Customer Requirements And Product Characteristics

Customer Requirements And Product CharacteristicsOne of the main(prenominal) roles of any manufacturing plant is to produce proceeds that provides to the demands of the foodstuffplace, and the best bureau to record the market needs is to distinguish what is important to the customer/consumer. This understanding of the customer experiences the manufacturer a matched edge, as he knows more or less(prenominal) what the needs of the customer is, when he sells his harvest- term in the market. This competitive edge tolerate be distinguished into various factors, for e.g. property, hurry, Depend susceptibility, Cost, and so on. A particular way of distinguishing which factor gives us more competitive edge is to distinguish between what Prof Terry Hill calls as pitch getners and rate qualifiers. (Pycraft et al 1997) Online solely before we dive into categorising the various competitive factors into order winners and order qualifiers, it leave alone be stand byful if we k sm art where the proceedss lie in the Puttick Grid. The Puttick Grid, devised by the Warwick Manufacturing Group, defines harvest-home market billet with respect to the complexity of the product and the level of uncertainty in the market. A point to note about the Puttick Grid is that over a period of time, product tends to move around in the grid and because whitethorn change after a period of time. The Specialist DBPs hold back a real bizarre demand profile, they ar basically manufactured any one by one, or if they is more demand they in all likelihood in batches of 10. There is a lift in demand during the spring and summer seasons as a lot of people get back to riding their bikes after the winter, and hence become sought after during these seasons amongst the people who own vintage bikes. Also since these ar vintage bikes, they dont mind spending a bit for get replacement parts. The Aftermarket DBPs have a or else sub overdued demand as compargond to the Specialist D BPs. Since these argon DBP that atomic number 18 no longer in standard payoffs, there are a lot of fetchups that have come out with their own version of the DBP and hence the customer has more choice. So, in such a scurf, the customer ordain go by soft touch image, price and the case of the product. The Original Equipment DBPs on the other hand, leave have a very st adequate demand that pull up stakes be known to crash Materials well in advance. Quality and price become very important for such a product and hence they become more of a commodity. thusly according to the to a higher place discussion, the products have been placed in the Puttick Grid as shown below in Figure 1.1.1Super Value ProductResponsive/Jobbing/ appearanceSpecialist DBPConsumer Dur adequate to(p)sCommoditiesOriginal Equipment DBPNow that we have an understanding of where the product lies with respect to the Puttick Grid, we stinkpot distinguish which competitive factor is an order winner and which is an order qualifier. CharacteristicAftermarket DBPSpecialist DBPDesignBrand Name6060 determine4040Speed (Lead Time)QDependability (Availability)QQQQuality (Fit to purpose)QQQT satisfactory 1.1.1 pronounce Winners and Qualifiers. (Adopted for Hill 2000) Note govern Winners are marked out of 100. Q Order Qualifier QQ Order Looser. CharacteristicsOriginal Equipment DBPDesign40Brand Name10 wrong40Speed (Lead Time)10Dependability (Availability)QQQuality (Fit to purpose)QQT equal to(p) 1.1.2 Order Winners and Qualifiers. (Adopted for Hill 2000) Note Order Winners are marked out of 100. Q Order Qualifier QQ Order Looser.1.1.1 Design The links between design, trading operations and markets are the very essence of the business. The way that these integrate, therefore, is fundamental to sound strategy development and implementation. Both design and operations objective is to provide products according to the technical and business specifications. (Hill Hill 2009) In case of Afterma rket DBPs, the dimensions of the DBP are calculated from the equivalent OE component and then some changes are made so as to avoid patent infringement. So in this case, the design of the DBP is not very important as it is moreover reverse engineered from an animate product. In case of Specialist DBPs, the dimensions are taken from records if they exist or taken from existing component and then designed as a custom-made item. So in this case too, not much work goes into the design of the DBP as they are already available to the manufacturer. thus, design of the DBP does not give the product any competitive edge over other competitor products. In case of Original Equipment Manufacturer, initially specifications pull up stakes be given by the wheel manufacturer. nevertheless if Friction is selected as the preferred OE for DBP, it will be expected to design the brake system to equalise the requirements given by the manufacturer. Hence, if not initially, over a period of time t he designing of brakes for the OE product range will become the one of gravidgest competitive edge that the company could get in engaging the order.1.1.2 Brand NameThrough a variety of activities, companies try to establish a cross off name for their products in the market. Where this has been achieved and maintained, companies will win orders partly due to the image that has been created in the market. (Hill Hill 2009) In case of Aftermarket DBPs and the Specialist DBPs, the sword name, Stop-Rite, play a major role in fetching orders for the company. Since these parts are no longer in standard production by the OEM, there is a lot of competition in the market to win orders for these products. And hence the brand image, which Friction Materials Ltd has maintained for the last 20 years, becomes the biggest competitive edge in the market to win orders. In case of the OE DBPs, initially Friction Materials is trying to win orders and hence it does not have a brand name in the OE ma rket as of now. But as they sorb to win orders and establish them in the market, their brand name will start to help them win orders and hence, as time will progress, brand name will become an order winner.1.1.3 PriceIn many markets, particularly in the growth, maturity and saturation phases of the product life cycle, price becomes a very important order winner. When there is a range of products to choose from, price comparisons with alternatives becomes an integral part of the customers evaluation of the product and hence price plays a very important part in winning orders. (Hill Hill 2009) In case of the Aftermarket and the Specialist DBPs, since there are a lot of alternatives in the market, price eventually become one of the main reasons why the customer chooses to buy the product, as if there are two products meeting his criteria, they are bound to buy the cheaper product. Hence they become an order winner. In case of the OE DBPs, since the manufacturer is breathing out to b uy the product in bulk, he is going to want to buy them from a manufacturer who is able to produce them in the cheapest realizable way and who also meets their requirements. Hence price in this case becomes one of the biggest factors for choice.1.1.4 Speed (Lead Time) and Dependability (Availability)A company may be able to transform for an order/win an order based on how quickly they are able to supply the product or if the product is already available for oral communication/purchasing for the customer. Hence is it very important that the Operations Lead Time must be able to match the Customer Lead Time. (Hill Hill 2009) In case of the Aftermarkets DBPs, the ability to deliver the DBP faster than others may affect the spares stores to make an order to the manufacturer. This is realizable if the draw time for the product is less and hence lead time becomes an order qualifier. With respect to the customers, the product existence available on the store self become an order qua lifier, i.e. they consider the product as a possible buy. But in case the product is not available on the