The Summoner In The Canterbury Tales Essay - 901 Words

In the year of 1390, an intriguing frame story known as The Canterbury Tales was written by Geoffrey Chaucer, which discussed 24 unique characters with their own personalities and patterns of behavior (Lumiansky). The summoner within the story demonstrates the corruption within the Catholic Church, exploiting his privileges with a grin on his face. The primary excerpt throws in statements such as, â€Å"Children were afraid when he appeared,† and â€Å"Questio quid juris†, which means, â€Å"I ask what the point of the law [applies]†, frequently used by The Summoner to stall and evade the issue at hand (Elements of Literature). He did as he wanted when he wanted, often utilizing the system itself within his own endeavors, even when it inconveniences†¦show more content†¦The Summoner likes his wine as red as his face, frequently getting drunk and bellowing out the only few Latin words that he knows (Elements of Literature). He’s also shown to tak e bribes, which can be seen within the section, â€Å"Why, he’d allow---just for a quart of wine---Any good lad to keep a concubine a twelvemonth and dispense him altogether!† Simply put: If anyone was caught with a mistress, he’d give them a break for twelve months, but if they aren’t able to give him a quart of wine, he summons them to the church to get them excommunicated (Elements of Literature). Overall, the Summoner wasn’t a very suave person, but he really didn’t seem to care. He wasn’t very stunning appearance-wise either. It’s noted that his face is riddled with blemishes that persistently stick around in the long-term, completely impervious to any ointments or creams that could purge them from his already tomato-red face (Elements of Literature). He had narrow eyes and black scabby eyebrows to compliment them, with a thin, unclean beard to further ratify the image of him. Furthermore, a fragment of the prologue states that, â€Å"He wore a garland set upon his head, Large as the holly-bush upon a stake, Outside an ale-house, and he had a cake, A round one, which it was his joke to wield as if it were intended for a shield†. During that time, a holy man wouldn’t really tread outside of an ale-house, which indicates theShow MoreRelatedChaucers Canterbury Tales741 Words   |  3 Pages Essay topic: With the reference to one of The Canterbury Tales discuss, what means Chaucer uses to create the highly individualized (and often comic) characters and how successful is his creation. The Friar from The Canterbury Tales Geoffrey Chaucer was a master at creating highly individualized characters who are often comic and realistic at the same time and always have good traits as well as bad ones. 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Spirituality in the Second Nuns Tale      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales, Chaucer describes the men and women of the Church in extreme forms; most of these holy pilgrims, such as the Monk, the Friar, and Pardoner, are caricatures of objectionable parts of Catholic society.   At a time when the power-hungry Catholic Church used the misery of peasants in order to obtain wealth, it is no wonder that one of the greatest writers of the Middle Ages used his works

Organizational Markets And Buying Behavior Essay - 978 Words

Organizational markets and buying behavior is essential for effective business-to-business marketing, so it is important to recognize the features of organizational buyers and their buying behavior. There are three different organizational markets and they consist of: industrial, reseller, and government. Industrial organizations in some way re-claim a product or service they purchase before selling it to the next buyer. Take Corning, Inc. for example; this organization converts different blends materials to create optical fiber, which is capable of carrying an abundant amount of the telephone traffic in the United States. Also, companies that sell physical goods such as: mining, timber, and fisheries, represent twenty-five percent of all of the industrial firms, as mentioned by authors Kerin and Hartley. Resellers, or wholesalers and retailers, buy physical products and resell them again without any reprocessing. 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Natural Fiber Wide Use Health And Social Care Essay Free Essays

