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BUSINESS PLAN OF HONDA COMPANY

The focused company for the business plan proposal is Honda Company as there shows market growth and stability in terms of business operations and management, implying assumptions for better finances for balancing sales and profits and adopting to a suitable and conducive business milieu for Honda’s management board, employees, target groups as well as customer base ranges.   Target Market and Customer Base   The target market and customer base of Honda is actually diverse as the company has various business operations not just in one country but several of them. Thus, for instance in Japan in which their customer base is high, the company have its plans to integrate the company’s three existing domestic automobile sales channels – Primo, Clio and Verno into one Honda channel last March 2006. This integration enabled the Honda customers to purchase and service any Honda brand automobile at a single Honda dealer and to maintain a continuous relationship with the same dealer for future sales and service needs as a means to achieve a high level of satisfaction.  In addition, Honda announced plans to introduce its luxury brand, Acura, in Japan, by fall 2008.  The Acura brand will offer distinctive products with a core focus on advanced, leading edge technologies that are always ahead of the times.       The goal of sales channel strategy are to maintain Honda’s ability to respond to changes in society and the automobile market and to continue to provide the diverse values desired by customers and meet increasingly sophisticated customer needs.  In turn, this will enable Honda to maximize the joy and satisfaction of existing customers earned through the three channel structure in Japan as Honda aims to restructure and strengthen its domestic automobile dealer network by creating new value for the customer through Acura brand products and through efforts, Honda steadily increased the number of Honda customers and made significant progress in achieving the autonomy of its dealers. The Japanese automobile market has now entered a stage of increasing maturity, and the surrounding society and marketplace are in a transition stage as well. In this increasingly competitive environment, the most important factor is to always continue improving the lifetime satisfaction level for the customers who have already chosen the Honda brand. Honda decided to integrate its existing channels into one Honda channel where customers will be able to purchase and service any Honda brand automobile and to continue receiving high quality sales and service from the same dealer for future needs whether that be replacing their current vehicle or adding another one. Honda also aims to build a dealer network that places the Honda brand at the forefront by maximizing use of existing facilities and manpower and by optimizing the location of sales facilities.         Aside, introducing Acura to create new value for the customer and to continue to achieve further growth and to take a big step forward in Japan Recently, the values desired by the customer have become even more diverse and customer needs are becoming increasingly sophisticated in the automobile market and will enable Honda to achieve further growth and take a big step forward in its home market of Japan as well as accelerate its effort to maximize customer joy and satisfaction and by challenging, Honda will pursue the goal of consistently achieving annual sales of more than 800,000 units.         Corporate December 14, 2005 Honda Announces New Automobile Sales Channel Strategy and Introduction of Acura(*1) Brand to Japan -- Focus will be on maximizing customer joy and satisfaction and creating new value --         Source of Competitive Advantage   Honda conducts its operations in Japan and throughout the world, including North America, Europe and Asia. A continued economic slowdown, recession or sustained loss of consumer confidence in these markets, which may be caused by rising fuel prices or other factors, could trigger a decline in demand for automobiles, motorcycles and power products that may adversely affect Honda's results of operations. Prices for automobiles, motorcycles and power products in certain markets may experience sharp changes over short periods of time. This volatility is caused by many factors, including increasingly fierce competition, short-term fluctuations in demand from underlying economic conditions, changes in import regulations, shortages of certain supplies, high material prices and sales incentives by Honda or other manufacturers or dealers. There can be no assurance that such price volatility will not continue or intensify or that price volatility will not occur in markets that to date have not experienced such volatility.           Overcapacity within the industry has increased and will likely continue to increase if the economic downturn continues in Honda's major markets worldwide, leading to further increase price pressure. Price volatility in any or all of Honda's markets could adversely affect Honda's results of operations in a particular period. Honda has manufacturing operations throughout the world and exports products and components to various countries. Honda purchases materials and parts, and sells its products in foreign currencies. Therefore, currency fluctuations may affect Honda's pricing of products sold and materials purchased AS currency fluctuations have an effect on Honda's results of operations and financial condition, as well as Honda's competitiveness, which will over time affect its results. Thus, regulations regarding vehicle emission levels, fuel economy, noise, safety and noxious substances, as well as levels of pollutants from production plants, are extensive within the automobile, motorcycle and power product industries. These regulations are subject to change and are often made more restrictive. The costs to comply with these regulations can be significant to Honda's operations.               Honda's financial services business offers customers various financing plans designed to increase the opportunity for sales of its products. However, customers can also obtain financing for the lease or purchase of Honda's products through a variety of other sources that compete with its financing services, including commercial banks and finance and leasing companies. The financial services offered by us also involve risks relating to residual value, credit risk and cost of capital. Competition for customers and/or these risks that are specific to the financing business may affect Honda's results of operations in the future. Honda purchases raw materials and certain components and parts, from numerous external suppliers, and relies on some key suppliers for some items and the raw materials it uses in the manufacture of its products. Honda's ability to continue to obtain these supplies in an efficient and cost-effective manner is subject to a number of factors, some of which are not within Honda's control. These factors include the ability of its suppliers to provide a continued source of supply and Honda's ability to compete with other users in obtaining the supplies. Loss of a key supplier in particular may affect our production and increase our costs. Honda conducts its businesses worldwide and in several countries through joint ventures with local entities, in part due to the legal and other requirements of those countries.       These businesses are subject to various regulations, including the legal and other requirements of each country. If these regulations or the business conditions or policies of these local entities change, it may have an adverse affect on Honda's business, financial condition or results of operations. Honda conducts its businesses worldwide, and its operations may variously be subject to wars, use of force by foreign countries, terrorism, multinational conflicts, natural disasters, epidemics, labor strikes and other events beyond its control which may delay or disrupt Honda's local operations in the affected regions, including the purchase of raw materials and parts, the manufacture, sales and distribution of products and the provision of services as delays or disruptions in one region may in turn affect Honda’s global operations and Honda's business, financial condition or results of operations may be adversely affected.     Configuration of resources   Business organizations have been subject to enormous pressures over the past few years, with major underlying structural changes in industry sometimes concealed behind the short-term issues of recession. There will be no simple solutions and success will depend on the soundness of the strategic decisions taken by top management and the ability of the organization to implement those strategies and would push the human resource aspects of the business to the fore, even without the added complication of continued change and the pressures that this brings.       Honda Motor Co., Ltd. operates under the basic principles of "Respect for the Individual" and "The Three Joys", commonly expressed as The Joy of Buying, The Joy of Selling and The Joy of Creating. Respect for the Individual" reflects our desire to respect the unique character and ability of each individual person, trusting each other as equal partners in order to do their best in every situation. Honda Motor Ltd. has remained on the leading edge by creating new value by providing products of the highest quality at a reasonable price for worldwide customer satisfaction. The Company has grown to become the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer and one of the leading automakers. Honda develops, manufactures and markets a wide variety of products ranging from small general purpose engines and scooters to specialty sports cars, to earn the Company an outstanding reputation from customers worldwide. Honda has introduced an operating officer system, aimed at strengthening both the execution of business operations at the regional and local levels and the supervision by the Board of Directors. The term of office of each director is limited to one year, and the amount of remuneration payable to them is determined according to a standard that reflects their performance in the Company. The goal in doing this is to maximize the flexibility with which directors respond to changes in the operating environment. With respect to business execution, Honda has established a system for operating its organizational units that reflects its fundamental corporate philosophy. For example, separate headquarters have been set up for each region, business and function and a general manager from the Board of Directors or an operating officer has been assigned to each headquarters and main division. In addition, the Management Council deliberates important matters concerning management, and regional operating councils deliberate important matters concerning management of their respective regions. Honda's basic policy emphasizes the appropriate disclosure of company information, such as by disclosing financial results on a quarterly basis and timely and accurately giving public notice of and disclosing its management strategies. Honda will continue raising its level of transparency in the future.       