Management in context Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 2

Management in context - Essay Example A content theory on the other hand defines motivation in terms of the satisfaction of needs. Examples of process theories are the Adams’ Equity theory and the Victor Vroom’s expectancy Theory while examples of content theories are the Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory, Fredrick Herberg’s Two Factor Theory and the ERG Theory by Clayton P. Alderfer. The two types of motivation theories not only differ in their definitions of motivation but also in the idea of the applicability of motivation towards work. The Content Theories pay more attention to the identification of the needs of individuals and how these needs are given priority. These theories have more concern for the different types of incentives that give people the drive to attain certain goals. The Content Theories offer a logical approach to understanding motivation, and are easy to understand. They are easily applicable to a real life scenario. The Process theories on the other hand offer a theoretical set of solutions towards the understanding of work motivation. Victor Vroom’s expectancy model and further extensions by Lawler and Porter assist in providing an explanation of the presence of essential cognitive variables in the human body and how they coordinate with each other to create the process of work motivation. Lawler and Porter’s model also looks deeper into the relationship that exists between performance of an act and satisfaction gained by performing such an action. In a nutshell, the Process Theories place more concern on the identification of the variables that contribute to motivation with how they relate with one another being of even greater importance. Abraham Maslow came up with the thought that human needs which can lead to a desire to undertake an activity can be put in a particular order to form a hierarchy of probability of occurrence and pre-potency. This theory assumes

Richard and Iago: Rational, Sensitive, or Vegetative? :: essays research papers

Can humans have three souls? Or are there three parts to the human soul? Most people would say that a person has only one soul. However, the human soul is very complex, which explains why there are so many parts to it. In the Elizabethan period, people understood that there were three â€Å"souls† in a person, or three parts to the human soul. These were the rational, sensitive, and vegetative souls. Both of the plays Richard the Third and Othello by William Shakespeare are examples of this concept. The characters of Richard in Richard the Third and Iago in Othello each are influenced by the rational, sensitive, and vegetative souls as they were understood by the Elizabethans.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  During the Elizabethan period, the rational soul was understood to be that part of a person that was the closest to God. This soul caused the person to be more rational in thinking and to behave logically. The main characters in each of these plays are not governed by the rational soul. Richard is driven by his desire to be the king of England, and Iago is driven by his hatred of Othello. Richard becomes a ruthless murderer who will stop at nothing to be king. He indirectly kills his brother King Edward the Fourth, kills his nephews who are heirs to the throne, and anyone else who he believes is in his way. Iago is also very cold-hearted. He is Othello's lieutenant, and, as Othello believes, his good friend. However, Iago devises a plan to destroy Othello. By doing so, he must also destroy those closest to Othello, most notably his wife Desdemona. Iago does this simply because he is able to. In this way, the two characters ignore the rational soul and are not guid ed by it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The sensitive, or passionate soul was understood to govern that part of a person that looks past all logic and reason. Iago and Richard are somewhat governed by this soul in that they both are passionate about what they are doing. Richard is driven by his desire to be king. In his pursuit of the throne, he overlooks all logical thinking. Instead, he focuses only on what he must do in order to reach his goal. This shows how good of a planner he is. Iago also does this, although his goal is not as clear. He concentrates on destroying or discrediting the people closest to Othello.

