Visiting a Hinduism Religion - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 2 Words: 697 Downloads: 5 Date added: 2019/08/12 Category Religion Essay Level High school Tags: Hinduism Essay Did you like this example? I recently attended an Indian wedding with my family as my brothers best friend is of Hinduism religion. The wedding took place at India House Banquets in Schaumburg and was really interesting to compare to the many catholic weddings I have been to. When visiting this area that many Hinduism weddings take place, it was noted how different they are from Catholic churches Before discussing the most interesting ritual I witnessed, some of the things that are different from a traditional Catholic wedding were the clothes and lengths. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Visiting a Hinduism Religion" essay for you Create order As my brother was one of the men who stood up in his wedding, Hindi people celebrate week long for their weddings. One day is designated to the bride and her bridesmaids getting their henna done, another day is designated to the bachelor and bachelorette party and the wedding itself begins early in the morning and lasts all day. Another thing that I found to be amazing was the clothes they wear for wedding celebrations. The outfits they wear are stunning and they do a few outfit changes from the ceremony to the banquet hall. Overall, this was such an amazing experience and I wish everyone would have the opportunity to experience a wedding in a religion other than their own. Jumping into my favorite part of the wedding was a ritual called the Seven Steps when the couple to be married walks around this ring of fire. This is the most important ritual as after the seventh, and final step, the man and woman are legally husband and wife. This is different as in my familiar religion, the couple says their vows and undergoes a service in which they are granted marriage ending in a you may not kiss the bride. One of the biggest problems of this ritual was the language barrier but it was translated in an easier way as I asked the groom after the fact. The importance of this walk is many different prayers to their God reaching out for different blessings. The groom says something and then the bride will respond as they both are making lifelong promises to each other and to the God. Starting with the first step, they pray for healthy food and a respectful life together. The next step is physical health along with mental stability and spiritual strength to live the best and pure life as husband and wife. The third step is asking for wealth, wisdom, and prosperity. The next step was happiness for them forever and it also signifies the importance of family, parents, and elders. The fifth step was praying to God asking for his blessings and kindness on all living things. This also connects to praying for their friends and other relatives. The sixth step asks again for lifelong happiness and a long life together. The seventh step ends this ritual as it pronounces the husband and wife legally married. They both agree to have a long life together of loyalty and companionship along with honesty and universal peace. As this ritual is happening, the man always starts the pledge and the woman responds in agreement mentioning we this and that. This was something that I found to be the most interesting ritual as it is something I have never seen before. When the groom was explaining to me this ritual I found it to be so passionate and meaningful. The different steps they take show their everlasting love for each other. This relates to a theme weve encountered in our readings on Hinduism as Dharma is the universal law. Living in harmony is important as Dharma is the core of the Hindu practice. They will never go to through the afterlife process if they do not follow their Dharma. When the couple gets married, they can pursue Dharma, Artha, Kama, and Moksha together as a married couple. In India, a common way to have a spouse is through an arranged marriage and this is still in effect today as it is the most preferred way. It is very difficult to find a spouse the family approves of and family plays a major role in this religion as we have read in the Mahabharata.

Cultural Awareness Of El Salvador - 1295 Words

Cultural Awareness of El Salvador When we think of culture, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Many of us begin to envision how certain people or countries carry themselves in their daily routines. Whether it is in the way they cook, dress, celebrate certain holidays, or just other beliefs in general. Picture a country that at one-point war was so bad and constant that is was normal for women to cook for soldiers who are passing by their homes. It isn’t frowned upon to have a corrupted government because that is something they have had to deal with since their independence, and children as young as the age of seven are militants walking around with weapons in their hands, becoming social terrors. At least during the 1980’s†¦show more content†¦Throughout 1939-1971, El Salvador was run by a military-style dictatorship, causing those who had land and wealth to be stripped from them just because they could. According to Encyclopedia Britannica the persistence of this dictatorship ca n be partly credited to Augustin Farabundo Marti, who forced the Salvadorian Communist Party (2017). Proving to be a catalyst for conflicts for years to come. El Salvador has been a part of countless wars, whether it be with other surrounding countries that continue to invade, or their most recent civil war that took over 12 years to resolve and their present war with gangs. My family was unfortunate to be personally affected by the 12-year civil war that took place during the late 1970’s. My mother explained to me how socially accepted it was to feed the countries soldiers who passed by, this became part of their culture to do so now as explained by Every Culture (2017). Some women stayed home to look after their children, sow, and cook. Other women chose to arm themselves and become militants as well. It became accepted to see both women and children join the troops during those chaotic times. In 1979 to 1981, an estimated 30,000 people were killed by death squads form ed by the anti-government organization known as Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) as explained by Info Please (2017). The United States Army sent their Green Berets to help intervene andShow MoreRelatedThe And Its Effects On Health Services1588 Words   |  7 Pagesfeverish and fatigued, not any different from a common cold. In El Salvador, her fever would have been treated with a bath of boiled water with eucalyptus, mango, guavas and orange leaves. If the symptoms got any worse they would seek the help of a â€Å"Curandero†. A â€Å"Curandero† is a traditional healer that commonly uses herbs and oils in a ritualistic manner to cure patients of their physical and spiritual ailments (Torres 5-6). El Salvador is an impoverished country and access to health services is limitedRead MoreEssay about The Mother Tongue by Demetria Martinez2547 Words   |  11 Pagesof the time when she was nineteen and met Josà © Luis, a refuge from El Salvador, for the fir st time. The forth and fifth parts, chronologically, go back to her tragic experience when she was seven years old and then her trip to El Salvador with her son, the fruit of her romance with Josà © Luis, twenty years after she met Josà © Luis. And finally the epilogue consists a letter from Josà © Luis to Mary/ Marà ­a after her trip to El Salvador. The essay traces the development of Mother Tongue’s principal protagonistsRead MoreThe Fate Of The Fruit That Changed The World1135 Words   |  5 PagesThe author of the book, â€Å"The Fate of the Fruit that Changed the World† (2008), Dan Koeppel, who is a famous journalist describes in a fascinating way banana’s cultural importance, threats associated with the crops of banana in the future and banana’ history. Banana is a very delicious fruit and is eaten all over the world. Banana is one of the world’s fourth largest harvests in the world. Dole and Chiquita are eminent American based distribut ors and producers of banana. They are claiming to produceRead MoreThe War On Drugs Latin America2041 Words   |  9 Pagesthe most prominent drug cartels are Los Zetas, which started off as hit men, The Gulf Cartel, The Knights Templar, Jalisco New Generation Cartel, and the Sinaloa cartel. The position of women in Latin America has no true value due to the strong cultural acceptance of Machismo. Machismo is t strong and slightly aggressive masculine pride which thrives throughout Latin countries. Making women feel inferior is applauded but killing women or exploiting them is glorified. By way of example, women inRead More Women in the Developing World Essay1049 Words   |  5 Pagesusually say little or nothing about women’s issues. In the past two decades, two factors have contributed to the new understanding of women in developing nations: the emergence of feminist or gender-related social science research and the growing awareness by policy planners that women play an important role in the modernization process. Third world women, just as woman in industrialized nations, are largely represented in particular occupations. The majority work in agricultural employment orRead MoreNon-Profit Organization Analysis: World Vision Essay1174 Words   |  5 PagesWorld Vision focused on was orphans and other children in need, beginning in South Korea, and then expanding throughout Asia. Today, they operate in more than 90 countries, such as Ethiopia, Ghana, Afghanistan, India, Romania, Austria, Bolivia, El Salvador, Mexico, Jerusalem, and Papua New Guinea. They are now focusing on larger issues of community development and advocacy for the poor towards the end of helping poor children and their families build a sustainable future. * Matching Values WorldRead MoreRace And Racial Profiling And Gender Issues On The Basis Of My Upbringing, Experience, And Social Media1206 Words   |  5 Pagesmay have been influenced from embarrassment and boundaries of what not to talk about. Social Media Influences Growing up I did recognize my peers being different from me in physical appearance and language. Music was an influence how I understood cultural diversity by listening to the lyrics, the depiction of music videos, outfits, artists, and choreography. Television portrayed African Americans and Latino characters as a criminal compared to Caucasian characters who were the hero. I did not understandRead MoreTourism Planning5855 Words   |  24 PagesGartner (1996) demonstrates how niche tourism consists of distinct interests, culture and/or activity built tourism including small proportion of tourist in authentic surroundings. Moreover, niche tourism can fall into more specific categories where cultural, environmental, rural and urban sectors are different components to consider when understanding the concept niche tourism (Robinson and Novelli, 2005). Drawing on key literature about eco-tourism planning and how ecotourism is marketed, this reportRead MoreThe Rise of Filipino Nationalism1689 Words   |  7 Pageseducation, thereupon giving then exposure to libertarian ideas. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Sentiments against the Principales – proportion of the local aristocracy to the broad masses. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Racial Prejudice -  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Inferior race, limited intelligence 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Cultural changes -  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Ilustrados 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Secularization Controversy -  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Council of Trent – secular priests appointed to parishes. But due to lack of sec. priests, Pope Pius V issued Exponi Nobis (1567) w/c allowed the regular clergy to serve asRead MoreWhite, White And The Construction Of Cultureless Identities By Pamela Perry1661 Words   |  7 Pagesnormal, their typical lifestyle. The students from Clavey High School process it through rationalization which is, â€Å"the embedding of whiteness within a Western rational epistemology and value paradigm that marginalizes or subordinates all things ‘cultural’† (Perry, 2001). A lot of people claim that there is no such thing as white culture, Perry mentions how this article isn’t about whether there is or there isn’t it is about the way white people express themselves when they talk about not having a

IT Architecture And IT Infrastructure-Free-Samples For Students

Question: Explain the link between IT architecture and IT infrastructure. Use examples to support your answer. Answer: The IT architecture regards to the conceptual model of the components of the information technology system; while the information infrastructure is foundations or perhaps the framework which support the system (Grisot, Hanseth and Thorseng, 2014). Example when one looks at the computing, the information infrastructure is mainly composed of the physical as well as the virtual resources which usually support the flow, storage as well as the processing along with the analysis of the data (Grisot, Hanseth and Thorseng, 2014). The IT infrastructure could be centralized within the data center or even decentralized. The link exists between the IT infrastructure and architecture since the infrastructure is the one responsible in supporting the architecture; this is similar in the case of how the foundations support the buildings (Zarvi? and Wieringa, 2014). An example of this is when one create an IT infrastructure of the servers as well as the associated networks so as to apply the system architecture to be able to solve the problems within the business. It is also significant to note that the IT infrastructure is the assets; this regards to the hardware, systems as well as the network and the IT architecture is concerned with the design on how these assets work together (Zarvi? and Wieringa, 2014). One is not able to see the architecture only just the interpretation, but the IT infrastructure is all about implementation. References Grisot, M., Hanseth, O. and Thorseng, A.A., 2014. Innovation of, in, on infrastructures: articulating the role of architecture in information infrastructure evolution. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 15(4), p.197. Zarvi?, N. and Wieringa, R., 2014. An integrated enterprise architecture framework for business-IT alignment. Designing Enterprise Architecture Frameworks: Integrating Business Processes with IT Infrastructure, 63

