Wednesday, January 29, 2020
Process Proposal Essay Example for Free
Process Proposal Essay The process that is being analyzed is the payroll process at a firm. The process can be viewed as a series of steps done on a daily basis and then at month end when salaries are to be distributed. Their process flow along with diagrams is given below. Daily: The work of the system starts as soon as an employee enters and checks in for the days work. Every employee owns a magnetic swipe card which is given to him/her upon employment at dollar. The swipe card machine notes and stores the time of entry and exit for every employee along with other necessary information such as employee number, name etc. at the day end, this data is imported to the current system database (running on FoxPro) using a third party software. Issues such as total time worked per day (depending on employee type), overtime, absences and leaves are resolved then and there. Every employee, in case of over time put in, is handed a sheet at the day end called the ‘Overtime Sheet’. Records of it are maintained by respective supervisors as well as the current system. Monthly: At month end, the data that has been accumulated over the whole period along with the overtime sheets that every employee submits is used to calculate total salaries of the employees and then paid to them in the form of payslips. All deductions and additions regarding overtimes, absences, leaves etc. are resolved and then sent to the supervisors for verification. Upon verification, deductions regarding gratuities and additions such as benefits, allowances etc. are verified from the HR system records and then forwarded to the account system for tax deductions. The final process is then to transfer funds to each employee’s personal account and distribute payslips to each one of them. The transfer is carried out by the accounts department in co-ordination with the HR system and the payslips are distributed via supervisors. A diagram that illustrates this process is given below: As it can be seen, the process has various repetitive steps that can easily be eliminated if a computerized system is used. Especially the processes at month end, these can be shortened a lot if redesigned and enabled with IT.
Tuesday, January 21, 2020
Jacks Power in Lord of the Flies Essay -- Lord of the Flies William G
Jack's Power in Lord of the Flies At the beginning we see Jack as a well-dressed choir leader, " each boy wore a square black cap with a silver badge in it." suggesting that he is civilised. We see also from this first point that he is introduced, that he has a slightly mean streak in him as he gives 'an order' to the other choir boys to "stand still", even though the heat is far too much for them. They are in fear of him as they obey his order. The boys also did as Jack said when they "raised their hands" "with dreary obedience" to vote him for chief. This mean streak also occurs when he is constantly dismissing Piggy and telling him to "shut up". When Ralph brings in rules about the conch and shelters Jack becomes defiant and would much rather be exploring or hunting. Ralph and Jack have some confrontation about the shelters and also about the rule with the conch as "Jack broke out of his gyration and stood facing Ralph". Jack thinks that the conch rule is a silly rule and when Ralph tells Jack that he is breaking the rules he simply replies with "who cares?" or "sod you!" Jack is also unsympathetic towards the littluns' and refers to them as a "useless lot of cry-babies". Jack becomes fearless and some of the other boys respect him as a good hunter because he has "been everywhere". The other boys also think that he is more fun because he just hunts and doesn't care about all the rules. The first instance when we see Jack becoming savage is when he paints his face as a disguise "like moths on a tree trunk" and starts wearing few clothes unlike the boy with the " square black cap" that we were introduced to at the start. When Jack becomes disguised he intrigues the other boys because he starts... ...Ralph has no one left they nearly kill him too, except that they are rescued. Jack's rise to power meant that he became the most fearless and fearsome character. The boys respected him for his hunting, but after the death of Simon he became even more feared by Ralph and Piggy. The resentment for Ralph that Jack carried from near enough the beginning was the fuel for Ralph's attempted death. Jack's power went straight to his head and the tribe became completely uncivilised and out of control. There were no rules and the boys did as they pleased and all though they enjoyed themselves we are left wondering what would have happened if the boys were not rescued when they were. I think we can say that Ralph would have been killed but would further separation have been on the cards? I think that perhaps Roger may have wanted more power if given the chance.
