Procurement and supply chain management Essay

This Publication is concerned with the vital subject of business logistics and supply chain management, an area that can be essential to a firm’s competitive strategy and revenue generation. This management area has been described by many names, including physical distribution, materials management, transportation management, logistics, and supply chain management. Relevant business activities may include one or more of the following areas: transportation, inventory, order processing, purchasing, warehousing, materials handling, packaging, customer service standards, and production. The focus of this Publication is on the planning, organizing, and controlling of these activities – key elements for successful management in any organization. Special emphasis is given to strategic planning and decision making as an important part of the management process. Managerial efforts are directed towards setting the level of the logistics activities so as to make products and services available to customers at the time and place required, and in the condition and form desired, in the most profitable and cost-effective way. Logistical activities have always been vital to organizations, and so business logistics and supply chain management represents a synthesis of many concepts, principles, and methods from the more traditional areas of marketing, production, accounting, purchasing, and transportation, as well as from the disciplines of applied mathematics, organizational behaviour, and economics. This Publication attempts to unify these elements to assist in the effective management of the supply chain. The Publication aims to present ideas, principles and techniques that are fundamental to good business logistics practice. It concentrates on important activities of management such as planning, organizing, and controlling, and also on a triangle of interrelated transportation, inventory, and location strategies, which are at the heart of good logistics planning and decision making. Contemporary trends that affect the scope and practice of business logistics and supply chain management have been integrated into the body of the text. Firstly, emphasis is placed on logistics and supply chain management in a worldwide setting to reflect the growing internationalization and globalization of business in general. Secondly, the shift towards service-oriented economies by industrialized nations is emphasized by showing how logistics concepts and principles are applicable to both service-producing tirms and product-producing ones. Thirdly, attention is given to the integrated management of supply chain activities. 1 LSCTMMOD1 Send for a FREE copy of our Prospectus book by airmail, telephone, fax or email, or via our website: Britain. International Headquarters: College House, Leoville, Jersey JE3 2DB, Britain Telefax: +44 (0)1534 485485 Email: info@cambridgetraining. com Website: www. cambridgecollege. co. uk The Publication contains many practical and contemporary examples that show the applicability of the textual material and assist in the understanding and learning of the key points and concepts. Each Chapter in this Cambridge International College Publication on Logistics, Chain Supply & Transport Management includes: †¢ An introduction section †¢ Examples and/or figures and diagrams to explain the concepts being covered †¢ A summary of concluding comments †¢ Review Questions designed to reinforce learning and contemplation of what is covered in the Chapter Advice on How to Study this Program Every individual CIC Member approaches his/her study in a different manner, and different people may have a particular study method that they find most effective for them. However, the following is a tested and proven Study Method, suggested to you as a CIC Member in order to assist in making your study and learning easier – and enjoyable – and to assist you to quickly master the contents of this CIC Publication on Logistics, Chain Supply & Transport Management: Step 1: Set yourself a flexible study schedule, depending on the time you have available and what is best for you. For example, the target set could be to study for 1 or 2 hours a night, or for 8 or 9 hours a week, or to complete one Chapter every 2 weeks. There is no set or compulsory schedule, but simply setting a schedule or goal is often an important action in ensuring that study is undertaken successfully and within the specified timeframe. Step 2: Read the whole of the first Chapter at your normal reading pace, without trying to memorise every topic covered or fact stated, but trying to get â€Å"the feel† of what is dealt with in the Chapter as a whole. Step 3: Start reading the Chapter again from the beginning, this time reading more slowly, paragraph by paragraph and section by section. Make brief notes of any points, sentences, paragraphs or sections which you feel need your further study, consideration or thought. You may wish to keep any notes in a separate file or notebook. Try to absorb and memorise all the important topics covered. Step 4: Start reading the Chapter again from its start, this time paying particular attention to – and if necessary studying more thoroughly – those parts on which you earlier wrote notes for further study. It is best that you do not pass on to other parts or topics until you are certain you fully understand and remember those parts you earlier noted as requiring your special attention. Try to fix everything taught firmly in your mind. 2 LSCTMMOD1 Send for a FREE copy of our Prospectus book by airmail, telephone, fax or email, or via our website: Britain. International Headquarters: College House, Leoville, Jersey JE3 2DB, Britain Telefax: +44 (0)1534 485485 Email: info@cambridgetraining. com Website: www. cambridgecollege. co. uk Step 5: There are self-assessment review questions at the end of the Chapter, and you are strongly advised to try to answer or think about them as best you can – but do not send your answers to the College. If these questions/exercises highlight any areas that you feel you need to revise or re-read in the Chapter, then go ahead and do that before moving on to Step 6. Step 6: Once you have completed steps 1 to 5 above, move on to the next Chapter and repeat steps 1 to 5 for each subsequent Chapter. 3 LSCTMMOD1 Send for a FREE copy of our Prospectus book by airmail, telephone, fax or email, or via our website: Britain. International Headquarters: College House, Leoville, Jersey JE3 2DB, Britain Telefax: +44 (0)1534 485485 Email: info@cambridgetraining. com Website: www. cambridgecollege. co. uk LOGISTICS, SUPPLY CHAIN & TRANSPORT MANAGEMENT PROGRAM MODULE ONE – BUSINESS LOGISTICS/SUPPLY CHAIN – A VITAL SUBJECT (based on Chapter 1 of ‘Logistics, Supply Chain and Transport Management’ by Ronald H Ballou) Contents Introduction Business Logistics Defined The Supply Chain The Activity Mix Importance of Logistics/Supply Chain (SC) Costs Are Significant Logistics Customer Service Expectations Are Increasing Supply and Distribution Lines Are Lengthening with Greater Complexity Logistics/SC Is Important to Strategy Logistics/SC Adds Significant Customer Value Customers Increasingly Want Quick, Customized Response Logistics/SC in Non-Manufacturing Areas Service Industry Military Environment Business Logistics/SC in the Firm Objectives of Business Logistics/SC Questions and Problems Introduction As far back as history records, the goods that people wanted were not always produced where they wanted to consume them, or these goods were not accessible when people wanted to consume them. Food and other commodities were widely dispersed and were only available in abundance at certain times of the year. Early peoples had the choice of consuming goods at their immediate location or moving the goods to a preferred site and storing them for later use. However, because no well developed transportation and storage systems yet existed, the movement of goods was limited to what an individual could personally move, and storage of perishable commodities was possible for only a short time. This limited movement-storage system generally constrained people to live close to the sources of production and to consume a rather narrow range of goods. Even today, in some areas of the world consumption and production take place only within a very limited geographic region. Striking examples can still be observed in the developing nations of Asia, South America, Australia, and Africa, where some of the population live in small, self-sufficient villages, and most of the goods needed by the residents are produced or acquired in the immediate vicinity. Few goods are imported from other areas. Therefore, production efficiency and the economic standard of living are generally low. In this type of economy, a well-developed and inexpensive logistics system would encourage an exchange of goods with other producing areas of the country, or even the world. 4 LSCTMMOD1 Send for a FREE copy of our Prospectus book by airmail, telephone, fax or email, or via our website: Britain. International Headquarters: College House, Leoville, Jersey JE3 2DB, Britain Telefax: +44 (0)1534 485485 Email: info@cambridgetraining. com Website: www. cambridgecollege. co. uk As logistics systems improved, consumption and production began to separate geographically. Regions would specialize in those commodities that could be produced most efficiently. Excess production could be shipped economically to other producing (or consuming) areas, and needed goods not produced locally were imported. This exchange process follows the principle of comparative advantage. This same principle, when applied to world markets, helps to explain the high level of international trade that takes place today. Efficient logistics systems allow world businesses to take advantage of the fact that lands, and the people who occupy them, are not equally productive. Logistics is the very essence of trade. It contributes to a higher economic standard of living for us all. To the individual firm operating in a high-level economy, good management of logistics activities is vital. Markets are often national or international in scope, whereas production may be concentrated at relatively few points. Logistics activities provide the bridge between production and market locations that are separated by time and distance. Effective management of these activities is the major concern of this Program. Business Logistic Defined Business logistics is a relatively new field of integrated management study in comparison with the traditional fields of finance, marketing, and production. As previously noted, logistics activities have been carried out by individuals for many years. Businesses also have continually engaged in movestore (transportation-inventory) activities. The newness of the field results from the concept of coordinated management of the related activities, rather than the historical practice of managing them separately, and the concept that logistics adds value to products or services that are essential to customer satisfaction and sales. Although co-ordinated logistics management has not been generally practiced until recently, the idea of co-ordinated management can be traced back to at least 1844. In the writings of Jules Dupuit, a French engineer, the idea of trading one cost for another (transportation costs for inventory costs) was evident in the selection between road and water transport: â€Å"The fact is that carriage by road being quicker, more reliable and less subject to loss or damage, it possesses advantage to which businessmen often attach a considerable value. However, it may well be that a saving induces the merchant to use a canal; he can buy warehouses and increase his floating capital in order to have a sufficient supply of goods on hand to protect himself against slowness and irregularity of the canal, and if all told the saving in transport gives him a cost advantage, he will decide in favour of the new route. † The first textbook to suggest the benefits of co-ordinated logistics management appeared around 1961, in part explaining why a generally accepted definition of business logistics is still emerging. Therefore, it is worthwhile to explore several definitions for the scope and content of the subject. A dictionary definition of the term logistics is: â€Å"The branch of military science having to do with procuring, maintaining, and transporting material, personnel, and facilities. † This definition puts logistics into a military context. To the extent that business objectives and activities differ from those of the military, this definition does not capture the essence of business logistics management. A better representation of the field may be reflected in the definition promulgated by the Council of Logistics Management (CLM), a professional organization of logistics 5 LSCTMMOD1 Send for a FREE copy of our Prospectus book by airmail, telephone, fax or email, or via our website: Britain. International Headquarters: College House, Leoville, Jersey JE3 2DB, Britain Telefax: +44 (0)1534 485485 Email: info@cambridgetraining. com Website: www. cambridgecollege. co. uk managers, educators, and practitioners formed in 1962 for the purposes of continuing education and fostering the interchange of ideas. Its definition: â€Å"Logistics is that part of the supply chain process that plans, implements, and controls the efficient, effective flow and storage of goods, services, and related information from the point of origin to the point of consumption in order to meet customers’ requirements. † This is an excellent definition, conveying the idea that product flows are to be managed from the point where they exist as raw materials to the point where they are finally discarded. Logistics is also concerned with the flow of services as well as physical goods, an area of growing opportunity for improvement. It also suggests that logistics is a process, meaning that it includes all the activities that have an impact on making goods and services available to customers when and where they wish to acquire them. However, the definition implies that logistics is part of the supply chain process, not the entire process. So, what is the supply chain process or, more popularly, supply chain management? Supply chain management (SCM) is a term that has emerged in recent years that captures the essence of integrated logistics and even goes beyond it. Supply chain management emphasizes the logistics interactions that take place among the functions of marketing, logistics, and production within a firm and those interactions that take place between the legally separate firms within the product-flow channel. Opportunities for cost or customer service improvement are achieved through co-ordination and collaboration among the channel members where some essential supply chain activities may not be under the direct control of the logistician. Although early definitions such as physical distribution, materials management, industrial logistics and channel management – all terms used to describe logistics – have promoted this broad scope for logistics, there was little attempt to implement logistics beyond a company’s own enterprise boundaries, or even beyond its own internal logistics function. Now, retail firms are showing success in sharing information with suppliers, who in turn agree to maintain and manage inventories on retailers’ shelves. Channel inventories and product stockouts are lower. Manufacturing firms operating under just-in-time production scheduling build relationships with suppliers for the benefit of both companies by reducing inventories. Definitions of the supply chain and supply chain management reflecting this broader scope are: â€Å"The supply chain (SC) encompasses all activities associated with the flow and transformation of goods from the raw materials stage (extraction), through to the end user, as well as the associated information flows. Materials and information flow both up and down the supply chain. † â€Å"Supply chain management (SCM) is the integration of these activities, through improved supply chain relationships, to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. † After careful study of the various definitions being offered, Mentzer and other writers propose the broad and rather general definition as follows: â€Å"Supply chain management is defined as the systematic, strategic coordination of the traditional business functions and the tactics across these business functions within a particular company and across businesses within the supply chain, for the purposes of improving the long-term performance of the individual companies and the supply chain as a whole. † 6 LSCTMMOD1 Send for a FREE copy of our Prospectus book by airmail, telephone, fax or email, or via our website: Britain. International Headquarters: College House, Leoville, Jersey JE3 2DB, Britain Telefax: +44 (0)1534 485485 Email: info@cambridgetraining. The supply chain management model in Figure 1-1 viewed as a pipeline shows the scope of this definition. It is important to note that supply chain management is about the co-ordination of product flows across functions and across companies to achieve competitive advantage and profitability for the individual companies in the supply chain and the supply chain members collectively. It is difficult, in a practical way, to separate business logistics management from supply chain management. In so many respects, they promote the same mission: â€Å"To get the right goods or services to the right place, at the right time, and in the desired condition, while making the greatest contribution to the firm. † Some claim that supply chain management is just another name for integrated business logistics management (IBLM) and that the broad scope of supply chain management has been promoted over the years. Conversely, others say that logistics is a subset of SCM, where SCM considers additional issues beyond those of product flow. For example, SCM may be concerned with product pricing and manufacturing quality. Although SCM promotes viewing the supply channel with the broadest scope, the reality is that firms do not practise this ideal. Fawcett and Magan found that companies that do practise supply chain integration limit their scope to one tier upstream and one tier downstream. The focus seems to be concerned with creating seamless processes within their own companies and applying new information technologies to improve the quality of information and speed of its exchange among channel members. The boundary between the logistics and supply chain management terms is fuzzy. Even then, logistics activities are repeated once again as used products are recycled upstream in the logistics channel. A single firm generally is not able to control its entire product flow channel from raw material source to points of the final consumption, although this is an emerging opportunity. For practical purposes, the business logistics for the individual firm has a narrower scope. Usually, the maximum managerial control that can be expected is over the immediate physical supply and physical distribution channels, as shown in Figure 1-2. The physical supply channel refers to the time and space gap between a firm’s immediate material sources and its processing points. Similarly, the physical distribution channel refers to the time and space gap between the firm’s processing points and its customers. Due to the similarities in the activities between the two channels, physical supply (more commonly referred to as materials management) 8 LSCTMMOD1 Send for a FREE copy of our Prospectus book by airmail, telephone, fax or email, or via our website: Britain. International Headquarters: College House, Leoville, Jersey JE3 2DB, Britain Telefax: +44 (0)1534 485485 Email: info@cambridgetraining. com Website: www. cambridgecollege. co. uk and physical distribution comprise those activities that are integrated into business logistics. Business logistics management is now popularly referred to as supply chain management. Others have used terms such as value nets, value stream, and lean logistics to describe a similar scope and purpose. The evolution of the management of product flows toward SCM is captured in Figure 1-3. Although it is easy to think of logistics as managing the flow of products from the points of raw material acquisition to end customers, for many firms there is a reverse logistics channel that must be managed as well. The life of a product, from a logistics viewpoint, does not end with delivery to the customer. Products become obsolete, damaged, or nonfunctioning and are returned to their source points for repair or disposition. Packaging materials may be returned to the shipper due to environmental regulations or because it makes good economic sense to reuse them. The reverse logistics channel may utilize all or a portion of the forward logistics channel or it may require a separate design. The supply chain terminates with the final disposition of a product. The reverse channel must be considered to be within the scope of logistics planning and control. The Activity Mix The activities to be managed that make up business logistics (supply chain process) vary from firm to firm, depending on a firm’s particular organizational structure, management’s honest differences of opinion about what constitutes the supply chain for its business, and the importance of individual activities to its operations. Follow along the supply chain as shown in Figure 1-2 and note the important activities that take place. Again, according to the CLM: 9 LSCTMMOD1 Send for a FREE copy of our Prospectus book by airmail, telephone, fax or email, or via our website: Britain. International Headquarters: College House, Leoville, Jersey JE3 2DB, Britain Telefax: +44 (0)1534 485485 Email: info@cambridgetraining. com Website: www. cambridgecollege. co. uk â€Å"The components of a typical logistics system are: customer service, demand forecasting, distribution communications, inventory control, material handling, order processing, parts and service support, plant and warehouse site selection (location analysis), purchasing, packaging, return goods handling, salvage and scrap disposal, traffic and transportation, and warehousing and storage. † Figure 1-4 organizes these components, or activities, according to where they are most likely to take place in the supply channel. The list is further divided into key and support activities, along with some of the decisions associated with each activity. Customer service standards co-operate with marketing to: a. Determine customer needs and wants for logistics customer service b. Determine customer response to service c. Set customer service levels 2. Transportation a. Mode and transport service selection b. Freight consolidation c. Carrier routing d. Vehicle scheduling e. Equipment selection f. Claims processing g. Rate auditing 3. Inventory management a. Raw materials and finished goods stocking policies b. Short-term sales forecasting c. Product mix at stocking points 10 LSCTMMOD1 Send for a FREE copy of our Prospectus book by airmail, telephone, fax or email, or via our website: Britain. International Headquarters: College House, Leoville, Jersey JE3 2DB, Britain Telefax: +44 (0)1534 485485 Email: info@cambridgetraining. com Website: www. cambridgecollege. co. uk d. Number, size, and location of stocking points e. Just-in-time, push, and pull strategies 4. Information flows and order processing a. Sales order-inventory interface procedures b. Order information transmittal methods c. Ordering rules Support Activities 1. Warehousing a. Space determination b. Stock layout and dock design c. Warehouse configuration d. Stock placement 2. Materials handling a. Equipment selection b. Equipment replacement policies c. Order-picking procedures d. Stock storage and retrieval 3. Purchasing a. Supply source selection b. Purchase timing c. Purchase quantities 4. Protective packaging designed for: a. Handling b. Storage c. Protection from loss and damage 5. Co-operate with production/operations to: a. Specify aggregate quantities b. Sequence and time production output c. Schedule supplies for production/operations 6. Information maintenance a. Information collection, storage, and manipulation b. Data analysis Control procedures Key and support activities are separated because certain activities will generally take place in every logistics channel, whereas others will take place, depending on the circumstances, within a particular firm. The key activities are on the â€Å"critical† loop within a firm’s immediate physical distribution channel, as shown in Figure 1 to 5. They contribute most to the total cost of logistics or they are essential to the effective co-ordination and completion of the logistics task. 11 LSCTMMOD1 Send for a FREE copy of our Prospectus book by airmail, telephone, fax or email, or via our website: Britain. International Headquarters: College House, Leoville, Jersey JE3 2DB, Britain Telefax: +44 (0)1534 485485 Email: info@cambridgetraining. com Website: www. cambridgecollege. co. uk Customer service standards set the level of output and degree of readiness to which the logistics system must respond. Logistics costs increase in proportion to the level of customer service provided, such that setting the standards for service also affects the logistics costs to support that level of service. Setting very high service requirements can force logistics costs to exceedingly high levels. Transportation and inventories maintenance are the primary cost-absorbing logistics activities. Experience has shown that each will represent one-half to two-thirds of total logistics costs. Transportation adds place value to products and services, whereas inventories maintenance adds time value. Transportation is essential because no modern firm can operate without providing for the movement of its raw materials or its finished products. This importance is underscored by the financial strains placed on many firms by such disasters as a national railroad strike or independent truckers’ refusal to move goods because of rate disputes. In these circumstances, markets cannot be served, and products back up in the logistics pipeline to deteriorate or become obsolete. Inventories are also essential to logistics management because it is usually not possible or practical to provide instant production or ensure delivery times to customers. They serve as buffers between supply and demand so that needed product availability may be maintained for customers while providing flexibility for production and logistics in seeking efficient methods for manufacture and distribution of the product. Order processing is the final key activity. Its costs usually are minor compared to transportation or inventory maintenance costs. Nevertheless, order processing is an important element in the total time that it takes for a customer to receive goods or services. It is the activity triggering product movement and service delivery. Although support activities may be as critical as the key activities in any particular circumstance, they are considered here as contributing to the logistics mission. In addition, one or more of the support activities may not be a part of the logistics activity mix for every firm. For example, products such as finished automobiles or commodities such as coal, iron ore, or gravel not needing the weather and security protection of warehousing will not require the warehousing activity, even though inventories are maintained. However, warehousing and materials handling are typically conducted wherever products are temporarily halted in their movement to the marketplace. 