Higher Incidence of Diabetes Among the American Indians and Alaskan Essay

Higher Incidence of Diabetes Among the American Indians and Alaskan Natives - Essay Example Although the exact cause of this finding may vary from one case to another, it appears that genetic differences and racial or ethnic differences play a major role in this regard. Diabetes is affecting the lives of certain groups of the American population in a disproportionate manner and is, therefore, resulting in a number of health-related, social and financial problems; not only for the individuals suffering from the disease but also for those who are directly or indirectly involved with the patients. Diabetes is relatively more common among the American Indians and Alaskan Natives (Joslin and Kahn 514). The exact cause of why this disease affects these populations disproportionately is as yet unknown. With the passage of time, this disease is becoming more and more common among the people of young age belonging to these races and ethnicities. The prevalence of the diabetic disease is three times higher in American Indians and Alaskan Natives as compared to other American adults of similar ages. It is therefore essential to take corrective actions regarding prevention of diabetes in this population. As compared to other minorities, American Indian and Alaskan natives are extremely small in number and the term is used to refer to individuals having origins in the original people of South America and other people of the North that maintain tribal affiliation. The largest population of American Indians and Alaskan natives resides in California, Oklahoma, Arizona, Texas, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Washington, Alaska, and Michigan. Alaskan villages harbor the majority of Alaskan natives (Shinagawa & Jang 98).

Race and Ethnicity Essay Example for Free

Race and Ethnicity Essay Race and racial issues are all around us. Nobody can sneak behind a curtain, or tuck themselves away in a dark room to avoid this; there isn’t a way to escape racism. Our day to day lives are filled with stereotypes and overgeneralizations that make us think and judge the wrong way. We weren’t born into a race or into a category, but rather into a large melting pot. As Tim Wise said, majority of cops when asked â€Å"What would you assume about a Black or Latino male who lives in a shady neighborhood and has a nice, new car? † would respond â€Å"those men are more than likely drug dealers† just because of their race, when in fact, when compared to Black and Latino males, White males are four times more likely to be in possession of drugs at the time of an arrest. Our founders did not want this to be the case. Abraham Lincoln fought to end slavery and abolish the inequality between Human Beings, not guide us in to thinking the color of our skin shapes us and the opinions we create for others based on their â€Å"race†. Can you believe that ninety-four percent of White Americans believe that racial problems are a small issue like not being able to find the match to your shoe, whereas the other six percent are fully aware that this is a huge controversial issue? Those people who believe racism has dwindled down that much need to have an eye opener. Majority of â€Å"White Americans† are the ones who stereotype and categorize those of a different skin color. It is us â€Å"White Americans† who benefit from being the main race, and having the â€Å"White privilege†. More people need to go to a Black neighborhood and talk to those who see racism every day because in the area that about half of us live, racism is small compared to a large city. White privilege might have begun around the same time slavery had. White people, being the majority, saw the â€Å"new race† as an opportunity to become supreme ruler over something, to have large groups of people work for them. The African American community thought differently, and tried running away. Infuriated, the Whites began on a whole new level believing anyone who ran away from the plantation was sick. Slavery in general, helped create white privilege and stereotype all African Americans into the working type, and now the druggies. All these past experiences have made it harder for African Americans to strive in our society. In previous decades, they deliberately separated White and Black neighborhoods, and when a Black moved into a White neighborhood, the houses value and the neighborhoods value decreased just because the people who moved there were of a different color. It is absolutely ridiculous that racism is still around about just as much as it was seven years ago. Anybody with logical thinking would believe that it would have dwindled down to something less severe. Unfortunately, several towns are still divided and segregated because of race and skin color. I hope I get to see every race and skin color come together and work together fully, across the nation before I’m fifty, that’s thirty three years from now.

Imprisonment in Shakespeares King Lear Essay -- King Lear essays

Imprisonment in King Lear      Ã‚   In the play King Lear, by William Shakespeare, the idea of imprisonment is fundamental to the plot and central ideas. All characters are imprisoned, whether it is physically, socially or psychologically. Each character suffers 'imprisonment' in some form.    King Lear is one of the more caged characters of the play, he suffers both social and psychological incarceration and this is one the chief reasons for his descent into mental hell and inevitable downfall. Lear is imprisoned by the role he must play in society and by his own internal shackles. The abdication of the throne initiates the action in the play, through the consequent chain of events. However this indicates that Lear is imprisoned by his responsibility to society, a social harness binds him. He renounces the throne to lead the rest of his life in pleasure and in doing so he disrupts the Great Chain of Being, he challenges the position that he has been given and thus his family and indeed the entire nation, descend into disorder and chaos. The storm is symbolic of this occurrence; the weather imitates the state of men. "One minded like the weather," the gentle man recognizes the disquiet and unrest of the storm, as a manifestation of the turbulence in Society at the time. He is not only responsible for the harmony of a nation, it is also his duty to maintain harmony in his house. This he does with little success when "bribes" his daughters to fuel his own ego. "Which of you shall we say doth love us most,/That we our largest bounty extend," Lear is requesting his daughters to compete in a "game" of words, he does not really wish to know who loves him the most, he simply wishes to be flattered, through this he is rashly aba... ...    Bevington, David, "Introduction to King Lear."   The Complete Works of William   Shakespeare.   New York:   HarperCollins, 1992.    Elton, William R. King Lear and the Gods.   San Marino, California: The Huntington Library, 1966.    Halio, Jay.   " King Lear's Imprisonment." Shakespeare Quarterly 67 (1999):   221-3.      Hoover, Claudette.   "Women, Centaurs, and Devils in King Lear."   Women's Studies 16 (1989):   349-59.    Jackson, Ken. "Review of Judy Kronenfeld, King Lear and the Naked Truth." Early Modern Literary Studies 6.2 (September, 2000): 10.1-5 <URL: http://purl.oclc.org/emls/06-2/jackrev.htm>.    Leggattt, Alexander.   King Lear.   Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1988.    Shakespeare, William.   King Lear.   The Complete Works of Shakespeare. Ed. David   Bevington.   New York:   HarperCollins, 1999

Harlequin Five Forces Analysis Essay

High economies of scale required. For an entrant to gain success in romance novel market, it must possess mature sales, production, and distribution to operate effectively, which also leads to great risk. High product differentiation required. Other companies start to add more features while Harlequin products remain relatively unchanged. Significant capital requirement required. This is evident in Simon and Schuster’s case, in which it bears a high upfront investment for this battle. Access to distribution channels is medium to difficult. Harlequin has gained exclusive access to groceries, but failed on stand-alone retails. Other competitors either choose regular bookstore or similar as Harleuqins’; however, it might be difficult to entrants to gain access to these channels by themselves. Government policy has been very protective to authors; however, no clear restrictions on product images. Buyers Power Increasing buying power due to additional competing products Low switching cost Changing target markets A variety of choices Poor retention rate, high return rate Loss of existing customers and high cost of attracting a new customer American Romance Series to meet consumer’s tastes Substitutes Threat of Substitutes is high due to technology advancement and demand diversification. Evident in Harlequin’s attempts of film, magazine and scholar’s choice (bookstore). Suppliers Power Increasing supplier power due to promising offer from Simon and Schuster Loss of excellent authors who later generate sales for Simon and Schuster shows that authors possess significant supplier power Other supplier powers such as sales force, printing business are relative stable Industry Competitors, Rivalry among existing firms Low growth rate as more competitors are competing for a stable market other competitors are earning market share at Harlequin’s expenses oligopolistic market is another factor of intense competition â€Å"Romance War† due to introduction of silhouette Simon and Schuster introduced Silhouette, a rival line of romance novels, in 1980 32% market share and rising Competes the oversea markets Emerging competitors as a result of Silhouette’s introduction; also evident in 5 additional rival lines launched in 1982 accelerate the intensity of competition and decrease Harlequin’s market share and volume sales Possession of competitive advantage (i.e. No best seller management and standardization) which ease competition temporarily Bitter rivalry with Sillhouette – S&S although losing money, but gaining market share underestimated by Harlequin hired Harlequin’s former vice president and best-selling authors advertising budget copied Harlequin’s Presents – confused buyers Financial Revenue increase slowly Profit dropped to half 1980-1981 ($44.7 –> 22.3) drastically decreased from 1982 -1983 ($25.8 –> 5.5) remove unprofitable subsidiaries – films, scholar’s choices, magazine etc Debt high debt ratio – rapid increase from 1980-1982, then lower in 1983 expensive bad debts from the Reader Service Cost 40 new stores eating up all the cash increasing costs of Reader Services reducing costs at corporate level – cut overhead expenses by 20% sales decreased, advertising expenses increased Working Capitals decreasing working capitals – lack of cash flow for investment – only 33 millions in 1983

