DQ3_07 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

DQ3_07 - Assignment Example began in 1948 and conducted among 5209 adult participants in Framingham, Massachusetts, has assisted to provide much of the now known knowledge in regard to heart disease. The Framingham Heart Study has proven as an outstanding work in regard to its scope, duration, and information. The study helped to provide understanding on the influence of lifestyle, environmental factors and inheritance on cardiac health. The study provided the origin of the term ‘risk factor’ (FHS, 2015). The study helped to identify major CVD risk factors such as high blood pressure, smoking, obesity, high blood cholesterol, diabetes, and physical inactivity. Prior to the start of the study, medics had little knowledge in relation to the prevention of heart diseases. The study helped to show the necessity of weight management, a healthy diet, and regular exercise in preventing heart diseases. The study also assisted to reveal the differences in the risk of heart diseases between men and women. The study has expanded to encompass research on the role of genetics in contributing to

Housing and environmental issues Essay Example for Free

Housing and environmental issues Essay Community development officer: CDOs should have: †¢ the ability to communicate with a wide range of people †¢ the ability to manage a budget †¢ sensitivity in dealing with multi-cultural issues, such as religion †¢ networking skills and a good memory for names and faces †¢ the ability to work on their own initiative †¢ Commitment to social inclusion issues. CDOs may work for a local authority; he must also involve public decision in multi cultural communities housed by the associations. Public involvement in regeneration is widely held to be a good thing. There are very few who write about or comment on regeneration, however it is defined who do not claim that public involvement is an important if not essential component of effective and successful regeneration. And to a great extent this has been the position in the UK and elsewhere for well over a century. However, there are very few studies that have set out to measure and to analyse the impact of public involvement. In other words, few researchers have attempted to see what difference it makes in practice to involve the public and whether any such differences are positive, in the sense of being both anticipated and desired. There are, nevertheless, many studies that shed some light on the processes of public involvement and draw conclusions about its impact in specific cases. The conclusion of many of these studies is that public involvement did not work very well in practice: it was embarked upon too late; insufficient resources were provided to make it effective; the local environment was not very conducive; and key decisions continued to be taken by people not living in the areas affected. The importance of involving the public in attempts to improve and regenerate neighbourhoods has been recognised for many years. However, the consensus around the value and potential benefits of greater public involvement has probably never been stronger, not least because government has put it at the centre of its plans to modernise both the delivery of public services and the very processes of government. A simple theory of public participation The political imperatives driving forward the agenda of public participation are well established, but three stand out at present. First is the belief that participation is intrinsically good and worthwhile, and hence more participation is desirable. Second is the growing acknowledgement that many major policy issues do not appear to be capable of obvious resolution – they can be termed ‘wicked problems’ for this reason (Rittel and Weber, 1973). An obvious consequence of this recognition is to take a more open approach to their resolution, in other words to allow a wider range of partners into the arena of policy debate and hence to share the burden of resolution. Finally, there is a clear belief that greater participation is needed to stem if not reverse the apparent decline in social capital charted by Putnam (2001) and his followers (see DeFilipis, 2001). A slightly broader set of factors can be derived from the wider academic literature where at least four distinct explanations of or justification for greater public participation in government generally are apparent. Instrumentalist conceptions point to the fact that individuals are the best judges of their own interests and hence by participating in policy debates and political discussions they are best able to articulate and advance these interests. The job of government then lies in the aggregation of individual interests and the balancing of conflicting positions into a plausible public interest. Communitarian conceptions take a different approach and advocate a more collective or social approach among the participating public, such that a negotiated view of the public interest is provided to rather than by government. Of course government may then have to perform further rounds of aggregation or even facilitate further rounds of negotiation or consensus building, but the public plays a more prominent part in the social construction of their own idea of public interest. In this conception there is some degree of aggregation but government is still left to aggregate, adjudicate or reconcile the possibly conflicting views of different communities or even coalitions of communities. Educative approaches suggest that public participation helps in developing a more sophisticated understanding of the complexities of policy issues; of the ethical dilemmas and the need to make trade-offs for example between price and quality or between the achievement of short and long term priorities. Finally, expressive conceptions of participation emphasise the opportunity that political participation gives individuals to express their political identity. Through active campaigning, displaying posters, attending rallies, donating money or time, one is able to demonstrate to the world at large that fact that one is a feminist, a socialist, a conservative, a nationalist and so on. It is of course important also to bear in mind that political participation can involve much more than voting in periodic elections, or even campaigning in them. Attending meetings about issues of local or international concern and taking part in participatory events such as juries, consensus conferences or citizens juries are also important as is participation in ongoing campaigns or lobbies, again from local (save our school) to global (save our planet) issues. There is something of a paradox here, in that there is plentiful data available on formal political involvement in voting, but relatively little available on the more prosaic but nevertheless significant everyday acts of involvement, such as going to meetings or simply engaging socially and maybe politically with ones neighbours (Hoggett and Bishop, 1986). In recent years some regular and extensive surveys have begun to provide valuable data of this type, but it is still the case that many sophisticated models of community engagement, civic renewal and social capital, have been constructed on flimsy empirical foundations (Prime, Zimmeck Zurawa, 2002). But to develop a simple model of participation we need to consider in some more detail questions along each of the three main dimensions implied in the expression: public participation in planning or policy making. Robert D. Putnam That Western society has changed dramatically since the middle of the 20th century. There is less agreement about what caused the changes, and whether they have been beneficial. One barometer of change in Western society is the level of ‘social capital’ (a concept popularised by Robert D. Putnam), which results from high levels of investment by citizens in their community. Putnam’s investigation of American society, Bowling Alone (2000), considers the full range of changes affecting America (and all western societies): declining participation in institutional Christianity; less involvement in sport and recreational clubs, politics, charitable causes, and volunteer work; and a radical re-shaping of the family though divorce, a lower birth rate, and a disinclination to marry at all. These trends, Putnam argues, result in diminished social capital. Putnam’s analysis of America holds for the three Anglophone members of George W. Bush’s ‘coalition of the willing,’ America, Britain and Australia, and may explain why hawkish, right-wing governments are the people’s choice at the start of the 21st century, despite an unprecedented liberality and inclusiveness throughout the second half of the 20th century. Putnam notes a range of factors responsible for civic disengagement: suburban sprawl; the popularity of television and electronic media; changed work patterns, including the large-scale entry of women into the workforce; and generational changes resulting in the ‘replacement of an unusually civic generation by several generations [Baby Boomers, Generations X and Y] †¦ that are less embedded in community life’ (p. 275). In the United States, where voting is optional, these developments dilute democracy, and societies with low participation rates tend to become distrustful. Untrusting citizens call for tougher; ‘law and order’ focused governments, resulting in the election of increasingly right-wing political parties. Social capital: 1. Definition The concept and theory of social capital dates back to the origins of social science; however, recent scholarship has focused on social capital as a subject of social organization and a potential source of value that can be harnessed and converted for strategic and gainful purposes. According to Robert David Putnam, the central premise of social capital is that social networks have value. Social capital refers to the collective value of all social networks and the inclinations that arise from these networks to do things for each other. Social capital refers to the institutions, relationships, and norms that shape the quality and quantity of a societys social interactions. Increasing evidence shows that social cohesion is critical for societies to prosper economically and for development to be sustainable. Social capital is not just the sum of the institutions that underpin a society; it is the glue that holds them together However, social capital may not always be beneficial. Horizontal networks of individual citizens and groups that enhance community productivity and cohesion are said to be positive social capital assets whereas self-serving exclusive gangs and hierarchical patronage systems that operate at cross purposes to communitarian interests can be thought of as negative social capital burdens on society. 2. History of the research on the concept Robert David Putnam, if not the first one to write on the issue, is considered as the major author on the concept of social capital. He is a U. S. political scientist and professor at Harvard University, and is well-known for his writings on civic engagement and civil society along with social capital. However, his work is concentrated on the United States only. His most famous (and controversial) work, Bowling Alone, argues that the United States has undergone an unprecedented collapse in civic, social, associational, and political life (social capital) since the 1960s, with serious negative consequences. Though he measured this decline in data of many varieties, his most striking point was that virtually every traditional civic, social, and fraternal organization had undergone a massive decline in membership. From his research, a working group has formed at Harvard University and is called Saguaro Seminar. Most definitions around the social capital concept, notably those used by the World Bank, come from Putnam’s work and this research. 3. Measuring social capital The Saguaro Seminar, in the continuation of Putnam’s work, has been elaborating various means to measure the level of social capital in different contexts. It says on its website that measurement of social capital is important for the three following reasons: (a) Measurement helps make the concept of social capital more tangible for people who find social capital difficult or abstract; (b) It increases our investment in social capital: in a performance-driven era, social capital will be relegated to second-tier status in the allocation of resources, unless organizations can show that their community-building efforts are showing results; and (c) Measurement helps funders and community organizations build more social capital. Everything that involves any human interaction can be asserted to create social capital, but the real question is does it build a significant amount of social capital, and if so, how much? Is a specific part of an organization’s effort worth continuing or should it be scrapped and revamped? Do mentoring programs, playgrounds, or sponsoring block parties lead more typically to greater social capital creation? Measuring social capital: Towards a theoretically informed measurement framework for researching social capital in family and community life. by Wendy Stone. Research paper no. 24, Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2001, 38p, ISBN 0 642 39486 5 To inform the Institutes Families, Social Capital and Citizenship project, this paper contributes to the development of clear links between theorised and empirical understandings of social capital by: establishing a theoretically informed measurement framework for empirical investigation of social capital; and reviewing existing measures of social capital in light of this framework. The paper concludes with a statement of guiding principles for the measurement and empirical investigation of social capital in family and community life. Social Capital as Credit Social capital, or aggregate reputation, is a form of credit. Some formal transactions can be supported by social capital. Informal transactions are rarely underpinned by financial credit or legal agreement and instead rely entirely social capital. We all have our internal calculators keeping tacit track of who is doing wrong and who is doing right, the health of the relationships and adjusting our actuarial tables according to experience. While undertaking government activities environment problems should also be considered. As it has became a global issue we need to take care of everything. Globalisation and cultural identity It is fair to say that the impact of globalization in the cultural sphere has, most generally, been viewed in a pessimistic light. Typically, it has been associated with the destruction of cultural identities, victims of the accelerating encroachment of a homogenized, westernized, consumer culture. This view, the constituency for which extends from (some) academics to anti-globalization activists (Shepard and Hayduk 2002), tends to interpret globalization as a seamless extension of – indeed, as a euphemism for – western cultural imperialism. In this discussion which follows we approach this claim with a good deal of skepticism. we will not seek to deny the obvious power of globalized capitalism to distribute and promote its cultural goods in every corner. Nor will we take up the argument – now very commonly made by critics of the cultural imperialism thesis (Lull 2000; Thompson 1995; Tomlinson 1991) that a deeper cultural impact cannot be easily inferred from the presence of such goods. What we will try to argue is something more specific: that cultural identity, properly understood, is much more the product of globalization than its victim. Identity as Treasure To begin, let us sketch the implicit (for it is usually implicit) reasoning behind the assumption that globalization destroys identities. Once upon a time, before the era of globalization, there existed local, autonomous, distinct and well-defined, robust and culturally sustaining connections between geographical place and cultural experience. These connections constituted one’s – and one’s community’s – ‘cultural identity’. This identity was something people simply ‘had’ as an undisturbed existential possession, an inheritance, a benefit of traditional long dwelling, of continuity with the past. Identity, then, like language, was not just a description of cultural belonging; it was a sort of collective treasure of local communities. But it was also discovered to be something fragile that needed protecting and preserving that could be lost. Into this world of manifold, discrete, but to various degrees vulnerable, cultural identities there suddenly burst (apparently around the middle of the 1980s) the corrosive power of globalization. Globalization, so the story goes, has swept like a flood tide through the world’s diverse cultures, destroying stable localities, displacing peoples, bringing a market-driven, ‘branded’ homogenization of cultural experience, thus obliterating the differences between locality-defined cultures which had constituted our identities. Though globalization has been judged as involving a general process of loss of cultural diversity, some of course did better, some worse out of this process. Identity as Cultural Power Let us begin with identity, a concept which surely lies at the heart of our contemporary cultural imagination. It is not, in fact, difficult in the prolific literature of analysis of the concept to find positions which contest the story of identity as the victim of globalization. Identity and Institutional Modernity This brings the central claim that globalization actually proliferates rather than destroys identities. In this respect we depart somewhat from Castells’s position: in setting identity as a sort of autonomous cultural dynamic, surging up from the grassroots as an oppositional force to globalization, Castells really fails to see the rather compelling inner logic between the globalization process and the institutionalized construction of identities. This, in other way, lies in the nature of the institutions of modernity that globalization distributes. To put the matter simply: globalization is really the globalization of modernity, and modernity is the harbinger of identity. It is a common assumption that identity-formation is a universal feature of human experience. Castells seems implicitly to take this view when he writes: ‘Identity is people’s source of meaning and experience’ (1997: 6). But whilst it is true that the construction of meaning via cultural practices is a human universal, it does not follow that this invariably takes the form of identity construction as we currently understand it in the global-modern West. This form of ethnocentric assumption has been recently criticized both by anthropologists and media and cultural critics. Globalization and Modernity To appreciate this, it is necessary to take a more complex view of the globalization process than is often adopted – certainly in the polemical discourses of the anti-globalization movement, where globalization is essentially understood as the globalization of capitalism, achieved in its cultural aspect via a complicate western dominated media system. This more complex, multidimensional conceptualization, which views globalization as operating simultaneously and interrelated in the economic, technological-communicational, political and cultural spheres of human life, is in fact relatively un-contentious – at least in principle – within academic discourses. But the cultural implication, rather less easily swallowed by some, is that globalization involves not the simple enforced distribution of a particular western (say, liberal, secular, possessive-individualist, capitalist-consumerist) lifestyle, but a more complicated dissemination of the entire range of institutional features of cultural modernity. References Putnam, R (2001) Bowling Alone: the collapse and revival of American community, Touchstone, London Tomlinson, J (1999) Globalisation and culture, Policy Press, Cambridge Social capital: http://www. jrc. es/home/report/english/articles/vol85/ICT4E856. htm http://www. envplan. com/ http://www. infed. org/thinkers/putnam. htm http://www. naturaledgeproject. net/NAON_ch11. aspx

