Core Values and Concept at Pals Sudden Service

Core Values and Concept at Pals Sudden Service It sells hamburgers, hot dogs, chipped ham, chicken, French fries, and beverages as theyll as breakfast biscuits with country ham, sausage, and gravy. It can easily distinguish itself from fast-food competitors by delivering competitively priced food of consistently high quality, delivered rapidly, cheerfully, and without error. Pals is the first business in the restaurant industry to receive a Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. The performance excellence goals and criteria for the Malcolm Baldridge Quality Award offer a formalized program that defines, measures, and rewards organizations who exemplify the principles of an organization that is actively taking step and reaping the results of being a high-performing organization. Visionary Leadership Pals Senior Leaders (Chairman and President/ CEO) set their Vision and Values annually as part of their strategic planning process after carefully analyzing the market environment and actively seeking input from all stakeholders. Senior Leaders personally lead, monitor, and coach the Pals Leadership Team in interpreting their Vision and Values. Leadership is sharply in tune with customer preferences and organizational needs. Senior Leaders communicate with employees throughout the organization by: Using the Pals Communication/Feedback Process, frequently being present at the restaurants Employing an open-door policy, providing easy access to all Senior Leaders for the entire staff, reading and responding to employee e-mails, and being easily accessible by phone or e-mail. The impact on Pals organization from this leadership-driven, full stakeholder involvement approach has been rapid improvement actions, standardized processes, ongoing organizational learning, employee development, a proactive culture, and high-value business results. This employee engagement practice creates and reinforces an environment for participation, employment, and innovation. It also drives organizational agility and organizational and employee learning. Besides, the leadership team uses the Strategic Planning Process to set direction and pursue future opportunities for the business while using inputs from all key stakeholders (e.g., customers, store owner/operators, general staff, suppliers/partners), taking into account their needs and expectations. This process is used to define, align, review, and maintain a Corporate Mission Statement, Vision Statement, Key Business Drivers, Values Code of Ethics, and action plans. Through these strategic outputs, Pals Leadership Team maintains clear values, high performance expectations, and a keen focus on all stakeholder needs. Senior leaders and store owner/operators communicate and interpret these at each organizational level to define organizational, store, and individual responsibilities and to identify opportunities for learning and innovation. Innovation is driven through the Product/ Service/ Process Introduction Process. Senior leaders personally lead cross-functional teams through this systematic approach for developing new or modified products, services, or processes. Senior leaders personally lead cross-functional teams through this systematic approach for developing new or modified products, services, or processes. Leadership Team members adopted the On-line Quality Control Process (Figure 4) and routinely review its application of best practices to achieve high performance and excellence in Pals operational and support processes. This ensures consistent adherence to procedures, standards, and targets. Organisational Personal Learning The impact on Pals organization from this leadership driven, full stakeholder involvement approach to deployment has been rapid improvement actions, standardized processes, ongoing organizational learning, employee development, a proactive culture, and high value business results. Leaders create a sustainable organization by: Investing in the future by developing the people to ensure that they will be able to always meet future needs and requirements Employing a progressive capital reinvestment plan Pals brand-building Actively listening and staying tightly aligned with their customers and their needs, Building a strong and healthy supply chain, Helping the communities where they operate to grow and prosper. Pals has a process for everything organizational and operational. There are always new product introductions to hiring decisions to the design of support processes and work systems. Key learnings are captured and shared throughout the organization using the Communication/Feedback Process and the On-line Quality Control Process. Pals market research seeks comparative information relating to key issues such as (1) customers likes or dislikes concerning Pals or specific Pals competitors, and (2) reasons a particular restaurant is selected as a favorite. They analyze the comparative data for trends and shifts in buying patterns to identify needed changes in their business strategy and to target other potential customer groups and future markets. Key customer requirements and drivers of purchase decisions are determined from the application of the following listening and learning methods: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Telephone interviews à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Mall interviews à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Drop-in surveys à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Mail-in surveys à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Marketing By Wandering Around (MkBWA), à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ On-site interviews à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ user-based surveys Pals frontline staff training program includes intense instruction on effective listening skills. These skills are not only critical for high performance on the food preparation line (required for order