Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Simple Laver (to Wash) Verb Conjugations in French

Simple Laver (to Wash) Verb Conjugations in French When you want to say to wash in French, use the verb  laver. Alternatively, if youre going to wash someone or something else,  baigner  is used.  Laver  is relatively easy to remember because it sounds like lather, which is what soap does.   Conjugating the French Verb  Laver In order to change  laver  to mean washed, washing, or will wash, a conjugation is required. While there are more forms to learn in French than in English,  laver  is a  regular -ER verb  and it follows a standard pattern. Before you can conjugate  laver, identify the verb stem, which is simply  lav-  This is what we will attach the infinitive endings too. In French, we have multiple endings to remember for each tense. Thats because each subject pronoun requires a new ending. For instance, I am washing is je lave  and you are washing is  tu laves. Likewise, nous laverons means we will wash while I will wash is je laverai.   Subject Present Future Imperfect je lave laverai lavais tu laves laveras lavais il lave lavera lavait nous lavons laverons lavions vous lavez laverez laviez ils lavent laveront lavaient The Present Participle of  Laver Adding -ant  to the verb stem of  laver  results in the  present participle  lavant. Not only is this a verb, it can also become a noun, adjective, or gerund in certain contexts. The Past Participle and Passà © Composà © Beyond the imperfect, you can use the  passà © composà ©Ã‚  to express the past tense washed in French. To construct this, begin with the subject pronoun and a conjugate of the  auxiliary verb  avoir. Then, attach the  past participle  lavà ©. For example, I washed is jai lavà © and we washed is nous avons lavà ©. More Simple  Laver  Conjugations to Learn Its best to concentrate on the above forms of  laver  and commit them to memory first. When youre comfortable with those, add the following forms to your vocabulary. You may not use them often, but they are useful. The subjunctive verb mood implies uncertainty while the conditional form says the action is dependent on something else. In literature, you will find the passà © simple or the imperfect subjunctive in use. Subject Subjunctive Conditional Pass Simple Imperfect Subjunctive je lave laverais lavai lavasse tu laves laverais lavas lavasses il lave laverait lava lavt nous lavions laverions lavmes lavassions vous laviez laveriez lavtes lavassiez ils lavent laveraient lavrent lavassent The imperative verb form is useful for short demands and requests. This is the one time when its acceptable to skip the subject pronoun: use lave rather than tu lave. Imperative (tu) lave (nous) lavons (vous) lavez

Saturday, November 23, 2019

The History Behind Cobell Vs. Salazar

The History Behind Cobell Vs. Salazar Surviving multiple presidential administrations since its inception in 1996, the Cobell case has been known variously as Cobell v. Babbit, Cobell v. Norton, Cobell v. Kempthorne and its current name, Cobell v. Salazar (all defendants being Secretaries of the Interior under which the Bureau of Indian affairs is organized). With upwards of 500,000 plaintiffs, it has been called the largest class-action lawsuit against the United States in U.S. history. The suit is the result of over 100 years of abusive federal Indian policy and gross negligence in the management of Indian trust lands. Overview Eloise Cobell, a Blackfoot Indian from Montana and banker by profession, filed the lawsuit on behalf of hundreds of thousands of individual Indians in 1996 after finding many discrepancies in the management of funds for lands held in trust by the United States in her job as treasurer for the Blackfoot tribe. According to U.S. law, Indian lands are technically not owned by tribes or individual Indians themselves but are held in trust by the U.S. government. Under U.S. management, Indian trust lands Indian reservations are often leased to non-Indian individuals or companies for resource extraction or other uses. The revenue generated from the leases is to be paid to the tribes and individual Indian land owners. The United States has a fiduciary responsibility to manage the lands to the best benefit of tribes and individual Indians, but as the lawsuit revealed, for over 100 years the government failed in its duties to accurately account for the income generated by the leases, let alone pay the revenues to the Indians. History of Indian Land Policy and Law The foundation of federal Indian law begins with the principles based on the doctrine of discovery, originally defined in Johnson v. MacIntosh (1823) which maintains that Indians only have a right to occupancy and not the title to their own lands. This led to the legal principle of the trust doctrine to which the United States is held on behalf of Native American tribes. In its mission to civilize and assimilate Indians into mainstream American culture, the Dawes Act of 1887 broke up the communal landholdings of tribes into individual allotments which were held in trust for a period of 25 years. After the 25-year period, a patent in fee simple would be issued, enabling an individual to sell their land if they chose to and ultimately breaking up the reservations. The goal of the assimilation policy would have resulted in all Indian trust lands in private ownership, but a new generation of lawmakers in the early 20th century reversed the assimilation policy based on the landmark Merria m Report which detailed the deleterious effects of the previous policy. Fractionation Throughout the decades as the original allottees died the allotments passed to their heirs in subsequent generations. The result has been that an allotment of 40, 60, 80, or 160 acres, which was originally owned by one person is now owned by hundreds or sometimes even thousands of people. These fractionated allotments are usually vacant parcels of land that are still managed under resource leases by the U.S. and have been rendered useless for any other purposes because they can only be developed with the approval 51% of all other owners, an unlikely scenario. Each of those people is assigned Individual Indian Money (IIM) accounts which are credited with any revenue generated by the leases (or would have been had there been appropriate accounting and crediting maintained). With hundreds of thousands of IIM accounts now in existence, accounting has become a bureaucratic nightmare and highly costly. The Settlement The Cobell case hinged in large part on whether or not an accurate accounting of the IIM accounts could be determined. After over 15 years of litigation, the defendant and the plaintiffs both agreed that an accurate accounting was not possible and in 2010 a settlement was finally reached for a total of $3.4 billion. The settlement, known as the Claims Settlement Act of 2010, was divided into three sections: $1.5 billion was created for an Accounting/Trust Administration fund (to be distributed to IIM account holders), $60 million is set aside for Indian access to higher education, and the remaining $1.9 billion sets up the Trust Land Consolidation Fund, which provides funds for tribal governments to purchase individual fractionated interests, consolidating the allotments into once again communally held land. However, the settlement has yet to be paid due to legal challenges by four Indian plaintiffs.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Security Solution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Security Solution - Essay Example The critical point of the matter is that some of the company’s key competitors have already hacked the company’s strategies and that they are already using their techniques. No one knows anything about the source of the attack. However, the management is suspicious that some greedy employees could be associated with the attack and that they reveal vital information to its competitors. The network administrator of the ABC Company has limited understanding of attack methodologies while the company lacks valid security measures. Information regarding the company’s products, the raw materials available, quantity of finished goods, and their prices has been disclosed through a database which has been open for users from across the company. All company’s information has been easily accessible and modifiable by every user in the organization. This has been the key problem to the company security and has resulted to the attack and has lead to leaking and hacking o f data on their laptops. In order to protect the internal data of the company, adequate security measures should be taken with critical observation of the laid down strategies to ensure success in the attainment of security within the company (Essaaidi et al., 2006). The storage of data should be structured in an appendix whereby each department can have an access only to its information. A specific file saver should contain folders which contain specific information for each department with a ‘login’ option while personnel from a particular department should not be able to access information from another department’s folder. The encryption mechanism should be devised to ensure that data belonging to a particular user is accessible to that user only. The installed OS in the company computers should be updated with the latest patches and fixes while modification on information on each database should only be done by the head of department. Not even the network adm inistrator should have the right to modify information on the database but should, however, access the information in a ‘read only’ mode. In order to ensure that the computers are not accessed from outside the organization, which has greatly contributed to the hacking, the available OS in the computers should be updated and configured. The outdated OS present in the computers need to be updated to ensure that no outsider can access the computers. The company should also consider installing an anti-spyware tool. This tool monitors all activities on the computer. The tool can be accidentally installed within program downloads and other files while their use is often cruel. They can capture passwords credit card details as well as banking credentials and relay them back to cheaters. Anti-spyware will help in monitoring and protecting the computers from spyware threats and is free to update and use (Stamatellos, 2007).   On the implementation of the solutions, the organiz ation will require to inform all employees on the changes and possibly train the relevant authorities on how to operate the installed devices in their computers. The organization should also give briefings to all employees, department heads and the network administrators on the need to have such amendments at such a time. The briefings should be meant to declare the attack an organizational disaster which calls for responsibilities from all partners for its termination. The solutions would ensure that the c

