Week Three Learning Team Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Week Three Learning Team Assignment - Essay Example The needs of engineers and suppliers are also considered as the key supply chain needs of motor vehicles, especially in General Motors Company. The supply chain team should focus on automated materials recovery process and a centralized analysis system in order to meet the special needs of engineers and suppliers (UPS, n.d.). Engineers provide manufacturing services and advise in order to build customer-oriented products while suppliers provide parts and other materials needed to produce the best vehicles. A good relationship between the company and these stakeholders is necessary to combine the best parts and the best services to enhance an effective manufacturing process in the supply chain. Another key supply chain need for motor vehicles is a responsive process. The process of manufacturing vehicles should be a highly responsive one whereby accountability and flexibility are enhanced. The supply chain should be able to simplify automobile processes including warranty parts and root-cause analysis. Responsiveness of processes is highly dependent on the effectiveness of the company’s workforce and

Pupil Voice in the learning institutions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Pupil Voice in the learning institutions - Essay Example The intention of this study is the pupil voice as the consultative wing of pupil participation. When we talk of consultation, it means talking with pupils about things that matter in school. These may involve: discussions about teaching and learning, seeking of advice from pupils about new initiatives; calling for comments on ways of solving problems that affect the teacher’s right to teach, as well as, the pupil’s right to learn. It also entails calling for invitation on evaluation comments on current developments in the schools or classroom policy and practice. Hopkins as in Education Resources Information Center states that the Pupil Voice and the active engagement of pupils in shaping their own educational experience are key items to the success of the joyous achievement that every child aspires. There exists an ideal condition for learners to enable pupils to enjoy and achieve their endeavors at school, be it in the classroom, or within the school compound. Therefo re, it is highly crucial that the necessary environment is availed to them to be able to achieve to their best and excel in their quest for knowledge. According to Jackson in nexus magazine, not all learning happens in classrooms, but it is profound that most of it happens inside the learner. The pupil voice being a tool that can effectively influence the learning process has been faced by various issues that have crippled it. It has been remarkably effective in the sense that, not all voice is included in the process. Various reasons have been associated with failure of inclusion in the pupil voice. Few voices are heard in the process of discussing issues pertaining to the school learning activities. One of the key drivers behind eliciting pupil voice has been the rights movement whereby children are seen to be vital contributors to the process of decision making around the provisions of services (Lewis and Porter, 2006).

The Transformation Change in British Airways Case Study

The Transformation Change in British Airways - Case Study Example Divisional al differences were very evident taking into consideration that there were two chairmen, different set of executives, and detached marketing strategies.  Divisional differences were very evident taking into consideration that there were two chairmen, different set of executives, and detached marketing strategies.   2. These were the issues faced by BA in order to survive and to be a competitive player in the airline industry.   In terms of the change order, it can be inferred that the second-order change was implemented as evidenced by their significant reengineering of business focus and strategic direction. Previously, BA was very product-oriented and their main concern was â€Å"flying the British flag†. Their initiative was more on engineering,  and increasing plane routes in Europe. They forgot the critical importance of customers in the equation hence customer dissatisfaction became synonymous with the name BA. In contrast, the new direction taken by L ord John King and Mr. Collin Marshall gave more emphasis on the human aspect of business embodied in the universal term called customer service and satisfaction. These efforts fundamentally altered the way of thinking and doing business in BA.   3. Culture and people played the major levers used to effect the new direction. On the side, systems lever was also re-engineered to put more emphasis on service marketing and reward systems. The important first step was to break the previous product-oriented culture and to infuse the value of customer service as the new way of doing business. Several programs were implemented and very notable was PPF or Putting People First wherein employees were trained to gauge customer service in different perspectives and different settings. This helped employees to be emphatic in implementing the customer service efforts initiated by BA. As an offshoot of this program, several agenda like MPF (Managing People First), A Day in the Life, Brainwaves, To Be the Best, and Awards for Excellence were introduced with the objective of enforcing the significance of customer satisfaction and rewarding those who implement the programs religiously.

