ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
Introduction Business practices are always associated with numerous strategies and policies that entities use to achieve better performance results. Just-in-time management is one of such techniques, and the case of Going, Inc. can be comprehensibly analyzed using its basic principles. Going, Inc. Production Needs As the case reveals, the main production needs of Going, Inc. include the ideas of increasing the production capacity, improving the ratings for quality, order accuracy, and flexibility, and reducing the lead-time and overall costs of production (MGT, 2010). Accordingly, Going, Inc. requires steps to be taken in the bulk of its production activities, and JIT is the best way for Going, Inc. to use. Defined as “a philosophy of continuous improvement” (Schmidt, 2000), JIT is understood as a process of demand-based manufacturing. Thus, the first step Going, Inc. should take to handle its production needs is to adjust its manufacturing process to the actually observed market demands. Such an approach is also called the pull system, and is opposed to the push system (Abraham, 2008, pp. 111 – 112). The essence of the pull system lies in the fact that the company that adopts it, keeps little to no inventory on the manufacturing sets, bases its production capacities on actual updated demand figures, and can reduce its lead-time by the effective layout design (Pasricha, 2005, p. 187). Accordingly, Going, Inc. should consider the idea of the pull system as one of the basic JIT principles it can use for satisfying its production needs. Further on, the company can adopt the complex of reliability, sharing of information, and flexibility as the three basic principles of JIT defined by Abraham (2008, p. 150). These ideas are expected to improve the three rating concerns experienced by Going, Inc., i. e. quality, flexibility, and accuracy ratings. The point here is that reliability is the concept referring to the firm ties between a manufacturer and its suppliers, based on which the former can rely on the latter in respect of quality of supplied materials, as well as their timely and accurately calculated supplement (Abraham, 2008, p. 151). The other two principles allow developing the cooperation between the manufacturers and suppliers, and this is what Going, Inc. actually needs to solve its production needs issues. Going, Inc. Future Staffing and Production Requirements Another point of concern for Going, Inc. is forecasting of production staffing needs. If production needs can, and should, be forecasted by the specifically designed department
Introduction General Motors is an American multinational automotive manufacturing company which has been viewed as the world’s second largest in the automotive industry. This paper seeks to discuss the company’s history, from its establishment up to its bankruptcy in the year 2009. The paper will look into the company’s history and its SWOT analysis. History of General Motors The establishment of the General Motors traces its origin to the nineteenth century. In the year 1892, a person by the name Olds, through his savings decided to convert an engine manufacturing company into a motor vehicle company. The commercial production of vehicles however did not start immediately as the company’s initiatives were for a number of years restricted to experimentation. These experiments led to the first test being done in the year 1895 when the company took a road test of its first model vehicle that had the capacity to move at about eighteen meters per hour. Mr. Olds, who had named his transformed company as Olds Motor Vehicle Company, then established a motor vehicle manufacturing company in Detroit. This was the first motor vehicle manufacturer in the American region. The company received a positive reception in the market as it managed to sell more than one thousand vehicles in the few years before the close of the century. General Motors was then a development of a merger between the Olds Company and another company, Buick that had been developed. The merger took place in the year 1903 following an economic recession that called for measures to ensure profitability in the industry. The general motors company then continued its expansion and innovations that fostered its developments until the economic recession that was realized after the Second World War. The company’s management, however, proved its competence by developing new policies that that saved the company. The company also exerted its competitiveness in the industry in the closing years of the twentieth century. It, however, experienced a set back from the year 2008 when it greatly shrank its operations and expenditure. Further economic pressure then led to the company’s bankruptcy in June of the year 2009 (Funding 1). SWOT analysis SWOT analysis refers to the analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that face an organization. The history of the general motors company exhibits a wide range of features as relates to strengths, weaknesses, opportunities as well as threats. Strengths experienced by General Motors One of the strengths that the General Motors Company had was an advantage over some of its competitors with respect to the variety of products that it had been offering to its customers. Thi
