Essay --

Illegal immigration has deemed to be an issue of national policy for the unify States of America. According to statistics over 11 one thousand million people are living in the United States without legal documentation infringing immigration law. This is something the United States has been concerned for over a long period of time. Although a real solution has yet to be enforced, many illegal immigrants were a result of the reach border era, however today many bl last in through by visa overstay. Not only has the government addressed this issue to be an economic and security threat, but those opposed to the problem in any case find illegal immigrants a threat to society. Today, the views oblige shifted in present society pore on benefits immigrants may bring to the country although a prejudicious presence still exists among them. Furthermore, in this paper I will outline how illegal immigration is deemed to be a problem, the successes and failures in facilitating solutions for the problem, and weighing out the be and benefits of illegal immigration. Nevertheless, the population of ethnic minorities in the United States continues to increasingly dominate over endemic Americans with greater challenges at stake.How has illegal immigration deemed to be such a threat to the United States? First, the fact that over 11 million people were equal to cross borders illegally without proper documentation shows that the immigration frame in the United States has failed. The term illegal induces negative stereotypes as is and stresses criminality and otherness (Passel and Fix) which allows the earthly concern to perceive illegal immigrants as bad people, because those who break laws essential be punished and a failure to punishment is immoral (Passel and Fix). However this d... ...nomy of the United States. Proclamations have been made in which have failed due to inner problems at heart political groups or financial matters of the State. Today, Obama has i ssued an immigration reform with a solution of putting an end and securing the increasing population of immigration. Furthermore, with the future creation of stricter policies in regards to the immigration population, there is prospect for effective solutions. Thus, illegal immigrants have more of a positive stir on the overall society than negative. They evidently bring multifariousness to the country, increase employment rates of US businesses, and facilitate in a stronger population and global connections. The issue of illegal immigration should therefore focus on effective solutions for implementing security and protection not only for the country but for the immigrants residing in it as well. Essay -- Illegal immigration has deemed to be an issue of domestic policy for the United States of America. According to statistics over 11 million people are living in the United States without legal documentation infringing immigration law. This is something the United States has been concerned for over a long period of time. Although a real solution has yet to be enforced, many illegal immigrants were a result of the open border era, however today many get through by visa overstay. Not only has the government addressed this issue to be an economic and security threat, but those opposed to the problem also find illegal immigrants a threat to society. Today, the views have shifted in present society focusing on benefits immigrants may bring to the country although a negative presence still exists among them. Furthermore, in this paper I will outline how illegal immigration is deemed to be a problem, the successes and failures in facilitating solutions for the problem, and weighing out the costs and benefits of illegal immigration. Nevertheless, the population of ethnic minorities in the United States continues to increasingly dominate over Native Americans with greater challenges at stake.How has illegal immigration deemed to be such a threat to t he United States? First, the fact that over 11 million people were able to cross borders illegally without proper documentation shows that the immigration system in the United States has failed. The term illegal induces negative stereotypes as is and stresses criminality and otherness (Passel and Fix) which allows the public to perceive illegal immigrants as bad people, because those who break laws must be punished and a failure to punishment is immoral (Passel and Fix). However this d... ...nomy of the United States. Proclamations have been made in which have failed due to inner problems within political groups or financial matters of the State. Today, Obama has issued an immigration reform with a solution of putting an end and securing the increasing population of immigration. Furthermore, with the future creation of stricter policies in regards to the immigration population, there is prospect for effective solutions. Thus, illegal immigrants have more of a positive impact on the overall society than negative. They evidently bring diversity to the country, increase employment rates of US businesses, and facilitate in a stronger population and global connections. The issue of illegal immigration should therefore focus on effective solutions for implementing security and protection not only for the country but for the immigrants residing in it as well.

The Minimum Wage Must Be Raised Essay -- Increase Minimum Wage Essays

Los Angeles lawmakers Tuesday voted to boost the stripped wage to $15 an hour by 2020, the largest city to try to helper its lowest-p abet workers survive amid the nations growing income inequality.-- Michael Winter, USA TODAY May 19, 2015Understanding the potential of an increase in todays tokenish wage is the key to instinct the above statement. As a financial mechanism in American society, the minimum wage has helped to sustain generations of workers. Yet, there are two sides to the debate oer minimum wage increases. One sidethe proponentsfeel strongly that low-income workers need some incentive to earn a sufficient living. Conversely, opponents believe that changing the minimum wage does not always help workers and can hurt businesses. Nevertheless, the minimum wage should be raised in order to assist American families, aid economic recovery, and help people get out of debt.BackgroundIn 1938, Congress began the minimum wage at 25 cents per hour, according to the Fair job St andards Act (Sherk, 2013). By July 2009, the minimum wage had been raised to $7.25 an hour. Washington State boasts one of the highest minimum wages in the state--$9.19 an hour (Sherk, 2013). The number of Americans who earn minimum wage has always been in question. In 2011, it was reported that 3.7 million Americans earned minimum wage, and that is equivalent to just 2.9 percent of the working population in the country (Sherk, 2013). Next, it is important to note what types of workers get minimum wage earnings. According to Sherk (2013), there are two categories----young workers (still in school) and old workers (out of school). Moreover, these young adults are not belike to live in middle or high income families, and they are typic... ...ey, A. (2013). Raising minimum wage would ease income gap but carries political risks.Retrieved fromhttp//www.nytimes.com/2013/02/13/us/politics/obama-pushes-for-increase-in-federal-minimum-wage.htmlMatthews, D. (2013). Four things to know abou t Obamas minimum wage increase. Retrieved fromhttp//www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/02/13/four-things-to-know-about-obamas-minimum-wage-increase/Sherk, J. (2013). What is minimum wage its history and effects on the economy. Retrievedfromhttp//www.heritage.org/research/ tribute/2013/06/what-is-minimum-wage-its-history-and-effects-on-the-economyWilson, M. (2012). The negative effects of minimum wage laws. Retrieved fromhttp//www.cato.org/publications/policy-analysis/negative-effects-minimum-wage-lawsWinter, Michael. L.A. to boost minimum wage to $15, USA TODAY May 19, 2015

Comparison Of Benjamin Franklin and Frederick Douglass Essay -- Compar

Comparison Of Benjamin Franklin and Frederick Douglass America, a land with shimmering soil where golden dust flew and a days rain of money could last you through eternity. Come, You Will make it in America. That was the common theme of those who would remove to America. It is the common hymn, the classic American rags-to-riches myth, and writers much(prenominal) as Benjamin Franklin and Frederick Douglass had successfully embraced it in their works.Franklin and Douglass are two writers who have quite symmetrical styles and imitative chronology of events in their life narratives. They both approached their story with a rags-to-riches idea. In addition, we must realize that both Franklin and Douglass are powerful writers. In that sense, I mean that Franklin was a well-educated man in which he modify his life with bountiful knowledge through reading and productive dialogues with peers. On the other hand, Douglass mode of writing, like ones of William Lloyd Garrisons is sentimental an d contains compelling language.In The Autobiography by Franklin and news report of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American striver by Douglass, both narrations are generally composed of series of life events and encounters with hardship that eventually brought them success. I shall put ahead some parallel ideas of both the authors have in common. In Franklins Autobiography, his chapters of life events and improvements are symbolized by his travels, especially on the boat. His first travel signifies his new offset and it caused great hardship. He was cut so a miserable figure when he started out. (Franklin, 1771196). However, Franklin was quick to gain ground. His move to another city or rustic signified his advancement and his prologue to his success to come are in his description of his boat travels. By this I mean that, Franklin purposely gave the details of his boat travels to go down the reader for the kind of successes or failure that he was going to face in the next c hapter of his life. For example, he described his first travel as an acrid one, and nevertheless his first move to another city was a struggle. In Franklins later travels, he spoke of being around some prominent figures much(prenominal) as Governor Hamilton and nonetheless, he landed with a successful job at a famous Printing House in Bartholomew. With this characteristic in mind, Douglasss narration ... ...nt of maturity. In addition, both authors think that matured readers in general are harder to persuade compared to younger readers (those at the of 16 to 18). This is why both Franklin and Douglass intentionally set their rebellion stage at the age of 17. This is to encourage the less stable teenage readers to dare do something different and to not compromise with normality. This less-stableness would alter these teenage readers to be more receptive to radical ideas. With this thought in mind and armed with Americans vulnerability in believing the rags-to-riches myth, Frankli n and Douglass are able generated telling and persuasive narrations.With such effective writing prose, the authors created well-fabricate compositions which modeled upon the rags-to-riches chronology.These are the myths, Americans live by them and the country survives with them. Thus, it is the American Dream.Works CitedDouglas, Frederick. Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (The Harper Single Volume American Literature 3rd edition) 1845p.1017-1081 Franklin, Benjamin. Autobiography. (The Harper Single Volume American Literature 3rd edition) 1776 p.282-284.

