Media Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Media - Essay Example ‘Hot’ media was descriptive of elements of the mass media such as radio, newspapers and magazines. These media types give a lot of information to the reader or listener but do not give room for a lot of sensory involvement or completion on the part of the listener or reader. What McLuhan described as "cool" media included media sources like television as well as the telephone or television. Due to the fact that these devices do not give as much information as the radio or newspaper, they have to exact a stronger sensory â€Å"hold† on the attention of their users so as to remain relevant. McLuhan was especially engrossed with the effect of the television, which was just then gaining popularity, on its regular viewers. He was even more enthralled when later research established that television actually affects viewers by supporting them in developing passive brain wave patterns. Each mediums form is connected with a different understanding where the senses are conc erned and so expose the consumer to different experiences. These experiences or alterations of perceptions form the basis of the general message’s meaning. McLuhan had a broad definition for the word ‘media’. He perceived it as â€Å"any technology that ... forms extensions of the human senses as well as body†.2 McLuhan correlated parts of the body with technological parts so as to give a better characterisation of how he perceived technology. For instance, he felt that clothing was simply an extension of the skin, while the book could be said to be an extension of the eye. McLuhan felt that these industrial extensions could in fact intensify a specific human sense while the remaining other four were disregarded. Therefore, technology, according to McLuhan, interfered with people’s sensory balance, which then affected the emotional responses of the larger human society. This process, according to McLuhan, could be viewed as being the unintended caus e of all the principal cultural shifts that have typified eras of human history like the industrial age or the renaissance. McLuhan believed that human beings adapt to their environment by way of given balances, and that the main medium used in each age unearths a distinct sense ratio. McLuhan perceived every medium as being an exaggeration of one of the human faculties. He even believed that the human central nervous system is represented in the electric circuitry. It was McLuhan’s believe that in the prehistoric era, humankind existed in the perfect condition in which all of man’s senses functioned together in perfect synchronisation. In his words, â€Å"prior to the discovery of the phonetic alphabet, humankind existed in a world where all the five senses were simultaneous and balanced; this was a world of filled with resonance as well as tribal depth†.3 Humankind, according to McLuhan, lived in a space that was devoid of margins or even a centre. The only wa y through which preliterate people could exchange ideas was through speech. In essence, all information

HumanBrain Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

HumanBrain - Essay Example The monkeys use their judgmental skills to determine the type of leaves and fruits they will eat. The old world monkeys have a duplicated opsin gene that is lacking from other primates. The gene gives them the ability of having a better vision of orange and red areas of the light spectrum. The ability helps them choose nutritional food substances to consume (Zimmer, 381). As the world develops, the climate changed and the fruits became scarce and the primates had to change their strategy towards smell for survival purposes. The change of strategy from the sense of smell to the sense of sight changes the social skills of primates. The primates have to rely on their sense of smell to choose food and in some circumstances communicate to each other. There was development on the language of odors in the primates. A mother sheep passes molecules to her child that helps them communicates to each other. The molecules cause change in the brain of the ewe that helps it bond with child. It will use the molecules to recognize her lamb bond with it until it is ready to be on its own. The transition enabled primates to respond more emotionally to the sight of other primates (Zimmer, 382). The transition results in change of the muscles in the face-helped primates make expressions. The expressions in the face of the primates were a development of the brain. They had the ability to know of understanding what other primates were doing. Researches believe that the social evolution made the brain more intellectually. Robin Dunbar, a specialist in the area, believes that the size of the human brain continued to develop ever since (Zimmer, 383). Numerous tests tested the social and mental skills of small chimpanzees and those of adult chimpanzees. The results of the research indicate that the children learn faster when they observe what their adult counterparts do. Children develop their social skills by observing what the activities of

The Nestle Internal Documents Management Essay

The Nestle Internal Documents Management Essay The research process followed in this study is outlined in Figure 1, it began with a review of the literature related to BPM and BPIs with a particular focus on researches that tackled Innovation and particularly Packaging Innovation in Food Industry. The literature review revealed a significant gap with regard to both the integration aspect of BPM and BPIs and the application of this integrated framework in the specific field of Packaging Innovation which led to formulate the RQ. In order to identify and describe the impact of the proposed framework on the Packaging Innovation Process a Case Study methodology has been adopted as a research strategy. This is because it is considered suitable to address the research question: How and why an integrated framework of Business Process Management and Business Process Improvement could improve the Performance of Packaging Innovation Process of a multinational company? This is also in accordance with Yin (2009, Loc 453) who confirms that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦how and Why questions are more explanatory and likely to lead to the use of case studies..as the preferred research method. Furthermore, the focus on the contemporary events of Packaging Innovation Process in its real-life context and not requiring the control of behavioural events were additional reasons for choosing the case study method (Yin, 1981; Yin 2009, Loc 310). All the 3 conditions highlighted by Yin (2009, Loc 310) are met in order to adopt the case study as the most appropriate method. Once again Yin (2009, Loc 310) argues clearly à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ case studies are the preferred method when how or why questions are being posed, the investigator has little control over events and focus is on a contemporary phenomenon within a real-life context. Case study design An embedded single case study design has been selected in this research. According to Yin (2009, Loc 740) there are four major types of case study designs. Placed in a 2ÃÆ'-2 matrix these relevant designs are: single case versus multiple case designs, then holistic with a single unit of analysis against embedded covering a multiple units of analysis. The aim for selecting an embedded single case design is to investigate a representative or typical case in order to capture the circumstances and conditions of an everyday or commonplace situation (Yin, 2009, Loc 1205). Embedded designs (multiple units of analysis) often add significant opportunities for extensive analysis, enhancing the insights into the single case (Yin, 2009, Loc 1215). Accordingly, this embedded single case is about packaging innovation process improvement in the context Business Process Management and Improvement and specifically the integration of both BPM and BPI disciplines. This involves as well several units of analysis which consist in baseline events and validation through an innovation project. In the baseline events one main illustrative project has been reviewed in order to understand the critical reasons that make a packaging innovation project fail. Then in order to assess the impact of a poorly designed packaging on the operation, twelve factories across Europe and Asia have been visited through a waste Audit methodology (Muda Hunt).The twelve factories have been chosen as subunits for this investigation because they were widely spread geographically across Europe and Asia and were using different