Pragmatic Failure in Successful Communication

Octone Records Report

Octone Records Report Introduction The records industry, like any other industry, has encountered new trends and challenges that have, consequently, affected business performance of individual firms. The advent of technology has affected the average profits made by firms since technology provides ample room for illegal file sharing and piracy.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Octone Records Report specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This report analyzes the marketing performance of Octone Records in the industry. The report also offers recommendations on how the company can improve its business performance and marketing activities. Value Creation Octone Records’ great market performance centers on the basic principles of the marketplace, as well as the customer. The company has studied the needs, demands, and wants of the market fairly well and it strives to perform in accordance with these expectations. While it has signed Michael To lcher, the record label is quick to note that his performance may not meet the expectations and demand in the market. Octone, therefore, works toward creating the artist’s value by organizing opening shows where he can curtain raise events for other established artists in the industry. Organizing live concerts for the artist helped in creating his value more. Octone Records, in its efforts to create value, also works toward determining the exact market that an artist appeals to. The firm then concentrates its marketing efforts in promoting the artist within this market to enhance his value. In the case of Tolcher, Octone discovered that the artist mostly appealed to people in their thirties. Octone, therefore, focused its efforts toward marketing the artist within this market. Customer Value Octone Records has focused on creation of customer value as a part of its marketing activities. This is a move that has seen the firm remain effective in the industry.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Octone works closely with its internal partners, mainly the artists working under its label, to a point where it catapults them to international market standards with significant market demand. The firm understands its magnitude within the industry compared to other major record labels. Therefore, Octone has established a unique way of partnering internally with its clients to create more value. The patience of the record label’s management in working with unpopular artists or bands is critical in creating customer value. Octone Records does not necessarily rush into registering quick successes with artists. Instead, the firm guides individuals and patiently walks them through the necessary principles until they transform them into industry heavyweights. Creation of customer value by the firm is further supported by its operation approach of on ly concentrating on a few artists at any given time. This gives the firm total concentration in marketing each of the artists or groups and polishing any imperfections that may deter positive performance. Externally, Octone Records has also perfected the art of partnering with other industry players to achieve an advanced value delivery network. In particular, the record label has formed a working relationship with up to three other industry players, including industry leaders SonyBMG and RCA Music Group/ J Records. This is helpful in influencing Octone Record’s market performance because the label has a relatively inferior capital base compared to other major record labels in the market. This implies that Octone may not successfully empower artists signed under its label to competitively vie for the market with rival artists under the major record labels, especially when they break into the international market. Thus, the partnership deal with the established record labels e nsures that Octone Records hands over such artists to the major record labels for further marketing. Major record labels, such as SonyBMG, have wider distributor networks compared to Octone. Any artist working under the record label is, therefore, more likely to achieve a wider market coverage compared to one working under Octone Records. Additionally, Sony BMG has greater experience working with internationally acknowledged artists compared to Octone. For instance, SonyBMG has worked with many renowned artists like Alicia Keys, Michael Jackson, and the Backstreet Boys among many others.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Octone Records Report specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The external working relationship creates more customer value in the sense that Octone Records only specializes in an artist’s market performance while still at the grass roots level. The major record labels have little time for such artis ts. This gives Octone ample opportunity to perfect its performance. However, Octone hands the artists over to the major record labels once their performance improves to a level where they break into the international market because the label lacks the financial capacity to sustain the artists in the highest echelons. Recommendations Octone Records should adopt the selling concept as it seeks to ascertain whether it should continue with plans to market and work with Michael Tolcher. The main principle of this concept suggests that consumers will not acquire enough quantities of the firm’s products unless the firm makes efforts toward undertaking large-scale selling, as well as promotion. This implies that Tolcher’s performance in the market depends on the efforts that the record label will expend in selling and promoting the artist. The focus should be on the existing product, which in this case refers to Tolcher. Rushing into acquiring other artists and dropping Tolche r will not be helpful in meeting the firm’s business objective. Thus, what the label needs to explore critically is new selling and promoting means in order to endear him more to the market. This will, in turn, increase the sales volume with respect to the artist’s music and lead to high profits for the firm. On the decision to sign a new deal with Universal Record or maintain the existing working relation with SonyBMG, the main principle that should guide Octone Records’ course of action should be its mission statement. The record label has in place a strategic plan that seeks to develop its intended fit between its set goals and the changing marketing opportunities. It is evident that Octone, like other players in the industry, also wishes to establish itself and achieve optimal returns from its sales and marketing activities. From the analysis of its current business portfolio, Octone is not achieving optimal performance in its sales and marketing activities. Some of the artists under its label, such as Tolcher, have failed to break even in the market to influence the overall sales of the company.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More With this realization in mind, it is important that the firm takes up the opportunity to work with Universal Records and drops the current existing partnership deal with SonyBMG. Universal Records’ partnership terms will direct more resources towards Octone than the case is with SonyBMG. This will enhance profitability of the firm and help it drop out weaker resources. Additionally, Universal enjoys a comparatively stronger market position compared to SonyBMG, implying that there is a high likelihood of Octone Record’s signed artists performing better under this new deal.