Solutions to Computer Viruses

Table of Contents Introduction Solutions to computer viruses Conclusion Works Cited Introduction As much as technology is useful to human beings, it comes with its challenges. One of such challenge that has troubled technology users for a long period of time is computer viruses. They refer to computer programs that are created by malicious software developers or computer programmers to harm other people’s computers.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Solutions to Computer Viruses specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Computer viruses are a great problem as they cause damage to data and they can potentially lead to system malfunction (Brain 1). Other viruses can be used by hackers to get information from other people’s computers without permission. Solutions to computer viruses The best solution for the problem of computer viruses is installation of antivirus software on computer systems. Once antivirus software is installed in a computer system, it protects the computer system from such malicious software and ensures that any program that runs in the computer system is authorized. Examples of antivirus software include Kaspersky, McAfee, Norton, Avast etcetera. The only down side of antivirus software is that they are also programs and thus they are not intrinsically perfect. The antivirus software is thus frequently updated in order for it to efficiently protect a computer system (Brain 1). This may prove to be expensive to the user although the cost of updating antivirus software is not as high as the initial cost of acquiring the antivirus software. The computer system user should also be extra careful while using his/her computer. This is especially crucial when the user is working with online application since the World Wide Web has many viruses. Sometimes hackers and virus developers may even develop an application that will ask the user to click on a window to see what it c ontains. On clicking the window, the virus is permitted to run in the users computer systems and, this way, it may lead to performance bottlenecks or cause serious loss of data. It is thus of essence for users to ensure that they do not run applications that they are not sure about.Advertising Looking for essay on computer science? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Users should also avoid being gullible while viewing high risk sites like entertainment sites in which such applications are found. Other links and images that may be sent as spam messages by hackers and virus developers should also be avoided. This is because most computers get infected with viruses though the use of the internet. Conclusion With the continued use of, and advancement in, technology, a lot of technology-related problems have arisen. Viruses are more destructive than ever. Organizations are continually losing important and costly information. This call s for keener and greater care of our computer systems against the effects of viruses. Other measures that people can take to mitigate the effects of viruses are ensuring that files are properly backed-up so that once information is lost the organization does not go back to the drawing board. Efforts should also be made to ensure that once a computer system is infected with viruses, the information saved in it is salvaged. For instance, files and information in a computer system operating a Windows Operating System can be salvaged by running a live CD of the Linux OS. This is done by booting the computer system from the Linux OS CD and finding the files that are not part of the Windows System files, and are not created by the user. The only disadvantage of this kind of operation is that it requires a highly intelligent IT (Information Technology) professional. Works Cited Brain, Marshall. â€Å"How Computer Viruses Work†. 2010 – January 13, 2010, https://computer.howstu ffworks.com/virus.htm.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Solutions to Computer Viruses specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This essay on Solutions to Computer Viruses was written and submitted by user Gwyneth Leon to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

The Three Branches of American Government

The Three Branches of American Government In theory, the three branches of government serve to maintain the system of checks and balance, to prevent one branch from having more power, or too much power, than the others. This is to uphold Democracy and to prevent dictatorships and authoritarian government practices, to keep the country free, Capitalistic and Democratically fair to the people. The three branches making up the United States government are the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches, as seen in the President, the Supreme Court, and Congress. To understand why things are done this way, it’s important to know a little about each branch, what it does and why it is important. This further assures the American citizen that they live in a country run, in theory, by the whole population who select people to represent them, their needs and their challenges. The President of the United States of America is not the only one running the show. For their time, for at least four years, they are essentially heading the Executive branch of the United States government. Though they are the commander-in-chief of the American military, the President does not have unlimited power to rule the country. The President is intentionally limited in power so as to prevent a regime, where a leader has complete control over every single government entity. The Vice President supports the president in various affairs as part of the Executive branch and becomes a liaison with the Senate. Cabinet members are also part of the Executive branch and assist the President in decision-making and other responsibilities. The President can veto some bills not passed by Congress, which means the President does have certain powers not shared by members of the other branches. The Supreme Court and its Justices make up the Judicial branch. They determine if certain laws work in correlation with the United States Constitution. The President nominates each Justice, and their positions have to first be approved by a majority of those in the Senate. The Judicial branch makes sure the country’s entire law-making system is done correctly, fairly and in the name of true and fair justice and Democracy. This branch sees that the country is run legally with respect to providing citizens their Constitutional rights. The Judicial branch has the power to decide if certain laws should be incorporated into the life of everyday Americans. Most recently, the Supreme Court Justices determined that Federal bans on same-sex marriages were unconstitutional. Once that bill passed and became a Federal law, individual states were able to vote to determine if they would allow same-sex marriages. And the Legislative branch, essentially the United States Congress, in many ways collectively chooses the country’s laws and what becomes part of the Constitution, which is always being amended to reflect today’s society, its people, and its needs, challenges, and limitations. The Senate and the House of Representatives make up the Legislative branch of the American government. The Senate has 100 members, exactly two from each of the 50 states; and the House of Representative has 435 members, representing the various districts of the American population (the most populous places get more representatives). Together, they determine if certain bills should be laws to protect the rights of the people. In conclusion, the three branches of the American government works – and this system has worked for more than 200 years. The system of checks and balances is by no means perfect, as seen in how President vetoes some bills that Congress is unwilling to pass. This, of course, creates mistrust among the various branches, in turn preventing effective cooperation between the departments of the government. Nonetheless, as time goes on, this system will evolve and will one day become the common way governments all around the world will run. It equates to happy citizens who make up a happy, successful and self-preserving society.

econs assignment Essay

econs assignment Essay econs assignment Essay An economist once said that most economic activities can be summarized as, â€Å"People respond to incentives. The rest is commentary† (Mankiw, 2008). This clearly highlights how vital it is the role of incentives in the field of economy. Incentive in short means the factor that benefits a certain group of people and encourages them to an option instead of other alternatives. The reason why people respond to incentives is because it benefits them and they often get more out of the same or lesser opportunity cost. Incentives can often be seen as a form of reward, resulting in a positive impact on people. Mankiw (2008), a renowned and experienced economist from Harvard University discussed the subject of his personal work incentives. He stated the worth of incentives that kept him working as well as the opportunity to work and earn some extra pay. In Malaysia, the Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister is attempting to pacify Malaysians by assuring them that the Government is trying their very best to maintain the fuel prices even tough global prices for oil are rising (The Star Online, 2011). If oil prices increase, prices for other goods will also increase as the same time and this would lead on a negative impact for consumers. This indirect incentive that the government is helping to lift is actually allowing better conditions for consumers. On a personal level, an example of incentive in our daily life is the usage of credit cards. Credit card is an important tool in today’s world with the incentives provided including low interest rates and longer term of minimal amount repayment. However, there are many stiff competitions between companies such as Visa, MasterCard and American Express offering the same service and the only way the companies can attract customers is with their incentives. Visa gives a percentage of the purchases as cash back from some cards; accrue points in reward programs from other cards that allow the customers to get merchandise for paying their debts on time (Ramachandran, 2009). Recently, there is a new scheme that allows young adults that are earning less than RM3, 000 a month to own their own home (The Star Online, 2011). These young adults could own homes costing from RM100, 000 to RM200, 000 with 100% loans. My cousin is a newly graduated doctor that soon to be finishing his house manship now could actually afford to get his own home. Before, he couldn’t afford the 10% down payment even after 2 years working. Since this new

The Safety and Reliability Issue of Robotic System with Artificial Research Paper - 2

The Safety and Reliability Issue of Robotic System with Artificial Intelligence - Research Paper Example It is a fact that robots need human supervision or intervention for safe functioning. However, current robots need less supervision from human elements and they are intelligent enough to make necessary changes in its functioning based on the changes in the environment. Robots are currently used for people to conduct remote controlled videoconferencing, navigation, rescuing, assisting and lifting of soldiers in the war fronts etc. It is difficult to define artificial intelligence or AI in few words. Generally speaking "Artificial intelligence is the science of making machines do things that would require intelligence if done by men" (Artificial intelligence (AI)). The history of artificial intelligence started along with the discovery of computers in by Charles Babbage. Even though the possibilities of using artificial intelligence or robots are infinite, still people have many concerns about the reliability of using robots for artificial intelligence purposes. After all, robots are machines and machines cannot think as human does. It should be noted that even well experienced individuals are struggling to take appropriate decisions in this ever changing world. Under such circumstances, the reliability of depending artificial intelligence for executing complex jobs which need logical and quick decision making is highly questionable. This paper analyses the Safety and Reliability issue of Robotic System with Artificial Intelligence. Incredible speed in execution is the major advantage of robots controlled by artificial intelligence. Moreover, robots exhaust much slower than humans and therefore it can perform huge volumes of works compared to humans and that also within no time. In manufacturing units, robots can perform complicated works with utmost precision so that manpower requirements can be reduced considerably. Robots with artificial intelligence can handle million of calculations within seconds and therefore, it can perform

Sony Corporation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Sony Corporation - Essay Example It manufactures CCD, LCD and other semiconductors as well. The electronic components that it makes are optical pickups, batteries, audio/video/data recording media, and data recording systems (SONY CORP, 2012). Two people, Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita started the Tokyo Tsushin Kenkyujo or Tokyo Telecommunications Research Institute in 1946 and the main aim of this company was to research and develop new products in their efforts to always bring something new to the customer’s plate and create value for the customer. The company tried to balance innovation with the consumer benefit and convenience because customer satisfaction was its top priority. With its success and expansion the title Sony Corporation came into being in 1958 and has been there since then. The word Sony was a coined by combining two Latin words, sound and sonny. Sonus signifies sound or something that is sonic while sonny means son. Sony is a short word which has the advantage of quick recall and can also be read in any language and is a sign of freedom and open-mindedness. The variety of high quality products that SONY offers makes it one of the market leaders of digital entertainment (Louwel, 2011). It is a company that banks upon the opportunities provided by innovation and new technology. It is a company that is characterized by a forward mentality and a desire to lead and be the first one to introduce something new to the customer. The competitive products and services offered by Sony give it a lasting edge over its competitors. The factors that account for Sony’s growth and success are its strategic thinking, talented people and e-commerce (Louwel, 2011). Sony operates globally in 204 countries in three continents North America, Europe and Asia. Because of its quality and innovation, SONY has achieved brand awareness and recognition over the years. Sony’s sales in 2008 were $88.7 billion and 180,500 people worked under the umbrella of Sony Corp. In the wake of the 2 008-09 economic crunch Sony experienced falling sales, 16000 jobs were lost and 6 production bases were discontinued. The prices of its raw materials and parts also increased due to which it became very difficult for SONY to maintain competitive prices (Giusti, 2009). Methodology Sony’s innovation is not restricted to its products and services only. It has also changed the way that marketing is done globally by international companies. It gives a very participative environment to employees so that they experiment and come up with new ideas, the rich corporate culture provides employees an opportunity to stay focused, and the marketing approaches adopted by the top management have helped the overall organization. The product designers are given the leverage to come up with new products that they think are fit to keep up the good name of the Sony Corporation. There is a lot of cohesion and coordination in the organization. This democratic management style has enabled the compan y to introduce premium, unique and futuristic products and this coupled with the corporate culture at Sony, gives it a sustainable competitive advantage over its competitors. Sony has not restricted itself to one marketing approach only as it is a progressive organization and has been changing its

