Operations management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Operations management - Essay Example This efficient and effective manner of doing any business process helps in improving the quality of any product or service offered to the customer. Quality is a major aspect in any product or service that is highly admired by a customer; hence every sane organization strives to keep up their product or service to the highest possible quality in order to be in the good books of their respective customers. According to Peter Drucker â€Å"Quality in a product or service is not what the supplier puts in. It is what the customer gets out and is willing to pay for† (Drucker, 1985). Hence it can be said that quality is a major issue that should be given utmost attention within any organization. There are two systems that assure the quality aspect within a company, quality control and quality assurance. The Tokundu airport faces major quality issues and it is because of these issues that the service of the airport is getting highly affected. If Tokundu is to deliver better service of reasonable quality and standard, it must focus on all the factors that may have an impact on the quality of the airport. As each and every aspect has certain influence upon quality, an efficient and effective Quality Management System should be introduced at the airport enhance the quality of the service offered by the airport. â€Å"Quality Management System is the organizational structure of responsibilities, activities, resources and events that together provide procedures and methods of implementation to ensure the capability of an organization to meet quality standards†(Tricker et al, 2005). Quality assurance and Quality control are two main parts of Quality Management System (QMS). Quality control satisfies quality requirements while quality assurance gives assurance that quality obligations would be satisfied. Quality control is considered pre active whilst quality assurance is considered to be pro active. Quality control involves the use of activities that ensure the quality of the outputs in any organization, it involves the activities such as supervising; checking and inspecting at all levels within the organization. Quality assurance on the other hand provides a promise that all the relevant activities being performed during the Quality control aspect are working properly and that the relevant quality standard is being achieved. To increase the confidence of customers, organizations tend to obtain Quality certification that give a proof to the customers that the organization is performing reasonably as the quality certification gives a proof to that. Quality certification is not easily attainable as it requires many formalities to be met within an organization and these certifications are provided by recognized quality certification bodies. One of the most important series of certification issued by the International Organization for Standardization is the ISO 9000 standard. ISO 9000 is a set of quality standards that deal with the issues of Quality management Systems within an organization. These standards were amended in the year 2000 and were then know as the ISO 9000:2000 series of standards. The ISO 9000:2000 has three main components which relate to 1) defining the

