Sun Chips Case

0817 General Assessment of Sunchips’ test market results. Pros A pro would be that Frito-Lay knows where the majority of their sales are happening. Due to about 90 percent of them being in supermarkets and convenience stores. It is also a pro that they have determined what percentage of each size package and flavor they are selling. In addition they have also determined the percentage of cannibalization that will happen. Another pro is that the cumulative repeat percentage steadily rose every week. Cons A con to these test market results would be that they have only been run for ten months.The results could be ballooned considering that they are introducing a new product. Another con would be that only about 1 in 5 households (less than 20%) have tried the product. And out of that 20 percent only 41. 8 percent had repeat purchases. Continue test market for another six months Pros A pro for continuing test marketing for six additional months would be that they would get even mo re accurate test market results. In addition, they will have the advantage of seeing how much word of mouth can raise their cumulative trial and repeat percentages. ConsThe con to continuing test marketing for six more months would be that if they don’t go ahead and launch nationally a competitor might launch a similar product nationally and upstage Frito-Lay. Therefore, the opportunity to be first-to-market would be lost. Another con could be that if their data is accurate they are losing significant profit for the next six months. Introduce Sunchips nationally with the same introductory strategy. Pros A con to this strategy would be that if the test market results are accurate, then Frito-Lay would profit from their new product and know all the necessary details of cannibalization.Yet, if the test market results are accurate then Frito-Lay should definitely introduce Sunchips nationally. Frito-Lay’s revenue goal for Sunchips 100 million if introduced nationally. Reve nue in the M-St. Paul Minneapolis from triers and repeaters was about 512,000 and 620,000 respectively. The M-St. Paul Minneapolis area accounts for 2. 2 percent of the 90 million snack ship user households in the U. S. By extrapolating the results from M-St. Paul Minneapolis to the U. S. , Frito-Lay can expect revenue to exceed 110 million. ConsA con would be the possibility of the ten month test market results to be inaccurate. In this case Frito-Lay would have launched nationally too soon. In addition, Frito-Lay will be giving up the opportunity to test out different strategies. Introduce Sunchips with some strategy modification (more advertising, larger package sizes, another flavor) Pros More advertising would lead to more brand awareness and possibly more sales. Larger package sizes would be good if sold at the same price per ounce. They would give customers another option.Adding another flavor would increase sales and possibly gain new customers. Cons The con to more advertis ing would be more spending, which takes away from profits. The problem with larger package sizes is that they would have to produce and distribute a whole new package. The con to adding another flavor is that it would increase cannibalization from 30 to 35 percent. There is also a con to the combination of adding a larger package and a new flavor. By adding these two, stock-keeping units would double from six to twelve, therefore going from two flavors and three sizes (6) to three flavors and four sizes (12).

English Spoken Language Essay

In television and radio the interview techniques are very different. Graham Norton does both, in both situations we do see Norton adapting himself. He interviews Jedward in the television interview and Benedict Cumberbatch in the radio interview. They are many differences the obvious one is that one is in a television studio and the other in a radio set; another difference is the audiences that would watch them. The television situation is broadcasted on a Friday night at 10.30pm so the audience would be teenagers and young adults, which is a contrast to the audience that would listen to the radio interview, (which is broadcasted on Saturday morning around 10am) who would be middle aged and certainly older than the people watching the Jedward interview. Also as well as the audience watching on television in the Jedward interview, there is also a live audience in the studio which would give Norton a direct response and gives him people to address. In the radio interview Norton doesn’t have a live audience so he doesn’t get a direct response so that’s why I think he’s calmer and more relaxed. In both interviews I think that Norton doesn’t allow time for the interviewees to talk and this may come across that he’s rushing and is not thinking. In the television situation Norton interrupts Jedward so that the audiences laugh which I guess is what he is meant to do but after a while Jedward give up and just let him interrupt him. An example of when he interrupts in the radio interview when: ‘Cumberbatch: Danny was very†¦.’ ‘Norton: is this Danny Boyle?’ Also Norton continues that part of the interview to talk about himself, which I don’t think is keeping a very good rapport with Cumberbacth. After a while Cumberbatch in my opinion gives up and starts to ask Norton questions about his career; ‘Why did you give up?’ this is another example of Norton not really keeping a rapport with the interviewee. The television interview with Jedward in my opinion is much less formal and Norton behaves in a more spontaneous and lively way where as in the radio interview it’s formal and much more serious. I think that Norton in away talks down to Jeward and makes fun of them and has a patronising attitude towards them. In the radio interview Norton has much more respect for Cumberbatch and talk to him on a more level basis. The way Norton began his interview with Jedward ‘Now, anyway’ this I would say is less formal than the way Norton began his interview with Cumberbatch. In a way this is effective as this makes the interviewee feel more relaxed, this also shows how Norton is adapting himself in both situations. In the interviews I think that Norton adapts himself, in terms of his tone and pitch of his voice. In the Jedward interview his tone, is relaxed, funny and his pitch is much higher than in the Cumberbatch interview. I personally think that Norton has to change himself to fit in with Cumberbatch, as his voice is much more formal. When addressing the audience in the Jedward interview, Norton’s pitch of voice changes depending on whether he is asking a question or stating something, this shows that Norton keeps a rapport with the audience and the interviewee. An example of this is when Norton says ‘it’s not often that gets a laugh’ this is aimed at the audience and is in away make fun of Jedward. In the television interview we see that Norton has cards but at some point he puts them down, this makes us think that he is making some of it up and makes he seem more spontaneous. Obviously we can’t see what is going on in the radio interview but, I think that Norton’s speech is more fluent compared to the television interview. I think that Norton doesn’t really follow the cards in the television interview as he keeps interrupting Jedward which I assume is not on the cards. I do think that both interviews are set out correctly and follow a logical sequence of points. I also think that in the radio interview Norton speaks more articulately than in the television interview where he seems to talk in a more rushed lively way. Norton’s sentences in the radio interview are more coherent and there are fewer hesitations than in the television interview, but a reason for this could be that there can’t really be any silences in a radio interview. The layout of the two interviews are virtual the same, Norton introduces them, he asks the a few questions, Norton comments and they end the interview. I do think that Norton is too focused on getting laughs from the audience that it brings the attention away from the interviewee, which is a bad technique from Norton. Unlike the television interview Norton doesn’t have a live audience so his much more focused on the interview and sustains a better rapport with Cumberbatch than with Jedward. With both audiences to build a rapport with the audience, Norton makes jokes and he’s very sarcastic especially towards Jedward, ‘Can you go to a cashpoint and get money out?’ this is making a joke and when he says this he looks to the audience to get a laugh. Also we see that in the television interview that Norton in a way is encouraged by the audience to keep making funny comments so that the audience is more concentrated on him rather than the interviewee, this is a bad technique from Norton has its more feeding his ego and sustain a better rapport with the audience rather than the interviewee. Obviously we can’t see Norton’s body language in the radio interview but in the television one we see that his body language does co-ordinate with the situation he is in. After Norton says ‘it’s not often that gets a big cheer’ the audience immediately laugh which in a way jeers Norton on and so he continues to look at the audience instead of Jedward. I think at some points Norton looks too much at the camera and audience and this slightly decreases the rapport with Jedward, but on the other hand he’s sustains a rapport with the audience. He uses hand gestures which exaggerates what he is saying, but I think personally he’s posture is too laid back and gives an informal look. In both interviews there would be two different audiences so the reaction and how Norton tries to sustain a rapport with them would be different. In the radio interview, Norton interacts with the audience with the tone and pitch of his voice, whereas in the television interview Norton uses gestures and looks straight at the audience to get an immediate reaction. Also his volume of his voice is more prominent, in the radio interview so the audience has a connection with Norton. In the radio interview Norton’s language is more formal whereas in the television one it’s much more relaxed and Standard English so this shows that Norton does adapt himself to both situations, which is a good technique made by Norton. So, overall I think that Norton is good at adapting himself to both interviews; I do think that in the radio interview that Norton is better suited to the television interview when it’s a bit more relaxed and informal, because this suits Norton’s personality better. Norton does have a few bad techniques which include interrupting and looking at the audience too much, but he has many good techniques. Although in both interviews he uses good techniques which sustain a rapport with both the audience and the interviewees.

