Inventory management

Do they ever face the problem of receiving orders for an item that their vendor is not able to fulfill because it is out-of-stock (over-ordering or running out of stock)? I. If no, can this be a problem they might have in the future? 1. If no, why not? N. If yes, how does the vendor handle it? 1. Cancels Order a. Does canceling order affect your relationship with the customer? B. Does canceling order affect the customer reputation for the vendor? C. Are there any other issues associated with canceling an order? 2. Purchases from another vendor to fulfill order a.Does it affect their profit margin? B. Are there any other Issues associated with purchasing from another vendor? . Vendor will manufacture additional products to fulfill order a. Does this affect the delivery time? I. If yes 1 . Is changing delivery time okay with you? 2. Is changing delivery time okay with the customer? B. Are there any other Issues associated with manufacturing product after an online order has been receiv ed? 4. Is there another way to handle this Issue apart from canceling and order / Purchasing from another vendor / manufacturing additional products? Iii.Would it help your vendors to have a tool that allows them to manage inventory across multiple online marketplaces? 1 . If yes a. Would your vendors be willing to pay for such a tool? B. Does your marketplace allow for a software to connect to your online marketplace using a Website API to allow l. Product uploads Inventory updates iii. Orders v. Viewing competitors asking prices c. Would you be willing to help us market such a tool? 2. If no, why not? V. Do you encourage your vendors to view their competitors pricing and price their products accordingly? 1 . If yes, would It help your vendors to have a tool that allows Inventory Management Purpose of research A study of inventory management is undertaken in order to know the inventory performance and position of selected companies and to know the strength and weakness and to assess the profitability of the companies. Inventories constitute most significant part of assets of large majority of the companies in India. Inventory a double edged sword is usually an asset of an organization, if not used properly it will become liability. It is therefore absolutely very important to manage inventories efficiently and effectively in order to overcome unnecessary investment.Excessive stock, or excess inventory, is the result of bad management of stock demand or of material flow in process management. Excessive stock is also associated with loss of revenue owing to additional capital bound with the purchase or simply storage space taken. Shortage of stocks leads to loss of business, hence inventory management plays a key role. Literature review: †¢Article on inventory manage ment by weilege †¢Case study on coco-cola bottling inventory management by S. L Adyemi †¢Article on inventory management by James H Aim: â€Å"To identify the problems/challenges involved in the Inventory Management process†Objectives: 1. To study the inventory control measures and methods of valuation of inventory of selected companies in India of manufacturing industry 2. To identify problems related to inventory management specific to manufacturing industry of selected companies 3. To make a comparative study of inventory management of selected companies under manufacturing industries and to offer suggestions for effective inventory management Hypothesis: Research hypothesis: â€Å"Optimum inventory management leads to profitability of companies† Research methodology: a)Primary data:The primary data will be collected by personal interviews with officials. b) Secondary data Files, annual reports, periodicals, manuals and text book. Which have already been p assed through the statistical process are the secondary data used. Scope of the study: †¢ This study is to find the facts and opinions of inventory management and control of selected companies under manufacturing industries. †¢ In accordance with the present trends it aims mainly at finding out the inventory control procedures. Limitation of the study †¢ The study is related to only specific or selected companies in India of manufacturing industries.Proposed content of the dissertation: 1. Chapter 1: introduction 2. Chapter 2: literature review 3. Chapter 3: data collection and research methodology 4. Chapter 4: analysis and data interpretations 5. Chapter 5: findings and recommendations 6. Chapter 6: Conclusion 7. Bibliography 8. Annexure Work plan: First two weeks : literature review next two weeks: data collection for the project next four weeks: analysis and interpretation of data next two weeks: Findings and suggestions or recommendations next two weeks: compilin g of project report last few weeks : correction of report and final report preparation. Inventory Management Purpose of research A study of inventory management is undertaken in order to know the inventory performance and position of selected companies and to know the strength and weakness and to assess the profitability of the companies. Inventories constitute most significant part of assets of large majority of the companies in India. Inventory a double edged sword is usually an asset of an organization, if not used properly it will become liability. It is therefore absolutely very important to manage inventories efficiently and effectively in order to overcome unnecessary investment.Excessive stock, or excess inventory, is the result of bad management of stock demand or of material flow in process management. Excessive stock is also associated with loss of revenue owing to additional capital bound with the purchase or simply storage space taken. Shortage of stocks leads to loss of business, hence inventory management plays a key role. Literature review: †¢Article on inventory manage ment by weilege †¢Case study on coco-cola bottling inventory management by S. L Adyemi †¢Article on inventory management by James H Aim: â€Å"To identify the problems/challenges involved in the Inventory Management process†Objectives: 1. To study the inventory control measures and methods of valuation of inventory of selected companies in India of manufacturing industry 2. To identify problems related to inventory management specific to manufacturing industry of selected companies 3. To make a comparative study of inventory management of selected companies under manufacturing industries and to offer suggestions for effective inventory management Hypothesis: Research hypothesis: â€Å"Optimum inventory management leads to profitability of companies† Research methodology: a)Primary data:The primary data will be collected by personal interviews with officials. b) Secondary data Files, annual reports, periodicals, manuals and text book. Which have already been p assed through the statistical process are the secondary data used. Scope of the study: †¢ This study is to find the facts and opinions of inventory management and control of selected companies under manufacturing industries. †¢ In accordance with the present trends it aims mainly at finding out the inventory control procedures. Limitation of the study †¢ The study is related to only specific or selected companies in India of manufacturing industries.Proposed content of the dissertation: 1. Chapter 1: introduction 2. Chapter 2: literature review 3. Chapter 3: data collection and research methodology 4. Chapter 4: analysis and data interpretations 5. Chapter 5: findings and recommendations 6. Chapter 6: Conclusion 7. Bibliography 8. Annexure Work plan: First two weeks : literature review next two weeks: data collection for the project next four weeks: analysis and interpretation of data next two weeks: Findings and suggestions or recommendations next two weeks: compilin g of project report last few weeks : correction of report and final report preparation.

