Tuition Fees in United States Essay Example for Free

Tuition Fees in United States Essay Introduction In their best-seller book, Rich Dad Poor Dad, Robert T. Kiyosaki and his co-author Susan L. Lechter encourage people to grow their assets instead of liabilities. In other words, they suggest that we, anyone who wants to be rich, should not spend our money in any way that is no relation with assets creation. While some parts of capitalism idea are true in assets creation, Robert gives hints what to invest in today ever changing market situation. They say that knowledge is the important thing everyone should invest to succeed as his â€Å"Rich Dad† told me when he was a teenager. Knowledge does not mean that we pursue doctorate degree; instead, he suggests that we keep our eyes, ear, and other senses to any changes that we encounter everyday. In this manner, we could obtain knowledge from books, chat with a friend, magazines, pages on the Internet, and even from a barking dog. In compliance with the importance of having appropriate knowledge, in this paper we discuss the increasing number of international students who pursue their study into graduate schools and college in the U.S. To be specific, this paper discusses why international students pay more tuition fee than the U.S. citizen. Aims and Objectives Concerning the discussion of discrepancy of tuition fee between U.S. citizen and international students, this paper will discuss three aims and objectives as following: This paper intends to discuss why many international students eagerly pursue their college and graduate degree in the U.S Using the non-participant observation method, collecting data and analyzing qualitative information from journal, books, magazine and other online materials, this paper aims at discussion factors-factors that cause the tuition fee for international students are larger than the U.S. counterparts. In addition, the paper aims at highlighting the benefits that international student would obtain when they have U.S college or universities degree Attractiveness of U.S Education Institution According to Riley (2008), about 500,000 students coming from various countries in the world pursue their degree in the U.S. universities and college. There are many driving factors that encourage international students to go to the Uncle Sam land instead of to other universities in other part of the world like Europe and Japan. Currently, there are about 4,000 public and private colleges, universities, and community colleges in the U.S. This number includes more than 600 public four-year college and more than 1,650 private four-year colleges and universities (Riley, 2008). According to Riley (2008), the reason behind the increasing number of international students into U.S. education institutions is because they provide very high quality of education standards. This long-time quality is built by a strong partnership between students and their families, the federal government, individual philanthropists, and the states has created sustainable and recognized model of educational standard in the U.S. Since the quality of education can be better if they are challenged with cultural diversity, U.S. educational institution also race for attracting more international students to pursue their study in the U.S in order to create high quality experience and enrich the diversity of the universities. Figure 1  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Top Universities in the World Source: Paked, 2006   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Another factor that encourages international students to pursue their graduate in the U.S is because many times U.S. universities and college are listed as the best universities in the world. This fact becomes the main basis for students since the pride of having U.S. graduates is valuable and saleable when they return to their home countries and chase for new attractive jobs and positions. High Tuition Fee for International Students One interesting fact behind the increasing number of non-resident (international) student that comes into the U.S. to obtain a degree is the difference amount of tuition fees that they should pay to a university compared to those of U.S. residents. For example, in the Idaho State University, students from the U.S. (residents) only pay $2,580.00 per semester. Meanwhile, other students coming from outside the U.S. (Non-residents) would pay about triple than those of the residents, about $6,922.00 per semester. Figure 2  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   UCLA Tuition Fees for Resident and Non-Residents (International) Students Source: http://www.registrar.ucla.edu/fees/gradfee.htm   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Another example of the discrepancy of tuition fee for U.S residents and Non U.S. residents is on the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) that charge U.S. residents about $8,967 and $23,955 for U.S. residents (Figure 2).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Similarly, the fee for international students at University of California Berkeley is also higher than those of U.S. residents. At UC Berkeley, the tuition fee for U.S. resident is about $4,190.75 per semester. Meanwhile the tuition fee for non-U.S resident is $14,000.75, representing three times higher than the U.S. resident. Figure 3  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   UC Berkeley Tuition Fees for Resident and Non-Residents Students Source: http://registrar.berkeley.edu/Registration/feesched.html Reasons of High Tuition Fee for International Students There are many reasons underlies the decision to charge international or non U.S. resident a much higher tuition fee. They are as following Tax Subsidy According to Idaho State University (2008), the one-third tuition fee for U.S. residents can occurs since two-third of the tuition fee is paid by tax subsidy. By definition, tax subsidy refers to any kind of subsidy that recipients or students in case of tuition fee receive the benefits according to the tax system in the U.S. The origin of tax subsidy is from consumption tax, profit tax, or income tax. Law of Demand According to Open Doors, an organization that focuses on organizing and monitoring the promotion of US educations to foreign students, the number of international students enrolled in United States higher education institution decreases notable during the last 3 years. The last available data however, was regarding the number of international students enrolling in US universities in the academic year of 2003/2004, which is 2.4% lower than the previous year. The decrease in said to be caused by a variety of reasons, some of them are: Difficulties in obtaining student visas Rising of US tuition costs Vigorous recruitment activities by other English-speaking nations (International Students, 2004) This paper is dedicated to discuss the second cause, which is the rising tuition cost in United States. It has been a common knowledge that international students in United States pay two to three times tuition fees as much as those paid by US students. Thus, a considerable portion of these international students rely on grants and loans from US government or other foundations. Others rely on personal loans. The center of attention of this paper is in the persisted increase in the cost of tuition for foreign students due to inflation and decreased percentage of study cost covered by government and other grants. This continuous increase in study costs for international students raise questions on the necessity of charging such a higher tuition fees on international students compare to local students. Economic Matters The study tuition and fees in United States varies from $ 5,000 to $30,000. This does not include the cost of living which is quite high, particularly in areas around Washington, California and New York. For the particular Asian students, the cost of living varies from $ 4,000 to $ 9,000, assuming that the students will live in share apartments, live out of the campus and have less telephone bill other expenses than US students. Students receiving any type of help like TA/RA/Fellowship of GA do not need to worry about costs, but student lacks of those aids must come prepared for the considerable amount of tuition fees and living costs (Spencer, 2005). In 2005, the average cost of tuition rose to $ 5,491, which is a 7% increase from previous year. Including the costs of room and board, the average annual cost of attendance is basically increased to $12,127. Furthermore, if the costs of books, transportation and additional fees are added, the average costs become more than $15,000 nationwide. In some universities, like the University of Miami, the tuition fee alone is $35,000 per semester, with boarding, books and additional costs included, the total costs of education in the University for foreign students is approximately $ 50,000 per semester. These continuing trends of tuition fees enhancement are not without notable effects. The cuts in tuition aids programs along with increased tuition fees have put many low-income students out of college. There are even more notable phenomena where foreign students perform sexually-oriented work to pay for their tuition fees in US (The Chronicle of Higher Education, 2008). Attentive Support Just like a service company, the more benefits a customer obtain, the more expensive the price might be. This condition is also true for U.S. universities since about one-third of students (about 1.2 million students) that choose to take study abroad will land in the U. S. The reasons are because U.S. universities provide better services to their students including the Leading Technology to fast track of the student success in the future (Hyperstudy, 2007). Another reason is because education in America represents a high value in most of home-country students. This situation is somewhat similar to branded and non-branded clothing, which means that as branded universities, they charge higher tuition fees for international students (Hyperstudy, 2007). Conclusions This paper elaborates the increasing number of international students who pursue their study into graduate schools and college in the U.S. To be specific, this paper is to answer the follow why international students pay more tuition fee than the U.S. citizen. According to the analysis, the reasons behind this issue is because there are many incentives and benefits that international student may obtain from attending school in the U.S. Reference: Gorski, Paul. (2001). Multicultural Education and the Digital Divide. McGraw Hill. Retrieved April 2, 2008 from http://www.mhhe.com/socscience/education/multi/philosophy/4divide.html Hyperstudy. (2007). Study Abroad in America. Retrieved April 3, 2008 from http://www.hyperstudy.com/study-in-usa/study-guide/why-study-in-america.php Idaho State University. (2008). Non-Resident Tuition Fee Waiver. Retrieved April 4, 2008 from http://www.isu.edu/iso/feewaiver.shtml International Student Enrollment declined by 2.4% in 2003/04. 