The Intel Corporation Waste Management Plan in the Workplaces

Executive summary Waste materials produced in the workplace pose various challenges to both organisations and the environments in which the refuse is disposed. This paper presents a discussion of the intensity of the seriousness of these problems with reference to a case study of waste management in Jones Cafe 5 and the Ronler Acres Cafe 3 workplaces.Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on The Intel Corporation Waste Management Plan in the Workplaces specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The two workplaces are cafà ©s owned by the Intel Corporation. They are located in Hillsboro in the State of Oregon, in the United States. Currently, the two dining facilities use pre-consumption waste management techniques, which involve measuring the pre-consumed waste in a bid to look for mechanisms of reducing the refuse. The facilities have been successful in this effort by reducing this type of garbage by 47 % between 2009 and 20 10. This reduction translates to saving of $132,000 for every $1,000,000 worth of foods produced at the workplaces. This paper proposes a plan for increasing the savings by an additional $80,000 for every $ 1,000,000 worth of foods produced in the facilities through the adoption of post-consumption waste saving strategies such as recycling, minimisation of packaging, and conversion of refuse into inputs. These strategies are implementable within one year. However, the strategies will use the Intel Corporation’s financial resources for the future reduction of costs associated with refuse. Introduction The world population is rapidly growing, thus leading to the emergence of more urban centres. As urban centres become more populated, municipal solid waste (MSW), which is one of the critical by-products of lifestyles associated with urbanisation, also increases. According to the World Bank (2013, par. 1), ‘ten years ago there were 2.9 billion urban residents who generated about 0.64 kg of MSW per person per day (0.68 billion tons per year)’. While this population has currently grown, the waste production capacity per person has also grown. This growth is due to increased consumption of manufactured food products and other goods.Advertising Looking for case study on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The World Bank (2013, par. 2) estimates that the world urban population currently stands at ‘about 3 billion residents generating 1.2 kg per person per day (1.3 billion tons per year)’. It also estimates that by 2025, the population will grow to 4.3 billion people generating waste amounting to 1.42 kg per individual in a day, which amounts to 2.2 billion tons of solid waste annually. Waste management is an important issue facing various municipal councils across the globe. Gandy (1999, p.21) notes that waste management refers to ‘the collection, transporta tion, processing and/or disposal, managing, and monitoring of waste materials’. The word ‘waste’ covers all material emanating from people’s activities. The aim of waste management is to mitigate the effects of the waste on the environment and people’s health (Price 2001). Considering the estimates of the Word Bank (2013) as stated above, building of municipal waste landfills emanates from individual consumers within urban centres. Therefore, a waste management plan begins with the development of strategies of reduction of waste production at an individual or organisational level. This step precedes the development of plans for disposal of garbage at an individual or organisational level. This paper presents a waste management plan in the workplaces for the Intel Corporation in its facilities in Oregon. Through proper management or reduction of waste at the facilities, the paper holds that municipal solid waste reduction at both Oregon and global pl atforms would become a reality when other organisational and individual consumers follow similar strategies for waste reduction across the globe. Description of the workplace Background information Concepts of foods waste management attract attention for retails food organisations as they seek for mechanisms of handling their waste in a manner consistent with concerns of environmental suitability anchored on perspectives of social corporate responsibility. This concern is perhaps due increasing cognitions that when foods organisations manage garbage better opportunities exists for cutting their operational cost (Pipatti Wihersaari 2008). Indeed, this is the main driver of paying intensive consideration to garbage reduction and management at the Intel Corporation’s dining facilities.Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on The Intel Corporation Waste Management Plan in the Workplaces specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Lear n More Located in Hillsboro, in Oregon, two dining facilities (Jones Cafe 5 and Ronler Acres Cafe 3) owned by the Intel Corporation are incredibly concerned about proper waste management practices coupled with derivation of best approaches to garbage reduction. In this effort, the facilities sought to generate data for their garbage by tracking various pre-consumer food-related wastes through the deployment of waste tracking computer-based systems coupled with software applications (Intel Corporation 2010). The main objective of gathering this data was to provide information, which forms the basis for the creation of staff awareness on impacts of waste at the facilities, focus their behaviours towards waste minimisation, and conduct diagnosis for various causes of high wastage at the facilities. The program was put to action in 2009 through 2010. Preliminary results of the program indicated that tracking waste at the facilities on a daily basis had the capacity to reduce pre-consu mption waste by about 47 percent in terms of weight. It could also reduce the cost of foods per meal basis by 13.2 percent (Intel Corporation 2010). The facilities also approximated that if the waste management plan worked; extending similar concepts to other foods facilities in one year would reduce emissions of green gasses by about 100 metric tons (Intel Corporation 2010). Demographic data Ronler Acres Cafe 3 and Jones Cafe 5 produce large amounts of garbage. At the workplaces, the amount of waste produced is not related to the floor space or the number of employees, but to the number of meals served by the two dining facilities on a daily basis. They both serve about 12,000 meals in a week, which translates to about 2900 pound of foods going into waste (Intel Corporation 2010). Such refuses have huge implication on the operational costs at the Intel Corporation, as evidenced by data from environmental protection agency of the US. Intel Corporation (2010, p.1) posits, ‘garb age cost commercial and retail food service operations $30 billion to $ 40 billion per week’.Advertising Looking for case study on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The two workplaces owned by the Intel Corporation have their share on this huge sum of costs, which may be considered unnecessary if proper waste management plans and practices are adopted. Although pre-consumer wastage poses the biggest challenge to both Ronler Acres Cafe 3 and Jones Cafe 5, other materials are emitted from the workplaces as waste. These materials include post-consumer waste such as packaging materials like cartons, plastics, aluminium cans, and steel waste such as damaged cutlery among others. Cutting on production of pre-consumer waste does not translate to reduction of some of these post-consumer wastes. The waste would end up in the incineration, recycling or landfills waste management systems in Oregon. Packed take-away meals pose a major challenge to the two facilities. The Intel Corporation does not have a mechanism of tracking waste associated with packed take-way foods and beverages in a bid to ensure their proper management through appropriate disposal ap proaches depending on the type of waste. Current waste management practices The current waste management systems at the Intel Corporations’ Ronler Acres Cafe 3 and Jones Cafe 5 focus on reduction of pre-consumer waste. The food waste tracking system is created through financial aid from the department of environmental quality in Oregon and the Hillsboro City. The system operates through the deployment of digital scales coupled with software to measure various quantities of the disposed foods. Intel Corporation (2010, p.2) notes that the tracking includes ‘pre-consumer foods from hot and cold production areas as well as post-consumer foods from the hot line, salad bar and other cafes and kiosks throughout facilities’. In this sense, the system only focuses on the reduction of wastage of foods before consumption by the Intel corporation customers. It has mechanisms of reducing post-consumption waste. The current pre-consumer waste management system at both Ronler A cres Cafe 3 and Jones Cafe 5 workplaces has proved less costly in terms of employees’ time utilised in weighing the foods thrown away as refuse. The system uses only 4 minutes within a week for every employee at the two work places. The data collected through the system includes the food items disposed, the reason for disposal, the type of containers used in weighing, the name of the employee recording the data, and the sending station of the dining facility. In the effort to foster productivity of the system, the Intel Corporation appointed a work team referred as ‘stop waste action team’ spearheaded by an executive chef to provide oversight and review data collection in every site. The team encouraged collective improvement in avoiding food wastage. Between 2009 and 2010, the system made it possible to reduce food waste to 1600pounds from 2900 pounds in a week. This move saved more than 60, 000 pounds of food from going into waste annually. In terms of cost, in every $ 1, 000,000 worth of food, $132, 000 was saved through pre-consumer waste reduction. However, this saving could even increase to $ 200,000 by adopting the waste management plan proposed in this paper. Rationale for waste assessment The rationale for conducting waste assessment at the Intel Corporation’s Ronler Acres Cafe 3 and Jones Cafe 5 workplaces rests on the platform of the need to save costs for the organisation and mitigate health and environmental impacts of refuse. In Oregon, there is also a legislative requirement for organisations to reduce their waste materials in a bid to reduce the Municipal Solid Waste (MSW). Failure to comply with this directive may result to legal action against an organisation. However, amid this legislative requirement, cutting environmental costs and operational costs for Intel are the most important reasons for conducting the waste assessment. As argued before, operations in food services results in loss of $30 to$ 40 in the form of foods waste. This aspect is accounted for by between 4 and 10 percent of all foods prepared in the retail food sector that never reach the customers’ plate. Chief causes for this scenario include spoilage, overproduction, and expiration. These wasted foods add challenges to environmental pollution by food-associated waste such as packaging for consumed food, which finds its way to landfills. Decomposing food waste emits gases such as methane, which create greenhouse gas problems (Pipatti Savolainen 2006; Bogner Matthews 2003). Hence, reducing waste underscores an important aspect for conducting waste assessment in any work place. Methodology The first step in the development of waste management plan for Ronler Acres Cafe 3 and Jones Cafe 5 is answering the question why waste exists in the two workplaces. Responses to this question prompt the necessity of conducting interviews with the workers at the organisation coupled with the management team. The existing waste manage ment system provides an important source of data on the type of garbage. However, for post- consumer waste, contents of waste collection bins are used to