12 LSCTMMOD1 Send for a FREE copy of our Prospectus book by airmail, telephone, fax or email, or via our website: Britain. International Headquarters: College House, Leoville, Jersey JE3 2DB, Britain Telefax: +44 (0)1534 485485 Email: info@cambridgetraining. com Website: www. cambridgecollege. co. uk Protective packaging is a support activity of transportation and inventory maintenance as well as of warehousing and materials handling because it contributes to the efficiency with which these other activities are carried out. Purchasing and product scheduling often may be considered more a concern of production than of logistics. However, they also affect the overall logistics effort, and specifically they affect the efficiency of transportation and inventory management. Finally, information maintenance supports all other logistics activities in that it provides the needed information for planning and control. The extended supply chain refers to those members of the supply channel beyond the firm’s immediate suppliers or customers. They may be suppliers to the immediate suppliers or customers of the immediate customers and so on until raw material source points or end customers are reached. It is important to plan and control the previously noted activities and information flows if they affect the logistics customer service that can be provided and the costs of supplying this service. Management of the extended supply chain has the potential of improving logistics performance beyond that of just managing the activities within the immediate supply chain. Importance of Logistics/Supply Chain Logistics is about creating value – value for customers and suppliers of the firm, and value for the firm’s stakeholders. Value in logistics is primarily expressed in terms of time and place. Products and services have no value unless they are in the possession of the customers when (time) and where (place) they wish to consume them. For example, concessions at a sports event have no value to consumers if they are not available at the time and place that the event is occurring, or if inadequate inventories don’t meet the demands of the sports fans. Good logistics management views each activity in the supply chain as contributing to the process of adding value. If little value can be added, it is questionable whether the activity should exist. However, value is added when customers are willing to pay more for a product or service than the cost to place it in their hands. To many firms throughout the world, logistics has become an increasingly important value-adding process for a number of reasons. Costs Are Significant Over the years, several studies have been conducted to determine the costs of logistics for the whole economy and for the individual firm. There are widely varying estimates of the cost levels. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), logistics costs average about 12 percent of the 13 LSCTMMOD1 Send for a FREE copy of our Prospectus book by airmail, telephone, fax or email, or via our website: Britain. International Headquarters: College House, Leoville, Jersey JE3 2DB, Britain Telefax: +44 (0)1534 485485 Email: info@cambridgetraining. com Website: www. cambridgecollege. co. uk world’s gross domestic product. Robert Delaney, who has tracked logistics costs for more than two decades, estimates that logistics costs for the U. S. economy are 9. 9 percent of the U. S. gross domestic product (GDP), or $921 billion. For the firm, logistics costs have ranged from 4 percent to over 30 percent of sales. The results from a cost survey of individual firms are shown in Table 1-3. Although the results show physical distribution costs at about 8 percent of sales, this survey does not include physical supply costs. Probably another one-third may be added to this total to represent average logistics costs for the firm at about 11 percent of sales. Over the last decade, physical distribution costs have ranged between 7 percent and 9 percent of sales. There may be a trend of increasing costs for individual firms, although Wilson and Delaney show over the same period that logistics costs as a percent of U. S. GDP have declined by about 10 percent. Logistics costs, substantial for most firms, rank second only to the cost of goods sold (purchase costs) that are about 50 percent to 60 percent of sales for the average manufacturing firm. Value is added by minimizing these costs and by passing the benefits on to customers and to the firm’s shareholders. Logistics Customer Service Expectations Are Increasing The Internet, just-in-time operating procedures, and continuous replenishment of inventories have all contributed to customers expecting rapid processing of their requests, quick delivery, and a high degree of product availability. According to the Davis Survey of hundreds of companies over the last decade, world-class competitors have average order cycle times (the time between when an order is placed and when it is received) of seven to eight days and line item fill rates of 90 percent to 94 percent. LogFac summarizes world-class logistics performance for domestic companies as: Error rates of less than one per 1,000 orders shipped Logistics costs of well under 5 percent of sales Finished goods inventory turnover of 20 or more times per year Total order cycle time of five working days Transportation cost of one percent of sales revenue or less, if products sold are over $5 per 500 gms As might be expected, the average company performs below these cost and customer service benchmarks, when compared with the statistics in Tables 1-3 and 1-4. Supply and Distribution Lines Are Lengthening with Greater Complexity The trend is toward an integrated world economy. Firms are seeking, or have developed, global strategies by designing their products for a world market and producing them wherever the low-cost 14 LSCTMMOD1 Send for a FREE copy of our Prospectus book by airmail, telephone, fax or email, or via our website: Britain. International Headquarters: College House, Leoville, Jersey JE3 2DB, Britain Telefax: +44 (0)1534 485485 Email: info@cambridgetraining. com Website: www. cambridgecollege. co. uk raw materials, components, and labor can be found (e. g. , Ford’s Focus automobile), or they simply produce locally and sell internationally. In either case, supply and distribution lines are stretched, as compared with the producer who wishes to manufacture and sell only locally. Not only has the trend occurred naturally by firms seeking to cut costs or expand markets, but it is also being encouraged by political arrangements that promote trade. Examples of the latter are the European Union, the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between Canada, the United States, and Mexico, and the economic trade agreement among several countries of South America (MERCOSUR). Globalization and internationalization of industries everywhere will depend heavily on logistics performance and costs, as companies take more of a world view of their operations. As this happens, logistics takes on increased importance within the firm since its costs, especially transportation, become a larger part of the total cost structure. For example, if a firm seeks foreign suppliers for the raw materials that make up its final product or foreign locations to build its product, the motivation is to increase profit. Material and labor costs may be reduced, but logistics costs are likely to increase due to increased transportation and inventory costs. The â€Å"tradeoff†, as shown in Figure 1-6, may lead to higher profit by reducing materials, labour, and overhead costs at the expense of logistics costs and tariffs. â€Å"Outsourcing† adds value, but it requires careful management of logistics costs and product-flow times in the supply channel. Logistics/SC Is Important To Strategy Firms spend a great deal of time finding ways to differentiate their product offerings from those of their competitors. When management recognizes that logistics/SC affects a significant portion of a firm’s costs and that the result of decisions made about the supply chain processes yields different levels of customer service, it is in a position to use this effectively to penetrate new markets, to increase market share, and to increase profits. When a firm incurs the cost of moving the product toward the customer or making an inventory available in a timely manner, for the customer â€Å"value† has been created that was not there previously. It is value as surely as that created through the production of a quality product or through a low price. It is generally recognized that business creates four types of value in products or services. These are: form, time, place, and possession. Logistics creates two out of these four values. Manufacturing creates form value as inputs are converted to outputs, that is raw materials are transformed into finished goods. Logistics controls the time and place values in products, mainly through transportation, information flows, and inventories. Possession value is often considered the responsibility of marketing, engineering, and finance, where the value is created by helping customers acquire the product through such mechanisms as advertising (information), technical support, and terms of sale (pricing and credit availability). To the extent that SCM includes production, three out of the four values may be the responsibility of the logistics/supply chain manager. Customers Increasingly Want Quick, Customized Response Fast food retailers, automatic teller machines, overnight package delivery, and electronic mail on the Internet have led us as consumers to expect that products and services can be made available in increasingly shorter times. In addition, improved information systems and flexible manufacturing processes have led the marketplace toward mass customization. Rather than consumers having to accept the â€Å"one size fits all† philosophy in their purchases, suppliers are increasingly offering products that meet individual customer needs. Companies too have been applying the concept of quick response to their internal operations in order to meet the service requirements of their own marketing efforts. The quick response philosophy has been used to create a marketing advantage. Saks Fifth Avenue applied it, even though big profits are made through big margins and not on cost reductions that might be achieved from good logistics management. Supply chain costs may even rise, although the advantage is to more than cover these costs through increased profits. Logistics/SC in Non-manufacturing Areas It is perhaps easiest to think of logistics/SC in terms of moving and storing a physical product in a manufacturing setting. This is too narrow a view and can lead to many missed business opportunities. The logistics/SC principles and concepts learned over the years can be applied to such areas as service industries, the military, and even environment management. Service Industry The service sector of industrialized countries is large and growing. In the United States, over 70 percent of all jobs are in what the federal government classifies as the service sector. The size of this sector alone forces us to ask if logistics concepts are not equally applicable here as they are to the manufacturing sector. If they are, there is a tremendous untapped opportunity yet to be fulfilled. Many companies designated as service firms in fact produce a product. Examples include: McDonald’s Corporation (fast foods); Dow Jones & Co. , Inc. (newspaper publishing); and Sears, Roebuck and Co. (merchandise retailing). These companies carry out all the typical