System Architecture

We suspect that the real reason is the lack of a comprehensive, hysteretic and unifying approach to architectural design that makes the patterns In some sense comparable. Acquirement specification into a working software and hardware system and, hence, could be seen as â€Å"programming-in-the-very-large†. Since it is an accepted doctrine that mistakes when caught in the early stages are much cheaper to correct than when discovered in the late stages, good architectural system design could be of enormous economical potential. The purpose of this paper is to take a first step in the direction of a methodology for architectural design. Or in other words, we submit that architectural design should allow a methodology and not intuition, I. E. Should be treated as a science and not as an art. In order not to become overly ambitious, and to stay within the confines of a conference paper, we will limit ourselves to information systems as the synthesis of data base and data communicat ion systems, with more emphasis on the former. 2 2. 1 Services Services and resources Since we claim that architectural design is the first step in a process that turns a requirements specification into a working software and hardware system, an essential ingredient of the design method is a uniform and rigorous requirements specification.Requirements is something imposed by an outside wow RL. For information systems the outside world are the business processes in some real-world organization such as industry, government, education, financial institutions, for which they provide the informational support. Figure 1 illustrates the basic idea. The counterpart of business processes in an information system are informational processes. Business processes proceed in a linear (as in Figure 1) or non-linear order of steps, and so do the informational processes.To meet its obligations, each step draws on a number of resources. Resources are infrastructural means that are not died to any par ticular process or business but support a broad spectrum of these and can be shared, perhaps concurrently, by a large number of processes. In an information system the resources are informational in nature. Because of their central role, resources must be managed properly to achieve the desired system goals of economy, scale, capacity and timeliness.Therefore, access to each resource is through a resource manager. In the remainder we use the term information systems in the narrower sense of a collection of informational resources and their managers. What qualifies as a resource depends on the scope of a process. For example, in decision processes the resources may be computational such as statistical packages, data warehouses or data mining algorithms. These may in turn draw on more generic resources such as database systems and data communication systems.Business Informational process 1 Process step 1 Resource manager 1 Process step 2 Process step 3 Resource manager 2 Process step 4 Resource manager 3 Process step 5 Resource manager 4 process 2 Figure 1 Business processes, informational processes and resources What is of interest from an outside perspective is the kind of support a resource may provide. Abstractly speaking, a resource may be characterized by its competence . Competence manifests itself as the range of tasks that the resource manager is capable of performing.The range of tasks is referred to as a service. In this view, a resource manager is referred to as a service provider (or server for short) and each subsystem that makes use of a resource manager as a service client (or client for short). 2. 2 Service characteristics The relationship between a client and a server is governed by a service level characteristics of the services it provides. From the viewpoint of the client the server as to meet certain obligations or responsibilities. The responsibilities can be broadly classified into two categories.The first category is service functionalit y and covers the collection of functions available to a client and given by their syntactical interfaces (signatures) and their semantic effects. The semantic effects often reflect the interrelationships between the functions due to a shared state. Functionality is what a client basically is interested in. The second category covers the qualities of service. These are non-functional properties that are nonetheless considered essential for the usefulness of a server to client. 2. Service qualities To make the discussion more targeted, we study what technical equal ties of service we come to expect from an information system. Ubiquity. In general, an information system includes a large – in the Internet even unbounded – number of service providers. Access to services should be unrestricted in time and space, that is, anytime between any places. Ubiquity of information services makes data communication an indispensable part of information systems. Durability. Information services have not only to do with deriving new information from older information but also act as a kind of business memory.Access to older information in the form of stored data must remain possible at any time into an unlimited future, unless and until the data is explicitly overwritten. Durability of information makes database management a second indispensable ingredient of information systems. Interpretability. In an information system, data is exchanged across both, space due to ubiquity and time due to durability. Data carries information, but it is not information by itself. To exchange information, the sender has to encode its information as data, and the receiver reconstructs the information by interpreting the data.Any exchange should ensure, to the extent possible, that the interpretations of sender and receiver agree, that is, that meaning is preserved in space and time. This requires some common conventions, e. G. , a formal framework for interpretation. Because informa tion systems and their environment usually are only loosely coupled, the formal framework can only reflect something like a best effort. Best-effort interpretability is often called (semantic) consistency. Robustness. The service must remain reliable, I. E. Guarantee its functionality and qualities to any client, under all circumstances, be they errors, disruptions, failures, incursions, interferences. Robustness must always be founded on a failure model. There may be different models for different causes. For example, a service function must reach a defined state in case of failure (failure resilience), service functions muss t only interact in predefined ways if they access the same resource (conflict resilience), and the effect of a function must not be lost once the function came to a Security.Services must remain trustworthy, that is, show no effects beyond the guaranteed functionality and qualities, and include only the predetermined clients, n the face of failures, errors or malicious attacks. Performance. Services must be rendered with adequate technical performance at given cost. From a client's perspective the performance manifests itself as the response time. From a whole community of clients the performance is measured as throughput. Scalability. Modern information systems are open systems in the number of both, clients and servers.Services must not deteriorate in functionality and qualities in the face of a continuous growth of service requests from clients or other servers. 3 Service hierarchies 3. 1 Divide-and-conquer Given a requirements specification in terms of service functionality and qualities on the one hand and a set of available basic, e. G. , physical resources from which to construct them on the other hand, architectural design is about solving the complex task of bridging the gap between the two.The time -proven method for doing so is divide-and conquer which recursively derives from a given task a set of more limited tasks that can be combined to realize the original task. However, this is little more than an abstract principle that still leaves open the strategy that governs the decomposition. Higher-level responsibility arrive functionality qualities composition: assemble higher-level responsibility decomposition: divide higher-level lower-level responsibilities Figure 2 Divide-and-conquer for services We look for a strategy that is well-suited to our service philosophy.Among the various strategies covered in [Est.] the one to fit the service philosophy best is the assignment of responsibilities. In decomposing a larger task new smaller tasks are defined, that circumscribe narrower responsibilities within the original responsibility (Figure 2). If we follow Section 2. 2, a responsibility no matter what its range is always fined in terms of a service functionality and a set of service qualities. Hence, the decomposition results in a hierarchy of responsibilities, I. E. Services, starting from the semantically richest though least detailed service at the root and progressing downwards to ever narrower but more detailed services. The inner nodes of the hierarchy can be interpreted as resource managers that act as both, service providers and service clients. 3. 2 Design hypothesis All we know at this point is that decomposition follows a strategy of dividing responsibilities for services. Services encompass functionality and a large number of laity-of-service (So) parameters. This opens up a large design space at each step.A design method deserves its name only if we impose a certain discipline that restricts the design space at each step. The challenge now is to find a discipline that both, explains common existing architectural patterns, and systematically constructs new patterns if novel requirements arise. We claim that the service perspective has remained largely unexplored so that any discipline based on it is as yet little more than a design hypothesis. Our method divides each step from one level to the next into three parts. Functional decomposition. This is the traditional approach.We consider service functionality a a primary s criterion for decomposition. Since the original service requirements reflect the needs of the business world, the natural inclination is to use a pure top-down or stepwise must decide whether, and if so how, the functionality should be further broken up into a set of less powerful obligations and corresponding service functionalities to which some tasks can be delegated, and how these are to be combined to obtain the original functionality. However, the closer we come to the basic resources the more hose will restrict our freedom of design.Consequently, at some point we may have to reverse the direction and use stepwise composition to construct a more powerful functionality from simpler functionalities. Propagation of service qualities. Consider two successive levels in the hierarchy and an assignment of So- parameters to the higher- level service, we now determine which service qualities should be taken care of by the services on the upper and lower levels. Three options exist for each quality. Under exclusive control the higher-level service takes sole responsibility, I. E. , does not propagate the quality any further.Under partial control it shares the responsibility with some lower-level service, I. E. , passes some So aspects along. Under complete delegation the higher-level service ignores the quality altogether and entirely passes it further down to a lower-level service. For partial control or complete delegation our hope is that the various qualities passed down are orthogonal and hence can be assigned to separate and largely independent resource managers. Priority of service qualities. Among the service qualities under exclusive or partial control, choose one as the primary quality and refine the decomposition.Our hope is that the remaining qualities exert no or only minor influences on this level, I. E. , are orthogonal to the primary quality and thus can be taken care of separately. Clearly, there are interdependencies between the three parts so that we should expect to iterate through them. 4 4. 1 Testing the design hypothesis Classical 5-layer architecture Even though it is difficult to discern from the complex architecture of today's relational DB'S, most of them started out with an architecture that took as its reference the well-published 5-layer architecture of System R [Sass, Chic].Up to hose days the architecture is still the backbone of academic courses in database system implementation (see, e. G. , [HERR]). As a first test we examine whether our design hypothesis could retroactively explain this (centralized) architecture. 4. 1. 1 Priority on performance We assume that the DB'S offers all the service qualities of Section 2. 3 safe ubiquity, the relational data model in its SQL appearance. As noted in Section 2. 3, durability is the raisin d' ©tree for DB'S. Durabil ity is first of all a quality that must be guaranteed on the level of physical resources, by non- volatile storage.Let's assume that durability is delegated all the way down to this level. Even after decades durability is still served almost exclusively by magnetic disk storage. If we use processor speed as the yardstick, the overwhelming bottleneck, by six orders of magnitude, is access latency, which is composed of the movement of the mechanical access mechanism for reaching a cylinder and the rotational delay until the desired data block appears under the read/write head. Consequently, performance dwarfs all other service qualities in importance on the lowest level.Considering the size of the bottleneck and the fact that performance is also an issue or the clients, it seems to make sense to work from the hypothesis that performance is the highest-priority quality across the entire hierarchy to be constructed. 4. 1 . 2 Playing off functionality versus performance Since we ignore f or the time being all service qualities except performance, our design hypothesis becomes somewhat simplified: There is a single top-priority quality, and because it pervades the entire hierarchy it is implemented by partial control.The challenge, then, is to find for each level a suitable benchmark against which to evaluate performance. Such a benchmark is given by an access profile, that is a sequence of operations that reflects, e. G. , average behavior or high-priority requests. We refer to such a benchmark as data staging. More expressive data model data staging data model Id wider usage context access profile resource manager I less expressive narrower Figure 3 Balancing functionality and performance on a level Consequently, our main objective on each level is determining a balance of functionality and data staging.As Figure 3 illustrates, the balancing takes account of a tandem of knowledge. On the way down we move from more to less expressive data models and at the same time from a wider context, I. E. More global knowledge of prospective data usage, to a narrower context with more localized knowledge of data usage. The higher we are in the hierarchy, the earlier can we predict the need for a data element. Design for performance, then, means to put the predictions to good use. Based on these abstractions we are indeed able to explain the classical architecture. We start with the root whose functionality is given by the relational model and SQL. The logical database structure in the form of relations is imposed by the clients. We also assume an access profile in terms of a history of operations on the logical database. We compress the access profile into an access density that expresses the probability of Joint use of data elements within a given time interval. The topmost resource manager can now use the access density to rearrange the data elements into sets of Jointly accessible elements.It then takes account of performance by translating queries aga inst the relational database to those against the rearranged, internal database. The data model on this internal level could very well still be relational. But since we have to move to a less expressive data model, we leave only he structure relational but employ duple operators rather than set operators. Consequently, the topmost resource manager also implements the relational operators by programs on sets of tepees.What is missing from the access density is the dynamics – which operations are applied to which data elements and in which order. Therefore, for the next lower level we compress the access profile into an access pattern that reflects the frequency and temporal distribution of the operations on data elements. There is a large number of so-called physical data structures tailored to different patterns – or combined associative and sequential access. The resource manager on this level accounts for performance by assigning suitable physical structures to the s ets of the internal data model.The data model on the next lower level provides a library of physical data structures together with the operators for accessing them. It is not all clear how to continue from here on downwards because we have extracted all we could from the access profile. Hence we elect to change direction and start from the bottom. Given the storage devices we use physical file management as provided by operating systems. We choose a block-oriented file organization because it makes the least assumptions about subsequent use of the data and offers a homogeneous view on all devices.We use parameter settings to influence performance. The parameters concern, among others, file size and dynamic growth, block size, block placement, block addressing (virtual or physical). To lay the foundation for data staging we would like to control physical proximity: adjacent block numbering should be equivalent to minimal latency on sequential, or (in case of RAID) parallel access. Th e data model is defined by classical file management functions. The next upper level recognizes the fact that on the higher levels data staging is in terms of sets of records.It introduces its own version of sets, namely segments. These are defined on pages with a size equal to block size. Performance is controlled by the strategy that places pages in blocks. Particularly critical to performance is the assumption that record size is much lower than page size so that a page contains a fairly large number of records. Hence, under the best of circumstances a page transfer into main memory results in the transfer of a large number of Jointly used cords. Buffer management gives shared records a much better chance to survive in main memory.The data model on this level is terms of sets of pages and operators on these. This leaves Just the gap to be closed between sets of records as they manifest themselves in the physical data structures, and sets of pages. Given a page, all records on the page can be accessed with main memory speed. Since each data structure reflects a particular pattern of record operations, we translate the pattern into a strategy for placing Jointly used records on the same page (record clustering). The physical data resource manager places or retrieves records on or from pages, respectively.

