Operation Strategy(Dell, Amazon.Com & Ibm) Essay

Question: Discuss operations strategies of three companies. Answer: Operational Strategy: Amazon.com Introduction: Amazon.com has become the largest customer friendly online retailer and provides one click purchase facility to its wide range of products including books, music, toys, gifts, electronics etc. For 2011 Amazon’s net sales documented the value of $48077 million to earn net income of $631 million (Annual Report, 2011). Currently, Amazon is serving more than 137 million of its customers with its 56200 employees all over the world. Moreover, International traffic also ranks Amazon at 16th position. However, Amazon achieved this milestone through deploying its three fold strategy of limitless inventory, customer convenience and low price. The purpose of current study is also to explore that how Amazon achieved its objective by using its digital channel. 1. Mass Customization: Primary difference between a physical retailer and Amazon is its online operations that allow Amazon to adopt mass customization. Amazon.com provides an opportunity to offer huge collection of books, music or other products without keeping them physically on shelf. Millions of books are available at Amazon for purchase while a large brick and mortar store is required to keep such huge inventory. In 1999 Amazon consistently added new product line or capabilities after every six weeks to increase its sale revenue. Currently, its product range can be divided into 34 broad categories. Such product customization differentiates Amazon with its competitors. It is argued that product customization is a critical source of competitive advantage even as compared to price competitiveness as it allows customers to select products according to their needs and wants at one place. So, one can attribute such mass customization to the success of Amazon.com. 1.1 Amazon Operating Models: However, to provide such mass customization Amazon follows its three  operating models. First, it sells its own inventories and manages customer relation and supply chain on its own through Amazon.com. Second, Amazon also act as third person and allow other companies to place their products at Amazon.com for sale. However, Amazon only manages front end customer relations while logistic issues are controlled by sellers. In 1999 Amazon offered Z shop facility that allows small companies to sell their product through Amazon.com. His strategy was to compete with e-bay who was also providing similar services of auction. At last Amazon has also introduced its e-commerce solutions and design web sites and offer hosting services to its customers. In other words these three operating models provide huge collection of products that is consistent to its business strategy limitless inventor y. 2. Integrated Business Operations: Success of Amazon strategies lay within its integrated business operations. Figure 1 illustrates that how Amazon fulfill its customers order through integrating its operations. Amazon.com server uses the supply chain optimization software to predict demand and also optimize its supply chain. In first step customers’ data for credit card is processed to finalize their orders. Amazon warehouse is also information about customer order in this respect for coordination. This is done to find out stock information at Amazon warehouse. However, in case of shortage at Amazon warehouse appropriate suppliers are selected. This information is transferred to publishers, music companies and electronic OEM for further process. After receiving order information publishers, music companies and electronic OEM dispatch required products physically to the nearest Amazon warehouse. At Amazon warehouse these items are packed and also send to customer place through UPS or US postal services. In this way Amazon develop integrated business operations that share information over its network for effectiveness. Figure 1: Amazon Network of Fulfillment Amazon integrated system speeds up the process and customers can receive their product at same or next day. This will positively contribute to customer’s loyalty. Moreover, Amazon also made required changes to its fulfillment system when needed especially for huge order fulfillments. For instance Amazon received record advance order of 275000 for single volume of Harry Porter. This challenged information staff at Amazon. During such event  Amazon mailed to its customers for confirmation of delivery information. Moreover, before shipment data regarding each package was updated. For Shipment purpose Amazon contracted with FedEx for shipping 250000 orders at released date that scheduled 100 flights to fulfill orders. In this way, Amazon successfully met such huge order fulfillment on released date. 2. Low Cost Strategies: Porter (1980) argued that firms can gain sustainable competitive advantages through adopting differentiation, cost leadership or focus strategies. While on the other hand Loudon & Loudon, (2006) argued that firms can gain cost leadership through online operations as it reduces ordering and inventory cost. Mass customization at Amazon also augmented its profitability through high activity with low variable cost. Fixed cost per unit decreases with the increase in activity as compared to variable cost per unit (Drury, 2006). While in case of Amazon fixed cost of system dominates as comp ared to nominal variable cost. Cost of technology, many parts of fulfillment cost and advertisement costs are fixed in nature. On the other hand Amazon is bearing nominal variable cost. This indicates that high activity will lead to low fixed cost per unit cost that Amazon can use to settle for low prices. So, this mass customization will also lead to high productivity that ultimately will optimize profits through decreased fixed cost per unit. Moreover, Amazon also reduces its costs through cross docking shipments. For instance Amazon place its different items like books, toys, electronic etc simultaneously in single order to the closest warehouse located near to customers. To do so, Amazon uses its â€Å"12 technologies† to optimize solutions and to predict demand. 3. Customer Fulfillment Network (CFN) Strategy: On the other hand Amazon has also adopted the customer fulfillment networking (CFN) strategy that emphasize to augment gross profit margins through purchasing books directly from publishers rather than involving distributors who add their profits. CFN strategy was developed to integrate customer relationship management and order fulfills management applications. CFN system compares customers’ demand with their capabilities to recognize that whether Amazon can fulfill their orders with reasonable profits or not. It also allows predicting dynamic demand that ultimately reduces the carrying cost and transportation cost at Amazon warehouse. Moreover, it also allows improving their cash flow as less cash is tired up in inventory and increase inventory turnover that ultimately augments firm’s  profits. 