accuracy, speed, and customization), but are also beneficial for gathering valuable customer information about needs, expectations, and satisfaction (as post transaction feedback). Through the Plan-Do-Study-Act improvement cycle they conduct small-scale pilot efforts to evaluate and improve their processes for listening to and learning from customers and their ability to understand changing customer needs and buying habits. In addition, they measure and evaluate the overall effectiveness of their customer listening and learning approaches by checking the validity of their market research, customer surveys, and results against operational data, industry trends, and competitor information. They also evaluate how they are doing against their customer-focused strategic objectives by benchmarking their Key Business Drivers against competitors. Moreover, Pals staff members (from hourly worker to senior leader) have continual learning ingrained into their basic approach to performing work. They participate regularly on improvement and learning teams where brainstorming and consensus-building sessions enable them to identify problems or opportunities for improvements, analyze processes, and recommend solutions. This experience builds individual confidence, provides skills in problem solving and continual learning, and motivates employees to develop and utilize their full potential. Valuing Employees and Partners Pals aims to provide the quickest, friendliest, most accurate service available. Achieving this objective is a real challenge in an industry with annual employee turnover rates of more than 200 percent. The companys success in reducing turnover among front-line production and service personnel, who are between the ages of 16 and 32, has translated into a competitive advantage. The companys training processes support improvement in operational and business performance with the aid of benchmarking studies. Owner/operators and assistant managers have primary responsibility for staff training. They use a four-step model: show, do it, evaluate, and perform again. Employees must demonstrate 100 percent competence before they are certified to work at a specific work station. Initial training for all employees includes intensive instruction on effective listening skills. In addition, in-store training on processes, health and safety, and organizational Culture is required for new staff at all facilities via computer-based training, flash cards, and one-on-one coaching. Cross-training is required of all store-level staff to ensure their complete understanding of all production and service procedures as well as quality standards. Recognizing that most of its front-line workers are first-time entrants into the labor force, Pals management believes it has responsibility to help its workers develop knowledge and skills that can be applied in future jobs. This approach, along with competitive wages and financial incentives, has made the restaurant chain a desirable place to work for high school and college students. Pals has leveraged its reputation by implementing a statistically controlled, talent-based hiring system that helps managers identify applicants with attributes associated with effective job performance and customer satisfaction. In their work environment, where their staff meets the customer face-to-face, they employ effective job designs and a flexible work organization to encourage cooperation, collaboration, individual initiative, responsibility, and innovation. The staff at each Pals facility is organized into process. They also performed extensive market research to pinpoint customer requirements: convenience; ease of ingress and egress; easy-to-read menu; simple, accurate order system; fast service; wholesome food; and reasonable price. This data has been used to translate their key customer requirements into Key Business Drivers. Customer requirements are linked to clearly define operational processes, procedures, and systems that are continually monitored to ensure that they are meeting customer requirements. They maintain on-going communications links to their customers so that they can listen to how well they think they are meeting their needs. They also listen to learn if customer needs are changing or if new needs have arisen. Pals has three key suppliers/partners who provide the majority of their raw materials. Focusing their supplier/partner base on just three vendors has reduced product variability. It has also allowed them to develop a more positive relationship with each supplier/partner with whom they have established long-term, mutually beneficial partnerships. They work with suppliers to design in quality, value and their unique flavor profile. The Key Business Drivers are mainly: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Quality of products, service, and process à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Service à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Cleanliness à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Value à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ People à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Speed Customer Excellence Customer-driven excellence is a strategic concept imbedded in the Baldrige Award Criteria. Pals uses the industry-proven standard method of segmenting by age, gender, income, and proximity to the store location for analyzing buying patterns and defining expectations. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Age à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Gender à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Income à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Proximity Product quality, hospitality, accuracy, and speed are important factors to their customers. Pals has solidified its already strong market position on product and service performance by realizing improvement in each of these customer-linked critical areas. Pals performance in customer-rated results for food quality, service (hospitality, convenience, ease of access, menu board readability), and accuracy are consistently improving. These product and service outcomes are a direct reflection of Pals ability to understand the voices of customers and the market and to address them with menu design, pricing strategy, sudden service performance, and proactive customer contact standards. Pals order handout speed has improved more than 30 percent since 1995, decreasing from 31 seconds to 20 seconds, almost their times faster than its top competitor. Errors in orders are rare, averaging less than one for every 2,000 transactions. The company aims to reduce its error rate to one in every 5,000 transactions. In addition, Pals has consistently received the highest health inspection scores in its market and in the entire state of Tennessee. Through the Plan-Do-Study-Act improvement cycle, they are able to continually evaluate and improve their processes for listening to and learning from customers by assessing how have understood changing customer needs and buying habits. Through small-scale pilot efforts, the Customer Listening and Learning Process are continually evaluated and improved. Customer complaints are tracked at the store level on an Opportunity Log and then aggregated at the company level to indicate trends. This critical-incidents information is used to understand key service attributes from the point of view of customers and frontline employees. Also, as part of their market research, they ask customers very specific loyalty questions that they translate into key customer loyalty data. Focus on Results and Creating Value Pals begins considering user requirements during the data and information selection stage with predefined user criteria. The data selection, collection, and reporting criteria include: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Meets stakeholder requirements à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Links to our Key Business Drivers à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Provides a balanced scorecard à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Drives action à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Creates reliability à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Provides rapid access à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Allows rapid update à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Supports continual learning/improvement Besides, the rapid acceptance, popularity, and growth of our web site, www.palsweb.com, is another strong indicator of customer loyalty to the Pals brand. The rapid acceptance, popularity, and growth of our web site, www.palsweb.com, is another strong indicator of customer loyalty to the Pals brand. The companys Business Excellence Process which is the key integrating element and a management approach ensures that customer requirements are always met in every transaction. Pals lays emphasis on data which is the basis for sound planning and decision making. Customer, employee, and supplier feedback is central to all processes, and it is gathered in numerous formal and informal ways. For example, Pals owner/operators must devote part of every work day to marketing by wandering around. Views on how a location is performing and to solicit ideas for improvement from employees and customers are noted. Anstheyrs to predesigned questions are recorded, compiled, and later analyzed at the store and corporate levels. Owner/operators also maintain a communications log. The Communication/ Feedback Process is a progressive and rapid means of communication to/from all stakeholders. This process serves as a standard operating mode for Leadership Team members. SysDine, is a key tool, generating store-level and company-wide data on sales, customer count, product mix, ideal food and material cost, and turnover rates. This information supports daily operational decisions. It also is used to update Pals Balanced Scorecard of Core Performance Measures, which links directly to its key business drivers: quality, service, cleanliness, value, people, and speed. Managers regularly review the value of the data collected, and the company employs an outside statistician to evaluate the type of information tracked, how it is used, and how it is collected. Social Responsiblity Pals measures and pursues continual improvement in the areas of ethics violations, labor violations, sexual harassment complaints, and honesty violations. Pals Senior Leaders promote an environment of legally, morally, and ethically correct behaviors by: modeling correct decision making and behaviors, providing training in correct decision making and behaviors testing to verify that the training transferred the desired knowledge holding monthly reviews at leadership meetings, creating a culture of open-book whole-company data sharing communicating openly and honestly Food safety, which is a primary indicator of compliance with sanitation requirements established by federal and state regulations and of Pals ability to serve wholesome food products, is their key measure of industry leadership and social responsibility. Pals consistently receives the highest health inspection scores in their market. Agility Customer and Market Needs/Expectations are evaluated using market research studies and customer complaint data. These data are used to interpret customer needs and requirements, to project market trends, and to establish new strategies that will delight customers and sustain our competitive advantages. Competitive Environment and Capabilities Relative to Competitors are evaluated with data from our benchmarking process, benchmark data exchange, and competitive reviews. They use the data to identify market and industry trends, industry and competitor capabilities and Best Business Practices, competitor strategies, potential competitor reactions to our strategies, and promotional and technological improvement opportunities. Technological Risk is