Sainsburys Company Analysis

Sainsburys Company Analysis The food retailing Industry is a huge and fast growing industry in UK .It is a complex and diverse market dominated by various big companies such as Tesco, ASDA, J Sainsburys. Price and quality of goods are the two key elements which the companies keep in mind to increase their sales and defend their position in this competitive market. In the year 2009, food retailing recorded sales figures of GBP 297,478.9 million, along with providing employment to 11.6% of the workforce in UK (Euro monitor). It is forecasted, by the year 2014 the sales would cross GBP 350,000 million. (Euro monitor) This assignment focuses on the third largest food retailer store in UK, i.e. J Sainsbury. Sainsbury is a super market which will operates its business in retail sector from the year 1869. Sainsbury is started by James and Mary Ann Sainsburys. Sainsbury today operates a total of 827 stores comprising 537 supermarkets and 335 convenience stores(J Sainsbury 2010) .With their presence in various other markets such as financial services and Property management, grocery retailing remains their core business. In an industry which employs over 3,335,000 people and with sales figure of GBP 137,590 million (Euro Monitor), Sainsbury enjoys a market share of 16% and serving 19 million customers weekly with a product offering of 30,000. (J Sainsbury 2010) QUESTION-1 Using suitable models identify the customer perceived value for the customers for a product/division/company of your choice. ANSWER- PART 1 Customer value Difference between what a  customers  gets from a  product, and what he or she has to give in  order  to get it. http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/customer-value.html#ixzz16OyFiRFr Customer value proposition A  business  or marketing statement that summarizes why a consumer should  buy a product or use a service. This statement should convince a potential consumer that  one particular  product or service will add more  value or better solve a problem than other similar offerings. http://www.investopedia.com/terms/v/valueproposition.asp Types of CVP 1. All Benefits- benefits that an organization brings to its target customers. It tends to suffer from a lack of credibility when the value proposition is not distinguished from competitors or focused precisely on the unique needs of the customer. 2. Favourable Points of Differentiation- it mainly emphasizes the key differences between a firms offerings and those of competitors at the customer interface. It takes into account the notion that the buyer has substitutes. Like the all benefits value proposition it lacks specificity relative to the buyer. 3. Resonating Focus- Resonating focus highlights one or two critical differences between the firms offerings and those of competitors with the forethought that these differences represent those areas that are most vital in the mind of the customer. While most effective, this value proposition takes considerable time to develop as it is strongly rooted in a deep understanding of customer needs. http://www.edbarrows.com/Resources/briefs/valueProposition.pdf IMPORTANCE OF CUSTOMER VALUE   A good customer value proposition is a technique why a customer should buy a product and also distinguish your product from competitors. Gaining a customers attention will help in growing sales faster and more profitable, as well as increasing its market share. Understanding customer needs is important because it helps promote the product. A brand is the perception of a product or service that is designed to stay in the minds of targeted consumers. It is desirable to build a strong and positive brand association with your offering. Three key dimensions: Extrinsic vs. intrinsic value Self-orientated vs. other-orientated value Active vs. reactive value PART 2 VALUE PROPOSITION FOR SAINSBURY Sainsbury maintain high quality of its services by keeping up high quality product at a fair price, through well-kept rooms with an attractive appearance to fast service and a friendly staff. Sainsbury ensures that all suppliers have been evaluated by Quality Attribute System (QAS) in order to provide quality product to the customer. It has different prices which are suited to different kinds of customer. Through the execution of high quality product Sainsbury has high price. However to adjust to the needs of less wealthy clients it also offers a wide selection of basic product at a low price. Sainsbury speed is moderately-high. Sainsbury team is trying to reduce queues through recent introduction of basket tills, self-checkouts as well as introduction of newest scan and pack system. Sainsbury also offers home delivery which can be obtained the very next day. Dependability is keeping a word to customers. Sainsbury provides customers quality product at a fair prices, fulfilling custom er expectation for fresh, safe, healthy and tasty food. Sainsbury respects environment by using environmentally friendly packaging. Queuing time is reasonable and deliveries are on time. Online Shopping at Sainsburys is also a great advantage. All the above provide a  high level of dependability  and are the reason why the Sainsburys brand remains on the market for 141 years, and this makes the Sainsbury differs from its competitors. Sainsbury started a new range taste the difference that aims to provide consumers desire to treat themselves at home, rather than spending money in buying expensive takeaways or eating outside. Sainsburys continuously investing in their clothing and home decor items to accelerate the growth in non-food sector so that they can reach to more customers so as to increase its market share and sales. (Euro monitor) Sainsburys continued launching innovate products, 1% fat milk was launched which was consumed by 2.5 million households due to which its sales for basics were up by 60%. (Euro monitor) QUESTION 2 Critically evaluating value proposition of Sainsburys VALUE PROPOSITION Sainsbury supermarkets follow the mission of being the customers first choice by its service and quality. Through the method of working simpler, together and faster it delivers an outstanding good service and quality. Sainsbury accelerating its growth in non-food sector so as to reach more customers. Online facility provides its customers to shop online for non-food items also. The company has a solid brand value although discriminating competitive advantage is clearly missing. It is difficult to slot them in a particular category from a customer point of view. The company is not able to create a good market which will make them distinguish from other supermarkets with concerns to price, quality, customer service and access to variety or inventory. Sainsburys was critised by the city for allowing Tesco in getting ahead in the market in terms of customer service, loyalty and price competitiveness. Sainsburys was also criminated for not promoting itself up to its standards and also running the same type of initiatives which was running by Tesco. So the Sainsbury has failed to promote its products and services. In the process to reconstruct its mission, company has changed its marketing strategy and sold successfully the home based products in the chain of UK market and its business in Egypt. This changes the company to focus on food retailing and related activities. Sainsbury maintains 100% service level as the online business is growing rapidly. Even so, there are some issue that need to be developed for example; delivering orders in full and on time. The online business is developing at a rapid speed gaining growth in overall market. During hectic periods picking large orders from stores could become an issue. (http://www.oracle.com/us/corporate/analystreports/corporate/ovum-sainsbury-cs-170835.pdf) MARKETING MIX The marketing mix used by Sainsbury to gain its competitive advantage in its retailing sector -. Product Sainsburys mainly focused in developing new product and its food quality which will be healthier to the customers. It provides more than 350 variety range of foods product which is produced to protect its natural flavour and taste of the product. Currently it has achieved to developed more than 600 organic lines to provide best range of food and major growth in groceries, bakery, and frozen foods. It has also launched a product called Blue carrot Calf known for the clear labelling of kid products which mention clear details of the products. The Sainsburys continuously concentrating on development of its product by launching a new programme every year. Price Price is the important component of the marketing mix for Sainsburys. Now a day Sainsburys is presenting its customers in UK the value for money. A lot of investment is made in improving quality and productivity in order to reduce the overall cost. For the customers in UK Sainsbury is offering, exceptional value for the money and the aim of the company is to lead the quality and become the favoured in term for the customers all through the market. If the price is cut it is not easy to get back again to the previous level without dissatisfying the customer. This is not decent for the business. Hence in short term price gain the store will be less affected where as in long term it would gain less positive. Sainsbury implemented a new strategy value for money after realising its price war in the market. A lot of investment is made in improving quality and productivity what it provides and efficiency of its activity in order to reduce the overall cost. The purpose of implementing a new s trategy is to achieve trust and value from the customer and continue its leadership. Promotion -   Sainsbury gain to build up its solid brand image among the customers through various promotions. It mainly focuses on its own brand rather than the promoting other brands which they sell in the stores to form the greater wealth by its overall retail brand. Sainsbury uses different media for its promotion whereas TV, radio and advertising in cinemas to grow the company image. Sales promotions, merchandising and packing are also the key element for the promotion of the Sainsbury. Sainsbury launched Nectar Card as a main weapon for its promotion. This card is free for customers and gives discount points if customer used it in store at the time of shopping. Many other retailers are also using same type of promotions by issuing the card to customers and giving them free points for their money as these free points can be used automatically for discounts. Sainsbury store staff wears named T-shirt of the supermarket to defer as a worker to serve people. Place As per the Sainsbury it has 872 stores across UK whereas 837 super markets and 335 convenience stores. Various set up of stores are established across the country according to the needs and satisfaction of the customers and area. Sum stores are opened 24 hours a day for the satisfaction of the customers. Sainsbury is making large chain stores in different locations to create a world class distribution of groceries and work more effectively. Sainsburys uses marketing mix to improve and implement its plans by using market mix. It fulfils the needs of customers by improving its strategies which will satisfy customer. Sainsburys study on the market to the customer needs who will buy the products. It continues to implement the market division to progress its business strategies which shows the progress of a business. To increase its overall sales Sainsburys uses the market segmentation to display various varieties of products and sells it to different group of people. It offers a large number of products in a supermarket or convenience store and opens the store for long