Monday, September 30, 2019

Automated Voting System

This chapter discuss about the The Student Council elections have always been a perennial activity for every school. It is an activity wherein each student is required to choose from a set of candidates who will represent each position in the Student Council. In order for the student to accomplish this, the student must go through several processes. First the student must go to the Administration Office if he is a registered voter, then goes to the voting area and chooses the candidates he likes. After that, the student submits the filled-up ballot form to the voting administrator in order for his votes to be cast. Then the student is marked with an indelible ink to signify that he has already voted. After all the votes have been cast, the voting procedure goes again through several processes. The votes are collected and are then counted, which could take several hours to several days, depending on the volume of votes. Background of the Study The chapter discuss computers greatly enhance the speed and efficiency of voting process. Results could be attained even right after the elections reducing the time to a mere fraction compared to the time it takes if the voting is done manually. It also increases the level of the voting experience because of multimedia enhancements. The present generation, people became more literate especially with the use of computers. Technologies emerged to introduce many different ways of advancement. Computer machines are of these. Computers now in existence are the most powerful machines than can do anything people’s lives. It is in this effect that the proponent has decided to propose a system to improve the existing manual voting system. The proponent aims to convert the existing manual system into an automated voting system. Information Technology Elections are held in every school year for the BSIT students of Arellano University-Pasig. Where the positions are President, Vice- Presidents, Secretary, Treasurer, Auditor, P. I. O, and First year to Fourth year Representative. Using computers would make the election faster. With the new system, votes are tallied and transmitted electronically.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Bela Bartok (1881-1945) Hungarian Composer

As the tensions of war grew in Europe particularly in the Nazi-subjugated countries, the urge in Bartok to flee Hungary was overwhelming. The first thing he did was send his manuscripts out of Hungary and in 1940 he and his wife made their journey towards America, leaving their son Bela jr. , in Hungary. Though Bartok sought refuge in the United States and gained citizenship in 1945, he did not regard his journey as an exile, but rather an emigration.One of the pleasures that Bartok found in the United States was his privilege to study a compilation of the folk music of Serbia and Croatia at the prestigious Columbia University in New York City. During that time, there spread rumors that Bartok and his family were terribly destitute. However, this was not true for although they were not living a well-off life, he and his family lived decently. When Bela Bartok was diagnosed with leukemia, his hospital fees were shouldered by the American Society for Composers, Authors and Publishers.A nd in a gesture of goodwill, the conductor Serge Koussevitzky was convinced to have his foundation perform a Bartok piece through the conductor Fritz Reiner, and the culmination was the Concerto for Orchestra. IN 1944, Bartok wrote a solo violin sonata for the violinist Yehudi Menuhin, and last two concertos finished by Tibor Serly his Hungarian compatriot. Bartok’s works before his death in 1945 were branded as â€Å"the spirit of the times†. This and countless other bodies acclaimed his accomplishments and works. A large majority of his works was entered in several orchestral repertoires, and virtually all of them remained.Bartok not only left a Hungarian legacy but also, his contemporaries became proud of belonging in the same era as Bartok’s. Bela Bartok passed away peacefully on the 26th of September, 1945 in a hospital in New York. By his side was his wife Ditta Bartok and Bela jr. His remains were buried in New York’s Woodlawn Cemetery but were tra nsferred back to his native Hungary four decades later in 1988. Reference: Unitarian Universalist Historical Society (UUHS. (n. d. ). Bela Bartok. Retrieved June 24, 2007, from http://www25. uua. org/uuhs/duub/articles/belabartok. html

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Engineering Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Engineering - Coursework Example Identify the problem. 2. Find the best solution quickly. 3. Carry out the solution. 4. Get a routine follow-up afterwards. 5. Make sure to check with your doctor occasionally. 1.4: (30 words) First I would completely clean and clear off the workspace. After that, I would lay out all the necessary materials, including the layout above everything and then start my assembly. 1.5: (125 words) Risk assessment in the engineering workshop includes making sure that everything is in place properly before and after work is begun. Hazards may be minimized by ensuring that all elements (whether they be electrical or chemical in nature) are handled appropriately, using proper PPE techniques, precautionary measures, and any other preemptive measures in order to prevent unnecessary injury or damage to property. In order to improve the safety of the workplace in the PPE environment, it is a good idea to make sure that the handling of all materials are in accordance with health regulations as dictate d by the region in which one is living. There may also be various local ordinances one may have to be aware of, so that is important to note. 1.6: (125 words) Cleanliness. The workspace should always be clean and neat. It is a bad idea to even think of accidentally mixing chemicals, which could either explode or give off toxic gases. In a PPE environment that is well-maintained, that is much less likely to happen. The workspace should be cleaned before and after assembly. Orderliness. The workspace should be completely orderly and neat. Every object should have its place. Safety. Every safety measure that is operable should be employed in order to secure and assure the safety of the person or people working in the lab. At no time should any safety regulations be overlooked. Workspace Designed to Code. The workspace should be designed to local and federal code. There aren’t exceptions. Tasks -- Part 2 2.1: (30 words) The chosen events are: A) Fire breakout; and B) Chemical spi llage. Your report should address the points like: How you would report the incident. A) Call the fire department. B) Call the Poison Control Center. The documents you will use. A) Use the document on the fire extinguisher. B) Read about the chemicals involved in the spill. Who you would report this incident to. A) You would report this first to the fire department, then supervisors. B) You would report this first to the paramedics, then to supervisors. If someone was injured how you would get help. A & B) Wait for paramedics to arrive but lay the person flat on their back if possible in either case. 2.2: (30 words) To maintain good working relationships, one must: 1. Be polite, prompt, prepared, and participatory. 2. Maintain professional conduct at all times. 3. Keep one’s workspace clean and neat every day. 2.3 (125 words) 1. Make sure all the exits are marked clearly. A lot of the exits that were noted were not marked clearly as exits†¦ important if there is a fire a nd one needs to escape. 2. Make sure there are easily-readable escape plans posted throughout the building. Occasionally floor plans were hung up regarding which door(s) to escape through when dealing with a fire. However, there were not as many as one would’ve liked. 3. Have the fire department’s number located on all the maps. This will make calling the fire department easy in case of a fire. Also, the number of the local police on campus maps would also be helpful. 4. Have a good intercampus communication

Friday, September 27, 2019

GP210 week 2 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

GP210 week 2 - Research Paper Example nalist views argue that a constitution does not evolve or change; therefore, it will always mean what it meant when it was adopted in a country (Exploring Constitutional Conflicts, 2012). With this view in mind, its interpretation must be in line with the thoughts that the people who came with it had in mind. These people also argue that originalism preserves the authority of the court which is a mandatory element in ensuring that there is the prevalence of justice in a country. Thus, this school of thought believes that the constitution must be interpreted with regard to the views of the original composers. On the other hand, those who oppose this viewpoint argue that no written constitution can anticipate the means that the government might use to oppress people; hence it is sometimes mandatory for judges to fill in the gaps that exist in the constitution through their interpretation (Exploring Constitutional Conflicts, 2012). With these view in mind, the constitution must be interpreted with the needs of the people it is supposed to govern in mind. In addition to this, non-originalism allows judges to rectify inflexible interpretations that no longer serve their original purposes (Whittington, 2001). The need to amend or possibly revoke bad laws that exist in the constitution will be realized with continual originalist interpretations. Other than leave courts to continuously find fault in the constitutional provisions, the people concerned will be obliged to come up with a new constitution that best suits the needs of people. However, coming up with a new constitution is a costly affair and this is the reason why non-original interpretations should be given way. Moreover, they will allow for more enlightened understanding on contemporary issues such as equal treatment of blacks, women and other minority groups (Whittington, 2001). With these views in place, it is clear that non-originalist interpretations of the constitution are more favorable. Apart from

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Communication Technology in Business Research Paper

Communication Technology in Business - Research Paper Example   Businesses that do not maintain adequate communications systems face significant breakdowns inefficiency, cultural development, customer satisfaction, and even profitability. This is why organizations require planning and implementation of communications technologies to ensure that business leaders and support employees have the ability to compete in a rapidly-globalizing business world. Communications technologies provide for instant communications and real-time data transfer, thus creating more predictable business systems and also better knowledge exchange. The ability to communicate with organizational employees, managers, and executives greatly improve the ability to meet vision and mission goals associated with the business. In healthcare, especially, communications technologies improve patient care and also avoid errors that can cost the organization considerable profits. Technology in communication has changed the way businesses communicate with each other. Web-based meet ings, Personal PDA’s, E-mail, Internet chat rooms and cloud computing are essential for keeping our business viable in today’s growing technological world. This report highlights the need for communications technologies at our health care facility to improve our standing as a world-class health center. The costs of establishing age-old technologies to improve business function as considerable. Written communication methods are outdated and often involve considerable bureaucracy to ensure that written files are delivered timely and accurately. Further, written documentation puts a great deal of strain on the environment and therefore becomes a social responsibility issue for this health firm. Currently, nurses and physicians rely on documentation for patient dosing, charted analysis of patient care and symptoms, and also inter-office memos describing new health care policies. It is inefficient and does not serve the needs of this health care center. Older communications technologies, such as television-based training programs used in human resources, require significant costs for implementation of fiber-optic lines, display screens, and the costs of producing multi-media videos. This healthcare facility has relied on these archaic systems for too long and it has greatly disrupted profitability as it relates to operational budget.  Ã‚  