Working with Youth Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Working with Youth - Essay Example Without that belief, the young people will not be motivated enough to participate in challenges. Second, it is important to find useful positions for young people within the community. Providing meaningful contributions through such roles will help give young people the confidence they need. Third, groups must provide regular opportunities for young people to serve the community – at least one hour a week, but hopefully more. By providing an ongoing opportunity, these groups will build habits that will last a lifetime. Fourth, the group must provide a safe atmosphere where young people will feel the freedom to fail – and to get back up and succeed (Search Institute, 2011). The Tahoe SAFE Alliance is dedicated to eliminating violent behavior in teenagers. By focusing on such topics as mutual respect, self-esteem, and the traits of healthy relationships, this group seeks to undo much of the damage that has taken place in homes. There are several different elements to this groups curriculum, but the overriding theme is building an atmosphere of respect and dignity in which teens can reassemble their own self-concept and then move outward to work against violence wherever they find it (Tahoe SAFE Alliance,

Analysis and Recomendation of Marketing strategy of Vodafone Essay

Analysis and Recomendation of Marketing strategy of Vodafone - Essay Example Strategies of an organization should well be able to detail themselves as per the needs of the environment while planning for the future. A framework for any program can well be preferred if it is deeply affinitive to the generalization of a venture or enterprise keeping in mind the quality of methodizing. The one concept firmly oriented towards the creation of values for its customers will conclude with excellence in the target market. Vodafone uses its familiar red logo and retains themes of togetherness, fashion joy and enjoyment throughout its marketing communications. The same uniformity is maintained and followed by Fanta, Microsoft, Nike, Sony and host of other companies. What should be the rational behind this? Is it for fun? Integrated marketing communications see the elements of the communications mix integrated into a coherent whole. As the fight of market shares and quest for product success continue, marketers are employing all the necessary tactics, and methods to give their product a break through, or remain competitive (Brennan, Baines, and Garneau, 2003, Rowley J 2004). One way of doing this is through differentiation, making your product outstanding, by having your values and image (Zineldin M., and Philipson S., 2007). This is known as the marketing communications mix, and forms the basis of marketing (Pelsmacher& Kitchen., 2005) This paper examined the importance of marketing to Vodafone, it current and future market challenges using certain analytical tools and models. Part one of the paper lay emphasis on these models while part three looks at the resources and capabilities that distinguished Vodafone from its competitors. The PESTEL framework can only be used to look at the future impact of environmental factors and that this impact might be

Health Sciences, Medicine and Infection Control Essay

Health Sciences, Medicine and Infection Control - Essay Example Some of the diseases are highly contagious and can be spread by means of airborne transmission through very small droplets of infectious agents found in the air, food, or water. Infections that are contacted in hospitals or other healthcare facilities are known as nosocomial infections, and they lead to approximately 5 % of the patients in the hospitals (Mehrotra and Sumbali, 2009). These nosocomial infections are very common in some hospitals which do not have a strong immune system. This makes most of the patients in these facilities to be very susceptible to more infections. As a result, patients who visit hospitals end up spending more time in bed and may in some cases end up dying due to the infections they acquire while in the hospitals. The other reason why infectious diseases spread very fast in hospitals is the fact that some of the medical procedures performed to patients may predispose them to these infections (Barry et al, 2006). Some of the equipment used in these medical procedures as well as some of the drugs used may introduce infectious agents into the body of the patient. The infectious diseases can also be transmitted from one patient to another by the hospital workers and doctors or any other hospital visitors (Barry et al, 2006). By handling one patient who may be infected, the hospital workers can act as agents and transmit the same diseases to other patients in the hospital when they do not take necessary precautions. Therefore, there is the need to put in place infection control policies so as to help prevent the spread of nosocomial diseases (Hogg, 2013). This will also go a long way in making hospitals a better and safer place for patients as well as visitors. There is the need to have in place proper guidelines for infection control procedures in hospitals. Apart from hospitals infection control should also be practiced in clinics, nursing homes, restaurants and child care centers, as  well as in people’s homes.

Residence discussion its pros and cons Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Residence discussion its pros and cons - Essay Example Naturally, under any circumstances and in any situation children’s interests should be of primary concern. If the contact with one of the parents is lost, then future of the child is under the threat of problems and disadvantages. Divorce leads to separation and social dysfunction of the family; but it is not separation itself that is harmful for children; it is the way divorce is handled. The justice system of the United Kingdom is involuntarily daily involved into exclusions of such kind1. Exclusion of one parent makes the child think that the latter is bad; consequently he may think that a part of him is spoiled too. Thus the child’s self-esteem and self-assurance are damaged. These dreadful outcomes of divorces could have been changed by the judicial system if they had eliminated discrimination of one parent with regard to another. Child’s best interests wouldn’t be protected if he lived with one parent; fit biological parents have equal rights and pla y equal roles in the lives of their children. Child’s best interests are in active involvement in his life of both fit biological parents. The Government issued Children Act 1989 is considered to be an initial step in shared residence initiation2. In spite of the fact that many years passed after Children Act adoption, shared residence is still considered to be a novelty in the UK. USA and Canada have more loyal attitude to shared residence and this decision after divorce is considered to be an optimal one. The UK Government should care about the fact that children alienated from one of their parents suffer emotional discord and turbulence. When children have to make choice which parent to ‘prefer’, they feel great emotional stress and self-sacrifice. Therefore Equal Parenting Council approves of shared residence.

SUPPLY CHAIN PROCUREMENT IN THE US ARMY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

SUPPLY CHAIN PROCUREMENT IN THE US ARMY - Essay Example ng, Budgeting and Execution (PPBE) Process, which is vested with proper planning of the supply system, program investigation, and implementation, and resource budgeting. This is the arm that is responsible for identifying the need for resources. The second division of the department of defense is the joint chief of staff integration that is vested with the responsibility of identifying gaps in the supply system and coming up with ways of filling those gaps. The last arm is the defense acquisition system which is vested with the procurement process of weapons and other resources that may be needed by the military. The military supply chain management of the DoD is composed of 7 components, which are suppliers, procurement, manufacturing, order management, transportation, warehousing and customers (soldiers). The success factors of the army are customer needs, information need, environmental concerns, deployment, mission, and interoperation. The primary aim in the military supply chain is to acquire the best machinery for combat, and at the same time working within the budgetary allocations. The process of the supply chain procurement of the army starts with the acquisition from supplier, then on the process, which can be warehousing or transportation and finally on the order management after order from the soldier (customer). The supply chain for the army may have a problem in implementing a customer-centric and process-centric supply chain in that the supply chain is very rigid and dependent on the regulations of army procurement (Weisgerber, 2014). There is no single step procurement process the way it is in the corporate and this means the procurement can also be long. The strategy of the US army is something that is subject to confidentiality because it touches on the security of the state. The suppliers are normally outsiders and are not privy to the confidential information, although they sign confidentiality agreements. It is, therefore, hard to align the

The Current Economic Climate Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Current Economic Climate - Essay Example There are some challenges and biggest opportunities facing with new managers entering an industry. The global environment has continuously become a challenge to emerging managers. This reminds them of a very important thing and that is for them to acquire useful skills in order to reach a high level of competitive advantage. For instance, in the age of information technology (IT), it is no longer reliable and enough to rely on traditional management system. Modern managers must be able to have important knowledge on how to integrate his or her leadership skills in the midst of substantial breakthroughs in areas of IT. This is a great challenge among those managers who were trained without prior exposure to a high level of advancement in IT. Very few companies offered IT programs in the onset of online communication, technological innovation in information management system and so on. In fact, many managers nowadays are not that adept in using various features in IT in leading their p ersonnel especially in companies that require constant communication and interaction on a daily basis. However, this is an advantage among those emerging managers who are mostly adept and have substantial background in IT. They can all integrate their knowledge in IT in their leadership and in fact, this would make them highly competitive in today’s prevailing economic climate. It is the current global trending that for a company or organisation to stay on top and be a cut above the other, various management modifications are necessary and application of IT is just among of them. Management on the other hand is such a complicated process because it deals personally with the human resource with also complex behaviours and needs. Thus, all managers are faced with substantial challenges especially on motivating and applying their skills in the work place, but above all they all are tested with their commitment (Hawell, 2009). All of these are essential factors in achieving goals of the company. Thus, those managers who are committed are more willing to seek for more information on how to improve performance of their personnel and one of the basic approaches is motivating them. To motivate the entire human resource is another great challenge. In times of downward spiraling economy for instance, the managers must be able to apply substantial moves especially among those employees who are asking for more financially from the economic stand point. It requires not just constant communication, but ample opportunities in motivating them even without the need to use monetary equivalence. In other words, the managers must be able to apply their skills and full potential in creating more innovative approaches in motivating the human resource to function effectively most especially in both promising and challenging economic times. This is both a challenge and opportunity for emerging managers as they would substantially focus on innovation, and apply modern approach in management. Another point, every business is faced with competition and this is how it is for the rest of almost all organisations around the world. Competition simply is everywhere. Thus, every manager therefore must be geared with substantial knowledge on this issue. A facilitative style of leadership might be required and that would ensure substantial use of communication process (Hartwig, 2008). In this approach, emerging managers have the full advantage as they

Performance Appraisal Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Performance Appraisal Paper - Essay Example The thesis statement of the current reflective paper is to evaluate how the various aspects of human resource management and planning work together to perform that primary function. The contemporary issues in human resource planning and development are very much different from what it used to be two or three decades back. With so many firms entering the global market, the major objective of HR is the management of cultural diversity as well as ethics of various nations where the firm is seeking business. With the advent of new technology too, new issues have arsed in the field of HR planning. For instance, information needs to be communicated within a nation or within an organisation. Apart from this, workplace diversity continues to be a major concern for HR managers. In this arena, the primary function of managers is to ensure that no discrimination is done in promoting, hiring or termination procedures and practices (Brewster, et al., 1996). However, each of these challenges are also opportunities for improving the overall monitoring of performance, safety and health issues as well as turnover management. Globalization has seen a tremendous growth with technological advances. As the cost effectiveness of business is increasing, more and more companies are going global. Thus, new roles of seeing international employees have been added to HR management. The HR managers are realizing that with different religions, races and cultures, work motivation is also changing. As a result, the overall hiring and recruitment process has seen a dramatic change. Today, hiring process does not confide to a person’s functional capabilities but also his/her capability to work in a diverse environment. With the equal Opportunity (EEO) as well as affirmative action plan, the firing and hiring policy has become more controlled as

