Factors Influencing While Purchasing Tyres

Factors Influencing While Purchasing Tyres Abstract   In this project I have study of â€Å"factors influencing while purchasing tyres† JK tyres manufactured by Jk Tyre Industries. In this competitive era of marketing where the satisfaction of the customer towards the product is become first priority, it is therefore very important to analyze customer behaviour. Consumer behaviour can be looked upon as study of how individuals make decisions on how to spend their available resources like time, effort, money in various consumption related items. The understanding of customer needs and wants is one of the major underpinning construct of marketing. Without putting customer on the top company cannot get success, forgetting success every company should target customer, because market is totally customer oriented. This project evaluated which factors influence the customer most when he/she goes for purchasing tyres. Finally I have given some views and suggestions to the company with which they can satisfy the customer the most. Preface Inspite of theoretical knowledge gained through class room study, a person is incomplete if not  subjected  to practical exposure  of real corporate world. He may have to face hurdules, which will be difficult  to overcome  without any first hand experience of business. In this context, research program has been designed  to make aware of  happening of real business. The project entitled â€Å"Factors influencing  while purchasing tyres† with special refrece to JK tyres, has been done at New Delhi and Jalandhar as completion part of Msc International Business. In my work-based dissertation, we worked upon the analysis of the JK tyre industries in New Delhi and Jalandhar by customer attitude through  the personal contact and  questionnaires. During my work-based dissertation, I got opportunity to apply my theoretical skills and knowledge and meaningful concept to actual business condition and Familiarize  with the marketing activities of the products. All the work done on this  project is confined to my  broad objective. In today’s world of intense competition and rapid dynamism, all companies worldwide are tuning their focus on the customer. Suddenly, customer had succeeded in capturing all attention of the companies towards him, so much so, that maxim, â€Å"customer is god† has become so true and relevant today. There has been a paradigm shift in the thinking of these companies and none other than customer has brought this about. Earlier there was seller market, since the goods and services were in short supply and sellers use to call the shots. But ever since the advent of era of globalization there has been total transformation in the way of customers being perceived. Today, marketers are marketers are directing their effort in retaining customers and customer base. The customer importance has assumed imponderable proportion in today’s world because of inherent value that customers command. A customer can â€Å"make or break† the company. It is the responsibility of every company that to see all its customers are equally satisfied with them , for one single dissatisfied customer will tell at least nine other customer about the dissatisfaction and will spark off the chain reaction and spell doom for that company In the past customer were taken as ride, as there were not many players in the fields, not much importance was attached to product safety, quality, service and product appeal. The attitude of manufacturer was that of â€Å"Caveat-emptor†. Thanks to the government policies on liberalization, globalization and privatization, the market has changed today. Today customer has host of defence mechanism like customer protection laws, regulation of government, the powerful hands of organization, switching to or competitors. The maxim â€Å"Caveat-emptor† has been replaced by â€Å"Caveat-venditor†. In the past after sales service was consider as cost centre, companies were lethargic in attending the customer complaints. Availability of trainee service personal and quality genuine spare parts was serious problems. However, with rising competition, there could not be much product differentiation as product, quality was comparable and latest technology was with each and every company in the field.  Since there could not be much differential a tangible assets, the companies concentrated on the intangible assets normally service factor which served as major differentiator. Today after sales is considered as major aspect for every company and it is no more considered as cost centre but now it considered as profit centre Company profile JK tyre is only manufacturer of truck and bus tyres and second largest manufacturers of 4- wheelers. JK tyre and Industries in counted among the huge corporate entity which is the symbol of excellence, diversification and pioneering new technologies. Since its commencement it has been supreme in the value of technology which made it grow .JK tyre manufacturers and sells the tyres and tubes fot passenger car, truck, jeep, buses, multi utility vehicle,tractors and light commercial vehicle under its brand â€Å"JK tyre†. The company is the only manufacturer of ‘T’ ‘H’ high performance tyres in India. JK ranked â€Å"Highest in customer satisfaction with original tyres by J.D power Asia Pacific Study†. Its customers are mostly Replacement for four wheelers, entire Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) in India along with state and defence transport units. Moreover JK have customer base across 45 countries and 6 continents.   Administrative Office: Link House, 3, Bahadurshah Zafar Marg,   New Delhi 110 002 http://www.jktyre.com/j-k-industries-limited.html Vision mission Vision â€Å"To be amongst  most admired companies in India committed to excellence† Mission  ·Ã‚  Be customer obsessed company  ·Ã‚  No. 1 Tyre Brand in India  ·Ã‚  Deliver enhance value to all stakeholders  ·Ã‚  Most profitable tyre company in India  ·Ã‚  Enhance global presence through acquisition  ·Ã‚  Motivated and committed  team development  for high performance  organization http://www.jktyre.com/j-k-industries-limited.html Key developments JK tyre industries Earning results for first quarter declared 30.06.09 For the first quarter company has reported  net profit of INR 40.75 crores or earnings of Rs 9.92per share on the Net Sales of INR 897.67 Crores In gross sales has been INR 964.58 Crores .The board [emailprotected] 27% dividend on equity shares for the financial year ended 31 march 2009 . Companies profit before tax had been INR 62.16 crores and operating  profit was INR 107.14 Crores. Performance  during the quarter has significantly improved on account of all round cost reduction measures, better operating  effeciencies, productivity, and richer product mix. First tyre company to receive ISO 14001. First and only tyre company to export passenger  car radial to Europe. World’s first tyre manufacturer to get QS9000 for its operation. India’s first to get ISO 9001. JK tyre is pioneer in promoting Rallying, karting, motor sports, JK tyre  pioneer of steel radial technology. Customer satisfaction JK tyre is the preferred choice of the all leading vehicle manufacturers in India like Maruti (http://www.jktyre.com/directors-report06.pdf) BEML (http://www.overdrive.in/story-news-general_news/jk_tyre_to_produce_otr_tyres-12662-0.html) Ashok Leyland (http://www.financialexpress.com/news/truck-tyre-mkt-on-road-to-radialisation/88811/) TATA Motors Mahindra Force motors Volvo (http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/iw/2008/03/09/stories/2008030950701100.htm) JK Tyre meets ISO 9001, QS9000, ISO14001,E-MARK, DOT,IN METRO standards where ever applicable. JK Tyres efficient RD department is deeply involved in making improvements in the product performance, quality, and bring out new products. Company aims to give satisfaction to its customer by offering high quality and cost effective tyres and tubes. (http://www.jktyre.com/quality-policy.html) History of the company On 14 February 1951 JK organization was incorporated as a private limited company. Till 31 March 1970, the company was involved only in the business managing agency. After that, company took manufacturing activities and in February 1972 company obtained the letter of intent for production of automobile tyres and tubes. In 1974 company manufactured 4 lakh automobiles tyres and tubes per annum then on 1st April 1974 company was converted into public limited company. After this company promoted manufacturing project, it was done by J.K. Synthetics Ltd and straw Products Ltd. The company took international step by collaboration with General Tire Co.,U.S.A.,which was subsidiary of General Tire Rubber Co.,U.S.A. ,this collaboration was for the technical services which was for about 5 years and sales agreement for the supply of technical know-how, engineer and documentation for operation facilities for eight years. According to the agreement, J.K. tyre had right to use on its products the wording made in the collaboration with General Tire Co. Company renewed its technical collaboration agreement for further 5 years. In 1987 apart from 51 days strike as well as go slow from 14 October  the overall working resulted in substantial profits. Since the strike was resolved efforts were made to launch a new pattern in steel belted Radial tyres and it was introduced for Maruti Gypsy and Tata Mobile by the company in 1988. The company proposed install latest and sophisticated RD equipement by incurring expenditure of Rs 300 lakh.   Due to RD in 1989 company introduced several new pattern and sizes of tyres including a semi-lug Nylon Truck tyre, and got good response from the market. In 1991 Hidrive Finance Ltd., Radial Finance Ltd., Handeep Investment, J.K International Ltd., J.K Asia Pacific, Shivdham Properties, Pancham Investment ltd., became the subsidiaries of the companies. By 1992 company international division expanded its activities by opening its office in Moscow( Russia) apart from company’s subsidiaries already in U.K and Hongkong. Market well accepted the radial tyres for tractors launched previous year. In 1993 company introduced new brands of radial tyres ‘Brute’ and ‘Ultima’. After this compony started manufacturing steel belted radial tyres for the prestigious cars like Mercedes Benz, Peugeot,Daewoo race and Opel Astra. Market well received the new patterns developed for bus and trucks ‘PE-T8’. Despite of rise in inputs cost and cost of raw material and the competion company maintained its progress. Company attained higher capacity and all around cost reduction on both plants at Jaykaygra and Banmore. Many new generation cars accepted the J.K steel radial as T- rated ultima launched and was accepted by Daewoo’s ‘Cielo’ and then Mercedes benz india also choosed J.K steel radial  after this it G.M’s ‘Astra’. Then next were `Peugekot FIATs, `UNO and M Ms `Ford. After this company launched premium tyre to meet heavy load market which was ‘Jet Trak’-39 with this company launched new tractor rear tyre ‘SONA’ which was also greatly accepted by the market. During 1996 company launched car tyre JET Drive XS,and nylon car tyre for maruti along with semi-lug and heavy duty lug tyre for trucks. In radial category, Ultima XR Radial, a terrain tyre was