Otis Case Study Essay Example

Otis Case Study Paper Otis would have gone through a major restructure of several of Its service offices, because an IS was being built from the ground up. Information was now going to be traversing through a streamlined information channel, rather than layers of hierarchical structure. A lot of resources would have been invested in training employees about the new processes, and training managers about the added responsibilities and new information that was going to be available as a result of OUTSHINE. Any sort of organizational change experiences resistance from stakeholders in one form or the other. Toots employees might have resisted the change for a number of reasons. Fear of redundancy, added responsibility without any change in remuneration, lack of self-confidence in acquiring new skills required for the Job, lack of perspective as to why the change was being implemented, or imply too comfortable with the status quo, are some examples of the form of resistance that Otis might have had to overcome (Melcher, Rata, Bray Vane, 2012). Information Transformation Obvious noticed the change in the industry, and the way business was being done, Ana presented a violin Tort Otis: 10 Decode ten recognizes leader In service excellence among all companies-not Just elevator companies-worldwide. (McFarland Delayed, 2005). His aim was to create a paradigm shift within the organization from being a product manufacturing company to an excellent customer focused service provider. Due to regional and cultural variations within manufacturing, sales and supply-chain departments, he decided to streamline the department processes globally by using technology as an enabler. The organization went through a third- order change of transformation, whereby the existing IS was changed drastically. Its focus was shifted from managing production and physical assets to managing logistics and information, and this caused a systemic effect on all the other departments (McFarland Delayed, 2005; Piccolo, 2007). We will write a custom essay sample on Otis Case Study specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Otis Case Study specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Otis Case Study specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer As a part of this transformation, departments were restructured and new process improvement orgasm were implemented on a global basis. Programs such as Standard Interface and Modular Based Architecture (SAMBA), Achieving Competitive Excellence (ACE), and Sales and Installation Process (SIP), were introduced in engineering, supply chain, and sales and field operations departments, respectively (McFarland Delayed, 2005). E*Logistics Project The most significant aspect of this IS transformation was the e*Logistics information transformation project (McFarland Delayed, 2005). It provided the tools, in the form of IT systems, which were required to re-engineer business processes across the many. The project involved merging separate IT initiatives that were under development within Otis, with the basic idea of connecting different departments of the organization through the Web. Giuliani Did Francesco was appointed the Project Director of e*Logistics, perhaps due to his experience working in quite a few departments of the company, or because he might have had a vested interest in the transformation (McFarland Delayed, 2005). Under his supervision, e*Logistics automated manual processes involved in different stages of product installation and maintenance, while simultaneously integrating the dispersed data and information on a global scale. Back-end Technologies The technologies behind the development of e*Logistics were based on standardized data interfaces, and they were owned and built by Otis itself. This means that the software solutions were designed to incorporate and adapt to existing technologies, rather than designing solutions with fresh technologies from square one (McFarland Delayed, 2005). The new business model and companys vision were instilled into Otis on a global scale. Senior management ensured that every employee, from top to OTTOMH, was on-board the change Otis was about to embark upon, and that employees were willing to adapt to the technological and organizational restructuring (Messier, Rata, Bray Vane, 2012). The company valued the role of its employees in successfully implementing this change, and therefore invested resources in familiarizing them with technologies. It was this tactic that enabled them to reap extraordinary benefits by using simple IT tools. Institutionalizing Changes Since the launch of e*Logistics, changes to sale orders became transparent across different levels of the sales cycle. SIP program was based on the idea of identifying best practices across different units of Otis, globally. During the project proposal phase, SIP recognized that a pre-bid checklist was an appropriate way of managing new clients. Elogistics anomie tons Day Introducing a steward solution, Instead AT paper based forms, which enforced a sign-off from both sales and field-installation supervisors(McFarland Delayed, 2005). This eliminated information inconsistency between the two units, and also helped in other aspects of this phase by retaining consistent information about customers and proposals. Upon acceptance of a proposal, the order would enter the next phase of sales processing. E*Logistics automated and institutionalized the new processes of this phase by electronically dispersing important documents amongst the managerial staff for bookings, validations and scheduling. Data was uploaded to different financial systems of the company, and as a result of these automated processes and clear visibility of sales orders, field-installation supervisors were able to better assess the readiness of a site, thereby reducing costs and excess inventory, while improving delivery times McFarland Delayed, 2005). To improve processes in the order fulfillment phase, Contract logistics centers (CLC) and distribution centers (Docs) were established to manage customer requirements, product configurations and supply chain management. Instead of faxing or mailing sales orders, e*Logistics provided a central software solution which connected CLC on a global level. As a result, CLC were able to place orders from different suppliers in a cost-effective and timely manner (McFarland Delayed, 2005). E*Logistics embedded new processes in the field installation phase as well, by sending reminder e-mails to field-installation supervisors, and demanding an update of the field sites prior to shipping the products. Orders were now processed and shipped Just-in-time, as per remote requests from the field-installation supervisors. These processes gave the supervisors a better control on the fiscal accomplishment of each sale (McFarland Delayed, 2005). E*Logistics also automated the process of billing customers and transitioning sales into service contracts, by prompting service agents to contact customers upon Job completion. This resulted in precise billing, increased conversion of new-unit sales to service contracts, and faster collections in the closing activities phase (McFarland Delayed, 2005). The above five phases highlight how e*Logistics baked new best-practice processes into the organization. Implementation In 2001, Ron Beaver became the Chief Information Officer (CIO) at Otis with 450 IT employees and 250 contractors reporting to him on a dotted-line basis. He was the leader of global IT with seven regional IT leaders reporting to him directly, who were responsible for their local systems and processes. 0 of the aforementioned staff were dedicated towards design and implementation of e*Logistics, and it was not deemed as a separate investment to all the other programs that were introduced for process improvements (McFarland Delayed, 2005). Rather, it was considered as an enabler to implement those programs successfully. As with any IS transformation project, there were a number of technological challenges involved in ensuring successful implementation of e*Logistics. Delivering the software to over 20,000 desktops across the organization, and training over 3000 staff in sales and field- operations worldwide, were a couple of such challenges faced by Otis (McFarland Delayed, 2005). Therefore, to minimize the associated risks, the project was rolled out at pilot sites across Europe. Its successful implementation at pilot sites aided in planning implementation in other regions, which were priorities based upon need Ana return on Investment (McFarland Delayed, 2 I en projects success was measured based on a number of metrics, such as number of orders processed through e*Logistics by each sales representative (McFarland Delayed, 2005). Conclusion The organization invested a lot of resources into streamlining its processes globally and shifting its focus from product flow to information flow.

