Food Wastage Essay

1. It is hard to produce food. a) Food takes time to grow and mature. Besides this, there are a lot of factors that contribute towards the production of food. i. Temperature and rainfall are critical elements determining when and how often crops can be sown. While some Asian countries are able to harvest three times in a single year, food production nearly halts during dry seasons in many tropical zones and during winter cold in temperate areas. (DeRose, Messer & Millman, 1998) b) It cost a lot to maintain a good production of food. i. Investments in agricultural intensification, including higher-yield-potential seeds, fertilizers, water management and chemicals for pest control, are costly and make it unlikely that they will be easily or widely available for use by poorer farmers and countries. (DeRose, Messer & Millman, 1998) c) We are starting to lack food production area to support civilizations. i. South Korea’s Daewoo Logistics announced last month that it has signed a 99-year lease on 3. 2 million acres of land in Madagascar, which it will use to produce corn and palm oil for shipment home. (Goering, 2008) ii. The rush to buy or enter long-term leases on land has been fueled in part by the low levels of world grain stocks, despite record harvests this year, and by a growing sense that world markets cannot be trusted to supply adequate grain. (Goering, 2008) 2. People are wasting a lot of food. d) In different occasions, people waste food. i. A significant proportion of food waste is produced by the domestic household, which, in 2007, created 6,700,000 tonnes of food waste. Potatoes, bread slices and apples are respectively the most wasted foods by quantity, while salads are thrown away in the greatest proportion. e) Food products from restaurants and shops are seldom kept when they are not sold after the day. Those foods were thrown away. i. Grocery stores discard products because of spoilage or minor cosmetic blemishes. Restaurants throw away what they don’t use. (Martin, 2008) ii. Supermarkets particularly have been criticized for wasting items which are damaged or unsold (surplus food), but that often remain edible. (Yorkshire & Lincolnshire,2005) f) According to statistic, people waste more food than they eat. i. Americans generate roughly 30 million tons of food waste each year, which is about 12 percent of the total waste stream. ( Trum, 1998) 3. Food wastage causes a lot of problems. g) It affects the environment by increasing waste, and pollutes the area. i. The rotting food that ends up in landfills produces methane, a major source of greenhouse gases. h) Wasting the food we have indirectly causes starvation to other people. It is because the amount of food we waste can actually feed upon many poor people. i. Each year, Americans discard more than 96 billion pounds of good food. If 5% was recovered, it could provide the equivalent of a day’s food for four million hungry people; 10%, eight million; and 25%, 20 million. (Trum, 1998) i) Wasting food also wasted our money. It costs us money to produce food and treat the food waste. i. 1 ton of rice requires a world average of 3419 m3 per ton of water. Imagine the amount of food we wasted. The amount of water wasted is even larger, and we are now low on clean potable water. Call to actions: 1. Registration of World Fund Program (WFP) to favor organizations in providing aids to people who are unable to produce enough food to support them. 2. Audiences should sign an indemnity letter on following the 5 steps towards reduce food waste: plan meal, make detail shopping list and stick to it, serve reasonable size portion food, save leftovers and eat those leftovers.

Three Programs To Listen And Analysis Essays - Free Essays

Three Programs To Listen And Analysis Essays - Free Essays Three Programs To Listen And Analysis For this project, I chose to pick three programs to listen to on PeachState Radio, station 88.1 on the FM dial. The programs were Classical24, which aired Monday through Thursday from 12am-5am; Jazz AfterHours which aired from 12am-5am on Fridays and Saturdays; and CarTalk which aired Saturdays from 10am-11am. I chose these programsbecause I thought it would give me an insight on a good variety of theprograms played on national public radio. Classic 24 played an arrayof selections ranging from Mozart and Beethoven to Haydn and Chopin. Jazz After Hours featured names common to me like John Coltrane andRosemary Clooney, but also many others whose music that I foundquite enjoyable. Still, the program I liked the most and chose to writeabout was Car Talk. Car Talk airs weekly on the National Public Radio. Its a call-inradio show that allows listeners to ask questions about problems withtheir car. Brothers Click and Clack Tappet help the people solve theirtroubles in a comical, yet helpfu l way. The brothers always seem topoke fun at their callers, making them feel somewhat stupid, yetalways bounce back with an answer to the problem. The episode Ipicked to discuss aired February 20, 1999. The first caller to the program was Doris, who had a 1988 PontiacSunbird that was running hot. She complained that at a time whiledriving, the temperature went way up. She said that she went to hermechanic and he said he was too busy and would help her tomorrow. Click and Clack commented that if she was having a heart attack,would the doctor ask her to come back the next day? They told hernot to go back to a mechanic that puts you off. The most probablesolution, they said, was simply to change the thermostat and to makesure that the electric cooling fan was working. Another caller, Ann, who owned a 1994 Mercury Villager wasconcerned with whether or not her van was able to make across-country trip while pulling a pop-up trailer. Click and Clack saidthat it probably would not. They sa id she should drive it out to PikesPeak, let the kids push it off, and go buy a Yukon to pull the camper. Of course they were only kidding and told the caller that she shouldhave the engine and transmission properly serviced and that it wouldbe fine. The last one I want to talk about was the funniest to me. A womancalled in about clutch problems on a 1989 Volkswagon. She said thatshe had been through five clutches and the car only had 85,000 mileson it. She said that she had taken the car back to the dealership forrepairs, and each time they could not figure out the problem. Themechanics said that the teeth on the flywheels kept breaking and thepressure plate was splitting in half. Click and Clack asked questions totry to find a solution but the results were negative. They called her awacko woman driver and said the only thing wrong with her car wasthat she needed to learn to drive properly. Car Talk was a very informative and humorous program. I did notexpect to get a laugh out of it, but to my surprise I did. It can reallyhelp solve those troublesome car problems. Car Talk was a really coolshow and if I ever am riding along at ten in the morning on aSaturday, I would definitely listen to it again.

