Condoms should be distributed in schools: agree or disagree Essay

The subject of sex is an extremely disputable issue particularly among youngsters. Adolescents are at a point in their lives where hormones are at a high and they want to enjoy sexual exercises. Subsequently it is significant that young people comprehend the significance of safe sex and the results of unprotected sex. There are numerous elements influencing Jamaican secondary school understudies as they progressively take an interest in unprotected sexual acts and as such condoms ought to be appropriated as they help to diminish these variables; fundamentally the high teenager pregnancy rate, the high STD/STI rate and furthermore the inadequacy of forbearance. The primary central point looked by secondary school understudies is adolescent pregnancy. As per (Guttmacher Institute, 2010), adolescents (matured 15â€19) who don't utilize a preventative during sex are twice as liable to become teenager moms; this has become the most current pattern among young ladies. It has additionally been seen among wellbeing specialists that there is a critical ascent in high school pregnancies, as indicated by (Watson, 2011) from the Jamaican Gleaner; immature pregnancy keeps on being a significant general wellbeing challenge in Jamaica, around 18 percent of kids conceived in Jamaica are credited to pre-adult young ladies and as such condoms ought to be disseminated in schools as a counter measure. Watson additionally expressed that more than 60 of each 100 pregnancies (66.2 percent) among juvenile young ladies in the age bunch 15-19 years were spontaneous in 2008. Because of these discoveries it can obviously be seen that there is a requirement for condoms to be dispersed in schools to help lessen/control the young pregnancy rate. The subsequent central point is explicitly transmitted illnesses normally known as STD’s. As per (Hirsch, L, MD, 2010) STD’s have gotten progressively regular among youngsters. It is notable that latex condoms are the main type of anti-conception medication that diminishes the danger of getting a STD, and must be utilized without fail. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2012 backings this by expressing that the right and predictable utilization of male latex condoms can decrease the danger of STD transmission, including HIV contamination. Thus, condoms ought to be made promptly accessible to understudies. An examination done by (Horn and Keough, 2012) detailed thatâ 12 million instances of explicitly transmitted illnesses happen every year, 3 million (or 25 percent) are among young people around 13 percent of youth ages 13 to 19 agreement a STD every year; this is an extremely high level of adolescents, if condoms somehow managed to be disseminated there would be a noteworthy lessening. Another main consideration is the expanding incapability of restraint programs. Understudies have started to disregard this message as they investigate their sexuality. As indicated by (Toledo, 2011) schools utilizing restraint just sex instruction programs have altogether higher young pregnancy and birth rates than schools with progressively extensive sex training programs. Supporting this is (Douglas, 2008) who states contemplates show that most restraint programs didn't postpone inception of sex and just 3 of 9 had any noteworthy constructive outcomes on any sexual conduct. On the off chance that we can't persuade understudies to keep away from sexual exercises, we ought to advance safe sex in schools by appropriating condoms. An article composed by (Stepp, 2007) underpins this by expressing that an examination approved by Congress in the United States of America in 1997 after 2000 youngsters from rudimentary or center school to secondary school presumed that restraint just sex instruction doesn't shield adolescents from engaging in sexual relations. Some may contend that condoms ought not be conveyed in secondary schools since they advance sexual exercises and furthermore because of the way that schools are foundations of instruction. As per (Cullinan, 2004), there will be an issue if educators circulate condoms, as they will be believed to advance sexual action. Cullinan futher states that instruction is tied in with giving data; we can give the data about condoms and where to get them, yet they ought not be dispersed in schools. In any case, I accept that giving data isn't sufficient, it is better that condoms are effectively accessible to understudies. Condoms don't advance sexual movement, they simply give assurance; (Quigle, 2003) states that condom accessibility was not related with more noteworthy sexual action among teenagers however was related with more prominent condom use among the individuals who were at that point explicitly dynamic. Supporting this is (Fisher, 2011) who expresses that pediatric investigations show the accessibility of condoms doesn't increment sexual action however can diminish unintended pregnancy, explicitly transmitted sicknesses and HIV. All in all, I accept that circulating condoms in secondary school is an extraordinary initial step as there are numerous elements influencing Jamaican secondary school understudies as they progressively take an interest inâ unprotected sexual acts and as such condoms ought to be dispersed as they help to lessen these elements; fundamentally the high teenager pregnancy rate, the high STD/STI rate and furthermore the incapability of forbearance.

Fairies in Folklore and Literature Essay -- Exploratory Essays Researc

Pixies in Folklore and Literature Pixies have been a piece of writing, craftsmanship, and culture for in excess of fifteen hundred years. With them have come numerous anecdotes about their association with grown-ups and youngsters. These accounts have been accumulated by men, for example, Charles Perrault and the Brothers Grimm, who gave the world an enormous aggregation of fantasies, which are still told today. Perrault and the Grimms together accumulated more than 600 legends that started from all around Europe. These fantasies and legends frequently included fanciful being called pixies, sprites, and fairies. Pixies are every now and again portrayed as minor individuals. Their apparel, which is generally green, gold, or blue, is thought to have been made from normal components, for example, leaves and vines which have been planted together to make their dresses and undergarments. Huge numbers of these supernatural creatures had wings and could change shapes and vanish when they needed to. There were both male and female pixies, some great and others detestable. Malicious female pixies were typically connected with female sexuality and manhandled their mystical powers by doing hurt (Rose 107-9). They likewise had two, unmistakable living gatherings. One was known as the trooping gathering, a gathering of pixies that lived respectively in a network with administrative position and laws, typically a government. A large portion of these trooping gatherings were found in Irish and once in a while in English old stories. Different pixies are essentially known as singular pixies, the ones that don't live inside the network and are related with outside families, spots, or exercises. This gathering would incorporate pixie guardians (Rose 107). All pixies were said to live in the ground, inside a backwoods. In the event that people needed to discover the fairie... ... Jane Eyre can been found in the gathering of Charles Perrault’s work, particularly in Tom Thumb and Bluebeard and The Fairies. It could likewise be contended that Charlotte probably won't have perused or heard these accounts however was acquainted with a large number of similar topics through gothic books of the time.    Works Cited Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. Ed. Beth Newman. New York: St. Martin’s, 1996. Fraser, Rebecca. The Brontes: Charlotte Bronte and Her Family. New York: Crown, 1988. Perrault, Charles. Perrault’s Classic French Fairy Tales. Austria: Meredith, 1967. Rose, Carol. Spirits, Fairies, Gnomes and Goblins: An Encyclopedia of the Little People. Denver: ABC-CLIO, 1996. Silver, Carole. Unusual and Secret Peoples: Fairies and Victorian Consciousness. New York: Oxford UP, 1999.                   Â

How to Choose Best Suitable KPIs for Your Business

How to Choose Best Suitable KPIs for Your Business Every organization across the globe works with certain goals or purposes in mind. In order to evaluate the activities that are being performed in pursuit of these goals, businesses need measurable indicators that are known as Key Performance Indicators or KPIs. There are many types of KPIs that differ based on the goals of the business, requirements, and other factors. But they prove effective only if chosen carefully. So how can an organization choose the right KPIs for itself? © Shutterstock.com | TrueffelpixIn this article, you will learn 1) what KPIs are, 2) the  features of KPIs, 3) the importance of KPIs, and 4) how to choose the right KPIs.WHAT ARE KPIs?A Key Performance Indicator (KPI), or simply a performance indicator, is a performance measurement tool that helps in the assessment of the success or effectiveness of an act performed by a company. KPIs help to define and then measure the progress made toward a certain goal. KPIs are not only used to evaluate the overall performance of a business but also the separate performances of departments. The indicators that are useful for assessing the progress of the sales department may differ from the indicators used for evaluating the marketing success, and so on.Businesses need regular evaluation of their activities to identify potential areas of improvement, and this is the reason why performance indicators are linked to performance improvement methods. A KPI can thus also be defined as a group of quan tifiable measures used to