Sandwich Blitz Unit 6 Essay Example for Free

Sandwich Blitz Unit 6 Essay According to the four step control process, the first step would be to set performance standards. In this scenario Lei would first need to update the employee handbook. Updating the handbook would clearly set new employee standards. Lei would also need to make it mandated that every manager review the new updated version with their staff. Measuring performance is the next step. With this process Lei would need to sit down with the management team and conduct an evaluation on the employees. This would allow them to see who was upholding the rules and regulations in the handbook. This will lead to areas of opportunity and also areas of correction. Buy measuring the performance level this would give the team the ability to give recognition to those that deserve it. Step three is comparing the performance, this step will be challenging for the team. The team will need to evaluate the performance of the employees before the updated handbook. This will give the management team the ability to discuss what further changes need to be made. Also in the evaluation they will be able to evaluate the employees that did not need to make an adjustment with-in the new handbook. Step four is to take action to correct problems and reinforce successes. In my opinion this is the last and most critical step. The individual incorrectly imputed wrong working time, or time that they did not work. This can be handled in a number of ways. They can have the employee make up the hours, and not get paid for them. Another option is that they can deduct the time paid out of their paycheck. This will allow the other employees to be aware that this type of action will not be overlooked. The manager should also be held accountable for his or her action. A manager should not authorize any action that is not cleared or allowed in the handbook. The only way to be fair on both sides is to write the manager up.

Intention to Leave Among Private Sectors Workers in Malaysia Essay Example for Free

Intention to Leave Among Private Sectors Workers in Malaysia Essay Although, there is no standard framework for understanding the employees turnover process as whole, a wide range of factors have been found to be useful in interpreting employee turnover (Kevin MM, 2004). High turnover rate at any organizations levels constitutes a waste of human resources (Newstorm, 1994). Manager of Human Resource Department need to pay more attention regarding this issues. They need to identify the main sources of employee turnover; is it because of the company’s management or the workers itself. Private sector workers change their job more frequent as compared to government servants. Job nature and working environment plays an important role in influencing employee’s intention to leave. Currently there are numbers of studies looking at the relationship between turnover intention and job satisfaction. However the findings are different between each other’s. So we tend to investigate what actually influence people intention to leave the organization. Instead to identify the relationship between job satisfaction with intention to leave we also investigate is there any relationships between demographic factors (age, year of service and education level) towards intention to leave. The main objective of this study is to examine the factors associated with intention to leave among private sector workers. The primary focus of this study is to identify the major factors related with the intention to leave. The factors may help the Human Resource Department to solve this employer issues by making some changes or improvement in the organization. In other point, this research can be used by others researcher in order to investigate this problem. Human Resource Department also can have the information regarding on what workers want totally. So, HR Department may choose the best strategies or solutions in order to reduce workers turnover rate. 1. 2 Problem Statement In the era of globalization, turnover is a persistent problem in organizations and it is common in every type and size of organization and at every organizational level. Staff turnover is a serious issue especially in the field of human resources management. It is very costly for an organizational and the cost is due to termination, advertising, recruitment, selection, and hiring (Abbasi, Hollman, K. W. , amp; Hayes, R. D. , 2008). It is simply said that the level of job satisfaction of an employee could decline when his or her colleague left the company. This is true because the remaining employees may have to take over the job responsibilities of the previous worker in the case that the management has not find any replacement yet. The workload could be doubled; the stress level might increase thus affecting health conditions and also job performance. It is widely believe that in today’s working environment, job satisfaction has been the main factor to retain employees from leaving an organization. Many research also found that when job satisfaction is achieved by each employees, it could increase the level of job commitment towards task given or in other words; reduce the number of intention to leave among workers. To find out whether it is true that job satisfaction has significant effect on intention to leave among private sector workers, questionnaires has been distributed to ask the respondents how they feel working with the current organization. The elements that we tried to focus on are towards job challenge, supervision, income, and promotion. Besides that we would like to see how demographic factors such as age, year of services and educational level could influence one’s decision to quit a job. 1. 