Operations Management Essay Sample free essay sample

1. Operations direction is: The direction of systems or processes that create goods and/or supply services 2. What are the three basic maps in concern organisations?1 ) Selling2 ) Operationss3 ) Finance 2. A supply concatenation consists of A sequence of activities and organisations involved in bring forthing and presenting a good or service 4. What is meant by the term value-added? The sum by which the monetary value or value of an end product is increased due to the add-on of stuff. labour. or other resource. 5. The operations function oversees a transmutation or transition procedure. Explain briefly. Input. Output and Value-added. Any operation can be described as a set of inputs ( i. e. labour and stuffs ) that are transformed into a set of end products ( i. e. goods and/or services ) . as illustrated in Figure. The kernel of operations direction is value-added. or the grade to which the value of all end products of an operation exceed the value of its inputs. It has over 20 trade names of family points from feminine and babe hygiene merchandises. rinsing detergents. batteries. java and beauty merchandises. 1. 1 Pull offing purchases This gives guidelines on purchasing assorted stuffs from providers and sellers such as stuffs. computing machines. services from attorneies. and even insurance. Harmonizing to Proctor A ; Gamble. buying is more than purchasing. It is the strategic nexus to their providers and sellers. Procter A ; Gamble Purchases has the alone duty for developing and put to deathing the schemes for everything the Company buys. It consists of utilizing a huge array of proficient. analytical. and commercial accomplishments to analyse markets. topographic point and exploit emerging tendencies. uncover business-building thoughts and cost-saving chances. commercialize emerging engineerings. construct effectual working relationships with providers. and create and capitalise on new methodological analysiss such as e-marketplaces. 1. 2 Inventory Management and Control. Costss can be significant to hive away and travel stock list. Advanced methods. such as Just-in-Time stock list control. can salvage costs and travel merchandises and services to clients more rapidly. Procter A ; Gamble has streamlined its supply concatenation to set more of its merchandises on shop shelves when clients are ready to purchase. The supply concatenation invention officer at The Procter A ; Gamble Company is supposed to calculate out how to acquire the consumer merchandises into the custodies of 5 billion clients in 170 states more expeditiously. The end is to stock shelves in shops around the Earth more accurately by reacting better to what people want. every bit good as acquiring a big figure of retail merchants and providers to take part in a system that would instantly signal merchandises favored by clients. In the past decennary. Proctor and Gamble’s concern has changed radically. even if its systems for clocking the bringing of merchandises to shops have non. Just like autos. apparels. music and even prime-time telecasting. the gross revenues of mass-produced merchandises for the place have become hit-driven or. better put. promotion-driven. Some 60 % of Proctor and Gamble’s gross revenues now come from events such as publicities that the supermarket. convenience shop or other retail merchant executes with monetary value cuts. There are besides other inducements. price reduction vouchers and monetary value publicities. Some events are initiated on the Internet. Others include publicities for gift-with-purchase rolled in the cyberspace for illustration the Pampers. com and BabyUniverse. com sites. These selling events are designed to drive consumers to retail shops and keep client trueness. 1. 3 Quality Management and Control. Management control and coordination includes a wide scope of activities to guarantee that organisational ends are systematically being met in an effectual and efficient manner.It includes major activities to guarantee ends are being met. Quality direction is important to effectual operations direction. peculiarly in uninterrupted betterment. More recent promotions in quality. such as benchmarking and Entire Quality Management. have resulted in promotions to operations direction in Proctor A ; Gamble. 1. 4 Storage. With Proctor and Gamble China’s rapid stock list turnaround clip. its bing paper-based manual system proved to be cumbersome as volume increased in the company’s distribution centres. Workers charged with informations aggregation filled legion orders per twenty-four hours at a fast gait. which increased the hazard of human mistake really early in the supply concatenation. As faze one of enterprise to streamline the bing paper-based manual procedure. Proctor and Gamble China deployed from Symbol Technologies in 20 distribution centres throughout China for usage with their warehouse direction system. 1. 5 Logisticss Procter A ; Gamble has been recognized as taking the manner in the development and use of best supply concatenation patterns. It has processes that support the flow of stuffs and merchandises to and from Proctor and Gamble installations. It is careful in its Entire Supply Chain Improvement Projects that are aimed at cut downing cost. bettering service. and taking clip from the supply concatenation. There is besides the demand to place chances. develop action programs. and lead betterment squads across multiple sites. organisations. and maps every bit good as presenting cardinal consequences for the concern and edifice systems to prolong the betterments. Finally. there is the development of schemes that will maintain Proctor and Gamble taking the market place in logistics. 1. 6 Evaluations. There is a strategicanalysis of the company’s concern. including analyzing its public presentation in the domestic electrical contraptions market. The analysis study examines company portions by part and sector. trade name portfolio and new merchandise developments. market and distribution schemes. challenges from the competition. and future chances. This analysis helps in understanding the chances and menaces confronting the concern and the factors driving success. Proctor and Gamble’s cardinal Performance Indicators include the film editing of the per centum of merchandises that are out of stock on retailers’ shelves at any given clip to 5 % . from 10 % ; shortening the clip from when a hard currency registry records the sale of a merchandise to the purchase of natural stuffs to the production of its replacing ; a day-to-day count of all merchandises fluxing through the supply concatenation at any given minute. whether on shop shelves. in dorsum of the shop. at its warehouses. in trucks or wherever ; cut downing the per centum of bundles damaged or otherwise unsympathetic when a client sees them on a shop shelf to zero ; and finding an acceptable monetary value point for an point and so working it back through fabrication and distribution to see if that merchandise can be delivered at a monetary value acceptable to consumers and a net income acceptable to Proctor and Gamble. During the financial twelvemonth ended June 30. 2007 ( financial 2007 ) . the Company was organized into three planetary concern units: Beauty and Health. Household Care and Gillette GBU. It had seven sections under United States By and large Accepted Accounting Principles: Beauty ; Health Care ; Fabric Care and Home Care ; Snacks. Coffee and Pet Care ; Baby Care and Family Care ; Blades and Razors. and Duracell and Braun. In September 2006. the Company’s Sure trade name ( an antiperspirant and deodorant trade name ) was acquired by Innovative Brands. LLC. In January 2007. P A ; G acquired HDS Cosmetics Lab Inc. . which manufactures and markets Doctor’s Dermatologic Formula ( DDF ) tegument attention. 1. 