Friday, December 27, 2019

Ecommerce And The Supply Chain - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 21 Words: 6178 Downloads: 6 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Statistics Essay Did you like this example? Silver Spoon Snacks is a fast food eatery established first in Gulshan in the year 1965. It has expanded to a second branch in Tariq road. During its heyday it revolutionized the fast food industry by introducing the concept of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"rollsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ on the menu. It enjoyed this untapped market till competitors jumped on the band wagon. The menu is diverse, including Pakistani, Chinese, Continental, Western and Indian items. There is plenty of consumer traffic in both branches especially during the evening. The Tariq Road branch serves all kinds of BBQ items, club sandwich, zinger burger and the well known rolls. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Ecommerce And The Supply Chain" essay for you Create order The restaurant is owned and operated by a family. The branch managers are actually brothers and share shifts during the day and night. There are a total of 4 active brothers that are responsible for handling the day to day running and operations of the system. Key purchase decisions, menu expansion and supply chain decisions are handled solely by them. They have been following a paper based system since its inception. All the accounting work and record keeping is done manually in registers that are stocked at the residence every month. Literature Review According to Laudon and Laudon (Information Systems and Decision making, 2000), the supply chain is a collection of physical entities linked together into processes that supply goods or services from source through consumption. The supply chain consists of suppliers, manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors, retail outlets, logistics and consumers. This list also includes those activities that are necessary in facilitating the supply chain. Managing a supply chain is a difficult task that requires keen insight and understanding of the business processes and the environment in which it operates. The struggle is to create a network which has no weak links in terms of time delays, information gaps or inefficiencies à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" in other words, all processes must be integrated. This is best achieved by the creation of networks with a smooth inflow and outflow of relevant information. This is the heart of e-commerce. The internet has allowed the growth of e-businesses across borders and physical limits. The use of an intranet is greatly appreciated within a company. Based on internet technology, the intranet is used primarily within a single company which allows the internal users to expand and share information across floors and walls. These locations may be domestic or may even be throughout the world (Bartoo, Elliot, and Naik-lyer, 2000). E Commerce is one of the most important facets of the internet to have developed in this day and age. Ecommerce, sometimes referred to as E Business, involves carrying out business over the Internet with the use of computers that are linked to each other forming a network. E-commerce includes the buying, selling, marketing, and servicing of goods or services through telecommunication technologies. E-Business, on the other hand, carries a broader definition, not just the buying and selling of goods and services, but servicing customers, collaborating with business partners, and conducting communications and transactions within and outside an organization. (Electronic Commerce a managerial perspective by Efrahim Turban, David King, Prentice Hall; US Ed edition October, 1999) According to ComScore à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" a marketing research company that provides marketing data and services to many of the Internets largest businesses, E-commerce has had its first $1B day on 2nd December 2010. The à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“heaviest online spending day in history and the first to surpass the billion-dollar threshold,à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? declares ComScore. This goes to show how far and wide the scope of electronic buying and selling has reached. It is revolutionized the way business models are created and defined numerous opportunities for entrepreneurs and the like. E- Commerce can help a supply chain over the internet in areas such as placing and receiving orders, providing product information, tracking orders, filling and managing inventory, and recording inflows and outflows (Sunil Chopra and Jan A, Van Mieghem, Supply Chain Management Review, April 200) A critical area where e-commerce has established its presence in a supply chain is in the resource planning and inventory management function of an organization. It helps users track the inventory and where it is distributed from the organization. It helps plan for future forecasts and deal with shortages. It creates a hub where information is shared among relevant members of a business model; this is known as EDI à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Electronic Data Interchange. Similarly ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems have emerged that serve similar functions in terms of smooth data flow between members of an organization. Relevant information relating to key business functions is then shared, matched and cross matched between departments and related companies that have partnered with the business. The goal is to streamline operations and produce a cost and time efficient process altogether. IBM and Siemens are 2 prime examples of organizations that heavily rely on supply chain applications produced by business management software such as SAP. This application has streamlined its processes thereby creating a real-time and efficient business model. Inventory management models are heavily used in large scale organizations in the fast food industry. Giant franchises such as Subway, KFC and Pizza Hut use business intelligence software for its operations. Zap is a leading software house that creates web based packages for KFC and Pizza Hut. As a starting point, a basic open source inventory management software coupled with internet technologies is an ideal way for a small to mid-sized business to start. The diagram below shows how e-commerce can efficiently distribute and coordinate the flow of information between the entities and business functions of the supply chain. The importance of information sharing and interchange is crucial to improve operational effectiveness. Research methodology Secondary research Secondary research consisted of going through research articles and existing information on e-commerce and supply chain models. Text books, class lectures and the internet served as sources for secondary research. This type of research was necessary to gain an understanding of existing supply chain models that are benefitting with the integration of e-ecommerce and its technologies. Primary research This is first hand research that needed to be conducted to gain an understanding of Silver Spoon Snacks This form of research was conducted over 2 face to face interviews and short telephone calls with the Branch Manager and Operations Manager A set of questions were asked to understand the existing supply chain model and how operations are carried out on a daily and weekly basis These questions also attempted to surface any inefficiencies and weaknesses that exist in the current setup Interviews were necessary to collect direct and relevant information from the involved people Data Analysis Input details pertaining to the Tariq Road branch Raw material listing Chicken Beef Mutton Flour Vegetables Ketchup/mustard Seasonings Equipment used Oven Fryer Coal Freezers Stove Tables and chairs Utilities used Electricity Gas Telephone Water Labour employed Head Chef Kitchen staff Head Waiter Waiters Cleaners Watchman For simplicity, the supply chain of chicken as a key and widely used ingredient will be studied throughout this report. Supply Chain system of Silver Spoon Snacks explained with the help of a flow chart. Supply Chain Defined Chicken Butcher Thursday morning or earlier depending on needs, the Chicken supplier receives an order of Boneless Chicken and Tikka pieces for the week. This order is placed via telephone by the branch manager. The quantity for chicken in Tikka and Boneless variation is verbally specified via telephone. The supplier confirms the order and a delivery time is specified. The butcher cuts the chicken according to pieces specified à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" either Tikka pieces or Boneless for Chicken rolls. Delivery vehicle As per initial agreement between Silver Spoon and the supplier, the chicken supply will be delivered to the warehouse in the supplierà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s vehicle. This is part of the negotiation. The supplier will have the chicken delivered to the warehouse and settle the payment at the end of the month. Warehouse The warehouse is owned and operated by Silver Spoon owners. It has been part of the business model since 40 years and is situated off Tariq road near the Tariq road branch. The warehouse serves as a sorting point most of the raw materials. Individual branch demand is catered to and planned here. The warehouse has a large kitchen and a storage bay. Warehouse kitchen The warehouse kitchen department is responsible for all the cleaning and preparation of the raw food. This entails cleaning the chicken, removing the fat and making it hygienic and fit for cooking. Staff is employed in this department to manage the cleaning. Warehouse storage After the chicken has been cleaned, it goes into cold storage. The amount which has to be distributed to the branches on a daily basis is dispatched and the rest goes into freezers. The amount is determined in advance by branch managers. Keep in mind that a weekà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s supply is available for both branches at the warehouse. Official vehicle A Suzuki Pickup is on standby at the warehouse and the workers load a dayà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s worth of chicken and transport it to the both branches. 60% of the chicken goes to the Tariq Road Branch as its chicken utilization is the highest. Tariq road branch At the Tariq Road branch, the official vehicle arrives shortly with the chicken for the day. This chicken thawed, cleaned and semi marinated at the individual branches before it is ready to be finally added with the secret spices and recipes. It is immediately transported by the workers to the freezer. Kitchen + freezer As noon approaches a portion of the boneless chicken is removed from the freezer and brought to the preparation room. Here the chicken is added with seasoning, sauce and the secret spices which are made early during the day. This preparation is done by the head chef. The boneless chicken goes to the Roll preparation area and the Tikka pieces go to the BBQ area where they are cooked. Customer Once cooked, the Rolls and Tikkas are served to customers Planning system For the sake of simplicity we will go through a typical week of ordering chicken to get a grasp of the current supply system at the Tariq Road branch. This boneless chicken is used for Chicken Rolls and Chicken Boti. Whereas full chickens are used to create 4 Tikka pieces per chicken. Demand for the week is established by looking at previous trends. Basically a base demand for consumption has been established for boneless chicken of 210 kg per week. The base demand of 210kg worth of boneless chicken is always used for Rolls and Chicken Boti. On an average, 220-250kgs of boneless chicken is purchased as demand from consumers never dips below 210kg per week. For Tikkas, the base demand is 80 Tikkas per day, which makes it 560 Tikkas on an average per week. A full chicken is able to provide 4 Tikka pieces. The key considerations that determine and influence demand for chicken are: Stage of the week à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Friday, Saturday and Sunday are days where demand for boneless chicken is at its highest. During these days the public goes out to eat with family. Public holidays à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" the restaurant operates during public holidays. During these days of the calendar, families choose to visit eateries and therefore the consumption of boneless chicken is high. City turmoil à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" during expected city turmoil and expected strikes, the public operates at an accelerated pace and attempts to get things out of the way. This may entail visiting Tariq Road for work 1-2 days before the expected turmoil or unrest. Furthermore, consumption of boneless chicken falls during the days of turmoil, hence purchasing is planned accordingly. Level of commercial activity à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Tariq Road is heavily populated with shops and vendors. If the activity in malls and shopping strips is high, then demand for food, especially Chicken Rolls is also high as it serves the fast food concept and is economical. The factors above have the capacity to influence demand for chicken and hence the purchasing patterns vary. Chicken that is not used is then stored in freezers for next dayà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s use. This chicken is bought on Thursdays of the week from a vendor that has been partnered with the business. An order is placed via telephone on Thursday morning by the Branch Manager and it arrives by noon. If for some reason demand is abnormally high, the regular chicken supplier is contacted and is urged to make an emergency drop to the warehouse. If he is unable to do so from his own inventory, then he is responsible for making other arrangements. Supplier selection A chicken supplier is selected on the basis of: Total cost Cleaning and cutting Cost is the most important factor that ultimately determines which supplier/butcher to choose from. Silver Spoon negotiates on the basis of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" the foremost is cost (low or discounted price), quality, and delivery service. Secondly, it is favourable if the supplier can clean and cut the chicken into pieces at his outlet before delivering it to the Silver Spoon warehouse. Although Silver Spoon has a chicken slaughtering and cleaning/cutting facility, but is used for only further cleaning of the chicken and cutting for marinating purposes. Financial costs pertaining to Tariq Road Branch Cost for chicken: this rate is Rs. 4 per kilo less than the prevailing marketing rate. The chicken suppliers set the price every Thursday of the week. Price of chicken per kilo varies on a weekly basis and is determined by the laws of demand and supply. For example, if chicken is in excess supply then the price falls. Conversely if there is high demand then the price rises à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" such as on weekends. Due to this the chicken suppliers set their prices on Thursday. The Tariq Road branch bears 60% of the total cost of the chicken whereas the Gulshan branch, only 40%. Consumption and sale of chicken items is the highest at the Tariq Road branch. The basis for making profits for Tikkas is to earn Rs. 20-25 profit per Tikka. Utilities Electricity Bill: varies between Rs. 50,000 to 60,000 per month. Gas Bill: varies between Rs. 10,000 to 12,000 per month Telephone Bill: Rs. 1,000 per month on an average Coal Usage: worth Rs. 1,500 on a daily basis.    Labour Employed Waiter: The starting salary per waiter is Rs. 6000 per month. Senior waiters (determined by length of employment) are paid Rs. 8000 per month. There are a total of 8 senior waiters (8 x 8000 = Rs. 64,000 per month) and 6 junior waiters (6 x 6000 = Rs. 36,000 per month). Kitchen Staff: these employees include assistants to the chef (3 assistants), and additional workers who produce other items on the menu (5 kitchen workers). They are assigned various tasks in the kitchen to add value to the system. On an average, the total labour costs assigned to the kitchen staff are Rs. 75,000 Head chef: There is 1 head Chef who is paid Rs. 12,000 per month. Total labour costs per month = Rs 64,000 + Rs 36,000 + Rs. 65,000 + 12,000 = Rs 187,000 Discussion Inefficiencies or weaknesses in the supply chain Supplier/butcher: Silver Spoon has had the same supplier for chicken for nearly 20 years. They should search the market for other suppliers that can offer competitive rates for bulk purchases of chicken. The order is placed on the phone and a Silver Spoon official does not personally monitor the chicken selection, which means an old chicken or unhealthy chicken can be part of the mix Warehouse: At the warehouse, the supplier delivery vehicle drops off the chicken and drives away after collecting the payment. There is no check here, no one counts the chicken or weighs it upon arrival so there is no way of making sure if they received the amount they paid for. There is no record system or inventory management. The chicken is not à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"logged inà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢, just immediately shifted to the kitchen where it is cleaned for use. Therefore there is no actual account or record for the amount of chicken that entered the facility nor is there any receiving slip or receipt. Warehouse Storage: Once the chicken is cleaned and processed fit for use, it goes into storage freezers and only the days worth is kept outside for delivery. However, there is no one who counts the number of chicken breasts or legs, or kilograms of chicken that goes into the freezer. So there is no check or monitor system. Silver Spoon Snacks Vehicle The days worth of chicken is transported to the Tariq Road Branch, but there is no formal record of the amount that leaves the warehouse, nor is there any receiving document from the branches end. Branch Again, there is no counter checking or counting system of the chicken that arrives in the branch. It is blindly kept in the freezer. Customer The customer does not receive an electronic receipt. Which means that there is no formal record at Silver Spoonà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s counter of the items sold and the cash received. There is an informal scribble in a worn out register. Other deficiencies with the current setup Marketing: There are limited marketing efforts carried out by the restaurant. At most, marketing involves re-doing the company banner or releasing a dozen flyers in the area. No website exists. Recording: It is a complete paper based system with not a computer or digital device in sight. Records are loosely maintained at the warehouse and branch in registers and journals. There is no formal record keeping system. Customers are not given receipts therefore there is no cross checking. Tracking: there is no way for Silver Spoon Snacks to forecast demand judging by trends, as figures and statistics for trends do not exist. Paper based: it is a paper based system with information regarding transactions loosely recorded in registers. Checks and balances: checks and balances do not exist, there is no tangible record keeping when it comes to inventory and purchases. It is not possible to confirm orders with suppliers and inter branch as orders are verbally given. There is no proof. Proposed system The proposed system involves the purchase of computer hardware and the use of an internet connection. The idea is to create a basic centralized system at the warehouse as the server with 2 additional linked systems at the branches. The purpose is to track and record inventory that moves into the warehouse and out to the branches. A real time system is proposed where inventory levels are monitored by the hour. The systems will need to be linked by an internet connection to provide a real time feed of information between the branches and warehouse. With an inventory management and tracking software, the loopholes and loose-ends in the current system will be neutralized. How it works Once the systems have been installed