Examining The Concept Of Lean Synchronization Information Technology Essay

Examining The Concept Of Lean Synchronization Information Technology Essay Lean manufacturing is an approach of continuous improvement that focuses on the removal of waste resources from a process so that the goods flow to the customer at determined rate with minimum inventory. It mainly focuses on eliminating resources that does not create value for the customer. Based on Toyota Production System, Lean concentrates on preserving value with less work. Lean synchronization is the aim of achieving the flow of products and services which is able to deliver exactly what customers want, in exact quantities, exactly when needed, exactly where required at the lowest possible cost (Slack et al, 2010). This report evaluates the utility and relevance of basic Lean principles and Management and applies the same principles in contemporary business environment. Executive Summary First part of the report talks about theoretical aspect of lean. The concept of lean synchronization is explained first. After this the principles of lean and benefits of using lean are described. Subsequently barriers to lean implementation are explained. Second half of the report accounts practical application of lean in context with healthcare industry. Firstly the need to apply lean in hospitals is determined. Basic need of lean in hospitals is to: Reduce patient wait time Reduce cost and increase savings and Improve staff efficiency. Lean principles are than applied on hospital operations. Analysis discovered that time creates value to the patient. After this, value stream was assessed and waste processes were identified in the journey of patients recovery and treatment. Further to this, wastes were identified and recommendations were proposed to eliminate those wastes. Important Identified Wastes are: Extra work done for simple and easy tasks. Investigations and tests those are not required. Patient waiting for tests and surgeries. Redundancy in treating a patient. Recommendations to eliminate such wastes: Avoid the use of complex equipments that makes the processes tedious and time consuming. Perform only those tests that are required for the treatment. Equipments must be ready before a patient comes to pathology lab and operation theatre so as to avoid waste of time. Things must be done in right way in first attempt so as to avoid repetitive actions. Concept behind Lean Synchronization The term lean came into existence post World War II when there was a huge shortage of resources in Automobile sector in Japan. Toyota Company developed the concept of achieving most with optimum resources, by continuous elimination of waste. Today this concept is well known as Lean Manufacturing across the globe and is not limited to manufacturing processes. Lean applies to the whole enterprise including supply-chain, new product development process and services. The concept of lean thinking was introduced to European world in 1991 by the book written by Womack, Jones, and Roos: The Machine That Changed the World. According to Slack et al (2009), lean synchronization is concerned all about: Elimination of waste in whole process Involving all the resources and Continuously improving the process Lean approach simply calls to work smarter rather than harder with value driven sense of purpose. Organizations that follow lean thinking understand customer value and focus the processes to increase it. The ultimate aim is to create a perfect value process for the customer with zero waste. Such contemporary approach creates processes that enable companies to respond to changing customer desires with high quality, high variety, and low cost with very fast throughput times. Lean Principles The main guiding principle of lean to create right value for the customer with minimum effort is compounded of five key principles: value, value stream, flow, pull and perfection. Value: The key principle is to identify the customers view point about what creates value to the customer. Value Stream: This is to identify all the steps in value chain and to eliminate all those that do not create value to the end product. Flow: In order to make a smooth flow of the product towards customer, the value-creating steps must occur in tight sequence. Pull: Make only what is pulled by the customer and creates synchronization between demand and manufacturing process. Perfection: Once the value is identified, value stream is specified with wasted steps eliminated and flow and pull are introduced, execute the whole process again and continue until perfection is reached in which perfect value is developed without waste. 5stepslean.gif Fig.1 Benefits of Applying Lean Traditional Approach: Traditional approach assumes that each stage is separated from the other stage by placing the output in an inventory. The next stage will take the outputs from the buffer inventory and will pass them to the succeeding buffer e.g. as shown in fig.2, outputs from stage A are stored in buffer inventory which feeds the system for Stage B. In this manner each stage of the operation acts independently and picks material from buffer inventory and processes it for the subsequent buffer. These buffers insulate each stage from its neighbors and operations of one stage do not hinder the next stage. Hence if operations at stage A cease due to some reason, stage B can still continue for at least one time. The condition of insulation of each stage that seeks to promote traditional approach is indeed the learning argument of this system. Problems: Inventory remains idle. Slow throughput times since items spend more time waiting in buffer. Lack of coordination due to insulation of stages. Problem solving responsibility will be centered on people working in that very stage. C:UsersVibhorDesktopUntitled.jpg Fig.2 Lean Approach: In contrast with the traditional approach, lean approach processes and passes items directly to the next stage, eliminating the buffer inventories, hence reducing the barriers between stages. This provides the required amount of input for each stage at the required time. In this approach, problems at any stage have different impact on the process e.g. in fig.3 if stage A stops