7 Plans for quality in operations. A great trade of focal point in operations direction is on efficiency and effectivity of procedures. Therefore. it frequently includes significant measuring and analysis of internal procedures. Finance and Accounting is the lifeblood of Proctor and Gamble’s trade names and concerns. The company’s Finance and Accounting plays a really strategic. leading function in its full determination devising. This is done by taking the Company’s strategic planning. competitory apprehension and fiscal end scene at the corporate and concern unit degree. The function of finance is to supply leading to concern determination devising every bit good as manage the Company’s fiscal and accounting personal businesss to maximise long-run net incomes. hard currency flow. and entire stockholder return. 2. 0 Benchmarks that can be utilized in the operation. Benchmarking is the pattern of analyzing the methods of an acknowledged leader in an industry as a manner of scene criterions for one’s ain operation. It is fundamentally bettering by larning from others and can be seen as merely doing comparings with other organisations and so larning the lessons that those comparings show. It is the uninterrupted procedure of mensurating merchandises. services and patterns against the toughest rivals or those companies recognized as industry leaders. It is a positive proactive procedure by which a company examines how another company performs a specific map in order to better how it performs the same or similar map. It allows for the find of spreads in an organization’s public presentation when compared with another. Proctor and Gamble benchmarks itself against the luck companies in all the countries mentioned supra. This will assist the company to see the spreads between its operations and those of the other organisations. The spread is so analyzed on how much to make in order to go the best. In pattern. benchmarking normally encompasses on a regular basis comparing facets of public presentation with others. placing spreads in public presentation. developing public presentation betterments to shut the spreads identified. implementing the betterments. monitoring advancement. and reexamining the benefits. Therefore monitor and Gamble does a comparing of its procedures with more successful organisations to set up precisely where the differences lie. and so taking stairss to utilize the cognition to shut the spread. so that it can go the best in the industry and offer universe category services. It focuses on the house that it considers to be the leader in the field of place attention merchandises and happening out what it is that the market leader does that is so much better than itself. This involves acquiring near to it and larning – but besides interchanging information. The several types of benchmarking that Proctor and Gamble can utilize include: Generic. This is comparings in a general sense. frequently utilizing footings such as client. strategic or operational Functional. This is departmental comparings such as Finance. Gross saless or Human Resources efficiency for illustration Human Resource staff to entire employees. Procedure.This is reexamining procedures such as insurance claims or bringing of majority trade goods Global.This includes comparings across the universe. Cost.This is concentrating on cost kineticss Performance.This concentrates on looking at gross or growing. Decision Despite its individuality as a consumer bundle goods company. Proctor A ; Gamble is a engineering company. booming on invention. Over and above Procter A ; Gamble’s flexible working agreements. community events and concern squad relationships. the company’s investing in developing IT staff and offering strong development tracts is extremely noticeable. Give a Proctor A ; Gamble’s fiscal construction. its fiscal figures are benchmarked across taking rivals. In taking the prima rivals. it chooses merely those houses with sound fiscal state of affairss or those non undergoing extremist restructuring. or where random volatility. amalgamations. or bankruptcy affects fiscal public presentation. Mentions Davenport. Thomas. H ( 1993 )Procedure Invention:Reengineering work throughinformation engineering. Harvard Business School Press: Harvard Dyer. Davis ; Frederick Dalzell. Rowena Olegario.Rising Tide: Lessons from 165 Old ages of Brand Building at Procter A ; Gamble. Harvard Business School Press. ISBN 1591391474. 2004. Euromonitor International: Global Company Profile 2007. Roy Longbottom’s PC Benchmark Collection ( Free ) – Source codification. pre-compiled versions and consequences for legion benchmarks. Kernels. Synthetic. Component ( CPU. Caches. RAM. Graphics. Disk and other I/O. Network ) . Real/Simulated Real. Burn-in

Pablo Neruda Poetry free essay sample

He was originally named Neftali Ricardo Reyes, and was raised by his widowed father in Temuco, Chile. He began to show an interest for literacy early as thirteen, being given the opportunity to write limited articles and share his poems in the daily La Manana news paper. With the influence and experience that La Manana newspaper gave Pablo Neruda, in 1920 he was able to branch out and be part of the literary journal â€Å"Selva Austral. † Here he went under the pen name Pablo Neruda in memory of Jan Neruda, a famous Czechoslovak poet and later on made it his legal name. Neruda worked for the government between 1927 and 1935, which allowed him to visit many cities all over Latin America. With this privilege not only was he able to do many honorary consulships for the government he was able to create some of the best selling poems with the influence of his many experiences. (First article in works cited) â€Å"Walking around† is one of Pablo Neruda’s well known poem in Latin America written in 19 In this piece of literature Neruda approaches the matter of man vs. society. Throughout the poem he expresses anger and his displeased feelings towards the corruption that is occurring in modern day â€Å"It so happens that I am sick of my feet and my nails/ and my hair and my shadow/ It so happens I am sick of being a man. † In this stanza Pablo Neruda exemplifies how tired he is of the demoralization that is happening in the society, by using his own appearance as a metaphor to what he constantly sees in everyday life. In reality he’s not really sick of his feet, nails, hair, or shadow, he’s actually sick of observing the decisions that people have made and it’s outcome (impact). The fact that he’s not able to know if things will improve, torments the man walking around because all he sees is a world full of laziness and people seeking for the easy way in life â€Å" The only thing I want is to lie still like stones or wool/ The only thing I want is to see no more stores, no gardens/ no more goods, no spectacles, no elevators. † As the reader continues to get deeper into the poem, modernization becomes what Neruda is trying to portray as the drastic impact of society. In the stanza provided above, he explains that things have gotten way easier to receive and to do, which has affected us in various ways. Before factories were built, or technology was invented, people actually had to grow their own food, use fire as their light and rely on it for heat. With the society being modernized, human beings have forgotten how to appreciate nature and the value of creating things for their own benefits. Not only have we been spoiled with the advanced technology that we have today, many have become adversed to labor expecting things to be already done by others. Walking around† focuses on the changes that many people do not see happening, which is the corruption of society. A countless amount of the population seem to be too busy or caught up in their own lives, simply not realizing what is surrounding them. In contrast Neruda stays in disgust while observing everything that seems to be affecting humanity unconsciously. He realizes that he is tired of s eeing the repetition of deterioration to the value of nature, and gets tired of being a man stuck in the society that’s falling apart. Walking