Managerial Economics: A Game Theoretic Approach Essay

Using computations from Assignment 1, determine the market structure in which the low-calorie frozen, microwavable food company operates. The market structure that this company is likely to be in is the oligopoly structure whereby it could be in a duopoly or not. A duopoly is a market structure in which there are few firms in the industry. It is a market structure that lies between two market structures, that is, perfectly competitive market and monopoly. There are two or more sellers but the number of sellers is not as large as that of the ones present in a perfectly competitive market. The firm can be categorized as a monopoly mainly because of the cross sectional demand of the firm. The cross price elasticity demand of this particular firm is 0.68. This simply means that an increase in the prices of the competitors ’ product by one unit implies a 0.68 unit increase in terms of the quantity demanded. This basically implies that the cross sectional demand in inelastic. As such, the increase in price, decrease in price or generally the change of prices by this particular firm will not have a significant effect i n terms of the quantity demanded. This is the ideal representation of a firm in an oligopoly. The scope for individual action can be said to be way greater than in the case that the product was differentiated. In other words, one individual seller does not stand to lose in the case that he or she decides to charge a higher price. For this reason, this firm is definitely under an oligopoly market structure.(Webster, 2003) Outline a plan that will assess the effectiveness of the market structure for the company’s operations The issue of prices is basically the basis of the plan that is to be formulated. Generally, the price quantity combination depends upon the actions that are taken by the rest of the firms in the duopoly. In other words, the profit that is accrued by each and every seller is a result of the decisions that have been reached by each individual seller. The monopoly price that will be charged under this market structure could come with a series of consultations or simply individual experiments. For this particular firm to maximize its profits it needs to fix its price through an analysis with the assumption that there exists only one firm in the market. In the event that the firm fixes its price higher than this price, it will make gains. In the event that it fixes the price lower, it will lose. Given that business operations have changed from the market structure specified in the original scenario in Assignment 1, determine two (2) likely factors that might have caused the change. Predict the primary manner in which this change would likely impact business operations in the new market environment. The assumed market structure was that the firm was under a perfectly competitive market. It however turns out that the firm is in an imperfect market, a duopoly precisely. There are a number of f actors that are likely to have caused the change in this market structure. One of the reasons is that there probably existed one factor of production that is owned by a few firms only. As a result, not many firms are able to produce the product. Besides, it is also a possibility that there existed many firms initially in the market under a perfectly competitive market. These firms could have decided to merge thereafter and consolidated themselves into one major firm with the aim of reducing competition. In this way, the number of sellers reduces. Analyze the major short run and long cost functions for the low-calorie, frozen microwaveable food company given the cost functions below. Suggest substantive ways in which the low-calorie food company may use this information in order to make decisions in both the short-run and the long-run. TC = 160,000,000 + 100Q + 0.0063212Q2 VC = 100Q + 0.0063212Q2 MC= 100 + 0.0126424Q The total cost function is an increasing function of quantity produced. This implies that an increase in the quantity produced results to an increase in the cost of production. This is consistent with economic theory. The intercept of the total cost function is 160,000 meaning that when no quantity is produced, or rather when the quantity produced is zero, the fixed cost is 160,000. The Marginal Cost function is also an increasing function of quantity produced. It gives the effect of producing an extra unit. The firm should thereby produce up to a level whereby the cost of producing an extra unit does not exceed the returns from that particular unit.(Hirschey, 2008) Determine the possible circumstances under which the company should discontinue operations. Suggest key actions that management should take in order to confront these circumstances. Provide a rationale for your response The firm should discontinue its operations in the case that the Total costs are more than the total revenue. This would imply that the firm is making losses. The firm should also discontinue its operations in the event that the marginal costs are greater than the marginal revenue. That is, the cost of producing an additional unit is greater than the cost of selling that additional unit. The firm should also discontinue its operations in the event that the marginal revenue is zero or less. This is with regard to the law of diminishing marginal revenue which holds that the revenue from selling an additional unit will increase to a point where an additional unit of input will not increase the quantity produced. In this case therefore, extra costs will be incurred in the process of producing an extra unit but revenue will not change. This is an unproductive phase of production. Suggest one (1) pricing policy that will enable your low-calorie, frozen microwavable food company to maximize profits. Provide a rationale for your suggestion. At ceteris Paribus, the demand function of the market is The demand equation will be as shown below, with all other factors held constant: Q = -5200 – 42*(P) + 20*600 + 5.2*5500 + 0.2*10000 + 0.25*5000 Q = 38650 – 42(P) P = 38650/42 – (Q)/42 The equilibrium prices and quantities are; 5200 + 45P=38650 – 42P 33,450=87P P = 384.48 Q = 5200 + 45*(384.48) = 22,501.6 Total Revenue = Price X Quantity = {38650/42 – (Q)/42  }Q MR= 38650/42 = 920. 23 = P The average revenue should be equal to the price and give the demand function. The best pricing solution that this firm can and should make is to produce at this price. Outline a plan, based on the information provided in the scenario, which the company could use in order to evaluate its financial performance. Consider all the key drivers of performance, such as company profit or loss for both the short term and long term, and the fundamental manner in which each factor influences managerial decisions. Being a firm under the oligopoly market structure, the firm should put the concept of price leadership into practice. Essentially, this simply implies that the firm should be able to put itself out as a dominant firm and as such it should be able to command the authority to set the prices in the market. It should also be able to be the firm that commands any change when it comes to prices in such a way that it has the ability to change prices while the other firms follow suit. The firm therefore is in a situation in which it is able to control prices to its benefit. As a consequence, the other competing firms will not be able to maximize their own profits unless they follow the prices that are set by this firm. In other words, a special monopoly is created in the duopoly. (Washick, 2005) Recommend two (2) actions that the company could take in order to improve its profitability and deliver more value to its stakeholders. Outline, in brief, a plan to implement your recommendations. Due to the homogenization of products, there is the problem of competition especially among the buyers. This simply implies that there will be one single price for sellers. As a result, the best recommendation with regard to the action that the firm should take is to ensure that they maximize on output. A change in terms of output by the seller has a very significant effect in terms of the prices of the good that is produced. As much as the actions of his or her rivals could be somewhat unknown, it is most definite that the other sellers will change or alter the prices in a way that they will match the output. An increase in terms of the output also implies that the firm will also increase its revenue. The Collusion Solution is also another recommendation that could be used by this particular firm in question. This basically implies that the market participants could always try and join together in the event that the participants find that the competition is too much, they could join together so as to create one competitive firm. (Waschick,2005) References   Fisher, T., & Waschick, R. (2005). Managerial Economics: A Game Theoretic Approach. London : Routledge. Hirschey, M. (2008). Managerial Economics. New York: Cengage Learning. Webster, T. J. (2003). Managerial Economics: Theory and Practice. London: Academic Press. Source document

