Virginia Business Lawsuit Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Virginia Business Lawsuit - Term Paper Example This would lead to the endangerment of their lives and would also inconvenience them in their shopping. The plaintiffs complained of there parking spaces being built on slopes and that the curb ramps were built on excessively steep grades. They also complained of the mall having improper access point to the buildings making access to the building for the disabled difficult. The malls also lacked handrails to assist the disabled in their movements into the mall. This made it to be increasing difficult for the disabled customers to navigate efficiently in the malls. The restrooms had toilet facilities that were unsuitable for the disabled customers since, they did not have the required specifications to accommodate the disabled. All this factors led to the disabled taking action against the mall for discrimination and ignorance on the needs of the disabled. The lawsuit involved the major malls located in the region. They included â€Å"Crossroads mall, Valley View Mall, Tanglewood Mal l, Towne Square Shopping Center, Lake Drive Plaza and Spartan Square Shopping Center† (Hammock, 2012). The lawsuit was forwarded on behalf of the plaintiffs by the national alliance for accessibility. The group cited the lawsuit was because of the gross violations by the malls on the Americans with Disabilities Act. The act was created to protect the rights of the disabled by ensuring they can access public places. The act has litigation that governs the environment that is needed to make certain that this admission is realized. The lawsuit also included other public institutions. These institutions comprised of two motels and a university (Hammock, 2012). The management of the malls had not put the interests of the disabled high on their agenda. They seemed to have forgotten about the special needs of the disabled segment of the clientele. This neglect led to the lawsuits that not only discredited malls, but also suffered financial consequences for the violations. It is essen tial for the management to ensure that their companies or organizations follow the rule of law. This is by ensuring that the set requirements for the business are met to avoid legal consequences. In the case of the disability lawsuit, the managers of the malls mentioned in the lawsuit could have avoided this whole scenario if they complied with the law. The managers of the malls and the other mentioned institutions should have carried out a risk assessment. This is in order to know what risks the customers and employees face, in the mall environment. This would have enabled the management to categorize the issues that need to be rectified and the matters that need to be addressed. This risk assessment would have enabled the management to be conscious of the predicament of the disabled and correct them before they became a legal matter. The risk assessments are inclusive since the views of customers and employees are collected. If the risk assessment would have been carried out, the management would have become aware of the plight of the disabled customers. This would have made it possible for them to rectify the problem avoiding lawsuits that would rise from the issue. This would have saved the company legal fees and settlement payments. The risk assessment would also have been helpful in that other problems that the management was not aware of would be brought to light

