USS South Dakota (BB-57) in World War II

In 1936, as the design of the North Carolina-class moved towards finalization, the US Navys General Board met to discuss the two battleships that were to be funded in Fiscal Year 1938.   Though the group favored construction of two addition North Carolinas, Chief of Naval Operations Admiral William H. Standley insisted on a new design.   As a result, construction of these vessels was pushed to FY1939 as naval architects commenced work in March 1937.   While the first two ships were formally ordered on April 4, 1938, an additional pair of vessels was added two months later under the  Deficiency Authorization which passed due to increasing international tensions.   Though the escalator clause of the Second London Naval Treaty had been invoked allowing the new design to mount 16 guns, Congress specified that the vessels stay within the 35,000-ton limit set by the earlier Washington Naval Treaty. In conceiving the new South Dakota-class, naval architects developed a wide variety of designs for consideration.   A key challenge proved to be finding ways to improve upon the North Carolina-class but remain within the tonnage limit.   The result was the design of a shorter, by approximately 50 feet, battleship that employed an inclined armor system.   This allowed for better underwater protection than its predecessors.   As fleet commanders desired vessels capable of 27 knots, designers worked to find a way to accomplish this despite the shorter hull length.   This was found through the creative arrangement of machinery, boilers, and turbines.   For armament, the South Dakotas mirrored the North Carolinas in mounting nine Mark 6 16 guns in three triple turrets with a secondary battery of twenty dual-purpose 5 guns.   These weapons were supplemented by an extensive and constantly evolving array of anti-aircraft guns.   Assigned to New York Shipbuilding in Camden, NJ, USS South Dakota (BB-57) was laid down on July 5, 1939.   The lead ships design varied slightly from the rest of the class as it was intended to fulfill the role of a fleet flagship.   This saw an extra deck added to the conning tower to provide additional command space.   To accommodate this, two of the ships twin 5 gun mounts were removed.   Work on the battleship continued and it slid down the ways on June 7, 1941, with Vera Bushfield, wife of South Dakota Governor Harlan Bushfield serving as sponsor.   As construction moved toward completion, the US entered World War II following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.   Commissioned on March 20, 1942, South Dakota entered service with Captain Thomas L. Gatch in command.   To the Pacific Conducting shakedown operations in June and July, South Dakota received orders to sail for Tonga.   Passing through the Panama Canal, the battleship arrived on September 4.   Two days later, it struck coral in the Lahai Passage causing damage to the hull.   Steaming north to Pearl Harbor, South Dakota underwent the necessary repairs.   Sailing in October, the battleship joined Task Force 16 which included the carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6).   Rendezvousing with USS Hornet (CV-8) and Task Force 17, this combined force, led by Rear Admiral Thomas Kinkaid, engaged the Japanese at the Battle of Santa Cruz on October 25-27.   Attacked by enemy aircraft, the battleship screened the carriers and sustained a bomb hit on one of its forward turrets.   Returning to Noumà ©a after the battle, South Dakota collided with the destroyer USS Mahan while attempting to avoid a submarine contact.   Reaching port, it received repairs for the damage caused in the fighting and from the coll ision.   Sortieing with TF16 on November 11, South Dakota detached two days later and joined USS Washington (BB-56) and four destroyers.   This force, led by Rear Admiral Willis A. Lee, was ordered north on November 14 after American forces suffered heavy losses in the opening phases of the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal.   Engaging Japanese forces that night, Washington and South Dakota sank the Japanese battleship Kirishima.   In the course of the battle, South Dakota suffered a brief power outage and sustained forty-two hits from enemy guns.   Withdrawing to  Noumà ©a, the battleship made temporary repairs before departing for New York to receive an overhaul.   As the US Navy wished to limit the operational information provided to the public, many of South Dakotas early actions were reported as those of Battleship X. Europe Arriving at New York on December 18, South Dakota entered the yard for approximately two months of work and repairs.   Rejoining active operations in February, it sailed in the North Atlantic in consort with USS Ranger (CV-4) until mid-April.   The following month, South Dakota joined Royal Navy forces at Scapa Flow where it served in a task force under Rear Admiral Olaf M. Hustvedt.   Sailing in conjunction with its sister, USS Alabama (BB-60), it acted as a deterrent against raids by the German battleship Tirpitz.   In August, both battleships received orders to transfer to the Pacific.   Touching at Norfolk, South Dakota reached Efate on September 14.   Two months later, it sailed with the carriers of Task Group 50.1 to provide cover and support for the landings on Tarawa and Makin.     Ã‚   Island Hopping On December 8, South Dakota, in company with four other battleships, bombarded Nauru before returning to Efate to replenish.   The following month, it sailed to support the invasion of Kwajalein.   After striking targets ashore, South Dakota withdrew to provide cover for the carriers.   It remained with Rear Admiral Marc Mitschers carriers as they mounted a devastating raid against Truk on February 17-18.   The following weeks, saw South Dakota continue to screen the carriers as they attacked the Marianas, Palau, Yap, Woleai, and Ulithi.   Briefly pausing at Majuro in early April, this force returned to sea to assist Allied landings in New Guinea before mounting additional raids against Truk.   After spending much of May at Majuro engaged in repairs and upkeep, South Dakota steamed north in June to support the invasion of Saipan and Tinian.    On June 13, South Dakota shelled the two islands and two days later aided in defeating a Japanese air attack.   Steaming with the carriers on June 19, the battleship took part in the Battle of the Philippine Sea.   Though a resounding victory for the Allies, South Dakota sustained bomb hit that killed 24 and wounded 27.   In the wake of this, the battleship received orders to make for Puget Sound Navy Yard for repairs and an overhaul.   This work occurred between July 10 and August 26.   Rejoining the Fast Carrier Task Force, South Dakota screened attacks on Okinawa an Formosa that October.   Later in the month, it provided cover as the carriers moved to aid General Douglas MacArthurs landings on Leyte in the Philippines.   In this role, it participated in the Battle of Leyte Gulf and served in Task Force 34 which was detached at one point to aid American forces off Samar. Between Leyte Gulf and February 1945, South Dakota sailed with the carriers as they covered the landings on Mindoro and launched raids against Formosa, Luzon, French Indochina, Hong Kong, Hainan, and Okinawa.   Moving north, the carriers attacked Tokyo on February 17 before shifting to assist the invasion of Iwo Jima two days later.   After additional raids against Japan, South Dakota arrived off Okinawa where it supported the Allied landings on April 1.   Providing naval gunfire support for troops ashore, the battleship suffered an accident on May 6 when a tank of powder for the 16 guns exploded.   The incident killed 11 and injured 24.   Withdrawn to Guam and then Leyte, the battleship spent much of May and June away from the front. Final Actions Sailing on July 1, South Dakota covered American carriers as they struck Tokyo ten days later.   On July 14, it took part in the bombardment of the Kamaishi Steel Works which marked the first attack by surface ships on the Japanese mainland.   South Dakota remained off Japan for the remainder of the month and into August alternately protecting the carriers and conducting bombardment missions.   It was in Japanese waters when hostilities ceased on August 15.   Proceeding to Sagami Wan on August 27, it entered Tokyo Bay two days later.   After being present for the formal Japanese surrender aboard USS Missouri (BB-63) on September 2, South Dakota  departed for the West Coast on the 20th.    Arriving at San Francisco, South Dakota moved down the coast to San Pedro before receiving orders to steam to Philadelphia on January 3, 1946.   Reaching that port, it underwent an overhaul before being shifted to the Atlantic Reserve Fleet that June.   On January 31, 1947, South Dakota was formally decommissioned.   It remained in reserve until June 1, 1962, when it was removed from the Naval Vessel Registry prior to being sold for scrap that October.   For its service in World War II, South Dakota earned thirteen battle stars.

The Issue Of Gun Control - 951 Words

Gun control has been a big topic for the past decade in the united states. These debates will rise and fall time in and time out after something horrific happens in the state. Anti-Gun supporters do not realize that it is extremely difficult to regulate something in the states that is a big portion of our economy.Would stricter gun laws change anything? So far statistically It has been proven otherwise one must consider how a citizen would defend themselves when they are faced with terror. How will they defend themselves if there are restrictions on guns? It seems that some states that have stricter gun laws are where the most shootings and also where more terrorists attack take place. It seems that gun control is only pushed when shootings gradually get worse and worse. But why are these anti gun groups not speaking up when police brutality happens or when a racial hate crime occurs? Anti-Gun groups do not look at the bigger picture and try to understand that it is more than guns. G un control almost plays Zero role in murders and criminal activities. Essentially Gun control is an effort to restrict or limit the production, shipment and ownership of guns. But over the years these discussions are only brought up when tragedy strikes, while america does have the highest deaths per year this isn’t by gun it is by other events Guns are second for most deaths. It seems that there are more deaths by gun by cops with events from police brutality alone. Police brutality is at aShow MoreRelatedGun Issue And Gun Control1401 Words   |  6 PagesUniversity, Gun Politics has been a course I have aspired to take. While many enroll in such a course looking for an escape from the â€Å"collegiate liberal echo chamber† or as an outlet for their conservative agendas, I saw the class as an â€Å"entrance to the dark side.† My views on guns prior to the class were, I would call, polarized yet uninformed. In most of my discussions, I would cite the Australian 1996 National Firearms Agreement as precedent for how American politic ians should approach the gun issueRead MoreThe Issue Of Gun Control Essay1646 Words   |  7 Pagessomebody who wants to inflict harm on other people to get his or her hands on a gun.† (Simple Minded Gun Control). Gun control is a controversial issue worldwide. The reason why this has attracted so much attention is because not everyone is in favor of gun control and each side brings up excellent points about the issue. Research related to this issue strongly supports the claim that there SHOULD be more gun control laws. Three arguments that prove this position are (1) Incidents like Sandy HookRead MoreThe Issue Of Gun Control1489 Words   |  6 Pagessplit on the issue of gun control. We have seen many violent shootings and innocent people dying because of gun violence. Some Americans believe we need strict gun laws to protect our children and ourselves from these horrific tragedies. Other Americans believes it is our rights as Americans to posses’ guns and we are ent itled to that right in our constitution. There are also some Americans that are stuck in the middle and can see both sides but recent events have definitely caused this issue to be inRead MoreThe Issue Of Gun Control1031 Words   |  5 Pagesintegrate them in a way that will trigger a new viewpoint on the subject. Gun control is something that should be enforced across the world in order to save lives. In the United States there is a ratio of 88.8 guns per one hundred persons (GunPolicy.org). Those numbers award us with the highest total per capita number in the world. With that amount of firepower there needs to be an efficient way to regulate who exactly can purchase a gun. Since 1791 when the second amendment was ratified there have beenRead MoreThe Issue Of Gun Control1705 Words   |  7 Pagesaway without preface or reason. All someone needs to do is pull the trigger. In today’s world, guns are far too accessible to the people of society. We hear in the news, stories o f mass shootings, homicides, and suicides; most of which are caused by the activation of a gun. A hot-button issue, gun control is one of the most debated topics in American politics. Should we, or should we not, be able to own guns? Although it infringes on the Second Amendment that provides the right to bear arms, this amendmentRead MoreThe Issue Of Gun Control929 Words   |  4 PagesGun Control Getting arrested yesterday was not the highlight of my week. I was hungry; so I went to Wal-Mart get some charcoal, lighter fluid, and steak. I put the charcoal in the grill and the lighter fluid on the coals. I got a little lighter fluid on my arm, but I didn’t pay it much attention. I lit the match and threw it on the coals. I looked down and my sleeve was on fire. I was waving my arm in the air, trying to put it out. Then here they come the police pulled in and tackled me to theRead MoreThe Issue Of Gun Control1552 Words   |  7 PagesThe issue of gun is always controversial. Firearm can be used as defending or an assaulting weapon. In United States, firearm increase the rate of homicide, suicide and gun violence, which can harm and murder people. Moreover, taking away people’s gun will not work effectively because the murder and criminal will find another ways to get guns. Also, the black market will appear for the people who cannot get guns from regulated market s. In addition, if regulated guns are banned, murderers may useRead MoreThe Issue Of Gun Control1678 Words   |  7 PagesJanuary 2014 The 2nd Amendment Over the past few years, the issue of gun control has been widely discussed. You surely have heard the phrase, â€Å"Guns don’t kill people, people kill people† uttered and i wholeheartedly support this statement. It is important to treat guns responsibly so they do not end up in the wrong hands. I believe gun control violates our inalienable rights. Another piece of our liberty will surely be taken away if guns are banned, and socialism and totalitarianism will be rightRead MoreThe Issue Of Gun Control1208 Words   |  5 PagesWill Christopherson Traverson English 2 1 March 2017 Gun Control The United States has 88.8 guns per 100 people, or about 270,000,000 guns, which is the highest total and per capita number across the globe. The current public gun control debate in the United States seems to be placed on standby until it is sparked up by a major mass shooting. There were at least 126 mass shootings between January 2000 and July 2014.(pro). Opponents of more gun laws accuse supporters of using a horrific event to furtherRead MoreThe Issue Of Gun Control949 Words   |  4 Pagesdifferent policy issues that are associated with individual’s different hobbies and interests, and lots of these policy issues have some legal components to them. For me a policy issue that comes to mind would be Gun Control, because I am a gun owner who is a supporter of the second amendment. With shootings and other gun related trouble happening all over our country those who create and maintain our gun laws have a big responsibility to take care of. The policy issue of gun control has both people

