Monday, September 30, 2019

Quocirca Insight Report: Operations Management in UK Financial Services

QUOCIRCA INSIGHT REPORT November 2007 Contacts: Sharon Crawford Quocirca Ltd Tel +44 7989 243830 sharon/[email  protected] com Operations Management in UK Financial Services How effectively is technology being applied to help to monitor and improve operations performance? The extremely competitive nature of the financial services industry today and the changing landscape of customer expectations and their approach to investing in financial products, puts an onus on suppliers to consider how well they are dealing with new and existing customers’ business transactions. Much is written about the frontline call centre operations, but this report focuses on the back office activities, the operational area where complex applications and enquiries are processed. This research investigates how technology is being applied to manage and improve operations. ? Operations management is a critical business task contributing significantly to the overall performance of financial services companies Over 90% of UK financial services companies set and publish operational targets. Reducing processing times and costs are targeted alongside measuring the quality of work done. Production Management methodologies such as Lean and Six Sigma are being applied extensively to manage work throughput. The UK has embraced the use of specific operations management systems 85% of UK financial services companies report having specific systems in place to support operations management. Reporting, document and process management tools and to a lesser extent, staff forecasting and scheduling applications are all components of such systems. Such systems have had an impact on improved operations The survey shows that introducing operations management systems has led to improved customer service, reduced costs and better staff utilisation. However, despite a reasonable degree of satisfaction with such systems, there is room for improvement. Also, although staff attitudes should be important, motivation and staff satisfaction levels have shown lower levels of improvement. Real ime visibility of work is vital Visibility of who is doing what at any point in time, with the ability to reallocate work during the day, is stated as being very important to effective operations management but this is not always an integral part of the operations management system. Although continuous improvement to operations management performance is desired, obstacles do exist. The survey found that staff resistance to change and to being monitored, competing demands of other revenue generating priorities and dealing with legislation, were all di fficulties faced when trying to introduce initiatives to improve operations. Against this, establishing a return on investment (ROI) for operations management improvements can be difficult. Many systems in place today are based on client/server technologies but there is desire to move toward pure web applications This opens the door for Software as a Service offerings (SaaS). However, SaaS is not perceived as a way to support operations management systems. Is this because there are genuine doubts about SaaS or due to a lack of understanding of the potential benefits of the SaaS model? Bob Tarzey Quocirca Ltd Tel +44 1753 855794 ob. [email  protected] com ? ? REPORT NOTE: This report has been written independently by Quocirca Ltd to address certain issues found in today’s organisations. The report draws on Quocirca’s extensive knowledge of the technology and business arenas, and provides advice on the approach that organisations should take to create a more effective and efficient environment for future growth. During the preparation of this re port, Quocirca has spoken to a number of suppliers and customers involved in the areas covered. We are grateful for their time and insights. ? ? ? Conclusions Operations management is a complex area to which to apply technology. Control and continuous improvement require effective matching of a variety of tasks and timing with resource and skills. The investment needed to put detailed applications in place is significant but has been found to be effective in many organisations that have done so. There is potential to improve further by using systems that allow real-time visibility of the progress of dealing with customers’ business. An independent study by Quocirca Ltd. www. quocirca. com Operations Management in Financial Services Page 2 Introduction Performance Management in the financial services industry is vital and well supported by the suites of Corporate Performance Management software that enable these companies to budget, plan and report in an accurate and timely fashion. Underpinning successful performance management is the need for predictable and controllable day to day operations management, both front and back office. Much has been written in the media about the use of tools to achieve this in call centres in businesses today. This report is based on research was carried out to investigate the extent to which software applications are used to monitor and measure the effectiveness of handling customer business – focusing on the back office operations and specifically addressing organisations in the UK. attempting to include some measurements of the costs of rework, (figure 2). Figure – 2 Do organisations attempt to quantify and measure business value of perational measures? 0% Reduced Costs Number of complaints Customer Response times Staff utilisation Staff satisfaction Re-work Detailed quantifiable measures None, but plan to Other Some measures Not directly related 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Operations Management is a critical business task All the organisations that were interviewed set and publish achievement metrics against customer service level agreements, with 93% setting different targets for different types of customers. 5% of organisations interviewed set and publish performance levels against targets for operational staff and use both team and individual measurements although monitoring individual performance is more difficult and given a lower degree of importance. It is interesting to note the types of measures that are used and the research found that there is an increasing focus on measuring the quality of work alongside the expected measures of costs and speed of processing work (figure 1). Figure – 1 There is some weight given to measuring staff satisfaction and linking this to financial returns for the business. Quocirca believes that it is important to consider the impact of systems on staff satisfaction and that any attempt to apply technology to improve operations management should take account of the way in which the system impacts on the staff dealing with customer business. Production control and continuous improvement Operations management is often associated with production of physical goods and methodologies such as lean and six sigma are used to address quality and efficiency improvements. These approaches study the work stations, the efficiencies of moving work from one to the other, space and time improvements and so on. The philosophies can arguably be applied to moving paperwork through an office, each work station being a person with specific skills. Quocirca tested this with the Operations Managers in the survey and a surprising 100% say they operate a philosophy of continuous improvement, with 66% using either lean or six sigma approaches. Use of these methodologies has changed since they were first introduced by Frederick Taylor, when employees were often considered to be a liability, with organisations applying streamlining and lean manufacturing principles to keep employee costs down. The approach to increasing productivity was based on a carrot and stick approach reward success, punish failure – together with making the tasks quite granular so that individuals could become extremely quick and skilled at a limited set of tasks. Today employees are considered to be assets – the only appreciating asset in many organisations. Organisations use words like engagement, empowerment and job satisfaction when talking about their approach to employee productivity. And in general, although it is easy to forget that this is not true of all employees, staff do like to feel that they can add value and participate in decisions that may affect them. Gaining the buy-in of employees is an important factor when introducing systems to monitor staff productivity and the quality of work being done. Prioritisation of operational factors measured 0% Quality/error rates Time taken for a process Cost of processing No of complaints Speed of response 5 – Most important 4 3 2 1 – Least important 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Although quality of work is ranked as being of the highest priority, the performance targets set for both team and individual measurement still put productivity above measurements of quality and good customer service. This could be because productivity is easier to monitor or because, in reality, cost measurements are associated with the level of work throughput. Measuring staff satisfaction is given a much lower priority in general, with only 24% of organisations stating that this measurement is very important for teams, 11% for individuals. There is evidence however, that organisations are aware of the costs of re-work and of handling customer complaints. When asked about establishing a return on investment for operations management systems, many organisations are  © 2007 Quocirca Ltd www. quocirca. com September 2007 Operations Management in Financial Services Page 3 Use of software applications 85% of those interviewed have specific applications to measure and monitor operations with over 80% expressing that these systems are satisfactory or very satisfactory. Some shortfalls were noted which included the difficulties in monitoring individual performance and in measuring the qualitative aspects of work. Those that have these specific applications report significant improvements (figure 3) but it is surprising that the use of an application does not have a more far reaching impact, despite being considered to be successful. Figure – 3 Figure – 5 How important is it to: 0% Know, at any point in time, who is doing what? Reallocate work during the day? 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 5 – Very important 4 3 2 – Not important at all Impact of operations management system on: 0% Improved customer service Reduced operational costs Enhanced quality of applications Improved staff utilisation Improved staff motivation Major Impact Some Impact No Impact 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% This is likely to require specific systems focused on defining the steps involved in a process and then measuring throughput, over and above the use of standard BI (business intelligence) tools to measure the overall metrics of work throughput. Obstacles to improving operations Despite the high level of importance that this survey found was attributed to operations management improvements, and to investing in specific systems to enable this, obstacles do exist, notably: ? staff resistance to change and to being monitored ? other priorities in the organisation which included dealing with legislation and responding to introduction of new revenue generating products ? establishing an ROI. Figure – 6 It is perhaps the complexity of what actually comprises such an application – which includes management information systems (MIS), document and process management as well as scheduling and forecasting capabilities. Quocirca believes that it is complex to bring such technologies together into a comprehensive application supporting the full requirements of operations and there is room for those vendors that focus on specific elements to develop a purpose built product to support operations management. Figure – 4 What are the main obstacles to improving operations management? 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Essential components of an operations management solution 0% Management information system Document management Workload scheduling Staff forecasting Process management 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Staff resistance to being monitored/measured Staff resistance to change Establishing an ROI Other priorities in organisation Major problem Somewhat of a problem Minor problem Not a problem Technology usage 4 3 2 1 – Not important 5 – Very important Real-time visibility of work Applying production management techniques to work throughput should mean that it is possible to know exactly where a piece of work is at any time. The key issue is whether this would apply to tracking a piece of customer business, be that an application for a new product or a query or claim against a product. The survey found that having real-time visibility of work and being able to re-allocate to the appropriate person was important. This may mean an overhead of logging individual actions on an operations management system, but it is clear that this is perceived as beneficial.  © 2007 Quocirca Ltd The operations management systems in use today are predominantly client/server (61%) but when asked what technology would be expected to be in use in two years’ time, there was a shift to pure web technology (91%). Respondents were also asked about hosted offerings either as pure hosted or as software as a service (SaaS). Neither of these was perceived to be important to operations management delivery today or in two years’ time. Technically there is nothing to prevent the move to SaaS applications and it could be a lack of awareness of what the benefits of SaaS are, that produced this response. However, it is likely that operations is perceived as very specific to each financial services organisation and that this would put it behind other areas of the business in the move to SaaS technologies. September 2007 www. quocirca. com Operations Management in Financial Services Page 4 Interview Sample Distribution The information presented in this report was derived from 75 interviews with senior IT influencers and Operations Managers completed in May 2007. It was important to get an even balance of views so 46% of the respondents were directly involved in operations management with 54% representing the IT function. The sizes of the organisations contacted, selected by the number of employees to be a representative sample of UK Financial Services organisations, were 5000+ employees, 57% ; 1000 – 5000 employees, 43%. The Financial Services organisations were spread over Insurance and Assurance, Retail and Investment Banking, Pensions and Building Societies. About eg eg is the leading provider of Operations Management solutions that form a rapid performance improvement programme to Improve Customer Service Delivery. Operations Management improvements are made through the deployment of two core products/services: ? ? Proprietary operational intelligence software packages Training and development for Managers and Team Leaders in Production management methodology g’s proprietary software package eg operational intelligence ® including eg work manager ® has been developed and refined over the last 15 years and form a comprehensive work, resource and performance reporting tool. It enables clients to gather information about the key factors affecting performance and, using eg’s operational management techniques identify appropriate decisions and actions that improve efficiency and redu ce costs within weeks. When implemented with the eg principles of operational management ® methodology, eg operational intelligence ® provides the opportunity for eg’s clients to double their productivity and dramatically improve customer service levels almost immediately. It also forms a foundation for continuous improvements in subsequent years. For more information, please contact: Sophie Goodwin Spreckley Partners Ltd T: +44 (0)20 7388 9988 E: [email  protected] co. uk About Quocirca Quocirca is a primary research and analysis company specialising in the business impact of information technology and communications (ITC). With world-wide, native language reach, Quocirca provides in-depth insights into the views of buyers and influencers in large, mid-sized and small organisations. Through researching perceptions, Quocirca uncovers the real hurdles to technology adoption – the personal and political aspects of an organisation’s environment and the pressures of the need for demonstrable business value in any implementation. This capability to uncover and report back on the end-user perceptions in the market enables Quocirca to advise on the realities of technology adoption, not the promises. Sponsorship of specific studies by such organisations allows much of Quocirca’s research to be placed into the public domain at no cost. Quocirca’s independent culture and the real-world experience of Quocirca’s analysts ensure that our research and analysis is always objective, accurate and challenging. Quocirca reports are freely available to everyone and may be requested via www. quocirca. com. Contact: Quocirca Ltd Mountbatten House Fairacres Windsor Berkshire SL4 4LE United Kingdom Tel +44 1753 754 838  © 2007 Quocirca Ltd www. quocirca. com September 2007