Proper Role of Government

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The Effectiveness of Tanglewoods Recruitment Strategy Case Study

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Comparison of the three plays in the Oedipus Trilogy in regards to the Research Paper

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U.S. TRADES Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

U.S. TRADES - Essay Example The major export categories were Machinery, Mineral Fuel and Oil, Vehicles, and Plastic. NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) has promoted this link by including wide-ranged, market-opening regulations in the agreement. It is also developed a more impartial set of trade policies so the trade barriers can be decreased and removed in Mexico (BesedeÃ… ¡, 2013). Since this agreement was signed, the trade has increased sharply among the nations who are parties to it; however, this increase of trade activity has caused increasing trade deficits for the US with both Canada as well as Mexico. Japan is the third largest partner of the US with around 300 billion USD in goods and private services trading during the year 2013. In 2010, the Economic Harmonization Initiative was launched between US and Japan to boost the economic growth of both countries by promoting collaboration to harmonize policies that facilitate trade. With the four percent (around 3.00 billion USD) drop as compared to 2012, the US goods trade deficit with Japan was 73 billion USD during 2013, and accounted for 11 percent of the entire US goods trade deficit. The Asia-Pacific region is of vital significance for the US as it is the rapidly developing region as well as a key driver of international economic development. In fact, the region already formed more or less 60 percent of international gross domestic product and around 50 percent of global trade, and is likely to grow by nine percent in 2014. During 2011, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) nations had the entire GDP of 18 trillion USD, of which more or less â€Å"85 percent comprised the US economy† (Williams, 2013, p. 98). United States exports to existing TPP affiliates were around 110 billion USD during 2011 and imports were 95 billion USD, indicating that the US had a trade surplus with existing TPP economies of approximately 14 billion USD. Benefits to the US from the trade

Macbeth and Free

Macbeth and Free Will Essay In Desiderius Erasmus’s Defense of Free Will, he refutes Martin Luther’s creed that God predestines everyone’s lives and instead asserts that man alone possesses the power to choose his own path to either salvation or damnation. The play Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, raises similar questions – did the protagonist, Macbeth, willingly choose to commit such atrocities as killing the king and his court to feed his own ambition, or did he merely play the role of a pawn, performing that which fate bade him do? Amid much controversy over this issue, evidence both in Erasmus’s critical essay and in the play itself affirms that Macbeth cognitively decides to act as he does in the play, confirming Erasmus’s perspective and suggesting that people have the ability to dictate their own fate through their thoughts, decisions, and actions. Through his interpretation of the Old and New Testaments in the Bible, Erasmus writes in favor of free will over predestination, a concept that, when applied to the character Macbeth, raises questions about the motives behind his detestable actions. In his essay, Erasmus explores the â€Å"power of the human† (46) to â€Å"turn away from what leads to eternal salvation† (46). According to this opinion, Macbeth makes a conscious choice to pursue a life of crime and sin, instead of simply following his fate. Macbeth’s plea that the â€Å"stars hide [their] fires† (1. 4. 57) so that â€Å"light [would not] see [his] black and deep desires† (1. 4. 58) indicates that Macbeth remains aware that his â€Å"wicked, rebellious will† (Erasmus, 48) lies within himself, and he fears the consequences of his sinful deeds. This very fear of punishment reflects the existence of free will in Macbeth as Erasmus inquires, â€Å"why [should God] curse me, when I sinned through necessity? † (47). Macbeth’s clear understanding of the evil that he plans to commit and his fear of divine punishment suggest that characters in Macbeth choose their actions as opposed to following their destiny. Macbeth’s evil actions, however, are not completely driven by an inherent evil nature; although he does have free will in the play, he becomes a slave to his ruthless ambition because of his own moral weakness. As Erasmus writes, â€Å"there are certain seeds of goodness planted in men’s minds† (50), although â€Å"the will is perhaps more inclined to evil than to good† (50). In other words, everyone possesses both good and bad within them, and it is up to the individual person to â€Å"[turn themselves] towards, or away from, faith† (48-9). Macbeth’s apparently latent moral code surfaces occasionally throughout the first act in his moments of wavering in his violent resolve; he tells Lady Macbeth that they â€Å"will proceed no further in this business† (1.7. 34) in one of the scenes preceding the murder. However, the manipulative Lady Macbeth must only mention that which Macbeth desires and question his masculinity to crush Macbeth’s good side and force it to submit to his evil ambition. The ease with which Lady Macbeth extinguishes Macbeth’s doubt of the evil plan highlights Macbeth’s weakness for his ambition. Macbeth becomes a slave not to the devil, but instead to the very evil that resides within himself. Neither heaven nor hell predetermines Macbeth’s actions in the play; it is in fact his inability to compromise his ruthless ambition that ultimately forces him into crime. He chooses to sin of his own accord, and therefore faces his final punishment that sets the world back in order at the end of the tragedy. Through their individual works, Shakespeare and Erasmus imply that humans have free will to determine their own actions, and only the strongest of heart will succeed in accomplishing the work of God.

Science a boon or a bane Essay Example for Free

Science a boon or a bane Essay In my view, I think that science is a boon as -well- as a bane, science is a world of knowledge. Each and every problem has a solution in science and each and every problem is created by science to our environment and our Eco system. There is a saying that anything over in use is harmful. In the same way science if overused is harmful. Knowledge can be used in a good way and also in a bad way same thing in science it can be used in good way as well as in a bad way. It depend on us how we use it, there are many advantage and disadvantages in it.

