The Importance of Manufacturing Industry in Malaysia

1. Discuss the importance of manufacturing industry in Malaysia. com/chapter-practice/">Manufacturing is the use of machines, tools and labor to produce goods for sale. The term may refer to a range of human activity from handicraft to high tech, but is most commonly applied to industrial production, in which raw materials are transformed into finished goods on a large scale. Such finished goods may be used for manufacturing other, more complex products, such as household appliances, automobiles or sold town whole sellers, who in turn sell them to retailers, who then sell them to end users – the â€Å"consumers†.Manufacturing takes turn under all types of economic systems. In a free market economy, manufacturing is usually directed toward the mass production of products for sale to consumers at a profit. In a collectivist economy, manufacturing is more frequently directed by the state to supply a centrally planned economy. In mixed market economies, manufacturing occurs under some degree of government regulation. Modern manufacturing includes all intermediate processes required for the production and integration of a product’s components. Some industries such as semiconductor and steel manufacturer use the term fabrication instead.The manufacturing sector is closely connected with engineering and industrial design. Examples of major manufacturers in Malaysia include Proton, PETRONAS and Palm Oil industry. Recently, manufacturing industries in Malaysia grow very rapidly if compared to previous decades. With the rapidly grow of manufacturing industries, the government has to play its role in order to ensure every aspects of current trading policies and regulatory to be obeyed. Other than that, this will ensure that the current trading and manufacturing environment in Malaysia to be peaceful yet globally competitive.To start with, manufacturing sector in Malaysia contributes almost 80% of overall country’s export and besides, Malaysia a lso known as the 17 largest exporting nations in the world. For that reason, Malaysia’s government has to work hard in order to maintain, preserve and enhance our manufacturing sector. It is stated that products manufactured in Malaysia are accepted in developed countries such as US, EU and Japan. This shows that our manufacturing sector already achieved a level that can be proud of. As we all know, Malaysia also known for its agro-based sector.In Malaysia, some commercial-based plants are heavily grown and these plants are harvested to produce some kinds of raw materials such as palm oils, rubber, timber, rice and fiber. Unfortunately, the income that can be generated from agro-based sector is not really huge compared to manufacturing sector. For that reason, with the availability of the manufacturing sector, Malaysia does not need to rely on the agro-based sector only. Furthermore, manufacturing sector can help in boosting the development of agro-based sector by offering th e capabilities of some downstream activities such as product processing, packaging and distributing.These activities are useful in order to turn the raw material (palm oil, rubber, rice) into finished product or half-finished product. Besides, the manufacturing sector can assist in the utilization and development of R&D and ICT adoption for business and manufacturing purposes. Along the way, ICT adoption can lead to the wider usage of electronic commerce for business to business. Other than that, ICT will facilitate the utilization of RFID and product coding standards. In the education aspects, the development in manufacturing sector can help to boost Malaysia’s education sector.Manufacturing sector has the capability to offer and provide the working experience, industrial training and actual case study for education and other government sectors in Malaysia. As a matter of fact, undergraduate and postgraduate students in Malaysia can take these chances to get some exposur e of working in manufacturing sector in Malaysia. Besides, a lot of researches can be conducted in order to solve industrial problems and this can lead to the occurrence of technology transfer and the discovery of new knowledge.Despite that, Malaysia is one of the Islamic country and other than that, Malaysia also does a lot of active collaboration between other countries. Malaysia can be the â€Å"door† for other countries such as developed countries to do collaboration with other Islamic nations. In the same way, many Islamic countries have the ability to offer lower manufacturing costs especially the raw material, labor charge and business capital. From the collaboration with developed countries, the Islamic countries can enhance their economy conditions and receiving technology transfer.In Malaysia’s manufacturing sector there is no end for continuous development efforts. In order to achieve the competitiveness level and innovative capability that up to the global standard, the manufacturing sector is doing its best. For example, Malaysia is doing collaboration with Australia via Free Trade Agreement (FTA). By implementing FTA, Malaysia is trying to achieve and put herself the global manufacturing environment. Along with that, Malaysia will be a country that manages to produce a higher-tech, higher-value added and more sophisticated products and services.Similarly, joint-ventures and collaborations made with developed nations yield a lot of benefits. Next, Malaysia can go to a higher level and respected globally. In addition, through joint-ventures and collaborations, Malaysia can obtain a flow of expertise that her really need and as well as valuable technology transfer. On the other side, Malaysia can also carry out some projects abroad with the developed countries expertise and material and labor from Malaysia. This will give credits to both parties. After a while, Malaysia can be proud to be known as a successful developed country.

Appearance Vs Reality Essay

Throughout life we are constantly seeing new perceptions of things and in turn constantly changing our perception of reality. The Key concepts of Appearances and Reality were explored through the use of Paradox, Point of View and Verisimilitude, within the texts The Truman show (Peter Weir) and Relativity (Escher). These concepts were used to effectively portray the key differences, and deeper meanings of Appearance and Reality. The way in which we view an object, situation or concept, greatly affects how we interpret its reality. This concept is explored by using Point of view to change the viewer’s ideas about the True reality of within the Truman show. The whole idea and notion of our reality is based upon what we see, what we grow up with. We learn from a young age what we see isn’t always the truth, and therefore we adapt our reality to what we already know. This is the same for Truman Burbank, a 33 year old average man. He is the unknowingly star of a television show all of his life. Everything he does and says is recorded and televised uninterrupted 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Like us Truman has never questioned his life as his point of view has never been given the opportunity to change. That was until a series of incidents occurred that changed his Point of view. A key change in Truman’s point of view is when a series of onset glitches lead him to see a different reality that clashes with what he knows. These events lead him to become erratic and quite demented (Evident by the erratic car trip with Meryl), eventually leading to a point where Truman has Meryl by the throat with a set of dicers and Meryl screams’’ Somebody do something’’. This quote leads Truman to the core belief that there is something wrong with his reality and that he will not stop until he finds out what is real and what is not. This eventually leads him to the point in which he leaves the T. V set and has discovered the through a new point of view his true reality. This is Through the use of Point of view; the audience is able to observe how changing views can lead to a new reality. Reality or the Truth can be very hard to identify from an Appearance. The concept of Verisimilitude is very evident in Escher’s Relativity through the use of conflicting images and vectors to reveal the hidden truth. Escher’s relativity is an image that at first is very perplexing. A series of staircases intertwined in what appear at first to be impossible. The image can actually be viewed in different points of view, each of which changes the intention of what is real, and what is not within the image. E. g. persons are waking up/down a staircase and when the image is rotated, they are now walking upside down and defying gravity. The way, in which we observe it at any angle, an object within the image is wrong. The almost impossible picture, riddled with false appearances has still got reality within it. Using verisimilitude we are able to see that although the image has several false appearances, one of them must be the true reality, otherwise the image could not exist. The problem for the viewer though , is how can we judge one false truth as more real than the other, this means that no matter what our first appearances are always not going to reflect the true nature of the reality around us. The Truman show explores the Paradox of appearance and reality, and how that changes our final point of view towards a situation. In the Truman show we start off with the interviews of the cast, this is our first insight into how the show operates. A key quote which sets a paradox within the film is when Truman’s best friend Marlon says ‘’Nothing you see on this show is fake. It’s merely controlled’’. This is contradictory to the very nature of the show, it’s a show which is meant to have the Truth in it, e. g. (TRUE MAN), he is the reality of the show and yet his reality is a false appearance. How we never question the nature of reality is also explored when Christof the director says ‘’ we accept the reality with which we are presented’’. This is another paradox as we explored before a false reality is also representative of the truth. Truman himself is accepting of the reality he is presented because he initially never had a reason to change his point of view. But through the film the paradoxes of the false reality and the Truth clash, revealing a deeper truth, which is revealed at the end of the film to Truman. The use of a Paradox to reveal a hidden truth between Appearance and reality is effective within the Truman show as it allows the Audience to change their point of view and observe how it is changed in others. The composer Peter Weir (The Truman show) and Escher (Relativity) both used Point of view to change the perceived reality of the persona and the viewer. Paradox and Verisimilitude are both mechanisms for the changes towards a true reality and are used by each composer to explore effectively the differences and similarities of Appearance and Reality.

