Spotlight on Ford Motor Company fostering a Lean Six

Introduction The history of lean manufacturing philosophy and six-sigma production philosophy began in 1980s. During this time, many organizations were focusing specifically on total quality management (TQM) as a strategy for increasing performance. Organizational performance was then measured in terms of outputs and profitability without necessarily focusing on the inputs or processes.Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on Spotlight on Ford Motor Company fostering a Lean Six-Sigma Culture specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The Toyota Company first adopted the lean manufacturing philosophy with the goal of minimizing wastes. On the other end, the Motorola Company focused on costs that were associated with variation of products, thus leading to rejection of many finished products when subjected to quality testing. To resolve these challenges, Motorola incorporated the six-sigma philosophy. The benefits accruing from the two production philosophies were integrated to form the lean six-sigma production philosophy that was adopted by organizations such as Ford, Allied Signal, Honeywell, and GE among others. This paper discusses the case of Ford in an effort to demonstrate how the company fostered the lean six-sigma culture as a tool for improving performance through elimination of costs of variations (six sigma) and wastes (lean manufacturing). Company’s History and Growth Ford Motor Company or simply Ford is an American multinational organization, which was established in 1903. Its main offices are based in Dearborn in Michigan. It manufactures and sells various types of vehicles under the Ford brand name. Luxurious automobiles are sold under the Lincoln brand name. In addition, it owns Troller, FPV, and SUV. The latter is based in Brazil. The company also engages in the production of tractors. It has stakes in various other automobiles that manufacture organizations such as Mazda (Japan), Aston (the UK), and Jianglin (China). In its manufacturing plants, Ford established flow and large-scale systems of manufacturing. It also embraced large-scale techniques of management of workforce through an elaborated sequential manufacturing system that was characterized by mobile assembly lines. By 1914, this approach became a common practice that was adopted by many industries (Karel, Haslam Williams, 2002, p.518). Ford sold Jaguar vehicles, which were acquired in 1999, Land Rovers, which were purchased in 2000, and the Tata Motors of 2008. Ford Motors Company also owned the Volvo between 1999 and 2010.Advertising Looking for case study on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More However, amid selling these subsidiaries, the company remains the second largest automobile manufacturing organization in the US and fifth largest across the globe based on the 2010 automobile sales statistics. In Europe, Ford was t he largest automaker in 2009 based on sales revenues (118.3 billion). In 2008, the company had employed 213,000 people across all its 90 manufacturing plants across the globe. Strengths and Weaknesses of Ford Motor Company The company has established a strong position in the automobiles industry in the US. It is the second largest automobile company operating in the US. The US is also the second largest market for automobiles across the globe. In this market, the company has managed to build a good reputation for its products. In fact, the organization has a strong selling position for commercial vehicles, which are also the highly profitable automobiles made by the organization. Ford has successfully been able to implement ECOnetic initiative (Ford Motor Company, 2013). This technology involves the production of engines that are highly fuel-efficient through improvement of the existing ones contrary to the deployment of hybrid engines. This effort has translated to mass production of Ford Fiesta. The car produces the lowest emission among all other mass-produced vehicles in the European market. Compared to Toyota Prius with reference to the initiative, Ford Focus has better consumption rates for fuel. Other strengths of Ford Company are good financial performance, significant growth in other markets such as China, and exploration of only one strategy for success. China is not one of the strongest markets for Ford. However, the organization experienced an amicable growth. In 2012, Ford reported 46 percent growth in the Chinese market (Ford Motor Company, 2013). In terms of financial performance, Ford was the only US biggest automaker that never required government bailing. It was the first one to have its investment status restored. Compared to other automakers operating in the US, Ford has a higher profit margin ratio and higher liquidity share (Ford Motor Company, 2013). Ford deploys one approach to success in the global market. The approach entails the prod uction of product lines that fit various market segments. This move implies that the company stopped the production of customized vehicles since the approach led to a reduction of costs. The company also deploys lean six-sigma production philosophy by focusing on the reduction of variation costs and the costs that are associated with production wastes.Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on Spotlight on Ford Motor Company fostering a Lean Six-Sigma Culture specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Although Ford Motors Company has the above strengths, it also has some weaknesses (Gerry, Kevan Whittington, 2005). One of Ford Motor company’s subtle weaknesses is poor records on environmental protection. Ford faces immense critics from green movements in its dwindled efforts to mitigate environmental pollution that emanates from its plants. It also has the largest cost structure. Through the ‘one approach’ strategy and/or the use of six-sigma approaches to production, the company has been able to reduce its costs tremendously. However, compared to other automobile makers, its cost structure remains high. The company adopts generous pension plans together with compensation programs for its employees to increase its costs structure. Particularly, this step is a major challenge considering that it has a weakness of low profit operation markets in Europe. For instance, the company registered a loss of 1.75 billion US dollars in 2012 (Ford Motor Company, 2013). The company in the region expects more losses until 2015. Problem Definition Ford focused on output management to ensure compliance with total quality. Management of outputs implies the measurement of outputs such as sales and profitability, dominance in markets, and growth as measures of the extent of performance of an organization. In 1990s, this approach failed to deliver substantial results. Ford Motor Company had to think diff erently. There was a huge accumulation of wastes in the form of work in progress, re-works, and scrapped materials. To ensure customer value, Ford considered altering its concerns on performance from basing it on outputs to focus on inputs in late 1990s. The major problem that required solution was wastes reduction. This issue led to the establishment of control systems such as operation control, development of programs for enhancing human resource management, programs for assessing customer satisfaction, reviewing compensation and pension schemes for employees, and even deployment of various problem-solving techniques. These aspects encompassed the lean six-sigma methodology for resolution of the challenges experienced by Ford. The Lean Methodology The lean six-sigma methodology adopted by Ford has five important phases. These phases include define, measure, analyze, improve, and control. The