Not for Ourselves Alone essays

Not for Ourselves Alone essays In many ways, women were not allowed to play an important role in society during the 1770s. For the most part, it was illegal for women to receive any form of higher education. Thus, their involvement in the affairs of government was very limited, including of course, that they were not allowed to vote, but the voice of the women could not be ignored. Abigail Adams helped plant the seeds that would start women and men thinking about women's rights and roles in a country that had been founded on the ideals of equality and independence. She was a small town girl who traveled the world. She had no education, but she is known for writing letters. She grew up serving men but she ended up strongly challenging the male controlled system. This is the story of Abigail Adams, a most unusual Revolutionary era woman. Abigail Adams was born in 1744 in Weymouth, Massachusetts. She had two sisters, and one brother. She was never able to go to school because she was often, sick and her parents were afraid to send her. Abigails father, Reverend William Smith, was the town minister of Weymouth. He taught Abigail to love books and reading. Abigails mother, Elizabeth Quincy Smith, came from a family of local community leaders. Hearing conversations in her home about the growing tension in the relationship between the American colonies and England, made Abigail curious about political issues. She began to read newspapers and ask questions. At age 17, she became interested in a young lawyer named John Adams who had begun to visit her fathers library.1 In 1764, just before her 20th birthday, Abigail was married to John Adams and settled in Braintree near her family. A year later, Abigail and John had their first child; she was nicknamed, Nabby. In 1767, they had their first son; he was named John Quincy. Abigail moved to Boston right after John Quincy had his first birthday. She wanted to be with John in th...

Euthanasia8 essays

Euthanasia8 essays Its been years now since the hospital said that your dad had a terminal disease. The health administration hasnt found a cure for it and probably wont for years to come. You hate to see your dad like this. All he can do is lay in bed, useless to the world he once helped, and wait to die. This story is sadly what some people face today. There are people who get terminal illnesses but never get cured of them and never die of them. These people almost always live painful lives doing nothing, just waiting to die. Assisted suicide is a perfect solution to some peoples problems. The opposing view is that people have no right to end anyones life at any point in time throughout life. According to Jonathan Gould and Lord Craigmyle, ...euthanasia means the painless killing of men and women to end their sufferings(15). Why do so many people condone euthanasia when it is almost every mans dream? If you consider the facts, everybody would like a painless death. I dont know many people that would like a long and painful death. People would like to die easily or in their sleep. People expect their doctor to relieve them of pain when they are sick. Infact, humans even feel that their animals should be put to death if they are suffering. This is clearly stated by Janelle Rohr when she said, A dying animal is quickly put out of its misery, but no such consideration is offered to the terminally ill human(136). Among certain primitive people, the killing or abandonment of aged or helpless members was an accepted practice(Jonathan Gould and Craigmyle 20). In America we perform abortions, execute murderers and draft young men so they may be slain for their country. But mention the subject of euthanasia and people start to get a little crazy. Having worked in a variety of medical settings, I have seen countless people suffer hideous deaths from illness ...

What Centrifugation Is and Why Its Used

What Centrifugation Is and Why Its Used The term centrifuge can refer to a machine that houses a rapidly rotating container to separate its contents by density (noun) or to the act of using the machine (verb). The modern device traces its origins to a spinning arm apparatus designed in the 18th century by engineer Benjamin Robins to determine drag. In 1864, Antonin Prandtl applied the technique to separate milk and cream. His brother refined the technique, inventing a butterfat extraction machine in 1875. While centrifuges are still used to separate milk components, their use has expanded to many other areas of science and medicine. Centrifuges are most often used to separate different liquids and solid particulates from liquids, but they may be used for gases. They are also used for other purposes than mechanical separation. How a Centrifuge Works A centrifuge gets its name from centrifugal force the virtual force that pulls spinning objects outward. Centripetal force is the real physical force at work, pulling spinning objects inward. Spinning a bucket of water is a good example of the forces at work. If the bucket spins fast enough, the water is pulled into it and doesnt spill. If the bucket is filled with a mixture of sand and water, spinning it produces centrifugation. According to the sedimentation principle, both the water and sand in the bucket will be drawn to the outer edge of the bucket, but the dense sand particles will settle to the bottom, while the lighter water molecules will be displaced toward the center. The centripetal acceleration essentially simulates higher gravity, however, its important to keep in mind the artificial gravity is a range of values, depending on how close an object is to the axis of rotation, not a constant value. The effect is greater the further out an object gets because it travels a greater distance for each rotation. Types and Uses of Centrifuges The  types of centrifuges are all based on the same technique but differ in their applications. The main differences between them are the speed of rotation and the rotor design. The rotor is the rotating unit in the device. Fixed-angle rotors hold samples at a constant angle, swinging head rotors have a hinge that allows sample vessels to swing outward as the rate of spin increases, and continuous tubular centrifuges have one chamber rather than individual sample chambers. Very high-speed centrifuges and ultracentrifuges spin at such a high rate that they can be used to separate molecules of different masses or even isotopes of atoms. For example, a gas centrifuge may be used to enrich uranium, as the heavier isotope is pulled outward more than the lighter one. Isotope separation is used for scientific research and to make nuclear fuel and nuclear weapons. Laboratory centrifuges also spin at high rates. They may be large enough to stand on a floor or small enough to rest on a counter.  A typical device has a  rotor with angled drilled holes to hold sample tubes. Because the sample tubes are fixed at an angle and centrifugal force acts in the horizontal plane, particles move a tiny distance before hitting the wall of the tube, allowing dense material to slide down. While many lab centrifuges have fixed-angle rotors, swinging-bucket rotors are also common.  These machines are used to isolate components of  immiscible liquids  and  suspensions. Uses include separating blood components, isolating DNA, and purifying chemical samples. Medium-size centrifuges are common in daily life, mainly to quickly separate liquids from solids. Washing machines use centrifugation during the spin cycle to separate water from laundry, for example. A similar device spins the water out of swimsuits. Large centrifuges may be used to simulate high-gravity. The machines are the size of a room or building. Human centrifuges are used to train test pilots and conduct gravity-related scientific research. Centrifuges may also be used as amusement park rides. While human centrifuges are designed to go up to 10 or 12 gravities, large diameter non-human machines can expose specimens to up to 20 times normal gravity.  The same principle may one day be used to simulate gravity in space.   Industrial centrifuges are used to separate components of colloids (like cream and butter from milk), in chemical preparation, cleaning solids from drilling fluid, drying materials, and water treatment to remove sludge. Some industrial centrifuges rely on sedimentation for separation, while others separate matter using a screen or filter. Industrial centrifuges are used to cast metals and prepare chemicals. The differential gravity affects the phase composition and other properties of the materials. Related Techniques While centrifugation is the best option for simulating high gravity, there are other techniques that may be used to separate materials. These include filtration, sieving, distillation, decantation, and chromatography. The best technique for an application depends on the properties of a sample and its volume.