Market Research   Creating advanced new technologies and products Through leading-edge research and development, Honda continuously creates original technology that opens up new possibilities in mobility. Honda is always tackling new challenges for the current and future benefit of individuals, society and the environment.   Research and Development for the future Honda is constantly involved in the research and development of technology that will benefit people in the future. These technologies range from new materials and new sources of energy, including mass-produced solar panels, to new power trains that maximize joy while minimizing environmental impact. They also include advances in biotechnology, such as Honda's work in decoding the rice genome for application in various fields. Honda is studying human anatomy and physiology, as well, in its efforts to produce innovative products that enhance safety in various ways.   ASIMO lends a hand In 1986, Honda began conducting original research and development toward the creation of biped humanoid robots that will serve society in harmony with humans. The latest ASIMO, introduced in 2005, employs new posture control technology that allows it to run and move in concert with a human partner. Able to carry objects, it can also handle various reception and delivery tasks. ASIMO continues to evolve and will soon acquire the abilities to turn around and run 6km/h, making it an even better partner for humans.   Reaching for the skies One of Honda's earliest dreams was the development of jet planes. In pursuit of this dream, Honda recently established Honda Aero Inc. and developed a compact jet engine that has passed the experimental stages. The manufacture and procurement of components for this jet engine will be handled by a joint venture between Honda and General Electric.   Next-generation power trains Honda's Automobile Research and Development Center in Japan includes research facilities dedicated to the development of next-generation power trains. Here, Honda engineers are developing new means of propulsion that may one day contribute to human mobility. Consistent quality worldwide Honda is a global company with manufacturing operations and sales networks all over the world. Furthermore, our products are enjoyed by people in numerous countries. This global success is built upon the renowned quality of Honda’s products and made possible by the passion and dedication of Honda associates everywhere. Wherever you are, you can always count on the quality of Honda products. Localizing production to meet local needs Honda began manufacturing motorcycles in Belgium and became the first Japanese automaker to produce passenger cars in the U.S. Since then, Honda has established independent local operations around the world for research, development, marketing and production. Through the introduction of Honda's flexible manufacturing system, Honda continues reducing the time and resources necessary to launch new models into production and improving the efficiency of manufacturing operations that meet regional needs. Moreover, the grouping of production processes into cohesive units has improved the working environment, raised product quality, and further accelerated production. In the future, Honda plans to further localize the production of engines and key components for automobiles, motorcycles, and power products, while simultaneously raising quality and efficiency and accelerating our response to the dramatically changing world.     Inspiring their customers By creating products and services that highlight the core values that make Honda unique, we would like to provide our customers with joy and excitement beyond their expectations. Honda will continue to create such inspiring experiences for our customers by offering mobility that is always ahead of the times. In this way, Honda products will be loved and enjoyed by customers of all generations. Expanding New Values for customers worldwide The ultimate goal of Honda’s sales activities worldwide is to satisfy our customers so that they will continue to come back for more Honda quality products. That's why they put heartfelt effort into our services, responding to changing values and increasingly sophisticated needs. They’re always working to improve the quality of our customer relations providing friendly and attentive sales, responsive service support, thorough maintenance and repairs so customer satisfaction constantly grows. Honda also continues to develop sales and service systems best suited to community needs. In that way, "life with a Honda" brings new joy to people and places worldwide. Starting in Japan in 2006, Honda will unify our multiple car-dealership channels into a single Honda sales channel seeking to strengthen the Honda brand, enhance customer satisfaction and help ensure lifetime customer loyalty.     Business Format and Structure   Considering that Honda is encountering a number of organizational issues, changes in its operations should be done to overcome them. In order to carry these out, change management should be done. This concept is defined as the development and integration of organizational change in a systematic process. Change management can also be defined as the response of different business to various pressures brought about by environmental influences in which organizations have minimal or absolutely no control over. The main purpose of conducting organization changes is to introduce innovative means and systems in the organization. This can similarly be compared to the application of certain information technologies in the company or the adoption of new marketing strategies. Businesses must normally undergo change in order to evolve to a higher level of stability, management or production. While change is induced to bring better business outcomes, introducing change is a challenging task. This is due to the number of factors that could hinder its successful induction. One of which is the hesitance of some employees and managers in considering change within the company. Among various reasons, the most common of which is that some employees are afraid of risks and are already comfortable with their current status. Other managers on the other hand, feared the lost of control over the changed management and the responsibilities it will entail.         Management Organization of the Company's Corporate Governance for Decision-Making, Execution, Supervision and Others       SOURCE:  (2006)     There are approaches that are more focused on what is needed to be changed; others emphasize on how change can be accomplished. Leavitt had defined three approaches to organizational change management, which includes structure, technology and people ( 1964). New formal guidelines and procedures like organization chart, budgeting methods, rules and regulations can be considered as structural approaches on inducing change. On the other hand, rearrangements in work flow through new physical layouts, work methods, job descriptions and work standards are examples of technological approaches. Some organizations stress on inducing organizational change through the people approach which includes alterations in attitudes, motivation and behavioral skills. This can be done through new training programs, selection procedures, and performance appraisal schemes. Other approaches to manage change had also been introduced.  These approaches had been categorized into three: the unilateral power, which focuses on changing a component of the organization; shared power that emphasizes on addressing change through group discussion and agreement; and delegated power in which certain change catalysts or agents are in charge of disseminating change. It has been mentioned that change management is done order to improve specific organizational aspects.                 In the case of Honda, strategic innovation is necessary in order to help the company adapt to various environmental pressures and to improve its human resources. The need for the retailer to implement changes is the same reason for implementing a change concept known as reengineering. Reengineering is a strategy for organizational change done for a number of reasons. Higher performance, acceptance of new techniques, greater motivation, more innovation, increased cooperation and better employee relations are some of the common purposes for organizational reengineering. However, the conduction of reengineering in a company has two main goals as organization management cannot entirely control its environment, they constantly induce internal changes to enable them to overcome new challenges including competition, advances in technology, new government legislation, and pressing social demands. Organizations do not operate through computers but through people who can make decisions and every organization has its unique patterns of decision-making behavior. These patterns stem from both formal and informal ground rules which indicate how an effective manager or employee should behave in dealing with others and in making decisions. The learning experience of the personnel also helped the company in improving its image to the consumers. With improved services, competent staff and more organized systems, customers are able to recognize the efforts of the business to serve its targets better. As a result, the employees were able to help out the company’s profit growth.       Management/ Personnel qualities and experience   The romantic image of the founder-millionaire wearing overalls. tinkering visibly with some mechanical marvel in workshop or lab, is often reality. So it was with Soichiro Honda, in many ways the least typical of the post-war Japanese economic victors: but simultaneously the most visible archetype of the success of Japanese business culture, though an eccentric one. 