Mom Is Most Influential in My Life Essay Example for Free

Mom Is Most Influential in My Life Essay People have had someone to influence them in their lifetime at some time or another, but my biggest influence in my life is my mom. I can’t but admire my mom’s strength and her wisdom. I am a strong believer in the saying â€Å"like father, â€Å"like son goes with both genders, however, I do think that this is more a result of following example rather than a result genetics. It is common knowledge that not everyone is perfect, even heroes, and in realizing this I know. Although I wish to be like my mom in most ways I do not at all. This realization may be one of the most important things I have learned, my mom has taught me to be firm in my decisions in life, not solely on the examples and actions of others but simply on what I gather and learn from the examples and actions of others. In other words, she has taught me not to follow blindly but to make my own decisions based on what I think is important. The things I have learned and continue to learn from my mom are continuous; she has taught me all of the founding principles of my life and for that I am very thankful. Read more:  Admiration speech essay My mom has an enormous influence on me because she always encourages me to do my best, taught me to be a survivor and finally mom influences me by is always helping needy. People have had someone to influence them in their lifetime at some time or another, but my biggest influence in my life is my mom. I can’t but admire my mom’s strength and her wisdom. I am a strong believer in the saying â€Å"like father, â€Å"like son goes with both genders, however, I do think that this is more a result of following example rather than a result genetics. It is common knowledge that not everyone is perfect, even heroes, and in realizing this I know. Although I wish to be like my mom in most ways I do not at all. This realization may be one of the most important things I have learned, my mom has taught me to be firm in my decisions in life, not solely on the examples and actions of others but simply on what I gather and learn from the examples and actions of others. In other words, she has taught me not to follow blindly but to make my own decisions based on what I think is important. The things I have learned and continue to learn from my mom are continuous; she has taught me all of the founding principles of my life and for that I am very thankful.

The Ultimate Goal Of JIT

The Ultimate Goal Of JIT JIT is a Japanese concept. Also called the Toyota production system, it aims at producing the necessary parts in quantities needed, at the time they are required. The ultimate goal of JIT is to eliminate inventory, to have minimal work in process inventory monitored by reduction in working capital. JIT considers 7 types of wastes. Overproduction producing more than the customer needs Transportation Anywhere where goods are moved within a process Waiting where waiting time occurs, traditionally where one process waits for another to finish before it can start. Inventory typified by stock or materials that are not being used in the process or current activity. Motion Poor planning and organizational layout often cause motion waste Over processing where steps occur in the production process that do not add value to the end customer this is termed overproduction Defects The process results in an error or requires rework JIT divides all works into value adding and non-value adding activities and then eliminates all non value adding activities. Kanban is one means through which JIT is achieved. It is a scheduling system that tells you what to produce, when to produce it, and how much to produce Poka-yoke is a Japanese term that means fail-safing or mistake-proofing. Its purpose is to eliminate product defects by preventing, correcting, or drawing attention to human errors as they occur. Autonomation describes a feature of machine design to affect the principle of jidoka. At Toyota this usually means that if an abnormal situation arises the machine stops and the worker will stop the production line. Kaizen refers to the philosophy or practices that focus upon continuous improvement of processes in manufacturing, engineering, supporting business processes, and management. Literature review Weiters (1984) in one of the first literatures on this topic states that Financial justification of JIT in service industries is less likely but in service industries JIT offers intangible benefits in terms of improved service quality and customer satisfaction.(cited by Inman and Mehra 1990) Benson (1986) was the first to point out Service operations are organised systems of production processes with the same potential of improvement through implementation of JIT precepts as manufacturing operations Cited by Duclos et. al. 1995 Berling and Geppi (1989) studied the supply chain of healthcare sector and offered JIT as an approach to hospitals in order to reduce inventory. They suggested closer relationships between hospitals and distributors. Billesbach and Schniederjans (1989) present a case study on JIT application in an administration setting. The case was on a big corporation and JIT programme was implemented in the headquarters of this corporation. Their approach was based on examining activities and the ones not contributing to result to be eliminated. Inman and Mehra (1990) had worked on FedEx. This package delivery company implements JIT to reduce their inventory of quasi-MRO goods (mainly packaging, labelling supplies).aimed at improving their service quality and competitiveness through implementation of JIT and anticipated that inventories would be reduced as a result. Lee (1990) presents a case study of a small bank. Study is focused on this banks loan approval process. Bank follows a two phase process and first evaluates the applications and makes the decision of lending in second phase. This process usually takes 12 days. Applying JIT approach whole process is redesigned and several tasks are unified. New approval process takes 4-5 days. Wasco et. al.