fulltime workers. There is an increment of about 40% in the no. of units manufactured in the preceding quarter. There are two ways to resolve the shortage of labour. Firstly we can request the existing workers to do overtime and cover the difference. But as we can see the forecast predicts the sale volume going further higher next quarter. Hence the most feasible option would be to hire new workers. From above calculation (EQUATION 1), new workers can cover 27,840 mins per quarter. So two new workers will cover: 27,840 X 2 = 55, 680 mins 6 existing workers will cover = 6 X 28,800 = 172, 800 mins Therefore total work time covered by all workers = 172, 800 + 55, 680 = 228,480 mins. Work time required to manufacture 140, 000 units = 224, 000 mins. Hence we can conclude 6 existing workers and 2 new workers working fulltime, i.e. 40 hours each week, for the second quarter will be able to assemble forecasted sale volume. 3rd QUARTER: Sales forecast for no. of units manufactured = 140,000 units. (From Table 7.3) It takes 1.60 standard minutes to assemble and pack one unit. Therefore total time required to assemble and pack 140,000 units = 140,000 X 1.60 = 224,000 mins. Standard holiday pay package for a permanent full time employee can be put as a week off every quarter. Now assuming full time workers working 40 hours (8 hrs shift X 5 working days) per week, Then one worker can cover = 28800 mins from EQUATION : 2 Therefore no. of existing workforce required for the manufacturing of 140,000 units = 224,000 / 28,800 = 7.78 = Approximately 8 workers Hence we can conclude 8 existing workers working fulltime, i.e. 40 hours each week, for the third quarter will be able to assemble forecasted sale volume. 4th QUARTER: Sales forecast for no. of units manufactured = 170,000 units. It takes 1.60 standard minutes to assemble and pack one unit. Therefore total time required to assemble and pack 170,000 units = 170,000 X 1.60 = 272,000 mins. Standard holiday pay package for a permanent full time employee can be put as a week off every quarter. Now assuming full time workers working 40 hours (8 hrs shift X 5 working days) per week, Then one worker can cover = 28800 mins from EQUATION : 2 Therefore no. of workforce required for the manufacturing of 170,000 units with existing employees = 272,000 / 28,800 = 9.44 workers Currently we have 8 fulltime workers. This is about a shortage of 18% in employee work mins. As said before there are two ways to resolve the shortage of labor. Firstly we can request the existing workers to do overtime and cover the difference or we could hire new workers. Since the sales forecasts suggest that the sale volume may go down next quarter, the more feasible option would be to request the current employees to do overtime. 18% shortage of 40 hours each employee= 7.2 hours Hence we can conclude 8 existing workers working fulltime, i.e. 40 hours each week, and an additional 7 to 10 hours per week have to be requested by employees in an average cover up the shortage and avoid any future redundancy. YEAR 2. 1ST QUARTER: Sales forecast for no. of units manufactured = 140,000 units. It takes 1.60 standard minutes to assemble and pack one unit. Therefore total time required to assemble and pack 140,000 units = 140,000 X 1.60 = 224,000 mins. Standard holiday pay package for a permanent full time employee can be put as a week off every quarter. In the middle of 1st quarter of the second year a two day Kaizen event is held. Kaizen is a daily activity; its purpose is to improve simple productivity. It is a process that, if done correctly, makes the workplace more humanly, removes overly hard work, and teaches everyone how to perform experiments at work using safe scientific methods. It teaches us to spot and eliminate waste in business processes. Kaizen events suggest a humanized approach to workers and to increasing productivity: The main concept was to take care of the companys human resources as much as it is to praise and encourage participation in kaizen activities. Primarily it requires full participation from workers. Now assuming full time workers working 40 hours (8 hrs shift X 5 working days) per week, Then one worker can cover (including two days training)= 27840 mins from EQUATION : 1 Therefore no. of workforce required for the manufacturing of 140,000 units = 224,000 / 27840 = 8.05 = Approximately 8 workers with a little overtime. Hence we can conclude 8 existing workers working fulltime, i.e. 40 hours each week, for the first quarter with a little overtime will be able to assemble forecasted sale volume. 