Elemica Global Expansion Strategy Business Information Technology Essay

Elemica Global Expansion Strategy Business Information Technology Essay Elemica is a global e-commerce company in the chemical industry which provides web-based order management and supply chain applications and services. This report aims at outlining the strategy for Elemicas e-business trading hub global expansion. First, the environmental analysis of Elemica has been discussed. The SWOT analysis of Elemicas current business is discussed, followed by evaluation of elemicas online B2B industry using Porters five forces model. The various ICT challenges which will be faced by Elemica during global expansion have been identified. The various risks, opportunities available, associated costs and critical success factors for the global expansion have been discussed. A strategy map has been defined along with a balanced score card which measures the effectiveness of the B2B expansion strategy. After exploring all the opportunities and risks involved and evaluating the effectiveness of the strategy, the following recommendations have been made: Switch to cloud computing in order to easily expand into international market and be updated with the latest technology. Follow all the regulatory compliances in its e-business initiative and apply business ethics to be followed in different countries. Ensure that all the cross-border transactions follow security protocols and are safe and secure. Being sensitive to cultural differences in expanding countries and making the change management process smooth. These recommendations will thus help Elemica to successfully expand its B2B e-business strategy and establish a dominant position in the world market. Table of Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 2 Table of Contents 3 1.INTRODUCTION 4 2. ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS 5 2.1 COMPANY ANALYSIS 5 2.3 CORE COMPETENCIES 8 2.4 MAJOR COMPETITOR 8 2.5 CURRENT BUSINESS MODEL 8 2.6 MARKET ANALYSIS AND TRENDS 9 2.8 INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY CHALLENGES 11 3. BUSINESS CASE FOR ELEMICA 13 4.PROPOSED PROJECT PLAN 19 4.1 PROJECT PLANNING AND CHANGE MANAGEMENT 19 5.ASSESSING ONLINE B2B INDUSTRY TRADING HUB 21 5.2STRATEGY MAP 24 6.RECOMMENDATIONS 26 6.4 BUSINESS PROCESS REDESIGN AND SYSTEMS INTEGRATION 28 6.7 SUPPORT SERVICES 29 CONCLUSION 30 LIST OF REFERENCES 31 ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY 33 1.INTRODUCTION This report aims at understanding the business of Elemica and hence, develops a strategic plan for the global expansion of e-business at Elemica. As the Chief Information Officer (CIO) of Elemica, an in-depth analysis of the company is presented in the report. It includes environmental analysis of Elemicas online B2B trading industry hub and also identifies the potential for global expansion of e-business. The report will assist the company to expand its core activities in the international market. It also highlights the risks associated with expanding the e-business globally. It identifies the target groups, the characterization of target groups, and how to build value into Elemicas services as desired by its customers, which are essential for the success of e-commerce (Fellenstein Wood 2000). Many inhibiting factors related to culture, security, language, legal rules, cross-border data flow, ethical regulations etc. which are present in global systems (Laudon Laudon 2006), have also been discussed. It also evaluates the entire plan by providing a Balanced Score Card to measure its effectiveness and a strategy map that will ensure the integration of strategy with implementation. The basic purpose of this project is to determine whether Elemica should go ahead with the global expansion of its online B2B trading hub or not. . 2. ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS Elemica is a global e-commerce company founded by 22 leading corporations in the chemical industry which provides web-based order management and supply chain applications and services. It provides a single hub which provides companies with a one-stop solution through which companies can buy and sell chemicals to one another through their ERP systems or web alternative. It enables companies to link their internal IT systems through a neutral platform. Elemica is the first e-commerce company in the chemical industry which has successfully commercialized its ERP-to-ERP connectivity. It provides a modular, hosted solution that simplifies sales, procurement and financial processes; integrate supply chain partners in order to diminish communication barriers; and reduce overhead and errors. 2.1 COMPANY ANALYSIS Elemica is a privately held company with 150 employees. It has 2500 partners in its supply chain network and $60 billion in annual transactions. It is headquartered at Pennsylvania with offices in Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Seoul, London, Singapore, Shanghai and Tokyo. VISION: To be the leading provider of supply chain integration and optimization services to the industries we serve; tire and rubber, chemical, energy and selected manufacturing industries. Clients rely on Elemica solutions and services to deliver Bottom Line Results, Enhanced Supply Chain Reliability, Quick and Easy Implementation, and Deep Industry Expertise. (Source: www.elemica.com) SWOT ANALYSIS: It is necessary to conduct a SWOT analysis of Elemica in order to develop a competitive advantage by identifying its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (Friend, 2009). It will enable Elemica to build on its strengths, overcome its weaknesses, identify the opportunities available and reduce its exposure to threats. STRENGTHS: One of the most sophisticated technology platforms in B2B space A single hub for all transactions One stop solution to its clients Addresses e-commerce needs of companies of all sizes Helps companies automate their businesses Creates efficiencies and economies of scale Reduces clients overhead and errors WEAKNESSES: Does not buy, sell or own a product Highly fragmented chemical industry with large number of companies Internet is required for the service OPPORTUNITIES: Expansion into international markets Diversifying its industry such as the rubber and tire industry, etc. where B2B e-business is possible Including reviews and feedback from long term customers so that new companies get attracted Facility of online auctions Providing for private collaborative hubs THREATS: Non-acceptance of business model in international markets Outdated technology in some time Emergence of new competitors with better technology 2.2 VALUE PROPOSITION OF ELEMICA Value proposition is the benefit that a companys products or services provide to its customers. (Turban et al, 2010, p. 591). The value proposition offered by Elemica is as follows: A single hub for all the companies to do all their transactions. Only one connection needed for all transactions unlike some other companies offering similar services. A super platform which connects the ERP systems of all participating companies which allows the companies to electronically communicate with each other and to conduct the transactions. Acts as an intermediary which only links all the companies together and then they can conduct confidential transactions electronically. Enables a company that signs up for its services to conduct business with all the other buyers as well as suppliers which are linked through Elemica. It offers four modules: procurement, logistics, and customer replenishment (automate inventory replenishment and ordering), and order management. Provides support of Elemicas Professional Services and Implementation Team to its new clients. This ensures that the on-boarding process is successful and increases acceptance of the business value with its major trading partners. Addresses e-commerce needs of chemical companies which are of all sizes. Results in improved operational efficiency, reduced costs and a higher percentage of safe and reliable deliveries 2.3 CORE COMPETENCIES The core competency of Elemica is to provide web based order management and supply chain applications and services. It delivers this by: Providing four modules: procurement, logistics, and customer replenishment (automate inventory replenishment and ordering), and order management. Single hub for all transactions. 2.4 MAJOR COMPETITOR The major competitor of Elemica in this space is ChemConnect, which was founded in 1995. It offers services similar to Elemica, but it does not connect the ERP systems of the participants. It has 9000 customers and is spread out in around 150 countries. (Figures as in 2009). 2.5 CURRENT BUSINESS MODEL Elemica provides a one-stop solution to all its customers to carry out transactions. It integrates the flow of information among the trading partners by using a Business Process Network (BPN). Once a client is connected to Elemica, it gets access to thousands of buyers and suppliers. The clients are charged for the service on the basis of volume of usage. The business model works in the following way: When a client is in need of some material, it puts up a message on its ERP system. This message goes to Elemicas platform asking its members for the availability of the material. Several of Elemicas members respond to the message by responding with quotations. At this point, both the purchaser as well as the seller is anonymous. The client decides from whom to purchase based on the quoted prices. When the shipping is arranged, the identity of the parties is revealed. When the order is confirmed, the platform is used to paln and co-ordinate delivery, automate invoice and pay one another. Elemicas revenues are generated by charging transaction fees from its clients on a per-transaction basis. Elemicas business model is sustainable because it integrates all the supply chain partners, thus reducing the communication and transaction time. The customers are able to connect to a large number of buyers and suppliers on a single platform, without having to purchase any internal system for themselves. Also, since they are charged on a transaction basis, the revenues are continuous and sustainable and are more efficient than older EDI based solutions which charged on the basis of inter-company transactions. Also, it addresses the needs of chemical companies of all sizes. It thus results in increased operational efficiency, lowering of costs, less inventory, and safe and speedy deliveries. These results in customer satisfaction and thus result in attracting more new customers. 2.6 MARKET ANALYSIS AND TRENDS With the advent of internet, there has been a major shift in the way companies do business. There has been a high visibility of B2C e-commerce, whereas it is the B2B e-commerce which provides a large amount of marketplace spending ( Pierfrancesco Manenti, 2010). The total spending by B2B e-commerce is more than 85% of the total spending of B2X e-commerce all over the world (according to IDC estimate). Research has shown that B2B e-commerce is more used by the firms in U.S. However, it is growing at a fast pace in Europe as well because the manufactures are becoming more acceptable to this concept. It has been found that only 4% of the total turnover in manufacturing sector is generated through B2B e-commerce sales (data from Eurostat). Hence, there is a great scope for e-commerce to expand in new countries as well as expand their business domain, which provides Elemica with a great business opportunity. 2.7 EVALUATION OF ELEMICAS ONLINE B2B INDUSTRY TRADING HUB The best way to evaluate Elemicas online B2B industry is by using Porters five forces model. According to the model, there are 5 forces which affect the industry and the economic value that gets divided among the industry players (Turban, 2007). Threat of new entrants: Due to continuous advances in technology, there is always a threat of a new company coming up with a latest technology and dominating the market scenario. This might make Elemica outdated. Hence, there is a high risk of new entrants coming into the market which makes it inevitable for Elemica to continuously improvce it systems and be updated with the latest techniques. Bargaining Power of Suppliers: The bargaining power of suppliers is limited for Elemica because Elemica just provides a platform for them to make transactions. Also, the suppliers in the chemical industry are also buyers themselves, and hence are dependent on each other. Also, Elemica provides them with a neutral platform where they can easily transact with intermediate costs and time wastage removed. Threat of substitute products or services: Threat of substitute products/services entering the market is high because e-commerce is a very dynamic business. Any new technology or concept can easily replace it. Also, physical transactions can also easily act as a substitute to online services. Bargaining Power of Buyers: The bargaining power of buyers is again limited because of the interdependence of buyers and suppliers on each other. But since they have a large number of options available, they can easily choose from among them and get the best deals. Rivalry among Existing Competitors: There is a large scope for e-commerce online industry to grow as a whole. Also, with limited competitors in this space, there is less of a rivalry and majorly the company providing easy and better services will dominate the market. 2.8 INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY CHALLENGES With Elemica planning to expand globally, there are several ICT challenges that will be faced by Elemica: As the customers will become increasingly global, a major chaleenge for Elemica is to manage the relationship between buyers and suppliers who may belong to different countries and cultures. Hence, Elemica must develop a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system in order to ensure that the customer relationships are long term, sustainable and add value. It will also need to be considered as to how Elemica will integrate the legacy systems that the companies currently use. Instead of connecting the ERP systems of the companies to the hub, Elemica can switch to cloud computing which will eliminate the need for integration. In order to keep up with the latest technology, Elemica can switch to cloud computing which will provide all the network facilities over the network without any need for connecting the ERP systems of the clients. The companies will then be able to access their account at any computer with internet access. This will reduce the costs incurred as well as attract more number of customers globally. While handling cross-border transactions, Elemica needs to be extra careful about the security issues and the data transfer protocols and standards to be followed. It needs to be in compliance with the international copyright laws and security standards. 3. BUSINESS CASE FOR ELEMICA 3.1 OPPORTUNITIES AND OBJECTIVES The opportunities available with Elemica are as follows: Expand its business to other countries and thus provide online supply chain integration by acting as a neutral platform for all the transactions. The challenge is to expand the system into other countries and also take care of the logistics for distribution. Adopting latest technologies so that the existing technology does not become obsolete. This will add more customers to the e-business and also make the business model more sustainable. For global expansion, Elemica can shift to cloud computing. This will save the companies from connecting their ERP systems to central software. The applications needed to run the business could be stored on servers. This will save the company costs and companies across the globe can easily do business just by logging into the internet. It will help them connect to anybody and anywhere in the world. Also, the customers can easily collaborate and work on big projects in real time. Another opportunity in the area of expansion for Elemica is that it can allow buyers to compare products from different vendors and customize their product requirements from a variety of vendors. Elemica must also start interaction among the vendors wherein they can post their comments and reviews about its services. This will help attract new customers and also enhance the credibility of the company. 3.2 CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS Critical success factors (CSFs) are a few key activities that can determine the success or failure for any type of organization (McLeod Schell, 2001). By identifying the critical success factors, companies can develop strategies and also prioritize their activities for future business (Ward Peppard, 2002). The critical success factors for Elemica to go in for a global expansion are: Need to be more customer oriented in order to be sensitive to cultural differences and be responsive to their varying needs. The web interface must also be in the local language of the countries where Elemica plans to expand. Deliver secure and reliable connection to its users. Ensure that all the transactions and data transfers remain confidential and privacy policy is adequate. Compliancy with international standards must be maintained before entering into expansion into international markets. The tax implications must be kept in mind for the success of a business in other countries. It needs to be ensured that the company is in compliance with the local tax rules. Need to be up-to-date with the latest technology so that the business model does not become obsolete and also to prevent competition. 3.3 COSTS AND BENEFITS (ROI) It is essential to calculate the return on investment before taking any business decision to ensure that the returns will be favorable for the business. It is a tool which helps in evaluating information technology and electronic commerce investments (Turban, 2008). The ROI formula divides the total net benefits (revenues less costs, for each Year) by the initial cost, resulting in a ratio that measures the ROI for each year or an entire period (Turban 2010). The various costs involved in the expansion of Elemica globally will be: Marketing costs: A marketing strategy needs to be developed in order to attract customers all across the globe. Also, advertising costs will be incurred to establish the brand image of Elemica in new countries. This will be a significant cost because the marketing campaigns need to be customized according to different locations and local markets. Operating costs: Operating costs will differ for each country. This will include the training assistance program costs and other support costs to its customers. These costs will vary because the currency values in each country will vary and the exchange rates also need to be taken into account. Also, operating costs will increase because now the hub needs to be customized for local markets and more number of customers means higher maintenance costs. Employee costs: More number of employees will be needed to handle the expanding business. Local people will have to be recruited in order to understand the local needs and be responsive to them accordingly. Administrative costs: Administrative costs will go up with an increasing number of customers. Opportunity costs: It is the cost associated with not taking an electronic commerce initiative (Schneider, 2007). If Elemica does not go ahead with the expansion, some costs will be incurred for not going with this plan, called as opportunity costs. The revenue will be generated through: Transaction fees: The clients are charged on a per transaction basis. With increased number of customers, the number of transactions will increase and hence the revenue. Training fees: The training fees charged for increasing acceptance and making the on-boarding smooth will also increase with increasing number of members. 3.4 BENEFITS OF EXPANDING GLOBALLY The benefits associated with expanding globally are: It will offset sales decline in the domestic market, if any. Even if there is not much decline in revenues in the domestic market, having a global network will act as a safeguard for future. It will increase the life cycle of our services because it may be possible that this technology gets outdated in the domestic market, but in new markets this might still be new. If Elemica goes into cloud computing, it will attract a large set of new clients, both in the domestic as well as international market, thus leading to increased revenues and higher market share. It will improve its competitive position and help in establishing itself as a global brand. 3.5 RISKS ASSOCIATED Having a web based platform makes the system susceptible to risks associated with the internet. Hence, it is important that the problems which will most likely cause damage is addressed (Van der Walt, 2002). Hence, the risks associated with global expansion of Elemicas e-business are as follows: Security issues: With data and transactions scanning across the globe, there might be security concerns and different protocols to be followed in different countries. Also, there might be concerns regarding the misuse of information that is transferred over the internet. Payment issues: With difference in currencies and exchange rates, it might become difficult to make payments among the collaborating parties, which might result in loss of cross border transactions. Threat of Frauds: Proper mechanism would have to be in place to prevent any fraudulent customers to join the network and take undue advantage. Server crashes: There might be server crashes due to expansion into remote areas which might cause the entire system to fail and thus result in huge losses. Improper integration: Risk of improper integration of the hub with ERP systems in remote locations. Violation of laws: There might be systems which may violate the home country laws, thus creating troubles for Elemica in future. Cultural differences: The local people in target countries might not be comfortable with the concept of online buying and selling of stock. This may lead to a failure of the entire business model in that country. Hence, a proper understanding of the local culture needs to be developed before entering into expansion. Changing technology: Elemica needs to be up to date with the latest technology so that their services do not become obsolete. Lack of IT infrastructure: It might be possible that some countries might not have appropriate internet infrastructure. This will hamper the expansion of e-business in that country. 4.PROPOSED PROJECT PLAN 4.1 PROJECT PLANNING AND CHANGE MANAGEMENT Elemica needs to develop a detailed project plan to carry out all the planned projects, evaluate the various options available, identify specific milestones, allocate requisite resources, and manage the projects (Turban et al. 2010). There are five basic stages in developing a project (Haughey, 2010): Initiation Planning and project design Execution Monitoring and controlling systems Completion Elemica will first need to identify a project champion who will ensure that proper time, resources, and attention is given to the project throughout its initiation to implementation (Turban, 2008). Then a project team needs to be established who will develop a detailed project implementation plan. For expansion strategy, Elemica can pilot test it in some other country, which will help identify the problems and successes, thus helping in modifying the strategy accordingly (Turban, 2008). Accordingly, staff requirements are identified and fulfilled; and training given to them for the latest technology. After the completion of the proposed plan, it should be reviewed at each stage in order to overcome the inefficiencies and loopholes which were identified and then constant monitoring of the project needs to be done. Change management is a major issue which needs to be handled by Elemica during its global expansion because people will resist change. An appropriate communication strategy needs to be developed which will aim at keeping all the employees as well as Elemicas clients up-to-date with the companys strategy and latest happenings. This will help them cope with the changes (Schneider, 2007) and also help them adopt the new changing culture easily. Confidence and buy-in needs to be inculcated within the employees so that their support can be garnered for the project, which will be essential for the success of the business. 4.2 RESOURCE ALLOCATION The various resources which need to be allocated during Elemicas expansion will be human resources and IT resources. Human resources will include business managers, project managers, web designers, graohic designers, system operators and administrators (Schneider, 2007). IT resources which will be needed are the hardware and software development and its maintenance. 5.ASSESSING ONLINE B2B INDUSTRY TRADING HUB 5.1BALANCED SCORE CARD The most popular system for performance management is the use of a balanced scorecard (Turban, 2007). It was designed by Kaplan and Norton in 1996 and it describes a holistic measurement system which flows from the overall strategy of the organization and crystallizes into measureable indicators (Kaplan Norton, 1996). A balanced score card evaluates the effectiveness from the following 4 perspectives: Financial Customer Internal Business Processes Learning and Growth PERSPECTIVE OBJECTIVE METRIC RATIONALE 1) Financial Increased market share 1) Increase in the number of clients 2) Increase in the revenues 3) Increase in the number of locations where Elemica provides services Increase in market share is an important metric in determining whether the global expansion of the business has been successful or not. Only if there is an increase in the market share, it will indicate that the business is successful and is gaining more customers. Increased ROI 1) Increase in the number of transactions between clients, hence resulting in increased revenues. 2) Increase in the number of customers. It is important to measure the revenues earned in order to ensure that even if market share might have increased, the revenues have also increased along with it. Also, it is important to know that the returns are increasing on the money invested. 2) Customer Increased customer satisfaction 1) Increase in the number of repeat transactions 2) Decrease in the number of customer complaints 3) Increase in the number of positive customer reviews 4) Reduction in the response time for resolving customer complaints. Customer satisfaction is a top priority for the success of any business. Customer satisfaction ratings will indicate whether the existing customers are satisfied with the services and this in turn will determine the new customers getting added to the network. Increased visibility of Elemica 1) Increase in the number of transactions on Elemica. 2) Increase in the number of new subscribers. 3) Increased visibility among other chemical companies. This will determine whether the new marketing campaigns and expansion strategy has worked or not. Whether it will be able to generate more revenues or not. 3)Internal business processes Increase in efficiency 1) Increase in the quality of service 2) Decrease in the lag time between a complaint and resolving that complaint. 3) Increase in the number of transactions that can be handled at a particular time. 4) Increase in the speed of transactions This will help in delivering best service to the customers and will help in continuously improving upon the existing services. Better technology and transaction security 1) Increase in the transaction security even while cross-border transactions take place. 2) Adopting the latest technology and making the hub more user friendly and easy to implement. This will take of the security concerns which may arise during the expansion process in different countries. Also, the latest technology will keep Elemica inline with the competitors and help in dominating the market share. 4) Learning Growth Better skilled staff competent to handle latest techniques and varying cultures 1) Increase in % of employees who are highly skilled. 2) Develop the competencies in the staff to work in a dynamic and competitive environment. A highly skilled and competent staff will ensure that the company progresses and delivers the best to its customers all across the globe. This will also help in identifying the gaps in the skills of employees and work upon them. Increased organizational learning 1) Increase spending on RD to improve the technology used, hence delivering better services. This ensures that the latest and the best technology is used and the organization is ready to respond to the changing environment all across the globe. 5.2STRATEGY MAP The strategy map below shows the linkages between the four perspectives of Balanced Score Card and how they result in achieving the overall business strategy. INCREASED SHAREHOLDER VALUE HIGH ROI MORE MARKET SHARE FINANCIAL PERSPECTIVE LEARNING GROWTH PERSPECTIVE HIGH EFFICIENCY CUSTOMER SATISFCATION INCREASED VISIBILITY SECURITY COMPLIANCE LATEST TEHCNOLOGY MORE CUSTOMERS MORE CITIES MORE TRANSACTIONS SKILL DEVELOPMENT INCREASE IN RD COMPETENCIES HIGHLY SKILLED AND COMPETENT WORKFORCE INTERNAL PROCESS PERSPECTIVE CUSTOMER PERSPECTIVE 6.RECOMMENDATIONS The following recommendations are in order of their priority. Each one will be needing 5-6 months to implement and can be started concurrently. 6.1 OUTSOURCING OF ICT INFRASTRUCTURE In order to strengthen the ICT infrastructure of Elemica, it should adopt cloud computing. It will hence result in business process automation. All the facilities will then be available over the network without any need for connecting the ERP systems of the clients. This will help in reducing the costs of setting up hardware or software and its maintenance. Clouds are a pool of easily usable as well as accessible virtualized resources such as hardware, development, platforms and/or services (Vaquero et al. 2009, p. 51). Shown below is how cloud c

