Water cooler Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Water cooler - Essay Example anizations by providing information that theft in organizations in the recent past has lead to a great loss of organizations resources to a tune of over $200million each year. The most recent form of theft identified is called ‘sweethearting’, and this is where employees give products to clients away for free to loyal and preferred customers. This is common with employees at the exit like cashiers. The article relates to the topic since it tends to enlighten organizations on how to handle its resources to prevent waste, it also shows how the US economy is affected by the losses from the bad Human Resource practices i.e. $200million loss each year. To address ‘sweethearting’, for example there are both short term and long term measures. The short term measure as per the article is educating the employees on the ramifications of the act on both the employee and employer and the ethics behind it. The long term solution is the employment of thorough recruitment, well screened. Screening question should focus on employee social acceptance, risk taking and ethics. This makes sure that the right click of employees is recruited for employment. An example of water cooler talk was that on the article examination.com about Frank Gore’s of San Francisco 49ers team unhappy state and need for another contract even after being involved in many games. The head coach refused to act on water cooler

Historical Background Of Hamas Essay Example for Free

Historical Background Of Hamas Essay Terrorism, like wars, threatens humanity. However, there are some intriguing issues that are tied up with terrorist groups without undermining underlying motivations in their formation. For instance, there are definitely causes for their emergence and this is their history. A case in point is HAMAS, an organized group categorized in current time as a terrorist group. This paper will assert to present the brief historical background of Hamas necessarily from four major driving forces namely: leadership and social structure, violence, and external influences. It must be noted however, that due to the limited space and resources, this discourse found some gray areas, controversial ones, that need further documentary research and analysis. From the Arabic â€Å"Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiyya† is taken the acronym HAMAS, which translates into English as â€Å"Islamic Resistance Movement. † 1 Further, from the same source, the acronym HAMAS is itself an Arabic word which means â€Å"enthusiasm, fire, ardor, fervor, zeal, fanaticism. † Although the movement was organized much earlier, its acronym Hamas came into being in 1987 when it directed its efforts against the Israelis resulting from Intifada. There is consistency in the narrative that the movement emerged to be known as Hamas since it started as an offshoot of Muslim Brotherhood which was founded in Egypt in 1928. 2 However, Richard Sale, a UPI Terrorism Correspondent says that Hamas was legally registered in Israel in 1978. 3 Organizing Hamas was the idea of its spiritual leader Shiek Ahmed Yassin. Accordingly, from the same source, Hamas was not only funded by the oil-producing states but also controversially, both directly and indirectly by Israel. From the beginning of its organization, Hamas was led by its founder and spiritual leader Shiek Ahmed Yassin. He was assassinated on March 22, 2004 by a missile strike of Israel. 4 He was succeeded by Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi immediately but was also assassinated in less than a month on April 17, 2004 by an Israeli airstrike. 5 Because of the tragic experience with reference to the Hamas leadership, the members voted among themselves the next successor without disclosing the name for confidentiality purposes. Still from the same source, it is suspected that Mahmoud al-Zahar is the successor of Rantissi. From the sources read, there was no indication at any point for the existence of power struggle among the members of Hamas in terms of leader selection. Mention however, was made to the fact that Hamas’s membership in the West Bank are coming from various groups with financial resources such as merchants, landowners, officials and professionals, all representing a substantial group in a higher socio-economic status. They dedicated themselves to help the grassroots and disadvantaged members of the Palestinian society. These included charitable services like clinics, kindergartens, and education6, runs schools, orphanages, mosques, health care clinics, soup kitchens and sports leagues. 7 Not stopping at welfare services, Hamas is also a movement that occupied itself with social concerns such as â€Å"exposing corruption, administration of waqfs (trusts) and organizing community projects†. 