Air Legislation - the Shell Model in Analyzing Human Factors in the Assignment

Air Legislation - the Shell Model in Analyzing Human Factors in the Aviation System - Assignment Example The model is derived from the initial letters of its components which are: software, hardware, environment and liveware. It places great emphasis on the human element and the role they play in the execution of duties and the interaction with other interfaces. Since the human being is mainly the cause of most accidents within the aviation system, the model looks at several factors that interact with the operators to cause system failure and affect performance (Cacciabue, 2004). The major elements in the model relate to hardware, software, the environment and liveware. There are four forms of interfaces. The L-H interface is the interaction between the human operator and the machines in the aviation system. It relates to the match of human characteristics with the equipment and tools such as designing controls to correspond to sensory or designing seats to match the human bodies of passengers. The design of displays and controls should indicate proper information that can be easily understood by people so as to reduce the occurrence of errors. Secondly is the L-S interface whose main role is to provide a link between the liveware and the software. It involves the formulation of software that matches the human users and ensuring that it is possible to implement it. Thirdly is the L-E interface which forms the link between the liveware and the environment. Human operators interact with both internal and external environment and therefore are able to adapt to v arious situations. Lastly is the L-L interface which relates to links between the central human operator and any other person in the system for execution of activities (HELMREICH, 1991). The aircraft in this incident was on route to Lanzarote airport in the Canary Islands from East Midlands the plane which had been subjected to Boroscope Inspections the previous night had not been refitted which resulted to loss of almost all the oil on the flight and the consequential shutdown of both  engines during landing.   The crew had to divert to Luton airport due to loss of oil and oil pressure on both engines.  

Technology in Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court Essay

Technology in Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court - Essay Example superior to the technologically and intellectually inferior people of the medieval society he wakes up in at the beginning of the story, but in the end the technology that Morgan brings does not have the lasting impact that he had desired: â€Å"Hank Morgan wants to dominate the past with sure-fire knowledge from the future, but all he achieves is a record of events that have no historical consequence† (Mitchell 231). While Twain is critical of the medieval society that doesn’t encourage thinking, he is equally as of critical of many of the modern conventions and technological advances that Morgan brings to the court. One of the first things that Hank considered to be of utmost importance was the newspaper. News used to only travel by messengers and through people talking to each other. Messengers could only reach a limited number of people, and news that traveled from person to person could be highly inaccurate. Newspapers could solve these problems by reaching a large number of people and by remaining the same story as told to everybody, and this was the reason that Hank started the newspaper as one of his first programs. This was the important aspect of information technology that Hank felt he was bringing to King Arthur’s court: â€Å"A newspaper has its faults, and plenty of them, but no matter, it’s hark from the tomb the tomb for a dead nation without it, and don’ you forget it† (78). When considered on its own merits, the newspaper is an effective tool to communicate information to a large number of people. Twain seems to take issue with other aspects of the wa y that the information is communicated. Beyond merely teaching the medieval society about using the printed word as a means of mass communication, he also taught them how to use a journalistic tone in their writing: â€Å"That is a good piece of war correspondence, Clarence; you are a first-rate newspaper man† (Twain 458). The journalistic tone is meant to be a succinct form of

