Techonology affects our life Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Techonology affects our life - Essay Example reading, and was now forcing me to carry out another action involving modern technology, in this case mostly referred to internet and cell phone usage. I always knew that technology referred to the application of scientific knowledge in the creation of a machine, tool, or a system, intended to solve a problem present in our life. But is it what modern technology accomplishing these days? I have been sensing this behavioral change for a while now; a persistent compelling to log in to my Facebook account in the middle of night, a severe drive to check my e-mail during a lecture, a relentless desire to steal a look at my cell phone for incoming texts during a group meeting, were few of the examples. From my modified conduct, I could claim that this modern technology, with its ever increasing presence and various mediums, was gradually enslaving me. But at the same time, I could contest that this panic is always adjunct to the emergence of all new technologies, and instead of fighting it , I should simply embrace it. In his article Writing Is a Technology that Restructures Thought, Walter Ong declared that â€Å"New tracks for thought are imposed by the newer technologies,† (30), but I do not strictly agree with his statement. Although, I consent that in the past ten to twelve years, my reliance on technology has increased to such an extent that it has altered how I connect with people around me, and perceive attainment and retention of knowledge, but it has not mutated my thought process. Technology has certainly transformed the way I connect with people, for example, the other day, I was thinking, when was the last time I sent or received a personal letter; not the bank statements, or solicitation pamphlets, I receive every other day, but an actual letter from an acquaintance of mine. Even the yearly season’s greeting cards I used to receive had reduced to one or two. Although, this gradual change, brought on by the increasing popularity and usage of new technological mediums, was relevant enough for me to notice, it was not profound enough to emotionally distraught me. It was probably because I realized that, for me, what matters, is the sincere and deep wishes of the sender, not the medium they are utilizing to send them. Therefore, I can say that technology has ended the ‘paper’ exchange of wishes, but it has not rendered the social interaction to be defunct. C.P. Snow once said in New York Times that ‘Technology... is a queer thing. It brings you great gifts with one hand, and it stabs you in the back with the other,’ (Editors, 110). Few days ago I faced a situation, which left me feeling the same. I was supposed to travel to an unknown location with my grandfather, and I guaranteed him that I will get the complete address through Google maps, so that he does not need to keep the paper map with him. When we both sat in the car, he asked me whether I took the directions, and I assured him that yes I did look at them. He asked me if I memorized the directions, and I told him that whenever required, I will access Google through my I-Phone, and we will be able to look at the instructions. The look he gave me said a thousand words. He further playfully stated that if I kept on continuing like this, and did not put my brain to work by memorizing these minor things, my brain will gradually deteriorate. After this incident, I was

An op-ed piece Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

An op-ed piece - Essay Example Media reports confirm that the student loan debt has ballooned into a gigantic $870 million – even beating debts on car and credit card! Now that is surprising! And this number is projected to rise exponentially within the next few years. Therefore, it is reasonable that the Fairness for Struggling Students Act or FSSA has turned out to be the main focus of government agencies, particularly of the education department. The act would enable student loan debts to be stamped out during bankruptcy proceedings. It gained widespread support from the government and education groups seeing it as a potential solution to the economic problem. Just a couple of days ago, an article written for the Fox News reported that there is a $1.11 trillion â€Å"student loans outstanding† and $121 billion of them â€Å"are 90-plus days delinquent or in default. And this is on top of the fact that college costs has constantly risen over the past few years while the income of college graduates in industries aside from technology and finance, are tripping over (Verhage, n.p). I do not particularly understand why student forgiveness acts do help solve the economic problem when there is not much income that can be generated through taxes. The government is simply shelling out billions of money, bailing out students in an unorthodox manner by simply wiping out their student loan debts. First of all, I go for the argument that education is not really a right but is only a privilege. Nobody can legally claim that he or she is entitled to it. But, if the government stresses on private lenders the inability of a student to pay debts and encourage them to rid student loans is just the same as telling that education is a right after all. Another thing that I would like to put up is that default on loans, which is currently at $121 billion, and compelling private lenders to forgive students who could not pay their debts are acts of insult and slight to property

