Curriculum Trends Essay Example for Free

Curriculum Trends Essay

The Importance Of Entrepreneurship And Innovation

The Importance Of Entrepreneurship And Innovation It is known to all that entrepreneurship is increasingly recognized as an important driver of economic growth, productivity, innovation and employment, and it is widely accepted as a key aspect of economic dynamism: the birth and death of firm and their growth and downsizing. As firms enter and exit the market, theory suggests that the new arrivals will be more efficient than those they displace. Existing firms that are not driven out are forced to innovate and become more productive in order to compete. Many studies have given empirical support to this process of creative destruction according to Joseph Schumpeter. There is no doubt that innovation were, are will be extremely important for the individual and society. Today, people increasingly realize that innovations are even more critical that in the past. Thus, industrial competition is increasingly cruel and companies must continuously bring innovative products and services to the global market. To survive, companies need creative and inventive employees whose novel ideas are, to a certain extent, a necessity for the companies continued existence and future success. Consequently, modern society indeed requires highly able citizens who can produce innovative solutions to current challenges and contribute new ideas that aid in the development and growth of the market for a particular product or service. Contemporary society, without doubt, is highly reliant on innovations. The future will be synonymous with innovation. Despite the quite evident importance of innovations in the life of any organism, one should acknowledge that the phenomenon o f innovation is far from well understood. Terms and definitions Innovation is the specific function of entrepreneurship, whether in an existing business, a public service institution, or a new venture started by alone individual in the family kitchen. It is the means by which the entrepreneur either creates new wealth-producing resources or endows existing resources with enhanced potential for creating wealth. (Drucker, 1985) Creativity and innovation are not synonymous, but Innovation= Invention+ Creativity+ Exploitation (Rosenfeld and Serso, 1990). Innovation is one of ways to explore change as an opportunity for a business or service. Innovation can be taught and learned (Drucker, 1985). On the average about sixty percent of all jobs in the U.S. are generated by firms with twenty or fewer employees. Large firms with over five hundred employees generate less than fifteen percent of all the jobs (Birch, 1979). Students can also work for large companies as leaders within then large company, but must see small business as a viable option. According to Timmons (1989) defined that Entrepreneurship is a human, creative act that builds something of value from practically nothing. It is the pursuit of opportunity regardless of the resources, or lack of resources, at hand. It requires a vision and the passion and commitment to lead others in the pursuit of that vision. It also requires a willingness to take calculated risks 2.0 Identification of Opportunities and Generating Ideas The first challenge may occur to the business start-ups is to find the real opportunities from the changing business environment. According to Lowe and Marriot (2006), the starting point of business start-up is to identify the where a gap in the market might exist to where changes in the market might act as a catalyst for developing a new solution that customer will need. Muzyka (2000) explains that opportunities come in many ways, shapes and forms and entrepreneurs, while not needing to have the idea themselves but must structure a business around the idea. Lowe and Marriot (2006) emphasized that many opportunities for innovation and entrepreneurship come from applying technology or bringing new ideas into the functional areas of a business to create change within and established market. According to Ansoff and Mcdonnell (1990), when facing the unexpected events, the organization who can responds to the opportunity and threat more innovative than its competitor, the organization is more likely to succeed, apart from Ansoff and McDonnell s point of view, Drucker (1985) also suggested that, the unexpected event that triggers off a new demand. For example, demands for construction following the earthquake and tsunami. Individuals think creatively and build knowledge from their own experience and expertise that will lead to potentially commercializable opportunities, however, Lowe and Marriot (2006) argued that an organization can work against the creative capability. There are several methods that can be used to generate business ideas. Firstly, entrepreneur can use someone else s ideas to start their own business, often some else s idea is interesting but not commercially exploitable; however, the idea can be modified and developed into a real market opportunity. Secondly, entrepreneur can use his or her own knowledge to make observations about the market gaps and opportunities. The knowledge can be from work, hobbies or just simply reflecting on normal life experiences, all of these knowledge can transform into the new business ideas. Thirdly, according to Lowe and Marriot (2006), the market is crowded with services and products, so it is important to identify the market gap and generate new pro duct or service to meet their own specific needs. Fourthly, Baron and Shane (2005)discuss the importance of intelligence in creativity and suggest that entrepreneurs need to balance three components to achieve successful intelligence: (1) creative intelligence to come up with new ideas, (2) practical intelligence to identify ways to develop these ideas and (3) analytical intelligence to evaluate the ideas and determine whether they are worth pursuing. 