'Mr Honda', said one baffled journalist, ' is a management executive who always wears red shirts and tells naughty stories when drinking.' The drinking was important to Honda. In his early sixties, the great man admitted that he didn't understand computers. The fact that he couldn't keep up with the technology was only one factor in his decision to take relatively early retirement. Five years later, Honda came of technological age with the Japanese market in recession, Honda invested in German, Swiss and American machine tools, reckoning that they were the best in the world. He then 'reverse-engineered' the European bikes he was copying - taking them apart to see how they were made: and discovering that their best was simply not good enough. European manufacturers believed it was impossible to run motorcycle engines with even faster bursts. Honda not only proved that you could, but also started to win Grand Prix races all over the world. Super-design went with super-efficiency in production engineering. At Honda's motorcycle plants not a single storeroom existed for parts, raw materials, or finished machines; deliveries went in at one end, and finished bikes, up to one every seven seconds, moved straight on to double-decker trucks at the other.   There are few places where an organization can shelter from competitors, and many industries have been shaken up because their competitors have taken a global view of their markets. The demise of the motor cycle industry was in a large part due to the inability of the firms to imagine that anyone could gain great production advantages by thinking of manufacture for a global market, instead of the traditional approach of producing for the local market and the exporting of any surplus where there was a protective customs tariff. More organizations are compelled to think of Honda’s business in global terms and most others are subject to ever increasing intensities of competition. Aside, technology advances bring opportunities as well as threats. One example close to the hearts of managers is the new opportunities offered by advances in computer technology, making e-learning a real option and providing opportunities.                       Financial Forecasts   Honda Motor Co., Ltd. announced that in the third quarter of the current fiscal year, it realized an all-time record for consolidated net sales and other operating revenue for any quarter due to increased sales in all business areas. Honda also realized an all-time record for consolidated operating income for the fiscal third quarter, mainly because of increased revenues, cost reduction effects, positive effects from the depreciation of the Japanese Yen. Income before income taxes decreased by 11.6 percent due to a negative effect from rapid depreciation of the Yen which caused difference in the exchange rate applied for transactions rate and sales rate, and a change in fair value of convertible bond and others. Net income for the period decreased by 11.7 percent, although an all-time record for any quarters in income of affiliates was realized.                       Results for third quarter ended Dec. 31, 2005     Yen ( billions )     3rd Quarter ended Dec. 31, 2004 3rd Quarter ended Dec. 31, 2005 Difference (% change) Net sales and other operating revenue 2,133.8 2,472.0** + 338.1 (+15.8) Operating income 157.6 194.9* + 37.3 (+ 23.7) Income before income taxes 187.9 166.0 - 21.8 (- 11.6) Equity in income of affiliates 29.3 29.6** + 0.2 (+ 1.0) Net income 150.7 133.1* - 17.6 (- 11.7)   Basic net income per common share JPY 161.78 JPY 144.81 JPY -16.97 (- 10.5)   ( Honda’s average rates:  JPY 117 = U.S. dollar 1    JPY 140 = Euro 1 )                     Motorcycles: 2.788 million units (+12.3%); mainly due to an increase in sales of parts for overseas production bound for affiliated companies in Asia and finished products in North America. (Approximately 600,000 motorcycles with local procurement rates of 100% which were procured and sold by affiliates in China and India are not included in the financial results, in conformity with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles in the U.S.) Automobiles: 816 thousand units (-0.1%); almost the same level as the corresponding period in 2004 was realized by the increase in the overseas sales which offset the decrease in the domestic market. Power Products: 1.134 million units (+8.6%); the increase was due primarily to sales growth in Europe and Japan.   Consolidated net sales and other operating revenue increased to JPY2,472.0 billion (+15.8%) , an all-time record for any quarter, and a sixth consecutive all-time record for the third fiscal quarter were attributable to the increase in all business areas.             Consolidated operating income totaled JPY 194.9 billion (+23.7%), an all-time record for a third quarter, mainly consisting of increased revenues, cost reduction effects, and positive effects from the depreciation of the Japanese Yen. These factors offset an increase in selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses and research and development (R&D) expenses. Income before income taxes decreased to JPY 166.0 billion (-11.6%), primarily due to a negative effect from difference in the exchange rate applied for transactions and the sales rate, and a change in fair value of convertible bond, held by Honda for the purpose of onboard telecommunication services. Equity in income of affiliates increased to JPY 29.6 billion (+1.0%), an all-time record for any quarters, and fifth consecutive all-time record for the third fiscal quarter.   Forecasts for Fiscal Year Ending March 31, 2006   A sixth consecutive all-time record is forecast for consolidated net sales and other operating revenue based on the unit sales plans of 10.38 million motorcycles, 3.425 million automobiles and 5.73 million power products. (Unit sales of motorcycles, with local procurement rates of 100% which are produced and sold by affiliates in China and India, are expected to increase by 1.69 million units to a total of 2.69 million units, but are not included in the sales plan total and financial forecasts to be in conformity with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles in the U.S.)     Honda aims to set an all-time record for operating income, income before income taxes, equity in income of affiliates, and net income.   The consolidated forecast for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2006 is as follows:   Yen (billions)     Year ended March 31, 2005 Current forecast for year ending March 31, 2006 Difference (% change) Oct 27, 2005 forecast Net sales and other operating revenue 8,650.1 9,740.0 +1,089.8 (+12.6) 9,600.0 Operating income 630.9 860.0 +229.0 (+36.3) 675.0 Income before income taxes 656.8 825.0 +168.1 (+25.6) 655.0 Equity in income of affiliates 96.0 99.0 +2.9 (+ 3.1) 94.0 Net income 486.1 605.0 + 118.8 (+24.4) 490.0   (Honda’s average rates for the FY2006: JPY 112 = U.S. dollar 1 JPY 136 = Euro 1) (Honda’s average rates for the fourth quarter of FY2006:     Corporate January 31, 2006 Consolidated Financial Summary for the Fiscal 3rd Quarter Ended Dec 31, 2005 & Revised Forecast for Fiscal Year All-time quarterly records for net sales and other operating revenue and net income, and equity in income of affiliates. Record as a third quarter for operating income. Fiscal year forecast revised upwards.       Appendices     According to the company’s annual report of 2006, it says that Honda operates under the basic principles of Respect for the Individual and The Three Joys, expressed as The Joy of Buying, The Joy of Selling and The Joy of Creating.  (, 2006: ) Honda has remained on the leading edge by creating new value by providing products of the highest quality at a reasonable price, for worldwide customer satisfaction. In addition, Honda manufactures and market products ranging from small general-purpose engines and scooters to specialty sports cars, to earn an outstanding reputation from customers worldwide. Honda is a global company with manufacturing operations and sales networks as Honda products are enjoyed by people in numerous countries as this global success is built upon the renowned quality of Honda’s products and made possible by the passion and dedication of Honda associates everywhere. (, 2006) The company as a whole defines and clearly communicates to every employee what it wants to be the basis of the customer relationship like acquiring and updating knowledge about customer needs, motivation and behavior drive Honda’s approach toward customer excellence. (, 2006)                 Annual Report 2006 Financial Highlights: Financial Data   The information above pertains to shares and earnings per share has not been restated in the accompanying consolidated financial statements and notes to the consolidated financial statements to reflect this split as the information will be presented effective after the stock split is made   Source of the above data: , 2006 Available at:   Operating Data     Source of the above data: , 2006 Available at:                       It was said that throughout Honda’s annual report, the United States dollar amounts have been translated from Japanese yen solely for the convenience of the reader at the rate of ¥117.47=U.S.$1, the approximate exchange rate prevailing on the Tokyo Foreign Exchange Market last March 31, 2006.   Source of the above data: , 2006 Available at:         Honda strives to carry out its operations from a global perspective and to increase its corporate value. (, 2006) Honda will also acquire its own shares at the optimal timing with the goal of improving efficiency of the company's capital structure. (, 2006)   Honda's Stock Price and Trading Volume in Tokyo Stock Exchange   Source of the above data: , 2006 Available at:                 The information above relates to shares and earnings per share have not been restated in the accompanying consolidated financial statements and notes to the consolidated financial statements to reflect this split. This information will be presented effective after the stock split is made. (Honda Annual Report, 2006 According to the financial report, Honda is a party to derivative financial instruments in the normal course of business to reduce their exposure to fluctuations in foreign exchange rates and interest rates. Currency swap agreements are used to convert long-term debt denominated in a certain currency to long-term debt denominated in other currencies. (, 2006) Foreign currency forward contracts and purchased option contracts are normally used to hedge sale commitments denominated in foreign currencies. Foreign currency written option contracts are entered into in combination with purchased option contracts to offset premium amounts to be paid for purchased option contracts. Interest rate swap agreements are mainly used to convert floating rate financing to fixed rate financing in order to match financing costs with income from finance receivables. (, 2006) Foreign currency forward contracts and currency swap agreements are agreements to exchange different currencies at a specified rate on a specific future date. Foreign currency option contracts are contracts that allow the holder of the option the right but not the obligation to exchange different currencies at a specified rate on a specific future date. (, 2006)   Fiscal 2006 – Results     Source: , 2006   Available at:         REFERENCES