Argumentative Essay Sample on New Media Channels

Argumentative Essay Sample on New Media Channels Defining the new media and their role in American politics is an important, albeit somewhat challenging, task. In this book, we argue that the new media are quantitatively and qualitatively different from the mainstream press. They do not simply represent a variation of the established news media. The new media have significant potential to educate, facilitate public discourse, and enhance citizen participation. They provide mass audiences with a seemingly boundless array of sources that transcend the time and space constraints of traditional media. In addition, new media technologies easily bypass national and international boundaries, bringing American citizens into contact with diverse cultures and distant happenings to an extent previously unimaginable. As such, new media have the potential to enhance the publics understanding and tolerance of different societies. However, new medias promise is undercut by the commercial and entertainment imperatives that drive them. In reality, the political role of new media is ancillary. The new media are political when politics pays. Thus the new medias role in the political realm is volatile. Their educational function is incomplete and sporadic. The new media constitute a highly diverse range of communication formats. One way of distinguishing between types of new media is to categorize them on the basis of whether they employ old or new technologies. For many forms, the term new media is a misnomer. They involve old media technologies that have been newly discovered or reinvigorated as political media. It is the extent of their politicisation that is new, not their existence. Thus there is a sense of novelty even in those media that have existed for some time. New media that employ old communication technologies include political talk radio, television talk shows, television news magazines, electronic town meetings, and print and electronic tabloids. Political talk radio, for example, dates back to the origins of radio itself in the 1920s. Early radio stations featured not only news, but also political broadcasts, such as conventions, presidential inaugurations, and speeches of presidents and other public officials. Television talk programmes also are not new. Morning variety talk shows, such as Today, Good Morning America, and CBS This Morning certainly predate the current interest in new media. The Today Show first aired in 1952, while CBS Morning News debuted five years later. Phil Donahues nationally syndicated talk programme premiered in 1970 and featured presidential candidate debates from 1984 to 1994. His programme became a significant venue for Democratic presidential primary candidates in 1992. There are many more examples of particular new media programmes that did not exist a decade ago. The nationally syndicated Rush Limbaugh radio programme appeared in 1989 and his television show first aired in September 1992. Many other talk radio hosts with large national audiences, such as G. Gordon Liddy and Michael Reagan, have emerged only in the 1990s. MTVs political campaign coverage did not debut until the 1992 presidential primary election. In addition, new media channels employing traditional media technology have surfaced in recent years. For instance, even though cable is not a new format for broadcasting, new channels designed at least partly for political talk now exist, including C-SPAN, CNBC, The Talk Channel, MSNBC, and The Comedy Channel. Some formats are genuinely new, having evolved from more recent innovations in communications technologies. The proliferation of online computer networks, coupled with an explosion in the use of home computers, has created new methods for political communication. Fax machines and voice mail operations facilitate citizens ability to register opinions with politicians and journalists. These new technologies infuse political communication with a new immediacy. The public can now receive and disseminate political messages with increased ease and speed.

Filing Jointly Financing phase 5 IP Final Essay

Filing Jointly Financing phase 5 IP Final - Essay Example It is only applicable for first and second home, not for afterwards. The tax benefit from this deduction is that if one is paying interest on loans which are secured by their residence as principal, then the person can deduct this expense from the taxable income. 3. Student Loan Interest Deduction: student loan deduction covers the interest expense of the loans that have been taking to be only used for attainment of education. If your income and interest payments meet the conditions set in the deduction form, then you are able to deduct the expense form your income, thus saving a certain amount of taxes. 1. Child Credit: child credit reduces the tax liability of a person if he/she is supporting a child, and the person's income and other requirements as given in the child credit form are fulfilled. The child credit can make the tax liability zero or can even result in payment if the income tax is less than the child credit refund (known as additional child tax credit). The tax advantage for this system is that it works to increase your net income through refund gained. 2. Earned Income Credit: earned income credit is for those families who have low gross incomes (lower than a certain limit), and with a high number of dependents. If a family meets the requirements of this credit, than its tax liability can be reduced to zero, or can even result in a payment to the family if the tax refund s larger than the income tax (known as advanced earned income tax credit). This system also increases your net income. 3. Hope Scholarship Credit: hope credit can be claimed by an individual for the first two years of college education. The requirements that the person or any other person (for which the taxpayer is responsible) is at least a half time student at an eligible educational institution. This credit is taken on only tuition fees and any other college requirement fees (registration fees, lab fees etc.). Books and supplies are not included. This tax credit also increases the net income of the person who is paying for the education (tax information for individuals, 2009). Difference between a Tax Credit and a Tax Deduction A tax deduction has the primary purpose of reducing a taxpayer's income tax. For certain itemized item, a taxpayer is allowed to deduct the expenses from its gross income. This can only be done if the requirements of deductions as stated by the Internal Revenue Service of USA are met. The effect of deducting the expenses from the gross income is that the net income is calculated to be mush smaller than it actually is. This allows for smaller amount of income tax to be paid by the taxpayer. Thus the amount of taxes is reduced. Some examples of tax deduction are medical deduction, home interest deduction, dental deduction etc. As opposed to tax deduction, a tax credit does not reduce the net income. Rather, it works in two ways. One, it reduces the tax liability on certain items by recognizing a part of the payment already made as tax payment due. Two, it recognizes certain items as such on which the taxpayer is refunded, if the requirement of tax credit are met by the taxpayer. If the income tax is greater than the tax

