Crouching Tiger and Hidden Dragon Essay Example for Free

Crouching Tiger and Hidden Dragon Essay Among the films presented, what captures and awaken my interest was the film from Ann Hui entitled Crouching Tiger and Hidden Dragon. Somehow, it was portrayed very subtle in the few minutes of the filming, but at the end you will appreciate how it was orchestrated and letting message of the films came across to the mind of the viewers. The movie can be reflected also how the present vulnerability of some countries easily reckoned and entice by the overwhelming, numerous offers from the rich and powerful countries in exchange of something in their economy and future benefits. Then sooner or later their real intention of their acts slowly surface unveiling the shadow of hypocrites. I do appreciate much how the young and vibrant beautiful female villain in the movie depict her character of determination and patience in achieving her goal willing to gamble every thing she has in position. The female villain was willing to set whatever she has even her life was at stake for that cause of her just to fulfill the desire that stirred up her interest for her personal satisfaction and not after for the destruction of the many. Unfortunately, the fate of having that Green destiny sword was not meant for her to hold on forever for she was not the right one entrusted to look after the care of that green destiny sword. The very least she did, was trying to take the chance of having it. Thought she failed but you can not see in her face the expression of regrets. She have done her best to the best she can but maybe her best was not good enough and the fate of trying was not for the right time and responsibility to hold on that awesome destiny she ever dreamed of. The two characters that I fully appreciated to that young and vibrant villain named Jen Yu was so being energetic in pursuing her intention to have that sword and so cool that even a face of treacherous woman cannot be seen on her. But all of these Jen Yu adventures were a reflection of her mere fascination to the glamorous life of Yu Shu Lien. Believing that a woman can have so many adventures and achieving such freedom is a real marvelous for her. There we can consider also that it was her fascination for a great adventure and achieving such freedom that pushed her to commit such treachery in her in country. We can not even see any single history played along with the movie the reason why Jen Yu should be doing that kind of stuff. Though there are some influences she received from that witched type kind of a master, but we can see it clearly that she was really using her brain in a proper perspective. I really consider that Jen Yu was just using that witched type female master she clings to every time she has some chaos facing with. She was even more tricky compare to her lady master. But destiny did not fell at her hands for it was not intended to be. The least thing she did, was trying her luck on that great adventure of her. While on the other hand, Li Mu Bai, who were on the verge of his own quest of finding the missing sword, the Green Destiny who Li Mu Bai believed that finding it the said sword will open an avenue of knowing the real reason of his Master’s death. Li Mu Bai life was made colorful in the story due to Jen Yu’s presence in the said filming. It was Jen Yu’s character that made the story of Li Mu Bai more interesting and captivating. A little glimpse from the shadow of Jen Yu made Li Mu Bai shine clearly and made it more convincing to believed that such story as that still exist and continue to exist as long as it calls for someone to defend for the truth and righteousness against those people who had bested interest and willing to undermine the welfare of the many. To the question of how the story being orchestrated into the minds of the viewers, well, cinematography did it vividly. The venue of the filming was so simple and environmental yet it helped to make the story essence convey the message across to the minds of the viewers. The setting was so fit for the story because of the title that made it easily to connect with the settings itself of the story. Generally, though the story includes some furious fighting stands using their trademark artistry in handling a sword, still you can sense the compassion that goes with it. There was even a time when Li Mu Bai path came across with Jen Yu there were instance of chance giving Li Mu Bai to kill Jen Yu. But something holds on to him that reached at the back of his mind about the real motive, personality of the villain. Until such time, confession of the real scenario took place when the two characters met each other for a final encounter to fulfill their individual destiny that would dictate their fate in their future existence of the story. Just like us individual who has our own destiny to fulfill and keep continue to fight for it daily all in the name of personal gratification, satisfaction and survival. Nevertheless, we have to remember always that it is not what we have in position neither those people surrounding us and the potentials that we have that keeps us winning from the race. But it is by a having a big HEART of patience, determination and Humility.