Lean Operations Essay

Task 1: To what extent could or should Deane expect to apply the philosophies and techniques of JIT/Lean to the running of a staircase cell? Staircases Production Company (SPC) is a small, successful, privately owned timber and building materials company based in a small city in the UK. The company offers a wide variety of timber products, from regular doors, windows and staircases to special products such as non-standard sections or special profiles (i.e. old designs of skirting board). Its products stand out from its main competitors (small joinery businesses) with high levels of quality. Due to the quality of its products as well as the huge demand of special stairs in the region, sales has been increasing steady year by year particularly special stairs. However, the business is not as profitable as it was expected and some important customers have been complained recently due to late deliveries. Because of the loss of profitability, Dean Hammond, the new appointed General Manager of SPC, is thinking about carrying out some changes in the organisation in order to cope with the current problems. Precisely, he thinks Lean and Just-in-Time principles and techniques might help SPC increase its profitability as well as improve the performance of the whole organisation. However, although this philosophy has been applied successfully to manufacturing and operations environment (Chowdary and George 2012), Mr. Hammond unknowns if the application of Lean principles in a company that produces a high variety and low volume of products would make sense. The Lean management approach, developed by Taiichi Ohno (1912-1990) at Toyota Motor Corporation in Japan, forms the basis for the Toyota Production System. The term Lean was first introduced in 1990 in the book entitled The Machine that Changed the World by Womack, Jones and Roos. In â€Å"Lean thinking†, 5 principles were put forward an implementation framework to be used by an organisation (Womack et al. 1990): †¢Specify value from the customer’s perspective, †¢Identify and understand the value stream, †¢Improve work flow (minimize interruptions during processing), †¢Let value flow only through the customer’s pull (all work is initiated by customer demand), and †¢Pursue perfection continuously (the goal is zero waste) The core idea of Lean philosophy is to maximize customer value while minimizing waste. From a production perspective, Lean manufacturing uses Just-in-Time (JIT) approach as its production strategy for minimizing waste and improving quality (MindTool 2013). JIT provides for the cost-effective production and delivery of only the necessary quality parts, in the right quantity at the right time and place, while using a minimum of facilities, equipment, materials and human resources. JIT is accomplished through the application of specific techniques which require total employee involvement and teamwork (Lee and Ebrahimpour 1984). The application of these principles in the manufacturing and assembling processes characterized by a high variety and high volume (HVHV) of activity has been widely proven a great success. However, the difficulties associated with applying Lean principles within HVLV organization have been identified and analysed by Jina et. al (1997). The analysis of the applica bility of Lean principles in SPC has been carried out taking into consideration some aspects analysed by Jina et al. (1997): †¢Product and product demand. The manufacturing and assembling process of SPC begins with a customer’s order (simple dimensioned sketches of the required product) what is called â€Å"pull system†. Customer’s pull demand is one of the principles of Lean and it enables a company to produce only what is required, in the correct quantity and at the correct time. However, the nature of the orders (called â€Å"make to order†) makes the application of the Lean principles a huge challenge for SPC due to small changes of the inputs (changes in the schedule, differences of product mix between one period and the next one, volume changes between periods and the frequency of product changes within time-frame of customer lead time expectations) generates a large impact on the performance of the manufacturing system (Jina et. al 1997). Nevertheless, the result can be levelled within a set of well-defined flexibility parameters (Jina et. al 1997), to give some examples: commonizing raw material and finished parts and organizing for high and low level demand. †¢Process. It can be said that processes currently do not follows any flow structure: production is planned without any solid criteria and there is no single flow route for either materials or machinery. This unstructured work floor causes: joinery department job shops are untidy and congested (joiners are working on several part-finished items at once, single pieces of equipment are shared  by 10 or more joiners, joiners try to fit in with each other over the use of machinery, etc.) and big allowance of waste and timbers defects are found around the workshop. Despite of this chaos, it has been identified that the specific case of the manufacturing and assembling staircases follows a repeatable process steps (although staircases are different): cutting ti mber, sanding, machining and tenoning, which makes this process potentially standardised. Therefore, it can be said that Lean principles can be applied to this process. However, in order to identify the applicability of Lean principles to the rest of the processes, more information should be provided. †¢Workers. The processes disorder is supported by the fact that, on one hand, SPC’s joiners are capable of making any product and, on the other hand, because they enjoy the wide variety of challenging work. Despite of this, workers’ flexibility to carry out a wide range of tasks is considered as a factor that would help the implementation of Lean. To sum up, it can be said that the application