3 Research Questions There are many studies on the relationship between turnover intention and job satisfaction but the results are difference between each other’s. So we tend to investigate what actually influence people intention to leave the organization frequently. The research question for this study has been identified as follows: 1. Do job satisfaction factors have relationship with intention to leave? 2. Do demographic factors (age, year of service and education level) have relationship with intention to leave? 3. Which variables (Job Challenge, Supervision, Income or Promotion) are the strongest factors that might influence intentions to leave? 1. 4 Research Objectives The main objective of this study is to examine the factors associated with intention to leave among private sector workers. Generally this study is intended to measure whether job satisfaction is related to intention to leave. Therefore in order to answer the research question above, the following research objectives were formulated. 1. To identify the relationship between job satisfaction and intention to leave among private sector workers. 2. Do demographic factors (age, years of service and education level have relationships with intention to leave. 3. Which variables strongly related with intention to leave? 1. 5 Significance of Study The primary focus of this study is to identify the major factors related with the intention to leave. The factors may help the Human Resource Department to solve this employer issues by making some changes or improvement of the organization. In other point, this research can be used by others researcher in order to investigate this problem. Human Resource Department also can have the information regarding on what workers want totally. So, HR Department may choose the best strategies or solutions in order to reduce workers turnover rate. 1. 6 Definition of Terms 1. 6. 1 Job Satisfaction According to (Graham, 1982) job satisfaction is a measurement of one’s total feelings and attitudes towards one’s job. Job satisfaction is the main predictor of turnover intention (Milkovich amp; Boudreau, 1997). While (Hoppock, 1935) defined job satisfactions as a combination of psychological, physiological and environmental circumstances. Job satisfaction is attributed not only to one but many factors and varies in its impact on individuals’ satisfaction with life because work varies in importance from individual to individual (Nash, 1985). (Wong, 1989) Who did a research on impact of job satisfaction on intention to change jobs among secondary school teachers in Hong Kong. (Wong, 1989) Find that when the teachers’ have low job satisfaction then they will have low commitment and productivity. So, before the things become worse, Human Resource Manager needs to overcome this situation to prevent company loss. They should alert as one of the major company’s success come from employees. 1. 6. 2 Intention to Leave According to (Noor amp; Maad, 2008) intentions to leave are positively related with actual leaving. Intention can be defines as the most immediate determinants of actual behavior and practical value as one people have actually implemented the behavior to quit (Ajzen amp; Fishbein, 1980). Intention to leave the organization has been studied over several decades which in turn contributed to the findings of the positive and negative aspects of turnover (Mossholder, Bedeian, Norris, Giles, amp; Feild, 1988). Managers and researchers consider turnover as a problem because of costs associated with it (Noor amp; Maad, 2008) and difficulties that organizations face in the recruitment and retention of proficient employees (Villanueva amp; Djurkovic, 2009) and (Igbaria amp; Greenhaus, 1992). CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2. 0 Introduction Recent research identifies a number of factors that increase the vulnerability of the young, adolescent girls in particular, including orphan hood, migration, forced sexual initiation, and the effects of residence. . 1 Turnover Intention A turnover intention is defined as employees to leave the organization voluntarily without being force by the management. According to (Liu, Liu, J. X. , amp; Hu, J. , 2010), reputation on organization might reduce and damage when their turnover rate is shown upward rate beside that the cost for recruiting a new employee will involve cost to the organization and company expenses also increase. Besides that, cost of employees tu rnover are hard to measure but can be control by organization. In addition, higher rate of turnover will cause the organization lose the high degree of knowledge, skill and abilities. In addition, turnover intention is a problem that needs to be solved by human resources and organization management. The organization need to solve the problem of turnover as soon as possible because it may diminishes the organization knowledge capital and weakens its reputation. The better the person fit the organization will lead to higher satisfaction, the organizational commitment and rate of turnover intention will be lower. 2. 1. 