buy custom Grainger Company essay

buy custom Grainger Company essay Grainger Company has been known to be the leading distributor of MRO equipments, tools, materials and Industrial supplies. The supplies can be ordered online. Having been established in 1927 in Chicago, Illinois, it has been satisfying the customers with their product giving a positive feedback. It became a public corporation in 1967. Since its establishment, it has made a lot of developments in the business industry by making sure all customers needs are fulfilled. Currently the company has been under huge expansion. This involves remodelling the existing locations, and trying to venture in the Chinese market. It has also been expanding in the products offered. Over 900,000 products can be purchased from Grainger.com. The company makes use of Technical Product Support that takes care of training specialists. This makes the Grainger Company unique than other companies. The Technique Product Support helps the company to choose the proper products to sell to customers. It provides assistance in installation and troubleshooting of the applications available. In the MRO market, Grainger Company has been said to be the leading producer. The other competitor companies include MSC Industrial Direct Company and Home Depot. In 2009, the company had financial problems. Due to the tough and unstable economy, the customers did not purchase a lot of goods. The company posted a net income of $431 million, from revenues of $6.2 billion. This was recorded as a drop from the 2008 revenues of $6.9 billion by 9.2%. The major cause of the low income was the Manufacturing customer by not supplying the company appropriately. Sales results from January 2012 increased by 17% from January 2011 (Follet 131). The company acquires its finances from operating activities. Other sources can be commercial paper sales ad bank borrowings under lines of credit. By improving its efficiency, greater profitability is earned. The capital expenditures of the company is also used to invest in it logistic network and information systems. Grainger Company examines other project in order to meet or exceed the required capital. With the invention, of the small projects the company expects to increase the amount of capital needed to maintain the company. (Birgham, 324) The companys distribution requires a lot of transportation of goods. The goods can either be transported by water or other means of transport. The transporting requires large use of fuel. According to this, large capital must be earned to cover for the transportation. They then apply this fuel cost to the customers. They purchase the products at a high cost to cover the fuel cost. The growth rate of the company in 2011 appeared to be slower than in 2010. According to the statistics, the beginning of this year has proved that the rate might be highest this current year. The company intends to improve the rate in the future. Analysts of the company expect the financial growth rate will be at an annual rate of 13.4. This year the analysts predict a financial growth rate of 2.5. The growth rate of the company seems to affect the financial growth rate. As the company expands, the profit earned also increases respectively (Birgham 291) Over the last eighty years, the company has opened many branches in the world. Some countries include Canada, US, Mexico, India, China and Panama. It has institutions in about 157 countries. These can be said to be the assets of the company. The many branches can further be analyzed and classified as the fixed assets of the company. With these assets, the company continues to grow in both aspects of size and profit. Over the years, the company has beeen over dependent in the United States. It, therefore, becomes vulnerable to the economic downturns of the United States. When the company is affected by the economy, the customers also get the effect. In the year 2009, the company invested in other countries. These were in India and Japan, and, therefore; it reduced its dependency on the United States. The main financial strengths of the Grainger Company can be said to be its low debts and strong cash flows. This makes the company able to fund its initiatives and improve its operations. The company also deals with dividends and repurchases which, they later return to shareholders. The company looks at debt ratio and maintains liquidity position. This helps the company in funding its capital needs, and taking care of its long term cash requirements. The company also takes financial health risks by trying to defend on its own. The company avoids large amount of debts that they may not be able to pay. They get financial support from other organizations and this makes the company financially stable. (Birgham 592) The company uses its cash in reinvesting in the business. This happens so as to increase the returns to shareholders in forms of dividends. In my opinion, the financial strengths and support would be, when the company enhances the cash processing methods. The cash processing system can be integrated with accounts receivable. This type of improvement may quickly update the customers accounts. When they update, the customers can now completely depend on the company for their businesses. This has been said to be one of the goals of the company. To increase the number of customers and satisfy then with the products they need. When this gaol is accomplished, the companys earnings improve too. Yours Sincerely, Ruoyi Wang Buy custom Grainger Company essay

Search IP Address With a PHP Script

Search IP Address' With a PHP Script Retrieving the users IP address is actually much simpler than you might think, and it can be done in a single line of PHP code. What the PHP script you see below does is finds the IP address of a user and then posts the address on the page that holds the PHP code. In other words, any user who visits the page will be able to see their own IP address listed there. Note:  The way this PHP script is written here does not log any IP addresses nor does it show a user anyone elses IP address - just their own. "What's My IP" PHP Script To return  the IP address of the person visiting your site, use this line: To retrieve the users IP address and then echo its value back to the user, you can use this example: Note: This is generally accurate but will not work as intended if the user is accessing your website behind a proxy. This is because the proxys IP address will be shown instead of the users true address. Test the IP Address If youre not sure that the script is working, there are numerous websites you can visit to get some other perspectives on what your IP address is being reported as. For example, after you implement the code from above, load the page and record the IP address thats given for your device. WhatsMyIP.org or IP Chicken are good places to check to see if the same IP address is recorded there.

How Advertisements Work Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

How Advertisements Work - Essay Example They hire experts in human behavior, creative writers and other professionals to work together in order to come up with an advertisement that will surely lure consumers to buy their products. The given paper will prove that advertisements subtly manipulate viewers because they boost consumers’ egos and present revolutionary ideas about being different. Advertisements may seem logical and generic to viewers, who are sitting in front of their television. However, there is much more happening in the consumer’s mind than what is obviously seen. For instance, there are a number of shampoo advertisements that are presented in one show, but the viewer is more inclined to buy a specific brand not through a random choice, but a specific reason. As the ads are shown, they manipulate the viewer’s perception. For instance the ad of Head & Shoulders presents something that the viewer wants such as soft, free-flowing hair that exudes a desirable aroma. Here the interests of consumers are the first thing that is taken into account. According to a scholar name Jack Solomon, American companies do not simply create products but they also â€Å"manufacture status symbols, because American consumers want them†. As mentioned earlier, businessmen hire necessary professionals such as psychologists to study human behaviors, which can be useful for business. Knowing that most people want to be perceived as successful even though they are not, companies get the idea that even if they sell a product at a very expensive price with the help of a well-researched advertisement, they can actually sell it, because of the status symbol that the product reflects. For example, Nike is a popular brand marketing shoes at a high price compared to similar products, which are less known. The price alone will suggest the owner of Nike shoes must be rich, because he is able to buy such pair of shoes.  

Define Newtons 1st, 2nd and 3rd Laws. How do these relate to an Essay

Define Newtons 1st, 2nd and 3rd Laws. How do these relate to an exercise Give at least 3 examples - Essay Example It states that if a force is exerted on a body with mass m then the body would only accelerate or decelerate in the direction of the relative forces. Hence it can be concluded that F=ma where f is force, m is mass and a is acceleration. A real life example of the second law can be considered when the horsepower of a car is analyzed. If a car has a horsepower of 2300CC then it would move at a great speed. Similarly if the mass of this car is increased then the speed would decrease in the same manner. And lastly if the horsepower of the car is increased without changing the mass then the car would move at an even higher speed. The third law of Newton states that every action has an opposite reaction which would try to oppose the action in real. A real life example of this law can be seen when we are swimming or rowing. It is seen that as we push the water behind the water exerts a force in response which helps us move ahead. Both action and reaction can be seen in this