Around† is an extraordinary poem because it touches important topics which only a few during that time period were aware of. What really caught my attention in this piece of literature are the examples of personification and vivid imagery that Neruda provides. They demonstrate how strong Pablo Neruda feels towards the matter that he conveys, which allows the reader to distinguish the tone of disgust and depression which the poet establishes. Not only was Pablo Neruda known for his poems about important arguments, he was well known for his poetry of romance. While reading a couple of Pablo Neruda’s literacy, I came across some of his love poems, and was drawn to â€Å"Poem 20† also known as the â€Å"Saddest Poem. † Here he expresses his emotions for the love that no longer accompanies him, and feels lonely without that comfort. I enjoyed reading this poem because it‘s straightforward and relatable. He talks about the complication of love, and how its so hard to understand â€Å"I don’t love her, that’s certain, but perhaps I love her/ Love is brief: forgetting lasts so long. The stanza provided is one of my favorite sections of the poem because it reveals so much just in those two lines and summarizes what the poet is trying to explain. Here he is facing complications with his true emotions. Neruda mentions that he is certain about not loving the woman, than switches to the possibility that he may still have feelings for her. This stanza shows how love can crucially play with a human beings mind , causing the poet to contradict his emotions â€Å"Though this is the last pain she will make me suffer/ And these are the last lines I will write for her. Although he says he doesn’t love this woman, he truly feels pain, but proclaims that it’s the last pain she will ever make him go through. This poem is a symbolization of the poet moving on, him applying that those are the last lines that he will write for her signifies that she will not continue to be part of his thoughts. â€Å"Poem 20† sums up the consequences that many people go through for falling in love. It’s natural to go through heartaches, but it’s our decision to dwell in depression or move on, and that’s what Neruda indicates when he decides to continue forward in life. Pablo Neruda’s poems â€Å"Walking Around† and â€Å" Poem 20† are my ultimate favorite, because they touch base on everyday life experiences. As a 20th century poet, Pablo Neruda was influence by the surrealism movement, explaining why vivid imagery is an important part of his writing. The imagery provided in his poetry is what caught my undivided attention, allowing me to visualize and have a clearer understanding of what Neruda tries to get across the reader. His style of writing is what influences me to continue reading poetry, and even write my own poetry. Works Cited Neruda, Pablo. â€Å" From Twenty Poems of Love† Poem Hunter. Poem Hunter, n. d Web. 20 September 2012. . â€Å"Walking Around† Poem Hunter. Poem Hunter, n. d. Web. 20 September 2012. â€Å"Pablo Neruda Biography† Famous Poets and Poems. Famous Poets and Poems, 2010. Web. 26 September 2012. â€Å"Pablo Neruda Biography Synopsis† Bio True Story. Biography. com, n. d. Web. 26 September 2012. â€Å"Pablo Neruda† Poetry. org The Academy of American Poets, 2012. Web. 26 September 2012

In what ways does Shakespeare in Act 1 Scene 1 introduce dramatic tension and some of the key themes in Romeo and Juliet Essay Example

In what ways does Shakespeare in Act 1 Scene 1 introduce dramatic tension and some of the key themes in Romeo and Juliet? Essay Shakespeare introduces dramatic tension at the very beginning of the play in the prologue. This introductory verse is very important as it has to be quite powerful to keep the audience hooked and want to watch the rest of the play. The prologue is written in a Shakespearean sonnet, which is a fourteen line poem with ten syllables in each line and five of them stressed. All of this turns out to be rather effective as it gives the prologue a rhythm to it. It includes iambic pentameter which was very traditional and popular in those times as a love poem. This is also the very beginning introductory paragraph on love. Shakespeare then begins to tell us about the long feud between the Montagues and Capulets, but not why it has started. This creates an effective atmosphere as the audience cannot judge either household or who is right in the feud so they stay open-minded throughout the play. Next he introduces both households, Montagues and Capulets and then tells us about Romeo and Juliet. He talks about them as Star crossd lovers which makes us think about fate and that was how they met. The prologue talks a great deal about violence and death due to all the fighting throughout the play, and the deaths of some of the main characters including Romeo and Juliet. We will write a custom essay sample on In what ways does Shakespeare in Act 1 Scene 1 introduce dramatic tension and some of the key themes in Romeo and Juliet? specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on In what ways does Shakespeare in Act 1 Scene 1 introduce dramatic tension and some of the key themes in Romeo and Juliet? specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on In what ways does Shakespeare in Act 1 Scene 1 introduce dramatic tension and some of the key themes in Romeo and Juliet? specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Sampson and Gregory in Act 1 Scene 1 use bawdy language and puns in their speech to create a humorous atmosphere. This way they can relax the audience and make them feel calmer and not as tense before any major fights occur. My naked weapon is out. Quarrel. I will back thee. This is one of their many humorous quotes. Shakespeare begins the play like this to give the audience a light hearted view of whats going on before the seriousness of it all takes place. The first scene begins in a jovial way ready to build up tension before the fight. Sampson and Gregory include a large amount of punctuation in their speech as we come across a comma or a full-stop around every three words. This breaks up sentences so they become rather choppy. A good example of this would be No, marry! I fear thee! By using language and punctuation like this it splits up sentences and makes a dramatic difference for when the Prince enters the scene. This is because the audience will suddenly pay more attention to what the Prince has to say as his speech and sentence structure is vastly differently to Sampsons and Gregorys. The Prince uses long flowing sentences with not as much punctuation and he is also speaking in verse. He talks to the audience from line 79-101 without the use of lots of punctuation whereas if this were Sampson or Gregory, they would have split up the sentences more often and probably added in extra unnecessary commas and bawdy language or puns somewhere. The impact that this has on the audience is that an Elizabethan audience would have understood the humour a great deal better unlike a modern day audience. For example, if the play was shown in a theatre today, probably not all the audience would understand I will bite my thumb at them, which is a disgrace to them if they b are it. This is a Sampson making a rude gesture to Abram, which is not recognised nowadays. This is also due to the fact that humour has changed significantly since Shakespearean times in the 16th Century. There are many gestures made in the play, but a significant one is when Sampson bites his thumb at Abram. This builds up a substantial amount of dramatic tension as it is a key theme for fighting. During or before fighting there would also be gestures with swords acting as if they were stabbing each other. A gesture is a way of acting out the thoughts of the characters and giving the audience an insight into their mind. A different, but extremely important theme in the play is love. Love takes place throughout the entire play by all different characters. For Romeo and Juliet, they