1 Relationship between job satisfaction with intention to leave Different individual will have different job satisfaction of needs in their life. Job satisfaction can be described as to what extent to which people or individuals satisfaction or dissatisfaction in their job. Job satisfaction is a general or global affective reaction that individual hold about their jobs. Job satisfaction among workers can be increase and creates by the organization. Job satisfaction facets may be including co-workers, salary, job condition, supervision, nature of the work and can be benefit that the employee received during their operation. According to research done by (Saari amp; Judge, 2004) shown that dissatisfied employees are more likely to quit their job or be absent compare than satisfaction employees. Job satisfaction will influence the performance of the employees in the organization. Most of the dissatisfaction employees tend to shown withdrawal behavior such as lateness, absenteeism, moving to other department and worst they will turnover or make a decision to retire. In addition, the research suggests that job satisfaction does effect life satisfaction but life satisfaction also effects job satisfaction (Judge amp; Watanabe, 1994). Consistent relationship between job satisfactions with depression and influence the employees to let go the job. This research also concludes that organization had so much control on creating and increasing the job satisfaction among their employees. This is because job satisfaction is only a result of spillover of their life satisfaction but if the company less pay attention on low job satisfaction, the organization can see the effectiveness of job performance of the employees reduce and the lead to absent and quitting the job. Intention to leaving the organization is an emotional state and designated as the degree of likelihood an employee will remain employed with an organization (Currivan, 1999). The research is on intention to leave by employees analyzed that there is a causal relationship between job satisfaction and employee turnover and found an inverse relationship. In addition, a studies by (Joel, 2004) found that they is a relationship between job satisfactions with intention to leave but this is not a strong affect as economic condition reasons. Besides that, job satisfaction is a positive or negative attitude the employee has toward his or job or some specific aspect of the job. It is can be consider as internal state of mind of an individual. If the feeling of job satisfaction is positive or the respond is active, then the member is satisfied and vice versa ( Ying, Ching amp; Rong, 2009). Other research from (Pascal, 2011), shown that Job satisfaction fully mediated the relationship between perceived stressful work and intention to leave the employer. The results highlight the importance of employee job satisfaction in stressful environments. . 1. 2 Relationship between demographic factor with intention to leave In this study, we would like to determine relationship between demographic factors such as year of service, education level, age, and years of services and so on toward intention to leave the job. A research done by (Samad, 2006) founded that age, income and tenure of services by employees had a negative effect on turnover intention by employees. Empirical studies indicate that demographic variables are relevant with turnover intentions (William amp; Hazer, 1986). Age, income and tenure are identified as negatively related to turnover intentions although the effects of employee demographic variables on turnover intentions may differ in different international environment, empirical research in international context including in Malaysia is scanty. Some studies have found no significant relationship between gender and correctional turnover for example (Byrd, 2000). However, (Camp, 1994) found that female federal correctional employees were more likely to quit than were male staffs. This research was done for US employees. Furthermore, research done by (Eric, 2006) found that female employees had higher rate of intention to leave the organization compare than male employees. In contrast, research done by Aaron (1999) found that there is a weak relationship between tenure of service with intention to leave the organization. He found that, longer tenure of services of employees will get respect by others employees and normally known is senior but due to age and condition their intention to leave is low. CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHOD 3. 0 Introduction The purpose of this chapter is to describe the research design and methodology used in this research. We will outline the research framework to provide a better understanding towards how the research is done and how the data is being analyzed. 4. 1 Research Framework and Hypotheses This research looks at the cause and effect of job satisfaction on intention to leave between employees in private organizations. Basically four criteria has been define to be the independent variables in this study; Job Challenge, Supervision, Income and Promotion. The second independent variable that has been concerned is the demographic characteristics which include age, year of services and education level of selected respondents. The dependent variables in this study would be employees’ intention to leave. This can be drawn as per Figure 1 below: INDEPENDENT VARIABLES Job Satisfaction * Job Challenge * Supervision * Income * Promotion * DEPENDENT VARIABLES Intention to Leave Demographic Characteristics * Age * Year of Services * Education Level Figure 1: Research Framework 3. 2 Hypothesis Statement Based on previous study, in order to explain the concept of these research three hypotheses has been outlined to be the antecedent of the statement: H1: There is significant relationship between job satisfaction and intention to leave H2: There is significant relationship between demographic factors and intention to leave H3: There is significant influence of job satisfaction factors to intention to leave H4: There is significant influence of demographic factors to intention to leave 3. 3 Research Design This research is intended to lo look at the relationship between Job Satisfaction and the Intention to leave by private sector workers.