Case Study on India China Infrastructure

A Case Study, Overcoming Infrastructure Roadblocks: Are Chinese Lessons Relevant? This paper aims to document and analyse the different approaches in overall infrastructure sector performance for these two very different countries from the policy and institutional dimensions. It identifies factors that have worked in China and India. It also identifies some important lessons which could be relevant for future infrastructure development.For the last two decades, both India and China have grown at twice the global rate and If this trend continues for next few decades, with their vast labor supply, favorable demographics, and aspirations for reaching the developed world per capita income and consumption standards, these economies can be expected to have a significant impact on the world economy. China adopted a development model where manufacturing and exports are the key drivers of its economic performance. Related article: A. K. Kraipak CaseChinese government recognized that export competitiveness and manufacturing require connectivity to the global economy and, as a result, infrastructure development was propelled by a substantial and sustained drive supported by the government. The most remarkable common factor behind the success of infrastructure in China was the single-minded goal of sustaining economic growth and recognition of the importance of infrastructure development in achieving this goal.China’s unparalleled growth and poverty reduction in the last two decades has gone hand in hand with development of infrastructure stemming from its export-led strategy. India, the other â€Å"giant† in Asia, did not follow the suit of the successful this infrastructure model in building ahead of demand. Its development strategy from time to time focused on redistribution of wealth rather than growth. In the early 1980s, China was among the poorest nations in the world, with m ore than 60% of its population, or over 634 million people, living on less than $1 a day.By 1990, China reduced poverty to less than 33% and, by 2003, to 13. 4%. This was possible because of very high growth rates fueled by trade openness. India’s achievements on growth and poverty during the same period have been steady but relatively modest—the overall population living on less than $1 day declined from 54. 4% in 1980 to 42. 1% and 30. 7%, respectively, in 1990 and 2003. The total number of poor, however, remains high at over 325 million.To some extent, India’s overall performance was negatively influenced by the initial development model that emphasized import substitution and self-reliance, which was one of the contributing factors to its lack of trade openness for most of the period since independence. In the early fifties and sixties both countries had fairly similar levels of infrastructure assets and services. For example, China’s electricity outp ut at 7. 3 billion kWh in 1952 compares well with India’s power output of 6. 3 billion kWh in 1950-51.The Indian road network in 1950s was extensive at 400,000 kms compared to about one third that in China and both countries, about 40% of roads were paved then. India’s railway network at 53,000 kms was more than double that of China at 23,000 kms. India and China had similar numbers of telephone subscribers [pic] Though most Indian planning policies have continued to emphasize the importance of Infrastructure, they did not embrace the Chinese single-minded goal of infrastructure development, anticipating future demand and building ahead of time.India’s development model, which began with a balance between growth and distribution in the early fifties, was changed in mid-course with a greater emphasis on redistribution during the critical period of growth. A number of pro-poor programs were introduced which reduced overall fiscal space for infrastructure developme nt, even within infrastructure priorities, political interests drove the overall resource allocation, for example, in the 1970s and 1980s, government emphasized development of minor irrigation and rural roads as part of anti-poverty programs.Employment generation through construction of rural roads, and ground water and minor irrigation to support food security received much higher priority compared to need to enhance logistics to support industrial growth and improving overall economic efficiency. In five year plans a major goal was to connect all villages (with population of more than 1,500 inhabitants) with rural road network; however, this was done through â€Å"minimum needs program† supporting employment creation and leading to waste and inefficiency.Most of the roads thus created did not meet quality standards because fiscal space was not adequate to accommodate both the demand for resources for rural roads and also the national highway network which was getting conges ted. Even in the case of power sector, village electrification was a priority so as to provide power for the farms, but not necessarily to households. Emphasis on connectivity, without improvements in overall economic efficiency meant unsustainable financial burden on the government budgets.In the time of slower economic growth or external shocks such as wars and high oil prices, infrastructure investments were major casualty. China with its high economic growth rates and higher savings rates was able to allocate much larger resources for investments in general. In the 1980, China saved 35% of GDP whereas India’s savings rate was less than half at 15. 5%. This combined, with higher fiscal deficits in India, meant that it was not always possible to invest in infrastructure [pic] [pic] Planning Framework—Institutions, Processes, Incentives and AccountabilityDevelopment planning in any country can follow two broad models—it can either be an integral part of the pol itical decision-making process or it can be divorced from politics where technocrats keep a firm hold on the planning process as a matter of rational and efficient management. In China, planning followed the first model. The State Planning Committee (SPC), and its subsequent variants, have been and remain at the center of China’s political and economic affairs. The SPC sets the national policy agenda, makes important policy decisions, and even guides the lawmaking process to ensure that these decisions are implemented.Through a dual-track implementation system, its policy-making role also extends to closely monitoring and guiding policy implementation. Thus the Chinese planning institutions fully integrate political economy considerations in the process of designing and implementing development plans. In China, strong accountability for delivery of plans was embedded through powerful party structure and this has so far led to better economic outcomes in terms of growth and in frastructure development. The Indian planning process historically tended to be more technical than political.Although the Planning Commission, with the Prime Minister as the Chairman, had some institutional ties to the political decision-making process, the process has tended to be more technical in reality, captured at times by technocrats who wanted to ensure rational and managerial efficiency. The planning institutions in India at the national and state levels adopted a consultative process for the formulation of plans. Plan formulations for important sectors were undertaken by working groups with broad mandates and high levels of technical expertise.These working groups included not only representatives of the line ministries, but also financial sector, private sector, and academic institutions. This process of participation, however, worked well only in the initial phase of the preparation of formal plan documents. Most of the times, there was disconnect between targets and pe rformance, plan and implementation, and demand for resources and actual availability of funds. As a result, in most years until recently, infrastructure projects were actually built on a piecemeal approach.Unlike the dual-track system in China, overall implementation in India has more often been divorced from the planning process. Similarly, policy-making too was fragmented where, for example, a number of policy reforms have been often decided by committees and working groups, without the Planning Commission always being in charge of the process of reform designs or action plans for implementation. India’s planning ability, widely regarded as world class, was not backed by underlying incentives and accountability systems in China that delivered better outcomes. Infrastructure Sector ReformsThe planning framework for infrastructure was very different in China and India. Similar to their efforts in rural transformation and agricultural modernization, China was able to adopt a d ual benefit infrastructure development policy—to build infrastructure that will promote economic growth and to build systems that directly target poverty reduction. The vast program of building expressways was complemented with several programs that would directly benefit the poor. Having a centralized political system with complete State control made it possible to take risks that would have been more difficult under alternate political paradigms.The political costs of direct dissent were relatively small, if not entirely absent in China. Until 1994, the Indian government did not have a comprehensive framework for infrastructure. Most of the government interventions were through large number of sector ministries and departments—Ministry of Finance, Planning Commission, Pricing bureaus, state-owned enterprises (SOEs), etc. Since there were so many actors, the entire spectrum of infrastructure functions, namely, planning and policy making, regulation, production, and su pply tended to be dominated by public sector SOEs.The SOEs in these sectors had the skills and capabilities to influence important decisions; however, accountability structures were being weakened due to excessive interference by political â€Å"bosses†. Reforms in the Indian electricity sector have not been very successful, despite the fact that these were pursued more systematically with amendment of the Electricity Act in 1991, which allowed private sector participation and even 100% foreign ownership. This alone did not lead to real improvements on the ground until recently.Part of the problem lay in the lack of a credible regulator, partly due to a political setting that remained uncoordinated. The electricity sector in the Indian federal system remains on the â€Å"concurrent list,† implying responsibility for the sector by both the central government and the state governments. One of the most important factors that remained uncoordinated was the funding issue. A large number of states had followed the practice of subsidizing power for agriculture and, as a result, there was ambiguity regarding who was going to pay for the power.The financial status of most of the State Electricity Boards (SEB) was grim, with most experiencing large and unsustainable deficits. In the early 1990s, the rate of return on all SEBs combined was highly negative (-13. 5% of capital employed). Until 1998-99, private investments were allowed only in power generation in India. Private sector participation in power transmission was allowed but private sector participation in power distribution did not occur until 2003.Although many states have set up independent regulators that have been fairly effective, the fundamental issue of who pays for the subsidized power has remained an important challenge. Unlike India, however, China’s power sector reforms have been relatively more successful in terms of the level of foreign and private sector participation in reduci ng the funding gap. The foreign private sector was welcomed into China, not only due to the need to augment financial resources, but also for the needed manufacturing capacity to produce the power generating equipment for an ambitious capacity expansion program.Foreign direct investments (FDI) in China took various institutional forms such as joint ventures, build-operate-transfer (BOT) types of arrangements, equity joint ventures, loans, and equity in the existing energy enterprises. In 1996, the sector was further reformed under the new Electricity Law that created the State Power Corporation of China as an entity separate from the Ministry of Electric Power, thus signifying a first step to separating regulation from actual production and supply. Given the dual pricing system of â€Å"new plant, new price,† China’s power sector funding gap has not been as large as that of India.A majority of farmers in China believe this TO GET RICH, BUILD ROADS FIRST; TO GET RICH FA ST, BUILD FAST ROADS saying. Numerous recent studies have demonstrated that the greatest effect on poverty reduction can come from investments in the transport sector, particularly roads. It has been shown that an efficient road network increases access to services and economic opportunities, facilitates domestic market integration, lowers the cost of production and transportation, and allows healthy competition both domestically and internationally.In addition to accessibility, the quality of the roads also plays an important role in economic development. Although China had a late start, its achievement in building an extensive national road network in the last two decades has been unprecedented. With almost 30,000 km of expressways, China is fast catching up with the U. S. , which has the world’s largest road network. China is adding 5,000 km of expressway every year, expecting to reach a level over 80,000 km by 2020.Before discussing the current state of the Indian road ne twork, it is useful to touch upon three important trends that have significantly influenced the way in which road infrastructure has been developed and utilized in recent decades. First, there has been a gradual but persistent mode shift in India from rail to roads. In 1960, rail carried 85% of goods traffic and 51% of passenger traffic; by 2001, those percentages had declined to 23% and 13%, respectively. The vast majority of this demand appears to have shifted to the road system, which currently accounts for 70% of freight transport and 85% of passenger transport.Second, with rising GDP, demand for automotive and freight travel has grown rapidly and consistently. Third, despite the stunning growth in road transport demand, investment in new highway capacity has been anemic. These three trends, taken together, help explain the current state of the India's road infrastructure, which is now both woefully underdeveloped and over-utilized. Even though the Indian road network as a whole is denser than that of China, its highway component is comparatively underdeveloped.Despite significant improvements since the establishment of the National Highway Administration of India (NHAI), in contrast, India’s existing national highway network is characterized by slow speeds, heavy congestion and low service levels. It is not only the Indian road network that has remained under-funded —almost all other infrastructure services remain, at present, far below the level required to sustain the economic growth needed to address pervasive poverty Important lessons learnt On Infrastructure developmentWhen it comes to roads, the important goals for future development of India’s road infrastructure are given as follows:- †¢ Upgrading the capacity and efficiency of existing infrastructure. †¢ Establishing total connectivity for an all-weather rural road network †¢ Developing a modally-balanced transport system, particularly in urban areas †¢ Co ntributing to a reduction in regional disparities †¢ Contributing to sub-regional economic cooperation †¢ Putting a much greater emphasis on safetyIn order to perform their tasks more effectively, these national, state, and local agencies must collectively overcome a number of structural challenges, many of which can only be solved through policy or institutional reform. At the broadest level, the most pressing issues fall under the categories of poorly defined bureaucratic structure/mission, insufficient accountability, poor asset/system management, and inadequate resource mobilization. These categories can be broken down into greater detail as follows:Poorly defined bureaucratic structure/mission †¢ Unclear or overlapping responsibilities, often with no agency in charge †¢ Multiple mandates including roads, buildings, and irrigation †¢ Absence of clear strategic goals, mission statements, performance indicators, or investment plans Insufficient accountabil ity †¢ Failure to separate policy and operational roles for clear accountability †¢ Not enough consultation with road users †¢ Failure to report all relevant information Failure to impose sanctions on poor performance †¢ Absence of independent bodies to verify information and assess performance †¢ Inappropriate evaluation techniques that are merely input-based, focusing solely on accounting for expenditures against the budget. †¢ Taking into consideration the physical or operational conditions of the actual road network. Poor asset/system management †¢ Inadequate attention to data collection and analysis in decision-making †¢ Excessive focus on new investment vs. maintenance Uneconomical investments made under political influence †¢ Lack of competition in procurement †¢ Need for leaner staffing with greater skill-set diversification †¢ Declining investments in transport relative to GDP †¢ Input from private finance still ve ry limited †¢ Need to make better use of user charges in the form of gas taxes or tolling Though these problems are daunting, agencies at various levels within the government have taken initial steps to address them in recent years. Within the central government, notable examples include: Increasing the level of public funding for transportation within the Five-Year Plans †¢ Creating the Central Road Fund (CRF) to finance road development and maintenance through an earmarked â€Å"cess† (tax) on diesel and gasoline †¢ Operationalizing the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to act as an infrastructure procurer rather than a provider †¢ Establishing the National Highways Development Project (NHDP) to upgrade the nationals major highway routes †¢ Amending the National Highway Act to expedite land acquisition, permit private participation in road financing, and allow for the tolling of public roads In addition to standard techniques, such as the issuance of state- and federally-backed bonds, more innovative public-private partnership arrangements have also been developed.Examples include BOTs (build-operate-transfer contracts, in which a private partnership builds and operates a facility for a fixed number of years, recouping its expenses plus a reasonable profit through tolling, before transferring the facility back to the state) and other forms of maintenance and operations concessions. Though there is an overwhelming recognition of the contribution of infrastructure in modern economies, the links between infrastructure and economic growth and poverty reduction is neither certain nor automatic. Infrastructure development results in improvements in productivity and in overall quality of life but the impact is still contextual.A study prepared jointly by three major development institutions—the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), and the World Bank (WB)—advocated that it is not enough to examine impacts of infrastructure without broadening and deepening the definition of poverty and economic growth. In the study, the impacts of infrastructure are seen to occur at three levels—first, through facilitating economic growth; second, through improving quality of life; and, finally, through enhancing broader social and economic capabilities. Nevertheless, manufacturing and exports have proven to be key drivers to economic performance of less developed and developing countries. Infrastructure provides connections to the global economy that are crucial for export competitiveness and manufacturing. China used infrastructure as a policy instrument and active political tool to reduce poverty and trigger growth.The Chinese government had a strategic vision that was combined with a sustained drive toward economic growth, which resulted in unprecedented growth, poverty reduction, and gains in efficiency, but at a cost of increased inequality and great r egional disparity. India started with a very rational approach of maintaining a balance between growth and distribution, but changed mid-course to a greater emphasis on redistribution. India learned the hard way that a greater emphasis on redistribution was not viable without robust and sustained growth. The resulting consequences were limited improvements in growth and poverty reduction with relatively little impact on income distribution.