Legacy of the Samurai Essay

For seven centuries, the samurai ruled Japan as the powerful warrior class. As a class of warriors and knights, they led society in feudal Japan. The loyalty to his lord was much more important than his allegiance to his friends, family and even the emperor. Their philosophy was one liberated him from fear, and for these reasons, the samurai came to be the dominate force throughout medieval Japan. War played a central part in the history of Japanese samurai. As regional clans gathered manpower, resources and struck alliances with each other, they formed a hierarchy centered around a toryo, or chief. This chief was typically a relative of the emperor and a member of one of the two dominating clan families of the pre-samurai era. Though they were originally sent to regional areas for a fixed four year term as a magistrate, the toryo usually declined to return to the capital when their terms ended. Their sons inherited their positions instead and continued to lead the clans in suppressing rebellion throughout Japan during the middle and later Heian period. (Cook 24) One main reason why conflict between clans was so predominant was because they were typically started as a result of land ownership. Only a fifth of Japan’s land was suitable for agriculture. The struggle for control of land eventually gave rise to the samurai class. The samurai eventually became a class unto themselves between the 9th and 12th centuries A.D. They were called by two names: samurai which means â€Å"knights† and bushi which means â€Å"warriors†. The samurai came from guards of the imperial palace and from private guards that the clans employed. They also acted as a police force in and around Kyoto. These forerunners of what we now know as samurai had ruler-sponsored equipment and were required to hone their martial skills. They gave complete loyalty to their daimyo (feudal landowner) and received land and position in return. Each daimyo  used his samurai to protect his land and to expand his power and rights to more land. The first samurai were servants, yet their advantage of being the sole armed party increasingly became apparent. By promising protection and gaining political clout through political marriages they amassed power, eventually surpassing the ruling aristocrats. (Kure 10-12) In the late 12th century, the two most powerful clans served the emperor of Japan: the Taira clan, and the Minamoto clan. These two families became bitter rivals, and in 1192, Minamoto Yoritomo led his clan to victory over the Taira. The emperor, the traditional head of the Japanese government, declared Minamoto Yoritomo shogun, the head of the military. However, Yoritomo used his new power to strip the emperor of all political power, make his position as shogun permanent, and set up a military dictatorship known as bakufu. So, the samurai went from being servants of the land-owning daimyos to being the rulers of Japan under the shogun. (Dean 21) Over time, powerful samurai clans became warrior nobility, who were only technically under the court aristocracy. When the samurai began to adopt aristocratic pastimes like calligraphy, poetry and music, some court aristocrats in turn began to adopt samurai customs. (Dean 22) In spite of various scheming and brief periods of rule by various emperors, real power was now in the hands of the shogun and the samurai. The reign of the samurai lasted until the late 19th century. The image of the samurai that is probably most well-known is that of a sword expert, brandishing his curved katana with deadly skill. However, for the first few centuries of their existence, samurai were better known as horse-riding archers. Firing a bow while riding a horse was a demanding task, and mastering it required years of relentless practice. Some archers practiced on targets tethered to a pole, which could be swung to make a moving target. For a time, living dogs were used as moving archery targets, until the shogun abolished the malicious practice. (Turnbull 45) The amount and form of a samurai’s training depended on the wealth of his family. In  lower-class families, sons were sometimes sent to village schools for basic education, but they received most of their samurai training from their fathers, older brother, or uncles. Training in martial arts was considered very important, and often began at age five. Sons of wealthy families were sent to special academies, where they were tutored in literature, the arts, and military skills. (Daidoji, Ratti, and Cleary 6-10) Swordsmanship was taught in a similarly relentless manner. The most recognized weapon of the samurai throughout history was the katana. The oldest swords were straight and had their early design in Korea and China. A katana was never worn without its companion sword, the wakizashi; it was a shorter sword with a broader blade. Together the two swords are referred to as daisho, meaning â€Å"large and small.† The word dai (large) represents the katana and the word sho (small) represents the wakizashi. The smiths who created the katana for the samurai are widely regarded as the finest sword makers in history. (Daidoji, Ratti, and Cleary 42) The samurai’s desire for tougher, sharper swords in battle gave rise to the curved blade. One of the biggest problems in making a sword is keeping it sharp. A weapon made with a hard metal will keep its edge, but will be brittle and prone to breaking. Japanese sword smiths solved this problem by making the core of the sword with a soft metal that wouldn’t break. This core was then covered with layers of harder metals that were repeatedly folded and hammered until there were literally millions of layers of metal laminated together. The edge was so sharp that a skilled swordsman could slice a human in half with one blow. Upon completion, the sword tester took the new blade and cut through the bodies of corpses or condemned criminals. They started by cutting through the small bones of the body and moved up to the large bones. Test results were often recorded on the nakago (the metal piece attaching the sword blade to the handle). The samurai often gave names to their swords and believed it was the soul of their warriorship. (Sato 28-33) In addition to swords and bows, samurai used a variety of bladed-pole arms. One of the more common Japanese pole arms was the naginata, which consisted of a sharp blade two to four feet in length mounted on a wooden shaft that  was four to five feet long. The extra reach afforded by these weapons allowed infantry to hold attackers at bay, or make a first strike before an attacker with a sword could reach them. They were also very effective against mounted opponents. (Kure 170) A big change occurred in the late 15th century because of the consistency of war and the introduction of guns into battle. In the 16th century, European traders arrived in Japan for the first time. The Japanese paid large sums for their matchlock guns, quickly mastering the smithing techniques needed to mass produce the weapons. Although the gun is not traditionally associated with samurai, it was a major influence on Japanese warfare from that point on, allowing daimyos to raise large armies of relatively untrained men armed with cheap guns. Many samurai adopted the unreliable weapons, which were best used as a backup to the more trustworthy sword. (Turnbull 73) The sword played a very key role in the methods and philosophies of the samurai. Without the samurai â€Å"bushido†, they would be considered by modern terms to be heartless killers. Bushido means â€Å"way of the warrior†. It was at the heart of the beliefs and conduct of the samurai. The philosophy of bushido is â€Å"freedom from fear.† It meant that the samurai transcended his fear of death. That gave him the peace and power to serve his daimyo faithfully, loyally and die honorably if necessary. Duty is a primary philosophy of the samurai. In order for the samurai to truly be able to serve his purpose, death must be ignored. An excerpt from _Code of the Samurai_ exemplifies this ideology: _†One who is a samurai must before all things keep constantly in mind†¦the fact that he has to die. If he is always mindful of this, he will be able to live in accordance with the paths of loyalty and filial duty, will avoid myriads of evils and adversities, keep himself free of disease and calamity and moreover enjoy a long life. He will also be a fine personality with many admirable qualities. For existence is impermanent as the dew of evening, and the hoarfrost of morning, and particularly uncertain is the life of the warrior†¦Ã¢â‚¬ _ (15) Religiously, Zen Buddhism spread among samurai in the 13th century and helped to shape their standards of conduct, particularly overcoming fear of death and killing, but among the general populace Pure Land Buddhism was predominant. (Kure 12) Honor was so important to the samurai that they would frequently take their own lives in the face of failure, or if they had violated bushido. This honor-bound suicide became very ritualized, taking the form of seppuku. Also known by the more popular phrase hara-kiri, seppuku was a way for a samurai to restore honor to his lord and family, and to fulfill his obligation of loyalty even if he had failed as a samurai. (May 2) Ritualized seppuku involved the samurai wearing the proper garments while he was presented with the ritual knife, wrapped in paper. The samurai would then take the knife and cut open his own stomach, from left to right, with a final upward cut at the end. However, seppuku was not a solitary act, and few samurai were left to die a slow and excruciating death from disembowelment. Another samurai would typically stand behind the one committing seppuku, and behead him with a sharp sword shortly after the seppuku cut was made to spare him from unnecessary suffering. (May 3) The original motivations for this method of death may well have been purely practical. Cutting off one’s own head is impossible, and the spirit was felt to reside in the stomach, slitting the belly open was felt to be the most straightforward (if not quickest) way to die and free the spirit. (May 5) Although, seppuku may seem crude in modern day society, it was the only way to regain one’s honor, and looked upon as honorable even after the samurai’s decline towards the end of the 19th century. The role of the samurai during peacetime gradually declined, but two key factors led to the demise of samurai: the urbanization of Japan, and the end of isolationism. As more Japanese citizens moved to the larger urban centers of Japan, there were fewer farmers producing the necessary rice to feed the  growing population. The lavish lifestyle enjoyed by the shoguns and most daimyos started to eat away at the economic system. Many Japanese, including lower class samurai, grew dissatisfied with the shogunate because of the deteriorating economic circumstances. (Dean 37) In 1853, U.S. ships sailed into Edo Bay with Commodore Matthew Perry at the helm, intending to deliver a message from President Millard Fillmore to the emperor. Although the emperor was still considered a figurehead, the shogun truly ruled the country. President Fillmore’s message was clear. He wanted to open trade relations with Japan, he wanted shipwrecked U.S. sailors to be treated properly by Japanese soldiers and citizens, and he wanted to open Japanese seaports as a resupply stations for American ships. (Kure 167-9) In Perry’s wake, a rift divided opposing views in Japan. Some wanted to reject the American offer, continue with isolationism, and maintain their ancient traditions. Others, however, realized that Japan could never defend their country when faced with the better technology of the western civilizations. They proposed opening the gates of Japan with the intention of learning everything they could from the Americans, terminating isolationism and becoming a stronger world power. Ultimately, the bakufu decided to open Japanese seaports for American resupply, and later decided to establish trade with America. (Avakian 41) The emperor initially refused to approve to the treaty’s conditions, but because he was merely the face of Japanese government, the bakufu went ahead with the treaty anyway. Several factions of rebellious samurai wanted Japan to stay the same, and therefore supported the emperor and began a civil war against the bakufu. To much surprise, they overthrew the shogun, ending the Tokugawa period and restoring the emperor to his rightful power. Lower class samurai took positions of leadership within the administration, controlling the government from behind the new emperor, a young man by the name of Emperor Meiji. This event is known as the Meiji Restoration. (Avakian 43-48) Throughout Japan at the time, the samurai numbered 1.9 million. The samurai in Japan were not merely the lords, but also their higher retainers, people  who actually worked. With each samurai being paid fixed stipends, the upkeep presented an immense financial burden, which provoked the emperor and his oligarchy to act accordingly. Whatever their true intentions, the oligarchs started a slow and deliberate process to abolish the samurai class. First, in 1873, it was proclaimed that the samurai stipends were to be taxed on a rolling basis. Later, in 1874, the samurai were given the choice to convert their stipends into government bonds. Finally, in 1876, this option of conversion was made obligatory. (Avakian 49-54) Finally, in 1876, the emperor banned samurai from wearing their swords, leading to the creation of a drafted standing army. The final bell had tolled for the samurai — they no longer existed. Not surprisingly, this led to a series of riots from disgruntled samurai. One of the major riots, the Satsuma rebellion, eventually turned into a civil war. This rebellion was, however, put down swiftly by the newly created imperial army The new army was trained in Western tactics and utilized more advanced weapons. Ironically, the core of the new army was the Tokyo Police force, which was formed largely of former samurai who had helped the emperor regain his empire. This sent a strong message to the nonconformist, rebellious samurai that their time was indeed up. (Kure 172-174) The samurai continue to impress, and serve as a model for obedience, reverence, and loyalty on so many different scales. The incredibly rich heritage provided by this elite class of warrior leaders can be linked to the foundations of numerous facets of the life we lead today. Although the samurai cease to exist, their spirit of honor and discipline has found a home in modern times. From the kamikaze pilots of Japan in World War II, to martial artists and even modern businessman who look to bushido as a guide to living an honorable life, samurai continue to positively influence Japan today. BIBLIOGRAPHY Avakian, Monique. The Meiji Restoration and the Rise of Modern Japan. Boston: Silver Burdett, 1991. 38-54. Cook, Harry. Samurai: the Story of a Warrior Tradition. New York: Sterling, 1998. 22-35. Yuzan Daidoji, Oscar Ratti, and Thomas Cleary. The Code of the Samurai. Boston: Tuttle, 1999. 10-44. Dean, Arlan. Samurai: Warlords of Japan. New York: Scholastic Library, 2005. 19-37. Kure, Mitsuo. Samurai: An Illustrated History. Boston: Tuttle Publishing, 2001. 10-179. May, Nick. â€Å"Seppuku – a Practical Guide.† Gaijin Gleaner (1997): 1-5. 1 Dec. 2006 . Sato, Kanzan. The Japanese Sword: A Comprehensive Guide. New York: Kodansha International, Ltd., 1983. 28-80 Turnbull, Stephen. Samurai Warfare. New York: Sterling, 1996. 44-73. Yamamoto, Tsunetomo, and William S. Wilson. Hagakure: the Book of the Samurai. Tokyo: Kodansha America, 1983. 17-65.

