Environmental Scan Paper Essay

The business environment of an organization reveals much about its competitiveness and the possible influences on the success of its strategies. The focus of this paper will be an environmental scan of the internal and external environments of two real-world firms, their competitive advantages and company strategies for creating value and sustaining competitiveness, measurement guidelines for verifying strategic effectiveness and their evaluation. Internal and External Environments Environmental scanning of the internal organizational environment focuses on company culture, employee-employee, manager-employee, and manager-manager, manager-shareholder interactions, in addition to organizational structure, natural resources’ access and brand awareness, among others (Schneider, 1995, p.70). Environmental scanning of the external organizational environment focuses on the analysis of the industry/immediate environment, national, and macro-environments. Analysis of the industry environment appraises the competitive Environmental Scan Paper

House on Mango Street: Four Skinny Trees

The Trees of Hope and Courage In The House on Mango Street, the author Sandra Cisneros takes you into a completely different world through the eyes of a young, insecure Esperanza growing up in a poor section of Chicago. A vignette that especially stood out was â€Å"Four Skinny Trees†. In this vignette Esperanza is describing four skinny trees that are overlooked and underappreciated. Cisneros uses powerful personification techniques that not only create vivid images but trigger intense reactions. Her words trigger despair and hope, fear and courage, strength and weakness. Esperanza is connected to these trees on an emotional level because what she is imagining in these trees is what she sees in herself. The trees served as emotional guides teaching Esperanza to have confidence. Cisneros projects Esperanza’s emotions onto these four skinny trees though powerful personification techniques. Esperanza sees a distinct parallel between her life and the trees. Esperanza feels as if, â€Å"They are the only ones who understand me. I am the only one who understands them† (74). Esperanza sees herself in these trees, â€Å"†¦with skinny necks and pointy elbows like mine† (74). She sees these scrawny trees trapped in the concrete of Mango Street and can relate because she too is stuck in the concrete of Mango Street. Esperanza sees a parallel between her and the trees and imagines these trees with souls and emotions that reflect her own. She perceives the trees as full of anger, â€Å"They grow up and they grow down and grab the earth between their hairy toes and bite the sky with violent teeth and never quite their anger† (74). It is apparent that these trees aren’t really angry but that Esperanza is embedding her hidden rage into these trees. Cisneros vivid personification makes the trees strong symbols of Esperanza’s emotions, her anger, fear, inconsequence and also her hope, courage and importance. These trees are misplaced and misunderstood but yet they keep on growing, keep on fighting. They continue to exist, not giving up, â€Å"Four who grew despite concrete† (75). The four scrawny, angry trees symbolize both hope and courage. To Esperanza these trees symbolize an emotional guide, they teach her she can trade despair for hope and fear for courage. The trees are teachers. The trees could very well surrender, â€Å"†¦ they’d all droop like tulips in a glass, each with arms around the other† (75). But they don’t they keep on growing despite that they do not belong. Esperanza takes courage from the trees to never give up. Esperanza has learned from these trees how to achieve a peace with who she is. These four skinny trees that were probably planted by some city worker on a concrete slab are objects in which Esperanza has brought to life with her own emotions. Because they too are misplaced like Esperanza but yet they continue to be and keep growing, they do not give up. They have taught her not to surrender to who she is but to accept it and keep growing. One day Esperanza will leave Mango Street but instead of living with despair waiting to escape she is living with hope for the future and the courage to be strong throughout the process.

Assess the Role of Faith in Supporting Religious Belief Essay Example for Free

Assess the Role of Faith in Supporting Religious Belief Essay In 1877, William Kingdon Clifford propositioned in his book â€Å"Ethics and Belief† that belief in something without sufficient evidence is irrational. Whilst he accepted that in many beliefs there is often an epistemic gap between the evidence and the conclusion (inductive reasoning) he did also claim that â€Å"It is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence.† Furthermore he claimed that that tolerating credulity (a tendency to believe readily) and superstition will damage ultimately society. He concurred with David Hume (1711-76) when he said â€Å"All wise men proportion their belief to the evidence. † This stance – that belief without sufficient evidence is irrational – is called evidentialism, and is adopted by many atheists (including Clifford and Hume) in their view of theology. However, natural theology instead attempts to meet evidentialism on its own terms by trying to show that belief in God is actually rational. It draws collectively upon all of the a posteriori arguments for God’s existence including the teleological, cosmological, moral and experiential arguments. However, it is rare that an atheist will be convinced by the evidence of these arguments anywhere beyond the point of agnosticism. It is generally accepted that belief in God requires some element of seemingly irrational faith. Indeed, the stance of fideism states that reason plays no part in belief. â€Å"Whoever attempts to demonstrate the existence of God†¦is an excellent subject for a comedy of higher lunacy.† – Soren Kierkegaard. Moderate fideists suggest that reason can actually be destructive to one’s faith. They claim that reason leads to arrogance by encouraging the idea that human reason alone will suffice and that God unnecessary for moral or spiritual direction. Whilst moderate theists view reason as a barrier to true faith however, (thus disregarding natural theology as irrelevant) extreme theists go so far as to agree with Tertullian when he said (AD 155-222) â€Å"Credo quia absurdum est.† or â€Å"I believe because it is absurd.† Aquinas (1225-74) claimed that there were two ways in which to know God. The first is through natural theology, including his five a posteriori proofs constructed by human reason. The second is through â€Å"revealed theology† which cannot be found by human reason alone, but must involve divine intervention or revelation. The acceptance of these revealed truths requires faith, and this is fundamental to the Christian religion. For example, only faith can reveal the truth behind the statement â€Å"God is the father, the son and the Holy Ghost† or that â€Å"the bread of communion is the body of Christ†. Thus revelation provides us with a body of truths, which must be taken on faith alone. Aquinas claims that faith is a combination of reason and opinion. It involves reason since it is propositional i.e. claims certain beliefs to be true and therefore similar to scientific knowledge. On the other hand these truths cannot be proved, and so involve an epistemic gap. It is this epistemic gap that makes faith a matter of opinion and so allows humanity free will over their belief. The stance that it is our choice whether or not to take a leap of faith was also held by Soren Kierkegaard (1812-1855). Alvin Plantinga (1932-) proposed that the classical foundationalism upon which evidentialism is based is flawed. Foundationalist beliefs are described by Plantinga as â€Å"the starting points for thought† and he summarises their definition as: â€Å"I am entitled to believe X without any evidence if and only if it is self-evident, incorrigible or certain to me in some way†. He argues that this is flawed, since this statement is itself neither self-evident, incorrigible nor is it certain in some way. It appears therefore that foundationalism defines itself as irrational. He also states that there are many beliefs that can be held rationally, but that do not fall under the foundationalist criteria or that can be justified contingently. For example, the trust we have in our memory, or the belief that other people have minds of their own. Plantinga argues that we must ultimately reject classical foundationalism on the grounds that it is incoherent, and also because it rejects many beliefs that common sense tells us to be properly basic. He propositions that his reformed epistemology should take the place of classical foundationalism, and because of this: â€Å"It is entirely right, rational, reasonable and proper to believe in God without any evidence at all.† A theist might claim that it just appears obvious to them that God exists, and for Plantinga this is good enough. However, surely this would mean that anything we like can be a properly basic belief? Could a child’s belief in Santa Clause not be defined as properly basic? Plantinga would respond by saying that it is the beliefs directly connected to God’s existence that are properly basic, rather than the belief in God’s existence itself. For example, the guilt felt after committing a bad deed or the sense that something must have cre ated and designed the universe. Blaisà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Pascal (1623-1662) deemed that it was reasonable to have faith in God by a sheer act of will, so certain was he that he put forward a wager: â€Å"Let us weigh the gain and loss in wagering that God is (exists)†¦If you gain, you gain all, if you lose, you lose nothing.† By this, he meant that the theist stands the chance of gaining entrance to heaven at the risk of nothing, whilst the atheist however risks damnation to hell. However, surely this basis of self-gain is at odds with the teachings of the Christian church? W.K.Clifford suggested that God would deny heaven to those who followed Pascal’s wager on the basis that faith should be founded upon trust and morality, not self gain. Pascal might have responded that true belief would arise from the habit of religion i.e. baptism, mass, prayer etc. However, this is contradicted somewhat by his opinion that one’s relationship with God should be somewhat deeper. â€Å"It is the heart which pe rceives God and not reason.† Furthermore, Pascal’s definition of faith appears to ignore the recognition of God’s immanence and His affect on our everyday lives. William James (1842-1910) found Pascal’s proposition that we can change our beliefs by an act of will entirely ridiculous. He claimed solidly that our beliefs are contingent i.e. each new belief is connected to the previous one. He does agree however that it is rational to sustain a belief even without sufficient evidence given certain circumstances. The first circumstance is where the evidence is indeterminate between two beliefs i.e. favours neither option. The second circumstance is if we are faced with a genuine option i.e. one that is living, forced and momentous. By living James means one that is a reality, as opposed to a dead option, that whilst theoretically possible, isn’t actually going to happen e.g. a devout Catholic supporting the gay pride movement. A forced option is one that cannot be avoided, e.g. choosing whether to go to school or to have a lie in when your alarm goes off at 7:30. A momentous option is one that is unique and irreversible e.g. joining the army – as opposed to a trivial option which is reversible and one that happens regularly throughout life. James states that it is therefore sometimes rational to believe in God without sufficient evidence if the choice is a genuine option. He disputes Pascal’s wager as necessarily being a genuine option as it is not necessarily forced (one could deny the possibility of going to hell) nor is it necessarily living (one might be a devout follower of a different religion). However, he does accept that for a person who perceives the evidence as indeterminate and is already open to belief in God, Pascal’s wager might succeed in tipping the scales and getting them to make that leap of faith. James does believe however that faith can in some instances be a genuine option, and a decision that involves seizing the opportunity and taking a risk. He states that when faced with a genuine option and without sufficient evidence, making a decision will then reveal the evidence to us. For example, one cannot be sure of a stranger’s kindness until they have decided to trust the stranger and give them a chance. Similarly, by making a leap of faith in God, the definitive truth will be later revealed by eschatological verification. However, natural theologians such as Aquinas would certainly dispute James’ claim that the evidence is indeterminate, for the cosmological, teleological, moral and experiential arguments – whilst inconclusive – can be extremely persuasive. Furthermore, like Pascal, he seems to ignore faith as an acceptation of God’s immanence and active presence in our lives. The version of faith held by Aquinas, Plantinga, Pascal and James is propositional in that they all claim that faith about believes in God’s objective existence. However, faith can also be seen existentially as an attitude incorporating God subjectively into the believer’s life. For instance, when I say â€Å"I believe that murder is wrong† or â€Å"I believe in free speech† I am not stating anything about existence, but rather about my commitment towards certain values. H.H.Price (1899-1985) claimed that the statement â€Å"I believe in God† is similar to this in that it is a way of perceiving the world using certain values. â€Å"to see oneself as a created, dependent creature, receiving life and well being from a higher source†¦the only appropriate attitude is one of grateful worship and obedience.† – John Hick. To conclude; each of the arguments examined above vary in their relationship with reason, but what they all have in common is that faith is central to the believer and must work independently of reason to some degree. Some of the arguments incorporate reason, some reject it entirely, but the transcendent nature of God can never be proved, can never be indubitable, for faith is an integral part of religion. Perhaps then natural theology is not trying to prove God’s existence to the point where faith is cast out and certainty resides in its place, but rather it is merely trying to explore God’s nature. â€Å"I do not seek to understand so that I may believe, but I believe in order to understand† – St. Anselm (1033-1109) Proslogian 1. Natural theology could therefore be seen as an expression of faith, rather than a foundation for it. The majority of theists argue that faith is necessary, for if God proved himself to us, we would no longer have free will over our belief and so would be robots without dignity. On the other hand, surely God in His omnipotence could find some way of maintaining our freedom whilst simultaneously providing us certainty of his love? Why not give certainty to the millions of His helpless and suffering children who have lost faith; for where is their dignity? Assess the Role of Faith in Supporting Religious Belief. (2017, Sep 13).