Current legal event Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Current legal event - Essay Example When the order made concerns the businesses, it either leads to a negative impact or a positive impact to the businesses. Such orders have occurred in the United States of America in the year 2012 and the beginning of the year 2013. For instance the president Barack Obama gave an executive order on 12/2/2013 on the legal interpretation to the companies that manage internet activities (Klein, 2012,23). He ordered that the companies should have an insurance coverage that currently exists so that they may be secured from other risks that would affect their operation. This insurance cover, the cyber liability policy, would protect these companies from losses that may result from either the third party or the second party since it would permit them the access to identify the information of customers that transmit computer viruses to the other business partners (Klein, 2012, 31). Therefore due to this order, companies that would be found without such an insurance cover would face governmen t fines or charges. They would in addition respond to the costs used by the government to carry the investigation especially when any breach of conduct is discovered. Some companies accepted this order while others claimed that the penalties were too high and this would not make them reach a wider market. Another ruling came from the Supreme Court on 28/6/2012 that ordered an expansion of Medicaid with governors and the implementation of health insurance exchange. The ruling was to instruct all the individuals that that were under the department of health and human service to design the benefit package for the covered individuals. The expansion policy was also meant for all the states. In addition the governors had requested the federal government to give states flexibility to expand Medicaid. The penalty for not securing health insurance cover was also enforced, to regulate commerce among the state. This order was dismissed by some companies which claimed that it compelled citizens to be participants in the commercial market that would shift them from healthcare market. Therefore the healthcare market would go down as A result. However the provision also prevented the insurance company from refusing persons with the preexisting conditions and to charge their based on the persons medical back ground. Therefore it forced the insurance companies under the health care to reduce their premium rates (Klein, 2012, 27). The court also produced an act, validity of mandatory arbitration clause, on27/2/2013 that provided a legal shield to the corporations who steal from their customers. It forced consumers to give up their constitutional rights of bringing disputes against defendants as class actions, to give immunity to corporation which steal small amount of money across many individual customers. These made the customers to lose hope with such corporations due to lack of trust hence the corporations loosed their customers. Question 2 The legal events will have a sign ificant impact on the businesses because their rights are being protected and catered for. When the federal government gives an order that favors businesses, they get encouraged to involve more on the business activities. For instance the order that was given to the companies that manage internet facilities, which required them to take an insurance cover

Prostitution Is a Problem Caused by Men Essay Example for Free

Prostitution Is a Problem Caused by Men Essay Prostitution is a problem caused by men. There arent any prostitutes for women. Its men who create the problem and men who make the laws. We have to admit that this is the reality. Although threr is a Gender equality law which was passed a long time ago (since the 1920s), women still have to suffer unequal treatment in many fields especially in creating the laws and prostitution is one of the most contraversial problems. We all know human beings have a desire for sex, except for sick or impotent people and cloisterers as well as monks. That is a normal physical demand. Sex is also the manifestation of love but in this case, we are just discussing a basic instinct. Men always have a stronger need for sex than women. That does not mean women do not, it is because of their shyness and social morality that keep them from expressing their desires. And men also keep the right to make the laws so that is the reason why prostitutes are for men only. I totally disagree with legalizing prostitution. It draws a guilt free road for men, especially married men. Some men vindicate that prostitutes help them clear out the stress that they get from work and meet their demands completely when their wives can not. But in fact, everything they do is worse. If prostitutes are just for fulfilling sexual needs, it is okay, but in many cases, men are addicted to prostitutes and spend most of their time relaxing with them. They do not care about what their wives think, give lots of money they earn to call-girls and treat their wives and children badly especially when their wives or children discover the bad things they do. And the two most dangerous consequences of prostitution are that men can bring sexually transmitted infections to their wives and many families might or have to cope with the breakdown when the wives can not stand their husbands’ behaviour any more. The other negative side of prostitution is the unequal field. There are just red light districts for men but not for women. Women and men have the same biological needs, so why do they not have their own playplace? Because of morality or the number of women in Congress and also the number of women holding a leadership position in a country is smaller than men? It is common even in the most developed nation The United States of America. In our history, only two queens have been able to control men and really spread equality all over their nations, they are Cleopatra of Egypt and Wu Zetian of China. I extremely admire them. If there were a person like them existing in this world, humanity’s history could change in another way and I am really sure it would be magical.

Are Automotive Manufacturers more Socially Responsible?