Project management tools and technique Thesis Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Project management tools and technique - Thesis Example 2). Besides the differences in uniqueness and repeatability, project management is different from operations management in that it is revolutionary and is based on transient resources while the latter is evolutionary and based on stable resources (Select Knowledge 2001, p. 9). Literature Review Project Management Standards, Methodologies and Bodies of Knowledge Morris and Pinto (2007, p. 243) explain the reasons behind the interest in a global approach towards project management standards, qualifications and body of knowledge including international competitiveness, concern of possible fragmentation of the project management field and demands from multinational practitioners. Since project management is a field experiencing considerable growth, there is bound to be differences in the bodies of knowledge and standards arising from various perspectives. As a result, there is the need for the establishment of universal standards, methodologies and body of knowledge to guide the field. T he first body of knowledge under consideration is the PMBOK, established by the PMI (Project Management Institute) which took the earliest steps to professionalise project management. The PMBOK earlier on sought to codify the knowledge behind the field of project management but later realised it was quite a dynamic field and instead developed itself into good practice. The PMBOK Guide now serves as an accreditation tool for educational institutions and a test on it also serves as part of the qualifying process in the US Project Management Professional (PMP) certification. It is the most widely used body of knowledge in project management and has nine areas of knowledge on projects: management of integration, scope, quality, human resource,... The intention of this study is Project Management Standards, Methodologies and Bodies of Knowledge (PMBOK).The first body of knowledge under consideration is the PMBOK, established by the Project Management Institute which took the earliest steps to professionalise project management. The PMBOK earlier on sought to codify the knowledge behind the field of project management but later realised it was quite a dynamic field and instead developed itself into good practice. The PMBOK Guide now serves as an accreditation tool for educational institutions and a test on it also serves as part of the qualifying process in the US Project Management Professional certification. It is the most widely used body of knowledge in project management and has nine areas of knowledge on projects: management of integration, scope, quality, human resource, procurement, cost, time, communications and risk. The next body of knowledge is the APMBOK (Association of Project Management Body of Knowledge) which w as developed in the UK. It forms the basis of accreditation, qualification, research and publication in the UK. The areas covered in the APMBOK include management of context, planning of strategy, execution, techniques, business and commercial considerations and lastly governance and organisation of people and the profession. The British Standard BS6079-1: 2002 provides guidance on the planning and execution of projects and the use of techniques in project management. It is more standards-based and has been revised a number of time in the last seven years to ensure it accommodates the most recent technology and practices in project management.

Why is technology important to students Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Why is technology important to students - Essay Example The 21st century has posed a new challenge to the traditional way of learning as administered by teachers to their students. These days, learning is no longer limited to the 4 walls of the classroom, nor the pages of the school approved textbook. With the advent of the internet, search engines, laptops, smart phones, and tablet PC's, the world of education and learning has entered unknown territory. Technology is now an integral part of the educational system. It has become a vital and all too important part of the modern day classroom and learning process of the modern student. Education is no longer limited to a mere 40 minutes per class subject in school. Technology has allowed education to extend far beyond the recognized educational system and has come to offer the highest benefit to students in terms of a well rounded education thanks to the gadgets that help in their discovery and learning processes. Students of today must be computer savvy in order to ensure that they will be able to compete in the modern workplace. Lack of technological education such as basic computer skills will prevent these students from reaching their full employment potential. That is why the modern day teacher must work with the students in order to provide themselves with challenging learning opportunities (qtd. in Hayden). Education has never before had an all too important role in the future of a student. The advent of technology has forced the students to develop a higher level of thinking and analytical skills (Delgado, Rick â€Å"Top 10 Reasons Technology is Important for Education†). The use of computers and other technology based equipment in the modern or digital classroom has provided the students with the ample development of their problem solving skills through the use of computer software and other programs that help them to accomplish that task. By successfully completing the assigned tasks, the students sense of motivation and self - esteem is heightened an d their desire to learn more about topics of interest to them is fueled by their exposure to the technology that helped them kindle their interest in the topic. It is important to note however, that even though not all the students in a school will have computers at home, they all have an equal chance at learning while in school because of the computers that are readily available either in the computer lab or the library. These gadgets are available free of charge to the students who can use it to research any topic on an unlimited basis. However, the advent of technology also poses new problems for the students and the teachers who use learning tools such as power point presentations. Not all students manage to learn at the same pace. There are some who require extra time to process their learning material and the oral lecture of their teachers. Power point presentations and other technological advancements have also made teaching faster and easier for most teachers. They then fail to take into account the learning curve of their students (Hayden, Kelly â€Å"Reasons Technology is Important in Schools: The Digital Age in Classrooms). Technology has allowed students to also become their own teachers because they are given projects that require them to research and understand various materials

Television in modern society has more negative effects than positive Outline

Television in modern society has more negative effects than positive effects. Discuss - Outline Example promoting truthfulness and as a source of highlighting societal issues and problems but with the passage of time, it evolved into the form of a central piece of global politics. Nobody is really concerned about the reality and everybody is casting his or her votes on the basis of a whim. The whim that is created in public by media (Jansen, Zhang, Sobel, & Chowdury, 2009) and the so-called social workers are promoting their meaningless activities as beneficial acts for the society. The media and television has recently transformed into a curse rather than a blessing in the current point in time (Kietzmann, Hermkens, & McCarthy, 2011). The audience has to realize the fact that media is indeed promoting violence, untruthfulness and even sexism in the youngsters in order to get higher ratings. Based on the above argument, it can be established that parents must intervene in the lives of their children on a deep level so that the damage that is done by media can be controlled and managed accordingly. Jansen, B., Zhang, M., Sobel, K., & Chowdury, A. 2009. Twitter power: Tweets as electronic word of mouth. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology Vol 60 No. 1,

Why was the Nile River important for the rise of successful states in Essay

Why was the Nile River important for the rise of successful states in North Africa - Essay Example The river flows for more than 4000 miles through the Sahara desert, farmlands, swamps, villages, and large cities. Across its length, the Nile divides into several streams to form a delta before emptying into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is regarded as international waters shared among countries along its source, flow, and mouth including Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Sudan, and Egypt. Since time in memorial, rivers have shaped the course of human history creating and sustaining great civilisations along its banks. River Nile is the birthplace of the greatest civilisations in the ancient world in Northern Africa and its importance remains vital to date. This paper seeks to highlight the importance of the Nile River for the rise of successful states in North Africa. The Nile forms large water basin along its length that has proven essential to nations in North Africa. The Sahara desert extends to nations serviced by river Nile including Egypt and Sudan creating varying climate regions. In North Africa, Egypt and Sudan receive sparse rainfall while as the south receives heavy downpour, contributing flooding in the north. The floodwaters drain to the north carrying with them fertile soil that formed the foundation of life in North Africa. The regular flooding of the Nile River emptied in valleys leaving them highly fertile and ready for growing season. Ancient civilisations established farming techniques to cater for their population, providing enough food for consumption and excess for trade purposes. Besides the fertile lands, river Nile provided water for irrigation purposes in farms along the river during the dry season. Farmers practised basin irrigation, which was a prolific adjustment of the natural rise and fall of the river where they regulated the flow of floodwaters into the basin through a network of earthen banks along the river. Irrigation allowed cultivation of large tracks of land even during the dry summer to provide food fo r the emerging civilisation. This saw a significant expansion of agricultural practices making Egypt and surrounding settlements the breadbasket for other civilisations such as the Roman Empire. Agricultural production received a boost with the construction of the Aswan High Dam, which saw the water harnessed for irrigation purposes leading to increased food production (Awulachew et al 12). The farmers cultivated wheat, barley, flax, and vegetables while rearing fowl, cattle, sheep, and goats. Agriculture played an important role in the economies of countries along the Nile basin by providing food to sustain the population. The existing government became wealthy and strong among the neighbouring nations leading to prosperity among its population. Owing to the increased production of food, there was an influx of population along the river valleys. The increase in population necessitated amicable governance for a harmonious existence. In addition, the population increase strained avai lable resources leading to the expansion of the existing settlements to accommodate new families. This contributed to the establishment of towns and cities along the fertile valleys of river Nile and with the intensified population growth, the leaders established territories governed through stratified government organs. The Nile River provides a stable source of water for both domestic and industrial use, which ensured a low cost of production of goods and services translating to increased efficiency and level of production. In regard to this, the economy thrives owing social security creating unlimited potential in terms of growth. This is especially because the government can focus on other economic sectors by committing large

Executive Compensation and WorldCom Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Executive Compensation and WorldCom - Essay Example His strategy, however, failed, and the company’s expenses increased as a percentage of total revenue occasioned by a drop in growth of earning. By falsifying WorldCom’s accounting numbers, he hid the operating expenses and instead presented them as long-term capital investments, effectively but falsely showing increased assets. However, concerns arose when AT&T, the then leading telecommunication company, was posting loses yet WorldCom was seemed to be thriving, which led to internal audits that, in turn, led to revelations that accounting standards had not been followed. Eventually, the company filed for bankruptcy. Feeling unsatisfied with the low profit margins the telecommunication was comfortable with in the 1990s, CEO Bernard Ebbers of WorldCom, which was the second most successful telecommunication company then, acquired more than 60 small telecommunication companies between 1995 and 2000. After venturing into the internet and data business, by 2000 WorldCom was handling not only half of the internet traffic in the United States, but also half of the world’s total emails. In 2001, it owned a third of the United States’ data cables. From this description, WorldCom was by all accounts a telecommunication giant, only second to AT&T as a long-distance carrier. However, as has been the tradition with executive compensation and remuneration for many years, executives also earn more when the companies perform better (Neokleous, 2013). Bernard Ebbers, therefore, not only made profit for WorldCom’s shareholders and owners, his personal wealth was also growing. Yet, when the in dustry started experiencing business declines, the company was also affected and the price of its stocks dropped, reducing profits. Ebbers used unscrupulous means to show that the company was indeed making profits and, as a direct consequence, ensure his executive compensation (Jeter, 2003). This paper will