hours. It also offers easy cash option through debit or credit card and cash back facility to customers on their purchases. http://katamaneni12.blogspot.com/2010/09/macro-environment-and-marketing-mix.html Competitor Analysis TESCO- Competitor Company Profile Tesco is started by Jack Cohen in 1919. Tesco is biggest food retailer in the world, having 2318 stores and giving employment to more than 470000 people who serve millions of customer around the world. Tesco has a largest market in UK, where it operates under signs of Extra, Superstore, Metro and Express. Tesco offers more than 40000 products to customers including clothing and other non-food lines. Tesco vs. Sainsburys TESCO MISSION TESCO is to provide superior technical representation and to add value to a focused group of leading-edge, corporations by offering synergistic, valuable and highly innovate solutions for our customer design, procurement and manufacturing needs with continuous improvement of our quality, service and productivity to a completive advantage. TESCO VISSION What sets TESCO apart from other distributors is our commitment to customers success, by bringing an in-depth knowledge of their technology and the value added services needed to truly support the customer. The result is cost-efficient, rapidly delivered technical superior products that the customers take pride in. (http://www.tescoinc.co.kr/tesco/ecompany1.php) MISSION STATEMENT Sainsburys mission statement Our mission is to be the consumers first choice for food, delivering products of outstanding quality and great service at a competitive cost through working faster, simpler and together. Source: Sainsbury Web site Sainsburys companys vision for growth Sainsbury plcs present focus is to improve the performance of the core UK supermarket chain. Whilst doing so we will continue to explore and develop growth opportunities in other markets. Through implementing Managing for Value we will stretch our ambitions and challenge the conventional wisdom within the Company, thereby unlocking our potential and delivering value. Source: Sainsbury Web site DIFFERENCE STRATEGIES SAINSBURY STRATEGY: Sainsbury aims to provide quality products and good service at a competitive price through working faster, simpler, together and aimed to be the consumer first choice for food. Through a balance in sales growth, reduction cost and on-going margin improvements, Sainsbury look forward to progress growth. The company is dedicated to achieving industry leading margins within a dynamic, competitive market and to delivering strong double digit necessary profit growth in each year of its business programme. TESCO STRATEGY: Tesco has made a good progress with its strategy which consists of five elements reflecting its four established areas of motivation and Tescos long term promises on environment and community. The ideas of the strategy are: To be a successful international retailer To develop the core UK business To be as strong in non-food as in food. To develop retailing services such as Tesco Personal Finance, Telecoms and Tesco.com To put community at the heart of what we do. The market share of Tesco is 31.6% in the retail market and they also capture 50% of the grocery market share while Sainsbury has 16% and 22% of the market share respectively. Tesco sells massive products range and buy in big volume and sell it in cheap while Sainsbury buys product that are popular and their own branded product. 1/3 of the retail market is acquired by Tesco but Sainsbury is enabling to have this power. Tesco achieved its success by selling varieties of products; it is located within UK as well as overseas, they target every people. With this strategy Sainsburys have a difficult to keep up with Tesco. Sainsburys generally attract the middle class people with low class prices whereas Tesco attract all kind of people from all classes. Sainsburys is more concerned about the quality of the food they provide their customers while Tesco is concerned about reducing prices to attract their customers. Tescos main advertising approach is money saving Every little help and Sainsburys Taste the difference however during the crisis time they are one of the same. Sainsburys slip its second position in 2008, losing to Asda. Leader Tesco enlarged its market share in the year, moving ahead of Sainsburys. Sainsburys has less variety of non-food items as compared to Tesco. At the end of the evaluation period, non-food items were the reason for growth for the major supermarkets. ( http://www.oracle.com/us/corporate/analystreports/corporate/ovum-sainsbury-cs-170835.pdf) MANAGEMENT Sainsbury CEO Justin king has done a great job in strengthening the brand, improved turnover at a rate of 5.5% a year and profit increases by 6.7%. king main focus was on UK store expansion rather than overseas and total number of store has been increased from 583 in 2004 to 827 today. Tesco CEO Sir Terry Leahy has different approach as compare to Sainsburys CEO Justin King. In his fourteen year term he has heavily invested in overseas expansion. In 1999, within UK Tesco generated 90% of its turnover and now its less than 70%. GROWTH POTENTIAL Tesco has its setups in 14 countries but that doesnt mean Sainsburys lack growth opportunities. Sainsburys results in past years in the proof of this and continuing achieving high growth rate without international expansions. To exist in this competitive market Sainsburys has done well by opening new stores across UK, adding new non-food products and banking services to existing stores. Tesco on the other hand, have more growth opportunities in Asia and other countries. Tesco is a big player than Sainsburys, for example: if we compare past twelve months results Tesco has  £56.9 billion turnover versus Sainsburys  £19.9 billion. (http://www.fool.co.uk/news/investing/company-comment/2010/07/16/a-foolish-fracas-sainsbury-vs-tesco.aspx) CUSTOMER OUTCOME AND EXPECTATION Brand image and relationship building in a business to company market depends on how well company satisfies its customers. Sainsbury keep high quality of its services by providing high quality products to customers at a fair price. It has different prices which are suited to different kinds of customer. It provide basic product at low price to customer with low income. Sainsbury want to make it easier for customer to shop ethically and sustainably so they making every effort to live up to their expectations. Therefore from the above model, which explains between the company service and quality Sainsbury can be placed into high quality as well as service offered by the company and received by customers. Question 3 http://www.universityessays.com/example-essays/global-markets-sainsburys.php Mission statement serves a dual purpose by helping employees to remain dedicated on jobs as well as boosting them to find innovative ways of achieving company objectives so that productivity can be increased. It is common that large companies spend years and millions of dollars developing and refining their mission statement. NEW MISSION STATEMENT OF SAINSBURYS To become the UK best retailer company and earn customer lifetime reliability. NEW VISSION STATEMENT OF SAINSBURYS NEW VALUE PROPOSITION Source: Barnes, C. et. al., 2009 Creating and Delivering your value proposition p 31 Market: Sainsbury already caters to the middle class customers by providing products at affordable prices, but since Sainsbury maintains high quality amongst its products, the cost somewhat becomes high (in a comparative sense to its competitors). Sainsbury needs to provide these products at a more reasonable price to cater to the working class as well and thereby expand its existing customer base. Value experience: Benefits should include high quality at reasonable price. To reduce the travel costs Sainsbury needs to focus on locations of its stores so that they are effortlessly within the reach of its customers. Online sales should also be made easy. Complaints should be minimised by providing a good after sales service and monitoring customer feedback. Offerings: Place should include a focus on central locations. Product should include highest possible quality at affordable prices, new and innovative products could also be introduced to increase sales. Since the financial downturn of 2008 had drastic effects on the economy, consumers are trying to save as much as possible hence Sainsbury needs to keep the prices of its products as low as possible. Promotion should involve promotion of sales through discount vouchers or limited offers (e.g. buy 2 get 1 free) and continuous advertising through all available media types. Benefits: products need to be provided at the lowest possible price maintaining high quality. Constant customer feedback should be facilitated in order to keep track of its customers satisfaction. Alternatives and differentiation: Since Sainsbury focuses on quality more than the price of its products. The quality of Sainsburys products is higher than most of its competitors, but this phenomenon is not the same when it comes to price. Sainsbury needs to balance between its price and quality since its competitors such as Tesco are providing products at a lower price that is offered by Sainsbury. Proof: IMPLEMENTATION PLAN By using Ansoff Matrix tool for strategic marketing planning help to improve the position of J. Sainsbury. It accelerate to do best strategic direction depending upon the need/desire to penetrate existing or new markets with existing or new products. (http://www.emp.ac.uk/linspdfs/marketi2.pdf) If Sainsbury need to reconstruct their values, strengths and beliefs they need to split up their position in the existing market. They facing extreme competition in the real market they must modernize and create in new markets with their present product offering. Partnership is a necessity in the domestic market since this is the basis of the business and its primary values. It will help the Sainsbury to rebuild its image and the connection with existing customer by confirming them the best quality, best product offers at competitive pricing. Sainsburys need to improve in its Information Technology system so that information can be processed faster and stocks can be reloaded at a faster pace. The shelfs are always stocked well and the customers keep getting informed about the available varieties. All these hard work make the shopping experience enjoyable and satisfying for the customers. As the world faced recession almost globally, Sainsbury should avoid price related conflicts and must follow specific price strategy. Since customer will not be willing to pay high prices even for the best quality products hence low pricing should be planned for the quality product. Identify problems and in time solving them as quickly as possible so that they build strong communication at every step of the channel. To introduce some products this will give a comparative advantage over their rivals. Sainsbury should open local stores in the city rather than on the outskirts of the city. Customer generally chooses to purchase in local shop rather than supermarkets to save time and money. Introduction of pay point or post office to the store would be a good idea to attract customers. The customer immediately after purchase can pay their bills without wasting time to reach these places elsewhere in the city. Sainsburys need to increase its online shopping service in non-food items, so that customer can shop online more comfortably. I would recommend Sainsburys to deliver every little helps to make it a healthier place for shop. Use simple processes so that shopping is better for customers, simpler for staff and cheaper for Sainsburys.