The Evaluation And Selection Construction Method Of Smart Construction Essay

The Evaluation And Selection Construction Method Of Smart Construction Essay Malaysia is a rainy season country especially from November to March it will have heavy rainfall during this period. Unfortunately our capital Kuala Lumpur (KL) is located at the valley positions which frequently happen flooding problem since according to (Sin Chew Daily 2011) started from 31 December 1970 years three quarter of the city were flooded during rainy season. The flooding problem will cause the develop of our country. The impact involved of damages the lives of human, effect the economic use of the land such as the cost of land will be low because none of the owner would like have the land which frequently faced flood problem and also the structural damage such as the maintenance cost or the repair cost. Take an example according to (Datuk IR Hj) about 445 hectares of land in the city were inundated to various depths of up to 2 meter and the cost of damage was estimated to be region of RM 36 million, it was a huge amount if the problem continue for feature. Therefore Mala ysia government have come out with a solution which is invested in a program call smart tunnel project or Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel project. According to (Siao 2003) The smart tunnel project are located nearby the confluence point of Sg.Ampang river and Sg Klang river in the north and ends at the lake at Desa Water Park .The total tunnel length is 9.7 km with a bore diameter of 13.26m. The usage of smart tunnel is to solve the problem floods in Kuala Lumpur and also reduce traffic jam along Jalan Sungai Besi and low yew at Pudu during rush hour; therefore there are two components of this tunnel, the StormWater tunnel and motorway tunnel. It is the longest multi-purpose tunnel in the world. 1.2 Background The Stormwater management and road tunnel is located at the eastern side of Kuala Lumpur in a north east-south west direction. Due to the geographical environment of Kuala Lumpur are located at the valley it will stagnant water more easily and our rivers today do not have the capacity to discharge the water to another place cause Kuala Lumpur suffered serious damages during the flash flood from years 1970 until now. Accroding to(Smart project 2012) That may the reason the government come out with a solution that is smart tunnel project, the idea of smart tunnel is to decrease the flooding problem that Kuala Lumpur is face up to each time of heavily rain by divert the water entering from the critical location which is Sg.Klang,Sg.Ampang and Sg.Gombak using a holding basin ,storage reservoir and the bypass tunnel and reduce the traffic jam during rush hours in Kuala Lumpur .(Stormwater management and road tunnel project .viewed on 19 June 2012. The Smart Tunnel project was initiated by the former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahatir Mohammad under the Malaysian development. This project is included of cooperation of local authorities, private sectors, and some international engineer consultant. For the government department involved in this project are the department of irrigation and drainage Malaysia and Malaysian Highway Authority. For the private sectors are MMC Berhad and GAMUDA Berhad . The site of Smart tunnel ground condition which consisting overburden (siltssand,alluvial tin deposits, mine tailings,slump zones over the karstic rockhead) and the limestone which are deep fissured erratic Rockhead with relief of >30m . Due to the complex ground condition the contractor of smart tunnel project have decide to use tunnel boring machine as tunnelling excavation method and few part by using cut and fill . 1.2 Problem statement and Research question The smart tunnel is consisting of two components 9.7 km route and 11.83 internal diameter was in part sized to provide a motorway and storm water tunnel, there was a problem from the different level of motorway due to when flood event whether the component of the road provide sufficient strength to support water load to transmit water throughout the tunnel. (Robert Wilson 06) The another problem of this study is smart tunnel located in Kuala Lumpur which consists of large amount of lime stone know as highly erratic karstic features. (siow 2006) because of the formation there are few difficulty problem during the excavation process there are included the earth retaining system for the shaft excavation , the selection of the suitable tunnel boring machine (TBM) for SMART project, the ground water inside the ground. The smart tunnel project completed at end of January 2007 and started with the operation mode of storm water tunnel but however the Malaysia government has allocated a huge amount of money for flood control project drainage system in smart tunnel project but the smart tunnel is unable to curb flood in Kuala Lumpur flood hit after a few days of downpour 40 years ago but today, the nightmare return after an hour of heavy rain .Is it because the river getting slimmer. (Sin Chew Daily 2011). According to(The Star 2012) There are few selected flooding area even the smart tunnel are operating but it did not solve the flooding problem in those area like KampungBaru,Ampang, Jalan Bangsar,Ampang Jaya, Jalan Pinang and Jalan Sultan ismail. 1.2.1Research question How the excavation method is carried out? What is the major excavation problems occurred? How the operation mode is functions? What the selection characteristics have to be considered for tunnel boring machine? 1.3 Objective To study the excavation methods of smart tunnel To analyse the major problem during excavation To ascertain the mode of operation stage for smart tunnel To compare the selected tunnel boring machine with alternative (TBM) 1.4 Scopes of study The scopes of study are as follow: Due to the smart tunnel location the study for this topic will be conducted in the area of Kuala Lumpur, and the area will be focus on those area involved flood problem there are Kampung Baru, Ampang, Jalan Bangsar, Ampang Jaya, Jalan Pinang and Jalan Sultan Ismail. Furthermore to study the excavation method that only applied in the construction of smart tunnel and also the ground soil condition of the smart tunnel. After that will be study on the selection characteristic tunnel boring machine, lastly is the 3 mode of operation of smart tunnel 1.5 Research Methodology Introduction This section usually is to presents an overview of the process and method to use in the study of the topic and the aim of this study is to collect information such as what is the excavation selected method of smart tunnel, during the excavation what are the major problem occurred, how the operation mode is functioned and the consideration of characterise during selection of tunnel boring machine. 1.5.2 Primary data source Questionnaire and Interview The research that I am conducting is a plain research, which intends to find out the information of why the flooding problem is still occurring and the consideration while selecting the construction method. I am going to collect primary data through survey method by using both questionnaires and interviews. The reason for combining both questionnaire and interview methods is to collect both quantitative and qualitative information from respondents. Besides, collecting data through the survey method is quicker and economic. .By utilizing the questionnaires and interview in this research I able to comprise both the quantitative and qualitative methodologies. The purpose of the interviews is to obtain an insight into the respondents. This methodology will enable me to acquire more complete picture of respondents understanding of the smart tunnel and processes by them to produce answers. The main idea is let the respondents to make judgments based on the question. Paper and pen will be p repared for those respondents which will be held separately at different times. For questionnaires, I will be targeting 100 respondents, which consists of the public field member from age 20-60. Second question from the quantitative paradigm statistically compares data, this technique will be show the scores in the results and enable me to answer the question from the score. 1.5.3 Secondary data source -Literature review The literature review is one of the important processes in order to get more understanding what the construction method was selected. All the review can be collected from the relevant article, newspaper, internet and the references book. Through the review it can develop more understanding on the selected construction method of smart tunnel. The way to collect article and newspaper can be from internet and the references book can be found out a t the college library. 1.7 Outline Chapter Chapter 1 Introduction This chapter is the introduction to explain the reason to develop the smart tunnel project. In this chapter, it will look penetrate deeply to the selected excavation method of smart tunnel, the comparison between selected tunnel boring machine (TBM) with alternative (TBM) and also the mode of operation for Smart Tunnel in order to achieve the aim and the objective of the topic and by suggest of the research methodology to gather the relevant information. Chapter 2 Literature review For this chapter are going to collect the important relevant information from the article, newspaper, data from internet and also reference book from college library. The following information will be list down for understanding for this topic in order to achieve the objective of this topic. This Chapter will be mark down the information as the following: The selected excavation method for smart tunnel. The major problem and the solution during the excavation. The three mode of operation of smart tunnel. The selected tunnel boring machine and alternative tunnel boring machine. Chapter 3 Research Methodology For this chapter it will explain the process of the research, which means the way of the researcher to find out more information and to collect the required data for data analysis purpose. For my method I will go to use interview and questionnaire to achieve my objective. Chapter 4 Data Analysis For this chapter, all the data gathered from the interview and questionnaire will then be analysed after conduct the interview and questionnaires to the relevant manager and the 100 responder from the public field to collected primary data. It will be presented in table and histogram form in order to make a conclusion for this topic. Chapter 5 Conclusion and Recommendation For this chapter it will base on the result obtained and write out the conclusion. Furthermore, base on the 4 chapter that was conducted out to write out the final summary for what have been studied is written. Chapter 2 Literature Review Introduction This chapter will present the general information about the excavation method of smart tunnel, the major excavation problem occurred in smart tunnel, the operation mode of the smart tunnel and the characterise between selected tunnel boring machine (TNB) and alternative TNB. Definition of excavation work Excavation consider is one of a the greatest hazardous and complex construction operations (Western Australia, 2005), excavation can divided to many type they are include of trench, deep foundation ,tunnel , shaft and also open excavation. The excavations describe as by removing the earth soil and formed a hollow or cavity earth surface. 2.2.1 The excavation method of smart tunnel The selection of excavation method of smart tunnel have consider and study by the project promoter MMC-GAMUDA joint venture and their consultants SSP in assocition with Mott MacDonald(SSP/MM) and come out with the result. According to Keizrul(2004) the choice of tunnel excavation method to have three choice there are i.e. cutcover,NATM and TBM . He point out that the cut cover method will take long time during the contraction process either selected method from bottom up or top down .On the other hand this method will be suitable for uncertain soil through the tunnelling. Furthermore according to sivalingam(2006) the meaning of cut and cover method for the smart tunnel are Lformed walls on high rock head part and secant pile walls keyed into the rock and tieback with anchors on part where the rock head drops. The rock was to be excavated by drilling and blasting as in a quarry, the walls supported by rock bolts and concrete. The same method was selected for the excavation of the shaf ts, egress ingress road trenches and of the junction boxes. Furthermore for NATM namely as New Austrian tunnelling .He have point out this method are suitable for the structure of soil to tunnel is completely understood. It will be not suitable to select this method when founded the ground condition are belong to non homogeneous material or cavity filled rock, the drill and blast. For the last excavation method point out by the Keizrul (2004) are TBM namely as Tunnel Boring Machine .The article show that the general type of TBM to pick to have three main function i.e. the open face machine for rock boring, the earth pressure balance (EPB) machine generally used for boring loose soil and the misxshield TBM for media comprising hard material interfaced with loose soil. Furthermore according to sivalingam(2006) The major excavation problem According to (Malcolm Puller, 1996) the common excavation problem will be occurred on site is the excessive deformation of the soil, soil support structure, and inadequate groundwater leaving out and not enough durability and strength of the soil support structure. Those are the major problem maybe occurred during the excavation stage. 2.3.1 The major excavation problem have occurred in smart tunnel 2.4. Operation mode of the smart tunnel The smart tunnel consisting 3 type of the operation mode, the operation mode will be based on the flood condition at the upstream of Klang River and Ampang River. (Mohd saleh santhiman Looi Hong Weei,2006,) Figure_____Tunnel operation mode Figure_____Cross section of the motorway tunnel Mode Name Description 2.4.1 Mode 1 Normal condition In this mode of condition where the motorway of tunnel are allow for the driver to access ,where there are no storm or low rainfall, does not have any flood water will be diverted into the (SMART) system 2.4.2 Mode 2 Most storms In this mode of condition where the motorway of tunnel are still allow for the driver to access and the (SMART) system will be activated, the stormwater from moderate rainfall is diverted into the bypass tunnel at the invert level(lowers segment)of the motorway tunnel. 2.4.3 Mode 3 Major Storms In this mode of condition where the motorway of tunnel will be closed to traffic. The whole tunnel will be used to mitigate the stormwater.Once the flood water level have reach a limit , in a sufficient time will be evacuate all passenger vehicles and automated water gates are activated to occupy the flood water. The anticipated duration of switching to from mode 2 to mode 3 is estimated to be about one hour. After the flood recede, the targeted duration for tunnel reopening is minimum of two days to enable for flood dewatering and cleaning. 2.5 Tunnel Boring Machine Now a days the tunnel boring machine are become popular in the construction industry while the project involved of the tunnelling process, compare with the traditional excavation method by using the tunnel boring machine the excavation process become safer, and economic for creating underground space. There is different type of the machines an example for hard ground tunnelling will be use slurry machine and rock machine, for soft ground tunnelling will be use earth pressure balance machine. (IMIA Conference Istanbul, 2009) The main function of the tunnel boring machine is to excavate tunnel with the machine and across and remove the soil component there are include variety and soil and hard rock. 2.5.1 The characterise between selected tunnel boring machine (TNB) and alternative TBM 2.5.1.1According to the (MMC-GAMUDA JV, 2009) following is the based criteria for the smart tunnel: General Geotechnical 1)The delivery time of smart tunnel must be short ,not more than one year time in order to prevent the delay of the contract program 1)The tunnel boring machine should able to process excavation under the following situation: 2) Due to the ground condition are complex the smart tunnel must be design and build to survive along the drive. 2) -The tunnel consist 70% of Limestone formation namely as marble. -The North end consist 25% of full face mine tailings -5% of the tunnel in Kenny Hill formation 3) Large, 12,25m excavation diameter 3)High groundwater table close to surface 4) )Able to negotiate tight R=200m curves; tunnel design R=250m curves 4) Extremely high permeability at open karsic solution channels 5) Low overburden: Minimum0.9D, Maximum 1.5D 5) Below of rockhead the slump zone are in the overburden 6) The tunnel should affect the environment due to the tunnel is surround the city. 6) Due to the cyclical water table changes or during earthquakes the tunnel naturally occurring sinkholes 7)Restricted access to alignment at 2/3d of the cases for ground treatment 7) Highly variable, pinnacle rockhead causing frequent mixed face condition 2.5.1.2 (TBM) Selection technical comparison points The following table are refer to (MMC-GAMUDA JV, 2009) Description Herrenknecht Hitachi Kawasaki Mitsubishi NFM General 25 14 13 6 24 Cutter head 85 53 57 33 72 Drive 65 63 50 43 62 Shield 44 30 27 21 29 Segment Handling 35 22 24 20 35 Probe drilling 10 7 7 6 12 Manlocks 17 16 8 8 24 Trailer 26 18 18 12 26 GuidanceMonitoring 44 28 31 27 42 Service 75 53 40 41 78 Slurry system 49 41 43 37 55 Total 475 345 318 254 459 Due to the higher mark and the price and delivery time is most suitable for the smart tunnel project therefore the project team have selected the Herrenknecht machine for tunnelling part. 2.5.1.3 The selected tunnel boring machine C:UsersJackyDesktoptbm.jpg Figure__ showing the cross section of the herrenknecht tunnel boring machine The characterise of the herrenknecht tunnel boring machine as following table are refer to (MMC-GAMUDA JV, 2009) 1)Cutter head diameter 13.260mm Length of shield: 10.245mm 2)Drive 4.000kW hydraulic Weight of shield: 1.500t 3) Rotation 0-3rpm Thrust cylinders: 48nos 4)Displacement thrust force:28.9KN Max.thrust 94.5KN 5)Length of machine:71m Grout line:8nos 6)Two trailer cars on haunch rails Guidance:VMT SLS-APD 7)Weight of machine: 2.500t Tailseal: 3ros,wie brushes Disc cutters:76 Nos 2.5.1.4 Special features of the Herrenknecht tunnel boring machine According to the (MMC-GAMUDA JV, 2009) there are few special feature of the herrenknecht tunnel boring machine there are include as following: The Spherical main bearing are able to negotiate tight up to minimum R200m curves By using herrenknecht tunnel boring machine the movement along the drive are easier to cutter replacement due to the cutterhead retraction up to 400m by axial displacement. Articelated tailskin to negotiate to tight curves The tunnel boring machine is able to detect the karstic features and mixed face condition by using the cutter head tilt moment indicator. Two probe drilling rigs in fixed downward looking position, mounted on the erector the rig could drill through any port in the skin.2.5.1.3 The selected tunnel boring machine Summary