( 1991) presents a case Kodaks quality assurance division. This division provides services to worldwide chain of Kodak. An MRP II system is implemented with JIT approach and conclusion of the study is JIT techniques enhance the potential of MRP application. One of the most radical case studies is presented by Barlow (2002). He investigates the applicability of JIT techniques to hotel industry. Weakness of this study is it concentrates on liquor stocks of these hotels and draws conclusions on if statements and these hotels actually do not adopt any JIT techniques. Ruiz (2003 pp.1) JIT focuses on the process, not product. Therefore it can be applied (in theory) to any group of processes, whether manufacturing or service. Ultimate goal of JIT is to produce a good and a service without waste Literature on the matter quite confidently states that JIT can be applied in services and through reported case studies evidence is provided. JIT applications in service industries are vague in some sense. There are no empirical studies and reported case usually resembles manufacturing setting. Service operations management evolution How to implement JIT in services? A philosophy of manufacturing excellence based on pursuit of the planned elimination of all waste and consistent improvement of productivity. It encompasses the successful execution of all manufacturing activities required to produce a final product from design engineering to delivery and including all stages from conversion of raw material onward (APICS, 1992). Total visibility of equipment, people, material and processes; Synchronization and balance of production to sales and supply to production; Respect for people Line operators is responsible for production, problem solving and improvement; Flexibility adapt production to customer needs; Continuous improvement never satisfied with the process; Responsibility for the operations environment those who design, manage and operate the processes are responsible for the outcome; Holistic approach companywide philosophy of elimination of waste; Each of these JIT themes may be applicable to service organizations; Synchronization and balance of information and work flow matching output with customer demand one of the important aspects of service operations often cannot inventory the output of their processes making balance even more vital Semantodontics, a direct marketing company selling nationwide by catalogue to dentists, also found JIT an appropriate approach for reducing the time to process paperwork (Conant, 1988) and, hence, the time required for a dentist to receive an order. The idea of making lot sizes as small as possible was implemented by decreasing the batch size in which telephone orders were aggregated. As a result, telephone orders were moved to the second stage of the process three times daily rather than once a day, as was the previous norm. Set-up time for entering new customer records was reduced by moving the process to the original telephone operation where the data were first gathered. The decrease in order batch size had a behavioural impact on employees as well. From the sense of satisfaction gained on completion of multiple small batches, employees tended to work faster and more efficiently. Atlantic Envelope Company uses kanban trays at its Atlanta facility to move documents within the order entry department. Order entry time fell to under a day from a previous uncertain number of days. Total visibility of all components of the process Northern Telecom Inc.s (NTI) Customer Service Centre borders the traditional manufacturing environment (Savage-Moore, 1988) and the implementation is a good example of providing visibility through the use of work cells. This unit of NTI has the labour-intensive responsibility of repairing printed circuit packs (PCPs). For an individual PCP, it is difficult to predefine the specific repair process required, not unlike a job shop environment. The work cell concept was applied to keep all work on a PCP performed within a single cell and by one team of employees. This provided all employees repairing a PCP with visibility as to the repair needs and processes used to repair the product. Additionally, employees were cross-trained to staff the cells and jobs were redefined to recognize employee training efforts. Over a two-year period, NTI saw customer service levels increase from 85 per cent to 100 per cent and quality levels significantly improved. Work-in-progress inventory was reduced b y 75 per cent and repair cycle times reduced from one week to less than 48 hours. Continuous improvement of the process The Manufacturing Quality Assurance Organization at Kodak in Rochester, New York provides specialized services in the form of sample testing of photographic film, chemical and environmental testing, equipment development and calibration control. JIT precepts were introduced to provide a framework for involving the entire organization in continuous improvement (Wasco et al., 1991). Fifty JIT cells were established to start the JIT delivery of products or services based on functional precepts. JIT activities were used to reduce work-handling steps and run times. Improvements through JIT techniques saved an average of $33,000 per month in 1990. Holistic approach to elimination of waste suppliers Few suppliers; Nearby suppliers; Repeat business with same suppliers; Active use of analysis to enable desirable suppliers to become/stay price-competitive; Clusters of remote suppliers, competitive bidding mostly limited to new part numbers; Buyer plant resists vertical integration and subsequent wipe-out of supplier business; Suppliers are encouraged to extend JIT buying to their suppliers; Quantities: Steady output rate (a desirable prerequisite); Frequent delivery in small quantities; Long-term contract agreements; Minimal release paperwork; Delivery quantities variable from release to release, but fixed for whole contract term; Little or no permissible overage or underage of receipts; Suppliers encouraged to package in exact quantities; Suppliers encouraged reducing their production lot sizes (or store unreleased material); Quality: Minimal product specifications imposed on supplier; Help suppliers to meet quality requirements; Close relationships between buyers and suppliers quality assurance people; Suppliers encouraged to use process control charts instead of lot sampling inspection; shipping: Scheduling of inbound freight; Gain control by use of company-owned or contract shipping, contract warehousing, and trailers for freight consolidation/storage where possible instead of using common carriers. Flexibility in the use of resources Bookbinder and Locke (1986) present a model to determine if JIT distribution methodology is a feasible alternative to traditional distribution methods. They investigated the behaviour of two different distribution models for JIT organizations. In the first, a factory-warehouse-retailer distribution system, the warehouse holds stock. In the second, stock moves from factory directly to retailers. The models were compared using statistical tests, and the second model was determined to be the superior distribution system because it furnished essentially the same service level to retailers while carrying one less echelon of stock. Another mathematical model is offered by Ramasesh (1990) for the implementation of JIT techniques in purchasing systems that have not yet advanced to the ultimate level of JIT purchasing (lot size of one). He treated the