introduced. All these tyres got good response from the consumers. Companies both the plants were operated at full capacity. In radial tyres units also launched dual contact high traction and high performance Aquasonic steel radial car tyre. As company had loan repayment of Rs 635 crores it proposed to reduced its debt by 125 crore in 2000. J.K tyre and the Indian oil corporation came  collaboration to install digital air pressure gauges and setting up sales out at IOC petrol station across the country. In 2001 managing director of J.K Industries Raghupati singhania was selected 19th chairman of ATMA (Automotive Tyre Manufacturers Association). J.K Industries in 2003 got new Marketing Director as Mr. Ajay Kapila who was earlier  Senior-Vice President in Kinetic Engineering Ltd. J.K. tyres merged with Vikrant tyres along with the non tyre business, sugar and agriculture into separate companies which were J.K Sugar Ltd and J.K Agri-Gentics Ltd. On 2nd April 2007 J.K Industries Ltd changed their name to J.K tyre and Industries Ltd. (http://www.moneycontrol.com/stocks/company_info/company_history.php?sc_did=JKT01) History of JK Organisation JK Organisation owes its name to late Lala Juggilal Singhania, dynamic personality with broad vision. Inspired by the cause of Swadeshi movement of Mahatma Gandhi and driven the zeal to set up an Indian enterprise .Lala Kamlapat Singhania founded JK organization in 19 century ushering in new industrial era in India. The process of industrialization and diversification was worthily and successfully carried on by Lala Kamlapat’s illustrious sons –Sir Padampat, Lala kailashpat, Lala Lakshmipat, aided in no small measures by the Late Gopal Krishna son of Sir Padampat. (http://www.jktyre.com/founders.html) 1933- Juggilal Kamlapat cotton Spinning and Weaving Mills Co. Ltd was the first to manufacture calco prints in the country. In 1940 J.K iron and steel Co Ltd manufactured first time steel bailing hoops for jute and cotton with which country became self sufficient in meeting the entire demand. Then in 1944 they produced first time  aluminium virgin Metal from the Indian  Bauxite at  Aluminium  corporation of India Ltd, Jaykaynagar. There after J.K engineer files manufactures first time in India Engineering files in 1949. In 1959 they were the first one to set up a continuous process plant of Rayon.  In 1960 J.K Iron steel Co Ltd at Kanpur manufactured for the first time in the country a hydraulically operated cane crushing Mill for their sugar plant in Khandsari and then they completed their 100 ton plant. During 1961 J.K chemical set up world’s first plant for production Hydrosulphite of soda by the amalgamation process of sodium. Similarly in 1962 they their company J.K synthetics Ltd at kota produced first time nylon-6 with its own polymerised raw material in India. J.K Chemicals Ltd was the first one to produce sodium formaldehyde in India. In  1968 they produce T.V sets in India along with Metallic Cops for Synthetic Filament yarn  industries.  In 1969 J.K synthetics manufactured acrylics fibres in the country for the first time in the country and J.K synthetics Ltd developed Dyeable Nylon. In 1973 they were the first to the licence Synthetic fibre technology to third party and produce Synthetic Fibre Machinery. In 1976 they produce steel belted radial for the first time in india  for the trucks, buses and passenger cars in their tyre plant at kankroli and then they make steel belted radial tyres for three wheelers which was manufactured for the first time in the world. In 1984 they produced white cement in India for the first time in India  through dry process. Then J.K Synthetics produced Cathonic Dyeable fibre first time in India and nylon tyre cord based on Spin Draw Technology. In India J.K magnetic produced first magnetic tapes with cobalt technology.  In 1991 company set up a tyre palnt at Banmore with annual capacity 5.7 lakh tyres. Then in 1992 HASTERI RD centre was established bu the company after two years in 1994 they launched India’s first T-rated tyre and Banmore tyre plant crossed 100 TPD. Next year mecedez benz was launched on J.K tyres and they got the ISO 9001 which was given to first time in history to tyre manufacturer. In 1996  they introduced steel wheels and launched first time in India dual contact high traction  steel radial- aquasonic. Next was the big year for the compay they acquired Vikrant tyres ,awarded national export award for 96-97, first and the only tyre manyfacturer to get ‘E’ mark certification, they launched first H rated tyre and their research institute got ISO 9002.  In 1998 they were awarded capexil’s highest export award for 1997-98, got QS 9000. In 1999 Jk tyre was ranked world’s 16 largest tyre company, synergy with VTL in procurement, marketing and production flexibility, they got ISA-14000 certificate for environment and safety. In 2000 National Go-Karting  championships were introduced by the company. In 2001 company received CAPEXIL award and FOCUS LAC export award. In this year 2nd Go-karting championship was held by the company. (http://www.jktyre.com/milestones.html) Jk tyre acquisition of Mexican tyre company tornel JK tyre acquired Mexican based –company with the annual capacity of 6.6 million tyres ,this deal cost Rs 270 crores. This deal made the JK tyre No.1 tyre maker in the country as their annual capacity increased to 15 million units because they have surpassed Apollo tyres which was earlier No.1 with the capacity of 8-10 million. This acquisition not only gives JK tyres an additional tyres but access to the  lucrative market of Latin and North America. (http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdf?vid=5hid=3[emailprotected]) The company is planning to sell both the brands JK and Tornel in U.S and Canada. They have planned to spend million more on the Tornel plants to add new shape to JK  brand and launch the JK radial and Tornel passenger and light truck brands  for U.S customers. (http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=10hid=101[emailprotected]bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=bthAN=35120934)   JK tyre and motor sports It’s been two decades that the JK tyre is closely related to adventurous world of motor sports. JK tyre has been constantly  promoting motorsports not just only to discover several winners, but also using their awareness and knowledge of RD department  to develop tyres on which world can race upon. JK tyre realised the absence of the infrastructure, which is necessary for the accomplishment of the motorsports in India. Over the last five years, JK tyre has embarked over Rs 15 crore to support the motorsport in India. (http://www.jktyre.com/motorsports/jk-in-motorsports-history.html) Global presence Jk tyre along with its associates Vikrant Tyres Ltd is the leading exporter of tyres from the country which counts roughly 26% of exports. JK tyre is the world’s first manufacturer of tyre to receive ISO 9000 along with QS 9000 for its operations. Across the world only JK tyre has received has certificate of QS 9000 for its multilocation operations. In the country it is only JK tyre was the first company to receive ISO 14001 in recognition of its environmental management systems. Nowadays, products manufactured by JK tyres compete with international players in the international market across the world. The products are exported to to more than 55 countries and in 6 continents. The company has robust and well developed distribution network for exports and the distributors get the full support from technical team for the product development so that they can meet the market requirements. JK tyre products are internationally certified in Europe, US, Middle East and South America. For commitment of offer in superior quality , standards and path-breaking breaking innovation the company has received numerous awards for exports for  last years.in 1999-00 JK being the largest tyre exporter to Latin America it was acknowledged  by the Indian trade promotion organization (ITPO).  In 200-01 company was honoured with ‘The Special Export Award’ from Capexil, with this company made its fourth consecutive award from India’s premier industrial association. JK tyre is constantly making any eefort to deliver value to customerswith along with sound marketing strategy forms which are establishment consistent performance in international market.   To develop new products of excellent and distinguished products so that they can compete in the international market, JK tyre had had maintained its marketing and distribution strategies for export market. This credit goes to India’s biggest in-house RD centre, HASTERI (Hari Shankar Singhania Elastomer And Tyre Research Institute). This centre is well equipped with latest testing facilities which helps in getting excellence by evolving technologies for superior product performance and it also reduces waste and thinks about the consumer needs. All over JK tyre has obtained many milestones. Despite of , bencjmarking customer sevice and plans to bring in several pioneering technologies there, a lot which will roll out in future in JK tyre’s winning path. (http://www.jktyre.com/global-business.html) JK tyres in North America In Mexican based company Tornel, JK tyre bought 100% stake. By this move JK tyre got access in the markets Of US along with this company can entered into the markets of South America. Tornel has total three manufacturing units with total capacity of 6.6.Million tyres per annum (http://www.business-standard.com/india/storypage.php?autono=319837) Technology at JK tyres Error proof Computer Aided Design Analysis JK tyres use updated tools and techniques which help them to figure out  and annihilate failure at the drawing board only. World class manufacturing on Automatic Machines Manufacturing of radials is done at air-conditioned plant fitted with the finest machinery to provide customer consistent good quality. Rigorous Testing Before the JK tyres reach the market it has to go through tough validation tests, both indoor and outdoor. Jk is one of the few companies that test their tyre so rigorously. Network of JK tyre Marketing Steel Wheels With the objective of meeting customer demand s and bringing best products and services form the customers, JK tyre established franchised chain nationwide retiled outlets as JK tyre steel wheels. It is considered to be one stop solution for the problems of and requirements of tyres and their services. In these they provide facilities like computerized wheel alignment, automated tyre changing, wheel balancing, air care, tyre rotation with the high technology and trained personnel guidance. Dial-a-tyre JK tyre has started delivering the tyre at the customer’s door. With this JK trained technician will deliver and fit the tyres at a pre-appointed time. In this wheel changing, balancing, and alignment is including. This step is user friendly to make the customer comfortable and for his convenience. AD-Campaigns JK tyre launched different types of ad campaigns to promote the product and the brand. The company publicized its product by placing its information in the media. Following are some of the ad-campaigns of JK tyres. Products JK tyre is leading manufacturer of tyres in India. It manufactures tyres  for entire segment of Truck/Bus, LCV, Passenger and Farms. Truck/ Bus-: JK Tyre is the leader in the segment of Truck/ Bus tyres. It has 70% market share in the truck and bus tyre segment. However this is very small sector Indian market but it is expected to grow in near future. They make Bias and radial types of tyres for this segment.   