Latin America Essays (1285 words) - Guatemalan Revolution

Latin America Latin America After world War II until the 1980's, many Latin American leaders installed reforms to deal with new demanding issues in their country. These new reforms were frequently viewed by the United States as alarming due to the recent rise of communism in the world. Following almost a century of alliance, Americans and Russians disagreement came to the front line when in 1917 the Communists seized power, and established the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union would come to declared war on the capitalist nations of the West. The two countries put all this aside in their mutual hatred for one another, and fought against Germany during World War II. This alliance would come to an end between 1944-45, when Joseph Stalin looking to extend Soviet control used the Soviet army to control much of Eastern Europe. This cold war rivalry, would soon emerge into a contest to obtain allies. The U.S. foreign policy following World War II confronted primarily in assisting the countries in Europe. The concentration of aid to Europe was a immense concern to the countries of Latin America. Latin America countries wanted the U.S. to stress economic development in the post war era. The U.S. believed that it needed to promote postwar economic development in Latin America but was unwilling to make a specific commitment for assistance. As a region Latin America ranked low on the U.S. priority list; other area were seen as facing more immediate Soviet threats. The lack of attention by the U.S. to the pressing social. political and economic problems in Latin America would prove costly to the U.S. The cost would come in the form of new political views emerging to deal with the problems at hand. The U.S. would come to pay attention to Latin America, that it was supposed to at the beginning of the cold war, and take action to stop the spread of communism. One of the first situations faced by the U.S. was Guatemala, lead by the soldier, and president of Guatemala, Jacobo (1951-54) whose nationalistic economic and social reforms singled out groups of conservative landowners, and conservative elements in the army, and U.S. companies stationed in Guatemala. The son of a Swiss pharmacist who had emigrated to Guatemala, Arbenz was educated at the National Military Academy of Guatemala. He later joined a group of leftist army officers that overthrew the Guatemalan dictator Jorge Ubico in 1944. In March 1951 he succeeded to the presidency, supported by the army and the left-wing political parties, including the Guatemalan Communist Party. Arbenz made land reform the central project of his presidency, this led to a conflict with the largest landowner in the country, the United Fruit Company. As the land reforms increased, the U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, became increasingly alarmed, fearing the threat due to a large American banana investments. Public view of Arbenz, was that he was a friend of communists. The U.S., during the Eisenhower administration, began working in Honduras and El Salvador, helping to organize a counterrevolutionary army of exiles led by Colonel Carlos Castillo Armas. On June 18,1954 a force of 150 invaded Guatemala from Honduras, the key to the invasion was not the exile force, but the regular Guatemalan army. When Arbenz tried to arm his civilian supporters, the army blocked the move and forced Arbenz to resign on June 27 1954, and went into exile. Castillo Armas, would succeed Arbenz as president, reversed most of the reforms of the previous decade and offered generous concessions to foreign investors. During the fighting, Guatemala appealed to the UN Security council to end the fighting, but the diplomatic offensive fell victim to big power politics by the U.S., which was chairing the council in June of 1954. Another situation in which the U.S. tried to impose their will on Latin America, was the invasion of at the Bay of Pigs April 17, 1961. The invasion was financed and directed by the CIA, within six months of Castro's overthrow of Cuban dictator, Fulgencio Batista's in January 1959. Relations between the Castro government and the United States began to decline. The new Cuban government, under Fidel Castro confiscated private property, sent agents to initiate revolutions in several Latin American countries, and established diplomatic and economic ties with leading socialist powers, such as USSR In June Congress had passed legislation enabling President Dwight D. to take retaliatory steps against Cuba. The United States cut off sugar purchases from Cuba and soon afterward placed an embargo on

Salud! and Cuban healthcare system

Salud! and Cuban healthcare system According to the film ‘Salud’, physicians reside within the neighborhoods that they are supposed to serve (Gorry, 2009). The Cuban healthcare system focuses mainly on preventive services and execution of rapid treatment whenever patients are admitted to hospitals. Effective emergency responders to cater for unexpected events such as earthquakes have also been trained in Cuba.Advertising We will write a custom term paper sample on â€Å"Salud!† and Cuban healthcare system specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More There are several Cuban doctors who have been dispatched to over 100 countries across the world. Some of the countries being served by Cuban doctors include Venezuela, Central America, South Africa and Gambia. These are fulltime medical experts. However, the US doctors can only be dispatched to destinations that demand specialized emergency care on short term basis (Gorry, 2009). Free medial training is offered to s tudents from the United States, Latin America, Africa and other parts of the world. Although Cuba is a poor nation compared to the US, it trains medical personnel at no cost. This is not the case with the US. There are no private healthcare systems in Cuba since all the healthcare establishments are run by the government (Carrol, 2007). A robust private sector orientation is one of the strengths of the US healthcare system. A private system ensures that product manufacturers can continually undertake medical innovation with the aim of improving both quality and access to healthcare for individuals who are well covered by medical insurance. For example, there is a great level of flexibility for employer-based insurance because it is easy to adjust the system at any time according to the changing healthcare dynamics (Institute of Medicine, 2003). On the other hand, coverage controlled by the employer cannot be possessed by an employee due to lack of portability. Therefore, employees a ttached to short term employment contracts may suffer as a result of this weakness. Moreover, incentives for prevention are minimal because several workers often shift from one job to another on a regular basis. Rapid escalation of healthcare cost is yet another weakness of the US healthcare system. This has been worsened by expansive coverage due to the federal tax exemption advanced to employers (Institute of Medicine, 2001). The best way the US system can be transformed is by adopting a market-based system through a well planned incremental approach. This will improve healthcare efficiency. The federal tax law can be reformed in such a way that open-hand arrangements are avoided. The latter can be replaced by the use of vouchers. Regulatory regimes can also be created by individual states so that coverage rules and regulations are controlled at the local level.Advertising Looking for term paper on art and design? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More There are quite a number of aspects in the Cuban healthcare system that the US healthcare ought to adopt. For instance, it is vital to note that the Cuban healthcare system is significantly affordable to patients compared to that of the United States. Cuba spends about US$5.49 for in-patient hospital stay per day (Carrol, 2007). On the other hand, the United States healthcare system demands approximately US$ 1,994 to sustain an in-patient for a single day in hospital (Institute of Medicine, 2003). These are remarkable differences in terms of healthcare costs between the two countries. The US healthcare system should embrace ways of reducing the cost of accessing medical care and also improving quality. Even though the US healthcare system is costly to healthcare recipients, quality in some healthcare institutions is till below the expected standards. As much as importation of some medical merchandise takes place in Cuba, a significant amount of medica l goods are still manufactured locally. However, the cost of labor is lower in Cuba than the US. If the United States can lower the cost of labor and improve local production of vital medicinal products, then access and quality towards healthcare will equally be boosted (Institute of Medicine, 2001). In addition, personal effects such as water, food, hypodermic needles and bed sheets can be brought by patients into hospitals as it is the case in Cuba. When patients are allowed to take care of basic personal expenses, the government healthcare systems will lower the cost of operations by a remarkable margin. References Carrol, R. (2007). Economic crisis boost to health of Cubans. London: The Guardian. Gorry, C. (2009). Salud! Cuba’s Medical Diplomacy. Retrieved from lahabana.com/content/salud-cubas-medical-diplomacy/ Institute of Medicine (2001). Aligning payment policies with quality improvement. In crossing the quality chasm. Washington, DC: National Academy of Sciences.Adve rtising We will write a custom term paper sample on â€Å"Salud!† and Cuban healthcare system specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Institute of Medicine (2003). The healthcare environment and its relations to disparities. In Unequal treatment: Confronting racial and ethnic disparities in healthcare. Washington, DC: National Academy of Sciences.

Heart and Lungs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Heart and Lungs - Essay Example lung is a respiratory organ that carries oxygen into the bloodstream from the atmosphere and frees carbon dioxide from the bloodstream into the atmosphere. It is a vital organ that most breathing animals posses. Each of the lungs is situated in either side of the heart close to the spinal column. This is the case among animals with complex life forms such as mammals. The heart and lungs should operate efficiently to ensure enough oxygen reaches the organs. This forms the vascular and the respiratory systems. The lungs hold the air that is taken from the environment before releasing it into the blood. Thereafter, the heart circulates the blood into the entire body. The oxygenated blood flows to the body from the lungs as the deoxygenated blood flows from the body into the lungs (Scharf, Pinsky, & Madger, 2011). The whole process commences at the heart that has the two atria and ventricles. The veins in the right atrium and ventricle receive blood. Concurrently, the deoxygenated blood flows into the heart through the right atrium. The relaxation of the heart muscle then causes the release of blood into the right ventricle from the atrium. Consequently, right ventricle pushes the blood into the Pulmonary Artery via the Pulmonary Valve (Batzel, Kappel, Schneditz, & Tran, 2007). The pulmonary artery then delivers the blood to the lungs where it undergoes purification. After the purification, the oxygenated blood rescinds to the heart through the Left Atrium (Batzel, Kappel, Schneditz, & Tran, 2007). The heart muscles relax again causing the left atrium to send the blood in to the left ventricle. In the end, the heart pushes the blood out delivering it to the entire body. The lungs are the sites of respiratory gas exchange. These gases are oxygen and carbon dioxide. The bronchioles and alveoli deliver blood into the lungs. The bronchioles split from the trachea extending to the lobes of the lungs. It is fundamental to notice that the alveoli are tiny sacs surrounded

House Buliding Industry Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

House Buliding Industry - Case Study Example (Dunlop, 2000) Home building and selling industry have been one of the industries in the US that have been hard hit by the current economic crisis. For along time now, the home industry in the US has recorded massive growth due to the rising demands of new home and due to the response of the financial services for provision of funds to purchase homes. In the last two decade the home building industry has been recording massive growth and it had attracted many investors. There has also been massive input by the financial sector as they lent out money for the construction of these homes. Since 1980s, there have been increasing trends towards individual ownership of homes which has been the main reason behind the growth of the industry. (Allan, 2007) My company is one of the major players in this industry and has been in the industry for along time. Established in 1970s the company has been working closely with other major players in the industry and has been able to grow. It has been building and selling homes in all states in the country. With its base in New York, the company has established branches in 15 states where it has been building and selling residential and business premise. However the company has been facing many challenges in the industry although it has still held on. Let us look at some of the challenges that the company has been facing in regard to the changes that have been taking place in the industry. Challenges being faced by the company There have been many challenges that the company has been facing in its operation in the industry. These have been related to the changes that have been taking place in market which are being affected by the fluctuating rate of growth of the economy. In order to understand the challenges that the company has been facing, we need fist to understand the US home industry so that we can deduce how the company has performed relative to the changes that have been taking place the industry. The US home buying industry has been recording changing times since it was formed. This has been driven by the fact that the industry is driven by subprime mortgages which have been changing with time. In the 1980s, there have been increasing changes that have taken place in the financial institution that have been contribution to these changes. Most of the companies that have been involved in building and selling of homes have been relying on financial institution to provide loans of building those homes which they sell and repay later. The home buyers also rely on financial institution for money to buy homes which they pay in terms of mortgages. Therefore as the value of homes rises, home builder flock the financial institution in order borrows and invest more in building homes. This has been the practice that has led to increased homes in the United States. (Casey, 2008) However in the recent past, there have been increased decline of home value and more and more homes are facing foreclosures. This has been contributed by increased inventory on unsold units in the country which has led to decline in the price of homes. This has been contributed by many factors including the practice of financial institutions. Due to the rate of falling home prices, many home builders have been struggling to sell their remaining unsold units in order to avoid losing more value which means more loss on their investments. This has caused increased rate of interest and the

