Thursday, October 31, 2019

Business Policy and Strategic Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Business Policy and Strategic Management - Essay Example In customer perspective Starbucks strategy to retain market leadership is evident through operations such as brand extension to cater for different palates, setting up shops at diverse places e.g. hospitals, hotels and shopping centers – to capture the customers preferred hangouts and so on. In internal perspectives we can see Starbucks improving its processes as it forever seeks to brew the perfect cup of coffee, plus investing in increasing coffee knowledge among its staff and customers alike. Innovation and learning perspective is at the core of Starbuck ever unique coffee blends that result in products such as the Starbuck VIA Ready Brew. Also we notice that Starbucks pursues a differentiation strategy unlike its big rivals McDonalds and Dunkin’ Donuts which are pursuing low cost leadership. Differentiation strategy can only be sustained through continuous innovation. Starbucks has taken several steps to increase its innovativeness and entrepreneurial capability.

Monday, October 28, 2019

Quality Control Essay Example for Free

Quality Control Essay As products and services evolve, consumer expectations tend to increase so that yesterday’s quality product becomes tomorrow’s junk. Quality revolves around meeting customer expectations, expectations that may be stated or implied. One action that sums up quality from a business perspective is when the customer returns after the sale and the product doesn’t. The statistical definition of quality is a little more precise than other definitions, such as the customer-based concept, and is based on mathematics. When you measure quality statistically, you look for variation in a measurement between what the ? ustomers asks for and what you produce. The less variation you have, the higher the quality of your product or service. All processes have some natural variation; you use statistics to detect abnormal variation that could cause you to produce a bad product or service. You can also use statistics to avoid testing every item that you produce. By testing a sample of what you make or deliver, you can use statistics to measure its quality and find out whether it meets customer requirements the statistical definition of quality is a little more precise than other definitions, such as the customer-based concept, and is based on mathematics. When you measure quality statistically, you look for variation in a measurement between what the customers asks for and what you produce. The less variation you have, the higher the quality of your product or service. All processes have some natural variation; you use statistics to detect abnormal variation that could cause you to produce a bad product or service. You can also use statistics to avoid testing every item that you produce. By testing a sample of what you make or deliver, you can use statistics to measure its quality and find out whether it meets customer requirements. After you as an organization decide on a definition of quality you need standards against which to measure your quality. Many standards are driven by the desire to safeguard the health and well-being of the people who use the products or services companies provide. Quality standards also are critical in support of international trade. Almost every industry has an association or trade group that sets quality standards against which companies can measure the quality of their products or services. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is an international body made up of the national standards organizations for almost every country. Quality assurance focuses on the ability of a process to produce or deliver a quality product or service. This method differs from quality control in that it looks at the entire process, not just the final product. Quality control is designed to detect problems with a product or service. Quality assurance attempts to head off problems at the pass by tweaking a production process until it can produce a quality product. A process called the Plan-Do-Check-Act, or the PDCA cycle is a powerful tool that requires planning improvements to your process by looking for problems that affect the quality of your product or service. Make improvements by implementing small changes to minimize disruption to your process. Check production results to see if you’ve actually made an improvement. Act on what you discover and roll it out to the entire process. The most basic quality control technique is to inspect the results of your production or service-delivery process to make sure it conforms to customer requirements. In quality control terms, conforming means that an item meets customer specifications, and nonconforming means it doesn’t. You inspect your product or service by measuring one or more of its properties and comparing the measurements to customer specifications. Although inspection can ensure that 100 percent of the products or services delivered to your customers are good, it can be a very expensive process, especially for high-volume, low-value items. Also, inspection is impossible for items where testing can damage the product. The introduction of a quality control process into an organization can be a major shock to its system. The following components are crucial if you want to lessen the shock and gain acceptance within your organization. Advertise acceptance of the program from important stakeholders within your organization. Communicate the reasons for the change and the benefits it will bring to everyone in the organization. Train employees in the new ways of the organization. You want workers doing the right things consistently because success helps to gain support. Like most other changes, quality control is best introduced in small bits. One way to do this is to create a pilot project that allows you to make a small change to a small part of your process to see the change’s effect. If the results are good, you can implement the change on a wider basis; if the change is bad, you’ve limited the damage done. As an example I made a small research on Quest Diagnostics to make a scenario to explain how a company works on quality control. Quest Diagnostics is the nations leading provider of diagnostic testing, information and services. The clients include patients and consumers, physicians, hospitals, health insurers, employers and government agencies. Each year the company performs personal health testing on over 100 million patients, over 250 million diagnostic laboratory tests, and more than 6. 5 million gene-based tests. Quest Diagnostics Inc. develops tests that help people live longer, healthier lives. Some of the most notable technological advances include earlier detection of Cervical Cancer. Cervical cancer is almost 100% curable when detected early and clinical studies have shown that the Thin Prep Pap Test increases the early detection of precancerous cells. This test has been hailed as one of the most significant improvements in cervical cancer screening in over 50 years. Every year Chicago Business Unit cytology laboratory performs 1. 1 million Pap smear tests. Currently the business issue is time for Thin Prep Pap Test reports. Many of the clients have complained that the time for Thin Prep Pap Test reports is too slow. Clients also have complained that the patient care is affected due to slower time for test reports. The hypothesis of the business issue is that the time is too slow for reporting the Pap Test results. Management has planned to make improvements for time of Thin Prep Pap Test reports. In order to make improvements, the management needs to research on current workflow processes of Thin Prep Pap Test and then find the possible solution. In order to research the current workflow process of the Thin Prep Pap Test and finding possible solutions following research questions will be researched: What is the volume of Pap Tests? What barrier factors are affecting the time of the Pap test? What is the staffing situation? Is it efficient to handle the volume? What steps are involved in processing of the Pap Test? How much time is spent for each step? Which departments are involved in processing of the Pap Test? What is the current cost for the Pap test? What other new technology is available in the market for faster processing of the Pap tests? What is the cost of the new technology? Is there an approved insurance reimbursement for the new technology? Statistics serve many purposes within quality control. Statistics allow you to determine which processes or parts of processes are causing your company the most problems.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Death of a Naturalist is concerned with growing up and loss of innocence :: English Literature

