Loreal Company Background

Company Background Fresh out of a French chemical engineering school, young entrepreneur Eugene Schueller developed a hair dye with hues hairdressers throughout Paris couldn’t resist. The one-product venture he launched in 1909 has since grown into the world’s largest cosmetics company: L’Oreal. L’Oreal began its global expansion during the second half of the 20th Century, and now offers hair care, hair color, skin care, makeup, and fragrances in 130 countries. Its 23 brands include pharmacy staples L’Oreal, Garnier, and Maybelline, as well as upscale brands Yves Saint Laurent, Redken, and the Kiehl’s skin care line. L’Oreal recently expanded its produce suite by acquiring the dermatological beauty care brand Skinceuticals in 2005, and retail store The Body Shop the following year. Today, the company employs more than 65,000 people in eight departments: operations, finance, information systems and technology, marketing, business and sales, communication, human resources, as well as research and development. More than 2,900 specialists work in L’Oreal’s R&D department, which studies skin and hair and uses its findings to develop safer and more effective products to enhance beauty and protect skin. The R&D specialists working in the company’s 18 research centers have backgrounds in 30 fields, including chemistry, biology, medicine, physics, physical chemistry, and toxicology. L'Oreal develops more than 3,000 new formulas per year. L’Oreal’s commitment to diversity, integrity, responsibility and respect for people and the environment earned it a place on Ethisphere Magazine’s rankings of the world’s most ethical companies in 2007. Its products reflect a commitment to serving the needs of diverse populations, including men and African Americans. In 2001, the company launched Mizani, a hair care brand developed specifically for unique ethnic hair types. For corporate social responsibility, the company has enacted several community and environmental programs, from providing employment opportunities to disabled students in Taiwan to reducing water and energy usage at factories around the world to creating an HIV/AIDS support and education program for employees in South Africa.

Body scans and Bottleneck case Essay

a. How long does it take for a patient to go through the process? 19.5 mins b. What is the labor content for the nurse and technologist? For nurse is 16 mins, as for technician is 6.5 mins c. What resource is the bottleneck? Nurse’s ten minutes process after the CT scan d. What is the capacity of the process? One patient for 19.5 mins, 3.08 patient per hour. e. What is net margin per hour? $1,301/ hour ((3.08*500)-(35+50+50*3.08)=1,301) 3. What changes might you make in the conï ¬ guration of CT scan rooms and waiting area to improve some of the task times? †¢ After the patient located, ask he or she to change their to patient’s surgery scrubs, so nurse doesn’t really need to changing linens and clean room; also improve CT scan’s quality. †¢ Clear signs on waiting room and CT scan room may guide patients naturally. †¢ Attach a contrast auto-reï ¬ ll machine to the CT scan machine, so the reï ¬ ll step may be eliminated. †¢ Instead of returning patient, direct and say wish you all the best to the patient. 4. How might specialization be used to reduce the burden on the bottleneck, and hence improve throughput? †¢ On the old scanner, I think its bottleneck is CT scan step. Machine takes 17 minutes to complete the scan. Therefore, machine’s improvement will be helpful †¢ Since the old scanner needs more time on scan process, I think it’s possible that the nurse can use this 17 minutes to locate, move and put IV on next patient in order to increase the whole procedure and to decrease waiting time. †¢ As question 3, attach a contrast auto-reï ¬ ll machine to the CT scan machine, so the reï ¬ ll step may be eliminated. †¢ Instead of returning patient, direct and say wish you all the best to the patient. †¢ Add some hospital volunteers on patients moving and returning may allow nurse to help next patient.3

Mass extinctions, then and now Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Mass extinctions, then and now - Essay Example The extent of mass extinction or bio-diversity has been evident from previous times but the impact of the same is pragmatic to be more crucial under the current bio-diversity. This severity is majorly pretentious by the changes that are incorporated within the planet reflecting on habitat destruction, climate change, along with the spread of invasive species (Mace & Lande, 1990). With this regard, the essay intends to elaborate on the different discriminations that are applicable by science on the issues of mass destruction. Through the different issues that hint towards mass destruction, the essay elaborates on the needs of management of different attributes related with the concerns that are attached with the severe destructive attribute of mass destruction and provides an insight towards the same. Despite of being acquainted of the fact that biodiversity is of utmost importance, the diverse activities of human being are causing huge amount of impact leading to mass extinction. The different instances of massive extinction of biomass are caused due to geological, astronomical, and climatic changes that are imposed due to several actions undertaken by humans. Human beings often intentionally or unknowingly get involved into certain actions that give rise to hazardous situation for earth and paves way for mass extinctions. Reviewing the different lifestyle of earth, it is evident that an interrelated ecosystem is prevalent and every species depends on others to lead their lifestyle and enhance the life expectancy and lead a proper lifestyle. Climate, atmosphere, land, agriculture are also highly dependent on the different operations of living organisms and can lead to certain amount of adversity as well as vulnerability due to actions that are taken by the same (Holsinger, 2013) . Various researches conducted in the field of mass extinctions that was prominent in the history of the earth reflect on reckless mass extinction of

Is Boxing Safe Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Is Boxing Safe - Essay Example Specifically, brain injury will be examined, as this is one of the largest concerns surrounding boxing as a consequence of the repeated blows which the combatants take to the head. Injury is a common and accepted component of boxing. Certainly, it seems logical that a sport that involves a physical contest between two people would result in injuries on both sides. One study estimated that the rate of physical injury was around 17.1 per 100 matches. Of these, 51% were facial lacerations, with the remainder including hand, eye and nose injury . An article in 2010 highlighted the potential for injury within boxing and there is debate about whether boxing should remain an Olympic sport. However, this debate is by no means new, although rules and equipment has changed much since the inception of the sport. . The sport involves substantial physical contact between two individuals. The contact can often be bloody and violent, and there is significant concern by researchers, neurologists, ad vocates and other parties that the sport is dangerous and can result in permanent damage to the brain. The outcome of this debate is substantially different depending on whether amateur or professional boxing is considered. In amateur boxing, the risk of injury is significantly reduced by the use of rules and equipment. Conversely, in professional boxing the risk is much higher. ... Many neurologists consider that the sport puts the brain at such risk that it should be banned . A distinction needs to be made between amateur and professional boxing. The rules and equipment used in amateur boxing have been designed to decrease the chance of serious injury. They fight less rounds, normally three or four per fight rather as opposed to the 12 round fights that are often present in the professional leagues. Furthermore, the rounds which amateurs fight are shorter than professional boxers lasting two minutes instead of three. This adds up to a significant different in time spent in the ring. Headgear is worn that protects much of the face in order to decrease the risk of injury. Finally, a medical examination is required before any boxer enters a bout so that any problems can be detected early. Many studies have examined the effect that amateur boxing has on neurological activity. One study examined three groups of men, one group that were field and track athletes, one group that were soccer players and the third that were former amateur boxers. No signs of serious brain damage were detected in any of the groups . A review of observational studies that had been conducted between 1950 and the present was examined, the authors found that in less than a quarter of the studies there was evidence of chronic brain injuries, and these were mostly small. The authors concluded that there was no strong evidence supporting amateur boxing causing chronic traumatic brain injury . However, this is not the case in professional boxing. While the studies above indicate that chronic traumatic brain injury does occur in amateur boxing, the rate is much lower than for professional boxers . Studies have shown that chronic

The Competencies That Are Required By Consultants In Order To Ensure Essay

The Competencies That Are Required By Consultants In Order To Ensure an Efficient Consulting Practice - Essay Example This paper illustrates that the work of the management consultant is to help the client organization to recognize the management problems, analyze the problems and provide solutions to the problems. The role of the consultants has become extremely important in contemporary times to deal with critical issues faced by the organizations. The client organization often requires the skill and expertise to deal with the critical issues faced by the organization. Researchers have established that there is a link between organizational performance and organizational characteristic and both of these are influenced by a reverse relationship. It can be argued that the organizational characteristics can also have an influence on the consulting performance. According to the views of Lundberg, the competence of an individual is a set of appropriate behavior which acts as a framework for identifying, evaluating and developing an individual’s behavior. Researchers have found out that competenc e is actually a combination of skills, knowledge, and behavior that helps in improving the performance of an organization. According to Sandberg, people who perform their responsibilities more competently than others can be argued to have the finer set of attributes. Therefore it can be argued that the competence of the management consultant is a crucial factor that influences consulting performance. The existing literature identifies that there are a set of competencies that are important for consultants. There are ten domains of competencies that have been identified namely enterprising, confidence, management, influence, facilitation, consideration, analytics, performance, organizing behavior, resilience and enterprising nature. Each of these domains has a number of characteristics under them like independence, adaptability, planning, quality orientation, problem-solving approach, conceptualizing vision and customer orientation to name a few.

Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 12

Management - Essay Example The project designers are assigned to work for eight hours per week (web based system) work to each designer (Smith and Mark). After some time one designer (Smith) has taken causal leave of 3 days. On this occasion the project manager assigned extra work to the second designer (Mark). So Mark was doing work for 12 hours on web based system and also carrying other projects as well. This situation made him too busy and tired. On the return of Smith the same operational hours were maintained for the Mark. He requested the project manger but manager took no action. The main reason behind this situation was the effective relationships of the Smith to the project manager. This produced some ill feeling in Mark for the Smith and project manager. The conflict among the Mark and Smith has taken more critical conditions. Now the project design is started to effect. This conflict caused delay in the completion of the design work of web based system. The developer team is waiting to develop the system, but no effective results till now have achieved. The main cause behind this situation is the conflicts between designers. This project requires extensive coordination but at the work both designers exchange some harsh words with each other. In this situation both sides know the main reason of the conflict. Smith knew that he was the person behind the over-burden on the Mark. Smith has not admitted that he is doing wrong. In this scenario Mark was under pressure from the management and project manager. He tried to perform well but with his fellow designer he could not be able to coordinate. In this way the over design duration was delayed. After that project manager called the designers to show the progress about the system design. At the moment the project manager has charged the Mark for the delay in the system design, and Smith was not asked regarding the development delay, because of the good terms with project manager. The situation went more

Strategic Marketing Managment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Strategic Marketing Managment - Essay Example Reebok began as an athletic shoe brand for the women’s aerobics segment because it had substantive consumer insights about the women segment. However, Reebok then changed its positioning strategy and it is now positioned as a lifestyle shoe demanded by several youth markets. The most important reason behind this change in positioning strategy was the marketing research that enabled Reebok to identify and analyse the scope of targeting new groups. Reebok managers had understood that a strong gap exists in the market of teenagers and young adults (youths), where there has been a never-ending demand of lifestyle footwear, apparel and accessories. For instance, Reebok marketers were also aware of the fact that their customers have inclination towards fitness and training, which could be met if they are offered premium quality fitness shoe brands and other supporting products. In this way, Reebok initiated a business expansion plan and launched its new positioning campaign to creat e awareness about company’s expanded product portfolio among Reebok‘s women, men and classics segments. In this way, Reebok enhanced its growth in the United States, North American and Europe markets. Distribution channel members (especially retailers) also played their vital role in positioning of Reebok’s products in the minds of end-users. ... In other words, a market could be divided into segments comprising customers with differences in ages, lifestyle, attitudes, behaviours, norms, standards, desires, income, education, marital status, religion, language, customs and traditions etc. Segmentation is an inevitable part of marketing strategy because it directly impacts marketing mix planning. Reebok has divided its market into 3 core segments that include Reebok men’s, women’s and classics. The sub-segments include Young adults (age 14 – 24 years), adults (age 25 – 40 years), middle-aged (age 40 – 55 years) and seniors (age 56 years and above). In addition, the customers are also divided into middle – middle, upper – middle and elite social classes to increase market reach and sales revenue. Indeed, the shoe-maker which has now become a part of Adidas group targets initially targeted women by coming up with a comprehensive idea of ‘women’s fitness with funâ€⠄¢ to enhance its credibility among women customers. The group reinforced its ideas regarding women’s fitness during 2009 and 2010 when it launched EasyTone, RunTone and TrainTone collections followed by launch of new women’s programmes and partnerships. The second core segment is known as Reebok’s men and the marketers target male customers. The company has established cordial ties with â€Å" world’s top athletes, professional leagues and teamsâ€Å" because these are opinion leaders and they facilitates in brand positioning and building consumer mindsets. This segment has immense potential because of natural inclination of a large majority of males in outdoor sports, athletic ventures, sporting and fitness activities. ReeZig and

In-Class Assisgnment #1 (Social Science) Assignment

In-Class Assisgnment #1 (Social Science) - Assignment Example The mere mention of this problem makes both the staff and the student body to feel uncomfortable. Administrators are trying hard to find the solution to this problem which has proved to be very challenging (Iarovici, Doris 33). I would use this information to advise the schools’ administrations to build upward and increase more parking garages so as to have more parking spaces. Students should also be advised to use alternative means to get to school like the public buses. Other parking lots are not far away from the schools, so students can usually walk from these places to get to school. Another concern is that the costs of books are not pocket friendly to students. This makes students not buy all the books that they require for their course work. One way to solve this problem is to have digital books available which will be affordable. Having a web site where these books are available can also be helpful since what the students will need to do is just to log in and search for the book online. But for the meantime the government should intervene and regulate the cost of the books to make them affordable. Another problem faced by college students is the length of some courses which are very long. This is not a good idea because most of the students will get lost along the way since it is not usually easy to keep track more so when the road is too long (Prince-Hughes, Dawn 50). For this concern, it would be advisable that if this courses can be integrated to smaller courses and be done in different semesters so as to save students the agony that they go through in the long

Enterprise Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Enterprise - Essay Example Customer Segments Spotify.com operates on a multi-sided platform business model. This is because there is one customer segment supported by advertisers who are the main users. The unit serves two customer groups who are co-existent. Blecker (2012) affirms that they have a symbiotic kind of a relationship whereby Spotify.com offers a proposition for them both. For the user, their main expectation is to get some spectacular music to listen to and an out of this world musical experience. The advertiser is always looking out for an audience to promote the product. This is spotify.com offers to the broad consumer base at no cost whatsoever. b. Company’s value proposition According to Clark, Osterwalder, & Pigneur (2012), Spotify.com’s value propositions are advertising for those who want to know about the nature of the business. For those who want to access the music freely can get free unautomated access to the music via downloadable links that are offered at no cost whatso ever. ... They subscribe to the downloadable music services hence acting as the main source of revenue for the company. The website and the social media i.e. facebook and twitter are also used for internet marketing. Facebook works best as the company boast a whopping 1,000,000 fans. Facebook usually reaches the explicit core of the youths who comprise our largest customer base (Porterfield, Khare, & Vahl 2011). This s being integrated with customer routines by awarding the highest subscribing consumers through paying for their monthly subscriptions. d. Customer Relationships According to Dunford (2011), spotify.com customer relationship mainly comprise of the online communities since they are the ones who use the service more than any other community does. 3rd party Programmers, which include marketing companies, also make a segment of the customer relationship. These marketing companies are accessed online since we have automated online relationships whereby the music may be accessed globall y. The customers make subscriptions to our music where subscriptions cost vary depending on the high and low seasons of the business. Conversely, the cost for the service depends on the amount that was used for advertising, bandwidth, plus the salaries and royalties. e. Revenue streams Hesselbach and Hermann (2011) said that the revenue streams in from advertising fees, subscription fees for the pc, and subscriptions for the pc and mobile. The customers are able to pay for their monthly subscription fees through credit cards and PayPal. For the annual subscribers, we offer them a twenty percent discount. This revenue streams significantly foot salaries, advertising costs, bandwidth fees and the royalties to the right holders. f. Key Resources According to

The Stamp Act Resolutions and The Declaratory Act Essay

The Stamp Act Resolutions and The Declaratory Act - Essay Example In this brief paper, the argument put forward by the colonists in the Stamp Act Resolutions and the crown’s response through Parliament in the Declaratory Act of 1766 will be reviewed to determine the position of both the colonists and the Britiah government as the two headed to war. The taxes imposed by the crown following the French and Indian War were intended by the British government to re-emphasize their control over the colonies in addition to raising funds for financing their empire. The colonists found the taxes oppressive and unreasonable, but not only due to their practical costs, but also due to the ideological foundations upon which they were founded. He colonists believed that they were being asked to bear all the responsibilities of being British citizens without any of the rights. Therefore they passed the Stamp Act Resolutions as a response to the taxing regime. The Resolutions presented an argument that was built around the idea that they were British citizen s.

A Unified And Empowered Europe Towards Modernization Essay Example for Free

A Unified And Empowered Europe Towards Modernization Essay No matter how historical events are being interpreted Europe’s history after World War II suggest just one clear reality: it has unified its countries which were once shattered by bitter invasion and had since then been trying to move towards an empowered modern Europe. For whatever reasons others cannot believe and accept such reality, there is one certain thing about Europe after World War II: Europe’s dream of modernization defied its diversity of culture and differing political ideals. Before the war, Europe has traditionally been divided into East and West based by different political system; Communism and Capitalism. A new blend of Europe has been the main path which directed its member countries after the war. It is for this reason that this writer proposed to integrate the concept of unity or unification in the thematic title of this course. There are several events that will justify this assumption. For example, the power of Communism has significantly weakened after the war and so were the influences it left in the formerly communist countries then known as the Eastern bloc. With the call for unification and reconciliation by Winston Churchill in 1946 and the creation of European Union of Federalists, the desire of the people to completely pin down Soviet Union arose and heightened. The call for the establishment of United States in Europe called for uprisings and movements to express their disgust to its proponents. These events, instead of creating conflict had provided the people the opportunity to block the domination of European Union of Federalists and the United Nations of Europe and so the European (Atlantic) model of government was born. With the nationalistic aim of Schumann and Benet, Europeans were encouraged to reconciliation. What is remarkable however in with Schumann and Benet was that they were against America’s entering into the scene. The two stood to their beliefs that the Franco-German reconciliation should be left to the sole responsibility of the Europeans and not with the help of any nation. With this we can say that these European leaders genuinely aimed for a long-term unity of European countries. Europe also took vital steps towards modernization and progress by means of allowing the spirit of reconciliation dominates them. On May 01, 1950, the famous Schuman Declaration occurred which brought hopes for progress to the unifying Europe. The establishment of the European Coal and Steel Community marked that date in the European calendar. Such community was vital in the initial steps taken by Europe in moving towards genuine progress. The declaration made Germany, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg nod to the proposal of an authority. This is first time in the European history that these powerful countries agreed and united. Culture and religion were also major elements which played in the ideological division of Europe into East and West. However with modernization and the end of Cold War, Europe removed these walls. It is important to note that West Europe was then dominated by Western Christianity religion while the East bloc was dominated by Orthodox Christianity and Islam. Because of these, member countries of the two divisions clashed trying to display dominance over the other and genocide was the other’s most powerful tool. With the establishment of the European Union, eastern borders were extended through the countries dominated by Western and Eastern Orthodox civilizations. The memberships of most protestant and Roman Catholic countries in the European Union finally erased the mark of cultural conflict between the two divisions. The step by step movement of European countries towards unification brought considerably good results for the whole European nation. Despite the resistance of others to join the prominent European Union, Europe obviously is moving forward towards globalization. Although it is not the union which solely and ultimately unified Europe and its people, somehow the prominence of the European organization is of great help. As of May 2004, the European Union has 25 member countries after 10 countries joined including Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Cyprus and others. Such memberships are indications of the member countries’ willingness to extend help to each other. More importantly, these member countries now recognize a higher authority other than their own. With growing concerns on national security and issues of war and human aggression, European Union’s leaders have been criticizing each other point out the shortcomings of one another. Such disagreements do not however suggest that E. U. can no more live up to its dream of ultimate peace and unity. These situations especially in the political arena are indicative of the active participation and exercise of their power to choose and to independently decide for their people. Their unity as a legacy of the wars does not necessarily requires them to implement uniform laws and policies to their constituents. United Europe after the war had actually provided each member country the sense of accountability and responsibility by defending their stand over an issue that significantly affect them. Despite the diversity of culture and its bitter past, united Europe has been continuously moving towards a globally competitive and empowered nation. The wars undoubtedly left the enduring culture of hatred and violence behind. Europe was left with one vital responsibility to take: use its available time and resources to manage its economic, social and political affairs in the most prudent manner in such a way that it has secured its people and their future. There were no more walls in their midst, no more threat of genocide, and no more religious conflicts. Everyone is free to live a peaceful life in the land where no culture is regarded dominant over the other.

