Global Warming Affects Biodiversity Essay

There has always been a link between climate change and biodiversity. As the climate changes, the animals in the affected areas have to either adjust or leave. Although climate changes have been occurring throughout history, the rapid climate changes of today are resulting in species not being able to adapt quickly enough and undergoing species loss. Some species may adapt well to the climate changes such as an increase in bugs and pests, but others, such as Arctic animals are being forced away from their homes as the glaciers that they live on melt and break away. The Arctic and areas that are in higher latitudes have a higher rate of warming and this pattern is expected to continue as climates everywhere changes and temperatures go up. As Earth warms up, the glaciers in the Arctic start to melt, and species such as the polar bear and the arctic fox that depend on the sea ice, will start to disappear and only be available for viewing in places such as zoos. The polar bear and the arctic fox are not just the only species that will be affected. The fish, birds, marine mammals, and even the algae that grows on the undersides of the glaciers will be severely impacted as the ice melts and eventually disappears all together. The climate changes do strictly impact the Arctic, but the whole world. As ice melts in the Arctic, the temperature in seas and oceans change and the salt levels change which affects the reproduction of marine species. Once this happens, Alaskan fish will be a delicacy only available for the rich and special. Also once the all the sea ice melts, the water levels will rise and much of the land bordering oceans and seas will be covered and people will be forced to relocate and adjust, just like the Arctic animals. The change in ecosystems all over the world will result in loss of food sources, jobs, natural resources, and some natural pharmaceutical products. Rising temperatures will also affect the health of humans by exposing them to more forms of disease. Cold temperatures help regulate and control the spreading of many diseases. Diseases such as malaria are likely to spread because mosquitos will not die during the winter because temperatures are slightly lower than they are in summer. Parasites that originate from sub-tropical environments may migrate to more moderate biomes and reproduce and attack there.

UPS: Business Strategy

The United Parcel Service has been in business since 1907. Over 100 years of delivery services must be a result of a certain method of management and business that has allowed them such success over time. What type of structure do they use within the workplace to manage the flow of packages? What promotion system do they use and how does it affect employees' commitment to work? What type of organizational design does UPS use to manage its employees?These are all questions I would like to answer in terms of UPS' management structure to determine how they eve been successful for so long. Table of Contents 1. Title Page – Page 1 2. Abstract – Page 2 3. Table of Contents – Page 3 4. Section 1: UPS Enterprise – Page 4 5. Section 2: Management Functions – Page 6 6. Section 3: Analysis – Page 12 7. References – Page 13 8. References (Count. ) – Page 14 Section 1: UPS Enterprise Starting as a small messenger company in 1907, UPS, short for United Parcel Service, has grown into a massive publicly traded company today.Their management structure today consists of a management committee to oversee the entire company. The committee consists of the usual CEO, SCOFF, and COO (Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, and Chief Operating Officer). Beneath each of them is a tree of management. UPS employs a Human Relations department which deals with ethical decisions for the company and how employees will be treated. They also employ engineering department which determines the flow of packages every day (UPS, 2014). They determine what the manning needs to be for each building to run efficiently every night.They also determine how many packages each building needs to process every day in order to run efficiently and effectively. The operations management section is clearly the muscle of the operation. They are the ones who determine how they are going to get the plan set by the engineering department completed. Th e operations department has many tiers of management stretching all the way down to the front line of package handlers. UPS also practices hiring from within as many of UPS' Coo's have started all the way from the bottom of the company.Some logistics regarding the company begin with the fact that UPS employs approximately 407,000 people across the world, with 348,000 of them within the United States (Statistics Brain, 2014). UPS has grown to offer many different methods of package shipment. Today they offer services such as Next Day Air, 2nd Day Air, Ground and even Sonic Air. Next Day Air being their primary source of revenue among the other methods of shipment. Sonic Air is a method not known to many because of its extremely high cost.Sonic Air allows you to ship to anywhere in the fastest time possible at an extremely high cost. UPS has gained a very large share of the market with approximately 7. 9 million customers using their services daily to ship over 15 million packages dai ly across the world. UPS has developed new improvements frequently with their $53. Billion revenue every year. UPS' world headquarters is in Atlanta, Georgia, with many other regional headquarters around the world in each of the major continents (UPS, 2014). UPS has created a operational layout which resembles their management layout.They use major hubs across the world to process the majority of the packages, which are then loaded onto trucks and distributed to smaller hubs to be delivered to the communities. UPS and Feeds are strong competitors, both ruling the courier service industry. The companies do have their differences though, as Feeds is not a unionized company. UPS is a larger company, although Feeds does operate through the air far more than UPS, but UPS has a stronger ground presence. According to revenue statistics, UPS brings in about $53. 1 billion per year compared to Feeder's $42. Billion, which translates to $5. 9 and $3. 7 billion in profits respectively. Feeds a lso employs approximately 100,000 people less than UPS yearly, which factors into the profits. Overall, UPS has the higher market share, holding a 46%-50% share of the entire domestic market, compared to Feeder's 49% market share on express packages only. In essence, Feeds specializes in express shipments to make a profit, while UPS does everything to include ground and air shipments (Differ, 2013). UPS focuses heavily on businesses as primary clients.UPS actually has a program for all employees which allows workers to get contracts from any businesses around to use UPS' services. Gaining a contract makes UPS money and is an incentive for employees because UPS will pay them a portion of the contract. Overall, UPS is the most dominating force in the courier services industry in the world, making them a very successful business. Section 2: Management Planning is of the utmost importance at UPS, it is the difference between a failing company and success. The United Parcel Service emplo ys industrial engineers at every hub across the world.Their Job is the do all the behind the scenes work to maximize profit and create the most efficient workplace possible. They also incorporate other departments within the company which all account for certain aspects of the success the company has had. Departments such as Finance, Marketing, Industrial Engineering, Operations, and Human Resources are some of the primary reasons for the company's continued success. Financially, UPS is one of the more successful companies in America, and is the most successful in the courier services industry.Financial analysts with UPS have made the company very â€Å"liquid†, meaning they have high flexibility. They are gaining working capital and assets faster as they continue to pay off debt. This working capital goes towards the development of innovations to better the progress and efficiency of the company. From 2005 to 2010, UPS was gaining working capital at a gaining rate of 28% per year. According the financial model, UPS is running a system hat focuses on runs largely on existing equity and splitting the remaining capital on debt and liabilities.They continue to invest profits on working capital to better the company as a whole (Shah, 2010). UPS does focus on marketing in some regards, although they let their products do the marketing for them the majority of the time. UPS does more than Just ship packages, they also develop products such as Barbados scanning systems which get the UPS name out. They have made themselves accessible across almost any medium possible. You can reach UPS via phone, internet, in-person, through UPS drivers, at strutting centers, and retail locations. Having the company so readily accessible really promotes the use of the company for shipping needs.They price competitively, which gives them an advantage with consumers because they are so easily accessible compared to competitors (Shah, 2010). Industrial Engineering is the brain of the operational side of UPS. Millions and millions of packages come through UPS' hubs every day, without Industrial Engineers working behind the scenes it would be nothing more than a giant flow of packages. This department analyzes the intake of packages for each of their respective hubs. They allocate how many workers need to work on each shift for the hub to be efficient and come out positive based on how many expected packages.They also plan for the expected amount of packages for each shift. They have to take into account all of the factors in this determination. Holiday times are the toughest for this department. Often they have to hire â€Å"seasonal† employees to add additional man hours for the holiday flow, called â€Å"peak season†. In 2013, UPS had a major strategic planning failure during the holiday season due to lack of man power. The engineers at the head of he company failed to make correct predictions about the flow of packages that would be coming th rough the system that holiday season.UPS planned to hire an additional 55,000 employees that holiday season, while also leasing an additional 23 airplanes to accommodate next day air shipments in order to make â€Å"before Christmas day' delivery promises (Leonard, 2013). Clearly this was under planned as Christmas day rolled around and many packages were still stalled in the hubs across America forcing managers of the hubs to work hours on Christmas day and Christmas Eve, which are normally holidays for UPS employees (Banker, 2013).This goes to show how important the Industrial Engineers in UPS actually are to the company. They are paid to make the overall operations plan every day of the year, which are then carried out by the operations managers. The operations side of UPS is the muscle of the entire organization. This the department that has to perform in order for the company to be successful. These are the workers that consumers deal with on a daily basis. Planning for this d epartment is done mostly by the Industrial Engineering department, although they can deviate from the plan as necessary.One thing the operations depart works on with planning s how many managers they think they will need in order to get the most from their hourly work force. Integrating airline, ground, and warehouse operations is key to the success of the mission of UPS. Customer service is the greatest advertising tool that UPS has, and the operations department is in control of this as they are the ones out and about working on the front lines. Finally, UPS utilizes a Human Resources department for planning that deals with hiring employees.With UPS' vast network of employees, it is the HER department that is key to keeping these employees happy and satisfied enough to continue to work art for the company and keep the turnover rate low. Once the II department determines how many employees will need to be hired for peak seasons, it's the HER department that is in charge of hiring t hose employees in time for the season. Planning for the HER department is integral for the happiness and productivity of employees. Organization I think UPS has done a brilliant Job in the way they have designed the company to manage itself.Instead of having one large chain of command, UPS has one CEO, but many different departments and many different levels. UPS has its large hubs, which all compete against each other. Hubs like Chicago and Louisville are some of the largest. These hubs flow millions of packages through them every single day, but they wouldn't be able to do that if they didn't have smaller hubs throughout the country. The design allows for the packages to flow into the major hubs throughout the country, and then they distribute them by freight to the smaller hubs, which then load them on to package cars and deliver them out to houses.UPS also utilizes a Human Relations department which takes care of all their recruitment procedures as well as other areas such as sa fety. Finally, they use an engineering department which goes all the behind the scenes work for UPS (Drake, 2012). They project how many packages each building will receive that day and take all things into account such as holidays and what not. They also determine how many people need to be hired to maintain efficiency and effective working methods. These three departments work as their own entities, but collaborate to reach the main goal.When working with the design of the company managers need to consider the fluidity of their design. Because UPS focuses largely on timeliness, their organization for the company needs to also maintain a fluid design which allows for the packages o easily flow through the system. I think UPS has maintained this type of design through the departments which they have installed in the organization. All departments work together but separate, which allows them to do their own work but unloads some of the work from other areas and allows each area to pu t more focus into what they do.Knowing someone who used to work for UPS, I can tell you they are very precise and fluid with their design. He worked in the management side of operations. Every day the engineers would show up in the morning to plan the day for the afternoon shifts. High level managers for the afternoon shifts would come in after lunch and begin to put the plans into action. Following them, the lower level managers would come in to prepare for the day after being briefed by their managers. Hourly employees were given a specific â€Å"start time† for each day when they would show up to work.They also had a â€Å"downtime† which dictates when the building should be completely done sorting packages into their correct destinations. If everything worked correctly, the building would be efficient for that night. The fluid motions of the company are what keep them successful and efficient. One thing I thought was interesting is that the department who plans out the routes for the delivery drivers try to plan routes that use as many right turns as possible, eliminating the wait at stop lights as much as possible. This kind of planning and organization is key to the success of the company.Leadership UPS practices promotion from within to maintain motivated employees. One longstanding principal within UPS management is that promoting the workers that are already within your company is the way to keep the company in good standing. It always gives employees something to strive for and look forward to. The current CEO, Scott Davis, was originally absorbed by UPS when they bought out his previous company. He worked his way up to being a UPS CEO, although he did not start all the way at the bottom like many leaders within the company.One thing UPS does to push employees to stay with them is they offer health insurance to all part time employees who have been with them for over a year. In this day and age, something like that is extremely hard to come across. They also offer $1 5,000 in tuition assistance for part time employees, thus encouraging student to get their degree. All of this is the season they choose to promote from within. They invest a lot of time and money into their lower level employees so that they can get their education and begin to move up the UPS employment ladder.They strongly believe in filling gaps in upper management with employees who already know the system and have been at the level of those guys beneath them (UPS Earn & Learn, 2014). Motivating current employees to do better creates a sense of pride within the company, which in turn creates better leaders. Communication between the leaders of the company comes once again from the management committee that UPS uses. Orders start from the top of the organization and trickle down through the management structure until it reaches the front lines.One issue that UPS has with conflict resolution is that the company is highly unionized. UPS uses a syste m of â€Å"write-ups† for hourly employees. Safety has developed a set of rules that need to be followed by each employee while working, and if those rules are not followed, the manager of that employee must right the person up. The issue with this is that the union can almost always get that persons job back if they end up getting fired because of unsafe working. Directly from a UPS manager, I know that the only thing a person can be fired for and not brought back is fighting or stealing.Above this, disciplinary action becomes more regulated by UPS than unions. Managers are not part of the union and therefore cannot get their Job back if fired from misconduct or poor management. UPS and Teamsters consistently work out collective bargaining agreements for hourly employees which state the terms of raises and the guidelines of employment. For example, if an employee is fired by UPS management, they have 10 days to file a grievance with the union to get heir Job back or the term ination becomes final and there is nothing the union can do anymore.This type of disciplinary action for hourly employees can cause issues in the workplace, as many employees know they have a very slim chance of losing their job no matter their performance. Control Control is something that every department in the company has to be aware of because they all work separately but together as a whole. Human resources controls the morale of the employees, while operations looks to control the efficiency and work ethic of the work force. Some control tools which UPS utilizes is the advantage of am work. One department can take an issue and pass it on to another department to work on.This allows work to remain focused on the right topic rather than dealing with something that is not commonly dealt with in that specific department. Section Ill: Analysis In summary, UPS as a whole uses a structured departmentally system to govern their company. They believe in promoting leadership from withi n and encouraging new employees to better themselves so they can progress with the company. It seems that UPS has created a system that is concurrent with their massive success over time. I believe UPS will continue to stay in business for a long time if they continue to treat their employee's right and manage the way they do now.Keeping things separate but working together seems to be a working concept as each of the hubs function as their own entity in the big picture of things. I cannot think of any recommendations for the company to use at this time, as I believe they are doing things right. One thing that I do believe is an issue is the unionized workforce that can really lag their production because of employee's mindset. However, I know this is something that cannot be taken away by UPS management and cannot be fixed easily, so I think they have done a great Job of working around it.