The Colourhouse Essay Example for Free

The Colourhouse Essay Introduction The business I have chosen to report about is a high quality sheet fed printers called The Colourhouse. This means that they provide the best possible printing work that they can. Sheet fed printers are best suited for shorter runs and where showcase quality is required. Sheet fed presses can also run heavier paper and conversely web presses can run newsprint or other thin paper. The machines in The Colourhouse can turn the sheet over within the press and print both sides at once. The Colourhouse was established 11 years ago in 1993 when four people invested their money into the company and called it Scott Colour. The four owners who invested their money into the company became directors of the company and still work in the firm. They own The Colourhouse. Two years ago the company changed its name to The Colourhouse and the location of the firm was moved to a bigger outlet in Deptford. This was because a major shareholder decided to sell his share of the business who was called Scott. The other owners decided to then change the name and change the logo of the company as well. The company now has 93 people working for it. Some of their clients include Aston Martin Lagonda, Transport for London, Barclays Bank PLC, J Sainsbury PLC, De Beers, Ford Motor Co, The Tate, Tesco and BP and of course many leading and advertising groups throughout the UK. These big companies show that The Colourhouse provides good quality products to huge names and therefore make better advertising for The Colourhouse to potential clients. I chose to study The Colourhouse because it was easily accessible for me to go and report on it since my dads friend works there. I also wanted to see how the different departments work together to make the firm a success. The managing director Mike Roberts showed me round The Colourhouse. He showed me around all the departments of the company and afterwards took me to meet three of the companys clients who had done business with the firm, who were in the process of doing business or were considering business with the company. This gave me an insight into how the employees communicate with customers. Ownership 1.0 The type of business organisation my company is is a private limited company. 1.1 Limited companies must produce two documents the Memorandum of Association and Articles of Association in order to set up the business. The Memorandum sets out the constitution and gives details about the company. The Companies Act 1985 states that the following details must be included. * The name of the company * The name and address of the companys registered office. * The objectives of the company and the scope of its activities. * The liability of its members. * The amount of capital to be raised and the number of shares to be issued. A limited company must have a minimum of two members but there is no upper limit. The Articles of Association deal with the internal running of the company. They include details such as: * The rights of shareholders depending on the type of share they hold; * The procedures for appointing directors and the scope of their powers; * The length of time directors should serve before re-election; * The timing and frequency of company meetings; the arrangements for auditing company accounts. These two documents, along with a statement indicating the names of the directors, will be sent to the Registrar of Companies. If they are acceptable, the companys application will be successful. It will be awarded a Certificate of Incorporation, which allows it to trade. A limited company must also submit a copy of its annual accounts to the Registrar each year. Finally the shareholders have a legal right to attend the AGM and should be told of the date and venue in writing well in advance. A private limited company is a company that has at least 2 shareholders or more. The Colourhouse has 4 shareholders. The shares in the company cannot be traded on the Stock Exchange. The Colourhouse became a private limited company because four people invested their money into the company and became the instant shareholders of the firm. The Colourhouse has a committee that protects the shareholders interest called the Board of Directors. The members of the board choose the managing director, who is responsible for the day-to-day running of the business. This person in The Colourhouse is Mike Roberts. Benefits 1.2 There are many benefits of The Colourhouse being a private limited company. Firstly they may find it more possible to raise capital (by selling shares) then unlimited liability businesses since shareholders are not risking their personal wealth. If for example The Colourhouse is losing money and needs to pay for employees wages or rent for their factory and offices, they could sell a part of their shares to pay for this. This would mean that employees would be getting paid and doing their job and they would have an actual place to do their work i.e. in the factory. This is better than for example taking out a loan because this means that there is no money needed to pay back. The shareholders can also have the protection of limited liability. This means that if The Colourhouse goes bankrupt, because it is unable to meet its debts, the shareholders will not be liable (responsible by law) to lose their possessions or pay the money that is owed. The maximum amount they could lose is the amount they have put into the shares. But the maximum amount they would lose is the whole of the business because there are only four shareholders and they all work in the company. Another benefit is continuity. This means that the business will continue if one of the owners should die. If for example a shareholder in The Colourhouse dies, then the shares can just be transferred to another owner and the business can keep on running. As the shareholders work in the business they know it well and have a vested interest in its success. So therefore they work hard and motivate employees to make The Colourhouse successful. Constraints 1.3 However, there are also disadvantages to being a private limited company. They cost more to set up than other types of firms i.e. sole traders and partnerships. So if the four directors of The Colourhouse did not have the money 11 years ago to set up the business, it is unlikely that the business would exist, be as successful or be as big as it is today. Another disadvantage is that there is a legal procedure to set up the business. This takes a lot of time and costs money. As The Colourhouse cannot sell its shares to the public, it is more difficult for the amount of capital to be raised. Luckily the directors of The Colourhouse already raised the money themselves and therefore invested the money they had in to the company. A final disadvantage is that any member of the public can inspect financial information with the Registrar. This is an advantage to competitors because they can be seen at any time. Business Objectives 2.0 The Colourhouse has many business objectives. An objective is an aim or several aims that a business work towards to achieve their goal and this is why it is good to have them. Their objectives are to make the company profit, increase sales for the company, to survive, develop staff skills, produce high quality products and offer good quality service and finally to make it the best sheet fed printers in the United Kingdom. 2.1 The main objective of the company is to make a profit. The reason businesses seek to make a profit is that, without profit, a business is unable to do all the things it wants to do. If The Colourhouse makes a profit, employees feel more secure in their jobs, shareholders profits go up and suppliers feel more secure. The Government also receives more in tax from the business. Without profit, The Colourhouse will find it difficult to plough back money into research and development, invest in new technologies and reward their employees with an increased wage package. The profit The Colourhouse makes mainly is reinvested in the company to purchase new machinery. It also pays rent for their factory and offices, wages for their employees, gas, electricity, petrol and lighting. 2.1 The second objective of the company is to increase sales. Without sales, The Colourhouse would not have any work to actually produce in the company. A decrease in sales would see employees having less work to do and less money coming into the business. This therefore would see a greater chance of The Colourhouse becoming bankrupt. Increasing the sales would mean more profit coming into the company so it can be reinvested to buy new technology and increase employees wages. The sales force of the business has the skills to sell The Colourhouses service to customers. 2.2 The next objective is surviving. The survival of The Colourhouse depends on the profit that it brings in each year. If The Colourhouse does not bring in the aimed value of profit each year, then the business is in trouble. A reason for The Colourhouse losing its profit is competition from other printers in its area. If this happened they will have to for example sack a number of employees or maybe move location to a smaller factory and office so that the rent will be less money. If the competition gets too much, the company could fold because the people running The Colourhouse would feel that they are not making enough profit to cover the efforts that they are making and the risk that they are taking. 2.3 The next objective is developing staff skills. The Colourhouse recognises that their employees are an important asset to the company. Without their employees the service that they promise to provide would not be available to clients. By developing staff skills they can help the employees as well as helping the company. This is because the employee would be using these skills in the workplace. The ideal employee at The Colourhouse would have good communication skills, good interpersonal skills, the ability to work with numbers and information technology and the ability to work effectively in problem- solving situations. If for example an employee did not communicate well with a client over the telephone or face-to-face, the client is less likely to do business with The Colourhouse again or even decide to take their business elsewhere altogether. The Colourhouse has therefore developed a detailed training and development programme that seek to create a better workforce for their company. This is called Perfection Through Improvement (PTI). This is a team of people from all areas of the business who strive to make the company a better place for the employees to work in. The team had one week of intense training to learn the tools required. They meet fortnightly to plan and discuss future developments. An example is making the factory and offices tidy for the employees to work in. They have come up with a scheme called the 5S. This stands for set in order (orderliness), which is keeping needed items in the correct place to allow for easy and immediate retrieval. An example of this is using labels to put items back in their correct place. Shine (cleanliness) which is to keep the workshop swept and clean. A case of this is making less mess and fixing leaks, rattles and shakes. Standardise (standardise clean up), this is the condition they support when they maintain the first three pillars. An example of this is putting cleaning stations companywide. Sort (organisation), which is clearly distinguishing, needed items from unneeded items and eliminating later. An example of this is tagging items that are ready for disposal. The place where these items were kept was then turned into the PTI workshop. Finally sustain (discipline) which is making a habit of established procedures. The PTI team each have an area and they then carry monthly audits on that area. This encourages and retrains any staff that requires it and it is also healthy competition between areas of the business. One of The Colourhouses future plans for development is to apply for government funding. This will then be used to further train the management team and indeed staff where required. 