Indentured Servitude Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Indentured Servitude - Essay Example The indenture document detailed the specific number of years a servant was required to work, after which they would earn freedom1. Not all servants were willingly sent. There were several cases of kidnapping, especially with the white slaves. In the 17th century, about two thirds of the New World settlers from the Isles of British came as indentured servants. Due to the high rates if death, several servants never lived to see freedom in the end of their terms. In early 19th century and late 18th century, many Europeans did travel to the colonies as the redemptioners, which is a form of indenture (Galenson 1984). Indentures had various restrictions. For example, indentures were not allowed to marry or get married without permission from their owner. They were subjected to physical punishment, and their labor obligations were enforced by courts. The law even lengthened the term of women indentures in case they became pregnant. However, contrary to the slaves, servants were given a guarantee that they would be set free from bondage after their terms elapse. At the end of their term, servants received freedom dues payment and joined the free members of the society. In fact, one could sell or buy indentures contract of servants as well as their right to labor, but not the person per se as a property. Both female and male servants could be at any given point be subjected to violence, sometimes resulting to their death. Generally, indentured servitude was a mechanism of having the number of colonists increased, particularly in the British and English colonies2. Convict labor and voluntary migratio n provided many people, and other means of offering settlement was inevitable because the journey across the Atlantic was somehow dangerous. In the end, contract laborers became a significant group of people and very many that saw the United States Constitution count them in the appointment of representatives (Rosenbloom 2008). Indentured servitude, from 1620s, was a

Aspects of Japanese uniqueness (history, culture, economics, etc) Essay

Aspects of Japanese uniqueness (history, culture, economics, etc) - Essay Example The major changes include the increased participation of women in paid work, the reduction of family size and the replacement of rural with urban lifestyles. The prosperity of Japan covers the discrimination and the unequal wealth distribution, which is channeled at some Groups. This paper will explore the uniqueness of Japan, including its culture, historical events and the country’s economics. One aspect of Japan’s unique history and economics can be traced to the introduction of many reforms, primarily by the Americans. One of the crucial areas of the reform agenda was that of women’s rights, where men and women were declared equals, followed by the women suffrage of 1946 and the promotion of education for women.2 Examples of the changes emanating from the reforms included the formation of 26 women’s universities, as well as the employment of 2,000 female police officials. In 1947, there was the passage of the equal pay policy. These policy changes and the reforms that emanated from them made the reconstruction of the Japanese economy and its production facilities faster than those of other countries that were left behind in the area.3 For example, instead of depending on the labor input of men to rebuild its infrastructure and to grow the national economy, Japan relied on the input of its male and female populations: the huge laborforce enabled it t o advance faster than other national economies. The unique historical changes of Japan and its economy can also be traced to the reduction of family size, which became evident during the 1950s, following a change of attitudes towards the family system and marriage.4 The changes included getting into marriage late, working prior to marriage, and giving birth to fewer children, so that they can remain actively involved in employment among other lines of productivity. The reduction in the size of the family – where many of the marriages are arranged and the women are