Chemical Engineering :: essays papers

Chemical Engineering What exactly is a chemical engineer? Many would say that it is simply a "chemist who builds things" or an "engineer who makes chemicals. However, neither of these statements is completely true. The term "chemical engineer" is not meant to actually describe what it is a chemical engineer does, but to describe what sets it apart from the other branches of engineering: civil, mechanical, and electrical. On average, chemical engineers are numerically the smallest but also the highest paid. It is not a profession the must dwell on the past for comfort and support, for its greatest accomplishments are still yet to come. Chemical engineering, a prominent and growing career, requires a detailed understanding of the how and why chemical processes work and also how they can be further improved. To develop new improvised methods for these processes to function more useful and economical, a chemical engineer uses theories and laws of chemistry. They are, however, often referred to as the "universal engineer" because they must not only have a broad knowledge of chemistry and physics but also of mechanical and electrical engineering. The Industrial Revolution sparked a new curiosity and need for chemical engineering. In order for certain industries to sustain growth, the production of chemicals became of great importance, especially sulfuric acid. In attempts to improve the process of making this chemical, much time, money and effort was put into it. By this, the slightest savings led to large profits because of the vast quantities of sulfuric acid consumed by industries (Pafko, "Setting Stage"). To create the much needed sulfuric acid, a long used and little understood method was used, the lead-chamber method. During this process, one of the main ingredients, nitrate, was often mostly lost into the environment. Because nitrate must be imported, and the process used so much of it, it became very costly. Improvement was needed in order for sulfuric acid to be made at a much lower cost, since it was so widely used (Pafko, "Setting Stage"). In the late 1800's, Americans became fascinated with news that was coming over from across the Atlantic. Though it was not the advancements in the chemical engineering field that so interested them, it was the news of a serial killer "Jack the Ripper". It seamed as though the surfacing of chemical engineering would just slip by unnoticed.

