Case report toshiba notebook Essay

In this case discussion we are going to discuss the Toshiba’s notebook assembly line. At this assembly line multiple laptops are produced every day with a combination of employers and robots. We will be looking at it from different ways so we can find multiple ways to enhance the efficiency of the assembly line. We have to look at it as an supply chain manager. This means investigating it and keeping in mind the numerous aspects that the assembly line is influenced by. If we look at the assembly line in this way we will be able to spot several problems which can be solved and can result in a more efficient assembly line. The most obvious problems we spot are the number of tasks per assembly line position. Another problem is that every workstations labour time various too much. This results in several bottlenecks that has negative effects on the efficiency and production time. They differ from 5 seconds to 120 seconds. If these two problems are solved we think the assembly line will be much more efficient and thus more profitable. The first problem we discussed is the number of tasks per assembly line. We see this as a problem because this isn’t how an assembly line should be. The essence of an assembly line is that at every station a simple task is done. Maybe two but it has to stay a simple action. This ensures a smooth flow of the production process. What you see at this assembly line is that there are three positions where one operator has to fulfil multiple tasks. This does not enhance the efficiency because the operator has to switch every time he finishes a single task. A solution for this problem is to implement more assembly line positions. This will result in a smoother and more efficient flow of the production. In a situation like that every operator has to do only one or two tasks instead of six. This is beneficial because when you look at the production of a car for instance. If you let one employer built one entire car it will take much longer than when you use an assembly line in which multiple employers are working at that car one after the other. The solution for this problem we named is to implement more assembly line positions. This means either to hire more employers or to install more robots. There has to be investigated whether this solution is cost-effective. If the purchase of a new robot does not result in a high enough efficiency rise there has to be considered another solution. The second problem we named is the difference in time between the workstations. The workstations vary between 5 and 120 seconds per task(s). this creates problems because when the production times are not more or less the same, bottlenecks are formed. When a situation like that occurs, production processes that do run fast, have to slow down in order to be at the same pace as the slower ones. This means that that production process is not producing at its most efficient rate. There are two ways of solving this problem. The first one is to make a proper arrangement of the different tasks. Another way is to make the labour time shorter. A way of doing this is to re-arrange the tasks. Not the sequence in which they are done but the content of the tasks itself. If you change the content you can establish a shorter labour time. Our first solution of changing the arrangement of the tasks can be combined with the very first problem. Therefore we suggest to try the first solution first to reach an high as possible efficiency level as possible. If the goals are reached with the first solution alone you do not have to use the second solution. You can consider the second solution but if the first solution alone guarantees the wanted goals you can save money by not using the second solution. Apart from these two solutions there are multiple ways to improve your assembly line. We have chosen for these two ways because we believe these two are most worth for your money. What we mean by saying this is that for the amount of money you have to invest at first, you get the most profit of. You can for instance purchase the most modern robots and create the perfect working conditions but you have to consider the profits against the initial wages. Our solutions can be explained with this precedence graph. Our first solution can be used very easy. Our first solution was to use more assembly line points. As you can see in this graph the last three positions are not used. On these empty spots new assembly line point can be created. In this way you can divide the different tasks over the assembly line. This results in a shorter labour time. Our second solution can also be explained with this graph. As you can see there is a very big difference between the various labour times. If you make sure these labour times are more or less the same the flow of production will be a lot smoother and thus more efficient and quicker. This solution can be combined with the first one. If you are going to make the assembly line longer by dividing the tasks over more points you can, at the same time, make the labour times more coherent. We think that our solutions will provide a sustainable situation in which the production process runs a lot smoother and more efficient. The reason why we think our solutions are the most cost-profitable is because you can combine them. By changing one thing, you solve two things which both result in a more efficient, faster, smoother and more profitable assembly line.

Minorities in Australian Literature Essay

Australian literature consists of many representations of the ‘Australian way of life’ that are constructed by numerous national stereotypes. Various critics argue that the current literary representations of the average Australian do not embrace enough cultural diversity through the incorporation of indigenous people, females and ethnic communities. The representations of Australian people have changed dramatically over a period of time. While the first Australian literary pieces consisted of only one specific brand of person, neglecting women and aborigines, during the nation’s development and the arrival of more ethnic people, there was a rise in the representations of these minority groups. Following this, in the late 20th century to current years, these minority groups have begun to express and represent themselves through writing. Despite the most common representation of the Australian person not including these minorities, there has been a significant change in their representations through literature and the version that does not include them, is predominately used through non-literary works. The common representation of the Australian people is a tough Anglo-Saxon male who works in labour intensive jobs. This portrayal has been used heavily to identify Australians, particularly by the current media, to build on the Australian image. The concept of this type of person representing the whole nation was formed from traditional texts in the 19th century, when the writers were almost entirely white European males and chose to write only of people like themselves. â€Å"When the ladies come to the shearing shed† and â€Å"Clancy from the overflow,† are examples of the types of literary pieces that were written in the 19th century, which focus on the white men of Australia who work in tough jobs in the outback. â€Å"When the ladies come to the shearing shed,† written by Henry Lawson in 1897 is about the reactions of Australian men when women are in their presence. The poem composes the image of masculine men who work in a shearing shed, and represents their job as noble, as women come from the city to watch them. Women are represented as delicate objects of affection that hold little importance to the story. The only time in which the women are described doing or saying something is when they comment on the appearance of the animals, â€Å"and they gush and say in a girly way, that ‘the dear little lambs’ are ‘sweet. ’† This being the only thing that women say, illustrates that they did not hold any real significance to the story, and their opinions were completely left out. The way in which the women are portrayed in the poem is not necessarily negative, but they are not particularly valued characters, and are seen as the ‘other’. This is due to the attempt of a white male providing his personal opinion on the way another type of person acts, which creates a distorted representation. The men and women in this text have an obvious separation between them, and it is express that they are on very different levels, which is not an accurate portrayal of real life. â€Å"Clancy of the overflow† was written in 1889 by one of Australia’s most famous poets, Banjo Paterson. The story shares the same representation of the Australian male, who works with animals out in the â€Å"bush. † In the poem Paterson attempts to personify the quintessential Australian, and who believes every man should be which is a strong worker who is in touch with life on the land. Through the eyes of an office worker the poem represents outback life as desired over city living and working, â€Å"I am sitting in my dingy little office, where a stingy ray of sunlight struggles feebly down between the houses tall. † Clancy, and his outback life is represented as desired by the city dweller, â€Å"And I somehow fancy that I’d like to change with Clancy, like to take a turn at droving where the seasons come and go. † The poem does not include aborigines, women or ethnic people, which by today’s standard is frowned upon but in the time of the poems creation was common in texts. These two, and many more texts from Banjo Paterson and Henry Lawson reinforce the argument that the personification of the Australian person was most commonly used in traditional Australian literature, and the opinions of the minority groups are excluded. Progressing from the prejudiced representation that they received from male writers, women have become just as equally common and successful as men in Australian literature. In today’s Australian society, women are in a better situation than indigenous and ethnic Australians in terms of equality, which makes their characterization in literary works more familiar. The liberation of women in Australian literature has given females the opportunity to write about and express themselves through their personal opinions, creating countless female Australian authors. â€Å"If I had a gun† is a poem written by Gig Ryan, that represents her confronting attitudes toward the men that surround her. The poem consists of Gig Ryan explaining the men that she would shoot because of their disrespectful attitude towards women. There is . She uses particular examples of the way men in society sexualize her and other women, â€Å"I’d shoot the man who whistled from his balcony. † She even writes about the smallest occurrences that frustrate her, illustrating that she doesn’t accept any form of gender superiority, â€Å"I’d shoot the man last night who said smile honey. † A woman writing about the men that she would figuratively murder, shows the growth that Australian literature has endured. Many years prior, women were only rarely written about and their true feelings and perspectives were silenced. Now, they have the opportunity to voice their opinions, even in a confronting manner and still be embraced by the Australian public. Throughout the 20th century, women, aborigines and ethnic people began to be identified and represented more regularly, however still commonly through the perspective of Anglo-Saxon males. Despite this improvement, the ‘others’ could not represent themselves, so someone else represented them. This obviously led to a one-sided representation, because no matter how sympathetic the author was, they were viewing things through their own perspective, which is particularly evident with the aboriginal representations in texts. The novel â€Å"Coonardo† written by Katherine Susannah Pritchard addresses the complex issues of ownership and the colonial enterprise that was present in its publication date of 1958. It contains the flourishing inter-racial relationship of Hugh, a non-indigenous landowner and Coonardo, an indigenous woman as the solution to these difficult situations. This was an early time in Australia for a topic like this to become a successful novel, especially because the author held a non-biased perspective throughout the novel, which would have limited readers to those who did not have a strong opinion on these matters. David Malouf’s â€Å"Remembering Babylon† (1993) deals with the problem of how to represent difference and reversing the representations of the ‘other’. The main character, Gemmy lived in an aboriginal community for 16 years and an eventual â€Å"rescue† of him by white settlers creates a â€Å"double consciousness† that does not allow for him to fully re-embrace his white culture that soon becomes the ‘other’. Malouf, despite his white heritage does achieve a very open-minded representation of the aboriginal people. He appears to show sympathy towards the indigenous community, which allows him to tell the story through their eyes, casting the white people and the things they did as bad. The point of view throughout the novel is mainly of the tribe that Gemmy belonged to, instead of himself. The novel, while containing a great racial tolerance and acceptance towards the indigenous people, does however, still support the notion of the unstable relationship between non-indigenous and indigenous Australians. â€Å"Remembering Babylon† provides a more in depth representation from the point of view of the aboriginal people, whereas â€Å"Coonardo† represents both races equally from an outsider’s perspective. Many ethnic immigrants have been left with the smallest amount of representations in Australian literature, due to the White Australia Policy lasting up until the mid 20th century, which has rendered their Australian legacy very young. This obviously has now left them struggling to be represented in key texts because of their short history. Ethnic groups who are represented in literary works that are accepted within the mainstream aren’t immensely common. However when these ethnic groups are personified, it creates a highly accurate representation of the average Australian communities. Carlos Tsiolkas is a Greek-Australian author, who wrote â€Å"The slap,† a popular, contemporary piece of Australian literature that was turned into a television series. This novel naturally integrates white, Greek, Indian and indigenous Australians into a friendship community, illustrating the genuine multicultural society of Australia. Tsiolkas’s heritage assists him in providing an accurate representation of what it is like for these ethnic characters to live in Australia, because he has the ability to write from experience and represent himself. â€Å"The slap† does not have an obvious focus on the inter-racial relationships that it contains, but due to the variety of ethnicity that is incorporated into the characters, it is clear to see that the author made a conscious decision to include a range of cultural diversity in his novel. Ethnic immigrants who become successful authors usually write about their experiences in Australia, that become popular within the Anglo-Australian community, as their pieces offer a different view point, that challenges the way Australians view themselves. â€Å"The ungrateful immigrant† is a poem by Yu Ouyang that is an example of an ethnic author challenging the common perception of the ‘Australian way of life’. The poem is Ouyang’s personal view on Australia and its people, challenging the common belief that Australians are friendly and welcoming people, particularly to immigrants. He speaks about many elements of the country that he does not agree with or particularly like, and the negative way that the Australian people have responded to him. â€Å"You think that because I came to and live in Australia, I should be grateful for the rest of my life. † He even says that his decision to migrate to Australia was an â€Å"irreversible mistake. † This poem, like â€Å"if I had a gun† speaks very negatively about certain groups of people and challenges many common ideologies that exist about the ’Australian way of life,’ however it is still recognized and appreciated as a passionate literary piece. It would be understandable for many Australians to get offended and disregard this text due to the challenging opinions that it contains, but the piece has been accepted into the community because it is seen as an Australian person giving his opinion on his country. Also similar to â€Å"if I had a gun,† â€Å"The ungrateful immigrant† shows the progress in Australian literature and the different representations of the ‘Australian way of life’ that it now contains. It is evident that these literary works provide evidence that supports the argument that, despite the common stereotype of Australian people still being an Anglo-Saxon male, Australian literature does provide an immense variety of representations of women, indigenous Australians, and ethnic communities. They also illustrate the progression of Australian literature, from when it contained an incredibly narrow group of representations, to now when it contains an abundance of different racial and gendered authors and characters that contribute to the production of literary pieces, and the representations of the Australians that they contain. It is important, when analyzing the national identity of Australian way of life to evaluate the state of its literature, and the representations that it contains and upholds.