Fahrenheit 451 And 1984 - The Fear Of Utopia Essay -- Ray Bradburys F

Several conflicting frames of mind have played defining roles in shaping humanity throughout the twentieth century. Philosophical optimism of a bright future held by humanity in general was taken advantage of by the promise of a better life through sacrifice of individuality to the state. In the books Brave New World, 1984, and Fahrenheit 451 clear opposition to these subtle entrapments was voiced in similarly convincing ways. They first all established, to varying degrees of balance, the atmosphere and seductiveness of the â€Å"utopia† and the fear of the consequences of acting in the non-prescribed way through character development. A single character is alienated because of their inability to conform – often in protest to the forced conditions of happiness and well being. Their struggle is to hide this fact from the state’s relentless supervision of (supposedly) everything. This leads them to eventually come into conflict with some hand of the state which se rves as the authors voice presenting the reader with the ‘absurdity’ of the principles on which the society is based. The similar fear of the state’s abuse of power and technology at the expense of human individuality present within these novels speaks to the relevance of these novels within their historical context and their usefulness for awakening people to the horrendous consequences of their ignorance. In these novels the main characters are, or become, unable to conform to the society’s standards. These characters represent the authors’ view of the ‘utopia’ as they see it with the veil of ignorance removed. In 1984, for instance, we start out with a character, Winston, who is constantly observing the ironies of the world about him. Through his job at the ministry of truth, he becomes a hand of the state, creating fiction to support its endeavors: â€Å"Comrade Ogilvy, unimagined an hour ago, was now a fact †¦ he would exist just as authentically †¦ as Charlemange and Julius Caesar.† (1984, p54) As the book progresses he becomes more aware of his individuality and eventually is unable to hide it. Similarly in Fahrenheit 451, Montag becomes aware of problems with his society, but not logically - emotionally. It disturbs him greatly when a medical team that helps his wife appear and disappear within a matter of minutes: â€Å"There are too many of us, he thought. There are billions of us and that’s too many. Nobo... ...n Brave New World , John, a ‘savage’ not raised by the society asks the world leader, Mustapha Mond, why they do not show films like Othello. Mustapha cites that not showing that kind of film is the â€Å"price we have to pay for stability.† As well, he speaks of the necessity for different classes of people to be in operation, even though more efficient methods through science exist. The prime directive of all these ‘utopias’ is to pacify their public and either thrill them with the collective being of a nation, or sedate them with excitement and drugs. The authors therefor saw the ‘utopian’ societies to be a trap for weak minded publics, and that once in place, such systems would be able to perpetuate indefinitely due to the efficiency at which they protect and propagate themselves. Through fear, diversion and sedation the utopia can maintain a strong grip on the people it encompasses before anyone realizes the sacrifices made. The popularity of these books does rule out the possibility of such a society coming into existence in the future, however. The state of people is not about to change, and their ignorance will continue regardless of the harshness of the wake up calls issued.

TBL approach

Three stages could be involved in this cycle of continuous improvement, which tend to build on each others over time. These are Compliance: Many enterprises will decide to adopt the TUB approach in order to simply comply with the buyers' expectations or local regulations, with aim of retaining their â€Å"license to operate† in the face of buyers' demands or government inspections.Efficiency: With time or sometimes in parallel with the pressures to comply enterprises will come under pressure to improve performance and they will use this pressure, handled through a TUB approach, as a driver for cost savings, productivity improvements and quality enhancements focusing on process efficiency and resource utilization. This option offers a mix of cost saving and productivity improvements.Differentiation: Later on the enterprises involved for sometime In the TUB process thought of using the TUB approach strategically, aiming at strengthening their competitive position by moving them from being â€Å"price takers† to being â€Å"price setters† Criteria for selection of industries: The enterprises are Seems (Small and Medium scale Enterprises) Significant direct or indirect exporter The existence of at least some management capacity and the availability of an information system Significant level of Interests shown by person within the enterprise with a track record of leadership or Innovation and the authority(CEO/ Chairman/Plant manager) to sustain an Initiative such as TUB In the face of competing pressures A clear potential for Improvement Likelihood of effect arising from changes at the selected enterprise Basic stages of any sustained TUB process: The basic stages of any sustained TUB process Includes Enrolment:Being prepared for to â€Å"sign up† for the program In the beginning Application: Being prepared to commit company's resources especially staff time to Investigating company's performance Implementation: Being prepared to Invest resources In Implementing options arising from the TUB process Maintenance: Being prepared to sustain over the long term, the Minimal gains made as a result of Implementing Improved options CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT By businesswoman Later on the enterprises involved for sometime in the TUB process thought of information system Significant level of interests shown by person within the enterprise with a track record of leadership or innovation and the authority(CEO/ Chairman/Plant manager) to sustain an initiative such as TUB in the face of competing pressures A clear potential for improvement The basic stages of any sustained TUB process includes Enrolment: Being prepared for to â€Å"sign up† for the program in the beginning Application: investigating company's performance Implementation: Being prepared to invest resources in implementing options arising from the TUB Being prepared to sustain over the long term, the initial gains made as a result of implementing improved options