Dusk at Dell

Executive Summary This case analysis report focuses on the declining market share faced by Dell, Inc. (â€Å"Dell†, the â€Å"Company†) and recommendations are given as to where the Company needs to alter its strategy at a business level as well as a corporate level. Broad recommendations include foraying into the retail space at a more aggressive pace, laying greater impetus in fast emerging markets such as China and India, and focusing more on R&D efforts in order to ensure that higher levels of innovation are achieved by the Company. Introduction Dell, Inc. (â€Å"Dell†, the â€Å"Company†) is a multinational company that specializes in the development, manufacture, marketing and servicing of computers and computer related products. Dell has been one of the most successful firms in the computer industry, having achieved supernormal revenue growth and above average returns for several years spanning the mid 1990’s to the mid 2000’s. This was mainly due to their prowess in customizing products as per customer requirements, coupled with effective manufacturing and supply chain processes. The Company encourages little or no intervention from distributors and middlemen, and majority of all sales are based on a direct customer relationship business model. The firm’s resources focused on supply chain capabilities, with frequent inventory turnover and direct delivery emerging as Dell’s core competencies. At the time when Dell established these core competencies, they were valuable, rare and were not easy to imitate, therefore allowing the Company to build a sustainable competitive advantage. More recently, industry dynamics have rapidly changed and competitive rivalry has also intensified to a very large extent. The external environment has changed significantly and demographic factors, coupled with economic indicators such as large disposable incomes that is now available to a greater number of people in emerging countries has transformed the way that Companies formulate their strategies within the computer industry. Dell’s strategy has not changed in tandem with the external environment, and as a result, the Company has been losing market share in the last few years. The computer industry is characterized by standard cycle to fast cycle markets, and constant innovation is required to ensure that firms continue to earn above average returns. This case study analysis report will outline Dell’s existing strategy and will then explore the new strategic options that are desirable for the Company. As Dell is a global player and has operations all over the world, specific strategies will be formulated from a region wise perspective. The product categories that are proving to be winners for the Company will also be considered and analysed in depth. Specifically, this report will be presented in the following format: †¢Dell will be analysed in relation to its two biggest competitors i. e. Hewlett-Packard (HP) and Lenovo, and suggestions will be given as to where Dell will need to place strategic thrust in the future. †¢The three major geographic segments in which the Company is present viz. The Americas; Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA); and Asia Pacific Japan (APJ) will be analysed in depth and relevant business strategies and diversification strategies will be expounded upon. The future course of action the Company should undertake will be presented. †¢The report will use the above analyses to provide recommendations to the Company in terms of product categories that are most desirable, regions that need to be focused on in the future, what new core competencies the Company should develop, and the overall direction that strategic leadership needs to take in the future. Competitor Analysis Dell’s major competition comes from two other computer related behemoths i. e. HP and Lenovo. Dell is no longer the market leader as it had once been. HP has overtaken Dell as the largest PC manufacturer in the world. HP achieved this distinction from Q3 2006, and in 2007 had 18. 8 percent global shipments for that year. All three Companies have a market share in similar regions and competitive rivalry and dynamics are based on the actions and responses initiated by each other. The following table presents a snapshot of product categories, market share, main customer segments, and product innovations of the world’s major players in the computer industry: Table 1: Competitor Analysis of Dell, HP, IBM, Lenovo and Others CategoryDellHPIBMLenovoOthers Product CategoriesDell is present in all the computer related categories from desktops to PC’s and servers. The original leader in printers and scanners, HP is the world’s largest computer manufacturerAfter its sale of its Laptop and PC division IBM, concentrates on its server market and providing IT solutionsAfter its purchase of IBM, Lenovo has become one of the world largest PC manufacturers. This compromises of Acer who is a large player and other large as well as smaller companies within similar segments. Market Share worldwideDell fell to 14. 6% during Q3 200719. % as on third quarter 2007 IBM is now in the server marketLenovo at 8. 1% Acer at 7. 9% Main Customer SegmentsDell targets large corporates and now needs a retail pushHP has its share across the whole spectrum of customers and thus has the lead it enjoys. IBM concentrates on the server segments and is still behind HP in terms of overall volumesLenovo targets corporate and retail segments and has seen succ essful in the retail segment due to strong brand value and recall of â€Å"Thinkpad† brand Acer is a pc and laptop manufacturer concentrating on corporate and retail segments. Product InnovationWill be explained belowHP has made strides in its targeting specific segments with innovative products. Its recent campaign for corporates stresses lighter and more powerful laptops, better battery life etc. For retail and home consumers it stresses media features and family friendly options. IBM is a server market leader and targets the segment accordingly. Lenovo has been trying similar strategies like HP in creating different products for the two segments of corporates and home users. Acer and other similar brands follow a customised strategy as well. As can be seen from the above table, a lot of Companies provide a host of products and services that are similar in nature. This intensifies the competitive rivalry, and the set of actions and responses taken lead to enhanced competitor dynamics within the industry. Moving forward, it is essential that Dell positions itself as a player that pays attention to the changes in the external environment and builds new core competencies accordingly. For example, the number of computer users in China and India is very low, and these countries are expected to present immense potential to the computer manufacturers. Furthermore, retail sales can form a major potential client base. As mentioned in our SWOT analysis (Appendix 1), Dell has been traditionally weak in acquiring mass customers in the retail category and moving forward, the Company should consider it to be a key initiative that forms a vital part of its strategic mission and intent in the years to come. The retail model would be to offer the customer the products and showcase the flexibility of Dell’s customisation and they can take the order and book the same on their online channels. Internet accessibility is still limited to millions of Indians, who rely on cyber cafe’s for internet access. Additionally, acquiring broadband connectivity in Indian homes is still some distance away. However, recent aggressive pushes by local telecom companies is bringing broadband to homes and is seeing phenomenal success and herein lies Dell’s opportunity to capture the segment with an established retail format. It must be noted that the Company has tapped into a retail strategy and has recently been featuring their â€Å"Studio† range and â€Å"Adamo† Range designs in retail outlets. As of December 2007, Dell’s focus was to open up to 10,000 retails stores worldwide. This is a required growth strategy and vital to its success. With reference to product categories, it is becoming increasingly apparent that notebook sales are outperforming desktops. This should be aligned with Dell’s competitive strategy and strong focus should be on selling notebooks in the international markets. The Company should look at offering the best functionality in this range of products to cater to the rising younger segment that don’t shy away from increased features and are ready to pay the price for them. The Company is realizing that product differentiation is becoming essential and hopes to launch unique products that will create ‘product lust’ amongst its consumers. A recent product launch includes a new mp3 player called â€Å"zing† which Dell wants to focus on and improve growth. The product is expected to compete with Apple’s iconic iPod. Although Dell possesses a significant advantage with regard to cost savings because of its direct customer model, it must be aware that its competitors are catching up and the relative gain it had is slowly diminishing. Region wise and Product Wise Strategic Analysis of Dell Dell’s continued success for many years was largely attributable to its Cost Leadership Strategy. The Company’s focus was not on R&D and innovation, but instead relied on standards based technologies. Furthermore, the Company does not necessarily look for first mover advantage either. Instead, the strategy has been to wait till the market or product category is ripe for commoditization. Once the innovation is commoditized, the Company offers more cost effective versions, enabled by supplier JIT and customer conjoint. For example, the customer builds their own computer on the Dell website and thus only pay for what they value, while Dell gets real-time information on consumer demand and preferences. The above mentioned approach has delivered consistent results to Dell both from a strategic as well as a financial perspective. In order to assess whether this approach can continue to yield positive results in the future warrants a region and product wise analysis. The same is as follows. Dell has divided it’s regions into three distinct parts: †¢The Americas †¢EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) APJ (Asia Pacific and Japan) Each of these regions is discussed below: Dell in the Americas Consumer preferences in the American region are rapidly changing and the computer and technology market is becoming increasingly saturated. Higher levels of product innovation, coupled with sleek designs and efficient performance have become the benchmarks for the players catering to these markets. C ustomers are showing a higher level of buying power, as many alternatives are available to them (For further details, please refer to the five forces analysis presented in Appendix 2). Although it was the cost leadership strategy that proved so successful for Dell in the Americas, it’s slowly losing ground. In sum, Dell has been so successful in the past because †¢Of a strong initial lead in cost leadership, and also in quality (e. g. driving down the number of human touches to the computer to drive down defects) and ordering/upgrading convenience, and †¢It does not rest on its laurels (considering (1) a ‘sustainable' competitive advantage), but continues to ‘run faster than competitors' on both dimensions. It must be noted that although Dell largely focused on cost leadership strategy, it employed the differentiation theory as well. The Company did this by better ordering/service, better relations with businesses through open standards that allow easy change and upgrades etc. For players in this region to thrive and sustain a competitive advantage, it’s important that no one business level strategy is solely focused upon. For example, a pure differentiator may become unreasonably expensive as the market matures. On the flipside, too much emphasis on cost leadership will allow for other Companies to capture market share through innovation. Furthermore, the emergence of low cost regions such as China and India may prove to be a hindrance to a Company striving to be a cost leader in the Americas. In lieu of this, it’s advisable that Dell adopts an Integrated Cost Leadership/ Differentiation strategy for this region. This is a hybrid strategy that is becoming more important as competition intensifies. Through this strategy, firms are able to improve their ability to: †¢Adapt quickly to environmental changes. Learn new skills and technologies fast. †¢More effectively leverage core competencies across business units and product lines. †¢Produce products with differentiated features that customer’s value and provide these differentiated products at a low cost. In terms of product focus, Dell has to continue its focus on XPS PC to effectively conquer competition. It†™s now become inevitable that Dell should spend significant amount on R&D to stay ahead in the game. The other change should be the move to laptop segment and offer differentiation there. That’s where the future growth exists in this region for Dell. The corporate growth depends strongly on the server, storage and networking segment. The corporate customers too want more for less and therefore the IT Services and solution segment needs to be exceptionally strong for Dell. The Company must also give increased importance to staying ahead of competitors in terms of the product cycle. Historically, Dell’s presence especially in the PC market has been from the growth stage till the maturity phase and it’s reaped the benefits. However, the PC market is on its decline and there are serious alternatives that need to be considered. Dell now has to keep abreast of market developments to ensure that it participates in a product lifecycle from Introduction stage. From a diversification perspective, it can be seen that Dell is a very well known brand in the Americas and it enjoys tremendous recall and brand equity. Keeping this in mind, it might be desirable for the Company to undertake unrelated diversification in this region. Dell might benefit from moving into other sectors within the same macro industry. Examples could include digital content, other areas of media and entertainment etc. Dell in the APJ region The Asia Pacific area forms a powerful region for Dell’s growth. It’s been projected that a significant part of Dell’s growth story in the 21st century would be attributed to its presence in this region. Currently, Dell is already said to be as big as a Fortune 300 Company in this region alone. The APJ region is divided in three parts as follows: †¢One is the Pacific Rim which includes Australia, NZ and based in Singapore. This also covers the area of Southeast Asia. †¢The other big propellant of growth is China and India. †¢The third part is Japan (including Korea). The strategic thrust to be given by the Company cannot be the same for the entire region. Each sub region will have its own specific strategy that is best suited for it. While Japan, Australia, NZ (Including Singapore) are mature markets for Dell, China and India are the upcoming markets for the company. The strategy used and recommended for the Americas would work well for Dell in Japan, Australia, NZ and Singapore area given it’s existent base in the region. The strategy in China and India has to be different. Here the customer is still very cost conscious. As the statistics show that in China there are only 5. computers per 100 inhabitants and in India there are 1. 4 computers per 100 inhabitants. Clearly, combined, this will be the biggest computer market in the world in time to come; any company can’t afford to call itself a global player without having a significant presence in this region. We recommend Focused Cost Leadership strategy for Dell in this region and do believe that it’d do well by reaching out to the customers by opening retail outlets across the region for the following reasons: †¢Usage of credit cards is still extremely low in this region. †¢People prefer to get the touch and feel of the product before buying it. Confidence on internet buying is not high. †¢Internet itself is not widespread in the region therefore can’t become a powerful sales channel in the short term. In terms of product, Dell would still do well by focusing on elementary PC products and laptop products in this region. Although there will be a niche number of customers in the high end segments, the masses are not yet ready to embrace products like the XPS, in China and India. The threat Dell faces is from a number of local players, there are a lot of players here who can do what Dell did in 1984 i. e. reate a new PC through reverse engineering processes. Dell has to find a way to match the prices through its JIT, supply chain an d process improvements. From a diversification perspective, Dell would do well by focusing on related diversification – A strategy in which an organization operates in several different businesses, industries or markets that are somehow linked. This is already apparent in the current business mix of the Company, and the revenue growth in the segments such as IT services and storage services stand testimony to the fact that related diversification is desirable. Dell’s in the EMEA region Dell’s presence in Europe too dates back to over 15 years. Dell set up its first manufacturing plant in Ireland in 1990 and later created another unit in Poland in 2006. EMEA, because of various languages, cultures and profiles is a very complex region to manage. Each country/ sub region is at a different stage of maturity and therefore it’s recommended that Dell goes with Integrated cost leadership/ differentiation strategy in this region too. Dell is synonymous to cost leadership strategy in the computer industry and therefore it simply can’t afford to lose that advantage. What’s needed is additional focus on quality and R&D to deliver differentiation for customers and to stay ahead in the game. On the product front, quite like in the America’s, Dell must start focusing on Data Centre Solution division set to simplify IT complexities and address needs of an emerging cloud computing market. It must be noted that Dell in 2008 announced the expansion of the data centre solutions business unit in EMEA, further developing the company’s solutions and services capabilities in the region. This has to be the next step in Dell’s strategy for the fast emerging cloud computing market following the successful launch and subsequent customer adoption of DCS last year. On the product front, it is advisable that Dell’s strategy focuses on differentiation. It is especially relevant for the Company to focus on the corporate segment of customers and give impetus to its IT services and solutions. On the diversification front, for a complex market like EMEA we recommend Related – Constraint Diversification. Moderate to high level of diversification is when the firm generates less than 70% of its sales revenue from its core business and when the businesses have products, technological or distribution linkages. Recommendations This next section of the report will focus on the above presented analyses, and recommendations will be given to Dell. The recommendations will provide feasible suggestions that can be used by the Company in the future. The recommendations are as follows: †¢The Company should look to aggressively pursue and build upon its existing retailing strategy. They can do this by collaborating with both bricks and mortar retailers as well as internet based e-tailers. Furthermore, the Company can also look at diversifying into retail and setting up their own single brand stores. Bricks and mortar stores will be especially relevant in India and China, where online retailing is till at a nascent stage. Dell has already initiated its retail strategy in India where its products are showcased in the â€Å"Croma† store as one example. More such initiatives need to develop for the Company to be able to penetrate the masses. The â€Å"touch and feel† aspect is very important to customers in India and China and is an integral part of their buying process. A slightly different strategy is proposed to attract customers in these regions. Dell customers can enter a Dell store, customise their products with a Dell representative who would be connected to Dell’s systems, and work with the customer to arrive at a personalised and tailo red product. This will keep in line with Dell’s strong manufacturing chain and the order can be closed within the store itself. Additionally, credit card penetration and internet access is low in developing countries. In physical retail stores, Dell can accept cash and close the sale, as this will be more beneficial to customers who prefer to transact with cash as opposed to credit cards. †¢The Company needs to provide new products with differentiating factors. Standards based technology is not the order of the day anymore. Dell needs to focus on more scanning, monitoring, forecasting and assessing of the external environment so that they are able to spot new trends and capitalize on it. The deterministic component of the external environment has also changed, and Dell needs to keep the larger general framework in mind. The Company needs to look to make changes within its internal environment as well. Resources need to be mobilized to build up R&D capabilities. Innovation has proven to be a core competency for other major players such as HP, and Dell needs to respond by launching large R&D initiatives so that they can innovate as well. This is especially relevant in developed countries, where standards based technology is getting increasingly saturated. Dell can perhaps look to spend at least 5% of their revenues on R&D expenditure (In 2006, it was just 0. 8% compared to HP’s 3. % and Apple’s 3. 7%). †¢Dell needs to focus more on marketing initiatives to reach out to the younger generation of customers. This segment presents immense potential that the Company is currently not tapping. A dedicated sales and marketing team needs to be established, and there is a need for a Chief Marketing Officer as well. †¢Dell could establish extensive CRM programs, where the customers get qu ick and timely feedback in relation to a problem. Don’t compromise on the training of the workers that are honed in order to handle queries and complaints. The Company must make sure each query is handled by skilled personnel who are well aware of the nature of the problems. †¢The Company could concentrate more on product categories that are growing fast and capitalize on these. For example, Dell needs to pay attention to the storage and IT service categories because they offer promising growth in the future, although they don’t make up a bulk of the revenues right now. As IT services are the fastest growing revenue earner for the Company, Dell might choose to diversify or expand in this area and go beyond just IT infrastructure. The Company can look to expand its footprint by continuing to acquire companies that form a part of their strategic agenda. Synergistic fits can be exploited and tapped, and strategic acquisitions, joint ventures and other alliances will give Dell the opportunity to pursue aggressive growth through inorganic means. †¢Dell should look at going beyond the metros and major cities in China and Indi a. There are hundreds of secondary cities within these two countries that present immense potential that must be tapped. The Company should aim to focus more on the masses, as opposed to large businesses and SOE’s. Providing strategic leadership is extremely imperative for Dell if it’s to continue on its quest in sustaining competitive advantage. The Company should look to boost employee morale by focusing on more HRM practices. More initiatives like Tell Dell need to be incorporated. The organizational culture needs to be nurtured so that employees feel motivated to work in the Company. Conclusion: Dell has been a major force to reckon with and has established a position of leadership in the computer industry because of its inherent advantages in supply chain management, effective distribution systems, and lean manufacturing processes. The Company is now looking to take its sustained competitive advantage to the next level. However, in order to do so, there are certain strategic adjustments that the Company must consider to avoid becoming a laggard. The key to ensuring that the Company will continue to lead the way in the industry is for it to conduct a thorough analysis of the external as well as internal environment and see where the strategic intent has to change. This report outlines the areas in which the Company needs to focus on to consolidate and continue earning above average returns.