Donald Trump as a Presidential Candidate Essays -- Trump Should NOT Be

Due to Donald outperforms lack of governmental experience, preoccupation with multiple careers, and blatantly self-serving intentions, he should not ever reserve been considered a reasonable candidate for the presidential election.First of all, Donald Trump is a businessman-not a politician. He received his degree in Economics/Real farming from the University of Pennsylvanias Wharton School of Finance. In 2007, Forbes Magazine reported his annual earnings in entertainment alone to be $32 million. This would have meant a significant pay cut, had he become United States professorship. Currently, he is the producer and star of The Apprentice, which has been on air since 2004 (The Apprentice). He holds multiple offices at the Trump Organization, and is also a chairman of Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts, Incorporated (Project Vote Smart). Donald Trump has put his name on products and companies both successful and unsuccessful, including food products, corporations, and a clothing line. Trump once stated that The stuff thats been sent over from China falls apart after a year and a half. Its crap. Ironically, the majority of his products are manufactured in China (Webley, 8). How can we expect a man to keep in touch with an entire region when he can hardly keep in touch with his own business? Donald Trump has had some other losses in business as well, including a failed airline business and multiple bankruptcies in his casinos, among other lost investments. (Webley, 3).This may not have been so damaging, if only Donald Trump had any political experience whatsoever, but he has none (Project Vote Smart). Karl Rove, former President Bushs chief political advisor, once said that being the President of the United States may b... ...lirtation Meant for The Apprentice Ratings? - Political Hotsheet - CBS News. Breaking News Headlines Business, Entertainment & World News - CBS News. CBS, 19 Apr. 2011. Web. 17 May 2011. DiGiacomo, Frank. President Trump? The Donald Swapped fellowship Affiliations for Potential Presidential Bid in 2009. Featured Articles From The New York Daily News. New York Daily News, 15 Feb. 2011. Web. 15 May 2011. Gelman, Andrew and Gary King, Why Are the States Presidential Election Campaign Polls So Variable When Votes Are So Predictable? 1993. PDF.Rove, Karl. What Makes a Great President. Lecture. Rocco C. Siciliano Forum, Univ. of Utah. 13 Nov 2002. History News Network. George stonemason Univ.s History News Network, 30 June 2003. Web. 08 May 2011.Webley, Kayla. Trump Airlines - Top 10 Donald Trump Failures - TIME. TIME.com. Time, 29 Apr. 2011. Web. 15 May 2011.

The History of Computers :: Technology Essays

The History of Computers In 1964, no one, with the exception of those with-in the field of study, had ever heard of a computer. Now, only forty years later, approximately every home in America is equipped with at least one computer. A computer is defined as a device that accepts information, in the form of digital data, and manipulates it for some result based on a program on how data is to be processed. The first computer was not as fast or efficient as the computers used today, however they are all based on the first model. Since the invention of numbers, humanity has tried to feed instruments to help in performing calculations (Moreau 4). Before 3000 B.C. there were tablets used for reason. The Ancient Chinese used a bead frame for counting. Although rather innovative, neither of these calculating devices was automatic. In the early 19th century, a British astronomer and mathematician had an idea that would change the history of computing forever. His name was Charles Babbage and he described a utensil that would have the ability to do a variety of calculations. Because the mechanical-engineering technology of that time period was not reliable or fast enough, he was unable to receive his dream. Babbages idea was based on the mathematical insights of George Boole, who first stated the principles of logic used in todays digital computers (Computer 1). Also, Ada Lovelace, Babbages assistant, is known as the first programmer because she introduced program loops and subroutines. The development of electronics led to the first computers. Once electromechanical technology entered the world, reckoners began being produced. The first electronic calculator was built by IBM. This is known as the IBM 603, which was created by Byron E. Phelps. Building upon this model, steps were taken towards the first computer. The IBM Selective Sequence-Controlled Electronic Calculator (SSEC) was created between the years 1945 and 1948 by a group led by Frank Hamilton, one of the engineers who worked on the building of the Harvard-IBM machine (Moreau 39). Disregarding calculators, the first real useable computer began with the vanity tube.

The History of Computers :: Technology Essays

The History of Computers In 1964, no one, with the exception of those with-in the field of study, had ever heard of a computer. Now, only forty years later, almost every home in America is equipped with at least one computer. A computer is outlined as a device that accepts information, in the form of digital data, and manipulates it for some result based on a program on how data is to be processed. The setoff computer was not as fast or efficient as the computers used at present, however they are all based on the first-class honours degree model. Since the invention of numbers, humanity has tried to make instruments to help in performing calculations (Moreau 4). Before 3000 B.C. there were tablets used for calculating. The Ancient Chinese used a pearl frame for counting. Although rather innovative, neither of these calculating devices was automatic. In the early 19th century, a British astronomer and mathematician had an idea that would change the hist ory of computing forever. His take was Charles Babbage and he described a machine that would have the ability to do a variety of calculations. Because the mechanical-engineering applied science of that time period was not reliable or fast enough, he was unable to produce his dream. Babbages idea was based on the mathematical insights of George Boole, who first stated the principles of logic used in todays digital computers (Computer 1). Also, Ada Lovelace, Babbages assistant, is known as the first programmer because she introduced program loops and subroutines. The development of electronics led to the first computers. Once electromechanical technology entered the world, calculators began being produced. The first electronic calculator was built by IBM. This is known as the IBM 603, which was created by Byron E. Phelps. Building upon this model, steps were taken towards the first computer. The IBM Selective Sequence-Controlled electronic Calculator (SSEC) was cr eated between the years 1945 and 1948 by a group led by Frank Hamilton, one of the engineers who worked on the building of the Harvard-IBM machine (Moreau 39). Disregarding calculators, the first real useable computer began with the vacuum tube.

