Monday, September 30, 2019

External and Internal Analysis Essay

This report will provide an analysis of Bayonne Packaging, Inc and its involvement in the paper packaging industry. The three most important issues facing this company are analyzed which include (i) how can Bayonne strengthen communication among departments and improve overall company culture, (ii) how will Bayonne be able to develop or improve their computerized scheduling system (iii) given Bayonne’s poor delivery performance, how can operational efficiencies be improved in terms of capacity utilization of the machines. In addition to analysis of these current issues, alternative solutions have been developed for each. The alternative that holds the strongest presence is for Bayonne to instill a strong corporate culture and ultimately strengthen communication that will allow for the company to excel in its key performance measures of cost, quality, dependability and speed. Introduction Bayonne Packaging, Inc. is currently involved in the paper packaging industry. Currently a 43 million dollar company, Bayonne has grown from 1982 when sales were just 10 million. Bayonne differentiates themselves in being  a â€Å"specialty packaging† paper converter that produces customized, complex-design packaging that is used by industrial customers for promotional materials, software, luxury beverages, and gift food and candy. By diversifying into new markets Bayonne applied its strength in innovative and difficult packaging design and their ability to fold and glue complex blanks. The main issues facing the company are the following: (i) how can Bayonne strengthen communication among departments and improve overall company culture, (ii) how will Bayonne be able to develop or improve their computerized scheduling system (iii) given Bayonne’s poor delivery performance, how can operational efficiencies be improved in terms of capacity utilization of the machines. I t is thus crucial to fully analyze these issues more fully and examine the factors that have contributed to each in order for Bayonne to gain competitive advantage. Analysis of Bayonne’s Issues 800  I. How can Bayonne strengthen communication among departments and improve overall company culture? Bayonne’s most stressful month of October has caused delivery, cost, and quality to tank. Consequently, Bayonne has not been able to execute their strategy (see section 2.1) well and excel in key performance measures. This is due to lack of communication and coordination between the quality control, sales management, Fold and Glue, and composition departments. There are several factors that contribute to the communication issue at Bayonne. Among other weaknesses of the company such as building a reputation for late delivery and complaints from customers about quality of products (see section 2.3), communication is one of the strongest. Bayonne seems to be failing in the ten essential managerial tasks of the strategy execution process. Moreover, the lack of communication is reflected in their inability to staff the organization (see section 2.5a) as no proper training is realized and departments are working as silos rather than one unified organization. In addition, lack of communication is also causing for Bayonne to build on their organizational capabilities in specialized packaging and scheduling (see section 2.5b). Bayonne has not been able to develop a strong management team that can assess which value chain activities, for example, should be performed internally and which ones should be outsourced (see section 2.5c). The fact that orders were late more  than 20% of the time in October is reflective of poor communication in the company and lack of delivery in key performance indicators (see section 2.1c). Bayonne is losing customers because of communication problems and lack of internal leadership (see section 2.5j). The work climate (see section 2.5i) has become bitter and there is no sign of a strong corporate culture, cohesiveness or collaboration, which is ultimately causing for a large misunderstanding and negative assumptions between departments. II. How will Bayonne be able to develop or improve their computerized scheduling system? Bayonne’s computerized scheduling system is viewed as useless as it reflects inaccurate information and assumptions about orders. This is causing for company personnel to not do their strategic roles as proficiently as possible and instead the individual departments are making their own decisions (see section 2.5g). Employees are questioning whether or not the scheduling system presents to be practical. The schedule that is generated twice a week by the computerized scheduling system may be a leading cause for Bayonne not being able to live up to their vision, mission, and objectives (see section 2.1A). The composition department is particularly concerned because as manager, Sean Quinn explains; between rush orders and ganging the orders to keep the machines running, he cannot afford time-wise to do what the printout says. Essentially, the schedule indicates to employees that they have an order that they have never seen or still have an order that is finished and got shipped. Inaccuracy may be the leading cause of Bayonne not being able to sustain a competitive approach in terms of their business and functional strategies. For example, one of Bayonne’s business strategies is the importance of determining priority of orders by computing critical ratios (see section 2.1B). In addition, this system has become a weakness to the company (see section 2.3) and is also leading to customer value proposition and the company’s cost structure to weaken, especially in secondary activities of the Bayonne’s value chain (see section 2.4, Product R&D, Technology and Systems Development) Not only is the this system causing workers to ignore printouts and raise frustration, it is causing for a lot of time wasted that could be used toward producing higher volumes of products at a level of good quality for customers. III. Given Bayonne’s poor delivery performance, how can operational efficiencies be improved in terms of capacity utilization of the machines? Since Bayonne’s highest volume month is October, the company has not been able to match capacity to its demand requirements also leading for insufficient allocation of resource that contribute to strategy execution (see section 2.5d). Evidence from the computation of machine effectiveness (see financial analysis page) indicates that the Heidelberg presses are operating at 100.29% capacity, essentially making Bayonne’s printing activity the bottleneck of the process. Consequently, this does not give the ability for Bayonne to focus on its core capability of specialized packaging (see section 2.5b) nor deliver on their key performance measures (see section 2.1). In addition, poor use of capacity utilization is also reflected in Bayonne’s decrease in producing good quality products. Producing quality products is essential in keeping customers loyal to the company and is a key success factor in this industry (see section 1.5). The Heidelberg press is slowing down subsequent activities since it can only produce a limited amount of pieces per month, which causes for limiting the inputs that are available for the Die-cut centre. Bayonne’s main resource is their wide range of machines that are supposed to be operating at efficient levels (see section 2.2). These machines are valuable because they contribute to the effectiveness of the company’s strategy. However, with the use of adequate capacity being questioned may be the leading cause of poor delivery performance, which is ultimately the reason that Bayonne occurred a loss in their most stressful month. Discussion of alternative solutions to the issues I. How can Bayonne strengthen communication among departments and improve overall company culture? A solution to this issue would be for Bayonne to reassess their current strategy and instill a strong corporate culture that will bring employees together (see section 2.5i). Bayonne can build on what they already have in place such as the daily production meetings. This is the only chance where employees across all departments come together face-to-face to discuss issues. Instilling a strong corporate culture has its pro’s and cons. The  main advantage is that it can create a strategy supportive organizational structure that Bayonne is currently lacking off (see section 2.5c). Another advantage is that it will also allow for internal leadership to be strengthened. Having a strong leader will set the tone and ensure everyone is working as a team. When communication is improved, Bayonne will be able to delivery on time because the departments will be working collaboratively rather than separately. The only negative to instilling a strong corporate culture is that it wont work unless employees embody the culture and take it seriously and understand that it contributes to Bayonne’s key performance indicators of cost, quality, speed and dependability. II. How will Bayonne be able to develop or improve their computerized scheduling system? An alternative solution to this issue would be for Bayonne to gain adherence to the computerized system by fixing the data that is leading to inaccuracies and introduce a pre-work order jacket. Currently, the work order jacket lists the routing, standard setup and run times, special instructions and ship-to information (see section 2.4, Distribution). If management at Bayonne work toward gaining employee loyalty to this system and introducing a pre-work order jacket based on prioritization where a report would be sent to each department before they begin working on orders and when the prior departments finishes the order, the next department would be aware of what orders are on the way within the next few days –would contribute to proper strategy execution. However, there are some pros and cons to this issue. An advantage of introducing a pre-work order jacket and gaining loyalty of the computerized system would lead to more efficient operating levels at the facility. This will lead to decreased delays, increased quality and better time management. It would enable company personnel to do their strategic roles more proficiently as well; something that Bayonne is not currently acting upon (see section 2.5g). A con with this alternative would be the possibility of initial confusion of how exactly the new system would work. Also, some employees may simply be resistant to adhering to the computerized scheduling system even if it were to be fixed or question whether or not it would be practical enough to sustain high volumes. III. Given Bayonne’s poor delivery performance, how can operational efficiencies be improved in terms of capacity utilization of the machines? A solution in improving capacity utilization would be to make more use of the International Royal and Queen machines. Currently these machines are operating at nearly 50% capacity utilization. Since these are the fastest machines, placing important orders to them would generate higher volumes. Advantages in making these machines the main use would contribute to Bayonne excelling in their key performance indicator of speed (see section 2.1C) and improvement in functional and business strategies (see section 2.1B). The machines are only operating at 44.49% capacity utilization, which means that Bayonne is lacking in improving operational efficiencies that could drive down costs. These machines produce the most pieces at the highest speed so making use of them would be highly beneficial. The main disadvantage of this proposed alternative i s that the volume may affect profit margins of the company –a concern of president Dave Rand (see section 2.4). In addition, these machines are complex and difficult to set up which could interfere with allocation of proper time management. This may result to poorer quality – causing for Bayonne main strength in innovative package design to be diminished. Recommendation According to my analysis, Bayonne must focus on strengthening communication within the company. Bayonne has to instill a strong corporate culture and develop on internal leadership within the company. This will lead to happier more productive employees and will allow for Bayonne to build upon their organizational capabilities. In turn, strong communication will lead synchronization among the departments and employees will work as a team rather than as silos. A strong corporate culture and excellent communication will eliminate misunderstanding and frustration among departments that has been causing for Bayonne to develop a track record for late deliveries and poor quality. Ultimately, communication will be the key in Bayonne’s ability to execute their strategy and excel in key performance measures that are crucial to the profitability in the company. Financial Analysis Overall, Net profit margin has been declining which indicates that the company has depleting cash reserves and may have difficulty paying liabilities. Gross profit margin for Bayonne is declining which may indicate that fewer funds may be available for operating expenses. Due to limited financial data in the case, other profitability ratios (i.e. operating profit margin, net profit margin, return on equity, liquidity ratios (current ratio, working capital), and leverage ratios (total debt-to-asset, debt-to-equity) have not been able to be computed. It is apparent that the Heidelberg press machine is operating at full capacity and is the bottleneck of the process. This is causing for scheduled hours to go overtime. High-speed machines such as the international royal and the international queen (only being used 44.96%) are not being fully utilized to an efficient manner, which may be the cause in late delivery and poor quality. APPENDIX 1. EXTERNAL ASSESSMENT 1.1 – PESTEL Analysis Political: n/a Environmental: severe weather conditions may have a substantial effect on this industry if these conditions were to cause a delay in the transportation process of the package Something like a power outage or blackout could interrupt the flow of the packaging process, which in turn will have an effect on sales and the customer. Sociocultural: Customers to the paper packaging industry seeking to make a greater impact with promotional materials reflects the rapid growth of this industry. Fast-paced society – want things delivered on time with no delays.(not being able to keep up rush-orders may affect sales). Technological: advanced  technology may cause industry profits to decline or no longer be needed (e.g. migration of software sales and distribution from CDs to the internet) Economic: if cost of materials (such as glue or paint) used to do the packaging were to rise; orders from customers may decline (important to stay strategically priced). Legal: not complying with FDA r equirements (about coatings, adhesives, and liners) could have an effect of business within this industry. Overall, the macroeconomic environment of the paper packaging industry presents a few challenges. Despite limited information given in the case on external knowledge of this industry – it seems that this industry has experienced booming growth. This industry may be challenged when it comes to diversifying into new markets if the dot-come bubble continues to burst and migration of software sales and distribution form CDs to internet were to increase. In order to survive, companies within the paper packaging company have to diversify into emerging markets and constantly innovate in design of the package or product. 1.2 – Porter’s 5F Analysis: there is no sufficient information about rivals within this industry in the case that can be applied to this framework. 1.3 – Driving Forces  Regulatory influences and government policy changes Requirements set by the food and drug administration (FDA) can have an impact on costs, operational efficiencies and health and safety concerns if companies within the industry do not comply with the regulations. Product and marketing innovation Additional customer market segments have become available to this industry because of the explosive growth of software packaging and promotional material. Both these driving forces have strategic implications for competing companies in the paper packaging industry. For example, if companies within this industry do not comply with specific industry requirements then they will  not be able to run their business or go into financial debt. Also, it is important that this industry to diversify into emerging markets in order to compete competitively. 1.4- Strategic Group Map: no sufficient data in the case to cover this framework since the case does not talk about competitors. 1.5 – KSF’S  Developing collaborative relationships with customers, who are closer to the end consumer Working closely with industrial customers for companies in this industry is crucial as it has an impact on sales for the company and eventually for the industrial customer. Excelling in global supply chain management Excelling in operational performance It is important to keep track of costs going in and out of the company. For example, if cost of goods sold (COGS) takes up a high percentage of the company’s sales may indicate that the company is not performing efficiently or not earning enough revenue to comfortably run the business. Effectively managing the delivery of products while keeping costs minimized It is important for companies in this industry to develop a track record for constant on-time delivery as this will reflect in the customer being loyal to the company which will drive sales. 1.6 Industry Outlook: overall this industry is conductive of good profitability since many industrial customers need their products to be packaged properly in order to be sellable. It is therefore important to excel in cost, quality, speed, and dependability at a competitive level for companies within this industry. 