Competitor Analysis for Conserv-A-Store Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Competitor Analysis for Conserv-A-Store - Essay Example a. Unlike Conserv-A-Store which is web retailer of green products for business and home and also acts as information resource dept for those attempting to practice greener way of life, many of its direct competitors only focus on lifestyle items such as yoga mats, items directed at women for the home, organic bedding and are not heavily on hard goods. The competitors are also poor when it comes to energy saving items. In categories such as rubber mulch mats,company has few direct competitors such as Gemplers and Gardeners Supply. All competitors apart from Greendepot.com have a similar weakness of a relatively smaller market share hence reaping little benefits.a. Unlike Conserv-A-Store which is web retailer of green products for business and home and also acts as information resource dept for those attempting to practice greener way of life, many of its direct competitors only focus on lifestyle items such as yoga mats, items directed at women for the home, organic bedding and are no t heavily on hard goods. The competitors are also poor when it comes to energy saving items and have limited selection of alternative energy items. In categories such as rubber mulch mats, Conserv-A-Store has few direct competitors such as Gemplers and Gardeners Supply. All competitors apart from Greendepot.com have a similar weakness of a relatively smaller market share hence reaping little benefits.Letsgogreen.biz has a competitive advantage since it is a one-stop web superstore that sells eco-friendly green products.

Scientific and Critical Management Theories Article

Scientific and Critical Management Theories - Article Example The slaves were simply organic tools fed just like cows or horses in order to create more tools or goods. Through coercive compulsion, subjugation is attained; through cultural conditioning, subjugation is maintained. These few examples show that while the Homo Sapiens create and command tools, they also possess the uncanny instinct to exchange and thereby evaluate their own kind as tools. That notion of human beings considered as tools and valued more for his or her productivity than anything else is the compelling force behind Critical Management Studies (CMS). Its is hinged on the overarching framework of Critical Studies, which seeks to dismantle hegemonic structures in society by first stripping them of their seemingly-benign coverings. Critical legal studies (CLS), for instance, a branch of Critical Studies, does away with the all-too-convenient givens of a legal system - that there is but one set of "correct" rules and that legal decisions are but logical outcomes of tested principles that are empirically-replicable (Altman, 1986). It aspires to expose the ideological content of the law obscured by layers upon layers of social conditioning by demonstrating how the large areas of legal indeterminacy provide fertile ground for the cooptation of the legal system to reinforce existing power arrangements. In like manner, Critical Management Studies attempts to unmask and expose the ideological agenda behind traditional management structures, obscured and sterilized by such terms such as "scientific" and "objective". Such school of thought in the words of Grey and Willmott is nothing more than "a recycled version of the thinking of elite groups institutionalized as received wisdom." (2005) The crux of Scientific Management Theory (SMT) is that the interests of labor and capital are one and the same, and that any antagonism between the two could only result in detriment for production. To quote Frederick W. Taylor (1911), "No one can be found who will deny that in the case of any single individual the greatest prosperity can exist only when that individual has reached his highest state of efficiency; that is, when he is turning out his largest daily output." This paper will analyze these two divergent schools of thought - Critical Management Theory and Scientific Management Theory - in terms of how it affects the hegemonic structures of organizations and society with an end in view of determining which school of thought can provide the better lens by which society at large can be viewed, analyzed and, it is hoped, reformed. Ontology and Epistemology of Scientific Management Theory "Scientific Management Theory" was coined in a social milieu wherein the benchmark of success of a business organization was the size of its assembly line. Work was

