Sunday, April 26, 2020
Total Quality Management Xerox
Introduction Total quality management is a variation of lean manufacturing principles that originated in Japan. Toyota Production System first developed them. Over the years, the concepts have morphed into various business tools, including the TQM that is now a comprehensive tool used by almost all major firms in the Western world.Advertising We will write a custom critical writing sample on Total Quality Management: Xerox specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More TQM incorporates customer satisfaction, continuous improvement, and workforce commitment (Lai, Lui Hon 2014).à The following are achievable with adequate total quality management implementation in a firm. First, the firm will strengthen its competitive position, have high productivity, enhance its market image, increase its profitability, and ensure that employees have job security. These and other results depend on the nature of TQM implementation and the business sector. A q uestion concerning implementation is whether it contributes to better functioning of other tools and whether TQM leads to the desired results. Additional queries may relate to whether the business in question is also reaping sustainable benefits. Xerox case This section now examines the application of TQM in Xerox Corporation. Familiarity with Xerox and research on the company through secondary literature sources informs the analysis. Among multinational Western firms, Xerox is one of the most quality conscious one. It began implementing TQM in 1980. The company develops its TQM practices to respond to changes in its business environment and to shape its operations to enjoy a competitive advantage. Company background The firm started operations in 1906 in the USA. Five decades later, it had made its first plain paper copier. Its profit growth was 20 per cent annually by the start of the 21st century (Xerox 2004). Stock prices for the public company soared.Advertising Looking fo r critical writing on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More However, its companyââ¬â¢s growth nosedived soon afterwards. Its stock price fell from a high of USD 70 in 1999 to less than USD 5 in 2001. During the period, the company lost USD 30 billion as market value (Xerox 2004). Worldwide, Xerox has a reputation to uphold, as the worldââ¬â¢s best photocopier manufacturer. Its success is a demonstration of right management principles, tool usage, and positive sustainable outcomes. Implementation of TQM at Xerox began as a reaction to the negative market performance. The company lost about 65 percent of market share in the 1980s and was moving towards obsolescence. It needed to change its strategies and once again become dominant in the market. At the time, key sources of competition were Japanese manufacturers that were embracing a low cost market strategy to upset incumbent rivals like Xerox in the general ele ctronics and office equipment markets. Although Japanese copiers were very affordable for most businesses, they did not compromise on quality, which made them irresistible to customers. Xerox copiers at the time were of high quality, but costs of production were very high, such that cutting prices would translate to company losses. Main findings The introduction of TQM was a change of tactic that would seek to ensure that Xerox copiers curve out a new niche market segment and fulfil consumer preferences. Xerox opted to go for a quality edge, instead of being fixated on prices and finding ways to produce cheaper products than competitors do. Its new value proposition would be to attain leadership through quality. Xerox would leap ahead of the innovation curve and defend its brand image. It would grow its reputation by designing well-functioning and long lasting products.Advertising We will write a custom critical writing sample on Total Quality Management: Xerox specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Additionally, the company was also looking at maintaining long-term relationships with customers. It would only achieve this feat through adequate quality management. Research on TQM benefits in company shows that having TQM is not an end in itself. Firms also have to embrace the critical features and principles that promote TQM implementation for them to maximise its benefits (Fawcett et al. 2014). Employee commitment The goal of TQM at Xerox is to manage for results. This applies to all operations of the firm. The company wants to have production improvements and revenue increases consistently. It relies on the management of quality as its main strategy. To achieve its success, the company used TQM principles to make changes in the way it does business and relates to customers, suppliers, and employees. Today, Xerox is back to its glorious past, where it commands a substantial market share in printing and document p roduction business globally. It has the support of employees and customers and its revenue and returns on investment are high. The company realized that suppliers, including employees as labour suppliers, were sources of quality compromises. It also noticed the spread of resources when dealing with many independent suppliers for specific production components became less efficient than collective dealings. As a remedy, it consolidated manufacturing facilities so that it would only deal with groups of suppliers. It made economic sense, as group relations afforded Xerox economies of scale and gave it a bargaining power in negotiations, as it could easily take advantage