Operation management 01 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Operation management 01 - Essay Example The sales department is in charge of the stocking and operations management within the organization. The department’s contribution towards the growth of the company is very important. This is the department in charge of generating revenue. There is a significant amount of planning involved in the retail industry. The department is in charge of the customer as well as the company’s financial returns. The department contributes to the organization’s financial growth through planning and effective implementation of these plans. The methods used to reach the customer and promote sales are developed within this department. This involves a joint effort between the sales and marketing department. There is very close proximity between these two departments. The marketing department is charged with consumer attraction to the store, whereas the sales department is charged with the actual sale of products. The success and growth of an organization from a small scale regiona l retail store to a global corporation is attributed to the efficacy and efficiency of this department. The contribution of the work of this department is crucial for that success (Bradley, 1991). The description of customer is referred to a customer or consumer profile. Before the identification of the customer profile, the organization must differentiate the external and the internal customer. An internal customer is a customer who is involved with the process of making a product available to the end consumer. The internal customer is a member of the organization usually a company employee. An external customer is one who purchases the company products for personal use but is not part of the company. Both of these customers are important to the viability and growth of an organization. The internal customer contributes to the number of sales made by the organization, for example, company sales representatives and the external customer are essential to

The Great Gatsby Essay Example for Free

The Great Gatsby Essay Literature by definition may consist of texts based on factual information (journalistic or non-fiction), as well as on original imagination, such as polemical works as well as autobiography, and reflective essays as well as belles-lettres. The Great Gatsby has the following particular characteristics of a literary texts: The first literary element of the novel is the plot, the protagonist is Jay Gatsby, a young, wealthy man in love with a society girl from his past. He tries to build a life with her but fate and bad luck turn tragic. The next key element is the theme, Fitzgerald demonstrates many themes including the decline of the American dream. The American dream was originally about discovery, individualism, and the pursuit of happiness. In the 1920s depicted in the novel, however, easy money and relaxed social values have corrupted this dream, especially on the East Coast. A second important theme of the novel would be the hollowness of the upper class, the sociology of wealth, specifically, how the newly minted millionaires of the 1920s differ from and relate to the old aristocracy of the country’s richest families. What the old aristocracy possesses in taste, however, it seems to lack in heart, as the East Eggers prove themselves careless, inconsiderate bullies who are so used to money’s ability to ease their minds that they never worry about hurting others. The presence of characters is also a characteristic of the literary texts. In The Great Gatsby we have Jay Gatsby the main character an ambitious dreamer searching desperately to repeat the past in a different context. Nick Carraway a young graduate from Yale which aspires to be a writer who is irresistibly attracted by the lifestyle of richness, opulence and extravagance but ends up being a supporter and admirer of Gatsby’s morals and values. Daisy Buchanan, Nick’s cousin and the object of the main character’s affection a careless, beautiful society girl with warm, fascinating gestures. Tom Buchanan is Daisy’s husband and the son of and immensely wealthy and socially solid family, a man without morals who can and will do anything to get what he wants. Among the other characters of he book we can find Jordan Baker, Myrtle and George Wilson and Meyer Wolfsheim. The setting of the novel takes place right after The Great War in the 1920s mostly in East and West Egg but also in New York. The major conflict is the fact that Daisy’s refuses Gatsby despite the vast fortune he has collected for her because of his unclear past. The climax of the book the confrontation between Tom and Jay is in chapter 7 and takes place at the Plaza Hotel in New York. The narrative voice of the novel is Nick which tells the story in the first person because he is part of it too. The mood is largely dark, pessimistic, and vapid as set by the purposelessness and carelessness of the wealthy, the ongoing string of meaningless parties, the ugliness of the Valley of Ashes, and the tragic deaths of Gatsby and Myrtle. Only Nick Carraways honest and moral view of life breaks the sense of tragedy. Among the literary techniques use in the novel we can recognize the following: The presence of the direct and indirect characterization made by the narrator and deducted from the characters’ gestures and attitudes, the dialogue, the foreshadowing technique is also present through the mysterious calls Gatsby receives. Most important all types of irony are present in the text, verbal irony is present in the conflicts between Tom and Gatsby, situational irony, when Daisy ends up killing Tom’s mistress by accidentally running over her with Jay’s car and dramatic irony, when George Wilson murders Gatsby because he assumes Gatsby was the wealthy man his wife, Myrle, was having an affair with. Considering all the above, The Great Gatsby by Scott F. Fitzgerald is a modernist novel based on the reality of the post war 1920s, inspired from the authors’ life which satisfies all the requirements in order to be called a literary work.

