Legal Requirements for Employee Benefits Essay

As we discussed earlier in this chapter, some benefits are required by law. This requirement adds to the cost of compensating employees. Organizations looking for ways to control staffing costs may look for ways to structure the workforce so as to minimize the expense of benefits. They may require overtime rather than adding new employee, hire part-time rather than full-time workers(because part-time employees generally receive much smaller benefits packages),and use independent contractors rather than hire employees. Some of these choices are limited by legal equirements, however. For example ,the Fair Labor Standards Act requires overtime pay for nonexempt workers, as discussed in chapter 11. Also,the Internal Revenue Service strictly limits the definition of â€Å"independent contractors,â€Å" so that employees cannot avoid legal obligations by classifying workers as self-employed when the organization receives the benefits of a permanent employee . Other legal requirements involve tax treatment of benefits ,antidiscrimination laws, and accounting for benefits. Tax treatment of benefits A modern, flexible benefit plan provides a number of potential tax advantages to employees and employers. Employees A flexible benefit plan allows employees to choose to swap some of their existing benefits or purchase benefits from a menu of options. Payments in excess of the employees spending allowance are normally collected via a gross salary adjustment. If employees exchange salary for tax exempt benefits (pensions, life cover, childcare vouchers, mobile phones, etc. ), they do not pay tax or National Insurance on the amount exchanged. This gives a basic rate tax payer earning less than the National Insurance (NI) Upper Earnings Limit (UEL) a saving of 33% compared to receiving the money as salary. For example, an employee that exchanges ? 200 per month of their salary for childcare vouchers and additional pension payments will save ? 792 in tax and NI compared to taking the money as salary. Even if the benefits are not tax exempt, employees can still exchange salary for employer provided benefits and, whilst they will be charged income tax, they save NI as their salaries have been reduced by the value of the benefit. This gives employees earning under the UEL an 11% saving. Employers Employers participating in a flexible benefit plan do not pay employer’s NI on payments on payments to exempt benefits. If these payments have been exchanged from salary by employees then the employer will save 12. 8% employers NI on the amounts. For example, an employee that exchanges ? 200 per month of their salary for childcare vouchers and additional pension payments will deliver an annual NI saving to the employer of ? 307. Antidiscrimination Laws  Legal treatment of men and woman includes equal access to benefits, so the organization may not use the employee’s gender as the basic for providing more limited benefits. That is the rationale for the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, which requires that employers treat pregnancy or childbirth, the employee needs time off for conditions related to pregnancy or childbirth, the employee would receive whatever disability benefits the organization offers to employees who take disability leave for other reasons. Another area of concern in the treatment of male and female employees is pension benefits. On average, woman live longer than men, so on average, pension benefits for female employees are more expensive (because the organization pays the pension longer), other things being equal. Some organizations have used this difference as a basis for requiring that female employees contribute more than male employees as a basis for requiring that female employees contribute more than male employees to defined benefit plans. The Supreme Court in 1978 determined that such a requirement is illegal. According to the Supreme Court, the law is intended to protect individuals, and when women are considered on an individual basis ( not as averages ), not every woman outlives every man. Age discrimination is also relevant to benefits policies. Two major issues have received attention under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) and amendments. First, employers must take care not to discriminate against workers over age 40 in providing pay or benefits. For example, employers may not set an age at which retirement benefits stop growing as a way to pressure older workers to retire. Also, early retirement incentive programs need to meet certain standards. The programs may not coerce employees to retire, they must provide accurate information about the options available, and they must give employees enough time to make a decision. In effect, employees must really have a choice about whether they retire. When employers offer early retirement, they often ask employees to sign waivers saying they will not pursue claims under the ADEA. The Older Workers Benefit Protection Act of 1990 set guidelines for using these waivers. The waivers must be voluntary and understandable to the employee and employer , and they must spell out the employee’s rights under the ADEA. Also , in exchange for signing the waiver, the employee must receive â€Å"compensation† that is , greater benefits than he or she would otherwise receive upon retirement. The employer inform employee that they may consult a lawyer before signing, and employee must have time to make a decision about signing-21 days before signing plus 7 days afterward in which they can revoke the agreement. The Americans with Disabilities Act imposes requirements related to health insurance. Under the ADA, employees with disabilities must have â€Å"equal access to whatever health insurance coverage the employer provides other employees. â€Å"Even so, the terms and conditions of health insurance may be based on risk factors -as long as the employer does not use this basis as a way to escape offering health insurance to someone with a disability. From the standpoint of avoiding legal challenges, an employer who has risk-based insurance and then hires an employee with a disability is in a stronger position than an employer who switches to a risk-based policy after hiring a disabled employee. Accounting Requirements Companies’ financial statement must meet the many requirements of the Financial Accounting standards Board ( FASB) . These accounting requirements are intended to ensure that financial statements are a true picture of the company’s financial status and that outsiders, including potential lenders and investors , can understand and compare financial statements . Under FASB standards, employers must set aside the funds they expect to need for benefits to be paid after retirement, rather than funding those benefits on a pay-as-you-go basis. On financial statement, those funds must appear as future cost obligations. For companies with substantial retirement benefits, reporting those benefits as future cost obligations greatly lowers income each year. Along with rising benefits costs. This reporting requirement has encouraged many companies to scale benefits to retirees. Summarize the regulation affecting how employers design and administer benefits program. Employers must provide the benefits that are required by law, and they may not improperly classify employees as â€Å"independent contractors† to avoid paying benefits. Tax treatment of qualified plans is favorable, so organizations need to learn the requirements for setting up benefits as qualified plans-for example, ensuring that pension plans do not discriminate in favor of the organization’s highly compensated employees. Employers may not use employees’ gender as the basis for discriminating against anyone, as in pension benefits on the basis that women as a group may live longer. Nor may employers discriminate against workers over age 40 in providing pay or benefits, such as pressuring older workers to retire by limiting retirement benefits When employers offer early retirement, they must meet the requirements of the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act of 1990. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, employers must give disabled employees equal access to health insurance. To meet the requirements of the Financial Accounting Standards Board, employers must set aside the funds they expect to need for retirement benefits ahead of time, rather than funding the benefits on a pay-as-you-go basis

Brigham and Houston Essay

1. Whenever we are interested in buying a bond from the bond market, the bond’s issuer promises to pay back the principal (or par value) when the bond matures (Brigham and Houston, 2001). During this time, the issuer is obliged to pay interest in order to compensate the use of money. The interest payment is made on coupon rate which is fixed. There is an inverse relationship between the coupon rate and the bond prices, when: †¢ Interest rate increase, leads to rise in income, whereas the price of the bond declines. †¢ Interest rate decrease, leads to decline in income, whereas the price of the bond rises. Also we need to consider that the coupon rate is inversely related to duration because higher coupon rates lead to quicker recovery of the bond’s value, resulting in a shorter duration, relative to lower coupon rates. If coupon rate is greater than the market rate then it is favourable for issuer and if coupon rate is less than the market rate then it is favourable for purchaser (Brigham and Houston, 2001). The reason behind the variations in the coupon rates of various bonds is the market interest rate; company’s performance, time length, and credit worthiness of the issuer. So, all these factors have an implication on the bond yields. 2. Ratings of these bonds are determined on the basis of both qualitative and quantitative factors some of which are listed below: †¢ If a company uses conservative accounting policies, its reported earnings will be higher than if it uses less conservative procedures. †¢ Various ratios including the debt ratio and the Times Interest Earned (TIE) ratio also have some implications on these bond ratings. †¢ If company explores any new sites containing oil, gas, coal fields etc. †¢ Increase in the company’s sales & net profit increase both domestically and internationally also uplift the bond ratings and it showed that debt holder show the confidence on the company’s policy. Bond ratings might take a downward leap when: †¢ There is a signal of bankruptcy, internal mismanagement and financial distress in the firm (Helfert, 2001). †¢ When the company does not abide by the law, i. e. it breaches the laws, this may be related to environment, etc. †¢ When the product life cycle is going downwards and company can’t add more products in their product line. †¢ Negative bond covenants also hits the bond ratings of the company. †¢ Labour unrest or strikes may cause instability in the bonds ratings. †¢ Economic recession in the country. 3. We know that whenever the interest rate rises, bond prices tend to fall, and when rates fall, bond prices tend to rise (Helfert, 2001). This primarily occurs due to the economic condition of the country and also because of the market sentiments. If the price of the bond goes down it is less attractive (pays less interest) in comparison with current offerings and when the price of the bond goes up it is more attractive (pays more interest) in comparison with current offerings. This may also be described as when the coupon rate is greater than market rate then it is favourable for issuer and if coupon rate is lesser than market rate then it is favourable for the purchaser. Some bonds are sold below par value, which means (at discount) or greater than par value, which means (at premium). This mainly occurs due to the risk perceived for the debt of that particular organization. Market interest rate fluctuations usually effect the performance of the bonds in the secondary markets. Federal bank monetary and fiscal policy, inflation rate, recession in the economy, etc are the factors that may force organizations to sell the bonds at discount or at premium. One must also consider that sale of bonds on discount or at premium also has some impact on the yield and also the maturity of the bond, the shorter a bond’s maturity, the less its duration. Bonds with higher yields also have lower durations. Also the company’s performance reflects in bond valuations, i. e. its bond ratings, bond covenants and credit worthiness etc (Helfert, 2001). 4. The yield to maturity (YTM) is a reflection of the return on investment, that is earned at the current price, incase the bond is held by the issuer to its date of maturity and redeemed at par value. In other words, YTM is the discount rate that equates the present value of future inflows from the bond equal to its present price.

Ancient Roman Foods

During the times of ancient Rome and its glory days of ruling the world, the foods were the same as the lifestyle was: â€Å"simple and austere. † The people of the time were just simply not worried about feeling the need to eat fast and move on to better things than eating. They were significantly more concerned with enjoying the food sitting on the table in front of them and enjoying the moment. By enjoying their meals, they were able to enjoy the other components of their lives and from there, to essentially enjoy life to its fullest. â€Å"Carpe diem. Essentially, they enjoyed the most simple things in life. Nowadays, people are far more concerned with living a fast-paced lifestyle filled with luxury, money, and speed than tasting and savoring the many flavors present in their foods. Moreover, the foods during those ancient times were a lot healthier, consisting of mostly grains and vegetables. Now in our present society, while there is much more variety to the things we eat, there are also a lot more fats, greases, and various oils. Tons of present day traditions hold meat in the highest regard of any other food group. We enjoy that most meals include some sort of meat, and more often than not, a very large amount of it if not multiple kinds of meat. People hold barbeques where the main event is the meat being cooked on the smoky grill surrounded by laughter. The meat actually brings people together and leads to a feeling of belonging and happiness. In stark contrast, dining during ancient times rarely even had any meat at all. There are records of people complaining when they had to rely on meat to eat as opposed to their normal delicacies of delicious vegetables. They simply did not like the taste or texture. For people concerned with enjoying their food to the fullest, this is a terrible dilemma. It is not one our society can easily understand. We see it every single day on television, we hear it on the radio, and we create our own experiences of many children’s complete and utter distaste for various varieties of vegetables. Many children and people detest anything green, some children and people hate carrots for reasons of their own, and a few people and children despise all vegetables in general. In ncient Rome however, everyone simply loved vegetables. It was these very vegetables that were eaten the most often. Cato tells us that raw vegetables were often eaten with vinegar and cooked vegetables were often eaten with Olive Oil. These additions added flavor and were far more healthy than the additives with which we have made ourselves familiar in modern day. Additional contrast shows the additional fats present nowadays because of our society’s love for butter and many other additives that contain various fats, unnecessary carbohydrates, and other disgusting oils. Odd to think about for modern American’s is that Romans were not familiar with potatoes, wheat as from the America’s, and corn. We often see thee items present in most modern meals in some form or another. Almost every fast food meal from any fast food restaurant comes with French Fries unless another â€Å"healthier† option is specifically selected by the consumer making the order. The closest alternative during Roman times was bread, which was used for most traditions including wedding ceremonies and other important events to the people. Another American tradition includes that of consuming alcohol, sometimes so much as on the daily. Whether for a party or some sort of escape from reality in excessively depressive situations, people flock to the bars and night clubs periodically for an alcoholic therapy of sorts. In the past during those times, Romans would drink wine with every single meal, but it was not for the same reasons as are present in modern times. They enjoyed the wide range of flavors present in the wines for the same reasons that they tried to enjoy their foods to the fullest: they simply wanted to enjoy their lives. They would drink wine as frequently as present-day society enjoys soda, water, and tea when we go out to eat and even in our homes after grocery shopping. The increase in traditional use and consumption of bread also increased that of wine. In all reality throughout the decades, in history and in present, this makes sense. When you eat more bread, you are bound to be thirstier, and wine then comes into play as a quencher for that thirst. Especially during those times, the bread was excessively coarse and made of rough grain. It was far rougher than the grain with which we have familiarized ourselves with now. It caused a drying out of the mouth even worse than we are now familiar with. During the times of ancient Rome and its marvelous glory days of ruling the world, the foods were the same as the lifestyle was: â€Å"simple and austere. † The people of the time were just simply not worried about feeling the need to eat fast and move on to better things than eating. They were significantly more concerned with enjoying the food sitting on the table in front of them and enjoying the moment. By enjoying their meals, they were able to enjoy the other components of their lives and from there, to essentially enjoy life to its fullest. Carpe diem. † They enjoyed the most simple things in life. Nowadays, people are far more concerned with living a fast-paced lifestyle filled with luxury, money, and speed than tasting and savoring the many flavors present in their foods. Moreover, the foods during those ancient times were a lot healthier, consisting of mostly grains and vegetables. No w in our present society, while there is much more variety to the things we eat, there are also a lot more fats, greases, and oils. It was easier to live and let live during those times, and it can all be shown in their food and dining.

