Risk and Supply chain management Samples †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Risk and Supply chain management. Answer: Introduction: Supply chain managementrefers to themanagement of the flow of goods and services through various business processes. It involves management of goods during its movement from the inventory to the production area, movement of finished goods from production area to warehouses, storage of raw materials as well as semi-finished goods and finally the movement of finished goods from the warehouses to the final consumer (Christopher, 2016).Risk management refers to the identification and analysis of the financial risk along with finding solutions to avoid or minimize the risks involved in the business processes. Risk management in supply chain refers to the management of risks involved in the supply chain that harm or damage the business activities and the continuity of the business. Supply chain riskmanagement not only involves identification of the risks involved in the supply chain but also strives to mitigate the disruptions in the processes. Supply chain risk management involves identification of both internal and external environments (Wisner, Tan Leong, 2014). The internal environment includes employees, management and the organizational culture whereas, the external environment comprises of mainly customers, government, suppliers, economy, competitors and public opinion. All these elements of internal and external environment pose different risks to the supply chain of an organization that are necessary to be handled cautiously (McNeil, Frey Embrechts, 2015). The risk management in the supply chain mainly involves identification of the risks, analysis of the risks and evaluation of the risks. The risks that affect the business activities to a large extent are required to be prioritized and addressed. Some external risks also involve accidents, natural disasters, cargo damage, warehouse inadequacy and constrictions in the supply chain whereas, internal risks may involve unavailability of personnel and facilities. There can be several threats to the supply chain therefore; the severe threats are to be solved at priority basis. Once the threats have been identified and prioritized, the organizations can devise a suitable risk treatment plan. This involves providing protection to the supply chain from the threats, designing plans to face the issues and completely recovering from the risks. The risk management in supply chain involves continuous monitoring and review system that helps in responding to the changes in the internal processes as w ell as to the changes in the external environment including suppliers and regulations (Ellinger et al., 2015). Gap analysis identified through literature review: The following gaps have been identified through analysis of the literature review: Supply chain: According to Mangan, Lalwani Lalwani (2016), supply chain involves all those activities that involve flow and transformation of goods from raw materials to finished products and the delivery of the products to the ultimate consumers. It is a network of activities that involves receiving raw materials from the suppliers, conversion the goods into final products and distribution of the final products to the customers. There are mainly three types of flows in a supply chain namely materials, information and capital. Supply chain management involves optimizing the functions and connecting the elements of a supply chain. The management of supply chain involves procedures, human resource, purchasing, packaging, checking, warehousing, delivery, establishing good relationships with the suppliers and ensuring efficient flow of information within the supply chain. Management of the activities involved in the supply chain is very essential in order to reduce uncertainty, maintaining appropriat e inventory levels, minimizing delays, eliminating unimportant activities and providing efficient customer service. The changes in the business environment and the increase in competition have led to evolution of several concepts including supply chain management. The automotive industry comprises of supply chain management as well as physical distribution management. It has undergone drastic change over the past few decades. Earlier the automotive industry used the push model to forecast the demand for its products. However, with the popularity of internet, the manufacturers as well as the customers have access to large quantity of data. According to Stadtler (2015), the automotive industry has evolved by using strategic relationships and automation and control solutions in its supply chain. In order to face the business challenges, the automotive industry is promoting new technologies and engineering models. Supply chain risk management: According to Gilmour (2015), supply chain risk management involves identification of the risks, analysis of the risks and evaluation of the risks. Supply chain risk management not only involves identification of the risks involved in the supply chain but also strives to mitigate the disruptions in the processes. Supply chain risk management involves identification of both internal and external environments. It plays an important role in collaborating with the partners and dealing with the risks and uncertainties that are related to logistics. Supply chain risk management issues in automotive industry: On the other hand, Rushton, Croucher, Baker (2014) stated that supply chain risk management identifies the points of failures within the supply chain and addresses these risks. The major risk associated with the automotive industry involves failure in providing quality products to the customers. This might lead to loss of customer base due to lower satisfaction levels of the customers. The decrease in the satisfaction level of the customers might adversely affect the overall sales of the company. Another risk involved is delay in the delivery of the products. It has been observed that lack of proper supply chain has often led to the failure of the automobile companies in delivering the products within the promised time frame to the customers. According to Brandenburg (2014), inaccuracy in the delivery and shipment process of the final products has led to huge number of escalations. Delivery of faulty products and delivery of products after the due date by the automotive companies have led to reduction in the customers satisfaction levels. Inaccurate process of delivery and shipment often results in delivery of the products to the wrong customers. All these factors adversely affect the sales and profitability of the automotive companies. On the other hand, Armstrong (2014) stated that the major threat associated with the supply chain of automotive industry is the inappropriate functioning of the internal processes of the supply chain. This might result in delays and quality issues that ultimately leads to dissatisfaction among the customers. Therefore, the greatest risk to the automotive industry is the improper functioning of its internal processes. Supply chain risk management issues in Ford, Australia: According to Stadtler (2015), the supply chain management issues faced by Ford is on the verge of shutting down its operations within Australia. Ford has been accused of delivering inferior quality goods and services to its customers that has led to the reduction in the satisfaction levels of the customers. The issues in the supply chain management of the company has adversely affected the market share of the company. The second issue faced by the company is the delay in the delivery of the products. The company has been delivering the products to the customers after due date. This has led to dissatisfaction among the customers as the services are not delivered to them within time. The dissatisfaction among the customers has adversely affected the trust of the customers