Taboo: Management Consulting and Policy Prohibiting Women

The Taboo of Women in Management International management consulting firm Burns & McCallister is listed by Working Mother magazine as one of the top fifty firms in the United States for employment of working mothers and by Working Woman magazine as one of the top ten firms for women. The firm has earned this reputation for several reasons. First, nearly 50% of its partners are women. Second, it has a menu of employee benefits that includes such things as flex hours, sabbaticals, family leave, home-based work, and part-time partner-track positions.However, B&M recently has been the subject of a series of reports by both the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times that scrutinise its policy on female executives in certain nations. B&M has learned, through its years of consulting, that certain countries in which it negotiates for contracts prohibit the use of women in the negotiation process. The cultures of many of these countries do not permit women to speak in a meeting that include s men.Consequently, B&M has implemented a policy prohibiting women partners from being assigned these potential account negotiations and later the accounts themselves. Clerical help in the offices can be female, but any contact with client must be through a male partner or account executive. For example, Japan still has a two-track hiring system with only 3% of professional positions open to women. The remainder of the women in the Japanese corporate workforce become office ladies who file, wear uniforms, and serve tea. Dentsu, Inc. a large Japanese ad firm, had a picture of the typical Dentsu â€Å"Working Girl† in its recruiting brochure. Surrounding the photo are comments primarily about her physical appearance: such as (1) her breasts are â€Å"pretty large†; and (2) her bottom is â€Å"rather soft. † In response to criticism regarding B&M's posture, the head of the firm's New York office has explained: Look, we're about as progressive a firm as you'll find. But the reality of international business is that if we try to use women, we can't get the job. It's not a policy on all foreign accounts.We've just identified certain cultures in which women will not be able to successfully land or work on accounts. This restriction does not interfere with their career track. It does not apply to all countries. The National Organisation for Women (NOW) would like B to apply to all its operations the standards that it employs in the United States. No restrictions are placed on women here, NOW argues, and other cultures should adapt to our standards; we should not change our standards to adapt to their culture. NOW maintains that without such a posture, change can never come about

Sunday, September 29, 2019

How Does Hosseini Tell the Story in Chapter 17? Essay

Chapter 17 is potentially the most important chapter in the novel for structuring the shape of the narrative and may be seen as the turning point in the novel. During this chapter, Amir is handed a letter by Hassan writing about his son Sohrab and how life in Kabul has changed dramatically since he and Baba fled to America. Rahim Khan explains how Hassan and Farzana were killed by the Taliban and as his dying wish, Amir must go and rescue Sohrab. It is revealed that Baba is Hassan’s father, making him and Amir half brothers. Hosseini uses 3 different narrative voices in chapter 17 opposed to other chapters with just Amir narrating. This gives us a much more personal perspective into Hassan’s life, adds realism to the narrative and how corrupt Kabul has now become. ‘†¦suddenly a young Talib ran over and hit her on the thighs with his wooden stick’, contrasting hugely with Amir and Hassan’s childhood. Amir’s usual retrospective first person narrative is present however Hosseini also uses the present tense to make Hassan’s death more emotive as we can imagine it more vividly as a reader. ‘Hassan slumps to the asphalt, his life of unrequited loyalty drifting from him like the windblown kites he used to chase. ’ Not only is this quote used so we can see Hassan dying but it links the whole novel together by using the recurring motif of kites, linking back to chapter 7 when he ‘chased’ the blue kite, and his ‘unrequited loyalty’ is evident throughout the majority of the novel, ‘Hassan never denied me anything’. Although Hassan’s death is foreshadowed however in chapter 16, ‘God help the Hazaras now’, Hosseini creates suspense and dramatic tension towards Hassan’s death by giving Amir the letter first before revealing his death, giving Amir hope and making the reader assume his journey to redemption would soon be over. ‘I dream that someday you will return to Kabul and re-visit the land of our childhood. If you do, you will find an old faithful friend waiting for you. ’ This quote again creates a more dramatic and emotive response to Hassan’s death both from the reader and Amir after Hassan’s optimistic and promising letter. Hassan’s death is instrumental in shaping the narrative of the novel and is arguably the turning point as it forces Amir to seek his redemption and debt to Hassan to Sohrab. The reason Amir came to visit Pakistan in the first place was to apologise to Hassan and being the only person alive and able, ‘Now everyone in that photo was either dead or dying. Except for me’, Amir was the only one left to save Sohrab from the Taliban and Assef. Another key event in the chapter is the unveiling of Hassan’s true father, Baba. Amir reacts badly to the news and Hosseini portrays this using Westernised language to contrast with Rahim Khan’s traditional language. His anger is emphasised through the repetition of ‘you goddamn bastards’. This contrasts with the earlier chapters in the novel where Amir always speaks to Rahim Khan politely and with respect and could represent the influence America has had on him. Finding out that Hassan and he were half-brothers also makes his decision to save Sohrab even more crucial and makes the reader more anxious to see whether or not he will betray Hassan again or redeem himself. His decision to save Sohrab is foreshadowed in chapter 14 when General Tahiri says ‘blood is a powerful thing, bachem, never forget that’ suggesting that the bond of blood and brotherhood is so strong, Amir must save Sohrab, his own blood relative in order to fully complete his journey to redemption and atone for his sins.

Comparative Religions Project Essay Essay

The encounters between the Islam and Christian religions were always violent towards each other. Even from the beginning both of these religions used violence and conversion, making them two religions that wouldn’t mix well. Their first encounters were very aggressive, but Islam with more violence toward Christianity and better connection to the political world had always seemed to come out on top. Then ruling over the Christian believers, they would outlaw certain practices of their religion and give them much higher taxes. Thus forcing many true Christians to converse over to the Islam religion just because they couldn’t take it anymore. In the year 1008 al-Hakim outlawed the celebrations of Palm Sunday, and the following year he ordered that Christians be punished and all their property confiscated. In that same year, he demolished multiple Christian churches all around the city. This was not it, al-Hakim also managed to destroy the Constantinian basilica of the Resurrection in Jerusalem, known as the Holy Sepulcher. Records say that he said in quote: â€Å"to obliterate ant symbol of Christian faith, and provide for the removal of every reliquary and object of veneration.† As Christianity began to spread the stronger and more popular it became. With this religion being North America’s number one, Muslims had a harder time keeping in charge. One thing that didn’t change though was the Islam’s need for violence. As Christianity spread they never stopped trying to sabotage their religion. Now technology starts to play a part in their war for religion, Muslims give up their lives using the violence that has not yet gone away. And not only are these conflicts uprising from where they originally came from, as the religions spread so did the conflict with them. Today there still are existing conflicts between Christianity and Islam, but not as much as there were in history. Muslims don’t have much control over Christians as they used to, now after 9/11 we are more controlling them. Muslims are more keeping their distance away from the Christians not only because this Christianity was growing but also because of things like Hollywood and television. This causes Muslims to stay away because they see them as immoral, corrupt and decadent. Muslim women will say they are wearing their veils as a form of protection and a refusal to be caught up in fashion, which they see as a way of using women. The history of these two religions was not accepting, and both felt the need to use violence and conversion against each other. Both Christianity and Islam felt the need to be number one and have power over the other, or even completely wiping the other religion out. As time continued on so did they, still many conflicts arise and choosing violence and war as the way out. New and more advanced technologies came to be an option for more destruction and the Muslims chose to use them against the Christians who fought back then yet another war has started. The Christians who were pushed around in the beginning, aren’t so vulnerable anymore now that they have become the most common religion all over the world.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Philips Versus Matsushita: a New Century, a New Round

Philips versus Matsushita: A New Century, A New Round How did Philips become the leading consumer company in the world in the postwar era? What distinctive competence did they build? What distinctive incompetencies? During 1892, Gerard Philips had a small light-bulb factory in Eindhoven, Holland in the same year the factory was failing so the brother Anton, a salesman came abroad. The larger electrical company was very diverse with their products.The two brothers focus on technological prowess to create significant innovations such as scrap old plants and use new machines, or factories for new production technology (Barlett, 2009 p. 332). Philips had created a culture of embracing technical innovation. On the production side, Philips was a leader in industrial research, and scrapped old plants in favor of new machines or factories whenever advances were made.On the product side, strong research enabled the company to broaden its product line, starting with light bulbs but growing int o vacuum tubes, radios and X-ray tubes by the 1930s (Barlett, 2009 p. 332). When the Great Depression happen Philips build local production facilities to protect his foreign sales of product. In the late 1930s, with the anticipation of the war Philips had to transfer overseas assets to British and North American corporation but most of the vital research laboratories to Redhill Surrey, England and top management to United States.The individual country organization was more independent during the war supported by the assets, resources transferred from their parent. The Allied and German bombing had pummeled Philips industrial plant in the Netherlands but management board decided to build postwar organization on National organizations (NOs) that has become self-sufficiency during the war that allowed a valuable asset in postwar era(Barlett, 2009 p. 332). A great advantage in being able to sense and respond to differences is the environmental independent National organizations (NOs).Th e National organizations (NOs) built a technical capability, product development that became a function to local market conditions. During 1954, a board was established call the International Concern Council to form meetings with the heads National organization (NOs). Within the National organization (NOs) management structure the legendary leadership of the two Philips brothers were joint technical and commercial. The technical manager and commercial manager were led by National organization (NOs) (Barlett, 2009 p. 33). Philips was no longer able to act as a single unified company in order to bring new product technologies to market or to react to recent manufacturing trends; instead each of the NOs acted independently in their own self-interest. Top management was no longer able to manage the multi-national company Philips had become. For example, Philips was unable to standardize the company for a global push with its V2000 videocassette format when the U. S. chose to license VHS from Matsushita instead.On the manufacturing side, printed circuits were more efficiently produced in large plants, but the NOs were unwilling to consolidate their local manufacturing facilities. Philips’ attempts to set up Product Divisions (PDs) to balance the NOs were largely a failure, and Philips began a long slide, unable to launch new products or to take advantage of the global manufacturing opportunities in low-cost countries because they were unable to coordinate the NOs (Barlett, 2009 p. 333). The European Common Market eroded trade barriers and diluted rationale independent country subsidiaries were created in the late 1960s.New technologies were in larger demand production runs more than national plants could justify, and Philips competitors started moving electronic production into new facilities with low wages in Asia and South America. However the ability to bring products to market began to falter in 1960s, while they watched Japanese competitors capture a ma ss market with two technologies that was invented audiocassettes and microwave ovens. An about a year later they abandon the V2000 videocassette format superior to Sony’s Beta or Matsushita’s VHS.Philips decides to outsource the VHS product that is manufactured under license from Matsushita (Barlett, 2009 p. 333) The new CEO Hendrick van Riemsdijk had created an organization committee policy on the division of responsibilities Philips Division and National Organization (NOs). The proposed is rebalancing the relationships between Philips Division and National Organization to allow tilting matrix towards Philips Division to decrease the number of products marketed, build scale and increase product flow across National Organization.When the new CEO took over in 1987, Cor van der Klugt , he wanted to continue to strengthen and restructured the Philips Division relative to National Organization around four core global divisions rather than the former 14 Philips Division. Th is will allow him to trim the management board, by appointing displaced board members to a new policy-making Group Management Committee (Barlett, 2009 p. 338). In conclusion they need to invest in developing new products in each operating segments.The key to success is to keep developing new products, reduce costs as volume increase, design products suitable for any market, but can be easily customized for local differences. R&D should be located where each product line can be found. Sales need to reflect the economy of that country or region, matrix with product operations, ensure each regional need are incorporated into the product plans, but individual regions cannot allow heads in different directions.Each companies needs to improve their manufacturing operations and local final assembly needs to be under the control of manufacturing, not local sales operations. If Philips and Matsushita do not have the earnings to support restructuring, then they are going to have to priori tize spending. Reference Christopher A. Bartlett, 2009, Philips versus Matsushita: Competing Strategic and Organizational Choices Transnational Management Text, Cases, and Readings in Cross-Border Management Sixth Edition 2011.