A World Health Organization

A World Health Organization Why is health a social issue? Health, in the light of World Health Organization definition, is understood as subjectively felt physical, mental and social well-being as a result of appropriate adaptation to the environmental conditions. Psychical health relates to proper human system functioning. Mental health is connected with ability to recognition of peoples feelings and emotions, coping with difficult situations, problems and stress. Social health concerns the human community, its development and adaptability to the environmental conditions, what means ability to live independently as well as in a social group and retain both individual and group identity. There were many attempts to classify factors conditioning health. During early 20th century up to 1970s, it was considered, that health mainly depends on health service. At the beginning of the 1970s way of perceiving determinants of peoples well-being changed. In 1974 Marc Lalonde, Minister of Health for Canada, proposed The Health Field Concept, in which he distinguished four basic factors conditioning health (Fig. 1.): Lifestyle (50%) Physical and social environment (20%) Human Biology (20%) Health Care Organization (20%) This approach influenced on change in health policy and established base for health promotion In modern societies, some of the main problems regarding the health such as illnesses induced by ageing, globalization, new technologies, and genetic engineering have cultural and social grounds. State of health is strongly dependent on social processes and occurrences such as lifestyle (for instance nutrition, recreation, reaction for stress), social cohesion, wealth, education, working conditions and emotional relations. All this things can on the one hand make worse or on the other hand improve the state of health. Currently, it is considered that, the socioeconomic factors (for instance incomes, social status, education level, social support) affect a persons health to the highest degree. Depending on these conditions, the peoples lifestyle can favour health or be harmful to it. Poverty and low level of education are reasons of health inequalities. In general, people with low social status are less healthy, have worse access to health care and take risky for health actions more often. Social support in human living environments is regarded as significant factor shaping positive health and fighting pathogenic influence of potential stressors. In recent decades, people witness a dynamic development of technology and science. As might be expected, new technologies facilitate human lives and make them more efficient. It is possible to say, that in present circumstances, people are able to have an influence on their state of health. However, not always advances of science and in technology go hand in hand with improvement of quality of life. People, preoccupied with making their lives more comfortable, more and more frequently forget about their biological existence. New facilities, means of transport, automation, all kinds of machines are reducing physical activity in their daily life to a minimum. Mass-media, especially television, take them a lot of free time and force them to the sedentary way of life. Nowadays, people suffer from many ailments defined as civilization diseases, which increase alongside with the (continuously) quickening pace of living. Undoubtedly, work is also a very important determinant of health. When it is done for pleasure, work can give a sense of happiness and positive energy. In practice, it means that actions based on harmony with the environment and self-realization favour persons health. Work, which is not a vocation, is a reason of stress, unwillingness and apathy. Meanings of health change in the popular culture and public awareness. Besides strivings for avoiding diseases, more and more people need fitness, vitality, good looks and good mood. Apart from interest in length of life, there appeared care for its sense and quality. In recent years, there is observed a considerable increase in importance of health in sphere of personal aspirations, aims, and values of individual. Health is no longer defined only as an absence of disease and discomfort. Healthy lifestyle becomes in many environments a phenomenon on the verge of fashion. Health issues come into prominence in public discourse, concerning inter alia social and political priorities. The right to health is one of the most important elements of the human rights. Nowadays, health and disease become valuable goods of expanding market.

Is Export oriented industrialization indispensable for economic growth

Is Export oriented industrialization indispensable for economic growth INTRODUCTION One of the key indicators, of economic development of a country, is its level of industrialization. That is, as many empirical investigations proved the main reason for increased divergence in living standards between the advanced countries and the developing countries is their level of industrialization. This being the fact, it is only after decolonization and end of world War II that, developing countries consciously adopted industrialization strategies for economic development purposes and as a solution, from their vulnerable dependence on export of few primary products and import of high valued manufactured goods (Brisbane, 1980). The low terms of trade in international market for primary goods from former colonies and the determination to get out of severe poverty and register sustained growth, were the main reasons for the diversification of the narrow structure of the colonial economy. Industrialization is beneficial for developing countries for many reasons including the following (i) it reduces their vulnerable dependence; (ii) it speeds up their economic growth process; (iii) it modernize the economy through spill over or externalities effects associated with industrialization, from advanced countries; (iv) create more employment for the vast population in rural agricultural sector and accelerate income growth which is used as a means to re-distribute income to the impoverished masses; and (v) generate more foreign currency through export which reduces balance of payment problems (Brisbane, 1980). As Brisbane explained, to industrialize, developing countries adopted import substitution strategies from about 1945 to the 1970s. Import substitution strategy is designed to produce few luxury consumer goods for domestic consumption behind a very high tariff wall. However, most countries which followed the import substitution strategy failed, to meet the goal of industrialization, while spectacular growth and development was reported from developing countries that pursued an export oriented strategy, in the 1970s. Defined simply, export-oriented Industrialization (EOI) often termed as export led industrialization (ELI) is a policy designed for the purpose of speeding up the industrialization process of a country through exporting goods for which the nation has a comparative advantage. This policy requires countries to open up their domestic market to foreign competition in return to getting access to international market. In order to promote EOI and ultimately economic development, complementary policies in relation to tariffs, trade, exchange rate, and others need to be adopted and employed. This paper will critically examine how export oriented industrialization is essential for economic growth in developing countries, if it can be backed up by appropriate policies on trade, industrial policy and exchange rate policy, geared for that purpose. The paper also argues that export oriented industrialization has its own drawbacks. Thus, the essay is structured as follows: In section 2, It the paper analyses the significance of policies on the functioning of EOI, particularly: trade policy, industrial policy and exchange rate policy that developing countries need to adopt and identifies areas where government intervention is needed to bring economic development. It then explains the drawbacks of export oriented industrialization, on export dependence countries, in Section 3. Then section 4, empirically examines how EOI contributes to economic development and the conclusions are presented in section 5. 