Reporter System Using LuxABCDE

Reporter System Using LuxABCDE La Rosa, S.L., Diep, D.B., Nes, I.F., et al. (2012) Construction and application of a luxABCDE reporter system for real-time monitoring of Enterococcus faecalis gene expression and growth. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 78 (19): 7003-7011 Reporter genes are the genes encoding a protein which can be tracked and quantified by microscopy and various biochemical assays. They provide a non-invasive and sensitive method to monitor levels of gene expression, protein localization and to determine the transcriptional and translational regulators of a gene of interest. In this study, Rosa and co-workers have developed a bioluminescence based reporter system using luxABCDE to monitor the growth and gene expression of Enterococcus faecalis. E. faecalis is a nosocomial pathogen reported to be the cause of diseases such as endocarditis, urinary tract infection, bacteremia etc. (Schlievert et. al., 1998) and particularly infects individuals with compromised immune system or suffering from an underlying illness (Mundy et. al., 2000). Several studies have been undertaken to determine the factors involved in the virulence of the nosocomial strains of E. faecalis (Jett et. al., 1992; Chow et. al., 1993; Shankar et. al, 2001). These stud ies involve creating mutants for a possible virulence trait and then comparing them in animal models. There are several advantages of using reporter gene in lieu of traditional methods which usually involve harvesting the infected organ and sample preparation to estimate the level of infection by E. faecalis (Hanin et. al., 2010; Ike et. al., 1984). This traditional method, apart from being time consuming, also requires sacrifice of a large number of animals used in biological experiments. Using reporter genes, although not able to completely replace animal experimentation, will certainly reduce the number of animals required. Another advantage of using reporter genes is that it will enable real time monitoring of spread of infection by imaging the light emitted from the activation of the lux operon which was not possible with the other studies that have been undertaken. Use of lux operon also provides several advantages over other reporter gene based systems used in studies pertain ing to E. faecalis which employ green fluorescent protein (gfp) or firefly- luciferase enzyme (luc). Both gfp and luc require excitation by an external light source and luc also requires the addition of an extraneous substrate- both of these are not required in case of luxABCDE thus providing another advantage to the use of this reporter system. Rosa and co-workers constructed the bioluminescent reporter system by cloning the luxABCDE operon present in pPL2lux into pREG696 as shown in Figure 1. The native luxCDABE operon from Photohabdus luminescens shows poor expression in gram-positive bacteria (Qazi et. al., 2001). Therefore, the genes were rearranged into luxABCDE and translational signals were inserted in front of luxA, luxC, luxE to increase the expression of the lux operon. pPL2lux was originally designed for Listeria monocytogenes and thus carries a listeriophage integrase gene. This plasmid does not work in E. faecalis because of the absence of the required listeriophage sequence. Therefore, a highly expressed Listeria promoter Phelp (for highly expressed Listeria promoter) was cloned into pPL2lux just upstream of the luxA gene and this construct was named pPL2luxPhelp . Similarly, other promoters P32 and P16S were cloned upstream of luxA gene to form pPL2luxP32 and pPL2luxP16S respectively. P32 is another strong pr omoter and P16S is a synthetic E. faecalis 16sRNA promoter with a ribosome binding site (RBS) and an ATG codon fused at its end. These modified pPL2lux plasmids were digested with Xho1 and Not1 and the excised fragment (luxABCDE and the promoter) was cloned into the corresponding sites in pREG696 to form pSL101P32/16S/help. pREG696 has a spectinomycin resistance gene and a segregational stability cassette (axe- antitoxin and txe- toxin) from the multi-drug resistant plasmid pRUM of E. faecium (Grady and Hayes, 2003). This segregational stability cassette enables stable inheritance of the plasmid by killing of plasmid-free cells. All the DNA fragments inserted were sequenced before transferring them into E. faecalis MMH594 by electroporation. Figure 1 Schematic of the construction of pSL101 and its derivatives. (Figure reproduced from La Rosa et. al., 2012) The stability of pSL101P32, pSL101P16S, pSL101Phelp was tested by a doing a plasmid stability test. The plasmids were transformed into E. faecalis and overnight cultures were diluted 1,000-fold and grown in nonselective GM17 media. After every 24 hours a fresh culture was inoculated and this was continued for 7 days. At every inoculation, the culture was diluted and plated onto selective and nonselective plates and incubated at 37 °C overnight. Bioluminescence of the resulting colonies was measured and the number of colonies on both selective and nonselective plate was counted to score for resistance to spectinomycin. The stability of these  plasmids was compared to pIL252luxABCDEPhelp which was created by cloning the Phelp luxABCDE cassette into pIL252. This plasmid lacks the axe-txe stability system and is therefore lost after overnight culture with antibiotic selection (Figure 2a). On the other hand, there is no loss of pSL101P32 even after 7 days of culturing in non-selective media and only 30% loss in case of pSL101P16S and pSL101Phelp. This result shows that the segregational stability system is required for stable maintenance of the reporter plasmids in E. faecalis grown in nonselective media. The methodology adopted by the authors to do this experiment has two drawbacks- firstly, plating the culture onto nonselective and selective plates simultaneously may give erroneous results when there are more colonies on the selective plate than on the nonselective plate. To avoid this, the colonies on the nonselective plate obtained after incubation for 16 hours should be patched onto selective plates and then scored for antibiotic resistance phenotype. Secondly, nowhere in the manuscript do the authors mention doing the experiments in repeats. Performing an experiment in duplicates or triplicates is advantageous as it makes the data obtained more reliable. Figure 2 (a) Plasmid stability of pSL101 derivatives in E. faecalis MMH594 (b) Correlation between bioluminescence and number of CFU/ml in E. faecalis MMH594. à ¢- , pIL252luxPhelp; â™ ¦, pSL101P32; à ¢-  , pSL101P16S; à ¢- ², pSL101Phelp. (Figure reproduced from La Rosa et. al., 2012) After confirming the stability of the plasmids in E. faecalis MMH594, overnight cultures were diluted and grown in GM17 medium and bioluminescence was measured to assess the correlation between light emission and cellular growth. To determine the relationship between CFU number and bioluminescent signal cultures in mid-exponential phase were diluted and viable cell count and bioluminescence was measured. Figure 2b shows that a linear relationship exists between number of CFU and the bioluminescent signal and thus pSL101 reporter system can be used to measure the real-time growth of bacteria. Also, to determine the relation between absorbance and bioluminescence growth of cultures with pSL101 derivatives was measured using a microplate reader by recording the absorbance at 620 nm for 7 hours after 15 min intervals. Bioluminescence of the culture was measured by quantifying the bioluminescent signal captured by an imaging system. The experiment was done in three independent repeats. It was found that during the exponential phase bioluminescence increased because of high metabolic activity of the cells and thus high availability of substrate- flavin mononucleotide (Bachmann et. al., 2007) required for luciferase enzyme (Figure 3). As the cells enter the stationary phase, a decline in the bioluminescence signal was observed corresponding to the decrease in the concentration of the substrate. Similar effect was observed for pSL101P32, pSL101P16S, pSL101Phelp. In case of the negative control, no bioluminescence was observed which confirms no background. Growth of different strains of E. faecalis was also monitored using the pSL101P16S system to determine its broad applicability. Four strains of E. faecalis differing in their origin (clinical isolate, probiotic strain, laboratory strain and commensal strain) were transformed with pSL101P16S and absorbance and bioluminescence was measured as above. As in the case of E. faecalis MMH594 a good correlation (R2 > 0.94) was observed between absorbance and bioluminescence thus proving that pSL101 system is not limited to a single strain of E. faecalis but can be used for other strains too. Figure 3 Bioluminescence during growth of E. faecalis MMH594 transformed with pSL101 derivatives. Closed symbols represent the bioluminescent signal and open symbols represent optical density at 620 nm. (a) pSL101P32. (b) pSL101P16S. (c) pSL101Phelp. (Figure reproduced from La Rosa et. al., 2012) E. faecalis is normally found in urine and blood samples of people suffering from diseases caused by this microorganism. It is also commonly found in Therefore, pSL101P16S was used to monitor the growth of E. faecalis in these environments. To measure the growth in milk, Nestle NAN Infant Milk Formula was pre-heated to 37 °C and inoculated with PBS (phosphate-buffer saline) washed probiotic strain Symbioflor 1 and commensal strain E. faecalis 32. Both the strains were lux-tagged with pSL101P16S. Bioluminescence was measured as described above and number of CFU was measured at 2, 4, 6, 8 and 22 hours after inoculation by plating the cultures on GM17 media with spectinomycin. The experiment was done in duplicates. There was no background luminescence detected by milk and for both the strains, a linear correlation (R2= 0.95) between bioluminescence and viable cell count was observed (Figure 4). Similarly, growth of lux-tagged E. faecalis MMH594 and T2 was measured in urine by preheati ng the media at 37 °C and inoculation with PBS washed cells. Although a low level of luminescence was observed in urine, there was a significant increase in the luminescence corresponding to the growth of bacterial strains (Figure 5) as in the case of milk. This experiment shows that the pSL101 system can be used in other growth environments as long as the background luminescence due to media is low. Figure 4 (a) Bioluminescence of E. faecalis strains grown in Nestle NAN Infant Milk Formula. The colour scale shows the intensity of bioluminescnce signal. (b) Bioluminescence and CFU/ml of Symbioflor 1(black triangles) and E. faecalis 62 (gray diamonds) tagged with pSL101P16S and grown in milk. Open symbols represent CFU/ml and closed symbols represent bioluminescence (Figure reproduced from La Rosa et. al., 2012) Figure 5 (a) Bioluminescence of E. faecalis strains grown in urine. The colour scale shows the intensity of bioluminescnce signal. (b) Bioluminescence and CFU/ml of E. faecalis MMH594 (black circles) and E. faecalis T2 (gray diamonds) tagged with pSL101P16S and grown in urine. Open symbols represent CFU/ml and closed symbols represent bioluminescence. (Figure reproduced from La  Rosa et. al., 2012) In the next experiment growth of lux-tagged E faecalis was monitored in Galleria  mellonella. G. mellonella larvae can be maintained at 37 °C thus permitting the study of host- pathogen interaction at the human physiological temperature. Also, they have a fairly advanced immune system comprising of phagocytic cells in the blood type fluid called hemolymph. To determine whether the luxABCDE cassette influences the virulence of E. faecalis MMH594, killing of G. mellonella larvae was monitored when infected by wild-type E. faecalis MMH594 and the strain tagged by pSL101P16S. This was done by injecting 10  µl of E. faecalis suspension (in 0.9% saline) into the body cavity of 10 larvae through the hindmost leg. As a control 10  µl of 0.9% saline was injected into another 10 larvae. These infected larvae were grown at 37 °C on 90 mm petri dishes and were examined every 2 hours. It was observed that the infection due to E. faecalis is accompanied by the melanisation of larvae whic h indicates towards the activation of prophenoloxidase (PO) responsible for biosynthesis of melanin and plays a role in the defence reactions against invading organisms (Sugumaran, 2001). From Figure 6a it can be confirmed that the virulence of lux-tagged strain of E. faecalis is similar to the wild type strain. Therefore, the lux-tagged strain was used to visualize the progress of infection in G. mellonella. Figure 6b shows the bioluminescent images of infected larvae captured till 48 hours after infection. The bioluminescent signal was detected immediately after infection and declined after 2 hours. After 4 hours post infection, a peak in the signal was observed and was constant till 24 hours after which all larvae were dead (Figure 6c). To confirm whether the bioluminescent signal corresponds to the growth of E. faecalis the infected larvae were sterilized by 70% ethanol and dissected and transferred into 0.9% saline solution. These samples were vortexed and homogenous mixture of insect and bacteria was serially diluted and plated on GM17 plated with spectinomycin. At each time period, 3 insects were dissected and number of CFU was counted. A drop in the number of CFU was observed 2 hours after infection but this was followed by increase in growth till 48 hours (Figure 6d). This result is in good agreement with the bioluminescent signal measured in the infected larvae and shows that the bioluminescent reporter can be used to monitor the progress of infection by E. faecalis in G. mellonella. Figure 6 (a) Percentage survival of G. mellonella larvae when infected with wild type E. faecalis MMH594 (à ¢- ¡),  ­pSL101P16S tagged E. faecalis (X) and 0.9% saline (ââ€"Å ). (b) Bioluminescent images of G. mellonella larvae infected with  ­pSL101P16S tagged E. faecalis. The colour scale shows the intensity of bioluminescent signal. (c) Bioluminescent signal measured corresponding to the growth of  ­pSL101P16S tagged E. faecalis over 48 hours post infection. (d) Number of CFU  ­of E. faecalis from the homogenous mixture of larvae and bacteria. (Figure reproduced from La Rosa et. al., 2012) The use of luxABCDE as a reporter for monitoring growth of E. faecalis in animal models has several advantages (as stated earlier). On the other hand, there are certain limitations of this system. Bioluminescence of luxABCDE relies on fatty acid synthesis and thus on the metabolic activity of the cells. Lower the metabolic activity lower will be the bioluminescent signal. Due to this, the pSL101 reporter system designed in this study may not be able to measure the growth of bacterial cells with low metabolic rate. This is especially disadvantageous in case of biofilm formation by E. faecalis in which the cells may have low metabolic activity. Also, the report does not describe the effect of pSL101 derivatives (with P32, P16S and Phelp) on the growth of E. faecalis. Although, it is mentioned that the growth of E. faecalis MMH594 strain with pSL101 is similar to the strain with pSL101P32, pSL101P16S, pSL101Phelp (data not shown) it is necessary to investigate whether the pSL101 and its derivatives present any metabolic load on the E. faecalis strain. The study shows that the pSL101 derivatives are stably maintained in E. faecalis but the plasmid stability test was done only for duration of 7 days and it is possible that the plasmids may be rapidly lost after this time period. This will prevent the use of the pSL101 reporter system to monitor growth of E. faecalis in other animal models, such as mouse, where long-time monitoring is required. Therefore, it is necessary to assess the stability of these plasmids in E. faecalis over a long time. Additionally, it may be difficult to observe any bioluminescent signal from deep tissues of animal models if the signal is weak, as in the case of low number of E. faecalis cells. In conclusion, a simple and robust reporter system using luxABCDE has been developed to monitor the growth of E. faecalis in animal models. Despite the limitations, this method is non-invasive and will significantly reduce the burden on experimental animals. It can be used to investigate the various genes involved in the virulence of E. faecalis facilitating better understanding of pathogenicity of E. faecalis. References:- Bachmann, H., Santos, F., Kleerebezem, M., et al. (2007) Luciferase detection during stationary phase in Lactococcus lactis. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 73 (14): 4704-4706. Chow, J.W., Thal, L.A., Perri, M.B., et al. (1993) Plasmid-associated hemolysin and aggregation substance production contribute to virulence in experimental enterococcal endocarditis. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 37 (11): 2474-2477. Grady, R. and Hayes, F. (2003) Axe-Txe, a broad-spectrum proteic toxin-antitoxin system specified by a multidrug-resistant, clinical isolate of Enterococcus faecium. Molecular microbiology, 47 (5): 1419-1432. Hanin, A., Sava, I., Bao, Y., et al. (2010) Screening of in vivo activated genes in Enterococcus faecalis during insect and mouse infections and growth in urine. PloS one, 5 (7): e11879. Ike, Y., Hashimoto, H. and Clewell, D.B. (1984) Hemolysin of Streptococcus faecalis subspecies zymogenes contributes to virulence in mice. Infection and immunity, 45 (2): 528-530. Jett, B.D., Jensen, H.G., Nordquist, R.E., et al. (1992) Contribution of the pAD1-encoded cytolysin to the severity of experimental Enterococcus faecalis endophthalmitis. Infection and immunity, 60 (6): 2445-2452. La Rosa, S.L., Diep, D.B., Nes, I.F., et al. (2012) Construction and application of a luxABCDE reporter system for real-time monitoring of Enterococcus faecalis gene expression and growth. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 78 (19): 7003-7011. Mundy, L.M., Sahm, D.F. and Gilmore, M. (2000) Relationships between enterococcal virulence and antimicrobial resistance. Clinical microbiology reviews, 13 (4): 513-522. Qazi, S.N., Counil, E., Morrissey, J., et al. (2001) agr expression precedes escape of internalized Staphylococcus aureus from the host endosome. Infection and immunity, 69 (11): 7074-7082. Schlievert, P.M., Gahr, P.J., Assimacopoulos, A.P., et al. (1998) Aggregation and binding substances enhance pathogenicity in rabbit models of Enterococcus faecalis endocarditis. Infection and immunity, 66 (1): 218-223. Shankar, N., Lockatell, C.V., Baghdayan, A.S., et al. (2001) Role of Enterococcus faecalis surface protein Esp in the pathogenesis of ascending urinary tract infection. Infection and immunity, 69 (7): 4366-4372. Sugumaran, M. (2001) Control mechanisms of the prophenoloxidase cascade. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, 484 289-298. Nikhil Aggarwal