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

The importance of having a strategic procurement plan Essay

The importance of having a strategic procurement plan - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that procurement planning as noted by Sanjay is a dynamic process that needs input from different groups of professionals. Therefore John recommends that strategic procurement and planning in an organization should be performed by a multidisciplinary team established particularly for the duty, with the involvement of various technical and management professional who is experienced in procurement and supply management of strategic health supplies. Where necessary, the procurement planning team might request expertise and advice from certain advisors.   The multidisciplinary team is established to make sure that the planning process is not interrupted. The responsibilities of the team are not merely limited to the planning of the products, rather it as well involves monitoring, evaluation, and implementation of the strategic procurement plan. The procurement of health products such as medicines in a healthcare organization requires full kno wledge of the supply system, the sister organizations and other institutions involved. To make sure that there is a continuous availability of products within the organization, the procurement planning team of the organization, has to formulate, coordinate, carry out and monitor the entire procurement process. The team should perform a quick situation evaluation of the supply system to establish possible problems and bottlenecks that could negatively impact the availability of products within the main organization and sister organizations. As explained by Sanjay medicines supply system is cyclic in its nature whereby each task is supported by the past task and leads systematically to the next. Supposing each task is carried out independently of one another instead of being an element of an integrated system, the result is increases in costs, frequent stock shortages and deterioration in the quality of patient care. A good example of this aspect can be viewed in the needs estimation process when there is accurate, well-written and regularly updated epidemiological accounts and information on the use of the product and purchases might become more accurate, efficient and timely.

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Justice is a theme of all great literature Essay Example for Free

