Web Development for Information Management Coursework

Web Development for Information Management - Coursework Example System†,â€Å"Boston Pizza†, â€Å"Zuppler Online Ordering Menus†, â€Å"Funny Cow Fast Food†, â€Å"Hoagies & Wings, LA†), it was observed that there is an underlying trend that is generally followed while designing food delivery websites. Usually, a food provider hosts a website with a URL that depicts the food company’s name or some memorable association to it; a name that the customers can easily remember. On the homepage of the website is displayed the logo of the company, contact details and a detailed menu of the company’s food items with pricing, the delivery time, availability and cost for all the items. The customer is given the option to select food items from the menu displayed on the homepage. Whatever item the customer selects, it is added to an item’s cart that displays the total accumulated billing of the order so far along with the items selected. Once the customer is done selecting the items, he/she selects the check-out option from menu. In case, the customer is new, he/she provides some personal information (i.e. contact detail and delivery address) to register to the site and place the order. This information is stored within a database maintained by the food providers. In case, the customer is not new, he/she can use the login details from the past orders. The personal information will be retrieved automatically based on these details and the order will be placed automatically. The payment is done either online by provide credit card details or by hand on delivery. Once the order is placed, a notification is sent to the food provider regarding the placement of an order. This could be through sms, fax or a notification on the system running at the provider’s work area. The orders can be grouped into ‘completed’, ‘active’ and ‘pending’. Once the provider accepts an order, a confirmation is sent to the customer, either through an email or sms. The staff starts preparing the ordered food. Once the food is prepared, it is

Closure of Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Closure of Business - Essay Example The promotion of the welfare of the working class is a recognized policy but an employee’s tenure is not a perpetual right intended to destroy or oppress the employer. The employer, therefore, has the prerogative to exercise in good faith the right to close the operation of the business, either totally or partially. The employer cannot be compelled to continue to operate its business but must nevertheless comply with legal processes before it can implement the cessation of its business or reduction of its operations. To manifest good faith, the employer must define the criteria in an objective and fair manner on who will be retained and who will be let go through the redundancy plan and thereafter, notify the employees affected in writing. It is not enough though to notify the employees, the issue must be explained to them individually. It is further required for the employer to consult and listen to the suggestions of the employees to forestall termination. And, if other alte rnatives or options are available then the same must be explored as opposed to the implementation of redundancy or termination phase.There are two options presented by Sally thus it shall be discussed separately.The first scenario is to close the shop completely due to losses. The lack of business transaction validates the severance of employment. Since it is within the discretion of Sally to cease business operation, she cannot be compelled to continue operating at a loss due to misplacing sympathy to the employees.... It is not enough though to notify the employees, the issue must be explained to them individually. It is further required for the employer to consult and listen to the suggestions of the employees to forestall termination. And, if other alternatives or options are available then the same must be explored as opposed to the implementation of redundancy or termination phase. There are two options presented by Sally thus it shall be discussed separately. The first scenario is to close the shop completely due to losses. The lack of business transaction validates the severance of employment. Since it is within the discretion of Sally to cease business operation, she cannot be compelled to continue operating at a loss due to misplace sympathy to the employees. However, she must pay redundancy payment to the dismissed employees who have rendered continuous service at least two years reckoned at the date of the dismissal. If an alternative work offer is made to the employee that is of similar conditions, pay, status and other benefits to the employee’s present position, he is free to accept or reject the offer. However, if it is shown that the offer is unreasonably rejected the employees can no longer demand redundancy pay and worse consequence of such refusal shall exempt the employer from paying the same. Applying the foregoing standard, Greg shall not be entitled to redundancy payment as he can be re-assigned to Sally’s other business offices pursuant to his contract. If the offer to be re-assigned is refused by Greg, he cannot make a claim for redundancy payment. Nevertheless, Greg can fight the re-assignment on ground that it is a diminution of his present status not to mention that his salary is substantially reduced. In all