Gary Paulsen Biography Essay

The 1990’s was a time known as the â€Å"Digital Decade†. A time when the Stock Market rocketed and the internet took off. Along with technology becoming popular, Gary Paulsen was writing one of his two hundred novels, The River. It showed how the U.S. Government wanted young Brian to go back in the wilderness and reenact his survival skills he used a few years back, after he was involved in a plane crash. Gary Paulsen is a great novel and short story writer for people of all ages. He is one of America’s most popular writers for young people, including adults and children (About). His life was full of interesting things. Many of the things he did, including working on a farm over the summer in his youthful years, and jobs such as being an engineer, construction worker, sailor, truck driver, and ranch hand gave him lots of material to work with from which he created his great stories (About). Throughout his life, since he started writing, he has written over 100 b ooks and short stories and many have became very popular. Gary Paulsen was born May 17, 1939 in Minneapolis, Minnesota (About). His parents were Oscar and Eunice Paulsen (Gary). In his youth he was never a â€Å"dedicated† student in school but he had a passion for reading ever since he was very young (About). On a cold, wintery day, he walked into a library to warm up with nothing to do. On the way out he had himself his own library card and a book to read. From then on he was hooked to reading and writing (Gary). He spent many hours alone in the basement of his apartment building, reading book after book after book. Soon after he acquired a taste for adventure when he ran away from his home to travel with the carnival at the age of 14 (About). Yates 2 In 1959, he attended Bemidji College in Minnesota, and he worked as a trapper to pay off tuition fees. He quit college two years after and joined the Army, working for the missiles department (Biography). In 1966, Paulsen began to write and has completed well over 100 books and short stories. He has written fiction, nonfiction, and drama for adults and children. He still continues to write to this day. Many of his nonfiction books relate to his jobs and interests. He has written books about farming, hiking, football, tennis, skiing, and canoeing (Gary). Gary Paulsen says its his overwhelming belief in young people that drives him to write (About). A few of his best sellers are: Lawn Boy, The River, Brian’s Winter, Brian’s Hunt, The Rifle, Soldier’s Heart, Tracker, The Crossing, Sentries, and Brain’s Return (Biography). Three of his novels- Hatchet, Dogsong, and the Winter Room were Newberry Honor Books. They often appear along with his other books on the best books list of the American Library Association (About). One thing Gary loves to do most was dog-sled racing. He took part in the famous 1,180 mile long dog-sled race known as the Iditarod twice, once in 1983 and again in 1985. His third attempt was shattered when he was diagnosed with a serious heart disease called angina (Gary). After he was forced to give up dog-sled racing, he started to focus more on writing with the same energy and effort that he used on h is dogs while training them for the race. He worked 18-20 hour days every day staying committed to writing the way he would with his dogs. He said all he does is work, he doesn’t have time to drink or fool around. He has always been that way and the end result is a lot of books being published out to the world (About). His wife, Ruth Wright Paulsen is an artist. In fact she has illustrated several books of his. They divide their time up writing and drawing between a home in La Luz, New Mexico and a boat out in the Pacific Ocean (About). Gary Paulsen has written many books during his life. A few have won special awards and honors. Others are liked by many young adults and children. His writing, especially his nonfiction Yates 3 books reflect his interests and past jobs that he had acquired. An example would be his book â€Å"Harris and Me†. About a young boy who works on farm one summer with his cousin, is full of funny and adventurous events. This book is related to Paulsen because he also worked on a farm over the summer doing chores during his youth years. He also likes to write about survival, which you can see in his books Hatchet, Brian’s Winter, and The River. Although Gary Paulsen has written many books, over two hundred of them, one of his books called The River, was written and published in the 1990’s. The 1990’s is a time also known as â€Å"The Digital Decade†. The pace of life quickly sped up in this technology-driven decade (Digital Front Flap). At the beginning of the decade, it seemed that the economy was going to be sluggish. Instead, the Stock Market sky rocketed and the internet took off. From then on it has been a fast pace through life (Digital 79). Mr. Bill Clinton was the president at the time. He had an enthusiasm for people and wanted to help them fulfill their dreams (Digital 63). When Clinton was a boy at age 16, he met with President John F. Kennedy in the Rose Garden and shook his hand. After that day his life changed and he had a strong desire to become the president of the United States of America. Bill Clinton was just 46 years old when he became the nation’s 42nd chief executive. Clinton attempted to fulfill a campaign promise to disable the ban on homosexuals in the military. His decision ended in the â€Å"Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell† compromise that didn’t satisfy commanders of the military or the gay community (Digital 66). After a humanitarian effort was launched in Somalia, and after Clinton’s best decisions to handle the situation, thirty American Servicemen died. Ever since that happened, Clinton refused to come in contact with Rwanda, despite widespread genocide that happened there, and caused over one million deaths. More than thirty million American citizens did not have medical insurance in the earl 90’s. Candidate Bill Clinton promised to expand coverage and affordable healthcare for every person in America (Digital 66). He named Hilary Clinton to lead the drive to recreate the health insurance Yates 4 industry. This is why critics accused him of nepotism (Digital 66-67). By the end of his first year in office, many Americans were wondering just how ineffective and unpopular he could become (Digital 67). Laptops and cell phones became popular in offices, airports, and in pants pockets. Huge SUV’s were found all over the road and fashion became as wild and weird as the world wide web itself. Children began spending time with the latest Pokemon cards or playing the latest video game. The 90’s was a time of almost unlimited choices and personal freedom. The 1990’s was summed up by the word â€Å"whatever† (Digital 79). Electronic-game industries had a growth rate twice that of the movie industry and brought in an annual revenue of about 6.3 billion dollars. Even though console based games such as the Playstation and Nintendo became much more faster and complicated than they u sed to be, the real reason behind the game industries huge growth came from the personal-computer games. A new kind of athlete called adrenaline junkies were on the lookout for new and exciting, but often physically dangerous challenges. This created a subculture called â€Å"extreme sports† in the 90’s (Digital 80). Some extreme sports such as sky surfing and street luge were viewed by the people as mostly lunatics, and not athletes. But snowboarding, mountain biking, and climbing became very popular to most people. In 1995, ESPN gave extreme sports some help by creating and airing the X Games. It showed athletes competing in summer and winter competitions (Digital 80). On August 2, 1990, infantry, armor, and tanks of the Iraqi Republican Guard invaded Kuwait and seized control. United States responded with operation DESERT SHIELD to stop invasion of Kuwait’s neighbor, Saudi Arabia (Operation). On August 7, deployment of U.S. Forces began. The U.S. Objectives included immediate, complete, and unconditional withdrawal of all Iraqi forces from Kuwait. If Iraqi dictat or Saddam Hussein did not remove his troops from Kuwait by January 15, 1991, U.S. led troops were to force them out. On January 17, the U.S. Coalition launched air attacks on Iraqi targets. On February 24, ground forces began their attack. On February 27, Kuwait City was declared Yates 5 liberated. This was known as the Gulf War (Operation). The field of medical science and the advances made in the late 90’s will most likely have the biggest impact on our society (History). The two advances found will leave us with political and moral questions in the future. Cloning and Stem Cell Research are the major medical science advances. The 90’s also saw the development and growth of Genetic Engineering. Genetic Engineering is used to help make plants resistant to herbicides and insecticides. Over 60% of products on U.S. Grocery store shelves have genetic engineering in them (History). The 1990’s was a decade of electronics. The computer and internet were huge inventions in the 90’s. The pace of life was sped up dramatically in this decade. Overall this would have been a great d ecade to choose to live in. With all of the technology and internet setting in, authors were still writing books on paper. One of those authors was Gary Paulsen. He wrote the novel The River in the 1990’s and it is about true survival. The River has a few themes in its story, but the biggest one is true survival versus role playing. After Brian’s survival story