Motorola’s Global Strategy

? Short description of the case For years Motorola and was among the world’s most successful consumer electronics firms. The firm then controlled the emerging U. S. market for cellular telephones and pagers but, like many other firms at the time, was a bit complacent and not aggressively focused on competing with the Japanese. Motorola has remained the exception: Today it is one of the world leaders in mobile communication technology, including the manufacture of cellular telephones, paging devices, automotive semiconductors, and microchips used to operate devices other than computers. Japanese firms began to flood the U. S. market with low-priced, high-quality telephones and pagers. Motorola was shoved into the background. Motorola then decided to fight back and regain the firm’s lost market position. This fight involved a two-part strategy: First learn from the Japanese and then compete with them. To carry out these strategies, executives set a number of broad-based goals that essentially committed the firm to lowering costs, improving quality, and regaining lost market share. Managers were sent on missions worldwide, but especially to Japan, to learn how to compete better. Motorola also try to achieve Six Sigma quality – which is become main strategy of Motorola. By using this strategy, Motorola try to achieve a perfection rate of 99. 9997%. When Motorola actually achieved this level of quality, it received the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. Motorola become success on its operations abroad, especially in Japan. It also generates over 56% of its revenues abroad. Problem identification of the case From the case, one of Motorola’s strategy in doing the business is expanse its business abroad. The firm then needs to concentrate on how to do its business abroad and what kind of strategies should be taken to achieve its goal. Motorola controlled the emerging U. S. market for cellular telephones and pagers. Motorola has also won many battles around the world in order to doing its business abroad. But, like many other firms at the time, was a bit complacent and not aggressively focused on competing with the Japanese. Motorola began to fall in its competition with Japanese. For that reason, Motorola have to find new strategies to win its battles, not only the competition with Japanese but also other countries that becomes Motorola’s target market. Formulation of problem solving In terms of finding the strategies to do the business, a company must first define its vision and mission. Economic success, indeed survival, is the result of identifying missions to satisfy a customer’s needs and wants. The organization’s mission defined as its purpose – what it will contribute to society. Mission statements provide boundaries and focus for organizations and the concept around which the firm can rally. The mission states the rationale for organization’s existence. Developing good strategy is difficult, but it is much easier if the mission has been well defined. Motorola also try to picture what their objectives to deal with the competition around Japanese and around the globe. Motorola’s fundamental objective is to attain total customer satisfaction. Others Motorola specific goals are to achieve competitive advantage by becoming the best in its class in terms of people, marketing, technology, product, manufacturing, and service, to increase global market share and to achieve superior financial results and improve shareholder value. Before arrived in the concept of strategies, a company should make an SWOT analysis. SWOT analysis consists of: Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats Motorola also build its SWOT analysis based on the market experiences. Motorola’s SWOT analysis comprise of: 1. Strengths Motorola is one of the world's leading providers of wireless communications, semiconductors and advanced electronic systems, components and services. Motorola is an inventor of technology and has first-mover advantage. In the early 1980s, Motorola controlled the emerging U. S. arket for wireless communication devices such as cellular telephones, pagers and high-frequency radios. Motorola maintains sales, service and manufacturing facilities throughout the world, conducts business on six continents and employs more than 139,000 people worldwide. Motorola is strongly committed to delivering customer satisfaction, continuous improvement, and setting new standards of quality. 2. Weaknesses Motorola maintained old strategies in doing business, was conservative and unambitious. Motorola was complacent in its leadership position in the U. S. market, and failed to aggressively compete with the emerging Japanese firms. 3. Opportunities Motorola can compete and expand globally. Information and communications technology is fast-paced, with new discoveries happening every minute. Motorola can match this speed of discovery with new and innovative product and technology development. 4. Threats Japanese electronics firms are heavy competitors in terms of cost and quality leadership. Barriers to entry, supplier power, threats of substitutes, degree of rivalry, and buyer power. After defined its mission and made a SWOT analysis of the company, then the company can start to create its strategies to do the business. Strategy is an organization’s action plan to achieve the mission. Each functional area has a strategy for achieving its mission and for helping the organization reach the overall mission. These strategies exploit opportunities and strengths, neutralize threats, and avoid weaknesses. Firms achieve missions in three conceptual ways: (1) differentiation, (2) cost leadership, and (3) response. Each of the three strategies provides an opportunity for operations managers to achieve competitive advantage. Competitive advantage implies the creation of a system that has a unique advantage over competitors. The idea is to create customer value in an efficient and sustainable way. These conceptual ways then develop into competitive priorities. Competitive priorities consist of: Competing on Cost by lowering cost operation Competing on quality High-Performance Design Consistent Quality Competing on Speed (Time-bases Competition) Fast Delivery On-Time Delivery Development Speed for new product Competing on Flexibility Customization Volume flexibility Motorola’s global strategies The first thing that Motorola’s managers want to do to conquer the competition with Japan is involved a two-part strategy: First learn from the Japanese and then compete with them. Managers were sent on missions worldwide, but especially to Japan, to learn how to compete better. The sending of the managers was divided into three categories, first, plant visit and study of successful Japanese firms such as Toshiba and Hitachi, second, study Motorola’s own Japanese operations to learn more fully how it functioned, third, plant visit and study of U. S. est-practice companies such as General Electric. The lessons that the managers took from this investigation are first, Motorola should adopt and invest in employee education and training. Motorola should not only send employees to limited quality-enhancement training, but must recognize that employees need a broader form of education to ensure that they can initiate and implement effective quality planning and design, and th ereby meet company objectives. From a narrow emphasis on specific quality techniques, Motorola should focus on manufacturing-related education. Management should consider partnering with local schools and colleges in providing courses ranging from practical technical application, to business courses, to graduate work in computer-integrated manufacturing. Second, Motorola should implement a benchmarking program using American and Japanese best-practices. Motorola must know what levels of quality its products must achieve to top its competitors. Each of the firm's business units must implement benchmarking programs that analyze all aspects of a competitor's products to assess manufacturability, reliability, manufacturing cost, and performance. Motorola must also measure the products of other companies against its own standards to verify that whether its own products rank as best in their class. Third, Motorola should adopt the Defective-Parts-Per-Million (DPPM) approach to determine product reliability. From the lessons learned from the Japanese, Motorola should institute the Defective-Parts-Per-Million, or DPPM product reliability standard. DPPM can be defined as the average number of defects in an average production run multiplied by one million. From these lessons, Motorola take some key initiatives to achieve its objectives and to gain the competitive advantage. The key initiatives are: Six Sigma Quality Six sigma was pioneered by Bill Smith at Motorola in 1986; originally used as a metric for measuring defects for improving quality; a methodology to reduce defect levels ; 3. 4 Defects Per Million Opportunities (DPMO). Motorola divided six sigma into three levels, as a metric, as a methodology, and as a management system. Essentially, Six Sigma is all three at the same time. Total cycle time reduction Total cycle time is the time from when a Motorola customer places an order until it is delivered. In fact, in the case of new products, Motorola's cycle-time reduction is even more ambitious; the clock starts ticking the moment the product is conceived. This calls for an examination of the total system, including design, manufacturing, marketing, and administration. Product, Manufacturing and Environmental Leadership Motorola try to be the leader in all segments in order to win the battles of competing with its competitors and to emerge the market around the globe. Motorola try to achieve it by doing customization and put some innovation to its product. The flexibility in doing the business also applied in order to be the leader of the market. Profit Improvement The company has been implementing Six Sigma throughout the organization for over 15 years, extending the practice beyond manufacturing into transactional, support, and service functions. As a result, Motorola has documented over $16 billion in savings. Empowerment for all, in a Participative, Cooperative and Creative Workplace All levels of the company are involved in decision making process. Non-executive employees contribute directly through Motorola's Participative Management Program (PMP). Composed of employees who work in the same area or are assigned to achieve a specific aim, PMP teams meet often to assess progress toward meeting quality goals, to identify new initiatives, and to work on problems. To reward high-quality work, savings that stem from team recommendations are shared. Motorola also do the training as critical to increasing quality and productivity. Motorola’s strategy takes us to its competitive priorities. The primary business strategy of Motorola is six sigma. Motorola try to improve its product quality by reducing the defect levels of the product ; 3. Defects Per Million Opportunities (DPMO). The improvement of quality means that Motorola try to compete in quality among its competitors. Another strategy of Motorola is reducing its total cycle time. This strategy also supported by six sigma approach which is six sigma help to diminish unimportant variables in operations. By reducing its total cycle time, Motorola also try to compete on speed. R educing its total cycle time will affect its cost to operations. Furthermore, six sigma approach means try to achieve perfection of product quality. By eliminating the mistakes, it also reduces the costs to operations. By lowering its cost operation, Motorola also try to compete on cost. Motorola also try to compete on flexibility by customization and able to adapt with trends over the society. Motorola began customizing their Bandit pager in the early 1980s, to offer customers up to 29 million product combinations encompassing hardware and software configurations. Production was consolidated in one factory whereas before the project it had been divided among a number of facilities. Customers select their options and a salesperson enters the specification into a computer system. It is then transmitted to the company systems and on to the assembly process. The