3.0 Business Plan 3.1 The importance of business planning for start-ups Cater and Dylan (2006) suggested that Planning is generally perceived as a curial element in the survival of new and small business. The business plan is just a plan and like any other plan, the only way to see if it really works is to monitor its progress at regular intervals, (Butler, 2006) so that the entrepreneur will be able to respond to any potential problems which may occur in the future and if necessary, the entrepreneur will also be able to change the business strategy straight away. There are three main reasons why entrepreneur need to produce a business plan: First, the business planning process acts as a very efficient method of focusing the ideas of potential entrepreneurs in terms of defining their objectives and assessing their own abilities to organize and run the business (Butler, 2006). The business plan can also help to test the feasibility of the business proposal before the actual implementation or commit to any substantial expenditure or investment. Typically, the business plan would be prepared before the start-up or acquisition of the business. Second, there are only few entrepreneurs who have their own resources to fund their business, most are faced the challenge to raise external finance, it may not occur at the start-up stage but probably when they wish to expand their established business. For these persons, possession of a good business plan is crucial to their future. A clear description of how the entrepreneur will exploit the business opportunity allows investors to decide whether the project is a worthwhile investment and assess the risk attached to it. (Frank, Plaschka and Roessl, 1989, p.191) Third, the processes of the business planning produce the parameters and specific targets (Butler, 2006) which provide a yardstick, which can measure the progress and profitability of the business. Again, this planning activity is a prerequisite to starting or acquiring a business but, apart from that, it is also part of the ongoing process of running a business and should be continued as an ongoing process, long after the initial start-up. 3.2The layout of the business plan The importance of the business plan has been discussed in the previous section, this section will suggest a basic structure for the business plan: The Business Idea is the preliminary section to demonstrate the basic background information about the proposal, and it also helps to stimulate the reader s interest for a further reading. The section of The Proprietors of the Business will describe the proprietors key skills and abilities which would help to make the business successful. According to Butler (2006, p.17), the business plan must act as a sales document to convince the lender of the viability of the proposal, so this section is the key to that process and must therefore be concise, positive and upbeat (Butler, 2006, p.28). The Resources Required section will identify the capital investment requirements of the business (Premises, transport, plant and equipment) and other resources required (personnel, raw materials, consumables, etc.) and also show the reasons why they needed. (Butler, 2006, p.35) The section of Financial Plan will identify the budgetary plan and also will forecast the cash flow and the profit. In the Marketing section, it will analyse the marketing sector which the business plan to operate, and also will demonstrate what kinds of marketing policy will be used. The Implementation of the Proposals section will show the way in which the business will operate, the timetable for the Implementation of the proposal and discuss any possible contingencies. The last section will be Summary, it will summarise the belief in the potential Profitability and viability of your business proposal and the potential of success.

Free Essays on Homers Odyssey: Greek Values :: Odyssey essays

Greek Values and Homer's Odyssey "Look death in the face with joyful hope, and consider this a lasting truth: the righteous man has nothing to fear, neither in life, nor in death, and the Gods will not forsake him."-Socrates, a Greek philosopher and contemplative thinker. The above quote is the basis for Greek belief, demonstrating the respectable Greek citizen. It displays courage and obedience for the Gods in which the Greek world revolved around. Greeks had many traditions and ways of life. Greek cosmos played an important role in Greek life including the God's influence and personality, Greek military ideas, philosophers, and Greek poetry. The God's impact and personality had a direct influence on daily life in Greek society. The Gods can give things "A cruel turn, this. Never had I thought to see this land, but Zeus let me see it." (Book 5, Line 426-427 The Odyssey unabridged), however, they can also take things away and curse their people "Take yourself out of this island, creeping thing...Your voyage here was cursed by heaven" (Book 10, Line 82-85 The Odyssey unabridged). Greek citizens had to always be considering what the Gods were thinking of them. The Greeks knew that whatever the Gods gave them, they will just as easily take everything away. By knowing the nicknames of the Gods, readers are able to determine their personalities. Throughout The Odyssey, Athena, Roman name Minerva, is often referred to as the "Grey-eyed goddess". This explanation can account for her cleverness and her bright, scheming eye. Athena is constantly changing shapes and disguises, but the cunning eye, stays constant. Another example of one of the God's personalities, is in the myth of Athena's birth. The personality of Zeus shines. It displays Zeus' constant lust after female mortals. There are many other displays of Zeus' lust. Many half mortals are the offspring of Zeus, due to his flirtatious attitude. While the Gods were a very important aspect of the Greeks, so was war and militaristic power. These values can be seen in Thucydides The Funeral Oration of Pericles, which explains a battle of the Peloponnesian War. "And we have not forgotten to provide for our weary spirits many relaxations from toil".