of Lean principles is possible but it will be a great challenge for SPC. Task 2: What are likely to be the main categories of costs and benefits in establishing the cell? Are there any non-financial benefits which should be taken into account? Listed below, there is an analysis of the benefits (financial and non-financial benefits) and the costs (financial costs) expected to be achieved with the implementation of Lean principles in SPC: -Benefits. The company will gain financial and non-financial benefits which will affect the revenue stream of SPC and the level of satisfaction of both customers and employees. †¢The financial benefit of Lean for the company expected is an increase in its revenues as a consequence of increasing the productivity by finding and eliminating the waste within the process. This is achieved through reorganising and tidying the manufacturing floor (using 5S/CANDO or visual management), improving work flow to eliminate motion and transportation between stages of production (workshop layout) (Page 2004), and increasing employee efficiency by specialising and standardising the work and cutting out wasteful work; †¢Non-financial benefits are shown by the level of customer and employee satisfaction. On one hand, customer satisfaction increases by meeting requirements and on-time delivery; improving customer retention and attracting new customers by, for example, word of mouth (Cudney, Furterer and Dietrich 2013). And on the other hand, employee  satisfaction increases by empowering them and taking into consideration their opinion. -Costs. There are two aspects that would affect the cost stream: cost reduction within the process and cost of lean implementation. †¢Cost reduction can be located from different attributes of the manufacturing process: inventory, defects, maintenance, labour cost, compensation, etc. (Ross 2002; Stegall 2012). Each task in the process gets specialised and standardised, the employee can stop the production line if they detect defects, thereby reducing the number of defects and work-in-process; production line productivity is improved to deliver products on time, helping the company to avoid compensation and discount, and reducing over-time working. Specialised jobs require particular machines or tools, to be handled with care and regularly maintained by the employees using it, reducing risk of break-downs and repair/replacement costs. And also, a reduction of raw materials inventory (waste) is expected. †¢Cost of Lean implementation can be located from: training for employees for redefinition and re-assignment, production line stoppage, workshop layout re-organising, information technology systems and management cost for implementing new system. These costs might be quite high when the company implement the whole system, therefore in the short-term it could overcome the profit of the company. However, because Lean is a long-term commitment, it will help transform the company and enhance the profit for the long term.â€Æ' Task 3: At what stage, and how, should Deane sell his idea to the Joinery Manager and the workers? To sell the idea of Lean implementation and cellular manufacturing to the Joinery Department, Dean should have a strategy to approach first the Joinery Manager (JM) and a its employees (once the manager is already convinced). Frist, Dean needs to sell the idea to the JM because he is the one who will decide whether this plan will be done or not because his commitment and leadership are essential to achieve a successful implementation (Wrye 2013). To convince and engage the Manager with the idea, Dean needs to conduct and present a business report of the company: an analysis of the current status of SPC (covering both quantitative and qualitative aspects), with the pros and cons of Lean implementation in a HVLV organisation. A strategy and implementation pl an which shows the roadmap, methodology, goals, and objectives to be introduced. Dean can then work with the JM to customise the implementation  of the plan to suit with SPC current situation. After gaining the approval of the JM, Dean needs to prepare actions to sell the idea to employees, to create an organisational understanding of the philosophy, methodology, implementation process, in order to take full advantage of the significant changes. The JM and Dean need to explain to the workers the current situation of the company, an overview of Lean and its benefits for the whole company and for each employee’s job. The workers also need to be acknowledged for the value of their work, their power over the production line and their responsibility of product’s quality. Some training and information about the new system might also need to be provided before actual implementation. Some details should be taken into account when the department start implementing Lean: †¢Because SPC is a HVLV manufacturer should adapt Lean principles to the reality of the organiation: product design geared to logistics and manufacture; organising manufacturing along Lean principles; and integrative supplier relationships (Jina et al. 1997); †¢The manager should have a clear goal for implementing Lean for the worker to follow (Womack and Jones 2003); †¢Lean is a new concept so it should be explained without technical terms or phrases to avoid confusion or resistance (Wrye 2013). The strategy of implementation should contain small steps to give the workers time, and help them gain their confidence a nd build momentum to continue with Lean.