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight :: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Lines 1372-1453 from The Norton Anthology of English Literature Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was written in the fourteenth century by an anonymous poet who was a contemporary of Geoffrey Chaucer. The story was originally written in a Northern dialect. It tells the story of Sir Gawain's first adventure as a knight. This section of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight pertains to the agreement between Bercilak de Hautdesert, the host, and Gawain. Bercilak is to go hunting in the morning, while Gawain sleeps. Upon the return of Bercilak from his hunting trip, he is to give to Gawain all that he has caught. In return, Gawain is to return all that he has won in his "hunt." They make this bargain three times, at the end of each day. The segment begins with Bercilak showing Gawain the fruits of his hunting trip. Gawain returns the fruits of his "hunt" by bestowing on Bercilak a kiss. The source of the kiss given to Gawain remains anonymous. However, Gawain is not aware that Bercilak knows exactly where and from whom Gawain has received his gift. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight consists of three hunts, three temptations, and three different animals. It is not by accident that the first day's hunt is for deer. The deer represents the innocence and purity of Gawain as a knight. The lengthy and detailed description of the hunt and the capture of the deer serve to emphasize the symbolism of the deer. The even more detailed description of the slaughter and butchering of the meat further emphasizes the symbolism. It can be inferred that the butchering of the deer is similar to the fate that awaits Gawain when he meets with the Green Knight. The next day's hunt is for a wild boar. The fierce animal is symbolic of Gawain's reactions to the increasing advances from Bercilak's wife. The boar is fierce and much more difficult to catch and kill, just as Gawain is steady in his resistance to temptation. Bercilak is aware that Gawain is resistant to all temptation at this point. Gawain is true to his reputation of a chivalrous, worthy knight. The third day's hunt is for the wily and cunning fox. This is symbolic of the clever way that Gawain resists temptation. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight :: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Lines 1372-1453 from The Norton Anthology of English Literature Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was written in the fourteenth century by an anonymous poet who was a contemporary of Geoffrey Chaucer. The story was originally written in a Northern dialect. It tells the story of Sir Gawain's first adventure as a knight. This section of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight pertains to the agreement between Bercilak de Hautdesert, the host, and Gawain. Bercilak is to go hunting in the morning, while Gawain sleeps. Upon the return of Bercilak from his hunting trip, he is to give to Gawain all that he has caught. In return, Gawain is to return all that he has won in his "hunt." They make this bargain three times, at the end of each day. The segment begins with Bercilak showing Gawain the fruits of his hunting trip. Gawain returns the fruits of his "hunt" by bestowing on Bercilak a kiss. The source of the kiss given to Gawain remains anonymous. However, Gawain is not aware that Bercilak knows exactly where and from whom Gawain has received his gift. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight consists of three hunts, three temptations, and three different animals. It is not by accident that the first day's hunt is for deer. The deer represents the innocence and purity of Gawain as a knight. The lengthy and detailed description of the hunt and the capture of the deer serve to emphasize the symbolism of the deer. The even more detailed description of the slaughter and butchering of the meat further emphasizes the symbolism. It can be inferred that the butchering of the deer is similar to the fate that awaits Gawain when he meets with the Green Knight. The next day's hunt is for a wild boar. The fierce animal is symbolic of Gawain's reactions to the increasing advances from Bercilak's wife. The boar is fierce and much more difficult to catch and kill, just as Gawain is steady in his resistance to temptation. Bercilak is aware that Gawain is resistant to all temptation at this point. Gawain is true to his reputation of a chivalrous, worthy knight. The third day's hunt is for the wily and cunning fox. This is symbolic of the clever way that Gawain resists temptation.

Academic English Time Allotted: 60 Minutes

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES FACULTY OF ORIENTAL STUDIES QUESTIONS: 1. Some people believe that success in life comes from taking risk or chance. Others believe that success results from careful planning. In your opinion, what does success come from? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. 2. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Self-confidence is the most important factor for success in school or at work.Use specific reasons and examples to support your opinion. 3. Learning about the past has no value for those of us living in the present. Do you agree or disagree? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. 4. You have received a gift of money. The money is enough to buy either a piece of jewelry you like or tickets to a concert you want to attend. Which would you buy? Use specific reasons and details to support your answer. 5.Some people think that they can learn better by themselves than with a teacher. Others think that it is always better to have a teacher. Which do you prefer? Use specific reasons to develop your essay. 6. If you could change one important thing about your hometown, what would you change? Use reasons and specific examples to support your answer. 7. â€Å"When people succeed, it is because of hard work, Luck has nothing to do with success. † Do you agree or disagree with the quotation above?Use specific and examples to explain your position. 8. Some people believe that university students should be required to attend classes. Others believe that going to classes should be optional for students. Which point of view do you agree with? Use specific reasons and details to explain your answer. 9. Neighbors are the people who live near us. In your opinion, what are the qualities of a good neighbor? Use specific details and examples in your answer.

Have We Become too Dependent? Essay

â€Å"As cities grow and technology takes over the world belief and imagination fade away and so do we.† This is a quote I found written by Julia Kagawa the author of the book, The Iron King. What does this quote say about society? The advancement of technology has helped us progress technologically, but has forced us to regress socially. Before we had the use of advanced technology tools, I remember t the only way of communicating with your friends and family members was to be visiting with them in person or hand writing letters to those distant relatives or friends. Letters and anything sent through â€Å"snail mail† would take weeks to arrive at that person’s house. Previous ways of communication have now been replaced with modern day digital technology. From computers, to Apple Products, and cell phones. Over the past decade, our ways of living have changed drastically. Computers have found their way into our everyday life activities. We trust our computers to help us with our jobs, school work and even with communication. As a society we rely on computers and other available devices to help us get through our everyday life. The question has to be asked are we becoming too dependent on computers and other technological devices? Is this beneficial could it eventually hurt us? Even though in this era advanced technology does benefit us, I think in the long run these technologies will end up inhibiting our progress as a society. Computers have made our lives much easier. They help us manage tasks with their digital calendar feature, budget our monthly spending with finance programs, and communicate with friends and family much more efficiently. Computers have made it easier for someone to communicate with just a click of a button through email. Email is the modern day version of writing a letter. Instead of writing your thoughts, you type them and it gets to its destination in minutes rather than days or weeks. Read more:  Society Dependent on Technology When working in an office setting instead of getting up and talking to someone you can simply tell them through an email, and save the time walking ten feet around the corner. Not only can you send information quicker than ever but technology continues to improve; and there are ways we can communicate face to face while being thousands of miles away. The modern day web cam allows us to communicate with friends around the world; you simply hook up your web cam and download a program such as Skype to help you communicate face to face. Who would have thought that with advancements in technology you would be able to look at your computer and have a face to face conversation with someone miles away? Computers now have built in webcams, making it easy to communicate face to face for many different reasons. For example, students who are sick or are unable to attend school for a long period of time now have opportunities to sit in on instruction from home. With a built in webcam students can Skype their teachers and listen to instruction as they teach. This is extremely beneficial in the educational world. In the work world Skype has also changed many things. Since the webcam enables us to communicate face to face by simply looking at a computer screen employment opportunities have changed. For example, if an applicant lives out of state an employer can do a Skype interview, instead of them flying in and possibly not getting the job. There are also online virtual conferences you can attend via Skype. Computers have changed our ways of communication forever. Not only have computers changed our lives, but another device that we depend on is a cell phone. Cell phones now play a huge role on in our lives. We can communicate with a quick phone call or sms messaging. According to the university of Alberta students report using cell phones for different ways other than communication, like an alarm clock, games for boredom, Picture sending, address book, and mobile entertainment. [ (Nurullah, 2009) ] Sms messaging is a great way for us to communicate with the use of cell phones. We use text messaging when we are too busy to talk, with the family, in class, or even to have a difficult conversation that would be uncomfortable face to face. People use their cell phones to text anywhere anytime it is an easy way to communicate, just with the simple movements of your thumbs. â€Å" Teens from ages 13-17 average 231 phone calls and 1,742 text messages a month† [ (Anita Gurian, 2011) ] The usage of cell phones also allows us to place reminders about school assignments for students, birthdays, appointments on their calendar’s, which is a positive aspect of cell phone use and our technologies. William Ogburn had theories of social change his theories include invention, discover, and diffusion. When relating my social change topic to inventions, it relates to the invention of technology and how it affects the social life on relationships to teens. When Ogburn identified discover he said â€Å"Discover is a new way of seeing reality, as a second process of change.†(Henslin 2010) As you can see the way we communicate today has been a huge social movement. It really makes you realize how our means of communication have drastically changed, due to developments in new technology. In diffusion the invention of technology has spread all over the world. The technologies that we have today do benefit us in this era, but there are also a number of arguments agains t them. For example, â€Å"An effect on Children’s Education† an article I read, states that â€Å"Computer use will replace the time that children and students should be spending doing activities for brain development† in the early years younger children learned using hands on and creative play to develop qualities. When using computers it mainly shows symbols, computers can portray the five senses however children need interactions to actually feel and experience the senses hands on. Another way that technologies are disrupting learning environment is that a lot of school work is done with the use of computers for example quick short assignments are being typed out when they could easily be hand written, this is an issue for kids that are in elementary school learning how to read properly and write. Handwriting is a skill that is absolutely nesecessary for us to have. When a child has to spend a little more time writing information is more easily retained. Computers in the school should only be suitable for long assignments, older adults, or an actual computer learning classes. Furthermore the use of cell phones is having a slight impact on teen education, instead of participating in class you see a lot of students text messaging, listening to music, searching the web ect. With the use of phones in class rooms students can now send pictures of a quiz for example to another student, or instead of passing notes they can message each other answers. Not only have cell phones become a distraction for student during school but they are drastically limiting their social skills. Teenagers prefer to tell their friends something via text rather than in person. It makes it easier to tell someone something difficult through a text because you never have to see them face to face. This is a dilemma in our world because when the younger generations are adults, how are they going to be able to handle face to face communication? This is where the use of cell phones is majorly inhibiting the human race socially. When technologies become the main attraction in a person’s life they have a recognizable change in behavior. Some become lazy and may become antisocial and sometimes one can feel lost without their devices at hand. I have seen this first hand when working as a child care provider with children being able to watch television, play video games, using their phones, or on the computer too long, when it came to that time that they need to stop they throw temper tantrums. With relying on our technology devices too much it is not only a change in behavior but it can also take a toll on their health as well. The human eye is not designed to look at one particular object for hours. When a person is stuck watching there tv, video game, computer, or phone your eyes can become an infected with blurred vision, irritation, eye strain which can lead to an infection. Other effects that can affect your health when using these technologies is weight gain, back problems and also headaches, However it can be argued that these health problems is the fault of the person rather than the technologies. One of the most persuasive argument, nonetheless, is the issue of safety. Stolen information is tremendous issue when using computer devices; apart from sharring personal information such as full names address ect. In society, today people save personal information on their computers and even their phones. There are people who can gain access to your personal files by hacking it in numerous ways. You might be thinking to yourself that I do not save any personal information on my devices, however unknowingly if you ever shop online or loose your phone it is possible for a hacker or someone to gain access to your financial information. Why do we depend on these technologies so much? Not only are there computers or our cell phones, but we use them in the checkout stand at the grocery store, we pay with our credit cards, we use atms to pull money out, even some of our cars use computer chips to run. What is the world going to do if one day something goes wrong and we are then again without technology? Is the world going to know how to function? It is obvious that computers make our everyday life easier, but as we get more remarkably transformed to rely on them we are putting ourselves at risk for the future. In this era we do need the use of computers, but we should learn to not be so much dependent on them as it causes threats for human kind. Works Cited Anita Gurian, P. (2011). Texting and talking: Kids and Cell Phones. Retrieved March 7, 2012, from www.aboutourkids.org: http://www.aboutourkids.org/articles/texting_talking_kids_cell_phones Henslin, J. M. (2010). Sociology A down-to-earth-approach. Allyn and bacon. Nurullah, A. S. (2009). The cell phone as an agent of social change . Alberta : David pierce .