definition phase involves the establishment of opportunities together with significant imp lications of the opportunities in terms of customer services and quality satisfaction.Advertising Looking for case study on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Any opportunity embraces an activity, which may enhance the performance of Ford. In the second phase, measurement of every activity to determine how well the activity can be optimally executed was done. The analysis phase involves investigation of the opportunities in the effort to determine what can go wrong in the process of opportunity implementation. Where issues of concern were identified in the analysis phase, the next phase, improvement, entailed fixing of the aspects of concern, which may lead to defects and accumulation of wastes such as work in progress, rejection of the already completed products due to variations beyond acceptable quality levels, and even re-working. Control performance was considered an important phase in the bid to stabilize the outputs. After identification of the vital steps in the development of a Lean Six Sigma methodology, the next task involved setting the Lean Six Sigma processes. The company took the model for supplier- consumer relationships a nd broke it down in the effort to define the various opportunities for value creation. The breakdown involved the establishment of various processes through which the products could go through in a Ford manufacturing facility. This way, it became possible to identify the various wastes and track their sources in each process before proceeding to apply the six-sigma formulas for waste reduction. After every process, control was done to mitigate the likelihood for cascading defects. This goal was accomplished by ensuring that all units of work within a process were organized with respect to the anticipated outcomes and goals of each process. Changing people’s work culture to ensure strict compliance with the efforts of reduction of wastes in every process and work unit that people are in charge of was a major obstacle. The overall goal of the Lean Six Sigma methodology was to ensure 99.99% DPMO (defects per million opportunities). The Current State of the Company The current st ate of Ford before the implementation of the lean methodology was essentially based on TQM and the just-in-time (JIT) strategies. No VSM was conducted to identify wastes. The focus was on improving the production process and planning to enhance production of quality products. Ford also paid incredible attention to the control of its processes from a statistical perspective. As part of continuous processes for improvement, emphasis was placed on the job training. Vigorous training and establishment of self-improvement programs were deemed appropriate to enhance employee productivity. All these strategies were considered effective in enhancing organizational transformation. These approaches are ingrained in the perspectives of total quality management. JIT was also an important system for production processes before the adoption of the lean methodology. Under this approach, the focus was on the control of costs as opposed to the reduction of wastes. The Future State Ford Motors Compan y endeavored to improve its business performance by implementing Lean Six Sigma methodology. Some of the desired future states include the streamlined production and manufacturing processes. In this context, Ford wants to reduce and eliminate unnecessary production processes especially the ones, which do not add any value to the final product. The organization also wants to have systems that measure the value of products acquired after going through various process based on the willingness of the customer to pay for such value addition. Fords also desires to create a system that will ensure elimination and minimization of defects and wastes. These accomplishments will translate to an increase in efficiency and quality of products. Lean Culture Strategy Implementation Upon considering the desired Ford’s future state, implementation of Lean Six Sigma culture is the best approach in achieving the goals. The company implemented this culture by integrating both six sigma and lean manufacturing techniques. Statistical control was deployed to ensure that both defects and wastes were minimized. Care was taken to ensure that the methodology deployed in the calculation of variation opportunities was consistent all the time. This step was important upon considering that any failure to ensure consistency would result to inaccurate measures and approaches for comparison of the actual outcomes with the desired outcome (Beinhocker, 2006). Using statistical controls, 1ÏÆ' corresponds to 31.00 percent of the time in which no defects are recorded. 2ÏÆ' matches with 69.2 percent while 3ÏÆ' matches with 93.32 percent. Similarly, 4ÏÆ', 5ÏÆ', and 6ÏÆ' correspond to 99.3790, 99.9770, and to 99.99966 percent respectively in terms of the time in which defects are not produced. Through this approach, the company ensures that in every 10,000 vehicles made, defects and wastes in the form of re-working are only likely for one vehicle. Using the technique, Ford managed to make savings of 1 billion US dollars between 2000 and 2002 (Holden, 2005). In the Ford’s Kentucky plant, Davis Chris deployed statistical control tools for six-sigma to track the sources of variations. He identified the source of vibrations in F-series product line. In the absence of Lean Six Sigma culture, the traditional approach would have called for realigning the suspension systems. However, the challenges could have persisted. Through the success of Davis Chris strategy, Ford accelerated the change process by empowering people through this case example for applicability of Lean Six Sigma in attaining the desired future state of the company. However, in the leaning out process, challenges were experienced. A major challenge was reluctance to alter the culture of constrained dialogue. Additionally, hierarchical structures hindered ardent interaction between various people who were in charge of different processes and work units to enhance efforts for accurate identification o f wastes and analysis of the causes of variations and product defects. Conclusion Through Lean Six Sigma, Ford was able to reduce wastes significantly such as re-works and defects. This strategy led to efficiency improvements, improved quality, and streamlined production processes. Between 2000 and 2002, the organization was able to save 1 billion US dollars through defects and wastes reduction. This outcome made the company focus on building its production culture around Lean Six Sigma production philosophy. To ensure consistency, the company incorporated control structures that ensured that no defect and wastes were produced in one million opportunities or 99.99 percent of the time. This observation implies that Ford Motor Company was able to ensure that only 3.5 vehicles had defects. Reference List Beinhocker, E. (2006). The Origin of Wealth. Boston: Harvard Business School Press. Ford Motor Company. (2013). 2012 Annual Report. Retrieved from https://corporate.ford.com/homepage.h tml Gerry, J., Kevan, S., Whittington, R. (2005). Exploring corporate strategy: text and cases. London: Prentice Hall. Holden, L. (2005). Fording the Atlantic: Ford and Fordism in Europe. Business History, 47 (3), 122-127. Karel, W., Haslam, C., Williams, J. (2002). Ford versus ‘Fordism’: The Beginning of Mass Production. Work, Employment and Society, 6(4), 517–555. This case study on Spotlight on Ford Motor Company fostering a Lean Six-Sigma Culture was written and submitted by user Nelson Madden to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Street Crime essays