of intra competition among suppliers. Most importantly, groups of suppliers lowered the cost of quality implementation. With suppliers organized into a group, the company could organize supplier relationship systems to undertake quality inspections and lower its overhead costs by eliminating marginal costs in procuremen t, inspection, shipping, and supply management. Moreover, consolidation meant that Xerox now had a manageable small supplier base. Its task of increasing employee empowerment also became achievable after the renewed focus. It was able to extend monitoring systems to the suppliers and assume a better position that allowed the firm know in advance when a problem arises.Advertising Looking for critical writing on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More With few overheads in supply and a low number of suppliers, employee requirement for Xerox in the manufacturing and supply management remains low. Continuous improvement results When Xerox was losing money in 2001, it was still implementing TQM; however, a change in the external environment meant that the companyââ¬â¢s production strategy was no longer viable. Photocopiers were turning digital and Xerox was still stuck in the analogue world. After the decline, the company retaliated with its digital production press for the production market. It also enhanced its office product line to include digital copiers and printers. The company worked towards increasing its revenue and reducing costs so that it would offset the losses encountered prior to the year 2004. Performance over the last decade has been promising, which shows that the tactics used by the firm paid off. Its financial performance for the last few years has been positive, with promises for future revenue growth (Xerox 2014). Other than the shortcomings of failing to catch up with technological trends, Xerox has made considerable efforts to be at par with customer demands and environmental threshold capabilities. In addition to photocopiers, the company offers LCD monitors, printers, large volume digital printers, workflow software, and other office productivity software. The company relies on benchmarking, as it works towards sustaining its competitive advantages. This is a process of improving towards, and considering best practices (Xerox 2014). Benchmarking can be of different types, such as strategic, process, functional, internal, external, and international. Each type has a different aim and scope of comparison. Benchmarking is a multiple step process that begins with planning and the data collection, which precede analysis and reporting. After that, the firm makes changes based on the report (Rani, Duhan Deshwal 2012). After initial market troubles, Xerox benchmarked its operations again st Japanese companies. Xerox realised that it takes twice as long to produce compared to Japanese competitors. At the same time, the number of technical staff needed by Xerox for the same production process was almost five times higher than the number used by Japanese firms. For example, there would be five more engineers at Xerox than at its competitor, and they would all develop similar products. The company also experienced design changes that were four times higher than the competitors. Consequently, it spent more on design costs, with figures being three times more than the competitors. As Xerox manufactured goods, Japanese firms had already sold them to the market. They were fast, low cost, and high quality at a retail price that was equal to the manufacturing cost at Xerox. Xerox had over 30,000 defective parts per million due to the inherent inefficiencies and the lack of quality management. This was 30 times more than what competitors reported.à After finding out its bad position against the competitors, the company opted to follow the benchmarking process to achieve similar results and surpass the competitors in some aspects of its operations. In planning stages, it came up with the features for benchmarking. In addition, it had to come up with an appropriate data collection method to facilitate effective capturing of information for subsequent decision-making. Xerox evaluated the rivalsââ¬â¢ strength against its strength as part of the analysis. Once it made tangible analysis, it moved on to the step of integration. In this step, necessary goals were put into the overall company planning process. Action steps came later and they included the implementation of established plans. Moreover, the company checked whether the goals that were set were being realized. It also assessed its maturity to determine its position in the market. The suppliers who served Xenon were about five thousand, while those of most Japanese firms were about one thousand. It reduced the number to 500. It was also realized that Xenonââ¬â¢s rivals offered the vendors skills in quality control, among other areas. To match up, Xerox opted to introduce a vendor certification process. It consisted of training suppliers and then certifying them and establishing partnerships that would provide a means of telling them the areas for improvement. Xenon informed the vendors about the changes that were undertaken in the bid to enhance customer experience. This ensured that the firm became proficient in supplier management and was able to increase overall quality of the business unit consistently. Xenon got rid of inventory bottlenecks caused by excess capacity, or non-matching customer orders and production stocking levels as part of inventory management. A key indicator of performance improvement