Extensive Notes: Role of Operations Management

Business Studies Notes Role of operation management: Strategic role of operations management- Operations refer to the business processes that involve transformation or, more generally, ‘production’. Applies both to the manufacturing and services sector. Turning raw materials and resources into outputs of finished goods or products. Qantas operations are strategically important because most organizational activity comprises the day to day activities within the operation function. * Cost leadership- Cost leadership involves aiming to have the lowest costs or to be the most price-competitive in the market.Qantas; Economies of scale, these are minimizations of cost because of the size of the business. Standardization, the more variations Qantas’ services like the types and frequency of the routes the higher production cost per unit. Technology, the adoption and application of advances in technology directly impact on production costs, reduction in labour costs. Waste, minimizing waste will deliver the lowest production costs, excess production, underutilization of labour or equipment, faulty or defective production and excess inventory. Goods/service differentiation- this approach does not mean competing on cost but by adding features to differentiate its products or service from its competitors. Qantas, Australia’s largest airline offering the most comprehensive domestic and international coverage. City flyer express service means that there are flights every 30 minutes in peak periods between the major capital cities in Australia. Also 76 international destinations. Qantas budget airline Jet star.Goods and services in different industries- manufacturing- standardized or customized products, perishable or non-perishable products, intermediate goods service- standardized (fast food) or customized (doctors, legal services etc. ) or even self-service. Interdependence with other key business functions- human resources, finance and marketing –exist because of and to support the operations function. However, operations cannot succeed with out their contribution to and direct participation in the transformation of inputs into the final outputs.Qantas recruitment- for everyone from pilots to baggage handlers and cleaners. Training and development- newer planes need to retrain pilots, maintenance crews and cabin staff to effectively integrate the new craft. Retained staff- invested heavily in training pilots and maintenance staff to the high level required in this industry, so they want to retain them. Influences Globalization; refers to the removal of barriers of trade between nations, creating new market opportunities.Characterized by integration between national economies, transfer of capital, labour, financial resources and technology. Qantas- launching new airlines in Asia, cost minimization to be more internationally competitive Technology: innovation of devices. Communication, keeping up with competitors, supp ly chain management, quality expectations. Qantas- newer planes, newer operational processes, more training required Quality expectations- how well designed, made and functional goods are, and the overall degree of competence with which service are organized and delivered.Qantas- new generation check in, new Q bad tags, newer planes, specially designed menus Cost-based completion; recognizes that prices cannot keep increasing and reducing cost is a way to maximize profits when revenues are fixed. Qantas- outsourcing, reform to HR practices employing more labour saving techniques, online bookings Government policies; political decisions affect the businesses rules and regulations, which in turn, directly affect the management of various key business functions.Qantas- more resources devoted to compliance Legal regulation; the regulations that shape business practices and procedures must be followed at the risk of penalty, hence the term compliance. Environmental sustainability; enviro nmental sustainability means that business operations should shaped around practices that consume resources today without compromising access to those resources for future generations. Qantas- purchasing new, environmentally sensitive aircraft, recycling, fuel conservationCorporate social responsibility; (CSR) is an important influence on business and its integrates financial social and environmental goals. Qantas- health surveillance program, energy and water conservation, recycling. * The difference between legal compliance and ethical responsibility; legal compliance refers to business abiding by the word of the law, where as ethical responsibility encompasses a much broader integration of social community and environmental concerns * Environmental sustainability and social responsibly:. Businesses are being asked to take increasing responsibility for the protection of the environment.The Earth is a fragile system, and needs high levels of support and informed intervention so tha t it may sustain itself. Qantas cultural diversity, reconciliation action plan is a program, which focuses on employing indigenous Australia’s. Also new aircraft now being delivered use less fuel per passenger. Social responsibility is good business — customers eventually find out which businesses are acting responsibly and which are not. Customers can react and stop buying a business’s product if they learn that the business is exploiting employees, accepting bribes or polluting the environment.Operations processes Inputs; labour, Energy, raw materials, machinery and technology (capital equipment) * Transformed resources: materials, information and customers. Are those inputs that are changed or converted in the operations process. The operations processes transform them. Transformed resources are also considered the resources that give the operations process its purpose or goal * Materials: Are the basic elements used in the production process and consist of t wo types: raw materials and intermediate goods. Raw: normally substances in their natural state such as mineral ore, timber oil and water. Qantas is the expensive fuel they use. * Intermediate good: which are goods manufactured and used in further manufacturing or processing. Qantas: examples are the food and ingredients for their catering services, stationary and computers * Information: is the knowledge gained from research, investigation and instruction, which result in an increase in understanding. The value of information lies mainly in its ability to influence behavior or decision-making.Qantas: in individual bookings (information) made by the customers are analyzed and transformed into decision as to which aircraft to use, which services are to offer. * Customers: Customers are generally thought of as being relevant to outputs, not inputs. Customers become transformed resources when their choices shape inputs. Qantas: customers are transformed by having their location changed from their starting point to the new destination. * Transforming resources (human resource, facilities): which are those inputs that carry out the transformation process.They enable the change and value adding to occur * Human resources: These are the people who assemble the inputs, operate and maintain the machinery and equipment used in the processes, fulfill the sales function, distribute the output and deal with the customers. Qantas this means everyone from cleaners and baggage handlers to the pilots and sales managers. * Facilities (capital): refer to the plant (factory or office) and machinery used in the operations processes.Major decisions include the design layout of the facilities, the number of facilities to be used, their location and their capacity. Qantas this includes the terminal buildings and their contents, maintenance facilities, spare parts holdings, aircraft, and even computers and motor vehicles. * Transformation processes: The main concept of operations proc esses is transformation, which is the conversion of inputs (resources) into outputs (goods or services). * The influence of volume, variation in demand and visibility (customer contact) * Volume: Volume refers to how much of a product is made.Volume flexibility refers to how quickly the transformation process can adjust to increases or decreases in demand. Standardized products. * Variety: The influence of variety on transformation processes is: the greater the variety made, the more the operations process needs to allow for variation. * Variation in demand: a variation in demand can impact significantly on transformation resources. An increase in demand will require increased inputs from suppliers, increased human resources, increased energy use and increased use of machinery and technology.Predicting demand. Qantas, experiences a predictable major increase in demand for school holidays and special events. * Visibility: Customer contact may be direct or indirect. Direct contact tak es the form of customer feedback given through surveys, interviews, warranty claims, letters, Indirect feedback comes through a review of sales data that gives an indication of customer preferences and market share data, through an observation of peoples’ decision-making processes and through consumer reviews.Because businesses seek to maximize sales, customer contact is essential and ultimately shapes the transformation processes. Qantas is high visibility because there is customer contact throughout the whole process. * Sequencing and scheduling: Sequencing and scheduling are two very important aspects that assist with structuring and ordering the transformation processes. Sequencing refers to the order in which activities in the operations process occur. Scheduling refers to the length of time activities take within the operations process.Qantas: flight schedule that a customer sees shows departure and arrival times. It also includes making sure that each flight has crews. (pilots, cabin, catering) * Grantt Charts: The Gantt chart outlines the activities that need to be performed, the order in which they should be performed and how long each activity is expected to take * Critical path analysis: The Critical Path Analysis (CPA) is a scheduling method or technique that shows what tasks need to be done, how long they take and what order is necessary to complete those tasks. Technology, task design and process layout: Qantas: a major business expense for Qantas is the terminal, hanger and maintenance space is which the operations process takes place. Optimum process layout at Qantas is where machines and equipment are grouped together by function. This enables Qantas to utilise space and labour efficiently and eliminate bottlenecks. * Technology: technology is the application of science or knowledge that enables people to do new things or perform established tasks in new and better ways.Qantas: has facilitated increase productivity, very often by direct ly replacing human capital. Examples include online check in, online booking, and electronic bag tags. * Task design: Task design involves classifying job activities in ways that make it easy for an employee to successfully perform and complete the task. Qantas: the break down of the full transformation process into the individual tasks to be preformed. * Process layout: The process layout is the arrangement of machines such that the machines and equipment are grouped together by the function (or process) they perform. Monitoring, controlling and improvement: Monitoring and control lead to improvements when there is a focus on quality and standards. Qantas involve detecting and discrepancy between planned and actual activity, taking corrective action and intervening to impose new plans if necessary. * Monitoring: Monitoring is the process of measuring actual performance against planned performance. Monitoring involves the measuring of all aspects of operations, from supply chain man agement and the use of inputs, through to transformation processes and outputs. Controlling: Control occurs when KPIs are assessed against predetermined targets and corrective action is taken if required. This means controlling compares what was intended to happen with what has actually occurred. * Improvement: Improvement refers to systematic reduction of inefficiencies and wastage, poor work processes and the elimination of any bottlenecks. A bottleneck is an aspect of the transformation process that slows down the overall processing speed or creates an impediment leading to a backlog of incompletely processed products. Outputs: Essentially outputs are the result of a business’s efforts — the final good or service that is delivered or provided to the consumer * Customer service: f a customer expresses dissatisfaction with a product on account of it being defective, not meeting quality expectations, finds wait times/lead times too long or returns the product or makes a warranty claim, then the operations processes need review. Qantas: meets the needs of customers. Also has adopted the ‘net promoter score’ as a key measuring of customer service.Qantas closed loop feedback program enables direct feedback from its 1100 frequent flyers. * Warranties: Warranty claims are made against goods that have defects arising from an issue in transformation. Although a small proportion of warranty claims are false, the number of claims made against a business on a particular product line or product range will give an indication of problems in the processing. Operations strategies: * Performances objectives: Performance objectives are goals that relate to particular aspects of the transformation processes.These objectives or targets will be set so that the business becomes more efficient, productive and profitable. * Quality: consumer expectations, which are used to inform the production standards applied by the business often determines Quality. Qu ality of design, conformance, service. Qantas: means consistently producing its services to customer expectations, doing things right. Includes, clean and tidy aircraft, staff are courteous, helpful and friendly and their website is user friendly. * Speed: Speed refers to the time it takes for the production and the operations processes to respond to changes in market demand.Speed requires that changes in input levels and processing times can be made in response to demand. Qantas: customer asking for their service and getting it. Things to increase speed of service are booking flights on line, on-line check in, check in kiosks and Q bag tags. * Dependability: dependability, as a performance objective, refers to how consistent and reliable a business’s products are. Dependability, in respect of goods, refers to how long the products are useful before they fail. Dependability refers to consistency of service standards and reliability.Qantas: time departures and arrivals, Qantas has outperformed its rivals in these statistics its dependability has been seriously eroded in recent years because of mechanical failures, and industrial disputes. * Flexibility: flexibility refers to how quickly operations processes can adjust to changes in the market. Time and flexibility are related; the quicker the processing time the greater the likelihood that processes can be adjusted quickly. Qantas: ability to respond to changes in market demand, either by changing the products offered, changing the mix of products, changing the volume of product or by changing the delivery times.Jet Star is Qantas’ response to the competition of low cost airlines. * Customization: Customization refers to creation of individualized products to meet the specific needs of the customers. Services are generally customized, although aspects of services can be standardized as seen in the fast-food sector. Customization means giving Qantas customers more options by varying the product in minor ways. It varies its products by offering jet start and a more no frills alternative and offering different classes of seating. Cost: Cost as a performance objective refers to the minimization of expenses such that operations processes are conducted as cheaply as possible. Qantas has interest in keeping their cost as low as is compatible with the levels of quality, speed, dependability and flexibility that their customers require. * Supple chain management: Supply chain management (SCM) involves integrating and managing the flow of supplies throughout the inputs, transformation processes (throughput and value adding) and outputs to best meet the needs of customers.Supply chain management refers to controlling the flow of supplies though Qantas’ whole operations process from sourcing the raw materials like fuel to final delivery to and service of the service. Increased transaction speed and increased customer satisfaction. Inventory is a major expense in the operations pr ocess. Raw materials such as fuel must be sourced and purchased, they must be stored and be available, they must be moved and they must be transformed. * Global sourcing: modern operations involve increasing levels of global sourcing –obtaining suppliers with out being constrained to local sources.There are some risks involved because of changing exchange rates and coming under laws and customs, which apply in other countries. Qantas has employed some pilots in New Zealand and some cabin staff in Asia at lower wages that paid in Australian and has some engine maintenance carried out in Malaysia on a cost benefit basis. * E-commerce: This is simply buying and selling on the internet. This technology has had a major impact on SCM. It has replaced time consuming and costly manual processes of the past.It provides for real time information on Quantity, Quality, availability, source and price of all goods and services to be instantly accessible from a range of suppliers local and international. * Logistics: this is the task of ensuring tat Qantas has al the Physical inputs in the quantities needed in the right place at the right time (e. g. pilots, cabin crew, baggage handling, maintenance and catering) for the operations process (fights) to take place undisrupted and hence at optimum efficiency. * Outsourcing: Outsourcing involves the use of external providers to perform business activities.The theory behind outsourcing is that when an external provider that specializes in a particular business function performs a service, it will do so at a lower cost and with a greater effectiveness than the same task done within the business hierarchy. * Advantages of outsourcing for Qantas: * Saving capital outlay-factory space and machinery are provided by another business at their expense * Saving in labour-staff management and expenses are born by the other business * Increased dependability- more than one external supplier can be accessed, thus ensuring security of supply. Saving in cost- the other business can provide the input at a lower price than it can be done in-house. * Access to higher level skills- the other business contains skills that do not exist in-house * Increased flexibility- variations in demand are managed by other business * Saving in management- having set up contracts, management can concentrate only on the tasks it does perform in-house. * Disadvantages of outsourcing for Qantas: * Dependency-the operations process is now dependent on another party for supply of inputs; failures in that external supply chain can cause major internal disruption and expense. Loss of control and security- there can be loss in control of standards and vulnerability to proprietary and patent data and information accessible by the supplier * Quality- control is no longer exercised over the inputs used by the outsourced supplier * False economy- outsourced inputs can become more expensive over time so constant review of the decision is warrante d * Cost- the one-off expense of redundancies to staff no longer required is an offset to the savings from outsourcing. Technology: Technology in the operations function may be classified according to whether it applies to and improves inputs, transformations processes and outputs; or whether it makes the managerial and administrative functions smoother. * Leading edge: Leading edge technology is the technology that is the most advanced or innovative at any point in time. Operations managers can distinguish their operations processes by utilizing the best available technologies. This can help businesses to create products more quickly and to higher standards, with less waste, and also help a business to operate more effectively. Established technology: Established technology is the technology that has been developed and widely used, and is simply accepted without question. Such technologies include the use of computers and various software packages in managing business operations an d functions. Established technologies are functionally sound and help to establish basic standards for productivity and speed. Qantas was one of a number of airlines who placed advance orders for the new airbus A380, but they opted to make sure they were NOT the airline to receive the very First one. Inventory management: inventory refers to the raw materials, work in progress (unfinished goods still undergoing the transformation process) and finished goods held by the business at a point in time. The extent of these holdings is an important operational strategic decision, because they represent significant capital outlay (cost), which is yet to yield revenue. To hold excess quantities adds additional cost on production, but to hold too little can result in disruption to production and loss of sales because customer demand cannot be met.This is more of an issue for manufacturing businesses than for Qantas because they do not ‘store’ product to meet customer demand like a manufacturing one does. Inventory management is the system that manages the ordering, storage and recovery of the material inputs used in production. * Quality management: Quality management refers to those processes that a business undertakes to ensure consistency, reliability, safety and fitness of purpose of product. In operations, quality management includes quality controls at each stage of processing.Qantas has marketed as a high quality, perfect safety record, full service airline and commanded premium fares; at the other end of the spectrum is jet star which has traded quality for price and markets as a no frill low cost airline. * Quality control: programmed inspections are carried out at key stages of Qantas’ service (on a continuing basis) to ensure the process is meeting specified standards. If not, then management intervenes and corrective action is taken to bring the process back within standards.It attempts to solve the root cause of Quality problems at Qanta s * Quality assurance: the minimum level of satisfactory quality at all stages of the process is continually monitored at Qantas by actual measurement and comparison against pre-determined standards. It attempts to broaden the organizational responsibility for quality at Qantas. * Quality improvement: Maintaining competitive advantage is not only a matter of maintaining quality of output; the aim must be to improve quality over time by reducing error, and finding better ways of performing the tasks leading to lower cost or higher quality at the same cost.All staff are invited to participate with suggestions and ideas. It also involves Qantas’ customers and suppliers. It attempts to make quality both central and strategic within Qantas. * Overcoming resistance the change. : All businesses are subject to change from the external environment. Legislative and regulatory changes, changes in economic conditions, social changes over time and technological breakthroughs all impact on the business and shape its operations.Moreover, change can also come from within the business through the initiative of staff or the application of technology and a focus on innovation. * Financial costs: One major cause of a resistance to change from managers and business owners is that of financial costs. The main financial costs associated with change include the:, cost of purchasing new equipment, cost of redundancies, costs of retraining employees, costs associated with structural reorganisation of the business, including changes to plant and equipment layouts. Purchasing new equipment: Qantas plan to spend $US 22 billion in new technology and equipment between 2011 and 2018. * Redundancy costs: to implement staff reductions incurs mandatory redundancy payments to the workers retrenched. The alternative to redundancies is to rely on attrition and recruit casual and part time workers. * Retraining costs: significant change incurs retraining expenditure. The adoption of the new reservation system, introduction of new business class, annual security training and engineering and maintenance for are aircraft. Plant layout cost: acquiring new aircraft requires re-organization of maintenance operations to seek increased capacity and efficiency. Jetstar is replacing Boeing 717s with airbus A380s so a new heavy maintenance base becomes necessary because the existing one cannot accommodate the larger planes. The A380 also requires refurbishment of the Qantas Jet base. * Inertia: the unenthusiastic response of some managers, some staff and even some of the owners is an impediment to change and will be evident and will have to be overcome.