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buy custom Hospitals essay According to Naidu Narayana 1991, Toward the end of the twentieth century hospitals were presented with many challenges for increasing profitability, customer loyalty, quality of care, and market dominance. The marketing function, new to hospitals in the mid-1980s, was seen as a way to attract new customers, develop new services, and communicate "value" to potential buyers of its services. Adoption of a marketing orientation by hospitals was a necessary management strategy to achieve a competitive advantage in local markets. Marketing has been effective and hospitals that have invested in their marketing have seen an increase in customer base than their rivals in a given geographic location (Abdul-Gader Bhuian 1997). In studies that have sought to establish the correlation between marketing orientation of hospitals and their general organizational performance, it has been discovered that marketing to a great extent contributes to the hospitals performance. Defining marketing orientation in terms of market intelligence activities interfunctional coordination, and organizational responsiveness activities, , McDermott, Franzak, Little, 1993 found that the adoption of a marketing orientation by hospitals is positively associated with financial performance. In their 1997 study, Abdul-Gader Bhuian found that, different dimensions of marke orientation are associated with specific measures of performance and that responsiveness to customers and to the competition are most closely linked with financial performance of hospitals. Marketing orientation is much higher among those hospitals that have strong affiliations with other providers. This goes to show that multi-hospitals systems in marketing of healthcare are indeed effective. Looking at the issue of accountability in multi-hospital marketing indeed hospitals that come together for this purpose have mutual benefits. Thompson Hurley 1993 concluded that, While intuitively appealing to many healthcare executives, the adoption of marketing by hospitals during the last two decades of the twentieth century was highly variable. The inconsistency in the adoption of marketing was a result of a number of factors, namely the perceived lack of relevance to hospitals operating in highly regulated, yet revenue-rich, environments of the 1970s and early 1980s.As these environments became more competitive and resource-limited following the implementation of Medicare's prospective payment system, marketing was vigorously advocated as a means for hospitals to achieve organizational objectives and a competitive advantage. In conclusion therefore, marketing is not only appropriate but also vital in hospitals marketing. The last bit of the last century brought hospitals under the management of executives who undeerstood that marketing and an environment of competition would only go a long way in improving health care delivery. In the packaging of the services available in hospitals and the building of a client base, hospitals are able to invest and innovation becomes a major part of their operations. And hospitals in order to do better than their rivals i a particular location will strive to provide better services. Also, marketing has proved to be quite effective in the hospitals that have undertaken it. Several studies have made the conclusion that there is a correlation between effective marketing and revenue from operations in hospitals. Effective marketing has raised the client base in hospitals and created a sort of client loyalty to products hence they came back for more services and as a result provided more business for their chosen hospital of choice. Just like marketing in any other business sector or industry, accountability in the marketing activities of hospitals has had to be evaluated. The goal of any marketing undertaking is to increase sales and the money invested in marketing should increase sales as expected. The executives have to justify the money they spend in marketing to the hospitals as this budgeted money must show value. Where their marketing strategies do not seem to show the desired effect, a change of strategy is called for as competition ever continues top stiffen. Buy custom Hospitals essay

Tempest a look at reality and

Tempest a look at reality and Gonzalo states: "We are people of our own minds and no one else's," by this Gonzalo is telling everyone that no one can control what someone sees or does. This is true unless one is using magic to alter the minds and reality of anyone under the influence of magic. In the Tempest, by William Shakespeare, Prospero uses magic to alter the reality and delude the minds of characters. Love or guilt is a form of magic that naturally occurs in one's life. Prospero creates another magic that is placed in the audience's mind when he asks them to become the master magicians.Alonso and Gonzalo's minds are deluded by Prospero's spells to make them unaware of what is happening around them or aware of something out of the ordinary, and Caliban is affected by Prospero's spells physically. Gonzalo sees the things happening around him through a new prespective because of the spell that makes him see everything in a good light.English: Prospero and Ariel (from Shakespeare's Th...Because of this spell G onzalo states that their clothes are better than new, and that they are not stained with salt water. Gonzalo also brings up that the island is in excellent shape and is adequate for living on. Antonio and Sebastian tell Gonzalo he is lying about the clothes and the island being in such fantastic shape. They tell him this because they are not affected by the spell that Gonzalo is under. Spells don't always affect a person directly, but it still makes a person see their reality in a different perspective. Alonso is fooled by Prospero's magic too, but it is not directly aimed towards Alonso. Because of the magic that put Ferdinand in a glen where no one could see him; Alonso thinks that Ferdinand drowned at sea. Alonso...

Arthur Zimmermann - Profile

Arthur Zimmermann - Profile Arthur Zimmerman worked as the German Foreign Secretary during 1916-17 (mid World War 1), during which time he sent the Zimmermann Note / Telegram, a document whose clumsy diplomacy (trying to trigger a Mexican invasion of the US) contributed to America’s entry into the war and earned Zimmerman lasting infamy as a hapless failure. Born 5 October 1864, Died 6 June 1940. Early Career Born in 1864 Marggrabowa, East Prussia (now called Olecko and in Poland), Arthur Zimmermann followed a career in the German civil service, moving to the diplomatic branch in 1905. By 1913 he had a major role thanks partly to the Foreign Secretary, Gottlieb von Jagow, who left much of the face to face negotiations and meetings to Zimmermann. Indeed, Arthur was acting as Foreign Secretary alongside German Emperor Wilhelm II and Chancellor Bethmann Hollweg in 1914 when the decision to support Austria-Hungary against Serbia, and thus Russia, and thus enter into the First World War, was taken. Zimmermann himself drafted the telegram giving notice of Germanys commitment. Soon most of Europe was fighting each other, and hundreds of thousands were being killed. Germany, in the middle of it all, managed to stay afloat. Arguments Over Submarine Strategy Jagow remained Foreign Secretary until the middle of 1916, when he resigned in protest at the governments decision to resume unrestricted submarine warfare, which was likely to provoke a US declaration of war against Germany. This style of warfare involved using submarines to attack any and all shipping they found, whether or not it appeared to be from neutral nations (although American was using an odd sort of neutrality at the best of times), and one major target was US civilian and shipping craft. The US had warned earlier in the war that such tactics might induce it to fight Germany.Zimmermann was appointed his replacement on November 25, thanks partly to his talents, but mainly to his complete support of the military rulers – Hindenburg and Ludendorff – and the submarine policy, which was now going to going ahead. Reacting to the threat from America, Zimmermann proposed an alliance with both Mexico and Japan to create a ground war on US soil. However, the telegram of instructions he sent to his Mexican ambassador in March 1917 was intercepted by the British (not entirely honourably, but there was   a war on) and passed onto the US for maximum effect: it became known as the Zimmermann Note, severely embarrassed Germany and contributed to the American publics support for war. They were, as you might imagine, angered by Germany trying to bring bloodshed to their own country, and were now keener on exporting some of their own in return. A Lack of Denials For reasons that still baffle political spokesmen, Zimmermann publicly admitted to the telegram’s authenticity. Zimmermann remained Foreign Secretary for a few more months, until he retired from government in the August of 1917 (largely because there wasnt a job for him anymore). He lived until 1940 and died with Germany again at war, his career overshadowed by one short communication.