when a plane crashed and left him stranded in the woods for fifty-four days, he was asked to reenact it. A psychologist named Derek joins him in what he calls Brian’s reenactment, an â€Å"experiment†. Brian insists that Derek leave behind all of his equipment he is wanting to bring with them (Paulsen 23). He thinks that Derek doesn’t truly understand the spirit of the â€Å"experiment†. Brian’s ability to convince Derek leaves them with a briefcase, and emergency radio, and a few other small things. Brian tells Derek that the only way to teach survival is to physically put a person in a real life or death situation (Paulsen 34). Derek wants Brian to think out loud so he can write down his every thought and move. Then all of the sudden t he so called experiment turned too real way too fast. That night a terrible storm had moved in, and it wasn’t just any storm, it was a storm that Brian had never experienced before. Derek Yates 6 reached for his radio and briefcase and was struck by lightening (Paulsen 52). This is when the experiment turned from role playing to true survival. Brian woke up from the storm and saw Derek laying in a weird position. He was scared that Derek was dead but found out he was only unconscious. He panicked and grabbed the radio to try and get help but the radio was destroyed by the lightening strike. When Brian tries giving Derek water, he chokes immediately (Paulsen 65). Brian fears the worst and knows that Derek won’t be able to get water until someone rescues them. He reaches for Derek’s briefcase and finds only a map inside, but on the map he sees a river. He studies it and finds that a trader’s post is one hundred miles down along the river (Paulsen 73). Brian decides to take Derek with him instead of leaving him alone and coming back for him. This brings us into the symbol of nature and the river. All throughout the novel, nature is a huge part. From the beginning when Brian and Derek first leave for the Canadian wilderness, to camping out and surviving. The whole novel is about surviving the wilderness. Paulsen also shows nature at it’s best when Brian and Derek were attacked by swarms of mosquitoes multiple times while rafting down the river (Paulsen 86). Another point in the novel, they were faced with a dangerous waterfall in the river. The main inspiration for writing this book came from Paulsen’s award winning book Hatchet. So many of his fans loved reading it that they sent Paulsen letters saying they wanted him to write a sequel. After reading the letters, Paulsen came up with the idea to write The River. A perfect sequel to Hatchet, Brian, the main character of the book, is asked to reenact his survival skills by the government when a plane crashed in the Canadian woods and left him stranded for fifty-four days. I think Gary Paulsen wrote this book for the same reason he wrote many of his books, for hi s love of nature. He has always loved nature and survival. Another reason he wrote this book is because he loves to travel. After reading The River, I realized the whole story was about survival. I wasn’t surprised though, as I read many other books from Gary Paulsen including Hatchet, Brian’s Hunt, Brian’s Yates 7 Winter, and Dogsong. All of those books are similar to The River in that they all have a story based off of adventure, survival, and nature. They are all very well written books and I enjoyed them a lot. If you are into books about a realistic, intense, and interesting survival story packed full of adventures, Gary Paulsen is one other you can turn too. I would highly recommend his books, especially The River. Yates 8 Works Cited â€Å"About Gary.† www.RandomHouse.com. Random House, Inc., 2004. Web. 29 Nov 2011. . â€Å"Biography of Gary Paulsen.† usa-people-search.com. USA People Search, 2011. Web. 29 Nov 2011.

MBA Student Essay - 1180 Words

Case 1Reporting evidence from business and management research , Katie is working in her local NHS hospital on a six-month internship.,During her time there, the hospital plans the introduction of what they call a Leadership at all Levels programme. All staff are to be encouraged to act as leaders, and Katie is asked to write a report for her manager setmakes a special point of telling Katie that the hospital wants to make its introduction evidencebased. This means, he explains, that he would like her reportto set out the scientific evidence about what works in report, and she think it may also be suitable as the research project for Where do you start with a project like this? Katie wonders. Well, she think. I†¦show more content†¦Even if they can put their managerial interests aside, she think thatthe questions arising from the bullet point list such as how ready fo 22 Case 1Reporting evidence from business and management research , Katie is working in her local NHS hospital on a six-month internship.,During her time there, the hospital plans the introduction of what they call a Leadership at all Levels programme. All staff are to be encouraged to act as leaders, and Katie is asked to write a report for her manager setmakes a special point of telling Katie that the hospital wants to make its introduction evidencebased. This means, he explains, that he would like her reportto set out the scientific evidence about what works in report, and she think it may also be suitable as the research project for Where do you start with a project like this? Katie wonders. Well, she think. I may as well that it contains very few concrete details. Although it is 16 pages long, there is nothing specifically about what leadership is, nothing about how leadership at all levels Can you articulate a brief, compelling message of change, framed appropriatelyto connect with your staff? But how could chief executives really know whether their answers to such questions were correct? Katie ponders. She feels chiefexecutives are likely to have a vestedShow MoreRelatedSop for Mba Students1124 Words   |  5 Pagesencouraging words, but three and a half years later I am a living example of the same. One of the lowest phases of my life was when after the completion of my undergraduate program in Commerce I applied for a postgraduate program to the UK. My student visa application was denied in December 2008, on the basis of insufficient funds. Admittedly it was very difficult for me to watch my friends claim the future we had planned together. Yet after the initial frenzy abated it was easy for me to seeRead MoreThe Economics Of The Mba Student924 Words   |  4 Pagesassociated to inflation rate. The accountant the MBA student have entirely contrasting job functions. An accountant should focus on internal material such as income statements, cash flow statement, balance sheet, and etc. An accountant will technically look into the information that appears by the statements and adjust the information due to the increase of the interest rates. The accountant will only resolve the accounting section. The MBA student has the duties of analyzing the external mattersRead MoreFid Anal ysis Of MBA Students724 Words   |  3 Pagesanalysis of actual student enrollments from previous student schedules to have a better idea of which classes to offer the next semester. Of course, the trend analysis will guide them so they are better prepared and schedule professors and the classroom location (due to the number of students each classroom will hold) based prior on the enrollment numbers by class. Incidentally, each year the college has a planned curriculum for each major, so they use the number of students who have declared aRead MoreThe Professional Career Of An Mba Student1192 Words   |  5 PagesAdministration students must have the ability within them to lead as well as learn. They must also be driven individuals willing to make the sacrifices in order to achieve this endeavor of higher education. This endeavor will in turn benefit the learner in many ways, it will create an opportunity of higher earnings and potential sign on bonuses as well as allow for highe r positions within a company and often creates the next CEO of a company. Many articles about the professional career of an MBA student researchedRead MoreStrengths And Weaknesses Of An Mba Student1919 Words   |  8 PagesStrengths are the actions that someone can do better while a persons weaknesses are that defective quality of a person. This paper seeks to bring into light the strengths and weaknesses that an MBA student could be having and the areas which I the student needs to improve on. Some of the strengths include being genuinely concerned about others, Being hardworking, being enthusiastic. Some of the weaknesses include perceiving other people the way I feel not the way the person is, making a decisionRead MoreMy Experience With Mba Student Team Development1023 Words   |  5 Pagesquoted Team development models was proposed by Bruce Tuckman in 1960. The five developmental sequence are: Forming; Storming; Norming, Performing and Adjourning. In this paper, I have used this model to compare and contrast my experience with the MBA student team development exercise and my experience as PM in my current job. Why was my experience in these 2 environments, different? Stage 1- Forming: When enthusiastic individuals come together to form a team: For the exercise, the teams were pre-assignedRead MoreThe Effects Of Peer Feedback On Mba Students Rating Leadership Competence783 Words   |  4 PagesFor this week’s assignment I found an article that is based on the transformative learning theory (Mezirow, 1991) analyzing the effect of peer feedback on MBA students rating there leadership