Down these mean streets by Thomas Piri Essay

Years after its original publication, Piri Thomas’s Down These Mean Streets remains as powerful, immediate, and shocking as it was when it first stunned readers. In this classic confessional autobiography, firmly in the tradition of Eldridge Cleaver’s Soul on Ice and The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Piri Thomas describes the experience of growing up in the barrio of Spanish Harlem, a labyrinth of lawlessness, drugs, gangs, and crime. The teenaged Piri seeks a place for himself in barrio society by becoming a gang leader, and as he grows up his life spirals into a self-destructive cycle of drug addiction and violence, the same cycle that he sees all around him and hardly knows how to break. Piri is also troubled by a very personal problem: much darker than his brothers and sisters, he decides that he, unlike his siblings, is black, and that he must come to terms with life as a black American. Eventually arrested for shooting two men in an armed robbery, Piri spends six years in Sing and Comstock prisons. With insight and poetry he describes his time in prison, the dreams and emotions that prompted him finally to start life again as a writer, street poet, and performer, and how he became an activist with a passionate commitment to reaching and helping today’s youth. One of the most striking features of Down These Mean Streets is its language. â€Å"It is a linguistic event,† said The New York Times Book Review. â€Å"Gutter language, Spanish imagery and personal poetics†¦mingle into a kind of individual statement that has very much its own sound. † Piri Thomas’s brilliant way with words, his ability to make language come alive on the page, should prove attractive to young people and inspire them to look at writing and literature in fresh new ways. Thirty years ago Piri Thomas made literary history with this lacerating, lyrical memoir of his coming of age on the streets of Spanish Harlem. Here was the testament of a born outsider: a Puerto Rican in English-speaking America; a dark-skinned morenito in a family that refused to acknowledge its African blood. Here was an unsparing document of Thomas’s plunge into the deadly consolations of drugs, street fighting, and armed robbery–a descent that ended when the twenty-two-year-old Piri was sent to prison for shooting a cop. As he recounts the journey that took him from adolescence in El Barrio to a lock-up in Sing to the freedom that comes of self-acceptance, faith, and inner confidence, Piri Thomas gives us a book that is as exultant as it is harrowing and whose every page bears the irrepressible rhythm of its author’s voice. Thirty years after its first appearance, this classic of manhood, marginalisation, survival, and transcendence is available in an anniversary edition with a new Introduction by the author. The questions, assignments, and discussion topics that follow are designed to guide your students as they approach the many issues raised in Down These Mean Streets. The questions of race and culture, of drugs, and of crime and punishment are all treated in the book, and should provide jumping-off points for many fruitful discussions. Another important element of the book is its vivid description of the youth culture of the barrio. Ask your students not only to pay special attention to that culture, but also to compare it with their own, and to look for similarities even when similarities might not be immediately evident. Piri Thomas gained the distance and objectivity to observe his world without prejudice or self-deception; your students should try to do the same. Finally, the students should be encouraged to look at the book not only as a cultural document, but also as a work of literature. Ask them to examine the language Thomas uses, his choice of words, the â€Å"flow† of the story. How does he create his informal tone, his sense of immediacy? This work might help change your students’ ideas about the â€Å"right† way to write, and inspire them to try to find their own individual voices. To what extent is Harlem’s communal code of pride, masculinity, and â€Å"rep† re-created in prison life? How does life inside prison resemble life outside? â€Å"The reasoning that my punishment was deserved was absent. As prison blocks off your body, so it suffocates your mind.† [pp. 255–56] Does this indicate to you an essential fault in the prison system? Do you think that the advice Piri gives Tico about how to deal with Rube is good? Is prison a purely negative experience for Piri, or are there good things about it? Which of the people he meets while in prison enrich and improve his life? Does Piri decide not to join the rioters, or is the decision essentially made for him by the hacks? Why does Chaplin/Muhammed believe that Christianity is the white man’s religion, Islam the black man’s? Do outside or societal factors play a role in Chaplin/ Muhammad’s choice of religions? As he leaves prison, Piri says, â€Å"I am not ever going to be the same. I’m changed all right. † [p. 306] In what ways has Piri changed, and what has changed him? Which of his ideas have been altered by his time in prison? Piri presents himself as a product of his race, culture, and community, but many of his traits are purely his own. How would you describe Piri’s personality? Poppa: What kind of a person is Poppa? What makes him proud, what makes him ashamed? Is he a good or bad father, a good or bad husband? Do you find him sympathetic? Trina: Piri sees Trina as nearly perfect. How would you describe her? Do you think that she behaves passively toward Piri, or does she demonstrate spirit of her own? What do you think of her response to Dulcien’s baby? Brew: How would you describe Brew’s character? What has given him his outlook on life, and how does it differ from Alayce’s? How does he perceive Piri? Why does he agree to go south with Piri? Chaplin/Muhammed: What has made Muhammed hate Christianity? What does Islam mean to him? Piri Thomas uses a number of pungent expressions, both in Spanish and English. How does the language he uses express his character and his world? Write a two-page essay describing one day in your life. Use your own style of talking, and try to be as colloquial as possible. What might your essay tell the reader about you, your friends, and your world? The youth culture in Spanish Harlem to which Piri and his friends belong has certain firm, if unwritten, rules. Would you say the same is true of your own school or neighborhood? What are the rules that govern the behavior of young people you know? What do you feel you have to do to be â€Å"cool,† to be accepted, to belong? Write a short essay describing the social rules your own friend’s follow. Piri is describing a specific period in time: the 1940s. Do you find that the life a family like the Thomas’s lived has changed much since that time? Make a list of the things that have changed for teenagers like Piri, and of the things that have stayed the same. Reference †¢ Down these mean streets by Thomas Piri

Microenvironment in australia

First of all we would have to define microenvironment as those properties over which organizations have control or elements which they have that enables them gain information on their marketing operations. This is to say that, information gotten can be used to provide an improved customer service because the purpose of this study is to make profits through customer satisfaction. Manipulations are made in ways to achieve the objective of the organization. In other words, we can say that micro environment provides the force with which organizations act towards customer satisfaction; any change in any of these forces would lead to the re-studying of the marketplace. Nevertheless, the issue behind this study is to check how it affects retailing in the food industry in Australia and it is one of the factors that are considered when it comes to food retailing. HOW MICROENVIRONMENT IN AUSTRALIA AFFECTS FOOD RETAILILNG Food retailing in Australia is a fast growing one and it is no doubt that industries are seeking better way to meet up with customer satisfaction. This is the driving force behind the carrying out of consumer research. Microenvironment in Australia has affected food retailing to a great state. Competition: One of the effects is that it made the industry to be very competitive. Organizations are doing everything in their power to make sure that they stay in touch with their customers. As the competition increases, there are more advantages to the customers. Consumer Voice: It has created room where customers could provide feedback on a particular product or company. This study, gives organization ideas on how to restructure their services towards customers. Quality Output: Microenvironment in Australia has made organizations to increase the quality of output being rendered to consumers. Consumers are able to have access to quality products. Provision of Threat Analysis: Microenvironment also provides organizations possible threats in the market place that would reduce their profit or rate at which consumers purchasing their products. One of those threats is threats that could come from products that consumers can comfortably use as a substitute to their products. Checking threats that could also come from rival organizations and threat. This study also enables the study of the bargaining power of both suppliers and consumers. Mode of Distribution: Microenvironment has also provided a better form of distribution. Giving a better idea of the networks to be followed in other to make sure that products reach the final customer. The modes of distributive market place change from time to time but in a very slow way. Therefore the inability of organization to recognize these changing factors would affect their mode of distribution. MACROENVIRONMENT IN AUSTRALIA Coming to macro environment, we would provide a definition so as to give us a better understanding of the topic. Another word that can be best used to define macro environment is environmental scanning and environmental scanning can be said to be the concept of a business management use by business organizations to gather in formations in other to have a better competitive advantage. There is a need for organizations to gather information from environmental canning by hanging the plans and strategies for the aim of gaining advantage. Scanning can be carried out in different modes and reason. There could be a requirement for market study due to arising emergency cases. Studies could also be done on a regular base, perhaps once a year and also on a continuous basis. The results gotten from this studies allow the organization to act quickly, be the first to take action before their competitors recognize an opportunity and also respond to any environmental threats. Macro environment also has to do with wider studies of factors of organization and how it affects their day-to-day operation. These factors are: The political and legal environment: For some food retailing, political and legal concerns are put in mind by companies. Political issues and legal issues arising in Australia affect the mode of food retailing. The policies made by the government on imports on raw materials also affect the price of some food products. The economic environment: the issues behind economic factors are of great concerns to firm because it states the price of food products. When the economic status of a community is low, it reduces the purchasing power. That is why the economic factors is likely related and dependent on political and legal factors. The socio-cultural environment: This is a very dynamic part of study in macro environment because it has to do with changing properties of a consumer. These changes can be taste, priorities and purchasing behavior. Knowing the particular type of products need by customers on a social period and needs according to beliefs and cultural practices. The technological environment: Technological factor put into the products determines the mode of retail. These areas could be technology for production and logistics. The affects food retailing. RELATION BETWEEN 4Ps AND FOOD RETAILING First of all we would have to look into organizational marketing. There to main types of marketing and there are known as: Strategic marketing: This is the attempts made by organization on how   the level of competition in the market place.this is with the aims at generating a competitive advantage relative to its competitors. Operational marketing: This is the strategy that deals with the satisfaction of customers and increasing the value gotten from them, as well as to satisfy the customer with prompt services and meeting the customer expectations. It is in the area that we hve to talk about the 4Ps. 4Ps in the world of marketing is stands for: Product: This is the area of marketing that deals with the type of products and how it relates and benefits the intending consumers, checking if it meets up with their expectation and satisfaction. This area carries properties like guaranties and warranties and after sales support. The area of products says a lot on food retailing because it states the particular kind of products that would be provided for the consumers. It states the products that are higher in demand and aids organizations produce these substitute products with better properties in other to compete with organizations are also in the same market place. Price: This is where we talk about setting a price for the product and also not forgetting about discounts. This usually comes classified in monetary forms and any other modes that can be used in exchanging good and services. Pricing a product is also another factor that goes with food retailing. This tells the price that is both comfortable for both the company and the consumer to purchase and own the products. Promotion: These are the steps taken to promote products, brand or company. Possible ways could be through advertising of the product, sales promotion, and creating publicity on the product, brand or company, personal selling or branding. Promotion increases the awareness of products to consumers. It makes them to understand the type of products and its contents and qualities. It also creates the awareness of it availability and products location. So I believe that this part of the 4Ps has a lot to do with food retailing. Placement: This area determines how a product gets to the final consumers. In other words, we are talking about distribution, place the product here it could be of a better reach to the customer and a place where it would bring about revenue to the organization. Placement does a lot to food retailing by stating various factors that leads to the success of the products sale. It dictates the level of penetration in the market, stating how many stores that have the products in them. It also gives types of outlets and channels to use. It gives an idea on the level of competition in the marketplace and also aids the geographical factors. These 4Ps have a lot to do when it comes to food retailing. This is because there alter the rate and mode in which food retailing takes. CONLUSION In conclusion of this whole issue, they is a great level of competition in the food industry marketplace and companies are applying effort to gain a competitive advantages over other competitors. Ways, which are used, are studies carried out through microenvironment and macro environment. These studies gives them better ideas on how to stay in contact with their customers and increase the rate of purchase from them. Microenvironment, deals with the issue of consumer studies and development of better ways to increase the rate of service and satisfaction rendered to them in the food industry. Macro environment deals with wider studies on higher factors that affect food retailing. Such factors are the political and legal environment, the economic environment, the socio-cultural environment and, the technological environment. The study of theses factors and environment contributes to the direction which food retailing follows. REFERENCES Brandenburger, A.M. and Nalebuff, B.J. (1995), â€Å"The Right Game: Use Game Theory to Shape Strategy†, Harvard Business Review, Jul-Aug, pp.57-71 Coyne, K.P. and Sujit Balakrishnan (1996), â€Å"Bringing discipline to strategy†, The McKinsey Quarterly, No.4 Grant, R.M. (2005), â€Å"Contemporary Strategy Analysis†, Blackwell Publishing Ltd., Oxford (U.K.), 2005 Porter, M.E. (1979) â€Å"How competitive forces shape strategy†, Harvard Business Review, March/April 1979. Porter, M.E. (1980) â€Å"Competitive Strategy†, The Free Press, New York, 1980. Porter, M.E. (1985) â€Å"Competitive Advantage†, The Free Press, New York, 1985. Hunger, J. David & Wheelen, Thomas L. (2003) â€Å"Essentials of Strategic Management†. New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc.   