LCV-: In LCV segment they manufacturer such type of tyres and this they provide Bias and Radial. JK is the second largest  market share . Corporate social responsibility initiative by JK tyres J.K tyre believes that they get numerous inputs from the society, it adds value to these and offers the needed products and services to public at large. The profit which company makes is the enhancement by the public for value added. The purpose of CSR is enhance the government efforts by helping the citizen of the country, with which they can lead life which is prosperous, healthy, happy and more meaningful. It is believed that it is not only the job of the government to do the needful to the extent needed. That’s where the role of corporate citizen comes. In fact, it is helping ourselves because inputs and outputs comes from society and go back to society. So it is long run. J.K tyre and Industries undertook three major initiatives, 2004 onwards, as per deliberation in the central HRD Committee, presided over by Shri Hari Shankar Singhania, where all presidents and all time directors are members. Adult Literacy In 1950 the condition of china and india  was same i.e 18% of literacy. If the so huge population is illetrate then it is very difficult to imagine society making scientific progress and citizen leading purposeful and meaningful lives. From1950 there has been progress in this issue. China has got illiteracy 95% but our country got stuck at  65%. Looking at this J.K group took initiative, started  in may 2004  has made 6900 citizens of the country literate. Today, another 700 are participating in learning session in 30 groups at 10 different locations  in different six local languages viz. Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Oriya, Gujarati Hindi, under the guidance of our plants local management. The company has target for the year 2009 which 3000 plus.  The various place where classes are taken are J Central Pulp Mills at Songadh in Gujarat], Lakshmi Cement in Sirohi Rajasthan, J K sugar nr. Barielly, Fenner [ Hyderabad Madurai], J K agri in Hyderabad. For this company use the software developed by M/s TCS at the locations. The photograph shows a class in progress in a village near Hyderabad, organized by J K agri.K Tyre [ Banmore nr. Gwalior, Vikrant in Mysore, Kankroli in Rajasthan], J K paper [Rayagada in Orissa Prevention Of Hiv / Aids : Focus on Outside Community Mainly truckers and their helpers who are highly attacked by the disease HIV/AIDS. Looking at this scenario J.K tyre started in November 2005, and is supporting three clinics in situated at National Highway at Indore, Dhanbad, and Vishwa karma Nagar. J K Tyre supports the work being done by Melinda Bill Gates Foundation in collaboration with TCI Foundation. Awareness is the main objective of the project so that people should use preventive measures. In ‘Infotainment Melas  which are held near the clinics company also participate , in these mela’s entertainment is combined with spreading message. Despite of 3 clinics run by TCI foundation and supported by JK tyre , one clinic named â€Å"JEEVAN KIRAN† which is fully financed by JK tyre has been opened in Nov 2007 at Transport Nagar, Jaipur and 2nd clinic at shahpura on NH-8, which 70 Km short of Jaipur on way from Delhi on 25th May 2008. It’s day-to-day operations are controlled and managed by NGO called, â€Å"Vatsalya†. Till now , in all five clinics more than 39000 persons have been attended to for ailments, of which 9590 were treated  for STI’s [sexually transmitted infection] and rest for general ailments. Suspected cases were  referred to government centres. Prevention Of Hiv / Aids : Inhouse , Focus on Our Employees JAN 2008 = MOU signed ; between ILO [Internationaal Labour Organization] for helping us in this endeavour ; also a 2 hr presentation was made to group of Sr executives by ILO. March 2008 = J K TYre HIV /AIDS POLICY was announced has been widely disseminated. Four pillars of this policy are : AWARENESS, NON-DISCRIMINATION, CONFIDENTIALTY CPOLLABORATION. APRIL 2008 = among employees a survey was carried out at all the location to assess the level of knowledge on the subject by an outside agency. MAY 2008 = among the employees training of 31 master trainers  by ILD took place who will address the other employees for 2 hour awareness session at all location. By the starting of July 2008, approximately 7000 employees took part in the  2 hour awareness program addressed by the Master trainers/Peer Trainersand this was highly appreciated by the workers and unions. HIV / AIDS, As additional initiative in 2008 for Observing WORLD AIDS DAY ON 1st  December 2008 Company joined  TCI foundation in observing the WORLD AIDS DAY at 13 locations across India [Delhi, Kanpur, Ghaziabad, Agra, Varanasi, Jaipur, Indore, Nagpur, Pune, Dhandbad, Jamshedpur, Hyderabad, Bangalore] The function called Truckers ‘Utsav was attended by 22000 truckers which combined awareness generation  with entertainment. Many invitations went out in transport community with J.K tyre logo. JK tyre also facilitates their products and banners and speaks few minutes about the company on the mike. (http://www.jktyre.com/corporate-social-responsibility.html) What is tyre? Review of literature What is Tyre? â€Å"A tyre is just black and round with hole in the middle. Actually, it’s a complex piece of high technology that is essential for the passenger safety and the efficient running of the vehicle. It’s a composite product. A tyre is a composite product that is, an inseparable assembly of materials with very different properties, whose manufacture demands great precision.†Ã‚   (http://www.michelin.co.uk/michelinuk/en/car-van-44/what-tyre/20070301111326.html) Structure of Tyre  ·Ã‚  Tread is that part of which comes into contact with road. It provides high grip, longer life durability  and protects carcass.  ·Ã‚  Steel belt also protects carcass and provides stiffness to tread.  ·Ã‚  The work Spiral layer contributes to high durability and manoeuvrability.  ·Ã‚  Shoulder being thickest part of the tyre it saves the carcass from outer shocks and damages.  ·Ã‚  Side wall being most flexible protect the carcass and provides comfortable ride to the driver.  ·Ã‚  Main body of the tyre is ply cord, it’s that which manages inflation pressures and endures load and road shocks.  ·Ã‚  Bead filler contributes in the high durability as well as manoeuvrability.  ·Ã‚  A bead wire is that part which hold tyre on rim.  ·Ã‚  Heat generated due abrasion of bead and rim flange id protected by chafer. NOTE: Construction of tyre may vary with size and pattern. (http://www.bridgestone.co.in/tyre/tyreknowledge/radialtyre.asp) Maintenance of tyre Maintenance of tyres is very essential to obtain the best performance. Following steps should be followed for proper maintenance of tyres-: Proper tyre mounting and de-mounting  ·Ã‚  New tube should be used with new tyre.  ·Ã‚  It should be kept in mind that tyre and tube are of same brand.  ·Ã‚  Combination of tyre and rim should always be correct.  ·Ã‚  Rim should be dirt and rust free and no bend should be there on the rim.  ·Ã‚  It should check that rim valve is smooth and round.  ·Ã‚  Before the tube is placed in the tyre, it should be cleaned the properly.  ·Ã‚  Mounting machines should used as much as possible and use of hammers and chisel should be avoided.  ·Ã‚  Ensure that before mounting and de-mounting tyre beads are lubricated.  ·Ã‚  Before inflating the tyre, ensure that tyre beads are seating correctly on rim or not. Tyre balancing An un-balanced tyre may cause vibration. So it is very important. Balancing  of tyre should be done under following circumstances-:  ·Ã‚  When vehicle covers 5000 Km  ·Ã‚  If vehicle is coming across any vibration  ·Ã‚  Mounting/de-mounting Tyre rotation Tyres must be rotated if any defect is found or vehicle have covered the distance of 5000 Km. First tyre  rotation is very important as it sets stage for long and even for tyre wear. Wheel alignment  ·Ã‚  Proper wheel alignment should be maintained of the vehicle.  ·Ã‚  It should done when ever required or after every 5000 Km. Daily tyre check Every morning before starting the vehicle, tyres should be properly checked. If the damages are exposed in the tyre, it should be cha

Lyndon Johnsons Vietnam War Strategy

Lyndon Johnsons Vietnam War Strategy LYNDON JOHNSON’S PEACE INITIATIVES DURING THE VIETNAM WAR â€Å"What did the Johnson administration hope to achieve from diplomatic efforts to resolve the Vietnam War between 1965 and 1968 and with what success?† Introduction: Lyndon Johnson had become highly besieged in the pursuit of his Vietnam policy. Most historical arguments centre round his inept handling of the situation, in which he escalated the bombing offensives and then tempered them down making a mess of the peace moves, which were never done with any serious intent. The core of the historical criticism of the president is that he allowed himself to be blindly guided by inappropriate advice from Robert McNamara, and caused avoidable loss to American lives. Obsessed with the idea of keeping the armed forces subordinate to the presidency, the Johnson administration gave instructions that were out of sync with the happenings on the battlefield. This paper takes a look at these developments, while listing in some detail the peace moves he tried to make, and how they came a cropper. It finally looks at the reasons for their failures, and tries to point out who could be held responsible for the fracas. Limitations of this paper Since this paper is about a highly narrowed down topic, a background to the war and its developments is not made; this paper is limited to discussing its defined purview, and hence these details and the persons involved in the war are taken as given. Need for negotiations In order to understand with what objectives the president initiated negotiations, it is necessary to understand the situation that forced him to make these moves. With a series of ill-conceived actions, the president had crossed the Rubicon over Vietnam. Well into the middle of his term, it was a thorn in the flesh from which there seemed no reprieve for the beleaguered president, even as enormous pressure mounted at home to end the war. As aptly summed up, â€Å"Vietnam was a stalemate producing irreconcilable domestic divisions and a nightmare†¦from which Johnson could not awake.