both want to be married for love alone, and they are not bothered about what their parents have to say about the matter. They are also not worried about the fact that they are on opposite sides of the feud. Juliets mother and father want her to marry Paris as they think that he is the right man for her to live with. They are not fussed that Juliet doesnt like him that much and they also do not know about Juliets secret love for Romeo. Another character involved is the Friar. He would like Romeo and Juliet to marry as he knows that would end the feud and fighting between each household, and that they do really love each other. Romeo starts off at the beginning having everlasting feelings for Rosaline, who he thinks is his soul partner for life. After meeting Juliet all of this changes and he suddenly changes his mind to hav ing undying love for her instead. Romeo becomes extremely confused over his feelings for people. He uses oxymorons to express his confusion over love Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health. Another key theme in the play is fighting. This is a rather important theme as it takes place a large number of times throughout the play including a few times in Act 1 Scene 1. For instance a fight was started when Sampson bites his thumb and Abram thinks it was bitten at him. Sampson must check if the law is to his side otherwise they would get the blame for starting the fight. Later on, after Mercutio was killed, Romeo takes revenge and kills Tybalt. This way, in their eyes both of the households are fair as they have each lost one of their own through a murder and a fight. The fighting is all due to the feud that had begun in Act 1 scene 1 and carried on throughout the rest of the play. Overall the feud plays a crucial role and in the end it drives the only heirs of each household to commit suicide. Due to Romeos and Juliets death the feud ended. It took a very long time for it to finally be finished with, but once it had, each family understood the importance that it had as they each had a vital loss which was their children. The audience still would not have known about how the feud had begun, even at the very end of the play as it was never discussed. This means that they still will not be able to judge the Montagues or Capulets. Overall Shakespeare introduced dramatic tension through many different themes beginning from Act 1 Scene 1. This was one of the most important roles of the play as each key theme was introduced and would be expanded on later in the play. If these themes were not introduced to the play as early as they were, then they might not have been as effective as they turned out to be. In my opinion, the play became incredibly tense and effective with all themes building up to the final catastrophic scene of Romeos and Juliets death.

Critical Thinking 3 Essay Example

Critical Thinking 3 Essay Example Critical Thinking 3 Essay Critical Thinking 3 Essay Essay Topic: Critical Thinking Critical Thinking Questions: Week 3 Name: Course: Date: Critical Thinking Questions: Week 3 Chapter 7 – Designing for Problem Solving1. Describe a Policy Problem that you might assign a learner, using an actual issue that’s being debated in today’s political news. How would you solve the problem? The issue of abortion has been among the most controversial issues around the world given the presence of both opposing and supporting sides of the policy. The solution to this problem would be achieved through the evaluation of the positive and negative attributes of either the opposing or the supporting sides. This is further dependent on individual opinions and beliefs towards the issue. Hence, individuals assume positions based on their beliefs and opinions. The benefits and demerits of a policy determine its acceptance or denial by the students (Reiser, Dempsey, 2002).2. Why does the author state that problem solving is the most natural, complex, and meaningful kind of learning/thinking activity? Do you agree or disagree? Explain I agree with the author’s view that â€Å"problem solving is the most natural, complex, and meaningful kind of learning/thinking activity† because of the ability of learners to use such platforms to develop their rational capacities (Cavanaugh, 2004). This is because ability to make decisions and solve problems results in growth in ability to make similar as well as complex decisions and solutions for such levels of problems. Humans possess cognitive abilities which they use in solving problems. Rationality is based on use of experiences as a means of developing solutions related to such a situation. Hence, a solution to a problem is usually developed based on the use of experiences and the skills for development of solutions gained through problem solving (Newby, 2006).Chapter 8 – Instructional Theory and Technology for a Postindustrial World1.What other characteristics of the learning process and learning environment do can you envision for a postindustrial par adigm of instruction? What are some of the barriers to making this type of instruction a reality? The post-industrial educational system is as a result of the changes or shift from an industrial society to a postindustrial society. This has resulted in new educational systems such as distance learning, home-schooling volunteering and internships. It is an indication of a shift from necessity of physical attendance into institutions (Reiser, Dempsey, 2002). The barriers to the full utilization of the post industrial system are the reluctance to change from the traditional industrial system. This is because the industrial system is considered as providing employment to a sizeable number of individuals both directly and indirectly (Cavanaugh, 2004).2. What are some ways that technology can make post-industrial instruction easier on teachers? Include examples not given in the chapter. In what ways might it make it more difficult? Technology could provide teachers with the ability to make specialized teaching to individual students such as through distance learning. It could also provide teachers and learners with an avenue for interactions on a professional level in issues related to coursework or educational activities. This provides teachers with the ability to cultivate the interests of the students towards educational activities. Hence, this has potency to improve productivity from an educational perspective (Newby, 2006). Technology could also make this more difficult. In a case where training is not done correctly, technology is rendered useless as its use becomes difficult.Chapter 9 – Motivation, Volition, and Performance 1. Compare and contrast motivation with volition. What are some ways that they can interact to support or diminish one another? Motivation is the enthusiasm or drive towards the achievement of set goals and objectives or aspirations, whereas volition is termed as the individual will towards achievement of set goals and objectives. Volition is also termed as a process which transitions form actual intention to behavior towards the achievement of specific goals and objectives. On the other hand, motivation is termed as a process, which enables the development of behavioral intentions towards achievement certain goals and objectives (Reiser, Dempsey, 2002). 2. Applying volition strategies effectively can also be related to â€Å"good work habits†. What are some strategies that one might apply to strengthen their volition? How can these strategies be promoted through an online course? Decision making process is delicate towards the achievement of certain goals and objectives. Volition could be strengthened through the establishment of precise goals and objectives for achievement (Newby, 2006). Motivation could be used to strengthen volition for achievement of set our goals and objectives. In addition, another strategy includes the use of timelines for achievement of goals and objectives to ensure that an individual is able to strengthen his or her volition.