Term Project Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Term Project - Research Paper Example Authentic leadership is â€Å"a pattern of transparent and ethical leader behavior that encourages openness in sharing information needed to make decisions while accepting followers’ inputs† (Avolio, Walumbwa, & Weber, 2009, p. 423). On the other hand, transformational leadership consists of â€Å"leader behaviors that transform and inspire followers to perform beyond expectations while transcending self-interest for the good of the organization† (Avolio, Walumbwa, & Weber, 2009, p. 423). Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is one of the most prevalent theories on motivation (Fisher, 2009). This theory suggests that people are motivated by five level of needs, which are physiological, security, social, ego, and self-actualization (Ibid.). As such, workers are motivated by the needs that math the level that they are currently at. Consequently, leaders must be able to identify the level that workers of their department are working at in order to offer specific oppor tunities fitting the identified level (Ibid). The different leadership styles are thus seen to be an important consideration in motivating employees and consequently improving organizational performance. If a relationship between these variables is found, organizations may set up the proper methods to encourage higher level management to enforce a particular leadership strategy and thereby improve the productivity of their respective organizations. This study aims to find if this relationship indeed exists, that is, if leadership styles contribute significantly to employee motivation, and translate this motivation to organizational productivity. This research study aims to answer the following research questions: R1: Is there a relationship between leadership style and motivation? R2: If such a relationship exists, which relationship style motivates employees the most? R3: Is there a relationship between leadership style and organizational productivity? R4: If such a relationship ex ists, which relationship style leads to the highest organizational productivity? With these research questions in mind, the following research hypotheses will be tested for significance: Ho1: There is no relationship between leadership style and motivation. Ha1: There is a significant relationship between leadership style and motivation Ho2: There is no relationship between leadership style and organizational productivity. Ha2: There is a significant relationship between leadership style and organizational productivity. Methods The research study will use a quantitative survey design, as it aims to find if there is a relationship between leadership style, motivation and organizational productivity. A quantitative research study is one wherein the variables used are quantifiable or measurable, and relationships among variables can be found through the use of appropriate mathematical and statistical tools (Creswell, 2003). A survey design for quantitative research uses a set of struct ured questions in order to derive the required information (Agresti & Finlay, 2009). A pre-piloted questionnaire will be given to the respondents in order to identify the leadership style of their superior, the level of motivation that they have at work, and their level of organizational productivity. The respondents will be taken from a list of employees of Ford Company. Stratified random sampling will be used in order to ident

Gang violence Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Gang violence - Research Paper Example ThÐ µrÐ µ is thÐ µ constÐ °nt dÐ µbÐ °tÐ µ thÐ µ simplÐ µ quÐ µstion whÐ °t is thÐ µ sociÐ °l problÐ µm. ThÐ µrÐ µ Ð °rÐ µ mÐ °ny diffÐ µrÐ µnt options thÐ °t Ð °rÐ µ Ð °nd cÐ °n bÐ µ rÐ µgÐ °rdÐ µd Ð °s thÐ µ sociÐ °l problÐ µm. SociÐ °l problÐ µm is thÐ °t thrÐ µÃ °tÐ µns vÐ °luÐ µs of sociÐ µty such Ð °s lÐ °w Ð °nd ordÐ µr sociÐ °l cohÐ µsion Ð °nd stÐ °bility of sociÐ °l institutions. HowÐ µvÐ µr somÐ µ of sociÐ °l conditions thÐ °t wÐ µ Ð °rÐ µ now ignorÐ µd it is quitÐ µ possiblÐ µ should bÐ µ sÐ µÃ µn Ð °s sociÐ °l problÐ µms in futurÐ µ. SimilÐ °rly somÐ µ of sociÐ °l mÐ µchÐ °nisms thÐ °t wÐ µ bÐ µliÐ µvÐ µ sociÐ °l problÐ µms Ð °rÐ µ not considÐ µrÐ µd in Ð µÃ °rliÐ µr timÐ µs. Methodology GÐ °ng is thÐ µ group of pÐ µoplÐ µ who through orgÐ °nizÐ °tion formÐ °tion Ð °nd Ð µstÐ °blishmÐ µnt of Ð °ssÐ µmbly shÐ °rÐ µ thÐ µ common idÐ µntity. CurrÐ µntly usÐ µd it usu Ð °lly mÐ µÃ °ns thÐ µ criminÐ °l orgÐ °nizÐ °tion or criminÐ °l bÐ °ckground. In Ð µÃ °rly usÐ µ word gÐ °ng rÐ µfÐ µrs to thÐ µ group of workÐ µrs. ... MÐ °ll of Ð mÐ µricÐ ° locÐ °tion is thÐ µ Ð µxÐ °mplÐ µ of how gÐ °ng violÐ µncÐ µ cÐ °n Ð µrupt Ð °nywhÐ µrÐ µ Ð °nd thÐ °t no pÐ °rt of sociÐ µty is immunÐ µ from this problÐ µm. Ð s trÐ °dÐ µ workÐ µr in this Ð °rticlÐ µ rÐ µÃ °ds: "You simply cÐ °n not bÐ µ sÐ °fÐ µ Ð °nywhÐ µrÐ µ. ЕvÐ µry timÐ µ you turn Ð °round somÐ µonÐ µ is rÐ µmovÐ µd or bÐ µÃ °tÐ µn or killÐ µd." Why Ð °rÐ µ Ð µvÐ µnts such Ð °s mÐ °ll shooting up so oftÐ µn? Why thÐ µsÐ µ trÐ °gÐ µdiÐ µs Ð °rÐ µ still occurring? WhÐ °t is motivÐ °tion for pÐ µoplÐ µ to Ð µngÐ °gÐ µ in such immorÐ °l Ð °nd criminÐ °l bÐ µhÐ °vior? PÐ µoplÐ µ who commit such crimÐ µs Ð °s murdÐ µr fit Ð µxÐ °ct stÐ µrÐ µotypÐ µ? (Rush 85–92) SuthÐ µrlÐ °nd thÐ µory of diffÐ µrÐ µntiÐ °l Ð °ssociÐ °tion cÐ °n hÐ µlp to providÐ µ thÐ µ Ð µxplÐ °nÐ °tion to Ð °bovÐ µ quÐ µstion. SuthÐ µrlÐ °nd Ð °rguÐ µs thÐ °t criminÐ °l bÐ µhÐ °vior is not inhÐ µritÐ µd but it is lÐ µÃ °rnÐ µd in sociÐ °l intÐ µrÐ °ctions. It's just thÐ µ coincidÐ µncÐ µ thÐ °t thÐ µsÐ µ suspÐ µcts in Ð °rticlÐ µ bÐ µst friÐ µnds Ð °nd both hÐ °vÐ µ rÐ µpÐ µÃ °tÐ µdly involvÐ µd in criminÐ °l bÐ µhÐ °vior. ThÐ µ pÐ µrpÐ µtrÐ °tors in this study Ð °rÐ µ dÐ µscribÐ µd Ð °s bÐ µst friÐ µnds who hÐ °vÐ µ thÐ µ long rÐ µpÐ µÃ °tÐ µd history of violÐ °tions of lÐ °w sincÐ µ 11 yÐ µÃ °rs. In Ð °pplying thÐ µory of diffÐ µrÐ µntiÐ °l Ð °ssociÐ °tion with this study it is no coincidÐ µncÐ µ thÐ °t two suspÐ µcts to Ð µngÐ °gÐ µ in sÐ °mÐ µ dÐ µviÐ °nt Ð °ctivitiÐ µs. Judging by thÐ µir intimÐ °tÐ µ connÐ µction with pÐ µÃ µr group such Ð °s gÐ °ngs thÐ µy hÐ °vÐ µ put thÐ µmsÐ µlvÐ µs in thÐ µ Ð µnvironmÐ µnt whÐ µrÐ µ it is Ð µÃ °sy to lÐ µÃ °rn to bÐ µcomÐ µ thÐ µ criminÐ °l. ThÐ µ fÐ °ct thÐ °t mÐ µmbÐ µrs of gÐ °ng Ð µngÐ °gÐ µ d in similÐ °r Ð °ctivitiÐ µs is thÐ µ mÐ °jor fÐ °ctor in Ð µxplÐ °ining why thÐ µsÐ µ commÐ µrciÐ °l shooting took

Non-Profit Agency World Vision Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Non-Profit Agency World Vision - Essay Example The story behind its establishment is very touching.In 1947, the Reverend was on a trip to China and during that time he met Tena Hoelkedoer, a teacher. She was being accompanied by a child named White Jade, who was battered and deserted. Having no means to take care of the child on her own, the Reverend decided to give her the only money he had, which was five dollars and made an agreement with the teacher that he would be sending five dollars every month to help her in taking care of the child. This simple act of charity by Rev. Pierce is what led to the establishment of World Vision. Today World Vision is headed by Richard Stearns, who is the president of the organization. Richard Stearns and his wife have been great supports of the organization since 1984 (Stearns, 2013). Over the years the service provided by World Vision has extended to Asia, Africa, Middle East, Latin America and Eastern Europe. World Vision is today a global partnership working and providing its service to over 95 countries with more than 50 autonomous yet interdependent members and staff of 44,000 people. The main role of World Vision is providing a better and comfortable life for children and dealing with issues that concern child survival. The organization helps children to have good health, educate children, ensure children experience the great love of God and also the love offered by the rest of humanity and that children are taken well care of and are protected. It also focuses on providing community needs as a way of combating poverty.