† (Dallek, 1998, p. 443) From the sunny days of his presidential campaigning of 1964, when less than a third of the population saw Vietnam as the most pressing problem the nation faced to a near doubling of this figure by the winter of 1965-66, the decline in support for the president’s policies on Vietnam was rapid. (Dallek, 2004, p. 251) His gauche at handling the press was also another factor for this situation, with the result that Vietnam soon became, in the perception of the American public, â€Å"President Johnson’s war†. (Liebovich, 1998, p. 45) Egged on by his Defense Secretary, Robert McNamara, Johnson had given the war efforts no respite; he was firmly convinced that all it needed were a few more bombings and a few successful fights to end the war. He could not have been more off the target; while the president’s men assessed that the Vietcong and the North Vietnamese regular armies could be subdued, the latter resorted to guerrilla tactics, from scattered and well-spread positions. The result was calamitous –by 1967, nearly half a million Americans had been sent to Vietnam, of whom the total casualties were in the region of 100,000, among whom no less than a seventh had lost their lives. (Liebovich, 1998, p. 44) Although the Government of South Vietnam, (GVN), whose fragile nature had for so long worried the US, had coalesced, with the Cao Ky coup by the beginning of 1966, the Johnson administration was in a bind about the policy it had to pursue, because astronomical sums were going down the drain. An April 1966 intra-governmental policy review had not seen any major reason for hope. The views of the presidential staff differed sharply from those of the men on the battlefield. Air strikes, on which the administration had pinned its highest hopes to achieve a breakthrough in the war, had come to a virtual naught, and were becoming a colossal waste of resources. One of the prime air strike programmes, ROLLING THUNDER, in the assessment the Institute of Defense Analysis made in the summer of 1966 had â€Å"had no measurable direct effect†. This was after the air strikes on the highly strategic and vulnerable areas of Petroleum, Oil and Lubricants, (POL) of the Democratic Republic of Nor th Vietnam (DRV). (Gelb Betts, 1979, pp. 146-148) At this point, the lack of effectiveness of the bombing strategy was also severely compounded by the exorbitant cost of carrying out these operations, which according to the CIA, cost almost ten times as much as the gains they brought. Having dropped as much as 643,000 tons of bombs on North Vietnam, the cost of this on the US exchequer was $ 9.60 for every dollar’s worth of damage they inflicted on the DRV with only half the fighter bombers having the capability of surviving the year-long stint as pilots. (Wiest, 2003, p. 27) This terrible cost of escalation was also reflecting on the economy, taking it on an inflationary spiral, and threatening to neutralise its post-war gains. (Isserman Kazin, 2000, p. 224) Gold prices were becoming very volatile, and all these contributed to completely undermine his ‘Great Society’ programme, on which he had come to power, (Reiter Stam, 2002, p. 121) and whose central theme was economic growth accompanied by poverty reduction. (Brown-Collier, 1998) In addition, another extremely important factor was threatening to bring the president on his knees –sustained antiwar movement, that had been inspired by the success of the Civil Rights movement. On the field, the highhandedness of the American forces had only succeeded in making the South support the North, and the infiltration of men and other supplies from the North. Through the Ho Chi Minh Trail, an estimated 90,000 men infiltrated to the South between 1965 and 1967. The Americanisation of South Vietnam was a total disaster. (Best, Hanhimà ¤ki, Maiolo Schulze, 2004, pp. 296) It was in the wake of these major drawbacks associated with continued bombing that the president was forced to mellow his position. By December 1966, the administration was convinced that since there was no way by which they could win the war, at least by election time, the only road that lay ahead was negotiation, (Dallek , 1998, p. 444) since this was the only way by which he could reverse these conditions. However, as the next section illustrates, he was no better at these negotiations, either. Johnson’s objectives, the negotiations and reasons for their failure These debacles were to reflect heavily on the president personally; by December 1966, the realisation had clearly and irrevocably dawned on the administration that unless the Americans ended the war at the earliest, it would reflect badly on the nation’s elections of 1968. At this stage, there was no alternative to negotiation, if the president was to have the slightest chance of re-election. From the high perch at which the president was seated, the only non-negotiable point at the discussions now became a separate state within South Vietnam (SVN), and a non- communist government for the president. (Dallek, 1998, p. 443) The first concrete steps towards negotiation were taken furtively, in 1966. At this point, the US was still very imperious, even though it was the one that initiated the negotiation. It made a blanket, unconditional demand –that the DRV stop infiltration into the south for bombing to stop. The first of these steps, known as bombing pauses, was hardly f ruitful. Taking off from here, the Johnson administration made a clearer move towards negotiation at the Manila Conference in the Declaration of Peace in 1966. The aim of the administration, which was to negotiate from a position of strength, offered the condition that the US would withdraw from South Vietnam within six months of Hanoi withdrawing the last of its troops from there. However, the DRV too was equally determined to bargain from a position of strength. The result was that the Johnson administration was seen to be keen on making peace, but within the administration, the same problem of the mismatch in thinking between the executive and the armed forces remained, (Gelb Betts, 1979, p. 151) because the president, in whose mind the famous spat between Harry Truman and Gen. Douglas McArthur during the Korean War had been weighing heavily, decided that the best way to avoid a repeat of such a situation now was to keep the military under the firm control of the presidency. Unf ortunately, he was ham-handed in doing this, ending up in only isolating the military and creating a terrible disharmony between the two. (Jacobsen, 1996, p. 216) Accordingly, after the raids of December 13 and 14, the president ordered a Christmas ceasefire, and extended it up to January 1 as a goodwill gesture. The main objective for Johnson at this stage was securing the territorial integrity of the north and south of Vietnam, or all Vietnam, should its people choose reunification. His objective was also clearly aimed at silencing his critics at home, of whom there was no dearth. He sought to make these moves towards negotiations to silence the doves in the Congress, who kept insisting on negotiations, and the American public, who were becoming war-weary. (Dallek, 1998, pp. 443-448) The quick progress Eugene McCarthy made at the Hampshire primaries jolted the president about his sagging popularity. Drawing from McCarthy’s success, Robert Kennedy, too decided to challenge t he president. (Isserman Kazin, 2000, p. 224) Internally, the most urgent need for him was to use the Vietnam War as a means to finish off his political rivals at home, chief among whom was Robert Kennedy. â€Å"For all his hope and brave talk about progress in the fighting, he still feared that the war would destroy him politically and open the way to a successful Kennedy bid for the presidency.† (Dallek, 1998, p. 448) There was also another factor –a change in US attitudes towards China, following the perception of Chinese expansion being the cornerstone of a Vietnam policy getting significantly reduced around the middle of 1966. (Parker, 1989, p. 142) Johnson hoped that he could hold his people together while using the armed forces and air strikes to force the Hanoi government to buckle just in time to give him a great fillip for the 1968 elections. Internationally, too, he was keen to be seen as a man who was interested in peace, accepting British and Russian offers to mediate, albeit reluctantly. He followed these up with another ceasefire for February 6-13. (Dallek, 1998, p. 446) Peace moves Operation Marigold was the name given to the Johnson administration’s attempt to make peace with Hanoi through indirect means, by which intermediaries in the form of emissaries of neutral countries were sent to develop channels of communication. It first started when the Polish member of the International Control Commission, Janusz Lewandowski apprised the Italian ambassador in Saigon, Giovanni d’ Orlandi and then the US ambassador to South Vietnam, Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., about Ho Chi Minh’s mind. The North Vietnamese leader was surprisingly amiable to US propositions. He suggested that if the Americans suspended bombing, he was more than willing to talk with them; an even greater surprise was that he was not going to insist that a socialist regime be established in the South, would not meddle in the affairs of the southern government, and that he was willing to consider a â€Å"reasonable calendar† for American withdrawal. Yet, in typical hubris, the John son administration threw away an easy way out of the conflict that had presented itself on a platter. The reason? Washington’s perceived untrustworthiness of the neutrality of communist Poland. Such a baffling, completely unfounded assumption destroyed a great chance for peace. A glaring example of the complete lack of coordination between the presidential and military staff, the basic reason for which bombing had not stopped earlier, showed itself up in December 1966. While the US ambassador in Poland, John Gronouski, was making preparations for a highly sensitive meeting with Polish officials, out of the blue, the US dropped bombs on sensitive targets in Hanoi heavily on December 2 and 3. This completely set the clock back on whatever little progress the Poles were making towards negotiating with the DRV, which centred round the issue of bombing. To this, the unrepentant administration offered the flimsiest of reasons for which the air strikes could not go ahead as planned on November 10 – bad weather! Further, even the planned attacks on December 13 and 14 went ahead as scheduled, giving the Marigold initiative a quick burial. Analysts are of the opinion that even after the bombings of December 2 and 3, there was hope for some salvage, but that the Johnson administration, which had in the first place created the truce move, killed it with its own hands. The simple reason for this was the total lack of sincerity on the part of the Johnson administration about going ahead with the bombing pauses. After briefly halting its bombings in mid-December, the US once again insisted that Hanoi reciprocate unequivocally. It read wrongly the situation on the ground in Hanoi in mid-late January 1967. With the DRV Foreign Minister, Ngoyen Duy Trinh’s tough words on January 28, demanding that the US stop its bombings immediately, the official obituary to the Marigold initiative came to be written. (Gelb Betts, 1979, pp. 152, 153) The fate of another such mission, Operation Sunflower, was no different; having been declared on February 6, 1967, the first reaction it drew was a strong letter from Ho Chi Minh, who warned the president that â€Å"the people of Viet Nam are determined not to surrender under the threats of bombing†. (Brigham, 1998, p. 143) This phase offered a six-day bombing pause in February 1967. Even while the Americans were again strict on the condition of reciprocity from North Vietnam, that of stopping infiltration, the administration gathered evidence that the North Vietnamese were taking advantage and were supplying arms to the South, forcing Washington to drop the plan. Another initiative was the San Antonio formula of September-December 1967. This, too, did not offer anything new or different; it reiterated American willingness to stop bombing and talk, if the North met its obligation of supplying arms to the South. North Vietnam, predictably, dismissed the offer. There were other initiatives for negotiation, too, between October 1966 and February 1968. Starting with moves initiated on the occasion of the funeral of Indian Prime Minister, Lal Bahadur Shastri, other steps, clearly half-hearted, were taken. These, in addition to neutral moves by eminent persons and the Glassboro summit, were given high sounding codenames such as Packers, Aspen, Ohio and Pennsylvania. (Gelb Betts, 1979, p. 163) Another prominent attempt of a peace mission was that of the Italian cleric, Giorgio La Pira in 1965. To his desperate pleas to end the war, all that the Johnson administration made was this indifferent reaction: State Department Executive Secretary Benjamin Read commented to presidential advisor, Walt Rostow thus: â€Å"[La Piras] telegram is another in a voluminous series of peace messages. In view of La Piras well-known position on Vietnam and other issues, it is recommended no reply be made.