Methodology (just theories) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Methodology (just theories) - Essay Example It provides an appropriate insight to study a particular phenomena and the method of data collection required for the study. The philosophy behind a research guides the researcher about various aspects of producing valid knowledge. ["A" level sociology A resource based learning approach, n. d] The three trends of philosophy involved in sociological research methodologies are Positivism, Realism and Interpretivism. Positivism mainly deals with proposing natural laws based on observation. [Samuel- Ojo, 2005]. Realism states that whatever appears to be real to an individual is a consequence of one's behavior. ["A" level sociology A resource based learning approach, n. d]. Interpretivism is mainly based on idealism that the various phenomena occurring in the world are interpreted through mind. [Interpretivism, n. d] The research philosophy of positivism mainly prevailed in the nineteenth and the twentieth century. This concept is most popular in the field of natural science. The origin of this ideology evolved due to the study of various phenomena in the world through human knowledge rather than dogma of religion. In order to attain fact about a particular aspect of study, observations are made related to that field of study. This methodology of research through observation is called empirism. Therefore, positivism developed based on certainty and universal explanations about particular phenomena. [Samuel- Ojo, 2005]. The major strengths of positivism are that the knowledge attained through this methodology is certain since it is not based on any speculations. It provides a logical end to any research. Contrary to this, since ideology of positivism mainly deals with observations it rules out the existence of unobservable phenomena or occurrences. [Rusbult, 1997] Realism is a research philosophy that "seeks to understand, the existence of an external and objective reality that influences people's social interpretations and behaviors but which may not be perceptible to them. It recognizes that people themselves are not objects to be studied in the style of natural science. "[Glossary, n. d]. Realism believes that phenomena can occur in spite of not observing its occurrence. It also believes that an object has certain properties associated with it that are independent of theoretical conceptions. These are some of the major strengths of realism. One major drawback of this research philosophy is that it is based on plausible doctrines rather than knowledge based on facts. The knowledge attained through this philosophy is skeptical and not certain since it is based on unobservable. [Boyd, 2002] Interpretive research philosophy states that the social world cannot be described without understanding the experience of the people and gives importance to human actions. This ideology produces scientific accounts of social life depending on the concepts and inferences drawn by the people. It generates theories based on the descriptions and experiences of people. Hence, this ideology is purely based on the understanding of the people about a particular concept and its interpretation by the researcher. It provides an in depth understanding of the blind beliefs and practices of daily life. There are structured procedures followed to understand the perception and beliefs of the people abo

Dominos Pizza Essay Example for Free

Dominos Pizza Essay Before 2007, wheat prices didn’t have a pulse. We’d buy for the next six months and the price would be plus or minus 10 cents a bushel over the last six months. Then one day in 2008 wheat shot up $24 a bushel! Now, as a norm, we strategically consider corn, dairy, and wheat to better leverage our supply chain expertise and improve store economics. — John Macksood, executive vice president, Domino’s Pizza On the morning of August 22, 2011, John Macksood, executive vice president for supply chain services at Domino’s Pizza, Inc. (Domino’s), was reading the daily headlines while sitting in his office at the Domino’s World Resource Center, the company’s global headquarters in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Domino’s was the world’s second-largest pizza company and the largest pizza delivery quick-serve restaurant (QSR) chain. One item in particular jumped out at Macksood. An article, titled â€Å"Quiznos chain faces tough finance issues,† indicated that Denver-based Quiznos, a privately owned QSR sandwich company with 4,000 U. S. stores, was nearing bankruptcy due to â€Å"sharpening competition, waning sales, and debt woes. †1 One of the problems cited was Quiznos’ â€Å"protracted battle† with its franchisees over operating costs and profitability, with some franchisees blaming low or nonexistent store profit margins on Quiznos’ requirement that they buy food at â€Å"allegedly above-market prices from a Quiznos-mandated supplier network. †2 Analysts also blamed Quiznos’ problems on rising commodity prices, which had dramatically increased the cost of raw ingredients. As Macksood finished reading the article, he felt proud to have been part of a team at Domino’s that had proactively responded when the prices of wheat, corn, and dairy soared in 2007 and 2008. Since then, Domino’s senior leadership met on the last Thursday of every month to discuss the commodity market outlook and decide how purchasing decisions and supplier relationships should be managed in an increasingly volatile market. The goal of this strategic effort was to maintain an efficient supply chain, competitive prices, and quality menu items. â€Å"Now in 2011, we have become a well-informed group that is more comfortable with how we manage risk,† Macksood remarked. Domino’s approach to managing risk and costs both within the company-owned domestic supply chain system and at the store level was critical to its approximately 1,150 U. S. franchisees that collectively owned and operated 4,475 domestic stores in 2010. As a company built around a franchise model, Domino’s—which itself only owned 454 stores, all in the U. S. —was at the heart a supply chain and brand management business focused on supporting the franchised stores. â€Å"We call our headquarters the World Resource Center because Domino’s truly operates as a support system and resource for all of our franchisees,† said J. Patrick Doyle, CEO and president of Domino’s. â€Å"There is a reason we drilled through four floors of concrete to construct a pizza store as the centerpiece of a Professor David E. Bell, Research Associate Phillip Andrews, Global Research Group, and Agribusiness Program Director Mary Sh elman prepared this case. HBS cases are developed solely as the basis for class discussion. Cases are not intended to serve as endorsements, sources of primary data, or illustrations of effective or ineffective management. Copyright  © 2011, 2012 President and Fellows of Harvard College. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, call 1800-545- 7685, write Harvard Business School Publishing, Boston, MA 02163, or go to www. hbsp. harvard.edu/educators. This publication m ay not be digitized, photocopied, or otherwise reproduced, posted, or transmitted, without the permission of Harvard Business School. 512-004 Domino’s Pizza new atrium inside the World Resource Center. Not only do we use it to train all of our corporate employees to operate a Domino’s store, but its visibility serves as a constant reminder that our business hinges on the success of each and every one of our franchised stores. † Maintaining cost control was vitally important for Domino’s and the success of its franchisees’ stores. The U. S. pizza market was highly competitive, with both chains and independent â€Å"mom and pop† pizza stores battling for customers. The recent economic conditions had made the fight even fiercer with some recession-weary diners trading in pizza delivery for less-expensive frozen offerings from the grocer. 3 As such, companies like Domino’s could not simply pass increased costs on to consumers by raising the price of a pizza. â€Å"Domino’s was ahead of the curve when we first reacted to how a changing market would affect our supply chain costs,† Macksood said. â€Å"Chains that didn’t take a preemptive approach are hurting and independent pizza shops that have little influence over the price they pay for goods are really suffering. † In 2010 Domino’s recorded annual global retail sales of $6. 2 billion, the highest in company history and a 23% increase since 2006. 