2. Significance of Policies on EOI The role of complementary policies for effectiveness of export oriented industrialization is undeniable. This paper focuses mainly on how trade, industrial and exchange rate policies can support EOI policy. 2.1 Trade policy: Appropriate trade policy is one of the key tools used for effective of export oriented industrialization and for economic development, in general. That is, the better trade policy a country has, the better chance it has for industrial diversification, creating value added products and getting more income from export. Theoretical context: Even if, there has been little consensus on the relationship between trade and short- to medium -term economic growth-and even less on its role in long term economic development. The principle of comparative advantage, which prescribe countries to specialize as to their factor endowment, first described by David Ricardo, forms the theoretical basis for traditional trade theory and provides the rationale for free trade. The principle states that even if a country produced all goods more cheaply than other countries, it would benefit by specializing in the export of its relatively cheapest good (or the good in which it has a comparative advantage)(Murray Gibbs 2007, p. 10). And some classical economists believed that the principal base for this principle is the difference in factor endowments among countries determine the relative cost of production. However, this traditional theory from classical economists has been challenged as it doesnt explain well the actual trade patterns and as the theory has unrealistic assumptions, like perfect competition, full employment etc (Murray Gibbs 2007). In addition to the unrealistic assumptions, in real situations the theory favors advanced countries, and developing countries hardly benefit anything from it. The controversial Singer Prebisch thesis, also explained this situation by stating that it is the center that gets all the benefits of international trade while the periphery gets nothing, which opposes to the Ricardian Theory of Comparative Advantage. He argued: given the differences in the existing economic, productive and labor market structures between the periphery and the center (in the application of technology in traded goods and in the market structures; oligopoly vs. competitive) less-developed countries cannot benefit from international market, if they adopt comparative advan tage doctrine (Todaro and Smith 2009).This is because developing countries usually produce and export primary products which have lower terms of trade. And the scope for diversification is too narrow, and these conditions put developing countries to have vulnerable dependence on international market. Thus, unlike the classical economists static comparative advantage doctrine, dynamic comparative advantage is a better option for developing countries. This is because as more innovation, technology, capital, and other requirements for industrializations are met and as industrialization happens in developing countries, it will be easier to diversify their economic structure, as manufactured goods have better terms of trade than primary products. Skarstein (2007) in his paper Free Trade: A Dead End for Underdeveloped Economies,criticized the comparative advantage doctrine. He argued, what matters most in international trade is the absolute advantage that countries get out of it than a comparative advantage. And empirical evidences show that the doctrines of comparative advantage and free trade benefit the advanced countries only. This is mainly because the doctrines are likely to exclude international learning among countries. Particularly, the WTO agreement, Trade related intellectual property rights (TRIPS), which is a big challenge developing countries to acquire technology, skill and international learning from the rest of the world. He also argued, for a trade policy to function effectively, developing countries have to make sure that, this policy is well integrated with their industrial policy. And in addition to these, developing countries have to get support from advanced countries, through reduced import tariffs for goods from developing countries and by giving developing countries a chance to protect their industries and to get easy access to international market. He also stressed that, developing countries have to ensure that food security is maintained in their countries, as it keeps them safe from their foreign account, balance of payment problems as well. Thus, governments of developing countries have to protect agricultural production for consumption. Therefore, while designing policies, developing countries have to consider the dynamic comparative advantage or absolute advantage options. In addition to this, they also have to consider how their economic integration to the world economy should be in support of EOI. 2.2 Industrial policy: A proper industrial policy is also another important tool for effective export oriented industrialization, as a countrys industrialization depends on how individual domestic firms are protected. This is because, it is individual firms that innovate and harness technological change and compete in the world market (Suranovic, 2002). The basic policy component of industrial policy for developing countries is Infant industry protection. It is a necessary condition, because newly emerging firms in developing countries need some policy to help them grow strong and to safeguard them from intrusion of foreign firms in their market, that have a negative effect on their growth. Infant industries in developing countries can mainly be protected through import tariff mechanism, which reduce imports from the rest of the world and raises demand and production of domestic product. This protection enables the domestic firms to cover their higher production costs and to remain in business. Depending on the nature of the firm, infant industry protection strategy will help the domestic firms to produce efficiently and to be competent in international markets. However, in order to use the infant industry protection policy as a tool for export oriented industrialization, government of developing countries need to have reliable information about what industry to protect, how large the production tariffs need to be and over what period the tariffs will be reduced and eliminated. Because import tariffs have to be gradually reduced and eliminated, to increase efficiency of domestic firms. A complementary policy component to infant industry protection in export oriented industrialization is export promotion. This component stimulates export and allows the infant industry to have access to international market, while Infant industry protection policy allows the new domestic firm to grow strong. For industrial policy to be effective it has to be complemented by competition policy, as some regulations are required for the competition among domestic firms and simultaneously, as there is a need for policy to protect the domestic firms from intrusion of foreign firms in their market. A coherent execution of industrial policy requires a coordinated approach to trade policies. This is because trade policies are designed usually in accordance with a countrys trade negotiations, which include: policies related to investment, tariff, Intellectual property, and others. The effectiveness of tariffs as a tool for industrialization is also linked to the monetary policy framework within which it operates. When the capital account is liberalized control over exchange rates may be lost and the appreciation of exchange rates can obviously undermine export competitiveness and the impact of tariff protection (Murray Gibbs 2007, p. 19). 