and the reputation of the company ("Home", 2017). On the other hand, Holweg Helo (2014) stated that the suppliers of Ford have not delivered the goods and services on time that has caused disturbance in the supply chain of the company. There have also been several issues in the mode of transportation and the time of shipments due to natural disasters. The suppliers do not get information regarding the operation within the supply chain as the company has imposed restrictions on the access of cargo and the company controls the use of its electronic data (Ross, 2015). Evaluation of the solution: The automotive industry is highly competitive in nature. In order to obtain competitive advantage over the competitors, it becomes necessary for the companies to focus on the efficiency of their supply chain. Automation in the supply chain has the ability to increase the pace of work and reduce the delays. Automation also helps in reduction in wastages due to human errors. Automation helps in improving the quality of goods and services and obtaining accuracy in the supply chain operations (Bishop, Bell Evans, 2013). There can be several threats to the supply chain therefore; the severe threats are to be solved at priority basis. Once the threats have been identified and prioritized, the organizations can devise a suitable risk treatment plan. This involves providing protection to the supply chain from the threats, designing plans to face the issues and completely recovering from the risks. The risk management in supply chain involves continuous monitoring and review system that helps in responding to the changes in the internal processes as well as to the changes in the external environment including suppliers and regulations (Lavastre, Gunasekaran Spalanzani, 2014). Due to the problems faced by Ford in its supply chain, the company is outsourcing its operations. The company is highly dependent upon the suppliers and just-in-time approach in order to reduce the risks involved in the supply chain. Ford has used the six sigma approach that has resulted in a centralization of the network. This centralization has resulted in reduction in the inventory, improvement in the delivery and shipment processes and cost- savings (K?r?lmaz Erol, 2017). Implementation of lean supply chain also enables the automotive industries to overcome the risks associated with the supply chain. The lack of suppliers has been the greatest issue that increases the inventory cost. Therefore, identifying prospective suppliers in various locations can be useful in solving the supply chain issues. However, the issues faced by the automotive companies are of similar type but to some extent they vary from company to company. A few issues are generally witnessed in all the automotive companies but some of them vary due to the difference in the supply chain management and risk management strategies. The availability of resources and the internal and external environment of the companies differ from each other. The level of automation within the companies differ which gives rise to specific issues. Therefore, it becomes necessary for the companies to devise their own specific solutions in order to solve their specific supply chain issues. Alternative approach: The company must implement proper ERP system and other related technologies in order to ensure that the goods and services reach the customers within the due time. The company must adopt supply chain model according to the market conditions. The supply chain model shall help the company to respond to the rapid changes in the market. The supply chain must align the business objectives of the company with the operations and sales of the company. Ford must include sustainability in its supply chain operations. The company must minimize the consumption of non- renewable resources and use renewable energy in its operations. This will not only benefit the environment but shall also help the company to reduce its cost over long-term (Brandenburg et al., 2014). The company must ensure proper communication within the organization so that the risks are easily communicated to the members. Proper communication is necessary because it enables the members to to develop the risk strategies in order to ensure successful operations within the supply chain. The company must implement proper automation in its supply chain operations that will enable the company to avoid delays in the delivery and shipment of its products. Fully automated operations shall enable the company to produce quality products that will meet the requirements of the customers. Automation shall help the company in gaining back the confidence of the customers by delivering them quality products within the promised time. Using the latest technologies in the supply chain operations shall also enable the company to achieve economies of scale that shall help in reducing the overall costs. Limitations: The issues faced by all the automotive companies are more or less same but to some extent they vary from each other. The geographical location of the company, availability of human resources, political conditions, technologies, funds and investment of the companies vary from each other. Due to the difference in the internal and external environment of the organizations, there are differences in the issues faced by them. A few issues are generally witnessed in all the automotive companies but some of them vary due to the difference in the supply chain management and risk management strategies. The availability of resources and the internal and external environment of the companies differ from each other. The level of automation within the companies differ which gives rise to specific issues. Therefore, it becomes necessary for the companies to devise their own specific solutions in order to solve their specific supply chain issues. Therefore, due to the difference in the risks involved within the supply chain of the automotive companies, application of general supply chain risk management strategies shall not be effective in solving the issues. The issues faced by Ford are delivery of inferior quality goods and services to its customers that has led to the reduction in the satisfaction levels of the customers and delays in the delivery of the products to the customers. The issues within the supply chain management of the company have adversely affected the market share of the company. There have also been several issues in the mode of transportation and the time of shipments due to natural disasters. Therefore, the company is required to implement automation in its business operations so that the idle time is reduced and the products are delivered at the promised time to the customers. Automation shall also help in maintaining the quality of the products that shall increase the satisfaction levels of the custom ers. Conclusion: Supply chain risk management refers to identification of the risks involved in the supply chain and designing plans that strive to mitigate the disruptions in the processes. Supply chain risk management involves identification of both internal and external environments in order to ascertain the risks associated with the supply chain operations. The report discusses the general issues related to the automotive industry as well as the specific issues faced by Ford in Australia. The availability of resources and the internal and external environment of the companies differ from each other. The level of automation within the companies differ which gives rise to specific issues. Therefore, it becomes necessary for the companies to devise their own specific solutions in order to solve their specific supply chain issues. Therefore, it can be concluded that the general supply chain strategies cannot be applied to solve the specific issue of the companies. The internal and external environments of the companies differ that gives rise to specific issues. In