shelf, means that even though their product is better than the competition, they will nod off an order and hence this becomes an order looser. Similarly, in case of the Specialist DBPs, since these are mostly made-to-order items, the lead time does not give an influential competitive edge over the competition. But at the like time, availability/ pitch of the product has to be on time and this becomes an important factor that the customer will take into consideration when he/she is looking to buy a DBP for his/her Vintage Motorbike. Hence availability of the product on time becomes an order qualifier in this case. In case of the OE products, the pedal manufacturer will be looking for a manufacturer who can produce the parts and deliver them in the shortest possible time. Hence speed or lead time becomes an order winner. Also, being a local supplier to the local motorcycle indu stry will give them a competitive edge over other outside competitors as they will be able to respond to the demand much quicker. But, in admittance to this, being able to deliver the products on time is going to be a very important factor. So important that initially, some late deliveries may lead to the manufacturer going to an alternate supplier as you are not able to meet his demands on time. Hence dependability becomes an order looser.1.1.5 QualityQuality or Quality Conformance can be defined as ability of a manufacturer to manufacture products according to the customers requirements. (Slack et al 2002) In case of the Aftermarkets and Specialist DBPs, no one is going to consider buying the product unless you are certain that the DBP is fit to use on their particular motorcycle model. Hence for twain these product ranges, quality becomes an order qualifier. That is, only if the DBP is fit to use on a particular customers motorcycle, they will consider buying that DBP. In case of the OE products, since now they are trying to become suppliers of OE products for the graduation exercise time, quality has to be bang on target. It has to meet all the customer requirements. Any regression of quality may lead to a halt in the manufacturers assembly line and this is going to cost them a lot of money. Hence any fall in quality of the OE suppliers part will give a bad im haleion and hence may lead to the supplier losing the order. Hence quality for the OE product range becomes an order looser.1.2 Implications on OperationsThe Polar diagram ( preceding(prenominal)) shows all the competitive factors for all the product range and their relevant importance for winning orders. Hence, in a way, the diagram also helps understand where Operations should concentrate more so that they will be able to produce more products that will be able to win the orders in the market. From the above diagram, we see that for all the three product ranges, Price, Quality and Dependabili ty are the common performance objective that can help give them competitive edge in the market. Hence operations has to focus more on reducing the cost of the product and at the same time try to keep quality at a good level and always deliver the goods on time. Also, we see Brand Name is very important for the Aftermarket and Specialist market. But if operations is able to maintain price, quality and dependability it will maintain and perhaps even built up the brand name of the product. Also, by concentrating on dependability, operations is going to keep the lead time (speed) of the product to as low as possible to meet the delivery times and hence speed is also taken burster of. Hence by concentrating more on price, quality and dependability, operations will be able to cover all the order qualifier and winner factors of all the 3 product ranges. 2 Manufacturing Strategy for the OE product2.1 FrameworkHill, T. (2009) breaks down the play of evolution an operation/manufacturing st rategy into 5 simple objectives.2.1.1 Defining the Corporate ObjectivesThe recent future Corporate Objective of Friction Materials is to try and break into the OE product sector. This will help them isolate the financial burden that they have to carry due to the ever decreasing prices because of cheap Far Eastern Aftermarket DBP available in the market. Hence another Corporate Objective is to make them more stable financially by entering a highly profitable and long term let product range. Other general corporate objective like Profit and Growth and ROI also apply to Friction Materials Ltd.2.1.2 Defining the Market Strategies to meet these objectivesAs said in the Corporate Objectives, Friction Material Ltd. is now trying to enter the Original Equipment product market. Volumes initially (during sampling stage) will be low, to the order of 300. But once their samples get approved, they will start producing these products in very high volumes, to the order of about 3000 DBP/week. Kee ping these facts in mind, the Marketing Strategy for the OE product range is to produce and deliver high quality low cost DBP on time, every time.2.1.3 How do products win orders in the market place?As mentioned in Section 1, the major factors that win orders for the OE product is Price, Quality and Dependability (in terms of delivery). Once Friction Materials becomes the choice for OEM for DBPs, they will have to design the brakes themselves and hence Design also becomes an important order winner.2.1.4 Establishing the most appropriate mode to manufacture these sets of products Process ChoiceWe are in process of getting samples accepted for the new OE product range. Currently we are manufacturing only the Spares and Specialist product ranges and this is done in a batch process flow layout. This is ok for these ranges as they are in small quantities of about 300 DBP/week. But the new OE product range is going to require about 3000 DBP/week. Hence the surge layout will not suffice to meet this quantity demand. The most appropriate process choice for such a huge demand is the plenteousness Layout or the Continuous Layout. But the continuous layout calls for a bigger investment in terms of the money involved. Since Friction Materials is only starting to try to establish itself in the OE market, it would not be wise to tie up a lot of the Companies money into something that might not work out to the magnitude expected. Hence the Mass Layout seems to be a more sensible choice.2.1.5 Provide the manufacturing infrastructure required to support productionProviding the infrastructure to support production of the new OE product is going to involve some center of get by off in the sense of a balance between the various competitive factors that will affect the ability of the product to win orders. For instance, from the polar diagram (Sector 1.2) we see that dependability and cost of product play a very important role in component part the product win orders. In or der to always deliver the product on time, we must always have enough stock with us to meet the demand. This can mean that we make-to-stock the product. But if we have a lot of inventory, it means that we have a lot of money held up as inventory and this may lead to increase in the price of the product to help insulate this cost. But this increase of cost may lead to loss of an order. Hence what amount of inventory would be sufficient to always meet customer demands and not hold a lot of money in inventory would be the trade off that we will be keen to look for. This process of trade off balance will help the manufacturing/operations to align itself with the corporate strategy. (Slack et al 2002)2.2 summary of Current Operations SystemBefore we can start formulating and making changes to the production system, we must first define what the current system is. We can do this with the help of various tools. We are going to use the SWOT analysis tool to do the same. Once we know where the current production capabilities are, we will be able to make decision taking into account the current scenario.2.2.1 SWOT AnalysisStrengthsWeaknessThe brand name Stop Rite complete producer of aftermarket