gauge scope for improvement of an individual, an activity or the business as a whole. Since KPIs are directly linked to the success of the operational and strategic goals of a company, every business must first identify both these goals and then select the KPIs that best reflect these objectives. As an example, if the main goal for a real estate company is to achieve the quickest growth in the industry, then the KPI must be the measure of the yearly growth of revenue.Categorization of IndicatorsPerformance indicators are often divided into four main types that fall into two broad categories:Result indicators/key result indicators RIs or KRIs form that group of indicators that demonstrate that several measures are a sum of more than a team’s input. These specific measures help to evaluate the combination of the performance of the teams but cannot be used for solving problems or making improvements. This is so because, in such a case, it may not be possibl e to find out which team is responsible for the underperformance.Performance indicators/key performance indicators PIs or KPIs are a group of measures which can be associated with a single team or a bunch of teams that work toward a common goal in collaboration with one another. These measures help to identify the team that is responsible for performance or non-performance so that the management can identify the teams that may be underperforming and resolve the problem areas.FEATURES OF A GOOD KPIIn order for a KPI to be effective, it must have certain characteristic features. Some of these features are listed as follows:Relevant and high impact A good metric is one which has a solid impact and is relevant for your business.Understandable / Simple and important (shared) Every employee working for your business must be able to understand the KPI and why it is important. It must be simple to use and breakable into understandable segments.Balanced The KPI must be balanced in the se nse that it must fulfill both short-term and long-term needs for your business.Timely The KPI must be measured in a timely manner, like weekly, daily or monthlyNon-financial Another characteristic of a KPI is that it must be not be financial or measured in any kind of currency.BENEFITS OF KPIsKPI is a tool that enables businesses to measure their progress as far as moving toward goals and achieving success is concerned. Any business that does not have an idea of its own strengths and weaknesses may not be able to devise plans for further improvement and may not be able to guarantee constant success. The following are some of the points of importance of KPIs.Quantifiable results KPIs are tools that provide you with measurable and quantifiable results. This is why actions can be taken on the results produced through them. This enables you to create corrective strategies for reaching business goals and also improve areas that need polishing.Enhancement in performance KPIs help to i dentify employees and sectors that are performing well and also those that are performing poorly. They can thus be used by the management to channel resources in such a way that the performance can be enhanced.Individual performance incentives KPIs can also help to improve individual performances of employees since the information offered by them encourages employees to work harder. What happens is that teams or individuals are offered incentives to improve their KPIs, and for this to be done, KPIs have to be quantifiable and clear.Boosting sales Another benefit of KPIs is that they can help boost sales tremendously. Companies that have set objectives for their sales team to achieve often set rewards for those employees who meet their individual goals the fastest. This increases the level of competition between the sales executives and hence helps your business boost overall productivity.Increase in efficiency When your business uses KPIs for assessing growth and success, it ofte n gives your employees measurable goals to achieve. When an employee has a clear idea of what to achieve, he may direct his actions specifically to meet the goals and hence an improvement in the overall efficiency is obtained.Better decision-making KPIs help to reduce the doubt or uncertainty by providing a clear path to move upon. This enables better decision-making throughout the company and leads your business in the right direction.Alignment of goals It can be difficult for you to keep all the departments and people on the same page as far as moving toward common goals is concerned. But KPIs help to align the goals by dividing complex information into understandable steps.Better budgeting When a business starts using KPIs, it starts setting up reachable goals for itself, which in turn makes way for setting aside a fixed amount of money to be spent in a given time cycle. Thus, KPIs also make way for better budgeting and cutting down on unnecessary costs.CHOOSING THE RIGHT KPIs FOR YOUR BUSINESSThe main purpose of Key Performance Indicators is to drive the performance of your business. KPIs are capable of letting you bring about instantaneous changes to the segments of the business that may be underperforming and also offer crucial information on sales, marketing, finances and productivity. But this is only possible if you take time to select the right KPIs for your firm. Choosing the proper performance indicators is the first step toward quantifiable improvement, and you must consider several things before you do so for your enterprise. The following are some ways in which you can select the perfect KPIs:1. Have a clear business goal in mindSince KPIs help measure progress made toward your business goals, you must have a very clear idea about what you really wish to achieve. Only by setting precise goals for yourself can you define your KPIs. Thus when you set out to define goals for your business, you must focus on hard or solid figures, for example: Bo ost sales by 20% in the next 12 months or Improve conversion rate by 5% in the next 6 months and so on. Besides business goals, you must also set clear goals for teams and individuals as well. This helps your employees work harder to achieve the exact figures in a given time period.2. Select performance indicators that are directly linked to your business goalsYou must choose those performance measures that can offer you insight into the progress made by your business in a given period of time. This progress is always relative to a business goal and hence you must make sure your KPIs are aligned with the goals. For example, if your goal is to improve sales by 20% in the next year, then your KPIs must include conversion rate, daily sales and website traffic, etc. On the other hand if your intention is to increase conversion rate by 5% in the next 6 months, then your KPIs must include daily sales, price trends, and retention rate, etc.In order to choose goal-aligned KPIs, you must ask yourself the following questions:What is the purpose of my business?What is it that I wish to achieve in the next fiscal year?How will I be able to know that I have reached my goals?Is my goal merely money-related?Once you have answered these questions, you will be able to choose the indicators that are of true importance to your business. It is critical to understand that there are plenty of KPIs, but not all may be suitable for your strategic and operational goals.Depending on the area you would like to improve in your business, here are some ideas for KPIs:To evaluate your market:Conversion rateCost per leadMarket shareFootprint in social networkingPage viewsBounce rateMarket growth rateSearch engine rankingsCustomer engagement levelTo understand your customers:Customer complaintsCustomer engagementRetention rateNet promoter scoreProfitability scoreCustomer satisfaction indexTurnover rateTo understand and improve your employees performance:Churn rateAverage tenure of employeesRe venue earned per employeeEngagement level of employeesTraining ROISatisfaction index of employeesSalary competitiveness ratioTo improve financial performance:Net profit marginNet profitRevenue growth rateGross profit marginROIEconomic value addedReturn on assetsReturn on equityWorking capital ratioOperating expense ratioPrice-earnings ratioOperating profit marginTo measure and improve your operational performance:Process waste levelProject cost varianceSix sigma levelEarned value metricTime to marketQuality indexFirst contact resolutionFirst pass yieldEquipment effectivenessRework level3. Select KPIs with mandatory characteristicsWhen selecting KPIs, make sure that they meet certain mandatory characteristic requirements. A description of the most important ones has been provided below.KPIs must be measurable. Key performance Indicators must be measurable and quantifiable. This is the most basic feature that every KPI must have, irrespective of the industry or company in which it is used. If a metric is unable to measure performance or success of an activity or business as a whole, then it doesn’t serve its inherent function and must not be utilized. KPIs must be able to gauge, evaluate and offer solid results.Consider the business’s growth stage. Some metrics may prove to be more important than others, depending upon the growth stage in which your business currently is. If your business is a start-up, then you must choose metrics that are associated with business model validation, whereas if it is in its established stages, then you must select metrics like customer lifetime value and cost per acquisition. The following are the three stages of growth with the corresponding metrics for each:Pre-Product Market Fit This is the start-up stage of a business and KPIs that work at this stage include qualitative feedback and customer interviews.Product Market Fit This is the stage between start-up and established businesses; the KPIs that work here include