Plantain Vs Banana Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Plantain Vs Banana - Essay Example The name Musa paradisiaca was given to the plantain group which are cooked and consumed while still starchy† (Robinson 21). Through further classification the two fruits became known scientifically as M. balbisiana and M. acuminata (Robinson 1). Bananas and plantains share the same source of origin in Southeast Asia (Robinson 1). Today, the banana and plantain are abundant in slightly different parts of the world. Historically, the banana traveled from its origin to more tropical climates around 500 A.D, then ended in the Caribbean and South America about a thousand years later (Robinson 14). Most modern bananas are grown in the Caribbean region. In contrast, the plantain traveled from its origin of Southeast Asia and is now produced primarily in South America. Physically, bananas and plantains appear similar except for their color. Bananas are typically yellow when ripe and green when not ripe. Plantains are green when not ripe and black when ripe. A plantain is longer than a banana, and has a thicker skin (Chiquita Bananas). The major differences between plantains and bananas are their taste differences and their popular uses. Although they appear similar on the outside, inside they are quite different and are used for different purposes. According to the Chiquita banana website, bananas are much sweeter than plantains and are typically eaten raw (Chiquita Bananas). Bananas are considered a fruit while plantains are considered members of the vegetable family. Plantains can be eaten raw, but are mostly eaten when they have been steamed, baked, boiled, or fried. Plantains are used as though they are a vegetable and are a staple in Central American and South American diets. Interestingly, plantains are produced primarily in South America and consumed locally. â€Å"Only 1.62% of the world plantain production is exported† (Robinson 6). Bananas became popular in the United States after they started being imported

Workplace Violence in Health Institutions Term Paper

Workplace Violence in Health Institutions - Term Paper Example These guidelines include recommendations for recognizing risk factors, management commitment and employee involvement, work site analysis, hazard prevention and control, and safety and health training. Violence against Health Workers The levels of violence against healthcare staff have become a concern in recent years. More and more healthcare staffs face the prospect of violence and aggression in the workplace, not only from the people they care for, but from strangers and families. Although there is a high risk of work place violence across all healthcare occupations, most indicators suggest that it is the nursing profession that is most at risk, followed closely by ambulance and medical staff. (Linsley, 2006, pgs. 7-8) nurses are especially vulnerable to violence in high risk areas of practice such as the emergency department and psychatric settings (Dempski & Westrick, 2008, pg. 237) This paper seeks to addreses the spectrum of violent behaviors in health care, including violence directed horizontally or vertically between healthcare providers or violence focused on nurses from patients, families, and visitors. In addition, it will give a brief explanation of the types of violence experienced by nurses at their place of work, the risk factors, the various ways through which workplace violence affects the workers as well as the steps and measures which can be undertaken to reduce the impact and effects of workplace violence or minimize their chances of occurence and reoccurance. Types of Violence in Healthcare Settings Healthcare and social service workers for many years have confronted significant risks of job-related violence. Assaults in particular represent serious safety threats and health hazards for this field, and violence against... Healthcare and social service workers for many years have confronted significant risks of job-related violence. Assaults in particular represent serious safety threats and health hazards for this field, and violence against their workers increasingly continues to manifest. Healthcare settings are at risk for a variety of violent behaviours. Violence may be manifested as verbal abuse, sexual harassment, racial harassment, bullying, property damage, threats, murder, and physical assault. In 2000, almost half of all nonfatal injuries from violent acts against workers occurred in the healthcare sector. These injuries include, bruises, lacerations, broken bones, and head injuries. There are also other forms of violence such as lateral and horizontal violence which frequently occur in healthcare agencies. Lateral violence is a form of bullying, nurse to nurse, and is usually directed toward nursing staff perceived as less powerful. This includes bullying which encompasses barrage behaviour s which include being harassed, tormented, ignored, sabotaged, put down, and insulted among others. This form of violence is tolerated because many nurses experience it as a rite of passage and regard it as normal.Risk Factors. Health care providers, especially so, nurses deal with a greater than before risk of work-related physical attack. A number of factors have been identified as causal factors, while they do not cause violence directly, they have an impact on it and can enhance its effects.  

Value Chain Management Essay Example for Free

Value Chain Management Essay Explain how operations strategy is influenced by customer and business prospective and where in a standard value chain you would expect to see your chosen topic addressed. INTRODUCTION Every organization’s operations strategies are concerned with getting things done; ie producing merchandise for customers. However, most people believe that operations management is only concerned with short-term, day-to-day issues. In essence, all business organisations are concerned with how their business will survive and prosper in future. In contemporary terms, most business strategies are recognised with a plan as part of or a set of intentions that will set theirr long-term directions of their actions that are needed to ensure future organisational success. Thus, no matter how strong their plan is or how noble their intentions, are, any organisation’s strategy can only become a meaningful reality, in practice, if it’s operationally instigated. Every organisation’s operations are equally important because most organisational activity comprises the day-to-day activities within the operations function. It’s the process of daily actions of operations, when considered in their totality that constitute the organisation’s long-term strategic direction. The relationship between an organisation’s strategy and the operations involved is a key determinant of its ability to achieve long-term success or even survival. Organisational improvement is only likely to result if short-term operations activities are consistent with long-term strategies and hence, make a contribution to competitive advantage. The relationship between corporate operations and the other business functions is similarly important. The objective of the operations function is to produce goods and services required by customers whilst managing resources efficiently. This can then lead to conflicts within an organisation. Conflicts between operations and selling functions are likely to centre on the marketing aspect to ensure that operations concentrate on satisfying customers. Whilst this may seem enduring, marketing will usually want operations to suit customer needs under usual circumstances. Therefore, this is likely to lead to demands to produce  bigger volumes, more varieties, better quality, a faster response, and so on, all of which are likely to lead to less efficient operations. Conflicts within the operations, the accounting and finance functions, on the other hand, are likely to centre on the desire of accounting and finance to want operations to manage resources as efficiently as possible. This will pull operations in exactly the opposite direction of that desired by marketing. Conflicts within operations and the human resource management function are likely to centre on issues of recruitment, selection, training, management and the reward of those employed within operations. For example, operational managers may want to vary organisation-wide policies in order to meet local needs; a move likely to be resisted by human resource managers. The operations function lies at the heart of any organisation and interacts with all the other functions. As such, achieving agreement about what decision areas lie within the remit of operations, and what should be the basis of decision-making within operations is an essential part of ensuring the consistency of action over time necessary for a successful organisational strategy. OPERATIONS STRATEGY My introduction towards operational strategic purposes has highlighted the strategic importance of operations to organisational performance. The importance of operational strategy is essential to an organisation as this will determine the extent to which its business strategy can be implemented, but also as its operations can be a source of competitive advantage within any businesses value chain. First I will outline what