case of Ford, the issues of delay in the delivery and shipment of the products and the issues related to the quality of products can be solved by implementing automation in all its supply chain operations. The issue of availability of raw materials can be solved by finding new prospective suppliers in the nearby localities and establishing good relations with them. This shall ensure constant supply of raw materials that shall enhance the continuity of the business operations. The delivery of good quality products within the due time shall increase the satisfaction level among the customers which will indirectly boost the sales and profits of the company along with the improvement in its brand image. References: Armstrong, G., Adam, S., Denize, S., Kotler, P. (2014).Principles of marketing. Pearson Australia. Bishop, K., Bell, M., Evans, A. (2013).Risk management in port operations, logistics and supply chain security. CRC Press. Brandenburg, M., Govindan, K., Sarkis, J., Seuring, S. (2014). Quantitative models for sustainable supply chain management: Developments and directions.European Journal of Operational Research,233(2), 299-312. Christopher, M. (2016).Logistics supply chain management. Pearson UK. Ellinger, A. E., Chen, H., Tian, Y., Armstrong, C. (2015). Learning orientation, integration, and supply chain risk management in Chinese manufacturing firms.International Journal of Logistics Research and Applications,18(6), 476-493. Gilmour, P. (2013). Benchmarking supply chain operations.International Journal of Physical Distribution Logistics Management. Holweg, M., Helo, P. (2014). Defining value chain architectures: Linking strategic value creation to operational supply chain design.International Journal of Production Economics,147, 230-238. Home. (2017).Ford Australia. Retrieved 25 May 2017, from https://www.ford.com.au/ K?r?lmaz, O., Erol, S. (2017). A proactive approach to supply chain risk management: Shifting orders among suppliers to mitigate the supply side risks.Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management,23(1), 54-65. Lavastre, O., Gunasekaran, A., Spalanzani, A. (2014). Effect of firm characteristics, supplier relationships and techniques used on supply chain risk management (SCRM): an empirical investigation on French industrial firms.International Journal of Production Research,52(11), 3381-3403. Mangan, J., Lalwani, C., Lalwani, C. L. (2016).Global logistics and supply chain management. John Wiley Sons. McNeil, A. J., Frey, R., Embrechts, P. (2015).Quantitative risk management: Concepts, techniques and tools. Princeton university press. Monczka, R. M., Handfield, R. B., Giunipero, L. C., Patterson, J. L. (2015).Purchasing and supply chain management. Cengage Learning. Ross, D. F. (2015).Distribution Planning and control: managing in the era of supply chain management. Springer. Rushton, A., Croucher, P., Baker, P. (2014).The handbook of logistics and distribution management: Understanding the supply chain. Kogan Page Publishers. Stadtler, H. (2015). Supply chain management: An overview. InSupply chain management and advanced planning(pp. 3-28). Springer Berlin Heidelberg. Wisner, J. D., Tan, K. C., Leong, G. K. (2014).Principles of supply chain management: A balanced approach. Cengage Learning.

She Walks In Beauty Essays (946 words) - She Walks In Beauty

She Walks In Beauty Noel Byron's poem titled, "She Walks in Beauty," plainly put, is a love poem about a beautiful woman and all of her features. Throughout the poem, Byron explains the depth of this womans' beauty. Even in the darkness of death and mourning, her beauty shines through. Her innocence shows her pureness in heart, and her pureness in love. The two forces involved in Byron's poem are the darkness and light- at work in the woman's beauty, and also the two areas of her beauty-the internal and the external. The poem appears to be about a lover, but in fact was written about Byron's cousin, Anne Wilmot, whom he met at a party in a mourning dress of spangled. This fact, the black dress that was brightened with spangles, helps the reader to understand the origin of the poem. Byron portrays this, the mixing of the darkness and the light, not by describing the dress or the woman's actions, but by describing her physical beauty as well as her interior strengths. In the beginning of the poem, the reader is given the image of darkness: "She walks in beauty, like the night," but then the line continues explaining that the night is cloudless and the stars are bright. So immediately the poem brings together its two opposing forces that are at work, darkness and light. In lines three and four Byron emphasizes that the unique feature of the woman is her ability to contain opposites within her; "the nest of dark and bright meet in her." The joining together of the darkness and the light can be seen in her "aspect," or appearance, but also in her "eyes." In this case, the woman's eyes aren't to be associated with a physical feature, but more as an internal aspect of her; the eyes reveal her heart. Byron also emphasizes the unique feature of this woman to contain opposites within her, therefore agreeing with the concept that not only is there a struggle between the darkness and the light, but also within the woman. In the second stanza, once again, the opposites are combined. "Shade" or darkness is combined with "day" or light, and "raven tress" or dark hair is linked with a lightened face. If the woman contained with in her and in her appearance either a little bit more of darkness or a little bit more of light, she would be "half impaired." A key word in this section is "grace." Although Byron continuously talks about appearances, in actuality he is referring to the"nameless grace" that is in her hair and face. Once again, it is something internal as well as external that is so attractive about this woman. In the third and final stanza, Byron concludes the poem with three lines a physical description that lead to the final three lines the woman's moral characterization. The soft cheeks, the winning smile, the tints in the skin eloquently express not only physical beauty, but they also attest to her morality. The physical beauty, the speaker can conclude, reflects days spent doing well, a mind at peace, and "a heart whose love is innocent!" The tone, relating to beauty, is that the writer tends to believe that throughout the mourning, a persons beauty can shine through. The Mood Inspires one to love and to see through the shadows of mourning. The Speaker of this poem is of someone looking from the outside in. It is told by a person expressing his observations of what he perceives her to be. He is trying to convince the reader that she is perfect. The theme shown throughout the poem is that mourning does not necessarily imply melancholy or extreme sadness. Byron uses many antonyms to describe this woman but still portrays a perfect balance within her, often using opposites like darkness and light to create this balance. A simile was shown in line one which stated, "She walks in beauty, like the night," which is also the basis of the poem. The poem follows a basic iambic tetrameter with an unaccented syllable followed by an accented syllable that allows for a rhythm to be set by the reader and can be clearly seen when one looks at a line: She walks / in beau / ty like / the night. Each line consists of four meters with two syllables each, a total of eight syllables per line. The rhyme scheme flows as ABABAB CDCDCD EFEFEF The poem also shows that it is lyrical which helps to put an

Classroom Discussion and Essay Examples