2004. Network. Retrieved April 1, 2008 from opendoors.iienetwork.org/?p=50137 Kiyosaki, Robert T., and Susan L. Lechter. (1997). Rich Dad Poor Dad. Paked. (2006). World University /College Rankings. Retrieved April 3, 2008 from http://www.paked.net/higher_education/rankings/times_rankings_2004.htm Riley, Richard W. (2008). The US college/university experience: An opportunity worth exploring. Retrieved April 3, 2008 from http://www.paked.net/higher_education/rankings/times_rankings_2004.htm Spencer, Naomi. (2005). University students in US face higher tuition and loan debt. Retrieved April 1, 2008 from http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/aug2005/tuit-a03.shtml . (2005). US colleges and universities increase tuition again. Retrieved April 1, 2008 from http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/oct2005/tuit-o27.shtml Study in the USA. Understanding American Education. Retrieved April 3, 2008 from http://www.studyusa.com/articles/understanding.asp The Chronicle of Higher Education. (2008). French Students Increasingly Become Prostitutes to Pay Tuition, 2 Books Suggest. Retrieved April 1, 2008 from http://chronicle.com/news/article/3780/french-students-increasingly-become-prostitutes-to-pay-tuition-2-books-suggest

Hebrew Wisdom on Diligence and Laziness Essay Example for Free

Hebrew Wisdom on Diligence and Laziness Essay Part I 1) I chose the Islam worldview i)The Question of Origin Islams believe that man came into being through a long process of evolution. They believe the evolutionary process which produced man in its form today took millions of years, and man evolved from lower forms of animal life. In their belief,it was only small types of animals in the beginning, and in the course of time animals got larger and eventually one of these animals developed into man. This animal is believed to have become extinct, but is believed to have been represented by the monkey. The basis of argument is certain kind of monkeys have a strong resemblance to man. ii)The Question of Identity—Islamic identity is an upmost possession. It is your faith, religion, moral values, and your whole life. This identity is the one that makes you wake up before sunrise to pray to Allah. This identity makes you kind, sincere, responsible, and thoughtful when you deal with people. It also forbids you to steal, gamble, participate or engage in implicit behavior. This identity makes you realize and understand that Islam is a way of life in other words this identity makes you a good human being. iii)The Question of Meaning/PurposeAllah states in the Quran, that he created man to be his Khalefah (confident ,attractive handsome, man),and to regulate humans; the Quaran is the constitution revealed by Allah, the name of Islam’s God. Very simple, the purpose for man’s creation is to worship the creator, Quaran 51:56-58.Allah states that he made this life in order to test man so that every person may be recompensed after death for what he has earned. iiii)The Question of Morality-A person becomes a Muslim by believing there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah, and saying the Shahadah (Declaration of Faith)with sincere conviction. Muslims are believers of the Islam worldview. They believe this present life is a trial in preparation for the next realm of existence. They also believe the world was created by man. iiiii)The Question of Destiny-Islam teaches that destiny is written by one’s personal hands, and then handed over to God for judgement. They believe the good and evil are in Allah’s responsibility, but if you accomplish good things in life you attain heaven and if you do bad things you will attain hell; this also means that Allah is the knower and creator of all things, and nothing exist outside of his will and decree according to the Islam worlview. Part II i)The Question of Origin—The Islamic worldview, and the Biblical worldview has no comparison, or similarity in the origin of man. Genesis 2:7, clearly states that God created man from the dust of the earth, blew into the nostrils of man, and man became a living soul. Man was also created in God’s image, Genesis 1:27. This destroys the theory of evolution; man was not developed from an animal, assumably some type monkey. ii)The Question of Identity—According to the Biblical worldview, God gave man dominion over the animals on earth in Genesis 1:26.We, not only were created in God’s image which is a very distinctive quality, but with the authority to rule. There are some similarities with the man in Islam worldview, such as being distinguished in character and morals. Although; God views are different from man’s, there are standards, and character that Christians should live up to, just as the muslims do in the Islamic faith. Christians should not be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and be willing to tell others of Jesus and even willing to die for the gospel: the same with muslims, they are bold in their belief, and they are persistant and steadfast in their way of life. iii)The Question of Meaning/Purpose—‘For god so loved the world, he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. ’John 3:16.God came to give us life, eternal life with him. As Christians, we are made to worship God. Allah states that he made this life to test man for their recompensation after death. God doesn’t test or tempt us with evil, he gave us his son to help us overcome evil by believing in Jesus. The Islamics must control their own desires to do good or evil; the biblical worldview has Jesus to help us overcome. After death, hell is the payment for a person who chooses to live an evil life, and the similarities are the same in both worldviews. iiii)The Question of Morality—Genesis 1:31 tells us that everything God made was good. Muslims, recite with conviction the shahadah, and the change transpires in their life of belief. A Christian, too, with conviction repents of their sin, confesses Jesus as their lord, and in the belief, one is a new creature iiiii)The Question of Destiny-Destiny is something that Christians, and Islams have in common. One day life will come to an end. According to Allah, nothing is out side his will, and no one is forced to obey Allah, because he has a freewill. There are minor similarities, such as :nothing is done without God’s will, no one is forced to obey God, and we are free moral agents, BUT one day every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

Siemens AG Global Development Strategy

Siemens AG Global Development Strategy In order to understand Siemens International RD current situation and thoroughly come up with alternatives and recommendations to solve possible issues that may arise, it is first crucial to analyze the companys strategy and rationale for International RD. There are several factors and reasons that led Siemens to pursue and International RD strategy, opposed to a domestic one. The first one is the obvious labor shortages that would take place was Siemens to perform its research and development in its Munich headquarters. It is quite obvious that centralizing all RD activities in Munich would result in a critical shortage of the ICNs 1500 employees allocated to the headquarters. Secondly, customers in the telecommunications industry usually require extremely customized solutions for their businesses. Thus, it is of the utmost importance that product customization is performed with the quickest response to customer needs possible. Thus, the regional allocation of engineers, technicians, etc., into Regional Development Centers (RDCs) plays a crucial role in the fulfillment of this task. Finally, the global spread of RD units would theoretically provide the company the possibility of taking advantage of exploiting time zone differences, and thus perform an around-the-clock development strategy. However, this concept has proven to be utopian due the interdependence between overseas counterparts consequent of the extremely high coordination needed for the development of this type of leading edge technologies. 