The Subjection of Women and Slavery Essay -- Women’s Rights, Philosoph

In this first unit, one of the readings that really caught my attention was John Stuart Mill’s The Subjection of Women. In his essay, Mill’s presents a very compelling argument that the subordination of one sex to another is wrong and that there should be instead, perfect equality amongst the sexes. Having previously studied about gender inequality issues from another class, I have a broad understanding of how and why gender inequality has been perpetuated through various historical, political, and social contexts. Incorporating this knowledge as well as information learned through the readings and lectures, I hope to share my thoughts on the subjection of women and its relationship to slavery in this personal response paper. As an advocate for women’s rights and suffrage, the Utilitarianism view of Mill had a profound influence in his writing and it is very much evident in this essay. Mill felt that the oppressions of people of any kind cannot possibly bring about the greatest benefit to society (which is the central point to the Utilitarianism theory). The subordination of the weaker sex to the stronger rests upon theory only. There is no evidence to support the idea that one sex is superior over another as Mill expresses in the quote below. The adoption of this system of inequality never was the result of deliberation, or forethought, or any social ideas, or any notion whatever of what conduced to the benefits of humanity or the good order of society (Mill, 1995, pg.11). This idea of gender superiority/inferiority is just a social construct of oppression. There are no significant differences between man and women (besides biologically) that signifies their superiority/inferiority other than what only society believes them ... ... issues of oppression in which classifications such as race, class, and gender are all interconnected. Because of historical discrimination, societies have operated in a way that favors certain individuals over another. In this case, it would be that of men over women because of their supposed superiority in physical strength (overlooking other attributes such as moral values and intelligence). This made me reflect on how the perspectives of sex and love have really changed over time as well as how influential both strength and power were in the shaping of the roles of men and women throughout history. Works Cited Mill, J. S. (1995). The subjection of women. In R. Stewart (Ed.), Philosophical Perspectives on Sex and Love (pp. 11-17). New York, New York: Oxford University Press, Inc. Soble, A. A history of the philosophy of sex and love. (p. 22).

Mathematics of the Eye and Color Essay examples -- Math

Eye And Color The eye form a â€Å"optical image† on the light sensitive cell of the retina. It is very often compared to a camera in it so workings. However it is like a camera in its focusing properties but is very different after the light has hit the retina. The camera just prints a point to point representation of the image on film, where as the is much more complex and interesting. The visible light is only a very small portion of the electromagnetic spectrum and various wavelength in this visible spectrum of light represent different colors. Short wavelength light is reddish, medium wavelength light is greenish and long wavelength light is bluish. This make apparent in the a schematic of electromagnetic radiation below. The various structures of the eye refract the light entering the eye to focus is on the photosensitive retina. This structure are like the lenses we studied in class. Path The light takes * Cornea - The transparent tissue (part of the sclera) towards the front of the eye. Nearly a spherical and accounts for 43 of 59 of the dioptric power of the eye. Light must pass through the cornea to enter the interior of the eye. Imperfection in the spherical shape of the eye, astigmatism, result in vision problems. * Pupil- opening to the interior of the eye is controlled by the iris. Iris is the thing pigmented smooth muscle part of the choroid. Pupil controls the amount of light entering the eye by dilating or constricting. The diameter of the pupil can range from 2mm to 8mm. * Aqueous Humor- The liquid between the cornea and lens that has a refractive index (1.336) very close to water. * Lens-flexible tissue suspended from colliery muscles which can be used for accommodation. ... ... for all the visual phenomenon, remember the trick with the four colorful squares towards the beginning of the section. That phenomenon and many other like can not be explained with tricromatic theory alone, so a combination of tricromatic theory and opposition theory are used to explain vision. But the trichromatic system works at the retinal level where as the opposition is at the cerebral level. References Used * Human Physiology by Laurlee Sherwood * Color Vision and Colorimetry by Daniel Malacara * The Perception of Light and Colour by C.A Padgham and J.E Saunders * http://www.adobe.com/support/techguides/color/colormodels/main.html * Perception: Mechanims and Models by Richar Held and Whitman Richards * http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/vision/visioncon.html#c1 Mathematics of the Eye and Color Essay examples -- Math Eye And Color The eye form a â€Å"optical image† on the light sensitive cell of the retina. It is