Mark Antony’s Speech Free Essays

How does Mark Antony persuade the crowd to reject the conspirators in Act III. 3 of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar? During Mark Antony’s compelling speech, he uses various techniques to convince the crowd that the conspirators are murderers not legends. Because the plebians were easily swayed, Mark Antony had this opportunity. We will write a custom essay sample on Mark Antony’s Speech or any similar topic only for you Order Now To make sure the crowd took his points seriously, Mark Antony has to appear fair and wise. He knows that the plebians are strongly in favour of Brutus, as Brutus has just given them a speech, so if he starts by accusing Brutus, no one would listen to him. Therefore, at the beginning of his speech, Mark Antony was saying that Brutus was â€Å"noble† and â€Å"honourable†. Mark Antony approaches the crowd discernibly. As his arguments grow stronger, the crowds begin to realize that Brutus and the conspirators are wrong. Every time he calls the conspirators â€Å"honourable†, it becomes more ironic and sarcastic and the people start believing it less. To oppose Brutus’ claim that Caesar was a heartless tyrant Antony recounts â€Å"how dearly he loved Brutus. Also, Antony humbles himself as â€Å"no orator, as Brutus is† hinting that Brutus used trickery in his speech to deceive the crowd. After that Antony reveals to the crowd Caesar’s will, in which â€Å"To every Roman citizen he gives, to every several man seventy-five drachmas† as well as land. He then asks the crowd, â€Å"Here was a Caesar, when comes such another? † which questions the conspirators ability to lead. Finally, Antony releases the crowd and utters, â€Å"Now let it work. Mischief, thou art afoot. Take thou course thou wilt. After this the crowd riots and searches out the traitors in an attempt to kill them. Mark Antony shows that Caesar was compassionate and that he had a big impact on Antony’s life that he can never forget Caesar: â€Å"My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar. † He claims that they are so close that whenever one hurts, the other does too. He starts crying and the crowd understands what he’s going through and we can see this when one plebian says, â€Å"Poor soul, his eyes are red as fire with weeping. † Antony then teases the crowd with Caesar’s will, which the beg him to read, but he refuses. Antony tells the crowd to â€Å"have patience† and expresses his feeling that he will â€Å"wrong the honourable men whose daggers have stabbed Caesar† if he is to read the will. The crowd yells out â€Å"they were traitors. â€Å"Honourable men† and have at this time completely turned against the conspirators and are inflamed about Caesar’s death. Even though in his speech Antony never directly calls the conspirators traitors, he is able to call them â€Å"honourable† in a sarcastic manner that the crowd is able to understand. He starts out by pointing out that Caesar had refused the crown three times, which refutes the conspirator’s main cause for killing Caesar. He reminds them of Caesar’s kindness and love for all, proving Caesar as innocent. Next he teases them with the will until they demand he read it, and he reveals Caesar’s ‘gift’ to the citizens. Finally, Mark Antony, leaves them with the question was there ever a greater one than Caesar, which infuriates the crowd. Mark Antony is able to eloquently manipulate the crowd through remarkable rhetoric skills and turn them against the â€Å"honourable men†. How to cite Mark Antony’s Speech, Papers

Every Grain of sand Essay Example For Students

Every Grain of sand Essay poem tells a story within its words, even if it is not directly stated. Nearly every word and phrase in a poem, and even its punctuation has a meaning and a message that the author is trying to send across to the reading or listening audience. Not always is it easy to immediately understand what the poet is trying to say, but within the words and punctuation, over time and with analysis, interpretation is possible. Poetry is a group of so many words that a poet carefully chooses to show certain meaning. The song Every Grain of Sand that is written by Bob Dylan deserves to be called poetry because of his careful use of tone, symbolism, allusion, simile and enjambments. Tone is an important part of poetry. It sets the mood of the piece and gives the audience a sense of what is going on and how the narrator feels. In Every Grain of Sand the tone is one of sadness and depression. There is a certain desperate tone in the poem, as the narrator looks for help in the hour of their deepest need. This is evident in the first and second lines of the first stanza when it is written In the time of my confession, in the hour of my deepest need / When pool of tears beneath my feet flood every newborn seed. The time of confession sets a solemn tone, for when a person is confessing it is usually a quiet, personal, and regretful time. This sad emotion that the tone sets is further emphasized when the author uses words and phrases like sorrow of Night, violence, chill, bitter, loneliness and broken mirror of innocence. These all set a mood of sadness, anger, bitterness, hatred and darkness that the narrator feels in his hour of need, as they carry the burden, or the chains, of their past mistakes. Although most of the poem keeps with a sad tone, the tone shifts slightly. Line fifteen says Then onward on my journey I come to understand This line shows that he is slowly on his way, realizing things he perhaps did not at first. Symbolism is another important poetic device that is used throughout this poem. Ones entire understanding of the poem relies upon their understanding of the symbols applied. Bob Dylan uses symbolism on numerous occasions throughout his song Every Grain of Sand. In the line When the pool of tears beneath my feet flood every newborn seed,(1. 2) Dylan uses the flooding of the newborn seed to represent how the tears and sadness are drowning out the hope of a new start or of finding peace. The dyin voice within me (1. 3) represents this drowning hope that this person still has for a better life, even though there remains a feeling of despair, as it is said in line four. Dylan continues using nature in his symbolism in stanza 3, lines 9 and 10, Oh the flowers of indulgence and the weeds of yesteryear, / Like Criminals, they have choked the breath of conscience and good cheer. The flowers of indulgence represent the temptations in life drawing people to their beauty, while the weeds of yesteryear choking the breath of conscience and go od cheer represent the numbing effects of over indulgence. Things that once seemed to make life great have been used so much that, after a while, they are no longer fulfilling, leaving emptiness in a person. Even as the narrator realizes this, temptation still draws them in. I gaze into the doorway of temptations angry flame. / And every time I pass that way I always hear my name (4.13-14) shows this. The doorway represents an opportunity or a choice to follow a path that leads to an angry flame, which can represent evil and hell. The voices calling are the inner temptation that we all have for things that give us immediate satisfaction. Throughout the poem, Dylan uses symbols to represent God or a higher power. He refers to the sun as it beat down upon the steps of time to light the way to ease the pain of idleness .ub716cd1e3ba4e91b44d88f1fc65517dc , .ub716cd1e3ba4e91b44d88f1fc65517dc .postImageUrl , .ub716cd1e3ba4e91b44d88f1fc65517dc .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ub716cd1e3ba4e91b44d88f1fc65517dc , .ub716cd1e3ba4e91b44d88f1fc65517dc:hover , .ub716cd1e3ba4e91b44d88f1fc65517dc:visited , .ub716cd1e3ba4e91b44d88f1fc65517dc:active { border:0!important; } .ub716cd1e3ba4e91b44d88f1fc65517dc .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ub716cd1e3ba4e91b44d88f1fc65517dc { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ub716cd1e3ba4e91b44d88f1fc65517dc:active , .ub716cd1e3ba4e91b44d88f1fc65517dc:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ub716cd1e3ba4e91b44d88f1fc65517dc .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ub716cd1e3ba4e91b44d88f1fc65517dc .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ub716cd1e3ba4e91b44d88f1fc65517dc .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ub716cd1e3ba4e91b44d88f1fc65517dc .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ub716cd1e3ba4e91b44d88f1fc65517dc:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ub716cd1e3ba4e91b44d88f1fc65517dc .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ub716cd1e3ba4e91b44d88f1fc65517dc .ub716cd1e3ba4e91b44d88f1fc65517dc-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ub716cd1e3ba4e91b44d88f1fc65517dc:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Exemplification Essay