Classroom Discussion and Essay ExamplesIf you are looking for some pretty good classroom discussion and teacher evaluation, you might consider using some classroom assignment and essay examples in your own class. In this article, we will take a look at some of the best discussion and essay examples you can use to improve your own essays.You may be surprised to learn that many of the classification and division examples you find in your book of literature and textbook are far from what you might expect. Even though the focus of the work you are being graded on is often the work itself, in class you will be asked to present a large number of different types of works. For example, you may be asked to critique three different novels by one author or present three different works of fiction in your class that deal with the same central concept.As a teacher, this is a good idea. You want your students to take the assignment seriously and write about a wide variety of different things. If y ou do not offer them various works that they can choose from, it will be difficult for them to do so and you might end up with many students who have nothing new to say or discuss in class.Classroom discussion questions and essay examples help you decide what types of work you should choose from. For example, you might choose to use some work that deals with general ideas, such as the Bible or Huckleberry Finn. This will help you point out the problems with the original piece, such as over-generalization and the fact that certain characters or events are never mentioned at all. You can then read through your book and note which passages are most like these books and what problems they might present for your students.Another example, you might use is to use student essays. Use sample essays from your class to point out the problems with the work you are grading. For example, you might use excerpts from a poetry class to show that many students who participate in the class do not unde rstand the skills required to write good poetry. With this kind of information, you can ensure that your students understand the skills they need to succeed in class and that you are giving them a chance to really express themselves in class.Finally, you may want to use essay examples from other classes, which show how your writing skills have changed over the years. For example, if you were in a high school English class that dealt with topics like religion, then you might want to use some essay examples that discuss major world religions or even talk about your own religion. By comparing your writing style to that of your peers, you can better help your students to achieve their goals in class and take this opportunity to make sure that they continue to make progress as they move through your class.Using classification and division questions and essay examples can help you decide which questions you should choose and the appropriate answer for each essay. If you choose the wrong q uestions, it might seem that you cannot write any better than what you currently do.Remember that when you are taking a class on the Internet, you are constantly on the go and you will often be dealing with Internet connectivity issues. Be sure to find a way to offer your students more than just readings and essays, and help them do well in your class. By using classification and division writing samples and discussion questions and essay examples, you can help your students to not only succeed in class, but to be successful in life.

Whats a Good SAT Score for 2017

What's a Good SAT Score for 2017 SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips If you're planning on taking the SAT this year, you might be wondering how high you'll need to aim in order to get a good (or even great!) score. What is a good SAT score for 2017?More importantly, what is a good SAT score for you? In this guide, we look at different ways to define good SAT scores for 2017 and teach you how to set an SAT goal score. In addition, we examine old SAT averages and percentiles to determine whether (and how) the definition of a good SAT score has changed over time. What Is a Good SAT Score for 2017 Overall? In the simplest of terms, a good SAT score is any score that's high enough to get you into the schools you wish to attend.But to define good SAT scores for 2017 overall, we'll need to look at the SAT in a broader, more objective sense. And the easiest way to do this is to use averages and percentilesto seehow your scores compare with those of other test takers. (As a reminder, percentiles tell you what percentage of test takers you scored higher than on the SAT.) As you likely know, the SAT is scored on a scale of 400-1600. According to the College Board, theaverage SAT scorefor 2017is1083(for college-bound 11th and 12th graders), which is close to the 50th percentile. Generally speaking, good SAT scores for 2017 can be consideredanything above average (i.e., any score that places you in the top half of test takers). Likewise, a poor score can be considered anything below average. So essentially, the farther you get from average, the better (if above average) or worse (if below average) your score will be. Here is an overview of the current SAT percentiles and what they indicate about your overall test performance: Percentile EBRW Math TOTAL 90th percentile (excellent) 680* 690* 1340 75th percentile (good) 620 610* 1220* 50th percentile (average) 540** 530** 1080 25th percentile (poor) 470 470** 950 10th percentile (very poor) 410* 410 830 Source: SAT Understanding Scores 2016 *Score is 1% higher than percentile listed (i.e., 91st, 76th, or 11th percentiles). **Score is 1% lower than percentile listed (i.e., 49th or 24th percentiles). Let's start by looking at the good percentiles. As we can see from this chart, the higher your SAT percentile, the more test takers you've outperformed and the more impressive your score is. What's intriguing here, though, is thatyou don't need to get a perfect score or even break 1500 to qualify for the top 10%. As the data indicates, ascore of 1340- despite being 260 points below a perfect 1600- is in the 90th percentile! Therefore, anything at or above 1340 can be considered an extremely impressive SAT score for 2017. By contrast, a low percentile indicates that more test takers have outperformed you than you have them.According to the chart, any score in the range of 400-830- that’s a big 430-point span!- places you in the bottom 10% of test takers. Interestingly, a score of 950, which is only 130 points below average, still means you're scoring worse than a whopping 75% of test takers. So it's safe to say, then, that anything at or below 950 can be considered a rather poor SAT score. But what do all of these numbers mean for you specifically? Is a good SAT score simply defined by what percentile you're in, or is there more to it than that? What Is a Good 2017 SAT Score for YOU? Ultimately, and regardless of SAT percentiles and averages, what's important is that you're aiming for an SAT score that's good enough for you- in other words,an SAT score that's high enough to secure you admission to your schools. At PrepScholar, we call this ideal score a goal score. As you might've guessed, goal scores will vary depending on the test taker and where you're applying.For someone applying to Harvard, for example, a good SAT score would most likely be just under or even ata perfect 1600. But for someone applying to Washington State University, a solid goal score might be something closer to 1200. In the end, getting the exact SAT score you need for your schools is far more important than aimlessly trying to hit a certain percentile that might or might not actually be good enough for the colleges you're applying to. Buthow do you find your goal score? Read on to learn! How to Set a 2017 SAT Goal Score Figuring out your SAT goal score is easy if you know what you must do. Here, we walk you through the three critical steps needed to determine your goal score. Step 1: Make a Chart First things first, you'll need to make a chart. Fill in your school names in the leftmost column, and then write â€Å"25th Percentile SAT Score† and â€Å"75th Percentile SAT Score† across the top. Alternatively, you