packaging materials and technologies for various product categories. With this case study design, the emphasis is global touching the packaging innovation process and not on individual factories or on a specific packaging material or a product category. Yin (2009) stresses that a major drawback in an embedded single case is focusing only on the subunit level for example the individual factories and failing to return to the larger unit of analysis in this case the packaging innovation process improvement. On the other hand, a single case study has limitations in particular to its rigor of research and in relation to the scientific generalization of the findings and conclusions (Yin, 2009, Loc 554). Nevertheless, single case studies permit a precise analysis of cotemporary evidence in context and are generalisable to theoretical propositions (Yin 2009, Loc 573). Finally the systematic adoption of embedded case study as a research methodology using three unit of analysis gives more rigor as well, Furthermore, the validation of the proposed framework though a real packaging innovation project (Embedded unit of analysis # 3) enhances the quality output of the research and confirms its managerial implications. Data collection The data were primarily collected at Nestlà © Head Office, RD centres and affiliate markets and factories. Worldwide leader in Food and Wellbeing industries, Nestlà © uses a wide range of more than 177000 packaging materials and more than 66000 different packaging specifications in 450 production sites across the globe. Moreover, Nestlà © is also interested in improving its Packaging Innovation Process and attracted by exploring the new integrated framework which combines both BPM and BPI. Therefore the access to Nestlà © internal data and employees has been made relatively easy. Using Nestlà © posed no research bias since it gives total independence and full autonomy to conduct the whole research in order to avoid any influence neither on the research process nor on the outcome. Thus, Nestlà ©s internal documents review and semi-structured interviews with a group of concerned employees have been used in this research to collect data. To complement the second-hand data, waste audits in twelve factories have been carried out combined with a visit and interviews of tree key suppliers. The use of multiple sources of evidence, combined with key informants who have reviewed draft case study reports, helped to establish construct validity (Yin, 2009, Loc 734, 1057). All data were stored in a process Map using the BPM software Nimbus Control in accordance with Yins (2009, Loc 734, 1057) recommendations for establishing reliability. Internal documents and interviews Nestle internal documents were the first source of data collection for this investigation. These include corporate documents (General Instructions, Policies, RD and business reports, best practices library) produced by process owners, functional departments or experts. The process owners have mapped processes and issued instructions on how to implement and execute their processes. Having access to Nestlà ©s internal documents and employees helped to rely on a vast amount of relevant data. For the baseline review of a major Packaging Innovation project, semi-structured face-to-face interviews were carried out with 37 stakeholders and 3 key suppliers involved in the development process. An interview lasts between 2 to 4 hours, with a flexible schedule, according to availability of the individuals invited. The semi-structured questions were defined following a clear Process flow and Project Phases: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Project Inception / Initiation à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Project Brief Objectives à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Project Organisation Planning Development à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Project Execution, Management, Reporting and Steering Committee à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Packaging Design / Specification Quality à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Supplier Selection, Technical Qualification Approval Performance à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Business Impact, Supply and Cost. Interviewees received a clear description with scope and objectives of the review as well as relevant questions before the interview. Participants were invited to comment on any phase with regard to their own experiences and learnings together with any recommendations they might have for improvement, as well as present copies of any relevant documentation that can support the review. The principle aim of the review and Gemba walk was to capture the learnings from all employees involved and who were encouraged to freely give any comments they might have related to the following questions: What happened? Why did it happen? How, and at what stage of the design / development phase of the project, could we have avoided these failures? How should we change our development / deployment approach as a result of these learnings? What went well? What did not go so well? What could have been improved? What could have been done differently? What Key Recommendations could you offer to improve the process in the future? All comments and feedbacks were grouped into a series of transcribed Notes following Miles and Huberman (1994) recommendation. The transcription is grouped by Function and Location with a summary of the inputs that were mapped in the BPM tool: Nimbus Control. This allowed an easier analysis and quicker understanding of the whole picture and piece together the complex interfaces between all entities involved in the Packaging Development Project called 24K. Field observations To collect first-hand data field observations were made using waste audits (Muda Hunt) approach in 12 factories across Europe and Asia. The concept of MUDA hunt is meant to provide awareness to obvious waste as well as none Value Added activities at the shop floor. The application of the Lean Six Sigma tools such as DMAIC methodology will help afterwards to reduce or eliminate the identified waste. Field observations in scope: Packaging areas of main production lines; Material flows in packaging areas; Packaging materials waste; Labour utilization, packaging material usage on the lines; Space utilization on the floors, storage inventory. Field observations Out of scope: Processing of raw materials; Production lines (mixing, moulding, ) The relevant filling and packing lines were selected for Muda Hunt if they are strategic to the Business and depending on their capacity utilisation, their Efficiency and Performance as well as their material waste level. All Mudas were mapped in a prioritisation matrix (see example below) depending on their impact High or Low and their effort to implement Easy or Hard. The proposals are then listed in tables as first priority in green colour and second priority in orange colour for actions planning. Limitations of Lean programs The origin of Lean goes back to the Toyota Production System which has been created more than 40 years ago. For R. Suri (Suri, 2010) a new ground cannot be forged by focusing only on refining and implementing 40-year-old approach. Based on studies with more than 200 companies during the last 15 years, he listed few limitations related to Lean. For Suri, Lean is designed originally for production system with relatively high-volumes. Organisations that are offering high variety or customised products could not see how to implement Lean principles. According to Atkinson (Atkinson, 2010), [] LEAN must grow with the culture and not be imposed upon it. The author highlighted that too much attention is focused on the technical aspect of Lean, rather than the ambition to build a real self-sustaining Lean culture. Atkinson has listed seven misconceptions regarding Lean; first, Lean is frequently considered as a toolbox of techniques and methods that are pushed down to the organisation, rather than pulled and tailored to it. Second, Lean is not a cost reduction exercise to remove unnecessary cost out. Third, Lean concepts often are not applicable to processes and functions beyond operations. Forth, Lean often doesnt impact the design and the innovation processes. Fifth, Lean is to frequently be sold, surrounded by all the exotic terminology, as Japanese approach for improvement. Sixth, Lean does not necessitate a culture of continuous improvement and finally Lean is less concerned by the culture change. In his research of the top reasons for the failure of the major Lean initiatives, Lucey focused on