Impact of ISO 9000 on Business Performance

Impact of ISO 9000 on Business Performance Introduction International Organisation for Standard (ISO) is based in Geneva. It is a worldwide body founded in 1946 to promote and develop the international standard and related activities to facilitate the exchange of goods and services nationwide (Randall, 1995). ISO inaugurated a technical committee on quality management and quality assurance to develop a universally accepted set of quality standard. In 1987 ISO published the ISO 9000 standard series on quality management and assurance based on the commendable work of the committee (Hoyle, 2006). These standards were also revised in 1994 and 2000 respectively, and the most recent called ISO 9000:2000 family of standard. Many writers have come up with several but related definition of ISO 9000. Hoyle (2006) defined ISO 9000 as: â€Å"A criteria that apply to the management of an organisation when determining customers needs and expectation and supplying product and services that are intended to satisfy those needs and expectations.† Martinez-Costa et al.(2004) also defined ISO 9000 as an effective system for the evaluation of the ability of an organisation to design produce, and deliver quality products and services consistently. Sun et al.(2004) also has it that the standard provides guideline for organisations for establishing of their quality management systems â€Å"by focusing on procedures, control, and documentation†. The Science and Engineering policy Studies Unit (SEPSU) came up with a more summarized definition for the ISO 9000 family of standard. ISO 9000 was defined as being about quality systems and about consistency. It aims to give customers confidence in their suppliers by assuring them that the suppliers have in place management processes that deliver consistency (SEPSU study,1994).The study also stated that IS0 9000 encourages but never in itself directly assures product quality. From the above definitions, it could by deduced that ISO 9000 is only a criteria or process to be followed to achieve quality, and not the quality itself. Research problem and study purpose The definition given by SEPSU study clearly explained the role of ISO 9000. Still, many issues remains unaddressed. Firstly, surveys has it that despite the fact that several organisations spend so much resources in obtaining certification of the ISO 9000 standard , there seems to be other motive for seeking the certification and which therefore influences the outcome of the their business (Gotzamani and Tsiotras,2002; Idris et al.,1996).There are organisations that seek certification just for market purposes (Hoyel, 2007), and some also consider it as path of continuous improvement for the company (Stone,2003; Goetsch and Davis, 2005). However studies have shown that customers prefer products from suppliers that are ISO 9000 certified (Taylor, 1995a; Witcher, 1993). This means organisations are now forced to obtain certification in whatever way possible. As a result of these hurry for certification, the European Commissions Directorate for industry which is a high profile regulatory group has questioned the effectiveness of the certification since many European firms are not sure if the certification actually infuses quality into their organisations (Stratton, 1994). The purpose of this paper is to address the problem above by examining critically if the ISO 9000 standard does improve business performance or not, by testing the strength of the relationship between the ISO 9000 certification and organisational performance. Research Question and study objectives â€Å"ISO 9000 is only a beginning; it provides a mechanism with which to bring about systematic improvement but it does not improve performance byitself†. Paying attention to the above statement made by Hoyle (1994) on the value of ISO 9000 certification and its diverse nature, the following questions will be clearly investigated in this work: Does ISO 9000 certification have a significant positive effect on business performance? What is the organisational attitude towards ISO 9000 certification? Providing answers to these questions above will lead to a clearer understanding of the impact of ISO 9000 certification on business/organisational performance. It will also guide to a realistic management expectation of business value of ISO 9000 certification in an organisation and the knowledge that gaining an ISO 9000 certification is noting similar to creating quality organisation. Research methodology This research seeks to review some extant theoretical literatures and web-based sources on the impact of ISO 9000 on business performance. It is important to acknowledge that major researches on ISO 9000 have been conducted via postal questionnaire (Magd, 2003, 2004, 2008; Bhuiyan and Alam, 2005, Douglas et al., 2003; Batchelor, 1992) which is a more standard, practical approach and gives less room for bias. Literature review The literature review identified quiet some articles that deals with impact of ISO 9000 on businesses in quality and reliability management studies. Despite the perceived benefit of the ISO 9000 certification, only few studies have examined if ISO 9000 certified organisations do actually perform good than non-ISO 9000 certified organisations. These studies include 🙠 Magd, 2008; Terziovski