Labor Market Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Labor Market - Research Paper Example It is evident that the effect of selecting candidates from international culture is going to affect the corporate culture of the hotel. The cross-culture in the hotel can bring in positive responses in terms of drawing more customers or pleasing international customers who visit the hotel from all parts of the world. It can be stated that US is largely lagging in keeping up with its ethnic candidates. Due to this mixed-cultural foray of candidates, sometimes misunderstandings or communication problems may take place. The youth is also considered eligible for these jobs. Candidates who possessed an advanced bachelor’s degree were more preferred for higher posts such as in the managerial position of the hotel. For entry level positions, a minimum of bachelor’s degree was essential for the candidate to have. Those who were college graduates they got more jobs but not the specialized jobs. People who are proficient in languages are given more preferences. â€Å"According t o the AFL-CIO Working for America Institute, 21.8 percent of hotel workers in 2000 were Hispanic, compared with only 11.3 percent of all U.S. workers. Other target populations include older workers and individuals with disabilities, which are currently underutilized in the workforce.† (U.S. Department of Labor, 2006, p10). ... The United States is a high receiver of immigrants who possess low-skills and are fit to work in hotels. It can be found that the hotel industry represents the highest absorber of immigrants than any other industry in US. The majority of working population in the hotel are generally low-wage workers, do not possess high qualification and thus come from a multitude of migrant workers group who are mainly Asians or Hispanics. (Lerman and Schmidt, n.d) Demographics: Immigrants are almost half of the population which have selected for the jobs. The Asian and Hispanic people are found to be coming more in the hotel industry. The main age group of 25 to 54 years old has been mainly absorbed in the hotel. The ethnicity of the US people fails to reflect in the hotel industry. A distressing factor about the shifting ethnicity is the prospective blow to the structure of education of the workers. Hispanic workers have little educational qualifications of any major ethnic group.   Thus, unless Hispanic youth and immigrants raise their educational attainment, their growing presence in the job market will lower the educational base of the labor force at the very time when the demand for skills is continuing to increase. But the growing share of Asians in the labor force will moderate this trend, since their educational attainment is higher than the rest of the workforce   (Lerman and Schmidt, n.d). Educational Background: The positions that are open in the hotel for the candidates, call for varying education and training necessities, starting from on-the-job training to bachelor’s degree programs. The candidates who have been selected to work in the hotel are mostly young people. The people who have been appointed for the front desk or other clerical positions,

Carmen Jones Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Carmen Jones - Essay Example Carmen Jones was a 1943 musical which was later adapted to film in 1954. Much of the original cast was African American during a time in this country when segregation was still prominent. This fictional story is centered around one character by the name of Carmen Jones and is done so in musical fashion. Carmen Jones is a young woman who makes parachutes for the flyboys in the American military. Incidentally, Carmen falls in love with one flyboy in particular named Joe. Joe however, is initially in love with another girl by the name of Cindy Lou. Joe intends to marry Cindy Lou on his next day of leave only to spurn Carmen’s jealousy enough to cause her to destroy a parachute. Since the parachute is government property, Carmen is in danger of getting in to trouble for doing so, so she must flea and does so with Joe. As they run off together, Carmen is able to both enchant and seduce Joe, who quickly forgets about Cindy Lou. As a result, Joe does not return to his post as he is s upposed to and therefore is court marshaled. Carmen in the meantime, meets a boxer in a saloon who invites her and her friends to attend his next boxing match. At first, Carmen does not consent to go but then later sees the wealth bestowed on her friends by Husky the boxer, and so therefore decides to accept the advances of Husky while rejecting Joe altogether. While at the apartment of Husky the boxer, Carmen has her cards read to her wherein she learns that death is soon coming for her. Additionally, Joe is confronted with Cindy Lou who wishes fro him to return to her and marry her. He rejects her completely as he is in love with Carmen. Incidentally, it is Joe who comes for her shortly after this in hopes of convincing her to come back to him. When she rejects him, he kills her thereby fulfilling the prophecy of the cards. In looking at the multi-layered themes of this piece, there is a lot to

Defining The Self Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Defining The Self - Essay Example Modernity has, however proved that the human mind is capable of so much more. While I am a full time student, I have managed to take up two jobs as well. While in today’s world that is not a wonder, in the 17th and 18th century, it was unfathomable that one could take up two or more mentally and physically engaging tasks at once. This illustrates that the mind has so many capabilities; most of which humanity is not even aware of at this time. The abilities and endeavors that human beings will pursue in the distant future have not been comprehended in the current time. Kant is also in support of Hume’s assertion that they are not â€Å"unshakeable truths.† The beliefs that human beings live by in actuality do not have an explanation. Once someone asked me why I believe that stealing is wrong. I found myself fumbling with the answer. In actual sense, I have acknowledged that the only reasons I believe this is because firstly, my religion states it and secondly, those before me instilled it in me. However, none of the reasons laid out above are logically strong or supported. Therefore, Kant was right in stating that there is no evidence of the existence of â€Å"certain truths†; we have created them within our minds. John Locke shared Kant’s line of thought (the latter) but modified it. His focus was not more on the lack of existence of unshakeable truths, but rather on lack in existence of innate facts (Caruth, 31). The existence of God is one that has caused controversy in the literary world. If there were such a thing as innate facts, the existence of a supreme being ought to be one of them. This is because it is a belief that a larger majority of the world shares. If indeed there is a supreme being, it ought to be an innate (inborn) fact, as he is the creator of everything, including human beings. However, as a child, I had to attend Bible studies and learning sessions to completely understand the concept of God as well as what

Potential Role of The Yuan as the New Reserve Currency Essay

Potential Role of The Yuan as the New Reserve Currency - Essay Example These are large economic base, political stability, and a low rate of inflation (IMF, WB & World Bank Group, 2009). It should also be backed by a joint international monetary authority that is capable of asserting compliance among its member states, which must in turn comprise a significant number of nations in the world (Finance and Development, 2009). The currency must be sellable or tradable without limitation (Levine, 2009). Since the currency is supposed to be, according to Levine, a â€Å"safe haven† for other currencies, they should be able to have access to huge sums of it without restriction. This is because inadequate reserves of the currency would compromise the ability of that country to trade in that currency or participate in international transactions denominated in it. The international currency’s home economic and political systems must also be stable enough and fundamentally sound to support international transactions among countries. In order to engen der confidence in the reserve currency, the valuation of said currency must be transparent to all for them to consider holding that currency in significant quantities. Because the determination of value is for the most part subjective, the matter of the country’s governance may not be concealed from the world, and therefore the political ideology of the country must be supportive of full disclosure (Cohen, 2007). Recent developments that triggered the search for a substitute It has already been mentioned that the large current account deficit and huge public debt of the United States are primarily responsible for the weakness of the dollar as the primary medium of exchange. Ordinarily,...This paper presents a comprehensive analysis, that aims to determine whether or not the renminbi would provide a real substitute for the dollar as principal international reserve currency within the next ten years, and whether such a substitution will stabilize the global currency market and prevent further recurrences of financial crises as the world had experienced in the past. The international reserve currency performs three vital functions of money – that is, as medium of exchange, as unit of account, and as store of value. There are many reasons for the yuan to be considered as a possible alternative, the most important of which is its position as the top trading country in the world. It has amassed some 3 trillion dollars worth of international reserves, two-thirds of which is in U.S. dollars, thus this country is capable of exerting economic pressure on the U. S. Yearly it experiences record current account surpluses, compared to the U.S.’s accumulating current account deficit and public debt. Despite these positive factors, there are also serious concerns. China’s financial markets are still highly restricted, and its currency is still unable to trade in open market, let alone be freely converted into other currencies. Other than currency concerns, China’s economic and political infrastructure are in need of a fundamental change. Corruption must be addressed, and the system made more transparent, in order to afford investors and fund managers a clearer view by which to assess the political risks of the currency.

Module 4 Case Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Module 4 Case - Assignment Example At the same time, skill-based pay structure has gained considerable popularity over the last decades, especially since 1987. However, most of the organizations are currently using market- based pay structure. Module 4 Case Assignment Pay is regarded as one of the key elements affecting management-employee relationship at the workplace. The level and distribution of pay along with benefits is believed to impose considerable impact on the efficiency of any organization and also on the morale as well as on the productivity of the workplace. It is thus, crucial for organizations to use appropriate pay systems that provide worth for money and compensate workers fairly for the work that they perform. In general, pay systems are the methods of paying people for their contribution that they make towards the organizations. It is essential that an ideal pay system is clear and simple to be followed, so that workers are satisfied with the pay system adopted by the organizations and are motivate d to perform their respective tasks with utmost dedication and commitment. With this concern, this paper intends to compare and contrast the two pay system namely skill-based pay structure and traditional job-based structure. Furthermore, this paper attempts to identify the most popular pay structure, which is currently being followed in today’s organizations (Acas, 2012). ... ills required to perform certain organizational tasks are identified and tests are developed to determine whether an individual has learned the skills involved in performing a particular task. On the contrary, in traditional job-based pay structure, pay is generally based on a job, wherein employees are eligible to receive compensation, even if they are not skilled in performing any task. However, skill-based pay structure does not necessarily exclude the idea of paying for individual performance, instead it involves evaluating individual performance for assessing employees’ skills towards particular tasks for which they are paid. Nonetheless, under skill-based pay structure, pay is determined by the mix and the depth of the skills that possess by an individual rather than a particular job assignment. At the same time, organizations applying skill-based pay structure are often encountered with difficulties, when they try to price skills in the marketplace as compared to tradit ional job-based pay structure. Moreover, under traditional job-based pay structure, employees’ pay changes with the alteration in the job, while in skill-based pay structure, employees’ pay does not alter regardless the change in the job position. At the same time, employees under job-based pay structure may frequently perceive inequalities in the pay system due to the way the jobs are defined and rated for pay purposes. On the other hand, once employees become accustomed with skill-based pay structure, most of the employees prefer it over traditional job-based pay structure. The element of seniority act as a crucial determinant in traditional job-based pay structure, while in skill-based pay structure, skills rather than seniority is considered to be the prime factor of determining the pay