Challenges to the LEGO Group

Challenges to the LEGO Group In the recent times worldwide economy has become highly volatile and was vulnerable to a multitude issues. One such example is the latest financial crisis. Such volatility creates a variety of challenges to small and large enterprises around the globe. One of the biggest challenges for manufacturing companies is to deal with rapidly increasing globalization and competition. The solutions require the development of agile and rapid supply networks in order to cut costs and meet demand. Producers are becoming more aware of supply chain management. This awareness shifts the focus from internal logistics efficiency to the external network of relationships between various parties in the supply chain. The well-known Danish toy manufacturer LEGO has not been insusceptible to these changes. LEGO has faced major challenges, which required drastic changes within the organization. This included a transformation of the companys supply chain management system. LEGO Group had to deal with probably the most significant financial crisis since the company was founded in 1932. LEGOs crisis was not clearly visible from the outside. In fact LEGO had maintained brand recognition. This earned them the title Toy of the Century from the British Association of Toy Retailers and Fortune magazine. LEGO was the fourth largest toy manufacturer in the word and had sold US$1.35 billion worth of toys in 2004. In spite of this success, the company was losing money since 1998. LEGO had various internal operational issues. This included a complex and ineffective supply chain, which at one stage consisted of 11,000 contractors. In an attempt to address this problem, in 2004 LEGO board of directors set a goal t o cut 20 percent of logistic costs. This resulted in the risky decision to outsource a major part of the production to Flextronics, a Singaporean electronics manufacturing services provider. LEGO also established a single distribution center in the Czech Republic operated by DHL. (M. M. Larsen, T. Pedersen, D. Slepniov 2010; K. Oliver, E. Samakh, P. Heckmann 2007; J. A. Cooke 2009) Such a risky decision involved a long-term relationship with Flextronics that was not without challenges. In this research paper an overview of challenges and solutions of the case company LEGO Group will be presented. The main focus will be on LEGOs supply chain management system transformation, which was a major step towards success. The following research questions will serve as guidelines for this paper: What challenges did LEGO Group face and what decisions were made to address those problems? How did Supply Chain Management transformation helped to deal with these issues? In this paper we will first explore the Supply Chain Management (SCM) concepts. Next the case company LEGO Group will be introduced. We will then present overview of the challenges that LEGO Group has faced. The focus of this paper will be the SCM decisions that were made to deal with these problems. SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT CONCEPT The globalization is increasing competition and forming new conditions for conducting business. This requires companies worldwide to rapidly respond to their customers demands and develop products. These companies must also apply information technologies in supply chain collaboration (J. S. Arlbjà ¸rn et al. 2006) Such conditions increased the importance of logistics and SCM role within organizations as it can become a major competitive advantage. Commonly, the major improvements in logistical functions may not be needed within the organization itself. It may be more beneficial to analyze the organizations supply chain. This involves various interdependent parties. SCM co-operation is gaining in major strategic importance and usually includes such characteristics: co-operating is based on end user requirements, long term co-operation and high trust between actors in the supply chains or networks, shared risks and benefits, cross coordination on various levels between companies, shared visions and similar company cultures. The advantage of such close co-operation is a more transparent supply chain. This can lead to reduced lead-time, lower uncertainty, optimization of stocks and higher capacity utilization. (T. Skjoett-Larsen 2000) The concept of SCM often represents the broader view of logistics as its main function is to ensure the smooth flow of materials from suppliers to organization and then out to customers through the operations within the organization (D. Waters 2003). The purpose of SCM can be described as to remove redundancies and communication barriers through coordination, monitoring and control functions (D. Power 2005). The supply chain usually consists of different organizations and processes, which are aimed to ensure the smooth flow of materials from the initial supplier to the end customer. In many cases, manufacturers get their materials from a large number of suppliers and sell to different customers, which is the case with LEGO Group. In figure 1, you can see an example of the supply chain around a manufacturer. Materials move from several tiers of suppliers though organization to several tiers of customers, such as wholesalers, retailers and end users. Figure 1: Supply chain of manufacturer (D. Waters 2003, 9) The toy industry is one of the oldest creative industries in the word. However, C. Y. Wong, J. S. Arlbjà ¸rnand J. Johansen in their study named Supply chain management practices in toy supply chains(2005) state that such creative business is very seasonal and volatile with strongly fluctuating demands, very short and specified selling windows as well as short product life cycles. Moreover, the toy industry can be described as intensely competitive on pricing and innovation, where retailers often start competing with their suppliers. The authors conclude that most retailers and manufacturers use a push business model. This model includes low utilization of technology and information sharing as well as slow implementation of supply chain initiatives. INTRODUCTION TO THE CASE COMPANY: LEGO GROUP LEGO can be certainly defined as one of the most famous brands in the toy industry. The Danish companys toys are enjoyed worldwide by children and adults alike, who use thousands of different pieces to construct buildings, robots and other toy. In 1932, Ole Kirk Christiansen, a Danish carpenter founded a company named LEGO (Danish words Leg and Godt, meaning play well). Originally a woodworking business for furniture, LEGO began producing childrens toys in 1934. The company presents itself by stating: It is LEGO philosophy that good play enriches a childs life and its subsequent adulthood. With this in mind, the LEGO Group has developed and marketed a wide range of products, all founded on the same basic philosophy of learning and developing through play. In figure 2 the core building blocks of LEGO Group are presented. (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010; LEGO Group, Corporate Communications 2009) Figure 2: The LEGO Company (LEGO Group 2010) Pursuing such a philosophy, LEGO has grown tremendously since its establishment. By 2009 the company was the worlds fifth largest toy manufacturer in terms of sale with 290 Million US Dollars in revenues and approximately 7000 employees around the globe. The LEGO brick which is possibly the best known toy was first introduced and patented in 1958. It has since then represented the core success and image of this company. With two just bricks there are 24 different combinations and with six there are 915 million possibilities. This enables limitless creativity. As previously stated, before LEGO brick was named as Toy of the century by Fortune magazine and later by British Association of Toy Retailers as well. (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010; J. Tidd, J. Bessant 2009) http://cache.lego.com/r/aboutus/-/media/About%20Us/Media%20Assets%20Library/Logos%20Bricks%20and%20Generic%20images/ts.20120125T101709.2x4brick_red.jpg Picture 1: Lego brick (source lego.com) Segmented product categories include: Pre-school products for the youngest children, who had not started the school yet, includes LEGO DUPLO products. Creative building sets or buckets of LEGO bricks without instructions. Play themes products the products with particular stories, such as airports, racing tracks and hospitals, including LEGO City line and BIONICLE. Licensed products related to movies and books, such Harry Potter, Star Wars and Indiana Jones. MINDSTORM NXT programmable robot kit. LEGO education products that are developed for educational purposes. LEGO Games new product line started in 2009 for board games. LEGO operates in over 130 countries worldwide. The companys largest market in the U.S., with together Australia, New Zealand and UK accounted for 30 percent of revenue in 2007. Despite constant challenges and growing popularity of consumer electronics, LEGO is continuing to expand. (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010) Crisis and solutions In the late 1990s, the company started to have difficulties. This resulted in a major crisis and almost ended in bankruptcy by 2004. LEGO was losing huge sums of money every day, estimated at economic losses of 375.4 thousand U.S. dollars per day since 1998. When sales dropped 40 percent in 2004, it was clear that radical changes had to take place. There are many speculations, why such a well-known and previously successful company started running on tremendous losses. (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010) One possible reason was increasing competition in their main product area. This was disruptive at its nature. One such example is the Canadian company Megabloks. This company offers a wide range of building toys at a highly competitive price. Also, the increasing popularity of computer games reduced the demand for traditional toys. Another possible factor was the over diversification of product line as LEGO moved into more areas like theme parks ,apparel, clothing, television and even computer games. Such diversification was a result of, as the company claims, a loss of confidence in their core product the Lego brick. The increased complexity of product portfolio confused not just the customers, but employees as well. (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010; J. Tidd, J. Bessant 2009; K. Oliver et al. 2007) It was mentioned before that LEGO GROUP had around 11,000 suppliers, which was twice the number that Boeing used to build its aircraft. Such inefficiency and inflexibility was soon recognized and attention was directed to the supply chain, which was 10 years out of date. Moreover, low quality customer service and product availability decreased the value of companys franchise. Jà ¸rgen Vig Knudstorp, newly appointed CEO, stated: From my perspective, the supply chain is a companys circulation system. You have to fix it to keep the blood flowing. (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010; K. Oliver et al. 2007) It was acknowledged that solving problems related to global supply chain could build a strong base for major changes in the organization. This could also be the needed step forward towards cost-effectiveness and an improved business model. However, such big changes are not easy to implement and presented significant challenges for LEGO Group Transformation of supply chain management LEGO Group decided to optimize their supply chain in order to deal with the most significant crisis in the companys