Thursday, February 27, 2020
Corporate Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words
Corporate Strategy - Essay Example Strategy is the direction and scope of an organization over the long term, which achieves advantage for the organization through its configuration of resources within a changing environment and to fulfill stakeholders’ expectations. So strategic decisions are likely to be complex in nature and may be made in situation of uncertainty i.e. they may involve taking decisions with views of the future. It demands an integrated approach to managing the organization. Strategic decisions will very often involves change in organization, which may prove difficult because of heritage of resources and culture. They have to manage perhaps change relationship and network outside of the organization. So strategic decision-making requires special qualities of skills and knowledge. i) Corporate level strategy is concerned with the over all-purpose and scope of an organization. This could include issues of geographical coverage, diversity of products/services or business units and how resources are to be allocated between different parts of the organization. ii) Business unit strategy is about how to compete successfully in particular markets. The concerns are therefore about how advantage over competitors can be achieved; what new opportunities can be identified or created in the markets; which products or services should be developed in which markets; and the extent to which these meet customer needs in such a way as to achieve the objectives of the organization perhaps long term profitability or market share growth. So, whereas corporate strategy involves decisions about the organization as a whole, strategic decisions here need to be related to a strategic business unit (SBU). iii) Operational strategies is at the operating end of an organization, which are concerned with how the component parts of an organization deliver effectively the corporate and business level strategies in terms of resources, processes and people. Strategic management is the management of the
Tuesday, February 11, 2020
Interface design Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words
Interface design - Essay Example Moreover, the intellectual level of target group should be a guiding principle for the interface design document. The user should feel relaxed and comfortable while using the interface and it must be a pleasurable experience. â€Å"Each moment has the potential to increase user’s confidence or destroy his trust in a product or company, and each one is an important piece of the whole experience†(Hoekman 2008). Requirement Analysis of Potential Audience This requires narrowing down what type of information, features and products your targeted audience would be looking for. The basic theme of interface is designed keeping in mind the research conducted in Assignment # 1, which underlines the identification of the user group before starting the development of the product. In our case the site offers massaging services and allied facilities to its customers. The identified customer group is mainly comprised of the middle-aged women of the upper middle class and the elite cl ass of the society. However, there are other groups of customer which are attracted by the product and they include more or less every age group bearing children. The site should also support the customer class where a massage therapy is advised by the doctors. The identified user group is supposed to be well-off and educated. More often than not this group will use the services for stress management and in some cases for medical reasons. The basic theme of the interface is required to be light and refreshing. A shade of light green is used as the theme color of the site. This gives a soothing and refreshing effect to the site. The interface is designed to impart a comforting and gentle effect at first sight to address the issue of the major group of customers while incorporating the needs of the rest of the identified groups. Special care is taken in use of images at the site and especially at the home page of the site to further support and endorse the theme of the site. This is s hown below in figures 1 and 2. [Figure 1: The home page for zypresse.com] [Figure 2: The about us section for zypresse.com] Numbers of interviews were conducted for inclusion of user opinions in the development of the interface. During this process some of the expected clients of the massage services insisted on the availability of video clips of various massaging techniques at the web interface. Feedback of the clients was also integrated in the shape of the price list for various services offered by the massage center. Moreover the names, specialties, and experience of various therapists have also been provided on the basis of requirement analysis. This is shown below in figures 3 and 4. [Figure 3: The video support section for zypresse.com] [Figure 4: The price list section for zypresse.com] A number of doctors, surgeon and physician are consulted to bridge the gap between the customer needs and the product design. This process helped a lot in rationalization and understanding of the customer’s requirement. The user group of massage services is particularly comprised of middle-aged ladies, however adult men and elderly people may also form a part of this user group. Therefore the interface design especially caters for the requirements of this user grou
Friday, January 31, 2020
Contribution and Marginal Costing Essay Example for Free
Contribution and Marginal Costing Essay This is an important business concept and must never be confused with profit. The contribution of a product refers to how much it contributes to the fixed costs and profit of the business once variable costs have been covered. It can be calculated either per unit of output or in terms of total contribution of all units produced. Contribution ignores fixed costs and only considers any surplus left once variable costs have been subtracted from revenue. Hence, contribution is what a product contributes towards the fixed costs of the business and, once these are paid, the profits of the business. Managers need to know, as accurately as possible, the cost of each product or service produced by the firm. One reason for this is the need to make a pricing decision. In fact, buyers of many products will want an estimated price or a quotation before they agree to purchase. Managers may also need to decide whether production should be stopped, stepped up or switched to new methods or new materials. Managers also need to compare actual product costs with original budgets and to compare the current period with past time periods. In calculating the cost of a product, both direct labor and direct materials are often easy to identify and allocate to each product. For instance, the materials used in making product X are allocated directly to the cost of that product. These are not the only costs involved. Overheads, or indirect costs, cannot be allocated directly to each product but must be ‘shared’ between all of the items produced by a business. There is more than one costing method that can be used to apportion these costs and, therefore, there may be more than one answer to the question: ‘How much does a product cost to produce?’ contribution costing method that only allocates direct costs to cost/profit centers not overhead costs. This approach to costing solves the problem of how to apportion or divide overhead costs between products – it does not apportion them at all. Instead, the method concentrates on two very important accounting concepts: †¢Marginal cost is the cost of producing an extra unit. This extra cost will clearly be a variable direct cost. For example, if the total cost of producing 100 units is $400 000 and the total cost of producing 101 units is $400 050, the marginal cost is $50. †¢The contribution to fixed costs and profit. This is the revenue gained from selling a product less its variable direct costs. This is not the same as profit, which can only be calculated after overheads have also been deducted. For example, if that 101st unit with a variable (marginal) cost of $50 is sold for $70, it has made a contribution towards fixed costs of $20. The unit contribution is found as the difference between the sale price ($70) and the extra variable cost ($50), that is $20.