A Modest Proposal Essay Example for Free

A Modest Proposal Essay A Reading of A Modest Proposal concentrating on how Swift criticised the society in which he lived. A Modest Proposal is a satirical pamphlet written by Jonathon Swift in 1729. It outlines the dreadful way in which Catholics were treated by the protestant minority in Ireland during these times. During the time Swift wrote this piece of prose, a series of laws called the Penal Laws excluded Catholics from society. They made it illegal for them to own any land and if they made a profit of more than a third of their rent, they could face eviction. They lived in absolute poverty and had no human rights. Swift may have written this text for innumerable reasons but one can suggest that there were three main points: (1) to cause outrage and shock in order to get the author, Swift, much attention, (2) to draw attention to the governments refusal to do anything about child poverty and (3) to draw attention to the plight of the poor by showing that his proposal was no more monstrous than the situation that already existed. The text works by combining many elements of literary techniques, such as irony, shock tactics and moral pronouncements, in order to create the maximum response possible from the reader- shock. It can be suggested that this shock was hoped to achieve anger throughout the protestant communities and maybe to cause some civil unrest until something was done about it. The title also covers up what the proposal actually is. In a rough translation, the title could mean A humble suggestion for preventing the children of the poor from being a burden to their parents as they are of no use to their parents or society, and making them useful to the public. Though this translation may give an insight to what the suggestion is about, the reader still does not know what it actually is. The text can be split into four parts: (1) the problem, (2) the plan, (3) the solution and (4) the benefits.   The first criticism made by Swift can be found in the first paragraph, It is a melancholy object to those who walk through this great town crowded with beggars of the female sex. This shows that Swift may be implying that the proposal is about the poor people of Ireland. One may notice that this quotation is also a criticism about how many poor Catholics there are in Ireland and that something should be done about it. The next criticism is in the fourth paragraph supported by her milk for a solar year with little other nourishment. This could suggest that there is not enough food for Catholics, so they have to feed the babies on just their mothers milk, however, this quotation could just show that babies can survive on just their mothers milk so it could be a statement of fact. The next criticism can also be found in the fourth paragraph, wanting food and raiment for the rest of their lives. This can be connected with paragraph one as this may mean that the catholic children would be begging for food and clothing for the rest of their lives unless something is done about it. Another criticism can be found in paragraph six, able to maintain their own children, although I apprehend that there cannot be so many. This may appear to some readers that the author is writing about the poor state of Catholics and that they are so poor, that cannot provide for their own children but it could also be translated that Protestants think so badly of Catholics that they do not care how their children are treated. In paragraph seven, there is a further criticism concerning Catholic children. He says that a boy or girls before twelve years old is no salable commodity meaning that young children are useless to society. Swift then compares the poor children to animals in paragraph fifteen, will make admirable gloves for ladies and summer boots for fine gentlemen. Here, Swift is comparing childrens skin to leather from a cow. Going back to paragraph twelve, yet another criticism can be found within the quotation landlords, who, as they have already devoured most of their parents, seem to nave the best title to the children. This could be seen as a pun with the word devoured literally meaning that the landlord has consumed virtually all of the Catholics assets. By using this word, Swift as linked to the suggestion of eating children by saying that the landlords have already destroyed the Catholic tenants lives, so what difference will it make if they eat their babies? To make this pamphlet seem real, Swift has used a number of literary techniques, for example, he has used a vast amount of irony such as in paragraph twenty eight, he implies eating babies at wedding and christening ceremonies. Swift also uses a large amount of shock tactics, par se, paragraph fifteen, will make admirable gloves for ladies Though it may seem true, Swift does not actually mean to eat the children of Catholics. By suggesting such a hideous and shocking proposal, he would have gained much attention and reveal the way in which Protestants were treating the Catholic majority. Overall, it can be said that this pamphlet was very successful in trying to eliminate racism toward the Catholics but this prejudice can still be seen today between Protestants and Catholics in Ireland and parts of Scotland. It is also a great example to show how satire has changed very little throughout the centuries, for example, The Office is set out very much in the same way as A Modest Proposal. The same techniques can be applied (Irony ect) and some of the same subjects can still apply such as government and other races of people but most of all, this pamphlet shows the reader just how effective using satire is to get the authors point across successfully. Simon Garlinge Pre 1914 prose coursework first draft Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Jonathan Swift section.

Death Penalty :: essays research papers

Title: Death Penalty Author: Ryan Rating: 17 Rate this Paper The death penalty should be upheld by the government because countless dollars are spent holding criminals in jail. Also jails are more overpopulated than ever. What really annoys people is that these cold-hearted criminals are put on parole after only serving several years. Being against killing is okay, but putting a life to rest in order to save more lives makes more sense. Criminals live an easy life in prison, and they probably don’t think twice about their crime. First of all, people pay taxes for prisoners to live a healthy lifestyle. Criminals eat, sleep, and are even given an education. All these excessive luxuries will be taken from most of the prisoners who deserve the death penalty. The death row cellmates will be put on a strict watch of what they do. When we get more prisoners on death row who will eventually die we will save money that we usually pay to keep prisoners in jail. People who are against the death penalty probably did not have someone close to them t aken away by a murderer. The families and friends of victims have a right to justice. Seeing the horror one person or a couple can bring to many should send a message to the public that this should stop. Many people will agree that the death penalty is just. In addition the death penalty can lower crime. The way a criminal should be put to death should be taken into consideration. It should be determined by what they did to deserve the death penalty. The retaliation of the government on a criminal should be derived from â€Å"An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth† way of thinking. This issue should be debated after the death penalty is put into affect. Recent views raise a new question on an â€Å"ancient† punishment.

Perspective on Health Care Paper Essay

A)What interested me about the history of health care? There’s no doubt that the healthcare industry offers plenty of profitable careers. In fact most of the best paid and the fast growing careers belong to this industry. That’s why I am heading in Health Care Administration because I want to be an administrator for Center of Disease Control (CDC). I have passion for serving people and to make positive impact in their lives. I consider it as one of the fastest growing healthcare career and a high paying medical career and don’t only offer me a decent pay, but they provide me several other reasons. According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, eight of the top 20 fastest growing careers belong to the medical field or the healthcare industry. The industry has offer as many as 13 million jobs. Technologies had given a path way to the continuous advancement in medical field in the health system. I have to say that what interested me in the history of health care are the development of the vaccinations for disease throughout the years as well as the developments of programs like the Center for Control of Disease and Prevention (CDC) giving rise after World War in 1946. Vaccinations are what I captured in chapter one in the nineteenth century between 1850s and how about (30,000) persons died from yellow fever and cholera epidemics. Many have died from contaminated water and food, inadequate living situations and sewage disposals. Now in this century there are vaccinations for these disease and many others that has dropped the death rate since then as with better disposing of sewage and safeguarding our foods and facilities with the concern of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) have also helped with the decrease of morality, deaths and illnesses reduction. B)What areas of health care I am interested in pursuing? Why? I am interested in the Center for Disease Control (CDC), which involve national concern to deal pre-existing conditions of disease to control and prevent them. The best part about pursuing a healthcare career is that you will be making a positive impact on people’s lives. In fact, there’s no other occupation where I could get the opportunity to make such a strong impact in the lives of people. It really gives me a lot of satisfaction and enthusiasts when I can save an ending life or help bring a new life into the world. By treating different forms of ailments, and I will also make a great positive impact on the entire community. Another big advantage of pursuing a healthcare career is that I will never have a dull moment because the medical field is ever-changing; it always keeps me excited about new developments and advancements in technologies. The profession is really dramatic in nature, and I will never get bored because I want to always interacting with new patients helping them to improve their lives. Another option or choice would be health promotion so that help people learn and give information on what they can do to stay healthy that is why I am doing Information Technology System blending these courses. Another choice would be with illness and prevention services which also educate consumers on risk factors that were conveyed in chapter 2. C) Which positive and negative health outcomes linked to demographic indicators intrigued me? â€Å"Health care is the process of diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in humans.† (Wikipedia, 2012). There are many forms of care that can be practiced from medicine, chiropractic, nursing, dentistry, pharmacy, psychiatric and much more. With the fact that there is emerging trend towards overweight-obesity in poorer families, and it is one of the major illnesses that concern is attached. This is, of course, not true in developing countries, but can be seen in North America because mass produced unhealthy food is cheaper and is easier to find in poorer neighborhoods. We are putting our lives in the hands of others to care for that is why one can see why health coverage can be extremely expensive. Health care varies from place to place, and it is largely influenced by social and economic situations as well as health policies that are in place. There is a wide range of area in health care that one can contribute their help in making a difference in people’s lives. There are many forms of care that can be practiced from medicine, chiropractic, nursing, dentistry, pharmacy, psychiatric and much more. That’s primarily because 45.7 million Americans are without health insurance. That’s roughly 16 percent of Americans who sometimes have to forego healthcare, or face financial obligations with insurance providers. The primary issues are access, and affordability of healthcare. In fact, the U.S. Department of Labor estimates that the health care and social assistance industry should create 28 percent of all new jobs between 2010 and 2020. And when it comes to the industry itself, heath care is expected to increase by 33 percent (that’s 5.7 million jobs!) between 2010 and 2020. D) What resources are there for finding more information on the history of health care in the United Sates? The internet search engines, Public libraries, and my student website are ways of obtaining information. As many people have discovered, clicking on a favorite search engine and entering a disease or medical condition can often result in hundreds, even thousands, of â€Å"hints.† This can be discouraging, and here are a few ideas for filtering the available web pages to a manageable number: 1. If you are using a search engine such as Google or Yahoo, take advantage of the health subsets of these services for your search. Learn how to use the advanced searching features of the sites so that you can combine terms to make your retrieval more precise. For example, entering the term â€Å"cancer† and â€Å"chemotherapy† linked together is more powerful and precise than trying to read through all the ideas found by simply entering the general term â€Å"cancer.† 2. Become familiar with the general health information finding tools such as MedlinePlus (http://www.medlineplus.gov), produced by the National Library of Medicine, or Healthfinder  ® (http://www.healthfinder.gov) from the US Department of Health and Human Services. 3. When you have found sites that look relevant, use the guidelines below to help you decide whether the information is as credible, timely, and useful as it looks. These are few websites that we can site with viable information about health care; http://www.ahrq.gov/consumer, http://www.nih.gov, http://www.medicare.gov

Busy Bee v. Simon et al.

What steps should Gabrielle take in these circumstances to make the loan and also minimize the risk of loss to Busy Bee? What advice would you give Simon with respect to this franchise opportunity? Simon was recommended by his father to arrange financing through a company named the Busy Bee Trust Company In order to pay for the franchise opportunity. Two possibilities may occur If the loan Is Issued and the business Is established. The hot dog stand may turn out to be a huge success enabling Simon to fulfill all of his obligations towards Busy Bee.In contrast, Simony's franchise business may not turn out to be as profitable as expected, resulting In Simon not being able to pay off the loan Issued by Gabrielle. Chances are that If the franchise opportunity does not turn out to be successful, Simon will not have enough assets on hand to pay off the loan. As mentioned in the case, Gabrielle is leaning towards providing the loan: however, she should only issue it if the risk to Busy Bee is minimized. Listed below are a few steps that Gabrielle can take in these circumstances to minimize the risk of loss toBusy Bee: Gabrielle could issue a collateral loan for $20 000. A collateral loan is when something is put up as a security by the borrower which can be sold or repossessed in the event of a default. A chattel mortgage works in the same manner; except a chattel is personal property. There needs to be some form of security in order for Gabrielle to minimize the risk of the loan. The purpose of the collateral loan would be to reduce the risk for Busy Bee, since they would be able to get something of value in case a default occurred.In this case, Simon could offer any collateral of his choice including his car. This would enable Busy Bee to have the right to take ownership of the car or sell it if the loan is not fulfilled by Simon. It is very important to get the assurance from Simon that he will be securing one of his assets or money to minimize the risk to the loan . Gabrielle could also tell Simon that the loan will be Issued only if he signs a guarantee contract. â€Å"A guarantee is a promise to perform the obligation of another person if that person defaults. † By unshakable named the Busy Bee Trust Company in order to pay for the franchise opportunity. Two possibilities may occur if the loan is issued and the business is established. The out to be as profitable as expected, resulting in Simon not being able to pay off the loan issued by Gabrielle. Chances are that if the franchise opportunity does not turn As mentioned in the case, Gabrielle is leaning towards providing the loan; however, issued only if he signs a guarantee contract.

Dolly Madison essays

Dolly Madison essays There is one secret, and that is the power we all have in forming our own destinies, stated the lady in the elegant scarlet velvet gown of her own design. The material was that which had been the curtains in the White House before the British invaded and burned it on August 24, 1814. Dolley Madison escaped before the British captured her, with the curtains, as well as the founding documents of our country, including the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution that her husband, James Madison, had been responsible for writing. She also saved the Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington, by cutting it from the frame. She knew the power she had in forming her own destiny. Born to John Payne, Jr. and Mary Coles Payne, both staunch Quakers, on May 20, 1768, in New Garden, North Carolina, Dolley Payne, was the oldest daughter. She had two older brothers, Walter and William, and was followed in order by, Lucy, Anna, Mary, John, Isaac and Philadelphia. Dolleys parents owned a plantation in Virginia, also, and later in life, they would move to Pennsylvania and open a starch factory, which is why Dolley claimed to be from all three states. Dolley was groomed by doting and aristocratic parents and grandparents in the fine art of how to treat people. She learned well, because she became one of the greatest hostesses America has ever known. At a time when women were not knowledgeable about politics, much less involved in them, Dolley became quite adroit at putting people at ease, and garnering information for her husband and his colleagues, so that they could lead their young country. It all started when President Jefferson requested that she hostess his little dinner party. At first, Dolley was taken aback, until she remembered that the president was a widower, and his daughters lived in Virginia. Then she obliged him. Her first worry was about what the women would think of her attire, be...