its operations, than subsequent stages will immediately notice the issue and the problem is quickly exposed to the whole system. This helps in improving the quality by providing quick feedback at each stage. C:UsersVibhorDesktopUntitled1.jpg Fig.3 In the traditional approach, if one stage stops functioning the other stage may continue to process by the available buffer resources resulting in high capacity utilization. But generally this situation would not sustain for a long period of time and the whole process will come to halt once the buffer is empty. On the other hand, in lean approach each time there is a blockage in any stage of the process, the whole process will come to halt, reducing the capacity utilization initially. Therefore where traditional approach encourages efficiency by protecting each stage from disruption, lean approach motivates the whole system to solve the problem. Fig.4 Source: Slack et al, 2010 According to Wild (2002), following are the benefits of Lean synchronization. Also evident from the above differentiation: Reduced inventories and work in progress; Less use of space; Shorter throughput times; Increased employee motivation and participation; Smoother work flows; Increased productivity; Improved quality and customer service Barriers to Lean Synchronization Lean synchronization aims at managing the operations process in such a way that it achieves exactly what customers are looking from the operation. Pure lean synchronization intends smooth, continuous flow without any sort of delay, waste and imperfection. Following are the major barriers to achieve this ideal state: Failure to eliminate waste in all parts of the operation Failure to harness the contribution of all the people involved in the operation. Failure to establish improvement as a continuous activity. Source: (Slack et al, 2010) Waste Identification and Elimination: Elimination of waste is the basic part of lean thinking and identifying the waste is the first step towards its elimination. Any activity that does not add to value is called as waste. The wastes that hinder the streamlined flow are: Wait time worker wait time and machine wait time is waste. This is usually dependant on efficiency of machinery and workers. Conveyance Change in layout can bring processes closer resulting in reduced movements. Inventory Inappropriate quantity of production According to Toyota, supplying less or more quantity than required is the greatest source of waste. Delivery Time- Early delivery is wasteful. Therefore items must be delivered Just In Time. Variability- If quality varies according to customer expectations and customer considers to be inadequately supplied than the whole process is wasteful. waste-poster.jpg Fig.5 Employee Participation: Organizations following lean philosophy must encourage its employees to participate in problem solving activity. The intention to encourage the feeling of personal responsibility and ownership within the employees is referred as respect-for-people. Some basic factors in encouraging employee involvement are: Environment Safety safety standards and environment must be followed by everyone. Flexibility employees must be given authority to take decisions and restrictive practices must be removed. Equality each employee must be treated equally. Creativity each persons creativity must be utilized to improve the processes. Total people involvement- staff must be encouraged to participate in other activities like recruitment, supply chain and customer dealing. This improves the processes and benefits the company as a whole. Continuous Improvement: Kaizen: Kaizen is a Japanese term for improvement or change for better. In terms of Masaaki Imai, Kaizen is a continuous process of improvement in which each individual of an organization is involved to achieve a state of perfection. Three guiding principles of kaizen as explained by Hill (2005) are: Process reviews review of entire process from designing stage to delivery. People participation employees insights to improve the process. Constant need for change seeking improvement and implementing changes result in achieving perfection. kaizen.JPG Fig.6 Source: Archfield Consulting Group Deming Cycle: It is also called PDCA cycle which involve a team of people who continuously find improvements in an organization. Waters (2002) defined this cycle as: Plan review of existing processes, information gathering, finding alternatives and suggesting improvement plans. Do plan in implemented and performance data is collected. Check analyzes the collected data to check if expected improvements appear or not. Act- if improvements are visible, the operation is made permanent else lessons are learnt. deming cycle.png Fig.7 Applying Lean in Healthcare Industry Applying lean in healthcare industry is similar to its application in manufacturing. Lean manufacturing reduces waste from the set of operations that takes place in producing of items. Similarly lean can reduce waste and improve the services provided to the patients in hospitals. This may also help hospitals to manage issues like financial deficits, infections, waiting queues and capacity management. Why Lean in healthcare? Alike other industries, healthcare also face problems like safety concerns, capacity and waiting queue management, low level of efficiency and lack of staff motivation. To get rid of these issues and to deliver improved and timely patient care, it is important to base hospital processes on lean synchronization. Lean implementation in hospitals can also prevent hospitals acquired infections, avoidable injuries, death and less recovery time. Traditional practice in hospitals Major time of patients and hospital staff is wasted due to multiple trips made by the patients and the staff members. Once the tests are performed, patient is called for diagnosis after few days. Treatment for the illness may or may not start on the same day. This delay in treatment may cause deterioration in patients condition. Implementation of lean in hospitals will reduce the time taken in treating the patient. According to lean process, a patient must come once and all the processes must be done on the same day e.g. tests are done and the treatment is started