the other dimensions as leadership, employees engagement and communication. Atkinson on the other hand highlighted the importance of the organisational culture that decides the success of Lean or any other improvement initiative and demonstrated that applying lean principles and tools is certainly not enough to achieve business excellence. For Treat, organisations practicing BPM may apply common Business Process Improvements (BPI) initiatives for certain improvement; nevertheless the usage of these BPI tools does not mean that the organisation is devoted to the effective application of BPM. In the same context, Hammer underlined in his process audit framework the crucial importance of applying two defined groups of characteristics that are necessary for business processes to continuously improve and sustain. These characteristics as described in the first section of this research are ba sed beside process management, on people Leadership, culture, knowledge skills and behaviours. Hence its evidently crucial to compare BPM and BPI approaches not only according to the MEM but as well from the Management perspective looking at how these approaches tackled the issues of Leadership, Culture Change, Process Management, and Continuous Improvement. Leadership Management: This factor is related to the role of top leaders and their behaviour in driving the organization towards Performance and Continuous Improvement. This central role has been accepted by experts and researchers as one of the major success factors for reaching Business Performance. Management in general is more concerned about controlling, problem fixing and making short term results and Leadership is more about the ability of giving directions, developing a vision and setting strategies to achieve this vision (Kotter, 1993, Kotter, 1996). In few words, leaders foster change and transformation in the organisation. Engaging leaders and top Mangers is the key first step for a successful implementation of Process Business Excellence. Culture Change: The ultimate Culture Change objective is to drive performance across the whole organisation in order to exceed customer expectations and therefore to win in the market place. A robust culture would promote effective performance only when it contains values and norms that helps to engage people, manage the change and the shifting to a competitive environment (Atkinson, 2010; Kotter, 1993). Literature supports Kotter and states that this kind of culture will impact positively on the productivity and performance of the organisation. As an illustration, there is a clear parallel between people engagement and the sustainability of lean initiatives (Lucey et al., 2005). The research literature shows that engaged workforce can have a huge impact on growth, profitability and competitiveness (Lucey et al., 2005) therefore a measure and monitoring of this engagement is crucial for sustaining any continuous improvement process. Process Management: Businesses are driven by a multitude of various processes, but concentrating on the core and essential ones either in operation or beyond will improve the organisation Performance. Core Processes have to be continually reviewed, measured and improved and employees should focus on defining the perfect process, eliminating any unnecessary phases, challenging the lead times or the base costs. A Performing organisation is where processes are mapped, measured and improved for all core business activities. The development of a new business process is also one of the key activities affecting Business Performance and competitive abilities. The association between cause and effects, inputs and outputs of a process must be the guiding principles to applying BPI methodologies. Efforts and resources spent other than on managing processes and changing the culture to achieve strategic objectives is waste (Atkinson, 2010). Therefore getting the processes right first is a prerequisite for achieving Performance objectives. Finally processes have to be visualised and communicated in a way that each employee can see and understands the process. Visual systems should allow everyone to have the capability to answer the question, if everything is flowing the way it should be and if we are on time to customer demand? BPM helps to create a current state map of an existing flow, then develop and implement a future state based on BPI principles. Continuous Improvement (CI): As mentioned in the introduction, organisations make efforts to implement Business Process Improvement programs to improve operational performance and achieve Business Excellence. Some of them try to move from episodic process improvements to building and sustaining their ability to improve processes continually. BPI methods help these organisations to understand and implement the concept of Continuous Improvement. But according to Brad Power (Power, 2011), if an organisation tries to institutionalize continuous process improvement based on just one approach, it will run into trouble because no single method has all the elements for sustaining continuous process improvement. Therefore Power emphasises the fact that if organisations want to keep their processes up to date continually, they need to be able to use many approaches to embedding improvement in their management systems. TQM started applying first the principle of Demings cycle Plan-do-check-act (PDCA) to continuously improve the quality, achieve customer satisfaction and reduce costs. While Six Sigma supporters claim that if you train enough people (belts..) and you measure performance, you achieve the cultural transformation toward continuous improvement. According to Hammer, advises organisations to continually assess their processes against his model of process maturity (Hammer, 2007). He advised to put in place the governance and the infrastructure to track end-to-end process performance and finally install the right culture of process centricity and continuous improvement. On the other hand Lean approach aims to cascade strategic objectives into implications for process improvements to have people aligned behind the same direction. To ensure continuous improvement attitude Lean philosophy trust executives to act as coaches, helping people at the front-line to understand the importance of waste elimination and problem-solving. Power underline that the few companies who succeed in sustaining their process improvement have actually selected and used the best from each of BPM and BPI approaches to embed continuous improvement in their organisation. This fact supports further the need of streamlining BPM and BPI approaches and extract the essence of each methodology hence the relevance of this research. Combining BPM and BPI approaches Mandatory elements of a method (MEM) Before digging further into the integration of BPI and BPM approaches, its relevant to describe the MEM elements used by Zellner to evaluate the methodological degree of BPI approaches. In order to have continuity and the same benchmark system the MEM five mandatory elements (Zellner, 2011) has been used as well in this research. First element is the Procedure model that consists of defining the order of activities to be completed when deploying the approach. Second element refers to the Technique which supports an activity to generate specific results. Third element is the Results as such which the output produced by an activity. The element number four is defining the Roles of who is carrying out and responsible of an activity. Finally the fifth element is the so-called Information Model which involves the above-mentioned components and their interactions. According to Zellner a good systematic approach should embody all MEM at the best. By explaining how the MEM can support the act of improving a business process, Zellner underlines the need of a structure model that can define clearly hat to do step by step, which activity has to be performed and by who and which result is expected in an improvement project. The only thing that without referring explicitly to BPM, Zellner was describing the fundamental elements of BPM: Defining and mapping step by step the process, affecting to each activity a role and responsibility or more precisely a RACI matrix (who is Responsible and Accountable and who has to be consulted or informed). Then the inputs, outputs and instruction are defined. Finally the process map will be the Information Model described by Zellner to describe the relationship with all elements and represent the results. The following table summarises the main factors identi ¬Ã‚ ed from literature search based mainly on the findings