How Facebook has Destroyed Privacy Boundaries Essay

How Facebook has Destroyed Privacy Boundaries - Essay Example In recent years, a number of social networking websites have been able to take advantage of the teeming amount of users looking to register and use the social networking services. This in turn has provided these websites with unwanted levels of influence that has tended to create privacy debacles that were unheard of in conventional human interaction (Berkman and Shumway). Perhaps one of the most popular websites for social networking in recent years has been Facebook. The website has come under the limelight time and again. Previously it was under the limelight as a business model for innovation and hallmark breakthroughs but in recent times it has been scrutinized for breaches of privacy. The various forms of breach of privacy have been recognized and investigated and is confirmed phenomenon leaving little to doubt them anymore (Iachello and Hong). Some breaches of privacy are caused due to users overlooking fine print details while other breaches of privacy occur due to online sur veillance. In addition to everything else, certain forms of breach of privacy occur due to the inherent design of social networking platforms. This paper will focus on the various forms of breach of privacy that have resulted from the use of Facebook whether these breaches were intentional or otherwise. Furthermore, the consequences of these breaches will be looked into in detail to gauge their effects on ordinary people. It is natural for human beings to be wary of each other when conducting conversations in person. Another major factor that limits the amount of information carried by human beings is the limit on information delivered at any one point in time through conversations. It would be unrealistic to assume that a person could convey all kinds of personal and family information to another in one meeting alone. However, this situation is totally reversed when using computing platforms to interact. People who use social networking websites such as Facebook will realize that a large amount of information has to be divulged in order to sign up for such services. The typical information required for such sign ups consists of a person’s name, date of birth, email address, home address and the like. Other forms of personal information is exposed and brought to the forefront as a person tends to interact with their social circles (Pankoke-Babatz and Jeffrey). Social networks such as Facebook allow the user to search for and add new â€Å"friends† who are effectively anybody you might know including friends, family and acquaintances. The interaction between a typical Facebook user and his â€Å"friends† is carried out through the wall of each individual account holder. The idea is simple and seem revolutionary at first – each user has a wall that anybody can write upon if they are included in the individual’s friend list. Moreover, other users do not necessarily have to write things on the wall, instead, they can simply choos e to like things online and share it on their friend’s walls. This means that if I was browsing the internet for a pair of boxing gloves and I happened to find a pair I like, I could essentially share the link on my wall and on the wall of my friends. This would allow me to tell my friends that I recently might have made a purchase of boxing gloves and that they might be interested in the same boxing gloves. At first sight the idea seems just absolutely amazing. Imagine the power of being able to share

Managerial Decision Making Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Managerial Decision Making - Essay Example I have also been asked to perform a self evaluation of the decisions made and to evaluate them myself as to whether I think they were a success or failure for the organization. My supervisor has asked me to email him this evaluation as part of my own yearly evaluation which will be used to decide my yearly bonus, so I have decided to make it as professional as possible. Discussion In posting my self evaluation regarding some recent decisions that I have made for the college, I have decided to evaluate each decision in terms of the six steps mentioned by Bazerman and Moore (2008) in their text and use this as a guide to determine whether each decision was a success or a failure. In this context I would like to define success as being an outcome where it has resulted in a reduction of effort on the part of staff or automated a process or reduced cost or improved the quality and efficiency of the college and its staff. If it did none of these things, I would regard it as a failure. The Office of Fiscal Affairs where I work is responsible for receiving and allocating funds for college use, as well as safeguarding financial assets. We must also conform to all Federal and State laws as well as maintain adequate internal control over the assets with which it has been entrusted. As the Senior Accountant, my objective has always been to minimize burdensome and time-consuming procedures in order to affect the flow of business transactions as smoothly and conveniently as possible. In this post, I will share with you some of my findings from the audit and how I intend to fix them as well as avoid repetitions of these errors in the future. Finding 1: Grant Expenditures Coded to Operating Expenses During my audit I noted that there were no set procedures for the invoicing of grant expenditures. Many costs that were allowable as Federal and State grant costs were recorded as general costs instead. The Finance Director and the Grants Manager did not coordinate and review the e xpenditures for inclusion as Federal or State grant expenditures. The current invoicing practice has contributed to the College’s delay in recording revenue in a timely and accurate manner. The optimal decision would be to correctly code allowable costs to the proper Federal and State grants so as to increase cash collections and better maintain the accuracy of the Grants Receivable balance. I strongly suggest that management investigate this problem and I further suggest that a formal policy and procedure be adopted to classify revenues, costs and expenses so that accounting personnel have a clear responsibility and involvement in the approval of invoices sent to the College’s grantors. In fact the College has procedures in place for processing grant expenditures. The previous administration elected not to use these processes which include collaboration with the grants department, administration and the business office. The College is reviewing this process and taking appropriate action to ensure that clear responsibility for the approval and classification of expenditures are understood in expenditures of Federal and State grants. The review process includes more involvement of the Grants Office and the Accountant in the Business Office that is responsible for accurate expenditure and billing for

Marketing related Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Marketing related - Essay Example Marketing research can serve as the primary tool to obtain the information needed to perform qualitative analysis about different areas within the marketing field. The descriptive role may be fulfill though primary or secondary research techniques. An example of an application of marketing research fulfilling a descriptive role could be Toy R’ Us company designing a package for a new toy that is attractive for young customer and persuades them to purchase it based on the packaging design. Marketing research also serves a diagnostic role for managerial purposes. The diagnostic role involves predicting the products that can be introduced in a particular marketplace. Burger King may desire to expand its operation into a new international location. Marketing research can help this company predict the success or failure of its product offering in particular location. Marketing research is a diagnostic tool that can prevent serious mishaps for this company. For example somebody in the company mentions India as a great location due to the size of its population. Marketing research is a tool that can predict the negative consequences of pursuing this strategic option since cattle in India is a sacred animal. Introducing a hamburger joint in a nation with such religious beliefs would not be a smart move by Burger King. A typical diagnostic application of marketing research is determining the reason a particular product is not achieving the desired sales the manager forecasted it would achieve. Marketing research also serves the function of being a prediction tool for executives of a firm. One of the primary objectives of marketing research is to predict the potential demand for a product in a particular marketplace. Based on quantitative analysis and other predictive tools such as the Delphi method marketing research can be used to determine the demand of a product in a

Rhetorical Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Rhetorical Analysis - Essay Example The emaciated child from the horn of Africa on United Nation High Commission for Refugees is no exception is a good example of rhetorically driven advert. The advert is articulately structured to appeal to the audience for financial support. It is aimed at ensuring people contribute towards alleviation of poverty in the horn of Africa. The image of emaciated child is meant to have a certain appeal to the audience. The argument used is empathetic. The image used has a strong urge to the audience. The image shows of situation in the horn of Africa. It appeals to the audience to contribute whatever they have to save children who are usually vulnerable to drought situation. This image manages to convince the whole world on food situation in horn of Africa. The image used captures the audience interest and they are prompted to read the text. The strategy used is affective as seen from the contribution of various nations. In conclusion, rhetorical analysis when used on advertisement can he lp in identifying the strategy used by the author. Rhetorical analysis is profoundly used in literature. It is generally used to analyze the author intention to a particular audience. Mostly the content is used to teach a particular group of audience on particular values in a certain society. In order to understand the intention of a particular author it is good to have a detailed account of the information used in the story line. This paper seeks to discuss use of rhetorical analysis in literature. An example is children literature. Children literature is aimed at teaching and persuading them on particular issues such as basics of life. Most of the children literatures are environmentally focused. The real authors of children’s books are highly valued in the society and have higher level of ethics. The author is expected to provide a moral and ethical story line and the content is supposed to invoke a positive mentality. Generally, animals are used in the story line

Spontaneous face-to-face communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Spontaneous face-to-face communication - Essay Example It is also important to be able to reflect the degree of politeness in the process of communication. It usually takes more time to reflect the real essence of an individual in the communication process, because a spontaneous communication cannot reflect the real essence and the real inner world of an individual. Politeness as an integrative component of individuals’ communication between each other is often considered as means to â€Å"convey, interpret, maintain and alter social relationships† (Brown and Levinsion, p.5). Brown and Levinson (1987) are two scientists who studied the important role of politeness in the process of communication. They claimed that people are polite across cultures in order to facilitate the process of communication or to soften their desires or intentions. In other words, these scientists claimed that being polite is a threat-mitigating strategy used by individuals. â€Å"Face† in the process of communication The concept of â€Å"face† is the primary operating concept for these scientists that means the â€Å"positive social value a person effectively claims for himself† (Brown and Levinsion 1987, p.5). Any person may be afraid of losing his face in the process of communication. Nevertheless, the scientists underline that there are possible positive and negative faces that an individual may have. A positive face is more relevant to the majority of social actors. It implies that an individual is striving for high social esteem, social approval etc. A negative face implies that an individual wants to be autonomous, have his/her own will etc.

About Someone's Life Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

About Someone's Life - Essay Example 17. How has your nationality influenced your life? Response: It has made me realize importance of peaceful coexistence. 18. Which community do you belong to? Response: Sunnite. 19. How did your community influence your life? Response: Has encouraged me to uphold my religious faith and teachings of Prophet Mohammed. Cultural and social interest. 20. Which cultural activities or social events did you ever take part in? Response: Idul-fitri, 21. When were these events held? Response: Annually. 22. Why were the events organized? Response: To celebrate the month of Ramadhan. 23. What were the rules or regulations regarding the participation in these events? Response: Fasting, praying, giving the needy and washing of feet, hands and head. Only Muslims were involved. 24. What are the cultural believes in your community? Response: Women place is in the kitchen and a man can marry up to four wives at a time 25. How do you feel about these cultural believes? Response: They demean women. 26. Wh at changes have occurred in the recent past regarding your culture? Response: Women are gaining freedom to work. Values. 27. Which values do you posses? Response: Respect for human life, obedience, honesty and trustful 28. Were these values inherited or learnt during your various stages of life? Response: I learnt them as I grew up. 29. How have these values propelled you towards success in life? Response: They help me to interact with others. Religious Influence. 30. Which religion do you belong to? Response: Muslim. 31. What does your religion teach regarding women and work? Response: Women should not do men’s work 32. What does your religion teach on marriage and relationships? Response: Women to be faithful to their husband. 33. How does your religion affect your work and...Mrs. Shakina Suleiman learnt how to be compassionate, loving, social and outspoken as she grew up in a Muslim community and her career as a journalist. My rationale for choosing to discuss her was moti vated by her composure, eloquence and cheerfulness. We had met at a United Nations conference on career talk held in a neighboring school sometimes back in which Mrs. Suleiman was one of the guest speakers. Later after the meeting, I approached her warmly and requested her to share her life occurrences with me. I conducted the interview at Said khan Hotel in Saudi Arabia on 25th of October 2012. The exercise took sixty seven minutes during which the respondent answered all the questions clearly. I cross-examined the interview guide to ensure all important details were provided. TI was able to complete the exercise successfully without interruptions. I also thanked my candidate and wished her the very best in all her endeavors in life. Then I organized the data systematically and explored its substance. I used to derive an inference of how a human background can influence his or her lifestyle.