More impotant than a baby sitter Essay Example for Free

More impotant than a baby sitter Essay In today’s world we live our lives constantly wondering what we can do to better ourselves or our children. When in fact we should be concerned with what we didn’t do already. Pet scans and other research show that from birth to age 6 are the most crucial years for brain development. At just the age of three, a child’s brain is twice as active as the average adult brain and it stays that way for the first decade of life. With the world at its most competitive period, we want our children to be as logical and knowledgeable as possible. Preschools are a great way to focus on the essential components that allow a child’s brain to develop. Even though some parents treat preschool as a baby sitter, they may be missing the bigger picture that these great facilities are making. Babies are born learning, they make synapses connections throughout the day. And these connections are only made if they are a repetitive action, like putting the square block through the square hole. This is considered the â€Å"wiring† of the child’s brain and only takes place during the young years. Teachers know this and make the children preform the repetitive actions so the connections they are experiencing are strong and last throughout the rest of their lives. Preschoolers learn so much so fast it’s like they are making leaps in their education. If everyone was educated starting at the preschool level who knows how much more successful and developed this world would be. Preschools offer a safe environment for children to interact for maybe even the first time. This one on one contact is for proper development; the child learns how to wait, take turns and how to listen. This helps determine personality for the long run of the pupil’s life. These experiences must happen during preschool age to have a long term effect and the child benefit. Children also learn motor skills in preschool and the soft; child friendly rooms prevent any accidents or damage to their fragile bodies. They are able to try new movements and exercise their motor skills all while having fun. Music is another item introduced to the children for the first time. Musically inclined people have found to be introduced to music at a very early age according to Educational Expert Barbra Callaghan. And music has positive effects with originality and creativity. And it’s hard to call it a preschool without arts and crafts, this type of hand eye coordination goes hand and hand with the skills learned from music. Music is also a great tool for memorization, face it, when you think about the alphabet that same tune they play in preschools comes to mind. It also teaches rhythm and tempo and stimulates their brain to perform as a â€Å"sponge† to soak up information in large amounts. The first day of kindergarten can be extremely confusing and overwhelming for some children, but for children that have been enrolled in preschool it’s just a lot bigger building with new people. Preschool has been called the â€Å"boot camp of education†, because it is designed relatively similar to elementary school. And the statistics prove preschool helps in the success of public school. In 2009 a study by Duke University showed that in America, 59% of high school graduates were exposed to preschool at some time, and 41% received no education prior to kindergarten. That’s an astounding number considering the high school dropout rate in 2009 was 16% according to CNN, and it’s safe to say more than half of them were not exposed to preschool in their younger years. Preschools are designed to be â€Å"fun† for small children, and they are. But the children are learning things they will need for the rest of their lives without even realizing. Almost every situation life brings to us on a daily basis can be traced back to the developmental years that take place during preschool. Whether it’s to help you develop independence, concentration, or even your academic foundation is developed in preschool. Think about all the children that are neglected of this solid start to education. Preschool has a greater purpose than being a babysitter; It’s something we can use to better ourselves for more breakthroughs with medicine and even discoveries of a new energy. It all starts at preschool, all babies are willing to learn its natural, we just have to give them the chance. Works Cited ARSLAN, EMEL, NESLIHAN DURMUSOGLU-SALTALI, and HASAN YILMAZ. Social Skills And Emotional And Behavioral Traits Of Preschool Children. Social Behavior Personality: An International Journal 39. 9 (2011): 1281-1287. Academic Search Complete. Web. 26 Nov. 2012. Callaghan, Barbara. The Benefits of Preschool. FamilyEducation. com. Pearson Education, 05 Nov. 2009. Web. 24 Nov. 2012. . Jackson, Marshall J. Brain Development. Birth to Six. Multnomah County Library, 03 May 2010. Web. 24 Nov. 2012. . Lynch, Robert G. The Economic Policy Institute. Economic Policy Institute. Economic Policy Institute, Oct. 2004. Web. 26 Nov. 2012. . Williams, Jessie. High School Dropouts Rise. CNN. Cable News Network, 05 May 2009. Web. 26 Nov. 2012. . `

