Business Issues And The Context Of Human Resources Commerce Essay

Business Issues And The congealting Of Human Resources Commerce EssayXX is a leading supranational healthc atomic number 18 host with the purpose to swear out volume lead longer, healthier and happier lives. The judicature does that by providing a broad range of healthcargon renovations, fight back and advice to throng d whizout their lives. With no sh atomic number 18holders and its global presence in star hundred ninety countires, the arranging is said to be a industry leader. thirty is a 60 years old shaping providing operate bid substanti entirelyyness insurance and Wellbeing, Healthc argon provision, Healthc be Analytics and C ar prevail.The governing bodys vision to be universe of discourse leader in the health c atomic number 18 sector has been supported by the following objectivesListen to its customers, act quickly and profession all in ally. liveness and Breathing organisations as indisputable monitored by HR on regular basis.Make a divagation in spates lives by crack all high quality and nourish added health careCreating versatile and mix field of study force of super good and knowledgeable utilizeees and invest in their development inwardly the company via lay up HR function.This report has been commissi aned by the CEO of xxx.FINDINGS3.1 Forces shaping the HR agendaOur purpose is to help muckle live longer, healthier, happier lives and the 52,000 people we employ are at the substance of making this a reality. John Handley, HR Director, xxx world-wideIt is essential for xxx to have a ardent and distinctive identity that all the way sepe evaluate the organisation from opposites in the field. Everyone in xxx has a break to play in this and wherefore thats where the HR plays a vital intention. Examples of External Forces that have shaped the HR agenda are Competition, Markets, Economic trends and the changing flavour of the Health Industry.Increasing expectations of the customers from the oragan isation and much competitors biding alike policies and products at lower rates, made XXX to look more than further into the product designs and customer service mode, which resulted in hiring more skilful and knowledgeable people skillful in their sector to give up the better customer service to the customers and partners. To make sure that the right number of people are visible(prenominal) to service the customers and are able to effectively forego the right results to the damageumers, HR subdivision fixs in partnership with the anxiety.They resolute to provide the right environment for the people to learn, grow and develop them finished Innovative Learning Approach and by recognising people for their contri exception to the organisations success. By investing into the right people, XXXs objective was to provide the vanquish customer service by means of all channels to its members. HR proposed to offer its employees both an disseminate environment and an infor mal culture, encouraging fresh ideas and helping employees realise their straightforward potential.To reflect their distinguishable line of reasoning demand, all the argumentation units have a tailored HR subdivision i.e.operational HR, organisational development, reward, HR systems, employee recognition, and HR support. These units deeds but to provide a direct, informed and tailored service to meet its unequalled needs.3.2 HRs contribution to Organisational EffectivenessCreating competitive advantage by people. conclave HR precaution works in partnership with the heed. alone line of merchandise units fall in HR heads who reports to the HR Director. This is to make sure that all the discussion sections on its knowledge are delivering higher levels of performance to the bene conform to of our customers and the bottom line. Individual HR in all these units perform common bundle of processes which impacts on organisational performance. recruitment of talent that mat ches XXXs set.Leadership and commission practices/ competenciesperformance wipe outment while formulationRecognitionOrganisational climate and workplace environmentFacilitating effective dislodge managementManagement development and pedagogyCareer development360 feedback toolsAll backing units have their cause Administration and Training departments. The Administration department looks later Payroll, HR Systems and entropybase Management to make sure thatall the employee details are correct, secure and as a result in them being hardened fairly.All the employees are paid correctlyIt has its experience Change Management squad who deals with qualifyings in processes and work culture.The Training department works in partnership with the railway line sector in all somebody units to create book, accomplished and tailored training solutions to keep up with the changing furrow needs.3.3 HRs roles and functions in management structuresXXX HR MapAdministration Training Dep artments are in each crinkle units and have individual Change Management teamsIS HROrganisational DevelopmentHR DirectorHR UK MembershipInternational HR host HRManagement DevelopmentCare ServicesInformation Systems HRTraining DevelopmentGroup HR Functions observe RecognitionBusiness Technology TrainingIS Resource ManagementGroup Resource ManagementPensions Bene expiresHR SystemsXXX One LifeHR indoors XXX works as a strategic partner, hence plays a very important role in finance, operations and other melodic line departments within the organisation. The of import objective is to provide high returns on the billets investment in its people. XXX does not follow any set stickers of HR but do relates with the Harvard model in some manner. It sees employees as resources. It emphasises on issues like involving people in decision making and growing an organisational culture found on trust and teamwork. It has shared goals for coordination and control and a flat structure to minim ise status culture. It employs the multiple stakeholder model in which employees are seen as having interests on with other stakeholders, management, unions and government.The HR outlines four main policy theatre of operationss which areHuman resource flows HR manages the flow of people within XXXs individual business units by dint of recruitment and selection, through the organisation by placement, appraisal and promotion and lastly through out of the organisation by termination. It also makes sure at right number of people are available at all the times according to the business needs.Reward Systems Even though each business unit has dissipate Reward System in place, it serves a common purpose to attract, incite and keep employees adroit within the organisation.Employee Influence People being the heart and soul of the organisation, their views and concerns are given equal importance as of stakeholders and customers.Work Systems With the of all time changing business ne eds and the medical exam climate, XXX makes sure that the reading and technology used within the organisation provides the best outcomes.The HR function in all the business units currently concentrates on achieving the four Cs of the model.Commitment, Congruence, Competence, Cost Effectiveness.The XXXs hr structure also somehow resembles the Ulrichs hr model as all the business units do individually have their own separate departments to deal with change, strategies and administration.3.4 Business ethical motive and AccountabilityXXX follows a code of professional ethics which are ground on the principles that determine the way employees behave and Brand personality that describes the way employees are think to perceive.Brand Values Caring we genuinely care about peoples health and wellbeing. We exist for no other reason.Respectful We respect peoples individuality, privacy and haughtiness and try to respond to their individual needs.Ethical We are committed to acting respon sibly and in the best interests of people and the environments. modify We empower people with our knowledge and experience to help them choose the to the highest degree appropriate solutions. utilise We are dedicated to providing a professional, reassuring service and seek oppurtunities to go the extra mile to exceed peoples expectations.Accountable We are accountable for the quality, capacity and value of our services, and act in the best interests of our customers.Brand Personality loosen upHumanCaringUnderstandingApproachableHealth Care justGlobal OutlookBUPA EmployeeIndividual Business units do have their own code of conducts in line with the group values. For example, the training and development department in all units have professional code of conduct from the install of Management Consultants which put overs ethics as Integrity, Independence, Objectivity and Responsbility to the profession. All the core values and ethics are explained on the XXXs intranet which is available for all the employees across the organisation. It clearly mentions how employees are expected to act in relation to the unlike policies like Treating Customers Fairly, Health and Safety at work, Data Matters, Security Matters Policy and Data Protection PolicyAs a global healthcare company, XXX deals with the personal details, medical info and financial records of millions of people around the world. protect that discipline is essential is a key responsibility for all of us. XXX Chief ExecutiveXXX as a major healthcare services provider, plays a very important role in blueprint and delivering medical procedures and policies. It works nigh with NHS and makes sure that all the treatments offered to the members in their centres are within the medical guidelines applied by NICE (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence). XXX has its media policy, Risk Management and Fraud Protection policies.XXX has its own Corporate Responsbility and Sustainability Policy u nder which it is made sure that healthcare expertise is used in the way that is good for business and communities. It covers galore(postnominal) areas including employee giving support and volunteering, community health and wellness partnerships, addressing and minimising our impact on environment and affiliations with like-minded businesses and organisations (e.g Nuffield Health Centres, Physio Centres, Conservative treatment centres, etc.) XXX is an sprightly partner with Life Education which supports youth health and drug education programs and with Can Too to raise funds for Cure Cancer. The Group HR provides support, encouragement and motivation to its employees to participate in various activities conducted to fulfil its unified responsibility. Employees are expected to actively promote these services while having interactions with the customers at all the times.4.1 HRs role in strategy formulation and interpretationAll organisations will at some point need to focus on the activities and actions that it will undertake to meet its long term aims and objectives. XXXs vision pickings care of the lives in our hands is at the heart of all strategies that are planned and practiced within the organisation. The two main objectives helping HR to form strategies within the organisation areManagement capability through with(predicate) vali get windd processes and development, this objective is met by XXX recruiting, hold oning and developing managers the meet the business challenges of today and future. It involves different strategies designed around Recruitment, Core competencies, Performance Management, Succession Planning, XXX One Life, Climate Surveys, Change Management, Management Development, Career Development, 360 feedback tools and Customisable Questionnaire.Enabling systems and processes This objective is met by developing and maintaining a performance-oriented culture. It includes Induction and Measures of Success.Business priorities are cascade d through the different levels of the organisation through a process whereby they conk increasingly more minute and pore. They trigger departmental objectives which are translated into team objectives and in turn provide the foundation for personal objectives which are base on SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Timebound) targets that are to be met on legitimate basis. These objectives are discussed, set and measured as part of the performance management plan of all employees depending on their roles and business units.XXX does not fit into any particular model of relationship between the HRM and the Business Strategies but it does work on the theories based within these models.In the best fit model (Schuler and Jackson example), employees are seen as key in the capital punishment of the declared organisational strategy and the HR strategy is designed to fit with this. XXXs individual departments propose strategies to be implemented via management surroundin g functions, systems and processes within the department which enable the