Administrative Decision Making & The Constitution at Work Essay

Administrative Decision Making & The Constitution at Work - Essay Example Additionally, differences among administrative theory would tend to vary on matters between management and operation, for example, the difference between getting things done and doing things. However, no matter the number of evolving administrative theories, it is the same skill that is required universally; in the industry; government as well as home management (Kennedy and Shultz 2011). The policy/administration dichotomy was a leadership theory that was popular during the early years of public administration mostly due to business principles used in managing the government (Henry 1975). As years passed by, dichotomy requested for politics to be removed in the administration section of the government. This left politics to officials elected who make policy. In short, Reformers used the idea of policy/administration dichotomy to reform/ change the government structure particularly in both politicians and administrators. The dichotomy theory did not intend to threaten those in power because it ensured that politicians would make relevant policies and other related decisions whilst the administrator would be the person in charge of implementing the made policies. Political neutrality is vital because it enabled the different government officials that are the politicians and the administrators to stick to their roles and ensured that no role was duplicated. In the past , public administration performed in public organization which was only in the grounds of accounting instead of, the actual performance of implementing existing policies. Today, public administration role in decision making is an important role, particularly in the management of and, control of public bureaucracy (Kennedy and Shultz 2011). The six paradigms by Henry clearly illustrate how public administration has changed and become more defined over the years. The first paradigm is about

Maple Ridge Engineering Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Maple Ridge Engineering - Case Study Example At present, Maple Ridge is in dire need of the system to provide information on business solutions. The aim is to ensure that the users are comfortable, not just the developing team. The problem at Maple Ridge is that Staff cannot easily move from one project to another. At the same time and for the same reason, staff cannot easily monitor the resources. The company seeks to implement a system that can move staff between different projects and monitor the positions of the shared resources. The important feedback in this project is the performance of MRE, compared to the experience and the expectations for future. The project is essential for maple Ridge because the benefits are long lasting and sustainable. It will act like an automated framework on which Daniel and Snowden will be able to co-ordinate future projects. The costs are minor, being a once-off payment. After the design of the MRE, the only cost is that of maintenance. The option that can make the project more efficient is to compare it to the already existing successful projects of similar nature, notice how resources are shared, how staff members monitor projects and the methods of delivering feedback. This in fact is the objective. Maple Ridge Engineering has various entities and systems working differently from each other. The desire of Snowden is to integrate the systems to GEMS. 2. Objectives The project has three main objectives within Maple Ridge: To develop a sustainable relationship between staff members and the projects within the organization To provide the management of with transparency about the on going projects, the resource utilization framework and information sharing. To provide necessary support to the staff by encouraging maximum use of the online resources and optimization of the system The principal goal of the desired MRE system is to perform the task of project tracking as well as management. This second goal is to improve the efficiency and output of the new integrated GEMS system to create more accurate estimate for the project resource requirement across all departments in the industry. With a proper integration of the system, the GEMS system is expected to support the movement of the organization staff members from one department of MRE to another and also across the different units. While managing the movement, it will also be facilitating resource utilization and sharing. This is where the time recording functionality comes to play a vital role. All the expectations in the previously proposed system raise issues that require a lot of improvement in the organisational structure and the flow of data and processes. As is evident on the â€Å"Hypercase† website, the main agenda is Maple Ridge. The information and instructions on the website is straight forward providing massive support information about Maple Ridge on the website. Theoretically, the different entities of the MRE function well through the integration. They desired state is that they should be able to share resources equally. A detailed

Auditing Risk Essay Example for Free

Auditing Risk Essay The auditor chooses what overall level of audit risk they are willing to accept. A higher level of audit risk means that the auditor is willing to accept more audit failures. 1% audit risk means that you are willing to accept that 1 out of 100 issued audit opinions will be incorrect. 5% audit risk means that you are willing to accept that 5 out of 100 issued audit opinions will be incorrect. So, the higher the audit risk you are willing to accept, the less audit work you have to perform. Audit risk and audit work are inversely related. Inherent Risk (IR) is the susceptibility of a particular transaction to be recorded in error. For example, revenue recognition related to software transactions is more inherently risky that revenue recognized at a point of sale transaction at a grocery store. In this example (all else constant), you would assign your software company client revenue accounts higher inherent risk than your grocery store client, due to the inherent difficulty in software revenue recognition. Higher inherent risk, all else constant, leads to more audit work. Inherent risk and audit work are directly related. Stated more specifically, if the inherent riskiness of one set of accounts is higher than another set of accounts, the auditor must increase the amount of testing done to achieve the given level of audit risk. Control risk (CR) is the risk that the company’s internal control system will fail to prevent or detect errors. A well established fortune 500 manufacturing company is likely to have better internal controls than a small biotech startup with one person playing the roles of accountant, chief financial officer and CEO. In this example (again, all else constant) you would assign your manufacturing client a lower control risk than your biotech client (for whom, in all likelihood, you decide not to rely on controls at all, and assign a value of 1 to control risk). Higher control risk, all else constant, leads to more audit work. Control risk and audit work are directly related, stated more specifically, if the risk that controls will not catch accounting errors increases, you must do more testing to achieve a given level of audit risk. Second: Let’s think about the equation, and the relation of each type of risk to each other s the risk that our audit procedures over a specific account or group of accounts will fail to detect a material misstatement. We know that we set the level of M. Shepardson audit risk, we assess the levels of inherent risk and control risk, and from that, we calculate the level of detection risk. Rewriting equation (1), we have the following:

Responsibility for Healthcare Between Society and the Family

Responsibility for Healthcare Between Society and the Family The balance of responsibility for healthcare between society and the family societal versus family responsibilities â€Å"Responsibility for health: personal, social, and environmental† INTRODUCTION: The Family is the basic or functional unit of a society. In making healthcare policy society and family plays a great part in implementation. Responsibility starts within each member of the family with the proper guidance of parents. Preventive efforts regarding healthcare issues must be practice by parents. A good example of which is by teaching their children at the very early age the three basic food groups (go, grow and glow) and proper hand washing, in such a way that each child will be guided accordingly regarding the proper diet to prevent illness and diseases. As a child goes to school he/she becomes a member of the society, a good practice of healthcare can be shared between peers. As they grow much older this good practice and views regarding healthcare becomes more profound and evident they becomes more responsible towards health and to the society. In my personal point of view responsibility for health is as basic as food, taking good care of one self is the fundamental r esponsibility an individual in becoming a better member of a society. The society has the responsibility of providing proper health services to the family and to a certain individual. An example of which is a good access in healthcare insurances, Equality in healthcare services on all facilities in government and private alike. The right for information regarding laws, provisions and policies should be properly disseminated. Access to rural or community health involving different business, healthcare, and transport sectors to address any healthcare issues. One of the most important obligations of society is ensuring that each and every one has access to health care. This has been the main focus of health care policies all over the world. While this has been the most important, it is also vital that societies promote health in many other ways. Society plays a great role in making sure that everyone has access to optimal health care and there are a lot of means by which this will be successful. One very common and effective way is by means of education and training. By means of education, people may be able to know more about ways on how to promote health and how to prevent certain diseases. Education is an effective tool to spread out information not just about the social issues but more importantly, about health. Through education, we may be able to enlighten people about the most important health issues that we have now. Some of these issues include sanitation, pollution, food and drug safety and disease prevention. Much attention should be focused on ways on how to promote health besides access to health care. These include environment and public health and health research. In today’s modern age, there are numerous technological advances which affect our daily living. Whether we like to admit it or not, our lives are easier now because of these technological advances. They help us get to places faster and aid us with everyday activities so that we may be able to do them with more ease but as they say, there is always downside to everything. These advances may be the reason why there are several people who are becoming lazier when it comes to doing chores at home or at work. People nowadays tend to depend largely on technology to do simple things which they can do themselves. Simple things like walking when going to nearby places or picking something up from a store. Lifestyle plays a huge role in some of the most fatal illnesses that exist now. According to Ralph Neas the total expenditures on health care in the United States represented 17 percent of the gross national product in 2010 and are projected to reach 20 percent by the end of this decade. The United States spends 141 percent more on health care than other economically advanced nations; furthermore, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, although smoking has declined steadily there since the 1960s, smoking- related medical expenses are still about US$75.5 billion per year. Obesity, which has been climbing in the past two decades, accounts for about US$75 billion in healthcare costs there each year, moreover, alcoholism and drug addiction in the USA account for annual healthcare costs of about US$22.5 billion and US$12 billion, respectively. Federal government spending on healthcare relating to HIV/AIDS is over US$13 billion per year. This goes to show that health educ ation is important and that people needs to be informed thoroughly on how to improve health and prevent diseases from spreading. It is also sensible to allot sufficient budget on health research and find means on how to prevent and if possible, to completely eradicate such diseases. The balance of responsibility for healthcare between society and the family societal versus family responsibilities encompasses different aspects in healthcare. It needs the involvement of all stakeholders. A families views and attitudes towards healthcare has a great impact in a society. A good example is in the Philippines, the Department of social welfare and development (DSWD) together with the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and some None-Government organization groups Spear headed a program/Scheme Pantawid Pamilyang Pangkabuhayan or( 4Ps). The main purposes of the program is Hunger Mitigation, Prevention of Maternal and infant deaths by giving financial assistance to the families under poverty line with conditionality’s. The conditions: Pregnant Household Member/s should visit their local health center to avail of pre- and post-natal care starting from the first trimester of pregnancy. Children 0-5 Years Old members of the household who are 0–5 years old shall visit the health center and avail of Immunization/vaccination, weight monitoring, and management of childhood disease. Children aged 6–14 years old should receive deworming pills twice a year Education conditionalities. Children aged 3–5 years old enrolled in Day Care Program or pre-school program and maintain a class attendance rate of at least 85% per month (still subject to evaluation/study). Children aged 6–14 years old enrolled in elementary and secondary schools and maintain a class attendance rate of at least 85% per month. Other conditionalities. Parents should attend Family Development Sessions at least once a month. Participate in community activities to promote and strengthen the implementation of the program. The first task is to identify the families who will be eligible and be the beneficiary of the program by doing surveys in the rural areas. First they disseminate the information from national down to local government units, barangays and families. After which they inform and award the families legible for the said program. Together with the Department of Health Philippines and Department of Education they create programs. The DOH launches the Immunization program visiting families house to house and immunizing children 8y/o and below. Each family also receives financial assistance. According to WHO 1992, healthcare issues regarding the environment addresses all the physical, chemical, and biological factors external to a person, and all the related factors impacting behaviours. It encompasses the assessment and control of those environmental factors that can potentially affect health. It is targeted towards preventing disease and creating health-supportive environments. This definition excludes behaviour not related to environment, as well as behaviour related to the social and cultural environment, and genetics. While it is sensible to place sole responsibility to an individual to take care of their health, there are several objections to it as well. One argument is that it is unfair to hold someone completely responsible for their own health especially if that person does not have a sound mind or is under the influence of drugs. Another is that it would be exceedingly difficult to implement a system that holds individuals responsible for their own health, since diseases and disabilities result from a complex interaction of genetic and environmental factors. Although it is completely rational that an individual must be able to maintain their health, the responsibility should not be placed solely on them. Whichever the case may be, the society must always help promote health and prevent illness. Although access to health care is extremely vital, society should also focus on creating means on how to promote health. They say, prevention is better than cure and it is true in so many ways. Preven tion is more cost-effective and is more medically efficacious rather than finding means of treatment. For instance, it is more cost-effective to prevent certain serious illness rather than undergoing surgery or chemotherapy in the long run. The government should be able to provide its people their needs and with regards to health care, this includes monitoring of disease, urban planning and should be able to guarantee food and drug safety. Family on the other hand, is considered to be the basic unit of a community and is therefore a great factor in an individual’s attempt to health promotion and disease prevention. It is through family that a person first learns everything which is why family greatly affects the choices made by an individual. Most often than not, a person confides with a family member in decision making may it be with finances, work related problems and health issues as well. If a person is unable to decide, a family member, usually the elder or the head of the family steps in to make the decision for them. For instance, in New Zealand, since there are numerous rest homes, it is the obligation of the family or one of the family members to decide what is best for their loved ones who are residing at these rest homes especially if their loved ones cannot decide for themselves or is not able to comprehend some of the information given to them. CONCLUSION: Health care access is one of the most important factors to consider in terms of societal issues with regards to health care but it is also with utmost importance that the society is able to promote health through education and research as well. Much importance should be placed not just on health care access but more so on strategies for health promotion especially on environmental and public health and health research. Government action is also vital and should be able to provide the needs of its people especially if it’s already out of their control like monitoring of disease and urban planning. Family is the basic unit of community and is considered to be the basis of one’s decision with just about anything. May it be financial or health issues, families play a huge role in an individual’s choice. REFERENCE: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Smoking costs nation $150 billion each year in health costs, lost productivity. Press Release. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/media/pressrel/r020412.htm Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Obesity costs states billions in medical expenses. Press Release. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/media/pressrel/r040121.htm Resnik D.B. July 2006. Responsibility for Health: Personal, Social and Environmental. J Med Ethics. Aug 2007; 33(8): 444–445. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/issues/174348/ Neas, Ralph. (May 2011). Our Ailing Health. Politico. Retrieved from http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0511/55775.html World Health Organisation. (1992). Environmental Healthcare. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/topics/environmental_health/en/ World Health Organisation. (1999). Population Issues. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/en/ Department of Social Welfare and Development. Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps). Retrieved from http://pantawid.dswd.gov.ph/