Effective Inventory Control and Management

â€Å"EFFECTIVE INVENTORY CONTROL AND MANAGEMENT: A CASE STUDY OF IKEA† UNIVERSITY OF WALES JANUARY 2012 Table of Contents ABSTRACT4 CHAPTER – 15 1. 1 INTRODUCTION5 1. 2 BACKGROUND OF THE ORGANIZATION7 1. 3 OBJECTIVES8 1. 4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS8 1. 5 PURPOSE OF THE RESEARCH9 1. 6 DELIMITATIONS9 1. 7 TARGET GROUP10 1. 8 JUSTIFICATION FOR CHOOSING THIS RESEARCH TOPIC10 1. 9 PROBLEMS FORMULATION11 1. 10 OVERVIEW OF THE DISSERTATION11 2. 4 INVENTORY CONTROL17 2. 5 APPROACHES USED FOR INVENTORY CONTROL:17 2. 6 INVENTORY CONTROL SYSTEM19 2. 7 INVENTORY MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE:20 2. 7. Components of the software:20 Asset tracking20 Barcoding20 Order management20 Service management20 2. 8 CONTROLLING INVENTORY21 CHAPTER – 3 Research Methodology:29 3. 1 RESEARCH TYPES:29 3. 1. 1. Exploratory Research:29 3. 1. 2 Descriptive Research:30 3. 1. 3 Explanatory Research:30 3. 1. 4 Chosen method for this research:30 3. 2 RESEARCH APPROACH:30 3. 2. 1 Qualitative Approach:31 3. 2. 2 Quan titative Approach:31 3. 2. 3 Chosen approach in this study:32 3. 3 RESEARCH METHOD:32 Inductive versus Deductive approach:32 3. 4 RESEARCH STRATEGY:33 3. 4. 1 Experiment:33 3. 4. Survey:33 3. 4. 3 Action Research:34 3. 4. 4 Case Study:34 3. 4. 5 Operations Research Modeling:34 3. 4. 6 Chosen strategy for the research:35 3. 5 DATA COLLECTION:36 3. 5. 1 Primary Data:36 3. 5. 2 Secondary Data:36 3. 6 APPROACHES FOR ANALYSIS:37 3. 7 QUALITY CRITERIA:37 3. 7. 1. Validity:37 3. 7. 2 Reliability:38 CHAPTER – 4 FINDINGS & ANALYSIS:39 CHAPTER – 6 CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATIONS:50 CHAPTER – 6 FURTHER RESEARCH:52 6. 1 DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE MODEL & REALITY53 6. 2 FINAL REMARKS:55 ABSTRACT In this research study the inventory management and control at IKEA is studied.IKEA is a home furnishing company that produces high quality products at very low prices. This is only possible with the help of VMI i. e. vendor managed inventory system. To reduce the cost of logistics, the in ventory must be reduced from the supply chain. VMI is a very good strategy of supply chain management where supplier is whole solely is responsible for full filling the demand inventory at customer’s stock. There are 19 VMI relationships which are maintained by IKEA. In this way IKEA is able to reduce the inventory at their stores and enhance the service level and satisfy consumers very well.The main purpose behind doing this research is to determine whether the coordinated inventory management is useful for reducing the inventory levels at the IKEA stores or not. In this research a complete study about the inventory control and management is done. The results shows that there are various innovative ways used by IKEA to reduce its inventory level so that low prices can get involved in managing the inventory and good quality of service can be provided to the consumers. The VMI system used by the IKEA benefits the supply chain; therefore this is responsible for increasing the p roductivity of suppliers.The increased number of inventory at distribution centre of IKEA may be troublesome but it can be also solved with the help of VMI CHAPTER – 1 INTRODUCTION 1. 1 INTRODUCTION The stream of management that is related to the keep and manages the objects and material or goods is called as inventory management. The basic domains of inventory management is to correct determination of order, asking for the material on correct time means proper timing. Inventory management is very important in supply chain management. To reduce the cost of total inventory keeping is referred as Inventory control.At present time inventory control is done with the help of barcodes and radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags that enable documentation of inventory automatically. Some of the inventory objects are fixed assets, circulating tools, library books, merchandise. The inventory objects are scanned under a barcode scanner or RFID reader so that all the data related to t hese transactions are recorded. After that collects additional information from the operators via fixed terminals or mobile computers. This whole process is used for the automation of sales and satisfies the consumers to fulfill his needs.This all information is recorded in a system and then workers are required for packing and shipping of the order to the final consumer. In and outward hardware materials are also maintained by the inventory system. Various wireless and mobile terminals are used at the time of transactions moment and real-time inventory control system. The name IKEA stands for â€Å"Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd Agunnaryd†. Ikea is one of the largest and well-known companies for home furnishing. The main objective of IKEA is to provide good quality home furnishing products at comparatively lower prices.The main core specialized areas of IKEA is designing, buying and selling home furnishing. At present there are more than 300 IKEA stores that are located in 37 diffe rent countries and are enhancing its number continuously. At present there are 127 000 employees are working in the company in the entire world such as in Europe, North America, Asia and Australia. This research study is mainly concerned with improvement of inventory control systems in order to lower inventory levels at IKEA. Most of the companies at national as well as international level are facing huge challenges due to immense competition in the market.The challenges that occur in front of the companies are production of innovative product line and that too in lower prices. The company can overcome these challenges if it will be enhanced its strengths and overcome its weaknesses by various efforts. The analysis of target market has to done very properly so that company’s products will be purchased by more and more clients and company will earn profits and generate more revenues. This research paper is mainly related to the fact that how multinational companies manage all its operations related to the inventory and its control.Various processes such as customer requirements, operations management, monitoring projects and other theories and processes applied in actual operation are studied here. In this research various findings related to the management of inventory and its control are gathered that underpins the theoretical aspects and the real strategies behind this concept. To ensure the correct supply of items or material at perfect timing the supervision of supply, its storage and good accessibility is required and that can be done with control of the inventory.This is also called as internally control of all the things. Inventory control is an accounting process or system that is made for promoting efficiency or ensures proper implementation of a policy or safeguards for the assets to reduce any error or fraudulent activity. Inventory control  can be explained as following ways also: ? In economics, it can be elaborated as the  inventory co ntrol problem, that’s main objective is to decrease the overhead cost without declining the sales graph. ? In the field of  loss prevention, systems designed to introduce technical barriers to  shoplifting . 2 BACKGROUND OF THE ORGANIZATION IKEA  is a privately owned home products company in the international market that deals in designing and selling of  ready-to-assemble furniture  such as beds and  desks, appliances and various home accessories. IKEA is the best retailer in the home accessories sector. This was started in the year 1943 by 17-year-old  Ingvar Kamprad  in Sweden, the name of the company is decided according to the name initials of founder such as (Ingvar  Kamprad), and the farm where he grew up (Elmtaryd), and his home parish (Agunnaryd in smaland  , South Sweden).This was a well-known organization that reduces the controlling cost of the inventory, various operational things and good management of inventory. Due to its innovative product s it was able to generate more profits and global expansion in the year 2010. But with the help of its operational efficiency it could able to keep its prices lower. The groups of companies that form IKEA are all controlled by INGKA Holding B. V. , a Dutch corporation, which in turn is controlled by a tax-exempt, not-for-profit Dutch  foundation. The ntellectual property of IKEA is controlled by a series of corporations that can be traced to the Netherlands Antilles  and to the  Interogo Foundation  in Liechtenstein. INGKA Holding B. V. owns the industrial group Swedwood, which  sources  the manufacturing of IKEA furniture, the sales companies that run IKEA stores, as well as purchasing and supply functions, and IKEA of Sweden, which is responsible for the design and development of products in the IKEA range. INGKA Holding B. V. is wholly owned by  Stichting INGKA Foundation, which is a non-profit  foundation  registered in  Leiden, Netherlands.The European logis tics centre is located in  Dortmund, Germany, and the Asian logistics centre is located in Singapore. In Delft and Netherlands, Inter IKEA Systems B. V. consists of the concept and trademark of IKEA and there is an agreement between these two companies. The IKEA Group is the biggest franchisee of Inter IKEA Systems B. V. Inter IKEA Systems B. V. is not owned by INGKA Holding B. V. , but by Inter IKEA Holding S. A. registered in  Luxembourg,  which in turn is controlled by the  Interogo Foundation  in Liechtenstein. Ingvar Kamprad has confirmed that this foundation is controlled by him and his family.The company which was originated in Smaland, Sweden, distributes its products through its retail outlets. There are 332 stores of IKEA is the 88 countries of the entire world as of October 2011. In fiscal year 2010, it sold $23. 1 billion worth of goods; a 7. 7 percent increase over 2009. On February 17, 2011, IKEA announced its plans for a wind farm in Dalarna County, Sweden, furthering the furniture giant's goal of running on 100 percent renewable energy. (Handfield, 2001) On the website of IKEA there are about 12,000 products that show the whole range of IKEA products and its specialties also.From the year September 2007 to September 2008, there were total 470 million visitors of the website of IKEA. At that time, Company is very much interested in taking up eco-friendly processes for the production of its products. The number of IKEA is 3rd for the consumption of woods and it is lagging behind The Home Depot  and  Lowe's. (Simchi-Levi D, 2007) Business idea: The main business idea of IKEA is to provide huge range of good designed products for home furnishing and that must be given in low prices so that many people can use them more. Vision: â€Å"To create a better everyday life for the many people. 1. 3 OBJECTIVES †¢ To identify the challenges that occurs in the supply chain of IKEA. †¢ To decrease the cost that is responsible for gene rating more profits at IKEA. †¢ To improve customer services while scrutinizing the approaches for inventory control in order to lower stock levels †¢ To determine the usage of coordinated inventory management for proper management and control of inventory. 1. 4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS †¢ How the challenges can be solved in supply chain for IKEA? †¢ At what level, reduction of holding cost can increase the profitability of IKEA? Is it a good idea to finding new approaches for inventory control in order to improve customer services? †¢ How does coordinated inventory management is helpful in proper management of inventory? 1. 