Enterprise Resource Planning of Nike

Enterprise Resource Planning of Nike Nike was founded by Mr. Phil Knight and his past coach Bill Bowerman in 1964 and they started Blue Ribbon Sports. Knights first shoe was called Tiger and then began distribution of shoes. Blue Ribbon got great success in 1971 and Knight changes the company name Nike. In 1971 it introduced Nikes first brand line. Nike launched its product line in 1979. The new version of its Air shoe which was very successful and it was known as Air Jordan; introduced in 1985. Nike opened its first retail outlet in Portland, Oregon in 1990. In 1991 the company was very successful and its revenue reached USD $3 billion. Company began selling its products directly to customers from its website. Nike is the worlds leading sports and athletic shoes. Nike is the major manufacturer of sports equipment with $18.6 billion USD in the year of 2008. Nike has 30000 employees in worldwide. (Nikebiz:company overview, 2010) Nike Mission Statement To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete* in the world * If you have a body, you are an athlete. (nike, 2010) Introduction Nike had generated profits of $97.4 million and its profit dropped down by 50% in February 2001. Nike said that it was because of the failure of supply chain software produced by i2 technologies. Both companies blamed each other. This failure also effected Nikes reputation. The supply chain software was the first segment of NSC (Nike Supply Chain) project from SAP and also customer relationship management software from Siebel System. Analysts pointed out the fault of customization of the software and over demand forecasting. (Koah, 2004) Company successfully implemented (NSC) Nike Supply Chain project by 2004. The (NSC) Nike Supply Chain project is centralized planning moving and manufacturing. At last Nike got success in Implementing ERP and it became the desired approach for those who want to implement the ERP systems in their company. Christopher Koch (Editor of CIO Magazine) stated that If it was easy, everyone would just do it. In the late 1990, most companies avoided to adopt ERP because of the huge cost of ERP systems. (Koch, 2004) The lesson of Nikes failure and subsequent rebound lies in the fact that it had a sound business plan that was widely understood and accepted at every level of the company. Given that resiliency it afforded the company, in the end the i2 failure turned out to be just a speed bump. (Koah, 2004) Products Range Nike has wide range of sports equipment, running shoes, and jerseys and may other products as shown in figure 1. ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) ERP entitles a companys information system which can bring more closely the companys departments and functions like human resources, finance and inventories. It also creates the link between customers and producers. Introduction of ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) Enterprise Resource Planning is the enterprise system tool which manages demand and supply. It has the ability to make link between customers and suppliers. ERP also provides the high degree of integration between purchasing, manufacturing, marketing, sales, logistics and marketing. ERP is the tool which can provide high level of customer services and productivity and also lower the cost. (Wallace Kremzar, 2001) Enterprise Resource Planning is a company which increase it sales by 20% because of ERP. The vice president states that ERP has provided the key to becoming a truly global company. Design can be made with the accurate data and with the process that concretes demand and supply across border and oceans. This change is worth billion to us in sales worldwide. (Wallace Kremzar, 2001) The Director of ERP For the first time ever, we have a good handle on our future requirements for components raw and materials. When our customer demand changes, weà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ourselves and our suppliersà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬can manage changes to our schedules on a very coordinated and controlled basis. I dont see how any company can do effective supply chain management without ERP. (Wallace Kremzar, 2001) Origin of the Term ERP The Enterprise Resource Planning ERP developed from Manufacture Resource Planning (MRP). The ERP was introduced by an analytical firm Garner. Enterprise Resource Planning has all the functions of an enterprise except organisation business or charter. Many organisations like IBM, Dell and HP Microsoft, Intel and many other organisations are now using ERP systems. The ERP systems are typically for large and more broadly based applications although it is also used in small and medium sized businesses. The ERP systems provide standardization, lower maintenance and it can store all data in one database. So, we can say that it has greater reporting capabilities. ERP includes other applications like Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP), Financials Resource Management (FRM), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Supply Chain Management (SCM) and Human Resources Management (HRM). (Leon , 2008) Overview of ERP Many organisations choose to implement one part for ERP systems and stand-alone systems for the other ERP applications need to develop an external interface to the other ERP system. Because in an organisation one vendor choose to use human resource management system and the financial system choose another and integration between those systems. It is very common in midsized retailer and the retail sector will have a point of sale (POS) and financial application then they have a specialized application to handle other business requirements like logistics and merchandising. (Leon , 2008) The quality of ERP system is that it provides a single database which contains all the data for the software module also shown in figure 3: Manufacturing Supply Chain Management Financials Projects Human Resources Customer Relationship Management (Leon , 2008) Reasons for Buying ERP Software In these days when the business environment is increasingly complex and highly competitive then the organisations need the IT system which is highly competitive with time management. The organisations need the outstanding performance in their business by utilizing the time in the correct way. Enterprise system utilize the company time correctly. Enterprise Resource Planning is the planning in which the business resources like material, employees and customers moved from one state to another state. An ERP system maintains the data which connects with the business functions like manufacturing, supply chain, Management, finance, human resource, customer relationship management. (Leon , 2008) Reasons of ERP projects Failure Sometimes ERP projects fail if you do not implement them well. There are some of the reasons for the failure of ERP failure. The company selected the wrong software of ERP for the company. The training of employee is also very important and some organisations dont train well their employees. Some software is heavily customized and if these are not match with the companys IT infrastructure then there can be problem. If we do not implement the effective change management strategies then it can be the result of failure of the project. If the business merger leaves out the work in the process then it can be also a big loss.(Glenn, 2008) There are also some factors from where we can achieve the successful ERP projects by selecting the right software for the company. Give the right training to employees. For implementing the ERP we have to manage each approach and utilize the best practices for implementing ERP software. (Starinsky, 2001) I found some important realities about ERP are that there is no perfect ERP system exists. We cannot say that any ERP implementation is ever perfect. If two companies have the same ERP software but the implementation cannot be the same because every company has its own style of implementation. (Leon , 2008) SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT Supply Chain Management is a network that is involved buying, making, moving, selling and distribution. (Hugos, 2006)