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Hackers week 3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Hackers week 3 - Essay Example Hacking can described as the subculture of people who are focused on exploiting the computer networks vulnerabilities for illegal motives (Schiller, 2010). Hacking can be unethical or ethical depending on the motivation. Ethical hacking is legal and is conducted when repairing the networks or testing the security level (Schiller, 2010). Sometimes the actions of the hacker may be illegal but socially acceptable. For instance, hacking in to a corrupt government website may be socially acceptable since the hacker is able to disseminate information on unacceptable government dealings to the public. However, the hacker has no permission to access the website hence unauthorized to intrude in to the confidentiality of the information which again makes his or her actions illegal. Hacking activities may be legal when authorized by the owner of the system like incase of debugging and repairing a network or when the owner intents to know the security level of the system. Unauthorized hacking without any malicious motive is socially unacceptable and illegal (Schiller, 2010). Hacker subculture can be defined as the community of people focused on exploiting computer and networks security (Schiller, 2010). Commitment of the hacker is important since it defines the main goal and motive of hacking and whether the actions are legal or illegal. The commitment may be unauthorized and illegal like the Black hat hacker malicious activities. Commitment may also to debug or repair security problems which is legal or may be morally ambiguous and intentional like the gray hat hacker activities (Schiller, 2010). However, hackers have different commitments and motivations according to their motive. All hackers exploit systems vulnerabilities and network loopholes but are classified according to the shade of hat which they â€Å"wear† in their hacking operations (Schiller, 2010). Black hat hackers’ motivations are illegal and their commitment to hacking is usually high. They

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Barclays Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Barclays - Coursework Example It has 140, 000 employees located in over fifty countries. It accepts deposits, transfers, protects, lends and invests money for its customers that are located in different countries. The financial organization has a long history. In 1690, two goldsmith bankers; Thomas Gould and John Freame would move from one place to another bearing the sign of the black spread eagle and would accept gold deposits from anyone visiting Lombard Street in the city of London. The black eagle sign was convenient to most people because majority of the population could not read. In 1736, the son in law of John Freame, James Barclay became a partner to the business. Years later and in 1864, the first banking house was erected in Lombard Street and the gold saving and lending business has since evolved into a classic form of financial services organization which is today known as Barclays Bank Plc in UK and that has a global banking branch network. Financial Services Barclays offers a wide range of financia l services. For instance, Barclay’s capital is responsible for managing interest rates, foreign exchange, and equity and commodity risks. Barclay’s capital specializes in three core areas namely; private equity which provides clients with the opportunity to buy privately transacted equities from private companies located in different parts of the world; credit which is comprised of investment grade and high yield bonds and loans; interest for equity products, money markets, fixed income, emerging markets, prime services and commodities. Products offered include; savings accounts, insurance, debit card, online banking, loans etc (Pang, 2009). In general, Barclays deals with retail and commercial banking, investment banking, credit cards, investment and wealth management services. The financial company offers commercial and residential mortgages to individuals and businesses and has flexible terms of repayment. Investors can obtain short term funding by the way of overdr afts which helps them avoid high exchange rate and interest costs. Overdraft provides investors with a more flexible and convenient source of working capital with a repayment period that is renewable upon expiry (Andreeva & Branda, 2009). By linking the interest rate of the overdrawn amounts to the Barclays base rate, the client is cushioned from high but fluctuating interest rates. The bank also offers standby letters of credit of financial guarantees to individual’s who would want to support their trade, corporate or personal related activities with other financial institutions. These guarantees that can also be tailor made include; bonds, maintenance guarantees, performance guarantees, retention money guarantees, advance payment guarantees, indemnities, acceptances among others (Dixon, 2009). The bank also offers a wide range of foreign exchange products including; spot exchange, forward exchange contract and option dated forward exchange contract. Besides these, the compa ny gets to provide a wide range of other financial products and services through mergers and acquisitions. Recently, Barclay’s combines its merger and acquisition and corporate finance divisions into a single unit. The move was intended to bring create a bond between coverage bankers and Mergers and acquisitions bankers who are part of corporate finance team to attract more business to the bank by driving revenue growth and offering strategic financial and investment advisory services. It also provides global ATM services by partnering with five international banks (Deering, 2004). The bank acquired Absa in

Monday, September 23, 2019

Identify the Claim 99.9% of Proper Grammar is Obsolete - CS2 Case Study

Identify the Claim 99.9% of Proper Grammar is Obsolete - CS2 - Case Study Example bject-verb agreement, capital letters, etc is still being followed by main stream publications but it is not the case outside of such environments where correct use of grammar has already started decaying. Sentences structured carefully are disappearing on the internet. As users are getting acquainted of each other’s vocabulary, proper grammar is deteriorating. He recognizes that there is a tendency of feeding customized â€Å"Internet Speak† that is developing among those on the internet. The grammar on formal websites still follows the traditional laid out rules, emails are starting to see a condensed version and instant messaging is even worse. The reason for this is rooted in the belief that expertise is not a necessity and is a waste of money and time. He cites the example of existence of many civilizations for centuries. Also proper use of grammar does not solve any problem as many cannot read at a collegiate level. The author then goes on to sarcastically criticize such form of writing as saying that he wonders how such messages are legible (Wertheimer, 2002). He says that on examining any message, even be it from a CEO, many grammatical errors can be found. He points out the reason why such messages have been working. In the last few years as the use of internet has increased, users have not only tolerated such abuse of grammar but encouraged such styles in order reply to messages as soon as they receive it. Need for speed is the reason behind this development. Punctuating and capitalizing is just a loss of time. Hence the need to be fast has lead to this condensing of sentencing and in turn grammar. One of the examples that author gives is the use of â€Å"g2g† which means â€Å"got to go†. The author goes on to explain that languages demand perfectionism by being grammatically correct but this is not the case on the internet. A communication’s effectiveness is dependent on the speed of the communication. Longer the sentence is slower the process and

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Crime Is a Social Construct Essay Example for Free

Crime Is a Social Construct Essay Crime is a social construct Discuss. This composition will look at crime and its different criminological interpretations. Crime is an umbrella word which covers a diverse range of issues and is dependant upon the theoretical stand point of the writer. Although the wordings of the explanations differ, the implications are consistent (Newburn, 2007. Doherty, 2005). Mclaughlin et al (2006) seems the most relevant for the purpose. They separate crime into three key constituent parts. These are harm, social agreement and the official societal reaction. There are different theoretical interpretations of crime. The product of culturally-bounded social interaction is crime; which is the violation of the social contract (Newburn, 2007. Young, 1995). Societal responses are different dependant upon the society. Theft in the UK may result in caution or non-custodial sentence for a first offence; whereas in Saudi Arabia the offender would lose a hand. Deviance can be perceived as being actions or behaviour which although may not be criminal in nature are at odds with the social norms of the society. Promiscuity is legal, though is perceived as deviant (particularly in females due to patriarchal societal values). Homosexual behaviour, which was previously illegal, has undergone a shift in the moral attitudes of society. The moral’s of society regarding certain activities is not set in stone and it alters over time. This is the view rule-relativists have of crime, as what is appropriate to the society at any given moment in time and may change due to alterations in societal values. Social constructs are the institutions, agencies, judicial bodies and any other mechanisms that are produced to implement social order. These social constructs are not natural phenomena; they are created by the hegemony. Behaviour or activities that offend the social codes practices of a particular community. These codes and practices may be different due to cultural differences. Legal and social codes are not always identical. Laws are the mortar that binds societies and implement its norms. A Muslim man may marry more than one wife in certain countries. In the USA a Mormon may also marry more than one wife. He may bring both wives into this country with both having legal rights as his wife. However even though his culture would allow him to marry another wife, in this country he wouldn’t be allowed to. A man in the UK would not be allowed more than one wife. If he did marry a second wife he would be charged with bigamy. This crime doesn’t harm anyone; however it is classed as being against the social norms of British society. A number of crimes are made due to the state acting as a moral guardian to its community. At the present in Indonesia it is illegal to chew chewing gum, conversely in the UK this would not be seen as a reasonable criminal offence. Governments are not beyond contravening their own statutes, as in the case of prisoners that have been transferred to Guantanamo bay and the acknowledgement that water boarding (a form of torture) had been used upon a few of these prisoners. As well as the state justice there are systems which provide social control, such as private security etc. â€Å"They comprise the numerous forms of social control of crime and deviance that are part of group life† (Henry, 1994). There are informal modes of social control from local communities, such as being â€Å"sent to Coventry! The legal standpoint is simply what is enacted by society as criminal. On the issue of harm Lord Denning’s ruling in Donoghue v Stevenson holds â€Å"what would the man on the Clapham omnibus think†. Legally in addition to the criminal act there has to be a guilty mind, mens rea as well as the criminal act, actus reus. There has to be a legal capacity to commit crime, Doli incapax means that thos e less than eleven years of age and those suffering from mental illness are seen as not being capable of committing crimes. There are also mitigating circumstances; reasons why a criminal act may be seen as reasonable. This can be observed as being the contextual component; evidence of this can be seen in the case of the mignonette (Morrison, 2005). The classicist classification of crime is activities which have a negative impact upon the individuals and upon their property of the state’s electorate. Classicists do not take into account that there might be other factions with conflicting aims or moral codes. This can be perceived prior to the break up of the former Yugoslavia, where each faction had separate societal views. The conservative view of crime is that anything that threatens the social order should be criminal. This follows the classicist view insofar as that but they also include crimes which damage the integrity and morals of society. Those dealing with new deviance theory assert that there needs to be two separate parties. One party behaves or commits certain actions that another party who has differing morality categorizes that party as deviant. The factions in society with greater power impose their moral codes (Young, 1995). With new deviance theory the faction with the most power controls the morals; this doesn’t necessarily translate to being the majority of society. The Marxist viewpoint on crime is from of class and the intensification of social control of society. This viewpoint perceives capitalist societies as being breeding grounds for criminal activities. Theorists believe that only socialist societies can have any expectation of being without crime. Sheptycki (2006) states that â€Å"the roots of crime lie in the social structural inequalities of wealth and power. Capitalist societies promote individual interests over social welfare. The radical left criminological theory is that the nature of an advanced industrial society with its class system and its natural patriarchy is the cause of the prevalence of crime. They furthermore view crime as being more of a predicament for the poor. The way laws have been created can be shown in the disparity in sentencing for property theft when compa red to white-collar crime. Positivist criminology views crime and criminal activity as explainable through the natural sciences. Positivist criminologists look for specific causes for crime through scientific methodology. Whether this is because of biological, psychological and sociological disciplines to be able to quantify criminal behaviour. Positivists deem that there is a â€Å"consensus of value in society that can be scientifically ascertained† (Young, 1995). To bring to a close crime is a social construct. Crime is in addition a component of the larger issue of deviance. It is a consequence of social norms which the government has enacted into laws. The state has the infrastructure to enforce the society’s behavioural codes. By means of these criminological schools all of any given states laws can be identified. Having observed these, the new deviance theory was the most rational, building as it does on previous schools of thought. This holds that the faction with the greater societal power holding the reins to society’s moral codes. At the present time this looks to be direction in which western societies are on the face of it is heading. The Iraq war was implemented by the powerful elite of society.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Chinese Labor and Employment Law Essay Example for Free