fixed costs associated with the adoption of JIT as investment, and justified it based on the savings generated using any of the techniques of investment analysis. He modified the traditional economic order quantity model to include explicitly the costs of small-lot shipments. He also provided guidelines and formulae for determining the order quantity and the optimal number of shipments. Case studies DHL- impact of JIT The founders began to personally ship papers by airline from San Francisco to Honolulu, beginning customs clearance of the ships cargo before the actual arrival of the ship and dramatically reducing waiting time in the harbour. With this concept, a new industry was born: international air express, the rapid delivery of documents and shipments by airplane. DHL network continued to grow at an incredible pace. The company expanded westward from Hawaii into the Far East and Pacific Rim, then the Middle East, Africa and Europe. By 1988, DHL was already present in 170 countries and had 16,000 employees. The different business units of the company are DHL Express DHL Freight DHL Global Forwarding DHL Exel Supply DHL Global Mail The process above mentioned was improved using JIT with following ways Inventory Management Concerning Services For instance, in the case of DHL, vehicles, bicycles and other assets that facilitate service delivery must be accounted for, serviced, ready and available to be used for work purpose. Quality Management Concerning Services Tangibles Reliability Responsiveness Competence Courtesy Access Supplier Relations Concerning Services Human Resource Management Concerning Services JIT in retail The key principles of JIT in any system are: No wastage, Total visibility, and Flexibility in the use of human and material resources In any environment these principles translate into three simple rules: dont start any work unless the demand signal indicates a need for more material; if the demand signal indicates a need, work to fill that need; and, never exceed the queue-size limit Automatic Replenishment Systems (ARS) is also an example of application of JIT in retail. JIT in Indian service industry A survey was done on the Indian service industry. The data was collected from the selected service industries and analyzed. The results of degree of importance are given in the table The most important element recognized by the Service industries was waste reduction (mean=0.8929). The least important element was JIDOKA (mean=0.5625). The elements of the study are mentioned in appendix table 1 JIT in hospitals Most research in the health care industry has been directed toward process and information system improvements. Generally, service environments such as health care are likely candidates for JIT if their operations are repetitive, have reasonably high volume, and deal with tangible items such as mail, checks, bills or letters. In hospitals, there is a vital department named CSSD (Centre for Sterilization Service department), the functions of which include materials management, instruments reception, washing, packing and sterilization, sterile store, instruments distribution As an illustration a previous supplier model can be analysed And compared with an improved model, which centralises and streamlines the supply chain JIT in administrative setting JIT practices and their effect on quality can be analysed Human elements of JIT Steps in implementation of JIT in service industry Eliminate disruptions in work of the employees and make the service system flexible and train the workers to handle more variety. reduce set-up time and eliminate waste including errors and duplicate work and minimise work-in process e.g. Packages waiting to be delivered, calls waiting to be answered, pending orders to be processed, trucks waiting to be loaded/unloaded Generally, service environment may benefit from jit system if the operations are repetitive, have high volume, and deal with tangible items e.g. Sandwiches, mail or bills services must involve manufacturing like operation Consistently high quality service employees can be taught the value of providing defect free services uniform facility loading reservation systems and differential pricing are ways to level the load on the facilities standardised work methods high efficiencies achieved by analysing work methods and standardising Close supplier ties volume services such as fast-food joints and mass merchandisers require close supplier contacts to ensure frequent short lead time and high quality shipment of supplies Flexible work force greater the customisation in the service, greater is the need for a multi-skilled workforce e.g. Electronic repair shops needing wider experienced workforce to diagnose the problems and repair the defects Line flow strategy mangers can recognise their employees and equipment to provide uniform flows through the system, and eliminate wasted employee time e.g. Banks use this system in their cheque processing operations Process improvement and problem solving can contribute to streamlining a system, resulting in increased customer satisfaction, and higher productivity e.g. Self service system including retail operations, ATM, vending machines, service stations etc which is the ability to provide services when required simplify the process, especially when customers are part of the system jit services , if achieved , can be a major competitive advantage for companies A Framework Appendix Table 1:

Positive and Negative Publicity Strategies

Positive and Negative Publicity Strategies In todays world, image and reputation of a business is critically significant than past due to increased market competition and also, with developed technologies, the consumers can be more easily evaluate to particular brand of product or organization. Therefore, it is essential that businesses and organizations have understanding of the effective and strategy public relation for healthy and positive new development. Successful public relation can be give to organization as a good image, and thus publicity is significant role in terms of successful public relation. Because, publicity can be helps gain public awareness and build relationship between products and consumers. The publicity can be defined in many interpretations. Yet, according to Yale (1991:2), publicity involves supplying information that is factual, interesting, and newsworthy to media not controlled by you, such as radio, television, magazines, newspapers, and trade journals. It can be both positive and negative to ones business or organization and thus, it is significant to be aware of what strategies can support to either improve as a positive or reduce a negative way, rather than just simply analysis how they are addressed. Due to organization crises frequently result in negative