Georgian Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Georgian - Research Paper Example Furthermore, the decision to go abroad will enhance the diversification plan outlined in its strategic objectives. Lastly, the company is branching out into Georgia due to family ties. The company intends to invest in Adjara, Georgia. Adjara is a rapidly growing destination that is experiencing an inflow of foreign visitors, businessmen, and delegations. Adjara is home to some of the magnificent and breathtaking locations in the Georgia (Sabanadze, 2010 ). Adjara has undergone an overhaul in terms of improvements, the location banks on its natural endowments to capture global interests. As such, it can gain positioning on the global map as a growing location of interest. Adjara is a region that has one of the highest rates of able-bodied young population. In addition, this population offers cheap or affordable labor force. Investing in this location will place the hotel in a better position in terms of enjoying cheap labor force as well as a hardworking one. Excellent natural resources make Adjara be one of the ideal locations for the tourism sector. The evergreen subtropical forests contribute to a great deal the overall fresh and attractive environment. Adjara is home to Georgia’s leading hydropower plant. As such, it offers a guarantee that the businesses located in this region are not likely to suffer from electricity or power related problems. Some of the existing threats include speculations of social problems by the nation’s opposition. These speculations do not offer favorable investment climate. However, on the contrary, the government is working to provide a conducive environment. The incumbent leadership has put in place measures that promote investment opportunities. Some of these opportunities include focusing on tourism. Due to the above reasons, tourism remains to be an important priority in Adjara. In fact, the region has a total of 41% of its investments in tourism. Its attractive nature draws internationally reputable brands in the

Friday, September 27, 2019

Authority Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Authority - Essay Example military, the importance of authority in the military, and also what may happen if authority is either lacking or not respected by the appropriate subordinates. Before exploring how authority is used in the military, it is important to understand what the word means and the ideas that it implies. The Collins English Dictionary offers up a variety of definitions, such as "the power or right to control, judge, or prohibit the actions of others," or "such a power or right delegated, especially from one person to another," or "the ability to influence or control others" (Collins). If we dissect these definitions one-by-one, we can see a recurring pattern across all three: power. Authority can only be gained through power, mostly due to the position that someone holds. A high up position can give someone authority over others because of their job description, which likely allows them to offer guidance to subordinates. Another component of the word authority is that it is delegated or assigned, typically from one person to another. Authority is often found in a chain of command, with those towards to top of the tree afforded more authority than p eople lower down the food chain. Also, authority usually is a two-way street between leaders and followers. There has to be a relationship between each set of individuals and both should know where they stand in the relationship; only in an equal relationship will there be no need for either party to have authority over the other. Informal relationships are often like this, whereas in formal situations authority is necessary in order to preserve some sort of organization within large groups of people. Finally, the definition of authority involves influence or control applied by one person over another. In less formal situations, a leader will look to influence his or her subordinates but not control them. Controlling a group of people allows little room for them to be creative and think outside the box. In formal organizations,

Project X Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Project X - Essay Example For the success of our project X, whose goal is to create a defense mechanism to save major important cities of the US from enemy missile attack, it is of utmost importance that we consider these methods and identify the potential risks for project X. Quantitative Risk Assessment System (QRAS) is a personal computer (PC)-based software tool for performing Probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) supporting decision on funding -- cost-estimation steps. QRAS is designed to bridge the gap between professional risk analyst and the design engineer. It is a user-friendly, graphical interface design, used by managers and engineers with minimal specialized risk assessment training. Its front-end is a graphical point-and click tree system model, combined with elements, subsystems, and sub-systems – the system hierarchy used to attach known accident initiators or failure modes. This hierarchical feature helps in making a Master Logic Diagram. Mission profiles can be set on sub system run times – a Mission Timeline module feature. The potential risks of failure probabilities can be calculated with the Timing data in other parts of the QRAS. This tool helps in constructing Event Sequence Diagrams (ESDs), explaining the scenarios lea ding to catastrophic failures or success of pivotal events showing fail-safe design or even emergency procedures and reasons of failures. Fault trees are built with graphical interfaces, which are joined to ESD models. The different features of QRAS are quantified to check failure probabilities in physical variables, providing fast and exact solutions. This software tool generates conventional event tree, minimum cut sets of system fault trees and ESD end states automatically for the risk scenarios. The software tool QRAS can identify the potential best estimate of catastrophic failure probability of a mission like the loss of Mobile Housing Unit (MHU). It would calculate a system’s top-level and intermediate

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Cassandra Database Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Cassandra Database - Research Paper Example As of this writing, the paper will discuss the general information about Cassandra database. Consequently, the paper will further discuss the database based on its data storage, query format, and its query processing Cassandra Database is a wide spread open source NoSQL database. The database is best used to manage large quantity of data across many centers of data and cloud. Cassandra database is characterized as a continuous availability, operational simplicity, and linear scalability across various servers without a single failure. Additionally, the database has a powerful data model mandated to offer a maximum flexibility and a rapid response period. Based on its operation, Cassandra database has an outstanding plan and architecture, meaning that all the nodes are similar. Increasingly, the database offers automatic distribution of data across the nodes participating in a database cluster. The database saves the administrators and developers the coding process in distrusting the data across the cluster since the data are partitioned in a transparent manner across the nodes. Consequently, the database provides a customized replication that stores redundant data across nodes participating the Cassandra ring. Meaning, assuming a node goes down, single, or multiple copies of the data will still be available on other cluster’s machines. Replication undergoes configuration to operate across zones of a single data center, multiple data centers, and many cloud zones. The database can be used in supplying linear scalability, meaning that a capacity can added easily through the addition of new nodes. For instance, two nodes can accommodate 100000 operations in a second, four nodes can accommodate 200000 operations in a second, and eight nodes can handle 400000 operations in a second. The latest version of the database is Cassandra 2.1. The new version has new features such as user-defined types, collection indexes, and improved metrics through metrics-core

Human health and the environment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Human health and the environment - Essay Example Reduced chemical use in crop management conserves the environment. They can also be genetically manipulated to contain extra nutrient s. The crops will require lower maintenance and farmers will benefit from crop-protection transgenic strategies (Wambugu, 1999). Increasing food security will stabilize their economies and quality of life. Most people in arid and semi arid countries depend on single food crops and endowing these plants with more nutrients through genetic engineering will reduce incidences of food malnutrition. Most opponents of genetic engineering state that it is ethically wrong and that it is harmful. Adequate Legislation can ensure ethical practices and strict adherence to regulations can be monitored effectively. I conquer that more research should be done to understand the long term effects of genetically engineered crops on the ecosystem and on human health. Vasil, I.K. (1998). Plant biotechnology: Achievements and Opportunities at the Threshold of the 21st Century. Paper Presented at the IX International Congress on Plant Tissue and Cell Culture, Jerusalem Israel. b. The dose-response curve illustrates the change in an organism caused by different levels of exposure in a given time. The route of administration and the exposure time is crucial in understanding the response relationship. The response curve help toxicologists determine safe and hazardous levels for the compounds under study. c. LD50 is the amount of substance required to kill 50% of the test population usually measured in mg/body weight. A substance with a high LD50 is safer because it requires higher concentration to cause 50% death to the test population. A substance with a low LD50 requires very little concentrations to cause 50% death in test population and hence is more lethal. I support the precautionary principle because it is our duty to prevent some threats of damage, particularly

European Convention on Womens Rights Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

European Convention on Womens Rights - Essay Example This further leads to women's dependency on men and particularly in circumstances where women are expected to perform in-house responsibilities as well like domestic work and children rearing. (Ball, 2001) Ranging from gender politics to sexual trafficking, European Convention (EC) action has weakened women's social rights more seriously than men's by emphasising upon the issue 'gender inequality'. No doubt EC has taken measures to reduce gender inequality and has diminished gender differences in various aspects of paid, unpaid and employed labour but this is also true that EC has only viewed one side of the picture. The other side EC does not want to view which states that women must be categorised for the household services she performs in the name of duties. With the weakening of welfare systems and restriction of the social rights of citizens to the working population, the gender hierarchy has implicitly embedded in the very notion of worker weighs more and more heavily on the social citizenship of women, especially of those from the weakest social strata. This is evident from the fact that U.N also runs in parallel with the EC when it comes to women's rights. In this context Newspaper article written by Archibald (June 5, 2000) mentions Mrs. Aguirre statement as "the attempted expansion of U.N. women's rights initiatives in the sexual realm has 'angered' women from less-developed countries, where religious faith is strong". (Archibald, June 5, 2000) Whatever is the religious faith and what ever be the nation, EC must understand that women's rights must be measured according to their limitations. I would also like to present her (Mrs. Aguirre) viewpoint in a feminist critical way in which she said that "Parenting and motherhood should not be taken as issues that discriminate men from women". (Archibald, June 5 2000) Now was she trying to convince that the women must not call their voice upon inequality and discrimination Mallik while focusing on women inequality stated a critical question in Magazine article UN Chronicle (Sept 2006) that why is it that despite being on the crossroads of women inequality, the Government is not appointing a woman for the General Assembly (Mallik, Sept, 2006) Similarly, European Court of Justice refused in giving decision in support of migrant women thereby rejecting the idea that children look after could be considered as 'work'. (Ackers, 2004) It seems the EU Convention has tried to keep itself aloof from the matters of resolving the issues of inequality. According to Rubbery (1999) "In the context of the European Union's social policy, equal opportunity is synonymous with material equality. That means the promotion of equal opportunities refer to a process aimed at eliminating inequalities which further justifies that inequality refer to promoting equality between women and men" (Rubery, 1999, p. 7). That simply implies to the fact that working women are no longer taken into account by the EC who are engaged in double duties, i.e., child rearing and employment. While diminishing women's social rights, Let us take a look at the European