Case Study Analysis - Tiffanies Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Analysis - Tiffanies - Case Study Example The sale of â€Å"fine† jewelry accounts for only a small percentage of the overall sales and profitability for the firm; however, it continues to represent a lion’s share of the overall investment, research and development, and product space that such items receive within the Tiffany branded stores. Tiffany’s is seen by consumer markets as representing on extremely expensive pieces of fine jewelry; this somewhat reduces the degree and extent to which it can hope to engage consumers within other markets. Solution a: Activate an aggressive marketing campaign that alerts consumers that Tiffany’s provides for the needs of a diverse group of consumers; not only those that are within the highest socio-economic category. Solution b: Begin slowly phasing less expensive products into the product mix and hope that the consumer base will respond positively by means of gradual osmosis; continuing to utilize the 18 month product cycle previously defined. Solution a: Promote a strategy that engages consumer awareness that Tiffany’s physical location only represents a portion of what the firm has to offer and that online shopping as a manner by which everyone else that does not live in close proximity can enjoy their products. Solution b: Begin to alter the brand marketing approach so that Tiffany’s will not only be marketed within certain select forums. This will encourage a re-integration of understanding in terms of what the firm represents and how. Solution b: Discontinue existing and outdated marketing approaches that have placed a disproportional focus on word of mouth and status advertising; as these are outdated and insufficient to reach emerging markets. Solution a: Whereas almost all other luxury brands have engaged with the Chinese market thoroughly, Tiffany’s only represents 10 stores in this nation of over 1 billion people – indicating a situation in which potential for profitability and market space within China

Contemporary Video Art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Contemporary Video Art - Essay Example Lynda Benglis is an eminent sculptor who produced many video presentations in the mid 1970s. Her main theme is female sexuality and identity. The interest and presence in her sculptural work using metaphorical, biomorphic shapes finds its way into her self-reflexive, investigative videos. The subject matter of 1970s feminist video was personal. ‘Benglis’s video work confronts issues raised by feminist theory, including the representation of women, the role of the spectator, and female sexuality. Benglis also engages the emergent practice of video in an incisive discourse on the production of the moving image.’ The art of the process is thus captured within the work itself even as the question of self is investigated. ‘Benglis negotiates a personal space for herself, maintaining a deliberate distance from the medium. Using her own body and creating multiples of her images. She interrogates the relation of the self to the body—focusing on the interface between our inner and outer realities. With Benglis standing in front of a photograph of herself, which is then affixed to a monitor bearing her image, the notion of â€Å"original† is complicated. Benglis’s work takes on another layer of meaning.’ Her video, Document (1972), suggests the impotence of media to accurately copy her, her image and herself. ‘She, as the object of our gaze, never allows a static full-face pose on the screen. Benglis’s use of the replicated image in photography and video, both in and on the TV, is a direct reveal.

Size and Complexity of an Animal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Size and Complexity of an Animal - Essay Example The essay "Size and Complexity of an Animal" talks about the fundamental aspect of animal growth and the relationship between the growth in size and the surface area relative to its volume. The relationship between surface areas to volume ratio is best exemplified by reflection on phylum Porifera. The organism has a smaller surface area in relation to its volume. As a result, it depicts a simple form of exchange with the external environment. For example, nutrients are taken directly from water then enters through pores by cells lining the organism. On the other hand, complex organisms have a larger surface area to volume. As a result, these animals have trouble in acquiring nutrients. Therefore, they have developed a complex mechanism of feeding such as mesoderm in platyhelminths. The development of larger and complex bodies posed a challenge in respiration. The reason is that smaller animals such as sponges could take gasses directly from the surrounding water. As a result, there was no need for a development of the specialized organ. The challenge arises, as organism could not exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide directly with their cells. Moreover, in platyhelminths, the development of flat body enhanced efficient exchange of gasses through diffusion. The flat body help in providing a high surface area to volume ratio and hence easy supply and exchange of gasses. On the other hand, higher animals could not maintain gas exchange through their body surface. As a result, diffusion was not possible on their body surfaces.