2nd QUARTER: Sales forecast for no. of units manufactured = 170,000 units. (From Table 7.3) It takes 1.60 standard minutes to assemble and pack one unit. Therefore total time required to assemble and pack 170,000 units = 170,000 X 1.60 = 272,000 mins. Standard holiday pay package for a permanent full time employee can be put as a week off every quarter. Now assuming full time workers working 40 hours (8 hrs shift X 5 working days) per week, Then one worker can cover = 28800 mins from EQUATION : 2 Therefore no. of workforce required for the manufacturing of 170,000 units with existing employees = 272,000 / 28,800 = 9.44 workers Currently we have 8 fulltime workers. As said before there are two ways to resolve the shortage of labor. Firstly we can request the existing workers to do overtime and cover the difference or we could hire new workers. In this condition the sales forecasts suggest that the sale volume could only go higher next quarter, hence the more feasible option would be to hire two more employees. From above calculation (EQUATION 1), new workers can cover 27,840 mins per quarter. So two new workers will cover: 27,840 X 2 = 55, 680 mins Therefore total work time covered by all 10 workers = (8 X 28,800) + 55, 680 = 286,080 mins. Work time required to manufacture 170,000 units = 272, 000 mins. Hence we can conclude 8 existing workers and 2 new workers working fulltime, i.e. 40 hours each week, for the second quarter will be able to assemble in surplus forecasted sale volume. 3rd QUARTER: Sales forecast for no. of units manufactured = 200,000 units. It takes 1.60 standard minutes to assemble and pack one unit. Therefore total time required to assemble and pack 200,000 units = 200,000 X 1.60 = 320,000 mins. Standard holiday pay package for a permanent full time employee can be put as a week off every quarter. Now assuming full time workers working 40 hours (8 hrs shift X 5 working days) per week, Then one worker can cover = 28800 mins from EQUATION : 2 In this condition again the sales forecasts suggest that the sale volume is going higher next quarter, hence the more feasible option would be to hire more employees. From above calculation (EQUATION 1), new workers can cover 27,840 mins per quarter. So two new workers will cover: 27,840 X 2 = 55, 680 mins Therefore total work time covered by all 10 workers = (10 X 28,800) + 55, 680 = 343,680 mins. Work time required to manufacture 200,000 units = 320, 000 mins. Hence we can conclude 10 existing workers and 2 new workers working fulltime, i.e. 40 hours each week, for the third quarter will be able to assemble in surplus forecasted sale volume. 4th QUARTER: Sales forecast for no. of units manufactured = 230,000 units. It takes 1.60 standard minutes to assemble and pack one unit. Therefore total time required to assemble and pack 230,000 units = 230,000 X 1.60 = 368,000 mins. Standard holiday pay package for a permanent full time employee can be put as a week off every quarter. Now assuming full time workers working 40 hours (8 hrs shift X 5 working days) per week, Then one worker can cover = 28800 mins from EQUATION : 2 Therefore no. of workforce required for the manufacturing of 170,000 units with existing employees = 368,000 / 28,800 = 12.78 workers Currently we have 12 fulltime workers. This is about a shortage of 6.5% in employee work mins. As said before there are two ways to resolve the shortage of labor. Firstly we can request the existing workers to do overtime and cover the difference or we could hire new workers. Since from the sales forecasts suggest that the sale volume may go down next quarter, i.e. the first quarter of year 3 the more feasible option would be to request the current employees to do overtime. 6.5% shortage of 40 hours each employee= 2.6 hours Hence we can conclude 12 existing workers working fulltime, i.e. 40 hours each week, and an additional 2 to 4 hours each week have to be requested by employees in an average cover up the shortage and avoid any future redundancy. Type of Facilities that the Company need to buy. Managing Facilities is an integral process within an organization that helps maintaining and developing the services which support and improve the effectiveness of its primary exercise.   It comprises of multi-disciplinary exercise within the built environment and taking care of their influence upon people and the workplace. It facilitates to the impartment of strategic and operational objectives. On a microscopic level, effective facilities management provides a safe and efficient business environment, which is important to the realization of any business whatever its size and scope. For Weldon Hand Tools, designing the manufacturing operation and selecting the type of facilities is of primary importance since the sales forecast predicts a high demand. Capacity Planning: The first question which will arise will be considering the size of the facility. Once we have the workforce size of the Operating System, we can start working out the different facilities required to facilitate the effective services which support its primary activities. Facility Location: The geographic site of the workshop has to be selected in such a way that if demand proves higher than forecast, then there will be enough room to expand the workshop. Analyzing location for the advantageous placement of facilities in order to minimize transportation costs, avoid placing hazardous materials near housing, outperform competitors facilities, etc. The company will need to have setup a research on customer requirement in order to be successful and surface the growing demand for the product. Customers nowadays are more demanding; they want better quality at the same price. There could be a rapid change in the composition of customers and their preferences. An ambiguous and changeable economic climate, customer needs constantly evolving, and upcoming technology continually shakes up market turbulence.   