Justice is a theme of all great literature Essay Justice comes from actions and decisions being balanced, in that when someone does a good thing, they are rewarded, and when they do something bad, they are punished. It is the gods primary role to hand out justice and make sure everybody is treated fairly. This theme appears immediately in the Odyssey, as Zeus is considering the story of Aegisthus, who courted Agamemnons wife and then killed Agamemnon. Aegisthus was killed for this treacherous act. This story of justice shows us instantly that the Odyssey will be strongly structured around it. May all who act as he did share his fate! says Athene. This shows how openly the gods in the Odyssey despised the works of those who went against the will of the gods. Both Nestor and Menelaus repeat this story of Aegisthus, and as god fearing men, they know how important it is to stay on their right side because they know what happens as a result of an imbalance in terms of justice. The Aeneid opens however and were told that the poem is based on the founding of Rome and the main string of justice seems to be coming from one scorned goddess, who simply doesnt want her favourite city to be destroyed. The balance she tries to restore is simply an act of revenge rather than actual justice, and rather than convincing the other gods its the right thing to do, she simply bribes Aeolus. Justice is however looked upon a little while later as Venus goes to Jupiter and asks why the Trojans are being made to suffer after doing nothing wrong. Jupiter tells her not to fear as justice will be done and Rome will be founded. Such behaviour seems to recur constantly throughout the Aeneid. For example, in book 8 we learn of the betrayal that a Tuscan tribe suffered at the hands of Mezentius, and in book 9 he continues his evil ways killing Trojans. The Gods have decided to stay out of the battle and so the following events have nothing to do with the justice that is familiar in epic poems. Both Mezentius and his son Lausus are killed, by Aeneid. I see these deaths as acts of revenge rather than justice, although Lausus death is more deserving. The death of his son is Mezentius true punishment. I see these deaths as acts of revenge because Mezentius tried to kill Aeneid, as well as all the other innocent people and the treachery he brought upon the aforementioned Tuscan tribe, and so Aeneas kills them. The fact that the innocent Lausus dies shows that the justice portrayed in the Aeneid is much more malicious, and it doesnt just affect the culprit. Theres also the case of the unfortunate people in the underworld that must wait 100 years to cross the river, through no fault of their own. Justice really does seem obscure in the Aeneid. Another instance of this is when the people of Carthage feel Didos death was just, simply because she fell in love with the wrong man, and through no fault of her own. I believe Turnus death to be the best example of the incomprehensible justice served in the Aeneid. His justice only prevails once they see fit, once it fits in with their plans. In the end, it becomes obvious that while justice is a powerful motivator and regulator in the lives of mortals, it is the will of the immortals that truly controls their lives, and their disfigured system of justice On the other hand, there are moments when actual justice is served. Examples include the groups beyond the river in the underworld and the story of Hercules and the giant for example. He goes to extreme lengths to kill the giant for all the robbery and murder hes committed, and its just that Hercules puts a stop to it, even though its brought about by someone who isnt quite immortal, and so possibly not what the gods perceive as justice. Although weve already established that the gods perspective is fairly warped in the Aeneid. The other case of actual justice involves king Minos, who spends eternity hearing the cases of people, unjustly executed, and finally getting the plea their cases. They are finally being treated fairly, even if it is beyond life. In the Odyssey however, deaths and misfortunes seem to come about through the idea of justice, and nothing else- no malicious or unfair punishments seem to prevail i. e. there seems to be a point behind them, rather than them just being malicious acts of immortals. For example, Zeus becomes angered at Odysseus because his men eat the sun gods cattle, despite being warned not to; however he doesnt let Odysseus die, because the sun god only asks that the crew be punished, because after all, Odysseus did warn them. However he does unavoidably get caught in the cross fire and this is how he winds up on Calypsos island in the first place. Another example is Poseidon. He makes Odysseus aqua adventures a nightmare because he impairs Poseidons son Polyphemus vision, which goes against the rules of Xenia really. It is of course, Odysseus own fault because he becomes arrogant about what he did to Polyphemus, by telling him his name, after hes left. Therefore its just and fair to punish him. Even though hes such a great hero, he does a wrong act and is punished as any other man would be. Then of course, there is the case of the suitors; the epic conclusion to the Odyssey. Odysseus finally returns to find all the suitors and some of the maids running riot in his home, having raunchy sex, eating all the food, and drinking away his wealth. Odysseus is of course a bit bothered by this, so he decides, and Athene, who borrows Mentors image again, agrees that he, Telemachus and a couple of close friends will pick up their weapons and launch them through any part of the suitors they see fit. The fact that Athene helps proves that the act is just. Rarely do gods help out in a way that we can perceive as just in the Aeneid, because most of the time, the punishments are just vicious or over-exaggerated. So anyway, Telemachus sees to it that the ill-mannered maids are hung until they stop twitching, and Odysseus destroys all the suitors so that he and Penelope can live happily ever after, as they justly deserve. By the end of homers poem, everyone has been served the justice theyve earned, both good and bad. I think its fair to say that justice is very important in both plays, but as a modern day reader, its easier to understand the justice in the Odyssey because at times, the events in the Aeneid seem so obscure.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Zara: Information Technology For Fast Fashion :: Problem, Solution, Case Study

Problem Statement: In 2003, Zara's CIO must decide whether to upgrade the retailer's IT infrastructure and capabilities. At the time of the case, the company relies on an out-of-date operating system for its store terminals and has no full-time network in place across stores. Despite these limitations, however, Zara's parent company, Inditex, has built an extraordinarily well-performing value chain that is by far the most responsive in the industry. Therefore the major problem to the company is to decide whether it has to upgrade the present system and by doing so, risking the reliability they have with the current system or to continue with the present DOS based system which will not be compatible for future changes or improvements. Analysis & Recommendation: Zara’s main strategy is the ability to respond very quickly to the demands of target customers which called for identifying trends of the customer in advance. The company has been able to identify the trends and meet the demand with the help of its autonomously organized structure and its effective value chain systems. The present system followed by Zara has been very effective and very easy to maintain, which as a result has persuaded the company to continue without any change in the present system so far. The problem that Zara faces right now is that the system that they use, P-O-S (Point of Sale terminals), runs on DOS which Microsoft does not support anymore and any hardware change in the POS terminal will not be compatible with the current POS software. Although the sense of urgency for the change may not be that high, investing in IT infrastructure is a must as MS Dos is an obsolete technology and there is no contract or guarantee from their POS terminal vendor that they will continue supplying the same terminal with out much changes in the hardware for any specific period of time, therefore change is unavoidable. The other main issue that Zara faces is that the stores don’t share inventory information electronically and hence inventory management becomes highly difficult and manual. The decision making process is based on the judgment of employees throughout the company instead of relying on a small set of decision makers; the majority of the decisions were made by store managers and as a result they placed orders for the items rather than simply accepting and displaying what headquarters decided to send them.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