BUSINESS PLAN OF HONDA COMPANY

The focused company for the business plan proposal is Honda Company as there shows market growth and stability in terms of business o...

Competition in the Australian Market for Groceries Case Study

Competition in the Australian Market for Groceries Introduction Competition in the markets is good indication that the retailers and other type of sellers are competitive and aware in participating in the implication market. However, the growing popularity of one particular products or store makes the rivalry heightened that might lead in reducing the consumer, instead of having them. Too much competition can also leads to serious damage that will end in losing the foreseeable income. The Australian Market One of the basic strategies of the organization is to promote the business worldwide, and dominating each country can be only successful through the use expansion strategy. This is the same method applied by the Costco Wholesale Corp, which is identified to be the No. 1 U.S. retail warehouse club, and its attempt to bring a new level of competition to the Australian grocery market as it scouts out store locations in Melbourne and Sydney. Costco, whose U.S. warehouses sell everything from groceries to big-screen TVs, diamond rings and coffins to customers who pay annual membership fees in order to shop, plans to open similar large-format stores of around 15,000 square meters. Based on the company’s assessment, the Australian market is lacking of completion, therefore as part of formulating the strategies, the company will run at an operation where they will deliver the efficiencies of scale selling merchandise in bulk. Costco is one of three foreign companies trying to expand in Australia's grocery market, which is dominated by Woolworths Ltd with 770 supermarkets and conglomerate Wesfarmers' Coles chain, with 740 supermarkets. Costco and the Related Market Initiatives Costco has been doing well in the weak U.S. retail environment as cash-strapped shoppers look for lower-priced food packaged in bulk and other goods. And because of the great locations we have looked at, Sydney and Melbourne, the company is confident to have a smooth market entry. During the year of 2008, Woolworths and Coles have around 80 percent of the packaged grocery market of Australia. The third player is Metcash, which supplies independent IGA supermarkets. The other two international grocers, privately owned Aldi and Franklins, owned by South Africa's Pick 'n Pay Stores Ltd, have complained in submissions to the competition regulator that it is difficult to gain access to shopping centre sites because of landlord agreements with the two big players that discourage rivals from existing malls. Because of the identified place in Australian market, Costco hopes to open its first Australian store and aims to bring a lot of value to the market, I am certain of that. In addition, the stores will also sell fresh food. Currently, Costco has an established presence in several countries outside the United States, including the UK, Japan, and Mexico. Based on the view of an analyst, the Costco's slim margins and low-cost structure will make it highly competitive on pricing with local grocers and specialty retailers, including furniture stores and hardware chain Bunnings which is owned by Wesfarmers. However, it is still preparing the stores to open up in year 2011. The success of the store in the Australian market is said to be based on the bulk grocery retail strategies that they might provide.     Analysis and Conclusion Based on the information provided, the retail grocery market in Australia is lack of competition that is why Costco aims to join in the Australian market. There are many reason on why the competition is not perfect is that the Australian market is costly. Meaning, the firms that can only participate are the organizations that are internationally competing. Due to the high prices paid by the retailers and suppliers, the Australian market became part of the assessment of the government. Therefore, the power of the buyer or the market power in being able to demand lower prices for inputs and reduced terms and conditions from its suppliers compared to that firm’s competitors is losing. References: Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (2002) Report to the Senate by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission on prices paid to suppliers by retailers in the Australian grocery industry [Online] Available at: http://www.accc.gov.au [Accessed 14 October 2010]. Thieberger, V., (2008) Costco Eyes Entry into Cozy Australian Market [Online] Available at: http://www.reuters.com/article/ [Accessed 14 October 2010]

Competition in the Australian Market for Groceries Case Study

Competition in the Australian Market for Groceries Introduction Competition in the markets is good indication that th...