2.4 Another of their objectives is offering a high quality service and producing a high quality product at the end of it. One of their most important aims is to please the customer. If the customer is not happy with the service they are provided, they will then take their custom elsewhere. The Colourhouse does its best by satisfying customers requirements so tries to provide the best possible service they can. The Colourhouse in the near future will be appointing a customer service director and a customer service team from its current staff to increase customer service levels. If this is increased there will be more business coming into the company and therefore more profit, which means that one of their business objectives will be achieved. 2.5 Their final business objective is to make The Colourhouse the best sheet fed printers in the UK. This is a very big aim, which requires workers to be more motivated at their job and make the company even more successful. An example is organising more social events within the firm so employees can get to know each other better from all departments and therefore is an enjoyable place to work, which motivates the employees to come to work and work hard. Another way to make The Colourhouse the best sheet fed printers in the UK is by advertising. They plan to advertise the business more by local radio and advertisements in newspapers. They have already improved their website which was very basic beforehand but is now very helpful to clients who are thinking of using The Colourhouse for business. The advertising of the company will make more people know about the firm and may consider using it in the future. How the company measures their success 3.0 The Colourhouse monitors the success of these objectives by undertaking various customer and staff care surveys. These are conducted face-to-face, over the phone and through the post. These results are then reported back to the directors of the company who have meetings with their staff to talk about the results. The feedback from these surveys is usually very positive. These surveys usually ask clients if they were satisfied with the product and service that they received from The Colourhouse. If customers are not pleased with the results, then the company tries to help with these problems by holding meetings with staff to see how these problems can be solved i.e. giving discounts to particular clients. 3.1 However if the results are not positive, directors usually ask staff and customers what they think is wrong with certain areas of the company and how would they change it. There are various suggestion boxes around the company, which are regularly monitored by the PTI. All the suggestions are considered and answered. 3.2 The Colourhouse also has regular meetings with their staff to keep them up to date with how the company is doing i.e. profit. They monitor their profit by keeping charts of their profit each month and then for the year. They then compare this to their profit for last year to see whether their profit has increased or decreased. If it has decreased then they try to figure out ways to improve this. They measure the success of their sales also in a similar way by recording every sale for the company each month and then for the year and comparing to previous months and years. The Colourhouse measures how well the company is surviving by finding out about other printing companies in the same area (its competition). The Colourhouse can find out about other printers by searching the Internet for example and looking on printers websites to see e.g. the number of awards they have won, the customers they have and what type of machinery they use. This means that The Colourhouse can think of different strategies to make their company have a competitive edge over other printing companies in that area. Recommendations are also a very big way to measure the success of The Colourhouse. If clients are happy with the results of their work, then they will tell other potential clients about it and therefore increase the number of sales in the company. Potential clients also can see on The Colourhouses website that they have big companies using The Colourhouse and as a result customers are more likely to use this company over other printers. 3.3 In my opinion, I think The Colourhouse is very successful in meetings its objectives. Their main objective is to make a profit. Every year, they successfully make, on average à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½10 million which is a lot considering it isnt such a big company or even has branches elsewhere. Their other objective is to develop staff skills. The Colourhouse has developed a training programme for their workforce to make them a better team. The programme is the PTI programme which aims to improve the workplace employees work in. This has proven to be a success because it is involving all members of staff to make the factory and office comfortable to work in. Overall, The Colourhouse is one of the best sheet fed printers in the UK. This is proven by the amount of awards that the company has won. They have won 56 UK, European and International premier printing awards. Some of the awards theyve won include brochure printer of the year, repro house of the year, regional printer of the year, direct mail printer of the year and reports and accounts printer of the year. They have found winning these awards have been a powerful tool in helping to grow their business. Receiving these awards tells the customers and prospects that The Colourhouse is providing some of the finest print in the world today. In 10 years they have achieved 14 Consort Print awards, 4 Sappi Graphics awards, 10 Printweek Awards, 4 Printing World Awards, 4 McNaughton Review awards, 10 Premier awards and 6 Spotlight Awards. Their most proud awards are Printing Worlds Direct Mail printer of the years 2004, best repro company of the year 2002 and 2003, and Printing Worlds Best Printer 2002. These are their most proud awards because these are recent awards that they have won and still show that after 11 years they still provide the best possible quality they can. The names of all their awards they have won are on their website which is a very good idea because clients usually browse a website of a company before using it for business so therefore clients will more than likely use The Colourhouse than other printers because it has won so many printing awards for their quality of work. Functional Areas 4.0 There are five different functional areas in The Colourhouse which all work together to make the company successful. The different functional areas in the Colourhouse are: * Administration/ Finance * Sales * Production * Human Resources 4.1 The department of administration services the work of the company. The Colourhouse has an average sized office that is responsible for controlling key aspects of the firms paperwork. This department handles the filing of materials, the companys mail, word processing and data handling facilities. The administration department also has another department to it: finance. This deals with issuing invoices, estimating and sending cheques. A client will get in touch with someone in the sales department and the finance departments job is to estimate the cost of that job and issue the invoice to that particular customer. It too is responsible for keeping day-to-day records. It is important that this department does this because if for example a major event happens, the event can be discussed in say a meeting with the exact event and time and date. The department as well produces periodic records such as the annual accounts and figures for discussion at meetings of directors. This means that if in a meeting the managing director wants to compare profit figures from particular years, this can be done because they have been recorded. This department has 3 people working in it. An organisational chart of The Colourhouse showing the different functional areas 4.2 The department of sales deals with sales. Sales advisors take enquiries from customers for the work that they want. Often sale advisors go and meet clients several times and do not just deal with sales over the telephone. By meeting the clients personally it makes the customer feel that they are the sales advisors top priority and as a result feel very comfortable doing business with The Colourhouse. This is how sales advisors bring work into the factory. However if The Colourhouse feels it cannot give a particular job the best possible quality or have time to fit the job in, then the sales advisors will speak to the clients personally and provide any information that they need i.e. the name of another printing firm. Without sales the whole process of work would not exist. There would be no work for the reproduction and printing departments to actually produce to clients so therefore employees would not get paid and would end up losing their jobs. There are 10 people working in this department. 4.3 The department of Human Resources deals with the actual staff in The Colourhouse. It is the job of this department to interview potential staff for The Colourhouse. They then train the staff and continue to train them if for example the employees have not been working as hard as they could have so human resources provide more training. This department also uses staff appraisal, which involves a review interview between the employee and the managing director. These are held usually at least every 12 months and progress is discussed and targets are set. If the employee is not working as hard and needs to be motivated then they can be re-trained. On the other hand if the employees are working very well in their job then bonus schemes can be discussed or even a pay rise. 4.4 The production department is split into three areas: reproduction, print and finishing. The department of reproduction handles printing imagery. This is where workers use Mac computers to scan their clients images onto the computer. They then change certain parts of the images to fit the clients needs, which is called retouching. An example is a client wanting leaflets designed for a historical monument. The client would take the photo of it. The employee would change for example the colour of the sky to make it more blue and clear instead of having it grey and dull like how it was taken. This then attracts the attention of the reader a lot more and therefore would consider visiting that place. The images are then transferred to a special material, which is called a plate where it goes into a machine to be proofed. This can be either done by wet proofing or digital proofing. Wet proofing takes a longer time to complete then digital proofing. All this work is saved onto discs and put away so if the client comes back and wants the same job done; it is easier for the work to be done. 4.5 The department of printing deals with exactly that. The plates from the previous reproduction department are transferred into the printing department. They are fed into machines presses where ink is pressed onto the plates. The machines used are 110 colour perfecting press, 18 colour perfecting press and 16 colour CD press. The plates are colour coded so that plates dont get mixed up and get fed into the wrong machines. The inks used are yellow, cyan, magenta and black, which are mixed together to create different colours to whatever the client requires. The images are then transferred onto several hundreds of paper. 