Supply Chain Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Supply Chain Management - Essay Example Thus, the concept as well as the process of SCM encapsulates all the methods and procedures needed â€Å"for the comprehensive configuration, planning and control of cross business and company wide supply chains† (Thaler, 1999; Walther and Bund, 2001). Among all the ‘tools’, various modes of transportation forms an integral component, without which Supply chain cannot function and can even collapse. This was visible during the volcanic eruptions in Iceland in 2010. The ash in the clouds impacted the air transportation, which not only affected the passenger traffic, but also the movement of goods in the supply chain. The ash emitted by the Eyjafjallajokull volcano eruption in Iceland spread far and wide, particularly over many of the European countries, causing the closure of airspace and grounding of flights. â€Å"British government closed the country's entire airspace, grounding all flights at five airports, including the flights whose journeys originated elsew here in Europe, North America and beyond and who would have only passed through Heathrow.† (Walsh 2010). ... â€Å"World container traffic in 1970 was virtually zero, today it is around 500 million tons per year.† (Short 2010). In addition, when there is need for quick transportation and delivery, air transportations are the best option, and this is particularly relevant in the current times with the manufacturing supply chain being quickened through various processes. â€Å"Iceland’s volcanic ash disrupted air transport across Europe and gave the world’s manufacturing supply chain one of its biggest tests since the advent of the low-inventory, just-in-time era† (The Economist). The grounding of the flights impeded the flow of raw materials to the industries in Europe from all over the world, as well as vice-versa. In addition, the finished goods could not also reach the customers within the stipulated deadlines, in both the ways. These restrictions on the supply chain resulted in heavy losses to the involved organizations as well as the airlines industry. The In ternational Air Transport Association (IATA) estimated that due to wrecking of the supply chains as well as passenger traffic, airline industry lost at least $200 million per day (Banham 2010). This type of disruptions not only affects the major players but also the small local players in the supply chain, particularly the small retailers who sell the finished products to the customers. This can be seen during the Icelandic volcanic eruptions as well. That is, many retailers located in the UK and other European regions were affected by the lack of supplies and also delayed supplies. With many retailers not receiving â€Å"the goods needed to keep their stores in stock†, it led to

Working Women :: essays research papers

Work and the Family The interaction of adults and children is one to be treasured. When a person becomes a parent they change. He/she instantly becomes more mature and are forced to take on numerous responsibilities. However, every parent will agree it is the best feeling one can have. It is truly a privilege to bring a child into this world, and there is nothing more special than to begin a family. During this course I choose to help facilitate two chapters: Work and Family and To Parent or not to Parent. This is what I have learned... This course had three required texts including The New Peoplemaking by Virginia Satir, Marriages and Families by Mary Ann Lamana and Agnes Reidmann, and Annual Editions by a variety of authors. These three articles really helped me to shed light on some of the hidden topics in family life. What exactly is a family? As defined in the Lamana text it is any sexually expressive or parent-child or other kin relationship in which people live together with a commitment in an in timate interpersonal relationship. Family members see their identity as importantly attatched to the group, which has an identity of its own. Families today take on several forms: single-parent, remarried, dual career, communal, homosexual, traditional, and so forth. More and more families are struggling to make the connection of work and family fit together. There are many issues that working families face such as when if ever will the parents go back to work, child care issues, finances, stress, marital strain, division of labor, and and many more topics. As tradition has it men are the breadwinners of the family but during recent years that role seems to be changing. More and more women have white collar jobs, and are bringing home more money. Tradition leads us to believe that men bring home all the money and women stay home with the kids. However, now in the 2000's dual career marriages are more popular , and women are coming home to the "second shift", referring to t he unpaid house work waiting for parents at the end of the work day. Women spend on average 20 hours per week doing housework. Another change is that men are doing an increase the amount of housework that they are participating in. Husbands and wives are beginning to share the responsibilities, not just leave it to the husband or the wife.

