Should Marijuana be legalized in America Research Proposal

Should Marijuana be legalized in America - Research Proposal Example Marijuana should be legalized within America, mainly due to the fact that it has absolutely no rationale to ban it in the first place. Crude marijuana, as researchers have been able to extract, possesses more than 400 chemicals as a combination. This however occurs during smoking when all of these 400 chemicals split up into thousands of other chemicals themselves. Notwithstanding the nearly 12,000 studies done on the medical utility of marijuana, a staggering common consent does exist in the scientific community of late which suggests that the smoked form of marijuana cannot be termed as a medicine. One should thus make laws that go against putting the users or sellers of marijuana in jails as they have a right to exercise their lives in the best manner that they deem fit. (Hough, 2003) According to a number of public opinion polls that were conducted in America sometime back, Americans do not support the idea of liberalizing marijuana, just for the sake of it. They are simply not in the harmony with it and thus they do not allow their government to do anything of such nature. Thus this gives the drug pressure groups some food for thought whereby they abstain themselves from using the word "legalization" in their trading with the government and hence the people in particular, in this matter. This term has been substituted with preferred ones like harm reduction, decriminalization and even ‘medicalization’. However they (drug lobby groups) are hell bent upon achieving their goals, which are to approve the bill of medicinal marijuana as legal and free for all and sundry to research openly and extract benefits from.

Global Warming Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Global Warming - Term Paper Example United States has not properly addressed the problem of global warming (Besel 162). Therefore, the subject of subject of global warming is live and undisputed scientific fact that the nation should address quickly. Many scientific activities are responsible for the global warming that people experience in United States and the globe at large. United States is becoming dangerous warmer because of emission of greenhouse gases. These gases include methane, nitrous oxide, and carbon dioxide. The gases have adverse effects on the environment because they cause pollution. This artificial problem contributes largely to global warming. This is an assertion that the scientific activities drive the climate change and global warming. Scientists have disputed the claims of their responsibility in global warming in various ways. To start with, the scientists argue that carbon dioxide does come from their activities. To them, burning fossils generates a lot of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Thi s is an attempt to assert that they do not take any activity in the problem of global warming. They claim that that they have put proper mechanisms to eradicate the emission of carbon dioxide. Second, the scientist stresses that carbon dioxide has been increasing in the atmosphere before the industrial developments. They scientists insist that other types of natural energies such as solar play a big role in global warming. The scientists argue points out those natural sources such as eruption of volcanoes evolve a lot of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere (Griffin 112). The scientists blame their critics for distorting scientific information to assert their points. Third, the unchallenged scientific fact emanate from the measurement that scientists take on the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. These measurements indicate that burning of forests and fossils contributes to generation of harmful gases to the atmosphere. This is an attempt to deny their responsibility in their c ontribution to the global warming and climate change. They argue that natural fluctuations attribute to the sudden increase in temperatures (Maslin 27). It is evident that the undisputed scientific facts have played a big role in global warming. The facts are fallacious. To start with, there was no global warming before scientific revolution. This era of scientific expansion in knowledge and research led to the growth of industries. A natural mechanism ensured a right balance of carbon dioxide that natural processes emitted (Griffin 112). The issue of global warming came into been after the mushrooming of industries. It is therefore a lie for the scientists to claim that they do have a role in the global warming menace. The scientists’ assertion that the current global warming is because of natural fluctuations in the environment is overtly misleading. This is unchallenged scientific facts. The earth has experienced all these climatic swings but there has never been an alarmi ng effect on temperature. It therefore means that scientific processes are responsible for the increase in temperatures in the atmosphere. It is a conspiracy of scientists not to give information of their contribution to the global warming (Besel 163). This is despite the fact that the scientists have the right equipment to provide a qualitative explanation of the issue of global

Religon Buddhism Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Religon Buddhism - Term Paper Example The discourse would initially proffer a brief historical background of Buddhism, prior to determining its common practices and core beliefs. Likewise, the paper would present a personal experience visiting Buddhists’ place of worship and to relay the responses from a devotee’s point of view. History Diverse research literatures have expressed different views on the exact origin of Buddhism. There are studies tracing the roots of Buddhism from the Indus Valley civilization and the Aryans (A View on Buddhism, 2006, pars. 1 & 2). In a website About Buddhism (2007), its history indicates that â€Å"the founder of Buddhism in this world is Buddha Shakyamuni. He was born as a royal prince in 624 BC in a place called Lumbini, which was originally in northern India but is now part of Nepal† (About Buddhism, 2007, par. 1). Likewise, History World (n.d.) identified Nepal as Buddhism’s point of origin, with Siddhartha Gautama, a Nepal prince, â€Å"follows an asceti c life for six years before deciding that a middle path between mortification and indulgence of the body will provide the best hope of achieving enlightenment. He resolves to meditate, in moderate comfort, until he sees the light of truth. One evening he sits under a pipal tree at Buddh Gaya, a village in Bihar. By dawn he is literally buddha, an 'enlightened one'. Like any other religious leader he begins to gather disciples. He becomes known to his followers as the Buddha† (History World, n.d., 1). Common Practices Buddhism reveals three common trainings or practices consisting of sila (â€Å"virtue, good conduct, morality†); samadhi (â€Å"concentration, meditation, mental development†); and prajna (â€Å"discernment, insight, wisdom, enlightenment† (Robinson, 2009). As averred by Robinson (2009), the practice of sila was premised on the principles of equality and reciprocity. Devotees are taught to acknowledge equality in stature of all living things a nd to practice, what is commonly known as the Golden Rule. The underlying idea for this practice is self-preservation. No one wants harm to be inflicted upon oneself. If everyone adheres to this principle, ultimately, no harm befalls mankind – the good of all is preserved. By this, an individual treats everyone else with respect, grace and concern. This in turn, develops good relationship to others, consistent with their belief in karma. Core Beliefs The core beliefs of Buddhism centers on reincarnation, on diverse cycles of rebirth, karma, and on Nirvana, or the state of being free and liberated from suffering (Robinson, 2009). They also believe in Four Noble Truths, the Five Precepts, and the Eightfold Path, among others. These beliefs focus on respect for all living things, ending suffering through the eightfold path, and following commandments which are almost synonymous with the Catholic’s Ten Commandments, specifically highlighting avoiding killing, stealing, tel ling lies, misusing sex and consuming liquor or drugs, among others. Worship Visit There is a Buddhist temple in Knost Drive, Mims, Florida known as the White Sands Buddhist Center. It rests on a 16-acre peaceful and beautiful land very near the Atlantic Ocean. There is complete serenity, simplicity and cleanliness in the worship place – a conducive environment for meditation and reflection, of seeking inner peace and enlightenment. The monastery’s ceremonial hall serves as a worship place for devotees. The statue of Buddha is strategically located