4.6 The final department is finishing. When they are finished printings they are stocked into big bundles and are taking to where the edges of the paper must be made smooth using machines that cut the bundles. The bundles of paper next are placed into a machine where a shiny coating is placed onto them. The bundles are then taken to be folded into leaflets, posters, brochures, magazines or whatever particular job is required. There is also another side to the finishing department, which is the mailing section. This is the department where mailing is done. Mail is posted to all their clients and householders about their particular jobs with the company and about how the company is doing. The names of all the clients are kept on computerised laser machines, which enclose the client details. Mail is then enclosed in an envelope, sealed and posted. 4.7 The functional areas all work together to help the business meet its objectives. The Colourhouses main objective is to make a profit. However if the functional areas didnt work together to meet this objective there would be no profit or an increase in sales. They cannot all work without the other departments. The sales department is essential because the sales advisors actually talk to clients and persuade them to use The Colourhouse for business. The human resources department motivate the employees to carry on with jobs in the way that they are doing and help employees if it is needed. The reproduction, printing and finishing department are necessary because they offer the services and make the product. Without these departments there wouldnt be any product to give to the client at the end. The mailing department is needed to inform clients of the progress of their work and how the company is actually doing. Without it clients are not informed of The Colourhouses progress and there fore may forget using The Colourhouse in the future. By doing this the client will be satisfied with the end result and therefore come back to do more business. Their other objective is developing staff skills. The functional areas all work together to do this by helping employees in different departments whether it be for example a sales advisor telling a person in the printing department how to communicate well on the phone or showing an employee in the production department how to scan images onto a MAC computer in the reproduction department. A very important way of developing staff skills is training employees when for example they start in a department. They also use training to teach employees to work in different parts of the department on different machines e.g. the print department in case a particular employee is absent. This is called multi-skilling. This means that the employees can be more flexible with their job. It is the job of the human resources department to decide when training is given to employees and develop their skills. Another of their objectives is to offer a good quality service to the clients. The functional areas help to do this by making the best possible product to a high quality standard. The departments of The Colourhouse try to meet its deadlines for a particular job and do the job at an average speed. The sales department offer the client the best possible service when they met them by communicating well with them and helping them with any queries. Clients can also visit The Colourhouse to see where their work is being processed and can see if it is correct and to the best possible standard. If it isnt the client can point this out and the mistakes on the job can be changed. Management Style and Culture 5.0 A persons management style is the typical pattern of behaviour he or she shows in carrying out a management role over a period of time. The management style of The Colourhouse is a mixture of 3 styles: autocratic, democratic and laissez faire. 5.1 The autocratic style is one where the manager sets objectives, allocates tasks and insists on obedience. The Colourhouse uses the autocratic style in a situation like a managing director telling the people in the mailing department who to send particular mail to. This style is used by a higher employee to new and inexperienced staff who are not experienced in The Colourhouse. The democratic style is also used. A democratic leadership style encourages participation in decision-making. Managers may consult employees or could attempt to sell final decisions to them. A case of using this is when the departments of production, reproduction and printing decide whether a job that has been enquired can be taken on. This style is used to employees that have been in The Colourhouse for a long time so they dont need so much direction as new employees. 5.2 The Colourhouse is somewhere between autocratic and democratic but there is also a style of laissez faire used. A laissez-faire type of leadership style allows employees to carry out activities freely within broad limits. They are then held responsible for the decisions it chooses to make. An example of this is the reproduction and printing departments deciding how long a particular job will take printing. If it is not finished then it is these departments responsibility. 5.3 Culture means a way of doing things. In a business context it can mean the attitudes, values and beliefs that are shared by the people in a business. If a business is to succeed in achieving its objectives, it is vital that its people share a belief in those objectives. It is up to the management of the business to instil the belief in its employees. How a culture will evolve depends on different influences. In the case of The Colourhouse economic influences dictate how the culture evolves. This is the need to make a profit and be efficient. The drive to make a profit will help to shape the attitudes, values and beliefs of the firm. Employees of The Colourhouse are motivated to go all out to win business because they are hoping for a reward in their hard work i.e. higher wages or a promotion. An organisational culture is reflected in the way individuals in the organisations carry out their tasks. It combines the beliefs and values of the individuals and the extent to which they rely on the organisations rules and procedures. There are 4 types of culture: role, power, person and task culture. 5.4 Role culture is typical of bureaucracies, which are large organisations in which all members have a defined job or role to carry out. Power culture is often found in small organisations where control rests with a single individual or a small group of individuals. Person culture is where the individuals are central and the organisation exists only to serve the interests of those within it. 5.5 In the case of The Colourhouse the task culture is used. This is a team working on a specific project. These tend to be organised into team working structures. Teams may work together for a short and long time to complete a task. Particular individuals may work on more than 1 task at a time. An example of this is staff in the reproduction department scanning images onto a MAC computer but also proofing the images onto plates. There is a strong emphasis on building the team and make them feel valued by the firm. Employers are increasingly being encouraged to take on more responsibility. In a task culture, teams will often have considerable input in determining how a particular job will be done. An example is the employees of the reproduction department giving their views to the managing director on a particular job. After all they work there all the time so therefore their opinions on things are listened to and are more often than not right about it. Task culture is best for The Colourhouse because it means that employees of The Colourhouse can work in teams and complete assignments together. Particular employees tend to work on more than one task at a time. As a result for their hard work they feel valued by The Colourhouse to be kept motivated. Teams of employees can also put their thoughts and views into how a particular job that they do e.g. the amount of time a job takes to complete. Other members of the team and the company listen to their opinions. 5.6 The Colourhouse is organised into team working structures, which involves considerable flexibility with people working in one or more teams and when appropriate. This means that all employees are taking responsibility for their particular part in the job and therefore must be in charge of that. An example of this is the different departments within the company especially the reproduction and printing department. These departments help each other out and the employees have to be flexible in these departments because they cannot leave their work really until the particular printing job is done. 5.7 The structure of the business, its culture and management style affects the performance of The Colourhouse. These help or hinder the success of the business. If for example employees hated coming to work because of particular individuals or hated the management style e.g. autocratic they wouldnt feel comfortable in their work and not put the best possible effort into it. However if more social events occurred in The Colourhouse i.e. going out for a meal with some of the other employees, workers would build on having a good relationship with other members of staff and therefore look forward to coming to work. This means that they will put their best possible effort into their work and maintain a high level of morale. Having a relaxed but hard working atmosphere in the workplace motivates the workers to meet their objectives of the company. Otherwise if the atmosphere is miserable the employees will be working in this type of atmosphere and have a low level of morale and not reaching t heir objectives as a company. 5.8 The operation of The Colourhouse is also affected by the structure, the culture and management style. If the style of management is too autocratic, it affects the way in which staff work causing the staff to lose morale and not put as much effort into their finished product. However if the atmosphere in the office is too laid back workers will not be motivated to make the best possible product they can. They will then produce sloppy work which would make the customer unsatisfied and take their business elsewhere. They will also not encourage other people too use the company either. 