5 PURPOSE OF THE RESEARCH The main aim of this research is to find out the operational efficiency of IKEA and to determine the inventory management at IKEA. This study includes operational efficiency, capacity planning, process layout, and product services/scheduling, inventory and how all the projects were managed in the organization. Simchi- Levi D, 2007) The evaluation and monitoring of all the operational processes can be done, this all will going to explore in this case. This research will be helpful in getting all the empirical findings related to the research and the matter that supports the theories related to operations, inventory management and control. This research study will scrutinize the thing that how a model can control the multi-level inventory system and it is also used for calculating the reorder points for IKEA’s distribution centers and retail stores. (Hines, T. 2004)This research study will also give knowledge about the simulation software that is used for calculation of inventory that how much inventory can be decreased if a coordinated inventory control method is executed rather than the uncoordinated control system used today. This analysis is done by using a sample of articles and the corresponding real case data from a geographically limited area. For conduting this study in a smooth way , the flow of material that is chosen was simplest multi-level case where one distribution center is there and more number of retail stores are selected.The goods or material is distributed from that one distribution centre only. The chosen articles are taken from different price, frequency and service level categories. This means that even though only a fraction of the total number of articles is included, the results of the project should be representative for a larger number of other articles. (Haag, S. , 2006) 1. 6 DELIMITATIONS In any research study the geographical area must be chosen so that this area can be selected as a sample to conduct this research study. The geographical area chosen in this case study is the distribution center and the seventeen retail stores.The common goods are sent to all retail stores from the single distribution centre and direct deliveries from the suppliers are not entertained. All articles are also found in the self-serve range of products. In t his research the products that are already used is not used for conducting the project because that can affect the results of this research. The distribution of new products is done from the distribution centers. The goods that are moved very less from the distribution centre is not used for this research. (Hines, T. 2004) 1. 7 TARGET GROUP In any research study the target group carries the utmost importance.The one target group is IKEA and the fellow students at the university, especially those studying inventory management and future master’s thesis authors. The usage of this research thesis for IKEA is to see the operational things and inventory management at its place and evaluation of its overall inventory management and control. This project is also concerned with the employees that are working with the supply chain management at IKEA (Handfield, 2001). The coordinated inventory management will be helpful in reduction of inventory, this concept will be explored in this research report. . 8 JUSTIFICATION FOR CHOOSING THIS RESEARCH TOPIC This research is mainly concerned with the operational aspects of IKEA. The inventory is very important part of any organization but the most important thing is to maintain this inventory and its proper management is taken care of. The companies’ main motto is to maintain its inventory in lowest cost and satisfy its consumers to provide the products and services on time means timely delivery of goods and services is very important for the organizations to achieve its organizational goals.If company is able to manage its inventory cost, it will ultimately born to earn lots and lots of profits. (Simchi-Levi D, 2007) 1. 9 PROBLEMS FORMULATION The main problem that is searched by IKEA is that its retail stores dealing with the problem of inventory management. There are lots of inventory is collected at the retail stores and distribution centers. If there is a lot of inventory is available at the retail, it will i ncrease its retaining cost and that affect the profits of the organization. If the level of inventory is high, it becomes very costly for the organizations. Hines, T. 2004) Some products are moved but remaining is disposed from the stores and the profits get very lower. Most of the inventory related systems are optimizing the level of stocks and they do not care for other installations. The inventories are kept in the organization so that stocks must be maintained and when demand is arouse company will be able to meet the demand. The different levels will not benefit from information from the other actors and the system as a whole will only be sub optimized.The distribution store and retail store has the same service levels requirements are similar. With this system, it is likely that the central warehouse keeps a non-optimal amount of stock. The service level that is experienced by customers is the important one. It does not matter what service level the retail stores experience fr om the distribution centre, as long as the customers do not experience shortages. (Handfield, 2001) This master’s thesis will give IKEA a chance to see how a coordinated inventory control system will affect the company.It will not provide any exact or detailed recommendations on how to implement the coordination approach into the current ERP-system, but instead show a possible next step in the development of the control system. (Larson, P. D, 2004) 1. 10 OVERVIEW OF THE DISSERTATION The complete dissertation will go according to the following structure: Chapter 1: The research problem, its background, organizational background, the aims and objectives of the research, research questions will explained in this part of the dissertation. The justification behind choosing this research subject and scope of the research is also explained.Chapter 2: This chapter consists of literature related to this topic and all theoretical aspects of the inventory management and control. The ope rations are very important department of any big industry. The inventory always kept in the stores but the huge money is invested in it to maintain this inventory so that we are here studying the practices to manage inventory and control it. Chapter 3: This chapter consists of the research methodology of the research. The determination of research methodology must be done very carefully so that research will go in right direction.The triangulation methodology is used here that is the combination of qualitative as well as quantitative research methods. The methods of data analysis and rational for choosing this research approach these all questions will be answered in this chapter. Chapter 4: This chapter will collect the analysis of data that is gathered through various sources. The analysis of collected data is very important part of any research study because it will give the solution of or problem. Therefore the data analysis various graphs, charts, tables, etc are given in this chapter and findings from each data is explained here.Chapter 5: In this chapter, the conclusions drawn from the project are presented. Finally, recommendations on the use of this master’s thesis are given. Suggestions on how to expand the study and improve results is also provided. [pic] Figure-1: Flow of whole dissertation CHAPTER – 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2. 1 INTRODUCTION IKEA one of the big players which deal in home products and this organization is famous for good product quality, less expensive product in comparison of other players. On the facts if we compare prices offer by IKEA with other layers, they offered 30-50% less price. In last four year IKEA claim that they reduced 20% price in total where other players are continue increases there product prices. Now this question is arises in mind that who it is possible when the cost of raw material, transportation and the other related things are increasing regularly, this is possible because IKEA now start work on their production designing, they manage all the production related work in such a way that they are able to reduce the overall cost and at the same time there is no compromise with the product quality.For an example in the starting phase IKEA able to fit 864 mugs in pallet but after redesigning of this plate they got success to fit 2024 mugs in a plate, with this strategy they able to reduce the shipping cost by 60%. (Simchi-Levi D, 2007) In the era of neck to neck competition all industries are locking to make the operations at the best level and with the help of this they want to cut down the cost, because this is the only way by which an organization is able to reduce the cost without any compromise on product quality.Flow of material from the point of origin to customer is the chain where there is maximum possibility of cost cutting. In this chain there are many drivers which convert the raw material into end product and after that sale it to customers. Common drivers include pr ocurement, design of the supply chain, inventory, transportation, warehousing, and collaboration. Cost reduction requires timely and improved decision-making for common processes under each driver. (Cannella S. , 2010) 2. 2 INVENTORY Inventory is the essential evil of every business; inventory is there in business at every driver of the supply chain.Inventory management is the process which helps to control in inventory at optimum level so that the organization never face the problem of stock out condition and at the same time product is available at the time of demand. When the inventory is at optimum level flow of material is in continuous process. When flow of material is fast inventory is at minimum level and when flow of material is slow inventory level is at high level. There is the cost which is associate with inventory known as inventory cost, the cost which required managing inventory and to manage the quality of holding product is called Inventory cost.There are two method s which are more famous in current era for inventory management and those are Vendor-Management inventory (VMI) and Drop-shipment. In Vendor management inventory model the organization is in coordination with their vendors to manage the inventory level at optimum level, in this approach the whole process is controlled by some software so that the all point of this chain are aware about the current status of the flow of material and on the basis of that vendors make raw material orders.Drop-shipment inventory model is different model this work on ABC model in this model A class inventory cover the item which are costlier and use very rarely and C class inventory cover the items which are used frequently by not costlier and B class are medium. 2. 3 IN-STORE LOGISTICS AT IKEA IKEA mainly famous for its customization, the design unique product and with the help of inventory management system they make this type of product at lower cost. Most of the product are design in such way that cu stomer assemble all the parts at home, so with this kind of strategy they able to tumble down the transportation cost.This type of strategy is beneficial for both the point of business customer and provider. IKEA is big organization so they deal in high volume and this helps to cut down the cost at high level. IKEA’s store operations are supported by high-flow facilities (focused on the 20 percent of SKUs that account for 80 percent of the volume) and low-flow warehouses that are more manual. In its high-flow warehouses, IKEA employs automatic storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS) to drive down its costs-per-touch. (Larson, P. D, 2004)IKEA stores are design in such way that they all have warehouse in the same premises, First floor is for customer visit at this store all the product are in customer range so that they can touch it and feel the real comfort while check them, second floor is for the product which are fast moving products, so in case if the product from first floo r is sold out customer come to second floor and here can check the product and the last floor is only and only play the role of warehouse; this floor is out of the reach of customer and at this floor product used to store in bulk.IKEA employs logistics personnel at its stores. There is an in-store logistics manager responsible for the ordering process and a store goods manager responsible for material handling logistics. Having logistics personnel work in stores is rare, but there are good arguments for this. The in-store logistics manager uses a proprietary system developed by IKEA to set and respond to store-level inventory reorder points (min and max settings), which is also fairly unique. Most retailers forecast at the distribution center (DC) level and inventory replenishment logic (e. . , minimum order quantity before reordering, maximum amount of a particular product to reorder at any one time) also resides at the DC level. (Cannella S. , 2010) Because IKEA doesn’t rep lenish during the day, the logic of its min/max is based on having a bin large enough to cover all the sales for one day. Because what is sold is known (POS data) and what comes into the store is also known (WMS data), very little cycle counting is done. However, IKEA’s system is able to catch anomalies.If the system expects a certain volume of a particular product to have sold during a two day period, and much less has sold, the system will direct in-store logistics to go to the location and conduct a manual stock check. Store-level inventory accuracy at other retailers is often surprisingly low. IKEA believes its process and system allows for the right goods to be in the store with greater certainty, and at a lower cost, than the traditional retail forecasting/replenishment process. (Handfield, 2001) IKEA is moving to having in-store logistics personnel work with RF terminals.These terminals will direct workers to bins and tell them how much inventory to let down. Unlike in a DC, where WMS logic is often focused on minimizing travel distances, the guiding principle here is to minimize touches. (Larson, P. D, 2004) At many companies, advances can be easily copied by competitors. But IKEA has a clear vision supported by complementary cross-functional logic. This not only differentiates IKEA from its peers, but also provides it with a competitive advantage that is difficult to duplicate. (Cannella S. , 2010) 2. 