Raw materials are one of the major factors of production along with labor and capital. Raw materials are so important to the production process that the success of a companys business and economy can be found by the amount of natural resources the company owns to provide for manufacturing. In this case it would be the pricing for the piece parts used to assemble into the product. An active human resource management with e-recruiting, training and education is also very important since the size of the sales forecast predicts a considerable amount of inflation and deflation. Product promotion, creating new sales channels, internet sales are some of the ways to provide Marketing opportunity to the company. With the increase in sales managing inventory, and having a warehouse could become imperative. All business faces competition. Knowing our competitors can help improve our products, services and marketing. It will enable us to  set our prices competitively and  help to respond to rival marketing and promotional campaigns with our own initiatives. Task 2. Layout of the Assembly Operations. The layout of an operation is the most important within the general area design in operations management. This is because the way facilities are placed in relation to each other has an important effect on so many aspects of operations. Considering all the facilities, machines, equipment, and etc layout is the first thing we notice because it governs the appearance of a company. Layout determines the flow of customers, materials and information within the operation. All these factors affect the total distance travelled by materials, which in turn affect the cost, the general effectiveness and the quality of the operation. The strategic objectives of an operation depend on a layout. There are certain general objectives pertaining to all operations which should be considered while doing a layout. They are: Any process which could pose a danger to the staff or the customers should not be accessible to unauthorized. Measures to be taken to minimize the flow of materials or information. Flow of materials should be well signposted, clear and evident to staff. Any noisy or unpleasant part of an operation should be located away from staff. There should be coordination for the supervision and communication of the location assisted by equipments aiding it. All machines and equipments should be maintained and cleaned properly. Space should be used precisely. The most important factor to consider the layout to be done here is long term flexibility. If the demand keeps going higher based on the sales forecast there should be plenty of room for expansion within the workshop. For Total Work Content: All Time in Standard Minutes (SM) Element A: Assemble poke subassembly 0.12 Element B: Fit poke subassembly to frog 0.10 Element C: Rivet adjusting level to frog 0.15 Element D: Press adjusting nut screw to frog 0.08 Element E: Fit adjusting nut to frog 0.15 Element F: Fit frog screw to frog 0.05 Element G: Fit knob to base 0.15 Element H: Fit handle to base 0.17 Element I: Fit frog subassembly to base 0.15 Element J: Assemble blade subassembly 0.08 Element K: Assemble blade subassembly, clamp and label to base and adjust 0.20 Element L: Make up box and wrap plane, pack and stock 0.20 There are four quarters each year. 52 weeks makes up a year. Hence in each quarter there will be: 52 / 4 = 13 weeks. Now lets assume that a full time employee would work 40 hours per week. Therefore total time put in for one cycle = 13weeks X 40hrs X 60mins = 31,200 mins No. of units for 1st quarter = 98,000 The required cycle time = 31,200 / 98,000 = 0.31837 The required no. of stages = the total work content / the required cycle time 1.60 mins / 0.31837 mins = 5 approximately This means 5 stages. Now looking at the assembly, different tasks could be further differentiated and grouped into different work stations. For example assembling poke assembly does not depend on fitting the knob to the base. All the dependant jobs can be put into same workstation. Hence looking at the different tasks we can group them into five workstations. Lets name them as Workstations 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. Workstation 