Globalisations Impact On British American Tobacco Economics Essay

Globalisations Impact On British American Tobacco Economics Essay There are many definitions and understandings of the term globalisation which can be found from many sources. The writers understanding of the term globalisation is that operations all around the world are growing more and more interdependent on goods and services in a way that nationality doesnt serve as a boundary any more. The actual and potential, positive and negative impacts of globalisation can be limitless and are depending on which views are taken and what operation it is applied to. It is easier to limit the amount of data viewed through a PESTLE analysis on the subject company. Multinational enterprises (MNEs) are the entities that are most usually associated with globalisation other than countries. They have a headquarters in one home country but have operations and assets in other countries. These MNEs have to always be very sensitive and sensible when operating or planning to operate in foreign environments. They have to plan and react quickly to adapt to foreign environments and all other factors that might affect productivity and support of foreign operations. Alternatively, other than building new operations which may or may not work in a new environment, MNEs can also acquire successful business models or acquire successful operations if their finances allow them doing so. With businesses come investments. When a MNE invests in a foreign nation or foreign environment, is it called a foreign direct investment (FDI). Most countries are very welcoming to FDIs. It is a help to their economy when a foreign investment comes in. Some countries go to great lengths to improve their infrastructure and support systems as well as other financial attractions such as tax rebates or preferential tax discounts for a certain period of time. This is because FDIs result in not only a boost of currency into their economy, it also implies much jobs made for locals to take up and can mean well improvement for the local community. This can for the short and long term well boost and improve the standard of living for the local communities employed to assist in operations of the MNE. 1.2 Globalisation on British American Tobacco (BAT) BAT as its namesake was formed as a joint venture between Imperial Tobacco of the United Kingdom and American Tobacco of the United States. BAT was an answer to an intense trade war which provided a solution to both founding companies and allowed for more freedom and growth of the tobacco industry by their means (British American Tobacco Our history, 2010). As of such, even the beginning of BAT can be seen an effect of globalisation. It was formed between founding companies of different nationalities and now has operations of production, manufacture and marketing in at least 36 countries (British American Tobacco p.l.c. (BAT) Group websites, et al 2010). Dealing in business with the tobacco industry for around 98 years, BAT has had to be very sensitive and quick to respond to global issues regarding their operation all around the world in many countries. In their effort of attaining their vision which is to achieve leadership of the global tobacco industry, BAT has expanded their operations by building and acquiring successful business models in at least 36 countries (British American Tobacco Our strategy, 2010). The FDI provided by BAT is extensive and very welcome in all these assisting nations. Even though there is a social stigma that tobacco companies are facing controversy such as pollution and being harmful to their users, it is a well known and concrete fact that the tobacco industry is a well rewarding industry for all the players, stake holders and share holders involved. That being said, BAT does not ignore the pleas and demands of local and international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) as well. BAT employs a substantial effort in reducing the inherent risks a cigarette user has to face such as reducing tar in their cigarettes. BAT also has efforts in protecting the environment which will be explained in more detail in later parts of this document. In the following pages will be a PESTLE analysis of BAT facing globalisation and suggestions which could improve their conditions in facing these challenges. 2.0 PESTLE analysis of BAT facing globalisation 2.1 Political analysis of BAT facing globalisation Globally BAT is well known as a MNE which brings many successful tobacco brands into international operation. BAT is not seen as facing any direct political pressure since 1937 when Japan invaded China and caused cigarette sales to cease for more than 4 years. The tobacco industry along with BAT does seem to face some pressure from certain NGOs but that will be explained further in the following segments. 2.2 Economic analysis of BAT facing globalisation BAT as an MNE provides good and services expected of a player in the tobacco industry. BAT rewards their share holders and stake holders very well. The FDI invested by BAT brings employment opportunities and development to most of the countries they invest in. Tobacco is the worlds most widely cultivated non-food crop. Even in countries that do not have tobacco manufacturing, tobacco distribution is an important source of economic activity. Tobacco taxes are a major source of revenue for almost every government in the world (British American Tobacco Tobaccos economic contribution, 2010). 2.3 Socio-cultural analysis of BAT facing globalisation As mentioned before, the tobacco industry along with BAT faces stigma for its products which bring inherent risks to their users. It is obvious that if you burn anything and inhale the smoke you would eventually damage your lungs. Consumers are now growing more aware of this and BAT has responded by efforts to reduce tar and other contaminants in their products. BAT still markets the aroma, flavour, taste and texture of their products along with the image. BAT maintains that it is the user who decides whether or not they want to expose themselves to the risks of smoking cigarettes (British American Tobacco Malaysia Should smokers smoke less or lower tar?, 2010). 