4 INVENTORY CONTROLIt  is the supervision of supply, storage and accessibility of items in order to ensure an adequate supply without excessive oversupply. It can also be referred as internal control – an accounting procedure or system designed to promote efficiency or assure the implementation of a policy or safeguard assets or avoid fraud and error etc. (Axsater Sven, 2007) Inventory control  may refer to: ? In economics, the  inventory control problem, which aims to reduce overhead cost without hurting sales ? In the field of  lo ss prevention, systems designed to introduce technical barriers to  shoplifting . 5 APPROACHES USED FOR INVENTORY CONTROL: The Eyeball System This is the standard inventory control system for the vast majority of small retail and many small manufacturing operations and is very simple in application. The key manager stands in the middle of the store or manufacturing area and looks around. If he or she happens to notice that some items are out of stock, they are reordered. (Halldorsson, 2003) In retailing, the difficulty with the eyeball system is that a particularly good item may be out of stock for sometime before anyone notices.Throughout the time it is out of stock, sales are being lost on it. Similarly, in a small manufacturing operation, low stocks of some particularly critical item may not be noticed until there are none left. Then production suffers until the supply of that part can be replenished. Such unsystematic but simple retailers and manufacturers to their inherent di sadvantage. (Cannella S. , 2010) Reserve Stock (or Brown Bag) System This approach is much more systematic than the eyeball system. It involves eeping a reserve stock of items aside, often literally in a brown bag placed at the rear of the stock bin or storage area. When the last unit of open inventory is used, the brown bag of reserve stock is opened and the new supplies it contains are placed in the bin as open stock. At this time, a reorder is immediately placed. (Mentzer, 2001) If the reserve stock quantity has been calculated properly, the new shipment should arrive just as the last of the reserve stock is being used. This is a very simple system to operate and one that is highly effective for virtually any type of organization.The variations on the reserve stock system merely involve the management of the reserve stock itself. Larger items may remain in inventory but be cordoned off in some way to indicate that it is the reserve stock and should trigger a reorder. (Lavassani K . , et al, 2009) Perpetual Inventory Systems Various types of perpetual inventory systems include manual, card-oriented, and computer- operated systems. In computer-operated systems, a programmed instruction referred to commonly as a trigger, automatically transmits an order to the appropriate vendor once supplies fall below a prescribed level. Halldorsson, 2003) The purpose of each of the three types of perpetual inventory approaches is to tally either the unit use or the dollar use (or both) of different itemsand product lines. This information will serve to help avoid stock-outs and to maintain a constant evaluation of the sales of different product lines to see where the emphasis should be placed for both selling and buying. (Axsater Sven, 2007) 2. 6 INVENTORY CONTROL SYSTEM An  inventory control system  is a process for managing and locating objects or materials.In common usage, the term may also refer to just  the software components†¦ Modern inventory control syste ms often rely upon  barcodes  and  radio-frequency identification  (RFID) tags to provide automatic identification of inventory objects. In an academic studyperformed at  Wal-Mart, RFID reduced Out of Stocks by 30 percent for products selling between 0. 1 and 15 units a day. Inventory objects could include any kind of physical asset: merchandise, consumables, fixed assets, circulating tools, library books, or capital equipment.To record an inventory transaction, the system uses a  barcode scanner  or  RFID reader  to automatically identify the inventory object, and then collects additional information from the operators via fixed  terminals  (workstations), or  mobile computers. (Simchi-Levi D, 2007) Its applications are written below: An inventory control system may be used to automate a sales order fulfillment process. Such a system contains a list of order to be filled, and then prompts workers to pick the necessary items, and provides them with packaging and shipping information.An inventory system also manages in and outwards material of hardware. Real-time inventory control systems may use wireless, mobile terminals to record inventory transactions at the moment they occur. A  wireless LAN  transmits the transaction information to a central  database. Physical inventory  counting and  cycle counting  are features of many inventory control systems which can enhance the organization. (Axsater Sven, 2007) 2. 7 INVENTORY MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE: Inventory  management software is a computer-based system for tracking product levels, orders,  sales  and deliveries.It can also be used in the  manufacturing  industry to create a  work order,  bill of materials  and other production-related documents. Companies use  inventory management software  to avoid product overstock and outages. It is a tool for organizing inventory  data  that before was generally stored in hard-copy form or in  Microsoft Excel  s preadsheets. (Handfield, 2001) 2. 7. 1 Components of the software: Inventory management software is made up of several components, all working together to create a cohesive inventory and stocks for many organisations control systems. These components include (in alphabetical order): (Mentzer, 2001)Asset tracking When a product is in a  warehouse  or store, it can be tracked via its  bar code  and/or other tracking criteria, such as  serial number, lot number or revision number. Barcoding Barcodes are the means whereby data on products and orders is inputted into inventory management software. A  barcode reader  is required to read barcodes and look up information on the products they represent. (Larson, P. D, 2004) Order management Once products reach a certain low level, a company’s inventory management system can be programmed to tell managers to reorder that product.This helps companies avoid running out of products or tying up too much capital in inventory. (Lavassani K. , et al, 2009) Service management Companies that are primarily service-oriented rather than product-oriented can use inventory management software to track the cost of the materials they use to provide services, such as cleaning supplies. This way, they can attach prices to their services that reflect the total  cost  of performing them. (Cannella S. , 2010) 2. 8 CONTROLLING INVENTORY Controlling inventory does not have to be an onerous or complex proposition. It is a process and thoughtful inventory management.There are no hard and fast rules to abide by, but some extremely useful guidelines to help your thinking about the subject. A five step process has been designed that will help any business bring this potential problem under control to think systematically thorough the process and allow the business to make the most efficient use possible of the resources represented. The final decisions, of course, must be the result of good judgment, and not the product of a mechanical set of formulas. (Axsater Sven, 2007) STEP 1: Inventory Planning Inventory control requires inventory planning.Inventory refers to more than the goods on hand in the retail operation, service business, or manufacturing facility. It also represents goods that must be in transit for arrival after the goods in the store or plant are sold or used. An ideal inventory control system would arrange for the arrival of new goods at the same moment the last item has been sold or used. The economic order quantity, or base orders, depends upon the amount of cash (or credit) available to invest in inventories, the number of units that qualify for a quantity discount from the manufacturer, and the amount of time goods spend in shipment. (Halldorsson, 2003)STEP 2: Establish order cycles If demand can be predicted for the product or if demand can be measured on a regular basis, regular ordering quantities can be setup that take into consideration the most economic relationships among t he costs of preparing an order, the aggregate shipping costs, and the economic order cost. When demand is regular, it is possible to program regular ordering levels so that stock-outs will be avoided and costs will be minimized. If it is known that every so many weeks or months a certain quantity of goods will be sold at a steady pace, then replacements should be scheduled to arrive with equal regularity. Mentzer, 2001) Time should be spent developing a system tailored to the needs of each business. It is useful to focus on items whose costs justify such control, recognizing that in some cases control efforts may cost more the items worth. At the same time, it is also necessary to include low return items that are critical to the overall sales effort. (Simchi-Levi D, 2007) If the business experiences seasonal cycles, it is important to recognize the demands that will be placed on suppliers as well as other sellers.A given firm must recognize that if it begins to run out of product i n the middle of a busy season, other sellers are also beginning to run out and are looking for more goods. The problem is compounded in that the producer may have already switched over to next season’s production and so is not interested in (or probably even capable of) filling any further orders for the current selling season. Production resources are likely to already be allocated to filling orders for the next selling season. (Larson, P. D, 2004) Changes in this momentum would be extremely costly for both the supplier and the customer.On the other hand, because suppliers have problems with inventory control, just as sellers do, they may be interested in making deals to induce customers to purchase inventories offseason, usually at substantial savings. They want to shift the carrying costs of purchase and storage from the seller to the buyer. Thus, there are seasonal implications to inventory control as well, both positive and negative. The point is that these seasonable im plications must be built into the planning process in order to support an effective inventory management system. Axsater Sven, 2007) [pic] Figure 2: Inventory Control STEP 3: Balance Inventory Levels Efficient or inefficient management of merchandise inventory by a firm is a major factor between healthy profits and operating at a loss. There are both market-related and budget-related issues that must be dealt with in terms of coming up with an ideal inventory balance: (Axsater Sven, 2007) †¢ Is the inventory correct for the market being served? †¢ Does the inventory have the proper turnover? †¢ What is the ideal inventory for a typical retailer or wholesaler in this business?To answer the last question first, the ideal inventory is