exactly is meant by the term operations strategy. Slack et al, argues that an operations strategy concerns the pattern of strategic decisions and actions which set the role, objectives and activities of operations. His use of this term ‘pattern’ implies a consistency in strategic decisions and actions over time. This concept is consistent with a theorist guru, Henry Mintzberg’s view of strategy as being a ‘pattern in a stream of actions’ (Mintzberg and Waters, 1985). Henry Mintzberg, views strategy as being realised through a combination of deliberate and emergent actions. An organisation can have an intended strategy, perhaps as a set of strategic plans. However, only some  of his intended strategy may be realized through deliberate strategy. Some of the intentions may be unrealized. Strategies which take no regard of operational feasibility are more likely to have low marketing prospects, remaining merely as a set of intentions. Strategies may also emerge from actions taken within the organisations functions, which over time form a consistent pattern. Actions of this kind will, almost inevitably, arise from within the operations of the organisation. So, whether intentionally planned or otherwise, the business operations are bound to have a major impact on the formation of organisational strategy. It’s often said that strategy is an issue which is somehow separate from day-to-day organisational activities. If taken to extremes, this can result in strategies being regarded as some kind of cerebral activity performed by superior’s who need to be removed from day-to-day operational pressures. Theorists such as Mintzberg is amongst those who point out to the dangers of managers becoming detached from the basics of the enterprise. Mintzberg and Quinn (1991) call this the ‘don’t bore me with the operating details; I’m here to tackle the big issues’ syndrome. They caution that, ‘the big issues are rooted in little details’. Operational strategy, the processes and content: A. Operational strategy processes: How an organisation sets about developing appropriate operation strategies and B. Operational strategy content: What the key decision areas are and what needs to be addressed in developing any operational strategy. OPERATIONS STRATEGY PROCESS As discussed above, operational strategies have a vertical relationship in the corporate hierarchy within business and corporate strategies, and horizontally with the other functional strategies, mostly recognised within marketing strategies. Operations strategy might come about in a top-down or a bottom-up process with regard to business and corporate strategies. Similarly, an operations strategy might be developed in response to market requirements (i.e. market-led) or be based on the capabilities of its operational resources (i.e. operations-led). As this gives rise to four  perspectives on operation strategy (Slack and Lewis, 2002). Each perspective places a different emphasis on the nature of the operations strategy process. Top-down The top down perspective is the operations strategy which it comprises of, and is supportive of the organisation’s business purposes; an operations strategy that the organisation uses to realise its business strategy within any value chain. This concept follows in line with the perspective of the Hayes and Wheelwright stage 3 organisational strategy process. According to this theory, the process of developing an operations strategy would follow Skinner’s approach of identifying an operation’s ‘task’ (Skinner, 1969). The task for operations would be determined logically from the business strategy. Using Slack et al.’s, five operations performance objectives theory, as one way of articulating the operations task. For example, if the organisation’s business strategy involves the offering of low pricing, then the operation’s task should be one of achieving low costs in operations. If the business strategy is based on offering customers fast delivery, then the operations task should be one of achieving speed in operations, and so forth. In a multi-business organisation, the top-down perspective emphasises operations strategy being linked to corporate strategy via the business strategy of each business unit. This then raises the question of whether it is possible to talk of ‘corporate’ operations strategy. If corporate operations strategy means commonality, in all aspects of operations, then this would only be possible if each business unit has similar business strategies and similar operations tasks. (Johnson and Scholes, 1999) However, some theorists such as Hayes et al would argue that any corporate operational strategy does not mean that every facet of operations must be the same in each business unit. Rather, operations decisions are considered enormously at the corporate level with a view to meeting corporate strategic objectives. A failure to do this means that operations decisions are taken only at the level of the business unit, with a view to meeting needs of that business unit. The dangers of doing this have been pointed out by theories, who caution against letting the needs of the business unit dominate strategic thinking. This can lead to operational competences being confined  within individual business units, thereby restricting their future development, which includes preventing their spread to other business units and limiting opportunities for synergistic developments across the corporation. This can be particularly important in multi-site, multi-national enterprises. ( Prahlad and Hamel, 1990) Bottom-up The bottom-up perspective is one which sees the operations strategy as an element emerging through a series of actions and decisions taken over time within operations. These actions or decisions might at first seem to appear to be somewhat risky as operations managers respond to customer demands, seek to solve specific problems, copy good practices in other organizations, etc. However, they usually coincide over time to form a coherent pattern recognisable as an operations strategy. The actions then taken within this kind of strategy are likely to be characterized by a continuous series of sporadic improvements rather than the large one-off technologically led changes that require large capital investments in new plant and machinery. The bottom-up perspective is one where the organisation learns from its experiences, developing and enhancing its operational capabilities as operations managers try new things out in an almost experimental routine using their workplaces as a kind of ‘learning laboratory’ (Leonard-Barton, 1992). Easy Jet Case Study Although EasyJet only undertook its first flight in 1995, when it operated two routes (London Luton to Glasgow and Edinburgh), ten years later, the budget airline offered 212 routes to 64 European airports and transported over 29 million passengers in 2005. EasyJet now carries more passengers within Europe than British Airways. Analysts expect EasyJet and its Irish based rival Ryanair, to both overtake all traditional airlines to become the largest short-haul operators in Europe by the end of the decade. The Luton based airline is known as continuously expanding, recently announcing the purchase of a further 20 Airbus A319 planes to service the ever increasing number of routes it operates. In 2005 EasyJet carried up to 30 million  passengers, up from 25.7 million in 2004, making it a  £1.3 billion business! Despite record high fuel level costs, profits were up and around 10 per cent to  £68 million. Passenger numbers rose 21 per cent to 29.6 million and the load factor, indicating how many seats are filled, was 85.2 per cent, reflecting the airline’s popularity. The low cost lines like EasyJet have revolutionised the airline industry in Europe. Modelled on South West Airlines in the USA, these airlines have not only helped create a whole new market of cost-conscious travellers but have taken market share from established operators like British Airways and become the most profitable airlines in Europe. To be profitable, these airlines have to achieve low costs to match the low fares, which are the main attraction to their passengers. With its head office as a large tin shed adjacent to the main taxiway at unfashionable Luton Airport, all of EasyJet’s operations are aimed at minimising costs. This is done in a number of ways: Use of the Internet to reduce distribution costs. EasyJet sells around 95 per cent of all seats over the Internet. Its online booking system uses a variable pricing system to try to maximize load factors.