Thursday, January 23, 2020
Personal Diet and Weight Loss Management Analysis Essays -- losing wei
Personal Diet and Weight Loss Management Analysis      Each morning I get on the scales and hope that I can celebrate losing a pound or two. The numbers I see on the scale represent a gauge that keeps me moving forward in a weight loss program. When I look at the numbers on the scale I realize I am making progress in losing weight, however, am I putting my body at more risk just by limiting certain foods? Comparing and contrasting my typical diet to the amounts of daily nutrients recommended in the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Guide Pyramid has proven that I am not a healthy eater. I may have to make some dramatic changes or face significant health issues in the future. After reviewing several plans, I have chosen the South Beach Diet to follow to take advantage of the healthy benefits of following a low-carbohydrate diet.      The analysis of my dietary intake for two days is demonstrated on the chart below with the USDA guidelines for my age, gender and lifestyle group, a sedentary female over 50, as a comparison to the food groups and nutrients consumed (Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2005):      Figure 1: Personal Diet as compared to Recommended Nutrition Intake      Nutrient     Recommended     Day 1     Day 2     Findings Energy Intake     1600 calories     1770     1541     Need to stabilize Grain Group     6 servings     5     3     Need to stabilize Vegetable Group     3 servings     3     1     Need to stabilize Fruit Group     2     1.5     1     Need to increase Meat Group (ounces)     5     2     1.25     Need to increase Protein Grams     72.8     90     58     Need to stabilize Fat Grams     53     93     62     Need to reduce Carb Grams     217     232     180     Need to stabilize Fiber Grams     20-50     15     14     Need to increase Water (ounces)     64     48     32     Need to increase Sodium mg     1423     1820     940     Need to stabilize Iron as % of RDA     14     2     6     Need to increase      Nutrient     Recommended     Day 1     Day 2     Findings Cholesterol mgs     184     331     75     Need to stabilize Calcium as % of RDA     1000-2000mg = 100%     28%     25%     Need to increase      The comparison of my two-day nutrition intake to recommendations demonstrates that I do not consistently consume a healthy diet. I do not follow the recommendations in the Food ... ...                       Turkey Roll up (2 slices Turkey breast in Lettuce leaves)     54     10     2     1     0     604     17     1 Cilantro Mayonaise (1tbsp)     36     0     3     3     1     104     4     0 Water                                        Lunch                                        Crab Cobb Salad     267     27     12     13     4     1012     95     4 Water                                        Mid Afternoon Snack                                        Celery stuffed with one wedge Laughing Cow Light Cheese     47.2     2.85     2.6     2.5     1     296     0     0 Water                                        Dinner                                        Chicken en Papillote     144     27     4     2     0     86     65     1 Roasted Eggplant and Peppers     193     2     16     14     2     5     0     5 Lemon Zest Ricotta Cream     178     14     7     10     6     155     38     0 Red Wine (3.5 oz)     75     0     3     0     0     0     0     0 Water                                        Daily Totals     1280     105.4     64.1     61     20     2965     659     14
Wednesday, January 15, 2020
Locke’s teachings on economic growth and material prosperity Essay
According to Locke, God gave man common ownership of everything under the sun (10). God at the same time gave man the reason, which He intended him to use so as to convert what was owned communally into individually. Man went ahead in using his God given reason and he reasoned that he can put in some labor – which is his by right, and in so doing, he attached the common property with his own property (reading labor) and in the process converted the ownership from communal to individual’s (Locke12). Man created ownership so as to make what is communally owned useful and at the same time avoid the process of gaining consent of all the other owners. One was only considered a rightful own if the item in his possession was for his enjoyment and not to be spoilt. This does not apply to plants and animals alone, but the same can be put in practice when dealing with land. To avoid conflict between men, God gave every man ability to work, so the piece of land one improved through labor was his for the taking, and the limit of how much one can own was to be determined by how much he can work and the number of his needs. Labor became something very important in that, it was through it that the value of land was measured against and also the more one labored the more his living standard improved. That is the reason as to why Locke proposed that the England day laborers lived well than American King, because the former knew how to increase the value of land through labor and this translated to a better life. What Locke is highlighting is that, among the three: land, nature and labor, the latter comes on top of the former two (16). Skills and