5.9 The structure, management style and culture also help The Colourhouse meet its objectives. The Colourhouses main objective is to make a profit. With The Colourhouse being a mixture of all 3 management styles: autocratic, democratic and laissez faire, it helps the employees of the company work together and separately to make their product and service the best possible and therefore the best for the customer. The customer will more than likely return to the company to do more business. If the customer also sees that the culture of the business is hardworking but also a relaxed environment this will also more than likely make the customer come back to the company to do more business leading to increasing sales. The Colourhouse also aims to look after the customer when they do business with them, so if the customer does not feel that the company care about them then they will take their custom elsewhere therefore decreasing sales. Another of their objectives is to develop staff skills. The management style is to work together and also apart so by doing this it is developing many of their employees skills. For example it is developing their skills to be a leader in a situation like working in a group or developing their problem-solving skills when they are alone. 5.10 I think the impact of the organisational structure; culture and management style is successful on the performance of The Colourhouse. The employees of The Colourhouse know that the most important thing is to make the customer happy. The customer is their top priority. This makes the employees motivated to keep the customer happy and maybe get a reward at the end of it i.e. promotion. Because the management style is a mixture of 3 styles (autocratic, democratic and laissez faire) it seems to work in The Colourhouse. The employees are happy that although they are told what assignments to do, they can always discuss them to other members of their team and work together as a group to finish an assignment but also at their own pace. Because they work in a task culture, employees dont have as much work to do as if they were working on their own so the work is shared out between employees and they are responsible for that. Potential and current clients can see that this management style works in the business, which is why customers keep returning to The Colourhouse. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) 6.0 ICT is the abbreviation of Information and Communications Technology. Communication is the communication used within and outside of the business. This is called internal and external communications. 6.1 The use of ICT is widely used in The Colourhouse. The use of ICT in The Colourhouse makes it possible for functional areas to share the same information and to work collaboratively using this pool of information and information creating and handling-capacity. The ICT used in The Colourhouse leads to the success of the quality of work that the company produce. The reproduction department for example uses MAC computers to scan images onto the screen. These computers are of a high quality and therefore make the end product the best possible. 6.2 ICT is used for internal communications within The Colourhouse. Internal communications is communication that takes place within an organisation. Examples of internal communications within The Colourhouse are notices, reports, memos, face-to-face encounters, email and team briefing. Notices are used to publicise any changes in policy. These are produced using Word, or Desktop Publisher. Notice boards in The Colourhouse are placed in each department and increase communication. They hold things like important dates, functions and telephone numbers for different departments i.e. if there is a problem. Reports are helpful for the purpose of keeping accurate records or to inform future-decision making processes. An example of using reports is during a meeting when an important event has happened. It has been noted down along with a date and time and who was involved and can be discussed at the meeting. Memos are the most widely used form of communication because they are brief and to the point. The Colourhouse uses this for example to tell people about a meeting coming up later that day. Both of these types of communication are word processed so they can be saved and doesnt have to be typed up again. Face to face encounters are helpful because people are talking directly to each other. An example of using this method is the managing director discussing a personal problem with an employee. Emails are used to send documents in electronic form around a company. For instance this can be used in sending information fro the managing director to all staff about a meeting. Team briefing is when managers and others with information to share brief their team on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. An example of this is the managing director discussing with the sales department what they can do to increase sales. The process of ICT is used to produce printing jobs. The reproduction department uses MAC computers to scan images from discs saved by the company onto the computer screens. It is then printed and put through a machine where it is placed onto plates. The printing department uses printing machines to press ink onto the plates to finish the job. The finishing department uses particular machines to trim up the sides of the paper/card etc and make sure that all the sides are level. 6.3 ICT is also used for external communications within The Colourhouse. External communications takes place between the organisation and the outside world. Examples of external communications within The Colourhouse include letters, Internet, websites, email, fax, and telephone. The most frequently used form of communication is the telephone. Its fast and allows those who find it difficult to meet the converse. The sales department when discussing enquiries with potential customers can use this. Letters is still a widely used form of external communication. It can for example make arrangements without the need for parties to meet etc. Letters are used in the mailing department to send news to householders and current clients about how the business is doing. This department uses Word and mail merge to produce the letters. Faxes have experienced massive expansion over recent years. Fax machines send information electronically over telephone lines. Sales advisors in the sales department use this to send quotes of the job that they wanted to clients. The Colourhouse widely use emails. It is used because its fast, and more environmentally friendly. Its efficient because customers can be kept up to date with their order placed. A case of using emails is to send an email to the companys suppliers. The Colourhouse has an Internet web site it uses for all forms of external communications purposes for public relations activities. This means that potential clients can get in touch with the company through the website and sales advisors can reply to them through the website. The website is also used to advertise their product and service that they provide. They advertise the big companies that use The Colourhouse to persuade potential clients to use them. The impact of ICT 6.4 ICT has had a major impact on internal and external communications in The Colourhouse. An efficient information and communications system would mean that the customer was satisfied and would probably return for more business. Because information and communications processing affects the ways in which The Colourhouse competes, an effective system should create genuine competitive advantage. Information and communications processing systems must be developed that best support The Colourhouse in meeting its objectives. By being fit for the purposes intended, the information and communications system should help to provide solutions and not create problems. Email for example has had a major impact on The Colourhouse. Emails have made communication much faster and people receive information quicker. For example staff in The Colourhouse can send emails to clients about their price of the job. Using databases is a good asset to the company because they are very useful to the company. Databases can keep track of client details such as their names, addresses and telephone numbers. A system that is fit for its purpose should reap results- The Colourhouse should then be able to quickly point to ways in which it is meeting its objectives more effectively. Cost has a clear influence upon the design of an information and communication processing system. An example is a manager may have a constraint budget that determines how much can be spent upon its introduction. One danger of a tight budgetary constraint is that it can be too restrictive and can make it difficult to develop a system that undertakes activities as efficiently as originally required. Information and communications processing systems must be developed to meet the needs of a number of employees. The overall aim should be able to reduce the time taken to carry out activities, to increase the speed with which output is generated, to undertake a larger volume of work and to make it easier for the employees to access and operate the system. As time has gone on, computer systems have changed and become better and more equipped. As a result The Colourhouse has invested money into new computers so that they can use the best possible computers around and therefore provide best quality product to clients. The most important element in any system is its capacity to generate output. A good information system will have the right information available when required and in the form specified by the user. Production and Quality Assurance/ control 7.0 Production is the process whereby inputs of people, machinery and materials are converted into outputs of either finished goods or services. 7.1 There are different types of production including job, batch and mass production. Job production is the manufacture of individual products often referred to as one off or unique products. These products are manufactured to meet the individual needs of the consumer. Each stage of the process is organised and completed until the finished product is complete. Batch production involves the manufacture of a quantity of products or parts of a product. These are produced in a batch all at once, before the next quantity or batch is manufactured. Mass production involves products or services passing down a line of production. The production process is a repeating one, with identical products going through the same sequence of operations. 