4. Customer Centric Strategies: One can also explain Amazon’s success in respect of its ability to extract and use of customer information. Amazon keeps a complete record of all of its customers. Amazon main a data base that knows that when and what a customer orders. If a customer has not been placing order for some time then Amazon sends him an e-mail coupon containing information regarding entirely different or related product line to stimulate customers for reordering. For instance it is possible that you will receive an e-mail regarding computer equipments products if you last purchased a notebook. 4.1 personalized Options: Similarly, Amazon.com also provides convenience in selecting products over its website through customization. Web pages are customized according to the liking of their customers. One can easily personalize his selection when he login as a customer at Amazon.com. All the Amazon products are divided into 34 broad categories. A person can select and search within these 34 broad categories easily. It is consistent with their strategy of providing convenience to customers. 4.2 Customer Review: It is argued that digital means of information can be used to communication product quality and also creates a bond between buyers and sellers especially within online markets (Chevalier and Mayzlin, 2006). Amazon also stimulates its customers to write editorial and review of book they purchased. This option of book review communicates positive information to other potential customers and increases the like-hood of purchase. It is also consistent with Chevalier and Mayzlin, (2006) who also argued that improvement in scores obtained by a book through book review contributes to purchase intentions and lead to high sales revenue. 4.3 Quick Shipment: Providing hassle-free fulfillment of customers’ order is also viewed as one of the key success areas of Amazon. For most of the product Amazon offers same or next day fulfillment. This is what makes different Amazon with other online retailers. However, Amazon does this through its integrated order fulfillment process as demonstrated in figure 1. Operation Strategy: Dell Introduction Dell is a technological sales company which performs their business in the whole world as is possible to see in the following diagram. With net revenue of $61,133,000,000 is the second largest computer manufacturer company in the word and the number one in United States. Dell focuses on Business to Business (B2B) and Business to Consumer (B2C) commerce to satisfy their business and individual customers. Dell differentiates between classes of customers because the needs of their business customers, who buy large quantities of computers, are different than the individuals who want to configure a single unit. The present document is oriented to analyze Dell just since the point of view of operations management starting with a review of the company, after a look over Product design process, the internal process and the technology associated, how Dell forecast the coming productions rates, how Dell manages their inventory, which is the quality model followed by the company, which is the human resource strategy to finalize with conclusions and reflections. 1. Operations Strategy Identify the operations strategy of Dell is go almost in all the main activities of the company where operations is relevant. Under this perspective, the list of strategies is related to some areas of operations inside of the company: * Be the greenest technology company on the planet and the first computer company to achieve carbon-neutral operations by the end of 2008. * Continue leadership with the climate strategy and global recycling programs. * Partner with customers in energy-efficiency and climate-protection initiatives. * Broaden the Global Citizenship commitment. * Recommit efforts to improve sustainability governance. 2. Product design process For Dell, Globalization has impacted directly in the management of the product life cycle involving more stakeholders during the process of product development; thereby the complexity of this process has become more complex  as well. The most important factor introduced in the product life cycle is the environmental issue. For Dell, the design products have to be energy efficient, to avoid unnecessary materials and to be easy to use, which is supported by rigorous business controls and supplier audits that consider (Dell, 2008): * Energy Efficiency: Dell delivers optimized performance per watt, and help customers deploy systems efficiently. In this way, IT is an important avenue to decreasing cost of ownership and enhancing productivity while reducing a customer’s carbon footprint. * Precautionary Chemicals and Materials Use: Dell design to eliminate the use of unregulated substances if we believe they possess hazard characteristics similar to other, regulated substances. If alternatives are not yet viable, Dell works to develop reliable, environmentally sound and commercially scalable solutions. * Supply Chain Sustainability: We expect suppliers to uphold the same commitment to environmental responsibility as we do, as a condition of doing business with them. Dell design activities are compliant with this internationally recognized standard for environmental management system criteria (ISO 14001 certification program) Other main stream of definition of what Dell is doing in terms of product design rely on the participation of their own customers. The website â€Å"Dell Idea Storm† (http://www.ideastorm.com) where customers participate directly in the conceptualization of products giving their own ideas of develops, voting for another ideas already posted or simply criticizing products from the company. This website is a very comprehensive platform to cover an appropriate SWOT analysis of products design due to the huge variety of post and group discussion on it. 3. Processes and Technology 3.1 Production process The well known operation model of Dell called ‘Dell Direct’ base its value added in just work on demand eliminating intermediaries in procurement, manufacturing and distribution processes. The technology used by the company in the manufacturing process is the base of success and therefore play a very important role in its operations. Dell’s technology allow to the company to combine its resources, its relationship with suppliers and its consumer communication capabilities, developing one big advantage over its competitors. Dell is in â€Å"Mass Production† process category due to mainly the stable demand of products, the assembly work as a main line of production and with a good level of efficiency. To consider Dell as a manufacturing or assembly company is a constant discussion even for the employees of the company. Due to the nature of the products (mainly computers) they build new products that do not exists in the market, in this sense they are manufactures. But in another sense they just assemble component which production is on suppliers, in this sense could be considerate that dell â€Å"buy to sell†. In this document the company will be considered as a manufacturer company. The generation of innovative ideas for the production line is pulled due to the necessity of new kind of products defined basically due to the interaction with suppliers and customers. All the Dell manufacturing centers use the same processes enable by the same systems and are measured in the same way. This insurance consistency award quality across the global network and also allows identifying and implementing best