The National Geographic Society :: history

The National Geographic Society â€Å"It’s right here†, was the old guard’s response when I asked him where I could find the National Geographic Society. Immediately upon entering the gates of the Shura Council Compound, I found a plaque on one of the two buildings indicating it to be the National Geographic Society. I entered the Society and began to analyze all of its aspects to determine whether or not the museum is achieving its purpose of improving the study of geography in Egypt. The National Geographic Society is not fully achieving its purpose due to several reasons. First of all, the lack of advertising is preventing the attraction of more visitors and funding. Secondly, poor organization makes it harder on visitors and researchers to find specific items they are looking for. Finally, inadequate presentation makes visits to the museum uninformative and unappealing. Consequently, the National Geographic Society is in need of funding to improve the aforementioned factors which are negatively affecting the purpose of the museum. The lack of advertising is preventing the museum from attracting more visitors and funding thus negatively affecting the purpose of the museum. Many people are unaware of the existence of the museum which prevents them from visiting it. If people are not going to the museum, this means that they will not have the opportunity to learn about geography from the museum. For example, monthly lectures that are held in the debate room always have low attendance. Furthermore, poor advertising is preventing funding; an important factor to any non-profit scientific organization which rely mainly on government grants and donations. An increase in funding can be used to finance many aspects of the museum, including advertising, in order to improve the study of geography in Egypt. However, the small amount of visitors makes philanthropists and the government less interested in giving funds. Consequently, the Society is financially unable to advertise and thus cannot improve the study of geography in Egypt. Hiring an advertising agency to begin a campaign is necessary. Advertising through television, billboards, flyers and even emails will help attract more visitors and researchers as well as attention from government and thus help the museum in achieving its purpose of improving the study of geography in Egypt. The lack of organization is preventing the National Geographic Society from fully achieving its purpose; as it makes it harder on visitors and researchers to find the specific items they are looking for.