history. LEGO realized that it was dragging behind retail giants such as Wal-Mart and Carrefour. These companies had invested huge amounts of recourses into sophisticated and efficient supply chain management systems. LEGO Group started losing the competition to companies, which optimized their costs and provided just-in-time services to its customers (K. Oliver et al. 2007). Transforming such a gigantic and complex supply chain as well as removing the inefficiencies was a very challenging goal. Keep in mind that by 2004 company had around 7000 employees working mainly in two factories and three packaging centers, located in different countries. Further issues and changes within different areas of supply chain management will be discussed, including product development, distribution and manufacturing. Product development Product development and innovation was extremely important for LEGO as it presented the core of what this company was really about. Changes in this field were difficult to implement. This was in part because of its delicate nature and inside resistance from employees. LEGOs development lab called Kitchen was steadily producing new innovative products and ideas. However, management realized that new products were returning less profit and cost more to produce. Developers and designers did not account for production and supply chain issues, in their designs. Consequently, the variety of various components and features as well as product complexity became overwhelming and started to cause major problems in manufacturing and distribution. LEGO bricks and other elements came in more than 100 color tones. LEGO sets became increasingly elaborate with thousands of different figures. (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010; K. Oliver et al. 2007) Such cost ineffective creativity caused problems like large stocks. This was because of seasonal demand fluctuations and short delivery times. Moreover, large amount of components and products required large investments in molds, while just 30 products generated 80 percent of companys sales. Therefore, LEGO decided to drastically cut down the number of components and features. This reduced costs in the supply chain and created a better opportunity for production outsourcing. Management revised a number of daily solutions in order to cut the costs, simplify production and eliminate inefficiencies. The palette was decreased to around 50 colors. A major reduction in variety of pirates, police officers and other figures was recommended as well. Moreover, resin-sourcing analyzes helped to cut its resin costs in half and reduce supplier number by 80 percent. Simultaneously, LEGO Groups operational team created cost matrixes and revised set of rules concerning creation of new colors, compon ents and ordering of new materials. Such step helped product developers to choose more cost-effective solutions and recognize the limitations. (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010; K. Oliver et al. 2007) Distribution Another area of LEGOs supply chain that required major improvements and cost reductions was distribution. At that time LEGO served thousands of smaller stores with a great responsibility. This came at a very high price, although those shops accounted just for one third of its revenue. Company had increasing amount of inventory and lost sales, because of multiple-tier inventory system to serve smaller customers from different distribution centers. The redefined distribution policies had to be developed in order to avoid costly small deliveries and labor costs associated with pick-packing in the distribution centers. (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010; K. Oliver et al. 2007) In order to serve customers in 130 countries around the world, LEGO had 11 warehouses and distribution centers in high-cost countries like Denmark, France, Germany and Switzerland. LEGO also employed 55 transportation providers for inbound and outbound shipments. In order to move its distributions closer to the customer and reduce exploding transportation costs, the company defined clear service policies. This helped to shift the focus to major retail chains. This also provided for more accurate demand forecasts, reduced complexity and certainly the costs of distribution. Furthermore, LEGO Group decided to centralize its distribution by closing five distribution centers in Europe, and creating a single distribution center near Prague in the Check Republic. The country was mainly chosen because of a high availability of skilled low cost labor. LEGO leased large buildings from the commercial realtor ProLogis. LEGO also decided to outsource operations to third-party logistics company D HL supply chain. (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010; K. Oliver et al. 2007; J. A. Cooke 2009) By 2007 a newly consolidated distribution center was serving all of LEGOs markets except the U.S., where Exel Inc. was responsible for distribution operations. Such changes reduced the complexity of supply chain, simplified the inventory optimization and reduced average distances to the market. This lead to increased customer satisfaction and significantly reduced overall logistics costs. Despite the outsourcing, LEGO maintained close collaboration with its carriers and still makes many decisions. The results of such collaboration are reduced negative effects of market seasonality. Moreover, by applying developed Web-based transportation management system LEGO was able to change the shipment scheduling and improve load consolidation. (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010; J. A. Cooke 2009) Manufacturing The improved production in the supply chain was probably the most important and complicated step. The challenges came from the way LEGO organized its production facilities and the complexity of manufacturing operations. In some way chaotic production operations resulted in low 70 percent of overall capacity utilization. There were hundreds of independent production units within the facilities that could place their orders in any manner. This was often without balancing supply capabilities, inventory levels and demand needs. Consequently, such fragmented system did not support long-term planning and resulted in high costs and low efficiency. Moreover, the production sites were located in high-cost countries as Denmark, United States and Switzerland, while just 10 percent of production was outsourced to China. Production sites mainly operated according the branding strategy, where, for example, Swiss factories only manufactured DUPLO and Technic products. (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010; K. Oliver et al. 2007) One of the first steps was to set clear production cycles for machines instead of having them available to produce any element at any time. This approach helped to reduce constant and costly retooling as well as balance production operations. Furthermore, orders were set in the monthly meetings in that way eliminating the number of changeovers (K. Oliver et al. 2007). However, the major decision concerning production operations was to outsource large part of the production to external packaging and manufacturing service providers. One of the reasons was to cut the costs by moving the production from high-cost countries. Another reason was to reduce the number of subcontractors and utilize the economies of scale, having in mind that LEGO was producing about 24 billion bricks per year (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010). Consequently, the production capacity in Denmark was reduced and sites in Korea and Switzerland closed. LEGO Group engaged into cooperation with packaging service suppliers: Sonoco, Greiner, Weldenhammer and 2B Pack. The most risky and complex partnership was made in 2006 with Flextronics, a Singaporean based electronics manufacturer. Several product lines, like Bionicle and Technic was still mainly retained by LEGO, but the higher volume and more simple Duplo and System lines were handed to Flextronics production sites in Hungary, Czech Republic and Mexico. This helped to reduce the distance to customers. However, the relationship was not successful and contract with Flextronics was terminated from January 1, 2009, while LEGO continued with smaller outsourcing contracts. The main reasons for the failure are connected with delicate nature of toy industry and could be described in short (H. B. Dinitzen, D. Bohlbro 2010, 71-72; M. M. Larsen et al. 2010): 65% percent of production had to be done during the third quarter of the year main holiday season. Products have a lifetime of 16-18 month. Sales uncertainty is around 30%. In figure 3, the timeline of LEGO and Flextronics cooperation is presented, including goals and challenges. Despite the failure, LEGO Group has learned a lot from this outsourcing attempt, which had a positive impact in the end. Figure 3: The timeline of LEGO and Flextronics collaboration (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010, 16) In 2008 LEGO started the process of sourcing back the production, while the first factory in the Czech Republic was taken over, followed by Hungarian and Mexican facilities. In Mexico, LEGO Group eventually moved the production to a new plant, which started operating in first quarter of 2009. The final benefits of collaboration were connected mainly with gained experience in various operational fields. It helped to establish new facilities in Mexico and Hungary, while production units were no longer following branded approach, but instead serving its respective markets. Moreover, LEGO significantly improved documentation and standardization of business processes. Standardization resulted in almost halved size of components, from 12,000 in 2004 to 6000 in 2008. This enabled more flexible, efficient and smoothly running supply chain. (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010) CONCLUSIONS In the end it can be stated that by taking clearly defined and harsh restructuring strategy, LEGO Group was able to defeat the crisis and become one of the successful and largest toy producers again. This statement can be backed up by financial figures, which indicate that in 2008 and 2009 company reached profit of DKK 315.6 million and 375 million U.S. Dollars, respectively. This was the highest in LEGO Groups history. (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010) A significantly restructured supply chain helped to increase the efficiency of major business operations as well as increase the overall customer satisfaction. LEGO managed to reach and, in some levels, even pass its competitors, while still cooperating with biggest retailers in such fields as joint forecasting, inventory management and mass customization. However, such transformations required dealing with many challenges, including terminated cooperation with Flextronics. Nevertheless, it gave LEGO valuable knowledge about outsourcing operations and its inner characteristics. In the end, unsuccessful outsourcing practice resulted in factories in Denmark, Czech Republic, Mexico and Hungary, which gave the needed supply chain flexibility in order to meet the global demands. Improved parts of supply chain such as product development, sourcing, distribution and manufacturing creates a well developed business model that serves as a major competitive advantage. Finally, after successful supply chain transformation, LEGO Group can shift more attention to increasing the satisfaction of its customers by developing well-liked toys for children and adults.