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

A reflective piece on change initiative and applied work based change Essay

A reflective piece on change initiative and applied work based change in which you will apply the theoretical perspectives. iden - Essay Example However change management to be successful requires effective percolation and transmission of vision and mission objectives amongst the people at different levels. Involvement of human resources is considered as a prime concern for implementation of changes adapted. The people pertaining to different levels are required to be trained and communicated accordingly to make them understand the benefits and advantages related to the change process. Similarly the people must also be encouraged to render effective feedbacks relating to their problems and grievances owing to the requirement to perform in a changed environmental setting. This process put in place helps in the designing of adequate teams in the organisation that would contribute in the accomplishment of the new organisational objectives (Cameron and Green, 2004, p.79-80). Organisational Change in Retail The demand for fashion merchandises is countering dynamic changes owing to changing tastes and desires of the people around t he world for which fashion retail companies are required to bring about changes in the operational processes and accordingly adapt new vision and mission objectives. Retail concerns thus needs to incorporate processes that would help in effectively tracking changes in the demand scenario and thereby help in effective ordering for the right stocks. Working as a store manager in a fashion retail concern rendered a clear understanding about the factors for which the sales figures were countering a fall each month thereby leading to loss of revenues and goodwill. Fall in demand for the garments led to undue stock piling both in the store and warehouse thereby also creating a financial impact on the organisation in terms of locking of working capital. Thus it was strongly felt that the retail organisation needed adequate changes both in the vision and mission guidelines and also needed the incorporation of effective technology and process to help serve the organisational objectives. The main problem identified here related to the failure of the right merchandise to reach the stores from the warehouse at the right time. This fact thus led to the consumers perceives the unavailability of the required merchandise at the store leading to loss of potential demand and business for the retail concern. Thus it was required for the retail organisation to take resort to the process and concept of ‘Fast Fashion Retailing’ and also to implement technological and process changes thereby. ‘Fast Fashion’ is held to be a retail business strategy that aims in helping the retail concerns in effective reduction of lead times thereby contributing in the right merchandising of the stocks required to be sold (Barnes and Lea-Greenwood, 2006, p.259). Henceforth incorporation of technological changes relating to use of RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) Technology enabled scanners was also strongly felt that would help in rightly tracking inventory movement and thereby inform about the ‘hot sellers’ and the ‘unsold stocks’ (Thomas, 2008, p.98). Along with the above stated process and technological cha

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) - Research Paper Example However, it does not mean that other factors such as crime, unemployment rate and pollution levels are at low or minimum levels. This is because GDP does not factor these issues in the above equation and does not take these issues into consideration. As such, a positive GDP will not necessarily mean a country has a low unemployment rate when the economy is â€Å"good†. Logically, if a country has positive GDP growth, it means that economy is â€Å"good†. Thus, businesses profit and demand for labor to meet the market demands for supply of goods and services grows. Increased demand for labor will also result in higher wages offered and lead to a decrease in the unemployment rate. Crime rates may decrease as people have jobs to support the cost of living; but this factor is not calculated in the equation. So when the economy is â€Å"good† as shown by the positive GDP, it does not mean that everything is â€Å"good† for its people. As an example, think about the rising cost of health care, which would be classified in the equation as consumer spending (C). Although the increase in consumer spending will contribute positively to the GDP, this is under the mistaken assumption that all individuals in the family can afford higher health care costs (Schwartz, 2010). This is also the case for the costs of education and leisure. If a GDP is positive, it does not necessarily mean that all of the people in the country have more money for leisure and can afford higher education costs. A developed nation almost always has a high GDP (Wikipedia), but at what cost does this development come? The question arises as to whether their development is detrimental to the environment. When businesses expand, they will need more space to build offices and other developments for people’s benefit. This will see a reduction in green areas or even deforestation; and myriad pollutions by industries- be it air, water or sound pollution- will also

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

The Importance of Motivation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Importance of Motivation - Essay Example Thus, it could be concluded that money is not always a motivator (Herzberg, 2003). In order to explain leadership, Edmondson et al. (2001) illustrated examples of two hospitals namely Chelsea and Mountain Hospitals. The leaders at both hospitals adopted different strategies for the implementation of new technologies. The leader at Chelsea, regardless of being experienced and senior, found the technology to be difficult for the team members. It was because of the poor understanding of the leader and his communication with the team. On the contrary, the leader at Mountain hospital was junior. However, he tried to utilize technologies differently. He became a part of the team and did not become a dictator unlike the one at Chelsea (Edmondson et al., 2001). Persuasion is defined as a magic by Robert B. Cialdini. Through persuasion, individuals can convince others and ask for favors. It should be noted that persuasion can be done following the six principles of persuasion. Furthermore, individuals can be easily persuaded through social proof. According to the author, researchers in 1988 were able to conduct research on persuasion in two different American cities. The results showed that people could be easily persuaded through social proof, i.e. if they see others (their neighbors, friends or family) doing the same thing then, they are most likely to get convinced. Strong organizational culture is an important aspect of organizational success. In order to develop a strong organizational culture, strong and effective leadership is required. However, it should be noted that leadership and culture are informally associated with each other. It suggests that if less formal direction provided to employees regarding strategies, then they will put greater efforts and will take the ownership. The liabilities of strong organizational culture are many, however, the notable ones are ethical liabilities, pieces of training, reward system, etc.

Law and Ethics in Health and Social Care Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Law and Ethics in Health and Social Care - Essay Example For instance, in UK and Wales, it is essential to get consent from a patient who is an offender under NOMS 2007. (Eher et al 2011:33). Two fundamental theories on medical ethics have been specifically powerful in the British medical profession in the last 250 year, and they are viz. Utilitarianism or Consequentialism – This based on simple concept, and this concept demands for the outcomes of each action to be resolved and that with the predictable most favourable outcome is the best way to adhere. The most constructive outcome is one where there exist the least human pains and most contentment. Deontological or Duty-based ethics- This theory utters that medical professionals are duty-bound to some actions in their medical practice despite the outcomes. For instance, it is significant to be honest ever with their patients. However, in contrast, a utilitarian may say that it is wise to say lie to a terminally ill patient as regard to their diagnosis if the real fact is going to increase their pain and sufferings. In real scenarios, the above two theories exist simultaneously in the medical profession. For example, it is often significant that medical professionals inform the patient the real truth about a terminal diagnosis. In reality, the majority of medical professionals may like to avoid informing the truth to the patient directly. (Khan 2006:1). There exists in moral medical practice that shapes moral base of the physician –patient relationship. These notions are competence, valid consent, rationality, competence justified paternalism, shared decision-making and truth telling. The cornerstone of ethical medical practice is to obtain valid consent from a patient for any type of therapy or diagnosis types .By obtaining a valid consent from a patient for a medical treatment, the medical practitioner is thus respecting patient’s personal autonomy and self-determination. The moral rule that forbids one individual from denying another of free dom demands that medical practitioner should get valid consent from the patient. It is to be observed that for touching a patient’s body, a physician needs valid consent from the patient. Physicians acknowledge respect for autonomy by receiving valid consent before any treatment is started. The traditional and more widely used phrase â€Å"informed consent† is not adequate in ethical practice since it connotes mistakenly that by just offering information to the patient is enough to authenticate the consent process. (Bernat 2008: 24). Majority of the doctors, despite unconscious to moral theories, do acknowledge that there are some fundamental norms of medical ethics that are vital to their profession. The four norms which are advocated by James Childress and Tom Beauchamp in 1970s that are widely employed and acknowledged are: Autonomy – it connotes self-rule, and this rule compels medical practitioners to honour the decisions and wishes of the patient, even if they seem to be wrong. Under this, there are rules like â€Å"avoid conception†, â€Å"respect confidentiality â€Å"

Monday, September 23, 2019

Building Engineering Services Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Building Engineering Services - Research Paper Example Depending upon the location, the nature of the building, residential or commercial, renewable energy sources of appropriate origin can be employed (EERE, 2005). One of the major reasons for power consumption in buildings is for heating and cooling the buildings (EST, 2006). This consumes almost 42% of the energy consumed by the entire building. If this could be brought under the energy optimization and under renewable energy portfolio, it could result in immense savings for the buildings. A solar-powered energy source is one of the renewable sources that are adopted. Solar energy is a constant and free for use source that is available during the day time and has to be stored to make use of during the night. This is accomplished using two methods of solar energy tapping. One, solar energy is trapped as heat and is used to heat the house or building and it is insulated in such a way that it continues to maintain the warmth in the house throughout the day and the night. Secondly, solar energy is also converted into electric energy using solar photovoltaic cells. This gets saved in the batteries are is directly employed to run the types of equip ment for heating and cooling like the HVAC systems in association with the regular power supply. Transpired solar collectors are used to collecting solar heat. These are normally dark, the perforated metal wall that would collect almost 80% of the solar heat that falls over it. This is then used to heat the air draught that would provide needed heat for the ventilation of the building. Two methodologies are adopted in using the heat collected in the solar collectors. The draught of air gets heated up during the course of the day and continues to heat the entire building as it continues through the night. The other method heats the water to a high degree from which the heat is distributed through the regular heating lines in the building. Both the methods are used at different locations depending on the convenience. Solar Photo Voltaic Cells Solar panels are extensively used in environmentally friendly buildings to collect the heat of the sun and convert it directly into electricity to enable employing it effectively in all the spheres of work. This has been done extensively in many locations, as roof fitted photo panel; also as separate panels that would help in augmenting the electricity consumption exercises. Ground Source heat pumps These are normally pipes or bores dug into the ground to depths of about 200 to 300 feet is sunk and the additional heat is pumped into the ground during summer and taken off later during the winter when heating is needed. These ground source heat pumps are effectively employed in some of the locations in the US and in the rest of the world. It has been repeatedly found that the ground source heat pumps are efficient in pumping in and out the energy, contain it for a period of time and can be used as a large storage space for energy (EST, 2006). These are specifically suited in locations where there is a cooling requirement in the summer and a heating requirement in the winter.