The Main Causes of World War I. (Militarism, Alliances Imperialism and Research Paper

The Main Causes of World War I. (Militarism, Alliances Imperialism and Nationalism) - Research Paper Example The street celebrations that accompanied the war declaration between French and British gave historians the impression that the move was really popular. Politicians, known to follow the popular side were in support of this move. Historians yet believe that the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, the heir of the Serbian empire sparked war between the Austria-Hungary, which prompted the allied nations to join. The First World War having started in Central Europe, begun in 1914 and ended in 1918. During its progression time, it rapidly spread to other parts of the world and involved many countries. The war that had devastating effects is believed to have been caused by a number of reasons according to historians. However, they anonymously agree on the four major causes of the war which include Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism and Nationalism. This paper will look at these four as the major causes of World War I and their effects to the fighting nations. Imperialism Various scholars a ttribute the start of World War 1 to imperialism that was sparked in the European continent. Since countries such as United Kingdom had accumulated a lot of wealth in the late 19th century and early 20th century from the control of foreign resources and markets, territories and people, other empires too started gaining hopes of economically benefiting from acquiring empires such as Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy and Russia1. However, this totally flopped as things did not turn out to their expectations leading to a lot of frustrations that increased the levels of anxiety and rivalry among powers. Increasingly, the natural resources in the European continent were diminishing at a fast rate, negatively impacting on trade balance. This development made it necessary for companies to seek for new raw materials elsewhere, thus settling for Africa and Asian continents. Vested economic interests by various European nations were the major contributors of the Anglo-German rivalry when the sc ramble for Africa intensified. This scene created the sharpest conflict between German and British interests that had been in a heated competition. The rivalry was however not based on colonies alone. Colonial trade and trade routes was also part of the major issues that caused the outbreak of the war as experts observe. Different emerging economic powers and the incumbent of great economic powers in the African continent saw an increased rise in the broader disputes2. From the 1980s, the rivalry among great powers due to colonial territories intensified and kept growing. Hatred between conflicting powers was evident, while war was imminent. This period witnessed the acquisition of both the African and the Asian continents by the European powers. However, the increased conflicts that arose between the various powers of the European origin saw the spark of the war. The scramble for African and Asian continents increased the tensions between Anglo-French and Anglo-Russian powers, as w ell as the crises that had sought to prevent British alliances with either of the two until the wake of the twentieth century. Not only was the overseas empire a problem to some countries such as Germany, she was also faced with yet another predicament. Otto von Bismarck was not in favour of overseas empire building, and more so acquisitions of Africa. His only support for the African scramble and colonization was that to him, it served as a bite which diverted the attention of governments away from Europe

Issues in Global Business case study - it is Urgent Essay

Issues in Global Business case study - it is Urgent - Essay Example India is a suitable destination for Sony to expand its business in. The large population of middle class citizens and the diversity of people on the basis of their ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and needs has a lot of room to provide Sony with to expand. Sony needs to re-define its strategic planning in order to derive optimal benefits from the emerging economy of India. There is a range of issues Sony may face as it tends to accomplish this goal with a lot of implications on its supply chain. Issues Sony may face include poor infrastructure of India posing difficulties of logistics, excise tax system, laws and regulations, and culture shock. Sony can smoothly expand its business in India by learning from the mistakes the company has made in the past and the strategies of other companies that have successfully expanded businesses in emerging economies in the past. Introduction After the redevelopment of the domestic market in Japan that was ravaged by the tsunami and earthquake in the year 2011, the Japanese companies need to quickly expand in the emerging economies, and Sony is no exception. Companies like Sony cannot succeed without rethinking their strategies and finding ways to deal with a range of challenges that include but are not limited to distaste for the market’s low- and middle-end segments, reluctance to show organizational and financial commitment in the emerging economies, failure in proper allocation of talent, and aversion to acquisitions and mergers. In other words, Sony needs to re-define its competitive strategy in the contemporary market conditions in the emerging economies it chooses to expand its business in. â€Å"Developing a competitive strategy is developing a broad formula for how a business is going to compete, what its goals should be, and what policies will be needed to carry out those goals† (Porter, 1998, p. xxiv). It is, indeed a tough target to achieve, but it is not impossible as companies like Daikin and Unic harm are already on their way to achieving this target. Sony has had a lot of successes in the emerging markets in the past. Sony’s strengths in such markets primarily included a strong grasp over the retail channel that enabled the company to have highly efficient operations, programs of product planning and marketing to address the individual and collective needs of the emerging markets, and the ability of the company to leverage the entertainment assets of Sony Group to take its effectiveness in the market to the next level. This can be estimated from the fact that Sony has boasted a position in the industry as the provider of numerous channels that are publicly liked and highly rated. Two of the channels of Sony Pictures Television are included in the list of the top-rated channels of television in the market. Sony has achieved a high level of awareness by effectively leveraging as a leading entertainment company. Therefore, it assumes immense tendency to boost the sales of its products in the electronics business and gain the top brand’s position in emerging economies

Philosophy of Nursing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Philosophy of Nursing - Essay Example The life philosophy may vary based on individual differences, cultural differences and the religious differences. Philosophy is a kind of beliefs, values and goals a person sets in his life. Philosophy in short is the personal belief about how to live or how to deal with a situation. On academic terms, philosophy is the origin of every sort of knowledge. In olden times, when science was not developed much, the philosophers were the persons who interpreted the problems and they were able to provide answers to the doubts of the common people. Philosophy was the first sort of knowledge originated in human history. All the other subjects like, science, mathematics, literature etc gradually separated from philosophy when the knowledge became gradually increased. Since the origin of every sort of knowledge is attributed to philosophy, the highest degree awarded in all the subjects is labelled as Doctor of Philosophy or PhD in academics. Two persons working in an organization, in the same department and same position may approach their work differently because of their difference in attitudes and philosophy about work. For example, consider two accountants working in the same company. One may finish his works daily and may not keep anything for the next day. The other may not finish his works in time and he may keep something for the next day. This is because of their difference in attitude or philosophy in approaching the profession. Nursing profession is considered as a noble profession because of their contributions in saving the life of sick people. For me nurses are not getting the respect they deserve from the society considering the nature of their services. I have selected nursing as my profession because of its relevance and value in the society. For me human life is the most important thing in the world and I am happy, if I am

Issues in Global Business case study - it is Urgent Essay

Issues in Global Business case study - it is Urgent - Essay Example India is a suitable destination for Sony to expand its business in. The large population of middle class citizens and the diversity of people on the basis of their ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and needs has a lot of room to provide Sony with to expand. Sony needs to re-define its strategic planning in order to derive optimal benefits from the emerging economy of India. There is a range of issues Sony may face as it tends to accomplish this goal with a lot of implications on its supply chain. Issues Sony may face include poor infrastructure of India posing difficulties of logistics, excise tax system, laws and regulations, and culture shock. Sony can smoothly expand its business in India by learning from the mistakes the company has made in the past and the strategies of other companies that have successfully expanded businesses in emerging economies in the past. Introduction After the redevelopment of the domestic market in Japan that was ravaged by the tsunami and earthquake in the year 2011, the Japanese companies need to quickly expand in the emerging economies, and Sony is no exception. Companies like Sony cannot succeed without rethinking their strategies and finding ways to deal with a range of challenges that include but are not limited to distaste for the market’s low- and middle-end segments, reluctance to show organizational and financial commitment in the emerging economies, failure in proper allocation of talent, and aversion to acquisitions and mergers. In other words, Sony needs to re-define its competitive strategy in the contemporary market conditions in the emerging economies it chooses to expand its business in. â€Å"Developing a competitive strategy is developing a broad formula for how a business is going to compete, what its goals should be, and what policies will be needed to carry out those goals† (Porter, 1998, p. xxiv). It is, indeed a tough target to achieve, but it is not impossible as companies like Daikin and Unic harm are already on their way to achieving this target. Sony has had a lot of successes in the emerging markets in the past. Sony’s strengths in such markets primarily included a strong grasp over the retail channel that enabled the company to have highly efficient operations, programs of product planning and marketing to address the individual and collective needs of the emerging markets, and the ability of the company to leverage the entertainment assets of Sony Group to take its effectiveness in the market to the next level. This can be estimated from the fact that Sony has boasted a position in the industry as the provider of numerous channels that are publicly liked and highly rated. Two of the channels of Sony Pictures Television are included in the list of the top-rated channels of television in the market. Sony has achieved a high level of awareness by effectively leveraging as a leading entertainment company. Therefore, it assumes immense tendency to boost the sales of its products in the electronics business and gain the top brand’s position in emerging economies

The war between US and Iraq Annotated Bibliography

The war between US and Iraq - Annotated Bibliography Example Through such process, the authors were able to focus on the elite-mass dynamic seen in setting forth foreign policy options. The authors also assessed public opinion on threat perception, support for the war, and the beliefs about the possibility of terrorist attacks if the US did not implement retaliatory actions against Iraq. This study helped me gather as much information as possible on the public opinion of the war. This article discussed how the Iraqi War has sent Iraq into a political chaos and how the United States had no justified reason for its presence in Iraq. The article also discussed the insurgencies seen in Iraq as a reaction to the actions of the US government. This article brings to a sharper focus the unsupported claims of the US against Iraq and how such unfounded claims have only created more disasters for Iraq, if not for the US. This article helped me evaluate the impact of the war on Iraq and how US actions continue to cause chaos on Iraq. This research reviewed the premise that conservative-liberal identity functions as a preparation to adopt beliefs and attitude about newly politicized issues coincide with the socially accepted meanings of conservatism-liberalism. Study 1 of this research assessed in 2000, had a crucial prospective effect on the support in the invasion of Iraq in 2002 and in 2004, in relation to controlling substantive ideology, party identity, and demographics. For Study 2, the research discussed the conservative and liberal identifiers adopted positions on farm subsidy policies based on different signs which ideological groups support. I chose this paper because it discussed the impact of political discourse on the organization of political ideology. It also provided a theoretical understanding of the issue The above article is a personal account and analysis by the author on the events which unfolded in Iraq since the US declared war against it. The US troops have largely made

Reconciliation Of Personal, Cultural, Organizational And Ethical Values Essay Example for Free

