Western Humanities

It is no exaggeration to say that the Romans have made profound impact on almost all civilized nations of the world and their culture is the cradle of many cultures of today (Rao, 113). The manner in which the Romans pick their girls has a whole lot to do with the laws governing marriage at that time. Before a marriage could be considered legal, both couples must be matured; for the girl twelve years and for the boy fourteen, the parents of the couple have to be fully aware; that is it has to be with the consent of both families of the bride and groom. During the Augustan age, families were forbidden any refusal of marriage without given any valid reason as to why they refused a marriage. Marriage between a close relation likewise ascendant and descendant marriage were also unlawful. There were two social classes during the early Roman period; the patricians who were the citizens and the plebeians who were the free non-citizens. During that time, the patricians only marry the patricians and the plebeians only the plebeians respectively as there was no inter-marital relationship between these two social classes. Marriage by the Patricians was considered a sacred institution which cannot be done just by merely saying it. Some manners of consideration have to be taken before a marriage could actually take place. With the direct consent of the gods, the patrician takes his bride from her father’s house to his own residence in the company of a representative of his clan. In this form of marriage, the bride is put under the authority of her husband and her husband in a way becomes her master. The plebeian marriage however consist essentially the cohabitation of a man and woman as husband and wife. Plebeian marriages were not recognized by the patricians as they were not considered citizens and even when the plebeians became citizens and their marriage were legalized, inter-marriage between the plebeians and the patricians were still not allowed because of the religious differences between them. But as years past, their laws were amended and the marriage between the social classes now became possible. The early Romans married at a relatively early age as a girl was considered ready for marriage between the ages of fourteen and seventeen. Her father would choose a husband and perform the required arrangements. Though young Roman children were not forced into marriage, very few children were able to refuse an arranged marriage (Mellor). Betrothal before marriage was considered a good form although it had no legal obligation attached to it. Betrothal involves a girl been promised solemnly by her family to the man or his family. This process in most case is represented by the man giving the prospective wife a ring. The ring is worn on the third finger of the left hand which the Romans believed had a direct link with the heart, as they believed that the finger had a connection with the heart by a nerve. It was customary point of pride with the Romans for the bride to bring her groom a dowry which was provided by her family if she is still dependent on them or by herself. The bride is dressed by her mother on the morning of her wedding day; one of the most significant parts of the dressing was the â€Å"knot of Hercules† who was considered the guardian of wedded life (Rome exposed – Roman Children). The groom is the only one permitted to loose the knot once it is tied and this is done after the wife has been accompanied to her new home. After the marriage ceremony, there is usually a dinner (reception) in the house of the bride after which she is then accompanied to her husband’s house by her family members. On entering into her new home, the bride is carried into the house so as to prevent any bad omen that may result if she stumbles upon her first entrance into the house. Until the first child is born, marriage itself is not regarded as having been consummated. This is because the Romans believe that children are of paramount importance in order for a marriage to be considered blissful. However husbands and wives could tend to love each other as time goes on. The Roman women enjoy social freedom as they could attend both public and private banquets in the society. After marriage, the social status of a Roman woman increases as she is raised to the rank of her husband and is considered equal with him sharing the same religious and civil status with him. Her responsibility however is to govern the home and being the mistress of the house, she oversees the education of her children as well as the slaves. During the Augustan age women had more encouragement to bear more children because of the privilege associated with it. The moment a woman has three children, she would be released form all supervision and was free to conduct business by herself (Bierkan, Sherman & Stocquart, 303-327). One could safely say that the Roman woman was vast and sophisticated when compared to her counterparts like the Greeks and this was due to the privileges given to her by the society.

Belonging Essay

The poems by Steven Herrick ‘Caitlin and Mopping’ and ‘The Picnic’ written in 2000 and the novel by Amy Tan ‘The Joy Luck Club’ written in 1989. Through figurative language and poetic techniques the composers represent the sense and connection of belonging in narrative and poetic form. ‘Caitlin and mopping’ is a poem written by Steven Herrick in 2000. It is based on the compelling story of 16 year old boy named Billy, who trades the soulless tyranny of his father’s home and the tediousness of high school for a life of no fixed address. The purpose of the poem is to tell the reader the first time Billy meets Caitlin who is an employee, mopping the floors. They have daily chats, become great friends, which eventually turns into a relationship. Billy and Caitlin have this amazing connection, even though they come from two different worlds. They become very faithful with each other. The persona chooses to tell his story through direct speech and structural techniques. Steven Herrick uses poetic techniques, direct speech and relationships to help convey the understanding of integration in this poem. To prove so, when Billy steals leftover food in McDonalds, he opens up the oppurtunity to belong to Caitlin. When Caitlin observes Billy ‘stealing scraps’ she is drawn to the way Billy looks ‘self contained’. His demeanour is what encourages her not to call the Manager. Instead Caitlin ‘smiled at him. I smiled at him and said, â€Å"I hate mopping. †/ he sat in his chair/ and smiled back/ and i felt good/ that i hadn’t called the Manager. ’ Herrick uses the direct speech in this extract to demonstrate the potential for belonging etween Caitlin and Billy. She does the unexpected and puts him at ease and the motif of their smiles further emphasizes a connection between the two. This poem shows the significant moment of when Billy and Caitlin first met and the connection between the two will be stronger in time and shape our understanding of the two characters belonging to each other. ‘The picnic’ is a poem written by Ste ven Herrick in 2000. The poem is about Caitlin and Billy having a picnic together and showing their affection and devotion towards each other. The purpose of this poem is to show the growing sense of union and connection that builds between the two characters through stages of events. Herrick uses poetic techniques and relationships between characters to help convey the understanding of acceptance between the two characters. To prove so, Caitlin and Billy have a picnic together by the Bendarat River. The rhythm and pace of ‘The picnic’ is slow and calm. Herrick uses repitition – ‘We ate everything/ We took our time†¦ / It was warm,/ it was delicious†¦ – and a steady beat throughout this verse to illustrate that the way in which Caitlin and Billy come to feel a sense of belonging to each other is unhurried and easy. The use of personification ‘and the beer worked its magic’ attributes the human characteristics to inanimate the object, which in this case helped convey that the significant moment was working through ‘magic’. The enjambment in the final part o f the verse – ‘and we slept together/ only/ we really did just/ sleep together/ content/ to waste the hours/ close. – also places emphasis on the feelings of comfort and closeness that each provides for the other. This poem relates to ‘Caitlin and mopping’ with similar uses of techniques such as poetic techniques. This poem links to the significance of moments because this it is in actual fact about a significant moment where the two characters have a moment together which help shape their sense of belonging together through time. Both poems use the technique language modes. Herrick combines the modes of narrative and poetry to represent the concept of belonging. By combining these two modes of representation, Herrick is able to explore the many dimensions of belonging. The narrative mode helps him represent the process or stages of belonging quite clearly as his verse novel follows the conventions of plot. Each chapter moves the events of the story as a whole forward and we are able to see the ways in which his key characters begin to feel they belong together By using the mode of poetry as well in his text, Herrick is able to represent the emotions of his characters very economically and powerfully. This The novel ‘The joy luck club’ by Amy Tan is written in 1989. The story is about death of Suyuan Woo, an elderly Chinese woman and the founding member of the Joy Luck Club. Suyuan has died without fulfilling her â€Å"long-cherished wish†: to be reunited with her twin daughters who were lost in China. Suyuan’s American-born daughter, Jing-mei (June) Woo, is asked to replace her mother at the Joy Luck Club’s meetings. She soon realises the distance between herself and her daughters and makes an effort to get closer and create an affiliation bond. Amy Tan uses many techniques such as figurative language and flash backs to help convey the idea of belonging. Shown through each chapter, concepts of belonging are shown within events. In the chapter ‘Feathers from a Thousand Li Away’ In ‘scar’, An-mei’s mother ‘cut a piece of meat from her arm’ showing the daughter’s devotion to her mother, and sense of belonging to her. ‘This is how a daughter honors her mother’, comments An-mei. In ‘The Red Candle’ Lindo’s moving to her future mother-in-law’s house ends her sense of real belonging with her own family. ‘I missed my family and my stomach felt bad, knowing i had finally arrived where my life said i belonged’. This use of ‘belonged’ is ironic, however, since it is Chinese tradition which says Lindo belonged there, not her own feelings. Figures of speech such as similies and metaphors are used throughout to enrich the imagery of belonging. Similes are frequently used: ‘my mother loved to show me off, like one of my many trophies she polished’. The simile shows that Waverly felt her mother had made her into an object from which to gain status, a perception which impaired for many years her sense of belonging with her mother. Metaphors often help enhance a character’s erception about belonging, as Waverly’s later epiphany about her mother: ‘I could finally see†¦ an old woman, a wok for her armor, a knitting needle for her sword’. The metaphors of the wok and the knitting needle show Waverly’s realisation that Lindo is not threatning, and help her to regain a sense of belonging with her mother. Flashback is used in every story an d helps the reader to understand the sense of belonging or not belonging of the characters. The flash backs help us understand the characters by revealing aspects of their past. The Joy Luck Club’ relates to the two poems from ‘The Simple Gift’ because they are all similar with techniques (such as figurative language) and understanding of belonging and acceptance within the texts. The quotes, techniques and examples above emphasize that siginificant moments in life shape our identity and individuality of integration in time. It has been proven that the poet and author of the two texts have used developed structures, poetic techniques and structural techniques. The examples have proven that both, novels and poems, use significant moments in time to shape our understanding of belonging.