8 Analysis tells us that Hamas is not a movement that takes upon social struggle for their own survival financially speaking; they reach out to the poorer sectors of society. It is this discussant’s assumption that in spite of the composition of the organization’s membership who could have clashed for leadership, there was no leadership conflict because of the trustworthiness of leadership and the corrupt-free culture of the movement. Its founding leader Shiek Ahmed Yassin (Hamas Had a Long History of Conflict with Israel) was a preacher himself, meaning a religious person, and under his leadership the group did many social welfare and social services at the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Interestingly, Shiek Ahmed Yassin was a quadriplegic who could not move his body or his limbs yet he remained at the leadership of the Hamas until his assassination in 2004. 10 In spite of Yassin’s demise, Hamas gaining popularity among the people grabbed political victory over Fatah in 2006, the party of the late Yasser Arafat and later, of its President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestine Authority. 11 How Hamas became a terrorist group was a consequence of events. It is said that Israel was doing its recruitment of young Palestinians popularly referred to as the Intifada in 1987 and signaled the resort to violence by Hamas. Intifada was the upsurge of anger among Palestinian Arabs of the Gaza Strip and West bank that began in 1987 up to the early 1990s to demonstrate protest against Israel occupation of the two territories. The recruitment was taken by Hamas as collaboration with the Israelis and they used violence by beating those who were working with the Israeli government and later progressed to targeting Israel military then the civilians. 12 From then on, narratives of the Hamas violent and terrorist acts increased to become stories of terror. Buel says â€Å"Perhaps Hamas is best known for recruiting, training and arming suicide bombers. 13 Hamas since then has a countless number of terrorist acts committed highlighted by unthinkable suicide bombings. A number of external forces play significant roles in the Hamas Movement. To cite some, there is Palestine, the United States, the oil-producing states, Israel, the nations next to the borders of Gaza Strip and the West Bank, and recently, Iran. So urces have it that the formation, existence, and â€Å"creation† of Hamas are to some degree also the responsibility of Israel. 14 From the 1970s and on to the 1980s, Israel, like the Arab oil-producing states were supportive both directly and indirectly to Hamas. It was not much of the social welfare functions that Hamas was doing that Israel was supporting them. They had other interests for Hamas. First, Israel’s support to Hamas was an attempt as a â€Å"counterbalance to the PLO† (Palestinian Liberation Organization) spearheaded by the late Yasser Arafat believed to be a leftist, as a â€Å"direct attempt to divide and dilute support for a strong, secular PLO by using a competing religious alternative†. 15 Second, Israeli needed Hamas â€Å"to help identify and channel towards Israeli agents Hamas members who were dangerous terrorists†. 6 Third, Israel wants to deal with the United States as being the only democratic country in the region. 17 The oil-exporting countries are no longer in the picture whether they are still supporting Hamas or not anymore. The countries lying next to the borders of Gaza Strip and the West Bank, directly or indirectly will continue to be affected by the fate of Palestine versus Isra el. The most recent external force is the claim that Hamas is an â€Å"Iranian-backed terrorist organization founded in 1988 with the stated aim of destroying Israel†. 8 This development is a shift from the former reputation of Hamas as a social welfare movement. Iran has come into play in the picture. Hamas’s charter which was published in 1988 opens with the statement â€Å"Israel will rise and remain erect until Islam eliminates it as it had eliminated its predecessors†. 19 Moreover, still from the same source, it is said that the guiding principles of the group â€Å"rejects peaceful efforts to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and calls for the destruction of the State of Israel through jihad, or holy war. Hamas considers all of Israel to be occupied territory. † Hamas started as a charity movement helping the needy and a large sector of the population of Gaza Strip and the west Bank. It was organized as a movement by members of the middle class in Palestine society to address the social needs of the people. Their popularity as a helping movement was translated into their political victory in 2006 over Fatah, the long time ruling party of the Palestinian Liberation Organization. Later, it evolved, although still maintaining its charitable nature, to go violent against the Israelis due to the past bloody encounters and experiences they had with the Israelis. For instance, many of the high ranking officials of Hamas were killed by Israelis or their instrumentalities. Hamas as stipulated in their charter stands on its principle that no dialogue will succeed on their differences versus Israel; it is through violence that they will succeed. The United States being the forerunner of democracy and under the new phenomenal leadership of Obama could be a promise of peace or a continued war between Israel and Palestine. As the nations of the world continue to tackle global peace, the rest of us can pray for peace to reign on our only planet, the Earth.

