Total Quality Management: A Case Of Barclays Bank

Abstract A number of bankers hold the school of thought that banks fall under the finance industry instead of the service industry. In consequence, the competition is more inclined to financial prowess rather than service quality. The banking and financial institutions devote their resources, system, time and people more on managing the cash and the assets instead of managing customers and service. The procedures and products setup are in line with the bank’s convenience instead of the customer’s convenience. Additionally, most of the systems are designed with the aim of controlling the customers rather than offering satisfaction. Banks and financial institutions usually give customer service and satisfaction low priority. With few systems designed to monitor customer loyalty. Contrary to that thought, banks and financial institutions provide the service of financial custody to its customers thus belong to the service industry. For this reason, total quality management is applicable in the banking sector given its success with manufacturing industries. Banks stand to benefit from implementation of total quality management owing to the fact that their survival depend on customer loyalty and satisfaction. However, banking sector is somehow slow in reallocating into the customer-first archetype. The paper focuses on Barclays bank; it outlines and analyses how the banking organisation has introduced and developed a comprehensive system of total quality management in addition to the impacts of the implementation. Furthermore, it provides a critique on the same while highlighting possible areas necessary for improvement. Background The current global market is highly competitive with a characteristic of ever escalating customer demands such as, the need for improved products and services. Most markets have increasing supply of aggressively priced services and products from low labor cost sources. With the current competitive threats present in the market place, it is imperative for organisations and businesses to embrace improved and result oriented strategies (Cheng, Madan & Motwani, 2012). Incessant enhancement in total business activities with a keen focus on customer all through the entire organisation, in addition to prominence on quality and flexibility is of the essence to an organisational success. Quality, its management, and the associated continuous improvements play a significant role in many organisations. It is equally important to note that most organisations and businesses utilize total quality management as a means through, which they can endure in increasingly belligerent markets while maintaining their competitive edge over their challengers. The lifeblood of all businesses and organisation is its customers. In most cases, customers determine the sales of businesses and organisations based on their perception of the product and service quality. In consequence, quality concludes profits while the customers delineate and determine what quality entails. The implementation of total quality management has a myriad of benefits to an organisation and business as a whole; increased market share, amplified profitability, customer and employ satisfaction and heightened competitive edge against competitors. High quality has a direct correlation with the survival of organisations challenged with strong global competitors. In most organisations, competitive success is because of high quality (Eriksson & Hansson, 2010). Presently, the high-end significance of implementing total quality management makes it imperative for organisations and businesses to embrace high quality, its management and continuous improvements, especially in the current increasingly competitive market. The organisations that fail to embrace the principle of total quality management are bound to be unsuccessful. Additionally, total quality management is no longer an alternative for organisations willing to survive in the strong competitive markets. In ensuring customer confidence and competing for international business, organisations with ISO certification hold a distinct edge against their rivals. To the quality conscious buyers, total quality management is an imperative process of value addition (Dusseav, 2012). Total quality management entails the methods of management used to improve the productivity and quality in a business organisation: A widespread management approach operates horizontally across a business organisation. Total quality management involves all employees and departments extending forward and backward to include both customers and suppliers. Total quality management model employs a systematic approach on improving quality based on; personal accountability for assemblage success, team-based work groups, running of the work process possessed by individuals, motivation, and quality desire above quantity and facilitated communication involving functional areas and groups. Within the model, suggestions for improvements are sought from every echelon of the business organisation while motivation is distributed through recognition programs and profit sharing. Employee training in the scientific approach to fact-based problem solving remains the feature of the TQM model. The model embraces the use of tools like process flow charts, orthogonal arrays, statistical process control charts and Pareto charts (Cheng, Madan & Motwani, 2012). For any business organisation, quality provides a strategic advantage; a heightened competitive advantage and organisational survival. An organisational strategy based on quality aimed for competitive advantage usually emphasises on strategic resource on unremitting quality enhancement. In addition to creating price-value advantage above competitors, quality allows the organisation to charge a superior per unit sale price through differentiation. A business organisation is able to achieve a more sustainable competitive advantage through implementation of strategy of high quality. Organisations operating and competing on quality hunt an operational strategy capable of controlling product and service quality while seeking incessant improvement. Different market researchers suggest that organisations should focus on quality improvement in order to gain competence instead of laying emphasis on the current foci including efficiency, revenue, and market share. The current foci are by-products of competence that an organisation can achieve