Big Data and Supply Chain Management Essay

Big Data and Supply Chain Management Essay Introduction Big data has become one of the most important aspects of supply chain management. The concept of big data refers to the massive data sets that are generated when millions of individual activities are tracked. These data sets are processed to yield insights that help inform managerial decision-making. Supply chains in particular have leveraged big data because companies have been able to develop technology to not only capture hundreds of millions of data points, but to process them in meaningful ways to eliminate waste and promote efficiency in the supply chain systems. This paper will examine the concept of big data, how it has arisen and come to dominate supply chain management, and look at the different ways big data is transforming the supply chain function. Lastly, the paper will take a closer look at the future for big data with respect to supply chain management. As it becomes easier to gather data, and as there are diminishing returns to statistical robustness as the number of data points increases, are the competitive advantages of big data going to diminish? The Evolution of Supply Chain Management The field of logistics management was focused on controlling the flow of materials, in-process inventory and finished goods through a companys system from the time that it enters the system until the time that it leaves the system (Cooper, Lambert Pagh, 1997). As the field became more strategic in nature, it came to encompass other issues, such as sourcing materials and building in redundancy (Cooper Ellram,1993). More than simply moving things from point A to point B, the field became holistic in nature, where the quality and price of goods were factored into purchasing decisions as well as the logistics of getting those goods to the right place at the right time. Driving this change was the move towards a globalized marketplace. Globalization increased the complexity of the supply chain, adding longer transportation routes, border wait times, currency exchange, duties and tariffs, and a host of other variables that now had to be taken into consideration – logistics has rem ained important but it always viewed in context with the rest of the supply chain. Big Data The concept of big data really began to arise in the 1990s but has become increasingly important since that point. Big Data refers to the use of very large data sets to enhance managerial decision-making. The concept of big data arose as technology has developed to allow businesses to capture enormous data sets, and process them relatively easily (Boyd Crawford, 2012). Companies have long collected data at a rudimentary level. Loyalty programs and credit cards represented an evolution in the ability of companies to collect data and distill that data into consumer spending habits. This information is then made actionable by letting companies understand more about buying patterns. Big data is similar, but with a lot more data. One of the major advantages of big data is that it allows for complex problems to be solved. A modern supply chain can be exceptionally complex, and one of the important things about this complexity is that no one person can effectively make all the decisions â €“ decision-making tools are needed that can ensure not only consistent decision-making across the company but coordinated decision-making as well (Hult, Ketchen Slater, 2004). It is these coordinating mechanisms where the true power of big data lies – being able to identify things and make decisions that an entire team of humans working without big data would probably never be able to identify (Fugate, Sahin Mentzer,2005). Once big data gets to that point, a company can generate true competitive advantage. And when a company is large enough that is has a data advantage, it will be able to sustain that advantage, which is why there has been such a rush in recent years with respect to big data. As the concept was being fleshed out in academia, businesses were just starting to learn what they could do with all of the information that they were collecting – and one of the applications was to move away from marketing and use data to make decisions about the supply chain (McAfee Bryjolfsson, 2012). One of the first steps that companies needed to make was to hire data scientists – the sort of people who could process these data sets and derive useful information about them. Data scientists suddenly became popular, for their ability to take vast quantities of data, and derive actionable findings from that data (Provost Fawcett, 2013). At the heart of the drive to adopt big data is competitive advantage. Companies have invested in their data programs because they can derive significant advantage from big data under two conditions. The first is that larger companies have access to more data than smaller companies. The incremental cost of data acquisition is lower, and the companys ability to use that data in decision-making is theoretically better. The second is that even among larger companies, there are first-mover advantages to be had. This is evident in the supply chain, especially among companies that are competing on price. Using the classic example of Wal-Mart, one o f the leaders of data-driven supply chains, the company competes on offering the lowest prices, as do most of its competitors. Thus, if it can lower the cost of getting goods to its stores, it can pass those savings along to customers. There is opportunity for competitive advantage under that scenario, if cost leadership is the chosen strategy. Even when cost leadership is not the strategy, making the groundbreaking decision early puts a company in a better competitive position than its competitors (LaValle, et al, 2010). Big Data in the Supply Chain As the largest non-oil company in the world, Wal-Mart is looked to as a leader, so the fact that they were first movers on the use of big data in supply chain management has ensured that the rest of retail – and other industries as well – have followed. Some of the technologies that Wal-Mart has adopted allow the company to track its inventory from when it leaves the supplier –if not before – all the way through the logistics channel. Once Wal-Mart takes possession of the good, that good is scanned regularly through the process. The companys trucks are tracked via satellite. Stores use automatic re-ordering triggers to ensure that goods can be received as soon as they are needed. The goals of all this are to lower inventory holding costs by reducing the amount of inventory that stores have. Goods are turned over more quickly, because Wal-Mart receives them only days before it expects to sell them. Big data plays a significant role in ensuring that this pro cess can be achieved. There are a couple of key areas highlighted for big data in supply chain management. Demirkan Delen (2013) note that data, and how a company uses its data, is one of the ways it can truly differentiate from its competitors. It can be difficult to truly and consistently attract superior talent, and it can take time to move the needle on brand image, but data has become a popular means of finding competitive advantage largely because it is new, and firms in many industries are basically in a data arms race to find innovative ways to use their data to extract competitive advantage. The first is predictive analytics. Data science often focuses on using past events to predict future ones, and that is one of the main uses for big data in supply chain management. For example, if Wal-Mart in Smalltown, OH is running out of shovels at the end of February, and it takes twenty days to order new ones from China, including manufacturing and shipping times, three things can happen. The company can order a lot of shovels and ensure that they have supply. If spring comes, those shovels will sit in a warehouse until next November. They could also run out of shovels, but a late-season snow could leave demand on the table if the store lacks inventory. Modelling both weather patterns and local buying patterns can help the company to settle on demand. Even when weather is not a factor, the company can examine past purchasing patterns to set order quantities. The earlier it can set these quantities, the better response it can get from suppliers. Wal-Mart knows already what the no rmal amount of hot dogs it sells on the 4th of July, for example, so it can feed that information to its suppliers to ensure that they have those dogs at the Wal-Mart warehouse, exactly in the quantity Wal-Mart needs. Predictive analytics is used in supply chain management to take the variability out of the system as much as possible. Inventory usage is reduced, as is the potential for waste, especially with perishable goods. The chances of disappointed customers is also reduced. It is almost impossible – and certainly it is impossible for a company like Wal-Mart – to have exactly everything delivered exactly when the customer needs it. That means that there is always room for improvement. The pathway to improvement lies with bigger data sets, better analytics, and at scale even small incremental gains in the robustness of data or the ability of the company to analyze the data can yield meaningful financial gains (Waller Fawcett, 2013). But using data for something like predictive analytics – managerial decision-making, essentially – requires having good data, lots of it, and the means by which to process it. This is where larger companies enjoy scale advantages in big data. First, the technology to track events is not necessarily cheap. It can involve scanners, and certain involves large amounts of servers, routers, cloud storage – a lot of hardware. Larger companies are at an advantage in buying this hardware but they also have advantage in that they have many more data points. Wal-Mart can estimate sales because it has several years worth of sales, and can break these down by product, store, day, or even time of day. And instead of guessing for decision-making, the companys managers can look at the data and make the decision that on average delivers the greatest outcome. Data replaces decision-making heuristics when the data is sufficiently robust. Because the transference of big data relies on the Internet and communications technology infrastructure, that ICT infrastructure becomes a risk point for many companies but it also becomes a critical point of investment for companies that work with big data – how fast can the data collected on-site make its way to the decision-making tools matters in many businesses where time is of the essence in decision-making (Lu, et al, 2013). Predictive analytics has more than just value in ordering; it can help businesses to identify trends more quickly. This can be critical to advantage in some industries. Think of a fast fashion retailer – it needs to identify trends as soon as possible to get its knock-off clothes onto the market while the fashions are still fresh. Instead of anticipating, which is fraught with error, it can react to trends that have been verified with data. By understanding buying patterns and market cycles, companies can make better choices about what they make and when. This, in turn, is important to the supply chain, because companies also need to know what they need to produce their goods, and when. If there are fluctuations in availability, of if there is any variability among suppliers, then big data has the ability to point these factors out, and give the company an opportunity to deal with them proactively (Wang et al, 2016). Impact of Big Data When the concept of big data was first being elaborated, it promised major impact on business. Instead of guessing, firms would be able to make data-driven decisions that would reduce error, reduce waste and improve speed. As firms understand how to gather the data that they need, and to process it, they become more adept at this, big data has a bigger impact. Some leading firms have used the predictive powers of big data to help with their marketing. Amazon, for example, will recommend products to its customers based on what they have viewed and what they have purchased. Netflix does the same thing – and thereby encourages binge-watching of its shows. Both of these companies have become leaders in their respective businesses, and Netflix has done this specifically in the era of big data, by using that data to foster brand loyalty (Chen, Chiang Storey, 2012). If a