Critique of Movie The Insider Essay -- Tobacco Nicotine Insider Film E

Critique of Movie The Insider A dramatization of 1995 events in which the tobacco industry allegedly covered up proof that nicotine is addictive and harmful. When Brown and Williamson executive Jeffrey Wigand (Crowe) tries to expose the industry's cover-up, he is threatened into silence. He eventually gets his story to 60 Minutes producer Lowell Bergman (AL Pacino), but CBS decides against airing it due to political and economic pressures, and the threat of lawsuit from Brown and Williamson. Before we start, I think it's important that you know a little thing about me, and where I'm coming from. I do smoke. But I believe that most of the lawsuits filed against the tobacco industry are unfounded, desperate attempts for people to put the blame on anyone but themselves. I think social security is a safety net for the financially irresponsible. I thought The Insider was a great movie from a strictly entertainment perspective (don't get ahead of me on this one!), and I enjoyed it very much. Russell Crowe is Jeffrey Wigand, a Brown and Williamson VP of Research and Development whose conscience compels him to blow the whistle on the industry. He claims that Big Tobacco has been covering up scientific research that proves nicotine is addictive and harmful. The writing puts a lot of energy into making sure that Wigand is a sufficiently complicated character, and one that we sympathize with. To be sure, he's not entirely one-dimensional. Initially, he does what most of...

Finding Yourself Essay -- Essays Papers

Finding Yourself Hidden under every cloak, every item of clothing, and all makeup lies a body. Under the skin of a body lies a soul, and a mind of thoughts. Reaching further we search for where the thoughts were born. As an embryo we are brought into this world, and raised by our creators. From them we are taught life. Depending on our parents or whoever is raising us we become a person, with thoughts, feelings, emotions, and ideas. Looking deeper it becomes clear that all idea’s exist from aspects we have learned. A single thought is also an embryo, born, and than created by it’s creator. Thoughts exist from teachers and learning and so we are taught the limits humans have, and the opportunities available, all of which exist only because they have been taught. Had the first teacher of life said humans can walk on water, than today’s reality would find us walking on water as a common means of travel. Is it possible that reality is made of thoughts, goals, and than achievements? Years ago when the first rocket took off from Earth astronaut’s were created. It was from a thought that reality changed and allowed for space travel. A thought provokes change, and further development for a race, but where did the thought develop? Almost everything a child learns they are taught. The world becomes a movie to watch and learn from, leaving parents and guardians to be the critic’s. Every child has the choice to become any of the things it observes be...

Financial Literacy Essay

India is among the world’s most efficient financial markets in terms of technology, regulation and systems. It also has one of the highest savings rate in the world – our gross household savings rate, which averaged 19% of gross domestic product (GDP) between 1996-97 and 1999-2000, increased to about 23% in 2003-04 and has been growing ever since. While savings are more in India, where the savings are invested is a cause for concern. Investments by households have been more into either bank fixed deposits, risk-free government-backed securities and low-yielding instruments, or in non-financial assets. A majority of our households do not use modern financial markets. As per an RBI report, only 1. 4% of household savings was invested in equity, mutual funds and debentures in 2003-04. Though this went up to about 4% in 2005-06, it is still very small. Unless the common person becomes a wiser investor and is protected from wrong doings, wealth creation for the investor and the economy will remain a distant dream. We need to convert a country of savers into a nation of investors. Which one should you use? Such questions and choices appear tough to even urban population not to talk of those in rural areas, where most of India’s population is. When it comes to financial solutions, investors tend to use thumb rules or seek advice from friends and relatives, which are often poor approximations compared to those that follow from a systematic process. If they get bad advice, their outcomes will be poor, and they will start to lose faith in the financial sector. A big improvement of financial knowledge of households is necessary so that they participate continuously in financial markets. Financial literacy plays a significant role in the efficient allocation of household savings and the ability of individuals to meet their financial goals. It also means the ability to seek sound financial advice. Financial literacy has assumed greater importance in recent years as financial markets have become increasingly complex and the common man finds it very difficult to make informed decisions. Financial literacy is considered an important adjunct for promoting financial inclusion and ultimately financial stability. Both developed and developing countries, therefore, are focusing on programmes for financial literacy/education. In India, the need for financial literacy is even greater considering the low levels of literacy and the large section of the population, which still remains out of the formal financial set-up. To understand financial planning, a person should be financially literate to understand the importance of preparing household budgets, cash-flow management and asset allocation to meet financial goals. Everyone saves money for future needs but the approach is to save surplus money without preparing household budgets, without prioritizing personal financial goals, without properly allocating investments in different asset classes and without understanding the real rate of return (after adjusting for inflation). Financial