was the capital cycle period. The company also minimized its inventory carrying cost. With smart document management solutions, the firm allowed customers to shift t o an on-demand model for producing documents. The method retained quality and saved in inventory costs for customers and Xerox (Xerox 2004). The manufacturing system recognizes internal customers like assembly line workers and external customers like the end users. The people at Xerox connect to customers and their businesses. Relationships between employees and customers or the firm are personalised (Xerox 2004). With product innovation, the company has come up with new ways of enhancing the functionality of its main products to reduce damage and waste so that they are more beneficial to client businesses. For example, the firm develops smart packaging products that can track temperature and relay consumption information with every opening. They act as additional information collection centres for the company and fulfil customer needs for better functional designs (Xerox 2014). Customer satisfaction On customers, a philosophy of being oriented to customer demands drives Xeroxââ¬â ¢s strategy. Here, manufacturing goals have a quality aspect, in addition to being quantity based, because of firm performance targets. The current goal is to ensure that customer interaction with Xerox at any point is rewarding to both parties. Points of interaction include Xerox copiers, employees, and marketing campaigns. The company seeks to have all activities meet high quality standards, such that it does not have to worry about customers interacting with any of the company aspects and finding out there are poor quality elements. Thus, customer satisfaction encompasses everything that the company does internally and externally. The realization of customer satisfaction goals is a management task. In addition, the company continues to move elements of its production-based strategies to customer based ones (Xerox 2014). Achieving the customer satisfaction feat comes with a full dedication of all members of the organization to be considerate of the market and be alert about oppor tunities for improvement. Entrepreneurship shows in the spirit of employees, while personal initiative ensures that there are incremental changes that enhance the overall quality of the company tradition, customer relationship, and product features at all levels of the organization (Sikdar Payyazhi, 2014). Customer satisfaction goals continue to be key pillars of quality of the company. The firm continues to invest in other businesses that are likely to increase its value creation for customers. Rather than offer standalone products, Xerox now takes part in integrating its office and production systems, together with clients and their end users for both public and private customers. The company is now moving towards being a service-led company. It provides products, but it also enhances their utility and fulfils customer needs by making the customer part of an overall process of designing and solving needs. Thus, the company has to constantly add new features and eliminate the chal lenges that relate to service delivery. A key indicator for its success is the rate of contract renewals for managing services that it provides. The year 2013 saw a 92 per cent increase in business processes and IT outsourcing business (Xerox 2014). The company also retained its global leadership in digital technology products. Service revenues for the firm were only 24 per cent of its total revenue in 2009. In 2013, they made up 55 per cent of total revenue (Rani, Duhan Deshwal 2012). Discussion According to Rani, Duhan and Deshwal (2012), the gains made by Xerox, such as the reported reduction in supplied parts defects by the early 1990s, are attributable to the robustness of TQM applications. Today, TQM can serve both private and public organizations, with equal gains expected. The focus of quality refers to meeting the expectations of customers and financial stakeholders. It can extend to meet societal needs and personnel needs. As much as the basic definition of quality has re mained the same over the last few decades, understanding has undergone an evolution. In its original foundation, TQM aims to discourage reactions and promotes planning and production. It favours first-time prevention, instead of inspection and conformance to requirements.à Looking at Xerox, success came because management was committed and offered a storing top-to-bottom support. The company held a strong customer focus in its internal and external processes. The entire Xerox workforce was, and continues to be part of TQM implementation. Business improvement is happening in a continuous manner, while the firm is becoming more innovative in its production. Lastly, the company opted to treat its suppliers as partners. It involves them in its long-term plans and accommodates their needs in its strategic plans to ensure that high quality production remains sustainable.à Success at Xerox was achieved by focusing on information. The question was about what the firm could do with knowl edge of its internal processes and the competition. Although the company embraces technology, it only does so when the underlying information makes economic sense.à Continuous improvement and employee empowerment are features of TQM. Achieving perfection may not be possible in a dynamic business setting. Nevertheless, organizations need to improve their performance recurrently to enjoy compounded effects of growth, development, and efficiency. On the other hand, employee empowerment is recognition of the internal customer of the organization and the first public relations officer. Under this feature, a firm lets employees suggest changes and spot problems in production. Forthcoming employees receive rewards, instead of punishment.