Identity The Namesake Jhumpa Lahiri Essay Example

Identity The Namesake Jhumpa Lahiri Essay Then, Shook abruptly passed away, giving Googol a sort of wake up call. When told to get away from all the chaos that came with sorting out the family affairs, Googol responded with, l dont want to get away (182). Googol realizes the importance of staying close to home to take care of his mother. Then, a few months after his fathers death, he stepped out of Ammines life for good (188) abandoning a life he could have had with Maxine. He re-evaluates his life to figure out what his priorities are and he ends up trading it al in for his family. We will write a custom essay sample on Identity The Namesake Jhumpa Lahiri specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Identity The Namesake Jhumpa Lahiri specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Identity The Namesake Jhumpa Lahiri specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Chokes death is a pivotal moment in the novel and it is a time where Googol is able to return to his Bengali roots for a little while. Googol recalls the time when his grandfather had passed away and when his father had shaved his head accordingly. He recalls, It was a Bengali sons duty to shave his head in the wake of a parents death (179). Googol also observes the other customs that come after a death in the Bengali culture. For ten days following his fathers death, he and his mother and Sonic eat a mourners diet (180). On the eleventh day of mourning, Googol sits in front of his fathers portrait during a religious ceremony while verses in Sanskrit are being chanted. In this ceremony, Googol is fulfilling his own duty as a Bengali son, paying respects to his father and acting as the leader of the Gauguin family. Much to Sigmas delight, Googol agrees to go on a date with a childhood friend, Missouri Mammogram. At first, he is apprehensive about the idea of dating a fellow Bengali, but once he gets to know her, he changes his mind. It is her familiarity that makes him curious about her (199). Googol weds Missouri with a traditional Indian adding, wearing traditional Bengali clothing. He wears A parchment-colored Punjabi top that had once belonged to his father, a pretreated dhoti with a drawstring waist, a pair of ingrain slippers with curling toes (220). While Missouri herself is dressed in a sari, her neck draped with priceless Jewels. The couple decides that it is much easier to let their families take control over the wedding plans because it is less stress on them and makes their families happy. According to the Mammogram family and the Gauguin family, Missouri and Googol were the perfect match. When they got married, it was said that, And Missouri are fulfilling a collective, deep-seated desire because theyre both Bengali, everyone can let his hair down a bit (224). In reality, the marriage was not so perfect. Instead of ending in a happy ever after, Googol and Missouri went their separate ways. And beyond, he deviated from what his parents wanted of him. As he grew into adulthood he became more involved in his culture. He takes care of his family, abando ns the life he could have had, and marries a Bengali woman. Things may not have turned out exactly like he wanted to, but in the end, Googol realizes the importance of embracing every side of himself.