Introduction The process of managing a project within a corporate setting is important and necessary. During the vendor selection process, a number of considerations must be observed. One of the main requirements that will precede vendor selection is the submission of the request for proposal form, a document designed by the project owners and acquired by the prospective vendors based on the project requirements (Gratton, 2007). Baderman Island Resort is employing the services of Smith Systems Consulting to carry out their vendor selection process for the acquisition of the word processing software. Some of the main areas that Smith Systems Consulting has proposed and which should be included in the request for proposal form to be collected, filled and completed by the prospective vendors include:   * The vendor’s background summary   * The vendor’s customer satisfaction record   * The vendor’s financial performance, strength and viability for this particular project.   * The product description and demonstrations and finally   * Training and implementation of the proposed application Request for proposal assessment process The request for proposal (RFP) assessment is based on the project steering committee’s requirements and stipulated qualifications. Generally, all the vendors in this Word application upgrade project for Baderman Island Resort should prepare their proposals in compliance with all the instructions in the RPF. Therefore, a proper assessment for all the RFP submissions required will be carried out based on a number of aspects. Some of these aspects include:  1. An assessment of the general proposal format that should include a cover letter, company background, product strategy and diversity, financial performance, strength and viability, customer satisfaction, training and implementation strategy, questions and answers, and response to terms and conditions.  2. The vendor should indicate within the RFP form their business operational period and compliance.  3. An assessment of all the relevant financial information for each vendor, including any information on mergers and acquisitions and or bankruptcy.  4. A credible list of the vendors’ customers, including their current contact details for reference purpose. Generally, each of the RFP will be assessed based on:   * Software and technical capability of the vendor   * Vendor support and follow up procedure.   * Usability of the product provided in a product overview as well as demonstrated trial runs.   * A pricing of the software product   * Vendor’s clients reference list   * Results of any demonstrated functionality of the application   * The implementation process and user support like staff training. Conclusion Baderman Island Resort must carry out the RFP assessment based on the requirements of the project within the vendor selection policy. The RFP most suited will be one from a vendor who is technic
Introduction Gender development has lately become a key area of debate amongst researchers, religious groups, and politicians among others. This essay reviews the ‘Gender and development’ authored by Kabeer and Sweetman. The authors look at the patterns of poverty with regard to the growing gender inequalities in the world. The article looks at the way that we understand the concept of gender and development and the growing gap between the men and women. In particular, the journal article discusses gender equity in the middle income and high-income countries by highlighting some of the flaws with regard to the aspect of economic growth and the human progress. Article Summary To understand gender equity, the author discusses the issue of gender and development by looking at international policy, research and practices with regard to the way in demystifies other forms of inequality which calls for policy makers to focus on gender and development as the main concern when discussing other issues such as poverty, inequality and Gross Domestic Product of any country (Kabeer & Sweetman, 2015). Instead, the article advocates for social justice and economic well-being as a major concern in the growing economies. The article seeks to address this gap by looking at the importance of strengthening the capacity of people to determine their priorities as part of gender development. It looks at the role that women play in development which is still not recognizable in most parts of the world. The author thus looks at v
Cyberbully is a 2011 film directed by Charles Binamé and starring Emily Osment, Kay Panabaker, and Kelly Rowan. The lead character Taylor Hillridge is a high school student who creates a profile on a popular social network and becomes the victim of cyberbullying. Towards the end of the film, Taylor finds out that the profile of a boy who accused her of giving him an STD was created by her best friend, Samantha. It is evident that the film was produced in an attempt to address the widespread problem of cyberbullying. In order to do that, Cyberbully portrays the issues that are associated with the growing popularity of social media and suggests some ways of resolving them. Privacy The first problem associated with the use of social media that is exemplified in the film is the lack of privacy. In the opening scene of the movie, when Taylor is chatting online with her friends, Kris warns her about the lack of online privacy: “What you do online isn’t exactly private” ( Cyberbully ). The quote highlights the concerns about sharing personal information on social media. People often perceive social media platforms as a way of communicating with friends, and they often forget the public nature of these websites. Later in the film, when Taylor starts chatting with James online, she tells him a lot of personal information. Once she realizes that James is a fake profile, she worries that this information can be leaked online and used against her. A similar situation happened to Caleb, who is another victim of cyberbullying at Taylor’s high school. In a meeting with the support group, he tells about sharing personal information with a guy he liked: “I told him personal stuff, and he sent it to a bunch of people at school” ( Cyberbully ). Caleb’s words and his situation are thus used to exemplify the consequences of social media with regards to information security. The film uses Taylor’s and Caleb’s storylines to show that poor information security online mean that critical information can be leaked and used against people in real life. Fear of Missing out The fear of missing out (FOMO) is a psychological phenomenon that is associated with social media use. According to Dossey, FOMO is “a compulsive concern that one might miss an opportunity for social interaction, a novel experience, or some other satisfying event, often aroused by posts seen on social media sites” (Dossey 69). Thus, FOMO is an important driver of social media use, and thus it is associated with other negative consequences of social media. In Cyberbully , FOMO causes Taylor to opt for social media instead of spending time with her friends in real life. When she befriends Scott on Cliquester, she begins skipping regular activities with Samantha and Cheyenne, such as going to the mall