How to Prepare for NaNoWriMo Shaelins Top Tips

How to Prepare for NaNoWriMo Shaelins Top Tips How to Prepare for NaNoWriMo: Shaelin's Top Tips Shaelin Bishop is a writer, YouTuber, and a member of the team here at Reedsy. She’s also a veteran of the 30-day novel writing competition NaNoWriMo, having taken part in it for three years. In this lightly edited transcript of her video, she'll show you how to prepare for NaNoWriMo with her top ten tips. Step 1: Schedule in advanceOf course, with NaNoWriMo, there is the standard word count approach where you write 1,667 words per day. If you have a consistent schedule, you might be able to just write to this schedule. Every time I've done NaNoWriMo, however, I was a student in high school and had things due at different times, so my schedule was not that consistent at all. So, I found it more useful to kind of make my own schedule.If you have any questions, thoughts, or personal tips about preparing for NaNoWriMo, please share them in the comments below.

Business Strategy Master Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words

Business Strategy Master - Case Study Example The retail business had grown in size by 1990 and it had even acquired two manufacturing companies in China. In 1991, Giordano was listed in the Hong Kong stock exchange as Giordano Holdings limited and this enabled it to incorporate Bermuda to become Giordano group. This was an opportunity for the company to expand especially in markets outside Hong Kong. The difficulties that the company experienced at the time were the Asian financial crisis, the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and disruptions of operations in China. Despite all these, it had improved tremendously in its benefits and revenues. By the year 2004, the company was boasting of a multi-brand development, geographical and market expansion in Asia and Middle East. The economy grew and the company had increased property and stock markets. This made it to earn wholesale margins. In the year 2005, the company's net profit rose yet again but by the third quarter, it had dropped because of heavy rainfall, a spew of typhoons and warm temperatures in the region. In the same year, they signed an agreement with Walt Disney to improve their brand. The workers of this company were at the forefront of ensuring that the company's objectives were achieved. The employees were offered salaries that were higher than those in the market and they were also retained. From 1997 to 2003, Hong Kong revenues began declining after a significant drop in tourist activity. Giordano Company's primary markets are china, Singapore, and Taiwan. Other markets include Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Japan, Korea and the Middle East. This company's main competitors are: Esprit holdings, Benetton, Uniqlo, Bossini, G 2000, Baleno and U-right companies. With the growing and changing global retail, there is need for this company to explore different strategies to counter the different markets and have a competitive advantage over their competitors (Needle, 2004). Question 1 Macro factors that affect business performance and profitability in this industry. The key macro factors that are brought out in this organization are the political, economic, socio-cultural, technological, legal, and the environmental influences. They are factors that have affected the performance and profitability of the organization. Political trend is such one factor that has manifested itself in the company. During the venture into the Chinese market, there was a fall out between a Chinese leader and Jimmy Lai because of the way he openly criticized his government which led to the closure of the company's outlet in Beijing. Jimmy Lai had to withdraw from the management of the company as the Chinese government continued to close the company's other outlets. As soon as his presence was no longer felt, Giordano Company introduced new policies that enabled it open new shops in China. Unemployment is an economic factor which has affected this industry. In Hong Kong, the market was doing well until there was a significant drop in the tourism industry. Within six yea rs, the economy had experienced at least three economic recessions which led to high unemployment rates (Needle, 2004). Leisure is a socio cultural activity that is brought out in th