Genetically Modified Food Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Genetically Modified Food - Essay Example People in Africa can be fed genetically modified food because it is inexpensive and it does not take much effort to produce it. This paper will shed more light upon how genetically modified food can save countless lives not only in Africa but also all across the globe. There is very wrong perception of the rich people that there is no food shortage in the world and this is because they have all the luxuries in the world, but they have just noticed the sharp increase in food price. However, food is becoming a scarce resource and this increase in prices is a result of food crisis which is one of the most important global issues. According to The Oxford Committee for Famine Relief (OXFAM), there are 967 billion people who do not have enough amount of food to eat (2008). It is found that the global food crisis exists because of several causes. Oil crisis is one of the main factors which have a direct impact on the food crisis, the prices of food transportation and agricultural fertilizer s have increased because of the oil crisis and the same directly affects the food crisis. Population growth is another cause especially in middle class countries such as India the same has led to an increase in the demand of meat that apply more grain in order to be produced than other commodities. Climate change has also affected food production where drought covered several parts of the world such as south Asia. Trade is another cause of food crisis because imported goods might be cheaper than goods produced in the country, so poor farmers are forced to reduce the price of their products. Finally, Bio fuel production is considered as one of the biggest causes of food crisis since the price of food has increased at the same time as bio fuel production has increased. The food crisis not only affects the developing countries but it has also started taking a toll on the developed countries. This essay considers the responses to food crisis in Zimbabwe which is a developing country in South Africa. To understand this issue, we fist need to explain the reasons for food crisis in Zimbabwe. Then, we will discuss and evaluate the current responses to this problem there. Finally, other appropriate responses to solve the food crisis in Zimbabwe will be presented. As a poor developing country in South Africa, Zimbabwe has been suffering from economical Decline since its independence from the British in the year 1980, and this is exactly the main factor for food crisis. Weak economical situation in Zimbabwe brings about less than 30 per cent of employment as a result of which, hunger expands in the country and more people live in extreme poverty (IRIN, 2008). 5.5 billion dollars as dept on the Zimbabwean government to be paid to other countries, this goes to show how fragile the Zimbabwean government is. According to the same source, irregular and delays in dept payment led some countries to stop trade with the Zimbabwean government. The Need of the Hour It is clear that aid in the form of fertilizers and seed is a long term solution because with this kind of response farmers produce more food and reduce the amount of imported food as a result. Moreover, by improving the agricultural part, food shortage will decrease and the country could export food instead of importing. However, the amount of

Module 4 Case Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Module 4 Case - Assignment Example At the same time, skill-based pay structure has gained considerable popularity over the last decades, especially since 1987. However, most of the organizations are currently using market- based pay structure. Module 4 Case Assignment Pay is regarded as one of the key elements affecting management-employee relationship at the workplace. The level and distribution of pay along with benefits is believed to impose considerable impact on the efficiency of any organization and also on the morale as well as on the productivity of the workplace. It is thus, crucial for organizations to use appropriate pay systems that provide worth for money and compensate workers fairly for the work that they perform. In general, pay systems are the methods of paying people for their contribution that they make towards the organizations. It is essential that an ideal pay system is clear and simple to be followed, so that workers are satisfied with the pay system adopted by the organizations and are motivate d to perform their respective tasks with utmost dedication and commitment. With this concern, this paper intends to compare and contrast the two pay system namely skill-based pay structure and traditional job-based structure. Furthermore, this paper attempts to identify the most popular pay structure, which is currently being followed in today’s organizations (Acas, 2012). ... ills required to perform certain organizational tasks are identified and tests are developed to determine whether an individual has learned the skills involved in performing a particular task. On the contrary, in traditional job-based pay structure, pay is generally based on a job, wherein employees are eligible to receive compensation, even if they are not skilled in performing any task. However, skill-based pay structure does not necessarily exclude the idea of paying for individual performance, instead it involves evaluating individual performance for assessing employees’ skills towards particular tasks for which they are paid. Nonetheless, under skill-based pay structure, pay is determined by the mix and the depth of the skills that possess by an individual rather than a particular job assignment. At the same time, organizations applying skill-based pay structure are often encountered with difficulties, when they try to price skills in the marketplace as compared to tradit ional job-based pay structure. Moreover, under traditional job-based pay structure, employees’ pay changes with the alteration in the job, while in skill-based pay structure, employees’ pay does not alter regardless the change in the job position. At the same time, employees under job-based pay structure may frequently perceive inequalities in the pay system due to the way the jobs are defined and rated for pay purposes. On the other hand, once employees become accustomed with skill-based pay structure, most of the employees prefer it over traditional job-based pay structure. The element of seniority act as a crucial determinant in traditional job-based pay structure, while in skill-based pay structure, skills rather than seniority is considered to be the prime factor of determining the pay

Poetry Analysis Essay Example for Free

Poetry Analysis Essay Six Galician Poems by Federico Lorca (Madrigal for the City of Santiago, Ballad of Our Lady of the Boat, and Song of the Shop Boy) Lisability: Camellia-any of several shrubs of the genus Camellia, especially C. japonica, native to Asia, having glossy evergreen leaves and white, pink, red, or variegated roselike flowers. Veiled-not openly or directly expressed; masked; disguised; hidden; obscure: a veiled threat. Languishing-to be or become weak or feeble; droop; fade. Pampa-the vast grassy plains of southern South America, especially in Argentina. Nostalgia-a wistful desire to return in thought or in fact to a former time in ones life, to ones home or homeland, or to ones family and friends; a sentimental yearning for the happiness of a former place or time: a nostalgia for his college days. Story-The story is about Federico leaving his hometown of Madrid and going to Santiago. He arrives in Santiago Argentina, because several words he uses and other objects he describes are only found in Argentina. Lorca is in Santiago and it is constantly raining, it is raining at night and in the morning. If he is not writing about rain, it’s the ocean or some other form of water. While wondering the city he encounters a statue or painting of the Virgin Mary. He then travels to the capital of Argentina , Buenos Aires. He says the wind sounds like bagpipes. Ramon de Sismundi owns a shops and he seems to be unhappy throughout the whole poem. Meaning – Rain symbolizes a lot of things especially in poetry where there is not a real meaning. The rain Lorca rights about is cleansing him, starting a new life. All of the difficulties he had in Spain and America are now behind him, it is time for him to move on and start a new beginning. Many people are always stuck in the past, but he is not going to be like them, he is going to move forward and make progress. He also writes a whole poem about Our Lady of the Boat (Virgin Mary). She also represents various meanings, but in this poem he is most likely talking about pureness. A double emphasis since water is also pure. Also he may be trying to tell us that if it wasn’t for his strong faith in the Virgin Mary, he wouldn’t have the chance to move forward. He tends to write about nature, but the otherness of it. He talks about wind, which more than often symbolizes a certain type of force or energy. In Santiago the wind is damp and gray. Ramon is cleaning his shop, and dreaming but this man is still unhappy. He does not find the bagpipe winds of Buenos Aires, people that have positive and happy attitudes find great things about the city and move on, people who are depressed and unhappy such as Ramon do not get nowhere. Maybe Ramon is unhappy because he knows he is going to die, and it is sooner than he thinks. Lorca always seems to be expressing his inner emotions and feelings. Even though this place is great, there is no place better than home. Technique-Lorca is very big on imagery. Almost every single line contains imagery. He really tries to get the reader in the spot that he is at. Lines such as Trembles in my heart, and came the misty dead. He uses imagery to emphasize the meaning. Often, the intention of Lorca is to change the way readers see the world. Especially with Lorca’s themes, some of which include: awareness of death, our limitations, isolation and nature. He uses a lot of diction which is choosing certain words to emphasize something else, whether it is emphasizing the meaning or imagery. He also does not give no direct meaning. Mo or Pomo- Lorca is definitely a modernist poet. Not only in the pom but also in real life. He stuggles with the fact that he is homosexual and many people do not accept him, placing himself on the lower part of the hierarchy. Even though he is low on the hierarchy is doesn’t prevent him from making progress and moving on, leave everything else behind. These poems are modernist simply because of their appearance, they are very structured and have the same number of lines in each stanza, very formal.

Reduction of Lead Time by Quick Response Manufacturing (QRM)