determine the type of waste finding its way to the Oregon municipal. Appropriate waste management techniques can only be derived after getting data pertaining to the types of waste materials involved in the process. Hence, an analysis of the waste contained in waste bins is important. A consideration is also made to study mechanisms of food processing at the two dining facilities. This aspect helps in gathering data on waste that accompanies foods offered at both Ronler Acres Cafe 3 and Jones Cafe 5 workplaces, which may get out of the dining facilities in the form of take-away foods, later to find its way to the Oregon MSW treatment plants. Description of waste generating processes With the new system of waste management in place, Ronler Acres Cafe 3 and Jones Cafe 5 have been in a position to reduce their pre-consumption wastage by more than 47 percent. The main processes through which waste materials are produced include trim wastage, expiration, spoiled foods, and over production. These processes are illustrated in the circle graph shown in fig. 1 below. Fig.1 waste production process at Ronler Acres Cafe 3 and Jones Cafe 5 Source: Intel Corporation (2010, p.7) The processes for producing food in the facilities consume a lot of water, land resources, and more importantly, energy. Affluent water constitutes some of the principle waste produced by the facilities. Waste materials at the facilities are also produced through food processing activities such as transportation, storage, and processing. Waste materials composition includes biodegradable waste and non-biodegradable waste such as plastics and aluminium cans. Waste materials are normally collected in wastes bins before being hauled to the Oregon’s waste treatment plants. Efforts to reduce waste production at both Corporation’s Ronler A cres Cafe 3 and Jones Cafe 5 has seen the Intel Corporation appoint waste administration personnel within its facilities headed by a senior chef. Under the new system, the organisation does not hire from outside its existing labour resources. The existing workforce takes individual responsibility to measure and record waste materials before disposal. From the paradigms of labour costs, Intel Corporation (2010, p.5) notes that ‘in hypothetical operations at an hourly rate of $ 10, total labour cost in the waste reduction would be less than $30 per week’. However, the system works without any additional dollars or even working hours for the existing employees. Instead of increasing labour, the waste management systems reduce labour requirements in the two dining facilities through the reduction of overproduction. Results from the waste assessment An interview with the workers and the management team provided important information on waste generation processes. An intervie w with the senior chefs at both Ronler Acres Cafe 3 and Jones Cafe 5 revealed that forecasting of menus to cut down waste is a major problem. In particular, the chef for Ronler Acres Cafe 3 admitted that even in the light of the new system of waste management at his work place, low production forecasting is a major challenge. It may lead to failure of the facility to meet the orders of the day. Jones Cafe 5 senior chef admitted the incompleteness of the waste management system to address challenges of management of some waste materials such as refuse vegetable oils, empty cans, and other packaging materials such as containers for hot beverages. At both facilities, the management cited the problem of menu sophistication in contributing to the challenges of accurate forecasting of the raw material requirements to avoid waste production. The facilities kept on altering their menus to incorporate more of local and sustainable foods, which are highly perishable. This move led to the prod uction of more green waste. The pie-chart (circle graph) shown in fig. 2 below shows most discarded waste in the two dining facilities Fig. 2: Pie chart showing most discarded waste at Ronler Acres Cafe 3 and the Jones Cafe 5 Source: Intel Corporation (2010, p.7) Through the new pre-consumption waste management system, Ronler Acres Cafe 3 and Jones Cafe 5 have been in a position to reduce their waste production levels tremendously as shown in table 1 below. Table 1: Waste reduction rate at Ronler Acres Cafe 3 and Jones Cafe 5 Metric Total Total pre-consumer food waste 92, 920 lbs Waste baseline week(4/20/2009) 2933 lbs Report period ending week (4/05/2010) 1562 Percentage change in lbs -47% Source: Intel Corporation (2010, p.6) Analyses of results Amid the efforts of the Intel Corporation to minimise production of pre-consumer waste, both Ronler Acres Cafe 3 and Jones Cafe 5 still produce other forms of waste materials. Effective management of such waste can lead to i mmense reduction of costs of running the facilities. One of the waste minimisation opportunities is to encourage customers to come with their hot beverages travel mugs. This move can help in reducing the amount of waste materials used for packaging hot beverages. The cost of each hot beverage-packing container is about 11% of the total cost each container of hot beverage served at the facilities. By offering 10 % discount on equal quantities, of beverage served to customers having their own hot beverage travel mugs, will increase profit levels of the beverages by 1% while reducing the amount of plastic waste drastically. This cost-saving and waste-reduction opportunity also includes additional saving on minimisation of transportation costs and the carbon dioxide emissions associated with transportation of the packaging containers to the facilities. Encouraging customers to come with their own travel mugs can assist in putting two trucks for hot beverage packaging containers out of t he roads per week. Both Ronler Acres Cafe 3 and Jones Cafe 5 discard many used vegetable oils. Instead of incurring costs levied on proper disposal of oil refuse from restaurants in Oregon, Ronler Acres Cafe 3 and Jones Cafe 5 can utilise the waste vegetable oil as cost-saving and waste-reduction opportunity. Vegetable oils can be deployed in the production of electricity to supplement the Oregon’s State grid supply to the Ronler Acres Cafe 3 and Jones Cafe 5, and in the production of energy required in heating water. The utilisation of refuse vegetable oil in the production of electricity requires waste oil generator such as Vegawatt vegetable oil generator. The generator can produce hot water from refuse vegetable oil at a capacity of 120 gallons in a week (Kaplan 2012). Picture 1 below shows an example of Vegawatt generator, which can be installed in a restaurant Picture 1: Vegawatt waste vegetable oil generator Source: Kaplan (2012, p.25) Apart from the minimisation of e nergy consumption from the Oregon State’s grid, the generator does not introduce significant costs in terms of space utilisation. It is the size of two-door Samsung freezers sold in the commercial market. Its break-even time is four or even two years with a cost saving of $7,000 annually for smaller versions and $25, 000 for larger versions (Kaplan 2012). Considering that Oregon’s department for environmental quality and the city of Hillsboro have high interest on giving incentives to organisations seeking to install systems for waste reduction and proper waste management, with such incentives, the payback period for Vegawatt waste oil vegetable generator can be reduced even to 6 months. Waste recycling especially steel waste, plastic waste, and aluminium cans underscores another important cost-saving waste reduction opportunity. For effective implementation of this strategy, awareness on the need to dispose these waste materials appropriately is important. Consequentl y, Ronler Acres Cafe 3 and Jones Cafe 5 need to sensitise their consumers on the importance of proper waste disposal. This goal can be achieved through the provision of waste bins for each type of waste at the exit of the facilities accompanied by signboards instructing customers to ‘put waste materials in their correct places.’ This move helps in reducing costs associated with sorting out waste materials. From the cost-saving analysis, the general perception is that recyclable waste materials call for collection, sorting out, and then transportation to the manufactures of the products and then delivered back to Ronler Acres Cafe 3 and Jones Cafe 5 at reduced costs. However, from a wider perspective, reducing the amount of virgin raw material required in the production of the materials translates in to reduced costs of production due to easiness of accessing cheaper raw materials (Myllymaa et al. 2005; Jenkins et al. 2003). Hence, the cost of repurchasing the products m ade from 100% recycled material also reduces at the two facilities. Recommendations for waste minimisation Ronler Acres Cafe 3 and Jones Cafe 5 should specifically aim at reducing post- consumption waste having successfully already minimised pre-consumption waste. This strategy can help the two workplaces to save costs for running the facilities by an additional $80,000 per $1,000,000 worth of food produced as compared to the already achieved cost saving of $132, 000 per 1,000,000 worth of food produced through pre-consumption waste reduction strategies. Future wastage minimisation strategies should focus on recycling, use of waste to produce inputs required in running the facilities such as power by making use of waste vegetables oil generators, and reduction of the amount of take-away foods and beverages packaging using containers, which cannot be reused to repackage without going through the recycling processes. Implementation of the above-recommended practices requires the commi tment of organisational resources in purchasing the required equipments and machineries such as Vegawatt generators and waste collection bins. Short-term strategies such as encouraging customers to come in with their packaging such as travel mugs require no resource planning and time. They are implementable immediately. Recycling requires good administration of the waste collection process coupled with acquiring of waste collection bins. This recommendation is implementable within one year. Through funds obtained from the Oregon department for environmental quality and city of Hillsboro, purchasing of Vegawatt generators can be accomplished within the next six months. Reference List Bogner, J Matthews, E 2003, ‘Global methane emissions from landfills: New methodology and annual estimates 1980-1996’, Global Biogeochemical Cycles, vol.17 no.11, pp. 34-48. Gandy, M 1999, Recycling and the Politics of Urban Waste, Prentice Hall, London.  Intel Corporation: Food Wastes Pr evention 2011, Intel Corporation, Oregon. Jenkins, R, Martinez, K, Palmer, K Podolsky, M 2003, ‘The determinants of household recycling: a material-specific analysis of recycling program features and unit pricing’, Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, vol.45 no.2, pp. 294-318. Kaplan, M 2012, ‘Restaurants Use Waste Oil for Power Generation’, Smart Planet, vol.11, no.7, pp. 21-34. Myllymaa, H, Dahlbo, M Ollikainen, S 2005, ‘A method for implementing life cycle surveys of waste management alternatives: environmental and cost effects’, Resources, Conservation, and Recycling, vol. 7 no.50, pp. 108-121. Pipatti, R Savolainen, I 2006, ‘Role of energy production in the control of greenhouse gas emissions from waste management’, Energy Conservation Management, vol.37 no.6, pp. 1105-1110. Pipatti, R Wihersaari, M 2008, ‘Cost-effectiveness of alternative strategies in mitigating the greenhouse impact of waste manageme nt in three communities of different size’, Mitigation and Adaption Strategies for Global Change, vol.2 no.1, pp. 337-358. Price, J, 2001. ‘The landfill directive and the challenge ahead: demands and pressures on the UK householder’, Resources, Conservation, and Recycling, vol. 32 no.13, pp. 333-348. World Bank: What a Waste – A Global Review of Solid Waste Management 2013. Web. 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British Library Project