Project Propozal ( What motivete oversea student come to study in the Coursework

Project Propozal ( What motivete oversea student come to study in the United Kingdom) - Coursework Example Apart from this, the current oversea students can also benefit through this research. The aim of this research paper is to identify and analyze the factors which influence and motivate oversea students to come to study in UK. I have chosen this topic for my research because I am also an oversea student who was pretty much motivated to study in UK since very beginning but this did not proved to be something very easy for me. I had faced my obstacles in my way to achieve this highly reputable degree and now I believe that motivation is not only required at the initial stage but it is required throughout the process therefore I am working on this project with an objective to motivate students who are willing to study in UK but are unable to do so for any reason and to keep the current oversea students motivated and focused. English language was developed in England and it is their mother tongue. All everyone speak English there accent is slightly different for the foreign students but once you get here it becomes easy for you to understand their accent and speak the language fluently. There are many factors that motivates and influence students to come and study UK in which the peaceful and committed environment of the UK plays the most important role. UK promises it students to give them the quality exposure along with an everlasting exposure and it really fulfills this promise. Motivation is basically a stimulus that drives a need to be fulfilled (Robbins 25). Not only major decisions and task are performed successfully because of motivation but also the smallest achievements are made due to motivation. For instance, you cannot perform well on a quiz if you were not motivated enough to gain good marks. There are two main components of motivation which actually encouraged a person to achieve something they are intrinsic factors and extrinsic factors. As the name indicates intrinsic

Informational interview Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Informational interview - Article Example She had worked as an academic counsellor at the career centre before she was promoted to the post of associate director. Briana has a professional work experience of ten years. She majored in Psychology in her undergraduate level and later acquired Masters and Ph.D. degrees in Counselling. She had also worked in a bagel shop while in high school. I was motivated to request Briana Randall for an interview because of my interest in the field of academic counselling. Following the interview session, I was able to learn a number of issues that are quite crucial to individual who wants to venture into the field. Although an undergraduate degree is an essential foundation for individuals who want to venture into the career of counselling, it is not adequate. The least educational qualification for an academic counsellor is a Master’s degree in any field. In addition to this, work experience in the field is vital for one to be able to effectively deliver in this field. Because of this reason one should explore available options such as volunteer opportunities and internships so as to gain experience before seeking full-time employment. These opportunities may include counselling children, high school students or even working in a crisis clinic. This will also help one to determine if such a job gives him/her career satisfact ion. Moreover, a number of skills are required to be able to succeed in the field including ability to multitask, supervision skills, management skills and delegation skills. Being a very involving career, one needs to be ambitious so as to be able to handle all the tasks. Duties of a counsellor that probably is the starting post for an upcoming academic counsellor include and are not limited to; appointments with students, answering students emails, preparing for workshops and reading extensively about career and job options. The responsibilities of the high-ranking associate director include leading

