Friday, November 29, 2019

The Dark Genius Of The Short Story free essay sample

Essay, Research Paper Many writers have made great parts to the universe of literature. Mark Twain introduced Americans to life on the Mississippi. Jack London told of the bravery of many on the Alaskan Frontier. Another writer that made an influence on literature is Edgar Allan Poe. Poe is known as the male parent of the American short narrative. To understand the literary parts of Edgar Allan Poe, one must look at his early life, his literary life, and a sum-up of two of his celebrated plants. Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts on January 19, 1809 ( Stern xi ) . He was born to a southern household that was in a going company of histrions ( Marks 2 ) . His male parent, David Poe, was from a Baltimore household. He was an histrion by profession but his household would state he made a calling out of imbibing, non moving. Soon after Edgar Allan Poe was born, he left his household. We will write a custom essay sample on The Dark Genius Of The Short Story or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Poe # 8217 ; s female parent, Elizabeth Arnold Poe, was a widow at the age of 18 ( Porges 32 ) . Two old ages after his birth, she died of TB ( Stern xi ) . When his female parent died, Poe was adopted by John Allan ( Stern xi ) at the goad of Mr. Allan # 8217 ; s married woman. In 1815, John Allan moved his household to England. While at that place, Poe was sent to private schools which he described as dark, antediluvian, mazes ( Stern, Edgar Allen Poe Visitor for the Night of Time 42 ) . In the spring of 1826, Poe entered the University of Virginia. There he studied Spanish, Gallic, Italian, and Latin. He had an first-class pedant record, but he got into troubles about at one time. Mr. Allan did non supply him with the money to pay for his fees and other necessities. Poe was confused and homesick. He learned to play cards and started imbibing. Soon he was in debt over two thousand dollars. Poe discovered that he could notClint Fiore 2 depend upon Allan for fiscal support. His Foster male parent refused to pay his debts, and Poe had to retreat from the University ( Haines 62 ) . In May of 1827, Poe enlisted in the ground forces as a common soldier. He did this under the name of Edgar A. Perry ( Porges 43 ) . He was stationed on Sullivan # 8217 ; s Island in Charleston Harbor for over a twelvemonth. Poe adapted really good to military subject and rapidly rose to the rank of regimental sergeant major. After a piece, he got tired of the same day-to-day modus operandi involved in military life. Poe wrote on a regular basis to Mr. Allan. He met with Mr. Allan after the decease of Mrs. Allan in February of 1829. With Allan # 8217 ; s support, he received his discharge and enlisted in West Point on July 1, l830 ( Stern xii ) . While at West Point, Mr. Allan, who had remarried, continued in non supplying Poe with adequate money. Poe decided to hold himself kicked out of school. Cuting categories and ignoring orders were his solutions ( Porges 44 ) . He was court-martialed for disregard of responsibilities in January, 1831, and left West Point the following month ( Stern xii ) . Poe was great in three different Fieldss, and in each 1 he made a repute that would give any adult male a high topographic point in literary history. Poe wrote great short narratives, celebrated non merely in his ain state, but all over the universe ( Stern, Edgar Allen Poe Visitor from the Night of Time 12 ) . Hawthorne, Irving, Balzac, Bierce, Crane, Hemingway and other authors have given us memorable short narratives ; but none has produced so great a figure of celebrated and unforgettable illustrations, so many narratives that continue, Clint Fiore 3 despite altering criterions to be read and reprinted once more and once more throughout the universe ( Porges 15 ) . Poe was the male parent of the modern short narrative, and the modern detective narrative ( Porges 19 ) . In 1831, Poe succeeded in printing a new edition of his verse form entitled, Poems. Poe was now in great trouble. He went to New York, but could happen no occupation at that place. Finally he took safety with his aunt, Mrs. Clemm, in Baltimore. There he decided to seek employment and do his life by composing. Failing to acquire attending with his verse forms, he decided to get down composing short narratives. Poe competed in a competition for the best short narrative in 1831 ( Stern xii ) . The award was offered by Phil-Saturday Courier. Because he did non win the award, Poe started on an ambitious undertaking. He decided to be after a series of narratives told by members of a literary group. He found no publishing house for his narratives, and entered the competition once more in June of 1835. This timehe sent one verse form and six narratives ( Porges 46 ) . His narrative, # 8 220 ; Ms. Found in a Bottle, # 8221 ; won, and he received one hundred dollars for it ( Porges 46 ) . Through the influence of one of the Judgess, John P. Kennedy, Poe became employed as an editor of the Southern Literary Messenger, published in Richmond ( Stern