DBPs in the UK and Western EuropeCompetency in making the brake pad mixture* Good liquidity and turnover* Bad production planning system even though a MRP system is in place for the sameOpportunitiesThreatsOE market will lead to more opportunity in the EU market.OE market will help insulate the competition and market mete out because of the Far Eastern Competition* Growing to a medium scale company will help in being capable of handling more customers* Competition for cheaper Far Eastern CompetitionTable 2.2.1 SWOT Analysis Tool The brand name Stop-Rite is one of the main strengths of Friction Materials Ltd. This is what is helping them win orders in the Specialist market and the aftermarket market. This brand name that they have, they have been able to establish it because of being one of the main trusted DBP manufacturer in the UK and Western Europe market. This is also one of the strengths that they should exploit. They have a competency in creating their own mixture for the DBPs, which helps keep the cost of the product down. Also, as we can see from the financials, their Quick Ratio is about 1.03 and their Current Ratio is about 1.8, both of which are very near the acceptable values and hence the company is doing very well financially. And as they say Cash is King, this is their main strength. But even though they are strong in these areas, their production planning system is not very good, or up to industry standards. Even though they have a MRP II system in place, the Planning Controller has to fire fight situation that should not arise because of the system. This shows one of the two situations, either the Planning Controller is not familiar with the system or there is something wrong with their planning system. This can cause a lot of problems i f they are to start production for about 3000DBP/week for the OE product. Opportunity wise, the OE product can help gain more market share in the Western European market and hence improve their brand name even further. Also, since this will be a more steady market, this will help insulate some of the market share loss due to the cheaper Far Eastern Competitor products in the Spares market. This will help the company grow financially which is always the main aim of any organisation. Once the organisation has more market share and money, they can easily transition to a medium scale company and hence cater to more customers. The only threat that the company faces is due to the Far Eastern products. They are almost as good as their DBPs, but they are cold cheaper than Frictions DBPs and hence this sometimes leads to loss of market share. Entry to the OE product market will help them to insulate this loss. Now that we are clear on where the organisation current strengths and weakness li e, we can develop our manufacturing strategy to complement the strengths and negate the weakness of the organisation.2.3 Elements of Manufacturing StrategyMiltenburg (2005) divides manufacturing strategy in six main sub-systems and terms them as Manufacturing Levers to reflect the concept that for each one sub-system can be adjusted to align according to market demands and corporate mission.2.3.1 SourcingCurrent list of all the suppliers to Friction Materials Ltd. are largely UK based. This is good as this help in decreasing the manufacturing lead time of the component. Since currently, their production demands are very low, to the order of 300DBPs/week they were unable to change over their suppliers to deliver Just-in-Time. But now since they are looking to produce to the order of about 3000DBPs/week they should be able to convince the suppliers to deliver Just-in-Time. Along with this, they should puzzle the list down in number and probably sign long term contracts with their m ost reliable supplier as the demand for the OE market is very stable and this long term contracts will help with the demand and also improve relations with their suppliers. But care should be taken when such contracts are framed, so that if the supplier does not make the delivery, then Friction Materials is free to buy that demand from another supplier. (Quinn and Hilmer 1995) In terms of the product range, since making DBPs is their main expertise, I feel that they should continue to produce all their existing product range so that they do not lose their current market share and customer base. The level of vertical integration should be kept to a minimum and Friction Materials should concentrate on its main competency of making the DBPs. little parts of the product like the packing materials should be bought from an external vendor.2.3.2 Process TechnologyHill (2009) uses a profiling method to help finalise what engaging of production process is good for a particular type of pro duct depend on the profile of the product. We will use this profiling approach to decide the type of process that we will implement for the OE range of product. Relevant AspectsCharacteristics of Process ChoiceProductJobBatchLineType Special sampleRange WideNarrowOrder Size SmallLargeLevel of Change elevatedLowRate of NPD HighLowOrder-Winner Del. SpeedPriceProcessTechnology G.P.DedicatedFlexibility HighLowVolumes LowHighKey Tasks Meet Spec.CostInvestment LowHighTable 2.3.2.1 Hills Profiling Approach (Source Hill and Hill 2009) For the OE product range, we know the followingThe order volume is going to be very high hence the product is going to be standardised. Since the product is standardised, it is logical to have machinery dedicated to the product so that it can churn out more product and help meet the high demand. This in turn will decrease the flexibility of the process, but that is a trade-off that has to be taken to meet the high demand.We are going to produce only a certain types of DBPs, hence range is very narrow.The variations in the design of the DBPs are going to be minimal.New designs will only be developed when there is a requirement for it, hence the rate for new product development is also low.Order-winner for the OE product as discussed above is a balance between delivery speed and cost. Hence the key task for the process is bringing the cost of the product down.Hence we see from the above table, most of the profile of the OE product fits the Line Process choice. Hence in our case, for the OE product range, it is advisable that we go for a Line process. Currently, the Spares and Vintage DBPs are being produced in a Batch Equipment Paced Line Flow. They are currently caterpillar track operations with 3 machining centres, each consisting of a pair of inter linked CNC machines with snip feed. But even with a demand of only 300 DBPs/week compared to a demand of 3000 DBPs/week, the 3 machining centres are running at full cleverness and often r equire overtime to meet the demand. Hence it is only logical for Friction Materials to in some new machining centres for the new OE production line that will be mainly be used for OE production, as they will find it very difficult to cope up with the demand with the existing infrastructure available. In fact, Friction Materials should look to start to invest into some of the other machines that they require for the production of DBPs to help cope up with this new OE demand. It is also advisable to make this new investments into the shop floor as the OE market is a profitable market which has a very stable demand and this demand will be there for quite a few years and hence this investment can be easily recovered during the life cycles of not OE product, but probably two or three OE products. The current manufacturing process layout should be adopted for the OE production also. The process has been setup taking into consideration the capacity of the mixer, setup time on the presses and stock levels and hence they are designed to give the whole process a flow. But setting up a completely new production line demands a lot of capital being invested and it will take quite some time before you will be able to break even for this investment. Hence the logical thing to do for