et al., 2003; Lee, 2003; Chow-chua; 2003; Sun, 2000; Dick et al., 2002; Heras et al., 2002a etc.). Several papers associated with ISO 9000 are mainly focused on the qualitative benefits associated with its certification, like communication and general understanding of the companys process, and not the quantitative benefits. Some literatures also focused on what to do to gain ISO certification. Perceived benefit of ISO 9000 certification ISO 9000 certification bodies such as the British Standards Institute (BSI), Lloyds Registers Quality Assurance (LRQA) and SGS, have claimed some benefit of ISO 9000 such as: Bringing recognition and reputation at the market place, increasing customers satisfaction, high profit margin (www.BSI-GLOBAL.com). Reduction in waste, competitive advantage, formalize management system (www.SGS.com). Magd (2008) listed some benefits like improvement in documentation and improvement in efficiency of the quality system are among the top perceived benefits of ISO 9000 in an empirical survey conducted on the Egyptian manufacturing sector. In another investigation in a servicing company in the UK industries, Douglas et al. (2003) found that the main external benefit of the ISO 9000 was the higher perceived quality from the customers, and the main internal benefit being â€Å"good documentation procedure†. In another research carried out by chow-chua et al. (2003), highest numbers of respondents agreed that expansion in international market was the internal motive, and improvement in customer satisfaction as the external factor for seeking ISO 9000 certification. However, an empirical study conducted by Heras et al (2002a) conclusively stated that the major benefits sought from ISO 9000 is profit improvement (see Table i below for illustration). In another negative vein, in a st udy conducted in China involving 194 manufacturing and servicing sector, a good number of respondents expressed the view that ISO 9000 will not have direct effect on companies business performance (Dang, 2007). In fact; Lima (2000) also supports this view. This variation in survey results only proves a point â€Å" That the implementation and the impact of ISO 9000 standards vary from organisation to organisation and from country to country†, these variation is as a result of the various organisational context and the level of the countries awareness of quality management practice ( Magd , 2004). ISO Certification Quality management system Quality improvement Business performance Profitability Certified to ISO 9000 standard The approved quality Management System brings an Increased emphasis on quality and how it may be achieved consistently Internal: Less waste and duplication of effort External: quality received by customers improves Reduced costs Improves Competitiveness Fewer customer defections so sales increase Badge of quality opens more sale opportunities Cost of sales reduces leading to increased profits Profitability benefits from scale economies and lower sales acquisition cost Driving forces for seeking ISO 9000 certification Juran (1995) has said that the main reason for an organisation seeking quality certification is â€Å"maintenance or market expansion†. In a survey by Madg (2008), the question was the deferent reasons for seeking of certification. These options were being limited to 14. The response rate was 35 percent, (see Table ii next page). The participants were asked to rate the significance of these reasons on a five- point scale. In response to improve the efficiency of the quality system and to achieve customer satisfaction took the top position. However, improve employees relations and capturing workers knowledge came below the list. (Table ii): Driving forces for seeking ISO 9000:2000 certification RANK DRIVING FORCES M SD 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. To improve the efficiency quality of the quality system To achieve customer satisfaction Pressure from competitors/foreign partners To maintain/increase market shears Avoid potential export barrier To meet government demands, requirements or pressure To achieve quality improvement To market product in the international arena To use ISO as a marketing promotion tool To be a step towards TQM To achieve cost reduction To meet corporate objectives To improve employees relation Capturing workers knowledge 4.71 4.68 4.64 4.62 4.60 4.56 3.71 3.64 3.47 3.29 3.19 2.24 2.17 2.14 0.42 0.48 0.49 0.50 0.57 0.60 1.02 1.10 1.42 1.30 1.27 1.20 1.18 1.09 NOTE: The Mean score is based on participants level of agreement with each statement on a scale of 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = Strongly agree; a mean score above 4 indicates high, between 3 and 4 indicates moderate and a score of less than 3 indicates a low level of agreement; SD = Standard Deviation. Another good example is the Science and Engineering Policy Studies Unit in the UK (SEPSU study,1994).This study took 28 survey on many different issues among these were the same as Magd (2008), reasons organisations seek certification and the effectiveness of the certification. There appears to be a motive some managers adopt certification. The commonly cited driving force for seeking ISO 9000 however, was customer pressure. This, therefore, results in less improvement in organisational performance (Park et al., 2007; Singles et al., 2001). The problem with this type