1 Domestically, the company saw room for another 1,000 stores in the U. S. market and the opportunity to increase sales through the addition of new menu items and by targeting different eating occasions. For example, Domino’s had begun to pursue a larger share of the lunch market by introducing sandwiches and pasta dishes to compete with Subway and Pizza Hut. This, however, meant that Domino’s historically simple menu would continue to expand with new ingredients, complexity, and costs that Macksood’s team would have to manage. (See Exhibit 1 for U. S. same-store sales growth and store counts. ) Outside the U. S. , Domino’s had identified many markets where the number of stores could be increased significantly. Internationally, Domino’s used a â€Å"master franchise† system that awarded a franchise for an entire country or region to one entity. This included the master franchisee’s right to operate its own supply-chain system. Macksood and his team had to determine how to bring the company’s domestic purchasing and supply management capabilities, and particularly its commodity pricing knowledge, to the rest of the world. As global commodity prices showed no signs of dropping, Macksood and others at Domino’s wondered if they should attempt to implement global buying for some product categories or develop supply chain partnerships with some or all of the master franchisees in order to control costs and reduce risks across the global brand. Company Background In 1960, brothers Tom and James Monaghan borrowed $500 to purchase the Dominick’s pizza store in Ypsilanti, Michigan. 4 After just a year in the pizza business, James traded his interest in the business to Tom for a Volkswagen Beetle. As the sole owner of the company, Tom renamed the business Domino’s Pizza, Inc. The company awarded its first franchise license in 1967 and the first franchised store was opened in Ypsilanti. Domino’s continued to license an increasing number of franchisees which led to the brand’s growth regionally and then nationally. Domino’s first international franchise license was granted in 1983 for a store in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. By the end of 1983, 1,000 Domino’s stores were in operation. When Macksood joined the company in 1986 as the general manager of the North Carolina regional supply chain center, Domino’s had just opened 954 U. S. units during the previous year, making it the fastest-growing pizza company in the country. Unlike its primary competitor Pizza Hut, Domino’s focused on pizza delivery and customer carryout and did not traditionally offer dine-in seating areas. As such, Tom Monaghan was dedicated to 1 Global retail sales represented sales by company-owned stores and franchised stores. 2 Domino’s Pizza 512-004 ensuring the efficiency of Domino’s delivery service. Despite the brand’s rapid growth, Monaghan kept the menu simple compared to other quick-serve restaurants. From Domino’s founding until 1989, the menu consisted of just one type of hand-tossed pizza dough available in two sizes (12-inch â€Å"small† and 16-inch â€Å"large†), 11 topping choices, and bottled Coca-Cola as the only beverage option. The first menu expansion occurred in 1989 when Domino’s introduced â€Å"deep-dish† pizza after market research showed that 40% of U. S. pizza customers preferred thicker crusts. The company’s first non-pizza item, breadsticks made from Domino’s hand-tossed pizza dough, was added to the menu in 1992. In 1993 industry trends led Domino’s to add medium and extra-large sized pizzas and to introduce thin-crust dough; in 1994, the menu was diversified even further with the introduction of chicken wings. Still, the menu remained simple so as to streamline production and maximize economies of scale on purchases of principal ingredients. While changes to the Domino’s menu were in response to consumer preferences and competitors’ offerings, Domino’s had led the competition in innovations that with time became standard in the industry. Domino’s was the first to utilize the belt-driven pizza oven, which had one temperature setting and a conveyor belt that continuously moved items through the oven, which resulted in consistent and effortless baking. Domino’s invented the â€Å"spoodle,† which was a cross between a spoon and a ladle, in 1985 to help reduce the time it took to â€Å"sauce† a pizza (see Exhibit 2 for photos). Domino’s was also the first major pizza chain to replace wooden and stainless steel pizza cooking trays with pizza screens that allowed for more even baking. To make sure that its pizzas arrived hot, the company was the first of the major pizza chains to use corrugated cardboard pizza boxes in the 1960s rather than thinner (and less expensive) boxes. Domino’s took its commitment to hot pizza a step further in 1998 when it developed the â€Å"Heat Wave† electrical delivery bag to keep pizza hot during transit. Between 1986 and 1993, Domino’s guaranteed that customers would receive their pizzas within 30 minutes of placing an order or they would get $3. 00 off. In 1999, with more than 6,500 stores in operation—including more than 1,700 stores outside the U. S. —Monaghan sold 93% of the company to Bain Capital for almost $1 billion and retired as CEO. 5 Bain installed David Brandon, the former head of Michigan-based marketing firm Valassis Communications, as president and CEO. While Brandon continued to focus on store operations, he also emphasized the importance of building the Domino’s brand. This included better definition and consistent execution of the consumer brand experience across every element—from stores, to trucks, to people—as Domino’s sought to accelerate its global expansion. In 2004, Domino’s was first recognized as the leading pizza delivery company in the U. S. based on reported consumer spending, a title the company held ever since. In July 2004, the company completed an IPO and began trading common stock on the New York Stock Exchange (symbol: DPZ). Over the next five years, Domino’s expanded its international footprint from 2,987 franchised stores in 2005 to 4,422 by 2010. Changes were also made to the company’s marketing strategy beginning in September 2008 when Russell Weiner was hired from Pepsi-Cola to serve as Domino’s executive vice president of Build the Brand and chief marketing officer. Weiner guided Domino’s away from its traditional practice of using price-driven â€Å"limited time† promotional offers, which created temporary sales spikes, and instead focused on developing new permanent product platforms that could be promoted through advertising. New offerings such as â€Å"Domino’s Oven-Baked Sandwiches† and â€Å"BreadBowl Pastas† were permanently added to the menu with the intention of creating sustained sales increases. In 2010, Domino’s delivered approximately 400 million pizzas in the U. S. , accounting for 71% of its U. S. pizza sales (the other 29% came from carryout) and generated record system-wide revenue of $1. 5 billion, of which $1. 4 billion came from domestic operations. (See Exhibit 3a and 3b for company 3 512-004 Domino’s Pizza financial reports. ) Doyle, a 13-year Domino’s veteran who took over from Brandon as CEO in March 2010, was proudest of the increase in same-store sales,2 which were up 9. 9% domestically and 6.9% internationally. â€Å" This is a tremendous feat for any brand, especially one that is 50-years old,† he remarked. In 2010, Forbes ranked Domino’s the number one â€Å"franchise for the money† and Pizza Today, a leading industry publication, named Domino’s the chain of the year, an honor that was repeated in 2011. 6 By July 2011, Domino’s had grown to 9,436 company-owned and franchised stores in all 50 U. S. states and across 65 international markets, making it the second-largest pizza company in the world behind Yum Brands’ Pizza Hut. Domino’s had approximately 10,900 employees, referred to as team members, spread across company-owned stores, supply chain centers, the World Resource Center, and regional offices. The company estimated that another 185,000 individuals were employed by independent Domino’s franchisees worldwide. For the first time in Domino’s history, international retail sales eclipsed U. S. sales in the second quarter of 2011 when overseas markets generated 51% of total company sales. The U. S. Quick-Serve Pizza Industry In 2010 there were 67,554 pizza stores in the U.S. , which represented 12% of all restaurants in the market. 7 Franchised or chain stores made up 60% of the units and generated half of the revenue; the remainder came from independently owned stores, which were often referred to as â€Å"mom and pops. †8 (See Table A for a list of the top U. S. -based chains. ) Independent pizza shops had always been a strong source of competition for consumer dollars even though these (usually) single units did not have the purchasing power or the advertising ability of the large chains. The pizza business in the U. S.generated $34 billion in sales revenues in 2010, accounting for 10% of all food industry sales. 9 Roughly two-thirds of the annual pizza segment revenue came from the pizza delivery business where Domino’s led the competition with 19. 8% of delivery sales. Table A Leading U. S. -based Pizza Chains, 2010 U. S. Sales ($ billions) $5. 0 $3. 3 $2. 1 $1. 