The Effect of Internet Technology on the Retail Banking Sector Assignment

The Effect of Internet Technology on the Retail Banking Sector - Assignment Example Money too has moved from plastic cards to a form called "e-cash", "e-money" that is highly portable and tradable over the Internet with its attendant risks and advantages. Transaction costs-the hitherto hidden but significant costs of doing business in the past, have come crashing in the Internet Age. In this paper, we examine Williamson's Transaction Cost Economics (TCE) and use it to analyze the impact of Internet Technology on the retail banking sector. Built into Internet technology are features that accelerate information availability, make information "Always Available" to the consumer and almost always secure and private. In this essay, we define "Internet Technology" broadly and "Retail Banking" and its services. We then proceed to explore further in depth the developments in Internet Technology in the last 10 -15 years that have led to the development we call "Internet banking". We then focus our attention on the "retail banking" sector of Internet banking. We use transaction cost economics (TCE) to analyze the "effect" of Internet technology on the retail banking sector. In this analysis, we highlight the benefits, threats and challenges and take a futuristic tour of the direction of Internet banking in the next ten years and its sociological effect on a new meaning of transaction costs. In this section, we define the Internet, Internet technologies and retail banking and take a survey of developments in the past ten years in Internet technology as it relates to banking in general and retail banking transactions in particular. 2.1 Internet Technology The Internet is defined by Webopedia (2006) as "a global network connecting millions of computers" The University of California at Berkeley (UCBerkeley, 2006) provides this definition: "The Internet is a network of networks, linking computers

Response Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Response - Essay Example It is hard to interpret this new move of soda giants. It could be a step in the right direction, or another corporate lie aiming at health-oriented people who would think they are making the right choice by consuming chemical-infused sodas that might not be so healthy for them in the long term perspective. According to a recent publication in The New York Times, a new advertising battle is brewing between soft beverage giants Coca Cola and PepsiCo (Martin, 1). After the cola wars, the diet cola wars and the mid-calorie cola wars, a vitamin cola war is ahead. Diet sodas will be dueling to entice consumers with the promise of a little healthy extra in their glass. Coca Cola plans to introduce a new brand of diet Coke with vitamins and minerals. The company is preparing for a spring or mid-summer launch of the Diet Coke Plus. PepsiCo is also ready to shoot. Their new Diet Pepsi Max will be infused with ginseng and more caffeine than the well-known, regular Diet Pepsi. The company is also preparing a vitamin counter-attack - Tava, which is expected to hit the shelves in June. Both diet sodas respond to a growing market niche. The health and wellness industry boom created a new category of "functional beverages". They promise a wide range of benefits for the consumers - they claim to invigorate, energize, stimulate, refresh and beautify, among everything else. Right now this immensely growing market segment is dominated by small players such as Red Bull, Mountain Dew, Vitamin Water and green tea drinks, while Coke and Pepsi are staying behind the healthy scene. The author of the article claims that the $ 68 billion soda business has dropped for the first time in 2005 (Martin, 1). A steady downfall was estimated even in diet Coke consumption. As sales of full-sugar soda decline, PepsiCo and Coca Cola are racing to add low-calories and non-carbonated drinks to their product mix. In contrast, sales of mineral water, energy drinks and green tea drinks are growing in double-digits. Confused by the fact that Coca-Cola Classic may not continue to make life taste good for a long time, Coca Cola marketing teams are exploring different opportunities in response to the poor performance of soda drinks. An increased interest in soft drinks with vitamins added has emerged. The beginning of this brand new trend was put by the "Gatorade concept" which aimed to increase the popularity of health drinks with both energizing and rejuvenating qualities among sport-oriented consumers. As drinks like "Gatorade" became widely spread, so did the soda giants' marketing plans towards a growing niche of specific target groups with specific wants and needs. In fact, healthy soda seems not to be an entirely new idea. According to the New York Times article, "7UP Plus", which appeared in 2004, was a low-calorie soda fortified with minerals and vitamins. It was claimed to be "100% natural". The product contained high-fructose corn syrup though and after public pressure the company was forced to change the label to: "100 percent natural flavor" (Martin, 1). When large and popular companies, such as Coca Cola and PepsiCo explore new market opportunities and invade new market niches, they face the need to build up new public images of their "healthy" brands. These companies must decide whether to use their already affirmed brands for assistance, or to invest in search for new corporate identities. If the

Tele Vision as an Advertisement Media Research Proposal

Tele Vision as an Advertisement Media - Research Proposal Example Regardless of the media or method selected, the main aim of advertisement is to convince the target audience that they have a need for the product. Through advertisement, the suppliers/marketers are trying to create an image about the product with the help of linguistic and artistic elements. The present research paper looks on how an advertisement campaign for an expensive chocolate be planned and implemented effectively through television channels to reach its target audience. The target audience consists of women in the age group of 20 to 40. The paper takes a narrative approach for explaining the various aspects of advertisement campaign and its effectiveness to the business. Everything in business demands planning for effective implementation and controlling. In advertisement also, a well planned campaign can do a better job than one which is not. Advertisement Planning gives a detailed blue print of what and how it is done at various stages of campaign. The present campaign is planned to be conducted through television to reach the target audience comprising of women in the age group of 20 to 40. A popular channel such as entertainment or sports channel is suggested for selection. The company is a chocolate manufacturing firm in the U.K. which has been in existence for some time in the market doing similar business. The new product is an addition to company's product lines, all of which have a sound customer support and brand equity. The new product which focuses on the customers, who are in the age group of 20 to 40, uses an innovative imported technology and it is going to capture the market in the next six months. The product and Brand name The product is an expensive chocolate, which has exceptional features than that available in the market. The company claims that the content of chocolate is highly recommended for the health of women in the age group of 20 to 40. The brand name decided for the product is Enclate. The brand name 'Enclate' is registered and trade mark for the same has already been sanctioned by the authority concerned. The word 'Enclate' is written using special letters, which the company developed in consultation with the advertisement agency. Objectives of Advertisement Campaign The objectives of advertisement campaign are inseparably connected with that of marketing strategy of the firm, which in turn is associated with the overall corporate strategy. To achieve and maintain the target market within the desired time frame, the firm has set the following specific objectives: 1. To disseminate knowledge about the company, its values etc to its customers and to the general public. 2. To convey about the brand, price, other promotions and distributions (Setting the advertising objective, p.2) 3. To create awareness about chocolates in general and Enclate in particular 4. To create a distinct brand image apart from other similar brands 5. To stimulate the customers to purchase the product Target Audience The company has already fixed the target audience for Enclate. Women in the age group of 20 to 40 constitute the target group for the product. Normally, this group does not take chocolates as a habit. But, the

Authentic Leadership Development Research Paper

Authentic Leadership Development - Research Paper Example Most people would not be willing to offer the type of commitment that an authentic leader is expected to offer. A good leader should be able to incorporate good systems that can be followed by employees in a manner that is favorable and easy to follow. The leader should also ensure that the policies of a company are convenient in a manner that most people would be comfortable and most people would maximize their output from the available environment and policies. Leadership that is authentic usually requires a person to be the epitome of the changes that may be expected in the company or the changes that are expected in the environment that a person is living. Authentic leadership usually involves doing things that are right and at the same time exercising humility that is expected when stand with people that are not above the leaders. A leader that is authentic will not be afraid to roll their sleeves in order to get hands dirty. Such a person usually has the courage that would allow him to drop his or her values irrespective of anything. An authentic leader is one that is willing to take an action that is right even in a situation whereby he faces diversity that is extreme. A leader that is independent should be committed to growth that is personal, evolution and change. This may be referred to as private victory. The victories are usually focused at development and growth that is personal. This type of leadership usually defines who a person is, his values and the way such a person would react to the environment around him or her. There are three elements that would help a person to succeed independently. They include; Been proactive- a person should be willing to accept responsibility for the actions and any kind of responses that may accrue from the people that are around you. A person has the power to choose the path that him or her can chose and that implies that the background of the person does not have to affect the

American Arbitration Associate Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

American Arbitration Associate - Article Example The Dispute Resolution Services is the largest worldwide provider of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) that is aimed at reducing the effect of the dispute through mediation, arbitration and out-of-court settlements that involve employment healthcare, international trade conflicts, intellectual property, consumer technology and construction. It also enables the access to the American Arbitration Association claim program, rules and real-world solutions to business and industry professionals, government agencies as well as consumers. It of paramount importance to note that these services are involved in the establishments of protocols as well as methods geared towards resolving disputes before they occur, thus contributing positively in saving costs and time and at the same time maintaining relationships. The dispute resolution services also contribute in assisting to meet the objectives by providing a variety of process and procedures that set the stage for early resolution for conflicts ideally helping to reduce the level of antagonism between parties. Monica, A. M.(1992). Reference to American Arbitration Association Rules in Home Warranty Contract Makes Arbitration Decision Binding, 4 Loy. Consumer L. Rev. 63. Retrieved from: http://lawecommons.luc.edu/lclr/vol4/iss2/7 and

Organisation competition and environment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Organisation competition and environment - Essay Example We find that swimming goods and articles associated with swimming has been selling more rampantly than goods related to any other sporting event. While 19% of the people preferred swimming for their health reasons, 18% went to the gym and did weight lifting or other such gym related activities. The keep-fit equipments and users roped in 14% of all those interested in maintaining their health. The other major influencing event was the team related sports. This influence affected the market conditions of the football specifically and to some extent rugby and cricket. More than Three hundred and sixty million pound sterling was spent by soccer enthusiasts on products and articles relating to soccer in 1998. This increase in demand in these two sporting events have happened due to the changed interest in the general health conditions among the public. When Obut and Boules started to manufacture French Boules there were not many manufacturers and they were able to corner the entire market since they were the first entrants. Second, they also ensured that their secrets of trade are not known outside and maintained absolute quality. This made sure that they retained their market share in the country and in Europe. The customers, though they got quality product from these two producers, the price levels should have been higher. The customers were probably paying more than what is due.The products were selling at a premium. Q3. Why have the French introduced a 'Norme Francaise' There have to be a standard for the products that are rolling out and the customers need to be aware of what is happening in the market. In order to ensure that the sold boules are of specific quality, a Norme Francaise has been introduced. Q4. What will be the impact of this standard on the industry The impact of this standard is that the sale of these products have become illegal and they are sold in their own way illegally. However since it is dominated by two of the manufacturers, a standard does exist without a written rule for the quality of the boules. Industry as such is only between the two manufacturers. Q5. What will happen to competition in the longer term in this industry If the competition tries to produce the same kind of boules without improving upon the quality they will have a natural and slow death. Even if they sold the boules at much cheaper price, it may not be accepted by the players. Therefore if the competition wants to sustain and grow in the industry they should ideally, look it setting right their lacuna and build a better product to increase their market share. Case 3: Q1. Explain the changing pattern of supply in the cinema industry from 1946 onwards. The cinema industry in 1945 Briton has been booming when it was in its peak of 1.645 billion admissions in 4600 theaters. The initial high admissions during the 1945 to 1950 period is primarily due to the new trend in entertainment set by these theaters. People seem to love it and wanted to have all of it and more. The growing trend gradually declined. One of the major contributors to the steady decline is the television and the increased viewer ship that it brought along. The TV was the theater in every one's living room. The

Comparative negligence of a child Essay Example for Free

Comparative negligence of a child Essay Sowhat do you think about this defense? Do you think its viable? Are there other things to consider?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Unfortunately, it is a viable defense.   At least there are legal precedents and provisions for contributory negligence.   But i always that defense was mostly used in business to business contract disputes.   I thought it worked this way: if company A hires company B to do, say, a financial audit.   If company A doesn’t give B all of its records, and then sues them for giving the wrong audit position, then company contributed to the wrongdoing by NOT giving company B the records it needed. Also, considering that this is a 7 year old, the question becomes what 7 year old is beyond negligence.   As adults we have a higher responsibility than children.   I would say that only adults can truly be guilty of contributory negligence.   The main thing to consider is that the driver was drunk.   What could any 7 year old (or 17 or 70 year old) do to ward off a drunk driver.   If he lost control due to his drunkeness there was nothing that child could have done except stay in the house.   And that is unreasonable.   No jury should award in their favor or against the defendant. Pre-Judgment versus Post-Judgment Interest (Response Question) Make sense?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The interest makes sense.   What doesn’t make sense is that there is no precedent or clarification on how the interest is actually calculated.   That is where a good lawyer comes in.   He/she would have to specify how they want it done in the initial lawsuit.   I think that interest on awarded damages gives the recipient an opportunity to be compensated for the time it takes to complete the suit and transfer the money. After 4 years the interest really isn’t pocket money, it is just adjusting the award for inflation.   The other thing interest does is allow you to get more money than would normally be allowed in a particular type of lawsuit.   I think that courts should make uniform rules for the interest rate that can be awarded on specific cases, and set rules on how it will be calculated to prevent further bickering between the parties, and further appeals over the interest that has to be paid.