string(299) " the classical RSM are developed utilizing additive multinomial theoretical accounts, chiefly first-degree and second-degree theoretical accounts, with uninterrupted response variables assumed, for the most portion, to be independently and usually distributed with changeless mistake discrepancies\." Natural fibres have been in a broad usage since the development of the human race. Catching up the Eco thrust, applied scientists were looking for eco-friendly options for fictile fibre. In the due class many natural fibres have been tested and some were able to do their base going economically feasible. We will write a custom essay sample on Natural Fiber Wide Use Health And Social Care Essay or any similar topic only for you Order Now The present work proposes to fix and prove a Natural Fiber ( Asian Palmyra ) Reinforced Composite ( NFRC ) . The survey is planned in conformity to a 3-Level Factorial Design and find the fluctuation of Tensile Strength ( TS ) , of short and indiscriminately oriented Palmyra NFRC, under control parametric quantities such as alkali intervention clip, fiber length and fiber volume % . The present paper focuses to pattern the influence of procedure variables on TS through Response Surface Methodology. The mathematical theoretical account which is developed to foretell tensile strength is found statistically valid and sound within the scope of the factors. Keywords: A – Discontinuous support, B – Mechanical belongingss, C – Statistical properties/methods, D – Mechanical testing, E – Lay-up ( manual ) . 1. Introduction: Natural fibre has been in a broad usage since the development of the human race. They had got broad acceptation in communities for their flexibleness and strength. Recent tendencies in the country of fibre reinforced complexs have drawn a twine in utilizing these natural fibres as their support. The natural fibre imparts lower lastingness and lower strength compared to glaze fibres. However, low specific gravitation consequences in a higher specific strength and stiffness than glass. Natural fibres offer good thermal, dielectric and acoustic insularity belongingss along with easiness in processing technique without have oning of tools. Most of these fibres are produced in developing states like China, India and Brazil etc. In a historical position complexs like straw reinforced walls, bows and chariots made of pasted beds played of import functions in their endurance. Though many of these fibres are limited to their epidemic parts due to high local demand for many old ages, coming of man-made fibres have affected the market of natural fibres. After being entirely used for their electromagnetic belongingss, utilizing complexs to better the structural public presentation of ballistic capsule and aircraft became popular in last two decennaries of the old century. Particularly, increased constrains and future environmental route maps, have been emphasizing automotive industries to diminish their C pes prints. These rigorous steps have become blessing to the lagging natural fibre industries, and thereby making new challenges for research workers in happening beginnings of fibre, fiction techniques and applications of na tural fibres. The easy handiness of natural fibres and fabricating have motivated research workers worldwide late to seek locally available cheap fibres and to analyze their feasibleness of support intents and to what extent they satisfy the needed specifications of good reinforced polymer complexs [ 1 ] . Many surveies proved them to be possible rivals to man-made fibre to some extent. After reexamining the bing literature available on natural fibre complexs, assorted writers had put attempts in planing complexs based on the demands of composite industry. There has been a broad assortment of literature available on natural fibres such aspen, abaca, bagasse, bamboo, banana, coir, day of the month thenar, flax, henequen, isora, jute, silk cotton, deccan hemp, oil thenar, Ananas comosus, ramee, sisal, etc. , [ 2-18 ] . Natural fibre complexs provide comparable specific strength with that of man-made fibre complexs, due the low denseness offered by natural fibres [ 19 ] . There are many parametric quantities which affect the public presentation of a natural fiber-reinforced complex. Chemical alteration improvesA fiberA matrix adhesion, their consequences and effects on the physical belongingss ofA complexs [ 20 ] . Aspect ratio has a considerable consequence on composite belongingss, henc e it is of import to conserve fiber length every bit much as possible during composite processing operations [ 21 ] . Mechanical belongingss of the composite vary with assorted sums of fibre volume ratio. But there have been a really few documents covering with Palmyra fibre, the present fibre of our involvement [ 22 – 24 ] . The Borasseus Flabellifer is a tall and vertical thenar, and can populate 100 old ages or more and make a tallness of 30 m, with a canopy of big, fan-shaped foliages several twelve found distributing 3 metres across [ 25 ] . Each and every portion of the tree is a noteworthy socio-economic value for people in Southern India. The mid-ribs of the foliages and the fibres from their chaffs are used in doing industrial coppices and brooms. The fibre has good opposition to clash and heat, and will defy many chemicals and dissolvers. The denseness of toddy palm ( 0.7 gm/cm3 ) is least among all known natural fibres that are being commercially used in fabricating natural fibre complexs. This is extremely favourable belongings from the position point of light-weightiness. The present complex can happen extended application in non-structural, low-performance utilizations. Hence, the toddy palm fibres are most suited for doing support in green composite stuffs. The present research focuses on the survey and consequence of procedure parametric quantities on the tensile strength of short and indiscriminately oriented palmyra natural fibre reinforced complexs. The decisions drawn from this is that, a successful combination of procedure parametric quantities consequences in the betterment of mechanical belongingss of the composite. In future, complexs will be manufactured even more harmonizing to an integrated design procedure ensuing in the optimal building harmonizing to parametric quantities such as form, mass, strength, stiffness, lastingness, costs, etc. The developed mathematical theoretical account will be able to demo the influence of a design alteration on each one of these parametric quantities ( here strength ) . 2. RESPONSE SURFACE METHODOLOGY: Response surface methodological analysis ( RSM ) began with the work of Box and Wilson in the Journal of the Royal Statistical Society [ 26 ] . That work was motivated by the demand to run experiments expeditiously, by a proper pick of design, and to find operating conditions on a set of governable variables that give rise to an optimum response. The cardinal thoughts in the classical RSM are developed utilizing additive multinomial theoretical accounts, chiefly first-degree and second-degree theoretical accounts, with uninterrupted response variables assumed, for the most portion, to be independently and usually distributed with changeless mistake discrepancies. You read "Natural Fiber Wide Use Health And Social Care Essay" in category "Essay examples" This method has gone through several phases of development that are aimed at doing it more applicable to wider experimental state of affairss [ 27 ] . RSM is a aggregation of mathematical and statistical techniques that are utile for the mold and analysis of jobs in which a response of involvement is influenced by several variables and the aim is to optimise the response [ 28 ] . For, illustration, if the experimenter wishes to happen the degrees of two input variables, x1, x2 which maximize the output [ y ] of the procedure, so the procedure output is stated as: where I µ represents the noise or mistake observed in the response Y. If the expected response is denoted by E [ y ] = f [ x1, x2 ] = I · , so the surface represented by I · = f [ x1, x2 ] is called a response surface. If the individual input variable can be related to the end product variable so it is known as response curve and if the two input variables relate to the end product variable so it is known as response surface [ 28 ] . In common pattern, response surfaces are expressed diagrammatically and visualized through single secret plans, contours and 3D surface graphs. 3. SPECIMEN Fabrication: The petioles of Asiatic Palmyra tree were soaked in a H2O retting armored combat vehicle for 45 yearss. After 45 yearss, the fibre can be extracted from the chaffs manually. These long uninterrupted fibres are washed exhaustively in plentifulness of clean H2O to take the excess waste ( fig. 1 ) . 3.1 ALKALI TREATMENT: The obtained fibres were divided into three parts of equal weight. These three groups of fibre were treated with 5 % NaOH solution for different clip continuances. The first group is treated for 2 hours, the 2nd for 4 hours and the 3rd for 6 hours. Chemical intervention with NaOH removes wet content from the fibres thereby increasing its strength. The chemical intervention besides clears all the drosss that are bordering the fiber stuff and besides stabilizes the molecular orientation. After alkali intervention, fibres were washed exhaustively in the distilled H2O and were dried for one twenty-four hours at room temperature. Then these long fibres were cut into short fibres of different lengths ( 3mm, 5mm and 7mm ) . The fibres which were treated for 2 hours with NaOH are cut into equal sums of 3mm, 5mm and 7mm fibres severally. Similarly, the fibres which were treated with NaOH for 4 hours and 6 hours were besides cut into short fibres. Therefore nine different samples of fibre were prepared which vary in fibre length and alkali intervention hours. 3.2 PREPATION OF COMPOSITES: A rectangular wooden board of 300mm, 300mm was taken and wooden forms of thickness 4mm were fixed on these wooden boards with the aid of nails. These wooden forms were placed so that a infinite of 150mm, 10mm, and 4mm was obtained. After the molds of needed dimensions were prepared, wax was applied to the interior sides of the molds for easy release of the complex without lodging to the mold walls. Then the matrix was prepared by blending the hardener to epoxy. The epoxy and the hardener ratio were maintained at 10:1. To acquire good cured and a standard quality specimen, the epoxy and hardener must be assorted swimmingly and easy for about 10 proceedingss. Initial bed of the mold was filled with the epoxy rosin and hardener mixture and so the appropriate measure of fibres was placed such that epoxy mixture wholly spread over the fibres. Again, epoxy mixture was poured on the fibre. Therefore, the starting and stoping of the beds were of epoxy rosin. A fictile releasing house was pla ced on the top of the uncured mixture. Before using compaction, attempts were made to take all bubbles with roller. Finally, the compaction force per unit area of 0.05 MPa was applied equally and cured for 24 hours at room temperature. In this manner, specimens incorporating different volume fractions of fibre were prepared. These specimens were cured in the hot air oven at 600 C for 2 hours. Specimens incorporating different fibre volume fractions such as 20 % , 30 % , 40 % were prepared and 27 specimens were prepared. Natural Fiber Reinforced Composite ( NFRC ) is considered as the stuff for probe and its material composing is given in Table 4.1. The specimen ( Fig. 2 ) is prepared with the dimensions of 150mm length, 10mm breadth and 4mm thickness harmonizing to ASTM D 3039-76 [ 29 ] is used for experimentation. 