The welfare myth essays

The welfare myth essays Advertising is a form of selling. Since 1872 there have been individuals who have tried to persuade others to buy the food they have produced, but none of course like the Chocolate they make at the Hershey Factory. But the mass production of goods resulting from the Industrial revolution in the 19th century made person-to-person selling less efficient than it previously was for most products. The mass distribution of goods that followed the development of rail and highway systems made person-to-person selling too slow and expensive for almost all companies including Hershey. At the same time, however, a growth in mass communication occurred first newspapers and magazines then radio and television that made mass selling possible. Advertising, then, is merely selling or salesmanship functioning in the paid space or time of various mass communication media. The objective of any advertisement is to convince a person that is in their best interest to take an action the advertiser i s recommending. This is the case with the Hershey chocolate bar. Advertising as a business developed first and most rapidly in the United States, the country that uses it to the greatest extent. Those that use it most are companies that must create a demand for several products among many people residing in a large area. Such as, the Hershey Bar in high compulsion for people of all age groups. Advertising makes the product so available. So let me begin by telling you a brief history of chocolate. Everyone thinks of chocolate as a flavoring or desert spice for food. As a food and a flavoring, chocolate is widely popular. People everywhere enjoy chocolate candies, pastries and drinks. Chocolate is made from seeds, or beans, of the tropical cacao tree. The beans grow inside ...

Student Uniforms essays

Student Uniforms essays Picture yourself when you were 17 again, right before walking into your math class. As you are entering, all 32 heads raises up to glance as if you were walking down the red carpet in Hollywood. It could be one of those latest flare jeans from GAP. Doesnt anybody pay attention to whats on the chalkboard rather than being curious of what other students are wearing or even think? The school should adapt a mandatory rule where all students are required to wear uniforms. The adoption of school uniform polices can promote a school safety, improve discipline, and enhance the learning environment. If teenagers are willing to participate in wearing uniforms in an educational environment, they will be able to achieve better grades. One of the important ways how uniforms can benefit a student is by eliminating the distractions whenever a student wears the latest trend or designer clothes. For an example, if one of my closest friends came to school wearing a pair of blue dirty faded Diesel jeans, it would catch my attention right away because Im more focused on where she got her new jeans then reading my text book. According to the Archived Information, a legislative act posted a mandatory policy for the state of Washington at South Shore Middle School. Students were able to purchase a uniform at a reasonable cost. The uniforms prices were ranging from 25$ to 30$. In comparison, it was much cheaper to buy uniforms than to purchase the high fashion clothes from the mall especially for a low income family. The American values usually include in stilling students with discipline that allows them to attain the essentials of good citizenship. It is one of the beneficial ways that will keep parents and students resist peer pressure. There is usually a group of people who claims to be popular by enforcing other young adults to wear certain clothes in order to fit into their clique. A stud ...

