The impact of the Vietnam War on American culture Essay Example for Free

The impact of the Vietnam War on American culture Essay Consider the impact of the Vietnam War on American culture. In the decades prior to the 1980s, two issues beset American culture: civil rights and the Vietnam War. Both were televised directly into living rooms on all three channels. On college campuses throughout the world, but especially on American campuses, antiwar protests were routine. Hippies often were thought to conduct themselves on the premises of antiwar, free sex, and lots of drugs. The music that emerged from this era is still famously current and listened to today. It was an era of convertibles, gas guzzlers, freedom, and endless summers. Then that generation grew into adults––your parents and grandparents. Writing with sensitivity to the nuances of the era, what happened to the dream? Whether you elect to compose on one of the suggestions outlined here, on some modification of a question, or on some independently arrived at idea (in concert with your professor), you will need to plan for the following milestones. Milestones Back to Top Please refer to the Guidelines above for specific details. Annotations (150 points) A good annotated bibliography provides the publication details, describes the key points of the source, uncovers controversies introduced by the source, and evaluates the merits of the source. Each of your three (minimal) to five (maximal) annotations should be approximately 200–250 words. This is due Week 4. Outline and Proposal (100 points) Following the annotations, you will be ready to plan your paper. An outline (one and one half pages) and a proposal (two to three pages) of your intended project are due. Quality proposals and outlines will not merely describe or find information but will have a strong and original point of view. The highest points are conferred for originality, the locating and detailing of controversies, and for nuanced papers that sensitively explore topics with deft subtlety. This is due Week 2. Discussions (350 points) Each week, discussions will focus on text readings and explore the nuts and bolts of some of the major historical events, artwork, literature, political thinking, and culture of specific historical periods. Your discussions  require that you NOT ever merely cut and paste someone elses ideas with an attribute––such discussions have absolutely no value and will not be recognized. If you wish to include external source information substantively, you may do so. The rule is for each line you quote or paraphrase, you must give two lines of your own analysis. You must state why this inclusion is relevant, what we are supposed to think as a result of reading it, what controversy it raises, and why you think its important that we know about the source information. Additionally, when you quote something, you must offset it with quotation marks so that it is clear to your reader when you are quoting and when you are analyzing originally. The same holds true of paraphrasing––please offset the paraphrase in such a way that is clear that it is a derived idea, and then offer your analysis. Whether you quote or paraphrase, you must provide both a parenthetical in-text citation, as well as the full reference at the bottom. In other words, the only way to be original when you are reporting information is to think about it, form an opinion about it, evaluate it, critique it, and then write it clearly. You are expected to craft six high-quality posts on three separate days each week. This is due Weeks 1–7. Final Paper (200 points) See details under the Guidelines above. This is due Week 7. Final Exam (200 points) To write a successful exam, you must keep up with the readings and demonstrate knowledge acquisition and critical thinking in the discussions. The exam consists of multiple choice and essay questions. The essays must be original, thoughtful, and where outside sources are used, impeccably cited (both in text AND in a final full reference). Essays should be no more than 30% cited material; they should be at least 70% original thinking. This is due in Week 8.

Genesis Computers: Project Management and Cost Control

Genesis Computers: Project Management and Cost Control Executive Summary Genesis is engaged in supply of PCs to the home market and in development of software. During the past year, project costs of the company have tended to go beyond projections and have become a matter of grave concern. The project management team has been given the task of analysing the situation and devising measures to control costs. This report contains a detailed analysis of the problems facing the company and provides recommendations to bring project costs under control. It is structured into separate sections and after beginning with a small introductory write up, takes up the various factors involved in project cost control, along with recommended measures and suggestions. 1. Introduction Genesis Computers is in the business of selling and maintaining personal computers for home use. The company also develops software solutions for its clients. The customers of the company buy PCs, as well as bespoke software. Clients can be segregated into customers who buy computers, customers who buy software and those who buy both. All customers are provided with free warranty periods for both hardware and software. Many of them prefer to enter into annual maintenance contracts at the end of the warranty period. In consonance with customer expectations, Genesis sells only branded computers. In addition to PCs, some customers also need printers and scanners, which the company provides. As the market of the company is limited to customers who need PCs for home use, the number of computers sold to individual clients remains restricted. Some clients who run small businesses from their homes occasionally place larger orders, along with bespoke software. The company is experiencing overruns in project costs. Cost escalations are occurring regularly in both hardware and software components, with resultant erosions in profitability, delays in project completion and decrease in customer satisfaction. It has now become imperative to ensure that cost budgets are maintained and customer expectations with regard to quality and delivery met appropriately. It is the objective of this assignment to investigate the reasons for cost overruns and develop appropriate measures to control identified problems. Consideration has to be given to the small size of the company. The recommendations should thus be simple, logical and convenient to implement. 2. Cost Overruns Measures to control project costs need to account not only for the costs incurred for procurement of hardware and development of software, but also for those incurred for maintenance and rework during the warranty period. Apart from these expenses, project costs need to incorporate all direct or indirect expenses attributable to the project. As warranty costs for hardware are protected by back to back arrangements with hardware vendors, this assignment will focus on the other cost elements involved in project execution. Cost control must necessarily be a multi disciplinary exercise. This fact needs to be conveyed to all departmental heads and their cooperation obtained. It needs to be recognised that cost reduction exercises that happen without the full cooperation of all departments will probably be stillborn and doomed to failure. a. Estimation and Quotations: In many cases the genesis (!) of cost overruns lies in improper preparation of estimates and quotations. Preparation of estimates is often the preserve of sales and marketing functions. The sales department in Genesis reports directly to the CEO and its eagerness to clinch deals occasionally results in inadequate cost estimation and low quotations. It is recommended that the estimating exercise be converted into a multidisciplinary function for an initial period of six months. During this period managers from projects, procurement, software development, finance and sales departments should take part in the estimation function. Managers drafted for this exercise will need to be informed of the urgency of the exercise, the necessity of carrying out detailed estimation exercises and the need for speed in preparing estimates. It must be ensured that sales response times do not get diluted due to the necessity of carrying out estimation exercises. It is also essential to ensure that the p rocedure for estimation be in line with the methodology used by the company for preparing project budgets. The estimation exercise, while incorporating direct and indirect costs, must provide for accurate forecasting of time required for software development. It needs to be emphasised that most software development