Conservative Party From 1951 To 1964 Essay

1) Labour failed to modernise its policies to a move affluent Britain and the party was constantly divided 2) The parliamentary party was split between the Left and Right: left-wing Bevan’s wanted an expansion of the public sector & hostile to Gaitskell, who did not 3) Gaitskell became leader after Wilson and agreed on a social democracy rather than a socialist one, but failed to remove Clause IV in 1961 Labour weakness enabled the Conservatives to avoid the electoral consequences of their mistakes, partially 1) Suez 1956 2) Resignation of Eden Conclusion The Labour party was dominating in votes up to 1950, however that year the difference between Labour and Conservative parties was very neglectful. There are several factors that might have contributed to Labours loss of power in 1951. The Labour government was associated with the period of austerity when people had to overcome rationing and devaluation. Additionally, many key members of the Cabinet were exhausted or unwell. Moreover, they were split internally and the event with Gaitskell that led to Bevan’s resignation in 1951, undermined the cohesion of the government. In comparison to them, the conservative party seemed to be more convincing at that period. The reign of Conservatives began in 1951 and lasted for 13 years, when Winston Churchill ran his campaign for election, and eventually, won. Here were several reasons that guaranteed his success: he agreed to maintain the post-war consensus that kept full employment under Keynesian policy and allowed to enlarge the system of social services. Moreover, Churchill’s second election victory was partially due to the gratitude of British public for being a good wartime leader. Another point is that, Conservatives reorganised the system of internal work and its campaign that was oriented toward gaining of additional votes. Also, they brought young and bright members into the government that made them stand out against old Labour government. The policy proposed by Churchill’s government was Keynesian and it guaranteed full employment due to the increased financing of projects by government and decreased taxation that led to increase of import. Additionally, growing industry, build of housing and development of welfare services guaranteed growing employment and high consumer demand; women found it easy to find a job that gave families at least 2 incomes. One of the important factors was that Conservatives finalised the austerity: rationing and licensing came to an end. However, there were some difficulties, too. Development of industry and services required more people, which resulted in immigration of low-cost workforce from colonies of GB. Consequently, up to 1962 the number of immigrants from India and African countries was about 200 000, that led to Commonwealth Immigration Act. Moreover, depressed areas continued to have the level of  unemployment above average that suggested costly measures to create intensives for workers, such as low interest loans, tax breaks and housing for key workers. But those measures could not guarantee safe functioning during difficult periods, for instance, firms closed as soon as recessi ons started. Winston Churchill was a prime-minister during 1951- 1955, even though he was very old and due to health issues was no longer dynamic. And this period is considered to be successful despite the fact that recovery of British economy was moving at a slow pace than one of Europe or USA. In 1955 the parliament was under direction of Anthony Eden, who worked close to Churchill and coordinated the work of government during his absence. He inherited good economic and political conditions, and it was hard to imagine that in 2 years he would resign in disgrace because of foreign affair matter, the very field area of government where his talent was praised for. His fiasco was caused by the Suez Canal seizure made by Gamal Abdel Nasser that was a strategically important point controlled by Britain since 1875. An attempt to intervene in Egypt with military force in secrete coalition with France and Israel was not supported by US government and would cause heavy pressure and withdrawal of its financial help from British economy. That event was humiliating failure of British foreign policy; and the secret collusion with France and Israel created a bad image for Eden. Harold Macmillan was a prime- minister from 1957 to 1964 and he followed the strategies of his fellow members. He implemented the Butler’s theory to operate a mixed economy and the policy of Keynesianism. The aims of these policies were to avoid extreme inflation and deflation by a series of government adjustments. If inflation rose too quickly, the government introduced measures to slow it down. These measures included, raising interest rates to prevent borrowing and increasing import controls to limit purchases from abroad, with the intent of reducing the trade gap. Alternatively, if demand was low, the Chancellor of the Exchequer at the time would introduce ‘a giveaway’ budget whereby taxes and interest rates were lowered. The Conservatives maintained these economic policies from 1957 right up until 1964. The ‘give away’ budgets were criticised however, as they were said to be attempts to ‘buy votes’. Macmillan also introduced the policy of stop-go, which resulted in stagflation due to Britain’s lack of economic strategy. That indicated the failure of governments to develop  policies that encouraged a constantly performing economy. The policy of stop-go was about intervening of government when consumption rose too quickly. Despite any criticisms, Macmillan (also named as Supermac) created an image of full confidence in this policy and that reflected in increase of his popularity and general public approval. As the result, quality of life improved and people were able to buy luxuries. Macmillan had many qualities that gained him respect: he was decisive, portrayed his confidence through media and delivered on promises. He pulled out of the Suez affair as he knew Britain was not going the way Eden wanted to see. He promised to build 300,000 houses per year: in 1953 the number of new houses achieved 327,000 and in 1954 – 354,000. Finally, Macmillan got rid of the British Empire which saved enormous amounts of money. Though Britain was criticised for doing this, as they were said to be abandoning their empire, ultimately it was the right thing to do as too many extreme promises were made and Macmillan knew t hese could not be kept without risking the welfare of Britain themselves. Also, the empire wanted freedom and therefore it was impossible for Britain to ‘abandon’ them; they were just providing their colonies with the freedom they craved. In 1964 the last prime-minister to hold office while being the member of House of Lords. After becoming a lord he was criticized by Labour Party as an aristocrat, who cannot understand the needs and problems of ordinary families; and he had an image of rather stiffly person by contrast with the Labour leader, Harold Wilson. In conclusion, one might say that the period of 1951-64 was a great success for British economy when it came revived and more industrialized after the 2nd World War. It gave a start for new vision and policy that improved the face of the country with time.