the inventory that does not lose profitable sales and can still justify the investment in each part of its whole. An inventory that is not compatible with the firm’s market will lose profitable sales. Customers who cannot find the it ems they desire in one store or from one supplier are forced to go to a competitor. Customer will be especially irritated if the item out of stock is one they would normally expect to find from such a supplier. Repeated experiences of this type will motivate customers to become regular customers of competitors. (Simchi-Levi D, 2007)STEP 4: Review Stocks Items sitting on the shelf as obsolete inventory are simply dead capital. Keeping inventory up to date and devoid of obsolete merchandise is another critical aspect of good inventory control. This is particularly important with style merchandise, but it is important with any merchandise that is turning at a lower rate than the average stock turns for that particular business. One of the important principles newer sellers frequently find difficult is the need to mark down merchandise that is not moving well. (Mentzer, 2001) Markups are usually highest when a new style first comes out.As the style fades, efficient sellers gradually beg in to mark it down to avoid being stuck with large inventories, thus keeping inventory capital working. They will begin to mark down their inventory, take less gross margin, and return the funds to working capital rather than have their investment stand on the shelves as obsolete merchandise. Markdowns are an important part of the working capital cycle. Even though the margins on markdown sales are lower, turning these items into cash allows you to purchase other, more current goods, where you can make the margin you desire. (Cannella S. , 2010)Keeping an inventory fresh and up to date requires constant attention by any organization, large or small. Style merchandise should be disposed of before the style fades. Fad merchandise must have its inventory levels kept in line with the passing fancy. Obsolete merchandise usually must be sold at less than normal markup or even as loss leaders where it is priced more competitively. (Handfield, 2001) Loss leader pricing strategies can also s erve to attract more' consumer traffic for the business thus creating opportunities to sell other merchandise as well as well as the obsolete items.Technologically obsolete merchandise should normally be removed from inventory at any cost. Stock turnover is really the way businesses make money. It is not so much the profit per unit of sale that makes money for the business, but sales on a regular basis over time that eventually results in profitability. The stock turnover rate is the rate at which the average inventory is replaced or turned over, throughout a pre-defined standard operating period, typically one year. It is generally seen as the multiple that sales represent of the average inventory for a given period of time. Axsater Sven, 2007) Turnover averages are available for virtually any industry or business maintaining inventories and having sales. These figures act as an efficient and effective benchmark with which to compare the business in question, in order to determine its effectiveness relative to its capital investment. Too frequent inventory turns can be as great a potential problem as too few. Too frequent inventory turns may indicate the business is trying to overwork a limited capital base, and may carry with it the attendant costs of stock-outs and unhappy and lost customers.Stock turns or turnover, is the number of times the â€Å"average† inventory of a given product is sold annually. It is an important concept because it helps to determine what the inventory level should be to achieve or support the sales levels predicted or desired. Inventory turnover is computed by dividing the volume of goods sold by the average inventory. (Simchi-Levi D, 2007) STEP 5: Follow-up and Control Periodic reviews of the inventory to detect slow-moving or obsolete stock and to identify fast sellers are essential for proper inventory management.Taking regular and periodic inventories must be more than just totaling the costs. Any clerk can do the work of recording an inventory. However, it is the responsibility of key management to study the figures and review the items themselves in order to make correct decisions about the disposal, replacement, or discontinuance of different segments of the inventory base. (Lavassani K. , et al, 2009) Just as an airline cannot make money with its airplanes on the ground, a firm cannot earn a profit in the absence of sales of goods. Keeping the inventory attractive to customers is a prime prerequisite for healthy sales.Again, the seller's inventory is usually his largest investment. It will earn profits in direct proportion to the effort and skill applied in its management. Inventory quantities must be organized and measured carefully. (Mentzer, 2001) Minimum stocks must be assured to prevent stock-outs or the lack of product. At the same time, they must be balanced against excessive inventory because of carrying costs. In larger retail organizations and in many manufacturing operations, purcha sing has evolved as a distinct new and separate phase of management to achieve the dual objective of higher turnover and lower investment.If this type of strategy is to be utilized, however, extremely careful attention and constant review must be built into the management system in order to avoid getting caught short by unexpected changes in the larger business environment. Caution and periodic review of reorder points and quantities are a must. Individual market size of some products can change suddenly and corrections should be made. (Halldorsson, 2003) Basic definitions: Holding cost – The cost of keeping one product in stock for one time unit. Shortage cost – The cost per unit and time unit of not having a product in stock when it is demanded.Lead time- The time it takes to receive an order after placing it, including the potential delays due to stock out at upper echelons. Transportation – The time it takes to receive an order after placing it, given time t hat it can be delivered immediately (may include fixed times for picking, receiving and other handling). Lost sales -When customers leave the store empty handed because the demanded item is not available. This presumes that the customers are not willing to wait until the product is delivered from the next level supplier.Backorder- Occurs when a customer waits for an order until it becomes available; if the supplier is out of stock at the time the order is placed. This can lead to a queue. Inventory level – The actual physical inventory on hand Inventory position – The inventory level plus outstanding orders minus possible backorders. SERV1 – Probability of no stockout per order cycle, also known as cycle service level. SERV2 -Fraction of demand that can be satisfied immediately from stock on hand, also referred to as the fill rate. SERV3 – Fraction of time with positive stock on hand, also known as ready rate.SERV3 =SERV2 when demand is continuous or cust omers can only purchase one unit a time. (R,Q)-policy Stock replenishment policy where Q units are ordered as soon as the inventory position drops down to or below R. The maximum inventory level can thus be R + Q. CHAPTER – 3 Research Methodology: In this chapter of the dissertation all the methodologies that are used for conducting this research is expressed. First of all the research purpose and then research approach is explained over here. The research method and its strategies are also described.Then the chapter continues with the process of data collection and approach of analysis. (Holliday, 2007) The research process that is given by Saunders et al, are given below. This is given in an onion shape model: [pic] Figure 3: Saunders Onion Model for Research Methodology 3. 1 RESEARCH TYPES: The purpose of this research is divided in following ways: 3. 1. 1. Exploratory Research: In this researcher is keen to know what is going on in the research and try to find out new thi ngs about the research problem. This is useful when researcher wants to understand the problem properly.Exploratory research is open for change so that is adaptable and flexible. It is useful in formulation of hypothesis. (Creswell, J. W. 2003). 3. 1. 2 Descriptive Research: It is used when research objectives and information is clear about the research. In this the researcher does not form any conclusion from the data collected, he just shows what he observes. The research object must be very clear in this research. 3. 1. 3 Explanatory Research: In explanatory research, the problem solution can be done by explaining the relationships between variables. Saunders, et al, 2000) In explanatory research the research is planned and structured so that systematic errors can be reduced. The researcher is able to draw the conclusions on the basis of the relationships. The main source of data for explanatory research is by interviewing the people through surveys or interview protocol. (DeWalt , et al 2002) 3. 1. 4 Chosen method for this research: In this research the data is collected through interviewing the employees at IKEA and case companies. So that explanatory research approach is used here for conducting this research study.This method is used because the researcher wants to form a conclusion from the research problem. (Holliday, 2007) 3. 2 RESEARCH APPROACH: The researcher chooses the research approach on the basis of the relationship between theory and empirics in the project. The research approach can be inductive or deductive. The Qualitative or Quantitative research approaches are also used. These approaches are given below: 3. 2. 1 Qualitative Approach: The qualitative approach is very flexible and the questions can be mould according to the situation and according to the respondents’ responses during interview.Its flexibility is useful for the researcher because it gives the opportunity to him to explore more about the research subject. But the negat ive side is that it is impossible to compare data from two respondents. The advantages of qualitative research are given below: †¢ This data is present in quality and gives in-depth knowledge about the subject. (Creswell, J. W. 2003). †¢ In qualitative approach more than one possible explanation of the objects are given. The disadvantages of this approach are given below: The result of qualitative approach is not open for generalizations because small numbers of objects are studied. †¢ The analysis and interpretation of the data is dependent upon the experiences of the researcher. †¢ This analysis takes long time. 3. 2. 2 Quantitative Approach: In this approach, the researcher collects the quantitative data through rigorous survey that is conducted to gather the data. There is a set format of questionnaire that consists of various structured questions and these surveys are filled by the respondents in order to get the data. The advantages of quantitative analysis are given below: The results that are achieved through quantitative approach can be generalized easily on the whole population. †¢ This gives the scientific basis to the study. †¢ The result of quantitative research is highly credible and authentic. The disadvantages of quantitative analysis are given in the following points: †¢ The negative aspect of this approach is that sometimes irrelevant data is also gathered through quantitative research and that is not usable in the research. (Saunders, et al, 2000) †¢ If the quality of input is low the quality of output is also low. 3. 2. 3 Chosen approach in this study:The triangulation approach is used over here in this research study. In triangulation method both qualitative as well as quantitative research methodology is used. Some of the data is collected through benchmarking case studies of different companies and thoughts about vendor managed inventory and its evaluation is collected through qualitative research and interviews are also conducted and surveys are also get filled by the people so quantitative method is also used. The questions are similar and can be generalized on whole population. (DeWalt, et al 2002) 3. 