BOSCH GmbH- Human Resource Management Essay

In our work the foreign dispatch process is examined, how far the global requirements on the resource staff are met by Bosch. The measures, Bosch developed for the choice, preparation, moving and reintegration of its employees has been examined and set against the common practice of other enterprises. The work starts with a representation of the enterprise Bosch. The main part is a detailed representation of the measures of Bosch with respect to the four phases of the foreign dispatch. These are judged with the theory from technical literature and compared with the common practice of other enterprises. Subsequently the question is followed whether the expansion plans in the direction of the China require a customization of the staff management. Finally we draw a conclusion whether the measures of Bosch are suitable to fulfill the requirements or must be changed. 2. Bosch2.1 Historical developmentThe enterprise Bosch was set up under the name â€Å"workshop for precision engineering and electrical engineering† in Stuttgart in the year 1886 by the engineer Robert Bosch. The international orientation already started early. In 1898 they founded the first branch office in England (London). One year later they opened a dependance in France (Paris). The first branch office followed in the USA in 1906. The international development has continued until today. In 2003 75% of the manufacturing sites are outside Germany. With daughter and associated companies Bosch is present in more than 50 countries worldwide. Bosch is one of the biggest industrial enterprises in Germany today and is a global player especially in the automobile industry. Bosch has convinced with its innovations since their foundation and has a high position in the market. In 1897 Bosch developed the first low voltage magneto ignition which firstly made the use of internal combustion engines possible. The innovation strength has remained until today; so Bosch was the first component supplier bringing innovations like ESP the anti-lock braking system anti-lock braking system, the navigation system under the names â€Å"Travelpilot† and the electronic stability system on the market. Bosch recognized the significance of its employees for the innovation and market success early, too. In 1906 Bosch introduced the â€Å"eight hour day† when celebrating the delivery of the 100,000 sten magnet igniter. With the delivery of the 500,000 sten igniter they introduced work free Saturday afternoons. 2.2 The Bosch, group todayToday enterprise Bosch consists of the motor vehicle technology, industry technology and use and goods technology. Their core competence and most important unit is still the vehicle technology. This can be proved by regarding the sales volume. The share of this division was 65.4% in the year 2003. The sales development and its foreign share is displayed in graphic 1. Bosch doubled the sales volume within only 10 years, from approx. 16 billion  to 36 billion euros. However, the foreign share of the sales volume increased proportionally faster. From 49% in 1993 it rose up to 71% in 2003. These data underline again the strong international orientation of the company. According to this Bosch has employees all over the world. In 2003 Bosch employed 230,000 people worldwide with a share of 54% outside of Germany. 2.3 The corporate cultureThe idea of the corporate culture is interpreted differently in the literature. Berthel defines corporate culture as follows: Corporate culture is â€Å"the sum of the moral concepts, carried a business together of the employees norms and behavior patterns this one has taken shape in the course of the time†. The philosophy of Robert Bosch stamps the corporate culture since the foundation. So he wrote in 1919: â€Å"It has always been an unbearable thought to me that someone could inspect one of my products and find it inferior . I have therefore always tried to ensure that only look for work goes out that is superior into all respects â€Å". In the year 2001 this culture was strengthened by the new model â€Å"Be Better Be Bosch† and the values were formulated in a written form for the first time. They initiated a modernization project called â€Å"Be QIK†. This model functions as action framework for the after stored aims and strategies:†¢Be QIK, Quality, innovation and Customer oriented†¢Be Better — improve against previous years and gain the competitive edge,†¢Be Bosch, committed to our vision, our tradition and of the spirit of a the company and the legacy of our founder Robert Bosch. The enterprise therefore tries to create a global behaviorial framework, which takes over the orientation function, identification function, coordination and integration function and helps to manage the challenges of the future. 3. Foreign dispatch process at Bosch3.1 Aims of the foreign dispatchBy the assignment of highly qualified employees Bosch aims at a compensation of a lack of know-how in the respective host country. Furthermore Bosch wants to rise the cross culturel skills of their executives in order to improve the  cooperation with foreign departments. Additionally it is possible for the ambitious employees to request for a dispatch in order to enhance their motivation. An important aim of foreign dispatches is finally the implementation of a worldwide corporate culture through which the communication and cooperation within the Bosch group is made easier. 3.2 Dispatch formsBosch distinguishes three dispatch forms. The business trip, the delegation as well as the transfer. The business trip with a duration of up to three months serves to establish contacts or also to conclude business on the spot. With the delegation Bosch distinguishes between the dispatch for the fulfillment of a project task or the dispatch in the context of trainee programs. The expatriate is abroad for a duration between three months and a year. If it is necessary to cover a lack of manpower a transfer is carried out. In this case the duration of the stay abroad is between one and five years. Bosch averagely dispatches their employees for three years. 3.3 Foreign dispatch processA carefully structured dispatch process is very important for Bosch to ensure the success of the foreign dispatch. To this, at first the occupation order is prepared which contains the necessary qualifications of the employee with regard to the vacant job. The choice of a suitable candidate, the dispatch conversation and the information journey to the possible country are the next steps of the process. After this journey the employee finally decides whether he accepts the position abroad. If he agrees, the employee is prepared comprehensively for the stay abroad. Then the moving to the foreign country takes place. After the job completion the employee is reintegrated. The individual phases of the foreign dispatch process are explained in the following more precisely. 3.3.1 Choice3.3.1.1 Theoretical bases and enterprise practiceThe best liability for a success of foreign dispatch can still be seen in the right choice of the employees to be sent. This should include technical criteria, behavior-related criteria, intercultural environment-related criteria as  well as personal criteria. When choosing a suitable dispatch candidate enterprises often orientate at technical performances. However, empirical examinations show, that competences or-related behavior and-related intercultural environment abilities for the cultural customization have a greater influence on the success of the foreign activity. Other surveys from the 1990s confirm that individual performance features are in the foreground at the choice. In addition, they show that the family is hardly co-included in the decision. An interview under Expatriates points, that the well-being plays the family an important role for the professional success. 3.3.1.2 Choice at BoschBosch has recognized the importance of extra-technical criteria for the choice of a suitable dispatch candidate. Besides the career potential, which are investigated by the employee development instruments (see chapter 2.2), features like team and communication ability or representation of the Bosch culture are co-included in the decision. The latter has a great importance for the support of the implementation of a worldwide corporate culture, one of the aims of the foreign dispatch. 3.3.2 Preparation3.3.2.1 Theoretical bases and enterprise practiceInstitutes specialized in further education and intercultural management distinguish between a country specific and country general as well as intellectual and experience obtained preparation. The respective confrontation of these preparation methods shows the following classifications:†¢Intellectual country specific preparationPrimarily general information about the host country is mediated and language courses carried out here. Culture games are, such as the cultural assimilator training. †¢Experience-related country specific preparationThe political, economic and socio-cultural conditions of the host country shall be given to the expatriate a better understanding. With the help of case studies and role plays as well as information journeys the expatriates are prepared for country and culture specifics. †¢Intellectual preparationThe cultural self awareness model plays an important  role in this preparation class. It assumes that it is important to remind the participant of his own stereotyped and behaviors in order to develop a sensibility for the foreign maybe strange looking cultural aspects. †¢Experience-related country general preparationThis preparation method which shall enlarge the intercultural competence of the expatriates (on The job by Outdoor training, intercultural simulation games) consists of the cooperation on international teams as well as of an intercultural action training. â€Å"Source of the success of foreign dispatches is the degree to which an expat is able to establish contacts and manages to overcome culture barriers and to find the way in the strange culture†. The chief attention of the preparation in German and American companies lies in the technical education, the execution of a language training as well as the arrangement of general country information, though. An experience-related preparation seldom takes place. The external execution of the preparation measures is in general preferred opposite the internal one. The family moreover is only seldomly included in the preparations although family problems belong to the most frequent reasons for the failure of foreign dispatches. After a study of the auditing company PriceWaterhouseCoopers 40% of all Expatriates return home ahead of schedule. 96% of these on impulses of the family which often doesn’t cope with the surroundings. The final conclusion is that the size of the preparation is very small in the entrepreneurial practice. 3.3.2.2 Preparation at BoschBosch practices comprehensive preparations for both its employees and their families to ensure the success of their foreign dispatch. At the beginning of the preparation Bosch offers a information journey which is designed for employees who go abroad for longer than 12 months. Before the definite decision, Bosch gives its employees the  opportunity to go to the host country with the companion of their partner. The stay lasts for two to three days, within Europe outside Europe’s approximately one week. By this â€Å"look and sea trip† the employee and his companions can get a better idea of the future place of residence. That shall prevent them from forming unrealistic expectations. If the employee decides to accept the job offered abroad, the real preparation starts. The central HR department is responsible for the execution of the preparation transfers (ZM2). It builds a preparation plan with measures which are coordinated with the needs of the respective employee. The aim of the preparation with Bosch is the arrangement of intercultural competence. This consists of country specific knowledge, linguistic proficiency as well as cultural sensibility of the three elements together. Country specific knowledgeThe arrangement of country specific knowledge contains information about the framework conditions of the host country. Formalities which are connected with a stay abroad are given to the Expatriates and their companions traveling along in a so-called â€Å"Bosch foreign preparation seminar†. So-called â€Å"mentors†, employees already returned home, convey information e.g. to the contract of employment or for tax regulations. By the use of mentors Bosch guarantees that experiences collected abroad are passed on and therefore used for new dispatches effectively. Linguistic proficiencyThe knowledge of the respective national language is prerequisite for a dispatch, because it is very important for an integration in private and in working life. Bosch employees have to learn the foreign language until they reach a level that enables them to come along in working life without any problems. If they want to learn more, they also have the possibility of attaining comprehensive knowledge. The family is tied to ensure that it can find the way in daily life. The language education takes place externally and Bosch takes on the costs both for the employee and for the family. The company attaches importance to the fact that the education starts early so that the required knowledge is reached before the dispatch. Cultural sensibilityThe cultural sensibility of the employees shall be promoted by two measures: the intercultural preparation training as well as the intercultural management training. The intercultural preparation training has the aim of sensitizing the employee to the think and behavior patterns of the host country to make the integration into the strange cultural environment easier for him. If the training is carried out internally, so-called country teams are responsible for it. These teams consist of employees who have made experiences in the respective host country or even are from this country themselves. This five-day intercultural preparation training is offered both for the employee and for the family since this is confronted with the same integration or understanding difficulties concerning the strange culture. This has particularly to be taken into account when thinking of the growing importance of multicultural cooperations, e.g. in the context of joint ventures or international project work. 3.3.3 MovingAt Bosch receives the Expatriate supports for the carrying out of the necessary formalities by the so-called Bosch foreign preparation seminar. When the employee finally starts his stay abroad he usually feels like on holiday. Everything is new to him and he is fascinated by his new task at the company and the new country itself. But this positive feeling often changes after a few months when the first serious problems occur. He feels helpless because he can not manage the situation in the new surrounding. This is called cultural shock. To keep the cultural shock as low as possible, Bosch looks after his employees during their stay and helps them when problems appear. The cultural shock can never completely prevented especially if the difference between the cultures is very large. Nevertheless Bosch tries to prepare their employees by showing general culture differences so that they can deal with problems easyierly. Furthermore Bosch offers his expatriate an intensive coaching. The employee has a mentor in the native country who is two hierarchical orders higher than himself. They meet at least once a year to talk about problems abroad or about further plans of the employee after his return to germany. In addition, a strengths-/ weaknesses analysis is carried out to be able to comprehend the development of the employee and not lose the summary of the knowledge and abilities. An examination of Schroll-Machl shows that the support of the Expatriates is often insufficient in the practice. Many Expatriates have the impression that their enterprise leaves them alone and it doesn’t support at problems. They must manage various difficulties at the same time. Family problems moreover aren’t taken into account in the context of the support in the practice. However, wife and children are especially confronted with greater customization difficulties than the staff member because they have more frequent contacts to the strange culture. 3.3.4. Reintegration3.3.4.1 Theoretical bases and enterprise practiceAfter the expiry of the delegation period the Expatriate returns back to the parent company. A successful reintegration of the employee is both of high entrepreneurial and financial importance. A negative signal starts out from a failed reintegration for other parent company members. The readiness to accept an offer for a foreign activity sinks. Furthermore the financial dimension of the complete dispatch process including the return has to be taken into account. American studies value the total costs of the foreign assignment of an employee at up to 1 millions $. In connection with this, it is surprising that only few enterprises care for the repatriation of their employees professionally. A KPMG examination from the year 2000 showed that 67% of all interviewed people who were delegated abroad said that there is need for improvement at the reintegration process of their enterprise. This criticism has to be taken  seriously since problems with the reintegration have serious consequences for the Expatriate and the enterprise like e.g. a low work motivation or even the cancellation and the change to another enterprise. According to an examination of Black (1992) the share of the returnees who cancel their job within one year after their return due to integration problems is about 25%. The causes of these reintegration diffic ulties are multilayered. You can subdivide them into operational and private difficulties. Operational levelThe search for a suitable position often turns out to be difficult since the HR departments can assess hardly the qualification development of the returnee during his stay abroad. In addition returnees often have exaggerated expectations and therefore are disappointed of the offered job in their home company. They often have the impression that their new skills especially about the country they spent a lot of time in are not appreciated. A study of Wirth from the year 1992 has shown that merely 30% of all enterprises evaluate the experiences of its employees after a stay abroad. Another aspect of the reintegration is the cessation of foreign raises and other privileges. Private LevelProblems frequently appear also in the private area of the Expatriates. During their stay abroad the often only keep the positive aspects of their life in Germany in mind, the negative everyday problems appear only after the return and the first euphoria. The culture of one’s own seems alienated and it comes to the double cultural shock. Particularly the children have to suffer from the new surroundings and from the change since they have accepted the strange culture more strongly, had to leave friends and don’t cope with the German school system any more. For the expatriates and their partners it is difficult to abstain from grown fond privileges like e.g. chauffeur, domestics for themselves or a swimming pool. 3.3.4.2 Reintegration with BoschAs a company with strong international orientation Bosch has recognized the meaning of a successful reintegration of returnees and supports the reintegration of its employees with numerous measures at an operational and private level to put a positive and encouraging signal for future dispatches. 