Unity (1918) and the Evolution of Disease Essay

Unity (1918) and the Evolution of Disease - Essay Example The evolution of the disease itself (and, indeed, any disease) unfolds in much the same way as the action in Unity, with people going through biological and psychological reactions to the illness, as the people in the town react to the disease itself. The purpose of this paper is to explore the similarities between the way a disease evolves and how the community evolved in reaction to Spanish Influenza. The community of Unity went through several changes from paranoia and fear to blame and devastation, as a disease would. The action in Unity relies on an infection metaphor in a number of ways. In the play, Kerr uses the small town itself as a representation of the Canadian national front with the influenza itself representing a German invader, as in the just-ended First World War. The fear of the disease is similar to the fear of the enemy, an interesting topic considering the historical setting of the play. Biologically, most people have a fear of becoming ill, and a further fear of death. The Spanish Influenza was likely to kill because of its virulent nature, and the fear of death here can be found in both the fear of invasion and the fear of disease. It is interesting that Kerr here combines the infection metaphor with the historical context to add further depth to the play. Infection and war have very similar ways of manifesting themselves, usually becoming worse without action . The war is a useful backdrop for an infection metaphor, because it highlights the similarities between the two. In Unity the inhabitants of the community fight against the infection in very militaristic terms, using expressions such as ‘take up arms’. In the medical world, similar lexis is used when considering how to combat disease; we ‘fight’ an infection, and ‘kill’ a fever. As an illness manifests itself, medicine becomes more useful to ‘combat’ the disease, and as a war starts, it is necessary to ‘combat’ the enemy. Kerr uses these similarities very wisely, particularly by bringing in a third concept of ‘combat’ centred on the town of Unity and their attitudes towards the Spanish flu, intricately using all three concepts in a similar way. The town of Unity, before the disease hits, has a fear and a paranoia of the Spanish Influenza, even going to such lengths to ban trains from stopping in the town and going to extreme lengths to prevent the spread. This can be compared to the more modern paranoia about the AIDS epidemic. In this case, many people that have no connection to the disease have a fear of catching it, which is a similar reaction to many diseases. Before Unity has any direct contact with the Spanish flu, extreme measures are taken to prevent the disease. There are a number of actions by governments worldwide to instil fear about the AIDS epidemic, too, which is metaphorically very similar to the actions taken by the town of Unity in reaction to the Spanish flu. It has been shown that fear of disease is one of the most common fears surrounding an epidemic (Mast, 1998), so Kerr uses this similarity wisely and accurately. The character Beatrice explains this best; ‘The town has been quarantined. Not because of illness but because of fear of illness’. The first member of the community to fall ill is Michael, a non-local. The treatment of Michael completely changes when Unity finds out he has the Spanish flu, he is treated like ‘

Sony and Samsung Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Sony and Samsung - Essay Example Samsung has continually invested more than any of its rivals on its research and development, rising during the past couple of years to almost 9 percent of its revenue. It has a large and growing force of designers and engineers working in 17 research centers located all around the world (see Exhibit 6). Yun has also forced Samsung's own units to compete with outsiders in order to speed up the process for developing innovative new products. Samsung has also created the post of chief design officer to make sure that designers can get their ideas to top managers. Yun appears to be well aware of the challenges that lie ahead for Samsung. He understands that his firm must keep investing heavily into R&D and keep developing new factories in locations that offer lower costs. Sony probably restructure for a number of reasons. Companies typically restructure when they need to correct poor financial performance or to capitalize on market opportunities or to strengthen corporate value. Each of the five main change programs presented reasons why they were introduced. The changes are clearly sub-headed in the case and you'll find that towards the end of each main section, reasons are given for the next change in line. Just go through each section meticulously, and select a few relevant points to include. Centralized decision-making t... Companies typically restructure when they need to correct poor financial performance or to capitalize on market opportunities or to strengthen corporate value. Each of the five main change programs presented reasons why they were introduced. The changes are clearly sub-headed in the case and you'll find that towards the end of each main section, reasons are given for the next change in line. Just go through each section meticulously, and select a few relevant points to include. 3. To what extent did Sony's restructuring efforts centralize or decentralize decision-making within Sony Centralized decision-making tends to come from a particular group or at a particular location, usually from the senior team/HQ and is typical of hierarchical structures where information is passed down through the layers from the top. Decentralized decision-making suggests greater autonomy and the delegating of decision-making to lower levels of management or to different strategic business units. Sony seems to drift in and out of different approaches to decision-making - sometimes a centralized, sometimes a more decentralized approach. Scan the case and look for information relating to how decisions are made and look for some relevant points to include. At a couple of places in the case, there is direct mention of the terms decentralization and centralization. 4. How culturally diverse do you think the different Sony businesses were, for example, consumer electronics, entertainment, insurance, etc Include just a few brief points here and one or two assumptions. Is there likely to be different cultures in operation due to the nature of the businesses involved Would you expect a different level of cultural awareness and sensitivity in the