3 RESEARCH METHOD:Inductive versus Deductive approach: There are two kinds of research method one is inductive and another is deductive theory. In inductive method the data is firstly collected by the researcher and then he develops the theory on the basis of that collective data. In this approach the study is done on the real scenario and then a general theory is formed on the basis of that analysis. The data is collected via various sources. The main problem with the inductive approach is that the data is collected to form the theories so that data collection is no more unconditional. Saunders, et al, 2000) In deductive approach the research starts on the basis of theoretical studies and then these theories are applied to the real empirical case and conclusion of the resear ch is formed according to the theory. In this kind of approach the hypothesis is formed according to the pre-existing theories and then it is tested in the real world. The conclusion made through this will reject or accept the hypothesis. Deduction method is related to the collection of quantitative data and in induction theory, the qualitative data is gathered.The research is totally based on pre-existing theories so that deductive approach is applicable in this study. The theories that are already exists are tested in the practical terms and find the research results. The already used methods of inventory control or management at IKEA is tested and improves in order to enhance effectiveness. In this research the simulation method of inventory and vendor managed inventory is tested on the IKEA framework. The management of inventory and its control and vendor managed inventory the questions about all these concepts will be given with the help of this research method. Creswell, J. W. 2003). 3. 4 RESEARCH STRATEGY: To conduct a research is successful manner it is very necessary for the researcher to decide a strategy and plan accordingly for the way of collecting the data. The strategy is useful for getting the knowledge about the source of collecting the data. The main strategies are elaborated in the following points: 3. 4. 1 Experiment: Experiments are used in scientific as well as social science research. The definition of theoretical aspects, the sample selection and measurement of variables is done in this. Saunders, et al, 2000) These are used to find out the causalities between the input and output. The process of whole experiment is standard and fixed; it is not at all flexible. First of all a hypothesis is formed, then the parameters are decided that will be studied while experiment, and finally the resulting parameters are achieved. 3. 4. 2 Survey: The survey is conducted for systematic mapping of the phenomenon. When deductive methodology is used by the research, the survey is used at that time. The survey is full of questionnaires and that is distributed to all the population or its sample for collection of data.The standard questions are used in the questionnaire and comparison can be done accordingly. This strategy takes so much of time. (DeWalt, et al 2002) 3. 4. 3 Action Research: The action research approach is applied when we are working for improving something while its studying. First of all observation is very necessary and identify and define a problem that is going to be solved. The proposal for solving the problem is formed and implemented. The evaluation of the solution is necessary to check how well it is working. If the solution is not appropriate, it is again check and changes the proposal accordingly.The action research is done by a close relationship and the association between the researcher and the studied research problem. 3. 4. 4 Case Study: The main aim of the case study is to explain a particular object . If researcher is so much keen to know each and every aspect of the research problem and wants to understand the research subject in and out then he goes for the case study approach. The case study gives deeper insights of the research object. In this approach extensive knowledge about the research subject is collected through studying the case studies.In case study there are no restrictions about how data is collected through this and how it should be analyzed. But the results that rose from case studies are not necessarily applicable to general cases. The collection of data is done through following methods: †¢ Interviews †¢ Observations and †¢ Achieve analysis. 3. 4. 5 Operations Research Modeling: The cases where analytical model is used in the real scenario and quantitative research technique is used, this is called as operations research modeling (ORM). (Hillier, et al, 2005) The main steps of ORM are given below in following points: The problem is defined and collects the data that is relevant to it. †¢ A mathematical model is being formulated to show the problem. †¢ A computer based procedure is formed to derive the solutions to the problem. †¢ The testing of model is done and refines it. †¢ Ongoing application of the model is being formed. †¢ Execute [pic] Figure 4: Operations Research Modeling 3. 4. 6 Chosen strategy for the research: The case study approach is used for this research study because here we are studying IKEA that is a world known home furnishing company. The whole focus s given on IKEA and its strategies of managing inventory and its control. The deep insights are created by studying this company and in-depth knowledge of its inventory management system is studied in this research. (Fischer, 2005) The operations research approach is also used for this research paper, a mathematical model i. e. model for optimizing multi echelon inventories is used. 3. 5 DATA COLLECTION: There are various sources that is used for data collection. There are two kinds of data collection first is primary data collection and second is secondary data collection.Primary data is the one that is gathered for particularly this research according to the demand of that research and secondary data that is collected already for another purpose. But secondary data is used for support the primary data. (Holliday, 2007) 3. 5. 1 Primary Data: The primary data is collected through three ways such as observation, interview and questionnaires. Particularly for this research, the semi-structured interview protocols are formed that is used for getting the data from respondents. (Holliday, 2007) 3. 5. 2 Secondary Data: Both primary as well as secondary data is used for this research study.The secondary data is collected firstly for getting a broad literature review about the inventory control and management and about vendor managed inventory. The secondary data is also gathered to issue the thesis for this resear ch. The vendor managed inventory, supply chain management, logistics management at IKEA, economic evaluation these all terms are widely studied. (Flyvbjerg, B. 2011). The most common methods of collection of primary as well as secondary data are given below: †¢ Literature: The literature review gives the deep insights about the research subject is given in it.It gives better background knowledge of the subject. Various books, journals, articles, internet sources are used to gather data. †¢ Interviews: Interview is also an important source to get the data from the respondent. The interviews are of different kinds structured as well as unstructured interviews. In structured interviews same questions are being asked by all the respondents but in unstructured the respondent are open to share all his thoughts. †¢ Survey: Taking interviews will take long time so that a survey sheet is distributed among the candidates and get the data from them.It is a questionnaire that con sist similar questions. 3. 6 APPROACHES FOR ANALYSIS: The analysis of data that is collected through various research methods are done through two different approaches one is qualitative research approach that is used for analysis of qualitative data and another one is quantitative research approach, that is used for analysis of quantitative data. The economic method and parameters that affected the inventory control and management will be analyzed here to get the result of this research. (DeWalt, et al 2002) 3. 7 QUALITY CRITERIA:To determine the validity and reliability of the research is very important step of the research and it is helpful in judging the quality of the research. (Holliday, 2007) 3. 7. 1. Validity: Here validity means the methods that are used for measurements are intended to measure. There are internal as well as external validity. To enhance the validity of any research subject, various views of problem must be seen. The internal validity means that how much th e result of the research is corresponds to the phenomenon that is studied in this research. External validity means that the ability to generalize from the results.The internal validity of this research is very well. The literature review is thoroughly reviewed by the researcher that is used for these research objectives. The literature review gives the rich knowledge about the inventory management and its control. (Fischer, 2005) An increased validity is also given by changing input parameters and controlling if the model behaves as expected. This is specially revealing if the parameters are extreme of both maximum and minimum values. Another way to enhance validity is to do a retrospective test, which means using historical data as input parameter.The results are then compared to what actually happened and it reveals if the model would give better results than reality. It can also reveal if the model is correct. The drawback of using retrospective testing is that the results given from the data used to create the model (historical) do not necessarily give good results for the future. 3. 7. 2 Reliability: Reliability refers to the methods of measurements will give the correct or reliable methods or not. The reliability of this dissertation is very high and the whole information is collected by the researcher in a systematic way.The data is collected through semi-structured interview surveys in a standardized form. The interview forms are already sent to the people so that they can well verse with the interview questions are prepare themselves before the interviews. (Mahoney, 2006) CHAPTER – 4 FINDINGS & ANALYSIS: 4. 1 Simulation model: Assumptions made in simulation model: The following assumptions are made for simulation model: †¢ The demand that is not fulfilled due to lack of stock is considered as lost sales. †¢ The continuous review of inventory is done. The orders are placed directly when the inventory reach to the level of reorder poin t. The time of transportation is taken as constant. The lead time can be variable when stock is not available at distribution centre. †¢ The supplier has always has its stock. †¢ If a retail store places an order that cannot be fulfilled immediately by the distribution center, the order is kept as a backorder and fulfilled when the products become available. †¢ The distribution center never delivers partial orders to retail stores. Instead, it always waits for the entire order to be available before shipping the goods. †¢ The order quantities at all levels are constant. 4. 1. 1 Demand distributionIn Extend, customer arrivals cannot be generated by simply entering the mean and standard deviation of the demand over time. Instead, the statistical distribution of the time between customer arrivals needs to be inserted. Also, in order to ensure that the mean and standard deviation of the demand over time are correct, the number of items one customer buys is not fixed. The relation between variation and mean value of the weekly demand is over 1. 1 for the vast majority of the articles and stores. According to the theory discussed earlier, this makes the Compound Poisson distribution suitable to estimate the customer pattern.In the case of a variance mean relation of lower than 1. 1, a regular Poisson distribution is used. The reasoning above is based on the assumption that the arrivals of customers, and the number of products each customer wishes to purchase, are independent of each other. Based on the fact that the customers are end consumers of the products, this is a reasonable assumption. The compounding distribution chosen to use is the logarithmic distribution since it is a discrete distribution with available formulas for calculating the parameters needed given mean and variance of the demand. . 1. 2 Output parameters of the simulation The simulation model is built to store three types of data: mean inventory levels, SERV2 and SERVIKEA. Th e measurements chosen are enough to estimate the potential stock reductions as well as controlling that the service is kept at the