maydownload our goal score worksheet. Here is an example: School Name 25th Percentile SAT Score 75th Percentile SAT Score University of Michigan Michigan State University Eastern Michigan University Step 2: Find SAT Score Info for Your Schools The next step is to start researching SAT score info for your schools. One way to do this is to look for your schools in thePrepScholar database.To find your school, search for â€Å"[School Name] PrepScholar SAT† or â€Å"[School Name] PrepScholar† on Google. Then, click the link to either your school's "Admission Requirements" or its "SAT Scores and GPA" page (both pages list SAT score info). Here’s an example of our "Admission Requirements" page for Eastern Michigan University: Once you find your school in our database, look for information about SAT scores- specifically, its 25th and 75th percentile scores. These percentiles are important because they tell you the middle 50%,oraverage range,of admitted applicants' SAT scores for your particular school. If you can't find your school in our database, try searching for â€Å"[School Name] average SAT scores† or â€Å"[School Name] 25th 75th percentile SAT† on Google to see whether any relevant pages on your school’s official website pop up. Here’s our example chart again, this time with SAT score info filled out for each school: School Name 25th Percentile SAT Score 75th Percentile SAT Score University of Michigan 1370 1530 Michigan State University 1050 1310 Eastern Michigan University 980 1260 Step 3: Calculate Your Target Score Finally, look for the highest score in your chart (in the 75th percentile column); this score will be your goal score because it’s the one most likely to get you into all of the schools you're applying to. In our example above, our goal score would be1530- that's in the 99th percentile! If your goal score feels a little too high for you (such as our example goal score), you might want to consider lowering it slightly- ideally to either the second-highest 75th percentile score in your chart or to a score between the highest and second-highest percentile scores. In our example, this means you could instead aim for something closer to 1420, the halfway point between the highest and second-highest scores. This would still be high enough for MSU and EMU, though slightly lower for UM. Once you have your total goal score, you'll likely want to know your section goal scores, too. To get these, divide your total goal score by 2.In our example, this gives us765 (which we'll round up to 770) for both Evidence-Based Reading and Writing (EBRW) and Math. How Has the Definition of a Good SAT Score Changed? Now that we understand what a good SAT score for 2017 is, both in general and for you, let's look at whether the definition of a good SAT score has changed or stayed the same over the years. To do this, we'll need some data. But here's the caveat: the SAT hada massiveredesign in March 2016.These changes didn't simply shift the SAT scoring scale but alsocompletely overhauled the content and format of the exam. As a result, it'll be extremely difficult, if not impossible, for us to compare 2017 SAT data with data from earlier administrations of the test. What we'll do instead is compareSAT averages and percentiles for only the old SAT.This way we'll be able to determine with more accuracy whether the SAT average has risen or fallen over time, and whether SAT percentiles, too, have changed. Let's start with the averages. The following table showcases the average SAT scores for college-bound seniors from 2006 to 2016.Note that on the old SAT, there was no EBRW score (instead, you got two separate Critical Reading and Writing scores). Additionally, theessay used to be a required component that counted toward your total Writing score (now, it's optional and graded separately). Average SAT Scores 2006-2016 Year Critical Reading Math Writing 2006 503 518 497 2007 501 514 493 2008 500 514 493 2009 499 514 492 2010 500 515 491 2011 497 514 489 2012 496 514 488 2013 496 514 488 2014 497 513 487 2015 495 511 484 2016 494 508 482 Source: The College Board Total Group Profile Report 2016 As you can see, in all SAT sections, the average scores have declined steadily over time. From 2006 to 2016, Critical Reading witnessed a 9-point drop (503 to 494), Math a 10-point drop (518 to 508), and Writing a 15-point drop (497 to 482). Since these averages changed, it seems logical to assume thatthe definition of a good SAT score has also altered slightly over time. In recent years, students have needed to score fewer points on the SAT in order to hit the average score, indicating that it was somewhat easier to exceed this average (and get what's generally considered a good SAT score)in 2016 than it was in 2006. But how do percentiles come into play? Let's find out. Below is an overview of total SAT score percentiles from2011 to 2015: SAT Score Percentiles 2011-2015 Year 90th Percentile 75th Percentile 50th Percentile 25th Percentile 10th Percentile 2011 1930-1940 1720 1490 1280 1110 2012 1930-1940 1720 1490 1280 1100-1110 2013 1930-1940 1720 1490 1280 1100 2014 1930-1940 1720 1490 1270 1090-1100 2015 1930-1940 1720 1480 1260 1080-1090 Again, we can see that for some percentiles- namely the 10th to 50th percentiles- corresponding SAT scores have declined a little over time. This means that over the years, fewer test takers have reached certain scores on the SAT, thereby lowering the scores needed to achieve different percentiles. But these changes in scores and percentiles are all fairly nominal. Of the percentiles whose scores decreased from 2011 to 2015, all dropped by a mere 10 or 20 points- changes that aren't drastic enough to point to any major trend. Even more interesting, some percentiles' corresponding scores didn't change at all over the years.From 2011 to 2015, the 90th and 75th percentiles remained remarkably steady (at 1930-1940 and 1720, respectively), meaning that the same percentages of test takers were scoring at or around these scores each year. All in all, this general consistency in SAT score percentiles suggests that what’s considered a good score hasn’t changed much in recent years, particularly if you’re defining a good SAT score by how your score compares with those of other test takers. Recap: What Is a Good SAT Score for 2017? There are many ways to define good SAT scores for 2017. Perhaps the easiest way we can define them is to use data from the College Board. According to this data, the average SAT score for 2017 is 1083 (nearly the same as the median or 50th percentile). Generally speaking, any SAT score above average (i.e., in the top half of test takers) is a good score, and any score below average (i.e., in the bottom half of test takers) is a poor one. While averages and percentiles offer us a more objective idea of what good SAT scores for 2017 are, ultimately, you determine what a good SAT score is for yourself. To do this, you must set an SAT goal score. A goal score is the SAT score most likelyto get you into all of the schools to which you're applying. By setting (and eventually hitting) your goal score, you can guarantee yourself an excellent shot at gaining admission to your schools. What’s Next? Want more information about SAT scores?Learn what constitutes a good, bad, and excellent SAT score in general, and get the rundown on how the SAT is scored. Need help hitting your SAT goal score?Try our expert tips to improve your score. And if you're willing to work extra hard, follow the road to success with our step-by-step guide on how to get a perfect 1600! Want to learn more about the SAT but tired of reading blog articles? Then you'll love our free SAT prep livestreams. Designed and led by PrepScholar SAT experts, these live video events are a great resource for students and parents looking to learn more about the SAT and SAT prep. Click on the button below to register for one of our livestreams today!