through focusing on product and service quality. Organisations vary in terms of the management practices, culture and the processes used to produce and deliver the products and services (Cheng, Madan & Motwani 2012). In this regard, total quality management strategy varies from one organisation to another. However, total quality management calls upon techniques and tools of lean manufacturing, quality control, ISO 9000, six sigma, and a customer focused culture. Introduction Barclays bank is one of the leading financial institutions across the world with over three hundred years of experience. The headquarters of Barclays Bank is situated in the UK with various branches across several countries worldwide. The bank has a strategy to increase the growth potential through continued diversification of business by customer, geography and product. It has the responsibility of progressing, investing, lending and protecting the money of close to thirty million customers across the globe. One of its branches has built a very strong reputation; the Barclays Bank Plc, Mauritius. The Mauritius branch; with close to one thousand one hundred employees, offer various services for corporate as well as individual customers. Quality implementation There are a myriad of approaches and models for a successful implementation of total quality management within an organization. Some of the approaches and theoretical models that are extensively used include; Crosby’s 14 steps to Quality improvement, Juran 10 points for quality improvement and W.E Demings’ 14 points for quality improvement (Bowen, 2013).While a widely agreed upon approach does not exist, Barclays bank has applied an implementation approach that borrows certain concepts and strategies from all the widely known approaches. The bank has implemented its total quality management system in a more customized way. The bank has adopted the EFQM framework theory in its implementation of TQM. Basically, the approach calls for a focus on results, customers, dependability of purpose, involving and training employees, incessant learning and social responsibility. The bank has applied all these criteria in its implementation approach of TQM (Sila, 2012). In a bid to improve its competitive edge and survivability, the branch has employed a number of strategies that ensure high quality of service delivery to their customers. It has embraced unremitting enhancement in total business activities, with a keen focus on customer all through the entire organisation. It is imperative for the bank to create constancy of purpose for unremitted enhancement of services and products. Barclays bank has embraced this as the first priority in implementing quality management. The bank has allocated its resources for long term planning instead of short-term profits. In order to ensure competitiveness and existence of the bank, it has invested in quality and innovation (Dusseav, 2012). Its management motivates their employees in addition to clear communication of the bank’s policies. The strategy of total quality management implementation has been generally broken down into two major categories in the bank’s modus operandi: Human resource m anagement and service quality, and customer satisfaction implementation. Under each major category of the strategies, there are subdivisions of the strategies. All these form a coherent system of TQM implementation at the bank for improved competitive edge as well as survivability. Quality Service and H R Management Barclays bank acknowledges the significance of the human factor as a major determinant in the successful implementation of total quality management. As a result, the bank has accorded superior attention to human factors such as motivation, teamwork and cooperation. The bank conducted an interview on their employees in regards to their viewpoint, before the implementation of total quality management. A number of employees agreed on the introduction of the total quality management by the management. They held the belief that there was a relationship between the introduction of TQM and the success of the bank. The bank introduced the system through written pamphlets to its employees. In an effort to thoroughly understand how the bank has introduced and develop its TQM system, an analysis of the three sub-divisions under human resource management in light of quality management was undertaken (Eriksson & Hansson, 2010). Focus on meeting employee needs Barclays bank focuses on employee needs given that the bank tries to improve their performance through encouraging creative thinking, holding training programs and teamwork. All these activities are aimed at enhancing the employees’ professionalism. Additionally, the bank provided its employees with a chance to express their views while offering rewards for excellence performance. It has a competently designed training program that emphasises on incessantly improving the professional skills of its employees. Techniques such as, workshops, industry level seminars and job training are employed to ensure the efficiency of the program. Focus on continued improvement In a bid to meet the needs of its employees, the bank management tries to enhance the quality continuously through mistake avoidance, cost minimization of financial services, keeping of good documentation system and unremitting amendment of work practices. According to the employees, the bank strives to focus on the customers as well, given that they run surveys with the aim of finding out the customer’s needs. The bank is characterized with listening and providing financial advice to its employees’ interests and needs (Edwards, 2013). Focus on management competition needs It is important to realize that, through creation of effective means of communication between the employees and the customers, the bank has managed to develop their competitive edge. The bank acquired an ISO certification, which has led to a heightened bank performance level as compared to other banking institutions. Additionally, Barclay bank is always on the look-out for new technology aimed at modifying the current process of operation. The bank’s management acknowledges the importance of process innovation in a bid to evaluate their operation processes and the need to alter them. Process innovation has seen the bank to greater heights in terms of customer and employee satisfaction. The innovation allows the lower level management within the bank to communicate to the top