Free writing journal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 5

Free writing journal - Essay Example She was trapped within the bars that her husband set up for her. Her husband didn’t want her to be creative because it will make her question him. And he can’t afford that because of his stature as a doctor. Her husband doctor was the stereotypical doctor, controlled, firm and practical. And he didn’t like the imagination of his wife because it made her a non-traditional wife. Both the protagonist and the woman in the wallpaper symbolized the restrictions placed on women during Gilman’s time. It was not easy to have lived in the time when women were treated as second class citizens. It was like being born a woman is a curse because you won’t be able to do anything but serve and follow your husband’s wishes. Gilman’s protagonist was not the typical woman. The Yellow Wallpaper taught us that a woman’s strength is her creativity and imagination, to the point that men would think she’s crazy. Men inhibit her creativity and imagination because they are scared that she might take away his throne and his crown. This was actually the triumphant moment at the end of the story when the woman declared that she was out of the wallpaper. This showed us that women are continuously fighting for their rights, and soon they will be jumping out of the wallpaper and become the centerpieces of the room. They will catch all the attent ion that was deprived of her when she was set

Antibiotics may make Fighting Flu Harder Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Antibiotics may make Fighting Flu Harder - Essay Example This is a significant consideration as the study in the article explores elements of effectiveness as related to these antibiotics. Another prominent background consideration is the nature of ‘commensal’ bacteria. While generally bacteria in the human body contribute to illnesses such as the flue, studies have argued that commensal bacteria actually contribute to the body’s proper functioning (Saey 2011; "Commensal science," 2010). Indeed, it’s been argued that there are over 100 billion commensal bacteria in the body that contribute to digestion, acquiring of nutrients, and most notably encouraging the immune system to prevent the colonization of harmful bacterial pathogens ("Commensal science," 2010). While the common flue is generally not considered life threatening its existence among nearly all members of the human species makes it a significant area of investigation; in this way the article is highly relevant in terms of its area of focus. This articl e advances considerations in this field of investigation through investigating how antibiotics might kill some commensal bacteria that actually prevent the onset of the flue. Discussion of the Science There are a number of elements of the article that are relevant from a scientific perspective. As noted the study examined processes where commensal bacteria regulated immune system actions. More specifically, the study considered how commensal microbiota regulate immunity in the respiratory mucosa through the activation of inflammasomes. While previous research had established that commensal bacteria stopped the establishment of harmful bacterial pathogens in the gut, this research established that they may also contribute to preventing the colonization of these harmful pathogens in the digestive system. The study implemented specific experiments on mice. In this way the scientists treated the mice for a month with four antibiotics that are typically given to humans for bacterial infe ctions. The specific antibiotics administered were vancomycin, neomycin, metronidazole, and ampicillin. These antibiotics were administered orally in doses of 10, 11, 24, 26 mg, respectively. The mice were kept on this treatment program of antibiotics throughout the entire month long period. After treating the mice with these antibiotics, the mice were then infected with the flu. This flu combination was a 10 pfu sublethal dose of A/PR8 influenza virus. The researchers then observed and recorded the findings. In the observation process the Ig levels and T-cell responses were monitored and recorded. In these regards, the scientists identified that the antibiotics prevented the mice from creating interleukin-1 beta or IL-1 beta. Interleukin-1 beta has been understood to be an essential component that is used to combat influenza and other viruses. Additionally, the study demonstrated that both cytokine secretion and the frequency of the influenza virus specific CTLs were decreased. The se results were then cross compared with another part of the mice internal system. In this way the study immunized the mice with ovalbumin in complete Freud’s adjuvant in the footpad. This aspect of the study allowed the researchers to compare the immunodeficiency response in the lung with that in the gut. The researchers were then able to identify how eliminating commensal bacteria in one part of the rodent’

What Determines A Good Service Encounter?