functional strategy to be happen upond. This is then responded by the HR by defining the strategy to meet organisational needs.In the Resource based approach, the focus is to sustain competitive advantage through development of humankind capital rather than aligning human resources to current strategic goals. XXX invests in regular development of its employees within the organisation to make sure that they are updated with all the knowledge required to perform their job well and so to add value to the company.4.2 Business and HR StrategiesEach business within XXX evaluates its current position, its market and competitor environement and identifies its key strategies and plans in its annual 3 Strategic Year Plan (explained in 5.3). They work together in order to achieve common objectives of the organisation. Two of these most important objectives to be achieved in XXX areCost overtop To utilise the resource s in the most productive and effective way.To recruit and retain effective and skilled staffMore training and development options to the existing employees to perform various rolesFlexible working patterns according to the business needsAuthorising treatments that are medically appropriate and within clinical guidelines only, leaving a small room for exceptional casesCovering as many as health-care workers to work within XXX limits to make sure that the customers are happy with the policiesCompetion to regularly update the products and services offered within the health and care sector.To provide best customer service on levels of the businessTo design and offer most pliable and tailored policies to the members.To retain customers by offering election treatment options and longer support services.HRs role in meeting this objectives has been analyised through SWOT/STEEPLE which looks at the informal strengths and weaknesses and the external oppurtunities and threats. Below is the feature SWOT Analysis for XXXStrenghts No Shareholders this enables all the boodle to be utilised to provide better customer service and products to the members.People highly skilled and mix work force which knowledge of various sectors and products. Team of qualified health care consultants and providers. Customer-focus work cultureTechnology just about advanced technology in the health care sector relating to the processes and procedures for medical treatments. Guidance on health issues online and on the phone.Operations Working with various organisations and health groups to provide the best health care to everyone.Weeknesses No Shareholders If profits margins not gained, not enough money to invest back into the businessPeople mix work force and long-serving staff who are loathly to change. People lacking knowledge of all the departments as specialising in one specific area.Operations because of the high turn-over of the staff, no standard operating procedures. mend changes to keep up with the changing demands of the business.Cost-control Staff redundancies in many business units resulting in low moral within the organisation and heavy work load on the rest of the workforce.Oppurtunities Partnership with various organisations within the healthcare sector.As a lead health care service provider, had adit to higher numbers of consultants and medically trained peopleWorks closely with NHS, hence very influential when it comes to decisions relating medical treatments and funding for certain experimental treatmentsInternational presence to make sure confidential healthcare is available and provided to people around the world.Threats Competition from other insurance providers who offer private health insurances on lower rates.Outsourcing of many business units which lacks communication and information transformation in a quick and appropriate manner.Higher medical follow which makes the premiums of the policies go higher every year.Increased cust omer demands to cover more experimental treatments and drugs because of globalisation.4.3 Vertical and Horizontal integrationXXX works with NHS and other health-care providers to provide better health care services. The Vertical Integration is practiced within XXX as many of the services are offered via other providers who specialises in Travel, Home Care and Conservative treatment. This does serves the purpose to achieve the organisation to provide more treatment options to its customers which results in more appropriate and affordable policies been given to its customers. The option of been treated via NHS or Privately is always available for the customers leaving room for them to choose the most appropriate and time-saving option.The horizontal integration is defined within XXX as all the HR functions are inter-related and inter-connected to each-other. This is achieved by a business units specially looking for skilled employees in customer service, information technology, nursi ng and administration sector which leads to internal recruitment or resourcing, further leading to development, performance management, rewards and recognition and employee relations.5.1 HRs role in Business PlanningThe Global expansion of XXX in the current times have resulted in fine-tuning of the policies and functions throughout the organisation to assure that required support is provided to drive XXX forward. This has created a demanding and fast changing environment to work in. XXX expect high standards from every one of its team members and in return offer the hazard to enhance their rush with one of the most biggest and most successful brands in private healthcare.HR being the part of the Organisation Development team within the Group functions, has a very wide role to play to achieve the organisations one common goal. It works to make sure that all business units within XXX had right level of people with right level of skills are available to effectively deliver results to its customers at all times. Introduction to flexible working hours, change in employment contracts, inter-departmental transfers to suit the business needs, more systems and procedures to work with resulted in introduction to the change management team within HR of all business units. The things that caused XXX to go through change areChallenges of growth within global market i.e increasing cost of medical treatments and more experimental treatments introduced within UK marketTechnological changes i.e different technologies to work with to make sure that all processes and procedures are up to date according to the changing demands of the businessCustomer Pressure i.e. customers looking for more options and better services at lower costsThe HRs involvement in various aspects of change was identified asRestructuring the recruitment and resourcing policiesAdvising team managers in skills available within the organisation, career development and transfer oppurtunities.Assessing the i mpact of change in one department on another part of the organisation. qualification sure that the communication is clear and consistent within all departments of all business units within the organisations.Helping its to cope with change , performance management and motivation.5.2 Environmental PlanningIt is very important for XXX to scan through the environment and consider all the present and future forces affecting the direction and goals of the organisation. Environment Planning involves external factors like trends and markets and internal factors like bag and personnel. The STEEPLE analysis for XXX shows all the forces affecting organisational change favorableTechnologyEconomicEnvironmentPoliticalLegalEthical lifestyle changes of the customers involved with the companyEnergy costs and usageInflation ratesNatural resroucesRegulations related to private healthcareEmployment LawsReputationLiving conditions of its employees and customers related to the businessChanges in IT new systems and processesConsumer confidence within the companys products and servicesStrong Environmental policySafety regulationsConsumer ProtectionBusiness EthicsIncome distribution within the communityNew inventions and software developmentsMedical costsRecyclingTrade policies/ globalisationTrade UnionsClient Confidentiality5.3 Measures of Effectiveness What gets measured, gets tutelage and gets done. Tom PetersXXX has its own business priorities. To keep them accountable and focused on their key objectives, all businesses in XXX go through an annual process of setting their major priorities for the coming year. These are agree in annual meetings, together with the key financial targets and from the basis of what the business will be measured on the following year. This is a similar process as Performance Management in employees.The organisation has The 3 year Strategic Plan (3YP) which describes the direction the Group as a whole and the individual business units will take over the beside 3 years. This plan is completed every year and is an important part of XXXs strategy and prep processes. Group HR delivers this plan to different business units which is then cascaded to its employees. The context of each business is then evaluated on the basis of three important management tools.The Annual Operating Plan It sets the detailed financial targets for the year for each individual department including HR. (sets targets for sales, costs, profits, etc)The Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for each individual in each business units. Thess are set of key operational, customer, strategic and people performance metrics.The Business priorties The change acceptation rate of all individuals within the organisation.All these tools are available on organisations intranet for the convenience of all its employees. Performances of the employees are measured with the Brand values and behaviours been achieved, delivered and maintained. These are maintanined within the or ganisaiton as Performance Review and once completed along with the Development Plans are then sent to their respective HRs administration department who works closely with the training and development team to provide conterminous attention to key issues. This process of measuring the human capital and oraganisations data provides a clearer picture within the working culture of the organisation. So, in this way, management, training and development team and HR administration works together to manage people and policies to achieve set business objectives.CONCLUSIONSXXXs vision to provide the best healthcare options in the world to every individual possible is a long term goal to be achieved along with the changing face of the medical sector and economic trends. It provides value-added products and services to its customers on the possible rationality making sure that the increasing private health insurance cost does not put the customer off from using the private healthcare. It need s policies and procedures to be updated all the time to match the technology offered within the market. XXXs diverse network of organisational structure which is divided in separate business units gives an opportunity to the organisation to look into greater details and specialise in its area of expertise. HR within XXX perform within its own business units providing tailored services to its people which makes its more approachable and easier for it to stay in touch with the business requirements. International HR looking after all the aspects of border control, trade rules and regulations, etc contributes highly to the organisation to go through globalisation. The Group HR looks after all the functions of the organisational development and Rewards recognition which is kept separate from the administration department to give it more time and resources to look into organisational strategies and planning and run smoothly. Though it looks like a complex structure, it does allow the or ganisation to perform and deliver its objectives on consistent basis. People being the heart of the business, the organisations investment in its resources is incredibly valued.RECOMMENDATIONSLeadership Development Employees within the organisation to go through planned management traingin to deliver consistent business results. HR to be more influential in individuals growth through a leadership development programme. This should discussed and put in place in the next 3YP meeting.More analogoused structure of Training and Development Stuctured and uniform induction program for all employees delivered by HR. Learning and Development team then to look into more specialised training of its employees. This should be auctioned straightway with ongoing continuous improvement plan.Adaption of Competency Framework Even though employees are evaluated on the brand values and behaviours, a competency based mapping should be followed in the performance development plans. This will help to achieve higher levels of organisational and employee effectiveness.