evaluated with data gathered from manufacturers, vendors, and industry trade associations using the following criteria: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ How will the technology help them meet needs? à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Are any of their technologies becoming obsolete? à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Do our existing technologies have new hazards/ risks? Managing by Innovation Operational Capabilities and Needs are considered by evaluating anticipated needs and capabilities for human resources, technology, research and development, innovation, and business processes. Internal capability data are analyzed against industry trends, technology developments, and performance advances, looking for ways to develop dominant positions within our market. They have focused their Human Resources strategies, plans, job/work designs, and HR processes for developing capabilities that support the key competitive performance expectations of their organization (speed, accuracy, quality, and hospitality). In their work environment, where their staff meets the customer face-to-face, they employ effective job designs and a flexible work organization to encourage cooperation, collaboration, individual initiative, responsibility, and innovation. The equipment, facilities, and technologies that Pals uses to meet customer needs are components that serve their manufacturing, service and retail needs through ongoing use of their Benchmarking, Innovation and Product/Service/ Process Introduction processes Innovation is driven through the Product/ Service/ Process Introduction Process. Senior leaders personally lead cross-functional teams through this systematic approach for developing new or modified products, services, or processes. Also, their Business Excellence Process will continue to drive them toward performance improvement over the next two to five years by maintaining their focus on strategies and plans linked directly to Key Business Drivers and derived heavily from customer/market. Pals projected performance will continue to strengthen their position as the market leader versus their leading competitor by generating additional sales, and by developing the required operating capabilities. At this time, they are the regional leader in all major areas of comparative performance (quality, service, speed, food health/safety, customer satisfaction, market share, sales, and profit). Management by Fact Pals Leadership Team has carefully designed a performance measurement and analysis system for the collection, integration, and analysis of information and data that feeds and interacts with their Strategic Planning, Continual Improvement, Benchmarking, and Management Review processes. Pals Management Information System is also used to guide the selection, gathering, integration, management, and effective use of information and data to support our key operational processes, action plans, and performance management system. Pals Management Information System gathers and integrates data and information from multiple sources (e.g., operations, customer listening/learning processes, market research, benchmarking studies, suppliers, regulatory agencies, and industry publications). Much of the data is gathered at its source (in the store) through our automated SysDine data collection, integration, and analysis system. SysDine generates store-level and companywide reports on sales, customer count, product mix, ideal food and material cost, and turnover rates. This data, which is readily available at each store, is reviewed and analyzed for use in support of daily operations. Focus on Future The Pals Strategic Planning Process is used by Senior Leaders working with the Leadership Team to provide a disciplined and structured approach for setting strategic directions to strengthen business performance and competitive position. Strategic planning is performed annually, with primary emphasis on one- and three-year planning horizons. strategic objectives and action plans with a planning horizon of up to five years are also maintained. Pals organizations strengths, weakness, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) are addressed during strategic planning, using the SWOT analysis process and supported by various analyses of key processes, internal capabilities, and Key Business Driver data. Technological changes and risks are evaluated with data gathered primarily from manufacturers, vendors, and industry trade associations. Human resources strategies and plans are developed to recruit, staff, train, and educate personnel to build staff capacity for success; to improve work/job designs and work areas; and to build a better culture for excellence and employee well-being. Employee turnover shows that employee retention levels are clearly superior to the industry average. Pals continues to reduce employee turnover and to set the pace for other QSR operations. Their group of store Owners/Operators and Senior Leaders has experienced near-zero turnover for the past 25 years, which has provided a major advantage in leadership continuity over their competitors. Pals existing strategic objectives, action plans (short term and longer term), and target completion are carefully managed throughout the year. Systems Perspective Pals Business Excellence Process is based on the core concepts of the Malcolm Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence. These principles, which are a pervasive part of our culture, are used to achieve our action plans. They are integrated throughout our training for team skills, performance measurement, standards, continual improvement, problem solving, quality control, and benchmarking. Pals Training Program contains a variety of modules designed to support our strategic objectives, key action plans, and operational capabilities by addressing organizational and employee needs for development, learning, and career progression

What is a Class Diagram?

