ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
Vector Managed Inventory (VMI) is a means of optimizing Supply Chain performance in which the manufacturer is responsible for maintaining the distributor’s inventory levels (VectorManagedInventory.com). In essence, the manufacturer has access to the distributor’s inventory data and is responsible for generating purchase orders (VectorManagedInventory.com). Under this model, the electronic data is sent to the manufacturer. The manufacturer can view every item that the distributor carries, as well as a true point of sale data(VectorManagedInventory.com). A third-party logistics provider can also be involved to make sure that the buyer has the required level of inventory by adjusting the demand and supply gaps (Tempelmeier 2006). VMI’s chief advantage is that it reduced the logistical burden on the retailer because he no longer needs to keep track of inventory and contact the manufacturer to replace sold inventory. It is an evolution of the Just-In-Time inventory system of the 20th century. Not only can the seller maintain only a minimal inventory, thus reducing his storage costs, but he can also even sit back and leave restocking chores to the manufacturer. The chief pitfall of VMI is that that because it is electronic, the system may not be prepared to deal with sudden changes. Also, it is a long-term learning process, and the most successful VMI systems were the result of years of cooperative development. Finally, it is costly to develop and maintain. This paper addresses both sides of the debate on the question of VMI’s nature as a stopgap measure or as a lasting improvement even when demand returns. VMI is just a stopgap measure. Ismini Scouras of EBN holds that VMI is a reaction to the inventory glut coupled with the weak business environment that made the previous inventory models unprofitable (Scouras 2002). This author believes that VMI will expire in the face of renewed demand once the global recession is over. VMI only works because of the current economic climate. VMI is just a stopgap measure for suppliers to generate sales and profits as the growth rate for new orders continues to languish (Scouras 2002). For as long as the economic environment is that of oversupply, the VMI system remains feasible. At the moment, the program is feasible because of fierce competition between suppliers for very limited demand.
Outline This is a statement response paper on cost-cutting for business by Stephen Rampur. A brief summary of the author’s work and the perception regarding cost-cutting. Ideas for business. What are some of the most important primary issues as presented by the author? How this article confirms some of the previous beliefs and the challenges. What are some of the proposed additions or more options available for businesses in reducing costs? Main text Of all the conjoint beliefs held by a number of businesses, making redundant some of its employees has been the primary method of cutting costs. Most companies resort to this because it is one of the simplest methods to answer their immediate question of cutting costs. This became common especially during the financial crisis of 2007-2008 which led to one of the greatest recessions. In this article, Stephen Rampur disagrees with this notion and presents some of the many options that companies have in cost-cutting and still remain in business. He disagrees with the idea that the first option is to retrench employees as most companies did. In this article, some of the options Rampur includes asses company finances, best personnel management, marketing strategies and plans, administrative expense, waste management, looking for new business models, reviewing the available equipment, vendor contracts, and office /rent. All these can be adopted as deemed necessary by the management. (Rampur, 2012) As stated above there are very important mechanisms that a business can be espoused by a firm to reduce costs. It is important that companies adopt some of these before resolving to retrench people. The creativity in management is determined by how they handle the issues in times of challenge. The reason this is important is that the company allures the public, allows coexistence, and appeals to people when it employs many locals. They tend to identify with the business as being part of them. I concur with Rampur in this article especially when he says that the loss of good employees may be a more comparable financial crisis. I subscribe to the author’s opinion at this point because for instance when a productive worker is retrenched, a competing firm takes him/her, it will energize the team in the competitor firm and therefore give a big blow to the former. In the long run, this method will be expensive to the company as compared to regulating the expenses incurred by every department. (Young, 2003) Before the economic recession, which interfered with the economic stability of countries across the globe, a number of businesses retrenched their employees. For instance, just before the dawn of recession Lehman investment bank had already started retrenching its employees. The bank still collapsed this notwithstanding. The company had so many options as presented in this article, which they did not exploit. To the worse, their auditors Ernest and Young even helped them add erroneous figures to their balance sheets