company ends up as a first mover in big data, it will be able to gain advantage, and in many cases will make market share gains. Amazon faced a challenge from Wal-Mart a few years, ago, but has made use of big data to driver a high level of brand loyalty, while Wal-Mart fell short on its ability to use big data on the marketing side of its business. Netflix faced threat when major studios wanted to charge more for their content – so it created its own content and even more importantly used big data to improve the information architecture of its platform, allowing people to find content they want to consume. This increased the value of Netflix for many customers, thereby driving business value. Google uses data to target ads better, and charge its customers a premium. Customers are willing to pay more for a Google ad because they know that they will get more traction. So it is important that companies understand data on a conceptual level. One of the reasons that this is so important is that data today comes from a variety of different sources. This ties back to the concept of supply chain management, where the supply chain is a highly-integrated system with many parts from one end to the other. Understanding how the different variables within this system interact so that supply chain systems can be redesign in a more optimal way. Consider the way FedEx used the hub-and-spoke model before passenger airlines thought to do so. Consider how Wal-Mart designed its entire logistics network around lowering the amount of time that it takes for stores to restock. There are different approaches, but the innovations should derive from analysis of the data that identifies areas where the company might potentially perform better. Maybe sourcing goods from a certain country is no longer the lowest cost method, given how long it takes to get those goods to marke t. There are different ways of conceptualizing a supply chain, and now that companies are able to use data analytics to make those decisions, it is likely that many firms will start to restructure their supply chain (Tan et al, 2015). Total cost will become more important, but so too will overall responsiveness. Sourcing locally might provide a company with the responsiveness it needs for certain products that have higher variability in demand, for example. Future Directions While there is presently a shortage of people who have strong data analysis skills, these skills are becoming increasingly in demand, and schools are starting to train more students in the use of big data. One of the important factors here is that data has become much cheaper – big data arises because the cost of acquiring any given data point is very small, and continuing to shrink. Retailers in particular have been able to reduce their cost of data acquisition dramatically (Chen, Chiang Storey, 2012). Key to learning about the use of data is how to identify the problems that can be solved with data, how to match the data you have with the problems that you want to solve, and then developing systems to acquire the data that you do not have. At this high level of understanding, a company that thinks a good data game is in a much better position because having the right data matters just as much as knowing what to do with that data (Hazen, et al, 2014). The cloud and the Internet of Things (IoT) are driving a lot of changes in the way companies do business, and big data is playing a significant role in this restructuring of business. Zaslavsky, Perera and Georgakopoulos (n.d.) note that data is becoming a service function, with companies preparing to offer the means by which data can be acquired as a service, and the same for data analytics. We know that data is cheap to acquire, but combine that with lowering costs of processing data and there is a business model here, as well as one that focuses on using data to enhance business. The IoT will be more engaged in the data gathering process. For example, while convention supply chain data gathering might involve devices at the store level, the IoT might drill down further, to the individual level. Ovens could know how many people are cooking a frozen pizza and this information could be sold to frozen pizza makers, so that they can get a better sense of not only the performance of the ir products but of their competitors as well. This is the example a hungry person thinks up, but with more devices having some internet capability, it seems likely that type of application will emerge. Tesla is already a leader in gathering data about driving from its cars (Edelstein, 2016 Hull, 2016). Another progressive idea is that of big data benchmarking. If it is possible to buy and sell data to the point where a company can learn about the best practices at all levels for multiple companies in an industry, that would be incredibly valuable information to any firm in that industry. With the data explosion has come a rapid pace of innovation in the gathering and use of data. With this will come firms that buy and sell data, without actually gathering their own. Until now, data has largely been proprietary in nature, as a key source of sustainable competitive advantage, but as the cost of data acquisition declines, this might not be the case much longer. Secondary markets for data are already emerging and ultimately data will become commoditized – this process might take many years but it will happen and that will make for interesting analysis about the future of data , in particular the extent to which data can continue to be a driver of competitive advantage going forw ard (Ghazal et al, 2013). Finally, big data is also becoming a competitive weapon, which makes security of big data a major issue. Companies that gather and own data sets, and in particular the usable intelligence that has been gathered from those data sets, are increasingly going to be targeted with hacks. Security of big data is going to be an issue going forward. This is especially true of supply chain data, because that is powerful business intelligence. So it will be necessary, especially when using remote or cloud solutions, that data security is paid attention to, as the more that data becomes a source of competitive advantage the more at risk it will likely be. Conclusion Supply chain management had already emerged as a force in business, a holistic view of the supply chain that started with logistics but incorporated purchasing, product design and marketing as well, in order that supply chain decisions were not just based on a simply understanding of cost, but a complex one that took into account a number of different variables. Ultimately, supply chain management required significant amounts of data to be effective, and this realization occurred at just the time that managers realized they had the ability to gather, store and process data much more cheaply and easily than before. The transactional value of data grew at precisely the time that the acquisition cost declined. Data is typically used to aid in managerial decision making. Some companies have focused on the low-level decision where they seek out incremental gains on repeatable processes, knowing that those processes and other companies have sought insight that will allow them to completely transform their supply chains. Big data has become so important because the companies that are using it tend to be the market leaders. It is apparent that there is a scale value to data, which means that the largest companies, ones that have more data and lower data acquisition costs, are going to have sustainable competitive advantage. This has driven demand for data experts, such that there is a shortage of such individuals. Big data is going to continue to influence supply chain decision-making. There will be more points at which data is gathered, and the cost of processing data will continue to drop. There will still be a strong need, however, for talent that can conceptualize how that data should be used – after all, companies need to ask the right questions to get the most out of their data. If they can do that, they can sustain competitive advantage. In addition to there being an increasing ability to gather data, another reality is that many companies are going to be in the business of selling data. A company like Google sells data by proxy with its advertising, but as data becomes commoditized, the market for data will become more developed. An interesting aspect of this is that competitive benchmarking will be more common with respect to data practices. Firms will need to be careful to ensure that their proprietary data is secure so that they can maintain the competitive advantages that their data is giving them. If they can, then they can gain first mover advantage for tactics that deliver incremental gains, or the complete overhaul of a system to take advantage of something gleaned from the data. References / Works Cited Boyd, D. Crawford, K. (2012). Critical questions for big data: Provocations for a cultural, technological, and scholarly phenomenon. Information, Communication and Society. 15 (5) 662-679. Chen, H., Chiang, R. Storey, V. (2012) Business intelligence and analytics: From big data to big impact. MIS Quarterly 36 (4) 1165-1188. Cooper, M. Ellram, L. (1993). Characteristics of supply chain management and the implications for purchasing and logistics strategy. International Journal of Logistics Management 4 (2) 13-24. Cooper, M., Lambert, D., Pagh, J. (1997). Supply chain management: More than a new name for logistics. The International Journal of Logistics Management. 8 (1) 1-14. Demirkan, H. Delen, D. (2013) Leveraging the capabilities of service-oriented decision support systems: Putting analytics and big data in cloud. Decision Support Systems. 55 (2013) 412-421. Edelstein, S. (2016) Teslas autonomous-car efforts use big data no other carmaker has. Green Car Reports. Retrieved April 1, 2017 from http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1108065_teslas-autonomous-car-efforts-use-big-data-no-other-carmaker-has Fugate, B, Sahin, F. Mentzer, J. (2005) Supply chain management coordination mechanisms. University of Tennessee. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Brian_Fugate/publication/228349679_Supply_Chain_Management_Coordination_Mechanisms/links/0c96051e3eaaa0280f000000/Supply-Chain-Management-Coordination-Mechanisms.pdf Hull, D. (2016) The Tesla advantage: 1.3 billion miles of data. Bloomberg. Retrieved April 1, 2017 from https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-12-20/the-tesla-advantage-1-3-billion-miles-of-data Hult, G., Ketchen, D. Slater, S. (2004). Information processing, knowledge development and strategic supply chain performance. Academy of Management Journal. 47 (2) 241-253. LaValle, S., Lesser, E., Shockley, R., Hopkins, M. Kruschwitz, N. (2010). Big data, analytics and the path from insights to value. MIT Sloan Management Review. http://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/big-data-analytics-and-the-path-from-insights-to-value/ Lu, T., Guo, X., Xu, B., Zhao, L., Peng, Y., Yang, H. (2013). Next big thing in big data: The security of the ICT supply chain. IEEE Computer Society. Retrieved April 1, 2017 from http://diyhpl.us/~nmz787/pdf/Next_Big_Think_in_Big_Data__the_Security_of_the_ICT_Supply_Chain.pdf McAfee, A. Brynjolfsson, E. (2012). Big data: The management revolution. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved April 1, 2017 from http://www.rosebt.com/uploads/8/1/8/1/8181762/big_data_the_management_revolution.pdf Provost, F. Fawcett, T. (2013) Data science and its relationship to big data and data-driven decision-making. Big Data. 1 (1) 51-59. Tan, K., Zhan, Y., Ji, G., Ye, F. Chang, C. (2015) Harvesting big data to enhance supply chain innovation capabilities: An analytic infrastructure based on deduction graph. International Journal of Economics. 165 (2015) 223-233. Waller, M. Fawcett, S. (2013). Data science, predictive analytics, and big data: A revolution that will transform supply chain design and management. Journal of Business Logistics. 34 (2) 77-84. Wang, G., Gunasekaran, A., Ngai, E. Papadopoulos, T. (2016). Big data analytics in logistics and supply chain management: Certain investigations for research and applications. International Journal of Production Economics. 176 (June 2016) 98-110. Zaslavsky, A., Perera, C. Georgakopoulos, D. (no date). Sensing as a service and big data. https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1301/1301.0159.pdf