Death of a Naturalist is concerned with growing up and loss of innocence Death of a Naturalist† is concerned with growing up and loss of innocence. The poet vividly describes a childhood experience that precipitates a change in the boy from the receptive and protected innocence of childhood to the fear and uncertainty of adolescence. Heaney organises his poem in two sections, corresponding to the change in the boy. By showing that this change is linked with education and learning, Heaney is concerned with the inevitability of the progression from innocence to experience, concerned with the transformation from the unquestioning child to the reflective adult. The poem opens with an evocation of a summer landscape which has the immediacy of an actual childhood experience. There is also a sense of exploration in â€Å"in the heart/Of the townland;† which is consistent with the idea of learning and exploration inevitably leading to discovery and the troubled awareness of experience. To achieve this Heaney not only recreates the atmosphere of the flax-dam with accuracy and authenticity, but the diction is carefully chosen to create the effect of childlike innocence and naivety. The child’s natural speaking voice comes across in line 8; â€Å"But best of all†. The vividness of his description is achieved through Heaney’s use of images loaded with words that lengthen the vowels and have a certain weightiness in their consonants; â€Å"green and heavy-headed Flax had rotted there, weighted down by huge sods.† The sound of the insects which, â€Å"Wove a strong gauze of sound around the smell† is conveyed by the ‘s’ and ‘z’ sounds but also, importantly, acts like a bandage preventing the spread of decay. The images of decay, â€Å"festered†, â€Å"rotted†, â€Å"sweltered† and â€Å"the punishing sun† do not seem to trouble the boy in this first section (although they do prepare us for the second section and the loss of innocence); he takes a delight in the sensuousness of the natural world. The onomatopoeic â€Å"slobber† effectively conveys the boy’s relish for the tangible world around him. We can further see how he views this world by the words â€Å"clotted† and â€Å"jellied†; to the boy the frogspawn is like cream and jam, something to be touched and enjoyed. In section two everything changes. This change is marked by differences in tone, diction, imagery, movement and sound. The world is now a threatening place, full of ugliness and menace. However, it is not the world that has changed so much as the boy’s perception of it. There is still a strong emphasis on decay and putrefaction, but now it is not balanced by images suggesting the profusion of life. The sounds are no longer delicate (line 5), but are â€Å"coarse†, â€Å"bass† and

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Medicare :: essays research papers

The Medicare DebateEssay submitted by Unknown The U.S. government have denied that Medicare has been going bankrupt. Although the government may say that Medicare has plenty of money it is untrue because it is a fact that Medicare will go bankrupt by the year 2001 as stated by preliminary sources. Medicare is one of the main sources of funding for those people that have no money or very small amount of money. The community service that was done for this research paper is hospital volunteering at John Muir Medical Center. The community service included various jobs that was needed to be done were, Putting items away for nurses, discharging patients, doing paper work, feeding patients, answering phones, and helping patients when they ask for assistance. The floor I worked on was Oncology (The branch of medicine that deals with tumors, including study of their development, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention). This community service has help me gain insight on the Medicare situation be cause I have asked multiple amount of people that work at John Muir Medical Center. There is a side to be considered about Medicare and Social Security in the government. The vice president of the United States, Al Gore, wrote in a letter stating that social security funds are not being depleted. Gore said that, "the allegations to the contrary have been circulated by certain organizations as a money-making scheme for some time." (Gore Letter). Vice President Gore tries to show theses allegations are untrue by explaining how social security works. In this letter, Vice President Gore cleared up the allegations by writing that, "When Social Security taxes are collected, they are credited to the Social Security trust funds with government security, perhaps the safest investment in the United States. In history Medicare has experience a few problem regarding it's funding. Problems have occurred over the history of Medicare. The major problem and most recent of Medicare is that it is going bankrupt. Medicare is another legacy of Lyndon Baines Johnson Great Society. Spending is obviously out of control. On June 5th the government announced that the Medicare Trust Fund would go broke by the year 2001(nationaldebt). In 1965 when LBJ started Health and Medicare, the Total Federal Spending for the year was $101 Billion. By the year 2000 we will spend over 4 times than amount on Health and Medicare alone, and Medicare will equal the annual spending for Defense(CNN).