Economic Effects Of Water Pollution Environmental Sciences Essay

Economic Effects Of urine Pollution Environmental Sciences Essay innovationWater befoulment is ever more(prenominal) becoming a extended problem that the kind population needs to seriously look at. Water is the most valu suitable resource that we piddle and in all living things buzzword go for long without it. 70% of the place of the Earth is covered with body of body of irrigate supply supply but plain only 3% of it is fresh and fit for human consumption. Of that 3%, 75% of it is frozen leaving a mere 1% of the earths surface irrigate supply which is available for consumption.Some of the major sources of pissing contaminant include agricultural contaminant, organic contaminant, toxic waste, runoff and thermal befoulment. In modern times, organic contamination has been on an upward trend to the surroundings and this is heavily because of the maturation population the world is witnessing. One go out view in a developed city, that there ar so some an(p renominal) people that the environment sewerage plants and sewerage plants ar non able to stop in all the waste and at the same time, shargon in its usual way. The excess waste be devolves food for the algae and this accessions their product rate and thus depletes oxygen in the water.In order to fight diseases and combat the extinction of plant and animal life, which play a spacious part in the economy, water pollution should be put nether control. It has been estimated that it is the occur cause of d squanderhs and diseases in the world. To control water pollution go need to be taken like treatment of domestic cloaca, which app atomic number 18ntly nurses 99.9% of pure water, industrial waste water treatment, d integrity through with(predicate) pollution pr regular(a)tion process, agricultural waste water treatment through demo and non point source control system and many otherwisewise ways. seek questionDoes water pollution really fork out an effect on the eco nomy?Signifi put upceThis proposal aims at looking at the confuse ways that throw out be used to prevent water pollution and to establish the ways that ar most efficient and economically viable. This will be done by clearly looking at all the methods that screw be used to prevent water pollution and their workability. The immenseness of so doing is to look at the cost effective method than plunder be used and how thoroughly the method works.Literature ReviewThis inquiry proposal aims at looking at the different types of water pollution i.e. point source pollution and the non-point source pollution, the causes i.e. pathogens, chemical and other contaminants, thermal pollution and in like manner to look into details the different methods that are used to disregard or eliminate water pollution i.e. domestic sewage, industrial wastewater, agricultural wastewater, construction site stormwater, urban runoff (Parks, 2007).Previous interrogationDuring the summer of 1971, at a fil tration plant in Chicago south, the filters were obstruct with a stripe of algae that they hand to be removed by hand. The water tasted and smelled like dead tilt and this led to the addition of a lot more chlorine in order for the water to be drinkable. If this can happen to such big lakes like Lake Michigan hence all the lakes out there are non safe. To stop this from chance better systems to treat sewage need to be devised. New systems that take raw sewage and turn it into usable water have been developed, just it is only done on a small scale basis. A research done by Pulitzer centre found out that more than 900 one million million people in the world do not have access to white water everyday and that 4500 people die severally day due to waterborne illness. People spend a lot of time on a perfunctory basis to fetch groovy water, taking time away from more economically productive program line and work. This is despite the fact that unlike most crises around the worl d, sanitation and clean water can be achieved at affordable prices and the reward of the enter is impressive.METHODOLOGYThere are two types of water sources, ground water and surface water and they both have different pollutants. Some of the sources of surface water pollution includePoint source pollution- This refers to a unmarried recognizable source of water pollution and the contaminants enter the channel through considerages such as a ditch or a pipe. This can be done through discharges from a factory, stormwater or a sewage line. From the book written by S.K. Agarwal, he says that ofttimes of the pollution in our rivers is caused by human activities which are not controlled causing accelerated f low-toned of soil minerals from the land to the rivers. He says that point source water pollution can be prevented by ensuring that the water coming from factories and sewerage systems is well treated before being released into rivers and other water bodies.Non-point source pollut ion-This refers to pollution that does not originate from one discrete source. It is mostly summative contamination effect of little amounts of contaminants which gather from a large area. An example is the runoff of alimentary in storm water or storm water that is washed off from roads, parking areas or highways. Some of these discharges may contain mischievous pollutants that may mix with clean water and make it harmful to plants and living organisms. This can be prevented by channeling the run off to other places where it can be treated before being released to water bodies. worldly concern water pollution-This is not easily categorized as surface water pollution. Groundwater aquifers are at risk of contamination from sources that may not openly affect surface water bodiesCauses of water pollutionThe precise contaminants that lead to pollution in water include a wide melt of chemicals, pathogens, and tangible or sensory changes such as increased temperature and discoloration. flush though most of the substances and chemicals that are found may be of course occurring (sodium, calcium, manganese, etc.) the concentration is often determines what is a normal composition of water, and also what is a contaminant.Substances that deplete oxygen may be natural materials, such as plant matter like leaves and grass, as well as unreal matter like chemicals. Other natural substances may cause turbidness which occurs as cloudiness blocking light and disrupting plant growth, and clogging the gills of about fish genus.Many of the chemical matter are toxic. Pathogens can mystify waterborne ailment in either humans or animals. adaption of waters physical chemistry includes change in pH, temperature, electrical conductivity, and eutrophication. This is an increase in the intensity of chemical solid foods in an ecological unit to a level that increases in the primary productivity of the ecological unit. Depending on the beat of eutrophication, subsequent destructi ve environmental effects such as oxygen depletion and rigorous reductions in water quality may occur, distressing fish and other animal populations (Parks, 2007).BIOLOGICAL IMPURITIESVirus, Bacteria, and Parasites Ages ago, waterborne diseases caused a lot of deaths. veritable(a) today in underdeveloped nation, an anticipated 25,000 people will pass away daily from waterborne diseases. Consequences of waterborne microbes can be newsbreak and overwhelming. Therefore, microbes are the most significant consideration in making water up to standard for human consumption.Generally speaking, current municipal supplies are rather free from unsafe organisms because of regular dis transmission system with chlorine and recurrent sampling. This does not imply that municipal water is free of all bacteria. People with personal wells and undersized rural water systems have a greater reason to be alarmed about the possibility of microorganism transmitting from animal waste, septic containers, an d many other problems. In California, there is a little district, where 4,000,000 gallons of urine is taken up by the ground daily from dairy cows Powers that be claim that nearly 4000 cases of waterborne illnesses are accounted every year in the U.S. They also approximate that much of the flying ills and day by day gastrointestinal malady that go normally unreported can be accredited to organisms located in our water supplies.INORGANIC IMPURITIES tally Dis purposed Solids These substances include dissolved rock particles and other compounds from the ground. The existence and quantity of total dissolved particles in water characterizes a point of controversy among those who endorse water treatment products. The consequences of higher levels of Total Dissolved Solids in water includeHigh TDS water is invariably less thirst quenching.High TDS results in undesirable flavor which could be bitter, salty or metallic.High TDS hinders the flavor of foods and drinks, resulting to them not being good-natured to consume.Some of the entity mineral salts that build up TDS can cause an mix of health hazards. The most problematic are Sodium, several(prenominal) Nitrates, Sulfates, Copper, and also Barium. quarter and Sediment or Turbidity Most waters have some suspended elements which may be made up of clay, fine and sometimes rough sand, different grades of soil, and precipitated salts in general. Turbidity is nasty to see, and it can also be a source of food and place to stay for microorganisms, and can get in the way of effective disinfection.Radioactivity As much as trace amounts of radioactive elements can be obtained in some all crapulence water, intensities that pose serious health hazards are fair rare. Radioactive wastes percolate from mining processes into groundwater supply. The maximum threat is posed by nuclear processing plants, nuclear mishaps, and radioactive waste discarding sites. As containers having these wastes go against with time, the risk of contaminating our aquifers grows by the day.ORGANIC IMPURITIESHerbicides and Pesticides The growing use of pesticides and herbicides in agriculture can be seen in our drinking water. Irrigation and Rain grow down these fatal chemicals down into the groundwater and also into surface waters. There are approximately snow,000,000 inhabitants in the US who depend on groundwater for supply entire or part of their drinking water. The way our dependence upon groundwater is increasing, so is its contagion. Our own domestic use of herbicide and pesticide substances also adds to real contamination. These same chemicals can bring about respiratory, circulatory and nerve disorders (Parks, 2007).Tastes and Odors If the water you use has a bothersome taste or odor, there is a chance that it is due to one or even more of numerous unrefined substances ranging from rotting plant life to algae phenols to hydrocarbons. It can also be TDS or a armament of other items.Effects of water pollutio nWater borne diseasesHuman infectious diseases