Chapter 10 Banking and the Management of Financial Institutions Essay

Factors Causing Financial Crises1) A major disruption in monetary marts characterized by sharp declines in plus determines and firm failures is called a A) fiscal crisis.2) A financial crisis occurs when an increase in asymmetric information from a disruption in the financial system A) causes grim adverse excerpt and moral hazard problems that make financial markets incapable of channeling funds efficiently.3) A serious consequence of a financial crisis isA) a condensing in scotch drill.4) A sharp decline in the stock market means that the ________ of corporations has fallen making lenders ________ willing to lend. A) net worth less(prenominal)5) A sharp stock market decline increases moral hazard incentives A) since acceptation firms have less to lose if their enthronizations fail.6) An unanticipated decline in the price level increases the burden of debt on following firms but does not raise the true(a) value of borrowing firms assets. The result is A) that net worth i n real terms declines.7) If debt contracts are denominated in foreign currency, then an unanticipated decline in the value of the domestic currency results in A) a decline in a firms net worth.8) Factors that lead to worsening conditions in financial markets accept C) the deterioration in lodges balance sheets.9) In a bank building panic, the source of contagion is theD) asymmetric information problem.10) A bank panic whoremonger lead to a horrendous compaction in economic activity due to D) a decline in lending for productive investment.11) In addition to having a direct effect on increasing adverse selection problems, increases in interest rates also promote financial crises by ________ firms and households interest conciliatements, thereby ________ their cash flow. B) increasing decreasing12) In emerging economies, regimen fiscal imbalances may cause fears of B) default on government debt.9.2 Dynamics of Past U.S. Financial Crises1) When financial institutions go on a le nding indulge and expand their lending at a rapid pace they are participating in a A) credit boom.2) When the value of loans begins to drop, the net worth of financial institutions falls causing them to cut back on lending in a process called A) deleveraging.3) When financial intermediaries deleverage, firms cannot fund investment opportunities resulting in A) a contraction of economic activity.4) A credit boom can lead to a(n) ________ such as we saw in the tech stock market in the new-made 1990s. A) asset-price bubble5) Many 19th century U.S. financial crises were started byA) spikes in interest rates.6) Most U.S. financial crises have started during periods of ________ either after the start of a recession or a stock market crash. A) high uncertainty7) If uncertainty about banks health causes depositors to begin to withdraw their funds from banks, the country experiences a(n) A) banking crisis.8) Debt deflation occurs whenA) an economic downturn causes the price level to fall a nd a deterioration in firms net worth because of the increased burden of indebtedness.9) A substantial decrease in the aggregate price level that reduces firms net worth may stall a reco rattling from a recession. This process is called A) debt deflation.10) A possible sequence for the triple stages of a financial crisis in the U.S. might be ________ leads to ________ leads to ________. A) asset price declines banking crises unanticipated decline in price level 11) The economy recovers quickly from some recessions, but the increase in adverse selection and moral hazard problems in the credit markets caused by ________ led to the severe economic contraction cognise as The Great Depression. A) debt deflation9.3 The Subprime Financial Crisis of 2007-20081) Financial innovations that emerged after 2000 in the mortgage markets imply all of the spare-time activity except A) adjustable-rate mortgages.2) ________ is a process of bundling in concert smaller loans (like mortgages) into s tandard debt securities. A) Securitization3) A ________ pays out cash flows from subprime mortgage-backed securities in different tranches, with the highest-rated tranch paying out first, while lower ones paid out less if there were losses on the mortgage-backed securities. A) Collateralized debt obligation (CDO)4) The growth of the subprime mortgage market led toA) increased demand for houses and helped fuel the boom in housing prices.5) The originate-to-distribute business ride has a serious ________ problem since the mortgage broker has little incentive to make sure that the mortgagee is a good credit risk. A) principal-agent6) Mortgage brokers oftentimes did not make a strong effort to evaluate whether the borrower could pay off the loan. This created a A) severe adverse selection problem.7) Agency problems in the subprime mortgage market included all of the following except A) homeowners could refinance their houses with larger loans when their homes appreciated in value.8) W hen housing prices began to decline after their peak in 2006, some subprime borrowers found that their mortgages were underwater. This meant that A) the value of the house fell below the amount of the mortgage.9) Although the subprime mortgage market problem began in the United States, the first indication of the seriousness of the crisis began in A) Europe.10) Like a CDO, a structured investment vehicle pays off cash flows from pools of assets, however, rather than long-term debt the structured investment vehicle backs A) commercial paper.11) Which investment bank filed for bankruptcy on September 15, 2008 making it the largest bankruptcy filing in U.S. history? A) Lehman Brothers12) The largest bank failure in U.S. history was ________ which went into receivership by the FDIC on September 25, 2008. A) Washington Mutual13) Credit market problems of adverse selection and moral hazard increased as a result of all of the following except A) increase in housing market prices.14) The E conomic Recovery Act of 2008 had several provisions to promote recovery from the subprime financial crisis. These provisions included all of the following except A) guaranteed all the deposits of the commercial banks.15) The government bailout of troubled financial institutions occurred in theU.S. and many other countries. Which country saw their banking system disrupt requiring the government to take over its three largest banks? A) Iceland9.4 Dynamics of Financial Crises in Emerging Market Economies1) Financial crises generally develop along two introductory paths A) mismanagement of financial liberalization/globalization and severe fiscal imbalances.2) In emerging market countries, the deterioration in banks balance sheets has more(prenominal) ________ effects on lending and economic activity than in advanced countries. A) negative3) The mismanagement of financial liberalization in emerging market countries can be understood as a severe ________. A) principal/agent problem4) F actors likely to cause a financial crisis in emerging market countries include A) fiscal imbalances.5) The two key factors that trigger speculative attacks on emerging market currencies are A) deterioration in bank balance sheets and severe fiscal imbalances.6) Severe fiscal imbalances can directly trigger a currency crisis since A) investors fear that the government may not be able to pay back the debt and so begin to sell domestic currency.7) In emerging market countries, many firms have debt denominated in foreign currency like the one dollar bill or yen. A depreciation of the domestic currency A) results in increases in the firms indebtedness in domestic currency terms, even though the value of their assets remains unchanged. 8) A sharp depreciation of the domestic currency after a currency crisis leads to A) higher inflation.9) The key factor leading to the financial crises in Mexico and the EastAsian countries was A) a deterioration in banks balance sheets because of increasi ng loan losses.10) Factors that led to worsening conditions in Mexicos 1994-1995 financial markets include C) increased uncertainty from political shocks.11) Factors that led to worsening financial market conditions in East Asia in 1997-1998 include A) weak supervision by bank regulators.12) Factors that led to worsening conditions in Mexicos 1994-1995 financial markets, but did not lead to worsening financial market conditions in East Asia in 1997-1998 include A) rise in interest rates abroad.13) Argentinas financial crisis was due toC) fiscal imbalances.14) A feature of debt markets in emerging-market countries is that debt contracts are typically ________. A) very short term15) The economic hardship resulting from a financial crises is severe, however, there are also social consequences such as A) increased crime.16) Before the in the south Korean financial crisis, sales by the top five chaebols (family-owned conglomerates) were A) nearly 50% of GDP.17) The chaebols encouraged t he Korean government to open up Korean financial markets to foreign capital. The Korean government responded by A) allowing unlimited short-term foreign borrowing but maintained quantity restrictions on long-term foreign borrowing by financial institutions.18) At the time of the South Korean financial crisis, the government allowed many chaebol owned finance companies to convert to merchant banks. Finance companies ________ allowed to borrow abroad and merchant banks ________. A) were not could borrow abroad19) At the time of the South Korean financial crisis, the merchant banks were A) almost virtually unregulated.

How Does IEKA Approach Operations Management?