Native American Cultural Assimilation

Native American Cultural Assimilation from the Colonial Period to the Progressive October 2, 2011 Introduction Although the first European settlers in America could not have survived without their assistance, it was not long before the Native Americans were viewed as a problem population. They were an obstacle to the expansion plans of the colonial government and the same to the newly formed United States. The Native Americans were dealt with in various ways. During expansion some were outright exterminated through war while others forcibly made to relocate to lands deemed less than ideal. The idea was to make them vanish – out of sight, out of mind. Though their numbers in terms of population and tribal groups dwindled, they persisted and continued to be a problem in the eyes of the federal government. In the latter part of the nineteenth century the United States government instituted a new way to wage war against the Native Americans. This involved assimilating their children through government-run boarding and day schools. Federal policy-makers were sure that by giving the Native American children an American-style education, they would eventually evolve into â€Å"Americans† and return to their reservations, but forsaking their previous culture, traditions and way of thinking. The federal government assumed that as the aged died off and, with the children assimilated, within a few generations at most, there would be no need for reservations or Indian policy, thus accomplishing the original goal of making them vanish. There is little doubt that assimilation through education failed on almost all fronts, but through my research I hope to uncover some positives for the Native American children, especially those affected by late nineteenth century Indian policy which removed them from their families and, in some cases, sent them into an alien world hundreds of miles away. Throughout the history of, especially, European imperialism, â€Å"the relationships between indigenous peoples and colonizers usually proceed through a series of phases. Generally speaking, the first phase involved the establishment of colonies which meant the disruption of Native societies and usually the displacement of people. In most cases, there was some degree of violence and if complete domination was not swift, treaties were drawn up by â€Å"resetting territorial boundaries in order to maintain a degree of order. † Because resource and land acquisition was the main goal of the colonizers in the first place, treatie s seldom lasted and violence continued. In most cases, the next phase in colonialism to lessen violence and restore order was to try assimilation. Assimilation could mean turning the indigenous population into a work force or perhaps a marginalized group of ‘others’ who speak the colonizers language†¦Ã¢â‚¬ [1] As colonial expansion kept growing in North America, assimilation was attempted on several levels. Attempts were made at outright Native American removal from their lands and, when that did not work, religion was probably the most widespread â€Å"weapon† of the colonizers to subdue the Natives. Priests, Catholic and Protestant, (usually backed by an armed force) were more often than not unsuccessful in their attempts to force civilization on the Natives. 2] Assimilation by this means was further complicated because of competing religions. Natives who embraced Catholicism offered by French or Spanish colonizers further distanced themselves from Britis h colonizers and vice versa. European wars of the 17th and 18th centuries between Catholic and Protestant powers carried over into the North American colonies and the Native Americans were situated in a no-win situation. As a result of victories in these wars, not only did 1. Holm, Tom. The Great Confusion in Indian Affairs. pp. 1-2. 2. Findling and Thackeray, eds. Events that Changed America in the Seventeenth Century. p. 72. the British resent Native Americans who fought against them in the wars, they crept deeper into Native American territory until their defeat in the American Revolution. [3] Now, what had been colonial expansion in America turned into national expansion of the newly created United States. As the eighteenth-century came to a close and the major players in expansion had changed, policy toward Native Americans stayed essentially the same it had been under the British. Early in the nineteenth-century and the Louisiana Purchase in hand,†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ (Thomas) Jefferson, much as he struggled with the issue (Indian policy), could simply not envision a future for the United States that included a place for ‘Indians as Indians. ’ As president, Jefferson tried to design an Indian policy that would humanely assimilate Native Americans into the new republic, but his vision of national expansion turned out not to have any room for Native Americans. [4] Those who refused or resisted assimilation would be forcibly pushed westward to lands deemed unfit for anything by most Americans. [5] As expansion increased further West, the Native Americans faced another subtle weapon in addition to religion from the government in its attempt to subdue them – American-style education. Years of violence, forced removal to Indian Territory and forced religious indoctrination had failed to solve what the federal government referred to as â€Å"the Indian problem. [6] the Native Americans may not have flourished in their new land, but they survived and would not go away. As a result, American policy shifted from trying to vanquish the Indians to trying to make them vanish. Starting as an experiment in the early nineteenth-century and continuing until it became 3. Hightower-Langston, Donna. Native American World. p. 365. 4. Conn, Steven. History’s Shadow. p. 3. 5. Garrison, Tim Alan. The Legal Ideology of Removal. p. 7. 6. Ninkovich, Frank. Global Dawn. p. 185. olicy in the last quarter of the century, new Indian policy would be to extinguish Native American cultures through an American-style education of the young. The thinking was, educate the Native American children to American culture to assimilate them and, for the time being, contend with the adults on reservations. The idea behind this was, after a few generations, the adults would die off and the new generations of American educated, assimilated â€Å"citizens† would survive, but not their old cultures and ways of life. The balance of this paper will focus on the assimilation through education policy. â€Å"In 1794 the nation made its first Indian treaty specifically mentioning education, and many more treaties would contain similar offers and even demands for compulsory schooling of tribal children. In 1819 Congress provided a specific ‘civilization fund’ of $10,000 for the ‘uplift’ of Indians, and the assimilationist campaign continued to employ legislation, treaty making (until 1871), and other expedients to achieve its goals. Initially the United States government through its office/ Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), depended upon Christian missionary societies, but by the later nineteenth century the government dominated the educational effort, having established a loose system of hundreds of day schools, on-reservation boarding schools, and off-reservation boarding schools, BIA and missionary schools together to Christianize, ‘civilize’, and Americanize Indian children: the rigidly ethnocentric curriculum aimed to strip them of tribal cultures, languages, and spiritual concepts and turn them into ‘cultural brokers’ who would carry the new order back to their own peoples. †[7] 7. Coleman, Michael C. American Indians, the Irish, and Government Schooling. pp. 1-2. The idea of targeting Native American children for ’civilization training’ actually began in the seventeenth-century in New England where Native children were separated from their families and situated in â€Å"praying towns. † A Christian education was aimed at the children â€Å"because they (the colonists) believed (Native American) adults were too set in their ways to become Christianized. †[8] From this early attempt at assimilation through education, Native American education developed into fairly formal on-reservation schools run by churches and missionary societies, with limited funding by Congress. These schools were made possible after such actions as the Indian Removal Act which concentrated Native Americans in Indian territories and under somewhat more control of the federal government. These mostly denominational schools offered the only American-style, limited as it was, education until after the American Civil War. â€Å"†¦ after the conflict (Civil War) the nation developed the Peace Policy, an approach that gave schools a renewed prominence. The carnage of the war encouraged reformers to find new ways to deal with Native nations other than warfare. †[9] Under this peace, the federal government was to provide the necessary funding for â€Å"schools, administrators, and teachers. †[10] There was some funding for the policy by Congress, but not nearly enough. With limited funding, day schools were established on reservations. One-room schools were the norm where â€Å"government officials encouraged a curriculum of academic and vocational subjects, and sometimes the Office of Indian Affairs paid a reservation carpenter, farmer, or blacksmith to offer courses. †[11] 8. Keller, Ruether, eds. Encyclopedia of Women and Religion in North America. pp. 97-8. 9. Trafzer, Keller and Sisquoc, eds. Boarding School Blues. p. 11. 10. ibid. p. 11. 11. ibid. p. 12. About the same time these one-room schools were being established, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Edward P. Smith submitted his annual report favoring boarding schools over day schools. In his report â€Å"Smith stated that the use of English and the elimination of Native languages was the key to assimilation and civilization. †[12] In a plan for national system of Indian schools (October 18890 sent to the Secretary of the Interior, a successor of Smith’s, Thomas J. Morgan, offered the following: When we speak of the education of the Indians, we mean that comprehensive system of training and instruction which will convert them into American citizens, put within their reach the blessings which the rest of us enjoy, and enable them to compete successfully with the white man on his own ground and with his own methods. Education is to be the medium through which the rising generation of Indians are to be brought into fraternal and harmonious relationship with their white fellow citizens, and with them enjoy the sweets of refined homes, the delight of social intercourse, the emoluments of commerce and trade, the advantages of travel, together with the pleasures that come from literature, science, and philosophy, and the solace and stimulus afforded by a true religion. [13] Carlisle Indian Industrial School Ten years prior to Commissioner Morgan’s report, Richard Henry Pratt, a former United States Army officer who had commanded a unit of African American â€Å"Buffalo Soldiers† and 12. Trafzer, Keller and Sisquoc, eds. Boarding School Blues. p. 12. 