facility could accept orders for single pagers in any sequence. The finished product was then shipped to the customer. Conclusions In order to expanse its business, Motorola use its goal concept and SWOT analysis to define its business strategy to compete around the globe, especially Japanese. Motorola try to learn from the Japanese and then compete with them. From the lessons over the managers sending option, Motorola build its key initiatives in order to do its business. The primary key initiative which is its current strategy in competition around the globe is Six Sigma. Other key initiatives are total cycle time reduction, product, manufacturing and environmental leadership, profit improvement, empowerment for all, in a participative, cooperative and creative workplace. Answer the case problem 1. What are the components of Motorola’s international strategy? Answer: 1)Learning from the Japanese 2)Competing directly with them Six Sigma Quality Total Cycle Time Reduction Product, Manufacturing and Environmental Leadership Profit Improvement Empowerment for all, in a Participative, Cooperative and Creative Workplace The first thing that Motorola’s managers want to do to conquer the competition with Japan is involved a two-part strategy: First learn from the Japanese and then compete with them. Managers were sent on missions worldwide, but especially to Japan, to learn how to compete better. The sending of the managers was divided into three categories, first, plant visit and study of successful Japanese firms such as Toshiba and Hitachi, second, study Motorola’s own Japanese operations to learn more fully how it functioned, third, plant visit and study of U. S. best-practice companies such as General Electric. From these lessons, Motorola take some key initiatives to achieve its objectives and to gain the competitive advantage. The key initiatives are: Six Sigma Quality Six sigma was pioneered by Bill Smith at Motorola in 1986; originally used as a metric for measuring defects for improving quality; a methodology to reduce defect levels ; 3. 4 Defects Per Million Opportunities (DPMO). Motorola divided six sigma into three levels, as a metric, as a methodology, and as a management system. Essentially, Six Sigma is all three at the same time. Total cycle time reduction Total cycle time is the time from when a Motorola customer places an order until it is delivered. In fact, in the case of new products, Motorola's cycle-time reduction is even more ambitious; the clock starts ticking the moment the product is conceived. This calls for an examination of the total system, including design, manufacturing, marketing, and administration. Product, Manufacturing and Environmental Leadership Motorola try to be the leader in all segments in order to win the battles of competing with its competitors and to emerge the market around the globe. Motorola try to achieve it by doing customization and put some innovation to its product. The flexibility in doing the business also applied in order to be the leader of the market. Profit Improvement The company has been implementing Six Sigma throughout the organization for over 15 years, extending the practice beyond manufacturing into transactional, support, and service functions. As a result, Motorola has documented over $16 billion in savings. Empowerment for all, in a Participative, Cooperative and Creative Workplace All levels of the company are involved in decision making process. Non-executive employees contribute directly through Motorola's Participative Management Program (PMP). Composed of employees who work in the same area or are assigned to achieve a specific aim, PMP teams meet often to assess progress toward meeting quality goals, to identify new initiatives, and to work on problems. To reward high-quality work, savings that stem from team recommendations are shared. Motorola also do the training as critical to increasing quality and productivity. 2. Describe how Motorola might have arrived at its current strategy as a result of a SWOT analysis! Answer: Motorola controlled the emerging U. S. market for cellular telephones and pagers. Motorola has also won many battles around the world in order to doing its business abroad. But, like many other firms at the time, was a bit complacent and not aggressively focused on competing with the Japanese. Motorola began to fall in its competition with Japanese. Motorola first try to picture what their objectives to deal with the competition around Japanese and around the globe. Before arrived in the concept of strategies, a company made an SWOT analysis. From this SWOT analysis, Motorola tried to find a new way to regain the firm’s lost market position. The first thing that Motorola’s managers want to do to conquer the competition with Japan is involved a two-part strategy: First learn from the Japanese and then compete with them. Managers were sent on missions worldwide, but especially to Japan, to learn how to compete better. The sending of the managers was divided into three categories, first, plant visit and study of successful Japanese firms such as Toshiba and Hitachi, second, study Motorola’s own Japanese operations to learn more fully how it functioned, third, plant visit and study of U. S. best-practice companies such as General Electric. The lessons that the managers took from this investigation are Motorola should adopt and invest in employee education and training, Motorola should implement a benchmarking program using American and Japanese best-practices, and finally Motorola should adopt the Defective-Parts-Per-Million (DPPM) approach to determine product reliability. From these lessons, Motorola take some key initiatives to achieve its objectives and to gain the competitive advantage. The primary key initiative which is its current strategy in competition around the globe is Six Sigma. 3. Discuss Motorola’s primary business strategy! Answer: Motorola’s primary business strategy is Six Sigma. Six Sigma has evolved over the last two decades and so has its definition. Six Sigma has literal, conceptual, and practical definitions. Motorola think about Six Sigma at three different levels: As a metric The term â€Å"Sigma† is often used as a scale for levels of â€Å"goodness† or quality. Using this scale, â€Å"Six Sigma† equates to 3. 4 defects per one million opportunities (DPMO). Therefore, Six Sigma started as a defect reduction effort in manufacturing and was then applied to other business processes for the same purpose. To give such numbers meaning, the engineers at Motorola set up a scale to evaluate the quality of a process based on these defect calculations. At the top of the scale is Six Sigma, which equates to 3. 4 DPMO, or 99. 9997% defect-free. In other words, if a company have a process running at Six Sigma, the company almost eliminated all defects , it's nearly perfect. Of course, most processes don't run at Six Sigma. They run at Five Sigma, Four Sigma or worse. Here's the table that shows full scale to get an appreciation of the numbers involved: The process mean will vary each time a process is executed using different equipment, different personnel, different materials, etc. The observed variation in the process mean was  ± 1. 5 sigma. Motorola decided a design tolerance (specification width) of  ± 6 sigma was needed so that there will be only 3. 4 ppm defects — measurements outside the design tolerance. This was defined as Six Sigma quality. As a methodology As Six Sigma has evolved, there has been less emphasis on the literal definition of 3. 4 DPMO, or counting defects in products and processes. Six Sigma is a business improvement methodology that focuses an organization on: Understanding and managing customer requirements Aligning key business processes to achieve those requirements Utilizing rigorous data analysis to minimize variation in those processes Driving rapid and sustainable improvement to business processes At the heart of the methodology is the DMAIC model for process improvement. DMAIC is commonly used by Six Sigma project teams and is an acronym for: Define opportunity The purpose of this step is to obtain a precise definition of a problem or issue that requires attention. The key here is not to focus on the outcome (which is what most people generally do), but to concentrate company’s attention on the process that creates that outcome. This often requires detailed process mapping to be done so that all the stages in a process, how they link together and how they interrelate, are fully understood. Define opportunity consist of try to know he customer’s requirements, the team charter represents the business case for the project, define and build a process map that relates measurable internal processes to customer needs. Measure performance Once the problem and its potential causes are understood, the company can move on to detailed measurement of all the elements in the process and what influence they have on each other. During this step it is important to focus on the parts of the process that are critical to quality – the ones that can be shown to have the greatest impact on the process outcomes. This step may also require some benchmarking to find parts of your business, or perhaps other businesses these maybe competitors or organisations in other sectors) that manage this process better. Ideally the company will find the best there is to study and learn from. Analyze opportunity Having gathered all the necessary measurements the company can then analyze them to establish how well or poorly the process is working, it’s full detrimental impact on the organization, the opportunities for improvement and the benefits that would result if it were improved. This analysis will show the gap between what is being achieved and what could be achieved, where improvements might be made and whether the investment needed would be justified by the return. Improve performance The information gathered and analyzed in the previous steps will have pinpointed where the maximum returns are possible for the minimum investments. This is therefore where the efforts are focused to ensure that the process is improved in the precise areas and in the specific ways that will have the greatest impact on the outcomes. Control performance This step is needed to ensure that all gains made will remain as gains and will not be allowed to slip back. The purpose is to lock in your success through on-going monitoring and control processes that will guarantee no eversion to the previous, poor results. As a management system Through experience, Motorola has learned that disciplined use of metrics and application of the methodology is still not enough to drive desired breakthrough improvements and results that are sustainable over time. For greatest impact, Motorola ensures that process metrics and structured methodology are applied to improvement opportunities that are directly linked to the organizational strategy. When practiced as a management system, Six Sigma is a high performance system for executing business strategy. Six Sigma is a top-down solution to help organizations: Align their business strategy to critical improvement efforts Mobilize teams to attack high impact projects Accelerate improved business results Govern efforts to ensure improvements are sustained The Six Sigma Management System drives clarity around the business strategy and the metrics that most reflect success with that strategy. It provides the framework to prioritize resources for projects that will improve the metrics, and it leverages leaders who will manage the efforts for rapid, sustainable, and improved business results. References Heizer, Jay & Render, Barry, Operations Management, Eight Edition, The Prentice Hall, 2006. Pande, Peter S, Neuman, Robert P, & Cavanagh, Roland R, The Six Sigma Way: How GE, Motorola, and Other Top Companies are Honing Their Performance, McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc, 2000. Pyzdek, Thomas, The Six Sigma Project Planner: A Step-by-Step Guide to Leading a Six Sigma Project Through DMAIC, McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc, 2000. http://www. motorola. com/ http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Motorola http://www. trizsigma. com/six. html http://www. brecker. com/six_sigma. htm