of analysis is that it lacks the strength to show the relationship between ISO 9000 certification and organisational performance .However, it gives some useful results. Business value of ISO 9000 A more comprehensive empirical survey on quality practice is the International quality study (American Quality Foundation,1991).The study surveyed 500 banking, computer, automobile ,and health care organisations in Japan, Canada, USA, and Germany. The result of this survey was that some quality practices, most especially supplier certificate and process improvement which is aided by ISO 9000 indeed have some significant effect on performance. (Prubhu et al., 2000) also supports this fact. Similarly, a study in Australia by the Australian Manufacturing council (AMC study, 1994) whose approach was to analyze the methods and approach used by the Australian and New Zealand manufacturing organisations in quality management practice. The result was that more than 50 percent of the ISO 9000 certified firms agreed that ISO 9000 certification was a significant factor in the improvement of their business performance. Managers of certified firms has therefore agreed that certification increases customer perception of product quality, and such perception can often be effective in wining new customers (Cermen Escanciano et al.,2001). Firms are been advised in the AMC study ( 1994) that certification is not a substitute for quality product and services. The AMAC study has been criticized for its data analysis methodology (Terziovski et al.,1997). Organisations can achieve certification but still produce a poor quality product (Zuckerman, 1997; Hertz; 1997). Furthermore, certification could cause managers to have a self-satisfied attitude towards quality. There is this risk of also bringing in some poor practices through the certification process. It will be the best practice if organisations could set a quality standard for themselves well above the minimum being outlined by ISO 9000, and also seek ways to improve (Terziovski et al., 2003). Batchelor (1992) surveyed 647 certified manufacturing and service companies in the United Kingdom, and discovered that 15 percent of the respondents that participated thought they had gained business value on nine dimensions of organisational performance, which include: â€Å"customer satisfaction, waste and cost, market share, new customers, procedural efficiency, staff motivation, staff attitudes, and error rate†. A quite impressive body in management and quality literatures has pointed out that the major reason backing organisations decision to adopt ISO 9000 system is due to perceived marketing benefits (Lloyds Register, 1993). A survey carried out by Sun (1999) did some remarkable investigations on ISO 9000 certified firms in Norway. The survey reveals that â€Å"ISO 9000 and quality are correlated†. This was known to be in respect of the reduction of customer complaints, defects, and improvement of business performance in productivity and profitability. Supporting these facts Heras et al.(2001) reported that organisations that has implemented ISO 9000 standard have successfully been able to project themselves to achieve continuous improvement, competitive advantage, and are better-run organisation. Zairi and Baidoun (2003) also supports this fact. Magd (2003) in another study conducted at Saudi Arabia involving 140 ISO 9000 certified manufacturing firms. Using a questionnaire as a means of primary data collection, this relied on the use of five-point likert scale. The study suggested 20 possible benefit of ISO 9000 of which the respondents were asked to rate the extent to which ISO 9000 affect these elements. These rating were to be from â€Å"crucial effect† to â€Å"no effect†. From the results of the survey, improvement in efficiency of the quality system, increased quality awareness in the firms, improvement in customer service, and increase in quality of product was seen as of benefits ISO 9000 certification among the Egyptian manufacturing companies. McAdam and canning (2001) in another assessment of the impact of ISO 9000 on the performance decided to focus his study on the building construction companies in Northern Ireland. The methodology used was to conduct a semi interview with six surveying practitioners on their view on ISO 9000.This finding obtained was then used to develop and structure a questionnaire towards the study purpose. Out of about 66 questionnaires posted, 52 usable ones were returned. The result was that ISO 9000 certified firms indicated some internal benefit in varying degree. 35 percent agreed that they have improvements in management systems, 24 percent had improved service quality, 12 percent agreed they had developed clearer communication, and 6 percent of the respondents believed that ISO 9000 â€Å"increases profit ratio†. In summary, this research brings to light that majority of the respondents share the view that ISO 9000 has a significant impact on business performance, because of there is more benefit as compared to the demerits. In a survey conducted by Douglas et al.(2003) questionnaires were being forwarded to 200 quality managers/representatives in UK industries. Among these 200, 120 were from the service sectors while 80 were from the manufacturing sector. The simple task was for them to indicate the financial benefit of the ISO 9000. 104 usable questionnaires were received. 