very often compared to a camera in it so workings. However it is like a camera in its focusing properties but is very different after the light has hit the retina. The camera just prints a point to point representation of the image on film, where as the is much more complex and interesting. The visible light is only a very small portion of the electromagnetic spectrum and various wavelength in this visible spectrum of light represent different colors. Short wavelength light is reddish, medium wavelength light is greenish and long wavelength light is bluish. This make apparent in the a schematic of electromagnetic radiation below. The various structures of the eye refract the light entering the eye to focus is on the photosensitive retina. This structure are like the lenses we studied in class. Path The light takes * Cornea - The transparent tissue (part of the sclera) towards the front of the eye. Nearly a spherical and accounts for 43 of 59 of the dioptric power of the eye. Light must pass through the cornea to enter the interior of the eye. Imperfection in the spherical shape of the eye, astigmatism, result in vision problems. * Pupil- opening to the interior of the eye is controlled by the iris. Iris is the thing pigmented smooth muscle part of the choroid. Pupil controls the amount of light entering the eye by dilating or constricting. The diameter of the pupil can range from 2mm to 8mm. * Aqueous Humor- The liquid between the cornea and lens that has a refractive index (1.336) very close to water. * Lens-flexible tissue suspended from colliery muscles which can be used for accommodation. ... ... for all the visual phenomenon, remember the trick with the four colorful squares towards the beginning of the section. That phenomenon and many other like can not be explained with tricromatic theory alone, so a combination of tricromatic theory and opposition theory are used to explain vision. But the trichromatic system works at the retinal level where as the opposition is at the cerebral level. References Used * Human Physiology by Laurlee Sherwood * Color Vision and Colorimetry by Daniel Malacara * The Perception of Light and Colour by C.A Padgham and J.E Saunders * http://www.adobe.com/support/techguides/color/colormodels/main.html * Perception: Mechanims and Models by Richar Held and Whitman Richards * http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/vision/visioncon.html#c1

The Batek of Malaysia Way of Life

The Batek of Malaysia Way of Life Amos Shaw Ant 101 Sean McCoy April 23, 2012 The Batek of Malaysia Way of Life This paper will discuss the values and beliefs, the political organization, and the gender of relations of the Batek of Malaysia. Batek are Semang or Malayan Negritos, numbering 700-800 in 1995. The Batek of Malaysia’s primary mode of substances is Foragers. Foragers are hunting and gathering lifestyle, it is one of the oldest forms of human society. The Batek have held on to their traditional way of life for years. How do you think it was possible for them to maintain their way of life through many different generations?My paper is on The Batek of Malaysia which is a group of people of Aboriginal; they lived mainly in the watershed of the Lebir River in the peninsular Malaysian state of Kelantan and along the northern tributaries of the Tembeling River in the Pahang state. They are typically shorter than other Southeast Asians with dark brown skin and curly to wooly hair. They are a Southeast Asian rainforest foraging society who lives in camps with at least five or six nuclear families. They survive by hunting, gathering, and trading their forest products.The Malaysians stayed to themselves besides recent contact between the Batek and outsiders occurred largely on an individual basis, with individual Malay farmers living along the main rivers of the area. A majority of the Batek community are being logged to make way for rubber and palm oil plantations and for land development schemes intended to provide family plots for landless Malay farmers. The Batek values the freedom that their way of life provides, they are able to move around freely and are able to move around freely and participate in any economic activities.They have no formal leader, but women and men can be assigned the title as a headmen but this does not assign to special authority or privileges. Values and Beliefs They believe in a group of supermen surrounding the sea and the land. They believe that they were discriminated the Batek from ordinary humans, and were created by a superpower being. They believe the superpower being created all the plants and animals in the forest. They ask everything they require from the super humans, including the cure to diseases.They are motivated by the compassion extended to them and they cannot fail to give back and if they do they have terrible consequences from the supernatural that would be beyond their control. The Batek believe that one of their diseases, ke'oy, consisting of fever, depression, shortness of breath, and weakness, is caused when someone is angry with another without justification. The cure for the disease is that the person responsible for the problem treats the victim with various folk remedies, tells the victim's heart to be cool, blows on his or her chest for the cooling effect, and grasps and throws away the disease.They believe that living in the forest is cooler and healthier