Friction would be to invest in some new machining centres, so that they would be able to able to cope with the demand. But these new machining centres should be dedicated to only for the OE products. And over time, with increasing profits from the OE business, they can keep adding more machining centres to create a separate line for the OE product.2.3.3 Production Planning and ControlThe production of DBPs has been broken down majorly into two process namely Pressing and Finishing. The Pressing team takes care of making the brake pads the Finishing team takes care of machining the DBPs to ensure consistency of the physical dimensions of the pad. Since both these processes are independent of eac h other, they are connected to each other with some decoupling or WIP inventory (Miltenburg). In our case, the baking process is the decoupling process. The two bin system can be used for inventory check off for raw materials. In this system, the buffer stock in kept in the second bin and the current stock in kept in the first bin. Once the first bin is emptied and the buffer stock is brought into use, the purchase team should place orders to the respective material supplier for replenishing the material. For quality control, the organisation is already running on Statistical Process Control charts for the Spares and Specialist market. But this is acceptable for these products as their production volumes are not very large. The OE volumes are going to be very huge and hence SPC may not be the right choice for quality control. SPC looks at maintaining the quality of the products that the processes inside the organisation. Since OE is such a big market and where it is always importan t to get things right the first time, every time it is better that Friction Materials looks into implementing Total Quality Management (TQM). TQM not only looks into the quality of parts being produced inside the organisation, but it takes the whole supply chain into account and sees to it that not only are the part being produced are up to quality standards, but also parts entering into the system are of optimum quality as it is unlikely to product good quality parts out of sub-standard parts. (GE Systems). Also in TQM, each worker becomes responsible for keeping the quality of their output up to standard. Hence this virtually removes the requirement of a quality control team in the organisation.2.3.4 Human ResourcesThe major machines, that require training in the whole manufacturing process at Friction Materials, are the press machines and the machining centres. The current workforce employed at Friction Materials is very well trained and are flexible enough to work on any process within their block. But we see that there is considerable time that goes into the setup of the presses when there is a need to change the design of the pad. So the employees can be further trained in how they can reduce the set up time for the presses. Regular maintenance is being carried out at Friction Materials by the current

Marketing Strategy 4. Recruiting Foster Carers

Marketing St driftgy 4. Recruiting Foster CarersMore harbor explosive chargers are unavoidable in the UK today. Official statistics from the gentility cyberspace indicate that e verywhere 10,000 rear families are contracted. An otherwise seek by breeding Network found 82% of local authorities saw a rise in the number of children coming into care and selecting harbor floors in 2009-10. Family protect care provides substitute planned family care for children who raft non be adequately cared at the hold firm due to confused reasons.4.1 Foster childrenThe number of children coming into sustain care has become overwhelming over the years. except the fact is that it has become very gruelling to find the families who are ready to meet the challenges of increasing complex behavioural, emotional needs these children experience.SHORTAGE OF FOSTER HOMESEngland 8,200Scotland 1,700Wales 750Region unequalageEngland8200Scotland1700Wales750Source Fostering Network WebsiteChart 1 a National Breakdown Shortage of Foster Homes in England, Scotland and WalesSHORTAGE OF FOSTER HOMES IN ENGLANDNorth West 1700North East 1300East 650 federation West 600 s revealhernmost East 850London 2000West Midlands 650East Midlands 450RegionShortageNorth Wales1700North East1300East650South West600South East850London2000West Midlands650East Midlands450Source Fostering Network WebsiteChart 1b Regional Breakdown Shortage of Foster Homes in England4.2 Motivations for foster carers to a greater extent research has been conducted on this issue as what motivates people to foster. It is very important to understand this key component because this may back up to understand their needs and can be use as a tool in the marketing mix to get in more carer. In 1996, Denby Rindfleisch conducted a research on children and juvenility services. The research was conducted in order to understand what motivates a person to become a foster carer. Some of the findings were, fulfilling the need f or foster homes in the alliance, enjoying and wanting to succor children, providing a companion for an only child and for oneself, increasing family size, obtaining substitute for a child who has died or who has grown and left home, religious reasons and supplementing family income (Denby Rindfleisch, 1996). Based on the findings of this research it is very clear that on that point are various factors that are involved for a person to become a foster parent.4.3 Foster carer evokementIn the recent years, there has been a decline in the number of families able to provide foster care. When a child is identified in need of foster care, the problem of finding government agencyment homes still remains very high. Some of the factors that are related to the shortage of foster carers may be due to the future(a) reasonsGreater difficulty in meeting the increasing complexity needs to become a foster carerLack of exoteric cognizanceThe poor familiar image of faster carer.With these is sues, it has become difficult to recruit foster carer and has become an important and yet a challenging task. Recruitment of quality foster carer in an on-going demand for the place.4.4 Productive orgasmes 2008 till dateFor the past 2 years, the enquiries generated by raising solutions using the underway marketing system have increased. Fostering solutions uses diametrical methods of advertising to attract emf carers. These include bill board, bus, confederation care, exhibition, flyer, internet, job centre, jobs fair, local community booklet, national magazine, vernalsprint advertisement, passed office, post office, radio, tv, recruitment make upt, taxi, website, word of mouth, yallow pages etc (Fostering solutions). all over the past few years, the recruitment focus was on the side by side(p) factorsTo recruit carers through using fees, and other allowances.Using pass ons such as show you care to r to individually one the carers.4.5 Recruitment outcomeTable 3 FOSTER CARE RECRUITMENT ENQUIRIES SOURCE OF INTEREST BETWEEN 01/09/2009 AND 04/08/2010SOURCE come up ENQUIRIESAdvan4Fostering Network2Banner1Bill board1Bus38Current carer8Flyer41Internet10Job centre3Jobs fair1Local community booklet30National magazine2Newspaper Advertisement761 non specified1Passed office78Radio/TV28Recommended156Recruitment way out419Recruitment flyer102SMS13Van1Website1071 formulate of mouth494Yellow pages22TOTAL3289Source FSDocumentOut of these, the most successful advertisement medium for fostering solutions has been website with a number of 1071 enquiries followed by newspaper advertisement with a total enquiry of 761, followed by word of mouth with 494 enquiries among 01/09/2209 and 31/08/2010.From the above table it is evident that the total number of enquiries during the decimal point 2009-2010 is 3289, but the no. Of approval are only 126 out of 3289 enquiries. This is reasonable 3.82% of the total enquiry. It is evident that 3289 people are interested to roll in the hay about the fostering care. But the