Civic Education in Pakistan :: Educational School Governmental Essays

Civic Education in Pakistan Pakistan is a post-colonial nation-state. Since 1947 this large Muslim nation has not been able to introduce a liberal democratic model of civic education in its schools that could have promoted democratic values, tolerance, gender equality and civic participation skills. Several factors are responsible for impeding the progress in civic education: a garrison culture, the Cold War exigencies, religious extremism, and feudalism. Introduction Like most post-colonial nation-states Pakistan also recognized the central role of civic education in creating a patriotic citizenry. Paradoxically, as the civic education curriculum in government schools emphasized the construction of a distinct Muslim citizen identity, it eschewed the transmission of universal democratic values such as individual liberty, gender equality, critical thinking, and respect for religious and cultural diversity. By failing to recognize the utility and advantages of the basic principles of liberal democratic model of civic education, Pakistan suffered irreparable losses: it disintegrated into two countries, lost national unity and receded into the past (Jahan, 1972; Oldenburg, 1980). What may be responsible for thwarting the liberal democratic model of civic education in Pakistan is a question that warrants a careful examination. This paper argues that four independent variables kept the liberal democratic model of civic education curriculum at bay: the p rimacy of a garrison nation-state, the Cold War exigencies, religious extremism, and feudalism. The following is a discussion on the role of these four variables. A Garrison State First, Pakistan is a garrison state in that since its independence in 1947, it has been pre-occupied with national security (Jalal, 1991). Hence the main objective of civic education curriculum in schools has been the preparation of a warrior citizen (Binder, 1963). A warrior citizen or Mujahid is a person who is willing and prepared to participate in war or jihad against the infidels. To this end the social studies textbooks glorified the past Muslim warriors including Saladin Ayubi, an Arab warrior who fought the Crusaders in Jerusalem, Tipu Sultan who fought the British imperialists in India, and contemporary Pakistani military heroes who died in three wars against India. Moreover, because for most of its history the military ruled the country, the dominant social class in Pakistan has been the military (Cohen, 1984). The military is considered a privileged class and, therefore, military values of conformity, regimentation, and masculinity are underscored in society in general and in the educational institutions in particular.

Minimum Profit Possible Made on Drinks in Different Climates :: Profit Consumerism Sales Essays

Minimum Profit Possible Made on Drinks in Different Climates Create the minimum profit possible using the predicted amount of how many hot and cold drink would be sold in different weather climates and the price limits for the two drinks as provided in the ICT booklet. Evaluation Task 5 ================= Holly Grove High School Price Pledge Model ------------------------------------------ For this task, I needed to (as stated in the ICT booklet) create the minimum profit possible using the predicted amount of how many hot and cold drink would be sold in different weather climates and the price limits for the two drinks as provided in the ICT booklet. I used the formulas that I knew to calculate totals on the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and thus to create the minimum profit. I had to ensure that my minimum profit did not go lower than 0 for this would mean that I would not be able to pay for costs such as Programme printing and public address system etc. Now, I am going to evaluate my work going through what was incorrect with each attempt I also did not read the instructions properly and failed to respond to the fact that the hot drinks should either be  £0.55 or  £0.60, therefore the total profit result is completely and I needed to revise the model completely. I choose the cold drink prices because when it was a cold weather climate the cold drink profit was going to be small as people prefer hot drinks in this weather climate, whereas on a hot day, the hot drink profit is going to small, as people prefer cold drinks in this weather climate. Using the correct instructions, my profits decreased rapidly. 40% of the profits were the final profits, which I would use for my final model, however the total profit for the hot weather climate was very high compared to the other profits, which were all under  £4.00. The profits for the warm climate and the mild climate were both below  £1.50, however I checked that they could not go any lower by decreasing the cold drink price by  £0.01 to  £0.53 and  £0.54, however the profits went into the minus numbers. For my third attempt, I decreased the profit for the hot weather

A Background on William Blake Essay

A child of the Romantic Period, William Blake was a poet born into the lively grounds of Soho, England. Since childhood, people observed in him a keen sense of imagination. This recognition then encouraged his parents to support his career path as an artist (Merriman n. p. ). Blake was largely considered as eccentric or demented by his contemporaries, causing him to be denied in his lifetime the recognition he deserved. However, literary critics now consider him an influential force in the development of Romanticism (Barker n. p. ). Blake’s works and style of writing cannot be classified into a single category or genre. However, his works showed recurring themes of knowledge and innocence, heaven and hell, external reality and internal reality, and most of all, good and evil (Merriman n. p. ). Most of his works are expressed with simplicity, except for some of his later works. With this simplicity, Blake was able to portray opposing aspects of human nature. He achieved this superbly by using one literary piece to present the negative side of another earlier literary work. Sorrow: the Antithesis of Joy This style of Blake was highlighted in his two poems Infant Joy and Infant Sorrow. Infant Joy was presented to dwell on the joys of life, childbirth, and existence. Then, in contrast, Infant Sorrow came to life to demonstrate the sadness of life and human existence. Content