than living in th e heat of the clearing, forest are also preferred because it gives refuge from other people. They are opposed to interpersonal violence, they avoid violence. Political Organization They live in domestic groups forming a camp of no less than three. They reside intents with ten people per tent. Land ownership does not exist, the bateks don’t think of themselves as landowners but as land administrators. They still have their own surrounding land.They had no leadership; the leaders treated themselves as equals. Bateks had no formal conflict resolution procedure; they had private discussion if a conflict comes between family, camp, or group. If it is a serious problem then they will have the input of all members of their camp to assist in the argument. If there is no resolution then they will remove them from the camp to cool down the situation. Gender Relations There are no special influences specifying duties of either gender, they are highly egalitarian which means that they pr actice equality.Women and men have a strong bonds and the subsequent sharing of the same. They each produce their share of food men hunt while women gather vegetables, and fruits they are valued equally. The women are still able to hunt if they choose to because there are no rigid rules. They have no major rules that tell what the roles of the different sex’s men and women play a part in agricultural activities. The men also gather tubers and other plant foods. Their main cash producing activity is their collecting of rattons. Decisions making is a shared responsibility to couples.The women and men chose their own marital fate; the parents can try and persuade their children on whom they want them to marry but they cannot demand or require them to marry anyone. They are known to marry because of physical attraction and love; they also desire a partner who is industrious and will participate in household activities (Endicott & Endicott, 2008). In foraging society virginity is not important some married couples were adolescent partners who had relationships before. They do not have marked ceremonies, a couple is considered married when they begin living together.When a couple no longer resides together they are no longer considered married. They are normally close because they work together in a close proximity. Either can end the marriage and then they depend on the family. Husband and wife are considered equally important. The JOA has been trying to prepare them for hard times. The Batek will probably continue to forage in the forest as long as they can. They will have to supplement their foraging more through wage labor working for the logging companies or the new plantations. Recently young Batek men joined the Malaysian army.There are wage earning jobs on plantations, such as tapping rubber or cutting grass. Batek women will be able to get such jobs in the future and thus retain some of their economic independence. Malaysian government has tried to p romote economic a social assimilation and it is slowed by such arrangement. When the Batek finally settle they will live in homogeneous villages or neighborhoods. This paper discusses the values and beliefs, the political organization, and the gender relations of the Batek of Malaysia. It shows the different ways of life and how they chose to lead theirs.They are a very open and equal community who values both men and women equally. From the information I gathered I do not think it was hard for them to maintain their way of life because they have a fair society. Their people are treated fair and they are all given equal opportunities. References I. VI. 5 The Batek of peninsular Malaysia. (2006). In The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Hunters and Gatherers. Retrieved from http://www. credoreference. com/entry/cuphg/i_vi_5_the_batek_of_peninsular_malaysia I. VI. 1 Introduction: Southeast Asia. (2006).In The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Hunters and Gatherers. Retrieved from http://www. credoref erence. com/entry/cuphg/i_vi_1_introduction_southeast_asia II. II. 5 Traditional and modern visual art of hunting and gathering peoples. (2006). In the Cambridge Encyclopedia of Hunters and Gatherers. Retrieved from http://www. credoreference. com/entry/cuphg/ii_ii_5_traditional_and_modern_visual_art_of_hunting_and_gathering_peoples â€Å" Nowak, B. , & Laird, P. (2010). Cultural anthropology. San Diego, Bridgepoint Education, Inc. Retrieved from https://content. ashford. edu `

The story of Being with Henry and Leaving Home

The story of Being with Henry and Leaving Home epitomizes strong sensation towards family relationships. Both stories embark a certain pressure in the family which reveals the character’s attitude. Scrutinizing and comparing the two stories based on the aspect of dialogue, it is imperative to take into consideration the decisive aspects of dialogue which Ellinor, Linda enumerate as â€Å"creating a fuller picture of reality, employing deeper levels of listening and reflection, and creates a culture of cooperation and shared leadership which moves groups from dependency, competition and exclusion†.Parallel to this, aspects of diction as it transcends in the stories of Being with Henry and Leaving Home should also be given emphasis. In lieu of which â€Å"the art of delivering the word as it clearly understood to its fullest complexity, the choice