Development of the US economy over the Past 3 Years Essay Example for Free

Development of the US economy over the Past 3 Years Essay The American government has been successful in running its economy for the years 2005, 2006 and 2007 as shown in continuing productivity growth, the low level of inflation as well low interest rate. This paper therefore attempts to discuss or dramatize the success of the American Government been in running its Economy over the last three years. Since any success will have to be explained on what actions the American government has, this paper will therefore describe and evaluate the main macro economic policies used by the American government, if there is any, over the last three years. How successful is the American government in running its Economy over the last three years? The American government performed well in terms of GDP and other growth measures for the last three years starting from 2005 up to the third quarter of 2007. GPD growth was recorded to have an average of 3 ? % from 2005 up to first quarter of 2006. This slowed down a little starting from second quarter of 2006 (2 ? %) to first and second quarter of 2007 , but the third quarter of 2007 appeared to started showing higher increases at 3. 9%. In describing the state of the US economy, Poole said â€Å"†¦The U. S. economy is highly productive, profit-making opportunities abound, interest rates and inflation are both relatively low and stable. † The economy is however not without any challenges to face. Said challenge is not the business cycle but how the US economy will adjust on many fronts to the baby boom generation retirement but Poole believes that the U. S. laws and institutions will enable the country to face these challenges with a better deal of buoyancy than in some other countries that is facing or will be facing the demographic challenge sooner. Poole expressed an assurance that the U. S. economy is fundamentally sound. He cited the fact that surveys of business economists over the past few years regularly pointed to key sources of strength of US economy and these include â€Å"a dynamic and flexible labour market and a financial system that rewards innovation and risk-taking by channelling capital to its highest rates of return. † He explained that the US market-based economy will allow companies â€Å"the ability and the incentive to innovate and to adapt quickly to changes in relative demands for goods and services. Thus he observes that present managements responding promptly to various shocks that shock the economy and according to him this is a growing dynamism of the U. S. economy which be believes is satisfactorily illustrated by the rise in the economy’s rate of productivity growth that has began as early as 1995 and there is still no sign of let up even at present. One way to check economic performance is the level of inflation. Poole said, that inflation as measured by the all-items CPI called â€Å"headline CPI inflation† slowed from 3. 4 percent in 2005 to 2. percent in 2006, while the inflation rate measured by the PCE (core inflation, which excludes food and energy prices) price index rose slowed from 2. 9 percent to 2. 3 percent over the same period. The decline of inflation in 2006 could only indicate remarkable effect of the monetary policy. Poole explained that the restraint of headline inflation is undeniably an indication of the sharp decline in energy prices over the second half of 2006. He added that most economists believe that core inflation is a better measure of inflation pressures. He also explained that that slight increase in the core PCE price index from 2. percent in 2005 to 2. 2 percent in 2006, and the core CPI index increase more, from 2. 2 to 2. 6 percent was negative indication. However, the core price pressures have been easing out lately which was an indication of a momentum that is headed to a favourable direction. What are the economic policies used by the American Government in managing the economy? The main macro economic policies used by the American government over the last three years include the use of its monetary policies. The use of monetary policy is evident in Federal Reserve Bank having raised its target for the federal funds rate from 1 percent in 2004 to 5? ercent in June of 2006 and is still maintained at present. It was the US monetary policy actions that have kept inflation largely, although not perfectly in check. Monetary policies involved the actions done by the Federal Reserve Bank to control money supply for purposing of managing inflation and necessarily GDP growth. Thus Poole believes that such monetary policy likely had something to do with the timing of slower GDP growth. He emphasized that the timing of slower GDP growth was the inevitable result of falling margin of underutilized resources. He admits however of other factors that is causing the slowdown starting in second quarter of 2006 which he felt as independent of monetary policy. One was the sharp increase energy prices, which showed improvement in the middle of 2006 while the other was considerable weakness in housing markets, which Poole believed may just now be giving off very tentative signal of the need to stop as has reached the bottom . In relation to the use of monetary policy to the US economy, Poole suggested three remarkable facts that deserve attention. He identified the first by saying that the real GDP growth, though sluggish in prior years has become robust starting in 2003, which may now have contributed a present low unemployment rate of 4. 