Community Service vs Service-Learning :: Teaching Education Research

Community service is defined as voluntary or involuntary work done by individuals to provide service to disadvantaged groups or public areas. While community service has numerous benefits, it only focuses on unidimensional service and caters to a current need setting nothing in place to implement substantial change in the future. In contrast, service learning focuses on reciprocity and sets a foundation to create changes in communities. Service learning is defined as an organized collaborative process that requires individuals to actively participate in service projects. Community service is often viewed as volunteerism rather than service learning. Individuals often times tend to establish barriers between the provider and the person receiving help and never focusing on gaining anything from the group or person being assisted. Service learning is important because it allows individuals to become aware about important issues, gain new perspectives and provides learning experiences for volunteers as well as individuals from underserved groups. Because of the numerous benefits, college students should enroll in the Service Learning courses or service learning based programs. These programs allows students to move away from the dualism versus unity point of view and focus on reciprocity and provides the skills necessary to approach future service experiences with a service learning perspective.

flannery oconner: queen of irony Essay -- essays research papers

Flannery O’Connor: Queen of Irony The literary rebellion, known as realism, established itself in American writing as a direct response to the age of American romanticism’s sentimental and sensationalist prose. As the dominance of New England’s literary culture waned â€Å"a host of new writers appeared, among them Bret Harte, William Dean Howells, and Mark Twain, whose background and training, unlike those of the older generation they displaced, were middle-class and journalistic rather than genteel or academic† (McMichael 6). These authors moved from tales of local color fiction to realistic and truthful depictions of the complete panorama of American experience. They wrote about uniquely American subjects in a humorous and everyday language, replete with their character’s misdeeds and shortcomings. Their success in creating this plain but descriptive language, the language of the common man, signaled the end of American reverence for British and European culture and for the more formal use of language associated with those traditions. In essence, these new authors â€Å"had what [the author] Henry James called â€Å"a powerful impulse to mirror the unmitigated realities of life,† in contrast to the romanticist’s insistence â€Å"on the author’s rights to avoid representations of â€Å"squalid misery† and to present instead an idealized and â€Å"poetic† portrait of life† (McMichael 6). In contrast to their romantic and realist predecessors, the literary naturalists â€Å"emphasized that the world was amoral, that men and women had no freewill, that their lives were controlled by hereditary and the environment, that religious â€Å"truths† were illusory, [and] that the destiny of humanity was misery in life and oblivion in death† (McMichael 7). The naturalist writer Stephen Crane, for instance, explored the absurdity of the human condition. His writing most often portrayed humanity as lonesome singular entities relying on their unproven belief in the benevolence of God and freewill, led by their persistent illusions of being the center of the universe, and clueless to the disparity between their greatest expectations and their equalizing bouts of impendent doom. These realist and naturalist writers, with their revolutionary new method of portraying humanity as capable of evil and as likely victims of an often tempestuous environment or seemingly spitef ul heredity, were a powerful influence on... ...pocrisies of her southern environment. In the last year of her life O’Connor wrote, â€Å"You write. . ., what you can. And you become, we can further infer, what you can† (Fitzgerald xix). It was the civil rights leader Martin Luther King who said, â€Å"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. Faced with a sure knowledge of impending death from an incurable disease and a South blinded by its hypocrisies and lies, Flannery O’Connor challenged the mores and conventions of her time to emerge a literary visionary and a true example of the best that American literature has to offer. The author used â€Å"the prevailing locution of the South as easily, and as maliciously, as it often occurs there, among blacks and whites alike† (Fitzgerald xix). She spit into the wind of amorality and sin the consequences be damned despite the fact that in her time she was an outsider as a women, a southerner, and a Roman Catholic in the South. Her [natural] gifts produced the fiction, but her situation gave them opportunities, and enabled her to exercise her intelligence, imaginatio n, and craft most effectively (Hyman 46).

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee :: Kill Mockingbird essays

To Kill a Mockingbird Comparison and Contrast of the Characters of Bob Ewell and Atticus Finch In this essay I will introduce you to the two main characters in Harper Lee's book "To kill a mockingbird", comparing them in their attitudes and actions. Atticus Finch is a single father raising two children in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama. Atticus works as a lawyer believing in equal justice for all Americans regardless of race or religion. Bob Ewell is also a single father raising eight children who also lives in Maycomb. Bob is unemployed collecting welfare who believes in racial segregation. He believes in different modes of justice for blacks and whites. Atticus is very compassionate while talking to his thirteen-year-old son Jem. Atticus was explaining to him that he would do anything just for Bob to stop beating his kids. As he said, "So if spitting in my face and threatening me saved Mayella one extra beating, that's something I'll gladly take. He had to take it out on somebody and I'd rather it be me than that houseful of children out there."(Pg. 221) In addition Atticus explains to Jem that he had to do what he had to do because he destroyed Bob's last shred of credibility, whereas Bob is a coward who doesn't deal with the matter but makes things worse. Bob proves himself to be very cowardly. He doesn't think before making his actions. As a result of this he tried to kill Atticus' children, Jem and Scout. As they were walking home from the Halloween pageant, Bob came out and tried to kill them. Bob got what he deserved when Boo Radley, a neighbor who hides his identity, came out and saved the children, killing Bob. Atticus and Sheriff Tate, the officer of Maycomb, proved to be fair and told Maycomb that Bob fell on his knife to help Boo from public recognition. Tom Robinson was accused of raping Bob Ewell's daughter Mayella. Tom Robinson is a black man who is defending himself against white people to win the case. Atticus has taken on the case to defend Tom because he treats everyone as equals and it was important for his self-esteem.

The Scopes Monkey Trial Research Paper

The Scopes Trial Today evolution is taught in public schools in America, but it has not always been that way. The legal battle that led to the teaching of evolution in public schools has been a very long one. Creationism was taught in public schools until the late 19th century. Following Darwin’s theories being introduced in 1859 many began to accept evolution during the 1860’s. This would continue in America until a flamboyant, Christian, lawyer named William Jennings Bryan campaigned against the teaching of evolution.Bryan found supporters very easily because of a grassroots movement in America following World War I; which was a vast change in society that led people towards a simpler and more religious lifestyle. This movement led several states to create laws banning the teaching of evolution in public schools. Bryan and his movement was of course opposed by many which led to the legal battles that have taken America from a non-evolution teaching society to the evol ution teaching society it is today. In this paper I will discuss the first major court case that brought significant national attention to these laws.The first major court case that brought significant attention to the laws banning the teaching of evolution in public schools is â€Å"The Scopes Trial† or â€Å"The Monkey Trial† in Dayton, TN in 1925. This trial was the State of Tennessee vs John Thomas Scopes, who was a high school football coach that was also a substitute. Although this case would turn out to be more about Scopes breaking a law than the teaching of evolution in public schools; it was significant in bringing national attention to the laws.After the state of Tennessee passed the Butler Act, which banned the teaching of anything that contradicted the idea of creationism from the Bible, there was a group of businessmen from Dayton, TN who felt they could bring business and attention to their small town thanks to the new law. They devised a plan to find a local teacher willing to oppose the law by teaching evolution in the classroom. They were able to find such a teacher in John Thomas Scopes; Scopes was the perfect candidate. He was young (25), new to teaching (first year), new to town, and was well liked by the towns people.It took little convincing to get Scopes to oppose the law and he did so while substituting a high school biology class. When knowledge of Scopes teaching evolution was made public he was arrested and taken to trial. The trial quickly grew in fame when two of America’s most prominent lawyers took the case. William Jennings Bryan volunteered to serve as the prosecutor for the State of Tennessee which led to Clarence Darrow becoming the Defending lawyer in the case. Darrow was a famous Agnostic, defense, lawyer who wanted to prove Bryan wrong more so than to prove Scope’s innocence.With the new â€Å"celebrity† lawyers on board for the trial; the case quickly gained fame. The business men of Da yton, Tennessee were quickly pleased to see their plan had worked. There were vendors, tourist, and media flocking to Dayton for the trial. The vendors were selling hot dogs, and water outside of the courthouse. The many curious people who came to Dayton to witness the trial caused the town to be flooded with people. All of the hotels were so full it led to many members of the media staying in a warehouse and sleeping on the floor.For the first time there was a national radio broadcast from the courtroom of the trial and the trial was recorded on film. There were so many people in the courtroom that the weight caused the support beams to buckle in the courthouse. The buckling of the beams lead to the trial being held outside one day; then returning inside with a limited amount of people able to attend. During the jury selection Darrow quickly realized he was at odds. It was hard to find an unbiased jury in Dayton Tennessee because the vast majority of residents were Christians and w as neducated on what evolution is. They saw evolution as a direct threat to their religion rather than a scientific theory. The jury ended up being made up of farmers who were mostly illiterate with the majority being church goers; six were Baptist, four Methodist, one Church of Christ, and one was a non-church goer. Since Darrow knew he could not prove that Scopes was innocent of breaking the law. He would rather try to prove that the law itself was unconstitutional; and decided to make his case based on science versus ignorance.He had planned on calling in several scientific scholars as witnesses to argue the topic of evolution over creationism but the judge deemed this unreasonable. The judge did not allow the witnesses and said that the case was about the law and not evolution. This was the case for Darrow but not for Bryan. Bryan argued that creationism was true and spent most of his time in court preaching from the Bible. Bryan even preached to the public on the courthouse ste ps and in the local Methodist church while he was in Dayton.This tactic won over the local people and even the defendant. Scopes was quoted saying â€Å" Bryan was a powerful speaker†. With Bryan’s tactics being allowed by the judge and going over well with the jury and local people Darrow saw only one way to â€Å"win†. Instead of trying to keep Scopes from being convicted he would make his case into a personal vendetta against Bryan’s beliefs. When Darrow presented his defense he called one witness; Bryan. This was a shock to everyone in the court as well as around the country.The judge allowed it as long as Bryan was okay with it. Bryan agreed so he took the stand to be questioned by Darrow. Darrow made the most of his opportunity and questioned the faith that Bryan held so dear. He began by asking him about stories from the Bible and how old the Earth was. He then delved deeper into the creation theory; asking if Bryan knew how long it took God to cre ate the Earth, if the days that were spoke of in Genesis were man’s days or God’s days, and if they differed. Of course; Bryan could not answer truthfully, only guess.This led to Bryan acknowledging that the periods of creation in Genesis could have possible been millions of years rather than days. This gave ground to the theory of evolution to be included in the creationist’s idea of the beginning. The day after Darrow questioned Bryan the judge ordered the testimony to be absolved from the case. He said that it had no bearings on the case. Scopes was found guilty and fined $100. Even though Darrow was unable to prove Scopes innocence he was able to show a chink in the armor of the creationist claims against evolution and make a bigger name for himself.Bryan died five days after the trial in Dayton Tennessee while taking a nap after lunch. Darrow appealed the case to the State Supreme Court in an attempt to get the law deemed unconstitutional. The Supreme Court found that Scopes should not have been fined but did not retry him. It was not until 1965 when the American Civil Liberties Union made a case against the state of Arkansas that the Supreme Court ruled that laws against the teaching of evolution were unconstitutional. Works CitedCrewe, Sabrina and Michael V. Uschan. The Scopes â€Å"Monkey† Trial. Milwaukee: Gareth Stevens Publishing, 2005. Print. Groce, Eric, Tina L. Heafner and Katherine A. O'Connor. â€Å"Monkey Business: Teaching the Scopes Evolution Trial. † Social Studies Research ;amp; Practice (2011): 107-128. Print. Lovorn, Michael G. â€Å"Monkey Town: The Summer of the Scopes Trial. † Social Studies Research ;amp; Practice (2009): 99-106. Print. Singham, Mano. God vs. Darwin. Plymouth: Roman and Littlefield Education, 2009. Book.