practices. The standardized process of manufacturing is divided as is illustrated in the following diagram. Final Test and labeling Order accumulation area Software Installation and Testing Customer Order Pull Kiting Boxing Build These processes are described as follow: * Customer order pull: receive the electronics orders closer to the ship destination. In this point the order is transferred from Dell order management systems to the Manufacturing scheduling system. The servers of the facility keep the track of order process associating serialized parts with unique codes. * Kitting: the build to order process of Dell generate request for materials which is delivered to the factory. Since there are no warehouses the inventory system is very important and every part is serialized and labeled since this is received from suppliers (which are basically important for Dell quality system). The scanning of these tags associated to the order indicates to the personnel which components should be part of a specific order, and at the end of the kidding line, all the parts of a single unique order are ready for the next step. * Build: the scan of the code associated to the single order gives to the personnel specific instructions to builders based in the customer requirements. In this step, Dell associates every single component using bar codes to the order allowing a better quality control for the company. * Software Installation and Testing: Directed by the main brain, the central gives specific instruction to ensure all the components are presents and operating properly before to install any software in machines. * Boxing: This process ensures all the components required by the user are properly stored and ready for the ship. Once finished the boxing, the order goes straight for shipping or the order accumulation area. * Order accumulation area: When the client creates and order, all the required products start at the same time but not all of them finish at the same time due to process variability. Once all of them are finished the shipping process starts. * Depending form the order, there is an external synchronization with others manufactures as monitors or printers manufacturers for example, which allow to Dell to reduce inventory with extern products to the production line. 3.2 E-business E-business is central to Dell’s entire operations and Dell uses e-business extensively across its entire value chain to deliver high levels of service to its customers and suppliers. Dell basically does trades with two of the four main kind of e-business (B2B, B2C, C2B and C2C) and both of them based in the internet architecture * B2C: the main stream is represented by direct communication between Dell and their customers. Internet allows this direct communication avoiding intermediaries. This guarantees a good quality service for the customers, efficient processes, decision makers in real time, higher customer expectations and globalization. * B2B: this stream of communication connects Dell with their suppliers allowing and efficient process of communication with the same benefits described in B2C. Also, the when big corporations and governments are clients, the definition of relation is established in a very particular way treating them as a special customers that need a special attention. 3.3 Technology In terms of technology, Dell in all its experience in all the manufacturing centers has implemented a large number of solutions in order to accomplish a constant improvement in the value chain. Basically, the main source of constant improvement has been Internet, helping Dell to establish good relations with both their suppliers and their customers. The high level of integration that this technology has allowed is on simple evidence through the corporate website (www.dell.com) where for example suppliers are allowed to follow their material as it used throughout Dell’s operations. They can log-on, drop off invoices, check engineering change orders; review negotiated and forecasted cost reports, and track their overall performances and progress. The â€Å"Dell i2 Supply Chain Management (i2SCM)† is the name of the solution implemented to cover communications necessities with suppliers. This implementation enabled to Dell to reduce costs providing component suppliers and Dell planners with global views of product demand and material requirements. In partnership with IBM, both have managed to maintain high employee productivity. The join in between companies to design the productions lines provide near unlimited availability to their IT infrastructure. Another outcome of this partnership is the use of electronic catalog with appropriate search functionality. As an example time ago, Altiris Recovery Solution was selected by Dell for integrated delivery of backup and disaster recovery. Altiris along with Dell Open Manage Client Administrator (OMCA) will provide â€Å"Direct integration of Altiris backup and recovery technology with Dell OMCA which helps ensure business continuity and helps provide additional cost savings for Dell customers through proactive IT management†. These factors implemented into a concrete disaster recovery plan provide Dell and IBM with the confidence to scale and complex IT network. 3.4 Production Layout Dell is by definition an assembly manufacturer company, where basically the process is only one and the assembly line as well. Dell does not build any part or piece of the computers, lodging basically in their own suppliers which have the necessary expertise and commitment with dell’s production line. If we consider Dell and their suppliers as a unique company it will be represented as typical â€Å"Process Layout†, and Dell will be of course in this exercise the assembly department. The main advantages of the â€Å"Product layout† (or assembly line production layout) are: * The amount of time for a product to be ready is faster in general if it is compared with other kind of process layout. * The set up cost of the product layout is low due to the facilities does not vary in position and functionality. * Due to the tasks of every stage are very specific, the efficiency of this kind of distribution (production layout) is higher than others types of layouts. This very related with the high continuity of the assembly line. * The necessary planning in order to be concern about matters like synchronization is very low if it is compared with other layouts, this because is just one continue line. * The required level of expertise is not so important as well considering that the main task is to assemble. There is no much hard production processes to take care about. * For Dell the level of inventory is very low, maybe too much low considering the average industry in â€Å"Products Layout† companies. This is because the technological advantage of Dell using Internet. As negative point in Dell layout oriented to product, it is possible to say that the required infrastructure is more expensive than other layouts because the high degree of cohesion that should exist in the assembly line which it demands a high technology and dedicated machinery. 