Street Crime essays Is Street Crime More Harmful than White Collar Crime? By general definition, a crime is a wronging, proclaimed by law against society. All acts of disobeying the law are crimes. Be it an assault or embezzlement one has committed a wrong. Yet we have learned values and morals from our surroundings which gave us concepts of the degree of harm pertaining to a particular crime. From our being submerged in a culture, our concept of crime is usually that of a physical one. We as a society, generally conjure images of a personal assault on oneself when defining the concept of a crime. Very rarely would ones first connotation of crime be of an executive of a large firm stealing money from the business. We as a society, generally define our concepts by our surroundings. Society is more frequently exposed to street crimes. It is very rare that a day goes by that we do not learn a murder, physical attack or robbery through the media. Those so called street crimes effect our neighborhoods and society everyday. Those crimes are contrib uting to the destruction of society, our cities, our streets. The street crime is the most harmful of crimes, it is responsible for the disintegration of society as we know it. To demonstrate the harm caused by society by street crime, one has to look no further than to inner city neighborhoods. Street crimes are responsible for injuries, death, sexual assaults and the loss of personal property through force. They can also be attributed to the decline of local business and the drop in education and pride in ones communities as well. In the lower economic neighborhoods, many resort to crime for financial reasons. Members of the community sell drugs or rob as means of support. These deviants do not inflict these crimes on neighborhoods other than their own. This is the major reason why street crime is so harmful. The members of society through their illegal actions are destroying society. ...

SC2034C Interpreting crime and criminals prt 2 Essay

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Research Designs and Methods - Term Paper Example   If we were to not use scientific research, we would have to rely on intuition, guess and whims. All through history, one can see examples of how important decisions can go wrong because the decision maker relied on these. Intuition is often influenced by a few events that are not representative of the norm. The decision maker may not even realize how much weight a particular incident may be given simply because it has had an emotional impact on them; and not because it is really relevant. Statistical studies have shown that any one of a number of guesses has exactly the same chance of being right as any other in the set. Nevertheless, we often make the mistake of believing that a particular guess has a greater probability of being right. This is a fallacy that motivates every gambling situation. The whims and ideas of monarchs have often been their downfall. Major decisions of corporations, countries and even individuals, if taken without the backing of facts and research can oft en lead to costly mistakes – sometimes irreversible... (Baily, 1994; 76-83). A majority of the type of research mentioned is conducted by using mathematical and statistical functions. But when the object of study is a human being, quantitative measurement of phenomena is not always possible. Human experience is inherently qualitative, and often it is best reported thus. A number of researchers have understood this, and choose to study phenomena from a qualitative and descriptive point of view. While such research is often criticized for not being able to present hard data, the insight it provides into the human experience makes it well worth the effort. It is, of course, difficult to generalize from subjective data; a strength of objectively collected data. In some cases, there is no attempt at all to apply the findings in a larger context. Qualitative research is also more fallible in its interpretation. But in spite of all its flaws, qualitative data – especially in the Social Sciences – can provide an understanding and a perspective that empirical data cannot afford.     