3.3.4.2.1 Measures of the operational reintegrationBosch offers a very comprehensive and strategic personnel policy which takes into account the personal ambitions of the dispatched employees and the future need for highly qualified managers. This prevents Bosch from the problem frequently appearing that no adequate place can be offered to the returnee. Due to its size Bosch is moreover able to offer alternatives in the case of an abrupted dispatch process, like e.g. early return or dissatisfaction with the return position. As already explained different studies have shown that exaggerated experiences on the part of the returnees is the main reason for dissatisfaction with the position after the reintegration. To counteract this, Bosch regularly looks after the expatriate by a hierarchy higher mentor of the parent company. By this he keeps informed about all important developments in the company and furthermore he has contact person for career questions. Due to this permanent communication Bosch is able to get an exact idea about the situation and processes in the foreign business. Another important aspect which fundamentally contributes to the satisfaction of the returning employee is the appreciation and the use of the abroad acquired knowledge. Bosch evaluates the foreign experiences of its expatriates very comprehensively and endeavours suggestions for improvement. Furthermore the HR department tries to find a position in which the returnee can use his new won abilities optimally. This could be e.g. a position in the sales department of the region in which the expatriate was active. Furthermore the returnees have the opportunity to study further in order to work as an expert for the country they stayed in and prepare other employees for future dispatches. The â€Å"BeQIK† corporate culture, introduced in 2001, plays an important role for a successful reintegration. Since all subsidiary firm shall work according to the given behavioral framework, the cultural distance turns out a little bit smaller between host country and native country. Since the practical putting into action of the behavior guidelines is always subject to cultural influences, the degree of the relief should be assessed rather carefully. 3.3.4.2.2 Measures of the private reintegrationTo make the reintegration  easier for the returning expatriate and his family, Bosch offers comprehensive help. They support their employees when they search for an apartment and takes on arising extra tuition costs for the children to make the integration into the German school system easier. Furthermore other Bosch employees who returned from stays abroad in the past can give advice in so called â€Å"returnee seminars† where other persons affected talk about its experiences. 4. Asia, challenge and chance†Rapidly arising markets in the Far East and Bosch takes part †¦ â€Å"This statement of Bosch Bohr, the chairman of the area of motor vehicle technology, shows the meaning of company leaders, which will be attached to Asian and especially to the Chinese market. After a turnover growth obtained already 2003 in China of over 20%, Bosch wants to improve his presence further in the empire of the middle. In the following sections will be analysed, which changes or requirements to the Bosch foreign dispatch will bring the future in the Asian market. 4.2 requirements on German executives in China4.2.1 The intercultural difficultiesThe clashing of different cultures, values and particularly the different styles of management and philosophies leads very frequently to difficulties in the subsidiary firms. To notice which one is the most frequent and greatest problem that the Chinese executives have in the cooperation with German executives and vice versa, the results of a study from the year 1999 shall be illustrated, which Chinese and German manager were working in German enterprises in China. Among the problems, which the Chinese managers have with the colleges from abroad, the most important are the communication problems, like is described in the chart above. The culture, communication, mutual understanding and language are connected closely with each other belong to this category: due to the different culture and the language barrier no satisfactory communication takes place  and therefore it doesn’t come to a mutual understanding. In this connection the bad English knowledge of German managers and their lack of understanding of the Chinese culture will be especially found fault by Chinese colleges. 10% of the mentioning are allotted to problems of the human relations. It disturbs the Chinese executives most, that they are treated differently in comparison with the Expatriates and they don’t have much confidence in Chinese colleges. This is the reason in their opinion that it doesn’t come to friendships between foreign and Chinese executives who are very welcome on a Chinese. The arrogance and haughtiness of the foreigners are also criticized and the lack of interest in the Chinese population. The professional requirements are high: inside the Chinese employees are hungrily to learn the new specialized knowledge of the foreign executive and they notice very fast, weather the German executives aren’t not ready or capable in the expected scale, to give this knowledge further. In connection with this, it is criticized that German executives prefer to work alone, they aren’t cooperative. In the Chinese working world one comes upon, however, the Explanation the Help and Assistance to each other. By the cessation of the in the past (before the open-door policy of China) usual lifelong job in the same enterprise and the fact that one can be discontinued because of a bad performance a considerable pressure is triggered to do well the work and this can have discouraging influence on the employees. There is the high burden of work which lets few leisure time as well as time for the own family. General Manager have variously and very far scattered breadth of the answers without the number of the mentioning being different from each other fundamentally on the part of the foreign ones. Any problem is emerging as  dominate. Problems are most frequently mentioned are in the areas of communication, labour organization, qualification and management. The general managers from abroad find some problems with their Chinese executives not only in the area of the communication. For example they don’t seem to be able to solve their problems with a better communication. However the understanding stands for the Chinese executives, at first place and the lack of communication is also becoming responsibly for many difficulties in the company. 4.2.2 Cultural distinction and integrationThe culture isn’t reflected only in politics and in the everyday life, (i.e. in the social and consume behaviour) but it also influences the business methods, the management behaviour and the relations of employees and employers. In the following section are discussed certain general Asian culture features and their implications for the staff management . Group identity versus individual identityTian xia Wei gong: â€Å"Everything serves the community under the sky†. So there is a Chinese proverb from the old days which has validity today certainly too. The individual never was in the foreground but always, the community within the particular represents a tiny member. This specific and deeply rooted feature has important implications for the staff management: So the individual recognition (punishment) should be carried out in private, the team’s recognition should be carried out barefaced. Conflict avoidanceMost cultures of Asia avoid systematically the open conflict holding. The avoidance of open conflicts is in a close connection with the Confucianism. Straight criticism and open contradiction are accompanied by the danger to lose face and fall to the social trifle. Keeping faceMost Asian societies are settled by the principle of the disgrace (the public humiliation) not by the principle of guiltiness (feeling of individual responsibility, conscience). The concept of the saving face is comprehensively valid, characterizes every human relation and is very important for the staff management since it forbids the public humiliation of employees. Respect opposite to higher-ranking and oldRespect, restraint and modesty are part of the etiquette in the Asian culture room generally. Hierarchies have a more important role (often according to old, rank and sex) than in Germany. The formal authority isn’t called into question; this is part of the harmony commandment. However, one shouldn’t put the Asian respect before the authority absolutely. A bad supervisor is also criticized in Asia and will be corrected though indirect: by pressure on third party, anonymous letters, passive behaviour and resistance, which are disguised with excuses or by frequent illness or really irrational behaviours, like panic bouts. The re-registration is frequently encoded. So the western manager must learn how indirect signals of the discontent should be decoded or interpreted. The respect of the age is one of the basic concepts of a Confucian intellect. The Age doesn’t make only wise but gives a natural authority. Seniority and hierarchy thinking still established tightly in the heads of the Chinese managers. Foreign companies are smitten with the distinguishing between respect of certain hierarchies and the necessity of the support managers who render the corresponding service but don’t have the right age yet. In order to be accepted a younger manager must be more competent than an old one. GuanxiGuanxi has to be translated by the following expression â€Å"personal relations and connections†. It plays a large role in China in all areas of the life; it works as â€Å"sesame-open you† when required because clear and codified jurisdiction doesn’t have any tradition, relations are solution key  for all problems. Western Managers should pay more attention to â€Å"Guanxi† if they want to succeed in china. 4.2.3 Recruitment and motivation of local workersThe recruitment of highly qualified staff and the tie of won workers with the enterprise are a big problem area with which many foreign businesses are confronted in China. These phenomena shall be represented here only briefly since a detailed description would blow up the frame of this work. Recruitment of local workersThe absence of qualified personal is responsibly for the high fluctuation. More and more enterprises try to find Chinese university graduates who are trained in Germany for the business in china. Motivation of local workersIf one has found local executives, one must be able to keep it because the high fluctuation is connected to high costs. Different instruments can contribute to soothe or to overcome the staff bottleneck. These are e.g. the image-building (charitable events), the training (further education possibilities have a high place value) as well as a solid and long-term career promotion strategy. For young highly qualified stuff, a good salary and promotion chances are decisive for staying in the enterprise. 4.3 Optimization/customization of the dispatch process for/to ChinaIf one carries now out an optimization of the foreign dispatch process with Bosch to the employee-employer relationships in China against the background of the executed Asian culture features and criticisms of the Chinese Manager of their German colleagues and colleagues, then the following implications are the result:As a rule, an intercultural preparation takes place. No reason is seen for preparations for the Chinese executives in most enterprises. It will hold the assumption that the Chinese executives must adapt to the western behaviour patterns and methods of working. A common intercultural training is, however, absolutely essential in China for the following reasons:The great difficulties which arise from the lack of mutual understanding, are in a close connection with the knowledge about the respecting other culture, the action sample and moral concepts, but also its enterprise philosophies and styles of management. An intercultural seminar can make considerably, behind certain behaviour which explanations and which roots suit to an executive. It doesn’t prevent the appearance of problems but it offers to possibilities of reacting specifically and developing common action strategies. Furthermore a Chinese executive can for example be made familiar with the German culture as follows: by consignments to the German parent company, international stays, participation in international management courses of Chinese universities or in business Schools. Also for partner and children problems arise in the context of a longer stay abroad. Acceptable solutions must therefore be found also for the family. It is often impossible just in the pacific space to solve the language problems satisfactorily what a far-reaching isolation of the marriage partner and the children can cause with negative family consequences. Therefore the language standard should correspond to that one of the Expatriate which enjoys an education on the standard of the easy communication in the work everyday life. Despite good preparations for marriage partner and if necessary children problems often arise of the cultural integration and problems at school. For the better integration contacts to partners of other Expatriates should be organized. The possibility of working abroad is very important for the partner who accompanies the Expatriate abroad. An intensive cooperation with other enterprises on the spot would be necessary to realize the professional way of expatriate’s wife in China. If no place can be found, the possibility  should be offered for a further training for the meaningful use of the â€Å"timeout† such as a master course of studies. 4.4 Bosch measures for ChinaAll preparatory training is evacuated to the IFIM, the institute for intercultural management in Bad Honnef, since Bosch internal country speakers are specialized in European countries till now. The information journey which shall convey an impression to the Expatriate over its potential future place of work can be extended by max. two days. Another prolongation isn’t granted since the employees/inside activities are used at home and every longer stay also more costs for Bosch meant for hers. The language education is carried out in a 5-week language course at the national language institute NRW in Bochum for which the future Expatriate is put by its work activity completely freely. In the 2 annual cycle the personnel officer the ZM2 accompanies a potential Expatriate on an information journey and this one checks life and employee-employer relationships on the spot. Although Bosch mediates e.g. alone for the partner, however give up many arrangements, not at the job search because of the language requirements. As a rule, Bosch can arrange a job for 5% of the partners. To subsume it, this yields no big changes in the dispatch process especially for China. Professional external help is used regarding the training, one otherwise orientates himself at the worldwide valid dispatch process. 5. ConclusionThe Bosch group is a worldwide active enterprise that on the international markets, special it would like to be present on the Asian market in future. This strategy makes high demands on the staff since intercultural understanding is increasingly important besides technical qualities. International employee use represents a central instrument of the staff development. According to the high importance the dispatch process is organized very professionally by Bosch in all four phases (choice,  preparation, moving, and repatriation). This enormous effort beats itself in very low withdrawal rate, these are only 1-2 % in Bosch and lie under the reference values of other enterprises thus considerably. A possible disadvantage of the time intensive preparatory phase which lasts for at least 10 weeks is the lack of flexibility. Short-term manpower requirements due to problems, like e.g. demolition of a stay abroad or illness of a manager cannot be covered with the usual staff practice in Bosch. The preparation measures of Bosch seem very well suitable also for the dispatch to China, a stronger focus on the language education of the family and the social should be put as well as professional integration of the partner. In order to make an improved cooperation possible of the Expatriates on the spot, a common intercultural training is advisable with the Chinese colleagues. Bibliography Bosch (2004A:) The â€Å"Objectives and Principles† of Employee Development, order enterprise booklet at at all Bosch’s personnel departments as well as Central division employee development and executives (ZM3). Bosch (2004 B): Bosch Australia † — regional corner clays of The Bosch Group â€Å"orders: www.bosch.com.au/downloads/Home/RBAU.pdf (12.04.2004). Bosch (2003A): â€Å"Business report† 2003, order:www.bosch.com/de/download/GB2003_DE.pdf (11.04.2004). Bosch (2003B): â€Å"Bosch today†, order on:www.bosch.com/de/download/Boschheute2003_DE.pdf (10.04.2004). Bosch (2003/2004 ): Worldwide responsibility † — environmental report 2003/2004 â€Å",order: www.bosch.com/de/download/UWB_de.pdf (01.05.2004.)Kuan, Y.-C./Hà ¤ring-Kuan, P. (2001): Journey guest in China, 1st edition, Dormagen. Nickut, J. (2003:) â€Å"Subject and leadership potential recognize and systematicpromotes † to order under : www.mwteam.de/products/Perspek/archives/01-2003/interview HrNickut-RobertBosch.pdf (01.05.2004). Nickut, J./Loose, H., (2000): â€Å"A step to the global player — international choice- AC of Robert Bosch GmbH â€Å". In: Staff, exercise book 7/2000, S.360, 363. Redding, dear/Ng, M. (1982): The Role of ‘Face’ in The Organizational Perceptions of Chinese manager, in: Organization study, 3rd year, no. 3, S.201-219. Welge, K.-M./Holtbrà ¼gge, D. (2003): International management, 3rd edition, Stuttgart. List of the Internet sources:http://www.boschrexroth.com/corporate/de/jobs_und_karriere/personalpolitik/index.jsp (14.05.2004). http://www.bosch-career.de/de/company/aims.htm (14.05.2004). http://www.relojournal.com/nov2000/kpmgsurvey.htm (13.05.2004)http://www.workforce.com/section/09/23/26/42/index.html (13.05.2004)