renew als, monthly recurring revenue and customer satisfaction.Expansion This is the stage where a business has already become well-established. At this stage, the KPIs that work are lifetime value, cost per acquisition and average order size.Consider the industry your business is in and the most appropriate industry practices for KPIs.It is important to know that KPIs differ from company to company and also from industry to industry. Therefore, it is important to consider the industry your business is in while selecting KPIs. The following are some of the suitable KPIs for different industries:B2B Total cost savings, on-time delivery, quality of services/products, availability of inventory and compliance with contract, etc.SaaS Churn, lifetime value, monthly recurring revenue and cost per acquisition, etc.Retail Stock turnover, average customer spend, customer satisfaction, sales per square foot and capital expenditure, etc.E-Commerce Average order value, days and visits to purchase , share or search, conversion rate, visitor loyalty, average order value and task completion rate, etc.Social Media Referral traffic, growth of followers, link click through, volume of publishing and shares, etc.Content marketing Unique visits, bounce rate, click patterns, page views and mobile readership, etc.Online media Unique visitors, time on site, share ratio and page views, etc.Consider workforce as a KPI.If you run a service-based business, then you must consider your workers as a KPI as well. For businesses such as yours, the labor is the biggest area of expense. If you consider it as a performance indicator; you can manage the costs of staff better, thereby boosting overall performance. Thus in order to make crucial decisions, you must create useful labor data and reports in a timely manner. The reports must consist of aspects like realization rate, utilization, and gross profit margin.Identify the target audience and then consider its point of view. It is very importan t for you to identify who your target audience is so that you can base your KPIs accordingly. Once you know who you are targeting, you can consider the customer’s point of view and then choose those metrics that can measure their customer experience and satisfaction levels.4. Consider the consequences of choosing particular KPIs for your businessIt is very important to follow a systematic approach when choosing KPIs. Avoid selecting KPIs without considering the consequences that they can produce. For example, a certain KPI may help you measure the performance of a particular activity but it could indirectly be affecting other aspects of performance and hence must be avoided. A well-planned and researched approach must be followed when shortlisting the performance indicators.5. Keep the list of KPIs concise (avoid unnecessary metrics)Your list of KPIs must be kept short and effective. Having too many metrics can make evaluation of actions complex and may confuse your employees. Mea sure only that data which really matters to your organization and can help you make improvements. Remember that it may take time to narrow down your list of indicators but it will prove worthwhile. The optimal number of KPIs that you must have is about 5â€"9. Anything more than this will make you lose focus on the important variables. Thus, eliminate unnecessary metrics.6. Understand and determine leading and lagging performance indicatorsAnother step to choosing your KPIs is to know and understand the differences between leading and lagging indicators.Lagging indicators these are indicators which measure the overall performance of the business and are backward-focused or trailing in nature. This means that they help to evaluate performance information which has already been captured. Everything you wish to monitor will have lagging indicators, such as number of sick days, returns on investments and even the number of bags moved in a single day, etc.Leading indicators these indica tors are considered as business drivers since they point to the direction in which things are moving. They change quickly and come before an upcoming trend. For every business, identification of leading indicators is important as far as the strategic plans are concerned. They must be chosen carefully and should be unique to your business environment.7. Avoid getting caught up in the number gameThe total number of likes, the number of page visitors, the percentage of increase in signups and other such numbers can really capture you in a net and make it difficult for you to see the larger picture. Your focus must always be on the quality and not the quantity since the most important parts of businesses are often not measurable. It is easy to get caught up in the number game of KPIs but you need to move forward from vanity metrics and concentrate on what really matters. Ask yourself if a slight increase in the ‘Likes’ on your Facebook page would really affect your success.8. Know w here your money is goingAnother point that can help you in selecting the right KPIs for your business is to consider exactly where your money is going. It is a good idea to determine the areas where you are spending your money and then find out if these areas are linked to the goals of your business. Also, see if a KPI can be associated with these goals. The basic idea behind knowing the direction of the flow of money is to be able to choose only those KPIs which can keep a check on your expenses.

Definition of LSAT - Law School Admissions Test

No Child Left Behind - 2277 Words

In the case of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), is politics the enemy of problem solving? By examining selected political controversies surrounding NCLB, it will be demonstrated that politics is the enemy. Since NCLB’s enactment, vast amounts of research literature and news stories have been published on its effects, which demonstrates the impact and debate generated by this law. The major goals of this bipartisan legislation were to improve student performance through standardized testing by using data from annual test scores to measure each students’ and schools’ progress; to close the achievement gap between disadvantaged students and their better-off counterparts; and to hold teachers and schools accountable. All these actions were to†¦show more content†¦The aim is to â€Å"fix† low-performing schools. Schools and teachers would be held accountable, for low performance and the law was considered by many to be overly punitive rather than supp ortive (Jost, Ravitch). AYP leads to the next criticism of an NCLB outcome: â€Å"narrowing of the curriculum.† Because so much depends on how schools fare on these â€Å"high stakes tests,† in many schools, especially low-performing schools, fewer subjects are being taught, so more emphasis can be put on teaching reading and math and less time is being spent on developing children’s problem solving and critical thinking skills (Ravitch, Stecher, et.al.). Furthermore, to make room for honing test-taking skills, less time is being spent on teaching subjects in general. This practice is often referred to â€Å"teaching to the test.† The fact that too much time is spent working on practice tests is more than likely an unintended consequence of the law. Not only have schools modified their curriculum, but also states have adjusted their educational standards so that they are able to achieve NCLB’s requirement of AYP of 100 percent proficiency. Students â€Å"fell victim to what many observers called the school districts’ decisions to â€Å"dumb down† the standards for measuring proficiency. It’s a lot easier to push down yourShow MoreRelatedNo Child Left Behind958 Words   |  4 Pages Good intentions are no excuse to continue a fail policy. Since the No Child left Behind Act (NCLB) became in effect, teachers have been restricted to teach in a certain way. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, signed into law by President George W. Bush on January 8, 2002, which was a reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. President Bush once said; â€Å"education is the gateway to a hopeful future for America’s children. America relies on good teachersRead MoreThe No Child Left Behind1974 Words   |  8 Pagesorder to improve education in America, we have to go to the root of our problem in the school system and find better ways to enforce new rules and regulations that wouldn’t be detrimental to both students, schools, and educators alike. The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act is having a negative effect on our education system because it reduces the choices of schools for parents, and the distribution of qualified teachers. It also has a negative impact on the amount that kids are able to learn in schoolRead More No Child Left Behind1472 Words   |  6 Pagesgone into many wars. Not just physical wars that I am considered about but also wars on education. The nation could destroy its own glory and way of the source of great future that it rely on by initiating a war on the minds of the children. No Child Left Behind (NCLB) is a federal education policy that was developed in 2001. (Lagana-Riordan and Aguilar 135). NCLB is a program designed to minimize the differences in the level of education that white or rich people get to poor African-American, HispanicRead MoreNo Child Left Behind555 Words   |  2 Pagesschools and their mission to build the mind and character of every child, from every background in every part of America.