xiii ) . Under Poe # 8217 ; s editorship, the Messenger # 8217 ; s circulation rose from 500 to 3500. While in Richmond, Poe married his cousi n, Virginia, who was non rather 14 old ages old. Poe was fired from the Messenger in January of 1837 ( austere twelve ) . Poe so went to New York, where he was unsuccessful. In the summer of 1838, he moved to Philadelphia. While in Philadelphia, he worked as the editor of both Burton’s Gentleman’s Magazine and Graham’s Magazine ( Stern xii ) . Even though he won a one hundred dollar award for â€Å"The Gold Bug† ( Porges 47 ) , he moved to New York. Poe found a occupation in New York as an helper editor for the Evening Mirror. This was where â€Å"The Raven† foremost appeared on January 29, 1845. The verse form instantly caught the imaginativeness of the public andClint Fiore 4 was reprinted all over the state and even abroad in all sorts of newspapers and magazines, but Poe pocketed merely a few dollars for his verse form ( Marks 2 ) . The twelvemonth of 1845 was a lucky twelvemonth for Poe. He published a aggregation of his Tales and an edition of his verse form named The Raven and Other Poems. He besides became the editor of the hebdomadal Broadway Journal. Poe broke down when Virginia died in January of 1848 ( Porges 49 ) . In 1849, Poe died in Baltimore ( Stern xiv ) . Alternatively of truly living, he took safety from the physical universe in the private universe of his dreams-in other words-in the universe of his narratives ( Marks 2 ) . # 8221 ; In the # 8220 ; Masque of the Red Death # 8221 ; , Poe uses his imaginativeness throughout the narrative. A pestilence has devastated the full state. It takes merely half an hr for the disease to run it? s class. At first one feels crisp strivings and giddiness. Then one starts shed blooding at the pores. The disease consequences in decease. Prince Prospero has ordered one 1000 Godheads and ladies to the deep privacy of one of his abbeys. The edifice was built by the Prince and is filled with his alien decorations. It is sealed from the outside universe by a immense wall with Fe Gatess. Inside the edifice are terpsichoreans, instrumentalists, and everything they need in order to remain secluded until the pestilence runs its class. After six months of privacy, the Prince decides to keep a cloaked ball. The ball is held in a suite with seven suites. Each room is decorated in a individual colour. The last room is decorated in ruddy. Within this room stands a immense clock that strikes the hr with a heavy clank. The suites are really crowded for the ball. At the shot of midnight, a invitee is seen in a costume of the ruddy decease itself and this frightens the other invitees. ThePrince is angered at what he believes to be a practical gag. He orders the alien seized and hanged from the c renelations. Prince Prospero follows the alien into the ruddy chamber. It is at that place that Prince Prospero falls dead at the pess of the alien. The others capture the unknown individual in the costume. To their horror they find there is no populating signifier in the costume. One by one they die until no 1 else remains. Death is king of all ( Porges 85 ) . The horrorClint Fiore 5 abysmal darkness, and absolute weakness bechancing the victims are described with graphic truth in narratives such as? The Fall of the House of Usher, ? ? The Cask of Amontillado, ? and? The Premature Burial? ( Marks 4 ) . # 8221 ; In # 8220 ; The Fall of the House of Usher, # 8221 ; the storyteller visits his insane friend, Roderick Usher. Usher # 8217 ; s house is immense and glooming. His twin sister, Madeline, gets ill and dies. The storyteller and Usher topographic point her in a grave in the cellar of Usher # 8217 ; s house. What they do non recognize is that she is still hardly alive. Usher keeps on hearing sounds over the following twosome of yearss. The 7th twenty-four hours after Madeline # 8217 ; s decease, a bad storm appears. The storyteller and Usher open the door of the storyteller # 8217 ; s room and Madeline falls on Usher. They both die. The storyteller so leaves the house. As he rides off, the house collapses to the floor ( Haines 21 ) . The Dark Genius of the Short Story Clint FioreE2Pre-Ap-8December 2, 1998 Clint FioreE2Pre-AP8December 2, 1998 The Dark Genius of the Short StoryThesis Sentence: To understand Poe? s parts to the fullest, we must look at his life, literary calling, and a sum-up of two of his celebrated plants. I. Early Life of Edgar Allen PoeII. Literary Career of Edgar Allen PoeIII. Hagiographas of Edgar Allen PoeA. ? Masque of the Red Death? B. ? Fall of the House of Usher? Clint FioreE2Pre-AP8December 2, 1998 BibliographyHaines, Charles. Edgar Allen Poe His Hagiographas and Influence. New York: Franklin Watts Inc. , 1947. Marks, Thomas. Poe, American Poet. hypertext transfer protocol: www.epoeindextml. April 6, 1996. Porges, Irwin. Edgar Allen Poe. Philadelphia: Chilton Books, 1963. Stern, Philip Van Doren. Edgar Allen Poe. New York: The Viking Press, 1945. Stern, Philip Van Doren. Edgar Allen Poe Visitor from the Night of Time. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Co. , 1973.