4. Supply Chain As is possible to appreciate, Dell Company is in the middle of all the operations since suppliers till the final customer. The simplicity of this model put on evidence the absence of intermediaries in the supply chain, which is synonymous of low cost, fast answer to client’s orders. The communication between Dell and suppliers is by Internet, and in real time which it means that the suppliers are constantly monitoring the status of components in order to prepare new orders and negotiate the prices on demand. Usually suppliers have warehouse building nearby Dell’s Manufacturing Centers in order to reduce the risk of lack of components in the main assembly line of Dell and assuming at the same time the inventory costs that Dell is avoiding. The suppliers usually feed the starting point of the Dell’s assembly line, but as the illustration show, it is possible to have some suppliers after the production line of Dell (even out of Dell facilities). Partnership with screen or printer manufacturers, allow to the final user to order for products that are absolutely out of Dell’s production lines, and it is just necessary to complete the order in their warehouses to finally ship the order to the client. Is important to recognize that the use of Internet is the blood of this system, without this technology would be impossible to coordinate such value system. In order to make the service easier for customers within this supply chain, Dell has divided their home page into a number of major customer groups: * Home & Home Office, * Small Business * Medium and Large Business and * Government, Education & Healthcare 5 Forecasting, Planning and Scheduling 5.1 Forecasting As a forecasting method Dell, as many other big companies, base their analysis on the records stored on the internal Customer Relationship Manager system (CRM). This system stores every registry made by customers in order to analyze the tendency of the actual behavior and predict demand for certain products in the future. Now considering daily operations on Dell, there is a â€Å"Short Range Forecast† process that operates constantly. Dell uses state of the art production planning programs that forecast the quantities of components needed to build  the computers. After those forecasts are made, supply chain systems pass those forecasts to suppliers, who respond with cost estimates and plan their production as a result. As the CRM, the mentioned i2SCM (technology section) is another provider of forecast information as well, providing real-time factory scheduling and inventory management. These methods used by Dell are considerate â€Å"Quantitative Forecast Methods†, leaving for decisions makers, the forecast that comes from â€Å"Qualitative Forecast Methods†. 5.2 Scheduling Dell bases its scheduling process in the system i2SCM system output. One of the basic tasks of i2SCM is to streamlines the supply chain in order to keep a constant flow of component in the starting point of the assembly line, and considering this, as a consequence is in charge of provide a manufacturing schedule the whole plant. This scheduling process is refreshed every 2 hours. 6. Inventory Management Dell has implemented â€Å"Just-In-Time Inventory System† which operates on only 6 days of inventory. This simple number implies a huge benefit for Dell because this enable to the company to reduce the warehousing costs, also is not necessary to hire people to put in charge and maintain the inventories and though technology become obsolete very quickly, for Dell this is not a problem because they don’t hold obsolete technology in its small inventory. The way how Dell controls, in terms of basic definition its inventory and the costs that this means is being a â€Å"Demand Pull Company† (used as well as a Lean system method), whereas one of its top competitors (Compaq HP for example) is strictly a supply-push company and operates in a more traditional manner. 7. Quality model Since several years, Dell has been operating their manufacturer plants using the production standards ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 (Dell). Dell operations in China have been distinguished by Ministry of Information Industry (MII) and China Quality Management Association for Electronics Industry (CQAE) receiving wards such as â€Å"Excellent Quality Management Corporation†, â€Å"Excellent Quality Management Team’s and â€Å"Excellent Quality Management Individual†. It demonstrates Dell’s commitment to providing high-quality products and superior customer experience (Dell). The main support behind this award is the constant focus in the customer-centric strategy, and the will for a constant improving in the quality management system. In Dell, the quality control process starts from engineering design and the early testing stages during which design for reliability is the priority. Been conscious of quality standards in early analysis of failure mode, the product design is based on typical customer profile and operation requirement. It is important to consider that reliability test and improvement are also keys factors to ensuring the best quality. In addition, Dell has extended the â€Å"quality chain† putting great emphasis on suppliers’ quality management, as the company always regards the quality of the components as crucial factors for product quality. According to this, Dell has established a set of scientific and complete management process, which ensures final product quality through rigid selection and process control of industry-leading suppliers. Considering the whole process, the Quality Management during manufacturing process is the strongest guarantee of Dell products’ quality. Engineering pilot and employee training are conducted before any new product launch. Through Statistic Process Control Quality Analysis, Dell is able to detect and improve incoming material and process issues, which guarantee the best manufacturing quality. 8. Human Resources Strategy Dell’s direct business model influenced an organizational structure that fosters direct communication and open-minded listening. As an strategy to  accomplish this objective is to listen employees, and this is done through â€Å"Tell Dell† program, a voluntary and confidential employee opinion survey. This program is developed to encourage employees to speak frankly and privately about Dell’s principles, values, strategies, policies, managerial effectiveness and employee engagement. In this way the HRM department, after taken the measurement, is able to act in direct response to surveys. Some responses to these kind surveys were for example in the past: * Implementation of an employee purchase program * Greater work-life flexibility * Streamlined decision-making processes * Increased focus on employee development * Improved customer solutions Less formal but equally important strategy to get employees feedback is Employee Storm. A tool that enables every Dell employee to bring experiences and creative solutions to Dell and our customers. With the objective to reduce mistakes and its consequences, Dell has implemented a strategy related to ethic tools. This strategy defines for example policies of communication in order to allow employees approach the company when they feel is necessary according to the defined Dell Code of Conduct. These policies are: * Open door policy * Global Ethics and Compliance Team * Ethic helpline Since Dell is committed to inclusion and diversity, their