How the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn Were Named

How the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn Were Named The Tropic of Cancer was named because at the time of its naming, the sun was positioned in the Cancer constellation during the  June solstice. Likewise, the Tropic of Capricorn was named because the sun was in the constellation Capricorn during the  December solstice. The naming took place about 2000 years ago, and the sun is no longer in those constellations at that time of year.  At the June solstice, the  Sun  is in Taurus, and at the December solstice, the sun is in Sagittarius. Why the Tropics Are Important Geographic features like the equator are reasonably straightforward, but the Tropics can be confusing. The Tropics were marked off because they are both places within the hemisphere where it is possible to have the sun directly overhead. This was an important distinction for ancient travelers who used the heavens to guide their way. In an age  when our smartphones know  where we are at all times, its hard to imagine how hard getting around used to be. For much of human history, the position of the sun and stars was often all explorers and traders had to navigate by.   Where the Tropics Are The Tropic of Capricorn can be found at latitude 23.5 degrees south. The Tropic of Cancer is at 23.5 degrees north. The equator is the circle where the sun can be found directly overhead at noon.   What the Major Circles of Latitude Are Circles of latitude are an abstract east and west circle that connects all places on Earth. Latitude and longitude are used as addresses for every part of the globe. On maps  latitude  lines are horizontal, and longitude lines are vertical. There is an infinite  number of latitude circles on earth. Arcs of latitude are sometimes used to define the boundary between countries that lack distinctive geographic borders like mountain ranges or deserts. There are five major circles of latitude. Arctic CircleTropic of CancerEquatorTropic of CapricornAntarctic Circle Living in the Torrid Zone The circles of latitude also serve to mark the boundaries between the geographical zones. The zone between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic  of Cancer is known as the Torrid Zone.  In the United States, this area is more commonly known as the tropics. This area comprises almost forty  percent of the globe. It is projected that by the year 2030, half of the global population will live in this area. When one considers the climate of the tropics its easy to see why so many people want to live there.   The tropics are known for their lush green vegetation  and moist climate. Average  temperatures range from warm to hot year round. Many places in the tropics experience rainy seasons which range from one to several months of consistent rainfall. Incidents of malaria tend to rise during rainy seasons. Some areas in the tropics such as the Sahara desert or Australian outback are defined as dry rather than tropical.

Anti-Globalization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Anti-Globalization - Essay Example Globalization is portrayed as a positive thing from which undeveloped countries can benefit. However an alternative view suggests something else. Some people are of the view that through the excuse of globalization the developed countries are exploiting the weak economies. They are making the undeveloped countries dependant on themselves and would eventually result in making them their slaves. The theory behind the movement was so strong and convincing that it brought together the ideological school of thoughts who believed in anarchism and communism, and the activists who have a much pragmatic approach to life. Before this movement nothing had worked in order to unite these two opposite forces. The ideology behind the movement is as I have previously mentioned, strong economies use the excuse of globalization to further strengthen their economies and in the process drain the weak economies. Basically, globalization is giving rise to accumulation of wealth and power. The strong are getting stronger and the weak weaker. The undeveloped countries have started becoming increasingly dependant on the developed nations and thus the developed countries are in a position to make or break them. One of the ba... They do not understand the basic value systems. For instance Pakistan's electricity company has been taken over by a Saudi company and now Pakistan is facing the worse electricity crisis ever. According to Noreena Hertz, in her book 'The silent takeover' "Corporations have become behemoths, huge global giants that wield immense political power" and in the process of their evolution, "justice, equity, rights, the environment, and even issues of national security fall by the wayside." This as we can see is very true. Another major issue is that anti-globalization activists believe that the concept of intellectual property has been overly dramatized and stretched. Now information and intellectual property which used to be possessed collectively by a country or an ethnic group is being retained by a smaller portion of people. Thus sharing of resources has finished. The people cling on to their intellectual property and share very little of it with others. Thus weaker people can not benefit from it and are at a loss. Generally they are the big companies who have retained this kind of intellectual property thus their market concentration increases. Labor issues are also a major back bone of the movement. Referring back to the privatization of Pakistan electric company we see that the developed countries are influencing the developing countries to privatize their businesses. This is because in their opinion privatization is a good thing and therefore they are forcing others to go for it too. However privatization causes unemployment for many of the employees. There have been many influential works seen in the movement. Examples of them include Naomi Klien's book 'NO Logo'. This book talks about the unethical side of the production processes of the multi

Assignment one Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Assignment one - Essay Example It has been observed that currently, tax laws are drafted in such a manner that they can reduce possibilities of tax avoidance. However, tax planning also paves way for lessening tax liability. The difference between tax avoidance and evasion is highlighted in the report along with appropriate examples. The report also elaborates on failure of the UK tax system, which attempted to equalise tax policies for all income group. The reason why taxation policies of UK are influenced by international and EU policies are depicted in the report. The methods are practised for reducing amount of tax paid by people. The main difference between the methods is that one employs legal means; whereas, the other is illegal and can be referred as tax fraud. The professionals, who are engaged in the documentation, help individuals in employing such illegal means for cutting down tax liability, which is highly penalized. Tax avoidance is referred as the â€Å"legal exploitation of tax regime to ones own advantage† (Azimuddin Law Associates, 2013). The attempt is undertaken in order to reduce tax amount, which are payable as per the tax laws and are fully disclosed in documents to tax authorities. The examples of tax avoidance can be cited as tax deductions and modifying business structure by incorporating or establishing an offshore for a company in tax haven (Simplified Finance, 2014; Azimuddin Law Associates, 2013). Tax evasion is referred as illegal practice for escaping tax. In this process, taxable income, profit that is liable for tax or other activities for taxation is hidden. The amount of income is misrepresented or the tax reducing factors like, exemptions or credits and deductions, are purposely overstated. The method can be regarded as an isolated incident within legal activities. Tax evasion occurs in informal economy, where illegal activities are extensively prevalent. This indicates the fact that the

Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 93

Marketing - Essay Example The cupcakes are paired with an espresso that compliments the distinct flavors (Larson et al. 7). Customers who are widely located in the Seattle area receive good attendance in addition to after-sales-services. Cupcake Royale offers delivery to customers who are unable visit the location. In addition, the company provides rental of Cupcake Royale’s party cart. The cart can be brought to any place the customer is in the Seattle area. Trophy Cupcakes (TC) is the top competitor to Cupcake Royale. Trophy Cupcake has dominated the social media to capture more customers. It uses Facebook and Twitter to post events, polls and promotions such as cupcake happy hour. TC has collaborated with Molly Moons ice cream shop where they sell cupcakes at all Moon Locations (Larson et al. 9). The grocery store has also undermined the market of Cupcake Royale Company. Cupcake Royale, however, has maintained the competition by improving its products and increasing its market cover. In addition to 10 new flavors of ice cream to the existing cupcake has expanded Cupcake Royale to six branches (Jones 1). The new Rodeo donut is of exceptional quality. It is made from brioche dough, which includes eggs yolks, eggs, and butter instead of shortening like normal dough (Guanco 1). The brioche has flavor featuring vanilla beans, orange flower water, orange zest and honey instead of sugar. Cupcake Royale Company’s goal emphasizes quality over quantity. That has allowed its current market situation has grown. Guanco, Frank. Rodeo Donut Pop Up At Ballard’s Cupcake Royale. Komonews. March 26, 2015. Web. May 25, 2015 Jones, Sara. Cupcake Royale Owner and Pastry Chef Launch 3 New Ventures. Seattle. March 23, 2015. Web. May 25, 2015 Larson, Devin., Newby,

Sustainability and the Green Supply Chain Essay

Sustainability and the Green Supply Chain - Essay Example This can be justified with reference to the fact that contemporary organisations intend to develop green supply chain related procedure in order to sustain in this competitive landscape and thereby, preserve their leadership positioning. The notion of Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM) is often identified as the key attribute in such measures applied by contemporary organisations, fundamentally described as â€Å"the process of using environmentally friendly inputs and transforming these inputs into outputs that can be reclaimed and re-used at the end of their lifecycle thus, creating a sustainable supply chain† (Cognizant, 2008). It is worth mentioning that a sustainable supply chain is typically observed as a sole entity instead of a sequence of fragmented constituents that encompass various significant aspects such as manufacturing, procurement and distribution among others (Rushton & et. al., 2010). It can thus be apparently observed that the focus of a sustainable GSCM is to support modern organisations through increased customer value, profitability along with overall productivity and attaining superior competitive positioning over their chief business market participants (Christopher, 2012; Wisner, 2011). The major facets of a sustainable GSCM include safeguarding the environment, value creation, fostering innovation in every operational procedure of the organisation, forming as well as developing effective interrelation with every organisational member and minimising any sort of hazards that are likely to arise while performing diverse operational functions. Specially mentioning, the modern organisations tend to prioritise forming a sustainable GSCM, owing to certain significant benefits that it delivers to them in this present globalisation and technological era. These benefits are usually recognised in the form of enhanced brand image, lessened logistics, manufacturing or other related costs, optimised manufacturing procedures, expansion to n ew business markets and developed SCM process among others (Morana, 2013; Dai, 2011; Cognizant, 2008). With this concern, the essay intends to describe the imperative aspect of sustainability and green supply chain by considering a particular real organisation, which has an international profile. In this regard, BP plc has been taken into concern as the organisation. The major concerns of sustainability along with green supply chain relating to BP plc have also been described in this essay. A Brief Background of BP plc BP plc, which was formerly acknowledged as British Petroleum, is currently regarded as one of the foremost global oil and gas companies throughout the globe. The company conducts its operational functions in numerous nations, employing a substantial number of personnel that stood at nearly 85,900 during the year 2012 (BP plc, 2013). The company mainly deals with various sorts of business functions ranging from delivering fuel to customers for transportation, energy fo r light along with heat and lubricants for keeping diverse kinds of machines to petrochemical products that are used for preparing daily items (BP plc, 2013). The mission of the company is to become a worldwide leader in the respective industry. The company focuses upon maintaining certain values that are coined as one team, respect, safety, excellence and respect in order to attain its predetermined business targets (BP plc, 2013). Assessing its recent sustainable strategies, it has been recognised that BP is often regarded as one of the well-known brands, which has been operating since its commencement in the 19th century. One of the major strengths of the company can be apparently observed in terms that it