Labor Market in Gulf Countries

Labor Market in Gulf Countries India Steps Up Pressure for Minimum Wage for Its Workers in the Gulf The Labor Market in Gulf Countries This section of the report is about the labor market in the Gulf countries and how it is affected with changes in the labor policies by the governments of GCC countries. The GCC consists of six Arab countries including all Arab states of the Persian Gulf, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The labor market is growing with the rapid growth of the economies of GCC countries. The governments of GCC countries prefer their national to be part of their organizations because of their higher education, and the nationals are also attracted towards the government sector of GCC countries because of the higher wages and generous benefits, job security, early retirement with pension and many other benefits associated with the government jobs. However, the labor market of GCC countries also contains a significant portion of expatriate workers, therefore the private sector heavily rely on the working on expatriate workers and the expatriate labor work also att racted towards the private sector because of the jobs that are available on fixed terms, the contracts of the jobs are specific and they are under the sponsorship of nationals. The labor migration to Gulf countries is considered to be of vast importance. The factors related to its importance are the relatively larger size of the Gulf countries and better economic conditions prevailing there. According to the recent reports, foreign workers especially from South Asia and Philippines make up around 90 percent or more of the private sector in all GCC countries except Saudi Arabia. Moreover, the rate of increasing population and the birth rate of foreign citizens in the Gulf countries also among other factors of increasing labor migration in Gulf countries. An individual labor law for every country in GCC is designed in accordance with international labor laws and standards, conventions and recommendations of International Labor Organization that aim to eliminate unfair labor practices and equal treatment of laborers regarding to the nationality, social status or religious belief. This is also because of the Global Economic Crises which cause the working class of South Asian countries to be affected badly, as a result many of the workers were not paid and most of the foreigner laborers had to leave the country and they put Gulf countries on the priority because of the high economic level and better wages rates than the European countries. Gulf countries recent policies and regulations on the protection of rights emphasize on the regulation on the labor market and boost national man power in private sector, by keeping the balance in working relationships at work place, increasing the labor protection and safeguarding the employeesâ€℠¢ interests at all. The above figure shows the supply and demand of labor market in the Gulf countries. It has shown that the labor market of the Gulf countries is effecting accordingly to the number of workers or workforce present there. If the supply of the workforce is increasing in Gulf countries because of the rising migration workers in Gulf countries, the demand is also increasing because of the increasing effect of the economies of Gulf countries, and the demand is also increasing because of their high expertise and high education in their relevant fields. According to the reports issued by the World Bank, there is various numbers of factors that have been contributed to the situation of youth employment situation in the Gulf countries. If considering the supply side, a demographic wave has increased the share of young people in the population because of the migration youth individuals to the Gulf countries has resulted the labor supply pressures. And if the demand size of the labor market is considered, young people in the labor markets of Gulf countries widespread with structural distortions. And the fact is that the public and private sector of GCC continues to attract young people towards themselves, with higher wage and benefit packages and better job security. Labor Market in India This section of the report considers the level of labor force and labor market in the economy of India. The India is considered to be the second largest country in the population growth after china and according to the reports of 2012, the labor workers who were working in India were 487 million, and 90 % of these workers were working in unorganized and unincorporated companies, while only 10 % of them are working in the organized private, state owned enterprises and government sectors. In local terms, the organized sector or formal sector are described as the sectors in India related to licensed organizations that are registered and pay income tax, and sales tax etc. These organizations of India include the publicly traded companies, corporations, factories, incorporated or formally registered entities, shopping malls, hotels, and large businesses. Unorganized sector, also known as informal sector or own account enterprises, refers to all unlicensed, self-employed or unregistered ec onomic activity such as owner manned general stores, handicrafts and handloom workers, rural traders, farmers, etc. If the labor market of India is to be seen, the matter of the fact is that there are two broad groups of migrant laborers working in India one group of migrant laborers is that who migrates to Gulf countries and overseas in order to work temporarily, and another group is that one who migrates on a seasonal and work available basis. According to the latest reports, the migrant workers who are Indian-origin laborers are about 4 million in number who are migrant workers in the Middle East and Gulf countries alone. They are accredited to been a part of Gulf countries and the majority of workers are those and are proud themselves who built many of Dubai, Qatar, Bahrain, and Persian Gulf modern architecture, and major of their architecture is the Burj Khalifa, which is considered to be the tallest building in worlds history which has started its operation in 2010. It is the common factor that no one wants to leave his country and the reason of leaving home country and to go abroad is that of financial surplus. These migrant workers are also attracted towards the Gulf countries because of better salaries, and getting the opportunity of even better jobs in order to remit funds and financials to support their families in India. In 2009, the reports by Middle East analysts show that the Middle East-based migrant workers from India remitted about US$20 billion. In many cases they also have to face the challenges and problems in dong jobs that is labor abuses and problems such as unpaid salaries, poor living conditions and unsafe work conditions have been claimed by the Indian migrant workers. Moreover, it has also been seen that national migrant workers in India have been assessed to be about 4.2 million. These migrant workers work according to their capacity and abilities and they have shown the range from full-time to part-time workers, permanent and temporary workers. They are typically employed for remuneration in cash or kind, in any household through any agency or directly, to do the household work, but do not include any member of the family of an employer. While talking to the India workforce in GCC countries, the reports suggests that India is the principal and major country of South Asia origin for the 17 million migrants in GCC countries. The Indian states are also sending their individuals also to GCC countries in order to get better employment and better remunerations. In 2004, the Indian state of Kerala only consists of the 26 percent of all households that had at least one temporary international migrant. And 89 percent of these were found to be in GCC countries (Zachariah and Rajan 2009, pp. 35, 162). According to the Philippines reports, that there were about 1.5 million temporary Overseas Filipino Workers (POEA 2011), in 2011 represented themselves while working abroad through the act of Philippine Overseas Employment Administration and according to the entire national labor force (BLES 2012) there were about 4 percent of the GCC migrants are Philippines who were working there. The figure below shows that the financial flow comes to the India because of the remittances from abroad and it has been seen that in the period of 2009-2011, 31.4% has been received by India only from the remittances of FDI from all over the world, and in 2012, only 30 of the total remittances came from GCC countries only. The above figure shows that India receives about as much in remittances from the GCC countries as it receives in FDI from the whole world The demand and supply of the labor market of India is not elastic and that the supply of the labor market is high and that the demand is ot that much high because of the economic conditions of the country and that the wages rates as well not according to the demands of the workers as well. Moreover, the high rate of population and unavailability of employment caused the migrants o move towards the GCC countries and overseas. According to the latest reports, the Indian migrates are not getting paid according to their demands and that the wages rate is quite minimum in Gulf countries for them. References Grm.grc.net,. (2014). The Gulf Research Meeting 2014: Workshop Details. Retrieved 29 August 2014, from http://grm.grc.net/index.php?pgid=Njk=wid=Mjg= Labor Market Challenges and the policies in Gulf Corporation Council union. (2014) (1st ed.). Retrieved from https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/FT/gcc/GCC3.pdf Ilo.org,. (2008). The Indian labour market: An overview. Retrieved 29 August 2014, from http://www.ilo.org/asia/whatwedo/publications/WCMS_098851/langen/index.htm