of Zellner regarding BPI approaches taken and adapted in table # 1 and then completing these findings by integrating Lean, Six Sigma and BPM. The aim of this comparative study is to have a systematic and holistic approach to develop the mentioned integrated model with relevant constructs that will answer therefore research question RQ2. Lean and Six Sigma vs. BPM Lean and Six Sigma principles are now being applied to business processes. From one side Lean philosophy and Six Sigma techniques address performance improvement by reducing wastes and process variability while BPM provides the platform to implement this performance and to sustain it on an on-going basis across the whole organisation. With ERP system, most companies find it very difficult to implement Lean programs. This is because ERP systems have been focused around transactions and not processes (Nayak, 2007). Automated business processes are a complex set of system transactions requiring human and machine interfaces that make the changes difficult and time consuming. In this context BPM is an enabler for driving business process improvement in Lean and Six Sigma (Nayak, 2007). BPM tools provide the capability for monitoring, documenting, improving processes therefore are imperative for fulfilling the objectives of Lean principles. The following table benchmarks the key characteristics between BPM, Lean and Six Sigma. BPI BPM in Innovation Before concluding this literature review section and preparing the next chapter of the cross-case study on Innovation process, it is essential to review the literature regarding how BPI and BPM tackled specifically the innovation issue. Literature shows actually that BPI initiatives were focused mainly on operations where link to product, customers or consumers is obvious. The interest of operation management lay in production, material handling and wastes, cost efficiencies, planning, etc. and all activities related to things and logic but less with people, behaviours and interfaces. BPI beyond the operations is therefore quite novel and organisations have great opportunity for improving as well non-operational processes such as RD, HR, Finance or other Support and Management processes. With BPI and BPM, organisations have great opportunity for improving processes beyond operations. Much of waste in processes beyond operations is viewed as minor in nature and therefore ignored. Despite the impressive results that BPI techniques can achieve at operational level, many organisations failed to grasp its potential benefit for their processes beyond operations such as in RD, Management or Support processes. The difference between manufacturing and other areas beyond operations is that the employees introduce intrinsically variability into their activities. Therefore the challenges become quite different from those occurred in manufacturing environment. Conventional approaches to reduce waste: In order to eliminate or reduce wastes from processes beyond operations, companies can take the four typical actions, the first action is to reduce processing failures and activities that dont add any value to the customer; then to eliminate superfluous and inconsistent controls. The third action is to speed up the processes by decreasing lead times and complexity and final action is to ensure a constant effort on detecting perfections that customers really want. Innovation process is one of the core processes which are key facture for insuring sustainable growth and Profit. This process will be considered in this research in next Chapter of a cross-case Study. From the literature review and the research conducted by IBM Institute for Business Value in 2006 looked at number of companies that used BPI approaches as Lean-Six Sigma to improve performance and succeed broad-based innovations. Researchers from IBM identified four distinguishing elements of approaches that set some organisation apart from those keeping a traditional operational improvement mind-set. These characteristics are first having an innovation vision based on accurate customer and market insights, then a committed Leadership to permanent innovation; third having an alignment across the whole company and finally setting up organizational capabilities that made innovation a routine way of working. Gartner stated in 2010 regarding Innovation Process that a [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] successful innovation needs a disciplined management to transform novel ideas into business value and Innovation management requires a clear strategy, a business focus and a defined process model. According to Gartner, generation of revenue will increase and operational effectiveness will also improve if Companies succeed to manage properly their innovation programs. Design for Six Sigma (DFSS): Through DMAIC methodology organizations were able to make great improvements in reducing number of defects and therefore quality costs. However the quality level of Five Sigma (233 defects per million opportunities) is hard to exceed. The only way to improve further and achieve the ultimate level of Six Sigma is to redesign completely the process, product or service using Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) methodology (Antony 2002). According to Antony DFSS is a powerful approach to designing products, services and processes in a cost effective way to meet customer expectations. The aim of DFSS is not to substitute the NPDI (New Product Development and Introduction) process but to make it more robust, cost effective and capable to achieve high performance in meeting customer expectations (Antony 2002). Antony listed several benefits that could be gained by adopting DFSS: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Reduced time to market for new products development or renovations à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Reduced products life cycle costs à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Better understanding of Customers needs and expectations à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Reduced number of design changes and hence prototypes à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Enhanced quality and reliability à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Improved ability to manage risks in designing products services or processesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Methodology and tools of DFSS The methodological process of DFSS starts with Customers needs as an input and ends with high quality products, services or robust processes as an output. One popular DFSS methodology is the DMADV. It remains the number of characters and stages, and the general feeling the same as in the DMAIC acronym. The five phases of DMADV are defined as follows: Define the project goals and customer requirements (internal and external), Measure and determine customer needs and specifications, Analyze the process options to meet customer needs. Design the process to achieve customer needs. Verify the design performance and ability to meet customer needs. Another methodology of DFSS named IDOV is a known design approach especially in the manufacturing sector. The abbreviation is defined as IDOV: Identify customer needs and specifications (CTQs), Design to translate the customer CTQs into functional requirements and alternative solutions. A selection process selects the list of solutions to the best solution, Optimize uses advanced statistical tools to predict and model the performance or calculate and optimize the design or performance and Validate to confirm means and ensure that the design which is developed reaches the customer CTQs. Lean product development LPD or Lean Design as the name indicates, draws on ideas from Lean Production as described above in chapter Background of Business Process Improvement which condensed Lean thinking into five principles: specify value, identify the value stream, make the value flow, create pull in the process and pursue perfection. Although lean production can be described at various levels, Shah et al. (2008) argue that the dominant view rests on a set of practices and tools used in eliminating waste. They also present the four main features of lean production as being quality management, pull production, preventive maintenance and human resource management. In the early stages of lean thinking, the focus was on the area of production. An exception, although not using the LPD label, is Kennard (1991), who uses six characteristics to summarise the Japanese approach to product development processes: information-intense, continual learning, constant customer contact, phases