Business Strategy - IKEA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Business Strategy - IKEA - Essay Example As such, we as individuals and the organizations that utilize our services need to show collective responsibility towards each and every aspect of our society. One of the best ways this can be achieved is by continuing to use resources and developing better processes for managing our businesses, albeit in an efficient manner without causing any harmful impact on the environment and by foreseeing how best we can preserve our economy and nature for our future generations. IKEA is one such organization that has been demonstrating corporate social responsibility over a long period. The company is popular worldwide for selling low-cost furniture across outlets around the globe. The range of products produced by IKEA span every possible thing that can be used in a home from kitchens and draw rooms to bathrooms and bedrooms. IKEA today has sales in over 36 countries and looks all set to expand into 6 other countries in the near future (Gerald S. Albaum, Edwin Duerr, Jesper Strandskov, 2005). The present case study is an attempt at studying the success behind IKEA and studying the reason behind what has enabled it to become the largest furniture company in the world. The study is deemed important as IKEA has come to dominate the furniture world within a short span of 60 years and the turnover of the company simply suggests the existence of a very strong business model and supporting processes that aid in generating high revenue. The study will concentrate on evaluating the different aspects of IKEA’s operations and performance figures against a set of six models that will attempt to answer a variety of questions. The current strategic position will be ascertained by using the Porters generic strategies and the Bowman’s clock models.

Logistics and Operations Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Logistics and Operations Management - Assignment Example Operational input includes staff cost, material, equipment, no. of rooms in the hotel while operational output includes number of rooms rented by patrons, no. of service availed by customers, increase in brand awareness among tourists etc. Choy and Chu (2001) defined customer satisfaction as the intention of the customer to repurchase/recommend services of the hotel after availing it first time. Hotels can be classified as Budget, Mid-Scale, First Class and Luxury on the basis of their revenue and size of operation (. In this report, the discussion will only be concentrated on Budget and Luxury hotel (PKF Consulting, 2010). It is evident from the above theoretical argument that operation management plays vital role in hotel industry. Hence, this report will try to indicate the difference between Budget and Luxury hotel in terms of various facets of operation management. A real life case study will also be used in this report in order to validate the argument of the researcher. Budget Hotel versus Luxury Hotel From the consumer viewpoint, budget hotels are perceived as the low cost accommodation place for tourist while customers ready to spend extra money on luxury are attracted to luxury hotels which have more to offer rather than offering only accommodation facility to customers. However, the demarcation between luxury and budget hotel is decided on the basis of different factors such as total cost of the project, price of the rooms, availability of services, no. of rooms, additional amenities, augmented facilities etc. TRI Hospitality Consulting (2007) defined budget hotel as the conjunction of ‘limited-service hotel’ and ‘select-service hotel’. For example, City Hotel located in central London can be classified as the budget hotel with room rent in the range of ?30 to ?50 (Hostel Bookers, 2013). TRI Hospitality Consulting (2007) defined luxury hotels as the accommodation place which offers additional facilities such as sports, leisu re, travel etc along with accommodation service and charges high price in order to reflect its service quality. Luxury hotels emphasize heavily on creation of customer touch points such as infrastructure, design and aesthetics of the building etc which can reflect the premium service quality to customers. For example, Bellagio located in Las Vegas can be classified as luxury hotel which charges minimum hotel room rent of ?200 to ?250 per day. It is clear from the above discussion that there is significant amount of difference exist between operations of a budget hotel as against operation of a luxury hotel. Gronroos (2007) stated that service driven business organizations need to focus more on creating customer touch points and customer service in order to deliver quality service to tourists and patrons in hotel. Mongiello and Harris (2006) found that traditional management concepts known as Fayol’s five elements of management can be successfully implemented by hotel managers in order to achieve business success. These 5 elements are defined as Planning, Organizing, Commanding, Coordinating and Controlling. Each of these elements can be used in order to contrast and compare the differences and