Procurement And Inventory Management Commerce Essay

Procurement And Inventory Management Commerce Essay A formal procurement process is a systematic step by step exercise that is important to follow to ensure no or little mistakes, and also achieve time saving, ensure the right solution to meet business needs, to also ensure the right price is paid (not necessarily the lowest price!), and lastly not to miss out on important steps that might have serious consequences. The company Green Chilly (GC) is a private owned restaurant chain operating in the UK. It runs several restaurants for takeaway meals and for people that will stop and sit down for lunch or during any other time of the day. The company currently have 53 restaurants all over the UK in the major cities and towns, collectively they serve on average 16000 eat down in meals everyday and 23000 customers coming for snacks and drinks which are mostly taken away to eat. Due to the companys successful growth the restaurant chain is facing certain seasonality problems of staffing issues and over stocking of items due to the UK holiday seasons and the unfavourable variable weather conditions that are influencing customer preferences. The company have communication, information, pricing issues, quality issues and above all no structured procurement process in place. After offering consultancy services to the company regarding its procurement structure the next stage is developing a well structured procurement strategy for the sourcing of high usage food and non food items that will meet the needs of the company wide procurement process. The owner of the company is experienced and has been in the business for a long time, I will be going through the process of sourcing with him and the rest of the staff. In 1967, the Canadian, American and Israeli marketing researchers, Robinson, Faris and Wind, introduced the buygrid framework as a generic conceptual model for buying processes of organisations. They saw industrial buying not as single events, but as organisational decision-making processes where multiple individuals decide on a purchase. Their framework consists of a matrix of buyclasses and buyphases.   The BUYCLASSES Buyclasses are:   1. New Tasks 2. Modified Rebuy   3. Straight Rebuy   Based on field research, Robinson, Faris and Wind divided the buyer purchase process into eight sequential, distinct but interrelated BUYPHASES: Assessment of a companys current spending: Fully understand the spend category (what is bought, where, at what prices? Assessment of the supply market (who offers what?). Total cost analyses (how much does it cost to provide those goods or services?). Identification of suitable suppliers. Development of a sourcing strategy (where to purchase, considering demand and supply situations, while minimizing risk and costs). Negotiation with suppliers (products, service levels, prices, geographical coverage, etc.). Implementation of new supply structure. Track results and restart assessment (continuous cycle). Assessment of a companys current spending: Using Green Chilly Company as a case study. Assessment of what is bought by the company in recent time and in comparisons to previous years, from which supplier procurement and sourcing were made and lastly at what price were they bought? Fully understand the spend category at the beginning stage, the sourcing team (including the management and some staff) need to ensure it understands everything about the spend category itself. Identify opportunities, what could be of advantage both food and noon food item, especially for meal production. The following materials are needed directly and indirectly by the company: Equipment : general restaurant equipment like cooling system, cooking, washing and rinsing, ventilation e.t.c Components: this includes the good will, style, taste, finishing and services of the company. Raw material: These are items used in cooking, raw meat, rice, beans, vegetables e.t.c. Completely finished goods: inventory held for these goods are usually between company and customers. Suppliers supply the goods and services directly with out any form of modification by the company. Goods like treats by restaurants to customers. Service requirement might include: Computer programmers: for online ordering, restaurant website creation and maintenance. Hazardous waste handlers: proper disposing of hazardous waste substances according to safety measures. Transportation carriers: restaurant trucks maintenance and upgrades. Maintenance service provider: general maintenance in the restaurant i.e. electrical appliances, assets, environment, bill boards (branding), cleaning e.t.c. Assessment of the supply market: The top officials in the sourcing team have re evaluate the suppliers market for new potential suppliers. The re evaluation of suppliers is in two areas: quality and price. A direct comparison is made of existing suppliers against at least three potential suppliers using taste panel. As many suppliers as possible are sought which appear to have a product that is similar to that in question or which have the capabilities to produce such a product. Suppliers could be known to any of the sourcing team members or found through trade journals and directories. Other sources of potential suppliers include trade shows and speculative letters. This process is carried out for both food and non food item. The volume of purchases to be made could be predicted from past procurements with an analytical assessment of which goods and services moved fast and which were slow movers. For fast movers cycle stock inventory purpose or buffer inventory could be adopted especially for goods and services relevant for the production of meals like rice, meat, baking flour e.t.c. And for slow movers i.e. ice cream machines and raw materials a seasonal stock could be adopted, since ice cream are more consumed in summer and summer breaks, than winter. Total cost analysis: How much it costs to procure those goods, the food and non food items. In the past, present and possible future forecast by experts. These recommendations are then passed on to the procurement section of the restaurant that will use them to decide which suppliers should be progressed to the price negotiation stage. The procurement team then request for quotations which are ballpark figures which the team later finalizes (direct comparison on price). It is necessary that the specification is complete, and the expected costs including distribution are a part of this. In this way, the procurement team has knowledge of costing and the taste comparison recommendations before negotiations are entered into. Identification of suitable supplier The company should periodically run assessment for seeking alternative suppliers to existing incumbents, a well carried out assessment for both present suppliers and potential suppliers. The company should have an in depth understanding of the supplier marketplace dynamics and current trends (how goods and service are packaged and delivered, alternative products that substitute the present). Prepare a study of the cost components of the product service, and analyze the suppliers market place for risks (hazardous goods, or infections especially for food raw materials) and opportunities based on a survey to access the capacity and