How to Figure Out If You Should Quit Your Job [Infographic]

How to Figure Out If You Should Quit Your Job [Infographic] Can’t decide whether to leave your job? It’s often not an easy decision. But if you think through all of your options, you should be able to make your decision more confidently. Follow this flowchart from BBC to help you figure out if you should quit your job.   [Source: BBC]

The U.S.A War with Iran Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The U.S.A War with Iran - Research Paper Example Let’s first discuss why Iran is disliked among the Western nations. Iran has already been seeing tense relationship with the U.S. and its allies, since the Iranian Revolution that came about in the late 1970s. The threat to Iran’s solidarity increased when President Bush declared it as part of â€Å"Axis of Evil† (â€Å"Iran War†, para.1). This risk did not decrease with the election bringing Barrack Obama in presidency. The notion that has further triggered the decision of war with Iran is Iran’s quest in nuclear technology. According to the U.S., the fact that Iran is acquiring nuclear weapons will be a threat to world’s peace. Even the allies of the U.S. - England, Germany, and France, are worried about this nuclear state of Iran. Moreover, Israel has also a long prevailed hate relationship with the Muslim world. This hatred grew when the President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, gave some anti-Semitic statements declaring that Israel should not be present on the face of the Earth. This situation increased Israel’s worry that Iran might be acquiring nuclear weapons to destroy Israel, which being one of the U.S.’s allies.This introduction explained why the U.S. decides to enter into war with Iraq, but now let’s discuss why this is a bad strategy. First of all, it is a matter of peace. Entering into war will disrupt the peace, not only of Iran but also of the U.S. who has already lost the lives of many of soldiers in military actions against Iraq and Afghanistan.... who has already lost the lives of many of soldiers in military actions against Iraq and Afghanistan. Nouraee (para.10) states that Americans will never tolerate if the correct number of casualties of American soldiers in the war is revealed to them. War will only increase hatred and will encourage the residents of the attacked country to develop rebellious feelings toward the U.S. This will not help to decrease terrorist attacks, but will increase violence and radical hostility. It will only turn it into a global hate war. Hence, war on terror in Iran is not a good strategy, because the U.S. has already been suffering from financial burden because of heavy budgets being assigned to war on terror. The U.S. will never want to weaken its economy further. Terrorism is still increasing. Hence, we cannot relate the war on terror to increase or decrease in terrorism. War will only raise turbulence, hatred, rebellion, violence, as well as even more terrorist attacks in future. Also, war mean s destruction. War kills many innocent people along side terrorists. Little children, frail women, and old people get killed for no reason. Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan killed many innocent lives. The U.S. has always been a liberal country, as well as has always talked about the rights of children, men, women, old people, and even animals. If the U.S. enters into a war with Iran, it will be a huge threat to the liberal reputation for it. The war on terror must come to halt because it kills innocent citizens of the attacked country. Cline (para.1) writes that: One of the most common antiwar arguments is the fact that wars result in the deaths of innocent people. This objection accepts that a state may have a vested interest in

How alcoholic and drug-attic parents effects a students learner, and Research Paper

How alcoholic and drug-attic parents effects a students learner, and what is there outcome in life - Research Paper Example Children are heavily dependent on their parents especially during the early stages of their life. Parents satisfy all their demands and provide love, care and attention and thus create an atmosphere conducive for the overall development of their children. But this description is not suitable for certain households in which either of the parents are drug addicts or alcoholics. The familial atmosphere is entirely different in such cases and the children who belong to such families face a number of difficulties which cause serious damages to their character formation and also to the overall development of the child. Studies have also found that the academic performance of such learners is also adversely affected. This paper is an attempt to analyze the difficulties faced by student learners with alcoholic or drug-attic parents, to identify the impact of parental alcoholism on the life of their children and also to identify appropriate strategies to deal with such children. Challenges fa ced by learners of Alcoholic Parents Many studies have shown that most of the children start identifying the parental drug use and alcoholism between 10 to 12 years of age even though it is subjected to interpersonal variations. There are also cases in which the child identifies some sort of problem in his house even at the age of five but fails to recognize what exactly the problem is because none of the family members will be ready to explain things to him. According to the results of National Household Survey on Drug Abuse in the year 1996 8.3 million children in the United States live with alcoholic or drug addict parents and the most surprising fact is that this contributes to 11 percent of the total child population in the US. Appendix 1 provides a clear idea regarding the nature of substance abuse by parents. 3.8 million children live with alcoholic parents and 2.1 million children live in households with their drug addict parents and 2.4 million children belong to parents wh o are addicted to both alcohol and drugs (see Appendix 1). It is also observed that the children living with substance abusing parents are found in all age groups. Appendix 2 gives the statistics of children who belong to different age groups and who live with drug-attic and alcoholic parents (see Appendix 2). These statistics are quite disturbing and alarming. The drug use and alcoholism of parents put their children in dilemma at early ages which affect their character formation adversely as they grow. The effect may vary from person to person but it is much heavier in the case of certain individuals. There is a global acceptance regarding the fact that parental alcoholism adversely affects the emotional, cognitive and social functions of the children as they are exposed to the parental illness for a long period of time. There is every possibility for such persons to become anti-socials and to be involved in criminal activities and eventually to end up in prison (Frank, 1983, p.22 ). It is also possible to observe a high degree of risk involved in the case of children with alcoholic and drug addict parents to develop personality disorders, behavioral problems and ultimately to become alcoholic and drug addicts. The parent-child conflicts and conflicts between their patents may lead to impaired

Process Improvement Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Process Improvement Plan - Essay Example First process identified is going to sterile processing department. Second Process identified is taking instruments set for service. Third process identified is sharpening and repairing surgical instruments. Among the three processes, two of which can be measured. Instruments set for service can be measured for their quality, sharpness and usability. Sharpened and repaired surgical instruments can also be measured for their quality, sharpness and usability. Quality and usability are attribute characteristics of instruments that are intangible. The measurement of both characteristics can be a count of the number of defects. On the other hand, sharpness is a characteristic of the instrument that can be measured using a specialized instrument such as a micrometer. A statistical process control can be employed in order to measure the sharpness of a surgical instrument. Statistical process control or SPC is a technique for error prevention rather than error detection. The goals of SPC are to improve quality, reduce cost, increase profit and enhance competitive advantage. Steps taken to improve a process will result in fewer defects and better quality products delivered to the customer. Application of SPC can produce improvements in yield, reduce cost and increase efficiency. It can also create a high degree of visibility of process performance and can be used to determine process capabilities. Measurements will provide a comparison of performance to target objectives and assess the effectiveness of process improvements. SPC is statistically based and built around the concept that variation in a product is always present. Inherent variations occur due to wear of tools, material hardness, machine accuracy, and operator skills. In order to control the process and reduce variations, the cause must be identified through a collection of data. Mathematical distributions characterize the collected data and predict the overall performance. Variations that are outside of the desired process distribution can be corrected by improving the process directly. Three statistical tools shall be used to determine that the process is in control and follows a normal distribution curve. These tools include control charts, histograms, and mathematical analysis tests. Control charts are used to identify assignable causes of variations. A histogram is a graphic representation of a frequency distribution. Control charts for variable data will be created for quantitative measurements of sharpness of surgical instruments. Control charts for attribute data will be created for qualitative measurements or counts of defects. The average value () chart and the range (R) chart will be utilized as form of control charts in tracking and identifying the causes and variations. In making the control chart, the centerline and control limits are determined and drawn on the chart. The centerline is the average of the mean values. The purpose of the control limits on the chart is to indicate if the process is under control. It means that all are within the estimated 3 limits of the process. An upper control limit for control chart for attributes is UCL = + 1.96 x standard deviation, while the lower control limit is LCL = - 1.96 x standard deviation, where is the total number of defects divided by the number of observations. Standard deviation is defined as S = An upper control l

Research Methods in the Media Industry Essay Example for Free

Research Methods in the Media Industry Essay There’s a whole variety of reasons why research is undertaken in the media industry and there’s also a number of different ways to carry out research to acquire the different forms of information required. This report will be discussing the following in detail audience research, qualitative methods, quantitative methods, primary research and secondary research lastly consumer awareness Why we research in the media industry? As I said before research is undertaken for a variety of reasons. It might be so the director knows what they possibility may need to adjust in their production based on what it’s about, and this is known as content analysis where the producer and the director will research the subject matter to gather information to include into the final production. In addition research might also be undertaken be aware of legal restrictions for instance copyright infringement simply when you want to use the same ideas or the same content you will require written consent from the person who originally invented or owns the idea, in most cases copyright infringement doesnt protect the underlying ideas, it also doesn’t protect facts. For instance, copyright doesnt stop or limit you from expressing in your own words thoughts and facts that originate in any sources you read or view however you must give appropriate credit to the sources in which they originated from. For instance, there have been several, Alien based films, however only one E.T. Audience research Media products all have a target audience which could be defined by several factors, including age, gender as well as demographics. Whether it’s a chat show, daily newspaper, film or any other media form, each has a clear target audience. You must beware that audiences are not the same besides the audience research tells the producer what most applies to the audience how they can take advantage of what applies to the audience. They may watch previously released films/programmes and find out if they were successful at appealing to that audience. On the other hand they can observe a group viewing of a series premiere to see the group’s reaction and see if they’ve met their expectations and getting a calculation from the observation to see if they need to make some alterations to the production. Additionally Producers may also use BARB to find out further details about their selected audience what exactly is appealing to them after that discus features that will be in the production. Qualitative research methods Qualitative methods are better for finding more descriptive data and opinions because you interact with the research which lets you to explain any misunderstood questions and to go into further detail meaning you get a more factual answer. Methods that are categories under qualitative research range from case studies, interviews, diary analysis and focus groups. For instance the producers of a film will pick out a group which has the profile of their target audience, and will show them the film. This can be done both pre and post release if the film is not performing as well as predicted. The producer could then use the focus group’s response to alter or completely rethink, or even go ahead and take nothing on board and confirm the look and content of the film. Quantitative research methods Quantitative research mainly is numerical data. It could be used by producers of a film or by the company which is marketing it. UK based TV company’s use the( Broadcasters Audience Research Board) BARB for short to analyse viewing ratings, plus radio station use ( Radio Joint Audience Research Limited) short for RAJAR will view the listening numbers. Qualitative and quantitative methods are constantly used together in order to research the habits and preference of the target audience. In order to identify the profile of the audience, producers may look at current demographic models has on age or gender, or they may try to create a new audience for their film. Creating a new audience is much harder to accomplish additionally a producer may have to come up with a film which is appealing to those that feel there’s a gap in the industry, or gather a group of individuals together who all desire a possible reinvasion in the market. Finally when a target audience has been recognized, the film producer will then target the audience by using a series of carefully organised ad campaigns. The films could be promoted in newspapers that the target audience reads, also online sites which are frequently visited by the target audience, or show an ad when you’re guaranteed the most viewers such as champion’s league games or X factor episodes. Primary research methods Primary research is any research that’s done by an individual first hand. There’s a wide range of techniques for primary research from focus groups, interviews, observations and questionnaires, all come under as primary since questions are being asked directly this is research that is done first hand. Primary research is more suitable for finding out detailed information since you wouldn’t have to rely on anyone else’s results to be correct since the individual would have gathered the necessary information themselves so they know everything was done exactly how they wanted so the information is reliable. Primary research can come in the categories of both qualitative and quantitative research since there’s a variety of ways to conduct this research. Detailed look at a few the primary research techniques Questionnaires are regularly used by researchers when they need to gather essential information from a number of people targeting certain groups by age, ethnicity, and gender even social class. There practically surveys that can be sent on the internet in the post or hand out person to person. It’s easy to analyse questionnaires since its just basically gathering numbers, in addition it’s a much cheaper but sometimes a more time consuming process to gather information. Then again on the down side questionnaires aren’t able to get hold of, detailed information since they typically have closed questions yes or no type or the listed options provided in questionnaire. Another potential problem with questionnaire is that the individual taking part in the questionnaire may get the wrong end of the stick about a particular question or just not understand completely. For that reason the individual organising the questionnaire may possibly not get the right results from the questionnaire. Possible way to evade this you could do a pilot study to examine the questionnaire and make any necessary alterations after. Interview: interviews can be divided into three areas structured, semi structured, unstructured interviews. Structured: Structured interviews stick to a specific guideline with set questions sticking to the ones written. Semi structured: Semi structured interviews have some questions however questions can be added on the spot to go into more detail with the questions. Unstructured: lastly unstructured interviews have no questions set. The interviewer will bring up a topic with some questions in their head, similar to a casual conversation than anything. Interviews are mainly qualitative forms of research this method of research can very fruitful to the researcher since you are capable of going into more detail and thus gather further information for your research. On the other hand, the questions asked in an interview may be bias if the interviewer has their personal biased viewpoint placing their opinion in the questions. This may be done by the interviewer if they ask leading questions for instance. Tell us the reason why you like this film, instead of do you like the film. Secondary research methods Secondary research is gathered information that was done by someone else and made accessible to the public. For instance through archives, the internet, and other media outlets such as the news all of these come under secondary data since the information that you receive from these sources is information that the individual never gathered themselves. Potentially secondary research maybe unreliable option of researching since the individual can’t be sure that everything written is accurate since they never carried out the research themselves and they can’t test it and get the same results. On the plus side secondary research is significantly cheaper and faster process to use since the information has been completed for you already by someone else. Detailed look at a few the secondary research techniques The most common practice of secondary research done nowhere days is on the internet to think not too long ago we spent while copy the information on a copy machine. With the vast amount of online resources, traditional means of research done by books seem out dated. It’s now common for a student to complete an essay without opening a single book. However there are always pros and cons with any new technology. Some people like to say there’s a skill involved in finding a book in the library and searching. An Individual can ignore the entire topic that was read thoroughly for pertinent information. This may lead to more people getting the wrong end of the stick and not understanding the subject matter. But it’s a free vast amount of information; free for use for anybody much easier and less process, as well as getting qualitative information and opinions including polls, surveys, are simpler with the internet, assuming you’re aware of where you’re getting your information from. That could lead to a con since it’s not wise to use information from an unaccredited source, not from opinion based sites a lot of these sites around that look creditable but are far from it Consumer awareness Consumer awareness is the understanding that a consumer is knows his or her legal rights and duties. It’s essential for a consumer to stick to these rights. It’s implemented for the protection of the consumer, so the consumer is not exploited. But the producers may look into consumer awareness to discover if their ad campaign successful or if it’s unsuccessful. NRS The National Readership Survey NRS for short is provides the most dependable and respected audience research in operation for the advertising sector in the UK. The NRS reports on over 250 of the UK’s mainstream newspapers and magazines, you get a sense of the size and nature of the audiences they attract. In this always evolving digital age the NRS still create partnerships with the leading digital data sources providing a clearer vision of the combined total audience future. This is a great source for gathering information since data posted on this site are available without subscription. Already prepared for producers and so on only thing to do now is compare. Company Structure NRS Ltd is regulated and for the most part funded by three shareholders (IPA) The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (NPA) The Newspaper Publishers Association (PPA) The Periodical Publishers Association Why are the surveys so important? The way surveys are carried out affects the estimations it produces. Particularly for media measurement surveys NRS randomly selects individual aged 15+ in the UK. Only the chosen individuals may be interviewed to ensure that the surveys are clear and representative. The demographic characteristics won’t have the same reading habits according to their lifestyle and availability. It’s better for NRS to use random testing to reduce the favouritism towards people who are available for interview than others. The Interviews Structure A nonstop survey, all 12 months of the year, 7 days a week Total number: around 36,000 interviews a year with adults aged 15+ per year A random sample: interviews only conducted at randomly selected addresses with randomly selected individuals The average time for an hour takes half an hour http://www.nrs.co.uk/access.html