European Union Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

European Union Law - Essay Example Section 2(2) of the ECA enables such legislations to be enacted locally in the U.K. This is the enabling provision to repeal domestic laws inconsistent with EC law.3 The Directive comes into force once the set time limit has expired. If the Directive’s provisions are directly effective, an individual can invoke the provisions of the directive before a national court if the time limit has expired and accident occurred after the expiry of the time limit for transposition. The Commission may also bring action under article 258 of TFEU against the Member State. It can also bring an action against the Member State during the period of transposition or before the expiry of the set deadline if it finds that Member State has not taken national measures as in the present case, which can compromise the result envisaged by the Directive. In the case of Directives, they should be transposed within the time specified by the Commission failing which actions could be taken against the Govern ment in the national as well as European Courts. Infarction proceedings before the European Court of Justice can be initiated by the Commission as provided for under Article 226 of the EC Treaty. The Commission can also invoke article 228 in case a member State fails to rectify the lapse even after Article 226 proceedings, which can impose a lump sum fine on the State or an ongoing fine on a daily basis until the breach of law is corrected4. Recently, Ireland lost a case in the European Court of Justice in April 2013 for having failed to transpose the Article 8 of EU Directive 2008/94. In this case of No 398/11 Commission v Ireland, the court has stated at para 48 â€Å"Individuals harmed have a right to reparation against a Member State† if three conditions are fulfilled: There must be an infringement of EU law conferring certain rights to the citizens; the infringement must be serious; and direct causal link between the lapse and the damage to the individuals must be establ ished 5 Liability of the State arises from Article 4 (3) of TFEU which the national courts must ensure in the event of rights conferred by EU law on individuals being denied. To constitute a state liability, there must be a breach of EU law, attributable to the Member State and it must have caused damage to individual(s) as mentioned in the Francovich principle which arose out of Francovich case (1991)6 resulting from violation of the EU Directive which the Member State failed to transpose. Failure to implement can be total or partial. The Government is responsible for violation by different departments and also for the acts or omissions of public bodies who have been delegated with the responsibilities of performance. In Dillenkoffer and others v Federal Republic of Germany (1996)7, the failure to transpose within the time limit itself was held to be a serious violation. Thus, if an individual has interest safeguarded by the directive, state is held responsible for damages incurred by an individual caused directly as result of failure to transpose. This is especially relevant in cases of directives on health and safety at work, equal treatment of women etc.8

Country analysis ( Singapore) Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Country analysis ( Singapore) - Research Paper Example Nevertheless, the country is criticized for running a system that churns out punishments for acts perceived to be anti-social; however, the country’s use of capital punishment that is applied mainly for drug trafficking offences hailed for stopping the growth of narcotics syndicates. A. Introduction to Country Analysis Singapore uses Singaporean Dollar (SGD) and has a total area of about 714 sq km. According to Singapore Department of Statistics, the 2009 population estimates stood at 5.18million (comprising of 3.26 citizens 0.53 million permanent residents 1.39million other foreign residents) with the population density revolving around 6671.7 sq km. Singapore government represents republic and parliamentary democracy with the official Singaporean languages include Mandarin, English, Malay, and Tamil. The major religions in Singapore include Buddhism (33%), Christian (11%), Taoism (11%), Catholicism (7%), Islam (15%), Hinduism (5%), other religions 1%, and no religion at17% ( Jancloes-Schneider, 2012). Chinese make up the bulk of Singapore population (more than 75%) while Malays (13%) and Indians (9%) make up the rest. Singapore has also a significant composition of foreign workers. This diversity has translated into a distinct mix of religions, languages, cuisines, and cultural traditions. The successful integration of these elements has fashioned stable, accommodative relations depicted by mutual respect and that promotes social cohesion (World Trade Organization, 2000). Although Singapore is predominantly a multi-party nation, the People’s Action Party has dominated the political scene since independence from Malaysia in 1965. Singapore’s vibrant economy remains largely propelled by financial services and electronics industry (Parker, 2012). B. Economic Indicators Singapore possesses a developed market-based economy that has historically centered on extended entrepot trade. Singapore GDP (constant prices, National Currency) in 2010 stood at SGD 284.561 billion (and US $238.2 billion in 2011) while GDP (current prices, US dollars) in 2010 stood at US $222.699 billion. As per 2010, Singapore GDP growth ranged around 14.471% while GDP (PPP) in 2010 stood at US $291.937 billion (GDP PPP was US $327.557 billion in 2011) (Healy Consultants,2012). Singapore’s GDP per capita (constant prices, National currency) in 2010 stood at SGD 55, 093.67 while GDP per capita (current prices, National currency) in 2010 stood at SGD 58,790. 97. In 2011, the GDP per capita stood at SGD 63,050, which amounted to US $50,123 (Jancloes-Schneider, 2012). The inflation rate in 2010 stood at 2.823% while, in 2011, the inflation rate stood at 5.2% and is estimated to be 3.5% in 2012. Unemployment rate in Singapore decreased to about 1.9% within the third quarter of 2012 right from 2% registered in the 2nd quarter of 2012. In 2011, Singapore enjoyed an annual growth of around 5.2% with the benchmark interest rate last recorded by the Monet ary Authority of Singapore standing at 0.1%. After an outstanding rebound in 2010, the Singapore economy slowed down a bit in 2011 owing to tighter economic policies and the slowdown witnessed in international trade (Jancloes-Schneider, 2012). C. Main exports and Imports Singapore’s geostrategic location, plus its developed port facilities means that a significant volume of Singapore’s merchandise exports involves entrepot trade with close to 47% of exports comprising of re-exports. The total value of exports in Singapore in 2010 stood at

Report to your line manager on the changes to the appraisal system Essay

Report to your line manager on the changes to the appraisal system - Essay Example In addition, the committee should set process-oriented goals rather result-oriented objectives. Besides, there should be clear communication channels between the supervisors and the employees. Other recommendation included instituting psychological appraisal systems that assess future performance potential. Moreover, the organization should institute a peer evaluation program that produces results for comparison with the supervisors’ results. Introduction Evaluation of performance is a primary feature of every organization. Performance appraisal is an element of performance management that concerns with examining an employee’s productivity against set standards (Kandula, S. R. 2006, 32)). This is beneficial to both the company and the employee. The employee benefits in terms of professional development. This is because one learns of unique strengths and weaknesses that are responsible for particular levels of performance. In addition, the employee learns of the gaps tha t one should tackle in subsequent performances. There are key objectives of this research. To begin with, it seeks to evaluate whether the organization’s goals can align with the employees goals during the performance appraisal process. ... This system is less empirical as it involves mutual discussions with the supervisors and employees on performance. In this method, the manager sets specific, measurable, and reasonable goals with individual employee regarding one’s expectation of performance. The manager discusses with each employee while paying attention to notable factors. To begin with, the manager considers the employee’s individual scenario. Individual scenario relates to the employee’s current position in the organization’s hiercahy. This suggests that the managers consider the tasks of the given employee in setting the goals. The manager, therefore, cannot set goals that exist out of the realm of one’s duties. In addition, the manager considers the limitations of an employee in performing certain tasks. This pays attention to the authority of the immediate supervisor and the unique jurisdictions that determine the behavior of the employee (Aswathappa, K. 2005, 167). Besides, the managers regard the level of skills of the employee. Since this is a continuous process, the past behavior and performance of an employee becomes a vital criteria in setting goals that reflect such deficiencies. Deficiencies refer to the gap between an actual past performance and the respective expected level of performance (Evans, D. 2001, 20). It is essential to have clear organization’s strategies in setting performance goals. Performance targets cannot only consider the employee’s situation because the organization has overall strategies that it wants to achieve through the employees (Kumar, R. 2011, 49). The organization’s goals are set in terms of the long-term view and short-term annual goals. The

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

DNS - Essay Example When DNS receives data from the computer named as ‘Peter’, it translates the computer name in to its IP address so that it can be recognized by routers and switches. Likewise, switches and routers recognize number based IP addresses for example, 192.168.0.1 ("What is DNS?† 2005). Moreover, while accessing Internet, or opening any website, humans need to know only the Uniform Resource Location (URL) i.e. the website address ‘www.hotmail.com’. This is a convenient way for humans of accessing the website with the URL instead of its IP address. DNS is a mechanism that converts these web based addresses in to IP address. Consequently, the expediency for humans of accessing IP address based systems via easy names is handled by the DNS server. DNS server is configured separately for this specific function in organizations. A typical DNS server requires configuration of critical components in order to work correctly. One of these components is the Resource Records (RRs) (Davidowicz, 1999) as these records are configured to handle several tasks including the translation of URL’s in to IP addresses, identification of host and host names i.e. the web server on which the website is hosted and processes associated with mail exchange functions. DNS logical architecture resembles a tree structure that works from top to bottom along with branches that are called leaves i.e. every single branch represents a leave (Davidowicz, 1999). Likewise, the main branch also called as node from where the tree originates extends from top to bottom represents the root. Nodes can be represented as .org, .com, .ws etc. identifies label of the website. If the length of the website is long there will are more branches and nodes associated with it. Likewise, while considering a URL from a DNS structure representing tree, labels are selected from the direction i.e. from left to the right. In the current information age,

Detroit and municipal bankruptcy Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Detroit and municipal bankruptcy - Research Paper Example This essay seeks to elaborate on why Detroit should pursue bankruptcy. Detroit filling of bankruptcy can follow the city’s current existing population record. According to the census record taken in 2012, Detroit hosts a population of around 700,000 residents. This number stipulates that the city stand among the highest populated cities in the state of Michigan (Rattner 15). The high population implies that the city requires relatively higher resources compared to other cities to sustain the residents within the area. Filling for bankruptcy suffices as a good course because it enables the city to maximize on the available resources from tax exemption policies within the enacted act’s provision. The unemployment rate in Detroit has elevated to significantly alarming records. Since the year 2000, the unemployment rates have changed tremendously. The high unemployment rate is evident around the metropolitan areas where it has risen by over 10% of the national average. Unemployment rate factor is directly inversed to other factors like the homicide rates within the city considering that Detroit has the highest homicide rate and is among the most dangerous cities in the United States of America. The judicial state within the city raises the significance of filing for bankruptcy. In the year 2014, only 8.5% of cases commenced were solved. This number compared to the 30.5% of the cases solved nationwide indicating that the judicial system requires redress. The security system in Detroit also begs for the filling of bankruptcy. In Detroit city, the response to the police calls averages 56 minutes compared to the 11 minutes nationwide. The faulty security and policing system in Detroit are attributive to the lack of resources. The fire trucks and police trucks conditions neglect is evident in that they are old and cannot work efficiently. Nevertheless, just like other