1 Share of U. S. Market 14% 8% 6% 3% U. S. Units 7,566 4,929 2,781 2,500 International Units 5,715 4,475 688 200 Percent Franchised 84% 95% 82% 81% Company Pizza Hut Domino’s Pizza Papa John’s Pizza Little Caesars Source: Jonathan Maze, â€Å"2010 Franchise Times Top 200 Franchise Systems,† Franchise Times, October 2011, http://www. franchisetimes. com/content/page. php? page=00138, accessed September 2011; and, Domino’s company documents. Domino’s U. S. Franchise Structure From the time Monaghan signed the first Domino’s franchise agreement in 1967, a central tenet of its strategy was to make it as easy as possible for franchisees and store managers to run their stores. 2 Same-store sales growth was a statistic used by retailers and industry analysts to compare sales at stores that had been open for a year or more. It allowed investors to determine what portion of sales came from sales growth and what portion came from the opening of new stores. Although new stores were a positive factor, a saturation point—where future sales growth was determined by same-store sales growth and not simply the addition of new units—eventually occurred. 4 Domino’s Pizza 512-004 Domino’s had developed a cost-effective business model with low capital requirements, a focused menu of affordable pizza and other complementary items, and an interior specially designed to support delivery and carry-out. â€Å"At the store level, we believe that the simplicity and efficiency of our operations gives us significant advantages over our competitors, who in many cases, like Pizza Hut, also focus on dine-in,† said Stan â€Å"The Pizza Guy† Gage, vice president for training and development. Domino’s domestic stores and the majority of its international locations did not have extensive dine-in areas which cut costs for space, furnishings, and staff. As a result, Domino’s stores were small, averaging approximately 1,200 to 1,500 square feet in size with 15 to 20 employees. The units were relatively inexpensive to build, furnish, and maintain. The amount of capital investment required to open and operate a new Domino’s franchise location averaged $150,000 to $250,000, which was considered low in the QSR segment. The average Domino’s U. S. franchisee owned and operated three to four stores, and many had only one or two. At the end of 2010, only seven franchisees owned 50 or more stores with the largest domestic franchise operating 144 stores. This was different from many QSR franchise models in the U. S., which often awarded franchises on a regional basis with one franchisee owning many or all of the locations in a metropolitan area or state. Rather than controlling a region, a Domino’s franchisee was granted a specified delivery radius. The size of this delivery area was based on the ability to deliver a pizza from the store to the customer’s door in 10 minutes or less. To protect the brand, Domino’s placed rigorous standards on its franchisees such as usually requiring prospects to manage a Domino’s store for at least one year before they were granted a franchise. Generally, Domino’s also restricted franchisees from pursuing active, outside business endeavors so as to align the interests and success of the franchisees with that of the brand. Based on these two factors, the vast majority of Domino’s U. S. franchisees had historically come from within the Domino’s system; many started as a Domino’s delivery driver. Under a Domino’s franchise agreement, the owner was granted the right to exclusively operate in a particular area for a term of 10 years with an option to renew for an additional 10 years. In 2010, the average length of Domino’s relationship with its top 50 franchisees was 19. 5 years. Domino’s franchise contract renewal rate was over 99% and its collection rate on domestic franchise royalties and supply chain receivables was also over 99%. Each franchisee had discretion over the prices charged to its customers with some national sales promotions set at the corporate level. Domestic franchisees paid Domino’s a 5. 5% royalty fee on weekly sales3 and until 2009 made contributions to fund marketing and advertising at the national and local level, which varied by market. In 2009, all domestic franchisees amended their franchise agreements to include a flat marketing contribution of 5. 5%. As such, franchisees were no longer required to contribute to regional or local level advertising campaigns, although they were allowed to if they desired. (See Exhibit 4 for details of initial and ongoing franchisee costs). In 2010, average reported annual EBITDA per domestic franchise store was between $50,000 and $75,000 on average annual sales volume of $650,000 per unit. 3 The royalties generated by Domino’s franchise system, which included its U.S. and international franchisees, generated a steady stream of free cash. Domino’s used this free cash flow to reinvest in the company, such as funding technology enhancements and supply chain improvements, and also to buy back debt, repurchase stock, and pay dividends. 5 512-004 Domino’s Pizza U. S. Supply Chain System The supply chain system was the hub of Domino’s U. S. franchise model. Domestic franchisees were free to source and purchase their own menu ingredients and supplies as long as the items were approved by Domino’s and sourced from approved suppliers. However, the system had earned Domino’s a strong and dedicated following among its domestic franchisees; in 2011, over 99% of them choose to be customers of the Domino’s supply chain. As such, Domino’s provided virtually all of the company’s 4,900 U. S. stores with over 240 individual products including fresh pizza dough, menu ingredients such as cheese and pepperoni, and store supplies ranging from delivery boxes to cleaning products and toilet paper. Macksood explained how the U. S.supply chain created value: Our centralized purchasing, vertically integrated dough manufacturing, and nation-wide distribution system allows us to leverage Domino’s combined volume to achieve economies of scale and lower costs, and to tightly control quality. This system allows store managers to focus on store operations and customer service rather than worrying about making dough, grating cheese, and preparing toppings and sourcing other ingredients. This enhances our relationship with franchisees and ensures that every Domino’s customer gets a great pizza. Supply Chain System. Domino’s supply chain system was comprised of 19 facilities located in 15 states, which allowed for nationwide coverage. Of these facilities, 16 were regional dough manufacturing and supply chain centers (SCC). Domino’s also operated three other supply chain facilities, which included an equipment and supply distribution center 25 miles east of the World Resource Center in Michigan, a fresh produce facility in Georgia that supplied some franchisees with cut vegetables, and a â€Å"pressedproduct† plant in Illinois that manufactured thin-crust dough for distribution to the 16 SCCs. 4 (See Exhibit 5 for map and details of U. S. supply chain system. ) Domestic franchisees were required to purchase and use the company’s Pulse point-of-sale computer system. This system was used for taking customer orders, submitting store orders to their designated SCC, and for connecting with the Domino’s network. The Pulse system included forecasting software that allowed store managers and owners to track inventory and sales to customers. This differed from the forecasting tools utilized by Domino’s at its SCCs, which tallied total product and raw ingredient sales made to franchisees. This information was then used by a group of team members at the World Resource Center who conducted centralized replenishment of all 16 SCCs in the system. Each SCC manufactured fresh dough on a daily basis and served about 300 stores located within a one-day delivery radius. Each Domino’s store received an average of two full-service food deliveries per week, amounting to 515,000 total system-wide deliveries in 2010. Stores placed their orders for dough—which had a seven-day shelf life—and food and other supplies electronically via Pulse, usually by 5:00pm. SCCs actually began manufacturing dough at 5:00am using an internal forecast. Domino’s fleet of 200 leased tractor-trailers were loaded in the early evening and rolled out of the SCCs starting between 9:00pm and 10:00pm. Drivers unloaded food and supplies at the stores, stocked coolers and shelves (rotating items so older products would be used first), and even mopped the floor if they had tracked in mud or snow. Deliveries were typically made in the middle of the night to 4 Domino’s â€Å"pressed-product† facility produced thin-crust dough that was parbaked (e. g. , cooked for roughly 80% of the normal cooking time and then rapidly cooled and frozen) for distribution to the 16 SCCs. 6 Domino’s Pizza 512-004 minimize disruptions to store operations. Domino’s guaranteed delivery within 48 hours of when the order was placed and the company regularly achieved an on-time delivery performance rate of 95%, with the majority of orders delivered within 24 hours. Gage explained that ordering through Domino’s offered one-stop shopping and other benefits: The supply chain eliminates many of the typical back-of-store activities that our competitors’ managers must undertake—such as figuring out which supplier has the best price on cooking oil or what cleaning supplies to order. The