Decision-Making Case Study Health Care Management Essay

Stoddard County Public Health Clinic is located on Highway 25, North of Bloomfield, Missouri. The clinic provides services to infant and child; young and middle aged adults; older adults; environmental services; and group/community services. When the 2009 budget cuts were distributed among the different departments, the manager of the Young and Middle Aged Adult Department noted a 15% budget cut. This paper is a case study of how the Young and Middle Aged Adult Department Manager will decide what tools she will use to decide which clinical service should be eliminated or introduced to better serve the Medicaid population at while at the same time make a 15% cut in its budget. Clinic Services Available and StaffingThe services available for the Young and Middle Aged Adult Department includes: breast and cervical screening project, anemia screening, sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy testing, immunizations, nutrition education, W.I.C, women’s health screenings, high risk pregnancy counseling and case management for prenatals (Stoddard County, 2008). Staffing for the department includes: Department Manager; 2 full-time LPNs to perform screenings, draw blood samples and administer immunizations; 1 full-time nutritionist for the nutrition education; and 1 RN Case Manager to manage the women’s health screenings, high risk pregnancy counseling. The clerical staff is shared among the entire clinic. The Department Manager looked at the year-to-date information for each service provided under her department with the thought of possibly eliminating a service to make up for the 15% budget cut. Upon reviewing the all statistics concerning frequency of use and after surveying all staff members within the clinic, it was determined that each service was very important to the Medicaid recipients of Stoddard County. One suggestion from a staff member was to convert one of the full-time LPN positions to a part-time position and starting a clinical volunteer program. Another position that could be changed from full-time to part-time is the Nutritionist. Statistics have shown that her services are only needed 4 hours a day instead of the full 8 hours. The volunteers would be clinically proficient and could conduct the screenings that are very popular within Stoddard County. In order for the decision to be made, the Department  Manager will need to make a decision to use a decision making analysis tool. The Informed Decisions ToolboxOne option for the department manager can use to make a decision on how to manage a 15% budget cut for her clinic, is to use The Informed Decisions Toolbox developed by Thomas G. Rundall, PhD and his associates (University Of Phoenix, 2008). The toolbox is divided into six steps to help managers make an informed decision. The six steps include: Step 1: Framing the question behind the decision; Step 2: Finding sources of information; Step 3: Assessing the accuracy of information; Step 4: Assessing the applicability of information; Step 5: Assessing the actionability of information; Step 6: Determining if the information is adequate (University Of Phoenix, 2008). Step 1: Framing the Question Behind the DecisionBefore making an informed decision, the manager must formulate a research question out of the management question. In this case study the management question is â€Å"How will the Young and Middle Aged Adult Department operate with a 15% budget cut?† The research question is â€Å"What clinical services should be eliminated or added to allow for the 15% budget cut within the Young and Middle Aged Adult Department’s and how will it affect the profitability and quality of care outcomes during the 2009 budget year within the Medicaid population?† (University Of Phoenix, 2008). Step 2: Finding Sources of InformationStep 2 of The Informed Decisions Toolbox discusses different avenues of researching the management question. These avenues include, but are not limited to: healthcare organization libraries, webmasters intranet information and in-house support systems; and the Internet. Step 2 also describes search tips that were very useful (University Of Phoenix, 2008). Step 3: Assessing the Accuracy of InformationStep 3 guides the user to asking the following questions to help ascertain whether the information is accurate: â€Å"Is the information valid and reliable? Is the information comprehensive? Am I missing important perspectives or aspects of my decision?† (University Of Phoenix, 2008). Step 4: Assessing the Applicability of InformationThis step guides the user to decide if all the information accessed was applicable to making a decision. Step 5: Assessing the Actionability of InformationStep 5 will guide the user to determine if the information collected will provide useful recommendations to be implemented, what the expected effects may be of the decision and what are the possible effects that were not expected (University Of Phoenix, 2008). Step 6: Determining if the Information is AdequateThis last step will guide the user in making the determination as to when there has been enough information gathered to make a decision (University Of Phoenix, 2008). After reviewing the information on The Informed Decisions Toolbox, the Department Manager decided this tool wasn’t useful for the type of decision that needed to be made. There are four key strategies that have been recommended for use that affects an organization when the toolbox is used:1.†Strategy One: Recognize and Respond to the Growing Demand for Accountability as a Strategic Issue† (University of Phoenix, 2008). 2.†Strategy Two: Establish Organizational Structures and Processes for Knowledge Transfer† (University of Phoenix, 2008). 3.†Strategy Three: Build a Questioning Organizational Culture† (University of Phoenix). 4.†Strategy Four: Build Organizational Research Capabilities† (University of Phoenix, 2008). By using these strategies, an organization will be able to ensure that have all the research information at hand to help them stay accountable for their  actions. It is also a way for sharing of knowledge and always questioning so as to build a stronger organization. Devil’s Advocate TechniqueDevil’s Advocate is a technique that is used in gathering the positive and the negative aspects to a decision that needs to be made (Liebler & McConnell, 2008, p. 159). In this case, the Department Manager assigned the 2 LPNs and Case Manager the task of brainstorming and writing down the negative aspects of her proposal and all the positive aspects to the proposal. Negative AspectsThere were some strong negative aspects that the team was able to verbalize during the brainstorming session. Some of the stronger comments were:1.A full-time staff member will be required to have a change of status from full-time to part-time. This could cause the staff member make the decision to resign and find a position elsewhere. This will cause the Department to incur the expense of recruiting and training a replacement. 2.Cost of recruiting and training volunteer staff to make up for the  ½ FTE position lost. 3.Loss of expertise from taking already fully training long-time employee out of the full-time position and replacing them with an inexperienced volunteer. Positive AspectsThere were some strong positive aspects that came from the brainstorming as well. Some of the stronger comments/aspects are:1.Cost savings from using volunteer services. The LPN is making an hourly wage of $17.50 per hour equates to approximately $36,400 annually. By using the volunteer for part-time, there will be a savings of $18,200 annually. 2.Cost savings for changing the dietician to part-time would be $22,500, which is half of the $45,000 annual salary paid. The total budget from previous year was $154,800. The new budged, which excludes the 15% cut is $131,580, which equates to a total $23,200 difference. If the decision was made to change the two positions to  part-time, there would be a cost savings of $40,700.00. In conclusion, the decision-making tool that best suited the Department Manager of the Young & Middle Aged Adult was the Devil’s Advocate. By allowing those who the decision was going to affect the most have a part in the decision making process ensured better understanding of budget cuts. The Informed Decisions Toolbox is an excellent tool for those decisions requiring a lot of research data; however, not best suited for this Department Manager. The final decision was made to proceed with changing 1 FTE LPN to Part-time and 1 FTE Dietician to Part-time, which will create a total budgeted savings of $40,700.00. References Liebler, J., & McConnell, C. (2008). Management Principles for Health Professional (5th ed.). Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett. Stoddard Conty. (2008). Stoddard County Public Health Center. Retrieved November 30, 2008, from http://www.stoddardcountyhealth.com/ServicesAvailable.htmUniversity Of Phoenix. (2008). The informed decisions toolbox: Tools for knowledge transfer and performance improvement. Retrieved November 30, 2008, from University of Phoenix, Week Two, Resource HCS 514 – Managing in Today’s Health Care Organizations Web site.