EchoStar Communications

Charles W. Egren founded EchoStar Communications in 1980. The Company and its subsidiaries deliver Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) television products and services to customers worldwide.EchoStar Communications Corporation acquired the license to deliver DBS products in 1987 and is a publicly traded company (NASDAQ: DISH).   As at April 27, 2007, EchoStar Communications Corporation is trading at $ 46.51 per share.EchoStar provides Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) television products and services (satellite delivered digital television) through its DISH NetworkTM to over 12 million customers in the United States of America.The company’s shares are doing very well compared with companies in the same industry like Comcast and Verizon. As at April 27th, 2007, Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSK) is trading at $26.68 per share while Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) is selling its shares at $38.15 a piece.Comcast Corporation is a cable operator in the United States and offer s a variety of consumer entertainment and communication products and services.Verizon Communications Inc. is a provider of communications services. It has two segments, Wireline and Domestic Wireless, which it operates and manages as strategic business units and organizes by products and services (www.businessweek.com).These companies all have similar products to Dish Network.Comcast Communications is a cable giant and was the number one broadband provider in the country in 2005. Cable operators like Comcast have been leaders in supplying speedy Internet connections to consumers. They offer lower prices and higher speeds, thereby gaining a market of about 22 million U.S. households out of a total of 39 million that have broadband.Verizon (a telecom giant) had to get into the television business because Comcast and the other cable companies were getting a share of the telecom market. In order to boost growth Verizon need it needed to move aggressively into new markets.   Verizon dr opped their prices for broadband to as low as $15 a month and cranking up speeds. The company also started offering speeds 10 times as fast as standard cable service.It targeted TV and broadband and offered extra-fast Net connections and TV services. In addition, Verizon started to offer customers the same bundles of voice and video that the cable players do. They had to do this because the cable industry was taking a share in the voice market. This gave birth to Verizon TV, which offers services like allowing customers to watch one show and, at the same time, record another. Other cable companies did not offer this. Verizon TV also has more channels and more choice of on-demand video than some of its competitors like Dish.Today, with more than 12 million customers, DISH Network offers the lowest all-digital TV price in America. References Rewired And Ready For Combat. (2005). Retrieved April 27, 2007, from http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_45/b3958089.htm http://www.echostar.com http://www.verizon.com http://www.comcast.com

Preschool Is Not Mandatory For Children - 1301 Words

When most people think about preschool, they think about a group of 3-4 year olds coloring or playing as teacher watches them waiting for their parental guardian to pick them up after work. For some of us through we did not get to experience preschool, while we aren’t any less productive for it, we could have possibly achieved more with it. Preschool is not mandatory for any child to attend, many studies have been conducted which show the benefits of high quality early education. One of those benefits is the acquisition of a new language. Parents should be fighting to make universal preschool for their children and we should be adding a foreign language to the curriculum. While we are looking for the answer to question on what does a good†¦show more content†¦While having the opportunity to take a foreign language is a great thing, we should not be waiting to post elementary school to teach it. A foreign language should be taught when the mind is in its language acquisition stage. Foreign language is more than common thing here in the United States of America. We are culturally diverse nation, filled with many different nationalities. According to Carla McClure, an education writer, she argues the benefits of early second language acquisition. She references numerous studies, one being the correlation between second language learning and improved mental process. As well as, mentioning that children who starting learning a second language before middle school are more like to speak the language fluently. However, not everyone would agree with the idea of universal free preschool. Hollee Saville, a licensed family childcare provider who has a master’s in Early Childhood Education, argues that early education should not be viewed as a one-size fits-all model, and that we are robbing our children of their childhoods. She uses the examples of Oklahoma, who has had universal pre-K since 1988, and Georgia, who’s universal pre-K has been around since 1995, have had their 4th graders tested by National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) which they were found to be below grade level proficiency. In addition, she argues that parents should have to pay for the cost