single most important person in Domino’s is the store manager and this system allows them to focus on the quality and consistency of menu items and customer service. New franchisees were exposed to the efficiency of the supply chain system long before their first fresh dough order was placed with a SCC. The equipment and supply chain center was the first stop for franchisees worldwide. There, store owners could buy capital items such as ovens, coolers, pizza preparation areas, counters and fixtures, signage, and other large equipment as well as â€Å"re-use† items including delivery bags, uniforms, small wares, and promotional materials. â€Å"The operation was born out of the concept of selling and shipping a pizza store in a box, a model that dates back to the beginning of the company,† explained Jim Murabito, vice president of product management. â€Å"With an inventory of over 2,500 individual SKUs, this facility is a one-stop shop able to supply our franchisees with everything they need to set-up, open, and operate a Domino’s location. † Adding Value Domino’s domestic menu reached its largest and most diverse state in 2010 when the company offered four different pizza crusts, over 25 topping choices, eight oven-baked sandwich options, five pasta dishes, two types of chicken, two styles of breadsticks, and two baked dessert options. (See Exhibit 6a and 6b for Domino’s menu items.) Menu prices across the highly competitive pizza delivery industry were relatively identical; therefore, the major pizza chains had to differentiate themselves based on taste, quality, and customer experience. Domino’s helped franchisees maintain consistent quality while improving store economics using various tools, including the spoodle and the pizza oven that Domino’s had designed. Another important piece of equipment was â€Å"the makeline† station, which served as the assembly line for a pizza. The make-line, which was a metal counter with containers and refrigeration for ingredients and toppings, had been designed—and was continually being updated—to support speedy pizza making. For example, a refrigerated cheese catch tray under the counter—another Domino’s proprietary design—allowed pizza makers to quickly spread shredded cheese on a pizza without worrying about food waste. As a result, Domino’s head pizza trainer could prepare a pizza (e. g. , flatten and shape the fresh dough ball, apply sauce, and top with cheese and pepperoni) in 24 seconds. â€Å"These tools allow stores to consistently produce menu items that meet the Domino’s standard and delivery those items in the fast, efficient manner that is required for success in the pizza delivery segment,† explained Murabito. In fact, the only piece of cooking equipment in a Domino’s store was the belt-driven oven; there were no microwaves or stoves. This meant that all of the items on Domino’s domestic menu—pizzas, chicken, sandwiches, pasta, bread, and desserts—had been designed to cook at approximately 500 degrees Fahrenheit for six minutes. Not only were Domino’s franchisees attracted to the company’s domestic supply chain for its efficiency and consistency; their participation was also encouraged through a profit-sharing arrangement. Generally, Domino’s shared 50% of the pre-tax profits generated by its regional dough manufacturing and SCCs with the domestic franchisees who purchased all of their ingredients and supplies from the company. While franchisees were allowed to opt out of the supply chain with 7 512-004 Domino’s Pizza notice, doing so would eliminate their right to profit sharing. Participating franchisees were allocated a profit share based on the volume of their purchases from SCCs. This profit sharing reached a record level in 2010 and â€Å"continued to strengthen Domino’s ties with its franchise network by enhancing franchisees profitability while maintaining a source of revenue and earnings for Domino’s,† noted Macksood. â€Å"The greatest advantage of this arrangement is that it brings us closer to our franchisees and encourages us to work together to reduce costs and food waste. † Macksood provided an example of how his group responded to franchise feedback: With nine product groups accounting for 90% of sales volume in our supply chain, our biggest challenge is managing an increasing variety of ingredients. When pasta was introduced to the menu, we began supplying a cheese sauce that was packaged in a one-pound bag. Within a few months, franchisees reported that the amount was more than needed to meet their daily sales volume, which forced them to throw away product. We experimented with smaller packaging options and eventually settled on individual portion-sized packs. Smaller packaging is more expensive for us, but it creates less food waste for our franchisees. In addition to allowing Domino’s to work closely with franchisees to manage costs and gain product feedback, the supply chain also helped the company respond to natural disasters that could disrupt store sales. When Hurricane Katrina struck the U. S. Gulf Coast in 2005, Domino’s quickly placed trailers at stores that were destroyed or without electricity, allowing franchisees to feed rescue workers and displaced citizens. According to Macksood, Domino’s stores in the area were the last QSRs to close before the storm and the first to re-open. In the time since the hurricane, Domino’s encouraged franchisees in the area to build new stores that would be â€Å"hurricane ready with generators, an extra-large cooler, and the ability to reopen quickly. In February 2011, an ice storm paralyzed usually snow-free Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, just days before the area played host to the Super Bowl. Super Bowl Sunday was historically the pizza delivery industry’s busiest day of the year. The company was expecting to sell 1. 2 million pizzas nationwide with especially strong demand across the 123 stores serving the Dallas-Fort Worth market. 10 It was customary for SCC managers to monitor meteorological reports in their respective distribution regions. By doing so in this instance, the supply chain system was able to proactively position extra resources and make early deliveries when warned about the pending Texas storm, allowing Domino’s to meet customer demand on the day of the game. The Agricultural Commodity Market and Domino’s Suppliers. Historically, the agricultural commodity market—although cyclical—had been relatively stable and predictable. This continued to be the case even as prices for corn, milk, soybean oil, and wheat rose steadily from 2000 to 2005. However, global commodity prices soared in 2007 and 2008 due to record high oil prices, severe weather events, food security fears, and trade restrictions. The price of wheat, corn, rice, and oilseed crops nearly doubled. Some pricing relief came in late 2008 and in 2009 when the most serious global economic recession since the 1930s dampened demand. However, prices rose again at the beginning of 2010 as demand, driven primarily by developing countries undergoing rises in per capita incomes and population growth, outpaced supply. Reduced global inventories added to the price volatility, which was exacerbated by a high number of severe weather events. In the summer of 2010, droughts followed by fires in Russia, the world’s third-largest grain producer, reduced the country’s wheat production by 25% and led the government to stop exports. The U. S.commodity market followed the same global trends into 2011 due to a combination of factors, including droughts in key grain-producing regions, spring flooding on the Mississippi and 8 Domino’s Pizza 512-004 other U. S. rivers, low stocks, increased use of corn to produce biofuels, and rapidly rising oil prices. In April 2011, corn futures prices,5 which had increased almost 90% over the previous 12 months, reached a record high of $7. 44 per bushel and for the first time in a decade surpassed the price of wheat futures on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT). Only four months earlier, wheat had traded at a 31% premium over corn. The growing use of corn for ethanol in the biofuels industry and a rise in demand for livestock feed kept demand up and prices high. 6 Other factors, such as increased demand for corn feed in China, were also blamed for sustained high prices. 11 Rising corn prices hit protein producers particularly hard. Tyson Foods, Inc. , the largest meat producer in the world, cited higher poultry feed costs for a 21% year-on-year drop in its second quarter 2011 earnings. 12 From July 2010 to July 2011, the price that U. S. meat producers charged for chicken grew 4. 3% and was projected to increase another 5% by the end of 2011. Similarly, pork prices had increased 27% and both pork and chicken had reached record high prices. The trading price for milk, the primary ingredient in cheese, had escalated 56% 13 to a record high of $21. 39 per cwt (100 pounds) in July 2011,14 a price Macksood called â€Å"sticker shock. † Many meat and dairy producers started to include increasing amounts of wheat as a feed substit.