53 percent claimed they dont perceive any benefit with regards to staff motivation. 45 percent of the respondents said that their organisation did not achieve any benefit with regards to cost and waste reduction. Despite the contradictory figures a whopping 75 percent believe ISO 9000 to be a good value for money. This reaction may likely be in connection with the fact that they now gained the ability to tender for contracts previously not realistic. Another investigation was carried out by Musa et al (2003) which involves a different approach altogether. This survey compared the performance of ISO 9000 certified and non-certified Turkish firms by using their stock market returns. The list of the monthly returnes of these firms was gotten from the Istanbul Stock Exchange ISE (2001) market of Turkey from January 1977 to December 2000.One hundred and three (103) of these firms are ISO 9000 certified while one hundred and seventeen (117) where non-satisfied. Based on the objective of the research, two main hypotheses were made: H1 – ISO 9000 certified firms have higher stock market returns than non-ISO 9000 certified firms H2 – ISO 9000 certified firms have lower variability. This type of analysis of using the stock market returns of firms has some limitation since limited number of companies might meet the criteria to be listed in the stock market. Also the survey was measuring only the exports excluding the regional returns in this analysis. Considering the literature review so far, it appears that some managers have failed to distinguish conformance from performance. This is because they have not yet understood the primary role of ISO 9000 certification. ISO 9000 is a conformance specification that shows that the company has a system which is capable of giving a quality goods and services (Teziovski et al.; 1997). The willingness of the management and the employees to use and accept the standard in their day to day activities also depends on this capacity. Askey and Dale (1994) has it that managers tend to divert from the original practices after gaining ISO 9000 certification, which often result in managers engaging their workforce in preventive actions, after much damage has been done already (Brown, 1994). Performance specification on the other hand falls on the tools and techniques, and requires the employees to use the certification process as part of improvement initiative (Allan, 1993). The major problem that emerges from the review is the managers perception of the ISO certification as the answer rather than a tool to an answer. There is a general view in the literature that certification is a potential path to Total Quality Management (Sun, 2000). Barrier to ISO 9000 effective implementation Some assessments were performed to identify the perceived barriers that might add to the ineffective implementation of ISO 9000 in Egyptian manufacturing organisations by Magd (2008). Some numbers of barriers were extracted to perform this study. The respondents were being required to rate these barriers on a five point scale. From â€Å"strongly disagree†=1 to â€Å"strongly agree†=5. As explained in the research there was consecutive agreement among the Egyptians manufacturer that top management commitment, lack of qualified personnel, insufficient quality education and training, lack of financial resources, and failure to define responsibility were among the top barriers for an effective implementation for ISO 9000. Top management commitment was the most important barrier because if an organisation is lagging in management commitment, the employees do not tend to prioritize the quality management system, which will therefore affect the implementation of the quality m anagement (Lee, 2004; Magd, 2003; Bhuiyan and Alam, 2005). Boiral and Marie-Josee (2007) made it clear that lack of managers and employers commitment, difficulty in understanding the quality management system, meeting and system development, time involved in training and difficulty in overcoming the communication barriers are common factors against the implementation of ISO 9000 standard. Another similar study conducted in Singapore by Quazi and Padibjo (1998) explained that high cost of implementation, extra effort in documentation, shortage of manpower, resistance at supervisory levels, lack of management commitment and employee resistance to change are among the top barriers. These finding should be a significant factor to stakeholders in a business. The barrier to be eliminated can easily be identified so that the standard could be implemented effectively. Criticism of ISO 9000 certification Seddon (1997a) a strong critic of ISO 9000 expresses the view that a number of operations that are associated with ISO 9000 are actually not fully optimized within the work place. According to Douglas et al. (2003) the view of some critics of ISO 9000 is that â€Å"some organisations whose objective was TQM (Total Quality Management), implementing ISO 9000 took them away from achieving that objective†. The issue of cost of registration and implementation has also been stressed (Dick, 2000), in that the costs are greater than the desired benefit. (Douglas et al.,2003) in their survey asked participants to indicate a five-point scale the extent they agree with some statement against ISO 9000 (See table iii). From the survey, 53 percent of the respondents