Using two historically different product design examples examine how Essay

Using two historically different product design examples examine how design has contrubuted to a particular stereotyping of Nature - Essay Example Designers are the translators of technological concepts and prototypes into marketable products. All types of products from foodstuffs to houses and landscapes; have undergone some kind of design. In fact design is the new engine of modern consumerism. First developed by Raymond Lowley, and later developed by US Government psychology â€Å"think tanks† such as Edward Berneys, in the 1930s to enable USA to experience economic growth; consumerism was a fundamental paradigm shift from product durability to product ephemerality. Ephemeral products are short lived thus encouraging people to go out and buy the â€Å"modern†, â€Å"latest†, â€Å"in vogue† or simply â€Å"new† products, while constantly disposing of old ones, Raizman, D (2003). The emergence and development of computers played a crucial role in the new culture of consumerism. As this culture grew; and played a key expediency role for government, encouraging people to concentrate on consumption, thus leaving the important role of running the state to the politicians from the 1950s onwards; computer design became its key component. With the advent of television in the 1960s, consumerism went global and thus dictated the way of life worldwide. Through advertising, television became a conduit of international communication and consumer culture. Guy Julier (2007) notes that design is currently dominated by the belief that the identity of the consumer is defined by the products they buy. Consumerism is undoubtedly well rooted in societal culture. Computer design soon took on aesthetics and ergonomics, which today dominate hypermarket shelves, glossy magazine covers, shop windows and homes. Claudia Dona (1980) noted that the world is overflowing with our own creations which besiege us and often distance us from one another physically and mentally. There is a social distance, which seems physical, between those who drive a certain design of car and those who don’t, even

Sustainability and the Green Supply Chain Essay

Sustainability and the Green Supply Chain - Essay Example This can be justified with reference to the fact that contemporary organisations intend to develop green supply chain related procedure in order to sustain in this competitive landscape and thereby, preserve their leadership positioning. The notion of Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM) is often identified as the key attribute in such measures applied by contemporary organisations, fundamentally described as â€Å"the process of using environmentally friendly inputs and transforming these inputs into outputs that can be reclaimed and re-used at the end of their lifecycle thus, creating a sustainable supply chain† (Cognizant, 2008). It is worth mentioning that a sustainable supply chain is typically observed as a sole entity instead of a sequence of fragmented constituents that encompass various significant aspects such as manufacturing, procurement and distribution among others (Rushton & et. al., 2010). It can thus be apparently observed that the focus of a sustainable GSCM is to support modern organisations through increased customer value, profitability along with overall productivity and attaining superior competitive positioning over their chief business market participants (Christopher, 2012; Wisner, 2011). The major facets of a sustainable GSCM include safeguarding the environment, value creation, fostering innovation in every operational procedure of the organisation, forming as well as developing effective interrelation with every organisational member and minimising any sort of hazards that are likely to arise while performing diverse operational functions. Specially mentioning, the modern organisations tend to prioritise forming a sustainable GSCM, owing to certain significant benefits that it delivers to them in this present globalisation and technological era. These benefits are usually recognised in the form of enhanced brand image, lessened logistics, manufacturing or other related costs, optimised manufacturing procedures, expansion to n ew business markets and developed SCM process among others (Morana, 2013; Dai, 2011; Cognizant, 2008). With this concern, the essay intends to describe the imperative aspect of sustainability and green supply chain by considering a particular real organisation, which has an international profile. In this regard, BP plc has been taken into concern as the organisation. The major concerns of sustainability along with green supply chain relating to BP plc have also been described in this essay. A Brief Background of BP plc BP plc, which was formerly acknowledged as British Petroleum, is currently regarded as one of the foremost global oil and gas companies throughout the globe. The company conducts its operational functions in numerous nations, employing a substantial number of personnel that stood at nearly 85,900 during the year 2012 (BP plc, 2013). The company mainly deals with various sorts of business functions ranging from delivering fuel to customers for transportation, energy fo r light along with heat and lubricants for keeping diverse kinds of machines to petrochemical products that are used for preparing daily items (BP plc, 2013). The mission of the company is to become a worldwide leader in the respective industry. The company focuses upon maintaining certain values that are coined as one team, respect, safety, excellence and respect in order to attain its predetermined business targets (BP plc, 2013). Assessing its recent sustainable strategies, it has been recognised that BP is often regarded as one of the well-known brands, which has been operating since its commencement in the 19th century. One of the major strengths of the company can be apparently observed in terms that it

The future of privacy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The future of privacy - Essay Example Privacy is a fundamental right, and everyone is entitled to it. Understanding that technology will keep developing will help find better ways that will curb the violation of privacy. It is not possible to know the kind of technology that will be there in years to come, and that is why we need to be prepared for anything. Passwords will no longer be safe to be used for privacy measures, and this will call for new methods to be used to guarantee the users security. Many and more people are now conversant with computer networks, and it is now easy to hack into someone’s account, and gain access to their private information. There have been cases where Twitter and Facebook accounts of individuals have been hacked. The hacker controls what is posted and shared on the account. With future privacy laws, the social sites have to find better ways to avert this problem. Without this, few people will continue using the sites considering that their privacy is not guaranteed. With all the new methods of communication, everyone wants to share information with their friends and even strangers. This can be done through social sites which include, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or any other sites that may come up in the future. To control the privacy of what is shared, an individual should ensure that he or she safeguards his privacy. This means that he or she has to have a limit of what he wants to share with people on these social sites. â€Å"This state of affairs means that unless individuals can protect their own privacy they lose power† (Lanier 66). Surveillance is used by employers to ensure that there is a smooth flow in business operations. It is, however, debatable about the extent that the surveillance cameras should be placed. Cameras in a washroom, for instance, are considered as a serious violation of human rights. Surveillance footages capture employee’s moments that are otherwise considered private, and boundaries should be set