à Process management and product design are also features of TQM. They relate to the quality of source materials being determined before processing or production commences and the ability of a product to meet customer needs based on its functions, usage , and practicality respectively. A firm has to make sure that suppliers offer same quality practices to it so that time for inspection and resources used for verification of quality standards remain minimal. With product design, a firm seeks to put customer preferences into technical requirements of products, such that product performance in the market experiences grows. Issues of TQM Coming up with a comprehensive implementation of total quality management in a firm needs total commitment from the staff. With participation of every member of the firm and their commitment, some TQM features may remain unachievable. In addition, the level of commitment and participation differs among the hierarchical levels of the organization. An important thing is to have the management staff doing more as both workers and mentors to influence expected behaviour and the attitude of the junior staff (Sikdar Payyazhi, 2014).à Once the staff exhibit commitment, an additional step is to have a compa ny-wide improvement process. Here, the basic feature is measurement of performance, and then implementing new or existing strategies to increase the performance and achieve new benchmarks. Monitoring ensures that a firm is in touch with its features of TQM, such that improvements and corrections to problems happen immediately upon the identification of a need. The determination to push forward with the changes brought by TQM is important. Demanding continuous improvement may not be straightforward and comfortable, but this is what overall success requires. Consequently, a firmââ¬â¢s leadership may have to look into attaining high satisfaction levels for all the organizational members as part of the collective strive to gain firm-level triumph. While implementing and fostering commitment is critical, there is also a heightened need for quality, which is the principle factor within TQM. Quality is a measure of excellence in processes, products, interactions, relationships, and stra tegies of a firm (Cronholm Salomonson 2014). Any features of poor quality undermine overall gains that a firm makes towards being a preferred organization to work in and a fierce competitor. Quality achievement comes at a cost. To gain good quality, a firm has to use resources and adopt a specific tactic to avoid consequences of poor quality. At the same time, if a firm has poor quality, then the cost suffered in terms of missed opportunities and declining business prospects is the problem that it will have to deal with. Thus, a firm must evaluate whether prevention, appraisal, and implementation costs of TQM are appropriate investments and whether their returns is higher than the lack of initiative, which reverts a firm back to its initial losing position. Among prevention costs incurred by most firms are procurement inspection, quality training, design, machine inspection, field testing, sampling, and monitoring along the supply chain (Azadi, Farzipoor Hosseinzadeh 2014). TQM is applicable to all activities undertaken by an organization. The improvements achieved help to increase opportunities and efficiencies of other non-related sections of the organization. For example, improvement in procurement inspection lessens the demand for process inspection and allows an organization to reallocate resources and maintain agility towards changing business environments. On the customer side, satisfaction is the product of quality management. The same achievements are possible for suppliers. The essential thing is that performance enhances across the organization, affecting all its business processes and stakeholders (Eltantawy, Giunipero Handfield 2014). Quality costs narrow down to prevention, appraisal, and avoidance of failure. Taking precaution is expensive, but not taking it can be more expensive for a firm; therefore, it is a necessary cost. The same is true for appraisal costs, which relate to the expense paid to detect flaws in quality across the entire fi rmââ¬â¢s spectrum. Appraisal costs will include the funds used to perform in-house checks, together with those paid to third-party inspectors. It will also include the time and other non-monetary resources used by the firm to achieve its total quality management. Future of workforce commitment and continuous improvement at Xerox As Xerox focuses on service delivery as its next area of growth, it increases demand for expertise, employee citizenship behaviour, and quality control of its employees and business partnersââ¬â¢ staff. Determination of quality at a service level is the same as that of a physical product. For example, the number of defects is not as countable in a service, as they are in a physical product. Sometimes, errors in service delivery and customer relations compound and take time to reveal. Setting standards and conforming to them when the product is intangible is problematic. Xerox meets the service delivery challenge by emphasizing on information gathering and knowledge sharing (Xerox 2014).