History of education Essay Example for Free

History of education Essay John Gatto is a New York City seventh grade teacher with remarkable accolades. Because of his impressive accolades as a teacher and citizen, his words are not taken lightly. As a result of his spotlight, he has come up with a list of seven lessons that no syllabus will ever include, but Gatto insists that they form the core of our educational curriculum today. While he does not agree with the lessons himself, they are being taught nationwide and he insists â€Å"that schools have traded their educational function for one of social coordination†(Gatto 1). First, Mr. Gatto explains that he teaches confusion. That is, he teaches the idea of un-relating everything and making disconnections or teaching too much all at one time. He states â€Å"educators persist in the idea that it is better to leave school with a tool kit of superficial jargon derived from economics, sociology, math, sociology, and natural science, rather than one genuine enthusiasm†(Gatto 2). Rather than studying one or two genuine passions, students are trained to attempt to learn them all even if they don’t care for the subject. Next, Mr. Gatto teaches the lesson of class position. Rather than attempting to move up or down to an easier or harder class, the student must learn that they are in that class for a reason and they must like that position. Gatto explains that, â€Å"[his] job is to make students like being locked together with children who bear numbers like their own†(1). He claims that he never lies to students outright, but has come to learn that truth and teaching are incompatible. The third lesson taught is indifference. Instead of caring about anything too much, Gatto emphasizes that â€Å"nothing important is ever finished in my class†(Gatto 2). Students are taught that nothing really matters. Students in his class must drop everything they are doing once the bell rings, no matter the importance. Pupils live life on the installment plan and must learn to turn on and off like switches. The fourth and fifth lessons taught are emotional and intellectual dependency. Instead of thinking and acting on their own, students are drilled to believe that what they think and do is up to the teacher. The one in charge must first OK simple tasks like going to the bathroom or speaking in class. In addition, they learn that good people let experts tell them what to do. The sixth lesson is provisional self-esteem or the idea that people â€Å"must be told what they are worth†(2). If not, they will rebel against the system and cause utter chaos. Finally, it is taught that you cannot hide. He asserts that â€Å"students are encouraged to tattle on each other† (Gatto 3). Wherever you go there is a big brother watching you and you are never completely alone. Without it, children would learn unauthorized ways. These seven lessons are being taught to the majority of students across The United States of America. While some teachers, such as John Gatto, do acknowledge the fact that the system is flawed, the vast majority do not. Gatto argues that this national curriculum â€Å"produces physical, moral, and intellectual paralysis† (Gatto 4). Instead of instructing how to use your brain to it’s full potential and think critically, our system ensure that children will never grow up fully human. This system is certainly flawed and may seem impossible to recreate, but with enough backing and support a change can be made to restore the educational system. Works Cited Gatto, John T. A Few Lessons They Wont Forget. The Sun May 1991: 1-5. Print.

Christopher Skase - The Sick Tycoon :: essays research papers

In the early 1980's a young confident man named Christopher Charles Skase became world famous by amassing a list of assets including a multi-million dollar company called Quintex, the channel 7 network, Mirage resorts and a number of extravagant houses across the world. Christopher Skase was born on the 18th of September 1948 in Melbourne, Australia. He grew up in a rich family going to Malvern and Caulfield Grammar Schools. He first started making money as a stockbroker and then as a finance journalist. In 1975 he bought a small Tasmanian based company called Quintex. Borrowing heavily the Company expanded into resort developments including 5 Mirage resorts and the media company, channel 7 network. Buoyed by his success Skase began to represent Australia's entrepreneurs of the 80's. Brash, extravagant and fearless. Who could forget his Christmas parties in Brisbane last decade? The Quintex group of companies collapsed in 1989. By 1991 Skase a seasoned overseas traveller failed to return to Australia. Bankrupt and aloof he stayed far from home and fought attempts to force him to return for trial on the charges brought by the Australian Securities Commission. Whilst a resident of Majorca Skase has developed his business ventures by creating an international company pursuing interests in resorts. It appears that this strategy has been adopted to carry favour with the Spanish Government in relation to investment attraction. Since 1994 in Spanish Courts he has fought extradition proceedings to Australia, claiming that a life threatening lung condition prevented him from travelling. This was challenged in the courts by witnesses to his lifestyle in Majorca where he and his wife Pixie are living together with step-daughter Amanda and her husband Tony Larkin. The Spanish had until recently upheld Skase's testimony. In May 1998, with Senator Amanda Vanstone leading the charge, the Australian Government cancelled Skase's passport. The Spanish courts moved quickly sending notice to Skase to leave Majorca by the 23rd July 1998 due to his lack of citizenship. Of course, there was and continues to be an appeal. Realising that he could be extradited to Australia since being stateless, Skase moved quickly to obtain a passport. In August, 1998 he became a citizen of Dominica and now has a valid Dominican passport.