literacy has become an immensely popular component of financial reform across the world. As a response to the recent financial crisis, the United States government set up the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Literacy in January 2008, charged with promoting programs that improve financial education at all levels of the economy and helping increase access to financial services. In the developing world, the Indonesian government declared 2008 â€Å"the year of financial education,† with a stated goal of improving access to and use of financial services by increasing financial literacy. Similarly, in India, the Reserve Bank of India launched an initiative in 2007 to establish Financial Literacy and Credit Counseling Centers throughout the country which would offer free financial education and counseling to urban and rural populations. The World Bank also hasn’t been missing out on the trend – it recently approved a $15 million Trust Fund on Financial Literacy. But what do we know about financial literacy? Does it work, and if so, through what mechanisms? Despite the money being ploughed into financial literacy programs, we know very little to address these important questions. While it is true that there is a large and growing body of survey evidence from both developed and developing countries that demonstrate a strong association between financial literacy and household well-being, we are still in the process of learning whether this relationship is causal. While survey analysis can control for all observable variables in the survey questionnaires such as income, gender, age, education, etc. , there may be some unobserved variables, such as ability, that may be driving the positive correlation between financial literacy and use of financial services. In addition, people who choose to participate in surveys or literacy seminars may be quite different in terms of their interests in financial matters, for instance, than those who do not participate. The positive correlations may therefore be driven by endogenous selection. Further, survey evidence cannot distinguish the direction of causality: greater financial literacy may lead to greater use of financial services, or just as likely, individuals who use more financial services may score better on financial literacy assessments based on their experience in financial markets. Experimental studies on financial literacy, similar to medical drug trials, allow for overcoming the problems of selection and endogeneity that are associated with survey analysis. There are only a handful of completed studies on financial literacy, though more are in the pipeline. In the developed world, research evidence that financial education can affect decision-making comes from a randomized evaluation conducted at a major university in the United States. Duflo and Saez (2003) implemented an â€Å"encouragement design,† in which they randomly offered some administrative employees a small financial incentive ($20) to attend a session which provided information on retirement products. Those receiving the incentive were significantly more likely to attend the training session, and this had a small, but significant impact on their savings decisions, as more individuals in the treatment group enrolled in tax-deferred retirement accounts. In a paper I coauthored with Shawn Cole and Thomas Sampson, we provide the first study in this direction in the developing world, through a randomized evaluation of a financial literacy training program in Indonesia. Participants in this study consisted of unbanked households, half of whom received an invitation for a free financial literacy seminar 2-3 hours in length. Although take up of the training is high, we find no effect of the program on the likelihood of opening a bank account in the general population. We do, however, find that the training has a significant impact on unschooled and financially illiterate households, increasing the likelihood of opening a bank account by 12% and 5%, respectively. These results suggest that financial literacy training programs should be carefully targeted at these subgroups of individuals. Additionally, a more comprehensive financial literacy program that is delivered over several weekly sessions, rather than a single session of a few hours, may be required to change financial behavior among households in the general population. The need for a more detailed and extensive financial education program is also reflected in research by Cole, Gine et. al (2009) on rainfall insurance for low-income farmers in Andhra Pradesh, India. Specifically, they randomize the provision of an education module about converting the measurement of rainfall in millimeters to soil moisture. Since farmers typically decide when to sow using soil moisture whereas insurance payouts are calculated using millimeters, the education module should improve farmers’ understanding of the insurance policy. However, results indicate that the education module had no significant effect on insurance participation, possibly because the intervention was quite minimal. The education component only involved using a ruler to demonstrate a length of 10mm and 100mm, and subsequently showing a chart of how 100mm of rain translates into average soil moisture for a particular soil type. Moreover, the information was presented quite briefly, taking no more than 2 to 3 minutes. Thus, a modest amount of financial education appears to be insufficient in inducing households to participate in financial markets, and a more thorough financial literacy program may be necessary to do so. There are even fewer ongoing studies attempting to look at other aspects of financial literacy behavior. Exceptions include Cole, Shapiro and Zia, who are conducting a randomized evaluation of a video-based financial literacy training program in India, which includes modules on loans, savings, budgeting and insurance. Elsewhere, Hastings and Mitchell are conducting an experiment among Chilean households, to determine whether or not financial literacy has an effect on an individual’s ability to make optimal financial