Oscilloscope The most useful instrument

Oscilloscope The most useful instrument INTRODUCTION Cathode Ray Oscilloscope (CRO): An oscilloscope is easily the most useful instrument available for testing circuits because it allows you to see the signals at different points in the circuit. The best way of investigating an electronic system is to monitor signals at the input and output of each system block, checking that each block is operating as expected and is correctly linked to the next. With a little practice, we will be able to find and correct faults quickly and accurately. The symbol for a CRO: The screen of a CRO is very similar to a TV, except it is much simpler. We will not go into the similarities except to say that the picture tube on a TV and the screen on a CRO are both a special type of valve called a Cathode Ray Tube. It is a vacuum tube with a cathode (negative electrode) at one end that emits electrons and anodes (positive electrodes) to accelerate the electron beam up/down and left/right to hit a phosphor coating at the end of the tube, called the screen. The electrons are called cathode rays because they are emitted by the cathode and this gives the oscilloscope its full name: Cathode Ray Oscilloscope or CRO. CRO IN DETAIL The main part of the C.R.O. is a highly evacuated glass tube housing parts which generates a beam of electrons, accelerates them, shapes them into a narrow beam, and provides external connections to the sets of plates for changing the direction of the beam. Internal Components K, an indirectly heated cathode which provides a source of electrons for the beam by boiling them out of the cathode. P, the anode (or plate) which is circular with a small central hole. The potential of P creates an electric field which accelerates the electrons, some of which emerge from the hole as a fine beam. This beam lies along the central axis of the tube. G, the grid. Controlling the potential of the grid controls the number of electrons for the beam, and hence the intensity of the spot on the screen where the beam hits. F, the focusing cylinder. This aids in concentrating the electron beam into a thin straight line much as a lens operates in optics. X, Y, deflection plate pairs. The X plates are used for deflecting the beam left to right (the x direction) by means of the ramp voltage. The Y plates are used for deflection of the beam in the vertical direction. Voltages on the X and Y sets of plates determine where the beam will strike the screen and cause a spot of light. S, the screen. This is coated on the inside with a material which fluoresces with green light (usually) where the electrons are striking. As well as this tube, there are several electronic circuits required to operate the tube, all within the C.R.O. along with the tube: A power supply, operated from the 110 volt 60 cycle per second electrical mains. This supply provides all the voltages required for the different circuits within the C.R.O. for operation of the tube. A sawtooth, or ramp signal generator which makes the spot move left to right on the screen. External controls for this circuit allow variation of the sweep width, and the frequency of the sweep signal. Because of the persistence of our vision, this sweep is often fast enough that what we see on the screen is a continuous horizontal line. Amplifiers for the internally generated ramp signal, and for the unknown signal which we hook up to the C.R.O. for the purpose of displaying it. Shift devices which allow us to control the mean position of the beam; up or down, or left to right. The synchroniser circuit. This circuit allows us to synchronise the unknown signal with the ramp signal such that the resulting display is a nice clear signal like a snapshot of the unknown voltage vs. time. C.R.O. Operation: Typical front-panel controls Front Panel On-off switch. INTENS. This is the intensity control connected to the grid G to control the beam intensity and hence the brightness of the screen spots. Dont run the intensity too high, just bright enough for clear visibility. Always have the spot sweeping left to right or the beam may burn a hole in the screen. FOCUS allows you to obtain a clearly defined line on the screen. POSITION allows you to adjust the vertical position of the waveform on the screen. (There is one of these for each channel). AMPL/DIV. is a control of the Y (i.e. vertical) amplitude of the signal on the screen.(There is one of these for each channel). AC/DC switch. This should be left in the DC position unless you cannot get a signal on-screen otherwise. (There is one of these for each channel). AB/ADD switch. This allows you to display both input channels separately or to combine them into one. +/- switch. This allows you to invert the B channel on the display. Channel A input Channel B input X POSITION these allow you to adjust the horizontal position of the signals on the screen. LEVEL this allows you to determine the trigger level; i.e. the point of the waveform at which the ramp voltage will begin in time base mode. ms/ µs This defines the multiplication factor for the horizontal scale in timebase mode. (See 15 below.) MAGN The horizontal scale units are to be multiplied by this setting in both timebase and xy modes. To avoid confusion, leave it at x1 unless you really need to change it. Time/Div This selector controls the frequency at which the beam sweeps horizontally across the screen in time base mode, as well as whether the oscilloscope is in timebase mode or xy (x VIA A) mode. This switch has the following positions: (a) X VIA A In this position, an external signal connected to input A is used in place of the internally generated ramp. (This is also known as xy mode.) (b) .5, 1, 2, 5, etc. Here the internally generated ramp voltage will repeat such that each large (cm) horizontal division corresponds to .5, 1, 2, 5, etc. ms. or  µs depending on the multiplier and magnitude settings. (Note also the x1/x5 switch in 14 above.) The following controls are for triggering of the scope, and only have an effect in timebase mode. A/B selector. This allows you to choose which signal to use for triggering. -/+ will force the ramp signal to synchronise its starting time to either the decreasing or increasing part of the unknown signal you are studying. INT/EXT This will determine whether the the ramp will be synchronised to the signal chosen by the A/B switch or by whatever signal is applied to the EXT. SYNC. input. (See 21 below.) AC/TV selectors. Ive never figured out what this does; find whichever position works. External trigger input INTRODUCTION FUNCTION GENERATOR A function generator is a device that can produce various patterns of voltage at a variety of frequencies and amplitudes. It is used to test the response of circuits to common input signals. The electrical leads from the device are attached to the ground and signal input terminals of the device under test. Most function generators allow the user to choose the shape of the output from a small number of options. Square wave The signal goes directly from high to low voltage. Sine wave The signal curves like a sinusoid from high to low voltage. Triangle wave The signal goes from high to low voltage at a fixed rate. The amplitude control on a function generator varies the voltage difference between the high and low voltage of the output signal. The direct current (DC) offset control on a function generator varies the average voltage of a signal relative to the ground. The frequency control of a function generator controls the rate at which output signal oscillates. On some function generators, the frequency control is a combination of different controls. One set of controls chooses the broad frequency range (order of magnitude) and the other selects the precise frequency. This allows the function generator to handle the enormous variation in frequency scale needed for signals. The duty cycle of a signal refers to the ratio of high voltage to low voltage time in a square wave signal. FUNCTION OF FUNCTION GENERATOR Analog function generators usually generate a triangle waveform as the basis for all of its other outputs. The triangle is generated by repeatedly charging and discharging a capacitor from a constant current source. This produces a linearly ascending or descending voltage ramp. As the output voltage reaches upper and lower limits, the charging and discharging is reversed using a comparator, producing the linear triangle wave. By varying the current and the size of the capacitor, different frequencies may be obtained. A 50% duty cycle square wave is easily obtained by noting whether the capacitor is being charged or discharged, which is reflected in the current switching comparators output. Most function generators also contain a non-linear diode shaping circuit that can convert the triangle wave into a reasonably accurate sine wave. It does so by rounding off the hard corners of the triangle wave in a process similar to clipping in audio systems. The type of output connector from the device depends on the frequency range of the generator. A typical function generator can provide frequencies up to 20 MHz and uses a BNC connector, usually requiring a 50 or 75 ohm termination. Specialised RF generators are capable of gigahertz frequencies and typically use N-type output connectors. Function generators, like most signal generators, may also contain an attenuator, various means of modulating the output waveform, and often the ability to automatically and repetitively sweep the frequency of the output waveform (by means of a voltage-controlled oscillator) between two operator-determined limits. This capability makes it very easy to evaluate the frequency response of a given electronic circuit. Some function generators can also generate white or pink noise. More advanced function generators use Direct Digital Synthesis (DDS) to generate waveforms. Arbitrary waveform generators use DDS to generate any waveform that can be described by a table of amplitude values. REFERENCE http://www.doctronics.co.uk/scope.htm http://www.9h1mrl.org/workshop/CRO-Ebook-1/html/CRO-P1-Intro.html http://denethor.wlu.ca/pc200/scope/oscilloscope.pdf http://cnx.org/content/m11895/latest/

Puritan effect on Literature Essay -- essays research papers

Literature has always revealed a great deal about the attitudes and beliefs of different cultures. Puritan authors in the late 17th and early 18th centuries wrote poems, persuasive speeches, stories, and first hand accounts that reveal their thoughts, feelings, and beliefs. Described especially was the Puritan’s deep regard for religion and their fear and love of God. William Bradford’s Of Plymouth Plantation was written in 1630 as a description of Bradford’s experiences in the New World. The main purpose of his account was to persuade those who remained in England to come to America. He described in detail the benefits of religious freedom. Religion played an extremely important role in the lives of early Puritans. Bradford described how God helps the Pilgrims make their way safely across the perilous waters to safety. He wrote: â€Å"†¦they fell upon their knees and blessed the God of Heaven who had brought them over the vast and furious ocean†¦again to set their feet on the firm and stable earth†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Bradford was appealing to the high interest in God’s divine intervention amongst the people. Bradford also described in his documentation the sickness and famine faced by the people and the communal effort to help the suffering. Bradford said: â€Å"†¦in the time of most distress, there was but six or seven sound persons who to their great commendations, be it spoke, spared no pains night or day, but with abundance of toil and hazard of their own health, fetched them wood, made them fire...