Factors Which Affect The Travel And Tourism Industries Tourism Essay

Factors Which Affect The Travel And Tourism Industries Tourism Essay Introduction to Hospitality Industry Hospitality Industry, historians have traced the development of the hospitality industry through of thousands of years and many cultures. The term of hospitality industry can define as an age-old industry because historians speculate the first overnight lodging structures were erected along Middle Eastern. Viewing the industry through the e lens of history is helpful because it reveals the strong relationship between the shape of hospitality and the needs and want, the hospitality industry will continue to change in what they need and want, the hospitality industry will also continue to change. The hospitality industry encompasses a wide range of businesses, each of which is dedicated of the service of people away from home. (Chon, 2010) The hospitality and tourism industries are the largest and fast-growing industries in the world. The hospitality industry consists of wide category of fields within the service industry that includes lodging industry components, food industry components, recreation sports and entertainment components, transportation industry, and supplementary fields within the tourism industry. (Chon, 2010) Advantages in the hospitality industry From the simple origins as privately owned, independently operated businesses are the hospitality industry because has grown in complexity and size. Todays hospitality businesses interact with one another on a global basis, and must stay aware of what is happening around them. For an example, management companies and hotel chains now spread across the world; economic conditions in Singapore affect a companys holdings there and elsewhere. Hospitality businesses are closely intertwined with those in the travel and tourism. Tourism is travel for recreation or the promotion and arrangement of such travel. Tourism and the hospitality industry so strongly affect one another that some associations and industry leaders, including the Council on Hotel, Restaurant and institutional Education (CHRIE), consider the combined industries of hospitality and tourism as one large industry- the hospitality and tourism industry. The components of this large industry include: (Chon, 2010) Food and Beverage Service Lodging Service and Ski Resort Recreation Service Campground and Theme Parks Travel- Related(Tourism) Service The Gaming industry Product provides with personal service in conjunction with the first four components. Because these components are separate and often competing industries, this group industries will be referred to in this text of an interconnected set of parts or components. Channel Distribution is one of the important uses in hospitality industry. Channel distribution is used to transfer merchandise from the manufacturer to the end user. An intermediary in the channel is called a middleman. Channels normally range from two-level channels without intermediaries to five-level channel with three intermediaries. For an example, a caterer who prepares food and sells it directly to the customer is in a two level channel. A food manufacturer who sells to a restaurant supplier, who sells to individual restaurant, who then serve the customer, is in a four-level channel. Intermediaries in the channel of distribution are used to facilitate the delivery of the merchandise as well as to transfer title, payments, and information about the merchandise. For example, a manufacturer may rely upon the workforces employed by a distributor to sell the product, make deliveries, and collect payments. The channels used by a marketer are an integral part of the marketing plan a nd play a role in all strategic marketing decisions. Global distribution system is the worldwide computerized reservation network used as a single point of access for reserving airlines seats, hotel rooms, rental cars, and other travel related items by travel agents, online reservations sites, and large corporations. The premier GDS are Amadeus, Galileo, Saber, and World span owned and operated as joint ventures by major airlines, car rental firms, and hotel groups and also called automated(ARS) or computerized reservations system(CRS). 1.3 Disadvantages in the hospitality Industry The disadvantages of Globalization on the hospitality industry are as follows: Language Barriers Due to Globalization, the hospitality industry can employ people from different countries- as it is usually cheaper they may sometimes have problems in communicating with the customers. Many customers get quite irate as a result of this. (Chon, 2010) Cultural Barriers: As there are people from various cultures, one needs to be careful not to offend them. For example, a Muslim will not eat pork one needs to make sure not serve food which contains pork. (unless specifically asked). Whats acceptable by one culture may be frowned upon by another. Events/Disasters in other Countries: A disaster or even taking place in one country may affect our country (the home country) also. For example, the financial crisis makes less people want to spend money or travel; due to increase in terrorism some visitors get are not ready to travel to certain countries. Seasonal Employment: During peak periods, a lot of jobs are available but as soon as the tourists go back the jobs disappear as well. For example: Goa India; the locals in Goa get their income only during the peak season, (Dec-Feb and April July) after which they have no jobs and no income. Increasing use of technology to communicate: Due to international barriers, there has been a steady increase in the use of technology for communication (through the internet, voice recordings). This removes the human touch. Developing Countries: Countries that are unable to keep up with the advancement in technology tend to lose out. Example: Africa does not have the infrastructure or technology as yet to welcome a large amount of foreign visitors, though it does have a lot of natural attractions. To increase the flow, it would have to improve conditions; otherwise tourists have a vast sea of areas to choose from. Increase in Crime Rate: With the increase in tourists, crimes increase too. Example: pick-pocketing, hustling, rape, smuggling. Bad Habits: People from other countries sometimes influence the local youth in a bad way. Increase in drugs and promiscuous behavior, etc. Environment Depletion: Globalization causes an imbalance in the eco system. People usually throw their garbage around everywhere which could cause sickness, to encourage more visitors, areas of greenery are cleared and wildlife killed which is a major cause for global warming. Loss of Cultural Pride and Values: To suit customer needs to change or modify various services and products. For example: Certain food dishes are changed ( in taste, names become more westernized ) to make them more attractive to visitors. This, in a way, leads to the loss of culture as one wants to become and behave like the tourists that come into our country. 1.4 Conclusion Hotel business is growing and developing a career centre, Includes travel, tourism, restaurants and recreational facilities and the government more and more people are turning to industry to make money. For those planning to venture into the hospitality industry, it helps to know the common terms and words of a particular industry.If we manage a restaurant in the street with heavy tourist traffic for example, we wound want to stay current with local attractions and question beyond the experience of visitors to our restaurant. This will enable our customers to get the best service the focal point of the hotel industry. Experienced travelers may want to know the abbreviation for the hotel industry, the industry stands and password in order to plan the best possible vacation. Beginners may want to be informed about the latest jargon in order to make their trip go more smoothly. QUESTION 2 Find out the factors that affecting travel and tourism. Explain in detail. 2.1 Introduction to Travel and Tourism The travel and tourism industry is the largest individual industry in the world and the largest contributor to global economic development. Worldwide, this rapidly changing industry generates more than $2.5 trillion annually and provides jobs for more than 112 million people. In terms of total revenues, investment and employment travel is also the fastest-growing industry. (Chon, 2010) The components of the hospitality network may be independent and competitive businesses, yet they share an interdependency that has evolved over the centuries. The relationship can be seen in the roles that destinations and hospitality facilities play in motivating people to travel. Although travel encompasses all movement or displacement of people, not all travel involves tourism. Refugee, migrants, explorers, nomads, soldiers, and commuters certainly travel, but they are not tourists. Tourism-related travel involves the movements of visitors to a place to enjoy attractions, special events, hospitability, lodging, food, and entertainment. The tourism industry is concerned with attraction and events that draw tourists and excursionists to an area. (Chon, 2010) 2.2 Factor which support the growth of tourism The most effective factors that inspire the growth of tourism of a country are the stability of Politics of a country. This is because the country is safe from crime, wars and helps to protect the safety of tourism. For an example, Singapore the fast growing country is focusing more on safety of tourist, so that the political stable will be respected and impressed by the tourist and also will generates the growth of a country. Furthermore, one of the important aspects is Economic development of a country. To relate this, if the economy of a country is stable, there will be more investors to invest in our country as well joint ventures. For an example, if the economy growth is higher than, the number of tourist will be also increase. Besides that, more strategic tourist spots are being built to attract the tourist to come over to experience as well as to have leisure time. Also, this is mainly to promote the entire region or city as either a business or pleasure destination. In addition, one of the strongest factors in choosing destination is the desire to visit family and friend. Although people visiting other people often do not need commercial lodging, they probably will take advantage of other hospitality and tourism service such as transportation, recreation, food, museums, entertainment, and product during their trip. As a final point, the most imperative dynamics that can boost the growth of tourism is through Education. In todays world, education plays a vital role for every individual to be successful in life. In addition, the Ministry if Higher Education can come out various types of education plan in order to promote the eminence of education of our country as well as to be hub for foreign countries to twin-up their educational programmes. 2.3 Factor which effecting Travel and Tourism There are quite a number of factors that could most likely to contribute to boost up the Travel and Tourism Industry of country. A healthy tourism trade benefits countries Economically, Sosioculurtrally, and Environmentally. Of course, some effects the travel tourism also exist. Careful planning and management can help lessen negative impact. 2.2.1 The Economic Affect of Tourism In a narrow sense, tourism refers to the activity or practice of travelling for personal enlightenment, education or pleasure. In a broader sense, tourism is the business of providing information, transportation, accommodation and other service to all types of travelers, whether travelling for business or pleasure. Tourism is now firmly established almost where in the world, from the high mountains of Tibet to the Amazon jungle of Brazil. Whether the sites are ancient ruins, mountain, forests, or beaches, tourism development has inevitably followed discovery. The Economic benefits of tourism are undeniable. The most visible economic benefits of tourism is employment. Tourism provides jobs such workers as hotel employees, taxi drivers, tour guides, construction workers, entertainers, restaurant employees, and transportation workers. Many such jobs would not exist if tourism had not been developed. Foe example, if taxi drivers in Malaysia could not transport visitors to hotels, they might not have a livelihood as taxi drivers at all. (Chon, 2010) Besides employment, tourism also generates revenue that benefits the local population by increasing economic activity. Taxes paid by tourist help local government fund education, health are and other service. Money spent by a traveler at a hotel or restaurant help to pay employee wages and support other business. Eventually, the same money is used to by food, clothing and other products and services, further benefiting the country. (Chon, 2010) 2.3.2 The Culture Affect of Tourism One of the most positive effects of tourism is cross culture awareness, the fostering of understanding between people of different nations and culture. The opportunity to exchange knowledge, ideas, and tradition is more available today than at previous time in history. Aside from merely satisfying curiosity, tourism promotes international good will and the exchange of culture values. For statistical purpose, the United Nations divides countries into two broad categories: developed countries and developing countries. The developed countries include all North America and European countries, as well as Japan, Australia, New Zealand. Developing countries are nations that have relatively poor economic and lack advanced Technologies. They are located in Africa, the Middle East, the Caribbean and the Asian mainland. (Chon, 2010) Tourism is a major economic factor in most developed countries. According to the World Tourism Organization (WTO, 90 percent of all tourism are concentrated in 15 Countries in North America and Europe. To support a thriving tourism industry, airports must be built or expanded to accommodate jet aircraft and tourist facilities such as hotels, restaurants, and recreational sites must be constructed for visitors. The underlying framework of facilities and systems required to support a tourism industry is called tourism infrastructure. Particularly in developing countries, the creation of a tourism infrastructure can have a profound social, culture and environmental affect. 2.3.3 The Sociocultural Affect of Tourism The affect of increased hospitality and tourism activities on the ways individual interact with other members of their society also may be positive or negative. Changing family lifestyle and cross- culture contacts may result in either positive or negative influences. However, most concern surrounds the social ills that can results from countries. (Chon, 2010) Changing Family Lifestyle Many local residences find their lives changed when obtain tourism- related employment. Young people may enter the job market for the first time when tourism development occurs. On the positive sides, this may contribute to increased family income, allowing families to buy products that were previously beyond their means. The changes in lifestyles may also lead to demands for better housing and change in dress and eating habits. When local people adopt practices from tourists, this is known as the demonstration effect the demonstration effect can have a negative outcome, though if local residents come to realize that, even with their increased income, they cannot afford to live like the tourist. A feeling of envy or resentment toward affluent visitors may results. This situation tends to occur most in those destinations where the economy is based primarily on tourism. (Chon, 2010) Social Ills Social ills include such problems as crime, displacement and discrimination. Organized crime and prostitution are sometimes associated with tourism. Indeed, research studies show a correlation between growth of tourism and increased crime. Promoters, law enforcement officers, and other stakeholders may have to deal with the facts that tourists who do not know their way around a city may be targets for criminals. The negative publicity from such attacks may be difficult to overcome. (Chon, 2010) The negative effect of tourism may be included discriminations. Hiring and promotion practices of corporation new to an area may be discriminatory against local employees. A community may be discriminate agents transplanted corporate employees. When there are not enough local workers to build and manage the tourist business, workers may be brought in from outside the area or even the country. A sudden wave of large numbers of outside workers may cause resentment in local workers. This is especially true if the incoming employees occupancy menial jobs to local workers. For an example. If local worker see a higher standard of living for the newcomers, they may actively discriminate against them. On the other sides, if the culture and lifestyle of the local residents is very different from that of the newcomers, the newcomers may by uncomfortable in theirs situation. (Chon, 2010) 2.4 The Environmental Affect of Tourism Protecting the environment is now one of the most talked about and hotly-debated topics across the globe. Many companies are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to create products or make their products environmentally friendly. An example is the electric car that is being looked at as a viable option to that of the present gasoline powered car. In 2009 world leaders met in Copenhagen to discuss ways in which they can prevent global warming and reduce on the effects of climate change, in effect protecting the environment. The travel industry too has nit been left out of this issue. In a industry where the number of people engaged in international travel has been predicted to reach the billion marks in 2010, there is concern about its contribution to the damage bone to the environment. Also like every other industry the travel industry needs to be concerned about ways of doing business that are environmentally friendly. Outlined below are some of the environmental issues affecting the travel industry which stakeholders need to address and in some cases seek out long term solutions? Aviation which ferries hundreds of thousands of tourist across the globe is of great concern to those seeking to protect the environment. A major concern for the industry is greenhouse gas emissions. One way the aviation industry is working on this problem is by rolling out newer planes that have fuel efficient engines which means less carbon emissions. However not all airlines especially in the poor countries cant afford buying new aircraft. Mass Tourism, with the cost of travel becoming cheaper and more and more people venturing away from countries to place that were previously inaccessible but can now be reached because of air transport, areas of environmental and historical significance are becoming crowded. This is putting pressure on ecosystems within these areas and threatening the flora and fauna. Also climate change is going to mean that certain place will not favor visitors because of weather conditions becoming extreme which will lead to overcrowding in other place with more favorable weather conditions. Again this presents a danger to the ecosystems in the overcrowded areas and to the tourism of the area. (Chon, 2010) Deforestation, in spite of the worldwide call to protect the environment there are still areas where massive logging is taking place. This is also contributing to destruction of flora and fauna and is a threat to the tourism of the area. Besides that, with the call to go green affecting all industries across the globe the tourism industry has not been left out. There is pressure on those who are in the industry to find methods of doing business that are sustainable and environmentally friendly. For example, can the hotel industry builds hotels that are more environmental friendly? What methods can they use to conserve energy and reduce on chemicals that are in the dry cleaning of tons of laundry used in the industry? Human Encroachment, with populations continuing to grow worldwide there is mow competition between man and animals for space. Human are now encroaching on areas like National Part that are protected and marked for wildlife. This has led to reports of people and their livestock being killed by wild animals which in turn leads to people hunting and killing these animals that are considered to be a threats this is a threats to be tourism of the area. Human encroachment is also forcing animals to move away from their habitat to other areas where they cannot survive leading to the extinction of certain species. 2.5 Conclusion The travel and tourism field is the fast growing paced and rapidly growing in world. Each year, the tourism industry is increasing seems more difficulty to employees to undertake the trainer of new entrants to the fields. The parallel growth in the use of sophisticated technologies has complicated this situation. At the same time, travelers throughout the world have becomes more sophisticated, more knowledge and more demanding. Bibliography Websites Reference Scribe(2011), Hospitality Industry, Retrieved on February 12,2011 from http://www.scribd.om/doc/8691190/discuss-the-impact-of-globalization-on-the-hospitality-industry Business Dictionary(2011), Global Distribution System, Retrieved on March 13,2011 from http://www.busineedictionary.com?definition/global-distribution-system-GDS.html. Bized(2011), Factors Affecting the Travel and Tourism Industry, Retrieved on March 13,2011 from http://www.bized.co.uk Book Reference Kaye Chon, Thomas, A. Maier, 3rd Edition, Welcome to Hospitality and Introduction, USA: Delmer.