capability of the market to meet your requirements compared with your present suppliers. It will enable the company to assess whether the present sourcing process is feasible or the best. It shows to gather knowledge in the key areas like: Feasibility, Capability Capacity: how much inventory the supplier can provide for the companys restaurant chain in the country. If the supplier is able to meet the demand of Green Chilly company. Maturity Prices of key raw material and other important variables involved in the procurement process such as labour and transportation must be priced and calculations done of the suppliers cost elements referred to as should-cost information from the major components of the key products. Take a view on the key suppliers sub tier marketplace, and analyse for risks as well as opportunities. Should cost analysis drives reduction in cost and supplier continuous improvement efforts. Although should cost analysis does not work for all item, sometimes traditional strategic sourcing techniques work w ell in cases where should cost doesnt work well. Development of a sourcing strategy: Using a cross functional procumbent team in Green Chilly Copany. Deciding where to buy while minimizing risk and costs is the major factor that determines the development of the strategic sourcing strategy. The strategy would depend largely on the alternatives available to the current suppliers, and also how competitive the supplier market is. In addition how open the users are to new suppliers. This process depends on some factors like: How competitive the supplier marketplace is: How supportive your organisations users are to testing incumbent supplier relationships What alternatives exist to competitive assessment: If the supplier have well developed systems for planning material, personnel, and capacity needs Does the supplier track key performance measures, such as throughput time, quality levels, and cost? How easy is it for customers to interact with the suppliers planning and control systems? The next step is to determine the sourcing process; the most common method of sourcing is to use a request for proposal process for soliciting bids (RFP, RFQs, eRFQs, ITTs). This will define and make clear the requirements to all prequalified suppliers. It Includes product or service specifications, delivery and service requirements, pricing breakdown and legal and financial terms and conditions. When all these messages are all been passed out, ensuring all suppliers the competition is on a level played field, a follow up message should also be sent out to encourage a greater response. Negotiation with suppliers In this stage the selection and negotiation with suppliers is carried out based on the products, service levels, prices, quality, delivery, geographical coverage and additional benefits. In respect to products been bided for, suppliers must meet delivery, price, quality and purposes of inventory meaning the quantity required by Green Chilly Company. The supplier must be able to meet the demands of the company based on the volume forecasting of the company which In the case of Green Chill Company, all the bids should be related to food and non food items (i.e. food stuffs like meat, rice, vegetables, provisions e.t.c. non food like cooking, cleaning, dinning equipments) the process of procurement is different for each item. Could be buffer or safety stock for rice, cycle stock for vegetables and meat, in transit inventory for items like chop stick, seasonal stuck for goods like ice cream, during summer or heaters during winter e.t.c. The price and quality of goods, both food and non food items most be regulated across all Green Chill chain of restaurants in the country. Geographical coverage is of high essence to Green Chill Company because of the companys chain of restaurants. The procurement team should apply its evaluation criteria to supplier responses. From this process the GC procurement team will be able to then narrow down to a few finalists. The few finalists should be compared together with the senior executives involved to give their final approval and a final supplier should be selected. The senior executives should be totally briefed so as to prepare them for calls from disappointed suppliers. Implementation of new supply structure: After a proper new structure as been formulated, the winning or successful suppliers should be notified and they should be invited to participate in implementing process and recommendations. Green Chilly Companys new structural process should also be communicated to all staff and users to bridge the communication gaps and problems in the company. Implementation plans vary depending on the degree of changes. The communication plan in the strategic sourcing strategy will majorly comprise of any improvement to specifications or process, changes in delivery (lead time) service requirements (inventory management) or pricing (major changes in the prices of goods both non food and food item) should be communicated in the process of implementing the new process. For old suppliers coming back to be winners there will be communication changes in specifications, improvements in delivery, and service or pricing models based on what they do before compared with the new structure. In the case of new suppliers a communication plan has to be developed that will supervise the transition from old to new at every point in the process that is touched by the structural change. i.e department of finance and customer services affected by this change, and the risk supervision will be particularly sensitive during this period, due to their vulnerability to mistakes. It is necessary to measure closely the new suppliers performance during the first weeks of performance. It is also important to capture the intellectual capital GC sourcing team has developed during the seven-step process so it can be used the next time that category is sourced. Track results and restart assessment (continuous cycle): This is a major aspect of the whole sourcing management process carried out by the Green Chilly Company. It is the start of a continuous cycle, starting with benchmarking the current status of the commodity or category, monitoring the results and ensuring that full value is being achieved. Conclusion After spending time planning all the processes of procurement, the roles and responsibilities of each member of the procurement team must be well established. The procurement process is reviewed and communicated to all parties involved including staff of GC. Given the market Green Chilly chain of restaurants is which is in the United Kingdom. A central distribution system would be of an advantage and feasible. With a central distribution goods and services could be distributed in 4 to 5hours drive to all corners of the UK. With the procurement process listed above putting in mind central location (Birmingham) criteria for suppliers bidding for contracts. Inventories are mostly head in goods in transit, raw material and finished goods in a restaurant. It is safer to run a safety stock for some products in the restaurant and a seasonal stock for some other stock like ice cream ingredients. The main goal is to have a reliable supplier with low price considerations and Just in time deliveries (JIT). Section 1 (2299 words) Reference Marketing Management Guide. MMG: Buy grid model: [Online]. Available from: http://marketing-management-business.blogspot.co.uk/2009/11/buy-grid-model.html [Accessed 17th November, 2012]. Leung and Bockstedt: Structural Analysis of a Business Enterprise.Service Science 1(3), pp. 169-188,  © 2009 SSG. [Online]. Available from: http://www.sersci.com/ServiceScience/upload/12556582800.pdf [Accessed 8th December 2012]. Purchasing Insight. The Procurement Process. [Online]. Available from: http://purchasinginsight.com/resources/the-procurement-process/ [Accessed 11th December 2012]. Article citation: Elizabeth Mawson, Andrew Fearne, (1996) Purchasing strategies and decision-making processes in the food service industry: a case study of UK restaurant