Strategies Used by Yili Groups Essays

Strategies Used by Yili Groups Essays Strategies Used by Yili Groups Essay Strategies Used by Yili Groups Essay The Yili Group-how it functions and strategizes in the Chinese Dairy Marketplace 5. 0 Introduction This chapter critically reviews the findings and analyses of the data collected from the company’ report, secondary data and interviewer opinions towards the strategy adopted by the company. Unstructured telephone interviews and face-to-face interviews with the company’s marketing director – Mr. Wang, revealed what the company implements and the problems faced by the company. 5. 1 Findings and Analysis From the data collected, the Yili has implemented a number of strategies to improve their market share and profitability. The Yili’s marketing strategy is based on the innovation. Innovation is the successful exploitation of new ideas. In China’s dairy industry, innovation is an important issue that considered a major driver of the company towards success. It linked to performance and growth through improvements in efficiency, productivity, quality, competitive positioning, market share and so on. For the moment, China dairy’s companies are mostly aiming in the first line of market; targeted markets are still putting towards the well-developed cities, for instances, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou. Sadly, companies have left out the wider market in the outskirt of China. The main reason for it is the cities sales points are not centered; investment of exploitation for new market and promotion is higher. Besides, one of the risky of the investment is the effect of the responses and return is slow compare in the well-developed cities. A creative marketing strategy is needed to enter into a new market. The Yili has realized that being a leader in the industry, they need to be creative in thinking in order to survive in the competitive market. The opportunity that gained by the Yili was the first company who entered to less developed cities, which provide wider market and profit return to the company. For instance, in 2005, the company has targeted the north side of ‘Zhejiang’ as their sample of targeting market. Through the franchise way of marketing, the company has gained a good effect of return in between two months time. The new marketing strategies in less developed cities have provided a good result to the company with the improved 20% of sales. Koh (2005) stated that China biggest suppliers are lending money to farmers and building dairies to meet demand for cheese, yoghurt and other foods growing at 14 percent a year. In China’s Inner Mongolia region, where the two companies are based – Yili and Mengniu, plans to import heifers from Australia to increase dairy cattle numbers by 14 percent to 2. 5 million in the next six months. Dairy farming is the main way for farmers to get rich. Selling heifer calves from imported cows to other farmers is as lucrative as producing the milk. In past several years, China dairy industry has developed very fast. However, there are many companies facing management problem due to the reasons of the companies are not paying attention to their production line, sales and supply areas. Undoubtedly, the growth of company is depends on the speed of development, but the stability of the management should be taken in to consideration too. Based on the data collected, total quality management has adapted in the Yili. Total quality management is a management style based upon producing quality service as defined by the customer. It defined as a quality-centred, customer-focused, fact-based, team-driven, senior-management-led process to achieve an organization’s strategic imperative through continuous process improvement. The new distribution network flow adopted in the company is Five Fix Points: fix starting point, fix ending point, fix time consume, fix routine of the work and fix product volume. This has enabled the distribution of the Yili’s product to Guangzhou, Shanghai, and other places smoothly. Thus, the deliver time is faster and the company can able to control the mistake of deliver flow too. Market Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning Based on the information, this can be concluded that the Yili has implemented the market segmentation, targeting and positioning strategy very well in the company. Since buyers today are numerous, widely scatted and varied in their needs and buying practices thus companies need to choose what type of the customers they wish to be connected. Through the interviewed, the author has realized that the company has segmented their market based on the geographical segmentation. Based on Mr Wang, the Yili has targeted the well-developed cities like other company, for instances, Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. In addition, the Yili has covered some developed cities that other companies do not enter in which provide wider market and profit return to the company. There are not many companies enter to the less developed cities because of the sales points are not centred and thus, company need to spend huge amount of money in promotion and investment of exploitation for new market. When choosing a market-coverage strategy, Mr Wang has mentioned that the company has targeted the customers from all level of buyers. From the information provided, it showed that the company used undifferentiated marketing that approached market as a whole with one market. Dairy product is a grocery thing; therefore, the Yili using undifferentiated marketing strategy to focuses on common buyer needs rather than what is different and designed to appeal to the largest number of buyers. As mentioned earlier, positioning is an executive’s most important strategic responsibility because it will make or break a company or product. Thus, the Yili has using product attributes and benefits of the product as positioning strategy to attract customers. Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats analysis SWOT analysis has evaluating the strategies position of a business for the Yili by identifying its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. SWOT analysis helps the business to carve a sustainable niche in the market. It helps to develop the career in a way that takes best advantage of the company’s talents, abilities and opportunities. According to Mr Wang, it provides the company a simple method of synthesizing the results of the marketing audit. Strengths There are several strengths can be found in the company. Yili has gained around 20 percent in dairy industry, which can be known as one of the strength for their company as a leader in the market. Furthermore, using of the high-tech machine that some others companies cannot afford has lead the company further step forward and quality raw material to maintain the quality of the food is hard to follow by the other competitors. Furthermore, experience of running of the company is one of the strength. Mr. Pan Gang, the director of the Yili Group, who is 36 years old but has more than 10 years experience in dairy industry that is familiar with the current situation of market. He is a propellent of innovation in the Yili. Last year, Mr Pan was chosen China Top 10 Businessmen. His influence has attracted the global investors to pay attention to the Yili. Besides, the strength of the suppliers – milk stations, was one of the issues considered in the Yili to reduce expenses. Supply of the raw milk has affected the development of the industry. The problem of the industry is that the demand exceeded the supply of raw milk, which caused inefficiency of production and low quality of raw milk. The company who can be the leader in the dairy market should first control the raw milk of supply. The Yili obtained the most perfect and high quality of raw milk in China. They have around 200 high quality rangelands and over 1 million milk cows. Further than that, the raw milk has expanded from North to South. Moreover, the YiLi was declared to become the one and only dairy sponsor of Olympic Games 2008, Beijing. Since the Yili is the only one Chinese food sponsor in the history of Olympic Games so it is also a milestone in the Yili strategic process of development. Being a sponsor to Olympic Games is the best way of promotion strategies for the Yili to boots their products and building their brand globally. Weaknesses There are a few weaknesses faced by the company. The major problem facing by the company is losing out some of the key employers to their main competitor – Mengniu. Due to the reason of Niu Geng Sheng (Mengniu’s Director), a former manager from the Yili is now a key player for the Mengniu. Thus, the tactic of management using by both companies are similar. Besides, the Yili is facing internal management problem. The company is using old management style – lower level of employees is not allowed to make any decision. Suggestions of the lower employees do not accepted by the high level management. Opportunities Spaces to growth in the market are one of the opportunities to the Yili. For the dairy industry, China currently has the lowest per capital of consumption of milk in the world – an estimated 2 litres in 2004that leaves room for significant growth in the market. Education on the health benefits of milk consumption and companies’ deeper retail penetration will continue to be key drivers of drivers of growth. New product development is also expected to boost sales, as milk with varying fat contents and fortified milk are introduced to the market. Threats There are few threats to the Yili to take in consideration when making decision or strategy. Based on the data collected, the author has realized that the industry consolidation and profit erosion are the key investment risks in the highly competitive dairy product industry. Other risks include natural disasters, bad debt from loans to dairy farmers and counterfeiting. Any major outbreak of illness or disease relating to cows, such as the â€Å"mad cow† disease (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) or bovine tuberculosis (â€Å"bovine TB†), could significantly affect raw milk supply. This also causes a drastic fall in consumer demand in dairy products, resulting in a substantial decline in sales and profits. Limited cases of bovine TB were reported in several Chinese provinces earlier but did not draw much attention. In addition, in line with China’s World Trade Organization (WTO) commitments, the Chinese government has undertaken to reduce tariffs in respect of various dairy products from current levels of between 15% and 45%, to between levels of 10% and 19% by the end of 2005. As part of the Yili’s strategy to secure a reliable supply of raw milk from dairy farmers, the company provides guarantees to banks on loans taken to by these diary farmers for their purchase of dairy cows. Although the Yili holds various forms of security from the farmers and counter guarantees from other thirds parties, it is still exposed to default risk. As at end-2003, its aggregate farmers’ loan guarantees totalled RMB83m, representing 37% of net profit. Political, Economic, Social and Technologic factors Political Despite more than a century of upheaval, the political system in China is continuous to undergo radical change. While the economic reforms introduced over the past two decades have general improved living standards across the country – thus reducing lessened the likelihood of social upheaval – the government has been obliged at times to slow the pace of economic liberalisation for fear of loosing overall political control. Today’s communist China is a world away from that of the newly formed People’s Republic in 1949. The extraordinary changes, which have taken place in China since former paramount leader Deng Xiao Ping launched his open-door economic reform policy, have radically affected the lives of ordinary people, particularly in major cities. Many people have been forced to question traditional values and attitudes as new ideas and concepts have emerged. The influence of foreign culture is now much more apparent in everyday life than in any other previous generation. Political stability is an important issue to consider by the Yili when they decide to enter to a new market. The most recent government legislation of relevance to the dairy market relates to packaging, hygiene and product labelling. The government introduced new hygiene regulation in 1995, which mean that product lines are now inspected, and those products that have passed the inspection can place a hologram label on their product, to show consumer that their product is hygienically manufactured. The government has also brought out strict codes on the labelling of product ingredients, and has tightened up laws concerning marketing claims for products, in order to clamp down on companies making false claims about the benefits of their product. Packaging legislation relates more to hygiene issues, but the government has also been keen to encourage local companies to improve packaging used, and the presentation of the products, in order that Chinese products can compete more strongly against foreign ones. Economic China economy is growing fast lately. For the dairy industry, China currently has the lowest per capital of consumption of milk in the world – an estimated 2 litres in 2004–that leaves room for significant growth in the market. Between 2000 and 2003, the Yili’s revenue grew at an astonishing pace of a CAGR of 137%. On the back of higher milk demand and capacity growth, the company is expect revenue to grow by an average annual rate of 67% in the next three years while net profit is predicted to escalate at a three-year CAGR of 63%, making it one of the fastest growing Chinese company. While the company is believe that management’s profit forecast for this year of not less the RMB300m is to conservative, they expect the bottom line to climb by 67% to RMB378m. According to Mr Wang, he stated that the economic factors have a deep influence for the company to gain for the profitability. During the â€Å"one off† incidents such as Iraq War, 911, SARS and bird flu have given the impact to the company in terms of sales. In facts, the economy slow down has lead to purchasing power less, customers are more concern what they are spend. China is already among the world’s biggest economies, and it’s growing fast. It’s a leader in technology and innovation – not just manufacturing. It’s one of the world’s biggest exporters and, potentially, the world’s biggest market. But it also has serious problems, with human rights, workers rights, political expression, inequality, environmental issues and more. There is no doubt that awakening China will be a major player in the 21st century. Social Social analysis is important for the Yili to identify the preferences of the customer towards their products. Besides, social also influence the company in term of demographic: age, region, income and taste preferable. Different people will have different expectation of taste, thus, company has trying hard to create variety of taste in their product to fulfil the customer need. Milk sales are growing at an unprecedented rate in China due to increased consumer awareness and improved distribution networks. Social life is changing recently; people are more concern to health life and so, the Yili has to use quality material to produce healthy life. Due to the reason of the consumers begin to own refrigerators and distribution networks are improved, fresh milk is starting to gain market share which has provide opportunity. Technology Technology can be defined as the material entities created by the application of mental and physical effort to change nature in order to achieve some value. Technology is one of the important resources to the Yili. Tough competition, plus massive and rapid changes in media and communications technology, guided the business in offering a wider range of products through better-designed communications and distributions network. In addition, Internet has been implemented in the Yili, who uses Internet to communicate among their employees and suppliers as well. Homepage has been created to boast the sale from delivering the information. The author has observed both leading companies’ web sites in market – comparison between the Yili and the Mengniu and came out with the conclusion that both web sites are designed at least for promotion purpose and provides the communication to the customers. Thus, companies’ web sites are shown to function as communication, transaction and distribution. Both web sties are designed to deliver similar message to the customers. For instance, the range of products and services the companies offer. Through the observation, the Mengniu’s web site is more attractive and the information delivered is more details than the Yili. However, both the English versions of the homepages do not function. (Refer to appendix B) The technology using in the Yili project management, process planning, engineering, automation (MES level) and commissioning will be ‘Tuchenhagen Diary Systems’ responsibility. Part of the engineering, mechanical assembly, process automation (operator level), electrical engineering and installation as well as commissioning. The scope of supply includes the complete processing line from raw milk reception to tank storage for UHT milk, including pre-processing and standardisation of milk, mixing storage and powder handling (GPCN supply) and integration of UHT into the processing system. Furthermore four CIP plants will be delivered. Thus, very low running cost will be achieved by highly efficient heat exchangers and energy recovery. Porter ‘s Five Forces Rivalry among Existing Competitors China dairy industry is growing in well expectation and it is a differentiation market. There are many competitors competing in term of price, product offer, and services, not only local competitors but as well as foreigner investors. For instance, Sanyuan, Mengniu, Guangming are local competitors and Nestle (Switzerland), Parmalet Finanziaria SpA, PRF from Italy and Danone from French. However, foreign competitors have chucked out from the Chinese market due to the main reason of price war. Chinese Dairy Industry is playing with the cheap costs and price war that the foreign companies do not afford. Thus, the entire top foreign companies have finally stopped the business in China where they thought China’s market provides them a huge opportunity. Beside, the reason for the foreign companies facing loss in running business is due to the fact that investors are over estimated the China market development. Most of the foreign companies are using high costs with good quality products to attract customers, however, consumers do not accept it as spending power are low with the fact of low income. Lose of control in milk station – raw material is one of the problems to foreign companies. According to Mr Wang, the company still in well expanding situation – leader in the industry, although there are many competitors in dairy industry. The main competitor for the Yili is the Mengniu. Threat of New Entrant Based on the research, the threat of new entrant for the industry is low. The dairy industry is easy to enter since it s not a capital-intensive business, and does not required a huge amount of money like airline industry to operate. Besides, there was no limited gate pace market for others to enter. In facts, dairy manufacturers can set up the factories in small-, medium- or arge sized of business. More than 1500 of dairy product manufacturers can be found here and most of the manufacturers is operating from home and utilizing largely on labour-intensive methods. It showed that operating a dairy product manufacturer does not require a huge amount of money. However, the brand loyalty is low for the industry and the customers switching cost is high depends on th eir taste preferences, attractiveness of the promotion and the purchasing power as well. Threat of Substitute Threat of substitute in dairy product industry is high. Based on the China Dairy report there are more than 2000 dairy manufacturers operating in the industry such as Mengniu, Guangming and Sanyuan. The companies are available almost the same products. Aside from that, the competitors in this industry are not only in the local but also from the outsider such as Cadbury and Nestle. Apart from importing dairy products into China, foreign players are also permitted to engage in the full range of distribution services relating to dairy products. China’s accession to the WTO, therefore, will lead to fiercer competition, even though a large number of players have entered the market by now. Some foreign competitors have built their own factories in China. All the manufacturers are implementing the batch production strategy in order to reduce the production cost, thus, there are loads of products can be found in market. Bargaining Power of Buyers The bargaining power of buyers is high since there are many brands for the buyer to choose. The switching cost is very low. In fact, the retailers are lowering their prices to cater to market demand, which seemed to have chance as customers rather go for cheaper product. Customers tend to be very prudent in their spending and are on the look out for bargains. However, there is still a certain amount of brand loyalty customers too. For instance, buyers may go for the brand, which is satisfied them most always. Based on the China Dairy Market Report, the decision to purchase dairy products can be influenced by a number of environmental factors, including recommendations form authoritative figures such as health care providers, exposure through travel, and advertisements. Advertisements for dairy products are mostly on television, radio, billboards, or other media. Television is the most common media for dairy product advertisements and follows by billboards. Bargaining Power for Supplier Raw materials (including raw milk, packaging and treatment materials), salaries and benefits, utilities, depreciation and other manufacturing costs make up the bulk of the costs of sales. Raw materials have historically accounted for 90% of such costs. Within this category, raw milk makes up the largest portion. This cost structure is expected to remain the same in the medium term. According to Mr Wang, the bargaining power of supplier is low. This is due to the fact that company can choose from many suppliers or raw materials since the sources are not dominants by one or two large company. However, the Yili has a basis in one of the world’s largest pasturelands, the Inner Mongolian Steppe. It is this vast resource of dairy production that supplies the Yili with its basic product. This base is also very close to key northern markets such as Beijing and Tianjin, plus other rich provinces in the north, such as Liaoning and Hebei. Control on quality, quantity and cost of raw milk. The Yili has cooperates with milk collection centres, individual dairy farmers and cattle farms in the purchase of raw milk and cattle farms in the purchase of raw milk – the primary raw material. Milk collection centres organize milk collection form individual dairy farmers at their automated milking facilities and deliver the raw milk by refrigerated truck to the Yili’s production facilities once or twice a day. The company does not own any milk collection centres. Under the milk supply contracts, it reserves the right to reject raw milk that is below standard. The company normally agrees to pay a â€Å"guaranteed† minimum price for raw milk regardless of market fluctuations although it does not guarantee milk purchase volume. This gives the Yili a higher flexibility in raw material sourcing, while the provision of loan guarantees to diary farmers allow the company to better secure the supply of raw milk by entering into exclusive milk supply agreements. Marketing Mix Marketing mix play an important role for the Yili to achieve better sales turnover in the market. Information has clearly showed that the sales have increased annually with well planned of marketing mix. Product The Yili manufactures six food product groups, including frozen food, dairy products, quick frozen foods, beverages, flour and starch, with dairy product being the core activity of the company. Besides, the Yili has also incorporated a locally established foreign ice cream company, Perfetti’s. Mr Wang has emphasized that the company is offering variety of products in dairy product category such as liquid milk, ice cream, yoghurt, milk powder, drinks and so on. Besides, the quality of the product is under their hygiene assessment standards since the first stage of raw material collection from pasturelands. Place Mr Wang has stated that distribution plays an important role to success in business as to makes the product available where the consumers are easy and convenience to buy it. Select the stockiest, dealers, and intensive distribution must carefully and support them strongly. They must keep an inventory of the product, demonstrate the product to the consumers, close sales and fully provide after sale service. Thus, improvements in distribution networks are contributing to strong growth in the Milk Sector. The Yili has expanding geographically to set up local production bases in various regions. Localized distribution helps the company to minimize transportation costs and maintain product freshness, making the distribution of milk across the country more efficient. The Yili has now access to more consumers, which has led to increased sales. The development of supermarket across China is also central to the success of milk and other dairy products. Economic development across China means that more consumers own refrigerators and as a result, demand for fresh dairy products is growing. Major supermarkets, such Carrefour, that carry fresh dairy products are springing up across China into regions that were ypically served by small, independent food stores. Dairy players are now able to penetrate lesser-developed regions, providing Chinese consumers with easier access to milk and other dairy products. Based on the information, the Yili sells over 90% of its product through several hundred distributors across the country, of which 90% are bound by exclusive 90% arrangements. A com prehensive distribution network enhances efficiency. The company thus has an unrivalled competitive advantage over its competitors. The Yili has so far more than 20 factories. Dairy products have to be consumed fresh. Long distance transportation is not possible for the business. Therefore, the Yili has to build up their want their products to reach every corner of the country. Promotion The major driver behind milk’s growth is greater consumer awareness. In 2001, the Chinese government spearheaded a public awareness campaign to communicate the health benefits of dairy products (Tait, 2005). For example, the State School Milk Programme involved supplying milk to selected schools at discounted prices in order to encourage milk consumption. Milk also gained popularity following the outbreak of SARS in 2003. Numerous media releases and features on health-related issues ensuing the epidemic listed dairy products as an excellent source of vitamins and minerals, essential for building up the immune system. Brand recognition is the key success in consumer products, especially in such homogenous product as milk product. The Yili has relied on advertising and promotions to build and increase consumer awareness, therefore incurring huge advertising and promotion expenses. The Yili has built a strong brand name in China. Its trademark won recognition as a â€Å"PRC Famous Trademark† in 2002, among other awards. Strong brand awareness is vital to expanding the business and preventing market share erosion. In addition, the company also won other certifications, such as being named the â€Å"Exclusive Diary Products for Chinese Cosmonauts†, and the â€Å"Exclusive Diary Products for National Sports Bureau Training Institute Athletes. † The strong consumer awareness of its brand name is vital to its expansion strategy and the prevention of market share erosion. For instance, the Yili has successfully promoted its Bitter Coffee brand of flavoured ice ream in the Beijing and Tianjin areas, through strong TV advertising. Price Retail prices have increased greatly since 1995, but the rate of retail price inflation has been slowed down by controls brought in by the government, intended to slow down rampant internal market growth, and keep price inflation to manageable levels. The rise in product prices used to be one of the most worrying rends in the domestic economy for the government, especially as these rises were creating substantial difficulties for many lower-income households, and the threat of social unrest should these difficulties persist. Price controls brought in for the sake of keeping basic food prices at a level to suit poorer households included the reintroduction of rationing on products. However, over the last few years, the rise in competition in most consumer product markets has forced consumer prices down. Indeed, the Chinese economy is now facing chronic deflation due to the decline in consumer prices. This deflation has become more acute due to the lack of upward movement in property prices in China, largely due to oversupply in sectors of property market. The rising purchasing power of Chinese consumers has provided a stable pricing environment for milk products. Retail prices of liquid milk has been fairly stable but may drop 2% p. a. in the next two years, which is quite reasonable as industry expansion will yield more room for price cut. On the other hand, as Yili gradually shifted form the low- to the higher-end ice cream, the average ice cream sale price had increased 21% in 2003. The company is expecting to the upward trend to continue in the next few years. This can overall conclude that the marketing mix implemented by the Yili is well successfully. This is due to the fact that the company’s product have met the customer expectations in terms of quality, types of raw material, taste and services that provide by the company. Price of the product is acceptable by customers and a well distribution place and promotion tools have been chosen to attractive the customer. Customer Satisfaction Customer satisfaction is the customer’s fulfilment responses to a consumption experience, or some part of it (Buttle, 2005). Customer satisfaction is important to a company as customer satisfaction rises, so does customer repurchase intention. Customer satisfaction has been the subject of considerable discussion in the research. Customer satisfaction may increase based on the want and need, times, power of buying, and status. Today companies have moved from a product and sales philosophy to a new marketing philosophy. In order to achieve the company’s goal of capture 50 per cent of market share and profitability, the company first has to satisfy their customers. According to Mr Wang, the company’s targeted customers are all levels of buyers including infants. Thus, the company will satisfy their customer by offer them with a good taste, acceptable and nice packaging products. Besides, the company has obtained their customer satisfaction by offering some services, such as customer suggestion corner, customer service department or customer complaint section to deal with all sorts of problems. Moreover, the design of the packaging will be changed according to the change of time for certain period between half years. Porter’s Generic Strategies Through the interview, Mr Wang has indicated that the Yili is implementing the Cost Leadership Strategy in order to survive in the market. The industry is in the price war situation. The lowest price product the company can offer the more customers it can attract. Thus, the Yili is using batch production to reduce the cost of the product with the use of cheap but high quality materials. The machine that imported from western country that is not affordable by other small companies has helps them to lead in the cost reduction. . 3 Chapter Summary The findings show that the competition faced by the Yili is not only from local market but also foreigner such as companies from United Kingdom and America. Through the findings and analysis, it is known that the company-the Yili Group has adopted some effective strategies to cope with the environmental change and increase the demand of the sales by influencing of marketing segmentation, marketing targeting, marketing positioning, marketing mix, PEST factors and SWOT analysis.