Case Study for White Box Testing

White Box Case Study 1. Introduction In white-box testing, the purpose is to ensure that the all the code has been tested and covered. There are different coverage measures depending on the level of detail of the white-box test. The coverage measures may also be applied to integration testing and system testing. 2. Learning Objectives The exercise aims at giving an understanding of white-box. The specific learning goal is to gain a detailed insight into the concept of white-box testing using coverage measures. Assignment 1: Look at the program below. How many feasible paths are there for this program? Define a set of test cases that gives you 100% coverage of all the feasible paths. Input (score); If score < 45 then print (‘fail’); else print (‘pass’); If score > 80 then print (‘ with distinction’); End Assignment 2: In this week’s lab session you will test the NextDate program with white-box techniques. Get an understanding of how the program works, the code is available here Assignment 4: Make flowgraphs of the methods in the NextDate class. Assignment 5: Prepare test cases based on the flowgraph. Calculate the minimum number of test cases if the goal is: †¢ 100% Statement coverage †¢ 100% Decision/branch covergae †¢ 100% Condition coverage 4. Exercise (on computer) Assignment 6: Now we would like you to thoroughly test the NextDate program using white-box testing. You should implement the testcases you have prepared on paper using statement, decision,and condition coverage. Preferably implement them using JUnit. Implement more test cases if you realize that you missed any during the preparation. Remember to specify test case ID, what is tested, description, input, expected output and other useful information while executing your test cases. You may also want to make room for pass and fail notes and perhaps for comments. Record your test results carefully for your test report. Report The purpose of the report is to discuss the result of the exercise and related topics. Following parts should be included, 1) conclusions from the lab session, 2. Describe the outcome of your tests. Discuss the assignments and include the following: †¢ The flowgraphs from the preparation assignment. †¢ The test cases. Remember to specify the associated test technique to each test case. Also, specify the coverage measure of each method used. †¢ Defects detected. †¢ Which coverage criteria works best and why? †¢ When is each coverage criteria most applicable? †¢ Compare black-box test techniques (used in lab session 1) and white-box test techniques. Discuss advantages and disadvantages with each and when they are appropriate to use.