soon after the diagnosis from the tests. The process mentioned in the figure consumes unneeded time of patients and hospital staff and this in turn increases the overall cost and risk to life. Avoiding such unnecessary trips eases patient care and reduces the workload on doctors. Lean eliminates waste processes and increases the overall throughput in hospitals. Untitled.png Fig.8 Untitled.png Fig.9 Source: NHS Confederation Principles of lean in healthcare Value: To ensure patient satisfaction, hospitals need to analyze the patients viewpoint as depicted in fig.10. Value is the perception of a patient and can be created when right consultation, test, diagnosis, communication, treatment and after care is provided to the patient. By eliminating waste processes and utilizing resources, staff will be able to concentrate more on patient care. figure3.jpg Fig.10 Source: JWA Inc. Value Stream: Value stream is the process of identifying all the steps that creates value to the patient and eliminating those that creates no value to the patient. Usually hospitals tend to group patients on the basis of clinical similarity. However lean focuses not on similar conditions but similar processes.Fig.11 shows various steps and processes taken to discharge a patient. Untitled.png Fig.11 Source: Flinders Medical Centre In a hospital a value stream is the end-to-end process of caring for a group of patients whose overall care process have enough in common for them to be managed together, irrespective of clinical diagnosis (David Ben-Tovim, 2006). Following are the steps that may not create any value to the patient and should be eliminated: Patients visit to hospital on different days for different tests. Time wasted when patient waits to be seen by the doctor. Unnecessary step of nurse checking the patient. Time wasted in collecting medical equipments and information. Repetition of processes such as diagnostic tests and paperwork. Time consumed in searching medical history of patients. Performing tests that are not required. Fig.12 The factors stated above signify that time is the most valued element for the patient as well as for the hospital staff. To eliminate this waste of time, we first need to identify the cause of this waste. Fig.13 shows the causes that increase the waste in waiting time. Cause and Effect 3.jpg Fig.13 Waste Identification: Waste is anything that does not create value to the patient. Inventory: Holding excess material to avoid unreliable supply is referred as inventory waste in hospitals. Eliminating such waste can reduce cost and time of both the patient as well as the hospitals. Extra Processing: Use of complex equipments to conduct simple tests makes processes large and inflexible and may cause stress to the staff. Overproduction: Unnecessary tests and investigations are referred as overproduction in healthcare industry. These tests must be avoided to save time and cost. Waiting: This is the patient wait time that created due to process or material waiting e.g. patients waiting for test or surgery due to equipment readiness. Transportation: Movement of patients and materials are considered as waste but these cannot be eliminated completely. Processes must be arranged in a manner that steps become sequential and easy to identify. Defects: Defects increase the processes and are caused due to wrong medication or infections. Doing things in a right way will reduce redundancy as well as defects in a process. Movement: Hospital layout must be in a way that it minimizes the repetition of movements by staff and patients e.g. in operation theatres, all equipments must be in reach of the operation table so as to ease the surgeon while doing surgery. Mapping Value Stream: The challenge in value stream is to map exactly the things that actually occur at each stage of patients journey towards recovery, as depicted in fig.14. Lean redesigns this flow to enable seamless movement of patients to the next step without unnecessary work or wait. Fig.14 Fig.15 shows an example of process mapping where it just takes one step on the process of tests and lists each step of work that is currently performed. Amount of time, distance covered and required amount of materials can be added to each such step. It is evident that huge amount of work is being done without creating any value. Involvement of staff during waste identification is usually advised so that the effect of one persons actions is visible to all. Fig.15 Flow: Flow is the process where every patient is worked with single unit at a time and passed to the next step without any delay. Following are few processes that can be redesigned in order to implement lean operations: Concurrent medical problems complicate patient care of an elderly patient who got fractured. Treatment is affected because specialists fail to communicate and coordinate with each other. This problem can be resolved by creating another department called Trauma Unit which creates a single team having all kind of specialists. A standard hand off process between each member will make it possible to identify and address treatment issues regardless of who is on duty. In hospitals, usually same type of operations is conducted on one day and another type of operations on other day. To increase flow through surgeries, it is suggested that few operations of each type should be performed each day. This will reduce waiting time for patients as well as burden on wards. In outpatient department, patients are usually called in the morning at same time say 9a.m. and it is highly likely that not all of them will be treated at the same time and some have to wait till noon. Hence patients must be called according to priority and severity of the problem. Samples are held back in pathology to process them in batches. This leads to increase in wait time for patients. Samples must be tested soon they arrive to the lab. Pull: To create value to the customer, services should be provided in line with the demand. If the demand is for 100 admissions a day, it implies that 100 patients must be discharged on that day to accommodate the demand. To achieve this demand in hospitals all the key processes and interfaces between them must be redesigned. The time required to