Sikhism Essays (1499 words) - Punjab, Sikhism, Panentheism

Sikhism Sikhism is a Religion of uniqueness. It has beliefs from two other religions; Hinduism and Islam (Borak 53). This religion is very scarce in the United States. The main area for Sikhs is in the Northwest India (Borak 53). I had never heard of this religion before, so that is the main reason why I chose to study this religion. I have found it very interesting and different. The Sikhs have many unique qualities. Sikhism dates back to a long time ago. Making it more modern, it was introduced near the closing of the 15th Century (Borak 53). Guru Nanak Dev originated it, now making it a minority group. The Sikhs are found generally around northwest India, or Punjab, but can also be found anywhere in the world (Borak 53). Sikhism has a very rare formation. This religion is a mixture of two other religions, known as Hinduism and Islam. This joining together is known as syncretism (Hopfe 188). The Hindus and Islams began to mix and some thought of joining the two together. Not everyone agreed so they decided to make a new religion with practices from both religions while still keeping Hinduism and Islam separate religions (Borak 54). From the Hindus, the reincarnation of Jesus was put into practice for this newly accepted religion and also they kept "The True Name" sacred because He can do anything. One true God is used also as a practice, coming from the Islam beliefs (Hopfe 188). Its originality helps make this religion special in its own unique way. The Sikhs have many of their own beliefs but also the ones coming from Hinduism and Islam. The opening lines in their Holy Book, or Guru Granith Sahib, state "There is one supreme eternal reality; the truth; immanent in all things; creator of all things; immanent in creation. With out fear and without hatred; not subject to time; beyond birth and death; self revealing"(Philosophy). This statement summarizes their basic teachings, also adding equality to their beliefs (Hopfe 198). They believe every human is of the same sex even though chastity is not allowed. Women are equal to all men. Sikhs do not believe in burning women, women wearing veils, or marriages to widows. There is no separation by creed, color, race, or sex (Philosophy). All people are equal. Sikhs believe to worship in temples known as Gurdwaras, also meaning Gateway to the Guru. Daily attachment to God helps you become closer to Him, believes Narm Marg (Philosophy). Also, faith grows within the community while worshipping at the Gurdwaras.(Richards, 198) Serving others is their center of worship (Richards 198). Among the Sikhs are three other religions, The Udasis, Sahajdharis, and the Singhs. The Udasis is an order of Holy Men who follow the same practices as Buddhist, Hindus, and Jainism. They are celibate and wear a yellow coarse garment like Buddhist monks or go naked like Jain monks. They have one possession, a begging bowl and they are also poorly shaven (Hopfe 180). On the other hand, Sahajdaris are very reasonable and very clean- people. They reject the militancy of the Sikhs (Hopfe 192). The Singhs are just a break off of the Sikhs. Sikhs believe in God but they worship by Gurus (Richards 198). Guru means leader (Hopfe 189). They also believe in Guru Granith Sahib and other writing by the ten Gurus. They do not believe in any other religion, though (Richards 198). God is the creator, maintainer, and distructer who can not take human form (Philosophy). He appears only in spirit by believing and can not appear in human (Richards 198). Their five cardinal vices are Kam, or lust, Krodah, or anger, Lobh, or greed, Moh, or wordly attachment, and Ahankar, or pride (Philosophy). Some of their beliefs and vices are the same as Catholics. Sikhism doesn't really have any hierarchy that I could find but they do have certain positions. There are ten Gurus who would serve as our priest do, but now they worship what the Gurus taught and by the Scripture (Hopfe 189). Gurus were the leaders. (See pages seven for a listing of the ten Gurus.) Their first Guru who was chosen April 5, 1469, the day Sikhism formed was Guru Nanak, and the last Guru was Gobind Singh Dev from 1666 to 1708 when he died(Guru Nanak Dev). I did not find out why there are not any more Gurus. Gurus are the down face of the heavenly who provide leadership for humans (Philosophy). They still do have anniversaries for the Gurus which

Deductive Essay on Tobacco essays

Deductive Essay on Tobacco essays Tobacco products kill more than 400,000 people in the United States a year. That is more than the number deaths from homicides, fires, AIDS, alcohol, car accidents, suicides, and illegal drugs put together. It is by far the number one cause of preventable death in the United States. Action should be taken to stop the use of this legal killer. Death is not the immediate consequence of choosing to use a tobacco product though; first you must go through the minor, disgusting, sometimes uncomfortable results that progress over years of smoking. Premature wrinkling of the skin, bad breath, clothing and hair stench, and yellowing of the nails and teeth are some of the common side effects that are not life threatening. Smokers not only put themselves at risk for disease and death, they also put at risk their family and others close to them. Infants and children are the most susceptible to disease from second hand smoke. Children are most vulnerable to disease if their mother had smoked during pregnancy or immediately after. When people smoke, it is very likely that they dont know exactly what they are inhaling. The active ingredient in tobacco is nicotine. When smoke is inhaled, nicotine is carried deep into the lungs where it is absorbed quickly into the bloodstream and carried to the heart, brain, liver, and spleen. It is a fast acting drug that affects the central nervous system, containing both stimulant and depressant characteristics. Nicotine produces elevated blood pressure by increasing heart rate and constricting blood vessels. It also acts as an antidiuretic, the effect being fluid retention. Nicotine is as addictive as heroine or cocaine. The body becomes physically and psychologically dependent on it. Smokers may not know that when they indulge their habit, they are taking in, not only nicotine, but also tar and 4,000 other harmful chemicals. Any one of these elements alone is deadly. Among the chemi...

The Impact of Employee Involvement in Hiring and Promotions Process of Assignment

The Impact of Employee Involvement in Hiring and Promotions Process of Public Administration Agencies - Assignment Example The dissertation looks at the goal of how beneficial employee involvement could be among public administration agencies if it is practiced during hiring and promotions processes. To this end, the topic of the dissertations is stated as: â€Å"the impact of employee involvement in hiring and promotions process of public administration agencies.† Considering the nature of the topic, which touches directly on an identified institution, it would be true to say that there will be a lot of institutional reviews needed for the research. Institutional review of the research would come in two major forms and formats. In the first place, there ought to be an institutional review that looks at the ethics and rules of engagement in the identified institution in the conduct of research of this nature. Even though this may generally be an academic exercise, it is important that some basic rules of research including the need for ensuring confidentiality and anonymity of data are reserved. As much as these standards are adhered to, the institutional reviews needed on the part of the awarding institution, which is the university will also be catered for to a very large extent (Schein, 2004). For a higher academic level dissertation preparation of this nature, it is always important for the researcher to appreciate the fact that all knowledge cannot rest with him alone (Schein, 2004). What this means is that the researcher would always, and at one point in time or the other need the inputs of other people in making highly informed choices on the dissertation. Considering the fact that the dissertation preparation goes through many different stages, it would be more than true to say that at every point or stage in the preparation of the dissertation, the input of some people will be needed.  

Favorite ad Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Favorite ad - Essay Example Not even a piece of paper brought by the wind across the barrier from one side (nation) is admissible in the other side (nation) and is quickly thrown back to its original side. However, there is a marked difference in the response of the other soldier when one soldier goes to his shelter and takes a cold coke to quench his thirst. Equally thirsty, the second soldier longs for a drink and the first one offers one. The problem that, however, exists is that the boundaries are so strictly manned that not even a hand can stretch beyond one’s territory and across the borderline. The first soldier places one bottle of coke on the ground at the borderline. Because of the Coke, the soldier with the offer draws his sword making the other think that he is instigating a tussle. However, the first soldier’s intention is to redraw the borderline to allow the other soldier pick the coke. The second soldier accepts the coke and the two happily enjoy a drink for a brief moment forgetting that they are on strict duty to man the border point. The advert features a harsh environment with the setting being that of a desert. Given such a setting and the hostile relationship that initially exists between the two soldiers, the theme of the ad matches the environment as the Coke shared creates happiness in an evidently harsh environment. The ad originally features an adversarial environment with two stern looking soldiers. When the product being advertised comes into the scene, there is a marked change in how the two interact; boundaries are redrawn and happiness takes center stage. In this sense, there is a match between the ad personality and the product. While the advert is captivating right from the start, the most interesting part of it is where the real adversaries, highly suspicious of each other get to bend the rules and redraw boundaries to enjoy the coke together forgetting