13. Prucha, Francis Paul. Documents of United States Indian Policy. p. 177. Indian scouts in Indian Territory following the Civil War, began his own quest of assimilation through education. In 1879, he â€Å"secured the permission of the Secretary of the Interior, Carl Shurz, and Secretary of the War Department McCrary to use a deserted military base as the site of his school. †[14] Using this site in Pennsylvania, he felt that he could take Native American children from the reservations and by distancing them from tribal influences, turn them into Americans. With the site secured and community support behind him, the next step was to recruit students. He headed to the Dakota Territory where he was tasked to bring back Native American children to Carlisle. Aided by a teacher/interpreter, Pratt was able to bring back the first class of 82 students. Unfortunately, when he got back to Pennsylvania, necessary basic living supplies previously promised to them by the Bureau of Indian Affairs were not to be found. â€Å"The children slept on the floor in blankets. †[15] In time, some funding was secured privately from â€Å"former abolitionists and Quakers who were eager to be involved in his success and who often visited the school. † Using his military background, the school (for both boys and girls) was modeled after a military academy. Instilling discipline and a sense of â€Å"time† was important to Pratt if he was to make progress with the children and, as one of his former teachers commented on the children, â€Å"they have been systematically taught self-repression. †[16] Although that first recruiting class consisted of only 82 students, by the time the school was at full operating capacity (the school survived 39 years), enrollment averaged 1000 students. [17] 14. Landis, Barbara. â€Å"Carlisle Indian Industrial School History. † http://home. epix. net/~ Landis/histry. html 15. ibid. 16. ibid. 17. ibid. Other Indian Schools Similar types of federal Indian boarding schools were located in the West. They may have been physically closer to reservations, but had the same ideals and philosophy of Carlisle. With military-type discipline, children were ‘encouraged’ to leave their Native American culture behind and accept Americanization. One of the best known of these schools, the Haskell Indian Institute, was located in Lawrence , Kansas. [18] It differed from most Indian schools in the East in that, after a few years (and graduates) it, like other western Indian schools began to staff itself with former students in teacher and, in some cases, administrative roles. [19] Another Native American school of note was the Flandreau Indian School, opened in 1893 in eastern South Dakota primarily for Ojibwe and Dakota students in its early years. [20] Like Haskell, its main function was industrial education for boys and domestic science for girls. No matter which school the children attended, Carlisle, Haskell, or Flandreau, there were common problems faced by the children: â€Å"initiation (into the white man’s universe), discipline, and punishment, along with overall problems – and achievements – of pupil adjustment. †[[21] Some children absolutely resisted Americanization – a favorite form of resistance was arson and those who, at least on the face of it, accepted â€Å"the white man’s ways† were often subjected to rejection by their peers or elders or suspicion by non-Indians. 18. Warren, Kim Cary. The Quest for Citizenship. p. 15. 19. ibid. p. 15. 20. Child, Brenda J. Boarding School Seasons. p. 7. 21. Coleman, Michael C. American Indians, the Irish, and Government Schooling. p. 8. Conclusion Throughout my research there was a common theme in the sources I used – one group trying to impose its will on another. I realize that most of this paper has seemed like an indictment against, first, the European colonizers, then the European-American expansionists and, finally, the Americans in their treatment of Native American peoples, despite what may have seemed, at least some of the time, noble intentions. Sobeit. Actions by Native Americans against non-Native Americans have almost always been reactionary. Throughout history this was evident. In early colonial America, fighting between the French and English (initially in Europe and other parts of the world) spilled over into North America ‘to the contested margins of their empires. Native Americans in league with the French initiated what became King William’s War when they helped massacre British settlers of Schenectady, New York, on February 9, 1690. [22] The Native American motive for participating proba bly was not to see further expansion of French territory into Native American land, but more likely a response to years of violence committed by the British toward them. Moving ahead a couple of centuries, it seemed like the united States government still held to the mindset that â€Å"the only good Indian is a dead Indian,’ not necessarily dead in a physical sense, but dead in a cultural sense. Continued expansion westward was problematic for the federal government because every time there was another â€Å"push†, there always seemed to be Native Americans in its way. Violence in many forms against the Native Americans to try to vanquish them had little success, so new policy, though experimental at first, was implemented in the nineteenth-century and gained support of so-called reformers. The new 22. Bobrick, Benson. Angel in the Whirlwind. pp. 18-19 policy was designed, not to vanquish the Native Americans, but make them vanish. To make them vanish, again not so much physically, but culturally, the federal government adopted policies demanding assimilation. This assimilation would be accomplished by educating the Native American young in a way that would â€Å"Americanize† them. After their Americanization the young would take their training either back to the reservation or mainstream America, leaving their Indian culture behind, thus making the Indian culture gradually vanish. To this end, â€Å"the federal government began its boarding school program for Native Americans during the late nineteenth-century as part of a crusade by a coalition of reformers who aimed to assimilate Native Americans into dominant Anglo-Protestant society through education. With a fervor that was partly evangelical and partly militaristic, the creators of the boarding school system hoped that through education, they could bring about a mass cultural conversion by waging war upon Native American identities and cultural memories. †[23] The negatives of the new Native American assimilation/education program far outweighed the positives. The Native American children were cast into what was essentially a whole new world very alien to them. One seemingly small example of this change was the wearing of shoes. Some children had never worn shoes in their lives, but were suddenly forced to wear them. The children were disciplined harshly for speaking anything but English in the schools; harassed by peers, reservation elders and, sometimes, suspicious non-American Indians depending on the degree they accepted assimilation; taught trades and skills that were becoming obsolete; and, probably worst of all, so psychologically confused, many were later unable to function on the reservation or in the white man’s world. 23. Bloom, John. To Show What an Indian Can Do. p. xii On the positive side of boarding schools, many children were removed from situations of abject poverty and given room and board. The food and living arrangements were totally foreign to them, but it was better than they had previously known. Moving the children from the reservations also kept them quarantined from the disease prevalent there. One of the benefits of completing their boarding school experience was that many graduates later began to staff the schools, especially in the West, somewhat lessening â€Å"white† influence and the school’s ability (and will) to make cultures and ways completely disappear, a positive for the Native Americans, but a prime example of the failure of the schools to carry out federal policy. Though most of the education the children was rudimentary, at best, but in some cases students embraced learning and took their education to the next level. They went on to more formal schools and used their training and education back on the reservations to become leaders with a better understanding of the Native American/American relationship, while others infiltrated local, territorial, state or federal Indian agencies once manned only by white bureaucrats, most who were ignorant when it came to dealing with Native American problems. Assimilation had failed as a governmental policy and, as more and more educated Native Americans left the reservations and adapted to the white world, while retaining fundamental culture and ways, and was replaced by acculturation. Acculturation was not a federal policy, it describes a necessary survival tool used by the Native American to preserve what little was left of their cultures and ways of life. Instead of their educations making them subservient to their master (the federal government), education allowed those Native Americans with the desire and wit to attain respect. Gaining this respect from both their own people, as well as the â€Å"white’ American people took time, but with it came, little by little, more agency and the ability, right and courage to have a say in how their lives were to play out. As bad a reputation as they have had in the past and even to this day, the fact that reservations still exist shows the unwillingness of some Native Americans to let their traditions die. The popularity of Indian art, jewelry and music serves to keep the cultures going. Just as the early settlers of the West found out, they are everywhere, though in decreasing numbers, and will not go away. Works Cited 1. Bloom, John. To Show What an Indian Can Do: Sports at Native American Boarding Schools. Minneapolis, MN, USA, University of Minnesota Press, 2000. http://site. ebrary. com/lib/apus/Doc? id=10151303 2. Bobrick, Benson. Angel in the Whirlwind: The Triumph of the American Revolution. New York, NY, USA, Penguin Books, 1998. 3. Child, Brenda J. Boarding School Seasons; American Indian Families, 1900-1940. Lincoln, NE, USA: University of Nebraska Press, 1998. http://site. ebrary. com/lib/apus/Doc? id=10015709 4. Coleman, Michael C. American Indians, the Irish, and Government Schooling: A Comparative Study. Lincoln, NE, USA: University of Nebraska Press, 2007. http://www. netlibrary. com. ezproxy1. apus. edu/urlapi. asp? action=summary&v=1&bookid=184858 5. Conn, Steven. History’s Shadow: Native Americans and Historical Consciousness in the Nineteenth Century. Chicago, Il, USA: University of Chicago Press, 2004. http://www. netlibrary. com. ezproxy1. apus. edu/urlapi. asp? action=summary&v=1&bookid=262649 6. Findling, John E. and Frank W. Thackeray, eds. Events that Changed America through the Seventeenth Century. Westport, CT, USA: Greenwood Press, 2000. http://www. netlibrary. com. ezproxy1. apus. edu/urlapi. asp? action=summary&v=1&bookid=77716 7. Garrison, Tim Alan. The Legal Ideology of Removal: The Southern Judiciary and the Sovereignty of Native American Nations. Athens, GA, USA: The University of Georgia Press, 2002. http://www. netlibrary. com. ezproxy1. apus. edu/urlapi. asp? action=summary&v=1&bookid=103178 8. Hightower-Langston, Donna. Native American World. Hoboken, NJ, USA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. , 2003. http://netlibrary. com. ezproxy1. apus. edu/urlapi. asp? action=summary&v=1&bookid=79081 9. Holm, Tom. The Great Confusion in Indian Affairs: Native Americans and Whites in the Progressive Era. Austin, TX, USA: The University of Texas Press, 2005. http://site. ebrary. com/lib/apus/Doc? id=1010671 10. Keller, Rosemary Skinner, Rosemary Radford Ruether and Marie Cantlon, eds. Encyclopedia of Women and Religion in North America. Bloomington, IN, USA: Indiana University Press, 2006. http://www. netlibrary. com. ezproxy1. apus. edu/urlapi. asp? action=summary&v=1&bookid=171513 11. Landis, Barbara. â€Å"Carlisle Indian Industrial School History. † http://home. epix. net/~landis/histry. html 12. Ninkovich, Frank. Global dawn: the Cultural Foundation of American Internationalism, 1865-1890. Harvard University Press, 2009. http://site. ebrary. com/lib/apus/Doc? id=10402533 13. Prucha, Francis Paul, ed. Documents of United States Indian Policy. Lincoln, NE, USA: University of Nebraska Press, 2000. http://www. netlibrary. com. ezproxy1. apus. edu/urlapi. asp? action=summary&v=1&bookid=53529 14. Trafzer, Clifford E. , Jean a. Keller and Lorene Sisquoc, eds. Boarding School Blues: Revisiting American Indian Educational Experiences. Lincoln, NE, USA: University of Nebraska Press, 2006. http;//www. netlibrary. com. ezproxy1. apus. edu/urlapi. asp? action=summary&v=1&bookid=162267 15. Warren, Kim Cary. The Quest For Citizenship: African American and Native American Education in Kansas, 1880-1935. Chapel Hill, NC, The University of North Carolina Press, 2010. http://site. ebrary. com/lib/apus/Doc? id=10425421