Computational Design and Management in Pharmaceuticals

Computational Design and Management in Pharmaceuticals Computational design and management in pharmaceuticals Liu Sui Abstract: Throughout the years since the computer was first developed, the computer has become required and indispensable in modern society. Significant scientific usage of computers has spread throughout all the sciences, including pharmaceutical science. In pharmaceuticals, usage has become an essential tool for the whole drug development process, from initiation of lead searching to finding the best fit, to finding toxicity. This paper will give an overview on how computers are used in the field of computational drug design. The development of computers is a short but exciting history. Looking back at this short history, it perfectly illustrates the intelligence and grittiness of mankind. Since the invention of electronic intelligence, this industry has been growing at an amazing pace. From the technical point of view, computers have changed a huge amount since ENIAC in 1946 to the modern day Intel and ARM architectures permeating our life (Bellis). Computers have changed their role from supercomputer being used for big companies and organizations to the personal computer that exists in just about every household, in one way or another. IT companies have also changed from marketing huge computers to marketing tiny computers to be used in the household, that synchronize with the fast speeds of the modern internet. In 1946, ENIAC was co-operated by the U.S. government and the University of Pennsylvania department of computer science (Goldstine). Features of this first generation of computers were that oper ating instructions were prepared for a specific task, and each machine had its own different mechanical languages. This generation of computers had very limited functionality and slow processing speed. Nonetheless, in less than 60 years, computers have become tools that are used by many different fields of study to enhance their overall value. The rapid development of computer technology has led to a massive expansion of computer-related applications in the pharmaceutical industry. From the local computer system-based assistance, to the inevitable development of network-based assistance, usage of computer networks has become an inevitable trend. Both the computer industry and the pharmaceutical industry influence each other, and the combination of penetration, has and will continue to impact the operating mode of pharmacy. Management and technical decisions made à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹today within the pharmaceutical industry can be combined with the development of computer technology. All pharmacy workers should be aware of this and any future developments. In recent decades, due to the application of computers in pharmaceutical technology, many important achievements have been achieved. Since antiquity, humans have built many tools to physically extend their physical capabilities such as the wheel, the pulley, and the vehicle. On comparison, creating devices to extending mental capability, such as the abacus, calculator, and computer, has also been a great human achievement. Computers are unlike any other tools in which they can replace human labor under pre-programed condition for an indefinite duration. An item only becomes useful for society depending on its function, where computers have many unique features to make them ideal for society: †¢ Computers have incredible calculation ability. †¢ Computers have a huge memory, in order to go through large data sets The CPU and GPU of a computer have the ability to perform billions of complicated math operations per second. In terms of the pharmaceutical technology industry, this huge processing speed is vital for the complex mathematical operations required of this emerging discipline, such as calculating pharmacy finances, calculation and maintaining of pharmaceutical inventory, all the way to calculating drug and other protein formulas, determining the computational drug metabolism and its related pharmacokinetics computing, and pharmaceutical pattern recognition. Many computer-based programs have been developed and continue being improved to fill the huge needs of this industry. In the developmental stage of drug design, to search for drugs that possess the lowest energy in chemical structure can take a very long time, and is hard to do. Many people may question why do we need to calculate the lost energy possibility structure, and this question cannot be answered in one simple sentence. In chemistry, each element is giving a symbol. Molecular formulas use these elemental symbols to show substantive (whether it’s an element or a molecular compound) composition of molecules and their relative molecular weight. Chemical formulas are widely used to present chemicals and chemical reaction. In nature, many drugs have different chemical formula, but at the same time, some compounds that have the exact same molecular formula may not be the same compounds; these compounds are called isomers. Isomers have same chemical formula but different atomic arrangement, and the cause of isomers is the change of order between atoms or groups. One type of isomers is called constitutional isomer. For example, ethanol and methoxymethane both have the chemical formula of C2H6O, but ethanol has an alcohol group, and methoxymethane has an ether function group (figure 1) Figure 1: chemical formula of ethanol and methoxymethane. This is where the software, Gaussian, becomes an invaluabl e part of pharmaceutical chemistry. Gaussian and its related software, Gaussview, are used to search for conformation amongst molecules. Stereoisomers have the molecular atom and group connected to each other in the same order but have different spatial arrangements. Many people may ask why we should care about the spatial arrangements. To answer this question, we need to think about molecules in terms of Classical Physics versus Quantum Physics. In chemistry, each chemical bond contains potential energy. The higher energy level the compounds bonds at, the less stable the compounds becomes. To make a more stable compound is a goal for many chemists because stable compounds have less of a chance to be decomposed, and in nature, many natural products being produced are those in their lowest energy states. The Classical Mechanics approach is mainly used for study of macroscopic objects in slow to stationary motion. Through studying the measureable movements through experiments, chemica ls’ optimal nuclear positions can be found, and the lowest energy state can be found through graphing. However, in chemistry, all chemical bonds are in constant vibration and the ability to study the energy state of electron distribution is more useful for finding the lowest possible energy state. The optimal distribution of electron can be done by quantum mechanics. To think of energy as waves in the ocean, the lowest possible position is actually quite hard to find. It is possible to find some bumps, but these might not be the lowest points. To find the lowest energy points, huge amounts of calculation are needed. At this point, computers become essential. By inputting atomic coordinates, model chemistry and basis set into the software, Gaussian, the software will do the rest of the calculations and provide correct output including atomic coordinates, energy, and a wave function. The wave function can be further interpreted into molecular orbitals, partial charges, electros tatic potential surface, chemical shifts, bond orders, and spin densities. In order to find all these information, a high degree of accuracy is required. However, computers only have a certain amount of accuracy: they can only simulate continuous functions and numbers up to a finite point, leading to an accuracy problem. In general, most chemistry calculations have a certain degree of error that is allowed as long as the relative error in within the sufficient acceptable error range. Theoretically, the precision of calculation by computer is unlimited, but in practicality, most only go as far as a certain amount. Beyond building a drug at its lowest energy state, or find a drug’s real conformation with incredible speed and accuracy, the huge data storage and memory capacity allow for huge amounts of library research. There are huge online drug repositories (both public and private) for researchers and scientists to search for their targeted drug. During the drug development phase, the first part of any research is to screen for lead compounds and modify these lead compounds to make them work on human biology. Because there are literally millions of compounds available to start from, how should one most efficiently find the compound desired? The answer is through computational lead compound search. Computers will input parameters given and search for lead compounds that fit the requirements and list them out with more information. Information retrieval of drug related data is an essential tool in the pharmacist’s tool belt. One example of a great computational research tool used for computational design of drugs is the OpenEye OMEGA software suite. OMEGA is the name of a software product belonging to the OpenEye scientific software suite. OMEGA is a powerful tool for screening toxic chemical groups and providing validation of Lipinski’s rule of 5. OMEGA and vRocs have large libraries that can provide much help throughout the usage of computer-aided drug design. The OpenEye product claims that it â€Å"performs rapid conformational expansion of drug-like molecules, yielding a throughput of tens of thousands of compounds per day per processor (open eye website)†. This is a huge search, and without the modern memory, data storage, and speed of modern computers, this task would be impossible. At the beginning of any computational research, researchers have to get into a specific mindset. First, what disease does this researcher want to work on? Based on the disease selected, what drugs are cur rently on the market? Third, are there any other drugs can be any possible new drug candidates? At this point, researchers can start putting their desired pharmacophora into a computer, and let the computer search the library to suggest any possible candidates for further research. Automated drug screening is a good example of this type of raw processing speed and breadth of data to go through. Extensive automatic pharmacological screening for compounds is the traditional and effective method to find new drugs. The sources of compounds are available for screening on a wide range of values including synthetic compounds, natural extracts, microbial fermentation, and compounds obtained by combinatorial chemistry techniques. There are a large number of these compounds possible, so in order to avoid leakage of data across screenings, screening needs to go through a few dozen general pharmacological screening models. To have the best possible outcomes, usually the combination of computer and robates for a netter system can run a screen quickly, efficiently, and on a large scale of samples. Currently, 10ÃŽ ¼g of a typical compound is a sufficient amount to go through dozens of pharmacological screenings, and as tens of thousands of compounds can be screened per day, t his