Running head for publication goes here Essay Example for Free

Running head for publication goes here Essay 1. Introduction 3 1. 1. Purpose of Report 3 1. 2. Current Situation 3 1. 3. Identified Problems 4 2. Data and Knowledge 5 2. 1. What makes data good? 5 2. 2. How is information created? 5 2. 3. How is information used? 6 2. 4. How Dell utilized information 6 2. 5. How KAR Vehicles Ltd can benefit 8 3. Using Systems to Convert Data into Information 8 3. 1. Transaction Processing Systems 8 3. 2. Management information systems 9 3. 3. Decision Support Systems 9 3. 4. Expert systems 10 4. Conclusion 11 References 12 INFORMATION SYSTEMS 1. Introduction 1. 1. Purpose of Report This paper is to discuss and analyze the role of information systems in processing raw data such as statistics, sales figure and demographic data, into useful and valuable knowledge which can be used to support decision-making within an organization. Focus will be placed on a case study of Kar Vehicle Hire Limited, from which valuable real life experience and lessons can be drawn from. 1. 2. Current Situation. KAR Vehicle Hire Ltd has recently implemented a transaction processing system called K-VIS which utilizes a database containing details of vehicles, clients, hire bookings, vehicle collections and returns, vehicle maintenance schedules, etc, as well as other relevant information. Bookings are done through K-VIS and the appropriate information such as booking details, driver details and payment details are entered into and stored in the database. This data entry and updating is done manually by the office administrator. Other transactions and procedures such as the collection of vehicle is also carried out in a similar fashion. With the growing amount of information and data available in the new database, the potential for the use of this information to aid managerial decision-making by uncovering patterns or trends, or in other methods, has been discussed. Knowledge creation to support effective key management decision-making is then the primary concern of Kar Vehicle Ltd currently. 1. 3. Identified Problems The main problem here that KAR Vehicle Ltd faces is that of managing data and knowledge creation. Firstly, managing data is a challenging process, because the amount of data expands exponentially over time; is collected from many sources, both external and internal; and is scattered throughout the organization different branches. The introduction of K-VIS has helped to centralize the collection and storage of data in a standardized format and procedure; however, KAR Vehicle Ltd has limited experience in transforming data to information, and information to knowledge via a knowledge creation process. This requires data that can be understood by the managers and analysts of KAR Vehicle Ltd easily, be accessible conveniently, and hence be able to analyzed using a variety of tools according to their needs to produce information. This information can then be used in conjunction with the experience and personal knowledge of the managers and analysts to create knowledge, which should then be stored in a format that all organizational employees can access and apply, creating a flexible and powerful â€Å"learning organization†. (Rainer, Turban and Potter, pg 96-100, 2006) 2. Data and Knowledge 2. 1. What makes data good? Data is simply a collection of raw facts, figures and statistics collected by people and systems, and then stored in various format. By itself, raw data has no real significance and use, but like all raw materials, it has to go through a process to convert it to information about the world, situations and people, which becomes factual statements about the world, which has meaning and can be useful in certain ways. (O’Brien, 1994, pg. 19) But before raw data can be converted to useful information, it has to be good and â€Å"clean†; that is, data without errors (Rainer, pg 101, 2006). What makes data clean? â€Å"Clean† data which is error free should be accurate, complete, timely, consistent, accessible, relevant and concise. â€Å"Clean† data is of high quality and can be used to generate useful information about linkages and facts about the world. 2. 2. How is information created? Information is data that has been converted into a meaningful and useful context that links various facts together in a relationship which can be used to form factual statements about the world. It is the result of data that has gone through a value added process where it is aggregated, manipulated and organized; analyzed and evaluated; and finally placed in a proper context which is suitable for its purpose or designed end user. This value added process, or what we will call â€Å"data processing†, usually occurs in information systems. For example, raw data is entered by the office administrator and front line stuff into K-VIS, which organizes and process the data to form meaningful relationships, such as a customer demographic data, his sales and records history, a vehicular history and transactions history. 2. 3. How is information used? Information that has real value and is accurate and meaningful is very important to any business organization. Without timely and accurate information which is relevant, businesses would not be able to make informed decisions and carry out activities such as risk analysis, cost benefit analysis, demand forecasting and supply chain co-ordination, among other things. For example, Dell business model is entirely based on timely and accurate information about orders, demands, suppliers and inventory. Making use of accurate and timely information flows, Dell is able to exploit a fundamental competitive factor in its industry to its fullest – the value of time. 2. 4. How Dell utilized information Dell use of information technology to gather, process and disseminate information is vital to the success of it’s business model – namely direct sales and build-to-order – enabling it to make highly accurate and timely decisions about market forecasting to drive production and inventories. It kept track directly of customers’ PC inventory, allowing individual business users to order PCs directly rather than going through a middleman, allowing Dell to build a relationship with customers and making the collection of useful data automated and painless. This data, which was processed into meaningful information, helped Dell to segment its customers into different primary categories. This categorization helps Dell to respond to changes in different customer segments, and make decisions on which customer segment is the most profitable to develop and grow, and hence the segment in which to concentrate its resources on, offering highly customized services to gain and keep their business. In short, meaningful information helped tell to make decisions regarding its most profitable customers, and where its resources would be most efficiently expended on. Dell is also able to minimize part inventories by requiring suppliers to restock parts only as they are needed, and to have available specific components as they are needed to fill an incoming order. This is made possible through very close coordination between Dell’s sales and manufacturing arm, and between Dell and its suppliers. This is achieved by refining its business processes, developing close relationships with a limited number of key suppliers, all the while making heavy and extensive use of information technology systems to facilitate communication within and outside the company, making this close coordination possible and successful. (Kraemer, Dedrick and Yamashiro, 2000) 2. 5. How KAR Vehicles Ltd can benefit KAR Vehicles Ltd can benefit from the information stored in K-VIS as well in many ways. For example, customer demographic information could be used to foster closer customer relationships and to keep and retain profitable and valuable customers. In turn, profitable and valuable customers can be identified from their sales records, which can be analyzed to pick put high value and high volume customers. This information can also be used to create customers segments like Dell did, in order to make decisions as to how KAR Vehicles Ltd can distribute their resources most efficiently. Furthermore, KAR Vehicles Ltd can also make use of the information gathered in K-VIS to minimize inventory turn over rates, and to maximize resource usage. For example, KAR Vehicle managers could analyze sales history and periods, and then determine where and when car inventories should be kept and retained in order to meet demand. This can help KAR Vehicles to reduce its inventory stock, by making each car in its inventory more utilized. 3. Using Systems to Convert Data into Information 3. 1. Transaction Processing Systems. This is what the K-VIS basically is, a system that supports the monitoring, collection, storage and processing of data from the organization business transactions, each of which generates data. The TPS collects data continuously in real time, and are considered critical to the success of any enterprise because they support core operations. It is hence obvious that K-VIS is essential to the continued and efficient operations of KAR Vehicles business operations. 3. 2. Management information systems Management information systems summarize data and prepare reports. These reports are mostly for middle and low level managers, and concern a specific functional area. K-VIS is also a management information system, as we can see that K-VIS is used by the office administrator to print out multipart forms or VIF. 5 forms for all collections due for a particular day. These forms are then used for business transactions as appropriate, and also used to update K-VIS with any new information or details. 3. 3. Decision Support Systems Decision support systems provide computer-based support for complex, non-routine decisions, for both managers and knowledge workers. There are typically two categories of Decision Support Systems – Business Intelligence Systems and Data Mining Systems. These are usually used in conjunction with a data warehouse and allow users to perform their own data analysis. For example, K-VIS enabled with a decision support system module, could be used to conduct what-of analysis to test the impact of bringing in new inventories of cars, relocation of branch offices, or expanding their varieties of cars offered. 3. 4. Expert systems Simply put, expert systems can be thought of as a collection of rules as defined by an expert. These rules can then be used as â€Å"†¦information processors whose applications address highly specialized and restricted areas of expert human knowledge†, as stated by Murray and Murray (1988, pp. 3). The potential benefits of expert systems are enormous, and their applications highly flexible. Watkins and Eliot (1993) identify some of the benefits of integration between expert systems and computer-based information systems (CBIS) as: o Improving the operations and maintenance of the database o Improving sensitive analysis o Acting as a tutor o Making applications more useful and â€Å"intelligent† o Reducing maintenance costs. o Refining the query system This is the area in which KAR Vehicles Ltd should focus on, as it automates decision making support for managers, and can help KAR Vehicles Ltd to identify and exploit any strategic or competitive advantage available in their industry. 4. Conclusion In today highly competitive and complex business environment, the capability to collect data, process it into useful and meaningful information, and then utilize this information in efficient ways to create knowledge or a competitive advantage, is essential towards prosperity and even survival in the business climate. Information systems are indispensable when it comes to this tasks, and there are a wide range and variety of information systems, all of which can be integrated, to collect data, process data into meaningful information, and then make use of this information to support the decision making process used by the managers of KAR Vehicles Ltd. In doing so, competitive and strategic advantage can be potentially identified and achieved, and greater operational efficiency will result as well. References Kraemer, Kenneth L. , Dedrick, Jason. , and Yamashiro, Sandra., 2000, â€Å"Refining and Extending the Business Model With Information Technology:Dell Computer Corporation†, The Information Society, 2000 Murray, Jerome T. , and Murray, Marilyn J. , 1988, Expert Systems in Data Processing, A Professional’s Guide, McGraw-Hill O’Brien, James A. , 1994, Introduction to Information Systems, Richard D. Irwin, Inc Rainer, Kelly. , Turban, Efraim. , and Potter, Richard. 2006, Introduction to Information Systems, John Wiley and Sons Watkins, Paul R. and Eliot, Lance B. , 1993, Expert Systems in Business and Finance, John Wiley and Sons.