British Library Project Introduction The British Library project was undertaken by the British Library, which is the biggest and the official national library for the United Kingdom (UK). The library currently holds about 150 million items in form of books, journals, videos and other forms of materials which are sourced globally (Wedgeworth 1993, p. 149).Advertising We will write a custom report sample on British Library Project specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The library is accredited with holding up to 14 million books from various sources and some of them are historic (meaning that they date from 2000 BC) (Wedgeworth 1993, p. 149). Annually, the library is estimated to add up to 3 million items in various modes and collectively, the distance covered is up to 11 kilometers (Wedgeworth 1993, p. 149). The library is currently a non-departmental public entity and most of the projects undertaken by the institution have been under the department of culture, me dia and sport (in terms of sponsorship and supervision). The Library undertook a failed project that saw it experience delays of up to 5 years and an upsurge of project costs that were in excess of 400 million Euros. There are many reasons advanced for the failure of projects but every project has its own unique characteristics (Walravens 2006, p. 30). This study will focus on the British Library project and account for the delays and shortcomings of the project. Secondly, this study will analyze the role the project managerial team had in causing these delays and the overspill of budgetary cost. Thirdly, this report will evaluate the possible remedies which could have been adopted by the project managers to avert the delays and overspill of project expenditures. Lastly, a conclusion summarizing the above findings will be provided. Delays and Cost Increases Project delays are a common recipe for the failure to meet project deadlines (Sears 2008, p. 1). There are often a number of re asons why various projects fail to meet their deadlines, thereby resulting in delays, but a number of them are unique to the project itself. The British library project resulted in significant delays of up to 5 years. There were a number of reasons voiced by various shareholders but most of them are not unique to the project per se, but projects of similar nature as well.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More One of the reasons attributed to the project delay was the overambitious estimation of the time needed to complete the project (Mincks 2004). There was also an incorrect task assessment of the project. Perhaps, the optimism evidenced in the project came about from the project outcomes expected of the study and previous precedents set by other projects of similar nature and undertaken by other organizations. However, the failure to correctly estimate the factual tim e schedule could be attributed to the failure of the project shareholders to coordinate effectively, thereby leading to overly optimistic time schedules. Also, the theoretical time scheduling failed to factor in the practical challenges of implementing such time schedules, therefore leading to excessive delays. Also, increased pressure from the client (British Library) put a lot of pressure on the project managers to unrealistically squeeze a lot of tasks within a short timeframe (that could potentially lead to an overall compromise of the project quality). Considering the mandate that the British Library has is of a public nature, there was a lot of public scrutiny and media surveillance that also added on to the pressure experienced by the project managers in meeting the project specifications (Wedgeworth 1993). This ultimately resulted in a lot of simultaneous task scheduling that fails to meet the required time schedules. Secondly, there was an unrealistic project scope that evi dently showed an inconsistency in the manner the project was to be undertaken and the time schedule allocated. In other words, the project had a wide scope that could not be accommodated in the set timeframe. The irrationality of the client also contributed to the widening of the project scope because various features were added to the project without carrying out a feasibility study to determine whether such changes could be accommodated. Such types of changes are normally estimated to result in months of project delays (Angel 2009). Thirdly, there was an obvious lack of clarity of project tasks and roles supposed to be undertaken by the project staff (Project Smart 2011). This means that there were instances of certain project staff doing the duties of another, and in the same manner, there were instances of certain project staff failing to do the duties that they were assigned.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on British Library Project specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This led to instances of overwork and time wastage to both groups of project staff; thereby leading to significant project delays. The lack of a clear breakdown of tasks also significantly affected the work of the project staff, with instances of staff misunderstandings becoming a common feature. Fourthly, there was a clear lack of risk management system where significant problems encountered in the course of undertaking the project were easily assumed to be repairable. In some instances, there was evidence of team members downplaying certain project challenges and assuming that they could be tabled in subsequent meetings. This created a situation where team members acted like they lived in a make-believe world where they believed that they could rescue a project at its last dying minutes without a comprehensive and all-inclusive plan that facilitated the achievement of such goals. This kind of short-term strategies meant to dea l with project challenges are not recommended by most project experts, as is affirmed by Angel (2009) who notes that: â€Å"All projects have problems; any one problem could destroy the plan and throw the project out of whack. If these problems are not identified and proactively resolved on an ongoing basis, things will only get worse† (p. 78). The lack of resources was a commonly voiced topic of concern among the project managers and which eventually lead to significant project delays. One of the most recognized factors was the delay in project funding by the relevant ministry which set back the completion of the project by a couple of months if not years. This issue can potentially cause a total halt to the project process, or in the same manner, lead to a slowdown of project functions (Angel 2009). In real sense, there is no way a project can be able to be completed in good time if the resources identified to complete the project within a given time schedule are not provid ed. For instance, if a project requires five developers, and only four are present, the likelihood of the project being completed in the given time is very low.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Lastly, there were significant delays evidenced out of experiencing damaged or missing infrastructure where certain tools to be used in the project completion (such as software, hardware, or documents) were either not availed at the project site or failed to work properly (Angel 2009). Significant delays were evidenced and compounded when such infrastructure were needed most; possibly to facilitate the transition of a given project task into another. In terms of costs escalation, the British library Project incurred more than 400 million pounds in excess of the estimated project costs. A number of reasons were attributed to this cost increase. Firstly, technical considerations accounted for the largest increase in project cost. Particularly, the lack of appropriate cost forecasting techniques contributed most to the project’s cost escalation. Most importantly, there seemed to be a lack of inadequate data that could be relied on by the project experts to correctly estimate the project costs (Project Smart 2011). These two factors consequently contributed to the biggest increase in project costs. Secondly, there was a clear evidence of optimism-bias by the project managers which consequently led to an escalation of project costs (Flyvbjerg 2008, p. 3). In other words, there was evidence of the project managers and other project shareholders to overestimate the likelihood of positive cost expenses and downplaying the likelihood that the costs incurred may spillover the set budget. Finally, there were instances of the sociopolitical environment having an effect of the cost structure of the project, in the sense that, there was a strategic misrepresentation of the scope of the project and the nature of the budget in ensuring the project is completed in an affordable manner. Considering the British Library project was a matter of public interest, such kind of sociopolitical influence was widely expected to affect the project in the long-run. Responsibility of Project Managers Of the above reasons identified for project delays and cost escalation, some of them can be directly attributed to a failure of the project manager to effectively undertake his or her duties, but others