Compensation (Human Resources) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Compensation (Human Resources) - Essay Example ion is simply the salary of an employee while indirect compensation is more different for it includes legal obligation programs such as health insurance, retirement programs, paid leave or housing. Benefits and rewards receive by the employee from the employer is the non-monetary compensation. According to Tatum (2010), in order for employees to be more productive and motivated, business should provide more detailed incentive – the total compensation package. The package should be well designed to attract, retain, and motivate competent workers in the organization. To decide on what component to be included in the compensation package is far more complicated than just deciding on the payment of employees. The expectations of the employees on what would their compensation package consist of, would be a pressure for the organization. The components of the total compensation package include total compensation (base pay and incentives), benefits, work-life balance and training, career and personal growth (Construction Business Owner, 2007). These components are needed for an organization to survive into today’s tough business environment. Base pay and incentives are usually the largest component and the most common of a compensation package. These are important being the introduction of employment to assure that employees have comfort in their lifestyle. Salary would be based on the role of the worker on how the role is being delivered while incentive usually refers to the payment for performance. Benefits are the second component that typically provides: medical benefits, dental plan, paid time off, holidays, social security and many others (Construction Business Owner, 2007). Giving benefits to their employees are adopted by over 80 percent companies today. This component is important to attract employees who are looking for long-term and stable jobs that would surely build loyalty in the organization. Another component of compensation package is the work-life

Marketing plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Marketing plan - Essay Example Since the beginning of the competition, the company has decided to come up with different ways of reaching out to its potential customers. So far the company has hired Fallon worldwide and advertisement agencies in Minneapolis to develop new marketing strategies for their products. Since its introduction in automotive sector in 1916, BMW Company has come up with different products in the sector (Martin, Fabian, and Josh 2002A) The Company is also known for producing and marketing a range of sporty and higher end motorcycles and cars. Despite investing on cars and motorcycles, the company has also embarked on aircraft engine known as Rolls Royce. The company global subsidiaries and manufacturing plants are situated in Mexico, Brazil, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Egypt, Vietnam United Kingdom, United States of America, Australia and Germany. All this plants have very concrete and productive marketing channels and strategies. Currently, the company is as well operating its financia l cooperate which offers financial assistance to potential customers. This marketing plan is based on a 4C framework of credibility, consistency, competitiveness and clarity as BMW strives to enhance its market niche in Japan and China. Credibility refers to continued use of reliable information to customers and all the conditions of sale will be upheld. Moreover, BMW will continue to make luxurious vehicles that will meet customer needs and will strive to gain competitiveness in the new market. Moreover, the channels of distribution used by the company will be clear. 2.0: Introduction Since producing its first car, BMW has grown significantly marketing its products in different parts of the world. 1,366,838 cars of different models were produced by BMW group in 2006 and this figure rose to 1,481,253 in 2010. Moreover, the company has been producing motorcycles since 1916 and does its production in different countries of the world including Mexico, China, Russia, UK, Australia, US a nd South Africa. However, it only started producing cars in China 2008 as shown in the table below. Table1 showing BMW vehicle production from 2005 to 2010 Year BMW Rolls-Royce MINI 2005 1,122,308 692 200, 119 2006 1,179,317 874 186,674 2007 1,302,774 1029 237,700 2008 1,203,482 1417 235,019 2009 1,043,829 918 213,670 2010 1,236,989 3221 241,043 Source (BMW Group 2011A) 56 percent of the total BMW branded vehicle are petrol powered as the remaining are powered using diesel. 27 percent of the vehicles powered by petrol have four cylinders while another 9 percent have eight cylinders. 2.1: Market overview So far the company has to a great extent succeeded in its marketing strategy. The success is highly attributed by functional and consistent marketing strateg

Technical and Vocational Education Essay Example for Free

Technical and Vocational Education Essay Technical and Vocational Education through open learning trends, developments and issues from a local perspective Technical and Vocational subject areas in many countries seem to be locked to a particular frame work The framework that postulates that TVET is a subject area taught to persons who are academically challenged. It is the notion of many parents and by extension the society that TVET means a plain supplier of skilled labour to the workforce and is unable to be on the same plateau as those persons pursuing medicine or law. With growing concerns about TVET and the need to share the vision, that it is through TVET that most great inventions are arrived at. A new way of teaching and learning has been adopted and introduced in New Zealand ,it is called open learning. The changing world of work TVET policymakers believe that the infusion of open learning and TVET is indeed the way to move forward. Open learning is said to be embracing a new era in our world, one that is moving from the industrial to the knowledge age. Knowledge is said to be changing and there is an immense need for re-skilling and retooling of persons. According to the article avoidance of embracing this new type of learning could mean that one might be left on the way side of technology. Trends in distance vocational and technical education and training New Zealand has seen a shift in the work patterns in that there is a decrease in many of the traditional trade –related areas, while there is an increase in the service sectors and the social sciences. The vocational market is characterized by the need of various skilled persons that will require current competencies; therefore individuals are encouraged to keep abreast with current trends. One of the ways in which New Zealand tries to confront these issue is by introducing the open learning. It has been over emphasized in the article that the world of work is rapidly changing , hence there is the need to upgrade and be reskilled.. Increased participation Open learning in New Zealand has played a vital role in making TVET more accessible. It requires low cost structure for high volume courses. Even though the government of New Zealand has cut back on expenditure in TVET, there are companies who are injecting capital in the program to make it a possibility. Address the skills gap Like many counties New Zealand has generic skills gap, and this is evident at all levels of the work place. The generic gap includes literacy, numeracy, communication and interpersonal skills. It is believed that these generic skills are prerequisites to any sector of the workforce. Surveys were done showing that graduates are more often hired for their learning skills than their specific knowledge. Another key issue is that while many persons are employed in small companies there is little scope for training. There are other problems such as when an institution starts a programs which it deems as a necessity and the program fails due to low student enrollment for that specific course. An example of such a course was developed jointly with a Canadian provider. The course had to be discontinued after three years due to lack of student enrollment. Qualification In regards to qualifications it was stated that TVET(through open learning) is now offering a wide variety of courses, but this is with some amount of drawback as some of these new courses have very little â€Å"shelf life†. Staff patterns have to be changed in that facilitators have to be more flexible and be willing to move with the technological era, also the facilitator have to be more focused on the needs of the learner. The facilitator of TVET areas have to be credible even in their own work as open learning faces seamless challenges. The facilitators should have significant and ongoing staff development. Some of the issues outlined in the document included shortening of life knowledge, technology, Quality assurance, Co-operation and competition and the roles and impact of government policies. Conclusion Open learning is an avenue that is presenting both teacher and learner a new flexible way of sending and receiving information. Although the union between open learning and TVET has challenges it is embracing the use of technology to present traditional vocational areas in a way that is now accepted by the government and other shareholders. One support for the open learning is the postal system which is very efficient. Open learning also boast its ability to provide quality output which was once limited to studying on traditional campuses. One of the greatest set back to the system is the role of the government in the whole process. Students have been facing undue pressure since the government has been a lot of cutbacks. Open learning is proving that it is the way to enter into the technological sphere. It is flexible, it reinforces , it fosters independent learning, while providing immediate transfer of skills.

The Legal System and ADR Analysis Essay Example for Free

The Legal System and ADR Analysis Essay Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) refers to any means of settling disputes outside of the courtroom. ADR typically includes early neutral evaluation, negotiation, conciliation, mediation, and arbitration. As burgeoning court queues, rising costs of litigation, and time delays continue to plague litigants, more states have begun experimenting with ADR programs. Some of these programs are voluntary; others are mandatory. While the two most common forms of ADR are arbitration and mediation, negotiation is almost always attempted first to resolve a dispute. It is the preeminent mode of dispute resolution. Negotiation allows the parties to meet in order to settle a dispute. The main advantage of this form of dispute settlement is that it allows the parties themselves to control the process and the solution. Mediation is also an informal alternative to litigation. Mediators are individuals trained in negotiations, who bring opposing parties together and attempt to work out a settlement or agreement that both parties accept or reject. Mediation is used for a wide gamut of case-types ranging from juvenile felonies to federal government negotiations with Native American Indian tribes. Mediation has also become a significant method for resolving disputes between investors and their stock brokers. Arbitration is a simplified version of a trial involving limited discovery and simplified rules of evidence. The arbitration is headed and decided by an arbitral panel. To comprise a panel, either both sides agree on one arbitrator, or each side selects one arbitrator and the two arbitrators elect the third. Arbitration hearings usually last between a few days to a  week, and the panel only meets for a few hours per day. The panel then deliberates and issues a written decision, or arbitral award. Opinions are not public record. Arbitration has long been used in labor, construction, and securities regulation, but is now gaining popularity in other business disputes. Title 9 of the U.S. Code establishes federal law supporting arbitration. It is based on Congresss plenary power over interstate commerce. Where Title 9 applies, its terms prevail over state law. There are, however, numerous state laws on ADR. Forty-nine states have adopted the 1956 version of the Uniform Arbitration Act as state law. The act was revised in 2000 and subsequently adopted by twelve states. The arbitration agreement and award is now enforceable under both state and federal law. In 1958, the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards was drafted to aid in the enforcement in domestic courts of awards granted in foreign countries. As of August 2007, there were 142 countries participating in the convention. In 1970, the United States joined the UN Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards. Reference Robbins, S. P. Judge, T. A. (2011). Organizational behavior (14th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall.