The Portrayal Of Female Characters In Films

The Portrayal Of Female Characters In Films Films have long been used as a tool to portray human imaginations and ideas that are sometimes deemed impossible in reality. The characters in films have had a huge impact, with regard to gender stereotype, on audiences of all ages (Neuendorf et. al., 2010). Though there have been debates of how female characters are being portrayed in films, from being submissive to hyper-sexualised and lately, adopting more dominant roles in films, has there really been a change in male characters in films instead (Gilpatric, 2010)? Have male characters in films adopt female traits like how the female characters have adopted manly traits? This paper looks into how the portrayals of male characters in films have changed or are changing and how they affect gender construction. The feminist movement has constantly fought for womens right and equality so as to place women on equal standing to men in the society. This revolution has since been translated onto the silver screens as films depict women playing prominent and dominant roles in films (Gilpatric, 2010; Neundorf et. al., 2010) which is a stark contrast to the past when women played a submissive and subservient roles to the male character. Furthermore, films mirror the changing nature of our society, expecting men to behave in accordance to societal expectations deconstructing the male stereotype. Thus, the increasing trend in films shifting away from portraying men as having the traditional masculine trait, reconstructing it to more what termed today as the New Age Men (NAM) has been a result of the increasing prominence and dominance of females in films and the evolving nature of the society. The NAM is thus seen as a fusion of having both the traditional traits of males and females, embracing both masculine and feminine traits. Here, masculinity is defined as having the size, physical strength, rejection to authority and the use of physical force (Eschholz and Bufkin, 2001). Along with those masculine traits, the NAM are also expected to have traits like caring and being able to handle housework. The birth of the NAM has been heavily attributed to the rise of females in films and the changing nature of the society. Men today feel there is a need to differentiate themselves from females in films to assert their dominance in the industry and to reintegrate into the society, deconstructing the male stereotype. Female Characters in Films Today. Male characters in films are moving away from having masculine traits due to the rise of female prominence and dominance in the roles they play by adopting those masculine traits. Female characters like Lara Croft and Kill Bill highlights the point that traits like submissive and subservient are no longer being associated with female character. The casting of the Bond girl character is as equally important, receiving just as much attention as the casting of James Bond himself, and though a Bond film may lack the innovative gadget, never has there been a Bond film without a Bond girl (Neuendorf et. al., 2010). This accentuates that the womens roles are equally important to the Bond character. Men, who relate closely to Bond who usually portray masculine traits, view this as a challenge to their masculinity as the Bond character is dependent on the female character. The lack of innovative gadgets also portrays a crisis in masculinity since men regard these technologies as macho (Neuend orf et. al., 2010). This is further amplified with female characters playing main characters in films being created with complex and enthralling personalities relative to male characters who are rather one-dimensional and are of minor interest (Russell-Watts, 2010). Women are also selected to play roles previously played and deemed suitable for men. Though Lara Croft and Kill Bill props to mind, the Hamlet by William Shakespeare is another example. Despite Hamlet being a male character, women have been manifesting their interest to play the role and there has been an increasing trend of women getting selected to personify Hamlet (Howard, 2007). Moreover, the Hamlet is known to be involved in violence as portrayed by the character Alexandra Tranda, who parallels the happenings of Hamlet to the events occuring in her life and ends up killing her father (Howard, 2007). Violence is defined as any intentional infliction of physical pain or harm (Eschholz and Bufkin, 2001) and has a positive correlation to masculinity (Eschholz and Bufkin, 2001; Neuendorf et. al., 2010; Gilpatric, 2010) thus proving an increase in violence equates to in an increase in masculinity. Men feel the idea of a women hamlet as unhealthy and feel ashamed for a woman to take th e Hamlet role (Howard, 2007). This is an indication to men that women are challenging their masculinity and dominance in the film industry especially in roles crafted for men. The rise of females in films adopting a more masculine nature and playing characters deemed more suited for men resulted men to feel challenged in their masculinity and has since led to a crisis in it. Men feel there is a need to differentiate themselves from the female characters and assert their masculinity and dominance within the society, re-constructing the gender stereotype to create the NAM. The Dynamic Nature of the Society. Films impact audiences (Gilpatric, 2010) and may portray a reflection of the society. The dynamic nature of the society portrayed through films has been a contributing factor to the deconstruction of the male gender stereotype to form the NAM. Relative to the past, women today are generally more educated, enabling them to take up jobs also held by men (Buchbinder, 2008). Accelerated by the feminist movement, women today are equally as likely as men to be casted to play professional roles and jobs like doctors and lawyers (Gilpatric, 2010). There