Dramatically changes Essay

As the play progresses, Prospero dramatically changes. In Act 1 Scene 2, Shakespeare presents Prospero as a powerful, calculating and commanding character. Also in Act 1 Scene 2, he manipulates and controls Ariel. However, in Act 5 Scene 1 he changes dramatically. Whilst he remains powerful and commanding, us as the audience get a completely different impression of him from the way he acts and by the tone of his voice. We begin to see a more merciful, forgiving character. In Act 1 Scene 2, Prospero is full of vengeance. We know this because he creates the tempest as part of his revenge, â€Å"the tempest that I bade thee†. The audience get the impression that he is an evil and tyrannical individual. It also evokes sympathy from the audience for the ones he is attempting to get revenge from. Whereas in Act 5 Scene 1, Prospero is willing to reconcile. We see an example of this when he tells Sebastian and Antonio that he will not tell Alonso about their treason plot, â€Å"I will tell no tales†. This shows the audience that Prospero really does want to sincerely reconcile and that he can be compassionate. This is done in an aside; therefore only the audience, Prospero, Sebastian and Antonio hear this. This excites and involves the audience; enhancing the performance. Throughout the play Prospero’s relationship with Ariel varies from Act 1 Scene 2 to Act 5 Scene 1. In Act 1 Scene 2, Prospero uses harsh tone of voice and imperative verbs to manipulate Ariel. Frequently through out the scene Prospero uses one-word commands when speaking to Ariel, â€Å"Speak. Tell me! †¦ Go! †¦ Hence†. This shows the audience that Prospero is in command and also shows that Ariel is subservient to Prospero. But in Act 5 Scene 1, Prospero uses a softer tone and a more gentle voice. He still uses imperative verbs, but in this scene, he doesn’t use them to manipulate Ariel. For example when he commands Ariel to do something, â€Å"Fetch me the hat and rapier in my cell†. This shows the audience that he is still being commanding but by not using a harsh tone he makes Ariel feel as though he is no longer compelled to carry out Prospero’s orders but he now has a choice. Also, in Act 1 Scene 2 Prospero just utilizes Ariel to gain revenge over his usurpers. In this scene, Shakespeare uses uncompassionate phrases to show that Prospero cares only about his revenge and not what Ariel is feeling or thinking; â€Å"Is there more toil? † (Ariel), â€Å"there’s more work† (Prospero). This evokes the audience to think that Prospero is completely selfish and heartless. However in Act 5 Scene 1, Prospero starts to value and heed Ariel’s opinions. There is an example of this when Ariel tells Prospero how guilty and sorry his usurpers feel. He tells Prospero that he would feel sorry for them if he were human. Prospero shows he values Ariel’s opinions, â€Å"Dost thou think so, spirit? â€Å". This demonstrates to the audience that Prospero has changed significantly and that he is a more compassionate and loving character.