2. INTERNAL ANALYSIS 2.1 How well is Bayonne’s present strategy working– The present strategy at Bayonne is to out-compete rivals and prioritize in four key performance measures, which are quality, cost, speed, and dependability. This is mainly more of an operations strategy seeing as this company is the producer of the product that the customer sells. It is important for Bayonne to deliver on quality packaging, constantly innovate all while minimizing costs and producing high volume to remain competitive. A) Vision mission and objectives: Vision: although there is not enough sufficient data that states Bayonne’s vision; it can be assumed that based on what is given in the case, Bayonne’s vision might be along the lines of becoming the number one industry leader in specialty packaging by providing the best customer satisfaction, quality and product innovation. Mission: based on what is given in the case, Bayonne’s mission could be being committed to providing innovative solutions to difficult package design while excelling in cost, quality, and delivery. Objectives: financial objectives at Bayonne are to keep costs down as much as possible, while still delivering on quality. Strategically, Bayonne aims to excel in their key performance measure of dependability, cost, quality and speed that’s embedded in their strategy. Overall, they strive in being operationally efficient. B) Bayonne’s Competitive Approach Business Strategies: Working closely with customers to ensure satisfaction and approval in the design on the package Building on competitive advantage by providing additional finishing to the package as a courtesy to the customer. Also tapping into new markets and products such as promotional material Importance of determining priority of orders by computing critical ratios (e.g. lower than 2 indicates concern for the job) Expediting the most important orders in hopes of sustaining customer’s loyalty to the company. Functional Strategies: Ensuring quality is met by checking two pieces every hour and conducting a final inspection Ensuring that the work-order jacket travels with the job at each department Ensuring that if a full delivery cannot be made then at least getting partials out is important When orders need to be completed quickly, then this is done by â€Å"ganging† them up whenever possible. Sales  management department is focused on pricing aggressively to the market in order to sustain volumes. C) Key Performance Indicators Strategic: how Bayonne is doing in terms of their key performance measures Financial/Machine Effectiveness -Quality: quality control reports indicate that 6% of products were found defective due to glue problems, leading to an increase in customer rejects of shipped products. Finishing department has problems in including all pieces of the product. -Cost: cost of goods sold has increased, net sales have decreased from previous years, which has caused Bayonne incurring a loss in 2011. -Speed: there is a lower overall speed of delivery to customers. Machines are not being fully utilized since employees are not given the opportunity to assess which orders to run on what machine. A lot of orders that are expedited causes for a breakup to occur in production leading to extra set up time for the machines. -Dependability: Not doing well. Customers are aware of Bayonne’s inconsistency of delivering packages on time. This is reflective in the company’s worst month; October – where 20% orders were late. – Financially, Bayonne understands that there is a tradeoff in keeping costs down, getting good quality and hitting delivery promises. The ultimate goal is to perform financially well in all three. – Bayonne’s declining net profit margin may be indicative that cash reserves are depleting and they may have difficulty paying liabilities. – Gross profit margins have also declined possibly indicating that raw material costs have increased and manufacturing costs have gone up. – In calculating machine effectiveness, it is indicative that in the print department the Heidelberg press is the slowest of machines, which is creating a bottleneck in the process where capacity utilization is 100.29%. 2.2 – VRIN Resource: Wide Range of Machines operating at efficient levels. Capability: Specialized Packaging (includes innovative, difficult packaging design, and finishing touches) Is it Valuable? The machines pass the valuable test because they contribute to the  effectiveness of Bayonne’s strategy. The International Royal and International Queen are Bayonne’s most important machines that contribute to gaining operational efficiencies and added value to the customers because they operate at a high speed. Bayonne’s specialized packaging capability is very valuable and highly contributes to the effectiveness of their strategy (especially in the quality area). Since this capability is competitively valuable, Bayonne passes this test. Is it Rare? Since these are generic machines, this resource is not rare. It therefore does not pass the test since other packaging companies can invest in the same machines as long as they have the financial stability to do so. Not a lot of companies may take the time to closely work with customers in special and complex packaging design. Also adding personal finishing touches is not something a lot of other paper packaging companies take the time to do. Bayonne therefore passes the rare test. Is it Inimitable? The machines are imitable; therefore this resource does not pass the inimitable test since other companies can purchase the same machines to produce the same quality packaging. There is no uniqueness to them. Capabilities in specialized packaging design is something that other companies can copy as it is not competitively superior to potential rival companies. Bayonne does not pass the inimitable test. Is it Non-Substitutable Although Bayonne may have an efficiency advantage with their machines, it does not pass this test since potential rivals can copy the same machines and produce equally good products at lower costs by locating their plants in countries where wage rates are relatively low. Potential paper packaging industry rivals may also offer specialized packaging capabilities. This means industrial customers can pick and choose with which paper packager to partner with. Therefore, Bayonne does not pass this test. Overall, this framework presents strategic implications to Bayonne indicating that their resources and capabilities are not ones that contribute to Bayonne having a competitive advantage that is sustainable. The company’s  resources of machines and specialized packaging capabilities present to be competitive assets to the company and are central to Bayonne’s strategy. However, by not passing the last two tests of this analysis is indicative that Bayonne may be prone to imitative attempts and efforts from potential rivals. 2.3– SWOT Analysis  Strengths – Working closely with customers – Aggressively entering into new markets – Innovative and difficult package design – Ability to fold and glue complex blanks – Ability to price aggressively – Well managed scheduling in Composition department in terms of being rarely out of stock and re-stocking quickly. – Use of High-speed machines help keep volumes high – Consistent performance from Maintenance team in running inspections and fixing something right away if it breaks down. Weaknesses – Complaints from customers about quality (concentrated in Fold&Glue) leading to defective products – Developing a bad reputation for late delivery time, which is also causing customers to lose trust in the company – Mismanagement and communication problems between departments inevitably causing orders to run late (threats coming from heads of other departments, no synchronization) – Computerized scheduling system appears useless as it conflicts with time management of rush orders – Some machines run slow despite being fast to set up (e.g. Staudes) – Data reported through the shop floor computer terminals is inaccurate Opportunities – Diversifying into emerging markets and taking on new types of customers. – Prospective money to be made in Manhattan in terms of promotional material which can lead to gaining more customers Threats – Possibility of receiving safety concerns for not complying with FDA requirements leading to overall increased costs. 2.4 – Value Chain Analysis: are the company’s cost structure and customer value proposition competitive? Primary activities: Supply chain management: from the limited information provided in the case, there is not much that can be said about Bayonne’s supply chain management. The most relevant fact is that Bayonne’s supplier is International Paper that helps keep the composition department stocked with the necessary materials that are used to make the products. In terms of costs in this area, according to Bayonne’s income statement – the Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) significantly increased from 83.2% in September 2011 to 90.7% in October 2011. Since October is also the month in which Bayonne occurred a loss of $365,694 is indicative that the company is not performing well on the cost performing measure. Operations: Bayonne places high value in executing their operations strategy since they are responsible for producing the product itself at their facilities. The goal is to keep margins low while getting the volume. The flow of order through the production department is a system relevant to Bayonne executing their strategy. Quality assurance activities are performed at Bayonne where there are two inspectors on each shift covering the Composition, sheet, print and Die-cut, Fold&Glue, and Finishing departments as well as inspecting the shipping dock. The inspectors check the machines every hour during the production run and a final inspection is performed before the product gets shipped out. Distribution: In order to keep track of the products that Bayonne produces, heavy reliance is held in their â€Å"Work Order Jacket.† For example, before shipping the finished product to the industrial customer, quality control managers check the product against proof in the work order jacket. The jacket lists routing, standard setup and run times, special instructions, and ship-to-information. It also held the customers signed proof along with samples signed by operators, supervisors, and QC at each le vel. Distributing finished products to customers on time is highly important to Bayonne not losing customers; however data shows that in the month of October 2011, they were late more than 20% of the time causing customers to lose trust and expedite orders. Sales and Marketing: although there is not enough information to indicate what Bayonne’s costs, activities, and assets related to sales force efforts are – the products that Bayonne produces directly  impact the end customer. For example, industrial customers who place large orders with Bayonne and pay a high price per piece; place high expectations that Bayonne deliver the product on time in correspondence to say, a promotional campaign that they are launching on a specific date. Its seems that sales management at Bayonne is not developing a good track record for on time delivery because of miscommunication going on between the departments. Also, sales management places high relevance on pricing aggressively to the market, which may conflict with profit margins of the company. Service: Bayonne provides all necessary services such as design assistance and final delivery of the package. It is important for the company to gain customer approval when developing artwork a nd package design as it directly affects profitability. This is why the sales force at Bayonne works closely with the customers showing that the company respects the important decisions that they make since these customers are the ones that make the product sell to end consumers. Profit Margin: President Dave Rand complains about margins, but not about volume. Secondary Activities Product R&D, Technology, and Systems Development: Bayonne’s strength is in innovative and difficult package design and their ability to fold and glue complex blanks. In order to remain innovative and keep volumes high; the company uses high-speed machines such as the International Royal and International Queen. Bayonne also uses a computerized scheduling system, which add up the standard set up and run hours for every order released to the plant and schedules order by priority. However, the use of the computerized scheduling system is having a negative effect in terms of order processing. Human Resources Management: Since Bayonne is mainly a family run business, there are no real HR practices in place. Employees essentially work on a â€Å"do what it takes† system and there are no training procedures. General administration: n/a 2.5- Ten Managerial Tasks of the Strategy Execution Process a) Staffing the Organization Bayonne Packaging began as family business and later grew into a larger organization. However, the lack of cross-functional communication may be indicative that no proper training is realized as the departments work as silos rather than one unified organization. Bayonne recognizes the importance of good upper management seeing as the old VP of operations was fired and replaced by John Milliken who has a background in general manufacturing and seems to exhibit traits of a valuable and talented employee. Since Bayonne incurred a loss in 2011; this may reflect on the fact that management is weak, and employees may not be valued as important assets that tie directly to strategy execution and gaining of competitive advantage. b) Building on Organizational Capabilities Bayonne’s ability to manage people to gain competitive advantage is lacking. Through internal development, Bayonne can build on their scheduling capability. Since each department works in a separate manner, there is no synchronization, which interferes with orders being successfully completed. Second, Bayonne’s capabilities in specialized packaging can also be improved through internal development by having managers at the company set an objective to develop this capability and organize activity around it. Bayonne is able to differentiate themselves by possessing strength in innovation and difficult packaging design (i.e. working closely with customers in the design and adding personal touches in the finishing department) but lack of collaboration and communication in the company have resulted in operational deficiencies. c) Creating a Strategy -Supportive Organizational Structure Bayonne is not properly organizing work efforts in a strategy supportive fashion. In order to excel in the key performance measures of cost, quality, speed and dependability embedded in their strategy – they may have to reassess operational activities. A strong management team has to be built within the company in order to assess which value chain activities, for example, should be performed internally and which ones should be outsourced. Currently at Bayonne their organizational structure is not aligning with their strategy; in part due to communication problems. Also, there seems to be no delegating of authority or facilitation of necessary collaboration and coordination with external partners and strategic allies. d) Allocating Sufficient Resources to Strategic Execution Bayonne is not operating as cost-effectively as possible. Although sales  management may be pricing aggressively to customers by offering a high price per piece – this indirectly affects profit margins at the company. Bayonne is not using their resources (i.e. their machines) in an efficient manner. e) Instituting policies and procedures that drive strategy execution activities There are currently no policies in place at Bayonne, which may hinder good strategy execution. The work climate is not one that facilitates good strategy execution; employees are unnecessarily being yelled at, and pressured to run orders in short notice of receiving them. Bayonne’s procedure for preventing or finding defects is signing off the first good piece the operator runs and then recording it in the Work Order Jacket. However, this shows a degree of carelessness in ensuring good quality as often there is a possibility for more than only one piece being defective. Excelling in cost, quality, speed, and dependability is being compromised by lack of communication and coordination among employees when they disagree on acceptable partials and make up their own â€Å"rule of thumb† that is not in sync with the goals of other departments. f) Adopting best practice and business processes that drive strategy execution activities Bayonne has not adopted any benchmarking methods that would help in implementing best practices. The only common practice at Bayonne is in recognizing revenue when its billed the customer, and billing when the product is shipped. In October 2011, Bayonne was late with their deliveries more than 20% of the time, compared to 2009 with only 5%. This is affecting Bayonne’s ability to excel in the dependability aspect of their strategy; also since customers are aware of this and consequently ‘move up’ their orders g) Installing info and operating systems that enable company personnel to do their strategic roles proficiently The computerized scheduling system at Bayonne is weakening their organizational capabilities. Many employees find the scheduling system to be useless, as the printouts do not accurately reflect what has been finished and what needs to be started. Lack of accuracy and timely information about daily operations does not allow for managers to gauge how well the company is executing their strategy. h) Tying rewards and incentives directly to the achievement of strategic and financial targets There is currently no reward system in place at Bayonne. This causes for lack of motivation and engagement among staff. Employees are neglected and not encouraged for their hard work as  managers are only focusing on expediting orders by getting them authorized by Dave Rand. i) Instilling a corporate culture that promotes good strategy and execution There is no corporate culture in place at Bayonne. The work environment is not strong or positive. Miscommunication leads to misunderstanding among employees and even screaming. Managers are not properly guiding employees in the right direction o f how to do things right and doing the right thing – instead they are focused on their own goals in mind. For example, Wascov only focused on pricing aggressively to the market and expediting orders causing for other departments to rush orders and compromise quality which leads to the upset customers) No commonly held convictions in place of how the company’s business is to be conducted – instead, departments make up their own separate rules leading to incisiveness across the board. j) Exercising the internal leadership needed to propel strategy implementation forward There is no strong internal leadership in place at Bayonne resulting in lack of synergy between the departments. This is why new VP of Operations; Milliken has been put in place. He seems to be staying on top of what is happening by touring the factory and asking relevant questions to department managers in aim of propelling strategy implementation forward. Neil Rand (Dave Rand’s uncle) is not exhibiting traits of a proper executive for Bayonne. Although he does whatever it takes to eliminate work order delays, he does this by randomly showing up and neglecting other important orders. This leads to requests for earlier finishing dates and inevitably leading to an increase in late orders. 2.6 – Strategic Issues 1.How can Bayonne strengthen communication among departments and improve overall company culture? Miscommunication seems to be occurring across different departments, which may be the cause of the increase in late deliveries in October. Lack of company culture may also be the cause in synergy and good energy within the company. 2.How will Bayonne be able to develop or improve their computerized scheduling system? This current system is causing for many inaccuracies, which leads to orders to be expedited. Lack of proper data that the system is generating is causing for unnecessary frustration among employees and quality is being compromised. 3.Given Bayonne’s poor delivery performance, how can operational efficiencies be  improved in terms of capacity utilization of the machines? It seems that the Heidelberg press machine is the bottleneck of the process as it is operating at full capacity, but it is unable to cope with variability in customer orders. Some machines are not be ing fully utilized which affects Bayonne’s performance measures in speed and dependability