overlap, adaptability and spe ed/accuracy in execution. Another early describer of Japanese product development efforts is Funk (1993), who emphasised multifunctional problem-solving, close relationship with customers and suppliers, incremental improvement and learning. Karlsson and Ahlstrom (1996) specified later on the applicability of the Lean principles in product development by defining LPD as follows: Lean product development comprises numerous interrelated techniques, including supplier involvement, cross-functional teams, concurrent engineering, integration of various functional aspects of each project, the use of a heavyweight team structure, and strategic management of each development project. Another aspect associated with LPD is that the leaner way of working will eventually speed up the development process. However, as advocated by Crawford (1992) accelerated product development is associated with risks such as trivial innovations driving out break-through innovations and mistakes happening when skipping steps that did provide necessary information. Finally, Yang and Cai (2009) point out that LPD does not directly support the issues of quality, reliability and robustness in the product design. Combining BPM, DFSS and LPD The main potential seen in merging BPM, DFSS and LPD is to achieve improvements in quality by reducing unwanted variation (as advocated in DFSS), while at the same time being able to increase flow and speed in the development processes (as focused in BPM and LPD) (Chang and Su, 2007; Jugulum and Samuel, 2008). As summarised by Yang and Cai (2009, p. 97) DFSS improves product value and product quality, whereas LPD improves product development lead time, efficiency, flexibility and product development cost. BPM will provide the right platform to map, enhance and manage the whole process. One challenge pointed out by Jugulum and Samuel (2008) is the differences in implementation of Six Sigma initiatives and lean. The latter being broad in focus (looking at end-to-end processes and launching improvement events therein) while Six Sigma works with in-depth projects focusing on a small improvement area within a process. To some extent the integrated approaches proposed appear to be rather standard DFSS approaches with the addition of LPD tools. In contrast, authors like Karlsson and Ahlstrom (1996), Haque and James-Moore (2004) and Morgan and Liker (2006) emphasise the importance of viewing LPD as a system rather than as a set of tools, which impacts working methods throughout the organisation, such as seeking supplier involvement and cross-functional integration. BPM, LPD and DFSS have different focuses, such as improvement, innov

Hotel Opening Human Resources Case Study Essay -- Business Management

A. Tall Pines Corporate Strategy and Human Resource Management Strategy mutually interact through direct influences on each other and both are subject to effects of the economic conditions within their environments. Major economic conditions that exist in favor of Tall Pines are the growth in population and local government programs. The local population is at 1.9 million which is forecasted to steadily increase for the next fifteen years. Riverton has also put an Economic Development Committee into action which is highly supportive of the Tall Pines Center, especially considering the tax revenue they will be giving the city and the state. Other aspects of corporate strategy that may interact with HR strategy are Industry Structure, Distinctive Competence, Competitive Advantage, and Product/Market Scope. HR strategies that may interact with Corporate Strategy along with Economic Conditions are Skills and Values, Culture, and Labor Markets. B. "Any hotel is only as good as its personnel." This statement made by Gordon McGregor, the hotel manager, clearly portrays Corporate Strategy influencing HR policies and procedures. When Natalie Sharp the Director of Personnel, Gordon and the Supervisory Staff adjourned their meeting on contemplating how they might develop a good HR strategy to attract good work candidates, and fill the remaining available positions at the hotel. Another way corporate strategy influences HR strategy is through Distinctive Competence. Gordon has 15 years experience with this chain and for the last two years he has been highly involved in the planning of Tall Pines Center. Natalie has worked with 2 other hotel chains and helped open a new 100-room motel in the southwest recently. Their experience combined wi... ... portrayed to the work force. For this reason it is imperative for employees to understand the HR motto that "a hotel is only as good as its staff." The third stage is the evaluation stage, in which the workers training results are measured and compared with criteria. In the future Tall Pines should plan weekly staff development meetings, and problem solving conferences to help workers get used to common and not so common problems that may occur at Tall Pines. Help workers develop problem-solving skills, develop a mentor program that can discuss employee concerns and also be great feedback to the training program. Adding a training professional to the Tall Pines staff would be a huge benefit to all involved management and workers. This would highly benefit future training programs by learning from past mistakes and help in perfecting future training programs.

Human Resource and Organizational Success Essay

A Human resource department is an organizational entity which is primarily formed to report organizational relationships, organize people and function in a manner that best supports organizational goals accomplishment. The key behind any Human resource department is the organizational devotion towards availing of efficient procedures, policies and people-friendly guidelines that will give support to the company (Cole, 2002). The department equally ensures the corporation vision, mission, values, company metrics together with other factors that keep the company on visionary focused are optimized. With this consideration, the focus of this paper will be on the benefits of having a Human resource department, the negative impact of not having a the department, the possible benefits or negative side effects a Human resource department on employees and the various types of Human resource departments. In tackling the issues that revolve around Human resource, the research done entailed past information concerning this sector in any organization. According to Cole (2002) the Human resource department in any organization its cornerstone in the sense that it gives the guideline that keeps the organization functional. In the course of this study, the benefits of having a Human resource department was attained in from both primary and secondary sources but the core information was obtained from secondary sources mainly text books. The negative impact of not having this department is a matter that has only been handled from one perspective by most of the authors in the sense that they mainly focus on the importance and advantages of having a Human resource unit in the organization. The danger or risk in evading this organizational unit has seldom been addressed and just a few writers among them McConnell (2001), Lewin, Mitchell, Sherer (2002) & Cole, all of whom have been engaged in writing about the same in their Human resource texts. The possible benefit of a Human resource sector on employees is equally an important focal point that had a lot of content as far as the sources used to carry out the research are concern. As observed the positive impact of the Human resource subdivision in the organization has a huge contribution to the employees’ welfare and output. According to some literary critics it was found that negative side effects of the Human Resource department on employees are equally present and form a major area of concern for most of the modern organizations. As a result of the numerous benefits that are associated with the various Human resource departments, they have been forced to have several sub units in order to carry out all their functionalities to total satisfaction. Benefits of having a Human Resource Department There are several benefits of the Human resource department to an organization such as employee recruitment and training. This department develops a systematic plan that is used when hiring the staff and aiding the building of professional work teams. The strategies that this department puts in place in implementing employment appointments are several. These include creation of internship opportunities, developing of test plans for the employees to be hired, allocating training