WWI, Great Depression, WWII, and the Cold War Essay

WWI, Great Depression, WWII, and the Cold War - Essay Example Although there is an uneasy balance in the power relationship between individual states and the federal government, it seems the federal government gained an upperhand in the power equation. The First World War (or WWI) started for no apparent or obvious reasons although it was believed the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria triggered it. This war started in 1914 and lasted until 1918 and it was originally mostly a European affair. This war later on became global and America, although leaning towards isolationsm, soon found it got involved in it on the side of the Allies or Triple Entente (Great Britain, France, and Russia against the Central Powers (consisting of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and later on, also Italy). It was the age of imperialism and colonization where countries vied for foreign territories and America entered the war supposedly to safeguard the democratic ideals it espouses but in real terms, America entered a period of its own imperialist ambitions. The federal government grew stronger in this period because of its Manifest Destiny polical doctrine (OSullivan 426). This was a time when America acquired several foreign territories such as Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, Hawaii, and the Philippines (in the 1898 Spanish-American War) after it had previously acquired vast territories formerly belonging to Mexico such as Texas, Illinois, Colorado, California, and Arizona. All these territorial acquisitions required a strong federal government for these actions to push through in Congress and in conduct of foreign policy. The expansionist strategy of America was soon followed by the Great Depression in 1929 that was started by a stock market crash on October 29, 1929 but later engulfed an entire world as assets prices collapsed. American citizens lost their life savings while the nations big wealth invested in its stock markets evaporated as panic ensued among the

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Business plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Business plan - Essay Example There are several reasons for the prospective success of this venture. The most important factor is that the current Korean market is undergoing a period of transition from analog to HD video and IPTV. Therefore, demand for HD related products will be higher at this time than at any earlier period. Also, we believe that selling items online has its advantages over selling in person; specialists, enthusiasts and well-informed customers can access the products’ specifications and research them easily through corresponding company websites. In the Korean market, there are very few companies which sell audio/video equipment online, and most of these remain financially weak with low market credibility. Since the market lacks a leading enterprise that can supply both goods and services related to professional audio/video equipment, there is presently a great opportunity for DBS and B&H to secure the premier position through demonstrated high quality services and supply abilities. Finally, DBS’ past experience in the TV and radio industries prepares it well for a long-term role in this new endeavor, while its knowledge of Korean markets can facilitate the formation of well trained human resources for product services. Total sales of Korean broadcasting market including non-profit earnings have increased from $7,700,000,000 in 2004 to $8,635,200,000 in 2005. Moreover, in 2006, it increased by 12.6 % ($9,719,900,000) from 2005. In consideration of the above factors, it can be said that the Korean markets for professional audio/video equipment shall expand and the demands of regular consumer will also increase. At this opportune moment, cooperation between B&H and DBS not only bears the promise of vast earnings but holds the potential of spreading out to other developing Asian countries. We are convinced our proposed plan shall prove mutually beneficial and