Same-sex Marriage in the United States Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Same-sex Marriage in the United States - Essay Example Each and every individual have different views regarding the same-sex marriage. It is very much unfortunate that there are several growing stigmas that are attached to the topic. The identification of same-sex couple is highly established in several countries. Denmark is the first nation who legalized same-sex marriage. Nowadays, the supreme court of US also legalized the same sex marriage concept. According to the new rules and regulations, same-sex couples can adopt a child in their family or they can take a baby through the artificial process. According to the Goldberg’s survey, it is evident that there are three kinds of reactions that are coming up. One respondent group about this topic is addressing that the legalization of same-sex marriage can be harmful to the society (Nagle 34). On the other hand, the other group of respondents has said that in order to save the human rights and moral ethics, the federal government of America needs to pass the demand of same-sex coup le. Both the two groups of viewers have several negative connotations as advocates have framed the issues successfully as one of the critical human rights. It is true that the marriage conflict come under the civil law. Marriage law in the US is more than a state matter. It is considered as the federal matter. According to the oppositions the enlarging marriage rights of same-sex couples can undercut the conservative purpose of marriage. The study has been executed in order to understand the critical issues that are involved in the debate. The study will help to find several reasons by which the study can conclude that same-sex marriage should not be legalized in the US. Opponents of same-sex marriage have argued that altering the conventional definition of marriage as between two opposite-sex individuals will weaken a threatened institution. Legalizing same-sex marriage is a kind of slippery slope that may guide to interspecies and polygamous marriages. It is true that the same-sex couples are not capable to procreate. There is no undeniable interest to subsidize their marriage. It can be argued by several individuals that the happiness of these same-sex couples can be enhanced through the same-sex marriage. Moreover, it can be argued that the federal government of the United States should subsidize the same sex marriage in order to make the same-sex couples happy (Spilsbury 121). It is known to all that the same-sex couples are unable to reproduce themselves. Same-sex marriage is not an issue of civil rights. Same-sex marriage is a question of whether or not the government should encourage and subsidize the same-sex marriage. Looking into the natural instincts, it can be stated that same-sex marriage will affect the balance of a community or a society. According to several studies and research works, the majority of the citizens of America have opposed the concept of same-sex marriage. According to the survey, it is evident that the same-sex marriage is not natural. The children resulting from this kind of marriage are also not natural.

The Patriots Victory at Saratoga Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Patriots Victory at Saratoga - Research Paper Example The British wanted to suppress the inner rebellions in the country in order to prevent any sort of foreign intervention. Hence, The British advanced to take control over the Hudson River which was of great strategic importance. The first Battle of Saratoga is also known as the battle of freeman’s farm which took place on 19th September, 1777. This is where the British army led by Burgoyne faced part of the General Gates’ army. There was extreme exchange of gun fire and British army was in need of immediate assistance. The distressed British force was able to mark its dominance in the battlefield only when it received military assistance from the German troops. The Americans were able to retreat under the cover of night and hence the British emerged as victors. Despite their victory, the British suffered heavy casualties and more than 600 died in this battle with the Americans still blocking their way to Albany. 1 The British army waited for few days and planned out batt le strategies about the ways they could strike after they receive military aid. While the British army was waiting for the aid, the Patriots were busy in reorganizing and reinforcing their army.

The Malayan Emergency as seen through the eyes of a British soldier Essay

The Malayan Emergency as seen through the eyes of a British soldier - Essay Example They had just built camp, a temporary shelter for the troops and to make it habitable in the midst of the rubber plantation and coconut plantation. Insurgency was active with a band commanded by one Ming Lee. It was their job to neutralize the insurgents and win back the confidence and cooperation of the local community. The entire operation was composed of prongs. First, they were to conduct patrols in all the estates and villages under the battalion’s jurisdiction. They had to surprise the people in the villages, expecting they might encounter CT disguised as villagers. They had to show to the people that they were the authorities and that the CT was the enemy who was trying to destroy the peace and introduce their communist ideology. Patrols helped as General Templer’s strategy of winning the hearts and minds of the people, to convince them to withdraw their support of Communism, and to enlist their cooperation in ending the Emergency. Ming Lee, the elusive insurgent leader could not be easily caught or defeated, and he and his men were always out there having the support from the community, and convincing the people to support their communist ideology. (Miers 144) Apart from continuous patrols in the villages and in the swampy areas where the CT were usually seen getting their daily sustenance from the village folks, the British soldiers were also to execute prong number 2, which was to interrupt the CT food supplies. This required a well planned operation that needed all the support they could get from the inside and outside of their battalion. Prong number 3 consisted of acquiring the services of an informer who could help in neutralizing or killing the CT and its leader. Cutting the CT food supply was one of the strategies as mentioned in General Templer’s strategy and applied by Miers and his battalion. In doing this, they had to identify how Ming Lee and his people were getting their food. The British

Service Improvement Essay Example for Free

Service Improvement Essay Abstract As the competition in the restaurant industry become more. Service quality becomes important to achieve the success restaurant. Service Blueprint is one of the methods that use to apply to improve the service system. The process of blueprint is a necessary tool that the restaurant can view all of process of the restaurant’s operation between the customer and providers. The paper aims to examine and apply to improve in the service processes of the restaurant by using the Service Blueprint to be the technique that used to understand customer service experiences. For the service blueprint design, an in-depth interview and a quantitative research method was used based on a customer expectation on the target customer who always to dining-out in the restaurant. The providing emphasize on value co-creation and design characteristics of service systems, and identifying the most important service system characteristics perceived by the customer, is the important way to improve the service. Keywords: blueprint, service, improvement, restaurant Introduction The trend of food and beverage industries in Thailand is growing in the positive direction because the customer behavior on eating out (Thansettakij Newspaper, 2012). Many reasons, hungry, social business and personal reason, affect guests to visit the restaurant. Whatever the reason, customers expect their dining experience to be positive (Ninemeier and Hayes, 2006). Developing high-quality dining experience (Rong and Jun, 2012) is the better way to create value of service to attraction (Sandstrà ¶m et al, 2008). Increasing market competition and growing customer service demands influence the organization to improve efficiency the service processes (Mascio, 2007). The good service process is the first for the restaurant to gain competitive advantage, to marketing success and to growing (Hee and Young, 2001). Restaurants that use the delivery of high service quality have the stronger competitive position (Kit and Ka, 2001). Customer Satisfaction and Customer Expectation The outcome of customers’ evaluation of a service is the satisfaction that based on a comparison of the recognition of service delivery with their previous expectations. (Johnston and Clark, 2005). Thus restaurant need to understand the customers’ service expectations (Johnston and Clark, 2001:2005; Ford and Heaton, 2000), that is an essential for delivering greater service because they represent implicit performance standards that customers use in assessing service quality (Andronikidis et al, 2009). Understanding customer expectations performed an importance part for delivering the customer satisfaction. Customer expectations include two levels are desired expectation and adequate expectation. Desired expectations represented the customer wanted the service to perform that the service â€Å"should be†. While adequate expectations are the satisfactory performance that the service â€Å"will be† (Yen and Soe, 2010). Customer Experience and Service Process Services are the experience that depends on human and delivery system. Because of the growing of Service Business, the organization should move into the customer experience management that is importance to creating customer loyalty by creating meaningful and memorable. (Bitner et al., 2007). Experience can be determined as the aggregate and increasing customer awareness created during the process of learning about, obtaining and using a product or service (Jiang, 2008). Customer experience has been treated as embedded in service quality. It is also measured by comparing expectations before, and perceptions after the experience, or perceptions only, through different predetermined service attributes (Walter et al, 2010). Service process is the part of the customer’s experience creation. (Johnston and Clark, 2001:2005) That includes the human element (the people who interacting with customers) and the material production process (Ford and Heaton, 2000). The service process is a collection of activities that represents all of the steps over a period of time (Bitner et al., 2007). Service Blueprint There are a lot of techniques that used to develop the service delivery system for the guest experience. One of them is the service blueprint that is the method of process modeling that use to visualize, analyze, organize, control and develop service processes for improving the internal and external of organization (Gersch et al., 2011). Service Blueprint helps the organization to see the key operational, human resources, and marketing issues that offering the service experience for the customer, easily (Bitner et al., 2007). Dong and Shiang (2010) suggested the service system bird’s eyeview that shows all of the steps in the service process can guarantee the customer satisfaction. The workflow description helps the organization to watch out all of service parts that can provide to improve the failure points. Service Blueprinting is the process of creating the delivering service standard that shows the personnel and equipment required (Mascio, 2007). This method adapts for service innovation, quality improvement, customer experience design, and strategic change focused around customers as a highly effective (Bitner et al., 2007) and effectiveness (Hummel and Murphy, 2011). Drucker (1977) mentions the effectiveness as â€Å"doing the right things† and the efficiency as â€Å"doing things right†. Moreover this technique involves a description of the different process steps visually and in continuity, helping to define the steps at which the customer uses the core service and to identify the additional benefits that make up the increased product (Pires et al., 2004). Components of Service Blueprint Coenen et al. (2011) defines a service blueprint as â€Å"†¦visually displays activities by simultaneously depicting the process of service delivery, the points of customer contact, the roles of customers and employees, and the physical surrounding of the perceived process†. A typical service blueprint consists of five components (Bitner et al., 2007): (1) Customer actions: All of steps that show the customers’ activity. (2) Onstage/visible contact employee actions: Face-to-face actions between the customers and employees (3) Backstage/invisible contact employee actions: All of the employee actions, but the customer can’t see. (4) Support processes: All the tangibles that customers are exposed to that can influence their quality perceptions. (5) Physical evidence: All the activities carried out by individuals and units within the company who are not contact employees. Moreover, there are the actions that separated by diverse â€Å"lines† (Coenen et al., 2011; Gersch et al., 2011). The â€Å"line of interaction† separates the customer activity from the provider action, showing the direct interactions between customer and provider. Above the â€Å"line of interaction†, there are the activities, choices, and interactions performed by the customer. The â€Å"line of visibility† differentiates between the visible (onstage) and invisible (backstage) to the customer. Above the â€Å"line of visibility†, there are the actions and decisions carried out by front office employees. The â€Å"line of internal interaction† distinguishes between front office and back office activities. Support processes which are necessary to aid front office employees in delivering the service are carried out below the â€Å"line of internal interaction†. Research Method Regarding to the aim of this paper the research must examine and apply to improve the service process for service experience. For the collection of comprehensive and detail information about customer’s expectation in the service delivery process. First of all, In-depth interview was used to be the method to help on creating the questionnaire. The questionnaire was devised to measure customer expectations in term of quality of service of the restaurant. References Andronikidis, A., Georgiou, A.C., Gotzamani, K., Kamvysi, K. The application of quality function deployment in service quality management. The TQM Journal, 21/4(2009), pp. 319-333 Bitner, M. J., Ostrom, A. L., and Morgan, F. N., 2007. Service Blueprint: A Practical Technique for Service Innovation. Center for Service Leadership, Arizona State University. Coenen, C., Felten, D.V., and Schmid, M., 2011. Managing effectiveness and efficiency through FM blueprinting. Facilities, Vol. 29 Iss: 9/10, pp.422 436 Dong, S.C. and Shiang, L.Y., Combining Kano model and service blueprint for adult day care service — A case study in Taiwan, Service Systems and Service Management (ICSSSM), 2010 7th Drucker, P. (1977), An Introductory View of Management, Harper College Press, New York, NY. Ford, R. C., and Heaton, C. P., 2000. Managing the Guest Experience in Hospitality. Delmar Thomson Learning. Gersch, M., Hewing, M., and Schà ¶ler B., Business Process Blueprinting – an enhanced vi ew on process performance. Business Process Management Journal, 17/5(2011), pp.732-747 Hee, W.K., Young, G.K., Rationalizing the customer service process. Business Process Management Journal, 7 /2(2001), pp. 139-156 Hummel, E. and Murphy, K.S., Using Service Blueprint to Analyze Restaurant Service Efficiency. Cornall Hospitalty Quarterly, 52/3(2011). Jiang, K., New Service Development for Interactive Experience. Service Operations and Logistics and Informatics 2008 International Conference on (2008) G