Marketing & Management of Innovation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Marketing & Management of Innovation - Essay Example It is a concept which is replete with innovation and creativity. It is a stupendous effort with the never ending benefits for the people. It is a product which is pre-eminent in its kind. One can present it as superior to all others by presenting it as sumptuous. But what if it is useless and people are unable to solve their un-served needs. Pre-eminence in marketing can only be achieved with the delivery of additional value to the customer and making them delighted. One is delighted when the need is satisfied, and he/she gets more value out of the preferred product. Exactly in the same manner LED â€Å"Lantern† concept is there only to solve the problem of consumers by phasing out the power hunger bulbs and lightning the field with more efficiency and in an effective manner. Product concept The product concept of LED â€Å"Lantern† is, in actual, to encourage people to lighten the fields in some more effective ways with less hazardous material used in the manufacturing and less power consumption. According to one of the estimates, it takes around 1/5 less of energy than the normal light bulb. It is also free from the hazardous element such as mercury thus requires less voltage. Its life is 20 times more than an incandescent bulb which makes it the perfect choice for consumers, with its multi functionality LED â€Å"lantern† has the competitive advantage over the others. It can be utilised as a torch lantern by solving the problems of most of the people victim of darkness and want to light their fields and areas while spending less dollars, then LED â€Å"Lantern† is a right choice for them. Its utilization for camping purposes can be very fruitful as well. Stressing upon its features, Cree white LED has been installed in it. It has also been allotted a rotate side knob for multi functioning. Its long list of phenomenal attributes do not end up here .it has got top class magnifying glass which is very pre-eminent. It provides the foc used long beam which enhances the visibility and serves the consumer with better focus. It has got 2-mode electronic switch for the convenience of the consumer â€Å"HIGH & FLASHING†. Green â€Å"LED† indicator makes it visible in the darkness, and at the time of any emergent situation, it can be very helpful to get hold of it in the darkness. It is water resistant; its ability to light the fields never gets affected with any external intrusion such as water or any other liquid. Technical Assessments Before the transformation of the product concept into the realized product, its technical aspect must be assessed properly. The product LED â€Å"Lantern†, as the name suggests, is based upon the technology that is (Light emitting diodes). The absence of the filament in LED technology based LANTERN makes it cost effective as it helps to curb the consumption of electricity required in order to run the product. Illumination of LEDs occurs as the flow of electrons take n place through the material which behaves as the semiconductor, all this process to be undertaken as a result of charge provided by the electric circuit in the form of electricity (Knisley, 2002). LED is a diode which emits the light. It behaves as the conductor. There is no reversal process taken place for the flow of electricity. It is considered to be the one way process. These diodes are comprised of the main components that are whisker which creates the connectivity with the

What are the main political implications of the privatisation of Essay

What are the main political implications of the privatisation of security - Essay Example Therefore, any security move for any nation cannot avoid having political implications since this act as benchmark to access the capabilities of the political leaders to offer protection to their citizens. Over the years, many nations have viewed security as the sole role of the government and hence they have seen military jobs as a different kind of job. Many have considered security as an aspect that they have paid for through tax remittances and therefore they have been the biggest opposes to the idea of privatizing security for quite some time (Singer, 2008, p. 8). In the United States, the whole concept of privatizations traces its way back in the 19th century by the use of private firms in the rail service provision. Security privatization was one of the largest privatization initiatives that the United States embarked on in the 20th century during the Second World War by privatizing part of the defense functions (Chesterman & Fisher, 2009, p.16). The motivation for this government to private collusion was the increased need for operational and technical support during that time of the war. Ever since that period, this kind of partnership has never ceased between these public and private companies. This trend in security partnership especially in the military has given rise to numerous private security firms (PSCs) which have specialized in a range of activities, which the United States government has been keen to privatize. The major areas that these companies have concentrated on include assessing security risk, offering intelligence support, strategic planning, technical assistant and operational supplement (Singer, 2008). The ramifications that the privatization of security offers all lie in the political arena since security from the onset was a government role which the political leader as the steers. Several analysts discuss that as much

Pricing and Cost Leadership in Management Accounting Essay

Pricing and Cost Leadership in Management Accounting - Essay Example In the company's situation, I believe that it will be better off pursuing a cost differentiation strategy which will allow it not to compete head-on with Starbucks that is directly on the opposite street. Starbucks is already an established player with an upscale clientele and serving the market through differentiation strategy. However, not all customers can patronize its products because of the high prices. Thus, the coffee outlet can offer specialty coffee products at lower prices which can be afforded by ordinary individuals. In this case, the company should be able to keep costs in check by employing the most efficient processes through the elimination of non-value adding activities. The company can make profit through the expected higher volume as consumers demand more of the products. Identify a small number of areas (between 5-10) of important areas (referred to as critical success factors) for this coffee outlet. A critical success factor is an area in which performance must be at least satisfactory for the business to achieve its mission. The success of the operation of the coffee outlet is dependent on a lot of factors. First, the company should be able to create an appropriate branding strategy which will make it stand out among other competitors. In the specialty coffee industry, branding strategy is very much important even in the mere survival of the business organization because it emphasizes the strength of the company as well as indicates what customers expect. Next, the coffee outlet's brand image should be backed through the delivery of the image. For instance, since the company chooses to offer lowest prices, it should always conduct a market scanning in order to make sure that it is really offering the most competitive price. Another success factor is the outlet's product quality. In a world where customers have become more discriminating have higher bargaining power, it is important that business organizations, ensure that they are offering high quality products. In addition to this, the coffee outlet should align its workforce with its staff. In delivering the intended image and good product quality, the staff should also be educated and adept in offering excellent customer service which will enhance the overall branding strategy of the firm. Service is very much significant to specialty coffee retailers and other players in the hospitality industry. Next, the coffee outlet should also invest in having an atmosphere and ambiance where customers can sit back, relax, and socialize with friends recognizing that most coffee drinkers visit coffee shop in order to get away from the stressful office environment. List different types of information that would be relevant in order to manage this business. Your information requirements can be either accounting or non-financial. The management of the specialty coffee outlet should be based on an extensive and intensive market research which will help the business organization to pinpoint the most profitable market to be served. This will also enable them to tailor their products according