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Gun Control in Canada

A national conversation on gun control in Canada has instigated the demand for stricter government control of weapons. Canadians have a strong belief in the established practice of â€Å"peace, order and good government†. Our nation is culturally conditioned with the general cultural norm of non-violence. However, with recent news on the increase of gun violence happening in the country, the need to tighten the guidelines on the use of guns is an urgent matter. Recently, the mayors in Toronto and Montreal have asked the federal government to put in place a ban on handguns and assault weapons, and many people are in support of this concept. However, with close ties and the sharing of a border with the United States, the problem of banning guns would not completely go away. The problem with gun control is that these guns can conveniently be smuggled into the country. Either that, or owners with registered guns may legally sell these weapons to people who cannot purchase guns, hence enabling them to use the weapons for criminal purposes. Furthermore, we see the idea of strong regionalism with an urban-rural divide in the country. People living in these rural areas would be more concerned with the ban of these weapons, mainly because the use of their weapons is for hunting purposes. Certain parts in Canada have strong regionalism due to how gun policy is constructed in that area. For example, if we look at Alberta, the province is more open to the ownership of guns, hence a cultural approach to the issue. A potential solution to the problem of gun violence would be to implement a multi-layered system that filters out anyone that may pose a threat to society. The government should place a restriction on gun sales via a program that controls and tracks the number of guns and holds the owner responsible for any damages caused by the weapon. Background checks and criminal record history should be verified for every individual that wants to purchase a gun. Doing so will ensure civilians that their right to own a weapon is not under threat as long as they accept responsibility/hold themselves liable for whatever danger may come through their property (weapon). This way, guns will not be owned by people with a potential of abusing them, so the person is less likely to use it for the wrong reasons. When compared to the United States, where you can buy guns without any background check, this solution should prove to be much more effective. Lastly, to maintain integrity of these policies, a series of checks should be set in place to ensure the weapon is not being sold privately. A suggestion is a weapons check-in system. Gun owners would get a safety check every few years to make sure they still own and are maintaining their weapons. This will ensure that the weapon is being accounted for and has not been sold. It would be a better way to track firearms, which in return, would help in the reduction of gun crimes. In addition, the owner of the gun would be required to renew their license and ensure that their weapon has not been sold without a record. If the following measures are taken, I am certain gun violence may be minimized.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Free Essays on Narration

My â€Å"Little† Adventure There are many nerve-wrecking things that children do to their parents when they are very young. This story about my life is very true. When I was around two years old, I decided to ride my tricycle to Eat ‘n Park. It was a beautiful summer day in the Pittsburgh area. One morning, my grandfather, father, sister, brother and I went to breakfast at Eat ‘n Park. I loved the food and the company of others that I decided to go back again. The next day, my grandfather had gone back down to the restaurant. My brother, sister, neighbor children and I were in the fenced off back yard playing. I found my tricycle in the front yard and I climbed the wired fence with my trike. I rode up Bayonne Road to the stop sign. When I reached the top of the hill, I made a left and went down Beechview Road to Crane Ave. I made a left down the hill on Crane Ave, a very busy and dangerous road. When I reached the armory on the right hand side, a young girl stopped because she did not think I should have been there. She even stopped another car so no one would think she was kidnapping me. She asked you if you knew how to get home. I did not even talk around that age. I was a very quiet young boy. I said to the young lady, â€Å"I live at mommy’s house†. She brought me home. My mother was frantically looking everywhere for you when the lady pulled up with you in the car. When my family tells me this story, I used to laugh, now I do not. The reason I do not laugh anymore is because this was a life-threatening situation and I might have died that day. This is a story that I will remember for a long time. The day that I took my â€Å"little† adventure to Eat ‘n Park.... Free Essays on Narration Free Essays on Narration My â€Å"Little† Adventure There are many nerve-wrecking things that children do to their parents when they are very young. This story about my life is very true. When I was around two years old, I decided to ride my tricycle to Eat ‘n Park. It was a beautiful summer day in the Pittsburgh area. One morning, my grandfather, father, sister, brother and I went to breakfast at Eat ‘n Park. I loved the food and the company of others that I decided to go back again. The next day, my grandfather had gone back down to the restaurant. My brother, sister, neighbor children and I were in the fenced off back yard playing. I found my tricycle in the front yard and I climbed the wired fence with my trike. I rode up Bayonne Road to the stop sign. When I reached the top of the hill, I made a left and went down Beechview Road to Crane Ave. I made a left down the hill on Crane Ave, a very busy and dangerous road. When I reached the armory on the right hand side, a young girl stopped because she did not think I should have been there. She even stopped another car so no one would think she was kidnapping me. She asked you if you knew how to get home. I did not even talk around that age. I was a very quiet young boy. I said to the young lady, â€Å"I live at mommy’s house†. She brought me home. My mother was frantically looking everywhere for you when the lady pulled up with you in the car. When my family tells me this story, I used to laugh, now I do not. The reason I do not laugh anymore is because this was a life-threatening situation and I might have died that day. This is a story that I will remember for a long time. The day that I took my â€Å"little† adventure to Eat ‘n Park....