spend on each activity to achieve output in line with demand is called as Takt Time. It is the time that identifies the speed with which work and materials flow within different departments. In pull system, each patient is treated as one unit at a time and passed to the next level without as soon as it is ready. Fig.16 shows a pull system where each stage of the process pulls the patient towards it. Untitled.png Fig.16 Source: NHS Confederation Perfection: After eliminating all the waste processes without compromising the quality of service, the whole operations process is repeated until perfection is achieved. To achieve perfection in hospitals, following aspects must be taken care of: After Lean Implementation Patient first Wait time unaccepted Reduced errors Existing resources Reduce waste Problems visible to all End to end process Before Lean Service provider first Wait time Errors New resources Reduce cost Problems not visible Functional management Perfection Fig.17 Perfection is achieved by continuous improvement of the operations process. It is therefore necessary to that all the staff members and the hospital management must commit to seek perfection at their level. By creating standard, visible and clear processes, we can develop the foundation of uninterrupted improvement, where every new improvement becomes a landmark or platform for future processes. Advantages of Lean in Hospitals: It is observed that implementation of lean in hospitals have increased efficiency from 15 to 20 percent with safer and improved services using the existing infrastructure, technology and staff. Hospitals across the globe, which have adopted lean philosophy, have benefited from its implementation. According to David Ben-Tovim of Flinders Medical Centre, Australia, the hospital was struggling to survive and was on the verge of meltdown. But after applying lean in their operations process, they managed to earn more profits and decreased the costs. Some important advantages of lean are: Reduction of wait time for patients. Reduced cost and increased savings. Reduction in physical floor space by 30%. Productivity increases from 75% to up to 125% in some cases. Good customer relations. Staff motivation and reduced stress levels. Untitled.png Fig.18 Conclusion The aim of this research was to understand the lean philosophy and to apply lean principles in healthcare industry. It is evident from the study that lean philosophy brings positive results. It improves safety, quality and morale of the staff along with reducing time and costs in the operations process. Lean when enforced in hospital operations can add value to patient care and improve efficiency. Lean principles are generic and can be applied anywhere. If lean principles are applied at each stage of the operations process than huge amount of time can be saved. These principles challenge the whole idea of batching, triage, economies of scale and de-skilling. Results of lean implementation are potentially significant. Lean acts as antidote to traditional approach of performance management. Its emphasis is to put the whole system in a valuable stream. Leans focus is to improve effort on things that weigh importance to patients and hospital staff. It opposes the external benchmarks whic h tend to express the things that are indirectly related to improve patient care. It is also evident from the data that hospitals that have adopted lean in their operations have improved in terms of patient care, costs and time. Hence it can be concluded that implementing lean in any industry will prove to be the best bet.

The Kalapalo Indians :: essays research papers

The Kalapalo Indians The Kalapalo Indians of Central Brazil are one of a few surviving indigenous cultures that is uniquely protected by a national reserve in lowland South America. Through no effort of there own, they have been isolated artificially from Brazilian social and economic influences that reach almost every other Indian tribe in Brazil. This unusual situation has made it possible for the Kalapalo’s culture to be undisturbed by the outside world and the surrounding tribes. Much of Kalapalo life is run through a central concept or an ideal of behavior, called ifutisu. This is an infinite ideological concept that is represented in many ways in social life and ideal organization among the Kalapalo. The area in which the Kalapalo live is in the northeastern Mato Grosso state called Upper Xingu Basin. There are four unintelligible languages by groups in this region. This makes the Upper Xingu Basin linguistically diverse, but with many of the groups still sharing the same social and ideological features. It is very difficult to trace back the origins of Kalapalo life because of the integration of the many different and culturally diverse groups in the Upper Xingu Basin. So, many of systems of kinship classification, marriage practices, ceremonial organizations, status allocation, and religious beliefs are consistent with cultural rules and social practices and not with the original system. Many of the modern local groups can only reconstruct their own history which is in limited detail, these systems can’t be isolated completely from the existing society. The two most important social units in Upper Xingu society are the village and the household groups. Both the village and household can be considered corporate in that both control rights to territorial resources, acts as a unit when performing certain economic and ceremonial activities. Members of a household group are obligated to pass out food which they collect amongst themselves. Even when one cannot supply food a Kalapalo is assured of a share because everyone is treated with the same kind of respect. Despite this corporate organization, membership in villages and households is constantly changing, and there is much movement of people between group to group. The Kalapalo society is a system wherein social units, such as the village groups and households exist only because of the individual who decides to live in these systems and choose to cooperate with one another. This is very different from other non-western societies whereas the individual acquire the responsibility to join in social units, by birth or other means of relationship to and with each other regardless of the identity of the individual themselves. The Kalapalo social organization is characterized by a flexible group membership