Reduction of Lead Time by Quick Response Manufacturing (QRM) Quick Response Manufacturing (QRM) is a strategy which needs to applied throughout the company and whose primary goal is the reduction of lead-time in each and every operation of the company while simultaneously reducing costs and improving quality. QRM can be defined in two contexts: Externally (Customers point of view): QRM means quickly responding to customer needs by designing and producing goods customized to cater those needs. Internally, QRM stresses on reducing the lead times throughout the organization, leading to lower inventory, better quality, reduced cost, and greater responsiveness. QRM uses Manufacturing Critical-path Time (MCT) as the metric for measuring the success of QRM processes. MCT is an extension of the concept of lead-time, which is the time from the receipt of order from the customer till the product is delivered to the customer. There are 2 ways of implementing QRM: one is using large breakthrough improvements and the other is through continuous improvements. QRM was developed by Rajan Suri, a Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who is famous for his works on continuous improvement programs. He not only gave the theory but also the practical ways by which QRM could be successfully applied and integrated in the operations of the company. QRM is basically an extension of Time based Competition (TBC), which was a strategy used by Japanese firms in the 1980s. TBCs philosophy is to use speed to gain competitive advantage. QRM is more particular as it is restricted to manufacturing firms only. QRM finds its first foray in history in 1993 with the foundation of the Center for Quick Response Manufacturing at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.[2] In 1995, Rajan Suri published the article Slaying the Beast which put forth some bad policies which were prevalent in manufacturing companies and also offered explanations for the same. This helped QRM gain a lot of recognition and importance.1 The positive response spurred Dr. Suri to con tinue working on this subject and this further led to his consulting businesses in implementing QRM and successfully applying the same in many companies. Since then, the Center for QRM has helped in applying QRM in nearly 180 companies resulting in reduced lead times and increased market shares.2 QRM Principles: Traditional View: Everyone will have to work faster, harder and longer hours, in order to get jobs done in less time. QRM Principle #1: Find whole new ways of completing a job, with the focus on lead-time minimization Its not necessary to work harder, faster and longer hours to complete job earlier. One can focus on finding new ways to complete a job that takes lower time. Most of the time a job spends in a queue instead of in process and traditional approach only look to reduce processing time (touch time) and in QRM focus is on lead-time (total elapsed time) and not just processing time. Out of total lead-time 34 days only 19.5 hours is a touch time so it makes sense that we should focus on whole 34 days. But generally organizations are not designed to focus on lead-time. Mainly because organizations dont recognize the cost of waiting they mainly focus on processing time like one need to reduce batch sizes to reduce waiting time but it will increase number of setups that will increase their processing time which is mostly opposing to company goals. So, Companies need to change their accounting systems and reward systems so that benefits of reduction in lead-time can be measured and rewarded appropriately. Examples of Organizational Waste Due to Long Lead Times: Expediting of hot jobs or late orders: Requires Systems, Air Freight, People, even Top Management time. Production Meetings required to change and update priorities. Overtime costs for trying to speed up late jobs. Time spent by Sales, Planning, and other Departments to develop and update forecasts. WIP and Finished Goods holding costs, including space. Obsolescence of parts made to forecast but not used. Quality problems not detected till much later; lots of rework or scrap. Opportunity for: Order changes or even cancellations. Feature and scope creep. Loss of sales to competition. Sales time devoted to expediting and explaining delays to customer. Complex systems required to manage the dynamic environment. There is one major problem with cost based systems that hinders QRM implementation that is functional structure of an organization. Looking the figure one can see how organizations fell into vicious circle by delaying regular jobs because of hot jobs and then again increase in hot jobs due to insertion of safety time due to delay in regular jobs. This is also called response time spiral. And so the spiral grows. QRM focus on reducing system in time like we do in service industry but this will require substantial reorganization of most of the processes. Basically, we will end up with cellular organizations in shop floor and also in offices and each cell will focus on its customers. The POLCA material control system helps coordinate production across multiple cells. Also, new operating methods such as time slicing are described, to help cells share non-cell resources. Traditional Belief: To get jobs out fast, we must keep our machines and people busy all the time. QRM Principle #2: Strategically plan for spare capacity plan to operate at 80% or even 70% capacity on critical resources. This principle is hard to digest as we believe that we should utilize capacity to its maximum possible value. Any reduction in the same would mean losing out on productive opportunities, resulting in increasing costs. However, by keeping all the machines busy at tall times does not necessarily transform into higher output or higher productivity. We frequently encounter the problems of growing queues due to the presence of a few bottleneck machines and jobs spending a lot of time waiting for resources due to mismanagement. All this ultimately results in increasing the lead time of the jobs which culminates in the increase of the organizational costs, which have been enlisted in the previous table. In the long run, these costs actually prove to be greater than the opportunity costs of not utilizing the spare capacity. Hence, the spare capacity should be considered as a strategic investment that will pay for itself many times over in increased sales, higher quality, and lower total cost s. Traditional Belief: In order to reduce our lead times, we have to improve our efficiencies. QRM Principle #3: Measure the reduction of lead times and make this the main performance measure. Eliminate traditional measures of utilization and efficiency. This is again a measure which is very hard to digest. We always measure the usefulness of any process through its efficiency and utilization. However, the problem with the traditional belief is not that efficiency is not an important measure, but that most measures of efficiency result in increased lead time which ultimately harms the organization. Large batches are used in a lot of companies in a bid to reduce the setup costs. However this very measure results in increasing the lead time which can culminate in the same problems as enlisted in the previous principle. There are numerous examples to show the scope of reduction of lead time in organizations, a prominent one being the case study in Becker (2001) which showed how lead time for a line of spare parts for the oil drilling industry dropped from 40 days to 5 days using reduction of lead time as the main performance measure in a manufacturing cell. QRM says that the quantities as calculated by EOQ are not appropriate and consistent with the goal of reducing lead time as EOQ doesnt consider many costs of large lots like expediting of late orders, overtime cost for trying to speed up late jobs, WIP holding costs including space. Also quality problems are detected much later than with small lots and the amount of rework and scrap generated is also much larger. At the same time, another important point which is missed in EOQ is the lack of responsiveness which occurs when the process is carried out with large lots. Large lots and planning for the same makes it difficult for the organization to respond quickly to change in customer needs. Nor can good lot sizes for QRM be predicted by the MRP system, since it assumes fixed queue times regardless of workload. Hence, in order to reduce the lead times throughout the organization, it is important for everyone in a manufacturing firm, and especially for senior managers, to understand the dynamics of factory operations. The senior managers need to have a broad outlook and decide on the policies of manufacturing and performance measures only after fully understanding the effects of capacity utilization, efficiency measures, and lot sizing policies on lead time. Traditional Versus QRM Views of Capacity and Lot Sizing. Source: QRM and POLCA:A Winning Combination forManufacturing Enterprises in the 21st Century Rajan Suri. The differences between the traditional and QRM views can be observed from the figure given above. Traditional performance measures of utilization and efficiency encourage managers to exploit their resources to the maximum possible value. Production is considered infeasible only when the capacity utilization exceeds their maximize resource utilization, and only think about their capacity limit as a boundary between feasible and infeasible production targets. Also the perception is that larger lot sizes lead to increase in efficiency. However, QRMs focus is solely on reducing lead time, and hence the impact of utilization and lot size on the same is studied. Higher utilization leads to increase in lead time, whereas lead time first decreases and then increases with increase in lot size. It is essential to consider all such manufacturing dynamics in order to come up with a process that minimizes the lead time and thereby costs. Traditional Belief: We must place great importance on on-time delivery performance by each of our departments and our suppliers. QRM Principle #4: Stick to measuring and rewarding reduction of lead times. According to QRM on-time performance is an outcome not a performance measure. Because if on time is considered as performance measure departments will quote longer lead-time to match up with on-time delivery. Again this will result in Response time spiral and results in poor performance of organization. But with QRM, organization will focus on shortening lead-time as a performance measure. In QRM its called QRM Number (measure of lead time reduction). This will eliminates Response Time Spiral and performance of organization will improve. Traditional Belief: Installing a material requirements planning (MRP) systemwill help in reducing lead times. QRM Principle #5: Use MRP for high level planning and coordination of materials. Restructure the manufacturing organization into simpler product- oriented cells. Complement this with POLCA, a new material control method that combines the best of push and pull strategies. MRP systems are of great help in managing material supply and ordering but lead-time cannot be reduced using MRP. MRP should be used on high level planning and coordination not on cell level in a cellular structure implemented by QRM, whereas POLCO can be used to manage material between cells and inside cells. POLCO basically a hybrid of push and pull systems using benefits of both. Traditional Belief: Since long lead-time items need to be ordered in large quantities, we should negotiate quantity discounts with suppliers. QRM Principle #6: Motivate suppliers to implement QRM, resulting in small lot deliveries at lower cost, better quality, and short lead times. This phenomena can be again seen as entering in Response Time Spiral in which if company buys in large batches this makes supplier to have longer lead time and company to order even larger batches. Internal and external incentives like discounts motivate ordering in large batches. The results this can be verified in John Deere where implementation of QRM with suppliers reduced cost and also improved quality with shorter lead-time and batches. Traditional Belief: We should encourage our customers to buy our products in large quantities by offering price breaks and quantity discounts. QRM Principle #7: Educate customers on your QRM program, and negotiate a schedule of moving to smaller lot deliveries at reasonable prices. Not only at the supply side, the small lot concept needs to be applied at the distribution end too. Normally it is the tendency of the sales force to get higher orders by offering quantity discounts. This will again lead to the spiral of increasing lot sizes, both during the process as well as on the procurement side, ultimately leading to lowering of delivery performance. By implementing QRM, a company can reduce its costs manifold which can then be passed on to the customers. There is a need to demonstrate to the customer that the company can deliver high quality at low prices even for small lots, which would be more beneficial both to the company as well as the customer. Thus, the idea of small lots percolates throughout the organization, from top to bottom, as well as throughout the supply chain, from supplier to customer. Traditional Belief: We can implement QRM by forming teams in each department. QRM principle #8: Cut through functional boundaries by forming a Quick Response Office Cell (Q-ROC), which is a closed-loop, collocated, multifunctional, cross-trained team responsible for a family of products aimed at a focused target market segment, and empower the Q-ROC to make necessary decisions. The traditional approach might result in local quality improvements in the respective departments. However, QRM is more concerned with the overall organization than just one department. The requirement is to cut the overall lead time for manufacturing as well as office operations for which Q-ROCs are more appropriate. Such Q-ROCs result in significant reduction of lead times for jobs such as cost estimating, quoting, and order processing. Closed-loop implies that the team would be self-sufficient in dealing with all the problems related to reducing lead time. This implies cutting across functional boundaries and changing the reporting structures to ensure the success of the process. Needless to say, this team needs to be given power in order to make the decisions as reducing lead time is the primary goal of the organization. The best example would be that of Ingersoll Cutting Tool Company, in Rockford, which reduced its engineering and order processing time for customized cutters fro m 10 days to half a day after implementing QRM principles. However, QRM should not be considered as an application of Reengineering as by using principles of system dynamics in the design of Q-ROCs, providing specific engineering and management principles for manufacturing organizations, plus by changing management principles and performance measures and adopting a company-wide approach, QRM goes much deeper than Reengineering. Traditional Belief: The reason for implementing QRM is so that we can charge our customers more for rush jobs. QRM