The Bullwhip Effect in the Supply Chain

The Bullwhip Effect in the Supply Chain As the name suggests bullwhip effect is an oscillation in the supply pipeline. In supply chain this effect occurs when there is a constant fluctuation in the demand. This effect also known as whiplash effect arises when minute demand fluctuations downstream result in a bigger fluctuation upstream of the supply chain. It describes how inaccurate information, non operational transparency and a disengaged production plan and real time information result in revenue loss, bad customer service, high inventory levels and unrealized profits. Incongruent information across the supply chain leads to overreact to backlog and building of excessive inventory in order to prevent stock outs (Supply Chain Management: Concepts Techniques and Practices-Enhancing Value Through Collaboration, By Ling Li; pp 191) it creates unstable production schedules that cause lead to unnecessary cost in supply chain. Companies have invested in extra capacity to meet the high variable demand. The highly variable dema nd increases the requirements for safety stock in the supply chain. Additionally, companies may decide to produce to stock in periods of low demands to increase productivity. If this is not managed properly it leads to excessive obsolescence. Highly variable demand also increases lead times. These inflated lead times lead to increased stocks and bullwhip effect. Thus this effect can be quite exasperating for the companies; they invest in extra capacity, extra inventory, work over time one week and stand idle the next, whilst at the retail stores the shelves of popular products are empty, and the shelves with products that arent selling are full (Dr. Stephen Disney, Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University) The problem of this effect in supply chain management has been a concernment for many years. Due to its non industry specific nature, it has grabbed the attention of many professionals from diverse industries and business schools. Many firms have observed the bullwhip effect in which the fluctuations in orders increase as they move up the supply chain from retailers to wholesalers to manufacturers to suppliers.(pp 478-479 ; Supply Chain Management Strategy , Planning and Operation , 2nd Edition; Sunil Chopra Peter Meindl) Some of the prominent cases so far noticed have been of an Italian pasta manufacturer Barilla SpA (Hammond 1994) that provides vivid illustrations of bullwhip in its supply chain. Barilla for a very long time had been offering special price discounts to the customers for bulk purchases. Such marketing policies created a highly erratic and spiky demand patterns, leading to high supply chain costs that outstripped the full truckload benefits and mismanaged inventory. Another case is of Campbell Soups chicken noodle soup experience (Cachon and Fisher 1997). The company is into selling only those products that have a stable demand. The manufacturer yet faced extremely variable demand on the factory level, the reason for which was found out to be forward buying practices of the customers. (FIGURE) As pointed out by Lee, Padmanabhan and Whang(1997 a,b) the expression Bullwhip Effect was termed by executives of PG, the company that manufactures Pamper brand of diapers. These executives observed that while the consumer demand for Pampers Diapers was fairly constant over time, the orders for diapers placed by retailers to their wholesalers or distributors were quite variable i.e., exhibited significant fluctuations over time. In addition, even larger variations in order quantities were observed in the orders that PG received from its wholesalers. This increase in the variability of the orders seen by each stage in a supply chain was called the bullwhip effect. As per Simatupang and Sridharan this situation of misalignment in demand understanding can be termed as Asymmetric Information where different parties have different states of private information about product demand, and the chain operations. The problem of this as ymmetry arises because participating firms generally lack the knowledge required about each others plans and intentions to adequately harmonize their services and activities. Supply chain members often do not wish to share their private information completely and faithfully with all others due to the profitability of that actual or anticipated information. Thereby the whole supply chain suffers from suboptimal and opportunistic behavior. These decisions occur when the members donot have sufficient visibility to resolve various tradeoffs in decision making because lack of information causes decisions to be made in a narrow scope that cannot ensure the products flows properly to end customers. Moreover, with limited information sharing, members donot have consistent perceptions of market needs and visibility over performance at the other levels of the supply chain. As a consequence, decisions are made based on either the best estimation of the available data or an educated guess. Such decisions can be biased and prevent the individual member from attaining the optimal solution of the supply chain. For example, the manufacturer often uses incoming orders with larger variance and not sales data from the retailer as a signal about the future product demand. Asymmetric information also produces problems of vulnerability of opportunistic behavior. Specifically, adverse selection and moral hazard manifest themselves in the relationship among the supply chain members. The negative selection of adverse selection, for example, is that the member firms cannot optimize supply chain performance because they donot possess the required capability to meet the predetermined customer service level. ( Semchi levi, David, Philip Kaminsky and Edith Simichi Levi, Designing and Managing the Supply Chain, London: Mc Graw Hill, 1999, pp. 103-107)(Lee, Hau L., V Padmanabhan and Seugjin Whang, The Bullwhip Effect in Supply Chains, Sloan Management Review, Vol. 38, No. 3 (1997), pp 93-102 ) To explain this effect a very simple example of two tier supply chain, a retailer and a manufacturer, can be taken into account. The retailer observes customer demand and places orders to the manufacturer. For determination of the order quantity to place with the manufacturer, retailer will use the observed demand data of customer and a demand forecasting technique. In the 2nd stage, the manufacturer plays his role of forecasting by observing the retailers demand to place order to his suppliers. In many supply chains, the manufacturer doesnt have access to customers demand data thereby making him rely on the retailers data to forecast. As the bullwhip effect implies (the orders placed by the retailer are significantly more variable than the customer demand observed by the retailer), the manufacturers forecasting and inventory control problem will be much more difficult than the retailers forecasting and inventory control problem. In addition, the increased variability will force t he manufacturer to carry more safety stock or to maintain higher capacity than the retailer in order to meet the same service level as the retailer. Longer the supply chain of a company more the impact of bullwhip effect can be observed. This also leads to increase in amount of the inventory across the chain. The rules of ordering such as timing of order placement, the acceptance of or refusal of back orders, order quantities and lot sizes, and cancellation rights and penalties, can have an enormous impact on the total system inventory and the bullwhip effect. To understand these challenges better a simulation of beer distribution game was created by the professors of MIT, Sloan School of Management. This simulation helps to understand the challenges faced by putting the participant in a real life supply chain situation. In this exercise, students enact a four stage supply chain. The task is to produce and deliver units of beer: the factory produces and the other three stages delive r the beer units until it reaches the customer at the downstream end of the chain. The aim of the players is rather simple: each of the four groups has to fulfill incoming orders of beer by placing orders with the next upstream party. Communication and collaboration are not allowed between supply chain stages, so players invariably create the bullwhip in the pipeline or chain. Sterman (1950a) was the first one to actually test the beer game to experience the bullwhip effect to experiment the causes that result to it. He (Sterman) experienced (1) Inventory Rationing (2) order bathing and (3)Price Fluctuations. He also provides evidence on bullwhip effect that occurs due to customers tendency of underweighting the inventory in supply line. The customer does not keep in the account the unreceived inventory at the time of placing a new order. Due to this the orders in backlog are underweighed in the decision to order more. Peter et. al.(1940) identify 4 main causes behind building up of bull whip effect. These causes are:- Demand Forecasting Every company in a supply chain usually does a product forecasting for its production scheduling, capacity planning, inventory control and material requirement planning. This forecast is oftenly done on the basis of previous orders placed by the customers. A very common method of demand forecast is exponential smoothing in which future demands are continuously updated as the real demand data becomes available. The order placed reflects the amount needed to replenish the future demands aswell as safety stock. Due to long lead times the safety stock days surge resulting in greater order quantity fluctuations. Moving a level up, to the manufacturers stage if the method of forecasting is same i.e. exponential smoothing then the demand variability is even more, eventually creating a bullwhip. Order Batching In supply chain most of the organizations place orders with their upstream suppliers after the accumulating them. The frequency of these orders is weekly, biweekly or at times monthly depending on the product. There are several cost related and demand related reasons for this practice. This can be demystified by an example of a company that places an order once a month because of the nature of the product it deals in. The supplier faces a highly erratic stream of orders. There is a spike in demand at one time during the month, followed by no demands for the rest of the month. This variability is higher than the demands the company itself faces. This practice amplifies variability leading to bullwhip effect. Transportation economics also plays a major role in the frequency of order placements. If the truck load is not enough then the order is not released as the cost is same irrespective of the load. Therefore companies prefer to order only when accumulated requirements are enough for a truck load to fill. This period batching causes surges in demand at a particular time period, followed by the periods of time with no or little orders, and other time periods with huge demands. Price Fluctuation Price variation is a crucial factor that impacts the buying behavior of a person. The customer buys in quantities that donot reflect their immediate needs. They buy in bigger quantities and stock up when the prices are low and reduce the purchase when the prices are normal, thereby creating a forward buy pattern in the chain. As a result the customers buying pattern doesnt reflect the consumption pattern and variation between the 2 grows which leads to the bullwhip effect. Rationing and Shortage Gaming When the product demand exceeds its supply the manufacturer is forced to ration them to the customers. Knowing that manufacturer will ration the goods, customers exaggerate their real needs at the time of ordering. Later when the variation between demand and supply plummets down, orders suddenly start to fade and cancellations pour in. This overreaction of the customer is an outcome of anticipation due to lack of information and interaction between the relevant parties. As the customer doesnt get 100% delivery of the goods required, he exaggerates the demand in order to receive the desired amount of goods. The above mentioned literature is comprehensible enough that all the factors or elements resulting in bullwhip effect originate from a common ground i.e. information sharing. It is evident enough that the lack of information and interaction between different stages evolve bullwhip in the system thereby plaguing the whole Supply Chain. Therefore it calls for supply chain integration where different stages upstream and downstream need to combine their operational practices by sharing information and work together towards a common objective. In this collaborative manner firms are likely to have less risk factor and more benefits to reap. Multiple researches have been done in order to prove the impact of inter firm collaboration on the performance of supply chain and attenuate the bull whip effect. Supply Chain Collaboration Intensive competition in the market place has forced companies to respond more quickly to customer needs through faster product development and shorter delivery time. Increasing customer awareness and preferences have led to companies that are able to deliver products with excellent quality, and on time. However the demand of customers for product variety, especially in the case of short life-cycle products such as food, apparel, toys and computers, makes it difficult for manufacturers and retailers to predict which particular variety of the products the markets will accept. To be effective in matching demand with supply, manufacturers and retailers need to collaborate in the supply chain. Each form of collaboration varies in its focus and objectives. Regardless of the collaborative approach taken, however, Simatupang and Sridharan(2003) suggest that the requirements for effective collaboration are mutual objectives, integrated policies, appropriate performance measures, a decision d omain, information sharing and incentive alignment. These requirements demonstrate a need for significant planning and communication to occur between partners, and can require significant resource commitment. Additional studies (Derocher and Kilpatrick, 2000; Mentzer et al., 2000) have affirmed that strong relationships increase the likelihood that firms will exchange critical information as required to collaboratively plan and implement new supply chain strategies. In order for this sharing of critical information to occur, a high degree of trust must exist among the collaborating partners (Frankel et al., 2002). Trust refers to the extent to which supply chain partners perceive each other as credible and benevolent (Ganesan, 1994; Doney and Cannon, 1997). Credibility reflects the extent to which a firm believes their relationship partner has intentions and motives that will benefit the relationship (Ganesan, 1994). One important aspect of information sharing as it relates to colla boration is the delineation of the kind of knowledge, explicit or tactic that results from the exchange of information. Collaborative arrangements involve knowledge transfer that is both explicit (e.g. transactional) and tacit, which resides in social interactions (Lang, 2004). More specifically, explicit knowledge is defined by Lang (2004) and referred to here as knowledge that can be articulated and codified in order to be transmitted easily. Hoover et. al., (2001) identify the benefits of collaboration only when it is done on a larger scale. Therefore they conclude that collaboration cannot be just