Coffee Stand Essay Example for Free

Coffee Stand Essay The proponents thought of a coffee business since Filipinos are known to be coffee – lovers. To satisfy consumer cravings, they came up with other blends of coffee, these blends will surely fulfill the cravings of the buyers. 1. 1 Project Proponents The proponents are composed of three (3) students from the College of Business taking up Hotel and Restaurant Management. The proponents have undergone series of brainstorming in order to come up this kind of business. Table 1: Proponents NAME| ADDRESS| NATIONALITY| OWNERSHIP| Paringit, Jerick U. | 78 Peras St. Bagong Barrio Caloocan City| Filipino| 33 1/3%| Lacabra, Elisha Grace V. | 43 Ero Bernardino Seminary St. Bagbag Novaliches| Filipino| 33 1/3%| Viloria, Vanessa DC. | 7 Pangako St. Bagong Barrio Caloocan City| Filipino| 33 /3%| 1. 2 Proposed Name of the Project The proponents named the business â€Å"Kofilicious† a combination of the words Coffee and delicious. It is a place where you can satisfy your coffee cravings at affordable prices. Kofilicious aims to serve blended coffees that are suited to the tastes of the customers. 1. 3 Type of Business Organization The proponents agreed to form a General Partnership with all three (3) partners. All of them will manage and participate in the business operation; each partner is subjected to contribute their share to come up with the required capital for the initial operation of the business. All of the proponents would be general partners with 33 1/3% shares each in capital requirement. 1. 4 Location of the business The Kofilicious will be located at the Walter Mart, North EDSA at the ground floor area. It is close to the LRT station, in front of Jackman. 1. 5 History of the business Initially, the proponents would like to start a Pizza Shop, a Restaurant or a Bar. However there is a difficulty in finding demand and supply of the main product. As time goes, the proponents have noticed that Filipinos are coffee lovers. So proponents were inspired by the idea of having a coffee shop. About the location, one of the proponent suggested to put up a business inside SM City San Lazaro at Felix Huertas St. Lacson Ave. Santa Cruz, Manila, but when they visited the said mall, the proponents found out that there are many direct and indirect competitors, so they searched for another location and found Walter Mart in North EDSA, Quezon City. It is a commercial place where it can achieve profitability through mall goers, students, employees. The most crucial factors that influenced the proponents in choosing what type of business project to establish and manage are (1) the need to obtain the necessary capital needed in establishing the business, (2) the marketability of the chosen project to ensure profit, and (3) the percentage and time needed to have return of investment in order to maintain and sustain the business project. Since the proponents are all students, capital is a limitation. The scale with which the business project will operate depends largely on the amount of money the proponents are able to commit to business. Nowadays, marketability of the product depends on the demand for the product. The project proponents chose food as their product because the marketability of beverages never decreases. As long as people drink, beverages will always be a top commodity. A survey conducted by the proponents showed that coffee is one of the most in-demand beverages. A little twist and little experiment, and the team came up with Kofilicious, coffee blended with other ingredients topped with whipped cream and wafer or wafer stick. CHAPTER 2 MANAGEMENT AND PERSONNEL The Kofilicous has a Stall Manager, Accountant, and two Store Personnel. Each personnel will work for eight hours a day, from Monday to Sunday. The term of payment will be given 15th and 30th of the month. The proponents choose personnel who have experienced and capability to work. 2. 1 Personnel The proponents formulate the policies, objectives and strategies to make the business productive and successful in its operation. The proponents will hire Stall Manager, an accountant, and store personnel. 2. 2 Personnel Requirements A. Stall Manager * Must be 21-35 years old * Must be a graduate of four year course which is related in Management, Hotel Restaurant Management or any other business course * Must be willing to work on shifting hours * Must have passion about coffee. B. Store Personnel * Must be 18 to 25 years old * At least 54 in height (male) or 52 (female) * With pleasing personality * Must have at least college level of education * Must be hardworking flexible * With skills in coffee mixing C. Accountant * Preferably a certified public accountant * With experience in financial statements preparation. 2. 2 Duties and Responsibilities A. Stall Manager * Oversees all the activities, * responsible for ensuring that the coffee shop maintains adequate supply levels, * maintains relationships with customers and staff, * identifies and estimates quantities of supplies to be ordered, * schedules staff work hours and activities, * organizes, plans, * bears the responsibility of ensuring that the coffee shop is adequately staffed, * makes sure employees are trained, * must handle all the advertising and promotion, * must manage the store and maintain the work flow and. * Must train the crews, and implements all the rules and policy. B. Store Personnel * are responsible for the preparation of coffee, * responsible for cleaning duties, * discover customer needs and appropriately suggest products with every customer to enhance service and meet sales goals, * Demonstrate the Just Say Yes behavior by taking care of customer needs, * Take responsibility to learn all aspects of the store personnel position, * are responsible for self-initiated learning, * enter purchases into cash register to calculate total purchase price, * accept cash payments, * count money, give change and issue receipt for funds received, * maintain sufficient amounts of change in cash drawer. * Keep register area neat and stocked with necessary supplies, * are responsible for inventory count, and * summarize daily sales and expense activities. C. Accountant * reports all financial matters to the owners, * prepares the business financial statements, * maintains of transaction records and the books of the firm, * manages the financial account of the business, * prepares the payroll. D. Proponents * oversee all work flow of the establishment, * Whenever the stall manager is not present, one of the proponents will be doing the after work inventory of sales. 2. 3 Organizational Chart Kofilicious adapted the line and staff organization that provides supplementing arms between the different levels of management. This type of organization is effective for good communication from top management to lower management. This form of organization is simple but helps avoid several organizational problems. FIGURE 1 Organizational chart STALL MANAGER Accountant STORE PERSONNEL 2. 3. 1 Proposed Rate of Salary Store personnel will be compensated on the number of hours and days of work they have ended. All employees will receive their salaries and wages every two (2) weeks. 2. 3. 2 Mode of Payment Payment of salaries and wages will be in the form of cash. Payment to be made twice in a month will be received by the employee on or before the 15th and 30th day of the month. 2. 4 Proposed Business Policies and Programs Be pleasant. Employees must wear a smile at all times. It should be part of daily operation. Be attentive. Employees must listen to every request made by the customers. Employees should exercise respect with customers at all times. Be patient. Employees must be patient in dealing with customers. They must exercise patience in order to please customers. Be accurate. Employees must give exact change at all times; make sure that accuracy is not only extended as to money matters, but in rendering service as well. The order is to be received correctly; the order is always to be repeated to the customer. Be loyal. Employees should give a loyal and honest service to the customer. Be observant. Employees must make it a habit to be on the lookout for little errors in service; and correct this in time. Be prompt. Employees must report for the duty promptly, and remain until relieved or until the manager has arranged for someone else to cover the work. Be clean. Employees must have a neat and clean appearance while on duty. Uniforms should be complete and in good order, properly buttoned and without spots or tear. They should observe proper hygiene daily. Management will not allow flashy jewelry, and excessive use of cosmetics. 2. 4. 1 Store Policies 1. The opening of the store is at 9:00 AM, exactly one hour before the actual opening of the mall, closing is at 10 in the evening. 2. All utensils used must be properly cleaned and sanitized after the operation, including the utility towels. 3. The crew should always wear their respective uniforms, caps, hairnet, and the nameplates provided by the company. 4. When the customer orders a product, the customer should be entertained and served in accordance with the span of time of making a blended coffee. 2. 4. 2 Uniforms All employees are required to wear their uniforms during working hours. The uniforms will be charged to the employee’s salary. The store uniform includes the following. a. Store shirt b. Pants c. Hairnet d. Cap and nameplate e. White socks and white clog shoes. 2. 4. 3 Attendance and Absences The company employs the strict observance on the attendance and absences of the employees or the following: 1. â€Å"No work, no pay policy† is strictly implemented. 2. Employees must work within the required hours and even during holidays, if necessary. 3. There will be a logbook and time card to have a record of the employees’ attendance. 4. Employees who intend to absent should inform the manager three hours prior to opening. 5. Employees who are absent for a day without any notice or permission to or from his/her manager are subject to: a. 1st offense- verbal warning b. 2nd offense- three-day suspension c. 3rd offense- six-day suspension d. 4th offense- discharge 6. Employees must be on time. A 15-minute grace period is allowed. Store hours will open at 10:00 a. m. as previously mentioned, but personnel are expected to be at the workplace one hour before opening time. 7. There will be a one-hour break per personnel, but this must be alternately done, that is, one personnel takes break, and the other one will be in-charge of the store, and vice versa 8. There is a one day-off, but it must be assigned and plotted by the manager. 2. 5 Proposed Management Style and Practices. The proponents will manage and supervise the operation of the business with the help of other people as their employees, and agreed to implement situational style of management in the supervision and operation in running the business. Considering the workers are one of the most valuable assets on our business, they must be treated fairly and with respect for them to work efficiently, effectively and productively. 2. 5. 1 Vision Kofilicious is committed to excellence. The partners are dedicated to offer not only the quantity but the quality of the proponents’ product, and the unparalleled service and love rendered to the people. 2. 5. 2 Mission To make Kofilicious a premium coffee house and to be competitive in coffee industry and its market. To be known through an excellent quality of coffee at affordable price with a strong reputation and consistent high growth in sales and profit. CHAPTER 3 MARKETING FEASIBILITY Coffee drinkers in the Philippines are among the most demanding ones. They favor well-brewed coffee drinks and demand great service. Kofilicous will strive to build a loyal customer base by offering a great tasting coffee located close to LRT Station. Our market research shows that 80% are the customer groups that are most likely to buy coffee. Since coffee consumption is universal, proximity to area of Walter Mart will provide access to the targeted customer. 3. 1 Market Description One of the major assumptions of this study is that the product can be patronized by all target market, since the proposed business is only small in scale. The target market population that the project covers is defined as the total estimate of people visiting the mall yearly. Since these people visit the mall and are free to go to any place at the mall, including the location of the project; all these people are potential customers. 3. 2 Demand. The computed demand was based from the survey the proponents conducted. The demand for the past five years and the projected five years are as follows: The survey showed that 80% of the respondents drink the traditional coffee. The respondents were also asked how frequent they drink coffee (given choice every day, once a week, twice a week). Respondents who chose â€Å"everyday† comprised 10% of the total subjects, â€Å"twice a week† comprised 30%, and â€Å"once a week† comprised 48%. The remaining 12% drink coffee for a frequency of â€Å"thrice a week to six times a week† – almost every day. This table illustrates the estimated demand for the product as defined by the percentages shown by the survey and the estimated population for the past five years Table 2 Frequency of Customer Demand for Possible Purchase Year| Total population| Interested to buy (80%) | Drinks coffee everyday(10%)| Once aWeek(48%)| Twice aWeek(30%)| Thrice to sixa week(12%)| 2011| 7,786| 6,229| 622| 2,990| 1,869| 747| The proponents conducted a survey at Walter Mart, North EDSA, Quezon City. This survey helped the proponents to know the number of respondents, target market and the total demand for coffee that the proponents need in the project. Based on 100 survey sheets that the proponents distributed, 80% of those people are willing to buy the product and 20% are those who are not willing to drink coffee. 3. 2. 1 Historical Demand Year| Total population| Interested to buy (80%)| Drinks coffee everyday(10%)| Once a week(48%)| Twice a week(30%)| Thrice a week(12%)| | | | | | | | 2007| 7,218| 5,774| 577| 2,772| 1,732| 692| 2008| 7,354| 5,883| 588| 2,824| 1,765| 705| 2009| 7,495| 5,996| 599| 2,878| 1,799| 719| 2010| 7,639| 6,111| 611| 2,933| 1,833| 733| 2011| 7,786| 6,229| 622| 2,990| 1,869| 747|. Year| Interested to buy(80%)| Total Demand(Annual)| 2007| 7,218| 607,004| 2008| 7,354| 618,441| 2009| 7,495| 630,299| 2010| 7,639| 642,409| 2011| 7,786| 654,771| Year| Total population| Interested to buy (80%)| Drinks coffee daily(10%)| Once a week(48%)| Twice a week(30%)| Thrice a week(12%)| Total Demand(Annual)| 2012| 7,935| 6,348| 634| 3,047| 1,904| 761| 667,301| 2013| 8,087| 6,470| 646| 3,105| 1,941| 776| 680,084| 2014| 8,242| 6,594| 659| 3,165| 1,978| 791| 693,119| 2015| 8,400| 6,720| 672| 3,226| 2,016| 806| 706,406| 2016| 8,561| 6,849| 684| 3,287| 2,055| 821| 719,945| 3. 2. 2 Projected Demand The Statistical straight line method was used to obtain the projected demand and based on the computed projection values, the proponents’ assessment is that there is a growing demand for coffee for the next five years. 3. 3 Supply Supply is the quality of goods that sellers are willing to sell out of given prices at a particular time and place. 3. 3. 1 Historical Supply The coffee may have a fixed price that could bring profile to the proponents or they have to sell it at whatever price it will fetch depending on the packaging. It is unlikely, however that they will continue to supply it if the price remain below the required amount to cover the cost and give the least profit. Competitors| Quantity sold per day | Zagu| 80| Coffee Break| 45| Tea Zone| 60| Competitors| Quantity sold per day in pcs. | Operating days| Total Supply| Zagu| 80| 360| 28,800| Coffee Break| 45| 360| 16,200| Tea Zone| 60| 360| 21,600| Annual Supply| | | 66,600| 3. 3. 2 Historical Supply Year| Competitor| Quantity sold/day in pcs| Operating days| Total Supply| 2007| -| -| 360| | 2008| -| -| 360| | 2009| 3| 179| 360| 193,320| 2010| 3| 182| 360| 196,560| 2011| 3| 185| 360| 199,800|. 3. 3. 3 Projected Supply Year| Competitor| Quantity sold/day in pieces| Operating days| Total Supply| 2012| 3| 188| 360| 203,040| 2013| 3| 191| 360| 206,280| 2014| 3| 194| 360| 209,520| 2015| 3| 197| 360| 212,760| 2016| 3| 200| 360| 216,000| 3. 