Link Between Entrepreneurship and Economic Development

Link Between Entrepreneurship and Economic Development In the influential article by Solow (1956), a structure was given for the readers to have a clear view of the linkage between economic growth and the basic important factors of production. He suggested ways in which maximum economic growth is easily achievable through his dynamic state of the art framework. Solows model named as the growth accounting framework, includes two factors; physical capital and labor precisely, whereas technological change being the implicit factor. One of the basic purposes is to tell the reader about the entrepreneurial trends going on in the world. Entrepreneurship is a central focus in the growth policy which is well matched in the Solows model and it is also linked to the economic growth at the same time. It is linked to the economic growth in the sense that it is facilitating the current organizations through spillover of knowledge and in turn increasing the economic growth. According to Acs (2004) and Audretsch (2006) the term knowledge filter for the commercialization of the firm in terms of RD, human capital, university research etc may not be the only sources of economic growth. It has been noticed that the investment in new knowledge has been substantial resulting in growth and decrease in unemployment, but it blocks commercialization of new knowledge investments in turn reducing innovative activity and ultimately declining growth. The growing of entrepreneurship policy to promote economic growth is an attempt to create entrepreneurship capital, or the ability of an economy to generate the start-up of new firms. Porter (1990) said that Entrepreneurship is at the heart of national advantage. The role of entrepreneurship motivates economic growth through innovation and sustaining of competition among competitors. Entrepreneurship is an important part of industrial growth and the backbone of any country for its economic development. The spirit of entrepreneurship brings about enthusiasm, persistence and the ability to seek entrepreneurial opportunities that lead to success. A countrys ability to generate a steady stream of business opportunities can only come about when its people take to entrepreneurial activities. Entrepreneurs are essentially the engines of growth for a country. Entrepreneurship and entrepreneurs are vital drivers of economic growth, employment, innovation and productivity and it has been long understood by analysts and economic theoreticians. Entrepreneurship is the driving force behind the growth in the modern economy. Taking into consideration the topic I have chosen the following dimensions: Entrepreneurship Commercialization Investment Capital New firms Now I will thoroughly discuss each dimension separately Entrepreneurship: According to the Small Business service 2002, the term entrepreneurship is derived from the word entrepreneur, and it is commonly referred to as the activity that individuals connect in that is often characterized by a unique reflection, innovative approaches and risk taking in order to create a new business or grow an existing business. It can be defined as a managerial performance that time after time develop opportunities to bring results beyond the individuals own capabilities, which involves creativity and innovation says Thompson (1999) and it is also a focus on change and opportunity as well as organization-wide management says Wickham (2001). Entrepreneurship is an attitude that covers an individuals motivation and capability, independently or within the context of an organization and to spot an opportunity and to pursue it in order to create wealth or economic success. It is advance thinking outside the box leading to new ideas, new products or services. Better production methodologies and efficient ways of doing things also helps in economic growth according to Khan (2008). Cantillon, (1700s), used the term entrepreneur to refer to a person who took an active risk-bearing role in pursuing opportunity. It is not a 21st century phenomenon as Coulter (2003) says. Deakins and Freel (2003) in their research found out that entrepreneurship acts as a catalyst in bringing about an economic change and helps in economic development. Entrepreneurship is the apparent aptitude and enthusiasm of persons, on their individual base, in groups, inside and outside existing organizations to make out and generate new economic opportunities (new products, new production methods, new organizational schemes and new product-market combinations), and to introduce their ideas in the market, in the face of uncertainty and other obstacles, by making decisions on location, form and the use of resources and institutions says Wennekers and Thurik (1999). Schumpeter in his theory of Economic Development emphasizes the role of the entrepreneur as basic cause of economic development. He describes how the innovating entrepreneur challenges existing firms; by introducing new inventions that make current technologies and products obsolete. This process of creative destruction is the main characteristic of what has been called the Schumpeter Mark I regime. This process of creative accumulation is the main characteristic of the Schumpeter Mark II regime. Commercialization: Commercialization is a process that helps firms achieves a good name in the market economy. New technologies are introduced in the market and they further help in attaining much public attention. Commercialization has been occurring throughout the world and proves helpful in getting much surface attention. The basic component of commercialization of innovation includes patent protection and capital investments. According to the WIPO2007; National Governors Association 2008, both the patent requests along with the easy governmental policies for promotion of capital investments in concept to the new commercial applications are rising. Economic development is possible through successful commercialization. It is a cycle as commercialization increases the economic value by creating high skilled people which in turn is the basis of highly waged jobs and both these lead towards the stability of the economy. New technology in commercialization is playing its vital role as this knowledge when applied appropriately and in the right direction helps in the growth of the economy. A five stage model of commercialization process according to Jolly (1997) has been outlined in order to attain market entry of new procedures, goods and techniques. These stages are as follows: Imaging stage This is the first stage in which the researcher finds the basic research which relates to a new concept. Technology exploration is the main purpose of this stage. Incubating stage In the incubating stage, the already existing techniques and technologies are examined, the ones that are