and made operational, the current stock, inventory and work in progress are uploaded to the servers. The software will be used be the warehouse, and both the branches. Each user will update the records from their end so it can be seen at the warehouse server. The software will have section for the warehouse, branch A and branch B. Depending on the fresh demand levels, the warehouse determines the quantity of chicken needed and sends an order via telephone to the butcher. Had the butcher/supplier been using a computer system (example Makro), then an email would have been dispatched instead. The quantity ordered is punched into the system and falls under the status of pending. The rate per kilo is noted. Order time is also noted. Once the stock of chicken arrives at the warehouse, its exact quantity is manually counted and weighed by an employee and then the numbers are punched into the warehouse server. This will cross check the amount ordered with the amount received. Once the figures tally, a receiving slip is generated electronically and printed after the order has been confirmed and accounted for. A slip is generated and given to the supplier and a formal record now exists in the system. A notification is sent in a matter of seconds to both branches informing them of the added inventory levels. The levels now appear on the screens of both branch A and B (Tariq road and Gulshan). Preparations are made. Depending on the opening inventory and the base level demand of 210kg of chicken and 80 Tikka pieces, each branch sends its required amount of chicken (bonless and Tikka pieces) through the softwareà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s built in messaging system. Each transaction and order is then recorded. After the warehouse server acknowledges receipt of the order from the branch, it then forwards it verbally to the warehouse freezer where the employee loads the Silver Spoon vehicle (Suzuki pickup). The vehicle then travels to the relevant branch. A printed slip is dispatched. From the warehouse, the inventory levels are then reduced and this is also reflected in each branches terminal. Once the vehicle is unloaded at the branch, a branch employee manually supervises the unloading and stocking of the chicken in the freezer. Once confirmed and signed, the branch manager then updates his terminal with the added inventory of chicken. Back at the warehouse, the reduction in inventory is equal to the gain in inventory at both branches. As the day goes by and the orders accumulate and dispatch, the inventory levels are monitored not only at the branch, but at the warehouse as well. Each chicken Tikka order placed or each chicken roll uses a certain portion of the inventory. And once the orders are fed and updated in the Silver Spoon register, the chicken based inventory is automatically deducted. Towards the end of the day, the ending inventory is tallied and counted. The warehouse manager reads these inventories on an hourly basis and incase of a shortage dispatches a vehicle to make up for the shortfall. The cycle is then repeated every day depending on the closing inventory levels. Notes on the proposed system The recommended software for Silver Spoon Snacks is inFlow Inventory management software (https://www.inflowinventory.com/). The software is easy to use and does not require extensive training. A simple understanding of images, inputting data and confirming orders is all it takes. Free software exists, but does not provide security, reliability and expansion as inFlowà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s suite. Each terminal is given a unique pin code which only the operator is aware of. This means only the relevant person in charge can use the terminal which is a security check as well as a confirmation. Each transaction is logged and stored in a log file sent to the warehouse computer. Backups are made on a daily basis Financial Costs involved with this system Software: although many free software packages exist, inFlow Inventory Management provides the best balance between features and cost. To create a multi user network (ideal in this case), the license cost $299 per computer for lifetime use. 3 licenses will be needed. $299 x 3 = $897 = ~ Rs. 75000 (@ Rs. 84 per U.S Dollar) Hardware needed: processor, motherboard, RAM, hard drive, casing, power supply, monitor. Based on the software requirements, the hardware cost is as follows: Tariq Road Branch cost: Rs 23,000 Gulshan Branch cost : Rs 23,000 Warehouse cost: Rs. 27,000 Total : Rs. 73,000 Internet connection: 3 connections Initial setup cost : Rs. 800 x 3 Monthly cost: Rs. 1000 x 3 Total initial investment: Rs. 75,000 (3 licenses) + (73,000 (hardware) + 2,400 (internet setup) + 3000 (first month internet payment) = Rs. 153,400 Benefits of the proposed system Accountability: first and foremost, the new system will hold each branch accountable for what it has received in its inventory. Once its handed over the inventory, it is held accountable for its storage, sales and payment. The sales of the branch should match the inventory received. Inventory control: from the moment the chicken supply reaches the warehouse, it will be tracked and accounted for. The system will make sure that there is adequate supply at all branches at all times so as to not lose out on potential sales Economic order quantity: the ideal quantity of chicken to order each week and the ideal quantity to store in the freezers can be calculated based on demand and supply conditions. Inventory planning is thereby improved. Accuracy: with figures, statistics and numbers well accounted for and cross references, the books of Silver Spoon will present and accurate picture of state of affairs. A reduction in human error in terms of calculations, counting and so on will also be witnessed. Record keeping: instead of scribbling in registers and writing journals, an electronic system with constant updates is hence created with the use of e-commerce technologies. Past transactions, exchanges, buying and selling are stored electronically thereby staying safe. The option to print out the records exists, thereby creating tangible records. Electronic Data Interchange: Information sharing between branches and the warehouse will be more convenient as real time updates and inventory levels can be monitored. Offers and promotional schemes by suppliers can also be entertained. Expansion: This inventory monitoring and management system is not just limited to chicken; it can be used for the entire product line, mutton, beef, vegetables, cold drinks, seasoning, flour and so on. The scope is limitless with unlimited suppliers and customers. Improved Customer Service and loyalty: when a customer always gets his or her desired order in desired quantity, it creates customer satisfaction and creates repeat customers. It improves loyalty as well. A computerized receipt also creates a positive impression on the customers. Reduce stock-outs and overstocks: with supply synchronized with demand, the chances of ending up with à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"expiredà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ inventory or facing shortages are greatly reduced. Shortages are prevented as inventory as planned well in advance, and in the same way excess inventory is also reducing thereby curbing inventory carrying costs. Ready alerts: if the inventory dips below a certain level at a branch, an automatically generated alert is sent to the warehouse or Gulshan branch and inventory can be moved around. Furthermore this will act as an early warning sign to the warehouse to acquire more inventory. Meeting demand: demand is almost always met unless outside forces have some play. With inventory always available due to a tracking and trend analysis system, sales will always be met. Forecasting: due to its ability to track charts and record daily transactions, the stored information can be used to conduct trend analysis for certain times of the calendar year. This will allow better planning for inventory and sales. Website: Silver Spoon Snacks Pvt. Ltd. can go on-line and have a web presence. This on its own is a marketing tool Networking: since Silver Spoon is now on-line and has a presence on the world wide web, it will be able to reach out to suppliers and customers on a larger scale. It is a ready marketing tool. It can partner with other restaurants, sponsors, FMCGs and causes. Marketing: with the use of e-commerce technologies, Silver Spoon Snacks can expand its marketing operations by sending out e-mails and creating ad banners and partnering with other websites. Costs of proposed system Change: it is possible that managers and top management may resist the change/transition from a paper based system to a technical system. The current system, though not ideal sets comfortably with current management. A management paradigm shift is required. Training: the system users will require some short initial training to understand the use of the software and technology in general. Although the Operations Manager à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Mr. Talha Awan is well versed with computer software and hardware, there will still be a slight lag due to training. Initial investment: although a small amount, roughly Rs. 150,000 will need to be diverted for a project that has no immediate monetary returns. Software support: although a helpline for customer support exists, it can become cumbersome to ask for guidance incase of software failure or confusion. Hardware failure: at the mercy of KESC and the elements, the computer hardware may fail thereby causing confusion and a stop in information flow. Although an uninterrupted power supply may be purchased, as well as a warranty plan, it will only add up in costs and delays. Internet failure: from time to time, the internet service provider may fail to provide a 100% uptime. This can cause delays and lags in the system. Industry Standard Bar B Q Tonight à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Inventory Management System To further add value to this report, I studied Bar B Q Tonightà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s current inventory management setup which is computerized. Information was gathered through telephonic interviews and e-mail exchange with the Operations Managers, Sardar Ishaq and Mr. Abur Rehman. The findings are compiled below. Bar B Q Tonight is one of Karachià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s most famous restaurants that came into being in 1988. It prepares all kinds of cuisine that caters to thousands of customers on a daily basis. In-fact the multi storeyed establishment can house upto a thousand customers at a time. The restaurant has enjoyed high growth levels consistent with every year. Recently a branch has been erected in Lahore. Chicken, Beef, Fish, vegetables, pastas, fruit, ice cream, mushrooms, sausages, cheese, beverages and tissue rolls are just a small list of the inventory that are in storage and continuous use at the restaurant. These are key inputs needed to give customers a full service and experience backed by quality that the restaurant promises. To ensure proper delivery of storage, roughly 500 employees and 2 dozen management level officers are part of the work force. The availability of sufficient inventory and especially at the right time is perhaps the single most crucial factor at the restaurant. Insufficient inventory levels can result in a loss of potential sales. Furthermore due to the sheer quantity of inventory that enters and exits the building, checks and balances, control and proper monitoring of stock are required. This serves a number of functions such as quality control, waste management and theft protection. The current supply chain is as follows: SUPPLIER à ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚   DRY/COLD STORAGE à ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚   CUTTING/PROCESSING à ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚   RELEVANT FOOD DEPARTMENT à ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚   CUSTOMER The suppliers supply meat, chicken, tinned items, cold drinks, eggs, vegetables and basically all the inputs needed. Once the orders are received, they go into processing/cleaning/cutting/batching depending on the type of item. For instance, the chicken and meat go into the kitchen to be prepared and made ready to eat and then go to the cold storage à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" basically the freezer. This area also contains all the perishable items that need to be frozen to be preserved. Dry storage contains items that are tinned such as mushrooms, sausages, pastas and so on. This is a dry storage area which does not require cooling or temperature monitoring. Dry storage contains the masalas cutlery, packaging materials and similar items. Once the items have been sorted according to usage and servings, they go to the relevant food category area such as Pakistan, Indian, Chinese etc. Here the kitchen and chefs take over. Finally, the items are used to prepare the dish and served to the customer. To manage its inventory levels and inflows and outflows at all times, BBQ Tonight has installed an inventory management software that serves a number of functions. Some of these most basic functions are; Recording of stock levels Recording of consumption Units received Units issues Supplier details and records Wastage Purchase order creation Plates per kilo of material Forecasting Average demand level Inventory shortage alerts; example à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"only 10 tins of mushrooms leftà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ Demand level is determined based on average sales, restaurant traffic and past trends. Once the demand has been calculated, the units/kilos to be ordered are punched into the software and it generates a formal purchase order. This software also has the option to create automated purchase orders. Issuance or requisition is always recorded on an issue form for checks and balances. Data from this form is also used to generate the consumption report of all items at the end of the day. The production and usage of inventory has been categorized based on the departments. For instance, there is a pantry for drinks, juices, tea and dessert. Then there is a Tandoor for the usage of flour and oil and seasoning. The kitchen itself is divided into many different departments as discussed earlier. More specifically departments include English Grill (for chops, ribs and so on), Seekh Kebab Grill, Chicken Tikka Grill and the main kitchen (which includes steaks, curry and fried items) Based on trends and previous records, each individual department is given the liberty to issue the demand and material usage to the store and the store eventually generates the requisition orders. Based on this order data, the software is able to compile a consumption report for each individual item and department. This report is helpful for costing, cross checking sales and determining the performance of individual departments. Another benefit of this software is its ability to calculate and record wastage. For example, if 10kg of meat is purchased, after cleaning and processing only 7kg is actually fit for production. This is the same case with many items especially chicken, meat and fish. The software at first assumed a 1:1 ratio for stock incoming and outgoing à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" but in reality it is never the case. In reality the weight, volume and size vary when goods reach the store and leave as finished meals. For this purpose, some customization needed to be done. According to the restaurantà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s standards, the store issues goods in à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"platesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ and not kilograms. Raw materials enter the store in kilogram, but the output is recorded as number of plates sold. Also, the weight of plates/meals sold is different (almost always less than) from the raw form when received. This caused recording problems as units of measure used were different. To rectify this, management developed a formula to convert kilograms into plate servings and this was fed into the softwareà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s functions. For example, the weight of one plate of ribs by restaurant standards is around 700-800grams à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" but when received the recorded weight is actually 1300-1500grams and this is because of water, fat and bone content. The same can be said for chicken à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" the restaurant does not get pre cut chicken, is is bought in whole. One chicken is able to supply 4 Tikkas, in other words 4 servings/plates. The store issues Tikkas to the Tikka Grill in terms of plates à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" which means that 1 plate is actually 1/4th of the quantity of 1 chicken purchase. Therefore the software needed to be fed a formula that accepts chicken as 1 whole unit but converts it into 4 servings/plates. Hence recoding standards became easier. Finally, suppliers are paid on the basis of KG, but sales at the restaurant are recorded on the basis of pieces sold. Hence a formula was derived to link demand/receiving to consumption and supplier payment was standardized. On a typical day, the software works as follows: The store (dry or cold) makes the purchase order and the purchase officers then telephone the supplier once the store manager approves the quantity to be ordered. The store receives the goods and the butchers/kitchen staff prepare/marinate the meat and then it goes into storage. The departments then make a request for the stored goods for production purposes and so on. The software is able to record this shift of inventory for storage to department while monitoring inventory levels on a real time basis throughout. This software has been in the testing phase since the past 6 months at the restaurant in Karachi. It is still in trial mode and most of its features are being used to the maximum. Benefits have been noticed mostly in the form of checks and balancing, equating supply with demand and keeping a watch on the movement of materials from department to department. There is adherence to quality, minimum wastage and more security in the stores. Bar B Q Tonight plans to make this software fully functional after further testing in the near future. Conclusion The purpose of this research report was two fold; first to study and uncover the problems in the supply chain system of Silver Spoon Snacks Pvt. Ltd à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" a fast food restaurant in Karachi. Secondly to propose an inventory management system as an alternate to their current paper based system to enforce checks and balances of materials. Shifting from a traditional, paper based system to a computerized system is always going to cause conflicts and resistance to change. Friction will exist no doubt. Unfortunately, the management at Silver Spoon Snacks Pvt. Ltd comes from a rather traditional setup and has not seen the benefits of the proposed system. They are not to blame as they have been operating within the current system since nearly 5 decades and are quite comfortable with it. Profit is the singly strongest motive for and this proposed system does not generate any immediate monetary returns à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" it is instead a strategic move. This was the main reason for this proposition to fail à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" it does not yield any financial returns or return on investment. What management was looking for was a reduction in operation costs and perhaps an increase in restaurant traffic. However, the idea to implement a computerized system was not shot down completely. Instead of an investment of 3 computers and a $900 software, the managers were open to the idea of using one computer at the warehouse and creating simple spreadsheets to log in and out data. It is not the ideal setup and many of the above mentioned benefits of the proposed system will be lost, but it is certainly a step in the right direction.