did disagree with Gotzamani and Tsiotras (2001) on the view that ISO 9000 sub-optimize performance in a workplace. On the argument about continuous improvement, Lee (2004) argued that 1SO 9000 only introduces improvement through prevention and correction of non performance. These critics has argued that achieving ISO 9000 certification does not mean quality as organisation may still be certified and still give poor quality output. The consistency and the role of the assessors of this standard have been questioned by previous researches (Killman and Stanford, 1996). Criticism Strongly disagree Disagree Neither Agree Strongly agree ISO 9000 promotes action which results in sub-optimization of performance. ISO 9000 a step backwards in the guess of TQM. ISO 9000 relies too heavily on other, in particular assessors interpretation of quality. ISO 9000 can only be effective if accompanied by a culture change. It is easy to be ISO 9000 certified yet produce poor quality output. ISO 9000 will only control output; quality is about improving output. 12 14 8 0 1 9 53 65 44 8 19 35 27 19 22 14 9 20 9 2 23 54 54 33 0 0 3 24 18 4 Findings From the random-sample carried out in this research, it will be practical to conclude that quality studies have been able to identify two main sections of which quality impacts business performance: In terms of manufacturing aspect which involves the increase in employee quality awareness, improve in internal quality process, reduction in production cost and increased productivity, reduces defect and wastage, improves operational performance. Marketing aspects where it increases costumers satisfaction, and market performance, and ability to tender for business. It also exposed how companies clutch for ISO 9000 certification as if it was a remedy for their quality control problem. Limitations of the study Several limitation of this study must be mentioned. In contrast to previous studies, which used survey, questionnaires and average monthly stock market returns of the organisations to examine their performance, which is wide, more stable, consistent and provides less room for bias or error. This study is based on collection of secondary data on the impact of ISO 9000 in business performance. Conclusions and Recommendations This work did analyze the result of implementing the ISO 9000 standard in business. From the opinions of researches reviewed in this paper it is of no doubt that the implementation of these standards has an effect on organisational performance. There is a very high consensus regard to the influence of ISO 9000 on a companys results, mainly through operation improvement, and the cost of companies internal activities. Despite the numbers of surveys on the impact of ISO 9000 on business, this review identified that few surveys have focused on Africa. Further researches should be focused on these developing countries because it is on this basis the general impact of ISO 9000 can be determined. References Allan, M.J. (1993), â€Å"Implementation of ISO 9001/2 in large Australian manufactures†, unpublished Research Project, Melbourne Business School, University of Melbourne, Melbourne. Australian Manufacturing Council Study, leading the way: A study of Best Manufacturing Practices in Australia and New Zealand, 1994, pp.59-63. Askey, J.M. and Dale B.G, (1994 )From ISO 9000 Series Registration to Total Quality Management†: An Examination, Quality Management Journal, pp.67-76. Batchelor, K. ( 1992 ), â€Å"Badge of quality†, Financial Times, September. Total Quality Management, Vol. 7 No.3, and pp.293 – 303. Bhuiyan, N. and Alam, N. (2005), â€Å"An investigation into issues related to the latest version of ISO 9000†, Total Quality Management, Vol. 16 No.2, pp.199-213. Boiral, O. and Roy, M.(2007) â€Å" Integration rationale and organisational impacts†, international Journal of operations and production management, Vol. 27 No 2, pp 226-247. Chow-Chua, C., Goh, M. and Wan, B.T. (2003), â€Å"Does ISO 9000 certification improve business performance?†, International Journal of Quality Reliability Management, Vol. 20 No. 8, pp. 936-53. Clements, Richard B., Quality Managers Complete Guide to ISO 9000. New Jersey: Prentice Hall (1993). Dale, B.G., Boaden, R.J. and Lascelles, D.M. (1994), â€Å"Total quality management: an overview†, in Dale, B.G. (Ed.), Managing Quality, Prentice-Hall I, international, Englewood Cliffs, NJ pp 3-40. Dang, L. (2008),†The impact of Quality management practices on business performance†:An empirical investigation from China. International journal of Quality and Reliability, Vol. 22 No 8, pp. 809-82. Dick, M.P.G. (2000), â€Å"ISO 9000 certification benefits, reality or myth?† The TQM Magazine, Vol.12 No.6, pp.365-71. Dick, G., Gilmore, K. and Brown, C.J. (2002), â€Å"Does ISO 9000 accreditation make a profound differences to the way service quality is perceived and measured?