MRKT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

MRKT - Essay Example This segmentation is essential in determining the sales and the market potential for growth and development because it is through such differentiation that the firm will be able to cater for the specific customer-tailored needs and demands. Besides, the demographic variable such as age and gender are part of the factors that Denver must put into consideration while developing marketing strategy. The snacks and soft drinks targets all the customers, independent of age or gender. Psychographic factors that must be taken into consideration include behavioral and cultural variables. This entails the identification of the specific needs of the consumers then making the products with the specified taste and preferences in the mind. Denver therefore must be familiar with the dynamic and diverse needs of the customers and also mind about the competitors’ products and services. The slogan is â€Å"Quality at affordable cost†. 4) Pick one of the media you think would work and design an ad for this product. Be sure to demonstrate your positioning and slogan. If you are using a print media, use stick figures or quick drawings to illustrate what you would put in your ad. If you pick TV- create a storyboard. Radio-create the dialogue. Explain what colors you would use, label what the drawing is supposed to be. (Use the back or separate piece of paper) The main objective of this advertising is to persuade the customers to have the right information on the quality and pricing strategy adopted by the Denver in attracting and retaining its potential customers. In promoting the brand, other alternative methods of promoting the product include personal selling. Denver would delegate this duty to the sales team to popularize the snacks and soft drink products to the potential and target customers. This method is preferred as it would be essential in building strong relationship between the company and the