International Retail Buying & Merchandising

International Fashion Branding International Retail Buying & Merchandising ‘Evaluate the various buying structures that exist in order to support a retail buying function and the impact of these buying structures on the roles and responsibilities of the retail buyer. Use illustrative examples to support your answer. ’ Within the retail environment customer satisfaction and company profitability are a crucial consideration in the merchandise choice of the buyer (Diamond & Pintel, 2008).The range of the buyer’s duties will depend on the size of the business and can be seen as three main buying approaches; centralised, decentralised and a combination of the two. Throughout this essay the buying structures will be explored in depth and the advantages and disadvantages of each will be underlined. The difference between these three approaches will highlight further the roles and responsibilities of the retail buyer and how they change depending on the type of organisati on. The buyer’s role within the retail sector is an extremely crucial one.A fashion buyer selects a range of products targeted at a specific clientele within a certain price range to hopefully gain profit for a retail company (Kang, 1999). Therefore getting the merchandise collection correct has been described as ‘the engine of success’ within retailing (Aufreiter et al. , 1993). A successful buyer requires a variety of skills including communication, calculation, analysing market positions, the power of negotiation and should also be creative (Varley, 2005).There are three roles of a buyer as stated by Hirshman and Stampfl (1980), firstly as a change agent where the buyer inspires the consumer to consider purchasing new and exciting goods, secondly as a gatekeeper where the buyer will coordinate the movement of the product from supplier directly to the customer. Finally the opinion leader role will encourage the customer’s outlook however this does not ne cessarily result in a direct purchase from the company.The key activities which a retail buyer must carry out are as follows; analysis of market opportunity which helps understand consumer buying behaviour, the creation of a merchandise plan which will incorporate a range of goods and merchandise within that category. The buyer needs to then select and build a solid relationship with a supplier to give the business a competitive advantage. The development of the product will ensure an exclusive feel of the brand, precisely tailored to meet the desires of the retailer and their customer. These goods will then me packaged, presented and promoted accordingly (Fernie et al. 2003). The buying role can differ between companies due to the size of the organisation, the budget allocated, classification of merchandise, the number of employees and where the stores are located (Diamond & Pintel, 2008). These attributes clearly define the organisational structure that a business will use to appr oach the buying role. The first of the three approaches, which large chain stores favour, is a centralised structure. This is where a whole buying team are involved and all purchase decisions are made at Head Office.Usually buyers will have separate departments and select a specific product range, for example lingerie or footwear (Goworek, 2001). As the size of a company grows, the buyer’s role becomes more intense as they deal with larger sums of money, a greater number of products and competition increases. More staff is brought in to help spread the workload and this in turn separate the buying role from the marketing one. This can be perceived as a negative as buyers are required to be kept up to date with promotions and merchandising decisions (Rosenbloom, 1981).On the other hand, there any many advantages of buying taking place in Head Office over store level. Stores with full point-of-sale data capture systems can accumulate up to date information on sale trends and bu ying patterns for each item and store them to allow forecasts to be more precise. This helps provide buying power with the negotiation of supply prices and allows a single point of communication for supply base. Subsequently allocating more time to the buyer to analysis market trends and discovers new products for their customer.In short the cost of buying function is lower as economies of scale are achieved. Tighter quality control techniques can be applied to improve production and delivery performance whilst buying and stock control choices are levelled across all stores. This gives store managers the opportunity to focus on motivating their staff and the running of their store (McGolderick, 2002). However while centralised purchasing does have its advantages, it can occasionally not recognise the needs and variation in demand of an individual store as well as that of the store manager.With buyers working from Head Office quarters there is very little informal communication with the various units making ‘the organisation less adaptive to marketplace and environmental changes’ (Stampfl, 1978). Every store will have a different set of customers and product assortment. However as the retailer is not in control of buying the merchandise they must work with the allocated product from the central buying team (Wang, L, 2010). This in turn can demotivate managers at local levels as they feel their input or contribution to the buying activities is invalid.All buying teams within centralised structure main goals are to become the front runner in the marketplace. Marks and Spencer are one of the many chain stores which are constantly reviewing their buying strategy to ‘deliver lower stock levels, shorter lead times and greater flexibility’ (marksandspencer. com, 2013). Decentralised merchandising can be found within independent retailers selling products with stable demand. In such cases the store managers often take on the function of buying locally as well as many other numerous management roles.It is favoured when a number of decisions need to be made at store level based on customer’s needs. A well-known brand which takes this type of approach is Johnson & Johnson who offer a range of health care products. This is due to the various businesses they are involved in which have different customer desires. By having a diverse range of businesses, with more than 250 autonomous units, the company has managed to modernise and grow regardless of its size (Singer & Abelson, 2010). Giving store level management more opportunity to have an element of control over the buying for their stores.A method of enhancing customer service and the stores efficiency against the large companies who use the centralised method is to allow the small retailers to cater fully to their local product choice (Varley, 2005). A major plus of using a decentralised structure is the ability for a store to adapt to change within the local market without having to wait for the centralised buying team to give the go ahead. This can boost self-esteem of store managers as they feel they have a large contribution with the buying decisions.The CEO of Johnson & Johnson, William Weldon stated a negative with having a decentralised approach, the head of the company will have to gain a good deal of trust with their store managers to make the correct decisions. Having decisions spread out amongst the company can also lead to inconsistency across the organisation. Weldon also pointed out that by having a decentralised approach it allows his business to advance internationally. They count on local employees in overseas markets to make critical business decisions (Kokemuller, n. ). A combinative structure is the third approach that a retailer may adopt where the ability to purchase takes place at both central and local level. This may involve the central buyers buying the core lines for all the stores and products to suit local needs are bought in turn by local managers. This method has been utilised by international food retailers whose