The Inditex-Zara case

The Inditex-Zara case INTRODUCTION In todays highly competitive and global marketplace, the pressure on organizations to find new ways to create and deliver value to the customers grows even stronger. Market development combined with new sources of global competition has led to over-capacity in many industries. Putting an incredible pressure on price, as often is the critical competitive variable. This leads to the need of more effectiveness and efficiency inside a business. It is against these new conditions that the use of supply chain management has moved to the centre stage over the last two decades (Christopher, 2004). To manage the supply chain better, is to serve the customers more effectively and yet reduce the cost of providing that service. There has been a growing recognition that it is through this kind of management that it can be achieved a twin goal of cost reduction and service improvement. Even if the concept of integration within the business and between businesses is not new, the acceptance of its validity by managers is. According to Chris Zook managing the supply chain is not an easy task (Zook, 2001). Most companies do not manage to achieve their intended goals. Nevertheless, those which are doing well today have on average low odds to be doing so in the next five to ten years. An important key to do well is to understand why some companies succeed and others do not. This to avoid common pitfalls and instead of spending time recovering from previous mistakes, the company can focus on the future. With this in mind, this coursework will look into how businesses manage their supply chain. This by looking into the supply chain of the fastest growing clothing brand in Europe and the world today, Zara, and highlight the main characteristics of the supply chain management as well as its application ( market chain). If the chances are small to succeed, what do successful companies do right that others do wrong? COMPANY PROFILE Zara is the flagship chain store of Inditex group owned by Spanish tycoon Amancio Ortega. Zara is the most internationalized of Inditex ´s chains. The group is headquartered in A Coruà ±a, Spain, where the first Zara store opened in 1975. Now Inditex, the holding group that includes the Zara brand, has over 1300 stores in 39 countries with sales of over â‚ ¬3 billion. (Zara 2009) The Zara brand accounts for over 75 per cent of the group ´s total retail sales, and is still based in northwest Spain. By 2003 it had become the world ´s fastest-growing volume garment retailer. The Inditex group also has several other branded chains, including Pull and Bear, and Massimo Dutti. In total it employs almost 40,000 people in a business that is known for a high degree of vertical integration compared with most fast fashion companies.(Cowe, et.al.2008:271) It is claimed that Zara needs just two weeks to develop a new product and get it to the stores, compared with a six month industry average, and launches around 40,000 new designs each year. Zara has resisted the industry-wide trend towards transferring fast fashion production to low-cost countries. While it spent little on ads, it spent heavily on stores. Zara is a vertically integrated retailer. Unlike similar apparel retailers, Zara controls most of the steps on the supply-chain: It designs, produces and distributes itself. The business system that had resulted was particularly distinctive in that Zara manufactured its most fashion-sensitive products internally. Zara did not produce classics, clothes that would always be in style. In fact, the company intended its clothes to have fairly short life spans, both within stores and in customers ´ closets. LITERATURE REVIEW Value Chain The idea of the value chain is based on the process view of organizations, the idea of seeing a manufacturing (or service) organization as a system, made up of subsystems each with inputs, transformation processes and outputs. Inputs, transformation processes, and outputs involve the acquisition and consumption of resources-money, labor, materials, equipment, buildings, land, administration and management. How value chain activities are carried out determines costs and affects profits. Most organizations engage in hundreds, even thousands, of activities in the process of converting inputs to outputs. These activities can be classified generally as either primary or support activities that all businesses must undertake in some form. (Cowe et al.2008:81). The outlined process of Porter ´s value chains is presented in see Figure 1. According to Porter (1985), the primary activities are: Inbound Logistics: involve relationships with suppliers and include all the activities required to receive, store, and disseminate inputs. Operations: are all the activities required to transform inputs into outputs (products and services). Outbound Logistics: include all the activities required to collect, store, and distribute the output. Marketing and Sales: activities inform buyers about products and services, induce buyers to purchase them, and facilitate their purchase. Service: includes all the activities required to keep the product or service working effectively for the buyer after it is sold and delivered. Support activities are: Procurement: is the acquisition of inputs, or resources, for the firm. Human Resource management: consists of all activities involved in recruiting, hiring, training, developing, compensating and (if necessary) dismissing or laying off personnel. Technological Development: pertains to the equipment, hardware, software, procedures and technical knowledge brought to bear in the firms transformation of inputs into outputs. Infrastructure: serves the companys needs and ties its various parts together, it consists of functions or departments such as accounting, legal, finance, planning, public affairs. Supply Chain Management Supply Chain Management (SCM) is the management of the relationships and flows between the string of operations and processes that produce value in the form of products and services to the ultimate consumer. It is a holistic approach to managing across the boundaries of companies and of processes. Technically, supply chains are different from supply networks. A supply network is all the operations that linked together so as to provide goods and services through to end customers. In large supply network there can be many hundreds of supply chains of linked operations passing through a single operations. Internal supply network, and supply chain, management concerns flow between processes or departments. Confusingly, the terms supply network and supply chain management are often used interchangeably. (Cowe, et.al.2008:244) It is worth emphasizing again that the supply chain concept applies to internal process networks as well as external supply networks. Many of the ideas discussed in the context of the operation-to-operation supply chain also apply to the process-to-process internal supply chain. It is also worth nothing that the flows in supply chains are not restricted to the downstream flow products and services from suppliers through to the customers. Although the most