Are Automotive Manufacturers more Socially Responsible? To what extent are car manufacturing firms operating in a more socially responsible manner when designing environmentally friendly cars? Abstract Social responsibility is one of the key differentiators between modern corporations, and is seen by many analysts as an antidote to the past few years trend towards the demonisation of corporate institutions. The recent economic crisis, in particular, has led many observers to argue that corporations that fail to address issues of social responsibility will struggle to survive. However, other observers question whether this phenomenon is anything more than a superficial consumer trend, and whether the world economy in general can seriously contemplate a corporate system in which the profit motive is subservient to the need for corporate social responsibility. This dissertation examines social responsibility in terms of the car manufacturing industry, and looks in particular at the question of whether or not the move towards environmentally friendly cars is anything more than a passing phase in an industry that is extremely sensitive to public opinion. Ultimately, the aim of the disse rtation is to determine whether or not corporate social responsibility within the car manufacturing industry is a genuine change, or whether it is simply a superficial response to a passing public trend. Introduction The concept of corporate social responsibility has been one of the dominant themes of the past decade, with consumer recognition of a corporations social responsibility being increasingly seen as a lucrative phenomenon. In the west, in particular, increasing levels of affluence have led to a trend that has seen more customers show willingness to pay more for products that are designed according to theories of social responsibility., and this shift has been nowhere more apparent than in the automobile manufacturing industry. This trend has inter-cut with a recognition (in some quarters) of the need to ensure a more environmentally-friendly approach to industrial production and consumption, and a number of corporations have secured dramatically enhanced public images through a focus on affordable but socially responsible products. However, critics argue that since the primary aim of these corporations is to increase their profits, the appearance of social responsibility has been more o f a cosmetic change than a substantial alteration of core business practices; many critics believe that corporations have, in most cases, merely become better at packaging their products as a more socially responsible, environmentally friendly alternative. Despite the recent financial crisis, the automobile manufacturing industry remains a bellwether for the global economy, and any genuine global industrial changes regarding social responsibility will likely be evident in the automobile industry at an early stage. This dissertation will examine the behaviour of car manufacturing firms and will ask whether they have genuinely become more socially responsible when designing environmentally friendly cars, or whether this is merely a superficial smokescreen designed to generate improved public exposure without leading to genuine changes in design and production philosophies. In particular, the difference between the industrys approach before and after the onset of the recent economic crisis will be examined, and these differences will be used to determine whether or not the move towards social responsibility represented a genuine change to production systems or was merely an attempt to capture the early twenty-first century zeitgeist. Furthermore, the dissertation will examine the extent to which social responsibility and environmental awareness have affected not only above-the-line (i.e. visible to the public) areas of the industry, but also below-the-line (i.e. internal corporate) systems; the d issertation will argue that firms can only be said to have adopted a greater level of social responsibility if their attempts to tackle this issue extend to below-the-line activities. The dissertation will use a series of core examples in order to determine both the hyperbole (i.e. the claims made to the public) and the core below-the-line changes that may, or in some cases may not, reflect the car manufacturing industrys more socially responsible, environmentally friendly approach to business and production. Literature Review Corporate Social Responsibility Social responsibility has been one of the key growth areas in recent years. Crane et al. (2007) define social responsibility, in the corporate context, as a companys ability to put aside the profit motive in order to perform tasks that have a beneficial effect not on the company itself in terms of capital but in terms of an entirely separate social group (Crane et al., 2007, p. 6). In this context, social responsibility can be seen as something that companies are expected to do unbidden, in much the same way as many people choose to donate their time and volunteer to help charities. In some ways, therefore, social responsibility can be seen as an attempt to anthropomorphise corporations by rendering them indebted to a cultural belief that they should act in a more ethical and moral manner. This is in some ways a cultural corrective to the idea of corporations as solely capitalistic, profit-orientated organisations. May et al. (2007) suggest that corporate social responsibility is a popular construct that seeks to imbue corporations with humanistic traits regardless of whether those traits are present or not (May et al., 2007, p. 118). In order for public recognition of these traits to be tangible, there must be a relative relationship between different corporations, so some must be seen to be exercising a great deal of social responsibility, while other must be seen to be doing very little. This is, in effect, the classic polar relationship between good and bad, and it allows consumers to associate themselves with positive, socially responsible companies purely by making certain purchasing decisions. Both sides therefore have a vested interest in social responsibility: consumers feel good if they reward socially responsible companies with their custom, and can use such purchases as a form of status symbol; corporations, meanwhile, can try to generate a larger, more loyal customer base. While some critics argue that social responsibility is a trend that will wax and wane according to various social and economic factors (May et al., 2007, p. 119), others believe that the emergence of social responsibility as a major business factor in the past decade is in fact a permanent change. Crane et al. note that growing awareness of environmental issues has led many people to recognise the importance of social responsibility (Crane et al., 2007, p. 10), and although the recent economic crisis may have led many to hold back on the spending that they would otherwise have directed towards socially responsible corporations, there still appears to be a broad consensus that social responsibility is one of the most important factors in modern business. Consequently, many companies have sought to strengthen their social policy credentials. Environmental Policy One of the key elements of social responsibility is the environment. For more than twenty years, there have been warnings about the effects of global warming. Many corporations choose to exhibit their social responsibility through one of a number of environmentally friendly policies: Reducing the environmental cost of production distribution. Reducing the environmental cost of consumption. Reducing the environmental cost of disposal. Using more environmentally-friendly materials. Reducing packaging and other superfluous elements of a product. Instigating specific environmentally-friendly technological elements. Funding research and education programs. Carbon and pollution off-setting. All of these options and more are regularly employed by companies that want to emphasise their environmental credentials. Large companies tend to focus on methods that require little more effort than throwing money at the problem, e.g. by funding research or off-setting their carbon emissions. However, some other companies are far more inventive, and genuinely try to reduce their environmental impact. Social Responsibility Aside from the environmental factors noted above, companies have found a number of ways of demonstrating their corporate social responsibility: Funding education programs. Providing services, e.g. transportation for school and disabled groups. Promoting volunteerism among their own workers. Donating money to charities. Working to eliminate abuse in the chain of production. The globalised corporate environment makes it more difficult than ever for companies to hide practices that might be unpopular in their domestic markets. For example, if a company seeks to use cheap labour in third world countries, it can make a short-term impact but will usually be exposed eventually. In other words, companies find it increasingly difficult to hide any non-socially responsible behaviour. The Car Manufacturing Industry The vast majority of manufacturers are global in terms of production facilities. The leading US and Japanese manufacturers, for example, tend to have dozens of factories, with at the top five companies all having at least one factory in each of North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australasia. As such, the industry can be said to be truly global in terms of both customer reach and production. Furthermore, companies often experience great success in non-domestic markets, e.g. Japans Toyota also sells many cars in the US, and Germanys BMW is extremely popular in the UK; the only major exceptions to this rule are two of the three big US companies, General Motors (GM) and Chrysler, both of which have been criticised for their focus on the US market. The Impact of the Economic Crisis on the Car Manufacturing Industry All the worlds car manufacturers have in recent years suffered from the global economic downturn. In the US, the big three manufacturers Ford, Chrysler and General Motors (GM) have all come close to bankruptcy, and GM has been forced to file for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Around the world, companies have suffered similar problems, although in most cases not to the extent of the major US companies. In Japan, both Honda and Toyota have suffered heavy losses and have been forced to reconsolidate their core business areas. As a result, the automobile industry has been undergoing a period of immense uncertainty, and this has led many consumers to believe that they can no longer rely on the continued presence of the big names. Apart from the well-publicised problems for the big three US companies GM, Ford and Chrysler, almost every other major car manufacturer around the world has suffered a slump in profits in the past two years, and many have incurred legacy debts during this period that will impact upon their performance for decades to come. Toyota reported a massive $1.7bn loss (Fackler, 2008) and, like most other manufacturers, was forced to re-focus activities on core revenue streams. As one of the key figures in the green car revolution, Toyota had been investing heavily in environmentally-friendly cars, and had been happy to make such investments since it believe there would be massive financial benefits in the long run. However, the financial crisis crippled Toyotas ability to consider the long term implications of its current activities, and forced the company to focus on its core business. As Satoshi Hino notes, Toyota has long been one of the more adventurous companies when it comes to placing substantial industrial bets on future changes in the automobile market, but these have always been backed by strong performances in the companys core activities (Hino, 2005, p. 41). The companys move into electric and hybrid cars seen by many as a key element in the push towards greener automobiles has largely been financed by success in core diesel machines, with the pay-off for this front-end investment expected to arrive between 2010 and 2015. However, with the core business model threatened by double-digit year-on-year sales drops, Toyota was forced in 2009 to consolidate its activities and re-focus on the most profitable elements of its production line. This decision by the company served as dramatic proof that while there was clearly a high degree of confidence in terms of the potential for socially responsible cars to provide a significant pay-off in the medium to long term, this confidence was not strong enough to allow the company to rely on such vehicles during a time of economic crisis. Clearly, therefore, market forces are not yet dictating the need for social responsibility in sufficient numbers, or with sufficient support via purchasing decisions . Research Methodology Research Approach The research will take two key approaches: a questionnaire will be used to conduct primary research into consumer awareness of the question of social responsibility in the car manufacturing industry, and two case studies will be used to determine how two of the worlds biggest manufacturers GM and Toyota deal with this issue. In order to assess the impact of the social responsibility policies of both GM and Toyota, the questionnaires will be designed to measure the impact of such policies (or the lack of them) and the degree to which they change public opinion and have the effect for which they were designed. These questionnaires will be vital in terms of bridging the gap between the theory and reality, and will expose the limitations inherent in this approach. In order to increase the likely response rate, and to comply with ethical considerations regarding privacy, the questionnaires were left anonymous and respondents were told that they could ignore any individual questions that they would prefer not to answer. The secondary research will focus on two case studies, one looking at the leading US car manufacturer (General Motors) and the other looking at the worlds leading car manufacturer, by sales (Toyota). These companies have been chosen for specific reasons. General Motors (GM) has had a difficult economic history over the past two decades, almost filing for bankruptcy in the 1990s before going on to enjoy considerable success with a series of non-environmentally friendly cars (SUVs) while professing to hold social responsibility as a key philosophical point, and then suffering a massive collapse that resulted in the company filing for the fourth largest bankruptcy in US history (see chapter 4). Toyota, meanwhile, has made a name for itself with a series of advanced hybrid cars, but has also suffered during the recent financial crisis (see chapter 5). In other words, GM is seen by many as one of the worlds least socially responsible manufacturers, and Toyota is seen by many as one of the worlds most socially responsible manufacturers. By comparing and contrasting their approaches and fortunes, it should be possible to develop a clear understanding of the extent to which major car manufacturers have been socially responsible in pursuing an environmentally friendly agenda. Research Questions The research is based on the following key questions: To what extent do car manufacturing companies act with a high degree of social responsibility when designing environmentally friendly cars? How important is consumer behaviour to car manufacturers interest in social responsibility? Do consumers drive companies behaviour, or vice versa? What different approaches to the subject of environmentally friendly, socially responsible cars have been taken