Monday, November 25, 2019

Liberty vs. Security Essay Example

Liberty vs. Security Essay Example Liberty vs. Security Essay Liberty vs. Security Essay Essay Topic: On Liberty Identify the arguments for and against having a national I. D. Card. WSDL such a card make you feel more secure? What personal concerns might you have about such a system? A national identification card would be used to prove our identity to government officials. There are various arguments for and against having this identification card. The arguments in favor are that it would be easier to identify and control immigration. The arguments against a national I. D. Radar are that it would be difficult o ensure that the majority of the population would register for it. Some, such as the homeless, might have trouble proving their identities in order to receive a card because of a lack of Social Security numbers or birth certificates. Also there is no point in having a separate national identity card when the state drivers license system is already in place. This card can be used to track individuals, if the government chooses not to create this database, then it might be too easy for peo ple to commit fraud by having multiple cards with different identities. I know that having an identification card can make us feel more secure but still I dont think it would stop crime. 2- The government routinely reviews email in general for threats to national security. Do you believe that this surveillance should be increased and extended to phone calls, in order to better identify terrorist threats? In my opinion, the idea that global surveillance, whether in the form of cameras or eavesdropping on phone calls, would be better to identify terrorist threats is difficult, if not impossible to prove. An intelligent concentrated attacker determined on causing destruction will still find a way to evade detection in order to cause havoc. You can plant a camera on every street corner, or tap on to suspicious phone calls, supposed to detect suspicious behavior. But, no amount of security will address the underlying issue, the terrorism, which is existential and usually rooted in some sort of political grievance. Surveillance can be a useful law enforcement tool, no doubt. But I think it is not a universal remedy.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Changes in the Field of Civil Engineering Essay

Changes in the Field of Civil Engineering - Essay Example The aim of this report is to explore the changes that are occurring in the rhetorical practices in the field of civil engineering. Globalization, the computer evolution, population demand, scientific advancements as well as the growing concern for environmental and security in the field of material science, biotechnology, and nanotechnology are the key drivers of the changes. As the changes continue to emerge, students need to adapt, adjust and conform to the changes by acquiring more knowledge about the field that they otherwise would in the past. The adjustments need not only to be in the traditional sciences and math, but also to encompass emerging domains in engineering and science and knowledge in crucial areas such as leadership, communication, marketing, business management, and practical processes. In addition, students must be able to learn how to come up with innovative designs that are required for maintaining and enhancing the competitive advantage with respect to other n ations, and be able to prepare adequately to accomplish emerging professional challenges. Therefore, there is an urgent need to expand and improve civil engineering education (CEE), including professional innovators such as civil engineers with skills and knowledge required to develop novel designs, which can be patented. Over the past six decades, the United States has witnessed a significant reduction in the number of credit hours required for a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. In fact, at present, America’s average hours stands at about 125 credit hours only. (Arciszewski and Russell 5). This is a huge reduction considering the fact that just decade ago, the U.S. average credit hours for a bachelor’s degree in engineering took an average of 135 hours. This emerging trend is, particularly driven by state funded universities, which are increasingly heeding to political pressure to reduce the cost incurred in undergraduate education, as well as to ensure that civil engineering students graduate in four years. It is also unfortunate that even private universities are increasingly adopting this trend in a bid to remain competitive. Presently, civil engineering education in the country is struggling with the blatant contradiction between the national, state, and local level needs, according to Arciszewski and Russell (5). The aim of this report is to explore the changes that are occurring in the rhetorical practices in the field of civil engineering. The field of civil engineering has undergone many changes over the years. This has seen most paradigms being replaced by the emerging concepts. As earlier stated, the changes that have occurred in the field of civil engineering are attributed mainly to the rapid technological advancements and globalization being witnessed in different parts of the world today. This has necessitated students to adjust in their learning in order to keep pace with the changing needs of the world in the field of civil engineering. According to Arciszewski and Russell, the engineering system evolution is driven by objective evolutionary techniques, known as patterns of evolution (8). They argue that this pattern applies to all engineering fields, including CEE and practice. Many studies that dates back to the 1940s found nine patterns of evolution in the field of engineering. However, the S-curve pattern is the most relevant in CEE. According to the S-curve pattern, engineering systems have undergone transformations following an S-curve pattern, when the relationship between time and specific characteristics of an engineering system are both taken into consideration. This implies that each engineering system has a life cycle that once completed give rise to another system based on different assumptions or different paradigm, as shown in figure 1. For example, when we consider airplanes, we realize that there are separate S-curves for propeller-driven airplanes, jet planes, and turbo-prope ller planes. In this regard, we end up with a family