4 Demand Supply Analysis 3. 4. 1 Historical Demand Supply Gap Year| Demand| Supply| DS Gap| % Unsatisfied| 2007| 607,004| -| 7,218| 100%| 2008| 618,441| -| 7,354| 100%| 2009| 630,299| 193,320| 436,979| 69%| 2010| 642,409| 196,560| 445,849| 69%| 2011| 654,771| 199,800| 454,971| 69%| Year| Demand| Supply| DS Gap| % Unsatisfied| 2012| 667,301| 203,040| 464,261| 69%|. 2013| 680,084| 206,280| 473,804| 69%| 2014| 693,119| 209,520| 483,599| 69%| 2015| 706,406| 212,760| 493,646| 69%| 2016| 719,945| 216,000| 503,945| 70%| 3. 4. 2 Projected Demand Supply Gap 3. 5 Proposed Marketing Practices Marketing practices include the practices that affect the relationship between the wholesaler, distributor, manufacturer and the retailer. 3. 6 Proposed Marketing Program and Strategy Kofilicious main purpose is to satisfy customers’ needs specifically on their taste preference, and to provide quality and friendly service. In order to achieve the business mission, the proponents constructed different strategies. Marketing mix elements are price, place, product and promotion. A. Price Price is the one that creates sales revenues. The pricing strategy of Kofilicious is set to determine if the market is capable of purchasing. The product having affordable prices is a must. A buffer of 10% and a mark up 40% were added to the Total Food Cost to get the selling price. B. Place Proponents proposed project will be located inside Walter Mart North EDSA, this site is chosen in order to capture the target market. Walter Mart is known for being one of the most visited mall in the country. C. Product. This refers to tangible service. The brand name has a connection to the product, and in sense, customers will hopefully be back for more. There will be a variety of products for the customers to choose from to satisfy their wants and needs. Below are the following nutrition facts of each coffee blend: Cafe Vanilla Frappuccino Calories 270| Calories from Fat 100| Total Fat 11g| | Saturated Fat 7g| | Calories 220| Calories from Fat 25| Total Fat 2. 5g| | Cholesterol 10mg| | Total Carbohydrate 48g| | Sugars 46g| Protein 3g| Vitamin A 2%| | Mocha Frappuccino Trans Fat 0g| Cholesterol 35mg| Sodium 150mg|. Total Carbohydrate 42g| Dietary Fiber 0g| Sugars 40g| Protein 4g| Vitamin A 8%Iron 4%Ricoa’s ChocolateCalories 290 Calories from fat 190 % Daily valueTotal Fat 13g 20%Saturated Fat 7g 35%Cholesterol 45mg 15%Sodium 115mg 5%Total Carbohydrates 39mg 13%Sugars 32gProtein 11gVitamin A 15%Calcium 35%Iron 15%Caffe LatteCalories 150 Calories from fat 50 % Daily valueTotal Fat 6g 9%Saturated Fat 3. 5g 18%Cholesterol 25mg 8%Sodium 115mg 5%Total Carbohydrates 14g 5%Sugars 13gProtein 10gVitamin A 10%Calcium 35%Caramel MacchiatoCalories 180 Calories from fat 45 % Daily valueTotal Fat 5g 8%Saturated Fat 3. 5g 18%Cholesterol 20mg 7%Sodium 100mg 4%Total Carbohydrates 25g 9%Sugars 23gProtein 8gVitamin A 10%Calcium 35%| D. Promotion| One of the Marketing Promotion tools used are tarpaulin, flyers and discount stubs. For the opening of the store there are 50 pcs. discount cards to be distributed, the stall will also distribute of 100 pcs. flyers and will post a tarpaulin besides the stall for the consumer to have the idea what products are being offered. (3. 7 Project Sales, see page 79) CHAPTER 4 Technical/Production Production is a major step in the series of economic process that brings goods and services to people. Producing a product that would cater to high level of customers satisfaction is one of the requirements for the proponents to cope with today’s successful companies. In this part, the proponents will discuss the production flow chart, project site, layouts and production schedule, facilities, floor plan, machine and equipment, utilities and raw materials. 4. 1 Product Description Kofilicious will serve different flavors. Every product is composed of different ingredients. The proponents decided to make a unique blend of coffee to satisfy the customers. These product items and ingredient are as follows: Vanilla Cappuccino. ? c Fresh Milk 2 tsp. Sugar 1 tsp. Vanilla Syrup 2 T Coffee 1 tsp. Cinnamon 2 T Whipped Cream ? c Ice Cubes Mocha Frappuccino ? cFresh Milk 2 TRegular Coffee 2 TWhipped Cream 2 oz. Milk Magic Chocolate 3 TSugar 1 cIce Cubes Ricoa’s Chocolate Drink ? cFresh Milk 120 gRicoa’s Cocoa 3 TSugar 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract 1 cIce Cubes 2 TWhipped Cream Cafe Latte 1 oz. Espresso, brewed 1 oz. Condensed Milk 1cIce Cubes 1 tsp. Cinnamon 2 TWhipped Cream Caramel Latte Macchiato ? cSteamed Milk 1 tsp. Vanilla Syrup 1 oz. Espresso, brewed 1 TCaramel Syrup 2 T Whipped Cream 1 cIce Cubes 4. 2 Production Process. Production process starts with cleaning of the section. Then begin for preparation of the ingredients, followed by the setting of equipment, measuring ingredients, inspection of quality and then storing the ingredients. Vanilla Cappuccino 1. In a blender, put the fresh milk, sugar, vanilla syrup, and coffee. 2. Blend it for a second just to mix all the ingredients. 3. Then add the ice cubes and blend. 4. Put in a cup, top with whipped cream, cinnamon and your choice of toppings (either wafer or wafer stick). Mocha Frappuccino 1. Put the fresh milk, regular coffee, milk magic chocolate and sugar in a blender. 2. Blend it for a second just to mix all the ingredients. 3. Then add the ice cubes then blend. 4. Put in a cup and top with whipped cream and choice of toppings (either wafer or wafer stick). Ricoa’s Chocolate Drink 1. In a blender, put the fresh milk, ricoa’s cocoa, sugar and vanilla extract. 2. Blend it for a second just to mix all the ingredients. 3. Then add the ice cubes and blend. 4. Put in a cup and top with whipped cream and choice of toppings (either wafer or wafer stick). Cafe Latte 1. Put the brewed espresso and condensed milk. 2. Blend it for a second just to mix all the ingredients. 3. Then add the ice cubes and blend. 4. Put in a cup and top with whipped cream, cinnamon and choice of toppings (either wafer or stick-o). Caramel Latte Macchiato 1. In a blender, put the steamed milk, vanilla syrup, brewed espresso, and caramel syrup. 2. Blend it for a second just to mix all the ingredients. 3. Then put the ice cubes and blend. 4. Put in a cup and top with whipped cream and choice of toppings (either wafer or wafer stick). 4. 3 Flow Diagram Operation A production process can be defined as any activity that increase the similarity between the pattern of demand-goods, the quantity form and the distribution of these goods available to the market place. LEGEND * Operation * Transportation 4. 3. 1 Production Process 1. Cleaning the area 2. Setting of the equipment 3. Preparing of the ingredients 4. Mixing the ingredients 5. Presentation 6. Serving 4. 3. 2 Service Flow Customer Kofilicious Personnel 4. 4 Materials Handling Design The materials requested for the daily operation of the business will be purchased by the proponents every week. One of the staff will inspect the process of production. The store will be using FIFO or First- In First Out as its inventory method. Materials are kept in safe and secured storage. 4. 5 Project Site The project is located inside Walter Mart, North EDSA, Quezon City. The project site has a total area of 3 meters by 2 meters. The site was chosen because the business is located near public and private offices and residences. 4. 6 Project Layout The food stand is about 8ft. in height, 4 ft. length and 3ft. in width. For the proponents the area is big enough to meet the production and selling operation of the business, the storage and other equipment could still be accommodated in the proposed area. 4. 7 Plant Size and Production Schedule The proponents chose the proposed business at the first level of Walter Mart, North EDSA Quezon City with a floor area of 3 meters by 2 meters. Table – Personnel Schedule: | Stall Manager| Store Personnel (1)| Store Personnel (2)| Monday| 10:00 a. m -7:00 p. m| 08:00 a. m -04:00 p. m| | Tuesday| 10:00 a. m -7:00 p. m| 10:00 a. m -7:00 p. m| OFF| Wednesday| OFF| 10:00 a. m -7:00 p. m| 10:00 a. m -7:00 p. m| Thursday| 10:00 a. m -7:00 p. m| OFF| 10:00 a. m -7:00 p. m| Friday| OFF| 10:00 a. m -7:00 p. m| 10:00 a. m -7:00 p. m| Saturday| 10:00 a. m -7:00 p. m| 10:00 a. m -7:00 p. m| 10:00 a. m -7:00 p.m| Sunday| 10:00 a. m -7:00 p. m| 10:00 a. m -7:00 p. m| 10:00 a. m -7:00 p. m| 4. 8. Floor Plan The stall has a total area of 3 by 2 meters which will have the operation area and the product display area. It has enough space for three personnel. The lease term is two months in advance and one month deposit. 4. 9 Utilities As for utilities, water supplied by Maynilad and electricity from Meralco will be included in the rental fee. The business will be charged Php 30,000. 00 every month with a 10% increase on rent per year. 4. 10 Coffee Materials Vanilla Cappuccino (8oz/240ml) Quantity| Ingredients| Wt. in g/ml| Product Cost| Unit Cost| Food Cost| ? c| Fresh Milk| 60 ml| P 62. 15/1000 ml| 0. 06| P 3. 60| 2 tsp. | Sugar| 10 g| P54. 00/1000 g| 0. 054| P 0. 54| 1 tsp. | Vanilla Syrup| 5 ml| P 10. 00/30 ml| 0. 33| P 1. 65| 1 tsp. | Coffee, strong| 5 g| P 66. 95/100 g| 0. 67| P 3. 35| 1 tsp. | Cinnamon| 5 g| P 38. 35/30 g| 1. 28| P 6. 40| 1 T| Whipped Cream| 15 ml| P 43. 20/250 ml| 0. 17| P 2. 55| ? c| Ice Cubes| 120 g| P 5. 00/1000g| 0. 005| 0. 60| Total Food Cost P 18. 69 +10% Buffer P 1. 87 Total cost P 20. 56 Mark-up 40% P 8. 22 Selling Price P 28. 78 or P 29. 00 Profit P 10. 00 Vanilla Cappuccino (12 oz./360ml). Quantity| Ingredients| Wt. in g/ml| Product Cost| Unit Cost| Food Cost| ? c| Fresh Milk| 120 ml| P 62. 15/ 1000ml| 0. 06| P 7. 20| 3 tsp. | Sugar| 15 g| P 54. 00/1000g| 0. 054| P 0. 81| 2 tsp. | Vanilla Syrup| 10 ml| P 10. 00/30 ml| 0. 33| P 3. 30| 2 tsp. | Coffee, strong| 10 g| P 66. 95/100 g| 0. 67| P 6. 70| 1 tsp. | Cinnamon| 5 g| P 38. 35/30 g| 1. 28| P 6. 40| 2 T| Whipped Cream| 30 ml| P 43. 20/250 ml| 0. 17| P 5. 10| ? c| Ice Cubes| 180 g| P 5. 00/1000 g| 0. 005| P 0. 90| Total Food Cost P 30. 41 +10% Buffer P 3. 04 Total cost P 33. 45 Mark-up 40% P 13. 38 Selling Price P 46. 83 or P 47. 00 Profit P 16. 00 Mocha Frappuccino (8 oz. /240 ml) Quantity| Ingredients| Wt. in g/ml| Product Cost| Unit cost| Food Cost| ? c| Fresh Milk| 60 ml| P 62. 15/1000 ml| 0. 06| P 3. 60| 1 tsp. | Coffee, strong| 5 g| P 66. 95/100 g| 0. 67| P 3. 35| 1 T| Whipped Cream| 15 ml| P 43. 20/250 ml| 0. 17| P 2. 55| 1 oz. | Milk Magic Chocolate| 30 ml| P62. 15/1000 ml| 0. 06| P 1. 80| 2 tsp. | Sugar| 10 g| P 54. 00/1000 g| 0. 054| P 0. 54| ? c| Ice Cubes| 120 g| P 5. 00/1000 | 0. 005| P 0. 60| Total Food Cost P 12. 44 +10% Buffer P 1. 24 Total cost P 13. 68 Mark-up 40% P 5. 47 Selling Price P 19. 15 or P 20. 00. Profit P 7. 00 Mocha Frappuccino (12 Oz. /360 ml) Quantity| Ingredients| Wt. in g/ml| Product cost| Unit cost| Food cost| ? c| Fresh Milk| 120 ml| P 62. 15/1000 ml| 0. 06| P 7. 20| 2 tsp. | Coffee, strong| 10 g| P 66. 95/100 g| 0. 67| P 6. 70| 2 T| Whipped Cream| 30 ml| P 43. 20/250 ml| 0. 17| P 5. 10| 2 oz. | Milk Magic Chocolate| 60 ml| P 62. 15/1000 ml| 0. 06| P 3. 60| 3 tsp. | Sugar| 15 g| P 54. 00/1000 g| 0. 054| P 0. 81| ? c| Ice Cubes| 180 g| P 5. 00/1000 g| 0. 005| P 0. 90| Total Food Cost P 24. 31 +10% Buffer P 2. 43 Total cost P 26. 74 Mark-up 40% P 10. 70 Selling Price P 37. 44 or P 38. 00 Profit P 13. 00 Ricoa’s Chocolate drink (8oz. /240 ml) Quantity| Ingredients| Wt. in g/ml| Product cost| Unit cost| Food cost| ? c| Fresh Milk| 60 ml| P 62. 15/1000 ml| 0. 06| P 3. 60| 60 g| Ricoa’s Cocoa| 60 g| P 52. 85/200 g| 0. 26| P 15. 60| 2 tsp. | Sugar| 10 g| P 54. 00/1000 g| 0. 054| P 0. 54| 1 tsp. | Vanilla Extract| 5 ml| P 10. 00/30 ml| 0. 33| P 1. 65| ? c| Ice Cubes| 120 g| P 5. 00/1000 g| 0. 005| P 0. 60| 1 T| Whipped Cream| 15 ml| P 43. 20/250 ml| 0. 17| P 2. 55| Total Food Cost P 24. 54 +10% Buffer P 2. 45 Total cost P 26. 99 Mark-up 40% P 10. 80 Selling Price P 37. 79 or P 38. 00. Profit P 13. 00 Ricoa’s Chocolate drink (12 oz. /360 ml) Quantity| Ingredients| Wt. in g/ml| Product cost| Unit cost| Food cost| ? c| Fresh Milk| 120 ml| P 62. 15/1000 ml| 0. 06| P 7. 20| 80 g| Ricoa’s Cocoa| 80 g| P 52. 85/200 g| 0. 26| P 20. 80| 3 tsp. | Sugar| 15 g| P 54. 00/1000 g| 0. 054| P 0. 81| 1 tsp. | Vanilla extract| 5 ml| P 10. 00/30 ml| 0. 33| P 1. 65| ? c| Ice cubes| 180 g| P 5. 00/1000 g| 0. 005| P 0. 90| 2 T| Whipped Cream| 30 ml| P 43. 20/250 ml| 0. 17| P 5. 10| Total Food Cost P 36. 46 +10% Buffer P 3. 65 Total cost P 40. 11 Mark-up 40% P 16. 04 Selling Price P 56. 15 or P 57. 00 Profit P 20. 00 Cafe Latte (8oz. /240 ml) Quantity| Ingredients| Wt. in g/ml| Product cost| Unit cost| Food cost| 10 ml| Espresso ,brewed| 10 ml| P 60. 00/60 ml| 1| P 10. 00| ? oz. | Condensed Milk| 15 ml| P 30. 75/300 ml| 0. 10| P 1. 50| ? c| Ice cubes| 120 g| P 5. 00/1000 g| 0. 005| P 0. 60| 1 tsp. | Cinnamon| 5 g| P 38. 35/30 g| 1. 28| P 6. 40| 1 T| Whipped cream| 15 ml| P 43. 20/250 ml| 0. 17| P 2. 55| Total Food Cost P 21. 05 +10% Buffer P 2. 11 Total cost P 23. 16 Mark-up 40% P 9. 26 Selling Price P 32. 42 or P 33. 00 Profit P 11. 00 Cafe Latte (12 oz. /360 ml) Quantity| Ingredients| Wt. in g/ml| ProductCost| Unit cost| Food cost| 15 ml| Espresso, brewed| 15 ml| P 60. 00/60 ml| 1| P 15. 00| 20 ml| Condensed milk| 20 ml| P 30. 75/300 ml| 0. 10| P 2. 00| ? c| Ice cubes| 180 g| P 5. 00/1000 g| 0. 005| P 0. 90| 1 tsp. | Cinnamon| 5 g| P 38. 35/30 g| 1. 28| P 6. 40| 2 T| Whipped Cream| 30 ml| P 43. 20/250 ml| 0. 17| P 5. 10| Total Food Cost P 29. 40 +10% Buffer P 2. 94 Total cost P 32. 34 Mark-up 40% P 12. 94 Selling Price P 45. 28 or P 46. 00 Profit P 16. 00 Caramel Latte Macchiato (8 OZ. /240 ml) Quantity| Ingredients| Wt. in g/ml| Product Cost| Unit Cost| Food Cost| ? c| Steamed Milk| 60 ml| P 61. 80/1000 ml| 0. 06| P 3. 60| 1 tsp. | Vanilla Syrup| 5 ml| P 10. 00/30 ml| 0. 33| P 1. 65| 10 ml| Espresso, brewed| 10 ml| P 60. 00/60 ml| 1| P 10| 2 tsp. | Caramel syrup| 10 ml| P 59. 15/120 ml| 0. 43| P 4. 30| 1 T| Whipped cream| 15 ml| P 43. 20/250 ml| 0. 17| P 2. 55| ? c| Ice cubes| 120 g| P 5. 00/1000 g| 0. 005| 0. 60| Total Food Cost P 26. 30 +10% Buffer P 2. 63 Total cost P 28. 93 Selling Price P 40. 50 or P 41. 00 Profit P 14. 00 Caramel Latte Macchiato (12 oz. / 360 ml) Quantity| Ingredients| Wt. in g/ml| Product Cost| Unit Cost| Food Cost| ? c| Steamed milk| 120 ml| P 61. 80/1000 ml| 0. 06| P 7. 20| 1 tsp. | Vanilla syrup| 5 ml| P 10. 00/30 ml| 0. 33| P 1. 65| 15 ml| Espresso, brewed| 15 ml| P 60. 00/60 ml| 1| P 15. 00| 3 tsp. | Caramel syrup| 15 ml| P 59. 15/120 ml| 0. 43| P 6. 45| 2 T| Whipped cream| 30 ml| P 43. 20/250 ml| 0. 17| P 5. 10| ? c| Ice Cubes| 180 g| P 5. 00/1000 g| 0. 005| P 0. 90| Total food Cost P 36. 30 +10% Buffer P 3. 63 Total cost P 39. 93 Mark-up 40% P 15. 97 Selling Price P 55. 90 or P 56. 00 Profit P 19. 00 Costs for packaging Materials| Product Price| Plastic Cups (8 oz. )| P 47. 50/50 pcs. | Plastic Cup (12 oz. )| P 51. 50/50 pcs. | Straw| P 75. 00/200 pcs. | Tissue| P 40. 00/bundle| TOTAL:| P 214. 00| 4. 11 Equipment, Kitchen Tools Packaging Requirements Equipment Item| Quantity| Unit Cost| Total Cost| Food Kiosk| 1| P 40,000| P 40,000| Blender| 2| P 1,200| P 2,400| Freezer| 1| P 9,847. 00| P 9,847. 00| Coffee Maker| 1| P 2,100| P2,100| | | Total:| P 54, 347. 00| Kitchen Tools Item| Quantity| Unit Cost| Total Cost| Measuring Cup| 2 set| 60| P 112. 00| Measuring Spoon| 2 set| 80| P 160. 00| Plastic Container| 6| | P150. 00| Kitchen Scissors| 1| P 30. 00| P 30. 00| | | Total:| P 452. 00| Packaging Requirement Item| Quantity| Amount| Total| Plastic cup| 50 pcs. | 0. 60| P 30. 00| Plastic straw| 50 pcs. | 0. 18| P 17. 50| Tissue| 1,000 pcs. | 0. 005| P 50. 00| | | Total:| P 97. 50| 4. 12 Man Power Requirements Manpower Requirement Position| No. | Work load| Basic Rate| Stall Manager| 1| Eight hours a day| Share to the capital| Accountant| 1| Twice a month| 1,500. 00/visit*2/month. Php 3,000. 00| Store Personnel| 2| Eight hours a day| 404/day*26days/month. P 10,504. 00| 4. 13 Wastes and Waste disposal Kofilicous will implement proper ways of disposing solid and liquid wastes. Solid wastes include used cups and plastic straws.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Shakespeare and Kafka Essay Example for Free