2.4 Technological analysis of BAT facing globalisation BAT is also dependent on the state of technology that the country they invest in. The process begins from farming of tobacco crops, to processing of tobacco, to manufacture of tobacco products and eventually delivery of tobacco products. Low tech processes such as farming and curing of tobacco can also lend their techniques to farmers who can apply those techniques to other crops. The manufacture of tobacco is a highly automated and high technology process which involves building factories around the world and securing the best machinery (British American Tobacco Manufacturing, 2010). Delivery of tobacco and tobacco products rely on transport and infrastructure logistics which need cooperation with the government to provide the best infrastructure which will also benefit the citizens of the nation. 2.5 Legal and legislative analysis of BAT facing globalisation BAT is not seen to be a culprit in the eyes of legal and legislative power in any reports. The tobacco industries along with BAT are in fact victims to illicit trade as a result of high priced cigarettes due to high taxes imposed on tobacco products all over the world. Illicit trade could expose users to more risks as counterfeit products can not guarantee the high standard and qualities that BAT maintains. There are also links that illicit trade could fund other more sinister illegal activities (Tobacco Underground | Articles, 2010). BAT is also interested in battling child labour and working with the United Nations (UN) in countries where human rights are abused such as MÃ ©xico and Brazil (British American Tobacco Eliminating Child Labour in Tobacco Growing Foundation, 2010). 2.6 Environmental analysis of BAT facing globalisation Tobacco products are results of the tobacco crops and that is why BAT has placed high emphasis on renewable productivity and enhancing use of natural resources. BAT has efforts in ecosystem and biodiversity protection (British American Tobacco Biodiversity Partnership, 2010), protection of woodlands and renewal of firewood through afforestation programmes (British American Tobacco Afforestation programmes, 2010). BAT aims to be self sufficient in its operations so that they dont add burden to the damaged environment. 3.0 Illicit trade of tobacco products The international tobacco industries along with BAT are facing a loss and a threat from the growing scourge of illicit trade. Illicit trade includes contraband, counterfeit and smuggled tobacco products. The reason for this on going phenomenon is because of the ever increasing price of cigarettes. Smuggled tobacco products are the least harmful of the illicit trade. Usually they are smuggled from areas where taxes are non existent or significantly lower than the targeted areas of sales. This eats into the profits of BAT and affects profits of shareholders, stakeholders and governments in the form of lost taxes. Contraband is similar so smuggled products but it might be more damaging than smuggled items are the sources of contraband could be from theft, hijacking of delivery trucks, breaking and entering of shipment crates and other violent and damaging methods (Tobacco Underground | Articles, 2010). Counterfeit could be the most dangerous form of illicit trade to the user. The user is attracted to illicit trade as prices of counterfeit are far more affordable than authentic tobacco products. What the user does not suspect is that the counterfeit product does not hold the high standards and quality of BAT and could cause more risks and damage to the users health and overall wellbeing. The losses from illicit trade not only cause losses to BAT and their accompanying share holder and stake holders. It also undermines the abilities of BAT to return the profits to the government in the form of taxes. Purchasers of illicit tobacco items could also be shocked to know that they could be indirectly financing terrorist activities of violent terrorists such as al-Qaeda and the Real Irish Republican Army (IRA) (Tobacco Underground | Articles Terrorism and Tobacco, 2009). 3.1 Recommendations on the struggle against illicit trade They consumers are the people supporting illicit trade. There should be more education programmes and campaigning that could be done to educate the public against the ills of illicit trade. The buyers might stop if they know the illicit products they purchase are possibly linked to violence, abuse, and terrorism. They might also switch back to original tobacco products if they learn that counterfeit tobacco producers do not carry out as much research and development work and ensure a high quality and standard which aims to satisfy user demands and reduce the inherent risks of smoking. It is high time that the governments of countries worldwide realise that illicit trade in tobacco causes all the above damages and on top of that also reduces the tax money that the governments could potentially be paid. It is partly due to the governments high taxes on tobacco products that illicit trade occurs. The funds collected from taxes on legitimate tobacco product sales can be put to good use such as the wide and varying governmental functions. The government should further act on its part by enforcing laws against illicit trade. There are in existence laws and policies against illicit trade but they are simply not enforced to an acceptable level which can decrease the rate of illicit trade. 