of word and style, and the literary diction which reveals how a passage establishes tone and characterization† is essen tial in comparing the diction of these two stories.Dialogue as it create full picture of reality was illustrated in Martha Brooks’ Being with Henry, the presence of a family in Laker and his mom’s relationship was a good evidence. Taking good care of his unmarried single mother hand in hand with having a brutal step-father is such a reality for Laker. There is no way for him to bear the fruits of being a son, all he needs to do is accept the fact that he has to be strong for his mom and work hard to stay in the relationship regardless of those barriers.On the other hand, David French’s Leaving Home typify a family relationship wherein attitude of the members are clashing with each other – like that of Ben’s relationship with their father and conflict with Billy’s relationship with his girlfriend on how will they be able to compromise with their relationship. Dialogue as it employs deeper levels of listening and reflection is the second aspec t which should be highlighted in both stories.A good point to hoist was the circumstance as Laker’s mom rarely plays the role of being a mother to him and when Laker had a physical fight with his step-father which forces him to leave his home since her mother didn’t stand for him. At this point, he listens to what his heart is saying and set aside the conscientiousness of being a son. Conversely, in Leaving Home, the relationship of Billy and Kathy has come to a reflection that they are just holding on with their relationship because of the thinking that Kathy is pregnant, but at the moment that Kathy had a miscarriage, they both come to a second thought of being together.Dialogue as it creates a culture of cooperation and shared leadership which moves groups from dependency was the third aspect to consider under the discussion of dialogue. As Laker in Being with Henry leaves her mother and stand up for himself, he finds Henry with whom he can turn to and at the same t ime contribute also to the feeling of loneliness that Henry is feeling at that moment.Equally, Ben in the story of Leaving Home decided to be with his brother Billy and sister-in-law to be away with their parents as Jacob and Ben has a long standing enmity rooted in their fundamental differences and he can no longer stand the feeling of living with his father. French, David support this response thru this, â€Å"Jacob is incensed and a heated argument between father and son resulting in Ben being thrown out of the house†.On another note, as we grasp the aspects of diction and adopt in both stories, certainly, Brooks’ Being with Henry portrays the feeling of a wholehearted son; you can feel the sentiment as Laker endures the pain of leaving his mother, and this is also exemplify the tone and characterization of the story. On the other hand, French’s Leaving Home connotes intense emotion as it presents a commotion in the family as they have different perspectives, and as you go through the story you’d be really aware of the situation since the chose of words and style is very appropriate.Practically, the process of releasing and providing relief from the pressures of both families in the stories promotes strong emotions which really captivate its readers. Indeed, the representation of dialogue and diction was presented in French’s and Brooks’ story. The way the story elaborates a certain feeling proves what really a dialogue and diction is all about, thus both are essential on having a comprehensible work.

Distinctive Voices Essay

Through the use of techniques, writers are evidently able to create a wide range of distinctive voices and bring people and their experiences to life. When distinctive voices are created, it helps the reader to understand and perhaps even relate to the character of the text. The use of distinctive voices ensures people to be created and their experiences to be brought to life. â€Å"The Life and Crimes of Harry Lavender†, written by Marele Day, is strategically able to create distinctive voices and experiences throughout the novel by incorporating a variety of characters including Claudia Valentine, a female investigator in big city Sydney, Australia, and Harry Lavender, the antagonist of the novel and the boss of Sydney’s underworld. Day’s strong and clever use of techniques, effectively create a range of significant, distinctive voices. In contrast, â€Å"Weapons Training† by Bruce Dawe is able to create a very strong, distinctive voice that brings to li fe the character of a strong-minded, stern drill sergeant, as he delivers a monologue to all the young new recruits. Both texts have used a deliberate choice of techniques, and creation of the distinctive voices within the texts. Claudia Valentine is the main character of Marele Day’s hard boiled crime fiction novel; ‘The Life and Crimes of Harry Lavender’. Claudia’s character is quite significant as there are very few detective novels written and published that have a female private investigator as the main character. For the entirety of the novel, the style is set in first person narrative voice. This indicates the reader with be seeing the events through the character’s eyes and hearing about them through her distinctive voice. Through the setting of Sydney and visual images such as the empty bottle of whisky, ashtrays of cigarettes, the