Chinese Labor and Employment Law Essay In November 2001, China became a fully admitted member of the World Trade Organization and in n in international trade. China has not only become a major export power, but also an attractive investment target for world trade and investment continues to increase, its labor environment will likely attract more ? 2 1980. At least 130 million of these are migrant workers who move from relatively poor rural areas to urban and industrial centers to work. Many of these migrant workers remit portions of their earnings back to family members in their hometown. Until recently, China has typically had an oversupply of unskilled labor and a shortage of skilled and professional workers. However, in the past several years, some companies in the major industrial hubs have begun to complain about labor shortages. As a result, many companies now raise wages 10 percent or more annually to retain workers, while others have closed their doors and moved to poorer inland areas or countries with cheaper labor. Interestingly, salaries for new university graduates have stagnated university system. While university graduates start their careers with wages comparable to a factory worker, their salaries typically rise much more quickly than those factory workers. How have 35 years. Prior to the early 1980s, nearly all jobs were allocated to citizens through an administrative bureau. Employees could not choose their employer or terminate their employment. Further, regulations set an expectation that the employee would work for the same employer for her or his whole working life. Companies in this era could only terminate employees for gross misconduct. This type of labor market and social safety net was called the Iron Rice Bowl because the employer guaranteed job security and benefits to employees In other words, the benefits could not be taken away 3 In 1983, the government introduced a contract system that attempted to address the low productivity of the labor market by replacing the Iron Rice Bowl with short-term labor contracts. At first, state-owned companies resisted this trend and the government succeeded only in minimal reforms. In 1992, the N required all trade unions to be affiliated with the All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU). This effectively brought labor unions under greater control of the government. The Labor Law of 1994 liberalized the labor market. The labor law, when combined with economic reforms, resulted in more than 40 million lost jobs in government and state-owned enterprises. As a result of the reforms, the government shuttered inefficient businesses and the formerly economically dominant northeast turned into a rustbelt. Meanwhile, Chinese entrepreneurs and Hong Kong investors transformed the formerly weak southeast province of Guangdong into the largest center of manufacturing in the world. In 2008, the government introduced a Labor Contract Law that rolled back some of the laissez-faire approaches to the workforce that the government introduced in the 1990s. This new law abolished the system of at-will employment for most full-time employees and required employers to provide employees with written contracts. Since 2008, the government has also revisited its policy of tight control over the All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU). While all unions must still be approved by and affiliated with ACFTU, it appears that the government is allowing the ACFTU greater authority to advocate for the rights of workers than it did just a few years ago. That said, the government continues to imprison workers who advocate for the formation of independent trade unions. W A G ES Does China have a minimum wage? 4 Yes. There are two standards of minimum wage: monthly and hourly. Minimum wages are set at the provincial and municipal level. The government prohibits employers from reaching an agreement with employees for wages that fall below the local minimum wage standard regardless of whether the employee is still in her or his probation period or internship. A probationary period occurs at the beginning of an employment relationship and allows employers to terminate employees without severance pay up to a maximum of six months, but usually just two months. The probation period allows the employer to make sure the employee is a good fit with the employer before being locked into the full term of the employment contract. Provincial and municipal governments frequently adjust statutory minimum wages. For example, many municipalities have raised their minimum wages twice in the past year alone. Ho It depends on the locality. -time employees is RMB 1,120/month, or roughly $165. However, in the poorer inland city of Chongqing, the minimum wage is RMB 870/month, or roughly $130. Of course, purchasing wages. The relative cost of living in China is lower than in many developed countries, but even when wages are adjusted for relative prices they remain much lower than in highly developed countries. How much do factory workers earn? It depends on the locality, industry, skill level, and a host of other factors. However, several sources keep broad indices of costs for general factory labor across many regions. Although the indices are only rough estimates, they are helpful in gauging wage differentials across the country. For example, a skilled manufacturing employee in Beijing can be hired for 5 RMB 3,000/month, or roughly $445. A similar worker in the poorer inland municipality of Chongqing can be hired for RMB 1,900/month, or roughly $280. To illustrate how important geographic location is in determining wage rates, the average employee salary in Beijing is nearly three times higher than in the poor inland province of Jiangxi. Do Chinese workers get overtime? T , an employer must pay overtime compensation to any employee who works more than 40 hours per week. As a general rule, an employer cannot require overtime of more than one hour per day, or three hours per day under special circumstances, and no more than 36 hours per month. As in many other countries, white collar workers like managers and sales staff are often exempt from the overtime pay rules. The following payment schedule illustrates the overtime pay requirements. E xtended Wor king Hours Typical working day Rest day (min. one per week) (i. e. , weekend) National holiday M inimum O vertime Pay (percent of regular wages) 150 percent 200 percent 300 percent Many migrant workers desperate to earn quick money agree with the employer to work beyond the maximum overtime requirements so they can send extra money home to their families. This type of overtime work is frequently found in industrial hubs and is a contributing cause of recent labor strikes because employees who agree to these arrangements place downward price pressure on wages and upward pressure on hours. Employers are also able to maneuver around overtime regulations by applying to the local labor authorities and asking for approval to use an alternative system of working hours. What are the wage levels for workers who are paid piece-rate? 6 Piece-rate is a compensation system where the employer pays the employee for each unit produced or action performed, not on the basis of time. Piece-rate wages are still a feature of to address the exploitation of employees through piece rates. For example, workers were exploited when employers paid workers at piece-rate, but then fined them for quality defects, tardiness, or no reason at all. These penalties effectively left workers with wages far below what the employer promised the workers during the hiring process. The first principle of piece-rate wages is that employers cannot set a work quota so high that it prevents an employee from completing the work within an eight-hour day or an average 40-hour week.