Get Back to Work! :: essays research papers

A couple of months ago, my company installed a system to record the phone calls of certain employees. They set the recorder to record only the employees who have outside contacts with customers, regulatory boards, or contract personnel. The company implemented this system to resolve conflicts, clarify positions, protect the integrity of the company’s contracts and verbal commitments, and provide for sales and customer service training. Naturally, this did not go over well with some of the employees who thought this was an invasion of their privacy. Some of the employees started using their cell phones or other company phones to make their personal calls. Others would complain to their coworkers and supervisors about the company’s disrespect for their privacy. I believe that employees should not be bothered by the fact the company is recording their phone calls because the phones are company property and employees are being paid to work. Employees seem to believe that their assigned phone is their phone and they can do with it as they please. It is a privilege to have a phone and employees seem to take their phones for granted. The company is paying for the phones and providing them to their employees for business purposes. It follows the same principles of the computer; employees should not browse certain types of web pages and the company can actually record Internet activity and other computer activity quite easily. Legally, nothing employees do on their phones is private and privacy is not implied. Employees also should not be making personal calls that are not appropriate. If an employee is talking about inappropriate subjects they should not be talking about it at work, period. If the employee does not want their conversations recorded, they should not have them at work. Employees could use their cell phones to negate the recording system, but people will know that they are on a personal call. They can also go to another desk to make their personal phone calls, but this would mean that they are not working. While at work, employees should be working on their assigned tasks. Of course, I am not saying that they should not be able to do some personal activities. Employees should be able to take breaks, gossip with coworkers, take care of personal business, and make personal phone calls, but these activities should be limited and should not disturb an employee’s performance.