Sunday, September 29, 2019

The Past, Present and Future of the Webcam

The past, Present And Future Of The Webcam If only everyone was able to experience life the way we get to now. Sometimes I just wish that back then people were able to see and speak to a spouse away at war in a matter of seconds, or be able to see your parents while away at collage any time you want. Just being able to attend a work meeting in the comfort of your own home, People reuniting with their families it’s just wonderful. We are now able to do this today thanks to the Web camera. This technology spread like wildfire as soon as it was created, and is currently used by millions of people daily.This part of technology has a bright future. If only sooner, in 1993 the webcam was invented, the Cambridge University researchers asked themselves â€Å"how will we be able to see the coffee pot from our desks, to be able to see if it was empty or not, so that we won’t have to make and unnecessary trip to the Trojan room before the coffee was ready†. Their experiment furthered by them updating the images of the digital camera in the Trojan Room to the Internet. And it turns out that they created the world's first webcam in the process. In 2000 the web cam became widespread.It slowly started to make it into the homes of everyone around the world, and built into almost every cell phone. Today the webcam is truly a success. From celebrities to average Joe’s, hell! Even the president president uses the web cam. I feel like this piece of technology has truly helped so many people in life, emotionally and physically. Now you can even have a web cam conversation with up to 10 people, use it for video security, and even monitor your child from another room. My dad thought this was amazing; the first thing he said was â€Å"this is great!Now I can check on grandma. † I know for a fact that my dad and so many other people are so grateful for this webcam stage in technology. The future for the webcam looks exceedingly bright. Scientist says â€Å"future of webcam technology will include the hologram webcams†. This means that it will almost be as if the person on the other side of the computer is right there with you. Some say that soon most interviews will be even be held through the webcam. I, for one know that I’m excited about the future of the webcam. And I’m sure that there are millions of people are just as excited.We’ll wait and see what the future holds. We probably won’t realize how good the webcam has been to us until it’s gone. The past and the present of the webcam is truly a blessing, and the future will hopefully be one too. Like Albert Einstein said â€Å"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity† and this continues to be true to this day. Reading Reference * http://www. brainyquote. com/quotes/topics/topic_technology. html * http://www. roulettechatsites. com/2011/12/holographic-webcam. html * http://www. ehow. com/in fo_8626014_history-webcam. html