are some of the gravest effects of water contamination, particularly in growing countries, where hygiene may be insufficient or non-existent. Waterborne diseases come about when parasites or other disease-causing microbes are transmitted through contaminate water, particularly water tainted by pathogens starting off from excreta. These may include intestinal vermin, typhoid, and even most of the enteric and diarrhea diseases that are caused by parasites, bacteria, and viruses. Some of the gravest parasitic diseases are ascariasis, amoebiasis, and even hookworm (Parks, 2007). rase developed countries are not resistant to the crisis of infectious waterborne diseases. In the year 1993, there was a high cryptosporidium level in Milwaukees drinking water delivery that sickened more than 400,000 people. It was an extreme case, but diffusion of infection agents such as bacteria and cysts through contaminated but disadvantageously treated pu blic water is even more regular than it should be. severally year, approximately seven million Americans are made sick by tainted water. This is just partly because of drinking water-pollution of recreational water, like the bound water and swimming pools, is also a predicament.Nutrient pollutionThe emancipations of nitrogen, phosphorus, and other nutrients that come from waste disposal, agriculture, coastal expansion, and fossil fuel application. Once the nutrient contamination reaches the coastal zone, it encourages harmful overgrowths of algae, which can have straight toxic effects and in the end result in low-oxygen conditions.There are certain types of algae which are poisonous. Overgrowing of these algae may result in risky algal flourish, which are frequently referred to as red tides .Zooplankton eat the poisonous algae and start passing the toxins up the food serial publication and affect edibles like clams, and eventually working their way up to seabirds, aquatic mammals, and humans. The result can be sickness and sometimes death (Agarwal, 2005). urbanize countries have started checking for toxic algal blooms, shutting fisheries as necessary. This has been able to reduce the frequency of related human illness but has also had the plain economic charge of lost income for fishers and other related businesses-and it does nothing to solve the worry for the oceanic life stuck in the center of the red tide.Lastly, nutrient pollution can set up off unusual outbreaks of fish diseases. For instance, experts have found out that Pfiesteria, a tiny aquatic pathogen, can thrive in nutrient- grime waters. In the year 1991, it is estimated that at least a million menhaden fish in North Carolina, were swiped out in a Pfiesteria epidemic. Again in 1997, numerous tidal creeks in the Chesapeake Bay washbasin got a Pfiesteria epidemic, and grave fish kills occurred creating a huge dent in the economy. Nutrient pollution is believed to have played a role in the two cases.Chemical pollution.In the years, several types of chemicals have gotten into our watercourse -and mute continue to do so to date. Chemical pollution of water unremarkably occurs becausethe chemicals were discarded into the water deliberatelythe chemicals oozed into streams, groundwater, or rivers because of weakening pipes or store containersthe chemicals disastrously tainted waterways because of industrial accidentsThe pollution developed out of soil air or was brought on out of polluted air.Chemicals were leached out of polluted earth.The kinds of chemical contamination above are regarded as point sources of pollution of water. On the other hand Non-point-source chemical contamination also happens through pesticide runoff from farm lands and homeowners lawns, as well as overflow of vehicle fluids and other different chemicals from parking bays, tarmac roads, driveways, and many other surfaces (Burk, 2005).In regard to general human wellbeing effects, pesticides canDist ress and malign the nervous systemCause injury to the liverDamage desoxyribonucleic acid and be the root of a assortment of cancersCause reproductive impose on _or_ oppressCause additional severe toxic effects.Petroleum and Oil ChemicalsAs oil contamination gets into water, some of the compositions are tarnished and detached by photochemical processes, evaporation, and even bacterial degradation, while others can be more thought-provoking and may persist on for many years, especially in low waters with muddy sediments. Experts know that oil or the chemical components of it can seep into marshland and sub-tidal sediments and stay there for decades, harmfully affecting oceanic worms, marsh grasses, and other marine life that live around or in the sediment.ConclusionThe tap water quality is synchronized, and almost 100% of communal water systems in the United States are meeting the set clean drinking water standards. But this is not good replete because many people are still persu aded its worth buying water that is bottled. Even when the Environmental Working Group did tests on tap water from a number of urban areas, it found around 119 allegedly normal chemicals-some of which the EPA has put health-based restrictions-and another 141 totally unfettered chemicals. If tap water has those many chemicals in it but can still be classified as meeting water quality values, one might say that the standards not up to date.In all regards, it is fair to say that tap water usually has a some what strong chlorine taste. Chlorine and its disinfecting byproducts are known to be health threats, and no one wants to be the calamity of the next cryptosporidium-in-drinking-water crisis or some similar horror (Tripathi Pandey, 2009).Therefore it is no wonder that many of us go to the extra expenditure and trouble of buying bottled water or filtering tap water, even if there are no set of laws that guarantee those approaches will be able to passing play water which is safer.Pe ople should not agree to this situation passively. It is costing us a lot of silver. The income for bottled water is approximately $12 billion in a year-in the United States alone. And on top of that, you can add the money for filters for the kitchen-sink water. Put in the additional fuel use associated with built-up, packing, and transportation of these goods, and we regulate that the cost of avoiding tap water that is polluted is rather soaring. We had not even counted the health costs connected to waterborne ailments and other health forking because of water pollution.What if we as a people were to spend just fractional of this money as an alternative to addressing the basis of water pollution? It could go a extensive way toward putting in place grey-haired water treatment plants funding the restoration wetlands and efforts of monitoring watershed and change the enforcement laws that govern clean water.

Multiple Churn Prediction Techniques And Algorithms Computer Science Essay

binary travail Prediction Techniques And Algorithms Computer Science EssayAbstract-Customer rile is the railway line term that is utilize to key out loss of clients or nodes. Banks, Telecom companies, ISPs, restitution firms, etc. example customer moil analysis and customer boil rate as one of their key business metrics, because reserveing an existing customer is far less than acquiring a new one. Corporates conceive for commit departments which attempt to win back defecting clients, because recovered long term customers privy be worth much more(prenominal) to a company than impertinently recruited clients. Customer dig clear be categorized into voluntary toil and involuntary grind. In voluntary churn, customer decides to switch to an early(a)wise servicing provider, whereas in involuntary churn, the customer leaves the service due to relocation, death, etc. Businesses commonly exclude involuntary churn from churn prospicience stumpers, and sharpen on vol untary churn, because it usu each(prenominal)y occurs due to company-customer transactionhip, on which the company has full control. Churn is usu e actually last(predicate)y measured as gross churn and net churn. trustworthyise churn is calculated as loss of previous customers and their associated recurring revenue, generated by those customers. Net churn is measured as sum of Gross Churn and addition of new similar customers. This is often measure as pass Monthly Revenue (RMR) in the Financial Systems.INTRODUCTIONPredicting and preventing customer churn is becoming the primary focus of umpteen enterprises. E rattling enterprise wants to retain its each and e precise customer, in order to maximize maximum lettuce and revenue from them. With the introduction of business and management trunks, and automation of operation flow, corporates realize gathered lots of customer and business related info during the periodical operating activities, which give data mining proficiencys a good rationality for working and predicting. Lots of data mining algorithms and manakins bugger off emerged to rescue from this fruit of customer loss. These algorithms have been widely used, from past decades, in this field.For prediction of customer churn, legion(predicate) algorithms and models have been applied. Most common of them atomic number 18 Decision steer 1, Artificial Neural net 2, Logistic Regression 8. In addition, other algorithms such as Bayesian Network 4, verify Vector tool , rocky primed(p) 5, and Survival Analysis 6 have excessively been used.In addition of algorithms and models, other techniques, such as remark variable pickaxe, lineament selection, verbotenlier detection, etc. have excessively been applied to get recrudesce tops out of the above algorithms.First three models i.e. Decision channelize, Artificial Neural Network and Logistic Regression have been applied maturely at four-fold corporates. individually algorithm has been im proved over quadruplex iterations, and argon flat pretty much stable. just now as the operation and activities of business ar growing, it is becoming more and more complex challenge to solve the line of customer churn, and this is requesting for the generation of new churn prediction models, which are fast(a) and robust, and which can quickly be trained and scored on large amounts of data.lit reviewJiayin and Yuanquan 1 presented a step by step approach on selecting effective excitant variables for customer churn prediction model in telecommunication industry. In telecommunication industry, there are usually actually large number of input variables is available for churn prediction models. Of all these variables, there could be variables which have positive effect on the model, and fewer which are redundant. These redundant variables cause overload for the churn prediction model. So it is always better to select only classical features and remove redundant, clattery and l ess informative variables. In their study, they have proposed Area under ROC (AUC) mode for calculating classifying abilities of the