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Secularism in the UK Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Secularism in the UK - Essay Example In a society such as Britain, the Church and the State are relatively separate and there are a wide variety of non-religious cultural institutions (such as the mass media, education and so forth). In this society, it is relatively easy to remain culturally untouched by religion and religious belief seems to be more a matter of individual choice than cultural necessity. In UK secular society may be seen as largely the product of the Christian West. With the possible exception of some brief periods in the history of ancient Greece and of the Roman Empire in its hey-day, there have been few secular societies in the whole course of human development in the world. In most societies religion has been closely woven into the whole fabric of society, determining its structure and the pattern of men's ideas and goals; religious images have been dominant in men's imaginations and formed the focus of their culture in its widest sense. (Edward, 2000, 151-67) The dominance of religion has often me ant the domination of priests and theologians or the impositions of the ecclesiastical hierarchy. Disputes about power have become disputes about religious systems and still today such issues lurk behind many of our disputes within Europe, and between Europe and the rest of the world.A secular society is one which explicitly refuses to commit itself as a whole to any particular view of the nature of the universe and the place of man in it. The State neither requires a subscription to any particular doctrines nor overt forms of religious behavior as a condition for claiming full rights as a citizen; furthermore, it does not in any significant sense attach itself to any church or religion. Clearly in Britain today the existence of two established churches, and the requirements of Biblical instruction in schools, as well as the favoured position of the established churches in the universities and the favoured position of all the Christian churches in the national broadcasting system, m ight be taken to suggest that Britain is not a secular society.

Monday, November 18, 2019

WSJ Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

WSJ - Case Study Example McDonald decision had been driven by various reasons. First, the low performance of the units propels the decision to dispose them. Through this, the company will get to concentrate on the production of the products that accounts for a significant proportion of their return. McDonald was concerned about the slow performance and growth of the products therefore considered divestment necessary. The availability of other better areas to invest is also another reason why MacDonald considers the divestment essential. P & G has considered the disposal of Braun, Iams pet food, Duracell batteries and Pringles potato snacks and aimed to acquire consumer products portfolio of Schering-plough, Wyeth and Sara lee corps international household units. This therefore implies that McDonald intention is to maximize the most lucrative business and dispose the slow performing areas to improve the companies dwindling financial performance (Jargon & Chon, 2012). This strategy is therefore growth-oriented ad justifiable. In addition, McDonald decision is because of the lack of strategic fit of some of the proposed divestment units. For instance, Duracell that was acquired in 2005 is now considered a questionable fit in P & G board because of the low priced labeled batteries. There is also a complain that the prices experience a high level of fluctuation which made the profit of the business very volatile. Besides, Braun that realizes an annual sale of $1.3 billion is considered outside the P &G core businesses. The management is thus assessing Braun’s technologies application in other segments. McDonald reason of branding the company so that it is associated with particular products is also important. After the divestments, the company aims at focusing their effort in the production of the core products. Moreover, the decision to divest can be caused by the demand and pressure from the investors.