management on exactly how the processes should be conducted in order to reflect the true customer satisfaction (Eriksson & Hansson, 2010). Customer satisfaction Barclays bank holds both individual and cooperate customers with high esteem as it acknowledges their significance in the success of the institution. In a bid to create an impressive customer appeal and product and service endorsement, the management of the bank has placed life-long strategies within its services provision. These strategies are focused on constantly delighting and surprising their esteemed customers ahead of their arch competitors. The management of Barclays bank not only ensures that their esteemed customers purchase their product but also recommend the products to their families and friends (Frick, 2009). In an interview conducted to establish the level of customer satisfaction, Barclays showed a satisfactory level of satisfaction to the needs of their customers. The bank has modern technical equipment such as A.T.M services which help save the customers time thereby facilitating their deal with the bank. Apart from the A.T.M services, the bank has employed various strategies aimed at reducing the processing time of its key products and services such as new accounts, loans, credit cards and cheque encashment. Through innovation of mobile applications, the waiting period and down time as well as the queuing period has been significantly reduced (Edwards, 2013). According to the customer feedbacks, Barclays bank delivers most of its promises to their customers. It has eliminated a number of bureaucracy procedures that are deemed obstacles on delivery of promise agreements. The bank management has created an image of reliability among its customers through the use of good dependable documentation. In order to improve the level of customer satisfaction, quality of services offered by the bank is undertaken by qualified employees. The employees are trained to serve the customers with friendliness and efficiency. The working hours of the bank are deemed suitable for their customers and employees on a similar basis. The bank’s skilled employees not only offer quality services, but also quick delivery. This creates a sense of customer being the emphasis of the banks operation. Barclays has effective communication systems through, which the customers’ complaints are channeled and promptly handled. This way, the bank improves on its weakest areas on customer service thereby enabling the customer to feel appreciated as part of the bank. Additionally, the bank focuses on improving the quality of products and services offered in the bank apart from customer service. Barclays bank has some of the best interest rates, inclusive of all charges and hidden fees thereby depicting the quality of its services and products. The enquiries made by the customers either through phone or in person are promptly answered. The bank has trained its employees to employ good work ethics in responding to customer enquiries: few rings before the phone is picked up, reduced number of transfers before the customer is connected to the right person and prompt answering of the phone (Edwards, 2013). The bank employs accuracy and timeliness of account statements as compared to their competitors. This ensures the customers’ trust on the bank while upholding the bank’s image, reputation and integrity. These qualities put the bank at a higher competitive edge within the banking industry. Conclusion In conclusion, the implementation of the total quality management in Barclays is considered successful given the numerous benefits associated with the embrace of the system. The level of commitment practice by the bank’s management has greatly ensured an improved quality of the services offered at the bank. The bank has witnessed a number of benefits associated with the influence of customer satisfaction and continuous process improvement methods on the quality of service delivery and profit margins. The services offered at Barclays have been identified as some of the best as compared to other financial institutions. In terms of focus on employees, the bank has been ranked top as its rewards its employees with competitive salaries. The high quality of services offered by the bank has allowed the bank to charge high prices for its products and services on similar basis. This has ensured high profitability and increased competitive advantage over their rivals. Total quality mana gement should not be considered as alternative, instead effective strategies should be adopted to ensure its successful implementation. In order to ensure that total quality management implementation is effective, it is recommended that the bank expands the role of internal auditor to examine the bank’s performance in terms of service, quality, value and cleanliness instead of limiting their functions. Even though the bank utilized written documents during the introduction of the TQM implementation, it is imperative to change the banks configuration and work practices to facilitate accomplishment of the TQM concepts. It is a daunting task for the bank to differentiate itself from its competitors given that an introduction of a new marketing strategy will automatically be copied. It is therefore imperative for the bank to ensure high quality of services, products and service delivery in a bid to ensure the customers’ loyalty. Bibliography Bowen, R. (2013, December 4). Learn the Theories of Total Quality Management. Retrieved October 31, 2014. Cheng, C. H., Madan, M. S., & Motwani, J. (2012) Implementing quality management in the banking services sector. Total Quality Management, 7(4), 347-356. Dusseav, S.P. (2012)†An analysis of the relationship between financial performance and TQM†, University of Missouri. Eriksson, T & Hansson, J. (2010) â€Å"The impact of TQM on financial performance†, Measuring Business Excellence, Vol. 7, No. 1, 36 – 50. Edwards, C.(2013) Barclays Bank Plc V. Rbs Advanta. Reports of Patent, Design and Trade Mark Cases, 113(10) 2012, 307-319. Frick, R. A., (2009) The application of total quality management on service quality in banking. New York, NY: Wiley. Sila, I. (2012). Examining the effects of contextual factors on TQM and performance through the lens of organizational theories: An empirical study. Journal of Operations Management, 23(12), 83-109. Appendix TQM- Total quality management A.T.M – Automatic teller machine ISO 900- A family unit of quality management standards