Les Miserable

* Nonconsequentialist-not based on  or concerned with consequences. * Jean Valjean embezzles some bread. He did not predict the consequences of embezzling and not embezzling. * Jean Valjean tried to escape from prison and wasn't concern about what could happen. * Jean Valjean embezzle some silverware from the Bishop. After the Bishop took him in. * Fantine lies about her illegitimate child to get a job at the factory. Once they fought out she got fired. * Fantine joined a group of whores in selling herself. She did not think of the consequences of her action. Even though she was doing it to support her illegitimate child. * Consequentialisms * Valjean was unable to see an innocent man go to prison in his place. He confesses to the court that he is the right prisoner. * Free will and determinism * Javert was determining to put Jean Valjean in jail. * Jean Valjean was determining to help others who might face the same situation, or any difficulty. * Javert is determined to do what is regarded as ethical. To prove himself worthy, and to compensate for what he as his parents unethical doings. Javert His unwillingness to change or recognize another way of looking at things. * He has total faith in the system of rules he represent, and by extension, total faith in himself. * He lives by society's rule and principles. * Indeed to show tolerance and understanding might even be considered a weakness when applying to the law. * He doesn’t have the tolerance or forgiveness to accept his own mistakes and move on. He sees that he may have been mistaken in his judgment of Valjean. * He felt it was a  simple decision- dog eat dog, hunt or be hunted. He never wasted a moment on making the right ethical decision. Something was either ethical or unethical the law does not take motive into consideration. * He did not care about anybody, but what the law says. Jean Valjean * He doubts and questions himself at virtually every turn. * His strength of will is derived from the fact that he feels he has seen his own black side. * He knows what he is capable of, given the right circumstances, and because he has seen an alternative, he is determining to avoid any repetition of his black side. * He discovers the importance and value of love through his meeting with the Bishop and his relationship with Cossette. Love by extension, respect and tolerance. * He turned into a caring person. * He helped as much as he could. * Once he fount out about Fantine situation, he felt bad about firing her from the factory. He helped her and promised to take in her daughter. * He took in Cossette and loved her like she was his own. * He feed the poor people. * His willingness to do right by the people. He became a diff erent person after interacting with the Bishop. I just got to pick to characters and talk about their interactions with one another such as Jean Val jean and Fantine.