Organic Food Market in Hong Kong †Environmental Scan Essay

?Global trend of organic food In 1950s, consumers are starting to aware of organic product and in 1970s to 1980s, organic sector start to develop, e. g. set up regulation and certification around the world. In 1990s, the organic food market has a sharp growing, expanding at 20% a year. In 2006, the sales of organic baby food were increased 21. 6%. There are also has dramatically increase in variety, availability and decreasing the cost of organic food. ?Local trend of organic food. At the end of 1980s, there were many cases happened in Hong Kong that poisonous crops which are contaminated with pesticide, people in Hong Kong raise their awareness of health. Until 1990s, Organic foods have been selling in Hong Kong, most of them are imported from North America, Australia, New Zealand, Europe and Japan. In the few years ahead, consumption of organic food is increasing. In 2000s, the local market has a strong demand on fresh organic foods. International Trade Centre (ITC ) done a set of survey and observed some trends of Hong Kong. For example, there are more convenience organic food such as pre-packed organic salads; some public canteens and catering buy more organic food; provision of organic products with biodegradable packaging. Major competitor In Hong Kong, there are three major type of retail shops is selling organic food. First type is supermarket, e. g. Park n’ shop and Welcome are two major chains. Second type is department stores, e. g. Citysuper, Seibu, Jusco, Sogo. Third type is specialty healthy food shops, around 50 to health food shops selling organic, health and diet-supplement foods. Consumer ?General type of consumer Hong Kong Organic Resource Centre (HKORC) release the result of a survey on 7 Jan 2005, it shows that 30% of the respondents had purchased organic foods. It also shows us the people who are interested in buying organic food are high education qualification, executives, managers or professionals, and they are usually with a higher total household income, married and/or with children. The meaning of organic food in consumer view In Hong Kong people’s mind, â€Å"organic food† has the similar meaning as â€Å"healthy food†, they also care about the nutritional value and image of the product. The best selling of organic foods in Hong Kong are baby food, rice cake, grains, fruit juice and breakfast cereals, so we can see Hong Kong people are more health-conscious now.

Technology and the Minds of Man Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Technology and the Minds of Man - Essay Example Einstein's theories have made spaceflight, nuclear energy, and the discovery of universes beyond our own possible, but the question still haunts us; can an atomic bomb fall into the hands of a global tyrant. Today's technology has made it possible to peer into a man's life, follow his every move, create his most intimate moods, and build an offspring to his exacting specifications. Science can hold the keys to progress or build the doomsday machine. Still, the scientists have no obligation to assure that the science they create will be used responsibly. It is the citizens of the global community that are given the task to make an ethically sound decision. Science's simple goals are to discover and create, while it is society that needs to exert the cultural pressures needed to control our runaway technology. The horror stories that relate to the egregious misuse of technology fill our headlines on a daily basis. The war on terror has been used as a justification for using cutting edge technology to spy on American citizens, as well as hunt down and interrogate the nation's alleged enemies. While the human intuition recoils in fear and disgust at the insideous use of science to interrogate prisoners, the argument in favor of it is neither new or without merit. Michael Koubi, a former chief interrogator for Israel's General Security Services, has for decades been, "experimenting with captive human beings, cajoling, tricking, hurting, threatening, and spying on them, steadily upping the pressure, looking for cracks at the seams" (Bowden). Sixty-five years ago pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly experimented with altering the moods of primates by implanting electrodes in their brain (Bowden). It has been widely reported that these technologies are currently being used to interrogate terrorists b y the US government and its agents. Government secrets are often slow to surface, and they may have newer and more effective methods that are yet to be reported. Yet, Eli Lilly is not the morally responsible agent for the decision to put their technology to use on an involuntary human subject. Advocates point to the necessity of getting time sensitive information from a suspect, and technical interrogation is often helpful in saving thousands of innocent lives. Indeed, an educated person can make a solid moral argument for sacrificing one criminal's suffering to save thousands of blameless victims. However, there is a point on the scale of morality where we begin to fall down the slippery slope to anarchy and chaos, where we violate the humanness of mankind. Society, the government, and the law need to be firm, decisive, and ethical in their effort to control these centuries old urges, techniques, and strategies. The use of technology is no more controversial than it is when it involves the sanctity of the human body. Medicine can transplant vital organs, regenerate body parts, and sustain life well beyond the natural term. Today, medical science has almost made it possible to order a baby as easily as we order a cheeseburger at a drive-up window. Genetic manipulation will soon offer people the opportunity to select a baby's most detailed traits such as hair color, musical

Mass Extinction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Mass Extinction - Essay Example I think that this is the possible reason why Douglas Erwin said it is quite difficult to identify which is the real cause of the mass extinction in the past. There are these many factors that contribute; they are all giving different degrees of impact to the environment, which the scientists need to delve into each to know the actual influencing degree. The world population is growing exponentially but the land is so limited. Humans exploit virgin land, like the jungle and mountains. They cut down the jungle and make the mountains flat to make houses and farmland. The equivalence of the whole ecosystem is disturbed. Firstly the flora and fauna in the wild lost their habitat. They cannot even find food that they used to get. As a result, this leads to wildlife extinction. Loss of soil due to loss of plants also caused the river- and seabeds to become shallow. This is obvious with the increase of sea water level. The situation becomes worse when the pole's glacier starts melting due to greenhouse effect! Eventually, the increasingly warming atmosphere triggered the people's interest to study the global warming phenomena. This is how the greenhouse effect situation was discovered. It is estimated that about 15 to 37 per cent of the species will become extinct from now to 2050 if the climate keep on changing (Kirby, 2004). The causes of global warming were identified: excretion of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, water vapor and methane, use of aerosol products and depletion of jungle land and ozone layer. Carbon dioxide and methane will trap heat in the atmosphere. They are the by products from the use of fuel energy. Meantime, depletion of jungle land reduces the number of green plants that can convert... The world population is growing exponentially but the land is so limited. Humans exploit the virgin land, like the jungle and mountains. They cut down the jungle and make the mountains flat to make houses and farmland. The equivalence of the whole ecosystem is disturbed. Firstly the flora and fauna in the wild lost their habitat. They cannot even find food that they used to get. As a result, this leads to wildlife extinction. Loss of soil due to loss of plants also caused the river- and seabeds to become shallow. This is obvious with the increase of sea water level. The situation becomes worse when the pole’s glacier starts melting due to greenhouse effect! Eventually, the increasingly warming atmosphere triggered the people’s interest to study the global warming phenomena. This is how the greenhouse effect situation was discovered. It is estimated that about 15 to 37 percent of the species will become extinct from now to 2050 if the climate keeps on changing. The causes of global warming were identified: excretion of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, water vapor, and methane, use of aerosol products and depletion of jungle land and the ozone layer. Carbon dioxide and methane will trap heat in the atmosphere. They are the by-products from the use of fuel energy. Meantime, depletion of jungle land reduces the number of green plants that can convert the carbon dioxide gases back to oxygen. The increase of methane gave the similar effect to the environment, methane plays an important role in the previous mass extinction.