Overview of the Cuban Missile Crisis

Overview of the Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis was a period of extreme tension and conflict between the USA and Cuba and the USSR in October 1962; it was characterized by decisions made by both John F Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev. It was a 13 day event which started as a result of the USSR placing nuclear weapons in Cuba in an attempt to stop future harassment of Cuba following the failed Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961. The Cuban Missile Crisis was by far the closest that the USA and USSR came to using nuclear weapons in warfare, and it was only by tactile decision making in a crisis that disaster was averted. A crisis is characterised by threats to major values, time urgency, ambiguity or uncertainty and surprise or uniqueness, by these characteristics, the Cuban Missile Crisis was one of the biggest crisis of the 20th century. The crisis started when following a meeting between Fidel Castro and Nikita Khrushchev, Khrushchev agreed to hold nuclear missiles in Cuba. This was in response to several threats on Cuba from the USA. The Bay of Pigs invasion, though a failure displayed the USAs negative intentions to the Cuban regime and therefore Castro argued that a nuclear deterrent was the only option for the long term safety of Cuba. This was also a part of the USSRs response to the presence of American Jupiter missiles in both Turkey and Italy, which were firmly in range of Moscow. Following Khrushchev granting Cuba missiles, construction of the missile launch facilities started in the summer of 1962.The deployment of the missiles only came to light following photos taken by a US Air Force U-2 Spy plane. The plane had taken photos which clearly showed both medium and intermediate range nuclear missile facilities. The photos were shown to President Kennedy on October 16th and he quickly organised a meeting of the National Security Council to discuss what options of response the US had (JFK library,1962). This is an example of decision making, where the decision made will have a large and irreversible impact. There were numerous decisions and options discussed from using diplomatic channels to pressure the Cubans to remove the weapons, launch a full scale invasion of Cuba, Air strikes or a blockage (Allison Zeilkow, 1999). While the US had the military capabilities to invade and overthrow Cuba, they feared the Soviet response. It is also important to consider the fact that it was an election year in the US, and JFK had already come under fire by Republicans for a seemingly weak line against Cuba and they did not want to appear weak or afraid of the combined threat of Cuba and the Soviets. This had led to President Kennedy stating before gaining the knowledge of weapons in Cuba that â€Å"if Cuba should possess a capacity to carry out offensive actions against the United States the Unite d States would act’ (Peters Wooley, 1962). This had in effect already forced his arm; he did not want to appear to back down from his promises. In the end the US decided to conduct a naval blockade against Cuba, one of the main reasons for this decision was it made the US appear strong, whilst not forcing the Soviets hand or seemingly overly aggressive. Another key aspect in this is the legal ramifications of a blockade. Under international law, a blockade of another nation is considered to be an act of war, however lawyers at the Justice and State Department found a loophole that avoided the US from issuing a potentially contentious declaration of war. Using the Rio treaty a resolution from the Organization of American states allowed the US from having to declare war upon Cuba, which the Soviets would have objected to (Allison and Zelikow, 1999). The ‘blockade’ was instead termed as a quarantine of offensive weapons. (May, 2012). President Kennedy formally announced the blockade on 22 October in which he stated ‘It shall be the policy of this nation to regard any nuclear missile launched from Cuba against any nation in the Western Hemisphere as an attack by the Soviet Union on the United States, requiring a full retaliatory response upon the Soviet Union’ (United Press,2010). The international response was overwhelming with the world realising that they had never been closer to the use of nuclear weapons, and if they were deployedby both the US and the Soviets, there would be worldwide destruction never seen before on such a scale. During this period it is reported not only was there a Cuban invasion force stationed and ready in Florida but also 145 intercontinental ballistic missiles ready to take off, and the fleet of b-52 bombers were on continuous airborne alert, the US it is clear was preparing for a full scale war on a scale not seen since the end of WW2 (Kamps, 2007). On October 24 Soviet ships that were headed for Cuba caused panic when they neared the line of US ships which were actively enforcing the Cuban blockade. However the Soviet ships stopped just short of the blockade, requiring no action from the US. If they had attempted to breach the blockade, it could have easily led to a military confrontation. A further escalation in the crisis was on October 27, when an American spy plane was shot down over Cuba. Despite this overwhelming pressure which seemed to give no sign of slowing down or de-escalating a way was found out of the crisis which avoided a military conflict between the US and Soviets. Throughout the crisis Kennedy and Khrushchev had been communicating and when the crisis was near breaking point, the US told the Brazilian government to pass on a message to Cuba that it would be unlikely that the US would invade Cuba if they removed the missiles (National Security Archive, 2011). What followed was a personal letter from Khrushchev written on 26th October which offered a way out of the stalemate, if the US declared they will not invade Cuba then the Soviets would leave and remove the missiles. However the next day Khrushchev sent another letter which stated they would remove the missile bases in Cuba only if the US removed missiles from both Turkey and Italy’s As the two offers differed President Kennedy said he would accept the first one, this would also be a lot more f avourable his popularity in the US. What followed were intense negotiations between both US and Soviet dignitaries in Washington. Eventually a deal was reached and the Soviets agreed to remove the missiles from Cuba and to take them