chains, Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, Vol. 1 Iss: 3, pp.34 41. [Online]. Available from: http://0-dx.doi.org.pugwash.lib.warwick.ac.uk/10.1108/13598549610155305 [Accessed 15th November 2012]. Robinson, Patrick, Wind, Yoram and Faris, C.W. Buy-grid framework. Marketing Selling. [Online]. Available from: http://www.provenmodels.com/549 [Accessed 20th November 2012]. eHow. List of equipment needed to start a restaurant by Kristen Bennett, eHow contributor. [Online]. Available from: http://www.ehow.com/list_6720275_list-equipment-needed-start-restaurant.html#page=0 [Accessed 27th November 2012]. Purchasing Procurement Center. Source: 2001 A.T. Kearney. [Online]. Available from: http://www.purchasing-procurement-center.com/strategic-sourcing-process.html [Accessed 28th November 2012]. Supply Management. The seven stages of a sourcing strategy. [Online]. Available from: http://www.supplymanagement.com/resources/how-to/guide-to-strategic-sourcing/the-seven-stages-of-a-sourcing-strategy/ [Accessed 2nd November 2012]. The Supply Chain Resource Cooperative. The SCRC Article library, Procurement process-creating a sourcing plan,by: Robert Handfield, PhD. Published on: Jan 26,2011. [Online]. Available from: http://scm.ncsu.edu/scm-articles/article/the-procurement-process-creating-a-sourcing-plan-procurement-a-tutorial#5 [Accessed 2nd December 2012). Chapter 3, Sourcing Strategies to Manage Supply Distributions, by: Amanda J. Schmitt and Brain Tomlin.Pages [51 to 60]. [Online]. Available from: http://0-link.springer.com.pugwash.lib.warwick.ac.uk/content/pdf/10.1007%2F978-0-85729-778-5_3 [Accessed 6th December 2012]. http://0-link.springer.com.pugwash.lib.warwick.ac.uk/content/pdf/10.1007%2F0-387-25183-9_1 [Accessed 4th December 2012] INSTITUT NATIONAL DE RECHERCHE EN INFORMATIQUE ET EN AUTOMATIQUE.INRIA, by Lyà ¨s Benyoucef,Hongwei Ding, Xiaolan Xie. [Online]. Available from: http://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/docs/00/07/18/60/PDF/RR-4726.pdf [Accessed 4th December 2012]. SUPPLIER SELECTION Contents SUPPLIER SELECTION Question 2 Introduction Nowadays the costs and effect of purchasing raw materials, goods and services from suppliers are very important. Majority of the costs incurred by a company are usually procurements of components and materials for production. This shows how important decision of purchasing activity is. The procurement process usually determines the final cost of a product. Among the decisions related to this activity, supplier selection is most capital decision (Nydick and Hill, 1992) and (Mobolurin, 1995). Supplier selection is the most important decision in the procurement process. Given the market Green Chilly Company is in, the decision making process should be well defined and laid out. Based on the Decision making process (selection of supplier): raw material inventory (food stuffs like meat, vegetables, perishables e.t.c) seasonal stock, safety stock, speculative stock, cycle stock. Monetary influence and non monetary influence criteria affecting the choice of supplier. Also the risks: both influences and external factors should be well examined. There are so many factors to go through in deciding who to buy from, what to buy and what quantity, how to carry out the procurement process, where and for what purpose for inventory. Supplier selection for Baking Flour Baking flour is an essential product in the life operation of a restaurant all round the business year. Used in the production of meals. Using structural role analysis; In respect of the simplistic of the BUYGRID framework, structural role analysis can also be used in reaching a structural frame work for the sourcing and procurement process for the company. This technique allows each task in the buying procedure to be related to the individual (procurement team) responsible for decision making and is more flexible in the description of the buying procedures in the company for baking flour. In this way, it is easier and possible to include explicitly factors affecting the decision making process in selecting a supplier, these factors includes: Social and cultural factors: the cultural differences or social influences on the level of purchases made on some products have to be monitored for the sake of improvement and how to do better on such goods. Since the restaurant chain is different area of UK, with diverse social and cultural differences. This should be put into consideration and monitored. Political and economical factors: factors like political instabilities, strikes (restaurant union), lock outs, Quotas/ import quotas, Exchange rate fluctuation for goods and services imported, regulations ad restrictions concerning products and designs, application and usage. Laws governing goods and services used in restaurants and also the restaurants in the country. For the supplier of baking flour, some types of flour might be banned in the UK, or importation restricted. Technological factors: technology advances in the restaurant market, provides new opportunities for storage and distribution of goods and services. Suppliers have to upgrade to meet up with present trends in the market. Industrial factors: there are mandatory compliance under a variety of industrial acts, affecting suppliers and restaurants concerning some issues like environmental protection, health, safety, and consumer protection laws e.t.c affecting the selection of suppliers. Organizational: this is from both the buyer and the supplier. Organizational set up of the two parties must be examined. Environmental/ External factors: there are environment laws guiding the type of pollution and amount acceptable in a particular area. Disposing of hazardous components is essential. Risks: the potential risk of a supplier defaulting. Adequate contingency plans should be put in place. In the case the supplier contaminates the goods, because restaurants raw material is very sensitive. Monetary and non monetary factors: the price of goods and services supplied plus distribution is the main factor considered by the buyers. Price drives the purpose for seeking for new suppliers. There are non monetary factors like the good will of the supplier or the supplier is the sole supplier of such product. The lead time on some goods is also crucial to the delivery of such goods and services. The above factors throw light on the cause and effect of specific actions during the decision making process. Structural role analysis links personnel structures with the roles and tasks that are carried out. In this way the constructed model gives a clear indication concerning who is responsible for which tasks. This is well illustrated by structural role analysis since the effects on the buying behaviour in terms of the individuals that carry out specific tasks and the order in which they are carried out are exact. These individuals are all part of the procurement team (includes managers, commercial director, operations director and marketing director, site catering managers). Structural role analysis requires the identification of key decision makers and the intentions between individuals in the decision making unit. To illustrate the use of structural role theory, we should consider the case study of Green chilly company. We should start by displaying the roles of the buying centre (procurement team) of the companys restaurant chain, for example a straight rebuy. A straight rebuy is a routine repurchase that may have been made many times before. In this case study on Green Chilly Company, lets pick a straight rebuy for baking flour. A policy of central procurement is followed. Distribution is carried out from the central depot through a specialist distribution company. The distribution company delivers to all restaurants in three to four days per week all over the UK branches. Each member of the procurement team is briefed and assigned a role (buyer and assistant buyer). In this case of repurchasing baking powder on a straight rebuy process re-evaluation is undertaken before reordering with the same supplier. The