Comparison. In Infant Sorrow, the infant’s realization that the world is an unhappy place to live in summed up human existence. This poem renders a bleak understanding of human conditions and strongly contrasts with the earlier poem, Infant Joy. This other poem celebrates childbirth, as shown by the infant christening herself as ‘Joy. ’ The voice of her mother celebrates with her baby too. However, the poem’s too-evident joyfulness invites suspicion. The mask of exaggeration can be unfurled to reveal a deeper understanding of human existence. Both poems share similar strong emotions in describing birth, and both use little to no figurative language. However, they differ in structures and in the portrayal of human oppression. The poems both describe the sentiments that surround the birth of a child. Infant Joy portrays the happiness of an infant for being alive (Blake 4-5). There is a sense of gladness because human existence is worth celebrating. When one is born, he/she is given civil rights and freedoms that are worth being born for. Nonetheless, the infant cannot realistically even be aware of herself in such a way. A source even notes that it is still the mother who provides the infant’s voice: she merely projects herself unto her baby’s seeming happiness (Gilham 3). Still, the mother’s voice (as herself) is also present in the poem. She also feels exuberant, so she sings for her baby (Blake 11). On the other hand, Infant Sorrow depicts the infant’s feelings of lack of safety and security, as well as experiences of oppression (Blake 5). The parents in this poem also express resounding emotions, as the â€Å"mother groaned† and the â€Å"father wept† (Blake 1). This first line of the poem emphasized the parents’ sadness and misery about the baby’s birth. Thus, both poems explore the avalanche of powerful feelings that come with childbirth. Use of Figurative Language. Both poems similarly employ little to no figurative language. For Infant Sorrow, the most striking figurative language is the simile, â€Å"Like a fiend hid in the cloud† (Blake 4). This indicates that the baby is like a criminal in the clouds of happiness. The irony stands out: here is a two-day old infant who normally feels peaceful and happy, but in reality should really feel like another criminal who cannot hide anywhere, not even in the comfort of his dreams. Another figurative speech is the pun of â€Å"sulk,† instead of â€Å"suck† (Blake 8). The baby sulks in being fed by her mother, which is confounding, because there should be a natural connection between feeding and existence, a connection that is more positive than depressing. For Infant Joy, there are no evident figures of speech. This makes the poem very straightforward to some extent. Curran calls this as having no word â€Å"in excess† (6), which have made the poem a pithy rendition of childbirth happiness. Structure and Rhyming Patterns. The poems also diverge in different aspects, beginning with their dissimilar rhyming patterns. In Infant Sorrow, Blake uses a regular AABB rhyme scheme for its two stanzas, but in Infant Joy, he utilizes ABCDAC for the first stanza and ABCDDC for the second. The dissimilar rhyming patterns depict the underlying chaos behind the sweet joy of the infant. This rhyming style suggests the incongruence that exists between what is said and what is not said in Infant Joy. Furthermore, the most distinct pattern in Infant Joy is the double rhyme that recurs in lines three, six, nine, and twelve. This rhyming pattern contrasts with the more stable rhyme of Infant Sorrow. As pointed out already, this signifies an uncertainty in the voice of the mother in Infant Joy, as she wishes her child a happy life. The mother could be suppressing the reality that happiness is rarely attainable, when human existence cannot be described as joyful at all. Other Structures. Both poems possess different structures that also impact their meanings. These poems use different strategies in illustrating human oppression. Infant Joy uses two voices of happiness and the theme of innocence to mask the latent doubts of insecurity in the mother’s voice. The voices come from an infant and mother who believe that human life is joyful and so being born into it must be a cause of cheerful disposition. The poem portrays the happiness of an infant in being born: â€Å"I happy am. /Joy is my name† (Blake 4-5). The mother feels high-spirited also and she sings for her baby. The poem also celebrates innocence by repeating the phrase â€Å"sweet joy† five times over in lines 6, 8, 9, and 12. The repetition emphasizes the sweetness of being born and being so young. Infant Joy, however, somehow masks an uncertainty. The mother keeps on saying that the baby is only two days old. In a way, it indicates that this is the main reason why the baby feels too happy; she is still too young to experience the harshness of living. Furthermore, there is a tone of wishful thinking about happiness from the mother. When she says â€Å"Sweet joy befall thee! † (Blake 12), it is more of a benediction rather than a conviction (Gilham 3). In here, human innocence has resembled a mask, a charade for a mother who wishes a form of short-term happiness for her baby. Blake undermines the happiness of human existence through Infant Sorrow, which directly assaults human innocence through dark symbolism, imagery, and figurative expressions. It is quite shocking that an infant would describe a new world as dangerous, one where the infant’s parents would weep or groan, as if in terror. Parents should be happy when they see their baby, but this poem paints an extremely contrasting picture. This point of view can be explained by the fact that Blake lived in a time of war (Curran 6). Thus, in the author’s context, he was right to say that a child born in such a society only â€Å"leapt to a dangerous world† (Blake 2). An infant described as a fiend is also hardly anticipated. This image is quite perplexing, because innocence has been plunged into the murky waters of evil (Blake 4). At the same time, the infant, who has just been born, already feels â€Å"bound and weary† (Blake 7). A baby should be free of the world’s numerous worries, but this infant is like an adult who has been disillusioned by the burdens of human life. The infant even sulks upon his mother’s breast. â€Å"Sulk† is a pun for â€Å"suck,† which renders a different interpretation of depending on a mother for nurturance (Carson 150; Bender and Mellor 300). â€Å"Sulk† underscores the resistance to the passive role of the baby in society (Gilham 4). The struggles of the infant symbolize the struggles of adults against the oppression from political and economic forces of society. The â€Å"swaddling bands† indicate how people also struggle to fight the institutions that make it impossible for them to enjoy their civil liberties. Infant Sorrow, hence, takes the voice of an adult who has briskly shaken off the pretensions of modern liberties. Blake used infants as the starting point of his argument about human existence. Conclusion Infant Joy and Infant Sorrow may directly oppose each other in the choice of words, structure and rhyming pattern.  