7.2 Job production is the production process within The Colourhouse. This is when The Colourhouse produces one or a small number of items and where the product is smaller than in a project. The product is made on their premises and then taken to the particular client. First the sales advisors take orders from clients, then the job is decided whether it can be done or not. Sometimes it cannot be done because the client may want it done soon and there is not enough time to do it. If it can be done it is then put into a job bag (where all orders go) where also delivery notes, machine schedules and invoices are kept. The job is decided however long it will take and other jobs are planned around it. The job is then taken downstairs to the reproduction department where the order is put on a disk and placed in the computer for the employees to scan and rearrange and retouch certain parts of the images. It is then put onto plates. When the reproduction department is finished, the plates are put through pressing machines in the print department. They are printed onto hundreds of paper and then piled into bundles and the edges of the paper are made smooth and cut into the required size and shape. It is then folded into the particular leaflets, brochures, poster or whatever particular job it is. 7.3 Added value is the difference between the cost of purchasing raw materials and the price, which the finished goods are sold for. The Colourhouse adds value through the quality of product and the individual service that they provide. Clients too add value to The Colourhouse. Clients are willing to pay a high amount of money for the quality of job that The Colourhouse provides because it makes their business look good e.g. producing a glossy brochure which will bring in more customers and therefore more money, so the money the clients pay is well worth it. Quality Control 7.4 There are many different ways of controlling quality. Total Quality Management (TQM) TQM is the most complete form of operations management. It is concerned with encouraging everyone in the company to think about quality in everything the employee does. Every employee sets out to satisfy customers, placing him or her at the centre of the production process. ISO 9000 is an international certificate that indicates to clients that the quality procedures of a company are a reliable firm and deliver consistently the promised quality product or service. Benchmarking is a method many organisations use to help them discover the best methods of carrying out processes available and then using them in their organisations. Traditional quality control is self-checking or inspecting the production process. Products are made and at the end faults are corrected. Quality Circles are an important way of increasing participation in organisational activities. A quality is a study group of volunteers who meet regularly to work on a variety of operational and employee problems. 7.5 The quality of The Colourhouses goods is maintains by using quality control. The Colourhouse uses ISO 9001 and ISO 14001. ISO 9001 is concerned with quality management. This means what The Colourhouse does to fulfil the customers quality requirements and applicable regulatory requirements, while aiming to enhance customer satisfaction, and achieve continual improvement of its performance in pursuit of these objectives. ISO 14001 is an Environmental Management System. It provides a framework for managing environmental responsibilities so they become more efficient and more integrated into businesses overall. ISO 14001 specifies a process for controlling and improving a companys environmental performance. ISO 14001 consists of general requirements, environmental policy, planning, implementation and operation, checking and corrective action and management review. These quality controls indicate to potential customers that the quality procedures of the holders are reliable and by implication they are capable of delivering consistently the promised quality product and service. 7.6 The production process and quality control systems help the business add value to its product. ISO 9001 brings a significant competitive edge over the companys rivals. As printing businesses become more competitive, ISO 9001 can be a cost-effective way for The Colourhouse to demonstrate to their clients that quality assurance is of paramount importance to The Colourhouse. Being issued these certificates and having ISO 9001 shows customers and potential customers that the company takes quality seriously. This means that the customers will be satisfied with the work that The Colourhouse has done and more than likely return in the future. They also are more than likely to recommended The Colourhouse to other people because of their high quality, which means that it is increasing sales and profit as well. Implementing ISO 9001 examines the systems in detail and highlights any weaknesses/cost savings/duplication of effort, which is as well saving money for the company. Having ISO 9001 also does things right first time every time therefore reducing waste and rework saving money for the company, which can be spent on things such as bonuses for employees, or purchasing new machinery. Having ISO 9001 is an excellent training tool for employees of The Colourhouse therefore the employees are learning new things and using these new skills in the company. It may help them later on in life e.g. at another job. In addition ISO 14001 adds value to the service that The Colourhouse provides. The Colourhouse has reported cost saving associated with reduced waste. It is another significant competitive edge over The Colourhouses business rivals. This means that clients are more likely to use The Colourhouse for business rather than a printing firm, which didnt have this certificate. It also helps to promote a safer working environment for the firms employees. This is adding value to the firm because it is not losing who are well trained and motivated employees due to e.g. an accident in the workplace and therefore the work is shared equally around the company. The continual improvement of this system helps the drive for more efficient use of raw materials and enhanced performance leading to cost reductions. 7.7 An alternative approach to quality control or quality assurance in The Colourhouse as opposed to using ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 is to use Total Quality Management (TQM) however this is also what they could aim to use in the future. This is the most complete form of operations management. It is concerned with creating a quality culture so that every employee will seek to delight customers. It is concerned with encouraging everyone in the workplace to think about quality in everything he or she does. The Colourhouse aims to please the customer so motivates their employees to provide the best possible quality they can provide. Every employee sets out to satisfy customers placing him or her at the heart of the production process. 7.8 The effects of using TQM on the different functional areas within The Colourhouse are that all the employees in each department are responsible for every stage of The Colourhouses operations. For that reason employees have to be responsible for their actions if something goes wrong. It is the job of the sales department to bring sales into the company and therefore clients. The sales department would have to take responsibility if they for example booked a job but had not checked with other departments to see if it was fine to do this. This is good because the sales employees can then take responsibility for their actions and other departments will not be blamed therefore not slowing down the production process. It is the job of the production department to provide the final product to the client so if something in their departments go wrong it is up to these employees to correct their mistakes. An example is in the reproduction area where an employee scans the wrong image onto a plate. The client would see the plate and recognise it is wrong so therefore the employee would have to change their mistake. This is a good approach to the functional areas because it means that each employee of The Colourhouse are providing the best possibly quality that they can and putting all their energy into their work. 7.9 Using TQM would achieve the objectives of The Colourhouse, which are to make a profit, increase sales; to survive, develop staff skills, to provide a high quality service and be the best sheet fed printers in the UK. As the employees in all departments are responsible for providing the best possible quality in their work, this objective is highly possible to achieve under TQM. Providing high quality work makes clients satisfied with the end result and therefore uses the company again and also recommends it to others and as a result builds a profit and increase sales. As they are providing a high quality service they have the edge over other printing firms and as a result have less competition. 7.10 In my view TQM is the better type of quality control. It takes place at every stage of an organisations operations and is the responsibility of all employees. It is therefore a business philosophy as well as a set of guiding principles. TQM enables employees of the firm to realise the importance of what they are doing. It makes the point that the quality of the product sold to the external customer depends on the quality of products and services provided by The Colourhouse. It also helps to employees to realise their significance to the business. 7.11 There are many benefits of TQM. Firstly it enables an organisation to focus on the customer and quality. Also all operations and activities are thoroughly scrutinised on an ongoing basis to identify scope for improvement. Teamwork is emphasised which is an important aspect to The Colourhouse as all the departments and employees within departments work together to make the best possible product. Therefore team members in the firm feel they have ownership over the improvement process. TQM can lead to the motivation of all the employees. They like that they would be trusted and empowered to make sure that they make the best possible product. Finally TQM is a total system involving everyone in the consumption and production of products. 7.12 On the other hand there are also disadvantages to having TQM as a quality control. Firstly the system requires considerable planning and organisation and is initially costly to introduce e.g. training costs can be high. TQM requires a commitment from all those involved in the process i.e. the employees. Setting up quality systems involves considerable paperwork and bureaucracy, which may take a long time which may lead to the next point of stress. This may arise from establishing TQM processes. Finally at times TQM is based more on rhetoric rather than on practice. 7.13 Overall I think that TQM is the better quality control. This is because evaluating this type of quality control has shown to be that there are more benefits to this system than constraints. More importantly TQM is aiming to provide quality to a high standard for customers which is really important because clients help make the company what it is. Without the customers the business would not be as successful as it is. Bibliography The list of all the reference books, company information and Internet sites I have used for my assignment: Needham/Dransfield (2000), Advanced Business, Heinemann, Oxford www.thecolourhouse.com www.gain.net www.emea.bsi-global.com www.iso.org Mike Roberts Managing Director The Colourhouse