Monday, January 13, 2020
Dove, the Brand to Beat Essay
Dove is a brand under the many products of Unilever. It was in the 1890s when William Hesketh Lever, founder of Lever Bros popularized cleanliness and hygiene with his introduction of the Sunlight Soap in Victorian England. The Sunlight Soap led the advocacy â€Å"to make cleanliness commonplace; to lessen work for women; to foster health and contribute to personal attractiveness, that life ay be more enjoyable and rewarding for the people who use our products†. (www.dove.com) For three centuries, Unilever has proven its success over economic booms, depressions, world wars and the changing lifestyle of its consumers as the world advanced through technology. Dove is the leading skin care product since 1957. It is clinically proven and has been noted to be good for dry sensitive skin which half the women in the world has. And since the 1980s, Dove has launched more supporting products to the soap bar such as moisturizing body wash, deodorants, body lotions, facial cleansers, shampoos and conditioners. All of these products are aimed to solve skin needs comprehensively bringing out the true inner beauty of women. Dove is boasts of its number one in the race of cleansing brands with double-digit growth data. Sales in over 80 countries are over â‚ ¬2.5 billion a year. They estimate that over 1 billion showers are done using Dove products each year in the US alone. The success is due to the brands keeping of its clinically proven promises and understanding of its real market. Studies show that only 12 % of women are very satisfied with their physical attractiveness. 2% of women articulate themselves as beautiful. 68% knows that media almost always sets unrealistic standards of beauty and the 75% hopes that media would better itself in portraying diversity in women’s physical attractiveness that includes size, shape and age. â€Å"Dove is actively trying to address the root of the problem of negative self-image. Dove has founded the Dove Self-Esteem Fund, which funds programs to raise self-esteem in girls and young women. In the US, it’s working through the Unilever Foundation to sponsor a partnership with Girl Scouts, called ‘uniquely ME!’ It also supports the BodyTalk education program for schools in the UK and Canada.†(www.dove.com) The Dove Self-Esteem Fund has come along way since consumers saw that water alone was not enough to clean oneself. American consumers of the new millennium are more demanding than ever and value minded. Dove consumers pay a higher price for Dove due to its after sales value. The target market of Dove are the people who can afford to put a premium for added market values compared to cheaper alternatives such as Ivory. â€Å"According to Soap, Cosmetics, Chemical Specialties, aging baby-boomers were looking for milder, less irritating products. Soaps using vegetable-based fats, with no animal fats or animal testing, were also in demand. Other popular items included loofahs, oatmeal products, and chamomile leaves. In general, customers demanded performance and value in all their soap, shampoo, and detergent products, which were the driving factors behind the soap and detergents industry at the turn of the century.†(Thompsons, 2006) All these added value makes Dove cost more than the average bath product. Value leaders attempt to offer the best product at the cheapest price. These products cannot compare on quality and in the short term, competes for the value of each dollar. Ivory products advertise themselves on the price pitch that does not happen to Dove products. Each Dove product commercial does not mention price. this kind of advertising strategy may increase Ivory income by selling more quantity but soaps such as Dove and Dial remain successful as well by selling more expensive and keeping loyal customers at lesser volumes. â€Å"The bar soap market, which had grown at an average rate of about 4.1 percent annually in the early 1980s, entered the 1990s with a growth rate of about 4.9 percent. Beauty bars comprised the fastest growing segment of the bar soap market, with sales increasing at a rate of about 7 percent per year. Later in the decade, however, bar soap began to lose some ground to shower gels. In 1998, bar soap sales grew only 1.5 percent in value and slipped 4.5 percent in unit terms, while shower gel sales increased dramatically. However, even with their 18.1 sales gain in 1998, the shower gel market, with total sales of $450 million, remained slightly less than a third the size of the bar soap market, which totaled $1.4 billion in value in 1998.