decisions; and Karlan, McMillan and Kutsoati are carrying out a randomized control trial in Ghana where rural bank customers receive six 15-minute financial literacy lessons. The jury is still out on whether financial literacy is a useful and cost-effective tool for promoting financial access. The studies mentioned here and many more that are in development should enhance our understanding of what works, how it works, and for whom it works. Indians have better financial literacy levels than most others globally and rank second out of 10 leading nations in having a basic financial literacy level, a survey said. â€Å"Indians turn out to be the second out of 10 leading nations in the world to have a basic financial literacy level (55 per cent), just behind the Japanese, an ING Consumer Resourcefulness Survey, said. A majority of Indian consumers have not only shown better skills in managing their household financial budget but are also confident of facing any financial impediments in future as compared to citizens of nine other countries, the survey said. The survey was carried out amongst 5,000 consumers across ten major nations, including India, the USA, Mexico, The Netherlands, Romania, Poland, Belgium, Spain, Korea and Japan. The survey shows that a whopping 84 per cent of Indians prefer buying life insurance products as compared to 54 per cent globally. A similar percentage of Indians believe in maintaining a household budget with a focus on savings. School for Investor Education & Financial Literacy (SIEFL) Financial Literacy Programmes through schools: NISM intends to introduce financial education in schools through the Pocket Money program. Currently the program covers more than 4300 children from 32 schools across North, South and East India. The program is in the process of being introduced in the schools in the Western region. The Spread of Financial Literacy It is better to start early with the process of financial education as discipline in money matters is an important characteristic of an individual. Children should be taught the benefits of saving and introducing the age old concepts of having a piggy bank can be a welcome start. Schools need to inculcate these habits in students and gradually introduce them to the basics of personal finance. A beginning has already been made by introducing subjects on basic finance in the school curriculum at certain centers. Reserve Bank of India is promoting this early education of children by adopting a friendly and entertaining way through the medium of comics. They are also encouraging the young to participate in contests, the winners of which are awarded scholarships. It is the vulnerable sections of society like women, senior citizens, the rural and urban poor who need to be adequately educated and equipped. The Financial Literacy programme of RBI is tackling all these issues through different means. Their website is a store house of knowledge provided there is an urge to learn. The individual has to be proactive and be eager to grasp the necessary knowledge to safeguard himself and thereby his money. RBI is making extra efforts to be as transparent as possible in the larger interest of the common citizen by reaching out to them through their out reach programmes. These pro-grammes which were held during the 75th year of RBI in 2010 in far corners of the country were primarily to educate the masses about the activi-ties of RBI and how to utilize the available banking services for their betterment. Most banks also have their financial literacy departments and credit counseling centers where personal problems are addressed. How much of these centers are successes is deba-table because a very small percentage of people know about these facilities and even if they know there is an inherent hesitation to seek their help. The websites of banks and financial institutions also have all the details about their products and services. In case of doubts it is advisable to refer to these portals to avoid making any wrong or improper decision. The concern is that incomplete or half baked knowledge is not used to take decisions which are repented later. BCSBI or Banking Codes and Standards Board of India have been set up by RBI as an apex body to improve the working of banks and introduce systemic changes wherever necessary for better treatment of customers. While their primary focus remains on customer service they are also participating in disseminating information on different aspects of banking. For an effective literacy campaign it is important that information asymmetry between service provider and customer is reduced. In this connection banks have unilaterally undertaken to comply with a Code of Commitment to Customers detailing the nature of services provided by banks, the normal time taken for rendering these services and the various obligations of banks who have signed these codes. Only when there is awareness can the customers use the code to their benefit. It is for the individual to take advantage of the provisions provided there is willingness to learn. BCSBI also publishes a quarterly newsletter which is both informative and educative. The importance of promoting financial literacy and the enormity of the task is being gradually understood. This has made many organizations enter this field to make their presence felt. Innovative ways have been adopted to keep the literacy efforts simple and user friendly for maximum benefit. Websites, print media and audio visual communications relating to financial education are easily accessible for the average individual to improve his under-standing of the financial market, its products and services. National dailies, banks, financial institutions,  private organizations are individually contributing through easy to understand pamphlets, comic strips, newsletters etc. to reach the consumer covering fundamental issues. Seminars, conferences, interactive sessions are often arranged to address issues of common concern and dissemination of information. Spreading of information and awareness is critical for an emerging economy like India. If the vast population of