† (Miller, 1999, p. 143) The net result of these peace overtures was a near zero. All these gave rise to the Tet offensive. (Gelb Betts, 1979, p. 165) This was the event that signalled what a morass the US had got into. On the night of January 31, 1968, some troops owing their allegiance to the North Vietnamese leader attacked the American embassy of Saigon. Although the Americans put it down in no time, the event opened the floodgates to the seemingly never-ending nature of the war, showing up the complete lack of understanding of the war of the American soldiers, who went on the rampage, committing acts of unheard of savagery. (Isserman Kazin, 2000, p. 223) Thus, while peace was being sought, the actions of the administration took the two sides anywhere but there. Conclusion While fixing the blame for the failures of the negotiations processes, students of history need to see the situation in the backdrop of the Cold War era. In retrospect, in the age of extremely fierce rivalry between the two superpowers played out through their allies, perhaps some of the blame can be mitigated from Johnson when he refused to trust the Polish, a staunch communist country. To be fair, he was only reciprocating an attitude of great mutual distrust of the Cold War protagonists. (Vandiver, 1997, p. 156) However, it needs to be said that on this particular, extremely important occasion, he was allowing the history of their relationship to cloud his judgement, when there appeared no motive on the part of the Polish other than to bring about a ceasefire during Operation Marigold. The bottom line of the historic criticisms against Johnson relates to his oscillation between escalation and negotiation, the total disconnect between the executive and the armed forces, and the catastrophic consequences these produced. Offensives continued even as Operation Marigold was on; later, two months into the Tet offensive, there were no concrete results, by when the president had made up his mind not to run for the 1968 elections. This decision made no great difference: the purpose for which the bombing operations took place, forcing North Vietnam to end its support for Vietcong, was not served. The bombings of ROLLING THUNDER were in no way deterring a regrouping of the North Vietnamese guerrilla fighters, who still possessed all the strength to defeat the South Vietnamese Army. (Jacobsen, 1996, p. 216) Taking an overall view of the escalation and the failure of the peace negotiations, it is difficult to point an accusatory finger at anyone other than the president. The decision to escalate the offensive was entirely his and McNamara’s. In dealing with the situation, the president had thoroughly misread the situation, and had kept insisting to the American public that the war was all but won. At no stage of the war did the president behave in a manner befitting his office. In what was to be the ultimate show of lack of conviction in the peace moves, the man he appointed to oversee the peace negotiation, Averell Harriman, was never invited to the Tuesday Lunches briefings, where updates about the situation used to be made! Moreover, the Johnson administration regarded bombings as its biggest bargaining chip, a basis upon which all its negotiations were to proceed. A lack of coordination and understanding between these two vital organs was one of the prime reasons for the failu re of whichever peace missions the president undertook. (Gelb Betts, 1979, p. 151) Neither his offensives, nor the peace moves he made later when left with no other choice was done in the right spirit. As a result, the president’s handling of the Vietnam War was to dwarf the stature of one of America’s tallest presidents. References Best, A., Hanhimà ¤ki, J. M., Maiolo, J. A., Schulze, K. E., (2004), International History of the Twentieth Century, Routledge, London. Brigham, R. K., (1998), Guerrilla Diplomacy: The NLFs Foreign Relations and the Viet Nam War, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY. Brown-Collier, E. K., (1998), Johnsons Great Society: Its Legacy in the 1990s. Review of Social Economy, Vol. 56, No.3, p. 259+. Retrieved May 13, 2006, from Questia database. Dallek, R., (1998), Flawed Giant: Lyndon Johnson and His Times, 1961-1973, Oxford University Press, New York. Dallek, R., (2004), Lyndon B. Johnson: Portrait of a President, Oxford University Press, New York. Gelb, L. H., Betts, R. K., (1979), The Irony of Vietnam: The System Worked, Brookings Institution, Washington, DC. Isserman, M., Kazin, M., (2000), America Divided The Civil War of the 1960s, Oxford University Press, New York. Jacobsen, M., (1996), 13 President Johnson and the Decision To Curtail Rolling Thunder. In The Tet Offensive, Gilbert, M. J. Head, W. (Eds.) (pp. 215-227), Praeger, Westport, CT. Liebovich, L. W., (1998), The Press and the Modern Presidency: Myths and Mindsets from Kennedy to Clinton, Praeger Publishers, Westport, CT. Miller, J. E., (1999), 5 Ambivalent about America: Giorgio la Pira and the Catholic Left in Italy from NATO Ratification to the Vietnam War. In The United States and the European Alliance Since 1945 /, Burk, K. Stokes, M. (Eds.) (pp. 127-144), Berg, New York. Parker, F. C., (1989), Vietnam: Strategy for a Stalemate (1st ed.), Paragon Press, New York. Reiter, D., Stam, A. C., (2002), Democracies at War, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ. Vandiver, F. E., (1997), Shadows of Vietnam: Lyndon Johnsons Wars (1st ed.), Texas AM University Press, College Station, TX. Wiest, A., (2003), The Vietnam War, 1956-1975, Routledge, New York.

Mordecai Richler’s The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz Essay -- Appren

Mordecai Richler’s The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz Cunning though he is, Duddy Kravitz fails to learn the tricks of his trade and, consequently, fails to become a whole person. In Mordecai Richler’s The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, Duddy’s peers succumb to his antics, thereby becoming deficient as Duddy’s teachers. Duddy’s amoral business associates are masters of ruthlessness and deceit, and his family members are enfeebled by the society they live in. Trained at the hands of these cripples, Duddy Kravitz is unable to complete his apprenticeship. Duddy Kravitz’s apprenticeship takes place where "the boys grew up dirty and sad, spiky also, like grass beside the railroad tracks." (The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, 46) At the Fletcher’s Cadets Parade, the boys whom Duddy learns from in his early years tell crude jokes and defect to buy rye. Duddy is also the president of room forty-one at Fletcher’s Field High School. He learns from his peers that the vulnerability of others can be used to his own advantage. From singing songs with lewd lyrics to tormenting his class masters and the rabbinical college students, Duddy elicits positive reaction from his peers. No one dares to accuse Duddy of lying, though his classmates see the outrageousness in his tales of Bradley’s exploits in Arizona. His peers humour him and stroke his ego. They applaud his pranks, but Duddy is a coward – he does not take responsibility for his wrongs. Whether it is writing hurtful comments on the board or phoning MacPher son’s wife Jenny – thus causing her death – Duddy learns that he can use his peers to relieve his conscience, "We’re all in this together, you understand?" (40) As the leader of the "Warriors," Duddy learns that his weak peers ... ...and is nobody," and not explaining fully to the boy what he means, Simcha fires the boy’s imagination and lust for land. Surrounded by emotional and psychological cripples, Duddy mistakens his goals in his apprenticeship and does not complete what he should do in order to become a complete person. Duddy’s peers, business associates, and family members all have distorted views of how to approach life, therefore they are unsuitable to preside as Duddy’s masters in Duddy’s apprenticeship in the field of life. Works Cited Richler, Mordecai. The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz. Ed. Malcolm Ross. Toronto: McClelland, 1969. Works Consulted Wainwright, J.A. "Neither Jekyll nor Hyde: In Defence of Duddy Kravitz." Canadian Literature 89 (1981): 56-73. McGregor, Grant. "Duddy Kravitz: From Apprentice to Legend." Journal of Canadian Fiction 30 (1980): 132-40.

Global Warming and the Greenhouse Effect Essay -- Climate Change Envi

Global Warming and the Greenhouse Effect Human induced climate change resulting from an enhanced greenhouse effect is probably the greatest environmental threat facing the world today. Specifically, the emission of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide may be classified as the primary culprit. As a result of greenhouse gases entering the upper levels of the earth's atmosphere, it diminishes or breaks down the earth's Ozone layer. With this loss of this protective blanket, harmful radioactive rays from the sun enter the deeper into the earth's atmosphere. This creates a rise in the overall temperature of our planet, along with alterations in the global environment, ecosystems and way of life for the habitants of earth. The earth like any body in space cools and warms until energy inputs from solar radiation and outputs from natural radiation are balanced. Greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere from human activities trap some of the energy radiating from the earth, increasing the temperature at which the earth creates energy balance. Based on a study by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) done in the early 1990s, approximately 65% of human induced greenhouse gases contributed to global warming. Over 80% of the increased atmospheric concentrations of harmful gases since the industrial revolution have been causes by industrial countries. Due to recent outsourcing and manufacturing market transfers, Asia and Latin America are regions where harmful emissi...