Case Study On Federalism The Murray Darling Basin Politics Essay

Case Study On Federalism The Murray Darling Basin Politics Essay The long-term issues surrounding the Murray Darling Basin provide an excellent case study with which to review federalism in Australia. This paper will explore the history of the Murray Darling Basin management, the relationships it has fostered and examine why success has been achieved where other national issues have failed. Federalism in Australia To provide context for this case study it is useful to define and summarise federalism and how it has shaped modern Australia. Generally, federalism is the name given to a type of government that unites different political bodies or regions within a single national system whilst providing each its independence. In 1901 Australia created the Federal Parliament giving six states independence but also providing the Federal Government key national powers. Australian federalism can be broken down in a number of ways: The structure of the Senate. The chamber comprises of an equal number of senators from each State. Hence, Tasmania and New South Wales have the same number of Senators even though the populations vary enormously. The role of the senate is to approve legislation sought from the House of Representatives. The division of powers. The Australian Constitution of 1901 established the Commonwealth of Australia which vested legislative power in a Federal Parliament. The Constitution provides for a wide range of responsibilities for the Federal Government which are detailed in Section 51. Those powers not detailed in Section 51 are known as residual powers as they are the responsibility of the States. The term division of powers lies at the heart of federalism and describes the division of responsibilities and power between state and the Commonwealth. In reality there are huge crossovers between the two layers of Government. Competition between these two layers of Government is a formative element to the history of Australia and the federation. Individual State Constitutions. Every State has a defined local constitution and maintains its own Government managed by a Parliament. The Parliament may take any form afforded by the states constitution. Fiscal arrangements. From the very outset the Australian federation was characterised by fiscal imbalance which has worsened overtime (Griffiths and Saunders 2002). Vertical fiscal imbalance (VFI) describes when central governments collect more revenue than regional governments, with Australia having among the highest VFI of any federal nation in the world (Warren 2006 pxxi). The introduction of Special Purpose Payments (SPPs) in 1923 along with the Uniform Tax Case (1942) moved the Commonwealth to a strong centralist position, way beyond that described in the Constitution. VFI has generally brought about detrimental changes to the federation. Overtime VFI has led to a decrease in accountability and increased layers of administration. Further it has led to a dependency by smaller states for core funding creating irresponsibility and inefficiencies (Walsh 2005). The original framers of the Constitution would be pleased to see that federalism has allowed for: competition; regionalisation of policies; innovation; experimentation; choice and diversity (Twomey and Withers 2007). Federalism is at the heart of Australias resilience and vigour. However, in the years since the inception of the Australian Constitution in 1901, small but fundamental policy and legislative changes have altered the style of the federation. Overtime a federal system has developed that does not reflect current world realities or the changing dynamics of a modern society. It is often argued that the model has never adequately defined roles or responsibilities, that duplication and inefficiencies are inherent and that historic fiscal arrangements are damaging (Wilkins 2004). The Murray Darling Basin Management of the Murray Darling Basin (MDB) highlights how federalism can work over extended timescales and provides the first example of cooperative federalism in Australia. Discussions surrounding the MDB are far from new with the birth of federalism in Australia emerging in part due to disputes associated with the water catchment area. A 1902 Royal Commission notes: The Murray and its tributaries must be looked at as one. An administrative and technical response is needed for jurisdictional disputations, environmental challenges and economic opportunities within a maturing Federal system Corowa Water Conference and Interstate Royal Commission 1902 The large scale of the MDB is surprising in terms of geography, financial contribution to the economy and importance to water resource development. The MDB catchment area covers over one million square kilometres and accounts for 14% of the Australian landmass, an area larger than France and Spain combined: Source ABS 2008 The basin is of crucial importance not only to the region but to the entire nation as it accounts for around $4.8 billion or 39% of Australias total agricultural output. The importance of food production encompassed by the MDB is broken down at the highest level as follows: Agricultural Crop / Livestock Percentage of Total Australian Production Cereals 53% Oranges 95% Apples 54% Cattle 24% Sheep 45% Pigs 62% Source ABS 2008 Further the MDB is the major source of water for Adelaide and northern Spencer Gulf cities in addition to settlements along the rivers and in the watersheds that feed them (Hawke Research Unit 2008). Water irrigated from the MDB accounts for approximately 75% of all the water irrigated in Australia. As water has long played a crucial role in the formation of white Australia, there are many dates and events  through which inter-governmental management of the MDB evolved: Date Event 1855 NSW passed their Constitution Act 1855 which gave the state possession of River Murray waters from the Rivers headwater to the SA border. 1855 -1898 Political wrangles leading to conferences of the Colonies (1857 and 1863). Three separate Royal Commissions in VIC, NSW and SA. Corowa Conference on Trade beginnings of Federation and agreements on river management. Water management entwined with Federation. 1902 Corowa Community Conference sees local groups take over the debate. 1915 Establishment of the River Murray Waters Agreement. NSW and Vic agreed to limit their Constitutional powers to manage the waters of the River Murray as they saw fit, and to provide SA with a share of those resources.   The Commonwealth Government played a strong facilitation role in reaching this agreement. 1916 -1980 Collaboration between NSW, Vic, SA and the Commonwealth sees the construction of three major water storages and 16 weirs. The current value of these assets is around $2 billion. 1982 The first Murray-Darling Basin Agreement reached between four governments. 1986 Appointment of Murray-Darling Basin Ministerial Council 1988 Establishment of the Murray Darling Basin Commission 1993 Enactment of the Murray Darling Basin Act 1993 1995 Cap on water restrictions ratified by all members of Murray-Darling Basin Agreement 2003 Council of Australian Governments (COAG) noted a $500 million fund over five years to restore the health of the River Murray. 2006 Additional $500 million announced to support MDB regeneration. The Commonwealth flagged its intention to take a lead role in management of the MDB. 2007 Enactment of the Water Act 2007 and establishment of the Murray Darling Basin Authority. A further $10 billion investment promised by Commonwealth 2008 Agreement on Murray-Darling Basin Reform signed by all Basin States and the Commonwealth Government Changes to the Water Act 2007 transferred power to the Murray Darling Basin Authority 2010 Release of the Guide to the Proposed Murray-Darling Basin Plan. Concerns from farmers and communities lead to a 12 month delay of the final release. Within the last 20 years the basin has been under enormous stress as a result of over-allocation, prolonged drought, natural climate variability and climate change. A lack of water has played havoc with rivers, wetlands, forests and floodplains with blame resting with State governments for allowing too much water to be taken out of the system. The Long Road to Cooperative Federalism The success of the MDB management is surprising given the resource joins four States, a territory government, a federal government and hundreds of water catchment boards and local governments. The majority of serious issues in managing the system have always reached resolution and as a showcase for water resource management the MDB is highly regarded internationally. So how has the MDB become a showcase for cooperative federalism and avoided stagnation with other national issues? One important reason for the success in the MDB lies in the types of relationships fostered through communities, local governments, states and the Commonwealth. The prevailing characteristics of Australian federalism are of rivalry and coercion leading to undesirable behaviour by governments (Walsh 2005). However management of the MDB has produced major reform across all levels of government resulting in a greater good approach by stakeholders. There are few examples since 1901 where a unified approach to a national issue, not enforceable by a Commonwealth government, has been so resolutely enacted with such cross-border respect. The strong identity invested by individuals, bureaucrats and politicians alike meant the evolution of a sense of bioregionalism and identification with the Murray-Darling Basin could develop over time (Powell 1993). Further, from 1916-1980 Vic, NSW, SA and the Commonwealth worked together in a fair and equitable way on the construction of major water infrastructure.    Facing considerable challenges and significant disputes  the 1982 River Murray Waters Agreement became the forerunner of the Murray Darling Basin Initiative and is sighted as the very first example of cooperative federalism (Freebairn 2005). The success of the River Murray Waters Agreement was due to the clarity of roles and responsibilities across three levels of government. As Australia still wrestles with its model of federalism and searches for a new and meaningful style of government (Twoomey and Withers 2007) the MDB is an excellent example of where cross border activities and regional priorities have been unified through a common approach. Facilitating the move towards cooperative federalism have been the fiscal arrangements surrounding the MDB. The Commonwealth, without having Constitutional control but plenty of cash, has incentivised reform via payments on performance. For example the introduction of the National Competition Policy in 1995 allowed a series of tranche payments to motivate States in achieving key water reform goals. In 2004, the National Water Initiative was introduced to overcome property rights issues, resulting in an agreed public-private cost-sharing arrangement if environmental flows were to be increased (Freebairn 2005). Investment by the Commonwealth has been substantial and, as Freebairn notes, is considered the glue holding together MDB reforms. Where national reforms to housing, education and health languish due to arguments on horizontal fiscal equalisation the MDB has neatly sidestepped such issues. It is reasonable to suggest that the fiscal arrangements have been the keystone in all refo rms to the MDB and that the cooperative nature of arrangements have been underpinned by the direct and indirect cash injections by the Commonwealth. The substantial public investment made from 1990-1996 also incurred criticism. Throughout this period there was limited empirical evidence of real improvements to the MDB system. The feel good perception of the general public may well have been misplaced in relation to tangible on the ground achievements (Ancev and Vervoort 2007). However data does not sell newspapers or create political careers. The high level political messages issued at the time brushed over realities and allowed for continued poor policy setting. It is interesting to note that during this period all parties remained committed to flawed policies which later exacerbated problems within the MDB. The success of MDB management is also attributed to the centralist strategy encapsulated in the Murray-Darling Basin Agreement. The Agreement of 1988 can be understood in light of the effective management of what is an enormously complex and pressing issue. The Commonwealth in this context acted as the broker between State interests, operating outside of particular jurisdictional claims and difficulties. It was a clever, pragmatic and subtle role, one which the original writers of the Constitution would have imagined the Commonwealth playing more frequently. Combined with the financial contributions previously described, the Commonwealth have been able to lead from behind and manoeuvre local and regional issues within a national context. A Trickle Becomes a River The role of the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) in assisting reform is not to be underestimated. Whilst COAG has been underutilised by some Governments, its ability to decide on matters of national importance has been crucial in advancing management of the MDB. For example the COAG endorsed reforms for water allocations and cross boarder trading provided clear direction and set deadlines for action that no single state could command. In addition the Water Management Partnerships agreed by COAG in 2008 provided national agreement at a crucial time in the basins history, with long-term drought reducing flows to their lowest levels on record. It was a critical time for leadership and decision making and one in which COAG was able to fully exercise its role and responsibility. The swearing in of the Labour Government of 2007 bought with it a wave of cooperative federalism supported by a political alignment of all States and Commonwealth for the first time since 1969. Almost immediately progress was made on revolutionising MDB management with a cash injection of $10bn and the creation of Murray Darling Basin Authority. The Authority replaced the previous Murray Darling Commission and provided the Commonwealth with a closer link to water reform for the region. In the history of the cooperative federalism in Australia this was another milestone. By creating an independent statutory authority the basin states were clear on the roles and responsibilities of water management for the region. The suggestions at the time that the Commonwealth should take total control over the Murray-Darling Basin were constitutionally impossible and environmentally short-sighted. Federalism cant make it rain. If the Commonwealth had been running the Murray-Darling before the drought the basin would still be in dire straits (Wanna 2009). However although the Murray Darling Basin Authority operates as a statutory authority it reports directly to the Commonwealth through the Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities. The relationship is another step toward Commonwealth control without Constitutional reform. From Now to Where? We have seen that through cooperative federalism MDB management has enabled significant long-term investment on a national scale. The MDB case study emphasises how cross boarder agreements can succeed in supporting the needs of three levels of government and local communities. We have also seen how the financial arrangements for MDB reform have sidestepped major federation fiscal issues that engulf national issues within education and health. Finally the case study has highlighted the importance of COAG and how, when performing at its best COAG can provide leadership, facilitate long-term national change and supporting varying regional priorities. Whilst the Australian federation has moved forward and in part failed to develop (Twoomey and Withers 2007) the MDB has remained a central focus for basin states, local governments and communities alike. Ongoing wrangling over water allocations will continue and serious droughts may well occur again, however, clearly defined roles and responsibilities provide a solid foundation upon which the Murray Darling Basin Authority now operates. Through cooperative federalism, pragmatic leadership and simplified investment the future of the Murray Darling Basin is more assured than at any time in its history.