Thursday, December 19, 2019

Police Stations Are The Same - 908 Words

Not all police stations are the same. Each police station has a different way of dealing with criminals and incidents in each state. There are a lot of aspects that make up a police station especially the San Diego Police Department. It ranges from officers to procedures to Vehicles. Some of these things are The Geographic size of patrol areas/population size, types of vehicles, the number of officers on patrol, arrest procedures, organizational structure, jail and detention, investigation units and methods. There are Twenty police stations in San Diego and they patrol a total of 329.6 Square miles. The San Diego police departments divide the 329.6 square miles into nine divisions. The Central, Eastern, Mid-City, Northern,†¦show more content†¦There are this many officers on patrol because they have to patrol 3329.6 square miles and protect 1.356 million people. When Officers go on patrol, each car consists of two officers, also known as the buddy system. The San Diego police department arrest procedures are quite unique. Police officials are authorized to arrest people without a warrant whenever the officer has reasonable cause to believe that a person has committed a violation of the Municipal code. Officers only arrest a person by issuing a misdemeanor field citation. When an officer has a believable reason for a person to be arrested that has committed a crime or public/private offense, they do not demand to be taken before a magistrate, they can be released according to the procedures set forth. The San Diego police depart organization structure is the same as other police stations. At the top of the structure is the Chief of Police. Next is the Executive Assistant Chief Department Operations. They are in charge of the wellness unit, internal affairs, media and the Chief’s Office of administration. The third tier is Patrol Operations, Neighborhood Policing, Centralized Investigation, and Special operations. The patrol operations are in charge of the central, eastern, mid-city, northeastern, northern, southeastern, southern and water division patrol areas and the watch commander. The neighborhood policing are in charge of recruiting, communication, human resources, police foundation,Show MoreRelatedWhat Causes The High Crime Rates?1253 Words   |  6 Pagesonly causes bad impacts on local residents’ lives, but also reduces the population of Cincinnati—people are tending to move out of Cincinnati. To know why and what causes the high crime rate in Cinci nnati, I chose four factors—the location of police stations , unemployment, median household income and population density—as my variable elements which may have a great impact on the crime rate. 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They will tell peopleRead MoreA Short Story : The Story Of The Story1011 Words   |  5 PagesIt is a rainy afternoon, KYOKO OTONASHI is sitting in the classroom as the teacher is giving a lecture in front of the room. Her phone buzzes and she takes it out to check it.Dads messageTheres been another murder, come to the station as soon as possible.Kyokos textI will, after class ends.The bell rings, Kyoko puts her books into her bag and head towards the entrance of the school.As she approaches the exit, she notices that the rain is quite heavy. She doesnt have an umbrella and hesitatesRead MoreCase Study Organizational Beha vior1424 Words   |  6 Pages 2004). A large American city was putting on some seminars for managers, and the main topic of the discussion was motivation. During the seminar a problem came to light that a captain of a police station was dealing with some issues with his police officers. 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As a recommendation, police organization in MalaysiaRead MoreComplete Report in the Field884 Words   |  4 Pages10-00 to 11-00 a.m., when he returned at field he does not found his bullocks in the field, hence he lodged the report at Buldana Police Station. P.W. 2, stated that his bullock-cart was not found, hence P.W.1 lodged the report. Hence, lodging of report is proved by the complainant. 12. P.W.1, further stated that, after 5-6 days of lodging the complaint, police came towards him and informed that there is bullock cart at village Anjani khurd, and asked to identify it. Therefore, he went atRead MoreSamantha Currey1300 Words   |  6 Pagesman who was convicted of first degree murder. Carlos was executed by the state of Texas for the killing of a 24 year old woman at the Shamrock gas station. The victim Wanda Lopez was stabbed multiple times apparently from a buck knife. Wanda Lopez was the attendant of the gas station and the police was senseless and oblivious to the tape at the gas station and only saw when she was giving the murderer the money yelling â€Å"You want it? I’ll give it to you. I’m not going to do nothing to you. Please!!Read MoreEssay on Amanda Knox Accused of Murder in Italy1129 Words   |  5 Pages.Amanda and Rafaela Questioned Police questioned Amanda and Rafaela several times over the next several days and on November 6, authorities arrested Amanda and Rafaela taking them to are the police station where police held Knox for five days. During the time at the station, police observed Knox doing some very bizarre activities. For example, at one point, authorities allowed Knox to sit on Sollecito’s lap and authorities observe him kissing and hugging on her. In her memoir, Knox claims this behavior

Wednesday, December 11, 2019

Business Politics Search Engine Comparative -Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss About The Business Politics Search Engine Comparative? Answer: Introdiucation Politics in the broader sense of the term is the process or system by which an individual amend and modify or observe the rules under whose compliance they sustain their daily lives. Politics has the power to influence an individual by re-shaping thoughts and perception and requires subjugation of one section of the society by the other. At the very core, politics is the very essence through which one achieves the desired outcomes. Rooted in the system of class and authority, politics can be termed as the most concentrated form of economy. According to Langdon Winner, technology can be argued as political because of their autocratic nature and it is concerned with governmental apparatus. Winner states that certain technologies have social aspect on their implementation in the society and the consequences that rolls forth due to their existence. For instance, he states that the tomato harvesting machine that was built to pick tomatoes which resulted in the centralization of powers in the hands of larger producers thereby eliminating the smaller ones who dominated the market. Based on Winners ideas, in a political system, it is argued that there follows a persistent pattern which is used to govern individual relationship in relation to power and authority. The machine came into existence at the expense of the rural agricultural communities due to the concentration of power into the hands of a few rich people. The machine yielded private profit and enhanced their economic power thereby carrying the stain of politics. It clearly privileged one section of the society over the other bestowing them with autonomy and supremacy over the other. In a political sphere, state is bound to maintain a social order which controls production, distribution and usage of resources, like the introduction of machines reshuffled the means of production in the rural community. The same was introduced to increase production. The interaction between state and society is considered to be one of the primary aspects of politics. (Stevens, Xie Peng, 2016). One media subject that is definitely political is the World Wide Web and more precisely the search engines. Google, according to researchers is synchronized in a manner that excludes the voices of the marginalized and repeatedly fails to sustain a democratic regime (Halavais, 2017). This even goes to exclude major news channels and is distorted in order to favor those who are politically and financially well-equipped. According to data, the web is estimated to be consisting of some 800 million pages and the search engines like Google are incompetent and ineffective in catering to the users and showing them a homogenous result (Jiang, 2014). The wealthier site owners have reportedly created a number of sites thereby increasing the viewers and audiences. Ranking algorithms have accomplished very little other than making the rich, richer. The links which increases website traffic are basically symbols of power, thereby increasing the potential viewers for the particular site like in cas e of news media site (Partridge, 2017). The benefits or information that Google offer, are filtered to hoodwink people in the name of serving wider public and society. One of the ways that can be used to handle the above issue, the search engine should rank the sites based on opinions, feedback and features which will satisfy the curiosity of the internet users. In this way, the search engines will operate on a swift analysis of opinions and the algorithm will be responsible for filtering reviews according to its negative, positive and neutral reviews. In this way, Google, a major media object can be liberated from being colonized by a mass of privileged individuals. The above study therefore shows how Google performs systematic invisibility and conceal of facts and sites. Reference List: Halavais, A. (2017). Search engine society. John Wiley Sons. Jiang, M. (2014). The business and politics of search engines: A comparative study of Baidu and Googles search results of Internet events in China. New Media Society, 16(2), 212-233. Partridge, M. D. (2017). The Geography of Rural American Poverty. Stevens, C. E., Xie, E., Peng, M. W. (2016). Toward a legitimacy?based view of political risk: The case of Google and Yahoo in China. Strategic Management Journal, 37(5), 945-963.

Tuesday, December 3, 2019

Technology And Stock Market Essays - Financial Markets, Stock Market

Technology And Stock Market The purpose of this research paper is to prove that technology has been good for the stock market. Thanks to technology, there are now more traders than ever because of the ease of trading online with firms such as Auditrade and Ameritrade. There are also more stocks that are doing well because they are in the technology field. The New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ have both benefitted from the recent technological movement. The NYSE says they "are dedicated to maintaining the most efficient and technologically advanced marketplace in the world." The key to that leadership has been the state-of-the-art technology and systems development. Technology serves to support and enhance the human judgement at point-of-sale. NASDAQ, the world's first fully electronic stock market, started trading on February 8th, 1971. Today, it is the fastest growing stock market in the United States. It alo ranks second among the world's securities in terms of dollar value. By constantly evolving to meet the changing needs of investors and public companies, NASDAQ has achieved more than almost any other market, in a shorter period of time. Technology has also helped investors buy stocks in other markets. Markets used to open at standard local times. This would cause an American trader to sleep through the majority of a Japanese trading day. With more online and afterhours trading, investors have more access to markets so that American traders can still trade Japanese stocks. This is also helped by an expansion of most market times. Afterhours trading is available from most online trading firms. For investing specialists, technology provides operational capability for handling more stocks and greatly increased volumes of trading. Specialists can follow additional sources of market information, and multiple trading and post-trade functions, all on "one screen" at work or at home. They are also given interfaces to "upstairs" risk-management systems. They also have flexiblity to rearrange their physical workspaces, terminals and functional activities. Floor brokers are helped with supports for an industry-wide effort to compare buy/sell contracts for accuracy shortly after the trade. They are also given flexibility in establishing working relationships using the new wireless voice headsets and hand-held data terminals. The ability to provide new and enhanced information services to their trading desks and institutional customers is provided. They have a comprehensive order-management system, that systematizes and tracks all outstanding orders. Technology gives a market's member organizations flexibility in determining how to staff their trading floor operations as well as flexiblity in using that market's provided systems, networks and terminals or interfacing their own technology. They are given assurance that their market will have the systems capacity and trading floor operations to handle daily trading and in billions of shares. Member organizations get faster order handling and associated reports to their customers, along with speedier and enhanced market information. They also have a regulatory environment, which assures member organiztions that their customers, large and small, can trade with confidence. Technology also allows lower costs, despite increasing volumes and enhanced products. Companies listed on the NYSE are provided with an electronic link so they may analyze daily trading in their stock, and compare market performance during various time periods. The technology also supports the visibility of operations and information, and regulated auction-market procedures, which listed companies expect from their"primary" market in support of their capital-raising activities and their shareholder services. Institutions get enhanced information flow from the trading floor, using new wireless technologies, as to pre-opening situations, depth of market, and indications of buy/sell interest by other large traders. Also supported are the fair, orderly, and deeply liquid markets which institutions require in order to allocate the funds they have under management whether placing orders in size for individual stocks (block orders) or executing programs (a series of up to 500 orders usually related to an index). For institutional investors, technology gives information on timely trades and quotes and makes them available through member firms, market data services, cable broadcasts and news media. They also are provided with a very effective way of handling "smaller" orders, giving them communications priority and full auction market participation for "price improvement" yet turning the average market order around in 22 seconds. Price continuitity and narrow quotation spreads, which are under constant market surveillence and a regulatory environment which enforces trading rules designed to protect "small investors" are also supported. There are many different kinds of equipment used on the stock market. One of these machines is SuperDot, an electronic order-routing system through which member firms of the NYSE transmit market and limit orders directly to the trading post where the

Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Public School Education free essay sample

Public education in the United States has become one of the largest and most dynamic quality control problems in our modern society. Despite our access to the technological advances of our time, we have been unable to maintain our preeminent status among the world’s most educated societies. The Department of Education published data demonstrating that our rank has dropped from the leader in the educational field to the unthinkable rank of 19th in the world today (1). I would dissolve the present management system of decentralized and many times disconnected educational standards and implement a superior system which vertically integrates curriculum selection equivalent to the highest international level with teacher efficiency measurements and rewards to resurrect the United States public school education programs. Our governments departments of education could implement and regulate the quality of public education throughout the United States. Our current methodology allows individual states to implement standards, select curriculum programs and set qualification minimums for their teachers. We will write a custom essay sample on Public School Education or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The result is that few if any of the states concur on the best academic solution for their students. Currently, a universally defined program of curriculum and instructor effectiveness measurement that is homogenously implemented by all states does not exist. Beyond the philosophical differences that state leaders may have, the three main issues which seem to be the most obvious hurdles are the unequal budgets, unequal certification standards for teachers, and a dearth of institutions within the states to train teachers to harness modern technology sufficiently and specifically. A possible solution to these issues would be to create a national program that not only standardizes curriculum programmatically but also regulates teachers unions and teachers groups to achieve the same standards and requirements of teaching acumen and curricula throughout the public school systems all over the United States. Establishing and implementing a pay scale for all teachers based on data that includes personal educational achievements, performance of their students on standardized tests, the difficulty of the curriculum that they are teaching as well as length of service as a teacher is the best resolution of teacher pay disputes. From this scale, which would have regionally measured cost of living benchmarks, teachers will be paid a set amount uniformly all over the United States. This solution would assist the boards of education of states in which the teachers have unionized and often wield their power detrimentally. Teachers need to have a uniform set of performance standards, uniform protocol and sequencing for implementing the curriculum, and a uniform menu of world class curriculum to follow. This renovated approach would ensure that the public education in the United States is in fact meeting higher standards and is equitably administered, regardless of the state in which one lives. If these new regulations were enforced, the system would eliminate much frustration and disharmony amongst teachers, reduce or negate teacher strikes which can be detrimental to the learning process of the students. Furthermore, taxes and fees originating from the nation’s tax base would be both indisputably disseminated by following the measurement matrix mechanism and consistently available on an annual basis. With these types of regulations and changes, it would ensure that students living in financially poor states would have the same opportunity to world class education as the students in a financially stable state. This system would raise the standards of public education, level the playing field for all students and allow them all an equal opportunity to succeed on a globally competitive scale. (1)-US Department of education