Mobile Phone Manufacture Industry In China

Mobile Phone Manufacture Industry In China Over the last century, mobile phones are widely used in the world and in our daily life. It brings much convenience to everyone both in business part and the life part. And now, it has already become an irreplaceable thing. In the past several years, because the development of the world economy and the electronic technology, the mobile phone industry grows a lot. It has been reported by International Telecommunication Union (ITU) on 2nd March 2009, that the number of the mobile phone users around the world has been over 4.1 billion  [1]  . This industry has developed very rapidly, and brings a huge profit, especially in China. From 2002, China has become the country which has the largest number of mobile phone users  [2]  . And the number is still increasing. It is known as a huge market there. The aim of this report is to analyze the most important remote environment changes in the mobile phone industry in China, and as well evaluate the competitiveness for the key competitors who are holding the largest part of the Chinese marketing share in this industry, by using PEST analysis and Porters Five Forces model respectively. In the first part, the general information of the mobile phone industry in China will be introduced. This part will provided the information about the history development and the current market leaders of the mobile phone industry in China. In the second part, by using PEST analysis, I will mainly identify influence to this industry while the external environment changes. The Porters Five Forces in this industry will be analyze in the next part, the threat of entry, the threat of substitution, bargaining power of buyers, bargaining power of suppliers and rivalry among the current competitors will all be considered in this part. At the end of this report, I will give a general conclusion and evaluation. 2. Industry background 2.1 History and current situation As early as the eighties of the 20th century, mobile phone started being used by public in China. At that time, it is a kind of huge, heavy and inconvenient mobile phone which is made by the famous company, Motorola. And that is the product of analog signal times. In 1994, Chinas first digital communications GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) network completed and put into use. It indicates that the mobile phone industry comes to GSM time. Motorola, Ericsson and Nokia are three important companies in this period  [3]  . Many significant classical cell phones are produced by them. Then mobile phone came to the second generation which is named CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access). Now the third generation (3G) has already put into use in China, which marks the mobile phone in China start to a new level. From 2002, China has be come the country which has the largest users in the investigation by TNS Canadian Facts, the holder rate of mobile phone in UK is 97%, and in the USA it is about 90%  [4]  . But in China, the holder rate is just over 50% (March, 2009)  [5]  . So it is to say China is still a huge market for the mobile phone industry. 2.2 Market leaders Nokia Nokia Company is a famous Multinational mobile communications products maker around the world. In the mobile phone market has occupied the first position of the market share for many years. In 2005, Nokia has a 264million delivering amount of mobile phone, as much as 1.8 time as the Motorola company. And it holds about a third of the world market share. In China, it is also the largest market share holder. As it has been mentioned it starts to make and sell cell phone from the late 20th century  [6]   Motorola Motorola Company is a well-known American company which is famous for the mobile communication terminal. It always holds the second position of both the world market share and the market share in China in this field. From 1992, Motorola China production base which is in Tianjin has been used to make cell phones. And that is the biggest production base of Motorola around the world. Samsung Samsung Anycall is the brand which is owned by Samsung electronics. It is the third holder of the market share of the mobile phone industry in China by the year 2008. Samsung is famous for the faddish design and its beautiful exterior condition. In China, it is the biggest market share holder of CDMA mobile phone, which is hold more than a forth of the market  [7]  . Some research even reported that Samsung has over Nokia become the first largest mobile phone provider in the Europe in some certain month. So it is to say Samsung is a powerful competitor in the mobile phone industry in China. 3. PEST analysis This PEST analysis is the normal analysis method to identify the effect of the external environment changes to the business. It can be divided into four parts, which are political, economic, social and technological environments. This report uses PEST method to analyze the external environment factors which can influence the mobile phone industry in China. 3.1 Political environment 3.1.1 Open and reform policy It is known that China since 1978 start to adopt this policy and change the planned economy system to market economy system. The changes which are brought by this policy are obvious to all. And it is the beginning of the change of China. Now, 30 years has passed, but the changing step of China has not stopped. Ministry of Industry and Informatization of China are set up in 2008. It can be seen as a signal that the Chinese Government started to pay more attention to the informatization part. 3.1.2 Telecommunications restructuring and issuance of 3G licenses On 24th May 2008, the Ministry of Industry and Information, National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Finance jointly issued on the deepening of telecom reform circular  [8]  . In this announcement, to encourage China Telecom to buy Unicoms CDMA network (including assets and users), China Unicom the merger with Netcom, China Satcoms basic telecom business into China Telecom, China Railcom incorporate into China mobile. In addition, notice that the reform and restructuring will be a combination of issuing 3G license. Three 3G licenses will be issued after the completion of the reorganization of the. After the reorganization, Chinas telecom industry from the past six the operator of the pattern of competition come into China Mobile, China Unicom, China Telecom the three stages. On 7th January, 2009, the domestic third-generation mobile communications (3G) license officially issued. China Mobile gained independent intellectual property rights with Chinese TD-SCD MA license, while China Telecom and China Unicom respectively get CDMA2000, WCDMA license. Ministry of information industry and is expected this year and the next three operators 3G network construction will be a total investment of 2,800 billion RMB, the 3G network in 2009 will reach 150 billion RMB of investment  [9]  . The restructuring of the operator gives a chance to the mobile phone manufacturers to start at the same point. And run their own strategy in order to hold their own costumers in the 3G market. 3.1.3 The national electronic information industry of the major Research and development special On 10th November 2008, the Ministry of Industry and Information issued A special notice in core electronic components, high-end general chips and basic software products significant scientific and technological issues in 2009. The special parts of the basis of software, including six projects, 20 sub-topics, cover the operating system, databases, middleware and application software and other fields  [10]  . Introduction of a major national research and special purpose electronic components industry is to increase the development of technology and equipment, drive electronics and communications products throughout the manufacturing industry. Directly benefit from the electronic components manufacturing and electronics manufacturing, electronics and communications products other indirect beneficiaries of the manufacturing sector. From this notice, it can be seen that the Chinese Government try to encourage innovating in the informationization field. It encourages the development of the mobile phone industry of China. 3.1.4 Adjust the export tax rebate rate In China, to encourage the export, there is tax rebate when the products export. In the late 2008, the rate of the export tax rebate has been adjusted 4 times, and two of them are related to the cell phone industry. From 1st December, 2008, the rates of the export tax rebate of some of the mechanical and electrical products are raised respectively, from 9% to 11%, from 11% to 13%, from 13% to 14%  [11]  . And on 24th December, executive meeting of State Council decided to improve the part of technical content and high value-added export tax rebate rate of mechanical and electrical products. These two increases of the export tax rebate rate affect the mobile phone industry a lot. For the mobile phone manufacturers it is positive to raise the competitiveness to the world market, as it is known that China is one of the largest export countries of mobile phone. The benefits of exports of electronics and communications products to the manufacturers include the effective release of pro duction capacity, to increase employment opportunities, increase market share in the international market. 