1.2. STRUCTURE OF RDCs At the date of the case, Siemens ICN had 6 major overseas RDCs in the following countries: Austria, India, USA, Belgium, Slovenia and Portugal. These centers are related to the Munich headquarters through a HUB-Model, in which RD activities are mostly concentrated in and controlled by the Headquarters, whereas product customization takes place in RDCs. Firstly, the number of person-years and capital invested are two strictly correlated variables in the companys development effort. This is trivial since the amount cash spent in a certain projects is an increasing function of the working years invested by the employees in the development of these projects (salary vs. work). Secondly, labor cost advantage is also a crucial matter in any business. Thus, as can be seen in the table above, the U.S. employees take the first place as most expensive wage earners, whereas the Indian take the place as the cheapest. In this specific case, India presents a great advantage for Siemens ICN or any other technology development company, since there is a good tradeoff between low cost and high expertise in this field. Thirdly, employee turnover is an issue the company sometimes has to deal with. The ambition (and sometimes greed combined with low company loyalty) of employees makes them often migrate to other companies where better salary conditions are offered. This results in a very high employee turnover and difficult allocation of workers to medium/long-term projects. Finally, coordination costs between the Headquarters and RDCs are also of the highest relevance. Since we are talking about countries many times geographically separated by dozens of thousands of kilometers, it becomes extremely hard to articulate and coordinate work between the counterparts. However, not only the geographic and time zone distance influence increase these costs, but also the cultural distance between them, since this implies more time and money spent in trying to reduce it through frequent trips, workshops, etc. 1.3. BOCA RATON RDC In Boca Raton, Florida, U.S.A., is located Siemens second largest overseas RDC. This facility is majorly centered in the development of the Electronic Switching System Digital (EWSD), and functions as many of the companys other RDCs: Munich Headquarters provide the project-base for each EWSD release to Boca Raton, which customizes it to the U.S. markets unique industry standards. Moreover, this RDC benefitted from the accumulation of enough knowledge to acquire the increasing independency from the Headquarters to manage more complex system projects the development of the U.S. customer-required Remote Switching Unit (RSU) is a good example of this. However, despite strong bonds and mutual admiration were developed amidst the counterparts during the development of the RSU, still some critical issues concerning working culture arose: the German culture of building road maps to guide the project development (think first, act later) was completely the opposite of what Americans used to do (act first, think later). Despite there is the rationale of keeping up to competitor technological developments and customer need adaptation for the Americans to perform their work in such a way which would denote a certain degree of home-base augmentation there is an obvious lack of home-base exploitation from the company, since the Germans are not effectively embedding their working culture in their American subsidiary. 1.4. INDIA RDC One of the major problems prevailing in Siemenss international RD process is the different working styles and culture clashes between its local and overseas developers. The contrast is most evident in Bangalore RD center where the Indians are working with their senior partners from Germany. While the Germans expect the Indians in Bangalore to show more interest in working with vast machines rather than to pursue entrepreneurial jobs during the process, the Indians hope the Germans could cancel some of their pre-arranged vacations and give them a hand in some critical points of time. Moreover, as with the Germans feeling uncomfortable about discussing wages issues in public, which is often the conversational topic of the Indian employees, the Indians regard it as being impolite to say No or speak up ones mind in a big meeting, which is required by the German seniors to necessitate the decision making process. This fact is dangerous in a sense that the Germans do not really know whether the Indians developers would be able to perform a specific task as they never say No to the Germans request. In the end, the Indians may end up wasting their time and resources as the tasks are beyond their capabilities. More adversely, miscommunication between Munich and Bangalore and between Germans and Indians, in a smaller scale, often occurs due to the Indian personnels avoidance of blunt request for further clarification in the first place. As a result, the Germans always find it necessary to have face-to-face interaction with Indian engineers in order to re-confirm everything is on the right track. Overall, most of the issues mentioned above stem from the difference in personalities of people from different nationalities. If no action is made to alleviate such discrepancy and to seek the most basic understanding ground among cross-cultural employees, Siemens would continue to incur unnecessary management costs. With this remaining cultural and communicational problems, headquarter in Munich played mainly an administration role. As the customers of Siemens ICN are most of the time Germans or least westerner, RDC in India had a position as an RDC for exporting, which means they follow the directions what is given from headquarter. RDC in India had limited chances to communicate with their customer directly. On Munich side, they had to explain, and had to give the specification to Bangalore. However, they couldnt have enough communication for subtle changes from customers or organization matters such as budget cuts, changes of managers in Germany. Should some changes from Germany, the managers in Munich correspond between India and Germany. It increased the possibilities of missing out on some specifications or misunderstanding between customer and RDC. RD center in India had to sometimes postpone their work due to those confusions. Although the actually RD site is in Bangalore, Munich took the role to integrate and test the entire system which is based on the subprojects developed by Indians. They soon faced difficulties to do that job because they didnt actually perform RD but the developers in Bangalore. Furthermore the subprojects are far more independent than they expected. It causes high inefficiency level that the RDC in India should work again and to find the problems for the system. As these RDC and headquarter are thousand kilometers far away to each other, they need additional care for cooperation and communication. As they should work together across Bangalore and Munich for After-service of their products, the remaining inefficiency of headquarter and RDC in India need sufficient attention. In addition to, gradual loss of cost advantages in international labor force was another problem and India was the standout country. Firstly, high turnover rate among Indian programmers caused high costs to Siemens. For instance, Bangalore programmers were even asking salary information of the German workers. Secondly, time to train a new recruit was long while the employment turnover rate was increasing. One reason was that Indian programmers were trained on inexpensive personal computers so that they relied heavily on German guidance for working on large systems. Thirdly, other competitors were emerging as first choice for local labor force in India. Siemens was considered as one of the best employers to work for in Bangalore in the past but other competitors such as Cisco and Lucent showed up and the competition to hire talented workers made Siemens to slipped from front-runner status to a middle-ranking. Lastly, wage increasing trend in Bangalore had undermined the cost advantage of this RD center to Siemens. The wage for developers in Bangalore increased roughly 25% every year. Siemens had lack of separate team to handle customers complicated technique request. Hard problems were often had to be referred to major RD centers, by which the personnel would be pulled from the RD team and away from their current projects just to solve the problem lead to delay in product release and inefficiency. In addition, there was a strong threat by internet industry. By the mid-1990s, voice transmission via Internet is faster and cheaper. If the internet companies can improve its reliability and quality for phone making, they would dominate the entire communication industry. Furthermore, Siemens had some difficulties in maintaining quality and workforce motivation at its American RDC as the company had experimented with the use of strongly defined project teams for each release of a product. We did a personal analysis for Siemens comparing with competitors and found out that Siemens was spending too little money for the RD during 1995 to 1999 compare to major competitors and industry average which is TELEPHONE TELEGRAPH APPARATUS. As you can refer to the figure3, Siemens RD intensity was 0.0078 that was not only lower than Nokia and Ericsson but also way below the industry average level which was 0.73. 2. RECOMMENDATIONS 2.1. INCREASE OF AUTONOMY The lack of autonomy granted by Munich to overseas RD centers, in general, and Bangalore center, in particular, largely contributed to the inefficient coordination and worsened the existing culture clash in Siemens. To make corrective actions, Munich should give more empowerment to their international RD centers in regard to such downstream activities as interaction with customers. In specific, by directly talking to customers, the Indian team would have a better understanding of customers specification requirement and expectation as well as an increased sense of belonging to the job they are performing. It is prudent enough if small customers are first assigned to Bangalore center in order to test and evaluate its ability to simultaneously produce and handle with customers. This is also opportunities for Indian developers to accumulate their experience so that they can deal with bigger projects on their own in the future without much of Munichs scrutiny. For instance, Siemens could consider developing RDC in India as their Asian RD center, so that the Indian developers can read the Asian customers needs with their geographical advantages to Asia and at the same time, they can perform their requirements independently from headquarter in Germany. In addition, it is advisable for Munich to integrate and test the system in the place the subsystems are originally generated. For example, German supervisor from Munich should travel to Bangalore to conduct the integration and testing rather than send the sub-products back to and fly Indian developers to Munich. The reason is that