Alfred Tarski and the Semantic Conception of Truth

There explains about Alfred Tarski (1944) towards the semantic conception of truth and the foundations of semantics. This has been an abridged and updated version of his 1935 long paper Der Wahrheitsbegriff in den formalisierten Sprache (The concept of truth in formalized languages) during the year 1933. There was detailed explanation concerning to the background discussing on paradoxes like that of naive set theory focusing that individuals have a nested hierarchy of ranges of significance like that of class of arguments for which a propositional function has values. There was discussion also on sentential connectives in logic as defined through the rules of inference, or truth tables. Meta-logic made it its business to analyze these procedures and pinpoint circularities and subtle problems. The relation of logical consequence has to apply in virtue of form alone, but this notion was inextricably linked with the notion of joint satisfiability of all connected sentences by all models that satisfy one of them. The notion of satisfaction and that of "yielding a truth" were intimately related. The notion of "truth of a universal proposition" is taken to be primitive and indefinable (we saw it in Russell, and in Wittgenstein, tautologies and it is also adopted by Tarski. The strict subdivision between logical and extra-logical terms of a language proves hard to maintain on principled grounds. Aristotle, in the Metaphysics:"To say of what is that it is not, or of what is not that it is, is false, while to say of what is that it is, or what is not that it is not, is true".The central idea here is one of truth as "correspondence to reality".  There was emphasis on the liar’s paradox that has ingredients like the sentences refer to itself and having an insoluble contradiction.There are versions that generate the paradox via other predicates. Any language is semantically closed if it is such that a theory of truth is constructed within that language, and has the term (or concept, or notion) of true (and false) both as a regular predicate of the language, and as a theoretical term in the theory of truth. There was about core ingredients such as “X is true in the object language, if and only ifpredicate true of meta-language, not of the object language.  The formula as a whole is in the meta-language, bracketing is a device of the meta-language, the concept of truth is a concept of the meta-language, and so is the notion of English itself. The rightmost part p is in English. Tarski wants his theory to be "materially adequate", doing justice to the traditional conception of truth. It would be unacceptable to come out with an expression p that only professional logicians can understand. In the process, English is an I-Language (with certain values for the parameters of UG, and its lexicon), and a theory with a conceptual and graphical apparatus to specify which derivation every speaker computes from an overt sentence (in plain English) to get to its syntactic structure, all the way to LF. The whole syntactic derivation should appear on the rightmost side of a (PT) formula (this is what Tarski calls a "translation" into the meta-language). The conception of truth and meaning is "materially adequate", because we attribute to every native speaker the capacity to derive the rightmost part of the formulae. We claim that this is the conception of truth and meaning that tacitly (though perhaps very vaguely) every speaker has for her language.In particular, we want all the sentential constituents to be clearly individuated, and all and only the inferences that the sentence licenses (in the mind of all native speakers, solely in virtue of their tacit knowledge of language) to come out explicit and un-ambiguous. Tarski wanted a fully explicit definition of truth that in logical functional calculus the two notions are intimately inter-connected. Given a logical schema, containing propositional functions, and n variables, we single out a domain (an ordered set of individuals) that is said to constitute an interpretation of the schema. A gloss:Tarski’s central move is to construct sentences as sentential functions with no free variables (they contain only non-logical constants connected via logical relations). They are always satisfied (or, by contrast, never satisfied). The recursive character of the definition grants (in our terminology) compositionality. Tarski says: We know how to recursively construct sentential functions, but how can we recursively construct sentences? He says that no general method is known (and he was right, at the time). Now we know how to do that. It’s a syntactic (generative) procedure, not a logical one. With this momentous improvement, we can happily adopt Tarski’s schema.

Alfred Tarski and the Semantic Conception of Truth

There explains about Alfred Tarski (1944) towards the semantic conception of truth and the foundations of semantics . This has been an ...

Harvard Referencing

Harvard Referencing Harvard referencing uses the author and the date of the work in the main body of the text, and then has a reference list at the end of the essay which contains the references cited in alphabetical order by author. The reference list contains the full details of the book or journal cited. Because you only refer to a shortened form of works in the main essay (author, date) your essay doesn't get filled with too much reference material. The use of the author/date shorthand does make it easy to locate works in the reference list. Other referencing systems use superscript numbers to refer to footnotes but these can become overcomplicated as the number of footnotes rises, and the chance of misnumbering occurs. An example from the main body of a text: Within the last ten years, teachers who have attended INSET courses have reported that the courses have helped to increase their competence and confidence in using IT (1993;  1990), yet despite the fact that the passing years have presented opportunities for more teachers to increase their skills in IT, weaknesses identified by  (1992) seem to be still evident ( 1998; 1997). This suggests that we need to look for explanations other than attendance at INSET courses for the reasons for the apparently poor state of teachers' competence and confidence in IT. In this text the author is citing entire works by other researchers to support her argument. Notice the use of brackets and the author/s and dates of all works. Another example from the main body of a text: One resource provided in the secondary speech genre is the "posited author" ( 1981). Here the quotation is a direct one so a page number has been added. Quotations of no more than two sentences can be incorporated into the main text and marked off with quotation marks, but if you quote a longer passage it must be placed in a separate paragraph and indented from the left and right margins of the main text. Reference lists All references used in the main body of assignment need including in the reference list. This is arranged in alphabetical order by author surname. Books, journals and other media are all included in the same list, do not start separate lists for books and journals, it will confuse your reader. Books Books are listed by author, date, title, place of publication, publisher: (1988) Cognition in Practice, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. The title of the book is either underlined or placed in italics, whichever style you use you should stick to it for all references. When the books has more than one author then list them in order they appear on the book, if it has more than 3 then the abbreviation et. al. (and others) can be used. If an author has published more than book or journal in a year then mark each one with an a,b,c etc. after the date. For example ( 1989). Make sure the reference in the body of the text corresponds to the one in the reference list at the end of your work. Journals Journals are listed by author, date, title of article, title of journal, part number, page numbers (beginning of article - end of article  (1991) 'Towards a pedagogy for information technology', The Curriculum Journal, 2, 2 153-70. The title of the journal is underlined or italicised because someone searching for the article in a library will first need to find the journal. The page numbers help to locate the article quickly. Chapters in edited books When you need to quote from a chapter in an edited book you need to follow this form. In your main text you quote the author of the chapter (not the editor/s of the book) and the date of the book. In the reference list you quote the author and date of the chapter first, and follow it with a reference to the book. In the following example, the chapter by Schlegoff has been quoted, so (Schlegoff, 1972) or a variant would appear in the main text, followed by this in the reference section.  (1972) Notes on a conversational practice: Formulating place. In D.  Studies in Social Interaction (pp. 75-119). New York: Free Press. Note the use of page numbers to identify the chapter - as in journal citation. Electronic Information The key to referencing a CD-ROM or website is similar to a book or journal - you need to know the author, date and title. For web pages you must include the full address of the page, not just the address of the site. This can be copied from the address bar which normally appears at the top of the browser.  (1999) Online study skills guide, 16/9/99. An extra date, the date you accessed the page is included at the end of the reference, because webpages, unlike books, can be modified and even disappear entirely. To reference material on a CD-ROM use this format:  (1997) A Guide to Icelandic Literature, CD-ROM, London: Placebo Publishers. If you cannot find the date of a web page then mark it as "date unknown". If you cannot find a named author of an electronic source then either use the organisation in place of the author (e.g. BBC) or mark it as "author unknown".

Harvard Referencing

Harvard Referencing Harvard referencing uses the author and the date of the work in the main body of the text, and then has a reference...