Response to Cyrano de Bergerac and to the movies Cyrano de Bergerac and Roxanne essays

Response to Cyrano de Bergerac and to the movies Cyrano de Bergerac and Roxanne essays The author of Cyrano de Bergerac is Edmond Rostand. Edmond Rostand was born on April 1, 1868 in Marseille, France. He was obsessed with literature in general, but was especially interested in theater. His first drama was called The Romantics, then Cyrano de Bergerac, Chantecler, and The Last Night of Don Juan. Cyrano de Bergerac was his greatest work and accomplishment, the first production was on December 28, 1897. Edmond died on December 2, 1918. He was a French poet and dramatist who wrote for 30 years. I liked Cyrano e Bergerac, but it was a sad story. I liked watching the movie Roxanne. It was in English and in color, I also understood the plot since I read the book. I didn't like watching the French version with subtitles because I don't take French, so I didn't understand it. It was hard to watch what was going on, listen to the tone of the voices, and read the subtitles at the same time. Sometimes I got lost or didn't know how the lines were expressed. For instance, whether the person was sad, happy, or mad. I also like to be able to just watch a movie, when they are in English you don't have to hang on each word or read what they just said. It's not the same with subtitles at all. You interpret everything very differently. You can pick up the sound of the voice through the French, but it's still very different. I would have rather watched the old black and white version because it was in English. I think I would have understood it a little better. Reading Cyrano de Bergerac was very helpful when we watched the movies. When I read it by myself to catch up I was very confused because it was hard to make the transition of who was talking. When we read it in class and different people played different parts it was much easier to follow along. The different voices helped in the transition of who was talking. It was also a little difficult sometimes because sometimes something would n ...

College Essay Topics Stunning Ideas about Life in College

College Essay Topics Stunning Ideas about Life in College College essays are the most crucial essays in a student’s life as they have a great effect on one’s future. Gaining seats in college is getting harder day-by-day as the number of applicants for a single seat are increasing. So, the only way to improve your chances to get into a college of your choice is by writing an outstanding personal essay as a part of the college application. A college essay may be only 500 words long but can make a big difference in your entrance competition. An interesting college essay can change your rejection into acceptance. It all depends on how you write an essay as it will show your talent and help admission committee to differentiate you from other students.   A college essay provides additional information about the student which cannot be judged by regular tests, grades or extracurricular activities. An interesting college essay must be appealing so that it draws reader’s attention and makes the writer an exceptional student. You can write an essay describing yourself or the activities you are interested in. The main thing which must be taken into consideration while writing your college essay is to keep on expressing how great, how genuine, how smart you are! You can also write about some incidents in your life which inspired you or which have motivated you to create your ambitions. The main point of your essay should be the originality and unique look of your essay, which increases the attractiveness. A college essay must be concise and realistic as it will make your essay more persuasive and appealing. Special attention must be given while choosing the topic. College essay topics are easy to find but your main aim should be to decorate it with your writing skills. On its completion it must be presented in such a way that it captures everybody’s attention. You can write about the plans you have after finishing your college. You can describe your genuine thoughts, future plans. You can express your goals in life, how they can serve others and make your dreams fulfilled. Similarly, you can write why you have chosen this profession or carrier, why this degree is important for you. If you need some assistance in accordance with your essays you can seek for our advice and we will gladly help you. You can get any type of professional help from our high skilled writers who have already graduated and are highly experienced. Here is a list of the best college essay topics: Organizational Behavior Human Sexuality Psychology of Women Art Appreciation Information Technology in Business Management Applied Managerial Marketing Physiological Psychology Christian Theology Affirmative Action Hispanic American Diversity Children and Violence Taxation Restorative Justice Developing E-Commerce Solutions Capital Punishment Advanced General Psychology Breast Cancer ECON 201 Money and Banking Demonstrate Basic to Advanced Features of Spreadsheet Software Managerial Accounting and Organizational Controls Illegal Immigration Legal and Ethical Decision-Making Commercial Transactions and International Law Financial Management for Human Service Administrators The Importance of British Literature in Understanding Our World Today

A Typical Homeschool Day

A Typical Homeschool Day According to the National Home Education Research Institute, as of 2016, there were approximately 2.3 million homeschooled students in the United States. Those two-million-plus students hail from a variety of backgrounds and belief systems. The NHERI states that homeschooling families are, ...atheists, Christians, and Mormons; conservatives, libertarians, and liberals; low-, middle-, and high-income families; black, Hispanic, and white; parents with Ph.D.s, GEDs, and no high-school diplomas. One study shows that 32 percent of homeschool students are Black, Asian, Hispanic, and others (i.e., not White/non-Hispanic) (Noel, Stark, Redford, 2013). With the wide diversity found in the homeschooling community, its easy to see why its difficult to label any day a typical homeschool day. There are as many ways to homeschool and as many ways to accomplish each days goals as there are homeschooling families. Some homeschooling parents model their day after a traditional classroom, even starting  their day reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. The rest of the day is spent doing sit-down work, with a break for lunch and perhaps recess. Others arrange their homeschool  schedule to suit their own needs and preferences, taking into account their own high- and low-energy periods and their familys work schedules. While there is no typical day, here are some organizational generalities many homeschooling families share: 1. Homeschooling Families May Not Start School Until Late Morning. Since homeschoolers dont need to dash for the school bus, its not uncommon for homeschooling families to make their mornings as calm as possible, starting off with a family read-aloud, housekeeping, or other low-key activities. While many homeschooling families get up and get school started around the same time as children in a  traditional school setting, others prefer to sleep later and avoid the drowsiness that plagues many school kids.   This flexibility is especially helpful to families with teenage students. Studies have shown that teens need 8-10 hours of sleep each night, and its not uncommon for them to have trouble falling asleep before 11 p.m. 2. Many Homeschoolers Prefer to Ease Into the Day With Routine Tasks. Although some children prefer to get their most difficult tasks out of the way first thing, others find it stressful to dive into complex subjects first thing. Thats why many homeschooling families opt to start the day with routines like chores or music practice. Many families enjoy beginning  with morning time activities such as reading aloud, completing memory work (such as math facts or poetry), and listening to music or creating art. These activities can help kids get warmed up for tackling new tasks and skills that demand more concentration. 3. Homeschoolers Schedule Their Toughest Subjects for Prime Time. Everyone  has a time of day in which they are naturally more productive. Homeschoolers can take advantage of their peak hours by scheduling their toughest subjects or most involved projects for those times. That means that some homeschooling families will have math and science projects, for example, completed by lunch while others will save those activities for later in the afternoon, or even at night or on the weekends. 4. Homeschoolers Really Do Get Out for Group Events and Other Activities. Homeschooling isnt all sitting around the kitchen table hunched over workbooks or lab equipment. Most homeschoolers try to get together with other families on a regular basis, whether for co-op classes or outdoor play. Homeschooling families are often active in the community with volunteer work, drama teams, sports, music, or art. 5. Most Homeschooling Families Allow for Regular Quiet Time Alone. Education experts say that students learn best when theyre given some unstructured time to pursue their own interests and  privacy to work without someone watching over their shoulder. Some homeschooling parents use quiet time as a chance to work with one child individually while the others are busy on their own. Quiet time also gives kids the opportunity to learn how to entertain themselves and avoid boredom. Other parents choose to have quiet time for the entire family each afternoon. During this time, they can enjoy their own down time by reading  a book, answering email, or taking a quick power nap. No two homeschooling families are the same, nor are two homeschool days. However, many homeschooling families do appreciate having a somewhat predictable rhythm to their days. These general concepts for organizing a homeschool day are those that tend to be fairly common  in the homeschooling community. And even though the homes of many homeschooling families look nothing like a traditional classroom, you can bet that learning is one of the things that homeschoolers do all day, at any time during the day or night. Updated by Kris Bales

Risks Assessment of Work Environment of Titanic Cove Resort Essay

Risks Assessment of Work Environment of Titanic Cove Resort - Essay Example This paper analyzes all the hazards, which are present in the workplace of Titanic Cove Resort as well as the risks associated with each hazard. Moreover, this paper puts forward suggestions and suitable measures for dealing with these hazards in order to reduce their riskiness. Cost-benefit analysis has also been done to state the costs and benefits related to non-compliance with the legislation, hazards and recommended controls. In the end, risks assessment table has been attached in order to provide the glimpse of overall situation at Titanic Cove Resort. Along with that, an action plan has also been prepared to notice how the suggestions and measures can be put into effect. WHS legislation is the legalities and laws that are formulated for the health and safety of workers of organizations. All the employers and workers are required to comply these laws. Non-compliance with these can be hazardous for not only the workers but for the overall organization because if the workers are not performing up to the mark due to hurdles in working environment lack of good health, then it can result in monetary as well as non-monetary loss of the company. Examples of monetary losses include loss of profits, increased costs etc whereas non-monetary losses include loss of reputation, brand image, and goodwill. Complying with WHS Legislation is compulsory for every organization. Titanic Cove Resort also needs to comply with WHS Legislation because the number of hazards and associated risks are present in the work environment of the respective organization. Breaches of Legislation can provide a glimpse of the expected losses that might result in non-compliance with the WH S Legislation. A slight glance at the results of Breaches of WHS Legislation has been mentioned below.