The Theme Of Macbeth :: essays research papers

The play Macbeth written by William Shakespeare in the beginning of the 17th century, deals with a man's turn from the king's most glorious, brave and courageous general into a traitor and murderer influenced by evil forces.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the following I am going to describe the play briefly and explain the theme of it. Furthermore I will discuss Macbeth's character and his internal conflict.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  While the general Macbeth and his friend Banquo are returning from a victorious battle, King Duncan hears of their courage and bestows the title of Cawdor on the still absent Macbeth. The two warriors encounter three witches who greet Macbeth as Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor, and „(…) King hereafter'. They prophesize that Banquo will become king though he will not himself be one. Macbeth, who is already Thane of Glamis, is startled when two messengers from the king greet him as the new Thane of Cawdor, thus fulfilling the witches' prophecy in part. When Macbeth learns that Duncan's son Malcolm has been appointed Prince of Cumberland, automatic successor to the throne, he momentarily entertains the idea of killing the king and so begins the ultimate prediction of the witches.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Banquo resists any thoughts that might hasten the witches' prophecy that his children will be kings. Lady Macbeth, however, strengthens her husband to kill the king and they accomplish it. When the murder is discovered, the king's sons, Malcolm and Donalbain, seeing a similar fate for themselves, flee Scotland. Macbeth proceeds to Scone, where he is crowned as Duncan's successor to the throne.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Banquo half-suspects Macbeth of Duncan's murder but accepts an invitation at the new king's fiest and attends it with his son Fleance. Macbeth employs two murderers to kill both in an attempt to avoid the second part of the witches' prophecies. They kill Banquo but Fleance escapes.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Macbeth decides to find the witches to demand further assurances. They answer him with a procession of ghostly appearances: an armed head which warns him against Macduff; a child covered in blood which says that „(…) none of a woman born shall harm Macbeth'; a child holding a tree, who says Macbeth will be safe until „(…) Birnam Wood (…)' comes to Dunsinane; and eight kings followed by Banquo's ghost, which, with a smile, points to them as his descendants. Leaving, Macbeth encounters the nobleman Lennox, who tells him that Macduff has fled to England. Macbeth vows to kill Macduff's wife and children.