† Pr. George W. Bush. The No Child Left Behind Act has plenty of advantages such as: helping students with disabilities, guiding teachers and parents so that they can help the child, and push the child to succeed. Students with language disabilities will be at a disadvantage in reading. The No Child Left Behind has provides students with tutors and extra help with homework. PresidentRead MoreNo Child Left Behind Act1621 Words   |  7 Pages The support for the No Child Left Behind Act plummeted down shortly after the act passed. Many people supported the act at first simply because they supported the goals of the act, once they saw the results, their opinions changed. One of the biggest arguments towards No Child Left Behind is that it is unfair. People believed the resources of difference schools were unequal, and thought the Title 1 funding that the schools received should go to ensuring all schools had equal resources. Many peopleRead MoreThe No Child Left Behind Act1670 Words   |  7 PagesKentucky-SW 630 Abstract This literature review seeks to explore the Every Student Succeeds Act (2015), a bipartisan reauthorization and revision to the No Child Left Behind Act (2002). The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) is the first law passed in fourteen years to address Reneeded changes to the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Considered progressive and innovative at the time of its passage, NCLB was the most dramatic and aggressive legislation enacted in decades and afforded theRead MoreNo Child Left Behind Essays1062 Words   |  5 Pages LITERATURE REVIEW Rushton talks about the funding for the No Child Left Behind is being held back if the students don’t do well on the standardized tests. So if the students don’t do well on the testing the teachers are being affected in the way of how much they are getting paid, also affects the school districts funding. This is encouraging the teachers not to teach the way they should, but they are teaching in the way of let’s just make the students do well on the standardized tests. In thisRead MoreNo Child Left Behind Act1418 Words   |  6 Pagessystematic oppression. The flowing water of oppression floods poor schools; drowning students with dreams, and giving no mercy. The only ones safe from the water are the privileged, who are oblivious to the fact that it exists. George Bush s No Child Left Behind Act, which passed in 2002, mandated annual standardized testing in math and reading. If schools received insufficient scores, they were punished or shut down. This fueled the construed concept that a school is only doing well if the studentsRead MoreThe No Child Left Behind Act2120 Words   |  9 PagesWhen President George W. Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) into law in 2002, the legislation had one goal-- to improve educational equity for all students in the United States by implementing standards for student achievement and school district and teacher performance. Before the No Child Left Behind Act, the program of study for most schools was developed and implemented by individual states and local communities’ school boards. Proponents of the NCLB believed that lax oversightRead MoreThe No Child Left Behind Act875 Words   |  4 PagesThe No Child Left Behind Act â€Å"NCLB† was a bill passed by the Senate in 2001 and signed into law by President George W. Bush on January 8, 2002. It was a revision of the Elementary and Secondary Act â€Å"ESEA† of 1965 by President Lyndon Johnson. The NCLB was intended to help children in lower-income families achieve the same standard of education as children in higher income families. This was done by the federal government providing extra finances for Title I schools in exchange for a rise in academic

Pch International Free Essays

CASE: GS-61 DATE: 04/01/08 PCH INTERNATIONAL: MANAGING THE FLOWS OF INFORMATION, GOODS, AND FINANCE Liam Casey, CEO of PCH International Limited (PCH), was in every way an adventurer. Born and having spent most of his youth in Cork, Ireland, Casey had never lived in China until he started traveling and working in the country in his late twenties. Yet, without speaking much Chinese, Casey managed to establish an innovative supply chain solutions company in China’s factory city of Shenzhen and grew it to almost 700 employees in just ten years. We will write a custom essay sample on Pch International or any similar topic only for you Order Now By 2007, PCH had become a global company; it had customers in Western Europe and North America and its IT operations, manufacturing and warehousing support was located in Ireland, China, Singapore, Taiwan, South Africa and Brazil. In fact, so successful was Casey’s business that the â€Å"mildmannered and extremely diligent entrepreneur won the Ireland 2007 Ernst Young Entrepreneur of the year award. †1 Collecting business competition accolades was not what Casey had in mind when he first started PCH. When Casey went to Taiwan in 1996 to attend a computer and electronics fair, he saw an opportunity to help global technology companies take advantage of Asia and China’s low-cost supplier base and manufacturing capabilities. Although PCH started out in the mid-1990s as a sourcing agent of low-priced electronic components from Taiwan and China to the Western world, by 2007 it had evolved into a provider of comprehensive supply chain solutions to global technology companies. PCH was designed to address the needs of a complex global technology supply chain landscape. Arthur Beesley, â€Å"Casey Picks Up Overall Award,† Irish Times, October 26, 2007, p. 12 Jennie Tung prepared this case under the supervision of Professor Hau Lee as the basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of an administrative situation. Copyright  © 2008 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. All rights reserved. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, e-mail the Case Writing Office at: cwo@gsb. stanford. du or write: Case Writing Office, Stanford Graduate School of Business, 518 Memorial Way, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-5015. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means –– electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise –– without the permission of the Stanford Graduate School of Business. PCH International: Managing Goods, Information and Financial Flows GS-61 p. 2 STATE OF THE TECHNOLOGY SUPPLY CHAIN The Maturing Supply Chain By the twenty-first century, technology products of all sorts became ubiquitous and profoundly transformed the way people lived and worked. However, in the 1990s, in comparison to other global supply chains such as garments and toys, which had over some 50 years of outsourcing experience, the technology supply chain was still in its early development. For example, by the mid-1990s, the digital camera, the mobile phone, and the laptop computer had only just become a mainstream consumer category. As such, in addition to focusing on designing cutting edge products, technology companies were trying figure out the most efficient ways to deliver their products to end consumers. On the consumer technology supply chain timeline, the 1970s and 1980s showed only a small number of global brands, such as the large technology conglomerates Sony and Siemens, who were industry leaders in many product categories. These industry leaders relied on their vertically integrated supply chains and their ability to lock in suppliers to keep new competitors from entering the market. However, as venture capital funding became more available in the 1990s, the technology market saw continuous waves of innovation, shorter product lifecycles, new products and brands. At the same time, the 1990s also saw a drastic increase in independent manufacturers and suppliers, particularly in Asia. These businesses had developed sophisticated technical capabilities after serving the global brands for a number of ye ars. The confluence of these factors changed what it took to win in the technology space. Vertically integrated players of the past were replaced with engineering-savvy, asset-light marketing and design companies. As such, both large and small technology companies had the opportunity to bring products to market through the use of sub-contracting. By the late 1990s, consumers not only had more product choices but also multiple channels to buy from, including online stores, which were becoming popular. Within the world of technology products, the supply chain systems for the wide-ranging product types were not uniform. For example, the more complex large systems, such as telecom base stations, had a different supply chain model from the smaller consumer electronics products, such as personal MP3 players and laptop computers. This case focuses on the small consumer electronics supply chain, whose characteristics included having many component suppliers, with assembly sites doing the final assembly and testing. The modular structure of technology products meant that the brand owners had to manage a large network of suppliers. To stay competitive, large and small technology companies began to outsource a significant part of their supply chain to third party vendors in order to focus their resources on brand differentiating activities, such as product design and marketing. This outsourcing trend in the 2 3 PCH International Limited (PCH), â€Å"Information Memorandum for Potential Investors,† November 2007, pp. 3-5. Ibid. 4 www. Alibaba. com was an online directory of suppliers in China 5 PCH, op. cit. pp. 3-5. PCH International: Managing Goods, Information and Financial Flows GS-61 p. 3 1980s created a new industry known as Electronic Manufacturing Services (EMS). By the 1990s, the EMS industry had a number of global scale players, notably Hon Hai Precision Industries (Foxconn), Flextronics, Celestica, Sanmina-SCI, Jabil, Elcoteq, and a few dozen others. In addition, several thousand smaller companies continued to occupy EMS niches and served a wide range of consumer electronics brands. The business model for the EMS industry was based on large economies of scale in manufacturing, raw materials procurement, pooling of resources, and industrial design expertise, in addition to