costs are functions of time and labour and the underestimation of time is a causal factor behind preparation of incorrect estimates and subsequent overruns. b. Budgeting: The budgeting exercise takes place only after receipt of the order; with budgets sometimes being very different from original estimates. It is important to prepare the budget, de novo, after receipt of the order on the basis of the order specifications for hardware and software. The hardware requirements and prices agreed upon need to be checked with procurement prices to ensure the presence of determined margins. A software development process consists of specific steps e.g. analysis of software, elements, architecture, implementation, testing, documentation, training, support and maintenance. The budgeting process must necessarily account for the time required for separate processes, incorporation of buffers and slacks, application of accurate costing rates and incorporation of other direct and applicable indirect costs, including the apportionment of overheads. c. Supply Chain Management: Efficient control of costs relating to the hardware component in projects will be best served by improving the supply chain management of the machines, peripherals and accessories, traded by the company. Most projects contain both software and hardware elements. As such, they also have a delivery time framework that is in consonance with software development time. This factor, fortunately, provides enough time to the purchase department for procurement of hardware, even after receipt of the order. Genesis must take advantage of this slack in hardware procurement time to ensure minimum stocking and reduced inventory levels. The project managers need to coordinate with the staff of the procurement department and the vendors, thereby ensuring that while low inventories do not lead to delays in receipt of material, ordered supplies are received â€Å"just in time† to ensure timely delivery. Introduction of this practice will lead to reduction in inventory, freeing of inventory car rying costs, more careful buying and sharper project execution practices. d. Project Monitoring and Execution: Improvement in any aspect of project management; be it cost, delivery or quality, essentially starts with project managers. Each order, as soon as it is signed, must be allotted to a suitable project manager. The choice of project managers is important in order to ensure that chosen managers are competent enough to handle allotted projects and moreover, have enough time to devote to the execution of their projects. Overloading project managers or allotting projects to unsuitable managers is the surest way to invite problems in project execution. Improper project management can lead to costs going over budget or to late deliveries, with problems getting compounded when large number of projects come up for parallel execution. There are three basic dimensions to successful project management, control of time, scope and cost. These dimensions work like three sides of a triangle, with a change in any one parameter affecting the other two. Research shows that less than 10 percent of all projects are delivered to their original cost and schedule estimates. One reason associated with this failure rate lies in the tracking of effort and cost – estimates should be tracked over time comparing planned to actual outcomes.(McManus, 2006) Project managers must control the scope and time of the project and ensure that they comply with originally laid out plans. It is generally seen that this approach, if implemented sincerely solves many of the problems that lead to cost overruns. Project managers are responsible for a number of issues, the main ones being planning, designing objectives, controlling risk, estimating and allocating resources, organising work, acquiring resources, assigning and directing activities, controlling execution, monitoring and analysing progress, implementing route corrections, ensuring compliance with cost, time, quality and delivery norms and managing issues. Execution of many software projects also involves the utilisation of outside experts who are paid in line with the time expended by them while working on the project. Outside experts need to be monitored with more care because of their distant location and other commitments. Specific attention needs to be given to monitoring the various phases of different projects. If estimation and budgeting are done with a fair degree of comprehensiveness and accuracy, proper monitoring and route corrections procedures help greatly in keeping projects on track. Project monitoring involves a number of variables. It is recommended, in the first instance, that all mangers use standard software like MS Project to monitor and control projects. In addition to use of standard project monitoring tools, monthly financial reviews also help in controlling project costs. It is recommended that these financial reviews should be regularly held and attended by project managers, finance personnel and the CEO. The focus of these reviews should be on cost and time overruns. These reviews will help enormously, not just in locating reasons for overruns but also in quantifying the costs that remain to be incurred. It is imperative that reporting of costing data, at this stage, should draw only upon the information available within the existing finance function. Changes in systems relating to collecting and recording of costing data should be looked at only after the present recommendations are implemented and followed, for at least one year. It would be premature to do otherwise. 3. Closing Review and Conclusion: The conclusion of any project must necessarily be accompanied by a detailed closing review focussing on time, scope, cost, and customer satisfaction. The review should deal not just with negative variances but also with areas where good project execution practices have been able to achieve savings in time and costs. This will enable project managers to focus and localise practices that have worked favourably during project implementation. The project management team must use these completed reviews as major information sources for designing project cost control measures. They must draw from the lessons learnt and conclusions reached to prepare a detailed manual outlining company practices for monitoring and controlling project costs. The CEO and the finance department should keep the issue of project cost control alive during the year and design a reward system for staff responsible for executing very successful projects. It is suggested that these measures be implemented immediately and quarterly reviews be held thereafter to assess their effectiveness in achieving project cost control. Bibliography Ho, M, 2005, Managing Project Quality: Cost, Control and Justification, DM Review, Retrieved December 23, 2006 from www.dmreview.com/article_sub.cfm?articleID=1040055 Hormozi, A. M., Dube, L. F. (1999). Establishing Project Control: Schedule, Cost, and Quality. SAM Advanced Management Journal, 64(4), 32. Relkin, J, 2006, 10 ways to effectively estimate and control project costs, Tech Republic, Retrieved December 23, 2006 from articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-10878-6078705.html

An Analysis Of Dominos Pizza

An Analysis Of Dominos Pizza Macro and micro environment Analysis: Downturn in national or world economies and rising of inflation which is being experienced current period, are the most common factors that can affect businesses. Conversely, what cause an adverse effect for many companies, has had a constructive effect for Dominos Pizza UK, Ireland, the most leading delievery franchise. Keeping in view the current economic situation Dominos Pizza sales had increased up to 11% in the first six week of 2008 than that of same period of last year, due to, mostly people preferred for delivery at home, instead of going for eat outs, Like-for-like sales rose 14.7% last year, despite a price rise across Dominos menu last autumn. (The Times, 20th February 2008) According to Cheif Executive, The Chris Moore, The results are proof that our price point is resilient in these economic times and that we are benefiting from the downturn in the restaurant sector. Instead of eating out three or four times a week, we are seeing real signs that [people] have cut that to once or twice. They are filling up that gap with pizza instead. (The Times, 20 February 2008) His comments came soon after the company announced plans to move up to the main market in order to obtain funds it has been unable to attract in the nine years it has spent on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM). Dominos shares have climbed 14-fold since the company floated in November 1999 and the group now has 501 sites across the UK and Ireland, with