in Bangalore, German managers can easily get their needed information from the Indian staffs, who directly participated in the task performance, in case there are any problems during the integration and test process. This practice helps eliminate the need for and cost of long-distance communication, let alone miscommunication which may arise due to language differences. More importantly, by conducting the product integration and testing in Bangalore, the Indian staff would have a feeling that their contribution is worthwhile as they can keep track of their spiritual product until it is completed and delivered to customers flawlessly. As a result, it would not hurt the Indians self-esteem while improving their sense of responsibility and belonging toward the company as they take control of what they produce. Moreover, adoption of Delphi approach in important board meetings among multicultural staffs would preclude their shyness and encourage all people to speak up their minds in an acceptable way to all the cultures. Even though the Delphi approach is time consuming and require everyone to meet face-to-face, it proves as the good solution in short term while Indian heads felt it wrong to reject other peoples ideas in a big meeting. In the long run, so as to bridge the cultural gap, Siemens should take on more approaches. In terms of communication matter, if the managers from Germany are qualified as international experts especially for Indian culture, they could deeply understand Indians communicational way. This can efficiently deliver customers need to Bangalore and also maximize the performance in India. Such an international cross over can also implemented other way around. For instance, Indians who have experience with Germans or least Westerner could understand their supervisors and customers need more exactly. These Indian international experts could bring also the ideas and project status in sense what their western-customers and co-worker need. This autonomy grant to Siemens Bangalore RD unit or, if necessary and proven to be a successful measure, to other units would possibly result, in the long-term, in a change of the companys structure from a HUB Model to a Network Model, in which the global control of RD activities would be split between the companys global competence centers, both at home and host countries, with a bi-directional technological knowledge flow. 2.2. IMPLEMENTATION TO REDUCE CULTURAL DISTANCE In order to improve their cross cultural understanding, here are some recommendations to get them having the idea of how their counterpart functions. Firstly, to have cultural workshops by international experts or even their co-workers from India, so that they can understand and know each others culture better, leads to lower possibility of occurrence of misunderstanding and miscommunication between Indian and German workers. Secondly, Siemens could provide Global sporting activities or family gathering in different countries. By having gathering events, employees can easily develop team spirits and become friends, reduce their cultural distance to each other after all. For instance, Hyundai Motor Company first had difficulties with managing and controlling the multicultural employees within the company because there was huge cultural distance between them. To deal with this problem, for instance, they started a global 33 basketball tournament across their local offices and it increases their profitability by having good relationship with each other (Korean and foreign counterparts) beyond the cultural backgrounds. During the matches, employees could feel that they share the same goal and they can well co-operate each other, regardless of their different nationality. 2.4. REDUCTION OF EMPLOYEE TURNOVER RATE Even though India had one of the worlds three largest engineering workforces, companies still engaged in a fight for talent. It was so, because the labor market is a global one, so a lot of companies would recruit software engineers to both work in their Indian units, but also to work elsewhere, as Indian talent was highly regarded in this field. Also, both national and international companies had substantial operations in Bangalore, Indias computational technology center, to benefit from the talent pool and the low cost labor, so companies often adopted aggressive strategies to attract the best and the brightest. Siemens had long established in India and was had a formidable reputation, being regarded as one the best employers to work for by young Indians. However, this was changing with the increasing competition for engineers by companies such as Lucent and Cisco, and as Siemens provide a great experience and learning curve, recruiters would often go after the companys engineers, and would pay a premium to have them switch companies, making the annual turnover rate in India, 35%, the highest in the company. Also, there was culture clash between the Germans and the Indians in Siemens, as Indians showed to be somewhat impatient and looking to move projects more often than what was planned by the German management. Also, Indians preferred leading-edge projects in the fields of mobile telecommunications and internet protocols, rather than what was being assigned to them, which was quality testing and integration tasks, which were more repetitive and less stimulating. The Germans also showed lac k of knowledge with regards to the Indian way of working, because the Indian output was not always reliable, as they kept changing approaches and they would rather fix problems right on the spot and not document them for future knowledge and improvement, and this was against the German mindset. All these issues helped keep the turnover rate high, and Siemens had to look for solutions to this problem. It seems that, to keep engineers happy, and as they were to open to discuss wages everywhere, Siemens would have to offer better wages, at least to their most talented employees. Perhaps the best way to do so, and to keep the incentive of increasing performance whenever possible, would be to keep the base salary where it is and offer performance based bonuses and also, stock options plans. There could be a 2 tier performance based bonus scheme, with both a short term component to it, and a longer term one that would only be awarded if the employee stayed in the company for a certain number of years and kept his/her performance level, to ensure that the motivation was always high and that the proper incentive mechanisms were in place. Regarding the stock options, this would also ensure the long term loyalty to the company and the incentive to adopt both a short and long term approach on a daily basis. These suggestions bring up the need to have measure of performance, as objective as possible. Working hours are not the best measure of productivity as anyone can stay longer and that could promote inefficiency, poor time management and a decrease in output. Criteria such as on time delivery of projects, inexistence of errors, reliability and integration of systems, after sales service and overall customer satisfaction (measured by both formal and informal feedback on all levels of interaction) could provide better ways to reward performance. Also, employees with out-of-the-box thinking, extraordinary contribution to projects, engineers that developed innovative systems and ways to overcome issues and provide a better and more efficient services to the customer, could be rewarded, both financially and non-financially. To boost motivation, and in lign with the previous recommendation, top performers could be given a certain amount of time on a daily or weekly basis to develop side projects for the company on their initiative, in order to feel more stimulated and rea lly adding value to the company and the clients. Also, besides the health, housing and vehicle benefits already in place, there could be an effort to transform the offices into more friendly working environments, in an attempt to adopt some of Googles employee motivation strategies, so that employees feel more motivation, loyalty and corporate citizenship that will ultimately lead to better output and satisfied clients. 3. FURTHER MANAGERIAL ISSUES Despite we hope and expect the recommendations given to have a positive impact in the Siemens International RD operations, there are some issues that may arise from these measures, though. If we think about the increase in autonomy granted to the Indian RDC, for instance, there is a dangerous threat in which the company may incur, is this measure to be taken. It is quite obvious that the more autonomous a person or an entity becomes from an upper body, the more tendency it has to deal with any different situation in its own way, either it is solving organizational problems, negotiating with suppliers or dealing with customers. Thus, due to the cultural differences that are felt between Indians and Germans, this is a situation very likely to happen. Consequently, and without wanting to state this is what would eventually happen for sure, this autonomy grant might result in a deviation from the companys way of operating from the Indians. The final outcome of such a deviation could be catastrophic for Siemens, since it could jeopardize a whole corporate culture and way of doing business, blurring the companys image to stakeholders eyes. Thus, as it was stated before, this process should be gradual and always under headquarters supervision. Finally, another issue that might arise from our recommendations is the loss of labor cost-advantage in India. Even though we are perfectly aware that, in one way or another, wage levels will necessarily increase in India in the next years especially in the technological field, due to the increasing demand for expertise in this area, as well as for the countrys overall economic development it is undeniable that this incentive program would increase Siemens expenditure in workforce and, consequently, mean the loss of the cost-advantage the company had by employing experts in the field at a lower price.