3.1.5 Electronic Information Industry Development Planning (2009-2011) To deal with global economic and financial crisis, the revitalization of the electronic information industry in the national economy of strategic, basic and pillar industries of the pilot, in February 2009, the state preparation of the Electronic Information Industry Development Planning (2009 2011) (the draft)  [12]  . Revitalization planning in order to enhance the capacity of independent development, promoting industrial development model to scale from the speed of innovation and economic returns the main line, making breakthroughs in key areas around the core industries, the backbone of the revitalization of industry, new applications drive the three major tasks of the new growth to start the implementation of integrated circuits, color TV six projects, such as industrial restructuring, and improve support for the implementation of 10 policies and measures to speed up the integration of information technology and industrialization process. This plan focuses on six key projec ts which are including improving the new generation of mobile communications (TD-SCDMA) industry. That indicates the governments economic-oriented. 3.2 Economic environment 3.2.1 GDP and population It is known that China is seen as a miracle in the increase of the economy. From the year 2004 to 2007, the growth of GDP is stable over 10%. Although the global economic crisis also influence China a lot, the growth of GDP still over 8% in the year 2008. By the year 2008, the GDP is 4320 billion which is counted by USD, and about 3266USD per capital. It is the first time that the GDP per capital of China has been over 3000 USD. In addition, the population of China is over 1.3 billion by the end of 2008. The large population means the huge market, and linking to the growth of GDP, it means that the people have enough money to buy the products. 3.2.2 Global economic crisis It is known that from the year 2008, the global economic crisis become more and more effective to the whole world. Although during the crisis, China plays an important role and has an excellent performance, the economic still affect the Chinese economy, especially to the southeast part of China. In addition, most of the electronic companies are in that area, so are the mobile phone companies. It can be seen that this economic crisis are not mainly point to the mobile phone industry, but the external environment are not good for the industry to develop. 3.3 Social environment 3.3.1 Health problem It is known that the mobile phone will emit electromagnetic wave, especially when the mobile phone has a low battery or the phone is using. Although there is no convinced evidence to prove that the large amount of electromagnetic wave is bad for health, people are still worried about it, especially the parents. Children are always been seen are the future. And for most of the parents, they may only have one child. Therefore, the parents pay more and more attention to the health of the child. They want this child to be 100 percent health. So the mobile phone will be keeping away as early as the pregnancy. It changes a little when the CDMA technology is used. Because the CDMA cell phone emits much less electromagnetic wave that the GSM phone. In another words, the opinion of health push the mobile phone industry move forward. In addition, considering of the worrying of the parents, some company even start to create some low wave phone only for child. 3.3.2 Safety problem for drivers Proved by some convinced evidence that the risk of making calls is four time higher than normal rate  [13]  . And some scientists have said that talking on the mobile phone may decrease one forth of the reactive ability, and some important calls will decrease half of it. Therefore, it is to say that the mobile phone can be seen as a new killer on the road. Both the public and the government are all paying much attention on it. In some countries, the governments even announced the legal clauses in order to forbid the mobile phone using while driving, such as UK. Although, that Chinese government has not put it into legal level, it still thinks highly of this. The penalty should be hand in when using the phone while driving. On the other hand, it gives the accessories a good chance to develop. A lot of speakers which are based on the Bluetooth technology are widely used now, and the manufacturers of the accessories are exactly the same as the mobile phone maker. Source: I Research Inc. From the figure 5, which is shown above, it can be seen that in China, the users of the mobile, who are under the age of 24, stand a high percentage in the users. And for most of the people, they are right at the studying age under 24. According to the announcement by Jupiter Research, it is noted that the age of users is becoming younger and younger  [15]  . Therefore, many people are worrying about the effect of the mobile phone to the education. The smart mobile phone already provides lots of functions, such as short messages, MP3, MP4, YouTube, games and so on. They may all become the effect to the quality of the education, which are all worried by the parents. 3.3.4 Need of communication and daily life Nowadays, the mobile phone seems an indispensable thing in the daily life. With the help of it, people can connect to others and be found by somebody else as well. And the mobile phone brings new place for people to connect with each other (Kopomaa, 2000)  [16]  . It is an important invention which makes the world smaller like a village. And people all relay on it. Not only using the function of making telephone call, but also as a part of entertainment. Some people who relay too much on it even have a problem, which is named mobile dependency syndrome  [17]  . And these people will feel anxious when they left their phone somewhere. It shows how much people relay on the mobile phone today. For parents, they may consider that the child will be easily to be connected with the mobile phone (Manuel, 2007)  [18]  . It is to say the cell phone can be seen as a part of security system. 3.4 Technological environment 3.4.1 3G technology It is well known that the third generation technology is running in China. Although maybe the operators get the most profit, it is still a good chance for the mobile phone manufactories to development themselves. From the eighties in the last century when cell phones start to use in the public, then comes to the second generation (2G). Now, 3G is coming. Every movement of the tech gives a chance of the mobile phone industry to grow. Currently, every manufacturer is trying their best to produce the new cell phone which can be using in the 3G network. 3.4.2 The development of electronic technology Mobile phone industry can also be seen as a part of the electronic technology. And the development of the electronic technology will push the mobile phone manufacturers to produce a higher level product. As it is known the famous Moores Law  [19]  give the public a general idea about how fast the hardware develops. And the software maybe grows even faster. It is an information time. The development of hardware and software makes the mobile phone update and the development will never stop. 3.5 Summary In this part, the report analyzes the external environment of the mobile phone industry in China. According to the situation of China, it is known that the Chinese Government has strong policy guidance. Therefore, the report uses a mount of words to explain the political environment. And due to the words limitation, other parts just give out a general idea. However, from these information, it can be seen that people need mobile phone, the growth of economy makes people have ability to buy mobile phone, and the mobile update are trying to meet the need of them. So although there are still some problems that exist now, the whole external environment is still pushing the mobile phone manufacturers to an excellent direction. The future for them is bright. 4. Porters Five Forces Analysis The operating environment is what the companies can do themselves to influence the environment. By using porters Five Forces Analysis method, this report will analyze the mobile phone manufacturer in five parts. These are entrants, substitutes, buyers, suppliers and competitors. It helps to identify the competition environment of a certain industry  [20]  . And in this part, the analysis will mainly point to the top three companies which are hold the top three market share of the mobile phone users in China. They are Nokia, Motorola and Samsung. In addition, the stated-owned bran, Lenovo may be mentioned as an additional company, which is the sixth largest market share holder in China. 