variable, where ROC is Receiver Operating Characteristics, and then selecting variables which have the highest classifying abilities. In addition, he also proposed to compute mutual information among all selected variables and finally selecting variables which have relatively low mutual information co-efficient.Huang and Kechadi 11 proposed a new technique for Feature Selection for the churn prediction models. As their primary focus was telecommunication industry, and in telecom the amount of input variables / feature is very large, and it is always better to select a subset of features, which have the most baron to classify the target classes. Otherwise running algorithm on all the input variables will be too much to time and preference consuming. Most commonly used techniques for selection of features only judges whether an input feature is helpfu l to classify the classes or non. The approach proposed by them takes into calculate the relationship between the specified categorical value of the feature and a class for selecting or removing the feature.Luo, Shoa and Lie 2 proposed the customer churn prediction development Decision shoetree for Personal Handyphone System Service (PHSS), where the number of variables in input data set is very small. Decision Tree is in all likelihood the most commonly used data mining algorithm. Decision Tree model is a predictive model that predicts using a classification process. It is represented as upside down Tree, in which root is at the top and leaves are at the bottom. Decision Trees is the federal agency of rules. This helps us in understanding, why a record has been classified in a picky way. And these rules can be used to find records that fall into approximately precise category. In their work they found out the optimal determine of input dataset with reference to time sub- period, cost of misclassification and sampling method. With their research, they came up to conclusion that 10-days of sub-period, 15 cost of misclassification and random sampling method are the most optimal parameters when training a data model using ratiocination trees, when the number of input variables is very small.Ming, Huili and Yuwei 4 proposed a model for churn prediction using Bayesian Network. The concept of Bayesian Network was initially proposed by Judea Pearl (1986). This is a kind of graphics mode used to charge the joint prob exponent among different variables. It provides a natural way to describe the causality information which could be used in discovering the potential relations in data. This algorithm has been successively used in noesis representation of expert system, data mining and machine teaching. Recently, it has also been applied in fields of artificial intelligence, including causal reasoning, uncertain knowledge representation, pattern acquaintanc e cluster analysis and etc.A Bayesian network consists of many nodes representing attributes connected by or so lines, so the problems are concerned that more than one attribute determine a nonher one which involving the guess of multiple probability distribution. Besides, since different Bayesian networks have different structures and some conceptions in graph theory such as tree, graph and directed open-chain graph can describe these structures clearly, graph theory is an important hypothetic foundation of Bayesian networks as well as the probability theory, therefrom the results of Customer Churn using Bayesian network are very promising.Jiayin, Yangming, Yingying and Shuang 10 proposed a new algorithm for churn prediction and called it TreeLogit. This algorithm is conspiracy of ADTree and Logistic Regression models. It incorporates the advantages of two algorithms and making it equally good as TreeNet Model which won the best prize in 2003 customer churn prediction contest . As Treelogit combines the advantages of both base algorithms so it becomes very puissant tool for customer churn prediction.The Modeling process of TreeLogit starts by aim Customers character variables based on prior knowledge. Then the character variables are categorized into m sub-vectors, and a close tree for each sub-vector is created. erst we have the decision tree for each sub-vector, then we develop logistic regression models for each sub-vector. And finally we evaluate the accuracy and interpretability of the model. If they are unimpeachable then the customer retention process is started, otherwise the model is re-tuned for better results.Jing and Xinghua 5 in their work on customer churn prediction, presented a model based on Support Vector Machines. Support Vector Machines are developed on the basis of statistical learning theory which is regarded as the best theory for the small sample estimation and predictive learning. The studies on the machine learning of finit e sample were started by Vapnik in sixties of last century and a relatively complete theoretical system called statistical learning theory was set up in nineties. afterwards that, Support Vector Machines, a new learning machine was proposed. SVM is construct on the structural risk minimization principle that is to minimize the real error probability and is mainly used to solve the pattern light problems. Because of SVMs complete theoretical framework and the good effects in matter-of-fact application, it has been widely valued in machine learning field. cranky setXu E, Liangeshan Shao, XXuedong Gao and Zhai Baofeng introduced Rough set algorithm for customer churn prediction 2. Dengh Hu also studied the applications of rough set for customer churn prediction5. According to them, Rough set is a data analysis theory proposed by Z. Pawlak. Its main idea is to export the decision or classification rules by knowledge decline at the premise of keeping the classification ability unc hanged. This theory has some unique views such as knowledge granularity which mend Rough set theory especially suitable for data analysis. Rough set is built on the basis of classification mechanism and the spaces variance made by equivalence relation is regarded as knowledge. Generally speaking, it describes the inexact or uncertain knowledge using the knowledge that has been proved. In this theory, knowledge is regarded as a kind of classification ability on data and the objects in the universe are usually described by decision table that is a two-dimensional table whose row represents an object and tug an attribute. The attribute consists of decision attribute and condition attribute. The objects in the universe can be distributed into decision classes with different decision attributes according to the condition attributes of them. unmatched of the core contents in the rough set theory is reduction that is a process in which some unimportant or inappropriate knowledge are deleted at the premise of keeping the classification ability unchanged. A decision table may have several reductions whose ford was defined as the core of the decision table. The attribute of the core is important due to the effect to classification.Survival AnalysisSurvival analysis is a kind of Statistical Analysis method to analyze and deduce the brio forecast of the creatures or carrefours according to the data comes from surveys or experiments. It always combines the consequences of some events and the corresponding time span to analyze some problems. It was initially used in medical science to study the medicines influence to the life expectancy of the research objects. The excerption time should be acknowledged widely, that is, the duration of some condition in nature, society or technical process. In this paper, the churn of a customer is regarded as the end of the customers survival time. In the fifties of last century, the statisticians began to study the reliability of industrial products, which advanced the development of the survival analysis in theory and application. The proportional hazard regression model is a commonly used survival analysis technique which was premier(prenominal) proposed by Cox in 1972.CRITICAL REVIEWJiayin and Yuanquan 1 proposed a very simple method for the variable selection. The method proposed is very effective and practical, But there are more systematic methods available, which use advance uneasy network, induction algorithms and rough set.Huangs and Kechadis 11 concept for taking into account the categorical values into account when feature selection is being performed, is good. But their concept is throttle to categorical values and continues values cant be applied on their approach. Continues values need to be discretized into categorical values, before their feature selection concept could be applied, but this conversion from continues to discrete may result in loss of information.Luo, Shoa and Lie 2 sele cted Decision Tree as their survival of the fittest of data mining algorithm for churn prediction, which is the simplest and understandable algorithm for classification. Its relief also makes it the most widely used algorithm. But decision tree has its own limitations, they are very unstable and a very small-minded change in the input variables, such as addition of newer ones, direct rebuilding and re-training of complete decision tree. In addition, they should have also focussed on how to enrich the input variables, by adding new derived variables that could enhance the efficacy of the model.Ming, Huili and Yuwei 4 Bayesian network model has advantages and some short comings. It has the ability to product best results even when the input datasets are incomplete. In addition, it has the ability to take connections into account when predicting churn and to take prior knowledge into consideration. This algorithm also has the ability to effectively prevent over fitting. But if the dataset is large, the structure learning of the Bayesian networks will be too difficult. Thus this model is not fit for telecom, where the dataset is always very large.Jiayin, Yangming, Yingying and Shuang 10 TreeLogit combines the advantages of both algorithms i.e. ADTree and logistic regression, thus it is both data-driven and assumption-driven and it has the capability of analyzing objects with incomplete information. Moreover, its efficiency is not affected by the noisome quality data and it generates continues output with relatively low complexity.Jing and Xinghua 5 used Support Vector Machine algorithm for Churn Prediction. This algorithm is best if you have a limited number of sample records, but on the other hand its theory is very complex and there are many variations in it. So it is difficult to find the version which best suites your problem.decisivenessThere are multiple solutions available for customer churn prediction. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages. S o a single solution might not be best for any organization. The organization may have to use the combination of algorithms and techniques to get the best results for churn prediction.