†(Thompsons, 2006) Dove has been successful in its campaign to increase and sustain loyal consumers due to its steadfast supporting of its timeless belief in their original product. Compared to the rest of the competition, Dove remained the soap that held on to its ‘added moisture’ selling point. From that, Dove has evolved and widened its strategies in cornering a wider and global market. For one, it’s campaign-promoting self-esteem in women cuts above the rest. The ‘campaign for real beauty’ ad that models larger than average smiling women in white underwear has sent advertisers of other soaps amok. The message of this ad is a statement against the usual advertisers that project the beautiful woman with impossibly physical proportions. This strategy of using controversy for advertising worked so much for Dove. â€Å"The women in these photos appear to love who they are and the way their bodies look. Sue Ontiveros of the Chicago Sun-Times says, â€Å"It’s the joy on their faces that I really like. There’s just so much happiness in their smiles that I feel as if these women are saying ‘this is the real me and I like her.’ Boy, is that rare and just the message I’d like females to get and embrace.†Just because your booty can’t fit into a size four doesn’t mean you’re not sexy. The joy and confidence of the Dove models allows them to look sexy without having to wear seductive facial expressions.†(www.campaignforealbeuty.com) The challenge that lies on the Dove self-esteem campaigns is to make sure that they do not get caught playing two sides. A teener realizes that the big women ad was sporting big tight thighs. Dove was getting the most of this because their thigh-tightening product was being launched. A critic also realized that letting women with underwear pose on camera was still diminishing respect for women even if they were all size large. The most significant challenge that advertisers faced was fueled by the growing global concern of consumers over environmental issues. Consumers demanded that products like Dove have to be manufactured and marketed using ‘earth-friendly’ products and processes without sacrificing quality. Dove’s dishwashing liquid leads their earth-friendly products. Using the dishwashing liquid leaves the hands moisturized, the plates squeaky clean and the rivers unpolluted Another important strategy for Dove products to stay in the lead is using technology to further their market reach. The website of Dove and its dealers are well-made and very user friendly. Buying online is very convenient. Using the internet as part of the marketing efforts, Dove can ensure the existence of its loyal customers who pays more to buy Dove soap. The prices below gathered from the websites show comparisons in prices of different common leading bath soaps. Dove fits in the middle of the price war as it is appreciated by the market as the soap that has more value compared to the usual everyday common soaps such as Dial and Coast but not too expensive like the signature and specialty soaps like Cetaphil or Neutrogena. Price Comparisons Dove              3.08 Dial                0.99 Ivory              1.89 Cetaphil         4.09 Neutrogena    3.95 Coast              1.20 Table 1. User ratings between Dove competitors Product name Pears Soap Imperial Leather Original Soap Palmolive Original Soap Bar Dove Extra Sensitive Cream Bar Lux Milk & Honey Beauty Soap Oilatum Soap Bar Camay Classic- Toilet Soap Overall user rating:  Recommended by 100% (13 Reviews)  Recommended by 95% (19 Reviews)  Recommended by 50% (6 Reviews)  Recommended by 86% (28 Reviews)  Recommended by 100% (1 Review)  Recommended by 100% (2 Reviews)  Recommended by 33% (3 Reviews) http://www.ciao.co.uk/product_comparison.php?Pid=1%2C10%2C10534%2C15372%2C5015455%2C5231365&IDs%5B%5D=70462&IDs%5B%5D=70445&IDs%5B%5D=70457&IDs%5B%5D=70440&IDs%5B%5D=70450&IDs%5B%5D=5628139&IDs%5B%5D=70438&Compare=Compare          The table above shows user ratings from the ciao website. Recommendations between Dove competitors are tabulated. Though Dove Extra Sensitive Cream Bar had an 86% recommendation ratings, it had the most number of reviews totaling 28 as compared to Imperial leather Original Soap that seconded the list with 18 reviews, a far ten reviews short of Dove. This short sampling will show that there are more Dove users who connect to the internet as compared to the other products.            Dove moves forward in its goal to build a strategic global ‘master’ brand. Backed by Unilever’s expertise in product branding, Dove with its good quality material for hygiene and beauty preservation will continue to focus on making their brand lead by promoting the value of their brand as against the price of the soap.            