Identity of African American Men Essay

â€Å"No metaphor can capture completely the complexity of ethnic dynamics in the U. S. ‘Melting pot’ ignores the persistence and reconfiguration of the ethnicity over the generations. ‘Mosaic,’ much more apt for pluralistic societies such as Kenya or India, is too static a metaphor; it fails to take in to account the easy penetration of many ethnic boundaries. Nor is ‘salad bowl’ appropriate; the ingredients of a salad bowl are mixed but do not change. ‘Rainbow’ is a tantalizing metaphor, but rainbows disappear. ‘Symphony,’ like ‘rainbow,’ implies near perfect harmony; both fail to take into account the variety and range of ethnic conflict in the United States. The most accurately descriptive metaphor, the one that best explains the dynamics of ethnicity, is ‘kaleidoscope. ’ American ethnicity is kaleidoscopic, i. e. ‘complex and varied, changing form, pattern, color†¦ continually shifting from one set of relations to another; rapidly changing. ’ When a kaleidoscope is in motion, the parts give the appearance of relationships. The viewer sees and endless variety of variegated patterns, just as takes place on the American ethnic landscape. †- Lawrence Fuchs (Literature for Composition 1032) â€Å"Identity in America† was the theme chosen by my English 201 study group. This theme was taken from chapter twenty two of the Literature for composition: Reading and Writing Argument text book. However, I focused the broad theme of â€Å"Identity in America† to the more narrowed theme of â€Å"The Display of African American men in the media. † I chose this theme or topic because I felt that I can relate to it and as a matter of fact, it was also interesting to me. But in order to conduct my research on the particular topic, I came up with the following question, â€Å"How has the identity of African American men been displayed by the media: negatively or positively? † This question was chosen in order to provoke an argument for discussion. I conducted several interviews in order to acquire information about my selected topic. The media’s display of the identity of African American men can be discussed or looked at from two angles: negatively or positively. First, from my experience I can say that the media displays African American men in both lights, negatively and positively. But after conducting interviews with several individuals, my opinion has somewhat changed. I was always aware of the negative images of African/black men in the media. But I was not aware that this display had evolved overtime. My first interview was conducted with April T. Glasgow, a communications major at the University of the Virgin Islands on Wednesday 20th February 2008, at approximately ten o’clock in the morning. We conducted the interview at her dorm’s lobby. I had explained the topic prior to meeting with her, so she already had an idea about what issue the discussion would be addressing. Generally, her opinion was that black men were being exploited and portrayed negatively by the media. She also stated strongly that black men were too often portrayed or given the roles of thugs, gangsters, and pimps in films and magazines. In addition, a suggestion she made on how we could resolve this stereotype was that black people must unite and stand up against these negative portrayals especially those in rap music videos. The second interview was carried out that same day with Professor Alex Randall. His general statements were that the media has changed over the years. â€Å"The negative portrayals of the 1960’s and 1970’s have changed,† Randall stated. Randall felt that in modern times, people of color were treated more fairly and given a more positive portrayal in the media. Randall stated that there were many positive images in the media of African Americans, such as Denzel Washington, Barack Obama, Michael Jordan, and Bill Cosby. In addition, Randall said that in previous years no such image could have been seen in the media. â€Å"We are rational human beings and it’s our choice to choose what part of the spectrum of negative and positive images we would want to emulate,† said Randall. This statement impacted me and slightly changed my opinion on the topic. At that point in conducting my primary research for the paper, my position on the topic has somewhat been altered. After conducting the interviews with April T. Glasgow and Professor Alexander Randall I have become more open minded to the issue. I would admit that I was initially a bit biased and reserved on the topic prior to evaluating the topic from both sides; negatively and positively. In order to decide which position I was going to take I would have to do more secondary research on the topic. Since I started this research paper my observation and assessment of the media have taken a different turn. I now compare and contrast men of other races in the media to African American men. My secondary research was, for the most part, completed using internet sources. The articles that I discovered on the web were very useful and contributed greatly to my research. Three internet articles were analyzed to achieve the secondary data for my paper. The first article I examined was â€Å"The Media’s Bias against black men in America. † The article was basically a discussion of a piece written in the New York Times about the plight of American black men. The author, Armstrong Williams, stated that the New York Times article was another example of major media outlets using negative statistics to consistently cast black men as the scourge of this country. Williams made several strong and interesting statements throughout the article that I thought was beneficial to this research paper. For example, according to Williams, â€Å"The continual coverage of the black man’s plight instead of his progress only hinders his growth, holds back our country from true equality, and hides the truth about the opportunities and challenges that we all face†(Williams  ¶4). Williams also suggested that the American public should challenge the lack of coverage of American black progress in this country (Williams  ¶5). â€Å"In the last century black men have literally gone from being slaves to business owners, government leaders, lawyers, doctors, firemen, generals, entertainers, and educators. No other oppressed class of people anywhere else in the world has advanced its standing in a society this quickly† (Williams  ¶6). I was really impressed by the way Armstrong used this statement to present his argument. In addition, Williams stated that the incidence of drug use, crime, scandal, divorce, and other social ills have increased dramatically for white men, but these statistics are not reported as problems about ‘white men’ in America (Williams  ¶6). â€Å"Approximately 9 out of 10 serial killers are white males between the ages of twenty and thirty five. Yet we never hear these statistics repeated over and over again in the mainstream press, making these crimes synonymous with one particular race as in this case with blacks† (Williams  ¶9). Later in the article Williams explained the image the media is creating internationally. The overseas media continuously places black men in negative positions such as school dropouts, irresponsible fathers, and victims of perpetual racism. The manner in which these stories are constructed and then, displayed