A class diagram models the static structure of a system. It shows relationships between classes, objects, attributes, and operations.Basic Class Diagram Symbols and NotationsClassesClasses represent an abstraction of entities with common characteristics. Associations represent the relationships between classes.Illustrate classes with rectangles divided into compartments. Place the name of the class in the first partition (centered, bolded, and capitalized), list the attributes in the second partition (left-aligned, not bolded, and lowercase), and write operations into the third. Active ClassesActive classes initiate and control the flow of activity, while passive classes store data and serve other classes. Illustrate active classes with a thicker border. VisibilityUse visibility markers to signify who can access the information contained within a class. Private visibility, denoted with a – sign, hides information from anything outside the class partition. Public visibility, denoted with a + sign, allows all other classes to view the marked information. Protected visibility, denoted with a # sign, allows child classes to access information they inherited from a parent class. AssociationsAssociations represent static relationships between classes. Place association names above, on, or below the association line. Use a filled arrow to indicate the direction of the relationship. Place roles near the end of an association. Roles represent the way the two classes see each other.Multiplicity (Cardinality)Place multiplicity notations near the ends of an association. These symbols indicate the number of instances of one class linked to one instance of the other class. For example, one company will have one or more employees, but each employee works for just one company.Composition and AggregationComposition is a special type of aggregation that denotes a strong ownership between Class A, the whole, and Class B, its part. Illustrate composition with a filled diamond. Use a hollow diamond to represent a simple aggregation relationship, in which the â€Å"whole† class plays a more important role than the â€Å"part† class, but the two classes are not dependent on each other. The diamond ends in both composition and aggregation relationships point toward the â€Å"whole† class (i.e., the aggregation).GeneralizationGeneralization is another name for inheritance or an â€Å"is a† relationship. It refers to a relationship between two classes where one class is a specialized version of another. For example, Honda is a type of car. So the class Honda would have a generalization relationship with the class car. In real life coding examples, the difference between inheritance and aggregation can be confusing. If you have an aggregation relationship, the aggregate (the whole) can access only the PUBLIC functions of the part class. On the other hand, inheritance allows the inheriting class to access both the PUBLIC and PROTECTED functions of the superclass. https://www.smartdraw.com/uml-diagram/5. Describe the six (6) different relationship notation that exists in UML Class Diagram? (6 Marks) Answer: Relationships in Class DiagramsClasses are interrelated to each other in specific ways. In particular, relationships in class diagrams include different types of logical connections. The following are such types of logical connections that are possible in UML: †¢ Association †¢ Directed Association †¢ Reflexive Association †¢ Multiplicity †¢ Aggregation †¢ Composition †¢ Inheritance/Generalization †¢ Realization Associationis a broad term that encompasses just about any logical connection or relationship between classes. For example, passenger and airline may be linked as above: Directed Associationrefers to a directional relationship represented by a line with an arrowhead. The arrowhead depicts a container-contained directional flow. Reflexive AssociationThis occurs when a class may have multiple functions or responsibilities. For example, a staff member working in an airport may be a pilot, aviation engineer, a ticket dispatcher, a guard, or a maintenance crew member. If the maintenance crew member is managed by the aviation engineer there could be a managed by relationship in two instances of the same class. Multiplicityis the active logical association when the cardinality of a class in relation to another is being depicted. For example, one fleet may include multiple airplanes, while one commercial airplane may contain zero to many passengers. The notation 0..* in the diagram means â€Å"zero to many† Aggregationrefers to the formation of a particular class as a result of one class being aggregated or built as a collection. For example, the class â€Å"library† is made up of one or more books, among other materials. In aggregation, the contained classes are not strongly dependent on the lifecycle of the container. In the same example, books will remain so even when the library is dissolved. To show aggregation in a diagram, draw a line from the parent class to the child class with a diamond shape near the parent class. CompositionThe composition relationship is very similar to the aggregation relationship. with the only difference being its key purpose of emphasizing the dependence of the contained class to the life cycle of the container class. That is, the contained class will be obliterated when the container class is destroyed. For example, a shoulder bag's side pocket will also cease to exist once the shoulder bag is destroyed. Inheritance / Generalizationrefers to a type of relationship wherein one associated class is a child of another by virtue of assuming the same functionalities of the parent class. In other words, the child class is a specific type