Management Information System Questions

————————————————- MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM Question 1(10 Marks) Discuss five (5) challenges of Management Information System (MIS). Answers Introduction A Management Information System (MIS) provides information which is needed to manage organizations effectively. Management information systems involve three primary resources such as people, technology and information or decision making. Management information systems are distinct from other information systems in that they are used to analyze operation activities in the organization.Academically, the term is commonly used to refer to the group of information management methods tied to the automation support of human decision making, e. g. decision support systems, expert systems and executive information systems. The Challenge of Management Information System (MIS) Although information technology is advancing at a bli nding pace, there is nothing easy or mechanical about building and using information systems. There are five major challenges confronting managers: 1. The information systems investment challengeIt is obvious that one of the greatest challenges facing managers today is ensuring that their companies do indeed obtain meaningful returns on the money they spend on information systems. It’s one thing to use information technology to design, produce, deliver, and maintain new products. It’s another thing to make money doing it. How can organizations obtain a sizable payoff from their investment in information systems? How can management ensure that information systems contribute to corporate value?Senior management can be expected to ask these questions: How can we evaluate our information systems investments as we do other investments? Are we receiving the return on investment from our systems that we should? Do our competitors get more? Far too many firms still cannot answ er these questions. Their executives are likely to have trouble determining how much they actually spend on technology or how to measure the returns on their technology investments. Most companies lack a clear-cut decision-making process for eciding which technology investments to pursue and for managing those investments. 2. The strategic challenge What complementary assets are needed to use information technology effectively? Despite heavy information technology investments, many organizations are not realizing significant business value from their systems, because they lack—or fail to appreciate—the complementary assets required to make their technology assets work. The power of computer hardware and software has grown much more rapidly than the ability of organizations to apply and use this technology.To benefit fully from information technology, realize genuine productivity, and become competitive and effective, many organizations actually need to be redesigned. T hey will have to make fundamental changes in employee and management behavior, develop new work models, retire obsolete work rules, and eliminate the inefficiencies of outmoded business processes and organizational structures. New technology alone will not produce meaningful business benefits. 3. The globalization challengeHow can firms understand the requirements of a global economic environment? The rapid growth in international trade and the emergence of a global economy call for information systems that can support both producing and selling goods in many different countries. In the past, each regional office of a multinational corporation focused on solving its own unique information problems. Given language, cultural, and political differences among countries, this focus frequently resulted in chaos and the failure of central management controls.To develop integrated, multinational, information systems, businesses must develop global hardware, software, and communications stan dards; create cross-cultural accounting and reporting structures; and design transnational business processes. 4. The information technology infrastructure challenge: How can organizations develop an information technology infrastructure that can support their goals when business conditions and technologies are changing so rapidly? Many companies are saddled with expensive and unwieldy information technology platforms that cannot adapt to innovation and change.Their information systems are so complex and brittle that they act as constraints on business strategy and execution. Meeting new business and technology challenges may require redesigning the organization and building a new information technology (IT) infrastructure. Creating the IT infrastructure for a digital firm is an especially formidable task. Most companies are crippled by fragmented and incompatible computer hardware, software, telecommunications networks, and information systems that prevent information from flowing freely between different parts of the organization.Although Internet standards are solving some of these connectivity problems, creating data and computing platforms that span the enterprise—and, increasingly, link the enterprise to external business partners—is rarely as seamless as promised. Many organizations are still struggling to integrate their islands of information and technology. 5. Ethics and security challenge: The responsibility and control challenge: How can organizations ensure that their information systems are used in an ethically and socially responsible manner?How can we design information systems that people can control and understand? Although information systems have provided enormous benefits and efficiencies, they have also created new ethical and social problems and challenges. A major management challenge is to make informed decisions that are sensitive to the negative consequences of information systems as well to the positive ones. Managers face an ongoing struggle to maintain security and control. Today, the threat of unauthorized penetration or disruption of information systems has never been greater.Information systems are so essential to business, government, and daily life that organizations must take special steps to ensure their security, accuracy, and reliability. A firm invites disaster if it uses systems that can be disrupted or accessed by outsiders, that do not work as intended, or that do not deliver information in a form that people can correctly use. Information systems must be designed so that they are secure, function as intended, and so that humans can control the process. QUESTION 2 (10 Marks)Explain with example (s) one (1) of the following Enterprise Applications: a) ERP b) SCM c) CRM Answers a) ERP Introduction In 1990, Gartner Group first employed the acronym ERP as an extension of material requirements planning (MRP), later manufacturing resource planning and computer-integrated manufacturing. W ithout supplanting these terms, ERP came to represent a larger whole, reflecting the evolution of application integration beyond manufacturing. Not all ERP packages were developed from a manufacturing core.Vendors variously began with accounting, maintenance and human resources. By the mid-1990s, ERP systems addressed all core functions of an enterprise. Beyond corporations, governments and non-profit organizations also began to employ ERP systems. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems integrate internal and external management information across an entire organization, embracing finance or accounting, manufacturing, sales and service, customer relationship management, etc. ERP systems automate this activity with an integrated software application.Their purpose is to facilitate then flow of information between all business functions inside the boundaries of the organization and manage the connections to outside stakeholders. ERP systems can ru n on a variety of computer hardware and network configurations, typically employing a database as a repository for information. Characteristics ERP systems typically include the following characteristics:- * An integrated systems that operates in real time (or next to real time), without relying on periodic updates. * A common database, which supports all applications. * A consistent look and feel throughout each module. Installation of the system without elaborate application/data integration by the Information Technology (IT) department. Examples: * Finance/ Accounting : General ledger, payables, cash management, fixed assets, receivables, budgeting and consolidation. * Human Resources : payroll, training, benefits, 401K, recruiting and diversity management. * Manufacturing : Engineering, bill of materials, work orders, scheduling, capacity, workflow management, quality control, cost management, manufacturing process, manufacturing projects, manufacturing flow, activity based cost ing, product lifecycle management. Supply chain management : Order to cash, inventory, order entry, purchasing, product configurator, supply chain planning, supplier scheduling, inspection of goods, claim processing, commissions. * Project management : Costing, billing, time and expense, performance units, activity management. * Customer relationship management : Sales and marketing, commissions, service, customer contact, call center support. * Data services : Various â€Å"self–service† interfaces for customers, suppliers and/or employees. * Access control : Management of user privileges for various processes. Components:- * Transactional database Management portal/dashboard * Business intelligence system * Customizable reporting * External access via technology such as web services * Search * Document management * Messaging/chat/wiki * Workflow management Connectivity to Plant Floor Information ERP systems connect to real–time data and transaction data in a v ariety of ways. These systems are typically configured by systems integrators, who bring unique knowledge on process, equipment, and vendor solutions. Direct integration—ERP systems have connectivity (communications to plant floor equipment) as part of their product offering.This requires the vendors to offer specific support for the plant floor equipment that their customers operate. ERP vendors must be expert in their own products, and connectivity to other vendor products, including competitors. Database integration—ERP systems connect to plant floor data sources through staging tables in a database. Plant floor systems deposit the necessary information into the database. The ERP system reads the information in the table. The benefit of staging is that ERP vendors do not need to master the complexities of equipment integration. Connectivity becomes the responsibility of the systems integrator.Enterprise appliance transaction modules (EATM)—These devices commu nicate directly with plant floor equipment and with the ERP system via methods supported by the ERP system. EATM can employ a staging table, Web Services, or system–specific program interfaces (APIs). The benefit of an EATM is that it offers an off–the–shelf solution. Custom–integration solutions—Many system integrators offer custom solutions. These systems tend to have the highest level of initial integration cost, and can have a higher long term maintenance and reliability costs. Long term costs can be minimized through careful system testing and thorough documentation.Custom–integrated solutions typically run on workstation or server class computers. Implementation ERP's scope usually implies significant changes to staff work processes and practices. Generally, three types of services are available to help implement such changes—consulting, customization, and support. Implementation time depends on business size, number of modules, customization, the scope of process changes, and the readiness of the customer to take ownership for the project. Modular ERP systems can be implemented in stages. The typical project for a large enterprise consumes about 14 months and requires around 150 consultants.Small projects can require months; multinational and other large implementations can take years. Customization can substantially increase implementation times. Process preparation Implementing ERP typically requires changes in existing business processes. Poor understanding of needed process changes prior to starting implementation is a main reason for project failure. It is therefore crucial that organizations thoroughly analyze business processes before implementation. This analysis can identify opportunities for process modernization. It also enables an assessment of the alignment of current processes with those provided by the ERP system.Research indicates that the risk of business process mismatch is decreased by: * linking current processes to the organization's strategy; * analyzing the effectiveness of each process; * understanding existing automated solutions. ERP implementation is considerably more difficult (and politically charged) in decentralized organizations, because they often have different processes, business rules, data semantics, authorization hierarchies and decision centers. This may require migrating some business units before others, delaying implementation to work through the necessary changes for each unit, possibly reducing integration (e. . linking via Master data management) or customizing the system to meet specific needs. A potential disadvantage is that adopting â€Å"standard† processes can lead to a loss of competitive advantage. While this has happened, losses in one area are often offset by gains in other areas, increasing overall competitive advantage. Configuration Configuring an ERP system is largely a matter of balancing the way the customer wants t he system to work with the way it was designed to work. ERP systems typically build many changeable parameters that modify system operation.For example, an organization can select the type of inventory accounting—FIFO or LIFO—to employ, whether to recognize revenue by geographical unit, product line, or distribution channel and whether to pay for shipping costs when a customer returns a purchase. Customization ERP systems are theoretically based on industry best practices and are intended to be deployed â€Å"as is†. ERP vendors do offer customers configuration options that allow organizations to incorporate their own business rules but there are often functionality gaps remaining even after the configuration is complete.ERP customers have several options to reconcile functionality gaps, each with their own pros/cons. Technical solutions include rewriting part of the delivered functionality, writing a homegrown bolt-on/add-on module within the ERP system, or int erfacing to an external system. All three of these options are varying degrees of system customization, with the first being the most invasive and costly to maintain. Alternatively, there are non-technical options such as changing business practices and/or organizational policies to better match the delivered ERP functionality.Key differences between customization and configuration include: * Customization is always optional, whereas the software must always be configured before use (e. g. , setting up cost/profit center structures, organizational trees, purchase approval rules, etc. ) * The software was designed to handle various configurations, and behaves predictably in any allowed configuration. * The effect of configuration changes on system behavior and performance is predictable and is the responsibility of the ERP vendor. The effect of customization is less predictable, is the customer's responsibility and increases testing activities. Configuration changes survive upgrades to new software versions. Some customizations (e. g. code that uses pre–defined â€Å"hooks† that are called before/after displaying data screens) survive upgrades, though they require retesting. Other customizations (e. g. those involving changes to fundamental data structures) are overwritten during upgrades and must be re-implemented. Customization Advantages: * Improves user acceptance * Offers the potential to obtain competitive advantage vis-a-vis companies using only standard features. Customization Disadvantages: * Increases time and resources required to both implement and maintain. Inhibits seamless communication between suppliers and customers who use the same ERP system un-customized. * Over reliance on customization undermines the principles of ERP as a standardizing software platform Extensions ERP systems can be extended with third–party software. ERP vendors typically provide access to data and functionality through published interfaces. Extensio ns offer features such as:- * archiving, reporting and republishing; * capturing transactional data, e. g. using scanners, tills or RFID * access to specialized data/capabilities, such as syndicated marketing data and associated trend analytics. advanced planning and scheduling (APS) Data migration Data migration is the process of moving/copying and restructuring data from an existing system to the ERP system. Migration is critical to implementation success and requires significant planning. Unfortunately, since migration is one of the final activities before the production phase, it often receives insufficient attention. The following steps can structure migration planning: * Identify the data to be migrated * Determine migration timing * Generate the data templates * Freeze the toolset Decide on migration-related setups * Define data archiving policies and procedures. Comparison to special–purpose applications Advantages The fundamental advantage of ERP is that integrating the myriad processes by which businesses operate saves time and expense. Decisions can be made more quickly and with fewer errors. Data becomes visible across the organization. Tasks that benefit from this integration include: * Sales forecasting, which allows inventory optimization * Chronological history of every transaction through relevant data compilation in every area of operation. Order tracking, from acceptance through fulfillment * Revenue tracking, from invoice through cash receipt * Matching purchase orders (what was ordered), inventory receipts (what arrived), and costing (what the vendor invoiced) ERP systems centralize business data, bringing the following benefits: * They eliminate the need to synchronize changes between multiple systems—consolidation of finance, marketing and sales, human