mission is to succeed in the marketplace by fostering a winning culture in which Dell employees are highly talented, committed, reflective of our global customers, and recognized as our greatest strength. For Dell â€Å"diversity† is the core of their values and winning culture. For this Dell has implemented the following activities: * Employees networking groups. A program that connect employees that share the same nationality, gender, ethnicity, etc. * Diversity Education and Training. Providing quality professional development opportunities to all employees. * Work/Life Effectiveness. Committed to balance the employees contribution to the company with their personal lives. Other areas of strategy where Dell has been working on are: * Global talent management * Employee health and wellness * Employee sustainability engagement Conclusions It is very interesting to remark that Dell, a multinational company with a big size, is successfully capable to repeat basically the same formula of manufacturing process in every manufacturing center that the company has. Dell has been able to repeat the best practices across the borders around the world which by definition represent a big challenge for any company. Never the conditions will go to be the same: restricted markets, cultural shocks for employees, different cost structure are some of the factor that usually affect multinational companies with operations in many countries around the world. Dell strategy found its success in basically the correct and optimums use of technology; Internet is practically the blood of Dell system, or the base of Dell success. Dell’s business model bases its success basically in Information technology. There is not a revolutionary change in the way how to do business, is just a perfect example of how to take advantage of technology to become the most efficient competitor in the computer sales industry. Even though Dell business model is very well know, has been a model very difficult to imitate basically because the huge investment that companies should do together with their suppliers. The supply chain structure in this case is the key of success. Is not a matter of investment coming just from Dell to have success, is a sacrifice coming from Dell, suppliers and partners that in some way are trusting in Dell way of doing business. Trust in the value chain, is definitely a very big competitive advantage for Dell. The product mix from Dell is not as broad as directs competitors are doing it, which in one way has allowed to Dell specialization, focus and expertise in the field. But is a risk at the same time because depending basically on a very limited amount of product and services it does not open many alternatives to explore new markets or develop innovative solutions amount the products and services. Even though Dell is considered a very successful business model, the company has been having problems. These problems are reflected in financial reports which indicate that Dell is not reaching the rate of growing that they were expecting. Although Internet is the base of its success, it has been a big problem for Dell as well, since the point of view that important bloggers has been complaining in the net about the pour quality of services and this has spread quickly between users a non god image of the company. Dell is working on this blog phenomenon taking care of every comment done in the net about their products and services. Another problem faced by Dell is that Dell is becoming victim of its size because they are trying to keep the rate of growing in a market where the value of their products fall significantly every year , this means that to keep the rate of growing is necessary to have a higher rate of sales. As a final weak point in the way how Dell is approaching businesses, Dell is relaying increasingly on new markets which it means that Dell is just applying best practices and knowledge in the field rather than go deep with a study of the new entrance. This could be a risk considering the diversity and cultural matters in between their customers. Operation Strategy: IBM Introduction: IBM or International Business Machines is a well known American computer manufacturer, founded by Thomas J. Watson (born 1874-02-17). IBM is also known as â€Å"Big Blue† after the color of its logo. The company has made  everything from mainframes to personal computers and has been immensely successful selling business computers. Drawing on the strength of the full strategy and change practice: Operations Strategy is one of the four competencies within IBM’s larger Strategy and Change team. The three parallel competencies are Business Strategy, Organization Change Strategy and Technology Strategy. Operations Strategy helps clients resolve a variety of critical issues from strategy and planning to day-today operational improvements. IBM practitioners specialize in identifying the capabilities that are required to execute business strategies and in defining how operational models should be configured, implemented, and continuously improved. With deep experience in operations strategy, IBM provide clients with the support needed to address the operational issues that are crucial to success. Helping clients with critical business issues: Clients look to Operations Strategy for help with these critical business issues: * Cost efficiency and performance improvement * Focus on company’s core business * Increasing shareholder value * Continuous process improvement * Maintaining competitive edge * Improving customer service quality * Migration to new technology * Product innovation management * Merger synergy realization. IBM experience in successfully formulating and implementing operations strategies lies in three main areas: * Helping clients formulate operations strategies that align corporate and business strategy with organization, technology and process strategy. * Providing process expertise for business process change, reengineering and operational improvement, cost reduction, Six Sigma, innovation management, and post-merger integration. * Assisting clients with outsourcing strategies and their execution, including make/buy/partner decision strategies, domestic and global outsourcing, and creating scalable operations. Utilizing a proven, consistent approach: All Operations Strategy engagements incorporate the following key elements: * Mobilization – Utilizes preparation and planning to help increase the odds of successful and timely project completion. * Situation assessment – Establishes a shared assessment of the current and future situation with senior client management. * Strategy development – Defines strategic options and specifies strategic initiatives which are Designed to create significant value for the client. * Implementation planning– Determines critical success factors and establishes change programs to implement the strategic initiatives. * Learning – Measures and adapts the strategic management process in real time utilizing key Performance indicators. Providing a full suite of offerings: Operations Strategy has a diverse range of capabilities, including: Rapid process change: * A solution for rapidly identifying and delivering a step change in process, organizational and systems performance. Rapid process