publicity, threatening the image of the company, the company should have an effective tactics for reduce the impact (Dean, 2004). Furthermore, organization need to try achieve positive publicity for enhance their healthy image and reputation for a successful within market competition. As a result, crisis management is mostly important tactic, which could be positive publicity or an overcome in a negative wa y, and once overcome in a negative way; publicity has essentially support public relation endeavors. In this essay will look at both in positive and negative publicity and explain the strategies which can assist both. Also, it will examine two cases (Johnson Johnson and Toyota) of negative publicity, how they reacted to reduce impacts and which crises management can be support. Strategic positive publicity tips Positive publicity is a main issue when organizing new event or product because it allows to company send a message out to wider audience in effective way, rather than reach the message personally. In a further extend, it is normally acknowledged to be more credible and more influential than company-controlled communications (Wragg, 1981). In this sense, therefore, it is vital to know which strategies can be support to maintain positive publicity. Firstly, organization has to become familiar with the wide range of publicity tools available with them (Wragg, 1981). It can be feature articles, news releases, interviews, press conferences and special events. Besides, these days people more familiar with online sources such as online news reports, blog posts, Facebook updates, YouTube videos and Twitter entries. For instance, good news may spread to wider audience via online sources and its may potentially create healthy public image (Lawrence, 2010). Therefore, select effective publicity tool is most important point that can be achieve positive publicity. In addition, the media can be an effective publicity tool if it is used correct for building healthy image between an organization and the community. As noted by Wragg (1981:17), the media is one of the main avenuesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦value of the media in influencing or bringing a message to the notice of the greatest number of people in the shortest time. With developed technologies, most of consumers are able to interact with at least one source of media tool and thus, using effective media is opportunities organization to communicate with consumers. For instance, consumer may evaluate what the organization say and what they do via growth of media. Secondly, organization needs to develop making a publicity plan for presenting their message to the public via the media. As mentioned by Yale (1991:13), with a good publicity planning will help the organizations come out ahead in the competition for space in publications and air time. In a further extend, the organizations can get a lot of coverage for free if it is done correctly and sent to targeted media (Yale, 1991). Effective publicity plan can be including as determine goal of event or product and also decide what message send to public. It may create public awareness that the event or product, build a stronger reputation within ones community or simply to introduce organization to the media and public (Hashemi, 2008). After knowing organizations goal, it enables to determine right target audiences which deliver the message to people who will be interest the message (Hashemi, 2008). Therefore, effective publicity plan is most important strategic for maintain positive publicity , and its lead to good image of ones business. As a result positive publicity can be establish and maintain goodwill and mutual understanding between organization and its publics (Hasek, 2001). In other words, effective publicity supports public relation as successfully. Make lower and prevent negative publicity Look at the reality; it is really obvious, that one little mistake, rumor or gossip can make a serious damage ones business image even though the company is a market leader. This can be regarded as negative publicity. According to Parvesh (2007), negative publicity is the adverse publicity that an organization may incur due to a particular reason, which may lead to potentially disastrous consequences. Like this, negative publicity has the possible to injury corporate image and reputation. this is due to its high credibility as well as the negativity effect, a tendency for negative information to be weighted more than positive information in the evaluation of people, objects, and ideas (Mizerski, 1982 cited by Dean, 2004:193. Because the media has a preference for reporting bad news (Dennis Merrill, 1996), thus companies are more likely to receive bad press rather than positive press. Furthermore, blog, online forum and talk radio and uncontrolled media, it is easier than past, to da mage organization image and reputation (Jenness, 2002). Therefore, It is compulsory know that how to organization can diminish the negative publicity, and get better their image in the public. According to Jenness (2002),negative publicity can be the result of a mishandled crisis. In a further extend, negative publicity is often occurs due to wrong response from the crisis. Perrier, for example, Perrier was unable to overcome negative publicity when top management hesitated in the crisis-solved process. Traces of benzene were found in the companys bottled water in 1990, however top management reassured the public that it was necessary to recall contaminated bottles only in North America. The crisis continued when scientists found benzene in bottled water being sold in Europe (Broom, Center Cutlip, 2000:128). Finally, media discovered, and reported, that benzene-tainted product had been sold all over the world for months. The media questioned Perriers integrity and concern for public safety, and the company lost its dominant position in the market place; it has been unable to rebuild its reputation due to mishandled the crisis (Jenness,2002). This may suggest that effectiv e crisis management is necessary for a reduce damage organization image or reputation. Effective crisis management can be regarded as careful planning, research and training, which can be overcome negative publicity. As Perrier crisis publicity suggests that, consumers need honest answer and they need them fast. Therefore, the company should have good crisis planning for deal with negative publicity. The plan can be include recall the all the products and make an apology to public. Moreover, Berger, Sorensen and Rasmussen (2003:23) suggest that dedicate a team to keep a sharp eye on all fronts, including the Internet which involves blog, online forum and search engine ranking. This can be excellent strategy for prevent from negative publicity. For