Friday, September 27, 2019

Muslim-Croat Alliance and War Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Muslim-Croat Alliance and War - Research Paper Example The country was home to ethnic and religious groups that had been rivals in history and enemies at times, including Muslims, Croats and Serbs. World War II led to the invasion of Yugoslavia by Nazi Germany and its subsequent disintegration. The division was transient however, because as soon as Germany was defeated Josip Tito reunified Yugoslavia, inspiring the unification of Slovenia, Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia and two self governing provinces namely Kosovo and Vojvodina. This new Yugoslavia was inspired by Tito who was a communist leader. He was a shrewd leader who played with both the United States and the Soviet Union during the cold war and obtained financial assistance from both sides as a result. This unity, however, could last as long as Josip Tito’s life as Serbia plunged into political and economic chaos after his death. Disintegration of the New Yugoslavia and its fall out:- The death of Tito led to the rise of a new leader Slobodan Milosevic, a former communist. Milosevic believed in the principle of divide and rule to further his goals. He turned to triggering nationalism and religious hatred to gain power. His first plan of action was to set fire to the long-standing tensions between Muslims and Serbs of Kosovo. The minority populace of Serbs (Orthodox Christians) was led to believe that they were being ill-treated by the Muslim majority. The purpose of triggering this conflict was to broaden Milosevic’s power by eventually taking control of the politically broken Kosovo. Kosovo eventually lost its independence and was taken over by Milosevic. His politically twisted motives led to violence and chaos in other parts of Yugoslavia as well. Slovenia and Croatia declared their independence from Yugoslavia in June 1991. This was not met well by the leaders and populaces of the mentioned states and led to civil war. Milosevic tried to regain control by sending his Serbian concentrated army to Slovenia however his attemp ts were fruitless. This failure led to Milosevic’s shift in focus from Slovenia to Croatia. Croatia was a catholic country with people from diverse ethnic groups residing there. It was however a pro-Nazi and anti-Serb state which followed policies of fascism underlined by the Ustasha party. In 1991, the independence of Croatia led to a tilt of the country’s orientations towards doctrines of the Nazi era which involved enactment of discriminatory laws against orthodox Serbs. The Croat state consisted of a minority Serbian population of 12 %. Milosevic, loyal to his people and oblivious to territorial boundaries, was aided by Serbian guerrillas in Croatia in its invasion. The constant bombardment of the city of Vukavor turned it to ruins. The might of Milosevic’s army was too much for the Croats to handle. The arms embargo imposed by the UN on all former Yugoslavian states was of little use due to the military might of Milosevic’s Serbian forces. The fighti ng led to monumental damage for the weak Croats and the their infrastructure, military might and financial strength was significantly impaired by the time a US Sponsored ceasefire was exercised between the Serbs and Croats. The Muslim-Croat Alliance: Chronology and fall out. Bosnia had been fighting for its independence for a considerable period of time. It was a Muslim majority country. At the time Chairman of the

Karl Marx about alienation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Karl Marx about alienation - Essay Example Karl Marx about alienation Alienation of labor occurs only in a capitalist society, where capitalist modes of production exist. Marx identifies four different types of alienation. They are a) the alienation of the laborer from the product, b) the alienation of the laborer from the labor process, c) the alienation of the laborer from his fellow human beings and d) alienation of human beings from human nature. In the capitalist mode of production, the ownership of the product produced by the labor-power of the laborers is not with them; rather, it is controlled by the capitalists. Before the upcoming of capitalism, labor was solely part of the laborer and was dependent on him. In such a situation, the laborer had full control over the production and use of anything he produced. In the new system, labor acquired the status of an object of external existence and thus it becomes autonomous. This autonomy gained by the product controls the worker and his labor. This is a form of alienation where the life given to the product by the laborer alienates its creator .As a result; the laborer becomes a commodity like any other product available in the market. The labor-process refers to the process of production. In the time prior to capitalism, the laborers had full control over the conditions in which he works. These conditions include how the work is organized, when to work, how the work affects the physical and psychological states of the laborer and so on. In the capitalist system, the worker lost control over these conditions.

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Fireworks and Explosives Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Fireworks and Explosives - Research Proposal Example As per the advanced analysis in of fireworks, it reveals that â€Å"potassium nitrate†, primarily the main chemical ingredient in gunpowder, is still an imperative element utilized in quite a lot of current explosives. (Michael S. Russell) An â€Å"explosion† is a chain of chemical reactions induced by fumed energetically unstable explosive materials that generate a rapid and aggressive oxidation reaction resulted in the production of the huge mass of hot gases and heat. Due to the mass force of gas and heat, it expands rapidly and forms a blast, further forming shock wave giving the blast its destructive power. (Gail Kay Haines) The â€Å"explosive train,† also termed as an initiation sequence or â€Å"firing train† is the series of charges that progress from moderately small levels of energy to instigate the absolute volatile material/main charge. There are two types of explosive trains Explosive materials comprise of any one of a chemically unadulterated compound like â€Å"nitroglycerin† or a mixture of an oxidizer and a fuel such as â€Å"black powder, flash powder, Sprengel explosives, ANFO, Panclastites† etc. For the understanding of explosive materials based on mixtures of fuel and oxidizers following equation can be useful: Diverse explosives utilize, unlike chemical reactions. The most primitive known explosive was gunpowder. Gunpowder or black powder is considered a grand historical significance in chemistry. The principal application of gunpowder is as a â€Å"propellant.† Gunpowder was invented by Chinese alchemists during the 9th century. (Appleton) The gunpowder was prepared by assimilating rudimentary sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate. The â€Å"Potassium nitrate, sulfur in addition to carbon† retort collectively to produce nitrogen & carbon dioxide gases along with potassium sulfide.  Ã‚  

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Delegation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Delegation - Essay Example As the paper declares assignments that supposed to be delegated are those that will interest staff and make them content to be working on the assignment. Why do people like work? The respond is that the work one takes pleasure in involves learning new skills, is to some extent imperative and conceivably will obtain for staff members some credit and add to their status and future employability. This essay declares that to achieve those purposes, the human resources ought to be evaluated. Finding the right individual who will be thrilled about the assignment and advantage from it is crucial. A delegated assignment should intrinsically be a learning course for the individual accountable for it. On the other hand, the staff member chosen should have suitable acquaintance and skills to comprehend the nature and scope of the project. If the Elementary School Principal can sense an eagerness about the prospect, which is a hint that the correct staff member has been chosen for delegation of the assignment. As Fairfax County Public Schools uses delegation for development, evaluating and harmonizing the assignments to all human resources transforms increasingly significant. Giving development opportunities to only a few staff members will shortcut the Fairfax County Public Schools' capability to extend human resources with manifold skills and talents. Leaving some staff members out of the probability for development will also lead to turnover of otherwise excellent and productive human resources.

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Litrture review on self and identity in stutters Essay

Litrture review on self and identity in stutters - Essay Example These disruptions c) usually occur frequently or are marked in character and d) are not readily controllable. II. Sometimes the disruptions are e) accompanied by accessory activates involving the speech apparatus, related or unrelated body structures, or stereotyped speech utterances. These activities give the appearance of being speech-related struggle. III. Also, there not infrequently are f) indications or reports of an emotional state, ranging from a general condition of "excitement" or "tension" to more specific emotions of a negative nature such as fear, embarrassment, irritation, or the like. g) the immediate source of stuttering is incoordination expressed in the peripheral speech mechanism; the ultimate cause is presently unknown and maybe complex or compound (p. 498). Stuttering relates to developmental disorders: it gradually or suddenly develops in children that initially demonstrate signs of normal fluency of speech (Guitar, 1998). Although aetiology of stuttering is not fully clear it is generally considered a multifactorial disorder that involves affective, behavioural, and cognitive elements (Yaruss & Quesal, 2004). Cooper and Cooper (1995) identify three types of stuttering: Remediable stuttering when children are able to overcome their disfluencies by learning and applying techniques that are supervised by a speech and language therapist. In addition, family and friends involvement is necessary to be able to reach almost normal or acceptable level of fluency. Chronic preservative stuttering which is the most devastating and least common case of stuttering. Moreover, individuals with this type often do not stabilize in their fluency although they have been able to achieve it with therapy. Individuals that reach adolescents with out an acceptable level of fluency from treatment have a more chance of developing chronic preservative stuttering. Characteristics of stuttering vary from blocks to