The Diet Dr Pepper Campaign Paper Marketing Essay

The Diet Dr Pepper Campaign Paper Marketing Essay The taste of Dr Pepper is the well-known to be oldest soft drink over the world. The taste is unmatched and it is 23 delicious flavours have withstood the test of time. The competition in trying to take a firm hold a firm hold of potential customers is a never-ending, ascending battle in any industry. This is a fight that takes place in the product market. In the U.S. soft drink market is a highly competitive. In order to command market share a brand should be able to differentiate itself from its rivals. In this point, Dr Pepper has always been finding position itself in the world unique soft drink market since it is comprised of 23 flavours. The current slogan is One Taste and You Get It (Dr Pepper Snapple Group, 2008). Currently Dr Pepper holds the third place in market share for the U.S. They fall behind major players Pepsi-Cola and Coca-Cola which account for 74 % of the market. With consumers embracing the current health trends, diet Dr. Pepper was named one of the top 10 soft drink in 2002 due to health conscious attitudes. This market is predicted to continue its growth worldwide. Diet Dr. Pepper is a yummy drink, and indeed it does, as its ads assure us, taste more like regular Dr. Pepper [assuming we understand: than Diet Coke tastes like Coke or Diet Pepsi like Pepsi, though 7-UP and Sprite might give it a run for its money on that account. Not to mention that the slogan as it stands is nonsensical. Tastes more like regular Dr. Pepper. Of course it does! It is Diet Dr. Pepper, and thus is bound to taste more like regular Dr. Pepper than, say, Pepsi, coffee or mustard! ike a vegetarian who still wants a burger and so eats BOCA, the diet soda drinker longs for the days when 140 calories meant nothing and so diet drinks function as a kind of bubbly nostalgia for youth, even when the consumer has long since convinced him- or herself that he or she prefers diet sodas According to marketline research, the global diet food and drink market is forecasted to reach $113 billion by 2010. As well as Diet Dr. Peppers growth among users, Dr Pepper is one of the few non-diet soda brand to gain market share Diet Dr Pepper Diet Dr. Pepper is liked for its unique, non- cola taste, its ability to maintain its carbonation, and its zero calorie content. More than anything, Diet Dr. Pepper is the absence of cola flavour that seems to turn reviewers on, since there are already so many diet colas on the market. Diet Dr. Pepper is sometimes the only diet soft drink some can tolerate, like Finally Found a Diet Soda That Tastes Good and anther reviewer who also likes the unique qualities and uses for Diet Dr. Pepper and says When Im Feeling Under the Weather, I Reach for a Dr. Pepper. (www.viewpoints.com) Campaign Objectives and Marketing Situation When considering a marketing objective it begins with the companys financial objectives. Profitability, return on investment, and cash flow are the most common elements. The financial objectives are converted into marketing objectives. After marketing objectives are determined, then the company creates new marketing strategies, strategic marketing plan. Marketing strategy is the process of evaluating the options for achieving the marketing goals. Consumer in a market are seldom uniform and often have different needs and wants (Rodengen, 1995). Diet Dr. Peppers advertising campaign is based on an assumed nostalgia for days when drinking regular soft drinks did not reflect some form of moral failure to avoid excess calorie intake. Not only that. The form of this nostalgia is telling: a sleazy lawyer-type makes faulty arguments based on the assumption that Diet Dr. Pepper tastes so much like regular Dr. Pepper that any legal claim brought to bear with regard to Diet Dr. Pepper must be w rong because it has mistaken it for a diet beverage when it clearly tastes like a non-diet beverage. Therefore consumers need to be segmented. That called market segmentation strategy. From this segments marketer identifies, evaluates and select target market based on similarities of needs. Diet Dr Pepper competes in a dynamic and constantly changing category that makes it difficult to increase market share and sustain long-term brand growth. Main factors that challenge the brands growth include the following: Sluggish category growth. The diet, carbonated-soft drink category was growing at an average annual rate of only 1.4 percent. Growth of new-age beverages. The new-age segment-consisting of sparkling juices, natural sodas, flavoured sodas, and other items-was growing at a rapid rate (10 percent annual growth), posing a strong challenge to diet Dr Pepper and other diet soft drinks. Price sensitivity of soft-drink category. Price is a main brand-choice determinant in this category, but Diet Dr Pepper is at a competitive disadvantage inasmuch as it is priced higher on a cents-per-ounce basis than Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola brands. Lack of bottler attention and focus. Approximately three-fourth of Diet Dr Peppers volume is distributed via the Coke and Pepsi bottler distribution network, which in many instances causes Diet Dr Pepper to be a low-priority item with insufficient retailer support. Inadequate distribution. Relative to its larger competitors, Diet Dr Peppers distribution is insufficient in trial-inducing outlets such as food service/fountain and vending machines. Greater spending by main competitors. Diet Dr Peppers share of voice at the onset of the advertising campaign was only 4.8 percent in this highly competitive and advertising sensitive category. Campaign Target and Objectives The target audience for Diet Dr Pepper consists primarily of adults aged 18-49 who are present or prospective diet soft-drink consumers. In view of the above marketing challenges, the objectives for the Diet Dr Pepper advertising campaign (titled The Taste Youve Been Looking For) are as follows: To increase Diet Dr Pepper sales by 4 percent and improve its growth rate to at least 1.5 times that of the diet-soft drink category. To heighten consumers evaluations of the key product benefits and image factors that influence brand choice in this category: it is refreshing, tastes as good as regular Dr Pepper, is a good product to drink at any time, and is a fun brand to drink. To enhance those key brand-personality dimensions that differentiate Diet Dr Pepper from other diet drinks-particularly that Diet Dr Pepper is a unique, fun, entertaining, clever, and interesting brand to drink. The Proposition The proposition strategy for Diet Dr Pepper is The Taste Youve Been Looking For. The Competition The success of Dr Pepper in the soft drink industry illustrates the coupling of realistic knowledge of corporate strengths with sound industry analysis to yield a superior bussiens strategy.The major competitors of Diet Dr Pepper are; Coca-Cola products (Diet Coke), Pepsi-Cola Products (Diet Pepsi) dominates Dr Peppers industry. According to Porter (1998), Dr Pepper choose a strategy of avoiding the largest-selling drink segment, maintaining a narrow flavour line, forgoing development of a captive bottler network, and marketing heavily. The company positioned itself so as to be least vulnerable to its competitive forces while it exploited its small size. The U.S. beverage market is a highly competitive and crowded field. In order to command market share a brand must be differentiate itself from is competitors. To make this differentiations, Dr.Pepper positioned itself as the the wolds uniqe soft drink since it is comprised of 23 flavours. Dr Pepper currently controls 15% of sales volume in the beverage market and has a market value of $6.5 billion. Creative Strategy and Supportive Promotions The creative strategy for Diet Dr Pepper positioned the brand as tasting more like regular Dr Pepper. This is a key claim based on research revealing that nearly 60 percent of initial trial users of Diet Dr Pepper are motivated by the desire to have a diet soft drink that tasted like regular Dr Pepper. The cornerstone of the campaign entailed the heavy use of 15 second commercials, which historically had not been used by Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola, which instead preferred the entertainment value of longer commercials. The aggressive use of 15 seconds commercials enabled Diet Dr Pepper to simply convey its key taste claim (tasting more like regular Dr Pepper and differentiate the brand from competitive diet drinks. Moreover, by employing cheaper 15 seconds commercials, it was possible to buy many more commercial spots and hence to achieve greater reach, frequency, and GPRs for the same advertising budget. Diet Dr Peppers advertising expenditures totalled  £10 million. In addition to advertising campaign, the brand marketers for Diet Dr Pepper implemented several sales promotion programs to achieve their lofty goals. From January through April, a trade promotion called The Pepper Advantage provided bottlers with  £20 gift certificates that they could distribute to retailers to encourage greater display space for Diet Dr Pepper. In additional, attractive coupons were placed on 2- and 3- litre bottles of Diet Dr Pepper to encourage repeat purchasing by consumers. From April to September, during baseball season, the Pepper Pastime promotion was run to enhance sales of Diet Dr Pepper to consumers in convenience stores. Promotions included free bottles of Diet Dr Pepper and Premium objects, including autographed baseballs and baseball jerseys emblazoned with the Diet Dr Pepper brand name. During May through August, a promotional tie-in with the Foot Locker chain of athletic stores was undertaken. Purchasers of 12- and 24- packs of Diet Dr Pepper received Foot Locker gift certificates if their pack contained a winning game card inside. Collectively, these sales promotion programs were designed to complement the advertising campaign and substantially boots immediate sales of Diet Dr Pepper products. We can see that selection of advertising media is one of the most important and complicated of all marketing communications decisions. Media planning must be coordinated with marketing strategy and with other aspects of advertising strategy. The strategic aspects of media planning involves include four steps: (1) selecting the target audience toward which all subsequent efforts will be directed; (2) specifying media objectives, which typically are stated in terms of reach, frequency, gross rating points (GRPs), or effective rating points (ERPs); (3) selecting general media categories and specific product within each medium; (4) buying a media. Media selection are influenced by a variety of factors such as most important are target audience, cost, and creative consideration. Media planners should select media vehicles by identifying those that will reach the designated target audience, satisfy budgetary constraints, and be compatible with and enhance the advertisers creative message. Basically, companies must market their products with creative, informative, and interesting messages that show how the products meet the needs and wants of consumers. A key factor in marketing a product is communication.

Crime and Social Issues Essay

Many crime problems in my area which are creating difficulties for peoples day by day. I have seen many crimes have been done in my area. * Snatching * Drugs dealing * Shop lifting * Stabbing * Gang fighting * Theft and robbed * The area where I live is ok; I have been robbed for my money a couple of times – nothing too bad. But my friends live in a really bad estate. There’s always stuff going on there. People are shot and stabbed all the time. * It all starts with people getting rude with each other. One person is rude to someone else, and then the victim goes and gets their gang for revenge. Sometimes it’s just two gangs fighting and punching each other. But on this estate, it’s nearly always killing. Guns and knives are everywhere. * It’s always worse when the gang hires someone else to do the killing. They only give a description of the person they want taken care of. So the hit man hasn’t even seen the guy he’s going to shoot before. Sometimes they shoot the wrong person. Then, if the person who was killed by mistake was in a gang, their gang goes and gets revenge. So it never ends. * I’m most worried about knife crime, because you can get knives anywhere – from the kitchen, shops and people from round the estates. My friend’s big brother was stabbed in the chest with a knife, because he was involved in some bad stuff. * In my school it’s not so bad because they check us for weapons. The only weapons we’re allowed are compasses. * I’m not so afraid of gangs, because they don’t have a reason to go after me. But my friends Dad got involved in drugs. Now he’s got some gangs after him because of some trouble that happened. * When I visit my mates on the estate, I feel more protected than afraid, because I know my friends and their brothers are looking out for me. People there recognise me now, so I know even the drug dealers would look after me on their patches. They know I’m not causing any trouble. But I’d be very; very afraid for my life there if no-one was looking out for me. Snatching: About 10 houses in front of me was this young lady walking by a car parked along the grass patch outside one of the terrace houses. As she was reaching the rear end of this clean decent looking Silver Proton Waja, I noticed the engine started and the left rear passenger doors window was being wound down. Suddenly a man emerged out of the rear passenger doors window his entire torso! And making a grab of this ladies handbag!!!! As this man emerged from the cars window, the Silver Proton Waja was pulling out of its parking position slowly not in a hurry with the man from within just dragging the lady and her handbag along until she gave it up!! Then they drove off slowly no hurry!!! Conclusion: My report about crime problem in my area which I have describe in my report, we should do safety every time and inform to police about any crime or suspicious activities in area or any surrounding area.