sessions for the recruited employees and keenly analyzing any interviews. Building public relations is another vital role played by the Human resource section in an organization. An organization is aided by the Human resource to build proper referral systems and have proper public relations standards. It is very essential that a company develops excellent associations with other enterprises in the market so that it propels its earning by way of cooperation with other commercial sectors. The Human resource department is responsible for arranging business meetings, seminars and official business gatherings for an organization in order for the company to get acquainted with other businesses and the market at large. The same department is responsible for ensuring that the firm’s pay scale meets the terms of the changing laws and regulations. This in effect aids the firm in attaining and retaining competitive staff. The compensation managers determine commission rates and administer executive compensation programs for corporate staff that may be involved in issues such as sales on commission basis (Mathis & Jackson, 2007). When it comes to the developing of an organizational business plan, this department is an active participant. The plans in question involve both marketing and business decisions. The Human resource units’ dedicated professionals have the ability to implement marketing strategies and provide new plans that bring more capital and business to the organization. The end result increases the overall firm’s profitability. On the same note, expert consultants in the mediation and configuration of various opinions in the development of the business plan are situated in this very department. Consultancy provision is another gain that comes along with having a Human resource department. In an organization, the work-team or individual members of staff usually face numerous issues in the course of carrying out their duties (Lewin, Mitchell, Sherer, & Industrial Relations Research Association, 2002). The Human resource acts as a medium for all the advice employees seek and avail answers to general queries. Any managerial disputes are effectively handled by the Human resource department and employee problems are settled down proficiently and professionally. The Human resource branch acts as a business’ forethought by the fact that it deals with long-term business management. This department goes ahead to evaluate the business’ future scope and formulates approaches that seem most profitable to the organization in the long run and as such lead to business stability by establishing a firm medium for the corporation to stand on in future (Mathis & Jackson, 2007). In case of any potential business valuations by any other department in the firm, the Human resource unit works alongside the department in question to weigh the viability of its valuations. Due to the several benefits of having a Human resource division in the organization there are serious consequences of failing to incorporate this vital section into any corporation. A firm that either does not have a proper Human resource team in place or doesn’t have any has a lot of difficulty when it comes to having proper public relations. The reason is that, it’s a sub-section of the Human resource department which has the duty of ensuring the business maintains good public relations (Cole, 2002). The organizational referral systems would be in jeopardy due to inadequate public relations standards. This inadequacy in public relations eventually causes the business to relate poorly with other firms in the same industry and as such profitability gradually declines. A further cause for the profitability to decline would be as a result of in-capacitance of the organization to schedule business meetings, seminars and official business gatherings for acquaintance with other businesses. The firm’s ability to keep on monitoring the pay scale in relation to any changing laws and regulations would be a great challenge without the hand of the Human resource department. This in effect results in the firm failure to hire competent staff and retaining the same because qualified people in most cases are usually aware of the market wages of their profession. Adequate determination of commission rates for sales agents and administration of executive compensation programs for corporate staff would be a stumbling block for the organization in terms of employee motivation (Lewin, Mitchell, Sherer, & Industrial Relations Research Association, 2002). In developing organizational business plans, if present, the Human resource department is an active participant in the articulation. Due to the expertise involved in coming up with marketing and business decisions, it’s a great challenge for an organization without this department to have dedicated professionals to implement marketing strategies and work out new plans that bring more capital and business to the organization. The end impact is that the overall firm’s profitability would not rely on the business future plans as expected. When hiring staff, it’s very difficult for a company to come up with a proper procedure of the recruitment process and so they may end up hiring unqualified staff or worse still, turn away persons that are well suited for a given post. The main cause of this would be insufficiency in development of test plans for the employees to be hired, allocating training sessions for the recruited employees and poor analysis of interviews. Building of professional work teams is not possible when qualified persons from the Human resource department are not in the picture because the strategies that the professionals in such a department put in place can not be substituted by anyone who is not qualified to deal with Human resource related tasks professionally (McConnell, 2001). The creation of opportunities within the organization that would allow for internship opportunities may be overlooked. Unless the importance of allowing for internships is properly understood and its overall impact to the organization, only qualified employees may be considered in joining the organization. In any organization, the work-team or individual members of staff are bound to face numerous issues in the course of carrying out their duties. Without the Human resource incidences of strikes, go-slows, increased complaints and general worker dissatisfaction would be on the increase. This in effect lowers output and general company’s profitability declines (Lewin, Mitchell, Sherer, & Industrial Relations Research Association, 2002). Managerial disputes will equally result in resignations that effect loss of competent staff or frequency in engaging the organization in labor related cases in the courts. Business’ foresight especially in long-term business management is hampered if a company has no proper Human resource in place. The main reason for this occurrence is in the fact that evaluation of business future scope and formulation of profitable approaches to the organization in the long run is highly dependent on a competent Human resource team. A further cause would be alluded to the fact that, it’s only the Human resource department expertise employees that can work alongside other department in the firm if a thought emanates and they would see its fulfillment. Benefits of the Human Resource Department on employees Establishment and maintenance of a firm’s pay structure is done by the compensation managers within the Human resource sector. With the aid of compensation analysts, compensation managers formulate ways of ensuring that the pay rates are fair and equitable. They take a further step by participating in salary surveys to find out if the firm’s pay matches up to others in the same industry. Additionally, the department oversees the company’s performance management system compensation side. In effect, this ensures that they design a reward system for pay-for-performance plans that includes the setting of merit pay guidelines and incentive or bonus pay criteria. The major beneficiary in this instance is the employee so that underpayment is avoided. The employee assistance plan managers in the Human resource segment are responsible for programs that enhance employee wellness and safety which improves their work-life balance. These may comprise of occupational health and safety standards and practices, physical fitness and health promotion, minor health treatment and medical examinations, transportation programs and carpooling, employee suggestion systems, elder and child care plus counseling services. The counseling aids employees deal with alcoholism, emotional