being generically used and tested. Demonstrating stage Prototypes are created in this stage of the new concept. Promoting stage This stage is the beginning of the entry and expansion of the prototypes being created in the demonstrating stage. Sustaining stage The last stage according to Jolly tells us that whether the prototype is able to sustain the in the long run or not (David A. Boulay; Charles T. Worley; Meagan Barnes , 2008) Investment: Investment and entrepreneurship are interrelated with each other. Entrepreneurship is not possible without investment. Investment is required for production of new products and services. It is also required for enhancing knowledge and technology which helps in innovation. In intrapreneurship: conceptualizing entrepreneurial employee behavior by Jeroen de Jong Sander Wennekers in (2008), the major inconsistent elements of entrepreneurship are the investment of personal financial means and the related financial risk taking, a higher degree of self-sufficiency, and legal and fiscal aspects of establishing a new independent business. New ventures started by entrepreneurs are often risky and they require heavy investment. It is a risk that entrepreneurs take; in order to bring out a new innovation in the form of a new product or new service or even a new methodology of production, into existence. The transformation of knowledge into a new product is risky and if the idea clicks the investment is turned into profit which helps in economic development. According to Baumol (2002a, 2002b) the entrepreneurial function of risk taking in the innovation process from the role of larger current corporations that are engaged into routine processes of large scale innovation. In the impact of entrepreneurship on economic growth by M.A. Carreea b.c and A.R. Thurika, a large amount of companies guide to high interest in huge amount of investment and research and development programs leading to high growth where as less amount of investments in research and development lead to slow growth. Capital: Capital is the financial asset that is used for investment in the entrepreneurial activity to start a new venture of innovate the existing one. However, entrepreneurial and risk taking behavior certainly makes apparent itself in the creation of new ventures. Higher the entrepreneurship intensity is, the higher the level of the hidden variable entrepreneurship capital becomes. Entrepreneurship capital means the ability for economic agents to generate new firms. Entrepreneurship has typically been referred to as an action, process, or activity whereas entrepreneurship capital is the ability of the people to generate new firms and help in the economic prosperity of the world. According to G. Hofstede (2002), entrepreneurship capital can also be a part of stock capital as it reflects other numerous factors such as legal, institutional and social factors. A recent study shows that entrepreneurship capital is somewhat a missing link in describing the variations in economic performance says Acs and Audretsch (2003) From the economic perspective, Hebert and Link (1989) distinguish between the supply of financial capital, innovation, allocation of resources among substitute uses and decision-making. Such perspectives generate a high propensity for economic agents to start new firms can be characterized as being rich in entrepreneurship capital. Entrepreneurship capital exerts a positive impact on economic output for a number of reasons. The first being mechanism for knowledge spillovers. Romer (1986), Lucas (1988 and 1992) Grossman and Helpman (1991) recognized that knowledge spillovers are an important mechanism underlying growing expansion. A second way that entrepreneurship capital put forth a positive impact on economic out-put is through the increased competition by high number of enterprises. Jacobs (1969) and Porter (1990) argue that competition is more conducive to knowledge externalities than is local monopoly. A third way that entrepreneurship capital generates economic output is by providing variety among the firms. Not only does entrepreneurship capital generate a greater number of enterprises, but it also increases the multiplicity of enterprises in the location. A key assumption made by Hannan and Freeman (1989) in the population ecology literature is that each new organization represents a unique approach. Entrepreneurship Capital and Economic Growth by Audretsch and Keilbach tells that entrepreneurship capital contributes to output and growth by serving as a means for knowledge spillovers, increasing competition, and by instilling diversity leading to economic growth. New Firms: Schumpeter (1942) gave his work in a very influential manner and since then entrepreneurship has been the hot topic in economic growth and development. With the advent of entrepreneurship, new firms and new employment opportunities are created which brings with it productive innovation says Baumol (2002). It is important to understand factors that promote new firms to economic development. High level of new firms is created with entrepreneurial activities which significantly promotes economic vitality and shows that the economy is dynamic rather than being static. Different factors affect the creation of new firms such as unemployment, population growth, industrial structure, and human capital, the availability of financing and entrepreneurial individuality. Building on the contributions of urbanism Jane Jacobs, Lee, Florida and Gates (2002) showed that social diversity and human capital have constructive relationships with regional innovation production measured by per capita patent production. According to Rynolds, (1994) factors like unemployment, population, industrial scattering and financial availability are important in terms of new firm formation. Armingten and Acs (2002) found that industrial intensity, income growth, population growth and human capital were closely related to new firm formation. Kirchhoff (2002) found academic research and development expenditure to be associated with rates of new firm structure across regions. Studies noted the significance of the function of association in entrepreneurship. Saxenian (1999) found that extensive networks of Chinese and Indian workers help people start new firms with the help of contacts and financial support in Silicon Valley. STUART and SORENSON (2003) argue that businesses cluster because geographical closeness enables them to use social ties necessary to gather together essential resources. Conclusion: Entrepreneurship is a vast topic which covers the major aspects of economic growth. Entrepreneurship is possible with the help of new innovative ideas that gives birth to new firms. For making the innovation real, investment is required in capital and assets. All these dimensions lead towards economic growth of the world.