Shakespeare and Kafka Essay Both Shakespeare and Franz Kafta were the men of their contemporary world, placing the world as they see with irony and forms a juxtaposition of a psychological trauma of man troubled by the societies unwarranted interference and trouble in their lives. Shakespear’s tragedy and Kafta’s trial are the tragedies and both of their protagonists have their tragic end not only due to the circumstances created by the society but also by their own mental traumas and thoughts. But, there are certain differences between the two, Hamlet’s King died more due to his moral dilemma while Kafta have to bear the consequences of the bureaucratic rules and laws of the land. Shakespeare uses the technique of inner struggle of a man who is confounded with the fact that her mother has married with her husband’s murdered and the plans of revenge he intended to take. The Hamlet’s trauma was his thoughts about the various moral issues. The biggest moral issue in front of him came when he got revelation of the truth about his mother’s infidelity. He was fixed in a dilemma was it right to kill his mother as a punishment?. He was caught so much in the dilemma that he delayed taking revenge resulting in the circumstances that proved tragic for him. Though he took revenge in the end but at the cost of his life and also of others to whom he matters the most particularly his beloved. Trial is also same in the sense that it also ended in tragedy yet it is different in the sense that Joseph K was giving unsuccessful fight against the court to denounce his death sentence. It was only in the end he accepted his fate and himself summoned his call of death. If Shakespeare would have written â€Å"The Trial† then Joseph, the main protagonist of the story would have been a man of higher status in the society and would have been more a tale of suffering. His misfortune would have been something exceptional and extraordinary. When Joseph K was informed that he would be arrested, Shakespeare would have turned the character as the most humble without any power to face resistance. Joseph would have been incapable to make quick decisions, though he would have been capable to make indecisive and rash decision but would never have been able to take planned or premeditated action. As in the exact story of Kafka where Joseph is shown making efforts for his release, calling his attorney and even went to the court on the appointed day for the hearings as the demand of the law of the land, Shakespeare would have twisted the story here. He would have made Joseph lament of the tragedy going to befall on him. Joseph would have given himself to mediation and reflection and in this process he would have gone on delaying in his efforts to secure his release. Joseph would have thought too much about the circumstances befallen on him before making efforts of his actions. Shakespeare would have allowed him to commit the actions and commissions and cause him great mental agony and not only physical pain that he was going to endure. And later as â€Å"Hamlet†, he would have tried to find out the main reason behind his alleged arrest and trials and who were responsible for his so tragic fate, which was never revealed to him by Kafka. In tragedy by Shakespeare, the hero normally comes to the realization of truth of which he had been always unaware of and as Aristotle himself said, â€Å"a change from ignorance to knowledge†. (Mcmanus, Online) Therefore in â€Å"The Trial†, Shakespeare would have made Joseph make efforts in gaining the knowledge and reason behind what has made his fate most tragic. Later Joseph would have grown in stature and wisdom, as Shakespeare would have made him realize the fact that reason is not enough. An over reliance on reason and belief and untrammeled free will are hallmarks of the Shakespearian villain, and the heroes learn better. Joseph would have made to realize that he should have resort to much better efforts while dealing with the crises and situations, which are out of his control. On the other hand, Kafka would have also used the elements so typical of him as a writer in Hamlet. He would have created Hamlet as a person who would not be merely pondering and reasoning on the causes of his befallen fate but would have strived to fight for his rights against the unjustified justice. He would have made Hamlet, instead of entering into the moral dilemma of whims and his passion for his mother, strived to take immediate action against the culprits who were responsible for his father’s death. His anguish and emotional trauma would have been very less as compared to the trauma inflicted by Joseph. Where in Hamlet, Shakespeare has created an element of Ghost, Kafka would have made the appearance of divine figure like that of a priest who would have taught Hamlet to accept his fate as what is destined for him has to happen. For Kafka, guilt is a feeling that no man can avoid whatever his or her experience may be and in Hamlet, Kafka would have definitely used the element of guilt. He would have made Hamlet realized his mother and uncle of guilt instead of entering into moral dilemma himself and make them face the trials. Here Hamlet would have been realized the fact that it is not important that an individual is actually guilty of an offence but what is important is that crime has occurred and he knew the culprits and therefore they ought to be put in trial and convicted. Another aspect to it is an issue of revenge. Hamlet wanted to take the revenge of the death of his father that was contradictory to the contemporary society in which Hamlet was written. This revenge implies taking the law in one’s own hands in order to satisfy an inner urge, although in civilized society the function of fighting the wrongs done to individuals belong to the state or the government. If Kafka had written Hamlet, he would have made Hamlet t try to follow the course of law to punish the culprits. But, he would have made Hamlet unsuccessful in his efforts as the law takes its own course and by that time Claudius would have been set free and took an adequate opportunity to bring Hamlet to his tragic death. In other words, death of Hamlet could not have occurred due to the moral flaws in the character of Hamlet but due to the circumstances that were out of his control. In spite of his efforts, Hamlet would never have been able to bring real culprits on the punishment panel. Kafka would have made Hamlet a story of the faults in the justice system of the contemporary society instead of the moral flaw in the character that would have made his end inevitable.   In Kafta;s version of Hamlet too, would have also died in the end but in a different way. Hamlet would have never been able to find truth of the conspiracy behind his father’s death. As with the Mouse Trap’ in Hamlet was the major victory for Hamlet as he was able to contrive his father’s murderer but the parable of Kafka’s would have made Hamlet frustrated as it neither contained any golden rule nor even suggested a mode of behavior under particular conditions. Hamlet would have not learnt anything and died a meaningless life bearing the misery of human existence. In the end Hamlet says, â€Å"the rest is silence†, this dialogue is an exploration of the true nature and life of human beings. Hamlet realized the fact that for all human beings, the ultimate destiny is death. Finally all human beings have to attain the death, which is inevitable and have to accept their ultimate faith. Hamlet confronts, recognizes and accepts the condition of being man and the last death wringed in him final cry of passion. But it is not simply the acceptance of death that Hamlet wants to unveil but within this end is the paradigm of complete mysteries of life and along with it is the mystery of evil. The realization of the reality of the death and the mystery of life he felt in the graveyard where the bodies of scheming politicians, the hollow courtier, the tricky lawyer, emperor or the queen and the beautiful young maidens laid.   Whereas when Joseph K said â€Å"like a dog†, Kafka struck at the contemporary society with a tool of an irony. Joseph K.’s demise is the demise of all human beings who had to face the courts and trials without any question. All the human beings are the dogs in the hands of the society and have to accept the fate what has been destined for them. This is a difference between ‘like a dog’ and ‘the rest is silence’. The similarity between the two lies in the fact that fate is the biggest thing in the life of human beings and every one has to accept their fate. Works Cited McManus, Barbara F. â€Å"Outline of Aristotles Theory of Tragedy in the POETICS†. Internet. (1999). Available: http://www.cnr.edu/home/bmcmanus/poetics.html, October 17, 2008.