change focuses on achieving tangible operating improvement results in an accelerated time frame. Six Sigma/Lean Sigma: * Strives to create both operational excellence and a strategic change in the culture of a corporation, division or business unit. These engagements  are designed to increase customer satisfaction and drive out costs by helping to improve processes linked to company strategy and key performance indicators. Six Sigma also helps build an enduring capability within the organization that can create and sustain competitive advantage over the long term. Design for Six Sigma: * Extends Six Sigma principles to the development of new products, services, processes, and plants that are designed to precisely meet client current and future needs. Strategic profit improvement: * A framework designed to deliver improved financial performance, including: increasing revenues and margin, reducing costs and assets, strengthening infrastructure, and positioning for future growth. Service after the sale: * Helps clients lower their customer service costs and find new sources of revenue and value-added differentiation. Product innovation management: * Supports the business decision making component of product development. These engagements are designed to reduce time-to market and product development costs and they help increase the pace of innovation. Enterprise focus: * Determines which components of a business are strategic and critical to success of the enterprise and which are not. Then identifies opportunities for improvement and transformation by comparing critical business requirements and operational capabilities. Shared services implementation: * Our team builds a business case for the transition to a shared services operational model, designs a custom shared services solution, and then works with the client to successfully implement the change. Outsourcing governance: * Helps organizations establish a program management office capable of supporting outsourcing Initiatives throughout their lifecycle, from qualification and assessment to development and Operation. Demonstrating success at numerous clients: At one client, a leading consumer electronics manufacturer, benefits of the project included: * Reduction of overhead costs due to redundant / inefficient overhead services and infrastructure in Corporate HQ and five worldwide product divisions. * Annual savings of over $400 million, including: agreements in infrastructure sharing and Governance, shared services and elimination of cost drivers and redundant resources, and establishment of a project management office for active savings tracking and reinforcement. At a large manufacturer of aluminum products, we developed and implemented a new operating model. The scope and results included: * Analyzed operations for 15 business units in 10 countries * Creation of global process models * Over $300 million in annual savings, including improved processes, continued focus on cost Controls, and adoption of best practices across business units. Finally, we developed an outsourcing strategy for a leading manufacturer of semiconductor equipment. The scope Included: * Working with client executive team to develop a vision and operating model * Implemented the model, focusing new investment in core business processes and developing and implementing the roadmap to outsource all non-core processes to save client significant cost and increase competitive advantage. IBM Clients: A small sample of IBM clients includes leaders of every industry and all levels of Government: ABB| Ford Motor Company| Motorola| Aetna| Goodrich Corporation| Novell| Alcoa| Halliburton| Panasonic| America Online| Honda Motor Co.| Raytheon| Ashland| IKON Office Solutions| Royal Philips Electronics| Atkins Nutritionals| International Truck and Engine Corporation| Selectron| Bloomberg| Lam Research| Siemens| BP| Lexmark International| Sony| Chevron Texaco| MCI| Tyco International| Circuit City Stores| McKesson| United States Department of Agriculture| Dupont| Medtronic| Verizon Communications|

An Ideal Life

Life- this word carries with itself tremendous importance. it is a gift to all of mankind from the eternal Almighty. This is indicates that one has to use it to the fullest and not preserve it as an artifact. Life is above all our belongings. Nowadays,people live life for only one thing,the thing that can soothe even an Iron man's heart,  money. People use fraudulent methods, practices and techniques to amass wealth,but this is not the life the eternal force wanted us to live. Many perish to the perils in life but life has to be so lest it would be like a person being spoon-fed. The eternal force wanted us to live a happy and satisfied life. Money is not a matter of concern. Serving humanity until life topples down,leaving our legacy behind for others to follow are the building blocks of an ideal life. People are remembered for their deeds and not for how long they lived. Mahatma Gandhi is the perfect example for a person with an ideal life. Simple style of living,having one's goals set and the determination to achieve them,no inclination towards negative values were the spotlight of Gandhi's life. Today we find such things rubbish and behave in an exact antithetical manner in comparison to Gandhi's life. Yet it is Mahatma Gandhi's photo that is printed on the Indian Currency Note and not ours. Hence. we should to try to live a life like the Mahatma himself. Life should be utilized to the fullest and must be our cherished possession always. Leading an ideal life will keep our reputation intact and create an example for others to follow. We shall be remembered for years together. An Ideal Life Life- this word carries with itself tremendous importance. it is a gift to all of mankind from the eternal Almighty. This is indicates that one has to use it to the fullest and not preserve it as an artifact. Life is above all our belongings. Nowadays,people live life for only one thing,the thing that can soothe even an Iron man's heart,  money. People use fraudulent methods, practices and techniques to amass wealth,but this is not the life the eternal force wanted us to live. Many perish to the perils in life but life has to be so lest it would be like a person being spoon-fed. The eternal force wanted us to live a happy and satisfied life. Money is not a matter of concern. Serving humanity until life topples down,leaving our legacy behind for others to follow are the building blocks of an ideal life. People are remembered for their deeds and not for how long they lived. Mahatma Gandhi is the perfect example for a person with an ideal life. Simple style of living,having one's goals set and the determination to achieve them,no inclination towards negative values were the spotlight of Gandhi's life. Today we find such things rubbish and behave in an exact antithetical manner in comparison to Gandhi's life. Yet it is Mahatma Gandhi's photo that is printed on the Indian Currency Note and not ours. Hence. we should to try to live a life like the Mahatma himself. Life should be utilized to the fullest and must be our cherished possession always. Leading an ideal life will keep our reputation intact and create an example for others to follow. We shall be remembered for years together.