Mass Customization Strategy in Global Supply

Master of International Business Administration 12 Mass Customization International Supply Chain Management Yuliya Samokhina, Olga Baranova, Yuliya Pronkina, Alexander Manzhosov Content The basic concepts of mass customization. Principles and goals. (by Yulia Samokhina) Introduction3 Mass Customization: main definitions3 Evolution of mass customization†¦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‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 4 Mass customization strategies: advantages and disadvantages†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 4 Mass customization as a process†¦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‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦6 Conclusion8 Postponement strategies (by Olga Baranova) What is postponement? Postponement typology based on value chain activity9 Benefits of using postponement strat egy13 Critical success factors and ideal candidate for postponement strategy14 Modular concepts (by Yulia Pronkina) Definition of modules in the framework of global supply chain management15 Types of modularity18 Benefits and drawbacks of modularity. Requirements for implication of the concept modularity19 Modularization in automotive industry (Volkswagen’s modular strategy) 21 Shared platform strategies (by Alexander Manzhosov) Introduction23 Platform concept 24 The reasons of implementing platforms25Advantages and disadvantages of implementing shared platform strategies26 Shared platform strategies 28 Volkswagen Group. MQB strategy 29 Conclusion29 References The basic concepts of mass customization. Principles and goals. By Yuliya Samokhina Introduction Today, people live in the world with developing technologies, where everyone wants to be distinguished. Companies compete with other similar firms, because they want to attract customers as much as possible. Mass customizati on can satisfy customers’ demand to help them buy products with necessary characteristics.Previously, mass production systems can’t be sufficient for manufacturer and consumers. However, mass customization decided this problem to create comfortable conditions for all to provide individual product. For example, nowadays retailers don’t want to have more collections per season, but they want to possess more styles within the season. Companies produce new lines of clothes to their shops every four to six weeks. H&M and Zara have increased production to use computer technology.  «Zara uses data from its 426 stores to spot new trends, and offers 10,000 new products a year.TopShop sells as many as 30 pairs of knickers a minute, 6,000 pairs of jeans a day and 35,000 pairs of shoes every week ». Why it occurs? The answer is very simple: supply chain in mass customization business model has to be flexible and responsive to consumer demand. Main issues will be conside red in the essay below. Mass Customization: main definitions Usually, mass customization requires very advanced and flexible network, because the original purpose of mass customization is adapting one-to-one. Now, everyone can make products by themselves.Here, I want to give more successful definitions of Mass Customization:  «Mass customization is not a pure but a hybrid manufacturing concept, which joins the efficiency of operations and differentiation by providing highly value added products ».  «Mass customization refers to a customer co-design process of products and services, which meet the needs of each individual customer with regard to certain product features. All operations are performed within a fixed solution space, characterized by stable but still flexible and responsive processes. As a result, the costs associated with customization allow for a rice level that does not imply a switch in an upper market segment ». (Piller 2005c, p. 315; emphasis in original). Thus, now each buyer can acquire any goods, but the price for it will be higher. Commonly, it isn’t problem, because each person wants to be allocated from crowd. For instance, if two girls come in school-leaving party in one dress, it will be catastrophe for them. Fortunately, our generation has got a lot of articles with topic mass customization, and then we can consider mass customization from different foreshortenings. Evolution of mass customizationFirst, I think it is necessary to briefly describe the development of mass production to mass customization. Mass customization has been one of the causes of the economic growth in the 21st century. Below, you can see figure, which shows evolution of mass customization: Fig 1: Evolution of mass customization1 The first time our civilization has faced with mass customization in pre-industrialization era. In spite of this fact, today we also have started to develop it. Of course, these times are very different, because today peo ple use modern technologies.Between these periods we can observe mass production, which come in vogue with fundamental benefit of economy of scale and it was peak in mid century. For example, it was time of Soviet Union, and then companies produced a lot of similar clothes, shoes and etc. In late twentieth century, mass customization was back. Manufacturers offer different variation of products and customization is possible. Methods of application will examine in the next section. Mass customization strategies: advantages and disadvantages It is very important to understand how the mass customization works in practice.Generally, scientists mark out four strategies: transparent, cosmetic, adaptive and collaborative. A few words about each strategy: * Cosmetic strategy: companies produce a standard product but present it differently to different customers. Thereby customers satisfied with the product, and if they want, they can change packaging, for instance, the color, accessories, a nd other customer personalities. * Transparent strategy: this strategy is used by companies, which have specially knowledge of desires and preferences of customers. For transparent strategy is actual E-business.For example, service in website can analyses purchases, then it can recommend something based on previous purchases. * Adaptive strategy: producers try to modify standard product for the needs of customers. Thus, companies try to plan and represent of almost all possible combinations of product modules, like Microsoft. Then somebody buy software, he/she can add necessary functions. * Collaborative strategy: in this case companies don’t know what customers eventually want. Companies have to understand needs of customers and help to determine with necessary product, as in result to create its.It is very often, then strategy depends on industry there company worked. For example, companies which produce food and beverages use cosmetic and transparent strategies. In my opin ion, manufacturers have to estimate their possibilities; if they want have mighty profit. Why are companies interested in mass customization? The answer to this question is presented in the benefits of the above strategies: * Maximized market share by maximizing customers’ satisfaction and number of customers. * Cut cost of inventory and material waste: production has to work as a just in time.Companies should avoid large inventories of finished goods. * Increase cash flow: lower inventories, prepayment (thus lower receivables) increase cash flow. * Shorten time of responsiveness (accumulative time from receiving orders to delivering): organization structure and flexible manufacturing in mass customization allows the company to adapt to different demands rapidly. * Ability to supply a full line of products or service with lower costs: the purpose of mass customization is to differentiate products to particular demands, resulting in broader product lines of the company and a m uch lower risk of obsolete inventory.It is obvious, that companies can’t have only positive sides. It is important to understand, which problems may arise: 1. In mass customization costs are usually greater than in mass production. In some cases the product may not be different from standard product, but the price will be higher. Buyers will be unhappy, thus mass customization is inefficient. 2. Increasing of information in the production of individual goods could lead to costs. In this case the probability of production of defective goods rises. 3. Requirements for employees should be higher. Educated employees have to offer the optimal variant responding to the ustomer’s needs, otherwise, company can lose the loyalty of customers. 4. The production process can have difficulties with flexibility. Mass customization as a process I think that it is very important to know how the customization process can be divided into many sub-processes including the main stages of th e value chain. Moreover, it can help us to understand mass customization in details. First, I want to enumerate all sub-processes and explain at greater length. * The development sub-process; * The interaction sub-process; * The purchasing sub-process; * The production sub-process; * The logistics sub-process; The information sub-process. 1. The development sub-process. The product always should develop, if company wants that the mass customization will be successful. Requirements of buyers will be satisfied and costs of production will be reduced. The modularity is quite effective decision as it allows achieving the economy of scale and economy of scope. On the other hand, the modularity can be simple for imitation by competitors and development is more expensive. Other strategy, such as a commonality and platform strategies help to work to the companies to increase reusability in mass customization.Thus, product development in the mass customization is carried out through design e ngineers. Very high effect is reached, when the client participates in development of products himself. Companies should use customers’ innovative abilities. 2. The interaction sub-process. This process is also elicitation process. Thus, customer has to find the product that exactly fulfills his requirements. Company has to understand that everyone wants. Usually, to identify four types of elicitation process: identification (e. g. name and address), customers’ selections from menus of alternatives, physical measurements and reactions to prototypes.Usually, customers buy products in the Internet (in different Internet-shops) or go to the retail center and also buy necessary thing. Today, it is very quickly and easily to use Internet. For example, Adidas offers to buy sneakers in their web-site, there everyone can create own style. The interaction process is associated with electronic features. Another important thing that in mass customization consumers are actively in volved in production process. It is normal then customers are often called  «coproducers » or  «prosumers ». 3. The purchasing sub-process. Suppliers in mass customization are the very important part in reducing costs.Companies with good suppliers have got really competitive advantage. It is fact that the achievement of high profits lies in an effective and efficient component and material purchasing. Outsourcing strategies have been formed due to the modular architectures. The modular sourcing applies to reduce difficulty in purchasing process. In this case, companies have to trust each other and closely cooperate, if they want to achieve incredible results. 4. The production sub-process. Companies should focus on the economic order quantity (EOQ). Thus, the processes of production in mass customization should be minimized.The optimization of the production is the main task in the process. If a company wants to meet all the needs of customers, the production must be flexibl e. Companies need to understand then they want to make individual product, I mean, at what stage. Producers have got two important key terms: delayed product differentiation and postponement. They are two related concepts, whereby the means placing the decoupling point at later stages in the production processes. Another one describes that some production activities are not initiated until customer order arrives. 5.The logistics sub-process. This process includes work with clients and suppliers, plus accompanying. Usually, it call terms upstream and downstream. Upstream logistic is transportation, warehousing of materials and components for production and consolidation. The downstream logistics is the packaging and shipment of end products to customers. Unfortunately, these types of logistics face serious problems in mass customization, because costs of individualization increase. The all logistic has very heavy costs. Companies spend a lot of money for transportation and warehousin g equipment.It is a reason why these companies use outsourcing. Mass customization doesn’t have inventories of end product. The companies try to work individually with each person. Nobody wants to resemble another. 6. Information sub-process. This process cooperates with all processes described above. The purpose of the information sub-process is the providing of information stream. The effective information system should capture following stages: customers needs, develop a list of product requirements, determine manufacturing specifications with respect to routing, material processing, assembly and etc.Radio Frequency Identification can help to make identification. In spite of the fact that modern technologies are very useful, it remains very expensive. Another useful method for the coordination in mass customization is Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI). Any supplier has got timely information about stock levels of modules and components. In addition, the integration of ERP (En terprise Resource Planning) helps to improve the agility and adaptability to unforeseen events. The mass customization will make profit if the software is constantly developed and updated.Finally, companies should work with a large number of data very accurately. I try to consider mass customization not only as one whole process, but separate sub-processes. It helps to understand the nature of mass customization. However, I should mention interrelated strategies such as postponement and modularization, because usually these strategies allow the companies to work successfully. In my essay I will give short concepts of strategy as below in this work other students will describe them in details. Modularization is necessary for the success of mass customization where set-up costs are critical.Also, modularization allows making rapid assembly and costing efficiency. Modularization usually uses in this field such as computer science, construction, design engineering and production. The ma in idea in modularization is the breaking down of the product into standardized components or group of components, which is called modules. The second strategy is postponement:  «Postponement means delaying activities in the supply chain until customer orders are received with the intention of customizing products, as opposed to performing those activities in anticipation of future orders ». These strategies are quite often used.Every year, the mass customization will be more popular in the companies. Conclusion of this part In this essay, I consider the most important aspects of mass customization. First, it was given the basic concepts of mass customization. I tried to examine the most important definitions and to explain the essence of mass customization. After that, I described a little history from mass production to mass customization. History has shown that the mass customization has already been applied to date. Now companies are using modern technology, so the result of up-to-date mass customization is different.Companies produce products more quickly than ever before. Information technology is used in all stages of production, which helps companies to satisfy consumer preferences. Also, I examined mass customization not only as a single process, but also to separate the process in parts, included development, interaction, purchasing, production, logistic and information sub-processes. Each sub-process has to be adjusted in order to avoid stagnation in the production and filing warehouses. In the essay, I also mentioned the main advantages and frequently used strategies.The company chooses the strategy which it thinks it is the most appropriate strategy. Usually, the strategy depends on the industry in which the company operates. In my opinion, the mass customization is developing and is very useful for manufacturers and consumers. First, customers are satisfied with goods with necessary characteristics. Second, company in the event of mass custom ization has lower costs compared to if it was made for each customer a totally unique product. Finally, I want to emphasize that the mass customization has both advantages and disadvantages. The company has to make a choice itself.Postponement strategies By Olga Baranova What is postponement? Effective management of a supply chain includes thinking creatively about how to integrate and perform logistics and manufacturing activities. Postponement strategy offer opportunities to achieve delivery of products in a timely and cost-effective manner by rearranging the conventional production and logistics structures, which are often designed and managed autonomously. Thus, postponement, also known as â€Å"delayed differentiation,† is a supply chain strategy that delays product differentiation at a point closer to the customer.This involves designing and developing standard or generic configurable products that can be customized quickly and inexpensively once actual consumer demand is known. Postponement also entails the implementation of specific inventory strategies to deploy inventory farther away from the customer while fulfilling service level objectives and reducing inventory costs and minimizing risk, strategies for holding the right inventory, at the right place, in the right form. By pushing the point of product differentiation closer to the customer, postponement can improve customer service levels, reduce inventory costs, and increase top-line revenue.The postponement strategy is based on the following two basic principles of demand forecasting: 1. The  accuracy of the forecast  demand decreases with an increase in the time horizon. The farther the time window for which the demand is being forecasted, the more inaccurate it will be. The figure graphically represents this effect as a funnel: as time extends farther into the future, the forecast error grows, showing that the forecast demand will have larger and larger variations as time periods pr ogress into the future. 2.Demand projections for a product group are generally more accurate than projections for individual products. It is much easier to forecast the total demand for LCD TVs than it is for an individual TV of a specific brand, model, screen size, resolution, and color contrast ratio. Postponement typology based on value chain activity It is based on the review of 15 studies; Table 1 was developed to summarize the terminologies used to define different postponement types. These define postponement on the basis of activities or place to differentiate between different postponement types.The check marks in front of every study indicate the postponement terminology used for that study. The following section (table 1) summarizes these terminologies under product development, purchasing, manufacturing and logistics postponement. Table 1 Summary of postponement terminologies based on the review of studies Product Development Postponement Strategy Product development pos tponement is considered extreme form of customization with all activities including product design taking place after the placement of an order.Moreover in this case, the customers are also involved during the design stage. Product development postponement strategy is preferred in highly volatile environments, involving high levels of uncertainty in terms of consumer demands, technological developments and government regulations. 2 For instance Toyota deals with the high levels of uncertainty by letting their suppliers come up with novel ideas and designs without limiting them with strict specification constraints. The suppliers have total independence to explore different areas within a broad range of design specs.During that time, people at Toyota continue gathering market data on consumer demands and technological trends, till some convergence is achieved. 