Analyzing the legalization of drugs

Introduction The increase in the drug cases during the years has lead several propositions from various individuals, one of which is the legalization of drugs. Since the widespread use of illegal drugs has eventually persisted throughout the expanse of time, and with the failure to contain the issue of illegal drug use, one suggested solution is to amend the law by legalizing the use of drugs or by putting it finally under the control and mandate of the law. However, the judicial system has had to cope with the situation. The need to reexamine the existing methods of managing and handling these drug cases proportionally rose with the persistence of illegal drugs amidst existing legal sanctions. This had led to the processing of drug cases not only in court but even outside the court. This is to cope with the great number of drug offenders of varying levels getting apprehended everyday. There were several judicial strategies conceived in order to deal with the massive amount of drug cases. These judicial strategies include the creation of specialized divisions of a drug court in some trial courts, sped-up case processing procedures, deferred prosecution programs requiring court-supervised treatment and counseling and more. There are also combinations of these strategies, all to speed-up the processing of these cases. These cases are screened beforehand in order to know what degree and what level of judicial supervisions would be applicable for the case. This is also essential for early treatment intervention and rehabilitation of the offenders, so as to stop the continued drug abuse and the likelihood of crimes. On the other hand, arguments for the legalization of drugs are constantly being hurled forward in order to finally resolve the existing contentions against the ill-effects of drugs as well as for the perceived benefits both the government and the individuals can actually obtain from legalizing these substances. Arguments for the legalization of drugs One of the most common drugs in the society today is Marijuana. It is known scientifically as the hemp plant, Cannabis sativa, where the leaves are being dried up, rolled into sheets of paper and be smoked just like cigarette or tobacco. It is the most often used illegal drug in the world, known in various names all over, like â€Å"pot,† â€Å"herb,† and â€Å"Mary Jane.† Some users can make use of marijuana by mixing it into food substances or drink it by brewing it with tea. The addictive element of marijuana is its Tetrahydrocannabinol or THC content. The effect of marijuana would depend on how strong or how potent is its Tetrahydrocannabinol content, thus also giving various effects on the marijuana users (Dell and Snyder 630). One of the reasons for finally legalizing drugs, especially marijuana, is founded on the historical context of the â€Å"illegal† substance. In America, for instance, those who lived in the area of Jamestown back in 1611 raised marijuana under the order of King James I for the purpose of crafting rope for the naval force of the British. The â€Å"herb†, as it has been called, also served as a medicinal substance specifically for George Washington who planted marijuana within the premises of Mount Vernon and that the plant was categorized as a prescription medicine until 1937 (Smith 101). Marijuana also has positive sides which can be used as an argument for its eventual legalization. One of the beneficial effects of the use of marijuana rests on its utility for the control of symptoms, especially in chemotherapy procedures, as an â€Å"effective antiemetic† among patients with health profiles such as cancer and â€Å"AIDS patients with wasting syndrome† which led to â€Å"a greater ability to cope emotionally with disabling or life-threatening illness (Gorman 23). Moreover, under the rule of Emperor Chen Nung of ancient China five centuries ago, marijuana has been declared as well as a plant that has medicinal value in terms of curing malaria, rheumatism, constipation, â€Å"absentmindedness† as well as the claims for mental and bodily disorders suffered by women (Grinspoon and Bakalar 3). There is also the contention for the prospect of establishing a regulated drug market which can be a profitable source of government tax. This idea illustrates the observation that the widespread use of illegal drugs and its potential to be a market commodity can overcome the legal restrictions ascribed unto it.   A controlled degree of the regulation of marijuana, for example, creates, instead, an increase in government revenues that may outweigh or, at least, come close to the actual government payments on law enforcement against the production, distribution and consumption of marijuana (Caputo and Ostrom 475). Refutations Drug Abuse is one of the most common criminal cases in the society today. It is a form of substance abuse, just like alcoholism, since these illicit drugs are actually addictive in nature. Because of this, many people who are hooked on drugs cannot easily let go of the addiction, and would often lead to drug-related crimes like robbery, physical assault, or even murder. Not only does these drugs dangerous to others, but it is also harmful in the drug users’ body, causing the body to take into negative turns, like deterioration and organ failures. When a person smokes or inhales marijuana smoke, he would usually feel rapid heart beats, loss of coordination and decreased sense of balance, slow reaction rate and a dry mouth. These are already signs of marijuana intoxication, along with the expansion of blood vessels in the eye, that’s why marijuana users usually have red eyes. The effects of marijuana would usually last two to three hours, where the marijuana user would usually tend to be sleepy. The negative effects of using marijuana would be hindering the user’s short term memory, wherein it would be difficult for him to remember recent events. This would usually lead to car crashes and other accidents, since their sense of coordination is greatly affected. Another dangerous drug would be cocaine. This drug’s effect on the body is really damaging, where addiction to cocaine could bring about permanent damages in one’s body or even death. Cocaine has both short term and long term effects. The short term effects are immediately noticeable, but not that damaging as compared to the long term ones. The common short term effects are a feeling of boosted energy, a decrease in a person’s appetite, and a rather hyped heart rate and blood pressure. There are still many other types of illegal drugs and similar forms of substances that create ill-effects to the overall health of individuals, oftentimes resulting for them to commit crimes that they could not have possibly committed had they not taken these illegal substances. Conclusion Although several illegal substances can actually bring forth benefits for individuals, the negative consequences outweigh these positive sides. Further, not all of these substances have positive effects when used, and that the negative consequences of illegal drug use oftentimes lead to crimes and violence. For these reasons along with the refutations against the legalization of drugs, it can be asserted that the legalization of drugs should not be taken as the ultimate measure for solving illegal drug issues. Rather, the reasons behind the legalization of drugs should be taken as a means in finding the deeper refutations against it. References Caputo, M. R., and B. J. Ostrom. â€Å"Potential Tax Revenue from a Regulated Marijuana Market: A Meaningful Revenue Source.† American Journal of Economics and Sociology 53.4 (1994): 475-90. Cocaine-Effects.com. â€Å"Cocaine Effects.† 2001. Dell, D. D., and J. A. Snyder. â€Å"Marijuana: Pro and Con.† The American Journal of Nursing 77.4 (1977): 630. Gorman, M. â€Å"Substance Abuse.† The American Journal of Nursing 97.11 (1997): 23. Grinspoon, L., and J. B. Bakalar. â€Å"The History of Cannabis.†Ã‚   Marihuana, the Forbidden Medicine. London: Yale University Press, 1997. 3. Smith, G. R. W. â€Å"Possession of Marijuana in San Mateo County: Some Social Costs of Criminalization.† Stanford Law Review 22.1 (1969): 101.   

Assignment in Technology Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

In Technology - Assignment Example Aaronson (2008) in his article reveals to us that quantum computers are theoretically exponentially faster than the current classical systems. Quantum computing is an embodiment of how smarter the machines and humans have become. A quantum machine can analyze big data within minutes therefore relieving humans the burden. This is one way in which the technology will take over human tasks and to a great extent improving the human lifestyle (Aaronson 2008). Quantum computing was realized from the dealings of humans with machines as they tried to analyze the spooky behavior of nature (Nielsen & Chuang 2010). As much as this technology promises a lot, some scientists concider it as technology of the impossible due to the complexities involved in realizing it (Aaronson 2008). For instance is so difficult to measure quantum bits. Furthermore quantum computers could be used decrypt data hence contributing to data theft in classical systems. Generally, quantum computing is a technology of the near future generatyion. It is an implication of how man and machines are really getting along in the modern

Economics and Management of Competitive Strategy Assignment

Economics and Management of Competitive Strategy - Assignment Example Likewise, in terms of the cost per movie of the movie studios who are the movie rental supplies, the total cost is the cost of producing the movie. However, to determine the supplier value, it is equal to â€Å"the difference between the payment the firm makes to the supplier and the supplier’s cost† (Spulber, 2009, p. 206). Their cost could be estimated by determining the cost of using their assets; or by calculating their operating profit. Likewise, the costs per movie of the movie rental chain are, therefore, the total costs or expenses that the movie rental chain is willing to pay to deliver the total value to the consumers. Thus, the value created per movie of the movie rental chain is the â€Å"total value created a net of customer value and supplier value† (Spulber, 2009, p. 210). (ii) The retail price per movie is the price paid by the customer per unit of renting a movie; while the wholesale price is the price in volume, of say, renting movies in batches of 10 or more. The factors that affect retail and wholesale prices include transaction cost per unit, direct labor, and overhead costs. Consumers’ surplus is determined by the net benefits from purchasing the goods; while producers’ surplus, also known as operating profit is the supplier value, defined as â€Å"the difference between the payment the firm makes to the supplier and the supplier’s cost† (Spulber, 2009, p. 206). ... lowering supplier cost; (2) providing greater benefits to customers by improving products and services; and (3) developing innovative transactions that offer new value to the market† (Spulber, 2009, p. 210). Likewise, the movie rental chain can increase the value that it captures either through the increase of prices to customers; reducing payments to suppliers, or making more effective use of its assets. (iv) In a rent or sale of DVDs alternative, the movie rental chain should take into consideration the following factors: (1) the costs of paying suppliers (supplier value) for the DVDs to be sold or rented out; (2) direct costs (labor and overhead); and (3) the perceived customer value from either renting or buying DVDs.  Ã‚  