Scirr

On top of the colorful clouds, lays a peaceful palace – a wonderland. A mysterious man glances down at the magic mud; as he moves his huge hand on top of the mud, a fragile figure slowly appears. In a few seconds, as he claps his hands, snaps his fingers, stomps his feet, a-bunch of innocent immaculate lives were created. â€Å" You,† he pointed at the clumsy cow, â€Å" you have to work every day and night and you may only eat green grass. I announce, you will own 50 years of life. † He said in a gentle voice as he hands the cow a red rose with 50 plump petals.The clumsy cow slowly lifted up â€Å"Dear mighty God, if I can only work and not enjoy life, I would rather live for 20 years. † and the clumsy cow pick 30 plump petals from the rose and throws them in the air. The man nods his head, and the cow moss as she leaves. â€Å" You, sir,† he pointed at the mocking monkey â€Å" you have to perform for people and be a clown. I announce, you will h ave 40 years life. † He said in a sympathetic voice, and he handed the mocking monkey a red rose with 40 plump petals. The mocking monkey shouts â€Å" I only want 10 years of life and bye. † The monkey picks 30 plump petals as he jump and leaves the room.The man smiles helplessly and turns to the last creation. â€Å" you, my lovely baby boy, you only need to sleep, to play, to have fun; you will have 10 years to enjoy your life. † The man smiles with love in his eyes and he hands the boy a red rose with 10 plumps petals. The baby boy cheers and dances. A thought creeps into his unspoiled mind. â€Å" My Lord 10 years is not enough to enjoy life, I heard the clumsy cow gave you 30 years back and so did the mocking monkey,† he said innocently with his blinking eyes. â€Å" If you love me, give me those 60 years so I may completely enjoy my life. The man shakes his head and says, â€Å" Whatever you like my child, however, don’t regret. † God summons the fallen flowers and reunites the plump petals to the sweet stem. As time goes by , the baby boy has fun for his first 10 years of his life, works to death for the following 30 years and ends his life with entreating other for 30 more years. The bot views of the world changes as he goes through different stages of his life. He earns his epiphany as he slowly passes away and finally realizes the goodness around him. The boy closed his tired eyes with a angel-like smile on his face as the last petals on the rose slowly fall to the ground.

The French Newspaper Le Monde Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The French Newspaper Le Monde - Essay Example This paper will throw light upon Le Monde and all the necessary details will be provided in this paper. "The newspaper was established in 1944-as soon as the German army had quit Paris but whileWorld War IIcontinued-on orders of the new government of GeneralCharles de Gaulleas a means of providing a respected voice for France. It was printed on the presses of the defunctLe Temps,and a prewar correspondent of that paper, Hubert Beuve-Mry, was appointed its editor and director. He insisted on, and was granted, the right to operateLe Mondeas an independent organ, with no government or private subsidies and with the right to formulate its own editorial policies. By the end of its first yearLe Monde's accuracy and independence were widely noted and it had attained a circulation in excess of 150,000 copies." (Le Monde, 15 April 2009). The newspaper has made its mark in France and the writers of the newspaper have full authority to express their views and usually they express their views that are backed up with good research. The newspaper has had to face financial problems in the past but it has been very well established and no longer faces any financial trouble. Beuve-Mery is considered to be the founder of Le Monde. He was an editor and a French Publisher who not only established Le Monde but also took the newspaper to new heights.

Summary of article Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Summary of article - Essay Example ecame unemployed; the standard of living lowered for most factory workers who were reduced into slaves and the family foundations wobbled as women worked in the mills. It was seen as a move that benefited only a few people. Before the industrial revolution set in, the economy was not doing well enough to sustain a growing population. The economy was characterized by monopolistic businesses. The youths were forced to work in the army under deplorable conditions. The crime rate also high and the authorities were not able to deal with it. The innovation system was opposed highly, but the factory system despite the many challenges it faced, thrived because of two reasons. The first reason is that the laissez-faire economists worked to educate people against the popular belief that the processes and devices introduced to save on labor were meant to create unemployment. The other reason it thrived was because they beat the authorities at their own game by addressing the problems above that the authorities had not been able to deal with. The factories provided employment for the paupers and the women who were willing to work. The wages paid were little but were better off than nothing. It is only the people who were well off in the society benefitted from the previous system. They are the ones who decided how much the others were going to earn. With the industrial revolution, there was a turn of things where new marketing and production modes were introduced. The goods that were manufactured focused on all consumers especially those that were not the target there before. Whenever the factory system went into the production of whichever goods, it first started by producing the cheap products for the greater percentage of the masses. The production of the expensive products only came much later. For example, when the factories produced cotton goods, the rich were not interested in cotton goods. These then became the target of the other consumers. It was a system of

Scholarly Article Review Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Scholarly Article Review - Term Paper Example Studies of teacher’s shortages date back to the 1950 when the returning war veteran’s children began to tax the capacities of local schools. In the 1980, studies described both the types and extent of teacher’s shortages with emphasizes on the special education teachers. According to an article by the Robinson (2008), the reason behind the shortage is the high exit rates of the special education teachers. Due to the shortage, alternative licensure programs have come up. For example, army personnel are getting trained for a second career in education and radically intensified summer programs are replacing the four year licensure programs. Although these programs have assisted in placing more special education teachers in the classroom, the quality of both the newly licensed teachers and the teacher’s education programs is questionable. A closely related issue that according to the article by Education Commission of the States (2014) is the current merger of the special education teacher program into the overall education program. This will integrate with the already existence policies of education to fully cater for the students with the special needs to avoid any form of omissions or discrimination in the school curriculums. According to Eiken (2011) accountability of teachers working with special education students is becoming more dangerous and difficult since many of the students have severe problems. Due to the shortage of staff and the crowded classrooms, the students are prone to violent outbursts that frighten and even injure teachers. These impacts and controversies amount to only a small portion of the many issues related to special education. Teacher shortage, school reforms and inclusion are often heard in the news national wide. Although every story has two sides, extra effort is needed from teacher, the government and even the student to ensure that every story has a happy