List of countries with unique cultural traits related to education Essay

1. JAPAN Every class has its own fixed classroom where its students take all the courses, except for practical trainings and laboratory work. During elementary education, in most cases, one teacher teaches all the subjects in each class. At public elementary and junior high school, school lunch (kyuushoku) is provided on a standardized menu, and it is eaten in the classroom. Nearly all junior high schools require their students to wear a school uniform (seifuku). A big difference between the Japanese school system and the American School system is that Americans respect individuality while the Japanese control the individual by observing group rules. This helps to explain the Japanese characteristic of group behavior. 2. BHUTAN The usual school day in Bhutan varies based on the population of the school and whether it is a boarding school or not. Typically, boarding school teachers will have additional duties such as overseeing meals, dorm life and evening study. The school day begins at 8:00 am with the overseeing of â€Å"Social work† which is a time for the students to clean the school and campus grounds. Morning assembly follows at about 8:30 am which consists of Morning Prayer, songs, speeches by students and announcements. First period begins at roughly 9:00 am. There are about seven to eight classes throughout the day, with a break for lunch. After classes each day there are various activities such as club meetings, sports and evening studies. Every classroom has two captains, one male one female, each house has two captains as well, there is a meals captain, sports captain, overall captain, and who knows how many other captains. These students take care of attendance, not just for class but for all scheduled program during the day, they organize many weekend activities, and they take care of all of the details of the school. The teachers teach, attend and oversee many of the activities, but the details are taken care of by the captains. Bhutanese culture is such that these students do get a lot of respect and response from the student body. 3. THAILAND Thai culture helps contribute to some intriguing differences. These range from simple things such as shoes not being allowed to be worn in the school buildings to the annual Wai Kru Ceremony where all of the students bow down low in obeisance towards their teachers. They also have quiet hour. Quiet hour is when they sit with their eyes closed facing a statue of Buddha. 4. AUSTRIA In Austria the relationship between students and teachers is quite laid back. The students address their teachers by their first name and they are not required to stand up when a teacher enters the room. 5. ITALY One interesting and very successful aspect of Italian schools is how the entire system works to promote social unity among the students. In public high schools, each class – by law – has two elected representatives, to protect the students’ interests within the institution. Each class may use two class periods per month for a class meeting in which to discuss class business, unencumbered by the presence of teachers. The representatives refer any complaints, troubles, or suggestions to their teacher committee or, if they think they won’t get a fair hearing from their teachers, to the principal. Class representatives meet regularly with their class’ teacher committee, and once each semester there’s an assembly of all class representatives in the school, headed by a pair of â€Å"institutional† representatives elected by the entire student body. Class representatives also attend the biannual parent-teacher meetings. This gives students some direct and useful experience with leadership, representative government, and bureaucracy. The elected leaders learn to deal with authority (we hope in a constructive manner). Class government helps to unite the class: they must act together to find solutions to problems, and elect leaders who can carry through those solutions effectively. 6. FINLAND Students address teachers by their Christian names, do not wear uniforms, and are encouraged to relax in their surroundings. Finnish schools don’t assign homework, because it is assumed that mastery is attained in the classroom.

