One of the key questions managers may ask themselves is whether to Essay

One of the key questions managers may ask themselves is whether to make or buy their products and services. explain the relative - Essay Example As a result of this, the phenomenon of outsourcing emerged under which organizations decided to outsource some or all of their production and service functions in order to concentrate and focus on their core competencies. Most of companies either completely or partially outsourced their production and service function to other countries such as China and India in order to take advantage of cheap raw material and labor force. (Woodall et al, 2009) Opposite decision of outsourcing is the decision of insourcing wherein organizations attempt to produce themselves or provide the services through their own resources. Thus the decision to either outsource or insource depends upon different factors which combine together to allow organizations to decide as to which course of action to take. (Willcocks, 2010) This paper will provide the relative advantage of outsourcing as a viable alternative to the question of whether a firm should produce or make. Outsourcing Outsourcing is one of unique k ind of phenomenon and emerged as a result of the different needs of the international organizations. ... Under outsourcing, two organizations therefore come under the contractual agreement to agree upon the fact that assigned tasks will be performed by the second party to the contract according to the specific requirements of the organizations. Over the period of time, organizations therefore contracted out some or most of their functions to other organizations with better resources and capabilities. Initially the trend was to outsource only non-core operations of the organization however, the requirement to achieve better profitability and become more cost effective forced organizations to also outsource some of their core functions too. It is also important to note that the overall process of outsourcing was regional specific wherein organizations from developed country attempted to outsource their functions to the developing countries. The overall purpose was to achieve the organizational objectives and become more efficient. Insourcing is however, considered as an opposite of the ou tsourcing wherein organization often willing to maintain their control over their core operations. In order to achieve this objective, the resources are however, shifted to the departments which specialize in performing such business functions. By insourcing an organization however, can contract with other contractors to perform the job however, the performance of the function remains within the boundaries of the area where the organization operates. This also means that through insourcing a firm actually attempts to utilize the local resources to complete its operations rather than letting foreign vendors to perform the same. It is also important to note that the process of insourcing

Budget proposal Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Budget proposal - Term Paper Example Section 1. Rationale In line with the corporate goal of XYZ Spa and Body Massage Parlor to keep track of its profit this quarter of the year, this budget proposal will specifically determine the needed overhead costs. This is very important in order that the management will be able to keep track of the expenses involved and the probable projection of the revenue that needed to be targeted. In line with this, the management requires the accounting department to submit a simple budget proposal showing the projected overhead costs of the company at different level of activities. Section 2. Background XYZ Spa and Massage Parlor has recently formulated strategic moves in order to project and increase its revenue. On January, the management specifically appointed the marketing department to formulate marketing activities that will help enhance the current revenue of company. Optimistic about the impact of this strategy, there is a need to plan ahead of time on the needed budget for the ope ration as the marketing strategy will help enhance revenue just in case if it is effective for the customers. From the past trend of the company for its three branches, marketing strategy has proven to be effective. Last year, it contributed about 20% of the revenue for the whole year. The management is quiet satisfied about this knowing that there are other competitors and with this, the company has significantly viewed its competitive edge through marketing strategy. This proposal is in line with the great concern of the CEO to generate budget plan on the overhead costs prior to setting significant revenue and just to be able to adjust cost of the final service offering. This is essential information knowing that the company has also to compete with the current pricing strategy that competitions are setting in the market. Section 3. Projected Budget Shown in Table 1 below is the proposed flexible budget of XYZ Spa and Body Massage Parlor for its three main branches. Included in th e budget proposal are variable overhead costs and fixed overhead costs. The management in general is concerned about the total overhead cost needed for the entire operation under different level of activity based on customers’ visits. However, it is also important to show in details the specific components of both variable and fixed overhead costs prior to sound decision-making process of the management (Garrison & Noreen, 2000; Cross & Richey, 1998; Fess & Warren, 1984). The basic components of variable overhead costs shown in Table 1 are spa and body massage supplies, promotional incentives for the customers, and electricity (variable). On the other hand, the basic components of fixed overhead costs are wages and salaries of staffs, rent, insurance, and utilities other than electricity. Based on the current trend and economic consideration of the inflation rate, the cost of spa and body massage supplies per customer’s visit is $1.75. Incorporating the management†™s marketing strategy with its actual service, it is important to have specific budget of $5.00 per customer on promotional incentives. This is to ensure more customers to avail of the services offered by the company at a specific limited time. This promotional activity and even the budget plan can be good only for one month but it can be extended for the entire quarter depending on the initial