Security Plan

Security Plan Scenario : Widget Warehouse is a medium sized e-commerce company that supports 200 customers daily. The student has been hired to assist in the development of a new security policy. An assignment has been received to analyse the current network of Widget Warehouse. The Widget Warehouse network is comprised of an intranet with 200 users, and a public Web server that processes the company e-commerce traffic. The internal network is logically divided into an information technology (IT) department branch, an accounting branch, a customer service branch, a sales branch, and an inventory branch. Step 1 Create a list of various attack intruders: a. The IT department for Widget Warehouse has a general understanding of security but they are very inexperienced with the various attacks an intruder can use to exploit their network resources. Create a list of various attacks intruders can use maliciously against the Widget Warehouse network. Also, provide a brief description of possible attacks, including their purpose. Attack Name Attack Description Brute force attack This attack uses a specific character set (such as A-Z, 0-9) and computes the hash for every possible password made up of those characters. Eavesdropping When an attacker is eavesdropping on our communications, it is referred to as sniffing or snooping. The ability of an eavesdropper to monitor the network is generally the biggest security problem that administrators face in an enterprise. Without strong encryption services that are based on cryptography, our data can be read by others as it traverses the network. Denial-of-Service Attack The denial-of-service attack prevents normal use of your computer or network by valid users. After gaining access to the network the attacker can send invalid data to applications or network services, which causes abnormal termination or behaviour of the applications or services, attacker can flood a computer or the entire network with traffic until a shutdown occurs because of the overload, attacker can Block traffic, which may result in loss of access our network resources by the users. Data Modification After an attacker has read our data, the next logical step is to alter it. An attacker can modify the data in the packet without the knowledge of the sender or receiver. Even if we do not require confidentiality for all communications or we do not want any of the messages to be modified in transit. For example, if one is exchanging purchase requisitions, he does not want the items, amounts, or billing information to be modified. Identity Spoofing (IP Address Spoofing) Most networks and operating systems use the IP address of a computer to identify a valid entity. In certain cases, it is possible for an IP address to be falsely assumed— identity spoofing. An attacker might also use special programs to construct IP packets that appear to originate from valid addresses inside the corporate intranet. After gaining access to the network with a valid IP address, the attacker can modify, reroute, or delete your data. Password-Based Attacks A common denominator of most operating system and network security plans is password-based access control. Thus the access rights to a computer and network resources are determined by the person, the user name and the password. Older applications do not always protect identity information as it is passed through the network for validation. This might allow an eavesdropper to gain access to the network by posing as a valid user. Sniffer Attack A sniffer is an application or device that can read, monitor, and capture network data exchanges and read network packets. If the packets are not encrypted, a sniffer provides a full view of the data inside the packet. Even encapsulated (tunnelled) packets can be broken open and read unless they are encrypted and the attacker does not have access to the key. Man-in-the-Middle Attack The man-in-the-middle attack occurs when someone between you and the person with whom you are communicating is actively monitoring, capturing, and controlling your communication transparently. For example, the attacker can re-route a data exchange. When computers are communicating at low levels of the network layer, the computers might not be able to determine with whom they are exchanging data. Trojan horses and worms Trojan horses are often associated with viruses which are they are dangerous programs that masquerade as benign programs. Step 2 Make a List of Security Requirements: a. One of the first steps in creating a security policy is gathering the requirements for the company. Create a list of questions to ask the Widget Warehouse executives, in order to better understand their security requirements and business goals. 1. Widget Warehouse requirements: a) What are the specifications required for the network operation? b) What access controls are needed to be applied on the users? c) Which departments are needed to be interconnected? d) What are the login policies and to which extent are they needed to be applied? (day, time range etc) e) A list of various applications which are required for the different branches? f) To what extent the policies are to be applied on the users? g) How group policies should be applied on the server which allows the users to access information? h) What are the policies to be implied on the web access? i) Specifications of file policies to all the users? j) What are the password policies needed to be applied on the users? Step 3 Identify Security Implementation Options a. Based on the questions, it is discovered that mission-critical information is passed between remote departments in the company over the LAN and the Internet. What security implementation could be used to keep this information out of unauthorized hands? Provide a brief explanation with each answer. Company will have the information about their employees, customers, products, sales, and financial status. Most of this information is now collected, processed and stored on electronic computers and transmitted across networks to other computers. Should confidential information about businesses customers or finances or new product line fall into the hands of a competitor, such a breach of security could lead to lost business, law suits or even bankruptcy of the business. Protecting confidential information is a business requirement, and in many cases also an ethical and legal requirement. In the company one department is needed to access the information of another department. We should maintain a firewall to the server. And we have to give the access between the departments where it is required. Authorization: Authorization addresses the question: what can you do? It is the process that governs the resources and operations that the authenticated client is permitted to access. Resources include files, databases, tables, rows, and so on, together with system-level resources such as registry keys and configuration data. Operations include performing transactions such as purchasing a product, transferring money from one account to another, or increasing a customers credit rating. Virtual Private Network ‘VPN One of the most important solutions to viruses and hackers threats is VPN [4] that makes the network between companies and users secured; it is also authenticated and encrypted for security. VPNs provide the ability for two offices to communicate with each other in such a way that it looks like theyre directly connected over a private leased line. Basically, a VPN is a private network that uses a public network usually the Internet to connect remote sites or users together. Instead of using a dedicated, real world connection such as leased line, a VPN [11] uses virtual connections routed through the Internet from the companys private network to the remote site or employee. IPSec: IPSec [3] is defined as a set of standards that verifies, authenticates, and encrypts data at the IP packet level. It is used to provide data security for network transmissions. IPSec is a suite of protocols that allows secure, encrypted communication between two computers over an unsecured network. It has two goals: to protect IP packets, and to provide a defense against network attacks. Step 4 Create a Description of the Security Wheel a. The Widget Warehouse executives do not completely understand the continual process of security. They appear to be under the impression that once a security policy is implemented it will be sufficient for an extended period of time. Create a description of the security wheel and discuss the benefits of such a model. Sol: The network security wheel is a methodology of how the network security of an enterprise is maintained. Here the notion of ‘wheel is a depiction that says that network security is a continuous process. In other words, in order to keep the wheel rolling have a continual security policy, the security engineers in an enterprise should always maintain four steps: Step Name Step Description 1. Secure We have to secure our networks. This is the step where we implement our security solutions in the enterprise. Firewalls, authentication, encryption are included in this step 2. Monitor This is the step where we monitor our security solutions implemented in the previous step. We should monitor if a security breach exists. We can think about IDS or IPS in this stage. This step can also be used to validate our security solutions. 3. Test This is the step where the security engineers/specialists try to break their own security solutions. We can think of this step as penetration testers kind of job. 4. Improve This step is a continuation of the previous step. Once we find a breach or something that hinders employees productivity, then we can improve it here. This step may also be a good place to change our security policies. Step 5 Passive Monitoring a. The management of Widget Warehouse wishes to see some of the available options in security monitoring. As the consultant, suggest that a passive monitoring scheme may be an option they should pursue. Write a description of passive monitoring that is to be presented to Widget Warehouse management. Sol: Security monitoring focuses on the activities and condition of network traffic and network hosts. Activity monitoring is primarily performed to assess policy compliance, identify non-compliance with the institutions policies, and identify intrusions and support an effective intrusion response. Because activity monitoring is typically an operational procedure performed over time, it is capable of providing continual assurance. Through passive monitoring, a security admin can gain a thorough understanding of the networks topology: what services are available, what operating systems are in use, and what vulnerabilities may be exposed on the network. Much of this data can be gathered in an automated, non-intrusive manner through the use of standard tools, Step 6 Explain Using a Security Policy a. Explain to the IT Department how using a security policy can provide advantages to the company as a way to secure sensitive information. 1. Developing a security policy. †¢ By using a security policy, we can achieve confidentiality, integrity and availability over the network. †¢ The security policy addresses constraints on functions and flow among them, constraints on access by external systems and adversaries including programs and access to data by the users of different branches. †¢ Information will be protected against unauthorised access. †¢ By using access control lists and password policies, certain important data can be protected from unauthorised users. †¢ All breaches of Information Security, actual or suspected, can be reported and investigated. †¢ Retaining confidential and proprietary information. †¢ Securing applications †¢ Assuring standardization and consistency †¢ At the network level, we can minimise the spread and impact of harmful worms †¢ and viruses. †¢ Business requirements for the availability of information and information systems will be met.