tempcolon Essay on European Colonization in The Tempest

The Theme of European Colonization in The Tempest  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries were distinguished times, in which new thoughts and great legends were being born and Europe was changing. People were seeing their world in a new, dazzling light. Humanity's greatest writers, scientists, and composers were beginning to share their gifts. However, underneath these artistic overtones were the political changes, too. There was a New World out there, and its potential was undefined and many countries overlooked its capabilities. England, on the other hand, had placed its foot firmly into the foundation of the New World, and the footprint left behind influenced both the countries' possibilities, and the artists' works.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One classic example of this is Shakespeare's plays. Many of them had analogies relating to the future of the European colonies, but one work exposed Shakespeare's true thoughts so well that it has been the basis for many studies. This work is titled The Tempest, and it has been scrutinized and analyzed all through its enduring 387-year life. Throughout its existence, it has inspired and enlightened its readers. Contemporary insight now offers new possibilities to understand its inner workings. English colonization and other settlements in the Americas, along with critical analyses, can reveal the underlying clues within The Tempest that will help us understand Shakespeare's conceptualization of the events and characters in his play.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   English colonization in North America, what would eventually establish our beloved United States of America, has been thought to have influenced England's greatest writers, especially Shakespeare. Evidence is provided through a well-kn... ... but a necessary one. This is a sign of hope for our universal endeavor to obtain a greater, more intelligent mankind.    Works Cited and Consulted: Alan Durband. (Ed.) (1984). The Tempest. Hauppauge, New York: Barron's Educational Series Inc. Deborah Willis, 'Shakespeare's Tempest and the Discourse of Colonialism', Studies in English Literature 1500-1900, 29, no.2, (1989) Eric Cheyfitz, The Poetics of Imperialism: Translation and Colonization from The Tempest to Tarzan, (Oxford University Press, 1991) Ritchie, D. and Broussar, A. (1997). American History: The Early Years to 1877. New York: Glencoe Kanoff, Acott. (1998). Your Study Guide to William Shakespeare: The Tempest. Cleveland: The Cleveland Play House Education Department William Shakespeare, The Tempest, ed. Frank Kermode, with an introduction by Frank Kermode, (Arden, 1964) tempcolon Essay on European Colonization in The Tempest The Theme of European Colonization in The Tempest  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries were distinguished times, in which new thoughts and great legends were being born and Europe was changing. People were seeing their world in a new, dazzling light. Humanity's greatest writers, scientists, and composers were beginning to share their gifts. However, underneath these artistic overtones were the political changes, too. There was a New World out there, and its potential was undefined and many countries overlooked its capabilities. England, on the other hand, had placed its foot firmly into the foundation of the New World, and the footprint left behind influenced both the countries' possibilities, and the artists' works.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One classic example of this is Shakespeare's plays. Many of them had analogies relating to the future of the European colonies, but one work exposed Shakespeare's true thoughts so well that it has been the basis for many studies. This work is titled The Tempest, and it has been scrutinized and analyzed all through its enduring 387-year life. Throughout its existence, it has inspired and enlightened its readers. Contemporary insight now offers new possibilities to understand its inner workings. English colonization and other settlements in the Americas, along with critical analyses, can reveal the underlying clues within The Tempest that will help us understand Shakespeare's conceptualization of the events and characters in his play.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   English colonization in North America, what would eventually establish our beloved United States of America, has been thought to have influenced England's greatest writers, especially Shakespeare. Evidence is provided through a well-kn... ... but a necessary one. This is a sign of hope for our universal endeavor to obtain a greater, more intelligent mankind.    Works Cited and Consulted: Alan Durband. (Ed.) (1984). The Tempest. Hauppauge, New York: Barron's Educational Series Inc. Deborah Willis, 'Shakespeare's Tempest and the Discourse of Colonialism', Studies in English Literature 1500-1900, 29, no.2, (1989) Eric Cheyfitz, The Poetics of Imperialism: Translation and Colonization from The Tempest to Tarzan, (Oxford University Press, 1991) Ritchie, D. and Broussar, A. (1997). American History: The Early Years to 1877. New York: Glencoe Kanoff, Acott. (1998). Your Study Guide to William Shakespeare: The Tempest. Cleveland: The Cleveland Play House Education Department William Shakespeare, The Tempest, ed. Frank Kermode, with an introduction by Frank Kermode, (Arden, 1964)

Bullies :: Free Essay Writer

Bullies Upon reading last Sunday’s issue of the newspaper, then scanning the Editorial Pages my eyes were drawn to thick black letters entitling a column â€Å"Time to pick on bullies†. This editorial of Bill Thompson immediately laid claim that after a school shooting, news follows that the shooter was â€Å"bullied† by fellow students. Seeing where this topic was headed, I was intrigued to read on. After a short reminiscent review of how kids used to either tolerate the ridiculer, or as Mr. Thompson wrote, resort to an â€Å"old fashioned schoolyard fist fight.† He then began fortifying his stand on the issue. Three schools, which, fell victim to such a crime as a school shooting were used as examples. The first, Santana High School in Santee, California. Secondly he mentioned a Catholic school in Williamsport, Pa. And finally, the school which broke in this sick trend, Columbine High school in Colorado. Now, by this point I was wondering if I had picked the wrong columnist, but out of nowhere I saw his whole case fall apart. He writes, and I quote, â€Å"We are ready, willing, and able to blame the epidemic of school shootings on the right to bare arms, on the shooters parents, on violent music, video games and TV shows. Why don’t we want to place some blame on the bullies who drive these kids to murder?† It was after reading that statement that I knew I’d picked a winner. I mean, was this guy serious? To place blame on our right to bare arms makes for good sense because it answers the question of how these kids are arming themselves. As for blaming the shooters parents, that topic alone spans the spectrum of parented morality. Our environment growing up whether it is where we live, to how our parents cared for us, all aspects of our childhood good or bad carry with us through life eventually molding us into adults. And when it comes to the level of violence in music, video games, and television that simply boils down to parental decision. The entertainment industry rarely slows its money machine to consider the welfare of its listeners and viewers. To be perfectly honest, I don’t feel it should have to. These quotes left me even more aggravated at how society is viewing this problem. It’s as though they’re reaching for explanations as to why. Well how will we ever be able to answer that? Bullies :: Free Essay Writer Bullies Upon reading last Sunday’s issue of the newspaper, then scanning the Editorial Pages my eyes were drawn to thick black letters entitling a column â€Å"Time to pick on bullies†. This editorial of Bill Thompson immediately laid claim that after a school shooting, news follows that the shooter was â€Å"bullied† by fellow students. Seeing where this topic was headed, I was intrigued to read on. After a short reminiscent review of how kids used to either tolerate the ridiculer, or as Mr. Thompson wrote, resort to an â€Å"old fashioned schoolyard fist fight.† He then began fortifying his stand on the issue. Three schools, which, fell victim to such a crime as a school shooting were used as examples. The first, Santana High School in Santee, California. Secondly he mentioned a Catholic school in Williamsport, Pa. And finally, the school which broke in this sick trend, Columbine High school in Colorado. Now, by this point I was wondering if I had picked the wrong columnist, but out of nowhere I saw his whole case fall apart. He writes, and I quote, â€Å"We are ready, willing, and able to blame the epidemic of school shootings on the right to bare arms, on the shooters parents, on violent music, video games and TV shows. Why don’t we want to place some blame on the bullies who drive these kids to murder?† It was after reading that statement that I knew I’d picked a winner. I mean, was this guy serious? To place blame on our right to bare arms makes for good sense because it answers the question of how these kids are arming themselves. As for blaming the shooters parents, that topic alone spans the spectrum of parented morality. Our environment growing up whether it is where we live, to how our parents cared for us, all aspects of our childhood good or bad carry with us through life eventually molding us into adults. And when it comes to the level of violence in music, video games, and television that simply boils down to parental decision. The entertainment industry rarely slows its money machine to consider the welfare of its listeners and viewers. To be perfectly honest, I don’t feel it should have to. These quotes left me even more aggravated at how society is viewing this problem. It’s as though they’re reaching for explanations as to why. Well how will we ever be able to answer that?