Justice and Peace: The Road to Christian Salvation Essay examples -- R

Justice and Peace: The Road to Christian Salvation War appears to be the most vicious and unpleasant form of human interaction. No other setting allows people to kill each other in such substantial numbers or to cause such incredible and extensive distress. Wars often take many years to develop and they can last for years longer than that and the effects duplicate for decades and even centuries afterwards. A question that is frequently asked is: If war is so terrible, why do people continue to allow it to occur? A simple answer to this can be why isn’t war simply eliminated. Oddly, some actually seem to be fond of war. Armed battle is glorified for making us superior, stronger, and worthwhile beings even though we still have the power and strength to kill others. In the United States society today, the average person feels that war is simply miserable and a vicious act. The Christian majority seem to have bought into the myth that making war, like the rest of foreign policy, is not a moral issue, just a matter of fact. Faith requires Christians to determine when, and under what conditions, they may participate in the war making process. Christians strive for peace but realize in certain extreme cases that war may be a necessary evil to rectify certain situations and this can be shown through the current situation with Iraq. Unfortunately, at this point in time war appears to be inevitable with Iraq. The United States has done everything in its power to communicate with Iraq and discuss negotiations as well as trying to get Iraq to disarm. According to the tenets of Christianity it is imperative that they try to find a peaceful resolution. A Christian â€Å"faith is a relationship with God† (Thomps... ...ar is unavoidable then a just war can take place if necessary. Is war truly the answer to all of our problems or is peace our only means to justice and freedom? Christians would say that peace is our only means to justice and freedom because nonviolent confrontation is much more effective than violence by any means. This can be carried out through love, courage, strength, hope, and wisdom. â€Å"Such action is faithful to the vision of a people living out a life of reconciliation in a violent world† (Yoder 134). Works Cited Kegley, Charles W Jr., and Raymond, Gregory A. From War to Peace. New York: St. Martins Press, 2001. Thompson, Milburn J. Justice and Peace: A Prime for Christians. New York: Orbis Books, 2002. Walzer, Michael. Just and Unjust Wars. New York: Basic Books, 2000. Yoder, John Howard. What Would You Do? Pennsylvania: Herald Press, 1992.

False Consensus Effect :: essays research papers

False Consensus Effect: A Focused Review of Research Categorization and social projection are important ways that people can more successfully navigate their social environment. People need to know that there are others in their in-group that share the same attitudes and behaviors as they do. If people are unable to determine how many people in their environment share their attitudes and behaviors, it would be more difficult to engage in social situations without offending or contradicting others. For this reason, false consensus is an interesting offshoot of this important idea. The false consensus effect refers to the fact that people have a tendency to over-estimate the proportion of the population that shares an attitude or behavior with him or her. Much of the research on false consensus has demonstrated that people tend to over project how many members of their in-group are likely to share their attitudes and behaviors. This effect diminishes when comparing to an out-group. It is thought that this occurs because people feel that people who they do not consider to share a group identity with will likely have different basic attitudes and behaviors than they. An important aspect of the literature is that the vast majority used college students as the primary subjects. While this is extremely convenient for researchers, it may not give us a clear picture about false consensus, in that it is possible that college students' limited "real-world experience" may be influencing their projections. Also, almost all of the behavior measures were taken by self-report. This is somewhat necessary, as many of the behaviors would be difficult to measure directly (e.g., drug use) without a breach of ethics. This too is a source of potential source of error, it is likely that the self-reports would under-estimate the proportion of the population that engages in a particular behavior. The astute reader may notice that this review does not include any papers that did not find a false consensus effect. The reason for this is not that this paper is not representative of the literature, but rather, that it is. The uniformity of the literature suggests that the phenomenon is fairly common. Some interesting arguments as to why this is are motivational or cognitive in nature. The motivational premise is based in the idea that people are motivated to believe that they have a place in their social environment. This argument is a based in self-justification, in that if many people share a given belief or behavior, it makes it easier to justify that this attitude or behavior is either right, or not as bad as it might seem.

Aboriginal Customary Law VS European Law Essay -- essays research pape

Aboriginal customary law and European law have been at odds since the first years of the European invasion, but only recently has the clash come into the open. Stuart MacMillan of the Aboriginal Resource and Development Services in the Northern Territory says that remote Aboriginal communities there and in Western Australia, South Australia and Queensland see no reason why they should submit to "whitefella law". The governments of the Northern Territory and Western Australia are investigating how indigenous law can be incorporated into state law. Chris Sidoti of the Human Rights Council of Australia says: "Some people would say that human rights runs opposite to Aboriginal law, others that it provides a universal standard to which other legal traditions must adapt. Customary law can't remain immutable. The problem for those trying to bring the two systems into line is that human rights law derives from a western legal tradition which frequently contradicts Aboriginal law. Colin McDonald, a Darwin barrister and expert in customary law, says that on such issues Australia's legal system may simply have to bite the bullet and go against the norms of international human rights. Aboriginal women have often claimed that the law has been slanted to support the rights of indigenous men over women. Lowitja O'Donoghue, who formerly chaired the government's Aboriginal affairs body ATSIC, believes that Australian law should be more aggressive in such cases. Some aspects of Aboriginal law are falling out of practice. Chris Sidoti believes that whatever balance is struck will be as distinct from traditional European law as it is from traditional Aboriginal law. "For traditional people, being put in jail is more inhuman than spearing, and any unified law would have to recognise that. Aboriginal Customary Law The High Court did, however, conclude in that case (a conclusion confirmed in WA v Commonwealth, Wororra Peoples v WA and Teddy Biljabu and others v WA, High Court, March 16 1995) that some Aboriginal land law (that which attracted the status of 'native title') survived the colonisation process. What is far less certain is the fate of Aboriginal customary laws that were not concerned with title to land. Did traditional laws on subjects such as family relationships, title to goods, community justice mechanisms, inheritance and criminal law survive c... ...e necessary, and those laws which were to be applied could not be made applicable to all of the Aboriginal peoples but only to some. It would not be inconsistent with the principle of equality before the law that, where members of the Aboriginal race have special needs, those should be recognised by special rules laid down by the law. Further, the law is flexible enough to allow the courts to consider the special situation of an Aboriginal party where that is relevant. As the courts have recognised, the sentencing of Aboriginal offenders presents particular difficulties. Judges, in an attempt to do justice in discharging the difficult role of sentencing tribal and semi-tribal Aboriginal persons, have gone further. Clearly the ordinary criminal law is capable of facing these difficulties. It is neither necessary, nor desirable, to apply to the Aboriginal peoples the rules of their customary law rather than the general law. The attempt to uphold Aboriginal customary law is one aspect of the notion that the Aboriginal peoples will benefit if they continue to be treated as a class separate from the rest of the communi ty, which must necessarily be a dependent and disadvantaged class.

During those times when I have lost hope Essay

I cannot imagine life without Christina. In fact, I cannot remember a time in my life when she was not there with me or for me. More than best friends, we are like sisters. We shop together and we talk about everything and anything. And just like sisters, we too have our own fair share of misunderstandings and arguments but in the end, it is our bond of friendship that makes us kiss and make up. Christina was not my best friend when I was younger. In fact, we did not like each other. She was the type who was always hanging around with the cooler girls in school while I was the one who was always hanging around with the guys. So she was the princess and I was the tomboy. We could hardly look at each other because our crowds were of two completely different worlds. But an unfortunate event happened that made us talk to each other. You see, Christina and I were neighbors. And on that fateful rainy spring day, I got locked out of my house while my parents were out of town for a conference. I had to knock on the door of Christina’s house and her family let me stay until my parents got home. It was then that we realized that we were not really that different from each other. We liked the same movies and the same kind of music. From then on, we started hanging out in school and after school. Christina is a very optimistic person, the complete opposite of how I am. I always see the worse in things while she always saw the sunshine after the rain. During the lowest times of my life, she was there to cheer me up and always reminded me that there is no problem big enough that cannot be solved. She always told me that the problems that come my way are just challenges in life that I must overcome to become a stronger and more mature person. During those times when I have lost hope, her hug or simple pat on the shoulder would make everything alright because she makes me feel that I do not have to go through life alone. It is from Christina that I have learned that there is something good in every person and in every thing. I must admit that I am a very judgmental person but Christina has influenced me to be more open minded about how I perceive the people I meet and the things that I encounter. She would constantly tell me the cliche don’t judge a book by its cover and I would just laugh her off. But then she would remind me of the circumstances on how we started becoming friends. And she’s right that by her appearance alone, I will choose not to be friends with her. But she is also correct that since I took time to get to know her, I learned that her appearance alone does not define her entire being. Now, I am very careful with how I interact with people and that before I dismiss them and not want anything to do with them, I try to talk to them first and get to know a little bit of them to see if we have things in common. Another good thing that I have learned from Christina is how to take a break from school and all the other stressful extra-curricular activities that I have. I come from a very demanding family when it comes to school and my parents do not realize how much pressure they put on me to do well in school. So there are times when I would be awake for days, trying to prepare for an exam or a paper and would miss out on parties and shopping with friends. Christina taught me the importance of balance in life. For one, she is the type of student who can go to a party every weekend and yet still manage to get those A’s in school. She constantly reminds me that rest is important and that there is no use in studying all the time if I would be too tired or weary to take the exams. I have learned that there is a time for everything and that balance is essential to keep myself sane. But by far, the most important thing that Christina has taught me is how to love myself. My insecurities are like little battles for me everyday. When my boyfriend broke up with me for a girl who looked like a supermodel, all my insecurities started to envelope me. I started hating and doubting myself. There came a point when I found nothing good about myself and started wasting my life away. But Christina was there to pick me up and to shake some sense into my head. She, with some other friends, talked to me through some sort of intervention and told me all the good things that they see in me. They pounded in my head that unless and until I start seeing the good in myself, I will never be able to offer what I have to other people; and that if I didn’t believe in myself, then other people will start losing their faith in me as well. It was not easy to bounce back into the life I used to have: the more focused and idealistic me. But I am grateful that Christina was with me every step of the way, helping me collect the pieces of my life and putting them back together, as if completing a puzzle. Differences brought me and Christina together as friends. And it is differences that continue to bind us. I no longer consider Christina as my best friend but as my sister, someone that has shaped my life and continues to shape my life for the better. I just wish that someday I can give back to her everything that she has done for me as my way of saying how grateful I am that she is a part of my life.