Friday, September 20, 2019

The Depletion Of Global Oil Reserves Environmental Sciences Essay

The Depletion Of Global Oil Reserves Environmental Sciences Essay The literature review summarized the research done on the problem that global oil reserves are depleting day by day and there is a dire need to find out and utilized alternate energy options especially for a developing country. The depletion of global oil reserves has led to conflicts between the nations and soaring of prices. Oil is the main source of energy and developing countries are facing lot of problems due to shortage of oil in providing their populations better living standards. The literature also covered situation of shortage of oil reserves and energy crises consequent to it. It identifies main consumers of oil in a country and alternate energy resources that could possibly be worked on to meet the energy requirement through sources other than oil. DEPLETION OF GLOBAL OIL RESERVES The API estimated in 1999 the worlds oil supply would be depleted between 2062 and 2094, assuming total world oil reserves between 1.4 and 2 trillion barrels and consumption at 80 million barrels per day. In 2004, total world reserves were estimated to be 1.25 trillion barrels and daily consumption was about 85 million barrels, shifting the estimated oil depletion year to 2057. The US EIA predicted that world consumption of oil will increase to 98.3 million barrels per day in 2015 and 118 in 2030. With 2009 world oil consumption at 84.4, reaching the projected 2015 level of consumption would represent an average annual increase between 2009 and 2015 of 2.7% per year while EIAs own figures show declining consumption and declining supplies during the 2005-2010 period. The worlds oil supply is fixed because petroleum is naturally formed far too slowly to be replaced at the rate at which it is being extracted. Over many millions of years, plankton, bacteria, and other plant and animal matter become buried in sediments on the ocean floor. When conditions are right a lack of oxygen for decomposition, and sufficient depth and temperature of burial these organic remains are converted into petroleum compounds, while the sediment accompanying them is converted into sandstone, siltstone, and other porous sedimentary rock. When capped by impermeable rocks such as shale, salt, or igneous intrusions, they form the petroleum reservoirs which are exploited today. 3.2 ENERGY SECTOR IN PAKISTAN Energy is considered as one of the most important inputs to economic growth and development. Its consumption is also one of the significant indicators of the level of development of any country. It is now well recognized that energy services play a crucial role in enhancing social and economic development. Energy has become an engine of economic growth at local and global level. It is needed worldwide for fostering and sustaining development process perspective of developing or developed states of the economy. Keeping in view the global economic growth coupled with an increase in population, the demand for energy is bound to increase and meeting this demand poses serious challenges at the global level. In coming decades, the demand for energy is expected to grow more rapidly in developing countries. Since independence, the central thrust of Pakistans energy policy has been on augmenting the countrys energy system. As a result of significant planning and public investment, there has been substantial expansion of energy sector. Despite the significant development in the energy sector, Pakistan yet suffers from energy shortage. This situation has been increasingly viewed as a bottleneck to industrial and agricultural sectors that in turn are seen critical in stimulating the economic and social development. Being a developing country, Pakistan has faced the challenge of fueling industry and agriculture sectors adequately for meeting growth targets and providing energy at affordable prices to poor especially those living in the rural areas. The availability of energy at affordable prices can be a major factor that determines a whole array of other productive activities leading to economic growth. NATIONAL ENERGY MIX Energy sector in Pakistan comprises electricity, gas, petroleum, coal and nuclear power. The share of natural gas in primary energy supplies during 2010 reached 45 percent followed by oil (28 percent), hydro electricity (15 percent), coal (10 percent) and nuclear electricity (2 percent). As can be seen Pakistan is dependent on oil and Gas, which together contribute around 73% of the total primary energy supplied. 3.4 POWER GENERATION, SECTORAL DISTRIBUTION AND CONSUMPTION The total installed capacity generation during 2006-07, was 19,440 MW. WAPDA generated 11,363 MW of which, hydle accounts for 56.9 percent or 6,463 MW, thermal accounts for 43.1 percent or 4,900 MW. IPPs generation was 5858 (MW) which constituted 30% of total installed capacity. KESC with 1756 (MW) contributed 9.1% share and nuclear added 2.4%.Number of WAPDA consumers stood at 17 million out of which household accounted for 84%,commercial 13%and industrial and agricultural1.4%each. As on 30th June, 2007 industrial sector consumed 26%, agriculture 12%and households 43% besides commercial and others. The annual per capita electricity consumption in Pakistan is around 320kwh, and this only caters for 60 percent of the population. Forty percent of Pakistanis still have no access to electricity. There is currently load shedding of up to 700 MW a day because of shortage poor transmission capabilities. Electricity demand is expected to grow by eight per cent a year during the period 2005 2015, requiring an annual installation capacity of about 2000 MW for the next 10 years. Currently about 45% of Pakistans power supply is based on natural gas, 28% on oil, 15% on hydro and remaining on coal, nuclear and renewable electricity. Keeping in view the current power mix, it is essential to concentrate on indigenous and cost effective sources for power generation. 3.5 CURRENT ENERGY GAP IN PAKISTAN Pakistan is currently facing electricity shortfall of around 4000-9000 MW. Everyone agrees that an essential precondition for industrial development is an uninterrupted supply of power.The installed capacity for generation of electricity in the country is 11,500 MW of which 82.7 per cent was thermal; 15.3 percent was hydroelectric and 2 percent was nuclear. Pakistan needs to sustain an annual economic growth rate of at least 6 to 7 percent to alleviate poverty and realize desirable socio-economic and human development. To achieve the growth target of GDP, it is absolutely essential that the minimum electricity growth rate is maintained. The provision of adequate and reliable supply of electricity at a reasonable cost is a prerequisite to attain this goal. Power is the prime mover. Any big push of the economy would need accelerated power development. But there is a likelihood that Pakistans current economic growth might not sustain in the absence of consistent and continuous devolvement of new power projects. 3.6 REVIEW OF PAKISTANS ENERGY PORTFOLIO Looking at the power portfolio of Pakistan it looks as if we are living in an oil rich country. Presently, Pakistan has lot of oil fired power plants. Continuous hike in furnace oil prices can make them unviable in near future. But even if circumstances are not extreme, even if there are no upheavals in producing countries, no terrorist attacks and supply disruptions, the prices will keep going up. Why? Because there is a fundamental imbalance for oil in the world economy. Production is just enough to meet demand. There is no spare capacity to take care of unforeseen shutdowns, supply disruption or a further rise in demand. Such an unbalance power profile carries serious repercussions. An evenhanded power portfolio would require a fair balance among various sources of power with no excessive reliance on any. One of the few matters which must be considered in establishing the power portfolio is that excessive reliance on any single source especially foreign source on which we have no control over supply and price can make things miserable any time. Oil import bill of more than $ 7 billion or around 50% of foreign exchange reserves of a developing economy with no hopes of creating exportable surplus in the near future is undoubtedly very alarming. As 28% of the power generation is based on oil therefore any hindrance in the transportation of oil can cause severe damage to the economy. In short, time has proved that the best solution for all such problems is encouragement and development of indigenous resource. Many countries, including the developed and emerging economies, have adopted extensive programs for increasing hydle and coal based power into their energy portfolios. It would not be wrong if we say that continuous negligence of indigenous resource has made Pakistans power policy directionless. This negligence, absence of priorities and focusing on expensive foreign fuel has made cheap electricity and self reliance a day dream. Pakistan is fortunate enough to have two cheap indigenous resources for power generation i.e. water and coal. But it is sheer bad luck that we have not been able to use both of these resources effectively. Estimated coal reserves of Pakistan are around 185,175 million tons which is one of the largest coal reserves of the world whereas their utilization for electricity generation is barely ten percent. Essentially indigenous coal-based power will bring various benefits for Pakistan; first and foremost benefit would be immense savings in foreign exchange on import of expensive oil. Coal based power plants are labor intensive and will create thousands of new jobs and various other new business opportunities at plant site in particular and in Pakistan in general. ENERGY CONSUMPTION AND QUALITY OF LIFE IN PAKISTAN Like any other country, energy is vital for the economic development of Pakistan. Energy should not only be available but it must be ensured that it is available at a reasonable and affordable price and with out any interruption. For a developing country, like Pakistan where the main stress is on the poverty alleviation, energy plays a positive role. It is imperative that energy production should be environment friendly. More over a mix of energy sources will be helpful in diversification of the sector and would ensure the provision of this vital resource where it is required. The stage of economic development and the standard of living of individuals in a given region strongly influence the link between economic growth and energy demand. An increased use of energy, either through natural gas or electricity, impacts favourably on the living standards of the poor as they then spend less time looking for alternative forms of fuel such as firewood. Similarly, the provision of electricity to the rural areas can help in raising productivity levels of small-scale industry thereby indirectly raising income levels and in the longer term improving the quality of life for the rural poor. Rural electrification is important because it brings to the rural areas the benefits that urban consumers take for granted -an improvement in the standard of living with the associated socio-economic benefits. Provision of electric power also has a purely economic outcome that of increasing the productive capacity of the rural areas with increases in agricultural output. 3.7 PAKISTAN ENERGY SECURITY PLAN AND ENERGY MIX Pakistan historically has been subjected to energy demand suppression due to limited supplies and lack of infrastructure development for provision of energy to the industrial sector. The non availability of sustained and affordable energy to industry has suppressed economic growth and created declining tendency for industrial investment in the country. It is now more important then ever that an adequate supply be made available to industry to drive economic growth, and create employment opportunities. Energy has also to be made available to the domestic sector and the life line segments of society to provide economic support and the convenience of clean fuel for cooking and heating and prevent the continuing environmental degradation and deforestation by massive use of wood for domestic fuel. The commercial availability to various sector of the economy will help in increasing job opportunities, enhancing agriculture productivity, improving standard of living and preserving environmen t through reducing deforestation. A long term integrated National Energy Security Plan, covering the period up to 2030 has recently been approved by the Government vide Mid Term Development Framework (MTDF). The energy sector development is aimed at (i) enhancement in the exploitation of hydropower, and exploration and production activities of oil, gas and coal resources, and to increase the share of coal and alternative energy in the overall energy mix, (ii) optimum utilization of the countrys resources base to reduce dependence on imported oil through an institutionalized strategy, (iii) creating an environment conducive to the participation of the private sector, and (iv) developing the local energy scenario in the context of regional perspective. The current energy mix includes 28 percent oil, 45 percent natural gas, 10 percent coal, 15 percent hydro and 2 percent nuclear. By 2015, the share of oil and gas is targeted to be reduced to 25 percent and 42 percent respectively with corresponding increases in the shar e of coal to 12 percent, hydro to 17.6 percent, renewable to 1 percent and nuclear to 3 percent. Over the long term, the increase in other sources of energy, has been targeted with substantial reduction in the share of oil. EXISTING ENERGY RESOURCES IN PAKISTAN THE CONVENTIONAL RESOURCES 3.8 HYDROPOWER The identified hydro power potential of Pakistan is 46,000 MW, out of which only 14 per cent (6,500 MW) has been exploited so far. Despite this big potential, no hydro power project has been established by WAPDA since Tarbela Dam. The most feasible and economical project Kala Bagh Dam has become so controversial that it could not take off though successive governments wished so. There are plans to develop the hydro resources on a large scale through storage and run -of-the-river projects. Feasibility studies of several projects have already been prepared, while studies of several additional projects are in progress or planned. Hydro is one of the major economic energy supply options in Pakistan for increasing the energy security of the country. The experts caution that for the time horizons of around 100 years, hydro storage projects are non -renewable due to the silting of these reservoirs. For example, over the last 30 years, the storage capacity of Tarbela dam has been reduced by 27 per cent due to silting. Similarly, there is a world wide concern over the dislocation of population and the environmental hazards associated with large dams. Another issue related to the hydro power is that a large number of additional sites with major potential exist in the mountainous North, but the difficulty of access and the high cost of transmission to the populous South make the idea into a completed project a distant prospect. Not only, it means additional cost to build the transmission infrastructure but at the same time a huge loss occurs during the transmission (it is estimated to be between 28 to 30 percent). Another problem is the seasonal variation, where in winter the generation is reduced due to shortage of water in the storages. However, hydro is still the most economical energy resource in Pakistan. 3.9 OIL AND GAS There are considerable oil and gas reserves in Pakistan. The crude oil reserves are estimated at 27 billion barrels including 300 million barrels proven reserves. The level of production is presently 22.6 million barrels compared with the level of consumption of 100 million barrels. The natural gas reserves are 8 trillion cubic meters including the proven reserves of 0.8 trillion cubic meters. The level of production is presently 93 million cubic meters per day compared with the level of consumption of 82 million cubic meters per day. The oil sector has all along been heavily dependant on imports of about 85 percent of the national requirement. Annually about 7.8 million tonnes of crude oil, 5.2 million tonnes of oil products and 2.8 million tonnes of coal are being imported. The local production of oil and gas would start declining due to depletion of resources. There would also be a deficit of gas unless considerable contribution is made from new discoveries. In case the gap is not met through indigenous supply, there will be need to import gas, and the requisite infrastructure would have to be placed in a timely manner. 3.10 COAL Pakistans coal resources are estimated at 185 billion tonnes (82,700 MTOE, or 2 per cent of the world coal resources), out of which 95 per cent are in the Thar coal field in Sindh. This coal is of lignite rank having high moisture content and low heating value. So far only 3.3 billion tonnes of coal resources are in the measured category, and considering a recovery factor of 60 per cent, these correspond to some 2.0 billion tonnes of recoverable coal reserves. However, this coal is equivalent to the combined oil reserves of Saudi Arabia and Iran. As part of the strategy of increasing local energy content, a major emphasis is being placed on exploiting coal resources for large-scale use in power generation, and possibly for the production of coal bed methane. 3.11 NUCLEAR ENERGY Pakistan has two nuclear power plants, Chashma-1 and Kanupp, with 300 MW and 125 MW respectively, of installed capacity. The PAEC operates both nuclear plants. Pakistan is currently working on a third nuclear power plant (Chashma-2), with the help of China National Nuclear Corporation. The plant will have 325 MW of installed capacity expected to be completed by 2012. INTRODUCTION AND DESCRIPTION OF ALTERNATE ENERGY Energy is one of the most important issues for all governments world over. Developed states need energy to sustain their advanced way of life and to cater to the every-changing needs of life dictated by technology. Developing countries need energy for it is the sine qua non for development. Alternative energy has been the most recent addition to the academic and practical aspects of the energy world. The concept is relevant but its importance is absolute. Developed states have begun to manage their energy sector in an increasingly alternative energy based perspective and, this has a great lessons for a country like Pakistan which is aspiring to develop into a healthy economy with an improved quality of life for its citizens. The theory and use of alternative energy is at the most introductory stage in Pakistan. However, in terms of resources and use of alternate energy, Pakistan stands well placed to employ this novel concept in the national policy framework Alternative or renewable energy, sources show significant promise in helping to reduce the amount of toxins that are by-products of energy use. Not only do they protect against harmful by-products, but using alternative energy helps to preserve many of the natural resources that we currently use as sources of energy. The Alternate Energy Development Board (AEDB) has been established to facilitate development of renewable energy projects. At least 5 per cent of the total electricity generating capacity of the country is targeted to be based on these sources by the year 2030. To understand how alternative energy use can help preserve the delicate ecological balance of the planet, and help us conserve the non-renewable energy sources like fossil fuels, it is important to know what types of alternative energy can be brought into reality in Pakistan. Renewable sources of energy like wind power, solar, geothermal energy, wave and tidal power, biomass energy, hydrogen and fuel cells, as well as hydropower are alternatives to fossil fuel and regarded as alternative sources of energy. 3.12 WIND POWER Wind power is one of the earliest forms of energy used by humankind. Windmills were used on farms in the early part of the twentieth century to pump water and generate electricity. Now considered an alternative energy source, wind power is being harnessed by modern windmills with lighter, stronger blades. In US states such as California, New Hampshire, Oregon, and Montana, up to several hundred windmills may operate together in open areas with steady winds. Single giant windmills capable of providing electricity to several thousand homes are also operating in the United States. With new technologies being developed to improve windmill performance and efficiency, wind power is a promising, clean, cheap, and abundant source of energy for the future. The wind power captured by turbines at is a source of energy that does not harm the environment. Wind energy harnesses the power of the wind to propel the blades of wind turbines. The rotation of turbine blades is converted into electrical current by means of an electrical generator. In the older windmills, wind energy was used to turn mechanical machinery to do physical work, like crushing grain or pumping water. Wind towers are usually built together on wind farms. Now, electrical currents are harnessed by large scale wind farms that are used by national electrical grids as well as small individual turbines used for providing electricity to isolated locations or individual homes. Wind power produces no pollution that can contaminate the environment. Since no chemical processes take place, like in the burning of fossil fuels, in wind power generation, there are no harmful by-products left over. Since wind generation is a renewable source of energy, Pakistan will never run out of it. Farming and grazing can still take place on land occupied by wind turbines which can help in the production of bio-fuels. Wind farms can be built off-shore. Since 2001, global wind capacity has nearly doubled to 47,760 megawatts and is cheaper than natural gas even without subsidies; on good sites, wind is even closing in on coal. Pakistan has potentials of wind energy ranging from 10000MW, yet power generation through wind is in intiaial stages in Pakistnan and currently 06 MW has been installed in first phase in Jhampir through a Turkish company and 50 MW will be installed shortly. More wind power plants will be built in Jhampir, Gharo, Keti Bandar and Bin Qasim Karachi. 3.13 SOLAR POWER Energy from the Sun is a free, abundant, and nonpolluting source of energy. Solar power involves using solar cells to convert sunlight into electricity, using sunlight hitting solar thermal panels to convert sunlight to heat water or air. Pakistan has potential of more than 100,000 MW from solar energy. Buildinn of solar power plants is underway in Kashmir, Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan. However, private vendors are importing panels/solar water heaters for consumption in the market. Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB) is working for 20,000 solar water heaters in Gilgit Baltistan. Mobile companies have been asked by theh government to shift supply of energy to their transmission towers from petroleum to solar energy panels. 3.14 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY Geothermal energy harnesses the heat energy present underneath the Earth. Hot rocks under the ground heat water to produce steam. When holes are drilled in the region, the steam that shoots up is purified and is used to drive turbines, which power electric generators. If done correctly, geothermal energy produces no harmful by-products. Once a geothermal plant is build, it is generally self-sufficient energy wise. Geothermal power plants are generally small and have little effect on the natural landscape. Geothermal energy is the natural heat generated in the interior of Earth and released from volcanoes and hot springs or from geysers that shoot out heated water and steam. Reservoirs of hot water and steam under Earths surface can be accessed by drilling through the rock layer. The naturally heated water can be used to heat buildings, while the steam can be used to generate electricity. Steam can also be produced by pumping cold water into rock that is heated by geothermal energy; such steam is then used to produce electric power. Geothermal energy is an important alternative energy source in areas of geothermal activity, including parts of the United States, Iceland, and Italy. Homes in Boise, Idaho, are heated using geothermal energy, as are most buildings in Iceland. The Geysers in California is the largest steam field in the world and has been used to produce electricity since 1960. Unlike solar energy and wind power, however, the use of geothermal energy has an environmental impact. Chemicals in the steam contribute to air pollution, and water mixed with the steam contains dissolved salts that can corrode pipes and harm aquatic ecosystems. 3.15 TIDAL AND OCEAN ENERGY The rise and fall of ocean tides contain enormous amounts of energy that can be captured to produce electricity. Tidal power cab be extracted from Moon-gravity-powered tides by locating a water turbine in a tidal current. The turbine can turn an electrical generator, or a gas compressor, that can then store energy until needed. Coastal tides are a source of clean, free, renewable, and sustainable energy. Plans are underway in Pakistan to harness tidal energy, however, no implementation has been made so far. 3.16 AGRICULTURE BIOMASS/BIODIESEL Biomass production involves using garbage or other renewable resources such as sugarcane, corn or other vegetation to generate electricity. When garbage decomposes, methane is produced and captured in pipes and later burned to produce electricity. Vegetation and wood can be burned directly to generate energy, like fossil fuels, or processed to form alcohols. Brazil has one of the largest renewable energy programs from biomass/biodiesel in the world, followed by USA. Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB) of Pakistann has planned to generate 10 MW of electricity from municipal waste in Karachi followed by similar projects in twenty cities of country.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Fiscal Fallacy: The Political Motives in the Current Union Assualt Essa