What Determines A Good Service Encounter? When giving examples of my service encounter I will, each time try to explain the reasons for my service encounter, a brief description of what the firm did and provided for myself, my level of satisfaction through a rating system between one to seven, from lowest to highest possible satisfaction, and lastly my reasons for this satisfaction rating. I feel this information will allow me to most effectively analyse the service encounter, and identify the determinants of a good service encounter whilst allowing me to compare different service encounters. I will firstly look towards the 7ps concept (Booms and Bitner 1982) which is an extended version of the marketing mix. What is crucial here, for the purpose of the essay, is determining if some Ps are more important than other Ps in terms of having a greater impact on a service encounter outcome. I will therefore proceed through each P, systematically and in turn evaluate its importance in determining a good or bad service encounter. The introductory marketing texts suggest that all parts of the marketing mix (4Ps) are equally important, since a deficiency in any one can mean failure (Kellerman, Gordon and Hekmat, 1995). Number of studies of industrial marketers and purchasers indicated that the marketing mix components differ significantly in importance (Jackson, Burdick and Keith, 1985). Robicheaux (1976) found that key marketing policies had changed significantly. Pricing was considered the most important marketing activity in Robicheauxs (1976) survey, although it ranked only sixth in Udells (1964) survey. Udell (1968) found that sales efforts were rated as most important, followed by product efforts, pricing, and distribution. LaLonde (1977) found product related criteria to be most important, followed by distribution, price, and promotion. Perreault and Russ (1976) found that product quality was considered most important, followed by distribution service and price. Thus, it appears from the studies above that business executives do not really view the Ps as being equally important, but consider the price and product components to be the most important (Kellerman, Gordon and Hekmat, 1995). Brunner (1989) argues that the marketing mix should be extended to include more factors affecting the services marketing and thus actually becoming mixes themselves. He provides examples of Concept Mix, Cost Mix, Channels Mix and the Communication Mix So far we have mainly touched on the 4 core Ps but what Ps can affect and determine the outcome of a service encounter? Fryar (1991) argues that differentiation and segmentation is the basis of a successful service. Further, the personal relationship with the customer and quality of the service are important elements of the service marketing. This may be referring to the extended Ps of the marketing mix. Heuvel (1993)seems to agree with Fryar stating that Interaction between the one delivering the service and the customer is very important and has direct effect on the service quality and quality perception. He goes on further to state that the Product element can be better demonstrated as having two components, the primary and secondary service elements as well as the process. Both Heuvel and Fryar seem to be heavily referring to the People and physical Ps of the extended marketing mix (Grove et al. 2000) compares service marketing to a theatrical production. How the service is performed is as important as what is performed. The critical factor is therefore the customer experience. He goes on to state that the traditional Marketing Mix does not adequately capture the special circumstances that are present when marketing a service product. As such it could be concluded that the 4Ps for the purpose of service marketing and thus as a determinate of a service encounter can be seen as outdated. Rafiq and Ahmed (1995) state that 7Ps is more comprehensive, greater refined and includes important participants such as people and process. For the purpose of Service encounters the three new Ps of People, Process and Physical design can be seen as equally if not more important than the four core Ps. This can be supported through the extended Ps widespread acceptance in recent years The customer satisfaction Kano model helps to understand and evaluate consumer acceptance and satisfaction, and can be used in many different disciplines. The model classifies product attributes based on how they are perceived by customers and their effect on customer satisfaction (Kano, Seraku et al. 1996). According to the model, there are three types of product attributes that fulfil customer satisfaction to a different degree: 1) basic or expected attributes, 2) performance or spoken attributes, and 3) surprise and delight attributes. A competitive product or service meets basic expected attributes, maximises performances attributes, and includes as many delighted attributes as financially feasible. In the model, the customer endeavours to move away from having unfulfilled desires. The basic or attributes are basic attributes, which customers take for granted and are not worth mentioning due to their obviousness. While the presence of these attributes is not really taken into account, the nonexistence of these attributes could be very dissatisfying for the customer. The performance or spoken attributes are those voiced by customers in what they are wanting from the product. These requirements can satisfy or dissatisfy consumer depending on the level of their satisfaction by a product or a service. The surprise and delight attributes if present can excite the customer, but their absence does not dissatisfy, as customers do not expect them. A competitive advantage can be achieved through successful use of both expected and exciting attributes Kanos model of customer satisfaction will now be looked at. According to various researchers, product life cycles are getting shorter, thus businesses are looking for ways to reduce product development time and to introduce their products to the market more quickly and efficiently (Tan , 2000) Further, in many of the competitive markets, customers are getting more selective, demanding greater features in products and services. As a result, identifying customer needs and transferring this information through to the product design stage is imperative for any business to be able to stay competitive in the market (Sireli et al., 2003, Tontini, 2003,) Kanos model helps deal with these new trends and in turn hopes to meet customer requirements in the most efficient and effective way Through traditional customer satisfaction tools, used to evaluate customer feedback, a strong correlation is assumed between product performance and customer satisfaction. For example, customer satisfaction is assumed to increase or decrease proportionally to the product performance improving or deteriorating respectively (Huiskonen and Pirttila, 1998). However according to Mazler, increasing fulfillment of customer expectations does not always mean a proportional increase in customer satisfaction as this change also depends on the type of expectation (Matzler et al., 1996). The different types of customer expectations can have different effects on customer satisfaction fulfillment. Kanos model of customer satisfaction tries to address this issue in providing particular types to each expectation such as attractive and indifferent. This can help companys understand the customer requirements. SERVQUAL can be used to determine if there are any differences between perceptions and expectations and if so whether this difference (if it was positive) contributed to a happy service encounter. SERVQUAL can only be defined in a consumers mind as it is a psychological difference between perceptions and expectations. Gronroos (1982) suggests that the perceived quality of a service is the result of an evaluation procedure whereby customers compare their perceptions of service quality delivery and the outcome against what they expected . Expectations can be can be defined as the customers frame of reference with respect to a product/service that allows anticipation of product/ service performance (Bitner et al. 1990). Due to the fact that the model involves perception it means judgment may differ among individuals and thus could be based on the cultural framework that the person brings to the encounter (Ueltschy et al., 2007). While customers can judge the quality of manufacturing goods in terms of functions and standards, they may find it difficult to measure service