Cuisines & Traditions Essay Example for Free

Cuisines Traditions Essay We will discuss in our assignment the different cultural traditional cuisines of top five countries which influenced the food now being eaten. Then later in second phase of assignment we will discuss the traditional food preparation and dinning patterns of these five countries. SPAIN: Spanish cuisines are dominated by fresh produce, light seasoning of seafood from the Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, and fresh water mountain streams. For the purpose of culinary, we divided Spain into seven regions: Canary Islands, North Coast, North Interior, Central Plains, Northeast, Southeast Coast, South. The North Coast is cool, wet lush. It is known for its famous Basque culinary traditions, cuisine here is highly valued. Basque cooking techniques includes slow simmering in olive oil and subtle red green sauces. Fish dishes flourish with the northernmost region, and famous for its assorted and finer sea foods. Huge variety of herbs used with lamb and veal. The most popular cuisines are fish and meat pie. North interior is popular for local trout. White asparagus, baby artichokes, peas, potatoes, beans, wheat and sweet pepper are grown along with rivers. This region is particularly famous for its simple cooking techniques and popular dishes are bread sauteed with meats, eggs vegetables. Central plains are famous for fresh meat, beans and sausage. Saffron and cheese is commonly used in their food. Catalonia is famous for its unique combinations of food like squid with pork, rabbit with raisins. Romesco sauce and sweet seasonings are used to flavor savory dishes. Spanish Levant or Southeast Coast is famous for its huge groves of citrus fruit, grapevine yards and vegetable farms. This region is popular for its well known seafood dish. â€Å"Paella†. MOROCCO: Moroccan cuisine is the culinary star of its region North Africa. As it is at the cross roads of many civilizations, It is blended with Arab, Berber, Moorish, French, Middle Eastern, African, Iberian Jewish influences. Moroccan cuisines are rich with fruits, fresh or dried like apricots, dates, figs and raisins. Moroccan chicken and pigeon dishes are flavored specially by lemon preserved in a salt-lemon juice mixture. Nuts are also used in Moroccan dishes commonly like in pine nuts, pistachios and almonds. Moroccan sweets are famous for its rich flavors of fruits, cinnamons and almonds. Spices are used extensively in this particular cuisine. Since thousands of years, Moroccan cuisines flavors are richly flavored by Saffron from Taliounie, olives and mint from Meknes, lemons and oranges from Fes. Spices commonly used are karfa (cinnamon), kharkoum (turmeric), skingbir (ginger), libraz (pepper), kamoun (cumin), Pakistan: Pakistan has been rich in all of its tradition and cuisines. It is not much different from the Indian, Iran and Afghanistan cuisine. Most of the herbs, spices are used in both cuisines are same. Pork is banned in Pakistan as it is not a halal meat. Most of the drinks are non alcoholic. There is a huge variety of Pakistani cuisine. It includes Mughlai, Sindhi, Punjabi, Balochi, North Western cuisine. Pakistan cuisine is one of the most traditional, culturally oriented, and diverse cuisines in the world. Meat is a major diet component in Pakistani cuisine. Moreover, vegetables, pulses and beans are also important. Wheat and rice is a necessary item of food at any time. The spices used in the cuisine range from mild, hot, spicy, and very spicy. Most of the cuisines are spicy. The meat dishes are first marinated in yogurt and spices for few hours and then cook on slow flame. These dishes are very popular in Pakistan. The famous dishes of Pakistani cuisines are Briyani, Korma, Kabab, Tikka, Pulao, Behari Kabab, Murgh Chana, Tandori fish Jehanga. a huge variety of deserets are Kher, Sherkhurma, and Rabari etc. Traditionally, these dishes are served with special types of breads known as Chapattis or Paratha, or with brown rice. The sweets of Pakistan are famous for their huge variety. Most of the sweets are made of milk, rice, variety of nuts and flour with Banasmati Ghee. The traditional drinks of Pakistan are Lasse, Tea, Kashmeeri Chai, and Doodh Pati. AUSTRALIA: The infinite variety of foods and cuisines of Australia reflects the variation of its land and provides rich cultural cuisines. In South, lamb, scallops and lobster are used in all their dishes. Fruits like citrus, grapes, melons, tomatoes and stone fruits along with apples and cherries are grown excessively in Australia. Australia cookery is famous for Lamb Roast, Lamingtons. Steak and Kidney Pies. Pavlova, Soldier’s cake and Anzac Biscuits are again famous for great afternoon teas with scones made up of Lamington and Pumpkin. Another famous food of Australia is Damper, traditional bread made without yeast. Australian cuisines are also known well for its variety of tastes in sweets. A chocolate coated cake dust with desiccated coconut served with whipped cream is another delight ful food served in the country and it is highly popular. Indigenous food is very popular in the country. Calamari seasoned with lemon myrtle tossed with local seafood like scallops, prawns are very famous and highly demanded dish in Australia. Other famous dishes are Kangaroo fillet with Mountain Pepper, springs smoked Salmon, Yabbies Chowder, Yabbies Stir fry with Asian vegetables. Australian cuisines are full of flavors with simple and mouthwatering taste and a variety of different combinations of ingredients. They season food very lightly with salt and black pepper and use little oil for cooking. The cuisine is full of variety ranging from fresh seafood till beef, mutton or chicken, use of fruits and vegetables till eggs of different varieties. The base of the Australian cuisine is simple, fresh yet with exquisite flavors. JAPAN: Japanese cuisine is famous all over the world for its simplest yet incredible taste. The culture of Japan changed drastically so as its cuisine. Modern Japanese cuisine has influence of traditional cuisine of Japan and other civilizations of the world. The staple food used in their cooking is rice, fish, vegetables, noodles. These food items are found almost in every meal at the time of dinner. Though many cultures cuisines have emerged in Japanese cuisine yet the basic and most of the Japanese cuisine is still having flair of their own tradition. Rice is a staple produce in Japan in many varieties and is highly demand in food. Noodles are also widely used in Japanese cuisine as a replacement of rice and sometimes as an additional meal. These food items are served with fish and vegetables. Japanese are fond of fish and other seafood is highly popular in Japan. Apart from them most of the food is boiled and seasoned well with herbs and spicy with not over strong flavors. Food is simple and delicious. The rice served is also boiled. The use of oil is very limited in Japanese cuisines and fried things are few in the cuisines. Only tempura is the highly successful and famous fried dish of Japan. Few famous dishes of Japan are Tempura, Sushi, Domburi, Onigiri, Kare Raisu, Fried rice, Chazuke, Kayu, Sashimi, Yakizanka. Apart from them Soba, Udon, Ramen, Somen, Yakisoba are highly popular fish, rice and noodles dishes. In this phase of the assignment we will discuss the different preparation of food and dinning patterns of different countries as mentioned above. SPAIN: Spanish cuisine is highly popular due to its huge variety of fresh and delicious foods. Family cooking is a tradition of Spain and comparatively simple dishes are in cuisines which are simple to prepare and includes fresh ingredients. Besides meat, chicken, fish and seafood, rice, beans, eggs and vegetables are included in most of their dishes. Tapas is a small morsels or appetizers which are prepared in huge variety and play an important role in the meals throughout the whole long day. Spanish life style is quiet different from American. A typical or traditional dinning pattern involves a light breakfast around 8 in the morning. Then a mid breakfast is served in the middle of the morning around 11. At 1 p. m. usually Tapas is served with a three course lunch at around 3. Then a tea is served with snacks and biscuits at 6 and evening tea later with Tapas at 8 p. m. At last a three course supper is served at 10. Mostly the food is prepared in a traditional way with family. There is a tradition that all families’ women prepare the food and they along with their whole family sit and enjoys the food at one large dinning table. They are of the opinion that it gives them opportunity to enjoy food with family as well as to discuss each other matters and help in solving them. MOROCCO: The dinning pattern of Moroccan is very simple. They start up their day with a breakfast. Many Moroccans eat bread with olive oil and tea along with different varieties of Moroccan crepes. Lunch is a big and main meal of the day. Members of the family come home from school and work. They all sit around a table which is low in the salon. Traditionally, female members prepare foods and serve it. The female member comes before the meal time with a kettle of water, soap and a basin made of aluminum and a dishtowel which she carries over her forearm. She comes near to every family member of the family and pours a little water on their hands to wash with the soap and rinse. Everyone gathered around one big plate placed in the center of the table. When the family head says â€Å"Bismillah† (in the name of God), then the meal starts. Usually the Moroccan eat with their right hand. The take a piece of bread in their hand to scoop up with the food and the feast begins. The lunch meal comprises of a selection of salads with a tagine and couscous. After lunch, the host clears up the table and serves the tea with a plate of fruits. Since the lunch is the main meal time and big, the dinner is usually low and simple. Sometimes people eat leftovers from lunch or prepare soup. In the wedding the feast is enormous. The meal starts with pastilla, then tagine and after that couscous is served. Then a variety of fruits and at last a mint tea is served with almond filled pastries. PAKISTAN: Normally, Pakistani takes three meals a day, breakfast, lunch and dinner. During evening times, many families take tea with local bakery products. However during Ramadan, the eating patterns changes to Sehri Iftar. In this country, people usually eat with right hand and consider it as their Islamic tradition. Traditionally, Pakistani families serve food on a table cloth known as Dastarkhaun.. It is placed on floor and all the family members sit and eat over there. A typical Pakistani breakfast consists of eggs, Paratha, lacha, kolcha with tea or Lasse. Qeema, fresh seasonal fruits, milk, honey, butter, jam, and nuts are taken during breakfast. On weekdays or holidays halwa puri with channay is highly popular and in demand. Pakistani breakfast tends to be very heavy. During lunch time, usually meat dishes are prepared with chapattis or rice. A typical Pakistani lunch consists of meat curries, or lentils with some traditionally made vegetables. Other than meat curries, rice are cooked with meat known as Briyani or Pulao is highly popular in the country. Other than that, nihari and fried fish is also regarded highly during lunch time. Dinner is considered to be main meal when whole family gathers for a occasion. Lentils are never prepared during dinner time, and food prepared which is more savory like kofte, kebabs, Pulao, are prepared. These are served with mint sauce, pickle and salad. And later the traditional desserts are served like kheer, gulab jamun, and kulfi or ras malai and shahi tukaray. AUSTRALIA: The dinning patterns in Australia are very different then usually we observe in other countries eating habits. Dinner is the main meal of the day when families gather and spend the whole evening together. Sometimes families sit at a dining table and ensure their children to use cutlery proper and obey table manners. Traditionally the food is cooked by the mother with or without help of any other family members. As social changes incurred, fathers also cook. In summers barbecues are very common especially on social events. It is a tradition that man cooks the meat, and women of that family do the other things. In Australia, eating out culture developed strongly. It is common for most of the people to go to cafes regularly for lunch or breakfast. In general, visits to restaurants are considered as treat and are regarded as a special occasions. Fast food culture is highly popular in Australia nowadays. Local variants of fast food as well as international brands like Mc Donald’s, KFC, and Pizza Hut are very popular in the country. Local producer like Burger Fuel Hell Pizza are highly rewarded. Georgia Pie is another highly rewarded company in the fast food industry. JAPAN: Japanese’s dinning patterns are very simple and highly sophisticated. Japanese food is served in bowls and the chopsticks are used along with bowls for dinning purpose. Use of spoons is very rare in Japanese dinning. The Japanese often sit on western style table with chairs. They have cushions on tatami mats with a low dinning table. They usually sit on floor. Japanese food is freshly prepared and has a special aroma in their food. Sea food is must in their meal at dinner. Salmon, tuna, scallops, prawn and other types of sea food are eaten with a thick, spicy wasabe sauce. A part from it, the food is served elegantly in bite site portions. During lunch time, chicken grilled with quail eggs and pork are highly popular in Japan. Mushrooms with other vegetables are an essential part of dinning at any time. Sushi is also very popular and is considered to be quiet expensive and special dish. It is usually prepared for special occasions. The Breakfast of the Japanese is very simple with mint or green tea with some biscuits or fruits. Japanese food is not only healthy but has low calories which is the key of their healthy living style. REFERENCES: ? Ashkenazi, Michael Jacob, Jeanne 2000. â€Å"The essence of Japanese cuisines† Published by Pennsylvania press. ? . Casado, Matt A. 1997. â€Å"The Spanish cuisine. † The gourmet’s companion. Published by: Wiley Sons. ? Simpson, Maureen 1998. â€Å"The Australian Cuisine†. Published by: Methuen Haynes, ? Haider, Malik 2006. â€Å"Customs and Cultures of Pakistan†. Published by: Green wood publisher. ? Hal, Fatema 2002. â€Å"Food of Morocco†. Published by Tuttle publishing.