Analysis :: Essays Papers

Analysis In the beginning of this year, I had lots of difficulties with this class because I did not think that writing papers in college would be so different from writing papers in high school. It was not easy at all because I did not understand many of the procedures of writing papers. I come from Puerto Rico and one of my weaknesses is the language barrier. Sometimes I did not understand what the teacher wanted and this made it more difficult for me. Another big problem that had was that my grammar was not good at all; I made mistake every time I wrote a paper. My problem in grammar was mainly verbs, commas and organization. I remember very well that many times I confused â€Å"were† with â€Å"where† on my writing. Other times, I did not know where to put commas since the rules from English grammar are different from the Spanish ones. This was a hard start for me because I had to do more than of what I expected to do for a class seeing as language and grammar we re making problems in my writing. I order for me to get better I had to ask for help because I could not do this without someone’s help. I ask the teacher to help me and she was very nice in giving me a hand, but I knew that I had to do more than that in order to pass the class with a good grade. I also used some help from other people like my friend Patricia who went through the papers with me so that I could notice my errors. Every time I did this, I improved my writing little by little. I got better at it, every time I wrote something, I got better ideas of how to organize my papers in this class and in other classes. With all this work I got very good, but I have to say that it took a lot of time in order to organize end do this kind of work right. In the end, I got to get better on writing my papers because I dedicated more time to this kind of work and because, in time, I got to understand the grammar better.

Cause or Effect of Gambling

Cause or Effect of Gambling â€Å"Che-Ching! † â€Å"Yes! Jackpot! † shouted the man as he jumped up and down. However, will his happiness last forever? The nest time the man gambled, the money in his pocket completely turned to dust. From that day onwards, like a broken glass, his life is destroyed and almost impossible to bring back happiness. From this man’s case, clearly there are several negative effects of gambling. First of all, gambling will cause a person to have bankruptcy. Luck is not always by our side.When a person grasps a lot of money, he will have more urge to gamble and eventually lose all of his money in the end. Following up by bankruptcy, gamblers will face many hard times with loan shark. Most of them are unable to pay back as the interest rate gradually increases. Time after time, loan shark will disturb their lives and force them to pay back in any chance. Reports review that loan shark can be so inhumane that they will wreck and destroy th e victim’s house, kidnap and blackmail any family members, or even strangle them to death.Subsequently, gamblers will have a broken relationship with their family. Their action brings disgrace on the whole family due to bankruptcy and being hooked by loan sharks. More trouble will occur and family members have to leave them alone, desolated and unwanted, those gamblers are led to only one road, suicidal. In conclusion, gambling can ruin and even ends a person's life. So before one choose to gamble, one must consider the deadly effects of gambling, before thinking of being filthy rich.

Fast food †Ice cream Essay

Almost everyone enjoys to eating fast food because it is cheap. Many people these days prefer to eat food that makes their food fast and also they do not have to spend more than five dollars. This nation is surrounded with fast food restaurants and there is no one way people can miss one down their street and in every mall. I work at the mall and I tend to eat fast food since it is the only thing near me. My three favorite fast food restaurants which are Wendy’s, Dairy Queen and Steak –n- Shake. One of my favorite fast food restaurants is Wendy’s. When I was in high school at the beginning of my senior year I worked at Wendy’s and of course I ate their food since I had a fifty percent discount so the food was really cheap. I always craved the spicy chicken nuggets with sweet and sour dipping sauce. Ever since I worked there I know how each dipping sauce taste when I always ordered the spicy chicken nuggets. I love the honey, barbeque, honey mustard, ranch and of course my favorite sweet and sour sauce. I also loved how my manager prepared the sweet tea because it was not too sweet and actually tasted like homemade sweet tea. I am a fanatic of sweet tea and pretty much have tried it at every fast food restaurant I have eaten at. Also I love to enjoy my combos with a dessert. I usually get a small chocolate frosty. I love the taste of it because it reminds me of chocolate milk. Also because it is very creamy and sweet this is a great combination for dessert. These are all the many favorite things I love to eat at Wendy’s. My second favorite fast food restaurant is Dairy Queen. They have the best desserts there such as the blizzards, the sundaes, banana splits, their famous waffle cone ice creams and the DQ ice cream sandwich. I always tend to eat the ice cream cones because I do not have to spend that much money the cones cost one dollar depending on the size. When I am at my aunt apartments my cousins and I always walk to Dairy Queen since it is not too far from the apartment just three to five minutes walking. We go there every time when we are hungry or we just go there to talk and eat some food. It also provides free internet which is great to check Facebook or our emails. Also it has a great video game player for when we bring our little sister and cousins so they will not get bored. Another reason I love eating at dairy queen is their chili cheese fried burritos. They are so delicious and juicy especially when they put the chili all over it and sprinkle some shredded cheddar cheese. I love to eat at Dairy Queen. My third favorite fast food restaurant is Steak-n-Shake. I always wish Mesquite had one but they do not so I have to drive all the way to Rockwall to go to Steak-n-Shake which is 20 to 30 minutes from my home. I love it there especially there juicy Cheddar Cheese Steak Burger combo which is good money spent because it is only $4. 99. I love how the food is very affordable and of great quality. I also love to get their famous milkshakes. My all-time favorite is the chocolate chip cookie dough. It has chunks of cookie dough mixed with tasty creamy vanilla ice cream. This fast food restaurant is not like not ordinary fast food place because it provides waiters and it provides amazing fast food service. It usually takes 5 to 10 minutes to have my food ready which overall is great. I never get tired of going to Steak-n-Shake because of its great quality of food and service. Fast food may not be good for us at times but it is delicious. All three of these fast food restaurants Wendy’s, Dairy Queen, and Steak-n-Shake are my favorite because reasons I enjoy eating their food. They all provide great quality of food, fast service and cheap prices. I enjoy these fast food restaurants.

Bad Sources for Your Research Project

Bad Sources for Your Research Project In conducting research for homework or an academic paper, you are basically conducting a search for facts: little tidbits of truth that you will assemble and arrange in an organized fashion to make an original point or claim. Your responsibility as a researcher is to understand the difference between fact and fiction, as well as the difference between fact and opinion. When beginning your next assignment that requires sources, consider the credibility of those sources before including them in your final project. Here are some common sources to avoid; each of these may include opinions and works of fiction disguised as facts. Blogs As you know, anyone can publish a blog on the Internet. The problem with using a blog as a research source is there no way to know the credentials of many bloggers or to get an understanding of the writer’s level of expertise. People often create blogs to give themselves a forum to express their views and opinions. And many of these people consult less than reliable sources to form their beliefs. You could use a blog for a quote, but never use a blog as a serious source of facts for a research paper. Personal Web Sites A personal web page is much like a blog when it comes to being an unreliable research source. Web pages are created by the public, so you have to be careful when choosing them as sources. Its sometimes difficult to determine which websites are created by experts and professionals on a given topic. If you think about it, using information from a personal web page is much like stopping a perfect stranger on the street and collecting information from him or her. Wiki Sites Wiki websites can be informative, but they can also be untrustworthy. Wiki sites allow groups of people to add and edit the information contained on the pages. So its easy to see how a wiki source might contain unreliable information. The question that often arises when it comes to homework and research is whether it’s okay to use Wikipedia as a source of information. Wikipedia is a fantastic site with a wealth of great information, and it is the possible exception to the rule. Your teacher can tell you for certain if you can use Wikipedia as a source. At a minimum, Wikipedia offers a reliable overview of a topic to give you a strong foundation to start with. It also provides a list of resources where you can continue your own research. Movies Teachers, librarians, and college professors will tell you that students often believe things they’ve seen in movies. Whatever you do, don’t use a movie as a research source. Movies about historical events can contain kernels of truth, but unless its a documentary, movies are not for educational purposes. Historical Novels Students often believe that historical novels are trustworthy sources because they indicate that they are â€Å"based on facts.† There is a significant difference between a factual work and a work that is based on facts. A novel that is based on a single fact can still contain ninety-nine percent fiction. Therefore, its not advisable to use a historical novel as a historical resource. ï » ¿