re-evaluation of suppliers is going to be carried out in four areas: Quality: the quality of products supplied is very essential to the services and goods rendered by the company. Better quality supplies lead to better goods and services produced. Price: the price of goods and service supplied directly affects the selling price. This includes the distribution costs as well. Service : the packaging and technology advances of the supplier is very paramount to the procurement process Delivery: just in time delivery (JIT) is very important, especially in a restaurant running all through the week. For a product like baking flour cycle stock or buffer stocking should b implemented to prevent shortages. A direct comparison is made of existing supplier and against at least three potential suppliers based on the areas above using a taste panel. As many suppliers as possible are sought which appear to specialize in baking flour products with capabilities to produce such a product. The following steps are carried out: Seeking of potential suppliers Direct comparison on quality Direct comparison on price Direct comparison on service Direct comparison on delivery time Decision/ choice of selected supplier Seeking of potential suppliers: Potential suppliers are either already known to the procurement team of the company, or found through trade journals and directories. Other sources of potential suppliers include trade shows and speculative letters. Therefore, there is a pool of suppliers for baking flour from whom to choose as well as active search for new suppliers. The information needs to be readily available to all potential suppliers with a tight specification on the product and with a rough price built into the brief. All suppliers of baking flour need to match the product to these specifications, including quality, delivery time, price and services rendered. The procurement team acts as a forum for discussion and also to make decisions on what quotas to give in terms of quality, price, delivery time and services. Direct comparison on quality: In this process all products from all suppliers are all tasted blind and this side by side comparison is the key evaluation on the quality aspect. The procurement team makes the decision in terms of taste, texture and colour, and then makes recommendations about which products should be considered further, based on the result of the tasting and recipe compilation. This information is now passed to the leader of the procurement team leader and member who now decided which suppliers should be progressed to the price negotiation stage. Direct comparison on price: These are ballpark figures which the team later finalizes. It is necessary that the specification is complete, and the expected costs including distribution of baking flour are well detailed. In this way the procurement team has knowledge of all price quotations of all suppliers and taste comparison recommendation. Direct comparison on service: A detailed weighted point method is used to categories each suppliers based on their pat performances in rendering their services with GC or with other companies. Direct comparison on delivery time Based on past jobs for GC or other companies, the supplier with the best just in time (JIT) delivery stands better chance of getting contracts from the company. Non-monetary criteria Non monetary criteria includes lead time of some goods and services, good will enjoyed by some suppliers from their clients. There are ways to make decisions just based on abilities not just on monetary basis. A weighted point method is a good example to illustrate this point: Weighted point method This method is based on a non monetary criteria evaluation. Not all criteria and decision can be measured in monetary terms, as no market value exists for some criteria. In this method Green Chilly Company we consider the non monetary costs and benefits associated with each of the identified factors. Based on the factors for considerations in choosing a supplier, a well weighted point method could also be used. Starting with quality and delivery with the weight of 40 and 30 respectively, quality problems are the biggest problems in supplier performance. Next to quality problems is late delivery with a weight of 30. Followed by price differentials with weight 20, then lastly service with weight 10. All these factors are measured on a scare of 1 to 5, worst performances equated to 1 and best performances equated to 5. In this sample method, three suppliers were selected based on their performances and measure against the factors. SAMPLE SUPPLY MODEL FOR BAKING FLOUR (Figure 1) Supplier A rating Supplier A score Supplier B rating Supplier B score Supplier C rating Supplier C score Factor Weight How Measured Quality 40 1 = Worst 5 = Best (3/5)x40 24 (4/5)x40 32 (3/5)x40 24 Delivery 30 1 = Worst 5 = Best (4/5) x 30 24 (4/5)x30 24 (3/5)x30 18 Price 20 1 = Worst 5 = Best (2/5) x 20 8 (5/5)x20 20 (2/5)x20 8 Service 10 Good = 100% Fair = 70% Poor = 40% .7 x 10 7 1.0 x 10 10 .7 x 10 7 Total Points 100 63 86 57 Based on the figure 1 example supplier A has a rating of 3/5 in quality and a total score of 24, 4/5 in delivery and a total score of 24, 2/5 in price and a total score of 8, finally a 70% rating on services render. Supplier B on the other hand scored higher than both supplier A and B, with a total score of 86, scoring higher than supplier A in all levels except delivery with equal level. Supplier C is the worst of all suppliers. So supplier B is the best suited for this purchase of baking flour, and should be awarded the contract. The above developed weightings for criterion dependent on assessment of how important each criterion factors are to the success of selecting supplier C for the supply of baking flour and the impact it will have on the companys activities could as well be measured. Decision/ choice of selected supplier: All these factors enables the procurement team to make decision regarding the suitability of suppliers to fit into the current portfolio of products and prices, since the overall budget is the responsibility of the procurement team, they reach the final agreement on wish supplier to pick based on the budget and delivery process across the country for baking flour. Once those suppliers with acceptable products and services have been identified for the supply of baking flour, the procurement team will meet them in order to discuss the prices and volumes under consideration for the product (baking flour). A few suppliers are retained to this stage so that there is a choice from the procurement teams perspective, and also in the case the chosen supplier starts to under perform. Price is dependent on volume, so both aspects are discussed in tandem. The volumes required for a new product are an educated guess. However, a replacement product has known volume which is traded. The volumes are used as guide in negotiations but are never guaranteed to a su

Essay --

As we ended the year, the State Board of Education had approved a plan to replace the OGT with eight to ten end-of-course exams and had proposed that students earn points toward graduation. The State Board’s plan met challenges as the Ohio House committee passed HB 193 on December 18, 2013. HB 193 differed from the board’s plan by reducing the number and types of state tests that students will need to graduate. It also delays the timeline one year for implementation of the new assessments citing technology readiness issues from school districts. The State Board of Education was not included in the drafting of HB 193 but did provide written testimony on a number of issues it had with the bill early on in the process. HB 193 is expected to receive a House floor vote in early 2014, and then head to the Senate for consideration. I will continue to monitor HB 193 as this makes its way through the legislative process. In the meantime, a technology study conducted by the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) shows difficulties in schools’ capacity to administer the new assessments online. T...