Saturday, November 16, 2019

ICICI Bank Limited Operations Management

ICICI Bank Limited Operations Management ICICI bank Ltd is largest private sector bank in India. ICICI bank offers large range of financial product and services. Retail banking section of ICICI bank is departmentalised into three units namely branch banking, sales and operations. Regional processing centre (RPC) under operations unit is responsible for processing and implementation of products and services offered by bank for allocated geographical region. With huge customer base and large number of services offered, operations unit has to frequently face fluctuation in processing volume. As banks are dealing with huge amount of transactions under regulated environment the capacity management need to be implemented carefully while maintaining required quality standards. The essay is focused on retail liability operations unit of ICICI bank. The purpose of this essay is to critically analyse the ICICI banks approach for managing its capacity and coping with fluctuating volume or rather fluctuating demand with same quality. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: ICICI Bank has been introduced and the sphere of analysis has been confined to retail liability section of operations unit. Overview of process at operations unit is defined by using Slacks (2009) model of Input-Transformation-Output. Capacity and demand for Regional processing centre is explained. Method use by ICICI bank to calculate the capacity of operations unit and individual resource at operation unit is explained and also shown in mathematical form. Idea of effective and potential capacity is briefly introduced. Demand -capacity mismatch is explained. Forecasting of demand is explained by divided it into long term and short term demand forecast, the demand can either be predictable as well as unpredictable. Few illustrative examples are given to show how forecast about surge in volume can be given from events that can be predicted. Capacity management methods suggested by scholars are explained and the existing situation at bank is analysed in light of literature. It is deduced that chase demand plan is used by bank to manage capacity in short term. Use of manage demand plan by bank at certain departments under RPC is suggested. Quality issues related to fluctuation in demand and capacity has been raised and implementation of coping strategies at bank has been explained. Finally recommendations are given to manage capacity of RPC for high demand and suggestions are given to maintain quality under fluctuating demand and capacity. It is concluded that capacity management can affect the quality of service provided to customer under high demand and how capacity planning supported by demand forecast can help to address the issue of demand capacity match while maintaining quality of service provided PROCESS DESCRIPTION: As per (Slack et al, 2009), under Input-Transformation-Output model branches and sales unit provide input to regional processing centre(operations unit) in the form of customer service request and processing request of financial product sold to customer. Now these inputs are processed at RPC and output is in the form of service provided to customers. For example account opening forms, term deposit request and negotiable instruments etc. processed at RPC provides the services and facility provided by bank to customer. Though operations unit at ICICI bank is not generating business directly but efficient working of this unit ensures customer satisfaction, compliance with central bank regulations and prevention of frauds CAPACITY AND DEMAND: Facet of Operations at ICICI Bank According to Hill (2005) capacity of operations unit at ICICI bank can be explained as resources to process customer request in limited time frame and desired quality. The resources at RPC are combination of staff, systems and facility required to produce desired output. For example number of negotiable instruments processed per day with given resources is the capacity of payment and settlement department of RPC. Demand is the requirements of the customers to avail the service and products offered by bank. Now, when it is clear that capacity has time dimension the variation in output is affected by all input elements to the RPC. So the variety of products and service packages offered by bank give rise to variations in the input and demand placed on the operations unit. Another aspect of the equation is to know about demand and its duration. This in turn is enclosed in a knowledge of the volume, variety, and variation in demand and in the nature of that demand (Armistead et al, 1991). As per Slack et. al (2009) ICICI bank need to know its capacity to meet demand. If capacity is low bank will not be able to meet the demand resulting into customer dissatisfaction and if capacity is more that demand bank is paying for extra capacity. ICICI bank has a well defined method to calculate the capacity of RPC (operations unit) as well as individual staff at RPC. Bank use the method of productivity calculation to identify the capacity to meet demand generated. Processing of services at RPC is further divided into department and formed the teams to perform specific task such as payments and settlement departments, account opening team, risk containment unit, transaction team. Overall task of the team is further divided into series of small tasks, which is formalised and same for all RPCs. After collating the inputs taken from line staff and team leads from all RPCs bank has prepared extensive list of all the task performed at RPC and the average time required to complete part icular task. Time requires to complete a particular task is termed as Hot time. Productivity of the individual staff is calculated as per formula: Productivity = Hot