â€Æ' Task 4: How different would the cell work be from that in the main Joinery Department? Traditionally, each worker has their own zone and working on different product or order. Each worker goes through the same process, uses the same tools so they have to wait for the tools and their turn to use the machine. Lean cell manufacturing is a common workplace that has become an integral part of Lean manufacturing because it seeks to take full advantage of the similarity between parts, through standardisation and common processing. Its implementation in the work floor implies the specialisation of each step so that one person is in charge for one activity, using one particular tool or machine to eliminate delay time (Lean Enterprise Institute 2009). The worker will have space to move for their job but the movement and motion will be minimised by eliminating the gap between their tools and each other so that they can pass the finished part to the next stage immediately. Julian Page (2004) suggested the outward facing U-shape cells which taking up the same amount  of space and give the worker more options to communicate with each other with the least movement required. For the staircases, the workshop new layout will have 5 major cells: cutting timber, sanding, machining, tenoning and assembling: †¢Each cell have its own tools and machine that only that cell uses. The machine which will be used for different purpose will be placed at machining cell; †¢Machining cell will be placed near the middle of the whole workshop so that if any other cell needed to use the machines, they can access them with the least movement; †¢Cutting timber cell: after the order was placed, timber will be delivered by vendor on to the fir st station. Here timber will be cut to required shape. Off-cuts will be at the same place and the workers at this cell know how many and what shape there are, so they can be used for future occasions; †¢Assembling cell can be spilt into 3 smaller cells: glue, wedges and treated. After this cell, the product will be finished and transported straight to packing or delivery; †¢Workers can rotate within or between the cells if they want flexible jobs, since they can all do every stage of the manufacturing line. †¢Kanban card can be used between part manufacturing cells and assembly cells to limit the level of work-in-process (Jina, Bhattacharya and Walton 1997). Further information should be needed in order to assure if this layout can also be apply to the rest of the products of SPC. Another technique to be taken in is CANDO (clean-up, arranging, neatness, discipline and on-going improvement) to help maintain the Lean workshop, control obsolescence and inventory, preserv e working tools (Page 2004). The cells and workshop is presented below: Figure 1. SPC AS-IS workshop layout Figure 2. SPC TO-BE Lean cellular workshop layout Task 5: What risks are associated with Deane’s proposal? The main risks associated with Mr. Hammond’s proposal are listed below: †¢People. Behaviours exhibited by people in the workplace such as the lack of trust and commitment is the main risk identify in Mr. Hammond’s proposal. It is also one of the main reasons for unsuccessful implementation of Lean. oJoiners’ procedures to manufacture and assemble products might experience  changes with the implementation of Lean and, therefore, it may cause stress and rejection to them. Lean manufacturing requires constant employee input on quality control, which some employees may feel disinclined or unqualified to do (ÄÅ'iarnienÄâ€" and VienaÃ… ¾indienÄâ€" 2012). oDifficulties in finding managers with sufficient leadership and persuasion skills to overcome this can be also another risk to bear in mind (ÄÅ'iarnienÄâ€" and VienaÃ… ¾indienÄâ€" 2012). †¢Investment. Inability to make invest properly in the change. oDue to the unstructured work flow, SPC will need to make significant upfront investment in achieving a level of standardized processing. oImplementing Lean manufacturing often means completely dismantling previous physical plant setups and systems. The re-location of the machinery as well as training employees can increase considerably companies’ expenses. †¢Duration. The implementation of Lean philosophy and principles is a long journey process and not easy implemented. Bibliography and references CHOWDARY, B. and GEORGE, D. (2012). Improvement of manufacturing operations at a pharmaceutical company: A Lean manufacturing approach. Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, 23 (1), 56-75. ÄÅ'IARNIENÄâ€", R. and VIENAÃ… ½INDIENÄâ€", M. (2012). Lean Manufacturing: Theory and Practice. Economics and management, 17, 732-738. CUDNEY, E.A., FURTERER, S.L. and DIETRICH, D. (2013). Lean Systems: Applications and Case Studies in Manufacturing, Service, and Healthcare. 1st ed., CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group. JINA, J., BHATTACHARYA, A. and WALTON, A. (1997). Applying Lean Principles for High Product Variety and Low Volumes: Some Issues and Propositions. Logistics Information Management, 10 (1), 5-13. LEAN ENTERPRISE RESEARCH CENTRE (2013). What is Lean thinking?. [online]. Last accessed 28 November 2013 at: http://www.Leanenterprise.org.uk/what-is-Lean-thinking/what-is-Lean-thinking-and-key-Lean-thinking-principles.html LEAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE (2009). What is Lean?. [online] . Last accessed 28 November 2013 at: http://www.Lean.org/whatsLean/ LEE, S.M. and EEBRAHIMPOUR, M. (1984). Just-In-Time Production System: Some Requirements for Implementation. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 4 (4), 3 – 15. MELTON, T. (2005). The Benefits of Lean Manufacturing: What Lean Thinking

Road Not Taken Essay - 980 Words