Internship Report on Hr Practices in Popular Pharmaceuticals Ltd. Essay

The term industrial tour refers to the process of preparing report on an industry by visiting it physically, observing its production process and gathering relevant data from the management personnel, analyzing and evaluating data, and findings and drawing comment on the performance of the industry. As the part of 4th year, we have visited Industrial Hand Protection Ltd (IHPL). It was established in Bangladesh as a foreign Direct Investment(FDI).It is located in the area of Chittagong Export Processing Zone(CEPZ).It is established as Private Ltd company. It produces hand gloves for export only. It has no market in Bangladesh at present. It collects raw materials like yarn from different countries and convert raw material into finished goods. After that it exports those in different countries according to head office. Now a days Bangladesh is emerging as a leading economic region in South East Asia and there is an increasing competition between national and International Corporation. Since Industrial Hand Protection is a global company, it has to compete with the international corporation. Since the business environment is now highly competitive, customers are the king .As a result all companies are developing their products to satisfy their customer. IHPL is also developing its product and maintaining its quality according to their customer needs. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY The basic or main purpose of report is to learn practical knowledge about business world for balancing the gap of our industrial policy in the modern job market. The objectives of this industrial tour are as below: i) The prime objective of the study is to know the production process of the company, types of raw materials and sources of the raw materials. ii) To know the management system of the industry. iii) To assess the potentiality strength and weakness of the company. iv) To identify an overview of Industrial Hand Protection Ltd. IMPORTANCE OF THE TOUR Now a day’s practical knowledge is mostly emphasized on business perspective. For this reason, industrial tour does a great work to achieve practical knowledge. After visiting Industrial Hand Protection Ltd we have gathered a huge practical knowledge like controlling system, training facilities, management system, and promotional system, production system and so on. We further know about the compensation policy, pricing policy, purchase & sales procedure, sources of raw materials and transportation system as well. METHODOLOGY OF THE STUDY Today’s study is conducted primarily in participatory research analysis method and secondary on practical and theoretical analysis. The research supervisor proposed research topic and thus questionnaire was made. This questionnaire was placed before the official of IHPL & subject to the approval of the research supervisor to provide their answers. Practical visit took place subsequently. Primary and secondary data was collected from every possible source. The primary sources are as follows: ⠝â€" Face-to-face conversation with the respective offices and stuffs of the branch. ⠝â€" Piratical work experience in the different desk of the department of the branch covered. ⠝â€" Observation of the production and management sector of the company. ⠝â€" Face-to-face conversation with production related employees ⠝â€" Related field study as provided by the officer The secondary sources of data and the information are: ⠝‘ Annual report ⠝‘ Web site address ⠝‘ Book basis articles Brochure provided by the company, catalogue, prospectus Limitation of the Study We tried our level best to collect information as much as necessary to prepare a perfect report on Industrial Hand Protection Ltd. Since the people of Bangladesh have a negative approach regarding research, it is very difficult to conduct a research in our country. As a result we face a lot of problems in collecting information. They are very much indifferent to provide relevant information. So we prepared this report on the available information we are able to collect from different sources. The limitations of the study are given below: †¢ Industrial Tour is organized for only one day. As a result it is very difficult to collect as much as information required preparing report. †¢ Some information is very much confidential. So they do not provide that information. †¢ Most of the officials are so busy to provide us enough time for discussion. †¢ It is established in Bangladesh in 2010.So we are unable to collect much information. †¢ Employees have the negativ e concept regarding the research. So they would not like to provide much information. †¢ They have no well organized website, annual financial report, magazine, and any periodical report. So to collect secondary data we have got very limited area. Brief History About Industrial Tour Industrial tour is very crucial for the BBA program. So during the BBA program every student needs to visit in any organization to gain practical knowledge which will help to make a connection between the theoretical and practical knowledge. Since we are the students of 4th year of the BBA program, we visited an industry named Industrial Hand Protection Ltd. At first our teachers made a group of four members. Our teacher along with the students fixed a date to visit the company. It was 30th June, 2012. On the due date we gathered in front of the shopping complex at 7.30 am. Teacher and all members came there in time. After taking breakfast we started our journey for IHPL under the direct supervision of our teacher named Anupam Kumar Das, lecture, Department of Management Studies, University of Chittagong. Surprisingly we got a guest teacher named Mr.Shanewas Mahmod Sohel, Assistant Professor, Department of Management Studies, University of Chittagong. We reached at IHPL at 8.30 am. Mr.shihab Uddin, HRofficer, received us cordially and took us to the conference room. They provide us some snacks and tea as a breakfast. All personnel of the organization came and introduced with us at 9.00am.Mr.K.M.Arif Mohin Uddin gives a brief speech about what we will do during our tour and provided us the schedule of the activities of the tour. After completing the introduction, Mr.Akber Haqqani(DGM),Head of production provided a speech about the history of MIDAS, its mission, vision, and the present scen ario of it. He also described about the potentiality of it. He showed the overall picture of organization. We were listening the speech attentively. Because his presentation was very nice, easy to understand, clear and interesting. He also gave us an opportunity to ask any questions about IHPL. After the presentation we took a tea break according to the schedule at10.30 am. Then Mr.shihab Uddin, HRofficer, gave a presentation about the functions of Admin& Personnel Department. He described what HR Department does for motivating employees and achieves higher productivity. He also described how they evaluate their strength and weakness, opportunity and threats. After that he gave us opportunities to ask something and we asked different questions and noted answers. After that Mr.K.M.Arif Moin Uddin told very briefly about how to develop our career plan. Then Mr.Shihab Uddin and Mr.K.M.Arif Mohin Uddin (Manager Admin& Personnel) took us to visit the factory. We visited the whole factory and directly observed how they are producing different hand gloves and prepared them for final sell and the packaging process. They produce the gloves through two processes. One is automated process and another is semi-automated process. We saw that at first production engineer prepared a mixture of chemical .Then raw gloves was sunk into it. There were two boilers which are used for heating the gloves. Production engineer told us about the whole production process in detail. They also told us they will increase the number of boilers if the  government provides available gas and electricity. We saw that the production process is not so simple. It is very complex. Gigantic set up of compliance and its movement is glared and flickered to us. All production engineers clarifies how the gloves are made and about their features. After that we went to the warehouse. We saw that they had a very large warehouse. By visiting factory we had got a overall view of the production process, maintaining quality, and stored process. After that we took lunch with Mr.K.M.Arif Mohin Uddin and Mr.shihab Uddin, HRofficer, at pm. After taking lunch, we went back to our conference room. After tea break Mr.Adnan Peerzada from Pakistan, Deputy Manager, Fin.&com. gave a brief presentation on the responsibility of a good manger at2.00 pm. He is very sincere, co-operative and cordial. He shared with us about his personal life. He told us how he developed his career in practical. He also said shortly about supply chain management. He tried to provide a clear concept of supply chain management with a practical example. After that Mr.K.M.Arif Mohin Uddin invited us to discuss the total production process of the total plant in the conference room. He described the whole production process in brief and we noted it. After that different heads of the department as Manager Admin &Personnel, Deputy Manager of Fin. & Com. Production Engineers, AM-QA&QC, and HRO came to conference room and invited us to ask different questions about IHPL. We along with our teachers asked a number of questions regarding any confusion. They answered all questions nicely and very clearly. At last we can say that all the personnel of the organization were very much co-operative, friendly, and helpful. Our industrial tour formally was finished at 4.00 pm. GENERAL IDEA ABOUT INDUSTRIAL HAND PROTECTION LTD. (IHPL) MIDAS was started in 1975 in Pakistan. The owner of the organization was from Gujarat. The operated area of it is in India, Pakistan, Srilanka, Bangladesh, Canada and Middle east country. The name of the sub-project of MIDAS is Industrial Hand Protection Ltd. It was located in Chittagong Export Processing Zone (CEPZ).It is only related with production of different types of hand gloves. It does all production according to the policy of head office which is situated in Canada. Head office determines all types of  production, marketing, financial policy. Industrial Hand Protection Ltd implements the policy that is taken by head office. IHPL collects raw materials from Malaysia and others countries. Then it converts these into finished products and export other countries directed by head office. It produces different types of industrial gloves for the purpose of export. IHPL is fully export oriented industry. It runs its production in two ways. One is automated production and another i s semi-automated production. It exports mainly in USA, Canada, Australia, South Africa, India, Holland, Spain etc. At present it does not sell any products in our country. It also maintains large warehouses for ensuring same day services .Their market share in the world is 35 millions. Sales Volume in 2012 is 300 millions and their targeted profit in 2020 is 1200 millions. Their sourcing office is China in 2010. They mostly export in India and USA. Their manufacturing Locations are India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Canada Company Profile Industrial Hand Protection Ltd. Company Profile 1. Name the company: Industrial Hand Protection Ltd.(IHPL) 2. Present Address: Plot No.6, Sector 1A, Road No.5, C.E.P.Z, Chittagong-4223, Bangladesh. 3. Head Office address: Chittagong Export Processing Zone(CEPZ) 4. Location of the factory: Chittagong Export Processing Zone(CEPZ) 5. Year of establishment: 2010 6. Initiative organization to establish this industry: Foreign Direct Investment(FDI) 7. Type of operation: Production Oriented. 8. Year of starting its production: November, 2010. 9. Total number of employees: 600 10. Nature of ownership: Wholly Owned 11. Type of company: Both Labor and Capital Intensive. 12. Legal status of the company: Private Ltd. Company 13. Purpose of production:100%Export oriented 14. Production Area: Chittagong Export Processing Zone (CEPZ) 15. Head office : Canada. 16. Two types : Garments and Gloves. 17. Gloves production in Bangladesh: Automated process Semi-Automated process 18. Market: United States of America, Europe, Asia, Africa, 19. Exporting Countries: USA, CANADA, AUSTRALIA, SOUTH AFRICA, SPAIN, RUSSIA, HOLAND, INDIA 20. Market share in the world: 35 millions 21. Sales 2012: 300 millions. 22. Sales 2020: 1200 millions. 23. Most Exported Countries: India and USA. 24. Annual Export Volume: $90,00000 25. Manufacturing Location: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Canada. 26. Product concern: Largest. Winning Strategies †¢ Effective Human Resource department resulted in a strong professional management and marketing team. †¢ Independent governing advisory boards in different countries. †¢ Strong purchase and finance departments in all MIDAS location with excellent relationship with banks. †¢ Establishment of different training centre for customer’s stuff, employees and new employees. †¢ Time and money spend to create brand value †¢ Establishment of large warehouse and same day service. †¢ Huge investment in research and development including 30% of time for improving existing product and 70% on new innovative product and process. †¢ Straight short line production with improved quality product. †¢ Team spirit, open communication and co-ordination among team members. †¢ Marketing by Web on cloud computing. Key Personnel of IHPL . Key Human Resource personnel of IHPL Mission And Vision of (IHPL) Vision 2020: To be one of the leading 5 safety companies in the world Mission: 1. Great team work. 2. Quality And innovative production. 