time Volume handled Summation of productivity of each employee in RPC is the productivity of RPC. It is used as means to calculate capacity of RPC to handle demand generated. Capacity of RPC will never be constant even if demand is constant. The fluctuation of demand on hourly to daily basis may be such that it can be difficult to meet demand. At ICICI bank clearing of high level negotiable instrument has to be done in small time window of four hours from opening hours of bank. For such small time frame, with fluctuation of volume it can be difficult to handle demand with existing capacity. The ability to change capacity to cope with changes in demand raises questions of the flexibility of the capacity (Slack et al, 2009). The interesting part is to find out that how an individual can increase its capacity. It can be by working hard, putting extra hours. But, as RPC is dealing with financial transaction worth Rs 150 million on daily basis standard of quality is necessary to be maintained to avoid wrong credits and compliance with regulation guideline. To cope with the fluctuation of capacity, the idea of effective and potential capacity is useful (Lockyer et al.,1988). Effective capacity is the capacity which is available to the manager, whereas potential capacity is the capacities which can be used if manage can provide additional arrangements to increase capacity. Both are short term decisions and pertain to the team and individual level rather than to the organisation as a whole. Long term increases or decreases in capacity such as opening of new RPC and it will have impact on whole branch network under that RPC. DEMAND FORECAST: According to Slack et al (2010) understanding of demand and capacity fluctuation is necessary to plan for future events, else it is only to react. For capacity planning forecast is a valuable input. Demand forecasting can be long term and short term. Demand can either be predictable or unpredictable. At ICICI bank short term forecasting for operations activity is done by respective team at RPC. Unpredictable variation in demand at RPC needs to be address with well planed capacity management scheme to fulfil the gap between demand and capacity. Short term forecast is used to plan the allocation of resources to meet the expected surge in demand. Short term variation in demand at banks is mostly predictable though not with exact figures but a fair assumption of demand can be made by evaluating historical data and trends as well as prevailing market situation. Example of negotiable instrument processing team is taken to illustrate the probable factors influencing fluctuation in demand, f actors can be Holiday for few days in row-It will increase demand Natural calamity- It will decrease demand Financial year opening-closing- It will increase demand Launch of popular IPO- It will increase demand Monthly payment cycle for payment of advances- It will increase demand Though this is not extensive list but it provides the rough idea of factors influencing fluctuation in demand. Similarly, at the time of campus recruitments bank can expect surge in salary account opening activity, increase in rate of interest on deposits will increase demand for term deposit requests and increase in workload at transaction department at last week of the month for salary credit process. Volume can be used as statement of the trend in demand over a period of time. Long term forecast of demand is based on different standard forecast models. These forecast models are based on different set of assumption (Hill, 2005). Apart from these assumptions there are few more factors such as macroeconomic factors, planning to use new technology etc. Forecast can never be accurate all the times .Over estimation of demand in forecast can lead to unnecessary expenditure on increasing capacity (Slack et al, 2009)). At ICICI bank long term estimation of demand is done at centralised unit keeping in mind the implementation of new technology, expected market share, change in regulation by central bank (Reserve bank of India) and quality of service offered by competitors etc. CAPACITY MANAGEMENT: Capacity management is concerned with the matching of the capacity of the operating system and the demand placed on that system. (Wild, pg304, 2002). Capacity management is the way to balance demand from customers and the capacity of the RPC to meet the demand. Capacity management gives high emphasis on understanding the nature of demand by forecasting and on managing capacity to meet demand (Lovelock, 1984). Demand capacity mismatch is the issue which operations unit at bank has to handle frequently. According to Slack et al (2009) there are three plans available to tackle the issue of demand capacity mismatch, most of the organisations will use mixture of all the plans according to requirement of business. The plans are: Level capacity plan Chase demand plan Manage demand plan Level capacity plan: In the level capacity plan capacity remains same throughout the planning period even if demand forecast is fluctuating (Slack et al, 2009). In case of ICICI bank if capacity level is maintained uniform and if demand is high quite high from base level capacity. Bank will not be able to fulfil the service level promised to customer. In case of low demand bank will end up paying extra for underutilised resources. ICICI bank cannot afford level capacity plan, as opportunity cost for bank for not fulfilling demand may lead to breach of central bank regulations. Chase demand plan: Chase demand plans try to match the capacity with change in demand. This plan can be reactive as well as proactive. If fluctuation in demand is unpredictable then change in capacity will be the reactive measure to match the demand. Chase will be proactive or well planned if fluctuation in demand can be predicted. Level