naked light bulb and the blond in the bed, Day establishes a racy, contemporary urban city scene with the pessimistic and derisive voice of the narrator to be our guide. Throughout the opening scene, we are ignorant of the narrators sex and name. This is  purposely done to play with the responders assumptions in response to gender stereo types and to build the tough, determined and witty voice of Claudia Valentine. Claudia’s voice changes throughout the novel. The opening passage establishes Claudia’s voice as being that of a typical private investigator. This is to aid to the crime fiction genre idea. This anchors the reader’s perception of the character as firmly part of the crime fiction genre. Her tone is formal when speaking in a professional capacity, for example, when speaking to the Levack family; â€Å"I’ll come straight to the point Mrs Levack. I’m investigating the death of Mark Bannister , who lived over there in that flat.†. This formal, straight-forward and firm voice is Claudia’s public voice. However, behind the strong ‘private investigator’ wall she holds up, Claudia has a very private voice which is hardly exposed to anyone but herself. We see this change in voice when she is with Steve Angell. Her language changes and softens somewhat in her interactions with Steve. She comments throughout the text; â€Å"The brightest thing about the day was that Steve had dropped into it†. Claudia’s ‘private’ voice also has a hint of seductiveness when she is communicating with Steve; â€Å"He was stunning. As tall as me, if not taller, with eyes like the pools you find beneath waterfalls. It was all I could do to stop myself taking off all my clothes and diving in.†. Claudia’s private voice also reveals a lot of love, worry and attachment to her two children her live with her ex-husband Gary. This is revealed through a phone call Claudia makes to Gary after she fears for her children’s safety; â€Å"To hear their voices, to know my flesh and blood was safe. My babies.†. In Day’s novel, another character with a distinctive voice is revealed, however this ‘distinctive voice’ is much different to the voice of Claudia. Harry Lavender, the antagonist of the novel, is the boss of Sydney’s crime underworld. Harry’s voice is distinctive in the poetic tone of the language used. The use of imagery and figurative language allows the reader to perceive Lavender as being a sophisticated and powerful character; ‘The people hold sprigs of lavender, like rosemary on Anzac day.’. Harry Lavender’s voice is powerful and evocative, as he describes how he will be  remembered when he dies, and how he has higher power over police and authority; ‘police allow me safe passage’. Even though Harry is dying, his body decaying, in the same way he has brought about the moral decay of the city, his voice is still ominous and commanding. Harry is a powerful man who has built his fame on an empire of corruption. He is used to being in control and ironically, we see Lavender unable to control the most important aspect of his life, his own body. Day uses various techniques in this passage to convey the voice of the crime boss, Harry Lavender. Day uses poetic and figurative language such as: ‘It is my image that is reflected in that glass.’ Day also uses metaphor in: ‘It is my body crumbling, not the city.’ to describe the way that the cancer is consuming and destroying Lavender’s body. Consecutive, short, and simple sentences are used to construct Lavender’s voice. And finally, repetition is used in the final line to reinforce Lavender’s command over the city and his influence in this place; ‘ They will remember me, oh yes, they will remember.’. In contrast, related text: Weapons Training by Bruce Dawe is able to bring a drill sergeant to life as well as his past experience through a distinctive voice. Dawe’s poem opens in the middle of a sentence, in the middle of the drill sergeant’s monologue. This device captures our attention and gives a sense of immediacy of being on the spot. This is effective as we are not just being told about the sergeant, we can actually hear him. The sergeant questions the young soldiers but doesn’t wait for answers. He talks so fast that recruits can hardly take in let alone think about it. This is effective as the soldiers and the readers have to learn to react reflexively. The thinking is done for the readers/soldiers and they have to absorb what is said without thinking about it and do what they are told. The drill sergeant speaks in a fairly broad Australian idiom, using the language and clichà ©d humour of the average Australian. Some of the colloquialisms used, such as ‘you’ve copped the bloody lot’ or ‘worse luck’ are specifically Australian. The dramatic quality used also helps to create a distinctive voice within the poem. He is the ‘typical’ bullying, sarcastic drill sergeant, so it’s easy for us to vividly imagine him and his voice. His language is colloquial; ‘are you a queer?, that’s right grab and check/the magazine man’ . His language is also full of clichà ©s including  sexual references; ‘your trusty weapon, a mob of little yellows’. Dawe’s techniques provide a very distinctive and strong voice for the poem. Through a strong use of techniques including Australian idiom, colloquialism and tone, both Marele Day and Bruce Dawe are effectively able to bring people and their experiences to life through distinctive voice.