3. Brand recognition in emerging world market. Gaining Drivers of Industrial Hand protection ltd(IHPL) †¢ Innovation: IHPL expends a lot amount for the purpose of innovative workers. About 70%of R&D is used for innovation of the product. †¢ Experienced Employees: Most of the employees of the IHPL are so much experienced. Because continuous training program is followed by the organization. †¢ Co-operation: Co-operation is the main driver of the higher productivity. Co-operation among the departments and that of the employees is important for achieving the goal effectively and efficiently. Since IHPL follows the participative management it can able to ensure co-operation. †¢ Quality Maintained: They maintain the standard quality of the product. They produce the customized product. They have a good monitoring team to continuously monitor the quality of the product. †¢ Human Resources Leadership: A good leaders exist in the organization. They create vision and directed the all employees toward the achievement of the organizational goal. †¢ Update Technology: They import the updated technology and used in the production process. As a result they have been able to automatize the production process the productivity of the employees has increased rapidly. †¢ Team Work: Team work is the best for increasing productivity of the employees. They have made a number of groups consisting of 24 members in each group and assign their target that must be achieved within a specific period of time period of time. Overal View of Organizational Strategy [pic] Main Themes of The Company †¢ Service. †¢ Quality. †¢ Cost Competitiveness. †¢ Innovation †¢ Organizational Structure. Core Safety Values SWOT Analysis of the IHPL Competencies of the Industrial Hand Protection ltd. †¢ Customer Focus †¢ Delegation. †¢ Motivating Others †¢ Customization. †¢ Perseverance. Management The key points of management practices of IHPL are discussed below: Management Style: IHPL follows the Line & Staff Management style. There are four level of management in this organization. There is no managing committee in this organization. Planning Process: Planning is the set of activities such as selecting missions and objectives and the actions to achieve them, it also includes decision making. IHPL also has a strong planning process in which the authority has to formulate these plans. Most of the times top-level management makes decision. IHPL takes plans for intermediate term. Goals and Objectives: Objectives or goals are as Milestone where organization and individual activities are directed and it wants to reach. Objectives are state end results. Clear and verifiable objectives facilitate measurement of the surplus as well as the effectiveness and efficiency of managerial actions. IHPL considers, to be one of the leading 5 safety Co’s of the world as a vision of setting organizational goals and objectives. Specialization and Departmentalization: This organization follows work specialization for every employee. Work specialization refers to every employees should specialized in the particular field. MIDAS does not follow generalization. And it generally follows the departmentalization. MIDAS has eight departments. Span of Control: Span of Control means the number of subordinates a manager can effectively and efficiently direct. Wider span are more efficient in term of cost. However at some point wider pan reduce effectiveness. That is, when the span becomes too large, employee performance suffers because supervisors no longer have the times to provide the necessary leadership and support. Narrow span have three major drawbacks. * They are expensive because they add level of management * They make vertical communication in the organization more complex * Narrow span of control encourage overly tight supervision and discourage employees autonomy. IHPL follows narrow span of control and manage effectively. Decision Making: Decision-making is defined as selection of a course of action from among alternatives; it is at the core of planning. Decision-making may be either centralized or decentralized. The decision making process of that organization is centralized by the authority while taking strategic decision. IHPL also follows participative management in decision making. [pic] Production Department Simply, Production is the process of converting raw materials into finished goods that have utility values. Production refers to the processes and methods employed to transform tangible input(materials,semifinished goods,or subassemblies)and intangible inputs(ideas, information, knowledge) into goods or services. Production management refers to the job of coordinating and controlling the activities required making a product, typically involving effective control of scheduling, cost, performance, quality, and waste requirements. IHPL production system is customer based. So IHPL production system is intermittent. IHPL production planning and production scheduling is order based. Basic raw materials and sources of raw materials: |Raw materials |Sources of raw materials | |Chemical |International and local suppliers | |Yarn |International and local suppliers | Problems in procuring raw-materials: †¢ Rising cost †¢ More time to collect raw material †¢ Frequent change in price Overcome in procuring raw materials: †¢ Building loyal relationship with suppliers †¢ Better transportation Types of Products There are different kinds of hand gloves are producing IHPL. Products are as follows – * Journey gloves * Industrial gloves * Chemical resistance gloves * Hit resistance gloves * Fashion garments gloves * Medical gloves * Cut resistance gloves * Sports gloves etc Uses of Gloves [pic] Production process of hand gloves Total 645 people (574 workers and 74 employees) are worked in IHPL for producing of hand gloves. Raw materials are important for gloves production. How IHPL produces hand gloves that means how chemical and yarn converts into hand gloves? There are two production process of producing hand gloves such as — †¢ Automated hand gloves production procedure and †¢ Semi-automated hand gloves production procedure. We can show it by following flowchart —— Automated hand gloves production procedure (oil based): Semi-automated/Manual hand gloves production procedures (water based): Oil based hand gloves are used for normal or rough use. On the other hand, water based hand gloves are used for different purposes such as glass factory, garments industry, steel industry, knitting industry, medical operation, sports, wok shops, chemical industry etc. HUMAN RESOURCE DEPARTMENT Human resource department is responsible for how people are treated in organizations. It is responsible for bringing people into the organization, helping them perform their work, compensating them for their labors and solving problems that arise. Management of human resources is that function of all enterprises which provides for effective utilization of people to achieve both the objectives of the enterprise and the satisfaction and development of the employees. Human resource management differs from traditional personal management. Opening of Human Resource Department signifies growing awareness of the importance of human factor in organizational performance. IHPL’s one of the winning strategies is effective HR dept. resulted in a strong professional management and marketing teams. The role of the HR department on the overall performance of the organization is emphasized by: †¢ Recruitment †¢ Maintenance †¢ Retention of employees FUNCTIONS OF HR DEPARTMENT †¢ Recruitment of workers / staffs through interview ( daily recruitment of workers) †¢ Workers and staff orientation and personal grooming training. †¢ Daily security setup checking †¢ Ensure cleaning in IHPL †¢ Logistics support †¢ Routine co-ordination among suppliers †¢ Attendance analysis and reporting †¢ Leave report maintaining †¢ Co-ordinate BEPZA and government offices †¢ Ensure staff’s salary bank account making †¢ Training information update and arrange recommended training †¢ Ensure health and safety at work †¢ Employee counseling †¢ Expatriate’s work permit †¢ Wastage management †¢ Updates of registration and record †¢ Employee records †¢ PETTY cash management †¢ Employee grievances †¢ Performance appraisal †¢ Job description and job specification †¢ Developing and implementing different policy Performance Management Performance management is the process employers use to make sure that employees are working towards organizational goals. Employee performance of IHPL is appraised on yearly basis and 3 month’s performance review is conducted for this purpose. [pic] High Performance Drivers It tries to maintain high performances through following 3c factors. IHPL do believe that, high performance is the outcome of the multiplication of clarity, capability and commitment. Those are: †¢ Competency. †¢ Capability. †¢ Commitment. It can be expressed as follows:Competency*Capability*Commitment = High Performance Absenteeism And Turnover Absenteeism: An absence refers to time an employee is not on the job during scheduled working hours , except for a granted leave of absence, holiday or vacation time. Turnover: Labor turnover is the rate at which an employer gains and loses employees. Simply we can say â€Å"how long employees tend to stay† or â€Å"the rate of traffic through the revolving door†. Overview of the absenteeism and turnover rate of IHPL Comparison of Satisfactory And Dissatisfactory factors of IHPL THE MAIN AREAS OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEPARTMENT The personnel manager is responsible for all the decisions regarding HRD but before taking any decision he consults with the HR officer. There is an organized HR policy in this type of production oriented company. IHPL’s HR policy is international although it’s an MNC. It’s human resource policy is: †¢ Recruit competent workforce †¢ Training and development of workforce †¢ Retain good workforce by logical benefits and compensation This department is of highest significance as IHPL do believe that â€Å" Our Strength is Our People† Co’s policy regarding HR planning, job analysis, recruitment, selection, training and performance management and reward system are discussed in the following segment of the paper: HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNING HR planning is the process of deciding what positions the firm will have to fill and how to fill them. The main task of HRD is a good HR planning. HR planning, in turn, involves job analysis and forecasting the demand and supply of labor. JOB ANALYSIS An organization consists of positions that have to be staffed. Job analysis is the procedure for determining the duties and skill requirements of a job and the kind of person who should be hired for it. It’s one of the most important task that performed by the HR staff. Through job analysis, the vacant position is found out and the job description and the job specification is prepared. In case of job analysis, IHPL follows 3types of methods: †¢ Observation method †¢ Structured questionnaire method †¢ Individual interview method Job description Job description is a written statement of what the worker actually does, how he or she does it and what the job’s working conditions are. Job specification The job specification takes the job description and answers the question, â€Å"what human traits and experiences are required to do the job well?† It shows what kind of person to recruit and for what qualities that person should be tested. IHPL conducts job analysis to come up with job evaluation. And for each and every position in it there are job description and job specification. In the selection of employees it follows job specification. RECRUITMENT In case of recruiting employees the company uses †¢ School placement †¢ Employee references †¢ Advertisements To search for required candidates. For advertisements for employee recruitment, IHPL uses: †¢ Daily newspapers †¢ Internet / on-line For skilled jobs for IHPL, the most popular recruiting sources are: †¢ Reference checking †¢ Labor market campaign †¢ Existing employee reference The most popular sources of managerial jobs are: †¢ Newspaper advertisement †¢ Walk in interview SELECTION After recruitment, the company goes for selection procedure. The preparation of a short list of candidates is based on the following criteria: †¢ Competency †¢ Chittagong zone living people †¢ Positively aggressive hard working person For employee selection, the company follows 3 types of selecton tests: †¢ Written tests †¢ Oral tests †¢ Medical tests In the selection process, the sequential steps involved can be shown in the following diagram: [pic] In case of daily worker selection, the procedure is: After selection, the employees are assigned to different types of jobs on the basis of job description. While selecting employees, the problem that the company faces is the lack of competent people TRAINING AND PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT Training is the process of teaching new employees the basic skills they need to perform their jobs. In IHPL there is an organized training and development program to develop employee skills and productivity. In determining the training needs of the employees, IHPL considers productivity. 