other value-added services such as warranty and repairs. Products manufactured by EMS companies were labeled with the brand owner’s brand and corporate identity. As price competition intensified in the consumer electronics industry in the late 1990s, EMS players gradually shifted their manufacturing assets to lower cost areas, such as cities in Southern China. While the leaner overhead structure provided numerous operational and financial benefits, the technology companies faced enormously complex challenges in dealing with procurement, manufacturing, and logistics vendors. Fragmented Supplier Base Many technology companies looked to Asia as an outsourcing location, given the number of low- cost manufacturing and component suppliers in the region. By 2007, China became a major sourcing and production hub for many technology companies. However, to take full advantage of China’s low cost supplier base was not always straightforward. As China was rapidly developing into the factory of the world, many companies strove to achieve low cost while maintaining quality. Low cost technology goods suppliers were abundantly available in the coastal regions of China, in particular in the southern city of Shenzhen, just a 50-minute train ride from Hong Kong. As a procurement officer for a technology company, trying to identify the most suitable supplier could be a huge headache. For example, for every cable connector, printer circuit board, and MP3 player accessory item, there were literally hundreds of suppliers to choose from in China. 4 For many technology companies, many of these components were not core or strategic. However, poor management of component parts could impact every aspect of the supply chain, leaving behind many unsatisfied customers. Therefore, to take full advantage of China’s wealth of suppliers, technology companies needed to filter through numerous vendors to find ones that optimized cost, speed to market, and quality. Working Capital Constraints While independent manufacturers and component suppliers benefited from global outsourcing trends in the late 1990s, they also had to face increasing financing challenges. Casey, who had worked with hundreds of factory owners, learned of the challenges in raising working capital: [In the earlier days of outsourcing,] suppliers were able to take a purchase order of a guaranteed volume from a well-known company to the bank and, upon verification, would be able to obtain working capital inancing. Letters of Credit (LCs) were issued by the purchaser. However, guaranteed longer term product volumes have been replaced by rolling short term product guidelines forecasts. The reason is as a technology company faces tough competition and declining PCH International: Managing Goods, Information and Financial Flows GS-61 p. 4 margins, it needs to manage costs aggressively by minimizing inventory build-up. This is necessary given the need to match the ebb and flow of cu stomer taste and requirements. They in turn demand ‘just-in-time’ delivery from their suppliers— which shifted some of the inventory holding costs upstream to its vendors, further increasing its need for working capital. In addition, sometimes the purchasing company may not be one of the blue-chip globally recognizable brands; banks sometimes perceived this as an additional credit risk. This trend resulted in substantial volatility and pressure on some suppliers as banks were not as willing to provide trade financing given the perceived increased risk levels. This meant some suppliers found it tremendously difficult, if not extremely expensive to obtain financing. Increasingly Demanding Customers Consumer technology products of the twenty-first century were about superior functionalities, seamless ordering process (both in-store and online), timely and accurate product delivery, and a memorable out-of-box experience—referring to how consumers felt when they opened the box and reacted to the overall product presentation. Of course, it was critical that the products themselves be â€Å"trendy† and â€Å"cool,† and accompanied by a whole host of accessories to jazz up the products. For many consumers, technology products were perceived in the same vein as fashion goods. Brands, therefore, needed to meet constantly changing tastes and extremely short and tight product development cycles. While professional technology products generally placed more emphasis on product functionalities, they still required support services, such as regional configuration (e. g. , language differences and pre-loaded software) and just-in-time delivery of products, in order to minimize inventory costs. Finally, technology companies needed to provide their customers these highly customized products and purchasing experiences at a competitive price, while achieving all of the above. These were just some of the characteristics that made the technology supply chain much more challenging than the supply chain of more traditional industries. EMS companies, as discussed above, while able to deliver manufacturing savings to brand owners, were unable to adequately address these pain points, g iven that their business model focused on large scale production. The end consumer’s increasing demand for low price and customized products made it challenging for EMS companies to address these evolving market trends. TECHNOLOGY SUPPLY CHAIN FLOWS AND CHALLENGES An insightful entrepreneur, Casey saw the pain points described above as opportunities. Over the years, Casey had thought a comprehensive solution addressing the market and customer challenges would provide extraordinary value for technology companies. In PCH’s menu of services, the over-arching theme was to help clients better manage the three distinctive flows in the technology supply chain: information, goods, and financial. These flows essentially addressed every element required to take a product from concept to being retail ready, including the key steps of manufacturing, packaging, product customization, logistics and supplier financing. (See Exhibit 1 for an overview of the three flows in the technology supply chain. ) PCH International: Managing Goods, Information and Financial Flows GS-61 p. 5 The Virtual Supply Chain The virtual supply chain referred to information flow that occurred in the supply chain as goods moved through the various stages. The information requirement might be for a unique customer, such as, â€Å"when will my goods arrive at my door step;† or for the planning department in a company, â€Å"how much inventory should I order given existing inventory levels in different parts of the supply chain? † When a company outsourced each portion of the supply chain to different vendors, disbursing and piecing information back together from disparate sources could be extremely challenging. The Physical Supply Chain The physical supply chain referred to he steps by which physical goods went from product concept to their final customers; it dealt with the movement of goods from various physical locations, such as procurement of components, manufacturing, and logistics. 6 As discussed in the section on challenges facing the technology supply chain, the large number of suppliers and manufacturers in Asia made it extremely cumbersome for companies to identify the most appropriate vendors for their needs. I n addition to price negotiation, service quality also required significant due diligence. For example, incidences of delinquent delivery and product quality issues were commonplace. Given the myriad of choices that consumers had for any given technology product, the margin of error allowed was very small. Another challenge in the physical supply chain was customization of products. A question often asked by supply chain executives at technology companies was, â€Å"how should I best take advantage of economies of scale by producing in volume while achieving the customization for each local market, and sometimes for each individual customer? This question highlighted the challenge of managing market-level customization since most technology products needed to reach multiple countries around the world. The challenge could be as simple as placing different language labels on products, to more complex tasks such as first consolidating product shipments from different manufacturing sites and then assembling various units for unique customer orders. Finally, logistics and ship ment also needed to be managed in an efficient and cost effective manner. The Financial Supply Chain Tied very closely to the physical flow of goods, the financial supply chain referred to the financing required for each step of the supply chain. For example, a manufacturing contractor would need financing to buy components and pay its workers to make the products, before shipping them to the technology company to collect the revenue. Established vendors may have had enough cash to last through a collection cycle but smaller or newer vendors could be strapped for cash when a large order came through. While commercial banks could provide financing for some vendors, new or smaller vendors ended up paying extremely high interest First Capital Presentation at the Zhejiang University Innovation Institute’s Supply Chain Forum, Zhejiang, China, November 13-14, 2007. 6 PCH International: Managing Goods, Information and Financial Flows GS-61 p. 6 costs, at least in the initial years of operations—until they had developed a stronger track record to borrow at more favorable rates from banks. THE PCH SOLUTION By 2007, PCH counted a number of global clients as customers. Among its clients were three of the top five personal computer companies, three of the top five telecom and networking companies, and the top five leading contract electronics manufacturers. 