instance, negative movie review on the magazine or online forum, it may badly influence to the movie itself and also production company, because it leads to lose consumers attention and also possibly to decrease sale a movie ticket. Like this, company need keep look at any comments or developments that might turn ugly. Although it can never be all-encompassing, its better to be aware of possibilities than being caught unawares (Berger et al, 2003:32). Develop Optimal Communication Plan In addition, it is necessary develop optimal communication strategy for reduce negative publicity. For reduce negative publicity, the company may training about how to communicate with the media press and the public about the crisis that is happening. As noted by Dean (2004) has developed a classification of communication strategies that can be employed during a crisis event to manage the image of the affected organization. The company need well prepared communication plan for interview or presentation that open communicate with public in order to protect organization image by negative publicity. In addition, communicate in web-site or informal networking can be useful tool for present information as effectively. Word-of-mouth, for example, it can be powerful tool for positive publicity or negative publicity, yet generally assumes that negative word-of-mouth should hurt product success (Berger et al, 2003:26). Therefore, the company need develop word-of mouth communication in order t o quash rumor or gossip and make consumers more aware or encourage the product or event. As a result, careful planning, research, and training can lessen negative publicity and can assist companies control crises. Is Negative Publicity Can being a Good Thing? On the other side, according to Berger et al (2003:33), though negative publicity can definitely hurt sales in some cases, in others, negative may actually be positive. In a further extend, even though negative publicity can be damage organization image or reputation, it may occurs positive effect in some case if the negative image can assist to increase public attention, overwhelming the negative influences . It suggests that, because negative publicity can increase product awareness and accessibility; it can sometimes have a positive influence on product choice and sales (Berger et al, 2007:3). Due to number of brands are in market place, it is important that get a consumers awareness in order to successful business. Informal media or word-of-mouth, for instance, even though they are presents the products or event as badly, consumers may more inform of their particular product or event. Moreover, Berge (1990:25) mentioned that a wine described as redolent of stinky socks, saw its s ales increase by five percentages after it was reviewed by a prominent wine website. Also, indirect negative publicity can be positive in terms of sales. For example, when Britney Spears represented as issue maker via media, such as hit to paparazzi, over binge problem, her new album Circus actually more increased sales, because the articles also mentioned her new album, and thus direct positive publicity (Berger et al, 2007:15). Like this, these examples show that negative publicity can be a good thing in some case. In addition, after effectively overcome and control the negative organization image and reputation, the organization can regain the consumers trust. In other words, after found lots of problems from the public, as negative publicity, the organization may use them as feedback in order to rebuild their positive image. It may take a long time, however, with resolved negative image, the organization potentially get a public attention. Two cases of organization crisis As a mentioned above, when organization crisis and its damage by negative publicity, It is important figure out what actually happened, how the negative publicity that affect the organization and how to manage in order to solve the crisis. In this part will look at two different examples, Johnson Johnson of Tylenol and Toyota Recall, which used different ways to manage the emergency situations and have different public opinions. Johnson Johnson of Tylenol Scandal In 1981, Chicago, U.S.A, seven customers who took Tylenol died of injected poison. In this tragedy, Johnson Johnson lost their image as market leader and also huge damage corporate reputation. This suggests that they might have had no choice without to give up the brand of Tylenol. Tylenol was the top-selling product by Johnson Johnson. Yet, after the crisis, according to Kaplan (1998), the publicity about the cyanide laced capsules directly caused a nationwide panic and also the company found itself in a real dilemma. Also, many people said that Tylenol as a brand could no longer survive in market place. Moreover, the media interpreted the issue as badly. Therefore, these poisonings made it compulsory for Johnson Johnson to launch a public relations strategy immediately, in order to save the reliability of both their product and corporation as a whole (Kaplan,1998). Toyota Recall Crisis Toyota was play a dominant role in the developing automatic in the world, with high-quality and high technology lead to Toyotas high credit in market place. They are reached the best seller between within all vehicles company, and also build good reputation during last 40 years (Edmund, 2010). It suggests that Toyota be covered in media as positively, and its lead to maintain their good image for a long period. Though, recently the negative publicity around the Toyota company as fast and quick due to acceleration problem. Toyota got a lot of complains about the acceleration and they eventually has recalled eight million vehicles worldwide, including a total of six million in the U.S., because of acceleration problems. Consumers may keep away from Toyota brand because they might be thinking that Toyota is not safe and reliable anymore. Like this, the company suffers from the very serious credit crisis, as noted by Horrel (2010), the long-term loss of reputation could be the real knock out punch for Toyota. After that, it seriously damaged Toyotas high-quality image in the public. Different reaction between Johnson Johnson and Toyota The first different between two companies is how honestly they react from the crisis. According to Dean (2004), Johnson Johnson handled a disastrous crisis amazingly well in 1982 and the companys reaction remains as a model for effective media relations. They let customers know about this awful incident via the media instead of concealing the fact. Contrary, even though Toyota already found the problem early time, they denial for the reputation and conceal the problem, which do not take any responsibility of the issue. Therefore, the public view began to turn away from Toyota (Horrel, 2010). In addition, another different point between two companies is that how actively the take action toward the crisis. After cyanide was discovered in some capsules of Tylenol, a product used by an estimated 100 million people, Johnson Johnson decided to cooperate fully with the media. It immediately announced a recall of all Tylenol packages in both U.S. and foreign markets. They decide not use the all the recalled products even though after results proved that there was no problem in the manufacturing procedure (Kaplan, 1998). However, even Toyota recalled a mounts of vehicles in 2009, the problem still existing and recall increased occurs. Eventually, on January, 2010, Toyota decide stop to producing the recalled model. Their reputation gets serious damage at the same time. The last thing which different between two companies is that lack of sincerity to customers. Tylenol put lots of endeavor into regain trust of the public. The companys decisions, which were based on the business principle of being socially responsible, earned Johnson Johnson praise from the media. According to Dean (2004:197) the company received additional positive press coverage when it subsequently introduced its new tamper-resistant packaging. Although not being able to control media coverage of the situation, Johnson Johnson was able to gain positive publicity because the company had an open communication plan and knew what to do during a crisis (Kaplan, 1998). Therefore, Johnson Johnson got a good image, which involves the company considers customers safety, and quickly recovered their reputation in an effective way. On the other side, Toyota still struggling with the crisis and respond to lessen impact with the CEOs apologies to the public, the purpose is reducing the negat ive publicity as much as possible. Yet, it seems to be hard to rebuild their reputation as before. As like, determination that a firms actions or inactions are directly responsible for a tragic event is likely to severely affect consumer regard for the organization (Dean, 2004:201). As a result, two cases show that crisis can be huge damage to organization image, yet, with well-organized strategy, the crisis could be solved and rebuild the positive reputation. To conclude, publicity can be assist organization image and reputation either as positively or as negatively. Therefore, it is important to understand the strategies that can be employed to assist both. By understanding of them, the organization can be maintain positive publicity for develop their healthy image, on the other side; they also enable to make lower negative publicity in order to reduce and prevent organization image. As mentioned above, two cases (Johnson Johnson and Toyota) shows that how the negative publicity has affected the organization in terms of image and reputation. Especially, when organization is in a crisis, it would be help to rebuild good image if they using publicity as effectively. As a result, publicity has essentially supported public relations endeavors, because publicity allows achieving public awareness and building relationship between products and consumers. Therefore, once organization uses positive strategies in order to gain a good image, it ca n be actually supported public relation in effective way.

Significance Of Ritual In North American Indian Religion Essay

Significance of Ritual in North American Indian Religion When scholars study religion, the tendency exists to focus on the mythological aspects of the religion in an attempt to understand the major underlying concepts present. However, an equally rewarding study often can be accomplished through the careful analysis of the religion's ritual aspects. This is especially true when studying North American Indian religions where there is an abundance of elaborate rituals that play a significant role in their culture. By closely examining the details and symbolism of ritual movements, we can gather some basic understanding of what is seen to be of value in a certain theology. While most Native American rituals tend to be mono-cultural, there are a few rituals that frequently appear in many different regions and tribes across North America. Two of these widespread rituals are the ritual of the "sacred pipe," and sweat lodge ceremonials. The sacred pipe ritual is loaded with symbolic meaning, and offers a generous insight into Native American belief systems. This essay will first look at the dynamics of the sacred pipe ritual and offer some explanation into its religious significance, then draw some parallels to the more common sweat lodge ceremony. If a recurring spiritual theme appears in separate rituals, it can be considered evidence of a consistent, structured belief system. The use of smoking pipes in Native American cultures is a popular and very ancient practice. Direct predecessors of the modern pipe appear 1,500 years ago, and other less relevant pipes can be found as far back as 2,500 years ago. The distinguishing characteristic of the sacred pipe is that the bowl is separable from the long stem, and the two parts are kept apart except during ritual use. The pipe is seen as a holy object and is treated with much respect. This type of ceremonial pipe was used by tribes ranging from the Rocky Mountain range to the Atlantic, and from the Gulf of Mexico to James Bay. It did not penetrate into Pacific coast or Southwest cultures, where tubular pipes were preferred. Inter-tribal trading helped the practice of this particular ritual spread rapidly, because in order for peaceful trade relations to take place some form of ritual had to be observed. Resp... ...placed on directions, especially east and west which is obviously derived from the path of the sun. Also important are the upward and downward directions representing the male sky and the female earth, and the joining of the two to give life. The simple fact that these symbols are so widespread and evident in separate rituals suggests that the North American Indians had a strong religious foundation long before Europeans arrived and attempted to ‘teach' them religion. WORKS CITED LIST Brown, Joseph Van Epes. The Sacred Pipe: Black Elk's Account of the Seven Rites of the Oglala Sioux. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1953. Coorigan, Samuel W, ed. Readings in Aboriginal Studies Brandon, Manitoba: Bearpaw Publishing, 1995. Hultkrantz, Ake. Belief and Worship in Native North America. Ed. Christopher Vecsey. Syracuse, New York: Syracuse University Press, 1981. Robicsek, Francis. The Smoking Gods: Tobacco in Maya Art, History, and Religion. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1978. Steinmetz, Fr. Paul B., S.J. "The Sacred Pipe in American Indian Religions." American Indian Culture and Research Journal. 8(3): 27-80, 1984.