Anti-Abortion Laws and Maternal Mortality in the US Research Paper

Anti-Abortion Laws and Maternal Mortality in the US - Research Paper Example However the perception of abortion has changed over the centuries. Abortion became one of the most controversial and debatable subjects in the modern society. Donald T. Critchlow (Critchlow 1996, 1) points out that abortion transformed into political issue since â€Å"reproduction rights became public policy.† There are various issues related to abortion: ethical, biological, religious and others. Those issues have transformed over the years and social understanding of them has changed. I believe that the most tragic subject of anti-abortion laws is the issue of maternal-mortality when performing illegal abortions. In this paper I will provide analysis of issues related to maternal mortality prior to the time when abortions were considered legal in the US, precisely the time period between 1800s – 1900s. Anti-abortion legislation in the US caused millions of deaths from illegal abortion and poor medical assistance. Abortion procedure is not something new, it has been known for ages. Women were doing abortions for long time and they will keep doing them even if it is considered illegal. The question is: what price society is ready to pay for this and how many more women have to die. Unfortunately there is no exact statistical data of how many women died during the anti-abortion era. In the beginning of 20th century maternal mortality ratio indicated 600 deaths per 100 000 livebirths in the USA (Ronsmans and Graham September 30, 2006, 4). This number was significantly bigger before the 1900s due to the poor medical conditions and illegal status of abortions. There is no precise data of illegal abortions due to several reasons. First of all, women were ashamed to report on having an abortion. Secondly, they experienced family and social pressure and guilt and preferred to hide the fact of abortion. At the same time wrong and misleading reports from medical institutions blurred the real number of deaths from illegal abortions (Rose 2008, 114). C onnecticut was the first American state that prohibited abortion in 1821. Later on other states followed its example and banned termination of pregnancy as well. The issue of abortion was forbidden to discuss for a very long time in American society. This situation forced women to use some illegal abortion services, thus putting their lives in danger. Women were allowed to have a legal abortion in exceptional cases predetermined by their medical conditions (Frankowski and Cole 1987, 20). In this situation women used severe and dangerous techniques to terminate unwanted pregnancies. They used knitting needles and coating hangers, douched with some poisonous chemicals or took some strong pills in order to perform the procedure themselves. All these methods put women’s lives in danger. Oftentimes they needed immediate professional medical assistance, but it was difficult for them to get it, due to social stigma and prejudices. If the abortion did not work women tried to perfor m the procedure again and again (Boston Women's Health Book Collective. 1998). I believe there were several reasons for abortion to be considered illegal. First of all, in the 1800 this surgical procedure was highly risky and the high mortality rates proved that. However majority of surgical procedures were risky for patients at that time. Secondly, anti-abortion legislation created a control mechanism over women. Later on this control and restrictions had a great impact on the feminist movements (Gordon 1976). Thirdly, male doctors increased their control over the medical field and consolidated their power. Finally, American government tried to scare the white population of the possible â€Å"race suicide.† Therefore white women were highly recommended to give birth (Boston Women's

An argument paper on global warming Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

An argument paper on global warming - Essay Example ".Skeptics consider global warming a myth, a fantasy or a Western agenda, but they might have no answer for the present Tsunami in Japan and floods in Australia, or the frequent droughts in any other part of the world. The global warming started since Industrial revolution. Industrial growth, automated transportation, mechanized agriculture since industrial revolution has lead to the production of poisonous gases like chloro fluoro carbons, which have formed a thick layer on the upper atmosphere of earth leading to the rise in temperature. Industrial wastes, deforestation, burning of coal and petroleum products, green house gases emission have aggravated the effects. GREEN HOUSE GASES: Greenhouse gases have the ability to absorb and hold the heat of the atmosphere, this phenomenon is called green house effect. Green house Writer 2 gases form a sort of warm air blanket that actually helps in sustaining the present ecosystem. Major Green house gases are Carbon dioxide, (CO2), Methane ( CH4), Nitrous Oxide (N2o) and fluorinated gases. Carbon dioxide is produced by burning of fossil fuels, solid waste and wood products whereas methane is emitted during coal, natural gas and oil production, methane emissions are also produced from livestock and other agricultural practices, and nitrous oxide is the product of agricultural and industrial activities whereas fluorinated carbons contribute in depletion of ozone layer. As the earth’s climate is variable it is not exactly possible to determine the cause of damage – Is it the human activities or the rising concentration of green house gases- however. A National Research Council study dated May 2001, stated, â€Å"Greenhouse gases are accumulating in Earth’s atmosphere as a result of human activities, causing surface air temperatures and sub-surface ocean temperatures to rise. Temperatures are, in fact, rising. The changes observed over the last several decades are likely mostly due to human activities, but we cannot rule out that some significant part of these changes is also a reflection of natural variability.† THE CARBONDIOXIDE EMISSON: Carbon dioxide is the main constituent in the carbon cycle known as photosynthesis- Plants, algae, cynobacteria absorb CO2, sunlight, and water to produce carbohydrate energy for their survival in which oxygen is generated as a waste product. Living beings emit CO2 in their respiratory process. It is also produced as by-product of combustion, by volcanoes, hot springs and natural geysers. The content of CO2 in the atmosphere is 388ppm by volume that varies with the changing season; human activities have definitely increased the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere. Charles D Keeling was a pioneer in the monitoring of carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere. He explains, â€Å"Atmospheric mixing ratios for carbon dioxide are now higher than at any time in Writer 3 The last 800,000 years, standing at 380 parts per million (ppm) c ompared to a pre-industrial high of 280ppm. The current rate of increase is around 2ppm per year† (Keeling Curve) INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION AND ITS IMPACT: Man has tremendous potential for construction and –Destruction as well. He has tried to become a God by trying to bring changes in the natural processes of nature. These