Suzuki Samurai :: Car Automobile Marketing Market

Suzuki Samurai In 1985, automobile company Suzuki was entering the American automobile market with the Suzuki Samurai, a lightweight off-road four-wheel drive vehicle. A dilemma that the American Suzuki Motor Corporation (ASMC) was faced with was exactly how to position the Samurai in the American market. There were several options for them to do this, each of which had unique advantages and disadvantages, however only one that would effectively maximize the sales potential for the Samurai. The first option was to position the Samurai as a sport utility vehicle (SUV). The Samurai already had the look of a "mini-jeep", and already had four-wheel drive capabilities. Standing out from all other SUVs, the Samurai was smaller, lighter, and less expensive; suggested retail was about half the price of the average SUV. Leanord Pearstein, CEO of a competing advertising agency, preferred to portray the Samurai as a "tough little cheap Jeep." Those who had already purchased the automobile had also considered buying a Jeep or other sport utility vehicles. In 1985, the sport utility vehicle market was very small. Less than 3% of automobile sales in the United States in 1985 came from SUV sales. Douglas Mazza, who headed the Samurai operation in the US, had a goal to sell 30,000 units within two years, which would exceed all SUV sales in 1984. The second option was to position the Samurai as a compact pickup truck. The market share was two and a half times the compact SUV market. This would make it easier for Suzuki to enter is they positioned the vehicle in this way. In the pickup truck market itself, Japanese trucks sold very well; they accounted for 54% of total compact pickup truck sales. If they wanted to introduce the Samurai as a truck it would be more versatile and less expensive than a subcompact car. Since custom regulations for compact pickup trucks state that there must be a 25% tariff on all trucks imported in to the US, this is ten times the amount the tariff would be for a car. Pearlstein believed that even with the high tariff it would be worth paying in the long run, however this is still a significant cost. Another positioning strategy was to sell the Samurai as a subcompact car. This market was considerably larger than the previously stated markets. Pearlstein suggested that they should market this as an alternative to the "dull" automobile, a compact car with a "cuter" look.

Human Beings and Nature: The Scientific Revolution Essay -- Essays Pa

Human Beings and Nature: The Scientific Revolution The Scientific Revolution, perhaps one of the most significant examples of human beingsà ­ relationship with the natural world, changed the way seventeenth and eighteenth century society operated. The power of human knowledge has enabled intellectual, economical, and social advances seen in the modern world. The Scientific Revolution which included the development of scientific attitudes and skepticism of old views on nature and humanity was a slow process that spanned over a two century period. During the Scientific Revolution, scientific knowledge enabled humans to control nature in order to improve society. With leaders such as Nicolaus Copernicus, Galileo Galilei, Francis Bacon, Isaac Newton, and Rene Descartes, the Scientific Revolution proves to be a crucial piece to the puzzle of understanding the effects of humansà ­ interactions with the natural world. The changes produced during the Scientific Revolution were not rapid but developed slowly and in an experimental way. Although its effects were highly influential, the forerunners Nicolaus Copernicus, Galileo Galilei, Isaac Newton, Francis Bacon, and Rene Descartes only had a few hundred followers. Each pioneered unique ideas that challenged the current views of human beingsà ­ relationship with nature. With the backing of empirical observation and mathematical proof, these ideas slowly gained acceptance. As a result, the operation of society, along with prior grounds for faith were reconsidered. Their ideas promoted change and reform for humansà ­ well-being on earth. The Scientific Revolution was sparked through Nicolaus Copernicusà ­ unique use of mathematics. His methods developed from Greek astr... ...rn Heritage Brief Edition Volume II: Since 1648 (Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall 1996), 342. 4. Rogers, 7. 5. Rogers, 18. 6. Rogers, 16. 7. Rogers, 11. ADDITIONAL SOURCE: - Steven Shapin, "The Scientific Revolution," Library Journal, Aug. 1996, 63-67. This article offers a different approach to analyzing the impact of the Scientific Revolution. He discusses the "birth" of modern science which occurred between Copernicus and Newton's time. However, he also gives equal credit to Bacon, Descartes, Galileo for the development of the naturalistic philosophy we still use today. This article is an excellent source of furthering one's knowledge on the topic of human beings interactions with the natural world and how the efforts made during the scientific revolution still impact us today.

Anayas Bless Me, Ultima: A Psychological Critique of Religions Essay

Christianity, Judaism, Islam. These are only a few of the many religions in this world. How does one choose which religion to follow? Is it their background, nationality, belief, or because that’s the only thing they have always known or come in contact with? The concept of religion is a complex one, a concept to be investigated and questioned. This is the journey that Antonio Marex Luna explores in Rudolfo Anaya’s (1972) Chicano novel Bless Me, Ultima. Throughout the novel, Antonio fights a psychological war in his mind about all the religions and faiths that surround him in his everyday routine. All his life he was raised to believe in God, and as a result he grew to be a devote Catholic. However, some of his beliefs alter when Ultima, a curandera, comes to live with his family. By witnessing her mysterious powers, Antonio begins to question his beliefs. For many years following Ultima’s arrival Antonio balanced the religions of both worlds, by praying to the Virgin Mary while his brothers were away at war, as well as helping Ultima pick and care for her many magical herbs. At first, he didn’t compare the two faiths, but as time went on, he knew it was time to choose which path he wanted to follow into his future. It was his mother’s dream for Antonio to grow to be a priest and be considered a leader of the people and he deeply wanted to grant his mother’s wish. Even at the young age of 6, he would act priestly by blessing those who were in most need. For example, he was there for Narciso’s his last confession and performed the man’s last rites as he lay on his deathbed. Antonio also put a blessing over his brothers so that they would be safe as they left home. Throughout the novel, Antonio suffered an excessive ... ...the carp, he witnessed something elemental, magical, and miraculous without much effort and continued to hear the stories told with great detail and logic. With further investigation he concludes that the legend of the Magic Carp could have very well taken place. With these two concepts of religion, Antonio battles and organizes his thoughts through questions and observation. At certain points he believes that he will be sent to hell for believing in the stories of the King of the Fish. After all, the golden carp is a natural, pagan deity compared to the Christian God Antonio is used to worshipping. But in the end, that too is the teachings of Ultima’s wisdom, Antonio realizes he must learn to live in a world in which Catholicism and the golden carp can coexist, and he must grow to impart knowledge and enlightenment from all the spiritual forces in his life.