Snow Falling on Cedars

How is the concept of the conflicting perspectives represented in the texts you have studied? In your answer refer to Snow Falling on Cedars and ONE related text of your choosing A conflicting perspective is a point of view of either one or more people that is generally subjective which presents a form of opposition in opinion. The novel, ‘Snow falling On Cedars’ composed by David Guterson in 1995 and the film ‘Crash’ composed by Paul Haggis in 2005 represents the concept of conflicting perspectives in different ways. Both the film and the novel convey the ideas of the social, judicial and interpersonal concepts in their texts through their characters and experiences such as Ishmael Chambers in Snow falling On Cedars and Jean from ‘Crash’. In ‘Snow Falling On Cedars’ Guterson addresses the idea of conflicting perspectives through a court case and then relates other people’s perspectives to the core plot of the novel while ‘Crash’ tells several different stories and then melds them together. Therefore through each composer’s use of sub plots, setting in the strawberry fields and techniques, the concept of conflicting perspectives is represented. The novel, Snow Falling on Cedars is a crime fiction novel which reveals a story about an investigation and trial into the death of a local islander on San Piedro. The book in itself characterises many sub plots such as the relationship between Ishmael Chambers and Hatsue Imada as well as the main plot of the murder trial. Guterson uses setting as a technique in order to reinforce his representation of conflicting perspectives in the novel. One of the main conflicting perspectives which are represented in â€Å"snow Falling on Cedars† is the concept of racial heritage due to World War II. This is political conflict which in turn causes distress in the everyday life of the characters within the book. The racial hatred between the Japanese and the Americans fuels many of the conflicts which occur in the book including the prejudice and urged conviction of Kabuo and also separating those in society who have different opinions. The war seems to change peoples’ perspectives on everything and Guterson represents a latent mistrust of the different. This can be seen in the novel as the repercussions of the attack on Pearl Harbour cause minor abuse of residential Japanese ‘traitors’ who are being arrested ‘in Hawaii and other places- and the FBI’s in on it†. Guterson represents the conflicting perspectives through the personalities of Arthur and Ishmael chambers who through their newspaper voiced reason and unbiased information over the war ‘Let us remember†¦ hat prejudice and hatred are never right and never to be accepted by a just society (Arthur) and this caused great criticism from the fellow islanders. â€Å"Seems like your favouring the Japs Art†. This can be contrasted with the characters of Etta Heine who sold off the land promised to the Miyamoto’s while they were in internment camp and also the boatman Dale Middleton who comments to Ishma el ‘suckers all look alike’ referring to the Miyamoto’s. The use of the strawberry fields within the novel highlights Guterson’s representation of the concept of conflicting perspectives. The fields are a superficial union of all the islanders with growers, pickers and packers working off the farm and the rest of the island attending the Strawberry Festival in town each year. The strawberry field represents one of the main themes in the film which is the idea that not everything is as it seems. The fields are symbols of richness and fertility and hold a sense of beauty in the fruit it produces however, at the same time the fields are cold and bitter to work on which becomes symbolic of the characters on the island. In ‘Snow Falling On Cedars’ there is a sub plot which revolves around the relationship of two islanders and this relationships represents the concepts of conflicting perspectives. The relationship between Ishmael Chambers and Hatsue Imada becomes highly significant as not only is the responder able to see the conflicting perspectives between Ishmael and Hatsue but also the conflicting perspectives which occur within Ishmael later in the book. Ishmael loves Hatsue and the loss of the relationship between them results in the hatred of Hatsue and a loss of compassion from Ishmael. They both have different perspectives on their relationship and therefore it was destined to fail, not only because of the racial differences but also because she doesn’t love Ishmael. This revelation is revealed to the responder through the hidden scene in the cedar tree. ‘It came as an enormous shock to her, this knowledge, and at the same time it was something she had always known, something until now hidden’. This quote also becomes quite significant as the relationship between Ishmael and Hatsue was kept a secret with their love filled meetings kept within a hollowed out cedar tree in the forest. Ultimately the idea that the relationship was kept a secret damned it because in order for their relationship to continue they need to be open about it but the relationship can only exist in secret. â€Å"†¦ we can’t go out, Ishmael. We’re trapped inside this tree†. The end of the book gives Ishmael the opportunity for Ishmael to resolve many of the conflicting perspectives in the novel with the evidence he discovered at the light house which would clear Kabuo’s name. However, the personal cost to him is enormous and it takes away something in himself when he comes forward to resolve it. The use of the cedar trees within the novel becomes an important technique when considering the representation of the concepts of conflict in the novel. The cedar tree is a place where Ishmael and Hatsue are able to pursue their relationship because it offers them a place away from cultural values and rules and gives them the opportunity to pursue their feelings. The tree offers them a protection from the realities of the outside world. The tree, like the strawberry fields is a symbol of tenderness and beauty. The tree however is hollow and has something missing and this becomes symbolic of Hatsue’s and Ishmael’s relationship because it signifies that it was never meant to be and that there was something missing from their relationship. It was hollow. The tree is symbolic of the two’s love as this is the place where they lose their virginity to each other. However, moments after this takes place Hatsue asks Ishmael to pull out as she feels that their relationship is over. She does not love him. The cedar tree is as much of a symbol of Ishmael’s love as it is of Hatsue’s love in cultural blood. The film, ‘Crash’ composed by Paul Haggis in 2005 represents the concept of conflicting perspectives. At the beginning of the film the responder watches several different characters in different sub plots creating several different stories which have no correlation to each other. As the film progresses the several different sub plots begin to meld into one and ultimately revolve around a single car crash. The film ‘Crash’ displays several different meanings of conflicting perspectives from the point of view of different characters and then displays how these perspectives can change when subjected to different experiences. This can be seen through the character of Jean who due to a car-jacking earlier in the film, has a conflicting perspective on race. This perspective becomes ironic in that she feel that ‘whites’ are more superior and do not commit themselves to such abhorred acts as that of coloured people. However when she takes a fall within her own home and none of her ‘white’ friends come to help her, it is in fact her Hispanic maid Maria who helps her. The responder is able to see the change in Jeans perspective when she comments to her maid Maria â€Å"you’re the best friend I’ve got†. This can be related to the character of Ishmael in ‘Snow Falling on Cedars’ as he too changes his perspective towards the end of the novel when he discovers evidence which could change the course of his ex-lovers husbands court trial. The 12th chapter in ‘Crash’, Protect and Serve, captures the films essence of the representation of conflicting perspectives where two characters, Officer Ryan and Christine are forced into a situation where they are both forced to face their conflicting perspectives towards each other. In the beginning of the film, Officer Ryan assaults Christine, a black women based on his external conflict of racial prejudice. Scene 12 â€Å"Protect and Serve† forces both characters to acknowledge their conflicting perspectives, giving them the opportunity to resolve this as Christine is trapped in her overturned car and Officer Ryan tries to free her. The scene uses several pan shots, non- dijectic and music sounds to create a surreal sense, as though the crash is a dream. This becomes important as the Haggis transforms the surreal sense to an immediate and high risk situation using mis-en-scene to create the emergency of the situation. As Officer Ryan reaches the car, the responder is able to see a series of shots which show the scene from not only Officer Ryan’s perspective, but also Christine’s. This scene forces Christine to face her internal conflicting view of Officer Ryan as an abuser screaming â€Å"no, not you. Anyone but you† at him when she realises who he is. The idea that Christine is ultimately forced to face her internal conflicts by accepting Officer Ryan can also be seen in the novel Snow Falling on Cedars as Ishmael is forced to face his internal conflict in order to be able to present the evidence to save her husband, Kabuo from conviction. Overall the 1995 novel, ‘Snow Falling on Cedars’ and the 2005 film, ‘Crash’ represents the concept of conflicting perspectives through the use of characters, setting and technique. The use of the characters Ishmael, Jean and Christine creates conflicting perspectives within themselves outlining how perspective are created and changed throughout the course of the text. Therefore In ‘Snow Falling on cedars’ composed by David Guterson and ‘Crash’ composed by Paul Haggis the concept of conflicting perspectives is represented.