Macroeconomics Theory Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

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Kraft Foods Entrance Into China Marketing Essay

Kraft Foods Entrance Into China Marketing Essay The paper that we write is about Kraft Foods which entered the Chinese market. At present, Kraft Foods is the worlds second largest food company, as far as we know, the worlds largest food company is Nestle company. However, we do believe that Kraft Foods Company has its particular advantages, for example, it has outstanding achievements in its operating management, personnel training and so on. In the near future, we think it will go beyond itself, realize new breakthrough, so we chose Kraft Foods at last. About this paper, we mainly focus on Kraft Foods history, the reason why it entered Chinese market, and the condition of organization and management in Chinese market. At beginning, the paper was made up of six parts: they are executive summary, conclusion and section one to four. Then, we divided every Section into several parts; everyone has her or his own duties. Now, the allocation of every members task is as followings. Firstly, Veras task are the second question of section 3, the forth and eighth questions of section 4. Secondly, Janes tasks are the first and third question of section 3, the sixth question of section 4, and she is responsible for the summary and clearing up as well. Thirdly, Naomis tasks are the three questions of section 2, and the fifth question of section 4, catalogue and conclusion. Fourthly, Shelias tasks are the three questions of section 2, the seventh question of section 4, catalogue and conclusion as well. At last, Alfreds tasks are section 1 and the first three questions of section 4. We distributed equally according to the difficulty of the problems and the field who is good at. We have ordered the question accordi ng to the catalogue. In the paper, we introduce the history of the company firstly, because the history is the procedure of the development of the company. we can understand the companys culture and history that in turn will help us understand why they decided to expand internationally, and specifically into China so that we can judge the wisdom of that decision. This judgment will be an important part of the Conclusion. In addition, we write the reason why Kraft Foods entered the Chinese market; we take the Chinese market as example, specifically represent the model of their operating management and achievements. Besides, the form and organizational structure Kraft Foods Company came into China. Combine our learning with them to analyze the management of Kraft Foods. Finally, we put forward some reasonable suggestions. As all the efforts we have devoted to, we have further understanding of Krafts business and management. At the same time, with Kraft Foods as an example, we got the more practical comprehension. Section I: History of the Kraft Foods Company James Kraft is the founder of Kraft. He founded the company in 1903,Ms Irene Rosenfeld headed the Kraft Foods for more than 20 years .she help Kraft foods successfully listed in 2001.Altria announced the promotion of two executive Beth Howden and Dailuomeidi served as Co-chief CEO, she became Chief Executive Officer since June 2006,in March 2007,she became the chairman of Kraft Foods. (Kraft Foods Corporate Home http://www.kraftfoodscompany.com/cn/zh/home/index.aspx Oct 29, 2012) With the development of company, especially initiating the reforms and open policy, according to GDP, China is the second largest in the world. China cached up with Japan. According to figures released by the World Bank, in accordance with the PPP (purchasing power parity), China is the worlds second-evaluation of purchasing power. The world is about $ 55 trillion. China is probably more than one trillion U.S. dollars, accounted for about 9% of the worlds, and greatly increased the proportion of Chinas international economic. Chinas foreign exchange reserves have reached more than 14,000 billion, has accounted for one in the world. The rapid development of the economy, as the most populous nation of the world ¼Ã…’Kraft Foods will not pass the big market. (Kraft Foods Corporate Home http://www.kraftfoodscompany.com/cn/zh/home/index.aspx Oct 29, 2012) Since 1924, Kraft Foods to be listed on the stock market, from time to time during the acquisition of other companies, and extended to the food business. Kraft in 1982 and 1984 respectively into Taiwan and mainland China market, in 1988, and Altria group predecessor Philip Morris acquisition Kraft Foods, in 1989, Philip Morris will its General food and Kraft merge for Kraft General Foods. In 2000, Philip Morris acquired Nano Beth and then merge it into Kraft. In July 2007 by acquiring rival Danone, Kraft starts its biscuit business. Kraft encourage the expansion into china. Before the worlds second-largest food group Kraft Global Board concluded in Beijing. Despite the growing number of multinational global board of directors moved to China, for Kraft, this is the first time. Since 2002, the global business restructuring Kraft yogurt sold to milk ternary .the name of Kraft in China is not so loud, it makes Kraft some grievances. in fact, Krafts biscuit business sit tight the first. T ANG- the Guozhen solid instant drinks and Maxwell House coffee were also occupy the first, second market share in their respective fields. Kraft was on the rise in the global downsizing while on the high-speed development of the investment in developing countries, China has become one of the five countries of the Kraft focused investment, and the Chinese people to re-recognize Kraft become increasingly important (Kraft Foods Corporate Home http://www.kraftfoodscompany.com/cn/zh/home/index.aspx Oct 29, 2012) In 1982, General Foods and Unity to set up a joint venture company in Taiwan, Kraft Foods locate in china in Beijing in 1984, in 1996, and Nabisco biscuit completed the factory in Beijing and Suzhou. So far, Krafts investment in China is more than $ 200 million. In early 2006, Kraft Australia factory production migrated to Suzhou, in 2000, Nabisco acquisition of United Biscuits biscuit business in the Greater China region, in the same year Kraft acquired Nabisco. In 2001, Kraft sold Beijing Kraft dairy business. In 2005, Kraft began building a new biscuit factory in Beijing. In 2006, Kraft will integrate all the entities in China to Kraft Foods. (Kraft Foods Corporate Home http://www.kraftfoodscompany.com/cn/zh/home/index.aspx Oct 29, 2012) Section II: Why Kraft Foods Company came to China? Kraft Foods came to China in 1984. Now, the company has 4,000 employees in China approximately, and its products cover 4 consumer goods sectors: biscuits, coffee, powdered beverages and confectionary. The company has set up offices in 250 cities across China and 8 manufacturing facilities in Beijing, Suzhou, Shanghai, Guangzhou and so on. Kraft Foods Corporate Management (Shanghai) Co., Ltd is the headquarters of Kraft Foods in China. (Expanding Market in China: Kraft Foods Commissions New Production Line in Suzhou http://www.kraftfoodscompany.com/cn/en/mediacenter/kraftfoodschinanews/2011/20110704.aspx 10-30-2012) Obviously, Kraft Foods Company expanded elsewhere. October 1, 2012, MondelÄâ€Å"z international launched the worlds top snack food brand of former Kraft food with 10 million people around the world. Kraft Foods is the worlds second largest food company, doing business in 145 countries around the world, one of the subsidiaries of MondelÄâ€Å"z International Company. It is one of the most outstanding makers of coffee, chocolate, gum, biscuits and candy in the world. The company has its main branches in North America, China and Canada. The company already has around 100,000 MondelÄâ€Å"z International employees across more than 80 countries and areas. Kraft has become the giants of the food industry, and its affiliates are around the world. Though MondelÄâ€Å"z International is new, the companys brands are as diversified and rich with heritage as the 170 countries in which its products appear on the market (Kraft foods Company http://www.mondelezinternational.