to listeners and readers eliminates the possibility of believing that black men do not have positive roles (Williams  ¶10). Therefore, I agree with Williams that the repetitive negative articles can create a vicious cycle of harmful images and low expectations of black men. â€Å"The Black Image in the White Mind† is the title of the second internet article that I examined. The article was useful in constructing my opinion on the topic of how African American men are displayed in the media whether negatively or positively. The article presented some useful statistical data that was quite interesting and yet shocking to me. In this article by Robert M. Entman, he stated that a mug shot of a Black defendant is four times more likely to appear in a local television news report than of a White defendant (Entman  ¶2). He went on to say that the accused is two times more likely to be shown physically restrained in a local television news report than when the accused is a white man (Entman  ¶2). According to Entman, â€Å"The name of the accused is two times more likely to be shown on screen in a local TV news report if the defendant is black, rather than white† (Entman  ¶2). In addition, he stated that while black actors are now more visible in media, it is an open question as to how well they are being represented (Entman  ¶2). The Third article that I examined was â€Å"Black youth and mass media: current research and emerging questions† and I found it to be the most interesting of the three. This article was written by Craig Watkins, an Associate Professor of Sociology and Radio-Television- Film at the University of Texas at Austin. The article was basically an outline of some of the important research findings and emergent issues that examine the changing relationship between black American youth and the mass media industry (Watkins  ¶5). Watkins stated that for most of its history the mass media industry has produced images that distort and misrepresent the complexities of the African American experience (Watkins  ¶9). He stated that contemporary media representations of African Americans can be best described as paradoxical because blacks are simultaneously underrepresented and overrepresented in American media culture (Watkins  ¶9). According to Watkins, â€Å"blacks are underrepresented in many areas of mass media they are over represented in television sports broadcasts and crime and violence related portrayals† (Watkins  ¶13). Watkins said that images of blacks in magazines have increased but they are predominantly portrayed in athletic roles. According to Watkins, African American men are more likely to appear as athletes or musicians (Watkins  ¶14). The strongest statement throughout the article was when Watkins stated that the ‘athleticization’ of the black men in the media reproduces and popularizes long-standing myths about biological and intellectual differences between blacks and whites (Watkins  ¶15). Further analysis of Watkins’ article indicated that when African Americans are portrayed in television news it is generally in aggressive, violent, or criminal roles. Also, a recent analysis of the film industry asserts that blacks tend to be restricted to low budget features that focus disproportionately on crime, violence, and youth delinquency. The repetitious display of blacks in athletic roles creates a limited range of adult and professional role models for young black males being that they are faced with only few media images of successful African American men. The internet articles that I examined clearly showed that there is strong evidence to prove that African American men are negatively and unfairly displayed in the media. After examining these internet articles, I felt that even though they were some positive images of African American men in the media the majority of images are in some way biased or negative. After evaluating and examining my internet sources, I turned back my attention to my English 201 text book, Literature for Composition: Reading and Writing Arguments to get some more insight on the matter. While reading through chapter twenty-three, I came up on a quote from Lawrence Fuchs that I found to be tied in well with my overall all theme of identity in America. I decided to place this quote at the beginning of the research paper a sort of introduction to the overall theme. I chose this quote because it describes the complexity and internal conflicts of identity in America. Speaking of conflicts between identities, Hotel Rwanda is a film that displays such conflict to the extreme. This film was shown in class by my English professor because she said that it was in some way related to our theme and that it could also be used as a part of our secondary research. I did not really understand the connection with our theme until I saw the film. Hotel Rwanda is a historical drama about the hotel manager Paul Rusesabagina played by Don Cheadle during the Rwandan genocide and was directed by Terry George in 2004. The movie is actually based on the Rwandan genocide that occurred in 1994 where almost one million of both Tutsi and Hutu individuals were killed. In the movie which is a reflection of what actually took place, the media was used to instigate conflicts between the Tutsi and Hutu. Throughout the actual conflict the media was used as a tool to falsely display Tutsi’s as the scourge of Rwanda. For example, the radio station, RTLM was used to spread negative and hate messages about the Tutsis such as â€Å"Why do we hate the Tutsis? They are cockroaches†¦Rwanda is Hutu land. †(United Arts. Dir. Terry George. United States, 2004) All in all, it is quite evident from the primary and secondary research that there are both negative and positive displays of African American men in the media. Since the interviews I am more aware that the display of African Americans has changed over time for the better. However, from the Internet articles I have discovered that there are still a lot of negative images of African American men in the media. In addition, I learned that there are still many biases when presenting African American men in media whether on radio, television, or magazines. Overall, the research was very interesting and informative. April T. Glasgow and Professor Alexander Randall were very helpful in making my research paper a success. From carrying out this research paper I was able to conduct some interesting interviews, especially with Professor Randall. I was truly able to critically interpret and analyze the investigation in addition to improving my overall research skills. The research process was a learning experience that I will never forget. Works Cited Barnet, Sylvan, Burto William and Cain E. William. Literature for Composition. New York: Longman, 2007. Entman, Robert and Rojecki, Andrew. â€Å"Media and its Portrayal of Black Americans. † racerelations. about. com. New York. 2008. . Glasgow, April T. Personal Interview. 20 Feb. 2008. Hotel Rwanda. Dir. Terry George. Lions Gate Films and United Artists, 2004. Randall, Alexander. Personal Interview. 20 Feb. 2008. Watkins, S. Craig, â€Å"Black Youth and Mass Media: Current Research and Emerging Questions. † < http://www. rcgd. isr. umich. edu/prba/perspectives/winter2000/cwatkins. pdf>. Williams, Armstrong. â€Å"The Media’s Bias Against Black Men in America. † 31 March 2006. .