are beyond the scope of the project manager. When critically analyzing the escalation of project costs, the technical and psychological causes of project increase can be significantly attributed to the failure of project managers to effectively undertake their duties in the project management process (Project Smart 2011). In detail, the project manager should have adopted good cost forecasting techniques that were beneficial to the specific project. The inclusion of wrong data into the entire process also significantly contributed to the problem because wrong inclusion of data was bound to result in wrong cost forecasting. In terms of the failure of the project to meet its laid down guidelines, a number of factors could be specifically attributed to the project mana ger. For instance, the lack of clarity of project tasks was a function of the project manager because as Project Smart (2011) affirms, the project manager is supposed to ensure that project tasks are correctly executed by the project staff. The incorrect task assessment of the project was also a failure of the project manager because Verzuh (2008, p. 39) notes that project managers are supposed to ensure successful planning of the project is done before the project is underway. Under the same role, the failure to come up with a reasonable project scope was also a failure of the project manager. The same can also be said regarding the evidence of overambitious time estimates by the project manager. The lack of formulation of good risk management systems was also a failure of the project manager because this task falls under the role of monitoring and controlling of project tasks (Verzuh 2008, p. 39). Comprehensively, the above factors sum up the roles supposed to be undertaken by the project manager, but the lack of resources for the undertaking of project tasks, and the failure to provide appropriate and efficient infrastructure for the successful completion of the project, could not be attributed to the project manager. In a similar manner, the sociopolitical factors that led to the cost increase cannot be entirely attributed to the project manager, but rather the department for culture, media and sports and the administrators of the national Library. Alternative Project Management Actions There are a number of strategies which could have been undertaken by the project managers to avert the above mentioned time and cost risks. With regards to the costs risks, the project manager should have had a cost contingency fund to shoulder any risks of cost escalation (Mincks 2004, p. 316). This fund should specifically cover the spillover of costs that were not factored in the initial cost scope of the project. This strategy has been derived from studies done to evalu ate the reasons for the escalation of costs in cost engineering processes (Mincks 2004, p. 316). In ensuring the project meets it’s laid down time schedule, the project manager needed to first critically analyze the details pertaining to the project (Luckey 2006, p. 203). This implies critically analyzing the requirements of the project so that he or she can correctly know what the project entails (right to the slightest of details). In instances where there is evidence of ambiguities, clarification should be sought and finally, professionals should be hired to iron-out the project requirements, functional demands and ultimately, the design requirements for the entire project. Emphasis should however be laid on the scope creep in the overall development of the project plan because it has the potential of killing the purpose of the project (Angel 2009, p. 157). In highly demanding situations, it is advisable for the project manager to aggressively reduce the project scope and to ultimately avoid the inclusion of any new features to the project plan which were otherwise not there in the first place. To avoid any negative resource implications, it is pertinent for the project manager to map out any available resources (Mincks 2004, p. 316). This strategy need to be undertaken with the project requirements in mind so that the required personnel are available on the ground to undertake all the project requirements. Also, the available funding need to be determined to ensure the project will be completed without any financial hiccups. The entire relevant infrastructure needed for the completion of the project also needs to be determined well in advance (before the start of the project). With regards to risk management procedures, the project manager should identify all possible risks in the project execution process and develop a contingency plan that will outline the strategies to be used to remedy such risks incase they occur. A back-up plan would also come in handy, in case any aspects of the project plan (like personnel failures) fail to materialize. This plan will ultimately be the support system for the entire process. To avoid problems brought about by a lack of clarity of project tasks, the project manager should assign roles and responsibilities to team members in a clear and concise manner (Mincks 2004, p. 316). This will ensure every project member knows what he or she is supposed to do, and at what time. In effectively coming up with a good plan to this effect, the project managers should use project management tools, such as Gantt charts to come up with the right time schedules for this purpose. A failure to observe this procedure will ultimately lead to an overlap of responsibilities, time wastage, duplication of employees’ roles and responsibilities, and poor project quality. In undertaking this management strategy, the project managers also need to break down huge responsibilities into small and manageable roles. This implies the creation of sub-activities that are totally independent of each other, but which can be completed independently as well. After this breakdown is implemented, the smallest activities should be completed first; then the major activities follow. On a more general platform, the project manager should discourage the scheduling of many meetings meant to change the course of the project (Mincks 2004, p. 316). On the contrary, the project manager should only support meetings which are meant to solve pertinent problems only (on a need-by-need basis). Long and tedious meetings which have no clear-cut agenda are synonymous to a lot of time wastage and inefficiencies that are ultimately going to set back the completion of the project. Also, on a general basis, it is important for the project manager to document the critical underpinning of the project (Kohli 2006, p. 401). This means writing down the successes and failures of the projects on a sheet of paper so that future refe rencing can be done (with regards to the same project or subsequent projects). The project dashboard can come in handy when undertaking this task because it gives the project manager an overview of the project and enables him or her to quantify the progress made by the project team (in comparison to the laid down guidelines of the project plan). Conclusion This project assessment task exposes a number of lessons to be learnt in project management. Firstly, it exposes the fact that delays and cost implications are the most common types of risk in project management. In fact, these are the two factors identified as the sources of failure of the British library project. Secondly, we are able to learn that a single element of the project management process can be potentially fatal to the entire process. This implies that all areas of the project execution process need to be considered with equal seriousness. Thirdly, we can see that a majority of the problems assumed to be project risks fall within the mandate of the project manager. This means that the roles of the project manager need to be carefully checked in the execution of project plans. However, we can be able to see that there is a strong need for the coordination of project tasks and the roles of other project stakeholders (like sponsors); because not all project risks can be contained by the project manager. Comprehensively, these factors encompass the lessons to be learnt from the British library project. References Angel, P. (2009) PMP Certification, a Beginners Guide. London, McGraw Hill Professional. Flyvbjerg, B. (2008) Curbing Optimism Bias and Strategic Misrepresentation in Planning: Reference class forecasting in practice. European Planning Studies, 16(1), 3–21. Kohli. (2006) Project Management Handbook. London, McGraw-Hill. Luckey, T. (2006) Software Project Management for Dummies. London, For Dummies. Mincks, W. (2004) Construction Jobsite Management. London, Cengage Learning. Project S mart. (2011) Role of the Project Manager. (Online) Available at: https://www.projectsmart.co.uk/role-of-the-project-manager.php . Sears, K. (2008) Construction Project Management: A Practical Guide to Field  Construction Management. London, John Wiley and Sons. Verzuh, E. (2008) The Fast Forward MBA in Project Management. London, John Wiley and Sons. Walravens, H. (2006) Newspapers of the World Online. London, Walter de Gruyter. Wedgeworth, R. (1993) World Encyclopedia of Library and Information Services (3 ed). London, ALA Editions.