à Xerox can control the manner of delivering services to clients by integrating suppliers, employees, and customers in its plans and their execution, such as review of designs and inventory management. With this approach, it is possible to learn about mistakes and eliminate them in collaboration with clients to prevent the loss of business (Mosadeghrad, 2014).à Some aspects of TQM at Xerox are not as visible as they were two decades ago when the process was initiated at the firm. Today, quality management has become part of an ongoing tradition. Benchmarking may not reflect the competition in isolation, but it integrates with customer and employee features. The blurring line of business partners and customers also makes information differentiation from competitors and customer preferences difficult and may pose a challenge for data analysis for the company (Moskovkin, Bocharova Balashova 2014). Conclusion The implementation of TQM at Xerox has been one of the reasons for sustained success over the last few decades. At the same time, incidences of company poor performance at the end of the 20th century show that TQM is only advantageous when it also ensures that the firm remains agile to changing business environment conditions. The findings from a review of Xerox show that the firm is moving towards being a service-oriented company. Many of its success strategies were based on manufacturing. As a global business, service delivery has a number of challenges. Nevertheless, the adoption of quality control benchmarks and insisting on employee empowerment ensure that the firmââ¬â¢s service oriented strategy is paying off. Reference List Azadi, M, Farzipoor, SR Hosseinzadeh, ZK 2014, ââ¬ËA new goal-directed benchmarking for supplier selection in the presence of undesirable outputsââ¬â¢, Benchmarking, vol 21, no. 3, pp.314-328. Cronholm, S Salomonson, N 2014, ââ¬ËMeasures that matters: service quality in IT servic e managementââ¬â¢, International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences, vol 6, no. 1, pp. 60-76. Eltantawy, R, Giunipero, L Handfield, R 2014, ââ¬ËStrategic sourcing managementââ¬â¢s mindset: strategic sourcing orientation and its implicationsââ¬â¢, International Journal of Physical Distribution Logistics Management, vol 44, no. 10, pp. 768-795. Fawcett, MA, Fawcett, S, Cooper, M Daynes, K 2014, ââ¬ËMoments of angstââ¬â¢, Benchmarking, vol 21, no. 3, pp. 450-480. Lai, J, Lui, S Hon, A 2014, ââ¬ËDoes standardized service fit all?ââ¬â¢, Int J Contemp Hospitality Mngt, vol 26, no. 8, pp.1341-1363. Mosadeghrad, MA 2014, ââ¬ËEssentials of total quality management: a meta-analysisââ¬â¢, International J Health Care QA, vol. 27, no. 6, pp. 544-558. Moskovkin, V, Bocharova, E Balashova, O 2014, ââ¬ËJournal benchmarking for strategic publication management and for improving journal positioning in the world ranking systemsââ¬â¢, Campus-Wide Informatio n Systems, vol. 31, no. 2/3, pp. 82-99. Rani, S, Duhan, RK Deshwal, S 2012, ââ¬ËStudy of implentation of total quality management for defect reduction in manufacturing industryââ¬â¢, IOSR Journal of Mechanical and Civil Engineering , vol 1, no. 3, pp. 11-14. Sikdar, A Payyazhi, J 2014, ââ¬ËA process model of managing organizational change during business process redesignââ¬â¢, Business Process Mgmt Journal, vol. 20, no. 6, pp.971-998. Xerox 2004, Anuual report 2003, https://www.xerox.com/annualreport/xerox_2003.pdf. Xerox 2014, Annual report 2013, https://www.xerox.com/annualreport/2013/assets/xerox-oar-2013-full.pdf. 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Wednesday, March 18, 2020
The Defense of Slavery essays
The Defense of Slavery essays Slavery is an important thing in this time. From North to South slavery is the key factor that makes our place in this world. Is slavery is a crucial thing that holds our economy or even our very own government together? First, Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, "If you put a chain around the neck of a slave, the other fastens itself around your own." In saying so Emerson looks at the very nature of bondage. By owning slaves one become a slave. Too take away anothers freedom is to take away your own freedom on many levels. By the bondage of the plantation owners fate laying in the hands of the working slaves, he also becomes a slave to the fact if they work or not. If you take away the slaves from the plantation owner he goes bankrupt and the textile mills in the north go bankrupt and so on, hurting our economy. Secondly, If the black race must exist among us deprived of social equality, political rights, and, largely, of industrial opportunity, have the former slaves become freemen or have they passed into a new form of servitude? These slaves becoming freemen would just put more out of work employees in to our country bringing and economic down fall of massive proportions. Next, slavery is a cornerstone for our country. For example take Rome, Greece, and other countries were the most powerful countries in the world, and they used slavery. If those countries could have become so great by slavery, just think of how great we could become by the continued use of it. Next, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney stated I am . . . thoroughly convinced . . . that the nature of our climate, and the flat, swampy situation of our country, obliges us to cultivate our lands with Negroes, and that without them South Carolina would soon be desert waste. By this he clearly states that without slavery a whole state and maybe many more wouldnt be what they are today. Finally, it is to late to change now. By the emancip...