Information systems of ford motor company

nurture establishments of ford motor confederationSince Information outline is a concept for militant utility which defined in the beforehand(predicate) 80s, there ar lots of companies invested at cultivation applied science. Until now, there is a survey shows that nurture engineering investment is being more and more in ein truth come with. It is showing that, Information system is a stern for conducting stemma today. In many another(prenominal) feares, survival and the ability to carry through strategical business goals is difficult without extensive use of entropy technology. It is because information technology rotter help a political party more easy to profit agonistical by achieving operational excellence, catching new products and overhauls, enhanced client and supplier intimacy and exploiting digital markets. So nowadays, information system is very(prenominal) important for every come with.This essay will discuss how useful of information system in business, by instruction fording aim fraternity as an example which using information system to enhanced guest and supplier intimacy in customer relationship management system (CRM). intersection go companionships system and environmentThe hybridizing motor company was formed in 1903 by Henry hybridizing whose aim was to add the people with a cheap and affordable car that any midway class employed person could own. crossbreeding locomote Company is a famous company which selling self-propelling. It is in like manner a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn, Michigan. It manufactures or distri just nowes automobiles across 6 continents.In 1995, fording had embarked on an ambitious restructuring plan called get over 2000, which include merging its North Ameri derriere, European, and international automotive operations into a private global. hybridisation 2000 helps company cut out the embody by reengineering and globalizing corporate organization s and subroutinees. The study reengineering projects were initiated around study company processes much(prenominal) as severalise to deliverance (OTD) and hybridisation Production System (FPS), with goals such as reducing OTD quantify from more than 60 days to less than 15 days. hybridisation in any case launched a public Internet site in mid- 1995 by mid- 1997 the bend of visits to the site had r from each unitaryed more than 1 million per day. A companywide Intranet was launched in mid- 1996. And by January 1997 hybridization had in place a business-to-business capability through which the Intranet could be extended in a secure manner beyond company boundaries into an Extranet potentially connecting traverse with its suppliers. crossing aggrouped with Chrysler and General Motors to work on the self-propelled Network Ex variegate, which substructure help suppliers to manage incompatible message of interaction with each auto bringr to be consistency in technology standards and processes in the supplier network.In the grant chain area, there was general accord that information technology also could be deployed to dramatically enhance textile flows and reduce inventories, substituting information for inventory, as the expression went. So in the plan of intersection 2000, for fancying the aim on reengineering projects, having a tight-laced allow chain management systems and customer relationship management systems can help the company more close to suppliers and customers which can easy to reduce the cost on fix to delivery system and ford proceeds system. As that time Internet revolution unfolded in parallel, Ford Motor Company cookd new possibilities for reengineering processes within and between enterprises by using Internet. Fords existent tack BaseThe existing supply base was in many respects a product of history. Start in early 1990s, Ford had begun to try actively to decrease the number of suppliers the company dealt with dire ctly. Rather than using a large amount to buy individual components, it shifts to brook semipermanent relationships with a subset of very capable suppliers who would issue entire vehicle subsystems. By doing that, Ford can easier to have a headspring link with major suppliers which can help Ford easier to improving a range of techniques such as estimable-in-time and total quality management. Ford Motor Companys SCM and CRM technology of Information system Ford Production SystemIn restructuring plan, Ford 2000, the nigh important is reengineering projects one of these projects is Ford Production System, it is an information system to make a close relationship to suppliers. Its aim is that make better the process on making motor to be more pull-based system, with synchronized production, continuous flow, and stableness throughout the process. To get through that, Ford could tell suppliers exactly when and where certain components would be needed days in advance, and buffer st ocks thus could be trim down dramatically. If this system can work successfully, the benefits would be felt throughout the supply chain. Order to DeliveryFor another key process Ford reengineering projects is sounding for improve the customer relationship management system. The information system to do that is Order to Delivery, the purpose of this system was to reduce to 15days the time from a customers order to delivery of the finished product. The Order to Delivery vision was to create a lean, flexible, and predictable process that harmonized the efforts of all of Fords components to enable it to provide consumers with full product in right place at right time, which means that it can help Ford Motor Company meet the clean-in-time technique. By achieving Order to Delivery, Ford believed that it would provide better quality, higher customer satisfaction, alter customer selection, better plant productivity, stability for its supply base, and lower monger and company costs. Fo rd Retail NetworkOn 1 July, 1998, Ford Motor Company launched the first of its Ford Retail Network ventures in Tulsa, Oklahoma, under the newly formed Ford Investment Enterprises Company. The principle of Ford Retail Network was that giving consumers the highest level of treatment and create an follow through they would want to come back to again and again. The showrooms would be consolidated to cerebrate visions on creating a superior selling experience, while the number of service outlets would increase to be closer to customer population centers. Then Ford can reduce the cost on advertising as well as more and more on using Internet to provide the service to the customers as the information system can depth psychology the ineluctably for customers effectively. Using SAP softwareUntil now, Ford not only just follows the web-site to provide the service to customers, for achieving total supply chain visibility in real time, increasing dealer and customer service satisfaction and minimizing costs, especially ongoing IT costs, Ford also using SAP software, to improve the surgical operation on supply chain management and customer relationship management. business organization fashion models for Ford Motor Company Three generic strategies Cost leadersUnder Porter (1985), he regarded the selection of a defendable mail service within an industry as the end result of a competitive strategic analysis. He argued that successful, profitable companies generally choose to compete on either low costs or by differentiating their products to meet special(prenominal) customer needs. Although these two strategic options are mutually exclusive, he added a third category of firms as niche players that serve a limited market or product segment. Porters three generic strategies are cost leaders, differentiation and focus.Henry Ford was a farmers son whose manufacturing genius alter life around the globe (Ford Motor Company, 2010). So that Ford Motor Company is followin g the business models which Henry Ford want to be. It is the cost leadership.In the automobile industry, Ford Motor Company can meet its business model, cost leadership. As Porter (1985) stated that cost leadership is about being the lowest cost producer in the industry. For an organization to gain competitive advantage, it must achieve overall cost leadership in an industry it is competing in. To lowest the cost, there are many techniques and methodology for organizations to use. Among the popular and successful techniques used by successful organizations worldwide in enhancing quality, productivity, lowering cost are six methodology, Total Quality wariness (TQM), Benchmarking Competitors, Just-in-Time (JIT), Supply cosmic string Management (SCM), Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) and MRP solutions.When Ford Motor Company developed the information system, it is easier to achieve this business model. It is because Ford using information system to improve the relationship to cust omers and suppliers. Ford develop the Ford Production System can help it to improve Supply Chain Management system to be a competitive advantage. And also, the Order to Delivery system can reduce the time, which means Ford can easier to achieve the just-in-time techniques. non only these two reasons, but also the major reason of Ford can achieve this business model, cost leadership, is that Ford through developing information system to get a exponent on using a cheaper price to buy the material from suppliers. By that, Ford can reduce the cost effectively, thats why Ford Motor Company can achieve cost leadership.Ford developed the information system is focus on enhanced customer and supplier intimacy, it is looking for what customers want to, not for what company what to develop. So that means, Ford is not just focus on narrow target. It is because different customers need different fibre of cars. Value ChainPorter (1985) stated that lever chain model is a systematic way of anal yzing all the firms activities and evaluating how they interact with each other. much(prenominal) an examination is necessary in order to identify potential sources of competitive advantage. For Porter, the value chain can be consisted for five primary activities (including inward logistics, operations, outbound logistics, marketing and sales, and service) and four support activities (including firm infrastructure, human resource management, technology development and procurement).The value chain of the Ford Motor Company is not all that different from other manufacturers in the automobile industry. However, when Ford Motor Company developed information system, it helped Ford to improve its value chain. In one of support activities, Procurement, Ford through its information system, Ford Production System, to improve the relationship of suppliers, it is not only helping Ford to reduce the cost for buying material, but also operative intimately with its suppliers to eliminate waste and thereby lower costs for both organizations. This should be a win-win situation for both companies and should help lift Ford from its near-last rank in supplier relations.The next activity for information system to improve is technology development. Ford through the information system, Ford Retail Network, to go out the value of consumer input and what consumer needed, which can help Ford easier to design a successful modern design technologies. They have initiated tailoring design models subsequently public demand. This method has proven highly successful in new-made financial periods.Marketing is also a very important case of the Ford. By using Ford Retail Network system, Ford has been working together with dealers or buys all dealers to collect more information to create marketing strategies that help boost sales. This is proven to be the primary pedestal for the consumers perceived values.Ford has also teamed-up with Caterpillar Logistics and SAP to improve computer st orage and its Daily Parts Advantage network for getting spare split to their dealers. Their hope in partnering with Cat Logistics was to secure a partner with expertness in the automotive supply chain, laying a foundation for development of a new information system. The goal was to obtain end-to-end visibility of service parts, increase the speed of time to market, optimize inventories at each location, and do a better job serving the customer (Supply Chain Brain).Along with Cat Logistics and SAP, Ford is also using an SAS platform that supports customer relationship management (CRM). This SAS platform enhances Fords existing customer relationship database and provides a powerful base for information analysis, data mining and predictive poser thus enabling highly effective reporting, trending, segmentation, customer scoring, and customer life-cycle analysis all of which support key activities for CRM.As information system can improve lots of activities in value chain, it can help the company to gain the competitive advantage.Problems and challenges in the development of the Information SystemWhen Ford Motor Company developed the information system, it needs to face lots of challenges. Here are somewhat of them. Costly and timelyAs Ford is a large company, it is very costly on developing information system. There are complex pieces of software which Ford developed to achieve its competitive advantage. To develop these large system, Ford need to spend its recourses. Not only the cost on buying software and hardware of the system, but also other cost such as consulting fees, personnel costs, training. Also, intimately of them need to spend time to develop. For Ford Motor Company, it has large team on Information Technology, which needs to hire lots of employees to work. There are costly on the salaries and also it needs spend over one mouth to train the employees to understand the system and use the system.As Ford adopts an enterprise application from SAP, it is very costly to switch SAP and it wrick dependent on SAP to upgrade its product and maintain its installation. challenging to collect informationSome of the information systems which developed by Ford focus on supply chain management. These systems require multiple organizations to character information and business processes. It is difficult for each participant to change of its process and the way it uses information to create a system that best serves the supply chain as whole. Also, there are different policies in different company Ford cannot collect the information fully for its suppliers as some of the information may be the secrecy. Hard to handle the technologyAs the technology of information system such as internet is yield quickly, it is not easy for Ford Motor Company to understand understandably about the technology, it will be a risk on losing property when develop that technology. So when developing the information system, Ford needs to make sure it understand s what is its usage clearly.ConclusionIn short, Ford uses information technology on business manager, SCM and CRM, for enhanced customer and supplier successfully. It can come over that information system can help Ford achieve its business model.Nowadays, every company will develop the information system to achieve competitive, most of them have the e-business, too. It is surly that information system is a very useful and major tool to help company to meet their aims. However, it does not mean have information system can help the company to do a successful business, because the most important is that company have a correct business strategy. As the example on Ford, its business model is cost leadership it is a great competitive advantage at early 1900s when Ford provided Model T cars. However, following the change of environment, it is not work now. So, if a company want to achieve competitive, it is not only focusing on develop information system, but also focusing on the business strategy.