head office buy main brands sold in all stores. The local management are in control for obtaining goods from local suppliers in order to fulfil customer tastes.In 2001 Waitrose itself has encouraged the use of local produce by stocking over two thousand lines alongside other large chains such as Asda and Co-operative Group (Morrell, 2010). Another method used within this structure involves a centralised buying team who select a range of goods from which store level managers choose according to the desires of their consumers. Whilst this does not entirely give the opportunity for the store manager to select exact products for their outlet, it does allow them to have some say within the buying decisions.An example of this would be the franchise restaurant Subway, where their Head Office takes control of the marketing, menus and food quality but the store managers themselves take cont rol over matters such as hiring and training of staff (DuBrin, 2009). A further illustration would be the famous clothes apparel Benetton, who create a variety of styles. Although the individual licensee cannot buy from outside suppliers, the single units have the opportunity of selecting the clothes from the company that they believe will suit best with their customer (Diamond & Pintel, 2008).A combinative method fulfils the demands and expectations of customers through the organisations ability to buy centrally, prices are more competitive and the local taste is also met (Bruce, 2004). The roles and responsibilities of a retail buyer can vary in terms of what purchasing structure is used within a business. For a small organisation the buyer can be involved with the sales and promotional sides of the business whereas in large chain stores they have various positions at different levels such as buying directors, managers, buyers, buying assistants and trainees (Goworek, 2001).Single units opt for a decentralised buying approach where the store level management are responsible for all buying tasks. Shop owners operate their own store as they believe they could provide a tailored product and service specific to their customer. Independent stores generally sell one arrangement of products or restricted amounts of merchandise; this is purchased by the store level manager. Within single units the owner takes on many roles but with chains, that have hundreds of stores, the role of the buyer becomes more constrained and focused on purchasing (Diamond & Pintel, 2008).A crucial skill of the buying team within a centralised structure is to be efficient communicators as they are constantly speaking with suppliers and other departments. As the distance between stores increase, it becomes more challenging for a buyer to make frequent visits to each store. These units are controlled at Head Office with very limited contact occurring between buyer and store manager. The main focus being purchasing and communication is achieved through telephone and e-mail, information is also accumulated via electronic reports (Diamond & Pintel 2008).Within a smaller business the range of merchandise is usually wider, for example men’s business-wear which would include suits, shirts and ties. With large chain store such as Bhs and Oasis, buyers are given a more concentrated product range for instance men’s shirts. This in turn leads to further pressure to generate more sales for their specific department. In comparison to individual stores which acquire a more flexible buyer with a broader skill set to assist with quality control.The roles and responsibilities of a buyer within a combinative structure is a mixture between the buying department at Head Office purchasing the core lines of a range and the store manager’s contribution to providing the store with local good they believed to cater to needs of their customer. This could be difficult to ma nage as purchasing will take place at both levels, for this to be successful, the general manager and the buying team would need to communicate regular so that merchandise within the store was consistent.Overall a buying structure is needed in order to help support a retailing company deliver its market with a carefully selected product range, providing them with a competitive advantage and in turn hopefully generating profit. Three main approaches were evaluated and linked with different types of businesses which best suited them. Centralization is more broadly used by larger retailers such as chain stores; decentralization provides a structure for independent retailers and thirdly a combination of the two which takes elements of both of these to create a core line as well as using local produce.When companies are considering both the handling of data and of merchandise then the decision must be made as to which is the preferred method. A centralised approach allows organisations t o have a larger buying department with greater efficiency which becomes more focused on areas of purchasing. Some retailers see this as restricting as store managers have limited say within this process, therefore they opt for a more flexible method offered within the decentralised approach.After clear assessment of all three structures it was concluded that a combination of centralised and decentralised approaches would be an overall satisfactory method to put in place for most organisations as the main ranges within a retailer would be controlled by Head Office with an experienced buying department but also store level managers would contribute to the buying decisions as they had expertise with what the customer would desire. References Aufreiter, N. , N. Karch and C. Smith Shi (1993) ‘The engine of success in retailing’.McKinsey Quarterly, 3, 101-116. Bruce, M. (2004). The anatomy of retail buying. In: Butterworth-Heinemann, E International retail marketing : a case study approach . Oxford: Elsevier Ltd. 64-68. Diamond & Pintel. (2008). The Buyer's Role. In: Vernon R. A Retail Buying. 8th ed. New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc.. 3-32. DuBrin, A. (2009). Organizing. In: Calhoun, J and Acuna, M Essentials Of Management. 8th ed. Mason: South-Western Cengage Learning. 219-295. Fernie, J et al. (2003). Principles of Retailing. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann. p145-150 Goworek, H. (2001).The Role of the Fashion Buyer. In: Blackwell Science Ltd Fashion Buying. Great Britain: DP Photsetting. 4-14. Hirschman, E. C. ; Stampfl, R. W. (1980). Roles of retailing in the diffusion of popular culture: Microperspectives. Journal of Retailing 56 Kang, KY. (1999). Conceptual Framework: Retail Buying Process. In: Kang, KY Development of an Assortment Planning Model for Fashion Sensitive Products. 1-14. Kokemuller, N. (n. d). Decentralized Company Business Structure. Available: http://smallbusiness. chron. com/decentralized-company-business-structure-20629. tml. Marks and Spencer. (2013). Careers. Available: http://corporate. marksandspencer. com/mscareers/opportunities/head_office_roles/headoffice_buying. McGolderick, P. (2002). Product Selection and Buying. In: Alcock, T and Howell, C Retail Marketing. 2nd ed. Berkshire: McGraw-Hill Education. 279-301. Morrell, L. (2010). The benefits of local sourcing. Available: http://www. retail-week. com/in-business/supply-chain/the-benefits-of-local-sourcing/5010688. article. Rosenbloom, B (1981). Retail Marketing. New York: Random House. Singer, N and Abelson, R. (2010).After Recalls of Drugs, a Congressional Spotlight on J. ; J. ’s Chief. Available: http://www. nytimes. com/2010/09/29/business/29tylenol. html? pagewanted=all;_r=0. Stampfl, R. W (1978). Structural constrains, consumerism and the market concept, MSU Business Topics, 2 (4), 37-66. Varley, R. (2005). The Role of Product Retail Managers. In: Taylor and Francis Retail product management : buying and merchandising . 2nd ed. Oxon: Routl edge Ltd. 21-41. Wang, L. (2010). Buying committees in Chinese retail industry. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics. 22 (4), 492-511.