obvious failure in supply chain management occurs when downstream flow fails to meet customer requirements, the root cause may be a failure in the upstream flow of information. Modern supply chain management is as much concerned with managing information flows (upstream and downstream) as it is with managing the flow of products and services. (See Figure 2) Information System Management In the current competition of the modern world, information relating to inputs, the transformation process and outputs is the vital resource organization owns to add value. An information system management is a planned system of the collecting, processing, storing and disseminating data in the form of information needed to carry out the functions of management. (Kotler 2006) The development of an ISM is nowadays greatly facilitated by the increasing sophistication and affordability of powerful personal computers and various other aspects of information technology (IT). Thus, technology is improving the speed and reliability with which information is passed not only around the individual organization but also around the globe, and `dramatic reductions in the cost of obtaining, processing and transmitting information are changing the way we do business (Porter and Millar, 1991). Porters value chain (Porter, 1980, 1985) was developed as a method for analyzing the sources of competitive advantage available to a firm. IS assumes that competitive advantage results from a combination of the many different activities a firm pursues during the course of its business, rather than coming from one individual source. CASE STUDY ZARA Operation Management Different organisations have to target customers in order to offer some services or product that someone is willing to pay for it. Operation management is pretty much involved with making this possible. Operation management is the activity of managing the resources and processes that produce goods and services and more specifically operation management examines how the operations function of a business produces products and services for external customers. (Cowe, et.al.2008:204). The general transformation process model (Figure 4) shows an arrangement of resources that transforms inputs into outputs that satisfy customer needs. In the case of Zara (Figure 5) the inputs of the organization are comprised of the raw materials, such as the fabrics that after design and manufacturing-retailing will produce the garments, information such as products protocol, human resources such as the designers that has the skills and knowledge to produce the garments. The transformation process consists of the manufacturing and services operations that are necessary to transform input into output, which are spitted into three basic product divisions: mens and womens and kids apparel, such as lower garment, upper garment, shoes, boots, bags, cosmetique and complements. All processes differ in some way, so, to some extent all processes need to be managed differently. In addition processes also differ in terms of the nature of their demand that is why we have to take into account those next four characteristics, which indicate how process need to be managed: Volume, variety, variation and visibility. In the case of Zara the operations process is unique and envied throughout the world: Volume: In terms of volume Zara is high. Although there is a high degree of systemization of the process to produce garments, due to the turnover in each shop is replaced every two weeks is a unique case. Variety: In terms of variety Zara is as high as the volume is. It has a wide range of products for men, women and children such as cosmetiques, suits and sport clothes respectively for each one. Variation: The variation in demand is quite high; because the demand is unpredictable and cannot be planned in advanced, extra resources will have to be designed into the process to provide a mechanism which can absorb unexpected demand. Zara will have to cope with the general seasonality of the garment market together with the uncertainty of whether particular styles may or may not prove popular. Visibility: In terms of visibility of the process is to the customer is low as they are simply presented with the final product to try on and finally purchase. All the above are summarized in Figure 6. Due to the high volume and variety involved in the process the key process choice is the batch process. A high volume of identical Items are produced together hence the flow is intermittent as each batch although requiring the same basic skills requires different variety and expertise in detail. The lay out type is undoubtedly the product layout type. Once the goods have been produced on the factory floor they are moved to store houses and quickly shipped to the high streets. Hence we can say the fit between the layout and the process type is correct as product based processes are used for high volume processes in general. Supply Chain Management Supply chain management is the management of the interconnection of organizations that relate to each other through upstream and downstream linkages between the processes that produce value to the ultimate consumer in the form of products and services. (MacKerron, G. (2009) Lectures slides for MBA) Zara operates using a vertical supply chain, which is a unique strategy in the fashion industry. Vertically integrated business undertakes a variety of activities from designing, manufacturing, sourcing, and distribution to retail stores around the world. They choose to handle design, production, and distribution in-house and concentrate the whole production close to their headquarters in Spain. By integrating the entire process, Zara can react much faster than its competitors do to both the ephemeral trends in the world of fashion and the capricious tastes of its customers. At the end of every working day the manager of a Zara store reports exactly what has been sold to headquarters. This information is quickly relayed to the design department where product lines can be altered, supplanted or created in a matter of days. This gives the company total business management. (See Figure 7) In an interview with CNN, Jose Maria Castellano, chief executive at Inditex, talked about Zaras supply chain and indicated its unusual structure by saying: Investment banks used to say that this model did not work, but we have shown that it gives us more flexibility in production, sales and stock management, (Zara Who we are, 2001) The Zara  ´supply chain management operation leads to customer visit the store over four times more frequently than other stores. Spontaneous design, just-in time production and rapid turnover of merchandise lead to a higher level of fashionable clothes. Even though the labor cost in Europe is higher, the efficiency of this system allows Zara to keep costs down by spending less cost on transportation and keeping inventories low refer. (Figure 7) Design Zara emphasize the importance of design in this market, its design functions are organized in a different way from those of most similar companies. Conventionally, the design input come from three separate functions: the designers themselves, market specialists, and buyers who place orders on to suppliers. At Zara the design stage is split into three product areas: women ´s, men ´s and children ´s garments. In each area, designers, market specialists, and buyers are co-located in designs halls that also contain small workshops for trying out prototype designs. The market specialists in all three design halls are in regular contact with Zara retail