4.1 The threat of entry Considering to the theory by Porter (1980)  [21]  , the new entrants need to think about the barriers. As it is known that the high tech industry, just like the mobile phone industry, always has high added value. The high profit always attracts more and more companies try to entre to this industry. In China, the main threats are from three parts. They are the large household appliances enterprises, the small private enterprises, and the IT giant. From figure 2, it can be seen that about 19.8% of the market share are holding by some other not famous company. And except Nokia, most of the companies dont have obvious superiority in holding the marketing share, even as well-known as Motorola and Samsung. So excluding the top three, other companies include Dopod, Sony-Ericsson, Lenovo, Philips, Haier, Gionee, BlackBerry, Apple Inc., BenQ-Siemens, CECT, Sharp, LG, NEC, OPPO and so on. Year 1999 is usually seen as the first year of Chinese Mobile phone starting. In this year, the government starts to issue the license to private companies. They are TCL, Konka, Panda, Haier and Bird  [22]  . Most of them are large household appliances enterprises. They try to use their influence of household electrical appliances industry to open the mobile phone market. And from the currently research, most of them are not that successful. Although they have enough capital to operate this business, they have a big technical disadvantage. Starting from the 21st century, some small private enterprises in the southeast part of China start to assemble cell phone by their own. They do not need to research and develop the technology, but only try to make the similar style products which already exist in the market. The low price makes them alive. The third part is the IT giant, such as Microsoft, Google and so on. There are convinced report said that these two companies will try to run the mobile phone business. And Google has already issued G1. Microsoft will also issue a smart phone in June. It seems they will try to use the software advantage to open a market in this field. 4.2 Threat of substitute products All the companies in an industry are competing, and the companies which make substitute products may be involved in this  [23]  . For the substitute products may reduce the need of the other products  [24]  . The main function of the mobile phone is still to call and connect to others. Therefore, the substitute products are just related to this part. Although the mobile phone is widely used in China for only about 10 years, the life has been changed a lot by it. It is first used just as a part of supplementary to the fixed telephone. And it can also be seen as a substitute product to fixed telephone. In addition, in the last several years, Personal Hand-phone System (PHS)  [25]  is very popular, and it also can be seen as a kind of substitutes to the mobile phone. As it has been mentioned in the former part, health problem is always considered by the public. But some relative reports has already clarified that there is no convinced evidence to prove that the mobile phone gives out bad effect to health. From figure 6, it can be easily found out that the number of fixed telephone started decrease since year 2007. And the penetration rate went down at the same time. It is obvious that the development of mobile phone influences a lot to the fixed telephone. And the users of PHS are going down sharply as well. Therefore, to figure out the reason, we should know the advantages and disadvantages of both sides. For the fixed telephone, the advantage is cheap price, and so is the PHS phone. But the fixed telephone is inconvenient. It can not be used outside. The PHS phone deal with the weakness of the fixed telephone, however, it can be used just in a certain area. It can not be used for travelling, and the signal is not very good. On the other hand, the price of mobile phone and the using expense becomes cheaper. The communication network becomes much better than before. Therefore, in the competition, the mobile phone stands in a better position. 4.3 Bargaining power of buyers The most important measures of the bargaining power of buyers are the volume and the focus of the costumers (Porter, 1980)  [26]  . In my opinion, the main mobile phone buyers are the direct user, the network operator and the retail agency. It is obvious that there are too many products in the market, which are provided by different company. So trying to get the own method to hold the costumers become an important point. And it is noted that the relationship between the company and user, and trying to build the brand loyalty are key points to be successful (Mats, 2002)  [27]  . 4.3.1 Buyer volume Buyers in the mobile phone industry are various. For the direct users, they only buy the ones used by their own. But for the retailers and the network operators, they usually buy a large amount of products. Therefore, it should be analyzed separately. To be specific, these retailers and the network operators have a certain power in bargaining. 4.3.2 Switching cost Every mobile phone manufacturers usually can provide products which are with similar functions. So the quality of the after-sale services and the quality of the products are very important. Therefore, the costumers can buy the cell phone in a similar style either from Nokia or Motorola. But for retailers and the operators, the switching cost is very high. Because nobody can imagine that China Mobile do not sell any cell phone made by Nokia, or a Nokia retailer only sells Motorolas products. 4.3.3 Price sensitivity In the opinion of most people, mobile phone is not a small amount of expense. Therefore, the direct users will compare the similar products from different companies, and choose the best one. Usually, for the normal people (direct users) they will not buy a phone just because the price becomes low. But, for the retailers and the operators, it is different. Most of the cell phones have their own life cycle. When a new one is issued, it is usually not sensitive to the price, and the price will stay at a high level. But after this period, it becomes a little sensitive. 4.4 Bargaining power of suppliers To make a cell phone, seven steps are required normally, which are industry design, mechanical design, hardware, software, project management, sourcing and quality assurance. All these steps should be done to make a mobile phone, but not all of them can be done by the manufacturer. For example, the software part, most of the manufacturers dont have the patent of it. Therefore, cooperation is needed. Then Nokia uses Symbian system, and Motorola use Linux system. As it is known that now most of the phones which are widely use in China are based on GSM and CDMA system. However, for most of the mobile phone manufacturers, they do not have the patent to produce these systems. And they need to get support from the patent holders. For example, Qualcomm, which holds the patent in CDMA area, sells CDMA chips lonely and in a high price. And some other kinds of hardware and software which are used in make cell phone are in the similar condition. The mobile phone manufacturers do not have enough power for these patent holders. Therefore, in my opinion, it would be a better choice to build an alliance to move together. 4.5 Rivalry among existing competitors It is noted that the rivalry which is the most obvious and important one in the five forces, will help to measure the whole industry (Porter, 1980). In this part, the rivalries are divided into two parts, the one which is between large makers and small makers, and the one among large makers. 4.5.1 Rivalry between large makers and small makers The largest mobile maker in China is Nokia, which hold about 40% of the market share. And then comes Motorola and Samsung, but the superior of them are not as obvious as that of Nokia. Additionally, Dopod, Sony-Ericsson and Lenovo are not far behind them. All of these companies which are mentioned above are all can be seen as large makers. The same points of them are obvious. They all have a large scale, the entire R D and production line, with well-known brand, and so on. On the other side, the small makers have a small scale, with unknown brand. And usually the small makers do not have an entire R D line. The most attractive point of the products, which are made by the small makers, is cheap. And the large makers usually use high quality and promotion strategy to catch the costumer. 4.5.2 Rivalry among largest makers As mentioned, Nokia is the world largest manufacturer of the mobile phone. The market share of it is about 40% in 2008. Nokia tries its best to keeping the volumes both in high level market by using smart phone, such as N series, and in the low level market by using some classic phone, such as 1100 and so on. The high quality, especially the strong body of the cell phone is seen as the most important advantage. Motorola is famous for the Linux system. By using this free system, the profit and the price can have a balance level. It is the second market share holder which even owns a higher market share than Samsung, which is the second largest market share holder around the world. Samsung is focus on the business phone, so the price may be a little higher, but the quality and the powerful battery are the reason for it to earn a high market share. Sony-Ericsson is also very popular, especially for the young people, although it doesnt hold a large market share. Its cell phones are well designed to be covered a beautiful, and with a high level music and camera function. However, they are not very durable. From the competitors, who are mentioned above, I think the rivalry in this industry is very intensive. The price reduce of one product will lead to a chain reaction in the whole industry. Each company in the market has its own ability to live and own it profit. 4.6 Summary Porters Five Forces Analysis Method determines the profit potential of this industry. The bargaining of both buyers and the suppliers are strong. Although the profit of this industry is seen in a high level, more and more competitive entrants will make the rivalry more intensive. 5. Conclusion This report analyzes the mobile phone manufactory in China. It uses PEST method to measure the