Can We Trust Our Emotions In The Pursuit Of Knowledge?

Mankind shares psychological phenomena known as emotion that is a natural state of mind deriving from a person. 1 By means of this special ability, trusting our emotions in the pursuit of knowledge can be questioned, as it is a circumstance that involves only an individual, there might be an increasing chance of being invalid. This generalization can be countered by the fact there can be influences of emotion in pursuing knowledge in many cases such as in two particular Areas of Knowledge: History and Natural Science.As such, the knowledge issues rose: To what extent does emotion hinder our acquisition of knowledge? This question examines what role emotion play in the pursuit of knowledge and whether or not emotion is a source of knowledge or otherwise, an obstacle to knowledge. In history, the sense of trusting emotions in the process of knowledge acquisition in History as a discourse is rarely ideal. The explanation for this is that emotions can wrongly paint our perceptions for pr oofs to prop historical facts and events.When referring to emotions, it is possible to develop a negative attitude from the evidence presented. There can be of a lot of benefits of the study in history discourse. History aids in understanding what is being studied, give insight of who did it and the approximate or the actual period a study or event occurred. Emotions restrain and influence rationality and thereby leading to distorted history and false facts. An example of emotion is probable forces involving the trial David Irving Vs.Deborah Lipstadt and Penguin publishers. David was accused of being a racist and anti-Semitic by claiming that Holocaust never happened. During a trial, he came up with the evidence to prop his claim that Holocaust never happened. In his evidence, he claimed that there was no official plan or policy to put the Jewish race into termination though there was a proof of the Wansee conference where the Nazis met to plan against the Jews.In the trial, the cou rt was also notified that he used to sing a racist song to his daughters2and based on this fact therefore, one can deduct that he had confirmation biasness owing from his emotions (hatred), towards Jewish race. This biasness therefore, masked the facts of the Holocaust causing the defendant to see things from one dimension which impacted on his judgment and reasoning. Irving was even consistence in his bias by claiming that the gas chambers were not met to exterminate humans but was for delousing. This claim was then discredited by doctors and remained as a conflictive issue.From this point therefore, emotions are not trustworthy in the process of acquisition of knowledge in history. Whilst emotions may negatively impact the history leading to distortion, some emotions can have a positive impact on history as a discourse. These emotions of liking and enthusiasm towards an event, thing, place or group may make one develop the sense of searching for more knowledge concerning the subje ct and therefore this leads to one quest for unearthing the deep hidden facts on the subject and hence producing facts require in History.Example here is: it is the deep sense of belonging and deep feeling of enthusiasm that led to the Egyptians Hussein Bassir, Ahmad Faschri, Sami Gabra, Zakaria Goneim, Labib Habachi among others venture into Egyptology (Study of ancient Egypt). 3 That affection gives these individuals challenges for unearthing more artifacts for ancient history that helps articulate the pieces of Ancient Egypt history and hence an example of positive contribution of emotion to history. 4 In natural science, emotions also may impact the acquisition for knowledge to a great extent.In pharmacology for example, a negative attitude of a researcher in determining the medicinal value, toxicity and the dosage of a certain physiologically active compound (P. A. C. ) from a given herbal might lead to biased research. This has the potential to lead to wrong administrations of bioassays and test of the very same dosage that may lead to negative result even if the P. A. C. is present in large quantities, the result are then pre-set to read negative due to the attitude of the researcher that is likely to affect his dexterity, carefulness and also  perception.This finally leads to a wrong conclusion that in the real sense lacks scientific approval or disapproval as the biasness brought about by emotions led to successive blunders in the following of scientific syntaxes and therefore wrong conclusion and results at the long run. A perfect example to this is a certain Biology class in High Ridge High school where, students were asked to observe different cells in blood samples under a light microscope.The students first perceived that one could not visualize blood cells since it was their first time to do so and more so did it against their wish of using the new microscopes as opposed to the old ones they were obliged to use. Due to the inbuilt feeling that the old microscopes were not as efficient as the new ones therefore, the students smeared their specimen on a slide and then mounted it on a microscope without staining the specimen and hence could not visualize blood cells.In their report to the respective tutor, the students wrote that there was absence of blood cells and the test was negative. The truth of the matter was the negative emotion of being denied the chance to use new microscope outflanked the result orientation in the minds of the students to the extent that they forgot the most crucial step that could lead to success of their scientific activity. Emotions, i. e.attitude, love, hatred, happiness, moods, affection and all others are not worth trust in the process of knowledge acquisition be it in History as a field of discourse, philosophy, natural sciences and even language since the perception of emotions occurs in brain and the knowledge acquisition still occurs in brain and therefore, negative conception of a cert ain idea might lead to biasness that might distort the much required fact either in history research or in natural science.Emotions mask one’s rationality to reason as per the expectations and therefore in that sense impair ones judgment. In the two cases that we have examined, Irving failed to acknowledge the eventuality of Genocide in Germany by the Nazi regime and went further to claim that the murderous gas chambers used were for delousing and not killing humans. Secondly, due to the preset emotions of the students, they fail to stain their specimens and this leads them to wrong results and subsequently conclusions owing to their negative attitude towards using old microscopes as opposed to new ones.The error that occurs is not as attribute of the microscopes but students’ ignorance and negative attitude. It is worth a note also that emotions are not always detrimental to acquisition of knowledge but at times beneficial to the process of knowledge acquisition if at all they are positive as per the case of patriotic Egyptians in their career as Egyptologist. Can we trust our emotions in the pursuit of knowledge? Mankind shares psychological phenomena known as emotion that is a natural state of mind deriving from a person. 