Underneath them, however, are the same strong human emotions, portrayed simply with little use of figurative language. These poems possess the voice of a weary and dissatisfied adult who wants to escape but cannot wholly leave society. The innocence and happiness was a mere mask for the realities of life. They also express inconspicuously the voice of a human being who constantly fights the battle against dominant social institutions that trample on civil liberties. Ultimately, both poems remarkably render in diverse ways, the tortures of human existence.

EBusiness Opportunity for HK Logistics Ltd. Essay

Company Service and Product: Excellence Logistics Ltd (ELL) is a privately owned logistics company specialising in the delivery of Business-to-business items within throughout Europe. The company was founded in 1992 to provide an efficient logistics service specially targeted to manufacturing firms from their network of suppliers. The emphasis for the company at this initial stage was speed and efficient service as a result of regional efficiency. At start up, the company’s headquarters was in Hong Kong with a regional distribution centre in Shanghai, China. Presently the company has 5 major distribution centres all over the world, however our strategy to be a strong player in the Asian market is still core to our operations.. Our warehouses provided storage and logistics support for our clients which at inception were mostly Chinese companies but have extended throughout the world. Our Warehouse services have continued to be a vital aspect of our business as we support clients who do not wish to own their facilities, a trend which had become popular in the late 1980s. This aspect of the business still represents a significant part of ELL’s revenue. Apart from our warehousing services, ELL is involved in contract logistics services, freight management, and logistics consulting. However, the company extended to the offering logistics support for end products and distribution to our clients’ retail and wholesale outlets which increased our freight handling requiring new skills and expertise. Size and Scope of Influence: The Company’s new goal is to be the premier logistics company serving manufacturing companies globally with a strong base in Asia. ELL’s new goal was to take the company from being seen as a logistics company primarily in the Asian region to being a global player leveraging on the use of technology to do this. The company’s employee figures have also increased from 2,300 to over 4000 within the last 2 years due to our efforts in expansion. Revenue, Ambition, Strengths and Weaknesses: HK’s profit last year was $5.7M after tax as the year marked the beginning of huge investments in technology as a result of the need for the company to be more responsive and to implement major e-commerce and parcel tracking initiatives. The company’s strength in Europe offered it huge benefits and market growth in the region despite stiff challenge from global operators. It however became obvious that the company needs to expand globally in order to benefits its corporate clientele most of whose operations required freights to other continents. This need was very important also as we extended our business to the shipment of end products form our clients to various distributors creating a new challenge. Company’s attitude and goals regarding e-commerce: Last year the company transformed its website into a portal as first steps towards new integrated e-commerce initiatives. The company is now fully aware that this is the way to go to ensure that it benefits its growing customers and stay competitive. The major challenge for ELL is to coordinate its operations and ensure the integration of its services throughout the business from collection to delivery stages. To do this, it was essential to provide real-time visibility of our operations and parcel progress to our clients to ensure efficient management. Section 2: Internet Business Scope The e-commerce Project: As previously explained Excellence Logistics Ltd has evolved a new strategy to position it as a global player through the potential opportunities that e-commerce can provide. This is important because we believe that it will also enhance our ability to collaborate effectively with other global players who will wish to tap into the Asian market. In line with this our warehousing solutions have been enhanced with four new distribution centres to give our growing client base flexibility and wider range of locations closer to their manufacturing plants. This is guaranteed to optimise cost savings, lower liabilities, increased speed-to-market and enhanced freighting and shipment services. Our fulfilment services are aimed at providing specialised services including postponement, inspection, returns and salvage to our clients who require these value-adding services. The increasing importance of Asian companies in global manufacturing supply chain has put ELL in a strategic position and we aim to optimise our advantage. Our Present Position: Our use of technology before this project was not spectacular as with most Asian companies. Like every standard company, we maintained a central database of our operations without the ability to track goods in real time. Information was shared with customers on stock levels on a weekly basis and updating of data was done manually from information received from our customers. Standard EDI transactions included advance ship notice and notice of shipment and payments by our customers was done through electronic funds transfer. This was not good enough and it became obvious that we were loosing customers who wanted to know the condition of their shipments in real time which we presently