3.3 MECHANICAL Testing OF FIBER-REINFORCED COMPOSITE: The most basic mechanical trial is the tenseness trial. For most structural stuffs, the tensile belongingss are indispensable elements of the stuff design allowable. The complexs specimens were tested as per ASTM criterions. The tensile testing was done as per ASTM D 3039M with the aid of INSTRON-6025 theoretical account Universal Testing Machine ( Fig. 3 ) at a crosshead velocity of 2mm per minute and consequences were analyzed to cipher the tensile strength of composite samples. 4. Plan AN Experiment: Recognition of job and job statement: â€Å" Determine the affect of Alkali Treatment Time, Fiber length A ; % Fiber volume on the tensile strength of Natural Fiber ( short Asian Palmyra ) Reinforced Composite. † Choice of factors, degrees, scopes: Alkali Treatment Time ( A ) , Fiber length ( B ) , Fiber volume % ( C ) ( 3 Levels ) Choice of the response variable: Tensile Strength of Natural Fiber Reinforced Composite ( T ) . Choice of experimental design: 3 flat factorial design. Performing the experiment: Tensile strength on Universal Testing Machine ( UTM ) . Statistical analysis of informations: A, B, C relation to T Decisions and recommendations: Accomplishment of experiment aims. 4.1 DESCRIPTION OF PROPOSED METHODOLOGY The control factors considered for experiments are alkali intervention clip, fiber length and fibre volume per centum while tensile strength is considered as the end product response. The process of response surface methodological analysis comprises the undermentioned stairss [ 30 ] : Plan a series of experiments for equal and dependable measuring of the response of involvement. Develop an empirical or mathematical theoretical account of the 2nd order response surface with the best adjustments. Find the optimum set of experimental parametric quantities that produce a upper limit or minimal value of response. Represent the direct and the synergistic effects of procedure parametric quantities through two and three dimensional secret plans. 4.1.1 Conducting the experiments The executable scopes of the procedure control variables considered are listed in Table 4.2. These values correspond to the conditions at which there is maximal consequence on tensile strength as reported by other writers for different natural fibres. The belongingss of Asiatic Palmyra fibre reinforced complexs with different fibre lengths, clip continuances of Alkali intervention and fibre volume per centums under these conditions, the probes are presented in the undermentioned Tables 4.3, 4.4 and 4.5. Sample of tensile trial studies are shown in Fig. 4. The tensile strength of the specimen made of epoxy and hardener is 12.44MPa. 4.2 DEVELOPMENT OF EMPIRICAL MODELS The informations collected from typical experiments refering to end product responses, Tensile Strength from Tables 4.3, 4.4 and 4.5 are used to implement the proposed methodological analysis. The demand in developing the mathematical relationships is to associate the tensile strength to the procedure parametric quantities thereby easing the optimisation of the procedure parametric quantities. Design Expert, 8.0v [ 31 ] , statistical analysis package, is used to calculate the arrested development coefficients of the proposed theoretical accounts. The interaction effects of the procedure parametric quantities and tensile strength are important and hence the 2nd order theoretical accounts are postulated. The multinomial is fitted and the relationships obtained for the end product responses are given below: 4.2.1 Adequacy trial: The developed empirical theoretical accounts are tested for their adequateness utilizing the undermentioned trials: 4.2.1.1 Analysis of Variance [ ANOVA ] : ANOVA is carried out for the quadratic response surface theoretical accounts. The statistics of ANOVA for Tensile Strength is given in the Table 4.6. In instance of tensile strength, it can be observed from Table 4.6 that the value of â€Å" Probability gt ; F † for the theoretical account is less than 0.05, which indicates that the theoretical account is important [ 28 ] . 4.2.1.2 Multiple arrested development coefficients: To look into whether the fitted theoretical accounts really describe the experimental information, the multiple arrested development coefficient [ R2 ] is computed. R2 statistic is defined as the ratio of variableness explained by the theoretical account to the entire variableness in the existent experimental informations and is used as a step of goodness of fit [ 28 ] . If R2 attacks to integrity, the better the theoretical account fits the experimental information. In other words, it is the proportion of fluctuation in the dependant variable [ response ] that can be explained by the forecasters [ factor ] in the theoretical account. From Table 4.6, R2 for tensile strength is found to be 0.9276. This shows that the second-order theoretical account can explicate the fluctuation in tensile strength up to the extent of 92.76 % . The adjusted R2 efforts to give a more appropriate value to gauge R2. Adjusted R2 can be computed utilizing the expression 1- [ [ 1- R2 ] * [ N-1 ] / [ N-k-1 ] ] , where N is the figure of observations and K is the figure of forecasters [ 28 ] . When N is little and K is big and there will be a much greater difference between R2 and adjusted R2 [ because the ratio of [ N-1 ] / [ N-k-1 ] will be much less than 1. By contrast, when the figure of observations is really big compared to the figure of forecasters, the value of R2 and adjusted R2 will be much closer because the ratio of [ N-1 ] / [ N-k-1 ] will near 1. From Table 4.6, adjusted R2 for tensile strength is found to be 0.8915. It can be observed that the values of R2 and adjusted R2 are much closer to each other. The developed mathematical theoretical accounts are farther checked for their adequateness utilizing normal chance secret plan of remainders. The diagnostic secret plans are drawn to look into whether the informations are usually distributed and for any premise is violated. Therefore, the normal chance secret plan of remainders for the responses, tensile strength is plotted. Normal chance secret plans are used to measure whether informations come from the normal distribution. The statistical process makes the premise that an implicit in distribution is normal [ 28 ] . Thus normal chance secret plans can supply confidence that the premise is justified, or else supply a warning of jobs with the premise. An analysis of normalcy typically combines normal chance secret plans with hypothesis trials for normalcy. In a normal chance secret plan, if all the information points autumn near the line, an premise of normalcy is sensible. Otherwise, the points will swerve off from the line, and an premise of normalcy is non justified. The normal chance secret plans of the remainders for the end product responses, tensile strength is shown in Fig. 5 and it can be observed that the remainders are located on consecutive line, which means that the mistakes are distributed usually. The 3D surface graphs for tensile strength are shown in Figs. 6 – 8. All have curvilinear profile in conformity to the quadratic theoretical account fitted. Fig. 6 shows the interaction consequence of fibre length and alkali intervention clip on tensile strenth at different degrees of fibre volume per centum. It is clear from the figure that at highest values of fibre length and alkali intervention clip the tensile strenth attains largest value of 27MPa. At high value of alkali intervention clip ( 6Hrs ) and low value of fiber length ( 3mm ) , tensile strength varies from 17-19 MPa. where as at low value of both fiber length and alkali intervention clip the tensile strength is lowest. Fig. 7 depicts the consequence of fibre volume per centum and alkali intervention clip on tensile strength at different degrees of fibre length. As indicated in the secret plan the tensile strength additions with addition in both fiber volume per centum and alkali intervention clip. The highest value of tensile strength of about 27MPa is recorded at high values of fibre volume per centum and alkali intervention clip. Fig. 8 describes the interaction consequence of fibre volume per centum and fiber length on tensile strength of short and indiscriminately oriented Palmyra fiber composite at different degrees of base intervention clip. As the fibre volume per centum additions from 20 – 40 % and fibre length increasing from 7 – 3mm so tensile strength additions from 13 – 27 MPa. The combined consequence of fibre length and fibre volume per centum increases the tensile strength of composite. It can be said that the empirical theoretical accounts developed were moderately accurate, for Tensile strength. 5 Decision The proposed work is on the survey and consequence of procedure parametric quantities on the tensile strength of short and indiscriminately oriented toddy palm fibre reinforced complexs. The experimental probe on mechanical behavior of palmyra fibre reinforced complexs leads to the undermentioned decisions: Tensile strength ( TS ) , of the toddy palm fibre reinforced composite stuff is greatly influenced by alkali intervention clip, fiber length and fibre volume fraction. The quadratic theoretical account developed by RSM can be used to foretell the tensile strength of the toddy palm fibre reinforced composite stuff at 93 % assurance degree. But the cogency of the theoretical account is limited to the scope of parametric quantities considered for the probe. The truth of the developed theoretical account can be improved by including more figure of parametric quantities and degrees. Further, mathematical theoretical accounts can be developed by taking multiple responses, with different scopes of procedure variables and the composite design can be optimized based on the demand of the clients. How to cite Natural Fiber Wide Use Health And Social Care Essay, Essay examples