This is described by the sequences of psychological and physical changes that take place when one gets sexually excited and involved in sexually arousing activities. Sexually stimulating activities may involve sexual intercourse or self-stimulation. Anthony Brown noted that the sexual response cycle depicts four major phases, the first being excitement, followed by plateau then orgasm, and the last being resolution (2003, p. 169). Both men and women experience all the above-mentioned phases. For detection of sexual dysfunction, one needs to recognize how one’s body responds during each phase. Excitement Phase This is the first phase of the sexual response cycle and it is depicted by various changes in both males and females. This phase involves the communication of the body to various body parts that one is about to indulge in a sexual activity so that the body can therefore prepare accordingly. The excitement phase is characterized by erection in men and may start three to eight seconds after the start of sexual stimulation (Campbell Wesley, 2007, p. 445). Males experience an increase in muscular tension which in turn leads to the erection of the penis. Thereafter, there is swelling and elevation of the testicles as well as tightening of the scrotum which causes the skin in the scrotal area to be thicker and less baggy, and the man begins secreting a lubricating fluid. On the other hand, Campbell Wesley noted that the excitation phase in females is characterized by lubrication and that it may start ten to thirty seconds after the start of sexual stimulation (2007, pg. 445). Changes experienced by females include; increase in the size of the breasts, swelling of the clitoris and inner lips of the vagina, the walls of the vagina also begin to swell and lubrication of the vaginal walls is experienced. Both men and women experience an increase in muscular tension and sex hormone release which cause the tightening of the nipples, heart rate increase which therefore causes increase in the breathing rates, red spots may appear on the chest and the back and increases in blood flow to the genital parts of both men and women. Plateau Phase This is the phase when the body prepares for orgasm and has an intensification of all the responses experienced in excitement phase. The phase leads to stabilization of sexual arousal. Similar to excitement phase, plateau phase provide both men and women with similar response to some extent and different responses for both too. Amongst the men, plateau phase is characterized by withdrawal of man’s testicles into the scrotum making them elevated and ready for ejaculation. Some men also experience some increase in the circumference of the head of the penis during plateau phase and the pennis may depict pink coloration. During the plateau phase, women experience various changes where the inner part of the labia turns color and the lips of the vagina increase in size due to increased blood flow. The clitoris gets very sensitive it can be painful if touched and therefore it hides itself under its hood to pre
The space shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986, along with the crash of the Columbia shuttle in 2003 are two famous tragedies that have shocked not only the US citizens but the whole world as well. Both accidents have caused a large media boom around themselves while also making NASA suspend shuttle flight operations after the catastrophe for a couple years. The details and reasons of disasters of both shuttles will be covered further in the work. According to the Challenger’s crash report, two rubber O-rings, designed separate the sections of a rocket booster, malfunctioned because of the cold temperature at launch (NASA’s John F. Kennedy Center par.15). The explosion happened 73 seconds after liftoff, resulting in taking lives of all seven members of the crew. The crew did not actually die because the shuttle broke up; people got killed because of the high impact of landing into the ocean. Honestly, the catastrophe would not probably happen if the launch was postponed a bit. Before the launch, engineers have warned their superiors about the vulnerability of O-rings to low temperatures, and the morning of January 28 was extremely cold (“Challenger Disaster” par.4). Unfortunately, these warnings did not get as much attention as they should have. It was a hard lesson for NASA, which shows that you should not overlook the engineers’ warnings and should take any necessary precautions possible. Also, before the Challenger disaster, flights into cosmos were considered totally safe (Rothman par.1). When millions of people saw the tragic end of NASA’s Challenger, it was definitely clear that NASA no longer had that safe aura around them. As a result, NASA has held its fleet grounded for almost three years after the disaster. Alas, Challenger was not the only shuttle that ended up so tragically. On February 1, 2003, the shuttle Columbia broke up on its way back to Earth, killing all the crew as a result. The report of the accident mentions that the crew was not even aware of the possible crash, as most of them were not even wearing their full equipment (Associated Press par.2). It was established that members of the crew died either from suffocation or from hitting an object when the shuttle got tumbled. The primary cause of Columbia’s disaster was the breaching of the spacecraft wing by the insulation foam (Howell par.2). Interestingly enough, similar incidents with the foam occurred before, and the existing problem was very well-known to NASA. Yet again, nothing was done to solve the problem, which only further proves the incompetence of NASA and their disregard of additional safety measures. Subsequently, NASA had to explain themselves later to the Congress and media for not taking any measures to get rid of the existing problem with the insulation foam. Just like in the case with Challenger, NASA had to halt all space flights for three years (Dowling par.12). Tragic events of Challenger and Columbia shuttles have definitely caused a negative impact on NASA’s shuttle operation program. Witnessed by millions of people, the mistakes made by NASA that cost human lives would never be forg