Method Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Method - Essay Example All participants were working at least part-time jobs, and had completed high school. The informed consent form will be read out loud to each participant, as well as being printed in English. All participants shall be assured of their rights to confidentiality, anonymity, and voluntary withdrawal without penalty. It was emphasized to the participants that no personal information would connect them with their responses, as code numbers would be used to de-identify all information that they provided. When each participant acknowledges that they understand the requirements of them in the study they will be asked to sign the consent form. Two booklets were designed for this study. A variety of media pertaining to the "Oklahoma Bombing" in 1995 (i.e., a "Political Terror Act"), and the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center in 2001 (i.e., a "Religious Terror Act") were presented in either of an 8-page booklet. Each booklet presented media materials which emphasized the act as either "political" or "religious" in the text of the articles (e.g., "Terrorism and Religion" Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, Vol. 20, November 2001).

Mining and use of Natural resouces Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Mining and use of Natural resouces - Essay Example olcanoes; the awareness of these hazards has made the modern man life safe through the modification of the houses and other infrastructures (Husain, 2008). The possibility of an earthquake occurring is 100 percent and that means an earthquake can occur anytime and somewhere on the earth. Asserting that an earthquake will occur does not really mean that earthquake has been predicted (U.S. Geological Survey, 2009). Presently, earthquake cannot be predicted but the statement may be true due to the fact that a number of earthquakes (in millions) occur each year, thus, their occurrence daily is in thousands (they are too minute to be located). Earthquake prediction is a possibility in the future. There is an ongoing research done by USGC and other state and federal agencies, private institutions and universities. The reality of earthquake prediction is possible some day in the future but this is only when the mechanisms of earthquake are fully exploited (U.S. Geological Survey, 2009). Industrialization and urbanization are responsible for different types of surface/subsurface water pollution and wastes and it has become mandatory for the schools in the developing countries to offer geoscience education. The neglect of the subject at some level of education (especially at the junior level) has caused the lack of awareness about energy conservation, environmental protection, and the conservation of other geological raw materials (Husain, 2008). With the help of the geology-based assessment methodology, it is estimated that there are about 53 (TCFG) trillion cubic feet of nonassociated natural gas in undiscovered and conventional accumulations and mean volumes of 896 million barrels of oil in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska and the adjacent State waters; this is according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The volume of undiscovered oil estimated by U.S. Geological Survey is lower than the one estimated in 2002 and this is due to the recent exploration drilling

Social sustainability Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Social sustainability - Assignment Example The leading organizations around the globe are trying to capitalize on the advantages that have been created due to globalization. The global market has become much more competitive after the Second World War. All the leading organizations have implemented advanced technology, strategic tools in their business process (Lancaster and Withey, 2012, p.38). Now-a-days people are much more concern about the quality of products as they have several options and substitutes for a product. In terms of organization, several firms are trying to bring sustainability in the business by focusing on the social, economic and environment sustainability as these will increase the brand reputation in this global competitive market (Bidgoli, 2006, p.173). The study is all about the analysis and evaluation of the social, economic and environment sustainability of leading home furniture retail IKEA. The organization has promoted and planned several sustainability projects and programmes in order to improv e the situation of global economy, community and environment. The study will reveal all the hidden aspects thoroughly. Introduction Sustainability can be defined as fulfilling needs without compromising the capability of the fulfilling of needs of future generation (Moore, 2010, p.20). It improves the quality of life. There are certain aspects that should be contained, such as social, economic and environmental. In the business practices it is known as 3BL or Triple Bottom Line. Sustainable business can be defined as an enterprise who has limited negative impact on local or global environment, society, community or economy. Habitually sustainable business firms have progressive human rights and environmental policies. Generally the business can be determined as green business when that enterprise fulfils the following criteria. It manufactures and supplies environment friendly goods and services and the enterprise is greener comparing to the traditional competition. It has made commitment to the environment policies in the business operations. It includes sustainability principles into business decisions. Any enterprise that practices green and environment friendly activities in order to ensure all the processes and manufacturing activities are current environmental concerned can be termed as sustainable business. IKEA is a leading global home furnishing retailer. The growth story of the organization since 1943 is very much eventful and effectual. Presently the organization is leading the global market place and the organization is popular for its Scandinavian style. Major of the furniture of IKEA are f lat-pack and prepared to be assembled by the buyers. The organization carries almost a range of more than 9,500 products. Online purchasing facilities have increased the core competency of IKEA. Till date there are 20 IKEA stores in UK (Boone and Kurtz, 2009, p.219). The study will determine the actions and strategies of IKEA towards social, economical and environmental sustainability. Moreover, the study will highlight the Green House Gas Management Programme of IKEA. After evaluation, the study will draw the findings and will provide some recommendation plan. Finally the study will articulate a brief and clear conclusion. Social Sustainability The aim and objective of IKEA states that they want to provide better life for the community and people through the business practices. Moreover, the organization always focuses on establishing healthy and better place to work for the employees and the suppliers. Supporting children and vulnerable communities and commitment to supporting hum an rights is a path of promoting social sustainability through the busin

Professional and Personal Growth-Reflective Report Assignment

Professional and Personal Growth-Reflective Report - Assignment Example However, managing people is a very challenging undertaking to most managers today. This is particularly so managers who lacks effective leadership skills. Effective management of people also requires fostering collaboration within the organization. Collaboration within the organization is important since it helps in building effective teams. However, I knew very little regarding the importance of effective management of people and fostering collaboration until I learned about leadership content of the course. When learning about leadership in an organization, I came to realize that an effective leader is one who knows how to manage his people. Salacuse (2006) attributed this to the fact that employees are one of the most important assets of an organization. As such, an effective leader must adopt an effective leadership style that inspires his followers towards the attainment of the organizational goals. The content of leadership also brought me to the aspect of collaborative leaders hip style that leaders might adopt as way of fostering teamwork in an organization. In this regard, the content demonstrated the importance of collaboration between managers and employees in an organization. Managers can build effective teams by adopting a collaborative leadership approach. My improved understanding of managing people and fostering collaboration through leadership has had a positive impact on the value that I will bring to my role within an organization. ... This follows my improved understanding that collaborative leadership motivates employees to work hard towards the attainment of organizational goals. 2. Week 3 Sentence Global warming is one of the major environmental problems facing the world today. Pollutants from companies have been cited as one of the major causes of environmental degradation in the world today. As such, I inspire to make the world better by minimizing the level of emissions and promoting responsible disposal of waste products in the organization where I work. Minimizing the level of emission will help mitigate the global warming problem that continues to impact negatively on the world. At the same time, promoting responsible disposal of waste products will help create a society that is not only clean, but also healthy to people. To become a manager who ensures that the organization I work for protects the environment through responsible disposal of waste product and minimization of pollution, I intend to sensiti ze the employees and colleagues in the organization on the need to protect the environment from pollution. Doing so will make other managers in the organization, as well as employees understand why protecting the environment is important to the community around and the world at large. To ensure that my relationship with my spouse and family become an enduring source of happiness, I intend to respect family values. This begins by showing love and respect to my spouse and family. At the same time, I will ensure that there is effective communication between them and myself. Maintaining effective communication will help solve grievances that may threaten the relationship and happiness. Maintaining faithfulness with my spouse will also be important for building trust, which

Lets Be a Good Listener Essay Example for Free

Lets Be a Good Listener Essay I. Attention Grabber Malaysia currently was buzzing around with the incident that happened between an Indian college student with the first lady of One Voice One Malaysia. The scene which was recorded at Universiti Utara Malaysia in north Malaysia had been a very devastated story among the students and the government itself. These phenomena really taught us how two person or two different people learn to be a good speaker and a good listener. So, how are we going to build the attitude in ourselves to be a good listener when someone is talking? How are we going to react and to respond? II. Introductory Remarks Do you know that being a good listener to someone that we love or to somebody that really needs someone to hear them is actually a very well manner attitude? Everybody in this world needs someone to be with them to listen and to share something together. Therefore, you will learn more how to be a good listener in person and how to gain your humanity attitude. III. Reveal Topic As for today, I would like to elaborate and to highlight some important tips on how to be a good listener to everybody. IV. Preview Listening is an essential part of communication, and it is different from hearing. Being a good and patient listener helps you not only solve many problems at work or home, but also to see the world through the eyes of others, thereby opening your understanding and enhancing your capacity for empathy. [ Let me start with the steps and skills of being a good listener ] BODY i. Place yourself in the other persons shoes. a) look at the problems from the other persons perspective and actively try to see his or her point of view. b) It is not a good idea to consider yourself to be smarter than the speaker and assume that if you had been in his or her shoes, you would have seen your way through the problem much faster. c) Remember you have two ears and one mouth for a reason. ii. Create a conducive physical and mental space. a) Remove all distractions and give all of your attention. b) Turn off cell phones because it may be easiest to arrange to talk somewhere that distractions will not occur. c) Quiet your mind and open yourself to whatever the person might have to say. iii. Stop talking and try to be silent. a) It might sound obvious and trite, but one of the biggest obstacles to listening, for many people, is resisting the impulse thoughts. b) Likewise, many think that empathy means sharing with the listener similar experiences that the listener has had. Both can be helpful, but they are easily abused. c) Put aside your own needs, and wait for the other person to talk at their own pace. iv. Follow and encourage the speaker with body language. a) Nodding your head will indicate you hear what the speaker is saying, and will encourage them to continue. b) Adopting body postures, positions and movements that are similar to the speaker will allow the speaker to relax and open up more. c) Try to reassure the speaker that all is well. d) Whatever the conclusion of the conversation, let the speaker know that you have been happy to listen and to be a sounding board. e) Reassure the speaker of your intention to keep the discussion confidential. [ So, here I will sum up the importance of being a good listener.] CONCLUSION A. Summary of Main Points In a nutshell, I think one of the best way to be a good human being is to be a good listener. Not only listen to their problems but listen what they might want to share. The happiness, miserable, dissatisfaction and everything. Remember, that what goes around comes around. B. Concluding Remarks In my observation, I think that Malaysians are lousy listeners. Let us start changing our attitude to being a good listener. Let’s start listening to our surrounding and giving respond to our society. All in all we can be a good listener in the world.