2.3. Exchange rate policy: The role of exchange rate policy in the success of export oriented industrialization strategy is undeniable. Exchange rate is a policy on the level of exchange rate of a countrys currency. The main challenge in formulating the exchange rate policy is in keeping balance between maintaining exchange rate stability and maintaining export price competitiveness, which requires devaluation. Devaluation increases the value of imports, while it gives options for exporters to choose either to reduce the prices of their products or to keep them as they are, to increase their profit margin. Thus, devaluation, at a cost of higher inflation, enables domestic industries to be competent internationally, by keeping the volume of import down and by raising the volume of export (domestic output) higher. The role of government in controlling inflation, to stabilize the economy is very essential, here. Thus, this phenomenon in addition to supporting the export oriented industrialization process it helps countries to improve their current account balance in Balance of payment problem (Jacob, Atta ; Keith R., Jefferis ; Ita, Mannathoko and Pelani, Siwawa-Ndai 2000) 3. Drawbacks of Export dependence A country is dependent on export, if export constitutes the largest portion of its gross domestic products. However, even if EOI strategy contributes for economic development, the extent to which this strategy is applied has to be considered for various reasons. To mention some of them, as dependency theorists argue: first, export dependent developing countries cause chaos on the long-term economic planning capacity of a nation-state (Barratt-Brown Prebisch) as these countries have little or no control over the market, to allow sustained economic growth through stable revenue. Second, Income from export is not a reliable source for economic development for developing countries. As many of the export oriented industrializations in these countries are owned by multinational corporations, and large portion of revenue from such sources are not repatriated, to be used for re-investment (Jaffee, 1985). 4. Empirical evidence: Skarstein, 2007 paper Free Trade: A Dead End for Underdeveloped Economies, showed the empirical evidences on EOIs contribution for miraculous economic development of the Asian tigers and the now developed countries. It mainly showed the relationship between economic development and effective implementation of infant industries protection policy and export promotion policy. In support of this, it is argued, that many people have argued that Infant industry protection was precisely the industrial development strategy that was pursued by countries like the US and Germany during their rapid industrial development before the turn of the 20th century. Both the US and Germany had high tariffs during their industrial revolution periods. These tariffs helped protect fledgling industries from competition with more efficient firms in Britain and may have been the necessary requirement to stimulate economic growth (Suranovic 2002) Bairoch also analyzed data and concluded that the different the effect of free trade on developed and developing countries is. In all the cases he analyzed, free trade has a positive effect on developed countries while it lets the least developed countries to suffer. He mentioned that United Kingdom registered its fastest growth during the period (1860 1880). In those cases he analyzed, how effective import tariffs for developing countries were in their economic development (Bairoch, 1972, p. 211). In his paper, Skarstein, illustrated, with detailed data how the East Asian tigers used industrialization policy for their economic development. That is: first by implementing a policy of protected import substitution and then, as their industries grow competent, by shifting their industrialization strategy to export oriented industrialization, with a slow reduction of import barriers for industrial good. And, at the same time, how implementing high import protection for their agriculture helped them to maintain food security and helped their success in industrialization The miraculous performance of the East and South East Asian countries during 1970s to 1990s cannot be analyzed without considering the connection between the export -oriented policies and economic growth. In the Newly Industrialized Economies from East and South East Asia, the general macroeconomic policies as well as selective export promotion policies facilitated the high export and economic growth. Following their path China and India also changed their policy stance in favor of export oriented policies and moved on the high growth trajectories. 5. Conclusions: In sum industrialization is a key process for developing countries for economic development. However, as many economists agree, the process of economic development is very complex, as it depends on large number of variables such as political system, socio economic structure, capital accumulation (both physical and human), trade, price fluctuations, and income distribution, and even more on geographical characteristics. As such, while export oriented industrialization contributes to economic growth, it is not necessarily indispensable to the growth and development of developing countries. As explained in this essay, EOI can be one of the key strategies to register economic growth. And in order for it to function effectively it has to be supported by appropriate components of the policy like: infant industry protection strategy, competition policy, export promotion strategy and others. More specifically, it requires well functioning and well integrated macroeconomic policies like: trade policy, industrial policy, exchange rate policy, investment policy, tariff policy and others. Government intervention also plays a key role in making the export oriented industrialization effective for economic development. Examined empirical evidences also reveal that Export-oriented Industrialization was particularly the characteristic of the economic development of the Asian Tigers: Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore in the post World War II period . In addition to Asian Tigers, evidences also tell how EOI strategy contributed for the economic development of US, Germany and others, who are now in developed world category. However, though the role of export oriented industrialization in economic development is undeniable, countries have to also carefully consider its share in the gross domestic product, as larger export dependence has a negative effect on economic growth.