Networks and The Tokugawa Period Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Networks and The Tokugawa Period - Essay Example This put the Japanese society at the same development level with the European societies of that time. Although the governance in Japan then was full of corruption, inequality and lack of justice, Iceman argues that the network revolution that came during this time led to the improved forms of transport and communication improving trade and economic activities of the area. It also improved freedom and general interaction between people from different backgrounds bringing about unity. Depicting evidence from the books â€Å"Proving the Way conflict and practice in the history of Japanese Nativism†, by Mark McNally and â€Å"Bonds of Civility Aesthetic Networks and the Political Origins of Japanese Culture†, by Eiko Ikegami we discover that one of the networks important to the Tokugawa people was the aesthetic horizantal network. This aesthetic horizontal network culminated from the fields of art and also in the political world in the Tokugawa era. These horizontal network s were associated with seated arts (Za), Linked Verse (renga). For example, linked verse events, occasions and ceremonies were carried out in the shade of cherry blossoms (hana no moto renga). This gatherings were considered sacred and and therefore were linked with their higher deities. Another important network was the vertical networks which were in harmony with the belief of muen. This allowed people who had different social standings in the Japanese society or individuals from varying social classes to gather together and partake in poetry sessions with no special treatment being offered to anyone. Another good example of these vertical networks was the popularity of the wild, unbounded and radical dancing that was practiced by these Japanese people which were orchestrated by sanctified madness known as (Kuruu). This dancing through vertical networks had spread through the Japanese community due to the vertical networks.In 1603, Tokugawa defeated his adversaries and he started an empire which prolonged till 1868. Over 260 years, peace has prevailed in japan, whereby lhe started Edo, which marked the beginning of Kanto. Tokugawa regime reigned supreme via complex unions having 250 lords, some closely related to Tokugawa. Each retained its own cities and as a rule, some cities maintained a high caliber, of socio-economic and heritage autonomy. In town areas, various cultures and trends sprung up such as sumo wrestling, geisha entertainers, and karate and kabuki drama that all originated from urbanization hence making the japan towns to be at an advantage over the Europeans in development, but still yet japan were short of political prowess in accordance to their socio-economic and heritage gains. Within the horizontal and vertical networks people practiced poetry, theatre, painting, Ikebana, tea making, Bonsai, poetry in form of Joruri, calligraphy and music. During this period, their practices were lesser subjected to beliefs and religion. Their practices were not based on their religion and their belief in spirit sand magic as it was with their predecessors. In the Tokugawa aesthetic network they practiced a lot of arts. Artists began to commercialize their practice whereby they sharpened their skills and began to make money out of their works. This was due to the commercialization of various activities during this period. Tokugawa social dynasties and social quo started

The Truth about the U.S. Involvement in the Vietnam War Research Paper

The Truth about the U.S. Involvement in the Vietnam War - Research Paper Example The ideologies of Marxism-Leninism provided Mao Zedong, Brezhnev, Khrushchev, Stalin, Ho a shared goal in pursuing revolutionary changes all over the world. Hence, the Cold War was â€Å"a world war†¦ in which the future governance of the international system was at stake, and in which the great powers opposing the United States and its allies were the moral equivalent of Nazi Germany† (Moore & Turner 2002, 440). The war in Vietnam actually started because the USSR did not attempt to provoke the United States. Yet, in the less developed countries (LDCs), Moscow could hide its operations and still carry out its plans. The fame of Ho as a fervent supporter of independence, alongside Mao’s eagerness to support him, established Vietnam as an especially advantageous chance (Moore & Turner 2002). Therefore, this was a conflict that the Americans could barely have prevented, that is, to have stayed detached would have created a major pro-USSR repositioning in global polit ics. It is the argument of this paper that the Vietnam War is justified, yet it was dealt with in wrongly. Lyndon Johnson relied greatly on military commanders whose tactic of finding out and annihilating adversaries, rather than guaranteeing the safety of civilians, generated more fatalities than outcomes. As an obvious result, support from the Congress and the general public has weakened. Broadening the disagreement would simply have made everything more unpleasant, as, current Chinese documents reveal, Mao planned to get involved (Capps 1991). The sole possible option was for the Americans to give up the war, as stated by Jennings (2010), so as to sustain the American national political agreement in support of the Cold War. Triumph was not the issue. What was required was an attempt to prove that the Americans would protect and support its allies in the developing world, to guarantee prospective targets of the expansionist mission of Moscow that the U.S. would not leave them. However by persisting with the conflict until a total disintegration of national determination and a mortifying departure, the governments of Nixon and Ford promoted Soviet antagonism throughout the latter part of the 1970s (Neu 2005), a development repealed when Reagan reinstated the nation to a policy of rendering its dedications trustworthy once more. It is a well-known fact today that Ho, Mao, and Stalin rendezvous in 1950 in Moscow to formulate the line of attack for an ultimate occupation of Indochina (Jennings 2010). It is known that North Vietnam has better or larger support from China and USSR than assumed beforehand: the anti-aircraft squads of Russia in fact attacked American soldiers in Vietnam, and it was documented that there were roughly 170,000 combatants of China on its area (Moore & Turner 2002). It is known that the North Vietnamese were not at all actually solemn about an agreed resolution, and that their allegedly independent Viet Cong friends were actually their dummie s. It has been recounted that South Vietnamese and Americans had no control over the exercise of bloodshed (Jennings 2010): The North Vietnamese were simply as awful, and the Khmer Rouge were obviously much more dreadful. Nevertheless, some historians failed to explain why the integrity of the United States

Nursing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Nursing - Assignment Example Although there has been an influx in RNs born in foreign countries and nurses over the age of 50 returning to work, the fact is younger Americans do not consider joining the nursing profession. This presents policymakers with a big dilemma. It is a fact that the current staffing ratios and patient staffing requirement are inadequate. This paper will review this statement.  In a research jointly funded by the AHRQ, the Center for Medicare and Medical Services, the Institute of Nursing Research, and the Health Recourses and Service Administration done in 1993, over six million medical and surgical patients were reviewed. According to this research, it was found that in the 799 hospitals researched, higher RN staffing was inversely proportional to the adverse patient outcome and vice versa (Hospital nurse staffing, 2013). In addition, the probability of failure to rescue was higher in hospitals that had lower nurse staffing levels. Based on these findings, adverse patient events like pneumonia in hospitals with lower RNs to patient ration were associated with a bigger financial burden. For instance, the cost of treating pneumonia increased by between around $22,390 to $28,505 for the target audience researched. In line with this research, it is a fact that, the current staffing ratios in our hospitals must be addressed not only to preserve or increase the quality of life of patients.

To Organize or Not to Organize Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

To Organize or Not to Organize - Research Paper Example Not only this, but, the company also help supply oil and transmission outlets, car dealers, firms in tucking, industrial sites, generators, gas pumps, garages and maritime vessels. The company is one of the biggest producers of oil in United States and enjoys a good reputation within the industry and their revenue and growth percent has also increased around 80% over the last three year, hence no proposing any need for a unionized employees. However, conditions in a growing corporation seldom remain the same and at one point or another scenarios and situation rises, which calls for the formation of a labor union within the company. However, for the past three years that I am working in this firm, I have seen some negative aspect of working conditions for the labors when recycling the used oil or transporting them to different retailers. Furthermore, few of the cases with my fellow employees have surfaced in the organization, but to my surprise no action or corrective measures were taken considering that this firm is one of the respected oil companies. Upon researching solely and contacting other major trade unions in field of Oil extracting and reproducing tha t having a unionized employee within a firm is essentially required before taking any huge step. Therefore, I am interested and have taken the responsibility of initiating a unionized employee to make the working condition for the employees a better one. As a union labor within the corporation will ensure that the proposals put forward by the employees are not being rendered inconvenient or useless. Similarly, this will empower the employee to so that the one who are timid or unable to stand up for them can have a platform to speak out their mind, besides the threat of controversy always works in favor of the employees (Fossum, 2006). The first situation that smoke of something unpleasant, arise in the recycling part of the corporation.