Fitbit: SWOT and PESTEL Analysis

Fitbit: SWOT and PESTEL Analysis Overview Fitbit was founded as Healthy Metrics Research, Inc. in 2007 by James Park and Eric Friedman. The first product by Fitbit was launched later in 2009—the Fitbit Tracker. It was a small black device that could be clipped onto clothing and tracked steps taken, distance traveled, calories burned, activity intensity, and sleep quality by combining an internal accelerometer with user data. A user could then upload their data to the Fitbit website, where they could see an overview of their physical activity, set and track specific goals, keep activity logs, and interact with friends. Initially, the Fitbit Tracker was only available online, but later was introduced into the retail store market through Best Buy.   Fitbit continued with the clip design type until later introducing the well-known wristband style commonly seen today which introduced even more features in 2013, and later introduced smartwatches beginning in 2015. By August 2015, Fitbit had two clippable activity trackers, four wristband-style trackers, and a smart scale on the market. Prices ranged from $99.95 to $249.95, depending on the product and its functions. By the time Fitbit went public in 2015, Fitbit led the U.S. fitness-tracker market with a share of 76 percent (globally with a share of 35 percent), and revenue had been growing every quarter since 2011. In the first half of 2015 alone, Fitbit generated $737 million of revenue with 8.3 million devices sold, with 80 percent of Fitbit orders being placed on Amazon or Fitbit’s official online shop. However, Fitbit was starting to face some strong competition, as more and more competitors began entering the market such as Garmin, Nike, Samsung, Xiaomi, and Apple. The most notable competitor’s product to enter the market was with the introduction of the Apple Watch in April 2015, which quickly captured the second largest global wearable device market share at 19.9 percent and caused Fitbit to fall from 35 percent to 24.3 percent global market share. Analysis   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In order to better understand the situation that Fitbit is in, a SWOT analysis will be performed and a Porter’s Five Forces model will be created. SWOT Analysis Strengths: As one of the early movers in the wearable device industry, Fitbit was able to capture a commanding size of market share while they built their brand and established a solid user-base. Fitbit also offers many choices to consumers with their different types of products—namely the wristbands and smartwatches—but they were able to offer them in different colors and functionality as to be able to offer a whole range of products at different price points in order to maximize customer reach. Fitbit has also partnered with insurance companies in order to offer programs that emphasize physical activity while providing individuals that take advantage of the programs lower insurance premiums. Weaknesses: Fitbit faces strong competition from competitors like Apple, Samsung, Nike, Garmin, and Xiaomi. As a relatively new company, Fitbit does not have the established customer base and brand loyalists like these other companies have, and as such are having to make up ground in order to effectively compete. Fitbit also only has one successful product line—their fitness tracking wearable devices—while the other companies have products like computers, phones, and apparel that lower their overall risk since they are much more diversified in their overall product mix as a company. Opportunities: As mentioned in the Strengths section, Fitbit has some existing partnerships with health insurance agencies, but there is a tremendous amount of growth left in this area. Partnerships could also be created with companies for services for their employees as well as hospitals for patient monitoring and physical therapy. In the era of big data, Fitbit has an opportunity to be able to sell collected health and behavior data to health insurance companies and universities, but consumer privacy is crucial. Threats: As mentioned in the Weaknesses section, Fitbit faces stiff competition in the wearables market. Apple has a cult-like following of people loyal to its brand, while Xiaomi has taken control of the Chinese market with a much lower priced alternative to Fitbit’s trackers. These all threaten Fitbit’s market position, and as such, Fitbit needs to stay on the cutting edge of technological offerings with its devices in order to maintain their industry leader status as the market continues to grow due to increased health awareness by consumers. Porter’s Five Forces Model Bargaining Power of Buyers: The bargaining power of buyers is at a high level, as there are many alternatives to Fitbit’s products which range anywhere from $34 to $850+, so switching costs are very low. This has forced Fitbit to drive innovation in their products in order to keep consumers engaged and for Fitbit to maintain their status as the leading brand in the industry. Bargaining Power of Suppliers: The bargaining power of suppliers is at a low level, since Fitbit mainly outsources their manufacturing to companies in China and also buy product from them in bulk. Fitbit also has the ability to switch between any number of suppliers in China, and the entire design of the product is intellectual property of Fitbit with the software being written to the device by Fitbit employees themselves. Threat of Substitutes: The threat of substitutes is at a high level, as smartphones are beginning to integrated many features of Fitbit’s wristbands and smartwatches. Smartwatches are also becoming more dominant in the wearables market, as they are also integrating features from Fitbit’s wristband product. Threat of New Entrants: The threat of new entrants is at a moderate level, there are many barriers to entry in the wearables market—namely significant capital investment, as the products need to be manufactured and distribution channels need to be established. Since competition is high, a lot of human and monetary capital is needed for research and development as well. Level of Competitive Rivalry in the Industry: The level of competitive rivalry in the industry is high. Fitbit has positioned itself as a premium brand in the industry, but other wearables offer much of the same functionality as Fitbit’s. Even though Fitbit has a tremendous advantage with being one of the first movers, Fitbit still needs to be able to differentiate itself from their competitors as the wearables market becomes more saturated. Overall: From the Porter’s Five Forces model, buyer power, competitive rivalry, and threat of substitutes are all at a high level, which can make it challenging in the fitness wearables industry to be successful and also sustain a competitive advantage. In order to do this, Fitbit must continue to drive innovation within the industry in order to retain its leadership status. Alternatives The following are strategic directions Fitbit could move in in order to capture more market share and/or increase profit. Expand Internationally As mentioned in the Overview, Fitbit in mid-2015 had a US market share of 76 percent, while their global market share was 24.3 percent. This shows that while Fitbit had a commanding lead here in the United States, it has tremendous potential for growth internationally. Marketing efforts may need to increase internationally in order to bring awareness to the brand, as Fitbit may not be as internationally recognized as their competitors since Fitbit is relatively young as a company. However, since Fitbit has positioned itself as a premium brand, they may need to adjust product offerings for other countries that have vastly different cultures and living standards compared to here in the United States. There is also potential here to increase the total potential market share for the industry as a whole and drive industry growth as a whole. Increase Brand and Product Awareness Since Fitbit is a relatively newer company, they do not have the brand recognition that their competitors like Apple, Garmin, Samsung, Nike, and Xiaomi have, at least on a global perspective. Here in the United States, Fitbit is very much a household name and is pretty much synonymous with fitness tracking, as can be seen by its commanding 76 percent market share (per the case as of mid-2015). Consumers may also not be aware of the range of products that Fitbit offers, so they may not know that a product may be available that fits their price and functionality needs. Even though Exhibit 7 in the case shows that Fitbit has double the next competitor’s percentage for consumers purchasing intentions for a wearable device within the next 12 months—42 percent compared with Apple’s 21 percent—it would be a good idea for Fitbit to be producing more surveys in order to better understand consumers’ preferences so that Fitbit can potentially better position itself within the market as well as understand how consumers view their brand and what features may increase usage. Add Features In this industry, there is high buyer power, competitive rivalry, and threat of substitutes as shown in the Porter’s Five Forces model. In order to overcome these, Fitbit must continue to invest in research and development and drive innovation in the industry if they wish to remain the market leader, so this means continually offering new and unique features to their products in order to create value and increase customers’ willingness to pay. Certain kinds of features, like a camera for instance, may necessitate being added to the smartwatch over the wristband in order to differentiate the products and offer multiple price points to consumers. Fitbit could also integrate their products more with social media like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter in order to potentially restore some consumer interest, since consumers may be able to better track their friends’ activity as well as share their own. Increase Focus on Health and Wellness   Fitbit has a tremendous opportunity to grow in the health and wellness space by potentially integrating their product into hospitals for them to use to assist patients with health monitoring like glucose, blood sugar, and the heart in activities like physical therapy sessions. Alerts could even be set up for medications. This information could then be linked back to their healthcare provider for analyzing long term trends in a patient’s health. This would be a completely new addition to the fitness tracking wearables industry and could drive high amounts of growth as Fitbit’s product transitions from that of a ‘want’ to more of a ‘need.’ This could also help Fitbit connect with older customers rather than just targeting and connecting with the young and fit customer segments.   Ã‚  The downside of this is it could potentially be very costly and require high levels of research and development in order to deliver products that healthcare providers would require. This would also be dependent on establishing partnerships with healthcare providers. Sell Data In the era of big data, Fitbit has the potential to profit from selling user activity data that is collected when uploaded to their website by the user. The data could then be used by health insurance companies and universities for research. Using machine learning, patterns could be detected from user behavior data that could improve product positioning and customer targeting for Fitbit, provide health and activity insights that may not have been previously known, and also help health insurance companies establish health programs that could lower premiums after studying how certain levels and types of physical activity affected an individual’s health risks. The key issue here, however, is customer privacy. According to the case, Fitbit announced that it was compliant with the U.S. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) in September 2015, which indicates that Fitbit is already establishing protections for customers’ data and its security. Analysis and Discussion   This section will detail the recommended path for Fitbit, as well as discuss what I have personally learned about myself through the course. Recommendation Fitbit built its brand on providing a way for consumers to have a fun and engaging way to track their fitness goals, which also provides the background and experience needed to expand efforts into providing meaningful insights into an individual’s health. Fitbit has an incredible opportunity for long-term growth if they focus on what has made them into the market leader they are today, and focus their efforts on overall health and wellness by providing easier and more in depth ways for patients and healthcare providers to track an individual’s data. Fitbit’s style will also help to replace bulky devices that are not aesthetically pleasing. Fitbit will need to conduct market research to understand what patients and healthcare providers require in order to better develop the tools they need and know the data that needs tracking. This effort will also require Fitbit to invest in research and development to meet those needs. Partnerships could be created not only with healthcare providers, but with insurance companies and medical device companies as well. If Fitbit is able to integrate other medical devices into its app, then they would be able to gain a further edge over their competitors by offering more features and utility, which could be an incredible competitive advantage, especially with how high the competitive rivalry in the industry is as shown previously in the Porter’s Five Forces model. According to the case, corporate clients account for less than 10 percent of Fitbit’s business, so there is tremendous opportunity for growth there as well. Especially if there is a partnership formed between the corporation, Fitbit, and the insurance company to be able to provide cheaper insurance premiums for employees as well as cut health care costs for the corporation. This effort could also be combined with selling data uploaded through Fitbit’s app, and Fitbit is already showing they take data security seriously since they have become HIPAA compliant. If partnerships are being formed with insurance companies, they can use the data as mentioned previously to study how certain health habits can reduce certain health risks in order to form wellness programs that provide discounts to any consumer that uses a Fitbit device and willingly shares their health activity to earn the discounts. Ultimately, these efforts will help Fitbit to position itself and its products as the go-to for health and fitness tracking by transitioning its products from that of a ‘want’ to more of a ‘need,’ which will build their competitive advantage and further differentiate Fitbit from their competitors. Media Article Analysis: Effects of High Protein Diet Media Article Analysis: Effects of High Protein Diet Introduction Media claim from ‘The Telegraph’ that high ingestion of protein would be ‘as bad as smoking 20 cigarettes a day’ and ‘have as higher risk of developing cancer as smoking 20 cigarettes a day’ is misleading and misinterpreting to the readers of general public. The article itself is over simplified making the actual study that the article was based upon, over exaggerated and misleading. Dangers of reading this claim would suggest eating less foods containing protein in middle-age individuals. Proteins are one of the major components to sustain a healthy lifestyle through all ages. () Proteins are large biological molecules consisting of one or more chains of amino acid. Main functions of protein within living organism are to replicate DNA, responding to stimuli, transporting molecules and catalysing metabolic reactions. (†¦) Although the alternative claims are found further down the article suggesting it is not as crucial to eat protein rich diet and maintaining healthy diet regardless of age, the article written suggesting that protein rich diet may be as bad as smoking 20 cigarettes a day through developing cancerous cells was written in the first few sentences. This may suggest to the public readers that they might need to change their diet. By posting this statement on the first few paragraphs the reader might only pick out the points that they are interested in and not continuing reading the article where most of the alternative suggestions are made by different professors and doctors. Describe media claim ‘High-protein diet ‘as bad as smoking’ published by ‘The Telegraph’ on 14th March 2014, written by Sarah Knapton was published to give the readers the idea of how high protein diet has the same effect of developing cancer as smoking 20 cigarettes a day. Researchers tracked thousands of adults for 20 years and found that consumption of high protein diet may have ‘The risk is nearly as high as the danger of developing cancer by smoking 20 cigarettes each day’. Dr Valter Longo of University of Southern California stated: â€Å"we provide convincing evidence that a high-protein diet – particularly if the proteins are derived from animals – is nearly as bad as smoking for your health’. Other comments from Dr Eileen Crimmins stated that with low protein diet the overall mortality longevity may be increased plus increasing an overall prevention of developing cancer in the middle-age individuals. With that in mind another proposition was made that older-aged individuals may need to avoid low-protein diets to allow maintenance of healthy weight and protection from frailty. In the article it is also stated other perspectives of low and high intakes of proteins. Dr Gunter Kuhnle and Prof Naveed Saattar stated that the results may come from a ‘survival bais’ plus public view on the article stating: â€Å"The smoker thinks: why bother quitting smoking if my cheese and ham sandwich is just as bad for me?’à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ° What is claim based on? Media has written this claim based up on ‘Low Protein Intake Is Associated with a Major Reduction in IGF-1, Cancer, and Overall Mortality in the 65 and Younger but Not Older Population’ study by several study groups from USA, Italy and Ecuador. The report was published by cell metabolism. The aim was to find if low protein intake associated with reduction in IGF-1, Cancer and overall mortality in adults ages 50 and over. Recommendations made: Reduction of protein intake may prevent development of cancer cells from 50+ individuals Reduction in red meat intake What is mechanism/theory to support claim? Somatomedin C also known as insulin-like grown factor 1(IGF-1), is a protein encoded within humans by the IGF-1 gene, consisting of 70 amino acids in a single chain with three iramolecular bisulfide bridges.(†¦) In 1970’s its effects were termed as nonsuppressible insulin-like activity (NSILA). It’s a hormone that has similar molecular structure compare to insulin.(†¦) IGF-1 has important roles through childhood growth to adulthood anabolic effects.(†¦) Cancer is an abnormal mass, resulted in dividing cells within tissues cell infrastructure. Cancer cells divide and uncontrollably grow, forming malignant tumorous growth, invading close part within the body. (†¦) Cancerous cells may also spread through the blood stream or lymphatic system, resulting in invading distant parts within body infrastructure. There are 200 different type of cancers that affect human body, over 60 different organs where cancerous tumours may develop. (†¦)Some of the tumours within the body are not cancerous, benignit tumours do spread within the cell but does not infiltrate neighbouring tissues nor do they spread throughout the body.(†¦) There are different studies in which ingestion of low protein diet have been found to be of benefit in the mid-age individuals, plus study’s that comply of ingestion of high protein may develop cancerous cells or speed up the growth of the tumour through IGF-1. (†¦) The growth hormone (IGF-1) not only encourages growth of healthy cells, but also provides sources in increasing cancer cell growth. (†¦) study suggested that increasing 10ng/ml of IGF-1 with the high protein diet have 9% higher chance of developing and dying of cancer compare to low-protein diet. But the proteins that the studies were analysing two-thirds of the protein resurces came from animal produce. When the study was performed on mice, they have found that from animal source proteins tend to have an effect on the growth of cancerous cells, whereas plant derivatives seemed to considered to be more of a ‘safer’ option. (†¦) What evidence is there to support/refute claim? Many studies were performed on low consumption of proteins and relationship between decreasing the development of cancerous cells. From the Cell metabolism article et al 2014, that this media article was based on suggested that from performing experiments on mice and monitoring human population of 50-65 and 65+ year old groups found that there is a correlation between consumption of high-protein diet and development of cancerous cell. But the article also suggested to look into 65+ year old group as instead of providing low-protein diet may have an opposite effect, promoting muscular atrophy and weight loss. Moreover, elder generations turn beneficial effects of protein restriction on mortality, into negative. Another study by Gyrd-Hansen et al 2004 proposed that ‘Heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) promotes cancer cell viability by safeguarding lysosomal integrity’. The study came to a conclusion that Hsp70 has provided a platform for further investigation in alteration in cancerous cells, decreasing stability of lysosomes. So by finding this protein and deplete it from the cancerous cell it will destabilise lysosomal membrane which will then result in cancer cell depletion. On the other hand study from USA suggested that Mitrogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) provided strong correlation that inhibitors of signal-regulated kinase (ERK) MAPK will provide effective antiseptic agents for treating wild range of human cancerous cells.( P JRoberts et al 2007) Summary The media article did provide some good evidence towards the end from different professors and doctors from both sides supporting the study that high-protein diets may have an effect of cancer development and others saying that more research need to be done to provide more of a valid proposal on high-protein ingestion and development of cancerous cells within the body. Conclusion The media article claim was over simplified and suggested false claim at the beginning of the article to the general public. Although the study which this article was based up on did provide information on low protein intake has effect on reducing the risk of developing cancerous cells, the claim that is made by the newspaper was falsely advertised, misleading general public in thinking that protein foods such as ‘meats’ may be harmful to their health. But in actual fact proteins have to be a part of healthy lifestyle.