Operations Management Report on Lux Soap Essay

Acknowledgement: We thank all those people who helped us in preparing this report. Immense hard work has been done by all the members of our group in compilation of this report. We also thank our instructor Mr Jawad Bhatti, who has helped us always by providing us with the much-needed guidance, kind behavior, moral support and her valuable time. Our contact person in Unilever Pakistan, Ms. Sarah Siddiqui also provided us with her expertise in the construction of the report and we are extremely grateful to her for providing us with valuable insight and information with respect to LUX. The preparation of this report was a wonderful learning experience. We learnt to work in a group efficiently and equally. The experience gained by the preparation of this report will surely be beneficial for us in the future, always. 2 Executive Summary: Lux soap first produced in United Kingdom in 1899. It was produced by British company name Lever Brothers. Lever Brothers was founded in 1885 by William Hesketh Lever and his brother James. They using glycerin and vegetable oil such as palm oil to manufacture soap called â€Å"Sunlight Soap.† The flaked version of soap called Lux soap. Glycerin was a lucrative byproduct of the soap making process, and by the end of 1886, Lever brothers also had a glycerin factory. The beauty soap industry has a few major producers of which Unilever holds market share of slightly less than 50%. Other competing brands like Dove, Rexona and Capri have started to have a strong consumer base, but LUX.’s product features distribution and promotional activities have created high brand loyalty for which it is still the market leader. Since the 1930s, more than 400 of the world’s most famous female celebrities have been associated with Lux. Sarah Jessica Parker, Katrina Kaif, Aishwarya Rai and Mahira Khan are some actresses featured in Lux advertising campaigns in US, India and Pakistan. Today, Lux is the market leader in several countries including Pakistan, Brazil, India, Thailand and South Africa. Developed by Unilever, Lux (soap) is now headquartered in Singapore. Introduction Lux is a global brand developed by Unilever. The range of products includes beauty soaps, shower gels, bath additives, hair shampoos and conditioners. The brand was founded by the Lever Brothers (today known as Unilever) in 1899. The name changed from â€Å"Sunlight Flakes† to â€Å"Lux† in 1900, a Latin word for â€Å"light† and suggestive of â€Å"luxury.† In 1924, it became the first mass market toilet soap in the world. It is noted as a brand that pioneered female celebrity endorsements. As of 2005, Lux revenue is at 1.0 billion euros, with market shares spread out to more than 100 countries across the globe. Lux toilet soap was launched in the United States in 1925 and in the United Kingdom in 1928. Subsequently, Lux soap has been marketed in several forms, including hand wash, shower gel and cream bath soap. Since the 1930s, more than 400 of the world’s most famous female celebrities have been associated with Lux. Sarah Jessica Parker, Katrina Kaif, Aishwarya Rai and Mahira Khan are some actresses featured in Lux advertising campaigns in US, India and Pakistan. Today, Lux is the market leader in several countries including Pakistan, Brazil, India, Thailand and South Africa. Developed by Unilever, Lux (soap) is now headquartered in Singapore. About Unilever Unilever is a multinational consumer product manufacturing giant operating in over hundred countries all around the globe. Unilever Pakistan is the Pakistan chapter of Unilever, where the company holds 60.75% share whereas the Government of Peoples Republic of Pakistan holds 39.25% share. Unilever’s one of the most popular brand in Pakistani  market is LUX. They have segmented the local market for  LUX according to geographical locations. It further  differentiates these segments into Socio Economic Cluster  (SEC) which takes into account the criteria of education  and profession which ultimately measures the financial  ability of consumers. The cluster is divided into five parts starting from A to E. Unilever targets the urban and sub urban upper middle class and middle class segment of the population, who falls under A to C of SEC. Tactical marketing tools, 4P’s,  are extensively used by the  company  to  market  LUX.  Though LUX is produced in  Pakistan, Unilever Pakistan  maintains the same standard  all around the globe. The  product is available in six  different  fragrances  under  three different sizes. Since the  demand  for  beauty  soap  market is to a great extent oligopolistic, variations in price lead to price war which can eventually break down the company’s market share.  Thus Unilever cannot provide a better price than its competitors. But the price is affordable by most of the people. Unilever Pakistan has outsourced its distribution channels to third party distributors which allow them to distribute LUX in massive  bulks amounting to around ten million pieces. It undertakes the largest promotional activities in the beauty soap industry. The beauty soap industry has a few major producers of which Unilever holds market share of slightly less than 50%. Other competing brands like Dove, Rexona and Capri have started to have a strong consumer base, but LUX.’s product features distribution and promotional activities have created high brand loyalty for which it is still the market leader. History of lux soaps: Lux soap first produced in United Kingdom in 1899. It  was produced by British company name Lever  Brothers. Lever Brothers was founded in 1885 by  William Hesketh Lever and his brother James. They  using glycerin and vegetable oil such as palm oil to  manufacture soap called â€Å"Sunlight Soap.† The flaked  version of soap called Lux soap. Glycerin was a  lucrative byproduct of the soap making process, and  by the end of 1886, Lever brothers also had a glycerin  factory. Lever opened their small office in New York in 1895. The company started selling Sunlight and Lifebuoy but did not doing well until 1916. Lux soap was first launched in United States in 1916. The Lux trademark  was registered in United States in 1900.  Lux soap was launched in India in 1929  and later in Pakistan. The soap’s very first  advertisement  featured  actress  Leela  Chitnis as its brand ambassador. It was  popularly known as ‘the beauty soap of  film stars.  From 1930s right through 1970s, Lux soap colors and packaging were altered several times to reflect fashion trends. In 1958 five colors were made up the range: pink, white, blue, green and yellow. In 1990s, Lux launching its own range of shower gels, liquid soaps and moisturizing bars. Today, Lux soap is sold in 100 countries and sales achieved 1.0 billion euros in 2005 alone. From 1930s right through 1970s, Lux soap colors and packaging were altered several times to reflect fashion trends. In 1958 five colors were made up the range: pink, white, blue, green and yellow. In 1990s, Lux launching its own range of shower gels, liqui d soaps and moisturizing bars. Today, Lux soap is sold in 100 countries and sales achieved 1.0 billion euros in 2005 alone. Building the Beauty Soap Credentials: Introduced in the US in 1924, Lux became the world’s first mass market toilet soap with the tagline â€Å"made as fine as French Soap†. In the first 2 years of launch, Lux concentrated on building its beauty soap credentials. Advertisements offered consumers â€Å"a beauty soap made in the French method† at an affordable price, with the promise of smooth skin. Made with fine-texture, rich in fragrance, and manufactured using a method created in France, the first Lux toilet soap was sold for 10 cents apiece. 1928–1940: 9 out of 10 stars  This era saw key launches of LUX in the UK, India,  Argentina and Thailand. The brand concentrated on  building its association with the increasingly popular  movie world, focusing more on movie stars and their roles  rather than on the product. In 1929, advertising featured  26 of the biggest female stars of the day, creating a huge  impact among the movie-loving target audience. This was  followed by Hollywood Directors talking about the  importance of smooth and youthful skin. This pioneered  the trend of celebrity product endorsements.  In 1931, Lux launched a campaign with older stars, â€Å"I am over 31†. The series of print ads had stars talking about preserving youthful skin. Lux also launched campaigns featuring interviews with Stars and Close Ups of Stars, bringing to life the ‘9 out of 10’ idea 40s & 50s: Romancing the consumer Using movie star as role models, Lux’s strategy was to build relevance by looking at beauty through the consumer’s eyes. While still retaining the star element, the focus  shifted to the consumer and the role of the brand in her life. Advertising commercials showed ordinary looking women with direct references to stars, such as Deanna Durbin. 60s: Romancing the brand The 60’s saw a shift in advertising to product stories and the romanticizing of brand through its â€Å"sensorial & emotional† dimensions. This was the era of ‘the film star feeling’ and the ‘Golden Lux’, featuring stars such as Sandra Dee, Diana Rigg and Samantha Eggar. The bathing ritual, the ‘fantasy’ element that has been the imagery of Lux, was created in this era. The brand also moved forward with launching LUX in the Middle East, entering a more conservative market. 