The Challenges In Implementing Erp Systems

The Challenges In Implementing Erp Systems ERP is the process of integrating all the business functions and processes in an organization to achieve numerous benefits. First, a single point of data entry helps to reduce data redundancy while saving employees time in entering data, thereby reducing labour and overhead costs. Second, the centralization of information, decision-making, and control leads to increases in efficiencies of operations and productivity, as well as coordination between departments, divisions, regions, and even countries. This is especially true for multinational corporations (MNC), in which global integration could result in better communications and coordination around the world. The global sourcing and distribution of parts and services could also provide appropriate benchmarks for operations around the world. Third, the sharing of a centralized database provides business managers with accurate and up-to-date information to make well informed business decisions. Further, it reduces data redundancy while improving data integrity at the same time. Fourth, functional integration will consolidate all sorts of data, such as financial, manufacturing, and sales, to take advantage of bulk discounts. ERP is especially important for companies who are intimately connected to their vendors and customers, and who used electronic data interchange (EDI) to process sales transactions electronically. Therefore, the implementation of ERP is exceptionally beneficial to businesses such as manufacturing plants that mass-produce products with little changes. Nevertheless, the revolutionary and innovative ERP software system quickly expands into other business areas such as finance and retailing. ERP also provides companies with a competitive advantage over their competitors. But despite these several benefits, there are also certain challenges faced by ERP, especially during the implementation phase. Some of the challenges faced during the implementation of an ERP system are explained in the following sections. Typically ERP systems are very costly, take a lot of time to implement and have a risk associated with implementation, and also affect the job profiles of many employees. Thus the three major dimensions involved are money, time and people involvement. In addition, there is also a requirement to re-engineer existing business practices to match the needs of the new ERP system. AN ERP IMPLEMENTATION PLAN The following flowchart depicts several activities that must be performed before implementing an ERP system. Step 1: Managers must conduct a feasibility study of the current situation to assess the organizations needs by analyzing the availability of hardware, software, databases, and in-house computer expertise, and make the decision to implement ERP where integration is essential. They must also set goals for improvement and establish objectives for the implementation, and calculate the break-even points and benefits to be received from this expensive IT investment. Step 2: The second major activity involves educating and recruiting end users to be involved throughout the implementation process. Step 3: Managers form a project team or steering committee that consists of experts from all functional areas to lead the project. Step 4: After a decision is made to implement ERP, a team of system consultants will be hired to evaluate the appropriateness of implementing an ERP system, and to help select the best enterprise software provider and the best approach to implementing ERP. In most situations, the consultant team also recommends the modules that are best suited to the companys operations (manufacturing, financial, human resources, logistics, forecasting, etc.), system configurations, and Business-to-Business applications such as supply-chain management, customer relationship management, e-procurement, and e-marketplace. Step 5: Adequate employee and manager training must be provided to all business, stakeholders, including managers, end users, customers, and vendors, before the system is implemented. Such training is usually customized and can be provided by either internal or outside trainers. Step 6: The system installation process will address issues such as software configuration, hardware acquisition, and software testing. Step 7: Data and information in the databases must be converted to the format used in the new ERP system and servers and networks need to be upgraded. A post implementation review is recommended to ensure that all business objectives established during the planning phase are achieved. Needed modifications are tackled during this phase too. Issues Faced while Implementing an ERP Although issues faced while implementing an ERP are numerous, but this report classifies them majorly into selection related issues, technical issues, psychological issues, organisational change related issues and time and cost related problems. Selecting an appropriate ERP The first and foremost challenge faced by many organisations is deciding what sort of an ERP system they should select to implement. The managers must decide on the size, type and scope of the ERP system they actually require and how to choose the best solution amongst the existing hundreds of systems in the market. This selection problem arises for all businesses without exception and should be considered as seriously as possible for the reason that ERP system choice defines a companys strategy for at least the following 6 to 10 years and, no doubt, has a major impact on the future success of the entire business. To decide on the implementation of a successful ERP program, the managers should have an in-depth understanding of the organisations current business processes, organisational structure, culture, work environment and financial and economic strength. Due to enormous impact on the competitive advantage of the company, top management must consider the strategic implications of implementing an ERP solution keeping in mind the size of the company and the modules installed. Management must ponder about several topics like:- à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Does the ERP system strengthen the companys competitive position? à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ How does ERP affect the organizational structure and the culture? What is the scope of the ERP implementation only a few functional units or the entire organization? à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Are there any alternatives that meet the companys needs better than an ERP system? à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ If it is a multinational corporation, the management should be concerned about whether it would be better to roll the system out globally or restrict it to certain regional units? Only when all these points have been taken care of, can an ERP system be selected for further implementation. Technical Issues Once the appropriate ERP is selected, the arduous task of implementation has only begun. The next part of implementation issues are related to the technical aspects of the project both hardware and software. These issues include the existing servers and workstations to be updated and new and modern ones to be ordered, purchased, and replaced. The internal network also has to be analyzed and modernized if required; the speed and bandwidth of the existing Internet access should be taken into consideration, along with possible technical concerns about the mobile devices being used. If these questions are underestimated, they can dramatically impact the overall result of the project and easily result in slow performance in the first few weeks, or in some cases months of ERP implementation hence resulting in a slackening of the existing pace of business. However the situation has been changed during the last few years, and plenty of software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications that have shown up on the market now allow the cost and headache of hardware problems to be minimized. More specifically, ERP systems need a Graphical User Interface at the front