competence over a six month period. Individuals in general perceive themselves as good managers in planning, monitoring, and time management. The problem presented in the leadership article is determining if there is a correlation between individual’s perception of their leadership competence and the viewRead MoreThe Case Study of Singapore Students Attending the UK MBA Program4061 Words   |  16 PagesThe impact of tablet computers on the behaviour and lifestyle of the modern day consumer The case of the Singapore students attending the UK MBA Program 1. Introduction and background 1.1. Setting the context The modern day society is evolving at a rapid pace, with this fast rhythm of development being forced by the advancement of technology. In this particular setting, technologic innovations impact every aspect of life, from the completion of the small leisure chores, to the very possibilityRead MoreCrosswell1474 Words   |  6 PagesPEPPERDINE UNIVERSITY THE GEORGE L. GRAZIADIO SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT LEN RUSHFIELD MBA 610.63 INTERNATIONAL FINANCE SPRING 2005 WEDNESDAY 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM WESTLAKE VILLAGE CENTER SYLLABUS 1 International Finance MBA 610.63 Westlake Village Center Wednesday 1/5-2/16/05 Len Rushfield (310) 474-5848 (603) 843-9683 (efax) leonard.rushfield@pepperdine.edu/ asiaptner@aol.com Course Objectives MBA 610.63 is intended to provide a foundation of understanding of international finance andRead MoreEvaluation And Feedback Of Respective Departments Essay911 Words   |  4 Pagesprogram-level teaching guidance committees, and relevant course groups review courses related to the majors. The teaching administration departments (including Undergraduate Teaching Administration Office and Postgraduate Teaching Administration Office, MBA Program Centre, EMBA Program Centre, the MPAcc Program Centre, and EDP Centre) have a special post for cultivation management, who is in charge of checking quality standards and controlling the teaching quality. In addition to the quality guidance and

My Handwriting Is A Strong Indicator Of Your Personality

Your handwriting is a strong indicator of your personality One of the many reasons psychologists are able to study a persons’ personality is towards their writing. As stated in Handprints of the Mind â€Å"Handwriting analysis is a unique, specialized and emerging scientific process that has been carried out and applied for centuries now† (Gowda, M. R., Harish, N., Aslam, A., Padmanabiah, M., Magaji, R. (2015) p.409); therefore, a person can write anything by hand, graphologist can be able to analyze a human’s personality according to the size of the letters to how closely a person spaces their words. For instance, letter size can tell if a person is shy or outgoing, if a persons handwriting is very little it insinuates that he/she is very timid. On the other hand, if the letters are big and reaches the top of the paper, tells us that he/she is a very outgoing person who seeks-attention. Even though there have been many attempts into proving the accuracy of finding out someone’s personality and intentions towar ds their way of writing by hand. The first trait that would help a graphologist to describe a personality through writing would by the spacing of the words as they are written in a piece of paper. Many studies have concluded that those who space their words widely express freedom and independence. While others whom write with small spaces prefer to be surrounded by by people and dislike being alone. Spacing says a lot about a persons’ comfort level when theyShow MoreRelatedsecrets of body language11913 Words   |  48 Pagesits secrets. This is a world where what we say is all important. They said this day would never come. We hang on every word. Tomorrow, we begin again. Thank you. But are we getting all the message? Older, darker, psychopaths, serial killers handwriting-Research has shown that just 7% of human communication is through the actual words. 93% of what we communicate with others is non-verbal. 93%! Think about that. So, it s our tone of voice, pitch, posture, microexpressions on our fac e. DifferentRead MoreDeveloping Management Skills404131 Words   |  1617 Pages PERSONAL SKILLS 44 45 DEVELOPING SELF-AWARENESS SKILL ASSESSMENT 46 Diagnostic Surveys for Scale Self-Awareness 46 Self-Awareness Assessment 46 Emotional Intelligence Assessment 47 The Defining Issues Test 48 v Cognitive Style Indicator 52 Locus of Control Scale 52 Tolerance of Ambiguity Scale 54 Core Self-Evaluation Scale (CSES) 56 SKILL LEARNING 57 Key Dimensions of Self-Awareness 57 The Enigma of Self-Awareness 58 The Sensitive Line 58 Understanding and Appreciating IndividualRead More333 Helpful Interview Questions25702 Words   |  103 PagesPage 55 Orientation to Detail†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. Page 56 Career Goals†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. Page 57 Organization†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...Page 58 Internal Relations†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦... Page 60 Interview Questions for Any Position Initiative 1. What ideas have you sold to your own management? Why? What happened? Examine two aspects of the answer. First, did the idea seem worth selling? Second, notice whether the applicant took extra steps to demonstrate the idea’s practicality, profitability or efficiency. Did he/she waitRead MoreFundamentals of Hrm263904 Words   |  1056 PagesF i n d o u t h ow t o M A K E I T YO U R S  » www.wileyplus.com ALL THE HELP, RESOURCES, AND PERSONAL SUPPORT YOU AND YOUR STUDENTS NEED! 2-Minute Tutorials and all of the resources you your students need to get started www.wileyplus.com/firstday Student support from an experienced student user Ask your local representative for details! Collaborate with your colleagues, find a mentor, attend virtual and live events, and view resources www.WhereFacultyConnect.com Pre-loaded, ready-to-useRead Morepreschool Essay46149 Words   |  185 Pageschildren with disabilities and other special needs. The arts are important in the world of preschoolers, as children have the chance to use their imaginations while learning. Through the arts, children draw upon their interests, experiences, and personalities as they express themselves, create with others, and participate in their preschool community. The visual and performing arts provide a means for children to grow in understanding themselves and the world around them. Children receive opportunitiesRead MoreOrganisational Theory230255 Words   |  922 Pages. Organization Theory Challenges and Perspectives John McAuley, Joanne Duberley and Phil Johnson . This book is, to my knowledge, the most comprehensive and reliable guide to organisational theory currently available. What is needed is a text that will give a good idea of the breadth and complexity of this important subject, and this is precisely what McAuley, Duberley and Johnson have provided. They have done some sterling service in bringing together the very diverse strands of workRead MoreManaging Information Technology (7th Edition)239873 Words   |  960 Pagesutilizing these information technologies for the benefit of their organizations. By the year 2000, more than half of capital expenditures by businesses in developed countries were for IT purchases. The primary objective of this textbook is to increase your knowledge about IT management so that as a manager you can effectively invest in and utilize new and already in-place information technologies. In the following chapters we will describe †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ technologies available today and emerging technology

The Story of Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut - 641 Words

The story of Slaughterhouse Five is about a man named Billy Pilgrim who goes through a series of strange events throughout his life time. And it all starts when he is in a war in Germany. Billy is resentful towards the war and he makes it clear that he does not want to be there. During the war, he becomes captured by Germans. Before Billy is captured, he meets Roland Weary. When captured, the Germans took everything from Weary, including his shoes so they gave him clogs as a substitute. Eventually, he dies from gangrene caused by the clogs. Right before Weary dies, he manages to convince another soldier; Paul Lazzaro that it was Billy’s fault that he was dying so Lazzaro vows to avenge the death of Weary by killing Billy. At the time Billy is captured, he becomes â€Å"unstuck in time,† and he sees various moments of his life occur. Later, Billy experiences a nervous breakdown so the other prisoners give him a shot of morphine which sends him time-tripping once more. Afterwards, he and the other prisoners are sent to the city of Dresden which remains untouched y the war. Here, they work in an abandoned slaughterhouse which carries the name of â€Å"Slaughterhouse Five.