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/pdf/mondelez_intl_fact_sheet.pdf 28 October 2012 ) The Kraft focuses on improving its growth to expand the Companys global scale, the Company is expanding its marketing now, also they growing markets and making infrastructure investments larger, such as the markets like China, Brazil, Mexico, Russia and so on. (United States Securities and Exchange Commission http://www.mondelezinternational.com/assets/pdf/KraftAR04_10K.pdf 10-30-2012) In addition, they consider differences in governments. The U.S. government has an open attitude and policy about export. The company is no longer a simple export the brand of the United States around the world, but expects them to automatically do well. Kraft priority to China as the most important countries in its developing markets division. They have taken into account the differences in the Chinese government and the Chinese market and will use the advantage of the Chinese market. It has invested distribution, research and development, marketing Oreo, Tang orange drink, its best-selling item, and its dozens of brands of disproportionate resources. Their company official said that they believe that the Chinese market is to teach us how to focus and how to distinguish and how innovation. The official also said that they will continue to do their utmost to provide safe, delicious, high-quality products for Chinese consumers with a variety of methods, expanding the scale of productio n, increased R D investment intensity, open up new markets, and so on. (Kraft food Company http://www.kraftfoodscompany.com/cn/en/mediacenter/kraftfoodschinanews/2011/20110704.aspx 28 October 2012) At the same time, they consider differences in business practices and customs. China is one of the top 10 markets in terms of development priority for Kraft Food. Many famous brands of Kraft Foods, such as Oreo, Chips Ahoy, and Uguan, have become the favorites of Chinese customers. said Lorna Davis, and she told us that they will continue to make their best efforts to provide safe, delicious and high quality products to Chinese consumers with a variety of approaches, their goal is expands production scale and develops new markets, because China is a big market. When Kraft firstly came to China, their products sold not very well. Because that it different between Chinese and foreigners tastes. The Chinese people can not stand the sweetness of the products. Then Kraft changed the sales strategy. (Expanding Market in China: Kraft Foods Commissions New Production Line in Suzhou http://www.kraftfoodscompany.com/cn/en/mediacenter/kraftfoodschinanews/2011/20110704.aspx 10-29-2012) At last, there are same personal differences within the company in deciding that China was a good market for them. Shawn Warren is the president of Kraft Foods China. Due to the sale trouble in 2005, he proposed to launch a combination of local tastes Oreo cookies. Shawn Warren said, Consumers in China said they hope to get a little taste of the stimulus as well. Therefore, that is what we want to hear. He advocates should seize the opportunity, improved the taste of the food, according to the tastes of Chinese consumers to take full advantage of the Chinese market. By clicking on Krafts distribution network in Chinas cities, the number of Cadbury candy sales will rise to about 40. Lorna Davis, president and chairman of the board of Krafts business in China in an interview with reporters, Reuters reporters said on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum. Chinas economic situation has been changing annually, the real challenge is how to choose the right opportunity Davis said. If I had unlimited resources and unlimited people, I will take with Kraft, but now the focus is in the integration of Cadbury biscuits and expanding our product line. She advocated a long-term view point, and not just confined to the Chinese market. (Kraft Foods China pushes for local flavors in Oreos http://www.china.org.cn/learning_english/2012-06/08/content_25597524.htm October 28, 2012) Section III: The Form Kraft Foods Company Came into China Kraft Foods chooses the form of expanding to come into China. Kraft Foods expand a brand in China, and up to now, it has several brands not only in china but also some Asian countries. Traces back to its history, Kraft Foods started to sell the products in China in 1984. At present, there has been have 4 consumer goods sectors in the field of foods; they are confectionary, biscuits, coffee, and powdered beverages, each of them is popular in China. The headquarters of Kraft Foods in China is Kraft Foods Corporate Management (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. The company has set up 250 offices and 8 manufacturing facilities across China, the main brands are distributed in Beijing, Suzhou, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Jiangmen. This measure makes people in china enjoy the nice snacks from America. (Expanding Market in China_ Kraft Foods Commissions New Production Line in Suzhou http://www.kraftfoodscompany.com/cn/en/mediacenter/kraftfoodschinanews/2011/20110704.aspx 10-30-2012) As the words said above, it is not the only option for Kraft to enter Chinese market. And it has other options. For example, they came into china by the form of acquisition. As Danone was in Chinese market, and when Kraft acquired Danone, the market in China which Danone had was belong to Kraft. (Expanding Market in China_ Kraft Foods Commissions New Production Line in Suzhouhttp://www.kraftfoodscompany.com/cn/en/mediacenter/kraftfoodschinanews/2011/20110704.aspx 10-29-2012) You must have a doubt that why did they make the decision? China is one of the top 10 markets in Kraft Food in terms of development priority. There are many famous kinds of Kraft Foods, these products attract almost every Chinese. Such as Oreo, Chips Ahoy, and Uguan, many people think these are their favorite foods. Nowadays, Suzhou Industrial Park is preparing to welcome the Kraft foods coming. Because Kraft foods bring us energy and talents, promote employment and economic development. The most important is that they intend to take root germination in China and based on their sustainable development, they want to make use of their business philosophy to create win-win situations for the whole society. (Expanding Market in China_ Kraft Foods Commissions New Production Line in Suzhou http://www.kraftfoodscompany.com/cn/en/mediacenter/kraftfoodschinanews/2011/20110704.aspx 10-30-2012) Section IV ¼Ã… ¡The Organization Structure Taken by Kraft Foods Company in Coming to China Strong corporate governance is essential, Our Board of Directors believes that effective corporate governance principles and practices, together with the companys Articles of Incorporation , By-laws , Code of Business Conduct and Ethics for Directors and Corporate Governance Guidelines , provide a strong framework to assist them in upholding their fiduciary responsibilities to shareholders and promoting the long-term success of the company. (Corporate Governance http://www.mondelezinternational.com/Investor/corporate-governance/index.aspx Oct 30, 2012) When Health staff are working, they are full of enthusiasm, a successful business needs a healthy workforce, which is why we want to encourage our employees to have a healthy lifestyle, and every year our goal is to expand these efforts. Our staffs Lifestyle need to improve, they can do such as stress management, weight management and smoking cessation, and so on. (Wellness http://www.mondelezinternational.com/DeliciousWorld/workplaceandculture/wellness.aspx Oct 30, 2012) We may make it a priority to treat our people well, we can help them develop and give them a rewarding working life, Excel in their performance Develop skills for improvement Move towards their career goals By providing training and development programs, on-the-job learning, coaching and feedback, we could make sure that everyone who works with us has the resources they need to learn more and build their careers. The success depends on motivated and committed employees. We would need them to feel that they play a real part in helping our business meet its goals and have an understanding of what they are. We should have several different ways of measuring our employees level of engagement with the business and satisfaction with their working lives such as through constructive dialogue with our employee representative groups and employee survey. (Wellness http://www.mondelezinternational.com/DeliciousWorld/workplaceandculture/wellness.aspx Oct 30, 2012) The organizational structure of Kraft is matrix structure. Kraft has five global consumer sectors, which are Beverages, Cheese and Dairy, Snacks, Convenient Meals, and Grocery. Then in this structure, organization dimensions are also divided into three parts. First, in order to improve growth and global expansion, a brand new global marketing and category development group is being established. Second, for the sake of better severing local consumers and customers, the geographic-based commercial units is forming to strength the development county by country. Third, within our business system, our key functions will be responsible for promoting cost savings and accelerating effectiveness. (Kraft Foods Announces New Global Organizational Structure http://www.lexdon.com/article/kraft_foods_announces_new_global/56574.html 10-30-2012) There are other structure discussed in the chapter might allow Kraft to operate more effectively. The move to a product team will lead to greater effectiveness and efficiency. The dual reporting relationships that are at the heart of matrix structure have always difficult for managers and employees to deal with. Often, the functional boss and the product boss make conflicting demands on team members, who do not know which boss to satisfy first. The product team structure differs from a matrix structure in two ways. First, it does away with dual reporting relationship and tow-boss managers. Second, functional employees are permanently assigned to a cross-functional team that is empowered to bring a new or redesigned product to market. And it can avoid problems of two-way communication and the conflicting demands of functional and product team bosses. (Kraft Foods Announces New Global Organizational Structure http://www.lexdon.com/article/kraft_foods_announces_new_global/56574.html 10-30-2012) Then, there are three levels in the organizations hierarchy. And it is authority centralized. Irene B. Rosenfeld presides over one of the worlds biggest food companies, she has the supreme authority, so in my mind, it is authority centralized. Then, let me describe the span of control of the top manager and of middle or first-line managers. The CEO in Kraft Foods is Irene B. Rosenfeld. She presides over one of the worlds biggest food companies. Under the CEO, there are some Executive Vice Presidents and Presidents; they are responsible for each region and each field. Then, there are some teams