1: Workstation 1 will comprise of all the jobs entailing with the assembling of components of frog subassembly. Element A, B, C, D, E and F. This will include: Assemble poke subassembly Fit poke subassembly to frog Rivet adjusting level to frog Press adjusting nut screw to frog Fit adjusting nut to frog Fit frog screw to frog Workstation 2: Workstation 2 will comprise of all the jobs entailing with the assembling of components of base subassembly. Element G, H and I. This will include: Fit knob to base Fit handle to base Fit frog subassembly to base Workstation 3: Workstation 3 will comprise of all the jobs entailing with the assembling of components of blade subassembly. Element J. This will include: Assemble blade subassembly Workstation 4: Workstation 4 will comprise of all the jobs entailing with the assembling of all the subassemblies. Element K. This will include: Assemble blade subassembly, clamp and label to base and adjust Workstation 5: Workstation 5 will comprise of all the jobs entailing with packaging. Element L. This will include: Make up box and wrap plane, pack and stock. The flowchart above shows the final allocation after breaking down the process into different stages of the long thin arrangement, which is easy to manage. This arrangement makes materials handling simple and the operation becomes a lot more efficient. The layout will need to be adjusted in terms of the design of the products, since this is one of the two main significant factors in deciding on which control values would be useful, the manufacture resources concerning adjustability and capability being the other. The layout proposed is a very simple yet very efficient one. From the layout it could be seen the three sub-assembly workshops are just adjacent to the assembly workshop. Lying just beside the assembly workshop and the packaging workshop is the Inventory. This arrangement would save time from transporting the product back and forth. The Inventory also helps us to keep some of the product in a well maintained stock. Plenty of free space is available around the manufacturing site to enable us to expand our workshops if the demand of our product requires so. The main building with all the different facilties is located just on the other side of the manufacturing site. Previously the effectiveness of a mechanism was exclusivel y measured by the numeral of processed units per hour. A further focus has been put on the quickness and sharpness of the machine. There still exist numerous high proficient machines with low sharpness even though they are time consuming to set up amid the diverse products. However, Weldon Hand Tools may detach the products into standard, whereby it is processed in the old machine, and special. As a result the quantity of special products will be so little that a flexible machine with a comparatively low capacity may be adequate to encounter any competition. Conclusion. In the current market situation companies manufacturing furniture are put through a lot of difficult situation which includes short business cycles, lack of technical knowledge, and delayed returns. The organization itself is very outdated. Hence examining and studying all these issues put together with the high prices of commodities and supplies, state laws, only puts the whole organization into a position where they have work on low income and revenue.

Amazon.com Case Study Essay -- Business Marketing Management

The objective of this case study is to outline and provide a brief overview of Amazon.com’s (Amazon) mission, strategic direction, core competencies, relied technologies and their future impact of new technologies, and how management and use of consumer data will impact future business. In addition, we have analyzed Amazon’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in a SWOT analysis. Based on this analysis, and research, we have recommend a course of action as to how Amazon should respond to their weaknesses and threats and how best to leverage strengths to take advantage of available opportunities. Amazon’s Mission and Strategic Direction Amazon.com, Inc. is an internet retailer headquartered in Seattle, Washington founded by CEO Jeff Bezos. Their mission and strategy is quite simply â€Å"to offer Earth’s Biggest Selection and to be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they may want to buy online and [we] endeavor to offer our customers the lowest possible price.