plans to open 50 more this year. Its aim is to have 1,000 by 2017. (The Times, 20th February 2008). Dominos said, sales had been enhanced, due to these new pizzas, like wise, Meateor and the rugby-themed Scrummy, and by offering new ways of ordering, like wise e-commerce salesorders taken electronically either online or through text messages, due to which sales have been intensified to 60.5%. According to Dominos prediction, the drift for ordering-in food would continue this year. At present the external environment shifting rapidly. The external environment consists of everything outside the business. Even in the present critical economical situation, dominos continues to succeed which is due to dominos remorseless emphasis on the quality of dominos pizzas, penetrating commitment to service and by publicizing to dominos customers to whenever and wherever they are willing to order. It is their frevency that has brought profit growth of 27.8% to  £29.9m (2008:  £23.4m) and that will persists to get-up-and-go dominos business in years to come. PEST ( Political, Economic, Social and Technological) i. POLITICAL ISSUES: Political issues include regulatory frame work operating in judicial system which may distress the business in diverse ways. In UK, there isnt as such factors that might embrace dominos business. While factors like, laws on business employment, pollution and taxation apply on the organization which it should follow according to rules. ii. ECONOMIC FACTORS: If the countys economy is better so the GDP of the country will be good, it is the initiative for business as the per capita income increases people will spend more money. According to dominos survey, it came to know that mostly people spend more and visit more often, during or start in on of months. Moreover, rise in inflation rate, leads to increment of cost of raw material which also leads towards higher prices for goods and vice versa iii. SOCIAL FACTORS: Dominos is a multinational and it is basically inaugurated from America, therefore, the organization is snowed under by dominos western culture. There are different social forms of society which consists of, upper class, middle class, middle upper class, and lower class. Moreover, every single nation, state has their own cultural norms, beliefs, religion, values which might affect the organization world wide. iv. TECHNOLOGICAL FACTORS: At the present time, technology is improving, so as baking and heating ovens will be of new and efficient technology and will provide efficient service. Due to these innovative technology there are many latest ways of publicizing like wise, through internet; telemarketing through which organization can advertise their products in much more rapidly than ever before. Computer based customer data that is MIS (managing information system) helps in collecting customer data, daily transactions, future forecasting and decision making. New vehicles will make their service more efficient. Briefly discuss the industry of sector The food industry is a complex, global collective of diverse businesses that together supply much of the food energy consumed by the world population. Only subsistence farmers, those who survive on what they grow, can be considered outside of the scope of the modern food industry. The food industry includes: Regulation: local, regional, national and international rules and regulations for food production and sale, including food quality and food safety, and industry lobbying activities Education: academic, vocational, consultancy Research and development: food technology Financial services insurance, credit Manufacturing: agrichemicals, seed, farm machinery and supplies, agricultural construction, etc. Agriculture: raising of crops and livestock, seafood Food processing: preparation of fresh products for market, manufacture of prepared food products Marketing: promotion of generic products (e.g. milk board), new products, public opinion, through advertising, packaging, public relations, etc. Wholesale and distribution: warehousing, transportation, logistics These subtle technologies ascertain prevailing food production. Which encompasses numerious areas, including, Agricultural machinery, originally led by the tractor, has practically eliminated human labor in many areas of production. Biotechnology is driving much change, in areas as diverse as agrochemicals, plant breeding and food processing. Many other areas of technology are also involved, to the point where it is hard to find an area that does not have a direct impact on the food industry. Computer technology is also a central force, with computer networks and specialized software providing the support infrastructure to allow global movement of the myriad components involved. Key success factors The critical success factors are related to dominos broad areas, customers preference for pizza as a food item. Its ability to prepare a pizza within a short time, to deliver it within 30 minutes of recording the order, and the store location. Since Dominos business model is based on home delivery, the speed of preparing the pizza and delivering it are the critical success factors. International strategies (Competitive analysis) SWOT Analysis: Every organization has its own strengths and weaknesses as well as threats and opportunities, As far as dominos swot is concerned its swot analysis is as under. Strengths: Currently Dominos is the market leader in providing wide range of pizzas, in a manner that there are no competitor in this sector. There admireble image has made the organization more worthfull. Moreover, Dominos is render pleasing taste, quality products with qualified staff, splendid ambience and hygienic surroundings. They are specialized in pizzas. Moreover Motivation level of staff is very high which make the organization more prosperous. They are ISO (International Standard Organization) certified. They have equipped with plenty of resources for operating different activities of the organization. They are providing free home delivery service. They have created monopoly in this sector. Another big Strength and even a Competitive Advantageis the fact that they have a full service restaurant as well as delivery services. Most of dominos competitors do not have restaurants. Because of the restaurant, Dominos can market too many different segments that other pizza chains cannot. For example, Dominos can market to families much easier than Dominos or Little Caesars. Dominos weaknesses: As far as dominos weaknesses is concerned, dominos holding a restaurant to run is also the major weakness that it has, because of it has higher overhead cost than that of competitors as competitors dont have a restaurant to deal with therefore their overhead cost is quite lower than that of Dominos. As a result of higher overhead cost dominos charge higher prices. Obviously, Dominos is not the low cost producer. As they charge higher prices so thats why they are accountable for quality pizza and good service. They are providing less range of products comparatively with high prices. They are more focused on western taste instead of Eastern. Very few outlets have dine-in facilities The menu is limited and pricey, and there are very few budget items on the menu. Opportunities: Dominos has a high potential therefore it has numerous opportunities like wise, if it come across new markets then new opportunities will be born. Considering eastern test of the people like Mc donalds, Dominos can come up with new products. Market share can be increased by bringing variety of new products. Prices can be reduced because of more dominos. Threats: Currently major threat that Dominos can face are from competitors, as their immediate competitor which is pizza hut, is working over to open their branch hastily. But competitive advantage that dominos have over pizza hut is their lower price. Evaluate dominos company strategies with other different companies: Though Dominos has flourished in expanding over continent and had observed a remarkable achievements, but in attaining to develop globally, it has been unabled to manage the domestic market with full proficiency and as a consequence , is losing grounds in the domestic market. Moreover , Dominos has mobilized the standard of pizza industry to a great extend, keeping current economic situation in mind, where rising of commodity prices and decrease in peoples purchasing power, Dominos is struggling to keep a tie between profitability as well as maintaining standards. Moreover, the increasing competition in the fast food industry adds to these cluster of challenges. The main reason for Pizza Huts has been their menu that has been constantly reformed and expanded in order to foster with the changing need and preferences of customer in different part of the world. In having