† One of the nights of their stay, enemies of the Germans bomb the city to compose a firestorm which consequently incinerates roughly 130,000 people. Billy and his allies manage to survive in an airtight meat locker. When they depart the locker, they are introduced to the wreckage and destruction that is left of theShow MoreRelatedSlaughterhouse by Kurt Vonnegut819 Words   |  3 PagesKurt Vonnegut followed many principles in his writings. He claimed that â€Å"people do not realize that they are happy† (PBS NOW Tr anscript). Feeling that people had the wrong view on war, he felt that he needed to get the facts straight. Vonnegut believed that art can come from awful situations, and that the truth is not always easy to look at. Kurt Vonnegut wrote Slaughterhouse – Five to tell of his experience in the bombing of Dresden, as a prisoner in war and the atrocities that occurred. VonnegutRead MoreKurt Vonnegut : A Hybrid Of Science Fiction And Satire1716 Words   |  7 PagesLeanne Arata English 11 Mrs. Wheeler 5/8/2016 Kurt Vonnegut The idea of making a work that does not fit into a single category of work is how Kurt Vonnegut has become such a phenomenon. Kurt Vonnegut has a hybrid writing style which allows him to critique human nature and this is evident in his work. A hybrid writer is someone who makes something by combining two different genres to create something new. Vonnegut’s work is a hybrid of science fiction and satire. Satire is an author’s way of sayingRead MoreEssay about Slaughterhouse-Five: A Peace Novel1419 Words   |  6 Pagesinspired to write stories, poems, or songs about war. Many of these examples tend to reflect feelings against war. Kurt Vonnegut is no different and his experience with war inspired him to write a series of novels starting with Slaughter-House Five. It is a unique novel expressing Vonneguts feelings about war. These strong feeling can be seen in the similarities between characters, information about the Tralfamadorians, dark humor, and the structur e of the novel. Kurt Vonnegut is an AmericanRead More The Mind of Kurt Vonnegut946 Words   |  4 PagesThe Mind of Kurt Vonnegut Kurt Vonnegut is one of the preeminent writers of the later half of the twentieth century. His works are all windows into his mind, a literary psychoanalysis. He examines himself as a cog in the corporate machine in Deer in the Works; as a writer through the eyes of Kilgore Trout in several works; and most importantly, as a prisoner of war in Slaughterhouse-Five. Vonnegut created short stories and novels that dealt with events in his life.Read MoreSlaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut Essay821 Words   |  4 PagesIn an interview on Slaughterhouse Five, Kurt Vonnegut states, â€Å"I worked as a miner of corpses, breaking into cellars where over a hundred thousand Hansel and Gretels were baked like gingerbread men† (â€Å"Vonnegut†). Vonnegut Jr. (1922-2007), born during the Modern Age, wrote his first story in 1947, known as the Contemporary Period. The Modern Age was different from the Contemporary Period because of its focus on art while trying to connect with traditions in the world due to their desire to have aRead MoreSlaughterhouse Five By Kurt Vonnegut1242 Words   |  5 PagesSlaughterhouse Five, a novel written by Kurt Vonnegut, depicts unchronological and sometimes nonsensical moments of the life of Billy Pilgrim as he â€Å"become[s] unstuck in time†(Vonnegut S. Five 23) Billy has no control over where he will end up next. â€Å"He has seen his birth and death many times, and he pays random visits to all the events in between†, and â€Å"is in a constant state of fright, ... because he never knows which part of his life he is going to have to act out next.†(Vonnegut S. Five 23)Read MoreMany Writers In History Have Written Science Fiction Novels1055 Words   |  5 Pageshave been as enduring over time as Kurt Vonnegut s Slaughterhouse-Five. Slaughterhouse-Five is a personal novel which draws upon Vonnegut s experience s as a scout in World War Two, his capture and becoming a prisoner of war, and his witnessing of the fire-bombing of Dresden in February of 1945 (the greatest man-caused massacre in history). The novel is about the life and times of a World War Two veteran named Billy Pilgrim. In Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut uses structure and point of viewRead MoreStyle Analysis of Kurt Vonnegut on Slaughterhouse Five1623 Words   |  7 Pagesbrilliant piece of literature. One example, for instance, is Kurt Vonnegut who may have been stimulated by the war, thus writing Slaughterhouse Ââ€" Five. Though one may categorize this piece as science fiction or even auto - biographical, it can also be interpreted as an anti Ââ€" war piece. Because Vonnegut is classified as a post modernist, one can take into account all the details, such as the similarities between the main character and Vonnegut, the Tralfamadorians, and the style and themes of the novelRead More The Theme of Time in Slaughterhouse-Five Essay1065 Words   |  5 PagesThe Theme of Time in Slaughterhouse-Five Many writers in history have written science fiction novels and had great success with them, but only a few have been as enduring over time as Kurt Vonneguts Slaughterhouse-Five. Slaughterhouse-Five is a personal novel which draws upon Vonneguts experiences as a scout in World War Two, his capture and becoming a prisoner of war, and his witnessing of the fire bombing of Dresden in February of 1945 (the greatest man-caused massacre in history). TheRead MoreEssay on Anti-War Sentiments in Cats Cradle and Slaughterhouse Five1173 Words   |  5 Pagessurface, Kurt Vonneguts Cats Cradle and Slaughterhouse Five are vastly dissimilar works of literature, each with its own creative style and plot. However, when the texts are examined with a discerning eye one can notice multiple thematic undercurrents such as war fate,time and suffering hidden in plain sight. Overwhelmingly common in Cats Cradle and Slaughterhouse Five are strong anti-war sentiments which show all the ways war is deleteriou s towards the human condition.(Marvin) Vonnegut shows how

Quality Insurance Free Essays

Quality Improvement Plan: Part III – Managing and Improving Quality In today’s health care environment, competition remains high and many organizations are seeking new ways to improve their quality of care, as well as remain competitive with other health care organizations in the process. Various methods exist today for organizations to integrate quality improvement strategies to help in the measurement of performance improvements. This paper will discuss:1) several methodologies, the pros and cons that exist with these methods, 2) describe information technology applications, how they may be used to improve patient falls, 3)discuss how benchmarking and milestones are involved in managing the use of quality indicators, and finally,4) describe how performance and quality measures are aligned to an organization’s mission, vision, and strategic plan, and how these measurements align with Self-Regional Hospital’s mission, vision, and strategic plan for improvement. We will write a custom essay sample on Quality Insurance or any similar topic only for you Order Now Methods for Quality Improvement Strategies Accidental Falls have become the most commonly reported incident in hospitals today, and Self-Regional Hospital is no exception. Recently, Self-Regional researched and gathered specific fall data that included â€Å"mobility/gait, lower-extremity strength, history in fractures, visual, or auditory impairments, dizziness, dehydration, depression, stroke, ischemic attacks, and cardiac arrhythmias† and the role they play with patient falls in the organization (The Joint Commission, 2007, p. 26). They are now in the process of researching various methodologies to help manage and improve this area of concern. Several concepts that concern total quality management (TQM), and quality improvement (QI) are offering health care organizations and their administrators the opportunity to decide which methodology would be most successful in improving quality care for their patients. There are three methodologies Self-Regional is considering: 1) Six Sigma, 2) Lean, and 3) Customer Inspired Quality (CIQ). â€Å"One of the key components of quality improvement is the technology that gathers and compares the data that the quality improvement measure produces† (Dlugacz, 2006). Once this information has been gathered, the organization can benchmark with other comparable organizations. The Six Sigma model, pioneered by Motorola, is used to improve the quality of process outputs by identifying, and removing defects through a problem-solving approach that works to improve quality outputs. The Six Sigma methodology achieves this by using a process known as the DMAIC process (define, measure, analyze, improve, and control), for existing quality processes that are below specifications, and are in need of improvement in increments. There are features with Six Sigma that separates it from other initiatives of quality improvement: * Clear focus on achieving measurable and quantifiable financial returns * Increased emphasis on strong leadership and support * Special Infrastructure of â€Å"Champions,† to lead and implement the Six Sigma approach * Clear commitment to making decisions based on verifiable data, rather than assuming or guess work (Harry, 2000). The second model is Lean, which played a key role for Toyota’s success. This method is used to help reduce or alleviate waste, while working to improve an organization’s performance through their workflow processes. Organization’s that use Lean have a clear understanding of consumer value, and continuously will focus on the key processes to improve it. Their goal is to provide excellent value to the consumer, by developing an excellent value process that has zero waste. Lean offers the organization the opportunity to identify steps in a quality improvement process, and then identify the steps that are valuable and non-valuable. Once the non-valued steps have been identified they will be removed to prevent waste in the process (Lean Enterprise Institute, 2009). The Customer Inspired Quality method is the last method