Thailand environment, crime and disease

Thailand environment, crime and disease Thailand Environment, Crime and Disease While Thailand has come a long way in the past few decades, it still has quite a long ways to go as far as development. Crime and disease are still prevalent, and through its development in its economy, and culture, they face new environmental problems. Globalization has brought many positive aspects to Thailand and to its development as a country; however it has had its negative effects. The prime negativity to Thailands development is the harm to its environment. Being an export-dependent country, their development relied heavily on the increased production of the exports resulting in a lowered water and air quality (heightened pollution), and a loss of natural habitats. To counter this affect of industrialization and urbanization, the country and citizens have created multiple organizations, and policies to fight the negative affects to their environment. However, the speed at which these things are being implemented is much slower than that of the growth of industrialization in their economy. The air pollution in Bangkok even became two and a half times the standards set by the World Health Organization (Thailand). Thailand has an abundance of resources, both for production, and the possibility of renewable resources, to combat pollution, and harming the land with food production. However, while there have been efforts made to fight for the environment, they see multiple barriers to progress some of them being a lack of actual implementation, and enforcement of policies, and a lack of financing to implement a strong utilization of their renewable energy resources (Uddin 2010). Crime is another occurrence that Thailand still needs to fight through its development. Currently, the two main crimes facing Thais are human trafficking, and extreme violence stemming from protests in the streets of Bangkok over the political dispute. As far as human trafficking, Thailand is a source, a destination, and a pass-through route for human trafficking of men, women and children. Thai women and children are sent to â€Å"Japan, Malaysia, South Africa, Bahrain, Australia, Singapore, Europe, Canada and the United States for sexual and labor exploitation†. Some Thailand natives are actually coerced to leave Thailand and move to Taiwan, Malaysia, US or the Middle East by some job recruiting agency, however, the individuals rack up a large debt to these agencies, and are then forced into â€Å"involuntary servitude†. Women are even trafficked within Thailand, from the north/Northwest to the areas capital, Bangkok, for the purpose of becoming sex slaves. However, t he human trafficking, especially within Thailand itself, is decreasing due to an increased effort to implement preventative programs, and more economic opportunities for the women of Thailand. Those who are trafficked into Thailand typically come from â€Å"Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Peoples Republic of China, Russian and Uzbekistan†, and are women and children for the purpose of labor and sexual purposes. The typical labor jobs those Trafficked to Thailand â€Å"take† involved begging or fishing. As a combat against this horrible crime, Thailand has created many places and organizations for those who are adversely affected by human trafficking, whether it be a need for psychological help after abuse they may have incurred through the process, or a need for a place to stay, Thailand has plenty of resources. These programs provided mostly by the International Organization for Migration can provide shelter, healthcare, and food to those climbing out of their abusive situatio ns from human trafficking, attempting to create a better life for themselves (HumanTrafficking.org). The other Tier of hardship Thailand faces it the fight against HIV/AIDs within their community. Not only is it being passed from person to person in heterosexual relationships, but it is being passed from mother to child during pregnancy and/or breastfeeding. To combat this disease, Thailand officials have created multiple processes and programs to help control this epidemic. One of the methods involves the collection of blood donations. Thailand used to pay individuals, who gave blood, but they have gotten rid of any monetary benefit from giving blood, and those who do donate must be tested for HIV prior to their blood being accepted. Additionally, there have been multiple campaigns including â€Å"100 percent condom campaign†, to promote the use of condoms in all relationships, considering the high rate of HIV from commercial sexual activity that occurs in Thailand with their young male community. HIV contracted from mother to child has currently infected 30,000 children, an d resulted in 7,500 AIDS cases in children. Without preventative measures, 3,000 of the 10,000 children born at risk of contracting HIV through their mothers would be infected per year. The Ministry of Public Health of Thailand has taken an interest in this unfortunate epidemic. Some of the processes this group has implemented are HIV screenings after birth for both mother and child, and advising against breastfeeding for HIV positives mothers (Kanshana 2004). In addition to globalization playing a role in the environment, disease and crime in Thailand, they also play a large role in the globalization and development of Thailand. As previously stated, with the globalization came a long period of industrialization for the economy of Thailand, but due to this, it has harmed the land that they depend on for over 70% of their GDP. This will make it harder to keep up with the growth of their economy (Uddin 2010). With globalization comes knowledge, which has led Thais to realize the benefits to a democracy, instead of the constitutional monarchy they are currently led by. The past few months have been marked by protests between the yellow (those in support of the current political climate) and red shirts (those who are protesting the current political state). The protestors are voicing their disagreement with the government being overtaken after the progression of their political process to have an elected official, and returning to a monarchy by political force. They are currently experiencing the â€Å"worst political violence† that they had ever seen in more than twenty years. On April 10th, 2010, the non-violent protests were combated â€Å"with tear gas, gunfire, and explosions†. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, who the protestors are calling to resign and allow an elected official to run office, states that he chose to use force on the protestors so that the government di d not appear weak. Even though the activities of the protestors were completely peaceful, the fact that they had gone on for three days with no signs of receding in their protesting effort seemed to be enough for the government to react violently (Mydans 2010). So while globalization brings many positive factors into an economy experiencing growth and development from an otherwise poverty-stricken, undeveloped state, there are many negative factors that the country must combat to continue on their road to further development and success. It seems as through the efforts are there, and they are progressing as a country, but a stronger, more wide-spread effort needs to be made in order for any implementations to stick, and have a true long-lasting affect on Thailand and their community. References HumanTrafficking.org | Thailand. (n.d.). HumanTrafficking.org: A Web Resource for Combating Human Trafficking in the East Asia Pacific Region. Retrieved May 2, 2010, from http://www.humantrafficking.org/countries/thailand Thailand. (n.d.). Thailand. Retrieved May 2, 2010, from http://www.worldbank.or.th/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/EASTASIAPACIFICEXT/THAILANDEXTN/0,,menuPK:333302~pagePK:1411 MYDANS, S., FULLER, T. (2010, April 11). Thai Protesters Repulse Troops; Gunfire and Explosions Erupt in the Streets. Urban Studies, p. 6. Kanshana, S., Naiwatanakul, T., Simonds, R. J., Amornwichet, P., Teeraratkul, A., Culnane, M. et al. (2004). Monitoring and evaluating the national program to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission in Thailand. New Directions for Evaluation, 2004(103), 117 128. Uddin, S. N., Taplin, R., Yu, X. (2010). Towards a sustainable energy future—exploring current barriers and potential solutions in Thailand. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 12(1), 63 87. TOPIC COMMENTS Points Content Impact of issues on economy/development of country discussed: 65 points Issues: environment, crime, disease Research synthesized into conclusion and implications for continued globalization discussed. 35 points Mechanical errors: (1 point deductionf or first 2, 1 point deduction for each additional) up to a 10 point deduction APA format and references: Format: up to 5 point deduction Ref: 2 point deduction for sources that are not academically acceptable. If you have difficulty with APA format, the following website is one that offers examples that should be helpful: http://www.dianahacker.com/ resdoc/social.html Overquoted deduction (no more than 10% of your paper may be quoted material. No submission to turnitin: 3 point deduction

The Blood Lust :: Personal Narrative Vegetarians Papers

The Blood Lust My parents met at a party in September, 1975. A month later they left Rhode Island and drove cross-country together in the Volkswagen bus that my mom had bought for the trip. They brought along my mom's dog Sagebrush and two of her friends. Actually, the two friends, the dog, and my mom brought my dad. He wanted a ride out to his friend's place in Ohio, but ended up staying with them all the way to California. My mom's two friends left in California, and my mom and dad ended up driving home together. They didn't have much money. By the time they got to Santa Barbara, they were so poor that they stood wearing sandwich boards advertising a soup and sandwich special at the Bluebird Cafà © in exchange for a free lunch, which they split. They also worked as telemarketers and house cleaners. They ate very cheaply. Lots of cheese, my dad says, and crackers. For two weeks, my mom didn't eat; she drank only apple juice -not because they were starving poor, but because she wanted to cleanse her body. Mostly they slept in the bus, but they had friends to visit across the country, and for a while, they stayed in Virginia with my mom's father's cousin, whom they barely knew. The only times they ever ate meat were when it was served to them at people's houses, for it was far too expensive for them to buy on their own. They began to find, as they made their way across the country, that it felt heavy and unhealthy, especially red meat and pork. When they got back east three months later, they moved into a small house in Narragansett, Rhode Island, with rotting kitchen walls so soft that you could stick a finger through. One day, my mom thought back and realized, slightly revolted, that the last piece of meat she had eaten was a hotdog with sauerkraut and mustard at the Oak Hill Tavern, months ago. Right then and there, she decided that if she couldn't kill something herself, she wouldn't eat it. I was born five years later, and my mom and dad began their parental journey with the inten tion of raising a family of vegetarians. I was five years old, and pale. My parents were concerned. At about the same time they noticed I was paler than my fellow kindergarteners, my dad came down with pneumonia, from working with the insulation in our unfinished attic.