Postponement

Postponement Strategy Materials Management End Term Project (Term –IV) Date: 15th September 2009 Submitted To: Submitted By: Prof. Vivek Kumar Namrata Agarwal(81031) Prof. Kaushik Paul Neha Gupta(81034) Contents Chapter 14 Introduction4 1. 1 What is Postponement? 4 1. 2 A specific example5 1. 3 Postponement in operation7 Chapter 29 Literature Review9 Chapter 314 When is Postponement Appropriate? 14 3. 1 The Postponement/Speculation (P/S) Matrix14 3. 2 Costs & Benefits of Postponement15 3. 2. 1 More variety15 3. 2. 2 Inventory reduction18 3. 2. 3 Better forecast accuracy19 . 2. 4 Inventory cost reduction20 3. 2. 5 Logistics cost reduction22 3. 2. 6 Improved customer service levels22 3. 2. 7 Increased product development cost23 3. 2. 8 Increased manufacturing cost23 Chapter 424 Case Studies24 4. 1 Automobile Manufacturing: GM24 4. 2 Aircraft Manufacturing: Embraer26 4. 3 Clinical Equipments: Dade Behring29 4. 4 Sports Goods Manufacturing: Reebok32 4. 5 Xilinx34 Chapter 536 Concl usion36 Chapter 638 Future of postponement38 6. 1 Services and postponement38 References40 Chapter 1 Introduction Over the past 2 decades, logistics activities have gained increasing strategic importance for most companies. Fixed costs of production have increased, consumer demands have become more complex and are harder to predict, both in time and place. Technology is rapidly changing and product life cycles have shortened while product range has increased. Now more than ever, companies are faced with the challenge of producing an increasingly large variety of products in a responsive manner while keeping materials and inventory to a minimum. These issues represent significant challenges for companies producing and selling in a variety of international markets. Not only does demand vary from country to country, but products need to be altered for different markets in consideration of differences in language, culture and local standards. Increasingly, companies are using a strategy known as postponement or mass customization to improve customer service and minimize the risks associated with making different products in different countries. This paper presents a framework for understanding postponement and how it can be implemented. Also, with the help of successful case studies potential savings as well challenges in implementation will be highlighted. . 1 What is Postponement? The term postponement refers to delayed decision-making about a product. It is beneficial to delay commitment to product-specific characteristics as late as possible in order to avoid a mismatch between orders and inventory on hand. The length of delay is specific to a product but the common strategic motivation is to gain better information about customer demand by w aiting to customize a product for a particular market or customer. At the point of postponement a standardized module or platform starts to acquire customer or market specific characteristics. Figure 1-1 shows the spectrum of opportunities for postponement that extends from procurement to distribution. The point of postponement can occur as early as the design phase and as late as packaging and distribution. Postponement at the manufacturing stage has arguably the most potential for cost savings in inventory due to risk pooling. Other points of differentiation can occur in the assembly, labeling, packaging, or distribution phases. Some postponement can even occur after the point of sale in the form of service offerings. [pic] Figure 1-1: Possible points of differentiation in the supply chain Postponement enables forecasters to make better predictions about end product demand over time since the standard module is built-to-forecast and the finished product is built to a better forecast or even built-to-order. Lee and Whang [20] observe that shorter the time horizon over which predictions are made, the more accurate the forecast. The benefits are better end product forecasts and the ability to respond quickly to demand signals by holding unfinished goods in inventory awaiting final assembly or customization. Postponement also creates opportunities to lower inventory costs due to risk pooling because goods are kept in unfinished or component form and can be used to assemble more than one type of finished goods. The monetary value of an unfinished good is less because it is not committed to becoming a finished product and lacks the added value gained in final assembly. 1. 2 A specific example Consider a common case of postponement involving a fast food restaurant. Burger King started a trend with the â€Å"have it your way† marketing jingle as a way of advertising the value of getting a customized sandwich – fast! This strategy ensured the customer that each order would be made individually at the time of purchase – not taken from a batch of pre-made products. In a restaurant, ingredients are ordered in aggregate because it is not known what the final customer orders will be. Ingredients that are common to all sandwiches, like buns and lettuce, are ordered based on a total forecast of sales for each type of sandwich. Having a bun and lettuce ready and waiting for final assembly is the â€Å"platform† for the sandwich. The rest of the ingredients, like cheese, meat, and pickles, are components that are specific to each end product. If more of one type of sandwich is ordered or less of another, the total number of buns is not affected by this deviation in demand, however, the amount of cheese would be. It is much less costly to throw out a piece of cheese and use the platform for another order than to throw out an entire sandwich. At Burger King, inventory is managed at the aggregate level. There are four choices of meat and three different types of bun. In addition to buns and meat, there is the choice of cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomato, pickles and onion. In total Burger King can produce 768 different sandwiches as show in Table 1. 1. They know that it is costly to try and predict individual customer’s preferences so they aggregate orders into common platforms which consist of a bun, patty (chicken, beef, fish, or veggie) and lettuce, reducing the options from 768 to 128. Once common components are paired together in a platform, the number of options reduces dramatically because variety is determined by multiplying the number of options together. Once the platform is specified by a customer the rest of the sandwich is made-to-order. Component |Number of Options | |Patty |4 | |Buns |3 | |Cheese |2 | |Bacon |2 | |Lettuce |2 | |Tomato |2 | |Onion |2 | |Pickle |2 | |Total Combinations |768 | Table 1. 1: Sandwich options at Burger King This example illustrates how postponement through platform design and stocking individual components instead of finished goods is able to mitigate the risk associated with producing a wide variety of products. This concept can be applied to more than just food. Examples of products which can benefit from postponement include consumer appliances, automobiles, apparel, and even airplanes. These products have one or more of the following characteristics: high degree of forecast uncertainty, modularity, and high inventory carrying costs. 1. 3 Postponement in operation Operational postponement can be applied in one of two ways – manufacturing and assembly postponement and logistical postponement. Manufacturing and assembly postponement involves the engineering of a product as a module or platform which can take on several different features thereby increasing the variety of end products. The point of postponement can occur as early as the design phase. The intermediate product is stored in inventory and awaits customization. The value added through assembly or manufacturing may be performed at a finishing facility or at a warehouse just before shipping. Manufacturing and assembly postponement involve decisions made while the product is in production. Engineers seek to design a product as a module or platform which can accept different attachments or features in order to transform the appearance and or function to increase product variety. This concept was referred to as a â€Å"vanilla box† by Swaminathan and Tayur [42] because the generic platform is one without any customized value and is therefore the common denominator among a family of different products. Logistical postponement takes into account all other types of postponement involving logistical decisions like packaging, labeling, and distribution. Packaging and labeling postponement traditionally applies to small consumer goods products like razors, batteries, compact disks, film, and snack foods. Large retailers like Wal-Mart and Target require different configurations of packages to accommodate their customer demand and shelf space capacity and to differentiate commodity products. Gillette is well known for their packaging postponement operations. In 1996, Gillette decided to outsource the packaging of their health and beauty items to Sonoco. Bulk quantities of products are sent to Sonoco to await final packaging. Once orders are received appropriate packaging configurations are assembled and shipped to retailers. Manufacturers spend a significant amount of capital and labor trying to satisfy the variability in demand for different configurations for their retailers. However, companies like Gillette, that focus on their core competency, innovating and manufacturing razors and razor blades, push the risk onto their packaging supplier. Sonoco assumes the risk of forecasting for the different retailers which allows Gillette to produce to an aggregate forecast. The benefits for Gillette included a reduction in order fulfillment time from six weeks to one, a 15 percent decrease in packaging inventory, a 10 percent improvement in inventory accuracy, and a 15 percent reduction in packaging costs. Not only does this save Gillette from mismatching demand and configurations, it allows them to focus on engineering, design, and manufacturing of new products instead of packaging. Gillette avoided plant expansion, has a focused factory workforce and is winning favor with retailers by being so responsive. Another example of logistical postponement is the postponement of decisions made about the product during its distribution lead time (from finished product to customer delivery). Whirlpool, a popular manufacturer of household appliances, provides a good example. Customers of Whirlpool include retailers like Sears and Home Depot. Holding inventory of large appliances such as refrigerators and washing machines at local stores is costly because of the high product value and the space taken up in a back storage room. For this reason Whirlpool will send finished goods to a central distribution center and ship directly to the home once a customer order is placed. This method saves the retailer in inventory cost and eliminates additional transportation cost by bypassing the retailer. In addition, it reduces the risk that is inherent in sending a dedicated number of products to individual stores and having to transship orders between retailers. Chapter 2 Literature Review Sources date the idea of postponement as far back as the 1920s and the first use of postponement as a manufacturing strategy as early as the 1950s. Early mention of postponement suggested that costs due to risk and uncertainty were a function of variety and that an efficient means of producing a product is to â€Å"postpone changes in form and identity to the latest point in the marketing flow [and] postpone changes in inventory location to the latest point in time†. In 1965, Louis Bucklin recognized that little had been done in the area of postponement despite its tremendous potential for cost savings. He defined total cost as the sum of inventory holding cost and delivery cost, both of which are a function of delivery time. He argued that â€Å"a speculative inventory will appear at each point in a distribution channel whenever its costs are less than the net savings to both buyer and seller from postponement†. In other words, postponement is not cost effective when there is sufficient information about demand to produce finished goods in mass and store them in inventory. For some products it makes sense to postpone the finishing process by introducing a finishing cost and increasing the delivery time because the product is not readily available from stock. Zinn and Bowersox [50] classified postponement into five distinct types; labeling, packaging, assembly, manufacturing, and time. Labeling postponement assumes that products are standardized until they receive a label distinguishing them by brand. Packaging postponement is best suited for products in which variation is determined by package size. Paint, chemicals, medicine, razors, and many food items sold in bulk are good candidates for packaging postponement. Assembly postponement is applied to products in which variety is based on cosmetic features like cars, iPods, t-shirts, and printers. Hewlett-Packard (HP) provides an excellent example of assembly postponement. Printers designed for different global markets are inherently the same product except for country specific power supply modules, power cord plugs, and instruction manuals. HP makes two types of printers in Vancouver: a US version and a generic version that is customized once it reaches a distribution center in Europe, Asia, or the Pacific based on country specific orders. One benefit is decreased transportation cost because printers are shipped in bulk and are considered †vanilla† until they receive the value-added accessories like language manual and power supply. Manufacturing postponement occurs when parts are shipped to the finishing center from more than one supplier. It has the greatest potential for cost savings in inventory because the value of the product increases through the addition of each successive component. Manufacturing postponement usually results in higher production costs. The increase is due to the capital cost of switching machinery between different types of variety and shipping them to different finishing facilities. Time postponement occurs when finished products are shipped to centralized warehouses closer to the customer than the manufacturing location. The motivation is to increase customer service levels by decreasing customer lead time and to respond quickly to orders by placing inventories closer to the customer without committing to an individual order. |Postponement Type | Potentially Interested Firms | |Labeling |Several brand names | | |High unit value products | | High product sales fluctuations | |Packaging |Variability in package size | | |High unit value products | | |High product sales fluctuations | |Assembly |Selling products with several versions | | |High volume incurred by packaging | | |High unit value products | | |High product sales fluctuations | |Manufacturing |High proportion of ubiquitous material | | |High unit value products | | |High product sales fluctuations | |Time |High unit value products | | |Large number of distribution warehouses | Table 2. 1: Poten tial Utilization of Postponements The final outcome of their research is a framework which serves to assist managers in determining what type of postponement is best for a given product or supply chain structure. Table 2. 1 shows a list of the postponement types and the firms which would benefit from implementing each type of postponement. Swaminathan and Lee [42] go further and identify the factors which influence the costs and benefits of postponement as market factors, process factors, and product factors. Market factors refer to characteristics of demand and uncertainty. Process factors refer to characteristics of operating policy within the firm as well as the external supply chain, such as managerial support and the location of and relationship with suppliers. Product factors refer to the design and characteristics of an individual product such as integral versus modular and inventory carrying cost. They also highlight enablers of postponement such as process standardization, process resequencing (redesigning the assembly process to move value-added processes closer to the customer), and component standardization. Redesigning products with these characteristics makes postponement possible and reduces the risk to the manufacturer by eliminating redundant processes and designing products to be modular and component interfaces to have standard ports for easy assembly. Alvin Lehnerd and Marc Meyer [21] offer a detailed look at the benefit of engineering products to be platforms for a family of different products. The authors define two terms which are the basis for postponement. †¢ Product platform – a set of common components, modules, or parts from which a stream of derivative products can be efficiently created or launched †¢ Product family – a set of products that share common technology and address a related set of market applications These are both concepts that Black and Decker (BD) considered when they started to redesign their line of power tools. In the 1970s BD replaced customized parts with standardized components, interfaces, and connections in order to pool the part inventory and save on component inventory costs. Components included common screws, gears, and the motors which powered 122 different power tools. At a cost of $17 million over three years, BD was able to fully integrate its supply chain, reduce scrap rate from six percent to one percent, reduce failure rate from 11 percent to less than five percent, and reduce the selling price by half while still maintaining a 50 percent margin. BD was also able to reduce the number of suppliers and push its competition out of the market. This is one of the first cases of postponement using product platform design. Product platforms are also common in automotive and aircraft design. Lee, Billington, and Carter [20] discuss Hewlett-Packard’s strategy when it created a single platform for its DeskJet Plus, Deskwriter, Deskwriter Appletalk, and the DeskJet 500 series. A major source of variability for HP was the final shipping destination. HP ships its DeskJet Plus printers to North America, Europe, Asia, and the South Pacific. Each one requires a different power supply module and language manual. Under the â€Å"DC-localization† initiative printers are shipped from the manufacturing center in Vancouver and arrive at a local distribution center (DC) without language manuals or power supply modules. The DC supplies the remaining country specific features and packages the printers for final sale. This allows HP to pool the risk of stocking inventory by destination. Taking the process a step further, HP realized that Vancouver was close enough to the US where it could act as the local DC and hence two different types of printers are produced; US and non-US versions. This example illustrates how postponement is used in multiple ways for a single product. The designers at HP had to create a printer with a generic power supply port which is a form of assembly/production postponement. The local DCs had the job of assembling a final product complete with instruction manual, power supply, and the appropriate packaging material. Robert Stahl and Thomas Wallace [47] propose a framework for implementing postponement by classifying products according to two factors; product complexity – the number of product varieties, and speed – the time from customer order to delivery. This results in four levels of differentiation as shown in Figure 2. 1. [pic] Figure 2. 