deprived people is brought into the mainstream it would be of immense benefit both as a social necessity as well as an economic push. The call for financial inclusion in the country has therefore become an immediate priority and is engaging the attention of policy makers for effective execution. It would reap dividends only when the targeted people are financial literate. Only then would they be able to make the most appropriate choice of the products and services which would improve their position. The vast majority of our people are extremely vulnerable as they depend upon informal sources of finance for meet-in their needs. Only by empowering them with the adequate knowledge can we hope to improve their lot and that of the economy as a whole. The penetration of banking and insurance services is extremely poor in India and if the coverage is extended by simultaneous spreading of financial literacy it would be a huge progress for overall growth. The formal channels of money transmission has to be introduced for all round benefit as for far too long the poor, gullible people have suffered at the hands of the money lender and his brethren. The international body Organization for Economic Development OECD is putting its weight behind RBI in promoting financial literacy in India. There is no running away from this hard fact for which the financial service providers are also being trained to encourage the dissemi-nation of information in as comprehensive a way as possible. However it is the individual as the consumer who needs to grasp and absorb the knowledge for his betterment and safety. Money creation through the legitimate way is hard and painstaking but can be lost in no time if there is improper financial planning. Financial awareness is a critical component in the process of protecting and enlarging the corpus of funds that an individual may have. | | | | | | | The survey shows 84 per cent Indians prefer buying life insurance products compared to 54 per cent globally and a similar percentage of Indians believe in maintaining a household budget with focus on savings. Indians are averse to borrowing money. They borrow money only in case they have to buy a house (50 per cent) or a car (43 per cent). Compared to 33 per cent globally, 87 per cent of Indian households have an emergency fund. The survey was conducted by New York Stock Exchange-listed, ING Groep, and research consultancy firm, Epiphany, amongst 5000 consumers across ten nations, including India, United States, Mexico, Netherlands, Romania, Poland, Belgium, Spain, Korea and Japan. It was to gain a better understanding of how consumers’ financial literacy level influences their attitudes and behaviours and identify the potential similarities and differences across countries, age and gender.

Exam Paper for Distribution Managment

Patricia Mae D. Perez Distribution Management 5. Major concepts related with supply chain A supply chain is a network of facilities and distribution options that performs the functions of procurement of materials, transformation of these materials into intermediate and finished products, and the distribution of these finished products to customers. Supply chains exist in both service and manufacturing organizations, although the difficulty of the chain may vary greatly from industry to industry and firm to firm. It is a dynamic system that evolves over time. Indeed, not only do customer demand and supplier capabilities change over time, but supply chain relationships also evolve overtime. For example, as the customer’s power increases, there is increased pressure placed on manufacturers and suppliers to produce an enormous variety of high- quality products and to produced customized products. Characteristic of supply chain management There are numbers of characteristics of supply chain. The most important is that the firms understand that their future depends to al arge level on the success of channel and they involved themselves as part of the channel. Relationships are viewed as long term, and the corporate cultures, philosophies, and missions are similar. There is joint planning of products, locations, and quantities of inventory to be kept in the system. Great deal information sharing between firms in order to coordinate the efficient flow of goods. The modern computing and communication technology, such as electronic data interchange, is used to rapidly provide information within the channel as needed. Cost advantages are exploited wherever possible. Other characteristics are: Competing goals and objectives Cost reduction and on time delivery of goods Dynamic operating conditions Emphasis on responsiveness to design changes Process of supply chain management The planning process needs to account for demand and cost parameters varying over time due to the impact of seasonal fluctuations, trends, advertising and promotions, competitor’s pricing and strategies. The process is made up of the flow of materials, flow of information and services and monitoring the control of this flow, that includes raw materials procurement, production, inventory management, processing of orders, warehousing, transportation and distribution. Sources: http://www. se. ufl. edu/Supplychain/done/Day2/Deshmukh/sld002. htm http://www. referenceforbusiness. com/encyclopedia/Str-The/Supply-Chain-Management. html http://lcm. csa. iisc. ernet. in/scm/supply_chain_intro. html 8. Key concepts related to customer service and performance measurements in the SCM function Four methods of developing customer strategy Stay in touch Show your customers how you valu e your business through keeping in touch with them by sending them updates about your company. Use newsletters, individual letters or emails to deliver new things and products and promotions of the company. You can also send a thank you note if a customer made a major purchase and ask them for some feedbacks and suggestions. With all of this information you gathered from your customer, you can come up with solutions to the problems and meet their needs. Empower your staff There are some cases where there is no policy and the policy need to