Strategic Management - GE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Strategic Management - GE - Essay Example However, the company has been faced by law suits and product recalls that affect customer confidence (About Sustainability at the BSR Conference, 2008). GE aims at selecting suppliers with more competitive prices, services, and quality and provides relevant training (Immelt, Govindarajan & Trimble, 2009). In order to remain competitive, GE requires the suppliers to have quality service, and to keep up with the latest technologies. On the other hand, supplier may use take advantage of these requirements their products. The buyers can also influence the profitability of existing enterprises through their ability to lower or increase prices on the products or service. Since GE is the leader in most industries, the bargaining power of the buyers is restricted due to the company great control (Zimmerman, 2010). Even though GE has diversified in various businesses, however, GE has a competitive advantage over other firms due to innovation. The entry barrier in the high-tech industries for new entrants is very high. Thus, it decreases the threats of a new firm, for this reason, risk of replacement is also lower Immelt Talks. Jeff Immelt oriented leadership has changed the internal environment of GE with a lot of positive feedback from the staff (Kenny, 2009). His approach is based on long-term profit growth. This strategy utilizes three stakeholders’ strategic elements such as managing strong trading patterns, increasing growth efforts, and increasing business portfolio (Kaye &Yuwono, 2003). This strategy is based on several factors including customer focus, globalization, growth platforms, technical leadership, and services. GE has currently diversified in various segments including aviation, energy infrastructure, transportation, home and business appliances, healthcare, and GE capital. Diversification has allowed the company to have stock for the long-term. Each of GEs segment provides valuable solutions as well as products to the global economy

Leading Early Childhood Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Leading Early Childhood - Essay Example According to (Aubrey, 2011), leaders perceive their responsibility as spanning from their own to their staff’s development. In the past, the role of leaders in staff development, and especially in early childhood did not have much emphasis. However, in the recent past, this has taken center stage. Aubrey (2011) views this as having been necessitated by changing expectations. Leadership role is all about ‘quality of staff training’ (Aubrey, 2011, p. 45). According to Aubrey (2011), countless hindrances have derailed this, ranging from policies and procedures, as well as inspections. In the changing world of today, Aubrey (2011) explains that leaders and staff hold clarified views concerning decision making. In this regard, however, it emerges that all participants in this field including the child ‘become involved to some extent in the decision making’ (p. 34). However, she forwards interesting evidence on how people with varying initial qualification and approaching this sector from varied routes, may hold differing opinions on early childhood leadership as well as diverse attitudes on aspects of their roles. This serves to demonstrate the degree to which staff development is essential, since, looking at pedagogical leadership; the teacher emerges as a crucial decision maker. Effective leadership has been impacts greatly on a child’s learning. Leadership is also central to the overall success of a school. In this light, therefore, the quality of this leadership should be cultivated and improved. In the Early Childhood setup, leadership is perceived to flow from top downwards. However, some contributors in this field will argue that leadership is more followers oriented, especially in regard to children; than leader oriented. This is a credible hypothesis according to Berthelsen, Brownlee, & Johansson, (2009), who view children as being the consumers in the training process. The findings produced by Aubrey (2011) sets several leadership

Social class and inequality within the education system in the UK Essay

Social class and inequality within the education system in the UK - Essay Example In this case study I will be looking at social class and whether social class faces inequality within the English education system. I will be looking at the education system in the United Kingdom and I will be discussing the differences between middle class and working class in education. The reason for this case study is to discuss the education system in the UK in order to find evidence on how social class faces inequality and I will be doing this by using different theoretical approaches and sociological ways to discuss the relationships. There is a social class gap in the UK for educational achievement. In the UK students attainment is based on parents qualifications, income and occupation (Francis and Perry, 2010) In the UK the working class are eligible for free school meals, free school meals helps us to identify the students class and free school meal students come from a socio-economic background (Perry and Francis et al, 2010). I will be discussing the exam results of both the working and middle class. Children’s social class has a major impact on their performance and their results. The working class tend to not achieve in comparison to the middle class, the education system is biased and is produced to meet the needs of the middle class students and not the working class students (Bryant, n.d.). Children’s class has a major impact on their performance. In addition there is a gap between the middle and the working class and this could be seen through their GSCE results (Shepherd, 2010). According to Shepherd, Sedghi and Evans (2012) statistics show that there is around 27.4% attainment gap between students that are eligible for free school meals and students achieving A*-C in English and Mathematics GCSE. There... According to the paper the critical theory depicts how people within the society receive different treatment. In respect to the present study, the middle class has power, control and fits well in the society. In contrary, the working class are found to suffer from frustration, rejection, isolation and are powerless. These challenges have further implication within the education sector as depicted by affordability of quality education. The middle class has the capacity of enrolling their children in academies that are known to offer quality education as opposed to working class who cannot afford to enrol their children in academies (Muller, Ringer and Simon, 2003). This brings out a gap in social class as evidenced by lack of affordability of quality education by working class as opposed to their wealthy middle class who controls the society and has the resources to afford quality education for their children. The report gives all answers to the questions which are connected with the Education in United Kingdom. Ideally, in the light of modern world, people continue to be segregated in terms of social groups which are facilitated by differences in cultural and economic capabilities. As noted from the present study, those people who are economically advantages exert power within the society. This fact is well supported by social cultural theories such as Critical theory still pushes the UK government to level education for both poor and rich, it is apparent that the middle class who has sufficient resources continues to get quality education relative to the working class. This nature is attributable to the UK form of economy which is more inclined to capitalism. It can therefore deliberate that the UK education system is modelled to be exclusive where the richer ones can afford quality education as opposed to the less rich.

Child Abuse Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Child Abuse - Case Study Example Also, please cite your references. The paper needs to be approximately 3 pages long. Child abuse is considered to be the mistreatment, abuse and violence towards children by a parent, close relative or guardian, which may have detrimental effects on the child's physical, emotional and psychological state(Bartholet, 2000). This paper will analyze the case study of a ten year old boy called Peter, who became the victim of child abuse. The overall goal of this paper is to understand the causes and factors associated with child abuse and neglect and its consequences in the lights of broad and diverse academic resources. Research suggests that physical abuse is considered to be the abuse which involves intentional and purposeful acts of aggression and violent behavior that can damage and harm the child. Research also suggests the physical abuse takes place when adults are in the state of anger and are unable to control it. Therefore, they slap, punch, strike at the child (Briere & Bulkley, 2000). It is sad that children like Peter often become the target of physical violence. From research it is evident that unemployment, poverty, absence of father from the family, drug addiction are considered to be one of the main factors, which lead to physical child abuse. 4. Parental Causes of Child Abuse Child abuse is often associated with parents. Following are the parental causes that lead to child abuse: 1. Parents had themselves been victims of physical assault as children. There is a complete cycle of violence. Parents, who had been the victims, frequently assault and beat their children. 2. Research suggests that frequently unwanted pregnancy also leads to child abuse. A sick or disabled child also becomes the target of physical assault at the hands of the parent. 3. Parents often do not support their children, when they face problems in their academics or social life. Frequently, children are slapped and beaten as part of their disciplined training 4. Indistinct and unclear limitations, where the boundary and limitations between the child and the parent are not defined. In such cases, both roles are undefined and hence, physical violence takes place (Bartholet, 2000). 5. Physical assault also takes places, when the parent suffers from pyshcological disorder. In order to express his or her aggression, the parent resort to violence and beats his or her child in an attempt to calm down. 6. Research suggests that in some culture, children are awarded corporal punishments in order to discipline them Ecological

Organisational Behaviour Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Organisational Behaviour - Essay Example It is, however, vital to learn the organisation’s background to delve any further. IKEA prides itself to be the most successful and largest furniture retailer in the world, and boasts provision of everything and anything for a home, having products suited for people of all ages, and all this at low prices. The company promises excellent value for money spent with all of their products designed with an emphasis on natural colours to bring a light and airy atmosphere within a home. This concept is based purely on IKEA’s Swedish origins, where people pride themselves in living in harmony with nature with simple home designs which offer maximum efficiency in all weathers (http://www.iamaceo.com/marketing/ikea-brand-success-strategy/). IKEA’s vision, â€Å"to create a better everyday life for the many people† is reportedly largely aimed at the global middleclass which is also evident from their business idea, â€Å"to offer a wide range of well designed, funct ional home furnishing products at prices so low that as many people as possible will be able to afford them† (http://www.ikea.com/ms/en_GB/about_ikea/press_room/student_info.html). To achieve this global mission, IKEA is well known for having a rapid internationalisation process from its Swedish origins and its rapid expansion into countries with cultures very different from its original Swedish national culture (Hollensen, 2007). With 265 stores worldwide, where 235 are owned by the IKEA group while the remaining 30 by franchisees outside the group; the extent of IKEA’s expansion is obvious (IKEA, 2007). Although owned by franchisees in some countries, the IKEA concept and trademark are solely owned by Inter IKEA Systems B.V in Netherlands. This means Inter IKEA Systems B.V is the franchiser for all IKEA stores within or outside of the IKEA group, ensuring uniformity of corporate values right from the centre (IKEA, 2007). Having looked into the organisation’s ba ckground, it is now important to study Morgan’s metaphors, which can then be applied to the organisation. Firstly, Morgan suggests that organisation theorists, after decades of comparing organisations as mechanistic entities, have moved to the biological sciences for more apt comparisons, where individuals, groups, organisations, populations or species of organisations, and their social ecology are paralleled with molecules, cells, complex organisms, species and ecology (Morgan, 2006, pg 34). The idea derived from drawing such comparisons is that certain species of organisation are adapted to certain external conditions just as certain species of organisms are to certain environments (Morgan, 2006, pg 33). Such metaphoric views have changed the classical mechanistic focus on efficiency, and structure to the basic element of survival with more emphasis on the organisation-environment relationship (Morgan, 2006; 1998). This can be further complimented with modern environmental analysis methods like SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) and PEST (political, economical, sociological and technological) analyses, that have been developed solely for comparing an organisation’s internal abilities to the external factors that may or are affecting its survival and performance in that environment (Johnson et al, 2008; Kotler, 2003). Within the metaphor of an organisation as a living organism, Morgan introduces certain