provides valuable research and development of lead compounds. Within the past few years, even the regular computer is able to store a staggering amount of information. In order to perform the screening methods mentioned above, computers need to have large libraries. However, having a large library is not enough for computer to perform computational research; a certain amount of AI logic is also required. This AI logic ability as implemented through judgment causality analysis is the ability to analyze the proposition being established in order to make the appropriate countermeasures. This logic, or pattern recognition, is nowadays easily implemented by computers. OMEGA is one program can be used for pattern recognition. Drugs are used to cure diseases, but for many drugs, they can be toxic to human at the same time as they are helping us control and cure some diseases. Pattern recognition uses the computer using mathematical methods to study automatic processing techniques and interpretation models. We consider the environment and objects within as a model. With the development of computer technology, it is possible to model extremely complex human information processing. An important form of this type of modeling is the identification process on the environment and the living body object. OMEGA can take as input information on the compounds generated by Gaussian and run through GaussView to filter out toxic compounds. This filter can recognize extremely complex pattern. In this filter, many structures are programed in as toxic groups. Any compounds possessing properties of any of these toxic groups will not pass this filter. Other than toxic groups, this program can also recognize number of hydroge n bond donors (HBD) and hydrogen bond acceptors (HBA). HBD and HBA counts are important for drugs because they are important indication for if a drug candidate can be a production drug or not. Dr. Lipinski is the scientist who first comes up with a so-called â€Å"rule of five.† Linpinski’s rule of five was created in 1997 after Christopher A. Lipinski studied 2245 drugs appear on the World Drug Index that have passed phase II clinical trials. By study these drugs’ structural features he came up with four rules: The molecule weight of these compounds less than 500. The number of HBD is less than 5. The number of HBA is less than 10. Log P is less than 5 (Lipinski) (Lipinski et al) Because of Lipinski’s study, the number of HBA and HBD become one critical point when dealing with finding new drug candidates. The variable â€Å"P† is the lipo-hydro partition coefficient, and Log (P) is used to measure the solubility comparison of a compound’s solubility of octane to water. In order to pass through the body, drugs need to be polar in order to dissolve in the bloodstream. However, a drug should not be too polar, because it needs lipophilicity to pass through cell membrane. OMEGA is able to filter all these individual factors, and provide the end user a spreadsheet with all the information contained. After initial candidates search, it is time to test if the drug has a good binding to the target protein. In the human body, drugs need to bind to target protein thereby either inhibit or excite a series of biological reactions. How well a drug can bind to its target directly affect this drug’s efficiency. This structure-activity relationship is related to a drug’s pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. The chemical structure affects a drug’s properties, and these structures will decide which protein this drug will interact with. A drug should not be too tightly bound to the protein because in this case the drug will be very hard to be metabolized and eliminated through the body, and can cause accumulation in the body, and be toxic. To measure how well a drug can bind to its target, the software VIDA is the best choice. VIDA is a program which can visualize docking results of the drug with the protein in a 3D view. Beyond this entire skillset of detailed programs within pharmaceutical chemistry, it is also nice to have a computer that is easy to use, able to perform automatic work, and bind all these programs together. As more and more modern drug analysis use computer instruments for analysis, so many different analytical instruments and computer connection and so many different instrumentation and automation for online use are not only for the determination of electrochemical, spectroscopic, kinetic equilibrium constant, but they are also used for data processing, statistical analysis and results. This all will allow for drug analysis continue to move forward in a sensitive, accurate and rapid direction. Over the years, computer has been developing rapidly, and at the point, people are not only working on making computer faster. Instead, people trying to put this powerful Programs are designed for people, and by people, reflecting the peoples way of thinking and behavior of action, remember to replace part of the program and will be able to simulate human thinking and activities. Reference Bellis, Mary. The History of the ENIAC Computer. About.com Inventors. About.com, 16 May 2014. Web. 03 June 2014. GOLDSTINE, HERMAN H. Computers at the University of Pennsylvanias Moore School, 1943-1946. Computers at the University of Pennsylvanias Moore School, 1943-1946. PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY, 1992. Web. 04 June 2014. Lipinski, Christopher A. Lead- and Drug-like Compounds: The Rule-of-five Revolution. Lead- and Drug-like Compounds: The Rule-of-five Revolution. Elsevier B.V., Dec. 2004. Web. 04 June 2014. Lipinski, Christopher A., FRANCO Lambardo, Beryl W. Dominy, and Paul J. Feeney. Experimental and Computational Approaches to Estimate Solubility and Permeability in Drug Discovery and Development Settings. Experimental and Computational Approaches to Estimate Solubility and Permeability in Drug Discovery and Development Settings. Elsevier B.V., Mar. 2001. Web. 04 June 2014. 1

Contribution of Countryside Tourism to the UK Travel and Tourism Indust

Contribution of Countryside Tourism to the UK Travel and Tourism Industry Across the UK there are 4 main categories of tourist and visitor attractions. These categories are:  · Large City/Large Town,  · Seaside,  · Countryside/Village,  · Small Town. The table above shows that; domestic trips to the countryside area, has now gone into second place out of the 4 categories of tourist and visitor attractions. Over recent years (since 2000) there has been a slight decrease from 24% (2000) to 22% (2003). For day trips across the UK Cities are more popular amongst tourists. This could be for a number of reasons like;  · More spending opportunities,  · More shopping/activity facilities etc. The table above talks about Domestic Holidays. As shown above the countryside category accounts for at least a quarter of all holidays in terms of the 4 different holiday destinations. It is seen as equally important to the Travel and Tourism Industry in the UK. It is a close third in the ranking behind the categories; Large City/Large Town and Seaside. The table above also shows the percentage of spend at these destinations. In the countryside category spending is quite lower in comparison to the top 2 categories; Large City/Large Town and Seaside. This again could be for a number of reasons like; * Fewer shopping opportunities in the countryside compared to the other categories, * Also the activities on offer in the countryside are usually free The Economic Impact of Recreation and Tourism in the English Countryside The English countryside attracts a huge amount of tourists every year. In 1998, visitors to the countryside spent  £11.5 billion. This consequently generated 340,000 jobs. Visitor spending in the countryside rose in real terms ... ...e Visit Britain should advertise the British countryside and remote coastline a lot more abroad on things like TV, posters, in travel agents etc. This would improve the amount of visitor spend from overseas by a lot because there is a lot of potential growth from the 94% of overseas visitors who just visit UK cities. Day visitors to the UK countryside: In 1998 day visits to the UK countryside and remote coastline survey indicated that 1,253 million people went on leisure day visits from home to the countryside, together with an estimated 90 million visits to open coastline. A total of 1,343 million day trips or 25% of all leisure trips in England. Expenditure associated with these trips amounted to  £8,942 million. This category of tourists to the countryside is by far the most important because it generates three quarters of the total income into countryside tourism. Contribution of Countryside Tourism to the UK Travel and Tourism Indust Contribution of Countryside Tourism to the UK Travel and Tourism Industry Across the UK there are 4 main categories of tourist and visitor attractions. These categories are:  · Large City/Large Town,  · Seaside,  · Countryside/Village,  · Small Town. The table above shows that; domestic trips to the countryside area, has now gone into second place out of the 4 categories of tourist and visitor attractions. Over recent years (since 2000) there has been a slight decrease from 24% (2000) to 22% (2003). For day trips across the UK Cities are more popular amongst tourists. This could be for a number of reasons like;  · More spending opportunities,  · More shopping/activity facilities etc. The table above talks about Domestic Holidays. As shown above the countryside category accounts for at least a quarter of all holidays in terms of the 4 different holiday destinations. It is seen as equally important to the Travel and Tourism Industry in the UK. It is a close third in the ranking behind the categories; Large City/Large Town and Seaside. The table above also shows the percentage of spend at these destinations. In the countryside category spending is quite lower in comparison to the top 2 categories; Large City/Large Town and Seaside. This again could be for a number of reasons like; * Fewer shopping opportunities in the countryside compared to the other categories, * Also the activities on offer in the countryside are usually free The Economic Impact of Recreation and Tourism in the English Countryside The English countryside attracts a huge amount of tourists every year. In 1998, visitors to the countryside spent  £11.5 billion. This consequently generated 340,000 jobs. Visitor spending in the countryside rose in real terms ... ...e Visit Britain should advertise the British countryside and remote coastline a lot more abroad on things like TV, posters, in travel agents etc. This would improve the amount of visitor spend from overseas by a lot because there is a lot of potential growth from the 94% of overseas visitors who just visit UK cities. Day visitors to the UK countryside: In 1998 day visits to the UK countryside and remote coastline survey indicated that 1,253 million people went on leisure day visits from home to the countryside, together with an estimated 90 million visits to open coastline. A total of 1,343 million day trips or 25% of all leisure trips in England. Expenditure associated with these trips amounted to  £8,942 million. This category of tourists to the countryside is by far the most important because it generates three quarters of the total income into countryside tourism.