be flexed. To do this you have to empower certain people to make decisions, bend the rules and use wise judgments. Have them documented these special cases by providing a pad paper of forms and let them input some information to the computer. You can also designate one person per shift as chief problem-solver. Manage customer relationships Once you have gathered information about your customer, you can identify them and give them rewards. You can offer the frequent customers discounts for their next purchase and make a follow up call to those customers who need repair work. Use the information gathered about the customer to make customer service a science. If you give them quality service and you satisfy them, they will continue going back to you. Make great service a priority For you to serve your customers excellently, you have to train your staff. Because they are the one who faces and interact your customers not you. So train them very well. Always put in mind that customers must always comes first. Start with small things like greeting them politely and staff must courteously greet anyone who enters the shop. Relationship between customer service and inventory investment Improving the inventory is critical to customer service. despite of whether your company deals b2b or b2C, insufficient inventory management process will affect customer service and customer satisfaction levels. A successful inventory management anticipates analyses, plans for, and delivers inventory standards which do not mix into customer service disaster. Not only focus on the correct inventory supply levels, but also the factors in the expertise of the personell who deal with inventory process. The relationship with the suppliers and distributors, as well as those who perform the maintenance functions, and the communication processes used to express the current and prospective requirements between both the suppliers, distributors and end users. Sources: http://marketing. about. com/od/relationshipmarketing/a/crmtopten. tm http://ezinearticles. com/? Improved-Inventory-Management-Processes—Critical-to-Customer-Service-Excellence&id=4148576 11. Impact of inventory management on operations Major operational benefits of lean manufacturing systems Lean manufacturing concepts were developed over the last five to six decades, primarily in Japan, particularly for the Toyota production sys tem. These concepts met various tests for many many years and passed the test of time very easily. It is defined as an approach to help reduce waste and eliminate waste in the assemble line at the time of manufacturing the products. By doing it right, it helps in reducing the cost and continuous improvement. It eliminates waste by means of identifying non-value added activities which leads to poor product quality in the production process that will not be able to meet the customer’s expectations in the market place Benefits of Lean Manufacturing are: Improvement in the delivery performance Less/ reduced lead times Increased in sales revenue Less operating costs and increased profits Improved customer satisfaction and supplier relations Reduction in inventory An increased in the employee moral and retention Better quality Reduced warehouse space Creation of additional working capital for new projects Improvement in supplier relationship In lean manufacturing, the customers can be able to get what they want. With this, they get satisfied and it brings benefits for the employees as they are the very important in the manufacturing line. The system focuses on the improvement of the manufacturing line of the organizations. The companies have been able to eliminate and reduce the redundant and looping processes from the organizations. It has made things very easy for the organizations. The tools used in the lean manufacturing can help the organization to find out different problems in the production. Organizational and process considerations involved in implementing lean systems There are other implementing lean manufacturing tools that an organization can use to get the improvements they want. There is the Value Streaming and Process Mapping. These two can effectively eliminate waste and in implementing lean manufacturing, they can streamline work processes. Value streaming is use to identify opportunities while process mapping use to identify specific waste and improvements. Considerations: Strategic Flexibility unexpected problems arise to change any plan. Unforeseen opportunities also arise. This is where stragegits excel. The only sure thing is change. Tasks in the future are lesslikely to change than months away. The long term plan sets direction and budgets. The short term tracks specific tasls and accomplishments. Concentration â€Å"concentrate the maximum force in the smallest area† Beachhead Stragtegies focuses on small area or a product. All the essentials elements for a self reinforcing, sustainable system are deployed locally. This can happen quickly. The small area become the beachhead of lean manufacturing The Kaizen Blitz is a focused implementation that suits a beachhead strategy. It has a strong appeal. It is fast, dramatic and effective. Source: http://www. strategosinc. com/mpping0. htm http://www. articlesbase. com/software-articles/10-benefits-of-lean-manufacturing-2475092. html http://www. altiusdirectory. com/Business/lean-manufacturing. html http://manufacturelean. com/lean-manufacturing-system/ http://www. leanmanufacturingsecrets. com/blog/2008/03/28/implementing-lean-manufacturing/ ttp://www. strategosinc. com/lean_implementation3. htm 7. Role of SCM and Logistics in the economy and the organization Total Quality Management is an approach that seeks to improve quality and performance which will meet or exceed customer expectations. This can be achieved by integrating all quality-related functions and processes throughout the company. It looks at the overall quality measures used by a company including managing quality design and development, quality control and maintenance, quality improvement, and quality assurance. It takes into account all quality measures taken at all