Monday, September 23, 2019

It is written in the word file that i have upload Essay

It is written in the word file that i have upload - Essay Example It was the notion of many individuals in the world in the early years, that in order to increase the production of honey from bees one just needed to create a conducive environment for many more beehives. In the current days, the process of bee keeping has become very complicated, a process, which entails several, processes (Perman, 2012). For better results of beekeeping, the practitioners should combine both the scientific and the technological and practical skills to their knowledge of beekeeping. Eventually, the word apiculture describes the scientific process of beekeeping as a very comprehensive and technological enterprise. Human beings made their first hives, which varied in sizes and their main intention was to increase the production of honey. After they had trapped enough bees that made enough honey in the hives, such hives collected five gallons of honey. The colonies of bees in the hives were first killed before the harvesting of honey and later removed all the honeycomb s from the hives. This way of collection of honey shows that the people’s main interest was honey and they did not think of the consequences they pose to the colonies of bees (Tietenberg, & Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2004). This method is unreliable since it endangers the survival of bees. Later on, in the nineteenth century, the beekeepers experimented making the beehives using wood. The beehives were made into wooden boxes and inside the boxes were plated which divided the boxes for easy addition and removal of boxes and in order to control the activities of the bees. This method proved to work because people could do the harvesting of honey without killing the colonies of bees thus promoting the process of beekeeping (Pearce, J, & R, 2011). There are different types of honeybees. They include the European Honey Bees and the African Honey Bees among others. The scientists believe that the African Honey Bees will dominate and especially when the regular honeybees interbreed with the Africanized honey bees, the Africanized honeybees dominate. This shows that there is a likelihood of the Africanized honeybees to dominate and migrate to Arizona and other parts of the world. Therefore, the individuals who want to indulge into beekeeping should permanently change their view on the Africanized honeybee. They should also learn the habits of bees so that they can be able to take precautions and to be able to support their efforts of beekeeping. Bees are very important insects that human beings greatly depend on them. In order for an individual to be able to understand the threat posed by the bees, they should start by understanding the behaviour of the honeybees. These insects are very essential to human beings and thus their destruction will affect several activities of a human being. The honey bees aid in pollination of many crops that human beings farm and consume as food thus it is a very essential agricultural component. In an y case, as long as the bee colony does not negatively affect animals and human beings, the bee colonies should prosper and grow wide (Pearce & Golen, 1984). The European honeybees differ greatly from Africanized honeybees. They may appear to look similar but they have very different behaviours. The Africanized honeybees have a tendency of swarming more frequently as compared to the European

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Source Question on Public Health Reform 1832-1853 Essay Example for Free

Source Question on Public Health Reform 1832-1853 Essay Sources B and C mainly provide similar evidence for attitudes towards Public Health and the dangers of an outbreak of disease in 1849 because they both agree that public health in certain areas were much worse than those which were affected by the new Public Health Act. This is clear because Source B refers to, â€Å"We live in muck and filthe† and Source C refers to, â€Å"We also want sewers and an ample supply of water†. They also both agree that there are dangers of an outbreak of disease in 1849 for Source B refers to, â€Å"if the Cholera comes lord help us† and in Source C, the author claims that, â€Å"without which no efficient sanitary measures can be carried out†, which is referring to the anxiety of disease. Both Sources B and C offer similar evidence because they are both written for the same cause. Sources B and C were both written by people who wanted the Public Health Act to affect their local community due to the poor conditions and danger of disease in their areas. They are also both written at very similar dates, Source B having been written in 1848 and Source C having been written in 1849. This is important because public health at this time was known to be dreadful and both give a good insight towards the dangers of an outbreak of disease in 1849. They also both have the same purpose, for they were written for the intention of having the Public Health Act applied to their local areas (both signed by other locals who wanted the Act enforced), meaning that similar evidence would be involved in inquiring for the act. These similarities make Source C more valuable as evidence for attitudes towards Public Health and the dangers of an outbreak of disease in 1849 because the petition in Source C was signed by 164 people, whereas Source B was signed by 54 people. However, there are some differences between Sources B and C as evidence for attitudes towards Public Health and the dangers of an outbreak of disease in 1849. Firstly, both sources provide different evidence, for Source B gives a greater sense of desperation and fear, whereas Source C does not give as much of a sense of desperation. This can be seen when Source B refers to, â€Å"livin in a wilderness so far as the rest of London knows anything of us† whereas Source C only states that, â€Å"Unlike elsewhere there appears to be a very favourable feeling towards to its (the Public Health Act) adoption†. The sources are also written very differently. Source B is written with many spelling mistakes and bad grammar, whereas Source C is written in a more formal tone without any spelling mistakes or bad grammar The main reason why the sources offer different evidence is because they are written by two people from very different backgrounds. Source B is written by someone who has clearly not been educated very well as the letter is written in poor English. This makes the source more valuable as evidence for the attitudes towards Public Health and the dangers of an outbreak of disease in 1849 because it comes from someone who sounds more desperate. Whereas, Source C is written by an active local Poor Law Guardian a middle class man or above, and has been educated. Due to the tone being formal, desperation for the Public Health Act does not come through as clearly as Source B therefore it is not as valuable evidence for the attitudes towards Public Health and the dangers of an outbreak of disease in 1849. Source B offers more useful evidence the Source C because not only does it describe conditions of the public health problems and bring across the anxiety of an outbreak of disease in 1849, but also presents more of a sense of desperation due to the illiteracy of the author, for example, â€Å"The stenche of their gully hole is disgustin We all of us suffer and numbers are ill†. Source B is also reliable because it comes from someone who is clearly more desperate for better public health conditions due to the tone. Source C is just as reliable for a ‘Board’ was secured and he was assisted by Chadwick’s favoured engineer. Overall, Source B is more useful than Source C as evidence for attitudes towards Public Health and the dangers of an outbreak of disease in 1849 because it describes the public health conditions of his area in greater detail than Source C, and, his evidence is typical to the conditions described at the time. However, together, they provide valuable evidence because both corroborate that public health at the time was appalling and that there were dangers of an outbreak of disease in 1849.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Organisational Business Practices Essay Example for Free

Organisational Business Practices Essay Organization is a principle of life. We seek the help of organizations to meet our day to day requirements such as to feeding, clothing, educating entertaining, protecting etc. However, organizations are not contemporary creations. Modern society has more organizations which are fulfilling a larger category of societal and personal needs. Organizations are so encompassing in the modern life that it is sometimes easy to overlook that each may be regarded as an entity with a specific contribution and specific goals. Organization is a system of consciously coordinated activities of two or more persons in order to achieve a common goal. It is a system of four major internal interacting components such as: task, people, technology and structure. Organizations are said to be open systems. A number of metaphors can be used to think and explain about the nature of organization. There are eight archetypical metaphors of organization: Machines, Organisms, Brains, Cultures, Political Systems, Psychic Prisons, Flux and Transformation, Instruments of Domination. General Discussion Document: Director of Marketing is proposing to introduce a new process of sales at Superior Sales Corporation for which there will be changes as per the present set up. Staff are likely to resist the change hence some suggestions are placed to reduce the resistance. Organization Structure: Functional superiority can only be achieved if there is enough reliability and focus within each business unit. Elites are those specialized organizational units with closeness to power and having superior capability. Their functions signify a particular organization’s typical capability. It is, important that more than one such elite function exist. They need to be complementary so as to make sure that they serve as a check on another. Pluralist are those essential forces that play a important role in decision making. The tension that is created amongst these forces stimulates thoughts and lead to self-improvement and competitiveness, Elite functions bring main strengths to an organization, but must assist with the whole to attain shared results. The stronger and more competent the elites are, the more difficult it is to achieve cross-functional teamwork. The organization’s challenge is therefore to ensure that these functions are on a par with that of competition, but at the same time they need to ensure that they respond to market demands by cutting across these functional compartments. Organization Cultures: Organizations are mini-societies that have their own distinctive patterns of culture. Culture is a modern concept used in a social sense to refer broadly to civilization and social system. Its increasing use within the social sciences has led to definitions of varying generality, which develop in a host of ways. Culture is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, law, morals, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society. There is a growing literature of relevance how organization can be understood as a cultural phenomenon. It is valuable to understand the relationship between culture and industrialization. The greatest strength of this metaphor is that it shows how organizations rests in shared systems of meaning, values, ideologies, beliefs and other social practices that ultimately shape and guide organized action. Reactive and Proactive Changes: Forces for change arise out of an organization’s interaction with elements in its external or internal environment. The action of competitors, suppliers, government units or public groups may have substantial impacts on change. Social and cultural factors such as life styles, values or beliefs also lead to important changes. Forces of change may also arise from within an organization depending upon different phases of growth or demands made by different interest groups. Reactive changes occur when these forces make it necessary for a change to be implemented. Proactive change takes place when some forces to change lead an organization to conclude that a particular change is desirable and goes about in initiating the change in a planned manner. The difference between reactive and proactive changes corresponds to that between reflexive behavior and purposive behavior. Reactive change, like reflexive behavior, involves a limited part of the system whereas proactive change and purposive behavior coordinate the parts of the system as a whole. Organizational change has noted that many participants respond with dogged resistance to altering the status quo. In the industrial phenomenon workers have at times sought, in extremely violent fashion, to block the introduction of new technology. Supervisors and lower level managers have balked at large scale projects in job redesign and job enrichment; even low level employees, the presumed beneficiaries of such projects, have fought such changes. Senior managers have fought pitched battles against realignment of corporate structure. Even the proposal by a course coordinator to adopt a different style of presenting the report is capable of touching off a frenzy of defensive tactics to resist change. Such behavior may be either overt or covert. Overt resistance may take the form of employees deliberately failing to do the things necessary for successful change or simply being unenthusiastic about the change. The absence of overt resistance does not mean that resistance is not present, as resistance may be hidden from direct observation. Covert resistance can be more detrimental to change than open resistance because it is harder to identify and eliminate. There are at least two sets of factors which explain the process of resistance. One set relates to the personality and the other relates to the social system. Decreasing the Resistance: Managers who have been responsible for implementation have developed personal perspective consisting of assumption and strong feelings about how change should be introduced. These philosophies fall into two camps, either tops-down or bottoms-up. The Tops-down Strategy: The advocates of this strategy believe that, in general, people resist changes and require direction and structure for their well being as well as to work efficiently and effectively. The basic psychological contract between employees and management, it is assumed, is one in which the employee provides work, effort and commitment and expects in return pay, benefits, and a clear definition of what is expected to be done. It follows that it is the management’s responsibility to design the changes it deems appropriate and to implement these thoroughly but quickly by directives from the top. The Bottoms-up Strategy The advocates of this approach profess what to them is a more enlightened view of human nature. They argue that people welcome change and the opportunity to contribute to their own productivity, especially if the change gives them more variety in their work and more autonomy. These managers assume people have a psychological contract which includes an expectation that they be involved in designing change as well as in implementing it. Commitment to change, they say, follows from involvement in the total change process and is essential to successful implementation.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Improving Resource Allocation for Data Center Overbooking