supply chain activities of any manufacturing firm. However, for service companies such as Bank One (retail banking), Marriott Corporation (lodging) and Consolidated Edison (electric power), supply chain activities, 16 LSCTMMOD1 Send for a FREE copy of our Prospectus book by airmail, telephone, fax or email, or via our website: Britain. International Headquarters: College House, Leoville, Jersey JE3 2DB, Britain Telefax: +44 (0)1534 485485 Email: info@cambridgetraining. com Website: www. cambridgecollege. co. uk especially those associated with physical distribution, are not as obvious. Even though many service-oriented companies may be distributing an intangible, nonphysical product, they do engage in many physical distribution activities and decisions. A hospital may want to extend emergency medical care throughout the community and must make decisions as to the locations of the centers. United Parcel Service and Federal Express must locate terminals and route pickup and delivery trucks. The East Ohio Gas Company inventories natural gas in underground wells during the off-season in the region where demand will occur. Bank One must locate and have cash inventory on hand for its ATMs. The Federal Reserve Bank must select the methods of transportation to move cancelled cheques among member banks. The Catholic Church must decide the number, location, and size of the churches needed to meet shifts in size and location of congregations, as well as to plan the inventory of its pastoral staff. Xerox’s repair service for copying equipment is also a good example of the logistics decisions encountered in a service operation. The techniques, concepts, and methods discussed throughout this Program should be as applicable to the service sector as they are to the manufacturing sector. The key, according to Theodore Levitt, may be in transforming an intangible service into a tangible product. Problems will remain in carefully identifying the costs associated with the distribution of an intangible product. Perhaps because of this, few service firms or organizations have a physical distribution manager on their staff, although they frequently do have a materials manager to handle supply matters. However, managing logistics in service industries does represent a new direction for the future development of logistics practice. Military Before businesses showed much interest in co-ordinating supply chain processes, the military was well organized to carry out logistics activities. More than a decade before business logistics’ developmental period, the military carried out what was called the most complex, best-planned logistics operation of that time-the invasion of Europe during World War II. Although the problems of the military, with its extremely high customer service requirements, were not identical with those of business, the similarities were great enough to provide a valuable experience base during the developmental years of logistics. For example, the military alone maintained inventories valued at about one-third of those held by all U. s. manufacturers. In addition to the management experience that such large-scale operations provide, the military sponsored, and continues to sponsor, research in the logistics area through such organizations as the RAND Corporation and the Office of Naval Research. With this background, the field of business logistics began to grow. Even the term logistics seems to have had its origins in the military. A recent example of military logistics on a large scale was the conflict between the United States and Iraq over Iraq’s invasion of the small country of Kuwait. This invasion has been described as the largest military logistics operation in history. The logistics support in that war is yet another illustration of what worldclass companies have always known: Good logistics can be a source of competitive advantage. Lt General William Pagonis, in charge of logistics support for Desert Storm, observed: â€Å"When the Middle East started heating up, it seemed like a good time to pull out some history books on desert warfare in this region †¦. But there was nothing on logistics. Logistics is not a best seller. In a couple of his diaries, Rommel talked about logistics. He thought the Germans lost the battle not because they didn’t have great soldiers or equipment – in fact, the German tanks outfought ours almost throughout World War II – but because the British had better logistics. † 17 LSCTMMOD1 Send for a FREE copy of our Prospectus book by airmail, telephone, fax or email, or via our website: The first wave of 200,000 troops and their equipment was deployed in a month and a half, whereas troop deployment took nine months in the Vietnam conflict. In addition, the application of many good logistics concepts was evident. Take customer service, for example: â€Å"We believed that if we took care of our troops, the objectives would be accomplished no matter whatever else happened. The soldiers are our customers. It is no different than a determined, single focus on customers that many successful businesses have. Now, you take care of your soldiers not only by providing them cold sodas, and burgers, and good food: you make sure they have the ammunition on the front line, so that when they go fight the war they know they have what they need. † This meant that when 120 mm guns rather than 105 mm guns were desired on tanks, they were changed. When brown vehicles were preferred over the traditional camouflage green, they were repainted at the rate of 7,000 per month. Environment Population growth and resultant economic development have heightened our awareness of environmental issues. Whether it is recycling, packaging materials, transporting hazardous materials or refurbishing products for resale, logisticians are involved in a major way. After all, the United States alone produces more than 160 million tons of waste each year, enough for a convoy of 10-ton garbage trucks reaching halfway to the moon. In many cases, planning for logistics in an environmental setting is no different from that in manufacturing or service sectors. However, in a few cases additional complications arise, such as governmental regulations that make the logistics for a product more costly by extending the distribution channel. Business Logistics in the Firm It has been the tradition in many firms to organize around marketing and production functions. Typically, marketing means selling something and production means making something. Although few business people would agree that their organization is so simple, the fact remains that many businesses emphasize these functions while treating other activities, such as traffic, purchasing, accounting, and engineering, as support areas. Such an attitude is justified to a degree, because if a firm’s products cannot be produced and sold, little else matters. However, such a pattern is dangerously simple for many firms to follow in that it fails to recognize the importance of the activities that must take place between points and times of production or purchase and the points and times of demand. These are the logistics activities, and they affect the efficiency and effectiveness of both marketing and production. Scholars and practitioners of both marketing and production have not neglected the importance of logistics. In fact, each area considers logistics within its scope of action. For example, the following definition of marketing management includes physical distribution: â€Å"Marketing (management) is the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods, and services to create exchanges with target groups that satisfy individual and organizational objectives. † Marketing’s concern is to place its products or services in convenient distribution channels to facilitate the exchange process. The concept of production/ operations management often includes logistics activities. Now, viewing product flow activities as a process to be coordinated, product flow aspects within marketing, production, and logistics are collectively managed to achieve customer service objectives. The difference in operating objectives (maximize revenue versus minimize cost) for marketing and production/operations may lead to a fragmentation of interest in, and responsibility for, logistics activities, as well as a lack of co-ordination among logistics activities as a whole. This, in turn, may lead to lower customer service levels or higher total logistics costs than are necessary. Business logistics represents a regrouping, either by formal organizational structure or conceptually in the minds of management, of the move-store activities that historically may have been partially under the control of marketing and production/ operations. If logistics activities are looked upon as a separate area of managerial action, the relationship of logistics activities to those of marketing and production/ operations would be as is shown in Figure 1-7. Marketing would be primarily responsible for market research, promotion, sales-force management, and the product mix, which create possession value in the product. Production/ operations would be concerned with the creation of the product or service, which creates form value in the product. Key responsibilities would be quality control, production planning and scheduling, job design, capacity planning, maintenance, and work measurement and standards. Logistics would be concerned with those activities (previously defined) that give a product or service time and place value. This separation of the activities of the firm into three groupings rather than two is not always necessary or advisable to achieve the coordination of logistics activities that is sought. Marketing and production/operations, when broadly conceived and co-ordinated, can do an effective job of managing logistics activities without creating an additional organizational entity. Even if a separate functional area is created for logistics within the firm so as to achieve effective control of the firm’s immediate logistics activities, logisticians will need to view their responsibility as one of coordinating the entire supply chain process rather than being just a local logistics activity administrator. To do otherwise may miss substantial opportunities for cost reduction and logistics customer service improvement. The interface is created by the arbitrary separation of a firm’s activities into a limited number of functional areas. Managing the interface activities by one function alone can lead to sub-optimal performance for the firm by subordinating broader company goals to individual functional goals-a potential danger resulting from the departmental form of organizational structure so common in companies today. To achieve interfunctional coordination, some measurement system and incentives for cooperation among the functions involved need to be established. This is equally true of the inter-organizational co-ordination required to manage product flows across company boundaries. It is important to note, however, that establishing a third functional group is not without its disadvantages. Two functional interfaces now exist where only one between marketing and production/ operations previously existed. Some of the most difficult administrative problems arise from the interfunctional conflicts that occur when one is attempting to manage interface activities. Some of this potential conflict may be dissipated if a new organizational arrangement is created whereby production/ operations and logistics are merged into one group called supply chain. Just as managers are beginning to understand the benefits of interfunctional logistics management, inter-organizational management is being encouraged. Supply chain management proponents who view the area more broadly than some logisticians have been strongly promoting the need for collaboration among supply channel members that are outside the immediate control of a company’s  logistician, that is, members who are legally separate companies. Collaboration among the channel members that are linked through buyer-seller relationships is essential to achieving cost-service benefits unable to be realized by managers with strictly an internal view of their responsibilities. Supply chain managers consider themselves to have responsibility for the entire supply channel of the scope as illustrated in Figure 1-8. Managing in this broader environment is the new challenge for the contemporary logistician. Objectives of Business Logistics/SC Within the broader objectives of the firm, the business logistician seeks to achieve supply channel process goals that will move the firm toward its overall objectives. Specifically, the desire is to develop a logistics activity mix that will result in the highest possible return on investment over time. There are two dimensions to this goal: (1) the impact of the logistics system design on the revenue contribution, and (2) the operating cost and capital requirements of the design. Ideally, the logistician should know how much additional revenue would be generated through incremental improvements.