A Career as an Adoption Counselor Essay examples -- Career Research

Adoption is a process where by a person assumes the parenting for another and, in so doing, permanently transfers all rights and responsibilities from the biological parent or parents. Unlike guardianship or other systems designed for the care of the young, adoption is intended to effect a permanent change in status and as such requires societal recognition, either through legal or religious sanction. Adoption has changed considerably over the centuries with its focus shifting from adult adoption and inheritance issues toward children and family creation; its structure moving from recognition of continuity between the adopted and kin toward allowing relationships of lessened intensity. In modern times, adoption is a primary vehicle serving the needs of homeless, neglected, abused and runaway children (Wikipedia, â€Å"Adoption†). Child, Family, and School Social Worker make average annual earnings of $38, 280. The employment of such social workers is expected to grow by twenty percent between 2012 and 2020, per the BLS (â€Å"Adoption†). Some counselors find that because adoption touches on so many family issues, it evolves naturally out of a more general practice. A difficult prejudice that adoption counselors face is the perception that they are baby stealers or baby sellers. A birth mother may require help making the difficult decision to give a child up for adoption. Many adoption counselors are social workers who have come to focus on adoption because they have had a personal experience with adoption (â€Å"CFNC.org†). This is somewhat the case in my situation. My parents were about to start the adoption process when my mom found out that she was pregnant. For Glory To, the most difficult time is when placement doesn’t wor... ...heir own kids, they shouldn’t panic, they may be able to adopt! Works Cited "Adoption Caseworker: Job Description and Education Requirements." Education-Portal.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2014. "CFNC.org - Career Profile." CFNC.org - Career Profile. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2014. "IVCC - Illinois Valley Community College." IVCC - Illinois Valley Community College. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2014. "IVCC Sociology and Anthropology." IVCC Sociology and Anthropology. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 2014. "McKendree University." Marching Bearcat Band. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2014. "McKendree University." McKendree University. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2014. "The Process." California Kids Connection. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 2014. Wikipedia contributors. "Adoption." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 10 Feb. 2014. Web. 10 Feb. 2014.