by different companies? How has the recent economic crisis affected manufacturers interest in social responsibility? Is social responsibility progressing according to narrative trends? Is this a major change to business, or merely a passing trend? Research Limitations Any research project contains inherent limitations. If these limitations are ignored, they do not go away; rather, they linger and negatively impact the reliability of the overall project. Consequently, the best approach is to recognise these limitations from the start and to work to ensure that they are factored out of the equation as much as possible. As Saunders et al. note, its only by recognising the limitations of any research program that the problems that always affect any research project can be brought into the open, addressed and contextualised and, in some cases, turned into positives (Saunders et al., 2009, p. 51). The research limits of this project are as follows: Social responsibility is an inherently subjective matter. Something that is socially responsible in the view of one person may be socially irresponsible in the view of another. Many of the relevant subjects, such as global warming, are not universally recognised. Its therefore important to reflect the fact that there is ongoing debate. There is insufficient time and space to analyse the entire market. Therefore, key examples must be selected for the case studies. As noted in 3.1, the subjects for these case studies were chosen for very specific reasons. Questionnaires must be brief and simple to understand, yet they must also focus on the key points. Persuading respondents to fill in questionnaires can be difficult. All these limitations can be overcome, to various extents. The subjectivity inherent in the research subject is in fact relevant to the continuing social, cultural and political debates regarding the extent to which car companies should, and can, adopt socially responsible roles; some critics argue that this can only be achieved if consumers adopt socially responsible approaches to their purchasing patterns, which will inevitably force corporations to adapt to face this trend. Similarly, the continuing debate over global warming although settled in many peoples view continues to cause debate in many parts of the world. Finally, the limitations of time and space mean that the case study subjects must be analysed extremely closely, and the choices of company must be made carefully. Results Analysis Response 200 questionnaires were sent out. The expected response rate was 40-50%, as per the suggestion by Saunders et al. that any questionnaire-based research project that prompts between a third and a half of targets to respond can be said to have performed averagely (Saunders et al., 2009, p. 102). In the event, 81 questionnaires were returned, representing 40.5%, which is just within the expected range. This gives a statistically relevant sample group. Demographic Information Demographic details are important in research concerning attitudes to consumer activity and the environment, since both of these factors can impact upon an individuals view of these issues. Question 1 concerned the age of the respondents: How old are you? The majority of respondents were in their teens and twenties, with a total of three quarters being under 40. This makes the questionnaire more relevant in terms of analysing the attitudes of younger people. The second question concerned the occupation of the respondents. It was decided to provide broad categories rather than to request specific details. For one thing, this emphasised the confidentiality and privacy of the research, and for another it allowed for easy and effective categorisation of answers: What is your occupation? Around two thirds of the respondents were employed, self-employed or in part-time work, with the rest being students, retired or unemployed. Awareness of Social Responsibility among Car Manufacturers The next question asked respondents if they believed the car manufacturing industry, as a whole, to be socially responsible. A brief explanation was appended to this question, defining social responsibility as an awareness of their impact on society, including the environment, and their efforts to ensure that this impact has a positive rather than a negative effect: How responsible do you think car manufacturers are? An overwhelming majority (67.9%) considered car manufacturers to be either not very or not at all responsible. Breaking these results down according to age and occupation gave the following results: Appreciation of manufacturers social awareness, broken down by age range Clearly, levels of appreciation appear to be at least partly linked to age, with these levels peaking for individuals in their fifties. There are numerous possible reasons for this, including: Media exposure: different age groups are exposed to very different media forms and sources, each of which will likely carry very different stories concerning manufacturers levels of social awareness. Learned behaviour: older respondents will have spent longer living in a time when many of the relevant issues, particularly environmental impact, were not considered. Environmental awareness: some of the answers may be influenced by a lack of belief in the various arguments concerning the environment and, in particular, the car industrys contribution to global warming. Clearly, therefore, awareness of social responsibility is a dynamic factor that reflects a number of different viewpoints, and this factors is by no means viewed the same by different age groups. The clear correlation between age and awareness indicates that manufacturers must ensure that they operate multiple simultaneous social responsibility programs if they are to reach all these groups. However, the next question sought to determine whether or not it was strictly necessary for the manufacturers to try to appeal to everyone, and asked how important social responsibility is to purchasing decisions. First, in terms of the overall response, the result was as follows: How important is a manufacturers social responsibility for you when choosing what car to buy? Almost half (48.1%) claimed that social responsibility was either very or quite important, with just over half (51.9%) claiming that it was not very or not at all important. Given the relatively small sample group for this research project, the difference is small enough to be statistically irrelevant, and broadly indicates a 50-50 split in terms of opinion on this subject. However, looking at the results in terms of an age-related breakdown results in a very different set of results: Importance of social responsibility of manufacturers, by age The data shows a clear depreciation of the importance of social responsibility for older consumers, although there is evidence of an increase for consumers in their 50s and above. In order to determine a link between awareness of social responsibility in the industry and the importance of social responsibility in purchasing decisions, the results from figures 4 and 6 were then combined: Importance, and awareness, of social responsibility in the car manufacturing industry There is clearly an inverse relationship between awareness of social responsibility as a factor in the industry, and belief in the importance of social responsibility. For example, younger people are most likely to believe that social responsibility is an important factor when making purchasing decisions, but are the least appreciative of any efforts that have so far been made. To an extent, this can be seen to be a matter of perception, but theres also clearly a problem for the industry in terms of persuading parts of the consumer base that its intentions are genuine. In order to measure the degree to which various manufacturers have succeeded in their aim of seeming more socially responsible, respondents were next asked whether they thought the industry had become more socially responsible over the past decade: Do you think the car industry has become more socially responsible over the past decade, less socially responsible, or it has stayed mostly the same? The vast majority of respondents believe there has been no real change, strongly suggesting that either the message from the manufacturers has not got through to the public, or that there is a deep level of cynicism in terms of whether the public believe that the rhetoric has translated into genuine action. Finally, respondents were given a range of options and were asked to indicate which they believed were most important in terms of social responsibility. They were asked to tick two or three options, with the aim being to allow them to indicate the elements of corporate social responsibility that were deemed most important: Most important elements of social responsibility Clearly, the vast majority of consumers overwhelmingly equate social responsibility with environmental issues. The only other factor to come close to this in terms of relevance was making donations to charitable causes, which to an extent also involves the environment. Social responsibility is not purely about the environment, and encompasses a range of other activities that can improve society. However, for the consumers canvassed for this research project, environmental issues were by far the most important, and its therefore possible to argue that the environment has overtaken all other elements of social responsibility and has become the single most important issue. Although manufacturers could fight against this perception and attempt to focus attention on other factors, the best approach might be to accept that when it comes to social responsibility, most consumers overwhelmingly focus on the environment. Case Study 1: General Motors (US) Background General Motors (GM) is the largest US car manufacturer, and the second largest in the world (after Toyota) (Trott, 2009). The company relies heavily on four key brands: Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC. Each of these brands has a distinctive presence in the US market, but critics have argued that GM has lacked focus on the non-US markets, leaving it particularly vulnerable to domestic turmoil and economic volatility. In 1994, GM came close to bankruptcy following a $4.5bn loss, but cost-cutting measures and management changes ensured its survival. The company was one of the key instigators of the huge rise in sales for sports utility vehicles (SUVs) in the 1990s, a trend that was highly lucrative for GM but which resulted in criticism from environmental campaigners. Between 1998 and 2001, GM and Ford vied for the top spot in the US market, primarily through massively increasing sales in the SUV market. However, the downturn which followed the September 11th 2001 attacks saw GM suff er particularly hard, even compared to Ford, with the latter at least having a strong European heartland on which to rely during difficult trading conditions in the US. Nevertheless, GM bounced back and by 2005 was recording strong sales figures and was eyeing major expansion into overseas markets. However, the recent economic crisis virtually crippled GM, as well as its two key domestic rivals, Ford and Chrysler. GM lost $38.7bn in the 2007 fiscal year (Wearden, 2009), and an almost 50% drop in sales. The following year, GM predicted that it would run out of money in mid-2009 without a substantial re-financing program, and called for government help. In November 2008, the company joined with Ford and Chrysler in formally requesting help from the US government in order to stave off bankruptcy. Even in the context of the financial crisis, this move was massive, since it represented the genuine possibility of the USs three major car companies going bust almost simultaneously. Although the US government, under outgoing president George W. Bush, was initially reluctant to provide money at a time when many other businesses also had legitimate claims for government help, in December 2008 a bridging loan was finally offered. Despite numerous attempts to cut costs and reorganise the co mpany over the next six months, in June 2009 GM filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. After Lehman Brothers, Worldcom and Washington Mutual, this was the fourth largest bankruptcy filing in US history. Eventually, on July 10th 2009, the US government helped to finance a new company, NGMCO Inc., that took on the majority of the old GM assets. The old GM changed its name to Motors Liquidation Company, and the new Vehicle Acquisition Holdings company changed its name to General Motors Company, thereby bringing GM back to life. The new version of GM is mostly owned by the US government, while the old GM Motors Liquidation Company continues to go through the process of the bankruptcy filing. Social Responsibility Both the old and the new GM have been involved in programs to emphasise their social responsibility. Since 1996, GM has financed the Safe Kids USA Buckle Up program, designed to encourage children to use seatbelts. The company has also contributed to a consortium that has donated over $1.2bn to fund education for engineering graduates, a scheme that has recently been extended worldwide. GM has also donated more than $200m in the past decade to charitable causes, and has supported both Democratic and Republican presidential candidates often simultaneously. The companys more recent philanthropic activities include a new global aid program (GM, 2009) and a number of smaller, local community projects designed to improve provisions mostly for children in areas surrounding the companys main factories. These projects have, for the most part, been maintained despite the continued financial uncertainty and the chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings that took place in mid-2009. GM has also launched a major program called I Am GM, designed to showcase the companys strong workplace diversity policies. The program involves placing adverts in newspapers and magazines, and on television, in which GM employees from different ethnic backgrounds talk about their pride in the company. As well as reinforcing the idea of GM as an equal opportunities, ethnically diverse employer, the campaign is designed to show how GM works towards engineering a higher degree of diversity in society. Linked to this program is the companys renewed focus on safety, which has seen not only improvements designed to help children in the event of an accident, but also high-profile campaigns to reinforce the companys vehicles in order to make them withstand bigger crashes. The Buckle Up program has been maintained, and GM has expanded this campaign since 2008 by taking the message to schools around the US. The company claims that corporate responsibility is about more than just words its an acknowledgement that our actions shape our reputation (GM, 2009). Environmentally-Friendly Technology During the 1990s, a number of scandals saw the company accused of poor environmental management, including an accusation that sediments have been stored in unsafe conditions. In 2006, GM was one of a number of manufacturers from around the world named in a suit brought by the State of California over the issue of pollution. The case was dismissed a year later, but the damage to GMs reputation had already been done. In 2008, the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) ranked GM 18th on its list of the USs worst polluters, giving the company a toxic score of 73,248, set against the no. 1 polluter, E.I. du Pont de Nemours, which scored 285,661 (PERI, 2008). Meanwhile, in the same year, the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) ranked GM 7th out of the worlds largest car manufacturers