leaders, their work are specific, what they need to do are concentrating on variety kind of production. (Management Team http://www.kraftfoodscompany.com/eu/en/about/management_team/index.aspx Kraft foods Team leader profiles _ LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/title/team-leader/at-kraft-foods) According to all the learning that we got, we think that the distribution of authority appropriate for the organization and its activities. Kraft produces food goods at refrigerated, dry and frozen Kraft plants third party manufacturers located across the country. From the plants to a network of upstream Kraft buffer facilities as storage overflow buffer located near the plant. The physical characteristics of these are similar products, so we can not say that it is very fragile or brittle, these goods should flow through the DSD channels, in order to reduce the losses caused by touch points on the network and product damage. (Direct Store Delivery Versus Centralized Distribution http://www.mwpvl.com/html/dsd__vs_central_distribution.html October 30, 2012) I think it is possible to flatten the hierarchy by decentralizing authority and empowering employees. Roger K. Deromedi is the Chief Executive Officer of  Kraft Foods. He announced a new global organizational structure to achieve a more solid positioning Kraft sustainable growth. Krafts management team is unmatched. Every member has a vision of a world-class leader in professional knowledge and broad perspective to help Kraft to achieve sustainable growth. said Betsy Holden, 48, has been named President, Global Marketing and Category Development, and will continue as a member of the Kraft Foods Board of Directors. Holden, co-CEO of Kraft Foods (Kraft Foods) and Kraft Foods North America President and CEO.Holdens group will fugle Krafts growth agenda by driving category development across countries with global category strategy, new product development platform and superior marketing. This new team will build on the success of Kraft Foods global categories Parliament by creating a g lobal classification team. Krafts business units based on geographic location will be divided into the North American commercial and international business, with directly responsible for the marketing and sales between countries, including profit and loss responsibility. At the local level, these organizations will promote the Kraft business; make full use of the category strategy, development platform development and global marketing cooperation with global marketing and category development group. (Kraft Foods Announces New Global Organizational Structure http://www.lexdon.com/article/kraft_foods_announces_new_global/56574.html 30 October 2012) The principal integrating mechanisms used in Kraft Foods Company and sufficient coordination among individuals and functions that they provide are followings. The Krafts final strategy is to act responsibly. As the Company strives for sustainable growth, it seeks business success in ways that honor ethical and legal standards and that respect people, communities and the natural environment. This strategy includes a commitment to strong compliance and integrity programs and sound corporate governance, as well as a number of health and wellness initiatives, such as enhanced nutrition labeling, the development and funding of community-based programs and voluntary limitations on advertising to younger children. It also includes taking steps to contribute to the sustainability of the Companys agricultural supply base through several programs with respected international and local partners. Through the Krafts years of the development process, we can see that Kraft has been continuously through the acquisition of local enterprises to expand its business in China, and this is Krafts business model in America. At the beginning, Kraft came to China, Kraft also did not think too much about the changes about demand for cross-cultural product development or local marketing decision. Completely copy American model approach also makes Kraft lose the Chinese market narrowly. Until 2005, Kraft realized the problem and began to reform, increase the Chinese capital market and the investment of human resource and so on. Then Kraft earns a success in China. (United States Securities and Exchange Commission http://www.mondelezinternational.com/assets/pdf/KraftAR04_10K.pdf 10-30-2012) Now that we have analyzed the way this organization is organized, we want to give Krafts managers to help them improve the way it operates. Matrix structures have been successfully used for years at high-tech companies where new product development takes place frequently and the need to innovate quickly is vital to the organizations survival. However, the dual reporting relationships of a matrix structure have always been difficult for managers and employees to deal with. So, it is better to improve the organizational structure to product team structure. The product team structure differs from a matrix in that: 1) it does away with dual reporting relationships and two-boss managers, and 2) functional employees are permanently assigned to a cross-functional team. It can help them gain a competitive advantage in fast-changing organizational environments. Conclusion: An Analysis of Kraft Foods Companys Entrance into China To conclude, Kraft Foods is the worlds second largest food company, doing business in 145 countries around the world, one of the subsidiaries of MondelÄâ€Å"z international. It employs more than 60,000 employees worldwide. Krafts core product line is for coffee, confectionery, dairy products and beverages. Krafts business is in more than 70 countries, its products sell in 150 countries worldwide. Kraft North America and Kraft International two units manage the market of the United States and Canada, as well as Europe and developing markets. As the end of December 2007, Warren Buffets Berkshire Hathaway holding 8.6% of Kraft stock, is a float institutional investors. So far, Krafts investment in China is more than $ 200 million. In early 2006, Kraft Australia factory production migrated to the factory in Suzhou. The Suzhou plant is one of the few food factories that Kraft first entered the Chinese investment in the construction. The production of Krafts biscuit brand Oreo, music , Wealthy, Taiping and grimace toot has become the fastest-growing source of income in China. In the North American market, Kraft has a lot of product improvements, and mark calorie content on the packaging, in order to concern about peoples waist. In China, even though most people do not realize this, Kraft has taken the lead in product packaging clear stated calorie content. So that consumers can clearly choose to control the amount of food. As we have researched the situations, we find some interesting problems that they encountered. Kraft Group as the worlds leading food companies, in recent years in China, with good operating performance and a remarkable position in the market, many of its products have been well known to consumers. However, as early as in 2005, Krafts sales in China are not satisfactory. In the beginning, Kraft came to China, Kraft also did not think too much about the changes about demand for cross-cultural product development or local marketing decision. Completely copy American model approach also makes Kraft lose the Chinese market narrowly. Until 2005, Kraft realized the problem and began to reform, increase the Chinese capital market and the investment of human resource and so on. So Kraft actively adjusted its marketing strategies in order to better adapt to the requirements of the competitive environment, Kraft eventually created the success in China market. Then Kraft earns a success in Chin a. I think the way they solve the problem is very scientific. Kraft made à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹some adjustments to the company in accordance with the China market situation and the tastes of Chinese consumers. They seize the opportunities. So they achieved success. Of course, they also have insufficient. I think they can be more active innovation. They can release more flavors and varieties of biscuits to catch the consumers stomach. So Kraft can attract the attention of consumers and increase sales and market share. I believe Kraft do create a better future. Over the years, Kraft has always insists on the principle of related to food quality never concessions, which achieved a sales of over 300 billion U.S. dollars in the global top 500 enterprises. In order to ensure the food quality, Krafts new factory controls of physical, chemical, biological, three major sources of pollution tightly. Physical sources of pollution, the workshop all organic glass windows and stainless steel, metal, glass and hard plastic material to avoid entering the production line, all corner radian design to prevent dust left; plant cleaning are edible grade cleaner agents, equipment lubrication points with the product contact parts, use only food grade lubricants, to do so despite the high cost, but to avoid chemical pollutants entering the food; biological pollution control, Kraft raw flour define the amount of heat-resistant Bacillus, oven temperature curve have a special instrument verification, to ensure that the quality of food.  The Krafts strict quality control is also reflected in many details. Some consumers are allergic to peanuts, and in order to protect the health of these people, Kraft specifically arranged a dedicated production line. Kraft pays attention to product quality in order to open the door to success.