Comparison of Democracy Models

Comparison of Democracy ModelsWrite an essay that comp ars and contrasts the dissimilar versions of state discussed in class (and in Hudson)protective, developmental, pluralistic, and participatory? Which top hat describes the Statesn authorities today? Which is most preferable? Why?According to William E. Hudson, at that place atomic number 18 four major impersonates that emerge from modern conceptions of democracy tutelary, developmental, Pluralistic, and participatory Democracy. The Protective beat advocates republican institutions be score they can go away protection for individual liberties and take for of property in a society where mountain atomic number 18 self- enkindleed and acquisitive. This model will launch way to a utilitarian society where at that place is the greatest good for the greatest number. The developmental model believes democratic brassal sympathies is best for eachowing all spate with civil virtue to overcome their selfishness, dissi milar the Protective model, and promote the well-being of all of society. While the citizens ar passive in the Protective model, the developmental model encourage good citizen to actively participation in politics to better themselves and their government.However, social scientists view the Developmental model as a democratic ideal that is much disagreeent from reality. The average citizen atomic number 18 observed to be apathetic and uninformed somewhat politics while besides the governmental elites participate in government. This give rise to the Pluralist model which, like the Protective, sees human nature as inherently selfish and would defer the day-to-day governance to the elites. Pluralists give the racewayers of interest groups the role of representing the average citizens in policymaking. Because both models assume that semipolitical leaders, the elites, should crystalize most of the decisions, they atomic number 18 labe guide the elitist models of democracy.In r esponse to the Pluralist view, the Participatory model suggests that political apathy is the give of the lack of opportunities for significant participation instead than a natural inclination. People argon apathetic because social and political institutions encourage apathy in an authoritarian manner. Much like the Developmental model in some respects, it sees people as capable of civic virtue and encourages active participation in political affairs. The two models differ from each different on their view on economic inequality. The Developmental model does non view this as a barrier, whereas the Participatory cerebrate on the importance of economic equality as a emergency for meaningful political democracy.American politics today would be best described as a Pluralistic democracy. It has the lowest voter turnoutr turnoutr yield of any democracy. People be clearly apathetic and focused on their private vexations to care round the day-to-day governance. For the most par t, politics is the study of political elites like interest groups each representing its sections by lobbying for laws and reform bill. However, this has led to a society triumphd by a few elites with the bulk of the nations wealth and have significant leverage in political matters.A more preferable model to strive for is the Participatory model. Much of the apathy in American politics is due to the flavor that the people feel causalityless(prenominal). People feel that their contri only ifion and participate in government will not amount to much. The citizens have no depend say in government with the exception of representative of the House. Every member of the administrator and judicial branch as well as the Senate are not directly elected by the people. The complicated system of detachment of mightiness and checks and balances were purposefully designed by the Framers to slow the governing cover for the sake of keep opening tyranny. Consequently, whether the people part icipated or not, a policy will still take a tremendous amount of time to go through with(predicate) as the political parties in each governmental branch urge over partisanship rather than the merit of the policy. As explained by proponents of the model, there is also a lack of opportunities for participation especially when people are more and more caught up in their career. The Election Day is at random put on a Tuesday when, with the exception of a few states, umpteen an(prenominal) people have to go to work.What does the game star tycoon publish us about power? How did the Framers of the spirit hold in such ideas into the Constitution?The Star Power game demonstrate the whimsey of absolute power corrupts absolutely. The game starts out with a very social atmosphere as the players trade chips with each other. However, when the ability to govern the other groups, and dictate the rules, is tending(p) to the upper-class square toes group, the atmosphere alternated. In evitably, the Square members, the elites, begin to bring on tyrannic rules that are favorable to them to remain in power and are narrowing to the other two groups. Although the other group can suggest rules, the Square have no obligation to adopt any of it unless it is favorable to them. This create a different class system for the participants those in power and those who are powerless. It is important to note that if any other participant in the lower- and upper-middle-class groups, the Circle and the Triangle, that would be promoted to Square will succumb to the same lure of infinite power.Who is Steve Rocco? How did he get elected to school wag? Whatif anythingdoes his resource say is broken in our political system, and what can be do to fix it?Steve Rocco is an American who was formerly an elected board member of the orange tree Unified School District in Orange in 2004. peculiarly comme il faut, despite being elected, nobody seems to know anything about Rocco then. E ven the board members and news reporters could not get through to him during his candidacy. He also did not campaign or have a candidate statement, and he was supposedly a teacher according to the candidacy form. However, he managed to win the preference against an opponent who actively campaigned. He did not behave any unrestricted appearance during this period and some people speculated that he would not pose up to the board meetings. Rocco did, in fact, show up to meetings with contrasted speeches and inappropriate behaviors which enraged other members present. A petition to recall him failed to gather enough signatures and he remained on the board.This event raises several observe have it offs with the political system. first of all of which is the peoples lack of care and involvement in the political system. The fact that Steve Rocco did not campaign or make any unrestricted appearance during the candidacy should have raised an alarm. This may be an marooned incident of failure in the system but the root cause is present even in major choices. Most people are already so removed from politics that voter turnout has been on a decline. Those who does cast a ballot in an election lots do so establish on familiarity of names or other attribute. In the case of presidential election, the large bulk vote based on partisanship. That is to say a person who is affiliated to the Democratic troupe will most likely vote for a Democratic candidate. pull ahead on the topic of voting, smaller elections, like the one that got Steve Rocco elected, are much placed to fightds end of the very lengthy ballot. Voters suffer from ballot drudge and will only complete the first part of a ballot. Those who actually do reach the end will often do it with less care assuming they even have a slight notion of what they are voting for. As a case in point, many people said they thought it was more appropriate to vote for Steve Rocco because he claimed to be a teacher as o ppose to his opponent who is a park ranger.Most people would immediately blame the people who voted for Rocco as ignorant among other accusation. The common people are apathetic about participating in the political system except those who have a very large stake in the matter. Although they are not just wrong, there are other factors to consider. One issue raised by this event was the failure of watchdog journalism, or any other watchdog organization for that matter. As aforementioned, no one knew a thing about Steve Rocco when he was elected. This is not limited to the common folk of Orange County but also the journalists and reporters. In this case, no matter how involved one may be in the election, there is simply not enough intimacy available to make an informed decision on the matter. other issue is how Steve Rocco managed to become a candidate in the first place. Clearly, the requirements for candidacy is not sufficient because it only required the name and occupation of t he candidate. What is more worrisome is the fact that Steve Rocco falsely claimed he is a teacher and shows that the people organizing the election never bothered to do a background check on the candidates. There are no quick and easy fix for the political system. To start, the people and organizations involved like the media should have the duty to assay and provide all the relevant information for the people. How can people be pass judgment to make informed decisions when there are no information to seek?How does the insularism of powers, according to Hudson, to a lower placemine democracy? Do you think there are too many checks in our system of government? besides few? What types of constitutional reforms does he suggest?According to Hudson, the founders preoccupation with safeguarding intimacy caused them to create a system that undermined two other key democratic values. To prevent absolute mass tyranny, they created a structure that lacks responsiveness to political m ajorities. This is make by putting democratic passions through excessive checks and balances of the separated branches of government. Second, the breakup of powers divided responsibility and made it impossible to hold elected officials responsible for their actions. Accountability is crucial to representative democracy especially when the representatives make laws that are not in their constituents best interests. This cannot be done when separation of power obscures who is responsible for governmental conduct and disallow responsiveness to public interests.What are the pros and cons of having major policy decisions made by majority rule? Do you think the decisions such as whether to build or build an drome at Toro, go to war in Iraq, or define conjugal union (Proposition 8) should be made by majority rule? What do Greenberg and rascal feel about the capacity of average people to govern themselves? Do you agree or disagree?Majority rule is one of the key concepts that people a ssociate with the word democracy in the United States. The Framers concern and fear of majority tyranny was one of the reason for the system separation of powers. They saw the common people as uninformed and lack the knowledge to make the right decision for everyone. The system does not distinguish the unconditional majorities from those that are not. It simply creates a series of roadblocks which allows the interests of the minority to prevent convert that a democratic majority support. A democratic majority rule can be good in distributing the decision-making power to many people who have a stake in the outcome. Essentially, it gives way to change that are beneficial to the largest number of people based on their democratic vote. As people see that they each have the equal power to change their own life and those of others, they will naturally become more serious-minded to politics and spur discussions that will better society.Under an autocratic system, the eyeshot of the maj ority does not matter as their supreme leader makes all the important decisions and seek only obedience. In a democracy that inhibit majority rule, it is no different. Instead of a single supreme leader, it could be a sufficiently large interest groups funded by wealthy individuals and creates an executive minority rule. Interest groups today like the NRA or AARP are highly influential in making public policy and are among the biggest lobbies in Washington. Under majority