Internal Controls on Purchase of Material

Question: Discuss about theInternal Controls on Purchase of Material. Answer: Introduction Internal controls are designed to safeguard assets of the company and ensure reliable financial reporting (Arwinge, 2012). Internal controls in the areas of sales, purchase, fixed assets and stock are crucial to ensure accomplishment of the organizational goals. In the current case, internal controls in respect of stock of Fruito, which is retail sales shop, have been analyzed to find out risk factors and recommend checks and controls. The internal controls in relation to stock assume high importance in the organization engaged in retail sales business because of high volume movements (Arwinge, 2012). Identification of the Risk and its Impact The internal controls are placed on inward and outward movements and record maintenance of the stock so as to ensure that stock is safeguarded from misuse and theft (Johnstone, Gramling, Rittenberg, 2015). In the purchasing process there several risk factors that the management of Fruito should bear in mind while designing suitable controls. The first risk relates to authorization of the purchase transaction. The purchase orders need to be authorized by an appropriate authority such as purchase manager or head of the procurement department. If the purchase of material made without proper authorization, there would emanate a risk of buying material from unauthorized vendors at wrong prices and on terms which may be prejudicial to the company (Moeller, 2016). Further, in the absence of adequate controls, there remains a risk of excessive/short purchasing of material. It is customary for the companies engaged in the retails sales business to have estimations in regard to daily demand, supply, and buffer stock to be kept for emergency situations (Moeller, 2016). The company has to prescribe the reorder levels for material so that orders can be placed whenever stock reaches to the reorder level. In the absence of this mechanism, the company will be exposed to the risk of either falling short of material or pilling up inventory because of buying in excessive quantities. In either situation, the company will have to suffer. If the stock falls short, the company will not be able to meet out the demand, which may affect the customer base of the company. On the other hand, if the company buys in excess, it will lead to extra cost burden in the form of inventory handling and carrying costs (Moeller, 2016). Apart from the above, the controlling risks in relation to record maintenance are also crucial for the management of Fruito to take into consideration. In relation to purchase of material, it is essential that reliable and relevant records are maintained documenting all the necessary events in entire process of procurement (Moeller, 2016). The absence of adequate controls in this area would lead to manipulation and falsification of the book records. The employees of the company colluding with outsiders may take advantage of weak controls in the record maintenance and misuse the assets of the company for personal gains. Weak controlling in record maintenance may give rise to the risk of theft of material (Moeller, 2016). In addition to the above discussed risks, there remains a risk of reduction in the operational efficiency also. It is essential for every company to have properly structured and sell defined processes in every area of operations either it is material handling, procurement, or distribution. Lack of controls in the process of material procurement may lead to deterioration in the operational efficiency. Carrying out the processes with undefined steps and procedures always goes unplanned leading to delays and defects (Moeller, 2016). Recommendations for Internal Controls In order to counter the risks due to weak controls, the management of Fruito is advised to first define the processes such as order placing, authorization, and material checking on receipt. Further, each process should have an authority, which will be accountable for lapses or any kind of mistakes in the process (Delaney Whittington, 2010). The authorization process must be intact to ensure that all the transactions take place with the permission of the authorized person. In order to counter the risk of purchases from unauthorized suppliers on wrong prices and prejudicial terms, it is essential that the employees strictly adhere to the authorization process (Delaney Whittington, 2010). Further, the management of Fruito is advised to set the quantities of buffer/safety stock, reorder level, minimum level, and maximum level. The estimations in this regard got to be precise because mistakes would lead to financial loss to the company. There must be automation in record maintenance so that management could be made aware whenever inventory reaches to reorder level (Delaney Whittington, 2010). Further, high level checks should be implemented on the record maintenance to ensure that the transactions are recoded validly and timely. The management should ensure that the material in unloaded after proper physical counting and verification with the purchase order specifications (Delaney Whittington, 2010). In addition to the above, the management should have internal auditing function to check the book records and processes in respect of material procurement on adequate intervals (Delaney Whittington, 2010). The management should ensure proper segregation of duties that is to say that personnel who are responsible to carry out physical count should not take part in record maintenance. This will help in reducing the possibility of fraud through manipulation of the book records. Further, there should be caused verification of the stock by the third party at least once in a year so as to ensure that company holds in inventory what was purchased (Delaney Whittington, 2010). Summary In a nutshell, it could be analyzed that internal controls on material procurement are very important and particularly for the company engaged in retail sales business like Fruito. The major risks that could emanate due to weak controls in regard to Fruito have been identified as the risk of false book keeping, unauthorized purchase of material, and excessive/short inventory. In order to counter these risks, the management is advised to first take automation of the record maintenance process and define the standard operating procedures. In addition to this, accountability of the each personnel should be fixed and physical checks of stock should be implemented. References Arwinge, O. 2012. Internal Control: A Study of Concept and Themes. Springer Science Business Media. Delaney, P.R. Whittington, O.R. 2010. Wiley CPA Exam Review 2011, Auditing and Attestation. John Wiley Sons. Johnstone, K., Gramling, A., Rittenberg, L.E. 2015. Auditing: A Risk Based-Approach to Conducting a Quality Audit. Cengage Learning. Moeller, R.R. 2016. Brink's Modern Internal Auditing: A Common Body of Knowledge. John Wiley Sons.