Sunday, November 24, 2019

The Regulation and Reform of the American Banking System Essay Example

The Regulation and Reform of the American Banking System Essay Example The Regulation and Reform of the American Banking System Essay The Regulation and Reform of the American Banking System Essay Difference in Bank Regulation Between The United States And Dominican Republic Banking regulations viewed for a positive impact on the protection of depositors and to the institution as such, this important action that banking institutions are more supervision, and individual staff members are more likely to do their work carefully and honesty. Banking regulations existed since 1 869 in the Dominican Republic, since for DRY is very important that the find these methods by high uncertainty by the banking authorities in DRY. Asymmetric Information and Banking Regulation The fact that different parties in a financial contract do not have the same information leads to adverse selection and moral hazard problems that have an important impact on our financial system. The concepts of asymmetric information, adverse selection, and moral hazard are especially usefully useful in understanding why government has chosen the form of baking regulation the people see in the United States and in other countries. There are eight basic categories of baking regulation: the government safety net, restrictions on bank asset holding capital requirements, chartering and bank examination, assessment of risk management, disclosure requirements, consumer protection, and restrictions on competition (Manikins Snakeskin, 2009). Government Safety Net: Deposit Insurance and the FED Banks are particularly well suited to solving adverse selection and moral hazard problems because they make private loans that help avoid the free- rider problem. However, this solution to the free-rider problem creates another asymmetric information problem, because depositors lack information about the quality of these private loans. This asymmetric information problem leads to two reasons why the banking system might not unction well (Manikins Snakeskin, 2009). First, before the FIDE started operations in 1 934, a bank failure (in which a bank is unable to meet its obligations to pay its depositors and other creditors and so must go out of business) meant that depositors would have to wait to get their deposit funds until the bank was liquidated (until its assets had been turned into cash); at that time, they would be paid only a fraction of the value of their deposits (Manikins Snakeskin, 2009). Unable to learn if bank managers were taking on too much risk or were outright crooks, depositors would be reluctant to put none in the bank, thus making banking institutions less viable. Second, depositors lack of information about the quality of bank assets can lead to bank panics, which, can have serious harmful consequences for the economy. To see this, consider the following situation. There is no deposit insurance, and an adverse shock hits the economy. As a result of the shock, 5% of the banks have such large losses on loans that they become insolvent (have a negative net worth and so are bankrupt). Because of asymmetric information, depositors are unable to tell whether their bank is a good bank or one of the % that are insolvent. Depositors at bad and good banks recognize that they may not get back 1 00 cents on the dollar for their deposits and will want to with draw them. Indeed, because banks operate on a sequential service constraint (a first come, first served basis), depositors have a very strong incentive to show up at the bank first, because it they are last in line, the bank may run out of funds and they will get nothing. Uncertainty about the health of the banking system in general can lead to runs on banks both good and bad, and the failure of one bank can hasten the failure of others. If nothing is one to restore the publics confidence, a bank panic can ensue. Indeed, bank panics were a fact of American life in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, with major ones occurring every 20 years or so in 1819, 1837, 1857, 1873, 1884, 1893, 1907, and 1930, 1933. Bank failures were a serious problem even during the boom years of the 1 sass, when the number of bank failures averaged around 600 per year (Manikins Snakeskin, 2009). A government safety net for depositors can short circuit runs on banks and bank panics, and by providing protection for the depositor, it can overcome reluctance to put ends in the banking system. One form of the safety net is deposit insurance, a guarantee such as that provided by the federal deposit insurance corporation (FIDE) in the United States in which depositors are paid off in full on the first $ 100,000 they have deposited in a bank no matter what happens to the bank. With fully insured deposits, depositors dont need to run to the bank to make with drawls even fifthly are worried about the banks health because their deposits will be worth 100 cents on the dollar no matter what. From 1930 to 1933, the years immediately proceeding the creation of the FIDE, he number of bank failures averaged more than 2,000 per year. After the establishment of the FIDE in 1 934, bank failures averaged fewer than 15 per year until 1981 (Manikins Snakeskin, 2009). The FIDE uses two primary methods to handle a failed bank. In the first, called the payoff method, the FIDE allows the bank to fail and pays off deposits up to the $1 00,000 insurance limit (with funds acquired from the insurance premiums paid by the banks who have bought FIDE insurance). After the bank has been liquidated the FIDE lines up with other creditors of the bank and is paid its hare of the proceeds from the liquidated assets. Typically, when the payoff method is used, account holders with deposits in excess of the $ 1 00,000 limit get back more than 90 cents on the dollar, although the process can take several years to complete (Manikins Snakeskin, 2009). Moral Hazard And The Government Safety Net Although a government safety net has been successful at protecting depositors and preventing bank panics, it is a mixed blessing. The most serious drawback Of the government safety net stems from moral hazard, the incentives of one party to a transaction to engage in activities detrimental to he other party. Moral hazard is an important concern in insurance arrangements in general because the existence of insurance provides increased incentives for taking risks that might result in an insurance payoff. For example, some drivers with automobile collision insurance that has a low deductible might be more likely to drive recklessly, because if they get into an accident, the insurance company pays most of the costs for damage and repairs (Manikins Snakeskin, 2009). Adverse Selection and The Government Safety Net A further problem with a government safety net like deposit insurance arises cause of adverse selection, the fact that the people who are most likely to produce the adverse outcome insured against (bank failure) are those who most want to take advantage of the insurance. For example, bad drivers are more likely than good drivers to take out automobile collision insurance with a low deductible. Because depositors protected by a government safety net have little reason to impose discipline on the bank, risk loving entrepreneurs might find the banking industry a particularly attractive one to enter they know that they will be able to engage in highly risky activities (Manikins Snakeskin, 2009). Too Big To Fail The moral hazard created by a government safety net and the desire to prevent bank failures have presented bank regulators with a particular quandary. Because the failure of a very large bank makes it more likely that a major financial disruption will occur, bank regulators are naturally reluctant to allow a big bank to fail and cause losses to its depositors. Indeed, consider continental Illinois, one of the 10 largest banks in the United Stated when it became insolvent in May 1984 (Manikins Snakeskin, 2009). Not only did the FIDE errant depositors up to the $1 00,000 insurance limit but it also guaranteed accounts exceeding $ 100,000 and even prevented losses for continental Illinois bondholders. Shortly thereafter, the comptroller of the currency (the regulator of national banks) testified to congress that 11 of the largest banks would receive a similar treatment to that of continental Illinois. Although the comptroller did not use the term too big to fail (it was actually used by congressman Mckinney in those hearing), this term is now applied to a policy in which the government provides guarantees of repayment of large insured creditors of the largest banks, so that no depositor or creditor suffers a loss, even when they are not automatically entitled to this guarantee (Manikins Snakeskin, 2009). Financial consolidation and the government safety net with financial innovation and the passage of the rigger Neal interests banking infant branching and efficiency act of 1994 and the Grammar Leach Bailey financial services modernization act in 1999, financial consolidation has been proceeding at a rapid pace, leading to both larger and more complex banking organizations. Financial consolidation poses two challenges to banking exultation because of the existence of the government safety net. First, the increased size of banks as a result o financial consolidation increases the too big to fail problem, because there will now be more large institutions whose failure would expose the financial system to systemic (systemic) risk (Manikins Snakeskin, 2009). Thus, more banking institutions are likely to be treated as too big to fail, and the increased moral hazard incentives for these large institutions to take on greater risk can then increase the fragility of the financial system. Second, financial consolidation of banks with other financial arrives firms means that the government safety net may be extended to new activities, such as securities underwriting insurance or real estate activities, thereby increasing incentives for greater risk taking in these activities that can also weaken the fabric of the financial system. Limiting the moral hazard incentives for the larger more complex financial organizations that have arisen as a result of recent changes in legislation will be one of the key issues facing banking regulators in the future (Manikins Snakeskin, 2009). Restrictions On Asset Holdings And Bank Capital Requirements. The moral hazard associated with a government safety net encourages too much risk taking on the part of banks. Bank regulations that restrict asset holdings and bank capital requirements are directed at minimizing this moral hazard, which can cost the taxpayers dearly. Even in the absence of a government safety net, banks still have the incentive to take on too much risk. Risky assets may provide the bank with higher earnings when they pay off but if they do not pay off and the bank fails, depositors are left holding the bag. If depositors were able to monitor the bank easily by acquiring information on its taking activities, they would immediately withdraw their deposits if the bank was taking on too much risk (Manikins Snakeskin, 2009). To prevent such a loss of deposits, the bank would be more likely to reduce its risk taking activities. Unfortunately, acquiring information on a banks activities to learn how much risk the bank is taking can be a difficult task. Hence. Most depositors are incapable of imposing discipline that might prevent banks from engaging in risk activities. A strong rationale for government regulation to reduce risk taking on the part of banks therefore existed even before the establishment f federal deposit insurance. (Mish kin Snakeskin, 2009). Bank regulations that restrict banks from holding risky assets such as common stock are a direct means of making banks avoid too much risk. Bank regulations also promote diversification, which reduces risk by limiting the amount of loans in particular categories or to individual borrowers. Requirements that banks have sufficient bank capital are another way to reduce the banks incentives to take on risk. When a bank is forced to hold a large amount of equity capital, the bank has more to lose if it fails and is thus more likely to pursue sees risky activities (Manikins Snakeskin, 2009). Bank capital requirements take two forms. The first type is based on the leverage ratio, the amount of capital divided by the banks total assets. To be classified as well capitalized, a banks leverage ratio must exceed 5%; a lower leverage ratio, especially one below 3% triggers increased regulatory restrictions on the bank. Through most of the 1 sass. Minimum bank capital in the united States was set solely by specifying a minimum leverage ratio (Manikins Snakeskin, 2009). In the wake of the continental Illinois and savings and loans bailouts, regulators in the United States and the rest of the world have become increasingly worried about worried about banks holdings of risky assets and about the increase in banks off balance sheet activities, activities that involve trading financial instruments and generating income from fees. Which do not appear on bank balance sheets but nevertheless expose banks to risk. An agreement among banking officials from industrialized nations set up to risk. (Manikins Snakeskin, 2009). The Basel committee on banking supervision, which has implemented the Basel Accord that deals with a second type of capital requirements risk eased capital requirements. The Basel Accord, which required that banks hold as capital at least 8% of their risk weighted assets, has been adopted by more than 100 countries, including the United States. Assets and off balance sheet activities were allocated into in to four categories, each with a different weight to reflect the degree of credit risk. The first category carries a zero weight and includes items that have little default risk, such as reserves and government securities issued by the organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries (Manikins Snakeskin, 2009). The second category has a 20% weight and includes claims on banks in COED countries. The third category has a weight of 50% and includes municipal bonds and residential mortgages. The fourth category has the maximum weight of 100% and includes loans to consumers and