Monday, October 21, 2019

1984 Essays (2881 words) - Nineteen Eighty-Four, Ingsoc, Free Essays

1984 Essays (2881 words) - Nineteen Eighty-Four, Ingsoc, Free Essays 1984 -George Orwell SUNDAY, NOV 14, 1993 Summary Chapter 1 and 2 We are introduced to Winston Smith the main character of the story. Works at Ministry of truth. Ministry of truth is one of four government buildings in destroyed London, the main city of Airstrip One, a province of Oceania. Year is 1984 and three contries are at war, Oceania, Eurasia and Eastasia. Oceania is run by the party whose leader is Big Brother. Winston is sick of his life in the ruined city and decides to keep a diary. This is against the law in Oceania. He felt his feelings begin to hate Emmanuel Goldstein, leader of the enemy party. He also spots O'Brien, a party leader whose eyes he see's a bit of political sympthy. See's young girl who he dislikes. He feels it is only a matter of time before his though crimes are detected. A knock at the door he thinks is police. Mrs. Parsons, his neighbor is at the door and asked him to unclog a sink. He does it but smells sweat all over the apartment. Mrs. Parsons is a follower of party doctrine and a fellow employee at the ministry. The children are members of Spies, a youth that encourages spying and telling on traitors, including parents. Winston is revolted. He returns home and writes a couple more minutes before going back to work. He remenbers a dream where O'Brien tole him he would meet him in a place wher there is no darkness. He washes his hands and hides the diary Reaction Major ideas, conflicts and themes are introduced. We are shown how the earth has changed, into 3 main contenients. we are also introduced to the main character and how he fits into the new world. Also we are shown how the computer age has taken over peoples minds. The language is easy to understand, it has not really changed much over time. Seems like nothing left after nuclear war, just ruins remaining. We are introduced to Tom Parsons which Winston is contrasted with. The city is very drab. Quotes "Big brother is watching you, the caption beneath it said" "Thoughtcrime was not a thing that could be concealed for ever." 1984 -George Orwell MONDAY, NOV 15, 1993 Summary Chapter 3,4 and 5 Waking from dreams, he remembers his mother and sister, and can barely remember their disappearence and feels responsible for there deaths. He has another dream where he is in the perfect countryside with the girl he had noticed eariler. He dreamed she stripped for him. This time he is woken up by the telescreen, telling him to do his exercises. He thinks about how much power the Party has over all information. Begins work at the ministry of truth. His job is to correct printed articles in line with the Party's orders. The Ministry and records department jobs are to rewrite history to make the party look good. They get a break because of the 2 minute hate. When he gets back he replaces a speech by Big Brother with invented history. Makes up story about a man named Ogilvy. The article had become contrary to the present party policy. It is replaced as though is never existed. Winston meets Syme, a philologist, for lunch. Syme explains parts about Newspeak. They are joined by Parsons. Winston thinks of the fate that each co-worker will recieve. Syme will be vapourized because he is to smart, where Parsons is dull enough to escape vapourization. He is the only one who has not been taken over by the propaganda that is always being brodcast. He notices the same girl from the other day starring at him and thinks it is the thought police. Reaction The Golden country that he dreams about is definatly a release or a freedom from the the drabness of London. Also from the party. We are introduced to the fact that he has no mother or father or sisters or brothers anymore because they were taken by the party. He is realizing that he is rebelling against the party and he understands that he is at risk. Winston is in search of the truth and is concerned because of the party's ability to change history. We find that he likes his work even though it is for the party and against morals. He is introduced to the girl that will play a big part in the book most likely. Quotes "People in the Records Department did not talk readily about there jobs." "Winstons greatest pleasure in life was his work"