3types of training methods are applied here: †¢ classroom lecture †¢ on the job training †¢ external training after the completion of the training program, employees are assigned to predetermined positions. Performance management is the process employers use to make sure that employees are working towards organizational goals. Employee performance of IHPL is appraised on yearly basis and 3 month’s performance review is conducted for this purpose. IHPL do believe that, high performance is the outcome of the multiplication of clarity, capability and commitment. That is: High Performance = competency* capability * commitment REWARD SYSTEM Before constructing it’s reward system, IHPL evaluates the jobs using Point Method. It sets it’s basic pay based on: †¢ experience †¢ performance †¢ position †¢ academic qualification traditional method of administrative pay is used in here. BEPZA has a great influence on it’s payment system. In order to retain highly experienced people, IHPL uses: †¢ motivation †¢ promotion †¢ providing extra facilities †¢ training benefits provided to the employees are: †¢ house rent †¢ DA / TA Employees get bonus on yearly basis. Facilities are reactive here. Quality Control †¢ QC is a procedure or set of procedures intended to ensure that a manufactured product or performed service adheres to a defined set of quality criteria or meets the requirements of the client or customer. †¢ In Order to implement an effective QC program, an enterprise must first decide which specific standards the products or service must meet. Then the extent of QC actions must be determined. (Ex: the percentage of units to be tested from each lot). Quality Control Procedure in IHPL ââ€" ª In IHPL Quality control procedure is done through internal & buyer consent. ââ€" ª 100% audit (Third party audits from buyer side). ââ€" ª Raw material inspection. ââ€" ª Dangerous article protection (steel fragmented, niddle parts, safety measures). ââ€" ª Accepted Quality level. ââ€" ª Quality accessories and chemical used. ââ€" ª Automated weaving machine. ââ€" ª ISO 9001 : 2008 is followed in case of product Quality control. ââ€" ª Customer expectation and ISO standard are followed for quality measurement. ââ€" ª They have a skilled inspection team for quality control. ââ€" ª This team consists of 24 members. ââ€" ª IHPL has two different maintenance policy for equipment including i. Preventive maintenance policy ii. Repair maintenance policy. Inspection services & testing in IHPL IHPL maintains some inspection services and testing procedures for ensuring product quality including:- Preshipment Inspection: An inspection to guarantee the conformity of production to their specification. Production monitoring: Constant oversight in factory with daily reports on quality and production status. During production check: Control and recommendation for production process and capacity. Initial production check: Inspection of machinery and materials to be used for their product prior to production. Container loading check: Guarantee the finished goods meet their specification (Product type & quality) and are loaded. Labor Management IHPL produces safety hand gloves under Midas Safety has been Protecting the Working Hands of the World. IHPL is a manufacturing unit of Midas Safety, and a thoroughly labor intensive unit also. About 574 labors are working in it with two distinct shifts – Day shift and Night shift. For manage a large number of labor there have a strong labor management unit. This unit recruits, selects, trains, reward and terminate labor. There have no labor union and no CBA also. Labor cannot participate in decision making. IHPL provide food facilities to its worker. It has own canteen for its worker and provide two snacks with tea and lunch for day shift and three snacks with tea and dinner for night shift. Though IHPL situated in CPEZ, thus it need to follow instruction provided by BEPZA. BEPZA labor administration: The BEPZA fixed minimum wages in October 1993 for categories of trainees, unskilled, semiskilled, and skilled workers at US$22 to US$63 per month. These rates have never been revised. The minimum has become the effective maximum. The classification of workers is also done entirely by the employer. Similarly, working hours, paid holiday and other leave, payment of wages, and maternity benefits are all decided unilaterally by management. The BEPZA document, Labor and Industrial Relations, rules that â€Å"BEPZA issues directives from time to time determining minimum wages.† It is understood that the minimum wage, US$22, issued in 1993 still remains valid, although in national laws, periodical revisions are provided for. This salary is less than US$1.00 per day, the criterion used internationally to identify the poor. These issues require collective bargaining and action including strikes if employers do not respond to workers’ demands. Official documents do not indicate h ow an offending employer is punished. There is no regular inspection by BEPZA Labor Administration, nor is there any requirement by employers to report on compliance. Because of this, exemption from the Industrial Relations Ordinance appears highly detrimental to workers’ interests. In February 1986 the government exempted the BEPZA from the Employment of Labor (standing order) Act. A notification in January 1989 also exempted EPZ enterprises from the Factories Act 1965. These two acts related to basic conditions of employment (daily, monthly, casual, etc.), dismissal procedure, and provision of safety, health, and sanitary conditions, including facilities for women workers and their children. Compensation for dismissal is mentioned in the BEPZA booklet on labor and industrial relations. But the reasons for discharge are not covered including arbitral dismissal. According to the BEPZA booklet, reasons for dismissal include physical and mental incapacity and continued ill health, with compensation of one month’s pay for every year of service or any part thereof in excess of six months. But the booklet does not clarify whether such dismissals are scrutinized by BEPZA prior to an employer’s order. Similarly dismissal on grounds of misconduct is permitted â€Å"after due enquiry proceedings,† (presumably by the employer). These provisions are li able to violation of workers’ rights by the employers. Remuneration: †¢ The parliament passed the EPZ Workers Association and Industrial Relations Act 2004(Amended up to October 2010). †¢ Competitive wages in respect of semi skilled, skilled and high skilled. †¢ The average monthly wages has been practiced as follow: ââ€" ª Unskilled US$ 39.00-48.00 ââ€" ª Semi-skilled US$ 55.00 ââ€" ª Skilled US$ 61.00-109.00 †¢ Other benefits include Conveyance Allowance, House Rent, Medical Allowance, Maternity Benefit, Festival Bonus, Provident Fund and Overtime. Considering the production cost investor is being deemed to be satisfied with the overall productivity of the labors. Human Rights in EPZ: (a) Pressure to enhance welfare It appears that the BEPZA and investors in EPZs are under social and international pressure not only to enhance the welfare of the workers, but also to consult the workers in the process. According to the BEPZA Bulletin October – December 1999, a Conference of Investors on issues pertaining to labor relations in EPZs of Bangladesh was held in Dhaka in December 1999. The Minister of Labor, the Minister of Industries and the American Ambassador to Bangladesh attended the conference. According to the Bulletin, the â€Å"investors in the EPZs of Bangladesh have proposed forming a Tripartite Welfare Committee to look after and protect the interest of workers†. And â€Å"the US Ambassador in his speech encouraged the investors to form a committee to help devise an acceptable method of ensuring the welfare of the workers in the EPZs of Bangladesh†. (b) Pressure from foreign/international agencies As early as 1991, AFL – CIO, the largest trade union federation in USA, petitioned to revoke Bangladesh’s general system of preferences (GSP – tariff concessions) because of various alleged infringement of labor rights, including the denial of freedom of association in the Chittagong EPZ. After a review of the petition, the US government decided to continue Bangladesh’s GSP privileges, following Bangladesh government’s assurance to allow freedom of association in the EPZs by 1997 (Daily Star, 28 October 1999). In June 1999, AFL-CIO filed another petition to revoke the GSP privileges of Bangladesh, based solely on the country’s failure to act in accordance with the assurance. Since then the US ambassador has repeatedly threatened withdrawal of GSP privileges on the same grounds. On the other hand in a meeting with BEPZA chairman, the Japanese ambassador categorically stated, â€Å"Japan does not want trade unions in the EPZs at this moment’ (Daily Star, 20 February 2000) and he expressed satisfaction at the congenial atmosphere in the two EPZs of the country.† A Korean entrepreneur observed that international labor standards maintained in developed countries should not be applied in Bangladesh because the issues of industrial relations here were different. According to another report in the Daily Star of 19 October 1999, the Bangladesh government had signed an agreement with the US Trade Department in 1994 to withdraw the exemption from Employment of Labor (standing orders) Act 1965, and from the Industrial Relations Act 1969, by 1995 and 1997 respectively. Exemption from the Factories Act was withdrawn in 2000. On the other hand, the Chittagong EPZ investors told the US ambassador that permitting trade unions would also be a breach of contract by the Bangladesh government, which had promised a peaceful atmosphere in the Industrial Zones (Daily Star, 28 October 1999). Meanwhile acquisition of a huge area of land for a Korean EPZ has displaced 425 families and the process has been challenged in court by a religious group, as it sought to acquire a church. Complaints of corruption and harassment in payment of compensation to displaced landowners for land acquired for Comilla EPZ has also appeared in the press. (c) Pressure for consultation with workers In the conference, it was proposed that ‘the Welfare Committee will comprise of worker representatives, BEPZA, and BEPZA enterprises.’ This indicates a current lack of arrangements for consultation in any forum with representatives of workers. In the three bodies comprising the BEPZA, no representative of workers is included. The Ministry of Labor is not even represented in these bodies. (d) Divided opinion among ministers In the 1999 conference, the Minister of Labor made a vague statement that ‘the government will take some measures to protect the interest of workers  and the investors equally; while the Industries Minister was more categorical in saying, â€Å"The prime objective of the government is to increase employment opportunities through increased investment. Any issue relating to EPZs of Bangladesh should be considered cautiously.† (e) Opposition to ‘traditional trade unions’ Other speakers in the conference cautioned that foreign investment will be discouraged if ‘traditional trade unions’ are introduced. In Bangladesh, labor laws provide for election of a ‘Collective Bargaining Agent’ (CBA) from among the registered unions in an industrial undertaking and traditionally the CBAs have exceeded their legal rights and created labor unrest, allegedly for the interest of the CBAs. Major reasons for such a situation are an ineffective labor administration and political interference in implementation of labor laws. (f) BEPZA documents Several BEPZA documents mention that BEPZA pursues a production-oriented labor law. The authority administers labor matters in the EPZs of Bangladesh. Labor unions are neither allowed to form or operate within EPZs. This is a strong indication that the right to: organize and bargain collectively is denied to workers in EPZS. The BEPZA documents do not mention how the labor matters are administered in the absence of trade unions, particularly in matters that require collective bargaining, such as safety and health, minimum wage, dispute settlement, etc. From occasional reports in newspapers, it appears that labor unrest takes place once in a while due to causes like arbitrary dismissal of workers. (g) Exemption from certain labor laws On 25 February 1986, the government exempted Chittagong EPZ from the provisions of the Industrial Relations Ordinance 1969 which recognized ILO Conventions on Freedom of Association (No. 87) and on the Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively (No. 98). The ILO considers these conventions as basic human rights. It is possibly true that widespread misuse of liberal provisions for forming unions of workers gave rise to a multiplicity of unions and inter-union rivalry. Similarly, some collective bargaining agents are also criticized for misusing their representative strength. However, these situations arise due to political reasons and due to poor enforcement of laws by management and the state. Absence of laws permitting trade unions is no guarantee that such situations will not appear in the EPZs as well if the political situation deteriorates and if law enforcement slackens. The relevant issue is whether BEPZA’s labor administration has promoted any alternative relief for the workers. Export & Import IHPL is an export oriented company. They export their products to various countries. These are as follows- †¢ U.S.A †¢ Canada †¢ Australia †¢ South Africa †¢ Spain †¢ Russia †¢ Holland †¢ India †¢ U.A.E They mostly export to INDIA & USA. Their annual export volume is approx. 