Assumptions Made in the U.S. Economic Decisions Assignment - 2

Assumptions Made in the U.S. Economic Decisions - Assignment Example The rates by banks and mortgage in the country experienced a considerable decline and a consequent effect on the economy (Eavis, 2012). The mortgage and banking industries’ decision to lower lending rates was incorrect (Henning, 2011) given the assumptions made. One notable assumption was that the price of real estate would always be on an escalating trend. Banks, therefore, decided to drop lending standards. This turned to be a wrong move in maintaining a stable standard of the economy. The second assumption was that mortgage lenders’ decisions are always trusted. The second assumption rendered transactions with real property securities as safe. Insurance companies and firms rating such securities did not attest the loans provided for real estate, which constitutes their key role. Â  Although a free market experiences a number of challenges, the condition was avertable. Insurance companies and firms need to attest securities provided for loans. This would create a legitimate rating of such securities. A legitimate security rating would help to reduce the lending rate that spilled the real estate with investors. Banks need to maintain their rates (Nagle, 2009) to levels that ensure desired economic states. Perfect and sure decisions made by the banking and mortgage industries would help solve the economic stalemate experienced. A though research in market trends would help contain the economy and avoid such assumptions. Â  

ITEC640 - IT PM Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

ITEC640 - IT PM - Essay Example Since it is a software house, their technical staff is considered to be their asset who is responsible for making good quality products for their clients. Therefore, it makes sense to give the project manager full command over the projects as he is technically sound and has the required skills to make best possible decisions. The organization under discussion hires technical people on the basis of their skills and then assigns them positions in the most appropriate ‘Product Team’. Every product has its own respective team and ‘Team Lead’. These team members are entirely responsible for this one product and are involved in its development, deployment, support etc. The ‘Team Lead’ will be managing and leading the projects in which his team members will be involved. This enables the technical staff to gain expertise in their product and induces product loyalty to a great extent. Whenever the company gets a new project, a new project team is made (which is discussed in more detail later in the report). There is another type of structure that prevails in many organizations. At times, the formal structure is not sufficient to get work done quickly. In such situations, informal structure and reporting comes in play. Informal communication tends to ignore the complex chain of command and jump starts stalled activities. It helps in meeting deadlines exceptionally well. Informal structure promotes communication among the employees and management, integration, flexibility etc. Some degree of informal reporting is also present in the company under discussion. The members of different product team have informal brainstorming sessions for most efficient solutions to problems. Marchewka (2009) stated that power in the organization is not always governed by the hierarchy but by the degree of connectedness with the colleagues. Informal communication between the employees also

Kublai Khan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Kublai Khan - Essay Example As Emperor, Khan initiated a symbiotic relationship between the Chinese and the Mongols, promoting a nation of tolerance and cross-cultural interaction that allowed for a flourishing of diverse arts as well as militaristic might. He exercised both military and political savvy in his actions, which contributed to a successful unification of the two primary peoples of his empire. Kublai’s power, military and political success attests to his military intelligence and daring. He was a strong man who understood strategy and possessed the ability to command respect and obedience from his subjects and people, ruling with a strong hand when necessary and promoting tolerance when possible. It was in this latter instinct that he gained perhaps his most lasting contributions, but it is also that instinct that nevertheless led to his downfall. Although he likely would not have been as successful as he was, had he not possessed political intelligence and agility, his instincts were often t owards indulgence of this tendency. He well understood the profound importance of catering to the Chinese majority, and thus took on Chinese advisors and officials as well as made a point of upholding important Chinese traditions, cultural values, and administrative practices. He commanded all his concubines, sons, daughters, and all the royal family members to adopt the Han culture and acquire the Chinese language and customs. Thus, the new China flourished under Kublai’s rule and experienced a heavy restructuring of political configuration. However, although Kublai Khan overcame many difficulties and barriers and ultimately achieved what he endeavored to do, in the end he became a disillusioned and embattled man. Through the struggles to convince his own conservative Mongol community of the need for the tolerance he promoted with the Chinese culture, he was increasingly isolated and frustrated at the end of his life. Both his military and political strength portrays his cap acity for leadership and as well as his ability to properly run a nation and allow it to flourish, but his personal failures and ideas eventually left lonely and embittered. In this essay, his contributions and legacy will be reviewed in order to see this in more depth. Family Background and Early Beginnings Genghis Khan, Kublai’s grandfather, united many of the nomadic tribes of northeast Asia and in that way founded the Mongol Empire. As Paul Ratchenevsky writes, the nomadic tribes in their territory were loosely linked tribal groups who would make stronger but still temporary confederations whenever some regional purpose called for it. Such purposes often involve war, but these were traditionally wars of a defensive nature. The tribal bands would come together whenever an outside force posed some impending danger, but their need for mobility as nomadic peoples generally prohibited any stronger or more lasting associations because of the nature of their lifestyles. Genghis Khan, through force of personality and visionary leadership managed to unite these tribes and begin offensive wars that allowed the empire to expand across Asia. Eventually, he initiated many invasions within Eurasia, thereby extending the reach and impact of his territory. In these ways, he was to be emulated by his grandson, with a combination of imaginary and charismatic leadership that led to the establishment of greater territories. Through the influence of Genghis Khan,

Repealing the Jones Act Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Repealing the Jones Act - Research Paper Example This historical act can be found in Section 27 of the Merchant Marine Act of 1920. The act professed that goods & passengers transported by water between US ports must be done in US made ships, owned by US populace & crewed by US citizens. The Jones Act also provided sailors with supplementary rights, including the facility to look for reparation from the crew, captain, or ship owner in the case of an injury. The Jones Act generally deals with ‘cabotage’ (i.e. coastal shipping) & requires that all goods transported by water amid US ports be carried in US flag ships, constructed in the united states, owned by US populace , crewed by US people & US permanent inhabitants. This unique act was framed with the purpose of sustaining the US merchant marine industry, but agricultural welfare by and large opposed it for the reason that, they contended it raised the expenditure of shipping their commodities, making them less competitive against foreign sources. The great Gulf oil spill raised serious questions on the implications of this draconian act. The oil which had been squandering & demolishing aqua habitat could not be stopped for the sole reason of the legal bindings of this law. The US alone never possessed the arsenal of cleaning up this catastrophic mess. Yet, it remained reluctant when foreign nations repeatedly suggested utilizing their ships to meet this disaster. Thus, 2 010 witnessed this cruel drama while the endangered ecological equilibrium slowly drifted into the abyss of oblivion. This implied that foreign owned, built, & manned vessels could not assist in the oil spill cleanup mess unless of course President Barrack Hussein Obama waived or altered the Jones act. During the Katrina storms, the former president Bush decided to waive the laws of Jones act as a requirement of national emergency. But Obama opted to remain frigid & witness the blunders rather than becoming pro active & deciding according to the needs of the hour.

Life Cycle Stages Essay Example for Free

Life Cycle Stages Essay There are four stages in the financial life cycle of an individual. The accumulation, saving, pre-retirement and retirement stages. Judging from the financial ratios of Winston and Yvonne, we concluded that Winston and Yvonne are in stage 2: the savings stage of the financial life cycle phase. This stage of the life cycle is usually characterized by the increase of assets, net worth and the decline in the use of debts, as by this stage Winston and Yvonne have already accumulated more assets over the years and would seek to protect their wealth and priorities and at the same time seek to be more risk adverse than before. People in this stage are usually concerned in saving for the future like children’s education, retirement etc. As the savings Ratio can be easily explained by the amount of money a person saves as a percentage of their total income. The level of savings as a percentage of Winstons and Yvonnes income is 60.41% as calculated is expected of the couple in their mid 30s falling in this stage of the life cycle as it portrayed high savings planning for the future of their children’s education. In the savings stage of the life cycle, we could expect an increase in net worth and assets as those had been accumulated before reaching conservation phases in that cycle. The increase in assets meant that Winston and Yvonne have a relatively high net worth as calculated at 74.51%. As Winston and Yvonne have a relatively high net worth ratio, their financial solvency is lower as most of their funds are being tied up with their fixed assets and their high net worth ratio also showed that their investments and commitments are being funded by debts and trade payables that are not proportionate. Winston and Yvonne might also face problems such as liquidity problems as their high ratio meant that they do not have immediate access to their cash. Therefore any decline in value of their investments or in any aspect that is relevant to their assets would cause them to have the inability to pay back their debt, thus lead to bankruptcy. Winston and Yvonne should seek to lower their net worth ratio by diversifying their funds in lesser fixed assets like property, home contents and education funds as lowering the ratio of their net worth would help them have more f inancial flexibility and ability to meet their financial payment obligations. http://smallbusiness.chron.com/interpret-assetstonetworth-ratios-57281.html. http://www.accountingtools.com/net-worth-ratio. As Winston and Yvonne are in their wealth protection phase, we explained that there would be an indication of a high net worth and a decrease in the use of debts. The debt Service ratio is the monthly debt commitments in comparison to total income and expressed in a percentage. In other words it is the ratio of the ability to repay loans over a period of time. If a debt service ratio is too high it would mean that one is too highly leveraged and has a high amount of loan and in the long run might run into difficulties in repaying off the loan commitment in the future. In this stage we expected financial prudence and a high risk adversity. The low debt service ratio of Winston and Yvonne at 14.21% indicated the low dependability on debt and increases their ability to service their debt, reducing the risk of them not being able to continue going in the long run. This could be expected of them as they are seeking to save for the future and make sure that they are able to service their l iabilities in the long run and not exhausted halfway through by limiting their commitments and slowly getting a debt free approach when it comes to their retirement. http://www.e-conomic.co.uk/accountingsystem/glossary/debt-ratio.