for quality improvement that Self-Regional is considering. In 1992, Shaw Resources patented this methodology to focus on work processes that have direct impact on the care and services that hospitals provide. The Customer Inspired Quality methodology identifies, defines, analyzes, and improves the quality and effectiveness of processes in the health care environment with an emphasis on the following work process evaluating components: Integrates department services that are related to defined systems concerning care * Improves productivity and efficiency, while reducing unneeded work processes and costs * Can be implemented as short-term or long-term quality improvement processes * Patient loyalty and satisfaction is enhanced (Shaw Resources, n. d. ). Pros and Cons of Quality Improvement Methodol ogies There are always pros and cons to any quality improvement methodology. For instance, the pros of Six Sigma tend to place extreme importance on leadership and its support for the success of the project. Another pro is the integration of different human elements, which include cultural change, and focus on the customer and their needs. â€Å"By using the concept of statistical thinking, Six Sigma encourages applications of statistical tools and techniques that reduce variability† (Harry, 2000). The cons of Six Sigma include, not having the quality data available, especially when a new process has been implemented without having the data available. Often the solutions that Six Sigma proposes can be costly and only a small portion of the solution can be implemented. When using Six Sigma the choosing of the right project is critical to its success. The pros for Lean include: * Minimizing overhead cost to thirty percent * Eliminates most waste, if not all * Can improve productivity by eighty percent * Eliminates negative behaviors and employees have a clear objective of the organization’s expectations The Lean methodology’s cons include: * Can be difficult to attain support from all employees, due to resistance of change * Personality clashes can occur if some individuals do not take orders well from their co-workers Lean training is ongoing and in the beginning is time-consuming (Businessknowledgesource. com, 2010). The pros of the Customer Inspired Quality methodology include: * Quality improvement efforts are prioritized based on the customer’s needs * Friendly and encourages input from employees The main con with the Customer Inspired Quality method is that is structured primarily for health care organizations. Information Technologies for Quality Improvements Information technology plays a major role when it comes to quality improvement methods used by health care organizations. Self-Regional Hospital has implemented software known as Business Objects. The components of Business Objects â€Å"provide performance management, planning, reporting, query and analysis, and enterprise information management† (Sap. com, 2008). The Business Objects Enterprise offers the organization the ability to track report instances by triggering alerts. The reports have parameters that can be modified to perform analysis on the data and the organization also has the ability set alerts that trigger when certain conditions are met or not met. The data can be customized to show in charts and can be customized to allow the organization the opportunity to drill down into the data. Information technology allows data to also be displayed in a dashboard or a scorecard. A dashboard is a tool that monitors the ongoing performance of a process and its data in real time. Whereas, scorecards report on past performances and generally focuses on outcomes rather than processes. All of these applications can be used by administrators to track quality improvement processes of the organization. Administrators also have the ability to design the scorecards or dashboards to display only information that is pertinent to the process. These processes would also give Self-Regional the ability to examine data that pertains to patient falls within their organization. Benchmarks and Milestones Benchmarking is a process that gives an organization the ability to compare their performance metrics and processes to other organization’s best practices. In other words, benchmarking is the process of an organization comparing itself to their competitors and defines how the competition performs better. In health care, when an organization has a clear understanding of how their competitor/s meets their standards, they can set goals for quality improvements within their own organization. Benchmarking is beneficial for improving customer satisfaction, as well as improve core measurements set by the Joint Commission. Self-Regional Hospital can use benchmarking as a means to compare how hospitals rate on patient falls and what processes they have set in place to improve in this area. The hospital would benefit by using the website â€Å"hospitalcompare. hs. gov to research on patient satisfaction, quality improvement outcomes, and where they rate in these areas as well. Potential benchmarks Self-regional will strive for improved core measures at 90% for patient falls. Another area the organization will strive for is to improve patient safety. In order for the hospital to do this they will need to continue to implement the processes that support the Joint Commission’s National Pa tient Safety Goals, and implement quality improvement processes that will involve the organization as a whole. Self-Regional will also implement computerized provider order entry (CPOE), and will also begin the process of extending the goals to the emergency department and critical care areas. The third bench mark will be to enhance the patient’s experience by using the DMAIC model to understand and support the emotional, spiritual, and clinical needs of the patients. Self-Regional Hospital will use the Customer Inspired Quality Methodology for implementing their performance improvement processes with patient falls. Data will be comprised from Crystal reports to display balanced scorecards and dashboards. The organization will divide the dashboards into the Extending Elements, team, clinical, service, market, and finance. This information will be used in conjunction with information from benchmarking data to monitor the quality improvement plan. Health care organization’s use performance and quality measures to align their products and service activities with their mission, vision, and strategic planning to help improve their internal and external communications, as well as monitor the organization performance against their strategic goals. Self-Regional Hospital’s mission, vision, and strategic planning is aligned with their performance and quality measures to provide continuous advanced quality care that will improve their patient outcomes, while focusing on patient satisfaction in the process. APA References Dlugacz, Y. D. (2006). Measuring Health Care Using Data for Operational, Financial, and Clinical Improvement, San Francisco, CA: Josey-Bass Publications Harry, Mikel J. (2000). The Nature of Six Sigma Quality. Rolling Meadows, Illinois: Motorola University Press. p. 25 Lean Enterprise Institute, (2009). What is Lean? Retrieved on September 26, 2011 from http://www. lean. org/WhatsLean/ Shaw Resources, (n. d. ). Customer Inspired Quality: Health Care Operational Improvements, Retrieved on September 26, 2011 from http://shawresources. com/ customer-inspired-quality-and-processes-improvement. htm Sap. com (2008). Retrieved on September 26, 2011, from http://www. sap. com/ solutions/sapbusinessobjects/index. epx How to cite Quality Insurance, Essay examples

Economic History of Sierra Leone free essay sample

People of African descent were fewer in numbers in England in the days before the American Revolution and generally better treated. Most of the Black people of England at that time had been brought there as personal servant-slaves from the North American colonies or the British Caribbean possessions. A court ruled in 1772 that slavery in England was illegal and immediately there was a substantial number of free Black men in the cities of England. The story of the declaration of the illegality of slavery in Britain is an interesting one. In England at that time there was a religious sect called the Evangelicals but popularly known as the Saints. The Evangelicals were morally strict, being against alcoholic beverages, swearing, overeating and lewdness. They required also strict adherence to the sanctity of the Sabbath. They also opposed slavery and several prominent Evangelicals devoted their lives to the abolition of slavery. One of these, William Wilberforce, was instrumental in getting England to suppress the Atlantic slave trade. Another Evangelical or Saint was Granville Sharp. Granville Sharp was a key figure in the court decision which made slavery illegal in England. He was thrust in that role by chance. Granville Sharp One of Granville Sharps brothers was a surgeon. One day Granville Sharp was visiting his surgeon brother and literally bumped into a slave, Jonathan Strong, who had been beaten by his owner so severely that it affected his eyesight. That owner had deemed Jonathan Strong worthless, beat him in the face and threw him into the street. Sharp and his brother put Strong into a hospital and when he recovered his health they gave him clothing and got him a job as a servant. Two years later the legal owner of Strong, a lawyer from Barbados, saw Strong working as a servant and sought to reclaim him as his property. The owner had Strong