Advertising and Promotion Strategy Name Institution Essay -- Marketing

Advertising and Promotion Strategy Raising awareness about the product a company has at hand is where business begins and it is a great teller of how successful the product will be in the competitive market. The art of communication has become a vital aspect and this is attributed to the fact that there are a wide variety of channels of communication that a company can employ. It is therefore advisable that as a company you be able to come up with a marketing strategy that will make your products stand out from the rest of the crowd. The company should be able to create a message that will be used in giving the product a position in the market. In the current world internet has changed the way business is being conducted and issues of targeting and segmentation are being handled differently (Milkman, 2008). All this is done with the intention of increasing the revenue and profits of a given organization. It is all about the connections we have that will make us be able to sell our products best. You should be able to tell why the consumers should be able to buy the products you have in the market by summarizing the details about the product. Have a unique approach that will make the consumers have a reason for conducting business with you. Through communication, you are able to act as the problem solver for your consumers and create trust for them. You have to summarize the products services and the package options the organization has and the benefits of each to the consumer. The communication strategy adopted should be one that will give you feedback once the product has been released into the market. As an organization, they should expect both a positive and a negative feedback. Due to this they should be armed with ... ...1, Vol. 81. (36). 34. Charles W. L., Joseph F. H. & Jr., Carl, M. (2009). Essentials of Marketing, Canada: South Western Cengage Learning. Edelman, D. C. (2010). Branding in the Digital Age. Harvard Business Review. Vol 88. 62-69. Ludi, K. & Steve, B. (2005). Marketing Communications. Johannesburg: Juta and Company Limited. Marieke, K. & de, M. (2010). Global Marketing and Advertising: Understanding Cultural Paradoxes. London: Sage Publishers, Milkman, K. L. (2008) Tap Consumers' Desire for "Shoulds". Harvard Business Review. Jul-Aug. Vol. 86. I (7/8). 22-23. O’Connell, A. (2010). Reading the Public Mind. Deshpandà ©, Rohit Why You Aren't Buying Venezuelan Chocolate. Harvard Business Review. Vol. 88. 25-27. Ogilvie, J.R. (2006). CLEP Principles of Management: The Best Test Preparation for the CLEP. New Jersey: Research & Education Association. .

A Jack of All Trades: The Importance of Being Well-Rounded in the Workplace :: essays research papers

A JACK OF ALL TRADES: The Importance of Being Well-Rounded in the Workplace Introduction There are literally hundreds of desirable traits in the workplace. Of these, one of the arguably most important is to be well-rounded in the workplace. Many skills can assist an individual in being a well-rounded employee. Oral communication skills, written communication skills, teamwork, technical skills, leadership skills, adaptation skills, computer skills, interpersonal skills and analytic abilities are some of the key factors to a well-rounded employee. While these skills all seem to be of equal ability to the well-rounded employee, the scope of this paper will only delve into a few of the skills preceding. Technical skills, oral communication skills and leadership skills will all be detailed in this review in an attempt to help you (the reader) become a well-rounded employee. Technical Skills in the Workplace Technical skills are the formal name for the knowledge to perform the task at hand. One acquires technical skills by training in formal school systems or in the work environment. Experience is probably one of the most important factors in growing your technical skill in a subject. The importance of technical skills in the workplace is undeniable. Without the knowledge of the subject at hand, there is virtually no way possible to be a well-rounded person. Without technical skills you are not likely to be able to even do the job at hand. Here’s a brief story for example about an individual in the workplace, and how his lack of technical skills hindered his ability to be well rounded in the workplace, and eventually cost him his job. John was a college graduate with a degree in Computer Science. He had completed his degree with a GPA of 3.5. He began his search for a job immediately following his graduation and landed a great job in the technology field based on his merit and because of his professionalism and great communication skills. However, John had very little practical knowledge that is used in the IT field. He had no past experience beyond his degree, no industry level certifications. While his education had trained him in many different facets of computer technology, he lacked the one driving technical skill to help him determine where he would be best suited. It turns out the job that he landed was in computer networking, and when his initial review came up in 3 months, the company decided that they were going to let him go because of his lack of technical skills and because they wanted someone more experienced who actually knew how to do the job.

Business continuity Essay

Just in time concept is a lean operation concept applied in supply chain management where an enterprise strives to produce only what is needed, whenever it is needed and in the amount that is needed. It allows for efficient production of quality products through complete waste elimination, avoidance of inconsistencies and also elimination of non-value addition activities within the production line. (Lieb & Miller 1988) According to (Stank & Crum 1997) the wastes that are eliminated are related to labour, where over staffing is a waste, time, in this case idle time or use of extra time to accomplish a goal is considered waste. Just in time concept emphasizes on customer requests and avoids making decisions based on forecast. In this concept, inventory is considered as an additional cost to the process. Traditionally, it would be considered to be value adding in the system. In this case, businesses and organisations are advised to eliminate any form of inventory that does not impact any additional value to the product. The just in time concept has various benefits to a business firm or enterprise. The benefits include an improvement in the flow of goods into, within and from the warehouse. There is also better planning and consistency in the organisation. Manpower can be reduced when production process has stopped mainly due to planned shut downs for maintenance, stocktaking activities, or any other reason (Stank & Crum 1997). This helps the enterprise to save on cost related to labour and other production overheads. When an organisation adopts the JIT concept and implements it, it helps in the production of better quality products and also increases the efficiency of production. All the aforementioned benefits are customer oriented. We therefore realise from the benefits customer satisfaction is enhanced. This in turn has an impact on customer loyalty and improved sales by the organisation. The net effect of this is improved profits by the organisation (Swamidass 2000). Despite having all the above benefits, the outcome of the terror attacks on September 11 has cast a lot of doubt on the just in time (JIT) concept deliveries in the supply chain. In a supply chain, each organisation along the chain depends upon a supplier and therefore in case of a hitch along the chain, the repercussions are felt along the whole chain. Before the September 11 attack the â€Å"JIT† was comfortably applicable and