Shakespeare portrays about women

Shakespeare portrays about women William Shakespeares Much Ado about Nothing is mainly based on the battle of the sexes, and the relationships that are developed between the male and female characters of the play. Moreover, in Much Ado about Nothing Shakespeare does an astounding job at distinguishing the female stereotype of the Elizabethan Era, he develops this through the two main female characters Hero and Beatrice. Hero is portrayed as the typical female of the Elizabethan Era; Hero is of good keep and a well mannered girl. While on the other hand, Beatrice is the total opposite of typical female stereotype, she possesses a quick wit and a sharp tongue. Beatrice is never one to back down; she is an independent woman with a significant amount of self esteem. Beatrices character illustrates that the play rewards both conventional and unconventional women and prejudice against women in unnecessary and unfair. Hero was introduced in Act 1 Scene 1 of the play; she was introduced as the daughter of Leonato and Beatrices cousin. In the play Hero is represented as a very quiet, and shy girl, as she barely ever says anything and when she even speaks it is always in a very respectful manner. Throughout the entire Act one all she said was, My cousin means Signor Benedick of Padua. Similarly, Hero does not speak so much throughout the Act 2 Scene 1 most of what she says is He is of very melancholy disposition referring to Don John. The reader or the audience can see that Heros attitude is similar to the way typical women during the Elizabethan Era acted. Shakespeare might have chosen to present Hero in this manner to show the sharp contrast that exists between Hero and Beatrice. Moreover, it is apparent as the play goes on for the audience to see how much Hero does look up to her cousin Beatrice, for example is when Don Pedro asks to speak to Hero about Claudio she says: So you walk softly, and lo ok sweetly, and say nothing, I am yours for the walk, and especially when I walk away. [2.1.78-79]. The audience can see that Hero uses similar replies much like the replies that Beatrice would use to tease the men around her. By the same token, the character of Beatrice was also introduced in Act 1 Scene 1 of the play, and from the very beginning of the play Beatrice unlike Hero is represented as being a very clever and out spoken woman. Shakespeare makes sure that she comes off as a woman who is not afraid to speak her mind to anyone she comes across to. This is proven in act one, scene one when the messenger comes to deliver the message that the soldiers are on their way to Messina from the war. Beatrice and the messenger start a conversation about Benedick and the messenger tells Beatrice that Benedick is a lord to a lord, a man to a man, stuffed with all honourable virtues [1.1.53-54] she quickly replies, It is so indeed, he is no less than a stuffed man, but for the stuffing well, we are all mortal. [1.1.55-56] Beatrices sudden answer shows the audience that she is a woman who is not scared to speak her mind to anyone and that she will never back down from an argument. I believe that Shakespeare wan ted represent Beatrice in this manner to make a point that during the Elizabethan Era women were clever than men could imagine them to be. In addition during the Elizabethan Era that this play was first performed women had little or no power in the society a womans main role in this society was to get married and bear children, therefore, this was a way to prove the point that women were not the second class citizens that. Or in contrast, Shakespeare could have given Beatrice this character to simply just add a little humour into the play, because the thought of an independent and outspoken woman at that time was not taken seriously and was usually a joke. Furthermore, in the present day while reading, watching a movie about a Shakespeare play or even watching a Shakespeare play live, the audience must understand that during the Elizabethan Era every character of the play would be played by a male, even if the character was supposed to be a female. For example when Beatrice says Oh, that I were a man! What, bear her in hand until they come take hands, and then with public accusation, uncovered slander, unmitigated rancour? Oh God that I were a man![4.1.300-305] during the Elizabethan Era this particular line would have had a very comical meaning to the audience, because it would actually have been a male portraying a female character who would says this particular line, the present day audience does not grasp this irony because today, women are allowed to have part in the theatre and are not excluded. In fact another interesting thing to note about the Much Ado About Nothing is that even though Shakespeare is a male writer he was not a bias writer and in this play he showed that by not always letting the male characters win arguments or come out on top of any situation. Surely, in many situations it was the female characters that would come out on top, a great example of this is when in Act 4 Scene 1 Hero was accused of being unfaithful to Claudio. At first, the Claudio seemed triumphant in accusing an innocent woman; however, by the end of the play he is embarrassed to know that he was tricked into believing that Hero was being unfaithful when all along she was true to Claudio. Another, wonderful example of a woman coming on top is when Don Pedro and Beatrice are talking in Act 2 Scene 1 and Don Pedro asks Beatrice to marry him and she rejects him in a gentle way: DON PEDRO: Will you have me, lady? BEATRICE: No, my lord, unless I might have another for working days. Your grade is too costly to wear every day. But I beseech your grace pardon me, I was born to speak all mirth and no matter [2.1.300-304] One can never understand why Shakespeare would choose to do this but one can guess that it would either be humorous to the audience, because it would have been highly unlikely that during the Elizabethan Era a woman would prove a man wrong, or it may have been to illustrate that prejudice against a women of that time was wrong. In contrast, while the relationships between people of the same sex are very strong in Much Ado About Nothing; relationships within the opposite sex are diverse. The strongest example of this is in Act 4 Scene 1 when Hero is wrongly accused of being unfaithful to Claudio; Heros father Leonato believes a rumour rather than his beloved daughter: LEONATO: O Fate, take not away thy heavy hand! Death is the fairest cover for her shame That may be wished for. [4.1.115-117] Moreover, certainly this is true even in the female characters because, right after Hero got accused of being unfaithful Beatrice jumped in and said, O, on my soul, my cousin is belied! [4.1.146] one may think that Shakespeare that people of the same sex are much more likely to trust each other because they are more likely to understand the situation and can relate more to what that person might be going through. In contrast relationships between men and women in this play is a very diverse, one can see that there are two relationships in the play that show this diversity between men and women in Much Ado About Nothing. One relationship is the one between Hero and Claudio and the second one is between Beatrice and Benedick. Both of these relationships are very different; the relationship that Claudio and Hero have is merely based on Claudio wanting to marry Hero because of her wealth and her status. This can be seen because when Claudio finds out that the accusation he made towards H ero were untrue in Act 5 Scene 1, Leonato offers Heros identical cousin to be Claudios bride and he accepts without a second thought. LEONATO: My Brother hath a daughter, Almost the copy of my child thats dead, And she alone is heir to both of us. Give her the right you should have given her cousin, And so dies my revenge. CLAUDIO: O noble sit Your over-kindness doth wring tears from me. I do embrace you offer [5.1.278-284] This shows the audience that Claudio is not really in love with Hero he is in fact in love with the idea of Hero and the wealth that she will bring him. By the same token, this was very typical for men and women of the Elizabethan era to marry only for wealth and status, this is called dynastic marriage. In contrast to Hero and Claudios relationship, one can see that the relationship that Beatrice and Benedick have is real and that they truly do love each other. An example is when Beatrice and Don Pedro are talking at the ball in Act 2 scene 1 and Beatrice confesses that she and Benedick did have a fling: BEATRICE: Indeed, my lord, he lent it me awhile; and I gave him use for it, a double heart for a single one. Marry, once before he won it of me with false dice; therefore your Grace may well say I have lost it. Moreover, this shows the audience that there was something between them but neither Beatrice of Benedick ever talks in a detailed manner about the situation, therefore leaving a little mystery for the audience. Even though Beatrice and Benedick come across as being very aggressive, outspoken and very independent people, Shakespeare mildly starts to show the audience a little look at both of their softer sides. Furthermore, one can also see that their love is real because when Benedick hears Leonato, Don Pedro, and Balthasar talking in Act 2 Scene 3 about how Beatrice really loves Benedick, one can see that Benedicks true feelings come out and he said, When I said I would die a bachelor, I did not think I should live till I were married [2.3.233-235]. Same situation happened for Beatrice when she overheard Hero and Ursula talking about the love that Benedick has for her. After Hero and Ursula leave Beatrice states in her Soliloquy What fire is in mine ears? Can this be true? Stand I c ondemned for price and scorn so much? [3.1.107-108] this shows how shocked she really is that she comes across to Benedick as being so cold-hearted, she than goes to say No glory lives on behind the back of such. And Benedick love on, I will requite thee, Taming my wild heart to thy loving hand. If thou dost love, my kindness shall incite thee To bind our loves up in a holy band. [3.1.110-114] this change of heart that Beatrice has towards Benedick shows the audience that she is not the cold-hearted person everyone has come to know. Moreover, the audience feels more sympathetic towards Beatrice because she shows her genuine side that is willing to change herself to show a man how much she loves him. In conclusion, I think that at the end Shakespeares Much Ado About Nothing does break all of the women stereotypes of the Elizabethan Era, and through different characters shows that prejudice against women in unnecessary and unfair. Moreover, Shakespeare managed to write a comedy that made fun of the battle of the sexes during the Elizabethan Era and showed that women were not just second class citizens, and that they had more of a role within the society.