resource, and manufacturing applications * They bring legitimacy and transparency in each bit of statistical data. They enable standard product naming/coding. * They provide a comprehensive enterprise view (no â€Å"islands of information†). They make real–time information available to management anywhere, any time to make proper decisions. * They protect sensitive data by consolidating multiple security systems into a single structure. Disadvantages * Customization is problematic. * Re–engineering business processes to fit the ERP system may damage competitiveness and/or divert focus from other critical activities * ERP can cost more than less integrated and or less comprehensive solutions. High switching costs associated with ERP can increase the ERP vendor's negotiating power which can result in higher support, maintenance, and upgrade expenses. * Overcoming resistance to sharing sensitive information between departments can divert management attention. * Integration of truly independent businesses can create unnecessary dependencies. * Extensive training requirements take resources from daily operations. Due to ERP's architectur e (OLTP, On-Line Transaction Processing) ERP systems are not well suited for production planning and supply chain management (SCM) The limitations of ERP have been recognized sparking new trends in ERP application development, the four significant developments being made in ERP are, creating a more flexible ERP, Web-Enable ERP, Enterprise ERP and e-Business Suites, each of which will potentially address the failings of the current ERP. QUESTION 3 (18 Marks) Describe with example all stages of System Development Lifecycle.Answers Introduction The Systems development life cycle (SDLC), or Software development process in systems engineering, information systems and software engineering, is a process of creating or altering information systems, and the models and methodologies that people use to develop these systems. In software engineering the SDLC concept underpins many kinds of software development methodologies. These methodologies form the framework for planning and controlling th e creation of an information system: the software development process.Software development contains set of activities which when performed in coordination and in accordance with one another result in the desired result. Software development methodologies are used for the computer based information systems. The growth of the information’s has to pass through various phases or stages these stages are known as System Development Life Cycle (SDLC). The SDLC follows a well defined process by which the system is conceived, developed and implemented. To understand system development, we need to recognize that a candidate system has a life cycle, much like a living system or a new product.Systems analysis and design are based to the system life cycle. The stages are described below. The analyst must progress from one stage to another methodically, answering key questions and achieving results in each stage. Figure 1 : System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) Stages Step 1: Recognition of Need – What is the Problem? One must know what the problem is before it can be solved. The basis for a candidate system is recognition of a need for improving an information system or a procedure. For example, a supervisor may want to investigate the system flow in purchasing.Or a bank president has been getting complaints about the long lines in the drive – in. This need leads to a preliminary survey or an initial investigation to determine whether an alternative system can solve the problem. It entails looking into the duplication of effort bottlenecks, inefficient existing procedures, or whether parts of the existing system would be candidates for computerization. If the problem is serious enough, management may want to have an analyst look at it, such an assignment implies a commitment, especially if the analyst hired from the utside. In larger environments, where formal procedures are the norm, the analyst’s first task is to prepare a statement specifying the scope and objective of the problem. He/she then reviews it with the user for accuracy at this stage, only a rough â€Å"ball parle† estimate of the development cost of the project may be reached. However, an accurate cost of the next phase – the feasibility study – can be produced. Step 2: Feasibility Study Depending on the results of the initial investigation, the survey is expanded to a more detailed feasibility study.As we shall learn, a feasibility study is a test of a system proposal according to its workability impact on the organization, ability to meet user needs, and effective use of resources. It focuses on their major questions: * What are the user’s demonstrable needs and how does a candidate system meet them? * What resources are available for given candidate systems? Is the problem worth solving? * What are the likely impact of the candidate system on the organization? How will it fit within the organization’s master MIS plan?Each of these questions must be answered carefully. They revolve around investigation and evaluation of the problem, identification and description of candidate systems, specification of performance and the cost of each system, and final selection of the best system. The objective of a feasibility study is not to solve the problem but to acquire a sense of its scope. During the study, the problem definition is crystallized and aspects of the problem to be included in the system are determined. Consequently, costs and benefits are estimated with greater accuracy at this stage.The result of the feasibility study is a formal proposal. This is simply a report – a formal document detailing the nature and scope of the proposed solution. The proposal summarizes what is known and what is going to be done. It consists of the following. 1. Statement of the Problem – a carefully worded statement of the problem that led to analysis. 2. Summary of Findings and Recommendations – a list of the major findings and recommendations of the study. It is ideal for the user who required quick access to the results of the analysis of the system under study.Conclusions are stated, followed by a list of the recommendations and a justification for them. 3. Details of Findings – An outline of the methods and procedures undertaken by the existing system, followed by coverage of objectives ; procedures of the candidate system. Included are also discussions of output reports, file structures, and costs and benefits of the candidate system. 4. Recommendations and Conclusions – special recommendations regarding the candidate system, including the personal assignments costs, project schedules, and target dates.Three key considerations are involved in the feasibility analysis: economic, technical, behavioral. Let’s briefly review each consideration and how it relates to the systems effort. * Economic Feasibility: Economic analysis is the most frequently use d method for evaluating the effectiveness of a candidate system. More commonly known as cost/benefit analysis, the procedure is to determine the benefits and savings that are expected from a candidate system and compare them with costs. If benefits outweigh costs, then the decision is made to design and implement the system.Otherwise, further justification or alterations in the proposed system will have to be made if it is to have a chance of being approved. This is an ongoing effort that improves in accuracy at each phase of the system life cycle. * Technical Feasibility: Technical feasibility centers around the existing computer system (hardware, software etc. ) and to what extent it can support the proposed addition. For example, if the current computer is operating at 80 per cent capacity – an arbitrary ceiling – then running another application could overload the system or require additional hardware.This involves financial considerations to accommodate technical enhancements. If the budget is a serious constraint, then the project is judged not feasible. * Behavioral Feasibility: People are inherently resistant to change, and computers have been known to facilitate change. An estimate should be made of how strong a reaction the user staff is likely to have towards the development of a computerized system. It is common knowledge that computer installations have something to do with turnover, transfers, retraining, and changes in employee job status.Therefore, it is understandable that the introduction of a candidate system requires special effort to educate, sell, and train the staff on new ways of conducting business. After the proposal is viewed by management it becomes a formal agreement that paves the way for actual design and implementation. This is a crucial decision point in the life cycle. Many projects die here, whereas the more promising ones continue through implementation. Changes in the proposal are made in writing, depending on the complexity, size, and cost of the project. It is simply common sense to verify changes before committing the project to design.Step 3: Analysis It is a detailed study of the various operations performed by the system and their relationship within and outside of the system. A key question is – what must be done to solve the problem? One aspect of analysis is defining the boundaries of the system and determining whether or not a candidate system should consider other related systems. During analysis, data are collected on available files, decision points, and transactions handled by the present system. We shall learn about some logical system models and tools that are used in analysis.It requires special skills and sensitivity to the subjects being interviewed. Bias in data collection and interpretation can be problem. Training, experience and common sense are required for collection of the information needed to do the analysis. Once analysis is completed the analyst has a firm understanding of what is to be done. The next step is to decide how the problem might be solved. Thus, in the systems design, we move from the logical to the physical aspects of the life cycle. Step 4: Design The most creative and challenging phase of the system life cycle is system design.The term design describes both a final system and a process by which it is developed. It refers to the technical specifications (analogous to the engineer’s blueprints) that will be applied in implementing the candidate system. It also includes the constructions of programs and programme testing. The key question here is – How should the problem be solved?. The first step is to determine how the output is to be produced and in what format. Samples of the output (and input) are also available. Second, input data and master files (data base) have to be designed to meet the requirements of the proposed output.The operational (processing) phase are handled through programme constru ction and testing, including a list of the programmes needed to meet the system’s objectives and complete documentation. Finally, details related to justification of the system and an estimate of   the impact of the candidate system on the user and the organization are documented and evaluated by management as a step toward implementation. The final report prior to the implementation phase includes procedural flowcharts, record layouts, report layouts, and a workable plan for implementing the candidate system.Information on personnel, money, hardware, facilities and their estimated cost must also be available. At this point, projected costs must be close to actual costs of implementation. In some firms, separate groups of programmer do the programming whereas other firms employ analyst programmers who do analysis and design as well as code programs. For this discussion, we assume that analysis and programming is carried out by two separate persons. There are certain functio ns, though, that the analyst must perform while programs are being written operating procedures and documentation must be completed.Security and auditing procedures must also be developed. Step 5: Testing No system design is ever perfect. Communication problems, programmers negligence or time constraints create errors that most be eliminated before the system is ready for user acceptance testing. A system is tested for online response, volume of transactions, stress, recovery form failure and usability. Then comes system testing, which verifies that the whole set of programs hangs together, following system testing is acceptance testing or running the system with live   data by the actual use.System testing requires a test plan that consists of several key activities and steps for programs, string, system and user acceptance testing. The system performance criteria deal with turnaround time, backup, file protection, and the human factor. Step 6: Implementation This phase is less c reative than system design. It is primarily concerned with user training, site preparation, and file conversion. When the candidate system is linked to terminals and remote sites the telecommunication network and tests of the network along with the system are also included under implementation.During the final testing, user acceptance is tested, followed by user training. Depending on the nature of the system, extensive user training may be required, conversion usually takes place at about the same time the user is being trained or later. In the extreme, the programmer is falsely viewed as someone who ought to be isolated from other aspects of system development. Programming is itself design work, however. The initial parameter of the candidate system should be modified as a result of programming efforts. Programming provides a â€Å"reality test† for the assumptions made by the analyst.It is therefore a mistake to exclude programmers from the initial system design. System te sting checks the readiness and accuracy of the system to access, update and retrieve data from new files. Once the programmes become available, test data are read into the computer and processed against the file(s) provided for testing. If successful, the program(s) is then run with â€Å"live† data. Otherwise, a diagnostic procedure is used to local and correct errors in the program. In most programs, a parallel run is conducted where the new system runs simultaneously with the ‘old’ systems.This method, though costly, provides added assurance against errors in the candidate system and also gives the user-staff an opportunity to gain experience through operation. In some cases, however, parallel processing is not practical. For example, it is not plausible to run two parallel online point-to-sale (POS) systems for a retail chain. In any case, after the candidate system proves itself, the old system is phased out. Step 7: Evaluation During systems testing, the sy stem is used experimentally to ensure that the software does not fail.In other words, we can say that it will run according to its specifications and in the way users expect. Special test data are input for processing, and the results examined. A limited number of users may be allowed to use the system so that analyst can see whether to use it in unforeseen ways. It is desirable to discover any surprises before the organization implements the system and depends on it. Implementation is the process of having systems personnel check out and put new equipment into use, train users, install the new application and construct any files of data needed to use it.This phase is less creative than system design. Depending on the size of the organisation that will be involved in using the application and the risk involved in its use, systems developers may choose to test the operation in only one area of the Firm with only one or two persons. Sometimes, they will run both old and new system in parallel way to compare the results. In still other situations, system developers stop using the old system one day and start using the new one the next.Evaluation of the system is performed to identify its strengths and weaknesses. The actual evaluation can occur along any one of the following dimensions: * Operational Evaluation: Assessment of the manner in which the system functions, impact. * Organizational Impact: Identification and measurement of benefits to the organisation in such areas as financial concerns, operational efficiency and competitive impact. * User Manager Assessment: Evaluation of the attitudes of senior and user manager within the organization, as well as end-users. Development Performance: Evaluation of the development process in accordance with such yardsticks as overall development time and effort, conformance to budgets and standards and other project management criteria. Step 8: Post – Implementation and Maintenance Maintenance is necessary to eli minate errors in the working system during its working life and to tune the system to any variations in its working environment. Often small system deficiencies are found as a system is brought into operation and changes are made to remove them. System planners must always plan for resource availability to carry out these maintenance functions.The importance of maintenance is to continue to bring the new system to standards. After the installation phase is completed and the user staff is adjusted to changes created by the candidate system, evaluation and maintenance being. Like any system there is an ageing process the requires periodic maintenance of hardware ; software. If the new information is inconsistent with the design specifications, then changes have to be made. Hardware also requires periodic maintenance to keep in time with design specification. The importance of maintenance is to continue to bring the new system to standards. BIBLIOGRAFIGordon b. Davis ; Margrethe H. Ols on. (1985). Management Information Systems : Conceptual Foundations, Structure and Development. New York : McGraw-Hill. Lucey. T. (1987). Management Information Systems. 5th Ed. Eastleigh, Hants : D. P Pubns. O’Brien, James A. (2002). Management Information Systems : Managing Information Technology in the E-Business Enterprise. Boston : McGraw-Hill. Robert C. Nickerson, Saravanan Muthaiyah. (2004). Introduction to Information Systems. Petaling Jaya : Prentice Hall. McLeod Raymond, P. Shell George. (2004). Management Information Systems. N. J. : Pearson Prentice Hall.