is an increase of female characters holding major roles from 12% in 1960 to 32% in 1990 (Neuendorf et. al., 2010) and female characters in films can be a true representation of their position in the society as 51% US workers who hold high-paying management and professional jobs are women (Gilpatric, 2010). Similarly, most young man today expects to go through at least three major career changes in his life (Buchbinder, 2008). Also, improvemen ts in the economy have enabled both women and men to spend on luxury items. Narcissistic concern with ones look and body, traditionally marked as feminine are being linked to men, making it harder to comply with the traditional masculinity trait of a man (Buchbinder, 2008). There has also been a shift in the portrayal of men in films today. In the past, men have always adopted the central figure but roles recently played by men and women in films have been blurred as the gap between masculinity and feminity. According to Breillat, There is no masculine psychology in my cinema. They contain only what women feel and desire. Therefore, men must not try to recognise themselves in my male characters (Russell-Watts, 2010, p. 72). This shows that men play secondary roles to women in todays films restricting them to relate to the traditional male masculinity. Moreover, men are also increasingly portrayed in films as the figure of the schlemiel. Schlemiel is a Yiddish word which means a foolish personà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦a social misfit (Buchbinder, 2008, p. 228) and is unable to meet the performance and attitudinal requirements of traditional masculinity (Buchbinder, 2008, p. 230). For instance, Bond girls have been known to play independent and intelligent roles eve n outwitting Bond himself in the latest Bond movie. Despite Bond films representing Bond as having a chauvinistic persona (Neuendorf et. al., 2010), this places Bond in the Schlemiel category of a foolish character causing men to view this as a crisis to their masculinity. These factors when combined has resulted men to lose its masculine traits and restricted them to conform to the traditional masculine traits deconstructing the traditional male stereotype and reconstruct the NAM to help them assimilate back into society and be of an equal standing or higher to the women. Stereotypes Still Prevails. Some might argue that despite the rising prominence and dominance of women, the subservient and submissive nature of womens portrayal still prevail while mens masculinity are still confined to the traditional stereotype. Women in films are still regarded as subservient and submissive as the dominance exerted is based on a maternal motif, creating a stereotype of mothers or wives to save her child or loved ones (Gilpatric, 2010). Moreover, the societal movement of feminism is lacking, as women in films today still report to a more dominant male character (Neuendorf et. al., 2010), acting as a sidekick to a male character and getting involved in a romantic relationship with them (Gilpatric, 2010). Male characters though may have less masculine traits as portrayed by Robert in the movie Romance, his masculinity is emphasised through his occupation, being the boss of the main female character (Russell-Watts, 2010). This proves that despite being portrayed as dominant character in films t oday, women still conform to the gender stereotype of the traditional feminine traits of reporting to a more dominant male character. Some may argue also that films may not be a true reflection of society hence the portrayal of men as less masculine are not true. Films portray women as successful only when they are thin and attractive (Neuendorf et. al., 2010) when in fact, success is judged based on merit and not only looks. Building on, by showcasing one man as less masculine in the form of the schlemiel figure, subtly it provides a foil for other male characters to stand out, bringing out the masculine traits in the other male characters, (Buchbinder, 2008) indicating that male characters in movies still conform to the male gender stereotype of masculinity. New Age Man is the New Man. Despite the portrayal of women as subservient and submissive, women are still just as likely as men to commit violent acts in films. Presently, women are more likely to show acts of aggression (Neundorf et. al., 2010) and masculinity levels in male and females have increased (Eschholz and Bufkin, 2001). Though many may argue that the feminist movement may not have reached its promised desire, it cannot be regarded as a failure. Womens role in movies has since increased transcending the traditional feminine traits (Gilpatric, 2010). No longer women are being portrayed as one-dimensional who plays stereotypical female characters. Moreover, men today are unlikely to conform to the traditional form of masculinity although they may still hold superiority over the female characters as masculinity portrayed by men in films today is excessive in nature and something that men cannot relate to. The rugged masculinity shown through characters played by Mel Gibson, Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger is being described as a fantasy (Eschholz and Bufkin, 2001). Men feels there is a need to form a new identity something that they can relate to and has slowly since give rise to the birth of the NAM. Though portraying men as less masculine or as the schlemiel figure helps to bring out the masculinity in other male characters (Buchbinder, 2008), this very need has proved that there is a decreasing trend in films, which showcase men as masculine. Conclusion. Films have evolved tremendously down the years and will continue to do so at such rapid rate. As womens roles in films continue to rise and take centre stage, male characters in films have since taken steps in the opposite direction, adopting lesser of the traditional masculine traits but instead adopt more feminine traits. This has not being helped by the changing nature of the society where women continue to rise in status at workplaces challenging men for jobs. The birth of the NAM has been heavily attributed to the rising dominance and prominence of female characters in films and also the changing nature of the society. As the world become more globalized, womens status in society is also expected to improve and NAM may well form a new stereotype for men in times to come. (1996 Words)