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Internet Article Review “When to call the organization doctor” Essay

Summary In the article, When to call the organization doctor by Robert N. Llewellyn discusses many techniques that are available for an organization and managers to use in determining how to properly identify organizational problems, or resolve current problems within the organization. Llewellyn’s article briefly describes eight-elements in accomplishing organizational effectiveness: Strategic Direction, Goal Alignment, Work Process and Projects, Organizational Structure, Performance Management, Rewards, Cultural Support Systems and Infrastructure. The article further points out that after a manager have identified the elements for effective organizational management than they should apply these elements to diagnosis problems within the organization. Furthermore, â€Å"When a fit problem is identified†¦ one must use not only simple deductive thinking, but inferential thinking as well.† (Llewellyn, p.79, 2002) Following this step â€Å"†¦puts management in charge of where the organization is going, strategically and systemically, and avoids the management-fad phenomenon.† (Llewellyn, p.79, 2002) Effective Management In week, one Professor Sowunmi asked the class to explain, â€Å"How does effective management impact organizational success?† (Main newsgroup, February 4, 2004 DQ 2) In answering the question I stated, â€Å"Effective management can have an endless impact upon the success of an organization. Interview Article 3 The main goals of any business are to make sure that its organization and its employees perform proficiently and productively. Any company can accomplish these goals if the employees are provided with appropriate guidance, enough flexibility, and supplied with the necessary information about what the organization is trying to accomplish. Moreover, a company that is successfully managed has a vision and knows how to make decisions that are consistent with the company’s vision. In addition, an organization that has good management can make good decisions that not only improve the profits of the company, but also give the employees a sense of pride in their company. A company that is managed successfully recognizes and appreciates its customers and will go all the way in making sure the customer is place first.† (Easter-Brown, DQ 2, February 7, 2004) This statement helps support the fact that if an organization fails to properly diagnosis problems within the organization they are most probably committing a form of â€Å"organizational malpractice.† In other words, thinking about the many ways organizations try to change and make themselves healthier makes it nearly impossible if they are unwilling to remember that prescription without diagnosis is malpractice, whether in medicine or management. On the other hand, the self-medication approach can sometimes have limited impact and can even lose headway. Without any external help or ideas, the side effects or self-treatment can be limited management thinking, stubborn devotion to traditional and comfortable viewpoints. Self-medication can work well, but management must be well informed about the range of effective remedies. Interview Article 4 Take the statement made by Kevin O’Connell, one of my fellow classmates,† Effective management uses mistakes as opportunities for learning and is able to recover and quickly adapt to changes in the business climate. Ineffective management points the blame on others and never learns nor takes ownership for mistakes.† (Main newsgroup DQ2, February 5, 2004) Furthermore, preferring the self-medication approach, many organizations continually engage in various processes aimed at self-change. They may purchase current management books, videos and training materials — the counterpart of over-the-counter medications — but in general, they prefer to figure things out for themselves. Many firms are simply more comfortable with this â€Å"do it yourself† approach and have little attraction to the idea of bringing in outsiders to deal with their change agenda. Internal task forces, special initiatives, campaigns and focused training programs can be effective forms of self-treatment. If they have a core team of bright, well-qualified internal change agents, they could make great progress. Llewellyn states, â€Å"†¦managers should first correctly diagnosis organizational problems first, then, if needed, search for a consultant that has the experience needed.† (pg. 79, 2002) Changes for SHS If I could make changes or recommendations for my own organization, they would defiantly be built around the guidelines of organizational effectiveness. Interview Article 5 The Stamford Health System is currently under new management and many of the guidelines stated in Llewellyn’s article are exceptional steps for improving the effectiveness of my company’s organizational structure, for example, Performance Management, Rewards, and Cultural Support Systems are some good suggestions for improvement. In my recommendations for Performance Management, I would like to see a centralized scheduling streamlines access to the hospital’s services that satisfy physicians and patients, for example, a Centralized-scheduling staff of stationed in close proximity to the Admitting office, increasing their efficiency due to the high volume of walk-in patients. The average 95 faxes and 30 calls received each day from physicians’ offices will be reduce to approximately 15 minutes to schedule. The training process for central scheduling staff is broader so that they can schedule all procedure/visit types Specific IT systems can now facilitate c entral scheduling by being â€Å"smart† about scheduling. If my organization wants to be competitive and increase their nurse retention, they need to provide major stimulus to restructure the hospital and organization. There needs to be an improvement in our internal reform strategy as well as a market alliance strategy. In order to be successful in the market environment of managed care and managed competition, my institution needs to expand market share through superior quality service; reduce management overhead with flat structure; increase productivity with self-directed teams; control expenses within budget; reinforce innovation and performance with incentives; and reinfuse employees and medical staff with a sense of shared optimism about the future. Interview Article 6 I believe the result will be a sweeping overhaul in organizational culture, driven by a radical shift in management philosophy and a permanent commitment to seek continuous improvements at all levels. Conclusion It is evident from my evaluation and the article When to call the organization doctor by Robert N. Llewellyn that careful evaluation and diagnosis of the central problems in an organization can help avoid †¦Ã¢â‚¬ expensive, disruptive, and often unnecessary intervention†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (pg.79, 2002) Overall, through a conservative position an organization can develop the capability to evaluate and diagnosis effective organizational skills to improve the many problems that may arise in the organizational structure. Fundamentally, as long as the organization is willing to strive for organizational effectiveness, they have a greater chance of solving problems within the company. Interview Article 7    References Easter-Brown, D. (Feb. 7, 2004). MGT 330 Main Newsgroup. How does effective management impact organizational success? Retrieved from MGT 330 Main Newsgroup on February 16, 2004 Llewellyn, R.N. (Mar. 2002). When to call the organization doctor HR Magazine. Vol. 47, Iss. 3, pg. 79. Retrieved from ProQuest database on February 2, 2004. O’Connell, K. (Feb. 5, 2004). MGT 330 Main Newsgroup. How does effective management impact organizational success? Retrieved from MGT 330 Main Newsgroup on February 16, 2004 Sowumni, A. (2004). Overview of The Concepts of Management: Week I Lecture. Retrieved from MGT 330 Course Newsgroup on February 13, 2003. University of Phoenix (Ed.). (2002). Management: Theory, Practice, and Application [University of Phoenix Custom Edition e-text]. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Custom Publishing Retrieved February 13, 2003.