Financial Planning Essay

To inform the audience about how small sacrifices today can result in huge dividends in retirement. Thesis: Today I will inform the audience of the power of saving small amounts of money for the future and how compound interest works in their favor when they start saving as soon as possible. Organizational Pattern: Topical Introduction A. Attention Getter Who wants to be a millionaire? You can be!!! Social Security will very likely NOT be available to people currently younger than 40 and if it does survive will not be a significant amount to live on. How we prepare NOW can determine whether we are world travelers or Walmart greeters. C. Credibility My father impressed upon me the need for financial planning. I began saving when I first started working at 17 and have benefitted greatly. D. Thesis Today I will show how anyone can have a rewarding future by making small and often unnoticed sacrifices currently. E. Preview Specifically, I will discuss retirement saving strategies including 401K matching programs from employees and IRA’s. Transition First I will discuss the expediency of saving at an early age. I. Body A. When to start saving for retirement? 1. The earlier the better. Due to the exponential nature of compound interest the longer the money remains the more significant the growth 2. It’s never too late to start saving for retirement. The problem is the longer you wait the more impact on your budget due to having to save a higher percentage of your current income. If you start saving early your impact is minimized greatly. Transition Next, I will discuss the various ways to save for retirement. 1. 401K plans offer you the chance to deduct monies from your paycheck either before taxes are deducted or afterward. Each option has tax 2. advantages but their impact is geared toward current tax savings or tax savings during retirement. The real opportunity in 401K is the employee match program where your employer invests the same amount into your account, usually up to a certain percentage. . Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) are another way to save for retirement. They can be used independently or in conjunction with a 401K plan. Funds are deposited after taxes have been withheld so there is no tax due upon withdrawal in retirement. IRA contributions can be withdrawn without penalty if you face a financial hardship such as losing your home or significant medical bills. Transition My final point is a strategy that can meet your goal while minimizing impact on your current lifestyle. 1. Many of you are working toward new careers and excited about that first REAL paycheck. 2. If you â€Å"forget† about the percentage of your check that is going into the 401K and structure your budget on the remaining amount you will find saving easy and rewarding. 3. Begin with 3% of your pay going into retirement savings. Each raise/promotion you get increase it by 1% until you have reached your employer’s maximum match rate. Then add the 1% into an IRA until you have reached the percentage that results in your desired retirement account. I have discussed when to start saving for retirement, various ways to save as well as methods for minimizing the impact on your current budget. B. I trust that now you are more informed about the rewards available in the future when you start saving now and have obtained information about ways to achieve your goals. References Ira online resource guide.

PERSONAL GOALS & REFLECTION ASSIGNMENT BUSINESS ETHICS Essay

PERSONAL GOALS & REFLECTION ASSIGNMENT BUSINESS ETHICS - Essay Example After evaluating my time audit sheet, I can say with confidence that I am maintaining the values that matter to me in my daily activities. The two most important influences in my life are religion, and education, and so it is appropriate that related activities (class, study, and prayer) occupy the majority of my days. I would not change any aspect of the way I fill these time periods, except for extending them if it were a realistic option. If I were conducting myself as a business with the values equivalent to those described in the memorandum, then the usage of my time is very efficient. It promotes the building of personal skills, spiritual health, social activity, and a very productive, happy life. Of course, some play time does creep into my days, but it is a necessary release of stress that surely contributes to my success during the day. I wouldnt expect my employees to spend their entire day without any fun. It would surely exhaust them in a short amount of time. If I were to make a single change to my routine, I would try to eliminate about an hour from my night of sleep. There has been evidence that seven hours or even less can be more than sufficient for some people, and the extra time could certainly be used for a more productive purpose. Though sleep is definitely important, I would be interested to see if I can be awake for longer without a major negative impact to daily

Theodore Roosevelt Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Theodore Roosevelt - Essay Example He also initiated food acts in the country for the betterment of the citizen residing in the country (Klose et al 2001). His presidential term can be labeled as a golden era in the history of the country. Theodore Roosevelt was sworn as the president of the United States in the year 1901 following the death of his predecessor. The first major step after taking over the presidency was seen in the year 1902. There was a strike by coal mine workers in the state of Pennsylvania and they demanded better working conditions and higher wages. The President intervened and formed a committee to look into the matters. He assisted the workers and forced the mine owners to increase their wages and decrease the working hours. Further, he also worked towards establishing laws for the safety of the workers. Roosevelt termed it to be his policy that all Americans would be treated the same irrespective of their classes and he truly stood by his statement (In Hodge et al 2007; Klose et al 2001). The next step taken by Theodore Roosevelt was to work towards the elimination of monopolies of the large trusts operating in the country. He wanted to put an end to the misuse of power that was practiced by these corporations. The ending of J.P. Morgan’s Northern Securities was an implementation of this policy. Many other trusts were dissolved in a similar way. Roosevelt made it clear that his aim was to put an end to the exploitations done by these trusts but he did not wish to discourage the initiation of new businesses. He also intervened in the railway sector so that the state could exercise greater power over the infrastructure. With the assistance of the Hepburn Act in 2006, he granted greater power to the Interstate Commerce Commission for the regulation of railways (In Hodge et al 2007; Klose et al 2001). Roosevelt created reforms in the agricultural sector.

Art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Art - Essay Example In Cassatt’s work, she uses very light colours and avoiding black producing a very romantic painting that depicts a mother and child. In Manet’s works, he disregards what was the dictum of impressionism by his characteristic use of black. Both artists are working from a Japanese style of design and perspective which according to many reports heavily influenced their paintings. According to pbs.org, Manet’s paints his forms quickly in rough brushstrokes clearly visible on the surface of the canvas. Instead of the carefully constructed perspective that leads the eye deep into the space of the painting, Manet offers a picture frame flattened into two planes. The foreground is the glowing white body of Olympia on the bed; the background is darkness. (Edouard Manet’s Olympia). The treatment of the subject matter is very different in both paintings. According to pbs.org, Manet chooses to paint a woman of his time -- not a feminine ideal, but a real woman, and a courtesan at that.(Edouard Manet’s Olympia).This woman is a self-assured prostitute and view of the public of the nineteenth century a scandalous painting which would have been destroyed by the public as reported by many people. According to the Guardian, â€Å"The subject matter is sensational - a nude who, in the eyes of 19th-century observers, was clearly a prostitute, in her trashy mules with a bootlace for a necklace, tucked in, to the ruffled white pillows and her skin is a bright, glaring white. The fully dressed black servant is featured, presenting her with flowers from one of her male companions.†(Olympia, Edouard Manet).In viewing the painting the prostitute clearly has a defiant and confrontational look which according to the Guardian, it is impossible to know whether her mood is one of melancholy or contempt.( Olympia Edouard Manet(1863)) On the other hand, Cassatt’s mother and child are much more easier and pleasurable to view. The â€Å"mother an d child† clearly depict the intimate love and bond between a mother and her child. According to Danielle Peltakian, â€Å"she painted in delicate brush strokes of pastel pigments typical of the style of Renoir and Degas. She created a romantic depiction of the female figure reminiscent of the early Italian renaissance Madonna and child†( American member of the french impressionists school:note print maker.) According to tfaoi.com, The mother in the painting exudes a sense of dignity and purpose that challenges conventional notions of decorative femininity.(Mary Cassat, Modern woman).According to Anne Higonet, Cassatt made the experience of tiny children's bodies a visceral pleasure, both for the mothers represented within her pictures and for us, the viewers of the pictures(Two ways of thinking about Cassatt).She goes further in explaining that Cassatt's picture joins the forms of mother and child. The integrity of the individual body, which we could also call its isola tion, is replaced by a formal fiction of merged bodies. Cassatt engages us in the joys of infant flesh. (Two ways of thinking about Cassatt). In comparing the two pictures by Cassatt and Manet, the differences in depiction of women is immense. In manet’s Olympia, the woman is depicted as an object, while in Cassatt’s Mother and child the woman is a subject. Mary Cassatt depicted the modern woman of the Paris. A feminist perspective of her work pervades most of the explanation and analysis of her work which describe her as expressing her