The chief(prenominal) purpose of this paper is to tension on the how IKEA Company approached its operation man historic periodment. Particularly, it covers the following how the ships bon ton raise and serve guest requirements, bitely how does these clients requirements utilise for the corporations convergence and services, then, third covers the operational systems and fulfiles it utilize in its operation, fourth consists of capacity provision, process layout, and crop services/scheduling, inventory and redacts were managed in the arranging.And, in the end is on why and how monitoring and evaluation of operation were carried out by the partnership. This paper to a fault bids empirical findings and application of relevant theories that will help readers to really understand how the bon ton operates and what relevant theories it applies. Introduction In well-nigh companies these age whether it is local or multinational companies, they be alship canal faced with big challenges.Challenges those ar few cadences insurmountable to overcome like continuing to be sophisticated or problems related to represent. These argon two of the most common challenges that familiarity incessantly faced, nonwithstanding these problems may alike be overcome only if the go with operates in a concentratesing that it focus in the initial place in its main intensity level and at the same time focusing on the right securities industry, where they would k straightaway that they have the advantage.In this paper with IKEA Company as the main focus, it will give us exactly how typical multinational companies manage to operates. It will include such processes like customer requirements, operations management, monitoring projects and other theories and processes utilize in authentic operation. This paper too erects some pregnant empirical findings that will help to support the theories and actual strategies applied by the familiarity.Historical Bac kground of IKEA Company. It was non so desire after the conjunction beer INGVAR KAMPRAD born in 1926 and just 17 years later after that year, where at a real young age when INGVAR registered the first IKEA Company and this was in July 28, 1943. Actually, the name of the confederacy IKEA stands for (Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd Agunnaryd). Couple of years later, the friendship had its first advertisement through and through with(predicate) a local newspaper, and then through aggressiveness in the lineage, Ingvar launched its first fine and modern line of furniture in 1948.Followed by launching of IKEAs catalogue and first furniture saleroom in Sweden in 1951 and 1953 respectively. Four years later, the truthful concept of the keep guilds creation of well designed furniture at a very low expense started in 1955 and three years later it was the spheres first IKEA store opened. From those early years the company started to grow and reduce of co-workers and that started to be intoxicaten by the company in 1958 and a year after that was the introduction of the companys self assembly furniture. scarcely, since the company want to stool sure that they adjureed non only low price items, they started to find ways on how quality will be giveed. That is why by 1961, the company started to implement quality testing in all its intersection points. and then the company sees opportunity to expand and by 1963, the company launched their first IKEA store outside Sweden and this is in Norway. Then from their on the company started to grow and stores outside increases and it was first penetrated in the European region.And by the company reaching the 90s, the company became design oriented which is require in order to compete, save lock the main concept and vision of the company to lower the price and at the same time quality is not out of the plan and it continually been the advantage of the company. Like in 1997 specifically was the year for children, where the company has developed numerous products for kids and legato innovative design continuous to work for the company. And by 2003, through its donations has helped a Swedish hospital to build The Kaprad House which primarily facilitates for cancer patients. How does the organization establish customer requirements? Establishing customer requirements by chance is bingle of the most definitive factors for success for any company in the orbit and whether it is local or multinational business. The main reason is that it mainly focuses on how a company develops the right product. It may very simple to suppose that it may only be well-nigh how the company interviews or provide questionnaires or even conducting surveys just to know the important and appropriate requirement of the customers. The IKEA Concept, 2007. But, actually it is more(prenominal) than that and it takes a lot of effort in performing such activity. That is also the problem with come companies, they would think t hat establishing customer requirement is easy as like asking them when they visit the shops, stores or even sometimes paying some formal visits does not answers all these and in fact in that respect atomic number 18 customers that would only accomplish survey forms out of persistence by some crews or managers of the shops.And the problem started as when the company started to rely on these requirements and apply some strategies on it, seeing it as the real problem and from in that respect irrelevant solutions were applied and that only adds problem or worsen the problem of the company. In theory, it is said that establishing customer claims or requirements ar mainly the job of the marketing part of the company and these group also knows that requirements of customers may come from different aspects in the business.Like one of the aspect is that requirements may come from the attitude of the customer towards the product which is do by the experienced by the product itself, lik e take for instance a product that is cognise for ore than 2 decades and the customers are well apply to it, this delegacy that the attitude of the customers towards that product and the years of experience of the product itself plays a big factor in apprehensiveness the requirement of its customers.Secondly it can also be brought about by the opinions or claims of other customers, which is sometimes can also help the company in understanding the withdraw of their customers, but this can only be applicable to products or services that were introduced positively at first, because there are some new or old products that are not well accepted and these products on the other hand are obviously hard to analyzed its customer needs. But there are some more aggressive ways on how to deal with customer requirements and this is through direct selling, these type of business has the greater advantage against the others most of the time.The reason is that they instantaneously work with the customers and the business units are the ones asking what they need and from there, the direct seller provides what best fit to their needs. Lastly is that company relies on advertising, this happens when the company introduce new product to the market or sometimes before they introduce to the market by just letting them aware of the product that will be soon launched. From the result of public bridal ground from the popularity ratings of the advertisement, the company would then based it and later used it as a basis for customer requirement.But the latter is sometimes dangerous and drastic because sometimes the company maybe mislead on the popularity of the advertisement which sometimes does not reflect on the actual sales of the product. Other theory that needs to be well followed in order to accomplish separate requirement gathering is that company must understand that there are three important factors that need to be intended in establishing requirement of customers and these are in the form of questions Who barter fors the product? What they actually buy? And most importantly, how they buy? And these three questions can also directly address the important concern of customer satisfaction. Like in terms of who buys it, this pertains to the type of customer that would possibly and those who will unquestionably buy the product. For customers that will definitely buy the product, there should be a separate strategy that will be applied to them like may be giving them some footling perks like through discounts maybe enough since these customers are considered the loyal ones. sequence for those customers that are potential and have the probability of buying the product, strategy may be more aggressive like giving them discounts or even focusing on designs or even giving redundant perks for buyers may also be used to strategize new and potential customers. Secondly, focusing on what the customers actually buy is one question that companies must look into in establishing requirements. In this question, the main focus is on closely understanding what the customers really like these can be brought about by latest hacks or specific needs for specific type of customers.For most companys the latter seems to be easily been addressed by companies as they can easily study such requirements, but what is hard for companies to forbid are the trends that may come and for companies they only compete by who among them can be the first one to introduce that trend to the market. But sometimes these does not give any assurance on them, what makes it more lasting impact is on how the company the company provide not only just the trend but also quality and in terms of price in order for customers to really appreciate the product itself.Lastly in terms of how they buy, this pertains to how accessible and approachability of the product t the customers. This is also been a big factor in establishing requirements because there are times that produ cts have the best quality and the price is inwardly the budget, but due to availability of stocks and availability to the customers, it became a driving force for customer not to buy the product and instead they would settle to change their druthers and that mystifys the problem of some companies.This means that consistencies is always a challenge as well, companies should always remember that if they offer such quality and sure to be a hit product for their customers, it does not stop there and the company itself should be prepared and be able to be up for the challenge to produce as some an(prenominal) products as it can in order to address the demand for the product or services that they offer. That is why it is also important to address customer requirements because it also helps in understanding its target customer. 2 For IKEA, a company that in everyday they operate, understanding and establishing customer requirement is essential. Establishing Customer needs, n. d. The r eason mainly is that they provide products that should always look into the needs of their different types of customers. But, even though the needs may come differently and funnyly, depending either on designs, price or even space or combination of both or all of the products. As the main vision of the company mainly focuses on how to provide smash life for its customers and this is through their two main company objective and that is to provide as much as possible wide variety of products to choose from and at the same time prices that are low that surely they can afford.As based from its main vision, it obviously follows that the companys main concept is to really provide low prices home furnishing products. This concept started when INGVAR KAMPRAD an entrepreneur from Smaland province in southern part of Sweden had an innovative idea in mind. As an entrepreneur he found out that in order to be successful in the business, he saw that most people live simple and they live their l ife frugally and they really work hard.This only shows that people would only buy things that are important on them and bulk of the people would consider buying not so luxurious and high price things. That is why from that observation, he made an impression that in order to satisfy these highly hard working customers to buy the products and be able to compete well in the market. That is why from that observation, he made an impression that in order to satisfy these highly hard working customers to buy the products and be able to compete well in the market.Then, what he did was an approach to find ways on how to provide not only quality products but also providing them with a lot of choices and most peculiarly the price is low, which customers will surely find way to fit on their budget and that is until now the tag of the company that is why they became popular anywhere they operate in the world. That is why with this technique or strategy that was applied by the company since the time when the company actually started. These were also the effective strategy that the company applied and has been a very effective way.This is true in fact even up to now that companies must understand that the need of the customer should still be satisfied and in order to do this there should be well consideration not only on the basic functionality of the product but also taking into consideration on the price and quality of the product. 