could not do. It was therefore clear that we would be limited in providing good customer service and could loose most of our valued clients. So this e-commerce project was essentially important to move EEL to the next level in terms of our global strategy Goal Setting and Corporate Communication: The importance of the internet project was clear to management as it was important in the growth of the company and new global initiatives for expansion. However, the huge financial commitments required meant that it had to be effectively explained to shareholders for approval. To do this, an internal team headed by the CIO was set up to articulate the goals and cost of the project. They were also given the responsibility for communicating this to all the stakeholders and drawing up an implementation plan. New Opportunities/Necessary Changes: It was clear that to move forward, e-business was crucial to helping us get real time information necessary for our operational efficiency. The implementation of e-business was mainly driven by the growing demands on our business. This process started with the company streamlining its operations with the intention of transforming itself from a traditional bricks and mortar logistics company to a company using e-commerce and technology strategically to enhance service quality and delivery. It also had become necessary to extend beyond Hong Kong to serve companies in Europe and United States and these regions were increasingly sourcing for products from Asia which was our primary market. Secondly, technological development in the logistics sector had advanced with the possibility of clients being able to ascertain real time locations and condition of their shipment. New software applications implementation meant that we had to expand our IT section and employ more staff. It also meant that we had to downsize in some areas of the company that increasingly became irrelevant. In terms of strategy, the e-commerce project aimed at extending our frontiers giving us the ability to compete on a global scale hence our new positioning to be a global player. The project’s twin focus was: Enhanced Value through Channel Integration: We required the integration of our distribution network with our warehousing and transportation management systems to drive overall freight costs down by consolidating orders for multiple customers.   This integration of systems also provides customers with immediate access to information with reduced order cycle times and transit times insuring that materials are in the right place at the right time. Automated Services through Integrated Technology: Our transportation management service was developed to reduce freight costs and increase on time deliveries. Transportation management services include carrier selection, pricing negotiations, real-time shipment status (via website) and automated communication.   Automated communication includes: exceptions performance management and exception reporting claims resolution reporting Section 3: Knowing the Enemy (3) One critical factor for our internet project as already expressed is the need to catch up with global competition and ensure that we offer our customers what they require. It is clear that our biggest inspiration in terms of competition is Exel, a global company originating from the United States. Exel is a global leader in supply chain management with significant interests in the Middle East and China. The company’s reputable has attracted global companies like Sun Microsystems, Ericsson, Motorola, Hitachi, and Nokia as some of the companies that it services. In a way, our service offerings are similar as we target manufacturing companies as our client base which is similar to what Exel does. Just over three years ago, the company faced a similar situation as what Excellent Logistics now faces; there was need to provide an integrated global supply chain management systems as the company had clients in every continent and serviced their clients from delivering components for manufacture to the distribution of end products. In order to achieve this, the company hired the service of Agilisys to design a web-based supply chain integrator system that aimed at offering their corporate clients an integrated view of inventory and delivery status of goods at every point in time. In the project for Exel, the company listed the deliverables expected from Agilisys as follows: Intelligent interface design to enable re-use of purchase order and inventory data Integration of disparate systems for clients and third-party logistics suppliers Ability to track stock through the entire supply chain In-depth methodology to work on the look and feel of the site Multi-tier messaging architecture, extraction and middleware technologies to enable integration with incompatible systems No doubt, the result of this project was that Exel became more able to respond to their challenges of expansion globally. This project no doubt portrayed Exel as a technologically driven company responsive to providing great services to its customers and increased its market share all over the world. We can surely say, its recent partnership with global giants DHL is a statement of the status Exel has gained over the years as a result of its e-business adoption. Our focus has been explained in section 2 is similar to that of Exel while we desire to ensure that we continue to play a strong role in Asia. The figure below shows the critical areas the e-business project was meant to address: Figure 1: E-business project concepts identified as crucial by collaboration team. Excellence Logistics Ltd. is clearly interested in using this as a relevant pattern in our quest to implement our own e-business initiative. We are conscious of this and have extended our scope with our e-business consultants to include the following: Investigation of the use of RFD technology in logistics as we intend to be one of the first companies to implement this. Integration with third party suppliers like DHL and UPS for extended services and direct deliveries to our clients’ customers. This is very essential in the delivery of end products from our warehouses. It is clear that we are essentially a Business-to-Business logistics company with particular interest in manufacturing firms particularly in the technology sector. Our target customers are likely to have the following characteristics: Be Manufacturing Companies usually