Reconciliation Of Personal, Cultural, Organizational And Ethical Values Essay The values and ethics people carry in their personal and professional life are important determinants of their growth and development. The eventual success of a person is realized through self understanding and actualization and not through relentless manipulation of material resources. Successful reconciliation of personal, organizational, and cultural values and ethics require a number of strategies, some of which are discussed below Communication: Communication is requires towards establishment of rapport with each diverse group. People within a large organization differ not only from their cultural, religious, and social orientations, but also from their professional orientation and interests. These differences widen when many different functional units of an organization, with their philosophies and approach towards work, are required to undergo technology amalgamation (Harris, 1993). These differences often lead to conflicts in the personal and cultural value system, which lead to conflict at workplace, distress in personal and professional life and issues in integration with the organizational setup (ibid). Communication is the key to resolve this deadlock, without causing any antagonistic and negative feelings. People should be aware that organizations are dependent on successful coordination among number of teams and people. Hence they should try to initiate measures that would avoid projecting any conflict or confrontation in interests within the organization. They should be sensitive to each other’s ethnic, social, religious and individual backgrounds and understand their views as sum of their personal growth Sometimes people resent opinions of others, involve their ego and stop to cooperate, coordinate or understand the need to assimilate their juniors and seniors to achieve organizational goals (Swanson, 2005). A successful communication strategy shall effectively address these problems at their inception point and ensure that they do not emerge as any significant stumbling block in ideological merging of various cultural groups (Rahim, 2001). Ensuring Interconnectedness Understanding the collective responsibility and appreciation of team work and group interaction is necessary in embedding the value culture that helps in the reconciliation approach. This would help people to come out of their individual shells and get integrated with their colleagues (Harris, 1993; Rahim, 2001). Understanding inherent organizational contradictions It is important to teach people about recognizing and respecting that contradiction occurs in other people, their experience and circumstances, their view points, their ideological background and their value based system. Understanding the role of crises A timely recognition that crises and conflicts are inbuilt of component of life and progress is achieved by incorporating them in the philosophy towards life should be able to show people that above all the things, they require harmony, and cooperation for things to successfully work (Rahim, 2001) Kinship with others The communication expert should specifically stress on building associations and help in realizing that every one is important and deserves equal respect from others. It is the first requirement of building strong and lasting bonds within any organization. When people are organized in teams, they share similar goals and they work towards joint growth and development (Harris, 1993; Rahim, 2001). Respecting the opposition. It teaches about taking opposition as constructive contradiction, instead of viewing it in negative perspective. A constructive opposition always helps in finding out mistakes in one’s own approach, rectify them and move ahead successfully. Negotiation: An important aspect of communication management is negotiation which has become important within organizational and social setups. As. Negotiation, requires interested parties to trade proposals for settlement. Generally the process of negotiation proceeds through motives that are competitive, integrative, cooperative and composite (Levy, 1999) . The approach of communication in the entire process of negotiation is concerned with the messages that are transferred among negotiators and the concerned parties. Reconciliation of Ethics Business and ethics are always considered opposite to each other. The general conception of business is that it is a commercial activity with aims to earn maximum income and maximize profit where levels of deceit, subterfuge, and conceit are much higher than socially seen or found (Swanson, 2005). However, this concept of business is archaic and medieval. Today, most of the businesses have developed their own philosophies, which although not exactly philanthropic, but contains a broad social and human vision, and attempts to see business activities as integral part of comprehensive human functions. Modern business is as much based on cardinal principle of profit maximization as on the neo-thoughts of values, morals and ethics. The foundation of business world is on ethics of honesty and commitment where contacts are honored, promises are maintained, and rights of property are observed. Observing ethical values and practices indeed brings positive results as ethical companies face less problems, less litigation and less regulations (Guy, 1990). Corporate Values and corporate culture Ethics are not stand-alone concepts or abstract morals that are hung on wall for ocular delights. They are values and best practices that should be embedded in the working culture that corporations, in their attempts to promote business ethics and best practices, should ensure that their employees are well aware of the values and principles that the corporation aims to pursue. The concept of organizational culture has emerged as most enduring and successful business concept in the ethical dimensions (Bjerke,1999). Business managers, academicians, and corporate leaders all agree that organizational culture as a part of business strategy is crucialfor a firm to maintain and sustain the high standards of operation, decision making and future planning while ensuring expansion, innovation, and entrepreneurship (Oden, 1997). The role of organizational culture, in promoting ethical behavior and establishing organization wide accepted norms and working principles is paramount and it is recognized in the corporate quarters, that evolving a healthy organizational culture is probably the best method to create ethical, value based, principled and visionary business practices (Swanson, 2005). Modifying Organizational behavior An organization is a product of the values and ethics its employees carry in and employ to attain the organization’s goal. The eventual success of an organization is realized not through manipulation of material resources, but on the ability of the organization to understand the human factor involved with it. This led to the concept of the organizational behavior (OB) that studies the human behavior in the organizations to help employees develop a better work related understanding of their surrounding, their co-workers and eventually about themselves. Today organizational behavior is seen as an powerful tool that is necessary for one’s career development and success in a complex and dynamic organizational process. The essence of organizational behavior is people. It attempts to understand their aspirations, hopes, personal and professional ambitions, desire for accomplishments, all set in the dynamic context of globalization, modernity, diversity, pressure of managing home and work, electronic and communication revolutions and continuously changing aspects of business and industry that raise new and unpredictable challenges and responsibilities to the management and consequently to the workers (Harris, 1993). Organizational Culture. While the employees’ individual values and ethics define their personal approach to work and workplace, there are some shared values and modalities of behavior that each of them reflects when working together. This shared notion of values and ethics that endemic to an organization is called as the Organization’s culture. Basically organizational culture is defined as system of shared values, beliefs, actions and best practices that evolve within an organization and determine the behavior of each of its member. While organizational behavior may remain same across multiple organizations, organization’s culture is typically particular to the organization and no two organizations may share the exactly same organizational culture Managing Diversity An organization that doesn’t understands or values diversity, doesn’t understand its employees. Diversity is an inherent part of human society. It becomes more important when globalization has made organizational employees lineup multi-cultural, with people from different religious beliefs, ethnic backgrounds and culture working together towards same goals and missions. Therefore it is vital that the organization values their diversity while integrating them as part of its own culture. Conclusion There is little disagreement on the challenges and difficulties in bringing about a complete reconciliation of all the elements discussed in this essay and some difference is bound to exist. However, the increasingly multi-cultured and multi-valued landscape of the world has its own coping strategies and requirements. Globalization has narrowed down the divides that formerly allowed separated existence. Today’s world is culturally congested and value crowded, where every person must create a harmony to maintain a secular balance and growth. References Bjerke, B. 1999. Business Leadership and Culture: National Management Styles in the Global Economy. Publisher: Edward Elgar. Cheltenham, England. Guy, M. E. 1990. Ethical Decision Making in Everyday Work Situations. Publisher: Quorum Books. Place of Publication: Westport, CT. Harris, T. A. 1993. Applied Organizational Communication: Perspectives, Principles, and Pragmatics. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Hillsdale, NJ. Levy, G. M. 1999. Resolving real estate disputes. Real Estate Issues; Chicago; Oden, H. W. 1997. Managing Corporate Culture, Innovation and Intrapreneurship. Quorum Books. Westport, CT. Rahim, M. A (2001), Managing Conflict in Organizations. Contributors: M. Afzalur: Quorum Books. Westport, CT Swanson, D. L. 2005. Business Ethics Education at Bay: Addressing a Crisis of Legitimacy. Journal Title: Issues in Accounting Education. Volume: 20. Issue: 3. Page Number: 247+.