Problem Solving and Decision Making Essay

Background I work for a company called npower and we are an energy supplier in the UK. Specifically, I work within the Blended Services department and we deal with various types of inbound contact from our customers such as email, letters and telephone calls. I manage a team of 15 people advisors and their role is to effectively deal with customer enquiries that come in via the different methods of contact. Due to the large volumes of correspondence that we have come in, it’s not always practical to respond to customers via a written response and we therefore ask the advisors to call as many customers as possible and resolve their enquiries by phone, this allows the advisors not only deal with the customer’s original enquiry but to also answer any subsequent questions that may arise when they are presented with the answer we give them. Description of the problem When advisors call a customer there are regulations around data protection and also keeping customer contact details up to date that we must adhere to, we refer to these regulations as compliance. This is a very black and white subject, we must be compliant in all we do 100% of the time. The problem that has come to light that in our department, is that our advisors are not 100% compliant 100% of the time. They will fully cover data protection and request up to date contact information on some calls but not others. This presents a problem for the department and me as a manager as well as the advisors in question as these inconsistencies can lead to varying degrees of disciplinary action for the advisors and the company. The impact of this for the advisors is that it can lead to disciplinary action such as informal warnings, up to more formal action such as written warnings and even loss of their job. In extreme cases offending advisors can even face personal fines. As a manager, I then have to consider the potential knock on effects of such action which can include loss of advisor confidence, a reduction in staff morale, and opportunity for progression may be reduced or taken away and all of these in turn may affect an advisors attendance. For me as a manager the concerns are that these actions could affect my time as I am required to carry out investigations in to each case of non-compliance. This is turn could leave other members of my team to feel neglected as my time becomes consumed with investigations and carrying out disciplinary action. Potentially, this could lead to a general loss of morale within my team as a whole and go on to impact their performance. This issue also affects our customers as if we are seen to be breaking such important regulations as data protection, and then this could cause an increase in complaints, damage our customer’s confidence in us as a company, lead to a decrease in customer loyalty and ultimately the loss of their business. From a company point of view the impacts are possibly the greatest. Just a few potential knock on effects from non-compliance are loss of customers, brand damage, legal consequences including large fines and potentially losing out license to trade. Disciplinary action can lead to loss of staff and this brings further impacts such as the time and cost of recruiting and training new staff and all of these could eventually impact our ability to provide a desired service to our customers. Analysis of the problem In trying to identify options to solve the problem of advisors inconsistently adhering to compliance regulations, I first looked at gathering as much information as I could in to how much it was affecting my department and if there were any contributing factors to the problem. I liaised with our quality analysts. The QA team had recently marked a sample of the calls we make within the department and informed me that in the month of September they sampled four calls from each team within the department. This was made up of one inbound call (calls where the customer calls npower) and one outbound call (calls where we call the customer) for two advisors on each team. There are 18 teams so this is 36 advisors that were sampled and scored. The results showed that of the advisors monitored only 69% were fully compliant. This is cause for concern then as the target is 100%. Following on from this, I needed to do further investigation. My time, however, is very valuable and for me to take on such an investigation alone is not feasible. I discussed the problem with my manager and we came up with an idea to help us follow up the results from the QA Teams quality checks. Within our own operations group (5 Teams) we asked each manager to mark two calls for each of their advisor focussing solely on whether or not the advisors were following compliance regulations that we must adhere to. In the first week of October, each manager carried out the quality checks for their teams. The results showed that we were 50% compliant as an operations group. Following these results each manager went out to the advisors that were not following the compliance regulations and gave them a training session as well as an informal warning that this kind of action was not acceptable and that compliance must be adhered to at all times. The managers including myself then left the advisors for a couple of weeks and then went back and completed the same quality checks once more. The second time around we noticed an improvement as we scored 70%. However, we were and still are a long way short of our ultimate goal. Following on from this, I devised what I saw to be a simple yet effective questionnaire that would be completed by a sample group of advisors. The purpose of the questionnaire was to establish possible reasons why the advisors failed to be consistent in regards to meeting compliance when speaking to customers on the telephone. I looked to address such matters as how confident they were that they were personally 100% complaint 100% of the time, were they aware of the tools that npower provide to assist them in being complaint, what barriers they have encountered that make it difficult to be compliant and what do they feel would ensure that they were 100% compliant 100% of the time going forward. The results of the questionnaire showed that the advisors knew what was required of them to be compliant and that they recognised the implications of not being compliant. It also showed that all of the advisors were aware of the various support tools that npower provides them to help with compliance though not all of them used them. This suggests then that the problem of being inconsistent in regards to compliance may be down to advisor attitude or focus but at this point I wanted to avoid making assumptions. With all of this information, I used a simple fishbone to drill down for possible reasons for these inconsistencies. I looked at the following headings and then added the possible reasons: Confidence (lack of) * Inconsistent message * Unclear on what’s expected * Cannot deal with conflict (from customers) * DPA doesn’t feel natural (in call structure) * Situations outside of the norm (3rd party calling on behalf of the customer) Knowledge (lack of) * No or little training (new to business) * Lack of communication (not advised of possible changes) * Inconsistent message (unsure what is correct) Skill * Unsure how to resolve conflict * Not certain how to incorporate data protection in to their call structure * Not able to control a call (allows a customer to drive a conversation, potentially skipping past vital areas for not wanting to interrupt) Attitude/Behaviour * Doesn’t understand potential consequences * Doesn’t like change * Refuses to comply After considering all of the above the potential solutions to my problem could be creating a guide that points out to advisors what they must do to be fully compliant but that isn’t rigid in its delivery so that the advisors can make it their own. Ensuring that the guide and its use is trained out in a clear manner that makes sure there are no questions unanswered. Providing the advisors with additional training to enable them to capably and confidently deal with situations of conflict i.e. if a customer refuses to go through data protection. Finally, making sure that the consequences of non-compliance for both advisors and the company are clearly communicated. Resolution of the problem I went to manager with my findings and stated what I wanted to achieve. I needed the goal to realistic and to be measurable. Remembering that QA Team reported the department to be 69% compliant for the month of September my goal statement was this: * To decrease the compliance fail rate in our department by 15% during the month of November based upon 36 evaluations. In making this statement, I ensured that if would be a fair reflection since it would match the original investigation completed by the QA Team. It’s SMART, because I have a specific goal that can be measured against previous findings. It’s both achievable and realistic as all managers will make numerous quality checks throughout the month and I’m trying to achieve the ultimate goal of 100% compliance but instead make a small but reasonable step towards it and finally, it’s time bound as all steps will be put in place and measured throughout November. Once the goal had been set, my manager and I held a brain storming session to look at possible options to resolve the problem. Further to those I mentioned earlier, we came up with these additional ideas: * Speech Analytics * Scripts for data protection * A specific inbound call team * A specific outbound call team * Feedback, coaching and evaluations * An inbound and outbound call decision making tree * Brief to include what’s expected and what the consequences are for non-compliance * Compliance champs * Compliance tick sheet After we had come up with these various options I went away and decided which would be the best course of action. To help me decide I used a simple Pro’s and Con’s method. I put each of the above options in to a table and then listed what the advantages and disadvantages were. Below, I have just briefly outlined some of the key points for each one. Speech analytics Pros * It saves time (it’s all automated, listening to and identifying key words and phrases in conversations) so managers don’t have to do manual checks. * A large sample is gathered (it