Monday, March 2, 2020
Double Comparative in English Grammar
Double Comparative in English Grammar The double comparative is the use of both more (or less) and the suffix -er to indicate the comparative form of an adjective or adverb. In present-day standard English, double comparatives (such as more easier) are almost universally regarded as usage errors, though the construction is still heard in certain dialects. Examples Some-a people think Im more dumber than them because I dont talk so good, but they only know one language and meI speak-a two. (Marjorie Bartholomew Paradis, Mr. De Lucas Horse, 1962)I was more tireder than ever Id been in my life, wore down beyond weariness. (Ron Rash, One Foot in Eden. Macmillan, 2004)But the only thing I got to tell you, if you take a dog and kick him around hes got to be alert, hes got to be more sharper than you. Well, weve been kicked around for two thousand years. Were not more smarter, were more alert. (Mordecai Richler, Barneys Version. Chatto Windus, 1997)Repose you there; while I to this hard house- More harder than the stones whereof tis raised. (Kent to King Lear in Act Three, scene 2, of King Lear by William Shakespeare) The Taboo Against This Belt-and-Suspenders Usage Double comparison is taboo in Standard English except for fun: Your cooking is more tastier than my mothers. I can see more better with my new glasses. These illustrate the classic double comparative, with the periphrastic more or most used to intensify an adjective or adverb already inflected for the comparative or superlative. A belt-and-suspenders usage, this is a once-Standard but now unacceptable construction (like the double negative) that illustrates yet again our penchant for hyperbole. Shakespeare (the most unkindest cut of all) and other Renaissance writers used double comparison to add vigor, enthusiasm, and emphasis, and so do young children and other unwary speakers of Nonstandard English today. (Kenneth G. Wilson, The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. Columbia University Press, 1993) The Double Comparative in Early Modern English As was true in earlier times also, a good many instances of double comparisons like more fitter, more better, more fairer, most worst, most stillest, and (probably the best-known example) most unkindest occur in early Modern English. The general rule was that comparison could be made with the ending or with the modifying word or, for emphasis, both. (Thomas Pyles and John Algeo, The Origins and Development of the English Language. Harcourt, 1982) More and most were historically not comparative markers, but intensifiers (as they still are in such expressions as a most enjoyable evening). In EMnE [Early Modern English], this intensifying function was felt much more strongly; hence writers did not find it ungrammatical or pleonastic to use both a comparative adverb and s from Shakespeare include in the calmest and most stillest night and against the envy of less happier lands. (C.M. Millward, A Biography of the English Language, 2nd ed. Harcourt Brace, 1996) More Doubles in English Grammar Double NegativeDouble Superlative
Saturday, February 15, 2020
Sonic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words
Sonic - Essay Example They are proven to be successful in this line of computer software production. In fact they are dubbed as the leader in digital media. One of the key reasons why they attain this status is their zeal to improve their overall business position through innovation. In fact they are one of the pioneers in burning data in blue-ray DVDs that can store massive amounts of data (up to 50 gigabytes). With the proliferation of the third generation (3G) technology, it is almost a necessity to tap this market. Though Sonic has already been in the business of providing its customers technological mileage in digital media software as compared to its rivals, it has yet to extend its market to mobile phones and gadgets. To keep up with the fast paced, ever changing, and ever shifting world, Sonic, in my opinion, should set its eyes on capitalizing on the benefits given by the most recent technology in mobile devices, particularly on its power to provide real-time duplex video streaming that can enhance productivity, as well as personal interaction. They should also find ways to maximize the productivity of their customers by utilizing commonly used objects, such as watches, for storing and playing digital media. They should engage into partnership with other hardware producers and electronics companies in designing smart products where their software can be used. 2. Digital media has undergone major changes since this technology was first introduced in the market. This technology aims to improve our productivity, our access to and communicability with our other persons and to our environment, and storage and retrieval of files. In short, it should make our life and work easier, more connected with our love ones and our fellow humans and more productive. Another important feature that it gradually adopts is its accessibility and usability by all. The invention of mobile phones and other portable gadgets capable of playing video files is an example of digital media innovation. In line these innovations in digital media, Sonic, in my opinion, should further enhance their leadership in this field of technology. They need to capitalize on the mobile gadgets market, particularly on mobile phones. Now that 3G technology users are increasing, they should find out possibilities to capture this market segment. To penetrate this market, the first new product that I would suggest is they should collaborate with mobile phone producers, and operating systems developers