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Attila the Hun at the Battle of Chalons

Attila the Hun at the Battle of Chalons The Battle of Chalons was fought during the Hunnic Invasions of Gaul in present-day France. Pitting Attila the Hun against Roman forces led by Flavius Aetius, the Battle of Chalons ended in a tactical draw but was a strategic victory for Rome. The victory at Chalons was one of the last achieved by the Western Roman Empire.​ Date The traditional date for the Battle of Chalons is June 20, 451. Some sources indicate that it may have been fought on September 20, 451. Armies Commanders Huns Attila the Hun30,000-50,000 men Romans Flavius AetiusTheodoric I30,000-50,000 men Battle of Chalons Summary In the years preceding 450, Roman control over Gaul and its other outlying provinces had grown weak. That year, Honoria, the sister, of Emperor Valentinian III, offered her hand in marriage to Attila the Hun with the promise that she would deliver half the Western Roman Empire as her dowry. Long a thorn in her brothers side, Honoria had earlier been married to Senator Herculanus in an effort to minimize her scheming. Accepting Honorias offer, Attila demanded that Valentinian deliver her to him. This was promptly refused and Attila began preparing for war. Attilas war planning was also encouraged by the Vandal king Gaiseric who wished to wage war on the Visigoths. Marching across the Rhine in early 451, Attila was joined by the Gepids and Ostrogoths. Through the first parts of the campaign, Attilas men sacked town after town including Strasbourg, Metz, Cologne, Amiens, and Reims. As they approached Aurelianum (Orleans), the citys inhabitants closed the gates forcing Attila to lay siege. In northern Italy, Magister militum Flavius Aetius began mustering forces to resist Attilas advance. Moving into southern Gaul, Aetius found himself with a small force consisting primarily of auxiliaries. Seeking aid from Theodoric I, king of the Visigoths, he was initially rebuffed. Turning to Avitus, a powerful local magnate, Aetius finally was able to find assistance. Working with Avitus, Aetius succeeded in convincing Theodoric to join the cause as well as several other local tribes. Moving north, Aetius sought to intercept Attila near Aurelianum. Word of Aetius approach reached Attila as his men were breaching the citys walls. Forced to abandon the attack or be trapped in the city, Attila began retreating northeast in search of favorable terrain to make a stand. Reaching the Catalaunian Fields, he halted, turned, and prepared to give battle. On June 19, as the Romans approached, a group of Attilas Gepids fought a large skirmish with some of Aetius Franks. Despite foreboding predictions from his seers, Attila gave the order to form for battle the next day. Moving from their fortified camp, they marched towards a ridge that crossed the fields. Playing for time, Attila did not give the order to advance until late in the day with the goal of allowing his men to retreat after nightfall if defeated. Pressing forward they moved up the right side of the ridge with the Huns in the center and the Gepids and Ostrogoths on the right and left respectively. Aetius men climbed the left slope of the ridge with his Romans on the left, the Alans in the center, and Theodorics Visigoths on the right. With the armies in place, the Huns advanced to take the top of the ridge. Moving quickly, Aetius men reached the crest first. Taking the top of the ridge, they repulsed Attilas assault and sent his men reeling back in disorder. Seeing an opportunity, Theodorics Visigoths surged forward attacking the retreating Hunnic forces. As he struggled to reorganize his men, Attilas own household unit was attacked forcing him to fall back to his fortified camp. Pursuing, Aetius men compelled the rest of the Hunnic forces to follow their leader, though Theodoric was killed in the fighting. With Theodoric dead, his son, Thorismund, assumed command of the Visigoths. With nightfall, the fighting ended. The next morning, Attila prepared for the expected Roman attack. In the Roman camp, Thorismund advocated assaulting the Huns but was dissuaded by Aetius. Realizing that Attila had been defeated and his advance stopped, Aetius began to assess the political situation. He realized that if the Huns were completely destroyed, that the Visigoths would likely end their alliance with Rome and would become a threat. To prevent this, he suggested that Thorismund immediately return to the Visigoth capital at Tolosa to claim his fathers throne before one of his brothers seized it. Thorismund agreed and departed with his men. Aetius used similar tactics to dismiss his other Frankish allies before withdrawing with his Roman troops. Initially believing the Roman withdrawal to be a ruse, Attila waited several days before breaking camp and retreating back across the Rhine. Aftermath Like many battles in this time period, precise casualties for the Battle of Chalons are not known. An extremely bloody battle, Chalons ended Attilas 451 campaign in Gaul and damaged his reputation as an invincible conqueror. The following year he returned to assert his claim to Honorias hand and ravaged northern Italy. Advancing down the peninsula, he did not depart until speaking with Pope Leo I. The victory at Chalons was one of the last significant victories achieved by the Western Roman Empire. Sources Medieval Sourcebook: Battle of ChalonsHistorynet: Battle of Chalons