â€Å"Dove was an instant hit, generating $55 million in sales its first six months, per Information Resources Inc. This year, sales climbed to $79 million for the 52 weeks ended April 22. Dove’s current market share stands at 4.7%, equal that of Procter and Gamble’s Old Spice. P&G’s Secret brands still collectively dominate the $1.6 billion category, but have been losing share to Dove. Total Secret sales were $229 million as of April 22, down 8% from $248 million for the year ended Sept. 10, 2000, per IRI.†(Ward, 2003)            I have personally using Dove for the past ten years and have been more than twice tempted to try other brands. Though I did try out one or two other brands during such time, I always went back to using Dove because of its simplicity, truthfulness and mission to add social value to a common daily commodity. In a world where brand names are easily communicated with visuals only technology knows how far will go, Dove will remain as a trustworthy partner in my personal health care. References: U.S. Department of Commerce. U.S. Industry and Trade Out-look ’99. Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1999. U.S. Department of Commerce. U.S. Census Bureau. 1997 Economic Census. Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1999. Van Arnum, Patricia. â€Å"Consumer Product Majors Soak in a Renewed Outlook.†Chemical Market Reporter, FR3-5. Ward, John. 2003. Does Market Share Really Apply to Apple? http://www.vectronicsappleworld.com/2003/opinion/0306.html www.ciao.com www.dove.com www.answers.com Dove’s extension into deodorant is a prime example of Unilever’s long-term strategy to build a set of global â€Å"master†brands with new products and heavy marketing support. The launch was backed by more than $30 million in media spending, a level usually reserved for new brands. Dove marketers also wanted to develop a product specifically for women. While a number of existing brands are gender neutral (Ban, Sure) or targeted to men (Brut, Right Guard, Old Spice), not since P&G introduced decades-old Secret has a manufacturer captured the collective attention of the female audience. Preferred language style: English(U.S.) †¨Ã¢â‚¬ ¨Dove Soap (brand I want researched on)†¨Ã¢â‚¬ ¨Think about a product you love, that you use all the time. In this first part of the assignment, your goal is to uncover as much research about the brand and it competitors as possible. †¨Ã¢â‚¬ ¨You`ll want to know the history of the brand, the characteristics of the people who buy/use the brand, and everything else possible about it. But don`t forget to look into the competition. What are they doing right? What are they doing wrong? 5 pages 4 sources History Characteristics of its market Competition status What they are doing right? What they are doing wrong? Â
Saturday, January 4, 2020
Reed v. Reed Striking Down Sex Discrimination
In 1971, Reed v. Reed became the first U.S. Supreme Court case to declare sex discrimination a violation of the 14th Amendment. In Reed v. Reed, the Court held that an Idaho laws unequal treatment of men and women based on sex when selecting administrators of estates was a violation of the Constitutions Equal Protection Clause. Also known as: REED V. REED, 404 U.S. 71 (1971) Fast Facts: Reed v. Reed Case Argued: October 19, 1971Decision Issued: November 22, 1971Petitioner: Sally Reed (appellant)Respondent: Cecil Reed (appellee)Key Questions: Did the Idaho Probate Code violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment by refusing to let Sally Reed be named administrator of her son’s estate based solely on gender?Unanimous Decision: Justices Burger, Douglas, Brennan, Stewart, White, Marshall, and BlackmonRuling: The Idaho Probate Code specifying that males must be preferred to females in appointing administrators of estates was found to be in violation of the 14th Fourteenth Amendment and declared unconstitutional. The Idaho Law Reed v. Reed examined Idaho probate law, which deals with the administration of an estate after a persons death. The Idaho statutes automatically gave mandatory preference to males over females when there were two competing relatives to administer a deceased persons estate. Idaho Code Section 15-312 listed the classes of persons entitled to administer the estate of one who dies intestate. In order of preference, they were 1. Surviving spouse 2. Children 3. The father or mother 4. The brothers 5. The sisters 6. The grandchildren†¦and so on through next of kin and other legally competent