â€Å"Once again, Republicans are trying to erase the history of America’s working people† (Connel 1). It is happening in Maine where Republican governor Paul LePage has arranged for a 36 foot long mural depicting the state’s labor movement history to be removed from the Department of Labor. In addition, conference rooms in the Department of Labor named after prominent labor movement officials such as Frances Perkins (Connel 1). The actions of Maine’s Republicans and the similar actions of Republicans across the nation are only the superficial layer of the current attack on a weakened labor movement. The latest siege in the longstanding decline of American unions, conservatives are waging this assault under the guise of fiscal responsibility. In reality, it is nothing more than a political attack meant to undermine one of Democrat’s key supporters. American unions have been regressing since the 1970’s. With private sector unions firmly place d under the corporate heel conservative forces across the nation are now turning their attack on public unions, hoping to eliminate their collective bargaining rights and effectively crush them altogether. Governor Walker and his allies claim fiscal responsibility and balancing budgets as the reason for the long list of concessions they demand from unions. However, in going after the unions’ collective bargaining rights of the unions it shifts from an economic issue to a politically motivated assault that could have long-term economic consequences for the American public, the middle and working class especially. The Republicans currently assert that they have the best interest of the middle and working class in mind with their targeting of state unions. Federal stimulus money is ending; in 2012, ... ...ing their own party, specifically tailored to the needs of unions and the working class. By aligning themselves with Democrats by default, they have given up a large measure of their political power and bargaining ability. Democratic Party needs do not always much up with those of unions and the working class and often the Democrats will force unions to push their needs over the unions own. In establishing their own political party they could, on a state and local level, push forth the working people’s agenda unhindered. Another possible solution would be for unions to reorganize and reenergize their recruiting base, paying special attention in recruiting women, young adults and immigrants around common working class interests. By diversifying their membership, base unions could stand to regain some of the numbers and collective bulk of their negotiating power.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Essay --