3 This only shows that the company from the branch knows what it takes to be in the business and how they can actually address the concerns and requirements of their customers.And from this concept by its founder and entire workforce that are working for the company, it was easy for the company to just innovate and be flexible on the different needs of their customers since the foundation were well established. And since the company were jointly managed by group of owners round the world, they also kept in mind that the way they operates lik e specifically how they establish requirements must be in line with the orbicular concept and practice of the company which is still starts with products that are not only quality but also sold in a very low price.That is why for any additional requirements like in terms of additional functionality designs and even in terms of price are mainly comes from the actual conversation and interaction by the customers themselves through the store co-workers. Even the actual store arrangement and presentation lives a focal point in establishing customer requirements. How are customer requirements construed into products/services? It is true that establishing customer requirement does not stop there and what the company needs to do is to translate these requirements into actual product or services.For most companies these has also become a major problem, maybe not just because of the problem that some companies may established the wrong requirements or it is just companys translate the req uired products or services wrongfully. 3 The IKEA Concept, 2007. Most specially customers these days are very intelligent and they easily shift their preference and what makes it difficult these days is that there are a lot of products to choose from and one wrong move can give a lot of impact for the business and that is something that companys must look into closely.There are actually many theories that can be applied in carefully and effectively translating customer requirements into products or services, But among the many theories, there is one important theory that focuses on how products are universe planned before it actually delivers to the customers and this is what is being called as product planning framework. In this model or framework it shows that for companies to be successful in converting requirements into products or services.In this approach it also tackles the over-all company strategy that should also be include in the actual development of the product and not just the requirement alone. Because there are instances that the company over-prioritize on the certain aspect in the product planning where in fact it does not only need to separately prioritize but also have to manage how the different factors relate to one another. Needs, 2004) In it shows that it is not only the critical requirement alone is important, instead it should be well collaborated with the other factors or aspects of product planning.And it all starts with understanding first the company strategy these should be the starting point and then it follows by three collaborative processes which include competitive business environment, which involves a careful understanding on how the company understand the way it should perform in order to be competitive and not just develop a product or service that only performs the basic requirement of the customers instead it should be developed to address competitiveness, secondly in the group of process after understanding the main corporate strategy is the market dynamics, at this point companys must also look into the different trends and market situations which may also become a major factor in the business. Companies must look into the way market is moving and sensitivity towards these aspect gives a lot of leverage for the company even by the time of planning in the development of the product. Then, the third and last part of the three collaborative processes is development capabilities this includes the identification of the companys capabilities of developing the actual product.This situation also a big impact for some companies because there are companies that even though they already identified and analyze the market dynamics and the competitive business environment, eventually they found out that they have no capability or capacity to do it, so what they need to do is to just focus on planning to develop some products that are inside their capacity to developed. These three processes are also conside red as market opportunity filter. Architecture and long term roadmap come next, which focuses mainly on how the product can be developed product policy and goals which is very important in terms of establishing long-term success of the product.There are also other factors that it really focuses like corporate or division value added, core engine room applied and other aspect that mainly focuses on the long-term success of the product. Detailed user requirements or product definition comes next, where at this point, these only includes the detailed understanding of users needs and all the information that it supports which includes the things that were presented above, like information regarding what customers wants, who actually buy the product and how they buy it. This information will then be used for establishing a business case which will mainly use in providing a study that will be use to support the feasibility of the product development and lastly is the process of execution , which involves the actual generation of the product or services.But this may be applicable and useful to some products or services that are well established in the industry or companies that already has its name and just continuous to explore for new opportunities. The reason is that there are many failures that may be encountered by companies who are introducing new product in the market. One of the most common reason is that since they dont have establish customer awareness and their data are sometimes not reliable and just follows current market trends. It shows that there are also some important factors that need to be carefully addressed by new companies or companies introducing new product lines in the market.These also show that there are many cases that can contribute the ineffectiveness of translating customer requirements into product or service development. 4 For IKEA, in terms of translating customer requirements into products and services, it has always been the main focus of the company and this is perform by the company through what the company called as IKEAs Main Range. As most companies would also envy how the company operates and how they still provide low price products even though there are a lot of economic problems that are happening. But, the main reason why the company continues to survived and still keep up with quality and price is though its what they called as IKEA Range.IKEA range refers to the formula on how the business operates and it all starts with its main concept of producing low price products plus their effective production method that continuously been the priority which gives big boost for the company since it is the major cost centered activities of the company and lastly but definitely not the least is with the innovative ideas and minds of their people that up to now becomes a major concern driving force in the success of the company as well. But basically there are four basic factors how the IKEA range actually pe rforms and translates customer requirements and these includes profile, design, functionality and the strategy they do for lowering the price of its product. In terms of profile, the company continues to target the fundamental activities in every home such as eating, sleeping, storing items and socializing but the company always makes sure that their products based on these basic activities they always have to consider the limited budget and space of most of its customers.In other words, the company always strives to provide a product that first satisfies 4 Driving reaping Development with Customer Needs, 2004 the basic needs of their customers based on the standard activities in everyones homes and then consider the tight budget and limited space of homes of the customers. In terms of design, just like in the profile, designers of the company are always task to provide innovative ideas that comprises of new and innovative designs and at the same time address low cost production co st, which may result to low price for their customers. Even though this is a big challenge for designers, still they manage to produce products that are not only stylish but also at low cost to produced and sell.These are two of the main secret of the company, they always find better ways on how they can lower the production cost through better designs, because for them is they will still produce better design with low production cost, they can leverage against the competition and that gives both benefit for the company and most specially for their customers. In terms of functionality, the companies always look into beyond the basic functionality of its products. It constantly seeks value to its products, and with that it also implements strict quality assurance, in order for their customers not to say that their products are not just low price and style but also durable.This only shows that the functionality of products through quality is an essential part of IKEAs business and thi s should not compromise cost. In terms of low price products, the company has implemented this strategy by providing a wide range of choices. With the many choices that they offered, there will definitely be a choice of the customers that is fit for their budget and not just a fit in the space they have in their homes. The company does not compete on a per item basis, they compete in terms of prices through selections and wide range of designs and functionality of products that they offered and this is an added advantage of the company.And as how the company perform its actual way of translating customer requirements into actual product development or services and as based on the concept that were presented earlier, it clearly give tongue to that there are clear evidence that IKEA stick with its corporate strategy to offer products that are not only affordable but also has quality. This known requirements where further enhanced by innovative design by their designers that still car efully addresses the needs of the customers. What operational systems and processes are in place to satisfy the Product/service requirements of customers? It is true that there are different processes or systems that need to be implemented by company in order to institutionalize the way on how the company satisfies product or services requirements. Because there are times where other company apply different ways on how they manage requirements and these results to inconsistencies in the information that the company