Metaphysical Poetry and John Donne Essay

Define metaphysical poetry, its characteristics and John Donne as a metaphysical poet. The concept metaphysical deals with the philosophical view of the nature of things. Metaphysical poetry is often mentioned as poetry inspired by a philosophical concept of the universe and the role assigned to the human spirit in the great drama of existence. Metaphysical poetry is involved with the whole experience of man, but the intelligence, learning and seriousness of the poets. Metaphysical poetry has an amazing power to explore and express ideas and feelings about the world and its diverse phenomena in a rational way to captivate the readers. Metaphysical poems are lyric poems. A group of 17th-century poets, whose work is characterized by the use of complex and elaborate images or conceits, typically using an intellectual form of argumentation to express emotional states are denoted as metaphysical poets. Members of this group include John Donne, George Herbert, Henry Vaughan, Andrew Marvell, Robert Herrick and Richard Crashaw who explored the nature of the world and human life, and who used images that were surprising at that time. Their poetic works have been abundant with the various perspectives of human life especially – like love, romance and sensuality; about man’s relationship with God – the eternal perspective, and to a less extent, about pleasure, learning and art. The metaphysical poetry presents innovative and wondrous use of puns, paradoxes and employs cunning logical propositions; Metaphysical poem is brief but intense and embodies a style that is energetic and vigorous. A metaphysical poem is an expanded epigram, characterized by the striking use of wit and irony. Metaphysical poetry demands concentration. Moreover a metaphysical conceit makes the poetry more vibrant and notable. It is largely used to make a comparison of cleverness and justice and its invention is often more impressive than its justness. A metaphysical conceit is used to persuade, or to define, or to prove a point that’s why the metaphysical poetry is usually argumentative and persuasive. A metaphysical poet attempts to establish a logical connection between his emotional feelings and intellectual concepts with the help of far-fetched imagery. The clever placement of unlike imagery, thought and emotions, contrasting pair of statements and unifying altogether makes it extraordinary. According to Ben Johnson; â€Å"the metaphysical poets showcase their knowledge and intelligence in their poetry. † The metaphysical poets play with thoughts as the Elizabethans had played with words which clearly show the wit and intellect of poets. The controlled flow of emotions is the exhibition of the potential the poets carry to express feelings in controlled language. Metaphors, similes and personifications are significant elements of metaphysical poetry. In addition to this a combination of sensibility portrays the marvelous fusion of head and heart, of intellect and emotion, of thought and passion. The metaphysical poets harmonized thoughts, reasoning, feelings and images. Being successful at merging diverse fields, metaphysical poetry also contains a sense of humour though it is not laughable but it brings a smile to the reader’s face. Metaphysical poetry is usually a dramatic monolog, the poet is addressed to the audience like in drama and every idea is for the audience. Furthermore the abrupt openings of metaphysical poetry are therefore an attraction which creates an interest for the readers. The metaphysical poets were more interested in the use of intricate rhythm, realism and obscurity. Joan Bennet observes that in the case of Donne and his circle, the term that â€Å"metaphysical actually refers to the style rather than subject matter†. John Donne (1572-1631) was inclined to the personal and intellectual complexity and concentration that is displayed in his poetry. He is acknowledged as the master of metaphysical poetry. John Donne was Born in London into a prosperous Roman Catholic family, at a time when England was staunchly anti-Catholic, Donne was forced to leave Oxford without a degree because of his religion. He studied law and, at the same time, read widely in theology in an attempt to decide whether the Roman or the Anglican Church was the true Catholic Church . In the meantime, he became known as a witty man of the world and the author of original, often dense, erotic poems. Donne participated in two naval expeditions, he was briefly sent to prison for secretly marrying his patron’s niece. In 1615, at the age of forty-two, Donne accepted ordination in the Anglican Church. He quickly earned a reputation as one of the greatest preachers of his time. He was Dean of St. Paul’s since 1621 until his death. John Donne is regarded as both the pioneer and the chief spokesman of metaphysical poetry. The importance of his innovation was recognized by Thomas Carew, who praised Donne as the monarch of wit who ‘purged’ /’The Muses’ Garden’, threw away ‘the loose seeds / Of Servile imitation †¦ And fresh invention planted’. But his poetry is also difficult and complicated. Donne adopts different oles and postures – the libertine rake, the devoted and constant lover and the cynic who feels cheated by his experience in love, the despairing sinner fearing damnation, and bold suitor, claiming his right to salvation. His poetry expresses radically contradictory views – of women, the body, and love. Donne’s poetry about love and about his relation to God invites connections with his personal life, yet it resists attempts to read it biographically. His seventeenth-century biographer, Izaak Walton, assigned the secular love poetry to the youthful Donne and the religious poetry to the mature priest. His notable works are The Good-Morrow, The Sunne Rising, Death Be Not Proud, Batter My Heart, The Canonization, A Valediction Forbidding Mourning, A Nocturnall upon S. Lucies Day , Twicknam Garden and The Anniversarie . The Songs and Sonnets explore man’s relation with woman, seeing erotic love as one of the most important experiences of life. Donne’s love poetry describes passionate sexual love with vigor and intensity. There are far too many suitable poems to consider all in detail, but The Good-Morrow and The Sunne Rising belong together. Whereas the Elegies in their political language and analogies often connect love and the political world, here there is a sharper opposition between the two spheres. The private little room of love (the microcosm) contrasts with the outside world of princes, explorers, lawyers, and merchants, who are all preoccupied with material concerns. â€Å"The Good-morrow† is a complex poem which moves around two central metaphors, of a pair of lovers walking into a new life together and of new world created by their mutual love. John Donne gave a poetic status to a simple idea in an argumentative way in a three stanza structure. But the fluency of the stanza is leading to the brief penultimate line and final Alexandrine with its stately, measured quality. On (line-4) there is a reference to bible to the seven sleepers, /or snorted we in seven sleepers den/ metaphorically may be Donne and his beloved were sleeping. Furthermore in (lines 8-14) he claims that his experience of mutual love gives him a new perspective from which the rest of the world looks insignificant. The world of love contains everything of value; it is the only one worth exploring and possessing. Donne uses conceits and metaphors to exhibit his knowledge of geography, which is evident by the reference to the sea voyagers, that the lovers are not interested in the new worlds and discoveries, they are happy with each other and they don’t want anything else. /Let sea-discoverers to new worlds have gone, / Let maps to others, worlds on worlds have shown, / Let us possess one world, each hath one, and is one/. While the following lines /Where can we find two better hemispheres/Without sharp north, without declining west? Compares the world of the lovers in the geographical world that our world is full of love and our love for each other is true and never ending. Love creates its own perfect world, combined of two better hemispheres. Donne’s keen interest in discovering, links him with important concerns of his age. The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries were a time of exploration, both scientific and geographical. England also saw the emergence of modern, experimental science. The New World was being explored, and astronomical observations by Copernicus, Kepler, and Galileo led to the discovery of a new order of the heavens. Donne telescoped images and draws references from diverse spheres of cosmology, geography, science, philosophy, alchemy, theology, sea-voyages, mythology, religion, law and even from colonial enterprise so far as Britain was then emerging as the greatest empire through colonial expansion in different countries. Certain images or ideas recur so often as to seem typical: kingship and rule; subjectivism (â€Å"one little room an everywhere† â€Å"nothing else is†); alchemy – especially the mystical beliefs associated with elixir and quintessence and cosmology, both ancient and modern (references both to spheres and to the world of â€Å"sea-discoverers†). Another love sonnet by Donne â€Å"The Sun Rising† is a dramatic monologue addressed to the sun and the beloved. Here Donne uses personification metaphors and similes to make it interesting and attractive. Sun and ants are personified and different images are used (lines 5-10) like schoolboys, factory workers, huntsman, life of London and the royal class. There is a conceit where beloved’s beautiful eyes are compared to India (undiscovered beauty) and the sun can see that if India is as beautiful as his beloved’s eyes or his beloved’s eyes are more beautiful, this far-fetched conceit illustrates Donne’s wit and intellect. There is a metaphor where the beloved is compared to the states and princess/she is all states, and all princes, I, nothing else/ it gives the idea that for the poet, the beloved is the entire world, royalty, majestic and grand and maybe the sun also believes that. Hence the microcosmic world of love becomes larger and more important than the macrocosm. /Princes doe†¦. All wealth alchimie/ here poet says that his beloved’s beauty is copied by princess and further a metaphor express that she is more honorable and worthy than wealth and gold and their love is all the wealth for them. The concluding couplet/ Shine here to us, and thou art everywhere/ This bed thy centre is, these walls, thy sphere/ brings forth a cosmic imagery to show how the microcosmic world of the lovers symbolizes the macrocosmic world. Donne’s Divine Poems explore the man’s relation with God, often describing it in terms of human love, and seeking to discover the true relation between man’s love for God that promises salvation. Even with his Divine Poems exploring religious experience, Donne seeks to understand the relation between erotic and spiritual love. In Donne’s Divine Poems the sense of sinfulness is so great that the speaker insists it will take extraordinary efforts on God’s part to save him. The demands for an intense, intimate relation with God are often couched in erotic language. Perhaps the most startling poem is the sonnet ‘Batter my heart, three person’d God’, in which the speaker metaphorically says that he is like a woman who loves one man (God) but is betrothed to another (Satan), and wants to be rescued, even by force. It’s a paradoxical poem with conceits and metaphors and one of the best known in his holy sonnets. On (line 5-8) a conceit is used where the poet is comparing himself to a town which is conquered by enemies and he wants God to come to him and dominate him. Donne took ideas from the bible and Christian priests in his holy sonnets. Death Be Not Proud is Donne’s another argumentative poem, that death is not all-powerful, since it must eventually give way to eternal life, we fear as death is (for Christian believer) only form of sleep from which we have to awake on the day of judgment, when death will be abolished. There is a reference to (Jesus Christ) in last 3 lines of (Death Be Not Proud) and the idea is taken from bible as he wants forgiveness with blood as each drop of Christ’s blood is salvation /why swell’st thou†¦ death, thou shalt die/. The argument of the poem is that. There is another reference to the flood in Noah’s time/from rest and sleepe, †¦ rest of their soules deliverie/(lines5-9). Donne in A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning compares the lovers with a pair of compasses. Such a far-fetched comparison to show the affinity and relationship of the lovers in terms of compasses is indeed astounding for which Samuel Johnson describes metaphysical conceit as a combination of dissimilar images or discovery of occult resemblances in things apparently. Again in Twicknam Garden Donne makes another brilliant use of conceit whose ingenuity, Helen Gardner considers, is more striking than its justice: ? The spider Love, which transubstantiates all/ And can convert manna to gall. In Donne’s poetry we will also examine a sudden dramatic beginning and finer exertion of colloquial language, as exemplified in the abrupt, conversational opening of The Canonization where the poet-lover admonishes the intruder in a colloquial tone for hampering their privacy: ? For God‘s sake hold your tongue, and let me love, / Or chide my palsy, or my gout/ My five gray hairs, or ruined fortune flout?. If we keenly observe, we will find that many of the tensions and contradictions in Donne’s poetry can be seen as deriving from wanting to satisfy conflicting human needs and desires. Some poems like ‘The Indifferent’ or ‘Community’ insist on male independence and autonomy in erotic relations. Others like ‘The Sun Rising’ or ‘The Canonization’ show a strong desire for intimacy. Donne’s poetry thus expresses the instability and infinity of human desire. For all its various attitudes, what is so wonderful about Donne is that, for all his realistic assessment of those limits, and for all the admissions of guilt about his immoderate desires, he never gives up wanting — and asking for -more. There are some other well-known contemporaries of John Donne like Andrew Marvell (1621–78), who is one of the English metaphysical poets. Among his best-known poems is To His Coy Mistress, a clever and entertaining attempt to persuade a young woman to go to bed with him there is an explicit argument of this poem. Other works of Andrew Marvell include The Coronet, Bermudas, The Definition of Love and The Garden. Henry Vaughan (1621-1695) is another metaphysical poet, who wrote The Retreate, The World, Man and â€Å"They Are All Gone into the World of Light†. In The Retreate, Vaughan notes that â€Å"shadows of eternity are seen by him in natural phenomena such as clouds or flowers. His works express one’s personal relationship to God. George Herbert another worth mentioning English poet and priest, is one of the metaphysical poets who dealt with religious themes such as doubt, suffering and joy, using simple language and metaphors. Herbert’s poetry is elegant as the result of art as a cultivated expression, but not forced, spiritual humility. He wrote Jordan in which there is religious devotion versus secular love, other works are The Pearl, The Collar, Discipline and Love. Following the steps of John Donne, Richard Crashaw (1613-1649) wrote many metaphysical poems like EpigrammaticumSacrorum Liber, Steps to the Temple, Delights of the Muses, Carmen Deo Nostro and that’s why he is also short listed among the brilliant and illustrious metaphysical poets. His collection The Temple was published after his death. All these legends have played an important role in the survival of metaphysical poetry. Lastly, I will mention that metaphysical poetry gives us a new dimension to create a far-fetched link with the help of metaphysical conceits, which stimulates us to think beyond the surface level and show our wit and shrewdness. I would praise all the metaphysical poets, for their commendable job and setting a new trend in English poetry. The tremendous versatility of Donne and his contemporaries paved the way for future generations to produce something as grand as metaphysical poetry. Metaphysical poetry has its great importance in English literature due to its vivacious imagery and attractive techniques. Indeed, metaphysical poetry is a milestone achievement for metaphysical poets; it’s worth reading and worth admiring.