7 According to Casey, â€Å"PCH offers customized solutions for each client. PCH helps to manage the various communication, culture and geographic barriers that often create operational friction between the [technology company] and its suppliers in the supply chain. In Casey’s framework, each PCH solution could be mapped to the various challenges in the three flows of the supply chain, thereby addressing the various gaps in coordinating these flows. For example, PCH manufacturing services addressed the needs in the flow of goods, while PCH Capital addressed the needs in the financial flow in the supply chain (See Exhibit 2 on PCH services categories). Like PCH’s technology customers, Casey believed an asset-light approac h in managing his business worked the best and, therefore, he had no ownership in any of the vendors that PCH worked with. PCH was neither a supplier of goods nor an importer for global technology companies. PCH was a service provider—a coordinator that helped orchestrate and maximize the benefits of an outsourced supply chain for all parties involved. Addressing the Needs of the Virtual Supply Chain Information transparency was a highly valued feature for technology companies given the many moving pieces involved. Casey explained why its software services division was core to PCH’s offering to clients and why developing these tools was important to PCH in the long term: Transparency of process is a central PCH offering. This is why we’ve developed a series of online software tools that drive internal PCH activities and to provide a portal for clients to oversee and participate in the process. These systems enabled PCH, customers and third-party suppliers to view and share the same data. [As all parties] are working with the same data on the same platform, confusion is reduced, the need for status communication is reduced and clients can have full visibility to PCH’s activities even [though] they may be half a world away. By 2007, PCH had developed a set of software visibility tools that consolidated relevant information for each individual customer. Examples included StatusFlo, which showed inventory levels of goods in the various locations of the supply chain; and TransFlo, which housed all information relevant to billing and shipping documents in one central location for each order. Given the myriad of suppliers, ChinaFlo provided a database of background data on over 900 factories evaluated by PCH. Each factory profile contained detailed information ranging from basic background information, to factory qualification reports, and to capabilities case studies. Customers also had the ability to view pictures of their products and even search 7 Beesley, loc. it. PCH International: Managing Goods, Information and Financial Flows GS-61 p. 7 for hotels in the vicinity of the factories, as the factory profiles had GPS coordinates associated with them. Resolving the chaos and lack of data transparency in the virtual supply chain was one key value-add that PCH offered. (See Exhibit 3 for a screenshot of different sections of PCHâ€℠¢s information portal. ) Addressing the Needs of the Physical Supply Chain Casey reflected on the path that PCH took: The historical success of PCH was in manufacturing services where goods were sourced and manufactured for our clients. This was how the company got started. Over time, PCH had moved deeper into the product life cycle where solutions were replacing entire distribution systems; for some of our clients, [PCH] took over warehousing, inventory management, and retail preparation functions. We wanted to move to higher value services as opposed to being just a sourcing agent. With this strategy, PCH developed three core services that addressed the complexity and confusion of sourcing and manufacturing in Asia, in particular in China. As of 2007, these services were manufacturing, postponement, and fulfillment services. Manufacturing Services PCH offered its manufacturing services to clients as early as the product development phase. Technology companies would approach PCH with ideas for products and PCH’s design team then developed prototypes for manufacturing. Casey proudly mentioned how PCH’s differentiated services created benefits for the entire supply chain. Even if our clients just ask for product quotes, we would put the product through industrial design optimization that yields the best cost for the customer while minimizing potential quality issues. Many of our clients did not expect this but this is the level of services that we aim for. We do not tie [the product design] to the capabilities of any specific factory group but act independently on behalf of our clients†¦This level of services also compares favorably to just a [company to outsource manufacturer] relationship where the focus is on landing the contract and meeting minimum quantities; [this also meant] final product quality and the end user experience being far down the outsource manufactures’ list of priorities. The other part of PCH manufacturing services entailed factory identification, qualification, and ongoing monitoring. For this set of services, PCH also leveraged its software services (see information supply chain in previous section) to differentiate itself from other competitors. Casey said, â€Å"Rather than just identifying the factories for manufacturing, we would map out the locations of the various potential manufacturing sites and how that would fit in the overall supply chain. This strategy ensured that the entire supply chain was optimized, taking into consideration the later steps in the process, such as warehousing and shipment consolidation. PCH International: Managing Goods, Information and Financial Flows GS-61 p. 8 Postponement and Fulfillment Services Traditionally, once the technology products were produced and quality checked in the approved outsourced factories, they were shipped to warehouse facilities before going to the various retail destinations. A potential downside to this model was that when the bulk shipment arrived at the retail destination, which might be in a high cost country such as the U. S. or Europe, the products still needed to be further customized for each local market; whether it was adding country appropriate labeling or putting on UPC labels. This meant that even though a company had saved by manufacturing its goods in Asia, this last mile customization could bring the total product costs back up. The other downside was that a technology company also needed to pay for inventory holding costs. And, this inventory had limited flexibility; a company could not move it to other geographies, even if a particular product was running a shortage in other locations. To address these challenges, PCH offered postponement services—the act of holding goods in the supply chain (often in bulk format pending final assembly or packaging) for delivery to a warehouse, retail store or the end consumer. 8 In Casey’s words, â€Å"What we are doing is bringing a vanilla product to a stage in a process and then flavor in the last minute. So you’re postponing the flavoring. The final steps would only be carried out once the demand was clearly visible. Most of PCH’s clients’ products were manufactured around the coastal areas of China, so PCH strategically located its postponement processing facilities in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, and in Singapore. These locations were selected for their relatively low labor costs (some of the final packaging was qui te labor intensive) and the availability of favorable tax-free trade zones. For example, one of PCH’s clients was a global personal computer (PC) company. When its PCs arrived in Shenzhen’s postponement processing facility in bulk, the machines had no software. Given these computers could be destined for different locations around the world, PCH would wait for the final order before it preloaded the different language operating systems into these computers for the various markets. These computers were held in Shenzhen’s Futian Tax Free Trade zone; which yielded lower inventory holding costs, as compared to having them sit at the warehouses in a higher cost country location. As PCH’s goal was to help customers fully manage the physical supply chain, its fulfillment services addressed the â€Å"handling of product orders from clients, their distribution chains or directly from end consumers over the Internet. †9 This meant that after products had gone through final assembly and packaging in the postponement phase, PCH could have them delivered directly to retail stores, ready for sale or to the end consumers’ doorstep. Working with third party logistics providers, PCH had several options for pickup and shipment to overseas locations. Even though PCH provided postponement in China, technology products were often transported by air, so this did not mean PCH’s response time was much worse than the conventional approach of having postponement at the retail distribution center in the U. S. Casey explained why the combination of postponement and fulfillment services worked well for PCH’s technology clients and how it addressed challenges in the broader market environment: 8 9 PCH, op. cit. pp. 9-13 Ibid. PCH International: Managing Goods, Information and Financial Flows GS-61 p. 9 The constantly shifting consumer tastes and trends make forecast volume for any [technology] product difficult. When Internet sales direct to a customer’s home are added into the array of distribution possibilities, the processing needs become even more complex. With postponement and fulfillment services located close to the manufacturing sites, it drastically shortens time to market. By offering a variety of packaging and shipment options, PCH is able to both manage fast and slow moving inventory in a manner that reduces the overall supply chain costs to [technology companies]. This approach provides clients with substantial leverage in their