A Case Analysis of the Workings of a Third Party Logistics Industry Essay

Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The relevance of Third Party Logistics (3PL) Providers need not be overemphasized.   The logistics industry provides a very good opportunity for industries to focus more on their core competencies and significantly reduce their spending while at the same time improving their systems and customer service aspects.   Since most of the 3PL companies have all the resources that are necessary for effective logistics function on top of their human capital it is always the case that companies will definitely gain a good experience on top of learning a lot of new strategies in dealing with this type of service.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This paper will provide the basic theories on Logistics and Third Party Logistics.   Consequently, it will relate such theories to actual experiences of a particular 3PL Industry leader: Ryder Systems Inc.   The paper will be discussing its core services, values and take into close analysis two of the services that they have provided on two of their major clients.   Similarly, the discussion of some of the risk factors that are inevitable for the company will also be taken into account. See more:  The Story of an Hour Literary Analysis Essay Objectives of the Study   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   First amongst of the few objectives of the study will be the student’s capability to communicate the concepts that are relevant in the industry that he or she is working in.   Second would be to show how big and relevant the market for the logistics industry is.   In relation with this is to illustrate how the company which the author works in (i.e. Ryder Systems Inc) is able to have a significant share in this industry.  Ã‚   Part of such objective would be explaining its book of business, products and services and basic corporate values.   There should also be direct examples to illustrate how is the company is able to maintain its top clients. Significance of the Study   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It is necessary to provide a scholarly study on the area of logistics because there has not been a lot of studies are conducted in this type of industry.   Most of the researches that the author have encountered are primarily brief case studies and basic theories that mainly based on the specific corporations that are doing such type of businesses.   Having such, most of the literatures are one sided, that is discussing only the good experiences that were encountered in dealing with specific clients.   It is the author’s endeavor to bring out a research paper that is based on a holistic perspective so that there would be a thorough discussion of both of the positive and negative areas within the logistics industry. Review of Related Literature Logistics Logistics is the process of administering and controlling the course of goods, energy, information and other resources namely products, services and people from a particular company.  Ã‚   It would be very hard to imagine a particular company without proper logistical function or support.   The very rationale of a logistics support primarily lies on proper â€Å"geographical positioning of raw materials, works in process, and finish inventories† at the most reasonable cost, this information is taken from Wikipedia’s introduction part, titled â€Å"Logistics†. Taken from the same reference, Wikipedia categorizes logistics into three types: military, business and production logistics. Military logistics Providing logistical support to the military is more of a matter of life and death.   It is very crucial that soldiers’ supplies of food, fuel and ammunition be delivered in the fastest and safest possible manner if not, such would lead to very serious implications.   Good examples of such cases are the US-Iraq war, American War of Independence and the Second World War. Business Logistics There are two different focuses in which logistics function in businesses: the internal focus and the external focus which â€Å"covers the flow from originating supplier to end-user†.   Part of the business is the assurance of the proper â€Å"coordination of resources in an organization†.  Ã‚   Two forms of logistics in business that are fundamental for the smooth run of the business are the â€Å"steady flow of material through a network of transport links and storage nodes; and also the sequence of resources to carry out projects†. Production Logistics The relevance of logistics within an industry need not be over emphasized.   As industries are constantly changing their machines to achieve â€Å"capital efficiency† and â€Å"customer response†, it is very necessary to make more efficient the logistics function.   For existing plants, the management often find themselves replacing parts ad even machines in order to ensure the quality and rate of productivity.   Hence it is not only the case that timeliness of transporting these parts should be taken into consideration but also the cautiousness that is necessary to guarantee that by the time the machine or parts get to the production site, it is still on a perfect working condition. For the purpose of this paper, the author will concentrate specifically on two types of logistics function, i.e. the business and the production logistics. Third Party Logistics It would be more cost-effective for companies which don’t have a particular specialization on transportation and logistics to outsource using 3PL or third Party Logistics Provider.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   3PL is a specialized vendor which takes care of the â€Å"supply management function† of a particular company’s integrated warehousing and transportation, and other services that could be â€Å"made according to customer’s needs prior on market condition and the demands and delivery service requirements for their products and materials.† Few of these services are inventory, material handling and packaging.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   According to Hertz, and Alfredsson in their article â€Å"Strategic development of third party logistics providers, Industrial Marketing Management† there are four categories of 3PL providers: Standard 3PL provider: this is the most basic form of a 3PL provider. They would perform activities such as, pick and pack, warehousing, and distribution (business) – the most basic functions of logistics. For a majority of these firms, the 3PL function is not their main activity. Service developer: this type of 3PL provider will offer their customers advanced value-added services such as: tracking and tracing, cross-docking, specific packaging, or providing a unique security system. A solid IT foundation and a focus on economies of scale and scope will enable this type of 3PL provider to perform these types of tasks. The customer adapter: this type of 3PL provider comes in at the request of the customer and essentially takes over complete control of the company’s logistics activities. The 3PL provider improves the logistics dramatically, but do not develop a new service. The customer base for this type of 3PL provider is typically quite small. The customer developer: this is the highest level that a 3PL provider can attain with respect to its processes and activities. This occurs when the 3PL provider integrates itself with the customer and takes over their entire logistics function. These providers will have few customers, but will perform extensive and detailed tasks for them.       Ryder System Inc Company Overview Headed by their Chairman and CEO Gregory T. Swienton, Ryder System Inc is one of the best and leading industries in terms of providing logistics, supply chain management and solutions all over the world.   It has been featured in Fortune 500 and has received numerous commendations from its clients and peers within the industry. Few of its customer awards are from Toyota (Best Business Partner of the Year), Mazda (Carrier of the Year), Xerox (Delivery Carrier of the Year), Whirlpool (Gold and Bronze Quality Awards), Alcan (Distribution Supplier of the Year), ARCO (Category 1, Supplier Status), Bombay (Carrier of the Year), Copperweld (Outstanding Supplier of the Year), Domino’s Pizza (Supplier of the Year), etc. Similarly, few of its industry awards came from Forbes, Beacon Council, The Miami Herald, Commercial Carrier Journal, Hispanic Magazine, Logistics Management, Mercer Management Consulting, Internet Week, E Week, Information Week, Centro de Estudos em Logica, Consumer Goods Technology, CIO, National Safety Council, Latina Style, Information Week 500, Business Week, Inbound Logistics Magazine and B to B Magazine. Also, the company has been included in Calvert Social Index since 1990, KLD Research & Analytics: Domini 400 Social Index (DSI), United States Environmental Protection Agency and South Florida Commuter Services: Best Workplaces for Commuters, Governance Metrics International (GMI): Highest Global Rating, Department of Defense Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR): Above and Beyond Award, Network Miami, and World Trade.    In relation with this, Ryder has also been included in â€Å"InformationWeek 500 of leading business users of information technology and InternetWeek’s top 100 U.S. companies for effectiveness in using the Internet to achieve tangible business benefits†. As enumerated in Ryder’s official website the products that the company offers are: â€Å"Fleet Management Solutions (FMS), which provides leasing, rental and programmed maintenance of trucks, tractors and trailers to commercial customers; Supply Chain Solutions (SCS), which manages the movement of materials and related information from the acquisition of raw materials to the delivery of finished products to end-users; and Dedicated Contract Carriage (DCC), which provides a turn-key transportation service that includes vehicles, drivers, routing and scheduling†. Corporate Values One of the secrets of success of Ryder lies on its very strong recognition of the relevance of diversity in the workplace.   The company focuses a lot on the relevance of the workforce by proving them a whole array of opportunities regardless of color, gender and age. Fleet Management Solutions According to the 2005 Ryder Annual Report on the Financial Statement Section, Ryder’s Fleet Management Solutions (FMS) accounts to 62% of total annual revenue of the company, that is equivalent to $57 Billion. FMS allows its clients to focus on their central business and direct their capital to other parts of their business process.   Ryder provides a whole range of products for leasing, commercial rent and contract maintenance solutions. In relation with this, it also had â€Å"value-added fleet support services† like insurance, vehicle administration, fuel services and a wide selection of used trucks, tractors. FMS caters from small to large scale enterprises.   Most of its clients came from the following industries: beverage, newspaper, grocery, lumber, wood products, home finishing and metal. Since FMS is divided to three major regions across the whole United States also adding Puerto Rico, the company holds a huge 137,000 US fleet of commercial trucks, tractors, trailers that are leased or rented.   Each major region is segmented into 8-16 Business Units (BU) and consequently, each BU has 7-15 Branch Offices. The BU are pretty much like a one-stop store because not only that it has a maintenance facility or a shop office, it also provides services for refueling, safety inspections and preliminary maintenance checks as well as a place for preventive maintenance and repairs. Through FMS Ryder is able to provide the most cost-effective business logistics solutions on top of timeliness, quality and superior service. Full Service Leasing The full service leasing program that is still based on the 2005 Ryder Annual Report is a custom made program which caters perfectly to any demand or need of a particular enterprise.   This particular program helps companies to strategize their fleet management function or upgrade their fleet without necessarily having to allocate a specific percentage of their annual capital. Assessing enterprises’ qualifications would depend in their corporate state of affairs, their company’s size, residual size and a balance sheet treatment.   Based on these qualifications, a leasing program will be created.   After such would be the leasing of trucks that are â€Å"custom engineered† relative to the needs of the enterprise and normally would last for 3-7 year. The full service lease of Ryder has very good leveraging since the company has a good buying power since it purchases vehicles in bulk. Other related services include contact maintenance which primarily deals with the repairs of vehicles, predictive and preventive assessments based on the type of the truck and driving habits of the enterprise, and also Ryder can replace any truck which temporarily went out of service. Another additional feature of this program is the contact related maintenance which are additional services that are not within the agreed contract but is however needed by the enterprise. Supply Chain Solutions This aspect of the services provided by Ryder pertains to the â€Å"direct movement of international funds and related information from the acquisition of raw materials to the delivery of finished products to end users†. The estimated market for this business is estimated to be $237 Billion and accounts to 29% of the company’s total annual revenue.   There are three categories in which Ryder operates in this particular service.   The Professional Services provided by the company focuses on the classification, analysis, and improvement of its clients’ supply chain solutions in order to assure the enterprise’s consistency, efficiency and flexibility.   This service is comprised of expert consultants who conduct extensive case studies, reviews to create a highly effective supply chain strategy.   Another service provided by the company is Distribution Operations wherein few of the services being catered upon are: warehouse facilities, administering the flow of products, coordinating warehousing and transportation for inbound material flows, handling import and export for international shipment, replenishment of component parts for manufacturing and ., and a whole lot more.   The transportation services on the other hand take care on almost all of the factors that are necessary for an effective and timely transportation network.   From planning and execution, Ryder also makes sure that the shipment consolidation, load scheduling and delivery confirmation are real-time and accurate through the use of various technological and web-based solutions.   Ryder has the best transportation consultants who work in partnership with the Freight Brokerage Department. Analysis   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Having a discussed a brief background of the necessary foundations of an effective logistics company and having elaborated on the basic workings of Ryder System Inc, the author would like to have a brief case analysis of two of the long-time clients that the company have served for their logistics solutions: Whirlpool and Philips.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In relation with this, the author would also discuss the risk factors that are inevitable in this type of business. Risk Factors   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The author would like to discuss some of the things that affect the logistics business at Ryder.   One relevant factor would be the financial revenue of the company and its stability.   Some changes in market conditions such as the rental or sale of used vehicles, ability to retain customers and maintain appropriate utilization rates.   It could also be the case that unstable interest rate and currency exchange rate might cause financial instability.   Sometimes occasional labor strikes, sudden changes in fuel prices and fuel shortages could be vital determiners of fluctuations.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It is also a necessity that new growth initiatives in Fleet Management Systems (FMS) Business segment be a constant endeavor for the company.   By having the company restructure the operational and sales teams, realigning business processes and organizing management it will be assured that the FMS will still be up to date and will still continue to be the biggest contributor for the company’s annual revenue.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Another risk factor that the company has to deal with is the residual risks on the value of their trucks.   If the market for buying used vehicles suddenly declines there would be a sure loss on Ryder. In relation with this would be with regard to SCS revenue.   