in the Technology sector. With significant partnerships and interest in Asian market. Companies requiring specialised logistics services including warehouse facilities. We shall be extremely focused to concentrate on our target sector and to be the best in our sector and will look for opportunities to better understand our customers and their needs. The approach is to ensure full empowerment and information sharing with our customers and partners with constant feedback on possible areas of improvement. Section Four: eBusiness Strategy Project Procedure: To achieve our goals as a company, it is essential to articulate clearly our e-business strategy as a company. Initiation Phase: A cross-functional team headed by the Chief Information Officer (CIO) looks at our needs and in conjunction with our consultants, produce a framework for the project. Planning Phase: This involved communication with management and evolution of a time-table with which the project will be guided and also explaining the process to our partners, staff and clients to understand our aims with the project. An extended collaboration team including representatives from operations, finance, IT, customer service, and human resources department was inaugurated at this stage to help with the process to ensure company-wide participation. Execution Phase: This involves the stage by stage implementation of the project including necessary skills training and workshops. Control Phase: The objective during the control phase is to closely monitor the performance measures agreed to by the collaboration team. Any service exceptions or performance measures not met will be reviewed with the CIO who was the head of the project and reported to management on a monthly basis. Process Improvement Phase: This involved the analysis of the project and improvements on initial design based on any shortcomings found. The objective of this phase is to meet the required service levels as originally agreed for the project. These initiatives will enable us to capitalize on past successes and allow us to take our supply chain to the next level of innovation, to effectively monitor operational capabilities, improve performance levels, measure cost accurately, and develop world-class processes. Supply Chain Strategy: Our Supply Chain Management Strategy is to develop and manage a preferred supply base that enhances the success of our customers and their long term competitiveness. It is now clear that efficient supply chain management clearly impacts on the profitability of our clients. We shall therefore employ the following: Just-in-time supply management. Developing and maintaining long-term client relationships. Strong organizational and process integration to leverage on technology. Reduction in cycle times and reduction of total costs. Global Collaboration and outsourcing to reduce overhead costs. Legal Framework: Legal issues with the e-business project include the following Privacy concerns for individual customers who want to ensure that their data, communication and information is secure. Global trade issues and legislations affecting the industry. Intellectual Property protection. Security of payment transactions. Marketing Strategy: We aim to maximise our new e-business strategy and initiative be deploying online promotions, search engine strategies, co-marketing branding with customers and partners, new media advertisements and global brand development. Section Five: Public Image Organisational Goal: Our primary goal is to be a global logistics provider and the premier logistics company providing specialized services to manufacturing firms with a strong base in Asia. We have however clearly defined four essential areas that this project is focused on with supporting performance measures:  §Ã‚   Improve management efficiency  §Ã‚   Virtual meetings and collaborations.  §Ã‚   Reduced logistics cost  §Ã‚   Increased Time Deliveries  §Ã‚   Reports and event management  §Ã‚   Security and trust issues  §Ã‚   Provide secure login for partners, customers and employees.  §Ã‚   Controlling access levels.  §Ã‚   Better Customer Service  §Ã‚   Provide Online Enquiry  §Ã‚   Online viewing and real-time tracking of parcels.  §Ã‚     Provide remote consultation services  §Ã‚   Online registration and bill payment  §Ã‚   Bigger Participation and Future Opportunities  §Ã‚   For other logistics companies and potential Partners.  §Ã‚   Identifying consolidation opportunities or possible global mergers.  §Ã‚   Supports RFID technology. Our foundation as an efficient and reliable logistics provider is built on the hard work and integrity in our operations which we have emphasized from the inception of the company.   We would continue to utilize this while we aim at being responsive to new technology needs in order to improve our efficiency and keep the trust of our clients. With regards to software capability, it was important that it was customized to meet our specific needs with our focus on a paperless system based on flexibility and reduction in freight costs and increased delivery times. Security and Privacy Issues: The following issues form the framework for our policy on security and privacy issues: Data Protection: This is an important law gaining global attention with regional legislations particularly in the US and European commission. Our goal will be to ensure that all private information is obtained by obtained by fair and lawful means; relevant to the purposes for which they are to be used; should be protected with reasonable security measures to prevent unauthorized access, destruction or modification. Financial Transactions: It is essential that all payments and transfer of money is done securely and that is in line with the company’s goal of transparency and fairness. Intellectual Property: Trademark and intellectual property of our customers will be adequately protected. E-mail and communication: We would use secured e-mail communication and create effective firewalls to protect both incoming and outgoing e-mail. It is essential that communication is sent to the right department and our collaboration software ensures this with the encryption of sensitive communication. Risk Assessment: Clearly the major risk issues is Security and Technical faults . Our desire however is to turn this to a strategic marketing tool by ensuring emphasis on secure transactions. To mitigate these risks, we have done the following We