Principle #9: The reason for embarking on the QRM journey is that it leads to a truly productive company with a more secure future. Also, lower cost/price, higher quality and shorter lead times result in highly satisfied customers. Charging more for speedy response is sustainable only in the short-term. In the long run, it is quality which differentiates a product from its competitors, and the same purpose is served by QRM. Searching for ways of squeezing time out uncovers quality problems and wasted efforts. Changing policies and adopting measures to rectify the same results in higher quality, lower WIP, less overhead, lower operating costs, and greater sales. The QRM Approach yields even better results than Lean Manufacturing as it ignores the wastes caused by long lead times. QRM takes the goal of waste reduction to the next level, creating an even leaner enterprise that will remain a formidable competitor for years to come. Traditional Belief: Implementing QRM will require large investments in technology. QRM Principle #10: The biggest obstacle to QRM is not technology, but mindset. Management must recognize this and combat it through training. Next, companies should engage in low-cost or no-cost lead time reductions, leaving expensive technological solutions for a later stage. As we have seen in many quality improving methodologies like Six Sigma, House of Quality the most important factor in the success of these initiatives is their acceptance by all the members of the organization; and QRM is no different. Realigning of all employees, from the shop floor to the boardroom, from desk workers to senior managers, to the QRM principles is a pre-requisite for the success of QRM, and hence training gains significance. Normally, performance measurement is tied to the cost accounting system which is an impediment to the successful implementation of QRM. Performance measurement must be aligned with the principles of QRM if the company has to benefit from the same. In a nutshell, the following points can be summarized about Quick Response Manufacturing: It requires measurement and efforts to minimize the metric, Manufacturing Critical-path Time (MCT), which is defined as the typical amount of calendar time from when a customer creates an order, through the critical-path, until the first piece of that order is delivered to the customer. This can be measured using the QRM number. Some changes in the structure of the organization are necessary to ensure the success of QRM. It basically requires the strategy of the organization to change from cost-based to entirely time-based with full emphasis on lead time minimization. Functional to Cellular:Cellular manufacturing is a pre-requisite of QRM as the cells yield greater flexibility in manufacturing. Top-down Control to Team Ownership:QRM requires the formation of closed-loop, cross-functional teams which need to be given complete power for monitoring the processes. Specialized Workers to a Cross-trained Workforce:Since the success of the process requires reduction in lead times across all the departments, there is a need to provide proper training to the workers so that they can perform multiple tasks and have a broader outlook. Efficiency/Utilization Goals to Lead Time Reduction:The evaluation parameters, performance measures have to shift from the traditional accounting measures to the goal of lead time reduction. The following steps need to be implemented in the organization so that QRM is a success: Creating a QRM mindset: The most important part is to make people realise the advantages of QRM over the previous measures i.e. the wastes created due to long lead time which are even ignored in Lean Manufacturing. Thereafter, a high-level QRM Steering Committee needs to be formed to oversee the QRM efforts. Also, like Six Sigma,by providing QRM training, some employees can be made QRM champions who can then be entrusted with the responsibility of the projects on a daily basis. Changing of organizational structure: Cross-functional planning team are formed to study feasible projects to which QRM can be applied. This would require the management to indulge in a detailed analysis of various consideration like Manufacturing Critical PathTime, product volumes, needs relating to strategy and other factors. Thereafter, QRM cells are formed and training and cross-training is provided to the operators in these cells by an implementation team which consists of members in the new cell as well as planning team members. Measurement of MCT is done to monitor lead time. Including of system dynamics: QRM requires going through the policies on utilization and efficiency in order to determine the proper loading of the cells. It also calls for making provisions for spare capacities and reduction in the batch sizes in order to reduce the lead time. Enterprisewide expansion of QRM: The process would typically begin with a single project. If the project is a success, its results need to be conveyed to all the members of the organization and more projects need to be undertaken based on QRM principles. QRM should not be restricted to the organization alone but should be extended through the entire supply chain. E.g. the suppliers should also be motivated to inculcate and apply the principles of QRM which would have mutual benefits for both parties. POLCA: The Material Control System for QRM: POLCO is Paired-cell Overlapping Loops of Cards. To implement this system the company need to create cells of the production process focusing on subsets for similar parts and then it processes a given customer order through differing cells depending on the needs of that order. High Level MRP is used to provide high level planning and coordination of materials from external suppliers and across these internal cells. But cells are managed individually. To explain POLCO we can take an example of a shop floor. Assume P1 focuses on color printing and P2 on black white printing after which we have three Formatting Cells, F1, F2 and F3, which convert the printed sheets into reports with the desired pages. After formatting comes binding operation, which include punching holes and notches, cutting the sheets, and bending, A1 to A4. Finally, all orders go to the Shipping Cell S1, where the packaged plates are placed in shipping containers and then loaded onto carts. The material control system used is POLCA where High Level MRP and a cellular organization is a prerequisite. In this case all Release times are created with the help of High Level MRP. But even after authorization of POLCO work will not begin until all conditions are met. POLCO cards are used to communicate and control the material movement between cells. As Figure shows the POLCA card flows for a particular order at any organization based on initial design. This orders routing takes it from P1 to F2, then to A4 for binding, and finally to S1 to be shipped. This order will therefore proceed through the POLCA card loops with the pairs P1/F2, F2/A4 and A4/S1. If cell P1 has a job authorized that is going to F3 next, then a P1/F3 card must be available at P1 in order for it to begin that job. If a P1/F3 card is not available, that means that there is a bottleneck at F3 and working on that job will only add to the work-in-process at F3. Instead, it would be better for P1 to put its resources into a job that is needed by another cell that is not backlogged. So the cell team at P1 skips the P1/F3 job for now, and looks at the next authorized job to see if a card is available for that job, and so on. Differences from KANBAN: POLCO cards only control flow between cells not within. POLCA cards are not product specific but they are specific to particular pair of cells. POLCO cards are used as capacity signal whereas Kanban is used as inventory signal. As return of POLCA card from a downstream cell signals that the cell has available capacity. Benefits yielded by POLCA: POLCA helps in managing short-term fluctuations in capacity and also assists in reducing congestion on the shop floor. If a POLCA card from a downstream cell is not available, it means that that cell or some other cell further downstream is backlogged with work. Hence it does not make sense allocating further work to that particular job, without replanning of resources, as this will only increase inventory in the system since somewhere downstream there is a lack of capacity to work on this job. A better alternative would be to use this cell for some other job during the time being. POLCA cards flow in longer loops which allows the production to respond to changes in demand or differences in the complexities of jobs. The additional jobs in the loop can act as a buffer to absorb variations in demand and product mix which makes it highly suitable to meet the needs of responsiveness. On the contrary, the pull system stresses on achieving constant takt times throughout the organization, ignoring the fact that a variety of products will require different manufacturing times. Benefits of Quick Response Manufacturing: Product Leadership: The main objective of QRM is to minimize lead times. By implementing QRM, a company attains many beneficial and competitive advantages. Benefits of Quick Response Manufacturing: Product Leadership: QRM enables a firm to have shorter time to market. Thus a firm can reach out to customers with the latest technology while competitors play catch-up. There are two ways of looking at it. The first is that a given point of time a firms product would be superior to that of its competitor. Another point of view is that since a firm has shorter lead time it can deliver technology that is openly available to the market much earlier. Thus, the firm can skim the market due to its superior product. This can be depicted on a time line . Lower working capital: Lower lead times permit companies to have lower raw material and finished goods inventory. As a result the working capital requirement is decreased. This places the firm in a better strategic position to utilise their resources and capital. Better position to increase market share: The lower lead times increase the firms responsiveness to opportunities in the environment. This increased responsiveness helps the firm attract customers and increase its market share. Increased inventory turns: Since the production system is triggered by demand, smaller batches are produced, inventory decreases, and the number of inventory turns increases. Many inefficient producers have substantial amounts of capital tied up in inventory; therefore, their inventory turns are low. Reducing the cost of quality by minimising rework: Cellular manufacturing places more responsibility and accountability on specific production teams. This results in specialization which inherently increases the quality of the product. It is much easier to pinpoint defects since the problems are directly traceable to certain teams or members. This has a positive impact on the quality of products. Cost Reduction: QRM aims at finding opportunities to improve the existing process. This results in lower operating costs. Using QRM, companies are able to save, in some cases, up to 25% of total operating costs by solving problems before they happen. Increasing Long Term competitiveness: QRM ultimately aims at enhancing the long term competitiveness of the team. The above mentioned benefits are only the stepping stones in the right direction. The enhanced competitiveness of the firm ensures that is objective of enhancing shareholder value is fulfilled. Issues of Quick Response Manufacturing: Increased reliance on suppliers: QRM requires a strong relationship with ones raw material suppliers and partners. To react to demand, a manufacturing firm must closely partner with suppliers that will quickly accommodate the firms production schedule. However, if the supplier cannot provide raw materials due to problems such as quality assurance/control, equipment repair or union labour, the manufacturing firm may not be able to meet customer requirements. This could result in stock outs and backorders. Change Management: It can be very difficult to implement QRM in a manufacturing environment. QRM is a business enabling philosophy that works top-down and therefore, changes the roles and responsibilities of the employees. Traditional roles, from lower levels through upper management, are drastically modified and the corporate infrastructure is typically altered. Employees can be extremely apathetic to these changes, which is a barrier that could significantly hinder the implementation process and the success of QRM. To implement QRM, companies must have representation from all functions i.e line and support functions (production, planning, purchasing, engineering, manufacturing, quality, finance and human resources) to facilitate the implementation. All functional areas need to buy-in to QRM philosophy to successfully implement such a major change in the way the firm does business. What Differentiates QRM from Lean? First and foremost is the QRM mindset: the driver for all the principles and strategies in QRM is reduction of lead time. This time-based mindset results in many operating policies that are different from traditional ones. In contrast the driver in JIT/Lean is waste reduction. Although the business press has been talking about the importance of lead time reduction, or speed, for over a decade, we find that most companies still lack the knowledge and the tools to effectively reduce their lead times. Worse still, policies are in place that are lengthening, rather than shortening, lead times. QRM devotes a substantial amount of effort in educating management and workers on why these traditional policies result in long lead times, and in showing them the QRM principles that must be put in place instead. QRM is a companywide strategy. While the original implementation of JIT/Lean at Toyota may well have encompassed the whole company, most Western implementations of JIT/Lean have focused on manufacturing and materials management. In many cases, JIT/Lean has been interpreted even more narrowly as merely implementing a pull system with kanban cards. In contrast, QRM clarifies at the outset that it is a companywide strategy with implications far beyond the shop floor, and principles for other company areas, such as, office operations, are clearly presented as part of the QRM philosophy. QRM provides rational principles and tools for lead time reduction. QRM uses an understanding of system dynamics, and exploits this understanding to define the best structures and policies that will reduce lead times. QRM begins by educating employees and giving them insight into these system dynamics. This then helps justify, to management and workers, the need for changes in policies. State-of-the-art analysis tools such as the MPX software package incorporate this analysis of system dynamics and help to derive the specific changes needed and to quantify the benefits that would be achieved. For companies making a large variety of products with variable demand, as well as for companies making highly engineered products, the JIT/Lean strategy of pull is either wasteful or breaks down altogether. For such companies, QRM provides an alternati