The Importance of John Adams free essay sample

In 1770, he was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives, and he later served as chief legal counsel to the Patriot faction and wrote several important resolutions for he lower house in its running battle with Governor Thomas Hutchinson. He also wrote a penetrating essay on the need for an Independent Judiciary, and his Novellas letters are generally regarded as the best expression of the American case against parliamentary sovereignty. By the mid-asses, Adams had distinguished himself as one of Americas foremost constitutional scholars.The year 1774 was critical in British-American relations, and it proved to be a momentous year for John Adams. With Parliaments passage of the Coercive Acts, Adams realized that the time ad come for the Americans to invoke what he called revolution-principles. 4 Later that year he was elected to the first Continental Congress. Over the course of the next two years no man worked as hard or played as important a role in the movement for Independence. We will write a custom essay sample on The Importance of John Adams or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page HIS first great contribution to the American cause was to draft. In October 1774, the principal clause of the Declaration of Rights and Grievances.Adams also chaired the committee that drafted the Declaration of Independence, he drafted Americas first Model Treaty, and, working eighteen-hour days, he served as a en-man department of war and ordnance. In the end, he worked tirelessly on some thirty committees. Every member of Congress, Benjamin Rush would later write, acknowledged him to be the first man In the House. Shortly after the battles at Lexington and Concord, Adams began to argue that the time had come for the colonies to declare independence and to constitutionalism the powers, rights, and responsibilities of self-government.In May 1776, in large measure due to Dames labors, Congress passed a resolution recommending that the various colonial assemblies draft constitutions and construct new governments. At the request of several colleagues, Adams wrote his own constitutional blueprint. Published as Thoughts on Government, the pamphlet circulated widely and constitution makers in at least four states used its design as a working model. Dames greatest moment In Congress came In the summer of 1776.On June 10, Congress appointed a committee to prepare a declaration that would implement the following resolution: That these united Colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent states; that they are absolved, from all Allegiance to the British Crown; and that all lattice connecti on between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved. On July 1, Congress considered final arguments on the question of Independence. John Dickinson argued forcefully against independence.When no one responded to Dickinson, Adams rose and delivered a passionate but reasoned speech that moved the assembly to vote in favor of independence. Years later, speech, that it moved us from our seats. Adams was, Jefferson said, our Colossus on the floor. (2) John Adams was a very inspirational and encouraging person; it was no one but God that kept him so sane and strong. Although John Adams only served one term he was able to do what would have taken some others in his position more than Just one term.Unfortunately, John Adams does not get the praise that he deserves even though he was the one that persuaded Americans that they need to break away and get free from England. For Adams to seem as such a working man who never has time for friends or family he still found to write essays, which were placed in newspapers. His work was first published in the Boston Gazette and was published on January 23, 1775. In America, John Adams works were published as pamphlets, but in London they were published in abridged form. His essays were signed Novellas, and they were a reply to other essays signed, Incautiousnesss.John Adams did not know who the artist of Incautiousnesss was but he had a very strong feeling that it was Jonathan Swell, later he discovered that his antagonist was Daniel Leonard. Many believe that John Adams played a role in the Boston Tea Party, but in actuality he had nothing to do with the Boston Tea Party, only thing Adams did was approve it. He felt it had seasonable motives, was very bold, and should be marked as a big moment in history. Adams believed British wouldnt respect the colonist rights unless someone forced them.Thats how John Adams became one of the four most important Patriot leaders in Boston. After the Boston Tea Party, King George Ill grew highly furious because so much tea was destroyed and he closed the whole Boston port. Not only did King George Ill close the port of Boston but he was so extremely upset that he suspended all town meetings in Massachusetts colonies and instead of having Boston listed as he capital of Massachusetts, he made Salem the capital. King George Ill wanted these new rules to stay enforced until Boston could find a way to pay back all the tea that they decided to waste.Since the post was closed some people of Boston went with out Jobs, making it harder for the people to pay for the damaged tea. Due to Bostonians going hungry and businesses suffering, they resisted the laws King During these times, John Adams met George George Ill put into action. Washington and Henry Laurels; all three of these men believed that the people should resistance and become free of all the British tyranny. Their was a meeting called The First Continental Congress, where the delegates came to the conclusion that the colonies would still support Boston, despite the actions made by British Parliament.There was to be a second meeting the next year in May. At The Second Continental Congress, John Adams met George Washington. John Adams had awfully low patience, he felt that it was time to become independent of Great Britain, only problem he had was that his delegates did not feel the same way he did. His partner delegates felt that instead of being independent of Great Britain, they should get along. John Adams wrote a lot of letters, as I stated earlier, but this one letter he should have kept unwritten. John Adams of course opposed what the other delegates thought so he wrote a letter to his friend insulting one of his delegates. Needless to say the letter was never delivered to his friend, because now John Adams was known for bashing his own partners. The British plan was to make John Adams look ruthless and force the delegates to separate. The British plan actually worked. While, the delegates of the Continental Congress were separated, John Adams wrote letters with his wife, Abigail Adams, they expressed their views about women and men equality.Abigail believed that women were equal to men but of course John Adams disagreed. John Adams felt that women should stay at home and work around the house, while the men went out and did their part in society. In spring of 1776, George Washington finally got the British out of Boston; he brought great Joy to his Patriots and Philadelphia. On June 7, 1776, Richard Lee of Virginia spoke and said that the 13 colonies were independent of the British and totally independent. John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and two other men were chosen to make the new declaration.

Nineteen Eighty - Four Test Response Essays - Nineteen Eighty-Four

Nineteen Eighty - Four Test Response Essays - Nineteen Eighty-Four Nineteen Eighty - Four Test Response Nineteen Eighty - Four TEST RESPONSE: TOPIC THREE (3) In the appendix of Nineteen Eighty-Four George Orwell warns against the enormous power a regime can hold once it has control of the language. Winston, on the other hand, believes he is free as long as he can hold on the mathematical axiom, 2+2=4. Unfortunately, Winston grossly underestimates the sheer power held be Oceanias totalitarian regime. With the Inner Party at the helm, Oceanian society has been deliberately drawn down to a deep, inescapable socioeconomic morass, with Party exercising its conscious aim of nurturing a state of unfreedom and inequality. Having learnt a great deal from totalitarian regimes that had failed in the past, the Inner Party became a small ruling group that was determined to create a societal structure that would ensure the Party maintained a permanent stronghold over Oceania and its people. Unlike their predecessors, the Inner Party was comprised of people who were less avaricious, less tempted by luxury, hungrier for pure power, and above all, more conscious of what they were doing and more intent on crushing opposition. From this steely resolve of the Inner Party to be the eternal guardians of power in Oceania stems the wide and varied sources of truth and power held be the totalitarian regime. Collectively, these sources present a frightening combination that, fundamentally, serves to destroy the essence of the human spirit and to ensure the ruling group an endless reign of power. As Orwell details in the appendix of the novel, control over language is one of the major sources of truth and power held by Oceanias totalitarian regime. The introduction and steady implementation of Newspeak as the language of choice for Party members, meant that the Party effectively assumed control of the boundaries of human expression and thought. The elimination of words and phrases considered unfavourable to the Party and its ideals made it extremely difficult to express conflicting or derogatory views towards the Party. And, with this suppression of free thought through language, the Party is also able to eliminate unwanted ideas, emotions, and ideals associated with those words. The embodiment of the slogan Ignorance is Strength is another source of power for the totalitarian regime in Oceania. The Party exploits the basic idea that ignorant people are content people; simply because they have no standard of comparison. Although life is far from rosy for members of the Outer Party, they are, nevertheless, satisfied with their existence. Primary reasons for this are that Party members are led to believe that standards of living are constantly improving, and that their cooperation is imperative for the continual war effort to succeed. Thus, the Party achieves an assurance to their stronghold over members by eliminating feelings of dissent and dissatisfaction towards the Party with imposition of obligation. Another unmistakable source of power for the Inner Party is their thorough and seemingly infallible surveillance and compliance network, comprised of the Thought Police, omnipresent telescreens, Youth League Spies and the mutual fear of the consequences of unorthodoxy, which virtually ensures widespread conformity. And, since the party has comprehensive control of the present, they also have an equally extensive control over the past, and thus truth. All historical records and print media is endlessly fabricated and tailored to conform with the Partys current position, further enhancing the Partys power over the people. Another important source of power for the ruling group is war. In becoming continuous, war has ceased to exist in Oceanian society. And, as it consumes the products of human labour that would otherwise be used to increase the standard of living for Outer Party members, war ensures the permanence of the current order in Oceania. The abolition of interpersonal relationships, the destruction of family, and the removal of all endearing emotion from the sexual act left widespread insecurity, which the Party exploits to nurture a mutual emotional attachment to Big Brother. However, none of the aforementioned ploys of Oceanias totalitarian regime would be possible without the indoctrination of Party members with the skills of doublethink and crimestop. Particularly doublethink, which renders Party members infinitely malleable to the will of the Party, thus ensuring that the Partys goal of permanent power seems infallible.