6 percent. Another is that fact long-term inflation expectations were hardly shifted, while the third is the fact of quarterly average yield on 10-year nominal Treasury securities that was actually slightly lower than it was in mid 2002. Thus Poole is justifying that, â€Å"the economy has performed well despite a near tripling of crude oil prices since December 2001. He also pointed about the issue of present energy price increase. The first one is of course attributing, the increase in price â€Å"a consequence of a booming world economy, which raised energy demand rather than a supply shock; while the second one is attributing to monetary policies in the US and in most other countries have their jobs well of securing inflation expectations. † Despite a decline in growth in 2006 as compared to 2005, Poole found still further proof to the latest data on stable performance of the US economy. Poole, said, â€Å"†¦Particularly noteworthy was the larger-than-expected increase in real GDP during the fourth quarter of 2006. Following relatively anaemic rates of growth in the second and third quarters of 2006, growth of real GDP during the fourth quarter picked up nicely, rising to a 3. 5 percent annual rate. † Will the decline in the some of the measurable variable prove a failure of the monetary policy of the company? Poole cited two other aspects of the GDP report which were less favourable than the overall report. First, there was recorded slight decline in the business fixed investment during the fourth quarter of 2006. He interpreted that that the decline was nothing more than normal variation, as may be perhaps a consequence on the part of firms that were waiting for release of the new Vista operating system from Microsoft. To support his position, he explained that over the four quarters of 2006, a 6. 8 percent in non-residential fixed investment rose was recorded and one could readily appreciate that a healthy and expected increase given that the economy has continued to absorb excess capacity. This he even believe on the positive figures forecast for the economy that will â€Å"perhaps produce better than expected results. He however warned that â€Å"the extension of the fourth quarter weakness in business capital outlays going forward certainly would be a cause for concern. † The second noticeable aspect of the GDP report that was the nearly twenty percent rate of decline in residential fixed investment. He narrated that the decline began in the second quarter and was followed by a greater decline in each of the subsequent quarter. Thus he explained that as a normal result, the sharp decline in private housing starts and sales must have cause a significant pull on real GDP growth in 2006. Thus the second half of 2006, showed the contribution to real GDP growth from real residential fixed investment to have averaged about negative percentage points. This would prompt then the explanation for the slowing down in 2006 on why monetary policy was not applied to address the problem. Poole, explained that the Year 2006 was a hard situation for homebuilders as compared to 2005. He explained that following a record-setting rate of 1. 7 million units that have started in 2005, he noted that single-family started to fall to 1. 5 million units in 2006. He explained that the this average showed a comparatively large number of starts during the first half of the year which was followed by a much lower level of starts during the second half of 2006. This he noted December 2006- single-family starts which were approximately 16. 5 percent below annual average. In comparison, Poole cited the consensus of the Blue Chip forecasters made in December 2005 that real residential fixed investment would decrease by only about 1. 4 percent in 2006, using annual average data, but the actual the decline was about 4 ¼ percent. The rate fourth quarter as of 2006 is therefore obviously steeper, than the fourth quarter of 2005 to the fourth quarter of 2006. It may thus be observed that the slowing down of growth starting in the second quarter of 2006 may be attributed to the continued fall on sale of housing although presently there are already signs of recovery. But since the third quarter of 2007 has even exceeded even the average of growth rate prior to slight decline in second quarter of 2006, it may be argued that the problem of housing has eased out already. It may be concluded that the American government has been successful in running its Economy over the last three years in terms of GDP and controlled level of inflation and the lower interest rate. The main macro economic policies used by the American government over the last three years include mainly the use of its monetary policies through the Federal Reserve Bank of the US by raising interest rate a little in order to control inflation. Since it was able to do its part in controlling prices via inflationary measures the US Government through the Federal Reserve has done well it function of managing the economy.