Thank God its Friday :: essays papers

Thank God its Friday The movie Friday is a comedy, but it also depicts many important social issues. The story is set in the city of Los Angeles, California, in what could be called a high-class ghetto. The main theme of the movie is about a young black man who loses his job and is influenced by his best friend to smoke marijuana. The movie also shows the relationships of his family and other members of his neighborhood. With a zany cast of characters and a hilarious script, the movie touches on everything from gang violence to the use of drugs, crime, guns, relationships, sex and life in the ghetto. Because of all these issues, I found this an interesting movie with a wide variety of topics to address. Marijuana has been around for a long time. Its use is once again becoming popular. Although it's not legal, many people use it socially and for medicinal purposes. The Hollywood elite smokes it. Musicians such as Dr. Dre and the Black Crows celebrate its use. Television shows like Saturday Night Live and Kids in the Hall depict it as harmless fun. In the movie Friday, rap star Ice Cube plays the character Craig. Craig has never smoked marijuana. However, his best friend "Smokey" smokes marijuana everyday. Craig looses his job, leaving him home all day with nothing to do to occupy his time. He just hangs out in the neighborhood with his friends. Smokey tries to convince Craig to try some marijuana. At first Craig doesn't want to. Smokey is persistent. He points out to Craig that he doesn't have to work and he doesn't have anything better to. Craig and Smokey eventually sit on the front porch and get stoned. Peer pressure is obviously the only reason Craig gives in. Actually he had other options, but he chose not to use them. Common sense and a simple explanation would have worked for Craig just fine. Everyday we are faced with choices. It is up to us to decide what's right and wrong. Craig decides to try it and things start to happen that he really doesn't like. Craig and Smokey get into some trouble with the neighborhood dealer, Big Worm. Smokey sells pot for him, but can't pay him the money he owes because he and Craig smoked the pot.