understood the pulse of the customers, Pizza Hut has clearly established itself as a brand with a Britain heart and Dominos need to learn that. Benchmarking: For many years as a private company, Dominos really benchmarked against itself, without looking at the outside world. We were proud of the fact that for many years we had positive same-store sales, which is a big financial indicator of growth and success in the retail world. Well, that was the good news. The bad news was that during those years our competitors were growing at a very faster pace. Dominos were actually giving up market share. At the same time, dominos were hosting internal celebrations of the fact that against our own internal matrix dominos were doing well. Dominos not only had to look at what had been our past results and reconcile how dominos were performing against that benchmark, but also dominos needed to look at the world around us, look at our competitors, and in many instances, I really wanted us to look at the very best in class. Who is out there doing the best possible job in this particular area of business? Dominos need to find out what their results are and start to hold ourselves accountable for that particular level of performance. Dominos accept mediocrity because dominos can choose a lot of people around us who are just as mediocre as dominos are. I want to find the very, very best, and I want to benchmark against them, and I want to get as good or better. I think if I lead that expectation and I get my team and my organization to embrace it, thats how dominos were going to become world-class performers. Takeaways When organization become successful, people tend to believe that thing now dont need to improve but the fact is, things does not remain the same-it can be worst even or it can be better. At the instant companies become confident and detached at the very instant companies begin to decline. In order to have a high-performance organization you need to cultivate a culure of continuous improvement. Dont go for ordinariness, instead, analyse your competitors, set benchmark against them and attain the top-notch performance. Organisation strategy: A businesss strategy is basically arrangement of decision that a company make in order to attain its goals. A business has cluster of goals and objectives. And in order to attain those objectives businesses need to organize their business activities. For running a business, planning is essential for both current and as well future activities. Therefore, in order to attain their business objectives , organization need to comply with different strategies. In accordance with, Dominos has also adopted many strategies which help in attaining the target which are set by the main office to the local store opened at Peshawer. Changes in the external as well as internal environment has made Dominos to re consider their past strategies and has hence designed new strategies after considering the changes in the environment. Through SWOT and PEST analysis, environmental changes are scrutinized. After acknowledging all the factors Dominos has decided upon the strategies and their current strategie s are categorized into five main categories and further have sub parts. These strategies are: -Functional Strategies: These strategies are outlined to improve proficiency of business operations. They often focus on an area, such as marketing, human resources etc. All business organizations adopt strategies at functional level as once the functional objectives are achieved, corporate objectives become easy. In order to make the functional strategy efficient, Dominos has made all the functional departments co-operate with each other. Porters Five Forces analysis of market structure The competitive structure of an industry can be analysed using Porters five forces. This model attempts to analyse the attractiveness of an industry by considering five forces within a market. According to Porter (1980) the likelihood of firms making profits in a given industry depends on five factors: 1. The likelihood of new entry i.e. the extent to which barriers to entry exist. The more difficult it is for other firms to enter a market the more likely it is that existing firms can make relatively high profits. The likelihood of entering a market would be difficult if: the entry costs are high e.g. if heavy investment is required in marketing or equipment there are major advantages to firms that have been operating in the industry already in terms of their experience and understanding of how the market works (this is known as the learning effect) Government policy prevents entry or makes it more difficult; for example, protectionist measures may mean a tax is placed on foreign products or there is a limit to the number of overseas goods that can be sold. This would make it difficult for a foreign firm to enter a market the existing brands have a high level of loyalty the existing firms may react aggressively to any new entrant e.g. with a price war The existing firms have control of the supplies .e.g. entering the diamond industry might be difficult because the majority of known sdominosces of diamonds are controlled by companies such as De Beers. 2. The power of buyers. The stronger the power of buyers in an industry the more likely it is that they will be able to force down prices and reduce the profits of firms that provide the product. Buyer power will be higher if: there are a few, big buyers so each one is very important to the firm the buyers can easily switch to other providers so the provider needs to provide a high quality service at a good price The buyers are in position to take over the firm. If they have the resdominosces to buy the provider this threat can lead to a better service because they have real negotiating power 3. The power of suppliers. The stronger the power of suppliers in an industry the more difficult it is for firms within that sector to make a profit because suppliers can determine the terms and conditions on which business is conducted. Suppliers will be more powerful if: there are relatively few of them (so the buyer has few alternatives) switching to another supplier is difficult and/or expensive the supplier can threaten to buy the existing firms so is in a strong negotiating position 4. The degree of rivalry This measures the degree of competition between existing firms. The higher the degree of rivalry the more difficult it is for existing firms to generate high profits. Rivalry will be higher if: there are a large number of similar sized firms (rather than a few dominant firms) all competing with each other for customers The costs of leaving the industry are high e.g. because of high levels of investment. This means that existing firms will fight hard to survive because they cannot easily transfer their resources elsewhere The level of capacity utilisation. If there are high levels of capacity being underutilised the existing firms will be very competitive to try and win sales to boost their own demand the market is shrinking so firms are fighting for their share of falling sales there is little brand loyalty so customer are likely to switch easily betdominosen products 5. The substitute threat. This measures the ease with which buyers can switch to another product that does the same thing e.g. aluminium cans rather than glass or plastic bottles. The ease of switching depends on what costs would be involved (e.g. transferring all ydominos data to a new database system and retraining staff could be expensive) and how similar customers perceive the alternatives to be. Using Porters analysis firms are likely to generate higher returns if the industry: Is difficult to enter There is limited rivalry Buyers are relatively small Suppliers are relatively small There are few substitutes. On the other hands returns are likely to be low if: The industry is easy to enter There is a high degree of rivalry between firms within the industry Buyers are strong Suppliers are strong It is easy to switch to alternatives The implication of Porters analysis for managers is that they should examine these five factors before choosing an industry to move into. They should also consider ways of changing the five factors to make them more favourable. For example: If firms merge together this can reduce the degree of rivalry. This has happened a great deal in industries such as automobiles, pharmaceuticals and banking where firms have joined together to remove competitors if firms buy up distributors (this is called forward vertical integration) they can gain more control over buyers if firms differentiate their product perhaps by trying to generate some form of Unique Selling Proposition (USP) that makes it stand out from the competition. This lies at the heart of many marketing and brand building