implemented to various businesses. Until this time, overstocking was avoided and components were delivered to the right place at the right time and in the right form with no hitch. Piling of inventory was avoided and production processes proceeded smoothly. However, the events of September 11 reversed all these, there were delays caused by grounding of aircrafts and also a longer time was required for border inspections. Transport on land was also highly affected. As an example, due to these interruptions, commodities destined for the Gap, Banana republic and the old navy stores ended up to a warehouse next to an airport. The business environment, both external and internal will always be fluctuating. External environment like the impact from natural calamities e. g. hurricanes, snow, storms, floods, earthquakes and internal environments like strikes, affect business operations. Therefore, for an organisation with a JIT system, in case of any fluctuation in the business environment, the supply chain will be disrupted and therefore flow of products downstream will not be realized (McClenahen & Jusko 2001). For a sudden change in the business environment, the shocks will be felt throughout the supply chain. There will be a gap that will be created along the chain at the point where the fluctuation is highly felt. It is a noble idea for businesses to consider having some safety stock on hand at each link of supply chain, which will take care of the emergencies in case of any eventuality. Since a supply chain consists of a network/series of suppliers and consumers, a hitch on one supplier side will affect the consumer who is also a supplier to the next consumer. Therefore in a business that has adopted the JIT system, it might end up being grounded because of lack of inventory to process or sell to the next stage of the chains. It is therefore highly recommended for such businesses to develop a Just in case system, a system that allows for a safety supplies that will take care of any eventualities. Even though the JIT system has a number of shortcomings in case of shocks within the supply chain, it is important to note that organisations can still implement JIT and maintain an attractive supply chain with lean inventories even during emergencies. To achieve this, one of the moves that a firm can make is locate where there is stock piling of inventories (Lu & Kyokai 1989). Firms can have most of its inventories stocked next to or near their locations. This will help overcome the problems due to shipment or air transport in case these modes of transport are affected. A firm can also consider having more than one supplier for a given commodity, this will be a second option during emergency situations. For an organisation to succeed in its implementation of the JIT system, major changes within the organisation need to be undertaken. The top management need to show commitment and offer full support. They are also required to lead from the front if the benefits of the JIT system are to be realised. The adoption and implementation of the JIT system will substantially affect the mode and criteria through which carriers and other logistics services providers will be recruited by the organisation. Organisations should be able to come up with service providers who are very efficient so as to pass on the efficiency downstream the supply chain. The just in time concept is highly dependent on the speed and efficiency with which products are moving at along the chain. It is therefore worthy to mention that the JIT system will highly affect the style of operations in the logistics industry. The number of logistics service providers to be recruited will also be determined by the success of the JIT system. According to (Ian 1988), constant and effective communication between business firms and their suppliers is another important factor that will affect the future of JIT in the global business environment. The quality of information that will be conveyed should also be put into consideration. The right information should be conveyed to the right place, at the right time and to the right person. A successful implementation of the JIT system in the future will highly depend on additional training of the implementing personnel (Abuhilal, Rabadi, & Sousa-Poza 2006). A lot of emphasise should be on the training of the personnel that are directly involved in the implementation of the JIT concept. This should not be taken to mean that other employees in the organisation should not be trained. An elaborate training plan on this system should be unveiled and the concerned departments or functions for example, production, logistics, marketing should be given intense training. The major areas to be considered should include: policies on JIT system, communication skills and training on commitment to the principles of JIT. The future of the just in time (JIT) system in the global environment will highly depend on the level of technology that will be embraced by an organisation. This includes both in machinery and other office operations. Adoption of improved technology for material handling is a key area that firms need to look at. They should consider embracing cross docking or flowing inventory through a distribution centre. With an improved material handling facility, the businesses can absorb shocks easily in the event that there is disruption in the supply chain (Kreng & Wang 2005) The use of information technology is in inventory management is particularly crucial if the growth and success of the JIT system is to be guaranteed. Business organisations should utilise information technology resources both in hardware and software so as to enhance the success of the JIT system. Enterprise resource planning (ERP) modules should be adopted for inventory management and controls within the organisation. Internet resources should be highly utilised for an effective JIT system. The most applicable resources include e-procurement, e- marketing. e-banking and e-mailing. When an organisation conducts procurement via internet, a variety of goods both in terms of quality and quantity may be obtained. The business deal is also conducted in an accelerated speed. Marketing via the internet allows for the organisation to reach many customers within a very short time and hence improve on the organisation’s sales. Internet banking allows for faster business transactions hence delays associated with payments are reduced and therefore the supply chain is protected from such delays (Hale 1997). To ensure that the intended results of the JIT concept are achieved, it is important for firms doing business together along a given supply chain be proactive in their operations. By being proactive, it means that a consumer should be involved directly in what their supplier is producing. The consumers should be involved in product design so as to have a product of their own making. On the hand it is very important for the suppliers to follow up and find out how their products are serving the customers. This will help in the elimination of ripples along the chain and hence easy implementation of the JIT system. The players in the supply chain should develop a culture of sharing problems when they occur at a particular point of the supply chain, this in a nutshell will reduce the overall effect that the problem would have on the entire supply chain (Titone 1996). The just in case system is another approach that will have an impact on the future of JIT system in the global environment. It is very important for firms to have a buffer stock that can bail it out when events in the supply chain don’t seem to be favourable. The idea of having safety stocks for emergency times should not be confused by firms holding inventories. It is a different concept from overstocking.