of the parent class. To show inheritance in a UML diagram, a solid line from the child class to the parent class is drawn using an unfilled arrowhead. Realizationdenotes the implementation of the functionality defined in one class by another class. To show the relationship in UML, a broken line with an unfilled solid arrowhead is drawn from the class that defines the functionality to the class that implements the function. In the example, the printing preferences that are set using the printer setup interface are being implemented by the printer. https://creately.com/blog/diagrams/class-diagram-relationships/ 6. Provide the list of six (6) â€Å"Multiplicity† constraint? ANSWER:MultiplicityMultiplicity is a definition of cardinality – i.e. number of elements – of some collection of elements by providing an inclusive interval of non-negative integers to specify the allowable number of instances of described element. Multiplicity interval has some lower bound and (possibly infinite) upper bound:multiplicity-range ::= [ lower-bound ‘..' ] upper-bound lower-bound ::= natural-value-specification upper-bound ::= natural-value-specification | ‘*'Lower and upper bounds could be natural constants or constant expressions evaluated to natural (non negative) number. Upper bound could be also specified as asterisk ‘*' which denotes unlimited number of elements. Upper bound should be greater than or equal to the lower bound

Business Commnication Essay

Expanded Communication Opportunities Technology allows individuals to communicate and carry on a business relationship without ever meeting face to face, so people in all parts of the world now have the chance to interact with a company in a rural part of the United States. For example, technology allowed for the emergence of the virtual assistant, a worker who completes tasks for her client online without having ever met him, in the 20th century. Communication Must Be More Deliberate Although technology has made communication instantaneous, so you don’t have o spend hours planning and composing before you communicate and wait for a long period for the reply, it has also made planning deliberate communication periods more important. First, companies that do take advantage of telecommuting and virtual offices need to deliberately plan to communicate with individuals in teams to avoid employees losing touch and to make sure all are working toward the same goals. Second, even if you work in a physical office, instantaneous communication regarding quick decisions and memos cannot replace specific communication times where big decisions are discussed and progress reports given. However, when employees are communicating in multiple ways every day, it can be easy to forget to schedule these types of meetings. Communication Is More Distracting From constantly overhearing cell phone conversations, to the worker who is constantly emailing or texting you to the incessant â€Å"ding† of your office’s instant messenger, communication tools that were designed to make you more productive can actually do the opposite. Instant communication can make it harder for workers to deal with one task at a time when their work is constantly being interrupted by comments and questions that relate to other projects or even personal issues. In fact, some employees must make an effort to turn off communication devices while they work to meet deadlines. by Miranda Morley, Demand Media References (2) †¢ Walden University College of Management and Technology: How Has Technology Changed Business? †¢ â€Å"Entrepreneur†; Effective Communication for Managing Virtual Office Employees; David G. Javitch; December 2008 Information technology is a modern phenomenon that has dramatically changed the daily lives of individuals and businesses throughout the world. Information technology is driven by the microchip, which owes its existence to the semi-conductor. IT solutions run the gamut from personal computers and computer software to production robotics to communications technology. Leveraging information technology for business success is key to survival in the modern business world. Significance Information technology has grown to permeate the business world, affecting how companies make and market their products, as well as how people communicate and accomplish their jobs in modern organizations. Specialized software shapes best-practices and industry standards, continually changing the face of business in almost every way. Production Technology Production technology has allowed modern companies to make great strides in operational efficiency and the effectiveness of human resources. Automation technology, such as assembly lines and computer-controlled machinery, can allow companies to produce unprecedented volumes of goods, and advances in transportation technology allow businesses to ship their products anywhere in the world. Information technology has also changed the way that companies operate internally. Personal computers have become a necessity for a large majority of corporate jobs, and many manual labor jobs require the use of a handheld computer or other electronic device as well. Communications Technology Leveraging advances in communications technology is imperative to surviving in the modern business world. Advances in cellular phone technology have revolutionized the way businesspeople communicate with clients, employees, suppliers and strategic partners. The Internet has revolutionized the marketing function in addition to opening up a wide range of communication options. Modern smartphones are changing the game yet again with the introduction of new and innovative applications. A small business owner can now access a