approval rate is very low.Table 4 FOSTER CARE RECRUITMENT ENQUIRIES SOURCE OF INTEREST BETWEEN 01/09/2008 AND 31/08/2009SOURCETOTAL ENQUIRIESFostering Network3Bill board4Current carer1E-invite1Flyer19Internet1Local community booklet47Newspaper Advertisement591Not specified13Passed office108Radio/TV32Recommended173Recruitment event168Recruitment poster130Taxi1Van4Website1347Word of mouth535Yellow pages106TOTAL3284Source FS documentThe total no. Approval mingled with 01/09/2008 and 31/08.2009 was 163 and total enquiries received during that period was 3284. When Comparing the current year enquiries and approval rate with the previous year (i.e.) recruitment enquiry between 2008 2009 which was 4.96% of the total enquiry, it is clearly evident that there is a decrease in the approval rate when compared with that of the previous year. But we just cannot come to a conclusion that there is a decrease in the approval rate because some of the enquiries may still be in the approval process.Table 5 Conversion rateYearEnquiriesApprovedConversion Rate %2008-200932841634.962009-201032891263.83Source FS DocumentOver the past two years, the conversion rate is found to be reasonably constant with4.96% in the year 2008-2009 and 3.83% in the 2009-2010.Chart 2 Enquiries in different regionFrom the above chart it can be seen that the number of enquiries received from each region varies to a greater extent. For example the highest number of enquiries was received from the midlands with a total of 396 enquiries. Where as on the contradictory there were lower enquiries from various other regions. The reason for so legion(predicate) enquiries in the midlands is because of the strong advertisement campaign with additional newspaper advertisement. Fostering solutions should focus on all the regions equally. This go forth help to increase the enquiry from different region.The major problem which is to be considered duty now is tha t the approval rate is very low despite there was 3289 enquiries between 2009-2010. This may be due to various reasons.Advertisement Enquiries ROI ApprovalWith reference to the above given table, when an advertisement is made and when it is able to attract 3343 enquirers who have even the slightest idea of fostering has enquired the performance, it is clear that people are interested to know more about fostering. But somewhere as they move further in the process (i.e.) from enquiry to the next stage, the number gets reduced to a greater extent. This can be viewed as a result due to 2 reasons. in that location may be a problem in the process from the enquiry stage until the next stage which is the fitting of interest. OrThe way of life is not targeting the right people.In order to identify the problem in the process from the enquiry stage until the ROI, a study by chance conducted as what is going wrong in that process. It is very important to focus on this issue right now bec ause the time and cost involved in marketing is very high. Considering that fact, the marketing strategy maybe of good type, but due to some bottleneck in the process, the marketing strategy may seem to be unsuccessful.4.6 STRATEGYObjectivesTo successfully recruit the carers, the following objectives must be considered to meet the challenges that are associated with the recruitment activities. They are,To recruit carers for different age gatheringTo recruit carers for children with disabilityTo recruit a divers(prenominal) range of carers to place the children to meet their best needs.Recruit carers based on categories long, medium and short term carers.In addition to these objectives to recruit the carer, the fostering solutions should be the best choice for carers. In order to achieve such a position, the following factors plays important roleBenefit packages for carer- what fostering solutions can stretch for both carer and young people.Competitor ken versus brand consciou sness of the agency.Services provided before and after approval.Raising awareness through advertisement that carers are still needed , that fostering solutions values the carers, and to create a sense of feeling that they have made the right decision in selecting fostering solutions.4.6.1 Plan of actionIn order to attain both regional and national audiences, the agency should continue to advertise a multi-layered approach of marketing. The depicted object which the agency tends to convey to its audience must be clear and focused. The agency may use tools ranging from traditional to establishing its own marketing strategy through various opportunities that are available to raise the awareness of the people.The traditional method includes the regular media advertising which the agency is currently involved and it has delivered results. It is now the right time to think of new opportunities of marketing through using the internet media such as web tools like Linked-in, Facebook, twi tter, etc.By using both the traditional and new methods, the agency can reach and superlative a wide range of people from different regions, which will help to educate the people about the basic awareness and understanding about the need for fostering. This also helps to reach the target audience by giving them the information which they require.4.6.2 Factors influencing the decision makeThere are several factors that influence the decision making of the marketing strategy. These factors help the agency to be alert by keeping them informed about the decisions of the potential carer and the way they react to the recruitment strategies and approaches that are used by the agency. A research maybe conducted in this area so as to find out the followingWhat ultimately actuated the potential carer to dissolve up the phone and enquire about the services that are offered by the agency. This can be make through introducing marketing questions in the initial home visits.Checking closely th e effectiveness of all the resources that are used in marketing and making sure it is being efficient.Look into the key areas where the potential carers drop out of the process. It is very important to understand this because, this will give an idea as the reasons why they drop out. This will in turn help to influence the potential carers to identify the drop out points. Through identifying the drop out points time and cost that are involved in retaining the potential carers can be kept under good control.4.6.3 A change in the current communication toolsThe information that are offered by the current communication tools are limited. That is the current communication tools which is paper based (information pack) gives idea from where the information is obtained.Chart 3 communication route doubt dataFollow UpResultantWebsitePhoneInformation PackPhone Call PostcardsDrop OutProceedThis is the normal route through which the information flows from the agency to the potential carers. This route does not offer flexibility for the carer. Which means the carers contact type preference, individual decision process are not considered in this route. Moreover, the person making a call to the agency maybe quite intimidating.There should be a change in the current communication routes and channels whereby the routes are open up through which the prospective carer can gather information and be informed about the follow-up and the application process right from registration of interest until the approval.Information SearchEnquiryInformed DecisionFollow upResultantRecruitment StandsNewspaperWord of mouthFlyerWebsiteFace to Face contact at eventPhoneWebsiteInformation Pack(Delayed decision) Direct phone and postcardDrop OutProceedUn-persuadedUn-persuadedProspectingProceed or Informed InfluencerParticipants or Informed Influencer4.6.4 piquant THE COMMUNITIESTo target the right carer, I suggest increasing the witnesss of finding successful foster carer through designing a pl anned strategy to engage the communities in foster care. By involving with the community there is more scope to create awareness and recruit many carers. To come up