Digital library The digital library has two other names: digital repository and electronic library. The library stores materials in the form of electronic media format. Examples of materials stored are video materials, audio materials, visual materials and text. A collection of all these materials is referred to as digital objects. Digital repository is a system that one can easily access and retrieve different type of information (Harinarayana and Raju 69). The sizes of digital library vary. Electronic library may be owned by one person, a group of people, academic institution, companies, physical library or organisations. Some digital objects are stored locally, but others are accessed remotely. Remote access is possible through connection of computer network. Below are two examples of digital library systems: Greenstone digital library The greenstone digital library is a project of New Zealand. It has a variety of information such as humanitarian, technical, and science related. Arabic and Chinese activities can also be found on the site. Everyone can access information on this site since there is no restriction. HEC digital library This digital library is a program of HEC. It is designed to help researchers in Pakistan. The researchers in private universities, public universities, and non-profit development organizations have full access to this digital library. The library has international scholarly literatures among them the e-Books, articles, and high-quality peer review journals. The researchers can use their subject areas to access a wide range of reference books and text on this site (Harinarayana and Raju 70). Factors to consider Rapid change in technology has been a contributor towards the development of digital libraries. There is a positive correlation between the change in technology and the growth rate of digital libraries. Currently, the market is filled with both complex and simple software. Software design for the digital system should be simple. Simple software gives the authors easy time when they want to distribute their information. The system should also be one that can be operated using low-cost computer equipments. This will give everyone a chance to access the information, irrespective of the computer. Electronic library was developed to avail materials electronically. Distribution of information should not violate the right of the authors (copyright law). A balance should be created between serving the needs of users and protecting the rights of articles and book writers (Harinarayana and Raju 71). Many authors of traditional books are not in a position to allow their books to be made available to the public electronically. This limits the free flow of the information. There should be formulation of laws to control publication of information. Information on the digital library should not pass through intermediaries. The users should have direct access to information. Organization of information should be done properly so as to give the users easy time to access anything. The libraries are visited by people from differ
The New World plantation, appearing historically with the rise of world markets, resembles in some ways the Old World manor: both were, and in America still are, “relatively large landed estates based upon agricultural economics, governing numbers of people on the principle of authority.” In this respect, the feudal attitudes of the manor have been reproduced on the plantation. The book Ar’n’t I a Woman, the author portrays that life of a woman in plantation was more difficult that life of a man because of different duties and responsibilities assigned to a woman-slave. The primary role of women was child bearing. The author portrays that slave-breeding was a systematic business, and southerners generally refuted these accusations of their northern opponents. Breeding slaves like cattle for market was a disgraceful business, though undoubtedly it occurred. Owners certainly considered slave-rearing of prime importance and did not hesitate to boast of what they considered an annual growth in their estates accruing from their infant slave populations. They encouraged their slaves to propagate since natural increase meant additional wealth. Breeding slaves are familiar terms in writings of the Old South. The grant carried with it a condition that the grantee introduce Negro slaves in sufficient numbers to improve and cultivate the land. And arn’t I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen them most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother’s grief, none but Jesus heard me! And aren’t I a woman? (White 45) The nursery was a solidly built structure, roomy and comfortable. On some plantations, it resembled the overseer’s cottage and was often located in the quarters next to or near the overseer’s cottage. Field hands between eighteen and thirty years of age brought more than older Negroes, and male hands brought higher prices than female hands. Children were often priced according to height and weight and infants were valued by the pound. Attractive females and skilled workers sometimes sold for triple the value, and in some instances the buyer would pay more for a group of Negroes upon agreement that the old and infirm would be excluded. An arrangement somewhere between the gang and task system was most often used, since the whole plantation functioned better when certain tasks were performed by Negroes more skilled in that particular work. The more skilled laborers were classified as blacksmiths, brickmasons, carpenters, cooks, ginwrights, seamstresses, shoemakers, and weavers, to distinguish them from field hands who were termed “axe hands,” “hoe hands,” and “plow hands.” The positions demanding skilled labor were eagerly sought because of the distinction and because they involved partial or complete exemption from field labor. When cotton was ready to