pulls data from all recorded calls) therefore the reflection is very accurate. * Reports can easily be pulled, since all data is compiled and exported in excel spread sheet format. Cons * It’s not an immediate solution. Speech analytics for npower is in early testing stages and it’s unlikely to be available for at least another year. * Cost – It’s very expensive to implement and so even to run in a small test environment is currently unlikely. Scripts for data protection Pros * It would clearly set out what needs to be said (no grey area) * Advisors would have something to reference at all times * Can easily be updated when changes occur * Managers could easily cover this in a coaching session Cons * Advisors may not feel it comes across as natural * Advisors may forget to keep it on their desk each day * It would need to be updated with each new change (potentially old ones could be in circulation) * Repeat contact customers would have to go through the exact same process each time and may feel it comes across as robotic Specific inbound/outbound call teams Pros * Advisors would deal with only one call type (one set of compliance regulations, more specialised, less chance of failure) * Becoming specialised may increase confidence Cons * It may not be feasible to have a enough specialised teams to deal with the workload * We would lose multi-skilled advisors, impacting our ability to deal with other work volumes * Specialised teams leave us vulnerable to outside influences such as absence. Compliance Champs Pros * Position of responsibility for trusted advisors * Someone on hand to reference in uncertain situations Cons * Those not chosen may feel disappointed * The cost of taking advisors away from completing work may not be feasible in such a busy time * Having to wait for a ‘Champ’ may impact customer wait times and thus service * Takes ownership and responsibility away from the advisors Compliance Checklist Pros * Advisors already use something similar, so it would be familiar * Advisors could clearly track what they have and haven’t asked * Peace of mind as it states clearly what they must ask * Natural, as it states what they must ask but doesn’t tell them how to do it * Cheap and easy to implement * Easy to amend when changes occur * Advisors can easily keep it with them either paper based or electronically * Puts the responsibility on the advisor * Best use can be coached around Cons * Must be altered with each change (old ones could be left in circulation) * Puts the responsibility on the advisors (must be trusted to use it) After evaluating the options and the pros and cons to each. I decided to go with a compliance checklist. Once I had decided on what I believed to be the best solution I asked myself two important questions, in various decision making models these are also known as Acid Tests 1&2. Acid Test 1 – If I implement all of my plans for action will my problems be overcome? In considering the answer I thought back to areas that I had identified earlier that linked into the problem of inconsistent compliance. To recap these were things such as: * Advisors were unsure what they should be asking. * They lacked confidence that they were saying all the right things. * They could often miss important information if interrupted by a customer before the compliance checks were complete. * The solution needed to be simple and easy to implement, so that it was clear and simple to train out. The majority of my advisors already use a checklist of sorts to capture the work they complete and how they contacted the customer, by adding compliance prompts to this it creates a visual aid for the advisors reminding them of what they need to ask and it remains in a setting that they find familiar. Also, because the advisors are able to tick off the various requirements as they go along it makes it very clear what must be asked and it’s less likely that they’ll miss things out if they are interrupted as they can simply go back along the list and pick up where they left off. It’s also likely to come across as more natural when the advisors are talking to them customers as well as again it only prompts them with what they need to ask rather than telling them how to say it. Finally, it’s relatively cheap to implement, it isn’t very time consuming to put in place and it’s something that can be done immediately. A copy of the checklist is attached (Appendix A) Acid test 2 – If I get rid of all my problems will I achieve my objectives? Again, the answer should be yes. My solution will give advisors something black and white, that’s clear and easy to understand and familiar to them in their day to day role. This should in turn give them the added confidence when talking to customer’s on the phone. There is, however, a human element. This is that the solution once trained out and implemented, relies upon the advisor taking some ownership and making sure that use it every day even if they feel confident that they are fully compliant. Because this is a personal choice there is no plan that I can implement that will solve this. However, as a company we do have measures already in place to manage this. If an advisor is proven to have the skills and the knowledge to be fully compliant and yet for whatever reason chooses not to, then I or any other manager would need to ensure that this is managed in the proper fashion. Implementation and communication of the solution As previously stated the advisor already usage a data capture sheet in their day to day jobs. I have taken that and added some simple yet clear checklist boxes that prompt the advisors on what they need to be asking when speaking to customers on the telephone. I will start off with a trial in my operations group and then if the desired results are proven then I will discuss with my manager a plan to roll it out to the whole department. I’ll start by holding a small group meeting with my fellow team managers, briefly describing the problem that I’ve been looking in to. I’ll present my solution and tell them how I would like it to be used. The managers including me can then go out to our own teams and deliver the message in a brief team meeting. The compliance checklist will be distributed via email to the managers and advisors alike. This way the advisors can choose to print it off and fill it in manually or they can simply fill in in on their PC’S. This also means that they will always be able to access a copy even if they have to move desks as it will be saved to their email. Following this, I would plan to follow up with some side by side observations. This would be to ensure that the advisors are using the checklist as intended and it also gives me the chance to answer any questions that they may have as well as offer advice and praise where they are doing things well and hopefully begin to build that confidence in their ability back up. As far as monitoring and reviewing of the situation, this should be quite straight forward. I know what the problem is and I have identified a list of causes. I also know clearly what I expect to achieve from the solution. I perform at least one quality check on each of my advisors each week, so these will prove useful when monitoring progress in this area and the results should be clear to see. These quality checks are always given to the advisors as feedback and trends from multiple quality checks are used to build useful coaching sessions. The feedback that I receive from the advisors at this point should also allow me to monitor if they are using my solution as expected and how confident they feel with it. As a department, we also receive daily, weekly and monthly reports. These will enable me to view the progress of the other teams in my operations group to see if they are showing the results that are expected. I will raise the matter for discussion in the weekly operations group meeting and this will allow me to receive feedback from my fellow managers and get their thoughts on what is and potentially isn’t going well. Finally, the QA Team will perform another quality check across a random sample of the department. This will perhaps be the ultimate mark of whether or not my solution has been successful. If so, then there should be a significant increase in the percentage of advisors that pass compliance.

Art Review - The Virgin and Child with Four Angels essays

Art Review - The Virgin and Child with Four Angels essays "The Virgin and Child with Four Angels" was painted by Gerard David in about 1510, right in the middle of the Renaissance. The painting is rectangular in shape and appears to be about two feet long by maybe a foot and a half wide. It is oil painted on wood and it looks to be in very good condition. The painting is an image, as its title suggests, of the Virgin with the infant baby Jesus. This, of course, was a very common subject during the renaissance and for years before and after it. There are countless paintings of the Virgin and Child from that time period, probably because of the power and influence of the church at the time. People were much more involved in the church and, therefore, the subjects they painted or requested to be painted were typically religious themes. Many also felt that by commemorating such religious figures it might even help them gain a spot in heaven. In any case, in this particular version of the Virgin and Child there are also four angels in the scene - two who are flying above the Virgin holding a crown over her head, and two who are sitting on either side of her playing instruments. Beyond her there is a large archway that opens into a landscape with a view of some grass and trees, some architecture, and some mountains in the far distance. The virgin is wearing a red garb and the baby Jesus is barely draped in some white cloth. That, of course, is a basic description at a quick glance. In examining the painting further, it becomes obvious that this is prime example of Renaissance painting. To begin with, the composition is completely balanced, almost symmetrical. The four angels are placed evenly around the Virgin, with two on each side. On one side an angel plays a harp and is balanced by an angel on the other side, strumming some type of guitar. The two flying above Mary are basically in the same position. Even the church in the background seems to be matched with a mountain in the distance. The...