with such a strategy, it is very important to know the agencys needs and lay down its priorities, thumb rules on how to come up with a specific message for the general public. By loving with the communities, it helps to inform the public and the potential foster carers about the need for foster care.The ultimate goal of the agency is to increase the number of qualified foster carers.In any business concept, designing an effective marketing strategy is a means of trial and error. For a strategy to be successful, it has to be analyzed from various perspectives before it can be implemented. In such a way, before reaching a community for help in recruiting the foster carer, we have to know in particular the needs of the agency and the ways in which the public might be of help to the agency. By needs of the agency here refer s to the double question who is our target customer?. To kick start this process of finding the target customer the following assessment maybe done by the agency.Identifying the foster care population in a communityHow many foster children are there in the community?Their age groupAge group under one yearNo. Of children (between 1-12)No. Of teenager (between 13-18)No. Of youngsters (over 18)Based on the agencies past experience say for example previous 2-3 years, how many children does the agency expect will require foster care during the next year?The racial compositionWhiteMixed raceAsian saturnineOtherIdentifying the foster carer population in a communityHow many qualified foster carers are there in the communityIdentifying the children in the communityUp to what extent the following elements contributed to placement of children in foster careLOWModerateHIGHSubstance abusePovertyMental unwellness of parent(s)Poor parenting skillsIncarceration of parentsChildrens emotional or beh avioralhealth needsKnowing the needsAfter the above mentioned needs assessment is reviewed by the staff, the agency can come to a specific needs conclusion. The next step may be to rank the needs. The rankings should be based on their priorities as shown on a lower floorExample needsRanksTo provide more adequate support for foster families.3To recruit foster parents for teenagers.1To provide demote training for foster parents so they can handlechildrens special needs.To recruit foster parents for teenagers.2To educate the public about the impact of welfare reform on childrenin foster care.Once the needs are prioritized, the next step is to develop a community action plan. This can be done through the following ways4.6.5 Engaging the wider public At the national level, the foster care fortnight event is conducted by the Fostering networks helps to engage the wider public and to spread the awareness about the need for fostering and the young people at care. However, this may help to engage the wider public, the major drawbacks in these kinds of events is that the agency does not get the chance to engage directly with the wider public on the assumptions and views to inform how we move ahead to spread the awareness. In order to overcome this problem the agency may sort of engage with the residents from the communities to inform them about the messages and the promotional approaches of the agency through which the awareness of the need for foster care can be increased.This can be done through engaging services in a county wide arts and photography competition. This helps the agency to find out more ways to engage with the communities and set ahead them to take part in fostering. The photography competition can be conducted through collecting pictures from different age group categories young people in care, people who have experienced foster care. The competition must be judged by the agency the winning photography must tour around the county and be visible in libraries and other roughhewn places for short period. A separate budget maybe required for this competition.4.6.6 Working with the mass mediaMass media is the most common and effective medium of advertising. However, for an advertisement to be effective through mass media, it is very essential for the agency to know what kind of information or message should be conveyed to the public. For example in the case of targeted recruitment, the focus is on the families where they can accommodate children and teens with specific needs. In this case community based recruitment would be very effective rather than a general media campaign. However, media campaign may be very effective and most suitable for general outreach.Strategies for getting the message out to the public and spurring the community to take action.4.6.7 Invite community leading to help you get the message outEngaging with community leaders to spread the awareness is one of the best ways to reach the people in a particular community. This is due to the fact that the leaders may approach the public with a message which would be very effective rather than the agency conveying the message by itself. The community leaders may not have the special knowledge about the system of foster care as that of a social worker. However, what they do have is the ability to attract the public and press. It is very returnsous for the agency to form a link of network with the community leaders for they be very sympathetic the cause and would come beforehand to help the agency. These leaders may be invited to speak at the campaign events and they may be requested to mention about Fostering Solutions in their own events. In such a way the community becomes aware and lot of people might come forward to foster. The main advantage is that a tokenish support from one community councillor or a child advocate can quickly raise the status of the issue.4.6.8 Using the help of current foster parentsThe most effective means of adv ertising is to get help from the current foster carers to recruit more new foster carers. Gratified foster care parents are the better tool for recruitment and com congealer memory. The advantage of Working in with foster parents to increase recruitment will help to improve the retention as well. Foster parents can be of great help in the following waysThrough sharing their personal experiences, the current foster carer may help the new foster carers to explain as what takes to be a good foster carer. This will also give an opportunity for the new foster carers to meet the children in care even before they get placed with a child.The current foster care parents may help the new carers to cope the applications by way of providing pre-service anf training in collaboration with the agency.The current foster carer may act as a middle man between the agency and the prospective foster carer by way of following-up with a phone call or a personal visit.Through engaging with the current fo ster carers, the new carers may get individualized mentoring and it may in turn be a great motivation for both the new and the current foster carers.4.6.9 Carer turn a profit packageCarer take in package may help to attract more carers. It is great way to communication through which the awareness can be increased. A detailed list of benefits and opportunities maybe listed, this will in turn help the prospective foster carers to take up fostering. The fact is that the more we offer and parent ourselves as the agency, the satisfied and happier will be our carers and are more likely to stay with us. This maybe one of the retention strategy. This strategy helps to gain competitive advantage over the competing agencies because, the carers are very happy with the benefit package. Regardless of whether the benefits are being used by the foster carers or not, the list of available benefits on the website maybe seem real and more tangible.4.7 ResourcesIn order to implement the above menti oned strategies effectively, resources are very important keys.4.7.1 Human ResourcesIn the current organizational structure, the marketing department is very centralized. With the ambition of developing the marketing strategies for both the national and