activities. Coca Cola, for example, has fought hard to promote itself as the real thing; everything else is just imitation! if they react aggressively to a firm that enters its market this may deter potential entrants in the future The five forces will change over time as market conditions alter. For example, more information is available nowadays to enable customers to compare offerings and prices; this gives buyers more power. The opening up of world markets (for example through the efforts of the World Trade Organisation to reduce protectionist measures that limit trade and the expansion of the European Union enabling free trade between more countries) has led to much more rivalry in markets in recent years. In North America, for example, the sales of Japanese firms such as Toyota have gradually been reducing the market share of American producers such as General Motors as consumers have more choice. Meanwhile, the success of the internet has made it easier for producers to enter many markets such as finance, book retailing and clothes retailing; the ability to start selling online has reduced a major barrier to entry which was the investment required to set up a network of shops. As ever the business world is not static and the conditions in any industry will always be changing. As this happens the various elements of the five forces are always shifting requiring established firms and potential entrants to review their strategies. Effectiveness of international strategy: It reaches geographically dispersed buyers. Dominos vision is focused on Exceptional people on a mission to be the best pizza delivery company in the world! . Dominos is committed to bringing fun and excitement to the lives of dominos customers by delivering delicious pizzas to their doorstep in 30 minutes or less and all its strategies are aimed at fulfilling this commitment towards its large and ever-growing customer base. Its all advertisement are image of core competencies. They also should have a variety of combinations of menu items which a customer can choose so that both the customer and the company can have a win-win situation. The company can have the maximum of the consumer surplus at the same time the consumer might feel that this was the best offer. From the menu card one can see the family size variants and the different pizza combinations in the same one pizza are all the different ways of pricing. The company attains the maximum profit in the meat items, so they give the selection of pizzas slices of different varieties and they are clubbed together to form a single pizza. Once the customer dines / orders @ home, normally discount coupons are given to the customer so that there is an incentive for the customer to order from Dominos . Thus customers are forced to maintain loyalty towards Dominos . Sustaining, building relationships and Exploiting Changing Conditions Over the years dominos has also developed and successfully introduced a range of products especially suited. What has also given dominos a competitive edge is that in addition to an extensive range of internationally renowned pizzas like The Italian, the proprietary Pan Pizza and Stuffed Crust, in the menu offers the option of a complete meal. It includes appetizers, a Salad Bar where the customers can make their own fresh salads, a range of soups, pastas and desserts etc. Dominos should also a community called as VIP- Members joining this club should be at no extra cost one can avail greater offers. Meanwhile Dominos are not behind Pizza Hut in introducing local tradition. Dominos believes strongly in the strategy of Think global and act local. Thus, time and again Dominos Pizza has been innovating with delicious new products such as crusts, toppings suitable to the taste buds of Consumers Firm market entry strategy: Dominos Pizza was able to gain ground by positioning Pizza as a snack and supporting it with its efficient home delivery system. For Dominos direct selling and interactive selling is not needed though they are involved in internet and cable TV promotions. Dominos always search for ways to gain efficiency by replacing one communication with others. The sustainability among communication tools explains why marketing function need to be coordinated. Growth strategies: Pizza hut targeted market defines them as a family product. This is because they dont really directly market their customers. They are target everyone whereas their competitors target a certain gender or age. But pizza hut targets a wide range of customers. This is because they want to make the most money and who blames them. They have many competitors and they are bound to try everything to cope up tops. Their competitors are everywhere. There are just a few that are main competitors and pizza hut will always try to be the best and get the most money by making their products better quality but also cheaper. They try to offer something different with their product. They offer a range of stuffed crusts to try and attract customers. They also do vegetarian options with meet free pizzas and a salad and pasta bar. Not a lot of restaurants offer a salad and a pasta bar. This is another competitive idea to attract or customers. Potential development over 10 to 20 years: senior executives at Dominos are missing a key thought process about change, growth and innovation though. They didnt understand that every product, team, organization and individual goes through a process of birth, growth and decline that is similar to the shape of an elongated S. You cant avoid this process. At the beginning of every growth curve, you make investments with little or no reward. Its only through squeezing out operational inefficiencies, gaining and or growing market share that companies recover their initial investments and grow the bottom line and pay dividends to their stakeholders. Dominos rested on the part of the S-Curve where the maximum profit are being realized without understanding that decline, death, and decreased profit arent just probable, but are inevitable. Dominos is trying to jump the curve and are at the beginning of a new S-Curve time will tell as to whether they embrace team development and leadership development, which will ultimately determine whether they grow or die. Appropriate justified recommendation for improvement, development and international : à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Increase varieties in Pizzas. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Focus on location of the outlets. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Increase the quality of Pizzas. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Make good ambiance in outlets. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Should focus more on marketing itself confidently. Conclusion: Dominos Pizza constantly strives to develop products that suit the tastes of its consumers and hence delighting them. Dominos believes strongly in the strategy of Think global and act local. Thus, time and again Dominos Pizza has been innovating with delicious new products such as crusts, toppings and flavours suitable to the taste buds of Consumers. Further, providing value for money at affordable products to the consumers has been Dominos motto. Initiatives such as Fun Meal and Pizza Mania have been extremely popular with consumers.

The Feeling of True Love :: Papers

The Feeling of True Love A palpable feeling in the air, anxiety for the babies to be born. As a little head starts to appear, it seems just like a phantasm that the babies are arriving, to the many people watching this birth. As the first baby appears, the new mother starts crying, so happy to have a new little girl to welcome into this world. Then as she unwillingly hands her new daughter to the nurse for cleaning up, she goes back into labor. She puts all of her effort, strength, and love into bringing her remaining child into this world. As the last toe comes out, the new mother of the twins sighs seeing her perfect baby boy with all his fingers and toes. As she holds the new twins close to her, she gives up her life to taking care of these two, with all of her love and affection. "Suzy and Bob," she murmurs. At the sight of their mother's kind eyes and open arms, the two infants fall in love with her. And this is just the beginning of their life of love. As they go from their first doctor appointment to the time when they turn eighteen months, they experience a lot of love. Every night their mom and dad come and tuck them into their individual wooden cribs. As the twins snuggle down under the warm pink and blue blankets, their mother kisses them on their forehead and whispers "I love you" into their delicate ears. Then their dad comes along, says "Good night, sleep tight," and kisses them as gently as any man with a beard could.