Effective negotiation skills Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Effective negotiation skills - Essay Example (Lewicki and Hiam, 2006, p. 42) In business situations we very often know when a negotiation situation is likely to happen and this allows us to gather information both on our own position and that of the other party. It is very important to have clear what the goal of the negotiation is. People often forget this, and get trapped into winning the argument for its own sake, without considering whether all the effort is going to bring the desired results in the end. In fact there may be times when winning the argument is not the best outcome: â€Å"There is no value in driving the best deal if it causes resentment and a desire for revenge that will sour business and could cost you more in the future than you could have saved in the short term.† (Steele and Beasor: 1999). It is wise also to consider what the alternatives would be if this proposed deal is not successfully resolved. A company which has many different suppliers, all offering good products at competitive prices will not need to bargain so hard with one particular customer because the fall back position is to go elsewhere. This means that before going in to a negotiation situation we should weigh up how strong our own position is in this respect, and try to figure out how much the other party needs and wants to make this agreement. In the opening phase of a negotiation it is important to try and build a good relationship with the other party and make the discussions pleasant and polite. In personal situations, however, this can be quite difficult at times. In my own personal life, for example, I recall having a very difficult discussion with my parents about going on holiday with my friends. I was in a weak position, because I desperately wanted to go, but relied on my parents for a part of the money, since I was still a teenager with only a part time job which did not pay well. My parents took, in my view, a very hard line and said that I was too young to go on holiday without supervision and t hey refused to give their permission. At the time I got angry and this started a huge family row. I told them that I felt they were old fashioned, out of date, and had fascist rules which were unfair to me. Due to the influence of my sister, who was, and still is, smarter about human relationships, I realized that my parents actually did not want to cause me pain, but were worried about my safety driving south in my friend’s car, and a possible bad influence from a particular boy in my circle of friends. I followed my sister’s advice, apologized to my parents about the outburst, and explained that this was important for me as a step towards independence. My parents clarified their concerns, and I told them, truthfully that the boy they were concerned about was not going on the holiday. They agreed to support my holiday, and I agreed to keep away from drugs and to telephone home every three days. My mistake in this negotiation was in demanding rather than asking, in an aggressive way, and in failing to establish what the reason for my parents’ objections were. I also failed, at first, to understand where my parents were coming from: â€Å"We must start a negotiation thinking about the pictures in the heads of the other party† (Diamond, 2010, p.135). Once I had understood their fears, the facts were clarified and a more respectful tone was adopted, we each put

ConocoPhillips Internal Business Analysis Essay

ConocoPhillips Internal Business Analysis - Essay Example ConocoPhillips Corporation was founded in 1875 as Continental Oil and Transportation Co. which at that time was one of the first Petroleum makers (ConocoPhillips, 2007). The company has grown a lot in 132 years and in 2006 it had annual sales of over $188 billion, operates in over 40 countries and employees nearly 38,000 people. It is a publicly traded fortune 500 company that has achieved tremendous growth during the 21st century. Its main line of business includes petroleum production and refining, natural gas, chemicals and plastics. The company is recognized worldwide for its technological expertise, deepwater exploration and production, reservoir management and exploitation, 3D seismic technology, high-grade petroleum coke upgrading and sulfur removal (ConocoPhillips, 2007). The company has a very strong crude oil, natural gases and liquid gases operation. It is its strongest line of business. In 2006 the company produced 976,000 barrel of crude oil per day (DB), 4.97 billion cubic feet of gas per day (BCFC), and 136,000 DB of gas liquids daily (Annual Report, 2007). The company has a competitive advantage in this market because they control all sides of the supply chain. They explore, produce, refine, distribute and market the product. They have great logistics which is helped by its physical presence in 40 nations. They own 69.5 million net developed and underdeveloped acres of land in 23 countries for production and exploration purposes (Annual Report, 2007). ConocoPhillips Corporation extended its market share in the natural gases market by acquiring Burlington Resources. The move was also extremely beneficial because it allowed the company to gain access to life-long reserve of natural gases in the North American market. The company has some weakness and faces certain threats related to industry conditions. As a publicly traded company ConocoPhillips Corporation has lost access to direct foreign investments funds

Femininity in the modern art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Femininity in the modern art - Essay Example For many years, painting has been considered as a form of art that is used for recreational purposes. The modern era, however, uses paintings a form of communication. People now use paintings as a form of expressing their views regarding certain societal issues that are of much concern. These emergences of new uses of paintings are regarded as the modernity of paintings. A good example of issues that have been greatly discussed by the use of paintings is femininity. For instance, Clark argues on the factors that might have been responsible for the options of modernity that eventually became to be regarded as the Manet territory. This case proves to the audience that artists have various impressions of their paintings. All that matters is the intended message and the target audience. This case also means that every painter has his or her own target audience. Femininity can be associated with the responsibilities that are often regarded as being directed to women. Therefore, some artis tic impressions can be associated to women. Female artists also have a say in the artistic world. For many years, men have been associated with performing various arts, as opposed to women. Therefore, it is time that the women in the society come out and show their ability in almost everything that men seem to outshine them in. good modernity examples that women would address in their pieces of art include modern life, the public modern, the issue of men and women involvement in the private sphere, and women and gaze.

Scrutiny of Property as an Investment Class Essay

Scrutiny of Property as an Investment Class - Essay Example Risk is a calculation of what is anticipated to occur but not what is really happening. Investment determinations nevertheless need the inference of an unidentified future return, which is known as expected return. Since there is a series of probable results there is no assurance that the estimation will be accurate, but it is the most excellent likely evaluation. The increase of allocation of anticipated returns about the entire expected mean estimation is typically calculated by the standard deviation (), or its square, the variance (2), and this is the typical risk measure. When assets are pooled in a portfolio, the anticipated return is a subjective mean of the individual asset's predictable return. The weights are the ratios of these assets accommodated in the portfolio. The portfolio risk is composite. The portfolio risk reckons not only on the weights and the individual chances but also on the correlativity between the assets. The correlation coefficient, , assesses joint moves between the two variables and how they vary jointly. The rate can differ from -1.0 to +1.0, even though for majority of the variables, the correlation coefficient lies between these two valu... The threat of the portfolio is the weighted mean of the risks of the assets in the portfolio. When the relationship is -1.0, the return are absolutely negative correlated which means that with the increase or decrease in the value of one variable the other variable will move in the opposite proportions. The correlation coefficient for assets without any correlation at all is zero (Perold, 2004). According to Hoesli, M., and MacGregor, B. D., (2000), "the first stage was to compute the expected return and risk of each individual asset and to use these to calculate the portfolio expected return and risk from all possible combination of weights, using both linear programming and investing." In reality, no two assets can ever be completely correlated as their income is impacted by diverse factors. When all of the correlations are fully correlated, the risk is constantly less than the weighted mean. In this event, some of the risk from one asset can be counterbalanced to an extent by the other asset, so that the standard deviation of the portfolio always remains lesser than the mean risk of the weighted average of the standard deviation of each item. This is the foundation of variegation and portfolio creation. The quantity by which risk is cut down reckons on the correlations among the assets. The lesser the correlation is between rent and capital gains on different assets the further away the correlation will be from +1 resulting in greater profits of variegation. Consequently, investors who hold a broadened portfolio with not completely correlated assets could get rid of the risk linked with the individual assets. According to Brown, Keith C. and Frank K. Reilly,

Megger’s Article Response Essay Example for Free

Megger’s Article Response Essay Betty J. Meggers article, Environmental Limitation on the Development of Culture, examines how environmental habitats directly affect and influence culture. Meggers discusses the differing environmental types and its resulting effect on the people and their cultural development. Her theoretical framework is grounded on the idea that the relationship between culture and its environment is not only based in terms of subsistence (802), but largely to a culture’s experience with diffusion (822). Diffusion can best be defined as a process in which a cultural trait, idea, or behavior is spread from one society to another. While she does believe that the relative strength or weakness of an environment to provide a suitable means for food production affects the adaptation and advancement of a culture, she also believes that cultural diffusion plays a vital role as well. According to Meggers, the general belief is that environmental potentiality is the sole conditioner of cultural development (801). The span of environmental habitats into classified into 4 environmental types, ranging from Type 1 environments, which have the least agricultural potential, to Type 4 environments, which have unlimited agricultural potential. Meggers does generally seem to agree that the environmental type can set limitations on the level of development a culture is able to obtain (816). Because Type 1 environments have the least agricultural potential, tribes must subsist mainly by hunting, fishing, and gathering. Cultures that live in Type 1 environments are relatively small in population size and tend to lead more of a nomadic lifestyle, a necessary part of life because they must continually follow their food source. As a result, their existence is noticeably simplistic because their primary focus is on satisfying only their very basic needs such as shelter and food. This type of environment results in a culture where social organization and technology is very limited in scope. The nomadic lifestyle necessitates that tribes remain relatively small, therefore making the single family the basic social unit. Additionally, technology remains limited to only the most essential tools and utensils due to the limited resources available. According to Meggers, Type 1 and Type 2 environments seem to prohibit cultural advancement because of the limitations imposed on a culture by the environment and the general lack of a suitable source of diffusion. Conversely, Type 4 environments have unlimited agricultural potential because they possess all the ideal conditions necessary for sustaining agriculture. Meggers calls Type 4 environments the â€Å"cradles of civilization† (804) because of their ability to develop and implement the technology necessary to sustain an agriculturally based lifestyle. Type 4 environments are typified by their complex social organization and cultural advancements. Meggers states that Type 4 civilizations are elaborate due to their intensive production of food and the necessary means of distribution. However, Meggers also believes that success of Type 3 and Type 4 environments to advance culturally is also heavily influenced by diffusion across cultures, or a cultures relative exposure and adoption of differing cultural norms, beliefs, and behaviors.