web-based customer relationship management service on a smartphone from anywhere in the world, for example, allowing him to obtain vital data about contacts before making calls. Considerations While information technology solutions can contribute to the success of your organization, there are a number of unique costs to consider. In addition to the cost of implementing an IT solution, you must employ highly educated and specialized workers to maintain, monitor, expand and repair your IT infrastructure. The Future Modern information technology has gained popularity rapidly since the mid-twentieth century, and the trend is likely to continue into the future. As IT solutions continue to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of business operations and communications, businesses will continue to rely on IT for success †¢ Small Business Bible: Some Advantages and Disadvantages of Information Technology †¢ Benefit Of: Benefits of Technology The Disadvantages of Information Technology in Business Information technology has changed the way that the world does business. Correspondence that once took weeks to get from one organization to another is now delivered instantly with the push of a button. Advances in telecommunication allow associates from all point of the globe to confer in a virtual environment, minimizing the need for business travel. Although the benefits of integrating information technology in business are many, there are also disadvantages to its use. Implementation Expenses Every business must consider startup costs when implementing any type of information technology system. In addition to the cost of hardware and software, some technology vendors require businesses to purchase user licenses for each employee that will be operating the system. Businesses must examine the cost of training employees in unfamiliar technology. Although basic information technology systems may be user friendly, advanced programs still require formal instruction by an expert consultant. In addition to the startup expenses, information technology systems are expensive to maintain. Systems malfunction, and when they do, businesses must engage skilled technicians to troubleshoot and make the necessary repairs. These expenses present a major disadvantage of information technology in business, particularly to businesses that are entering the technology era for the first time. Job Elimination Implementing information technology into business operations can save a great deal of time during the completion of daily tasks. Paperwork is processed immediately, and financial transactions are automatically calculated. Although businesses may view this expediency as a boon, there are untoward effects to such levels of automation. As technology improves, tasks that were formerly performed by human employees are now carried out by computer systems. For example, automated telephone answering systems have replaced live receptionists in many organizations. This leads to the elimination of jobs and, in some cases, alienation of clients. Unemployed specialists and once-loyal employees may have difficulty securing future employment. Security Breaches The ability to store information in an electronic database facilitates quicker, more efficient communication. In the past, an individual would sift through stacks of paper records to retrieve data. With properly implemented technology, information can be recovered at the touch of a button. Although information technology systems allow business to be conducted at a faster pace, they are not without their flaws. Information technology systems are vulnerable to security breaches, particularly when they are accessible via the Internet. If appropriate measures are not in place, unauthorized individuals may access confidential data. Information may be altered, permanently destroyed or used for unsavory purposes. Small Business Bible: Some Advantages and Disadvantages of Information Technology Information Technology & Its Role in the Modern Organization Information technology (IT) has become a vital and integral part of every business plan. From multi-national corporations who maintain mainframe systems and databases to small businesses that own a single computer, IT plays a role. The reasons for the omnipresent use of computer technology in business can best be determined by looking at how it is being used across the business world. [pic][pic][pic][pic][pic][pic]Sponsored Link Looking For New Customers Drive Customers To Your Website W/ Free Rs. 2000 Advertising Credit www. Google. com/AdWords Communication For many companies, email is the principal means of communication between employees, suppliers and customers. Email was one of the early drivers of the Internet, providing a simple and inexpensive means to communicate. Over the years, a number of other communications tools have also evolved, allowing staff to communicate using live chat systems, online meeting tools and video-conferencing systems. Voice over internet protocol (VOIP) telephones and smart-phones offer even more high-tech ways for employees to communicate. Inventory Management When it comes to managing inventory, organizations need to maintain enough stock to meet demand without investing in more than they require. Inventory management systems track the quantity of each item a company maintains, triggering an order of additional stock when the quantities fall below a pre-determined amount. These systems are best used when the inventory management system is connected to the point-of-sale (POS) system. The POS system ensures that each time an item is sold, one of that item is removed from the inventory count, creating a closed information loop