Frank Sinatra Essay -- Biography

Frank Sinatra was widely known from coast to coast. He was definitely one of the most popular stars of his era. (3) He, not only was a singer/ song writer, but as his career grew he shifted smoothly into acting and dancing. Ole Blue Eyes was an American icon who was capable of charming his way through each decade that rolled by. He had a sound that carried like no other. His soft voice could sweep women off their feet and right into his arms. Ole blue eyes had an extraordinary talent and sure did not waste it. It all started when Italian immigrants, Martin and Natalie Sinatra gave birth to a baby boy on December 12, 1915. On that night Francis Albert Sinatra was born not breathing. His grandmother decided to hold him under water. Thankful, he began to gasp for air. Even since the beginning Frank made his way through unfavorable odds. Martin, Sinatra’s father, was a firefighter for the city of Hoboken, New Jersey. Frank’s mother, Natalie or she was often referred to as Dolly, was an amateur singer; who often played at clubs and social events. (1) As Frank grew so did his love for music. His first real passion for music came when his uncle gave him a ukulele. On hot summer nights Sinatra would sit out on his front porch while playing and singing to family and friends. Frank never had to take singing lessons. His wonderful gift came from the Lord. Were they lived was a rough neighborhood so Frank had to be on his guard almost all the time. To protect himself, he decided to take up boxing. Later on he would become a competetent boxer. (1) Frank Attended Demarest High School. He was a generous, but pugnacious person. These characteristics would follow him throughout his entire life. He competed in all... ...e and alcohol abuse. Frank Sinatra’s career spanned for more than fifty years. He ventured from recordings, film television as well as countless performances in night clubs, concert halls, and sports arenas. (3) He was truly the first modern pop star. The audiences who grew up with him and his music were complemented by adoration from younger generations. They have all made Ole Blue Eyes one of the most outstanding popular singers of the 20th century. His smooth style transcends through all generations and can survive the cold hard fact of time. He was able to withstand the great shifts in the time eras. He was a creative and gifted man who charmed the world with his blue eyes and beautiful smile. No matter how you see him; the starry eyed boy next door, the bruised romantic, or the smooth cosmopolitan man he was and always will be Frank Sinatra.

Free Speech in the Digital World Under Threat?