Sales Planning and Operations Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Sales Planning and Operations - Assignment Example This report is an effort to signify the importance of personal selling in the promotional activities and how they can be used by the Hendrix brothers to foster their sales and service. Significance of Personal Selling in the Promotional Mix â€Å"Promotion is persuasive communication. Companies rely on promotion to inform people about their products and services. Companies also use promotional techniques to enhance their public image and reputation and persuade people that their products are valuable† (Glencoe, n.d., p.362). Non-profit organisations rely on the promotional activities to make the public educated about an issue or to advocate for the changes in a regulation or a policy. The objectives of the promotional activities can be articulated by the phrase AIDA. In the process, the company must attract the attention, build the interest and desire and finally the company must ask for action. Promotion is a significant element of the marketing mix. In the absence of communi cation, the customers may not be aware of the product and its prospective their requirements and desires. A number of different communication tools form a significant part of communication mix. The organisations must decide which tools are required to be used for the larger sales and in specific proportion. There are four significant components of promotion mix including advertising, sales promotion, personal selling and public relations. Promotional mix is an organisation’s total communication a program consisting of various blends of its components and the mix is used to achieve the company’s marketing goals and objectives. â€Å"Personal selling refers to the personal communication with one or more prospective buyers for the purpose of selling a product or service† (NOS, n.d., p.28). Personal selling is one of the most effective tools to communicate with the consumers. Personal selling involves interaction at the personal level and that is why the feedback is received immediately. The communication through personal selling is quite flexible. The sales personnel can adjust the communication according to the understanding of the customers. The personal selling is more persuasive. The selling personnel can convince the consumers about the utility of the product. The efficiency of the impressive salesmen can leave an impression on the potential buyers which in turn would increase the sales in the coming future. There are a number of other forms of promotional mix. Personal selling can offer considerable contribution in the other promotional mix tools. Advertising is an impersonal and paid communication form in order to endorse a physical product or service. The promotional tool can be in the print form as in the newspapers and magazines, in the audio form or in the audio visual form as on the television or cinema screen etc. Personal selling can be used to flaunt the utilities and advantages of the products to intensify the advertisements. Sales promotion refers to the use of short term incentives such as discounts, free gifts, demonstration, store display, free sample coupons etc to encourage the immediate purchase of a product or service. The personal sales team can offer these incentives to the customers to increase the sales and revenue. To a certain extent the significance of personal selling depends on the nature of the product. As a general rule, merchandises which are

Geography of Desire Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Geography of Desire - Essay Example With this on hand, it is then essential to analyze the relationship of Silicon Valley, which is the San Francisco Bay Area, to its culture with the influence of technology. Prior to discussing the relationship of the geographical location and culture in Silicon Valley, it is vital to gain an overview of technology and its importance. In essence, technology is defined as the manner of constructing machines and attributing to it their capabilities and efficiency while being used by an individual (McLoughlin 6-7). With this on hand, it can be inferred that the importance of technology can be determined in perspective of the user of the said technological machinery. Moreover, technology then can be considered as a great influencing factor to the user and even the environment of the user, which had occurred in Silicon Valley. Silicon Valley, in the past 40 years, has been considered as the â€Å"birthplace of many of the largest and fastest growing electronics firms in the world† ( Garud and Karnoe 127). In the past, there have been many technological experiments conducted in Silicon Valley, but one of the most crucial deciding factors for the technological hub was the establishment of the IBM laboratory in San Jose. With this action done, Silicon Valley was able to open its doors to the different technological firms, including Zilog, a semiconductor fir, and the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (Garud and Karnoe). These fostered the beginning and the continuous of the technological innovation in the Valley. In addition, as the firms have been increasing in the Valley, it had also influenced the cultural activity in the area. As industrialization paved its way to Silicon Valley, it had also changed, and eventually broke the barrier between managers, employees, and function of corporations in the different technological sector present in the valley. The culture of start-ups became the trend in Silicon Valley, which was anchored on the â€Å"trust in individual a high degree of professional autonomy, and generous benefits† (Saxenian 50). This type of corporate culture allowed the managers, supervisors, and the heads of the department to create a normal working environment in the organizational system. This meant that employees can easily approach their managers in an informal manner in the hallway, and even have a small lunch time with their coworkers and bosses. The culture in Silicon Valley mostly anchored in the abolishment of organizational hierarchy in order to foster teamwork, camaraderie, and creativity (Saxenian 50-51). Aside from this, according to Martin Kenney â€Å"the Silicon Valley culture is based on establishing a company and then selling it to either public or a corporate acquirer† (â€Å"Lessons from the Development† 58). Therefore, aside from the non-hierarchical culture, Silicon Valley also became a breeding ground for entrepreneurs in the industry or technology. The culture born from the economic ac tivities in Silicon Valley is not considered as a unique one, but it is considered by many as â€Å"extreme entrepreneurship† (Kenney, â€Å"Lessons from the Development† 59). Looking back, in the beginning of the Silicon Valley, most of the employees were riskful and was able to pull through by transferring from one job to another. However, as the start-up

Marketing planning for iPhone 4s Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Marketing planning for iPhone 4s - Case Study Example Basically, the market for iPhone 4s is the busy people and the gadget geeks. No particular age limit is specified for as long as one has knowledge in using smartphones. The lowering of the price set for iPhone 4s means that Apple is targeting the mass market. Since the product is priced lower than the usual, money spent to purchase it will be worth it and with its advanced features, the mass market will be drawn to the product thus leading to a sudden purchasing decision. The fast-paced lifestyle in most nations has driven Apple to create smartphones with its multiple usage that enable people to do multi-tasking using a single technological gadget such as the iPhone 4s. In the application of ethnographic research, the "human behavior is being studied in its natural context" (Lamb, Hair, and McDaniel 276) and is being held as an object of observation for consumer behavior. In reference to this form of research, Apple has made sure that the additions it has made to iPhone 4s are suited to what is needed by people based on their human behavior. Certain economic factors also affect the positioning of the product in the market. Price was set lower than before in order to reach more potential buyers, especially the mass market. It has a dual core A5 chip that makes this new iPhone version power efficient and convenient for everyday use (Apple, Inc.). Extensive research is needed to execute the plans for the promotion and launching of the product. In that case, ethnographic research can be useful since it does not only require a simple observation of individual behavior, but it also takes into account learning from the individuals behavior ("Ethnographic Research"). In the past months, there was a relative decline on sales of Apple smartphones. Because of this circumstance, the company has decided to keep prices in line with the competitors following a status quo pricing strategy. At the moment, the iPhone 4s is considered the most talked