70s: Dimensionalizing beauty Reflecting the shift in beauty trends in the 70s, the Lux stars stepped down from their pedestals and were portrayed as multi-faceted women with natural, wholesome beauty that the ordinary consumer could relate and aspire to. The executions were more of ‘a day in the life’ of the stars with focus on their ‘natural beauty’. Stars included Brigitte Bardot and Natalie Wood. 80s: Owning the category space Establishing itself as THE beauty soap for stars and  beautiful women, the 80s emphasized the importance of  skin care – the first step to beauty. LUX was launched in  China at this time. Sophia Loren, Raquel Welch and Cheryl  Ladd were some famous celebrities used during this time.  In India actresses Hema Malini, Parveen Babi, Madhuri  Dixit, endorsed Lux soap. 90s – Early 2000s: Advanced skin benefits In the 90s, Lux moved from generic beauty benefits to focus on specific benefits and transformation. More emphasis on functionality and variant associations with different 12 skin types as well as mention of ingredients. The communication was far more regional specific and localized, using stars like Malu Mader and Debora Bloch. This period launched product brand extensions Shower Cream and Gels and Lux Super Rich Shampoo in Japan and China. 2000s: Beyond movie stars In early 2000, the focus shifted from specific skin benefits to a stronger emotional space. The brand provided the link between the aspirational role models and real life with the campaign, ‘Lux brings out the star in you’. The benefit was now more than just beauty, it was also about the confidence that comes from beautiful skin. In 2005, Lux encouraged women to celebrate and indulge their femininity with the â€Å"Play with Beauty† philosophy, with stars like Aishwarya Rai. The brand also connected with consumers to take a more ‘active’ stance on beauty. From 2008, building off the brand’s root  strengths, focus has shifted to beauty (vs.  femininity), appealing to consumers’  fantasies and aspirations. Lux believes  that ‘beauty is a female instinct that  shouldn’t be denied’ and showcases the  pleasure that every woman enjoys from  using her beauty, encapsulating that idea  in a simple phrase: Declare your beauty.  Today, LUX products are manufactured at 71 locations with more than 2000 suppliers and associates providing the raw materials. It has key markets in Pakistan, Brazil, USA, China, Bangladesh and South Africa, and is a market leader in India (for soap bars), Pakistan, Brazil, Saudi Arabia (for soap bars), Bangladesh, Thailand and Vietnam. Operations at Lux Unilever has established itself as a leader in the FMCG industry, given its wide product range which consists of home care, skin and hair care, beauty care and oral care products.  An FMCG (Fast-Moving-Consumer-Goods) is a regular model factory. Unilever under its skin care, soap category has 3 skincare brands; Lux (Middle Class), Dove (Upper Class) and Lifebuoy (Lower Class). Lux and Lifebuoy are produced (in-house production) in the factory located at Rahimyaar Khan in Pakistan while Dove is mainly imported as the production methods and procedure are extremely technical and critical to maintain the  high standards of the quality of the product. Another reason for importing Dove is the cost of production. Dove’s manufacturing is expensive due to the ingredients and raw material involved for it to produce in Pakistan and raw materials will be extremely expensive to import. Recently however, a rumor was spread in the market that Unilever Pakistan in order to cut down costs, will be outsourcing its production to Unilever South East Asian countries and will stop all the production in Pakistan. It was a rumor and completely untrue of them to be shifting to Malaysia. Unilever has one of the oldest factories in Pakistan and enjoy high EOS and have denied any intension to move production as it would be too expensive to produce outside Pakistan and import it back. The procurement of palm oil for Lux is the main ingredient in the production and manufacturing of the product. As palm oil is not produced in Pakistan, importing it from foreign suppliers is the best option available and costs are affordable for the company. Before the production is begun, capital expenditure is evaluated after which the setup is done for production in factories. The main raw material is in the production of Lux is palm oil which is imported due to its unavailability in the Pakistani region. This is the major head expense for Lux besides the facility itself. The production method for Lux and Life Buoy is batch processing and Dove is mainly produced through job order processing technique. Production is heavily dependent on palm oil. Production Process: The production method for Lux is batch processing and Dove is mainly produced through job order processing technique. Production is heavily dependent on palm oil. Lux Soap is the combination of animal fat or plant oil and caustic soda. The Soap needs two major raw materials: one is fat and the other one is alkali. Lux soap makers use fat that has been processed into fatty acids. This eradicates various impurities, and it produces as by-product water as an alternative of glycerin. Many vegetable fats, including olive oil and coconut oil, are also used. The alkali most commonly used is sodium hydroxide and sometimes, Potassium hydroxide is also used. Additives are used to enhance the color, texture, and scent of the soap. Palm oil is used for the manufacturing of Lux Soaps which is processed and bleached. This is then divided into two proportions as per the soap requirements; to manufacture Lux and Life buoy. After separation as per the proportions, alkali in the form of sodium hydroxide/ Potassium hydroxide are added to the palm oil barrels. Synthetic chemicals are added to clean and sterilize the mixture to remove any impurities. After this the mixture is divided into categories as per the product variety, after which perfumes and colors are added to give the soap a nice subtle fragrance and attractive color. Fragrances and perfumes are added to the soap mixture to protect the smell of dirt and leave behind a fresh smelling aroma. Substances to enhance the texture of soap include silica, talc, and marble pumice. Soap made without color is of a brown or dull grey color, but Lux manufacturers color the soap to make it more appealing to the end-user. Other material is then added according to the partic ular variety of soap. After the entire process of chemicals and ingredients have been added, the soap is further processed, cut and shaped into bars of soap according to the product specifications and SKUs of the product. The produced soap bars are then sent to packaging, where they are wrapped in the respective prepared packaging and transferred to warehouse until delivery has to be made. Loading and unloading of cargo and also wrapping of cargo is handled by labor but the process is mostly auto mated. Production Flow: Procured Palm Oil Is Processed And Bleached The Oil Is Divided Into Two Portions, For Lux And For Lifebouy Synthetic Chemcials Are Added To Clean And Steerelize The Mixture Other Ingredients Are Added As Per The Requirements Of The Product Variety Perfumes And Colours Are Added To The Mixture The Mixture Is Cooled, Further Processed And Cut Into Soap Bars The Bars Are Sent To Packagining Where They Are Wrapped In The Prepared Packs Packed Soap Bars Are Sent To Warehouses Until Delivery Costing and Expenses: The method of costing used for the manufacture of Lux Soaps is Batch Costing which is a part of Operation Costing. First of all the ingredients of the soap are mixed together in order to make a mixture. The entire mixture for the preparation of the soap produces, approximately, 1 lakh unit of soaps; this 1 lot will be treated as a batch  and will be automatically numbered by the help of machines during the process of packaging. The purpose of manufacturing the soaps using batch costing is that, it becomes easier for the company to track their product in the factory as well as in the market. For example, the end-user finds something wrong with the soap and sent a complain to the company, now if the management finds some defect in the manufacturing of the soap, it can easily track the batch number and withdraw all the soaps from the market that were produced in that particular batch. The cost of unit is determined by dividing the cost of the batch by the number of units produced in that batch. Given below is the cost sheet of Lux soap that shows the Material Cost, Prime Cost as well as the Factory Cost. PARTICULARS AMOUNT (in Rs.) Direct Material Acid Specialty chemicals Ordinary chemicals Perfumes TOTAL 6.45 0.11 0.04 0.81 7.41 Direct Labor 12.6 Direct Expenses 1.73 PRIME COST 21.74 Production Overheads Power 0.62 Maintenance 0.14 FACTORY COST 17 22.50 Revenue Generation and Costing: This table shows the details of the revenue and the cost generated to manufacture Lux Soaps REVENUE AND COST GENERATION OF LUX (Base