stores, discussing customer reaction to new designs. In this way, the retail stores are not the end of the whole supply chain but the beginning of the design stage of the chain. Zara ´s around 300 designers, whose average age is 26, produce approximately 40,000 items per year of which about 10,000 go into production. The retailer company has moved away from the traditional industry practice of offering two collections a year, for Spring/Summer and Autumn/Winter. Their seasonless cycle involves the continual introduction of new products on a rolling basis throughout the year. This allows designers to learn from customers reactions to their new products and incorporate them quickly into more new products. In the case of Zara the garment is designed; a batch is manufactured and pulsed through the supply chain. Often the design is never repeated; it may be modified and another batch produced, but there is no design as such. (Cowe, et.al.2008:271) Manufacturing In the fickle world of fashion, even seemingly well-targeted designs could go out of favor in the months it takes to get plans to contract manufacturers, tool up production, then ship items to warehouses and eventually to retail locations. But getting locally targeted designs quickly onto store shelves is where Zara really excels. The average time for a Zara concept to go from idea to appearance in store is 15 days vs. rivals who receive new styles once or twice a season. Smaller tweaks arrive even faster. If enough customers come in and ask for, say a round neck instead of a v neck, a new version can be in stores with in just 10 days (Tagliabue, 2003). To put that in perspective, Zara is twelve times faster than Gap (its direct competitor), despite offering roughly ten times more unique products. (Helft, 2002) Nearly 60% of Zaras merchandise is produced in-house, with an eye on leveraging technology in those areas that speed up complex tasks, lower cycle time, and reduce error. Profits from this clothing retailer come from blending math with its data-driven fashion sense. Inventory optimization models help the firm determine how many of which items in which sizes should be delivered to stores during twice-a-week shipments, ensuring stores are stocked with just what they need(Gentry, 2007). Outside the distribution center in La Coruà ±a, fabric is cut and dyed by robots in 23 highly automated factories. Zara is so vertically integrated, the firm makes 40 percent of its own fabric and purchases most of its dyes from its own subsidiary. Most Zara factories and their sub-contrators work on a single-shift system to retain some voume flexibility. (Tokatli, 2007) Distribution Zara has invested in highly automated warehouses, close to their main production centres that store, pack and assemble individual orders for their retail networks. These automated warehouses represent a major investment for both companies. In 2001, Zara caused some press comment by announcing that it would open a second automated warehouse even though, by its own calculations, it was only using about half its existing warehouse capacity. Zara is able to deliver the new design apparel from the drawing board to the stores in one or two weeks and therefore can respond very quickly to fast-changing tastes of their young urban customers (Walker et al., 2000). Retail All Zara stores (average size, 800 square metres) are owned and run solely by Inditex. Perhaps the most remarkable characteristic of Zara stores is that garments rarely stay for longer than two weeks. Because product designs are often not repeated and are produced In relatively small batches, the range of garments displayed in the store can change radically every two or three weeks. This encourages customers to avoid delaying a purchase and to revisit the store frequently. Below is a diagram that shows the cycle how a product is made. The companys success is because of the total control in every aspect of the business, from designing, to production, and to distribution. By having total control of the entire process, the company can quickly react to the fast changing fashion trend and customer taste, this provides the company an idea of the latest fashion trend. Having total control in all business activities allows Zara to produce and release new design in a short span of time. Key success factors of Zara SCM Zara concentrates the perfect success formula pretty much based on: Short Lead Time = More fashionable clothes Lower quantities = Scarce supply More styles = More choice, and more chances of hitting it Firstly, by focusing on shorter response times, the company ensures that its stores are able to carry clothes that the consumers want at that time. Zara can move from identifying a trend to having clothes in its stores within 30 days, this means that Zara can quickly identify and catch a winning fashion trend, while its competitors are struggling to catch up. Catching fashion while it is hot is a clear recipe for better margins with more sales happening at full prices and fewer discounts. In comparison, most retailers of comparable size or even smaller, work on timelines that stretch into 4-12 months. Thus, most retailers try to forecast what and how much its customers might buy many months in the future, while Zara moves in step with its customers. Trend identification comes through constant research not just traditional consumer market research, but a daily stream of emails and phone calls from the stores to head office. Unlike other retailers, Zaras machinery can react to the repo rt immediately and produce a response in terms of a new style or a modification within 2-4 weeks. Many other retailers have such long supply chain lead times that for them it would seem a lost cause for them to even try and respond to a sales report. Secondly, by reducing the quantity manufactured in each style, Zara not only reduces its exposure to any single product but also creates an artificial scarcity. As with all things fashionable, the less its availability, the more desirable the object becomes. The added benefit of lower quantities is that if a style does not work well, there is not much to be disposed during the season-end sale. The result of this is that Zara discounts only about 18 percent of its production, roughly half the levels of competitors. Thirdly, instead of more quantities per style, Zara produces more styles, roughly 12,000 a year. Thus, even if a style sells out very quickly, there are new styles already waiting to take up the space. Zara can offer more choices in more current fashions than many of its competitors. It delivers merchandise to its stores twice a week, and since re-orders are rare the stores look fresh every 3-4 days. Fresh produce, moving in step with the fashion trend and updated frequently the ingredients are just right to create the sweet smell of success. Now, the question is how does Zara achieve its three key success factors which would be a nightmare for most other retailers to achieve in such short time spans? So, let us look at the mechanisms that enable Zara to deliver on these parameters as well as some unique aspects of the retailers business model on figure 7 Supply Chain Objectives The objective of an effective supply chain management is to meet the requirements of end customers by supplying appropriate products and services when they are needed, at a competitive cost. Doing this requires the supply chain to achieve appropriate levels of the five operations performance objectives: quality, speed, dependability, flexibility and cost. (Cowe, et.al.2008:249) The quality objective: Zara brand name is synonymous with quality and the right price. Stores are located on emblematic streets likeOxford Street and5th avenue; the highest standards of products are demanded in these areas. 