of capacity can be controlled by changing the extent of resources by: Sharing of capacity between different departments at RPC. At ICICI bank, increase in volume at one department is handled by sharing the responsibility with members of other department handling comparatively low volume. This arrangement is suggested to be most efficient by Slack et al (2010). Using vendor support for less critical service: complying with banking regulation. At times of high volume at payments and settlement department activity like data entry of negotiable instrument and image capturing and encoding can be given to existing vendors in market. As banking is highly regulated sector, critical activities like credit and debit verification cannot be outsourced and it has to be done by bank official above certain specified grade. Shifts planned to cater peak volume of the day Working hours at ICICI bank is 12 hours, whereas working hour for each employee are nine hours. Each department at RPC has different peak time. For example payments and settlement department has peak volume at two different time first at around 10A.M. when high value cheques are verified and sent for clearing at around 11 A.M and another at around 3 P.M when all negotiable instrument collected during the day are verified. Two shifts are so arranged that each member of team is present at office to handle both peak hour volumes. Changing output rate. To increase output by expecting each staff at RPC to be more productive by working fast than his normal speed. This approach can be used as temporary measure. Prolong use of this method will deteriorate the quality of work and create dissatisfaction among staff (Slack et al, 2009) The solution suggested above for managing demand- capacity gap is used at ICICI bank, but sharing of work with resources in other department can be possible if resources in other team are well trained to work in any department. Guideline given by central bank need to be updated to all employees in all departments at RPC to make sure about that employee comply with regulation and adhere to quality standard. The purpose of chase demand plan is to maintain capacity closely in line with effective capacity thereby trying to attain maximum efficiency and service quality. Manage demand Plan According to Slack et al,(2009)demand management plan is used to change the pattern of demand to match it with available effective capacity. This method is used at ICICI bank for activity in which time frame is not a limiting factor for example request for term deposit can be processed on later date by providing value dated credit. QUALITY ASPECT: According to Slack et al,(2009), quality needs to be understood from customers perspective because it is defined by customers expectations. At bank quality of processing is understood from customers point of view as well as from regulatory authoritys point of view. Managers use capacity management as a tool to minimise the trade-off between capacity to meet demand and quality of service offered. Quality of service, quality of processing and resource capacity are important in the tactic perspective as they interrupt the ability of the bank to attain its competitive tactic described by a combination of added value and price (Bowman 1990).The importance of either quality or efficiency will to a large extent is driven by the competitive position of the Bank. If competitive advantage is gained by providing quality of service provided at comparatively high price then there will be more propensities to indulge in redundancy of capacity at times. If the bank is competing more on price then to increase capacity then is more likely that quality will take backseat. However with increasing expectations of customer for quality services ICICI bank is forced to maintain quality of service at lower prices in times of economic slowdown where bank need to maintain reputation. The crucial dimensions are those which win customers or those which if deteriorate may cause into loss of customers (Armistead 1991). ICICI bank was not able to take care of this factor at the time to highest growth at that point bank was handling very high volume hence with mentality to manage higher demand with existing capacity back actually neglected the quality aspect of services offered. Bank soon realised that it is losing customers more than creating new customers. In 2009 ICICI bank followed the policy to reconciliation by not going for aggressively to increase market share but rather focused on increase operations excellence and cost cutting, Bank actually used capacity management techniques for cost cutting. To increase the quality standards at bank RPCs has introduced memo system in which each error will be recorded in detail with proper root cause analysis and particular number of memo will lead to termination of employee. IMPLEMENTATION OF COPING STRATERGY: As the understanding of capacity management increased among service operations managers they started to balance capacity with demand. At ICICI bank operations manager started to work on capacity near breakeven point and this is the capacity where things start to go wrong. Drop in quality is observed when operating near breakeven point. We need a coping strategy which can be applicable on the short term inability to match effective with capacity and demand. As a sign to develop a coping strategy it is necessary that RPC should find its own combination of the chase and level plan by: Improving its capability to forecast Quality target should be well described and monitored Setting clear capacity target for team and fluctuating productivity target for individual employee To understand critical and hygiene dimensions of its quality (Armistead and Clark, 1991) To understand the possible failure points in operations unit (Armistead and