COMMENTARY Free Speech in the Digital World under Threat? Kirsty Hughes We are at a moment where the digital world can go either way – it can become a space of genuine free expression, one enjoyed by ever larger numbers of people or it can become a controlled and monitored space. Like any battle for free speech and fundamental rights, governments and other major players – in this case big web companies and internet service providers – must be held to account and challenged to defend our rights. T e digital world continues to open up huge opportunities for communication, interaction, sharing views and exchanging information across and within borders. It is even rather dated to say we are all our own publishers now, we can all be citizen journalists – though we are and can be. And as millions more people in the next couple of years join that digital world as the price of smart phones fall, the digital revolution is surely not over. Or is it? Are Governments Hardwired to Snoop and Censor? Kirsty Hughes ([email  protected] om) is with the Index on Censorship, London, United Kingdom. The ability of both governments and big corporations to monitor the internet, to gather data on us all, to determine what we can and cannot do or see on the web is another key but less welcome part of our digital world. And censorship and surveillance of digital communications is on the rise – not only in countries such as Iran, China and Russia, but also in India, the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US). While China’s â€Å"great ? ewall† and army of snoopers does its best to block a whole gamut of politically-sensitive topics and debates – sensitive that is to China’s authoritarian elites – the democratic world is increasingly looking at using the technological opportunities out there, either to block content, or to monitor their own citizens. Earlier this year, Indian authorities came top in Googleâ₠¬â„¢s transparency report – which shows government requests to Google to remove material and how many Google complied with – with the largest number of requests for Google to take down posts not backed by court orders.The US and Brazil had the highest number of takedown demands backed by court orders, while in Twitter’s similar transparency report, the US was the number one country demanding information on users. Google and Twitter also go along with many but not all of the requests NovemBER 17, 2012 they receive – private companies playing a crucial role in determining the extent of our free speech and our privacy. Meanwhile in the UK, a draft Communications Data Bill currently being scrutinised in Parliament, would, if it became law, lead to monitoring and retention of a vast array of digital data across the entire population.From tracking who our emails go to or come from, likewise our phone calls, to storing the data our mobiles give up on our locatio ns or our web searches, showing what topics we are investigating, the draft UK Bill certainly deserves its popular name â€Å"a snooper’s charter†. Iran is also aiming to develop its own intranet that would operate in a way detached from the wider world-wide web, and so be much easier to control by state authorities. But how can India or the UK or US stand up to Iran and pressure them not to cut their citizens off from the wider digital world, if they are not fully respecting basic rights of their own citizens online?What Is Driving the Urge to Control? Freedom of expression is a fundamental right – and without it democracies cannot function and power cannot be held to account. So why are so many governments increasingly looking at control of our digital lives? There are two overlapping justi? cations at the heart of this. Do we need protecting from being offended? Attempts to justify censorship often appeal to the protection of public order, or public morals, t ackling hate speech, or promoting national security.But unless highly limited, such censorship rapidly intrudes on open democratic debate, serious discussion, on art and entertainment, on all our communication and interaction. In the UK, a recent spate of cases indicate a deeply worrying trend towards criminalising speech – individuals have received jail sentences or community service orders for publishing sick or bad jokes online or on Twitter (or in one case for strong anti-police sentiments on a t-shirt). And while the â€Å"Innocence of Muslims† video was highly offensive to some (though not all had seen it) is it really vol xlviI no 46EPW Economic & Political Weekly 18 COMMENTARY the job of governments to decide what is offensive or not? And if they do, and all governments between them censor all that is offensive on the web, then there will be very little left for us all to read or debate or write. We will end up in the opposite of a digital world – in a c ontrolled and fragmented set of con? ned digital spaces. The other main justi? cation governments use for controlling the digital world is in order to justify monitoring and surveillance.We need it to tackle crime and terror, the authorities say with great urgency – the criminals are technologically leaps and bounds ahead of us. But do democracies really need to monitor and survey their entire populations just because digital technology makes it easy to do? Surely tackling crime needs a focused, targeted, intelligent approach – not a population-wide sledgehammer. And if democracies do mimic the mass snooping behaviour of the East German Stasi, or of today’s China or Iran, then they will be undermining their own democratic systems.Free speech does not prevail where everything is being monitored, or collected, or stored so one day it may be checked on. And while governments need to be challenged not to censor and monitor and undermine the global digital space we s hare, private companies have become an increasingly important part of the equation – but one less easily held to account. Facebook’s users hit the one billion mark this autumn. But not only does Facebook make a lot of money out of the private and public information that the one billion share on its pages, it also sets the rules for the conversations in its space.Fair enough you may say, so do plenty of clubs or newspapers or societies. But telephone operators do not set rules of what you can and cannot say on the phone; cafes do not ask you to sign up to what you can and cannot say at the door. And as Twitter, Google and others respond to governments’ requests to take material down – or stand up to governments (as they sometimes do) and defend what has been posted – we are witnessing a major privatisation of censorship in the digital world. Can We Defend the Digital Revolution?So have we lost the digital revolution while it is still in its infancy? Not necessarily. Some big web companies are issuing transparency reports, as Google and Twitter do, so we can all see and judge what they as companies are doing – though we cannot get that picture yet for any individual country. This is an important but partial step. Beyond this, some of the big companies, as well as many democratic governments, have made clear statements supporting an open, free digital space that respects human rights including the right to free expression.And the European Union (EU) and US are currently standing up to a push from China and Russia for top-down regulation of the internet. The next summit where this battle will continue is the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) meeting in Dubai in early December. Which way will India, or Brazil, or South Africa go at that summit – with the US and EU or with China and Russia? We are at a moment where the digital world can go either way – it can become a space of genuine free expression , one enjoyed by ever larger numbers of people, or it can become a controlled and monitored space.Like any battle for free speech and fundamental rights, governments and other major players – in this case big web companies and internet service providers – must be held to account and challenged to defend our rights. If democracies like India, the EU, the US or Brazil do not defend free speech in the digital world, and hold back from the temptation of censorship and surveillance almost at the click of a mouse, then we are on a dangerously slippery slope. It is a moment to stand up and defend our digital freedoms – for if we do not, who will?N EW The Adivasi Question Edited By INDRA MUNSHI Depletion and destruction of forests have eroded the already fragile survival base of adivasis across the country, displacing an alarmingly large number of adivasis to make way for development projects. Many have been forced to migrate to other rural areas or cities in search of work, leading to systematic alienation. This volume situates the issues concerning the adivasis in a historical context while discussing the challenges they face today.The introduction examines how the loss of land and livelihood began under the British administration, making the adivasis dependent on the landlord-moneylender-trader nexus for their survival. The articles, drawn from writings of almost four decades in EPW, discuss questions of community rights and ownership, management of forests, the state’s rehabilitation policies, and the Forest Rights Act and its implications. It presents diverse perspectives in the form of case studies specific to different regions and provides valuable analytical insights.Authors: Ramachandra Guha †¢ Sanjeeva Kumar †¢ Ashok K Upadhyaya †¢ E Selvarajan †¢ Nitya Rao †¢ B B Mohanty †¢ Brian Lobo Pp xi + 408 Rs 695 ISBN 978-81-250-4716-2 2012 †¢ K Balagopal †¢ Sohel Firdos †¢ Pankaj Sekhsaria â₠¬ ¢ DN †¢ Judy Whitehead †¢ Sagari R Ramdas †¢ Neela Mukherjee †¢ Mathew Areeparampil †¢ Asmita Kabra †¢ Renu Modi †¢ M Gopinath Reddy, K Anil Kumar, P Trinadha Rao, Oliver Springate-Baginski †¢ Indra Munshi †¢ Jyothis Sathyapalan †¢ Mahesh Rangarajan †¢ Madhav Gadgil †¢ Dev Nathan, Govind Kelkar †¢ Emmanuel D’Silva, B Nagnath †¢ Amita Baviskar ww. orientblackswan. com Mumbai †¢ Chennai †¢ New Delhi †¢ Kolkata †¢ Bangalore †¢ Bhubaneshwar †¢ Ernakulam †¢ Guwahati †¢ Jaipur †¢ Lucknow †¢ Patna †¢ Chandigarh †¢ Hyderabad Contact: [email  protected] com Economic & Political Weekly EPW Orient Blackswan Pvt Ltd NovemBER 17, 2012 vol xlviI no 46 19