INCREASED FLEXIBILITY According to Forbes (2013) ’home-based work accounts for savings of more than $10,000 per employee per year... With the introduction of new technology (ICT), Tesco's office staff can now work from home, and communicate using laptops, tablets and smartphones. This is a benefit for Tesco because they will save money on reducing the number of office facilities - less office area is needed as people are working from home. In addition, another benefit is that the homeworkers and people who are working in the office can use the same software to carry out their tasks, and save them on the Cloud storage. This reduces the need for buying expensive hard drives and memory sticks. Also, flexible working practices (homeworking) can increase employee's motivation because they feel valued. Therefore, the work will be of higher quality (more professional) and higher quantity (more tasks completed). Improved communication and communication cost reduction ICT allowed Tesco to use e-mails and video-conferencing to improve the communication systems. E-mail is a very good way of communicating (especially when people are working from home), and it enables Tesco staff to: experience fast and instant communication with other Tesco staff in the world, save money on sending mails (paper, envelopes and stamps are not needed), sent e-mails to many people at one time, and send documents as attachments (meeting documents, decisions, budgets). Video-conferencing is providing Tesco with the opportunity to hold international meetings without the need to travel (less working time is lost, and money is saved on transport and accommodation). Access to the vast amount of data By using ICT, Tesco can access the internet to find ... ...ted because the cheap products (Tesco own brand products) are not on sale. Therefore, some profits will be lost as less products are sold and brand image will be damaged as the customers are dissatisfied. Conclusion As the presentation outlined, there are 5 significant advantages and 5 significant disadvantages for Tesco of using ICT. All of them are very important for Tesco to consider, because they can make the difference in terms of efficiency, flexibility, profitability and productivity. The advantages of ICT can be described as great sources of success, whereas the disadvantages can be explained as the factors that stops and slows Tesco from achieving the success. Therefore, it is very important for Tesco to monitor the progress met towards finding the best way of overcoming the disadvantages, and become more competitive and more successful in the market.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Pre 1914 Prose Study Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” Essay

   He nearly succeeds in catching it at the North Pole where Captain Walton rescues him. Exhausted he die and Frankenstein’s monster vows to kill himself before disappearing into the â€Å"distance and darkness†. Chapter five begins with Victor Frankenstein revulsion of the monster he has created and Shelley describes the creature’s vile features that shriek terror into the reader alone. In revolt Victor leaves the room at the very disgust of what he was brought into this world and attempts to gain his precious â€Å"sanctuary of sleep†. While he sleeps he dreams of seeing Elizabeth his one love, however as he plants his first kiss on her lips her features change and he appears to eventually hold the dead corpse of his dead mother. He wakes up to find the monster by his bedside peering at him and in anguish runs out of his rented apartment and through the town with paranoid strides fearing he will see the monster at every turn. He finds refuge in the courtyard while lost in his daydreams of the monstrosity he has created, he notices his good friend Clerval and brings him to his accommodation before he has time to think properly. When he reaches his apartment he Is overjoyed that the monster is no longer in the vicinity and welcomes Clerval into his rented home. Dr Frankenstein’s content emotions are quickly destroyed as he imagines seeing the monster lurching for him and breaks down to a fit. Clerval worries for his friends health and nurses him back to health after witnessing Victors fluctuating emotions. Shelley was part of the romantic novelist of the earlier 19th century, who like Shelley used Gothic elements to add provoke terror in a reader. Descriptions such as â€Å"Corpse of my dead mother in my arms† and † Shrivelled complexions all are examples of gothic elements, though the more mysterious and alluding comments such as â€Å"I saw the dull eye of the creature† give the impression this creature isn’t alive and that it is an inanimate object been brought to life through personification elaborated descriptions full of eccentric adverbs. Shelley was a naturally beautiful writer who could conjure sentences as if they flowed from a river of her knowledge. She uses great amounts of writing styles inspired probably from the intellectuals she grew up around. There is a great contrast in sentence length with short lines such as â€Å"How ill you are† and sentences that contain over fifty words for instance; â€Å"I took refuge in the courtyard belonging to the which I inhabited; where I remained during the rest of the night, walking up and down in the greatest agitation, listening attentively, catching and fearing each sound as if it were to announce the approach the demonical corpse to which I had so miserably given life†. Repetition is also a trait of Shelley’s writing style; â€Å"Save me, save me† and â€Å"Dear, dear friends† are both examples of repetition. The use of her adjectives stipulate her close use of gothic rudiments with dark and mystifying words such as â€Å"Dreary†, â€Å"Miserably† and â€Å"Hideous†, yet also her choice of colour reflect on her gothic style such as â€Å"dull yellow†. Another topic to indulge in is Shelley’s use of contrast in a variety of elements. Colour is again is used in contrast for gothic descriptions such as â€Å"Lustrous Black† and â€Å"Pearly White† a common metaphor. The actual pace of the narrative is not an unexpected contrast to build tension and fear, and is commonly used in all sorts of genres and mediums, like songs and television. This practice can be used to build many emotions from love to action yet works just as well if not the best with fear. She uses a contrast of dream and reality this could be because her original idea for the plot came to her in a dream. Yet, however it seems in either the sub consciousness or actual consciousness it is always a horrific period. Finally a contrast in emotions is very blatant such as joy, revulsion and terror all blend together with Frankenstein’s original image of a beautiful creation to its consequential repulsiveness. This brings me to my final point of Mary Shelley’s use of fluctuating emotions to provoke the sense of fear in the reader. Frankenstein expects a beautiful creature to be born of his labour, yet is shocked when he unveils his creation for the first time † How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe†. Horror soon sets in at the monstrosity and almost failure of his dream sets in â€Å"But now that I have I have finished the beauty of the dream of the dream has vanished and breathless horror and disgust fill my heart†. This quickly turns to frightened † I did not dare return to the apartment† , again his emotions fluctuate to a paranoid loneliness â€Å"Like one when on a lonely road, Doth walk in fear† and finally a huge contrast for the previous emotions to happiness † I felt suddenly†¦ calm and serene joy†. Shelley fluctuates Frankenstein’s emotions so rapidly is almost becomes difficult to follow them, yet perhaps this is the desired effect as the confusion only adds the horror you are reading. To conclude, Mary Shelley one of the greatest female novelist of her time if not history efficiently and captivatingly uses techniques, which are still used today in writing. They are not restricted to but she certainly chooses over others mainly are predominately gothic elements; common of early 19th century â€Å"romance† authors. She also makes use of the fluctuating emotions, contrast and language as I have described in earlier paragraphs. Benjamin Semens Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Mary Shelley section.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Business and Management