Improving Resource Allocation for Data Center Overbooking M.Ponmani Bharathi, C.Sindhuja, S.Vaishnavi, Ms.A.Judith Arockia Gladies Abstract Overbooking becomes feasible because user applications tend to overestimate their resources and requirements, that tends to utilize only a fraction of the allocated resources. Overbooking has to be carefully planned in order not to impact application performance. Resource utilization and Data centres utilization can be used in this overbooking scheduler. Data send can send from sources to destination via node. Resource utilization and allocated capacity can be increased by 50% with acceptable performance degradation. Fuzzy logic functions are used to check each overbooking decisions and estimate it. Changing the acceptable level of risk is depending on the current status of the cloud data centres. The suggested approach is extensively evaluated using a combination of simulations and experiments executing real cloud applications with real-life available workloads. Our results show a 50% increment at both resource utilization and capacity allocated with acceptable performance degradati on and more stable resource utilization over time. Keywords: Proportional Integral Derivative (PID), Mitigation algorithm, Greedy algorithm 1. Introduction Authors Data set for overbooking levels. It is collections of some Services and work loading data. The data that represents the collection of fields that will be returned when the data set query runs on the data source. Dataset fields represent the data from a data connection. A field can represent either numeric or non-numeric data. Main features provided by cloud is elasticity, allows users to dynamically adjust resources allocations depending on their current needs. The objective is to make an efficient use of available resources, overestimating the required capacity results in poor resource utilization. Factors contributing to lower the Data Centre Utilization: cloud provides predefined VM Sizes, which have fixed amount of CPU, memory Disk Etc. A set of distributed PID controllers are implemented to avoid performance degradation and to increase and keep the utilization evenly distributed among the servers. Overbooking addresses the utilization problems that cloud data centres face due to the elastic nature of cloud services. Overbooking has to be carefully planned in order not to impact application performance. It present an overbooking framework that performs admission control decisions based on fuzzy logic risk assessments of each incoming service deployment request. If delay beyond slack on critical path is initiated, then the completion time of the project may get delayed. Resource levelling is a method for smoothing a schedule that attempts to minimize the fluctuations in requirements for resources when the project completion time is fixed. Users are usually bad at estimating the requirements of their applications. This low resource utilization is a big concern for cloud data centred providers as data centres consume l ot of energy and are being used in a rather inefficient way. Energy consumption does not decrease linearly with resource usage. One way cloud providers can mitigate these resource utilization problems is by overbooking. The overbooking techniques always expose the infrastructure to a risk of resource congestion upon unexpected situations and consequently to SLA violations. This leads to: Overestimating the required capacity results in poor resource utilization. Lower income from consumers. The contrary, underestimating may lead to performance degradation and/or crashes. Overbooking is to address the utilization problems that cloud data centres face due to the elastic nature of cloud services. Overbooking has to be carefully planned in order not to impact application performance. It present an overbooking framework that performs admission control decisions based on fuzzy logic risk assessments of each incoming service deployment request. A set of distributed PID controllers are implemented to avoid performance degradation and to increase and keep the utilization evenly distributed among the servers. Overbooking within cloud data centres to increase resource utilization in a safe and balanced way. The cloud paradigm also introduces new obstacles for efficient resource management. The very large scale and multi-tenant nature of cloud infrastructures offers great potential for efficient multiplexing of different services. Our initial work on this problem include scheduling for better server utilization and admission control for capacity planning, getting an initial understanding of the overbooking problem and the risk evaluation, respectively. Cloud applications do not use the same amount of hardware resources all the time. This low resource utilization is a big concern for cloud data centred providers as data centres consume lot of energy and are being used in a rather inefficient way. One way cloud providers can mitigate these resource utilization problems is by overbooking. Figure 1 Overbooking Fuzzy Risk Assessment 2. Mitigation Algorithm for Reducing Service Level Mitigation method is used to avoid sun expected misbehaviors, such as reducing the service level of some services to avoid performance degradation. This Algorithm is used to collocate, reducing the performance degradation when overbooking. This algorithm also clear traffics for data center overbooking utilization. Proportional Integral Derivative (PID) controller is a generic control loop feedback mechanism. PID calculates the differences between the measured and desired set points attempts to minimize it by reading the control input.PID involves three parameter, Present error(P), Accumulated error(I), Prediction of error may occur (D). 1. Data Collection Dataset for overbooking levels is a collection of some Services and work loading data. The data that representing the collection of fields that will return when the dataset queries runs on the data source. Dataset fields represent the data from a data connection. A field can represent either numeric or non-numeric data. 2. Overbooking Overbooking is techniques used as a solution to poor resource utilization in cloud data centres. Overbooking is mainly used to handle the data centred resource utilization problems and overbooking. An implemented an autonomic overbooking framework. An autonomic framework that provides better application performance, avoiding over passing total capacity at any of the dimensions will be provided. 3. Resources Utilizations It determines the shortest project schedule with the limited resources available. 4. Schedule with collocation It presents a greedy approach that perform traffic-aware VM placement to increase the rate of accepted requests. It avoid repeating poor performance and to increase the chances of good collocations. VMs are suitable to be collocated for improved utilization and stable performance. 5. Prediction method The prediction step calculates a rough approximation of the desired quantity. The corrector step refines the initial approximation using another means. Overbooking system as well as admission control techniques when dealing with elastic services need insight in future resource usage. Service requirements to avoid performance degradation due to overloaded physical resources. 3. Distribution of PID Controller PID controlled this fact motivates the use of feedback to adjust the level of risk that the overbooking system is willing to face over time. We also evaluate the distributed controller approach when the data centre size is reduced to 128 cores. Furthermore, choosing an acceptable risk threshold has an impact on data centred utilization and performance. High thresholds result in higher utilization but the expense of exposing the system to performance degradation, whilst using lower values leads to lower but safer resource utilization. When overbooking CPU and I/O capacity, and a more realistic approach for the memory. The rationale for this is that problems resulting from CPU or I/O congestion are less critical than the ones coming from running out of memory. Therefore, the different risk degrees presented can be combined according to the situation, considered capacity dimensions, knowledge about the incoming service, etc. The risk assessment module gets no feedback about the current status and behaviour of the system, the current workload mixture, the data centre size, etc. In order to address this issue, we propose here a control theory approach that dynamically (re)adjusts risk thresholds depending on the system behaviour and the desired utilization n levels, allowing the admission control to learn over time depending on current system behaviour. PID Controller works properly if the performance is measured at the data centre level, obtaining a smooth utilization fluctuations (close enough to the target one) for each congested capacity dimension. However, the utilization of each server may vary from the accumulated utilization – even after applying load balancing techniques. This effect cannot be totally avoided as load imbalance is also caused by the current workload characteristics. To reduce load imbalance we propose a distributed controller approach where each physical server has its own PID controllers, one for each capacity dimension. 4. Related Techniques Mathematical models for SaaS providers to satisfy customers by leasing Cloud resources from multiple IaaS providers. It proposes three innovative admission control and scheduling algorithms for profit maximization by minimizing cost and maximizing customer satisfaction level. It demonstrates effectiveness of the proposed models and algorithms through an extended evaluation study by varying customer and provider side parameters to analyze which solution suits best in which scenario to maximize SaaS providers profit using actual IaaS data from Amazon and Go Grid. An extensive evaluation to study and analyze which solution suits best in which scenario to maximize SaaS provider’s profit. In-house hosting can increase administration and maintenance costs whereas renting from an IaaS provider can impact the service quality due to its variable performance. Dynamic consolidation of virtual machines (VMs) is an effective way to improve the utilization of resources and energy efficiency in cloud data centres. The problem of host overload detection by maximizing the mean inter migration time under the specified QoS goal based on a Markov chain model. Through simulations with workload traces from more than a thousand Planet Lab VMs, we show that our approach outperforms the best benchmark algorithm and provides approximately 88 percent of the performance of the optimal offline algorithm. The data center efficiency is been improved and more enterprises are been to consolidate the existing system. All system resources and centralizing resource management allow increasing overall utilization and lowering management costs. Server consolidation has emerged as a promising technique to reduce the data centre energy cost. We also present a distinguished analysis of an enterprise server workload from the perspective of consolidation and finding characteristics for it. Then observing a significant inherent for power savings if consolidation is performed using off-peak values for application demand. An implementation of the methodologies in a consolidation planning tool and provide a comprehensive evaluation study of the proposed methodologies. The size applications by an off-peak metric and place correlated applications together; there is a high risk of SLA capacity violation. If consolidation is performed by reserving the maximum utilization for each application, the application may require capacity equal to the size of its current entitlements. As per the size of the cloud increases, the anticipation that all workloads paralyze scale up to their maximum demands. In this observation multiplexing is allowed to access cloud resources among multiple workloads, resource information have been improved. Hosting virtualized loads such that available physical capacity is smaller than the sum of maximal demands of the workloads is referred to as over-commit or over-subscription. It computationally and storage efficiently, while maintaining sufficient accuracy. It is simple method of estimating total effective nominal demand of a cloud and uses it for capacity sizing and placement reservation plan that is compliant with SLA. 5. Conclusion Overbooking has to be carefully planned in order not to impact application performance. A set of distributed PID controllers are implemented to avoid performance degradation and to increase and keep the utilization evenly distributed among the servers. Feedback control is used to adapt the level of overbooking (risk threshold) that the cloud data centre has tolerating capacity. The utilization technique of data centre is not only increased in overall but also harmonized across hardware capacity dimensions and servers. A set of distributed PID controllers are implemented to avoid performance degradation and to increase and keep the utilization evenly distributed among the servers. References [1] A. Ali-Eldin, J. Tordsson, and E. Elmroth, â€Å"An adaptive hybrid elasticity controller for cloud infrastructures,† in Proc. of Network Operations and Management Symposium (NOMS), 2012, pp. 204–212. [2] A. Sulistio, K. H. Kim, and R. Buyya, â€Å"Managing cancellations and no-shows of reservations with overbooking to increase resource revenue,† in Proc. of Intl. Symposium on Cluster Computing and the Grid (CCGrid), 2008, pp. 267–276. [3] X. Meng, C. Isci, J. Kephart, L. Zhang, E. Bouillet, and D. Pendarakis,â€Å"Efficient resource provisioning in compute clouds via VM multiplexing,† in Proc. Intl. Conference of Autonomic Computing (ICAC), 2010, pp. 11–20. [4] Y. C. Lee and A. Y. Zomaya, â€Å"Energy efficient utilization of resources in cloud computing systems,† The Journal of Supercomputing, vol. 60, no. 2, pp. 268–280, 2012. [5] L. A. Barroso and U. Holzle, â€Å"The case for energy-proportional computing,† Computer, vol. 40, no. 12 pp. 33–37, 2007. [6] C. Mastroianni, M. Meo, and G. Papuzzo, â€Å"Probabilistic consolidationof virtual machines in self-organizing cloud data centers,† IEEE Transactions on Cloud Computing, vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 215–228, 2013. [7] T. Wo, Q. Sun, B. Li, and C. Hu, â€Å"Overbooking-based resource allocation in virtualized data center,† in Proc of 15th IEEE International Symposium on Object/Component/Service-Oriented Real-Time Distributed Computing Workshops (ISORCW), 2012, pp. 142–149. [8] L. Larsson, D. Henriksson, and E. Elmroth, â€Å"Scheduling and monitoring of internally structured services in cloud federations,† in Proc. of IEEE Intl. Symposium on Computers and Communications (ISCC), 2011, pp. 173–178. [9] D. Breitgand, Z. Dubitzky, A. Epstein, O. Feder, A. Glikson, I. Shapira, and G. Toffetti, â€Å"Pulsar: An adaptive utilization accelerator for iaas clouds,† in IEEE International Conference on Cloud Engineering (IC2E), 2014. [10] M. Dobber, R. van der Mei, and G. Koole, â€Å"A prediction method for job runtimes on shared processors: Survey, statistical analysis and new avenues,† Performance Evaluation, vol. 64, no. 7-8, pp. 755–781, 2007. M. Ponmani Bharathi, currently studying B.E. computer science and engineering in ultra college of Engineering and Technology for women at Madurai C sindhuja, currently studying B.E. computer science and engineering in ultra college of Engineering and Technology for women at Madurai S.vaishnavi, currently studying B.E. computer science and engineering in ultra college of Engineering and Technology for women at Madurai Ms.A.Judith Arockia Gladies received her bachelor’s degree (B.Tech-Bachelor of Information Technology) from Raja College of engineering and Technology, Madurai, and affiliated to Anna University, Chennai, and then did her Master Degree in computer science and engineering from Raja College Of Engg and Tech, Madurai. She is currently working as an Asst Prof in Ultra College of Engg Tech for Women, Madurai.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Leadership Skills Essay -- Management