Earthquake San Francisco- 1906 :: essays research papers

Earthquake San Francisco- 1906   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  On the morning 12 past 5:00 San Francisco suffered a major earthquake that killed 3000 people, the earthquake lasted for about 40 seconds and was recorded at 8.3 on the Richter Scale.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  People ran from there houses and some stayed inside the buildings and were crushed. The people who ran in the streets were killed by toppled buildings falling from above. There fire department was efficient but the water pipes that go down the San Andreas Fault were severed. The fire could not be stopped because there were now water until the next couple of days. Gas mains blew and caused massive fires all around the city. The city was in the middle of a great economic boom and almost all was lost on that day. The old buildings were never made to withstand earthquakes and easily crumbled and fell crushed people. Some sailers on the coast tried to leave but the waves flew the boats around like toys. The buildings were made out of unreined forced brick or wood which couldn't withstand a earthquake of that magnitude.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After the earthquake, they noticed that the San Andreas Fault shifted a 250-mile long section witch tore roads and fences. Rivers, roads and power lines were severed and not aligned with its surroundings. A road across the fault ended up 21 feet north of the road to the east same with the rivers and creeks.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The earthquake's most damage were in Los Bonas 30km east of the fault yet there was little damage along towns to the east side of San Francisco Bay such as Berkely, 25km east of the fault. And the capital of California Sacramento that was 120km east of the rupture showed no damage.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Scientists found out that the earthquake originated north of Oregon and south to Los Angeles a total of 1170 Km.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Knowing now that buildings could not withstand a earthquake with unreiforced brick, the new San Francisco would have buildings that can handle