Clark, 1991) To cope with demand capacity mismatch there are number of actions possible in the few coping cases: Chasing demand plan with High Demand In this scenario capacity is chasing demand and demand is high. With frequent extended working hours for staff at bank to meet demand it is highly probable that staff will commit error. Risk here is that quality of the service provided to customer will go down. Whereas staff frequently working under such condition will fell stressed and may quit job which is not good for employer as money and time has been invested to train the employee. To improve situation we can make extensive plan to tackle situation of fluctuating high demand by identifying particular dates on which high demand is certain and allocating resources to concerned team accordingly. Chasing demand plan with Low Demand It is scenario when demand is low and as capacity is chasing demand capacity will also be reduced. Since banking regulation in India does not allow part time workers in bank hence each resource is full time staff. As capacity for particular task has been reduced with decrease in demand targets are at risk. The possible actions are: Accept it as time to rest and recover, this will help staff to be stress free. Complete other tasks like cleaning and arrange maintenance of computer or cheque encoding machine. Finish the tasks which do not have time limit but necessary to be completed. Arrange interdepartmental training so that resources can be developed to support other department. Level demand plan with High Demand In this scenario it is not been possible to limit demand to match effective capacity. As capacity is fixed high demand will not be fully satisfied. In this case customer should be notified at time of receiving customer request that bank will not be able to process this request on time Level demand plan with Low Demand It is the scenario when it has not been possible to stimulate sufficient demand to match effective capacity. In this case bank should utilize the spare resources. Transfer of resources to other maintenance tasks. Complete the backlog generated from period when demand Is high. RECOMMENDATIONS: For Short term fluctuation in demand resources cannot be increased at RPC. As per Indian banking regulation banks are not permitted to recruit part time staff though they can outsource the activity of data entry and image capturing and encoding of negotiable instruments. The theoretical solution given for the situation of high demand under chasing capacity plan is to transferring resources typically between back office and front office. This solution is yet not applied by ICICI bank. Sales and branch banking unit are also part of bank, using these resources in times of high demand will be the optimum use of resources available within the bank. At time of low demand interdepartmental training can be organised within the RPC, one member of each team can be nurtured to be buffer resource that can fill the place in any team in times of high demand. The recommendations given will be helpful to fully utilise the resource capacity available within the bank. For quality maintenance issue it is suggested to conduct an audit on daily basis by taking few samples from all processed lots. As bank has started to issue memos to recorded errors, employees will try to avoid any negligence from their part as certain number of memos can result into termination of employee from job. CONCLUSION: ICICI bank has separate operations unit. So the volume handled by RPC (operations unit ) is quite high and the fluctuation in demand is also very high. The positive part is that RPC has many departments. The capacity of these departments can be utilized in case of surge in demand. Proper forecast for fluctuation in demand can be addressed by planning the capacity the pitching up the resources trained to tackle the volume surge of any department. Quality of the service will not be affected as bank is keeping an extra check by mean of concurrent audit and issuance of memo on error committed by employee will keep him vigilant while performing the task. Hence demand supply match can be obtained with maintained service quality is possible with proper capacity management.

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

managerial accounting Essay -- essays research papers

Austin Watches is a start-up watch producer and distribution company. Its strategy is to serve the upscale niche markets of the watch industry. It will capitalize on the German engineering and manufacturing used to build the watches. There are many untapped potential markets within this industry that desire high-quality, stylish goods, but do not think they can afford them or do not know where to purchase them. It is the firm's intention to build and export its products to the United States and to make Austin Watches the number one selling European watch in the Western U.S. To do this the company's long-term goals are to achieve a 20% market share in the U.S, build brand image and brand equity through marketing, achieve a sustainable 55% profit margin, and eventually produce luxury watches in addition to the initial, moderately-priced line. Mission Austin Watches is a watch company that produces wristwatches for sale in the United States - initially in California. The company will build its image, as a quality watch first, and then will begin selling higher profit, luxury watches. Austin Watches sells quality watches and provides excellent customer service for customers seeking a reliable watch. In the future Austin Watches intends to enter the luxury watch market The Company and Ownership Austin Watches is a privately owned international corporation. Production takes place in Germany and sales and marketing are focused in California, United States, for the short-term...