Transportation and Distribution Management

Transportation and Distribution Management Transportations and distribution industry plays an important role in bridging the gap between the producer and the consumer. Forms of transportation available include air, water, rail and land. The transport industry is one of the driving forces for economic development. The cost of transportation is a major cost that all firms in this industry would like to reduce (Markowitz, 2011). The economic benefits of reducing transportation cost are notable and are a direct way of improving profits for any firm. According to Hines (2004) the question of how to reduce these cost remain one of the constantly explored by many transportation firms. Each firm desires to develop an effective strategy to reduce the costs. Distributions is important since it ensures production and needs are in balanced thus it is an important part of the economy. Moving products from producers to the consumers regionally, nationally and internationally can account for more than half of the total cost of the products. Therefore, the management of transportation and distribution should focus on the economic aspects (Rodrigue, et al. 2010). Efficiency and effectiveness of the transport system is vital in reducing the costs. Subsequently, management of the operations includes analysis of the costs of everything involved. Operations administration is carried out depending on the nature of the products or services that the organization is dealing in. Discussion and Analysis On 31 November 1981, I and five other partners came together and initiated a privately own a transport company Swift world transport Ltd. The company provides innovative, cost effective and reliable transportation of food products. Swift world transport Ltd specializes in food products shipment and carriage between various states and towns. After realizing that an opportunity exists in coordinating of food products, we launched a strategy to fill the void. Our trucks and carriers deliver food products to one destination and return with another load to another destination. The company desires not only to meet customerà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s expectations but also to exceed it every time. Currently we have over 500 trucks operating around five states. Since transport costs account for a considerable portion of the selling price of food products, we put emphasis on making smart economic decision (Rodrigue, et al. 2010). Swift world transport Ltd. Deals with a wide range of food products. The products range from cereals, soft drinks, biscuits and cookies, baked goods, ready meals and frozen foods. Other products that we transport in smaller quantities include dairy products, honey and seafood. Swift world transport Ltd. Is ISO-certified and will be celebrating 30 years in existence late this year. Though the company began from humble beginnings, it has grown to be one of the market leaders in transportation of food products. It has more than 300 employees and is strategically located with its head office in New York. Swift world transport Ltd upholds integrity and abides by the rules and regulations in the transport industry (Markowitz, 2011). At Swift world transport Ltd we value the customers hence we use the latest technology and equipments in handling the products to meet customerà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s needs of quality. We have refrigeration services to keep perishable products from being spoilt. The ministry of health officials has approved our warehouses as safe for storage of edible products. Our trucks are monitored via satellite hence we have an error free billing system (Rodrigue, et al. 2010). Swift world transport Ltd. Has three main departments. The first department deals with the transport infrastructure. These include the trucks and the sea vessels. The second department includes the food handling facilities such as refrigerators and warehouses. Finally, the last department ensures that there is always adequate supply of the products depending on the demand. Physical distribution involves the transportation of the food products from the various sources to the customers. The manager directing the physical distribution has the responsibility of assessing and controlling the cost of transport. He is also charged with the responsibility of ensuring the most efficient way of storing them. This in some cases may require warehouses hence inventory control. A manager should thus ensure that the right goods arrive at the proper destination in the right condition and to the correct client. As explained by Halldorsson et al. (2003) the goods should be in the right quantity. The transportation strategy adopted by the Swift world transport Ltd swiftly responds to all aspects of our operations with priority on customers and suppliers. The strategy acknowledges customer requirements as an important aspect of all its activities. The supply chain is a involves movement of products from suppliers to the customer. The transportation activities should focus on meeting customer needs. Transportation and shipment must therefore progress according to the timings (Rodrigue, et al. 2010). Customers require that products be delivered at their premises on a particular day and time. This needs to be accomplished in order to provide customer satisfaction. Being able to meet these deadlines has given Swift world transport Ltd a competitive advantage over other firms. The size of our firm also causes our customers to trust in our ability to be reliable. They believe that small firms are not reliable. Comparing performance is important for the firm to know how well our stra tegies are working (Larson, Halldorsson, 2004). In order to remain economically sound, we measure our expenses every now and then in order to have tight control over them. Estimation of general expenses and freight costs assists the company in budgeting. A supply chain is a system that brings organizations, people, information and other resources in bridging the gap by ensuring that goods and services move from supplier to consumers. Supply chains ensure that goods are delivered to the end user. The management of a supply chain involves planning and management of activities ranging from sourcing, procurement and the logistics. At Swift world transport Ltd. coordination and collaboration with the suppliers and customers and other third party service providers is our priority. The company has created a supply chain that integrates all activities with the main responsibility of linking our suppliers and the customers (Rodrigue, et al. 2010). A model of a supply chain begins from receiving the products from producers and suppliers and ends with the delivering to the consumer. Swift world transport Ltd adopted the model whose framework is developed on business processes that are not only cross firm but also cross functional. A team manage s the cross-functional processes with representatives from purchasing, finance, logistics and research and development (Halldorsson, et al. 2003). Since each process interacts with customers and suppliers at some point, customer relations and supplierà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s relations form an important part in the supply chain. The company must make the right decision when moving products from one point to the other. Distributing products faster and cheaply leads to higher profits and more satisfied customers. In order to do this, Swift world transport Ltd stays informed on the current trend within the industry. For illustration, most companies are moving in the southern states because where doing business is more cost effective. The company has been analyzing facts and trying to make a decision whether to move south. In 1990, Swift world transport Ltd. adopted the supply chain management (SCM). This was adopted after realization that most food products require integration of many business processes, from the original supplier to the customer (Halldorsson, et al. 2003). The suppliers provide the company with products, services and important information that boost our business. SCM enables us to exchange information with other stakeholders regarding market fluctuation. After realizing the importance of information, we adapted the SCM to enable us access relevant information. This is made possible since all the companies in the supply chain help optimize the entire chain. The company can therefore plan its distribution activities better hence leading to customer satisfaction. In addition, incorporation of SCM leads to reduction of competition (Hines, 2004). This is because the competition is not from one company to the other but on supply chain and supply chain. The aim of supply chain management is to uphold customer satisfaction by using the available resources efficiently. It seeks to keep the demand and supply at equilibrium. Since many food products are perishable, it pays to liaise with producers to minimize bottlenecks. The products are obtained from farmers and suppliers at the lowest cost (Hines, 2004). Transporting is followed by distribution and finally delivering the products to customer markets. Conclusion One of the main challenges that Swift world transport Ltd faces is the presence of congestion in our road system. The causes of congestion come from higher requirement for mobility, which many times go beyond the facilities that support it. Other causes can be random events like accidents, which normally disrupts the flow of vehicles. Congestion is not only present on the roads, concentration of traffic is observed even on maritime transport. This is so common especially in terms of weight. Traffic concentration is causing many problems at the ports. In the past few decades, international trade has been experiencing higher growth than the global economy resulting in congestion at the ports. Congestion has the effect of delaying products on the road hence causing late Deliveries. Late deliveries in turn lead to loss if business opportunities and dissatisfied customers. Recommendation As a major stakeholder in the transport industry, we have joint hands with other like-minded firms to put pressure on government to build more road network. A transport policy that will provide solutions to congestion problems should be developed. This requires long term planning to build of more roads and ports in order to ease the congestion. States with port facility should apply for grants from the federal government in order to improve their inadequate facilities. These are the solutions to preventing the constant congestion.

