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.