†1 And, if they can’t help they will point the customer to a site that can. The company accomplishes this by operating six global internet sites: www.amazon.com, www.amazon.ca, www.amazon.de, www.amazon.jp, www.amazon.co.fr and www.amazon.co.uk. Through their zShops, auctions, affiliate program, Merchants@ and Amazon Marketplace programs, Amazon, and their sellers and partners, offer new and used collectibles and products in categories such as apparel and accessories, DVDs, electronics, computers, books, music, videos, cell phones, tools and hardware, the list is almost endless. In order to maintain quality, the company packages and ships all of its merchandise. They also continue to negotiate volume deals with suppliers to meet their goal of lowering prices. Additionally, Amazon has formed partnerships and alliances with publishers, other on-line retailers, technology providers, either handling their web site operations or linking brick-and-mortar entities to its virtual storefront. As part of their diversification strategy, Amazon recently acquired Internet Movie Database www.imdb.com (IMDb), which is an authoritative source of information on movie and entertainment. This acquisition is one of many Amazon is making expand its product and service offerings. The company is also preparing to sell internet domain names and already ... ...omers. Possible future partnerships could involve companies like AT&T who is currently developing a â€Å"web cents† card for online shopping. This partnership could also lead to technology developments which Amazon already uses to leverage its position. All in all Amazon should do well if it continues to stay true to its mission – the customer. References: Amazon.com, â€Å"Investor Relations,† â€Å"About Amazon.com,† â€Å"Annual Report,† â€Å"Privacy Notice,†, â€Å"Web Services,† www.amazon.com, Online, May 2003, www.amazon.com> Kaplan, Simon, â€Å"The Right Fit,† www.cio.com, Online, May 2003 www.cio.com/archive/120101/fit content.html Dignan, Larry, â€Å"The Day Ahead: Dot-coms grow up, chief execs step out,† www.zdnet.co.uk, Online, May 2003, Fool.com, â€Å"Amazon’s CEO Letters,† www.fool.com, Online, May 2003, www.fool.com/server/foolprint.asp?file==/news/foth/2002/foth021119.htm Bannan, Karen J., â€Å"Book Battle,† Media Week,† EBSCOhost, Online, May 2003, Vol. 10 Issue 9, P72, 2p, 5c Hoovers.com, â€Å"Profile,† www.hovers.com, Online, May 2003, www.hoovers.com/premium/profile/3/0,2147, 51493,00.html Fortune.com, â€Å"Amazon: Can Amazon Be Saved?,† www.fortune.com, Online, May 2003, www.fortune.com Amazon.com Case Study Essay -- Business Marketing Management The objective of this case study is to outline and provide a brief overview of Amazon.com’s (Amazon) mission, strategic direction, core competencies, relied technologies and their future impact of new technologies, and how management and use of consumer data will impact future business. In addition, we have analyzed Amazon’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in a SWOT analysis. Based on this analysis, and research, we have recommend a course of action as to how Amazon should respond to their weaknesses and threats and how best to leverage strengths to take advantage of available opportunities. Amazon’s Mission and Strategic Direction Amazon.com, Inc. is an internet retailer headquartered in Seattle, Washington founded by CEO Jeff Bezos. Their mission and strategy is quite simply â€Å"to offer Earth’s Biggest Selection and to be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they may want to buy online and [we] endeavor to offer our customers the lowest possible price.†1 And, if they can’t help they will point the customer to a site that can. The company accomplishes this by operating six global internet sites: www.amazon.com, www.amazon.ca, www.amazon.de, www.amazon.jp, www.amazon.co.fr and www.amazon.co.uk. Through their zShops, auctions, affiliate program, Merchants@ and Amazon Marketplace programs, Amazon, and their sellers and partners, offer new and used collectibles and products in categories such as apparel and accessories, DVDs, electronics, computers, books, music, videos, cell phones, tools and hardware, the list is almost endless. In order to maintain quality, the company packages and ships all of its merchandise. They also continue to negotiate volume deals with suppliers to meet their goal of lowering prices. Additionally, Amazon has formed partnerships and alliances with publishers, other on-line retailers, technology providers, either handling their web site operations or linking brick-and-mortar entities to its virtual storefront. As part of their diversification strategy, Amazon recently acquired Internet Movie Database www.imdb.com (IMDb), which is an authoritative source of information on movie and entertainment. This acquisition is one of many Amazon is making expand its product and service offerings. The company is also preparing to sell internet domain names and already ... ...omers. Possible future partnerships could involve companies like AT&T who is currently developing a â€Å"web cents† card for online shopping. This partnership could also lead to technology developments which Amazon already uses to leverage its position. All in all Amazon should do well if it continues to stay true to its mission – the customer. References: Amazon.com, â€Å"Investor Relations,† â€Å"About Amazon.com,† â€Å"Annual