Analysis of the Starbucks Corporation Essay -- Business Management Sta

Analysis of the Starbucks Corporation History Of Starbucks Gordon Bowker, Jerry Baldwin and Ziv Siegl founded Starbucks in 1971. Their goal was to sell the finest quality whole beans and ground coffees (Starbucks timeline and history, 2004). In 1982, Starbucks had grown to five stores and started serving coffee to restaurants and espresso bars. Harold Schultz was employed as the director of retail operations and marketing. Harold Schultz convinced the founders of Starbucks to open a downtown Seattle coffee bar, which opened in 1984. With the success of Seattle coffee bar, Schultz left Starbucks to start his own company named Il Giornale. In 1987, Il Giornale acquired Starbucks retail operations for 4 million dollars. In addition, Il Giornale changed its name to Starbucks Corporation and opened locations in Chicago and Vancouver, B.C. (Starbucks timeline and history, 2004). Starbucks continued its expansion throughout the late 1980 and beyond. In 1991, Starbucks became the first privately owned U.S. Corporation to offer stock options to part time employees (Starbucks timeline and history, 2004). In the early 1990s Starbucks started setting up coffee shops in Nordstrom ¡Ã‚ ¦s department stores, Barnes & Noble bookstores and ITT/Sheraton hotels. In 1995, the corporation began selling compact discs and formed an alliance with the Canadian bookstore, Chapters Inc. In 2000, Schultz promoted Orin Smith to the position of CEO. Schultz remained chairman for the corporation. This allowed Schultz to focus on Starbucks ¡Ã‚ ¦ global strategy. Starbucks operates and licenses more the 7,500 coffee shops in more than 30 countries. Coffee Industry In the United States, coffee is the second largest import (Roosevelt, 2004). Furthermore, the United States, consumes one-fifth of all the worlds ¡Ã‚ ¦ coffee (Global Exchange, 2004). The present industry is expanding. It is estimated that North America ¡Ã‚ ¦s sector will reach saturation levels within 5 year (Datamonitor. n.d.). According to National Coffee Association (NCA), 8 out of 10 Americans consume coffee. In addition, it is estimated that half of the American population drinks coffee daily. The international market remains highly competitive. It is estimated that 3,300 cups of coffee are consumed every second of the day worldwide (Ecomall, n.d.). The latest trends included dual drinkers, an increase in senior citizens... ...ll us how we are doing. We appreciate your business and want to make sure we meet your expectations. Attached you will find a coupon good for 1 free coffee. Thanks again, for your time and patronage. How often do you visit Starbucks? DAILY ONCE/WEEK OR MORE 2 TO 3 TIMES A MONTH ONCE/MONTH EVERY 2-3 MONTHS 2-3 TIMES A YEAR OR LESS Overall, how satisfied are you , with [PRODUCT/SERVICE]? Please answer using the rating scale where (5) means "extremely satisfied" and (1) means "very unsatisfied." VERY UNSATISFIED UNSATISFIED SOMEWHAT SATISFIED VERY SATISFIED EXTREMELY SATISFIED How likely are you to use/purchase [PRODUCT/SERVICE] again? DEFINITELY PROBABLY MIGHT OR MIGHT NOT PROBABLY NOT DEFINITELY NOT NEVER USED Would you recommend [PRODUCT OR SERVICE] to others? DEFINITELY PROBABLY MIGHT OR MIGHT NOT PROBABLY NOT DEFINITELY NOT NEVER USED   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   What recommendations would you offer for improving [PRODUCT/SERVICE]? _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________

A Hero of Our Time by Mikhail Lermontov Essay -- Hero of Our Time, Vla

In his novel A Hero of Our Time translated by Vladimir Nabokov, Mikhail Lermontov creates a character named, Pechorin based on his opinions to 19th century Russian society. Pechorin is cruel, selfish, and careless to the people but ironically, Pechorin’s refusal to marry either Princess Marry or Vera, reveals him to be as an honorable man. Although, Pechorin describes his life as full of boredom and his opinion to love is different, Lermontov again explains he should be represented as a respectful man. By Pechorin’s behavior and thoughts, Lermontov demonstrates an honorable man is not consistently sympathetic and understandable because truly, Pechorin’s behavior and thoughts are to depict how life may describe as meaningless and purposeless. Lermontov expresses Pechorin’s selfishness by the rejection to Princess Marry and Vera in which ironically, those also represent him as an honorable man and that he explains the meaningless life. Pechorin has an unusual mind and character that no other men will have during 19th century. The first impression of Pechorin drives people to think him as a disrespectful man because for the most of the time, his actions are blamable. For example, when Pechorin kills Grushnitsky in the duel and after, then he meets Princess Marry right away, he says â€Å"I cannot marry you. Even if you wished it now, you would soon regret it† (162). Lermontov fully proves the disrespectful behavior of him because he killed a man over a girl’s love and he right away rejects the girl’s love. However, Lermontov’s real view is Pechorin killed Grushnitsky because they both did not truly love Princess Marry; instead, Pechorin already knew it was a jealousy that was coming from each other in which it supports how honorable ma... ...ctfully to the people around him but still, he may represent as an honorable man because of his thoughts and behaviors to 19th century Russian society. First, the event of Princess Marry and Vera explains Pechorin is a respectful man because he rejects those two girls’ love for their own lives and by explaining the meaningless life to them. Second, Lermontov’s beliefs that a life is apathy by Pechorin’s behavior and thoughts lead Pechorin as an honorable man. Most of the people believe an honorable man is one who says a life is not boredom and acts carefully and responsibly to his or her people. However, Lermontov explains an honorable man’s character alters by a society situation such as Pechorin. An honorable man’s action and belief may alter and that people still have to respect them because an honorable man is made by the people and the society.