(Prices start very low – sometimes free, and rise as seats are filled.) The fuller the aircraft the lower the unit cost of travel. (Scholes and Johnson,1999, pg12) Ticketless travel Passengers are emailed with their travel details and booking reference numbers. This helps reduce significantly the cost of issuing, distributing, processing and reconciling millions of tickets each year. Neither does EasyJet pre-assign seats on board. Passengers sit where they like. This eliminates an unnecessary complexity and speeds up passenger boarding. No free on board catering. Eliminating free catering on board reduces cost and unnecessary bureaucracy. Passengers can purchase food and refreshments on board. Efficient use of airports. EasyJet flies to the less crowded airports of smaller European cities and prefers the secondary airports in the major cities. These also have lower  landing charges and normally offer faster turnarounds as there are fewer air movements. EasyJet’s efficient ground operations enable them to achieve turnarounds of less than 30 minutes. This means EasyJet can achieve extra rotations on the high-frequency routes, maximising the utilization of aircraft. EasyJet’s ability to offer point-to point travel means that it does not have to worry about onward connections for passengers and their baggage, further simplifying its operations. Paperless operations. EasyJet have embraced the concept of their paperless office, with all its management and administration undertaken entirely on IT systems. These can be accessed through the use of servers from anywhere in the world thereby enhancing flexibility in the running of the airline. (Scholes and Johnson,1999, pg12) Many of the manufacturing practices that are now considered leading edge such as JIT, TQM, Statistical Process Control, were developed in just; such a fashion by Japanese manufacturers responding to the constraints placed upon them in the aftermath of the Second World War. One of the problems associated with this perspective is that the organization may not recognize what its operations strategy is. Mills et al. (1998) have developed a technique that aims to overcome this by enabling managers to construct a visual representation of operations strategy as realized. It does this by tapping into the organization’s collective memory, whether written or verbal, to map all of their most significant events in operations over the previous number of years. This should enable managers to recognise the patterns that now make up the existing operation’s strategy. Market-led The market-led perspective is one where the operations strategy is developed in response to the market environment in which the organisation operates. There’s a number of approaches within operations strategy that suggest how this might be done. The best known of these theorists is that of Terry Hill (1985). He suggests that an organisation’s operations strategy should be linked to its marketing strategy by considering how its products and  services win orders in the market place. He believes it’s possible to identify two types of competitive criteria in any market. Market qualifying criteria are those factors that must be satisfied before customers will consider making a purchase in the first place. Order winning criteria, on the other hand, are the factors in which customers ultimately make their purchasing decision. For example, for many airline passengers, the order winning criteria is price, with criteria such as destination city, time of flights and convenience of travel to and from airports being market qualifying criteria. For others, notably business travellers, the order winning criteria may be factors such as in-flight service or total travel time. Consequently, an operations strategy should be developed which will satisfy market qualifying criteria, but excel at order winning criteria for the market segment that the operation wishes to serve. Platts and Gregory 1990, use an approach that audits the products or groups of products that the organisation offers to its markets. The aim is to identify any gaps between market requirements for particular products and services and the performance of the organisation’s operations in delivering those products and services. First the market requirements for the product or service are analysed in terms of various competitive factors (such as cost, quality, reliability). The performance of the organization’s operations against those factors are then assessed. An operations strategy should be developed which will enable operations to match the level of performance required by customers in each of the competitive criteria. Operations-led The operations-led perspective is one in which its excellence in operations is used to drive the organisation’s strategy. This is in line with the Hayes and Wheelwright stage 4 organisation and fits with the resource-based view (RBV) of strategy that currently dominates the strategic management literature. The premise of the RBV is that superior performance comes from the way that an organization acquires, develops and deploys its resources and builds its capabilities rather than the way it positions itself in the market place (Barney, 1991; Wernerfelt, 1984). Thus, the process of strategy development should be based on a sound understanding of current operational capabilities and an analysis of how these could be developed in  the future. This can then provide the basis for decisions about which markets are likely to be the best in which to deploy current and future capabilities, which competitors are likely to be most vulnerable and how attacks from competitors might best be countered (Hayes et al., 2005). Mills et al. (2002) have developed methods through which organizations can apply these ideas in practice. This involves undertaking an analysis of the resources that have underpinned the activities of a business unit over an extended period of time (at least the previous three to five years). Six resource categories, which are not mutually exclusive, are used: tangible resources, knowledge resources skills and experience, systems and procedural resources, cultural resources and values, network resources and resources important for change. The resources are evaluated against three criteria: value, sustainability and versatility. Resources that individually or collectively score highly in these criteria are considered to be important resources. They are sources of existing or potential competitive advantage to the organization. OPERATIONS STRATEGY: CONTENT What then are the key decision areas of operations management that need to be considered when an organization is developing an operations strategy? Although there are a number of classifications in use, operations management scholars generally agree (e.g. Leong et al., 1990) that the major strategic decision areas in operations can be conveniently divided into ten categories under two broad headings: structure (the physical attributes of operations; the hardware) and infrastructure (the people and systems of operations; the software). The structural decision areas comprise: Facilities: the location, size and focus of operational resources. These decisions are concerned with where to locate production facilities, how large each facility should be, what goods or services should be produced at each location, what markets each facility should serve, etc. Capacity: the capacity of operations and their ability to respond to changes in customer demand. These decisions are concerned with the use of facilities, for example through shift patterns, working hours and staffing levels. Decisions about capacity will affect the organisation’s ability to serve particular markets from a given location.  Process technology: the technology of the equipment used in operations processes. For example, the degree of automation used, the configuration of equipment, and so on. Supply network: the extent to which operations are conducted in-house or are outsourced. Decisions about vertical integration are also concerned with the choice of suppliers, their location, the extent of dependence on particular suppliers, and how relationships with suppliers are managed. Structural decisions often involve major capital investment decisions, which once made will set the direction of operations for many years to come. They invariably impact the resources and capabilities of an organisation, determining its potential future output. It may be prohibitively expensive to change such decisions once implemented, and hence these must be considered to be truly strategic decisions for the organisation. It may be much easier to change the organisation’s marketing strategy (e.g. its target markets, or its promotional activities) than it is to change its operations strategy with respect to the structural decision areas. Infrastructure decision areas comprise: * Planning /Control: the systems used for planning and controlling operations. * Quality: the use of quality management policies and practices. * Work Organisation: Business structures, responsibilities and accountabilities in operations. * Human Resources: recruitment and selection, training and development, management style. * New Product Development: the systems and procedures used to develop and design new products and services. * Performance Measurement: financial and non-financial performance management and its linkage to recognition and reward systems. These issues are important to every organisation as this involves the use made up of the operating hardware as discussed above. It is possible to change aspects of operations infrastructure more quickly and easily than the case for operations structure. Nonetheless the difficulty of doing so should not be underestimated or neither should the impact of making inappropriate infrastructural decisions parallel. Conclusion Organisational strategy is concerned with the actions a company takes in order to survive and prosper within the environment it operates over the long-term. Strategy can exist at three levels in an organisation: which are; corporate, business and functional. Any organisation’s