Amazon.com Operational strategy Essay

AQuestion 2: What are Amazon.com’s competitive priorities and what should its operation strategy focus on? Competitive priorities: – Keep the position of market leader. – Maintain the fast delivery. – Low price focus – User friendly website. Operational strategy: Promote the website, especially in this time of the year, during the holidays. People will be reminded of the website, and maybe visit the website because of the promotion. When the visitors are on amazon.com, they must experience a nice shopping-environment. This can be done by constantly improving the website’s user friendliness, this can be done by improving the search engine for example. Or something as easy as changing some colors to match the season. Question 4: FedEx built its business on quick, dependable delivery of items being shipped by air from one business to another. Its early advantages included global tracking of shipments using Web technology. The advancement of Internet technology enabled competitors to become much more sophisticated in order tracking. In addition, the advent of Web-based businesses put pressure on increased ground transportation deliveries. Explain how this change in the environment has affected FedEx’s operations strategy, especially relative to UPS, which has a strong hold on the business-to-consumer ground delivery business. Because FedEx lost their initial competitive advantage (UPS became a threat as they were able to deliver large volume of shipments because of the advanced Internet technology as well), they had to come up with new  operations strategies to remain competitive: – FedEx Ground – FedEx Home FedEx now focuses on low-cost operations and dependable delivery, to gain a new competitive advantage. Question 6: Although all nine of the competitive priorities discussed in this chapter are relevant to a company’s success in the marketplace, explain why a company should not necessarily try to excel in all of them. What determines the choice of the competitive priorities that a company should emphasize for its key processes? It really depends on the specific market you are operating in as a company. The company should focus on the most marketable assets by implementing demographics and forecasting future opportunities. Top quality may influence the development speed and low cost operations could conflict with your volume flexibility. BChad’s Creative Concepts started as a small company producing custom made wooden furniture. Business was good, and Chad Thomas decided to expand his business. Now, Chad added a standard line of furniture to his business. The priority is still on the custom made furniture, therefore the standard line is put on the second place, leading to unfinished products and a big inventory. Question 1: What types of decisions must Chad Thomas make daily for his company’s operations to run effectively? Over the long run? Chad has to make operational decisions. In the long run, these decisions are Strategic decisions. Question 2: How did sales and marketing affect operations when they began to sell standard pieces to retail outlet? By changing to selling standard pieces in retail outlets next to the custom pieces, Chad has start promoting his business, because now there are serious competitors, which are easily reached by the customer. The whole production process changed, because now standard pieces are produced in the factory as well. Question 3: How has the move to producing standard furniture affected the company’s financial structure? The sales of the standard line are increasing steadily, but still the most dollars of the sales come from the custom made pieces. However, the financial situation is not optimal, because lots of dollars are spend on inventory. Question 4: What might Chad Thomas have done differently to avoid some of the problems he now faces? Thomas could make a second factory, focused on only producing standard pieces. By doing this, he can terminate the problem of priorities. So, by doing this, he can decrease the inventory. Extra questions Question 1: Explain the competitive priorities for both product lines (customized furniture and standard furniture) The priority of the company is the department of the customized furniture. But with both departments, there are different priorities. For customized furniture, the priority is to create a creative design, with the highest quality possible. For the standard furniture, the priority is deliver on time and a good price-quality ratio. Question 2: Identify the OPP (Order Penetration Point) of each productlines The OPP for the custom made pieces of furniture is the moment Chad’s staff start working on a project. The whole project is specifically made for one customer from the beginning. The OPP for the Standard pieces is the moment  that a customer buys the (already fully assembled) product. At that moment in time, the pieces are for that specific customer. Question 3: Which flow strategy would be the most effective for each of the product lines? For the custom made pieces flexible is the best strategy. This focuses on individual pieces. For the standard pieces, the line strategy is the best strategy. This strategy focuses on the whole line, not on individual pieces. Question 4: What would you advice Chad’s to do to solve the current problems? We would advise Chad to start a second factory. The current factory should be used for only the custom pieces. The new factory can be used for the standard pieces. With the two production processes separated, you can eliminate the problem of priority. Discussion questions 1It ´s a job process, a process with the flexibility needed to produce a wide variety of products in significant quantities. With considerable complexity and divergence in the steps performed. We think it ´s easy to have high customer contact with internal customers, because internal customers are closer to the company. 2This sign implicates that the employees do not have any word in the company. Some customers could think that the employees are not good in performing their job, without any responsibility. Next to this, the employees could feel like they are not important to the company. So this sign works in a bad way. Furthermore, the sign implicates that the employees are very limited in their actions, and furthermore, this leads to low customer contact. This sign is exactly the opposite of how the employees at Ritz Carlton work. Employees at this hotel have all the resources and responsibilities a man can have. Stories go round that hotel managers fly in products from other  countries, just for customer satisfaction. In this case, with the sign, the employees ´ hands are tied, and by this, customer satisfaction is not at its maximum. CQuestion 3: How do the process strategies of eBay and McDonald’s differ and how do their choices relate to customer-introduced variability? eBay (mass customization) McDonald’s (repetitive focus) eBay customers are less involved regarding the variability. They offer many different products for many different interests, and the customer basically buys whatever he or she wants: low involvement. McDonald’s on the other hand wants to know more specifically, what their customers want as they have less products to offer and are able to change their product line more often during the year. Lately, McDonald’s organised a contest where the customer could compose their ideal hamburger. The winning hamburger is now being sold for a set time period. Question 4: Medical technology can outfit a patient with an artificial heart, or cure vision defects with the touch of a laser. However, hospitals still struggle with their back-office processes, such as getting X-ray files from radiology on the fourth floor to the first-floor view boxes in the emergency room without having to send a runner. More than 30 percent of the estimated 30 billion health transactions each year are conducted by phone, fax or mail. To what extent, and how, can information technology improve productivity and quality for such processes? Remember that some doctors are not ready to give up their pads and pencils, and many hospitals have strong lines drawn around its departments, such as pharmacy, cardiology, radiology ad paediatrics. Basically, information technology cannot only improve productivity and quality, but thinking more practically, it could save lives as all medical systems in a hospital work through faster and more advanced technologies. Understandably, it has to be 100 percent reliable and feasible and that’s  probably the current reason for some doctors, mentioned in the question, to keep working in an old-fashioned way that is – for them – safer and more reliable, but probably not as fast as up to date advanced information technologies available. Question 5: Consider the range of processes in the financial services industry. What position on the customer-contact matrix would the process of selling financial services to municipalities (1) occupy? The process of preparing monthly fund balance reports (2)? Explain why they would differ. 1. Front/Hybrid office 2. Back office The first process requires some interaction to high interaction with the customer (municipality). It lies somewhere in the middle, as you’re not working with individual clients (which require high interaction) but a client (municipality) that needs regular updates and interaction on the process. Preparing monthly fund balance reports is a continued routine process that requires low to none interaction and is the same with all customers.