generates.And in order for these very essential requirements not going to waste, companys should create a well outlined process on how not only keep it but more importantly satisfy these requirements through implementation of the right processes and systems. For IKEA, the main idea for the company is to really see on how the store nationwide performs the business and these are again based from the companys IKEA range. In the presented process by the company IKEA above, it uniquely showed that the company again mainly focuses on satisfying customer requirements through finding any possible ways on how they can offer only the best and well designed products which is mainly the start and end of its processes.The first one as being the standard designs of the products that ere studied by the company and the last one as the added inspirational designs, which mainly focuses however on the innovative ideas that comes only from their senior designers, but what is important here is that these designers stills looks into the main international strategy of the company. While the one that separates the first and last activities in the process is with regards to finding the best production method that has also become the secret nominate for success of the company. This is because through these well designed production method, it gives the company enough leverage in applying cost for its products. And all these three main processes is equivalent to IKEAS rum p rocess in satisfying customer needs.In fact there is even some strategy that the company implemented in the design of its stores globally that also added to the companys success globally. To add on their very unique and very effective concept in operating the business, the company stores around the world operates in a way that inspire all its customer on the real life look of the rooms and homes, this is in order for them to really see the real look of the products once its installed. With big space stores that the company offers from its customers, and actually encourage taking their time and letting them feel comfortable within the store. Letting the customers actually sit, lie down, open and close drawers in their products, it adds more value for their customers since they can actually feel, see and hold on the products.Added to that is the appoint workers that is always ready to assist the guest if they need additional information, most specially some technical details. With th e 9,500 different designs and products to choose from, it definitely provides an excellent start experience and that gives customers a big possibility that there is always a product thats right for them, either in terms of budget or in terms of space. 5 In fact there are also proofs that a show that these process has become an effective way on how the company continuously grows not only in terms of sales or revenues but also in terms of stores and visitors that visited every store it operates in the world.First, in terms of sales there was a consistent increase in sales from the time the company started up to 2007, which means that no look what and how big economic issues that comes in the global economy, IKEA still manage to perform well and with its unique process in satisfying the needs of the customer, sales are always increasing. In terms of number of visitors that visited the stores worldwide, it also shows that number also increases which means that customer awareness is im proving and this also improves the companys global sales. And with its 200 stores around the world and more than 450 million visitors annually. This only shows that the companys stores and its products are well recognized. And the company where very aggressive in expanding its business globally, in order to serve its clients better.With these figures that were presented, it only proves that the company with its unique process of satisfying the needs of their customers, it shows that they continually become very effective and most of their customers are really satisfied about the process and how they are being given the right attention by the company as a whole. Particularly in terms of the increasing number of visitors and the continuous huge increase in sales of the company. How are capacity planning, process layout, product/service scheduling, Inventory, and projects, managed in the organization? In order for any company performs not only based from the companys current needs but also the future and include to those are some unexpected requirements, capacity planning is definitely important.Actually in theory there are three main steps for capacity planning, and these are (1) company needs to determine service level requirements, (2) the company must analyze current capacity, and lastly, (3) company must plan for the future. For most cases that problem unremarkably is in the second and third. It is because of the reason that most companies usually understand what are the things that they need to do, but the problem is that either they know that they are not unfastened of performing their assignments but keeps on getting some just for the greediness of getting some just to increase revenues or sometimes there are companies that really doesnt know what their capacity are, and what happen is that when they actually perform the actual projects then they found out that they are short in resources.Also, there are issues that comes in the third step, where most c ompanies both understand their projects and effectively knows their capacity but still failed due to lack of anticipations or not being ready to instant demand in the market and this eventually resulted to failure as well. 6 In terms of process layout, process scheduling, inventory and managing project in the organization, there are only two ways that can mainly classified a company and these are either centralized or decentralized process. Centralized process arises when processes from the different branch or stores of one global company follows the same global process and actually performs the process consistently. While the decentralize process involves an autonomy for each branch to perform their own process, but still follows the top main process.This can also be 6 How to do Capacity Planning, 2007. known today as matrix type of organization. For IKEA it actually performs centralize and decentralize way of operation or the company called it as for- good and non-profit way of op eration. Even though it was originated in Sweden, the company operated in a very unique approach, since its main operation is subdivided into two parts (1)non-profit, and (2) for profit operations, where the latter or the main INGKA Foundation is located in Leiden in the Netherlands. Or in other way of representing it, the company structure may be look into as two different parts and these are mainly operations and the other one is franchising.Just to segregate the two, majority of the operations which covers management of the majority of its stores worldwide, design and production factories of furniture as well as the purchasing of supplies are done and centrally managed by the INGKA Holdings, which is among the 36 countries it operates it manages the 235 stores worldwide while around 30 remaining stores are managed by the different franchises outside the INGKA Holdings. Also, the INGKA Holdings is not also owned by a single owner or company instead it is owned by Stitching INGKA F oundation which was established by its owner, Kamprad in 1982 and that started the strategy of the company to have applied the company for non-profit organization. This non-profit organization is managed by five members where INGKVAR as Chairman and included as members is his wide and lawyers.With its tax avoidance strategy in 2004, the company profit is taxed and at the same time for the owners, Kamprad and his family cannot get profits directly instead they do collect a portion of its sales from the franchising agreement between them and their partners. But even with these very unique and sometimes classified as complex way of operation by the company, the over-all company that still manages the overall process is again handled by the INGKA Holdings, like in terms of capacity planning, process improvements and others are still in the authority and supervision of the holdings.This only means that even though the company is owned by everal owners in the different countries, still in terms of the over-all operations and processes, the mother company which is the INGKA Holdings is the one manages it. Explain why and how monitoring and evaluation of operations are carried out As based from the discussion that were presented above regarding how the company globally operates, it only shows that obviously the way the company monitors are also manage by the main company and that is the INGKA Holdings, but for franchisees they primarily have the authority to manage their own branch but they need to follow the global IKEA process which is mandated by the Holdings. Even in monitoring the way on how the companys foundation is also doing is also managed centrally.But, even though this was a strategy that were applied by the company and even though it creates complexity to some since every stores may be under the INGKA Holdings or being managed as franchised, the company as a whole still has provided a well deserve recognition that it deserves to be commended as a company that provides importance to the environment and world change. This is through INGKAs Foundations, with its focus on innovative interior design and architecture has been recognized as the worlds largest charitable institution with a net cost of $33 billion, beating the well known and richest couple in the world Bill and Melinda Gates. But, even though the foundation net worth is huge, it does not reflect the real nitty-gritty it actually gives or donates unlike its counterpart.This was proven as report in 2005 shows that the company not only focuses in its own home country Sweden, specifically the Lund Institute of Technology with an amount donated of $1. 7 million. This is far low against the donations that Gates Family has given which reaches a huge amount of $1. 5 billion in the same year. Even though the company has been in the forefront of many projects for a cause like the following (1) A Euro for every toy sold in 2006 for UNICEF which accumulates to 1. 75 million Euros. (2) In the 2005 Tsunami, KEA Australia agreed to match dollar for dollar co-workers donations and donated all sales of the IKEA spunky Bag to the cause. 3) Pakistan Earthquake in 2006, IKEA gave 120,000 blankets. (4) Lastly, it provided furniture for more than 100,000 bridge schools for both India and Liberia. 7 Summary In this paper, it shows that IKEA even though the way it operates seem to be complex and difficult to understand, still the company performs its operation effectively. This is mainly brought about by their unique way of establishing and at the same time satisfying customer needs. With the companys main focus on developing products that are not only with quality and most of all products that are low in price and added to that the wide variety of designs to choose from has made the company a best choice for customers worldwide.This has also been an effective drive for the company success, because internally, they always focus on how they can think of developing effective production method and highly innovative designs and that gives them better leverage against their competitors worldwide that even franchisers finds complex doing business, still they were enticed with the continuous increase in growth sales of the firm. Recommendations As based from the study there are only two main recommendations that should be focus by the company in order to strengthen the success of the company. First, it is more on establishing a more concrete and straightforward global operations and the second is for the company to increase its support for the charity since that was the main purpose of being a foundation since there was a tremendous criticism that even though that the INGKA Foundation has a huge net worth.