Process Design & Analysis

A Process can be defined as a collection of equipment, methods, people, and systems used together to produce the products/ services required. A Process Strategy in an organization’s approach is to transform resources into goods and services. The objective of the process strategy is to build a process that meets customer requirements and product specifications within cost and other managerial constraint. The process selected will have a long term effect on efficiency and flexibility of production, as well as on cost and quality of goods produced. Therefore much of the company’s operations strategy is provided at the time of process decision. Within a given facility, several strategies may be used. These strategies are often classified as: Fig. 1 Process-Focused Repetitive-Focused Product focused Process-Focused Strategy The characteristics: facilities are organized by process, similar processes are together (example: all drill presses are together), low volume, high variety products, ‘Jumbled’ flow. Products follow many different paths. Other names for process focused strategy are intermittent process or Job shop. Process-Focused Strategy Examples: Machine Shop, Hospital, and Bank. Custom Woodworking shop Advantages: 1. Greater product flexibility 2. More general purpose equipment 3. Lower initial capital investment Disadvantages: 1. High variable costs 2. More highly trained personnel 3. More difficult production planning & control 4. Low equipment utilization (5% to 25%) Repetitive Focused Strategy Characteristics: Facilities often organized by assembly lines, Characterized by modules, Parts & assemblies are made previously; Modules are combined for many output options. Other names are Assembly line, Production line E. g. auto-manufacturing, personal computers, house-hold appliances, etc. Assembly line example Product focused strategy Characteristics: Facilities are organized by product which require High volume and low variety ; Conversion or further processing of undifferentiated materials such as petroleum, chemicals, or beer; Follows a predetermined sequence of steps, but flow is continuous rather than discrete – highly standardized. Also known as line flow production or continuous production. Examples include paper making, light bulbs, soft drinks, etc. Advantages 1. Lower production cost per unit 2. Lower but more specialized labour skills 3. Easier production planning and control 4. Higher equipment utilization (70% to 90%) Disadvantages 1. Lower product flexibility 2. More specialized equipment Types of flow system Continuous flow It is characterized by a streamlined flow of products in the operating system. The Conversion process begins with input of raw material at one end, progresses through the system in an orderly fashion to finally become finished goods at the final stage. Production process is sequential and the required resources are organized in stages. Examples are several chemical processing industries such as manufacture of Petrochemicals, steel, pharmaceutical, cement and glass. It ia also used in a discrete manufacturing industry high volume production of very few varieties (such as electrical bulbs or spark plugs) Intermittent flow It is characterized by mid-volume, mid-variety products/services. It increases the flow complexities. The flow and capacity balancing are difficult but important in intermittent type of flow system. Process industries use batch production methods while discrete industries use alternative methods of designing layout issues. The capacity estimation is hard and production planning & control is complex. Process design for intermittent flow in Discreet Manufacturing Jumbled Flow System It occurs on account of non-standard and complex flow patterns characteristic in certain systems. Items are highly customized here and customer orders for one or a few products. Operational complexity arising out of jumbled flow is high. Discrete manufacturing with Jumbled flow uses a Job Shop structure Examples are turnkey project executor such as BHEL or L&T, customized manufacturing systems such as PCB fabricators, sheet metal fabricators, tool room operators and printing and publishing. Process flow in job shops Complex issue is capacity management of jumbled flows 1. Considerable time is lost due to repeated setup of processes 2. Due to jumbled flow, crisscrossing of jobs in the system results in poor visibility. 3. Problems are often hidden and build up of work in process inventory takes place 4. Cost accounting and estimation systems are crucial as there is a constant need to quote for specific customer orders Process analysis and design Organizations have realized that the first step in achieving success is to analyse and define their operations processes. An operations process is a set of related activities that combine to deliver something of value to a customer or to the organization. There are a number of methods of analysing process designs. Some of them that are discussed here are Flow diagrams, Time-Process-Function mapping, Value stream mapping, process charts and service blue printing. Process flow chart A process flow chart is an instrument that visualises and analyses the various systems and procedures (e. g. delivery of services, decision-making, funds allocation, accountingand monitoring) within an organisation. What can you do with it? The flow chart analysis helps to identify the bottlenecks in the different processes within the organisation. It identifies unnecessary involvement of people, loopholes in decision making or unnecessary delays in the process. It assists to make the organisation more efficient in its operations. The process flow chart helps to design new processes for the primary process, support processes and supervisory processes, and helps to analyse the bottlenecks in existing procedures. It is very useful to help participants understand the interrelation of the work activities and to realise how the work of one person influences the others. Steps in making a process flow chart 0. Formulate the (sub-) question that you want to answer by making a process flowchart. Aims for which a process flow chart is suitable are: ? ? ? To decide how to optimise core processes (operational planning and strategic decision making) To prepare strategic choices, identifying strengths and weaknesses (step to strategic decision making) To judge organisation suitability and performance (to make funding and programme positioning decisions) 0. Define the field of analysis. Decide whether you depict: ? ? ? ? ? Current practice (daily practice; the informal reality) Current design (how it should happen according to ‘the books’) Redesign (establishing the desired process) Clearly distinguish current practice from current design and/or redesign Analyse the redesign (and even current design) only after the current practice 1. Choose the process. ? ? ? ? Which process are you going to analyse? Unique or standard Define the starting point Specify the outcome/result of the process 2. Describe the process as indicated below, using the indicated symbolism: ? ? ? State the start and end point (outcome/result) Divide the process in 5-10 activities of the same level of analysis. If you have more than 10 steps: Cluster them or Make more than one flow chart Identify decision moments. Describe these decision moments inyes/no questions. Check that both the â€Å"Yes†-side and the â€Å"No†-side have a follow-up activity (arrow that leads somewhere), ifthat is reality. For example: Proposal approved? Yes: Proceed + Send confirmation to client No: File the proposal + Inform client with reasons ? Identify the responsible person/unit for each activity (this may not be the same as the implementing person). All activities/decision moments that follow the symbol are the responsibility of the person/unit indicated. Therefore, if the responsible person/unit stays the same, you need not repeat the in-charge. ? Identify the information coming into the process and all information going out of the process. The arrows of the connecting lines indicate whether the information is going in or out ? Connect the symbols with arrows that indicate the flow of the process. Include loops to show that an earlier activity should be repeated 3. Add key information and write it next to the activities/decisions or arrows ? ? Volume: The quantity of the product or service you process in a certain period of time. This indicates the magnitude of the subject Time/Cost: The average or annual time/cost (expenditure) involved in each activity (write next to step). This indicates the organisation efficiency Duration: The (average) time that passes between two steps (write next to arrow). This indicates the responsive ness to clients 4. Identify possible bottlenecks. Ask questions like: ? ? ? Why does the activity/decision take place? Why does the activity/decision take place at this point in the sequence? Why does the activity/decision (or the time between them) take the time it takes? ? ? ? ? ? (Why) is the activity/decision difficult to carry out? Why is this person responsible for this activity/decision? Who co-ordinates and supervises at different moments? What is the effect of external (information, input, and means) dependencies? What are the risks (what can go wrong) in the activity/decision? 5. Assess options for improvements. Check each option considering: ? ? ? ? Can you leave out activities, decision points or information? Can you combine/change activities, decision points or information? Can you simplify activities, decision points or information? Can you change the responsible person? 6. Evaluate improvements, considering whether the options result in: ? ? ? ? ? Less effort (better methods, upgraded staff, better means and inputs) needed Less time (better sequence or screening, less rejection) needed Better quality service/product (better guidelines, control) Less resources (optimising expenses and quality) needed Better working conditions (more safety, fulfilment, less stress) 7. Draw conclusions, in relation to your (sub-) question. Write strengths and weaknesses (judged from the point of view of your question) on green and red cards respectively. Figure below shows a process flow chart for electrical fittings manufacturing. Time based process mapping (TBPM) Process mapping allows the identification of business processes, organisational roles and financial accountabilities, and how these inter-relate between functions, with a view to their subsequent re-engineering and improvement. However, conventional process mapping techniques do not focus on the important metric of time. Time Based Process Mapping is a tool for visually representing and analysing the key interconnecting processes which collectively constitute the supply and manufacturing chain in relation to the consumption of time. It must be emphasised that TBPM is quite different from the traditional ‘Time and Motion' studies as practised by generations of Industrial Engineers. TBPM concentrates on the speed of progression of specific components through the production cycle, whilst time and motion studies are only concerned with the labour output and utilisation rates of employees. Time Based Competition Time-based companies reduce cost indirectly through compressing time. When a company attacks time directly, the first benefits to show up are usually shorter cycle time and faster inventory turns. So when a company goes after time reduction in the right way, it tends to get both time and cost out. The reverse is not always so. Successful companies have shifted the focus of their source of manufacturing compete over the past few decades. Time Based Competitive Advantage The increased emphasis over the past few years on, the Order Winning Criteria of delivery time can be considered to be a new competitive paradigm. The subject of ever shortening product lifecycles and rapid market obsolescence has received considerable academic attention and a wealth of literature has been published. The compression of time provides organisations with a distinct competitive cost advantage. Companies discover that costs do not increase when lead times are reduced – they decline. Costs do not increase with greater investment in quality-they decrease and also costs do not go up as product variety increases and response times reduce – they go down. Key features of organisations that compress time are that they place high emphasis on: customer focus, responsiveness, R&D and innovation. Objectives of TBPM The three main objectives of TBPM are to: i) ii) iii) Fully define and simplify the production route, Compress the production cycle time, and Reduce the non value adding activities & Increase the value adding proportions of the process. What data is necessary? Key questions that need to be asked to gather the required data are: i) ii) iii) iv) v) vi) vii) What is the process? Where does it start and finish? How long does it actually take from the first input to the last output? Does the process require a decision, how long does it take? How long should it take? How much time is spent on queuing prior to being processed? How much time is spent on rework? The figure below shows the service blueprint for Overnight Hotel Stay Service Process Charts The charting of work flows, working processes, systems and procedures is a useful way of recording the essential features of a work situation for subsequent analysis. Process Charts are one of the simpler forms of workflow charting and are still in regular usage but are less common than they once were. A variety of process charts have been designed to meet the needs of a particular level or stage of analysis; they can be used at a detailed level (recording activity at a specific work station or workplace), but also at the wider system, process or procedure level. The different kinds of process chart share a common core set of symbols, though some have additional symbols for specific and specialised process steps. The common symbols (of hich there are only five) were first promulgated by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and have become known as the ASME symbols. OPERATION: a main step, where the part, material or product is usually modified or changed INSPECTION: indicates a check for quality or quantity TRANSPORT: the movement of workers, materials or equipment STORAGE: controlled storage in which material is received into or issued fr om a store, or an item is reference purposes DELAY or TEMPORARY STORAGE: indicates a delay in the process, or an object laid aside until required These symbols are simply linked together in a vertical chart representing the key stages in a process; it is usual to place a commentary in an adjoining column recording contextual/environmental information. e. g. against a Transport symbol would be recorded, start of journey, end of journey, distance and mode of transport. The simplest form of process chart is known as an outline process chart and records an overview or outline of a process. Only those steps of a process that can be represented by the ASME symbols of operation and inspection are recorded. An outline process chart is often a useful first step to identify key areas of concern before recording (part of) the process in more detail. In a â€Å"full† process chart, where all symbols are used, it is common to chart the process from the â€Å"viewpoint† of the material being processed, the worker carrying out the work or, less commonly, a piece of equipment. Thus, the same symbols can be used in different ways. As a simple example, a piece of equipment can be represented on an equipment-type flow process chart as a delay because it is not in use; while a material-type flow process chart of he same process would show the material being transported to the next work station, and a man-type chart could show the operator involved in another operation on another machine. The chart to be used may be determined by the purpose of the investigation or by the relative costs involved in the process – a highly capital-intensive process may focus more attention on the equipment being used. Process charts may also be used at a more micro level of analysis. An example is the two-handed process chart which records the motions performed by both hands during a task. The sequence of motion of each hand is charted using the same symbols as before. There are slight changes to the meaning of the symbols, however. The delay symbol is used to indicate that the hand is waiting to carry out its next task. The storage symbol is used to indicate that the hand is holding on to a piece of material or a document. Two-handed process charts are usually drawn on a pre-formatted diagram. Their use has generally been superseded by the analyses involved in the use of low level pre-determined motion time systems. The figure below shows the process chart for Requisition of Petty Cash Value Stream Mapping Value Stream Mapping is a method of creating a â€Å"One page picture† of all the processes that occur in a company, from the time a customer places an order for a product, until the customer has received that product in their facility. The goal is to depict material and information flows across and throughout all Value-Adding Processes required to produce and ship the product to the customer. Value Stream Maps document all of the processes used to produce and ship a product, both Value-Adding and Non-Value-Adding (Waste) processes. Why Value Stream Map? During the team creation of a Value Stream Mapping, business and manufacturing waste that occur in the processes can be easily identified. Once the Current State Value Stream Mapping is created, it becomes the baseline for improvement and for the creation of a Future State Value Stream Mapping. The FSVSM can then be used as a World Class Manufacturing implementation road map. The steps to implement value stream mapping are: Step 1 – Determine the product or service to be analyzed. Step 2 – Author a value stream map that depicts the process steps, information flows, and timelines that are required to create the product or service being analyzed. The mapping can either be a design, production, or service flow and may use standardized value mapping process symbols. Step 3 – Examine the process streams on the value stream map to determine if there are any redundancies or wasteful steps and mark them for modification or deletion. Step 4 – Redraw the mapping as a future state value stream map with the wasteful steps removed. Step 5 – Implement process changes in the organization to work towards the new value stream mapping. The figure below shows value stream map of a typical manufacturing firm Service Blue Printing The service blueprint is a technique used for service innovation. The blueprint shows processes within the company, divided into different components which are separated by lines. Service blueprints are maps or pictures that precisely portray how a service process is built up. It is used to provide individuals, which are involved in the process, help to understand and to deal sober with certain circumstances. Blueprints are especially useful, when it comes to developing and designing new services. It visualizes the service simultaneously depicting the visible components of the service, the roles of employees and customers, the intersections of customer contact, and the process of service delivery. The blueprint provides a way to divide a service into logical elements and to picture the tasks or steps in the process, the guideline how customer experience a service, and the instruments by which the tasks are accomplished. Blueprinting is already used in different techniques and fields, including computer systems analysis. The service blueprint consists of 5 components: 1. Customer Actions 2. Onstage / Visible Contact Employee Actions 3. Backstage / Invisible Contact Employee Actions 4. Support Processes 5. Physical Evidence 1. Customer Actions This component contains all of the steps that customers take as part of the service delivery process. This element is always on top of the service blueprint. 