Female Genital Mutilation Essays -- Biology Essays Research Papers

Female Genital Mutilation Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), also known as female circumcision, is a destructive and invasive procedure involving the removal or alteration of female genital. The procedure is carried out at a variety of ages, ranging from shortly after birth to some time during the first pregnancy, but most commonly occurs between the ages of four and eight. There are three main types of FGC that are practiced: Type I (Sunna circumcision), Type II (Excision), and Type III (Infibulation). These three operation range in intensity, from the "mildness" of Type I, to the extreme Type III. The practice occurs in Africa, the Middle East, parts of Asia, and in immigrant communities in Europe and North America. An estimated 135 million of the world's girls and women have undergone genital mutilation, and two million girls a year are at risk - approximately 6,000 per day - about one every 15 seconds. (1) Although Female Genital Mutilation predates Islam and is not practiced by the majority of Muslims, it has acquired this religious dimension. However, FGM is a cross-cultural and cross-religious ritual. In Africa and the Middle East it is performed by Muslims, Coptic Christians, members of various indigenous groups, Protestants, and Catholics; to name a few. The type of mutilation practiced, the age at which it is carried out, and the way its done varies according to a variety of factors, including the woman or girl's ethnic group, what country they are living in, whether in a rural or urban area and their socio-economic background. The first and "mildest" type of FGM is called "sunna circumcision" or Type I. The term "Sunna" refers to tradition as taught by the prophet Muhammad. This specific procedure involves the... ...ted with a blunt penknife. After the operation, no one was allowed to aid me to walk. The stuff they put on my wound stank and was painful. These were terrible times for me. Each time I wanted to urinate, I was forced to stand upright. The urine would spread over the wound and would cause fresh pain all over again. Sometimes I had to force myself not to urinate for fear of the terrible pain. I was not given any anesthetic in the operation to reduce my pain, nor any antibiotics to fight against infection. Afterwards, I hemorrhaged and became anemic. This was attributed to witchcraft. I suffered for a long time from acute vaginal infections." Hannah Koroma, Sierra Leone (4) Internet Sources: 1) http://www.religioustolerance.org/fem_cirm.htm 2) http://www.fgmnetwork.org/intro/fgmintro.html 3) http://www.amnesty.org/ailib/intcam/femgen/fgm1.htm#a4

Personal Assessment Interview Essay

1. What are your three most important reasons for wanting to be a teacher? I want to be a teacher because I value education. I apprehend the importance of education in leading a meaningful and successful life, and I plan to become a valuable vehicle in realizing the purpose and acceptance of learning. I would regard it as an honor to play a part in the learning process and find that the teaching instruction provides desirable holistic changes that unlocks potentials and makes room for personal growth and development in the learners. I want to be a teacher because I realize the importance of education in building a strong and stable foundation of society. Teachers are granted the capacity to mold the future of society by training learners to become responsible and productive citizens. A vision of a peaceful environment, where people work together harmoniously to build a prosperous, righteous and humane society, is nurtured through the teaching-learning process. I want to be a teacher because I also want to learn in the process. In the teaching-learning process, the teacher and the learners swap roles successively. It is not only the teacher who teaches, but also the learner. Learners have different cultural backgrounds, perspectives, worldviews, and opinions that a teacher should learn from in order to enhance understanding and widen the boundaries of the mind. 2. What characteristics do you possess that you believe will make you an effective teacher? I am passionate about learning and education. I believe that there is always something valuable to learn from everything and I know that love for learning completes who I am as a teacher. In everything I do, I always look for opportunities to learn and improve. This innate quality measures up to the attributes of an effective teacher because the growing passion for learning impels the teacher to influence learners to the same. Moreover, teachers who are highly motivated to learn are also highly motivated to teach. I deem education boundless. It is not limited within the confines of the classroom, nor is it limited to books, teacher-learner interaction alone, and other traditional means of teaching. I am open to changes in trends and developments. Open-mindedness allows me to become an efficient teacher because I am able to tolerate and acknowledge change in order to unlock new avenues for the teaching-learning process. I am adaptable to unfamiliar situations, because I am open to new frontiers, as long as I deem it has potential to improve the teaching-learning process. Adaptability and open-mindedness yields an efficient teacher, able to cope with global changes allowing real-time learning that assists learners to survive in the ever changing world. 3. Name three staff development topics you believe would be most beneficial to offer in schools. Staff development is highly significant in order to improve services that will be provided by educational institutions. It should be implemented in order to assure that the quality of educational services efficiently meets the requirements of learners and the obligations of the school as an academic institution fostering learning and development. I believe that the three most important topics that should be included in staff development are legal and ethical issues, team building, and professional growth. Legal and ethical issues guide the staff to act accordingly, putting the best interest of the learners, and stakeholders (families, the community, the state, etc.) first. Educational institutions must be able to abide by constitutional laws pertaining to education, and act accordingly to invite respect and integrity to the field of education. Team building is necessary in order to ensure that all members of the staff of the educational institution work together to meet the mission, vision, goals, and objectives of the school. Promoting professional growth is most important to teachers because it encourages improvements and developments in pedagogical processes as well as personality development. This may be attained by graduate program services related to teaching, made available to the teaching staff in order to assist them enhance their craft, apprenticeship, seminar, training programs, etc. Valuing professional growth means that educational institutions take necessary steps in ord er to enhance the quality of educational programs and services that they provide to learners. 4. Prior to planning a lesson, what do you need to consider? Planning a lesson is crucial in the teaching-learning process because it dictates the learning outcomes, especially changes in the learners’ behaviors as influenced by a particular lesson. There are various factors to consider when planning a lesson, all of which determine whether a lesson will effect to desirable learning outcomes or not. Prior to planning a lesson, there is a need to consider the existing skills and abilities of the learners. The depth of the lesson, teaching strategies and approaches, instructional materials and activities should be designed to suit the skills and abilities of the learners. This ensures that learners will be able to grasp the concepts that will be taught in each lesson. Instructional objectives should be set prior to planning a lesson because it reminds the teacher that the content of the lesson should be in line with the objectives. Instructional objectives form the framework of a lesson. Another thing to consider in planning a lesson is the variety of resources available that will go along with the learning objectives. Presenting a lesson through aids and materials is highly dependent on the availability of resources. Therefore, before planning activities for learning, available resources should be checked. Once these factors are met, the teacher is prepared to plan a lesson. 5. What ideas do you have to address diversity (e.g. culture, special needs, ESL, etc.) in your classroom? As a teacher, I should be able to promote equality within the classroom and recognize the rights of the learners as human beings. Although individual differences is considered in instructional planning, due to the learners’ varying skills and abilities, diversity in relation to other aspects including culture, disabilities or handicap, proficiency in the English language should be undervalued. Teachers should be able to determine when to acknowledge individual differences, and when to promote camaraderie and egalitarianism in the classroom. To address individual differences and diversity, the teacher should be able to design the program of instruction in such a way that it is discernible and achievable to all learners considering their talents, skills, abilities, and interests. Educational programs and activities in part should focus on diversity by including the need for learners to be aware of other cultures, non-native English speaking individuals, and special needs of other learners experiencing difficulties. An example of an educational program may be a cultural show where students share their culture through artistic forms (dancing, singing, dramatization, role-playing, etc.), or an activity wherein a non-native English speaker teaches the rest of the class some significant words in his native tongue. It is important to remember that the key is to promote learners’ awareness of differences. 6. What do you anticipate to be the greatest challenge in your teaching? Perhaps the greatest challenge in teaching is meeting its ultimate objective, and that is to affect desirable learning outcomes and behavioral changes to the learners. Accomplishing this objective requires a diverse set of knowledge, talent, and skills. Teaching is a long process, from diagnostic assessment, to lesson planning, classroom management, going about the teaching process itself, evaluation, etc. The greatest challenge is how to keep it together, despite the pressures and demands of the teaching-learning process, in order to complete the process and in the end prove that the ultimate objective of teaching was achieved. 7. What would you like to see as outcomes of your student teaching experience and your experience in the Teacher Education Program? I am expecting that my experiences in student teaching will affirm my aspiration to become a teacher. All knowledge obtained from classroom courses will equip me with necessary information in order to go about the student teaching experience knowledgeably and appositely (i.e. classroom management techniques, teaching strategies and approaches, laws protecting the rights of the learners, etc.). The student teaching experience becomes a playing field where all the information learned is applied and weathered and the skills and abilities as an aspiring teacher is tested. Through these experiences, I am able to determine my strengths and weaknesses as a teacher, and determine ways in order to improve and become a professional educator worthy of respect and learning inspiration. The Teacher Education Program provides the essential knowledge and skills that must be learned, required of every teacher. 8. Describe an ideal classroom situation. An ideal classroom situation is one where classroom management is consistently implemented (i.e. children are disciplined, routine activities are followed, lessons are completed on time, etc.). Learners are highly motivated to learn, allowing a harmonious and interactive classroom environment, guided by the teacher. The objectives of learning are attained at the end of each lesson, and the learners are able to apply what they have learned in real life situations. The teacher is able to play all the necessary roles of the teacher as a manager of classroom activities and discipline, a facilitator of learning, a guide and a role model, a good listener, and a nurturer of well-motivated learners. Learners are able to adjust to changes in the classroom environment, and although it is called an ideal classroom situation, they are allowed to make mistakes. Through these mistakes and the identification of their weaknesses, they are able to take it constructively and push themselves to improve and become independent learners.