1 By means of this special ability, trusting our emotions in the pursuit of knowledge can be questioned, as it is a circumstance that involves only an individual, there might be an increasing chance of being invalid. This generalization can be countered by the fact there can be influences of emotion in pursuing knowledge in many cases such as in two particular Areas of Knowledge: History and Natural Science.As such, the knowledge issues rose: To what extent does emotion hinder our acquisition of knowledge? This question examines what role emotion play in the pursuit of knowledge and whether or not emotion is a source of knowledge or otherwise, an obstacle to knowledge. In history, the sense of trusting emotions in the process of knowledge acquisition in History as a discourse is rarely ideal. The explanation for this is that emotions can wrongly paint our perceptions for pr oofs to prop historical facts and events.When referring to emotions, it is possible to develop a negative attitude from the evidence presented. There can be of a lot of benefits of the study in history discourse. History aids in understanding what is being studied, give insight of who did it and the approximate or the actual period a study or event occurred. Emotions restrain and influence rationality and thereby leading to distorted history and false facts. An example of emotion is probable forces involving the trial David Irving Vs.Deborah Lipstadt and Penguin publishers. David was accused of being a racist and anti-Semitic by claiming that Holocaust never happened. During a trial, he came up with the evidence to prop his claim that Holocaust never happened. In his evidence, he claimed that there was no official plan or policy to put the Jewish race into termination though there was a proof of the Wansee conference where the Nazis met to plan against the Jews.In the trial, the cou rt was also notified that he used to sing a racist song to his daughters2and based on this fact therefore, one can deduct that he had confirmation biasness owing from his emotions (hatred), towards Jewish race. This biasness therefore, masked the facts of the Holocaust causing the defendant to see things from one dimension which impacted on his judgment and reasoning. Irving was even consistence in his bias by claiming that the gas chambers were not met to exterminate humans but was for delousing. This claim was then discredited by doctors and remained as a conflictive issue.From this point therefore, emotions are not trustworthy in the process of acquisition of knowledge in history. Whilst emotions may negatively impact the history leading to distortion, some emotions can have a positive impact on history as a discourse. These emotions of liking and enthusiasm towards an event, thing, place or group may make one develop the sense of searching for more knowledge concerning the subje ct and therefore this leads to one quest for unearthing the deep hidden facts on the subject and hence producing facts require in History.Example here is: it is the deep sense of belonging and deep feeling of enthusiasm that led to the Egyptians Hussein Bassir, Ahmad Faschri, Sami Gabra, Zakaria Goneim, Labib Habachi among others venture into Egyptology (Study of ancient Egypt). 3 That affection gives these individuals challenges for unearthing more artifacts for ancient history that helps articulate the pieces of Ancient Egypt history and hence an example of positive contribution of emotion to history. 4 In natural science, emotions also may impact the acquisition for knowledge to a great extent.In pharmacology for example, a negative attitude of a researcher in determining the medicinal value, toxicity and the dosage of a certain physiologically active compound (P. A. C. ) from a given herbal might lead to biased research. This has the potential to lead to wrong administrations of bioassays and test of the very same dosage that may lead to negative result even if the P. A. C. is present in large quantities, the result are then pre-set to read negative due to the attitude of the researcher that is likely to affect his dexterity, carefulness and also  perception.This finally leads to a wrong conclusion that in the real sense lacks scientific approval or disapproval as the biasness brought about by emotions led to successive blunders in the following of scientific syntaxes and therefore wrong conclusion and results at the long run. A perfect example to this is a certain Biology class in High Ridge High school where, students were asked to observe different cells in blood samples under a light microscope.The students first perceived that one could not visualize blood cells since it was their first time to do so and more so did it against their wish of using the new microscopes as opposed to the old ones they were obliged to use. Due to the inbuilt feeling that the old microscopes were not as efficient as the new ones therefore, the students smeared their specimen on a slide and then mounted it on a microscope without staining the specimen and hence could not visualize blood cells.In their report to the respective tutor, the students wrote that there was absence of blood cells and the test was negative. The truth of the matter was the negative emotion of being denied the chance to use new microscope outflanked the result orientation in the minds of the students to the extent that they forgot the most crucial step that could lead to success of their scientific activity.Emotions, i. e.  attitude, love, hatred, happiness, moods, affection and all others are not worth trust in the process of knowledge acquisition be it in History as a field of discourse, philosophy, natural sciences and even language since the perception of emotions occurs in brain and the knowledge acquisition still occurs in brain and therefore, negative conception of a c ertain idea might lead to biasness that might distort the much required fact either in history research or in natural science.Emotions mask one’s rationality to reason as per the expectations and therefore in that sense impair ones judgment. In the two cases that we have examined, Irving failed to acknowledge the eventuality of Genocide in Germany by the Nazi regime and went further to claim that the murderous gas chambers used were for delousing and not killing humans. Secondly, due to the preset emotions of the students, they fail to stain their specimens and this leads them to wrong results and subsequently conclusions owing to their negative attitude towards using old microscopes as opposed to new ones.The error that occurs is not as attribute of the microscopes but students’ ignorance and negative attitude. It is worth a note also that emotions are not always detrimental to acquisition of knowledge but at times beneficial to the process of knowledge acquisition if at all they are positive as per the case of patriotic Egyptians in their career as Egyptologist.