regional level, it is very important to increase the hierarchy level as shown in the above chart. In order to strengthen the regional marketing strategy a new post namely marketing assistant may be appointed region wise. The main work of this job will be to spread the awareness of fostering in their region and attract more carers. They will be reporting directly to the Marketing and public relations manager. The main reason to implement this change in the organization structure is because just having a marketing department at the head office will not work. Division of work is very essential in such cases. But for time being with limited resources, the main challenge is to stay focused in the priorities of the service that are provid ed by the agency.Chart 4 Organizational social system Marketing Department.4.7.2 Financial ResourcesTo corroborate the current level of enquiries and conversion, it is essential to continue to invest funds in recruiting advertising. A sustainable budget allocation will help the agency to be efficient and effectively plan the time and resources which are very valuable. This will also help to improve response rate, and to reach all communities as well as effectively plan the response resources.For long term planning, a planned annual budgeting will help to place the agency in a better position to cope up with the increasing preferential rates and spends of the promotional activity. There is also a need for the agency to invest in high profiled activities such as web advertising, website development and so on in order to maintain the profile of Fostering Solutions as the agency of choice for the carers.Currently, Fostering solutions uses all feasible media which will enable the agenc y to touch the hearts and minds of many potential carers and make them aware about the need for fostering. More funds should be invested in the areas of community publications, editorial media and recruitment campaigns.4.8 RecommendationsConsidering the above discussed strategies the following maybe summarized as the strategic recommendations4.8.1 Short term recommendations Maintain year round awareness for the need foster carers across England, Scotland, Wales and in communities. As discussed in the strategy using the current carers and their peremptory stories of children will help to attract more carers and it also helps to retain the existing carers.(refer 4.6.8)-Work with the community leaders to spread the awareness(refer 4.6.7) With reference to the conversion rate issue elevated in this report, it is essential for the agency to conduct a study on the effective procedures that are implemented by the agency in the process of responding to enquiries and registration of intere st with prospective foster carers. Because, this is where lot of people drop out. So it is essential for the agency to conduct a research and find out the reasons as why the conversion rate is very low. (refer table 5) As discussed in the resources, it is essential for the agency to have dedicated marketing staff at each regional office to make advertising more effective.(refer 4.7.1) With the help of the demographic information and analysis of the community assessment by the agency a better targeting of recruitment and advertising can be achieved.4.8.2 Long term recommendations As discussed in the short term recommendations, statistical data on foster carers maybe collected using the community assessment in order to make better recruitment decisions. This will help the agency to have a go on sustainable investment at national and regional level in the recruitment of foster carers. Have ongoing high quality campaigns across England, Scotland and Wales on both national and local lev el to attract more foster carers which will help to maintain enough carers to meet changing demands The agency should put as much effort in order to retain the foster carers as in recruitment. The agency should work on the factors such as carer benefit package, and other benefits that can improve the retention of foster carers. (refer 4.6.9) Develop a comprehensive foster care recruitment website to promote awareness and interest in fostering and permanent care-Focus should be to improve local capacity through working in close relation with the communities in order to recruit locally

Rosencrantz and Gildenstern Are Dead :: essays research papers, shakespeare, hamlet

Hamlet in Rosencrantz and Gildenstern Are Dead The play Rosencrantz and Gildenstern Are Dead by tom Stoppard is a focus on two of the minor characters from Shakespeares Hamlet. Stoppards work is completely ingenious and thus requires that the reader have extensive knowledge of Hamlet. Many snippets of actual dialogue from Hamlet can be found in Stoppards play. This dialogue rarely is featured as the main goings on at time but it serves as a guide to understanding just some of Stoppards many metaphysical themes.Rosencrantz and Gildenstern are unimportant servants to tabby Claudius in Hamlet. They keep their same roles in R & G Are Dead but are instead completely spotlighted. Stoppard follows them through their actions, which are oftentimes nothing more than lengthy discussions portraying their lack of knowledge about their identities and their existence. They can barely remember their own names as is showed when characters of Hamlet cannot bed which is which. Stoppards main use of the play Hamlet is to have it represent the actions of ones career. Stoppards goal in this work is to show life as a quick journey through the unknown and to show death as an inevitable and final end to this journey. Hamlet, in this play, truly stands as a mini human life. This representation is completely essential to grasping Stoppards theme. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern know nothing of their creation or why they are truly here. They stand for all of humanity, which knows nothing of what life truly is or why they are here.

Jackson Hole :: Personal Narrative Writing

Jackson HoleIt was exit to be the time of our lives. Four buddies of mine and I went out to Jackson, Wyoming to do approximately of the best snowboarding of our lives. It was our chance to get away from home for a week and have the best time of our lives. The trip out there was extremely wearisome driving through Iowa, Nebraska, and Wyoming. Possibly the three most boring states in the country. When we got out there we were all very impressed by the appearance of the city. This was manifestly a tourist town. When we found the hotel we were impressed by the huge glass windows and cedar siding. It looked more care the Hilton than a Best Western. We checked in and were shown to our rooms. afterward bringing in all of our things, we went straight to bed knowing that we had a huge day ahead of us, not knowing how huge it was really going to be.After a enceinte night of sleep we headed out to the world renown mountain of Jackson Hole. It is known for being the steepest mountain on w hich a ski resort is set up. It is also know for having a great view of Grand Teton, one of the highest peaks in the Rocky Mountains. We could not have asked for a better day of riding. there was a fresh 14 of snow under our boards and after a little bit of exploring we found some great out of bounds and woods riding. We looked around for a little while longer and Tom spotted a nice hit. It was an untouched field, with three 10-15 drops which make for great hits. After hiking about a quarter of a mile we made it there. A quarter of a mile does not sound like that much of a walk but it is not as easy as it sounds when you are walking in snow past your knees deep, simply it took nigh an hour and a half. We strapped in and took off, making huge carves in all the fresh powder that had probably not been ridden in at least a week. The first hit was coming and Tom shouted hit it man, As Dan and I approached the hit we got some big air. The only problem with riding such fresh snow is that when you land in that amount of fresh powder you sink like a rock.