3 Purchasing Postponement Strategy In the case of purchasing postponement strategy, the purchasing of raw materials is postpo ned until the information on downstream demand becomes available. Purchasing postponement strategy is preferred when the demand is highly uncertain, raw material has high obsolescence cost and is of high value in terms of total product cost or ties up huge amount of working capital.Purchasing postponement would work when the market lead time is greater than the manufacturer’s production lead time plus the suppliers lead time. 3 However, if the market lead time constraints the manufacturer from applying purchasing postponement, it can be adopted selectively for a range of products. This would be possible if the company is able to differentiate between base demand and surge demand. For base demand it can proceed with forecasted demand and purchase raw material or even proceed with production in case of longer production lead times. However for surge emand, the company can wait till demand pattern becomes available and then it can proceed to place orders. In order to manage supp lies for the surge demand, the manufacturers can have separate design of supply chain to deal with the surge demand, since under most scenarios regular production lead time for the surge demand would be greater than the market lead time. This design would be based on speed and agility with focus on fulfilling orders quickly rather than focusing lower cost by setting up fast production lines and purchasing raw materials from a different set of suppliers.However this would be feasible when the increase in cost due to fast paced production would be less than the gains accrued by adopting purchasing postponement strategy. This fact is highlighted by the postponement strategy adopted by Benetton, an apparel manufacturer, which separates between base demand and unpredictable demand. For the base demand, Benetton subcontracts to low cost sources, which have higher lead times, while for the unpredictable part, they utilize their own flexible facilities which have higher operating costs.Howe ver for purchasing postponement to work, it is imperative to have high level of collaboration between the manufacturers and the suppliers. Suppliers are required to respond to the downstream demand in minimum possible time so that the manufacturers can deliver within the market lead times, while resorting to purchasing postponement. In recent times e- market places have sprung up, enabling the manufacturers to get linked with the suppliers without any geographical constraints3. This increases the options of the manufacturers to respond to actual demand.However, having suppliers or their stock centers in close proximity to the manufacturers would support purchasing postponement strategy. Moreover this type of impulse buying contradicts the approach of developing long-term relationships with the suppliers and could also jeopardize the relationships with the existing suppliers. From a supply chain perspective, purchasing postponement involves shifting the ownership of the goods to the most suitable location. However in case of an imbalanced power structure, a manufacturer might force its suppliers to hold finished goods inventories in order to reduce its own risk and uncertainty cost.In this situation the suppliers are left with speculating the downstream demand, often resulting in the overall inventory buildup or ‘Bullwhip’ effect in the supply chain, which reduces the efficiency of the entire chain. 3 Manufacturing Postponement Strategy Manufacturing postponement is based on holding products at platform level later to be customized as per demand pattern. This is based on the principle that it is easier to forecast demand pattern at component level as compared to finished product stage3.It involves delaying manufacturing activities and holding inventory in neutral form till the demand pattern becomes visible. Thus this strategy works where there are multiple product derivatives, which could be due to different cultural, technological or market relat ed issues. High product variation makes it difficult to forecast and hold inventory at finished stage. Manufacturing postponement allows companies to operate without holding finished goods inventory while maintaining bulk of their inventories at pre-customized form.The inventory at this level has lower risk attached to it because their raw state permits them for wide usage variations. 4 For example, fashion apparel retail business is marked by high product obsolescence costs. This is because of the fact that product are planned long before the actual demand information becomes visible. Zara on the other hand has been able to capture market trends by reducing the time required to introduce new products. Among other steps, Zara uses manufacturing postponement to reduce its lead times.Zara concentrates its forecasting efforts on the kind 14  and amount of fabric it buys. Zara gains more speed and flexibility by purchasing more than 50% of its fabric un-dyed later to be used for vario us products and lines (platform based). It reduces the cost as well as the chances of forecast errors. In un-dyed form it is easier to convert fabric to other uses, while it gives Zara the flexibility to adapt to colors close to the selling season based on the immediate market needs. 5 Assembly postponement StrategyThe computer industry selling customizable product especially through the internet practice assembly postponement strategy. The customers select from various options such as color, memory specs, processors, and the companies such as Dell, HP and Compaq assemble the required models from components received from the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs). HP postpones the final assembling step to the last stage at the local distribution centers and once demand becomes visible, final manufacturing/assembly activities such as power supply, packaging and labeling are carried out.Labeling postponement Strategy Labeling postponement is adopted when the products are marketed und er different brand names or are distributed to different markets. For example at times the same OEMs are used by different brands for their products and the OEMs mark the products with labels after receiving respective orders. Similarly certain apparel distribution companies keep products 16  unmarked and upon receipt of orders from various institutions print their logos before dispatching the orders. Packaging postponement StrategyPackaging postponement strategy is adopted when the products are marketed in different bundles or package sizes. 6 The final packaging is delayed till orders are confirmed. Packaging activities are generally performed in the downstream locations such as centralized distribution centers. Logistics postponement Strategy Logistics postponement involves a delay in the final movement of the goods. Instead of placing the goods at the final point in the supply chain, they are kept at a central location, with the aim of following the demand pattern for the fina l shipments. This helps to reduce the inventories in the supply chain 17 while at the same time improves customer responsiveness. 3 Maintaining inventories at final locations would increase the inventory costs while at the same time would result in stock outs at some locations and excess stock at other locations. Logistics postponement often involves the repositioning of the final manufacturing activities downstream closer to the end user. This helps particularly where local variations in terms of consumer preferences exist, which could be better, catered to by carrying out the final customization at the local distributer level.Logistics postponement suits those products, which have higher inventory cost and lower transportation costs. Logistics postponement in most of the cases requires a faster and more responsive transportation system and can result in higher transportation costs. Benefits of using postponement strategy Successful postponement implementations improve customer sat isfaction while minimizing inventory costs. By improving their ability to respond to changes in demand from local and global markets, companies are better able to compete on time while remaining cost competitive. Improvement in Customer Satisfaction: Increased ability to offer a wider range of customized goods * Reduced lead time for orders Reduction in Inventory Cost: * Inventory costs shift upstream to less expensive generic products, which also reduces inventory obsolescence costs * Enables better planning and allocation of resources by reducing the forecasting horizon * Reduces inventory costs by as much as 30% to 40% in successful implementations Improvement in Order Fill Rates: * Since finished products are manufactured from generic components, companies are better able to deliver finished goods on time as a result of postponement.Bottom-Line Benefits: * Overall, postponement’s primary benefits are to reduce the effects of market uncertainty and to meet customer needs, while effectively managing supply chain costs. In many cases, lower overall supply chain costs were achieved by respondents. Critical success factors and ideal candidate for postponement strategy The keys to a successful postponement strategy are to produce standardized products and to incorporate customization at the most advantageous point in the supply chain.Proceeding from the aforesaid it is possible to allocate the following factors: * Organizational buy-in and support is the primary critical success factor * Implementation of appropriate inventory deployment strategy * A postponement strategy is destined for failure without consistent top-down support from design through implementation * Product design modularity and business process reengineering are critical to ensure smooth execution * Collaboration among all internal functions of the supply chain, as well as with suppliers and customers * Proper metrics and incentives are also importantResolving the competing interests wi thin a company’s supply chain is also essential. Without collaboration, including changes in the rewards and metrics structures of a supply chain, the changes associated with postponement often result in poor execution. In addition, external collaboration with suppliers and consumers is critical. If suppliers cannot respond to the changes as a result of postponement, and if product design is not tailored to customer requirements, postponement can result in cost overruns and increased lead times.The foundation of every successful postponement implementation is organizational buy-in. If management is not willing to take risks, implement significant changes, and monitor adjusted metrics, they will be less likely to reap the benefits of postponement. While many industries and companies are prime for postponement, there are certain business conditions that position a company for a more successful postponement implementation. Prominent among these are companies that produce a signi ficant variety of products with short product life cycles and which have a supply chain able to support mass customization.Regardless of business conditions, effective postponement implementation still requires collaboration, organizational buy-in, concerted effort, and the right information technology backbone. Modular Concepts in the Framework of International Supply Chain Management By Yuliya Pronkina In recent years, the competitive dynamics in general and the demand for product customization in particular have increased considerably in virtually all industry sectors: partly as a result of new low-budget competitors in the global markets and partly by increasing demand for technological performance.The ability to react quickly to unexpected market changes is one of the decisive reasons for the development of modular product architectures. If a company wants to remain competitive or expand its market share, it is posed to manage the compromise between such conflicting goals as: * low costs; * short lead times; * high quality of product. Modular strategy is intended to resolve this conflict and be able to become a solution to growing complexity of customizable production. It closely links with modular platform systems.In fact, modularity enables manufacturer to combine advantages of mass production (high volume, large quantity production) and product variety (flexible and versatile manufacturing systems, product tailoring, etc. ) at reduced cost and increased economies of scale. All in all product development strategies such as modularity, product modular platform, etc are the key to achieving low cost customization The modular concept has played significant role in the development of mass customization. This article examines main aspects of modular concept in the framework of global supply chain management.Definition of modules in the framework of global supply chain management To understand what modular strategy represents we tried to give the definitions of â€Å"modules† and find its real position among other strategies of mass customization. According to the Oxford Dictionary, definition of modules in general is following: Module is each of a set of standardized parts or independent units that can be used to construct a more complex structure, such as an item of furniture or a building. There are convenient statements among authors of studies about general meaning of modularity.According to them we can conclude that modularity refers to an approach to organize complex products and processes efficiently by decomposing complex tasks into smaller parts. It allows the tasks to be managed independently and yet work together as a whole without compromising performance. Thus we can consider modularity as the ability to configure product variants by mixing and matching components within similar product architecture to create variety of configuration without losing its functionality. Examples of modules would include many components in automobiles: engines, transmissions, audio equipment, tire/wheel options, etc.In electronics, modules would include processor boards, power supplies, plug-in integrated circuits, and disk drives. In software, code could be written in modules (objects) that can be combined into various combinations. In fabrication modular strategy is applied as flexible platforms for creation a significant number of product variations, enabling a firm to gain cost savings through economies of scale from component commonality, inventory, logistics, as well as to introduce technologically improved products more rapidly.Modular architectures allow firms to minimize the physical changes required to achieve some functional changes. Hence all the physical changes can be easily combined without adding complexity to the manufacturing system and, hence, to managerial system. To explore the concept of modularity and consider it in the framework of supply chain management, we decided to compare the differen ces between integral and modular product architecture and make further comparisons between corresponding supply chain architecture.Product architecture. Integral product architectures are those in which each component is provided directly and specifically to overall performance. Parts and interfaces tend to be proprietary. On a highly integrated product like a military aircraft, every part and system has been designed to perform a specific task. Modular product architectures use standard interfaces and can employ off-the-shelf components for much of assembly. Personal computers, clothing, and many other products employ modular architectures12.Supply Chain Architecture. Integral (traditional) supply chains require vertical integration within a primary firm or tight coupling of several firms in order to meet demanding, proprietary design specifications. Modular supply chain architectures are horizontal, with many competing firms specializing in aspects of the overall product. In other words, modularity in supply chains implies that the various units of organizations are freely divided, can operate independently, may be easily reconstructed.The concepts of product modularity and supply chain modularity are rather interconnected: changes in the product architecture result in important implications for the supply chain structure and re-distribution of activities across the logistics networks. This figure 2 shows us the simple scheme of interconnections of final assembler and its suppliers in traditional supply chain and modular supply chain. (2) (1) Figure 2. Simplified scheme of integral supply chain (1) and modular supply hain (2) In modular supply chain first tier suppliers are providing modules in the form of subassemblies, are not only components, therefore a modular supply chain is characterized by the presence of value-adding tier-suppliers that coordinate the work of the second tier suppliers. In non modular supply chain the role of assemblier is played onl y by a local firm. In the result of rather different approach, modular supply chain fosters some distinctions comparing to the traditional one. In the following table we compare the main features of supply chain depending on its mode of organization. Table 2Main features of supply chain depending on its mode of organization11 | Traditional supply chain| Mass customization supply chain| Interface compatibility effects| * Integrated vertical structure * Long development lead times| * Modular product architecture * Reduction of development lead time| Component customization| * Design and manufacturing focus * In-house product development * Standardized components| * Autonomous innovation in NPD * Customer focus * Design for manufacturability| Value inputs| * Economies of scale * Exploiting advantages of market mechanism * Standardization of operations * Consolidation of outbound logistics| * Outsourcing * Flexibility towards specific customers’ needs * Economies of scale and sco pe| Supplier-buyer interdependence| * Supplier involvement in development not critical * Multiple sourcing| * Early supplier involvement in NPD * Strategic partnership * Supplier as system integrator * High interdependence| The good example of applying modular strategy in practice is the following.Two German automotive companies, Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz decided to develop the auto industry's modularization in the mid-1990s. Their built new plants, which started production in 1996 and 1997 according to the new modular concept on a relatively large scale, specifically at Volkswagen’s plants in Resende (Brazil), Boleslav (Czech), and Mosel (former East Germany), and Mercedes-Benz's plants in Vance (U. S. ) and Hambach (France). These plants had two main features. One is that they have assembled cars from relatively large subassemblies. As we can know a car is a system made up of numerous components. At conventional plants, individual components —— for example, instrument panels, gauges, and wire harnesses —— one by one to a vehicle body on the final assembly line.Instead, at those new plants, these individual components are subassembled on a separate line, and then installed as a module into a body on the final assembly line14. Suppliers procure their own materials and labor force to create separate modules, while Volkswagen provides the infrastructure and designs the interface between manufacturing units. These measures let companies reduce their costs, because on its new plants there were no need in â€Å"blue collars† (administrative staff), for instance, and its modular outsourcing made significant advantages which are resulted in an ability to issue a wider variety of final products in shorter time periods and at lower cost. Types of modularityThere are six types of modularity for the mass customization of products and services: * component-sharing modularity, * component-swapping modularity; * cut-to-fit modula rity; * mix modularity; * bus modularity; * sectional modularity. The following characteristics of different types of modularity are done by contemporary authors who are mostly referring to Ulrich and Tung study â€Å"Fundamentals of Product Modularity† (1991). We supposed it is convenient typology and decided to base further information on this ground (figure 3). In component-sharing modularity, the same component is used transversely in different products to provide economies of scope.There is a base unit of common components and changeable part. This kind of modularity never results in true individual customization, but allows reducing costs and increasing