operations strategy includes the totality of the actions and decisions taken within the operations function. The decisions or actions taken have a direct impact on the organisation’s business and corporate strategy. An organisation’s operations can be a source of competitive advantage if they are managed strategically in pursuit of a clear goal for operations. These are five possible operations objectives; cost, quality, speed, dependability and flexibility. It is unlikely that any operation can excel at all of these simultaneously, so competitive priorities must be determined on which to base the operations strategy. The process of operations strategy concerns the way in which an organisation develops its operations strategy. This might be top-down (i.e. formed in pursuit of its business and corporate strategy), bottom-up (i.e. formed from the actions and decisions taken with operations), market-led (i.e. formed in response to market requirements) or operations-led (based on the resources and capabilities within its operations). The content of operation strategy consists of the key decision areas concerned with the structure (i.e. the physical attributes of facilities, capacity, process technology and supply network) and infrastructure (i.e. planning and control, quality, organisation, human resources, new product development and performance measurement). Through a value chain, operations strategy would be placed in line with the company supply chain strategies and perspectives where business process are involved. This concerns the pattern of strategic decisions and actions which set the role, objectives and activities of operations. (Slack et al., 2004). References Johnson, g and Scoles, k Exploring corporate strategy, 6th Edition. England: Prentice Hall Ltd Miller, R Jentz, G (2009) Fundamentals of Business , 2nd Edition. England: Cengage Learning Soulsby, S Marsh, J (2002) Business , 8th Edition. London: Nelson Thornes Ltd Rush, J Ottley, M (2006) Business for students. London: Thomson Learning www.wikipedia.org Accessed: 15.20pm: 24.1.12

Strategic Analysis Of John Lewis Partnership Limited Marketing Essay

Strategic Analysis Of John Lewis Partnership Limited Marketing Essay The following report will provide a detailed analysis of John Lewis Partnership. The retailer has been very successful in the UK and has performed extremely well in spite of more negative financial issues and other dynamics impacting upon the retail sector at large, predominantly in light of declining consumer income, technological advances such as the internet and increased competition. The reason the company was able to achieve these was because of their commitment towards their clients in providing innovative solutions as well as improved awareness of customer needs and the significance of creating a reliable customer base which ensures positive word-of-mouth and the company has achieved this due to its commitment to providing innovative solutions to clients as well as a heightened awareness of customer needs and further recommendations to increase new revenue streams through an appropriate CRM system in place. Therefore, the reports provides an evaluation of the companys current marketing environment assessing how the external factors impact the retail sector largely and specifically on the strategies that John Lewis chooses to adopt. The report will also evaluate the strengths and weaknesses as well as the threats and opportunities that the company is presented with and how best it can achieve a match with its own internal capabilities to the dynamics at play. The report will also look at how the John Lewis brand and customer proposition is placed in the UK market in comparison to other competitors, with an attempt to provide understanding in to how the company gains advantage through differentiation from other competitors, essentially highlighting how the company implements a differentiated strategy which allows it to maintain advantage. At the same time, the analysis has drawn attention to how the uncertainty which prevails and the continuous rate of change in the external market highlights the implications of continuous observation and continuous re-evaluation of the strategic options applied. Ultimately, the aim is to provide recommendations as to how the company can increase the probability of its advantage over the longer term. The John Lewis Partnerships 81,000 Partners own the leading UK retail businesses John Lewis and Waitrose. Our founders vision of a successful business powered by its people and its principles defines our unique company today. The profits and benefits created by our success are shared by all our Partners (John Lewis, 2012). Write the report as if you were working for an external management consultancy firm, reporting to the Board of Directors of your chosen company. The report should contain sections that address ALL of the main aspects of the module syllabus: that is the report should cover both strategic analysis (internal and external) and strategy formulation. It is essential that in undertaking your research and writing your report you make appropriate use of the strategic management tools and models to conduct internal and external strategic analysis and strategy formulation that you have encountered in this module. Credit will be given for analysis, evaluation and synthesis, and the appropriate selection and use of strategic management tools and models. 2.0 Introduction This report will discuss the strategic management tools demonstrating skills of analysis evaluation and synthesis of John Lewis. The report includes strategic analysis and an External Environmental analysis. The report also covers the strategy formulation in which the SWOT analysis and BCG Matrix will be discussed. John Lewis Partnership plc is one of the UKs top ten retail businesses. They operate amongst 2 sectors known as John Lewis and Waitrose. The company offers food as well as household products i.e. baked foods, fresh fruit veg, wines, household items, furniture, electronic items etc. The company functions in a chain of 287 Waitrose supermarkets, 39 John Lewis shops that include 30 departmental stores and 8 of them at home John Lewis stores. The company operates throughout the UK and is headquartered in London, they sell their products through retail stores, catalogues, and websites. The companys strategic focus is to accomplish its non-core business strategies through partnership with other firms. There are around 81,000 employees working in John Lewis stores who are partners in the business, they have a share in the companys profits and are given the opportunity to participate in the companys progress and growth. This is their unique source of competitive advantage as it encourages staff loyalty through being business partners (John Lewis 2012) 3.0 Strategic analysis 3.1 Mission statement The mission of an organisation highlights the broad directions they need to follow and provides a brief summary of the values and reasons that lie behind it (Lynch 2012). Like other organisations John Lewis also have a mission statement, it highlights their reputation established through their ownership structure as it is unique and they are very successful in being a profitable business. John Lewis aim to keep their staff satisfied so that their business can be a success. Their strategy is based on three key elements partners, customers and profit. (Refer to appendix 1) to see their full mission statement. 4.0 External Environmental analysis 4.1 PESTEL Analysis The PESTEL analysis examines the macro-environment in which the business exists in. It is a helpful tool for understanding market growth or decline as well as the position, potential and the direction for business. It is also used for evaluating the Political, Economic, Social Technological, Environmental and Legal factors that a business operates in. The Political factors discuss government regulations such as employment laws, environmental regulations, tax policy and political stability. The Economic factors affect the cost of capital and purchasing power of an organisation. These factors also include economic growth, interest rates and inflation. The Social factors impact customers needs, potential market size such as John Lewiss goods and services, population growth and age demographics. Technological factors of John Lewis will discuss barriers to entry, making or buying decisions, investment and innovation and the technological change. Environmental factors include weather, clim ate and climate change. Climate change affects how John Lewis operates and the products they offer. Lastly Legal Factors include discrimination law, employment law and health and safety law. These factors can affect the way John Lewis operate their costs and the demand for their products. 