The First Red Scare Essay -- American History

As World War I was heading towards its end Russia was focusing on internal issues. Led by Vladimir Lenin the Bolsheviks embarked on a campaign against the war. Using propaganda which focused on trying to turn the allied troops against their officers Lenin looked to inspire a socialist revolution. The Bolsheviks were also fueled by the poor conditions of the Russian Army. Nicholas II, in a letter to his wife Alexandra, admitted the obstacles that the Russian Army faced, "Again that cursed question of shortage of artillery and rifle ammunition - it stands in the way of an energetic advance." Czar Nicholas tried to deny the fact that his Army was in no condition to continue the fight. Lenin and the Bolsheviks used this information to gain the support of the Russian people who had grown to resent Russian involvement in the war. With the constant failures the Russian military faced the Bolsheviks took this opportunity to take action. On 25 October 1917 the Lenin-led Bolsheviks seized co ntrol of the Russian government. This Russian revolution had little effect on America until 1919. With the war over Americans began to focus more on domestic matters, the biggest issue being the fear of communism in the United States. 1919 Marked the beginning of the first Red Scare. This was a period of extreme fear of communism in America. One of the main missions of the Bolsheviks was to spread Communism around the world. Americans, against the idea of government controlling every aspect of its citizens' lives, took any action they could to prevent it from spreading to the United States. The main leader of this state of hysteria was A. Mitchell Palmer, President Wilson's Attorney General. Palmer feared that communist agents were trying to infiltrat... ...o the statement that America will do anything it feels is necessary to insure the survival of the American lifestyle. Bibliography Primary: Hale, Swinburne. "Raids, Deportations, and Palmerism." New Files. Oct. 1921. 08 Apr. 2007 . "Red Scare or Red Menace." Spartacus. 27 Feb. 2007 . "Russia and the First World War." Spartacus. 27 Feb. 2007 . Secondary: Burnett, Paul. "The Red Scare." Famous Trials. 2000. 05 Apr. 2007 . "Chinese Exclusion Act." Vincent Ferraro. Mount Holyoke College. 27 Feb. 2007 . Fariello, Griffin. Red Scare: Memories of the American Inquisition. New York: Norton, 1995. Murray, Robert K. Red Scare; a Study of National Hysteria, 1919-1920. West Port: Greenwood Pub Group, 1980. Schmidt, Regin. Red Scare: FBI and the Origins of Anticommunismin the United States, 1919-1943. Denmark: Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum P, 2000.

Anita Roddick (The Body Shop) Essay

Inspiring profiles and best practices for entrepreneurs Twenty-six years ago the Brighton Evening Argus ran a story on a dispute between two funeral parlour owners who were upset about a new cosmetics boutique which had opened up next door. It wasn’t the nature of the business they were getting hot under the collar about, but its name. They thought the green shop front emblazoned with the words Body Shop in gold leaf might put off prospective customers. â€Å"They wanted me to change my shop front which I had just spent  £870 of my  £4,000 loan on,† recalls Roddick. â€Å"My smart move was to call the Argus and tell them I was being threatened by Mafia undertakers who wanted to close me down.† The press loved it. The story of the beleaguered single mum with the house in hock trying to support her two kids with a bootstrapping start-up worked a treat. The small splash made Body Shop a cause celebre, won plenty of local support and won an important battle to get the business off the ground. The anecdote is a small aside, recounted with a chuckle and a hint of outrage in a long interview. But although the battles got much bigger as Roddick grew her business into the multinational retailer it is today, anyone with even a passing familiarity with the Body Shop story will instantly recognise the defining characteristics of its fiery feisty founder in those early days of the business: Ethical Anita versus the big bad world. There has never been any compromise in Roddick’s views on how business should be done: this is why her husband Gordon was tasked with handling the City suits (â€Å"they didn’t like me talking about sexual tension at work†) and why she stepped away from the business in 1998 when the shareholders said a campaigning chief executive was not what they wanted for Body Shop. You might think after thirty years of business and the comfort of a healthy shareholding and a wedge of cash in the bank Roddick’s hunger for campaigning might have diminished. But little has changed since 1976. Her latest venture, a publishing start-up, produces books on ethical matters. It promotes her on the speaking circuit and all the profits going into campaigning. The only difference is now she occupies the position of an icon for women and female entrepreneurs: â€Å"something I don’t take lightly† And there is still plenty to shout about when it comes to what she sees as an ethical vacuum in business today. Suffocation She rails against the suffocation of UK businesses as we outsource to cheaper countries; the failure to preserve the needs of shareholders in public companies; the lack of respect for the responsibility of business to the community at large; the ongoing need for women to conform to a male template in order to succeed; the lack of recognition of the value that employees bring to a business. â€Å"Being ethical in business is not about giving stuff away† Roddick is emphatic about what this means in practice: not sandals, beards and group hugs in the boardroom but the adoption of simple moral values. â€Å"People use the excuse of business to leave their morals at the front door and I don’t know how they get away with it.† But can ethical business really fit in with the cut-throat world of today? Her business, she says, is living proof. She describes Body Shop as a â€Å"great business experiment† which is still proving a point: you can run an entrepreneurial business, provide a return to shareholders while campaigning on ethical issues and placing a high value on human capital. â€Å"Being ethical in business is not about giving stuff away. It’s about your relationship with your employees, it’s about the aesthetics of the workplace and it’s about communication,† says Roddick. â€Å"There is no reason why the workplace can’t be a genuine creative place, why there can’t be flexitime, why there can’t be transparency and even good manners.† If Roddick doesn’t sound like a business woman it’s because she has never claimed to be one. She puts her success down to a need for a livelihood and sees herself as the accidental entrepreneu r.