The relationship between verbal and non-verbal behaviour

The relationship between verbal and non-verbal behaviour The most promising research methodology for studying the relationship between nonverbal and verbal behaviour Three decades ago there was practically no scientific work done on nonverbal behaviour, except some rare cases of research. However, nowadays research on the relation between nonverbal and verbal behaviour seems to be widespread across different disciplines such as clinical, social or linguistic psychology. This is mirrored by the fact that fundamental studies and achievements have been attained within this field of research. The incredible fast speed of books being published and journal articles being written about body language and actual language reflects both the high amount of interest of the general public and scientists into this area and the great engagement and devotion of researchers involved (Rimà ©, 1985). The present brief paper will focus on presenting research methodologies which have proved to be most promising for the investigation of non-linguistic and linguistic speech. One particular research methodology cannot be pointed out as currently there are different vali d and reliable ways of investigating into this matter. Before outlining possible methodologies for investigating the speech, body language relationship it is useful to consider the study field’s research history. It was Charles Darwin (1872) who pioneered hundred years ago in writing about unconsciously processed non-linguistic communication and in outlining the particular emotional nonverbal expressions and reactions of the human and animal body. Surprisingly, Darwin was back then certain about the now acknowledged fact that emotional body responses stem from the nervous system’s activity and are operating inside the unconscious awareness of mammals. He also observed that emotional expressions evolved due to the aim of species to survive through increasing group collectivism and guarding the offspring from enemies. Additionally, he promoted that a wide number of the nonverbal expressions of emotions were innate and not learned. This theory found supported by observations of children born blind who socially interact through clapping, smiling and laughing in spite of the fact they cannot perceive the reactions of others. The observation of animals, however demonstrated that there are di fferent kinds of nonverbal expressions which accompany language with some being semantic content while others target at evoking appropriate nonverbal and verbal responses in others (Eibl-Eibesfeldt, 1980). The friendly smile of humans has, for instance, been found to be a potential control mechanism against aggressive behaviours in others by being a potential invitation for direct social interaction. Face-to-face eye contact, on the other hand, often results in aggressive behaviour since it is perceived as a threat. One can already realise that with the help of the above mentioned findings the relationship between body language and actual language can be scientifically analysed simply by observing species interact (Pally, 2001). The actual scientific interest into this topic, however, commenced with the beginning of the 20th century, and with having a heavy focus on facial expressions. Anthropologists came to the conclusion that nonverbal communication does not appear by chance but is both learned like a language and while language is learned. Sapir (1949) for instance noted that one reacts to others’ body language â€Å"in accordance with an elaborate code that is written nowhere, known by none, and understood by all† (p. 533). Nonetheless, did not make any systematic or scientific efforts in order to enlighten the relationship between linguistic and non-linguistic â€Å"speech† any further. Ekman (1975), Scheflen (1964, 1972, 1973), Hall (1966), were among those scientists who began with scientific research into body language. As a matter of fact, their effort was not valued by many but received with utter criticism and mockery. Since then, however, some accepted methodologies have bee n devised in order to investigate the relationship between speech and nonverbal communication and Davis (1971), for example, wrote that, in fact, psychiatry, ethology, psychology, anthropology and sociology are the five disciplines dealing nowadays with non-linguistic communication. She noted as well that those interested in the study of body motion (kinesics) usually prefer the so-called systems approach over others as â€Å"communication cannot be studied a unit at a time† but it â€Å"is an integrated system† that â€Å"must be analysed as a whole†. Therefore, one can conclude again that the way of observing humans or animals in naturalistic or experimental settings is an effective approach to decide over the relationship between spoken language and body language (Sielski, 1979). Cheney and Seyfarth’s (1990) naturalistic experiments can serve as support for this notion as they successfully investigated monkeys in their natural habitat and demonstrated that a monkey’s specific alarming vocal call triggers the fleeing of peers and thus implies that the behavioural reaction is related to the situational and not semantic context of the alarm signal. Dixon and colleagues’ (1989) observations on humans, can serve as another support for the fact that through simply observing and analysing how individuals act and react verbally and nonverbally one can come to scientifically sound conclusions. They found that body movements signalling discomfort and distress are often aimed at provoking comfort eliciting behaviours in others (Pally, 2001). Another stem of research concentrates on the relation between neuronal brain activity and nonverbal-verbal communication. It has been found, with the help of neuroscience, for example that both the tendency of mother’s and their children to maintain stability (homeostasis) and a majority of their social interaction develops through nonverbal communication. Limbic components of the brain mediate the initiation and influence of nonverbal cues while manipulating, the autonomous nervous system, neurotransmitters, and hormone levels. As a consequence since the delivery of a child, the mother nonverbally interacts with her offspring through all senses and sensory systems (tactile, olfactory, visual, motor, and auditory systems). Language becomes inextricably linked to nonverbal cues as is developed and integrated within the manifested nonverbal communication rituals, rules and habits of mother-infant interaction. Later on, the body language becomes, in fact, more sophisticated and develops parallel to actual language (Sigman Ruskin, 1999). In addition to that, the neurological based methodology successfully demonstrated with the help of patients suffering from brain lesions that the right hemisphere is designed for nonverbal communication whereas speech and verbal communication can be attributed to the left brain hemisphere. Henry (1993), for example, revealed that individuals suffering from impaired right brain hemispheres could not anymore decode nonverbal cues while patients suffering from strokes in the left hemisphere could not anymore articulate themselves verbally. Ekman (1990, 1993, 1997) is another well-known researcher who utilised the so-called Facial Action Coding System (FACS) in order to record and analyse facial expressions and movements through the objective and unobtrusive. The FACS was only recently (Ekman, 1994; Ekman et al., 2002) updated and can be described as the successor of the objective but intrusive electromyography technique which was used by Izard (1979, 1982). There are other widely accept ed facial expression recording devices such as Katsikitis Pilowsky’s (1988) FACEM, which monitors facial expressions with the help of twelve different distances between key points on the face. The most advance laboratory based work on nonverbal expressions was, however, conducted by Reisenzein (2000) who successfully minimised preceding technical limitations and problems and investigated the consistency of 4 elements of surprise such as participants’ facial expression, self-report of surprise, cognitive appraisal of the stimulus as unexpected, and reaction time to surprise (Russell et al., 2003). Hence, studies on nonverbal communication are nowadays managed by using more and more sophisticated investigation techniques. As a matter of fact, advancement in discovering scientifically grounded relationships between one’s speech and body language are strongly correlated to the status of progress and perfection of the methods utilised for assessing, analysing and recording behaviours of interest. Consequently, usage of coders, observers, decoders and raters, are inevitable components in the study of nonverbal behaviours (Fichten et al, 1992). Therefore, there is great emphasis on making sure that the appropriate research methodology is applied and researchers are nowadays required to be technical experts in filming, videotaping and audio-taping of participants. Most researchers within this field agree that in order to successfully investigate the interactive nonverbal and verbal communication one must either use naturalistic or ethological approaches. As a consequence and as a downside, the researcher is often doomed to watch or listen carefully for an incredible amount of hours recorded material again and again before an objective conclusion can be made about the relationship between language and body language. Many compare this tiresome approach to sculpturing as one cannot present the whole block of recorded material in the end but must mould and compress the analysed info rmation into a half an hour presentation or a brief journal article (Rimà ©, 1985). In sum, influential researchers like Rimà © (1985) believe that body language is neither depending on nor complementing verbal utterance but both represent an entity which utilise analogue, parallel and multiple channels in the process of expression. Hence, film material consisting of conversations between two or more individuals are preferably used for studies as it is one of the only ways of analysing the relationship between nonverbal and verbal behaviour together and in relation to each other. REFERENCES Cheney, D. Seyfarth, R. (1990). How monkeys see the world. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. Darwin, C., 1872. Origin of Species, Sixth Edition. London: Senate. Davis, F. (1973). Inside Intuition: What we know about nonverbal communication. New York: McGraw-Hill. Dixon A. H., Fisch, H. V., Huber C. Wasler, A. (1989), Ethologic studies in animals and man: their use in psychiatry. Pharmacopsychiatry, 22:44–50. Eibl-Eibesfeldt, I. (1980), Strategies of social interaction. In: Emotion: Theory, Research and Experience, ed. R. Plutchik and H. Kellerman. New York: Academic Press. Ekman, P. (1975). Face muscles talk every language. Psychology Today, pp.35-39. Ekman, P. (1990), Voluntary facial action generates emotion specific autonomic nervous system activity. Psychophysiology, 27:363–383. Ekman, P. (1993), Facial expression and emotion. Amer. Psychol., 48:384–392. Ekman P. (1994). Strong evidence for universals in facial expressions: a reply to Russell’s mistaken critique. Psychol. Bull, pp.115:268–87 Ekman P. (1997). Should we call it expression or communication? Innovation, 10, pp.333–44 Ekman P, Friesen WV, Hager JC (2002). New Version of the Facial Action Coding System. http://dataface.nirc.com/Expression/FACS/ New Version/new version.html Fichten, C. S., Tagalakis, V., Judd, Darlene; Wright, J., Amsel, R. (1992). Verbal and nonverbal communication cues in daily conversations and dating. Journal of Social Psychology, Vol. 132 Issue 6, pp/751-770. Hall, E. T. (1966). The hidden dimension. New York: Doubleday. Henry, J. P. (1993), Psychological and physiological responses to stress: The right hemisphere and the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis, an inquiry into problems of human bonding. Physiolog. Behav. Sci., 28, pp.369–387. Izard, C. E. (1982). Measuring emotions in infants and children. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Izard C. E. (1979). The Maximally DiscriminativeFacialMovement Coding System (MAX). Newark: Univ. Delaware, Comp. and Netw. Serv., Univ. Media Serv. Katsikitis M. Pilowsky I. (1988). A study of facial expression in Parkinson’s disease using a novel microcomputer-based method. J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry, 51, pp.362–66 Reisenzein R. (2000). Exploring the strength of association between the components of emotion syndromes: the case of surprise. Cogn. Emot. 14:1–38 Rimà ©, B. (1985). The growing field of nonverbal behaviour: a review of twelve books on nonverbal behaviour and nonverbal communication. European Journal of Social Psychology, Vol. 15 Issue 2, pp.231-248. Russell, J. A., Bachorowski, J. Fernandez-Dols, J. (2003). Facial and vocal expressions of emotion. Annual Review of Psychology, Vol. 54 Issue 1, pp329-350. Sapir, E. (1949). Selected writing of Edward Sapir. Berkeley: D.G. Mandelbaum. Scheflen, A. E. (1964). The significance of posture in communication systems. Psychiatry, pp.316-331. Scheflen, A. E. (1972). Body language and social order. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall. Scheflen, A .E. (1973). How behaviour means. New York: Gordon Breach. Sielski, L. M. (1979). Understanding Body Language. Personnel Guidance Journal, Vol. 57 Issue 5, p238-243. Sigman, M. Ruskin, E. (1999). Nonverbal communication, play, and language skills. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, Vol. 64 Issue 1, pp29-54.