have engaged IBM, a global player and foremost e-business consulting company. Ensuring that Technology used is relevant, secure and flexible to support future business changes. We have put offline software capabilities and procedures to deal with possible downtimes and internet failures. We are aware of lose of revenues by companies due to technical faults and will preempt this. Developed efficient service levels and procedures for timely intervention. Communication Strategy: We would effectively communicate and educate our customers, suppliers and partners as to the effective use of our systems for maximum benefit and ensure that responsibility is taken for our technology. We would emphasise the convenience, efficiency and the interactive experience that our e-commerce initiative provides. Section Six: Information Strategy (2) Information Gathering: As important as technology is, information is the basis and information is essential to make the business successful. As part of the initial process, the company has looked at what information is necessary to ensure we operate efficiently and provide the quality of service that we desire. It is therefore essential that information is carefully designed and assess should be monitored to ensure that it is used only for official purposes. Privacy is very important to also protect confidential information as some of our clients are competitors to each other to ensure that we operate ethically. It is also necessary to ensure proper reporting and performance measurement to enhance the future direction of this project. The figure below shows the major enterprise units and some sample information needs. Figure 2: Our Value Chain As a result of our position in the supply chain business, it is important that we ensure efficient use of information between the interacting organisations and units as shown in the figure above. A typical situation is to get an order from our customers’ manufacturing locations to our central warehouse where the order is confirmed based on inventory availability. Inventory is also automatically connected to our supplier chains who supply components once the set reorder level is reached. This same process occurs with the product retailers and individual customers who order our customer products. The essence is to maintain a just-in-time supply chain that maximises the efficiency of the value chain and reduces cost associated with poor forecast. Whenever a product or component is shipped based on an order, an invoice is automatically issued which is settled through online transactions and transfers. On the other hand, the supply chain system links with the company’s relevant departments particularly the accounts and logistics supports units.    Problems with Information Flow Dealing with different companies in the chain presents bottlenecks that hinder communication. Privacy Constraints and Data Protection differences across countries.    Strategy to enhance Information flow efficiency Work with companies, suppliers and partners who understand the value of efficient Technology and accept our strategy. Build a Customer Service Team to handle Information Keep communications from management to front office staff open at all stages of the project and with implementation. Make Excellence Customer Service the basis of our e-business project. Give ownership to everyone so that all employees can be part of improving the project and contributing to future changes. Section Seven: Future Operation and Development RFID Integration: In the long term, our business strategy is to maximize the opportunities that are available for global partnerships with other logistics providers in areas where we are not too strong, while we provide similar support in our primary area. One major benefit of the project is its suitability and implementation of RFID which is gaining global attention particularly for the logistics sector. We are conscious that this is a trend that will be the standard for the future and with this project have positioned ourselves for its implementation in a year’s time. What makes the RFID technology interesting and important?   Whereas barcodes only identify the product, RFID tags can tell what the product is, where it has been, it’s expiry date and any other information required for the product. This makes information retrieval and access automatic and complete on its own. It’ will produce adequate information about when and where merchandise is manufactured, picked, packed and shipped so that data can be stored, transmitted in real-time and shared with warehouse management, inventory management, financial and other enterprise systems. Another benefit of RFIDs is that, unlike barcodes, RFID tags can be read automatically by electronic readers. Imagine a truck carrying a container full of widgets entering a shipping terminal in China. If the container is equipped with an RFID tag, and the terminal has an RFID sensor network, that container’s whereabouts can be automatically sent to Prime Technologies without the truck ever slowing down. It has the potential to add a substantial amount of visibility into the extended supply chain. The only issue in its implementation is the cost and the fact that it will still take a couple of years before it becomes a global standard. This project has increased the potential of possible collaboration through the use of web services through which data is shared and transmitted to enhance communication between companies. Our positioning to enhance our future strategic goals will be in line with the following: Our initial strategy aimed at expanding globally will result in the implementation of our e-business project that is aimed at ensuring that we can track goods in transit and provide our customers with real-time information. The implementation of RFID to help efficient tracking of parcels and increase our efficiency at warehouses. The four major groups that our company has include: Customers that we provide complete logistics solutions for including shipping, transportation to and from factory. Customers that we provide warehousing services alone. Customers that we provide warehousing and shipping of components and materials to their factories but who handle their own distribution. Customers who handle their own warehousing but leave transportation and logistics to us. It is clear that our e-business project is essential to all these groups but will be more critical to the companies that use our operations completely. We are certain that this will enhance our ability to effectively increase our customer base in all these sectors. Strategy to Enhance Future Value While e-business benefits may be difficult to measure, we will keep working on performance measurement of the project to ensure that value is generated and sustained. That we utilise simple technology that will be easily scalable and flexible to enhance future possible changes using open-source technology as much as possible. Sensitive to cultural and language barriers in the use of technology. Employee participation, training and motivation to make everyone involved in project development. The project must continue to improve convenience, efficiency and security for all users and stakeholders. References Kendra Bonnett, An IBM guide to doing business on the internet. Mcgraw Hill. 2000. Charles Trepper, E-commerce Strategies. Microsoft Press. 