Profile of Joycelyn Harrison, NASA Engineer

Profile of Joycelyn Harrison, NASA Engineer Joycelyn Harrison is a NASA engineer at the Langley Research Center researching piezoelectric polymer film and developing customized variations of piezoelectric materials (EAP). Materials that will link electric voltage to motion, according to NASA, If you contort a piezoelectric material a voltage is generated. Conversely, if you apply a voltage, the material will contort. Materials that will usher in a future of machines with morthing parts, remote self-repairing abilities, and synthetic muscles in robotics. Concerning her research Joycelyn Harrison has stated, Were working on shaping reflectors, solar sails and satellites. Sometimes you need to be able to change a satellites position or get a wrinkle off of its surface to produce a better image. Joycelyn Harrison was born in 1964, and has bachelors, masters and Ph.D. degrees in Chemistry from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Joycelyn Harrison has received the: Technology All-Star Award from the National Women of Color Technology AwardsNASAs Exceptional Achievement Medal (2000}NASAa Outstanding Leadership Medal {2006} for outstanding contributions and leadership skills demonstrated while leading the Advanced Materials and Processing Branch Joycelyn Harrison has been granted a long list of patents for her inventing and received the 1996 RD 100 Award presented by RD magazine for her role in developing THUNDER technology along with fellow Langley researchers, Richard Hellbaum, Robert Bryant, Robert Fox, Antony Jalink, and Wayne Rohrbach. THUNDER THUNDER, stands for for Thin-Layer Composite-Unimorph Piezoelectric Driver and Sensor, THUNDERs applications include electronics, optics, jitter (irregular motion) suppression, noise cancellation, pumps, valves and a variety of other fields. Its low-voltage characteristic allow it to be used for the first time in internal biomedical applications like heart pumps. The Langley researchers, a multi-disciplinary materials integration team, succeeded in developing and demonstrating a piezoelectric material that was superior to previous commercially available piezoelectric materials in several significant ways: being tougher, more durable, allows lower voltage operation, has greater mechanical load capacity, can be easily produced at a relatively low cost and lends itself well to mass production. The first THUNDER devices were fabricated in the lab by building up layers of commercially available ceramic wafers. The layers were bonded using a Langley-developed polymer adhesive. Piezoelectric ceramic materials can be ground to a powder, processed and blended with an adhesive before being pressed, molded or extruded into wafer form, and can be used for a variety of applications. List of Issued Patents #7402264, July 22, 2008, Sensing/actuating materials made from carbon nanotube polymer composites and methods for makingAn electroactive sensing or actuating material comprises a composite made from a polymer with polarizable moieties and an effective amount of carbon nanotubes incorporated in the polymer for a predetermined electomechanical operation of the composite...#7015624, March 21, 2006, Non-uniform thickness electroactive deviceAn electroactive device comprises at least two layers of material, wherein at least one layer is an electroactive material and wherein at least one layer is of non-uniform thickness...#6867533, March 15, 2005, Membrane tension controlAn electrostrictive polymer actuator comprises an electrostrictive polymer with a tailorable Poissons ratio. The electrostrictive polymer is electroded on its upper and lower surfaces and bonded to an upper material layer...#6724130, April 20, 2004, Membrane position controlA membrane structure includes at least one elect roactive bending actuator fixed to a supporting base. Each electroactive bending actuator is operatively connected to the membrane for controlling membrane position... #6689288, February 10, 2004, Polymeric blends for sensor and actuation dual functionalityThe invention described herein supplies a new class of electroactive polymeric blend materials which offer both sensing and actuation dual functionality. The blend comprises two components, one component having a sensing capability and the other component having an actuating capability...#6545391, April 8, 2003, Polymer-polymer bilayer actuatorA device for providing an electromechanical response includes two polymeric webs bonded to each other along their lengths...#6515077, February 4, 2003, Electrostrictive graft elastomersAn electrostrictive graft elastomer has a backbone molecule which is a non-crystallizable, flexible macromolecular chain and a grafted polymer forming polar graft moieties with backbone molecules. The polar graft moieties have been rotated by an applied electric field...#6734603, May 11, 2004. Thin layer composite unimorph ferroelectric driver and sensorA method for forming f erroelectric wafers is provided. A prestress layer is placed on the desired mold. A ferroelectric wafer is placed on top of the prestress layer. The layers are heated and then cooled, causing the ferroelectric wafer to become prestressed... #6379809, April 30, 2002, Thermally stable, piezoelectric and pyroelectric polymeric substrates and method relating theretA thermally stable, piezoelectric and pyroelectric polymeric substrate was prepared. This thermally stable, piezoelectric and pyroelectric polymeric substrate may be used to prepare electromechanical transducers, thermomechanical transducers, accelerometers, acoustic sensors...#5909905, June 8, 1999, Method of making thermally stable, piezoelectric and proelectric polymeric substratesA thermally stable, piezoelectric and pyroelectric polymeric substrate was prepared. This thermally stable, piezoelectric and pyroelectric polymeric substrate may be used to prepare electromechanical transducers, thermomechanical transducers, accelerometers, acoustic sensors, infrared...#5891581, April 6, 1999, Thermally stable, piezoelectric and pyroelectric polymeric substratesA thermally stable, piezoelectric and pyroelectric polymeric substrate was prepared. This thermally stable, piezoelectric and pyroelectric polymeric substrate may be used to prepare electromechanical transducers, thermomechanical transducers, accelerometers, acoustic sensors, infrared.

Assignment #1 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

#1 - Assignment Example His work can be used by the central banks to curb inflationary expectations appropriately. 2005: Robert J. Aumann and Thomas C. Schelling: They received the award for their research of conflict and cooperation through game-theory analysis. Schelling applied the concepts of game-theory to international relations. Prof. Aumann’s work focused on the issue of effect of continued repetition of games on co-operation. 2004: Finn E. Kydland and Edward C. Prescott: They received the Noble prize for their research on effects of business cycles on international trade. They examined the driving forces behind business cycles, and analyzed the temporal consistency of economic policy 1998: Amartya Sen: Prof. Amartya Sen received the Noble prize for his work on welfare economics in case of famine, and suggestions to prevent it. His work focused on the human development theory, the underlying mechanism of poverty, and political liberalism. The Oxford English dictionary defines theory as â€Å"an idea or set of ideas that is intended to explain something† (â€Å"Theory†). Formulation of a theory is a step-by-step scientific process, starting from an opinion to stating the final theory. The starting point of a theory is an observation of a particular process. The interest created by this observation then leads to the formulation of an opinion regarding the process. This opinion is based on the available information regarding the same process, and the researcher’s beliefs. These opinions are also a reflection of the researcher’s expectations regarding the outcome of the enquiry. These opinion and observation then lead to the formulation of hypotheses. Hypothesis is a possible theoretical explanation of the observation made by a researcher to fill the gaps in the research previously done on the subject matter. This is followed by collection and classification of the data. Data collection is followed by the formulation of invariance