for the preparation of Cost Sheet) PARTICULARS UNITS AMOUNT (in Rs.) Revenue Generated Sales Price Rs./packet 25 Sales Volume packets 3,20,000 Sales Revenue Rs. (in lakhs) 80 -Acid paise/ ml 4.5 -Specialty chemicals paise/ ml 2.75 -Ordinary chemicals paise/ ml 1.5 -Perfumes paise/ ml 7 Cost Generated Raw Material Prices Raw Material Volumes -Acid In 1000 litres 14.34 -Specialty chemicals In 1000 litres 0.41 -Ordinary chemicals In 1000 litres 0.29 -Perfumes In 1000 litres 1.15 -Acid Rs. (in lakhs) 6.45 -Specialty chemicals Rs. (in lakhs) 0.11 -Ordinary chemicals Rs. (in lakhs) 0.04 -Perfumes Rs. (in lakhs) 0.81 Rs. (in lakhs) 7.41 Raw Material Cost TOTAL Headcount -Manufacturing Numbers 11 -Marketing professionals Numbers 2 -Corporate employees Numbers 1 18 Average Monthly Salary -Manufacturing Rs./Month 10000 -Marketing professionals Rs./Month 15000 -Corporate employees Rs./Month 16500 Bonus on Salary (% of Salary) 12% Employee Cost -Manufacturing Rs./Month (in 10,000) 12.6 -Marketing professionals Rs./Month (in 10,000) 4.53 -Corporate employees Rs./Month (in 10,000) 1.63 TOTAL 18.76 Power Cost Rs. (in lakhs) 0.62 Packaging Cost Rs. (in lakhs) 1.73 Advertising Costs Rs. (in lakhs) 7.23 Commissions Rs. (in lakhs) 5.3 Maintenance Costs Rs. (in lakhs) 0.14 Insurance Premium Rs. (in lakhs) 0.5 Total Costs Rs. (in lakhs) 41.69 19 Strategy and Competitiveness: Vision: â€Å"We help people around the world meet every day needs for nutrition, hygiene and wellbeing, with brands that help people look good, feel good and get more out of life.† A clear direction: Unilever helps people around the world meet every day needs for nutrition, hygiene and wellbeing, with brands that help people look good, feel good and get more out of life. In 2009, they launched called The Compass – Unilever’s strategy for sustainable growth. At the heart of that vision is the philosophy of working to create a better future every day for their consumers and the communities in which they operate. Another key element of their strategy is our aim of doubling the size of Unilever while reducing our impact on the environment. It’s a goal the company is seeking to achieve by developing new ways of doing business through which can minimize our direct impact. The company is also working with suppliers, consumers and the retailers who sell the brands to improve their sustainability credentials too. By combining our multinational expertise with the deep roots in diverse local cultures, Unilever is continuing to provide a range of products to suit a wealt h of consumers. The company is also strengthening its strong relationships in the emerging markets they believe will be significant for future growth. â€Å"Achieving significant growth objectives while decoupling growth from environmental impact is a bold but challenging vision,† says Unilever CEO Paul Polman. â€Å"Not many companies have yet taken it on. But I believe it’s the only viable vision. One that builds on Unilever’s long-term heritage and achievement, while supporting a responsible future.† . Supply Chain Management: The supply chain of Lux is the core feature which looks after the efficient  running of the entire business production and processes. Supply chain is divided into two parts one is the efficiency and the other looks after quality control. Supply chain is the core of Lux sales since it is responsible to make the deliveries to the depot, distributer and ultimately the shops. To ensure the supply chain is well maintained Lux management has weekly meetings and a software to record our forecast, orders placed by distributors (primary sales) and ultimately the orders delivered to the distributor. MSO is in direct contact with the brand team. He is responsible for required production and also informs organizations about lag or delays in production and all logistics involved and other things related to production. Forecast is based on a trend line that is predicted out of exponential sales trend graph and marketing impact added on. There are 2 major raw materials that go into production besides acid and bases. One is palm oil which is ultimately brought to the factory for further processing. The other is perfume which is globally tested and supplied. Various people within the supply chain department are responsible for various functions such as one for forecast and right demand planning, one for production and quality assurance (R&D) and one for ultimate supply and logistics. The management of the supply chain has the following processes which creates the whole flow of the supply chain network: Planning: Demand Planning: This phase is the pre-production phase where business analysts and managers sit together and create a strategic plan based on two core functions, promotional value selling and the base line target. Demand planning is carried out for a period of 5 years at Lux Promotional Value Selling is where Lux managers sit together with the planning team and set targets to achieve in terms of sales and production after advertising and marketing campaigns Base Line is the bottom line target of sales which can be achieved even without any marketing efforts. This is what the brand will achieve in terms of sale at all costs Supply Planning: In this phase the team forecasts the demands with the supply in order to procure the material required for the manufacturing of the soap bars. The supply plan is derived from the demand plan. Material Requirement Plan is the procurement plan in which  vendors and suppliers are identified and the material is procured. The details of procurement are established and are further shared with the budget control team. Master Production Schedule is the detailed plan of how the product will be produced, All details are included in this portion in terms of batches, number of bars produced, time period, production methods and flow, Procurement is done and the material is sent to the production department Production where the manufacturing and packaging is done and stored Distribution where product is warehoused and further sent to distributors around Pakistan and the distributors further give it to whole sellers. Supply Chain flow: Planning Distribution †¢ Demand plan †¢ Supply plan †¢ Warehousing †¢ Distributors Demand Plan Production †¢Manufacturin g †¢Packaging †¢Promotional Value Selling †¢Base line target Procureme nt Supply Plan †¢MPS †¢MRP †¢Buying Department †¢Warehousing Strategy and R&D: Strategy: The strategy used by Unilever is in two regions, production and campaigns. In order to maintain their strategic function, the factory is one of the oldest in Pakistan. It was Rahim Yar Khan and it was initially Unilever HO. It was initially chosen because of the following factors: 1. Proximity to Labor: Majority of labor working in the factory reside close by in Punjab region which is densely populated 2. Proximity to Source of Supply: Water supply from the rivers flowing close by provide ease of water availability (Punjnad) 3. Storage and Warehousing: Since the factory site was owned by Unilever, there was no space shortage problem so expansion and new installments was possible along with ample space for warehousing. 4. Community Considerations 5. Accessibility Research and Development: In order to maintain the competitive advantage of being the leading beauty soap brand of Pakistan, the R&D department also supervises production and packaging. R & D and Supply both monitor production and quality. Each  machine involved is configured for production according to the amount required and for how much should be in each carton so that the carton does not explode. R & D carries out research and tries to increase efficiency by running machine trials. Further to ensure quality product is produced and any likely flaws are eliminated, batch inspections are done at random to check the quality. The Supply Chain acknowledges the capacity of the machinery and production figures, therefore R & D only work on improvement and monitoring. The R&D department also carries out focus groups and sample testing when introducing new variants in the product according to consumer insight gathered through research and development. The R&D is responsible for the 24  suggestions for upcoming variants, which is then strategically planned by the brand team and tested at a small scale. If successful, the new variant is sent for production. Total quality management: TQM is different for every company and is defined by each with respect to 5 major factors: 1. Conformance to specifications 2. Fitness quality 3. Value for price paid 4. Support services 5. Psychological factors Being a manufacturing firm, Lux observes strict manufacturing quality as the focus is on a tangible product with respect to the features, reliability and conformance. Total Quality management for Lux is split into R&D functions which look into formulation, quality assurance, and packaging and ultimately logistics transit trials. Various people within the supply chain department are responsible for various functions such as forecast and demand planning, one for production and quality assurance (R&D) and one for ultimate supply and logistics. The quality of production at lux relies on the following basic concepts: ï‚ ·