Amazons Distribution Strategy

Amazons Distribution Strategy Introduction While taking a decision on the design of supply chain, companies should focus on its strategy, decision on operations and most importantly, proper planning. In a company, based on the needs of the customer and design of the systems, flow of supply chain management varies. While designing, reviewing constantly at different stages also helps companies differentiate various processes in their supply chain. Amazon.com is an e-commerce company with its presence worldwide and headquartered in Seattle, United States. Amazon.com, in its early days dealt only with Books but later on it diversified into a lot of other product lines like Video Games, Electronics, Toys, Jewellery, Furniture, MP#s, DVDs among other products. Today they are a huge $75 billion organization with a very diverse product portfolio and successful operations round the globe. The new Kindle Fire Tablet computer is one of their latest notable product and their Cloud Computing business is one of the industry leaders. Going by the revenue, growth and market capitalization, Amazon is the 4th most successful start-up of all times. Jeff Bezos started this amazing company in 1994 with the intention of â€Å"Get Big Fast†. This strategy was a brilliant one for the company in US as they were able to function with a competitive lead time for delivery after the orders were placed. Now this strategy was also put in place for the expansion in Europe. Not only were the European markets culturally different from US but also the market conditions and the consumer behaviour expectations different from a consumer in US. The challenges here were very dissimilar to the operational challenges in US in terms of transportation, stocking and distribution. The report will look into the challenges that Amazon faced in Europe and the operational/supply chain decisions they had make to overcome those challenges, also, â€Å"How has globalization made strategic fit even more important to company’s success†. The recommendations/ analysis are based on the concept of centralization of the distribution across a full continent and the concepts taught in the class. AMAZON US â€Å"Earth’s Biggest Bookstore† Amazon used the Internet to change the business of buying books into a very fast, easy and enjoyable shopping experience. Amazon has more than 2.5 million different book titles in its kitty and is very rightly called the â€Å"Earth’s Biggest Bookstore†. From the very beginning, Amazon always kept the wholesalers and the publishers on their side which thereby allowed them to keep a very truncated inventory and low inventory holding costs. These tie-ups with wholesalers and publishing houses not only allowed Amazon to reduce costs on warehousing but also get huge bulk discounts, for example From a publishing house Amazon used to get a discount of approximately 48% and around 41% from the wholesalers) Amazon had a general lead time for delivery of 4 to 7 business days across the whole country of United States. Amazon developed its infrastructure hugely in the late 90’s and eventually launched their Music and Video businesses also. The idea was to â€Å"Get Big Fast† through diversification and geographic expansion by having more distribution centres in their business geography. Some would say that the expansion of Amazon was the fastest expansion experienced by any company for its distribution capacity. Expanding and making distribution was the first step, next step was to figure out which distribution centre will carry which all products, given the fact that Amazon not only expanded in distribution capacity across geographies but also in terms of the product lines in its product portfolio. The 3 aspects of deciding the products to be carried by a distribution centre are: Amazon employed a lot of systems to enhance their operation efficiency. The ones which were the most impressive and successful are: Pick-To-Light System Radio Frequency Technology Voice Technology Pick Profiles Amazon Standard Identifying Number (ASIN) Performance measuring key metrics As Jeff Wilke, the Vice President of Operations at Amazon said about what Amazon had, Amazon quickly adapted to the Six Sigma DMAIC reviews as a tool to reduce variations and defects in its distribution centres. Jeff Wilke’s team followed 5 strategies to improve inventory management Better forecasting of customer demand by improving the ability of the software by refining it to the tune of better anticipation of the demands, both seasonal and regional. This made sure that risk of buying either too much or too less was reduced. Better relations with the wholesalers and direct vendors to cater to any sudden surge in demand for any particular bestselling book title. This was also used to get some needed momentum for the slow velocity titles. Available-to-Promise Functionality: Amazon integrated the supply chain management systems of its suppliers with its own thereby getting a synergy in the process. Now amazon was able to tell its customers the exact time frame in which it could deliver the products to them. For example, if a product is available with the Amazon distribution centre themselves, then the lead time for the delivery of the product was within 24 hours. But if the product was not available with the Amazon DC then the lead time for delivery increased to 2 – 3 business days. This allowed Amazon to have the information about the inventory of the suppliers at all times at the very item level. Cascading Buying Rules: These rules by Amazon determined which supplier was the best fit for which product in terms of the price and the options for delivery such that if the item is not available with the supplier giving the best price then the next supplier in cascade will be selected for the delivery. Drop Ship Orders: Amazon took some time to adopt this strategy which they should have adopted in the very beginning. According to Drop Ship strategy, whenever the customer orders an item and the distribution centre of Amazon does not have the product then Amazon places the order on its supplier. Then instead of the supplier shipping the item to Amazon DC and then the Amazon DC shipping the item to the customer, the supplier directly ships the item to the customer, thereby drastically decreasing the lead time for delivery by removing the unnecessary steps of the supply chain products. In addition to the above mentioned processes and strategies, Amazon also used method called â€Å"Postal Injection† or â€Å"Zone Skipping†. In this method, the fully loaded truck from the distribution centre directly goes to the major cities, easily bypassing the postal service’s sorting hubs where the delivery packets are sorted according to the respective cities and states. AMAZON EUROPE The initial targets for Amazon were UK and Germany, primarily because both these countries were the prime markets for book selling and online purchasing in the continent of Europe. Germany had an excess of 2000 publishing houses and UK had an excess of 3000 publishing houses. Amazon made an acquisition in Europe by acquiring Bookpages and TeleBuch in UK and Germany respectively. Again, in line with the idea followed in US, Amazon Europe wanted to â€Å"Get Big Fast†. Both the UK Amazon.co.uk and German Amazon.de increased their product portfolios by integrating the music and video businesses along with the books business at the very offset of the culmination of the respective expansions in the two countries. Even though the competition from the online bookstores of the respective countries was fierce, Amazon was successful in becoming the market leader in both the countries. The combined sales of the 2 countries crossed the 10% of the total Amazon revenue mark, signifying the epic success of the geographic expansion. The next venture was in France. When Amazon entered UK and Germany they did it through acquisitions, however when they entered France they did not acquire any established company, instead they got the business up and running from the scratch. The formula was simple here too, â€Å"Get Big Fast†, which is why the business started with the complete portfolio of books, music, video, toys, et al. Growth in International sales for Amazon grew by 74%, which in turn helped the European business to cross the 13.4% of the total Amazon revenue mark. Challenges in replicating amazon’s US model in EUROPE Although Amazon was doing well in Europe but the ambition was high as they had the intention to repeat the success of Amazon US in Europe too. However they were confronted with some heavy challenges from the European markets. These challenges could be tackled but to do that they required some radical change in the strategies that Amazon applied and adopted in US. The 4 main challenges were: Selling regulations in Germany France The prices of the books being sold in Germany France were fixed. No discounts could be offered on those prices. The selling model for Amazon in US was to offer discounts on the prices of the books, which they got from the wholesalers and publishing houses. Over here they could not provide those discounts that they got on the bulk purchases from the wholesalers and publishing houses. Payment options In Europe, more than 62% of the customers used cheques to make the purchases. The core competency of Amazon was online retail which meant online purchasing via credit cards. This came as a major challenge to Amazon as they did not have any brick or mortar store where the concept of payment through cheques can happen. Different supply market factors In US, Amazon relied heavily on the suppliers for the books. However in Europe they suffered a setback because of the dearth of wholesalers and big suppliers. In UK although they were able to manage the supply with a handful of suppliers, but in France there were none. This forced Amazon to have tie ups with umpteen number of publishers for the supply of books. Low penetration of EDI in European countries Amazon used EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) to have a communication with the supply chain management of the suppliers in US. This increased the efficiency of their own supply chain tremendously. In case a supplier was having a stock out of a particular item in his inventory, he could respond back in real time to Amazon with a rejection to take the order from customer. This enabled Amazon to immediately send the information back to the customer about the unavailability of the item. This, however, was not much in use in Europe as they still used the concept of emailing and Fax but not any sort of real time data sharing. In addition to the challenges mentioned above there were other challenges too. Amazon relied comprehensively on the national postal services in the respective countries of Europe where they were operating. But they were competitive only in their own countries and not in other countries. This created a challenge for Amazon because they had a lot of shipments which were cross country shipments. Problems Identified Recommendations With the challenges in mind there were a certain number of options for Amazon, which could solve these challenges for Amazon as they go forward and expand more and more into the European market. These recommendations require radical change in the strategy from the one which was followed in United States. Should Amazon Europe build an EDN? Europe as whole is treated as a single entity by amazon. Although they have separate units for separate countries, the parent company, Amazon, thinks of it as a single market. Therefore they intend to have a EDN (European Distribution Network). As per this concept, the entire Europe will have a single distribution network not separate distribution networks of individual countries. This is a massive step because Europe as a market is huge in size and very fragmented. But we suggest that a single EDN will be much more beneficial and the reason for that are mentioned in the bullet points below: Operating independent units is much more expensive than a single unit EDN implementation ensures uniform product offerings in each country which in turn will help in the consolidation of the business across the entire continent EDN implementation ensures procurement department centralizes purchases, and avails higher volume discounts as this is the prime strategy on which Amazon grows and thrives In case of system failures, EDN implementation reduces risk of relying on single DCs, making sure that the plan B for every failure is in place Hence implementation of EDN is a logical choice. Should Amazon use a single centralized DC or keep the existing 3 DCs and let them share orders? Another major problem for Amazon is to figure out whether or not to have multiple individual DCs or have just a single unified Distribution Centre at a strategic location. This problem is in line with the strategy for the implementation of EDN in Europe. We suggest that they should integrate Amazon’s European operations as a whole and accept it as a single market. With that in mind they should follow the following steps to achieve this target, How to sustain customer satisfaction after implementation of EDN? A major drawback for EDN is that this will cause a serious impact on the customer satisfaction levels. This is primarily because the customers who are used to getting their items delivered free of cost in very less time due to the distribution centre being in that country itself will have to either pay to get the item delivered in less time or get the item delivered in a longer time. All in all the lead time for delivery will increase and only additional cost for the customer can decrease that. To improve customer service Amazon must follow the following steps, Should the French Distribution Centre be left operational? This problem is a slightly tricky one as this requires Amazon to decide on whether or not to cut off an important limb from their body. Since the operational usage of French Distribution Centre will be redundant, is it viable to keep it running or remove it from the unified distribution network of Europe? This question can have multiple answers and no answer is possibly entirely correct. However we suggest that Amazon should not immediately close the French DC but gradually phase it out of the distribution network. During the expansion phase of Amazon into the rest of the Europe this DC can act as a support for the newer countries where Amazon wishes to venture in the European Distribution Network. Immediate disposition of this DC is not a viable option as this will cause a lot of complexities for the entire EDN. Since this DC will have some competencies and must be having some items which are solely kept in the inventory at this DC itself, this Dc will serve its purpose for some more time. The best option is to decommission the French DC in a phased manner over a period of time. How to detect demand trends, especially for fast moving items, if European level buying is consolidated? The only way to make sure that the inventory levels in a distribution centre is at an optimum level is through better forecasting. Making sure that the replenishment in a warehouse is done at proper interval in adequate quantities is by having an accurate information about the demand in future. Demand estimation is the backbone for any supply chain management system. Proper implementation and information processing through ERP is the method used by the most successful companies in the world. ERP helps improve the planning for the supply chain, both inbound and outbound aspect of it. Besides that money saved through the cost cutting initiatives should be invested to develop the supply chain, logistics and distribution characteristics of the EDN. In addition to that, it is very important to capture the easy wins first and get a hold of the market. It is very critical for Amazon to have standardization and build synergies across the divisions in Europe. To do that it is important that Amazon defines and implements comparable metrics (for example vendor lead time) across the European countries to develop enhanced understandings of their operational activities References Childerhouse, P, Towill, D 2011, Arcs of supply chain integration, International Journal Of Production Research, 49, 24, pp. 7441-7468 Forbes.com 2011. Why Amazon Is The Best Strategic Player In Tech. Retrieved February 27, 2014 from http://www.forbes.com/sites/venkateshrao/2011/12/14/the-amazon-playbook/2/ Joseph Bonney 2012. Amazons Supply Chain: Delivering Clicks and Bricks. Journal of Commerce. Retrieved February 28, 2014 from https://www.joc.com/economy-watch/amazons-supply-chain-delivering-clicks-and-bricks_20120130.html?qt-webcasts_podcasts_whitepapers=0 Knowledge @ Wharton 2009, November. Fit for the Holidays: Amazon Is Shaping Up and Shipping Out. Retrieved February 27, 2014 from http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/fit-for-the-holidays-amazon-is-shaping-up-and-shipping-out/ Lichocik, G, Sadowski, A 2013, EFFICIENCY OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT. STRATEGIC AND OPERATIONAL APPROACH, Logforum, 9, 2, pp. 119-125 Mark Brohan. InternetRetailer.com 2010. Amazon’s secret European weapon: Square footage. Retrieved February 28, 2014 from http://www.internetretailer.com/2010/08/31/amazons-secret-european-weapon-square-footage Modern Materials Handling 2012, December 14. Supply chain: Amazon is changing the rules of the game. Retrieved February 27, 2014 from http://www.mmh.com/article/supply_chain_amazon_is_changing_the_rules_of_the_game MWPL. Amazon Global Fulfilment Center Network. Retrieved February 28, 2014 from http://www.mwpvl.com/html/amazon_com.html Roh, J, Hong, P, Min, H 2014, Implementation of a responsive supply chain strategy in global complexity: The case of manufacturing firms, International Journal Of Production Economics, 147, Part B, pp. 198-210 Viswanadham, N, Samvedi, A 2013, Supplier selection based on supply chain ecosystem, performance and risk criteria, International Journal Of Production Research, 51, 21, pp. 6484-6498