Diet: Obesity and Dieting Essay

Dieting Makes You Fat The weight-loss industry is swelling as quickly as our waistlines at the moment, which seems something of a paradox. If body-conscious consumers are so happy to buy dieting products, why are we facing an obesity crisis? The truth is, no calorie-controlled diet works; if it did, dieting professionals could kiss repeat business goodbye. Even worse: Restricting what you eat will make you fat. Worse still: Yo-yo dieting can cause depression, high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels. Frequent dieters are 60 percent more likely to die from heart disease than people who don’t starve themselves. The weight-loss successes trumpeted on the front of slimming magazines contradict this. They tell the stories of women (it usually is women) who have lost a lot of weight by following a diet that restricts calorie intake. As the pictures show, these women have clearly not been made fat by following such regimes. This, though, is only part of the complex dieting jigsaw, as Geoffrey Cannon explains in his book Dieting Makes You Fat. Yes, if you consume less energy than your body burns off in a day, your weight will drop. But Cannon, a public health adviser and nutrition expert, looks longer-term and says that nearly all dieters are forced to turn to drugs, surgery, further dieting or exercise to maintain that initial weight loss. If the title of the book rings a bell, it is possible you read Cannon’s earlier book of the same name, which he wrote 25 years ago. Conclusive new scientific evidence to support the claims in the first book, a global public health crisis caused by obesity and its attendant illnesses, and a booming diet industry prompted Cannon to completely rewrite this text. Dieting Makes You Fat was groundbreaking a quarter of a century ago, but its message is perhaps even more urgent today. As people are getting fatter (a government report from 2007 predicted that by 2050 most British adults will be obese), the market for weight-loss products is growing. The dieting industry in the United States is worth $46 billion a year; in Europe it is worth a‚ ¬93 billion. Clearly, our appetite for losing weight is not matched by our capacity to actually shed fat. Why did we not take Cannon’s advice the first time round? When people are skeptical of dieting regimes, they will say that diets don’t work,† he explains. â€Å"But they always stop short of saying that dieting makes you fat, which is a concept with explosive implications. † He points to scientific studies that illustrate how the dieting trap leads to weight gain. A 2007 UCLA review concluded: â€Å"We found that the majority of people regained all the weight, plus more. †¦ Most of them would have been better off not going on the diet at all. † Further evidence came from an experiment in a closed-off ecosystem in Arizona in the early ’90s. Eight scientists had agreed to live inside the man-made biosphere for two years. Once inside, they discovered they were unable to grow enough food but agreed to diet for the two years and continue with the experiment. They all dropped about 9 kilograms before their weights stabilized. Within six months of leaving the biosphere, they had piled the weight back on, and — crucially — almost of all of it was fat, not the lean tissue they had started out with. Not only does dieting make you fat, it makes you flabby, too. â€Å"Throughout history, humans have evolved and adapted to survive famine and starvation,† explains Cannon. The people who survived were the people who were best able to, those who had their larders inside themselves, in the form of body fat. A dieting regime will fail because you’re training your body to survive famine and starvation better. † Cannon takes pains to dilute the science in Dieting Makes You Fat and includes just one table in the whole book, which looks at the difference between the energy our bodies burn at different weights and with different body compositions — whether lean (physically fit but not necessarily light) or fat (not necessarily heavy, but with a high proportion of body fat to lean tissue). A lean woman who weighs 70 kilograms (154 pounds) burns 600 calories more at rest per day than a woman who weighs the same but has a lot of body fat. What, then, is the answer to losing weight, if diets are out? Cannon, without subscribing to the misconception that a thin person is, by definition, a healthy person and fat people are likewise unhealthy, says there are a lot of people out there who need to lose a lot of weight. He writes from experience, having jumped on the dieting wagon at a young age himself. When he realized that the diets he tried were ineffective, he set about proving why. Dieting Makes You Fat proposes seven golden rules for losing weight, the most salient being to get a lot of exercise and eat plenty of fresh, whole foods. Cannon admits that his approach takes six or seven months before positive results are seen, but he insists that it is what’s needed for people to dig their bodies out of the dieting trap.

Case Study: Dell Computer †Organization of a Global Production Network; Using E-Commerce to Support Its Virtual Company