a solution between close partners, but needs to be implemented with a larger number of business partners. The end goal should be solutions that enable mass collaboration. Darren Peters (six sigma master black belt for Cummins Inc. and also an ex professor of Purdue Universitys College of Technology) in his article on supply chain integration mentioned that a true integration of supply chain calls for a high degree of synchronization and alignment. Peters defines synchronization as information sharing; alignment, the most complex factor, reflects the collective behavior and motives of each partner within an ecosystem. Collaborative Planning Forecasting and Replenishment (CPFR) is the most recent prolific management initiative that provides supply chain collaboration and visibility. It has lately emerged as a new paradigm for the organizations that further want to cut their operational cost and make their supply chain more agile and responsive. Supply chain collaboration involves close work relationship with upstream suppliers and downstream customers. It is a new strategy to make the supply chain more effective and efficient keeping the customer at top priority. The association of Operations Management defines CPFR as follows: Collaboration process whereby supply chain trading partners can jointly plan key supply chain activities from production and delivery of raw materials to production and delivery of final products to end costumers (The Association of Operations Management also known as the American Production and Inventory Control Society, APICS). The complexity of new products, shrinking tim e to market, and capital intensity have led firms to collaborate to improve access to complementary abilities (Scott 2000) to help meet competitive challenges (Kanter 1994) and to address increasing competition due to market globalization, product diversity and technological breakthroughs ( Simatupang, Wright and Sridharan 2002). A greater interconnectedness and trend of outsourcing have led to a greater need for supply chain professionals to work in alliance with firms possessing complementary skills and capabilities. Lambert et. al. (Lambert, Douglas M., Margaret A. Emmelhainz and John T. Gargner,Building Successful Partnerships, Journal of Business Logistics, Vol. 20, No. 1 (1999), pp. 165-181) suggest a particular degree of relationship among chain members as means to share risks and rewards that result in higher business performance than would be achieved by the forms individually. Bowersox (Bowersox, Donald J., The Strategic Benefits Of Logistics Alliance, Harvard Business Rev iew, Vol. 68, No. 4 (1990), pp. 36-43) reports that logistics alliances offer opportunities to dramatically improve customer service and at the same time lower distribution and storage operating costs. Narus and Anderson (Narus, James A. and James C. Anderson, Rethinking Distribution: Adaptive Channels, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 74, No. 4 (1996), pp. 112-120) define a collaborative supply chain as the cooperation among independent but related firms to share resources and capabilities to meet their customers most extraordinary needs. As per a simplistic definition, Collaboration is nothing but a process in which people, groups and organizations work together to achieve desired results. Therefore supply chain collaboration is a business practice wherein trading partners use IT and a standard set of business procedures to combine their intelligence in planning and fulfillment of customer demand (VICS, 2004). The CPFR model created by Voluntary Interindustry Commerce Standards Assoc iation (VICS) is a promising mechanism for the forecast accuracy by having customers and suppliers participation in the forecasting process. A buyer and a seller work together as collaborators to satisfy the needs of the end customer thereby creating a win win situation. VICS 2004 proposes a model that is applicable to almost all the industries. In case of any discrepancy the vendor and the buyer can come together and rectify it by deciding upon the replenishment quantity. This kind of association or professional acquaintance offers a great potential to drastically improve supply chain performance through collaborative demand planning, synchronized production scheduling, logistics planning and new product development. The VICS Association, CPFR provides templates for supply chain collaboration in 4 stages (VICS 2004): Planning Stage: At this phase the relationship between buyers and vendors is planned and updated. It leads to front end agreement and joint business plan. Variances, w hether plan to plan or plan to actual, are also addressed. Forecasting Stage: At this stage, demand (order)/supply (sales) forecast is created and exceptions or discrepancies are identified and resolved. Forecast accuracy visibly improves by having customer and supplier involvement in the planning process and thereby making the goals compatible for both the parties. Execution: At this stage, the order is generated, shipments are prepared and delivered, products are received and stocked on retail shelves, sales transactions are recorded and payments are made. Analysis: At this stage, monitor planning and execution activities for exceptional situations. If a discrepancy occurs, the two trading partners can get together and share insights and adjust plans to resolve such discrepancies. Collaboration and co-operation between producers and their customers is a key component of a modern successful supply chain. As per Tim Bennett (Former President of National Farmers Union, Texas, USA) it is imperative that the organizations develop these relationships not only to drive improvements in efficiency but to respond more effectively to customer demands. As per Aviv (2005); Schwarz (2004) this initiative not only reduces the inventory but also increases sales for both sides i.e. retailers and suppliers. This also includes sharing of data and coming up with new and innovative ideas to attain a common objective. Supply chain collaboration is oftenly defined as 2 or more chain members working together to create a competitive through sharing information, making joint decisions, and sharing benefits which result from greater profitability of satisfying end customer needs than acting alone.(Simatupang Sridharan, 2005; Whipple and Russell, 2007). Narus and Anderson (1996) define Supply Chain Collaboration as sharing knowledge and skills by independent but related firms to meet extraordinary demands of precious customers. The major reasons for companies to collaborate their supply chain with suppliers and/or customers as the case may be, is to reap a better competitive advantage and improve the overall operational efficiency with improved profit margins. As per Wernerfelt 1984 Resource based view shows how firms develop and utilize their resources. Moreover the ownership of scarce and firm specific resources is the reasoned behind its success. Collaboration in the past has very often been interchangeably used with cooperation. Every professional and expert defines it differently. There are several driving forces that for the exchange of reliable information in the supply chain industry. One of these driving forces is competition. Merchandise retailers such as Wal-Mart and K-Mart have expanded product offerings into food items in order to enhance the value of customer service offerings through one-stop shopping. A second driver is the innovative nature of products, or the length of the life cycle and the duration of retail trends in these industries. In the apparel industry, for example, the life cycle of some garments is 6 months or less. Yet, manufacturers typically require up-front commitments from retailers that may exceed 6 months making long term fashion forecasts risky. General merchandise retailers know this years newest toy has a short product life cycle. It is imperative to get the latest trend in the consumer products to market quickly; otherwise, either tremendous lost revenues or markdown prices will be experienced. Long manufacturing lead times necessitate supply chain planning visibility. A third driving force is the longer, more complex supply chain given moves to offshore production. International sourcing for apparel and general merchandise has lengthened the supply chain and cycle time, and necessitating supply chain planning visibility. A fourth driving force behind CPFR is the nature of the supply chain cost structure. Global markets and more competitors are likely to move the supply chain system towards universal participation by all retailers in CPFR in an effort to cut costs (Raghunathan, 1999). All of these driving forces support the need to respond quickly to volatile demand and other market signals. These forces stimulate the development of supply chain visibility tools such as CPFR (Fisher 1997). Identified benefits of collaboration include: revenue enhancements, cost reductions, operational flexibility to cope with demand uncertainties (Fisher, 1197; Lee, Padmanabhan, and Whang, 1997; Simatupang et al., 2005); increased sales, improved forecasts, more accurate and timely information, reduced inventory, improved customer service, (Barratt and Oliveira, 2001; Whipple et al., 2007); division of labor, exchanges of knowledge about products and processes (Kotabe, Martin, Domoto, 2003) and cost and/or problem avoidance (Whipple, 2007). Companies like Wal mart, Procter Gamble and Dell computers have evidently shown that an anticipatory business model is better able to increase sales revenues and deliver profit margins meeting the shareholder expectations. This model is successful only when there is a cooperation and collaboration amongst all the members, internal aswell as external of the entire supply chain. (Supply Chain Collaboration-How to implement CPFR ;Ronald K Ireland with Colleen Crum, pg2). As per Ronald K Ireland reducing the Bull Whip effect in supply chain is not a program or a monthly initiative. It is a continuous practice to maintain a balance and to keep it to minimal due the inevitable nature. About the collaboration Ronal shares one of his experiences at Wal mart where due to some wrong program installation in the systems, purchase orders used to get blocked that lead the point of sale data to zero. The actual break down of collaborative planning happened when no queries were raised regarding the drastic change in point of sale rate. It was only when a supplier requested a Wal mart analyst to verify the forecast. This incident moralizes that it takes a team approach to eliminate the bull whip in the supply chain. Trust plays a vital role in the whole collaborative setup. Without trust and reliability on partners, supply chain collaboration is of no use. It is very important to have trust and faith in the partners to create supply chain into a value chain. Andraski (1994) reports that CPFR engages the manufacturer and retailer into exchanging the marketplace information in order to come up with a customer specific plan that can substantially reduce inventory. There are various cases or examples of CPFR implementation that prove its success. Various types of partnerships (collaborations) have been tried. Wal-Mart and Warner Lambert embarked on the first CPFR pilot, involving Listerine products. In their pilot scheme, Wal Mart and Warner Lambert used special CPFR software to e xchange forecasts. Supportive data, such as past sales trends, promotion plans and even the weather, were frequently transferred in an iterative fashion to allow them to converge on a single forecast should their original forecasts differ. The pilot scheme was very successful resulting in a tremendous increase in sales, better fill rates and in a reduction of inventory investment (Cooke, 1998; Hill, 1999). Other examples of CPFR pilots include Sara Lees Hanes and Wal Mart, involving 50 SKUs of underwear supplied to almost 2500 Wal Mart stores (Hill, 1999; Parks, 1999, 2001; Songini, 2001). In 1996, Hieneken USA employed CPFR to cut its order cycle time and is currently providing Collaborative planning and replenishment software to its top 100 distributors (Aviv, 2001). Procter and Gamble has several active CPFR pilots underway (Schachtman, 2000). Levi Strauss and Co. incorporates certain aspects of the CPFR business process into its retail replenishment service (e.g. by creating jo int business plans and identifying exceptions) (Aviv, 2001). Additionally, in the ECR report entitled European CPFR Insights several CPFR pilots are described including: Unilever Sainsburys GNX, Condis-Henkel-Cartisa, Kraft-Sainsburys GNX, Carton Scholler, Vandemoortele-Delhaize (ECR Europe, 2002). (Andraski and Haedicke, 2003) cited a major gap of misunderstanding, misuse of greater bargaining power and undue expectations in a collaborative relationship. Such gaps can be avoided if mutual agreements on extensive and timely information sharing were put in place to more precisely predict potential problems of matching supply and demand. At the same time these arrangements call for an effective governance structure to address potential economic incentive problems between contracting parties, thereby leading to more cooperation across firm level boundaries. Information Sharing Information is an essential part of managing operations and supply chain management. The above given review is comprehensible enough for us to realize the magnitude of information in supply chain and the repercussions if not communicated properly. It is the most crucial element in the whole CPFR frame of supply chain. Sridharan and Simatupang (2009) define information sharing as a process that facilitates the chain members to capture and disseminate timely, relevant and accurate information such that the recipient is able to plan, execute and control the supply chain operations. Likewise it should flow along with material and money across the supply chain in order to smoothly operationalize the key functions of supply chain. In the era of globalization where organizations have gone and are going multinational, the need of information sharing becomes vital for the smooth running of business. Some supply chains have the ability to share point of sale data to the end consumer with other members of the supply chain. Sophisticated supermarkets like Wal Mart use barcode scanning at the checkouts. These scanned barcodes populates electronic files that help in determining the patterns of particular products. This data is then offered to suppliers for the purpose of capacity planning activities. Utilization of this data only for the purpose of capacity planning doesnt help to resolve the problem of bullwhip as the suppliers still donot get clarity on the fluctuating orders of retailers. The real benefit availed from this data comes from its usage in replenishment or ordering decisions. The suppliers need to be proficient enough to use this information for forecasting replenishment. Effective sharing of information provides a shared basis for concerted actions by different functions across interdependent firms (Whipple et al. 2002). Increasing the level of integration and information sharing has become a necessary tool to bring a competitive advantage to the modern suppl y chain. Multiple researches have been performed in this context in order to develop a strong foundation in favor of information sharing and its crucial role in the all new Integrated Supply Chain Models. According to A.T. Kearney report(Field 2005), the average manufacturer has enjoyed benefits equivalent to million in savings for every $1billion of sales by synchronizing t