4.2 Macro- environmental Factors It is commonly known, that those prevailing in the external environment of any firm shall have a significant influence in terms of decision making in the strategic options. Such analysis is known as PESTEL analysis and usually suggested as the first stage in the strategic planning process (Lynch, 2006). As Johnson et al (2008, pg.56) rightly declared, The key drivers for change are environmental factors that are likely to have a high impact on the success or failure of strategy. (Refer to appendix 2) to see the PESTEL analysis for John Lewis. It can be concluded that each factor of the PESTEL has had an effect on John Lewiss actions, some of them are now stated in their mission statement. Previous factors are used to analyse different factors, furthermore, these factors can give a prediction for the future, so can be quiet effective if they are applied correctly. There are also some restrictions in this model, e.g. when the procedure of the checklist is applied to John Lewis it may be tough. The emergent corporate strategies may well comment that the future is so uncertain that prediction is useless (Lynch 2012 page 84), however, some may still give words of caution but still predict the future. The PESTEL analysis isnt the only framework that John Lewis take into consideration, their organisation has many other internal and external factors that also have an effect on the strategy formulation, this is why Porters five Forces framework is applied. The PESTEL analysis has a lot of information but yet doesnt offer a detailed analysis of the business. Porters Five Forces (1985) observes factors that have an impact on competition in the organisation. 4.3 Strategic Options The external analysis undertaken has underlined how the focus and the landscape of the UK retail sector has changed dramatically over the last decade or so. Such developments clearly present both threats, primarily from new entrants and modes of distribution, as well as opportunities such as the increasing utilisation of technology within the current offering to customers. As Johnson et al (2008, pg.3) highlights, strategy is about exploiting the strategic capability of an organisation, in terms of its resources and competences, to provide competitive advantage and/or yield new opportunities. However, many competitors in the retail sector at large have managed to expand into other range of products as well as expanding internationally, John Lewis seems to have adopted a more thoughtful approach and stayed loyal to its customers as well as confident in terms of its offering to the market. At the same time it has also developed a wide range of products as a lower price range to attract more customers across a wider range of segments in society. In times of economic uncertainty this also appears to be a sensible strategy in terms of situations where its loyal customer base may be experiencing declines in disposable income, thus enabling John Lewis to maintain their business through customers trading down to less expensive ranges in store. The recent introduction for its Essential Waitrose Range in 2009 was both a reaction to external events including activities of competitors but was viewed as an effective strategy highlighting the companys attention to external research as well as its innovative approach to dealing with such negative events. Furthermore, Porter put forward the idea that there were three generic strategies; cost leadership strategy, differentiation strategy and the focus strategy, which companies follow. It is clear that John Lewis has embraced a combination of these, but essentially, differentiation has remained key to its business model which positions more favourably when compared to other competitors, particularly given the range and extent of the goods and services it provides as well as its highly effective branding and promotional events which appeal directly to customers and incite purchase. Its decision to introduce its Essentials range within its Waitrose stores may have been considered by some as an indication it was lowering its standards, but on the contrary, despite offering a cheaper alternative, quality remained key which ultimately implied that its position in the market would not be negotiated. 4.4 Porters Five Forces Porters Five Forces framework highlights that the environment John Lewis is competing in is constantly changing, (refer to appendix 5). In this model it is believed that customers dont have more importance than any other aspect, however Aker, Baker and Harvey Jones argue that customers are more important than any other aspect of strategy development (Lynch 2012). Porters Five Forces of competition (1985) is a common tool often applied within the strategic management process to firms across several sectors. It is similar to the PESTLE analysis as it takes a predominantly external perspective of the firm within its given industry looking at how it is positioned against other competitors in the same sector. Recently many have criticised the ensuring importance of the framework given the changes that have risen, particularly with regard to the diversification of business which has ultimately created blurring across many previously distinct sectors. This is emphasized by the supermarkets entering into the clothing and electronics sector for example, as well as retailers including John Lewis expanding into financial services through insurance and credit facilities to customers. Barney (1995) and Henry (2008) underlined how Porters model is more helpful when it is applied at a strategic business unit level rather than at higher levels of industry analysis such as the sector at large as it cannot be expected that all competitors will be competing against one another. This tool is also believed to be useful in terms of assessing a companys strengths and weaknesses in light of how it stacks up against competition. As Barney (1995, pg.49) highlights, A complete understanding of sources of competitive advantage requires the analysis of a firms internal strengths and weaknesses as well. The importance of integrating internal with environmental analyses can be seen when evaluating the sources of competitive advantage of many firms. Looking at Porters five forces of competition, it is clear that John Lewis has attempted to not to just react to the external dynamics and actions of competitors, but actively be a step ahead. It has constantly adapted its business model, such as the introduction of store cards, its online offering and the Waitrose Essentials range in order to provide its business with a more appropriate fit to the market in line with Mintzbergs (1994) theory. A major element of its strategy however, is its reputation, branding and subsequent positioning in the market and how consumers view the business in its entirety. It has remained rather committed to its original proposition and further enhanced its appeal through appropriate branding and its reputation for quality and enhanced service to customers. 5.0 Internal Resource analysis 5.1 Value analysis chain StratISTh3 Source: Porter, Competitive Advantage, 1985 The term Value Chain was used by Michael Porter (1985), the purpose of the value chain is to analyse the activities that are performed by the business, linking them to the competitive position. It also evaluates the particular activities to see which add value to the businesses products or services (quickmba 1999-2010) While many critics and leading authorities dispute the validity of Porters earlier theories, many of his ideas do still appear useful from the perspective of strategic analysis, particularly the notion of the value chain. Ultimately, it is within the value chain which John Lewis has created that it has succeeded in terms of sustaining advantage in its market sector. It has created efficiencies and synergies through the interrelationships within (Mintzberg and Ghoshal, 2003). Value Chain Analysis which is often compared to the RBV of the firm as it looks to both internal and external dynamics impacting an organisation. In recent years importance has also been given to joint ventures, collaborations and relationships which add value to the companys positioning. Elements of the chain such as HR which were previously considered as supporting elements are now viewed as core and this is demonstrated by John Lewis in terms of its commitment to and investment in staff. By enhancing the quality of its internal resources it can achieve distinctive competencies which are difficult to emulate by other competitors (Teece et al, 1997; Terwiesch and Ulrich, 2009). As Porter (1985, pg.36) emphasises, the way it performs individual activities are a reflection of its history, its strategy, its approach to implementing its strategy, and the underlying economics of the activities themselves. 6.0 Strategy formulation 6.1 SWOT Analysis: John Lewis Partnership A SWOT analysis is a useful tool for understanding and decision-making, businesses such as John Lewis use this tool in all sorts of situations, a SWOT summarizes the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. This framework covers a crucial part of the strategic planning process a scan of the internal and external environment. Strength, Weaknesses are considered to be internal to the business whereas, Opportunities and Threats are part of the external environment. Looking at the SWOT analysis (refer to appendix 6) it can be concluded that John Lewis take this tool into consideration when making business decisions based on their customers. However, John Lewis need to expand their target audience because at the moment they are only targeting an older audience need to improve the diagnostic power of a SWOT analysis is to define the elements from a customer perspective rather than the organizational point of view. (Baker 2007, pg.267). By doing this they will generate a higher profit margin. If john Lewis wants to stay ahead of their competition they need focus on their weaknesses such as they need to ensure their prices are similar to their competitors. Also John Lewis need to focus on threats the business may have to face but they can avoid such matters by acting upon the threat before it occurs. Although the SWOT analysis tool is useful to businesses when making decisions, it has been criticized due to its simplicity and possible misleading approach to strategic analysis. This is because companies have failed to follow a few simple procedures. The SWOT analysis is a focused methodology (Baker 2007), therefore, when John Lewis the using this tool they need to ensure they are able to follow correct procedures of this tool to ensure they are able to achieve success. 