Report,† â€Å"Privacy Notice,†, â€Å"Web Services,† www.amazon.com, Online, May 2003, www.amazon.com> Kaplan, Simon, â€Å"The Right Fit,† www.cio.com, Online, May 2003 www.cio.com/archive/120101/fit content.html Dignan, Larry, â€Å"The Day Ahead: Dot-coms grow up, chief execs step out,† www.zdnet.co.uk, Online, May 2003, Fool.com, â€Å"Amazon’s CEO Letters,† www.fool.com, Online, May 2003, www.fool.com/server/foolprint.asp?file==/news/foth/2002/foth021119.htm Bannan, Karen J., â€Å"Book Battle,† Media Week,† EBSCOhost, Online, May 2003, Vol. 10 Issue 9, P72, 2p, 5c Hoovers.com, â€Å"Profile,† www.hovers.com, Online, May 2003, www.hoovers.com/premium/profile/3/0,2147, 51493,00.html Fortune.com, â€Å"Amazon: Can Amazon Be Saved?,† www.fortune.com, Online, May 2003, www.fortune.com

Goals of Dr. Victor Frankenstein Essay

The soul and life of man is a precious thing, something not to be trifled with or experimented on without thinking of the potential ramifications of doing so. Doctor Victor Frankenstein did not put much thought into the consequences of advancing the natural sciences while playing God with mortals. Victor Frankenstein grew, morally, through the course of the book, Frankenstein. Initially, Victor set out to further advance natural science as well as cheat death. As the tale progressed, however, he began to regret his course of action almost immediately after his monster awoke. Doctor Victor Frankenstein was young and naà ¯ve; he planned to discover the undiscovered. In other studies you go as far as others have gone before you, and there is nothing more to know; but in a scientific pursuit there is continual food for discovery and wonder (Frankenstein 35-6). Victor believed he could perform an act of God without consequence. He committed vile offenses against the natural laws of humanity by taking pieces of the recently deceased and compiling them into one, presumably soulless, being. He failed to see the true meaning of death, to realize passing away is just a natural part of life and nothing can truly stop this ordinary occurrence. In the words of Derek Dawidson, Death is about moving onto another existence and life is trying to figure out your lifes rebirth or beginning of a life. You are to follow your path whether it is full of conquest or self destruction (Dawidson). Victor slowly began to realize his actions were immoral and crimes against humanity itself. He only realized the extensiveness of his atrocities when his monster was given the gift of life. Throughout the tale of Victor Frankenstein he slowly begins to question his actions, before finally regretting them and attempting to make amends. When he meets Robert Walton his regret is evident as is his attempt to safeguard any future mayhem from being committed. You seek for knowledge and wisdom, as I once did; and I ardently hope that the gratification of your wishes many not be a serpent to sting you, as mine has been. I do not know that the relation of my disasters will be useful to you; yet, when I reflect that you are pursuing the same course, exposing yourself to the same dangers which have rendered me what I am, I imagine that you may deduce an apt moral from my tale (Frankenstein 15). Victor warns Robert to be wary of his actions and to take heed of his thirst to make new discoveries. His message to Robert is simple, insanity and obsession on a single goal only leads a man down the path of self-destruction. Victor has grown to know when to stop an obsession, however unable to do so for his own. A man playing God with his fellow mortals only leads one down the path of true self-destruction. Doctor Victor Frankenstein began as a guiltless man, aiming to further increase his knowledge and love of the natural sciences. His decisions led to the creation of a creature, which had no equal, no mate, nothing to share its woes with. Victor discovered how wrong he was, too late to make amends for his crimes. He may have made a living thing with science, but he did not think of the ramifications his actions would have upon this poor creature. Works Cited Dawidson, Derek. Online Interview. 16 Mar. 2009. Pagano, Zachary. Online Interview. 16 Mar. 2009. Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein Bantam Books. New York, New York: Broadway, 1991. 15-36

An Example of an Introduction