Harry S Truman-The Early Years :: essays research papers

Discuss Truman’s early life, including early business, his army service and his political life up through his career in the Senate. Harry S. Truman was born on May 8, 1884, in Lamar, MO. He was the son of John Anderson and Martha Ellen Young Truman. A family compromise between grandfathers middle names, Shipp and Solomon resulted giving him only the middle initial S. Sometimes he used a period (.), sometimes he didn’t. In his early childhood, he moved yearly from farm to farm. In 1890 the family moved to Independence, MO where they remained until 1902. After graduating from High School, Truman worked at several odd jobs until landing a position as a clerk at The Union National Bank. Eventually in 1906, Truman moved back to his grandmother’s farm with his parents and took over running the family farm. Truman had an interest in a zinc and lead mine in Oklahoma—the venture failed with a loss of $2,000. He also invested in oil leases in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas. Truman and two partners had a well drilled on property in Eureka, Kansas, but Truman gave it up when he joined the Army. Had he stayed back and run the drilling company, he probably would have become a millionaire. Truman took an interest in the Masons and was appointed presiding overseer of a Masonic Lodge and was later elected the lodge Grand Master in 1940. Harry Truman met Elizabeth Virginia (Bess) Wallace in Sunday school when they were both very young, but went through school, graduating together. The two were friendly all through school, although their friendship lapsed when Truman was living and working in Kansas City. When a plate had to be returned to Mrs. Wallace, Bess’ mother, Truman returned the plate and started courting Bess. By early 1917 they were engaged. When the US entered WWII, Truman was sent to Oklahoma as part of the National Guard. He and an advance contingent of the 129th Field Artillery Regiment sailed for France aboard the ‘George Washington.’ Shortly after arriving, Truman was promoted to the rank of Captain and was given command of Battery â€Å"D†, the most unruly group in the regiment. Truman was forthright with the men and it was later recounted that the men ‘idolized’ their captain, referring to him as â€Å"Captain Harry† for the rest of their lives. After the war, Truman and an Army buddy, Ed Jacobson, opened a haberdashery—the shop failed after a few years.

Physics of Dog Mushing :: sport Physics Dogs Dog Racing

Acceleration/Velocity Acceleration and velocity are mostly dependent on the number of dogs, the quality of the dogs, and how well the dogs have been trained, but it also can depend on friction and inertia. The lager mass an object has the the more weight it has and the more inertia it has. Weight effects acceleration by increasing friction. Friction is f =  µN where  µ is the coefficient of friction, N is the normal force, and f is friction. The normal force is equal to mass times gravity assuming no other downward forces are applied. Therefore the more weight in both sled gear and musher the dogs have to haul the lower the velocity and the slower the acceleration will be due to friction between the runners and the ground. Inertia effects acceleration because inertia is the tendency of objects to ether stay at rest or stay in motion. In this case since the point is to move we are more concerned about staying at rest. When starting the dogs have to pull harder to get the sled moving then they do to keep it moving to both overcome the effects of inertia and to change the fiction from static friction to kinetic friction. Force/Work Force is necessary to start all motion, and in the presence of friction force is needed to maintain a constant velocity. In mushing a vast majority of the force comes from the dogs, and depending on the musher as a small amount to no force comes from the musher (assuming flat terrain). Mathematically F = ma where "F" is force, "m" is mass, and "a" is acceleration. this tells us that if the velocity is constant then the sum of the forces equals 0(F = 0). this doesn't mean the dogs aren't applying any force it just means that they are only applying enough force to over come any friction that might be resting the forward motion. The dogs apply this force by pulling on the tug lines which leads to a gangline which is attached to the sled. some mushers place a shock absorber between the sled and the gangline to both ease jolts from the dogs accelerating from a stop and to reduce the jolt on the dogs from large bumps in the trails. Work The dogs are only doing work when they are accelerating because W = Fd where W is work, F is force, and d is distance. Physics of Dog Mushing :: sport Physics Dogs Dog Racing Acceleration/Velocity Acceleration and velocity are mostly dependent on the number of dogs, the quality of the dogs, and how well the dogs have been trained, but it also can depend on friction and inertia. The lager mass an object has the the more weight it has and the more inertia it has. Weight effects acceleration by increasing friction. Friction is f =  µN where  µ is the coefficient of friction, N is the normal force, and f is friction. The normal force is equal to mass times gravity assuming no other downward forces are applied. Therefore the more weight in both sled gear and musher the dogs have to haul the lower the velocity and the slower the acceleration will be due to friction between the runners and the ground. Inertia effects acceleration because inertia is the tendency of objects to ether stay at rest or stay in motion. In this case since the point is to move we are more concerned about staying at rest. When starting the dogs have to pull harder to get the sled moving then they do to keep it moving to both overcome the effects of inertia and to change the fiction from static friction to kinetic friction. Force/Work Force is necessary to start all motion, and in the presence of friction force is needed to maintain a constant velocity. In mushing a vast majority of the force comes from the dogs, and depending on the musher as a small amount to no force comes from the musher (assuming flat terrain). Mathematically F = ma where "F" is force, "m" is mass, and "a" is acceleration. this tells us that if the velocity is constant then the sum of the forces equals 0(F = 0). this doesn't mean the dogs aren't applying any force it just means that they are only applying enough force to over come any friction that might be resting the forward motion. The dogs apply this force by pulling on the tug lines which leads to a gangline which is attached to the sled. some mushers place a shock absorber between the sled and the gangline to both ease jolts from the dogs accelerating from a stop and to reduce the jolt on the dogs from large bumps in the trails. Work The dogs are only doing work when they are accelerating because W = Fd where W is work, F is force, and d is distance.