Hourly Nursing Rounds to Decrease Patient Falls Essay -- Nursing Profe

Patients are falling in hospitals and nursing homes on a regular basis. The number of falls per hospital has caused injury and death to some, and has cost hospitals a lot of money. Patients feel like nurses have a lot of work to do, and tend not to bother them when they want to go to the bathroom, which is the reasoning behind why many patients are falling out of bed. Many believe that falls should not happen in hospitals, and many insurance companies are no longer willing to cover the costs associated with patients falling. Therefore, many hospitals have looked for ways to implement interventions that will reduce the number of falls, because it is something that can be prevented to begin with. The articles that I have chosen for this paper reflect how hourly rounding has reduced falls in hospitalized patients. Significance The national fall rate is between 2.3-7.0 falls per 1000 patient days in hospitals, costing hospitals approximately an additional $4,200 per fall (Kalman, 2008). The numbers of falls that happen in hospitals are inevitable. They have caused injury and death for many patients while being hospitalized. It has also put on a toll for the hospital with the amount of money they have to spend that could be spent on other things, especially when this is something that can be prevented in a hospital setting as healthcare members are there to help, and are continuously in and out of patients rooms. In fact, this has become significant recently, as insurance companies are no longer willing to pay for falls that happen in hospitals, along with many other things. â€Å"In 2006, there were 2,591 cases reported of Medicare patients who fell out of bed† (Woodward, 2009, p.201). However, the bigger thing to recognize her... ...ck to Basics: Hourly Nursing Rounds to Decrease Patient Falls and Call Light Usage and Increase Patient Satisfaction. Retrieved from http://stti.confex.com/stti/congrs08/techprogram/paper_37872.htm Meade, C. M., Bursell, A. L., & Ketelsen, L. (2006). Effects of Nursing Rounds on Patients’ Call Light Use, Satisfaction, and Safety. Retrieved from www.studergroup.com/content/ahc_research/...files/0906_calllight.pdf Ulanimo, V. M., & Ligotti, N. (2011). Patient Satisfaction and Patient Safety: Outcomes of Purposeful Rounding. VA national center for patient safety. Retrieved from www.patientsafety.gov/TIPS/Docs/TIPS_JulAug11.pdf Woodward, J. L. (2009). Effects of Rounding on Patient Satisfaction and Patient Safety on a Medical-Surgical Unit. Lippincott williams & wilkins. Retrieved from http://ovidsp.tx.ovid.com.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/sp-3.4.2a/ovidweb.cgi?QS2=434f4

Gender Roles in Japanese Culture Essay -- Traditional Values, Societal

Gender roles are stereotypical labels placed on males and females within a specific culture. In addition, gender stereotypes for males and females are products of cultural aspects rather than their physical differences (Kincaid, 2013). As time inevitably progresses through history, a coherent pattern can be identified in regards to changes in gender stereotypes. These changes in gender roles are directly correlated with the alterations in societal advancement. The changes in societal and cultural development over the course of history can be thoroughly recognized in specifically Japanese culture. Although gender roles in Japanese culture deviates from western norms, perpetual emphasis is placed in adopting desirable characteristics for men and women in media and society (Kincaid, 2013). Contrarily, professional studies, conducted by Yoko Sugihara and Emiko Katsurada, indicate that gender role differences in contemporary society are diminishing as time progresses (Yoko and Katsurada, 2002). In the primordial times of the Heian period, Japan procured and practiced matrilineal systems within their isolated society for over 2,000 years. During the Heian period, situated in 12th century A.D., women were given the privileged of inheriting, managing, and retaining property of their own (Kumar, 2011). It was not until Japanese culture adopted the Confucian ideas of China that the society began to integrate a patriarchal system. Confucian ideals had a prominently drastic impact and influence in Japanese society. The Confucian ethical system stressed the utopian idea of a society in which a hierarchal structure is maintained. The hierarchal structure’s foundation is based upon the subservient and submissive idea of subordinates’ obedi... ...ime in 1997 (Yoko and Katsurada, 2002). Works Cited 1. Sugihara, Yoko, and Emiko Katsurada. "Gender Role Development in Japanese Culture: Diminishing Gender Role Differences in a Contemporary Society." Sex Roles 47.9/10 (2002): 443-452. Academic Search Complete. Web. 16 Dec. 2013. 2. Kincaid, Chris. "A Look at Gender Expectations in Japanese Society." JapanPowered. JapanPowered, 7 July 2013. Web. 16 Dec. 2013. 3. Kumar, V. "Japanese Views on Gender Roles." Vkumar.ExpertsColumn.Com. ExpertsColumn, 26 June 2011. Web. 16 Dec. 2013. 4. Kephart, Jesse. "Gender Roles in Japanese Society." Japan: A Unique Country. Weebly, 2 June 2013. Web. 16 Dec. 2013. 5. Kanagy, Ruthy. "Gender Roles in Japan." Moon Travel Guides. Avalon Travel, 4 Aug. 2013. Web. 17 Dec. 2013. 6. News, S. "Japan's Gender Roles." Teacher Bien. FourHalf Inc, 12 July 2012. Web. 17 Dec. 2013 Gender Roles in Japanese Culture Essay -- Traditional Values, Societal Gender roles are stereotypical labels placed on males and females within a specific culture. In addition, gender stereotypes for males and females are products of cultural aspects rather than their physical differences (Kincaid, 2013). As time inevitably progresses through history, a coherent pattern can be identified in regards to changes in gender stereotypes. These changes in gender roles are directly correlated with the alterations in societal advancement. The changes in societal and cultural development over the course of history can be thoroughly recognized in specifically Japanese culture. Although gender roles in Japanese culture deviates from western norms, perpetual emphasis is placed in adopting desirable characteristics for men and women in media and society (Kincaid, 2013). Contrarily, professional studies, conducted by Yoko Sugihara and Emiko Katsurada, indicate that gender role differences in contemporary society are diminishing as time progresses (Yoko and Katsurada, 2002). In the primordial times of the Heian period, Japan procured and practiced matrilineal systems within their isolated society for over 2,000 years. During the Heian period, situated in 12th century A.D., women were given the privileged of inheriting, managing, and retaining property of their own (Kumar, 2011). It was not until Japanese culture adopted the Confucian ideas of China that the society began to integrate a patriarchal system. Confucian ideals had a prominently drastic impact and influence in Japanese society. The Confucian ethical system stressed the utopian idea of a society in which a hierarchal structure is maintained. The hierarchal structure’s foundation is based upon the subservient and submissive idea of subordinates’ obedi... ...ime in 1997 (Yoko and Katsurada, 2002). Works Cited 1. Sugihara, Yoko, and Emiko Katsurada. "Gender Role Development in Japanese Culture: Diminishing Gender Role Differences in a Contemporary Society." Sex Roles 47.9/10 (2002): 443-452. Academic Search Complete. Web. 16 Dec. 2013. 2. Kincaid, Chris. "A Look at Gender Expectations in Japanese Society." JapanPowered. JapanPowered, 7 July 2013. Web. 16 Dec. 2013. 3. Kumar, V. "Japanese Views on Gender Roles." Vkumar.ExpertsColumn.Com. ExpertsColumn, 26 June 2011. Web. 16 Dec. 2013. 4. Kephart, Jesse. "Gender Roles in Japanese Society." Japan: A Unique Country. Weebly, 2 June 2013. Web. 16 Dec. 2013. 5. Kanagy, Ruthy. "Gender Roles in Japan." Moon Travel Guides. Avalon Travel, 4 Aug. 2013. Web. 17 Dec. 2013. 6. News, S. "Japan's Gender Roles." Teacher Bien. FourHalf Inc, 12 July 2012. Web. 17 Dec. 2013