Customer Relationship Management and Flight Attendants

Essentials of MIS Additional Cases 1 BUSINESS PROBLEM-SOLVING CASE JetBlue Hits Turbulence In February 2000, JetBlue started flying daily to Fort Lauderdale, Florida and Buffalo, bran-new York, promising top-notch customer service at budget prices. The airline featured new Airbus A320 planes with leather seats, each equipped with a personal TV screen, and average unriv whollyed- commission f ares of only $99 per passenger. JetBlue was capable to provide this relatively luxurious flying experience by using entropy schemes to automate key processes, such as ticket sales (online sales dominate) and baggage handling (electronic tags helper track luggage).Jet Blue prided itself on its paperless processes. JetBlues investment in information technology enabled the airline to turn a meshing by running its business at 70 percent of the cost of larger competitors. At the same cadence, JetBlue filled a higher percentage of its seats, industrious non-union workers, and established enoug h good impart to score an impressive customer retention rate of 50 percent. Initi tout ensembley, JetBlue flew only one type of plane from one vendor the Airbus A320. This approach enabled the airline to standardize flight operations and maintenance procedures to a degree that resulted in considerable savings.CIO Jeff Cohen used the same simple-is-better schema for JetBlues information systems. Cohen depended almost exclusively on Microsoft software products to design JetBlues extensive network of information systems. (JetBlues reservation system and systems for managing planes, crews, and scheduling are run by an outside contractor. ) Using a single vendor provided a technology framework in which Cohen could keep a small mental faculty and favor in-house incurment of systems over outsourcing and relying on consultants. The benefit was stable and focused technology spending. JetBlue spent only 1. percent of its revenue on information technology, as opposed to the 5 percent spent by competitors. JetBlues technology strategy helped create a pleasing flying experience for passengers. As professorship and chief operating officer Dave Barger put it, Some people say airlines are powered by fuel, scarce this airline is powered by its IT infrastructure. JetBlue consistently found itself at the top of J. D. Power and Associates customer satisfaction surveys. JetBlue believed it had learned to work lean and smart. The big question was whether JetBlue would be able to champion its strategy and its success as the airline grew.By the end of 2006, the company was operating 500 flights daily in 50 cities and had $2. 4 billion in annual revenue. along the way, JetBlue committed to purchasing a new plane e real five weeks through 2007, at a cost of $52 million each. Through all of this, JetBlue remained true to its formula for success and customers continued to return. February 14, 2007, was a wake-up call. A fierce ice storm struck the New York City area that day and find out in motion a string of events that threatened JetBlues sterling reputation and its stellar customer relationships.JetBlue made a fateful decision to maintain its schedule in the belief that the horrible weather would break. JetBlue typically avoided pre-canceling flights because passengers usually preferred to have a delayed arrival than to camp out at a terminal or check into a hotel. If the airline had guessed correctly, it would have kept its revenue streams intact and made the customers who were scheduled to fly that day very happy. Most other airlines began canceling flights early in the day, believing it was the prudent decision even though passengers would be inconvenienced and money would be lost.The other airlines were correct. Nine JetBlue planes left wing their furnish at John F. Kennedy International Airport and were stranded on the tarmac for at least six hours. The planes were frozen in place or trapped by iced-over access roads, as was the equipment that wo uld de-ice or move the aircraft. Passengers were confined inside the planes for up to ten and one-half hours. Supplies of food and water on the planes ran poor and toilets in the restrooms began to back up. JetBlue found itself in the middle of a massive dual crisis of customer and public relations.JetBlue waited withal long to solicit help for the stranded passengers because the airline figured that the planes would be able to take off eventually. Meanwhile, the weather conditions and the delays or cancellations of other flights caused customers to flood JetBlues reservations system, which could not handle the onslaught. At the same time, many of the airlines pilots and flight crews were also stranded and unable to get to locations where they could pick up the slack for crews that had just worked their maximum hours without rest, but did not actually go anywhere.Moreover, JetBlue did not have a system in place for the rested crews to call in and have their assignments rerouted. T he glut of planes and displaced or tired crews forced JetBlue to cancel more flights the next day, a Thursday. And the cancellations continued daily for nearly a week, with the Presidents Day holiday week providing few opportunities for rebooking. On the sixth day, JetBlue cancelled 139 of 600 flights involving 11 other airports. 2 76 Part I Information Systems in Hits Digital Age JetBlue the TurbulenceJetBlues eventual recovery was of little solace to passengers who were stranded at the airport for days and missed reservations for family vacations. Overall, more than 1,100 flights were cancelled, and JetBlue lost $30 million. The airline industry is marked by low profit margins and high fixed costs, which means that even short revenue droughts, such as a four-day shutdown, can have devastating consequences for a pallbearers financial stability. Throughout the debacle, JetBlues CEO David G. Neeleman was very visible and forthcoming with accountability and apologies.He was quoted m any times, saying things such as, We love our customers and were appal by this. Theres going to be a lot of apologies. Neeleman also admitted to the press that JetBlues management was not strong enough and its communication theory system was inadequate. The department responsible for allocating pilots and crews to flights was too small. Some flight attendants were unable to get in touch with anyone who could tell them what to do for three days. With the breakdown in communications, thousands of pilots sand flight attendants were out of position, and the staff could neither find them nor tell them where to go.JetBlue had grown too fast, and its low-cost IT infrastructure and systems could not keep up with the business. JetBlue was abandoned to saving money both from streamlined information systems and lean staffing. Under normal circumstances, the lean staff was sufficient to handle all operations, and the computer systems functioned easy below their capacity. However, the ice s torm exposed the fragility of the infrastructure as tasks such as rebooking passengers, handling baggage, and locating crew members became impossible. Although Neeleman asserted in a conference call hat JetBlues computer systems were not to blame for its meltdown, critics of the company pointed out that JetBlue lacked systems to keep track of off-duty flight crews and lost baggage. Its reservation system could not expand enough to meet the high customer call volume. Navitaire, headquartered in Minneapolis, hosts the reservation system for JetBlue as well as for a twelve other discount airlines. The Navitaire system was configured to accomodate up to 650 agents at one time, which was more than sufficient under normal circumstances.During the Valentines Day crisis, Navitaire was able to cull the system to accomodate up to 950 agents simultaneously, but that was still not enough. Moreover, JetBlue could not find enough qualified employees to staff its phones. The company employs about 1,500 reservation agents who work chiefly from their homes, linking to its Navitaire Open Skies reservation system using an Internet-based voice communications system. Many ticketholders were unable to determine the status of their flights because the phone lines were jammed.Some callers received a recording that say them to JetBlues Web site. The Web site stopped responding because it could not handle the spike in visitors, leaving many passengers with no way of knowing whether they should draw and quarter the trip to the airport. JetBlue lacked a computerized system for recording and tracking lost bags. It did have a system for storing information such as the number of bags checked in by a passenger and bag tag identification numbers. But the system could not record which bags had not been picked up or their location.There was no way for a JetBlue agent to use a computer to see if a lost bag for a particular passenger was among the heap of unclaimed bags at airports where JetB lue was stranded. In the past, JetBlue management did not feel there was a need for such a system because airport personnel were able to look up passenger records and figure out who owned leftover bags. When so many flights were canceled, the process became unmanageable. JetBlue uses several acts provided by outsourcing vendor Sabre Airline Solutions of Southlake, Texas to manage, schedule, and track planes and crews and to develop actual flight plans.Sabres FliteTrac application interfaces with the Navitaire reservation system to provide managers with information about flight status, fuel, passenger lists, and arrival times. Sabres CrewTrac application tracks crew assignments and provides pilots and flight attendants access to their schedules via a secure Web portal. JetBlue uses a Navitaire application called SkySolver to determine how to redeploy planes and crews to emerge from flight disruptions. However, JetBlue found out during the Valentines Day emergency that SkySolver was unable to transfer the information quickly to JetBlues Sabre applications.And even if these systems had worked properly together, JetBlue would have probably been unable to locate all of its flight crews to redirect them. It did not have a system to keep track of off-duty crew members. Overtaxed phone lines prevented crew members from calling into headquarters to give their locations and accessibility for work. JetBlues response to its humiliating experience was multifaceted. On the technology front, the airline deployed new software that sends recorded messages to pilots and flight attendants to inquire about their availability.When the employees return the calls, the information they supply is entered into a system that stores the data for access and analysis. From a staffing standpoint, Neeleman promised to train 100 employees from the airlines corporate office to serve as backups for the departments that were stretched too thin by the effects of the storm. Chapter 2of MIS Addit ionalBusinesses Use Information Systems Essentials E-Business How Cases 77 3 JetBlue attempted to address its customer relations and image problems by creating a customer bill of rights to enforce standards for customer treatment and airline behavior.JetBlue would be penalized when it failed to provide proper service, and customers who were subjected to poor service would be rewarded. JetBlue set the maximum time for holding passengers on a delayed plane at five hours. The company changed its operational philosophy to make more accomodation for inclement weather. An opportunity to leaven its changes arrived for JetBlue just one month after the incident that spurred the changes. Faced with another snow and ice storm in the northeast United States on swear out 16, 2007, JetBlue cancelled 215 flights, or about a third of its total daily slate.By canceling early, management hoped to ensure that its flight crews would be accessible and available when needed, and that airport gates woul d be kept clear in case flights that were already airborne had to return. In the wake of its winter struggles, JetBlue was left to hope that its customers would be forgiving and that its losses could be offset. Neeleman pointed out that only about 10,000 of JetBlues 30 million annual customers were inconvenienced by the airlines weather-related breakdowns.On May 10, 2007, JetBlues Board of Directors outside Neeleman as CEO, placing him in the role of non-executive chairman. According to Liz Roche, managing partner at Customers Incorporated, a customer relationship management research and consulting firm, JetBlue demonstrated that its an adolescent in the airline industry and that it has a lot of learning and growing up to do. Sources Doug Bartholomew and Mel Duvall, What Really Happened at JetBlue, Baseline Magazine, April 1, 2007 JetBlue Cancels Hundreds of Flights, The Associated Press, accessed via www. nytimes. om, March 16, 2007 Susan Carey and Darren Everson, Lessons on the Fly JetBlues New Tactics, The Wall Street Journal, February 27, 2007 Eric Chabrow, JetBlues Management Meltdown, CIO Insight, February 20, 2007 Jeff Bailey, Chief Mortified by JetBlue Crisis, The New York Times, February 19, 2007 and Long Delays Hurt Image of JetBlue, The New York Times, February 17, 2007 Susan Carey and Paula Prada, Course Change why JetBlue Shuffled Top Rank, The Wall Street Journal, May 11, 2007 Coreen Bailor, JetBlues Service Flies South, Customer Relationship Management, May 2007 Thomas Hoffman, Out-of-the-Box Airline Carries Over Offbeat preliminary to IT, Computerworld, March 11, 2003 and Stephanie Overby, JetBlue Skies Ahead, CIO Magazine, July 1, 2002. Case Study Questions 1. What types of information systems and business functions are described in this case? 2. What is JetBlues business model? How do its information systems body forth this business model? 3.What was the problem experienced by JetBlue in this case? What people, organization, and technolo gy factors were responsible for the problem? 4. Evaluate JetBlues response to the crisis. What solutions did the airline start out up with? How were these solutions implemented? Do you think that JetBlue found the correct solutions and implemented them correctly? What other solutions can you think of that JetBlue hasnt tried? 5. How well is JetBlue hustling for the future? Are the problems described in this case likely to be repeated? Which of JetBlues business processes are most vulnerable to breakdowns? How much will a customer bill of rights help?