Research Proposal on Supply Chain Management Challenges Faced by Clothing Retailers in Nigeria

Supply Chain Management Challenges Faced by Clothing Retailers in Nigeria   Introduction             Supply chain refers to all the value adding operational activities involved with supplying to an end user with a service or product (Lowson 2002).  A supply network is defined by Christopher (1992) as an interconnection of organizations which relate to each other through upstream and downstream linkages between the different processes and activities that produce value in the form of products and services to the ultimate consumer (cited in Lowson 2002). Porter (1985) is among the earliest influences upon an integrated supply network. According to Porter, the organization’s value chain is embedded within a value system comprising suppliers and buyers. The linkages within this chain or system provided the building blocks of competitive advantage. Conversely, supply chain management involves partnerships that are developed between organizations performing adjacent, linear steps in the chain. The supply chain is viewed as a whole rather than a set of fragmented parts in order that activities, the basic units of competitive advantage, can be configured, confined and performed in different ways to rival chains (Porter, 1996). Supply chain or value chain management is composed of the operational or tactical activities and can be defined as ‘managing the entire chain of raw material supply, manufacture, assembly and distribution to the end consumer (Jones 1989 cited in Lowson 20002). Christopher (1998) defines supply chain management as the management of upstream and downstream relationships with the suppliers and customers to deliver superior consumers value at less cost to the supply chain as a whole.            The supply chain has four basic components: <ul style="margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in" type="circle"> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify"> Production – Businesses focus on how much to produce, where to produce it and which suppliers to use.</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify"> Inventory – Businesses decide where to store their products and how much to store.</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify"> Distribution – Businesses address questions about how their products should be moved and stored.</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify"> Payments – Businesses look for the bets ways to pay suppliers and get paid by customers. </li> </ul>   Research Problem             This paper aims to answer the question “What are the supply chain management challenges faced by clothing retailers in Nigeria?” More specifically, this paper aims to answer the following questions: 1. What is the current status of the clothing manufacturing and retailing industry in Nigeria? 2. What are the industry norms when it comes to supply chain management? 3. What are the difficulties encountered by clothing retailers in production? 4. What are the difficulties encountered by clothing retailers in inventory? 5. What are the difficulties encountered by clothing retailers in distribution? 6. What are being done to overcome these difficulties?   Research Methodology             The researcher will employ both quantitative and qualitative approaches to data gathering. The researcher will make use of a survey and a focus group. A survey gathers data at a particular point in time with the intention of describing the nature of existing conditions can be compared, or determining the relationship that exist between specific events. Survey research according to Hutchinson (2004) can be defined most simply as a means of gathering information, usually through self-report using questionnaires or interviews (p. 285). The attraction of a survey lie in its appeal to generazability or universality within given parameters, its ability to make statements which are supported by large data banks and its ability to establish the degree of confidence which can be placed in a set of findings (Cohen et al., 2000, p. 171). The popularity of survey research is due in large to its utility on countless research situations. Surveys are used for such diverse purposes as needs assessment, program evaluation, attitude measurement, political opinion polling, and policy analysis, as well as for simple descriptions of behaviors, activities, and population characteristics. The scope of surveys can range from large-scale national surveys to smaller surveys confined to a single neighborhood, classroom, or organization. Another strength is its applicability on situations where direct manipulations of variables is either unfeasible to unethical (Hutchinson, 2004, p. 286). Surveys are best suited for descriptive research. Companies undertake surveys to learn about people’s knowledge, beliefs, preferences, and satisfaction, and to measure these magnitudes in the general population (Kotler 2000).

Research Proposal on Supply Chain Management Challenges Faced by Clothing Retailers in Nigeria

Supply Chain Management Challenges Faced by Clothing Retailers in Nigeria Introduction Supply chain refers to all th...

DHL Aviations Hong Kong Ltd. Operations Management

Introduction             The paper is a discussion on operations and operations management using DHL Aviations Hong Kong Ltd. as an example. The paper tackles about the operations of DHL in Hong Kong and other related issues concerning operations management. Company Profile             DHL Aviation (Hong Kong) Ltd. or simply DHL Hong Kong is part of the expansion and growth of DHL Express International that originated in San Francisco and now owned by the Deutsche Post World Net (DPWN). DHL belongs to the international air express industry, whose business includes courier services, logistics, air and ocean freight, consultancy and other value-added services related supply chain such as network and facility design, warehousing, transportation management and consolidation, primary and secondary packaging, customs management, security and cargo insurance.             DHL started at Hong Kong in 1972 in order to provide services in the Asia Pacific Region. In 2000, the company’s Central Asia Hub at the Hong Kong International airport began operation that handles over 100 flights a day that further resulted to agreement and construction of the Express Cargo Terminal of the Hong Kong International Airport wherein DHL invested about HK$780 million and serving as the home of DHL’s Asian Network (DHL, 2006) that includes DHL Bangkok, China and others. The shipment handling operations of the DHL central Asia Hub is supported by Material Handling System with a throughput of about 20,000 pieces per hour. DHL Operations   Supporting the company’s various services are the primary activities and complex process critical to DHL’s operations. These are: order taking, pick up, documentation, tracing of the supplies when information is needed, billing, packaging, transportation and delivery, problem solving as well as advice and information to the clients and partners (Kostecki, 1998). These are the activities involved in DHL’s operations management that make DHL productive and efficient. People involved at these particular activities work together aiming for a common goal which is to provide quality customer service at attractive prices. This is the goal the company has to achieve in order to obtain long-term profitability. As an express carrier, DHL does not provide products but services. DHL Aviation Hong Kong or DHL Express HK is under the Express Corporate Division of DHL that offers companies and private customers courier, express, and parcel (CEP) services, excluding logistics which is handled by other divisions. DHL does not manufacture products but rather services thus the inputs associated with DHL is not raw materials but equipments such as computers for documentation and tracking of shipments as well as for communication with customers and business partners, and tracking device such as radio frequency identification (RFID); materials such as boxes, packaging tapes, tags and seals for the protection of the goods to be delivered; manpower or human resources such as delivery staff, drivers, customer service representatives, logistics analysts that provide advice and consultations, and managers that ensure who ensure timely delivery; and transportation medium such as ships for ocean shipments, airlines for air freight and trucks for land freight. With the case of DHL Aviation, they used more of air transportation thus they invested on a terminal at the Hong Kong International airport. DHL’s Operations Management               Operations management is defined as the management of function that is responsible for all the activities directly concerned with making a product. It is responsible for collecting various inputs, and converting them into desired outputs (Waters, 1996). This definition is more common for manufacturing companies. However, when you are in the service industry, instead of product, services are created to achieve the desired outputs.                           As an express carrier, timely delivery and customer satisfaction are its objectives. These objectives can be met by effective operations management. However, problems commonly arise in a company and through operations management problems can be tackled by observation, formulation, analysis and implementation (Hanson & Olsson, 2001). Through observation managers can be able to realize if there are problems. This can be done by collecting data and setting objectives. For example, DHL set their sales to increase by 5% in 2005 but the company was not able to reach this objective but instead sales dropped by 2%. Managers can realize problems such as untimely delivery and poor package handling as the probable cause of decreasing sales and can therefore provide solution through formulation. Formulation basically involves the review of related data, building models of the current situation and finding solutions to the problems. These solutions are commonly the basic operations management practice such as batch processing, theory of constraints, bottleneck analysis and improving customer service.             Analysis follows formulation in which managers examine the solutions provided and evaluate the best possible solutions to be implemented. Operations managers are also responsible for monitoring of improvements.             With the kind of services that DHL provides, it commonly used operations management practices such as batch processing. With its batch planning system, it can control the number of orders to be pack and to which country it will be delivered. Its batch planning system is computer controlled while its packing system uses automatic packing machine thus DHL is productive enough to be considered having good operations management.              However, since DHL Hong Kong delivers goods and provides services mostly outside Hong Kong, it still occasionally encounters late delivery due to inefficient customs controls and procedures. That is, DHL sometimes encountered problems in getting the parcels through the border controls and ensuring necessary documentations (Kostecki, 1998). To address this issue, DHL parent company puts local customs service department in every major country whose mission is to get the cargo through customs at the right time, and responsible for daily reports, providing detailed information about customs troublespots (Lorange, 1998).     References: DHL Hong Kong online http://www.dhl.com.hk/publish/hk/en/about/DHL_HK.high.html Hanson, E & Olsson, M (2001) A case study in Operations Management and Packaging Logistics, Logistics and Transportation Management Master Thesis, School of Economics and Commercial Law, Goteborg University Kostecki, M (1998) DHL Worldwide Express: Providing Just-in-Time Delivery  Services Across Customs Borders in Central and Eastern Europe, University of Neuchatel Lorange, Christian (1998) Corporate Structure, Procedures and Responses Relating to Trade Policy: Case Studies of Four Multinational Corporations, Neuchâtel, The Enterprise Institute of the University of Neuchâtel (manuscript of a diploma thesis).