90 lac us dollar. They determine their international market demand and supply by its powerful sales team which is provided by its parent organization –MIDAS, situated in Canada. IHPL transport goods by air & water. They procure raw materials from different countries. It need not have to pay any taxes for importing raw materials. IHPL is situated in EPZ area where companies are given special facilities and incentives in favor of their export goods; also IHPL gets special incentive facilities from Bangladesh Govt for increasing their export. They use C&F agent for exporting their goods and collecting their raw materials. At the time of exporting product, they faces several problem. This are- †¢ Timely transportation(unavailability of movers) †¢ Dependency on middle organization: It may be caused by C&F agent. †¢ Lengthy process in port: Because of political problem mainly trade union. †¢ Corruption in every stage of processing †¢ Supply of wrong information by importer or exporter Above mentioned problems can be solved by – †¢ Providing adequate transportation facility †¢ Reducing interference of middle men †¢ Handling of shipping problem in time †¢ Providing reliable information at the time of export and import †¢ Eliminating corruption by enforcing rules and regulation IHPL is a big growing factory in Bangladesh and Bangladesh Govt. should support this kind of factory to develop the country by following steps- †¢ To increase mobility of port: There are many kinds of problems in time of shipping goods and services. In our country labor does it. That is politicize trade union in port. this type of situation govt. can take initiative to increase mobility of port. †¢ Production of export cargo: In our country ,we have no emergency career service. IHPL may expect to govt. this type of facility. †¢ Sound quality control and grading of export consignment: In Bangladesh BSTI can do it. They may expect to govt. that BSTI will be more effective than previous. †¢ Effective cost control: In our country cost increase due to delay delivery, delay production, delay documentation. To reduce this govt. can introduce one stop service centre in port and also need to make it more effective. †¢ Developing sound network and linkage with overseas market: To do it govt. can need to do EPB and Commerce Ministry more effective. Corporate social responsibility of IHPL: Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is defined as the way companies integrate social, environmental, and economic concerns into their values and operations in a transparent and accountable manner. It is integral to long-term business growth and success, and it also plays an important role in promoting business values locally and internationally and also contributing to the sustainable development of communities. The Government of Bangladesh works with the public and private sector, business community, civil society , with foreign governments and communities as well as other stakeholders to foster and promote CSR. WIKIPEDIA define CSR as CSR is a form of corporate self integrated into a business model. CSR policy functions as a built-in, self-regulating mechanism whereby a business monitors and ensures its active compliance with the spirit of the law, ethical standards, and international norms. The goal of CSR is to embrace responsibility for the company’s actions and encourage a positive impact through its activities on the environment, consumers, employees, communities, stakeholder and all other members of the public sphere who may also be considered as stakeholders. Corporate Social Responsibility: THE BANGLADESH CONTEXT CSR practices in Bangladesh in its modern global terms, are relatively new, but not so for the concept itself. Because, being a part of the global market, it is difficult to ignore CSR standard specifically in the export sector like (MIDAS, young one, specific jeans) com. In general, it is true that in Bangladesh, the status of labor rights practices, environmental  management and transparency in corporate governance are not satisfactory level, largely due to poor enforcement of existing laws and inadequate pressure from civil society and interest groups like Consumer Forums (CAB) consumer association of Bangladesh. Globally, as CSR practices are gradually being integrated into international business practices and hence is becoming one of the determining factors for market accesses, it is becoming equally instrumental for local acceptability. A focus on CSR in Bangladesh would be useful, not only for improving corporate governance, labor rights, work place safety, fair treatment of workers, community development and environment management, but also for industrialization and ensuring global market access. Lack of enforcement of Industrial Laws and Regulations, weak unions, absence of consumer rights and high level of corruption within the regulatory bodies make CSR violation rampant in Bangladesh. CSR is neglected in two most significant foreign exchange sources is the RMG sector and the overseas manpower export. Unbelievably low compensation, working hours, health/hygiene/sanitation conditions, fire safety and various types of abuse are so common and to the extent of inhumanity that will shock any conscientious individual to the core. Recently, the RMG sector employees have embarked on a industry wide movement to establish their rights. Like savor, narayangong (kunchpur) in march-April in 2012. CSR Of Industrial Hand Protection Ltd. ( IHPL) IHPL is committed to ethical behavior and to sustainable economic development, while improving the quality of life of its workforce and their families, as well as the local community and society at large. IHPL is one of the organizations of MIDAS. It established in November 2010 in EPZ in Chittagong. Its a 100% export oriented safety material producer export gloves, heal mate, chemical resistant cover in India & others countries as per the requirement of MIDAS. Since its inception its carry our different types of CSR to govt., employees, BEPZA, EPZ & to the society. CSR to Govt.: * Provide tax, duty, others fees timely * Follow govt. prescribe rules & regulation * Promote diplomatic relation with exporting countries * Contribute t the up-liftment of GDP * Favorable balance of payment CSR to society: * create employment for 600 people( 50% male,50% female) * environment safety operation * raising living standard * Qurbani,a very new establishment, donation to orphanage. CSR to environment: * pollution free manufacturing * sound waste management policy * minimum emission of co2 * ISO 9001:2008 certified operation CSR to employees: * timely wage paid * provide free lunch & dinner * provide on job training * provide safety material for worker in time of working * improve skill among worker * provide pure drinking water * transportation facilities for employees CSR to BEPZA: * follow BEPZA role & regulation * follow labor act 2006 * operation is consistent with Bangladeshi culture, norms, value. Proper CSR practice in Bangladesh can also contribute a lot to community development. The corporate house can develop the community by creating employment, providing primary education, contribution to infrastructure development like road and high-ways and addressing environmental concerns. This is more relevant for a country like Bangladesh where the government interventions in these fields augmented by corporate alliance can go a long way in developing the economy, society and environment. Problems of IHPL IHPL faces generally two types of problems. They may be internal or external problems. Internal Problems: ââ€" ª Inadequate training and development program. ââ€" ª Poor investment in research and development. ââ€" ª Lack of infrastructural development of the organization. ââ€" ª Have no own power supply system. ââ€" ª High turnover rate of the organization. ââ€" ª Have no local supply of raw material. External Problems: ââ€" ª Political instability in Bangladesh. ââ€" ª Increasing inflation ââ€" ª Corruption in the port. ââ€" ª Lengthy process for exporting of the goods. ââ€" ª Economic factors: Exchange rate fluctuation, trade policy, trade relation with other country, tax rate, tariff and others non-tariff barriers ââ€" ª Non-availability and non-frequency of transportation. ââ€" ª Other Cultural differences like working attitudes, language, education and dexterity etc. ââ€" ª Lack of proper supply of gas, water, electricity and so on. ââ€" ª Labor union causes a lot of problems in case of export oriented organization. Recommendation Some recommended suggestions are given below: †¢ Continuous quality improvement concept should be applied for the improvement of the quality of the product. †¢ Investment in research and development has to extend to initiate a new idea. †¢ IHPL should provide adequate incentive, salary, bonuses and non-financial facilities to reduce the high turnover rate. †¢ IHPL should try to produce raw material in production country. †¢ IHPL should introduce the updated technology in the production to increase productivity. †¢ IHPL should think the possibilities of sells its products in Bangladesh. †¢ IHPL should introduce the housing facilities for the employees. †¢ IHPL should try to apply JIT concept in the inventory system. †¢ IHPL should try its best to minimize the lead time of the shipment of hand gloves. †¢ IHPL should be more social responsible and environment friendly company. CONCLUSION By Observing the above discussion we can concludes that the company has been maintaining excellent performance since its beginning. This is the proud of the company that it never incurred a loss since 2010 to 2012. The overall performance of accounting, management, and cost systems of Industrial Hand Protection Ltd. is to some extend conventional issue. The products of the company have wide market demand all over the world. The company earns a lot of foreign exchange which plays an important role in our national economy. Industrial Hand Protection Ltd will be the role model for export oriented industry sector within few years. Because of its quality product, uniqueness of their product, export volume and so on. One of the main problem is that IHPL uses automated machineries which hamper targeted production in case of electricity disruption. It imports all raw materials but it some times faced problems due to time limitation. If IHPL can overcome its drawbacks it will increase a large extent the volume of profit. Since this company is established in CEPZ area they have to maintain all the rules and regulations provided by the BEPZA. So the authority can not enjoy freedom of taking decision. Their turnover rate is quite high, it needs to be checked. If it does not take initiative to improve this situation it will face difficulties because they have several competitors outside the country. The production capacity of IHPL is limited because of their limited area. So this need to be considered by concerned authority . By analyzing sales trend and financial statement, profit and production diagram of IHPL, we can say that the overall performance of IHPL is satisfactory. It never incurs losses since its beginning. We also know that it is a newly established company. We hope Industrial Hand Protection Ltd. will carry out its production process smoothly by removing its some silly drawbacks. Reference: ———————– Electronic Works Mr.A.K.M.Arif Mohin Uddin Manager Admin & Personnel. Mr.Akbar Haqqani Deputy General Manager (DGM) Country Head in Bangladesh Mr Adnan Peerzada Deputy Manager. Department of Finance and Commercial. Senging point Load point Liner Bobbling Ship Industry Sports Road Construction Steel Industry. Fashion Industry Heat Resistance Chemical Industry. Journey Mr.Shihab Uddin Khan HR officer. ance Chemical Industry. Journey Mr.Shihab Uddin Khan HR officer. Quality service Quality Customer Price Quality Valuable customer Manufacture ââ€" Man ââ€" Machine ââ€" Material ââ€" Money Direct sale Formal Relation Interdepende-ncy Mertocracy T Trust Care For Others Ethics Team work Strength Weakness †¢ Unskilled labor †¢ Inexperience †¢ Poor industry environment †¢ Lack of local demand †¢ Lack of infrastructural development. †¢ Fresh Environment †¢ Higher Productivity of worker. †¢ Availability of labor †¢ Effective collaboration among employees. †¢ Effective and efficient labor supply †¢ Participative management system †¢ Unbalance market distribution †¢ Lack of energy †¢ Floating worker †¢ Devaluation †¢ High turnover rate †¢ Political instability †¢ Long lead time to export †¢ Emerging market †¢ Research and Development †¢ Established plan †¢ Building loyalty †¢ Growing demand †¢ Vast labor force with labor cost Threats Opportunity Spinning Pre-Jelling Air flow Showering Stamping Packaging Finished Goods Oven Liner Drying check Load point Methanol Deeping Pre-Jelling Evaporation Horizontal Jelling Oven Packaging Stamping Finished Goods What is expected? The way it is expected to develop. What has been achieved? The way it has been achieved. High Performance Absenteeism in percent Turnover in percent Month in 2012. January 19.46% 9.56% February 15.25 7.73 8.00 March 15.45 19.23 8.43 April 12.00 8.00 May Satisfaction Factors Dissatisfaction Factors †¢ Shortage of holidays †¢ Low medical allowance †¢ Long working hours †¢ Improper assistance from production. †¢ Lack of incentives †¢ Organizational environment †¢ Transportation problem in case of long distance †¢ Discipline †¢ Cooperation between staff and office employees †¢ Timely salary payment †¢ Freedom to work †¢ Basis of future platform †¢ Learning and participating †¢ Food and transportation facility Initial Screening Employment Tests Completing Application Form Comprehensive Interview Background Investigation Conditional Job Offer Medical or Physical Test Permanent job Offer Screening Collecting People Talk Personally Selection by Engineers Choose Effective Worker