Leaders in the Local Church Essay

Lay leaders can simply be defined as persons chosen from the congregation by ordained leaders to serve as helpers performing such duties as may be delegated or assigned to them in accordance to their church ordinances. More and more ministers are finding themselves weighed down by the demands of the ministry. They are thus unable to be effective in meeting the changing needs of their flock. This has created a need to have different other people taking off some of the less sensitive responsibilities from the ordained clergies’ hands. The concept of lay leadership is however not just a modern day phenomenon; it is deeply rooted in the Bible. Deuteronomy 1:9-13 gives an account in which Moses appoints leaders to take off from him some of the responsibilities that were threatening to overwhelm him. Similarly in the book of 1 kings 19:19, Elijah acquires an attendant in the person of Elisha to serve as a helper in his duties as a prophet. The Apostle Paul also surrounded himself with spiritual people like Timothy and Titus to mention a few to whom he delegated different duties in his mission to preach the good news to the gentiles. The clearest illustration of the significance of lay leadership is however to be found in the New Testament book of the Acts of the Apostles Chapter 6 form verse 1 onwards. In this account, the Apostles as well as the entire group found it wise to appoint seven Godly men to take over responsibilities that were important but did not warrant the attention of the Apostles. In this paper, different lessons will be gleaned from the above scriptures and many others to help in the understanding of the issue at hand. Church leaders are different from either organizational or political leaders and only leaders who seek God’s grace and lead by the grace of the Almighty will be able to maintain the Satan inflicted jolts that characterize today’s ministry of the word of God. 1 The church is undergoing enormous statistical growth but the same is not being experienced in discipleship. Leadership of the church requires individuals who are able to rise above their individual capacities and seek Gods guidance. Shallow leadership is the reason why the church today is struggling to meet the seemingly insurmountable challenges. 2 The church needs godly leaders who are able to fully submit to Jesus Christ and be in complete communion with the Creator. Leaders, who can be disciple makers, honor God and be able to fulfill His Will. There are times when Gods reassuring gift in leadership is obviated making the leadership journey long, arduous, bumpy and jerky akin to rides across rocky mountains. At times the leadership might seem long, dry and desolate often punctuated with seasons when we feel that our leadership is devoid of Gods assistance. It is these experiences that call for insistence on Gods reassuring grace and guidance. Developing leadership in the church is no mean treat as it not only requires leaders to develop a strong rapport with the creator for their own souls but also for the souls of the followers of Christ. God’s spirit reassures, inspires, instructs and guides leaders in the Church as they take that long arduous journey to sainthood and spiritual maturity as our creator commanded. However, it is not easy to develop leaders in the church without succinctly analyzing the philosophy of spiritual leadership. Through, spiritual instruction, God used criticism of leadership or trials to stimulate spiritual revival or to inspire fresh visionary leadership for the future ministry of the word of God. The Biblical desert trek under the leadership of Moses was such an instance when God used the desolate desert to create new frontiers in leadership. By working through the hands of servant leaders, a new vision is created to circumvent, surmount or wade through the challenges required in developing a spiritual oversight and even in building new teams in the church. 1 ii. Importance of Leadership Development Strategies for Training Leaders in the Local Church. Training leaders in the church is an ongoing process that cannot be done haphazardly. It requires a leadership development strategy that helps in identifying, recruiting and training potential lay leaders in any church. The health, the growth and the success of any church or its local branches is solely dependent on the availability of effective and efficient church leadership program that not only inspires the congregation to spiritual; maturity but also discovers and builds the innate potentials of leadership and service in others. Consistency in training of lay leaders may well determine the level of growth and spiritual well being of entire churches. Humanistic philosophies permeate from our culture and these in turn affect the strategies we use in developing leadership in churches. These humanistic philosophies spread a desire that we should be whoever we want to be. Contrarily, God disdains such attempts and instead calls upon humanity to be as his only begotten Son Christ was. This means that good leadership is not a result of a personal ambition but a Godly desire that can only be achieved when leaders are trained to act as our Creator instructed us to act. That is why good leaders can only be shepherds but not saviors; they can only be leaders but not lords and guides to the congregation but not gods of the people of God. 1 In the book of Acts of the Apostles chapter 6, the process of choosing the seven men was done prayerfully and the chosen men were dependable men filled with the spirit. It is important therefore that the process follow the biblical example. Otherwise, when leadership strategies in the church deviate from the Gods commands and instructions on good leadership and instead focus on improving on human efforts alone, spiritual leaders achieve positions of worldly power but not the grace of God. Strategies for leadership should only train leaders to carry out their spiritual obligations as a reflection of what Christ wanted. It is testament today guidelines for church leadership are being drawn from secular platforms without a succinct review of the Christian authoritative text for standard protocols for servant leadership. Because of this reason church leaders are being removed from a worldly instituted office and recycled in various capacities that are only temporary in nature while ideally spiritual leaders are lifetime learners who are obligated by the scriptures to offer lifetime guidance to the flock. It is only by the grace of the Lord that leaders can be able to learn and consequently act as leaders with a spiritual disposition that is created only by the Holy Spirit. In this stride, spiritual leaders should be confident in God but not exhibit self confidence, they should not only know men but also know God. In making decisions they should seek Gods will and not solely rely on their own human capability in making decisions. In Spiritual leadership by J. Oswald Sanders, spiritual leaders should be able to humble in leadership and not be overly ambitious, they should never seek personal rewards but they should love God and other with all their powers. One who enjoys command, treasures independent leadership and creates his own methods of leadership can only be said to be driven by fleshly ambitions. On the other hand, Godly leaders delight in their obedience to God and follow His instructions while shunning the lusts of the flesh. They do not treasure independence in leadership but tend to depend in God and follow His examples.