variety of products. Figure 3. Types of modularity In component-swapping modularity it is possible to change options on a standard product. Modules are selected from a list of options to can be added to a base product, for example cars. The good example for this is the â€Å"Configurator† on the internet site of V olkswagen, where customers can choose additional features which can be added to the base model with several clicks. So customer can make a decision which is convenient for him.Cut-to-fit modularity is similar to component-sharing and component-swapping modularity, except that one or more of the components is variable. The module can be changed before it is combined with other modules. The good examples for it are eyeglasses, or clothing. Mix-modularity is also similar to component-sharing and component-swapping modularity, but is distinguished by the fact that when combined, the modules lose their unique identity. An example is house paint. When particular colors of paint are mixed together, those components are no longer visible in the end product16. Bus modularity uses a main platform that can add different components to it.So in the result there is the infrastructure that is really required for each consumer. Sectional modularity is the type of modularity that provides the bigges t variety and customization among other types of modularization. Functionally it is rather close to component swapping, but focuses on arranging standard modules in a new, unique form16. In this case each component is connected to another making achievable the configuration of any number of different types of components. The most popular example is Lego. To be able to use this type of modularity a manufacturer has to develop a special interface of its product that allows sections or objects of different types to interlock16.Benefits and drawbacks of modularity, requirements for implementing of the concept Taking all into consideration we can list main benefits of modular strategy: * Economies of scale and scope which mean an ability to improve overall performance of production concentrating on divided modules. Suppliers and sub-suppliers have an opportunity to produce higher volume of its â€Å"modules† and apply its core-competencies to production. * Increased possibility of product/component change and updating. Since each module interface is strictly specified, changes can be made to a module independently of other modules, as so as it is wider open for further product development. * Reduced order lead-time.Since modules are manufactured in relatively large volume, the logistics of production can be organized so as to reduce manufacturing lead time. Hence, the order lead time can be reduced. * Development of product variety. The use of modules means that a great product variety can be achieved using different combinations of modules. * Separated tasks. Since the interfaces and modules have been standardized, their interfaces enable design tasks and production tasks to be decoupled. This dividing can result in reduced task complexity and in the ability to complete tasks in parallel. For instance it is easier to test it before final assembly, quality management can become more efficient due to separated modules. The ease of product upgrade, maintenance , repair, and disposal. Customer without any problem can change one module to another, for example he can buy an improved video card for his computer, or change an engine module in his automobile17. Although applying modular design provides a number of advantages across the organization, companies must also consider the less discussed drawbacks when evaluating the decision to implement modular design or reviewing existing modular processes. * High Initial Investment. The initial costs to reconfigure existing systems and processes are high. Reconfiguring to the modular design is a complex task, which may disrupt the existing flow of the product pipeline. Lack of Customer-Centricity. Focusing on cost-efficiencies company can lose clear vision of customer needs. * Coordination Complexity. Modular design requires a significant restructuring of processes and can increase product development complexity if companies do not assign clear ownership and collaboration with suppliers in a well-p lanned implementation process to avoid duplication of processes and inconsistency across product specifications, purchase orders, and manufacturing plans. * Supplier Risk . Companies can experience delays, incorrect specifications, and poor material quality. Hence there is a necessity of well-organized control in this case.Also, companies may have to share information and technical expertise to ensure suppliers deliver according to new specifications and cost. A company surrendering too much technical expertise, especially in areas that provide a competitive advantage, may lose technical control to the supplier * Intellectual Property Risk. Producing modules simplifies the product architecture, enabling competitors to recognize without difficulty technologies and copy modules. According to that, organizations must increase patent documentation to prevent competitors using key modules in their product architectures. In modular supply chain management, suppliers have a relatively high degree of freedom in production.However it is possible only with long-term commitments and aggressive cost goals. It is clear, that modular strategy has its basic requirements for the suppliers and manufacturers which enable them work together to create value. To implement modular strategy company should be able to meet such requirements, as following: * Particular organization structure. The organization structure should be flatter with fewer levels, and creates a freedom for the coordination among processes (modules). It focuses on a high degree of cross-functional integration and employee participation. This results in a much higher degree of decentralization in decision making.Besides, the structure is open to suppliers as well as customers because they (suppliers and customers) are considered extensions of the organization; * Management focuses on three parts: supplier relation, customer relation, and resource management; * Readiness of inputs when needed (this requires an eff ective supply network), skillful, highly educated employees with excellent technical qualifications; * High standardization of components. Also adjusting a company’s organizational structure with a modular product architecture requires the constant support and enduring responsibility of the top management. The level of quality control and coordination in development of modules should be in a high level.Effective development and efficient use of modules requires changes in the existing processes in many ways. Modularization in automotive industry (Volkswagen’s modular strategy) As usual, the automotive industry is a leader in implementing and communicating a modularization strategy. The Volkswagen Group is characterized by its global presence and comprises numerous brands. The Volkswagen Group bases its great success on three major modules which are shared on a broad scale. The successfully implemented modularization strategy is one of the key factors which will enable the Volkswagen Group to become the world leading car manufacturer, not only in terms of sold units but also in terms of superior margins8.Now The VW Group is a large automotive empire encompassing 10 brands, 240 models produced across 94 sites in 153 markets, totaling over 8. 3 million vehicles made each year. The sheer scale of its operations across so many different countries meant that variability of its products is very high. Applying of modular strategy by Volkswagen meets customers’ expectations for a growing variety of vehicle models, equipment features and design. Through the modularization of the body, vehicles can be produced in different stages for the length, width and wheelbase – an approach that benefits the manufacturing process. We’ll discuss the main features of Volkswagen modular strategy created in its â€Å"Modular Transverse Toolkit (MQB)† in the next chapter.To sum up, companies that are striving to be competitive and still want to h ave a relatively high profit margins and market shares in our case can choose mass customization strategies and modular strategies in particular because: * Modularity makes complexity manageable * Modularity enables parallel work; * Modularity is tolerant of uncertainty. Shared platform strategies in the framework of international supply chain management. By Alexander Manzhosov Abstract The logical order of development of international markets, industries and customers behavior led businesses to a new frontier of competition for manufacturing industries as well as for service industries – to Mass Customization.The core reason for such a change in the market concept was a dramatically increase in diversity of consumers needs within market segments. And as the world recognized guru of management Peter Drucker once said:  «It’s a customer who determines what a business is. It’s the customer alone who’s willingness to pay for a good or for a service convert s economic resources into wealth, things into goods.  » Translated to the real terms that meant for the manufacturers a new challenge of meeting various customers needs while carrying on following to basic trends of reducing costs and development times of a product and optimizing core business processes.That’s why platform strategies were designed and applied to increase the efficiency and profitability of manufacturing. This paper seeks to identify the phenomenon of shared platform strategies, research their advantages and disadvantages for supply chains and study the consequences of implementing the strategy on the case of Volkswagen Group. Key words: mass customization, shared platform strategies, supply chain. Introduction Many modern manufacturers are seeking new ways to improve their Key Performance Indicators (KPI) and concentrating their facilities on cost reducing while offering the collection of competitive goods in many different market segments. And one of the m ethods of achieving this goal is by implementing shared platforms approach.The benefit is possible to be gained because of coordinating of engineering processes with the actual production system and supply chains. The platform allows companies to share not only components, but also production tools and machinery. Thus our first effort to establish the basis of the concept of sharing platforms among the family of products is to define the term â€Å"platform†. After that there is a further problem of realization in which way does the concept affect the company and how the enterprise can get a competitive advantage by mean of implementing shared platform strategies. Platform concept The ideas of sharing platforms have received increasing attention in product development and operations management in the time when mass customization era arose.So companies had to â€Å"produce goods and services to meet individual customer's needs with near mass production efficiency†. The platform concept is closely tied to models of product architecture, modularization and standardization. The platform itself can be defined as â€Å"a relatively large set of product components that are physically connected as a stable subassembly and are common to different final models†. The definition has been stated above can be clarified by Figure 4. Figure 4. Three different products build on the same platform The figure illustrates the general idea of platforms sharing. Three different products are assembled by combining elements A, B, C, D, E.According to the illustration it can be concluded, that this product family consists of the element A (platform) and a set of other elements used in a modular way. What emerges from the definition and illustration that in general designing a platform is about creating common shared components and systems throughout a family line, while providing differentiated features and benefits to add value to each production unit (Figure 5). Figure 5. Common principle of sharing platforms . The trick here is that totally different at the first sight products from different brands and from different price segments of the market can be equal in engineering terms.Still the platform is not a universal cure. And based on empirical evidence there are some preconditions of implementing platforms: * The product family shares basic groups of elements * The product family is supposed to have a long lifecycle * The level of interconnected systems among the product family is relatively high * The technological environment of the market tends to constant updates * The core functionality of the products is stable but variable in the terms of non-core functions All these criteria are not ultimate and the suitability of decisions taken depends on specificity of organizations type and the product characteristics as well.It also should be added, that depending on criteria mentioned above and the target of the manufacturer, platforms can be categorized into 3 types: * Modular * Scalable * Generational The main difference by such a categorizing emerges owing to the strategy of launching the product line. The modular platform usually allows designing functionally different product variants. On the contrary, scalable one aims at creating functionally equal products of many capacities. And the last one, the generational platform is used to be a basis for new generation development. The reasons of implementing platforms It follows from what has been said above, that the platform concept is a quite flexible approach for manufacturers, moreover sometimes it seems vital for staying competitive on the market.And now we can pass on to the issues closely related to the platform implementation and it’s consequences for the companies operations and supply chain structure. Nowadays critical issues for consideration in the Supply Chain Management (SCM) are cost containment, development know-how and resources, product qualit y and logistics. As the supply chain can be represented as the combination of enterprises involved in activities from the supply of raw materials to the manufacturing and delivery of the goods to the customers, the success of the whole supply chain depends on how to generate the most efficient configuration of the products, manufacturing processes and supply sources. In this connection a question is bound to arise whether the shared platform approach is an effective method or not.This brings us to advantages and disadvantages of such a scheme. Advantages and disadvantages of implementing shared platform strategies The purpose with platform sharing is to reduce the cost and have a more efficient product development process. And according to the purpose announced from m point of view it’s possible to classify advantages of shared platform strategy into three key groups: * Quantitative * Qualitative * Customer-oriented Quantitative advantages by this mean include such factors as : 1. The Global standardization 2. The Economy of scale 3. The rationalization and the reduction of R&D costs The value of the standardizations is quiet obvious.By creating a common platform for the product line the company creates â€Å"flexibility†, which allows not only to produce dissimilar models according to individual customers’ and even countries’ tastes but also provides an opportunity to standardize production facilities and streamline logistics and management as well. The economy of scale in this case follows directly from the previous factor: the commonality of the exploiting components, modules, mechanisms, assembly lines reduce overall costs and simplifies the business and technological processes within the company sparing human and monetary resources. The next important issue concerns R&D costs. The unity of components under one single platform helps dramatically minimize the cost of developing product lines. Once the platform is designed, the com pany doesn’t need to spend millions on engineering new components.And platform efficiency – â€Å"the ratio between the average R&D costs (or development time) for derivative product over the cost (or time) spent for the platform† increases (the lower the ratio the more efficient the platform is). Such an effect is possible because different products share the same technology process, structure and production mechanisms. Qualitative advantages include: 1. Increased quality and innovations 2. Easer inventory management The proposed components’ commonality is a multi-oriented tool: platform sharing allows manufacturers to design parts with fewer variation. A byproduct of this is increased quality, which results in lower defect rates.On the other hand, people want value for their money they want new technologies. And eliminating the need to engineer separately thousands of parts allows research and development assets to be focused on fewer technologies foste ring innovation and quality improvements in the minor set of technologies. One more critical point is inventory management. It’s apparent that in any supply chain a tremendous amount of inventory is held in the form of components. And it’s essential to mention that the inventory amount corresponds always to the uncertainty of demand for the finished product. In that way by implementing a platform the manufacturer is able to use it in multiple finished products.So the demand for the platform and all components the platform consists of is an aggregation of the demand for all cross-platform finished products. That’s why â€Å" the use of common components (or set of components – platform) in a variety of products has been a very effective supply chain strategy to exploit aggregation and reduce component inventories†. Another clear benefit concerns the relations between suppliers and manufacturer. By implementing platforms the producer decreases the un certainty of demand on different components. That creates a win-to-win situation for both business partners by enabling them to build long-term relationships. The last group of advantages is customer oriented and includes: 1. Faster response to changing market needs 2. Greater product varietyIt’s critical to mention, that this group of pros can be clearly defined through observation on previous advantages. And faster response to changing market needs occurs because platform sharing allows manufacturers to design and launch new products faster and cheaper. And the trick is here that the development and cost of the original platform for new goods have already been paid for. Such flexibility provides an opportunity to the company to diversify its assortment and satisfy different market shares. However it’s impossible to complete the study without highlighting some possible problems when using platform approach: 1. Product dilution 2. Incompatibility 3. Risk concentrationP roduct dilution means that a platform, depending on the common machines and systems, can be extended thin if it becomes a source of too many disparate models. Moreover, platforms that span across models of different stature increase the risk of cheapening luxury products or adding unnecessary cost to lower-end segment. Another challenge is incompatibility. A platform’s differentiating technologies must be carefully engineered to integrate with the standardized systems. Otherwise, producers will have to perform modifications to make the two types of technologies compatible. These compatibility regulations first of all are not differentiating modifications and secondly they provide zero value of their own to the finished product. The last but not the least possible problem is the risk concentration.Producers may face greater overall risk if the underlying platform they’ve developed and implemented is accident-prone. A defect in a standardized technology multiplies the ri sk across the whole product line, which leads to expensive potential recalls. Shared platform strategies As has been indicated, in general implementing a platform promises much more benefits than negative consequences. And once the decision to implement platforms is considered, there are various strategies for the product implementation (Figure 6). Some of the most widely practiced platform strategies are No Leveraging, Vertical Leveraging, Horizontal Leveraging and the Beachhead Approach. Figure 6. Shared platform strategiesNo Leveraging platform is usually designed especially for a single market segment. Such strategy is implemented for high scale goods wi