arrested, who fearing for his life, got a message sent to Granville Sharp. Sharp sought legal help but no lawyer was willing to take the case. Sharp had no legal training but in desperation he studied the law enough to argue the case himself. Sharp prepared a brief that argued that any slave who entered England automatically became free. His case was so well prepared that Jonathan Strongs former owner dropped is suit to recover possession of Strong. Sharp, however, was not content with obtaining just Strongs freedom. Sharp spent five years pursuing the issue until in 1772 he won the case of James Somerset before the High Court of England and obtained the judgement that slavery was illegal in England. Granville Sharp was not a rich man. All the while he was pleading the case against slavery he had to support himself as a cle rk in the Ordnance Office of the British Government. Later his two brothers, who were more affluent than he was, offered to support him so that he could carry on his good work. After 1772 the problem of poverty among the freed Blacks replaced the abolition of slavery in the minds of Granville Sharp and the other Saints. The Saints started thinking of a settlement in Africa and by 1786 West Africa and in particular the territory of Sierra Leone had become the focus of their attention. Henry Smeathman presented a proposal before the Committee for the Black Poor for the establishment of such a colony in Sierra Leone. Smeathman died however in July of 1786 and the Committee consider a number of other locales for a settlement. The other places considered were the Brahamas Islands, the Gambia in Africa and New Brunswick in what is now Canada. The Black people who were interested in the scheme thought Sierra Leone was far superior to the other alternatives, although they did not know much about Sierra Leone. The Treasury of the British Government favored the plan and arranged for the Navy to provide transportation. There were as many as 500 Black people interested in the scheme, but only 300 who actually joined the expedition. The Navy Board decided to round up any Black vagrants from London and include them by force in the settlement scheme. The expeditions ships left London in December of 1786 intending to reach Sierra Leone before the rainy season which starts in May. But the ships were held up until April in Portmouth, England due to bad weather. During this delay fifty passengers died of fever and several others were put off the ships. The final count for the settlement voyage was 411, of which about 300 were Black men, 40 Black women, a few white officials and 70 White women who were probably wives and girl friends of the Black men but who were alleged to have been London prostitutes. On May 15th of 1787 the settlers put ashore at what is now Freetown. Their number had been reduced by about another score of deaths on the voyage. The leaders attempted to buy land from the local tribal chief, but although the chief took the payment and put his mark on the agreement it was clear he did not understand it and consequently would not abide by it. The town the settlers established was initially named not Freetown but Granville Town and the name they gave to the region was The Province of Freedom. The first months of the settlement were traumatic. The torrential rains began soon after the settlers arrival. They could not grow food and soon they were starving. Some of the settlers left the town and worked for the slavers in the region. Some of these eventually became prosperous slavers on their own, including one whom Sharp had once personally rescued from kidnappers in England who would have sold him into slavery. By early in 1788 there were only 130 people left in the settlement. Sharp was not discouraged and raised funds to send 39 more settlers, most of whom were White. These reenforcements only followed their predecessors into the slave trade. To make matters worse there was a new tribal chief who wanted gifts in order to permit the settlers to remain. When the settlers did not comply the new chief ordered Granville town burned. Sharp took a different approach in the face of all these calamatities. He and his Saint collaborators formed a company, later named the Sierra Leone Company. This company provided the finances for building a new settlers town two miles to the east of the original. The Company also provided weapons for its future defense. An arrangement was made for the settlement land with a higher-level chief than the one who had burned the original town. While the settlers in Sierra Leone were struggling to create a community political events were occurring elsewhere which would affect the future of Sierra Leone. At the end of the American Revolution there were 3,000 Blacks who went with the 25,000 loyalist Whites to Nova Scotia. These Black people had to work for the Nova Scotian farmers and found the climate of Nova Scotia inhospitable. They petitioned the British Government for land or to arrange for them to be located elsewhere. An Evangelical served as the advocate for the Nova Scotian Blacks and over one thousand chose to move to the settlement in Sierra Leone. They arrived in February 1791 and built a settlement on the original Granville Town site and named the new settlement Freetown. Many of the Nova Scotian migrants were carpenters. The Sierra Leone Company set up a plantation to raise cotton, sugar and rice using paid, native labor. Some of the settlers established their own farms. The settlement was definitely developing. This progress was set back in September of 1794 when seven ships under the control of revolutionary French sailors beseiged the settlement and wreaked havoc on the town. The sailors did not just loot the town but vandalized it as well. But the settlement did recover. In 1800 there was a new wave of immigrants. These came indirectly from Jamaica. Their history was complex. In 1655, when the English were about to take control from the Spanish in Jamaica, the Spanish plantation owners released their slaves rather than allow them to fall into the hands of the English. These freed slaves, later joined by runaway slaves, were called Maroons, from the Spanish word for wild,cimaron. They survived in the back country and maintained their independence. The British reached an accomodation with the Maroons in 1739; they could maintain their independence if they helped capture any newly-escaped plantation slaves. The British paid the Maroons a bounty of ? 3 a head for these escaped slaves. This bounty provided the Maroons with money for buying those things they wanted, such as tea and sugar, but could not produce themselves. The Maroons prospered until the bounty for returned slaves was reduced to ? 2. Resentful at this loss of income and angered by other British treatment the Maroons rebelled. When the rebellion was put down the Jamaican authorities exiled the Maroons to Nova Scotia, a singularly unsuitable place for Jamaicans. In Nova Scotia the Maroons petitioned the British Government to transport them to Sierra Leone. Five hundred and fifty Maroons arrived in Sierra Leone at the time of a local rebellion over taxes. The Maroons had a military tradition and were soon enlisted in the suppression of the rebellion. The Maroons overwhelmed one rebel outpost with a bayonet charge which prompted one rebel survivor to say to the Maroons, You dont fight fair. You dont kill em and be done with it; you pokeem, pokeem, pokeem! Nevertheless the Maroons became an integral part of the community and provided defense against the native tribes of the area. The largest source of settlers to Sierra Leone came from captured slave ships. When the British Navy began suppressing the Atlantic slave trade in 1808 there was a problem of what to do with the liberated slaves. It was not feasible to return them to their homelands. On the other hand there was no place for them in the European countries. Sierra Leone was the solution. These liberated Africans were called recaptured slaves. The captains of the ships that captured slave ships received as a reward the value of the slaves on board. This reward was paid by the British Government and the process required the legal adjudication of the guilt of the ships owners and the assessment of the value of the slaves on board. The Government chose to have this process carried out at Freetown and the liberated slaves settled in Sierra Leone. The flood of recaptured slaves raised the population of Sierra Leone from about two thousand before 1808 to fifty thousand by 1850. Early Freetown The British suppression of the slave trade did not always make things better for the Africans. Since the legal process required slaves as evidence of guilt, the crews on the slave ships in danger of capture had an incentive to throw the slaves overboard to destroy the evidence. Without slaves on the ship there would be no reward for the capturing ship. The bounty hunting ships would be faced with capturing and escorting a bountyless ship to Freetown or seeking another capture elsewhere on the high seas. Thus a slave ship devoid of any bounty might be allowed to escape. Even the capture of the slaves by the British Navy was traumatic for them. The Portuguese told the slaves that the British were capturing slaves only to sell them to cannibals. Also the journey of the slaves in the British ships may have been just as uncomfortable as on the slave ships. Freetown survived and the coastal area was made a British colony in 1808. In 1896 the British took control of the interior grass lands of what is now the Republic of Sierra Leone.