corporations. Off balance sheet activities are treated in a similar manner by assigning a credit equivalent percentage that converts them to on balance sheet items to which the appropriate risk weight applies. The 1 996 market risk amendment to the Basel Accord set minimum capital requirements for risk in banks trading accounts (Manikins Snakeskin, 2009). Over time, limitations of the Basel Accord have become apparent, because the regulatory measure of bank risk as stipulated by the risk weights can differ substantially from the actual risk the bank faces. This has resulted in regulatory arbitrage, a practice in which banks keep on their books assets that have the same risk based capital requirement but are relatively risky, such as a loan to a company with a very low credit rating, while taking off their books low risk assets, such as a loan to a company with a very high credit rating(Manikins Snakeskin, 2009). Bank Supervision: Chartering And Examination Overseeing who operates banks and how they are operated, referred to as bank supervision or more generally as prudential supervision, is an important method for reducing adverse selection and moral hazard in the banking business. Because banks can be used by crooks or overambitious entrepreneurs to engage in highly speculative activities, such undesirable people would be eager to run a bank. Chartering proposals for new banks are screened to prevent undesirable people from controlling them (Manikins Snakeskin, 2009). Regular onsite bank examinations, which allow regulators to monitors whether the bank is complying with capital requirements and restrictions on asset holdings, also function to limit moral hazard. Bank examiners give banks a CAMELS rating. The acronym is based on the six area: assessed: capital adequacy, asset quality, management, earning, liquidity, NC sensitivity to market risk. With this information about a banks activities, regulators can enforce regulations by taking such formal actions as cease NC desist orders to alter the banks behavior or even close a bank it its CAMELS rating is sufficiently low (Manikins Snakeskin, 2009). Actions taken to red cue oral hazard by restricting banks from taking on too much risk help reduce the adverse selection problem further, because with less opportunity for risk taking, risk loving entrepreneurs will be less likely to be attracted to the banking industry. Note that the methods regulators use to cope with adverse selection and moral hazard have their counterparts in private financial markets (Manikins Snakeskin, 2009). Chartering is similar to the screening of potential borrowers, regulations restricting risky asset holdings are similar to restrictive covenants that prevent borrowing firms from engaging in risk risky investment activities, bank capital requirements act like restrictive covenants that require minimum amounts Of net worth for borrowing firms, and regular bank examinations are similar to the monitoring of borrowers by lending institutions (Manikins Snakeskin, 2009). Assessment Of Risk Management Traditionally, on site bank examinations have focused primarily on assessment of the quality of the banks balance sheet at a point in time and whether it complies with capital requirements and restrictions on asset holdings. Although the traditional focus is important for reducing excessive sis taking by banks, it is no longer felt to be adequate in todays world, in which financial innovation has produced new markets and instruments that make it easy for banks and their employees to make huge bets easily and quickly. In this new financial environment, a bank that is healthy at a particular point in time can be driven into insolvency extremely rapidly from trading losses, as forcefully demonstrated by the failure of Baring in 1 995 (Manikins Snakeskin, 2009). Thus, an examination that focuses only on banks position at a point in time may not be effective in indicating whether a bank ill, in fact, be taking on excessive risk in the near future (Manikins Snakeskin, 2009). This change in the financial environment for baking institutions has resulted in a major shift in thinking about the bank supervisory process throughout the world. Bank examiners are now placing far greater emphasis On evaluating the soundness of a banks management processes with regard to controlling risk. This shift in thinking was reflected In a new focus on risk management in the Federal Reserve Systems 1 993 guidelines to examiners on trading and derivatives activities. The focus was expanded and formalized n the Trading Activities Manual issued early in 1 994, which provided bank examiners with tools to evaluate risk management systems (Manikins Snakeskin, 2009). In late 1 995, the federal Reserve and the Comptroller of the Currency announced that they would be assessing risk management processes at the banks they supervise. Now bank examiners give a separate risk management rating from 1 to 5 that fees into the overall management rating as part of the CAMELS system. Four elements of sound risk management are assessed to come up with the risk management rating: (1 ) the quality of oversight revived by the board of directors and senior management, (2) the adequacy of policies and limits for all activities that present significant risk, (3) the quality of the risk measurement and monitoring systems, and (4) the adequacy of internal controls to prevent fraud or unauthorized activities on the part of employees. This shift toward focusing on management processes is also reflected in recent guidelines adopted by the US bank regulatory authorities to deal with interest rate risk. These guidelines require the banks board of directors to establish interest rate risk limits, appoint officials of the ann. to manage this risk, and monitor the banks risk exposure (Manikins Snakeskin, 2009). The guidelines also require that senior management of a bank develop formal risk management policies and procedures to ensure that the board of directors risk limits is not violated and to implement internal controls to monitor interest rate risk and compliance with the boards directives. Particularly important is the implementation of stress testing, which calculates losses under dire scenarios, or value at risk (VARY) calculations, who ICC measure the size of the loss on a trading portfolio that eight happen 1 % of the time say, over a two week period (Manikins Snakeskin, 2009). Disclosure Requirements To ensure that there is better information for depositors and the marketplace, regulators can require that banks adhere to certain standard accounting prince plea and disclose a wide range of information that helps the market assess the quality of a banks portfolios and the amount of the banks exposure to risk (Manikins Snakeskin, 2009). Consumer Protection The existence of asymmetric information also suggests that consumers may not have enough information to protect themselves fully. Consumer redirecting regulation has taken several forms. First is truth in lending mandated under the consumer protection act of 1969, which requires all lenders, not just banks, to provide information to consumers about the cost of borrowing, including a standardized interest rate and the total finance charges on the loan (Manikins Snakeskin, 2009). Restrictions On Competition Increased competition can also increase moral hazard incentives for banks to take on more risk. Declining profitability as a result of increased competition could tip the incentives of bankers toward assuming greater risk in an effort o maintain former profit levels. Thus, governments in many countries have instituted regulations to protect banks from competition. These regulations have taken too forms in the United Stated in the past. First were restrictions on branching, such as those described in charter 18, which reduced competition between banks, but were eliminated in 1994. The second form involved preventing embank institutions from competing with banks by engaging in banking business, as embodied in the Glass Steal Act, which was repealed in 1999 (Manikins Snakeskin, 2009). International Banking Regulation Because asymmetric information problems in the banking industry are a fact of life throughout the world, bank regulation in other countries is similar to that in the United Stated. Banks are chartered and supervised by government regulators, just as they are in the United Stated. Deposit insurance is also a feature of the regulatory system in most other developed countries, although its coverage is often smaller than in the United Stated NC is intentionally not advertised (Manikins Snakeskin, 2009). Problems Is Regulating International Banking Particular problems in bank regulation occur when banks are engaged in international banking and thus can readily shift their business from one country to another. Bank regulators closely examine the domestic operations of banks in their country, but they often do not have the knowledge or ability to keep a close watch on bank operations in other countries, either by domestic banks foreign affiliates or by foreign banks with domestic branches (Manikins Snakeskin, 2009). Banking Regulation In Dominican Republic The first signs of banking regulation in Dominican Republic appear with the emergence of the National Bank of Santos Domingo, AS in 1869. In 1909, the Dominican Government promulgated the first General Banking Law, where specific regulations for mortgage banks, issuers and sharecropping are established and emerging credit institutions with the characteristics of commercial banks under the supervision and control of the Ministry of Finance and Commerce, known today Ministry of Finance, which was equipped with auditors appointed by the executive branch in each bank to exercise control (Tortes N;fizz 2014). The year 1947 marked the transformation of the Dominican financial system; Dominican Monetary Unit, the Central Bank and the Superintendence of Banks, the latter under Law No. 530 of October 9, 1 947, a law that creates the foundation for the supervision and regulation Of financial Dominican Sis-theme is created (Tortes N;hex 2014). The economist Virgil ?Avarice Sniche will be the first to hold the position of Superintendent of Banks, a position he occupied for two years. In principle, the task of supervision which performed this entity was simple considering the limited business operations of that era and its main function was the authorization of new offices (Tortes N;ex 2014). The No. 1530 law that gave rise to the Superintendence of Banks will be amended and replaced y Law 708, General Banking Law of 14 April 1965, where it is put in charge of this entity implementation and administration of the scheme legal for banks, under the aegis of the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Finance today.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Strategic analysis of the Wal-Mart Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Strategic analysis of the Wal-Mart - Essay Example The intention of this study is Wal-Mart as one of the largest and formidable players in the global retail industry. Since its establishment by Rogers Ark in the year 1962, the company has grown by leaps and bounds with a presence in about 28 nations with about 9759 stores across the globe. The company provides direct and indirect employment to 2.1 million individuals globally. Wal-Mart is also listed on the bourses of the New York stock exchange where its stocks are being actively traded. It has been consistently ranked among the top brands by leading agencies like Fortune and Forbes. The company derives its competitive edge on the basis of its famous EDLP (Every Day Low Price) strategy and has a cost leadership approach towards generating competitive advantage in the market. A successful logistics and supply chain management strategy of the company using ERP is the backbone behind the successful recipe of success of the company. Michael Porter stated three generic strategies that ca n also shape up positioning of a product or a brand in the market. Positioning is defined as the image of a product or service in the minds of the target market audience. The three strategic alternatives given by Porter include focus, differentiation and cost based leadership. Firms undertaking a focus strategy generate competitive advantage on the basis of concentrating on a single product line or a specified customer segment. A differentiation strategy involves competing in the market on the basis of differentiation in products and services that involves providing a product or service that is unique in the industry and deriving competitive advantage from the aspect. ... Background Wal-Mart is one of the largest and formidable players in the global retail industry. Since its establishment by Rogers Ark in the year 1962, the company has grown by leaps and bounds with a presence in about 28 nations with about 9759 stores across the globe. The company provides direct and indirect employment to 2.1 million individuals globally. Wal-Mart is also listed on the bourses of the New York stock exchange where its stocks are being actively traded. It has been consistently ranked among the top brands by leading agencies like Fortune and Forbes. The company derives its competitive edge on the basis of its famous EDLP (Every Day Low Price) strategy and has a cost leadership approach towards generating competitive advantage in the market. A successful logistics and supply chain management strategy of the company using ERP is the backbone behind the successful recipe of success of the company (Wal-Mart, 2011). Strategic Positioning Michael Porter stated three generic strategies that can also shape up positioning of a product or a brand in the market. Positioning is defined as the image of a product or service in the minds of the target market audience. The three strategic alternatives given by Porter include focus, differentiation and cost based leadership. Firms undertaking a focus strategy generate competitive advantage on the basis of concentrating on a single product line or a specified customer segment. A differentiation strategy involves competing in the market on the basis of differentiation in products and services that involves providing a product or service that is unique in the industry and deriving competitive advantage from the aspect. Cost based differentiation includes a strategy under