An Overview of Christallers Central Place Theory

An Overview of Christallers Central Place Theory Central place theory is a spatial theory in urban geography that attempts to explain the reasons behind the distribution patterns, size, and a number of cities and towns around the world. It also attempts to provide a framework by which those areas can be studied both for historical reasons and for the locational patterns of areas today. Origin of the Theory The theory was first developed by the German geographer  Walter Christaller  in 1933 after he began to recognize the economic relationships between cities and their hinterlands (areas farther away). He mainly tested the theory in southern Germany and came to the conclusion that people gather together in cities to share goods and ideas and that communities- or central places- exist for purely economic reasons. Before testing his theory, however, Christaller had to first define the central place. In keeping with his economic focus, he decided that the central place exists primarily to provide goods and services to its surrounding population. The city is, in essence, a distribution center. Christallers Assumptions To focus on the economic aspects of his theory, Christaller had to create a set of assumptions. He decided that the countryside in the areas he was studying would be flat, so no barriers would exist to impede peoples movement across it. In addition, two assumptions were made about human behavior: Humans will always purchase goods from the closest place that offers them.Whenever the demand for a certain good is high, it will be offered in close proximity to the population. When demand drops, so too does the availability of the good. In addition, the threshold is an important concept in Christallers study. This is the minimum number of people needed for a central place business or activity to remain active and prosperous. This led to Christallers idea of low- and high-order goods. Low-order goods are things that are replenished frequently such as food and other routine household items. Since people buy these items regularly, small businesses in small towns can survive because people will buy frequently at closer locations instead of going into the city. High-order goods, by contrast, are specialized items such as automobiles, furniture, fine jewelry, and household appliances that people buy less often. Because they require a large threshold and people do not purchase them regularly, many businesses selling these items cannot survive in areas where the population is small. Therefore, these businesses often locate in big cities that can serve a large population in the surrounding hinterland. Size and Spacing Within the central place system, there are five sizes of communities:   HamletVillageTownCityRegional capital A hamlet is the smallest place, a rural community that is too small to be considered a village. Cape Dorset (population 1,200), located in Canadas Nunavut Territory is an example of a hamlet. Examples of regional capitals- which are not necessarily political capitals- would include Paris or Los Angeles. These cities provide the highest order of goods possible and serve a huge hinterland. Geometry and Ordering The central place is located at the vertexes (points) of equilateral triangles. Central places serve the evenly distributed consumers who are closest to the central place. As the vertexes connect, they form a series of hexagons- the traditional shape of many central place models. The hexagon is ideal because it allows the triangles formed by the central place vertexes to connect, and it represents the assumption that consumers will visit the closest place offering the goods they need. In addition, central place theory has three orders or principles. The first is the marketing principle and is shown as K3 (where K is a constant). In this system, market areas at a certain level of the central place hierarchy are three times larger than the next lowest one. The different levels then follow a progression of threes, meaning that as you move through the order of places, the number of the next level increases threefold. For example, when there are two cities, there would be six towns, 18 villages, and 54 hamlets. There is also the transportation principle (K4) where areas in the central place hierarchy are four times bigger than the area in the next lowest order. Finally, the administrative principle (K7) is the last system where the variation between the lowest and highest orders increase by a factor of seven. Here, the highest order trade area completely covers that of the lowest order, meaning that the market serves a larger area. Losch’s Central Place Theory In 1954, German economist August Losch modified Christallers central place theory because he believed it was too rigid. He thought that Christallers model led to patterns where the distribution of goods and the accumulation of profits were based entirely on location. He instead focused on maximizing consumer welfare and creating an ideal consumer landscape where the need to travel for any good was minimized, and profits remained relatively equal, regardless of the location where goods are sold. Central Place Theory Today Though Loschs central place theory looks at the ideal environment for the consumer, both his and Christallers ideas are essential to studying the location of retail in urban areas today. Often, small hamlets in rural areas do act as the central place for various small settlements because they are where people travel to buy their everyday goods. However, when they need to buy higher-value goods such as cars and computers, consumers who live in hamlets or villages have to travel into the larger town or city, which serves not only their small settlement but those around them as well. This model is shown all over the world, from rural areas of England to the U.S. Midwest or Alaska with the many small communities that are served by larger towns, cities, and regional capitals.