Problems in the Computer Assembly Division Essay

1.A clear statement of the problem As the assembly unit supervisor of a small computer manufacturing firm located in the southeast, I am in charge of a five- person operation responsible for assembling personal computers. My production goals include assembling 80 personal computers per day and ensuring 95% of these computers pass the operational inspection of the quality assurance unit. Over the past several weeks I have noticed that my team is not completing enough computers, and the average fell down to only 62 computers a day. Also, 15% of the computers assembled have been returned, as they are failing to meet the quality assurance standards. Furthermore, there is an issue with the supply parts, which I was told come in defective. There are also very serious problems associated with my subordinates. Bill and Morgan are taking advantage of time, coming to work late and taking longer lunch hours than permitted. There is also a substantial drop in the communication among the group members, as Morgan, Julie and Bill ex clude Fred and Sherry from their conversations. Lastly, workers feel favoritism toward Julie and Morgan, and Sherry announced that she wants to leave because of all the infighting in the assembly unit. It all comes down to the problem relating to the performance and the morale of my work unit. 2. Stakeholders a.you: in charge of a 5 person operation, goal of 80PC with 95% good b.Fred: assembles all hard drives, retired army sergeant, 16 years experience in electronics, 6 years assembling hard drives, claims to not be getting reliable parts from supplies so repairs parts self instead of waiting, has been keeping to himself c.Bill: assembles CD ROMs and floppy disks, new out of school, first full time job, 20 years old, in assemble unit for 1 year, takes longer than permitted lunch breaks but claims to stay later, talks only to Julie and Morgan d.Sherry: assembles mother boards, single mom of 2, completing bachelor’s degree in 3 months, has been with company for 4 years, has threatened to leave. She is an outstanding employee e.Julie: final assembly, 6 month experience, 22 years old, sister in law of owner, thinks Fred is doing a slow and shoddy job, talks to Morgan during first 2 hours, seems bored, singled out by owner with a 5% pay increase, talks only to Bill and Morgan f.Morgan: 5 years experience, only attended company’s operational inspection course, 6 months working in your unit, performs final inspections, comes late but claims to stay late, given days off to attend high school reunion, talks only to Bill and Julie g.Owner: concerned with morale and performance of work unit, man of action, wants specific plan 4.What if to solutions a.If we rotate the jobs, team members will be forced to learn something new, thus decreasing boredom. However, some employees may not have the proper training to do so. b.if we have Fred train Bill and Bill train Fred, then both will experience new jobs, while being forced to actually communicate with each other c. if we make Julie in charge of both the final assembly and inspection, then she will have more to do and not get bored. However, she might lack the education needed to fulfill two jobs, and thus might be sending out bad parts d.If we make sure people start on time and take proper lunch breaks, then people will be not be forced to rush through work. However, this may cause boredom because people will feel the pace is too slow.