Organizational Technology Integration Evaluation Model Essay Example

Organizational Technology Integration Evaluation Model Essay Example Organizational Technology Integration Evaluation Model Essay Organizational Technology Integration Evaluation Model Essay Organizational Technology Integration Evaluation Model Leopold E. Madrigal University of Phoenix An organizational technology integration model will be proposed using a specific case in the automotive industry, one that took place in 1998. A consideration to be noted is the potential that the proposed model could had been used successfully at the time of the presented cases implementation as it may be used today in any situation to assess technology efficiency. Antecedents The problems the United States auto industry had during the late sys and sys ere the lack of discipline, high absenteeism rates, and low morale among employees, all of which resulted in inefficiencies and low quality products. Even with lesser quality, the (MM) Fremont plant averaged 34 man-hours of labor per automobile, versus only 20 at Toyota (Redder, Henry, Smith, 1985, p. 36). The implementation of new technologies in the American automotive industry, such as lean manufacturing principles, self-directed teams, quality circles, and flexible operations required that employees and their unions were aligned and committed with this new direction. The results in organizations implementing new technologies in which stakeholders bought in were as expected and manufacturing productivity as well as products quality improved. Product quality and production efficiency augmented as a result of implementing new technologies and new manufacturing approaches, as in example: Lean manufacturing, quality circles, self-directed work than several of Gems newer plants. Plans are to reach an annulled 200,000 units in 1986 with a work force of 2,500 a level which rivals Japanese productivity (Redder teal. , 1985, p. 38). International Truck Engine Company In 1996 International Truck Engine Company was evaluating the implementation of new technologies to improve its manufacturing efficiency. One of the new technology approaches considered was the implementation of an enterprise resource planning system. Firms around the world have been implementing enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems since the asses to have an uniform information system in their respective organizations and to reengineering their business processes (Philippians, 2002, p. 87). For this new project other technologies were considered besides the ERP system implementation. The automotive industry in America was adopting lean manufacturing principles driven by the success of the Toyota Production System (TAPS) that was first implemented in America in 1985 at the ANNUM plant in California. Toasts extraordinary success is indisputable, and the TAPS has been a major element in its increasing status in the world automotive industry (New, 2007, p. 3546). As part of the lean manufacturing initiatives the objective of a new organizational design that empowered employees and promoted teamwork in self- directed work groups was set in motion. Our major finding is that highly empowered teams are more effective than less empowered teams (Kirkland Russell, 1999, p. 69). This initiative represented a new approach to an organization that was very conservative in their management of shop-floor operations. It was also decided that a new facility would be designed and built in accordance to lean manufacturing principles, as in example modular assemblies should flow directly to the point of application in production sequence. The new facility would be installed in Mexico, in an effort to lower production costs, many U. S. Rims manufacture products offshore in countries with low labor costs (Oldenburg, Roman, Treaty, 2007, p. 423). The challenge Beyond the imminent challenge that an experienced team of people would find while setting up a new manufacturing facility the additional requirement to implement new technologies compounded the complexity. The new technologies to be implemented consisted of new technical designs for manufacturing, new conceptual designs for manufacturing processes while using lean manufacturing initiatives, new management practices such as self-directed work groups, and a new ERP system implementation. Lean manufacturing based on the Toyota production system (TAPS) changed the final assembly into a mixed model final assembly system to level the demand on their suppliers, converted the linear subassembly lines into U-shaped subassembly cells and redesigned the Job shop into manufacturing cells. Final assembly operates with a take time, and the cells are designed to have a cycle time slightly less than the take time and to operate on a make one, check one, and move one on'(MO-CO-MOO The task consisted of planning the implementation strategy, building a new facility n a foreign country using lean manufacturing principles, selecting and hiring the leadership team for the new facility, implementing a new ERP system for the organization, and capable to start production of trucks being built at other facilities to alleviate some of the capacity restrictions while reducing the manufacturing cost. In summary, there were three major areas in which the implementation team had to be focused: 1) the manufacturing system, 2) the human integration to the new manufacturing design or the socio-technical system, and 3) the ERP system as an enabling technology. While working on the design and implementation of the manufacturing system the implementation team had to take into consideration that the manufacturing system is the beating heart of any manufacturing company. The manufacturing system is defined as a complex arrangement of physical elements characterized by measurable parameters (Black, 2007, p. 3643). The socio-technical system included the design and implementation of self-directed work groups and a multi-task development program tie to a payment structure, the people who work in a manufacturing system are the internal customers, and the system must be signed to satisfy their needs. At the same time, the manufacturing system must produce products that satisfy the needs of the external customers (Black, 2007, p. 643). The ERP system implementation was viewed as an enabling technology to enhance performance. ERP systems consist of a number of functional modules such as materials management, production planning, sales and distribution, human resources, and financial accounting. In order to serve the needs of a wide range of companies with different characteristics, ERP systems in general, and these modules n particular, are built on the bes t practices, which represent the most cost-effective and efficient ways of performing business processes (Sackbut Submarine, 2006, p. 7). There was an advantage in the way the organization decided to take on this challenge as it was to be set up in a new facility with new management and new people, with it some of the change management issues could be diminished. Change management is primarily a human resource management issue. This is because implementing new procedures, technologies, and overcoming resistance to change are fundamentally people issues (Banal, 2009, p. 36). The deliverables Any organization that decides to invest in technology does it because there is an expectation about the future state of the business and how that technology, once successfully implemented and performing will be fit to meet the future organizational needs and those of customers and stakeholders. Technological innovation is an important source of value creation. The application of knowledge to human activity allows for the more efficient production of existing products and services (Shame, 2009, p. 7). The expectations the organization had from the new technologies implementation ere: 1) To increase in 120 units per day the medium duty truck assembly capacity, 2) To increase in 60 units per day the heavy duty assembly capacity, 3) To reduce the man-hours per truck by 10%, 4) To reduce the cost of direct labor by 70%, 5) To implement an ERP system integrating information from all performance and assemblies), 7) To limit online stocking areas by designing narrow aisles along the assembly lines, 8) To implement quality circles and multi-ability development programs for people, and 9) To increase the quality of the product by minimizing the end-of-line defects-per-truck. The expectations regarding the soft systems technologies, those related to the people, were that each person should go through a specific training program to be certified to perform all operations of at least three assembly stations. The belief was that a certified person should be able to perform without incurring in mistakes while working at line speed (take time). The lean system is designed to produce superior quality products. Toyota believed in company-wide total quality control and therefore taught it to everyone, from the company president down to every production worker. They were able to hang from a company that made Junk to one that could give customers products of high reliability (Black, 2007, p. 3644). The ERP system implementation represented another piece of the technology improvements and even though no clear measures of success were established there were some beliefs about the outcome. Typical benefits of ERP systems commonly cited in the literature include, but are not limited to, inventory and lead time reductions, improved on-time deliveries, reduced operating costs, enhanced customer relationships (Hit et al. 2002) and improved decision making (Sackbut Submarine, 2006, p. 49). The situation By March 1998 the new facility had initiated operations although on a limited basis. Only one of two assembly lines was ready to assemble trucks, the other assembly line, the cab fabrication, and pain t areas were being conditioned for production. The materials flow design and the use of Kanata and assembly modules were in place. The new personal seemed to be comfortable with the processes, procedures, tools, and systems at their use. The ERP system was already set in production environment. The organization was concerned about the situation at the new assembly plant. Millions of dollars were committed and expended to increase the corporations production capacity, improving production efficiency and product quality, while reducing manufacturing costs. Unfortunately, that was not the case. The situation was that trucks were getting at the end of the assembly line with missing parts, the required materials were not available at the plant much less at the point of use. The production ramp-up plan had to be aborted and redesigned to reduce the compounding problem of assembling incomplete trucks to be reworked at the truck storage area. The root causes of the problem at hand were not easy to identify as there were many variables unknown to manufacturing experts at other assembly plants. The organization was dealing with a new manufacturing facility, with a new operational philosophy based on lean manufacturing, with new processes, new tools, new systems, new inexperienced people, and in a foreign country with a different language. Problem definition and purpose statement In summary, the problem at hand was that the new assembly facility was incapable of producing five trucks a day without missing some components, the missing quest planning (MR..). In consequence the trucks presented many defects at the end of the assembly line making undesirable to ramp up production to the expected 30 units per day planned to be produced by April 1998. Without the opportunity to build clean trucks it was difficult to assess the improvements in the man-hours per truck or any manufacturing costs reductions. Moreover, the new installed capacity was theoretical as given the high number of missing components there was no opportunity to test the assembly line at top line speed. The purpose while inducting an assessment of effectiveness of technology implementation would be to test each of the different technologies implemented at the new assembly facility from the planning and designing stages throughout the pre-production and implementation stages. Once those tests were completed an integration test between the different technologies would need to be carried out. Finally, the total system would be tested. At this point the data gathered at different performance levels may provide evidence to validate the new technologies as fit or no fit to meet the deliverables defined in the new facility original concept. Any discrepancies found during any of the unit, integration, or system tests would provide information to be analyzed to evaluate a design change, include additional capabilities, or modify the expectations about the outcomes. Assessing the effectiveness of technology implementation At that time the situation was reviewed using some approaches from the general systems theory (SST), meaning that the desired state of the system was defined and contrasted against the current state of the system. General systems theory is, as emphasized, a model of certain general aspects of reality. But it is also a way of seeing things which were previously overlooked or by-passed, and in this sense is a methodological maxim (Bertelsmann, 1972, p. 424). The tool to assess the effectiveness of technology implementation to be proposed in this paper was not the one used at the time the described situation was taking place although the addition of the SST as a design and performance validation tool will be included . The new facility contained different technologies. The result being sought was the resultant of each of those technologies individually performing as planned. Then hose technologies would be tested interacting with other technologies while performing flawlessly, and delivering as expected as an integrated system. Banal (2009) suggested three different stages of testing: 1) Unit testing, 2) Integration testing, and 3) system testing. The proposed methodology would include those three stages. The different technology components may be tested using Thompson (2003) assessment table that described that the assessment is a function of crystallized or ambiguous standards of desirability and the degree of completeness of beliefs about cause/effect knowledge (University of Phoenix, 2012). This approach is also supported by some management problem solving tools as the one presented by Tennyson Isis (2011) who stated that an effective performance improvement approach must start by identifying a performance problem and then finding ways of solving that problem. Thompson assessment techniques are similar to the initial step in the systemic problem solving approach by defining the desired state of the system and its desired output (standards of desirability) and contrast it against the complement this app roach and discover the root causes of the problem one has to e prompt to ask the reasons and purposes behind systems design decisions by using a V model life cycle test. In an ideal technology implementation a V model life cycle test should be used. The V model requires that each deliverable be verified in an attempt to identify defects as early as possible and to ensure that specifications are complete and correct. The model specifies that activities in one stage must be completed before moving on to the next stage (Banal, 2009, p. 274). The stages included in the V model life cycle are: 1) defining reasons for testing, 2) acknowledging structure jesting, 3) testing and verification at the design stage, 4) testing within a system implementation, and 5) testing with a system maintenance environment (Banal, 2009). The next diagram shows Thompson (2003) technology assessment table: Beliefs about Cause/Effect Knowledge Standards of Desirability Complete Uncertainty Crystallized Efficiency test Desired state is achieved Ambiguous Extrinsic Measures Organizational rationality In summary, the proposed methodology flows as presented in the next table: Unit Interrelation System System Ideal state Technology component Define performance at ideal state Define performance as designed System Current state Technology components Define performance at testing stage Defining reasons for testing Understanding structured testing Testing and verification at the design stage Testing within a system implementation Testing with a system maintenance environment Each of the different technology components needs to be defined in terms of performance as by design and evaluated during the V model life cycle (bottom part of the table) as a unit, after that as an interactive technology, and finally as part of a system (moving toward the right side on the table). Each test result needs to be confronted objectively to the ideal state, as per design, so whenever possible specific and objective goals must be defined to assess the current performance of each unit, their integrations, and as a total system against the desired performance. At this point Thompson assessment table can be used to evaluate the different stages according to the following premis es: When standards of desirability are crystallized and beliefs are complete, efficiency is the desired meaner of assessment. When standards are crystallized and beliefs are incomplete, assessment of effectiveness is y achieving a desired state. When standards are ambiguous, but beliefs are complete, extrinsic measures such as someone elses opinion is used. Finally, when standards are ambiguous and beliefs are in complete, then a predetermined organizational measure is used (University of Phoenix, 2012). It is important to notice that the success of any assessment methodology depends in a good definition of the expected outcomes of a technology implementation. Those outcomes need to be validated at the designing stage to clarify if such technology implementation is capable of providing them. Then as the implementation moves from design into integration of technologies, it is tested in different pre-production environments, these validation need to be performed against objective measurements or against expectations with solid foundations of attainability. Conclusions The proposed technology implementation effectiveness assessment tool would be appropriate to any technology implementation situation. As stated earlier a key component of the success of the assessment resides in a clear and objective definition of what is expected from the implementation. The definition of performance parameters at the design phase will provide an objective guidance while performing the assessment assuming that those parameters are within the technology capabilities. The technology implementation described in this paper was resolved by September 1999. Each of the different units and components of technology implemented were analyzed and tested. Their different interrelations with other technology components were also evaluated and tested, on a one-to-one basis as well as combining three or more different technologies as required by design. It was one of those interrelations the one that was not performing as it was substitution module, residing in external software, was not providing the information into the new facility ERP system. New components for trucks were not available to the ERRS MR.. System and in consequence were not being scheduled in the production plan or in the materials releases to be sent out to suppliers.