Tesco Assessing The Impacts Of Ebusiness Information Technology Essay

Tesco Assessing The Impacts Of Ebusiness Information Technology Essay This paper presents research findings expounding on the relative impacts of e-business technologies when integrated into an organization. The key objective of the study is to determine that how the adoption of innovative technological applications serves to be beneficial or detrimental to the business world and more specifically to the business sector. The recent trade practices require embracing newer technologies as they offer instant access and exposure to consumers and keep 24/7 connectivity to management resources. The positive aspect of e-commerce technology and social networking tools, is to provide users with the ability to communicate both synchronously and asynchronously i.e. via emails, video conferencing, chat and blog forum services. There has been a considerable amount of research conducted on several organizations for the adoption of innovative technologies and the general findings reveal that entrepreneurs often lack the skill, time or money to implement technology up grades. Followed by these key study points highlighted in this paper, assessments are done to gain the insights on the impacts of deploying new web based technologies and social networking techniques. The research has been conducted in 3 phases to determine the consequences of e-business practice of Tesco, a leading supermarket of UK. TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 4 TESCO: COMPANY PROFILE.. 4 ONLINE MARKET SHARE 5 PRODUCT RANGE .. 5 COMPETITORS. 5 TESCO: AN OVERVIEW OF E-BUSINESS PRACTICE.. 5 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES 6 RATIONALE OF INVESTIGATION 7 LITERATURE REVIEW.. 8 ADOPTION OF E-BUSINESS TECHNOLOGIES. 8 LIMITATIONS TO ADOPTION. 9 CHAPTER II METHODOLOGY 10 RESEARCH QUESTIONS.. 11 SAMPLING TECHNIQUES RESEARCH DESIGN.. 11 PHASE I.. 12 PHASE II. 12 PHASE III.. 13 PROTOCOL FOR DATA COLLECTION.. 14 ASSOCIATED RISKS TO DATA COLLECTION 14 VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY OF DATA.. 14 MEASURES TO ENSURE DATA PROTECTION. 15 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS. 15 DETRIMENTAL EFFECT OF STUDY.. 15 INFORMED CONSENT.. 15 PRIVACY AND CONFIDENTIALITY 16 CHAPTER III RESEARCH FINDINGS. 16 CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF RESULTS FINDINGS.. 17 RECCOMMENDATIONS. 19 IMPROVE THE WEBSITE.. 19 REVIEW WEB TRAFFIC. 19 EXAMINE THE COMPETITIVE STRATEGY. 19 CORRECTIVE MEASURES BASED ON FEEDBACK.. 20 CONCLUSION 20 BIBLIOGRAPHY CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION This paper is intended to highlight some the consequences of integrating e-business technologies within an organization and study the relative impacts with respect to the companys growth pattern and fiscal benefits attained by the e-business practices. For the purpose of identifying the relative advantages or disadvantages associated to the utilization of e-business technologies, Tesco has been chosen as the subject which has a prominent presence as the leading supermarket across the globe and specifically in UK. The incorporation of e-business technologies are seen as a reality for many organizations and are considered as a vital element of a business plan. The immediate benefits to an organization are in terms of cost savings, efficiencies and enhanced profitability that can be clearly observed at every stage in the supply chain. Adopting e-business technology is no longer a competitive advantage, but a normal business process, without which an enterprise is unlikely to survive in the new economy (Dave, 2001). With the commencement of year 2000 a number of dot-com companies were established however, with a continuously evolving trends of the contemporary business practices a majority of companies are failing to and therefore, the investors have become extra cautious to invest money into electronic ventures. The study encompasses the relevant limitations and hurdles of adopting the e-business techniques and furthermore analyses the integral aspects and impacts of e-commerce practices within the selected organization. TESCO: COMPANY PROFILE With its mass penetration of approximately 90% within the UK retail market alone and having an annual turnover of more than 1 billion, Tesco is generally recognised as the worlds largest online grocer. Tesco has been launched in various other countries and with its strong international presence it is diversifying into non-food categories as well. Tesco began to offer online services in 1995 which was based on consumers orders generated via local Tesco store using the internet (Mohorovice, 2000). To extend its e-business operation further, Tesco also launched its own Internet Service Provider (ISP) i.e. Tesco.net, for the purpose of creating an effective link between internet access facilities and the online delivery services; providing their consumers with a greater choice of ISP. The initial investment for the commencement of online service was relatively small as a network of existing stores, warehouses and distribution centres were already in place (Griffith, 2002). In order to ef fectively integrate the online service throughout the UK, an estimated amount of approximately  £25 million was spent by the company (Griffith, 2002). 1.1.1 ONLINE MARKET SHARE The overall online market share of the leading supermarkets has been illustrated in Table: 01; Tesco 27.1% Asda 10.1% Sainsbury 6.9% Waitrose/Ocado 4.2%. 1.1.2 PRODUCT RANGE Food Ranges: Milk, eggs, butter and all grocery items Non-food Ranges: Books, DVDs and Electronic products Others: Dieting clubs, flights and holidays, music downloads, gas, electricity etc. 1.1.3 COMPETITORS According to the Nielsen/Netrating audience panel for September 2007 for the top UK supermarkets shows the lead of Tesco, offline market share is in brackets from TNS which monitors the household grocery purchasing habits of 25,000 demographically representative households in the U.K as illustrated in Table: 02; Tesco 30.9% Asda 16.9% Sainsbury 16.4% Waitrose 332,000 Morrisons 225,000 1.2 AN OVERVIEW OF E-BUSINESS PRACTICE There is an increasing demand of e-business technologies as the consumers today prefer to utilize online services for shopping due to lack of time or extremely fast paced life and the launch of Tesco.com online service has served as the most simple and convenient way of shopping for consumers who are willing to pay a little extra for their groceries to deliver at doorstep and saves time. The orders once received are further processed online and the information is instantly passed on to the nearest stores. By developing the e-commerce and e-business practices, Tesco has extended its leading position in grocery home shopping since the foundation of tesco.com and has grown registered customers up to more than 750,000 with online orders up to 60k per week giving sales of over 5 million pounds (Palmer, 2005). To maintain the accuracy of the online orders, Tesco has maintained staff to gather the items in accordance with those specified in the online order list and then the groceries assem bled at a delivery point to be distributed to households within a given area. A number of timeslots have been made available for delivery of online orders and consumers are directed to ensure the availability of someone to collect the requested stuff. The payment process is also convenient and most of the payments are collected online. To keep the consumers updated with the information on prices, all items are marked with their status of availability and sell-by date. A close substitute is added in case where a product is out of stock. The online sales in just the first half of the year 2007 were 748 million, a 35% year-on-year increase, and profit increased by 62% to 54.7 million (Palmer, 2005). Further to add value to its e-business technology, sophisticated software has been formulated to manage the collection and delivery of the goods to customers. It is also important to note that a number of marketing benefits are also associated with the incorporation of e-business practice w ithin the business. Moreover, a database is maintained to extract valuable information about the products higher in demand and those which require specific types of marketing and promotion; can be identified. Feedback on satisfaction rates and responses of consumers to new offers or products can also be pulled out through this database. In addition to this, the database helps to horn the online strategy and deliver an added-value service to customers by effectively responding to their needs. Tesco has an active customer base of 850,000 and more than 250,000 orders are completed each week (Griffith, 2002). 1.3 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES This research aims to enhance the understanding of acquiring e-business technologies and their utilisation and thereby assess the basis for improved business competitiveness. The theme is based on one of the largest retail store in UK i.e. Tesco, illustrating the impacts of e-commerce techniques implicated in regional, historical and economic contexts of the retail businesses (Yoruk and Radosevic, 2000). With continuously evolving global trends a need has been develop for the transition of business practices in order to achieve a knowledge-based economy by stimulating innovation and improved access to advanced research and development practices and e-business technologies. The proposed paper aims to study the relative impact of innovative internet technology encompassing the business practices of Tesco within UK. The investigation is based on how the innovative use of business networking and advanced e-commerce solutions encourage and support the Tesco to play a leading role in the a dvancement of a cutting edge trade society (Yoruk and Radosevic, 2000). At the same time the research expounds on addressing the related competitive challenges to this largest retail store of UK, in absorbing and developing new-fangled social networking culture. The study design is fabricated to expound on the impacts pertaining to Tesco benefiting from the e-xploitation of science and technology in order to develop closer links with new markets and consumers of the region. The theme of the overall exploration is to develop an understanding of how e-business technologies enable Tesco to broaden and deepen their consumer acquaintance and leverage business culture of excellence. 1.4 RATIONALE OF INVESTIGATION With the passage of time e-connectivity and social networking practices are becoming obligatory for the success of businesses and followed by the observations it can be suggested that the adoption and implementation of the internet connectivity, e-commerce practices and social networking technologies by retail stores offer a great potential for creating new markets, new organisational forms, and new ways of working in the knowledge-driven economy. The motors of economic growth with their loose organisational structures and often fuzzily defined organisational roles and relationships perceived as fruitful milieus for innovative activities (De, 2000). All e-commerce networks have significance for innovative activities and the extent and the nature of overlap between social networks is especially important bearing heavily on the extent to which cooperation can be produced over large sectors of the economy. Business groups are based on social linkages whether its cultural similarity, inf ormal link or an everyday contact. The need for adopting e-techniques and social networking arises in situations where economic advantage can be achieved for the group members of a business. To understand the ability of firms to respond to the fast-changing environments of the business world the approach of e-business technologies within business development process is important which can provide suitable insights into the structure and dynamics of local economies(Palmer, 2005). Although the bulk of the effort in innovation is to be done by the firms themselves, the difference between national and regional patterns of technological development highlights the importance of external economic and non-economic factors that encourage creative interactions between all parts of the society, leading the economy into virtuous circle of technological development (Rogers, Ghauri and George, 2005). Considering the significance of e-commerce and e-business activities within the business environm ent, this study has been conducted to expound on the subject matter and thereby present effective measures and recommendations to further enhance and overcome the limitations to adopt e-business practices. 1.5 LITERATURE REVIEW A community can be more willing to adopt a certain technology when it can offer some beneficial package through which an existing human need can be fulfilled. The e-business technology is capable to offer enhancements to communication that improves networking and also sufficient enough to make needed knowledge resources more readily accessible; and this is what makes it striking for the retail sector (Goode and Stevens, 2000). It is also interesting to note that those that have been most successful in fulfilling specific market needs, or niches, also encounter competing technology vendors which can also be the case in any other situation. 1.5.1 ADOPTION OF E-BUSINESS TECHNOLOGIES The e-business technologies offer additional benefits in the productivity of an organization and furthermore, a peripheral vision is offered to integrate within the business successful community building devices like Face book, twitter and MySpace and these possess a vital niche within the lives of their consumers and the communities that they tend to form. Astoundingly, the e-business networks which are the main selling product offered by these community building devices, is mostly formed outside of the e-environment before an electronic communication takes place (Rogers, Ghauri and George, 2005). Interestingly the e-business activities and these social networking platforms are not just for the purpose of fun instead they offer a means for advertising potential business practices. The social networking websites were formerly utilised by young however, the technologies that link individuals are no longer limited to the younger age groups and their significance has been realised hence , the models are now designed to serve as an interactive tool which can help diffusion into target markets (Fildes, 2002). In addition to these social websites an alternative niche is provided by a business focussed solution termed as Linkedin that offers the professionals and businessmen from diversified backgrounds with an ability to form business networks and maintain searchable contact information that can be further utilised for trade purposes (Goode and Stevens, 2000). These highly successful e-business technologies provide elementary communication and collaboration environments via text and sometimes via audio channels within specified limitations. Much better and enhanced communication and collaborative environments are provided by certain recent innovations as for example, Skype, which is not web based but offers a range of telecommunication devices and by utilising the IP connectivity it offers call and video conferencing options that can be very useful for swift business activities. All these e-business activities and social networking websites within their own capacities offer a platform for the organizations like Tesco to further enhance and develop their businesses with an unlimited access and exposure of consumers globally. 