Blyton, P. , Noon, M. (2007), The Realities of Work. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. This Chapter explores the key concepts of survival in the workforce. The aim is to explore how employees survive the alienating tendencies at work by developing different coping strategies in different circumstances. According to Karl Marx employees develop four types of estrangement; self-estrangement, estrangement from the product of their labour, their species being and from others which leads to alienation. Under capitalism)all the means for developing production are transformed into means of power over and exploitation of the producer; that they mutilate the worker into a fragment of a human being, degrade him to become a mere appurtenance, make his work such a torment that its essential meaning is destroyed(Marx, 1930: 713, quoted in Fox, 1974: 224) Blauner suggests that greater automation will free workers hard work of assembly lines and machine minding, it will result in decreasing alienatio n for employees (Blauner, 1964:182-3) We have acknowledged the authors and the investigators opinions to alienation.According to the writers there are five main strategies that help to survive alienation tendencies such as fiddling, making out, joking, sabotage and escaping. Michael Burawoy (1979) suggests employees should use the term making out. Making out in Burawoy’s theory suggests employees are allowed to miss behave and control their working day if they are still working within the rules, management’s instructions and tasks are completed. (Burawoy, 1985: 126) Management Today (2000) state fiddling is a rule breaker but managers turn a blind eye.It can be seen in any job from supermarkets to call centres. In call centres employees manipulate the call monitoring system in order to gain extra rest breaks. (Townsend,2005:56) Radcliffe-Brown (1952) is an anthropologist who acknowledged the survival strategy joking. Joking maintains social order, releases tension, cha llenges authority and forges group identities. However occasional joking can challenge the power of hierarchy. Identified by Linstead (1985a) sabotage can be a result of rational behaviour.It can purposely be a spiteful attempt to ruin or disturb the process or the product. This is where whistle blowing comes in to determine the result of behaviour. Escaping is expressed in two different ways. Physical escape is to temporarily take time off or to permanently quit the job to escape alienation. Mental escape is taking their mind somewhere else so that they can express their own thoughts in their own head. Overall employees should interoperate the five survival strategies’ which will help them to survive the alienation.However employees should interoperate them as a form of consent and not a form of resistance. McHugh, D. , Thompson, P. (2002) Work Organisations: A Critical Introduction. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. In This Chapter the author explores how scientific manageme nt and bureaucratisation helped transform the workplace. Fredrick Taylor is known for inventing the term scientific management. Some management and work organisations were already in place ‘the less skilled worker’.It was down to Taylor who acknowledged the influences of other systematic management inventions such as inspection systems, and employment departments. (Urwick and Breech, 1949:33) Nyland, (1988:56) believed that â€Å"The Systematisers† were a diverse group of engineers , accountants, and work managers who argued that US firms had grown to a size where the internal functioning of the enterprise was becoming increasingly chaotic and waist full. This suggests not all work was available to everyone so therefore used his system which he believed was the best to manage the workforce.Bringing a new approach to managerial skills needed a new set of rules to help the labour process that Taylor was most concerned about. New rules meant stricter working environ ments. Taylor used idea’s to help shape the work place conflicting beaurocratic management. Braverman (1974:120) objects that it sanctions the mistaken view that such work arrangements belongs to large scale organisations rather than a product of capitalist social relations. This suggests not everyone agreed with the theory, some writers said the idea of bureaucrasation and systematic management was problematic.To understand the beucratic rules it needs to be clear through different modes of production and business systems. Clawson (1980; 248) believed Taylorism is in contrast with Weber Stress on the remote and impersonal qualities of beuocrasy. This suggests Taylor and Weber worked in contrast with each other because weber believed in Taylor theory of systematic management. Therefore Webers theory of rationalisation worked with Taylor’s theory. To summarise beaurocratic management has risen in the ervice industry. Recent studies state that evidence is showed in Ritzl er’s (1993) ‘The Mcdonaldisation of society’. The authors state the key point of this chapter is that Taylorism and other management theories are distinct elements not packages. People are diverse and uneven when it comes to the legacy of Taylorism. Traditions have in fact shaped the industry aiding managers to use different approaches.Word Count: 796 References Deakins, D & Freel, M. (2009) ‘Entrepreneurship and Small Firms’. 5th ed. Midenhead: McGraw Hill. O’Doherty, D. (2007) ‘Introducing Organisational Behaviour and Management’. London: Thompson. Weardon, G. (2012) ‘Eurozone crisis live: Monti to lobby Merkel over bond-buying plan’ The Guardian. 29th August, 2012. Cramer, R. M. (2006) ‘The Great Intimidators’ Havard Business Review. V84 pp. 88-96. ‘ Most companies struggling to be paperless’ Institute of Leadership and Management. 14th August, 2012. http://www. i-l-m. com/ [accessed 29th August 2012].

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Literature Review on Marketing Essay

This part of the thesis deals with the research and critical comments on various literatures related with the marketing activities that can be implemented by a firm to improve their business performance. Marketing Strategy: According to Ferrell and Hartline (2010) Marketing Strategy is both art and science where the firm finds or plans ways to deliver their value by fulfilling the needs & wants of their potential customers. This helps in determining the marketing mix and analyzing the competitive advantage of the firm by implementing and presenting new ideas so as to satisfy their customers. Employing strategies helps in increasing the level of sales by branding, advertising & promotion. So as per the authors (Ferrell& Hartline, 2010) the points that are to be taken under consideration by a firm to properly establish a marketing strategy are discussed below: Firstly, a proper marketing plan is to be established as it helps in providing the necessary detailed outline to carry out the marketing program for a firm. As per the authors ,the marketing plan is not at all similar to a business plan; but a business plan contains a marketing plan along with financial, capital and human resource. Therefore, the core means to accomplish the desired goals & objectives of an organisation’s marketing strategy is through its well defined marketing plan. Secondly, a firm must aim in seeking marketing opportunities available by collecting and analyzing the information. The technique used for data collection& analysis is through situation analysis; which is a process of data collection that describes the current& future issues & trends that can have an effect on the internal, customer, external environments respectively (Ferrell& Hartline, 2010). This helps in making the strategy by identifying the environment of the business is dealing in and analyze whether the plan will be beneficiary or not before implementation. Then, a Marketing expansion is to be made by identifying in the best interest of the their customers using marketing tools like segmentation & targeting and this can be calculated by identifying the customers buying process because it will help the managers in rea lizing who are their customers & what exactly do the customers want (Ferrell& Hartline, 2010). Finally, the firm has to implement the plan but must execute certain  activities to increase employee motivation and commitment in achieving the desired goals and objectives effectively by controlling & evaluating the marketing strategy as per the plan proposed. Therefore, implementation of marketing strategy is incomplete without a control mechanism (Ferrell& Hartline, 2010). The key in effective strategic controlling is by maintain an appropriate communication system and the managers must make business decisions as per the interest of the organisation and its customers. Thus, marketing strategy is a never ending process making it important for the managers to monitor and evaluate the outcomes of the plan that has being implemented for future benefits as it can allow the firm to concentrate on its limited available resources & seek their opportunities to increase sales and achieve a competitive edge. By this we can say that strategy plays a key role for a company to be successful in a way that can obtain benefit against its competitors. Analysis of the environment: According to Richard Lynch (2006), analysis of the business environment for an organisation is certainly an important part for this report, as in a much broader sense it helps to describe everything and everyone outside the firm. This includes customers, competitors, suppliers, distributors, government and social Institutions. The following will briefly explain about few marketing analysis that are to be considered for gaining a competitive advantage. The Strategic Analysis is a part of the environmental analysis that contributes in strategically analyzing of the environment by firstly, measuring the Market Size which will enable a firm in assisting and developing a strategy task, then the Market Growth for comprehending how much the market has grown over the years as the growth mainly relates to the organisation’s objectives & lastly, the Market Share to realize how much portion does the firm consume & take benefit within the market in comparison with its major competitors (L ynch, 2006). But for this to be applied the market must first be defined properly meaning the company must realise exactly in which particular market or markets it is entering. The PESTEL Analysis basically defines the Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental & Legal factors that can affect the firm as it offers a  valuable starting point of the overall environment surrounding an organisation (Lynch, 2006). Though the PESTEL analysis is depend on past events and experience, but the analysis can be used as a forecast of the future by the managers. Although, this analysis is effective but must be updated on a regular basis as over time the lifestyles, regulations, culture and technology keeps on changing. The Degree of turbulence at the general level of environmental analysis considers the basic conditions surrounding the organisation (Lynch, 2006). Special attention needs to be directed to the nature and strength of the forces driving the change in the dynamics of the environment and the environmental forces that immediate the organisation can be measured according to firstly the Changeability which is the degree of the environment that is likely to change & the Predictability which is the degree of those changes that can be predicted. Lastly, the managers of an organisation must determine the Key Factors of success that helps the organisation in achieving their main goals & objectives as the resources, skills and attributes of an organisation that are vital to bring success in the market place (Lynch, 2006). Usually calculating & measuring the environmental analysis mentioned by the author Lynch; takes a lot of time & money of the company in determining the industry market by statistical tools which is not accurate making it risky & also based on the external factors that keeps on changing making it difficult for every firm to apply the analysis up to its full potential. But, still using Environmental Analysis helps the managers in making effective business & marketing decisions by determining the market industry in which the organisation deals in & identifying the essentials parts that are worth exploring to recognize the success that the firm has by gaining potential for customer satisfaction & differentiating itself from its competitors. The Analysis of the Industry’s Competitive Strategy: Competitiveness of a firm is its capability to achieve its targets. These targets are likely to be conveyed in a range of position depending on the context (Barney 2002). From abusiness perspective, a competitive firm requires to survive in the market and achieve the desired market share and  profitability. The success of a competitive firm can be calculated by obtaining their current position in the defined market. According to Michael E. Porter’s (1985), the best model in realizing a firm’s current situation is by Porter’s five forces model. This identifies the competitive strategy that an operating business has & aims at defeating its rival companies. According to Porter (1985), the guidelines of rivalry are characterized into â€Å"five competitive forces†. These competitive forces are entry to the new competitors, threat of substitutes, bargaining power of buyers, bargaining power of suppliers, and rivalry among the existing competitors. Porter (198 5) further explains that the industry arrangement is reasonably stable, but can altered over time as the industry progresses, and the strong points of these competitive forces varies from one industry to another. Based on this model there’s ahelp in analyzing the bargaining power of buyer’s which willeffect the price that a firm can charge.The power of suppliers defines the costs of raw materials; the intensity of rivalry influences prices of competing. The threat of entry places a boundary on prices, and outlines the investment vital to put offnew competitors; Threats from substitutes usually pose a threat whenever there is a technological or low-cost breakthrough. Chaffey (2002) supports Porter’s model forces as it still provides a useable framework for studyingthe threats arising. The value of Porter’s model enables managers to think about the current industry that is in a structured and easy-to-understand system for further analysis. But, the above model’s framework is fundamentally fixed, while the competitive environment in general is constantly changing and it does not apply to a nonprofit type of organisation (Lynch, 2006). It also assumes that the buyers have no major significance than the aspect of the micro-environment; But the customer are always considered to be more important than other aspects of competitive strategy development process. Thus in order to solve these issues the SWOT analysis can be implemented (Lynch, 2006). As the SWOT analysis determines the strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for a firm with in the environment it operates. Even though the model has been questioned with few critical remarks but for the managers of any major firm this model still demonstrates to be a useful for a competitive strategic analysis within the industry. So, there is no doubt that this is the best model that aims at defeating the major competitors in the market. Customer Relationship Analysis: According to Nigel Hill, Greg Roche & Rachel Allen (2007), Customer Satisfaction is all about how a firm succeeds in maintaining their customers as top of their agenda. This further identifies the 3r’s of customer loyalty which are Retention, Related Sales & Referrals. The 3r’s are basically the customer’s behavior that must staying longer, chose to use more of the services/products by a firm. This can be further useful by helping in noticing the customers Attitudes & Behavior towards the firm and prove to be effective for the firm’s achievement of their goals in satisfying their customers. Thus, to improve customer satisfaction organisation’s should focus on its resources on areas where they are least meeting the essential of their customer requirements. But as per the authors (Hill, Roche& Allen, 2007) ‘The profitability of customers increases the longer you keep them’ meaning is that the value of a customer typically increases over time by identifying a customer lifetime value by the following points. An Acquisition is a process of acquiring customers occurs wholly in the first year with a functioning business organisation i.e. before & just after becoming a customer. The Base Profit is the difference between sales revenue earned by a particular good or service and the cost to produce or provide that good or service. The Revenue growth will increase when the customers are satisfied as a satisfied customer have a tendency to buy or use more of the firm’s products or services. Customer satisfaction also leads to Cost Savings as long term customers will cost lesser in providing services as they became familiar with the organisation’s techniques & are more likely to get what they expect. In Referrals a highly satisfied customers will recommend and even applaud the product or service to their family & friends which thus brings more customer by eliminating the cost of acquisition of a customer. The long term customers who are satisfied with what the organisation has to offer will be also ready to pay a Price Premium meaning a higher price since they trust the product or service which results in adding value of the firm. According to Lynch (2006) The Internal Analysis is very crucial as it adds further value for an organisation which in turn is beneficiary for them if they take time in analyzing their business performance through which they can improve the overall customer satisfactory level. Hencethe firm must make in-depth analysis of their departments to determine which areas are to be immediately improved. Overall, it is very important & a responsibility of an organisation to establish a well refined relationship with their customer in such a way that satisfies them and results in earning more profits & establishing a competitive edge on a long term basis. The Market Segmentation: According to Sally Dibb & Lyndon Simki (1996), the market segmentation aims to identify groups of customers with similar needs and then the firm tries to select their segments by targeting thus determining how to position their products/services that helps to appeal in the targeted market of a region. This over all helps the firm in realizing which type of consumers are there and whether they prefer or like the services/products that the firm has to offer and this can be measured by making a research and getting at most possible feedback from the existing customers. The Segmentation process of a market segmentation comprises of three diverse portions namely Segmentation, Targeting & Positioning. It is very important to fully understand how different can the markets be segmented before making a final decision. It is clear that there are three points in the process at which assistance is defiantly necessary. As there is a need to recognize the categories of factors that will contribute to a positive result. During the analysis, it is important to create the qualities that emerging segments display. After the segmentation output has been confirmed, direction is needed for the criteria to review the desirability of the different segments. (Dibb & Simki, 1996) The most commonly used way is arranged in few steps, that tells that segments should exhibit measurability, so that segment size and  prospective can be measured; substantiality, so that the segments are sizeable to be profitable; accessibility, to reach the customers in the segments; actionability, letting segments to assist successfully with marketing programmes and lastly; stability, so that resources can be safely financed (Kotler, 1994). This is clearly aimed at managers during the segmentation process, as it shows features that are in contradiction to emerging segments that can be matched. The problem concerning with market segmentation compared to the authors comments (Dibb & Simki, 1996) is the fact that marketers sometimes fail to produce a usable segmentation answer as it is very difficult for them to analysis information that is constantly changing making the data material collected not precise. On top of that, this analysis is mainly based on statistical information which is at certain point difficult to calculate accurate information as statistical data are also based on the closest assumption value. The Marketing Mix also plays an important role as it identifies the product/service of an organisation, then determine at what price to sell the goods and services, later defines the place which is suitable for production and announce effective promotion methods to bring more customers (Hill, Roche& Allen, 2007). In order to obtain market segmentation success the managers should become critical about the quality of information they are receiving as it plays a vital role for implementing a marketing strategy by questioning the source of data and considering when it was collected. The method of data collection should be correct, durable and must be up-to-date as soon as possible. Marketing ethics: As per Bodo B. Schlegelmilch (1998), marketing ethics is an ethical dilemma that deals with relating the marketing function. The ethical issues usually arise in marketing situations for a firm. This part thus relates to how a firm should make ethical marketing decisions to obtain the satisfaction of the society & must focus on the ethical issues that connect with analyzing the market opportunities that are available. Marketing has been criticized for hurting the interest of customers, society and the environment in the presentation of the marketing mix by stimulating societal moral decay, endorsing materialism and affecting the environment. â€Å"Marketing ethics is thus alarmed with the moral principles and values which guide the marketing  decisions and activities in an ethical manner† (Jobber, 2010). The assistance of both the primary stakeholders (Customers, Employees, Suppliers, Shareholder & other investors) & secondary stakeholders (Media, Special-Interest Groups & Go vernment Institutions) is important to support the ethical activities of marketing practices (Schlegelmilch, 1998). But the most important factor for the reason that ethics are to be considered by the marketing managers are so to satisfy their organisation customers and employees (Schlegelmilch, 1998) as the customers are the people who buys the goods & service which runs the business & employees are those people that works for the company and are determined by their attitudes towards the jobs to keep the business running as well. While all other factors are directly or indirectly related with these two factors making it utmost important to satisfy them so as to achieve the desired goals & objectives. The Marketing activities has an impact on the society and the environment as a whole. Therefore the managers of the organisation should behave responsibly within the best interest of those who will be affected. In conclusion, marketing ethics is an important factor to be considered, despite the challenges and uncertainty a company faces with its applications. Conclusion This chapter presents the theoretical background of the major areas for marketing techniques of the research. The aimis to review the critical points of current knowledge including substantive findings on marketing techniques for theoretical and methodological contributions to a particular topicas the reviews are secondary sources and do not require any new or original experimental work.