end, and are based on a client-server technology. They require the ability to access and share data across all applications across different platforms. Some servers and equipment might have a need to be custom built, and that can also cause a time lag in ERP implementation. In short, it can be said that the unique hardware and software needs of an ERP system, along with the continued use of pre existing applications in an organisation can prove to be tricky and are a major consideration while implementing an ERP. Data quality and consistency issues This issue is common in companies that are implementing ERP for the first time and transferring their legacy data into the new system from Excel spreadsheets, manual records, or old disparate applications. Basically, the question is that old data that have been used and stored for years can for many reasons appear approximate or even incorrect in the new ERP system. Integration of data from other older systems with the new ERP system is a major concern while implementing the system. A particular company might have accounting and finance systems operating on different mainframes (say IBM 370 architecture), MRP systems on a high end VAX, and a logistics system on an AS 400. The legacy systems of this company might be coded in COBOL. Thus, the implementation of a new ERP system for such a company needs to be done very carefully and requires technical judgement for the implementation of this new system. People related Psychological Issues This is the most difficult type of issue to resolve. These are the questions and issues that originate from the aspect of human nature that never accepts any change without seeing the visible advantages of it. People-related issues such as corporate philosophy and leadership style can play an important role in the ERP implementation process. Research has concluded that active top management support and commitment are essential to the success of any system implementation. Frequently, executive councils and steering committees consisting of top managers are developed to plan and manage the IT initiatives. Employees can be quite wary of any kind of change in the business processes, particularly during periods of economic downturn. Ill-trained employees who fight the changes in the business process tend to be poor performers. Therefore, to increase the chance of a successful ERP implementation and to reduce users resistance to change, employees, especially those who are very knowledgeable with the operations, must be involved in all stages of the implementation process. Employees must also be educated about the ERP installation. Such educational endeavours should include a concise introduction to the basic concepts and architecture of ERP systems, including actual screen shots of the function modules. During these training sessions, it is important to discuss the managerial issues involved and to build a basic understanding of the integration concepts prior to the actual installation of the ERP system. Further, any Business-to- Business initiatives, reengineering projects, alliances, an d the introduction of new technologies should also be addressed. Project managers must take charge of the implementation process at all times. They must oversee the reengineering of the key business processes, reassign job responsibilities, restructure the organizations chart, and redefine work relationships. Further, they must also learn how to manage the software vendors and any outside consultants. Employees working on an ERP implementation project put in long hours (as much as 20 hours per day) including seven-day weeks and even holidays. Even though the experience is valuable for their career growth, the stress of implementation coupled with regular job duties could decrease their morale rapidly. Leadership from upper management and support and caring acts of project leaders would certainly boost the morale of the team members. Other strategies, such as taking the employees on field trips, could help reduce the stress and improve the morale. Organisational Changes ERP implementation brings significant changes into a companys conventional business model and the day-to day practices it has been using for years or even decades. ERP implementation requires organizations to reengineer their key business processes in fundamental ways, revamping old ways of conducting business, redefining job responsibilities, and restructuring the organization. For major multinational corporations (MNC), the ERP systems must be customized to address global issues where different countries have different ways of doing business, and to incorporate country-specific business practices pertaining to accounting, tax requirements, environmental regulations, human resources, manufacturing, and currency conversion into the integrated systems. While integrating the information systems across various countries, three types of misfits (relating to data, process, and output) can occur due to incompatibilities between software functionality and organizational requirements as well as differences in cultural and regulatory environments. The unique context of each country in which an organization operates must be carefully included into the traditionally Western-biased business practices inherent in the ERP systems. Implementation Cost and Time Implementation Cost: Even though the price of prewritten software is cheap compared with in-house development, the total cost of implementation could be three to five times the purchase price of the software. The implementation costs would increase as the degree of customization increases. After training the selected employees, strategies such as bonus programs, company perks, salary increases, continual training and education, and appeals to company loyalty work to retain them. Other intangible strategies such as flexible work hours, telecommuting options, and opportunities to work with leading-edge technologies are also being used. Implementation Time: ERP systems come in modular fashion and do not have to be implemented entirely at once. ERP packages are very general and need to be configured to a specific type of business and may follow a phase-in approach with one module implemented at a time. Some of the most commonly installed modules are sales and distribution (SD), materials management (MM), production and planning, (PP), and finance and controlling (FI) modules. The length of implementation is affected by the number of modules being implemented, the scope of the implementation, the extent of customization, and the number of interfaces with other applications. The more the number of units, the longer the implementation time. Further as the scope of implementation grows from a single business unit to multiple units spread out globally, the duration of implementation increases. Conclusion An ERP implementation is a huge commitment from the organization, causing millions of dollars and can take up to several years to complete. However, when it is integrated successfully, the benefits can be enormous. A well-designed and properly integrated ERP system allows the most updated information to be shared among various business functions, thereby resulting in tremendous cost savings and increased efficiency. When making the implementation decision, management must considered fundamental issues such as the organizations readiness for a dramatic change, the degree of integration, key business processes to be implemented, older applications to be included, and whether or not new hardware needs to be acquired. In order to increase the chance of user acceptance, employees must be consulted and be involved in all stages of the implementation process. Providing proper education and appropriate training are also two important strategies to increase the end user acceptance rate. The o rganization is also going through a drastic change, with changes in the way businesses are conducted, the organization being restructured, and job responsibilities being redefined. And finally, the cost and time of implementation of an ERP system also are a major challenge faced during the implementation process.