Free Essays on Research Paper On Motherboards

Research Paper on Motherboards There are many types of motherboards ranging in size and shape. The first motherboard appeared in 1981 and was made by IBM PC. It measured 8† x 11.5† and had five expansion slots that were positioned 1† apart in the back, left of the board. The XT(Extended Technology) computer came about in 1982 and measured about 8.5† x 12† inches. This board had a total of eight expansion slots positioned at 0.8† apart. The first AT(Advanced Technology) board measured 12† x 13.5† and also had eight expansion slots spaced 0.8† apart. The popular form of the AT became the main model made by manufacturers. Mini At(8.7† x 18†) and Baby AT(8.57† x 13.04†) made it possible to put all of the components onto the board using less physical space. These designs made the mini-tower and mini-desktop form factor possible. The ATX(Advanced Technology Extended-style_ form factor was introduced in 1995 which made it easier for manufacturers to produce motherboard designs. The ATX had a maximum size of 12† x 9.6† and looked like a Baby AT board rotated 90 degrees. The board has a special design to accommodate the new, larger Pentium processors. Western Digital came up with the design for LPX(Low Profile Extended) motherboard in 1986 for corporate use. It made it possible to reduce space and costs, and soon lead to the creation of the slim-line â€Å"pizza box† style case which was meant to fit underneath a typical monitor. Expansion slots on the LPX style motherboard, were not built into the board itself, they were instead set on a riser card that plugged into the single slot connector on the motherboard. But there were a few problems with the LPX motherboards. There were only a few certain full-length I/O cards allowed for the board. Also, the installation of the I/O cards generated clutter while creating several temperature pockets that prevented good airflow through the system. Another problem was... Free Essays on Research Paper On Motherboards Free Essays on Research Paper On Motherboards Research Paper on Motherboards There are many types of motherboards ranging in size and shape. The first motherboard appeared in 1981 and was made by IBM PC. It measured 8† x 11.5† and had five expansion slots that were positioned 1† apart in the back, left of the board. The XT(Extended Technology) computer came about in 1982 and measured about 8.5† x 12† inches. This board had a total of eight expansion slots positioned at 0.8† apart. The first AT(Advanced Technology) board measured 12† x 13.5† and also had eight expansion slots spaced 0.8† apart. The popular form of the AT became the main model made by manufacturers. Mini At(8.7† x 18†) and Baby AT(8.57† x 13.04†) made it possible to put all of the components onto the board using less physical space. These designs made the mini-tower and mini-desktop form factor possible. The ATX(Advanced Technology Extended-style_ form factor was introduced in 1995 which made it easier for manufacturers to produce motherboard designs. The ATX had a maximum size of 12† x 9.6† and looked like a Baby AT board rotated 90 degrees. The board has a special design to accommodate the new, larger Pentium processors. Western Digital came up with the design for LPX(Low Profile Extended) motherboard in 1986 for corporate use. It made it possible to reduce space and costs, and soon lead to the creation of the slim-line â€Å"pizza box† style case which was meant to fit underneath a typical monitor. Expansion slots on the LPX style motherboard, were not built into the board itself, they were instead set on a riser card that plugged into the single slot connector on the motherboard. But there were a few problems with the LPX motherboards. There were only a few certain full-length I/O cards allowed for the board. Also, the installation of the I/O cards generated clutter while creating several temperature pockets that prevented good airflow through the system. Another problem was...