The strategy of Cathay Pacific (Customer Loyalty) BA (Hons) in Essay

The strategy of Cathay Pacific (Customer Loyalty) BA (Hons) in Business Administration - Essay Example In order to sustain in the competitive global market, the airline services significantly needed to acquire great proportion of loyalty and satisfaction from the customer. However, this high competition has proved to be an advantage for the travelers as they get chance to travel for low cost. With every airline service offering better product quality, lower price and promotional offers, the competition became even tougher. Since there is numerous number of airlines in the international routes, it gets harder to reap on profits .It is a saddening fact that the event of September 11 attack has impacted the airline industry in a very destructive way. It not only decreased the passenger traffic but also hiked up the airfares to make things worse. Eventually, the global recession made the airline industry struggle to subsist in the market and maintain their profit ratio. Subsequently, the only way to boost the sales was to gain customer confidence and loyalty. In order to gain customer’s satisfaction and loyalty, the airline industry initiated to make use of the marketing mix and its 7Ps.Since only a right marketing strategy can increase the customer’s loyalty and satisfaction; the airline services rested their trust on the 7 ps of marketing mix model. The 7 elements of marketing mix like product, process, price, place, physical evidence, people and promotion was sure the best concept for them. For this reason, the airline companies started to come up with promotions, advertising campaigns, frequent flyer programs and many online services to melt the mind and hearts of customers. They assured the customer that they would not regret for choosing their service as they are the best in the market in respect of price and comfort. Many airline services experienced that the customers definitely responded well to their marketing strategies and this enabled them to at least cover up their operating

Reflection Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Reflection - Coursework Example The activity was followed by general descriptions and history of the consulting profession. It was quite fascinating to realize the growing emergence and increasing demand of consultants in the era when many professions are suffering from the economic downturn and devaluation. Further study on the demand of consultants leads to the fact that, in the sectors of education, IT, health care and business investment plans, growing prominence of consultant’s involvement can be clearly seen (Campus Explorer, 2012). According to a recent research, consulting is one of the highly paid and in-demand professions in many parts of the world, and there is a high probability of its further emergence in the coming years (Monegain, 2012). The reason being that, companies and individuals, looking for workable and cost effective solutions for their business or career, prefer paying to the consultant, than to pay heavily for the loss by a wrong decision. Therefore, with growing business and career s options, the need of a consultant is also rising (Campus Explorer, 2012). The workshop also explored various career options that can be opted in the field of consulting as per a person’s interest and forte. This part of the workshop broadens my perspective about consultation, which was to me limited to career and property consultation. Being inclined towards finance and marketing, I learnt that I can expand my career after getting higher education and relevant field knowledge (Bevitt, 2008). This would open room for me to work as a finance and marketing consultant for many giant companies. The next section catered skills and qualities that are required for consulting profession and questions that a person must now, before choosing it a profession. It can be better understand by the help of SOAR model, which defines that, a person to have self-awareness of his interest and potential. The person should have the courage to bear any obstacle in the process and keep moving to ac hieve success with a vision to reach for the stars. Hence a consultant is a demanding career, where the fruit might take some time to ripe (Kumar, 2007). Other than the secular aspect, a light on personality aspects was also thrown in the workshop. In the process of studying and practicing consulting profession, a person goes through education, psychological and social advancement in his personality. This profession helps one to be analytical, which will not only help in making smart business moves, but will also prove helpful in making everyday solutions (Baruch, 2004) (Herbert & Rothwell, 2004). Brief information about certified diplomas and degree programs was provided in the closing section of the workshop. The course of Certifies Business Adviser, one of my personal interests was quite beneficial in showing steps and path for this career. Several jobs and learning opportunities were also highlighted with each program. Thorough evaluation of Business Advisor career leads to the fact that it is one of the careers, enrich in its nature and field of application. Therefore, its course also covers diversified topics and fields (Certifgied Business Advisor, 2012). Marketing, human resource management and finance are its major fields, which covers almost all aspects of modern businesses and customer needs. Elements of Entrepreneurship and Intellectual Property Protection make the course even more challenging, and growth

Project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Project - Essay Example The technology of the RRAS (Routing and Remote Access service) facilitates and supports the site-to-site and remote user data sharing and connectivity by making use of the VPN (virtual private network) or dial-up connections. A Routing and Remote Access service will offer XYZ Company’s end users facility regarding the remote access to our organizations network. Thus, staff will be able to create a site-to-site virtual private network connection among two servers at dissimilar locations. However we can have some of security related problems regarding the implementation of new Routing and Remote Access service technology (Microsoft, 2009) & (Microsoft, 2009). Question No-2: Project Goals: What are the business objectives (benefits and expected improvements) that will be achieved by completing this project? Is the problem/opportunities worth pursuing of RRAS? Through the implementation of the Routing and Remote Access service or RRAS technology we will have a lot of facilities regarding the corporate network data sharing and operational management. The main goals of XYZ Company regarding the Routing and Remote Access service or RRAS technology is to offer following facilities to business staff and management: However in case of new Remote Access service or RRAS technology establishment at XYZ Company we could face some problems regarding the data security and network privacy. In case of huge remote network connective we can face security threats from the outer world. For the successful technology implementation at XYZ Company we need to establish some of the fundamental key stones regarding the corporate technology infrastructure implementation. Below I have outlined some of following key stones regarding new technology infrastructure implementation at XYZ Company: By analyzing the overall project activities and operational tasks I have developed the complete budget plan for the project. In the above section I have mentioned

Steve Jobs the founder of Apple entrepreneurial venture Research Paper

Steve Jobs the founder of Apple entrepreneurial venture - Research Paper Example In the concluding section, the key aspects that have helped Steve Jobs to achieve success will be reflected. Traditional Entrepreneurial Path An entrepreneur can be described as a person, who undertakes the probable risks that can arise in order to organize, manage and develop a business. In the present day context, an entrepreneur is recognized as a developer or an innovator who generally recognizes as well as seizes opportunities and translates those opportunities to marketable as well as workable ideas (Kuratko, D. F. & Hodgetts, R. M., â€Å"Entrepreneurship: Theory, Process, and Practice†). A traditional entrepreneur intends to make the undertaken business venture successful. The path that generally is followed by an entrepreneur in traditional process of entrepreneurship are converging on an idea of business, preparing a business plan, business formation, growth and exit strategies identification and going public with the business venture (Silver, â€Å"Stages of Entrep reneurship†). In traditional entrepreneurial path, the virtues possessed by an entrepreneur include ingenuity, diligence, ambition, tenacity, perseverance and self-discipline. These virtues guide in the endeavor of building a financially stable as well as successful business venture (Belmont University, â€Å"The Good Entrepreneur†) In the inception stage, the idea of business is conceived which is then analyzed in the traditional path in terms of feasibility of the business idea from financial viewpoint as well as other crucial aspects such as availability of the sources for funding. The sources of funding can be from two aspects i.e. financial bootstrapping method where acceptance of financial resources are avoided from any external source of investor and in the other aspect, traditional sources of finance are sought e.g. venture capital investors, hedge funds, crowd funding to start-up the entrepreneurial venture. The financial aspects such as analysis of ratio, capi tal budgeting which includes payback method, net-present value, internal rate of return analysis and break-even analysis are part of the traditional method of entrepreneurship (Kuratko, D. F. & Hodgetts, R. M., â€Å"Entrepreneurship: Theory, Process, and Practice†). Path Followed By Entrepreneur Steve Jobs The endeavor of Steve Jobs, the entrepreneur, can be comprehended from his saying that â€Å"We started out to get a computer in the hands of everyday people, and we succeeded beyond our wildest dreams† (Entrepreneur Media, Inc, â€Å"Steve Jobs The Comeback Kid†). Steve Jobs’ vision had been to develop a â€Å"computer for the rest of us†. This endeavor sparked a PC revolution and turned Apple into an American business icon. The business plan of entrepreneur Steve Jobs was conceived from the endeavor of Steve Wozniak, who was an engineer and as part of his hobby, was trying his best to construct a small computer. Visionary Steve Jobs with his e ntrepreneurial traits convinced Steve Wozniak to be a partner in his venture. Steve Jobs had grasped the potential of the business with a computer in the initial phase. In the business formation stage, they started on their business named as Apple, in Steve Jobs’ parental garage and started working towards developing a prototype called Apple I. They generated funding for their business by selling Apple I, which

Accounting information system Essay Example for Free

Accounting information system Essay An entity relationship (ER) diagram is a documentation technique used to represent the relationship between entities. Entities are physical resources (automobiles, cash, or in-ventory), events (ordering inventory, receiving cash, shipping goods), and agents (sales-person, customer, or vendor) about which the organization wishes to capture data. One common use for ER diagrams is to model an organization’s database, which we examine in detail in Chapter 9. Figure 2-14 shows the symbol set used in an ER diagram. The square symbol represents entities in the system. The labeled connecting line represents the nature of the relationship between two entities. The degree of the relationship, called cardinality, is the numerical mapping between entity instances. A relationship can be one-to-one (1:1), one-to-many (1:M), or many-to-many (M:M). 2 If we think of entities in the ER diagram as files of records, cardinality is the maximum number of records in one file that are related to a single record in the other file and vice versa. Cardinality reflects normal business rules as well as organizational policy. For instance, the 1:1 cardinality in the first example in Figure 2-14 suggests that each salesperson in the organization is assigned one automobile. See more: Unemployment problems and solutions essay If instead the organization’s policy were to assign a single automobile to one or more salespersons who share it, this policy would be reflected by a 1:M relationship. Similarly, the M:M relationship between vendor and inventory in Figure 2-14 implies that the organization buys the same type of products from one or more vendors. A company policy to buy particular items from a single vendor would be reflected by a 1:M cardinality. System designers identify entities and prepare a model of them, similar to the one presented in Figure 2-15. This data model is the blueprint for what ultimately willa