disorders, consumer, marital, legal, family and financial problems (McConnell, 2001). They do this by maintaining the application forms for the workers that are beneficiaries, claim forms and benefit booklets so as to give out to the relevant employees. Moreover, this department handles the distribution identification cards that insurance firms provide for the employees. Besides, the Human resource section helps employees by ensuring that they receive pay rises and promotions and the end result is motivation, enhanced morale and productivity. Labor relations managers within the Human resource department implement industrial labor relations programs that benefit all the employees. Information for management use during collective bargaining agreement consultations is prepared. The labor relations staffs then administer the contract after interpreting it in relation to salaries and wages, grievances, employee welfare, healthcare, pensions, union and management practices together with other contractual stipulations. Educating of organizational employees on the laws that protect their rights and development of their skills via availing courses and classes that teach them new skills and upgrade their prior education is another importance of the Human resource department. With better skills the staff is in a better position to benefit the company more, furthermore the employees are well prepared for jobs that require greater skill (McConnell, 2001). Training of workers to a level that their output meets the required standards is necessary if the organizational goals are to be met. In addition, the Human resource department trains employees on safety measures at work and on how they should look out for each other including the new employees. The workers are educated on skills that improve their interpersonal relations both in and out of the organization (Grundy & Brown, 2003). The Human resource department has training specialists that set up executive or leadership development programs for employees that aspire to move up in the organizational rank. Other training programs assist employees on job transitions due to consolidations or mergers and retraining programs as result of technological changes. Negative effects of the Human Resource Department on employees The establishment of Human resource departments has some negative impact to the employees. For instance when it comes to wages and maintenance of a firm’s pay structure revision, issues to do with inflation and the value of a country’s currency are at times not put into consideration. This occurs in such a way that, as much as the pay is increased it fails to add value due to the cost of living. The salary surveys taken are at times done on a random basis and not fully competent in the industry but their overall result has to be incorporated in the firm. During implementation of programs that enhance employee wellness and safety, the criterion of merit keeps on shifting from time to time and as such some employees are forced to seek their own medical attention and insurance cover especially when it is decided that such benefits will not be given to all the employees (Guerin & DelPo, 2009).

Upsr, Pmr and Spm Should Be Abolish

In June 2010, the Minister of Education Muhyiddin announced the probability of UPSR, and PMR examinations being abolished. With the ever changing policies from the Ministry of Education every time the minister changes,(Kheru,2011) this news came as a no surprise. But the main issue still remains intact. It is not just the UPSR, and PMR, but should we just abolish the whole three main examinations, UPSR, PMR, and SPM?Even though examinations makes students focus in their studies, and can differentiate, whether they should be in the arts stream or in the science stream, these examinations only restricts creative thinking because it makes the students study only for the sake of passing the examinations and students do not study anything other than the topics that will appear in the examinations. The first argument that the anti-abolishment poses is that the students can focus in their studies with the UPSR, PMR and SPM examinations. However, students can still focus on their studies wit h the normal semester tests and yearly examinations.The normal examinations will be more effective because it will keep the students on their toes because they do not only have one test to pass but a monthly/ yearly tests/ examinations. It will actually make the students take examinations more seriously because the examinations would be treated as a long- term assessment. (Murali, 2012) For example, every month we have a simple test just to check the progress of the students, then before the first semester break and the year-end break, conduct an examination. It is just like our current system, just without the UPSR, PMR and SPM.The next argument stated by the anti-abolishment is that the examination is the only way the school can differentiate the students that will go to science stream or arts stream (Fared, 2010). But, with the long-term assessment, the teachers would know what suits them most through the results of the exam. The students talents will show in the results, whether they are more suited for science stream or art stream. The teachers will play an important role in the selection of students because it is them that have the most contact with the students.They should be able to tell whether the students are more suitable in science or arts. For example, if a student’s results shows that she excels at math and science, then he/she is suited more in the science stream but if a student shows continuous problems in science and mathematics, then he/she is probably not suited for the science stream. Thirdly, the anti-abolishment stated that the teachers will start being lazy if the three main exams are abolished. (Fared, 2010). With the long-term assessment, the teachers’ job will be more than enough.The teachers would need to pay attention to the students’ growth more closely because the students’ potential will be gauge only by the teachers so that to determine whether their abilities belong in the science or arts stream. T he tests and year examinations will make sure the teachers teach the students properly by completing the syllabus on time. The teachers also have to conduct other activities to fully gauge out the students potential and further develop their creativity and self-confidence with activities which makes them to be more outgoing and open-minded.Personally I think that the three examinations (UPSR, PMR and SPM) will result in the students to lack personality and creativity, and will not be qualified enough to fulfil future careers. The exam-oriented education system distorts motivation and learning by overemphasising the importance of scores as outcomes and measures of students' abilities. (Murali, 2012) This statement could not be more true, as there are many students which have excellent scores but their soft skills, like public speaking and presenting their own ideas and arguments, are largely lacking.Moreover, students lack the confidence to correct the teachers if the teachers are wr ong. According to Murali, in the article ‘GOOD scores, no life skills, â€Å"In my classes, students do not dare to talk with me because of the lack of confidence and intellect to justify arguments. † They are used to having blinding faith in authority, which are the teachers and the textbooks. They would not even think that the teachers or the textbooks could be wrong.Resulting in them being too dependent on the teachers and are not willing to do more than what they had done in class. To sum it up, despite the fact that examinations makes students focus in their studies, and can differentiate, whether they should be in the arts stream or in the science stream, we should keep in mind that these examinations only hampers creative thinking because it makes the students study only for the sake of making the grade the examinations and students do not study anything other than the topics that will appear in the examinations.We should take the education system of countries li ke US, Australia and the European Union as a reference because their system provides the students the opportunities to improve many types of their intelligence. The students are encourage to be creative, free-thinking, more tolerant and open-minded person. ( Kheru, 2011) Countries like China, Japan and Korea have already started to make a changes in their education system, albeit slowly. So, when are we going to start? Or are we still going to stick with the system that was created when we were still colonised by the British?