persons.Idaho Code Section 15-314 stated that if there were several persons equally entitled under section 15-312 to administer the estate, such as two persons in category 3 (the father or the mother), then males must be preferred to females, and relatives of the whole to those of the half blood. The Legal Issue Did the Idaho probate law violate the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment? The Reeds were a married couple who had separated. Their adopted son died of suicide without a will, and an estate of less than $1000. Both Sally Reed (mother) and Cecil Reed (father) filed petitions seeking appointment as administrator of the sons estate. The law gave preference to Cecil, based on the controlling Idaho statutes that said males must be preferred. The language of the state code was that males must be preferred to females. The case was appealed all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Result In the Reed v. Reed opinion, Chief Justice Warren Burger wrote that the Idaho Code cannot stand in the face of the 14th Amendments command that no State deny the equal protection of the laws to any person within its jurisdiction. The decision was without dissent.Reed v. Reed was an important case for feminism because it recognized sex discrimination as a violation of the Constitution. Reed v. Reed became the basis of many more decisions that protected men and women from gender discrimination. Idahos mandatory provision preferring males to females reduced the probate court workload by eliminating the need to hold a hearing to determine who was better qualified to administer an estate. The Supreme Court concluded that the Idaho law did not achieve the states objective - the objective of reducing the probate court workload - in a manner consistent with the command of the Equal Protection Clause. The dissimilar treatment based on sex for persons in the same class of section 15-312 (in this case, mothers and fathers) was unconstitutional. Feminists working for the Equal Rights Amendment(ERA) noted that it took more than a century for the Court to recognize that the 14th Amendment protected womens rights. Fourteenth Amendment The 14th Amendment, providing for equal protection under laws, has been interpreted to mean that people in similar conditions must be treated equally. â€Å"No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges†¦of citizens of the United States†¦nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.† It was adopted in 1868, and the Reed v. Reed case was the first time the Supreme Court applied it to women as a group. More Background Richard Reed, then 19 years old, committed suicide using his fathers rifle in March of 1967. Richard was the adopted son of Sally Reed and Cecil Reed, who had separated. Sally Reed had custody of Richard in his early years, and then Cecil had custody of Richard as a teenager, against the wishes of Sally Reed. Both Sally Reed and Cecil Reed sued for the right to be the administrator of Richards estate, which had a value of less than $1000. The Probate Court appointed Cecil as administrator, based on Section 15-314 of Idahos code specifying that males must be preferred to females, and the court did not consider the issue of capabilities of each parent. Other Discrimination Not at Issue Idaho Code section 15-312 also gave preference to brothers over sisters, even listing them in two separate classes (see numbers 4 and 5 of section 312). Reed v. Reed explained in a footnote that this part of the statute was not at issue because it did not affect Sally and Cecil Reed. Since the parties had not challenged it, the Supreme Court did not rule on it in this case. Therefore, Reed v. Reed struck down the dissimilar treatment of women and men who were in the same group under section 15-312, mothers and fathers, but did not go so far as to strike down the preference of brothers as a group above sisters. A Notable Attorney One of the lawyers for appellant Sally Reed was Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who later became the second female justice on the Supreme Court. She called it a turning point case. The other chief lawyer for the appellant was Allen R. Derr. Derr was the son of Hattie Derr, Idahos first female state Senator (1937). Justices The sitting Supreme Court Justices, who found without dissent for the appellant, were  Hugo L. Black, Harry A. Blackmun, William J. Brennan Jr., Warren E. Burger (who wrote the Courts decision), William O. Douglas, John Marshall Harlan II, Thurgood Marshall, Potter Stewart, Byron R. White.
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