Lions :: essays research papers

Lions Physical Characteristics Lions have relatively short-legged, long, muscular bodies and large heads. The male grows on average to 1.7 to 2.5 m (5.6 to 8.2 ft) long, not including the tail, which is 90 to 105 cm (36 to 41 in) in length. It stands 1.23 m (4 ft) high at the shoulder, and it weighs 150 to 250 kg (330 to 550 lb). The mane, which covers the head and neck, sometimes extends to the shoulders and belly. The mane will vary in color and length; well-fed, healthy lions have longer, fuller manes. Females are smaller but equally muscular. Lions vary in color from golden to brown. The mane of a male lion will vary from black to yellow. Both sexes have retractable claws to keep them sharp when they are needed. Lions have wide powerful jaws. The lions roar, which can be heard by humans up to 9 (5.6 miles) kilometers away, is usually uttered before the animals hunt in the evening, after a successful hunt, and again in the early morning. Habitat & Human Impact Lions once ranged throughout Africa and from Europe to Iran and India. By 1900 lions were no longer found in Syria; today Asiatic lions are limited to the GÃ ¬r Sanctuary in India. Lions also roam Africa south of the Sahara, particularly the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania and the Kruger National Park in South Africa. This drastic reduction in range came about as humans and domestic livestock spread into savanna lands. Because lions live in open areas, they are easily shot by hunters and herders. Lions fur coats are a highly prized possession by poachers, and are worth a lot. Over the last 200 years, over 90% of the world’s lion population has either been shot or killed as result of humans. Lions are also a very popular attraction for zoos and many lions live in captivity. Diet & Predatorial Behavior Lions are one of the world’s most famous predators. Their preys ranges from insects to giraffes; but they prefer large animals such as zebras and wildebeast. The lion will cautiously stalk its prey until it is within close range and it will sprint reaching speeds about 50 to 60 km/h. The lion will usually take its prey down by the neck using its huge jaws and razor sharp claws. The female is the hunter and will have the first meat, soon after the male comes to share the meat. Lions :: essays research papers Lions Physical Characteristics Lions have relatively short-legged, long, muscular bodies and large heads. The male grows on average to 1.7 to 2.5 m (5.6 to 8.2 ft) long, not including the tail, which is 90 to 105 cm (36 to 41 in) in length. It stands 1.23 m (4 ft) high at the shoulder, and it weighs 150 to 250 kg (330 to 550 lb). The mane, which covers the head and neck, sometimes extends to the shoulders and belly. The mane will vary in color and length; well-fed, healthy lions have longer, fuller manes. Females are smaller but equally muscular. Lions vary in color from golden to brown. The mane of a male lion will vary from black to yellow. Both sexes have retractable claws to keep them sharp when they are needed. Lions have wide powerful jaws. The lions roar, which can be heard by humans up to 9 (5.6 miles) kilometers away, is usually uttered before the animals hunt in the evening, after a successful hunt, and again in the early morning. Habitat & Human Impact Lions once ranged throughout Africa and from Europe to Iran and India. By 1900 lions were no longer found in Syria; today Asiatic lions are limited to the GÃ ¬r Sanctuary in India. Lions also roam Africa south of the Sahara, particularly the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania and the Kruger National Park in South Africa. This drastic reduction in range came about as humans and domestic livestock spread into savanna lands. Because lions live in open areas, they are easily shot by hunters and herders. Lions fur coats are a highly prized possession by poachers, and are worth a lot. Over the last 200 years, over 90% of the world’s lion population has either been shot or killed as result of humans. Lions are also a very popular attraction for zoos and many lions live in captivity. Diet & Predatorial Behavior Lions are one of the world’s most famous predators. Their preys ranges from insects to giraffes; but they prefer large animals such as zebras and wildebeast. The lion will cautiously stalk its prey until it is within close range and it will sprint reaching speeds about 50 to 60 km/h. The lion will usually take its prey down by the neck using its huge jaws and razor sharp claws. The female is the hunter and will have the first meat, soon after the male comes to share the meat.

Chinese New Year Fun Facts Essay

1.The traditional Chinese New Year celebration lasts 15 days. 2.2013 is the year of the Snake. Children born during the Year of the Snake are said to be clever, successful, and lonely. 3.Everyone goes home for the Chinese New Year celebrations, if they can. The period just before the Chinese New Year, called chunyun, is the busiest travel time of the entire year. All across China and beyond, you’ll find people on their way home to spend this time with their families. 4.The Chinese New Year is seen as the perfect time to do some spring cleaning. Traditionally, it was believed that cleaning house for the new year’s celebrations swept bad luck away and helped ensure good fortune in the year to come. 5.Traditional foods include fish, which is served at the end of the New Year’s meal and symbolizes abundance, and a sticky fruitcake called Neen Gow or Nian Gow. 6.Red decorations are everywhere, because the color red is considered to be one of the luckiest colors of all. Older family members use red envelopes to give gifts of cash to their younger relatives. 7.Shou Sui is the practice of staying up until midnight as a family to greet the new year. 8.During the Chinese New Year, people often greet each other by shouting â€Å"auspicious phrases† thought to bring luck, like â€Å"gÃ… ng xÇ  fÄ  cà ¡i,† which translates to â€Å"Congratulations and be prosperous.† Children sometimes use the following variant of this greeting when they are feeling cheeky: â€Å"gÃ… ng xÇ  fÄ  cà ¡i, hà ³ng bÄ o nà ¡ là ¡i.† That means â€Å"Congratulations and be prosperous, now give me a red envelope!†