Logistic and Transport Management to Reduce Health-care Cost

Logistic and Transport Management to Reduce Health-care Cost CHAPTER 1 1.0: Introduction The Health Care Sector in Mauritius provides medical solution and services to the general population in Mauritius. The Health sector budget is more than 10 Billion rupees annually excluding capital expenditure projects for infrastructural works such as construction of Hospitals and other health institutions. The overall health in Mauritius is a cause of great concern today, both for the government and for the public. Fundamental changes are needed in the health sector in an attempt to improve the quality of life. As such, one of the main sector where it deserves many changes is the logistic sector which encompasses the flow of information, the supply chain management, the procurement sections and the transport management. Logistics, a poorly understood and often un-appeared process, accounts for a sizeable portion of a hospitals operating budget. Studies have shown that 30% to 46% of the hospital expenses are invested in various logistical activities and that almost half of the costs associated with supply chain processes could be eliminated through the use of best practices. Today medical costs have escalated heavily and has become the number one issue in health care for the past decades. Government, as well as private companies are working hard to find solutions so as to reduce health care cost. New technologies are currently being developed so as to ease the services as well as to reduce cost taking into consideration of efficiency and effectiveness. Methods of delivering health care cost are profoundly being changed. Medical information by way of web-enabled technology is quickly replacing the more traditional ways people seek advice and information. Today quality management of patient care and managing logistic to reduce health care cost are integral cost reduction tools that are currently being studied in most health service program. 1.1: Problem statement Although logistic and transportation system is smoothly running to palliate the whole movement in the healthcare sector, there is still room for improvement which can also contribute to reduce heavy cost and contributing to save money, i.e. public fund. In fact the Transport Section situated at the Vagrant Depot at Grand Riviere North West Port Louis caters for all the movement of goods, people and services throughout the whole country. The service level of this system is difficult to measure as a whole but can be concluded as to be enough good but still need improvement as there are many loopholes which needs to be considered and corrective measures taken in order to achieve a better quality service. Many attempts have been made to improve the service quality of the existing transportation system and with the help of Internal Control remarks and National Audit report, many remedial actions have been taken but still the Ministry is facing a big challenge to fully satisfy all stakeholders in the health sector and improve the health services. From experience and observation made, it is concluded that customers and other stakeholders of the transport system, also need changes and as individual, should add their contribution so as to improve continually. It is therefore obvious that users of transport section need to be continually monitored so as to enhance the service level and hence to determine customer needs and bring customer satisfaction. 1.2: Study Aims The aims of studying management of logistic is to consider that part of Supply Chain Management that plans, implements, and controls the efficient, effective, forward, and reverse flow and storage of goods, services, and related information between the point of origin and the point of consumption (up to patients) in order to meet customers requirements as well as to reduce cost in the long run. It needs to see how the Logistic and supply Chain Management can contribute to improve the logistic and distribution system in the Ministry of Health and Quality of life. Today many companies are managing their logistic system by the help of information system thus keeping database of the daily activities, the planning and the action taken so as to facilitate the workload and not only satisfy their customers but also to delight them. Objectives of the study To identify along the distribution channel where there have been poor planning and control. To identify the method that can be used to reduce cost and save public money. To assess whether these studies can contribute in the implementation of the strategies for reducing cost in the health sector. To identify those factors that will bring changes in the whole system. To formulate recommendations and strategies so as to improve the system. 1.3: Vision and Mission of the Ministry of Health and Quality of Life 1.3.1: Vision The vision of the Ministry of Health and Quality of Life is to build a healthy nation through the delivery of compassionate, quality and cost-effective services to the population. 1.3.2: Mission Statement Enhance the health status of the population; Improve the quality of health care delivery with a view to increasing patientssatisfaction; Enhance social equity through the provision of a wider range of health services to the whole population; Ensure that the health sector is consolidated and that the health services remain accessible to every citizen. This can be implemented with the help of the Logistic and Supply Chain Management so that the movement of medical and pharmaceutical products, medical staffs and patients are transported at the right time and right place without causing any deficiency and break in the supply chain. 1.4: Outline of the study Chapter 1: Introduction This chapter provides an overall description of the Logistic and Supply Chain Management, more precisely in the Transport Section, at the Ministry thus exposing the aims and objectives of the study. Chapter 2: Literature Review This chapter reviews the definition, the literature of theories, the concept, the history, the interrelation between transportation and logistic, the routing planning, the implied transport cost and the implementation of the Supply Chain Management among others. It describes about various theories and concepts that has been applied in various context to the logistic and transportation system for improvement in the service level. Chapter 3: Methodology This chapter gives guidance to this dissertation. In fact the methodology explain various variables used through questionnaires and perceptions from people and other users in the Supply Chain at the Ministry of Health and Quality of life to reach a conclusions and make recommendations. Chapter 4: Results and Discussion This chapter looks at the overall results obtained in the survey made (questionnaires) and helps in making analysis of the results thus exposing them diagrammatically through graphs and charts. Chapter 5: Conclusions and recommendations This chapter concludes the study made and sets recommendations in the system that will lead to changes which will help to reducing cost as well as improving the system in terms of Quality. Chapter 2 Part 1 Literature review 2.0:0 Definition of Logistic TheOxford English Dictionarydefines logistics as the branch ofmilitary sciencehaving to do with procuring, maintaining and transportingmateriel, personnel and facilities. Another dictionary definition is the time-related positioning of resources. Logistics is commonly seen as a branch ofengineeringthat creates people systems rather than machine systems. When we talk in terms of HRM logistics means giving inputs i,e recruiting manpowers which ultimately works for the final consumer or to deliver services. There is, realistically, no ‘true name or definition that should be pedantically applied, because product differs, companies differs and system differs. â€Å"Logistics is a diverse and dynamic function that has to be flexible and has to change according to the various constraints and demands imposed upon it and with respect to the environment in which it works. And therefore these terms are used interchangeably, in literature and in the business world. (logistic and distribution management Alan Rushton) 2.1:0 OVERVIEW OF LOGISTICS 2.1.1: Definitions Council of Logistics Management (1991) defined that logistics is â€Å"part of the supply chain process that plans, implements, and controls the efficient, effective forward and reverse flow and storage of goods, services, and related information between the point of manufacture and the point of consumption in order to meet customers requirements†. Johnson and Woods definition (cited in Tilanus, 1997) uses â€Å"five important key terms†, which are logistics, inbound logistics, materials management, physical distribution, and supply-chain management, to interpret. Logistics describes the entire process of materials and products moving into, through, and out of firm. Inbound logistics covers the movement of material received from suppliers. Materials management describes the movement of materials and components within a firm. Physical distribution refers to the movement of goods outward from the end of the assembly line to the customer. Finally, supply-chain management is somewhat larger than logistics, and it links logistics more directly with the users total communications network and with the firms engineering staff. The commonality of the recent definitions is that logistics is a process of moving and handling goods and materials, from the beginning to the end of the production, sale process and waste disposal, to satisfy customers and add business competitiveness. It is ‘the process of anticipating customer needs and wants; acquiring the capital, materials, people, technologies, and information necessary to meet those needs and wants; optimising the goods- or service-producing network to fulfil customer requests; and utilizing the netw ork to fulfil customer requests in a timely way (Tilanus, 1997). Simply to say, ‘logistics iscustomer-oriented operation management. Logisticsis the management of the flow ofgoods,informationand other resources in arepair cyclebetween the point of origin and the point of consumption in order to meet the requirements of customers. Logistics involves the integration of information,transportation,inventory, warehousing, material handling, and packaging, and occasionallysecurity. Logistics is a channel of thesupply chainwhich adds the value of time and place utility. Today the complexity of production logistics can be modelled, analyzed, visualized and optimized by plant simulation software. 2.2:0 History and Advancement of Logistics Logistics was initially a military activity concerned with getting soldiers and munitions to the  battlefront in time for flight, but it is now seen as an integral part of the modern production  process. The main background of its development is that the recession of America in the  1950s caused the industrial to place importance on goods circulations. It was initially developed in the context of military activities in the late 18th and early 19th centuries and it launched from the military logistics of World War II. The probable origin of the term is the Greek logistikos , meaning ‘skilled in calculating. (BTRE, 2001) Military definitions typically incorporate the supply, movement and quartering of troops in a set. And now, a number of researches were taken and made logistics applications from military. 2.3.0: INTERRELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN TRANSPORTATION AND LOGISTICS Without well developed transportation systems, logistics could not bring its advantages into good transport system in logistics activities could provide better logistics efficiency, reduce operation cost, and promote service quality. The improvement of transportation systems needs the effort from both public and private sectors. A well-operated logistics system could increase both the competitiveness of the government and enterprises. 2.4.0: Transportation Costsas a Characteristics in Logistics Transport system is the most important economic activity among the components of business logistics systems. Around one third to two thirds of the expenses of enterprises logistics costs are spent on transportation. According to the investigation of National Council of Physical Proceedings of the Eastern Asia Society for Transportation Studies, Vol. 5, pp. 1657 1672, 2005 Cost related to Transportation of goods does not only includes fuel cost but include the followings: Overhead cost Maintenance cost Drivers and loaders / helpers salaries Depreciation cost Management cost Fuel cost Transport costs have significant impacts on any organization, be it a public body, i.e. a government institution or a private firms. In may organization, transportation cost are influenced by the ways users are managing and utilizing. These represents the cost of moving a passenger or a good from one place to its destination, including all associated cost involved within the activities. These rates are often visible as transport service providers should be aware of the all information to secure the transaction. 2.4.1: Factors that affect transportation cost The most important factors that affect transportation cost are thus:- Geography This factor is mainly concerned with distance and accessibility. Distance is commonly the most basic condition affecting transport costs. It can be expressed in terms of length, time, economic costs or the amount of energy used. It varies greatly according to the type of transportation mode involved and the efficiency of specific transport routes. Type of product. Many products require packaging, special handling, are bulky or perishable. As such, in the case of health sector, it involves moving medical items, pharmaceutical products, patients, medical staff, medical services etc Economies of scale. Another condition affecting transport costs is related to economies of scale or the possibilities to transportation of goods in larger quantities so as to lower the cost. As far passengers are concerned, it should involved merging of trips within the same route. Energy Transport activities are in fact large consumers of energy, especially fuel and oil. Consideration has to be given to minimise trips and hence minimising fuel consumption. Mode. Different modes are characterized by different transport costs. Reduction in cost is also due to different mode of transport. For example one cannot transport a small box of 25 kg in a lorry of 5 tons. This could well be transported in a small van or a car which will use less fuel. 2.5.0: Deficiencies that Drive Up Logistics Operations Costs Logistics, a poorly understood and often unappreciated process, accounts for a sizeable portion of a hospitals operating budget. Studies have shown that 30% to 46% of hospital expenses are invested in various logistical activities and that almost half of the costs associated with supply chain processes could be eliminated through the use of best practices. In hospitals, logistics cover not just support services such as purchasing, stores and the pharmacy, but also health care services such as patient care units and operating rooms. Many activities that could be carried out by support personnel are often on the list of duties performed by health care personnel. The result is that the internal supply chain within a hospital is often highly fragmented. Logistics is a complex process. The people involved vary with the type of products in questions: for example, stores manage medical and non-medical supplies, the pharmacy looks after pharmaceutical products; and food services manages the procurement and processing of food products. 