2000. Charles Trepper (2000) E-Commerce Strategies. Published by Microsoft Press. 10 – 11, http://www.cio.com/research/scm/edit/012202_scm.html#scm_emerging (assessed February 18) http://www.forfas.ie/publications/ebus_ict_leg02/021029_ebusiness_ict_leg_pressrelease_s.pdf (assessed February 21) http://www.usherproject.org.uk/support/scenarios/legal.pdf

Basketball Needs To Be Fixed Essay Research

Basketball Needs To Be Fixed Essay, Research PaperBasketball Needs to Be FixedProfessional and college hoops have become really popular in the Black Marias and heads of many Americans. Millions of dollars a twelvemonth are spent on dress, tickets, and telecasting all generated by people # 8217 ; s love for hoops. But in the last twosome of old ages, both the National Basketball Association ( NBA ) and college hoops have lost a significant sum of their competition and hold caught much criticizim for it. At the bosom of this job is a individual cause, greed. The game of hoops has become all about money alternatively of the game and its fans. This job needs to be addressed, and the best topographic point to get down is with the college participants, or more specifically, the NBA bill of exchange. The regulations and guidelines that pertain to the bill of exchange are greatly at mistake for the down slide of both college and NBA hoops and they need to be changed before the game down sli des into nil.The alterations that need to be made are simple, lowerclassmans should non be eligible for the NBA bill of exchange ; or in other words, if you have old ages of eligibility left, you should non be eligible to be drafted by an NBA squad. What jobs would this work out? The replyis most jobs in basketball today.First, college hoops has paid greatly by losing its most gifted participants to the NBA every bit many as three old ages early. This has resulted in non merely an overall decrease of the game, but in certain fortunes caused the ruin of one time great hoops plans. This is how it happens, colleges recruit participants based on what their demands are or what they will necessitate shortly in the hereafter. So let us state that one school has a great nucleus of sophomore and junior participants for an approaching season. The managers do non hold the demand or the room for many new top notch participants. So all of the top recruits find other schools to travel to. Then, a llow us state that the great nucleus of participants foliages for the NBA, go forthing the squad with mediocre participants and a atrocious season to look frontward to. By the following recruiting period comes about, the school # 8217 ; s repute has been hurt, and so has their opportunities of set downing the top recruits. This continues until the school # 8217 ; s one time proud hoops tradition is a thing of the yesteryear. This state of affairs is non merely conjectural, schools like UNLV, Georgetown, Seton Hall, and Houston have all gone through this procedure and now find themselves at the underside of the barrel.It is non merely the universities that early entry to the NBA injuries, the conference in general takes a immense blow. College hoops markets their squads after their best participants, when those participants decide to travel pro early, the publicity of college hoops is hurt ; along with the overall endowment degree of the conference is lowered drastically. Games bec omeless interesting because the participants are non as talented. This in bend hurts the telecasting webs because people do non like watching games in which they do non cognize who the participants are. And so, that in bend hurts the conference and the schools once more because the webs will non pay every bit much to telecast the games as they one time did.The schools and the conference are non the lone 1s hurt, by go forthing school early trusting to do the large vaulting horses the participants hurt themselves. In the universe that we live in today, if you do non hold a college grade, chances are limited. Look at the statistics, 60 participants are drafted each twelvemonth, and there are merely 360 roster musca volitanss in the full NBA. The opportunities that each participant drafted will do the squad is about an impossibleness. Some people go back to school and seek to complete their grades, but most do non because one time you give up your eligibility, you c annot acquire it back, with agencies most of them can non afford to travel back to school. This leaves a batch of people out of work and with no grade. By maintaining the college participants in school, most will accomplish their grade by the clip that they are ready for the NBA. The donee of the lowerclassmans being allow to go forth early would be the NBA right? It seems that manner, but that is non truly the instance. The job with outlining lowerclassmans is that they are non wholly matured yet, they have non yet received all of the accomplishments that they would necessitate to do the immediate impact that their squads expect them to do. These accomplishments include leading, duty, and adulthood ; these are the thingthat college is supposed to learn them, but by go forthing early they are non given all of the things that they need to be a success.Many of the new participants in the conference develop attitudes of bumptiousness or certitude because of their bill of exchange place or because of the 1000000s of dollars that they are being paid. Suspensions and mulcts for misconduct are at an all-time high in the NBA now and the biggest