back to Russia whilst Kennedy secretly agreed to dismantle weapons bases in both Italy and Turkey. The crisis was over. What the Cuban Missile Crisis is, is an example is of leadership and decision making in a crisis. It was a period of extreme tension, the wrong decision could lead to nuclear war, yet a clear headed and rational decision still had to be made. The decisions that President Kennedy made were made only after looking at the effects both on the world stage and also back in the US. It was a senate election year and President Kennedy couldn’t let any decision he made weakenhis position in the mind of the electorate. Yet he also had to way up the potential devastating impact if the crisis escalated because he wanted to appear strong against the Cuban and Soviet threat. Kennedy had already come under pressure from Republicans, for having a supposedly weak stance on Cuba, so reaching any form of compromise was unthinkable to the Cuban hawks in the Republicans. What this clearly shows is the sheer complexity of the arena that Kennedy had to make his decision in. He had to de-escalate the conflict, which required compromise on his part, whilst appearing strong and not to give in to the Soviet threat. That he managed to do that, and was considered by many at the time to have ‘won’ the crisis is remarkable. We can analyse several of the decisions made by Kennedy, how to respond to the threat and how to deal with the de-escalation of the crisis. When deciding how to respond to the crisis Kennedy and his advisors had to weigh up several key and important factors. As previously mentioned there were several ideas and options to choose from when responding to the initial discovery of missiles in this early stage in the crisis of mounting tension. If the US did nothing, as it was high unlikely that Cuba would use them unprovoked considering the Soviets knew they did not have the same firepower or amount of nuclear warheads as the US, then the crisis would potentially fade away without requiring a military response. However several Republicans had already been criticising Kennedy for being too lenient to Cuba, if it came public that Kennedy did nothing when a nuclear weapon was found 90 miles of the coast of Florida he would appear weak and his leadership credibility would be in tatters. The other extreme would be an escalation of the crisis, either an air-strike or full scale military invasion. While this would certainly win him support back home, it is highly unlikely that the Soviets would not also respond with force, thus starting war between the US and the Soviets. Also President Kennedys allies in the UK, France and in the wider international community would feel that the US went into war too quickly when there was a diplomatic route out of the crisis, thus it would cost him support from his allies. Therefore we can see that the blockade was a good strategic decision for Kennedy to take. It made the US appear strong, meeting the crisis head on, without looking brash and escalating the conflict. Further as previously mentioned there was a legal precedent for it. Thus it is clear this was a good decision to take under the circumstances and time pressure. Kennedy had analysed the impact his decision would have in the US, to the Soviets and Cuba as well as the wide r international community. The blockade made the US look strong but not overly aggressive and more importantly it placed the impetus on Khrushchev to make the next decision to escalate or de-escalate the crisis. Another example of good decision making in the Cuban missile crisis was Kennedy’s decision to accept the removal of missiles in Cuba public, whilst keeping the US withdrawal of missiles in Turkey and Italy secret. He accurately judged how far Khrushchev would stretch diplomatically and calculated that he could create an end to the crisis whilst appearing to have stood firm in the face of Soviet aggression and have forced Khrushchev back down from the US. This was a decision he took after weighing up the options and potential benefits and drawbacks. Kennedy therefore was able to make a clear decision despite threats to major values, large scale uncertainty and a lack of time to concretely analyse every potential outcome of a decision. What inevitably stopped this crisis from escalating into war while other similar crises have ended in warfare is the ability and will of both the Soviets and the US to compromise. In conclusion, we can see that due to decision making a crisis that could have easily ended up in nuclear warfare, ended up with a diplomatic solution. The only reason war was avoided was the rational decision making abilities of a few key players. President Kennedy had to de-escalate a crisis whilst still maintaning control of the situation. That he was able to do this and appear successful both on the world stage and back home is commendable and down to his ability to make clear and calculated desicions under pressure. The US enjoyed the press coverage of a victorious nation and in the senate election that followed the Democrats won three seats, so we can see this as a vote of confidence in the Democrats and Kennedy following the missile crisis. What becomes clear from studying the Cuban Missile Crisis is how important pursuing the correct strategy when attempting to de-escalate a crisis and the need for crisis managers to take rational decisions in face of extreme pressure. Here t he pressure or consequences could not have been greater, yet disaster was avoided by the actions and decision making abilities of crisis managers. References Allison, Graham; Zelikow, Philip. (1999). Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis. New York: Addison Wesley Longman. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. (1962). Off the Record Meeting on Cuba: The White House. Washington D.C. Kamps, Charles. (2007). The Cuban Missile Crisis. Air Space Power, (3), 88. May, Ernest. (2012, February 7). John F Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/coldwar/kennedy_cuban_missile_01.shtml#three National Security Archive. (2011). October 26, 1962 to November 15, 1962. The Cuban Missile Crisis.Author. Peters, Gerhard; Woolley, John.(1962). John F Kennedy. 378-The Presidents News Conference. Santa Barbara, CA: The American Presidency Project. University of Californa. United Press International. (2010, April 22). Cuban Missile Crisis 1962 Year In Review. Retrieved from http://www.upi.com/Archives/Audio/Events-of-1962/Cuban-Missile-Crisis