World Cups in football, just like other big sport events, are always surrounded by scandals, gossips and rumors. The talks about a championship being moved or a country not being prepared to host such big event accompanied the preparations for the Cup in South Africa in 2010 and Euro 2012 in Ukraine and Poland. The rumors spread fast and were saying that the countries were extremely late, the stadiums were far from being ready, everything was falling apart and the whole championship was going to fail. In spite of all the panic, the stadiums were fine and the competitions happened as planned without a delay. The approaching World Cup 2022 is surrounded by an unusual amount of scandals. This time the problems promise to be serious. Qatar, the country that was assigned as the host of World Cup 2022 four years ago, is now facing a risk of being stripped of the responsibility of accepting the championship. It turns out that after some rational analysis and data collection Qatar is considered as a highly unsuitable place for an event like World Cup in football. There are multiple reasons for this statement. First of all, climate in Qatar is extremely hot. This will make the Cup that is traditionally held in summer a very dangerous event. The temperatures on the territory of Qatar will endanger the health of the audience on the stadium and create a deadly threat for the players. Secondly, Qatar does not even have an own football league, which means that there is no infrastructure for any big football event on the territory of the country. An independent investigation also revealed severe human rights violations in Qatar. Moreover, the investigation showed massive bribes that created the basis for the initial nomination of Qatar. The world’s society is shocked by the news even though the decision of FIFA to assign Qatar as the host country for the championship was publically judged from the very beginning. Right now the bad news hit the reputation of FIFA and its leaders. The investigation showed that the corruption has found its way to the jury officials. This makes a significant impact on the society of the world, as it supports the idea of an unlimited power of corruption that is so concerning nowadays. The mass media started to scream about this news right after the well known tweet posted by Jorge Ramos. Mass media presentation of the event emphasises the precedent of bribing and explains that this information is based on multiple proofs such as documents, papers and electronic mails. The other reasons of the possible cancellation or relocation of the World Cup of 2022 such as climate, lack of infrastructure and instability in the Middle East are also mentioned. Yet, the mass media makes the emphasis on the facts about corruption
Introduction Frontline Staff and Patients/Families The practice environment (an intensive care unit in a hospital) is a complex clinical setting. Team and staff-leader communication is imperative to deliver coordinated and quality care. From my observations and unit reports, nurses and patients/families are not adequately empowered to be effective in their roles. There is limited structural empowerment, which refers to institutional strategies supporting shared governance and information sharing (1). RNs feel that leaders do not prioritize clinical advancement and support creativity and ideas at the bedside. They are not empowered to develop and disseminate impactful, innovative solutions that could lead to quality care. Leadership Accountability Another key communication risk in this practice setting is error reporting to managers, patients, and families. Self-reporting often attracts disciplinary actions, which forces nurses to conceal near misses or medication errors. System vulnerabilities are a barrier to accountable reporting and can potentially harm patient safety and clinical outcomes (2). The practice environment must promote non-punitive self-reporting of
There are five stages that a customer goes through before making the ultimate decision to make a purchase. These stages as noted by Lantos (2011) are problem recognition, information search, alternative evaluation, purchase decision, and post-purchase behaviour. Each consumer passes all these stages until a purchase is made. The essay is an attempt to describe how I progressed through the named stages of decision making while purchasing a tourism service. In addition, the essay explores how the concept of risk is perceived and managed while purchasing a tourism service. Moreover, the implications of the concept of risk with regard to the service provider of the tourism equation have been discussed. Prior to making a decision to purchase the tourism service, I followed the five stages of need recognition, problem awareness, information search, alternatives evaluation, service purchase and post-purchase evaluation (Lantos, 2011). The stages are represented in the diagram below as described by Tyagi and Kumar (2004). Figure 1: Stages of the decision process for purchase During the problem recognition stage, the need to go on holiday triggered my desire to go on vacation. The desire to travel as a tourist was important as it aroused the need to search for important information on my impending tourism adventure. The information search phase is important as it helps the consumer in making wise decisions (Tyagi & Kumar 2004). To acquire the necessary information, different sources such as personal sources, commercial sources, public sources and experience sources are used. In my case, I searched for the necessary information from commercial sources such tourist service provider websites, major hotels, and tourist agencies. Since it was my first tourism adventure, it was important also to get more information from friends and relatives. Other sources of information that proved to be useful include newspapers, tourist magazines, catalogues, and internet advertisements. After information search, it was time to undertake an alternative evaluation. During this stage, I compared different tourist destinations and hotels. The comparison was based on the expected service quality, perceived risk, cost to be incurred, price offered, anticipated satisfaction, and any discounts offered. I compared different features of tourist destination based on the tourist services offered. After searching for alternatives, it was time to make the purchase decision. This involved the actual buying of the tourism service which was based on different factors. Some of the factors that I had to take into account during the purchase of the service include the opinions of family and friends, recommendations and perceptions, available income, services offered by tourist agencies, and discounts offered. The final stage involved in service purchase decision making was post-purchase behaviour (Lantos 2011). In this stage, consumers experience concerns after the purchase decision has been made based on cognitive dissonance (Tyagi & Kumar 2004). During this stage, I experienced mixed reactions on whether I ha