DHL Aviations Hong Kong Ltd. Operations Management

Introduction The paper is a discussion on operations and operations management using DHL Aviations Hong Kong Ltd. as...

Language, Perception and Action: Philosophical Issues

Philosophical discussion. in ancient and modern times, has tended to deal separately with language, perception (including knowledge based on perception) and voluntary action, and at different periods the focus of attention in each of these fields has tended to be significantly different. The pattern followed in this chapter is to treat first the philosophical concern with language, and then philosophical discussion of perception (and knowledge derived from perception) and voluntary action. Conventionally, one can distinguish between: 1. the philosophy of language 2.linguistic philosophy (in the sense of various uses of linguistic methods in investigating philosophical questions 3. the philosophical aspects of modern linguistics 4. the unavoidable dependence (regardless of any theories about language) of philosophy on language as the medium for philosophic exposition and debate 5. the specialised use of language as a philosophical device in modern logic and the construction of formal languages ( rather different in approach from what is described above as linguistic philosophy). The most recent turn in the relation between language and philosophy has come partly from Austin's development of ordinary language philosophy into a view of language as action, partly from a new interest in the problem of meaning and partly from the change of direction in linguistics (Chomsky's ideas on the 'deep structure' of language and the innateness of grammar). Austin's views on language as action precede but fit well with views developed in linguistics of the functional basis of language. Whilst the categories of action which a sentence performs were at different times analysed in somewhat different ways by Austin, his key point was that "the basic unit of study is not the word or the sentence but the act which a person performs with the aid of words or sentences; the theory of language is to become, as it were, a branch of the theory of action... the total act performed by the speaker with the aid of the sentence".In philosophy, theories of perception have normally been derived directly from epistemology, from theories of knowledge. Epistemology has for centuries been a central interest of philosophers; the means by which knowledge is acquired, the extent of our knowledge and of our possible knowledge, and the criteria for judging reliability, truth or falsity. In examining knowledge, philosophers traditionally have been divided into two camps, the rationalists and the empiricists. The rationalists' view is that the only reliable source of knowledge is human reason; mathematics is the paradigm example of reliable knowledge arrived at purely by reason; all sense experience can be delusory and is therefore not a reliable source of knowledge; true knowledge is the result of the inherent properties of the human understanding (or, in the case or Plato and some other philosophers, of our gradually coming to grasp the true ideas with which we are innately provided). Much of the discussion has been in terms of what it means to say that we 'know' something; there has been much rather fruitless argument about the extent to which to say one 'knows' something must mean that the thing known is objectively so, that knowledge is a guarantee of certainty, a confusion between the subjective and objective aspects of 'knowledge'.Significance of language for philosophyLanguage is validated by perception and action, not the other way round. Language is not 'the sole and essential point of contact for the philosopher with reality' - and the most pressing contacts with reality impose themselves without any intermediation of language. Language is not, on the view in this book, an abstract rational structure but one built on the most mundane of foundations, in human neurophysiological structure; it is subsidiary rather than primary in human behaviour and thought.Meaning as a central topic in the philosophy of languageThe discussion about 'meaning' is a peculiarly apt demonstration of the self-reflexive property of language. If, it might be said, philosophers cannot agree to tell us what 'meaning' means, how can they give us reliable guidance on the meaning of any other philosophical concepts? The philosophical discussion of meaning has demonstrated perhaps more clearly than any other segment of philosophical activity both the difficulty and the confusion of the philosophical enterprise.Thus, a meaning is what makes a difference to the neurophysiological organisation of the individual acquiring the meaning or expressing the meaning. The process of determining the 'meaning' of a sentence is, operationally, the use of semantic and syntactic clues, derived from the serial string of words, to determine the particular meaning and role of the word, in that sentence on that occasion.Perception as the foundation of knowledge of the real worldAttempts to develop a separate philosophical treatment of perception in terms of sense-data have not been convincing or provided a way out of the dilemma; naive realism and pragmatism react simply by disregarding the philosophical arguments of idealism and scepticism which they cannot refute. The practical common-sense philosopher, like Ryle, opines that theory about perception in philosophy can proceed perfectly well without any reference to the investigation of perception as a physiological or psychological process.The integration: of perception, action and language, resulting in the underlying isomorphism of all languages, combined with the true knowledge of the external world which the evolution of the cognitive and visual apparatus has made possible, opens the way to a new pursuit of philosophical truth through language. The intellectual development of mankind can proceed, as it is doing, but on a philosophically more secure basis and in the knowledge that language, as a flexible instrument designed to match the open-endedness of human experience (perception and action), can be a reliable medium for exploring, recording and developing man's knowledge of the external world and of his own nature.

Language, Perception and Action: Philosophical Issues

Philosophical discussion. in ancient and modern times, has tended to deal separately with language, perception (including knowledge based on...

Design a LAN an Automobile Company

Network Planning and Support Assignment 1: Design a LAN for an Automobile Company Please read the scenario carefully before you answer the questions that follow. You may need to make some assumptions in order to design your network and critically discuss your planning and design decisions. A Design Company is designing new models of automobile. This company has 250 people working in several departments: Design Department (DD); Simulation Department (SD); Accounting and Finance Department (FAD) and Business and Human Resource Department (B&HRD). Each of the four departments has a manager who is heading the department. However, Business and Human Resource Manager is also responsible for setting business goals and strategies. The four managers always communicate with each other in order to come up with a robust, efficient and cost-effective design that is also in line with the company business goal. Design Department has 105 people working in the department. They are using CAD, VLSI, multimedia etc. applications. In addition, they are also using other collaborative tools to communicate with each other. The staff in the Design Department is spread over three floors of the same building. 62 people are working in the Simulation Department that is about 100 meter apart from the Design Department. They are using different software tools including Agent based simulation tools to simulate the design. A key role of the Simulation Department is to ensure that the interior as well as exterior of the design matches well. In addition, 4 people within this department also investigate health and safety issues involved in the design. The Business and Human Resource Department has 53 people working in the department including a Manager. This department is located on the third floor of the Simulation Department. The Business Manager and two of his staff need to maintain highly secure data on their machines which should not be accessible by anyone else in the department and outside the department. The Business Manager and two of his staff need access to the server remotely. 26 people are working in the Accounting and Finance Department. The Accounting and Finance Department is in a different building which is about 2 KM apart from the Design Department and Simulation Department. The staff in the Accounting and Finance Department are usually using spreadsheet and some financial application packages. They have an Oracle database which contains highly secure data. 1. Design a LAN for the above company. Also provide a physical layout of the whole network infrastructure (use an appropriate software tool). 2. Describe who needs access to which server with reasonable assumptions. However, all the four departments need access to the mailing server. 3. Discuss a number of devices (e.g., router, switch and hub) which are required to build this network and place them at appropriate position in the diagram. 4. Discuss the cabling media that would be used to build different segments of the network. 5. Produce a strategy taking into account performance, security and reliability issues. 6. Conduct a critical evaluation of your design. Report and Criteria Your report should consist of not more than 10000 words /15 pages. To obtain 40 % and above To obtain 70 % and above â€¢ Your answer should cover all areas described in the questions. â€¢ The answer might not be so critical but it will bring all the issues involved in planning and design. â€¢ Some consideration should be given to the management, fault tolerant and scalability issues. â€¢ Reasonable considerations should be given to the performance issues involved in the design of the network for Automobile company â€¢ Covers all areas described in questions. â€¢ Highlight all the possible issues related to the technologies under discussion. â€¢ You may discuss an alternative solution in brief. â€¢ â€¢ Fully consider and discuss management, f