Lingo - Definition and Examples

Lingo s An informal term for the special vocabulary of a particular group or field: jargon.Language or speech that is perceived as strange or unintelligible. Plural: lingoes. Etymology: From the Latin lingua   , tongue Examples and Observations Cowboy Lingo The various buildings on the ranch had their various slang names. The main house, or house of the owner, was known as the white house (its usual color, if painted), the Big House, Bulls Mansh, or headquarters. The bunkhouse was equally well known as the dog-house, dice-house, dump, shack, or dive, while the cook-shack, if it was a separate building, was spoken of as the mess-house, grub-house, feed-trough, feed-bag, nose-bag, or swallow-an-git-out trough.   (Ramon Frederick Adams, Cowboy Lingo. Houghton, 2000) Australian Lingoes To speak the lingo is to become a member of a group that shares a sense of itself and expresses that sense in its own language. In the sense of the Great Australian Lingo that group consists of all its speakersmost Australians, in fact. There are also many other lingoes, past and present, that are and have been spoken in Australia by different groups, or speech communities as they are called. . . .What does the term TALK RIVER mean, for example? You almost certainly will not know unless you worked in or were close to the Murray River boat trade. In that speech community, it means to talk about matters relating to the river, its people and its business. Unless you are involved with the welding trade you would be unlikely to know that STICK and TIC refer to different forms of weldingSTICK is with flame heat and TIC with an electric arc. Nor would you know what a KROMER CAP is.​  (Graham Seal, The Lingo: Listening to Australian English. UNSW Press, 1999) Hospital Lingo Like any specialized jargon, the shoptalk used by residents not only conveys facts but provides a running commentary on the absurdities of hospital life...A sampling of current resident-speak follows, drawn from the wards of a busy teaching hospital.Banana bag: an intravenous solution containing a liquid multivitamin that colors the fluid a bright yellow, used in undernourished or alcoholic patients. Doc-in-the-box: an urgent-care walk-in clinic. Hes moonlighting at a doc-in-the-box downtown.Gomer: shorthand for Get out of my emergency room. Any undesirable patient, usually one that is unkempt, demented, combative or any combination of the above...Tail-light sign: when a patient (usually elderly) is dropped off at an emergency room by relatives who drive away before an evaluation is complete, forcing the patient to be admitted to the hospital whether or not his medical condition requires it.Wallet biopsy: checking a patients insurance or financial status before embarking on expensive procedures.  (adapted from Hospital Lingo: Whats a Bed Plug? An L.O.L. in N.A.D. by Sheilendr Khipple. The New York Times, May 13, 2001) The Use of War Lingo by Journalists Back in August, the [Associated Press] issued a memo about how to convey campaign coverage, and it included this passage: war lingo - use criticized instead of attacked, or choose a better verb to describe what the candidate is doing, i.e., challenging, doubting, etc. Also avoidable: launch an assault, take aim, open fire, bombard. AP Deputy Managing Editor for Standards Tom Kent lays out the thinking behind the rules: We’ve long felt it’s a good idea to avoid weapons metaphors when we’re not talking about real weapons. Even beyond evoking memories of violent events, we think frequent use of these terms in non-military situations smacks of overdramatization and hyping, writes Kent via e-mail.  (Erik Wemple, No More Taking Aim,’ ‘Blasting,’ ‘Sniping’! The Washington Post, December 20, 2012) A Parody of Social Science Lingo The lingo used by sociologists and such annoys many reasonable people. Richard D. Fay of M.I.T. is one of them. Last week the Washington Star picked up a letter he had written to the Harvard Alumni Bulletin in which he showed how the Gettysburg Address would sound, lumbered up in that lingo:​ Eight and seven-tenths decades ago, the pioneer workers in this continental area implemented a new group based on an ideology of free boundaries and initial conditions of equality. We are now actively engaged in an overall evaluation of conflicting factors . . . We are met in an area of maximum activity among the conflicting factors . . . to assign permanent positions to the units which have been annihilated in the process of attaining a steady state. This procedure represents standard practice at the administrative level.From a more comprehensive viewpoint, we cannot assignwe cannot integratewe cannot implement this area . . . The courageous units, in being annihilated . . . have integrated it to the point where the application of simple arithmetical operations to include our efforts would produce only negligible effects . . .It is preferable for this group to be integrated with the incompleted implementation . . . that we here resolve at a high ethical level that the deceased shall not have been annihilated without furthering the projectthat this group . . . shall implement a new source of unhampered activityand that political supervision composed of the integrated units, for the integrated units, and by the integrated units shall not perish from . . . this planet. (Lumbering Lingo. Time, August 13, 1951) The Decline of Lunch Counter Lingo [T]he vitality of lunch-counter speechcats eyes for tapioca, baby for a glass of milk, jerk for ice cream soda, and Adam and Eve on a raft for fried eggs on toasthad a raciness about it that many people sought to put an end to in the late 1930s.  (John F. Mariani, The Dictionary of American Food and Drink. Hearst Books, 1994) Pronunciation: LIN-go

In the middle ages, it is clear that religious thought and philosophy Essay

In the middle ages, it is clear that religious thought and philosophy were totaly intertwined. Why do you suppose this was Explain your answer (In two paragraph) - Essay Example Eventually, this event of religious disintegration sought refuge through medieval philosophy by way of restoring studies of the Greek and the Roman cultures alike. In the process, I suppose, the evolving philosophy at the time, having been derived from the resources of the classical period which possessed works of the revered philosophers like Plato and Aristotle, reflected the status of religion so that theology was addressed through the ethics and morals that constituted the medieval philosophy. Consequently, religious and philosophical values had often converged and resembled each other in plenty of ways since the goal of philosophy in the Middle Ages was chiefly to develop a school of thought that would make reparation for virtues which religion failed to justify among those who especially castigated the role of the church in man’s spiritual

S.M.A.R.T Goals Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

S.M.A.R.T Goals - Coursework Example Goal: I will look for the organization’s hiring and recruitment policy, and find out what the organization does to hire and retain its employees by week 6. From week 1 to week four, I shall work on reviewing the recruitment and hiring policy of the organization. I will visit the organization and see how the recruitment and hiring process is normally carried out. I will also carry out some interviews among the staff of the organization to find out how they are motivated to remain in the organization. What I learned/ overall goal accomplishment: I have learned that the hiring and recruitment process is very methodological. I have also learned that employers have to not only hire the best employees; they also have to work hard to retain them. Goal: I will find out from the organization’s policies what measures are in place to take care of employee problem and what the organization does to help employees deal with their problems by week 6. How Has this changed my behavior/ attitude: I have come to appreciate that employers should be good managers in all aspects of the word. They should be there to offer guidance and correct errant employees when the need arises. How was the goal met? I had to convince the managers to allow me to talk about their disciplinary policies with them and with their employees. I also went through these policies so that I could understand how the organization treats its employees who have problems. Barriers in meeting my learning outcomes: Although I was able to accomplish my goal, I faced some challenges such as lack of substantive information from the employees.