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Shelf Life of Chlorine Bleach and How to Maximize It

Shelf Life of Chlorine Bleach and How to Maximize It Bleach is one of those household chemicals that loses its activity over time. It doesnt matter whether or not the bleach container has been opened or not. Temperature is the primary factor affecting how long bleach remains active. According to Cloroxâ„ ¢, the amount of hypochlorite that is added to their bleach depends on the season in which it is manufactured, because temperature affects the decomposition rate of sodium hypochlorite. So, more hypochlorite is added to bleach made in the summer than in cooler months. Clorox aims to maintain a 6% hypochlorite concentration for at least six months after the manufacturing date, assuming the bleach is stored around 70Â °F. It takes about 4-8 weeks from the time chlorine bleach is made to when it gets to a store so that you can buy it to take home. This leaves you 3-5 months where the bleach is at the effectiveness level stated on its label. Does this mean bleach is useless after 3-5 months? No, because you probably dont need 6% hypochlorite for laundry and home disinfection. The 6% hypochlorite level is an EPA disinfection standard. If you store your bleach where it can get warmer than 70Â °F, like 90Â °F, the bleach is still effective for around three months. How Long Is Bleach Good? So, when you buy a bottle of bleach, it has a shelf life. The bleach will be highly effective for around 6 months and fine for home use for around 9 months. Clorox recommends replacing any bottle of bleach that is over a year old. Another way to tell if your bleach is expired is to note its odor. Dont open the bottle and take a whiff! The human sense of smell is sensitive to bleach, so you should be able to smell it as soon as you pour it from its container. If you dont smell any bleach, its likely most of the product has decomposed into salt and water. Replace it with a fresh bottle. Maximizing the Bleach Shelf Life If you want bleach to remain as effective as possible for as long as possible, avoid storing it in extremely hot or freezing conditions. Generally, this means its better to store a bottle of bleach in a cabinet inside the house, which has a relatively stable room temperature, as opposed to a garage or outside storage shed. Bleach is sold in an opaque container. Dont switch it out for a clear container because exposure to light will degrade the chemical more quickly. Like other hazardous chemicals, make sure its kept away from children and pets. Its also a good idea to store bleach away from other household cleaners because it can react with many of them to release toxic fumes.

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Does the EU have negative impacts on small states in the EU Does it Research Paper

Does the EU have negative impacts on small states in the EU Does it fringe them The divide between the north and the south - Research Paper Example It is to assess the impact of EU policies on the economic performance of small market economies within the EU, with special emphasis on Cyprus’s economy. Overall, there is a wealth of solid scientific research into the problem. Whereas books provide a comprehensive analysis of the relevant data and newspaper articles enlighten the reader on the latest developments in the region. Though the literature on the subject is abundant, there are some limitations in research too. A common thread from all sources reviewed suggests that EU policies have had an ambiguous effect on the economic performance of different small EU member-states. It would be wise to start this literature review by looking at how experts determine which EU economies are small and which are not. Today, there are as many approaches to defining small economies as there are scholars researching the problem. Indeed, there is no single yardstick by which to measure whether or not a particular economy is small. Some researchers look at the geographical area of the country and the amount of natural resources it has (Castello & Ozawa, 2014). It is with the believe that those factors are inexorably linked to the economic ability of a country. Others determine the country’s affiliation with a particular pool of economies by simply looking at its GDP (Gal, 2009). For example, Castello and Ozawa (2014) classify Belgium and the Netherlands as â€Å"small economies† (p. 29), even though the two countries have relatively competitive macroeconomic indicators. Ronald Schettkat (1999) broadens the list to include Ireland, Denmark, and Austria. Alt hough the number of EU member-states was smaller in 1999 and the economies of Austria and the Netherlands were weaker, they could be hardly classified as small. One plausible explanation for regarding these states as small economies is that some of their industries are characterized by concentrated market structures, which is a criterion of a small economy

Friday, November 1, 2019

GBST300 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

GBST300 - Essay Example For example in the book â€Å"How to get filthy rich in Asia† by Hamid a poor person who is the protagonist moves to city and becomes an industrialist. In a city, the education, health and security is better in village than city. Education a person can get from a school or college in village because comparing to health and security, education takes a second place. In city health and security is less and in village people can get fresh air, food and water. In village people can feel safe as there are no crowding people and there is no traffic of strangers. In a village the people know each other and feel safe. There is good health due to the reason that people are physically active. They do not spend their time leisurely and get enough time to walk or get active. Moreover they do not eat fast food or other processed food like city dwellers. They raise their own food and eat wholesome food which give them good nutrition and health. They also have access to fresh water and are not subjected to pollution. The â€Å"White horse village† is a documentary which shows the unhealthy ways of city dwellers that in greed of money and power are destroying a village in China. Getting ahead in cities is not easy. For this one person need to be competitive and need to be selfish and be materialistic. They need to be thinking of earning money by any means and others interests does not stand in their way. One needs to sacrifice their morals and ethical standard. In city one need to avoid love friendly attitude and should be ready for debt. In the book by Hamid the characters are all thinking that they are the hero which is the attitude needed in city life. The people should be ready to be unethical and the protagonist of his novel wants to go back to rural life after being rich and lost in a city lifelike the protagonist in the novel by Hamid who ignores religion, value and love