Contrasting Perspectives on Horse’s Representation in Various Media Ven

Horses are valued by humans for the past million of years. Humans began to domesticate horses due to their ability to modulate with their environment. Horses' anatomy enables them to use of speed to escape predators. They have a well-developed sense of balance and a strong fight-or-flight instinct. Most domesticated horses begin training under saddle or in harness between the ages of two and four. The average life span of horses is approximately between 25 and 30 years. Horse breeds are based on general temperament. Spirited speed and endurance. Horses and humans intermingle in a wide variety of working activities such as police work, agriculture, entertainment, and therapy. Horses were historically used in warfare, from which a wide variety of riding. Many products are derived from horses, including meat, hide, and hair. Humans provide domesticated horses with food, water. and shelter. Horses are valued by humans in many ways and many forms of media such as Disney and the tale of Sprit, Hippotherapy, a form of rehabilitative therapy, and the tale of the Trojan horse. . Disney has made films regarding horses such as Sprit. It is about a mustang stallion that grows up to proudly succeed his father as leader of the Cimarron herd in the Wild West. When they reach the Dakota Territory, Sprit gets curious and a cowboy catches him and sells him to the United States cavalry. The cavalry uses a method of training by breaking a horse. This method fails with sprit. Spirit is captured by a brave and escapes on his back. He also tricks him to a coral with his beloved mare, but shows respect and wins some trust. As the railroad arrives, the Indian village is wrecked and Spirit gets captured for use as a draft-horse. When the stallion... ... and occasionally, horses are trained to perform without a bridle or other headgear. Many horses are also driven, which requires a harness, bridle, and some type of vehicle. Horse are valued by human in the past and will be in the future by all aspect horses are used to help human gain an increase in function in a variety of traditions and existing methods. Works Cited Association, A. H. (n.d.). Hippotherapy Researh and Supportive Evidance . Retrieved November 1, 2010, from American Hippotherapy Association . Greek Myths in Order of Publication. (n.d.). Retrieved November 1 1, 2010, from Storynory LTD: http://storynory.com/category/greek-myths/ Kelly Asbury, L. C. (Director). (2002). Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002) [Motion Picture]. Viegas, J. (Director). (2010). Horses Never Forget Human Friends [Television Picture].

Prostitution in the 19th and 20th Centuries Essay -- Prostitute Prosti

During the late 19th- and early 20th century, the nature of society forced the working class women of America to take advantage of any means to support themselves, including prostitution. Each woman had to decide herself which work option best supported her financially. During this time, women had limited options as far as work was concerned. As time went on, more and more women were forced to work, because they had no husband and no other means of building up a dowry for a husband. By 1910 the wage labor force was made up of about 20% of women as young as fourteen. The wages these women earned were unbelievably low, and at times as much as 80% lower than the wages men earned. Possible job opportunities for the women included options such as a textile factory, which consisted of clothing and fabric production. In these factories, the women ran high risks to their health. More wealthy people would hire these women for domestic services such as nannies, or house servants. These jobs sometimes required the woman to live at that residence, and the women ran the constant risk of being molested by a higher-class ranking individual. Department stores were also willing to hire women. However, the set-back to this type of work was that the women we re sometimes expected to purchase expensive dress up clothing that most of the time they couldn’t afford. The women were advised to â€Å"round out their meager salaries by finding a ‘†gentleman friend†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ to purchase clothing and pleasures†(Peiss, 79). Prostitution was a reliable work engagement that many women participated in. Why did the women feel this was their best option? Several critical, attractive benefits that only prostitution offered contributed to women’s’ choice of ... ...dle-class reform women could have reversed their movements from the women, and turned them toward the men who were putting the prostitutes in business. Those prostitutes could not have been prostitutes if it were not for the eager men paying them for it. However, perhaps a reason this was not done was because the reform women did not have the means to do something as drastic as this because they were, after all, women in a time of man control. Women did not have the same leisurely rights to do as they pleased that men had. I feel that both the reform women and the working-class prostitutes had reasonable bounds for what they fought for. I think that if women had had the rights that men did, prostitution may never have existed. Therefore, personally I blame the men for neglecting women rights, and forcing them to find other, less moral ways to support themselves.