Introduction Local communities are the backbone of society, as from them a national spirit may arise as a reflection of either people’s good or bad qualities. Therefore, it is essential to recognize the impact a single person may have inside their neighborhood through one act of kindness. As a member of society, I have attempted to contribute to the betterment of my community in various ways, both as a future high-school graduate and as an individual. In this effort, both compassion and personal growth play an important role, with the former being my driving factor and the latter allowing me to perfect my approach towards community work. One Act of Kindness Brings Significant Change Homeless people are one of the most socially overlooked groups, despite their existence in every community. However, helping them is not something everyone aspires to do or even thinks about, instead often choosing to ignore them. These individuals, who overlook the condition of those less fortunate than they are, unfortunately, do not understand the difficulty of homeless people’s existence. Without food or shelter, they rely on mere chance to survive during months of harsh weather, when other people enjoy the luxuries of heating or air conditioning. However, the opportunity to help lies with those who recognize the advantages that life has given them and work with grace to spread it through among their community. Helping the homeless population during times of trouble is the least one can do for them, recognizing their right to that, which may be considered lifesaving resources. Therefore, since I was fifteen, I have done my best to supply the homeless of my community with water during hot summer days. While one high-school student can only achieve so much, I tried my best to use the resources available to me, such as pocket money, to buy water bottles and distribute them among those in need. This action could not solve all the problems faced by the homeless population, but it helped establish lines of communication that breached the “us and them” mentality. A community may only be as prosperous as its most wanting members, and refusing the homeless human rights does nothing for society’s improvement. Some people may argue that respect must be earned, not given, but this is a faulty conviction, which only leads to an individual’s isolation. Dignity is something that a person may possess and grant to others at the same time, without losing any integrity. Without social support, a person may not exist in a community setting, as loneliness cannot be a natural human condition. Thus, through simple respect the homeless community may be helped to a level where they may begin to maintain their respectability themselves, securing their future, and status in the world. Until then, recognizing one’s privilege and using it to support others remains critical, even if this help comes in the form of one cold water bottle on a hot day. Conclusion Kindness is a
Technological and social changes taking place across diverse aspects of the society require news ways to access, disseminate and improve the quality of knowledge passed delivered to learners. The desire to improve the levels of students’ performances has led to a dramatic attention towards the development of effective assessment methods. This is more so when examined from the drastic changes in learning environments, which have called for the need to examine the effectiveness of national and regional performance-based assessments. These developments in education have generated interests among stakeholders in the education sector. A significant number of researchers as well as reviewers in educational support the fact that the development of an effective assessment method is an indicator of a continuous evolution in the process of learning, which will continue to mutate. Whereas there is lack of consensus on preference for a particular method of assessment, a significant number of researchers reveal that teacher-based is an effective method of certifying the performance and achievements of students at the end of their studies. According to Newton (2005, p. 1957), “in many other countries, whether the assessment system consists entirely of school‐based assessment components, externally marked assessment components, or a combination of school‐based and externally marked assessment components, the judgments about students’ achievements are typically made by teachers.” Mercurio (2003) supports the assertion in stating that teachers play the critical role in certifying the performance and achievement of students. In addition, through education, an individual acquires the requisite knowledge that shapes personal views and thinking and prepares one for the challenges in future. The well-meaning educators search for ways to serve all students with a prescribed body of norms, skills and values that are essential to society (Macklaren, 1988). It is on this basis that considerable research has been directed towards the analysis of the effectiveness of teacher-based assessment. Giving teachers the opportunities to make judgements on the achievements of their own students in seen as a viable path towards realizing accurate summative assessments of students’ performances. The role and position of the teacher in training and development of a student enables him to draw on a wide range of evidence from numerous events that encompass the learning process of student. In principle, this enables teachers to m