†, Managing Service Quality, Vol. 12 No. 1, pp. 30-42. Douglas, A., Coleman, S. and Oddy, R. (2003), â€Å"The case for ISO 9000†, The TQM Magazine, Vol. 15 No. 5, pp. 316-24. Escanciano, C., Ferna ´ndez, E. and Va ´zquez, C. (2001), â€Å"Influence of ISO 9000 certification on the progress of Spanish industry towards TQM†, International Journal of Quality Reliability Management, Vol. 18 No. 5, pp. 481-94. Goetsch, D. and Davis, S. (2005), Understanding and Implementing ISO 9000: 2000, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ. Gotzamani, K.D. and Tsiotras, G.D. (2002), â€Å"The true motives behind ISO 9000 certification. Their effect on the overall certification benefits and their long term contributio TQM†, International Journal of Quality Reliability Management, Vol. 19 No. 2, pp. 151-69. Heras, I., Casadesus, M. and Dick, M.P.G. (2002a), â€Å"ISO 9000 certification and the bottom line: a comparative study of the profitability of Basque region companies†, Managerial Auditing Journal, Vol. 17 Nos 1/2, pp. 72-8. Heras, I., Casadesus, M. and Ochao, C. (2001) Vol. 9000, â€Å"Effects of ISO 9000 certification on companies profitability: an empirical study†, Integrated Management: Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on ISO 9000 and TQM, pp. 60-65. Hertz, H.S. (1997), â€Å"The criteria: a looking glass to Americans understanding of quality†, Quality Progress, Vol. 30 No. 6, pp. 46-8. Howell, J.P., et al,(1986) â€Å" Moderator Variables in Leadership Research,† Academy of Management Review, Vol.11, no.1, pp.88-102. Hoyle, D.(2006),ISO 9000 Quality system handbook, Fifth edition, Butterworth-Heinemann publishers, Oxford. Hoyle, D. (1994), ISO 9000 Quality handbook, Reed Educational and Professional Publicizing Ltd,Oxford. Idris, M.A., McEwan, W. and Belavendram, N. (1996), â€Å"The adoption of ISO 9000 and total quality management in Malaysia†, The TQM Magazine, Vol. 8 No. 5, pp. 65-8. Juran, J.M. (1995), A History of Managing for Quality: The Evolution, Trends and Future Directions ofManaging for Quality, Vol. 109 No 1, pp 43 – 45. Killman, J. and Stanford, M.(1996),†Auditor evaluation System†, Quality world,January,pp10 -11 of ISO 9000†, The TQM Magazine, Vol. 11 No. 2, pp. 88-94. Lee, Y.C. (2004), â€Å"TQM in small manufacturers: an exploratory study in China†, International Journal of Quality Reliability Management, Vol. 21 No. 2, pp. 175-97 Lee, S. K. and Palmer, E. (1999), â€Å"An empirical examination of ISO 9000- registered companies in New Zealand†, Total Quality Management, Vol. 10, No. 6, pp. 887-90. Lima, M., Resende, M. and Hasenclever, L. (2000), â€Å"Quality certification and performance of Brazilian firms: an empirical study†, International Journal of Production Economics, Vol. 66 No. 2, pp. 143-7. Lloyds Register Quality Assurance Limited: Setting Standards for Better Business, Report of survey Findings, 1993, pp1-10. Martinez-Lorente, A. and Martinez-Costa, M. (2004), â€Å"ISO 9000 and TQM: substitutes or complementaries? An empirical study in industrial companies†, International Journal of Quality and Reliability Management, Vol. 21 No. 3, pp. 260-76. McAdam, R. and Canning, N. (2001), â€Å"ISO in

Analysis of the Electronic Cigarettes Market Essay -- E-cigarette Marke

Introduction This report explores E-cigarettes. First, it introduces E-cigarettes, their market information, and their special characteristics. Second, the report will state their market structure, market competitions and government regulations. Then, the report will explain why E-cigarettes should be normal goods and how the suppliers could increase demand. Next, the report will analyse the development of this market, its opportunities for new entry and whether it is sensible to open a new business. Finally, it will make the conclusion about them. The report will introduce what is E-cigarette first. Introduction of E-cigarettes In 2003, E-cigarettes were developed in Beijing, China by a 52 years old pharmacist, inventor and smoker named Hon Lik. (The Consumer Advocates for Smoke-free Alternatives Association, n. d.). According to Knight (2013), ‘E-cigarettes look like real cigarettes and usually consist of a battery, a cartridge containing nicotine (the addictive ingredient in tobacco), a solution of propylene glycol or glycerine mixed with water, and an atomiser (a device that turns the nicotine solution into a fine mist or vapour)’. Then, the report will state the market of E-cigarettes in details. Market details of electronic cigarettes In this part, it will talk about geographical location first and describe some special characteristics of E-cigarettes. The report will state them through key facts about E-cigarettes. About the geographical location, the report concentrates on China because it is the origin of E-cigarette, and there are many Chinese smokers which will be mentioned below. According to Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (2013), smoking is harmful for almost each organ and causes many dis... ...lth Guide, (n. d.). Electronic Cigarette and Its Advantages. (Accessed 14/11/2013) http://www.healthguidance.org/entry/11595/1/Electronic-Cigarette-and-Its-Advantages.html R. Lipsey & A. Chrystal, (2011). Economics Twelfth Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press. S. Simon, (2013). Study Compares E-Cigarettes to Quit-Smoking Aids. (Accessed 14/11/2013) http://www.cancer.org/cancer/news/studycomparese-cigarettestoquit-smokingaids. The Consumer Advocates for Smoke-free Alternatives Association, (n. d.). E-cigarette History. (Accessed 14/11/2013) http://casaa.org/E-cigarette_History.html. Vapestick, (n. d.). E-cigarettes The Perfect Tobacco Cigarette Replacement. (Accessed 17/11/2013) http://www.vapestick.co.uk/cigarette-replacement.html. Wise Geek, (n. d.). What Is Market Share? . (Accessed 19/11/2013) http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-market-share.htm.