Ethics †Argumentative Essay

1. What is an â€Å"argument† in philosophy? A set of claims one of which, called the conclusion, is said to be supported by the other claims, called the premises. 1. Premise 2. Premise 3. Conclusion 2. What do the terms â€Å"valid† and â€Å"sound† mean? Valid Argument If the premises are true, then it follows necessarily that the conclusion is true, or it is logically impossible for the conclusion to be false. Sound Argument A valid argument that contains only true premises. Soundness = Truth + Validity. 3. Sketch the â€Å"benefits arguments† in favor of harvesting Baby’s Theresa’s organs. Set out the premises and conclusion for â€Å"Benefits Argument† in the Baby Theresa case. The Benefits Argument 1. If we can benefit someone without harming anyone else, we ought to do so. 2. Transplanting the organs would benefit the other children without harming Baby Theresa. 3. Therefore, we ought to transplant her organs. The Argument That We should Not Use People As Means 1. If we use someone only as a means, we do something that is morally wrong. 2. Taking Theresa’s organs would be using her only as a meas to benefit other children. 3. There fore, it would be morally wrong to take Theresa’s organs. 4. Sketch the â€Å"we should not use people as means† argument against harvesting Baby Theresa’s organs. Set out the premises and conclusion for â€Å"The Wrongfulness of Killing Argument† in the Baby Theresa case. The Argument From the Wrongfulness of Killing 1. If we harvested Theresa’s organs, then we would be killing one innocent person to save another. 2. We should not kill one innocent person to save another. 3. Therefore, if we should not harvest Theresa’s organs. Rachel’s Assessment *The prohibition against killing is strong, but most people do not think it absolute. Baby Theresa is (1) going to die soon anyway, (2) not conscious, and (3) her organs could help save several other children. Rachels states that we might even regard Baby Theresa as â€Å"born dead†. 5. Sketch the â€Å"Slippery Slope Argument† against killing Tracy Latimer. If one bad thing happens then others will follow after. 1. If we permit any sort of mercy killing, we will have stepped onto a dangerous â€Å"slippery slope† down which we will inevitably slide. 2. The mercy killing of Tracy was permissible. 3. Hence, we have stepped onto a dangerous slippery slope (which will lead to the view that all life is cheap). Objection: Are the causal claims supported by any evidence? In general, it is easy to make dire predictions concerning the future. Consider an analogy: Would gay marriage lead to the disintegration of the family? 6. What does Rachels’s â€Å"minimum conception of morality† consist of? Morality is, at the very least, the effort to guide one’s conduct by reason-while giving equal weight to the interests of each individual affected by one’s decision. Reason and impartiality consist stuff 7. What are five common features of Cultural Relativism? 1. Different societies have different moral codes. 2. (a) The â€Å"good† is determined by society; (b) an act is â€Å"right† if it is allowed by the guiding ideals od the society in which it is performed, and â€Å"wrong† if it forbidden by those ideals. 3. There is no objective standard that can be used to judge one society’s code as better than an other’s. 4. The moral code of our society has no special status. 5. We should adopt an attitude to tolerance. 8. What is the â€Å"Cultural Differences† argument for Cultural Relativism? Does Rachels think it is sound? he thinks it is unsound, 9. If Cultural Relativism is true, then some odd consequences for ethical theory follow. What are they? 10. Does Rachels hold that there are some moral rules that all societies have in common? 11. What are the three traditional divine attributes of monotheism? 12. What is the difference between â€Å"theism†, â€Å"atheism†, and â€Å"agnosticism†? 13. What is the â€Å"problem of evil†? 14. What is the Divine Command theory? 15. What is Socrates’s question in the Euthyphro? How does it bear on the Divine Command Theory? 16. What are some of the main elements of Natural Law Theory? 17. Raise some objections to Natural Law Theory. 18. What is Ethical Egoism and how does it differ from Psychological Egoism? 19. Define â€Å"altruism†. Why does the Psychological Egoist hold that altruism is not possible? 20. Some object that Ayn Rand’s argument for Ethical Egoism presents us with a â€Å"false dichotomy†. Explain. 21. Why doesn’t Rachels think Ethical Egoism is a fair reflection of common sense morality? 22. What is the Principle Equal Treatment? How does it relate to Ethical Egoism? *There will be some extra-credit questions pertaining to material discussed in lecture.