Saturday, September 14, 2019

Barilla Spa

Nowadays, manufacturing and services firms face growing challenges to increase profit margins amidst increasingly fiercer competition. Under such circumstances, industry analysts and supply chain experts suggest manufacturers and service providers to promote more effective supply and demand planning, management, and execution as the means to unlocking significant gains in margins. By definition, Search CIO (2007) defines SCM as the management of information, materials, and finances along a chain of process from suppliers to manufacturers and then from manufacturers to customers.The interests in the discussion of supply chain management occur since it relates to costs reduction in all aspects of business process especially regarding the inventory reduction that suggests manufacturer produce goods when needed. The situation highlights that supply chain management will enhance lead time (time-to-market) of particular products, thus enabling all parties within an organization to manage t heir resources more effectively. Concerning the issue, this paper will describe supply chain management issue in Barilla spA, an Italian manufacturer that sells their products to its retailers mainly via third-party distributors.The competition in the market has caused unfavorable situation for Barilla during late 1980s when the company faced unpredictable demands from its distributors. 2. What are the reasons for the increase in variability in Barilla’s supply chain? Barilla maintains separate supply chain because the company has two general products: fresh and dry products, which required special treatment. In this situation, fresh products is mainly purchased from the two central distribution centers (CDCs) by independent agents who further channeled the products into 70 regional warehouses across Italy.Meanwhile, about two third of dry products are sold at supermarkets. Figure 1 explains the supply chain systems for Barilla. Figure 1 Barilla Distribution Systems 3. How ca n Barilla cope with the increase in variability? In order to succeed the distribution system, Barilla is known to practice the replenishment strategy, which describes an agreement between Barilla and their supplier to share the data about frequency and inventory levels to match Barilla demands (About. com, 2008).By delivering the products under the agreement with suppliers, Barilla is able to support their Just in time (JIT) distribution system, which is considered to be the optimum strategy to accomplish the company’s mission of having increased customers satisfaction. 4. What is the impact of transferring demand information across the supply chain? By sharing information between Barilla and their suppliers, there are positive impacts since the combination of JIT and replenishment strategy supports the demand fluctuations, reduced inventory level at warehouse, decreased stock-out levels etc.5. Can the Vendor Managed Inventory strategy solve the operational problems faced by Barilla? In Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) strategy, the suppliers have greater responsibility over the supply since they are required to determine the delivery frequency and inventory levels in order to maintain the agreed stock levels in warehouses. In addition, the practice of this system also helps Barilla to track out-of-stocks and other performance data, previous years’ sales history and trends.Therefore, the practice of Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) has solved the operational problems at Barilla. 6. How can the supply chain meet conflicting goals of different partners and facilities? In order to avoid the conflict between different partners and suppliers of Barilla, the company must ensure that the implementation of Just in Time system will help the maintenance of satisfaction in services, inventory levels, and stock-out levels and others in which each supplier has taken part of the system.In addition, Barilla must also ensure that within implementation steps, the use of EDI to deliver the inventory information is the same among suppliers so the reliability can be secured and the compatibility level can be reached. Reference: About. com. (2008). Reduce Inventory with these 3 Supplier Partnership Strategies. Retrieved September 7, 2008 from http://logistics. about. com/od/inventoryoptimization/a/supplier_partnr. htm Hammond, Janice H. (2008). Barilla SpA (A). Harvard Business School.O’Brien, Kevin and Brian Springman. (2004). Optimizing Supply Chains, Understanding Demands. Retrieved September 7, 2008 from http://www. crmbuyer. com/story/35892. html Search CIO. (2007). Supply Chain Management. Retrieved September 7, 2008 from http://searchcio. techtarget. com/sDefinition/0,,sid19_gci214546,00. html YAO Kao-hua, LIU Chang-chuan. (2006). An Integrated Approach for Measuring Supply Chain Performance. Journal of Modern Accounting and Auditing. Vol. 2, No. 10