Here is How to Make Edible Glitter

Here is How to Make Edible Glitter Make your own edible glitter. Its easy and inexpensive and much safer for kids or to put on your face. Edible Glitter Ingredients 1/4 cup sugar1/2 teaspoon liquid food coloring You can use granulated white sugar or any of the crystalline sugars. Avoid brown sugar (too moist) and powdered sugar (not sparkly). Use liquid food coloring because paste coloring is more difficult to mix and may discolor when baked. Mix together the sugar and food coloring.Bake the colored sugar in a 350 F oven for 10 minutes.Store the sugar glitter in a sealed container, to protect it from moisture. Non-Toxic Glitter Recipe 1/4 cup salt1/2 teaspoon liquid food coloring Mix together the salt and food coloring.Bake the colored salt on a baking sheet at 350 F for 10 minutes.Allow the glitter to cool. Store the glitter in a sealed bag or container. You can mix either type of glitter with corn syrup or non-toxic glue for craft projects or stick it to your skin. It also sticks fairly well onto petroleum jelly for use on your lips. Because petroleum jelly is oil-based, it wont dissolve the sugar.

Hofstedes Dimensions Abstract Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Hofstedes Dimensions Abstract - Assignment Example The five dimensions of Hofstede’s cultural dimension framework are power distance, individualism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, and long term orientation. The power distance dimension measures the inclination of the poor citizens of a country to accept power is distributed unequally. In countries that have a high power distance index the people accept their status within the system even if they are at the bottom. Governments that are abusive take advantage of culture with high power distance to impose their regimen on the people. Arab countries have a much higher power distance score than western nations such as the United States. The second dimension of Hofstede’s framework is individualism. Individualism refers to the instinct of people of looking out for their best interest instead of the group. In individualism societies the people are taught to look out for themselves and their families. The United States is a very individualistic society, while Japan believes in collectivism. The survival of the fittest mentality of Americans has instilled a belief in the people that anyone can raise themselves out of poverty through hard work. High educational levels are needed for people in individualistic societies to compete for good paying jobs. The third cultural dimension is masculinity. â€Å"Masculinity versus its opposite, femininity refers to the distribution of roles between the genders which is another fundamental issue for any society to which a range of solutions are found† (Clearlycultural). The country with the highest masculinity index in the world is Japan. In Japan the females do not have equal rights in the workplace. Most managers and supervisors in Japan are males. The United States has a lower masculinity rating than Japan, but the glass ceiling effect still exist and females are often passed by for promotions due to their gender. The fourth

Performance Evaluation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Performance Evaluation - Essay Example 6). Performance Evaluation Points of Concern The case study talks about a mid size manufacturing plant and the performance evaluation of an engineer is conducted who previously had worked in the aerospace industry and hard working employee. Major concerns with respect to performance review in the manufacturing firm was that the review was performed by someone who was not effectively trained and so he won’t be able to understand the criteria of judging a person and deciding upon the appraisal. Secondly, the engineer did not trust the company’s approach towards evaluation of performance as it concentrated only personal characteristic and relationship with the worker. Thirdly even after learning about the 360 degree evaluation method, the manager was not sure of implementing it. Most Commonly-Used Performance Evaluation Tool The plant manger evaluated the performance based on two criteria personal characteristic and relationship with the co workers of the engineer. ... A good relationship means working as a team to solve problems and learn on new skills in order to reach the objective of the team and can bring about effective result. Therefore comparing personal characteristic and relationship among the co workers, the latter is more important for effective result. Advantage and Disadvantage Advantage of including the superiors, subordinates and peers in the evaluation process also known as the 360 degree is it improves the performance of whole organization and focuses on individual growth. An all round feedback allows an employee to understand as to how other perceive them and getting feedback directly from customers, colleague in a safe way helps an employee get the reality of information. In addition it also includes certain disadvantages like it is time consuming and a complex process, it can result in intimidating for some employees due to extensive feedback and most importantly it requires training in order to work effectively (Fagerhaugh, 19 96, p. 80) Three Common Performance Evaluation Methods Three common performance evaluation methods which are used to analyze performance data are rating scale or the ranking method, 360 degree evaluation method and behavioral evaluation method. Common characteristic of the three methods is that they are used to evaluate performance of the employees by the evaluator. The ranking method is the most common and easiest method where the employees are ranked based on the relative worth towards the organization although the method suffers from defects like bias report from the evaluator and also not suitable for large number of people. The 360 degree helps to get feedback from multisource unlike the ranking method. The