The Autonomous Factors

This model demonstrates that the autonomous factors are unite on the left side and the reliant variable is joined on the correct side of the model. In this table all the free factors are centering or specifically influencing the reliant variable and the needy variable is client maintenance. The theory for this exploration is given underneath:2.7 ResearchHypothesis Following are the exploration theory of the examination: H1: Service quality has positive effect on the client maintenance. H0: Service quality has no positive effect on the client maintenance. H2: Customer fulfillment has positive effect on the client maintenance. H0: Customer Satisfaction has no positive impact on client maintenance. H3: Customer reliability has positive impact on the client maintenance. H0: Customer reliability has no positive effect on the client maintenance. H4: Environment   has positive effect on the client maintenance. H0: Environment has no positive impact on the client maintenance.3. MethodologyIn this exploration the easygoing examination has been utilized to clarify the impact of the free factors (benefit quality, consumer loyalty, client steadfastness, condition t) on the needy variable (client retention).The information for this exploration has been taken from 300 members by utilizing the instructive and mental estimation table (Krejcie, Robert 1970) . Add up to number of 160 surveys from out of 300 was returned which were totally and accurately filled by the members which were worthy for the investigation to go ahead. In this examination the helpful testing is been utilized to gather information from the members to bear on the exploration.3.1 InstrumentsIn this paper we have utilized the strategy which was beforehand embraced in the examinations, the poll was made out of aggregate 19 questions. First4 questions were of individual statistic and remaining 15 were of the 5 factors which were utilized as a part of this paper. Measurable bundle for sociologies (SPSS) rendition 20.0 was utilized for the investigation of the factors gathered through the survey.3.2 DateAnalysis procedures Unwavering quality examination is utilized as a part of this paper to check the dependability of the poll. As it is said in the past investigations that dependability examination acknowledgment run is over 0.70(Nunnally, 1978) . Pearson connection examination is utilized to check the connection between the diverse factors. What's more, the direct relapse investigation is utilized to discover the impact of the autonomous factors on the reliant factors.4. DataAnalysis and Results The Frequency table demonstrates that the information gathered from respondents incorporate 60% male and 40% female. Table no.1 Elucidation Keeping in mind the end goal to confirm the entomb thing consistency of things, Cronbach's alpha test was keep running on spss. The Cronbach's alpha test is utilized to recognize that how much our reactions on our examination are solid .The Cronbach's alpha shows esteems in above table including the estimation of every factor .The qualities are above to the standard esteem proposed by (Nummally, 1978) of 0.70, which exhibits that our instrument is dependable and we can irrefutably apply different measurable tests and decipher the results with assurance. Understanding Connection test was actualized to break down the connection between factors. Connection table proposed every one of the factors were emphatically associated to customer buy goal. The most connected variable was CL having Pearson Correlation estimation of r(120) = .648, p

Clerk & Squire Contrast “The Canterbury Tales” Essay

In Chaucer’s â€Å"The Canterbury Tales,† two young men of the Middle Ages, stand in sharp contrast to each other. The clerk and the squire are of similar ages but are very different. The clerk is a member of the middle class, has attended Oxford and studied Aristotle, while the squire, a member of the upper class, has been educated in the arts of chivalry. In appearance wise the clerk is a â€Å"grave† or somber individual. He is thin â€Å"hollow-cheeked† and dresses poorly (â€Å"outer cloak threadbare†). On the other hand the squire is a bright, cheerful person. He is lusty, strong and nimble and dresses extravagantly â€Å"red and white embroidery; short coat with long wide sleeves.† His facial appearance is similar to his dress habits, his hair is curled and he is very handsome. The two differ in personality as well. The clerk is formal and modest when he speaks and he only speaks (gives his input) if it is needed. He is also considerate of others, â€Å"pray diligently for the souls of them that gave him wherewith to stay at the schools† and his speech is of moral virtue. The royalty of the squire was apparent in his personality. He is courteous, modest and helpful to others. His royal roots show that he is a respectable man and in his youthful state, he is full of energy. Finally, we can see that the two have very different interests. The clerk is interested in lectures on logic, reading Aristotle and studying Philosophy. He also loves to learn and teach and convey his knowledge to others. The squire is engulfed with the many campaigns/battles of the country and loves jousting in his spare time. He also enjoys singing, playing the flute, riding horses, making songs, dancing drawing and writing. The squire’s royalty shows through his interests because the middle class would not have the time or resources to commit to these interests. The portrait of the clerk and the squire in â€Å"The Canterbury Tales† shows two men of similar age; in the same time frame, â€Å"The Middle Ages†. We learn that the two are very different in appearance, personality and interests. This can be attributed to the fact that they grew up in different classes. The clerk in the â€Å"Middle Class† and the squire in the â€Å"High Class†, in this time  frame classes molded how an individual grew and learned. Chaucer shows in his novel how two individuals can be the same in some ways but very different in others.