levels and involving all company employees. For this to work, everyone in the organization has to get involved. This theory is to work towards using the best processes to offer the best possible products and to produce best customer satisfaction. Supply Chain Management in the management of distribution across organizations. All the members of the channel, from suppliers to end users, coordinate their business activities and process to minimize their total costs and maximize their effectiveness in the market. The goal is to achieve the coordination and continuity of a vertically integrated channel without centralized ownership of the entires comprising the channel. The firms form along term partenrshipin order to improve service to the ned consumer, reduce channel costs, and create competitive advantage. It has also developed other terms like Just In Time supply chain management. That is to say that a company tries to stock nothing ahead of time and its suppliers will provide what is needed just in time for production or shipping. There are a lot of variables for a good supply chain management like the trustworthiness of suppliers, reliability of shippers, and planning contingencies for worse case scenarios. Still, business are still trying to figure how much they need to inventory and how much can be ordered as needed. There are some key characteristics of SCM. The most important of all is that the firms involved see themselves as part of the channel and understand that their future depends to large extent on the success of the whole channel. The relationships are viewed as long term, and the corporate cultures, philosophies, and missions are similar. Just in time is a philosophy of manufacturing based on planned elimination of all waste and on continuous improvement of productivity. It also has been described as an approach with the objective of producing the right part in the right place at the right time. Waste results from any activity that adds cost without adding value, such as the unnecessary moving of materials, the accumulation of excess inventory, or the use of faulty production methods that create products requiring subsequent rework. JIT should improve profits and return on investment by reducing inventory levels, reducing variability, improving product quality, reducing production and delivery lead times, and reducing other costs. In a JIT system, underutilized (excess) capacity is used instead of buffer inventories to hedge against problems that may arise. JIT applies primarily to repetitive manufacturing processes in which the same products and components are produced over and over again. The general idea is to establish flow processes by linking work centers so that there is an even, balanced flow of materials throughout the entire production process, similar to that found in an assembly line. To accomplish this, an attempt is made to reach the goals of driving all inventory buffers toward zero and achieving the ideal lot size of one unit. Sources: http://logistics. about. com/od/qualityinthesupplychain/a/TQM. htm http://www. referenceforbusiness. com/encyclopedia/Str-The/Supply-Chain-Management. html http://www. thinkingmanagers. com/business-management/total-quality-management. hp http://personal. ashland. edu/~rjacobs/m503jit. html http://hubpages. com/hub/supply-chain-management-definition http://personal. ashland. edu/~rjacobs/m503jit. html 2. Organizational issues related to purchasing Purchasing is wherein all significant purchases are monitored for the right authorization of the right item, at the right price, quality and quantity, from the right supplier and terms. Objectives of purchasing 1. Procure the necessary quality and quantity of goods or services in an efficient, timely and cost effective manner, while maintaining the controls necessary for a corporation. . Encourage an open competitive bidding process practicable for the acquisition of goods and services and equitable treatment of all vendors. 3. Ensure the maximum value of an acquisition is obtained by determining the total cost of performing the intended function over the lifetime of the task. This may include, but not be limited to, acquisition cost, installation, disposal value and cot, training cost, maintenance cost, quality of performance and environmental impact. 4. Procure goods and services with due regard to the preservation of the atural environment and to encourage the use of environmentally friendly products and services. Material management Materials management is part of logistics and refers to the location and movement of the physical items or products. There are three main processes associated with materials management: spare parts, quality control, and inventory management. Materials management is important in large manufacturing and distribution environments, where there are multiple parts, locations, and significant money invested in these items. The first process in materials management is related to spare parts. A detailed business process is required to determine the order point for the spare parts, identify the ideal quantity to order, process receipt of the parts, and then make sure they are in the correct place. Spare parts are integral to the continuing operation of production lines and related equipment. Poor management of this process can cause downtime and loss of production. Quality control is a large part of materials management. The creation of material standards, inspections, and returns process is a primary responsibility of the materials management group. All parts and materials must be tested to ensure that a specific level of quality is met. This is typically completed before a purchase order is issued to a supplier, to ensure that the supplier has met the conditions of their contract. It is used to ensure that the company delivers quality products to their customers, and to minimize waste in the production Sources: http://www. wdo. ca/files/domain4116/Final%20WDO%20Purchasing%20Policy%20for%20posting. pdf http://www. businessdictionary. com/definition/purchasing. html http://www. wisegeek. com/what-is-materials-management. htm