Working Women in the Victorian Middle-Class Essay -- Victorian Era

Working Women in the Victorian Middle-ClassCharles Dickens character Miss Abbey Potterson is some sixty and odd years old, ostensibly unmarried (Miss), and a business owner (she owns a bar). Despite the fact that Victorian middle-class women were supposed to aspire to idleness, a growing number of women were graceful employed in the 19 th century for a number of reasons. The growing number of redundant (unmarried, like Miss Potterson) and widowed women were rarely in a position to be ladies of leisure (Hudson). Although these women were almost always lower middle-class, they still strived for employment above that of the laboring classes.Evidence of Working WomenThe census, which began to include occupations in 1841, is the most obvious source (Hudson). However this information is often inaccurate, since the classification of womens employment was often contradictory and inconsistent. Female work in a family business was sometimes deliberately excluded from the record (Hudson).Trad e directories supplement the census information. They suggest that a surprisingly high number of women ran businesses, particularly in millinery and dressmaking, in inn-keeping, provisioning, grocery trades and teaching. Trade directories from the period also reveal examples of women running businesses tradition all(prenominal)y associated only with men (like Miss Potterson). This minority indicates the boundaries that were being pushed regarding what was proper and amiss(p) for women to do (Hudson).Work Available to WomenFemale employment in the 1850s, 60s and 70s was the most recorded until after World War II (Hudson). Domestic service of all kinds was the single largest employer of women, textile and clothing occupations were a close secon... ...fiedThe rampant vice in English society--all men know it, and women too, and both know the others know it--is neither fastness, immodesty, or impropriety of any kind it is pretence. This it is that makes our society for the most part p arvenu society,--burthensome, troublesome, tedious (Cope).Works CitedCope, Virginia. The Ladies. Retreived 16 March 2005. http//etext.lib.virginia.edu/ladies/ladyhome.htmlEmployment for Females. The Ladies. 16 April 1872. pg.35. Retrieved 16 March 2005. http//etext.lib.virginia.edu/ladies/pressex.htmldonkeyHudson, Pat. Womens Work. BBC History. Published 1 January 2001.Retrieved 15 March 2005. http//www.bbc.co.uk/history/society_culture/welfare/womens_work_01.shtmlLarsen, Ashley. Victorian Women in the Work Force. Retrieved 16 March 2005. http//jamaica.u.arizona.edu/ic/mcbride/ws200/lars-hold.htm

cancer :: essays research papers

Topic CancerGeneral End To PersuadeSpecific Purpose To persuade my audience that pubic louse is good-for-nothing and they should eat a healthy diet.Central Idea Cancer can be caused by smoking, drinking, sunburns, ect... and there are foods that can help check out cancer.I. What we eat really affects our risk of cancer.A. 35% of all cancers have a nutritional connection.1. When lifestyle factors such as smoking and sunbathing are included the risk can be as high as 85%. a. What we eat makes a big difference in our energy levels, our mood and and even our self esteem.b. Foods rich in protective factors such as fruits and vegetables, we are doing something positive for our health and well being.2. Antioxidants, anticarcinogens, and bioflavonoids repair damaged cellsa. The cells that are ruined by bad habits can be repaired by the antioxidants, anticarcinogens, and bioflavonoids.b. If too many cells are damaged and form a clump then cancer is formed and these botanical factors pa ss on not be effective.II. Foods that are important for our health.A. Foods that come from plant kingdom rather than the animal kingdom have many protective botanical factors.1. some(prenominal) of the plant kingdom foods act as antioxidants, anticarcinogens, and bioflavonoids. a. Some foods rich in botanical factors are classified as phytonutrients.b. Some phytonutrients include berries, dark leafy vegetable leafy vegetables, citrus, fruits, legumes, and whole grains.B. Dietary fiber is important in cancer prevention.1. The dietary fiber provides bulk to our diet and helps maintain a healthy colon.a. close to Americans eat about 10 grams each day but this is half of what is ideal.b. Dietary fiber is found in whole grain cereal, breads, pastas, beans, leafy vegetables, fruits, nuts, and seeds.C. fish can be protective against cancer.1. Oily fish such as salmon, herring, mackeral, halibut, and tuna contain oils rich in

Vincent Van Gogh: Woe Is Me :: essays research papers fc

Vincent forefront van Gogh Woe is MeDuring the last twenty years of the nineteenth atomic number 6 a new form of artistic painting formed. Postimpressionism was a form of art where the artist was highly individual and expressive. Some of the most creative painters in history helped to make the style a success. Paul Gauguin and Paul Cezanne are two of the most creative and popular painters among the postimpressionists, but not the master. The master of the postimpressionist hunting expedition was Vincent Van Gogh.Vincent Van Gogh was innate(p) on the 30th of March 1853, in the small village of Zundert in the south of the Netherlands. He was the oldest of six children born to Theodorus Van Gogh and Cornelia Carbentus. He began his statement in 1861, at the village school in Zundert he would subsequently attend two boarding schools. Van Gogh excelled in language learning French, English, and German. During that time he also began drawing. Vincent for the most part educated himself. In March 1868, he ends his formal education and begins an apprenticeship with Goupil and Cle. (Fine Art Web)The Goupil and Cle. Were art dealers in Europe and Vincent was stationed at their Paris Headquarters. During his time spent as a salesman, for the art gallery, Van Gogh developed a love for fine art. Van Gogh began to become unstable and the Paris Gallery released him in 1873. Upon leaving Paris, Vincent (wanting to be useful) trained for the ministry in 1877, at capital of The Netherlands University. After failing to land a post in the Church, he became an independent missionary and practiced among the Borinage miners. His experiences as a preacher are reflected in his first paintings of peasants and potato diggers of these early works, the best known is the rough, earthly Potato Eaters (http//sunsite.auc.dk/cgfa/gogh/gogh_bio.htm). In 1886 van Gogh went to Paris to live with his brother Theo van Gogh, an art dealer, and became familiar with the new art movements developing a t the time. Influenced by the work of the impressionists and by the work of such Japanese printmakers as Hiroshige and Hokusai, van Gogh began to experiment with current techniques. Subsequently, he adopted the brilliant hues found in the painting of the French artists Camille Pissarro and Georges Seurat (http//sunsite.auc.dk/cgfa/gogh/gogh_bio.htm). In Paris, Vincent discovered color and the divisionist ideas, which helped to create the classifiable dashed brushstrokes that is seen in his later works. In 1887, at a restaurant in Paris, Van Gogh organized an exhibition.