PG Organizational studies

PG Organizational studies Introduction In an effort to evaluate economic aspects and concepts in relation to an organization setting, this term paper focuses on a popular consumer company Proctor and Gamble, (PG), namely, on its organizational structure, employee compensation package, job design and dimension, as well as recommendations made in an effort to improve its operations.Advertising We will write a custom term paper sample on PG: Organizational studies specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Company description Proctor and Gamble, commonly referred to as PG is a giant consumer good producer whose offices are distributed all over the world. What initially was a business partnership of its founders Proctor and Gamble, PG has become what it is today as a result of excellent and aggressive branding. The company has an impressive and extensive product line, which ranges from pet foods, cleaning agents, personal care products and until recently, foods and beverage s, making it one of the largest consumer goods companies in the world. This position has been complemented further upon the acquisitions the company has made overtime in a bid to diversify its product line. This has culminated to the substantial increase in profits. The company restructured its operations from its former global structure to embracing the matrix structure that has resulted into the categorization of the structure to include two Global Business Units with each unit, further divided into Business Segments, namely, beauty segment, grooming segment, health care segment, snacks and pet care segment, fabric care, home care segment, baby care and family home care segment. As a result of embracing this structure, the company sales levels have soared as a result of faster decision making, which is made possible due to the decentralization aspect brought about by the structure. PG has a leading position in many areas of consumer products, making its brand decision desirable to many firms. Good leadership, coupled with a combined team effort from all employees in all PG’s subsidiaries have strengthened its stance in the global arena, enabling the company to survive and thrive in an increasingly competitive global market for over 100 years. This has led to the fact that the company has received numerous honors, such as the Fortune magazine award of the Global Top companies for leaders and also awarded it the fifth place among the most popular companies.Advertising Looking for term paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More According to Chief Executive Magazine, PG is the best overall company for leadership development as depicted in its list of the 40 best firms for leaders (Daft, 2010). These achievements have not come easy as hard work and dedication have been the driving forces of the company’s success. Organizational structure An organizational structure , according to Daft (2010) is defined as a diagrammatic and architectural representation of a firm’s processes and procedures. In other words, it refers to an organizational hierarchy of people and how information flows within the organization. Taking due consideration of this definition, Proctor and Gamble has adopted a matrix organizational structure. Being a multinational firm with widespread networks all over the world, the structure is most appropriate for handling global operations. This has seen the firm decentralize its operations, enabling it to open up the regional front in areas it represents by means of appointing regional directors. The directors handle activities from the divisions available in that specific region and reports to the Headquarters. In this case, the firm has needs decentralization so the regional agencies could enjoy a great deal of autonomy in decision making. It has proved beneficial as each market is unique and different from the other one as each serves consumers who are themselves different, hence have different tastes and preferences. In a bid to address this issue and serve their customers effectively by responding to their needs, the matrix structure becomes most appropriate. This is a deviation from the global structure the firm had adopted as part of its global strategy. With this structure, it was characterized by centralized decision making, coordination and control at the level of key functional activities, such as research and development, operations and marketing, thereby seeing agencies receiving directives via direct communication from the Headquarters. This goes, however, against the advancements made possible due to the courtesy of the matrix structure.Advertising We will write a custom term paper sample on PG: Organizational studies specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The matrix structure also makes the global dimension be represented by the executive in cha rge of the worldwide product division while the local dimension is in the hands of the business units in the countries. As part of its marketing strategy, PG has 7 Market Development Organizations (MDOs), responsible for marketing products in the global regions where its presence is felt (Company 2013). Agency problem Lasher (2010) defines an agency problem as a conflict of interest, arising when people (agents) entrusted to look after the interests of others (principals) use the authority or power for their own benefit instead. In this case, the agent’s interest is self-motivated and overrides the one of the principals’, which should not be the case. This problem, also referred to as principal-agent problem, is most prevalent in organizations that offer a great deal of autonomy in decision making, enabling the trustees of the shareholders to take advantage of their position to work activities in their own favor. PG has not avoided this issue as there have been reports of the manifestation of the agency problem in the company. This has taken the form of price fixing, in other words, the establishing of products prices or services, rather than allowing it to be determined naturally through free market forces. PG in collaboration with Unilever, another consumer goods company, established a price fixing cartel in Europe. This led to PG, incurring a fine of $ 456.3 million. This adversely affected the share prices of its stocks, thereby leading to shareholders, losing the value of their stocks as well as affecting the reputation of the company which suffered a great blow. In this case, the directors and managers compromised the shareholders’ interests, by engaging in illegal business for unsustainable high sales levels. Directors, managers and employees of companies are