for mobile phones to create a mobile phone that can convert 3G streaming to DVD quality video and has a small-sized blue-ray DVD burner. By inventing this technology, mobile phones user can avail of DVD quality video file by merely using their 3G capable phones. Another new idea worth introducing to the market is the production of DVD and CD burners and players for watches. With the partnership of digital watch producers, this new product will enable its consumers to use watches for pleasure as well as for saving important document and video files by the use of their watches. This digital phone can function as a PDA and a 3G phone that has Sonic software for viewing and burning ordinary or blue-ray DVD. Another product that they can add to their innovative product line is a program that can amplify the resolution of videos. This would entail improving the quality of video by converting ordinary video CDs into superior
Sunday, February 2, 2020
Cokes Polar Bear Can Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words
Cokes Polar Bear Can - Essay Example Consequently, the identical color in the two types of coke both classic and diet brought consumer displeasure and terrible confusion. The campaign of the white can coca cola became disruptive to the consumers making them do a double take. The coca cola company has never changed the traditional red color of its can however for the first time the company introduced coke Classic in a white can. Even though consumers may refute the power of marketing over their preferences, the consumer brain is profoundly influenced by effective advertising. Naturally in soda brands color red brings to the mind coke classic while silver evoke diet coke (Shayon 5). As such where consumers are able to make color association with brands, an attempt to change the color of a given brand like coke attempted to do, would certainly amount to a dramatic shift branding consequently disrupting the normal behavior of consumers. For this reason there is a greater possibility of regular consumers to be mistaken as to the identity of the brand as was the case in distinguishing coke classic can and that of Diet coke. Many of the angry and confused c ustomers posted their complaints on emails and twitter. Even though the companyââ¬â¢sââ¬â¢ intention was to grab their customers attention through disruptive complain its customers were not impressed at all. Within day of the launch numerous complaints began flowing about the white can being too similar to the silver one. This made some diabetic and weight conscious consumers to accidentally purchase classic coke while in fact they had intended to buy Diet coke. Some of the customers went ahead to return already opened white cans to the stores where they had purchased them demanding that they should be given new diet coke cans. Some others opted to express their anger and dissatisfaction with the white can online. The introduction of white cans by the coca cola company was just another
Saturday, January 25, 2020
The American Christian Holocausts Essay -- Holocaust History
The American Christian Holocausts As a high school student I was always annoyed by students who would ask: Why do we have to learn this stuff [history] anyway? We learn history so we don't repeat our mistakes. This is the common answer that my teachers, my father, and just about any other adult would give. This answer made perfect sense to me then, and I easily accepted it. In high school, students learn about the Nazi-Holocaust, and rightfully so. Information abounds regarding this topic. However, my teachers never taught me that our country has a Holocaust of its own (actually there are two; one killing 40 to 60,000,000 Africans, and one killing 100,000,000 Native Red Peoples). Hitler himself often expressed his admiration for the expediency in which the American Christians removed the Native Americans and gave them mass graves like the one in Wounded Knee, South Dakota. Have you ever heard the words American Holocaust(s) before? As I read about history I was drawn to the Indian Wars. One day I began reading Dee Brown's book "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee." I was shocked by what I read. I had never been taught these things, yet this history seemed so important and unparalleled in American history. Recently, I picked up Brown's book and read it a second time. Finally, the words shook me from the sleep in which we Americans love to overindulge; the sleep of denial, materialism, and hedonism. The thoughts and images evoked in Brown's book came back and my heart filled with an indescribable feeling of painful anger again. I thought to myself, I'm glad that is all over with, I don't know what I would have done if I had been alive then. The words of William McPherson of the Washington Post regarding Brown's book reassured... ...rican flag and peace medals by Abraham Lincoln and Colonel A. B. Greenwood in Washington only a year earlier and was told that as long as the American flag was above them, no one would be harmed). The braves present surrounded the women and children gathered under the flag. At 8:00 am more than 700 cavalry men under the command of Colonel John M. Chivington and Major Scott J. Anthony, rode in and fired on the huddled Indians from two directions. After the initial charge the US soldiers dismounted and continued the indiscriminate killing of men, women, and children. During the killing unspeakable atrocities and mutilations were committed by the soldiers. Accounts from two white men, John S. Smith and Lieutenant James Connor, described the acts of dehumanization." According to John S. Smith, Colonel Chivington knew these Indians to be peaceful before the massacre.