Operations management Essay

McDonald’s Corporation is the world’s largest chain of fast-food restaurants. They’ve proudly served more than 46 million customers in 59 different countries and currently have more than 30,000 different locations worldwide. The fast food industry is booming at a rapid rate, especially the health conscious food options. With this in mind, McDonald’s has a strategic plan to stay on top of their competitors by providing consumers with affordable prices, great service, and more healthy meal options. McDonald’s is competitive in many categories, including price, quality, management and employee training. Consumers trust McDonald’s products because they use many of the same trusted brands that families buy at local grocery stores. Operations Strategy â€Å"In many companies, the key to success is often an operations-based advantage. Superior operations effectiveness not only serves to buttress a company’s existing competitive position, but, when based on capabilities that are embedded in the company’s people and operating processes, is inherently difficult to imitate.† –R. H. Hayes and D. M. Upton, â€Å"Opeations-based Strategy.† California Management Review, Summer, 1998. McDonald’s utilizes an excellent operations strategy in order to gain a larger market share and increase value to the shareholders. The corporation specifically focuses on speed, standardization, quality, and affordability. McDonalds has moved ahead of the competition by focusing on these factors. McDonald’s competes on three main bases, such as speed, affordability, and standardization, mainly to make their customers happy. Through extensive market research and surveys, the organization discovered that its customers desired speed as one of the restaurants’ top priorities. Therefore, McDonald’s vision aims to â€Å"provide fast, friendly and accurate service† (â€Å"McDonald’s Worldwide†). McDonald’s realized that specific targets are necessary to measure the performance of speed; therefore, they continuously take relevant measurements to compare actual performance with desired targets. From the customer’s order, to the making of the burger, and till the customer leaves the restaurant, speed is a key factor in McDonald’s operation strategy. To reduce the amount of time it takes to provide services, the company uses standardized training processes for its employees and new drive-thru layouts. Along with speed, McDonald’s also competes by offering prices at a low cost. McDonald’s organization recently underwent drastic strategy changes to better serve their customers. Under their previous system, the company would make several sandwiches at once, and hold the sandwiches in a warming bin until purchased by a customer. Under this system, management had to precisely predict how much food had to be put on hold. Precise prediction had to be used because if there were not enough food placed on hold, this would create the problem of increase waiting times for customers, and too much food would cause waste of expired items. McDonald’s dramatically changed their strategy in order to stay competitive with other fast food organizations. Product development Organisations exist to provide products and services which can be purchased by other organisations or an individual. Therefore planning of products and services is one of the most important operations of any organisation. It involves designing products with both economy and quality in mind, which a customer will find attractive, be able to understand and quickly able to use with minimum risk and which delights him or her by its performance or flavour or durability etc. (Bicheno, 2002; p51) In McDonald’s Restaurants, product development is a key operation. It has to keep on adding new products to its menu so as to meet the needs of the customers as their needs and preferences are constantly changing. For instance, the increasing preference of consumers towards healthy food made the restaurant add healthier food items to its menu. Similarly it has to add new products for different seasons, for examples hot coffee in winter and milkshakes in summer. Capacity Control The second operation decision important for organisations is capacity planning. Capacity planning and control is the task of setting the effective capacity of the operation so that it can respond to the demands placed upon it. This normally means determining how the operation should respond to fluctuations in demand. Operations managers usually distinguish between short, medium and long-term capacity decisions. For short- and medium-term capacity planning, the capacity level of the operation is adjusted within the fixed physical limits that are set by long-term capacity decisions. This is also referred to as aggregate planning and control because it is necessary to aggregate the various types of output from an operation into one figure. (source: http://www.mas.dti.gov.uk/content/resources/categories/fact/FACT_Capacity_planning.html) In McDonalds Restaurant, the operations managers have to set its capacity of making food items in such a way that it responds quickly to the demands of those items in peak hours which is very important for a fast food restaurant like McDonalds. It also have to make sure that it has enough stock of ingredients to prepare food items which is very important because if one ingredients fall short then the whole process of making food may halt. For instance if the buns required for making hamburgers falls short then the restaurant may not be able to sell any hamburgers even if it has enough quantities of other ingredients. Facility location Location planning is one of the important operations that every organisation carries out and it is essentially one of the critical success factors for any organisation. Success or failure of any organisation may well depend on the location where it is situated. Therefore it is very important for businesses to choose an ideal location. Businesses may choose location on the basis of various factors such as proximity to the source of raw material, cost-effectiveness, proximity to customers or suppliers, competition in the area, transportation availability and cost, availability of resources, and availability of right labour. McDonalds Restaurants also have to plan their location in such a way so that maximum customers visit their restaurants. Therefore