Cry, the Beloved Country :: Cry the Beloved Country Essays

Cry, the Beloved Country In Cry, the Beloved Country, the author, Alan Paton used two main characters to present both the whites and Africans' point of view. James Jarvis, Paton's European characters experienced a subtle but yet also impacting transition; His indifference towards the evolving problems of the society later surprisingly transformed into the courage to take actions in solving these problems. Through his journey in Johannesburg, trying to understand his son's "liberal" view and witnessing a downfall of an African girl, Jarvis found out that his apathy only worsened the predicaments faced by his country; For he could not be a spectator after his son's death, Jarvis decided to "...about doing whatever good is within his power." However, Jarvis discovered that "such thing [helping Africans in anywhere he could] is not lightly done", but required boldness and determination to fulfill these goals. As the book II of Cry, the Beloved Country unfolded, Paton described Jarvis as a white British farmer looking down at the valley from his "high place", an narrow minded person who only saw things from his point of view, "... if they [Africans] got more land, and if by some chance they could make a living off from it, who would work on the white man's farm?". In his stay at Johannesburg, Jarvis learned that his recent murdered son, Arthur Jarvis who fought and spoke about the very problems of the society that his father ignores and avoids. "Yes, he [Arthur Jarvis] was always speaking here and there ... Native crime, and more native schools, and he kicked up a hell of a dust in the papers about the conditions at the noneuropean hospital.". Devastated by the death of his deceased son and confused by "this boy of his who had gone journeying in strange water", Jarvis found himself beginning to doubt his principles and moral. "I didn't know it would ever be so important to understand him [ Arthur Jarvis]" Indeed, Jarvis found that indifference is slowly degenerating the society around him, "...she went to the bad and started to brew liquor ...she was arrested and sent to jail... I do not know... And I do not care." Later, as Jarvis comes upon an essay written by his son, "From them [James and Mary Jarvis] I [Arthur Jarvis] learned all that a child should learn of honor and charity and generosity.

Advanced Computer Logic

In any organization, it is best that the purchasing transactions be organized in order to reduce purchase transaction costs (About, Inc). The importance of considering the methods involved in purchasing transactions is underscored by the fact that these transactions form the majority of the expenses of an organization (About, Inc). Indeed, it has been noted that â€Å"[i]n a typical organization, 80% of the purchasing transactions represent approximately 20% of the total dollars spent (About, Inc).†Thus, Tom Camp and Eleanor should discuss about changing their procurement process because apparently, it does not serve the best interests of the company. The facts given show that the equipments it purchases have a high obsolescence rate due to differences in preference and orders.Thus, there is a need to streamline the purchasing process of the company and minimize the differences in suppliers and orders, which only cause additional cost to the company.It appears that this situat ion is appropriate for the application of systems contracting. A systems contracting arrangement is described as â€Å"an agreement between the buyer and supplier where the buyer places a blanket order with the supplier and the supplies are delivered to a special area on the buyer’s premises (About, Inc).†This arrangement ensures that the inventory records are in order and constantly updated (About, Inc).In a systems contracting arrangement, the supplier retains ownership of the goods while they are purchase orders are still being generated and the customer is billed at established periods only (About, Inc). This system allows the buyer that his inventory commitment is kept at a minimum (About, Inc).Thus, the buyer is left to deal with his personal concerns regarding maintaining its inventory, without a huge commitment to the seller (About, Inc).  Another option for the company is to adopt the theory of reverse auction, wherein a single buyer would choose from among many sellers so that the buyer could get competitive bids on their needed equipment. This is also an option that could mean savings for the company because only the winning bidder would provide the procured equipment, and the company would no longer concern itself with differences in orders from among the difference departments of the company.Moreover, this could reduce the obsolescence rate of the equipments because the competitive nature of the selection and procurement process would ensure that only the best equipment would be ordered.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Works CitedAbout, Inc. â€Å"Four Methods to Reduce Purchasing Costs.† 2007. 4 Oct. 2007.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   .

Writing to save the world - Emphasis

Writing to save the world Writing to save the world If youre suffering from writers block at the moment, spare a thought for the civil servants behind todays G20 summit. By 3.30 today, they have to write the statement that could determine whether the recovery kicks off or crumbles. Mind you, there are some who suggest it was written days ago. See here.