Change Always Comes Bearing Gifts Essay

Through out our lifetime, we look numerous life changing steadyts that influence and affect our choices forever. Whether an experience is positive or negative, we learn something new every time. These events can be vary anywhere between a simple action to the biggest day of your life. The outcome of the experiences is what will tilt aces thoughts, behavior and feelings forever. I book had many small experiences but I believe that one of the greatest events that has caused me to change was falling in love with my boyfriend.During my senior year at high school, I constantly stressed about my future, my image and fought with my loneliness. Although Im non sure where these sudden thoughts would come from, they haunted me and caused me to grow desperately for a manner out. Then one night while studying for my physical science exam, I received a friendly message from a childhood friend. He is quite handsome so of course I immediately closed my physics book to chat with him. Exactl y one month later, he asked me to be his girlfriend.It was overwhelming because he was the first guy to ever ask me however, at that chip I knew he would always be there for me no matter what. He rightfully changed my outlook and perspective of life into a positive one. Now, I think of the future with confidence. I have learned that life is too short to be depressed I straightaway try to avoid electronegativity and focus on the important things in life. In addition to that, he never lets me forget how beautiful I am. His never-ending compliments have really elevated my self-esteem. Overall, my positive thoughts have made me a happier more complete person.I really wish I could be more like him because he has changed my thoughts in such a great way and I cheat this experience will permanently change the way I think, along with the way I behave. Behavior is a big part of who one is and how people perceive one self. During the last semester of high school, I distanced myself from m y classmates and did not participate in school activities I knew I was not acting like my normal self but there was no explanation for my decisions. After this life-changing event, I have become more outgoing and productive.The most important change has been responsibility. Prior to this wonderful event, I did not care about anything. Late homework assignments, skipping chores, and rarely showing up to work had become a routine for me. Luckily, that became the past. Now, I wake up and look forward to the day ahead even if its just going to school. One of the greatest lessons I have learned is that feeling good about yourself and loving who you are is important. I do not know the exact reason for why my behavior has changed so dramatically, but I have a strong feeling it has something to do with the way I feel.Feelings play a major role in the way we perceive life. Now that I am in a relationship, I feel that I am less stubborn rather open to new ideas. Usually, I am very hard heade d. My parents have always given me my way even when I didnt deserve it. Being in a relationship has made me realize that it is not all about me. Each and every one of us has a different viewpoint so it is imperative to be respectful to others thoughts and compromise Overall, I feel more compassionate, loving and thoughtful of others and I believe that is the best gift I have received from this experience.This experience is very important to me because it has turned my life towards a positive path. I now think, behave and feel much better than I did a few months ago. I dont know whether this is love but I know for a fact that he is my best friend and I will always have him by my side. Sometimes, it scares me to think of loosing him but I really hold I never change back to the pessimistic person I once was. I often hear that nothing lasts forever but I will always look back at this as something that saved me during my lowest point in life.