Essay --

Descartes’ philosophy of mind in terms of immaterialism is closely associated with Dualism. His proposition is that mind and body are not identical, or can be rephrased as, mental phenomena are non-physical. Descartes’ whole structure of philosophy is presented by the way of Dualism to some extent. He distinctly divides the world into several entities of different nature and characters, each of which is independent. So in terms of mind-body relationship, he proposes the mind-body dichotomy. But when he has anatomized the major difference between the two, he had to get back to it because he is bothered with the explanation of the synergy and interaction between mind and body. So he is facing with the major confrontation between the dualism and the mind-body synergy in my way of interpretation. Dualism is tenacious and flexible because it is not running counter to people’s intuition – mind and body are different. This is the most common opinion towards the mind-and-body issue, which is something we take for granted. In our daily lives, the difference between the state of mind and state of material is obvious: First of all, subject of material occupies space; it takes up space and is presented dimensionally. The subject of mind is invisible and therefore does not take up space. Second, attributes of mind are different from those of material. For example, when pain is inflicted upon our body, we can only FEEL it but according to neurologist’s account there’s nothing in our nerves that is found identical to the characteristics of pain. Third, the cognitive characteristics that we have for knowledge are different. Put it this way, perception towards material is ‘public’, or say, every individual who has certain intact body structure ... ...perceive and to think, we need to have a BODY to carry the thinking and perceiving activity. Subject matter are more transparent and clear than object matter. For example, we see, we touch, we imagine wax so we come to the conclusion that wax does exit; the subject matter that carries these activity are self-explanatory. To put it in a nutshell, ‘Cogito ergo sum’ is the starting point of the whole structure of Descartes’ philosophy. But it is the ‘epitaph’ of his ‘universal doubt’. ‘Cogito ergo sum’ is not pure immaterialism. Rather it’s pure theory of perception. It is fallible to conclude that Descartes is immaterial; it is very vulnerable and susceptible to attack, because the immaterialism is derived from Descartes whole body structure of his philosophy. While in light of ‘I think, (therefore) I exist’, it is not pure immaterial or material to say the least.