Should College Education be free in America

All three of the research topics that I chose are very important to me. However the one topic that really stands out in my mind is, â€Å"should college education be free in the United States? † One reason this topic stands out to me, I believe America spends too much money importing goods. Especially goods that require some form of technology such as cell phones and gaming systems. The list goes on. I feel that if we train Americans to build these technologies, it will create more jobs, henceforth, reducing unemployment.This brings me to the second most important reason why I feel that college education should be free in the United States. Educated people build a strong economy. Our great nation will benefit by making college education free in the U. S. , to citizens and anyone who’s rightfully living in our country. Not all who graduate from high school are gifted enough to receive a scholarship to attend college, or are fortunate to have parents afford to pay for the ir college education. This can be discouraging for young men or women who want to be successful, however don’t have the means.What about the working adult that wants to complete their degree so that they can be a role model to their children? Unfortunately, they don’t have the finances to go back school. It becomes a double jeopardy life sentence for that high school graduate with no means of furthering their education or that parent that wants to go back to school. Not able to pursue a college degree and most likely earning less money than a college graduate. Consequently, men and women with none too little college education tend to earn less money throughout their lifetime than men or women who have a degree.According to howtoedu. org, (first line of second paragraph) â€Å"over the course or working 40 years, someone with a high school diploma will make $1,116,600 while someone with a bachelor’s degree will make $2,048,204†. According to an article wri tten by the American Public Media titled â€Å"The Value of a College Degree† (second paragraph), â€Å"People who don't get some kind of post-secondary education are quickly falling out of the American middle class†. I feel that our government spends more money in other areas that are unnecessary such as war. The money that the U. S.  government spends on war should be allocated to more important areas such as education.There are different deterring factors that prevent people from pursuing a higher education or completing their degree. The most important is the cost. According to the consumer financial protection bureau, the standard repayment schedule for a college education is 120 months (10 years). By making college education free, the American people will be more qualified for good paying jobs. This will also help in creating new jobs. The money that would be spent on paying back school loans, could be used to purchase homes.This is a perfect example for buildi ng a stronger economy. The method of research that I plan to use to support my thesis are, online articles via credible websites. These resources will reveal the relevance of making college education free in America. My resources will declare that free education will help create more jobs, therefore reducing unemployment; and it will benefit in giving qualified people work with higher compensation. Finally, these resources will bring to light, that more jobs with higher paying compensation builds a stronger economy. All do to making college education free in America.

A 3000 Portfolio Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

A 3000 Portfolio Assignment - Essay Example For instance, leagile might involve the use of lean strategies for managing the supply of high volume products that are also in high demand and opting to use agile (make-to-order) for every other thing (Pagell and Shevchenko, 2014, p. 50). The leagile system can also opt to have a flexible production capacity with the purpose of meeting demand surges or unexpected needs/requirements. Alternatively, leagile might involve postponing whereby forecasting is done using â€Å"platform† or essential products, and then the final customer order would determine the final configuration and assembly of products (Selviaridis and Norrman, 2014, p. 160). The case study for which we will use to analyse the leagile system of management is the Toyota Company particularly in the manufacture of its Scion line of cars. The Toyota Motor Corporation is an automobile manufacturer situated in Japan with its headquarters in the city of Toyota, Aichi.As of the last financial quarter of 2014, Toyota was the largest multinational company in the world in terms of revenue. As of 2012, in terms of production, Toyota leads companies such as General Motors and Volkswagen Group having produced its 200 millionth vehicle on the July of that year. The company’s origin dates back to 1937 when Kiichiro Toyoda founded it as a separate part of Toyota Industries owned by his father and its purpose was to manufacture automobiles (Sharma, Bhat and Routroy, 2014, p. 10). The multinational corporation produces its vehicles under five lines or brands. These are the Scion line, the Ran brand, Lexus and Hino brand. This study will focus on the Scion brand of v ehicles in analysing the Leagile system of supply chain management. Toyota produces the Scion brand of vehicles for the North American market, and the production started in 2002 with the first Scion models going on sale in

The various aspects of the functions of management which are Research Paper

The various aspects of the functions of management which are beneficial for managerial decision making - Research Paper Example The researcher states that management is regarded as a social process involving responsibility for effective and economic planning and regulation of operation of an organization in the fulfillment of the tasks and objectives. The functions of management would include allocation of resources, job design and enhancement of product development. It also enables monitoring which is an important aspect of control and design of well laid plans, activities. These functions are very important at each and every level or status. According to George &Terry there are usually four fundamental functions of management which includes planning, organizing, actuating and controlling. According to Henry Fayol to manage is to forecast, plan, organize, command and control. These four functions of function play pivotal role in determining the strategic process and completion of goals and objectives. These functions help in determining and setting goals and objectives and also developing accurate budgeting procedure. In theory the functions of management would be convenient and would not be separable from each other. The various functions of management would be inseparable from each other and affect the performance of each other. Management functions exist for a particular purpose and that includes manufacturing a product or service, responsibility for a mission accomplishment requires central figure and also to coordinate the primary activities. (Chruden & Sherman, 1980). The main objective of the functions of management would be as follows: Strategic High conceptual and low technical High human relations Tactical Moderately conceptual and technical High human relations Operational Low conceptual and high technical High human relations Planning: It is a systematic process in which the management makes managerial decisions about the future activities and the key goals that would be easily pursuable. It deals with designing of future course of action for the accomplishment of predeterm ined tasks. This deals with the understanding of the manager and contexts in which they operate and this activity starts with the commencement of planning process by examining the company’s operation (Drucker, 1972). Organizing: It shares with similar bonds and other management functions. Organizing helps in perfect job design and outlining the job description activities (Gomez-Mejia, Balkin & Cardy, 2005).Organizing is a process of bringing together resources and people to create products and services. Staffing: This function would enable modifications as new management functions necessitate and evolve. The achievement of the organizational goals through effective and efficient deployment of people is regarded as staffing. This includes filling of several organizational posts by hiring the required and qualified personnel. Controlling: It is regarded as the process of evaluation of the performance of the employees against the established goals. It is also regarded as a creat ion of methods appropriate to take corrective actions for the improvement in the overall performance of the organization. Effective control system are applied and implemented at every departments, functional area and individual levels. This helps in