The Potential Role of Large Tour Operators for the Implementation

Table of contents Table of figures 2 List of abbreviations 2 Introduction and purpose statement 3 The potential role of large tour operators for the implementation of sustainable supply chain management in the tourism industry Conclusion 5 Bibliography 7 1 Table of figures Fig. 1: Exemplary tourism supply chain 5 List of abbreviations NGO Non-governmental organization SC supply chain SSCM sustainable supply chain management TOI Tour Operators Initiative for Sustainable Tourism Development 2 Introduction and purpose statementWith an exponentially growing population, the travel industry is expected to grow significantly in the near future. At the same time, different stakeholder groups pose a lot of pressure on this industry. Tourist are gaining awareness of the negative impacts of mass tourism on the environment as well as socio-economically speaking. As a result the demand for „green tourismâ€Å"-solutions is increasing. Furthermore, the financial market, governments as well as NGOs increasingly exert leverage on the industry to practice more sustainable tourism by means of legislation.Moreover, an intact environment is the invaluable asset for the tourism industry, preserving it means serving the self-preservation of the tourism industry. 1 Indisputably, tourism has to transform in to a more environmentally friendly and sustainable business. The implementation of environmental management systems as well as the alignment of the whole supply chain are important tools to support this transformation. In this paper I chose the tour operator stage of the supply chain as the focal point, because it acts as a link between the supply and demand side of tourism.Hereafter, I present how the structural properties of large tour operators provide them with special responsibility to promote the implementation of sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) systems in the tourism industry. The potential role of large tour operators for the implementation of sustainable supply chain management in the tourism industry Tourism, no different from other industries, is organized in supply chain (SC) structures since its products/services are composed of multiple elements as e. g. ransportation, entertainment, travel agencies and accommodation. 2 Aiming for sustainability therefore me ans to strive for a long-term improvement of the economic, social and environmental performance, not only of an isolated company or product but its whole SC. This concept is also known to literature as the â€Å"triple bottom line†-approach. 3 Suring and Muller define SSCM as â€Å"the management of material, information and capital flows as well as cooperation among companies along the supply chain while taking goals from all three dimensions of sustainable development, i. e. economic, environmental and social, into account which are derived from customer and stakeholder requirementsâ€Å". 4 Large tour operators resemble a key role in this constellation because they have the means to 1 2 Clarke (1997) Sigala (2008) 3 Kleindorfer, Singhal & Van Wassenhove (2005) 4 Seuring & Muller (2002), p. 1700 3 reverse logistics measurement mechanisms B management, transparency and stakeholder dialogue Worldwide environmental reporting of hotels, airlines, destinations, shareholdings a nd at every step of the value chain with a continuous improvement process ritically reviews thethe practicesidentifying the SCM tools and or importance of and induceis also highlighted in sustainable SCM influence literature for of the individual suppliers distributors information the implementation ? literature; Seuring and Muller [20] reported that insuf? cient or critical success factors for implementing the former. of al. [24] identi? ed three SC tools to regulate the missing SC communication a tourism flows, Cigolini etSSCM-practices as well asnamely information dissemination and volumeisof major barrier to sustainable SCM implementation. ools, coordination and control tools, and organisation tools. which indirectly influences the economic development of the travel control tools areIt is part of Coordination and destinations. utilized to monitor and inInformation tools (e. g. online connections, automated identi? cation ? uence the decision-making process, by measuring performa nces systems such as barcodes and shared databases) are utilized to their transmit to act as â€Å"gatekeepers† while linkingand setting rewards basedcustomers. Knowing the suppliers to the on the achievement of certain results. A gather, analyze, functionand share data, regarding customer data, SC performance metric system, including a set end-to-end inventory status and locations, order status, costs that it becomes obvious that tour operators may also significantly performancethe design bothof parameters that influence metrics of of the whole SC (as fully describe the the related data and performance status.Data sharing ensures that perceived by end are often bound actor of participating members will be products areuse of shared in- because supplierscustomers, and of each to this the chain), is components their able to make composed of a necessity for ensuring trustworthiness and accountability [25]. formation to help design and deliver products that ful? l customer Hence, instead of functional-cost-oriented metrics requirements more quickly and 6effectively.Visibility of position in the SC tour operators act also as nodes for that are often distribution channel. Due to their central perforachieved at the expense of another member, integrated metrics are mance metrics enables members to address production and quality communication between the different entities of required. However, research in SCM performance measurement has issues more quickly permitting more agile demand planning. The the SC, with communication being a critical factor for the successful implementation of SSCM-practices. Tourism Demand Providers of tourism infrastructure Hotels, resorts, golf courts, restaurants, museums and other tourism related suppliers such as water and power supply, road infrastructure airports etc Tour operators Travel Agents Other tourism intermediaries such as internet websites, destination organizations etc Leisure travelers Conference travelers etc Direct ion of money, documents, and information flows Fig. 1. Tourism supply chain. Fig. 1 Exemplary tourism supply chain (Sigala, 2008, p. 1591) Tour operators can draw profits from promoting SSCM-practices along their SC.Since any effort made to make the own product or service more environmental friendly is perceived well among customers (at least as long that does not drive up the price), the tour operators can turn this image-improvement into a unique selling point. For instance TUI uses a self-designed environment ranking to evaluate their products. 