65% of products sold in Europe are produced in European plants where quality controls are higher and easier to manage. Flawed clothing items would erode the brand name eventually. The speed objective: hectic changes in fashion and high street tastes imply a need for logistic speed. Goods can be designed and delivered to the shelf within 6 weeks. In fact items spend so little time in the warehouse that they are already sold before they have to be paid for to their suppliers. The flexibility objective: demand for different types of clothing will changes and Zara must react accordingly. Sizes, color, quality and quality will change continuously. The customer has an active role from the start of the chain and is the drive for its business model. Customer requests are considered by the commercial and design team. The dependability objective: delivering on time to stores in a must. Customers have come to expect new items on a weekly basis on the shelves. The cost objective: affordability is vital to Zaras strategy however only 35% of goods are produced in Asia. This implies that operations management must be at its leanest as they operate within Europe where the cost structure is much higher. Zara ´s senior managers seem to comprehend intuitively the nonlinear relationship between capacity utilization, demand variability, and responsiveness. This relationship is well demonstrated by queuing theory which explains that a as capacity utilization begins to increase form low levels, waiting times increase gradually. But at some point, as the systems uses more of the available capacity, waiting times accelerates rapidly. As demand becomes ever more variable, this acceleration starts at lower and lower levels of capacity utilization. (Figure ) Information System Management of Zara Information and communications technology is at the heart of Zaras business. Zara is careful about the way it deploys the latest information technology tools to facilitate these informal exchanges. The company undertake different devices in order to increase the speed which basically gives them the competitive advantage over its competitors. The information system management of Zara are the followings: Collecting information on consumer needs; customized handheld computers support the connection between the retail stores and La Coruà ±a. These PDAs supplement regular, often weekly, phone conversations between the store managers and the market specialists assigned to them. Through the PDAs and telephone conversations, stores transmit all kinds of information to La Coruà ±a, such hard data as orders and sales trends and such soft data as customer reactions and the buzz around a new style. While any company can use PDAs to communicate, Zaras flat organization ensures that important conversations do not fall through the bureaucratic cracks. PDAs are also linked to the stores point-of-sale (POS) system, showing how garments rank by sales. In less than an hour, managers can send updates that combine the hard data captured at the cash register combined with insights on what customers would like to see. All of this valuable data allows the firm to plan styles and issue re-buy orders base d on feedback rather than hunches and guesswork. The goal is to improve the frequency and quality of sense making for the design planning teams. In this way, Zara avoids costly overproduction and the subsequent sales and discounting prevalent in the industry. (Rohwedder and Johnson, 2008) Standardization of product information different or incomplete specifications and varying product information availability typically add several weeks to a typical retailers product design and approval process, but Zara warehouses the product information with common definitions, allowing it to quickly and accurately prepare designs, with clear cut manufacturing instructions. Product information and inventory management being able to manage thousands of fabric and trim specifications, design specifications as well as their physical inventory, gives Zaras team the capability to design a garment with available stocks, rather than having to order and wait for the material to come in. Distribution management: its State-of-the-art distribution facility functions with minimal human intervention. Approximately 200 kilometers of underground tracks move merchandise from Zaras manufacturing plants to the 400 chutes that ensure each order reaches its right destination. Optical reading devices sort out and distribute more than 60,000 items of clothing an hour. Zaras merchandise does not waste time waiting for human sorting. CONCLUSION Zara has an unordinary supply chain, which gives them a highly competitive advantage. In a time of globalisation and a constant search for lower cost, Zara is a notable exception. They choose to handle design, production, and distribution in-house and concentrate the whole production close to their headquarters in Spain. By integrating the entire process, Zara can react much faster than its competitors do to both the ephemeral trends in the world of fashion and the capricious tastes of its customers. At the end of every working day the manager of a Zara store reports exactly what has been sold to headquarters. This information is quickly relayed to the design department where product lines can be altered, supplanted or created in a matter of days. BIBLIOGRAPHY Cowe, A., Mackerron G. And Milliken, A. (2008) Creating Competitive Advantage, Harlow, Pearson Education Linited Institute of Personnel Management. Echikson, W.,(200) The Mark of Zara, BusinessWeek Gentry, C., (2007) European Fashion Stores Edge Past U.S. Counterparts, Chain Store Age Heller, R. (2001), Inside ZARA, Forbes, New York, NY. Helft, M. (2002) Fashion Fast Forward, Business 2.0. MacKerron, G. (2009) Lectures slides for MBA students of Napier University. Porter, M. E. and Millar, V. E. (1991) `How information gives you competitive advantage, in M. E.Porter (ed.) (1991) On Competition and Strategy. Harvard Business Review Paperback No. 90079. M. Christopher (2004), Logistics and Supply Change Management. Pearson Education, Great Britain. Porter, M. E. (1980) Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors, Free Press, New York. Zook, C. (2001), Profit from the Core. Harvard Business School Press, Boston, Massachusetts. Porter, Michael E., Competitive Advantage. 1985, Ch. 1, pp 11-15. The Free Press. New York. Rowe, Mason, Dickel, Mann, Mockler; Strategic Management: a methodological approach. 4th Edition, 1994. Addison-Wesley. Reading Mass. Rohwedder, C., and Johnson, K., Pace-Setting Zara Seeks More Speed to Fight Its Rising Cheap-Chic Rivals, The Wall Street Journal, Feb. 20, 2008. Tagliabue, J., (2003) A Rival to Gap that Operates like Dell, The New York Times. Tagliabue, J. (2003), Spanish fashion chain Zara rivals Gap by operating like Dell', New York Times, 9 June. The Economist, (2005) The Future of Fast Fashion Tokatli, N.,(2007) Global sourcing: insights from the global clothing industry the case of Zara, a fast fashion retailer, Journal of Economic Geography. Kotler, Philip; Keller, Kevin Lane (2006). Marketing Management (12 ed.).Pearson Education. Harvard Business Review, Vol. 82, No.11, November 2004. INDITEX (2008) Who we are Walker, B., Bovet, D. and Martha, J. (2000), Unlocking the supply chain to build competitive advantage, Journal of Logistic Management, Vol. 11 No. 2.