Essentialism is Essential in Education Essay -- Philosophy Education T

Essentialism is Essential in Education All six of the major educational philosophies Perennialism, Progressivism, Essentialism, Existentialism, Social Reconstruction, and Behaviorism are in my opinion feasible in the classroom. However, I have chosen Essentialism as the primary philosophy I would like to employ in my classroom for several reasons. Although I think all six would result in learning, which is the primary purpose of education, I think that Essentialism is superior to the other five for my classroom. I feel this way because it embraces the purpose or original goal of public education, it allows lessons to be gauged to all different learning styles, and finally because essentialism employs methods of teaching and discipline that I believe work exceptionally well with my content specialization. By the nineteenth century, public education, although not a perfect system, was well engraved in most Americans. These public schools taught the basics of knowledge through the three R?s: Reading, Writing and 'R'thmetic. This was the basic curriculum of a public school because public schools were in place to educate the people to better function in our society, not to teach them only what they wanted to learn or to teach how to ?better? society. These first public schools were founded on very Essentialist principles that I support whole-heartedly and that I feel should still be the main curriculum of our public schools today. Although electives are important because they help students select what they would like to do in the future, most classes in a public school system should be made up of a rigorous core curriculum so that students can gain the basic reading, writing, and math skills that they need to fu... .... I feel that in most cases, once a student has been punished through negative reinforcement for doing wrong, the student will attempt to correct such behavior in the future to avoid punishment. In addition, positive reinforcement should be given for those students who are the majority and behave, as well as for the students who are occasional troublemakers because positive reinforcement helps show what is correct behavior in response to bad behavior. In conclusion, after receiving my Bachelor?s Degree from Concord College, I intend to complete a Master?s program in Education at either Concord College or Virginia Polytechnic Institute. Upon completing my Master?s I plan to return to my home area of Franklin County Virginia to teach Social Studies on a high school level. I look forward to doing so, as well as proving just how essential essentialism can be.

Political Corruption Essay -- Ethical Issues, Public Tolerance

Political corruption is a serious problem limiting development in emerging economies. Many scholars have identified corruption as the new enemy of democratization, blaming it for limiting political and socio-economic development of most developing nations (Bardhan P.,1997; Seligson M., 2002, Canache D. and Allison M., 2005). Although no one can really measure â€Å"corruption† due to its discrete nature and the different discourses defining it, citizen’s perception of corruption can give us an idea of its direction. Manny current approaches to the study of corruption take into consideration the importance of corruption perception indexes (Johnston 2005, Acemoglu D. and Robinson J. 2001, Canache D. and Allison M., 2005), and the availability of democratic channels such as regular popular elections, freedom of the press, civic society organizations, private property rights and individual rights (O’Donell G, 1994). Corruption index reports such as Transparency Inte rnational, LatinoBarometro, Freedom House) show extensive public awareness of mass corruption in developing countries (TI, 2011; LB 2009; FH 2010). Awareness of corruption does not seem to trigger any major demands to fight corruption seriously. The question leading this literature review is why citizens, after accurately perceiving corruption and perceiving it as wrong, fail to adjust their opinions of, or simply ignore, the leaders or democratic institutions that govern them? The question of public tolerance of political corruption has assessed from different approaches. Some scholars, for instance, focus on the direct link between citizens and organization/leaders based on clientelism, nepotism, cronyism, and other informal ways of wealth redistribution (Kurer, O. 1993, R... ...ing the social construction of the â€Å"sense of ownership† of public institutions can lead us to the understanding of civil society’s sense of entitlement accountability. We have seen, for instance, how reviving civil society’s sense of entitlement to the public wealth have driven leaders in and out of power. Most of the South American leftist regimes depend on this â€Å"sense† of ownership/entitlement to win election and to stay in power. However, few of these countries show serious interest in institutionalizing the citizen-government relationship, especially if it threatens their stay in government. Further research, nonetheless, should help us understand how remittance, language and expectation of leaving the country contribute to the creation of a passive/inactive civil society. Researchers of both corruption and democratic theory should consider these approaches. Political Corruption Essay -- Ethical Issues, Public Tolerance Political corruption is a serious problem limiting development in emerging economies. Many scholars have identified corruption as the new enemy of democratization, blaming it for limiting political and socio-economic development of most developing nations (Bardhan P.,1997; Seligson M., 2002, Canache D. and Allison M., 2005). Although no one can really measure â€Å"corruption† due to its discrete nature and the different discourses defining it, citizen’s perception of corruption can give us an idea of its direction. Manny current approaches to the study of corruption take into consideration the importance of corruption perception indexes (Johnston 2005, Acemoglu D. and Robinson J. 2001, Canache D. and Allison M., 2005), and the availability of democratic channels such as regular popular elections, freedom of the press, civic society organizations, private property rights and individual rights (O’Donell G, 1994). Corruption index reports such as Transparency Inte rnational, LatinoBarometro, Freedom House) show extensive public awareness of mass corruption in developing countries (TI, 2011; LB 2009; FH 2010). Awareness of corruption does not seem to trigger any major demands to fight corruption seriously. The question leading this literature review is why citizens, after accurately perceiving corruption and perceiving it as wrong, fail to adjust their opinions of, or simply ignore, the leaders or democratic institutions that govern them? The question of public tolerance of political corruption has assessed from different approaches. Some scholars, for instance, focus on the direct link between citizens and organization/leaders based on clientelism, nepotism, cronyism, and other informal ways of wealth redistribution (Kurer, O. 1993, R... ...ing the social construction of the â€Å"sense of ownership† of public institutions can lead us to the understanding of civil society’s sense of entitlement accountability. We have seen, for instance, how reviving civil society’s sense of entitlement to the public wealth have driven leaders in and out of power. Most of the South American leftist regimes depend on this â€Å"sense† of ownership/entitlement to win election and to stay in power. However, few of these countries show serious interest in institutionalizing the citizen-government relationship, especially if it threatens their stay in government. Further research, nonetheless, should help us understand how remittance, language and expectation of leaving the country contribute to the creation of a passive/inactive civil society. Researchers of both corruption and democratic theory should consider these approaches.

Enron collapse A look back Essay

               Enron was formed as a result of merging with another company and it became a successful corporate. The joy of the business owners is to see how it grows fast and to attract more investors. There are rules and regulation that governs the corporate financial report that is open for inspection by potential investors (Folger, 2011). The audit of these financial reports should disclose the accurate financial state of the company and this should be made known to the stakeholders of the company. The stakeholders of a company play an important role in progress of the business and the going concern of the company (Sterling, 2002). The company of Enron did not manage its debts and therefore looked for means of hiding the truth from its stakeholders so as to continue making profit.                The aim of a business is to make profit and be able to pay the debts of the creditors and also attract investors who are interested in the business. Most investor relay on the financial statement to determine whether to invest or not to invest (Folger, 2011). The Enron Company was a big company that was famous and successful before its fall. The corporate attracted many investors since they financial report showed how the business was growing at high rate (Bauer, 2009). However the corporate management did not disclose the true and fair view of the financial reports. The financial report of a company should not mislead the shareholders or its members.                Moreover, in the Enron scandal there were some cases in which it showed misconduct of its financial reporting since the corporate did not display true and fair financial accountings to its stakeholders. The corporate used financial fabrication and mark- market accounting to hide its actual debts and real financial situation (Folger, 2011). These reports made the investor believe that the corporate was making profit while it was making losses in real sense. It is also a form of fraud to stakeholders since it cannot meet all its debts and in case of winding up majority of the investors and shareholder would suffer greatly. The Enron scandal was deemed to be great since it had huge debts to settle and its assets could not settle these debts.                Indeed, financial misconduct affects a large group of stakeholder and leaves a great mark that cannot be erased (Sterling, 2002). For example the shareholders of Enron corporate were highly affected and suffered a loss of billions that were not recovered since the corporate went bankrupt and the assets of the business were also false in existence. The investors also suffered greatly from these financial misconduct, they lost their resources. In addition, the employees suffered greatly by losing billions of pension benefits due to the misconduct of financial reports which led to the bankruptcy of the Enron therefore could no longer pay them (Folger, 2011).                The financial statement of a company is very important to the investors, it gives an over view of the stability of the business and its ability to pay debts. The Enron corporate failed to disclose true and fair view financial statements by hiding its real financial reports and the investors were misled and also due to many investments made by the company lead to its bankruptcy (Sterling, 2002). The purpose of accurate financial reports is to help the investors and also the company to know to what extent they should contract or invest in other businesses. It also helps in managing of the company’s debt thus making profit but the Enron was only interested in making a lot of profits that led to their down fall.                  Ethics are rules that govern every business and its members on how to conduct their daily roles in the company (Brady, & Dunn, 1995). In other words, the managers of this corporate owe their loyalty to its stakeholders and their interest ought to be the interest of the business (Bauer, 2009). In deontology of the Enron corporate, the management had a duty and obligations to display the true statement of finance and also to operate the business in the interest of the stakeholders and not their interest. As the leaders they ought to make sure that the going concern of the business is kept and the assets of the company are secured. In addition, the duty of the Enron managers was to disclose the true and fair view of financial reports (Bauer, 2009).                  On other hand, utilitarian is a form ethic that is used to show the positive side of the organization, for example by disclosing the false statement to stakeholders thus blinding them of the real situation (Folger, 2011). The Enron leaders used different methods to conceal the truth about its debts and faked the profits. They made the business look attractive and therefore more investors invested in the business. At the end, the ethics rules were violated and the leaders had a role to play .Enron had a role to disclose the truth which could have rescued the company (Bauer, 2009). If at the beginning, the company revealed the truth it would not have ended bankrupt and the employees would have secured their jobs. Finally, the company had a duty to disclose the true financial statements and also save the company from falling and the scandals would have been avoided. The companies should put into practice the ethics governing the corporates. Therefore, to pre vent any future happenings such as the past frauds in the company, there has been an enhanced regulation as well as oversight in the company (Folger, 2011). References Bauer, A. (2009). The Enron scandal and the Sarbanes-Oxley-Act. München: GRIN Verlag. Brady, F. N., & Dunn, C. P. (1995). Business meta-ethics: An analysis of two theories. Business Ethics Quarterly, 385-398. Folger, J. (2011). The Enron collapse: A look back. Investopedia, December 1. Retrieved October 25, 2014, at http://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/1211/the-enron-collapse-a-look-back.aspx Sterling, T. F. (2002). The Enron scandal. New York: Nova Science Publishers. Source document