1.5.2 LIMITATIONS TO ADOPTION Research from the European Commission (2002) constitutes that when it comes to introduce technological advancements especially e-business technologies to the retail industry, they face certain problems as statistics suggests that the smaller retailers are less likely to familiarise themselves with e-commerce techniques. This does not necessarily means that by the enlargement of size or by integrating specific regulations or policies will solve these problems. Reliable, stable and open business environment is what retail industry will benefit from and therefore policies encouraging this along with liberalisation of ecommerce practices and the interoperability of internet solutions, and easier access to finance through horizontal policy initiatives are likely to succeed in tandem with retail-specific initiatives (Goode and Stevens, 2000). The competitive or environmental pressure that compels a retailer to adopt e-business technologies tends to result in sustained and improved profitab ility of an organisation. In accordance with another study by (Robertson, Lockett, Brown Crouchley, 2007) it can be observed that among the retailers their poor perception towards computer based technologies limits adoption as small retailers or organizations have limited finance or support to engage with state of the art web based technologies that would enhance communication. When larger companies adopt the e-business technologies it is interesting to note that positive network external effects can be achieved which can also be thought of as word of mouth effects (Frambach Schillewaert, 2002). The significance of words spread within general public is highly recognised within the business world and organizations do realise that the adoption of techniques which can broaden the horizon of their trade can be extremely beneficial. The e-commerce technologies offer the same by providing the business owners with all ingredients to attain better chances of success. As for example the ne twork externality effects were particularly important in the success of fixed line and mobile phone adoption as an additional subscriber leads to an increase in the utility of all existing and future subscribers thereby augmenting the eventual success of the technology (Fildes, 2002). The existing relationships between the retailers and the consumer markets also tend to hinder in adoption of the innovative technologies. There is a specific load or pressure within everyday business practice and the knowledge that is required to carry out routine activities through technological means is absent in most of the business environment unwilling to become a part of modern trade practices. The inability to deal with the recent technological environment tends to compromise the credibility with business partners and leaves sensitivity amongst the workforce that the business environment is less dynamic. On the other hand, in some instances there are numerous of consumers without internet capabilities or those who do not feel secure to utilise advance e-business techniques; also see their credibility compromised in terms of other retailers. Furthermore, industry, market scope, competitive pressure and external technological support are considered to be factors that influence r etailers willingness to adopt e-business technologies. The adoption of advanced technologies is greatly influenced and also dependent upon the industry in which the retailer operates (Levenburg et al. 2006, Raymond 2001). Processing of information is carried out by the service industry and therefore, much of their functions rely on the information systems. Retail industries are increasingly reliant upon the point-of-sale systems for the transfer of goods. Manufacturing industry rely more on technological systems. It has been observed by a study that the ecommerce practices vary not only across sectors i.e. across Standard Industrial Classification codes but also within constituent sub-sectors (Fallon and Moran, 2000). CHAPTER II METHODOLOGY The research methodology incorporates the use of both primary and secondary data including exhaustive literature review, interviews and observations based on studying the obtainable research data. The study expounds on observing a radical intent to utilise the development of innovative networking technologies as part of retail processes however, certain limitations make it difficult for the owner managers. The contemporary business practices and market trends has established that by implicitly adopting social networking techniques wider level of transformations within an organization can be obtained (Fink, 2007). To obtain a better picture the study needs to obtain a theoretical understanding of how economic costs and lack of technical knowledge become two of the most important factors that hinder in growth of social networking technologies in small organisations. The research methodology involves observation of theoretical data, data collected through interviews and analysis of mark et activities, validated research procedures and investigative strategies upon the area under discussion. The method used in this research is to evaluate various technological, organisational, and environmental aspects that facilitate or inhibit adoption or diffusion of social networking technologies and thereby identifying the relative impacts on an organization. 2.1 RESEARCH QUESTIONS The core element of this dissertation is to determine the upshots of implementing e-business technologies within Tesco and studying in detail how it affected the organization with a particular emphasis on the business practices. The objective is to assess the overall business activities and growth pattern of Tesco to find out the impact of the innovative networking technology and also elicit the views of significant participants of the organization. The five main objectives of this study are; To establish how e-business technologies are acquired, absorbed and utilised within Tesco to gain competitive advantage; To study the relative impacts of e-business technologies when applied to a retail organization particularly within Tesco; To investigate enablers and constraints that influence e-business practices within a wider context embracing all the regional, social and economic factors; To adopt a methodology, influenced by data collected from the active respondents and theoretical groundings for investigating Tescos e-business practices; To utilise a research design incorporating users of e-business technology such as the owners, managers and administrators of Tesco, to gather valuable views and comments about the relevant consequences. 2.2 SAMPLING TECHNIQUES RESEARCH DESIGN The recruitment and designing of sample required the random selection of the study population that is acquired from the 500 employees working on various levels within Tesco, located in Central London. The additional information about the organization was supplemented by the retail stores online website. The sample was designed to develop and benchmark the present scale of adoption of e-business technologies among the allocated sample of Tesco located in the Central region of London. The design of sample was tailored at diverse echelons. A brief semi-structured questionnaire was distributed and the interviews were tape recorded and transcribed verbatim for the assessment of relative impacts of e-business technologies. A back up staff for taking notes in writing and recording was made available to the interviewers, where applicable. The interviews were conducted on the basis of discretion; hence the sample store, market participants and the respondents are kept unidentified. Initially 500 active employees were engaged in the study functioning at various levels within the organization that include owners, managers, IT administrators, support staff and also some regular consumers. The sample is further categorised in accordance with their level of maturity i.e. depending on their status of commencement, stability and innovation. At the outset, the interviews were conducted in each firm and the respondents were selected from senior management team. The interviews were based on open-ended questions with in-depth interrogation in which the flexibility was maintained on the focus, follow-ups and probes clarifications to pursue the emerging themes (Alvesson and Skà ¶ldberg, 2000). The duration of interviews lasted between one and one-and-a-half hours session. The research has been conducted in three phases; each phase is discussed in detail as under: 2.2.1 PHASE I For understanding the existing research exhaustive literature and systematic reviews were carried out. Review was based on investigating how social networking has been adopted and integrated in small firm and thereby identifying their relative impacts. The exhaustive literature study also examined the association between the use of social networking technology and small firm growth. These reviews helped to identify major themes within previous research and the details contained within the papers highlighted concerns with social issues, absorptive capacity and policy support that enable the transfer and development of social networking technologies within business practices. Gaps include sector bias, lack of research on the situated nature of technologies, factors that mediate the adoption of new systems of organising, and how relational competence and social skills influence firm growth (Alvesson and Skà ¶ldberg, 2000). An in-depth study was carried out of relevant literature presen t in books, newspapers, articles and renowned academic journals. 2.2.2 PHASE II The research survey was administered during the period in between February 2010 and March 2010 and the investigation was focussed on studying the relative consequences of integrating e-business technologies within UKs leading retail, Tesco. A smaller canvassing team of 5 interviewers were trained to administer the telephonic survey and approximately 500 employees of Tesco were contacted via telephone. The inclusion criteria as set in accordance with the research methodology allowed the survey information to be collected from the owners, managers, IT managers or from employees and people of similar stature by the canvassers. Certain regular consumers were also considered as respondents and accepted as per the inclusion criteria. A response rate of approximately 18% was received through the outbound calls that helped to achieve about 90 completed forms. It is important to note that problems of sample selection and response bias can lead to results that are difficult to extrapolate to l arger populations. In this case two types of bias were encountered. Firstly, regional bias arose due to the over collection of surveys from the upper management and too few from the lower management. Secondly, the survey contained too few surveys administered to the consumer base of the organization. Both imbalances were corrected using a weighting process called rim weighting (Alvesson and Skà ¶ldberg, 2000). All results generated for this document are weighted implying that the results reflect the general picture to be found in the organization. 2.2.3 PHASE III The third phase of the research methodology is designed to understand the need for incorporating e-business technologies within the potential retail market and assessing how entrepreneurs would utilise the technology to gain competitive advantage, and finally investigating the limits of the e-business technology when put into practice. In order to gain deeper insight into the need for e-business technology within the retail store, qualitative interviews were conducted on 500 employees of Tesco selected from different departments within the organization. The interviews were conducted on the upper management and directorship level or with IT decision makers of the companies (Fink, 2007). The research encompasses the incorporation of e-commerce and e-business techniques for selling products from a broad range of departments of Tesco including food products, healthcare products, sports, groceries, electronic products and home accessories. To acquire a rich background of company informati on there were about 10 stores enlisted for interview via cold calls to the database collated during the enterprise survey and further 5 stores were enlisted through general contacts. Respondents were asked to illustrate the nature of the retail business practice in order to gain insight into the role of e-business technology in the company. Details were collected regarding the trade practice of the enterprise to identify the level of operation i.e. local or international, furthermore, investigations were made about the current level of networking technologies in use and the mode of communication between employees, suppliers and customers were also studied. 2.3 PROTOCOL FOR DATA COLLECTION The target study population is comprised of actively participating members and employees including owners, directors, managers, administrators and IT staff of Tesco. An aggregated set of data collected through authenticated annual reports of the organization to determine the growth patterns after the adoption of e-business technologies. Renowned economic journals, newspaper articles and books are used for compilation of authentic data. An open ended brief survey questionnaire was distributed to the respondents in order to collect valuable comments and meetings to discuss and accumulate annotations of relevant stakeholders. ASSOCIATED RISKS TO DATA COLLECTION There are certain practical difficulties that hinder in the collection of data that eventually result in delaying the research procedure. Due to the indulgence of human objects there are chances of missed appointments, absences due to illness that might account for the down gradation of the research process. Effective time management by pre-evaluated questionnaires cut short and transcribed interview sessions and appropriate theoretical observations are required to anticipate research obstacles in timely manner (ESRC, 2010). 2.4.1 VALIDITY AN