4.0 BATs damage to mankind and its environment BAT is with the rest of the tobacco industry is an industry which grows and profits from burning plants which produce pollutants and risk damaging the user and the people around the user. The environment is also affected through a means of mass miniscule repetitive non systematic open burning. As a means of providing primitive fertilisers, untrained, unprofessional and inexperienced farmers burn wood harvested from woodlands. This is the first instance of burning. When crops are harvested, there is a process called curing which is sometimes accelerated through means of inefficient burning which helps dry the tobacco leaves in a shorter time. This is the second instance of burning. When the crops are cured, they are transported by land, sea or air to the factories to be made into cigarettes or other forms of tobacco products. Indirectly, the burning of fuels by the land, sea or air transport is the third instance of burning. When the tobacco reaches the factories, the tobacco is put into various automated processes which will eventually turn the cured tobacco into cigarettes or other forms of tobacco products. Indirectly, by the use of power needed move the machinery in the factories, there are carbon fuels being used by power generators. This is the fourth instance of burning. Then there is another instance of burning by transport of the finished tobacco product from the factory to the storage facilities or warehouses and another instance when transporting the said tobacco products to the retailers. Finally when the consumer purchases and starts to light and inhale the cigarette smoke, this is assumed to be the seventh and last stage of burning. Burning is not the only pollution. There is a chance of littering which the tobacco product user might contribute to. Throughout the production process, there are also chances that those involved in the production process are also smoking cigarettes themselves. From this simple short journey, we can see at least seven stages of burning and carbon emissions being released. It is wishful thinking to say that BAT is unaware of this but wishes to contribute to environmental efforts. 4.1 Recommendations on BATs environmental efforts Carbon emissions are only one of BATs environmental damage which it can help address. Through thorough research and development (RD), BAT has managed to discover certain techniques which help in irrigation of pesticides and fertilisers which can improve efficiency and effectiveness in farming of tobacco crops. There are also plans in the future to genetically modify (GM) tobacco crops to be hardier, more resistant to pests and infections and produce more yield per crop and yield sooner than traditional non GM tobacco crops (British American Tobacco Leaf research, 2010). BAT also invests time in properly training their farmers so that they can receive the best results with the shortest amount of time. Farmers are given practical training on optimal farming techniques which the farmers can then apply on other crops as well (British American Tobacco Social Responsibility in Tobacco Production, 2010). BAT encourages their farmers to plant their own renewable sources of wood for fuel in countries where wood is used as fuel. It is generally to offset carbon emissions by planting more greens. This is attributed to the effect of plants absorbing carbon dioxide as they grow (British American Tobacco Afforestation programmes, 2010). 5.0 Conclusion In conclusion, although BAT is a highly successful MNE which produces much monetary profit for their share holders, stake holders and foreign invested governments; BAT still has reasons to improve and be a more productive entity. In dealing with the scourge of illicit trade, they have to be more proactive and cooperate with governments of the world to engage and discourage tobacco product users from supporting illicit trade. If illicit trade is eliminated, more of the funds from purchases of legitimate tobacco products would flow back into the legitimate tobacco companies and the governments that they pay their taxes to. In dealing well with the environment, BAT is doing well but still can improve on conservational and preservation efforts. With more RD, BAT should be able to uncover more ways to reduce environmental damage throughout their operations and also seeks ways to harness the use of natural resources more efficiently. In doing so, BAT can secure the environment as a renewable resource which can be better utilised in the future.

Sustainability Essay -- Sociology Third World Economy Essays

Sustainability Max Weber believed in the power of an idea. This political theorist discussed how Calvinism was one idea that perpetuated the rise of capitalism. Few people ever examine the power of an idea, but if one examines and contemplates this theory, a realization comes across: that ideas drive society. The key premise is that some values of our society must be altered in order to avert catastrophic consequences. The way of life in developed countries is "the origin of many of our most serious problems"(Trainer, 1985). Because developed countries have high material living standards and consume massive quantities of all resources, "hundreds of millions of people in desperate need must go without the materials and energy that could improve their conditions while these resources flow into developed countries, often to produce frivolous luxuries"(Trainer, 1985). People's way of life seems to be a glaring example of values leading to high rates of personal consumption of resources and the waste of these same materials. In addition to overconsumption, the services used to supply our society with goods, (examples of these goods would be food, water, energy, and sewage services.) tends to be wasteful and expensive. Production is organized in such a way, (usually highly centralized) that travel becomes an enormous burden. Another consideration is that our population is expected to increase to rise to eleven billion within the next half century. Considering the mineral and energy resources needed in the future, these estimates must also include the consumption of a population almost doubled from its current status and these same figures must include an expected increase in the affluence of developed countries. "If we are willin... ...st be adopted by every person on the planet, (starting in the developed world), otherwise the world will cease to support life. Bibliography Holdgate, Martin. From Care to Action. 1996. Earthscan Publications Ltd, London. Trainer, F.E. Abandon Affluence. 1985. Zed Books Ltd, London. Von Tunzelmann, G. N. Technology and industrial progress : the foundations of economic growth. Aldershot, Hants, England ; Brookfield, Vt., 1995. Adams, W. M. Green development : environment and sustainability in the Third World , W.M. Adams. London ; New York : Routledge, 1990. 5. Anderson, Anthony, B. Alternatives to deforestation : steps toward sustainable use of the Amazon rain forest , editor. New York : Columbia University Press, 1990. 6. Auty, Richard, M. Approaches to sustainable development , edited by Katrina Brown. London ; New York : Pinter, 1997.