American Imperialism :: United States America Imperialist essays papers

America had definitely played its role in its imperialism. First of all imperialism is the control from one country doing to another. America has controlled a lot of countries in its time. In this essay I will talk about the causes and effects that America’s imperialism played a role in. We have really controlled a lot of countries in our time but this essay will focus more on the 19th and 20th century. We play a pretty big influence in the world today as in status wise. A lot of countries respect us because of our integrity and greatness that we have achieved. Overall I will talk about how imperialism existed in the time of American in 19th and 20th century as well as explain the causes by this time and effects that resulted on our lives today.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Imperialism is the policy or action by which one country controls another country or territory. Most such control is achieved by military means to gain economic and political advantages. Such a policy is also called expansionism. An expansionist state that obtains overseas territories follows a policy usually called colonialism. An imperialist government may wish to gain new markets for its exports, plus sources of inexpensive labor and raw materials. A far-flung empire may satisfy a nation's desire for military advantage or recognition as a world power. Imperialism has definitely played its role in our lifetime as well as in the 19th century. First of all we attacked Iraq regarding a power issue. We believed they had some powerful items in which could be harmful to our nation so we decided to attack them to ensure our security. Another one is how we attacked Japan because they were becoming to powerful. We have done a lot to these countries just so we could have the security of keeping our power. Military reasons are also another reason for Imperialism.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Since ancient times, nations have absorbed territory near their borders to protect themselves from foreign attack. This kind of territory could be used as kind of a cushion support. This way they have land around them to help them stay secure. In the late 1800's, many European powers had colonies throughout the world where their ships, both naval and merchant, could take on supplies. Imperialism can also be encouraged by patriotism, religion, and a sense of cultural and racial superiority. During the late 1800’s, a strong feeling of nationalism swept most European countries.

Writing and Reflection Paper

Start with writing the first draft. Describe your reflective essay project. How did it contribute to your self development? Evaluate the quality of your work within your reflective essay. Did you achieve your goals? Tell how you might have made your project better. Revise your first draft. Be complete when telling â€Å"what happened† and use descriptive details to describe your actions. Stick to the point. Concentrate on your reflective essay project as a whole and include the details that really affected the final outcome of the project. Tell about your experiences while working on your essay. Answer the question: â€Å"What did you learn?† Write in a clear style that your reader can understand. Show your essay to a friend for helpful feedback.Some Helpful Tips:What to IncludeWhen writing a reflection paper on literature or another experience, the point is to include your thoughts and reactions to the reading or experience. You can present your feelings upon reading w hat you read and why. You can also use a reflection paper to analyze what you have read. Just like in any other paper or essay, be cohesive, refer to the specific passage or quote the material that drew this feeling, reflection or analysis from you and why. It is okay to include personal experience in a reflection paper, but do not depend on it; base your reactions and reflections in the material that is your subject.What to Leave OutDo not use a reflection paper to simply summarize what you have read or done. It is also recommended not to use a reflection paper as a free flow of ideas and thoughts. Again, the idea of a reflection paper is to write an essay describing your reactions and analysis to a reading or other experience; however, it is more formal than a journal entry, so leave out informal language and form.How to Organize Your ThoughtsA reflection paper should be organized as you would another formal essay. Be sure to include an introduction, perhaps that suggests what you r  expectations were on the reading or experience beforehand. You may also want to summarize the conclusions you came to in the introduction. Then move on to the body of your paper, explain separately the conclusions you have come to and why, basing your conclusions in concrete details from your reading and experience. End the paper with a conclusion that sums up what you got from the reading. You might want to refer back to what your conclusions are in relation to your expectations or come to some other conclusion or analysis about the text or experience in light of your feelings and reactions.

Communism vs. Fascism

Communism vs. Fascism Communism and fascism are at the opposite ends of the totalitarian spectrum. Their major differences lie in their economic and social characteristics, but they do share many similarities in the political aspect. Soviet communism and German fascism are, in fact, very unlike each other, but they affected the people of the Soviet Union and Germany in many similar ways. You can observe how the ideas of communism and fascism differ mainly through their goals, along with other characteristics.Communism pursues international goals, which is shown in Stalin’s strive to push the Soviet Union to be a leading economic power. Fascist leaders pursue goals limited to their own nation. A communist society pushes have no social classes, which is why private ownership of land or property is not supported. Contrarily, fascism is very much class-based, as seen in Hitler’s views of race superiority. Though the goals of these two governmental systems differ very much, the methods used to achieve these goals are remarkably similar. The similarities between communism and fascism lie in their political methods.The most obvious comparison is that they are both dictatorial, one-party governments. Under each government, citizens are expected to be entirely devoted to the state, which glorifies military and war. Their rights are virtually nonexistent, and the media information they see is censored so that they only are aware of what the government wants them to know. In Germany, citizens that didn’t fit the ideal image of the dictator, Adolf Hitler, were sent to concentration or death camps, mainly because the state had the power to do so.Though the ideas and goals of communism and fascism contrast, the methods they use to achieve them are almost identical. Generally, communism and fascism are considered opposite in reference to totalitarianism. They are very different in their economic and social aspects, but they do share similarities in their political characteristics and governing methods. Soviet communism and German fascism are very contrastable, but they affected the people of the Soviet Union and Germany in many similar ways.

Earth from Space Essay

The American astronaut Edgar Mitchell once described the earth from outer space as â€Å"a sparkling blue and white jewel,† a â€Å"light, delicate sky-blue sphere† outlined with â€Å"swirling veils of white† amidst a â€Å"thick sea of black mystery. † Indeed, the earth in space looks like a lonely sphere with neighbors separated by vast distances other than its one moon. More importantly, one can barely recognize the subtle details of the planet’s geographical features except the wide oceans and its land mass surrounded by water. From a distance, one cannot tell for certain that in that lonely planet lived billions of people going about their own ways day and night. If there are authorities who fit the role of describing the earth in space, no other groups of people can best fit that role other than the astronauts who for at least once or for a few times were able to catch a glimpse of our planet. Aleksei Lenov, a USSR astronaut, said that â€Å"the earth was absolutely round† while American astronaut Charles Walker’s attention was immediately caught by â€Å"a panorama of brilliant deep blue ocean† with â€Å"shades of green and grey and white† upon reaching outer space. There are still countless others who had the rare opportunity to take a look at the earth from such a distance afforded by the outer space. In general, it can be said that the astronauts took much notice of the more general features of the earth, focusing on the earth as a whole and not in terms of the multitude of land and water varieties that comprise it on closer inspection. That perhaps owes up to the fact that the view of the earth from outer space barely gives the viewer a broader look at our planet. Thus, the view of the earth in space only affords us several aspects of the earth to describe. For instance, one can easily recognize the seemingly boundless bodies of water occupying the larger regions of the earth. Take for instance the prominence of the Pacific Ocean as commonly illustrated in numerous books, magazines and scientific journals. Since much of the earth is covered in water, and much of the planet’s water comes from the Pacific Ocean, it is only expected from astronauts to immediately take notice of the Pacific. Satellite images also reveal how almost a third of the earth is comprised of those vast quantities of sea water, thereby prompting observers to not fail to see the deep blue blanket of water surrounding the lands and the people. More importantly, perhaps it is only through the view from outer space are we able to see the drastic effects of every tree cut down and a whole range of rainforests razed by fires and human activities. We may not be able to recognize the massive effect of these things right from the earth, but from outer space one may not fail to acknowledge the largeness of the scale of environmental degradations which have occurred through the years. It is only from that view from the outer space that we are able to see as well the vastness of the deserts that may soon become of the forests destroyed from cutting trees for daily human consumption. Although astronauts say there are still â€Å"green† parts of the earth as the view from outer space reveals, it can hardly be denied that much of the parts of the earth have remained the same over the past years, especially when the view of the earth from the past is compared to what it is today. Indeed, the chance to view the earth from outer space is the chance of a lifetime as only a very few selected number of individuals are given that rare moment. Moments like those experienced by the astronauts give us accounts of how our planet looks like, including its more general land, water and atmospheric features which, when taken altogether, offer a comprehensive understanding of the only â€Å"living† planet in the solar system thus far. Reference Hamilton, C. J. (1997). Earth from Space. Retrieved July 4, 2008, from http://www. solarviews. com/eng/earthsp. htm