1: Complexity vs. Speed Matrix [47] Companies in each of the four quadrants have different challenges when adopting a postponement strategy. For example, a company in quadrant B produces a product that has very little variety but takes a long time to produce and deliver to the customer. Wallace and Stahl suggest that a company in this quadrant focus on speed by reducing the lead time from suppliers and expedite the delivery to the customer. They can accomplish this by implementing lean manufacturing initiatives, improving the work flow, and reexamining the location of their suppliers in terms of distance to the customer. This dilemma illustrates the trade-off between cost and service level. One way to take advantage of distant suppliers and still achieve fast delivery is to decouple the production process and hold inventory of intermediate product locally. Chapter 3 When is Postponement Appropriate? Postponement has the potential to lower the total delivered cost of a product. However, postponement does come with its own costs to implement and maintain. The benefits outweigh the costs when postponement is implemented correctly for the right type of product. For products with certain characteristics postponement allows companies to offer more variety, improve forecast accuracy, reduce inventories, and improve customer service levels. With these benefits come the costs of implementation and manufacturing. 3. 1 The Postponement/Speculation (P/S) Matrix Pagh and Cooper (1998) developed a simple but very powerful conceptual model to show the range of postponement strategies that could be adopted by companies. Four generic strategies were identified: full speculation, logistics postponement, manufacturing postponement and full postponement. These were presented in the form of a matrix as shown in Figure 3. | |Logistics | | | |Speculation |Postponement | |Manufacturing |Speculation |The full speculation strategy |The logistics postponement strategy | | | |low production and distribution costs |low production costs | | | |high customer service and high inventory |low/medium customer service and inventory | | | |costs |costs | | | | |high dist ribution costs | | |Postponement |The manufacturing postponement strategy |The full postponement strategy | | | |low distribution costs |low inventory costs and customer service | | | |medium to high production costs, |medium/high production costs | | | |inventory costs and customer service|high distribution costs | Figure 3. 1: The P/S Matrix (Source: Pagh & Cooper, 1998) The strategy of full speculation represents a complete reliance on forecasting, where all differentiating manufacturing operations are performed prior to the product being moved to different markets (‘push’ based system). The strategy of full postponement represents the highest level of delay in the supply chain (‘pull’ based system). As shown by Figure 3. 1, the decision about which strategy to use is essentially a tradeoff between different levels of customer service and inventory, production and distribution costs. 3. 2 Costs & Benefits of Postponement The question arises, when is the postponement strategy appropriate and when it is not? Where should a company position itself on the P/S matrix? In order to determine the most appropriate level of postponement that should be practiced, the benefits and the related costs must be weighed accurately. 3. 2. 1 More variety Having variety allows for a closer match between customer preferences and offered products leading to increased sales and (sometimes) increased prices. The build-to-order strategy pioneered by Dell shows how manufacturing a product according to customer specifications is one way to offer a large variety in a cost effective way. Dell offers enough options for their Dimension 4600C desktop to build over 100 million different computers using combinations of the components listed in Table 3. 1. Parts |Options | |Intel Pentium 4 |5 | |Operating Systems |5 | |Productivity Software |6 | |Memory |8 | |Hard Drive |4 | |Floppy/Storage Device |4 | |CD/DVD Drive |6 | |CD/DVD Software |4 | |Storage Devices and Media |2 | |Keyboards |3 | |Mouse |4 | |Monitor |9 | |Total Combinations |100million | Table 3. 1: Component List and Options for Dell 4600C Just like Burger King, Dell does not stock each of the 100 million varieties. Instead, they wait for customers to place an order before they build a machine. They have perfected this strategy so well that they are able to shape demand and produce popular combinations to forecast. Dell can offer discounts on combinations that are popular because of economies of scale and can carefully encourage customers to choose components that are in-stock using discounts. This strategy allows them to offer a quick turnaround and ensures that customers will not have to wait more than a week for a new product. Figure 3-2 shows a system dynamic loop measuring different factors that affect the number of product variety offerings. There are seven loops in the figure. The reinforcing loops (denoted by a positive arrow) show factors which increase the growth of product variety. The balancing loops (denoted by a negative arrow) show factors which inhibit the growth of variety. [pic] Figure 3-2: Systems dynamic loop showing product variety proliferation Loop one is a reinforcing loop that shows how variety grows because of the need to satisfy individual customers’ needs. The more customers see that their needs can be met, the greater their satisfaction in finding a unique product. This can force their expectations to be greater which narrows down markets even further. Loop two is a balancing loop that shows how a company reacts when it has captured most or all of the market, suppressing the need for innovation and excess product variety. Loop three is a reinforcing loop that shows what happens when there are multiple firms competing for market share. As a company’s customer base increases it continues to innovate and offer more variety as a competitive advantage. Loop four is a reinforcing loop that shows the effect of technology on product variety. Loop five is a balancing loop that suggests that customers will become saturated with information and buy the product which offers them the best value given their search costs (time and information processing). As the number of choices keeps growing, negative aspects of having a multitude of options begin to appear†¦ the negatives escalate until we become overloaded† [38]. When too much variety exists, companies must tradeoff between offering variety and holding inventory. Loop six is a balancing loop which shows how high variety is traditionally associated with higher unit costs. When the unit cost increases, the customer’s willingness to pay for that variety goes down unless the extra cost adds value to the customer, which is the goal of customization. Similarly, in loop seven, as production lead time increases, customer service levels drop and customers are less willing to wait for variety without some compensation in terms of added value. Loops six and seven are opportunities where postponement can change the direction of the loops from balancing to reinforcing negating the traditional trade-off that exists between higher costs and variety with poorer levels of service. Postponement allows for more variety through standardization and holding intermediate product inventory and better customer service though relocating final assembly closer to the customer. 3. 2. 2 Inventory reduction Reduction in inventory under a fixed level of service is another benefit of postponement. When companies increase variety they increase the number of SKUs they must maintain which translates into higher inventory costs. Each SKU is subject to different forecasts and therefore require different levels of safety stock. Safety stock buffers against sudden increases in demand. Holding safety stock ensures better customer service but is also expensive because of inventory holding costs. In a study of the effect of product variety on production-inventory systems, Benjaafar and Kim [8] found that inventory levels increased linearly with variety. They also found that cost was most sensitive to demand variability, capacity constraints, and set-up costs (assuming a fixed cost to switch the production line between products). This highlights the risk associated with having too much variety for products, especially those with high demand variability. Companies can mitigate this risk by standardizing parts, holding more work in process (WIP) inventory, and postponing customization. 3. 2. 3 Better forecast accuracy Delaying the final customization of a product until more information is available allows forecasters to make better predictions of finished product demand. In order to delay customization, however, it is necessary to define what features or components make a product unique. Figure 3-3 shows how postponement reduces the variability of end product demand and saves on total inventory cost. [pic] Figure 3-3: Demand accuracy of postponed and non-postponed operations over time Using Figure 3-3, suppose that coffee mugs come in five different colors. The demand for each color is an independent random variable normally distributed with mean ? i and standard deviation ? i where i = 1†¦ 5 for each of the different colors and ? i = ? ij and ? i = ? ij for all i and j. Total demand for mugs is N( i, v i2). The standard deviation for the demand of white mugs, v i2 , is less than the sum of the standard deviations of the individual demand, v i2, which explains why aggregate forecasts are less volatile. Additionally, forecasts generally improve over time therefore, ? i,T > ? i,t where T > t and ? i,t is the standard deviation in demand of mug i at time t. In this example, assume information about demand gained in the period up until time L/2 reduced the standard deviation of demand for each individual mug by half. Also, assume that at time L/2 the finishing time is equal to the customer’s willingness to wait. The producer is then forced to start painting the mugs at time L/2 to meet the customer demand on time. The variability of demand for mug color is more accurate at this point than it was at the start of the manufacturing process. It makes sense, then, to produce i or 5? uncolored mugs at time zero and then paint them at time L/2 assuming there are no additional switching costs incurred in this two-stage model. 3. 2. 4 Inventory cost reduction The amount of variety also affects inventory levels and hence, cost. The appropriate inventory level for a single SKU during a period of time consists of stocking the expected demand plus safety stock. Safety stock acts as a buffer to avoid stock-outs. Holding more safety stock improves customer service levels, but it comes at a cost. There are many formulas and practices for determining safety stock, however, this simple â€Å"fixed safety factor† approach assumes demand is normally distributed and is commonly used to determine the appropriate level of safety stock, ssi , given a certain level of customer service, ssi = k ? i (3. 1) In equation 3. 1 k is the safety stock factor which is based on a given level of service desired by the producer and _i is the standard deviation of the errors of forecasts over a given period of time. The amount of inventory, hi , to have at the beginning of an order cycle for a single SKU is given by hi = ? i + ssi (3. 2) Assuming that all colors of mugs have the same mean, ? , and standard deviation, ? , of forecast errors, total inventory, H, is a function of the number of varieties, n, H = n(? + ss) (3. 3) Without postponement, inventory cost increases exponentially, not linearly, withn. However, as mentioned above, if orders are aggregated and produced in unfinished form, the total overall variation decreases. For example, assume each mug has the same mean forecast, ? i = 50 and standard deviation or forecast error, ? i = 2 for all i. The company wants to maintain a customer service level of 98 percent which equates to a safety factor of k = 2. 05. A comparison of the amount of inventory required to satisfy the variability in demand at the beginning of the production cycle with and without postponement as variety increases is shown in Figure 3-4. [pic] Figure 3-4: FGI under postponed and non-postponed operations Not only is the amount of inventory less under postponement, the cost to hold a single SKU is also lower because the product is unfinished. There is still the cost of stocking components for the finishing process (paint) but it is less expensive to keep the mug in an uncommitted state and hold the paint in component form. 3. 2. 5 Logistics cost reduction The above mentioned case of postponement illustrates delayed customization involving painting the exterior of a pre-produced standardized good, a coffee mug. Many examples of postponement exist where points of differentiation occur as early as the design phase and as late as product labeling and packaging. A modular product design offers more opportunities for outsourcing non-core processes, like packaging and distribution, to third parties. This can happen both onshore and offshore depending on the location and distance of the end customer. In either case, the manufacturer can save money by shipping products in bulk instead of in packaged form which usually adds extra weight and volume. 3. 2. 6 Improved customer service levels Customer service levels are defined in terms of lead time – how long it takes an order to arrive, and item fill rate – how often orders are filled from inventory on hand. Providing customers with orders quickly can be the result of improvements in manufacturing processes or by repositioning inventory closer to the customer. Customer willingness to wait is a key factor when assessing a product for postponement and determining the location of the postponement point within the supply chain. If customers are willing to wait a long time for a product then there is no benefit from expediting orders or sourcing components or processes closer to the customer even if they can be done cheaper overseas. On the other hand, if customers are only willing to wait, for example, one week, then the supply chain must be structured so that the finishing lead time and delivery time is less than or equal to one week. This breakpoint between initial and finishing lead times is called the decoupling point and separates production into two stages. The length of time for the first stage is not visible to the customer and therefore all options for achieving lower manufacturing costs can be exhausted. The second stage of the supply chain (from intermediate product to delivery) must be structured in a way that offers the customer the highest level of service without sacrificing cost. 3. 2. 7 Increased product development cost Another cost of postponement is the cost of design. If a product does not already have a modular design but meets all of the necessary market characteristics then it is worth researching the cost of redesigning the product for postponement. The benefit of a modular design is the flexibility it creates for other products within a family. However, there is a balance between too much modularity and its effect on product variety. The risk of too much modularity is a lack of differentiation between products. In addition, the cost to switch manufacturing operations between varieties is sometimes responsible for reducing economies of scale that could otherwise result. In terms of cost, product redesign can take engineers months translating into increased research and development costs. 3. 2. 8 Increased manufacturing cost There is a considerable amount of financial investment and commitment required to reconstruct the supply chain to support postponement. Manufacturing cost per unit may increase due to a restructuring of the production process into two or more stages. There should be dedicated areas for postponed activities in a warehouse and easy access to loading docks. If all manufacturing is not done in-house (which is more likely than not) implementation may require additional facilities to support final assembly and distribution. This also requires more labor at a higher skill level to complete kitting, final assembly, and packaging as opposed to the lower skilled labor required for loading, storing, and sorting. Chapter 4 Case Studies The following case studies give detailed information about several companies that have adopted postponement in some capacity. It is worth understanding the motivations and risks that they incurred in order to understand how companies can determine whether their product is a candidate for postponement. Each case provides background on the company and product that is postponed, a description of the supply chain before and after postponement was adopted, the decoupling point between intermediate product and finished good, costs and benefits, and discusses how the supply chain is structured to take advantage of offshore manufacturing and local final assembly. 4. 1 Automobile Manufacturing: GM The auto industry is a prime candidate for postponement for many reasons. First, a car is defined as a modular system of components. This creates opportunity for commonality by producing a platform and adding modular subassemblies customized according to the make and model and ultimately the end user of the vehicle. Second, individually customized vehicles have high forecast variability. As this case points out there are far too many varieties to accurately forecast each combination and there is typically disagreement on the forecast within the different divisions of a company. Third, cars depreciate as soon as they are driven off the lot. New models come out each year which new features, technologies and capabilities. Lastly, high inventory holding cost. It is much riskier to hold a finished vehicle on the showroom floor than to have a partly finished good waiting for final customization because of the high forecast variability for end products and high product obsolescence cost. General Motors (GM) offers a unique look into customization during manufacturing and after the point of sale. By 2004, GM produced 68 different models in North America. There were over 200 facilities constituting 52 percent of their revenues. There were over 600 million combinations when all the different component variations and customer specific preferences (color, interior options) were considered. Forecasting was extremely difficult, considering these many combinations. Different divisions within GM used different methods of forecasting which further complicated the problem and led to excess inventory on the field. Searching for a way to create variety and mass customize beyond the idea of platforms, GM looked at software configuration, entertainment, and aesthetic features as a different way to use postponement. From a software standpoint, each of the systems within a vehicle can also be considered a unique central processing unit (CPU) made up of several electronic control units (ECUs). These include safety systems, engine, and transmission controls. In the 1990s there were only one or two ECUs in a vehicle. Now there are as many as 30-35 per vehicle because software is becoming increasingly essential in automobiles for voice recognition, global positioning systems, and entertainment. Before postponement, GM experienced the effects of product variety proliferation and high inventory costs of stocking ECUs for individual models. The ECUs came to GM in finished form with all of the software pre-loaded. Suppliers charged GM a premium for custom software installation which not only raised the price but also created problems with repair and maintenance. GM decided that they would assume the responsibility for software configuration and postpone the installation until the latest possible point in the assembly process. In order to accomplish this, GM had to redesign both the assembly process and the ECU hardware. In the mid-1990s GM achieved the capability to install custom software for individual orders towards the end of the vehicle assembly process. The ECU now comes from suppliers to GM in a generic form. The hardware is a common platform which can receive customized software in just 81 seconds. GM dealers also had to acquire the capability for flash programming for individual cars at the point of sale as well as after-market upgrades. After realizing that software could be postponed, GM looked at other systems that could be delayed until purchase. They recognized the emergence of the accessory market for vehicles as another way to differentiate and increase revenues. Entertainment systems have become far more sophisticated over the years and offer key differential options on a vehicle. Because of the plug-and-play capability, entertainment systems can be uploaded into the vehicle at the dealer. Another key differentiator is the wheel set. Dealers are very involved in putting specialized wheels on a car to make it more desirable. Through the use of the internet, GM introduced an on-line purchasing website. Customers can log on to GMbuypower. com and point and click their way to the car of their dreams. GM offers a 99 percent guarantee that they will deliver the vehicle within one day of the projected delivery day to a dealer close to the customer. By 2004, about 18 percent of the cars in assembly at GM were custom made and 82 percent were made-to-stock for dealers and showrooms. The goal is to move to 60-80 percent custom orders but the shift is happening in different markets at different rates. GM is experiencing the benefits of postponement through delayed software configuration and customization. In a study to estimate the benefits of postponement, GM, along with MIT and Stanford University, developed a cost model which projected inventory cost savings to be 10-15 percent. Other benefits included maintenance cost savings due to the highly communized ECU hardware and having GM software engineers solve repair issues instead of sending parts back to suppliers. GM’s main goal, however, is to create a more flexible supply chain that can handle higher throughput and is more responsive to immediate demand. 