Cinema as Intertext in Midnight’s Children Essay -- Essays Papers

Cinema as Intertext in Midnight’s Children Saleem in Midnight’s Children makes an accurate evaluation of India when he states, â€Å"Nobody from Bombay should be without a basic film vocabulary† (Rushdie 33). Bollywood, the capital of the film industry in India, is the largest manufacturer of motion pictures in the world. A large percentage of the films are either mythical romances or musicals and often they last longer than three hours in length. While watching Indian cinema would be a painful ordeal for Western audiences, Indians embrace the industry and are very proud of their cinema heritage. Indians would argue that it is the distinct differences in Bollywood filmmaking that sets India apart from the Western world. It is the desire to separate themselves from Western culture that makes the Bollywood film industry so successful and accounts for India’s obsession with film. However, while film is a major part of Indian society, cinema does have its origins in the Western world. Salman Ru shdie uses intertextuality to portray how Indian society changes the Western influence of cinema to express Eastern culture and how cinema depicts the narrator Saleem as unreliable. Intertextuality is the process of deriving meaning from the ways in which texts stand in relation to each other. This is the theory that all authors imitate styles, themes, and ideas from previous writers and, therefore, no text is entirely original. Thais Morgan asserts in his article â€Å"The Space of Intertextuality† that there are two different levels of intertextuality: â€Å"influence† and â€Å"inspiration†. Morgan says, â€Å"Text A influences text B when the critic can demonstrate that B has ‘borrowed’ structure(s), theme(s), and/or image(s) from A ... ...ollywood films help strengthen motivations of characters and demonstrate the unreliable narration of Saleem. Lastly, the usage of cinematic language sets a tone of both romance and disbelief in the words of Saleem as he struggles with remembering a traumatic event from the past. In all three examples of cinema as intertext, Rushdie transgresses conventional uses of cinema and crafts new and unique ways for it to appear in the text. This establishes Midnight’s Children as an original contemporary work, relinquishing it from any claims of prior influence from previous texts. Works Cited Morgan, Thais. â€Å"The Space of Intertextuality.† Intertextuality and Contemporary American Fiction. Ed. Patrick O’Donnell and Robert Con Davis. Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press, 1989. 239-279. Rushdie, Salman. Midnight’s Children. London: Picador, 1982.

Pizza USA Term Paper Essay

This case involves Pizza USA, a small independent chain restaurant operation that offers both dine-in and carry-out services for customers that has received feedback for a potential change that will require the implementation of design process to add services. Currently, customers have indicated that they are pleased with the food offered by the restaurant but they would increase pizza purchases if a delivery service was available. This dilemma ties into two separate issues. First, in order to remain competitive within the industry, customer wants and preferences need to be heard. After all, if you cannot please your customer base, you will lose them. Secondly, the changes required must be done in a manner that combines data gathering and analysis and implementation of a plan that best suites this particular type of business in order to maximize success. Customer service has been a recurring theme in many discussions regarding business operations and management in recent weeks. The prevailing thought is that in order for your business to grow and be successful, you must identify what your customers want and find a way to deliver it. This paper will analyze and discuss how process design can be implemented to assist this business to achieve its goals. Within the process design analysis and discussion, several factors will be reviewed to include: identification of what customer satisfaction means to the business and how we can identify the things that are most valuable to customers, the potential net yield of achieving a high level of customer satisfaction and efficiency, and the characteristic of developing an efficient pizza delivery (from stove to door) system. The paper will also assess creation of market â€Å"advantages† to not only maintain but grow the customer base. Pizza USA: An Exercise in Translating Customer Requirements into Process Design In the last five years leading up to 2012, the Pizza Restaurants industry has experienced the results of a downturn in economy. Restaurants have been directly affected by changing market conditions such as changes in intense competition, decreasing consumer spending and an increase in overall health consciousness (Kalnins, A., & Mayer, K., 2004). However, despite such overwhelming odds and challenges, businesses were able to overcome economic hard times by reinventing themselves through creative marketing and adjusting their menu’s to adapt to customers preferences (Kelso, 2012). This allowed the industry to recover effectively and consumer spending and market growth returned in 2010. As more consumers returned to the restaurants, overall demand increased. The U.S. Pizza industry averages about 410 million pizzas per year (Kelso, 2012). In 2012 alone, pizza sales are expected to reach an incredible $36.1 billion in revenue which is a 3.8 percent increase from the previous year (Kelso, 2012). This growth is expected to continue at a rate of 2.9 percent per year through 2017. Based on gathered data, 97 percent of U.S. consumers have ordered food from a pizza restaurant or establishment within the past 12 months (Kelso, 2012). No matter how you look at it, pizza consumption is on the rise and creates an exceptional opportunity for success in this industry. According to Gregory Badishkanian, a CITI Analyst, the big three of the pizza industry: Pizza Hut, Domino’s, and Papa Johns are currently in position to increase market share. (Bloomberg, 2012). Although the big three comprise of 30% of the total pizza market, the remaining 70% comprise largely of other large chains with less market