6.2 BCG Growth-share Matrix The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) growth-share matrix was developed by Bruce Henderson, founder of BCG, in the late 1960s (Baker 2007, pg.125). The BCG Matrix is a simple tool used to assess a companys position in terms of its product range. It simplifies how a companys thinks about the products and services and makes decisions about which it should keep and let go and which products to invest in further. It provides a useful way of seeing the opportunities that are open to the company and also helps to consider how the company can maximise the profits in the future. Below is the BCG Matrix for John Lewis, highlighting where in the market the different departments of John Lewis are positioned. John Lewis was voted Britains best retailer in 2009 and have won awards House Beautiful Awards 2008: Online Home Retailer of the Year Gold Award (washerhelp 2012), making them leaders in departments such as House and Garden, Electrical Appliances, Fashion, Gifts and Toys. They now have a high growth and a high market share in this segment, thus putting them in the star category. Further, technology and baby departments are between the star and question mark category this could be due to high growth and market share or high growth and low market share as they are faced with high demands but have low returns. Moving on to the sport department as it is in the cash cow category, as a markets it isnt growing but yet the market share for the products is high. Looking at the final category it can be said that John Lewis are safe as there isnt any products in the dog category. The BCG Growth-Share Matrix 7.0 conclusion Overall, the company has responded admirably to the changing dynamics impacting upon its market and customers, it is also clear that going forward, more challenges and threats shall be presented to it, particularly given persistent uncertainty relating to the global economy as consumer confidence within the UK. It would appear that in addition to a thorough and consistent approach to its markets in relation to external analysis of those factors deemed to impact most significantly; the company also adopts an internal approach, evaluating its inherent resources and competencies within the business. In line with the resource based view of the firm (Barney, 1991) and subsequent research by other authors such as Grant (2005), this analysis is often viewed as a more appropriate approach to the task of strategic management as ultimately, organisations have much more control over their internal resources than external market variables. Such an approach enables companies to incite the innovat ion process and thus create change in the wider environment as well as improvements to its value chain. This appears to be exactly what John Lewis has done to date through its expansion into other areas, as well as extending its range to customers through on-line facilities as well as credit, insurance etc. References Arnold, G. (2012). Corporate financial management. 3d. ed.Essex: Prentice Hall. Baker M (2007). Marketing strategy and management. 4th ed. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Barney, J. and Hesterly, W.S., 2008. Strategic Management and Competitive Advantage: Concepts and Cases: International Edition. London: Prentice Hall. Barney, J.B., 1991. Firm Resources and Sustained Competitive Advantage. Journal of Management; 17, (1) Chloe. (2012). ANALYSIS Waitrose and John Lewis move closer together, offline as well as online. Available: http://internetretailing.net/2012/11/analysis-waitrose-and-john-lewis-move-closer-together-offline-as-well-as-online/. Last accessed 20th Nov 2012. Davey, J and Laurance, B (2008). John Lewis under fire: how the City turned against Rose. The Sunday Times. 16 March 2008, p.12-13 The Economist (2012). A Rose by any other name. A retailing star ticks off investors at an awkward time. 13 March 2012, p58-60 The Economist (2012). The world in figures: industries. The world in 2012. p124, 126 Gartner. (2011). Gartner Identifies the Top 10 Strategic Technologies for 2011. Available: http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=1454221. Last accessed 25th Nov 2012. Grant, R.M., 2005. Contemporary Strategy Analysis. London: Wiley-Blackwell Henry, A., 2008. Understanding Strategic Management. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Johnson, G, Scholes, K and Whittington, R, 2008. Exploring Corporate Strategy. London: Prentice Hall. Keynote, 2008. Clothing Manufacturing, Keynote. Keynote, 2009. Clothing Retailing. Keynote Levitt, T, 1983. The Globalization of Markets. Harvard Business Review, May-June. Lewis J. (2012). John Lewis Partnership. Available: http://www.johnlewispartnership.co.uk/about.html. Last accessed 18th Nov 2012. Lynch R (2006). Corporate strategy . 4th ed. Harlow: Prentice Hall. Lynch, R (2012). Strategic Management .6th ed. Harlow: Pearson Mintzberg, H., Quinn, J., and Ghoshal, S, 2003. The Strategy Process. London: Prentice Hall Mintzberg, Henry, 1994. The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning: Reconceiving the Roles for Planning, Plans, Planners. New York: Free Press Nugent, H and Hawkes, S (2012). George follows Jeremy Paxman as John Lewis faces another brief challenge. 20 March 2012. www.timesonline.co.uk (Accessed 24/11/2012) Ohmae, Kenichi, 1989. Managing in a Borderless World. Harvard Business Review, May-June. Porter, M., 1979. How Competitive Forces Shape Strategy. Harvard Business Review, March/April. Porter, M.E., 1980. Competitive Strategy. New York: The Free Press. Porter, M.E., 1985. Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance. New York: Free Press. QuickMBA. (1999-2010). The Value Chain. Available: http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/value-chain/. Last accessed 20th Nov 2012. Reynolds, A., 2012. John Lewis Partnership on Target to Cut Emissions. Supply Management, 17 October, available at http://www.supplymanagement.com/news/2012/john-lewis-partnership-on-target-to-cut-emissions/, accessed 12/11/12 Teece,D.J., Pisano, G. And Shuen, A., 1997. Dynamic Capabilities and Strategic Management. Strategic Management Journal, Vol.18, No.7, pp.509-533. Terwiesch, C. and Ulrich, K., 2009. Innovation Tournaments: Creating and Selecting Exceptional Opportunities. Boston: Harvard Business Press. Washerhelp. (2012). John Lewis. Available: http://www.washerhelp.co.uk/Retailers/John-Lewis.html. Last accessed 20th Nov 2012. Appendix 1 John Lewis mission statement The John Lewis Partnerships reputation is founded on the uniqueness of our ownership structure and our commercial success. Our purpose is the happiness of all our members, through their worthwhile, satisfying employment in a successful business, with success measured on our ability to sustain and enhance our position both as an outstanding retailer and as a thriving example of employee ownership. With this in mind, our strategy is based on three interdependent objectives Partners, customers and profit. Appendix 2 PESTEL Analysis for John Lewis Political Factors John Lewis operates within the UK market and therefore changes in the policy related to the governance of UK business, as well as advanced policies in the context of the UK, have an impact on the business. The laws and codes of conduct relating to ethical business practices and CSR initiatives particularly impact John Lewis. Subsequently, there has been conscious effort on the role of the retailers to combine relevant Codes of Conduct concerning the supply chain as well as giving a guarantee to customers that have been sourced in an ethical manner. It is likely that changes such as this will continue to impact going ahead but at the same time as this, pricing will be raised as a concern for the retailers as margins will certainly be eroded as prices are put higher, epically where the products may be obtained from developing markets. Economic factors It is obvious that economic factors have a major effect on the strategy implemented by John Lewis; such factors have had a negative impact on the UK. However, when the government took the decision to decrease the VAT rate temporarily in 2008 due to financial crisis, this had a direct positive impact on the retail sector. The company faced major setbacks in relation to its revenue and performance in 2001. The company was successful in reversing its fortunes through a complete re-evaluation of its supply chain practices; they improved the company model so that it met the