quality because they have to assess not only the outcome of the service, but more importantly the process of the delivery of that service. Therefore, before customers purchase a service, they have expectations about service quality that can be based on a number of variables such as word-of mouth recommendations, individual needs, past experiences and a service providers marketing communications (Parasuraman et al., 1988). Parasuraman et al., (1988; 1991) attempts to define the dimensions of service quality. Five major dimensions have be identified, namely reliability, responsiveness, assurance, tangibles and empathy. Reliability is the ability to execute the service as promised. Responsiveness refers to the willingness in providing the service. Assurance concerns the politeness in delivering the services and trustworthiness expressed to customers. Empathy can be defined as the understanding of customers specific requirements and their individual needs. Finally, tangibles include the physical evidence of the service such as facilities and personnel. It has been widely accepted that these dimensions of SERVQUAL are able to capture the construct of service encounter quality (Raajpoot 2004). The concept of customer relationship management will now be looked at which has emerged from relationship marketing. There is no doubt that in recent years there has been a greater emphasis on customer relationship management then ever but why is this? And is relationship marketing that important with regards to a service encounter? The emphasis on customer relationship management could be attributed to technological advancements which have allowed businesss to create increasingly intimate relationships with their customers. ÃÆ'-sterle (2002) suggests that electronic commerce, supply chain management, one-on-one marketing [and] customer profiling to name a few are developments which can be attributed to the dramatic changes in the supplier-customer relationship observed. It is this amalgamation of business functions which could loosely be referred to as modern customer relationship management. Stone et al. (2000) asserts that the concept of RM always included a very strong focus on the consumer. But possibly, CRM takes this a step further in its integration of business functions which contribute to value maximising services for the consumer via the management of customer relationships, and in turn increasing customer retention Relationship marketing has been successful in creating strong relationships with customers on a large scale. The technique has traditionally looked to apply its marketing communications to its customers depending on their relative needs. This entails customising marketing and product/service offerings to the various individual consumer groups to create a more personalised service as well as to develop a relationship based on interactivity. CRM, on the other hand, provides more to the individual marketing needs. This is due in the main part to the technology to make such a system technically and economically feasible (ÃÆ'-sterle 2002), organisations are now able to further customise their marketing and product offerings, not just to groups but to individuals themselves. This has meant there is no longer a need for customers to be grouped together into lifecycles with others, as businesss can mould their services around individual requirements. As such it can be concluded that CRM is an evolution of RM and has utilised advanced technology as an instrument to meet and surpass individual customer requirements. Discussion Section I will first mention my service encounter with Dominos pizza; in short I was throwing a small party with my friends from home as I had recently returned from university. My freinds were very hungry and fancied some fast food that wouldnt be too expensive. Thus I ordered three large pizzas over the phone. I was very happy with the service encounter and would rate it at a six. My high satisfaction from this service encounter can be attributed to the following. Firstly when I phoned up Dominos pizza the staffs were very friendly and polite, swiftly taking my order. We were also informed on the phone about a seasonal special offer that was ongoing at the time. This special offer allowed us to reduce our expenditure on the Pizzas which surpassed my expectations of what I thought would be the price. The pizza was then delivered to us within thirty minutes, as promised and was absolutely delicious and still fresh. Thus, I would be very happy to order from Dominos Pizza again; however I was initially put on hold for three minutes which is why I am not rating the encounter at a seven. This nearly left me hanging up the phone and browsing for a close competitor, which of course would have been detrimental to Dominos Pizza. I will first look towards the 7ps concept (Booms and Bitner 1982) to determine why and how a good service encounter has occurred. Clearly the price had a major impact on our decision to choose Dominos Pizza. It can be see that Dominos pricing scheme is competition based, due to the high competitiveness of this industry driving the prices down. However our decision to buy from Dominos pizza was not solely based on the price, as we had options to look for a cheaper competitor. What did determine why we decided to choose Dominos Pizza was based on the brand name, reputation it holds, convenience and peoples past experiences with Dominos Pizza. The convenience and price alone would not have persuaded us to buy from Dominos Pizza thus the main determinant of why we purchased from Dominos Pizza could be accredited to the brand name. But what actually determined a good service encounter? One must look further and concentrate on the extended Ps, namely People, Physical Evidence and Processes . The personnel on the phone and the friendly delivery staff certainly contributed towards a good service encounter. The staff taking my order were clearly well trained and well informed, providing me information on the latest deals and being polite. The process was a high determinate of a happy service encounter. The Pizza was delivered within thirty minutes; failure to do so may have meant unhappy hungry customers who would not have been willing to repeat purchase from Dominos Pizza. Indeed the three minute wait I needed to endure on the phone nearly left me hanging up and not completing the service encounter. The physical evidence is not really relevant to this service encounter. It can be seen that the fast process, polite personnel, product and place (convenience) contributed greatest to a happy service encounter from the 7ps perspective. SERVQUAL will now be used to determine if there were any differences between perceptions and expectations and if so whether this difference (if it was positive) contributed to a happy service encounter. SERVQUAL can only be defined in a consumers mind; it is a psychological difference between perceptions and expectations. The SQ can be measured using Parasuraman et al.s (1985) Gaps Model. The Gaps model is made up of five so called gaps. Firstly, the knowledge gap is the difference between what customers want and managers think customers want. In this case as customers, we wanted a tasty pizza delivered to our door within a reasonable time at a reasonable cost. We got everything we wanted, thus it would appear that there was no knowledge gap. However being put on hold for three minutes could be seen as a slight knowledge gap which may have been detrimental to Dominos pizza. This knowledge gap could have been caused by the manager not hiring enough or enough productive staff. The standards gap is the gap between managements perception of customer expectations and actual results for the service delivery. In this case there is probably a positive gap. Although Dominos pizza stated the pizza would be delivered within thirty minutes we didnt actually believe it. Thus the actual delivery outweighed our expectations and can be seen as a positive gap. Gap 3 Delivery gap The promises of a delicious pizza and a fast delivery were fulfilled and thus we were happy and didnt have any quarms. From the above it can be seen there were little if any gaps between our expectations and what was delivered and this clearly heavily contributed to a happy service encounter. The customer satisfaction Kano Model will be now be used to determine how Dominos Pizza satisfied us. Kano uses three types of relationships between attributes and the levels of customer satisfaction they generate. We must determine which attributes