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Essay+week journal Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Essay+week journal - Assignment Example The responsibilities of individuals, organizations, and government entail proposing informed principles related to the dilemma of climate change in China. United States will come in to address the process because of the economic benefits of China. There are firms in United States that have outsourced their work to China to save on cost and increase the volume of production. The White House acknowledges climate change to have direct impact on innovation, economic growth and the sustainable development of both China and United States. Snre.umich.edu evaluates climate change in China by addressing the viewpoints, roles, and efforts of United States and China. Climate Change in China calls for the commitment of all the countries with high emissions to put in measures on reducing the release. A bilateral agreement between United States and China was instituted in 2014 to encourage safe industrial production through governmental commitment. However, a multilateral agreement on climate change in China would have boosted the efforts but it was impossible to seek global commitment. United States and China are involved in bilateral agreements because they are the leading countries with highest carbon emissions. China should be optimistic about the challenge of climate change because of the possible dangers that it poses to other countries. The People’s Republic of China has envisioned a platform where the energy goals are met but with reduced emissions. An investment in the energy innovation would come in handy to help address emissions. The method can utilize the efforts of enterprises, regions and countries instead of restricting the efforts to china alone. The next ten or twenty years in China might offset the yield and infrastructure in the country (npr.org). The huge impacts of climate change call for bilateral agreements with the leading countries in carbon emissions. However, China should play an integral role in the noble cause of fighting climate change to

Sunday, November 17, 2019

CVS Pharmacy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

CVS Pharmacy - Essay Example The essay highlights how the CVS Pharmacy applies adaptability and response to change/innovation. The CVS Pharmacy strives to provide expert care and innovative solutions that are effective for the patients. Through such services, CVS illustrates how the use of innovative approaches to traditional plan can help customers in reducing their expenditure on drugs; improve the generic dispensing rates, and minimizing the rate of member disruption (Nursing., (U.S.) and of 308). They have a variety of tools that are available to guide the clients in reducing the costs and increasing the GDR. But, patients may hesitate to implement the new plan designs since the approaches require a change in the behavior of the member and can turn to be quite disruptive. By adapting the elements of the traditional plan design is to provide the members with an appealing selection of options, increase flexibility, and enhance proactive communications. Higher spending in the healthcare industry has traditionally benefitted the traditional stakeholders in the industry. Such professionals include hospitals, doctors, insurers, as well as drug and device manufacturers. Through this, the profitability of the health care system has remained strong despite the common cases of the economic downturn. However, the prospect of the health spending escalation is likely to fuel a growth mandate from the consumers and employers, and the system will be required to deliver more value. CVS pharmacy also looks out for opportunities of increased healthcare spending. During such times, there is often a significant increase in the health insurance premiums and fewer employers are always willing to provide their employees with coverage. Those that do offer the services limit their coverage to the employees and eliminate retirees and dependents. Such opportunities arising from