Asian Agriculture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Asian Agriculture - Essay Example In India, the agriculture sector is not protected when compared to the industrial sector; this may be one of the reasons for it failure in trade. Food grains are in abundance in India, especially Rice. This should not be used as an export, because you never know when the situation might change for the demand. Food crops should be used in other industries, such as animal feed. One another major point is that liberalization has enabled diversity in the food supplies and it is not easy for the government to subsidize all these supplies so that the poor can eat them, thus it is better to people to get jobs and earn money so that they can eat what they want and to ensure a continuous supply of food in their house. In the early 1990’s the subsidies being received by the agricultural sector were above their requirement and can be called full investment in this sector. The use of new technology was adopted by the farmers quickly because of the subsidies, but the sector has deteriorated in terms of fiscal deficits, productivity of inputs, employment elasticity and environmental degradation. Economies of scale cannot be experienced by the farmers in India. Currently there is a ceiling in the industry; the best thing for the industry is to continue with the ceiling so that in the future the sector can develop itself as a safety net for the industry as a whole. The policies and restrictions should not be relaxed, and loans should be provided to farmers who want to buy land for cultivation. This will help all people involved, as the farmers would work hard to pay for the land and the land owners can benefit from the produce of the land. The economic viability of the country is very low, the market rates and the concessional rates have a huge difference because of the middle-men involved. This leads to the poor families getting higher interest rates. These farmers should be

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Personal Development Plan Template - Essay Example I felt that I wanted to be the one who organizes and plans for the department, who thinks of ways on how to improve the service we provide, who devises programs for the personnel, the patients, and the public. I wanted to be the head of the hospital’s respiratory department. But of course, David Beckham did not reach his status in football by just scoring goals. For certain, it required a lot of hardships and training. And though I have already undergone some of my own, there are still skills that I need to develop to reach my goal, especially because I want to also manage the budget distribution of the department. In football, one does not just have a ball being played by his two feet; he has the ball that makes all the others follow, go where they can support the goal he has in mind—the same goal of the whole team. And this is a characteristic of a football player that I have to develop, my leadership and management skills. Although I am very fond of reading management materials, I know that this is not going to be enough to be the head of the respiratory department. So for that, I have made some plans to meet and, hopefully, exceed the expectations of the hospital administration. As I read once in a Reader’s Digest, â€Å"Education is the cure for all insecurities.† After I receive my master’s degree, I plan to take leadership seminars and management seminars here in Australia, which will include proper budget allocation. However, aside from the knowledge and skills I intend to acquire and/or develop, I realize that becoming the head of a hospital department is a great responsibility. And as any football or any other sports legend has done just to achieve their goals, something or some things need to be sacrificed; mine, is putting off being with a woman I will be with all my life. Some things are just worth sacrificing for and some things worth putting off. However, in football, the reality is that not all kicks,

Enviromantal engneering project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Enviromantal engneering project - Essay Example rmore, instead of excavating and transferring the contaminated soil to another site, this process proved successful as it was done on site- saving time and energy. Bioremediation- According to Prof. Shaily Mohindra of UCLA, conventional technologies for cleaning ground water are not always effective. Moreover, these methods usually move pollutants from one point to another. For that reason, Mohindra endorses Bioremediation using Pseudonocardia dioxanivorans bacteria for the mitigation of next generation pollutants e.g. Perfluorinated compounds, nano materials, and dioxane. The progress of remediation will be monitored usin stable isotopes. Pump and treat- The application of pump and treat technology in Hanford has been successful in soil and ground water remediation. By 2011, 24.7 billion gallons of ground water had been treated, although the whole process of remediation will be completed in the next 25 years. At the end of the remediation process Contaminants such as plutonium and i ts derivatives e.g. Carbon tetrachloride will be successfully removed from the soil and ground water. In situ thermal remediation- pump and treat technology had been used for more than 17years to clean up chlorinated solvents from the subsoil in Stuttgart with minimal success rates. However, in January 2013 an in-situ thermal remediation pilot test offered a suitable alternative for remediation even under prevailing difficult geological conditions in Stuttgart. Monitored natural attenuation- The Company was justified as it relied on natural processes to clean up the site. An environmental disaster similar to the silent spring has also been observed in Oregon (Lower Columbia). Since 1985, conservation centered on removing the nearly extinct bald eagle from the federal extinction list resulted in significant overall increase in bald eagle numbers. Yet, in lower Columbia most of the eagle nests in the lower Columbia failed to hatch eaglets; and have been producing half the number of

Designing a house Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Designing a house - Essay Example The building is built on a relatively stable ground and therefore it foundation was a shallow type of foundation. The foundation is concrete mixed poured on a steel reinforcement to an averagely thick slab. The wall was constructed from locally prepared bricks that were arranged in interlocking configuration. The second slap separate the ground floor from the first floor and is concrete reinforced. The roof is joined to the 300mm thick ring beam through metallic straps. Roof is made from iron sheets joined onto the wooden struts through iron sheet nails. The roof has provision left that could be used in the future to introduce tiles. The paper therefore look into the design considerations in coming up with up with the said building using the right material and incorporating the right technical knowledge. According to Shlash (2001) the design of the foundation takes into the consideration the amount of floors the building will have, the land alignment (topography) and the type of soil. The weight of the foundation is normally taken by the soil underneath where the load is spread. Therefore the total load is transmitted to the footing where it is spread and is expected to be carried by the land surface underneath. Therefore they must have had excavated the foundation to a point where the basement rock started to get the right bearing capacity so that the overall load doesn’t have a large displacement. Apart from the natural soil stability, they had to find the right building material for the foundation which could carry the large amount of load. They had to make sure the ring needs to be able to carry the required amount of load and must: In this project the material used is concrete hence it must have the recommended thickness and strength to transfer the load top the bottom surface and the reinforcement must be properly placed to give the right construction stability and positioning (Shlash, 2001). The building is located