4. 2 Aircraft Manufacturing: Embraer The commercial aircraft production at Embraer provides an example of production and assembly postponement in the airline industry. The motivation for postponement was to focus on â€Å"optimizing cash flow† by creating a flexible supply chain that can provide the right airplane to the right airline company. In other words, the goal is to give customers the ability to change their decision regarding customizable features, or to cancel an order completely, by designing the aircraft to accept these changes as late in production as possible. In response to the changing dynamics within the aircraft industry Embraer differentiates its new family of regional jets based on the number of seats. The new family of regional jets, the Embraer 170, 175, 190 and 195, focuses on a high degree of parts commonality as all four jets have exactly the same cockpit and fly-by-wire systems. Embraer decided to implement postponement in order to make its supply chain more flexible and able to respond quickly to changes in demand. This was evident when a customer, US Air, had to cancel an order for six ERJ 170 aircraft because of financial constraints in October 2004. With the majority of the production complete it was too costly to go back and change any of the customized features and reconfigure it for another airline. Embraer developed a strategy for postponing as much of the high value features, like engine type, software, radar devices, and interior specifications as possible. Not only did it save on costs, the flexibility to change order specifications became an attractive alternative to backing out of an order or having to pay for costly reconfigurations. The current supply chain at Embraer is structured to allow for two postponement points throughout the production cycle as illustrated in Figure 4. 1. The first point occurs roughly one year before delivery to the customer where the platform is differentiated based on product family (170 versus 190 family of aircraft). Six to eight months later it will assume the configurations, engine, software and hardware which distinguish it as a 170 versus a 175 or 190 versus a 195 aircraft. After this point the customer specific features such as seating arrangements, galley configurations, and tail art are added. [pic] Figure 4. 1: Lead time break down of value added components and features Embraer still builds-to-order because of the high cost to hold a finished airplane in inventory. The white tail concept (analogous to a â€Å"vanilla box†) allows the production processes to begin and run in parallel with some of the steps that usually take a long time to complete such as certification for safety, avionics, and entertainment systems. Total lead time for production is usually 24-36 months because of the long lead time for suppliers. Production begins 12 months before delivery and the order is considered 90 percent â€Å"frozen† or unchanging. However, some customers change their mind within the final month of production. Embraer is committed to developing the idea of postponement further within the company. Any flexibility that can be gained through delaying the customization makes Embraer jets more attractive to a customer facing the uncertainties of the aircraft industry. Engine, avionics, interior and galley layout are some of the hardest subassemblies to change and also have the highest value. The white tail concept allows Embraer to have flexible production in its new family of 170/190 aircraft. They do hold some inventory of semi-finished aircraft that await orders from larger companies in the corporate jet market because the orders are more predictable. Embraer represents a company that is practicing postponement and is not seeing huge savings in inventory. Instead they redesigned their process to accommodate the addition of components based on value to the customer and degree of customization. Better service levels and customer satisfaction give Embraer a competitive advantage in a very competitive market. 4. 3 Clinical Equipments: Dade Behring Dade Behring (DB) is an industry leader in clinical diagnostic equipment and reagents. Their customers include over 25,000 hospitals and reference laboratories which require instruments that analyze human fluids such as blood and urine. They have global operations in more than 34 countries and currently deliver products in six main areas: Chemistry, Immunochemistry, Hemostasis, Plasma Protein, Microbiology, and Infectious Disease Diagnostics. DB diagnostic instruments are high value with a retail price ranging from $20,000 to over $200,000. Demand forecasting is a challenge due to long buying cycles ranging anywhere from six months to two years. Forecasts are generally compiled from sales representatives’ predictions. Because of the high cost of the products, the decision making process and financial constraints of the customers, it is somewhat difficult to know when products will be ordered. Additionally, instruments were designed/ configured to local country power requirements which exasperated the forecasting impact. As a result, DB was plagued with less than optimum service levels for some instruments and higher than planned inventories for others. All of these conditions were catalysts for a postponement strategy, which became even more important as a result of an industry-wide European directive. The first postponement strategy involved designing flexible power capability into the Dimension Chemistry/Immunochemistry analyzers that Dade Behring designed and produced. Originally Dimension was offered in either a 110 V or 220 V power versions. To optimally manage inventories of these instruments, DB collaborated with an external supplier to replace the power supply module with a universal power supply. During the redesign phase engineers were able to develop the universal module at a lower cost because of advanced technology which was previously unavailable. The cost to produce the universal module was actually less expensive than supplying two different versions. Then, a second postponement strategy was put into place due to the European IVDD initiative. In 1998, the In Vitro Diagnostics Directive (IVDD) was ublished as the third of three European directives which required medical and diagnostic equipment to come packaged with local language manuals and labeling. The regulation gave 17 countries the right to specify the national language that would come available with each instrument for which they contracted. In total 12 different language manual s were eventually required. The instrument manuals are approximately 350 pages in length and therefore it did not make sense to create a single manual with all 12 languages included nor package 12 different manuals with each instrument. DB initiated the switch to language specific packaging in the industry through the postponement of packaging materials at distribution centers and flexible language capability within the operating software. This is a straight forward process accomplished by marrying a language specific accessory box to the instrument during the shipment process. Shortly after achieving successful packaging operations, DB initiated another postponement strategy in their Chemistry product line. This next strategy was to redesign the product so that it could be configured-to-order at the end of the assembly process. There are currently four variations of the Dimension Chemistry/Immunochemistry Analyzer Series. Dimension is offered as RxL Max Basic and RxL Max HM (heterogeneous model), or as an Xpand Plus Basic and Xpand Plus HM. Through a carefully designed manufacturing process, Dade Behring is able to manufacture a specific model as soon as that specific model is shipped to fill a customer order. This strategy involved the redesign of the manufacturing process so that the analyzer could be configured-to-order at the end of the assembly process. This meant that all of the commonalities between the two different variations of each model would be combined into an intermediate product that would be produced to a forecast, stored as intermediate inventory, and configured-to-order once an order was received. The redesign phase took a team of engineers six months to make changes and train workers on the assembly line. The supply chain as shown in Figure 4. 2 became vastly more efficient and service levels increased dramatically. [pic] Figure 4. 2: Dade Behring supply chain Customer service levels improved and inventory was significantly reduced by eliminating the need to store high value finished goods. Inventory across the supply chain was reduced through a 50 percent reduction in â€Å"buffer† or safety stock. Service levels went from oscillating between 70-100 percent to greater than 98 percent. Once DB was able to improve service time to customers they started looking at their distribution centers and found opportunities to improve distribution strategies, given the improved flow of instruments through the manufacturing process. Because the opportunity cost of a lost sale in this industry is very high, distribution centers would store finished goods as a way to mitigate the risk of instrument shipment delays. However, when service levels improved, DB found that they could eliminate 50 percent of their global buffer inventory by eliminating the stocking of instruments in distribution centers in Asia and Canada, and reducing inventory levels in Latin America. Their primary instrument warehouses in the US and Europe service their global instrument distribution needs. The make-to-order and inventory management strategy provides DB with a decisive advantage in the industry. This is a classic example of the benefits of the successful implementation of postponement. Because of this success, DB was able to continue developing postponement in other lines of instruments. Today, more than 85 percent of instrument production at DB involves some form of postponement compared to less than five percent five years ago. By redesigning the Dimension instruments to be easily adaptable for configuration, DB realized that the product could also be easily de-configured back to the intermediate stage to support the secondary market for instruments. 4. 4 Sports Goods Manufacturing: Reebok As a licensed supplier for the NBA and NHL and principle supplier for the NFL, Reebok knows the difficulties that come with satisfying the demand of a very â€Å"fair weather† crowd. When teams do well more team apparel is demanded. The demand for a player specific jersey is inherently more volatile than for a given team. Meeting customer requirements within a short period of time is a major challenge in the sporting goods industry. Sales of t-shirts and jerseys are not too predictable because Reebok does not know which teams will be â€Å"hot† at the beginning of the season. Demand for jerseys averages 30,000 per week or 1. 5 million each year. The different choices of team name, player name, color scheme, and size makes it extremely difficult to predict demand of an individual item during the pre-season. The idea of postponement in this industry is not new. Images of silk-screen companies working overtime minutes after an NCAA basketball championship game, illustrates the idea of postponement. These manufacturers know that it is better to wait until there is certainty about the outcome of a game before producing apparel with the losing team’s name on it. As a result they keep white or blank shirts on hand ready for printing. At this point in the supply chain it would not make sense to put in an order for finished shirts from scratch to an overseas manufacturer (even if it costs less to make the shirt). The long lead time would mean missing the increase in sales generated within two weeks after a big win. This can be anything from an important mid-season upset, a new player entering the roster, players becoming â€Å"hot†, or the end of season championships. Reebok recognized this as an opportunity to restructure the supply chain to cater to both stable items – finished apparel that is produced to a forecast much earlier in the season, and customized apparel. The difference in the lead time for both of these items is significant. Retailers expect lead time to be 3-12 weeks for the stable items and as little as one week for the â€Å"hot† items. Reebok outsource the cutting and sewing of fabric to contract manufacturers in Central America. Some of the jerseys sent to Reebok are finished meaning that there is a customized team and player name already on the garment. Other jerseys, called â€Å"team finished† jerseys are sent with everything but a player’s name. These go straight to a distribution center that Reebok owns and operates in Indianapolis. The blank or team finished jerseys help satisfy two different types of demand. The first is for the hot players or players who sign with a team late in the pre-season and the second is for the players who have a small, but somewhat predictable demand. [pic] Figure 4. 3: Reebok Supply Chain According to Figure 5. the blank jerseys arrive in the US and are ready for screen printing and embroidering. The decision to have a separate facility in the US is a result of the end customer’s unwillingness to wait. Fans expect to find the jersey they are looking for in a store. There is a chance they will be less likely to want one if they have to wait weeks to get it – especially when an NFL team only plays 16 games per season. At a price of $25 for a long-sleeve t-shirt or $250 for an authentic jersey, the cost of lost sales is greater than the cost to ship, unpack, finish and reship a jersey from a local finishing center. Reebok is a classic example of two-stage production with postponement. They are able to take advantage of lower labor costs for the production of blank jerseys and optimize service levels by souring the final assembly in the US. This also creates local jobs in the areas of textile and silk-screen printing. 4. 5 Xilinx Xilinx is a semi-conductor manufacturer with headquarters in San Jose, CA. The semi-conductor industry is very volatile due to the wide variety of products and short product life cycle. Semi-conductors manufacturers are supplied to OEMs in the telecom, small electronics, and aerospace industries. However, they have a supply chain of their own which requires assembling and configuring wafers of silicon into programmable dies which later become integrated circuits. Their position in this multi-echelon supply chain makes forecasting for specific end product demand costly, impractical, and very inaccurate. In addition, semiconductor manufacturing is quickly becoming a commoditized process. Comparative intellectual and technological benefits that leaders in this industry were accustomed to are now becoming less of a competitive advantage. The focus has shifted from intellectual advantage to supply chain efficiency as a means of differentiation. The life cycle for an integrated circuit is anywhere from six months to two years. During that time new technology will make existing products obsolete. Having long manufacturing lead times cripples a company’s ability to quickly respond to these changes as well as changes in customer specific orders. Having a generic product and creating a postponement point separating a die with generic qualities and one with a specific logic configuration allow them to respond quickly and offer flexibility to their customers. Xilinx began with a combination of both process and product postponement. Product postponement was implemented by redesigning the dies to a certain range of parameters for the different characteristics. For example, there are four major sources of variety in an integrated circuit; speed, number of logic gates, package types, and voltage. Customers can specify generic capabilities and can customize the chip to their specific specifications after the fabrication stage. The amount of variety makes postponement very beneficial. Xilinx can manufacture 200 different dies that can proliferate into over 4,000 different end product combinations. That makes the ratio of generic dies to end products roughly 1:20. The manufacturing process is broken up into two stages. Suppose a certain generic die, A, can be configured to take on 20 different configurations, {A1, A2, A3, †¦ , A20). When a customer requests the specifications, they only need to specify the generic die. Once it is pulled from â€Å"A† inventory, it is customized to a certain degree depending on customer order specifications. This specification can take place at Xilinx for high volume orders or it can be delayed even further so that the point of customization occurs at the customer. Approximately 20 percent fall into the high volume category and the remaining 80 percent are left for customization at the customer. The final customization is a matter of programming the software within the chip. By eliminating this process from the front end (manufacturing) process, Xilinx cut manufacturing lead time from three months to three weeks. Manufacturing usually takes place in Taiwan or Japan and then product sits in inventory at Xilinx awaiting testing. Testing facilities are located in Korea, Taiwan, and Japan. While postponement has reduced inventory and helped Xilinx meet customer requirements with more accuracy and on-time deliveries, it is just the beginning. Postponement within the semiconductor industry will extend far beyond customer configuration capabilities. Chapter 5 Conclusion The case studies presented in this paper come from a wide variety of industries. Each company was successful in implementing postponement for similar reasons, but have seen a wide variety of results. The most common strategic motivation for starting postponement were to improve service level and to reduce inventory holding cost as a result of an increase in product variety. One of the key factors in successful implementation is product modularity. If a product is not inherently modular, a successful postponement strategy requires a redesign of the product or a rethinking of product definition. In the cases of small consumables, the end product is not a razor blade or a disk, but rather a finished configured package destined for a particular retail outlet. The relationship between forecast variability and the decision between a make-to- stock or a build-to-order strategy is also a common factor. Products with stable demand stand to gain little from a postponement strategy because there is little benefit for delaying production when sales are committed. On the other hand, products with high variability gain from postponement because there is no commitment to final configuration until the order is placed. A company should determine the location of variability when deciding to implement postponement. Variability can be caused by product variety, unreliability of customer orders, seasonality, trends, promotional activities, or it can be a result of the supply chain itself. Varia