Friday, November 15, 2019

Indicators of Country Development

Indicators of Country Development This lesson deals with the social and other indicators of development. Increasingly, development economists have become aware that growth of output or income by themselves are not adequate indicators of development, and that the reduction of poverty and the satisfaction of basic human needs are goals that should show up in a measure of development. There has been growing interest in designing better measures of development, including modifications of GNP, social indicators and associated systems.. ________________________________________________________________________________ Objectives After going through this lesson, you should be able to: Describe the supplementary nature of socio-economic factors. Describe the importance of social indicators. ________________________________________________________________________________________ 6.1Â  Communication Communication is sharing of knowledge, information and experience. It makes people understand, persuade, convert or control one another. It is a two way process. Communication is an essential element of life. It begins with the birth of a man and ends with his death. It is an ongoing process and is forever in motion. For the sake of convenience we may talk about communication elements such as source, context and message as if they were static and discrete elements existing apart from their role in the total act of communication. But this is simply a method for explaining and illustrating the various elements. Basically, communication is a continuous, dynamic, circular, unrepeatable, irreversible and complex process. All the activities of not only whole life but also of society and country depend upon communication. So if used constructively, communication can play a major role in various development activities. It is an important element in the matrix of influences, which leads to the innovation and modernization of society. It can help to create an environment favorable for change and development. Communication can help people to face problems on an individual basis and also on collective basis on various fronts. Without communication the development and progress would go unnoticed as it is only that spreads the news from one region to another. Country’s development can be speeded up by the introduction of communication media As the technology of communication becomes more advance, we are still going to witness more revolution in the way people communicate with each other and develop positive creative change in thinking on development. Communication for development refers to a strategy, process that promotes social changes through dialogue, knowledge-sharing, and participation, is dependent on a free flow of communication. Development oriented themes such as family planning; adult education, primary health care etc. can be spread to people much faster through communication. People feedback on developmental programmes can be passed to the policy makers only through communication. Communication is an indicator of development for the future since people come to know about the event in advance, that may happen only through communication. ________________________________________________________________________________ 6.2Â  Happiness Index (HI) International Development Research Centre; the United Nations Development Programme Thimphu; the Canadian International Development Agency; GPI-Atlantic, the province of Nova Scotia; the French-American Charitable Trust, (deeply committed to the cause of happiness) We have certain strategies, certain policies, to pursue this goal of happiness. We should enrich our knowledge and understanding of happiness itself; and further, how much we can improve and refine the processes that we have adopted. Happiness is the ultimate desired end. Greater intellect and further wisdom on the subject of happiness is the key requirement. HI seeks to promote a conscious, inner search for happiness and requisite skills which must harmonize with beneficial management and development of outer circumstances. HI stresses collective happiness to be addressed directly through public policies in which happiness becomes an explicit criterion in development projects and programmes. HI indicators are an evaluative tool and can be used to check whether programmes are consistent with HI indicators also create conditions for a coherent, relationship between professed values on the one hand and actual policies, programmes and projects on the other. It means- country’s economic, political, social progress etc is in the right direction. Economic policies are happiness policies since individuals are able to buy goods and services, thereby satisfying themselves. People derive sense of confidence and achievement, financial, economic self reliance. Thus in a way it brings happiness. _________________________________________________________________________________ 6.3Â  Democracy as an indicator Democracy is a system of government that runs by the elected representatives of the people. The underlying theme of human development is the broadening of human choice. The number of democracies has been growing through the past two centuries. At the start of the 20th century only a handful of countries could be described as democracies. The fact was that woman could not vote. A number of these countries might not qualify as liberal democracies by demanding more standards. Countries with democratic institutions have been growing rapidly-this process is linked with economic development. Although it is clear that economic development does not automatically bring development. Democratic process helps to establish and sustain the institutions best suited to maximize human choice and potential. Well-informed decision makers need reliable feedback on where, why and how mass support for democracy is growing and where it is failing. Scenario of development opened up because of the increasing influence of democracy. As a result Indian environment got a boost and the face of economic development of India changed completely. Various democratic reforms played a pivotal role in the development. Reaping its benefit, the growth of the country can be raised manifold. A great atmosphere is important for proper growth and development. Thus, democratic environment is inevitable a must for development. In democratic setup there is a sense of freedom, of course within the framework of constitution. People can diversify in any area of interest. People can achieve desired goals un- inhibited, unhesitatingly. When ideas have no boundary, progress and development is superb. Under pressure and tension it is difficult to reach a desired aim. Although freedom is associated with rules responsibilities, but it is beneficial. The three D’s go together –democracy, diversity, and dialogue. In democracy there is a feeling of contentment, freedom and satisfaction. Therefore, people can work with their full capacity, creativity. Good, strong firm foundation is the basis of a great nation. True democracy- important indicator for development. Govt. should take opinion into consideration, all for local development from the people. When a govt. is making a decision on public project, people are free to express their views before the govt. personnels. Thereby, bringing all-round development of the nation. ________________________________________________________________________________________ 6.4Â  Human Rights as indicator: Human rights are the natural rights of all human beings irrespective of their sex. Efforts are made all over the world to take adequate measures for the promotion and protection of human rights. It is only through communication that people become aware and educated about their rights, which they can exercise or have been granted to them. The United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on 10th December 1948, according to which all men and women are entitled to civil, political, economic, social, cultural rights and freedom for the people of the world. The United Nations and other international organizations, several non-governmental organizations: Amnesty International and In India the People’s Union of Civil Liberties and the Media have been creating greater awareness. Example: The Frontline in its issue of 24 Sep’ The Times of India in its special report on 28 Nov, both in 1999 spell out in detail the gross violation of Human Rights in Tamil Nadu. The preamble (an introduction or preface) to the constitution, fundamental rights and directive principles (guidelines for the framing of laws), which together have been described as forming the core of the constitution reflect the basic principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Every Development programme should incorporate an aspect on human rights. Development communicators must shoulder the responsibility of educating various target groups on how to respect and exercise human rights. This requires democratization of communication, which means an access to all existing media to the masses for sharing information and the facts related to human rights without any discrimination. Without freedom, other human rights cannot be exercised effectively either within National borders or within the world community. The expansion of human rights, therefore, depends largely on the success of expanding the flow of information everywhere. The Human Right principles to guide development programming identified in this agreement are: Universality and inalienability Indivisibility Interdependence and interrelatedness Equality and non-discrimination Inclusion and participation Accountability _____________________________________________________________________________________ 6.5Â  Social Relations [inequality] Participation has emerged as a key concept, being of considerable importance to development. Ideally people must be free to develop as individuals. People should be encouraged and opportunities should be created for their own development. But problems are there in real participation. People should themselves design media. In present situation elites have a say in decision making. But the majority of the poor have little access to resources. Actually these groups should become the principal elements in the effort to design the media. The prevailing system encourages competition and hierarchy and not cooperation and unity. The existing educational system encourages the individual for his development but does not stress cooperative effort. This attitude leads to inequality. The media system should stress development of a spirit of solidarity and unity. Social Relations takes as its focus the relationships between people and their social world. It assumes that people are engaged in and shaped by multiple relationships, events and influences. Human experience and behaviour is therefore explored, not only by taking a range of social and psychological factors into account but also, importantly, by paying close attention to the meanings and interpretations that people attach to their diverse experiences. The poor are often branded as irrational, lazy and irresponsible. The concept of ‘the individual’ can by definition exist only in relational terms. A person constructs a sense of identity in relation to family, other people, cultural practices, gender, social class, social/political systems, sexuality, geographic location and physical and mental abilities. It is therefore necessary to engage in learning as a cultural activity and to appreciate connections between individuals and the social, political and cultural structures that impact upon them. Social capital– value of social networks, bonding with similar people and bridging between diverse people with norms of reciprocity, also trusting relationships between individual in an economy, it highlights the central role of social relations for social capital. Social Relations is a multi disciplinary approach that draws on several theoretical methodologies and its analysis. Each focuses from different angles on how people organize and make meaning of their world and their relationships within it. Interaction becomes a valuable resource for exploration of insight into the dimensions of human relationships. Social Relations has particular relevance for people whose professional careers require a broad understanding of human behaviour and social relationships Caste Associations tactics contributed significantly in the inequality of social relations. There are caste based differences in the leadership and environment around; conflict has often been the result. Castes promotes political instability confusion, violates basic principle of constitution (democracy). This highlights the central role of social relations for social capital and on that perspective developmental concept can be viewed. The availability of social capital, its proper use may be reflected in organizational maintenance. This creates opportunities for development by making visible the potential gap between availability use. Relations teaches us unity in diversity; World is a global village- ‘vasudhaiva kutumbakam’. Unity is power, disunity is death. Unless there is a degree of humility on the part of the professional staff and a desire to listen and understand other people, they will not be in a position to relate to others through media. There is a general assumption on the part of media professionals that they can disseminate a particular idea without exchanging ideas with the grass-root people as they are specialists. A majority of them show little or no respect for the experience and knowledge of the people – the creative potential of the peasants or slum dwellers. They fail to understand that poor people are more suited to depict the issues concerning them and present their own lives. In order to achieve participation, consultation, cooperation and effective mobilization of people, the media system would need to assist in establishing a sense of community and would need a desire to resolve the issues concerning them. Forming organizations with leadership emerging from within require participation and enables rural people to exercise more control over their lives. Emphasis is on the idea of self – reliance on the available natural and human resources, and on the ability of individuals to define developmental problems, set goals, and make decisions independently and in accordance with their own social and cultural ethos. Respect connections between individuals and the social, political and cultural structures that have impact upon them. Relations are like plants, we got to nurture them regularly. Thinking in terms of living and letting others live. Often in the hype over economic growth, we forget the harsh reality of India’s-extreme poverty, hunger, disease, lack of education, and regressive social practices. We should be concerned about them. These simmering injustices cannot be allowed to fester (pus, ulcer, decay; rot) because they will heighten social tensions that will ultimately risk our growth story. These key problems need speedy intervention. _______________________________________________________________________________________ Summing Up: In this lesson we studied about various indicators. When drafting proposals, policymakers require data on a wide range of factors, such as social, economic and administrative environment, etc. Indicators are obvious signs or hints used to point something out, or highlight something. An indicator is a form of measurement in order to determine the level to what an extent. An indicator tells us if we are meeting or met the goal. Social indicators actually give a true picture of economy. All the types of social and economic indicators constitute the state of the nation. A review of these approaches and concepts points to the conclusion that the use of social and human indicators is the most promising supplement to GNP, particularly if work on social indicators is done in areas central to the basic needs approach. 6.9Â  Keywords: Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam: It is a philosophy that inculcates an understanding that the whole world is one family Social Relations: A relation between living organisms (especially between people). Caste: The system of dividing society into such classes. Preamble: An introduction or preface to the constitution. Fundamental rights: An interest protected by the superior or basic law of the land. Directive Principles: Guidelines for the framing of laws.