Supervisory management Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Supervisory management - Coursework Example 2. The main ways of non-verbal means of communication are as follows: keeping a certain personal space, looking into a person or object, mimics and poses, vocal attributes of the voice (tone, pitch), and speech tempo. The ways nonverbal signals influence supervisory communication are therefore: contributing to verbal messages making the speech more expressive; helping to understand feelings and thoughts of interlocutor by building rapport; their use instead of verbal messages (sometimes it is enough to use a gesture of a exclamation); regulating interaction between people in the process of communication, including subordination. In the process of nonverbal communication, it is quite easy to get comprehensive information about the personality of the communicator (his or her temperament, emotional state, image of â€Å"self† and self-esteem, personal traits) and about the attitude of the interlocutors towards each other and towards the situation itself. Among the effective nonverbal communication techniques there are the techniques of establishing contact, rapport, and evoking trust. There are also some techniques that can effectively influence the state of an interlocutor: increasing his or her interest, decreasing the level of aggression, etc. An efficient communicator should possess the skills of calibration of the state and reactions of people – which allows to determine an interlocutor’s true intentions, reasons for behaviour, thoughts, etc. Sending the right signals in the process of communication is also extremely important as this â€Å"meta-message† gives the interlocutor all information about the attitude to the subject of conversation on the subconscious level. 3. The key rule of corporate communications is their relevance to corporate strategy that will eventually determine the goals and content of messages. The three major spheres where communications

Managing Day Care Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Managing Day Care - Essay Example The recommended ratio in most countries is that one adult should be able to care for one child who is an infant as well as up to the age of one year. One adult should take care of five children that range around five years old at one specific time. For the children that are between the ages of 6-9 years, eight of them can be under one care taker at a specific time while those ranging from 10-12 years should not exceed ten under the care of one person at a specific time. It may however be challenging to meet this threshold as the number of personnel may fall short as compared to a large number of kids. (Farrell, 2001: pg 21) 2. Recruitment and Retention: A strategy should be developed to respond to all the issues that involve recruitment and retention of the people that take care of the children in day care. Such kind of strategy should be able to lay the basic foundation that would enable the child care to be in the hands of dedicate and highly qualified personnel that has the best i nterest of the children at heart. The recruitment programs should be able to bring out good qualities of the workforce that has the ability to provide continued support for the children under their care. The recruitment programs should also have the ability to facilitate retention of the up to date work force in their good numbers that is stable and dedicated to meeting the actual needs of the children under their care. The objectives that should be in the forefront for the stakeholders that recruit those who care for these children is that their strategy should be able to implement, after developing the actual strategy to be able to encourage many people who are willing but have a heavy heart to be able to come forward and take day care jobs as well as to implement the strategy to retain the good sense of personnel and workforce that have had all along and who proved their worth. (Fanning, 1991: pg 45) 3. Working with men in childcare: The issue about recruitment of men has been ho tly debated for ages but then again men should have the chance to work as caretakers. This will enable the children grow up with no form of jobs stereotypes and they would be encouraged to embrace gender balance as compared to instances where only women could do this work. Although the percentages of men who are offering themselves for the job are still few, it isn’t as low as it used to be. The men should also undergo same levels of training so as to be able to come up for the job. There should also be public education on giving the male caretaker a chance to do their job without discrimination. (Lindon, 1998: pg 22) 4. The Importance of Policies: After choosing to be an official that works under child care programs, there are certain difficult decisions that we have to make. The decisions involve how to associate with the kinds of policies that are designed to bring sanity to the work of child care centers or programs. For example when there are operating hours that are ser iously set by the managers or the parents, then there are factors that have to be considered such

The Trial Process Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Trial Process - Essay Example The statements made during the opening statement are not to be considered as part of the evidence. Rather, they serve to build a connection between the two sides to the case and set straight the plot that the case is going to take, while trying to influence the juries with the arguments and the evidence available. Even though there is no argument of the case at this phase, the stage, as one of the component of the trial process serves to set the stage for the actual process of case trial (Wayne, 2003). The next component in the trial procedure is the prosecution’s case presentation, where the prosecutor presents the evidence and all the information necessary to the case, in an attempt to prove that the defendant is guilty before the court (Sadakat, 2005). The prosecutor has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty of all the charges aligned with him. If he fails to do this amicably, then the defense can request that the case be dismissed at this stage, w ithout the need to proceed to offer the case defense. If the prosecutor provides sufficient evidence to prove that the defendant is guilty, then the next stage follows. The next component of the case is the direct and the cross examination of witnesses. Under this component, the witnesses are sworn under oath to give true and only facts regarding the case. Each side to the case will then examine the witnesses through a question and answer session, where the counsels of both sides asks the witnesses questions to unearth some facts and prove the allegations already given (Zuckerman, 2012). During the cross examination, all attempts are made to indicate the inconsistencies and the loopholes that are left unsealed by the witness testimonies. The need for this component as part of the trial process is to have each side to the argument discredit the other, based on the testimonies given (Wayne, 2003). The next component that follows is the defense’s case, where the counsel represen ting the defendant will present their case, indicating how the case presented by the prosecutor does not qualify to make the defendant guilty before the court (Zuckerman, 2012). The defense can also seek to show the court that the prosecutor lacks sufficient evidence to prove the case against the defendants. In doing this, the defense counsel may cite the weaknesses made by the witnesses during the testimony session. The need for this component of the trial process is to indicate how the prosecution’s evidence fails to meet the threshold of conviction that the defendant is guilty. At this stage, the defense calls their witnesses who also give the testimony, opposing the guilt of the defendant. After the defense makes their case, the prosecution can react to this, though only in relation to new suggestions that defense has noted which were not addressed by the prosecution (Sadakat, 2005). The next component of the trial process that follows is the closing argument. Here, the p rosecution presents their final arguments, addressing any relevant details to the case that they could have forgotten, in a summary manner. This is followed by the closing arguments given by the defense, summarizing their main points and giving any relevant information they could have skipped during the preceding stages (Wayne, 2003). Of importance is