Since a significant portion of SCS revenue came from a small number of customers, many of which are in the automotive industry, it could be possible that failure to retain these clients would result to huge financial loss. One of Ryder’s clients which belong in this category is General Motors Corporation (GM) accounting for 35% of Ryder’s SCS total revenue and 18% of SCS operating revenue.  Ã‚   The loss of any of this customer or a significant reduction in the services provided to on this company could impact Ryder’s domestic and international operations and adversely affect SCS financial results. While the company still focuses on diversifying their customer base both outside and within the automotive industry, the company may not be successful in doing so in the short term. In relation with this is the downward pricing pressure that might come from certain SCS customers could result in low revenues.   For instance it could be the case that since all SCS services are provided under contractual arrangements that are based on certain assumptions regarding the scope of services, production volumes, operational efficiencies, productivity and other factors. If, as a result of subsequent changes in our customers’ business needs or operations or market forces that are outside of our control, these assumptions prove to be invalid, Ryder could have lower margins than anticipated.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Attracting and retaining drivers could also be an issue since there has been a really tight competition in terms of their availability.   The company could either opt to increase their salaries or let trucks sit idle, utilize lower quality drivers or face difficulty meeting customer demands, all of which could adversely affect growth and profitability. Ryder’s attempt to continue to expand international operations may result in additional risks. Since the company is committed to meeting customers’ global needs by continuing to grow our international operations in Canada, Europe, Asia and Latin America and by entering into new markets such as China. The company’s international operations, particularly in Latin America and Asia, are subject to adverse developments in foreign political, governmental and economic conditions, varying competitive factors, foreign currency fluctuations, potential difficulties in identifying and retaining qualified managers and personnel, potential adverse tax consequences and difficulties in protecting intellectual property rights. Since the company operates in a highly competitive industry it is likely the case that the business may suffer if the company will be unable to adequately address potential downward pricing pressures and other competitive factors. Ryder competes with many other transportation and logistics service providers, some of which have greater capital resources than the company does; some of the competitors periodically reduce their prices to gain business, which may limit the company’s ability to maintain or increase prices.   In relation with this, advances in technology may require increased investments to remain competitive, and the company’s customers may not be willing to accept higher prices to cover the cost of these investments. Ryder operates in a highly regulated industry, and costs of compliance with, or liability for violation of, existing or future regulations could significantly increase their costs of doing business.   The business is subjected to regulation by various federal, state and foreign governmental entities specifically the U.S. Department of Transportation and various state and federal agencies exercise broad powers over Ryder’s motor carrier operations, safety, and the generation, handling, storage, treatment and disposal of waste materials. The company may also become subject to new or more restrictive regulations imposed by the Department of Transportation, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency or other authorities, relating to the hours of service that our drivers may provide in any one-time period, security and other matters. Compliance with these regulations could substantially impair equipment productivity and increase the company’s costs. New regulations governing exhaust emissions could adversely impact the business. The Environmental Protection Agency has issued regulations that require progressive reductions in exhaust emissions from certain diesel engines through 2007. Emissions standards require reductions in the sulfur content of diesel fuel beginning in June 2006 and the introduction of emissions after-treatment devices on newly-manufactured engines and vehicles utilizing engines built after January 1, 2007. Each of these requirements could result in higher prices for tractors, diesel engines and fuel, which are passed on to customers, as well as higher maintenance costs and uncertainty as to reliability, all of which could, overtime, increase costs and adversely affect business and results of operations. Case Studies Whirlpool Corporation The dilemma of Whirlpool Corporation primarily stems out to a highly fragmented warehousing and distribution network.   The main warehousing facility of the company is primarily located in La Porte Ind, while having other packaging facilities all over the states.   When vendors ship and deliver the parts needed for production, some are directly dropped in the packaging facilities in which is the ideal situation; however a lot of times, the parts are delivered in La Porte which then requires Whirlpool to cross-dock shipments.   As result of this, the transportation processes of goods are doubled in addition to repeating the strenuous tasks for inventory. Such a case appears to be ineffective, costly and time consuming because not only that the company is doubling its expenses and is not doing well in terms of time management, but also the primary corporate value which is good customer service is highly compromised.   By having late deliveries or goods or merchandise parts, Whirlpool doesn’t appear to stand at its best disposition.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Whirlpool’s Financial Managers are very reluctant in having to invest a lot of their capital in improving their warehousing and logistics solution, however, something must really be done in order to resolve their logistic problems, and hence this is when Ryder came into the picture.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In choosing the right 3PL provider for their logistics solutions, Whirlpool assessed three major logistics provider.   They have taken into consideration the contractors’ experience, strategy, capabilities and resources.   Out of all the outsourcing companies assessed Ryder was able to get the contract.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The logistics processing service of Ryder to Whirlpool is conducted in this way: Once the bulk shipments from offshore suppliers and onshore suppliers such as Mexico and the United States arrived at the distribution centers, the goods received by the warehouse management systems and have them bar-coded. After which Ryder then performs â€Å"high volume packaging and kitting within the distribution center breaking down shipments such as large cartons containing 500 water pumps into single-item boxes and polybags†.   In such a manner, Ryder effectively sorts out the parts and labels them so that it would be easier to identify them once delivered to Whirlpool clients. For the sake of quality and protection of the goods, they are assembled in blister-pack kits together with other components and accessories such as for instance a water pump, two washers and an installation brochure.   The process of packaging is very much a holistic process that allows the parts to be ready for delivery.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Once the goods are packed in totes, they are bar-coded and move along the conveyor system.   After which they are subjected on the sortation system wherein their bar-codes are matched with the orders entered in the system.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The customers’ orders on the other hand are processed by Whirlpool and enter them into their systems while providing Ryder a nightly file in order to identify and sort out the orders to be delivered the following day.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In order to monitor their performance, Ryder and Whirlpool follow five Key Performance Indicators (KPI); these KPIs are: â€Å"shipment accuracy, inventory accuracy, service performance/fill rates, order cycle time and budget performance†.  Ã‚   In relation with the KPI, Ryder also follows the Net 5 Whirlpool Program which says that â€Å"every division of operation should generate a net of 5% in cost savings.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In sum, by having Ryder took in-charge of the logistics of Whirlpool the company is able to save a net of 7% in their annual logistics operation.   Also, as evident, their logistics operations became more proficient and they are able to concentrate on their key competencies which are quality products on top of good customer service. Philips Consumer Electronics of North America The biggest challenge that Philips faced in terms of their logistics functions are in terms of inventory accuracy, the timeliness of product delivery, security in terms of warehousing and delivery and also cross-border delays. In 2001, the company decided to fully outsource their logistics function by having more than 20 contractors bid for the service.   Ryder was chosen amongst all of the said 3PL operators because of their relevant past experiences, efficacy in quality control and product management.   Consequently, Ryder’s human resource was also taken into relevant consideration because of its diversity and good account of experience. In order to provide a very effective logistics recommendation to Philips, Ryder made an assessment to Philip’s network.   Results of such are first the transfer of their Close District Center (DC) in El Paso Texas and replace with a new and larger distribution center at Alliance Park near Dallas Ft. Worth.   The reason for such a change would be the bulk of market segments in which high demands of Philips electronics are purchased.   By having the new DC inn Alliance Park, not only those products from offshore sources are received within the earliest possible time but also 80% of Philips’ clients were able to receive their products within 2 days. Cross-border traffics that are often caused by customs are significantly minimized as Ryder has already long-standing relationships with various custom offices all over the continent.   Ryder has established Philips designated carriers’ pick-up station for the freight which usually came from Juarez Mexico.   Sometimes this freight is delivered to the DC at Alliance Park while some are directly delivered to Philips’ customer. The process of dealing with the logistics function of Philips starts with the Electronic Receipt† of shipment delivery which tells Ryder exactly the due date for the delivery of the goods; consequently, the electronic receipt goes straight to the order repository system giving Ryder a 48-hr lead time for the delivery; after such would be the determination of the â€Å"most cost-efficient transportation option that meets the delivery commitment†. Part of the challenge in transporting goods is the diversity of the products that needs to be delivered. From palm sized electronics to wide screen televisions, Ryder has to make sure that on top of optimizing the truck load space, it has also make sure that the goods will be delivered in a very good shape.   In relation with this, there are certain products that are in season because of various factors such as strong advertising campaigns, popularity, etc.   Hence Ryder has made sure that there should be effective â€Å"slotting analysis† in order to make the flow of goods in and out of the warehouses more efficient. Security concerns such as robbery or smuggling of products due to its high product value are also taken into relevant consideration.   Cameras, door alarms, and actual security guards are always in operation. Also, the most expensive products are caged in a special area wherein entrance and exit areas are highly monitored.   Employees are also required to pin their IDs all the time specially when entering highly secured areas.   Another good thing with Philip’s partnership with Ryder is the immediate feedback provided to Philip’s customer service right after the good is delivered to the customer.   Hence such an act provides a real-time inventory and feedback that is very necessary in dealing with customer inquiry and/or complains. Conclusion The logistics industry provides a very good opportunity for industries to focus more on their core competencies and significantly reduce their spending while at the same time improving their systems and customer service aspects.   Since most of the 3PL companies have all the resources that are necessary for effective logistics function on top of their human capital it is always the case that companies will definitely gain a good experience on top of learning a lot of new strategies in dealing with this type of service. Logistics is the process of administering and controlling the course of goods, energy, information and other resources namely products, services and people from a particular company.  Ã‚   Specifically, 3PL is a specialized vendor which takes care of the â€Å"supply management function† of a particular company’s integrated warehousing and transportation, and other services that could be â€Å"made according to customer’s needs prior on market condition and the demands and delivery service requirements for their products and materials.† Few of these services are inventory, material handling and packaging. The research focused on one of the leading providers of logistics function which is Ryder Systems Inc. The company is one of the best and leading industries in terms of providing logistics, supply chain management and solutions all over the world.   It has been featured in Fortune 500 and has received numerous commendations from its clients and peers within the industry. As enumerated in Ryder’s official website the products that the company offers are: â€Å"Fleet Management Solutions (FMS), which provides leasing, rental and programmed maintenance of trucks, tractors and trailers to commercial customers; Supply Chain Solutions (SCS), which manages the movement of materials and related information from the acquisition of raw materials to the delivery of finished products to end-users; and Dedicated Contract Carriage (DCC), which provides a turn-key transportation service that includes vehicles, drivers, routing and scheduling†.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The research has also discussed the various risk factors that are inevitable in dealing with a third party logistics company.   These are the financial revenue of the company and its stability, the need for restructuring the operational and sales teams, realigning business processes and organizing management, residual risks on the value of trucks, SCS revenue, downward pricing pressure that might come from certain SCS customers, attracting and retaining drivers, expand international operations, regulations governing exhaust emissions etc.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Similarly, the research discussed two case studies in which 3PL specifically Ryder has done long-term business with such as Whirlpool and Philips. Literature Cited Hertz, S., & Alfredsson, M., (2003), Strategic development of third party logistics providers, Industrial Marketing Management, (32), 139-149. Sangam VK. (2006). Implementing Third Party Logistics. Retrieved June 22, 2006, from About.com Website: http://logistics.about.com/od/thirdparty/a/uc041805a.htm Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third-party_logistics Third Party Logistics. Retrieved December 22, 2006, from Wikipedia. Org Website. Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3PL About Us. Retrieved December 22, 2006, from Ryder.Com Website: http://www.ryder.com/aboutus_home.shtml Management Team. Retrieved December 22, 2006, from Ryder.Com Website: http://www.ryder.com/aboutus_cinfo_mt.shtml Customer Awards. Retrieved December 22, 2006, from Ryder.Com Website: http://www.ryder.com/aboutus_cinfo_car.shtml Industry Awards. Retrieved December 22, 2006, from Ryder.Com Website: http://www.ryder.com/aboutus_cinfo_iar.shtml Product Line Brochures. Retrieved December 22, 2006, from Ryder.Com Website: http://www.ryder.com/aboutus_cinfo_brochures.shtml Diversity at Ryder. Retrieved December 22, 2006, from Ryder.Com Website:   http://www.ryder.com/aboutus_diversity.shtml Investor Relations Home. Retrieved December 22, 2006, from Ryder.Com Website: http://investors.ryder.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=108468&p=irol-irhome