Multi User Operating Systems Essay

An operating system is a set of software programs, which manage computer hardware in a controlled fashion. The operating system controls the file-system, process management, memory management and peripherals. Multi-user operating systems are used on large mainframe computers. A mainframe computer system has one very powerful processing unit, which may contain many microprocessors. Many users will all share this processing unit. They use terminals (a keyboard and a monitor) to access the mainframe computer. A multi-user operating system lets more that one user work on a mainframe computer at the same time. Features of a MUOS The main features of multi user operating systems are resource sharing, multi tasking and background processing.  · Using resource sharing in a multi-user operating system allocates the CPU time of the mainframe computer between the different users. Each user in turn is given a small time slice of the CPU time. Because these time slices are very small the users believe that they are all using the mainframe at the same time. Resource sharing also lets users share peripherals such as printers or hard drives and also lets users share files on a network.  · Multi-tasking lets the operating system run more than one program at a time. One example of a multi tasking could be editing a word document while browsing the Internet. The way this is done is by the processor using time slicing.  · Background processing is a term which means when commands are not processed straight away but rather executed â€Å"in the background†, often while other programs are interfacing with the system in real time. Types of MUOS There are three main types of multi user operating system. These are distributed systems, time sliced systems and multi processor systems.  · In a distributed system, to the user it appears to be a single computer system but in fact is made up from a number of different host computers, which are connected together. This is completely hidden from the user. All decisions about what computer each user will connect to would be taken by the distributed system’s operating system. Each individual host within such a distributed could be any type of computer at all.  · Time sliced systems split each users time of use of the system to fairly allocate each user a fair amount of time of use. These time slices are so small that it appears to the user that their programs are running continuously when in fact the CPU is jumping from user to user. Each time slice is milliseconds long so each user is actually given several time slices every second. The more each user tries to do the slower their programs will run as their time slice has to split between their different tasks.  · Multi processor systems use more than one processor in a single computer to make themselves much more powerful and relieve the load of sharing the operating system and CPU. Users will again be distributed time slices but since there will be more than one processor there will be more allocation of time to each user rather than if there were only one processor. Main Components of a MUOS There are many components that are needed to run a multi user operating system. These include the processor, memory, data storage devices, terminals and input/output devices.  · The processor, also known as CPU or central processing unit In  terms of computing power, the CPU is the most important element of a computer system. The CPU is the brains of the computer. Sometimes referred to simply as the processor or central processor, the CPU is where most calculations take place. On large machines, CPUs require one or more printed circuit boards. On personal computers and small workstations, the CPU is housed in a single chip called a microprocessor.  · Memory refers to the physical memory that is internal to the computer. Sometimes mistaken for mass storage devices such as hard drives the word ‘main’ is used to differentiate it from this. Memory is usual known as RAM or Random Access Memory. The computer can only manipulate data that is in main memory, therefore, every program that you execute and every file that you access must be copied from a storage device such as a hard drive into main memory. The amount of main memory on a computer is crucial because it determines how many programs can be run at one time and how much data can be readily available to a program.  · There is a couple of data storage devices used in multi user operating systems. The term usually refers to mass storage devices such as hard disk drives or tape drives. Large amounts of data such as the operating system itself and any other programs that are installed on the computer are all kept on such devices so that can be accessed by the RAM and then processed to be used by the user. The main types of storage are: – o Hard disk drives: The most common type of mass data storage used on a computer because of the large amounts of data which can be held and the speed it can be accessed at. o Floppy disks: Much slower than hard drives and hold very little data but are easy portable and inexpensive. o Optical disks: This method uses lasers to read and write data. Optical drives hold a large capacity but are not as fast as hard drives but are as portable as floppy disks and with the right equipment (CD Writer) can be used to read and write data. o Tapes: Not too expensive and hold large amounts of data but do not permit random access of data.  · There are two main types of terminal used to access multi user operating systems. One is a dumb terminal, which just consists of a computer and a keyboard, but practically no processing power. They allow a user to carry out work on the remote server, minicomputer or mainframe. Smart terminals provide additional resources to perform local editing and simple processing. Basically, smart terminals are low cost PC platforms with no external storage like hard drives booting from a network.  · Input/Output devices refers to devices with allow the user to put data and receive data to and from the computer system. For instance an input device may be a keyboard or a mouse and output devices can be things such as monitors and printers. Software Components of a MUOS The main software components of a multi user operating system are the kernel, device handlers, spoolers and the user interface.  · The kernel of an operating system is the most protected and privileged layer of the operating system and acts as a timekeeper and regulator for the system, controlling any time slicing for multi user or multi tasking functions. This ensures fairness in the way resources are allocated and used, and dealing with interrupts having different priorities, which arrive to signal internal and external events.  · A device handler is a small program, which controls a particular type of device connected to a computer. There are device drivers for every hardware component on a computer. If a complex device is added to the machine then a device handler must be added to the operating software because this will contain the code needed to communicate with the device.  · A spooler puts jobs on a queue and takes them off one at a time. Most operating systems come with one or more spoolers, such as a print spooler for spooling documents. In addition, some applications include spoolers. Many word processors, for example, include their own print spooler. A good print spooler should allow you to change the order of documents in the queue and to cancel specific print jobs. Acronym for simultaneous peripheral operations on-line, spooling refers to putting jobs in a buffer, a special area in memory or on a disk where a device can access them when it is ready. Spooling is useful because devices access data at different rates. The buffer provides a waiting station where data can rest while the slower device catches up.  · The user interface is the junction between a user and a computer program. An interface is a set of commands or menus through which a user communicates with a program. A command-driven interface is one in which you enter commands. A menu-driven interface is one in which you select command choices from various menus displayed on the screen. The user interface is one of the most important parts of any program because it determines how easily you can make the program do what you want. A powerful program with a poorly designed user interface has little value. Graphical user interfaces (GUIs) that use windows, icons, and pop-up menus have become standard on personal computers.