Cultural Differences Paper “Driving Miss Daisy” Essay

in that respect ar m both elbow rooms that the flick Driving get take Daisy portrays ethnical write ups. thither atomic number 18 a number of snapshots in the film in which unalike heathenish issues argon described and in which racial issues argon prominent. It is important to n matchless that the subjectisation is set in 1948 in Atlanta, Georgia. gibe to Edward residency in that respect is a populace that e truly unitary lives in that is a neighborhoodicular existence as on that point ar a number of formers for which this occurs but mainly it is because we argon looking through and through our own verity as though it were a screen. in that respect are a number of cultural issues that are dealt with in the film, Driving dismiss Daisy and through this film and looking at Edward Halls beliefs on the issue there a number of practice sessions that heap be renowned.According to Geert Hofstedes there are five dimensions of cultural patterns. These dimensions are most normally used in international business but mountain be adapted to everyday keep situations as well. These five patterns include the fol menialing (1) low vs. lavishly gear author outgo (the mode that those who are in strength interact, meaning surrounded by those who are on the low end of the spectrum and guide infinitesimal power to those who are on the high end of the spectrum and have a sof dickensod of power), (2) individualism vs.collectivism (this is the extent to which one(a) is suit open to stand up for himself or expects opposites approximately him or those who are part of his host to stand up for him), (3) maleness vs femininity (this is the association with traits that are mostly thought to be gender biased), (4) suspense avoidance (when someone tries their securelyest to avoid any uncertainty and takes special precautions in gild to do so), and (5) long vs short end point taste (this is the standard by which something is heedful as in whether or non it is in the long term or in the short term).Each of these areas bulk be explored through the image, Driving look out on Daisy. Cultural Identity Each soulfulness has the aptitude to have an personal individuation. The divergent societal groups, structures and classes that each person fits in with and feels a connectedness to is an mannequin of their cultural identity. This identity makes each person whom they are and continues to shake absent each person a reason to look for a busy group or a particular coating with which to identify. In the beginning of the photograph as Daisy is refusing a military campaignr this is once again because of a screen that she is teaching herself through.She believes that if she has a driver that she should be embarrassed. This is because she work outs that there is all sack to be a problem where early(a)s think of her as very wealthy or they will know her embarrassment of macrocosm in addition old to drive . In this verbalism of the film, Daisy is fighting nasty against be associated as being part of the aging host or so it could be examined through Halls theory. This is also an example of Hofstedes ideas on uncertainty avoidance. This is because Daisy is so uncertain of what will happen when she loses her power to drive.This would mean that she would not be able to come and go as she pleases and that she would not be able to just cross in her car and drive and let out friends or to go to the store to apprehension that last forgotten item. In a elan this is so much more important in this situation than it is with other issues as the aging process is one that is hard enough without all of the added dilemmas and problems. So the idea that Daisy is having such a hard sentence with the aging process should not be a surprise to those who are around them.Another area of coating that is seen in this mental picture is the socialisation of the aging. by means of Halls theory Dais y thinks that she is okey to drive at the beginning of the movie but her son is sure that she inevitably a driver and that she is not departure to be able to drive on her own as there were too many problems with her driving in the previous(prenominal) and she was unable to keep her drivers license. Towards the end of the movie her driver has decrepit and is no longer able to drive either which makes for an interesting plot as he attempts to take taxi cabs to catch her while she is in the nursing home. period she is in the nursing home it is noted in the movie through character talk that Daisy has good days and severity days and when she is having bad days it is hard to connect with her. This could be a way of being able to look at the orientation of the individual as looked at by Hofstede. As Daisy is having problems with losing her identity and losing her ability to pass by as well as she used to she is having a harder conviction with her orientation and being able to be lie to the present rather than issues from the past. Cultural warp A cultural bias is where one culture is favored over another. because the culture that is favored has an wages in all areas where pertain. This is because there are a number of different areas in which the culture with the advantage is able to take advantage of the situations and make things easier for their cultural or their beliefs and harder on those whom they disagree or discount not connect with. In one exposure Daisy truly begins to see the racial discrimination that has been around her. She is being taken by Hoke to her brothers party in Mobile, Alabama. spot she is on the trip with Hoke she begins to realize how otherwise people view him and how he is toughened just because he is African American.This is something that she has antecedently been blind to as she was a very open and accepting individual. Again this is an example of how Halls theory has alter Daisy as she has been looking at things fr om a different perspective than before. This overt racism is a part of the ideas that have been passed megabucks from generation to generation. This is an example of what Hofstede referred to as low vs high power as the racial issues are typically interacted amongst those who are in low or high power at the time. In this way the lower power induce is the African Americans while the higher powered race is the white Americans.Another area of the movie that explores racial issues looks at the many problems that Daisy has face up herself being a Jew. She also realizes at one point, after her synagogue is bombed that she is enured differently too. through with(predicate) the relationships and beliefs in the movie many different issues involving racism are explored. This movie is able to look at cultural issues and serious issues with racial impairment from a different perspective than other films have done as it was from deuce different view points, both who were being prejudiced against but in different ways.Again this has been looked at a fewer different times in the movies and it is again a power struggle between those who have less power and those who have more power. Cultural Patterns There are many different cultural patterns that can be seen in the movie, Driving misfire Daisy. These patterns include that there are a number of different areas in which there are ways that the cultural identity of a person is considered to be either a negative or a positive trait. The problem is that there is take away a mis conversation and a lack of connection between the two.There were a lot of scenes in the movie where there were times when the characters were involved in areas that were necessary for interactions. verbal and Non-verbal Intercultural Communication Throughout the movie, Driving Miss Daisy there is a number of different areas of discourse. There are times when the confabulation is done through spoken dialogue while other times the communication is in a look or gesture that is done between two different characters. Each of these type of communication play an important role in the overall communication process and in how a character is able to communicate with another in one way or another.One example of Halls theory is the interaction between Miss Daisy and her driver, Hoke Colburn. She believes that she is better than him and that she should be able to have him do what she wishes. This is because the story takes betoken at a time when African Americans were only known to be servants or slaves to white Americans. Through her screen or her perspectives as they were taught to her, Daisy has been taught in her culture and during this time period that she is above these other citizens and that they are not equal to her.This is a common misconception among many individuals when cultural issues are concerned as there is often a time period where the individual has feelings or thoughts on a subject purely based on what they hav e learned. after some time however Daisys mind is changed virtually Hoke and she believes him to be a true friend to her, she even tells him that he is her best friend. There was another scene in the movie where an Alabama land trooper sees the two of them driving off together and he states An old nigra and an old Jew woman takin off down the road togetherthat is one sorry sight This just goes to leaven the overall perceptions of reality in particular areas (the area in the South where Daisy is from) and the time period that they are living in. Through communication it can also be obvious which parts of the communication are through a group motion or group opinion and which ones are that of an individual. This is shown in many areas where racism is occurring in the movie. For example when the synagogue was attacked it was a sign up that there was a group of individuals who did not like the idea of being a Jew.Hofstedes theory would look at these issues and why there were times when this racism was prevalent on an individual rear end and there were times when it was based on a group basis or a group effort. Conclusion In conclusion the movie, Driving Miss Daisy fey on a lot of cultural issues having to do with age and race. This movie is closely a growing relationship between an elderly woman and her driver and their atrocious bond that they have which helps them to each see and understand a number of things about themselves, their culture, their heritage, and the overall connection between a social group.