account for the largest proportion of customer satisfaction. The first type of attribute is the must have attributes. These are expected by the customer, all our must haves were met by Dominos Pizza. The linear satisfier attributes keep the customer satisfied, the delighter attributes are not expected or required, but help create customer satisfaction and can make the difference in brand choice for a consumer especially in competitive markets. The convenience, speed of delivery and tastiness of the pizza could come under the heading of linear satisfiers. The polite personnel over the phone and great offers provided on the phone can be seen as delighter types of attributes and most contributed to my happiness on dealing with Dominos Pizza, further it was these delighters which have made me want to repeat purchase from Dominos in the future. From using the relevant theories it can quite clearly be seen that the main determinants of a good service encounter which Dominos Pizza offered was the speed of the delivery, the special offers that ensured the price of the pizzas were less than first expected and the freshness of the pizzas which can be related to the speed of delivery. Thus, a manager working in the take-away service industry should ensure that his /her staffs are well trained and informed to not only take peoples orders over the phone but to answer peoples queries and provide information on ongoing special offers. A manager should also ensure there is an efficient distribution process so the delivery is undertaken as quick as possible. The service encounter that Dominos Pizza offered delighted me and my friends as customers, further I would be very happy to order from them again and recommend them to others. Therefore Dominos Pizza have provided a good service encounter. My next service encounter I will mention is my orthodontist appointment with my local NHS hospital Northwick Park. I was referred to the orthodontist by my dentist, who advised that I needed braces. I thus made an appointment for 9:00am on the 24/09/2009. I was pretty unhappy with this particular service counter for a number of reasons. Ultimately I was unhappy that I needed to wait an hour and fifteen minutes for my appointment after arriving prompt at 9:00am meaning me missing my train back to university. I was also upset because my actual appointment was rushed only lasted ten minutes, thus not all my queries were answered sufficiently. I would rate this service encounter at a two. I will again look towards the 7ps when analysing why and how bad services was encountered by myself. Firstly, the price for my appointment was free and therefore started my service encounter on a good note. The place of my appointment was however quite inconvenient for me as it meant me coming back from university especially for the appointment. The actual service was rushed and incomplete, this made me dissatisfied with the service. The process was slow and very inefficient which contributed heaviest to my dissatisfaction of the service encounter. As a customer I would have ideally preferred an NHS orthodontist to be located nearer my university for convenience, furthermore, I sought after a brief waiting time and a productive and effective appointment which would fully answer my questions. I got none of these things and thus there most certainly was a knowledge gap. This knowledge gap could be decreased through an efficient process, a more thorough appointment and a local NHS orthodontist for my convenience. My expectation pre appointment was that I would need to wait about twenty minutes for my appointment which I was happy to do and that I would be provided an appointment lengthy enough to ensure all my queries were answered. My expectations were not met at all and therefore clearly there is a negative standards gap. Review | Back To The Future Review | Back To The Future The movie Back to the Future, is filled with an all star cast and dynamic visual effects that were stunning in nineteen eighty-five and still stunning by todays definition. It was an appealing movie in which all ages could relate to the fun and entertainment that it was meant to portray. The movie was set in the fictional town of Hill Valley and focused upon the antics of Doc. Emmett Brown played by Christopher Lloyd and his sidekick Marty Mcfly played by Michael J. Fox. The film was written by Robert Zemeckis, who also directed the movie and Bob Gale,who came up the story idea. Steven Speilberg was the producer for the film. The story idea came to writer Bob Gale one day when at his parents home he found an old yearbook of his fathers. He thought to himself, Would he and his father been friends if they had gone to school together? Gale returned to California and shared his idea with Robert Zemeckis. They decided to take the project to Columbia pictures and made a developmental deal with Columbia for the script in September of 1980. (Klastornin) The rough draft of the script was finished in February, nineteen eighty-one. The film turned out to be more than just a thought about his father. The film had only a nineteen million dollar budget and brought in more than three hundred-eighty million dollars. Back to the Future was a critically acclaimed best movie of nineteen eighty- five. Critic Christopher Null claimed it to be a quintessential nineteen eighties flick that combines science fiction, action, comedy and romance all into a perfect little package that kids and adults will devour.(Null) It won the Hu go Award for dramatic presentation, the Saturn award for best science fiction film, academy awards and Golden Globe nomination. The film marked the beginning of a franchise with the sequels Back to the Future ll in nineteen eighty- nine and the sequel Back to the future lll in nineteen ninety. There was an animated series, a theme park ride and a video game released as well. The movie has a scene in which Marty is asked who is president in nineteen eighty- five and replies, Ronald Reagan. The person he is talking to laughs and tells him that Ronald Reagan is an actor, not a president. When watching the film for the first time Ronald Reagan himself was so amused by the joke about his being president that he had the theater stop the movie and rewind the reel so he could see the part again. He even referred to the movie in his nineteen eighty-six State of the Union address. He stated, Never has there been a more exciting time to be alive, a time of rousing wonder and heroic achievement. As they say in the film, Back to the Future, where were going, we dont need roads.(cspan) Many years later president George H.W. Bush used references from Back to the Future in his speeches. The film had to shoot at Universal Studios in California because no town would allow producers to redo their town to fit the nineteen fifties setting. Hill Valley scenes were shot at Courthouse Square on the back lot. Industrial Light and Magic created the thirty- two special effect shots. (Freer) Designers set the fifties in a wonderful way to make the town look beautiful, they shot all the scenes from the fifties first so they could make the town look bleak and ugly for the scenes in the eighties. Back to the Future had to shoot differently than how most movies are filmed. Michael J. Fox was working weekdays on the hit television series Family Ties. This made him only available to work on the movie set from six-thirty p.m. to two-thirty a.m. on weekdays. They were forced to save exterior scenes until weekends because that was the only time he was available during daylight. This routine gave him only five hours for sleep each day. He found this schedule exhausting but worthwhile bec ause he was simultaneously living his dream of being on television and in movies. The movie took one hundred days to film and finally wrapped up on April twentieth of nineteen eighty- five. Producers and editors worked twenty-four hour shifts making sure the movie would be ready for its July third release date. Only eight minutes of filming was omitted when editing was completed. A lot of hard work went into the making of the movie Back to the Future. It was a risk at the time with lots of wondering whether the movie would flop or be a success. It proved a risk worth taking because now, twenty-six years later, it is movie that most all generations have seen. Back to the Future will continue to remain a film title known worldwide. This is a film that closes the generation gap and brings old and young together as one. Future generations will continue to enjoy this film for years to come.