Staging in Six Characters in Search of an Author essays

Staging in Six Characters in Search of an Author essays Staging in "Six Characters in Search of an Author" Pirandello's masterpiece, "Six Characters in Search of an Author" is well known for its innovative techniques of characterization, especially in the fullness of character as exhibited by the Stepdaughter and the Father, but it is especially renowned, and rightfully so, for the brilliant staging techniques employed by its author. Pirandello uses his innovative staging techniques specifically to symbolize, within the confines of the theater, the blending of the theater and real life. Chief among these, of course, is the way in which the author involves the audience in his production, to the point which, like a medieval audience, they become part of the action, and indeed, a character in its own right. The use of lines provided in the playbill was the first of its kind; never before had an author dared to ask the members of the audience to perform, even though unpaid, and indeed, paying for the experience themselves. But without those lines, how much less impressive would that moment be when the Director, understandably at the end of his rope with the greedy characters (who have been from the start trying to coerce him into writing a script for non-union wages), shouts "Reality! Fantasy! Who needs this! What does this mean?" and the audience, in unison, shouts back, "It's us! We're here!" The moment immediately after that, when the whole cast laughs directly at the audience, pointing at them in glee, is nearly unbearable for an audience, as shown by the riot after the first performance, when the audience not only ripped the seats out of the theater, but stole the popcorn. Pirandello also used a technique he inherited from the "Cirque de Soleil," involving a trapeze hung from the catwalk. But though the trapeze was not in itself his own invention, its use during the intermission as a means to annoy the audience was absolutely innovative. He had gotten the idea from w...

Race and Female Body Image essays

Race and Female Body Image essays The topic that we chose to research was race and female body image. We only researched African American women and Caucasian women because we wanted to see the contrast of the two. One of our hypotheses was that there would be a difference in the way women of different races perceived our bodies. Further, we hypothesized that African American women would have a more positive outlook on body image than Caucasian women did. Another hypothesis was that African American women that grew up with peers of the same ethnicity would have a more positive body image. Also, African American women that grew up with peers of a different ethnicity were predicted to have a more negative outlook on body image. The first aspect of body image we tested was how often our respondents thought about their weight. Of the 60 respondents, after running a crosstabulation between race and how often women thought about their weight, 36.7 percent of them thought about their weight often and 36.7 percent of them thought about their weight on occasion. The majority, 73.4 percent, were in these two categories (on occasion and often). When breaking the demographic of race down between the women, there was a difference in how often each race thought about their weight. 20 percent of the African American women reported that they thought about their weight virtually never, 40 percent reported they thought about their weight on occasion, and 25.7 percent said they thought about their weight often. With the Caucasian women, there were zero reports that they thought about their weight virtually never with 32 percent reporting they think about their weight on occasion and the majority, 52 percent reportin g they think about their weight often (table 1.2). What these percentages tell us is that there are fewer Caucasian women that think about their weight virtually never and more that think about their weight often than those reported by the African American women....