The control of inventory systems

The control of inventory systems INTRODUCTION It could not be argued that the emmergence of Information Technology has brought business its place present day. The Informatics revolutions have always brought new solutions that come up with new challenges, which keep the need for newer solutions continuous. Information Technology created new businesses being run and managed on the cyberspace called e-business and developed other businesses internally and globally. Some businesses found that it is essential to join the evolution which needed them some effort to transform the company and convert it into an e-business. Others, who stayed where they were have soon discovered the importance of IT application in every major of its business. Using experts of IT to help the conversion, and by means of IT it includes Data base experts, networking professionals, accounting and inventory control systems applications, web site designers and administrators,etc. Some businesses do hire some professionals from other IT solutions companies while others assign their own. Managing of inventory for any business, weather it is small or big, is one of the most important, and often least handled, functions for a business owner. Everything revolves around it: Sales, Customer Service, Accounting, Planning, Purchasing, etc. Barcodes Inc (2009) defines the inventory control system as â€Å"A set of hardware and software based tools that automate the process of tracking inventory. The kinds of inventory tracked with an inventory control system can include almost any type of quantifiable good, including food, clothing, books, equipment, and any other item that consumers, retailers, or wholesalers may purchase.† The paper in hand is considering a general purpose of design and implementation of an Inventory System developed around the standards which then can be customized according to the requirements of any company. The system would help companies overcome main challenges that are facing them by managing the Control Stock activities such as selling, buying goods and reports handling. However, the main purpose of the system is to apply the items information as input data and produce the purchase information as an output. On the Other hand, the system will support printing some functional reports according to the companys requirements. Therefore, when studied companies general requirements regarding control stock issues, it concluded that companies goals and satisfactions are achievable within the given time limitations. However, control of inventory system, which typically represents 45% to 90% of all expenses for a business, is needed to ensure that the business has the right goods on hand to avoid stock-outs, also to prevent shrinkage and uncertain accounting. Many businesses have fair enough of their limited resources, capital, tied up in their major assets and inventory. Worse than that, they may have their capital tied up in the wrong kind of inventory. Inventory may be old, worn out, shop-worn, obsolete, or the wrong sizes or colours, or there may be an imbalance among different product lines that reduces the customer appeal and concerns of the total operation. This project would spot the light upon common problems faced during the application of Inventory Control System and would suggest some solutions to overcome these problems. So we can say to any business â€Å"Control it before it controls you†. As in this paper we are concerned about the inventory control systems, we are going to investigate the role of inventory in general and inventory control systems in specific. In the literature review we are going to analyze some findings from journals, articles and web sites that mostly describe the role of inventory control systems and their problems. In the second part which is Methodology the data collection and research methods which would be basically: face-to-face interviews with three businesses that vary in services, size and needs but share the need to have an effective inventory control system. As well as observing those companies to highlight the main issues to be addressed. We would also consider the findings from journals and some case studies to help us understand the challenges in depth. We would also analyze the collected data in order to get the full view of the issue. Next, we are going to address the challenges that have immerged from data collection of these businesses. Those challenges would definitely vary as every company has its individual needs as they provide different services. But they do all meet at one point where there is a need for an effective inventory control system whether there is one used before or not. The next section of this paper is concerned about the proposed system which would suggest a system designed to ease the process of inventory control and prevent the problems that occurred before. This would be explained via a conceptual design as well as a data flow diagram which has three main actors: supplier, customer and bank. Later, we would explain the results of applying the proposed system, as some solutions would benefit some businesses than the others as every company would be treated separately. This section would also include some findings from resources describing the benefit that some companies gained upon application of inventory control systems. Discussion is the next section which would concentrate on evaluating the findings from results and linking them with the previous findings from the literature review. One could say how beneficial the use of applying the ICS and how many losses would be eliminated to be added to margins. LITREATURE REVIEW Manuel L. Alcuaz Jr (2008) describes the inventory saying Inventory is a major headache for most retailers. Some dont have any information on their inventory movement or levels. As a result they experience many and frequent stock outs, while millions of pesos are tied up in slow-moving or non-moving inventory. The problem can be due to the sheer number of items, the complexity of items, or having very many locations. This shows the consequences of having no reliable inventory systems, as the supplier would suffer from stock outs he would have to ship in more stock to cover the needs whereas there is enough stock but this all is due to system failures or errors. Rover Data Systems, Inc (2008) published a paper says â€Å"Control it before it controls you†. The paper discussed different points on the importance of inventory control system for different businesses. It addressed four types of businesses. First, manufacture to stock business that builds to stock according to a plan then waits for orders to come. Second, manufacture to order business that waits for orders to come, then builds a customer specific product. Third, distributers which purchases and stocks product, then sells to customer and finally the kitter that purchases and keeps detailed inventory on hand, then quickly assembles or packs to deliver to the customer when ordered. Inventories vary in the ways they are being managed, although we are considering the automated inventory control system, it is worthy to understand the problems of inventory in general. Weber (2008) explains these key symptoms of an inventory as follows: A company has too many of the wrong items and production shortages. Frequent overnight shipments. The perpetual levels on the computer are always wrong. Large end-of-the-year write-offs. Congested plant floors. If someones looking for an item, the whole crew has to go out and search. Responsibility for inventory levels is unclear. Hence, they could be all categorized as management problems. I think that these problems could all have been prevented if they was a strict and organized management that highlights the role of every single employee. Such as the problem of congestion of items, overnight shipments could have been eliminated if there was even one employee doing his job as should be. But, we cannot ignore the fact that use of an automated system would accelerate the pending jobs. In other words, the business would need to have focused strategies considering the inventory levels. This leads us to Naples (2008) who claims the responsibility on the f managers to improve inventory not inventory employees who only have to perform certain jobs. He defines the managers role in inventory as follows: Maintain the correct staff level; Make sure all department personnel receive required training. Hold department meetings to discuss problems and ways to improve. Become as proficient as possible with the inventory-control system. Control and work to reduce unsold special order parts, non-stock parts and excess inventory. Control parts inventory obsolescence. This is the most volatile influence on holding expenses as obsolescence increases, the inventory holding expenses become more punitive. Any profits made from items that are selling will be lost to holding costs for items that are not selling. Optimize settings to reduce inventory depth, build inventory width, and reduce the likelihood of excess stock and obsolescence. I would have to agree with Naples, especially that he was more precise than Weber. Because, even with the availability of an inventory Control system there needs to be the right application, control and planning of this system. So they have to be trained and listened to highlight their problems with the system and put together the suggested solutions. Mawson (2009) says retailers need to be focused more than ever on putting good stock control systems in place to ensure they do not overpay suppliers, and to reduce the risk of having items stolen off shelves. A report into loss prevention has found that too many retailers simply accept shrinkage as a fact of life, a fact that could cost them up to 3% of revenue, and all too many think that theft plays a bigger role than systems, a thought that could well be flawed. I believe that many retailers focus their efforts on internal and external theft by paying for CCTVs and security systems, where the main issue is often process failure which drags into leakage and shrinkage where nobody knows where these amounts are gone. All what it needs from retailers and businesses is to focus on inventory control systems and consider them as an investment. Inventory Control Systems are -as any other systems- not error free. According to Sahin and Dallery (2009) considering the thousands of items may come in and go out the system in a working day the Possible errors such as defects that affect the physical flow and the associated information flow can therefore be crucial. A survey held by Hollinger and Davis (2001) shows that among errors causing perturbation on the physical flow, internal and external theft, administrative errors and fraud made by vendor accounted for 1.8% of sales in US retail industry in 2001; assuming an annual sales base of $1.8 trillion this costs US retailers $33 billion. In other words this huge amount of cash can lost all around the world, it only is a crisis affecting retailers and is continuing to happen annually. This is due to either simply bad data or technical errors in the inventory systems that have been relying on worn-out systems thinking that they are saving money by keeping the same system. Whereas, making the right decision by a strict system update policy can save more amounts than what is being lost. A paper published 2002 by SCORE (Counsellors to Americas Small Business) suggest that inventory control systems range from eyeball systems to reserve stock systems to perpetual computer-run systems. It concerned with three forms of inventory that is Raw materials, In-process or semi-finished goods, and Finished goods. The Eyeball System is the standard inventory control system for the vast majority of small retail and many small manufacturing operations and is very simple in application but in this approach the manager have to check the store and record any stock shortage which is very difficult. Reserve Stock (or Brown Bag) System is much more systematic than the eyeball system as it keeps full control over the stock and ensure that the new shipment should arrive just as the last of the reserve stock is being used. In Perpetual Inventory Systems a programmed instruction referred to commonly as a trigger, automatically transmits an order to the appropriate vendor once supplies fall b elow a prescribed level. Floyd D. Hedrick (2006) suggests several proven methods for inventory control, which used for small business. The methods from simplest to most complex are Visual control, Tickler control, Click sheet control, and Stub control. Today as business grows computer-based system is used and is enhanced by the fact that company accounting and billing procedures can also be handled on the computer. Point-of-sale terminals relay information on each item used or sold. The manager receives information printouts at regular intervals for review and action. Off-line point-of-sale terminals relay information directly to the suppliers computer who uses the information to ship additional items automatically to the buyer/inventory manager. Large businesses nowadays are obliged to depend on accurate and up-to-date inventory systems by means of installing the RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) so they can have accurate inventory counts and to avoid the massive loss. The Freightliner-Western Star Trucks as the leading heavy-duty truck manufacturer in North America in a published case study (2008) has proven the reliability of the Motorola RFID. As a result the company quotes â€Å"The installed solution has already proven itself at the Portland plant. Labor costs associated with inventory control have been reduced significantly, as have data errors and mis-ships.