Importance Of Set Design Theatre Essay

Importance Of Set Design Theatre Essay Adolph Appia (pictured left) 1862 1928, was a Swiss theorist, pioneer in modern stage design and is most famous for his scenic designs for Wagners operas (Design for act I of Parsifal Pictured left). What set Appia aside from other stage designers was his rejection of painted two dimensional sets. He created three dimensional living sets, which he believed created different shades of light which were necessary as light was important for actors to engage in the setting, time and space. Instead of using the conventional way of lighting from the floor, Appia lit the stage from above and the sides of the stage, thus creating depth and a three dimensional set. Light intensity and colour helped Appia to gain a new perspective of scene design and stage lighting. This helped to set the mood and create an authentic stage set. Appia believed that the reason sets werent successful during his time, was because of a lack of connection between the director and the set designer. He believed that there should be an artistic harmony especially between these two people in order for his theory to be successful. There are three core points which Appia uses to help define mise-en-scene: Dynamic and three dimensional movements by actors. Perpendicular scenery. Using depth and the horizontal dynamics of the performance space. Light, space and the actor are all malleable commodities which should all be intertwined to create a successful mise-en-scene. He used steps, platforms and columns to create depth and manipulated light in order to make the set look real. Light was considered to be the primary element which linked together all the other aspects of the production and Appia was one of the first designers to realise its potential, more than to merely illuminate actors and the painted backdrop behind. This was shown in his staging of Tristan und Isolde (1923). Notice the steps, columns and ramps. Directors and designers of the present day have taken great inspiration from Adolph Appias theory. Perhaps the main reason being the huge advance in technology, which was only just emerging in the late 19th century. Edward Gordon Craig (1872-1966) also like Adolph Appia was an English theatre practitioner. Unlike Appia however he believed actors had no more importance than marionettes. Gentlemen, the Marionette is a writing in which Craig explains how the actors are merely puppets on strings. He had a great interest in marionettes claiming they were the only true actors who have the soul of a dramatic poet, serving as a true and loyal interpreter with the virtues of silence and obedience. (Innes, Christopher, (1998) Edward Gordon Craig: A Vision of Theatre). He built elaborate and symbolic sets, for example his set for the Moscow Art Theatre production of Hamlet (1909) consisted of movable screens. And like Appia, he broke the stage floor with platforms, steps and ramps. He replaced the parallel rows of canvas with an elaborate series of tall screens. Craig left a promising career in acting in order to concentrate on directing and developing ideas about the theatre of the future, which was inspired by Hubert von Herkomers scenic experiments with auditorium lighting and three dimensional scenery in productions at the Bushy Art School. Craigs idea of new total theatre drew on the imagination to create a vision of colour harmony, visual simplicity and an atmospheric effect under the sole control of a single artist. Also inspired by his partner Isadora Duncan, a dancer which inspired him to look into the concept of the rhythms and movements in nature acting as a vehicle for an emotional and aesthetic experience. Craig was very interested in electrical light, something new and only just emerging in his time. An example of this can be seen when he worked on Dido and Aeneas. Craig used a single colour back cloth with a gauze stretched at an angle in front of it onto which light of another colour was projected, an astoundingly three dime nsional effect was achieved (Innes, Christopher, 1998, Edward Gordon Craig: A Vision of Theatre, P. 46). He intensively researched theatre of the past in order to create his new theatre. He imagined a theatre which was a fusion of poetry, performer, colour and movement designed to appeal to the emotions. As he progressed through his work, he followed his symbolist views using movement to create mood and in his studies in 1906 talked of removing elements of sets or props and replacing them with symbolic gestures. For example a man battling through a snowstorm, Craig questioned whether the snow was necessary. Would the actors movements be sufficient to convey what was happening? In 1900 after Craig had developed himself as a set designer he worked on a production of Dido and Aeneas which was ground breaking as a set for theatre design. Due to certain limitations Craig was able to break away from the elaborate Victorian stage designs and experiment with abstract and simpler designs. Craig himself believed that what he was creating was new theatre and wouldnt be widely accepted until the future and this was true. During the 1950s Kenneth Tynan wrote of how Craigs ideas that he expounded fifty years ago, in his breathless poetic prose, are nowadays bearing fruit all over Europe. Craig has influenced practitioners such as Constantin Stanislavsky, Meyerhold and Bertolt Brecht, and he also still impacts many designers and practitioners of the modern day. Although both of these designers worked independently from one and other, they arrived at similar conclusions. They both criticised realistic theatre, arguing against the photographic reproduction as a primary function of scene design. Appia didnt agree with Stanislavskys theory of the fourth wall so he discarded it and designed a theatre building which became the first theatre in the modern era without a proscenium arch. Both theorists believed that the settings should suggest and not reproduce the location. Both also broke the two dimensional view on sets by using platforms and different levels, designing spaces that were practical and functional for performers. Also with the advance in technology, both took advantage of electricity which made it possible for the stage to be lit using bulbs. This helps to develop as an art and both used light as an important part of their visual elements. Appias and Craigs designs focus heavily on stressing contrasts between light and dark creating heavily atmospheric sets. Appia and Craig shared a lot of the same opinions; however they were not in total agreement. Appia Believed that the director, fused theatrical elements and the designer was an interpretive artist, bringing an authors work to life from page to, stage forming a functional environment for the actors. Craig believed that theatre needed a master artist who would create all of the production elements. His designs were frequently thought to be on a larger scale than Appias. Appias designs usually required a set change for each location in the performance, whereas Craig used the modern unit using one basic setting which can represent various locations throughout the movement of its elements with only the need of slight changes such as lighting, props etc. Both Appia and Craig have greatly influenced the way theatre has evolved. Not only as technology has advanced but also at the way the directors, set designers and production teams in general are working. There is a lot more communication and discussion between the directors and the set designers vision into how a set should look. Also Sets on stage are predominantly three dimensional using levels, ramps, stairs and depth. The use of light has perhaps changed the most dramatically moving from the floor to lighting rigs in the ceiling and along the side of the stage. It is safe to say without the ideas and theories that the two had, theatre may not be where it is today.

Chaucers Canterbury Tales - The Nun Prioress of the General Prologue :: General Prologue Essays

The Canterbury Tales   - The Nun Prioress In the reading "The Canterbury Tales" by Geoffrey Chaucer, there is a detailed description about the nun Prioress in the "General Prologue". Chaucer uses physical and spiritual relationships to show the characteristics of a person. When we see the nun in relationship to other characters, for example the Knight, Chaucer makes the reader see two types of people. On one hand, the nun who gives much importance to minor things. On the other hand, the Knight who gives much importance to things that really matter. To describe how the nun was Chaucer writes with irony the description of the nun Prioress, everything that Chaucer says about her means the opposite. Chaucer describes a nun Prioress called Madame Eglantine. A nun should be modest, had to have poverty, and pity. Chaucer describes the nun in the opposite way to show us, how the nun Prioress had all the characteristics that a nun should not have. She was a nun modest, well educated and with good manners. She also had tender feelings, and a strong love for God and his creations. The author connects the relationship between how she sang and with her nose. He is sarcastic when relating her physical and spiritual beauty. "She sang the divine service well, entuning it in her nose in a most seemly way." (122-123) She was a well educated person, who reflects her manners in her language and with her actions. "She spoke French well and properly" in this quote properly means with good manners, not with slang words or with the popular language used in France. "For the French of Paris was unknown to her."(124) All of these characteristics show how the nun Prioress was focused on thi ngs that should not be important for a nun.    Among her minor things, the nun in the tale actions was cautious and splendid. Her manners were unique, and practiced with perfection. "Her table manners were admirable: she never let a morsel fall from her lips, nor wet her fingers too deeply in the sauce; daintily she carried a morsel to her lips, taking care that no drop should fall on her breast: she took much pleasure in proper etiquette." (133) The author makes us understand that her behavior with such perfection was not because she was obligated to act in this way.