Adams Aircraft Analysis Report

Adam aircraft is a company that mainly deals in designing, building and certifying new products. The main factor that brought this company into being was that in the aviation industry for many years it lacked a company that wanted to get involved in the business of making new aircrafts from scratch. The above was experienced due to two factors lack of financing and lack of government support. These two factors can be elaborated by the following sentiments:   it’s not until 1994 when the government stepped in to protect aircraft manufacturers from lawsuits that emanated from dealing with aircrafts that were older than18 years. Before this the industry had died because of the many suits that had been filed. Thus not many people wanted to join an industry that would cost them more money in running other than the investment itself. To build a single aircraft is valued at the price of 250 million dollars this value is minus the certification process which takes a lot of money. The two factors are the main contributors of lack of innovation when it comes to the aviation industry. Adam Aircraft Company is an example of a company that has defied all odds in the aviation industry by escaping such hurdles as technology, capital, competition from staunch players like the Cessna and Boeing builders, and skeptics’ from players of the aviation sector, to come to a point of success by creating A500 and A700. The company is faced with major responsibilities which include the need of more finances to improve their innovation models in this industry as they have majored in light weight jets. In the past they have been using a lean budget to oversee their innovations. The company has opted to this kind of plane to increase its utility and increase efficiency. Another major responsibility faced by the company is the need of working through a lean budget, to deliver planes in good time that are not behind schedule or which will be carried out in a slow pace attracting the attention of competitors who will end up using their ideas to make better planes. Adam aircraft company has done well from its conception of humble begins they have grown to beat some of their competitors just by being innovative and timely in their actions. By the fact that they take anything that comes their way with outmost confidence they work with ultimate swagger of understanding their strategies well and to the core. They have taken the advantages of technology and used it to their advantage, this they have done by making it possible the designing of plane structures using the computer which tends to give them preciseness and accurate findings. The fore-mentioned idea helps the company to beat deadlines. Its engineers are always ready to upgrade new ideas and learn more as they work hence their ingenuity is affected to the maximum. When faced with challenges they tend to face it with an attitude of possibilities other than brushing it away to oblivion. Take for the case of john being asked if they can be able to solve the problem of putting an overhead window on an A500 plane to increase visibility of the tanker high and right, the engineers at Adams aircraft could do it in a week’s time. The engineers at Adams aircraft are committed people who are adaptable and flexible flourished and with their years of experience. Key recommendations include the need of motivation which should be revived daily in the company as the spirit of innovation is kept alive. Recruiting new engineers as their market flourishes should be inculcated as the new employees come in, in-training and key company strategies should be instilled in them. Introduction This analysis report on Adam Aircraft Company will mainly dwell on two issues how to waiver competition from established companies in this sector and the challenges that they face as they try to sell their product and new innovation ideas to a market that seems to be resilient to change. The market seems to be inflexible and question new comers who come to the arena. Will the company be able to sell its new innovative ideas because they need the money when it comes to expansion and carrying out research as they invent new products in the aviation industry? The art of selling themselves in market that has lain dormant for more than 3 decades is a major hurdle this report is going to evaluate the market, try to comprehend what the market needs in terms of approach, what kind of problems the industry faces when it comes to a stringent, inflexible, neglected market. (Sheehan 2003) How will they counter the problem of competition in relation to timeliness? They have to invent ways on which they can increase their speed when it comes to the time given to research new findings and the time of implementation of research findings. This is the main factor that will distract their competitor’s stables. How to go about it has to be brought to the light by the basis of finding the strengths and weakness characterized in the sector. Marketing Adam Aircraft Company has a market plan already set in place this is by the fact that it sells its product to the government and private owners. It has specialized in selling of the A700 Models twin engine aircraft and A500 Models thrust twin engine aircraft meaning it has a goal in place.   But how can they increase their market space in order to increase transactions which will alleviate the problems of job cuts brought about by the economic melt down that is being experienced world wide? One market area they should expound in, is the private owners through the charter system. They can make them their biggest customers by approaching and selling their ideas to them. With their A700 Model which can carry an approximate number of three people per trip it can go down well because the charted planes operate like taxis or cabs. Though people would like to travel in charted planes the ability to do so sometimes is unachievable. Hence Adams Aircraft Company should be able to provide affordable rates when it comes to their chattered services. Availability and accessibility of their planes should also be improved. The second market group is the private jet charters, this group can be considered a unique group which brings about specializing the services. People who make up this group consist of entertainers, athletes and celebrities these kinds of people are always on the move and are on tight schedules. Thus they need to have packages that are efficient and reliable. These private planes should be constructed in such way that will enhance privacy, comfort ability and convenience. By making them spacious, by having in built refreshing areas and other essentials that will be needed by this group of people. (Sheehan 2003) The advantage of investing in chartered airplanes is the fact that security details are given full cover. In that the charter company takes full responsibility when disaster strikes like terror attacks. Another advantage posed by private jets is that the customers are exposed to the equipments of the plane thus knowing and gaining full knowledge of the plane thus the eventual buying of the plane. A private charted plane also encourages employees and workers to communicate with each other without much ado of others hearing their work matters. In chartered planes the customers get the advantage of using a wide variety of services offered with different planes for various kinds of operation needed by the customer. This is because small planes have variable speeds and different kinds of equipments installed hence it gives the user an opportunity to experiment with all planes and one day perhaps will buy the best of them all. To reach the clients the company needs to employ various marketing skills such as employing sales personnel, employing direct customer contact and reaching out to other companies that offer the same kind of services to rent the companies planes. To penetrate the market even further Adam Company can develop a soft ware that will