Perceptions of Use of Force Essay

Introduction Law enforcement officers face extenuating circumstances on a daily basis. Their job is to isolate and de-escalate circumstances that pose a threat and are beyond the control of citizens in their community. There are times officers may need to resort to force if necessary to gain control of an escalating situation. Basic law enforcement training introduces officers to the force options available. Use of force is the amount of effort required by police to compel compliance by an unwilling subject (United States Department of Justice, 2004). The methods used to gain compliance range from verbal commands to the use of deadly force. The use of force can have extensive consequences, both good and bad, for the public, department, and officers involved. Few events in law enforcement attract the attention of the media, political establishment, and police administration more than a use of force incident, specifically an officer-involved shooting. Media coverage molds the perception of the surrounding communities. This also influences the perception of officers and department staff, before and after incidents. Officer Perception Interviews conducted with officers who have been involved in shootings have revealed that while many were well trained for the event, they often were not prepared for the investigation afterward (Pinizzotto, Davis, & Miller, 2006). Some believed investigations centered on finding something the officers did wrong so they could be charged with a crime or a violation of departmental policy. Others felt that the investigations were for the protection of the agency and not necessarily the officers involved (Bohrer & Chaney, 2010). Officers’ actions can be influenced by their experience with use of force incidents and knowledge of what has happened to fellow officers in similar situations. The Public’s Perception Perceptions by the public of officer use of force incidents usually are as wide and diverse as the population, often driven by media coverage, and sometimes influenced by a long-standing bias and mistrust of government (U.S. Department of Justice; Community Relations Services, 1999). Though an officer feels they have the right to shoot, and the evidence supports the officer’s actions, this may not guarantee a positive, or even a neutral, reception from the public. In addition, who the police shoot seems to mold some perceptions. For example, a bank robber armed with a shotgun presents a different connotation than a 14-year-old thief wielding a knife (Bohrer, Kern, & Davis, 2008). Sometimes, it is who the police use the force against that can set the tone surrounding the incident. Communities where residents have perceived a police use of force incident as unjustified have a history of acting out with acts of civil disobedience. There are members of some communities that automatically assume the officer did something wrong in a use of force incident before the circumstances surrounding the incident are revealed. This may be a result of the media’s premature coverage surrounding the incident. A department’s lack of cooperation with the media can develop poor communication between the public and the police, resulting in distrust between all parties. By failing to interact with the media in interviews or providing press releases, the department contributes to the negative perception formed by the media and public. The standard â€Å"no comment† statement given from departments, leaves the media and public with the impression that the police are trying to hide an incident involving excessive use of force. Conclusion Establishing an open and positive working relationship with the media can improve relations between the department and public. The department should take proactive steps to demonstrate their cooperation with the media by having a department representative contact the media before media representatives approach the department. By taking the proactive approach the department demonstrates a desire to release information as it becomes available. Agencies should form a working relationship with the media and encourage them to print and air stories on the responsibilities of officers and the training conducted to enhance their abilities. General information on past shootings, simulator experiences, and the perspective of the reasonable objective officer can help develop a cooperative association (Masters, 2000). Such a collaborative effort between the police and the media is not a magic pill and will not alleviate all of the public misperceptions and problems. However, it may reduce or prevent false perceptions, especially with officer-involved shootings (Pinizzotto, Davis, Bohrer, & Chaney 2009). Working together with the media forms the foundation of public understanding. Joining together and sharing information can help both the police and the media deal with officer use of force incidents in a fair and sensible way, as well as influence the perception of the public in a more positive manner. References Bohrer, S., & Chaney, R. (2010). Police investigations of the use of deadly force can influence perceptions and putcomes. FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin , 21-24. Bohrer, S., Kern, H., & Davis, E. (2008). The deadly dilemma: Shoot or don’t shoot. FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin , 7-12. Masters, B. A. (2000, February 13). Under the gun: I died, I killed, and I saw the nature of deadly force. Washington Post . Pinizzotto, A. J., Davis, E. F., & Miller III, C. E. (2006). Violent encounters: A study of felonious assaults on our nation’s law enforcement officers. Washington, DC. Pinizzotto, A. J., Davis, E., Bohrer, S., & Chaney, R. (2009). Law enforcement perspective on the use of force: hands-on, experimental training for prosecuting attorneys. FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin , 16-21. U.S. Department of Justice; Community Relations Services. (1999). Police use of excessive force: A conciliation handbook for the police and the community. Washington, DC. United States Department of Justice. (2004, June). United States Department of Justice. Retrieved September 12, 2010, from COPS: Community Oriented Policing Services: http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/default.asp/Item=1374