An Example Of An Introduction How to write an Introduction It is the intention of this essay to critically analyse how a manager is able to plan, organise, lead and control the introduction of a self management team at Aerospace Technology Port Melbourne manufacturing plant. Secondly, this essay will also critically analyse how a self managing team leader is able to involve team members in problem identification, team meetings and rostering and strategic thinking and problem solving.Thirdly, this essay will seek to critically analyse how team leaders within a self managing team are able to empower other team members to become involve in problem identification and brainstorming of solutions to achieve a competitive advantage over key rivals. Body of Essay An Example Of How To Construct A Six Step Paragraph Step one: Write a lead in sentence that refers back to the essay topic It is the intention of this paragraph to analyse how and when Drug Inc. enior managers can deal with resistanc e to change, downsizing and casualisation of non-core employees. Step Two: Cite expert opinion to support your upcoming cause and effect analytical example. Kotter & Schlesinger (1979), as cited in Wood et al. , (2006:504), argues that there are six ways to deal with resistance to change namely education and communication, participation and involvement, support and facilitation, negotiation and agreement, manipulation and cooptation and explicit coercion.Step Three: Write a measurable cause and effect analytical example Drug Inc. top managers have decided to downsize and casualise its non-core workforce to reduce labour costs and introduce internet selling as part of its operations. However, these changes can impact on employees and may lead to a decrease in job satisfaction, absenteeism, morale, uncertain and fear of future employment. Therefore the Drug Inc. managers implement its changes by implementing a strategic planned change management approach that deals with resistance to change processes.Step Four: Cite expert opinion to support your analysis of the advantages of: Makawatsukul & Kleiner (2003), argues that the key advantages of managers and change agents being actively involved in managing change is that they are able to inform employees about the impending change being planned with open and honest communication, and by expressing the reason for downsizing. In stage 2 the remaining employees should be involved in redesigning and improving their job roles and responsibilities.In stage 3 Drug Inc. generous remuneration offers should be made to the survivors of the downsizing to highlight how valued they are by management. In addition Makawatsukul & Kleiner (2003), also argues that the Drug Inc. needs to provide stress management, skill assessment, career counselling, workplace placement programs while training programs should also be provided to the remaining employees, in an effort increase their confidence and skills in performing new job roles.Step Five: Cite expert opinion to support your analysis of the disadvantages of: Whereas, Dawson, (1996), as cited in Saka (2002), argues that the key disadvantage of managers and change agents not communicating to employees the impending threat of downsizing and job redesign may result in an increase in rumours that leads to an increase in staff absenteeism, a decline in staff morale and loyalty that could ultimately result in an increase in staff turnover of highly talented and core employees.Step Six: Write a concluding sentence (or two) that summarises the key point(s) contained in the paragraph In conclusion, resistance to downsizing within the Drug Inc. organization can only be overcome if employees concerns are dealt with openly and honestly and the survivors new job roles and responsibilities are clearly defined and opportunities for training and development and advancement are explained to each employee on an individual basis. An example of how to write an excellent paragraph T his is a repeat of the previous page but in the correct paragraphing format) It is the intention of this paragraph to analyse how and when Drug Inc. senior managers can deal with resistance to change, downsizing and casualisation of non-core employees. Kotter & Schlesinger (1979), as cited in Wood et al. , (2006:504), argues that there are six ways to deal with resistance to change namely education and communication, participation and involvement, support and facilitation, negotiation and agreement, manipulation and cooptation and explicit coercion.Drug Inc. top managers have decided to downsize and casualise its non-core workforce to reduce labour costs and introduce internet selling as part of its operations. However, these changes can impact on employees and may lead to a decrease in job satisfaction, absenteeism, morale, uncertain and fear of future employment. Therefore the Drug Inc. managers implement its changes by implementing a strategic planned change management approach t hat deals with resistance to change processes.Makawatsukul & Kleiner (2003), argues that the key advantages of managers and change agents being actively involved in managing change is that they are able to inform employees about the impending change being planned with open and honest communication, and by expressing the reason for downsizing. In stage 2 the remaining employees should be involved in redesigning and improving their job roles and responsibilities. In stage 3 Drug Inc. enerous remuneration offers should be made to the survivors of the downsizing