ground for it is the immature participants who have non been taught the regard and behavior that they need. This gives the N BA a bad name and is get downing to upset a batch of the veteran participants who have made the NBA what it is today.Another thing that the bill of exchange does is that it makes edifice or reconstructing a squad a entire gaming game. Beting 1000000s of dollars on a participant in their early mid-twentiess that squads have no thought if they will be any good, many squads are frequently incorrect and are stuck with a multimillion dollar investing that went rancid. This makes squads take old ages to develop their immature participants, and in the interim their record and fan attending and support go down the tubing. This besides hurts the Television webs because no 1 wants to see second-rate professional squads play, and so that turns about and hurts the squads and the conference because the webs pay less for telecasting rights.Money, is evidently the ground why lowerclassmans leave for the NBA early. If you were 22 old ages old, and person would pay you 90 million dollars to play a g ame that you love, would you drop out of college? The job with this is therising prices of participants wages. When participants are drafted immature, they demand to be paid what they want ; squads pay them 1000000s right out of college. This makes the seasoned participants covetous, and they ask for more money. Then when the following twelvemonth comes about, the form repeats itself, and it # 8217 ; s another downward spiral. That is how participants # 8217 ; wages have rose to absurd bounds. No 1 noticed the job while it was go oning, but now that it is a job there is no existent manner to repair it. In 1996, a cub salary cap was put into consequence by the NBA to set a bound on get downing wages, so some steps are being taken. This is a start, but it is non the reply to the job. If lowerclassmans were non allowed to come out early, high cub wages would non hold to be every bit high, and the participants would likely be more accepting of less money than most cubs are acquiring n ow, and this would assist work out the all-round money job in the NBA.Both the NBA and college hoops seem to be in a rut. And as stated before, they ground is the underclassmen go forthing school early to do money in the NBA. So what # 8217 ; s the solution? Easy, do non allow the college participants enter the NBA bill of exchange early. It would profit everyone in the hereafter. Of class there would be a transitional period, but the losingss would be short and the effects of the alteration would be apparent really rapidly. Let the game be played the manner it was meant to be played, for the competition and non for the money.

Decline of the Qing dynasty Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Decline of the Qing dynasty - Essay Example First theory is concerned with China ¡Ã‚ ¦s internal problems, including corruption, poverty and abuse of powers of the ruling class.† (34) But another sect of the historians argues that even though the Qing Dynasty was wearing out due to the heavy internal troubles, the western influences were at the center of these internal adversaries. Indeed the western influences were not the military interferences and threats to the dynasty in its concrete sense. Rather the western industrial revolution, rapid urbanization, growing individualism and the rapid changes and reorganizations of the socio-economic fields, as again Stanley says, â€Å"The theory supported by the Western World is that imperialism and introduction of western ideas in China ultimately caused the disintegration of Qing† (). Fairly in the early twentieth century Chinn’s socioeconomic and political cultures began to be influenced by the European Industrial Revolution. The pro-western influence school o f historians purports that even if there were no internal conflicts, the Qing Dynasty would have to respond to the demand of the age. But though the Dynasty took initiative to adapt itself with the new trend of the age by the â€Å"Hundred Days’ Reform† and â€Å"Late Qing Reform† in the late 19th Century and early 20th century, it was too late to recover from the loss of Opium War. The pro-western influence school of historians purports that even if there were no internal conflicts.

The driving forces in the changing role of accountants Literature review

The driving forces in the changing role of accountants - Literature review Example new business models and shifts in business-oriented demographics.In total, these forces of change are pushing or driving new societal values, expectations and needs and is entrusting more accountabilities on accountants to respond to these changes. In short, these changes are changing every feature of our globe in general and thrusting new duties on accountants in particular. Due to changes in the business sector due to various factors as enumerated below, there is an increasing recognition in business community for the need to develop a thorough understanding of these changes and other upcoming drivers of change and to equip themselves for a wide scale of probable future scenarios. Hence, it is significant and vital for the accounting profession to recognise the major factors and forces that are likely to shape the future. This will facilitate them to face sprouting shocks and to capitalise by acquiring new talents and skills. The study of drivers of change is important to the accountaning profession and for business executives so as to make them to prepare for the challenges from an indecisive tomorrow. This research study will investigate the promising drivers of change that could have the severe effect on accountancy profession and for the business over the ensuing decades. This study has referred various previous empirical studies on the subject to prove its research hypothesis, i.e. the important drivers for change in the role of accountants in the ensuing decade. This research study makes an attempt to offer a balanced picture on the effect of changing roles of the accounting professionals in the ensuing 5 to 10 years. The main research question will be â€Å"what are the driving forces in the changing roles of the accounting professionals in the coming decade and what the opportunity and confronts will it foster for the accounting professionals? This research study will mainly use secondary data like books, peer view journal articles, previous