Rarely do drivers hesitate to use their mobile phones when the need arises even when they are behind the wheels. At any particular moment, there are millions of drivers on the roads. It is frightening to see a driver on the road checking his or her email without stopping the car to do so. Many road accidents are caused by people who are not keen while driving. Therefore, this issue needs to be debated and a solution found if the number of people dying on the roads needs to be reduced. According to the essay ‘Thumbs on the wheel’ by Mark Shiffrin and Avi Silberschatz, telecommunication companies should design mobile phones in a way that makes them impossible to use while driving and install cell towers to burr any transmission to mobile phones on the move instead of merely making it a crime to use them when driving. Instead of making illegal the use of mobile phones when behind the wheels, more resources should be allocated in designing mobile phones that cannot function when their users are behind the wheels and equipping vehicles with hardware that blocks mobile phone network when driving. From my experience, when someone receives an email or a text message, regardless of what he or she is doing, they always check and respond to it. If he or she is behind the wheels, rarely will they stop the vehicle to answer a phone call or respond to a received email. Additionally, the use of mobile phones when behind the wheels makes it difficult to react to any danger on the road. If mobile phones were designed in a manner that they would not function while their users are behind the wheel, drivers would have to stop their cars before responding to phone calls. Consequently, this would make drivers keen on the roads. I have also observed that many vehicles have tinted windows and, therefore, it is difficult to see what might be happening inside especially if the vehicle is moving. For this reason, making it illegal to use mobile phones while operating a vehicle may not yield the expected results since traffic police officers patrolling on highways may not be able to spot people using mobile phones while driving. It would necessitate the deployment of many officers so as to apprehend as many drivers flaunting the law as possible. This would make no economic sense. According to the aforementioned essay, I agree with the authors as that is one of the best ways, if n
Reality television shows that were developed immediately after the advent of the concept did not elicit much controversy since they had a clean image. Their history started with contests and simple dating shows (Coontz 378). Such shows are still popular in the United States. However, the nature of modern bridal television shows has changed a lot. Most of them are defined by women who dress in unconventional manner. Among the most common reality shows that have featured on television include American Idol, Top Chef, The Real Housewives and Miami Ink. In most of these shows, sexuality features prominently as individuals compete for lovers. As a result, the shows usually attract many viewers. This essay will provide an analysis of a bridal television show known as Bridalplasty. It is important to provide an analysis for this bridal television show because it arguably portrays the rot in the American culture. Bridalplasty is a reality television show where women with intentions of getting married compete for an ultimate makeover. Apart from focusing on makeup and hair, the show awards the ultimate winner a total makeover. This is done through plastic surgery for the whole body. The women who compete in the show usually list their surgery wishes. The dream of some of them is to undergo more than fifteen surgeries by the end of the show. They continue to compete until the winner who undergoes one surgery from her wish list is identified. After this, the ultimate winner gets all her surgery wishes granted. In addition, she gets a fully paid celebrity-style wedding. This is what all the women in the show look for and such a woman becomes the happiest of them all. Bridalplasty is based on the principle that the bridegrooms of the women in the show value the physical appearance of their women. This prompts the women to attempt all possible methods to appear physically perfect. They strongly believe that physical perfection is something that can give them the happiness they desire in life. This is emphasized in the initial episode of the television show where the importance of physical perfection is mentioned more than ten times (Coontz 383). An analysis of the content of the show brings out one important fact, that all the women who compete for the ultimate prize highly value their physical looks. The show also revolves around a wedding thus love features prominently throughout its episodes. However, the women express other values which highlight the importance they attach to flat tummies, big breasts, being slim and perfect noses. These are the conversations that take place in the first episode