When an organization, business, or agency fails to achieve their set objectives poor leadership is regularly scrutinized as the leading cause of inefficiency. In many respects this holds true because of the countless skills need to successfully lead in both public and private enterprise. Although there are similarities between both public and private management, public servants are held directly accountable to their customers/citizens. In light of this, leadership skills within the public sector are essentials in providing its customers with public goods. These public goods include welfare programs, education, police protection and environmental standards (Starling, 2011 p. 28). If public entities contained leaders that possess interpersonal, informational, and communicational skills governmental programs and services would be more efficient. Throughout this analysis we will address the case study of Dr. Helene Gayle and apply the skills of effective leadership to its events. Interpersonal skills One of the many challenges facing public administrators today is the need to build relationships that foster a work environment that is conducive to collaboration. With numerous social issues transcending borders, the need to cooperate is high. It is stated in Norma Riccucci text that one of the reasons why Gayle is a successful public servants is her interpersonal skills in building strong relationships which created an organizational atmosphere that encouraged teamwork across agencies and borders. According to Riccucci text â€Å"one of the reasons why Dr. Gayle has been so successful at collaboration-building bridges and fostering communication between the federal government, various communities, and global partners-is her skillful i... ...c administrators must process certain leadership skills to effectively manage public policy. In analyses of Norma Riccuccis case study it was found that Gayle success within public health was due to her leadership skills. Gayle’s ability to balance political influence with her own vision of public health created an agency of cooperation. References Riccucci, Norma, M. (2002). Managing Across Boundaries: A case study of Dr. Helene Gayle and the AIDS epidemic. Transforming Organizations Series, Retrieved from: https://bblearn.nau.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-866618-dt-content-rid-10067936_1/courses/1121-NAU00-PAS-421C-SEC806-7479.NAU-PSSIS/AIDSEpidemic.pdf Lussier, R. N., & Achua, C. F. (2010). Leadership, theory, application, & skill development. (4 ed.). South-Western Pub. Starling, G. (2011). Managing the public sector. (9th ed.). Boston, MA: Wadsworth Pub Co.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Vietnam Essay -- essays research papers

The trials and tribulations the soldiers faced at home were far worse than any battle they fought while in Vietnam. No one seemed to fully understand what these men had went through. They came home looking for love and comfort; little did they know that they had not yet experienced the worst of the war. A numerous amount of people were for the war, but the reality was, many were against it. " During 1967 public support for the war dropped sharply. By October approval of Johnson’s handling of the war dropped to 28%. A number of major metropolitan newspapers shifted from supporting the war to opposing it" (Wexler 145 ). Once the public realized that the war wasn’t all glory, they regretted the country’s involvement. The government wasn’t exactly the most reliable source of information during the war. They couldn’t be counted on when they were needed most. The government’s handling of aid for veteran’s seemed to be carelessly handled. Veterans were treated poorly and promises were broken frequently. The majority of the American population had no clue that the government was hiding information about POWs. " From September 1973 to March 1974, a series of unrelated witnesses reported the movement of nine POWs between two Laotian prison camps" ( Sauter 189 ). Similar accounts of American prisoners’ sightings were hidden from the public. Ron Kovic was not a prisoner of war. Instead he was sent home after being wounded. His return home was originally fine; everything he thought it would be. Yet he did not receive the welcome he had hoped for. Many resented him. He received blank stares and vicious glares. even his own brother was against the war. His family was baffled by the pessimistic view towards life that he had picked up along the way. In Born on the Fourth of July, Ron Kovic often mentioned that the veterans’ hospitals were torture chambers. " It is easy to lose it all here. The whole place functions smoothly, but somewhere along the way I am losing, and the rest of the people whom I can’t see in the rooms around me are losing too. Even if I heal this leg, I will lose. No one ever leaves this place without losing" ( Kovic 129 ). He felt this way, because he had seen the reality of the war, and he was appalled by the treatment the men received. Even after they had fought fo... ...attitude toward the war was bitter and aggressive. He resented the government and all people who supported the war. What had Ron become? He used to be an All-American boy. Characterized by his intense love for his country; his patriotism exuded in everything he did. However, once he realized how naive he’d been about war in general, he learned to hate it. He’d lecture to families and children not to enlist for the war, because they might not come back how they had dreamed. They might come back like him, or not even come back at all. A few choice veterans overcame the adversity, but despite the few gains made by Vietnam vets, in many situations, public perspectives toward the veterans had taken up the enemy’s bullets left off. Instead, they had bullets of hatred and rancor shot at them. Their lives were never the same. Kovic, Ron. Born on the Fourth of July. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1976. Mason, Patience H. C. Recovering from the War. New York: Penguin Books, 1990. Saunders, Jim, and Mark Sauter. The Men We Left Behind. Bethesda: Saunders and Sauter, 1993. Wexler, Sanford. An Eyewitness History: The Vietnam War. New York: Wexler, 1992 Vietnam Essay -- essays research papers The trials and tribulations the soldiers faced at home were far worse than any battle they fought while in Vietnam. No one seemed to fully understand what these men had went through. They came home looking for love and comfort; little did they know that they had not yet experienced the worst of the war. A numerous amount of people were for the war, but the reality was, many were against it. " During 1967 public support for the war dropped sharply. By October approval of Johnson’s handling of the war dropped to 28%. A number of major metropolitan newspapers shifted from supporting the war to opposing it" (Wexler 145 ). Once the public realized that the war wasn’t all glory, they regretted the country’s involvement. The government wasn’t exactly the most reliable source of information during the war. They couldn’t be counted on when they were needed most. The government’s handling of aid for veteran’s seemed to be carelessly handled. Veterans were treated poorly and promises were broken frequently. The majority of the American population had no clue that the government was hiding information about POWs. " From September 1973 to March 1974, a series of unrelated witnesses reported the movement of nine POWs between two Laotian prison camps" ( Sauter 189 ). Similar accounts of American prisoners’ sightings were hidden from the public. Ron Kovic was not a prisoner of war. Instead he was sent home after being wounded. His return home was originally fine; everything he thought it would be. Yet he did not receive the welcome he had hoped for. Many resented him. He received blank stares and vicious glares. even his own brother was against the war. His family was baffled by the pessimistic view towards life that he had picked up along the way. In Born on the Fourth of July, Ron Kovic often mentioned that the veterans’ hospitals were torture chambers. " It is easy to lose it all here. The whole place functions smoothly, but somewhere along the way I am losing, and the rest of the people whom I can’t see in the rooms around me are losing too. Even if I heal this leg, I will lose. No one ever leaves this place without losing" ( Kovic 129 ). He felt this way, because he had seen the reality of the war, and he was appalled by the treatment the men received. Even after they had fought fo... ...attitude toward the war was bitter and aggressive. He resented the government and all people who supported the war. What had Ron become? He used to be an All-American boy. Characterized by his intense love for his country; his patriotism exuded in everything he did. However, once he realized how naive he’d been about war in general, he learned to hate it. He’d lecture to families and children not to enlist for the war, because they might not come back how they had dreamed. They might come back like him, or not even come back at all. A few choice veterans overcame the adversity, but despite the few gains made by Vietnam vets, in many situations, public perspectives toward the veterans had taken up the enemy’s bullets left off. Instead, they had bullets of hatred and rancor shot at them. Their lives were never the same. Kovic, Ron. Born on the Fourth of July. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1976. Mason, Patience H. C. Recovering from the War. New York: Penguin Books, 1990. Saunders, Jim, and Mark Sauter. The Men We Left Behind. Bethesda: Saunders and Sauter, 1993. Wexler, Sanford. An Eyewitness History: The Vietnam War. New York: Wexler, 1992