8 This resembles a logic response to the growing public awareness of environmental impact of mass tourism and acts as an incentive for the tour operators to evaluate the environmental performance of their suppliers (e. . trough ISO 14001, EMAS or similar certification concepts). 9 Even though the majority of the large tour operators do have some kind of sustainability policies in place, the real impact on their business is so far insuffici ent. Tour operators often try to justify this trough a lack of demand and state that the majority of customers shops for packages of the lowest price. But the nature of tourism-products has it, that the tourists themselves are co-producing the product, while it is being consumed, which makes them part 5 6Tepelus (2005), Budeanu (2009) Van Wijk & Persoon (2006) 7 Sigala (2008) 8 Clarke (1997) 9 Budeanu (2009) 4 of the supply chain. 10 In other words, implementing an SSCM in the tourism-industry also encompasses the education of the consumer. Tour operators are predestinated for this task, since their position in the SC allows them to exercise influence over the consumers choices. Still, this is asking a lot from operators, since the tour operating-business is a very competitive industry accompanied with relatively low profit margins of about 2% and customer-loyalty being not exactly widespread.This might well be part of the reason why a lot of tour operators pursue â€Å"green washi ng† without seriously engaging in long-term SSCM-changes. 11 Another one of the main issues clearly is the variety of certification schemes and the low participation of suppliers. It is doubtful that an individual label will reach a critical mass in national tourism, even though the establishment of an internationally recognized unified label could be a powerful tool: it could help to reduce consumer confusion and act as an indicator for quality for those tourists searching for green tourism services, increasing credibility.If tour operators feel compelled to search for suppliers carrying this specific label in order to meet their customers needs, also suppliers would have to comply with it in avoidance of risking their business relationship to the tour operator. This would provide the operators with a broader range of certified products to choose from. 12 In this case, it would have to be assured, that this accreditation cannot be obtained by devious means or through just an individual examination to avoid the allegation of â€Å"green washingâ€Å". Currently, most tour operators apply their own standards, tailored to their business activities. 3 This is partly due to the fact, that many certification schemes address small-scale tourism when it is really the mass tourism that needs to green the industry. Despite the fact that Europe is a forerunner in the sustainability discussion, there are hardly any regulations regarding the tour operator-business. Tour operators need to be provided with stronger incentives and effective tools to proactively enhance their own and their SC’s sustainability performance. 14 Conclusion Sustainable development in the tourism industry will take time. It requires a change of culture and governance.Tour operators are very well aware of their role and the responsibility they have in order to transform the tourism industry into a more sustainable one, acting as a hub for communication and collaboration. But since the re are no generally accepted frameworks or 10 11 Sigala (2008) Van Wijk & Persoon (2006) 12 Font (2002) 13 Budeanu (2009) 14 Van Wijk & Persoon (2006) 5 tools, many don’t see the necessity to fully comply. The most important step to take next is therefore the establishment of well-recognized standardized metrics for sustainable performance among tour operators and suppliers to set the stage for extensive SSCMimplementation.An initiative that was created to answer this purpose is the United Nations Environment Programme named â€Å"Tour Operators Initiative for Sustainable Tourism Development† (TOI), which could not be discussed here, due to he brevity of this paper. Future research should also address to tour operator-networks respectively tourism-SCs outside Europe since SSCM-practices might be used by tour operators as a tool to raise the awareness of suppliers in the destinations. 6 Bibliography Budeanu, A. (2009). Environmental supply chain management in tourism: T he case of large tour operators.Journal of Cleaner Production, 17(16), 1385-1392. Clarke, J. (1997). A Framework of Approaches to Sustainable Tourism. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 5(3), 224-233. Font, X. (2002). Environmental certification in tourism and hospitality: progress, process and prospects, Tourism Management, 23(3), 197-205. Kleindorfer, P. R. , Singhal, K. & Van Wassenhove, L. (2005). Sustainable Operations Management. Production and Operations Management, 14(4), 482–492. Seuring, S. & Muller, M. (2008). From a literature review to a conceptual framework for sustainable supply chain management.Journal of Cleaner Production, 16(15), 1699– 1710. Sigala, M. (2008). A supply chain management approach for investigating the role of tour operators on sustainable tourism: the case of TUI. Journal of Cleaner Production, 16(15), 1589-1599. Tepelus, C. M. (2005). Aiming for sustainability in the tour operating business. Journal of Cleaner Production, 13(2), 99-107. Van Wijk, J. & Persoon, W. (2006) A Long-haul Destination: Sustainability Reporting Among Tour Operators. European Management Journal, 24(6), 381-395. 7