Developments in Management and Organizational Thinking

Strategy has been defined as â€Å"the pattern of organizational moves and managerial approaches used to attain organizational objectives and to pursue the organization's mission† (Thompson and Strickland, 1990). Current models of strategic management can be traced to the way in which strategy it was defined and applied to business (Chandler, 1962): â€Å"the determination of the basic long-term goals and objectives of an enterprise, and the adoption of courses of action and the allocation of resources necessary for carrying out these goals.†Chandler identified two parts of the strategic process, formulation and implementation, known as strategic management. Thus, strategy refers to the means a firm uses to attain its ends. Fundamental to every firm's mission and competitive strategy is its value strategy. Generically, a value strategy is the pattern of decisions and actions that comprise the firm's overall approach toward providing realizable net value to customers. A value strategy intrinsically involves all parts of a firm's functional and organizational strategies that give value realized by customers or need sacrifices by customers.As due to excessive competition, firms must have a value strategy that must have completely conceptualized and obviously articulated value as the basis for competing. In fact, numerous firms are more competitor-oriented than customer-oriented. Consequently, many managers are more well-known with their firm's competitive strategy than its strategy for improving customer value. Several inadvertently compromise net customer value either by producing products/services supposed to be of low quality or by requiring exceptionally high sacrifices of customers.Paradoxically, the most competitive firms are the customer- oriented, not the competitor-oriented firms. Customer-oriented firms are virtually driven by value-based strategies. Given a defined set of value expectations, a value-based strategy is that pattern of decisi ons and actions in which managers take accountability for: (1) delivering products/services that provide best net value, and (2) creating strategic suprasystems to develop that value and satisfy the obligations of the enterprise.Most basically, value-based strategies are customer oriented; business-level strategies aimed at giving best net value. Value-based strategy should not be confused with generic strategy. The basic generic strategies of low cost, differentiation, and focus (Porter, 1980) are the three most extreme examples of producer based, value-added strategies (Porter, 1985), but they are not customer value-based strategies. Each of the three is more competitor-oriented than customer-oriented. Each strategy can be pursued with no assertion of providing best net value.While low cost and differentiation are typically seen as mutually exclusive (Porter, 1985), a value-based strategy may need and achieve both. Since many customers now count time rather than dollar cost as the ir most precious asset, a high-quality strategy gives little competitive advantage unless it is paired with low cost (i. e. , low price and/or sacrifice reduction). Similarly, low-cost/price strategies can also fail if they are not complemented with quality supposed to be of sufficient value.The synergistic combination of low cost and differentiation that can come with a value-based strategy is a direct effect of managing critical systems that put in to value. As the globalizing world is shifting the nature and needs of organizations by requiring them to be more quickly responsive to developing circumstances. The corporate planners of the 1960s and 1970s were much concerned with issues such as the market and macroeconomic environment, the product portfolio, and the product life cycle. All of these underline characteristics of industry or sector and market.They leaned to underplay the role of competitors and competitive behavior in influencing outcomes (Ghoshal and Westrey 1993). cer tainly, it is still common to see plans which base output growth on forecasts of the market, or to view industries in which each individual firm extrapolates its own experience to give generally results which everyone knows are inept of realization. Having reviewed the business environment and its competitive position, the firm should go on to make its strategy rather go for old strategy.The rationalist school sees the definition of the objectives of the firm as the key constituent in strategy formulation. That view, which owes much to the continuing influence of Drucker on management thinking, is in itself comparatively uncontroversial, but the subject of substantial operational difficulty. There are two distinct historical phases in the development of thought on corporate strategy. Until the early 1980s, the primary aim of corporate strategy was the formation of a diversified business portfolio.Such a portfolio might include related diversification–motivated by synergy betw een old and new businesses and unrelated diversification supported by portfolio planning techniques. But by the early 1980s, evidence had accrued that unrelated diversification added little value and several of the conglomerates created in these earlier decades had succumbed to financial pressures. In using old strategies by formulating new ways led firms to focus on the critical importance of market share.Emphasis on competitive issues, the choice market position was seen as a central element in strategic decision-making. Quality, it was professed, had been a key ingredient in Japanese success. Over time most markets moved up the quality spectrum. With the aid of phrases such as ‘quality is free' (Crosby, 1979) ‘total quality management' became a preoccupation of the later 1980s. Many authors offered taxonomies of generic strategies–checklists from which corporations could choose the majority relevant objectives for particular markets.One early list was proposed by Ansoff (1965), who recognized market penetration, product development, market development, and diversification as alternative strategic objectives. The Boston Consulting Group's alternatives are invest, hold, harvest, divest, and Arthur D. Little offers a list of no less than twenty-four strategic options (Jackson, Hitt, DeNisi, 2003). Porter (1980) taxonomy of generic strategies proved particularly influential. Porter's (1980) ‘five forces'–of competition, entry, substitution, suppliers, and customers–offered a more comprehensive checklist of environmental factors (Porter, 1980).Moreover, In Porter's framework there are two dimensions of choice. Firms can trail either cost leadership–the same product as competitors but at lower cost–or differentiation. They can range hardly, or broadly, thus generating a range of alternatives encompassing cost leadership, differentiation, and focus. Today, a debate on the content of the corporate mission is a wi despread starting-point for a discussion of strategy. Such a statement can cover objectives in both corporate and business strategy.The mission statement is planned to provide a link between the broad objectives of the firm (which may focus exclusively on profit maximization, or may state concern for other stakeholders) and its specific commercial activities. A rather diverse critique of these processes of rationalist strategy formulation–yet one still very much within the rationalist framework–is given by the shareholder value movement. As with numerous shifts in thinking about strategy, this is found more or less simultaneously in the thinking of practitioners and the writings of business school academics.American business was stunned by the emergence of a group of corporate raiders. Figures like T. Boone Pickens and the partners of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, with little in the way of resources of their own, but with the aid of the ‘junk bond' financing pioneered by Michael Milken, could make convincing bids for some of the largest corporations in the United States. This threat to incumbent managers led to apprehensive re-emphasis on major companies' concerns for ‘shareholder value'.Academics (Day, Georges, and Robin Wensley 1988) were led to explicate and justify it, providing both a critique of accounting earnings as a focus of corporate attention and a rationale of the public benefits of restricted focus on the