Free Essays on Minimum Driving Age

As most may already know, Alabama is considering altering the requirement for attaining a driver’s license. The alteration would mean that all teenagers would have to wait to get their license until they are eighteen, opposed to sixteen. â€Å"According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, 16 year olds are more than 20 times as likely to have a crash as other drivers. For every million miles driven, 16 year olds have 43 crashes. While other a driver over 19 have only 5 crashes. (Lynn, 48-51.) For example, in Europe the driving age is 18, New Jersey makes teenagers wait until 17; six other states allow 14 and 15 year olds to get licenses and 43 other states permit16 year olds to drive alone. (Lynn, 48-51.) â€Å"These new laws, called â€Å"graduated licensing laws† are catching on all over the world. Six months after its graduated licensing laws went into effect; New Zealand’s driving fatalities for 15-17 year olds dropped by nearly one third. This is how the new graduated licensing laws work: Beginning drivers have to â€Å"graduate† through stages of â€Å"restricted driving† before they are allowed to get their unrestricted adult licenses (Lynn, 49). In Kentucky a prospective driver must be at least 16 years old to get a permit and any licensed driver may provide supervision. Also, a learner’s permit must remain in effect only a month before full licensure. (Ellers, 1B.) In Hartford Connecticut under one bill, teenagers could not obtain learners’ permits or driver licenses until they turn 17 years old. Even after obtaining a license at 17, teenagers could only drive from 6a.m. to 11p.m. until they turn 18. It seems as though most teenagers have the same feelings as Tim Marciniak expresses in this statement, †I just think they keep raising the age because society sees us as corrupt. I think the media portrays us as being negative. It’s always something negative toward teenagers. They never show the good we do, society-wise.... Free Essays on Minimum Driving Age Free Essays on Minimum Driving Age As most may already know, Alabama is considering altering the requirement for attaining a driver’s license. The alteration would mean that all teenagers would have to wait to get their license until they are eighteen, opposed to sixteen. â€Å"According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, 16 year olds are more than 20 times as likely to have a crash as other drivers. For every million miles driven, 16 year olds have 43 crashes. While other a driver over 19 have only 5 crashes. (Lynn, 48-51.) For example, in Europe the driving age is 18, New Jersey makes teenagers wait until 17; six other states allow 14 and 15 year olds to get licenses and 43 other states permit16 year olds to drive alone. (Lynn, 48-51.) â€Å"These new laws, called â€Å"graduated licensing laws† are catching on all over the world. Six months after its graduated licensing laws went into effect; New Zealand’s driving fatalities for 15-17 year olds dropped by nearly one third. This is how the new graduated licensing laws work: Beginning drivers have to â€Å"graduate† through stages of â€Å"restricted driving† before they are allowed to get their unrestricted adult licenses (Lynn, 49). In Kentucky a prospective driver must be at least 16 years old to get a permit and any licensed driver may provide supervision. Also, a learner’s permit must remain in effect only a month before full licensure. (Ellers, 1B.) In Hartford Connecticut under one bill, teenagers could not obtain learners’ permits or driver licenses until they turn 17 years old. Even after obtaining a license at 17, teenagers could only drive from 6a.m. to 11p.m. until they turn 18. It seems as though most teenagers have the same feelings as Tim Marciniak expresses in this statement, †I just think they keep raising the age because society sees us as corrupt. I think the media portrays us as being negative. It’s always something negative toward teenagers. They never show the good we do, society-wise.... Free Essays on Minimum Driving Age As most may already know, Alabama is considering altering the requirement for attaining a driver’s license. The alteration would mean that all teenagers would have to wait to get their license until they are eighteen, opposed to sixteen. â€Å"According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, 16 year olds are more than 20 times as likely to have a crash as other drivers. For every million miles driven, 16 year olds have 43 crashes. While other a driver over 19 have only 5 crashes. (Lynn, 48-51.) For example, in Europe the driving age is 18, New Jersey makes teenagers wait until 17; six other states allow 14 and 15 year olds to get licenses and 43 other states permit16 year olds to drive alone. (Lynn, 48-51.) â€Å"These new laws, called â€Å"graduated licensing laws† are catching on all over the world. Six months after its graduated licensing laws went into effect; New Zealand’s driving fatalities for 15-17 year olds dropped by nearly one third. This is how the new graduated licensing laws work: Beginning drivers have to â€Å"graduate† through stages of â€Å"restricted driving† before they are allowed to get their unrestricted adult licenses (Lynn, 49). In Kentucky a prospective driver must be at least 16 years old to get a permit and any licensed driver may provide supervision. Also, a learner’s permit must remain in effect only a month before full licensure. (Ellers, 1B.) In Hartford Connecticut under one bill, teenagers could not obtain learners’ permits or driver licenses until they turn 17 years old. Even after obtaining a license at 17, teenagers could only drive from 6a.m. to 11p.m. until they turn 18. It seems as though most teenagers have the same feelings as Tim Marciniak expresses in this statement, †I just think they keep raising the age because society sees us as corrupt. I think the media portrays us as being negative. It’s always something negative toward teenagers. They never show the good we do, society-wise....