operations: total factory commitments remain somewhat unchanged, product inventory quantities shrink, warehouse networks shrink, if not disappearing all together, and the cost of operating the supply chain falls. PCH’s Unique Position In summarizing PCH’s value proposition, Casey believed PCH’s role as the coordinator in the supply chain was beneficial for all parties involved: Our purpose as a company is developing partnerships, delivering peace of mind. None of our customers have ever gone direct to a factory. Some customers have made phone calls to factories, but the factories will call us immediately because [those factories also made products for five of our other clients. ] So we bring a very big book of business to these component suppliers and that’s why they like to work with us. The factories are getting a steady flow of business through our volume consolidation. At the same time our customers also benefit from economies of scale by consolidating their orders with their competitors, which are nonproprietary stuff. Casey believed that in the 1990s, global companies operating in China were all about the knowledge challenge and everyone was just trying to learn about the landscape. By 2000, â€Å"it was all about the execution challenge; that is, how do you actually do it and benefit from what China has to offer,† said Casey. Client Case Example10: Managing the Physical and Information Supply Chain PCH worked with a wide range of technology clients; but perhaps its partnership with one global consumer technology company provided the best example to illustrate the principles behind technology supply chain outsourcing. Situation The client was a global consumer electronics company and, since the early 2000s, had produced a number of blockbuster products that were sold worldwide. Sales revenue was growing rapidly and most of its products were manufactured in Taiwan and China. These products were sold over the Internet, in addition to a variety of retail outlets, and were often sold with accessories such as protective carrying cases, spare parts, and alternative configurations of the products. PCH operated under a confidentiality agreement with most of its clients; hence, actual client names have been disguised. Some of the company data provided was fictitious to preserve anonymity. 10 PCH International: Managing Goods, Information and Financial Flows GS-61 p. 10 Playing in the extremely competitive consumer technology space, this client had introduced new products every year or so—sometimes with an entirely new product line and sometimes with upgrades to existing models. Complication In the initial years, this client worked with a global logistics provider to operate its more than five North American and European warehouse facilities; inventories from Asia arrived in bulk and were stored in these locations. Its products were delivered to end consumers or retail locations upon ordering. Its accessory parts were produced by different factories in Asia and were then shipped separately to various destination markets. For example, when customers ordered four accessories, they might receive four different shipments on four different dates, leaving them sometimes confused and unable to track the status of their orders. This arrangement was also expensive for the technology company, given the high cost of inventory storage and the multiple airfreight bills for each customer. More importantly, the client promised its end consumers more than just beautifully designed products, it also promised a superior consumer experience—from placing the order on the Internet to actually receiving the product. The order status had to be available real-time and visible to consumers at each stage of execution; the delivery commitment to its end consumers was two to three days to the doorstep, which was often half a world away from where the goods were produced. Finally, considerable care and attention were given to the packaging and presentation of the products to ensure that end consumers were truly delighted when opening the box. Solution In serving this client, PCH set up an on-site real-time data transfer between client’s and PCH’s system in Shenzhen, China. As customers place orders in North America, the orders were consolidated and fed live to PCH’s processing facilities. PCH had already stored bulk inventories of various accessory parts in its facilities; once information for each orders were received, the PCH teams in Shenzhen then go and grab the various parts and assemble them into one single package for each customer order. Customized and country appropriate packaging, including items such as usual manuals and in-country product support, were added to these parts. Finally, product codes were added to products in case the consumer wanted to a return or obtain customer services in their local customer service centers. This solution brought all product handling (post manufacturing) into China and all orders were shipped directly from one location to the final destination. This translated into savings on logistics as customers were now receiving only one shipment as opposed to multiple shipments. Addressing the Needs of the Financial Supply Chain As discussed in the state of the technology supply chain section, component suppliers and factories sometimes ran into a working capital crunch when unable to obtain feasible financing from commercial banks. On the opposite side of the table, the commercial banks generally appreciated the opportunity to help finance the components suppliers and factories, thereby gaining more visibility into the operations of these small to medium size operations. Casey drew insights from observing these challenges and decided that PCH was actually in a great position to help de-risk the entire supply chain—for the technology companies, banks, and the factories. Casey described how PCH’s services were different from those of other global PCH International: Managing Goods, Information and Financial Flows GS-61 . 11 logistics providers: â€Å"The FedExes and DHLs know where the boxes are, but PCH knows what’s inside the boxes. † Given its span of participation in the supply chain, PCH gained a wealth of knowledge about the factories, the products, and the ultimate client. This knowledge became extremely valuable in doing risk assessment. For example, PCH staff (including Casey) had personally visited the factories and had worked with the owners and the technology companies for months. This level of understanding far exceeded what could be accomplished by lending officers. This unique position enabled PCH to effectively play the trade finance role in the supply chain cycle. By 2008, Casey envisioned the ways in which PCH could play a broader role in the financial supply chain as it saw pain points in the retailer to factory relationship. In the past, U. S. retailers (customers of PCH) placed purchase orders (POs) with outsourcing factories in China. The U. S. retailers would then apply for a Letter of Credit (LC) with a bank that would provide the required financing to the factory. Once the orders had been manufactured, the factories would then ship the goods directly to the retailers. As the consumer electronics industry evolved, retailers were no longer willing to place large purchase orders, given the uncertainty of the market. In order to protect their margins and to minimize inventory costs, retailers changed payment terms on the factories. The factories were required to obtain financing on their own and would only be paid 90 days after the retailers received the products. This put a tremendous amount of pressure on the factories. PCH saw this as an opportunity for another value-added service. Casey envisioned that PCH could play the role of an intermediary to facilitate the financial flow from the moment the retailers placed their orders to the delivery of goods. The new model was such that retailers would place orders with PCH and PCH would then place the orders with the factories. Given PCH’s size and its relationship with global technology firms, banks would be willing to lend funds to PCH. At the same time, PCH could then lend funds back to its factories and suppliers at a higher interest rate, but still lower than what the factories and suppliers would have gotten on their own. PCH effectively made the interest spread between the banks and the factories and suppliers. JOURNEY TO-DATE AND PATH GOING FORWARD Casey, the business adventurer from Ireland seemed to have demystified the often chaotic Chinese manufacturing landscape. Casey recalled the tremendous difficulty in initially setting up the business in 1996: I found companies in Ireland that were buying cables, connectors and audio accessories through British distributors†¦ who were actually sourcing them from Asia anyway. It took a long time to convince these Irish companies to go source directly from Asia because their perception was that you couldn’t get quality or the right products in Asia, plus they were worried about dealing with the time difference. With only $20,000 in start-up capital and unable to afford staff, Casey worked alone for two years, getting to know factories in China, opportunities, and the business. Just ten years into the PCH International: Managing Goods, Information and Financial Flows GS-61 p. 12 ame, Casey disclosed that by 2007, PCH generated over $100 million in annual revenue, not a small feat for someone who still claimed to â€Å"not speak much Mandarin. † As the company grew into a much larger company since its start-up days, Casey believed one of the most important things to preserve in the company culture was the sense of urgency. In the initial years, he remembered that every single customer contract determined the survival of the company. â€Å"That sense of urgency, to get things done, to exceed customer expectation continued to stay in the company even after all these years. This sense of urgency was a trait of PCH—the speed and the can-do attitude,† said Casey. (See Exhibit 4 and 5 for revenue breakdown. ) A long-time customer of PCH was Better Energy Systems (BES), the brand owner of Solio portable solar power. PCH had been managing BES’s end-to-end supply chain. â€Å"Put simply, PCH understands the business and quality requirements of the West, while at the same time can effectively manage the day to day complexities of a Chinese supply chain,† said Christopher Hornor, chief executive of BES. 1 While Casey believed PCH’s end-to-end solution provided a unique value proposition to technology companies, he also humbly admitted: â€Å"there’s nothing that would prevent our customers from going directly to the suppliers in the future. † In trying to chart out the growth plan for his company in the years to come, he was contemplating several options: expanding service options or obtaining strategic investors. Regardless of the growth strategy, Casey had always believed in â€Å"building PCH one client at a time. You do a good job, they give you more work,† he said. It’s all about service—making sure they get what they want, when they want it. â€Å"12 And such was the truism in operating any supply chain. 