Psychological Analysis of Crash (2004)

Psychological Analysis of Crash (2004) Omar Fawzy Cinema Psychology: Crash The movie Crash explains social psychology concepts through stereotypes and people’s relationships. It touches on many social psychological concepts and theories through the representation of American society’s racial diversity and discrimination. The American community contains many races. This diversity, although culturally beneficial, can in some cases lead to conflict. The movie examines a group of different people living in Los Angeles and the social system, which are their social relationships as they come into contact with each other. The characters are reprehensive of American society as they are chosen to show the diversity in the city and there are people representative of the Los Angeles community. The main themes of the movie, which all the rest of the concepts communicate around are discrimination, prejudice and stereotyping. The movie displays the fundamental attribution error concept, also called the correspondence bias, describes, â€Å"The tendency, in explaining other people’s behavior, to overestimate personality factors and underestimate the influence of the situation. (Wade and Tavris, pg 338) This concept portrays racism from both sides. While White people, represented by Sandra Bullock, assume that all African Americans, as well as Latinos as dangerous, the African Americans, represented by Ludacris, assume that all White people are racist. In both cases, they are stereotyping people’s intentions and their nature because of their race. In addition to race, a person’s physical image can also create stereotypes which is â€Å"a summary impression of a group in which a person belives that all members of the group share a common trait or traits (Wade and Tavris, Pg 352) Ludacris is portrayed as a bald guy with tattoos all over his body. His physical appearance also contributes to Sandra Bullock’s stereotype of him as a gangbanger because that is the mental representation she has of these types of people. The Self-fulfilling prophecy theory is also seen in the movie through Sandra Bullock and Ludacris’s relationship. Self-fulfilling prophecy is an expectation that is fulfilled because of the tendency of the person holding it to act in ways that bring it out (Wade and Tavris, Page 493) This was seen when Ludacris noticed that Sandra bullock was afraid of him, and so he attacked her and her husband and hijacked their car. On the other hand, African Americans in the movie, especially Ludacris, assumed that all White people were racists, which is also a fundamental attribution error, as they attributed certain characteristics to people based on generalization. Another social concept that was seen in this example is peer pressure. Ludacris’s friend gave in to peer pressure, the influence exerted by peers upon each other to behave a certain way, when he let Ludacris convince him to hijack Bullock’s car. Another social relationship that portrayed racial stereotypes was Mat Dillon’s Cop character and his partner officer Hansen. While Dillon was portrayed as a racist character, his partner was not racist. That however did not stop him from getting affected by Matt Dillon’s points of view. His automatic thinking led him to hastily shoot a black man hitchhiker because he thought he was pulling a gun from his pocket when he was pulling a small statue of a saint. This was mainly due to priming, which is â€Å"a method for analyzing implicit memory in which a person reads or listens to information and is later tested to see whether the information affects performance on another type of task† (Wade and Tavris, Pg 213) If Mat Dillon had not primed his opinions on Hansen, perhaps he would not have automatically shot the man and assumed bad conduct and threat. Through this storyline we see how stereotypes develop. Although Hansen is not racist, one experience he had with an African American made him think that they are all the same, dangerous. The movie discuses how discrimination becomes a stereotype out of habit. We are shown the evolution of stereotypes throughout the movie. As the stereotype begins initially as just the way people perceive each other, it develops into death threats by the end of the movie. Ryan Philippe displays blunt bystander apathy, where in crowds when someone is in trouble, individuals often fail to take action or call for help because they assume that someone else will do so (Wade and Tavris, Page 347). Ryan does that during the search, as does the husband. The bystander apathy is shown through Ryan Philippe who displays altruism throughout the movie apart from the end. The husband, Terrence Howard, has a bystander effect as well during the first encounter with the police. This changes however, the second time where he shows a misattribution of arousal because he has mixed up feelings and nothing had happened where he had done something wrong in front of the police but he was still furious at the police because of the first encounter, which is why he is mad for no reason the second time. The many social psychology concepts in the movie are represented through the characters. For example, the locksmith, Michael Peà ±a, shows an altruistic personality throughout the whole movie. He prefers to help others with no benefit, and sometimes even a cost to himself. Also, Sandra Bullock represents self-awareness by the end of the movie, as she realizes her personality and that gets angry all the time. She becomes more aware of her actions and behavior. The ‘feel good do good’ theory is shown through Ludacris’s when he frees the Asians from the van, and then laughs out of joy. By helping someone else, he put himself in a good mood. Survival instinct is portrayed in the movie through Ludacris and his friend’s accident. After they run over a man, they deliberated helping him at first because they could have gotten into trouble. This act of pro social behavior was done as a result of the â€Å"feel bad, do good† concept. Their guilt because of what they did made them stop and help him, as well as their desire to save themselves from the trouble they could get into if they are caught. Racism is further portrayed through Matt Dillon’s partner when he goes to the African American chief of police to complain about Dillon’s racist actions against black civilians. The chief refuses to take action because he fears that the racist system of the police department would take away his job. Furthermore, the concept of appraisal theory (Wade and Tavris, Pg 457) is portrayed through Sandra Bullock’s fear, and refusal to express it. As a result, she got attacked with a gun and then goes on to m ake a social cognition, which is defined as â€Å"how people’s perceptions of themselves and others affect their relationships and how the social environment influence thoughts beliefs and values† (Wade and Tavris, Pg 338) and another fundamental attribution error about the locksmith changing the key and going to sell it. Works Cited Tavris, Carol, and Carole Wade.Invitation to Psychology. 5th ed. 2011. eBook.