Thursday, January 16, 2020
Child Safety Essay
Safety is the condition of being protected against physical, social, emotional, financial or other types or consequences of failure, damage, harm or any other event which could be considered un-desirable. To me safety is the most important aspect of any environment because it affects a person mentally and for anyone to show his/her best performance it is necessary that their safety zone is intact. When we think about safety the first thing that comes to mind is protection, shelter, freedom etc. And, this starts from the moment a child is born till he/she is alive. All human beings want a secure and healthy environment which is utterly devoid of hazards and dangers. And, when we talk about childrenââ¬â¢s safety; it plays a vital role in their upbringing and development in ensuring they are enthusiastic, creative and confident because when they are provided with an environment that is relatively free from danger, risks and threats of harm then they feel relaxed, happy, free to explo re. It is very important to provide safety to the children because sometimes some events, incidents or actions affect children a lot, whereas we adults feel that it will not matter to the child. Talking about myself as a teacher, I would take all the necessary steps to ensure that my learning environment is unhindered. Firstly, I would plan the physical appearance with material and ideas that are age appropriate. This will allow me to attract and inspire my pupils in a positive direction. The class should have a warm environment and the color schemes used should be inviting. Indisputably there will be material and some resources like scissors, glue, sockets, play dough etc. that might be dangerous or harmful to the child, these items though needed in the class should be kept out of reach and when required used under the guidance of the teacher. The furniture and seating arrangement in the class should have smooth edges and preferably be circular in shape. There should be just enough furn iture in accordance with the strength of the class. This will allow safe and free movement for the children in the class space. Physical safety is not only confined to the classroom. When the child is in the school premises every event that takes place is the responsibility of the adult. When the child leaves the classroom, it is important that the adult accompanies him/her to whatever place the child has to go. Be it the play area, the swimming pool, the playground or even the toilet; they should all have proper safety features such as flooring which in case of a toilet should be dry so as to avoid slipping, age appropriate equipment and infrastructure all safely installed with irrelevant material kept out of reach of the children. Another aspect of safety is the social-emotional effect on a child. To foster an emotionally safe classroom it is important for the adult to discuss how each child in the class is as an individual and that everyone is different. The classroom environment can detract from a studentââ¬â¢s ability to learn if he/she does not feel safe. A safe environment means that there is respect between the child and the adult and amongst the children themselves. Hence students feel accepted and free to voice their opinions. It is important to teach children class room rules at the beginning of the year and the adult to be consistent in enforcing them. But when talking about rules, they should be realistic and not rigid. If adults overwhelm children with rules for everything, there could then be countless power struggles with children. The adult should speak to the child individually if he/she suspects any problem because when children are corrected in front of their peers they may get demotivated and feel a sense of insecurity. This insecurity can also take place when a child is faced with an obstacle such as bullies. In this case the children have no way of defending themselves. It is very important that the adult makes sure all pupils are comfortable in their learning environment. Discussing with the children about peer press ure and bullying and how it has a negative effect in the classroom by revising child friendly moral stories is a reasonable way out. To develop the children to be socially interactive the adult needs to build bonds by providing opportunities of group play, interaction and discussions. The adult can also train the children to look after each other and the environment of their classroom. This can be in the form of a daily clean-up routine in regards to toys, blocks, art work etc. The classroom can be messy due to different activities of the children which could present a safety hazard to all the children depending on the cleanup. For example: ââ¬Å"If the children have just finished their free play activity, it can be possible that while the children were exploring the different items in front of them some of the toys could have broken or cracked. In this event the children can hurt themselves or hurt each other.â⬠Now, the introduction to a clean-up routine after every activity allows the children under the guidance of the adult to dispose of broken toys or equipment that may cause injury or choking, immediately. This will secure the classroom and prevent any unforeseen event concerning the activity. The child will feel a sense of ownership and accomplishment; it will also develop the ability to work with others in different situations and bring about the pride of teamwork to create a friendlier environment. I feel that, creating a safe learning environment for children is a daunting prospect because children not only need physical safety but also need to feel emotionally and intellectually protected. It is important that the adult should pay attention and be vigilant of the childrenââ¬â¢s activities. When adults plan lessons and activities for children they should not only keep the academics in mind but also the safety needs that pertain to the lesson. The teacher should explain the children the rules by her actions because children respond faster to what they see rather than what they are simply told. In the end it all comes down to child protection and hence it is important to take care of them to allow for the development of their ideas and enthusiasm to explore their imagination allowing them to grow.
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