The Morphology Of A Coastal Resort Tourism Essay

The Morphology Of A Coastal Resort Tourism Essay When the beach holidays package and water activities are getting more popular, the bloom of coastal resorts appear and the attentions to the form of existence morphology of coastal resort are focused. By understanding the morphology of a coastal resort, it helps the local authority and planner to build a thorough of appreciation to the current resort morphology formation. Furthermore, it helps to ensure that all the development planning is founded on the present situation and what might be faced in the future. Other then identify the existing morphology, it is also crucial to recognize the process that has affected the morphology changes in a historical perspective. Process will be refer to a coastal resort is being transformed from a natural village to an urban town; in other words, go through the stages of Tourism Area Cycle in this paper. While the resort undergoes every single stages, its morphology changed, and the majority are affected by tourist-related business. In the geographical context, morphology can be defined as the form and function of a place and their relationship and development over the time. It is essential to highlight the two fundamental characteristics of morphology: one is morphology cannot be merely identified as form, but the science of form, and another one is morphology changes in both time and space. According to Hall, costal described as a coastal zone and offshore coastal waters. On the other hand, the definition of resort is rarely being clarified due to its nature of very different in both size and character. European perceived resort as a resort town and normally used it as a tourist destination zone or a district comprehensive by a great number of tourism businesses which produce main source of income to the local people. However, the view of North American to define resort is narrower. They defined resort as a place which commonly managed or owned by one authority, provide extensive tourism opportunities such as tourist recreation activities, food and beverages, accommodations and so on. Although there are two different views in term of its size, a resort town is normally position in between a village and city. A resort town comprised of beaches, lakes, mountains, forests and other tropical locales and tourism industry often dominate the local economy and culture. Its most vital function is to supply all kinds of tourist facilities to meet their need. Therefore its whole form and function are noticeably shaped or affected by tourism activities. Based on these definitions, the morphology of a coastal resort can be regarded as the forms (the shape, manifestation and arrangement of building surrounding or land use) and correlated functions (tourist activities) of a tourist destination region (resort town) along the coastline and their development in this case. In other word, it is a demonstration of resort evolution in coastal area. The Background of Crete Crete is one of the states of Greece. It is an isolated southernmost island of Greece which located in Mediterranean. It is the largest island in Greece and fifth largest island in Mediterranean. This island has the size of 8,335 km  ² and 3/5 of these is lying 200m above the sea. It consists of four administrative prefectures, which are Chania, Heraklion, Lasithi and Rethymno. Heraklion is Cretes main capital as well as the largest city. Crete is one of the most popular tourism destinations in Greece, even in Europe. It is famous by its natural loveliness; diversify of landscape, 1040 km along the coastline, gentle weather and abundant cultural resources. Especially, the legends of gods and heroes, the art and history about the Minoan ruins make the place, such as Knossos and Phaistos well-known in the world. Today, Crete is being visited by nearly three million of mass tourists yearly. It earned nearly US$ 1.5 million of foreign exchange and approximately 40% of the local people are directly or indirectly involved in it. From 1986 to 1991, approximately 53% increased in the number of hotel beds. The reason of Crete has been taken to illustrate in this paper is because it is an extensively tourism island and there is a noteworthy changes of morphology of Cretan resorts from the early tourists visitation to the final urbanization. Although there are many coastal resort town along the Cretan coastline, however, according to Pearce, the basic morphological and structural attributes are regularly replicate from resort to resort, even though the details are dissimilar. Imitation normally happened within the country can explain these similarities, but the form of coastal resorts frequently reflects their particular function. Hence, in this paper, Crete is treated as a whole to discuss the processes which affected the morphology in Cretan coastal resorts. The Processes Affected the Morphology of Cretan Coastal Resort According to Smith, Butlers Tourism Area Cycle is the most effective model to propose that the coastal resorts become unappealing to the tourists with the passage of time, when it exceeded its carrying capacity to accommodate more incoming tourist, eventually unable to compete other newer resort. Butler proposed that every tourist area progress through six stages: exploration, involvement, development, consolidation, stagnation and rejuvenation or decline. Smith indicated that the morphology of coastal resort undergoes an expected sequence of stages: pre-tourism, low-density, high density and urbanization. Morphological changes take place when the resort moves over the stages of life cycle. The processes will therefore being discussed based on Butlers Tourism Area Cycle. Andriotis suggested that the Cretan coastal resort morphology changes can be understood by the following characteristics: road network, lodgings and infrastructural facilities, beach width, residential areas, faming land, aesthetic and architecture. Each characteristic of Cretan coastal resort morphological evolution will be discussed based on the model of Morphological Transformation of a Typical Coastal in Crete, which presented according the stages of Butlers Tourism Area Cycle. The model has clearly illustrates how the morphology changes in different stages. It also provides a better understanding of predictable morphological changes of its coastal areas as the resort undergoes urbanization through tourism-induced development. A summary table for these seven characteristics of morphological change in Cretan coastal resort is provided in the end of this section. Road Network In the early 1950s, when the resort was in exploration stage, the road system was insufficiently developed and the early tourist explored to Crete through the capital city of Heraklion by warship or cruisers . The way to the coastal resorts and beaches were commonly inaccessible. In 60s and 70s, the Cretan coastal resort started to involve some tourists. There is a tourists oriented beach resort in Stalida, most of the soil were land-locked and only some informal way able to access the streets or beaches. Although some faming lands were scarified to expand the road system, some property holder illegally invaded the street. Hence, the problem of bottlenecks of the traffic was still remaining. In 1980, the coastal resort in Crete began position in development stage. A resort town called Drethia, there was a two kilometers road built from the rim of coastal resort to the town centre. The resort town expanded their road system rapidly from this stage. Refer to the Figure 2-Stage 3, the road system was now merged and T-shape was emerged. T-shape was constituted by street, main road, highway or railway station. Usually it was built without any preliminary preparation and planning, pushed by the tourists activities so that accessible to lodgings, coast and others tourism facilities. From 90s onwards, the coastal resort has fully developed and no more space available. At this point of time, road system has come to maximum of its capacity. Lodgings and Infrastructural Facilities In the 60s, the Cretan coastal resort placed at the stage of involvement. Due to the effect of the movies The King Must Die and Zorbo the Greek which successfully made Crete well-known overseas, the small coastal villages within the reach of urban city of Crete began to attract pioneer excursionist. In 1962, about 23,000 tourists spent quick journey to Crete and paid a little money. However, the villages were unable to accommodate the tourist as there were no any facilities provided. In Drethia, a retired mayor took initiative to hosting foreign tourists in his own summer villa. As the tourists increased, he extended the villa to build more room. This was the earliest tourist lodging recorded in Crete. In 1962, statistics showed that 2,315 hotel beds were found in Creten, however, only 950 were under the acceptable quality and 60% of these were located surround the city of Heraklion. The short stay and little involvement in tourism resulted in a low level of accommodations and infrastructural facilities. For instance, in 1965, Hellenic National Tourism Organization established the first Greek state-owned hotel, Xenia to attract tourist flow. In 1971, the airport of Heraklion upgraded to international airport, and charter flights began to land. It bought Crete to a new era of commercialization. Thus, in 1975-1978, the junta encouraged the large scale tourism. Though, a new form of coastal resort arises. The coastal resort now positioned at development stage. The lodgings were now built far away from big urban city and facilities associated with tourism and leisure began constructed to support a whole year stay. As a result of unplanned activities, the buildings were too close to each other until one was possible to pass through the window or balcony to next building. It was because Greece did not implement the land registration system at the time, thus anyone could put up any form of the building as they like. Especially in Stalida, the overall appearance of coastal area is so clutter and muddled. The housing situation has become worsen as the prohibited building increase to more than 5,000 units in 1983 to accommodate more tourists and make instant profits. The private accommodations proposals were seldom being objected by local authorities, not only because of lack of regulations, and also social pressures and political practice . The statistics showed that the number of hotels beds had encountered increase cross over the stages of life cycle, from 6,178 in 1970 increase to 50,544 in 1986, and increase again to 139,001 in 2004, in order to meet the demand of incoming tourists. When Cretan coastal resort arrived to stage of stagnation, the building was over-built, not enough space to further grow and it is the peak season of housing development . Beach Width When the coastal resort was still in the stage of involvement, the beach width was considered maximum as compared to the latest, which is nearly 50-60. In 70s, some property holder illegally established the private construction because of the lack of law provided. This action became evident when more and more property holder followed it. Thus, in decade, when Cretan coastal resort moved to consolidation stage from development stage, a high concentration of private building appeared on the instant shoreline resulted shrinking of beach width . Moreover, the action of grabbing farming land to extend the road network was also reducing the distance to beach. When the coastal resort passed through the stages of life cycle, the buildings were getting closer and closer to the shoreline. In the end, at the stage of stagnation, the beach width became least. Additionally, the width of beach was also being shortened by the appearance of the defensive structures. These structures were built right after the bloom of large scale of buildings constructed. It used to protect the beachfront and to avoid any unfortunate ruin of buildings or roads happened . In 2009, in the case of Pela Maria Hotel in Hersonissos, the beach width between the hotel and coastal line is only remained not greater than 15 .Thus, it changed the formation on beach and beautiful view of the area. Residential Areas When coastal resort passed from stage of involvement to development and consolidation, the need of seasonal immigrant workers was increase resulted by the