supposed to use their delegated authority to maximize the total financial returns from the business to its owners (Lasher 2010). Therefore, PG acted contrary to its duty in reg ards to its shareholders. The main reason for the occurrence of the problem was due to the urge to create artificial prices that would translate to higher profits for the firm at the expense of the consumer. Upon the exposure of this illegal activity, the firm could suffer immensely as a result of fines imposed on it, as well as loss in investor confidence.Advertising Looking for term paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In a bid to correct the above situation, Lasher (2010) proposes the following measures the firm could adopt: Instituting measures, such as tough screening processes. The firm needs to put in place more restrictions that will see the decisions made by individuals scrutinized in order to promote transparency as well as accountability. This will help curb the occurrence of the problem. Introducing watchdog bodies within the firm. These bodies may take the form of committees, such as a financial committee, procurement committee, etc. This form of transparency of operations will instill discipline in employees as they will be wary of being exposed as a result of illegal activities, such as the occurrence of the agency problem. These bodies or committees should be comprised of independent members who do not have vested interests in the firm, as well as individuals of high levels of integrity and professionalism. Introducing incentives for good behavior and punishments for bad behavior. In an effort to award good behavior, the firm could introduce performance-based compensation. This will motivate individuals to work hard in the right way in order to enjoy defined compensation perks. Bad behavior could draw punishments in the form of threats of demotion or even result to firing some concerned individuals. This will make individuals conscious of their activities in order to avoid such eventualities. Job dimension Job dimension generally entails a description of the job in regards to the duties, purpose, responsibilities, scope and working conditions. This clearly identifies the title of the job which an individual can identify himself/herself with (Bailey 2009). PG description of job dimensions is, however, based on a global perspective because of its nature of being a multinational organization which has seen the description of jobs in its portfolio differ with regards to geographical position of the firm. Regional agencies of the firm differ with regards to the oper ations and local conditions in the host countries where they are located. This, consequently, means that the jobs ascribed to individuals working within the global platform prompt the proper organization and design of proper job dimensions that are in line with the demands placed on these agencies. Regions where PGs influence is felt are different and unique from each other. Each of them has different needs that need to be assessed in the determination of appropriate strategies that can be adopted. This also applies to the description of job dimensions. Employees, working in different regions need to have properly defined job descriptions that detail specific duties and purpose, customized in accordance with the demands of the local market which they serve, in a bid to achieve set targets and objectives. PG current design is, therefore, appropriate for its business. Running a global firm is no easy feat as it requires an effective organizational structure and an effective and motiva ted workforce. Employees within the firm have properly defined duties expected of them which create the basis for the evaluation of their performance. As a result, it creates clear and defined tasks which they use to guide their performance. Job design Mathis and Jackson (2010) define job design as the process of putting together various elements of a job in accordance with organizational as well as individual requirements and presenting considerations of health, safety and ergonomics. This leads to the outlining activities to be performed by an individual in accordance with the requirements of a job, while ensuring that a firm’s objectives are being achieved as well as ensuring that the employee is being considered with regards to achievement of personal objectives, while observing the health and safety of the employee. A good job design is important as it enables a firm to determine factors which affect work. In this case, firms are able to identify such factors and act acc ordingly in order to either exploit them to improve the firm’s business, or to downplay them if they have a negative impact on the firm’s performance. These factors are normally concerned with employee working conditions. It also enables to identify what tasks are require to be done, that is, companies require formulation of the firm’s strategic plan that details objectives that the firm strives to achieve, as well as relevant activities or tasks that will help to achieve these objectives as stipulated in the plan. This enables a firm to focus on what it aims at achieving, hence directing resources in an effective way to achieve these goals in the end. A good job design also determines when and how tasks are going be done. Identification of tasks required to be done is not enough as there is a need to determine the appropriate time to undertake them, based on the identified factors, influencing the firm, such as the status of the economy, as well as the methodol ogy adopted to carry out the tasks in a manner that will see the maximum use of resources in an effective way. This in effect enables organizations to make substantial cost savings. It must also be mentioned that despite the identification of tasks required to be performed as well as the appropriate methodology and timing to carry them out, the emphasis with regards to the determination of a job design results to the prioritization of tasks as it is impractical to carry them out all at once. Based on the above advantages that result from the adoption of formulation of a job design, the following are recommendations on how PG can improve its job design strategy (Mathis and Jackson 2010): Allow and encourage employee participation in the job design process because the inclusion of employee input will help their opinions be incorporated in the job design, for instance, they may vary activities proposed, based on their personal needs, work habits and circumstances in the workplace. The company should organize training workshops and seminars that are dedicated to assisting employees know what is expected from