coverage and of course the smaller independent chains (Kelso, 2012). While the larger chains are improving profits independent chains are struggling to stay afloat amidst the fierce competition among the larger more established companies such as the big three (Kelso, 2012). Understanding this dilemma, it would be most prudent for any independent restaurant operator to maximize operations by insuring that internal process design enables not only efficient productivity but generates a process that is customer friendly and focused on customer’s needs and preferences (Kalnins, A., & Mayer, K., 2004). This would be critical in the business’ ability to survive in such a monopolistic type market. Successful operation within a smaller independent chain restaurant faces challenges that may not be as apparent to a larger and more established national chains. Pizza USA is a small chain operation that currently provides two services: dine-in and carry-out options. Customers have commented that if delivery services were added to the restaurant offerings, they would potentially buy more pizzas (Jacobs & Chase, 2011). Based on this information, it is apparent that the owner needs to assess his business operations and consider a process design that would include adding this service to current operations. The addition of delivery services would potentially require additional capital to finance changes and may involve the hiring of additional staff. However, revenue increases as a result of the added service would off-set the costs associated with these additions. Near and long-term implications would include survivability within such a competitive market. As a customer, the primary focus of my satisfaction with this type of business relates primarily to efficiency and the level of customer service provided. If delivery service was provided, the two areas that would be most prevalent in my mind would be the delivery time and the state of the pizza once received. Far too often, I’ve received delivered food that was warm and in some cases cold. Needless to say, I never contacted that restaurant again. The thing that would create a unique experience would be the restaurant’s ability to not only deliver within an exceptional time period but also to provide a pizza that is piping hot as it would be while dining in. Another aspect would be an incentive to order delivery by way of discounting or some type of rewards service. These are experiences that have not been typical in my experience with pizza deliveries. Method The perceived situational analysis are as follows: Strengths-Due to the smaller nature of the business, It could potentially create a more personal experience for the customers thus increasing customer satisfaction; Weaknesses-As a smaller business entity, they have less resources and limited options in implementing changes to meet customer demands. Also, the business would be less tolerant of negative impacts that may result from changes compared to larger established chains with additional resources available; Opportunities-A stronger customer relationship tends to allow more flexibility due to stronger loyalty among satisfied customers. Loyal customers are willing to wait changes out rather than making an initial determination and moving on to another business; Threats-The primary threats are of course the larger and more established chains such as the big three. Again, due to resourcing issues, these smaller and independent operations have less flexibility and opportunity if changes become less than desirable. The primary causes and effects are business survivability and customer satisfaction. Although these two areas are mentioned separately, they are in fact one. If changes are not made to meet customer needs and preferences, the business risks losing clientele and eventual closure. The term customer loyalty has been described as a process of capturing how well an organization is performing in three critical market measures: customer retention, share of wallet, and price sensitivity relative to competitors (Jacobs & Chase, 2011). Studies have shown that customer loyalty relates directly to business success and survivability. There exists a major distinction between product design from the user’s standpoint from what may have been intended by the manufacturer (Jacobs & Chase, 2011). The main difference deals primarily with the intended versus perceived usefulness of a given product. In short, if the customer’s input is not considered, product or process design could potentially be a major waste of time on the from end of the planning cycle with even a worse outcome once in the market. Table-1 below indicates quick-serve satisfaction rates among the top companies in the market to include the big three (Verma, R., & Thompson, G., 1999). As you can see, each of the larger chains has high overall scores in customer satisfaction. Albeit, this is only one of many areas that could potentially be assessed. The independent chains can learn something from this data. The large chains didn’t survive the market and become who they are today without success in this particular area (Verma, R., & Thompson, G., 1999). Table-1 Although the case situation described is consistent with most other business operations, â€Å"what can be done to be more profitable?† it is unique in itself due the detail andlevel of changes discussed. There are probably 100 areas that could be looked at that deals with efficiency and customer satisfaction. However, for the purpose of this paper we will only analyze the above mentioned areas. If assessing profitability and customer satisfaction is an everyday occurrence, which is the case in most businesses, then this case could most certainly be considered as a preexisting situation. However, this paper has little to do with assessing a documented loss in profits or revenue streams so the evolution is unknown at best. There are many course concepts that can be applied to understand this situation. However the two most prevalent areas of operations philosophy that comes to mind are: Chapter 3-Product and Service Design and Chapter 5-Process Analysis. Quality Function Deployment (QFD) in chapter 3 discusses the process of getting the customer’s â€Å"voice† involved in design specifications (Jacobs & Chase, 2011). This concept and application relates to any and all industries and organizations. It is directly related a process of studying and listening to customers to improve upon a product or service (Jacobs & Chase, 2011). Measuring Process Performance in Chapter 5 primarily deals with how well a particular process is performing. This is accomplished by assessing many different types of metrics such as: productivity, efficiency, flow time, throughput, and value added time to name a few (Jacobs & Chase, 2011). In order to adequately analyze whether your operation is running efficiently, a system of measurement is required to assess the performance. Results/Discussion The problem of addressing the customers’ needs and preferences are easily solved. Immediately implement planning to accommodate your customers’ request for the added feature of delivery service. Consider the most efficient manner of transition to minimize disruption to current business operations while planning the change. Insure that additional feedback is solicited and gathered from customers to re-validate the need to add the additional service and proceed with design process reviews and analysis to achieve goals. This satisfies the earlier discussion regarding identification of what the customer really wants and prefers. The task of developing and implementing the plan is what is the most difficult. Recommend that the owner begins with data gathering methods such as GAP Analysis. This method is used to assess the business’ performance relative to the expectations of its customers (Jacobs & Chase, 2011). An additional form of Gap Analysis includes the benchmarking of certain industry standards and measures the business ‘performance against established standards within the industry (Jacobs & Chase, 2011). Questions to be asked would be: What are other smaller independent chains offering? Is delivery service a value added service or just a waste of money? What are the industry standards in regards to delivery times and what is considered acceptable to customers? Do have the resources to provide that type of service or will it require additional equipment, supplies, vehicles and staff? This will allow the owner to see where his restaurant is versus where he wants to be. Moreover, this would be an ideal tool to gather additional information from Customers to obtain additional feedback. It can be accomplished in many ways such as through paper or email mailers and in store surveys. The method selected would primarily depend on the owner’s available resources and preferences and of course size of targeted population The follow-on recommendation is to conduct a cost impact and payoff analysis using a decision tree or what some would call a consequence diagram. This process allows the planner to map out several alternatives with different end results to assess risk (Jacobs & Chase, 2011). In essence it is a risk matrix. When planning or considering restaurant equipment purchases or even additional staff hires, this process could be beneficial in assessing the risks involved with each decision (Jacobs & Chase, 2011). Table-2 is a representation of a typical decision tree used to make informed decisions. As you can see, it is a process of identifying the problem (or situation) and working through several COA’s to determine what works best for you. Table-2 Implementation is the next step. I would recommend the utilization of responsibility charts to organize and manage tasks. Again, this particular tool is a type of matrix that lists all the projects and tasks to be completed while identifying certain responsible parties or stakeholders (Jacobs & Chase, 2011). In such a small business environment, it would probably be most beneficial for the owner to get all staff involved with the design process to obtain full buy-in. this can be accomplished through the use of this tool. Of all the steps involved with planning and execution, this is probably the most labor intensive due to the potential resourcing required. After plans are implemented, the owner needs to assess the customer reactions to the added service. Anticipating a given response and getting the actual response are sometimes two different things. Again, the same process used during the Gap Analysis can be used to capture post-implementation feedback from customers (Jacobs & Chase, 2011). The bottom line is that as a small business, you more reliant on customer loyalty than larger chains and operations. As a result, you must pay attention to any feedback received regarding your products and services, In this case we’re talking about pizzas but it applies in many other situations and industries as well. Once the feedback id obtained develop a smart and affordable plan and implement the plan. Once you have transitioned fully into your new plan, solicit additional feedback from customers to see how things are going. You may find other areas of your business operations that require attention. Customer feedback has to be a part of your daily operations. Without it, your business is at serious risk. References Kalnins, A., & Mayer, K., (Dec 2004), Franchising, ownership, and experience: A study of pizza restaurant survival. Management Science Journal, Vol. 50 Issue 12, p1716-1728, 13p, 3 Charts. doi: 10.1287/mnsc.1040.0220 Kohli, A., & Gupta, M., (Apr 2010), Improving operations strategy: Application of TOC principles in a small business. Journal of Business & Economics Research, Vol. 8 Issue 4, p37-45, 9p Verma, R., & Thompson, G., (1999), Managing service operations based on customer preferences. International Journal of Operations and Production Management. Vol. 19 Issue 9/10, p891-908, 18p, 6 Charts Jacobs, F. R., & Chase, R. B. (2011), Operations and   upply chain management. (13th ed.), New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin Kelso, A., (Sep 2012), Survey: U.S. pizza market tops $40 billion, pizzamarketplace.com, Retrieved: 1 Mar 2013 http://www.pizzamarketplace.com/article/200667/Survey-U-S-pizza-market-tops-40-billion AP News, (Sep 2012), Analyst: Big pizza chains could take bigger slice, Bloomberg Business Week News, Retrieved: 1 Mar 2013 http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2012-09-18/analyst-big-pizza-chains-could-take-bigger-slice