to highlight how valued they are by management. In addition Makawatsukul & Kleiner (2003), also argues that the Drug Inc. needs to provide stress management, skill assessment, career counselling, workplace placement programs while training programs should also be provided to the remaining employees, in an effort increase their confidence and skills in performing new job roles.Whereas, Dawson (1996), as cited in Saka (2002), argu es that the key disadvantage of managers and change agents not communicating to employees the impending threat of downsizing and job redesign may result in an increase in rumours that leads to an increase in staff absenteeism, a decline in staff morale and loyalty that could ultimately result in an increase in staff turnover of highly talented and core employees.In conclusion, resistance to downsizing within the Drug Inc. organization can only be overcome if employees concerns are dealt with openly and honestly and the survivors new job roles and responsibilities are clearly defined and opportunities for training and development and advancement are explained to each employee on an individual basis. An Example Of A ConclusionIn conclusion, the key issues identified within the KD Transport case study are John the Managing Director’s autocratic leadership style, his autocratic decision making style and involvement in job analysis and job redesign in preparation for downsizing no n core job roles. In order to overcome the issues identified in KD Transport, these issues should be addressed efficiently. The first key problem identified is that John the ManagingDirector of KD Transport should be ready to change his traits and behaviours to overcome the problems facing at the moment due to his autocratic leadership style and autocratic decision making. The first key recommendation is that John adopts more participative leadership style over the current autocratic leadership style because it is likely to result in creative and innovative ideas, employee involvement in decision making that generate a broad range of actions that could be considered for implementation.The second key problem identified in the case study is that John the Managing Director should involve fellow managers and employees in the decision making process. The second key recommendation is that John adopts participative decision making where the Managing Director seeks input from other managers and employees and it is likely to result in increased employee satisfaction, improved staff loyalty, increased productivity and more informal efficient decision making outcomes.The third key issue identified is that John should involve HR personnel in job analysis and job redesign process. The third key recommendation is that John the Managing Director seek the involvement of HR Personnel or a HR consultant in employee downsizing, job analysis and job redesign process because HR personnel have the expertise to conduct job analysis and identify which job roles should be downsized and which employees and job roles should survive in order to achieve short term as well as long term organizational goals and objectives.Furthermore, the HR personnel has the expertise to design a training and coaching process for the survivors of the re-organisation process at KD Transport to perform the new job roles and responsibilities as a result of the job redesign process that occurred with the amalg amation of three warehouses into one. Finally, John the Managing Director should take all the aforesaid factors into consideration in order to facilitate the smooth running of the business and over come the current problems that KD Transport is experiencing. An Brief Example Of A Bibliography (A bibliography must be in alphabetical order of authors cited) References:Compton, R. , Morrissey, W. , and Nankervis, A. , (2006), Effective Recruitment and selection practices, 4th edition, CCH Aust Ltd, Sydney Deresky, H (2008), International Management: Managing across borders and cultures, 6th edition, Pearson Prentice Hall, New Jersey, USA. Fish, A. , Bhanuogopan, R Cogin, J. , (2008), ‘Value orientations as predicators of cultural and business impact’, Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal, Vol. 15, No. 1, pp. 30-48. Fu, P. , Yukl, G. , (2000), ‘Perceived effectiveness of influence tactics in the United States and China’, Leadership Quarterly, Vol . 1, No. 2. pp. 35-55. Hayes, D. , Ninemeier, J. , (2008), Human Resources in he Hospitality Industry, John Wiley & Sons Inc How To Cite Textbooks And Journals In Your Bibliography Citing textbooks in your bibliography is as follows: Surname, Initial of Christian Name, (Year of Publication) Title of Textbook, Name of Publisher, Place of Publication. Citing journals in your bibliography is as follows: Surname, Initial of Christian Name, (Year of Publication), Title of journal article, Name of journal article, Volume, Issue Number, Page Numbers.