Htc Company Analysis

Running head: HTC CORPORATION 1 HTC CORPORATION INSHA SHAH UNIVERSITY OF AKRON Running head: HTC CORPORATION 2 HTC AT A GLANCE HTC Corporation (originally High Tech Computer Corporation) is a smart phone manufacturer founded in 1997 and based in Taiwan, as an outsourcing company. HTC Corporation prides itself on offering open source mobile phones which are easy for both developers and users, and has quickly established its reputation as a leading company behind many of the markets most popular operated branded-devices. According to the HTC profile on the Wikipedia Online Encyclopedia HTC retains approximately 13,000 employees.They follow the typical tall organizational structure with many layers between workers and the CEO. It is highly centralized: top decisions are made by the CEO of the company. HTC Corporation has launched several major HTC- Branded products on the international market with the intention of becoming the leading innovative supplier of mobile information and commun ication devices. In fact, HTC Corporation was the first on the international market to offer the Android mobile device platform through its HTC Dream hardware, marketed as the T-Mobile G1 model.In support of this, HTC Corporation has expanded its technological and marketplace strength through partnership with major player Microsoft and leading mobile phone operators of Orange, O2, T-Mobile, Vodafone, Cingular, Verizon, Sprint and NTT DoCoMo (â€Å"HTC. Com†). Most recently in Australia, HTC Corporation launched its three latest handsets- HTC Snap, HTC Touch Diamond2 and HTC Touch Pro2 to add to its 11 devices currently in the Australian market. The new technology founded in these highly popular products is designed to be finger-touch friendly, with improved mobile integration technology, and dual microphone and speakers.The HTC Corporation’s newest feature is the â€Å"inner circle† which allows the users to bring emails from a preselected group to a top of thei r inbox, making business on the go even easier (â€Å"mobile. com†). HTC Corporation Product Innovation includes: ? ? ? ? ? ? Open Handset Alliance Smartphone S Series ( Smartphone) T Series (Touch Phone) P series (PDA Phone) X Series ( Mobile Computer) A Series ( Android Phone) According to the source of mobile. com, HTC now specializes in providing its own and other operator branded products in addition to its original equipment manufacturer partners.HTC has a subsidiary company, Dopod, a Taiwan-based manufacturer of Windows Mobile Smartphones. As a company, HTC Corporation has gone from strength to strength, with HTC receiving recognition as the second-best performing technology company in Asia in 2007 by BusinessWeek, and the number three spot in its Global Listing in 2006. Running head: HTC CORPORATION 3 The size of the corporation can be classified in two ways: (I) by revenue and (II) by market capitalization. According to the report from Taiwan Economic News, HTCâ€⠄¢s Market Capitalization has recently climbed to $438 billion.Also the corporation shipment and revenue continues to grow to $9. 449 billion. COMPANY PERSPECTIVE Their mission is to become the leading supplier of the mobile information and communication devices by providing value added designs, world-class manufacturing and logistics and service capabilities. HTC continues to establish a high volume manufacturing facility and its focus on high wireless capability. They intend to develop a software team capable of creating a world class consumer and business application that will enhance the value of their hardware.HTC is dedicated to the belief that each mobile device needs to fit its owner. Their goal is to make a product of observing, honoring how individuals choose to interact with a technology. Their mission is to strengthen the relationship through innovative design strategies and sophisticated branding initiatives (â€Å"HTC. com†) HTC’s vision is to address the communications and administration needs of a professional organization of all sizes with intuitive platforms and sophisticated branding initiatives. Their focus is to make people’s ives easier through mobility and convenience. They want users to be able to talk to friends and relatives, read books and access the internet on one device. With their smartphone they have started to see this vision come true (â€Å"HTC. Com†). HTC’s values: ? ? ? Excellence in everything they do Commitment to clients, brands, projects and industry. Honor in dealing with clients, suppliers, employees (â€Å"fastcompany. com†) CULTURE AT HTC HTC prides itself on its cutting-edge technology and innovative spirit. From studying its own website, HTC’s culture is competitive and diverse.Under the â€Å"Careers† tab, nine different employees’ pictures are featured with a video advertising HTC’s appeal as an employer. Five of the nine employees pictured ar e women; three are women of color, and all nine employees appear to be under the age of 40. HTC’s culture is hip, diverse, and fastpaced. The video stressed that technology is constantly improving and the â€Å"best idea† rather than the â€Å"biggest title† moves forward. This shows that the culture at HTC values creativity and competition (â€Å"HTC. Com†).HTC makes annual donations to the Social Welfare and Charity Foundation or Educational Foundation. This foundation funds leadership and character training for elementary, junior high and senior high students, cosponsors local community development and urban cultural revitalization efforts, targets the special needs of disadvantaged groups, and provides disadvantaged children opportunities to further their academic careers. Running head: HTC CORPORATION 4 The HTC Foundation established the nation's first institute dedicated to character-building and English training in the Hualien's Meilun District.The institute provides character-building and English enhancement curricula free of charge to fourth grade elementary school students from around Hualien County. In addition, the Foundation offers scholarships for children with special financial needs and financial aid to low-income families and sponsors after-school tutoring programs. Each year, Foundation disbursements benefit over 2,000 youth from disadvantaged families both in Taiwan and overseas (â€Å"HTC. Com†). HTC STRATEGY HTC Corporation uses a differentiation strategy to attract customers looking for more choices.HTC expects differentiation product in terms of innovation and execution. They focus on innovation and execution to enhance product proposition and offer consumers a variety of products. When they think of increasing the quality and the variety of the product, they first consider what the customer will value. They are offering a wide range of product lines to outperform their competitors like Apple and Nokia. HTC has produced an amazing number of phones, all of which have an impressive array of applications and features.They do have the cutting edge when it comes to hardware, but if a consumer can't afford these more expensive versions HTC’s older models (like the Hero) are still well built and functional. In addition, HTC offers a variety of body forms and builds, including some devices with physical keyboards (â€Å"htc. com†). FINANCIAL POSITION To shadow on the financial stability of the HTC CORP I used liquidity ratio and leverage ratio. The liquidity ratios measure the company’s ability to cover its expenses. The two main liquidity ratios I used to analyze the company’s financial health are current ratio and quick ratio (â€Å"investing. businessweek. om†). 