The Food Dilemma of the Omnivore Essay Example for Free

The Food Dilemma of the Omnivore Essay Everybody loves food, especially America. Americans are obsessed with food, and that is correlated to the fact that in America, food is almost always readily available to us. We have fast food restaurants, grocery stores, restaurants, and farmers markets with most of the food being relatively affordable. Our nation without a doubt has many dilemmas that need to be solved, however if you were to group all of these dilemmas into different sets and focus on the â€Å"food† set of the dilemmas, which would be our nation’s current food dilemma? Taking everything into account, finding healthy, tasteful foods seems to be the main concern of many Americans today. With obesity on the rise like it is, healthy foods are a need to many of Americans. However, this is a very difficult dilemma to solve because many of the tasteful foods are usually the unhealthy ones, eating only healthy foods could very well make us miss out on key nutrients our body needs, and also the â€Å"important† qualities of food are only known because of science. Some of the trademarks of American foods are pizza and hamburgers, however when has a regular pizza or regular hamburger ever been ordered by someone on a strict diet or someone who only eats healthy foods? Hamburgers have been transformed into veggie burgers and pizzas have been changed to white pizzas. The problem with veggie burgers and white pizzas are they simply do not taste as good as a regular hamburger or pizza. As Michael Pollen stated, â€Å"to think of some of the most delicious components of food as toxins, as nutritionism has taught us to do in the case of fat, does little for our happiness as eaters† (13). When Americans try and eat healthy, they opt to go for the healthy options and not the unhealthy options even though those are the foods that taste the best. So to conquer the dilemma of finding healthy, tasteful foods, we must find healthy foods that taste as good as the unhealthy foods. In America, the amount of Americans who vow to eat healthy and live a  healthy life has indeed gone up of the past decades, but how come the amount of Americans who get sick and who get diseases have gone up. The quality of life is certainly greater now than it was during World War II and during the steel mill days, but the amount of cancer patients has gone up along with many other life threatening diseases. Could that be connected to the fact that food is no longer what it used to be and vital nutrients are missing from our diet because they are only available to us from unhealthy foods? In The Changing Significance of Food, Margaret Mead brings up the question, â€Å"how can the country be overnourished and undernourished at the same time† (15). Mead is point on when she states that America is overnourished based upon how many healthy foods we have, however it is very interesting when she states we are undernourished at the same time. America is able to be both undernourished and overnourished because the healthy, diet foods do not contain the nutrients we need to live a healthy life. An example of this would be the choice between whole milk and skim milk for a baby or toddler. Skim milk is obviously healthier and does not contain as many calories as whole milk, however does skim milk supply all of the nutrients whole milk does to the body. If we can succeed in adding all of the nutrients we as humans need to the deemed â€Å"healthy† foods, we will be a step closer in conquering the problem of finding healthy, tasteful foods. There are so many foods out there that are labeled healthy, like turkey, white chicken, green tea, and skim milk. However, how do we as consumers know what make all these healthy foods healthy? All of the information we know about food comes from inside a laboratory where food scientists study the components of all the food imaginable. Because of this, any food with any trace of fat in it is automatically thrown out of consideration for being labeled healthy. On the other hand, sure fat may not be healthy, but what if there is a health benefit to eating a certain kind of fat. Maybe down the line scientists will discover a certain kind of fat can help prevent cancer. Going back to Michael Pollen’s article of Nutritionism, Pollen’s quotes Harvey Levenstein when he states â€Å"taste is not a true guide to what should be eaten; that one should not simply eat what one enjoys; that the important components of foods cannot be seen or tasted, but are discernible only in scientific laboratories† (14). Important qualities of  foods now a day are calories, fat and carbohydrates while in the past they were vitamin B, protein and calcium. When producers take out all the unhealthy nutrients in food, the tastefulness of the food indeed goes down, making it a less desirable option. Once again, with the â€Å"important† qualities of food being limited and constraint to a strict standard, it is harder to combat the problem of finding healthy, tasteful foods. Closing out the problems that make it harder to combat the dilemma of finding healthy, tasteful food options, consumers must remember that eating healthy is a very tricky thing. Like stated earlier, the choice between skim milk and whole milk can be a very difficult decision because of the pros and cons of each choice, but in the end the choice should always be decided on which food is better for your body, not which is the â€Å"labeled healthier† option. All in all, our nation’s current food dilemma is finding healthy, tasteful foods because many of the tasteful foods are the unhealthy ones, the country is so concerned about eating healthy we are missing some vital nutrients from the â€Å"unhealthy† foods, and the â€Å"important† qualities of food are only known because of science.

Artificial Tanning Essay -- Skin Cancer Culture Papers

Artificial Tanning Jim Rice loved the way tanning made him look and feel, that is, until he became personally affected by the dangers that came with the frivolous glitz and glamour of a nice tan. Artificial tanning has become a sub-culture for youths across the nation. Those who do not go tanning are a minority and those who do tan ignore the health risks posted in every tanning booth and bed in the state of Massachusetts. However, for Jim Rice, a middler chemical engineering major at Northeastern University, the health risks of tanning transformed into a frightening reality. "Recreational tanning was always the hip thing to do back in high school," said Rice. "But when I started to notice skin discoloration on my lower hip during my senior year of high school it wasn't so hip anymore." When doctors told Rice that he had pre-cancerous cells in existing moles he didn't think much of it. He figured that he would have the moles removed and his worries would be over. "I got the most perplexed when my dermatologist told me to stay out of the sun and wear sunscreen at all times," said Rice. It was as if being tan was more of a priority than his health. Following his initial surgery, Rice had to pay a trip to his skin doctor every six months. Upon his first visit back to the doctor, Rice was diagnosed with two cancerous growths - one pre-cancerous and one cancerous. Another surgery would have to take place immediately. Suddenly, Rice looked back on his frequent tanning salon habits and his "darkness" competitions with fellow lifeguards over the summers in utter regret. Rice has had seven surgeries since. He had plastic surgery to help reduce the scarring on his body. His doctors placed him on an extremely high risk f... ... admits that she is impatient and would rather get spray-tanned in 30 seconds over sweating in a tanning bed for twelve minutes. There are no proven health risks of spray tanning as of right now; however the FDA is investigating the safety of the DHA component in the "Mystic Tan". "Everyone should be aware that what happened to me could very possibly happen to anyone," said Rice. "The risks that come along with tanning are not far from a reality, even if they sneak up on people ten or twenty years down the road." Rice understands that tanning provides an ultimate self-esteem boost. Although Rice wishes that he could get his tan back, he realizes that tanning is only a temporary satisfaction. He has learned this the hard way. "People really need to weigh out how important tanning is to them and if they are prepared to deal to the consequences," said Rice.