Toyota Production System Case Study

Toyota Production System Case Study 1.1. Introduction The Toyota Production System (TPS) which was developed by Toyota Motor Corporation in 1970s is the Toyotas unique production approach and it becomes the worldwide application of production system in many companies (Moden, 1991). The main objective of TPS is to improve their manufacturing process by cutting off overburden and unevenness and elimination of waste in the process. The purpose of this assignment aims to assess the progress of a medium-sized construction company which is working in commercial projects and sometimes on design-build projects. As a representative of youth generation of the company, the author recognises that there are many problems existing in the process of executing a project of the company. Hence, benefit and reputation of the company is seriously affected by their defects on the process. In this report, the author will investigate all problems in the company in the terms of two phases in a construction project: pre-construction and construction phase. The author afterward will indicates the theory of lean in construction to apply in the company in order to solve problems. The improvement of the company will be analysed base on the model of TPS House diagram. Finally, the implementation and further development of the whole process will be discussed. 1.2. Company overview In this assignment, the author is going to analyse a construction company as described in assignment scenario. It is a medium sized construction firm working mostly on traditional office and commercial projects (gained through bidding) and sometimes on design-build projects. As a construction firm, the company is aware of the role of planning is the vital process of any project. Harris (2006, p65) indicated two types of planning which are strategic and operational planning. The first type has been executed by the client and integrated team which involves proposal outline of the project such as scopes, procurement route, time and financing. The operational plan, in contrast, will depict the process achieved in each stage of project in detail. The operation of planning process and involved problems of the company will describe below: The company has a systematic planning and management system for construction projects, starting from a master schedule and related partial plans for plant, personnel, materials etc. ; plans for shorter term are derived from the master plan, extending to weekly plans, and the progress is monitored and feedback to management. The current issue is the usage of the plan; it seems not being attracted staffs to the master plan, as people mostly do not study this plan. Even if the master plan is used, all of the tasks in this plan are not sorted in logical way, hence the plan looks chaotically. Consequently, the project cannot go smoothly and the company always meet an anxious rush when the deadline is coming. The company could starts their construction process in just two weeks after winning the bid, even if the project has been happening for years and it has been designed for one year. So that, sometime the contractor does not have enough preparation for their work, they will start the work as soon as they can. Financial control in the company is tight, and every material and work package is procured for its lowest price. Sometime, the construction works in the site have to be delayed or even stopped due to shortage of material and labour resources in the construction site, especially in big project, those situations happen regularly. The communication on the site is not really good. It is the lack of collaboration among sub-contractors. The site personnel of company often seem to be exhausted by long hours and constant troubleshooting The company seems too difficult to adapt the design and build projects when they are the DB contractor of a project. This thing results from insufficient of design experience control of the company and the management experience of DB procurement method which is very popular in construction industry in the United Kingdom Finally, the amount of physical waste transported from site is very lager; moreover the benefits from tight financial control seem to be lost by such cost leaked. As shown in the description above, it is obviously to see that the company has many disadvantages in order to manage a project. In the later parts of the assignment, the author will try to analyse particular problems and make improvements based on the Toyota Production System theory. Chapter 2: Analysis of production process in the company 2.1. General outline of the process map Oberlender (2000, p140) concluded planning is the vital process of any project, the better planning is, the better project is achieved. In a construction project, Harris (2006, p65) indicated that there are two types of planning which are strategic and operational planning. The first type has been executed by the client and integrated team which involves proposal outline of the project such as scopes, procurement route, time and financing. The operational plan, in contrast, will depict the process achieved in each stage of project in detail. In this assignment, the whole map of operation plan in construction process which is include the planning and execution process and the service procurement process will be drawn and analysed in order to make the appropriate improvement of the company. 2.2. Current process of the company In this assignment, the author is going to use UML activity diagrams to illustrate the map of pre-construction and construction processes. Fig 1 below show processes of construction project including pre-construction and construction stage which is applied in the company. Figure 1: Pre-construction process Figure 2: Construction process 2.3. Analysis of pre-construction process (1-12) 2.3.1. Description of the map In the pre-construction stage, the company will divide construction work into many work packages and develop plans for tendering. They have to prepare all the information about project and open a tender; finally they will choose suitable sub-contractors and material suppliers. There are two main phases of this stage which are production information and tender action. Production information: normally, the DB contractor will divide the whole work into many work packages with information of work, responsibility, schedule and the cost for each package. The purpose of this phase is to help all the sub-contractors understand and prepare what they have to do with their package. However, to do this, sub-contractors need to prepare and win for the tender of those packages. Even three principles of a good project which are time, quality and cost are considered; the company always put the low price as the top of priority. Tender documentation and tender action: the company will be the client of work packages which are executed by sub-contractors. Sub-contractors are required to spend time to study product documents as they want to take part in the tender i.e. work packages. They also need to prepare the tender document and arrange for their own plan of works before they submit those documents to main contractor. Based on the quality of the tender documents and the reputation of sub-contractors, the company will select suitable contractors for each package and prepare the contracts with them. Normally, the contractors which offer the best price will be selected. 2.3.2. Existing problems in the process There is insufficient information from the company in tender action; moreover the company really focus on the cost and the lowest price contractor would be selected. Consequently, many aspects of project have been neglected i.e quality and time. 2.4. Analysis of construction Stage (13-49) 2.4.1. Description of the process This is the main stage of any project with the end product is the whole CTG. The stage starts when the company establishes contract to sub-contractors which was indicated in the previous stages. Sometimes the design changes or the design teams make some modifications. The changes in design in DB procurement will lead to many risks to client, so that before executing the works, main contractor and sub-contractors should spend time to review the detail design and make recommendation in order to avoid the risks. During the stage, the company is the main actor who arranges the site, and executes main works such as excavation, main building structure and so on; meanwhile sub-contractors should have their own plan for implementing their works at the right time. According to Angus (2003, p137), in this stage, changes may be obliged in either term design or construction even they are not expected in advance. If the changes happen, the cost of the project will change, the result may be serious in DB procurement method. Hence, in this stage, correct planning and sufficient controlling can be the most critical issue to achieve the construction of project. Whenever, the change is achievable, all of the concerned parties should take part in discussions in order to find a way to reduce the bad effects as much as possible. The current planning process can be divided by four main parts as follow: General Master Plans (made 3 monthly for the whole life time of the project; process 13-16): Planning department under the control of project manager will develop the master plan in order to make sure the project will be executed within the specified constrains with the association of health and safety problems (Mawdesly, 1997). Develop Sectional Master Plans (made monthly for the next 3 months; process 17-25): The General Master Plan will be developed by the planning department based on the general master plan and scopes which are issued by Project Manager (Mawdesly, 1997). More detail plan for personnel, labours and material will be extend to ensure that aims of general master plan will be attained. Once all the departments receive the sectional master plan, they have to review the plan and make revisions in order to make a feasible plan for the whole teams. Develop Weekly Plans (made weekly for next 3 weeks; process 26-36): Weekly plans are derived from the Sectional Master plan. All the involved parties have to develop their own plan and make the recommendation to Planning department in order to establish an appropriate plan. According to Mawdesly (1997, p10) the weekly plan have to ensure the efficiency of resources indicated from the previous plan so as to reach the project objectives. Construction process (36-48): The construction works begin with the preparation of construction site. As the main contractor, the company will execute all the main work on site, meanwhile other contractors (sub-contractors, material suppliers) need to have plan to deliver their products as indicated on their plans. Every week, all of the contractors require issuing the progress report and sending them to project manager and clients organisation in order to control the construction works. This schedule, according to Mawdesly (1997), there is little change of the plan because it will badly affect to construction progress of a project when uncertainty happens. 2.4.2. Problems happen in the process The company always implement the project very soon after they win in a tender, sometimes they could not gather adequate inputs from involved parties. As the result, less realistic and practical schedule are issued. Due to the lack of communication among parties in the project organisation, the general master and the sectional master plans are not appropriate and the conflict happens within sub-contractors. There is not enough update for weekly schedule because of deficiency of attention on planning and the shortage of management skills. Thus, uneven workloads are unavoidable and almost sub-contractors have to rush near the deadline in order to finish works. As consequent, many critical aspects of successful project such as quality and time are not guaranteed. The company put the low price tender at the top of priority results in huge amount of unused inventory in construction site. Hence, in every project, there is large number of wastes occurring. In addition, lowest price will result in bad quality of material using in projects. As indicated above, an inappropriate schedule will lead to a problem of material distribution which is sometimes there are superabundant materials on site whereas sometime lack of material. All those things have bad results in bad performance of the construction process. 2.5. Other problems in construction site 2.5.1. Team work and collaboration As mentioned in the company overview, the communication and collaboration among parties in a project is not good. This problem results in many errors on the construction site and when the argument occur the progress of construction will be affected. 2.5.2. Staffs motivation The assumption of the company indicated that their staffs are not interested in making plan scheduling for the project and they seem not to have enough motivation to contribute to the development of those plan. There are many reasons cause the low motivation of staffs. One of them may come from the lack of communication and team-work among members; staffs sometimes do not know what they should do. The poor quality of plan is also another reason for the motivation of staffs. 2.5.3. Physical waste on site. Based on the theory of Toyota production system which was presented by Liker, J., K. (2004), there are seven type of waste (Muda) in this scenario, they are: Overproduction Waiting Transportation Inappropriate processing Unnecessary inventory Unnecessary movement Defects In this assignment, those issues below are main reason for physical waste on site: Unnecessary transport or conveyance; Excess inventory and Unnecessary movement: Due to poor quality plan schedule (in both sectional and weekly plan), the plan of delivery material is not suitable, resulting in those type of wastes. Defects: The bad quality material and design will cause many defects to the project. Hence, reparation, re-construction or replacement of any structures will increase waste in project. Chapter 3: Toyota Production Lean Principles 3.1. Introduction into Lean Principles According to Liker (2004), the major idea of Lean production is to maximiseÂÂ  the value for customer while getting rid of waste added in the production process. In the other ways, lean production indicates producing more value for customers withÂÂ  fewer resources. The lean production, in other words Toyota Production System or TPS, were firstly adapted by Toyota, the biggest car manufacture in the world when they developed a new mode of production, in which they focus on the customers and endeavour to reduce all type of waste as much as possible. In their new modes, Toyota has developed such tools which is becoming popular throughout the world, they are: Just-In-Time (JIT), Kanban replenishment system and 5S theory. The idea of lean thinking was indicated in the Womack and Jones (1996) book, in which there are five principles: Specify value An accurate understanding of the precise needs of the customer is required. Hence, the Company needs to find out what the customer wants. Identify the Value Stream Value stream is the set of all necessary activities to achieve an explicit product. Womack and Jones (1996) indicated that determining whole value stream for each product is very important step in order to identify muda (waste), maintain the value-adding activities and add more customer value (which should be continuously improved). Flow McCarron (2006) concluded that in a process, all activities needs to run in a continuous flow. It means that work flow should be steadily without breaking up. Pull Womack and Jones (1996) concluded that it is better the make the customer pull the product rather than let the company push their product. So that, the company will produce what customer needs hence, eliminating waste. Perfection Last but not least, is the perfection, it can be described as the right amount of value added to clients. In the whole process, all activities, work flows have to go smoothly with minimising of waste. Moreover, the motivation of staffs needs to be considering. 