them with regards to tasks they are supposed to carry out in order to achieve clarity on how to carry them out. The job design should have good work/rest schedules- This assists employees revamp their energy hence results to employee performance improvement. Compensation package Compensation does not only mean financial benefits accorded to employees but also includes non-financial aspects, such as employee professional development through training or motivating employees. Based on my own personal view, the compensation package can be considered as not perfect since perfection has never been achieved by any firm as employee needs are diverse, and it’s not possible to satisfy all of them. However, although there is still room for improvement, PG has tried to come up with an attractive compensation package that is responsive to changing trends in the ma rket as described below: It offers competitive salaries; It has also a comprehensive flexible benefits program that allows employees to choose health, dental, disability and life insurance benefits that meet their unique needs and circumstances. Retirement plans are funded by the company and provide employees with flexibility in plan, design and investment options. Existence of any Employee Assistance Program gives employees a confidential access to professional counseling to help them deal with any personal or family problems. In order to improve the existing compensation package, the firm could adopt the following recommendations as suggested by Madura (2007), namely: Evaluate their compensation management maturity and identify shortcomings. This will prompt the company to take appropriate steps in an effort to correct the situation, hence assist in achieving an employee satisfaction. Integrate appropriate sources and systems. This will enable the company to integrate existing information sources with compensation and workforce performance. This will enable the company to increase system efficiency that employees can relate with. References Bailey, T (2009). Organizational culture, macro and micro empowerment dimensions. Washington: Joessey Publishers. Company. (2013). Retrieved from https://us.pg.com/ Daft, P (2010). Organizational theory and design. New York: Sage Publishers. Lasher, P (2010). Practical financial management. Boston: Oxford Publishers. Madura, J (2007). Introduction to business. New York: McGraw-Hill Publishers. Mathis, R and Jackson, J (2010). Human resources management. New York: Sage Publishers.

How does the applied math relate with the insurance field Assignment

How does the applied math relate with the insurance field - Assignment Example For example, when buying or selling an insurance policy, it is important for the two parties to understand the risks involved. These risks are analyzed, and their impact evaluated. This helps in determining the actual amount of the policy and the terms of payment. Secondly, mathematical techniques are used in analyzing utility curves. These curves are useful in determining how much a consumer is going to buy insurance for (Green, 96). In normal cases, the insuring firm has to charge the customer a fee more than the value of the risk. The utility curves thus help the insurance company determine the exact amount the customer is going to pay for the insurance. For example, if a consumer’s average loss per year for repairing his car is $10000, then the insurance company has to charge a fee above this figure for the insurance. This can only be achieved if mathematical techniques are used so as to calculate the actual profit percentage that the insurance company will charge. Thirdly, the insurance sector heavily relies on market research in the development of the various policies and understanding of the existing ones (Green, 97). Market research helps the insurance firms understand the best policies that will satisfy the demands of the market. For example, a company might want to study the market potential before developing a new insurance policy. In order to avoid losses, the company needs to have accurate information about the market. Mathematics is heavily applied in market research. For instance, random sampling can be employed by the insurance firms to understand various phenomenons in the market. In order to effectively collect, organize and analyze such data, mathematical techniques are required for accuracy. In particular, statistical methods are used in marketing research where variables such as standard deviation and variance help in the analysis of the collected data. Finally, applied mathematics is useful when it

Character Analysis on EDNA from the novel The Awakening by Kate Essay

Character Analysis on EDNA from the novel The Awakening by Kate Choplin - Essay Example Bloom posits that women of this time were barred from agitating for their independence and self-actualization (51). In contrast, Edna rediscovers her self -worth and acknowledges her emotional urges. This makes her abandon her former, domineering husband. She later marries Robert. In all the maneuvers, Edna, in a bid to break free from the societal norms and expectation, finds that her independence will attract isolation from the society. This owes to the general belief of many women in the society during that time. According to Bloom, Edna’s husband also objects her clamor for independence given that he strongly believes in the doctrines of society pertaining to the position of a woman in society (39). In her pursuit of painting, Edna is able to realize the beauty of individual creation and architecture. This makes her seek self-independence, regardless of the inevitable hurdles of society. Her quest for independence is emotionally driven and events happen in a sequential manner with regard to her quest for autonomy. Robert’s passion for Edna’s love is not strong enough to overcome his sense of morality. In fact, the note that Robert leaves behind is evident to Edna that she was alone despite the fact that she has obtained the hard-earned independence and self-achievement. The note articulated the fact that Robert was not ready to contravene the societal norms pertaining to women. This confirms that loneliness presents room for the independence Edna desires. The discovery of self-expression by Edna informs her of her long overdue independence. In fact, the awakening of Edna makes her learn three new concepts, including the mode of expression for the Creole women. The Creole women express themselves in a free manner and share their feelings regardless of their chastity. In addition, Edna is challenged by their faithfulness and liberty. In this regard, Edna learns that she is the architect of her