Citizen Ruth Movie Review essays

Citizen Ruth Movie Review essays In the movie Citizen Ruth, a woman named Ruth Stoops is an inhalant abusing, poverty-stricken woman who constantly gets arrested. The judge charges her with criminal endangerment of her fetus. Thats when she finds out that shes pregnant with her fifth child, and the state has already stripped her visitation rights to see her other children. The judge also tells her, however, that if she gets an abortion they'll be more lenient with her and she wont have to stay in jail as long. This angers members of a pro-life group called the "Baby Savers. She meets the head operator of Baby Savers Gail Stoney in jail when shes having a nervous breakdown on the floor. Gail and her husband post bail and Ruth goes to live with them and their teenage daughter, Cheryl and younger son Matthew. There, she inconveniences their family, but claims to want to fix her life up for her sake and for her babys. Soon they're taking her to pro-life protests at a woman's clinic, but she starts huffing again, and th ey kick her out because they find her at an alley behind the clinic huffing and beating their son. They send her to live with another supposedly pro-lifer named Diane, but she turns out to be an undercover pro-choice lesbian activist. Along with her lover, Rachel and bodyguard Harlan, Diane persuades Ruth back over to believing that she can choose whatever she wants and whatever is best for the baby. "Baby Savers" president Blaine Gibbons bribed Ruths feeble mind to come back and save her baby. Harlan leveled the playing field and offered her the same amount so she wouldnt make a wrong decision for the money. From then on the two sides battle for control of Ruth's conscience and the baby that lives inside her, for Ruths choice would be a huge political win for either side. Theres a war of protests going outside the clinic where Ruth is supposed to ...