Design a LAN an Automobile Company

Network Planning and Support Assignment 1: Design a LAN for an Automobile Company Please read the scenario carefully before you answer...

Logistics

Introduction Many businesses are faced with tremendous pressure as globalization of market intensifies competition.  In other words, global markets spells intense competition and that logistics is the key aspect of keeping pace with the fast changing world of the global economy.  Nowadays, logistics has emerged as a pivotal element in the business world as it can trimmed down the percentage of company’s total cost significantly, wherein, the logistics cost tends to decrease when customer satisfaction and retention is already evident.  Interestingly, according to  (1994) logistics costs currently comprise between 10 and 25 percent of the total cost of an international sale alone, and these costs are rising due to the fact that being able to accrue customer retention, it means profitability in a sense and moreover, the increase of logistic cost is in pursuance for more global market opportunities.             In general, logistics encompasses the processes involved from raw materials to end customer delivery, including purchasing, inventory management, warehousing, shipping and even customer returns. Further, logistics refers to the process of planning, implementing, and controlling the efficient, effective flow and storage of raw materials, in-process inventory, finished goods, services, and related information from the point of origin to the point of consumption (including inbound, outbound and external movements) for the purpose of confirming to customer requirements (1998) .  Logistics contribution to a company, especially companies operating in a global scale, aids the company be able to sustain competitive advantage through the combined benefits of improved customer service and lower costs ( 1993).  In this paper, we would tackle ten identified disparate areas and issues of global logistics and be able to describe and expound on five of the ten areas or issues for the purpose of extending our knowledge about the essence of the said issue or area.   Main Part   When we speak of the word "global", it denotes a broad spectrum.  It talks about the imports from Asia to the U.S., the exports heading to Europe, the movements occurring within regions and products or the finished goods moving from a manufacturing plant in the Philippines going to Germany.  Global logistics is dynamic in its nature, particularly the way it is done. Advancement in global logistics is thereby, making the world small as it continues to conquer the boundaries.  However, as global logistics being more driven to defy globalization arise the accompaniment of global logistics issues and expansion of its area.  To name several global logistics issues, this paper will mention 10 different issues in relation to global logistics, the first five issues or area will be discussed. First, is the global logistics area of reverse logistics, sometimes being regarded as a recycling process, is a special form of inbound logistics that embodies an objective to maximize economic value given the resulting product.  Reverse logistics is one of the elements of the increasing diverseness of logistics systems that is concerned with secondary flow of goods referring to the products in which the original use of the products has been completed.  Recently, reverse logistics had an economic impact on industry significantly as reflected, either a detrimental to a company or as a competitive advantage for capturing market share’s potentials. Second, since the process of global distribution, it entails that the logistics function will be susceptible to intricate as well.  To countermeasure the complexities of global logistic functions, many firms have turned to third party or contract logistics ( 1995). The major manufacturers are looking forward to their transport operators to take over some of the functions previously done in-house.  Additionally, to be able to be successful, companies are inclined to foster a strong partnership with the third party providers, such that companies can maximize their potentials in delivering globally, through offering exclusive long-term contracts, thus, allowing companies to focus on their core businesses functions.             Third is the movement of product.  With global logistics, it is able to drive the delivery cycle via the power of the contract combined with the customer that establishes expectation and satisfaction of a successful solution way before the actual shipment happens.  Movement of products is critical in the global logistics process since it evaluates and assesses the capabilities of a certain company as to how they are capable of doing business in an efficient way.  In Walmart, for example, the movement of products in their supply chain is very well-organized, dependable and up to date. Fourth is the movement of invaluable information that is a key aspect of the success of global logistics. The nature of doing global business necessitates the relegation of the accurate messages that can make or break a certain business transaction.  That is why, global logistics seeks the aid of technological advancements to be able to provide a communication line and to break the barriers in the operation of global logistics, such as culture.  Language, for instance, may hamper the dealings of global logistics, but with the help of email, one is able to rely on it and interpret of what is it that needs to be interpreted. The nature of time zones greatly varies from country to country.  Not only the global logistics requires doing boundless business, it should also come to terms of dealing with time zone barrier, which brings us to our fifth issue.  Therefore, the time zone of Europe must also come to terms with that of an Asian country.  More or less the issue of time zone makes business do over time so that it can make both ends meet and drawing out a win-win solution that would likely result to collaborative efforts. Sixth is the delivering of superb service, in spite of the hindrances, means fully grasping the customer expectations, like the dimensions of assurance, responsiveness and empathy, in trying to meet the said expectations or even exceed on it. Customers compare their perceptions with their expectations when evaluating a firm's service. Consequently, research from  (1991) revealed that reliability of service, which entails performing the promised service dependably and accurately, is the most important dimension in meeting customer expectations.  Seventh is the integration within the company between the company and the customers and between company and the vendors. In logistics, where there is limited customer contact and rare face-to-face interactions, along with the issue of time zone, culture and language, companies should work on the integration aspect to foster smooth flow of business processes in the long-run, eliminating the risk of conflict or misunderstandings.   Eight, since of the non-traditional approach to global logistics, presumably there is difficulty in implementing reverse logistics strategies especially in the world economy that operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in 365 days.  The combination of both inbound and outbound transportation to and from the company will be able to take advantage of the worldwide economies of scale.   Ninth, are the lack of standardized bill of lading & other uniform documents of the fact that global logistics also varies.  The bill of lading from Japan mayhap different from that of Switzerland or even in some countries it introduces paperless transactions. Tenth is the capacitance issue that is plaguing the United States & other industrialized nations, for the fact that, as the dimension of global logistics widens the need to increase the capabilities of the global logistics.   Conclusion   It is important for companies to closely look into the global logistics issue and areas because it would be vital and an important key aspect in the business process. Unable to do so, in the long run, the company would experience the adverse impact of logistics, like resulting to higher costs, non-competitiveness that leads might lead to market share loss, low profits, inhibit the potential for profitable global market opportunities, if companies in this regard neglects the logistic issues that may surmount.  Nevertheless, companies should brace the likely future trends of global logistics as it is seen to continue to expand.

Logistics

Introduction Many businesses are faced with tremendous pressure as globalization of market intensifies competition. In other words, gl...