Stereotypes in Our Day Out Essay -- Our Day Out Willy Russell Stereoty

Stereotypes in Our Day Out Can Willy Russell be accused of using stereotypes as a means of putting his opinions forward? Throughout the play; ‘Our Day Out’, written by Willy Russell, there is a constant use of stereotypes portrayed in the characters. Stereotypes are standardised characters or a fixed idea of something. Willy Russell used stereotyping as an effective way of putting his opinions forward because he could develop his initial ideas for characters to raise awareness of what Liverpool was like in the 1970s. In my opinion Willy Russell wanted to show the general life of many children in Liverpool in the 1970s and also to show that stereotypes create false views of certain people and are harmful in general. In the text, the main characters are children and teachers in 1970S Liverpool. Teachers are often stereotyped anyway; people presume that they are strict and disliked or the opposite. This contrast is shown with the two characters Mr Briggs, who is rather strict and Mrs Kay who is not. In the play Mr Briggs is often shouting at the children or telling them off: â€Å"Never mind what for, just do what you’re told, lad.† This emphasises the point that he is stern. There are no points in the text where Mrs Kay has this attitude directly towards the children. The children in the play are also stereotyped because they live in a rough area and don’t have many opportunities- because of the fact that they live in Liverpool. In the play the children swear and steal, suggesting that they are somewhat deprived; they break the law and are impolite as they don’t know any better and have been brought up in a way which it is natural to do so. They are underprivileged as when they encounter animals at the ... ... he is very caring. I feel that Willy Russell uses stereotypes as a means of putting his opinions forward because stereotypes are so powerful and would make his opinions clear without directly linking them to him. They also make the text more understandable for the reader and intended audience. As a final point, I feel that Willy Russell uses stereotypes to no only make his opinions known but also to show that stereotypes are very powerful and maybe even deter people from using them as they can limit a persons mind, if, for example a child had been told they wouldn’t get a good job it may stop them from trying. Therefore Willy Russell does use stereotypes to put forward his opinions and may also use them to make people think carefully before they make presumptions about someone because of their age, race, job, wealth, beliefs or even their background.

al capone :: essays research papers

Al Capone Thesis: From racketeering, bootlegging, and brotheling, Alphonse Capone is one of the most well known and influential gangsters in history.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Al Capone, born to Gabriele and Teresina Capone, was born in Brooklyn, New York. At age 5 he starrted school at Public School no.7 on Adams street. Al’s school had outbreaks of violence. Male Students engaged in fist fights with female teachers. At age 14 he engaged in a fight between himself and a teacher. He was expelled and he never returned to school again.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the biggest impacts on his life was when he and his family moved across town. This is where he would meet his wife, Mae and gangster Johnny Torrio. Al was exposed to Johnny Torrio because Johnny’s headquarters was only a few blocks away. Al earned pocket money by running errands for Johnny Torrio. â€Å"Torrio taught Capone the importance of leading an outwardly respectiable life to segregate his carreer from his home life, as if maintaining a peacefull, conventional domestic setting somehow excused or legitimized the venality of workingin the rackets. I was a form of hypocrisg that was second nature to Johnny Torrio and that taught Capone to honor† (A&E Biography. Al Capone, Scareface). Like youths of his time he ran in territorial gangs at first he was with the South Brooklyn Rippers, then the Forty Theives, and lastly the Five Point Juniors. Capone worked hard at boreing jobs he cut paper and other odd jobs. One of his jobshe worked at the Harward Inn as a barr tender and a bouncer. He became popular to his customersand his boss.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One day he waited tables on a young man and his female companion. She was Beautiful to the young Capone. He leaned over and told her, â€Å"Honey, you have a nice ass and I mean that as a compliment.† The young man hit Al. Al’s temper began to rise. The man pulled a knife and cut him three times in the face. The young man told Lucky Luciano what happened. Then Luciano went to Frankie Yale. Then Frankie, Luciano and the young man came together to dispence some justice on Capone. Capone ended up just appoligising to the man and the young woman. Frankie Yale liked Capone and decided to take him under his wing. He showed Capone strong arm tactics, bookkeepping, loan sharking, extortion, exacting tribute from pimps and bookmakers and also how to offer protection to local busisnesses. Al met Mae Loughlin and didn’t marry her until their child was born. Afterwards focused on a ligetiment carreer.