Condolence Letter to Business Colleague for Lost Job

Condolence Letter to Business Colleague for Lost Job For any type of loss, including job loss, even if you feel a little awkward, I recommend you err on the side of kindness and connection, and send a condolence note or email. So often in business communication, we forget that it’s really human to human connection. Your colleague will feel acknowledged at a difficult time. You may forge a stronger relationship that will benefit you later. What to write when a colleague has lost a job? When you work for the same company, and are still employed, and willing to recommend your colleague: Dear Sandra: I was so sad to see your office empty when I returned from my trip. I know you were hoping to avoid the impending layoffs, so this must be challenging for you. I will so miss your wise insights, energy, and creativity. The office will be far quieter, and less interesting, without you here. If I can help with a letter of recommendation, referrals, or to just to lend an ear, please know I want to help. Best wishes finding a new position. With your can-do attitude and skills, I have no doubt your job search will be short. Please let me know how I can help. Best regards, Dimitri To a colleague from another company, with whom you had regular, but superficial contact: Dear Javier: I was so sorry to receive your email message that you are no longer with Federated Company. I will miss our monthly status reports. Thank you for letting me know your current contact information so we can keep in touch. Best wishes finding a position that matches all your talents. No doubt, there is a lucky company about to hire a very skilled project manager. Best regards, Doreen If a colleague leaves under conflict or duress: Hi Carmen, David told me this morning you are leaving Federated. I know the past months have been challenging for you, and I’ve admired your grace and professionalism. I wish you well. I hope your search is a short as possible. Sincerely, Dora Some tips: Don’t mention the poor economy. The news is full of this, so you would only be underscoring an obvious worry. Two recently unemployed friends told me they were very annoyed when people told them, â€Å"I’m sure something will appear.† Be truthful. A new job doesn’t just appear. It’s a lot of work, and transition, to find new work. Don’t minimize their loss. Do offer to make connections or write a letter of recommendation, if you are willing. Do wish your colleague well. Remember: Job security is tenuous for everyone. Each of us can lose a job, so it’s a smart career move, as well as kind, to reach out when a colleague loses a job. Sadly, each of us can find ourselves in the same position. Stay connected. Don’t forget to thank those people who helped you find a new job, once you are hired.