11 12 Clifford Coonan, â€Å"Understanding the Rules Is Key to Success in China,† Irish Times, September 25, 2006. Anna Healy Fenton, â€Å"Irish Rover Now Fluent in Solutions-Speak,† South China Morning Post, March 26, 2005. PCH International: Managing Goods, Information and Financial Flows GS-61 p. 13 Exhibit 1: PCH Integrated Supply Chain Approach Technol ogy Suppl y Chain Sol uti on V i rtual Supply Chai n †¢ Flow of inf ormation Physi cal Suppl y Chain †¢ Fl ow of products Fi nancial Supply Chai n †¢ Fl ow of f unds Source: Company Internal Information Exhibit 2: PCH Services Categories PCH International: Managing Goods, Information and Financial Flows GS-61 p. 14 Exhibit 3: PCH Information Portal Source: Company Internal Document Exhibit 4: Revenue Breakdown by Category 2005 49% 19% 13% 10% 10% 2006 42% 32% 12% 6% 7% 2007 45% 29% 14% 5% 6% Electronics Telecom Medical PC Other Source: Company Internal Document Exhibit 5: Revenue Breakdown by Geography 2005 51% 23% 9% 17% 0% 2006 46% 26. 5% 0. 4% 27% 0. 1% 2007 48% 22% 3% 25% 1% USA Ireland Europe Asia Brazil Source: Company Internal Document How to cite Pch International, Papers

Yellow Journalism And Mass Media Essay Example For Students

Yellow Journalism And Mass Media Essay Yellow Journalism And Mass Media Essay It is the news that informs us of the events that change our lives and entertains us when we are seeking something to do. Journalism has been the staple of American life for quite some time and will probably keep the same effect for years to come. Journalism has also changed many lives in American History. Furthermore, I leave you with my essay on the the hype of the early ninteen hundreds; the infamous Yellow Press. Basically, Yellow Journalism was the given name to mass media in the early eighteenth century. We will write a custom essay on Yellow Journalism And Mass Media specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now It consisted of cartoons, illustrations, catchy stories, and things that appealed to the readers interests and values(Mass Media 1). Sometimes the contents were fraudulent and emphasized tragedies. These types of contents sold papers in great volumes and created a large profit for such papers as the New York World and the Journal.(Century 168) The owner of the New York Journal and the overall founder of yellow journalism itself was of the name Joseph Pulitzer. Pulitzer immigrated to the United States from Hungary(Pulitzer 1). Early on in his career he worked as a reporter where he picked up most of his journalism skills. Later on, Pulitzer purchased the New York World. At the time the World was not very successful, but Pulitzer managed to turn it into one of the most successful papers in New York. He managed to make his paper successful by using the many yellow techniques mentioned before. Some people thought these methods were immoral and scandalous(Century 166-172). Velez 2 Pulitzers only real competiton was from a man by the name of William Hearst. Hearst owned the paper by the name The Journal. The Journal was also highly successful. Harsh competition took place between the two papers(Century 172). The major break or turning point in the sensationalism movement was the sinking of the battelship Maine. Soon after the tragedy, the yellow press had a war scare on Spain . For example, the scare- head technique where they would post something to catch the readers eye such a the word massacre or other graphic words that would ingnite the publics interest. As many as five or six publications daily were out relating to the supposed war against Spain. Vicious competition between Hearst and Pulitzer took place over stories. As a result of the need for stories to keep the public interested fraudulent stories developed and outraged many people(Yellow Kid 2). As far as the the publics feeling towards the yellow press they did not take kindly to it. Many people wrote letters to editors complaining on the falsities and other problems. The newspapers and magazines were baned from several respectable places. Among the places that the publications were banned included; libraries, schools, reading rooms, and clubs. The reason people sought to rid of the publications were because of their trashy content and their falsities(Yellow Kid 5). Although the actual origin of the term Yellow Press is still unknown, whether it be the color of the paper or the many cartoons written about the publications including the yellow character the press made a significant impact on society(Yellow Kid 3). The press brought more jobs into the publishing Velez 3 industry and brought a new style to the world of journalism. Although the publications did not go over well with most of the public, they made millions of dollars in profit(Century 167). So may the legacy of the mass media and its founders live on through the journalism of today. History . Yellow Journalism And Mass Media Essay Example For Students Yellow Journalism And Mass Media Essay Yellow Journalism And Mass Media Essay It is the news that informs us of the events that change our lives and entertains us when we are seeking something to do. Journalism has been the staple of American life for quite some time and will probably keep the same effect for years to come. Journalism has also changed many lives in American History. Furthermore, I leave you with my essay on the the hype of the early ninteen hundreds; the infamous Yellow Press. Basically, Yellow Journalism was the given name to mass media in the early eighteenth century. We will write a custom essay on Yellow Journalism And Mass Media specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now It consisted of cartoons, illustrations, catchy stories, and things that appealed to the readers interests and values(Mass Media 1). Sometimes the contents were fraudulent and emphasized tragedies. These types of contents sold papers in great volumes and created a large profit for such papers as the New York World and the Journal.(Century 168) The owner of the New York Journal and the overall founder of yellow journalism itself was of the name Joseph Pulitzer. Pulitzer immigrated to the United States from Hungary(Pulitzer 1). Early on in his career he worked as a reporter where he picked up most of his journalism skills. Later on, Pulitzer purchased the New York World. At the time the World was not very successful, but Pulitzer managed to turn it into one of the most successful papers in New York. He managed to make his paper successful by using the many yellow techniques mentioned before. Some people thought these methods were immoral and scandalous(Century 166-172). Velez 2 Pulitzers only real competiton was from a man by the name of William Hearst. Hearst owned the paper by the name The Journal. The Journal was also highly successful. Harsh competition took place between the two papers(Century 172). The major break or turning point in the sensationalism movement was the sinking of the battelship Maine. Soon after the tragedy, the yellow press had a war scare on Spain . For example, the scare- head technique where they would post something to catch the readers eye such a the word massacre or other graphic words that would ingnite the publics interest. As many as five or six publications daily were out relating to the supposed war against Spain. Vicious competition between Hearst and Pulitzer took place over stories. As a result of the need for stories to keep the public interested fraudulent stories developed and outraged many people(Yellow Kid 2). As far as the the publics feeling towards the yellow press they did not take kindly to it. Many people wrote letters to editors complaining on the falsities and other problems. The newspapers and magazines were baned from several respectable places. Among the places that the publications were banned included; libraries, schools, reading rooms, and clubs. The reason people sought to rid of the publications were because of their trashy content and their falsities(Yellow Kid 5). Although the actual origin of the term Yellow Press is still unknown, whether it be the color of the paper or the many cartoons written about the publications including the yellow character the press made a significant impact on society(Yellow Kid 3). The press brought more jobs into the publishing Velez 3 industry and brought a new style to the world of journalism. Although the publications did not go over well with most of the public, they made millions of dollars in profit(Century 167). So may the legacy of the mass media and its founders live on through the journalism of today. .