Cultural Variations in Comfort Foods Dissertation

Cultural Variations in Comfort Foods - Dissertation Example Locher et al (2005) use symbolic, interactionist and structuralist perspectives to show the method of the social construction of some foods categorized as comfort foods and emphasize the need to include social and physiological dimensions of comfort foods within cultural perspectives (Locher et al, 2005). The concept of comfort foods could, however, be more complex and may not be just based on cultural dimensions or how different cultures react to the philosophy of comfort foods and eating for comfort.   It can be conceptualized that even if a culture is not openly aware of this theory it still portrays characteristics of rationalizing food as a comfort or as a physiological process. There are four key areas to this idea and these are a psychological impact, physiological effect, age and gender considerations, and the region or cultural identity of the society.   These four areas all have a part to play in the way comfort food is interpreted in various cultural societies. Therefo re, although cultural identity does play an essential part in the wide scheme of things, there are innumerable other reasons why this complexity associated with food exists (Wansink, et al 2003, p.739).  Comfort eating can be understood as something rather symbolic to an individual, such as the feelings it evokes or memories that are expressed by the mere association with certain foods (Wansink, et al, 2003, p.739).   This would have to do with the psychological processes it presents.   Some specific foods promote a pleasurable experience for those who are fixated on them, which although, is a psychological effect, can be derivative of the individualistic trait in a society.   In this regard, different cultures can be drawn to various food choices simply by how they make a person feel when they are suggested.   A society does not have to be entirely individualistic or collectivist to have this type of reaction to food either (Wansink, et al 2003. p.739).  

Final quizzes Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Final quizzes - Coursework Example eacts to the presence of the bolus by initiating the process of swallowing by compressing the bolus and forces it down the esophagus, which is a 10 inches long muscular tube. Subsequently, this mass traverses behind the trachea, heart and passes through the diaphragm or muscular partition that separates the abdomen and the chest, and arrives in the stomach. The stomach is akin to a sack and it is situated in the upper abdomen, beneath the diaphragm. It has the capacity to expand sufficiently so that it can contain the food mass produced by chemical as well as mechanical processing. The small intestine is the site where the digested food is absorbed. It is a narrow twisted tube, with a 1 inch diameter and it occupies the major portion of the lower abdomen. It is 20 feet in length. It takes anywhere between three to six hours for the peristalsis process to move the food in the small intestine through the duodenum into the jejunum part of the small intestine and then into the ileum, which constitutes the final portion of the small intestine. During this process, bile is secreted, through the bile duct, into the small intestine. The aqueous unabsorbed undigested food is shifted by peristalsis and arrives in the large intestine, where it remains from 12 to 24 hours. This process of digestion is performed in a highly coordinated fashion, so that the body obtains nutrients and energy in the best possible manner (Digestive System). First, foods like meat, poultry and eggs should be cooked adequately. Special care should be taken to ensure that the internal portion of meat is thoroughly cooked, and it is recommended to use a thermometer for this purpose. Second, different foods should be stored separately, so as to prevent cross contamination. Utensils, cutting boards and hands should be thoroughly cleansed, if they have come into contact with poultry or raw meat. Other food items should on no account be touched if such cleansing has not been resorted to. Fourth,