1997 Return of Hong Kong to China Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

1997 Return of Hong Kong to China - Essay Example Thus, the then free wheeled capitalist territory was put under the control of the communists. A huge caesura in Great Britain concerning Hong Kong emerged in 1945 when the British said that it was not automatic that Hong Kong was going to revert to the status it enjoyed before their colonization by the British. The United States had equally preferred that Britain remains in Hong Kong for an extended period of time. In 1950s, Hong Kong growth was attributed to textile exports and growth in the manufacturing industries (Gragan, nd). At some point, Hong Kong acted as the hub of foreign investment in China. Several leaders from Britain helped the growth of Hong Kong during the British reign. One of them was Queen Elizabeth. Queen Elizabeth spearheaded the growth of health institutions in Hong Kong. Through the initiatives of the queen, Prince Margaret and Wales hospitals were constructed. The two health institutions improved the quality of health services that were being enjoyed by the i nhabitants of Hong Kong (Chan, 2014). The transfer of Hong Kong to china is an event that had been waited for by the Chinese for a long time based on earlier agreements with Britain in 1984. The agreement was that China was going to bring an end to the opium trade in Hong Kong. However, the British were reluctant about letting go Hong Kong because they were uncertain whether China would be able to gain control of the region for the next 50 years from 1997 (Lowe, 2014). The transfer of Hong Kong to Chinese people was supported by ordinary of people in the region. Hong Kong was voiceless on its own. In 1996, China through its preparatory committee of 150 people ensured that the Hong Kong government began on a strong note. The inhabitants of Hong Kong celebrated within the streets. The celebration was not because the British were going or that the Beijing masters were coming. Gargan (n.d)

Domestic Violence Annotated Bibliography Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Domestic Violence - Annotated Bibliography Example The other myth is that males cannot be victims of domestic violence. It is not true, though. These myths (and others) have to be demolished for creating full picture of the problem in its modern condition. There is a number of researches attempting to discover the causes of domestic violence. For instance, specialists of a Domestic Violence Intervention Project consider the cases and repeating cycles of domestic violence to be a result of a desire to establish control over the victim. The main factor of a man’s aggressive behavior is the denial of responsibility for the committed actions. Another theory, known as the theory of resistance, was offered by Allan Jenkinson, an American psychologist. He believes that social factors and personal features of a person may turn into obstacles which would not let a person treat women and children with respect. Among them there are traditions, cultural peculiarities, personal habits, values, and so on. According to this theory, reasons of aggressive behavior lie in a person’s concept of the self and the world around. There are potent methods of counterwork against domestic violence, such as effective laws and police procedures, educational and therapy programs for abusers, shelters for victims, public information campaigns for prevention of domestic violence, etc. Eventually the supreme goal of any research dealing with domestic violence is some proposition or learning of methods against domestic

Investment Risks Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Investment Risks - Essay Example It is also important to note that the relative degree of risk against the return does not need to be in linear relation i.e. it is not necessary that the risk and return increase in same proportion however, if risk increases, it is necessary that the return must increase too in order to compensate the investors for taking increased risk. (Ante, 2009). The above graph therefore indicates that the investment four has the highest risk and highest return whereas investment 1 has the lowest risk and lowest return. This graph also indicate that the investors may be preferring different combinations of the investments i.e. the investment that is providing lowest returns may be made in the government treasury securities whereas investment providing highest returns may made in the stocks of a corporate as the stocks provide highest returns and also carry greatest risk among all instruments of investment. It is important to understand that the expected return is always calculated by multiplying the return with the probability and the resulting figure is called the expected return on any investment. Therefore the investment that provides highest expected return shall be chosen over other investment. The investor should choose an investment that pays a guaranteed return of 7% because given the overall probability of different returns, the investors will get the expected return of 5% with a probability of 0.5 whereas the investment providing 7% result has the probability of 1 that means the expected return will be 7% which is highest as compared to other investment. The higher the probability greater are the chances that the return will be guaranteed therefore an investment with a lower probability will yield lower expected returns whereas an investment with higher probability of getting the same return will yield higher expected returns. Therefore in this case, since the probability of getting 7% return is

Working capital Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Working capital - Essay Example Accounts receivable analysis is very important for cash is the lifeblood of the company. Accounts receivable must be converted to cash as soon as possible. This is where the AVERAGE COLLECTION PERIOD financial management tool is used regularly. The longer the average collection period, the lesser the liquidity ratio will be. The average collection period is dependent on the accounts receivable customers' ability to pay. To go deeper into the analysis, Ability to pay is dependent on the accounts receivable clients' liquidity. A client that has just lost his or her job will have difficulty to pay your accounts receivable. A customer that has just run away because such customer has not intention of paying you when you will both meet will also affect the average collection period. When the average collection period is decreased, then the availability of the cash will increase liquidity. The increase in liquidity will result to a better financial statement. A better financial statement picture will increase the company's probability for the bank's approval of its long-term loan. It also follows that sales are generated through the use of two methods. Cash sales are the first method of sales generation. Cash is received in exchange for goods that are sold to the company's customers.The second method (credit or account sales) will generate twice or even thrice the total amount of cash sales that the business produces. Are the sales on account Customers are allowed to take home the products they want to buy and the cash payment will be received either a few days or a few months or even a year or more from the customers' actual taking possession of the products sold. It is also common knowledge, from personal experiences since our childhood transactions that not all things borrowed will be returned.Therefore, since some of the objects like books, pencils, bikes, or car, cash and others will be borrowed, we have accept the fact that there is a fine line between borrowers where companies are at risk of not being paid and the borrowers who are of good standing bec ause they pay their monthly dues on time. One of the criteria that the banks and other business institutions approve the sale to clients ON CREDIT is to determine, based on the CREDIT customers' work related data, that there is a probability that the customers will pay their dues on time.Allowance for Doubtful accounts is the accounting title for the estimated amount of accounts receivables from customers, subsidiary companies, branches and others that has a high probability of not being paid. The average collection period is the average length of time that the accounts receivables will not be paid by accounts receivable customers. It is simply the quotient when the total outstand accounts receivable is divided by the average daily sales. Another term for this is the collection ratio. The main headache of the finance director of Raphael limited is that the company had

History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 21

History - Essay Example During the Middle Ages, Europeans had become keenly aware of the wealth existing outside of Europe, particularly in the Far East. Moreover, improvements in navigation and maritime technology during the 1400s meant that Europeans could access riches in other parts of the world with far more efficiency and effectiveness than ever before (McCannon 2008, 208). Spain and Portugal were the first European nations to venture across the Atlantic (Page and Sonneburg 2003, 481). Spanish reaction to the New World cultures across the Atlantic is characterized as mixed. Spanish ranchers, miners and farmers saw the Indians as a source of fre labor and set about attempting to and ultimately achieving these ambitions. Other Spaniards, particularly Spanish missionaries preferred to treat the New World Indian natives with a degree of compassion and to convert them to Christianity. Spanish bureaucrats were frequently at a crossroad, attempting to temper the call for compassion and conversion with the a desire to secure wealth by virtue of exploiting free labor (Benton 2002, 84). The Portuguese systematically took control of Asia building a commercial empire in the region. The Portuguese essentially established a monopoly over the Asian spices and other valuable products by seizing maritime control over Asian ports and acted as the sole trader between Asian nations and Europe (Love 2006, 27). Essentially, Spain and Portugal’s different treatment of their respective conquests were dictated by their respective discoveries. The Spanish encountered human capital rather than rich resources and therefore put their attention to reaping benefits in terms of free labor. The Portuguese encountered rich resources and focused their energies on taking control of those resources. In each case, the goal was to advance and improve economics and each conquering nation focused on how best to advance their economic positions by reference to the sources

Working capital Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Working capital - Essay Example Accounts receivable analysis is very important for cash is the lifeblood of the company. Accounts receivable must be converted to cash as soon as possible. This is where the AVERAGE COLLECTION PERIOD financial management tool is used regularly. The longer the average collection period, the lesser the liquidity ratio will be. The average collection period is dependent on the accounts receivable customers' ability to pay. To go deeper into the analysis, Ability to pay is dependent on the accounts receivable clients' liquidity. A client that has just lost his or her job will have difficulty to pay your accounts receivable. A customer that has just run away because such customer has not intention of paying you when you will both meet will also affect the average collection period. When the average collection period is decreased, then the availability of the cash will increase liquidity. The increase in liquidity will result to a better financial statement. A better financial statement picture will increase the company's probability for the bank's approval of its long-term loan. It also follows that sales are generated through the use of two methods. Cash sales are the first method of sales generation. Cash is received in exchange for goods that are sold to the company's customers.The second method (credit or account sales) will generate twice or even thrice the total amount of cash sales that the business produces. Are the sales on account Customers are allowed to take home the products they want to buy and the cash payment will be received either a few days or a few months or even a year or more from the customers' actual taking possession of the products sold. It is also common knowledge, from personal experiences since our childhood transactions that not all things borrowed will be returned.Therefore, since some of the objects like books, pencils, bikes, or car, cash and others will be borrowed, we have accept the fact that there is a fine line between borrowers where companies are at risk of not being paid and the borrowers who are of good standing bec ause they pay their monthly dues on time. One of the criteria that the banks and other business institutions approve the sale to clients ON CREDIT is to determine, based on the CREDIT customers' work related data, that there is a probability that the customers will pay their dues on time.Allowance for Doubtful accounts is the accounting title for the estimated amount of accounts receivables from customers, subsidiary companies, branches and others that has a high probability of not being paid. The average collection period is the average length of time that the accounts receivables will not be paid by accounts receivable customers. It is simply the quotient when the total outstand accounts receivable is divided by the average daily sales. Another term for this is the collection ratio. The main headache of the finance director of Raphael limited is that the company had

Individual Newsletter Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Individual Newsletter - Essay Example We, as the current students who are taking this course are working hard so that we may success and strive in our lives. We are a dedicated class, who work together so as to achieve our individual dreams in our lives, individually and as a whole group (W. O 2012). In PR, one has to posses some qualities that are unique to this course (Ezine 2000)). In this newsletter I am setting out the ten essential qualities that successful self-employed PR person must posses, and qualities that PR students should nature in themselves. Since I started doing this course, I came to realize that Successful PR pros love what they do, and they know that, in this field, there is no working time because PR is not just a profession, but also a way of life, or lifestyle (Microsoft 2012). This newsletter is intended to enlighten employees and the wider University about PR students studying at the University, and the benefits of taking this course. It is going to reveal how influential PR is to the society at large (Grapevine 2012). For personal professionalism, I believe that it is imperative to differentiate between the core expectations your employer has for you from those that you have for yourself. I also comprehend and acknowledge the significance of personal professionalism in a workplace (Alliancetac 2010). I have always recognized the significance of having high self-expectations both professionally and personally (WPP 2009). Personal professionalism cannot be just a matter of common sense, but the ability to get to work on time, with a good attitude and to consistently meet the basic standards of adequate behavior. Personally, those are some of the qualities that I possess (Salsbury 2002). Other qualities I have that are imperative in PR are; excellent communicating and listening skills, organizational and psychological skills, searching and observing skills, and technological literacy.