Platonic Paradox :: essays research papers

To research Plato's paradox in the Meno, we can first consult the definition of what platonism is. Websters defines platonism as "actual things are copies of transcendent ideas and that these ideas are the objects of true knowledge apprehended by reminiscence." For this essay, we will assume that trancendency is- "that which is beyond comprehension", and reminiscence as "past experience". The Meno is a dialogue between Socrates, a scholar and Meno, who eventually became an explorer. For this essay, however, we will assume that Meno is at the time of the dialogue, an upper-class citizen of average to better than average intelligence and superior stubbornness. The piece, according to the translation by G.M.A. Grube is thought to have taken place in approximately 402 B.C. in Athens, Greece. Late in the text, a third character, Anytus, a politician, who would eventually be an accuser of Socrates, joins in the dialogue. In the text, Meno in trying to define virtue accidentally slips in to a paradox or contradictory statement, which Socrates immediately refutes. It is the purpose of this paper to recognize the paradox, examine how Socrates disproves the paradox through argument and evidence. Socrates also brings up a key distinction between true opinion and knowledge, relating to the paradox, which will too be examined. Socrates then gives basis for more argument regarding the paradox, and why he does this will also be examined. The initial argument takes place when Socrates challenges Meno to define virtue. Meno does not realize here what he has started. Meno has before inquired whether virtue is a quality that can be taught or if it is a natural trait, that men are born with. Socrates, in method true to form, twists the question and re-poses it to Meno to see if Meno can answer it all on his own. Meno lists what he thinks are virtuous qualities, and is content at that simple definition. Socrates then says: "I seem to be in luck, Meno, while I am looking for one virtue, I have found you to have a whole swarm of them."Meno's frustration begins to set in. He tries theatrical metaphor to define virtue, as well as relating to physical philosophy and philosophers such as Empedocles.Meno at this point gives up and hands the philosophy to Socrates. Socrates presents Meno with a paradox:"....He cannot search for what (a debater) knows- since he knows it, there is no need to search- nor for what he does not know, for he does not know what to look for.

Life :: essays research papers

The methods, discoveries, and conclusions of science, as well as their role in society, have generated endless debates throughout history. There was a time when one could be put to death for believing that the earth was round, or ridiculed for claiming that animal species evolve over time. Today people argue over whether it is ethical and responsible science to transplant organs, to allow a suffering person to die, or to genetically alter foods so that they possess special traits. One particular ferocious debate that emerged from the discoveries of modern day science is the debate over the rights of animals. They are used to test the safety and effectiveness of new drugs before those drugs are given to people to treat illnesses and disease. Animals are used to ensure that the ingredients in the foods we eat are safe for consumer consumption. They are also used to test products like eye shadow, lipstick, shampoo, and contact lens solution, as well as chemicals ranging from lawn ferti lizers to caffeine. There should be a balance in the use of animals for scientific advancements. Although we as a society should never accept needless or cruel inflictions of pain, the potential good to all of humanity that can come from using animals for scientific studies outweighs the harm and suffering it may create. The History: While the debate might seem modern, animal testing and the concept of animal rights have both been around for a very long time. However, over the years, the views of people and society have changed. New ideas about what is and is not acceptable in animal testing have led to new laws and new scientific techniques. Animal testing as it is known today owes its existence to the scientific revolution of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. During this time, as the scientific point of view gained respect and Saunders 2 the technology resulting from it exploded into everyday life, researchers began looking to animals for answers to questions that they couldn’t find anywhere else. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, animal experimentation became increasingly popular among scientists. For the most part, no one considered animal testing to be immoral. However, one English Philosopher named Jeremy Bentham believed differently. As stated in People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) website, â€Å"In 1789, Bentham, referring to animals, asked: The question is not can they reason?

Causality and Timeliness Essay

Timeliness is important in all aspects of life. In the army they say â€Å"10 minutes prior is on time, and being on time is late†, that is the standard set forth and expected to be accomplished by the armed forces. By oversleeping I not only failed to meet the standard, I also failed my squad and my platoon because they did not have accountability of everyone, another main standard of the army. I also took the time of my team leader, who had to sit and wait for me while everyone else did PT. Missing movement not only cost me more time in the end, it cost the whole rest of the unit in one way or another. Timeliness is also the first step in a soldiers’ task to keep accountability at all times. Accountability is defined by Webster’s Dictionary as being required to explain actions or decisions to someone. Another definition is being required to be responsible for something. As soldiers, we are always expected to be able to explain our actions to our chain of comman d, and to take responsibility for them. Inability to do so can lead to loss of time and resources, adverse action, UCMJ action, or even separation from the armed forces. In a strategic environment, timeliness is important in everything we do. Everyday soldiers in the unit work in fast-paced intelligence environments and being even a few minutes late in a mission situation could cost valuable intelligence or even lives. Even routine reports must be sent out on a strict timeframe, and failure to meet that standard could cause it to lose value, or cause a setback in a mission elsewhere. Being military intelligence soldiers, we are also required to attend training; whether it be language, technical, or unit trainings. Failing to report to classes on time could not only cause a soldier to miss important coursework, but could potentially result in the soldier getting dropped from the class. This not only hurts the soldiers’ advancement as an intelligence professional, it causes degradation of the mission. Not having all the required training to accomplish the mission causes everyone around the soldier to pick up the slack. By not being able to do something as simple as 10 minutes prior, the soldier can potentially affect the work of an entire office full of people. Most important information pertaining to the unit is put out at morning formations, STTs, and Commanders’ Calls. Being late to any of these events can not only bring  adverse action against a soldier for that event, it could also cause the soldier to miss pertinent information about upcoming events; potentially causing more corrective training or even UCMJ action. Article 87 of the Code of Military Justice â€Å"Missing Movement† states â€Å"any member of the armed forces who neglect or design to miss the movement of a ship, aircraft, or unit with which they are required in the course of duty to move can be punished as a court martial may direct†. Untimliness is not only a detriment to the strategic environment; it can be life altering in the tactical environment. Failure to maintain proper timelines and accountability of soldiers and equipment during field exercises can result in accidents and loss of government property. The army has another saying â€Å"train how you fight†, meaning to treat every exercise just as if it were a real-life combat situation so that a soldier would know exactly what they needed to do if that situation actually came to be. Inability to be on time for training events hit times, etc; shows that a soldier could potentially not be reliable in a more serious situation. This causes breakdown of unit cohesiveness and esprit de’ corps. In a theater of war, failure to meet a deadline or miss movement can lead to the capture of strategic assets or intelligence, giving the enemy an advantage. It could also potentially lead to injuries, fatalities, or even the capture of United States or ally service members. When a service member is deployed to a combat zone, being late could not only cause the failure of the mission, it could potentially be the difference between life and death. A soldier’s untimeliness may not only result in their death, but could cost the lives of others. For example, if a soldier assigned to a route clearance platoon is late for movement and causes their convoy to waste time looking for them instead of making their route before the movement of another unit, it could cost the lives of many others without them realizing. Timeliness is also important in the civilian world. In order to consistently hold down a job in the civilian sector, a person must make sure that they are on time for work or they could potentially lose their job. Being late to an interview is practically a guarantee that a person would not be hired for employment with a company, even though that person may have the skills and qualifications necessary for the position. Arriving late to medical appointments can potentially result in your appointment being canceled, causing degradation to ones’ health and  missing out on treatment that could prevent something more serious in the long run. Timeliness shows discipline, and without discipline the armed forces would not be able to accomplish the mission. Without discipline, the entire command structure would degrade and the enemy would be given a huge advantage, causing loss of life, equipment, or strategic advantage.