Are Enlightenment values universal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Are Enlightenment values universal - Essay Example For this ground, Enlightenment values have by far, to this point, been inevitably embedded on culture under several aspects of living. The post-Renaissance curiosity in an in-depth study of man and the world after the rebirth of learning and rigorous inquisitions herein designate emphasis on humanities and the quest for means to put knowledge to practical use. Such movement toward intellectual revolution, which was mostly regarded as secularistic by nature, causing progressive changes to humanity proceeded out of several factors. For one, increase in the number of academic institutions across the 18th century Europe and North America generated more intellectual people and scholars capable of questioning the prevailing ideologies of the time based upon prominent fields as science, politics, and religion. Enlightenment was also promoted via the extensive publication of printed texts either as periodicals or books where the bulk of information read prompted and encouraged the general pu blic to express various opinions or insights on the subject matter of worldwide interest. People of middle-class society augmented in number as well and favored being financial supporters of scientists, inventors, and humanism artists. Moreover, men became further inclined to adopt materialism in the form of industries, objects of scientific innovation, and ideas the trade for prosperity of which had been made feasible by the pioneering geniuses of the socio-political, economic, and scientific disciplines. These causes primarily developed the foundations of Enlightenment along with its associated values found through the process of rationalization. At this crucial stage, 18th-century life and beyond was bound to experience and appreciate a profound sense of critical and creative mode of thinking in seeking to be stimulated by the beauty of reason. Eventually, there emerged a growing individual advocacy for human freedom upon discovery of the universal impact of reasoning according t o the basic principles of Enlightenment as perceived in rationalism, naturalism, materialism, optimism, and humanitarianism. By considering reason and science in the systematic process of acquiring knowledge and solving problems of humanity within diverse culture, Enlightenment is claimed to free humanity from the darkness of ignorance. With this end came departure from the burden of false beliefs and the destructive influence of illogical prejudices and superstition on the argument that secular society where liberty, equality, and democracy exist with scholastic endeavor potentially transforms human condition in which the miserable state of poverty and sickness is addressed. Universal ethical norms proposed by the 18th-century intellectuals thereafter transcend the narrow confines of race, color, sex, religion, and ethnicity for instance and such would not have been possible in the absence of Enlightenment values which altogether illumined Europe and brought the Western World to th e heights of drastic progress and advanced rate of modern civilization (Igwe). On the basis of one of the seven core ideals, ‘all human beings possess the ability to be enlightened’. Therefore, ‘enlightenment is universal’

American and Chinese Management Culture Research Paper

American and Chinese Management Culture - Research Paper Example According to Chinese management culture, business success is attributed to luck while business failure is attributed to personal failures in life. In contrast, American management culture attribute organizational success to high performance of employees, creativity of managers and good management practices. American culture attributes business failure to poor leadership and management practices or high competition in the market (Wenzhong 37). Another difference in the management cultures is on delegating responsibilities and accountability. Responsibility delegation will influence employee accountability and performance in his job. In America, management embraces proper delegation of authority and responsibility to the subordinates. Employees are accountable for the tasks delegated to them. In China, there is less delegation of authority and responsibility to employees thus employees are not personally accountable for the tasks but are considered to be part of a group work or team (L ynch 42). Chinese management philosophy values collectivism while American management cultures are individualism. In China, the management emphasizes on group cooperation. Chinese managers expect every employee to actively participate in accomplishing the goals of the organization. Individual employees are expected to show loyalty to organizational goals. Chinese collectivism management culture utilizes strict rules and disciplinary measures in order to ensure group stability. On the other side, American management culture is individualism. In America, employees exercise more freedom by exhibiting creativity and innovation in their jobs. American management culture values individual rights and goals and tries to align the employee goals with organizational goals in order to maximize employee productivity. In America, employees value personal achievement and success in their individual tasks, they work hard for promotions and better compensation (Lynch 66). Another difference in Amer ican and Chinese management cultures is the perceptions on time. Chinese managers pay more attention to past and long-term relationships with business partners and suppliers. In China, the management builds working relations with customers before starting transactions thus resulting in time wastage on discussing business decisions. Other the other hand, American management culture is less in the past relationships with business partners. American managers expect short term rewards from their business decisions. American management culture entails fast decision making and less established working relationships with business partners (Wenzhong 39). Chinese economy experiences some high government control while American economy is purely capitalist and free market economy. Chinese managers must establish cordial relationships with government officials in order to succeed unlike American management thus only need to work within the established business regulations and business legal env ironment. Chinese management culture values working personal relationships than established rules and procedures. American management culture follows well documented processes and rules that are fair to all the stakeholders in the organization. For instance, most companies in China may lack grievances handling procedures or a ethics code. American management culture has written human resource policies and ethical code of conduct that all employees must follow (Nocera 5). Chinese