20 Cause and Effect Essay Topics Climate Change Issues You Should Discuss in Your Paper

20 Cause and Effect Essay Topics Climate Change Issues You Should Discuss in Your Paper If you are facing an essay on the economics of climate change, you need to first settle on a topic. Below are twenty great topics that you might be able to use for your writing assignment: The Growth of Solar Panel Installation Jobs Birds Change Migration Patterns and Other Animals Are Going Extinct because of Loss of Natural Habitat How Warmer Climates Kill Krill Shrimp and Influence Human Food Supply and Economic Costs How Scientists Measure Climate Change and Predict Problematic Changes in Weather How Melting Ice Caps Discourage Frequency of Hurricanes but Increase Severity How Climate Change Adversely Affects Agriculture Leading to Increased Economic Costs and Social Instability How Rising Sea Levels and More Severe Storms Affect Animals and Their Habitats Leading to Issues of National Security and Food Shortages The History of Solar Energy and Wind Energy Solar Thermal Energy and the Capture of Sun with Curved Mirrors Compared to Historical Solar Energy Methods How Wind Energy Derives from Solar Energy by Way of the Sun’s Hot Air Raising to Meet With Cooler Air Wind and Kinetic Energy Being Converted Into Electricity Compared To Costs of Traditional Energy How Capturing Wind Energy Requires Kinetic Energy with Electric Turbines Is Similar to Windmill Energy Collection How Wind Energy Fields Have Created Wind Energy Jobs How Economic Growth Is Affected by Climate Change How Faster Onset of Droughts and Food Shortages Influences Social Stability How Natural Disasters Like Floods or Hurricanes Threaten National Security How Humanitarian Crises Following Climate Change Require Government Responses How Military Assistance for Climate Change Disasters Increases the Need for Advanced Planning and Environmental Re-evaluation How Changes in Environmental Policy for Climate Change Require Additional Time and Money from Governments How Military Assistance for Climate Change Disasters Increases the Need for Environmental Re-evaluation Sample Cause Effect Essay on How Wind Energy Fields Have Created Wind Energy Jobs The process of capturing wind and solar energy takes the kinetic energy and turns it into electrical energy such as what a windmill does. To do this, a wind energy system is used which contains two electric turbines. The first is the vertical-axis and the second is the horizontal-axis. There is a tower to attract the wind, attached to an enclosed generator, the two blades which cause the rotation, and the electric equipment. When the wind and solar energy is collected and converted, it is transferred to nearing power lines. Currently, some turbines have a capacity to produce 5,000 kilowatts (kW) of energy. The average turbine, however, produces a mere 1,000 kW of energy. A kilowatt is one thousand watts which is measured as one kilowatt per hour. It takes a 50-watt light bulb left on for twenty hours to consume on kilowatt hour. Outside determinants of the energy produced from wind energy is based on the wind speed. The average wind speed needed for average productivity is winds blow ing at a rate of nine miles per hours. Typically, wind turbines run about sixty-five to ninety percent of the time, depending on winds. Wind energy is produced by the turbines at wind power plants which consist of a conglomerate of machines all functioning next to one another. Wind energy jobs are now becoming very prominent throughout the United States as the effort to go green and protect the environment moves forth. Wind energy jobs are available for both manual positions as well as high and low level administrative positions. A director of Grid Development is a higher end position within wind energy jobs. This position is the type to oversee the execution of strategic plans across a given business region which covers new transmission development opportunities. These wind energy jobs would include responsibilities such as negotiating between business partners to achieve the best parameters and terms of agreement alongside working with legal departments to draft final agreement documents. Regional stakeholders are responsible for input on current and future relationships to strategic partners. Therefore these wind energy jobs require constant evaluation for new opportunities and presenting proposals and company objectives. Other requirements for wind ene rgy jobs would be a slight knowledge of the field of wind energy with experience as a preferred measure. Positions of this nature do have higher requirements such as corporate development and finance experience, a Bachelor’s degree in business or engineering most often, as well as leadership experience. Wind energy jobs also include the position of Residential Energy Sales. Like any major company, field sales staff is needed to identify areas wherein energy efficiency needs improvement, as well as determining insulation levels within residential areas, any road blocks which might inhibit weather. These wind energy jobs also require sales teams to explain how wind energy is efficient, less expensive, and what measure would be needed for homeowners to begin using said energy forms. Energy auditors are required for wind energy jobs as their positions develop and manage energy audit programs which are responsible for calculating monthly and annual costs for residential and commercial buildings. Maintaining the advancement of wind energy as an efficient and sustainable energy source, and staying informed about technological advances in the field of wind energy as an alternative method are all viable qualities this type of personnel would require. Duties of these wind energy jobs would be maintaining energy reduction projects, developing new strategies for the reduction of environmental impact, and building energy audit programs within the wind energy industry. Other tasks would be analyzing historical energy uses, consumption patterns, any anomalies, and then taking said information to determine any target areas for improvement. Other more remedial duties would be reviewing documents, maintaining staff, schedules, and performance. Of course other options for wind energy jobs include alternative energy instructors or professional teachers, wind energy sales, mechanical engineers, mechanical designers, technical program managers, energy services specialists, marketing specialists, front desk receptionists, engineers, proposal coordinators, helpdesk specialists, construction managers, chief marketing officers, instructors, freelance writers, net programmers, campaign specialists, director of facility operations, sales professionals, software engineers, and controls engineers. Many of the aforementioned positions require a Bachelor’s degree in either engineering or business with ample room for growth and development. Some of the more astute positions require a Master’s degree in any of the related areas of study, and many seek individuals with experience in the given field or a passion for wind energy. References Brainard, Lael, Abigail Jones, and Nigel Purvis.  Climate Change And Global Poverty. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press, 2009. Print. Chichilnisky, Graciela.  The Economics Of Climate Change. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar, 2010. Print. Helm, Dieter, and Cameron Hepburn.  The Economics And Politics Of Climate Change. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. Print. Navarra, A, and Laurence Tubiana.  Regional Assessment Of Climate Change In The Mediterranean. Dordrecht: Springer, 2013. Print. Nordhaus, William D.  Managing The Global Commons. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1994. Print. Owen, Anthony David, and Nick Hanley.  The Economics Of Climate Change. London: Routledge, 2004. Print. Shackleton, Robert.  The Economics Of Climate Change. Washington, DC: Congress of the U.S., Congressional Budget Office, 2003. Print.