inventions are the offshoots of labor and they came to make life even more comfy. With the increase in number of people and animal and the use of money, scarcity of land emerged which drove the value of the land up. Man decided to put some policies so as to avoid conflict that would have arisen due to scarcity of the land the same role played by industry and labor there before (17). To avoid wastage, man came up with the idea of trading of things which would otherwise spoil if not consumed fast and in the process of looking for something durable and valuable. This is how money came in being. The qualities of valuability durability and scarcity made money to be even more important than labor and it did what the latter could not have done: enabling man to expand his possessions. So it is true to say that reached his goal of economic growth and material prosperity through the advert of money. But this is not the only ingredient. As from the above discussion, land, government policies, nature and labor are other requirement. For one to be set on the way of wealth creation, it is paramount to balance all these factors. I do agree with all of Locke arguments for he is capturing the reality of today. The only important ingredient that he has not elaborated in a detailed way is market, which is another important pillar of wealth creation. Without the above ingredients, wealth creation will remain but a pipe dream. All these factors have contributed to unequal ownership of property. This situation has brought forth some challenges, one of it being the emergence of social classes: proletariats, bourgeoisies and aristocrats all of which are in constant conflict. This contributes to high crime rates, prostitution, corruption just to mention but a few vices. Works Cited Locke, John. Second Treatise of Government. 9 Mar. 2008. 11 Aug. 2010. http://www. earlymoderntexts. com/f_rights. html
Monday, January 6, 2020
Puritanism And Its Negative Portrayal Of The Body
Puritanism: Resisting The Body’s Temptations Puritanism has been a strong influence on American Literature and it still is to this day. Puritans have shaped our culture immensely with their art that represents their beliefs so clearly. One of the most fascinating things we have come to learn about the Puritans is the constant battle they faced each day. Puritans struggled to stay true to their religion due to everyday temptations. One of the biggest temptations would be The Body. We can identify this by analyzing Puritanism philosophies, their biblical view of the Body, how they were able to resist this urge, and also their literary work. A work from Puritan times that allows us to further explore this idea would be â€Å"The Flesh and the Spirit†by Anne Bradstreet. In Bradstreet’s writing we are able to see how The Body’s immense power over Puritans was a constant threat. This paper will analyze Puritanism and its negative portrayal of The Body. Understanding Puritanism First and foremost, Puritanism was first formed in the late sixteenth century in the Church of England due to a majority of the citizens disagreeing with the church’s practice. Once James I became king of England in 1603, he rejected most of the Puritan’s proposals and this led to the Puritans becoming highly repressed (Kang 1). Unlike the pilgrims, Puritans did not wish to separate from the church. Essentially, the Puritans desired to purify their national church by eliminating every shred of Catholic
Sunday, December 29, 2019
The American Dream - 734 Words
In Arthur Miller’s play, Death of a Salesman he critiques the American Dream. He has previously discussed how it has changed through time and demonstrates its effects in the play. Author Miller uses lies to prevail his message of how the classic American Dream has been tainted. According to Arthur Miller, the American dream has changed drastically throughout time. It began in 1620 with the Mayflower Compact. It originally was about survival but after more than a century and the Declaration of Independence it became Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. Afterwards, it also became territorial expansion and manifest destiny. However, as industrialization took over and the frontiers shrank the American Dream shifted gears. It became†¦show more content†¦Willy believes that his mistress was justifiable because he was lonely. I was lonely, I was terribly lonely. (120) this is critical because it shows the audience that Willy only believes in the money part of the modern American Dream and not the family part of it. In the passage he has once again lied to himself. The American Dream creates false expectations for the Loman family. Bernard warns Willy about Biff’s struggle in math â€Å"Theyre gonna flunk him...†(33) But Willy expect s his boys to be the best and so Willy does nothing about it â€Å"Dont be a pest, what an anemic! (33) This quote shows that Willy knew of the problem but expected his boys to fix it themselves. Willy also over-hypes his boys because he believes being well liked is important and also it makes them sound better. Bernard can get the best marks in school... but when he gets out... you are going to be five times ahead of him. (33) This shows that Willy believes in his boys too much and doesnt actually prepare them. 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