McDonalds prefer locations such that it can have large customer base, transport access and availability of parking space. Moreover it also prefers locations that are suitable for raw material delivery that is availability of ample space for deliveries of raw material. Process design: After developing the product the businesses have to develop processes for making and supporting the product. Organisations have to identify appropriate processes which will be needed to achieve required level of output of the planned goods and services at right quality standards. Organisation considers both the traditional methods in which the organisation has handled and processed its products and services and the possible alternatives which currently present themselves. That is, it considers the advancement of technology, computing power, and evolving managerial expertise. Bicheno, 2002; p99 In McDonalds restaurant also, the operations manager develop and establishes the process of cooking food items so that food is prepared using that method which helps them to maintain the speed and the quality of the food. Moreover it also designs processes so that the health, safety and hygiene issues are taken into consideration. Also the managers keep on introducing latest equipments with the advancement of technology so as to bring pace, perfection and quality in the product. Layout Design Layout is the arrangement of facility to provide working, service and reception, storage and administrative areas. The layout is designed by traditional techniques using templates, scale plans, string diagrams, and travel charting as they have been proved as low-cost methods of achieving either optimal or near optimal layout plans. Poor layouts can greatly reduce the overall capacity and overall productivity. Therefore care must be taken by organisation when designing layout. (Bicheno, 2002; p121) In McDonalds Restaurant also layout designing is a very important operation. A proper layout of the equipments in the kitchen is very essential to ensure preparation of quality food in less time. It also designs its layout keeping in mind the health and safety issues. It also designs layout in such a way that needs of supervision is minimised. Another factor that is considered is the cost of production which also depends on the layout. . Inventory Management Inventory management is another important operation of any organisation. It involves choosing the best method of inventory control. While choosing the method of inventory control, the organisations must keep in mind the expected demands of the products. The basis on which the organisations choose their methods of inventory control may differ but the common idea is to ensure that the mix of inventory types is able to satisfy customer needsand deliver the required profitability and cash flows. In McDonalds the inventory is managed on the basis of First-In-First-Out basis. This is because most of the inventory consists of perishable items. Therefore delivery of inventory happens thrice or more times a week depending on the business of the restaurant. Moreover inventory is stored in freezer with proper packaging so as to ensure freshness of the food items. All this activities comes under inventory management of the organisation. Quality Management Quality management consists of maintaining the quality of the goods and services so as to meet the minimum requirements laid by the industry. Moreover it is important so as to keep up the reputation of the organisation. To manage and maintain the quality of the products and services the organisation may adopt a number of practices like quality checks procedure etc. Quality in McDonald restaurant is very important because of two reasons. Firstly because of the legal requirements of the quality of food served. Secondly ,to keep up the good reputation which McDonalds restaurants have earned over the years. Quality of food can be very difficult to maintain and therefore McDonalds restaurant carry on a number of practices to make sure that quality food is served. Some of these practices are the visits by the food inspector from the head office, supervisor checks etc. Maintenance Maintenance means preservation of the things in the organisation. In simple words, maintenance is way of protecting your production workers, office workers, drivers, and all the other users of your organization’s assets. (http://www.maintenanceresources.com/ReferenceLibrary/MaintenanceManagement/The_Battle_of_Maintenance.htm) In McDonalds, there are several equipments that are used for the preparation of food. Therefore it is very important to maintain and service those equipments so as to maintain the quality of the product, safety of the employees and to avoid further costs of repairing machines. Another important things that needs maintenance are hygiene, costs, quality etc. CONCLUSION: Therefore we conclude that operations management is very important for any organisations as they have a relationship with the overall strategy of the organisation. Operations management contributes to the strategy and therefore helps the organisation to gain competitive advantage. For instance, process planning can help the organisation reduce cost and gain cost advantages and therefore gain competitive advantage. Therefore the organisations must effectively manage the operations of the business as it has a massive effect on the strategy of the organisation Bibilgraphy Chase, R., Jacobs, F., Aquilano, N. Operations Management for Competitive Advantage (10th Edition). McGraw-Hill Irwin; Boston; 2004. Howard, Lisa. â€Å"Suppliers.† June 19, 2003. Accessed online on November 8, 2004 at: . Kerin, R., Berkowitz, E., Hartley, S., Rudelius, W. Marketing (7th Edition). McGraw- Hill Irwin; Boston; 2003. Lessnau, Ronald, Current McDonald’s Owner. Personal Interview â€Å"McDonald’s Worldwide Corporate Responsibility Report 2004.† Accessed online on October Phillips, Eddie, Prior McDonald’s Manager, Personal Interview, Phillips, Kenny, Current McDonald’s Manager. Personal Interview, October 27, 2010 â€Å"Restaurant Management.† McDonald’s Restaurant Management Careers. Accessed online Zuber, Amy. â€Å"Big Mac, Big Value: McD to Lower Prices;† Accessed online at http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles /mi_m3190/is_50_35/ai_80748686. View as multi-pages Topics in this document