3.2. Toyota 14 principles In the book The Toyota Way, Linker (2004) explained fourteen principles of the TPS, those principles will be summarised with the references of Learning Package 3: Principle 1: Base your management decisions on a long-term philosophy, even at the expense of short-term financial goals Principle 2: Create continuous process flow to bring problems to the surface: Principle 3: Use the Pull system to avoid overproduction Principle 4: Level out the workload (Heijunka) Principle 5: Build a culture of stopping to fix problems, to get quality right the first time Principle 6: Standardize tasks are the foundation for continuous improvement and employee empowerment Principle 7: Use visual control so no problems are hidden Principle 8: Use only reliable, thoroughly tested technology that serves your people and processes Principle 9: Grow leaders who thoroughly understand the work, live the philosophy, and teach it to others. Principle 10: Develop exceptional people and teams who follow your companys philosophy Principle 11: Respect your extended network of partners and suppliers by challenging them and helping them improve Principle 12: Go and see for yourself to thoroughly understand the situation (Genchi Genbutsu) Principle 13: Make decisions slowly by consensus, thoroughly consider all options; implement decisions rapidly Principle 14: Become a learning organization through relentless reflection (Hansei) and continuous improvement (Kaizen) 3.3. Lean production in construction Bjornfot (2006) stated that lean principles can be applied to construction based on five principle of Lean Thinking that was indicated by Womack and Jones (1996), they are: Value, Value Stream, Flow, Pull and Perfection. Differences between construction and manufacturing process were mentioned by Cooper (2005) in which he emphasised the lack of co-ordination and communication between parties in construction industry. In addition, it is not easy to forecast principal aspects of a construction project which are time, cost, quality and profit. Pheng and Fang (2005) indicated the term of lean construction as a component of construction best practice, moreover, lean construction is a combination of existing principles. The main significant features in which construction industry are different to other industry can be listed as the huge size of project, the stillness of structure and great complexity. In order to simplify the lean theory applied to construction project, the author decided to use the model of Toyota House to analysis the company problem and indicate improvement for the company. The figure below shows the model of Toyota House which was illustrated by Liker (2004) Figure 2: TPS House Diagram (Liker, 2004) To be explained the application of the improvement process, Liker (2004) believed that lean principles will be built as a house model. There are three critical structures: Foundation and two Pillars and they all supported to the roof which is the continuous improvement of the process. If any of three structures is missing or fragile resulting as the improvement cannot be executed. Therefore, in order to improve the construction process, all of structure in the Toyota House should be considered carefully. 3.3.1. Foundation There are four aspects have to look at in the foundation: Toyota Philosophy (Principle 1) Visual Management (Principle 7) Stable and Standardized processes (Principle 6) Levelled Production (Heijunka, Principle 4). 3.3.2. Pillars There are two pillars in the Toyota House model which are: Just-In-Time (Principle 2, 3), Jidoka (Principle 5,8). Just-in-Time according to Toyota is the manufacturing of particular what they want to make at an accurate point of time with the exact amounts. Hence, using JIT can help the company eliminate wastes, and unexpected requirements in order to improve production process. Liker (2004) indicated some principles to consider in JIT: Continuous flow: this ensure the process will finish without any waste of time and material as well. Takt time: the main part of one piece flow. Takt is the rate in which a product goes through process so as to reach the customer (Liker, 2004) Pull system: as explained as a principle of Lean production. Quick changeover: the ability of process to have quick change when required. Integrated logistics: partners of the company should apply JIT wherever process that they involve in the project. Jidoka: Following Toyota the term Jidoka is described as automation with a human touch. Womack and Jones (1996) made more clear explanation of Jidoka as the ability of system to stop the work automatically when something wrong happens; otherwise all of products have to be verified with high quality. With the purpose of applying Jidoka, those aspects below need to be considered: Automatic stops: when any part of the process cannot satisfy the requirement. Andon: is a caution indicator, it occurs when there is a mistake in the process. Person Machine separation: Following Toyota, this feature let people to warn any irregular condition of process and they can stop the operation of machinery so as to reduce the unnecessary waste. Error proofing: is essential to stop machines automatically. In-Station quality control: it means the quality control have to be ensured within a stage before it goes to another stages; hence reduce faulty product and waste (Liker, 2004) Solve root cause (5-whys): The application of 5-whys method is going to be used in this aspect. The problem will be investigate intensely with the purpose of solving problem (Linker, 2004). 3.3.3. Centre The constituent of this part includes People Teamwork (Principle 9, 10, 11, 13), Waste reduction (Principle 12, 13, 14), Continuous improvement (Principle 14) People and Teamwork: Selection: It is important to select a person can fulfil the task. Inappropriate person can result faulty, delay and more waste to process. Common goals: It is obvious that in an organisation, all members must have same goals in order to develop the organisation. Liker (2004) indicated that common goal is speared within the organisation from top to bottom by the supply chain. Ringi decision making: this aspect ensures that all the people involved to a process should take part in a decision of the improvement. Hence, all possible decisions will be considered. Cross-trained Persons: ability to be able to perform different tasks to improve quality and productivity. (Liker, 2004) Waste reduction: Genchi Genbutsu: see principle 12 in part 3.2 5-whys: is a method by asking Why in five times in order to find the original of a problem. Eyes for waste: it means the company should take time to observe and control waste. Problem solving: to find the problem at root level. Associated with 5-whys method to have the total elimination of waste. Chapter 4: Improvement of current processes 4.1. Lean measurement Using the model of Toyota House presented in the previous chapter, lean measurement of each issue happened in the process of the company will be evaluate in this part. In the table below, the sign x indicates that we can apply the aspect in with the purpose of improving a particular issue of a process. 4.2. General improvement of the company Based on the Lean Measurement table in part 4.1, the author indicates three aspects that very important for the company in general in which the indications of x are huge, they are: People and Teamwork Long-term philosophy Eyes for Waste When the company improve any stage of a project, they firstly should consider all of three aspects below. They are the principles for the development of the whole process, and they should take part in every part of process. 4.2.1. People and team work It is evident that people in the heart of any organisation, even in the high-technology era, the position of people is unchangeable in order to create and operate any kind of machine. Liker and Meier (2007) stated that in choosing an appropriate people with high skills and experiences is the key to achieve a successful process. In order to improve a process, the company needs to develop their staffs first, that is a way Toyota following. Even at that time, the company may not have a good enough staffs for all position. However, the company should have a long-term vision to train exceptional staffs for their important position of the company. Thus, they can improve their organisation. Liker and Meier (2007) suggested the first principle for a leader is the one who has capacity and desire to learn something from other (mean that he is not too self-opinionated). Moreover, Naoum (2001) indicated some more attributes which are: Long-term vision which associates to the benefit of the company. capacity to make decision Confident in his ability and his staffs as well. Liker (2004) convinced that the development of individual and the improvement of teamwork in the company should go together and have balance between them. According to Hardingham (1995), improved team-work is able to decrease cost and develop the effectiveness of production process. Additional, Thompson (2000) persuaded the collaboration of the company will be increased when they are successful in teamwork. In order to achieve effective teamwork, he stated some elements: The team should share a common goal and has enough ability to achieve the goal. Sufficiency of motivation to overcome the mission with high quality of performance. Flexible to harmonise their actions and communication. 4.2.2. Long-term philosophy Liker (2004) indicated the long-term philosophy is the foundation of the other principle, so that the short term decisions need to be associated to the long-term vision of the company. As presented in the company brief, now the company really focus on the term of cost in the project, hence the balance among three factors of a project (time, cost and quality) is not guarantee. Following Liker (2004, p114) and Imai (1991, p49), Toyota had serious thinking of making a product which give more value to customers with good quality at acceptable price. Hence, they did not put the price as the top of their company. Based from this study, the author indicates that the company should change the long-term philosophy as the way Toyota is executing i.e. Value for customer and quality of project not only the lowest price. Imai (1991) stated that the improvement cannot be finished if there is not any standard. Hence, the establishment standard is necessary for any organisation or project in order to make improvements. Moreover, he also concluded the Kaizen (continuous improvement) is called as never-ending efforts for improvement, it can be understood that when a standard achieved, the better standard will be occurred and then this become the next goal of the process. The figure below will show the PDCA cycle or in other words is a Continuation of the Deming Wheel, which indicates the cycle of continuous improvement. 4.2.3. Eyes for waste This aspect was presented in the part 3.3.3 The main principle of Lean Production is eliminating waste in process. Thus, it is clear that every people within the organisation should care about waste issue. The company requires ensuring all of their employees and partners must observe any waste in the whole process and do the best to reduce wastes as much as possible. 4.3. Analysis of improvement in Pre-construction and construction phase 4.3.1. Pre-construction Process As mentioned in part 2.3, problems existing in this stage of project include which are insufficient information from the company in tender action and the concentration of cost of the company. Hence, the quality of the sub-contractors and suppliers are not very good and sometime they could not afford the quality and time of the project. In order to improve the tender documents, the company must have standards for their tender, so that when they reach those standards the document will have good quality. Hence, sub-contractors and suppliers have to make their documents carefully before submitting. As a result, the quality of the process will improve. Moreover, using Ringi decision with the participation of all departments involved to project will help the company establish a quality tender document In the solution for choosing lowest tender, initially, the company should apply the method of Solve root cause problems to find the origin reasons. Using 5 whys technique is a good answer for this situation. Reasons may relate to the long-term vision of the company in which the cost is focused. 4.3.2. Construction Process The problems in is phase were explained in part 2.4, in order to solve problems and make improvement, the author will divided construction into many issues and analyse development of each of them. There are five issues in the process: a. Input for planning process One of the problems in this process is the lack of input from in involved parties, as stated in the pre-construction phase, using stable and standardised process and Ringi decision techniques can be solution for this issue. All the sub-contractors and suppliers should work enthusiastically until they get the standards established by the company, moreover they have to involve to any decision related to their contributions. b. Updating plan schedule One of trouble is the implementation of a project is very early so that the company do not have enough time for the preparation of construction works. In addition, weak collaboration between involved parties results to an unsuitable plan schedule (including sectional master plan and weekly master plan). The first technique can used to improve the situation is stable and standardised technique. It means that when the updating the Master schedule, the company need to attain their standard which is the foundation for any further improvement. The second method is the application of Pull system, the sectional and weekly plan should base on actual conditions on construction site, the construction department, particularly the site department. To be explained this point, the construction department is the one who control all the works on site, they will have whole understanding of what is happening on site, so they can make an appropriate plan for the project. In addition, all the involved parties such as suppliers, sub-contractors and other departments should have involvement to make a plan that suitable for them. Another issue that is important in this process is the quality of plan. In order to achieve this aim, the application of creating continuous flow, lev