Heuristic Evaluation Weakness And Strength Computer Science Essay

Heuristic Evaluation Weakness And Strength Computer Science Essay When choosing a usability evaluation method, it is important to understand what usability evaluation is. Usability evaluation evaluates how the interface of certain software or product works. How the test is conducted and how detailed the test can be, how it will react on tests and so on. For this study, heuristic evaluation is selected as the main analytical inspection method and for the empirical method, Usability Testing is selected. First introduced by Jakob Nielson in early 90s, the evaluation for usability was created to enhance evaluation method by taking elements such as, user interface(Rogers and Preece, 2007, p.686), dialog boxes, menus, navigation structure , online help and etc.(Rogers and Preece, 2007, p.686). This evaluation method was called heuristic evaluation and when its early establishment, usability evaluation guideline has a long list of method (Nielsen and Molich, 1990), and Nielson shorten the list to only ten of main heuristic evaluation which is(Nielsen, 2005); Visibility of system status: The system should always keep users informed about what is going on, through appropriate feedback within reasonable time. Match between system and the real world: The system should speak the users language, with words, phrases and concepts familiar to the user, rather than system-oriented terms. Follow real-world conventions, making information appear in a natural and logical order. User control and freedom: Users often choose system functions by mistake and will need a clearly marked emergency exit to leave the unwanted state without having to go through an extended dialogue. Support undo and redo. Consistency and standards: Users should not have to wonder whether different words, situations, or actions mean the same thing. Follow platform conventions. Error prevention: Even better than good error messages is a careful design which prevents a problem from occurring in the first place. Either eliminate error-prone conditions or check for them and present users with a confirmation option before they commit to the action. Recognition rather than recall: Minimize the users memory load by making objects, actions, and options visible. The user should not have to remember information from one part of the dialogue to another. Instructions for use of the system should be visible or easily retrievable whenever appropriate. Flexibility and efficiency of use: Accelerators unseen by the novice user may often speed up the interaction for the expert user such that the system can cater to both inexperienced and experienced users. Allow users to tailor frequent actions. Aesthetic and minimalist design: Dialogues should not contain information which is irrelevant or rarely needed. Every extra unit of information in a dialogue competes with the relevant units of information and diminishes their relative visibility. Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors: Error messages should be expressed in plain language (no codes), precisely indicate the problem, and constructively suggest a solution. Help and documentation: Even though it is better if the system can be used without documentation, it may be necessary to provide help and documentation. Any such information should be easy to search, focused on the users task, list concrete steps to be carried out, and not be too large. These sets of rules or guideline set the benchmark on how to evaluate usability on interface designs. For example, Mook (2008) research on Microsoft Windows XP Usability testing that is conducted by Bloomberg University, Washington shows that several functionality testing is conducted with the participation of students from the same University, such as setting up an email account, writing an letter, saving a letter copy and sending the final were the part of a important study on how those interface function works. Heuristic Evaluation Strength Heuristic evaluation can be seen as one of the usability methods that is knows as Usability discount engineering (Useit, 2001). The main advantages of Heuristic Evaluation can be verified as cost efficient, intuitive, planning on evaluation doesnt need any advance feature and it can be used easily in early development phases (Nielson and Molich, 1990). Cost Efficient: Cost Efficient or cheap means that it can be implemented in any development phases. For example, when creating a System, evaluation can be done on interfaces that are in Prototype Development Phase. This evaluation can be easily done without jeopardizing the cost when evaluating.(Cockton et.al, 2003) Intuitive: Intuitive means that is it easy to ask people to evaluate using Heuristic evaluation method, for example, evaluation can be done both by students or professionals and independently. (Nielsel and Molich, 1990). Advance Planning not required: Heuristic Evaluation also doesnt need advance planning prior to evaluation, meaning that it is evaluated with the rules or guidelines, with reference to Ten Usability Guidelines. Can be used easily in early development phases: Evaluation or test can be done before the final finished product is out. Meaning that it can be tested within the prototype or beta version of the product. Heuristic Evaluation Weakness Not currently solving identified problems: According to Nielson and Molich (1990), one of the disadvantages of Heuristic evaluation is problem are identified regardless of suggestions how to solve them. For example, once the problem has been identified, evaluators doesnt tend to get information for how to resolve the current problems. Working on multiple number of problems: As suggested by Nielsen and Molich (1990), evaluators just tend to identify several small usability issues, though several more are experts are useful to identify multiple problems. Not suitable on complex interfaces: Because in heuristic evaluation uses small amount of evaluators, they tend to missed out several issues, such as minor issues in complex interfaces. Usability Testing Description The approach for Usability Testing is the test that is conducted toward a product or website to ensure that the product or website is in functional state. Meanwhile, empirical uses more approach towards the thorough observation of the current system. The goal of Usability Testing is to get feedback from users whether the product that is being developed is usable by its standards. Usability testing in earlier days is conducted to investigate the usability efficiency features on interfaces (Rogers and Preece, 2007, p.646). For example, tests conducted on twelve students, by the Wichita State University (Lenz, 2008), to test usability of several gaming peripherals, such as gaming joystick, gaming pad and mouse. Participants of this test firstly need to fill out a questionnaire based on their gaming experience (Lenz, 2008) and their objective is to eliminate 15 enemy robots as quickly and efficiency as possible (Lenz, 2008). These results are recorded and later processed to be viewed as a full video. Data recorded such as how many enemies killed, time to be taken to kill an enemy and how many shots fired per kill are recorded (Lenz, 2008). Usability testing is divided into two groups, which is analytical and empirical, the analytical method means that the evaluated system are thoroughly checked and examined to crucially identify problems. Usability Testing Strength Usability Testing is a procedure that ensures that the final product is meeting the current specification and doing the tasks it supposed to do. Several advantages of Usability Testing can be identified, such as direct feedback from users, how to react to problems and resolving potential problems, if arises (McGregor, n.d) Direct Feedback from Users: Getting the required feedback from users is one of the advantages when using the usability testing. For example, questionnaires are such tools when using usability testing. Hands on users usage on interfaces are also one of the direct feedbacks that are used in usability testing. For example, testers on interactive websites can directly interact with websites and gives feedback to evaluators respectively. How to react to current problem: If problem arises, evaluators can react directly to specific problems and options. For example, when evaluating websites, if certain links are not working, the evaluators can directly spot the problems Resolving potential Problems: Launch of the final product can be done and fixing by the final product is launched. For example, once the problems are spotted, any problems can be fixed in mean time before the product is finalized. Usability Testing Weaknesses Costly in regards of equipment, staffing and facility: For example, when conducting tests, costs of equipment can be high, because of setting up of computers, questionnaires and so on. Analysis of data collected is complex: Once the tests are conducted, evaluators need to analyze those data. Usually these data are complex, for example going through hundreds of questionnaires to get the final data, this create more time consuming on staff. Require commitments by testers: For example, test on websites with a 10 students currently testing interfaces on websites will need full commitments of students, thus creating inflexible time rate with the testers. Task 2 Introduction LiveAtc Website is a live Air Traffic Control online website that enables visitors to hear live ATC from various airports in the world. Although overall look of the website is reasonable, but there are number of issues that will cause problems for users visiting to the site. Using heuristic evaluation of the website, users will generally satisfy when visiting the site. Heuristic Evaluation Heuristic Evaluation will be used upon evaluating of the website. The basic ten general heuristic are; Visibility of system status. Match between system and the real world. User control and freedom. Consistency and standards. Error prevention. Recognition rather than recall. Flexibility and efficiency of use. Aesthetic and minimalist design. Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors. Help and documentation. Evaluated Website: http://www.liveatc.net Date Accessed: 20 November 2010. Nielsen(n.d) also suggested that a scale rating from 0(Zero) to 4(Four) should be used to identify the severity of the problem. Rating Description 0 No Usability Problem At All. 1 Cosmetic problem only; need not be fixed unless extra time is available on project. 2 Minor usability problem: fixing this should be given low priority. 3 Major usability problem: important to fix, so should be given high priority. 4 Usability catastrophe: imperative to fix this before product can be released. Table 1: Nielsen recommended severity table. Problem 1 Brief description of problem: Color hyperlink coding not available thus denying link recognition Problem for User: User has to remember each link page before moving to another one, thus making problem remembering where theyre left before. Heuristic conformed to: Recognition rather than recall, because User has to recall where theyve been before rather than having color hyperlink recognition. Severity of the problem: Rating number 3; Major usability problem: important to fix, so should be given high priority. Problem 2 Brief description of problem: Website doesnt have any back button to the link before it, thus making user have to use the back browser button instead. Problem for User: User will have problem navigation from each link to another without a back or forward button. Heuristic conformed to: User control and freedom, because user doesnt have any control and freedom for each link, thus will limit them on going back and forward on each link. Severity of the problem: Rating number 4, Usability catastrophe: imperative to fix this before product can be released. Problem 3 Brief description of problem: Website design is complicated. Banner and icons are not properly aligned. Webpage width and size for different links are not standardized. The content copyright footer doesnt align properly. Problem for User: On some pages, User have to scroll down to just click the About button, because there is no standardization between web links within the pages. Heuristic conformed to : Consistency and standards , because the website doesnt have consistency and standards such as , between pages, there is no standard size or page limit, certain web links have different size and confusing links. Severity of the problem: Rating number 3, Major usability problem: important to fix, so should be given high priority. Problem 4 Brief description of problem: On the Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) page, it links to another site, which is a forum site. This hinder user from get quick help from the website but rather have to ask and wait for a required help. Problem for user: User would have to search from a long list of FAQ and by the end of the list; they might not find the required answer. Asking in a forum would just make the user wait for answers rather getting the answer immediately. Heuristic conformed to: Help and documentation, because of the nature of the FAQ given on the site, long lists of FAQ are given. But not all would cater the needs of the user and the FAQ link is not so helpful on users. Severity of the problem: Rating number 2, Minor usability problem: fixing this should be given low priority. Problem 5 Brief description of problem: Website doesnt have an effective navigation menu. For example, the main page has a poor navigation menu. Links are not properly justified and creates confusion. Problem for User: User often gets confused on whether the link is as one or not because there is no separation between links. Heuristic conformed to: Visibility of system status. This is because lack of features such as effective navigation menu hinders the user to have easy usability of the website. Severity of the problem: Rating number 2, Minor usability problem: fixing this should be given low priority. Problem 6 Brief description of problem: There is no accessibility features for users who has problems viewing the icons and fonts on the website. Zoom feature or enlarging the site features should help. Problem for user: User who have accessibility problem will have difficulties going through the site as there is no accessibility features such as font enlargement or zoom features. Heuristic conformed to: Flexibility and inefficiency of use, because accessibility features are not anywhere in the website or in their links. Severity of the problem: Rating number 2, Minor usability problem: fixing this should be given low priority. Summary According to Nielsen (n.d), related usability problem can be found in four ways, that is, in a single location in the interface, at two or more locations that have to be compared to find. Overall structure of the problem interface and something that can be included in the interface but it is missing. In the Heuristic evaluation done above, the biggest single problem with the LiveAtc website is that, the design is too simple and would only cater with experienced visitor or user. Although problems can be identified more than six (6), but the most obvious problem is what has been evaluated above. Problems would occur if inexperience visitor is browsing through the site and would have difficulties such as navigating and understanding regardless the anonymity of the un-standardized of some web links it has. Severity rating when evaluating the website was from two (2) to four (4) rating, with reference to the Nielsen Severity Rating table. This shows that the website has problems range fro m cosmetic until problems that need to be fixed before publishing it to the internet. According to Nielsen experience with rating severity in heuristic evaluation (Nielsen, n.d), he suggested that, severity ratings from a single evaluator are too unreliable to be trusted and recommend a three (3) evaluator when doing heuristic evaluation. Accuracy and reliability of rating severity determines from how complicated the product or website that would want to be evaluated. LiveATC website is a very simple website and when judging from the Nielsen experience when rating severity, it could be that the accuracy of the evaluation would be more reliable because of the simplicity of the website evaluated.