What Happened to Kmart

Case Study – What Happened to Kmart? 1. Evaluate Kmart using the value chain and competitive forces models. What was Kmart's business model and business strategy? Kmart has numerous problems with its value chain. This is evident from the suppliers sending items that the suppliers want to sell, shelves remaining unstocked, the â€Å"hand shifting† reordering process for popular items, products being allocated by central planners and not based on individual store demand, excess inventory stored in 15,000 truck-trailers behind its stores, shrinkage, and having to choose to either ship toothpaste or Christmas trees.Since its entrance as the first discount store in the 1960s, Kmart has not been able to ward off new entrants into the discount chain business. The new entrants, such as Wal-Mart and Target, have come on strong and surpassed Kmart. Kmart's suppliers seem to be calling the shots with the retailer, since they are promoting the items that they can sell and not helpi ng Kmart address its mounting problems. Kmart's customers are voting with their pocketbooks and shopping at its competitors' stores.Kmart uses a promotions-drive business model. The company uses advertising circulars to promote its â€Å"blue-light† specials. 2. What was the relationship of information systems to Kmart's business processes and business strategy? How well did its systems support its strategy? Kmart's information systems and its business processes and business strategy were not in alignment. As an example, the information systems could collect data, but the data were not available for analysis and decision-making purposes.As the case mentions, forecasting decisions were based on management's judgment, not on the data. Kmart's systems did not support its strategy. One of the problems mentioned in the case is that its supply chain management system could not easily accommodate the sharp increases and decreases in demand. The distribution center's outdated technol ogy led to supplies sitting on pallets for 24 hours until they were recorded in the central tracking system. When reordering popular products, the employees would hand sift through previous purchasing receipts. . What management, organization, and technology factors contributed to Kmart's problems? From the case, it appears that Kmart management is inconsistent with its implementation of the company's strategy. Management is unable to use data to forecast demand; it has lost sight of its core competencies, and is unable to change Kmart's image. Although management wanted to restructure its supply chain, it continued to expand its product offerings, as opposed to focusing on the fastest selling items. Mr.Conaway's plan to restructure Kmart has obviously not worked out. Although Mr. Conaway wanted the local stores to make their own stocking decisions, the stocking decisions were still being made by the central planners. When the new system was installed, Mr. Buzek made the comment tha t â€Å"the information would be useless because management just didn't believe in the system. † Although the company uses a promotions-driven strategy, the company reduced its advertising circulars. As the case points out, no other alternative for achieving the strategy was provided.Although Kmart wanted to reinvent its supply chain, management was unwilling to unify the distribution system's two computers because the project was too expensive. From an organizational perspective, the suppliers, central planners, business processes, individual stores, warehouses, and distribution center have definite communication problems and are not sharing data as efficiently as possible. One could argue that very little data sharing is going on. Central planners are making the stocking decisions for the individual stores, but what needs to be stocked at each store is not being effectively communicated.From a technology perspective, outdated technology and incompatible systems were in plac e. The new i2 project did not succeed for a variety of reasons, including the need for more hardware, the inability of the project to connect the point-of-sale systems and inventory systems to the distribution systems, and not being robust enough to handle a large number of SKUs. 4. How important was supply chain management in contributing to Kmart's problems? Evaluate Conaway's decision to use i2 software to improve Kmart's supply chain management.Supply chain management was very important to Kmart. Kmart has been unable to successfully manage its inbound logistics, operations, sales and marketing, service, and outbound logistics. Unfortunately, the company's inability to effectively manage its supply chain led to ineffective advertising, lots of items being overstocked, popular items being understocked, a large product offering, poor communication with suppliers and its business units, items sitting on pallets waiting to be entered into the central tracking system, and shipping pr oblems.The goals for the i2 project were commendable, since the project was supposed to improve Kmart's sales forecasting, inventory sourcing, logistics, and reporting. The project was supposed to facilitate micromarketing, supplier product tracking, order execution, shipment scheduling, and delivery tracking. It is interesting that Mr. Conaway chose i2 Technologies for the new supply chain management project, since i2 Technologies had â€Å"only recent and limited experience in the retail sector. The decision to use i2 Technologies was not a good decision, since the system was not designed to work with the large number of SKUs, Kmart (according to some) wrote off and abandoned some of its i2 software, the project fell behind schedule, and the inability to connect the point-of-sale systems and inventory systems to the distribution systems. 5. Were those blaming software for the collapse of Kmart correct? Explain your answer. Actually, there is enough blame to go around. 2 Technolog ies did a very poor job analyzing and designing the system for Kmart. It also appears that Kmart's management did not get behind the project and was also unwilling to transform its core business processes. 6. It has been said that â€Å"Wal-Mart uses their IT strategically, and they fully integrate it into their operating model. † Does this statement apply to Kmart? Explain your response. This statement does not apply to Kmart.Kmart is using an outdated business model and has been unwilling to change its model. Its unwillingness to change is one of the reasons why Wal-Mart and Target have been able to successfully compete against Kmart and why Kmart is in bankruptcy. 7. List the problems Conaway faced when he took over Kmart, and then describe the short- and long-range policies you would have followed had you been in his place. When Mr. Conaway took over Kmart, he faced several problems, including stiff competition from Wal-Mart and Target.The company was using an outdated bu siness model, spending more money than the competition to get its goods into its stores, its information systems were collecting data but not using it effectively, it had significant problems with its entire value chain, it had a frumpy reputation, its shelves were often empty, it offered a wide range of products, it provided poor customer service, and it did not care about the competition. Students will provide a variety of short- and long-range policy recommendations.