Family Structure in the UK Essays -- Social Science, Family Life, Brit

As family structure has changed in the UK, so child care arrangements have become more diverse and complex. What are the implications of these changes for children? Introduction In the last 50 years or so, family life has changed becoming more diverse and complex, which has been the source of research by social scientists especially the effects of divorce on children. Marriage is no longer an institution that couples need to suffer if times are difficult, divorce is easier and cohabitation is more morally acceptable. The ideology of the nuclear family whilst not outdated is not the only type of family in which to raise children. The modern more complex family arrangements include step families, lone parents, step sibling relationships and shared care arrangements, which are the subject of more recent research. For the purpose of this study it will focus on the research relating to divorce and the new arrangements for children. One psychological study reported divorce as pathological; possibly in the early days using moral judgements to imply that ‘divorce is bad for children’. ‘They feel that their childhood has been lost forever. Divorce is a price they pay, as forfeit to their parents’ failures, jeopardizing their future lives’ (Wallerstein and Blakeslee, 1989, p. 43) More modern liberalised studies are comparing the divorced with the non-divorced children, to demonstrate that divorced families may have been labelled wrongly and in some cases may be a positive change. It is this more optimistic viewpoint which this research seeks to promote. Literature review As families are changing; the ideological nuclear family which existed in the past is less common, and attitudes are changing (Kelly 2003, p 237). C... ...hood , 10, 131-146. Pryor, J., & Rodgers, B. (2001). Children in Changing Families Life After Parental Separation. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Ltd. Simpson, B. (1998). Changing Families: An ethnographic approach to divorce and separation. Oxford: Berg. Smart, C. (2003). Introduction: New Perspectives on Childhood and Divorce. Childhood , 123-129. Smart, C., & May, V. (2007). The Parenting Contest: Problems of Ongoing Conflict over Children. In M. Maclean (Ed.), Parenting after Partnering, containing conflict after separation (pp. 65 - 80). Oxford: Hart Publishing. Trinder, L. (2007). Dangerous Dads and Malicious Mothers: The Relevance of Gender to Contact Disputes. In M. Maclean (Ed.), Parenting after Partnering, containing conflict after separation (pp. 81-94). Oxford: Hart Publishing. Wallerstein, J. S., & Blakeslee, S. (1989). Second Chances. Reading: Corgi.

Differences Between at and Tce on Corporate Governance

Explain the similarities and differences between AT and TCE on corporate governance and criticize AT using TCE’s perspective Both AT and TCE share considerably the same assumption, they believe that market mechanism will not work all the time because of bounded rationality, opportunism, and moral hazard. The two theories also believe that there is no perfect contract and both rely endogenously on the board of director as a control instrument. Even though AT and TCE both share these similarities, they analyze them from different perspectives. The unit of analysis in AT is individual level, while it is transaction in TCE. The focal cost of AT is the residual loss that causes from bounded rationality, opportunism, and moral hazard, while it is maladaptation of governance structure in TCE. Furthermore, the focal contractual concern of AT is ex ante, while it is ex post in TCE. AT focuses on relationship between principals (shareholders) and agents (CEO). Due to the fact that the principals want to maximize their return, while the agents want to maximize their wealth, power, and prestige, so the interests of the two parties are not aligned. The agents are able to fulfill their interests without necessary fulfilling the principals’. To guard against such bounded rationality, opportunism, and moral hazard from the agent, board of director is appointed to link the imperfect relationship between principals and agents. The board of director has the right to monitor, ramify, and sanction the decision of the agent to fiduciary protect the principals’ interest. Apart from appointing the board of director, nexus of contracts is utilized to provide ex ante incentive alignment and minimize inefficiencies in the contractual structure of the firm that arise form the unaligned interests. TCE focuses on the alignment of the governance structure in order to minimize the transaction cost as much as possible. Its focal contractual concern is ex post governance structure so they strive to reduce the transactions cost by integration rather than focusing on incentives. TCE also assume bounded rationality, opportunism, and moral hazard as AT, but TCE focuses on transaction level instead of individual level. Apart from the assumptions of bounded rationality, opportunism, and moral hazard, two variables must be concerned in order to decide the appropriate governance structure. These variables are namely uncertainty, and asset specificity. The level of uncertainty is dependant on the length of the transaction and often is a part of bounded rationality. Longer length of transaction often leads to higher uncertainty. Asset specificity, contrary to uncertainty, is better for longer length of transaction. This is due to the reason that, the transactions cost is lower in a higher specific asset. If the level of asset specificity and uncertainty are high in both parties, vertical integration is suitable in minimizing the transactions cost, but if the level of uncertainty is low while the asset specificity is high in both parties, long term contract is more suitable. Board of director also exists in TCE, but for different purpose than in AT. The role of the board of director in TCE is to safeguard the firm against financial lost from by financially look after the firm rather than monitoring the agents’ behavior.