Competitive Advantage theory Essay

The last decades there is a brand new term going around in the world of business. Its name is Competitive Advantage. As various extremely important executives claim this factor can be the missing key, which will lead eventually a company to success. Allow me to give a first description of what I have understood, so far, of the competitive advantage term. According to what I have read and heard in lectures of the course Business Economics, I consider the C. A. to be the difference a company has from the rest of the market, which will help her to obtain not only higher profits but also longevity. As Michael Porter in his 1985 text says that, it is about the distinct and ideally sustainable edge over the competitors. The competitive advantage is said to be based on monopoly profits and on/or the Ricardian Rents and is used to generate another important factor, the added value. The writer – expert in finance John Kay implies that the C. A. presents no stability and it is always relative for each one of the companies in all the markets of the world. It is also something measurable enough in order the executives to extract useful conclusions and plan the company strategies. The relevant benchmark is the marginal firm in the industry. The company with the least potentials and the smallest market power is used as the baseline against which the competitive advantage of all other firms can be set. Methods of building a Competitive Advantage A general but for most people questionable claim would be that all the existing firms in a market are able to create a competitive advantage. That on theoretical basis is correct. Significant economists have worked for ears in a row towards this goal and have elaborated strategies and methods a firm can use in order to obtain the competitive advantage. The Resource Based View of the Firm The Resource Based View of the Firm has its origins in four different significant experts of finance: Edith Penrose (1959), Birger Wernerfelt (1984), Jay Barney (1991) and last but the most important writer Margaret Peteraf (1993). M. Peteraf put together the existent elements of the work of the previous three writers and produced the well-known > in her article reprinted in Foss. The main idea of the above-mentioned methods is that all of them give considerable importance on the resources, those that a company already possesses or the ones it procures from the outside environment. These resources must exhibit a special characteristic in order that C. A. to be produced. That is the so-called Resource Heterogeneity, meaning that they need to be rare so as not the competitors to use them and valuable in order to increase the firms efficiency and effectiveness. For example rarity could a minor of diamonds have and valuable could software program of a computer company be. The Recourse Heterogeneity can be obtained through either Product Differentiation or Cost Advantages. As far the product is concerned when a company differ one of its products it instantly creates a heterogeneous resource and approaches the C. A. (as per Peteraf 1993). Then it can offer those products in the whole market or in some market segments. The differentiation can be on the quality and the market segments can be large, small or of special interest. The market selection must be done with extra care and attention. The firm is in position to choose either to offer its products following the Broad Coverage Strategies e. g. unisex cosmetics and obtain Economies of Scale or produce for a specific market e. g. anti – ageing serum for the athletes of running. At this point, it needs to be mentioned that the consumer preferences and the competitor products must be taken into seriously account. As far as the Cost Advantage is regarding a firm can benefit by the lower costs. That means that the quality must be lower in order the cost of the firm to stay on low levels or to benefit by the superior technology. Besanko in his work implies that a firm can benefit from both Cost and Benefit Advantages if and only if increased demand and output can be translated into economies of scale. Strategies of sustaining a competitive advantage The real difficulty, according the opinion of the experts of finance is not only creating an advantage over your competitors but also maintaining your economic outcome through time. The enormous effort in order to have that precious gap between your company and your rivals keep exist. There is a variety of threats in the long term like the easy entry of the companies that have depicted a chance for making profit, the perfect information the competitors can posses and the most important the access to the companies resources which means that profits are in danger. A good number of these threats are common to all markets no matter the size, the special interest or the type, even in monopoly or oligopoly, according the economist-writer Besanko, and greater becomes the more competitive the specific market gets. At this point, the well- known Resource Based View of the Firm and the Product Differentiation Strategies come to the rescue of the company’s competitive advantage. As it is clearly written in a good number of economic texts, firms can earn excess profits if and only if they have superior resources protected by some form of isolating mechanism like a kind of a patent. These resources in question must exhibit some characteristics such as to be valuable in order to increase the firms efficiency and effectiveness and rare so as not to be acquired by the competitors. In addition to the previous, they have to be imperfectly imitable plus not substitutable by resources easy to be found and imitable. The serious problem is that this type of resources is hard to find and use in the production process. The alternative strategy a company can follow in order to maintain its competitive advantage is the product itself. More specific, the constant change of an existing product in the market, called product innovation. In some firms, the rate of this attempt is highly rapid. As the economist Schumpeter argues, that is because the isolating mechanisms cannot be permanent as the new technologies arise and the tastes change or the government policy evolves. A logical consequence could be that the life of the product becomes shorter and the competitors obtain to imitate an outmoded product at the end. The continuous product innovation can be a solution but not in a permanent way for it can be relatively costly and inefficient. More, the firm must process to the Creative Destruction, in other words to destroy the existing resources of the advantage so that the rivals not to benefit by them. Margaret Peteraf , one more time, in her 1993 article argues that the solution to the above problem is included in The Four Basic Building Blocks to creating and sustaining competitive advantage. According to her text, there are four corner stones, which lead a firm to sustain its competitive advantage. In the first place is the already mentioned and quite analyzed Heterogeneity of the resources, secondly comes the term imperfect mobility, meaning that the resources that create value cannot be bought on the open market and if they do so not to function perfectly. Some examples can be the firm’s reputation, a highly experienced scientist, a special machine with a number of peripherals est. In the third and forth place there are the limits to competition. The economist Rumelt describe the limits as the forces which limit extends to the point an advantage can either be duplicated or neutralized. There are two types of isolating mechanisms, the early mover advantages and the impediments to imitation. The first one with its tools like the learning curve e. g. the scientific knowledge in the firm, the reputation and buyer uncertainty e. g. he willing to buy a very expensive wristwatch or a design outfit, the switching costs e. g. not to use the petroleum moving cars anymore and switch to the solar power ones and the network effects e. g. the hair – dryer device. The second one includes the barriers a company puts between its product and the rest of the group such as legal restrictions e. g. copyrights on the product or on the resource or on the distribution channel. The Relationship between the Competitive Advantage and the Banking – Finance sector. For the most part, the firms in the globe seek to find and maintain their competitive advantage in almost any cost. Among them are naturally the firms of the banking and finance sector. There is a plain but important difference between the firms that produce products and those producing services. The second group needs to put much more effort as regards the resources. On the one hand these firms offer a great variety of product services to their customers, from different loans and a great number of credit cards to services all over the world. On the other hand they try to benefit from the low cost prices and to use the knowledge they posses to their best.

Five Force Analysis Essay

The Bible says in Philippians 2:3-4 â€Å"Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interest of others†. The industry-based view of strategy is underpinned by the five forces framework, first advocated by Michael Porter, it was later strengthen by others. The five forces strategy forms the backbone of the industry-based view of strategy. Since its introduction in 1979, has become the framework for industry analysis. The five forces measure the competitiveness of the market deriving its attractiveness (Peng, 2009). Soft drink industry needs huge amount of money to spend on advertisement and marketing. In 2000, Pepsi, Coke and their bottler’s invested approximately $2.58 billion. This makes exceptionally hard for a new competitor to struggle with current market and expand visibility. (MBA lectures, 2010). The Coca Cola Company has little worries when it comes to threats of potential entry. The beverage industry there is no consumer switching cost and zero capital requirement. Coca Cola is a beverage but it is also seen as a brand. Coke has held a significant market share for a long and their customers are loyal trying new brands are not likely. Actions indicative of a high degree of rivalry include frequent price wars, proliferation of new products, intense advertising campaigns and high cost competitive actions and reactions (Peng, 2009). The intensity of the rival threatens firms by reducing profits. Currently, the main competitor Coca Cola has is Pepsi. Pepsi has a wide range of beverage products under its brand. Coca-Cola and Pepsi are the predominant carbonated beverages and committed heavily to sponsoring outdoor events and activities. The market have other soda brands that are popular such as Dr. Pepper because of its unique flavors. The other brands haven’t been as succ essful as Pepsi or Coca Cola. Threat of existing rival is high among Coca Cola and Pepsi. Coke and Pepsi are primarily competing on advertising and differentiation rather than on pricing. Substitutes are products of different industries that satisfy customer needs currently met  by the focal industry (Peng, 2009). Microeconomic teaches the more substitutes a product has, the demand for the product becomes elastic. Pepsi is not a substitute for Coke because they are in the same industry. Tea, coffee, juice, and water are substitutes because they are beverages but are in a different product category. There are many kinds of energy drink, soda, and juice product in the market Coke doesn’t really have a unique taste it’s hard for many people to tell in a taste test which one is which. All the suppliers of these substitutes need massive advertising, brand equity, brand loyalty and making sure that their brands are effortlessly accessible to consumers (MBA Lectures, 2010). The bargaining power of buyers weather corporate or individual, firms in the focal industr y are essentially supplies. A small number of buyers leads to strong bargaining power. Buyers may enhance their bargaining power if products of an industry do not clearly produce cost saving or enhance the quality of life for buyers. Buyers may have strong bargaining power if they purchase standard, commodity products from suppliers. Buyers are just like suppliers they may enhance their bargaining power by entering the focal industry through backward integration (Peng, 2009). The most important buyers for the Soft Drink industry are fast food fountain, vending, convenience stores, restaurants, college canteens and other in the categorize of market share (MBA Lectures, 2010). The bargaining power of buyers for Coca Cola has low pressure. The individual has no pressure on Coca Cola. The consumer brand loyalty helps Coca Cola when it comes large retailers like Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart have power in bargaining because of the large order quantity. Bargaining power of suppliers are low for Coca Cola. Suppliers are organization that provide inputs, such as materials, services, and manpower, to firms in the focal industry. The bargaining power of suppliers refers to their ability to raise and reduce quality of goods and services. If the supplier industry is dominated by a few firms, they may gain an upper hand (Peng, 2009). The main ingredient for soft drink are carbonated water, phosphoric acid, sweetener, and caffeine. The supplier are not concentrated. Coca Cola is the largest customer for these suppliers. Supplier’s products are important input for the manufactures in this industry because these product are not substituted. Reference: Holy Bible Peng, M.W. (2009). Global Strategy (3rd. ed.) Mason, Ohio: South-Western Cengage Learning Porter’s Five Forces Model of Coca Cola. Nov 25, 2010