needs of customers. The company is still conscious that the confidence levels of customers are slightly unstable, this is highlighted in its current financial results, (refer to appendix 3). Such uncertainty has an obvious impact on which strategies companies can follow and directly influences which marketing strategy John Lewis decide to apply in relation to pricing, advertising and other variables of the mix. Increas ed global uncertainty also influences their operations which are mainly UK based. This is especially true regarding the price of raw materials that has been changed considerably over the past few months, with products such as cotton, coffee and oil being a great concern. Such fluctuations put pressures on retailers as well as customers whereby margins shall be reduced and costs passed on to consumers who may in fact seek cheaper alternatives as their own incomes may decline. A full appraisal of all elements of the supply and distribution chain is needed to ensure that efficiencies are being formed and improvements are made to the overall value chain (Porter, 1980; 1985). This may also clarify the companys latest challenges in integrating its business with Waitrose, John Lewis are becoming much more aligned over the past months (refer to appendix 4) Events overseas such as Spain and Greece could also have more implications for the sourcing policies the company accepts as well as its foreign currency payment methods etc. to suppliers given the weakening Euro currency. Social Factors Social factors for John Lewis are very important across the business as they are considered to have a direct effect on how successful the customer behaviour is and the preference towards the items or brands. While many have pointed out that overtime as consumers we have slowly become more similar across country borders (Ohmae, 1989; Levitt, 1983), latest indications actually highlight much divergence in consumer buying habits. Much of this might also be attributed to progress in internet trading whereby consumers have further choice as well as getting updated and having more knowledge about the alternatives available in the market. This has increased the competition which has therefore, put pressure on prices, mostly in the case of stores as there are much higher fixed costs involved. Another major progress relating to the retail sector in the UK has been the success of the supermarket chains in growing into non-food items with shares of the clothing market increasing every year from competitors such as Asda, Tesco, and Sainsburys. a report from Keynote in 2009 outlined how supermarkets share of the clothing market increased from around 10% in 2000 10 23% in 2008, and this expansion is likely to continue as the major multiples devote increasing amounts of floor space to non-food items such as clothes such growth has completely changed the retail space in the UK and certainly, many have attributed the demise of many High Street incumbents directly to the strategies pursued by supermarkets. At the same time, it is also clear that John Lewis has followed somewhat of a different method and thus located itself apart from these competitors and is seen being more exclusive, of higher quality as well as providing higher levels of service to customers. Technological Factors It is impossible to ignore the progress that occurred in technology over the decade or so. Such advances have completely changed and improved all features of the supply and distribution chain particular with regard to online shopping. Over the past few months John Lewis have become more of this and adapted its business model appropriately so that they are capable of understanding customer expectations, with regards to convince and availability. Another major development has been the increasing use of media and subsequent positive word-of-mouth recommendations. Such tools are viewed by companies as an important ingredient to their overall strategy, not just in terms of communicating with customers but also in gaining further knowledge through customer feedback which can assist them in gaining further knowledge through customer feedback which can assist them in engaging more with their customer base and addressing any potential problems or other threats. Technology is considered as pro viding more choice to customers but increasingly is being embraced within the overall customer management strategy and is likely that this will intensify going forward and further facilitated by new developments such as improvements in text analytics and the capture of real-time data (Gartner, 2011) Environmental Factors Making the right long term decision is one of John Lewiss founding principle, environmental sustainability is key to this approach. There are programmes, processes and targets in place to ensure that environmental commitments are delivered (John Lewis 2009) John Lewis recently revealed new plans where their key aim is to cast their CO2 emissions to 15% by 2020 (Reynolds, 2012) Legal Factors John Lewis is also impacted by changes to employment regulations as well as procedures guarding trading standards. Over the recent years many retail competitors such as Primark and Gap have been negatively criticised due to concerns on the unethical sourcing and manufacturing of products. Primark, a leading High-street label attracted unpleasant headlines in the media in response to claims they were using child labour, consequently affecting their position in the market. Other changes in the economic framework of overseas markets on which John Lewis depends on depend on

21st Century :: essays research papers

In A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking There were very many interesting theories and facts that were brought up about physics. A couple of these theories and fact help lead me to deciding on my opinion about the future of physics in the 21st century. My opinion is that in the 21st century a couple of things will happen in the way of physics. First I think scientist will continue work on old experiments and make new theories. Another one of my thought are that scientist will prove previous theories wrong. The continuation of scientist finding out more theories and furthering previous experiment is a big possibility. This is likely to happen because since about 200 BC scientist and philosophers have been making theories about Earth and how things on Earth work as well as in the Universe. One of the earliest examples of these theories was Aristotle. Aristotle thought that the Earth was stationary and that the sun, the moon, the planets and the stars moved in circular orbits around the earth. Then in the 2nd century ad , Ptolemy made a model which elaborated the theory made by Aristotle. In his model "The earth stood at the center, surrounded by eight spheres that carried the moon, the sun, the stars and the 5 planets known at the time. Years and years after all these first theories of how the universe was setup scientist found that all the planets revolve around the sun. This is an example of how was seems so simple now like how the planets work was so complicated to our predecesso rs, and as for what I think, what we find so complicated right now will be so simple in later decades. I also believe that in the 21st century scientist will prove that previous theories that were made by scientist are false. Stephen Hawking sums this up by saying "At the beginning of this century, it was thought that everything could be explained in terms of properties and continues matter which shows how quickly things can change in the world of science, because of this Max Baron put it this way "it is possible for physics as we know it to be over in six months" because theories change so quickly that physics may not be where it is now in six months.

Functions of Management Essay example -- essays research papers

Functions of Management Paper I work for Dell computer company and planning is extremely important. Since computer industry is changing so much and we are a global company it is very important to do the research and have a plan set in place to insure the profitability ad demand for our products. We do have many partnerships with other companies so it is imperative that have contracts in place in order to deliver best and newest technology as it is approved by FCC and released to the market. Organizing is another very important part of our company’s successful operation. On average Dell sells 250,000 a day so precise organizing is what makes it possible for all operation to be smooth and customers to be happy. We do have a great executive and management team in place to make sure that everything is well organized. Dell understands managing as leading that is why it is so great to work for them. I am taught by managers to lead my team because it as a more productive way of managing then just set goals and expect that they will be reached. In our company everyone tries to lead by example and help each other to achieve company goals. At Dell we have a great control model. The issues are addressed right away so if you are not reaching your goals and appropriate action is taken. Usually it is coaching, finding the reasons for underperforming. If that does not help more strict corrective actions are taken including termination. In order for company to be successful it has to h...