Impacts of Poor Teaching Methods

Impacts of Poor Teaching Methods According to Buddha, the mind is everything. What you think you become and therefore in accordance to that statement our mind is responsible for the actions we take. In this case, poor teaching methods have highly affected our mind and our thinking making us feel that we are not good at certain subjects, even making us go as far as hating the subject, whereas all that is required is a different approach. This has in turn affected students action thereby making them shy away from such subjects when it comes to subject choices. According to Aristotle, The one exclusive sign of thorough knowledge is the power of teaching. Ardictionary defines teaching as the activity of educating or instructing activities that impact knowledge or skill. Tutors handling of teaching is very flimsy in various parts of the world and hence poor teaching methods have really affected students thereby giving them a lifelong phobia at certain subjects. Poor teaching methods is affected by many factors such as, Lack of use of modern technology during teaching Lack of effective management of classrooms Personality of teachers. This factor splits into many other factors for example Lack of motivation by teachers The absence of effective individual questioning Lack of use of practical methods to aid the understanding of various topics Absence of standardised testing on each topic Lack of use of added learning time for students who lag behind Non-Student friendly teachers (http://serc.carleton.edu/introgeo/justintime/index.html) LACK OF MODERN TECHNOLOGY In accordance to David Thornburg It is a well known fact that technology improves everyday and in every aspect. Poor teaching methods are highly influenced by the use of ancient material and beliefs for teaching, for example the use of chalkboards and the writing down of long notes takes students time and leaves very little or no time for learning and understanding what is actually been taught. White board should be used instead of chalkboards in schools, also projectors and interactive boards should also be taken into consideration in helping the teachers present their notes in digital form and also to play relevant videos and illustrations to students allowing them to have a clearer view of what is being taught. The writing of notes can now be reduced if copies of notes are collected with the use of a storage device from the teacher and put into personal laptops of students. Once the copy of the note is given to each student, there will be room for more time for the explanation of topics being taught because students take a lot of time copying their notes which makes them tired and even discouraged to read back the lengthy note back because they dont have a good understanding of what has been written in the note. The use of the Chinese abacus would also help young students during get a clearer view of what arithmetic is like. The use of the internet should also be brought into consideration as a source of help to teachers and students thereby ensuring them not to be limited to knowing just what has been known for a very long period of time and leaving both the students and teachers outdated. Modifications are made to various subjects and the internet can be a source of information for educators and students therefore the internet would allow everyone to improve and gain more knowledge on various topics. (The new basics: education and the future of work in the Telematic Age by David Thornburg) LACK OF EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT OF CLASSROOMS Classrooms are very important when it comes to learning, a standard class would be of great help to both the students and their tutors. A teacher has to have rules and regulations given to the students thereby ensuring that there is a standard policy and a certain order in the classroom. The appraisal of pupils work and the provision of sufficient feedback to students will turn out to be more knotty due to the large number of pupils. The overcrowded classrooms also causes shortage of sufficient instructional equipments, high pupil to teacher ratio also reduces possibilities of individual attention to the pupils. Only the students who sit down at the front rows of the classrooms gain from what the teacher is actually trying to pass across to the students. Congested classes are also not conducive for learning because of the stuffy surrounding and make students start sweating which makes them stressed out so easily which is actually very harmful to the health and can actually lead to th e easy transfer of airborne diseases between students. A standard classroom has to be well spaced, well aired, and beautified with different academic illustrations such as the multiplication table of numbers, if a multiplication table is part of the illustrations pasted on the walls of a classroom, it will abet learning due to the frequent sighting of it. Hence, the students would remember it well after several memorisations and will not forget easily.(Patricia Williams, Robert D. Alley, Kenneth T. Henson.1999. Managing secondary classrooms: principles and strategies for effective management and instruction Managing secondary classrooms: principles and strategies for effective management and instruction.) THE USE OF INEXPERIENCED AND UNQUALIFIED TEACHERS The use of inexperienced and unqualified teachers in teaching various subjects causes great harm to the students and greatly affects students subject choices. There are teachers without the appropriate teaching certificates. The academic background of these teachers is feeble, some of the educators teach mathematics and many are untrained, these teachers use poor teaching techniques and they lack assistance in form of constant professional development through seminars, workshops, and refresher courses. These teachers go ahead to teach students at young ages knowing that there are some subjects that require experts in the field for a better understanding of those technical subjects. For example, mathematics, if those teachers without the appropriate knowledge of teaching teach mathematics, there would a high tendency of students having very poor foundation at such a technical subject like mathematics. Such students can end up having a phobia for mathematics and end up dropping the sub ject after the completion of the secondary education. Therefore, the solution to these is by getting teachers with the appropriate teaching certificates to these subjects and these will improve the general performance of students at Ordinary level examinations particularly on subjects like mathematics and English. Non-student friendly teachers also cause great harm to some students by putting fear in the students mind. Lack of motivation by teachers also falls under examples of poor teaching methods. There are certain teachers who dont care about the intellectual feelings of students, they just teach reluctantly and leave the class meanwhile there are certain students who already have a phobia for the subject and what is just needed is motivation which they dont get really from their tutors. Teachers should be of help at motivating students, encouraging and inspiring the students to make them get up and move on. There are also cases whereby students get frustrated at the subjects been taught, instances like that are also resolved by the assistance of these motivational and inspiring teachers. The use of jokes during teaching also aids learning, this makes the students really like the teacher and makes the class lively, and there is this belief that if a student likes a teacher, he will definit ely love his subject. (David Kember and Anthony Wong 2000) According to General Ruben Cubero, the absence of individual questioning is also a factor that affects the overall performance of students. Teachers who do not carry all the students along during lectures tend to be ignorant of students who do not learn easily. Therefore, teachers have to be at the same pace with every student been taught and not leaving any student behind. A suitable solution to these is by the frequent questioning of students when new topics are been taught to know the weakness of students especially the quiet ones and to know the students who have paid total attention throughout the lesson. This also makes the class very lively and encourages the students to do private study at their leisure time. This factor would also help the teacher in knowing some topics he needs to go back and give a different approach when next he is teaching that particular topic. The use of added learning time should also be a necessity to help students who lag behind, or students who nee d extra lessons for effective understanding of topics. If a teacher uses part of his leisure time to gather some weak students together there would be a general improvement in those students performance. These students would therefore put more interest and hence there would be a high tendency of getting better grades in the subject. (General Ruben Cubero, Dean of the Faculty, United States Air Force Academy.) In addition lack of use of practical has also affected students in understanding what has been taught because they are certain subjects that require the use of practical to have a better understanding of the subject. The use of practical and application of the topics to the everyday day life would give students an idea or a clearer picture of what the teacher is explaining (David Kember and Anthony Wong 2000) The absence of study groups also affects the attitude of students towards the understanding of several topics. Students will not be able to interact among themselves and share different opinions but if the teachers put the students into study groups mixing both the weak and smart students together. There will be interaction and discussion between students in a group about their different weak points and the ones who understand a particular topic very well will help those that are still weak in those topics. For instance, when the use of study group was introduced in Chrisland college idimu by Principal T.O Malaka, there was a general improvement of every students performance that particular when all the students made a minimum of a credit in each subject at the 2009 West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE). (www.chrislandschools.org) All the points that are been listed earlier are the main causes of mathematics phobia and lead to the negative attitude of students towards mathematics. A look at the 2009 West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE) result of candidates in Nigeria proved that they are more students that fail mathematics than those that actually pass them. The result clearly stated that only 25.99% of all the candidates obtained a minimum of credits in both mathematics and English. (http://thenationonlineng.net) THE NEGATIVE ATTITUDE OF STUDENTS TOWARDS MATHEMATICS According to H.J.S Smith, a popular mathematician he stated that poor teaching leads to the inevitable idea that mathematics is only adapted to peculiar mind, when it is the one universal science, and the one whose ground rules are taught almost in infancy and reappear in the motions of the universe. Mathematics has a tarnished and flawed reputation among students. It is believed that mathematics is murky, obscure, vague and very difficult to understand and only known by specific people which is very wrong, once there is a change of attitude of student and all those poor teaching methods are corrected, there would be an overall improvement in mathematics result. The teachers have scrawny academic backgrounds on the mathematics content to deliver. Their own manner to mathematics also contributes to their inability to egg on the pupils to study mathematics. The teaching techniques that are used remain principally the traditional talk and chalk mode of delivery. These educators are unde r pressure to facilitate their students pass examinations, and therefore, they are forced to water down the implemented curriculum. This has in turn let to the poor performance of students. If an analyst asks a mathematics professor if he possesses a special brain, he just laughs and it will turn out that he had come across a motivator that was responsible in helping him discover the true beauty of mathematics. Therefore, in conclusion to these saying once a student has a good foundation at a subject he will definitely have a passion for the subject and give his best shot to the subject. According to Plutarch a Greek biographer and essayist, he stated, the mind is not a vessel to be filled. It is a fire to be rekindled the jaundiced attitude of students towards mathematics is highly exacerbated by the method in which it was been taught. These teaching strategies have also relied on the behaviourist model of learning, a paradigm that stresses learning by repetition and memorisation. Teachers should therefore replace the behaviourist paradigms with strategies based on other progressive and improved methods of learning which would be of very great help to student at their ages and which will remove any fear, change the attitude, and bring confidence to students in doing the subject after the completion of secondary education.