2.6.0: Materials and Methods in transportation and logistics The literature on accounting in health care industry covers a number of themes. Many researches have been carried out and many titles and articles have been provided regarding how to reduce the escalating medical costs and improve quality management in transportation and logistics. Some have been successful, while others have shown failures. Procurement, storage, mobilization, distribution and other aspects of providing material assistance to the health sector, and the handling of those supplies, require a good organizational structure to ensure the efficient management and utilization of resources that in emergency situations, tend to be limited. This structure is provided by logistics, the strategy of achieving practical objectives promptly and methodically while making the most effective use of available resources. 2.6.1: The two basic premises: 1. Supply logistics cannot be unprepared at the time of an emergency. Organizations of health institutions must see it as a cornerstone of emergency planning and preparedness efforts. Employing resources appropriately, and being able to secure those that are not at hand, depends on first identifying their availability and location, as well as the sources for obtaining them. All those activities demanded by logistical deployment during an emergency the mechanisms for standardizing the various processes and all the necessary documents for recording information and controlling, monitoring and following up on the flow of supplies must be prepared, understood, and tested in advance. 2. The various stages in the flow of supplies, from their point of origin to the moment they reach their recipients whether they be the organizations managing the emergency or the actual beneficiaries of the assistance are a chain made up of very close links. This is called the chain supply. How any one of these links is managed invariably affects the others. Supply management must therefore be the focus of an integral approach that looks at all the links in the sequence and never loses sight of their interdependence. This is known as supply chain logistics. Some of these procedures reflect the standards of international organizations involved in disaster response. Many others, however, are the distillation of concrete experiences by those in the field. Information in PAHO/WHOs Scientific Publication Medical Supply Management after Natural Disasters 2.7.0: Supply chain management (SCM) SCMis the management of a network of interconnectedbusinessesinvolved in the ultimate provision ofproductand servicepackages required by end customers (Harland, 1996). Supply chain management spans all movement and storage ofraw materials, work-in-process inventory, and finished goods from point of origin to point of consumption (supply chain). Definition of Supply Chain Management (SCM) provided by the APICS Dictionary: It defines SCM as the design, planning, execution, control, and monitoring of supply chain activities with the objective of creating net value, building a competitive infrastructure, leveraging worldwide logistics, synchronizing supply with demand and measuring performance globally. Supply chain management is the systemic, strategic coordination of the traditional business functions and the tactics across these business functions within a particular company and across businesses within the supply chain, for the purposes of improving the long-term performance of the individual companies and the supply chain as a whole (Mentzer et al. , 2001 ). A customer focused definition is given by Hines (2004:p76): Supply chain strategies require a total systems view of the linkages in the chain that work together efficiently to create customer satisfaction at the end point of delivery to the consumer. As a consequence costs must be lowered throughout the chain by driving out unnecessary costs and focusing attention on adding value. Throughput efficiency must be increased, bottlenecks removed and performance measurement must focus on total systems efficiency and equitable reward distribution to those in the supply chain adding value. The supply chain system must be responsive to customer requirements. Global supply chain forum:- Supply Chain Management is the integration of key business processes across the supply chain for the purpose of creating value for customers and stakeholders (Lambert, 2008). According to theCouncil of Supply Chain Management Professionals(CSCMP), â€Å"S upply Chain Management encompasses the planning and management of all activities involved in sourcing , procurement , conversion, and logistics management.† It includes the important components of monitoring and collaboration withall partners in the chain. They can besuppliers,agents, service providers, andcustomers, users and other stakeholders in the chain. In fact, supply chain management integrates both supply and demandmanagement within and across companies. Accordingly to the same Council (CSCMP), self-organizing network of businesses that cooperate to provide product and service offerings has been called theâ€Å"Extended Enterprise†. â€Å"A supply chain, as opposed to supply chain management, is a set of organizations directly linked of the upstream and downstream flows of products, services, finances, and information from a source to a customer. Managing a supply chain is supply chain management† (Mentzer et al. , 2001). Supply chain management softwareincludes tools used to execute supply chain transactions, manage supplier relationships and control associated business processes. Supply chain event management (abbreviated as SCEM) is a consideration of all possible events and factors that can disrupt a supply chain. With SCEM possible scenarios can be created and solutions devised. 2.8.0: Transport Management System (TMS) TMS are one of the systems managing thesupply chain. They belong to a sub-group called Supply chain execution (SCE). TMS, has become a critical part of any (SCE) Supply Chain Execution and Collaboration System in which real time exchange of information with other SCE modules has become mission critical. Transportation Management Systems manage three key processes of transportation management: 2.8.1: Planning and Decision Making in Transportation and Logistics TMS will define the most efficient transport schemes according to given parameters, which have a lower or higher importance according to the user policy: transport cost, shorter lead-time, fewer stops possible to insure quality, flows regrouping coefficient†¦ 2.8.2: Transport follow-up TMS will allow following any physical or administrative operation regarding transportation: traceability of transport event by event (shipping from A, arrival at B, customs clearance†¦), editing of reception, custom clearance, invoicing and booking documents, sending of transport alerts (delay, accident, non-forecast stops†¦) 2.8.3: Measurement of the Transport Management System TMS have or need to have a Logistics KPI reporting function for transport. Various functions of a TMS: Planning and optimizing of terrestrial transport rounds Transportation mode and carrier selection Management of air and maritime transport Real time vehicles tracking Service quality control Vehicle Load and Route optimization Transport costs and scheme simulation Shipment batching of orders Cost control, KPI reporting and statistics Typical KPIs include but not limited to: % of On Time Pick Up or Delivery Performance relative to requested Cost Per Metric mile; km; Weight; Cube; Pallet 2.8.4: Route Planning and Optimization Reduce Distribution Costs Fleet Miles Daily routes are created using powerful algorithms and street-level routing, in conjunction with your business constraints Increase Resource Utilization-Make better use of existing resources by delivering more and driving less. The answer to increasing volume is not always to put more vehicles on the road, but to make smart, efficient Make Sound Business Decisions -Understand how delivery costs affect the profitability of each customer by knowing the actual cost per stop Set Driver Standards Creating route plans and gathering actual information allows you to set performance standards and expectations-which can result in less overtime and better driver performance Decrease Routing Time Let your routers spend less time configuring routes and more time assessing what-if scenarios to produce better, more efficient routes. Contingency Planning Prepare for holiday or seasonal spikes and other what if scenarios Reports Driver manifests, maps, directions, resource utilization, customer delivery cost, actual versus projected by route and by stop, planned route summaries and many more reports to help consistently in evaluating a system. 2.8.5: Load Optimisation A Quick Load Design which should be also accurate for many Route Types Each route requires different loading system. In fact different types of equipment are used at different loading and unloading bays depending on the routing system. Multiple Loading Strategies These are different types of techniques used for operating at the loading and unloading bays. It could be in terms of software or some working methods used by machine operators so as to increase the output of work by minimising physical efforts. Building Load in advance a common techniques applied by many warehouses is to pre-build or to prepare the load in advance and store them in some identified location and which will be useful and same time in a Pre-Build Orders Load orders to be picked, built and pre-staged throughout the day, all while continuing to have them allocated to the correct route and truck during the final loading pass Load Design to Reduce Product Breakage Most breakage occurs within the first 10 minutes of a route due to poor packing. Reports Final load sheet, driver check-out, load validation and pick sheets provide you with all of the detailed information required. 2.9.0: Supply chain management must address the following problems 2.9.1: Distribution Strategy Definition of strategy â€Å" A strategy is a pattern of major objectives, purposes or goals and essential policies or plans for achieving those goals, stated in such a way as to define what business the company is in or is to be in and the king of company it is or is to be .† (Drucker, 1961) 2.9.2: The distribution strategy The business environment is unpredictable and complex to anticipate and forecast effectively. As such strategies have to be developed so as to meet the need of everybody in the supply chain. These include patterns of actions that should be planned and intended in the management of the transport so as to handle the distribution channel in a more appropriate way. This strategy can also be developed in the supply chain management whereby it will raise a question of centralising or decentralising the warehousing and delivery. This strategy will of course reduce the day to day transport arrangement problem. 2.9.3: Trade-Offs in Logistical Activities: There are many activities in logistic system andTrade-offs may increase the total cost if only one of the activities is optimized. For example, a full loaded lorry distributing stores is more economical on a cost than less than the lorry load capacity (e.g. half lorry load). The full lorry load of a product will reduce transportation costs and will therefore decrease the inventory holding costs which may in turn decrease total logistics costs. It is therefore imperative to take a systems approach when planning logistical activities. These trade-offs are key to developing the most efficient and effective Logistics and SCM strategy. 2.9.4: Distribution Network Configuration: number, location and network missions of suppliers, production facilities, distribution centers, warehouses, cross-docks and customers. 2.9.5: Tiering of Suppliers Organisations have for many years sought to reduce their supplier base as they seek to implement a lean supply regime. Segmenting the chosen supply base into tiers gives a measure of priority in the management of the supply chain. The first tier is reserved for the immediate and direct suppliers of assemblies / manufacturers etc, whereas the second and third tier suppliers are reserved for component suppliers who supply the first tier suppliers, thus removing them from direct involvement with the manufacturer. Therefore tiering is important in the direction and management of the supply chain as the first tier supplier is responsible for ensuring that there has been a movement in the supply chain and also is receiving from his direct supplier. Information: Integration of processes through the supply chain to share valuable information, including demand signals, forecasts, inventory, transportation, potential collaboration, etc. Inventory Management: Quantity and location of inventory, including raw materials, work-in-progress (WIP) and finished goods. Cash-Flow: Arranging the payment terms and methodologies for exchanging funds across entities within the supply chain. Holding a huge amount of inventory mean huge capital tide up and therefore involving large amount of money and also increasing the holding cost. A good management in logistic and supply chain will undeniably give rise to a good cash flow and managing fund equitably. Several models have been proposed for understanding the activities required to manage material movements across organizational and functional boundaries.One model is the SCM Model proposed by the Global Supply Chain Forum (GSCF). Supply chain activities can be grouped into strategic, tactical, and operational levels. Importance of Supply Chain Management Organizations increasingly find that they must rely on effective supply chains, or networks, to compete in the global market and networked economy. In Peter Druckers (1998) new management paradigms, this concept of business relationships extends beyond traditional enterprise boundaries and seeks to organize entire business processes throughout a value chain of multiple companies . During the past decades, globalization, outsourcing and information technology have enabled many organizations, such as Dell and Hewlett Packard , to successfully operate solid collaborative supply networks in which each specialized business partner focuses on only a few key strategic activities (Scott, 1993). This inter-organizational supply network can be acknowledged as a new form of organization. However, with the complicated interactions among the players, the network structure fits neither market nor hierarchy categories (Powell, 1990). It is not clear what kind of performance impacts different supply network structures could have on firms, and little is known about the coordination conditions and trade-offs that may exist among the players. From a systems perspective, a complex network structure can be decomposed into individual component firms (Zhang and Dilts, 2004). Traditionally, companies in a supply network concentrate on the inputs and outputs of the processes, with little concern for th