2. Onstage / Visible Contact Employee Actions This element is separated from the customer actions by a ‘line of interaction’. These actions are face-to-face actions between employees and customers. . Backstage / Invisible Contact Employee Actions The ‘line of visibility’ separates the Onstage from the Backstage actions. Everything that appears above the line of visibility can be seen by the customers, while everything under the line of visibility is invisible for the customers. A very good example of an action in this element, is a telephone call; these is an action between an empl oyee and a customer, but they don’t see each other. 4. Support Processes The ‘internal line of interaction’ separates the contact employees from the support processes. These are all the activities carried out by individuals and units within the company who are not contact employees. These activities need to happen in order for the service to be delivered. 5. Physical Evidence For each customer action, and every moment of truth, the physical evidence that customers come in contact with is described at the very top of the service blueprint. These are all the tangibles that customers are exposed to that can influence their quality perceptions. Building a blueprint The process of structuring a blueprint involves six steps: 1. The identification of the service process, that is supposed to be blueprinted 2. The identification of the customer segment or the customers that are suppose to experience the service 3. Picturing the service from the customer’s perspective 4. Picturing the actions of the contact employee (onstage and backstage), and/or technology actions 5. Linking the contact activities to the needed support functions 6. Adding the evidence of service for every customer action step The figure below shows the service blueprint for Overnight Hotel Stay Service Service processes What is a Service? A Service is the value provided to the customer through a set of interactions and impacts on the input from the customer. The service process is implemented and executed by the service provider. The input to the service process from the customer may be in form of information, belongings or even the person of the customer itself. The service and service process are designed to reach a goal which has been defined by the stakeholders, especially the customer and the service provider. The service, its goal, the service process, the customer, the service provider and the resources are embedded into an environment which is source of legal compliance requirements etc. All together they constitute a service system. Service processes and their properties There are a number of crucial differences between service and business processes. 1. There are intense interactions with the customer: For example, it may be necessary that the customer provides some information to allow the further proceeding of the process. It is important to emphasize that a service process must describe the interaction between customer and service provider. 2. Service processes differentiate two areas, front stage and back stage. The front stage contains the activities of the customer and the service provider’s activities that are visible to the customer. The back stage contains the activities not visible to the customer. 3. Service processes need to represent the handover of resources and information from the customer to the service provider and the restitution vice versa. Furthermore, service processes are often cross-organizational. A top-level service process that is responsible for providing the service to the customer coordinates a number of sub processes. Fig. 2 Product Process Design (top) v/s Service Process Design (bottom) Characteristics of services ? Services are tangible ? Service output is variable ? Services have higher customer contact ? Services are perishable ? Services are inseparable from delivery ? Services tend to be decentralized and dispersed ? Services are consumed more often than products ? Services can be easily emulated Many services come as part of a larger package of bundle of things. The service-product bundle consists of 1) The physical goods or facilitating goods, 2) The tangible service provided or explicit service, and 3) The psychological service or implicit service For example, at a winter ski resort. The facilitating goods are the chair lifts, buildings and mountain itself at the resort. ? The explicit service is primarily the skiing experience, but you also have the interaction with employees and the visual experience in the shops and sleeping quarters. ? The implicit service pertains to the fun generated, the sense of security you have and the excitement of the skiing. It is important to pay attention to all these experiences . Service recovery is the ability to quickly compensate for the failure of service delivery and restore, if possible, the service required by the customer. Obviously, service failure should be held to a minimum, but the recovery can also mean the difference between success and failure of the company service Guarantees help the company in clearly defining the process of service delivery and specify the extent of service recovery, if needed. Thus a process can be designed to provide consistent service. Service Process Design Service process design refers to the arrangement of service facilities where the service is provided and the processes through which the service operations are structured and delivered. Lovelock classified service process by the extent of demand fluctuations and the extent to which supply capacity is constrained. When demand is highly fluctuated and peak demand regularly exceeds capacity, managers must consider altering either demand pattern or supply capacity so that service can be delivered without incurring long customer waiting time. In case demand pattern cannot be altered, managers could consider operations-oriented strategies to control the level of service supply, such as scheduling parttime workers and cross training service personnel. The way in which the service process is designed determines, to a large extent, the wait that customers experience. Any reductions in customer waiting time by better management of process design can certainly help lower both customer dissatisfaction and defection. Often, managers have a number of alternatives to choose from when shaping the design of their service delivery process. Fig. 3 Service Design Process The Service Matrix As the popularity of Service Learning grows, the need to have a common language for discussion is critical. Currently there are a tremendous amount of resources on Service Learning, but often these resources are complex and abstract, leading to difficulties in describing and defining quality service learning experiences. In order to address this problem, The Service Matrix was created. The Service Matrix was designed to plot individual contributions to a particular service effort but is not intended to plot an entire service effort. With these parameters in mind, the X axis measures the value of a service effort to the community, while the Y axis measures he formal learning that occurred during the service effort. These axes intersect and provide the framework for the four quadrants of The Service Matrix. The following examples best describes these four quadrants of The Service Matrix. Quadrant One: Basic Volunteerism (Lower Formal Learning, Lower Value to the Community) Anthony attends a blood drive and gives a pint of blood. This example is considered basic volunteerism because Anthony l earned very little (lower formal learning) and the individual pint of blood is small when compared to the overall need for blood in the community (lower value). Quadrant Two: Community Service (Lower Formal Learning, Higher Value to the Community) In this example, Chloe brings 10 of her friends to the blood drive. Although, Chloe’s formal learning has not increased (Lower Formal Learning) with this example, due to her efforts she has now increased her value to the community (Higher Value to the Community) by meeting the need with greater impact. Chloe’s contribution is considered community service; however, her friends remain in the basic volunteerism quadrant. Quadrant Three: Community-Based Learning (Higher Formal Learning, Lower Value to the Community) Carlos is a high school senior enrolled in a Certified Nursing Assistance (CNA) class. As part of his coursework, he is assigned to attend a blood drive and observe nurses drawing blood. As a result, Carlos saw firsthand how his course work applied to real life situations (Higher Formal Learning), although his individual contribution to the community was insignificant (Lower Value to the Community) because there was no service performed on his behalf. Quadrant Four: Service Learning (Higher Formal Learning, Higher Value to the Community) Pauline is in a marketing class at her high school. After learning basic marketing principles, her assignment is to apply her knowledge in a way that would benefit the community. Pauline reads in the local paper that there is a need for blood in the local blood banks and hospitals. Responding to this need and using her marketing knowledge, Pauline organizes a blood drive at her high school. Putting theories into ractice, Pauline was able to internalize and reinforce her marketing knowledge (Higher Formal Learning). At the same time, because of Pauline’s efforts, 100 pints of blood were collected. (Higher Value to the Community) Objectives 1. By using The Service Matrix, individuals will gain a clear framework for understanding the different levels of service, including service learning. 2. Individuals using The Service Matrix as a reflection tool will be able to evaluate the quality and imp act of their individual contribution(s) to a particular service effort. Customer Waiting Time The total elapsed time between issuance of a customer order and satisfaction of that order. Ideally, CWT will include all customer orders, regardless of commodity or source, immediate issues, and backorders (and) include issues from wholesale and retail stocks as well as various other arrangements. Consumers today are more constrained by time than ever before. In an intensely competitive world the pressure, expectation and need to accomplish more in less time is unlikely to diminish. Service providers understand the premium that consumers place on time they view as wasted while waiting for the delivery of services. A customer waiting in line for service is potentially a lost customer. As such, managers of service operations constantly strive to shorten customer waiting time during service delivery. Firms across a variety of industries have introduced numerous peripheral service elements to the service package experience of their customers, in an attempt to shorten customer waiting times. Such efforts are best illustrated by retail stores that have check-out registers which automatically print the date, amount and name of payee on the cheques customers use when making payment. More recently, new technology offers even more opportunities to improve service process and thus customer service in various industries. For instance, the practice of â€Å"e-ticketing† in the airline business has definitely made a huge impact on ticket purchasing as well as airport check-in processes. Productivity Productivity is the ratio of outputs (goods and services) divided by the inputs (resources such as labor and capital). It differs from Production in that production is a measure of the output and not the efficiency. Productivity = Units produced / Input used ? Measure of process improvement ? Represents output relative to input ? Only through productivity increases can our standard of living improve Example: Improving Productivity at Starbucks A team of 10 analysts continually look for ways to shave time. Some improvements: 1. Stop requiring signatures on credit card purchases under $25- Saved 8 seconds per transaction 2. Change the size of the ice scoop- Saved 14 seconds per drink 3. New espresso machines- Saved 12 seconds per shot Operations improvements have helped Starbucks increase yearly revenue per outlet by $200,000 to $940,000 in six years. Productivity has improved by 27%, or about 4. 5% per year. Multi-Factor Productivity Productivity = Output / Labor + Material + Energy + Capital + Miscellaneous ? Also known as total factor productivity ? Output and inputs are often expressed in dollars Labor Productivity Productivity = Units Produced / Labour hours used Service Productivity ? Typically labor intensive ? Frequently focused on unique individual attributes or desires ? Often an intellectual task performed by professionals ? Often difficult to mechanize ? Often difficult to evaluate for quality Work Measurement Work Measurement refers to determining the output in quantitative terms. It implies measuring the volume of work completed and the time spent in completing it. It involves the study of the time required for performing each element of an office operation. Thus, work measurement includes the analysis of each operation, identifying its elements of parts and measuring the time taken by an employee in performing each element of the operation. This technique used for work measurement is known as â€Å"Time Study†. Besides determining the actual time taken in performing any operation, time study also enables time standards to be set for performing the operation. Although the main objective of office work measurement is to aid management n planning and controlling office operations, yet some of the other objectives of work measurement are: a) Decide the number of employees in each department b) Determine the standard work-load for each employee c ) Measure the performance of individual employees d) Help decide appropriate methods of motivation e) Simplify work systems f) Increase individual efficiency g) Reduce the cost of office services St eps in Work Measurement The following steps should be taken by the office manager before work measurement is undertaken in an office: a) Planning b) Work improvement c) Standardisation of office work measurement and standardisation of activities d) Listing of tasks to be measured e ) Defining unit of measurement and methods of measurement f) Securing subordinates' willing co-operation g) Executing the programme. vQuick Check Mark True or False 1. One of the objectives of work measurement is to evaluate the year-on-year output produced. (ANS:F) 2. Labour Productivity is defined as Output per unit of Labour. (ANS:F) 3. Service Productivity is difficult to mechanise and evaluate. (ANS:T) 4. Simplifying work systems is an objective of work measurement. (ANS:T) Importance of Office Work Measurement 1. Planning and Scheduling Work 2. Appraisal of Employee Performance 3. Estimation of Manpower Requirement 4. Cost Calculations 5. Improved employee motivation and morale Techniques of Work Measurement in Office 1. Past Performance Basis 2. Time Study 3. Work Sampling Time Study Time Study is the most widely used and best known technique of work measurement. Time study method helps in setting time standards for work. This method is also known as a ‘stop watch study' method to measure work. Time study or ‘stop watch study' is the process of recording and analysing systematically the time required to perform office operations by an average employee working at average speed under standard conditions, using standard methods. Essential requirements for time study are: 1. Skilled analyst 2. Standardisation of work methods 3. Standard conditions under which work has to be performed 4. Selection of well-trained employees who are acquainted with the purpose of the study 5. Determining the duration of the study The following steps are to be taken for conducting a time study programme: i) Identify the job to be studied and break down the relevant tasks into basic elements. For example, the task of mail opening nvolves five elements, that is, picking up envelope, cutting the edge of envelope, removing the contents of the envelope, connecting the cover with papers contained in the envelope and placing the letter in the tray. ii) Determine the number of work cycles to be obser ved and design the time date sheet for recording time elements for each time cycle. iii) Record the time taken for each element of the work process on the designed time date sheet. A stop-watch is generally used for determining the time taken. This process has to be repeated as per (ii). iv) Calculate the average time for each element from the work cycle readings (iii). v) Add allowances for delays, fatigue, etc. i) On the basis of above steps (iv& v) work standards can be determined and report drafted/ This method is simple and can be adopted without much additional cost. But the data collected