Native American Mascots essays

Native American Mascots essays Throughout thousands of years from long before the days of slavery, and to present day America prejudice and stereotypes have played a giant role in our history. So what is it that makes this situation any different? This problem has been debated for many years, and the end is not in sight. So it is up to you which is right and which is wrong. It all started in the early twentieth century. The first school to use a Native American mascot was the University of Wisconsin in 1909. The term Indians was placed as the schools mascot. And it wasnt long before other schools and professional sport teams took on the roles of these Natives. Some might say that the reasons for these mascots are to honor the culture, when it really degrades it. At the football games for Florida State (the Seminoles), the fans, many in Indian costumes themselves, then proceed to chant faux-Indian melody, swinging their arms in a synchronized tomahawk chop. These false portrayals of the Native Americans are popular at many of these events. It shows how little people really know about these cultures. Grown adults are not the only people who are against the idea of having Native American mascots. What impact do these ideals put into the heads of the next generation? For most children, their second home is school. This is a place where these children learn almost everything they need to know, from intellectual learning to emotional and physical skills. The logos, along with other societal abuses and stereotypes separate, marginalize, confuse, intimidate and harm Native American children and create barriers to their learning throughout their school experience. The children of these heritages are being brainwashed into believing that their culture is exactly how it is with these mascots, and how they are portrayed at the games and other celebrations. ...

Grow up near a fire station, the excitement that arose....

Grow up near a fire station, the excitement that arose.... Growing up near a fire station, the excitement that arose from the building always peaked my curiosity of what went on within its walls. This interest soon turned into a dream. I wanted to be firefighter when I grew up. As a kid, I remember running after fire trucks every time I heard the distinctive sound of their roaring sirens. I was mesmerized by firefighters and tried to watch as many firefighter related movies as possible. Not only did they just save other peoples' lives, they risked their own lives fighting the blazing infernos. I saw firefighters heroically twirl down the fire poll and decided that I would start my firefighting career in the playground by practicing sliding down the poll as well. However, as I began to get older, I saw that my idealistic vision of being a heroic firefighter wasn't reality! Although disappointed, I still held onto my dream of becoming a firefighter one day.Firefighters CompetitionUnexpectantly, the chance of fulfilling my childhood dream came without notice. The day started just like any ordinary day. Waking up at 8 o'clock, I remembered it was the first day back to school from the long winter break and I hurried as I got ready to go to the school. As usual, school went forth as usual with no disturbance all through first, second, and third period. However, during our fourth period, we were in for a surprise. No one could have imagined what was to happen next. It all started suddenly with a siren that was so loud I couldn't hear myself screaming. As my teacher tried to calm the class down by saying that it may be a fire drill, we started to see the lack of truth in her words as we saw black smoke swallowing the...

Argument Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 3

Argument Analysis - Essay Example She further stated that pornography should not be displayed openly in streets and supermarkets. Her intended audiences are all the women in the world who are too terrified to take up any action against pornography and its purveyors. The audience also includes all people of good moral background who see pornography as exploitation of women by men. Her main argument in her essay â€Å"Let’s Put Pornography Back in the Closet† is the First Amendment, which guarantees freedom of speech and cannot be used as a defense to promote pornography. Her sole purpose is to influence the justice system through indignant public opinion that First Amendment rights have been abused by those promoting and selling pornography. The rhetorical strategy used by author Brownmiller is to appeal to her audiences by using emotion (pathos) and logos (her knowledge of the legal system). The author evokes ethos (credibility) also, as she is a well-known feminist who has written a volume of works on varied feminist issues and is a well-established author, journalist and activist. Hermeneutical arguments were made against pornography because it proliferated during the heady 1960s. My thesis statement is that good writers can influence their readers by using the three factors of ethos, logos and pathos. Many writers employ character primarily because credence can produce a powerful reaction or response that is required for taking action. Then it can be supplemented by using knowledge and emotions that can serve as support to main arguments being put forward by the author. Brownmiller was perhaps rightly concerned that the heady and liberating 1960s also led to the abuse of the First Amendment rights by the purveyors of pornographic materials by using it as a defense to conduct nefarious activities. Being a renowned feminist writer, Susan Brownmiller argues through strong emotions that pornography is actually not

You are an accountant in a medium-sized manufacturing company Research Paper

You are an accountant in a medium-sized manufacturing company - Research Paper Example Accruals are revenues already recognized, but no drawn cash or recorded cash such as rent, salaries and taxes in an industry. Estimates are a class of adjusting entries which occurs when the actual particulars of an expense is not easily determined such as an entry for wayward debt. Inventory is an adjusting entry since in an inventory system which is periodic; the adjusting entry helps in determining the outlay of goods sold expense. In a computerized system, these entries would first be characterized into prepayments and accruals then define expenses into prepaid expenses and accrued expenses while the revenues would fall into unearned revenue and accrued revenues (Warren, Reeve & Duchac, 2012). This would be necessary since the computer system only understands systemic information. Some of the ethical issues arising from these manufacturing entries as seen in the studies of Gilbertson & Lehman (2009) include honesty. This is where the person delegated the duty of recording the entries, is necessary to demonstrate honesty when recording the particulars to avoid errors, and misappropriations during in the final books of accounts since it would amount to fraud which is