interests of shareholders. The most significant practical consequence of this activity was to give further impulsion to the break-up of conglomerate firms. The grouping of discrete businesses tended, it was argued, to conceal the potential strategic value of individual mechanism to specific purchasers.That message for corporate strategy was obvious, but for business strategy shareholder value had few clear implications. Proponents stressed the need to evaluate investment and acquisitions by reference to their probable cash f lows–but this is a theme familiar from every elementary text in corporate finance–and texts on strategy in a shareholder value framework (Weinrauch, Donald 1986) do no more than juxtapose Rappaport's critique with Porter's taxonomies of competitive forces and generic strategies.The new way of this strategy spectrum is that the state of the art in rationalist strategy can entail the formulation of a statement of company objectives, often summarized in a ‘mission statement' and encompassing both corporate strategic objectives-what sort of business are we in–with business strategic objectives-expressed in terms of plans for market share, product quality, and geographical scope. It is not astounding that attention is moving from the problems of formulating strategy to issues of implementation.The idea that successful strategies are often opportunistic and adaptive, rather than calculated and planned, is a view as old as the subject of business strategy itself. The adaptive strategies of reacting to the seasonal fluctuations of demand are actually important. The operations manager should try to accommodate whatever seasonality remains as cheaply as possible. Each type of adaptive strategy will acquire costs beyond what the company could achieve if demand were smooth.Thus, it is up to the operations manager to get the strategy or mix of strategies that will diminish this extra cost. One strategy for accepting the seasonal demands is just to ignore them and to produce at a constant rate throughout the year. By maintaining a balanced labor force, the company will help to sustain good relations with organized labor and will also ease the burdens of the personnel department. At the same time, short-term production planning and supervisory loads will be reduced as compared to a continually changing schedule. These effects will show up as real cost savings.On the other hand, maintaining a constant production in the face of fluctuating demands me ans that these fluctuations should be absorbed by inventory. That is, when demands are low, inventory stock will build up. As demands increase, inventories will be used up and can even run into a stock out or back order situation. Large buildups of inventory can sprain building capacities and can cause significant extra costs. But it is clear that there are costs associated with physically storing and handling inventory, as well as the more restrained opportunity costs of holding inventory.At the same time, there are costs linked with running out of inventory. While difficult to measure, the costs linked with dissatisfied customers, extra paperwork on back orders, and the interruption of schedules for catch-up work are quite real. The opposite approach would be to try to match the fluctuating demand by changeable production. There are numerous ways a company might do this. Probably the least disruptive would be for the workers to work overtime throughout heavy demand periods.In some situations workers can be eager to earn extra money; in others they may prefer not to work any overtime. If the company is unionized, the union can have the power to help determine the amount of overtime allowable. In any case, if a company uses an overtime strategy, it will have to pay an overtime bonus, and productivity can not be as good as usual because of such factors as fatigue. Similarly, in several operations systems it may be possible to work under time (shorter work weeks or forced unpaid vacations) when demand is lower.However, most workers would oppose having to work less and receive less pay. Some might quit in order finding steadier work. Another method of varying production would be hiring and lying off workers as desired. Here again, though, there are extra costs involved. The progression of selecting and training workers is costly, and their productivity can not be as good as experienced workers for a while. Also, when a worker is laid off, there are usually benefi ts that must be paid, as well as the less tangible chilling effect on labor relations.Thus, despite the use of strategic management process and content models, numerous managers fail to maintain or develop their firm's competitive position. The new globally competitive framework requires using old strategies by formulating them accordingly. As â€Å"Knowledge-intensive firms compete differently – they fight vigorously to win the best experts and best projects, but thereafter cooperate with their rivals. † (Norman Sheehan) Jenster (1987) introduced a strategy planning and strategic control process that is firmly integrated with the firm's information system.The new way is used for developing, monitoring and assimilating critical information into effective strategic management decision support that is CSFs (critical success factors) that clearly and briefly communicate critical elements of the strategy to members of the organization. More significant, the CSFs direct the attention of key managers to focus on the vital premises of the firm's strategy. Shriberg et al. (1997) described how the BPM method can be used as a tool for strategy execution.This technique describes CSFs as the primary step towards strategic execution. These few factors should be executed with excellence to gain and protract competitive advantage. Once CSFs (or driving forces or core competencies) have been identified, the next step in BPM is to widen performance measures for the CSFs. CSFs specify to the firm what has to be done to attain goals. Performance measures determine how well the firm should perform and whether it has been successful. Lots of authors suggest that CSFs can be used in an organization's planning function.Additionally, they can be used in increasing strategic plans, implementing a plan, helping managers attain high performance, managing resources and monitoring a corporation's activities (Ferguson and Dickinson 1984). The motivating force behind world eco nomic growth has changed. Consequently, the key success factor for various firms is maximizing strategic means. Rather than price and quality, formulating strategies in new ways has become the dominant. As a strategy itself provides the most sustainable long-term competitive advantage. References: Ansoff, H. I. (1965). Corporate strategy: An analytical approach to business policy for growth and expansion. New York: McGraw-Hill. Arthur Thompson, Jr., and A. J. Strickland Strategic Management: Concepts and Cases, 9th Edition (1990). Chandler, 1962, Strategy and Structures: Chapters in the History of the Industrial Enterprise, MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass Crosby, Philip B (1979) Quality is Free, Mentor Books, New York Day, Georges, and Robin Wensley (1988), â€Å"Assess Advantage: A Framework for Diagnosing Competitive Superiority,† Journal of Marketing 52 (April), 1-20. Ferguson, C. R. and Dickson, R. (1982) ‘Critical success factors for directors for the eighties', Business Horizons, May-June, 14-18. Ghoshal, S. and Westrey, D. E. (eds) (1993) Organisation Theory and the Multinational Corporation, New York, St Martin's Press. Jackson, S., Hitt, M. & DeNisi, A., (eds). (2003). Managing Knowledge for Sustained Competitive Advantage: Designing Strategies for Effective H uman Resource Management. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Jenster, P. V. (1987) ‘Using critical success factors in planning', Long Range Planning, 20: 102-3. Porter, Michael E. (1980), Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors. New York: Free Press. __ (1985), Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superiority. New Y ork: Free Press. Shriberg, A., Lloyd, C., Shriberg, D. and Williamson, M. (1997) Practicing Leadership: Principles and Applications, John Wiley & Sons. Weinrauch, Donald J. (1986), â€Å"Franchising an Established Business,† Journal of Small Business Management 24 (July), 1-7.