Apple iPhone Essay

â€Å"Apple introduced the original iPhone back in 2007, instantly obsoleting every other smartphone on the planet in every way that mattered† (Ritchie, 2013, p.1). Within the next two years Apple came out with the iPhone 3G and 3GS which they were able to increase the functionality while simultaneously lowering the price, this allowed Apple to take the smartphone fully out of the niche and make them mainstream (Ritchie, 2013). Apple was able to bring the iPhone to broader carriers and faster speeds along with better displays and more natural language interfaces with the iPhone 4 and 4S. The iPhone 5 has taken manufacturing to new levels and screen to new heights but the biggest change is iOS 7 along with the iPhone 5s and 5c. With smartphones we are able to have immediate access to the internet which allows us to access any information with n seconds instead of having to wait until we have access to a computer. We are able to make reservations, look up movie times, find recipes, shop online, update or Facebook status, and find a local doctors office within minutes. Smartphones allow us to have more of a social presence. Even more businesses are focusing on having a mobile site as part of their marketing strategy. More people conduct all of their internet needs on their smartphone because you are able to download hundreds of apps ranging from calendars, to-do lists, emails, games, books, movies, and music. On my personal phone I have word, excel, and PowerPoint, I do not use them but if I left my computer at home I would be able to connect my phone to a laptop and conduct a presentation from it. In the next three to five years I feel that smartphones and tablets will take over and will be what businesses use to conduct business transactions. I think that businesses will soon stop excepting cash and strictly only accept debt and credit cards. This would eliminate some business expenses by switching to tablets instead of cash registers; it would also speed up the checkout process. If this were to occur the software industry would have to re-design to find more effective and efficient ways to give users the proper interfaces they need at the speed that they want to complete their tasks.

Roberson

Tracy Morgan Intro- Public Administration (PA301) Instructor Travis Forbes Sept, 12 2011 There were a few elements I noticed, and reflected upon while reading William Robertson: Exemplar of Politics and Public Management Rightly Understood, that I felt he drew upon, to help him successfully run the Los Angeles Bureau of Street Services. Roberson utilized; people, place, physical technology, and personality, which were the specific elements that Gaus had mentioned. Let’s discuss how each event in Mr. Robertson’s life was important in reaching his goal, amongst the short term goals that were achieved because of his ability to lead.While reading Mr. Robertson’s story you could already grasp that he was a strong, yet influential leader, who believed through his military training, that you should lead from the front. Therefore be on the same level as your subordinates, so you can understand their needs, in order to meet and exceed them, for maximum mission effectivene ss could be achieved with few discrepancies. He also furthered his knowledge, not for the sake of promotion, but to have a better perspective of what was going to be needed in the future, to perform better in his job on all levels.So in case a situation arose, he would not be thrown off guard, but have the ability to correctly assess, identify, implement, and evaluate the situation, on behalf of the public, and city. Being in a large city, such as Los Angeles, afforded Mr. Robertson the prime opportunity to shine, because he was always surrounded by all the elements, which included him walking into public council meetings that were normally full of disgruntled people, but with his ability to converse (or manipulate as some would say), thus leaving many of them thanking him.It could even be coined as a slight form of social technology. He was able to accomplish all this by informing and educating, the people, and council of his duties, so when barriers were put in place, he and his t eam could work together on empowering the public to make better decisions, or be better prepared for the political battles that would surely arise, for the need for funding was on the table. Roberson’s judgment alone ancelled out Arnstein’s ladder of participation by, inadvertently giving more power to the people with knowledge, and abilities. And as a result the council members showed a little more insight, and support to Robertson, than what they did to his counterparts, thus leading to him to develop physical technologies in paving neighborhoods with limited funding, and still not overcrowding the streets with workers.