The Farm Real Estate Economy :: essays papers

The Farm Real Estate Economy Farm real estate values have increased continuously from 1987 to 1998, significantly improving the financial position of many farm businesses. But for the first time in over a decade farm real estate prices have begun to fall, due in part to record breaking yields for crops and extremely low commodity prices. I believe the value of farmland has increased at too fast a pace in relationship to value of farm production and is facing a major market adjustment. The farm real estate market saw it’s last major market adjustment in the mid 1980’s (see figure 1), many operations went out of business and the banking industry lost millions. In many cases the value of the note the bank was carrying was in excess of the value of the land securing that note. Although the market adjustment I anticipate will not be as drastic as the crisis of the 80’s, I do believe many lending institutions are in place to take some serious losses if the federal government suspends it’s p ayments to farmers. Farmland currently accounts for slightly over 79 percent of all farm sector assets, which now exceed $900 billion. Some 52 percent of total farm sector debt, composed of either mortgages or short or intermediate term debt are secured by farmland. Consequently, the financial security of farm sector borrowers and their lenders is affected by changes in farm real estate values. Agricultural land values are primarily determined by the income earning potential of the land, as measured by expected returns from crops and livestock. However in many areas, nonagricultural factors are playing a greater role. Where non-farm influences are involved, farmland is often drawn out of agriculture for residential, commercial, or recreational uses. Farmland values in rapidly urbanizing areas, like the outskirts of Lincoln for example or in areas popular as recreation destinations tend to be higher than would be predicted based on agricultural returns alone. Research has found that 10 to 20 percent of the farmland in the United States is effected by population expansion. This may seem like a small percentage of the total farmland in this country but in many instances in urban areas land is valued at five times it’s production capability, or higher. This however is not taken into consideration when valuing the real estate in the farm sector as a whole. This problem is most prevalent in the Northeast United States.