1) The Current Ratio is a reflection of financial health. It is the number of times company’s current assets exceeds the current liabilities, which is the indication of the solvency of that business. The formula to compute the current ratio is Using the earlier Balance Sheet data of the HTC CORP, we can compute the company’s current ratio as: = = 1. 3 times This tells us that the current liabilities are covered by current assets by 1. 3 times. The HTC CORP is able to cover their short term expenses which are meant to be covered with in a period of one year. 2) The Quick Ratio is also called the acid test ratio.This is because it looks at the company’s most liquid assets and compares them to current liabilities. The quick ratio tests whether a business can meet its obligation even if adverse conditions occur. The formula to compute the quick ratio is: Assets considered being quick assets include cash, bonds, stock, and accounts receivable. Using the Balance Sheet data of the HTC CORP, we can compute the quick ratio of the company as: Running head: HTC CORPORATION = = = 1. 1 times 5 This indicates that the ratio is considered satisfactory, as long as t he collection of the receivables is not expected to slow.So the HTC CORP seems to have adequate resources to cover its debts. In order to identify the long term coverage of the company, we are focusing on one of the main leverage ratios. Leverage ratio measures the stability of a company and its ability to repay its debts. These ratios are of particular interest to banks. They should be of interest to shareholders as well since it gives the strong indication of the financial health and the viability of the business. 3) The Debt-to Equity Ratio is a measure of how dependent a company is on a debt financing as compares to owners equity it shows us how much of a business is owned and how much is owed.The Debt-to-Equity ratio is computed as follows: Using the Balance Sheet data of the HTC CORP we can compute the debt-to equity ratio: Times Since the Debt-to-equity ratio is greater than 1, i. e. , (1. 8 times), the capital provided by the lenders exceeded the capital provided by the owne rs. But because of the greater ratio it has high risk defaults too. It varies with the type of business and the risk attitude of management. Year over year HTC has been able to grow over their bottom line from $29 billion to $59 billion primarily through revenue growth ($142. 9 billion to $277. 7 billion).For a while the costs associated with cost of goods sold, and income tax all increased as a percentage of sales, the growth in top lines revenues contributed enough to still see net income. HTC Corporation uses little or no debt in its capital structure and may have less financial risk than the industry aggregate. Accounts Receivable is typical for the industry, with 58. 31 days worth of sales outstanding. Lastly, HTC Corporation is among the least efficient in its industry at managing inventories, with 30. 39 days of its Cost of Goods Sold tied up in Inventories (â€Å"investing. businessweek. com†). Therefore the overall financial tability of the corporation is stable and healthy. They have adequate resources to cover their debts and unforeseen uncertainties. MY CAREER at HTC Yes, HTC could be good place to obtain my first career oriented-position. HTC is the part of the global market that breeds flexibility, new technologies and innovation. It will create a platform for the new opportunities to explore and do creative things. I fit the HTC profile of being young, educated and a global citizen: while growing up in Kashmir and going to college in America, I’ve relied on technology and most recently, my own smartphone, to navigate my day.I would bring creativity and a fresh perspective to HTC’s worktable. Running head: HTC CORPORATION REFERENCES Bloomberg Businessweek. (2012, April 10). Retrieved from http://investing. businessweek. com/research/stocks/financials/financials. asp? ticker=2498:TT 6 HTC Corporation. (n. d. ). Retrieved from http://www. htc. com/us/about/careers/industrial-designer-corporate-strategy-office/422 HTC Corporatio n. (n. d. ). Retrieved from http://www. htc. com/us/about/social-responsibility HTC. (n. d. ). In Wikipedia Online Encyclopedia. Retrieved from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/HTC

Making Salt Lab

Let’s Make Salt Purpose: Could NaCl be made using NaHCO3, hydrochloric acid, and a boiling chip? Hypothesis: If I combined NaHCO3, hydrochloric acid, and a boiling chip I think it will form NaCl because when you balance the equation it makes a new chemical reaction. Materials needed: test tube cleaner, test tube, test tube tongs, hot plate, a scale, graduated cylinder, water, goggles, fire retardant glove, beaker, test tube holder, a scoopula, hydrochloric acid, sodium bicarbonate, soap, pipette, and a boiling chip. Procedures: 1.Clean your test tube with a test tube cleaner, soap, and water. Make sure the test tube is clean and dry. 2. Place a boiling chip in the test tube and measure it. 3. Add 1g of NaHCO3(sodium bicarbonate) to the test tube with the scoopula, then measure. 4. Take about 5mL of hydrochloric acid in your graduated cylinder. Using your pipette add the hydrochloric acid to the NaHCO3. It will start to bubble, when the bubbling stops, don’t add anymore acid. 5. Once the bubbling stops, swirl what’s inside the test tube to be sure everything mixes together. 6.Place the test tube in a beaker with water. It will start to boil. Continue letting it boil until all liquid is evaporated out of the test tube. 7. Once the test tube cools off measure what’s inside the test tube. 8. Place the test tube back inside the beaker on the hot plate for 2-3 minutes. 9. Allow the test tube to cool and re-weigh it again. Observation/Data: NaHCO3+HClNaCl+H2O+CO2 1gNaHCO3*1molNaHCO3/84gNaHCO3*1molNaCl/1molNaHCO3*58gNaHCO3/1molNaCl=. 6904761905 . 6904761905theoretical yield 1actual yield 1/. 6904761905=1. 448275862 1. 448275862*100=144. 275862 144. 8275862percent yield Mass of test tube & boiling chip| 20g| Mass of test tube, boiling chip & NaHCO3| 21g| Mass of NaHCO3(b-a)| 1g| Mass of test tube & boiling chip NaCl (1st hearing)| 20g| Mass of test tube & boiling chip NaCl (2nd hearing)| 21g| Mass of NaCl (e-a)| 1g| Conclusion: My hypothesis was correct because both substances together formed NaCl in the end. In the lab everything worked out right because in the end none of my masses were the same as I started with. It weighed 20g in the beginning and ended with 21g and the mass of NaCl 1g.