[pic] Case Study: Dell Computer – Organization of a Global Production Network; using E-Commerce to support its Virtual Company 1. 0 Executive Summary Dell’s Direct Model  of selling PCs directly to the consumers, bypassing the distributors and retailers (resellers) channel, has been pioneered and provides distinct advantages over the indirect sales model. Customers have the ability to contact Dell directly and order technologically advanced systems at competitive prices. This direct contact with consumers gives Dell the unique opportunity to know exactly what its consumers want and offer products that would satisfy their specific needs. To fulfill the orders quickly and in supporting the â€Å"Build-To-Order† strategy, Dell has developed an excellent manufacturing and logistics capabilities supported by information systems that enable it to substitute information for inventory. Dell coordinates a global production network that spans the Americas, Europe and Asia, combining in-house final assembly with heavy reliance on outside suppliers and contract manufacturers. The use of Internet and E-commerce has further giving Dell a means for extending the reach and scope of its direct sales business model at a relatively low marginal cost. It has done so in part by automating its functions such as product configuration, order entry, and technical support, enabling the company to grow revenues without a corresponding increase in customer service costs. Also, it has used the Internet to coordinate a network of suppliers and business partners who carry out many of the processes involved in building, distributing and supporting personal computers. In short, Dell's supply chain consists of only three stages— the suppliers, the manufacturer (Dell), and end users. Dell’s direct contact with customers and its use of e-commerce allows it to: †¢ offered competitive prices, high levels of support †¢ properly identify market segments, †¢ analyze the requirements and profitability of each segment, and develop more accurate demand forecasts. †¢ cut on the standard supply chain cycle and deliver goods directly from the manufacturer to the customer. †¢ turn its inventory over 60 times a year introduced new products without having to clear out old inventory in the channel †¢ minimize the rapid depreciation costs that mark the PC industry †¢ operated on a negative cash conversion cycle – by receiving payment from its customers before it paid its suppliers for components †¢ build strong, stable relationships with the large corporations and other organizations who are its core custo mers Table of Contents TopicPage 1. Executive Summary2 2. Key Success Factors4 3. SWOT Analysis of Dell Computer6 4. What SCM strategies Dell had implemented? 8 5. What are the values of the Dell’s strategies? 10 6. Conclusion11 2. 0 Key Success Factors †¢ Supply Chain Know-How – A key component of Dell's supply chain management was having materials in close proximity to Dell factories; therefore suppliers are required to have inventory hubs near the manufacturing plants. A huge benefit of this supply chain solution is communicating with these hubs in real time to deliver the required materials. Dell had reduced its inventory to an all-time low of a 5 day supply, which comparatively was 20 to 70 days for its major competitors, thereby creating a competitive advantage. By operating on a just-in-time basis, (a result of an 87% reduction in primary suppliers) Dell was able to provide better service with a faster turnaround time. Also by reducing the total vendor pool and choosing suppliers physically close to Dell’s factories, supplier loyalty was increased, leading to further economies of scale. †¢ Strong supplier relationships – Dell seeks long-term single source relationships in situations where alternative sources are unavailable or the relationship is advantageous with respect to performance, quality, support, delivery or price. Securing long-term relationships with vendors allows Dell to more fully integrate major vendor into Dell’s supply chain management programs. This helps Dell reduce inventories of components, which translate into lower unit costs. Dell also seeks to lock-up supply at the lowest possible cost. Recently Dell signed a long-term supply agreement with Philips for the supply of CRT and flat panel monitors. †¢ Strong commitment to IT Practices ? Pre-installing software for Eastman Chemical, maintaining a corporate asset database for innovational support ? Integrating supply chain vendors with more precise demand forecast for business process support. ? Premier Pages – customize, buy and track systems, resolve tech issues for operations support. †¢ Customer Efficiency – Dell has made a serious investment in understanding its customers' activity in real time and then uses this information to constructively build its business and its winning culture. Dell constantly monitored the customer’s shifting preferences, which helped in pricing, inventory management, and cost accounting. Also, Dell’s factory assembly process was highly organized (i. e. bar codes), efficient (i. e. ystems were â€Å"burned in†) and extremely fast (i. e. 36 hour turnaround) and its customer service was exemplary for the industry. (a) Start with customer value – Historically, customers were segmented by verticals (e. g. , consumer, corporate, government and small business) as well as regions and size. Dell had to look a cross an aggregated view of these existing groupings to identify shared values relating to product features and supply chain capabilities. A global view was critical to this process. As Mr. Noakes stated, â€Å"[Our] growth markets are not in traditional regions. We need to adjust our model to the new requirements. (b) A unified, end-to-end business strategy — The Dell team stated this effort was â€Å"truly a corporate wide transformation. † Key to this was the ability to clearly articulate the need for change, the vision and the role of different organizations. To support this communication, several leaders started an internal blog to keep people up to date. †¢ Culture – Dell's winning ways begin and end with its culture. Dell has created a disciplined culture that relentlessly focuses on optimizing its operational model, responding to its customers' needs and sustaining a self-motivated and experienced workforce Market Sensing – Dell consistently sensed market changes before they happened and was able to anticipate and identify product areas to maximize sustainable profits using its Direct Model. As a result of this ability, Dell could pick and choose which market they entered, making sure it was a market leader quickly upon entering. †¢ Strong Information Management practices – is a powerful strategic weapon in Dell. It is widely distributed, analyzed and acted upon. People know where they and their business units stand at any time. They re-act accordingly. According to Dell: â€Å"If the folks in its consumer business notice it's 10am and they're not getting enough phone calls, they know they have to do something: run a promotion on the web starting at 10:15, or change their pricing or run more ads. They can't wait 30 days after the end of the quarter to figure it out. † Openness and sharing are part of success at Dell. †¢ Lower Unit Costs – Removing the third party retailer from the sales equation eliminates additional product mark-ups. The savings can be either recognized as higher margins or passes along to consumers. In both situations Dell is experiences better pricing flexibility than its competitors. When economic conditions are slow Dell is able to offer product at lower prices and still operate profitably. Dell’s success in the most recent economic downturn serves as clear signal that the company can weather less than favorable economic conditions. In 2001, Dell’s domestic market share actually climbed from 19% to 24. 2%. †¢ Quicker reaction to customer wants and needs – As mentioned above Dell focuses on streamlining their production operations. Finished products are quickly assembled in direct response to a customers order. Low finished good inventories put Dell in a better position to continually offer the newest and most requested technologies. Changes in customer demands hurt the competition more as they struggle with product obsolescence and high inventories. Competitors may be forces absorb write-offs associated with inventory obsolescence or markdown products below cost to clear inventory. 3. 0 SWOT analysis of Dell Computer: Strengths †¢ Biggest PC (personal computer) maker in the world. Dell's brand is one of the best known in the world. They are the number one PC provider for medium and small businesses across the US for 10 straight years. Direct to customer business model. – They deal directly with the customers with no use of a middle man, i. e. retailer channel. – They offer their customers the ability to track their delivery by contacting customer services, based in India. – They design the computer to the customer's specifications. †¢ It uses information tech nology, and excellent customer relationship management (CRM) approaches to capture data on its loyal consumers. This allows it to produce the personal computer based on the customer's own specification. †¢ Cost advantage over rivals Their assembly is done at a fairly inexpensive cost – By offering superior telephone customer and/or internet services such as Premier Access, and outsourcing their shipping, Dell had the lowest operating cost in the industry at 11. 5%. †¢ Dell is not a manufacturer; Components are made by suppliers and Dell assembles the computers using relatively cheap labor. The finished goods are then dropped off with the customer by courier. Dell has total command of the supply chain. †¢ No inventory buildup. Dell built its computers to order; none were produced for inventory. Wide geographic coverage and strong global distribution capabilities †¢ Good supply chain management capabilities. †¢ Good customer service capabilities Weaknes s †¢ Dealing with a large amount of supplies from many different countries can cause a large issue when products are recalled. Example in 2004 Dell had to recall 4. 4 million laptop adapters because of a fear that they could overheat, causing electric shocks or fires. †¢ High dependence on suppliers. They build computers, not develop them. It buys from a group of concentrated hi-tech component manufacturers. Whilst this is a tremendous advantage in terms of business operations, allowing Dell to focus on marketing and logistics, the company is reliant on a few large suppliers, and to an extent is locked in for periods of time (i. e. unable to switch supply dues to the lack of large suppliers in the World). †¢ Their supply orders are so large that they become limited to dealing with a small few supplies that can handle the volume. †¢ Dell lacked solid dealer/retailer relationships. They have weak business relationships with many computer retailers. †¢ No propriety technology. They do not have unique technologies to offer the market. Because outsourced all components, it is very difficult to manage the quality. †¢ Dell is the lack of multi-channel distribution capabilities. It will be very difficult to expend the selling channels because there are no other retailers in markets. †¢ Dell’s products promotion and introduction of new products fall behind other  competitors †¢ Weak dealer network Opportunity †¢ New products and new market still has room for development. †¢ Continuing to market on the internet to gain larger market base. †¢ Broadening their scopes in Europe, India and China. †¢ Expand into government and education markets. Utilizing existing company skills or technological know-how to enter new product lines or new businesses. †¢ Entering into alliances or joint ventures to expand the firm’s market coverage or  boost its competitive capability †¢ PC industry’s growth prospects remain attractive †¢ Dell can further capitalize on the remaining build-out of the Internet infrastructure and increase market share in the external storage market Threat †¢ The single biggest problem for Dell is the competitive rivalry that exists in the PC market globally. As with all profitable brands, retaliation from competitors and new entrants to the market poses potential threats. Dell sources from Far Eastern nations where labour costs remain low, but there is nothing stopping competitors doing the same – even sourcing the same or similar components from the same or similar suppliers. Remember, Dell is a PC maker, not a PC manufacturer. †¢ Increasingly popular brand names in the competition. †¢ Likely entry of potent new competitors. †¢ Competition can basically create the same computers since Dell builds computers, not designs them. †¢ Fluctuations in the currency markets can make global business operations more open to losses in certain areas of the supply chain. †¢ Dell, being global in its marketing and operations, is xposed to fluctuations in the World currency markets. Although it is a very lean organization, orders do have to be placed some time ahead due to their size or value. Changes in exchange rates could leave the company exposed to potential loses in parts of its supply chain. †¢ Tariff trade barriers affecti ng their positions in multiple countries. †¢ The global economic downturn. †¢ Loss of sales to substitute products, like Ipad, Tablet PC. †¢ Growing bargaining power of customers or suppliers. †¢ Price difference between brands is getting smaller all the time. 4. 0 What are the SCM strategies that Dell had implemented? Dell revolutionized supply chain management with its direct model, build-to-order (BTO) manufacturing, just-in-time inventory model and impressive cash-to-cash conversion cycle. Dell designed its supply chains based on a mix of cost optimization, delivery speed and product choices that customers value. Its strategy was built around a number of core elements: build-to-order manufacturing, mass customization, partnerships with suppliers, just-in-time components inventories, direct sales to customers, market segmentation, awarded-winning customer service and technical support, and pioneering use of the Internet and e-commerce technology. Through this strategy, the company has somehow achieve what Michael Dell called â€Å"Virtual Company / Integration† stitching together of Dell's business with its supply partners and customers in real time such that all three appeared to be part of the same organizational team sharing extensive data and information [pic] Process Streamlining In particular, Dell focused on enabling â€Å"just-in-time† delivery of parts and components—a process whereby Dell's suppliers delivered goods to Dell very close to the time Dell actually needed the parts for use in computers that consumers had already ordered. This shortened the time during which Dell needed to maintain an inventory of parts and reduced the costs associated with storing that inventory. The reduction in costs associated with the innovative manufacturing processes allowed Dell to offer its products at low prices that were attractive to consumers and that were difficult for competitors to match. Moreover, the low-price approach allowed Dell to gain market share without investing heavily in research and development in the early stages of its growth. Build-to-order( Postponed) – Dell built its computers to order; none were produced for inventory. Dell customers could order custom-built computers based on the needs of their applications. Desktop and laptop customers ordered whatever configuration of microprocessor speed, random access memory (RAM), hard disk capacity, CD-ROM drive, fax/modem, monitor size, speakers, and other accessories they preferred. The orders were directed to the nearest factory. In 2000, Dell had PC assembly plants in Austin, Texas; Nashville/Lebanon, Tennessee; Limerick, Ireland; Xiamen, China; Penang, Malaysia; and El Dorado do Sul, Brazil. All six plants manufactured the company’s entire line of products. Partnerships with suppliers – Michael Dell believed it made much better sense for Dell Computer to partner with reputable suppliers of PC parts and components rather than to integrate backward and get into parts and components manufacturing on its own. Just-in-time components inventories – Dell's just-in-time inventory emphasis yielded major cost advantages and shortened the time it took for Dell to get new generations of its computer models into the marketplace. New advances were coming so fast in certain computer parts and components (particularly microprocessors, disk drives, and modems) that any given item in inventory was obsolete in a matter of months, sometimes quicker Direct Selling – Selling direct to customers gave Dell firsthand intelligence bout customer preferences and needs, as well as immediate feedback on design problems and quality glitches. Market segmentation – To make sure that each type of computer users are well served, Dell had made a special effort to segment the buyers of its computers into relevant groups and to place managers in charge of developing sales and service programs appropriate to the needs and expectations of each market segment. Their market segment comprises from large cu stomers, both corporate and governmental buyers, to small customers, both small businesses and individuals. Customer service and Technical Support – Dell contracted with local service providers to handle customer requests for repairs; on-site service was provided on a next-day basis. Dell also provided its customers with technical support via a toll-free number, fax, and e-mail. Virtual Integration and Information Sharing – On-line communications technology made it easy for Dell to communicate inventory levels and replenishment needs to vendors daily or even hourly. 5. 0 What are the values of the Dell’s strategies? The direct business model had a valuable benefit that Michael Dell didn’t anticipate. It enables the company to have an actual relationship with customers. This provides essential information that is used to leverage relationships with the suppliers as well as customers. It also provides 2 distinct advantages: †¢ reducing marketing and sales cost by eliminating markups of distributors and retailers †¢ building to order reduced inventory costs and risks of retaining inventories. Knowing the customer is the foundation for creating value It is no longer good enough to simply meet customer expectations. It is not ven good enough to delight the customer. These goals are often one-time goals. Continued success, particularly at a fast pace means it is getting increasingly important to KNOW the customer. Knowing the customer means having knowledge that lets Dell constantly add value. Knowing the customer means Dell can design new products, new services, and new pricing schemes that constantly meet and exceed customer expectations. Dell achieves this through creative use of their information systems as well as through their people. Their information systems attract, store, manipulate, and report information on customers. Their people used this information to respond immediately to changes in market conditions, changes from competitors, and changes in customer preferences. Price for Performance Dell boasts a very efficient procurement, manufacturing and distribution process allowing it to offer customers powerful systems at competitive prices, especially for the price conscious customers. Continuous reinvention is critical for continued velocity At some point, every strategy and every goal is outdated. Dell has the keen sense to identify possible new strategies and goals early, and to reinvent itself in order to move in the new direction. This was true when Dell made their entry onto online service over the Internet. The Dell Direct Model was extended to allow customers access to systems which let them tap directly into Dell's service and support databases. Dell has already reinvented itself again by viewing their business as one of integration and distribution, rather than simply as a hardware manufacturer. Complexity reduction — Product options had become too complex. In response, Dell reduced configuration complexity in line with customer requirements. Product offerings had exceeded customer requirements and were adding unnecessary cost and responsiveness waste in the supply chain. Improved internal collaboration — Identifying and managing functional interdependencies have driven collaboration across product design, supply chain, marketing, sales and finance. Dell also simplified interactions by centralizing global operations, while aligning to customer verticals. . 0 Conclusion Dell is simply a success story; it shows how one can gain market advantage by simply understanding what brings value to customers. Dell’s direct selling and build-to-order has given it a unique position in the industry. Dell has successfully built its competitive advantage as â€Å"low cost† producer, achieved through adapting lean manufacturing approaches. Also today, the Internet has created many new opportunities to interact with customers, people and to provide products more closely customized to individual customer preferences. Certainly Dell's competitors see the advantage of the company's direct model, and to a varying degree use similar tactics. But, the other vendors have legacy ties to supply chains — supply chains with distributors and resellers that still hinder these non-direct channels less efficient. So Dell had the ability to cut margin without cutting profit! Dell’s e-commerce service is a valuable management tool for online business, whereby, increased efficiency, cost effectiveness and improve customer satisfaction. Selling online allows the whole process to be automated and more efficient.