Choctaw indians :: essays research papers

The Choctaw Indians   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Choctaw Indians is a tribe of Musksgean stock .The Choctaws were once part of a larger tribe that included the Greeks and Seminoles and are considered one of the five civilized tribes (Cherokees , Greeks, Choctaws , Seminoles, and Chickasaws) . At one time Choctaw territory extended from Mississippi to Georgia, but by the time Europeans began to arrive in North America they were primarily in Mississippi and Louisiana.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Choctaw Indians were into cultivation , they hunted and raised corn along with a host of other crops. One of their chief religious ceremonies was a harvest celebration called , â€Å"The green corn dance.† According to one legend, the Choctaw were created at a sacred mound called Nanih Waiya, near Noxapater ,Mississippi.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In 1540, the Spanish explorer Hernando De Soto led the first European expedition through Choctaw territory. Fighting broke out after the Choctaw refused to supply the Spaniards with a guide and transportation. The Spaniards were in the wrong because the Choctaw Indians were friendly especially with the French and allied with them during the intercolonial wars between France and England . Some Choctaws fought with Jackson at New Orleans against the British.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In 1830, the United States Government passed the Indian removal Act. This act called for Eastern Indians to be moved West to make room for white settlers. The Government then forced the Choctaw to sign the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek. The Treaty exchanged the Tribe’s Eastern land for an area in the Indian territory, in what is now Oklahoma.

Corporate Social Responsibility with HIV / AIDS Drugs :: Social Responsibility Essays

â€Å"Each year, just three diseases kill 5.4 million people worldwide. Malaria kills at least one million, mainly in developing countries, with 90% of the deaths in Africa. Tuberculosis causes 1.9 million deaths a year, almost all of them in developing countries, where resistance to the five major anti-tubercular drugs is spreading. Some 400,000 of the tuberculosis victims are also HIV positive. The yearly death toll for HIV/Aids is almost 2.5 million, with about 1.8 million concentrated in the Sub-Saharan Africa† The Times Higher 20/07/01 Assess the responsibilities of the pharmaceutical companies for providing low cost drugs to the poor people in the developing countries. There is no generally accepted definition for corporate social responsibility (CSR), although various theorists have attempted to surmise one. One useful definition is provided by Archie Carroll (1979): ‘The social responsibility of business encompasses the economic, legal, ethical and discretionary expectations that society has of organisations at a given point in time’ Another definition is offered by Kok et al: ‘The obligation of the firm to use its resources in ways to benefit society, through committed participation as a member of society, taking into account the society at large and improving the welfare of society at large independent of direct gains of the company.’ An alternative definition by Frederick et al (1988): ‘business and society are interdependent and co-exist, with business using society's resources and, in turn, fulfilling economic needs and changing social goals Thus, business and society are bound by a reciprocal "social contract" which is seen as the "core idea of corporate social responsibility† These definitions encapsulate the notion that business has a responsibility to society as a whole, aside from the basic profit maximising ideas dictated by traditional free-market theory. in direct contrast from the classical economic sense of increasing shareholder wealth (Friedman, 1970) that it is a ‘fundamentally a subversive doctrine’. In the pharmaceutical industry has ia system that produces drugs in two categories. Category A would include drugs for conditions like

Brand Name Versus Generics Essay -- Health, FDA

The Food and Drug Administration’s approval process initiates with preclinical development that demonstrates that the product is reasonably safe for use in humans and that it shows â€Å"pharmacological activity† that warrants further clinical research. (FDA, 2010) Rodents, swine, and canines are commonly used to validate safety and effectiveness in laboratory studies due to their similar anatomy to that of humans. (Sivaramakrishan, 2010) The next step in the process is the submission of an Investigational New Drug Application (IND) to the FDA for several reasons. (FDA, 2010) Present federal law mandates that a drug be part of an endorsed marketing application ahead of transportation and distribution to clinical research sites across state lines. (FDA, 2010) Manufacturers are also required to halt clinical studies for thirty consecutive days for the FDA to review the application and make assurances that there are no unnecessary risks. (FDA, 2010) There are three differe nt types of INDs; which are investigator, emergency and treatment. (FDA, 2010) An investigator IND is often â€Å"submitted† by a clinician that both commences and performs clinical studies on an unendorsed drug or an approved drug for a new purpose or different circumstances. (FDA, 2010) An emergency investigational new drug application is for the purpose of clinical using an experimental drug in an urgent situation, such as cancer, that does not allow time for thorough FDA review. (FDA, 2010) The third type is a treatment investigational drug application; its purpose is for the submission of experimental drugs that have potential in previous clinical assessment for severe life –threatening situations. (FDA, 2010) An investigational new drug application is required to con... ...DA, branded drugs and their pharmaceutical equivalents have met thorough criterion for identity, strength, quality, purity, and potency which includes commercial production. (FDA, nd) Current Good Marketing Practice (CGMP) regulations dictate minimal requirements for facility methods and controls used in the manufacture, processing, and packaging of the drug product. (FDA, 2011) The purpose of these regulations is to ensure safety, maintain the integrity of the ingredients at the claimed strength, and preserve honesty with regards to labeling. (FDA, 2011 & Siedman, 2000) Regulations were initially ratified in 1963 continually revised due to accidents, injuries, fatalities, and technological advancements. (Siedman, 2000) Verification of compliance is down by unannounced inspections of facilities, sample analyses, and examination of preceding history. (FDA, 2011)