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

How P&G Brought the Diaper Revolution to China Essay

When Procter & Gamble set out to sell Pampers in China more than a decade ago, it faced a daunting marketing challenge: P&G didn’t just have to persuade parents that its diapers were the best. It had to persuade many of them that they needed diapers at all. The disposable diaper — a throwaway commodity in the West — just wasn’t part of the cultural norm in the Chinese nursery. Babies wore cloth diapers, or in many cases, no diaper at all. And that, says Bruce Brown, who’s in charge of P&G’s $2 billion R&D budget, is why China presented — and still presents — such a huge opportunity. Today, after years of exhaustive research and plenty of missteps, Pampers is the No. 1-selling diaper in China and the company, in many ways, is just getting started there. The diaper market in China is booming. It stands at $1. 4 billion — roughly a quarter the size of the U. S. market — and is projected to grow 40 percent over the next few years, according to research firm Datamonitor. P&G’s success in China has helped CEO Bob McDonald set some bold goals. Last October, he laid out a plan to add one billion customers over the next five years by promoting P&G brands throughout some of the poorest corners of the world. How will P&G go about doing that? To get a sense, just look at the way it cracked — and to a large degree created — the market for disposable diapers in China. Learning From Failure When P&G first launched Pampers in China in 1998, the effort flopped. Instead of developing a unique product for the market, P&G made a lower-quality version of U. S. and European diapers, wrongly assuming that parents would buy them if they were cheap enough. â€Å"It just didn’t work,† Brown says. Chinese split-pants, or kaidangku. Photo by The Wu’s Photo Land on Flickr It didn’t help that Chinese families had always gotten along just fine without disposable diapers. There, potty training often begins as early as six months, and children wear what’s called kaidangku — colorful open-crotch pants that let them squat and relieve themselves in open areas. Pampers’ pitch wasn’t compelling people to try something new — and neither was the product itself. â€Å"We scrimped on the softness in the earlier versions,† says Kelly Anchrum, director of global baby care, external relations, and sustainability. â€Å"It had a more plasticky feel. It took us awhile to figure out that softness was just as important to moms in a developing market. † P&G had tried a similarly watered-down approach earlier in the decade, when it launched laundry and hair-care brands in several emerging markets. Those products also failed, Brown says. After these experiences, the company in 2001 came up with a new approach to product development: â€Å"Delight, don’t dilute. † In other words, the diaper needed to be cheap, but it also had to do what other cheap diapers didn’t — keep a baby dry for 10 hours and be as comfortable as cloth. So P&G added softness, dialed down the plastic feel, and increased the absorption capability of the diaper. To bring down the cost, the company developed more efficient technology platforms and moved manufacturing operations to China to eliminate shipping costs. The revamped diaper, Pampers Cloth Like & Dry, hit retail shelves in China’s largest cities in 2006, selling for the equivalent of 10 cents in local currency, less than half the cost of a Pampers diaper in the United States. The Universal Pitch P&G had the right diaper and the right price point. Now it faced the bigger challenge. â€Å"You have to convince someone that they need this thing,† says Ali Dibadj, an analyst who covers P&G at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. For Frances Roberts, global brand franchise leader for Pampers, every trip to China was (and still is) an opportunity to learn more about Chinese nursery habits. It’s part of the P&G ethos that brand leaders visit consumers in their own homes — something Roberts has done in dozens of countries, including Germany, Russia, and Jakarta. The goal is to uncover the nuances of each market, and early on in its diaper research P&G discovered a universal need. â€Å"Moms say the same things over and over,† Roberts says. Their cry: We want more sleep. With the help of the Beijing Children’s Hospital’s Sleep Research Center, P&G researchers conducted two exhaustive studies between 2005 and 2006, involving 6,800 home visits, and more than 1,000 babies throughout eight cities in China. Instead of cloth, the research subjects were tucked into bed with Pampers. The results: P&G reported that the babies who wore the disposables fell asleep 30 percent faster and slept an extra 30 minutes every night. The study even linked the extra sleep to improved cognitive development, a compelling point in a society obsessed with academic achievement. P&G then put its marketing machine into motion. Pampers launched the â€Å"Golden Sleep† campaign in 2007, which included mass carnivals and in-store campaigns in China’s biggest urban areas. A viral campaign on the Pampers Chinese web site asked parents to upload photos of their sleeping babies to drive home the study’s sleep message. The response was impressive: 200,000 photos, which P&G used to create a 660-square-meter photomontage at a retail store in Shanghai. The ad campaign boasted â€Å"scientific† results, such as â€Å"Baby Sleeps with 50% Less Disruption† and â€Å"Baby Falls Asleep 30% Faster. No diaper brand, not even rival Kimberly-Clark, maker of Huggies, has come close to spending as much on advertising in China, according to CTR Market Research, the China-based division of American media researcher TNS Media Intelligence. Since 2006, Pampers’ measured media spend topped 3. 2 billion yuan, or about $476 million — more than three times as much as any other brand. In 2009 alone, P&G spent $69 million, compared to Kimberly-Clark’s $12 million spend for Huggies. Ruling the Nursery — in China and Around the World Today, Pampers is the top-selling brand in China, a country where about a decade ago the disposable diaper category hardly existed. P&G does not release sales figures for specific countries, but Datamonitor estimates that the company has captured more than 30 percent of the $1. 4 billion market. Karl Gerth, an Oxford professor who researches the spread of consumerism in China, says P&G’s marketing campaigns strike the right tone. â€Å"You don’t want to come off as paternalistic,† says Gerth, who wrote the book â€Å"China Made: Consumer Culture and the Creation of the Nation. â€Å"The idea that Pampers brings a scientific backing and gives children an edge in their environment — that’s a brilliant way to stand out from the competition. † You could argue that it’s easy being No. 1 when the market is still small. But P&G still has a lot of work to do. The company faces challenges from private-label and domestic brands, including the No. 2 market leader, Hengan International Group, which has steadily grown its market share to 20 percent. Local brands, meantime, are catching up with better products, marketing, and distribution. Chinese consumers are going to want to root for the home team,† Gerth says. And there’s still the challenge of making disposables a habit. On average, diaper use still amounts to less than one a day. â€Å"We’ve only just begun to scratch the surface [in China],† Dimitri Panayotopoulos, vice chairman of global household care, told investors in a 2008 analyst meeting. There’s even bigger potential in India, where the birth rate is almost double that of China but the diaper market remains tiny at about $43. 4 million. (Pampers is the top-selling brand there, too. So now, P&G plans to take the sleep argument throughout rural and poor areas in India and elsewhere. The company also makes its case by positioning itself as a baby-care educator. Pampers sponsors healthcare-outreach programs such as a rural immunization program in China and mobile medical-care vans in Pakistan and Morocco. In India, there’s a door-to-door program that offers baby-care tips and diaper samples for moms. Of course, P&G tweaks the sales pitch to fit different markets; that’s what the company is known for. In India, for instance, the convenience of disposable diapers doesn’t resonate with parents. The company’s consumer research found that many Indian mothers think that only lazy moms put their babies in disposable diapers that last a full night. As Pampers brand manager Vidya Ramachandran reported in an internal video shown to employees, â€Å"We really had to change that mindset and educate [mothers] that using a diaper is not about convenience for you — it’s about your baby’s development. †