Deception Point Page 7

Gabrielle ran a hand through her straightened black hair. â€Å"I hear the White House campaign staff is as confused as we are. The President is offering no explanation for his vanishing act, and everyone over there is furious.† â€Å"Any theories?† Sexton asked. Gabrielle gazed at him over her scholarly glasses. â€Å"As it turns out, I got some interesting data this morning from a contact of mine in the White House.† Sexton recognized the look in her eyes. Gabrielle Ashe had scored some insider information again. Sexton wondered if she were giving some presidential aide backseat blow jobs in exchange for campaign secrets. Sexton didn't care†¦ so long as the information kept coming. â€Å"Rumor has it,† his assistant said, lowering her voice, â€Å"the President's strange behavior all started last week after an emergency private briefing with the administrator of NASA. Apparently the President emerged from the meeting looking dazed. He immediately cleared his schedule, and he's been in close contact with NASA ever since.† Sexton certainly liked the sound of that. â€Å"You think maybe NASA delivered some more bad news?† â€Å"Seems a logical explanation,† she said hopefully. â€Å"Although it would have to be pretty critical to make the President drop everything.† Sexton considered it. Obviously, whatever was going on with NASA had to be bad news. Otherwise the President would throw it in my face. Sexton had been pounding the President pretty hard on NASA funding lately. The space agency's recent string of failed missions and gargantuan budget overruns had earned NASA the dubious honor of becoming Sexton's unofficial poster child against big government overspending and inefficiency. Admittedly, attacking NASA – one of the most prominent symbols of American pride – was not the way most politicians would think of winning votes, but Sexton had a weapon few other politicians had – Gabrielle Ashe. And her impeccable instincts. The savvy young woman had come to Sexton's attention several months ago when she was working as a coordinator in Sexton's Washington campaign office. With Sexton trailing badly in the primary polls and his message of government overspending falling on deaf ears, Gabrielle Ashe wrote him a note suggesting a radical new campaign angle. She told the senator he should attack NASA's huge budget overruns and continued White House bailouts as the quintessential example of President Herney's careless overspending. â€Å"NASA is costing Americans a fortune,† Gabrielle wrote, including a list of financial figures, failures, and bailouts. â€Å"Voters have no idea. They would be horrified. I think you should make NASA a political issue.† Sexton groaned at her naivete. â€Å"Yeah, and while I'm at it, I'll rail against singing the national anthem at baseball games.† In the weeks that followed, Gabrielle continued to send information about NASA across the senator's desk. The more Sexton read, the more he realized this young Gabrielle Ashe had a point. Even by government agency standards, NASA was an astounding money pit – expensive, inefficient, and, in recent years, grossly incompetent. One afternoon Sexton was doing an on-air interview about education. The host was pressing Sexton about where he would find funding for his promised overhaul of public schools. In response, Sexton decided to test Gabrielle's NASA theory with a half-joking response. â€Å"Money for education?† he said. â€Å"Well, maybe I'll cut the space program in half. I figure if NASA can spend fifteen billion a year in space, I should be able to spend seven and a half billion on the kids here on earth.† In the transmission booth, Sexton's campaign managers gasped in horror at the careless remark. After all, entire campaigns had been sunk by far less than taking a potshot at NASA. Instantly, the phone lines at the radio station lit up. Sexton's campaign managers cringed; the space patriots were circling for the kill. Then something unexpected happened. â€Å"Fifteen billion a year?† the first caller said, sounding shocked. â€Å"With a B? Are you telling me that my son's math class is overcrowded because schools can't afford enough teachers, and NASA is spending fifteen billion dollars a year taking pictures of space dust?† â€Å"Um†¦ that's right,† Sexton said warily. â€Å"Absurd! Does the President have the power to do something about that?† â€Å"Absolutely,† Sexton replied, gaining confidence. â€Å"A President can veto the budget request of any agency he or she deems overfunded.† â€Å"Then you have my vote, Senator Sexton. Fifteen billion for space research, and our kids don't have teachers. It's outrageous! Good luck, sir. I hope you go all the way.† The next caller came on the line. â€Å"Senator, I just read that NASA's International Space Station is way overbudget and the President is thinking of giving NASA emergency funding to keep the project going. Is that true?† Sexton jumped at this one. â€Å"True!† He explained that the space station was originally proposed as a joint venture, with twelve countries sharing the costs. But after construction began, the station's budget spiraled wildly out of control, and many countries dropped out in disgust. Rather than scrapping the project, the President decided to cover everyone's expenses. â€Å"Our cost for the ISS project,† Sexton announced, â€Å"has risen from the proposed eight billion to a staggering one hundred billion dollars!† The caller sounded furious. â€Å"Why the hell doesn't the President pull the plug!† Sexton could have kissed the guy. â€Å"Damn good question. Unfortunately, one third of the building supplies are already in orbit, and the President spent your tax dollars putting them there, so pulling the plug would be admitting he made a multibillion-dollar blunder with your money.† The calls kept coming. For the first time, it seemed Americans were waking up to the idea that NASA was an option – not a national fixture. When the show was over, with the exception of a few NASA diehards calling in with poignant overtures about man's eternal quest for knowledge, the consensus was in: Sexton's campaign had stumbled onto the holy grail of campaigning – a new â€Å"hot button† – a yet untapped controversial issue that struck a nerve with voters. In the weeks that followed, Sexton trounced his opponents in five crucial primaries. He announced Gabrielle Ashe as his new personal campaign assistant, praising her for her work in bringing the NASA issue to the voters. With the wave of a hand, Sexton had made a young African-American woman a rising political star, and the issue of his racist and sexist voting record disappeared overnight. Now, as they sat together in the limousine, Sexton knew Gabrielle had yet again proven her worth. Her new information about last week's secret meeting between the NASA administrator and the President certainly suggested more NASA troubles were brewing – perhaps another country pulling funding from the space station. As the limousine passed the Washington Monument, Senator Sexton could not help but feel he had been anointed by destiny. 8 Despite having ascended to the most powerful political office in the world, President Zachary Herney was average in height, with a slender build and narrow shoulders. He had a freckled face, bifocals, and thinning black hair. His unimposing physique, however, stood in stark contrast to the almost princely love the man commanded from those who knew him. It was said that if you met Zach Herney once, you would walk to the ends of the earth for him. â€Å"So glad you could make it,† President Herney said, reaching out to shake Rachel's hand. His grasp was warm and sincere. Rachel fought the frog in her throat. â€Å"Of†¦ course, Mr. President. An honor to meet you.†