Authorship of the book of Ruth Essay

The book of Ruth has been historically claimed to be written by the prophet Samuel. It dates back to the 1011 and 931 B. C. It was a message of the love of God directly to the Israelites. With the main theme of sacrifice, it was essential for them at that time to hear such words of love. In the heathen land of Moab, located North of the Dead Sea, Ruth is resides for a period of time and them moves further into the town of Bethlehem, during the era of the judges which occurred directly after the Pentateuch books which are the first five biblical books. Ruth was the daughter-in-law of Naomi and Elimelech, who were an Israelite couple with two sons. Mahlon and Chilion were their names and both married Ruth and Orpah. Sadly, all three men in the family died, firstly Elimelech and then later on his two sons, leaving three widowed women. The actual period is not actually stated. However, most scholars have attributed its authorship to the pre-exilic era; the period after the enslaved Israelites were freed and permitted to return back to their homeland of Israel. As a historical book of the Bible and an excellent piece of literature, it has challenged the conception of the era and the norms of the periods as recording the attitudes and conducts between people. It demonstrated tremendous practicality and dealt with serious relational issues and we can learn a lot from it today. Its authorship is unknown. It clearly begins by alluding to the period of the judges and it is perceived by some to have been written around that time. The prophet Samuel has been given the credit for its authorship by many scholars. In recent times however, there have been speculations as to the real author of this book. It has been recognised as having been written by a female author. According to an ancient Beraithato the Talmudic treatise it stated that the prophet Samuel did write the book of Ruth. As it is does not provide strong evidence concerning the authorship, several authors in recent times have refuted the prophet Samuel as the actual author of this phenomenal book. Does it really matter whether it was written by a male or female author? This has been a question in the minds of many because in its entirety, the content of the book is very positive and has a lot of moral, social and legal coverage, which has provided a lot of insight into the way the Israelites interacted amongst themselves as well as among foreign nations, like the Moabites. In this essay, various perspectives of scholars will be addressed and references to the actual text will also be made to support and refute arguments which have been put forth by various intellectual minds. In a recent book entitled the Widow’s plea, a group of authors cited a number of key points about the book of Ruth. Central to their arguments were factors that provided an insight to the gender identity of the author. Firstly, they referred to a deliberate attempt by the author to strengthen the plight of widowed women in this book, by the avoidance of dealing with the Leveriate marriage, a popular custom that existed during that period. Lawson Younger in made inference to this point by referring to the book ‘Three Shekels’ by H Shanks: The inscription is puzzling. According to the law of levirate marriage, a man must marry his brother’s widow if his brother died childless (see Deuteronomy 25:5–6). Why wasn’t the husband’s brother, who had already received the wheat ? eld in Nacamah, required to do his duty by marrying his brother’s widow? Alas, the ostracon does not tell us(p 32) The laws relating to marriage and redemption were strongly intertwined and since it was not completely applicable in this case because Ruth did not marry her direct next of kin, these scholars have speculated that it might have been authored by a female. Furthermore, H Avolos backed this argument by purporting the deliberate exclusion in this case. (Avolos 616) In an attempt to further prove this point Young referred to various Hebrew texts and phrases used to give a better view point. For instance, the use of the words ‘Amah’ and ‘siphah were used at different times, suggestive of various points regarding the nocturnal influence of Ruth in Chapter 3:9. This is what he noted: Amah seems to be used to emphasize a slave’s feminine qualities (need for protect weakness, sexual attractiveness, etc. ), while siphah seems to be used when the female is viewed as a possession and a laborer. 41 Both terms can be used as self-designations. When it is used this way, amah appears to suggest a female petitioner’s weakness and need for help or protection when presenting a request before a more powerful male, never before another female. When siphah is used as a self-designation of obeisance, it seems to signify the woman’s subservience and readiness to serve or obey instructions. (p127) With the usage of the term amah, despite the fact that she was a labourer or indirectly in servitude, she was still able to realize her feminity even in hardship. It was suggestive of her need for protection and dependency on the one who is stronger than herself, especially when requesting a favour from an influential male figure. This point alludes to the kind of writing by a male author, realizing the need of the woman for protection and a bulwark. The usage of the term siphah suggested the readiness of the woman to adhere to instructions from the male and obey and to do is bidding. In both cases, there is a strong suggestion of a male authorship based on this viewpoint. Further Hebrew terms used indicate more usage of feminine forms of verbs. For instance, the word hyrja, meaning ‘them’ was used to refer to bodies of individuals. Its frequent usage indicated that the author made reference to a wide range of people who were female. Perhaps this could have been suggestive of a male author appreciating the role of the women or in actual fact, a woman who sought to enhance the role of the female in that era? The Feminist Companion of the Bible addressed several points that alluded to an obvious female authorship. (pg 34) It was argued that this book presented various points which gave credence to the importance of women in the Holy Bible. For instance, several women were identified who played excellent roles in biblical event, including Deborah, Dorcas, Esther and Miriam just to mention a few. It was also admitted that there were also major indications to the book of Ruth being authored by a male because of its superscription, just as the case was in other books like the book of Ecclesiastes. An interesting point to note was that there was a chance that although it may not have been written by a woman, the male author certainly had a profound respect for women and valued their contribution to the society. Interestingly, this book under the ‘Unconventional Life Partnership, Women Do Go Unconventional Ways’ heading also referred to the instruction by Naomi to Ruth, to use her natural female charm to win the heart of Boaz. (Athalya 29). This could very well have been a masculine viewpoint, in the sense that Naomi did recognize that Ruth needed a man in her life and hence was giving her advise on how to make Boaz notice her. During that period, it was generally expected that the women realized that they were being prepared for marriage at some stage and it would have been the role of an experienced woman like Naomi to share this with Ruth. This is a very feminine disposition which could have been expressed by the author. In the second chapter of the book of Ruth, she was portrayed as a hardworking lady who went to ‘glean with the reapers’. In Hebrew, the word ‘reapers’ refers to masculinity. Hence, irrespective of this fact, she was able to go and work with the men, gathering enough food supply for herself and for Naomi. As a matter of fact, it was emphasized that she worked through to the period of harvest. By so doing, she was able to gather more than sufficient rations to tend to the needs of a whole family. This was a progressive woman who knew that it was essential that she managed the home front successfully. In other words, she was a traditional homemaker – the major role of the woman. A female author would not have put this point any better. In his comparative study of the book of Ruth, Younger suggested that to a large extent, it seemed that a woman’s economic well-being was directly related to her link with some male. (p 129) From a feminine perspective it could be argued that this exhibited self-reliance and independence of the woman. On the contrary, there is also the aspect of the masculinity portrayed. The head of the reaper, when approached by Boaz who had not yet met Ruth at the time to ask about who she was, the reaper made excuses on her behalf, as she was a foreigner ( a Moabite girl) who did not the customs and modest requirements of the women of Israel. This impled that she was gleaning with the wrong set of people, in other words, the men. Hence, when Boaz eventually spoke to her, he advised her to glean with the girls or young ladies (Chapter 2:8). This was indicative of the male dominance and belief in the distinct and separate roles of the woman and the man. The geneological account in Chapter Four included women in it and this has made people suggest its female authorship. It was uncommon to have women included in the genelogical chronology. Especially in this instant, this geneology led all the way down to David, from whom the expected lineage of the Messiah was from. The character of Boaz was one of a generous and extremely loving individual. He saw the needs of Ruth and Naomi and took the necessary steps to ensure their happiness. By so doing, he tremendously brought a lot of benefits to himself. Eventually, he got married to Ruth. His numerous character traits are worthy of further study. Ruth was described as a virtuous woman. From the beginning of the book, she displayed loyalty and love, even to its end. When Naomi was bereaved of three members of her family including her husband and sons, Ruth did not seek out her own gain but decided to remain with Naomi, always. It took superhuman power to make such a profound statement in Chapter 1:16, entreating Naomi to let her (Ruth) remain with her. There was nothing that Naomi had to offer her. Both her sons were now dead, including the husband of Ruth. As was pointed out by Naomi, she had nothing to offer Ruth. Notwithstanding, Ruth made a selfless commitment to stand by Ruth, through times of sorrow and happiness. Naomi was a wise lady whose experience was of great benefit to Boaz and Ruth. In essence, she took the practical steps to facilitate their union. In all three characters, excellent themes of relational interactions have been displayed. Humility, sacrificial love, generousity and empathy just to mention a few, are required in everyday dealings with people. Regardless of the authorship, these character traits spread across boundaries and are pertinent in dealing with practical real-life matters. Especially today, these attitudes are still required and go along way in boosting human interactions. Works Cited Brenner, A. The feminist companion to the Bible (Second Series) Sheffield Academic Press Avalos, H. Legal and Social Institutions, 616 Malick, D. An Argument of the Book of Ruth from < http://www. bible. org/page. php? page_id=952> Shanks, H. (1997). Three Shekels pg 32. Younger, K. L. (1998). Two Comparative Notes on the Book of Ruth. Trinity International University