enable the market to respond to problems experienced while using its services. This will make the definition of the customers problem to be highlighted and alternative solutions be delivered. The company also should diversify its network to other countries especially developing countries who have the older models kind of planes that tend to have major snarl ups especially when it comes to visibility problems. Due to the high research inn put being put by the company it should find ways of approaching governments of other countries on the advantages of using their highly motivated air planes that have spare parts availability. Adams Aircraft Company can also venture into creating spare parts of old models. Thus this will increases their market share, because of the vacuum created due to the dormant years. It can take the initiatives of inventing more susceptible spare parts that will be used on old models. This initiative will go along away in increasing their capital standings, because it will cover even models that are not of their company. Thus beating their competitors at their own game, taking for instance they will increase their innovativeness when it comes to these said spare parts. This venture will mean more money being pumped in for research purposes but the out right benefits to be found afterwards are of outmost gain. They can take the above measure into two ways, one creating spare parts that are compatible with what they are specializing in that is for A700 planes and A500 planes, here they only need to upgrade the spare parts of other models to be compatible with theirs, this will enhance saving on capital subjected to the project. The second way is creating new spare parts from scratch for the old models. This will mean a lot of research input and capital investment. In conclusion it’s a venture that will increase its market share and pump in more money to the company. Competition Competition is another area of concern. Adam aircraft company should device ways on how to combat competition from their detractors. Adam Company is a new company in this arena compared to pipers, Cessna and Boeing which have rooted their operations world wide.   By taking advantage of their research and innovativeness they can increase their profit margin. But their lean budget tends to restrict them to progressive meaningful steps. This is to imply that timely acts can differentiate between the space of actual innovation and implementation. (Sheehan 2003) Adam aircraft company should pump more money to its research programs this will enhance its innovative programmes. This should be followed by specializing in the manufacturer of light weight jets only. This will mean they will go into research to improve what they already have meaning, not much money will be needed because it’s a continuation of the first process. They will be aiming to improve in efficiency, increase in capacity, and increase speed. By concentrating on a selected set of items more energy is directed to one certain point thus the end product will be a good product that doesn’t waiver because of economic recessions. The time between innovation and making a complete revolution of a product should be decreased with appropriate money set aside for certification process which is quite expensive. Business in mini jets and jets is anticipated by the majority of the population which likes to save time that is usually wasted at the airports and a population that likes to enjoy privacy and convenience thus this factor should motivate Adam Aircraft Company to continue producing its series of light weight jets. (Sheehan 2003) Two specific trends that favor the innovation of jets are as flows: proliferation of fractional ownership programs and the introduction of relatively low cost mini jets. As explained in other paragraphs increased flexibility in trip scheduling has improved by the accessibility of mini jets. Fractional ownership can be defined as the process where by a company buys a fraction of a fleet owned by lets say Adam Aircraft Company. This entitles that particular company to use that fleet at their own convenient time while paying for the services rendered. This includes the use of every kind of aircraft that Adam Company owns in its fleet this is arranged on the basis of the company paying a small fraction of the typical purchase price. This arrangement provides the user with a fixed number of hours that can be used per year. Another more innovative way of practicing the above idea is that of having jet cards program that entails individuals and companies to accesses flight time in 25 hour increments, hence increasing accessibility and lowering the cost than buying into a fractional ownership program. The above area hasn’t been exploited to its limits thus Adam aircraft Company can specialize in it. (Sheehan 2003) Manufacturers of these small jets should be well equipped to serve its clients who are more interested to efficiency and service delivery. The demand of these small airplanes has risen as years go by, Adam Aircraft Company should innovate smaller piston engines that can impact high altitude air space and air space around major metropolitan areas. It is expected by 2015 the growth and idea of plane taxi would have spiraled to up to 20% this should be factor on which Adam aircraft company should rely on to beat its competitors. The main cause of the two problems that is market penetration and competition can be attributed to one, a market that has lain dormant for over thirty years without the introduction of new products. The market was used to having models made in the sixties and seventies whose wiring systems and engines had been elapsed by time and technology, though they had adapted fine to its defects. The entry to this sector of manufacturing small jets and planes needs a lot of money for starters and incase of lack of time management a good innovation can be elapsed by occurring events leading to innovation of a product being back scheduled. A company needs a team of experienced engineers who are able to innovate better, efficient and faster planes compared to the planes made in the seventies. Security and safety measures should also be taken for consideration. (Sheehan 2003) The second problem of competition arises by the fact that in this field there are large companies that have been in the playing field for ages. For example large companies such as Boeing and Cessna have a large market and capital base thus for a company like Adam aircraft company to weaver that competition it needs to strategies its services and production levels. Adam Aircraft Company needs to increase their capital base in order to increase their competitive rates, by this they can materialize on specialization, increase innovation, increase and expand their delivery boundaries by involving charter companies. Conclusion For a successful company to affect its course it has to have a strategy that is well organized. In our case study the Adam Aircraft Company has that; it has specialized in an area that is perceived by many in the aviation sector as minor. But times are changing and the mode of having taxis and cabs on road will invade the air space and soon this industry of light weight jets will pronounce its vastness. As other big players continue to ignore the fertile grounds that small jets offer if innovation is instilled, their sector of heavy planes will be adversely affected by the competition it will experience in coming years. As more people venture for efficiency, more personalized services, and privacy that only the small jets and planes can offer. It is by the above fact that Adam aircraft company should take the pioneering role of establishing a company that will dully specialize in creating jets that have increased efficiency. By now their might be a negligent growth when it comes to usage of light weight jet but as civilization takes its course and sophistication improves the market will flourish for this kind of business.