Wilmot Proviso

It could be said that the American Civil War was brought on by Americans need to expand its territories and the one sided Mexican War. The whole debate or controversy over this expansion was David Wilmot’s (and his squad of backers: Hamlin, Brinkerhoff, and King) trying to implement the Wilmot Proviso into the funding for the Mexican territories we acquired. The proviso actually fueled the debate over slavery into the newly acquired territories by trying to make the territories slave free acquisitions. The Wilmot Proviso was a simply desire to make newly acquired territories free from slavery.As pointed out in the opening of this discussion however, banning slavery in these territories was a mute point in the fore front. So what impact did the Wilmot Proviso have on the debate over slavery in America? It actually seemed to create a debate were one did not actually exist. The debate or desire to ban slavery was created by Democratic House members (anti-slavery members) who were afraid that the Whig party would spin the War with Mexico into their desire to expand slavery. [1] So the very party that supported slavery issues had the desire to ban slavery in the new territories anyway.Although these few anti-slavery Democrats did not represent the whole, the desire was there and they wanted the territories to be free. Given, this move was to keep the Whig party from making the accusations that the Democrats were moving to expand the real estate for slavery. McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era, even points out that Congressman from the northern states tried to enact a proviso banning from the territories acquired by a war in which two-thirds of the volunteer soldiers had come from slave states. General Taylor was a slaveholder but opposed the expansion of slavery when he became president. 2] McPherson examines the irony of this fact as well as many other ironies that were to do with the Mexican War and the Civil War.Another point that McPherson makes is that the men won the Mexican War because of the marksmanship and elan of their mixed divisions of regulars and volunteers and above all because of the professionalism and courage of their junior officers. Yet the competence of these men foreshadowed the ultimate irony of the Mexican War, for many of the best of them would fight against each other in the next war. 3] This is pretty powerful stuff that McPherson is feeding us, pointing out the fact that nearly the same group of men who fought the Mexican War would face one another again during the Civil War. The fact that they were so successful in the first led them to face one another in the second partly due to the Wilmot Proviso and other factors that revolved supposedly around the slavery issue. Taking a different avenue of approach on the supposed fact that slavery and the Wilmot Proviso was the cause and sole factor of the Civil War.During and in the heat of the Wilmot Proviso debate, many southern lawmakers began to question the right of Congress to determine the status of slavery in any territory. According to John Calhoun, the territories belonged to all the states. Why should a citizen of one stated be denied the right to make his property, including slave, into territory owned by all? This line of reasoning began to dominate the southern argument. [4] So here now enters the government encroaching on the rights of the southern states and overreaching its authority to tell them what they could and could not do in their territories.So, although slavery was the catalyst, the southerners began to turn the whole issue into â€Å"rights† issue that revolved around properties. The federal government began meddling in the rights of the states to govern its domain. So the fact that the Wilmot Proviso was trying to govern who and who â€Å"could not† have slaves was a violation of the state’s rights. The issue moved from one of abstraction to one involving practical matters. The n ature of the Constitution, slavery, the value of free labor, political power, and ultimately political realignment were all involved in the debate. 5] The southerners started to become enraged at the fact they were being told what to do and how to do it. So what was the impact of the Wilmot Proviso on the debate over slavery in America? Some would say that the Wilmot Proviso is one of the top five reasons or causes for the Civil War and I might have to agree with that as well. In my opinion, the proviso just fueled the fire on the slavery debate simply due to the fact that it was pointless in the sense they were trying to impose a ban on in area that would have not really benefited from the use of slaves anyway.The areas of Texas, Arizona, and California were not geographic areas where slaves would have made a great deal of difference anyway so the proviso was pointless to them. The proviso was trying to impose a ban on slavery in areas where there was to be little need for slaves a nyway. So the proviso was just a platform to them to impose slavery bans in the south and expand their agenda on the issue. The southern states saw the proviso as an insult to the Southern states and their stand on slavery.Of course, I do think they were moving in the right direction from a humanitarian standpoint they were going about it the wrong way. The debate should have been over the constitutionality of the issue all together and the rights of all men/women. They even entertained the thought of popular sovereignty but that would just have let the issue as is because the southern states would have left it like it was and the northern states would have moved to abolish it all together. Let us not forget that the southern states were not the only areas that possessed slaves.The northern states and citizens did indeed possess slaves in large numbers and many of the politicians pushing the issue of banning it were slave owners themselves. So, in a hypocritical fashion, they were p reaching one thing and practicing another. This could not have been favorable to their standpoint at all. Sounds a lot like our politicians today and the way they practice government of late. The point made and known today is that slavery was wrong, inhuman, and unjust and we know that today. The reasons or thought process they used then to justify what they were doing boggles the mind and makes you wonder.It should have been made law without question and the Wilmot Proviso was a move towards that fact. The only ones that were offended or involved were the ones that were practicing this and most of those were wealthy farmers and beau crates and the most common of people could have cared less.[1] http://blueandgraytrial. com/event/Wilmot_Proviso [2] James McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era. Oxford Press 1988, p. 4 [3] Ibid, p. 4 [4] www. ushistory. org/us/30b [5] Michael F. Holt, The Political Crises of the 1850 s. 1978, p. 50