Business Research Individual Work 1 Week 8 Essay

Business Research Individual Work 1 Week 8 - Essay Example Lastly, there was the stratum for the 100 taxi drivers in each of the major company who were to be interviewed. Random sampling was used in each of the strata mentioned above for example for choosing the countries, cities, taxi companies and lastly for the taxi drivers. There was no specified order for choosing any of the categories above and hence an assumption that the interviewers chose the kth item in each stratum is used. This sampling method not only simplifies the whole sampling method in the large population as well as reduces the expenses of having to travel to different places or collect unnecessarily large information. The fact that there are diverse drivers also makes the information collected generalizable (Zikmund, Babin, Carr and Griffin, 2012). The population in this case study was the taxi drivers because they were the ones whose information was being sought and who formed the basis for the whole research. However, in order to get the information from the taxi drivers but ensure the information was generalizable as well as was accurate and reliable, it was necessary to work harder. The taxi drivers had to be found in different countries which meant not only choosing the countries but the cities as well. Since the number of interviews to be conducted were many, it was necessary to find a taxi company with large number of drivers than the provided approximate of 100 drivers in each company so that they can be randomly chosen. The sample in the case was the number of the taxi drivers in each major taxi company which is 100 specified in the case study. The 100 taxi drivers were declared the sample because they were the ones who were to participate directly in the interviews for the research being carried out. The sampling method as mentioned above is the stratified sampling technique which is under the probability sampling methods because it is purely based on probability and not on judgment of the

Marketing principles and practices Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Marketing principles and practices - Essay Example These products or services can be reached to the consumer only through optimal marketing strategy. Although the consumer may buy the products through their hands, the crucial factor is only if the mind of the consumer is enticed by the product or services, the buying process will be initiated. The mind of the consumer only leads to particular behaviours from the consumer. As mentioned above, the key for successful marketing strategies is to first find out and corner in on the behaviours that will be exhibited by the prospective consumers before he/she makes the buying decision. Consumers’ behaviour during their buying decision process will be influenced by varied factors. That is, he/she make the buying decision based on factors like necessity for a particular product or service, next comfort or even as part of their living, etc. While coming up with that decision, particular thoughts about the products or services will percolate in the consumer’s mind, pushing them to make that buying decision. This supposed ‘seeding’ and percolation of thoughts in the consumer’s mind has to be guessed, analyzed and understood by the marketers to come up with apt marketing strategies. So, this paper will discuss why it is important for marketers to understand the consumer decision making process including influences on consumer behaviour and their marketing implications. According to consumer behaviour theory, a consumer, while carrying out the decision making process, will be mainly influenced by his/her choice of product and then by budget constraints, which can be further classified into 4 factors - Rational behaviour, Preferences, Budget constraints and Prices. A consumer is will exhibit rational behaviour when he/she use their money to get heightened state of satisfaction, and/or utility from that purchasing decision. â€Å"Consumers want to get "the most for their money" or, to maximize their total utility.† (welkerswikinomics.wetpaint.com). Thus, it

How can the Nurses collaborate to prevent and manage Pressure ulcers Research Paper

How can the Nurses collaborate to prevent and manage Pressure ulcers (bed Sore) - Research Paper Example The panel came up with recommendation on preventive strategies such as patient education, clinician training, development of communication and terminology materials, implementation of toolkits and protocols. Behavioral aspects like adherence of the healthcare provider as well as the patient were also given recommendations. The collaborative effort of the learned American healthcare professionals who have the resources and determination has transformed the impending challenge of the CMS policy to an opportunity for the improvement of the hospital system and its patients. The Pressure Ulcer Collaborative project, coordinated by the New Jersey Hospital Association (NJHA), was conceptualized based on the negative effects of pressure ulcers such as pain and disfigurement on patients, the burden of care to the healthcare industry, and the state and federal reporting requirements – the U.S. Health and Human Services in particular calls for a 50% reduction in pressure ulcers among nursing home residents by 2010. A comparative method to analyze data based on the guidelines developed by the NJHA Quality Institute Department and the Department of Continuing Care Services was used by the 150 organization who participated in the project. After a 12-month period (October 2005 to October 2006), the incidence and prevalence of pressure ulcers among the participating organizations showed a 30% decrease. By May 2007, the end of the second year of the Pressure Ulcer Collaborative project, a 70% decrease was achieved. The skin assessment, Braden assessment, and frequency of skin assessment requirements to meet the guideline criteria were not sufficient at the onset, thus the project was rolled out in all organizations who participated by April 2006 only. The project was able to give the healthcare staff a more detailed and comprehensive focus on patient care improvement, access to guidelines and protocols, and commitment to consistency and standardization in