are subject to the nature of conditions and the competence of employees; hence, the standards set so may not be much reliable. However, scope of improvement in this method is not ruled out. Summary A process strategy is used by organizations to build a production process that meets customer requirements and adheres to product specifications within cost and other constraints. An efficient pro cess strategy helps the organization to develop a competitive advantage over other organizations. Various process strategies can be classified under one of the four broad process strategies: namely process focus, repetitive focus, product focus and mass customization. The choice of process strategy depends upon the type of product to be produced. In order to determine which process is most suited to transform resources into goods and services, operations managers compare various aspects of the process such as maximization of customer value, competitive advantage etc. There are a number of tools which can be used to understand the complexities of process design and redesign. Some of these tools are flow diagrams, time-process-function mapping, value-stream mapping, process charts and service blueprinting. Each of these five process analysis tools has its strengths and variations. Service processes, unlike production processes, are heavily dependent on customer interaction and customization according to customer needs. Although customer interaction often affects process performance adversely, it can’t be done away with in case of service processes. The effectiveness of a service process depends upon the level to which the manager can accommodate the special requirements of a customer. Service processes having high labour intensity can be improved by focussing on human resources whereas services involving low labour intensity benefit from innovations in process technology and scheduling. Equipment and technology are other important factors that need to be considered during process design or redesign. These decisions can be complex because of availability of large amount of alternatives in both production and service processes. Some of the production technologies that are widely used today are machine technology, automatic identification systems (AISs), process control, vision systems, robots, automated storage and retrieval systems (ASRSs), automated guided vehicles (AGVs), flexible manufacturing systems (FMSs) and computer integrated manufacturing (CIMs). The choice of technology depends upon the type of product and the budget constraints. Technology advancement has taken place in service design as well. Industries such as hospitality, airlines and even food & beverages have seen a rapid change in technology which has resulted in more efficient and therefore better quality of services. Consumer demands are dynamic and therefore keep changing with time. Consequently, business processes also need to be redesigned from time to time in order to cope up with changing demands. Effective redesign depends upon questioning both purpose and underlying assumptions of a process and addressing the issues. Process redesign can also address issues of expanding a business, improving the quality or efficiency of a process, or adding variety to the type of products manufactured. Redesigning of a process casts aside all notions of how a process is currently being done and focuses on improvements in customer value, cost, and time. Another important aspect of process design which has caught attention is the ethics and environmental friendliness of a process. As businesses are becoming more and more socially responsible, ethical and environment friendly processes are the need of the hour. Some of these actions are legally required, such as pollution control, while others are done by businesses as part of their corporate responsibility towards society. In future, the main focus of businesses will be to make their processes socially responsible, i. . helping in the welfare of the society along with making profits for the business. Short-Answer Questions 1) What is a process strategy? Why is it useful for an organization? 2) Name different kinds of process strategies. Write short notes on each explaining the types of products for which they can be used. 3) Mention three differences between product focused and process focused strategies. 4) What are the factors that need to be considered while analyzing and designing processes? 5) How is time-function mapping different from value-stream mapping? 6) Briefly explain the difference between production process design and service process design. ) Write short notes on Flexible Manufacturing Systems and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing Systems. Point out the difference between them. 8) Give two examples of technology improvements in service sector. 9) What is process redesign? When is it required in an organization? 10) Demonstrate the importance of ethical and environmental factors to businesses with at least two examples. Long-Answer Questions 1) Briefly describe mass customization process indicating the instances where it can be used. What are the requirements to make mass customization work in an organization? 2) Describe an instance where product focus can be used. Draw flow diagram for the exa mple given. ) What are crossover charts? Briefly explain how they can be used to compare various process strategies. 4) Write brief notes on: a) Flow Diagrams. b) Time-Function Mapping. c) Value-Stream Mapping. d) Process charts. e) Service Blueprinting. 5) What are different production technology tools available to businesses today? Write a short note on each of them. Also, give examples of products where each of the production technology tools can be used. Multiple choice Questions 1) Process focused strategy is used for a; Low volume, low variety products b; Low volume, high variety products c; High volume, low variety products d; High volume, high variety products ) Product focused strategy is used for a; Low volume, low variety products b; Low volume, high variety products c; High volume, low variety products d; High volume, high variety products 3) Mass customization strategy is used for a; Low volume, low variety products b; Low volume, high variety products c; High volume, l ow variety products d; High volume, high variety products 4) Crossover charts are used for a; Comparison of process choices b; Design of process choices c; Both comparison and design of process choices d; None of the above 5) Which among these is not a focus point while designing process strategies? a; Customers ; Products c; Suppliers d; Technology 6) Product focussed facility is a a; Low fixed cost and low variable cost facility b; Low fixed cost while high variable cost facility c; High fixed cost while low variable cost facility d; High fixed cost and high variable cost facility 7) Which of these is not a process analysis and design tool? a; Time-function mapping b; Human-resource mapping c; Vale-stream mapping d; Service Blueprinting 8) Which of the following is not a production technology area? a; Automatic Identification Systems b; Flexible Management Systems c; Layout Management Systems d; Computer Integrated Manufacturing 9) Service Blueprinting focuses on a; Time taken to complete individual processes b; The processes which result in adding value to the product c; Customer and the provider’s interaction with the customer d; Symbols which are used to differentiate between activities 10) Which among these is not a process strategy? ; Product focus b; Process focus c;Mass customization d;Process control 11) The decision to be kept in mind while analyzing and designing processes are a; whether the process minimizes total cost b; whether the process saves time c;whether the process adds value as perceived by the customer d;All of the above 12) Equipment utilization in case of a process-focused facility is in the range of a; 5%-25% b; 25%-45% c; 50%-70% d; 75%-95% Numerical-Problems 1) XYZ ltd. has 3 alternatives to produce 30000 units of a certain product X. The total fixed and variable costs related to each alternative are mentioned in the table below: Alternative 1 Total Fixed Cost Total variable Cost/ Unit 40000 18 Alternative 2 90000 16 Alterna tive 3 130000 15 On the basis of the data given above, answer the following questions: a) Draw a cross-over chart reflecting each alternative. ) Which alternative is best for producing product X? c) Which alternative will be the best one if the units to be manufactured are 45000? d) Determine the economic volume for each process. 2) An automobile repairing garage has an average of 30 cars turning in for maintenance every day. The annual fixed costs of repair & maintenance is Rs 730,000 and variable cost of maintenance per car is Rs 50. A new technology has come up in the market which will reduce the variable cost per car to Rs 40 but will increase the annual fixed costs to Rs 109500. Is it advisable for the owner of the garage to switch to new technology? Assume negligible installation costs and 365 days in a year. ) Clean-tech washing machine manufacturers have four options to produce their washing machines. The costs involved in each process have been tabulated below: Process Cont rol Annual Fixed Costs 150000 Direct Material/Unit Direct Labour/Unit Power Expense/Unit 32 56 34 51 28 49 27 47 34 Robots 180000 33 FMS 200000 35 CIM 220000 34 The number of units manufactured annually is 4500. Answer the questions below: a) Draw crossover chart reflecting each process and find out the indifference points. b) Which alternative is best for producing the washing machines? c) If the number of washing machines manufactured annually changes to 8000, which one would be the best alternative? ) Draw flow diagrams for: a) An iPod b) A Mercedes-Benz c) Johnny-walker scotch whisky 5) Prepare process charts, time-function maps and service blueprints for the processes mentioned in Q-4. Case Studies: Case Study 1: Simulation modelling for manufacturing of major Boeing components using FMS, MCM and AGVs Every Boeing commercial airplane is customized for a specific customer. Manufacturing processes of some major components are desirable to follow the FMS concepts in a customized m anufacturing environment. In the case study that follows, a wing assembly process is examined by means of discrete simulation modelling. There are more than thirty complex processes applied to more than fifteen machine classes. Most processes require a different number of labour entities from various labour classes. The overall pace of the whole system (i. e. , the system take time) is desired to be a variable that impacts the process time of all related processes, as well as the number of assigned labourers. A modular approach to MCM system design will not only benefit the overall performance of a flexible MCM system, but will also enhance simulation-modelling exercises. Discrete event simulation technology employs the same platform concept as in modelling highly flexible and rapid reconfigurable production lines. Such modelling methods reflect manufacturing processes according to the ever-changing customized demands. Many fundamental manufacturing process parameters, such as layout reconfigurations, and resource re-allocations, can be derived ahead of time from the simulation models. A high-level process flow of the simulation model is shown below in figure 1, where source 1 generates incoming parts according to the system take time with optional statistical distributions. Buffer S receives incoming parts via the only crane resource in the system. The part will then be lifted by the crane to the machine B where multiple processes will be performed by multiple resources. The part then continues to move from the machine B to the machine P, the end of the process line. Multiple processes are assigned throughout this line on each machine. An additional process is needed in the middle of the line where the part will be transferred to the buffer A followed by a couple of external processes. Figure 1: The simulation model process technique Afterwards, buffer A receives the part and calls for the overhead crane to transfer the part back to buffer T where the part will continue through the rest of the process. At the end of the line, the part goes from the machine P to the buffer A then to the sink, which is the final destination of all parts in the simulation model. Two different part-carrying platforms are involved in the system. The â€Å"high speed† dolly transfers parts to and from buffer A. The â€Å"low speed† dolly carries one part at a time from machine B all the way to machine P. Additional components are introduced to the system from source 2 and 3 at different stages of the process line. Figure 2: An aircraft major component assembly line simulation model Resource class types in this model consist of labour, machine, and Automatic Guided Vehicle (AGV) elements. The machine class stands alone for each machine, while the labour and AGV classes are managed by their respective controllers. Those thirty plus processes that are stand-alone objects can be assigned to multiple machines. Thus, each machine has from two to six assigned processes. Processes run at all times in an endless do-loop as part of the nature of this modelling environment. As soon as a condition is met for a process, it will execute its logic and its assigned time duration on the machine where it resides. After the last process sequence of the last machine class has been executed, the part is transferred to the sink class where it will be logically destroyed and removed from the modelling system. The approach of this simulation modelling successfully manages a flexible customized manufacturing system in a flexibly modulated and customized fashion. For each complicated customized scenario, it is comprehendible that traditional manual modelling modification will take much longer effort than this technique. As compared to alternative approaches to this MCM application, benefit of this innovative methodology is evident in the following points: †¢ Customizable †¢ Ease of deployment †¢ Scalable Additional detailed verification between simulation models and flexible MCM exercises on the shop floor remain to be fully performed once this conceptual process development turns into reality. Nevertheless, approaches and methodologies presented in this work illustrate unparalleled advantages in operating flexible and customized manufacturing systems. Authors: Dr. Guixiu Qiao, Computer Scientist Manufacturing Systems Integration Division National Institute of Standards and Technology 100 Bureau Drive, MS 8260 Gaithersburg, MD 20899-8260, USA [email  protected] nist. gov [email  protected] com Tel: 301-975-4735 Roberto F. Lu, PE, Associate Technical Fellow Boeing Commercial Airplanes Manufacturing R & D The Boeing Company PO Box 3707 Mail Code: 6X-TR Seattle, WA 98124-2207, USA roberto. f. [email  protected] com Tel: 425-234-4049 Charles McLean, Computer Scientist Manufacturing Systems Integration Division National Institute of Standards and Technology 100 Bureau Drive, MS 8260 Gaithersburg, MD 20899-8260, USA [email  protected] nist. gov Tel: 301-975-3511 Case Study 2: Computer Integrated Manufacturing in Small Companies Computer integrated manufacturing (CIM) technology provides companies with an excellent opportunity in order to compete in the present global context. The actual situation also favours small companies in developing and implementing CIM applications, due to many concurrent factors (de Venuto et al. 1994; Gupta and Brennan, 1995): †¢ availability of low cost hardware and software tools, with better performance and quality, makes CIM solutions accessible even to limited budget companies; †¢ technical improvement in the fields of networking and personal computers allows for reliable distributed information systems, providing the opportunity to use an affordable stepby-step approach while safeguarding integrity; †¢ Increased awareness, at management level, of the competitive potential offered by CIM solutions; †¢ actual turbulence of markets requires small companies to continuously increase performance, such as production flexibility, timely purchasing and delivery, process and product quality, in order to avoid the risk of quickly being overshadowed by more farsighted competitors. As a consequence, the introduction of CIM technologies may represent, particularly for small companies, one of the most promising strategies to acquire and maintain a competitive edge, from product development to marketing and distribution. The case study presented concerns CIM introduction in a small company (Italpneumatica Sud) working in the area of pneumatic components with the trademark SMC (one of the leading producers in the world). Like many other small medium-sized companies, Italpneumatica Sud has to solve integration problems on a limited budget. The strategic requirements to be met are as follows: †¢ Need to guarantee customer service by reducing lead times: this involves timely information, accurate delivery times and a reliable logistic system; †¢ Need to guarantee product and process quality: this requires accurate operations and process control to make quality certification possible (EN 29000); †¢ need to guarantee the setting up of a safe and timely corporate information system able to supply each user with online data required for operational and decision-making procedures. The main problems in this case study can be summarized as follows: †¢ High throughput time; †¢ Production management practically characterized by no scheduling; †¢ Excessive reliance on paper support for information exchange; †¢ Low level of process control; †¢ Scarce visibility of manufacturing process at management level; †¢ Accumulation of work in process inventory at shop floor level; †¢ Stock levels not optimized; †¢ Actual production costs not foreseeable. Prepare a detailed Computer Integrated Manufacturing System for Italpneumatica Sud. Authors: A. C. Caputo, G. Cardarelli, M. Palumbo and P. M. Pelagagge Reference: Industrial Management & Data Systems 98/3 [1998] 138–144 References i) Naughton, S. (2000) Understanding Service Learning. Wellesley, MA: National Institute on Out-of-School Time at Wellesley College Center for Research on Women. ii) http://www. uwex. uwc. edu/service-learning/documents/ideasSheet. pdf iii) MDF. 2003. 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