rising number of tourism business. According to Association of Hellenic Tourist Enterprises , during summer time of 90s, there was about 10,000 incoming workforces in Hersonisos which have a population of 4,000 only. Besides, a lot of EU citizens were also looking for their second home in the coastal area of Crete. They were attracted by its good weather and relative inexpensive land. It had resulted a great demand of residential house in Cretan coastal resort. Although based on the findings of Andriotis ,the data of the number of residential houses were not available, the number has observably continued increased to meet the excess demand over the stages of life cycle . From 1965 to 1972, large part of the costal land in Drethia was bought by outsider from different region of Crete or Athens to develop the tourism businesses . As a consequences, large hotel chain, motel and restaurants are now erecting in the golden place, which near the beach or along the road that connect to the resort town center. It had significantly reduced the portion of residential land. Thus, there was not more adequate space to accommodate them as the original coastal resort had been overbuilt when it reach the stage of stagnation. Since the resort area was not longer allowed to further expand, the residential area started to move to inland area . New buildings were continued to build in inland to accommodate both workforces and coastal residents. Yet, some of the coastal residents were forced to move out from coastal area as to empty the space for tourism business. They lost their original way of life and place at this peak time of housing bloom. Faming Land When Cretan coastal resort was still in the early stage of exploration, most of the lands were used as a purpose of agriculture. The residents of coastal village used to feed themselves by worked as farmers, fishermen or craft-related occupations. A morphology evolution which affected by tourist activities resulted an abandonment of traditional lifestyle in Crete. In 60s and 70s, due to insufficient supply of road network, the informal way within the faming land was eventually being transformed to the formal way. The faming lands was also being transformed to tourist related activities such as golf courses and water parks, which they think were more lucrative . According to Andriotis , the faming land was also occupied to construct the accommodation to satisfy both local population and immigrant workers due to the growth of tourism business. Refer to the Figure 2-Stage 4-5, the portion of faming land was tremendously cut down from consolidation stage to stagnation stage. The agricultural view in the faming site was seriously reduced and the farmers had to alter their profession into tourist-related job which considered more attractive and profitable . For instance, in Hersonissos, 95% of the labor occupied in agriculture sector and now alter to more than 50% of the labor occupied in tourism sector. Aesthetics During the early of 1960s, the coastal villages in Crete were still in the early stage of involvement. It had famous in their luxuriant grounds, its scenic windmills and the overwhelming landscape. The oversea travelers were also fascinated by its Minoan ruins; the art, history and literature of Crete, including the tales of gods and heroes . When the area processed to the stages of stagnation in life cycle, in 1990 of Drethia, those scenery were no longer available as the agricultural activities have been substituted by tourism-related activities. Moreover, the fishing villages such as Agios Nikolaos, Malia, Hersonissos and so on have been transformed to urban resort .It could be proved by the establishments of various forms of hotel, motels, restaurants, coffee shops, defensive structure and others that close to the shoreline. The place had gradually lost its authenticity and traditional aesthetics which resulted by the immediate profit of tourism business. Architecture In 90s, while the coastal resort was in the stagnation stage, there was no more space to grow. Thus, the buildings in the area have lost the traditional architectural design and transfer to built the modern multi-story houses densely so that to accommodate more tourist. Due to the reason of simplicity and inexpensive used of reinforced concrete, Cretans are actually used to the way of construct with right angles, rigid metal hedge and balcony barrier and puce concrete pillars.Nevertheless, in the Port of Hersonissos, the styles of the buildings have been removed from traditional Greek approach of architecture. In addition, the relationship between the architectural design and the culture it presented had been overlooked .The buildings were put up wherever the space was available and therefore there was not relationship among them. As a consequences, it became extremely piecemeal and no consistency in the orientation of the building. Yet, the formation of the buildings dispersion was overlap with each other which was totally different from the traditional way of architecture . The Planning and Policy for Cretans Morphology From the aforementioned process which affected the coastal resort morphology, it is observable that the Cretan tourism evolution started with unplanned activity without any concern for land use planning, environmental conservation and so on. Since 1960s, the Greek government has regard Crete as a top privilege area for systematic development of tourism. It can be proved by 25% of the national public and private investments were dumped to Crete to improve physical infrastructures in 1990s . Greek Government attempted to control the unplanned and disorganized urbanization in Crete by implementing Development Laws. For instance, in 1983, Law 1337/ 1983 was passed which required master plans for all urban regions .The tourism development plans were drawn by a special land-use planning tool- Zones of Residential Control. Nevertheless, this plan failed due to incorporation of local population and therefore, the haphazard urbanization and tourism continue grow with their negative impacts. Three years later, another law was introduced to converse the situation. In 1986, Law 797/1986 acknowledged the high concentration of accommodation as Areas of Controlled Tourism Development where only superior hotel can be built. Within this area, piece of them called Saturated Tourist Area where no more lodgings establishment is tolerated . It also aims to funding some upgrade of infrastructure and construction of particular tourism facilities such as marinas, spas, convention centers, golf course and so on. Nonetheless, it resulted more plans of golf courses construction and burden the islands land. In last decade, the tourism policy has paid attention on the following goals . To maximize tourism contribution to economy; To preserve the natural and cultural resources; To upgrade and diversified tourist products; To improve seasonal and geographical allocation of tourists activities. It should be observable that the first and second goals are clashing by its nature. The economic growth is definitely improved on the top of exhaustion the environmental and cultural resources. Though, this clash is potentially alleviated by the fourth goals (enhanced distribution in both time and space). It is also suggested that some of the following strategies and policies can mitigate this conflict To attract high class tourists by targeting the high spending segments of wealthy market; To improve both infrastructure and superstructure; To promote an substitute form of tourism; To promote new destinations far away from traditional coastal resort; To built the awareness of sustainable consumption patterns; To coordinate all parts involved in tourism sector. Due to the unplanned activities, the island of Crete is now only remains limited unspoiled beaches in Mediterranean .Many coastal areas, primarily in the immature southern part, have still kept their natural loveliness. Obviously, the fourth strategy will help to protect the traditional coastal resort from any unplanned and unbalance development. Therefore, it is important to have organized tourism planning and policies by both government and region authorities when developed an island area. The other coastal countries such as Portugal, Ireland and France have been publicized that the success of the promotion in their tourism industry, due to the implementation of comprehensible governmental strategies for tourism development and substantial incentives funded by centre government . Recommendations From the model, it shows the lack of physical planning, inadequate attention to environmental conservation, zoning and investigation. While the neglected resort planning has been addressed, it is suggest that employing Geographic Information System (GIS) to investigate the resort morphology. It consists of three applications: a morphological approach, a functional approach and an evolutionary approach. It helps the local authority and planner to analyze the morphological characteristics, for example, the accessibilities of transportation system to tourist attractions, the dispersion pattern of tourist activities in resort town and more. By using this tool, morphological transformation is traced and potential impact factors are forecasted. It facilitates the development planning process of a coastal resort while the local authority is proposing what should be planned and constructed to improve the morphology in both short and long term. They can avoid decline in Butlers model or any other negative impacts by improving their morphology. In addition, it is recommend Greek Government to draw a spatial master plan for each Cretan coastal resort. The plan must match its listed strategies and priorities for future growth and morphological enhancement of the coastal resort. It should be accomplished on the above of protecting the environment and respecting the landscapes. Since there are no more establishments allowed, the tourism policy should emphasis on enhancement of existing facilities to improve quality tourist product and tourists spending. These facilities should be compatible with the objective of sustainable development so that avoiding further degradation of environmental resources. For local community and private sector in Crete, it is recommended that they must understand the obligation of Greek Government to prohibit the development which brings the immediate economic benefits, to accomplish the objective of long term sustainability. It is their responsibility to aware about the negative effect of unbalanced development and overbuilt morphology. Conclusion Provided by historical data and evidence, it is apparent to show that both tourism demand and supply in the island of Crete have increased in a terrifying range from the early stage to the last stage of life cycle, thus resulting in a remarkable coastal resort morphological evolution through a combination of production of tourism and recreation and other co-exist creation such as lodgings, hotels and traffic. In other words, it was the impacts to the coastal resort to become an urban resort accelerated by promoted tourism, while its morphology changed affected by process passing through the stages in life cycle. As a consequence, green areas are rare, coastal resort are saturated in Crete, authenticity and tradition has lost and no longer as attractive as before during the exploration stages. Based on Butlers model, Crete is standing on the stagnation stage. It is facing either decline, if the tourism businesses continue to fade, or rejuvenation, by improve the overall coastal resort morphology. Pearceaddressed that the morphological changes should be more emphasis. Therefore, when the development planning is proposed, the related processes are better valued and the evolution of resort morphology in the future can be easily predicted. As a result, by indentifying the process that affected the morphology in different stages, it will help the government (for example, Ministry of Tourism Development) or local authority leads the coastal resort heading to the rejuvenation rather than decline in the post-stagnation. On the other hand the island of Crete is now only remaining limited unspoiled beaches in Mediterranean. To conserve their natural environment and loveliness, those areas must have a careful planning on morphology from avoiding the problem of past unplanned coastal resorts development.