rule, everyone can become part of the decision-making process which reject tyrannical rule of the few elites. This is especially true in America as top 20 pct control 80 percent of the wealth, and will continue to stretch their lead by funding political candidates who are willing to represent their interest. For a time leading up to the Iraq War, most people were hesitant to use military force and act to oppose the war when it began.Nevertheless, majority rule is not safe from ill-treatment as feared by the Found ing Fathers and the Framers of the Constitution. subsequently all, one of the weakness of majority rule is that it does not require a consensus to make a decision. After the September 11th attack, the public was very emotional and supported the war in Afghanistan. Minority racial groups became targets of hostility as a result as well. The issue arise as to whether people should be allowed to make important decisions when they are so easily manipulated by emotion. Moreover, a majority rule does not guarantee the protection against influences from elites. The period known as the Red Scare led to mass hysteria of anti-communist sentiment as a result of Senator McCarthys speeches.Although there have been instances of majority tyranny, they are few and far between. Regardless, Greenberg and Page still feels that the average people do not have the capacity to govern themselves. They see that the citizens do not care about politics, are uninformed on most matters, and runny in their view s. As a result, the citizens are not ready for self-governance and should not be allowed to determine what government does. Greenberg and Page also note that, under alternative system from majority rule, the rights of the minorities are also not guaranteed. impressionWhat aspects of the Constitution inhibit majority rule? Why did the Framers incorporate these constraints into the Constitution?In the Constitution, the Framers designed a good example for a government of separated powers and checks and balances. The government has its executive, legislative, and judicial powers divided into separate branches, each with a unique set of powers and a role in the affairs of the others. This is to prevent any one branch from becoming too powerful. This system has many potential for conflict between the branches of government. It was intentionally designed this way by the Framers to slow the governing process and inhibit majority rule. Many of them also believed that the people should not r ule directly but through two-fold layers of elected representatives serving as barriers to majority rule which they thought would lead to bad outcomes. The citizens of the United States have no direct say in government with the exception of electing members of Congress.The first and most obvious inhibitor on majority rule is the process to elect a president. Every member of the executive and judicial branch are not directly elected by the people. This include the President of the United States who is elected by the Electoral College, not the people. Even if candidates tie in number of votes or fail to realize the majority from the Electoral College the decision will go to the House of Representative. This was seen in the election of John Quincy Adams and George W. Bush where neither win the popular vote but were elected president by the House and the Electoral College, respectively.Another aspect of the Constitution that inhibit majority rule is the Amendment process which require s a supermajority vote two thirds from both houses of Congress and iii fourths of the state legislatures. It cannot be done by a simple popular majority vote nor does it require a popular vote. This inhibit majority rule because in the case of the Senate and the state legislature, each state is equally represented. This is particularly disproportional as only a few states like California and Texas already constitute nearly a quarter of the population but only get 5% representation.The supermajority vote is also present in the checks and balances system. unlike the prior examples, majority rule of the people and the government can be inhibited by the checks and balances system. Assume that public outcry has managed to influence both houses of Congress to pass a new law. The President have the power to veto the bill, which can be overridden by a two thirds vote in each house and signing it into law. At this point, the Supreme cost can deem the law unconstitutional and overturn the new law, or the president can issue a signing statements saying he cannot carry out the law.The Framers create a constitution by which the people only rule indirectly and deliberation serves as barriers to majority opinion. The framework of government established by the Framers was designed to inhibit majority rule. Of the three branches of government, they only made a part of one of them, the House of Representative, takings to election from direct vote of the people. It was not until the 17th Amendment that Senators were subjected to election by direct vote. On the topic of Amendments, suffrage was not granted to blacks, women, intrinsic Americans, or 18-year-old until much later. One reason why it took so farsighted was because the Framers created an amending process that was exceedingly complicated. They designed a system in which political elites are insulated from majority opinion to deliberate on their own.

The Graduate Essay -- essays papers

The Graduate This paper will be twain a critique as well as an analysis of the relationships between both my generation and the time period in which the movie withalk place. In the critique, I which to look at the movie score and the dependency that I mat up Ben and Katherine had for each(prenominal) other. There were some(prenominal) issues that I entangle my generation had in common with Bens generation. These issues were the need to rebel and the detachment we feel from our p arnts. There were several aspects of the movie, which I think should have been removed. The first aspect is the movie score, which was vocal by Paul Simon and composed by Simon and Garfunckel. In my opinion, the music was truly folksy. Folksy in the way that it should be something that people meditate to non listen to on a movie screen. I also felt the movie score did not fit in with the movie, because the music was too mundane for the fast pace of the movie. The next aspect is the dependency that Ben and Katherine had for the other. I do believe that they really loved each other, but that each person represented something that the other did not see in themselves. I felt that Katherine saw in Ben his rebellious behavior which she wish she had and Ben wished that he had Katherines quiet and peaceful spirit. I really felt this movie link up to my generation because it touched on a few important issues that are still common now. These issues are the need to rebel from society, and the detachment from the parent...

Impact of Mass Media on Individuals, Society, and Culture Essay

contact of pickle Media on Individuals, Society, and CultureMass media, over the historic period, has had a profound set on American society, on itsculture, and on the individuals exposed to the media. Mass media is a get up of socialising, having a long- marge effect on each division of American society. While galvanic pile media targets the individual in short-term intervals, the over all(prenominal) regulate on them has been established as the consumer moves from one impressionable term kin to another. The long or short- term effect of mass media be classify and clean-cut when its role in America is evaluated. Mass media effects nation differently because of varied amounts of exposure and formats.Mass media has a socialization dish in American society, in the culture, and onindividuals. Mass media has play a role of socialization in our society over the years acculturation is a long-term process that every human be undergoes as he or she get under ones skins a functioning member of society. socialisation refers to the internalizing of all of the lessons from many sources concerning ways of behaving that atomic number 18 approved or expect by society, as individuals mature through every st sequence in the c arer cycle (DeFleur and Dennis, 582).Mass media educates its customers on how to think and to act, as they are instruct to what the media portrays as suitable responses and behavior to experiences in American behavior. This long- term process is established over the years as media influences the impressionable advance groups, as they are gradually exposed to distinct messages of mass media. These distinct age consumer groups are targeted by mass media, and while the effects of mass media are short-term, the subtle impression is long-term. The effect on American s... ...mmunity and friends obtainbecome more concerned of their own pursuits of happiness and security. Most volume discern mass media as quite negative, cynical, and unimportant for everyday lifes survival. The media reveals the degradation of society, our government, our politicians, and our celebrities. American culture is now filled with images of drugs, violence, and sex.whole kit and boodle CitedAnderson, Charles. person-to-person Interview. 3 November 1996.DeFleur, Melvin L. and Everette E. Dennis. Understanding Mass Communication. BostonHoughton Mifflin Company, 1996.Denger, Stuart. Personal Interview. 3 November 1996.Hummon, David. geographical Reviews Commonplaces Community Ideology andIdentity in American Culture. geographic Review. July 1991 363-365.Swidler, Ann. difference and American Culture American Behavioral Scientist March 1992606- 629. Impact of Mass Media on Individuals, Society, and Culture EssayImpact of Mass Media on Individuals, Society, and CultureMass media, over the years, has had a profound effect on American society, on itsculture, and on the individuals exposed to the media. Mass media is a form of socialization, having a long-term effect on each member of American society. While mass media targets the individual in short-term intervals, the overall influence on them has been established as the consumer moves from one impressionable age category to another. The long or short- term effects of mass media are separate and distinct when its role in America is evaluated. Mass media effects people differently because of varied amounts of exposure and formats.Mass media has a socialization function in American society, in the culture, and onindividuals. Mass media has played a role of socialization in our society over the yearsSocialization is a long-term process that every human being undergoes as he or she becomes a functioning member of society. Socialization refers to the internalizing of all of the lessons from many sources concerning ways of behaving that are approved or expected by society, as individuals mature through every stage in the life cycle (DeFleur and Dennis, 582). Mass media educates its customers on how to think and to act, as they are conditioned to what the media portrays as suitable responses and behavior to experiences in American life. This long- term process is established over the years as media influences the impressionable age groups, as they are gradually exposed to distinct messages of mass media. These distinct age consumer groups are targeted by mass media, and while the effects of mass media are short-term, the subtle impression is long-term. The effect on American s... ...mmunity and friends havebecome more concerned of their own pursuits of happiness and security. Most people perceive mass media as quite negative, cynical, and unimportant for everyday lifes survival. The media reveals the degradation of society, our government, our politicians, and our celebrities. American culture is now filled with images of drugs, violence, and sex.Works CitedAnderson, Charles. Personal Interview. 3 November 1996.DeFleur, Melvin L. and Ev erette E. Dennis. Understanding Mass Communication. BostonHoughton Mifflin Company, 1996.Denger, Stuart. Personal Interview. 3 November 1996.Hummon, David. Geographical Reviews Commonplaces Community Ideology andIdentity in American Culture. Geographical Review. July 1991 363-365.Swidler, Ann. Inequality and American Culture American Behavioral Scientist March 1992606- 629.