What Is The Level Of Agricultural Protectionism In The Developed World Essay

What Is The Level Of Agricultural Protectionism In The Developed World And Why Does It Occur - Essay Example Avoiding too much importing will protect the countries, especially developed, to lose the balance of trade as well as local businesses in their country. It protects its countries local industries to decline. According to Hussein Haeri, 'Agricultural protectionism' in the European Union takes many guises, such as "domestic support policies, import barriers, and export subsidies,3" to name a few measures. In fact, the European Common Agricultural Policy accounts for almost half of the European Union's budget. This results in significant distortions in both European and international agricultural markets. (Haeri, 2001) In the event of educating the poorer countries with regards to the benefits of 'free trade' the EU adopts and formulated policies, which restrain the trading of agricultural products freely or at a lower tariff. While the rich gets richer and the poor gets poorer, some rich countries are hiding in disguises. Agricultural protectionism occurs because when tariff levels are low, the productivity of the farms of the developed countries will be low. It is not difficult to see why price supports for dairy, sugar, peanuts, tobacco, and other U.S. farm products have led to protectionist policies. In recent years, for example, domestic prices of U.S. dairy products frequently have been two to three times world prices. The case of sugar, for which domestic price in mid-1986 was about four times world price, is even more dramatic. Without rigid import controls, consumers would undermine domestic price support programs by substituting lower priced imports for price-supported products including sugar, butter, cheese, and peanuts. (Pasour, n.d) 2.b) What form does it take and effect does it have. Agricultural protectionism comes in discreet forms. They over ride in domestic support policies, import barriers, and export subsidies. The effects of agricultural protectionism are: Farmers and other workers are not permitted to do their activities such as farming, etc. It is their field and because of agricultural protectionism, they are not allowed to do their job of which they are most productive. If farmers and other workers can't do their forte, they cannot gain enough income and benefits, thus they became poor. Billions of dollars of taxpayer subsidies are paid to U.S, European and Japanese farmers which depress world prices and make it tougher for our farmers to earn a decent return for their hard work," Mr Vaile said. (Vaile, 2005) The high global cost of goods deprives the poor ones to buy enough for their living. Commercialize agricultural goods that are not usually good for the health. Flooding of their (developing countries) domestic market (import surges) with products sold on the world market at less than their cost of production. (n.d) Displacement of local trading capacity which was intended to, and in some circumstances initially did, fill the void left following the deregulation of local markets and associated dismantling of parastatals. (n.d) Worsen the global poverty by imposing high import tariffs for small or developing countries, so instead of pulling up those developing countries, many of which have dived down to poverty due to these factors. Increased tradeproblems, tensions and job losses. For sugar, the deterioration of economic conditions which initially curtailed imports into major Asian markets has also led to a substantial drop in imports into the Russian. (FAO, n.d) Tight supplies in the vegetable oil market, particularly emanating from a drought-induced contraction in palm oil availability from major Asian producing countries, boosted prices, while oilmeal prices suffered from a decline in the demand for animal feeds in crisis-affected regions, accentuated by abundant supplies of

Emerging Business Themes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 2

Emerging Business Themes - Essay Example It has a more than 7,500 restaurants in the United States and over 5,600 restaurants in 97 countries. (Yum! Brands, 2009). Social Media is defined as "a group of Internet-based applications that are build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content† (Kaplan Andreas M., 2010) . Pizza Hut, which started spreading as a franchise restaurant has evolved over a period of time keeping pace with the latest developments. Needless to say, that its diverse delivery format required huge investment in technology. Now, it is also investing in Social Media technology to keep up with its customers like many other ‘brands [which] are rushing to keep up with consumer behavior’ (Peter Kim, 2009). Pizza Hut is still testing grounds when it comes to social media technology. To find out what the customers want to hear, they engage in conversations with customers over the social media sites. It has initiated various campaigns targeted at increasing its online presence. It has marked its presence on Facebook and Twitter and is offering ‘hot’ deals to the users of these websites. However, a well defined marketing strategy regarding its social media networking is yet not in place. Pizza Hut has set its communication goals as – 1) giving people an engaging and fun way to find news and information from Pizza Hut, and 2) creating two-way relationships with our customers, built on trusted conversation. (Fuller, 2009) Probably its communication goals led Pizza Hut to announce its intention to hire an intern for managing its Twitter account. Although this piece of news was intended to establish camaraderie with the generation using Twitter, it gathered a lot of criticism from marketing gurus who thought it was a bad idea to let an intern handle an international brand on an international platform. (Evans, 2009) While social media technologies represent exciting new opportunities for