Enterprise Rent-a-Car Essay

Question 1 With the support of relevant examples from the given case: a) Define personnel management and human resource management, and discuss TWO major differences between the two concepts. (6 marks) b) Analyze TWO potential external business environment challenges faced by Enterprise Rent-a-Car and their implications on the Company. (10 marks) c) Based on the challenges analyzed in Question 1b), above, suggest effective human resource planning process and methods, that can be used by Enterprise Rent-a-Car in determining the manpower needs for it’s international business expansion. Justify your answer with specific examples. (10 marks) Introduction This question will focus on defining and differentiating Personnel Management from HRM, it will also examine some technological and social challenges, as potential external business environment challenges faced by the company, and will discus an effective HR Planning process and method to address those challenges. a) Definitions and Differences Personnel Management: Is the administrative discipline which mainly works around Industrial/ Employee/ Labour Relations and activities connected with grievance handling,  negotiations, enforcement of labour statute, looking after welfare of employees and so on. Human Resource Management: The process of hiring and developing employees so that they become more valuable to the organization and more integrated towards the goals and strategy of the company. One difference between PM and HRM is that in PM, the power distribution is centralized where the top management has full authority in decision-making. Personnel managers are not allowed to take part in any decision which involves employees, or give ideas. HRM, looks for the decentralization of power, where the power between the top, middle and lower management groups is shared. This can be noticed in the Enterprise Career Path graphic in page 4, case study. Mayor responsibilities are shared between General Manager, Group Rental Manager, Area Manager and Branch Manager. Another difference between PM and HRM is that, pay policies in PM is merely based on skills and knowledge required for the perspective jobs only. The value is based on the ability to perform the task and duties required. In HRM, organizations look beyond pay for functional duties. The pay is designed to encourage continuous improvement and job performance. Enterprise applies this concept when they encourage their employees to â€Å"develop a career† instead of â€Å"just perform a task†, by providing training and mentoring to those employees, and, providing opportunities for professional growth by making promotions and transfers available, other than that just the payment. b) External Business Environment Challenges Technological challenge: the rented vehicles tracking system combines the use of automatic vehicle location in each individual vehicle, with software that collects these fleet data for a comprehensive picture of vehicle locations, very helpful for real time updates and for client monitoring in case of  accidents. Nowadays, GPS is commonly used as a vehicle tracking system. This system needs to be monitored and maintained by qualified persons to ensure they work at their best. If these systems do not work properly , services won’t be delivered as they should and customer dissatisfaction will occur. This will result in losses, bad publicity and even a fatality in the event of an accident. Social challenge: the diversity of the labour force might encounter some cultural differences that might need to be addressed to avoid confrontation and to provide a calm, respectful and tolerant work environment. People integration is very important because otherwise the work environment will be tense, co-worker relationships and productivity might be affected. c) HR Planning and Process For the Technological challenge described in item b), above, the Human Resource Planning and Methods suggested would be based in external human resource suppliers. Enterprise has an organizational need to add a department which primary task would be to manage all the communications between the vehicles‘ tracking systems and have all the data updated real time for customer enquiries and monitoring. Enterprise also needs someone to maintain all the systems and software. To be able to achieve all this a lot infrastructure and investment is required, so the solution is to externally recruit a company that provides this services, after evaluating few candidates. For the Social challenge described in item b), above, the Human Resource Planning and Methods suggested would be based in internal human resource supply. The personalities of the staff will be evaluated, the most charismatic one will be appointed as the leader of the Enterprise Social Club, NZ Branch. This Club will be self managed by the staff, promoting interaction, understanding and tolerance between the employees. A local venue will be selected for gatherings, parties and any social event that involves the company. Conclusion The purpose of the question was to determine why and how important HRM is, when dealing with the quantity and quality of the people of a company, and, when trying to fit the objectives, strategies and challenges to a number of employees. SECTION 2: Job analysis and Job design. (24 marks) Question 2 Select ONE of the positions stated in the Enterprise Career Path (on page 4) and suggest the job analysis process and methods you will use to design the position description, person specification and competency profile for this position. (12 marks) Justify your answer with: †¢ A brief explanation of job analysis and TWO of its purposes, †¢ relevant methods/techniques, †¢ specific types of data to be collected for this position, and †¢ relevant examples. Introduction. This question will focus on defining and explaining the purposes of Job Analysis, it will also examine the method, technique and data used to create the Position Description, Person Specification and Competency Profile for an Assistant Manager‘s job. Definition and Purposes of Job Analysis. In a job analysis we study the tasks and skills that make up an employee’s role, the conditions under which those tasks are performed, and the required contacts with others. It is used for writing position descriptions because it’ll summarize the role of a job in the organization, and, in recruitment and selection because it’ll highlight the characteristics a candidate needs to have to fulfill the post. Method and Technique. A relevant method that was used was competency based profiling,by integrating other methods such as observation, and company documentation, to collect the  data from the case study. This methods will determine the skills, knowledge and behaviors that will ensure a successful work performance from the employee. In this case , for an Assistant manager, some of  the competencies that Enterprise look for are: to be able to adapt to suit the audience, to work cooperatively, get things done creatively, amongst others. Types of Data collected for this position. For this position the following data was identified: Position: Assistant Manager Duties: provide great customer experience, market the business, sell the service, deal with business partners such as insurance companies, dealerships and auto body shops. Work environment: branch office. Relationships: – internal: supervises management assistant and reports to branch manager. – external: business partners and customers. Qualifications and experience: studying first or second year uni + initial classroom based session and on the job training as Management Assistant. Skills: customer service focus, persuasiveness, flexibility, results driven, leadership ability, communication. Example of Job Description, Person Specification and Competency Profile. These elements were integrated in a draft for advertising the position. Assistant Manager for new branch office in NZ. Full time position available for an experienced Assistant Manager at Enterprise-Rent-A-Car, with exceptional selling and communication abilities. The job will require the person to: provide great customer experience, market the business, sell the service, deal with business partners such as insurance companies, dealerships and auto body shops. Previous qualifications or equivalent experience requirements: studying first or second year uni + initial classroom based session and on the job training as Management Assistant. As an Assistant Manager,you will be reporting directly to the Branch Manager and you will be expected to see issues and needs from a customer perspective, to adapt to suit the audience, to be creative about getting things done, to start growing the leaders and managers of the future by supervising the Management Assistant, and to support the professional Enterprise reputation. If you posses skills such as being customer service focused, persuasive, results driven, leadership abilities and communication, we invite you to apply filling the Application Form. Conclusion. This question has explained the central importance of developing an accurate Job Analysis. Demonstrating how all the data gathered from this analysis is used to create a clear and effective Job Description which includes Position Description, Person Specification and Competency Profile. Question 3 Suggest, with justification, FOUR best job designs to be used for the position discussed in Question 2, above, so that it can contribute to the organization effectiveness and the needs of individual workers at Enterprise Rent-a-Car. (12 marks) Include in your answer: †¢ a brief explanation of job design and TWO of its purposes, †¢ FOUR best job designs for use in the given situation, and †¢ relevant examples. Introduction. This question will focus on defining and explaining the purposes of Job Design, it will also examine the best job designs for the proposed Assistant Manager‘s job. Definition and Purposes of Job Design. Job design are all the tasks and activities associated with a particular role. One purpose of job design is to increase employee motivation and productivity. It also helps in designing, redesigning, evaluating and also cutting back responsibilities from a job, adding extra responsibilities to another particular job, trying to match the person’s capabilities with the role. Best Job Designs for the position of Assistant Manager. Job enlargement: this could be used to increase the job scope of the Management assistant to cover the duties of the Assistant manager. Job enrichment: this could be used to increase the job depth of the Management assistant by upgrading the job task mix, increasing motivation and giving the the employee the potential of growth within the company. Workplace flexibility program: this will offer flexible hours of work where the employe could start early and finish early, or having to cover a minimum of weekly hours in the time that is more convenient to the employee, this is attractive for students and parents as they can manage their time more freely. Job sharing: this method could be used to integrate the New Assistant Manager with the organizational culture of the company while temporary sharing the responsibilities with a more experienced Assistant Manager from another branch. Conclusion This question has explained how a Job Design for a particular role can accommodate different types of candidates, starting from people who would like their duties increased, passing through people who would like their job tasks mix upgraded and a more flexible time schedule, to people who could share responsibilities for mutual learning. SECTION 3: Recruitment & Selection. (30 marks) Question 4 If Enterprise Rent-a-Car plans to open a new branch in one of the cities in New Zealand, what would be the BEST recruitment strategy for this new branch to attract qualified candidates for the position you discussed in Question 2, above? (15 marks) Justify your answer with: †¢ the purpose of your proposed recruitment strategy for the selected position at this new branch, †¢ THREE best recruitment methods you would use, †¢ ONE benefit and ONE constraint for each of these recruitment methods, †¢ TWO New Zealand legislative requirements that would affect your recruitment strategy, and †¢ relevant examples. Introduction. This question will focus on describing the Recruitment strategy and method that’ll be used to attract candidates to the Assistant Manager position. Purpose of the Recruitment Strategy. The recruitment strategies that I proposed have the purpose to provide a pool of candidates from where the most suitable candidates will be picked. Recruitment Methods, their Benefits and Constraints. The first recruiting method would be an internal one: a transfer, I would  advertise an application form to transfer an experienced Assistant manager from one of the existing branches. This ensures that the person taking this position has the required experience and knowledge for the role, and that he/she is already familiar with the company’s methods. However this will leave a vacancy in the other branch. The second one is an internal one as well, promotion. I would advertise an application form to promote a Management Assistant from another branch to the position of Assistant Manager. This method can increase motivation within the staff because they see career growth opportunities. However, this can create a high competitive environment where friction between staff members can occur. The third recruiting method that I would use would be an external one, I would advertise the job position to local independent contractors. This might bring a candidate that brings new and fresh ideas to the company and it’s familiar with the new area of the branch in NZ. This method allows to hire people that are specialized in certain areas of expertise. However, this can be expensive. New Zealand legislative requirements that would affect Recruitment Strategies Privacy Act 1993, which establish the rules for dealing with the personal information collected from an employee. Human Right Act, which is designed to ensure that selection of future employees and the promotion of existing ones occur without any discrimination against any particular sector of society. Conclusion For me, the best recruiting strategy in this case is a mixed strategy. Integrating internal and external methods to get the best pool of candidates possible, divided in two groups, one with the ones with the possibility of being transferred or promoted, and another one with the local independent contractors. Question 5 What is the BEST selection strategy you would use to fill in the selected position discussed in Question 4, above? (15 marks) Justify your answer with: †¢ the purpose of your proposed selection strategy for the selected position at this new branch, †¢ THREE best selection methods you would use, †¢ ONE benefit and ONE constraint for each of these selection methods, †¢ TWO New Zealand legislative requirements that would affect your selection strategy, and †¢ relevant examples. Introduction. This question will focus on describing the Selection strategy and method that’ll be used to choose the most suitable candidate for the Assistant Manager position. Purpose of the Selection Strategy. The selection strategies that I proposed have the purpose to narrow the number of candidates for the position of Assistant manager . Selection Methods, Benefits and Constraints. The first selection method that I’d use would be Application Forms customized into two types of candidates, candidates that could apply for possible transfer or promotion on one side, and the ones that could apply as private contractors in the other. The second method that I’d use would be a Face-To-Face interview with the candidates selected for possible transfer or promotion, and the ones selected as private contractors. Then create a shortlist with the qualified candidates. The third selection method that I would use, and that also is a standard of the Enterprise recruitment process, would be an Assessment Day. The shortlisted candidates will take part in practical exercises, individual and group activities. New Zealand legislative requirements that would affect Selection Strategies Employment Relations Act 2000, which establish that either party must not mislead each other in their obligations to each other. (Obligations of good faith) Human Right Act, which is designed to ensure that selection of future employees and the promotion of existing ones occur without any discrimination against any particular sector of society. Conclusion The best Selection Strategy for this proposed position of Assistant Manager is one that integrates Application Forms,to gather the required data, Face-To-Face interviews, to asses first impressions, personality, basic social skills, and an Assessment Day, for group development and team work. SECTION 4: Training Process and Personal Learning and Development Plan. (30 marks) Question 6 One of the competencies outlined in the Skills and Competencies Framework on page 5, above, is customer service focus. Select one of the positions outlined in Enterprise Career Path ( on page 4, above) and discuss how you would use a training process model to prepare, organize, implement, and evaluate the effectiveness of a Customer Service Training Program for the job holders of this position at the new branch in one of the cities of New Zealand. Support your answer with relevant concepts and examples. Invent details as appropriate. Introduction. This question will focus on describing The Training Process Model for a Customer Service Training Program for the position of Assistant Manager (AM). This Program will allow the AM to acquire new skills and knowledge via multimedia material, online assessment and on the job observations. The Training Process Model for a Customer Service Training Program for the position of Assistant Manager (AM). The Training Process Model that I would use involves the following given steps: Step 1: Customer Service Training Program Preparation. In this phase the Customer Service contents related to the duties of the AM position, such as: being able to provide great customer experience, market the business, sell the service, deal with business partners such as insurance companies, dealerships and auto body shops, are identified,the multimedia content is developed. Step 2: Customer Service Training Program Organization. In this phase the content is arranged in learning units and the decision to make the program a Online Web-based Multimedia Training Program is taken. Topics such as: â€Å"Understanding the customer†, â€Å"Customer satisfaction and customer delight†, â€Å"Benefits of Good Customer Service†, â€Å"Internal and External Customers†, etc, will be available 24/7 online. The AM will be able to log in and follow the training at his/hers own pace. Step 3: Customer Service Training Program Implementation. In this phase the Program material is unlocked so the AM can access it via his/hers log in details. The units and lessons are delivered in a variety of formats, video streaming, written essays and case studies. The material will be available 24/7 and this implementation method allows the management to track the participant’s progress. Step 4: Customer Service Training Program Evaluation. In this phase the Participant, in this case the AM, will have to answer scheduled online quizzes, summit written essays, and he/she will be monitored for positive changes in behavior when engaging customers which demonstrates the degree of the Online Web-based Multimedia Training Program effectivity. Question 7 Assume you are in the position discussed in Question 6 , above, develop a Personal Learning and Development Plan (PLDP) that would meet your individual organizational needs of the new branch. Include in your PLDP the following elements: a) The General Competency Questionnaire you have completed ( see page 69 in your Course book ) (3 marks) b) Based on your answer in Question 7a), above, complete the Personal Learning and Development Plan for the position you selected for the discussion. This PLDP will include the following elements: †¢ Learning needs analysis †¢ Learning methods †¢ Learning outcomes †¢ Evaluation of learning outcomes Introduction. This question will focus on illustrating the PLDP based on my General Competency Questionnaire results. This results showed some competencies which need improvement in order to better match the requirements for the role of AM. The following table summarizes the PLDP elements and their relationships, for example, the learning need of â€Å"speaking and presenting to groups† was identified. The learning outcome of this need is â€Å"to deliver important conversations in a confident and articulated way†, the learning methods chosen to improve this area are: â€Å"Videos and Verbal Communication Coaching, body  language.† The ways these learning methods will be analyzed are by Off the job short lectures and presentations. PLDP for an Assistant Manager Learning Method Learning Outcomes Evaluation of Learning Outcomes Communication outwardly. Demonstrations about corporate communication behaviors. Support the professional Enterprise reputation. Superiors’ and stakeholders feedback. Speaking and presenting to groups. Videos and Coaching about public speeches, verbal communication and body language. To deliver important conversations in a conï ¬ dent and articulated way. Off the job – Short Lectures and Presentations. Managing stress & conï ¬â€šict. Role play simulating stressful situations, and demonstrations. To be able to cope with changing circumstances. Co-worker feedback On the job reactions to stressful situations. Developing positive relationships. Demonstrations and case studies about positive relations, positive environments. to be able to maintain and induce positive relationships inside the company. Co-worker feedback. Managing upwards and sideways. Programed demonstrations and group exercises. To be able to work cooperatively. Peers’ and Superiors’ feedback. Learning Need Conclusion From the graphic above I conclude that in order for me to be compatible and capable of taking the Assistant Manager job, I have to improve some important skills like persuasiveness, communication, leadership abilities, patience and a open mind