Critical essay for â€Å"The Road Not Taken† by Robert Frost Two roads diverged in a yellow wood And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood To where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other, as just as fair, Because it was grassy and wanted wear: Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same. And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads to way, I doubted if I should ever come back. I shall be telling this with a sigh somewhere ages and ages hence: I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Every human throughout the course of their†¦show more content†¦This road represents life’s easy way out. Because it has been more traveled by, it is a much more common and predictable way of going through life. For the most part, if this road is chosen the outcome is predetermined and the traveler can rest at ease with the knowledge of the direction his life is heading. Everyone in life is presented the more common path. Many say the world is made up of leaders and followers. The followers take this path because it is the popular and easy way of achieving simple goals. The other, however, is covered with tall grass and has few trail marks or footprints. This is the road the writer decides to take, which, I believe shows remarkable things about his personality. The people that avoid following group ideas and patterns are the people more likely to create change and make a difference in the world we live in. These people are willing to take chan ces and accept the consequences, should they fail. These people, for the most part are proud and creative. This world would be a completely different place if we were without risk takers. Every great achievement in history occurred because someone decided to take a different direction in order to create change. I greatly admire the writer for this and he should become something everyone strives to become. I think the reason people in general take the easier path is because it helps them feel secure and aware of what the futureShow MoreRelatedRoad Not Taken752 Words   |  4 PagesPoetry Essay ENGL 102: Literature and Composition MLA Thesis Statement: Every adult faces the challenge of a life-altering decision. In â€Å"The Road Not Taken† by Robert Frost there are many metrical devices used to portray the poet’s major theme of decision making. Outline for â€Å"The Road Not Taken† I. Introduction A. Influence of decision making B. Problem faced by the character II. Body A. Theme of decision making B. Setting (1) Why is this symbolic? C. Title Read MoreThe Road Not Taken1084 Words   |  5 PagesClara Kirkpatrick Mr. Woods English 102 CHA 8 November 2010 The Road Not Taken The poem â€Å"The Road Not Taken† by Robert Frost describes the dilemma in decision making, generally in life each individual has countless decisions to make and those decisions lead to new challenges, dilemmas and opportunities. In Frost’s poem, the careful traveler observes the differences of each path, one is bent and covered in undergrowth (Frost 5) and the other is grassy and unworn (Frost 8). In the end he knowsRead MoreThe Road Not Taken1211 Words   |  5 PagesThe Road Not Taken By: Robert Frost Imagine that your making a decision and you are stuck to choose between two things that could change and impact your life greatly. What would you do? What pathway would you take? Robert Frost wrote ‘The Road Not Taken’ in 1916 at the age of 42 in New England, Massachusetts. ‘The Road Not Taken’ is one of his most popular works due to the ideology of choices that people would have to face in their life. In the early 20th century, Robert Frost based the majorityRead MoreThe Road Not Taken967 Words   |  4 PagesThe Road Not Taken by Robert Frost Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; (5) Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same, (10) And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden blackRead MoreThe Road Not Taken1448 Words   |  6 Pagespoem â€Å"The Road Not Taken.† Frost, in few words, brings to light the decisions that all functioning humans will be faced with. 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In the end, I chose to play a summer sport because it increased my games per year, practices perRead More Robert Frosts The Road Not Taken - The Significance of The Road Not Taken811 Words   |  4 Pages The Significance of The Road Not Taken  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚      My father introduced me to The Road Not Taken when I was a young teenager because he figured that I was beginning a period of my life where I would be forced to make many important decisions, and he saw this poem as a source of guidance through those decisions. This poem carries truth and edification in its words. It forms a beautiful analogy of life and all its complications. After my father finished reciting the poem, I neverRead More The Road Not Taken Essay542 Words   |  3 Pagesfor Frost is that he has the power of standing still where he is.† There is never a straight road there are always curves and turns in which one must encounter and act upon. Readers can interpret the poem â€Å"The Road Not Taken† in many ways. It is a persons past, present and the way one see things, which determines their choices and paths they follow. This poem shows how Frost believes that it is the road that you choose that makes you the person you are. Decisions are always hard to make. It is impossibleRead MoreThe Road Not Taken Essay758 Words   |  4 PagesThe poem â€Å"The Road Not Taken,† Robert Frost employs personification to illustrate the literal scene of the poem. The personas vision as a Pilgrim Traveler, on a road with outlooks pointing in two directions that symbolize a fork in the road. Both of roads leads to two different types of a life style, and to choose the right road will make the difference. In the first stanza the personification shows â€Å"Two roads diverged,† in to choose which road to travel. While in the second stanza the personifiedRead MoreThe Road Not Taken Analysis1280 Words   |  6 PagesThe Road Not Taken As I read and analyzed this poem I became aware that it is indeed a great poem and that the reader must dig deep in order to find the true message of the poem. Careful readers shall not be tricked. The Basic Subject of the Poem The poem starts off with the title â€Å"The Road Not Taken.† At first sight this title could be used as foreshadow that the following poem will be about making a mistake, not making the right choice (not taking the right road) therefore establishing a