† (Motorola Inc, 2008). Tracking the case study- considering the uniqueness of each corporate- by installing the RFID system can prevent the errors and avoid several problems that where found in businesses and specially considering small businesses that lack the experience of decision making knowing their priorities in investment. Jon Schreibfeder (2008) wrote â€Å"Effective Inventory Management allows a distributor to meet or exceed customers expectations of product availability with the amount of each item that will maximize net profits. He thinks that there is a relationship between the inventory management and the distribution of goods and of course on the customer. Indeed he sees that customers may depend on you to have some of your slow-moving products always on the shelf just in case they need them. The availability of these products contributes to your reputation as a reliable supplier and helps to differentiate you from your competitors. It is true that this view shows the importance of having an effective inventory control system, but there are many other important views. For example in assembly line industry any shortage in the row material will cause shutting down the whole line, which means losing time, effort, and money. A paper published by Claudio, Zhang and Zhang (2007) proposed a hybrid system, which combines a make-to-order push system with a make-to-stock pull system in food industry. The paper suggests â€Å"The make-to-stock strategy will be applied to those customers who come in requesting a product at the time of arrival, and the make-to-order will be applied to those customers who can give information in advance about their needs†. The hybrid system is designed to overcome the most important problems that faced food industry which is competition and how to deliver the service to the customer fast and in a good quality. Edward A. Silver, (2005) published a paper with the title â€Å"Inventory Management: A Tutorial, Canadian Publications, Practical Applications and Suggestion for Future Research†. This paper first presents a tutorial overview of inventory management. This includes a categorization, by a number of dimensions, of inventory problems and associated models. Relevant Canadian contributions to fundamental and applied theory are listed within the dimensions. Then substantial evidence is provided of widespread Canadian applications of inventory management. The paper points out the continuing gap between theory and practice, followed by a number of suggested research topics to help bridge the gap. Zipkin, P.H. had published his book â€Å"Foundations of Inventory Management† McGraw-Hill, (2000). In this book he says that â€Å"all organizations in any sector of the economy, Supply Chain Management, i.e., the control of the material flow from suppliers of raw material to final customers, is a crucial problem. The strategic importance of this area is today fully recognized by top management. The total investment in inventories is enormous, and the control of capital tied up in raw material, work-in-progress, and finished goods offers a very important potential for improvement.† This book suggests a wide range of different inventory models that can be used when developing inventory control systems to give a significant competitive advantage. METHODOLOGY The aims of this research experiment is to spot the light on the most common problems that face small businesses in keeping track of their inventories for a better resource management. It is going to highlight the reasons behind not applying inventory systems and gathering needed information about the business goals and resources to apply a suitable inventory system. Data Collection methods Interviews The research would conduct a live interview with a small business owner Eng. Ali Al-Asfoor from ARC fabrication and welding services. Which is a small establishment started 2008 providing fabrication and welding services for individuals and corporate. Another interview would be held with Mr. Adel Al-Shaer an inventory manager at Hajji Hassan Al-Aali business group. It is considered one of the largest business groups in Bahrain providing building and pre-cast services. The third interview would take place with Mr. Hassan Ali an inventory manager at Al Jabiria Technical School, which is a public school as an example of inventory systems in the general sector. Observation A full working day was held at Al-Jabiria Technical school by the assistance of one of the teachers there to report the process of inventory tracking system. Journals Several web published journals were used to find out the major problems that encountered businesses upon the application of inventory control systems. Case studies The Freightliner-Western Star Trucks as the leading heavy-duty truck manufacturer in North America, has enriched the research by monitoring their use of inventory control systems using the RFID technology from Motorola. Data analysis It has been recognized that Arc welding and fabrication do not have inventory system and they need one to keep track of their supplies which consist of metal bars of different sizes, accessories, paints, welding materials so it can save their time and money as if bulk orders were made it is cheaper. Alali group had an inventory system which is the bar code scanning but with some accuracy errors. The inventory manager at Alali group lead to identify three types of inventory: row materials, products, and goods. It gave the research a clear view about the inventory path. The owner order new goods and kept in the store. When the customer made the order, the salesman would check the store if the goods are available or not If not, the salesman would place an order again. Next, the customer would pay the money and salesman would give him a receipt, if the customer was not willing to give a full payment, the salesman would save the debt to state the remaining money. At the end of the day, the salesman would collect the money and send it to the Bank. And in some situations, the customer might want to return the goods, thus the salesman will replace the goods and record it. Finally, the schools inventory system was complete manual which took time and effort from employees. By using work observation technique the research divided the system requirements into two groups, Functional Requirements and Non-Functional Requirements. Functional Requirements: In this requirement category, the research considers the functional requirements; within this task, it defines the system services and its functionalities. Furthermore, it provides a detailed description of the data. Non-Functional Requirements: Regarding the non-functional requirements, the research defines system properties and constrains. Consequently, through this task, it tried to take in mind system constrains and restrictions that company requested in order to achieve the desired performance. CHALLENGES Managing inventory by implementing inventory software is an essential part of successful and well-organized business organization, to manage inventory in more effective and efficient manner. In Todays competitive business world, business managers should know the fundamental operations of the business better. Therefore powerful inventory software helps to easily manage total inventory and invoicing system to maximize the inventory management benefits. Powerful inventory tracking software allows you to access the relevant information of the products including: Accurate information of received goods. Movement of goods within or between locations. Total sales or purchase order of goods. Removal or other disposition of goods. Status of remaining goods. Information of inventory items. If any organization does not implement an automated computerized system manage and monitor the activities of their stock-ins and out; it cannot predict what items are available in stock and their precise quantities. Sometime, the working staff may forget or misplace the original price of the product causing them not to know the minimum allowed price to sell. This would definitely slow up the process of the business and this would affect other activities performance that cannot be controlled and lots of information that could not be clear or available, as the types of information listed above. As a result of business analysis and workflow observations, unfortunately, many companies are facing problems with their current systems whether it was a manual or a half automated system. Our main concern is to build the new system as a solution for these problems. Moreover, we had a number of meetings with some companies staff and representatives to discuss some ideas regarding the modifications and the improvements needed to be made. In addition, we had the chance to track the job workflow these companies, and at the same time we were able to take some notes while observing. As a result, we concluded that the major current problems are: Many of the current manual systems contain some sensitive functions that were implemented manually, especially the calculation functions. As a result of this, accuracy leaking may appear during these mathematical processes. Consequently, using the mathematical functions in the designed system and turning all these manual process to an automated system will guarantee the desired accurate results. This case was obvious in Arc fabrication and welding services, which was relying on manual calculations that lead to data leakage which probably cause loss in amounts that would be increasing if an automated inventory system was not applied. Approximately, all of the current manual systems did not support printed documents where the reports are printed separately by employees who are in charge of HR activities. This process leads to less efficient performance and wastage in employees time. Actually, printed reports and other documents are one of the main functions in any inventory system. Regarding user satisfaction, the new designed system will support documents printing process in such a way that ensures simplicity, reliability and efficiency. Adel Alshaer head of inventory at Hajji Hassan AlAli group said We had to do the quantity surveying and register them into our system which is depending on spread sheets then deliver the calculations and then do reports upon the findings which needs extra effort and time from us. On the other hand, regarding the current automated systems, time is a critical limitation that faces both employees and managers. As a result of business analysis, many current automated systems contains some system debugs which need the system support team to be involved deeply in running the system functions. Thus, this involvement is a very time consuming task which may affect the system performance and cause some prohibited delays in the systems critical processes. Therefore, there is an urgent and essential need for a dependable inventory system that would cost less time by being accurate with reduced technical debugs. PROPOSED SYSTEM The main goal of the system is to make a business able to have a closer look onto their stock, have more control on activities concerning maintaining of inventory, and controlling the related financial issues. This system is expected to solve the problems that any business may face while maintaining inventory. Plus, the system will assist the purchasing department to keep ideal level of stock and to avoid any financial expenses that may occur as result of implementing improper policy of maintaining inventory. Listed below, some points that explain the main objectives and features of this system: Manage the company inventory system in effective manner. Facilitate to generate report to analysis total sales and purchase of the items. Facilitate to keep the total sale/purchase order of the products. Facilitate with customizable options that are easy to use. Display inventory data in a friendly user interface way. Keep track the customer records for customer relationship management (CRM). Save time with automatically calculating totals and doing tasks. Keep high level of security at shopping time, counting time and upon the display of information by providing accurate inventory quality information. Provide information on the availability of stock items and the status of stock requisition by creating a series of databases that will store product and/or item information effectively. Reduction of errors in transactions. Reducing manual system usage. Ability to run in different environments as a result of fast growing companies. Contextual Diagram The context diagram of any system shows the external entities and the flow of data between those entities and the whole system. The following figure1 shows this regarding the designed Inventory System. The square is a representation of the system boundary. The system boundary defines what is inside and outside the system which is shown in Figure2. The system basically will work like this: First the supplier will receive an order. Any useful information about the order will be entered in the system by the user who will save it in the order database. Then the user should view the stock information which related to the order in hand by using a search engine throw the purchasing department. The search technique could be modified to fit the organization. If the stock is not available the order will be cancelled. If the stock is available an invoice will be created and give it or send it to the customer. Finally, when the customer pays the money, reports will be sent to the bank. The system also will have access to CRM database for customer relationship support. See figure3. The data flow diagram shows the relationship between the supplier, customer and the bank. The new system would propose that sequence operations could start with the supplier that sends the orders to the company. Once the order is received it is being stored so if the stock is available in the required quantity the invoice is being proceeded, and if there is no stock available the inventory staff would have to contact the supplier until the process is being proceeded again until here. The invoice is being created and sent to the customer. The payment would either go directly to the bank via a cheque or by cash to the supplier. RESULTS The system helps the organization to keep track on its suppliers, customers and the item movement; be it stock-in or out, or between different branches, or to-from the customers. The ICS gives business the ability to have a closer look to their stock, have more control on the activities concerning maintaining of inventory, and controlling the related financial issues. Plus, it provides the business with asset management solution to increase warehouse and business productivity. ICS resolve also the following problems: What you sold? What you need to order? What should be left in stock? The impact of ICS use on the selected businesses: As three companies were chosen, had several problems with their inventory and stock management; the problems were explained in the Challenges section. The proposed system suggested solutions upon the mentioned challenges and its suggested solutions should do as follows: Provide a reliable and accurate inventory system to prevent data leakage. The proposed system suggests use of an integrated system that links the supplier, customer and bank. This starts from building data bases -if not available- using data warehouse. This would lead into more profit depending on the stock and supplies quantity as it is in Arc Fabrication and welding and AlAali group. Besides saving more items in stores to be used for the next years in the case of the schools inventory. Saving time and effort: This would obviously affect businesses and time is also money in the business world. Reports would be generated automatically upon using an automated inventory system. This would save employees time and effort providing accurate reports so that employees would be busy following up with other chores. Hassan Ali, inventory manager at Aljaberya School We had to do summative reports per semester which needed a week at least to finish after doing all the calculations and data entry via spread sheets and creating the charts then data analysis and writing reports. We even find it difficult and some errors could occur due to lack of organization and experience in such subjects. Elimination of technical errors: This would be clearly noticed in the replacement of an inventory control system instead of using spreadsheets in the case of AlAali group while this solution does not apply the other two companies as they were not using an automated system basically. Other examples by effectively managing inventory using an ICS: Xerox eliminated $700 million inventory from its supply chain. GM has reduced parts inventory and transportation costs by 26% annually. Wal-Mart became the largest retail company utilizing efficient inventory