between all departments. Data Management The days of large file rooms, rows of filing cabinets and the mailing of documents is fading fast. Today, most companies store digital versions of documents on servers and storage devices. These documents become instantly available to everyone in the company, regardless of their geographical location. Companies are able to store and maintain a tremendous amount of historical data economically, and employees benefit from immediate access to the documents they need. Management Information Systems Storing data is only a benefit if that data can be used effectively. Progressive companies use that data as part of their strategic planning process as well as the tactical execution of that strategy. Management Information Systems (MIS) enable companies to track sales data, expenses and productivity levels. The information can be used to track profitability over time, maximize return on investment and identify areas of improvement. Managers can track sales on a daily basis, allowing them to immediately react to lower-than-expected numbers by boosting employee productivity or reducing the cost of an item. Customer Relationship Management Companies are using IT to improve the way they design and manage customer relationships. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems capture every interaction a company has with a customer, so that a more enriching experience is possible. If a customer calls a call center with an issue, the customer support representative will be able to see what the customer has purchased, view shipping information, call up the training manual for that item and effectively respond to the issue. The entire interaction is stored in the CRM system, ready to be recalled if the customer calls again. The customer has a better, more focused experience and the company benefits from improved productivity. In the past 20 years technology has made many changes in the world. One of the most significant changes was in business communication, with the invention of smartphones, emails, and communication apps turned business communication into a much more efficient and effective tool for the firm’s use. Throughout this essay contrasting arguments will be provided to highlight the effects of technological advancement in business communication.. One of the most innovative technological inventions used for communication purposes was the cellphone. Important time was lost when co-workers had to move within the company in order to reach other employees with the aim of exchanging valuable information towards the company success. Now with a cellphone, employees can often be found quickly by text messaging or direct calls. With the most recent advancement of technology in the cellphone industry, the smartphones offers a higher level of productivity by offering a wider range of services and tools making communication through e-mail and other apps. Employees now can reply to emails wherever they are and use free application tools to give the feedback even faster. Therefore it can be said that most firms have become more productive after the implementation of smarthphones. Computer tools combined with fast Internet connection enable Tele-Conferencing with employees or suppliers. Tele-Conferencing also helps us setup live virtual meetings, saving a lot of money for the firm as a result of lowered travel expenses; no participants of the meeting need to add extra traveling expenses. With the advancement of smartphone apps it is now possible to scan any images on demand, any place, any time; converting paperwork or photos into virtual documents. With these technological advanced phones we can send these documents to any co-worker within the company.

How to Save Our Environment - 1005 Words

The environment as we know it, isnt as green and luscious as it should be. There are steel monsters that block out the sun, huffing out dangerous smoke, and leaking out poisonous chemicals into rivers and streams, vehicles pumping out harmful fumes, people disposing of waste in a way that isnt safe/right and all other kinds of sources that ruin the planet. With the current environmental issues that plague the environment and planet, people need to do what they can to help save the Earth. We cannot depend on a higher authority now. The Hopenhagen summit which Im sure many of you are aware of, held in Copenhagen in the year 2009, did nothing to solve or procure methods for the damages done to the planet. We are still living the way we†¦show more content†¦Starting with the kids is a good way of spreading the message early in their lives, in the hope that they carry it forward as they grow older. Recycling Recycling is a method of transforming items that can be reusable once theyre disposed off by the public. This means that whatever is thrown out, like paper, tins, cardboard and so on, can be put through the process of reproducing them, to make new products. Not all plastic is recyclable, and must be avoided as much as possible. The environment cannot degrade plastic, so these are left to scatter and collect in places. Dont waste anything, and try to come up with ways on things you can use them again. Like say old magazines, newspapers and art paper can be used for projects. Try turning something you dont need anymore into a work of art and use it for another purpose instead. Be creative when it comes to things that you dont want that is in good condition, or sell them off, or better yet, give it away to charity. With these environmental ethics in mind, we should be able to do what we can individually, for the results to have a bigger impact on the planet at large. 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