Holes Essay Example

Holes Essay Example Holes Paper Holes Paper The book of Holes is world famous. I had to go to buy it as my friends recommended the book. They said that Louis Sachar is an amazing writer, with a wide imagination. I am reviewing this superb writing and I will be telling you why you should buy this exciting novel. It all starts when Stanley Yelnats commits a crime and he is sent to Camp Green Lake (a juvenile detention centre). Where he meets strange people and discovers magnificent places. There are lots of twists in the book (I can promise you that you wont want to put the book down). The settings in the book help create an atmosphere that will make the reader want to read on when it says During the daytime, temperature hovers around ninety-five degrees in the shade if you can find any shade. When we first arrive at Camp Green Lake with Stanley on the bus we see that The land was barren and desolate. He could see a few rundown buildings and some tents. It sets the scene that says it isnt going to be as he thought it was. Louis Sachar also describes Green Lake before the Camp is built, he talks about the history, and what lives on the lake. The characters are cleverly written, they are all different from each other, and some of them dont seem to get along with each other. Three of the most effective characters are Stanley Yelnats, he is the protagonist in the book. Stanley is an overweight boy, who had problems in his child hood, so that made him cautious of what to say and do. He also seems a bit dim, on the bus he seemed to think that Camp Green Lake was going to be really fun. Stanley is always in the plot, he has a wide imagination and he proves that he is very brave in the book. Zero is a character that comes across as very shy, but he surprises us and shows what he is really like. Zero cannot read or write, so people tease him Mr Pendanski says, they call you Zero because you cant do anything, he is unfairly treated, but he is a main character in the plot. Also, the Warden is a interesting character. The boys are afraid of her, because of her short temper, and you dont know what she will do next. She makes the book tense when she says, this venom will kill a man if it gets in to your skin, but dont worry it is extremely safe, when dry! One of the most original features of this story is three interlocking narratives. The first concerns Stanley arriving at Camp Green Lake, this causes a lot of tension when Stanley said thanks for the ride as he was getting off the bus, and the driver said be careful. Stanley didnt know weather he was saying be careful of the steps, or of Camp Green Lake. The second is about Madam Zeroni and his great great Grand father. This is written as flash back so it becomes really interesting for the reader to learn important facts about Stanleys history. Finally, the third is about Kate Barlow, this is also written as flashbacks. It is very important as you start to understand more on whet is happening, and it says a lot of clues in what is about to happen. Holes is a great book cleverly written by Louis Sachar. The English and Media Magazine, and The Times praise it. Also, you will notice that Louis Sachar likes to repeat specific words, to make it tense and exciting. Also, I would give this book 5 out of 5 for its vocabulary and imagination. I would recommend this book to every age above 8+. I couldnt put this book down, my opinion is it is a must read book. Finally, this book is recommended to everybody. Packed with excitement, this is a favourite of mine, and soon to be yours.

How to Write the Carnegie Mellon Essays 2015-2016

Founded by Andrew Carnegie in 1900, Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university home to over 6,000 undergraduates. Located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the college boasts 17 varsity teams in the NCAA Division III classification. While it frequently finds itself placed in the top 25 colleges in the nation, perhaps Carnegie Mellon is best recognized for its phenomenal Computer Science program—except for a brief deviation in 2009, CMU is consistently ranked #1 in Computer Science, beating out the likes of Stanford, Cornell, and MIT. Its other programs aren’t too shabby, either, and as a result over 33,000 seniors each year apply to CMU. Applicants to CMU have seven different colleges to choose from: Regardless of whichever college student choose, all applicants are required to fill out a writing supplement. With an acceptance rate of just 18%, students will need to write top-notch essays to secure their spot. Luckily, Admissions Hero is here to help: Note: this year’s CMU app is essentially identical to last year’s. We’ve updated this year’s post only slightly to reflect new trends in admissions. Read last year’s post here . Please submit a one page, single-spaced essay that explains why you have chosen Carnegie Mellon and your particular major(s), department(s) or program(s). This essay should include the reasons why you’ve chosen the major(s), any goals or relevant work plans and any other information you would like us to know. For freshmen applying to more than one college or program, please mention each college or program to which you are applying. Because our admission committees review applicants by college and program, your essay can impact our final decision. Candidates applying for early decision or transfer may apply to only one college and department. This prompt is essentially asking you to write a â€Å"Why X† essay for Carnegie Mellon. Because so many students apply to CMU, the admissions officers are interested in accepting only the students who are genuinely interested in attending CMU. Therefore, you should do some research to find specific examples of resources you would like to take advantage of as a potential CMU student. For some, this might mean going online to read more about CMU’s Fine Arts resources; for others, you might want to ask your close friend who attends CMU about the engineering facilities. Either way, the goal is to have some details on-hand for when you go to write your essay. When you actually answer this question, your best bet is to cover three topics: If you can answer all three questions in a smooth manner, then you will have an effective essay.   List the books (if any) you’ve read this year for pleasure. Choose one and in a sentence describe its impact on you. There’s no â€Å"trick† to this question—the adcoms literally just want to know what books you’ve read this past year. You should have some books to list, but be as truthful as possible. If you are unsure which book you want to choose to describe in one sentence, then ask yourself, â€Å"Is there anything I want to tell the admissions officers about myself that I haven’t already?† If you have a clear answer to this question, then you can strategically choose a book that will allow you to convey that message when you describe its impact on you. For example, if you haven’t yet told the adcoms about your deep love of philosophy—specifically, when it comes to morality—then you might accordingly choose Justice , by Michael J. Sandel and describe how the book allowed you to examine various case studies and develop a new perspective on what morality really is. If there was an interruption during your secondary school or collegiate experience or between your secondary school and collegiate experience (gap year(s)) when you were not enrolled and as a result, not making normal academic progress, please explain the reason for the interruption. The majority of students will not have to answer this question; however, if you are a student who fits the description above, then your best bet is to honestly describe what occurred. If you feel that your reliability or character is called into question when you only objectively describe the situation, then succinctly explain yourself at the end of your description and—if appropriate—express that things will be different in the future. For students whose interruptions were due to taking a gap year (or something similar), then describe your experience and explain its impact on you briefly. For example, maybe you volunteered in Africa for 6 months and now you are a more mature individual. Finally, if you took time off due to a family occurrence or illness, then—once again—explain the situation and leave it at that. While not a requirement, have you been interviewed by an alumni or on campus representative prior to applying for admission? If so, indicate the name of your interviewer and tell us how it impacted your decision to apply. This question is pretty straightforward if you did not get interviewed before applying to CMU—don’t answer it. If you did receive an interview, then hopefully you remembered to record your interviewer’s name. When describing how it impacted your decision to apply, it’s best to recall specific details from your conversation—for example, maybe you and your interviewer share a love of Quidditch, and your interviewer mentioned to you that CMU has a strong Quidditch team. Mentioning small yet specific details about either CMU or your interviewer’s experience with CMU will go a long away in showing that you were impacted by your interview.

TM04 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

TM04 - Essay Example [31 words] (c) Why might carrying out the same analysis using species rather than families be likely to be less accurate as an assessment of changing diversity if there were a small number of fossils? Explain what working assumption is made when family diversity changes are used to infer patterns of species change. (3 or 4 sentences) Carrying out the same analysis using species rather than families might be less accurate. There are certain to be more new growths of species besides families. The assumption made when family diversity changes are made to infer patterns of species change is that family diversity changes take as long as species changes, but changes in families take longer time to complete. (e) Given the time period considered in (d) compared to (a), estimate the difference in the rate of the species generation (in percentage per million years) at the end of the Cambrian compared to the period from the end of the Permian to the present day, assuming that the rate of extinction is the same. [62 words] The difference in the rate of species generation per million years would be 10.6 percent; this is based on the fact that the Cambrian period was 570 million years ago, the Permian period was 248 million years ago, and if you divide the difference of the two by the difference between the two percentages given, you get 10.6 percent per million years. (a) Molecular clock evidence suggests that a newly discovered group of animal first emerged about 1.2 billion years ago. This is significantly earlier than the fossil evidence. Describe one possible reason for this discrepancy. (1 to 2 sentences) (c) The evolution of the Ediacarans has been linked to the Snowball Earth episodes. Outline one mechanism linked to ocean temperature that could have influenced animal evolution. (2 to 3 sentences) [27 words] â€Å"When one organism actually lives inside the other its called endosymbiosis. The endosymbiotic theory describes