World Politics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 4

World Politics - Essay Example The developing nations have to adopt policies that conform to the standards required by superpowers. However, evidence shows that terrorism is one of the latest factors to have influenced the formulation of foreign policies. Terrorism doesn’t make a distinction between a superpower and a developing nation. For this reason, nations have come together to fight the common enemy. Although it has been the hardest task, most nations have proved to be resilient in the fight and have vowed to bring to justice, those suspected to be terrorists and their sympathizers. Nation’s foreign policies are major components in world politics (Duncan, Jancar-Webster & Switky, 2009). A nation’s foreign policy determines how it relates with other nations (Constitutional Rights Foundation, 2014). Most foreign policies consist of a number of strategies chosen by a nation with regard to its interests. These policies help in the maintenance of relations with other nations and the achievement of a nation’s goals. The interaction is moderated in order to gain maximum benefits on international cooperation. The governments incorporate high level decision bodies to help them make the soundest decisions. According to Duncan, Jancar-Webster and Switky, â€Å"foreign policy is put into play by the world’s states, but other players, such as Intergovernmental Organizations (IGOs) and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)†¦.may also make decisions that affect the foreign policy of states† (2009, p. 131). Foreign policies were introduce d during the world wars. Most nations took the step in order to improve the relations between them and prevent potential wars. There are various factors that influence the foreign relations of a nation; these factors determine how a nation will treat the other and ensure that it conducts itself in such a way that it remains relevant to other nations as well as its citizens. Terrorism: The

Viva Zapata Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Viva Zapata Paper - Essay Example The film explains the quest of the revolutionary and the challenges that had been subjected upon him, when he had desired to establish a more comfortable environment as compared to the dictatorial regime. This is an indication of how society presents pillars to prevent the oppression subjected by individual in power, to counter their actions with a more stable union that would favor development. Plot and Implications There is the need to offer equality and stability within the societal setting, and through the film there is little room for a dictator leadership style because there are activists who seek to fight for the best interest of the majority. Zapata is told to be the child from a poor background, but this does not stop his will to be capable of challenging the strongest man in Mexico, when he feels that there should be change in the manner he had been ruling his territory. The war that is the centrality of the film advocates for change, and deliver the oppressed from the hand s of the dictator. These developments in the film change the plot setting to depict Zapata as an outlaw. In such political setting within the society, there is an attempt as portraying the activists as the individuals who do not embrace change and engage in the process for selfish purposes. There is never stability in a society where individuals are not given equal opportunity to express themselves. The fight that the movie set in the 1900s indicates, and the trend exists in some countries in the developed world. Power is the entity used in the film to explain how individual who obtain the entity lead to the decline in equal individual development. Zapata is of mixed races, and we are told that he is Mexican Indian who sought their trade from farming. The film explains how Zapata forces to be the hero of his society when he decides to undertake the mission of creating a revolutionary change. The president full with selfish motives discriminates against the village Morelos when he se parates the arable land leaving them with the unfertile piece. Zapata handles the incident through rebelling against the decision and confronts the president in a manner known to him. His actions further led him to rescue one of the captives from the militia, and this turns him into the most wanted civilian in the land. There is an attempt to create a resolve by the producer as Zapata becomes popular among his people in the south as he had a positive implication on the exiled Don Francisco (Young 89). Diaz is defeated, and the new president Francisco is enacted as the new leader. However, all is not well because the new leader acts as an individual that lacks policies and is made to make decisions based on an outward influence. These actions do not work for Francisco because influential individuals like Zapata had aided him to power, and he had craved to return the favor. Viva Zapata highlights the consequences of greed and power explaining how those with the ability run the world f ull of evil. There is a limited solution as one evil action leads to the other. After Diaz is forced out of power, the new president Don Francisca is assassinated by the order of Huerta on his quest to deliver justice. This takes Zapata and his helper Villa to continue their quest of enacting a new leader. Zapata finds duty assuming the role of the leader with limited resolutions to settle the dispute that had led him to rebellion. This idealism leads