Job Analysis and Selection Methods Essay

For this method to be effective the interviewer is required to ensure the interviee fully understands the reasons for the interview to avoid such interviews to be viewed as efficiency evaluation which may hinder them to describe their job accurately. The method can be utilized efficiently for top management job analysis for example the position of the managing director of a company. This would enable acquisition of vital information such as general purpose of the job, responsibilities, duties, education, experience and skills required. (Henderson, 1985) Advantages * It’s simple and quick hence it’s the most used method in the world. * It can reveal important information that might not appear in written form and information on activities that does not occur occasionally. It provides a chance for the interviewer to explain the importance, need and functions of the job analysis. * Can be used to generate qualitative data. * Suitable for jobs with long job cycles. (office of human resources, 2008) Disadvantages * Employees may distort information by exaggerating certain responsibilities and minimizing others. * Sometimes to obtain valid information can be a very slow slow and time consuming * Experienced interviewers and properly designed questions are required. Data gathered by the process is subjective and requires to be verified. * Combining data from discreet interviews is sometimes difficult. (office of human resources, 2008) STRUCTURED QUESTIONNAIRE METHOD This method involves designing questionnaire and having employees fill them to describe their job related duties and responsibilities and rate them. Questions can be structured and employees given a list of specific duties and asked to indicate whether or not they perform them. Questions could also be open ended. The method can be used efficiently for job analysis involving low level management posts and junior employees for instance office assistants and semi skilled employees. This could offer a quick way to gather information from such large group of employees. (Henderson, 1985) Advantages * It’s a cheap way to gather information from a large numbers of workers than interview for instance. * Its quick and efficient method. * It does not require a trained interviewer. * Data collected is standardized. Disadvantages * Questionnaire development and testing is both expensive and time consuming. This provides quality and instant feedback on descriptive information of a candidate such as their strengths and weaknesses. Applicants are also given work sample which is a replica of the job and are required to demonstrate that possess the necessary skills and talents by doing the actual job. This offers a good evaluation of applicant’s abilities in actual job activities and thus helps to reduce discrimination. (Patrick Hauenstein, 2005) Weaknesses To develop good and accurate work samples for each job is difficult and time consuming. Work samples are also difficult to apply in managerial posts where it’s not possible to develop a work sample that can cover all activities. The process also requires highly qualified and assessors which are expensive to maintain. (Patrick Hauenstein, 2005) Validity Employment tests has been extensively used and shown to be an accurate method to predict a candidate success. The method is also very relevant to the job at hand and therefore widely accepted as compared to other methods. (Patrick Hauenstein, 2005) Reliability Employment tests are a reliable way of obtaining vital information about applicant’s abilities, and skills in actual job environment. They therefore tend to be accurate predictors of applicant later performance (Patrick Hauenstein, 2005) * REFERENCES Henderson, R. J. (1985). Compensation Management: Rewarding Performance. Upper Saddle River, N. J. : Prentice Hall. office of human resources. (2008). Compensation & Classification. South 2nd Street, Minneapolis: The University of Minnesota. Patrick Hauenstein. (2005). Employee Selection: Part 2 – Interviews and Simulations. Navient Corporation.

Columbia Business Environment

According to (Walter, J. (2006), any business worthy its salt must carry out a business analysis audit before venturing into expansion plans. This often saves an organization time and resources which would be lost if the decision to expand or relocate business is not based on sound business practices. The case below analyses the business environment in Colombia, by addressing the political, cultural, economic, and domestic and industry analysis of the country. Finally the paper gives a verdict based on the findings of the analysis which is basically a recommendation on the economic investment options for a business aiming at venturing into the Colombian market. Location. Colombia, neighbors Caribbean Sea, Panama, Venezuela, a well as North Pacific Ocean. With a population of about 40 million people, the country has a good domestic market. Colombia enjoys a mixture of climates such as coastal- tropic climate as well as in the eastern plains it also has cool highlands climate suitable for agricultural activities. Political environment Major political parties currently include, Democratic Alliance, Liberal Party, Patriotic Union, and Social Conservative Party (Kline, & Harvey, 1985). Political leaders include the president, Carlos Franco Echavarria, Antonio Navarro Wolff, Otty Patino, Carlos Alonso Lucio, Jose Fernando Bautista, Aida Abella and Dr. Eugenio Merlano de la Ossa. The country has democratic ties with the US and has ambassador in the US as well as hosts an ambassador from the US. In terms of religion the people are largely Roman Catholics, which constitute over 90% of the population with other religions forming the 10 percent. Currently the country is grappling with civil riots, poverty, lawlessness, depreciating currency as well as unstable political environment. The country has been faced with civil strife for the past 40 years something which has led to the displacement of over 200,000 people internally (Amnesty International, 2002). Currently, the presidency is from right –wing and many pundits have predicted that, as long as he continues to favor socialist ideals, the long waited reforms especially those addressing the plight of the poor in Columbia will continue unresolved. Economic conditions. The economy is predicted to grow at a rate of 6. 1something attributable to stable domestic consumption as well as favorable private investment situation. In the year 2005 the GDP was 5. 13 and a 6. 1 growth this year is appositive indicator of a favorable economic environment. The best performing sectors are trade, infrastructure and industry. Columbia’s GDP has been growing at a rate of 3. 1 to 3-6 in the last 3 years that is from the year 2004 to presently. Improved global economic environment is the reason behind a lot of economic activity being experienced in Colombia (Bagley, & Michael, 1987). In addition, the domestic market is growing in a sharp contrast to the impoverished people. The growth rate can be termed as encouraging with the country experiencing strong and predictable exchange rates, as well as low and favorable interest rates. On top of the above, the credit conditions have improved significantly as compared to the situation in the 90’s. Major economic sectors include textiles, oil exploration, beverages, chemicals, cement; as well as minerals like gold, coal, and emeralds (Thoumi, Francisco 1987). Labor conditions. The labor market in Colombia is ready and oversupplied. However major challenges lay ahead because of the deplorable labor movement conditions in that country. In a nut shell it is evident from the available literature that, labor organizations are non operational in Colombia, joining trade union is equitable to courting death something which has greatly affected the labor relations in the country. On top of that, employees’ morale in the country is on an all-time low due to the fact that, the workers in that country do not have a strong bargaining power (Peeler, &John, 1976). The situation becomes more complex due to the involvement of military groups which besides being armed, seem to operate undeterred by law enforcement agencies. There have been reported numerous abductions, threats and assassinations all directly related to labor issues something which calls for great planning on the side of a foreign company wishing to invest in Colombia. The above have had a negative effect on the economic environment of the country and have been the leading causes for investors shunning from investing in the country. Besides the above named conditions of crime, there has been of late a wave of economic crime such as hijackings of shipments, ransom demand kidnappings, counterfeit goods trade, all of which have made production costs to go up due to high risks. Colombia is active in regional and international organizations such as UN, Andean community, the Rio group and OAS (Martz, & John, 1962). The country’s political system is a democracy of bicameral congress and independent executive as well as judiciary. The biggest political parties are the Liberal and Conservative currently the president is, Alvaro Uribe. The people speak their ethnic languages of their respective ethnic groups but Spanish is the official and national language, such ethnic groups and languages include; Mestizo, Whites, Blacks, mulatto and Amerindian. The literacy level is very high with 91% of the population being literate which implies that skilled labor is readily available in the country. The people are known to be hospitable and rarely has there been reported animosity related to foreigners. Evidently, Colombia is not a politically stable country something which has resulted from continued guerrilla warfare as well as paramilitary activities. Urban crime rate is very high as well as the insecurity conditions in the whole country. Corruption is reported to be very high couple with drug trafficking and all other manner of social crimes. It is correct to say that Columbia is one of the most unsafe places to invest in and therefore the business should postpone its expansion plans in Colombia and perhaps relocate to other neighboring countries with same strategic business advantages as Columbia but less risks and therefore operational costs..