Microsoft: A case in cross-company transformation Essay

One of the key challenges facing this company is the lack of proper innovation. Most of the products that are produced by the company for the past years are mainly influenced the existing products from their competitors. This is very evident from the fact that the Windows operating system was much influenced by UNIX which had been incorporated in the Apple operating systems. Also, Microsoft office suite was greatly influenced by lotus and also word perfect. The lack of innovation in Microsoft Company does not stop here (Terwiesch & Ulrich, n.d.). It has gone further to produce the product that is similar to those that are on the market. This browser, internet explorer resembled Netscape and recently they have produced a search engine Bing, which is very similar to Google. This implies that there is a continuous strategy that is followed by Microsoft when it keeps on producing imitations of other products with the help of very heavy managers of marketing to help in promoting these par ticular products among the people in the bid to get a very big share in the market. Due to this, it can be easily criticized that despite the fact that million dollars have been used on the search engine Bing, it has not offered anything worthwhile or anything that can be termed as extra better as compared to whatever is being offered by the search engine google however, it is expected that Bing would contain some more features as compared to google. This would mean that Bing will contain a little more features that are not available for google. This is only thin that may favor the low profile Bing and give it an added advantage to Bing and give a better platform to the users. I realize that without getting proper innovation ideas, it will be very difficult for Microsoft to generate the same amount of profit and sustain this amount that they are currently earning backed up by the company’s cash cow which is Microsoft office and also Microsoft windows. Going by the I production of this Microsoft cloud computing, Microsoft has to prepare itself very well for the purpose of the incoming web based computing and not give much attention to their traditional desktop computing. For it to continue with the innovations, it has to be very careful on how to plan the prices that it will be charging for its operating systems and its applications which are usually available free of charge through the internet (Vermesan & Friess, n.d.). It should now continue with the innovations on the basis of its new Bing search engine and make sure that there are some unique features and this will give it enough reasons to the customers as to why they should consider this parti cular search engine. Microsoft should try to analyze this issues keenly and tap resources and extract its full potentials for the purpose of innovation. Addressing this challenges will help Microsoft in the future in a lot of ways. For instance, it will make sure that Microsoft is stable in the market and that the competition that it may receive from other competitors in the market will not derail it (Terwiesch & Ulrich, n.d.). Addressing this challenges will make sure that Microsoft Company gets unique features that stand out in various ways thus rendering the company a unique and different face in the market thus more customers will be drawn and maintained in the company for the purpose of the unique products. Low pricing strategy.If this company adhere to this strategy strictly, it will now be very differentiating candidly among the monopolistic practices that it had adopted previously on the basis of their operating systems. Microsoft company can just continue to operate under this strategy and also provide its regular products but maintain the price at its minimum and this will go a long way helping Microsoft in that it will be very difficult for other new entrants to diffuse into the market (Vermesan & Friess, n.d.) .aided by this low pricing strategy, Microsoft a s accompany will gain a lot of popularity by reaching out very many users. This will see Microsoft gain a very large market share .this will work effectively since the majority of the users will prefer to use the low price products and services as compared to the pricey ones. Another strategy that Microsoft can use is the no-frills strategy. Due to the introduction of the cloud computing idea, the majority of the computing will be online based and this means that the customer loyalty to the web-based applications and online soft wares is foreseen to be low. This means that customers can change their online web-based applications and the software if they are given good quality products at relatively reduced prices (Vermesan & Friess, n.d.). If Microsoft keeps their main focus on the innovations, this idea will be attractive to the customers that are price sensitive and do not care about the product quality. If this strategy is adopted by Microsoft, it can retain its customers while ensuring that their customers get best products with reduced prices. I would strongly recommend these particular initiatives to be implemented in Microsoft I at all they are interested in grabbing the future market and through this, they will remain to be the best company that p rovides the services of their kind. Reference Vermesan, O., & Friess, P. Building the hyperconnected society. Terwiesch, C., & Ulrich, K. Innovation Tournaments.