The Formative Era of Chinese Civilization essays

The Formative Era of Chinese Civilization essays In the formative era of Chinese civilization as early as the first millennium b.c. the Chinese thought of the world as all the regions of the heavens, and within the four seas. They called it Tianxia, which literally means under heaven. Because this was a universal term, with an undertanding of the inhabited world known to the Chinese at the time, it implicitly meant All Under Heaven. Tianxia was first of the entire physical world, the arena in which human history was acted out (The Chinese World). China is a very large and beautiful country. It is full of history and culture. Even so, China has grown slowly and unevenly to its present size. This is due to the fact that all the components that China consists of havent always existed in harmony in the past. They have fought long and hard for their freedom and independence as a people. Its a very interesting society with many different aspects that make it worth a very close look into the areas of geography, economy, and history, past and present. The people of China, from all the nationalities within have joined together to create a wonderful culture and have a glorious revolutionary tradition. They have bonded together and fought long and hard to become a free people. The people of China encountered wave after wave of struggles for national independence, liberation, for democracy and freedom. It wasnt until the 20th century that great historical changes have taken place in China. The Revolution of 1911, which was led by Dr. Sun Yat-sen, put an end to the feudal monarchy and marked the beginning of the Republic of China (Chinascape). Unfortunately, even threw all that, the Chinese people had yet to fulfil their historical task of overthrowing imperialism and feudalism. After many hard and tortuous struggles, it finally came to an end in 1949. They overthrew the rule of imperialism, feud...

Bioavailability And Bioequivalence Studies

Bioavailability And Bioequivalence Studies Each year so many drugs loss their patent protection and opens the door for the generic alternatives. In this way Bioavailability and Bioequivalence studies becomes most important. Bioavailability is defined as â€Å"The rate and extent to which the active moiety is absorbed from a drug product and becomes available at the site of action.† Bioavailability can be generally documented by a systematic exposure profile obtained by measuring drug and/metabolite concentration in the systemic circulation over a particular time period. Scope of Bioavailability studies: Development of new formulations of the already existing drugs. Determination of effect of excipients, patient related factors and possible drug To ensure the of quality of a drug product during the early stages of marketing in order to determine the influence of manufacturing factors, storage and stability factors on drug absorption. The systemic exposure profile of drug or metabolite obtained by measuring concentratio n in the systemic circulation over a particular time period during clinical trials in the early stages of drug development can serve as a benchmark for subsequent bioequivalence studies. Bioequivalence is a relative term which shows the absence of a significant difference in the rate and extent to which the active ingredient becomes available at the site of drug action when two or more identical dosage forms administered at the same molar dose under similar conditions. Bioequivalence mainly focus release of drug substances from its dosage forms and subsequent absorption into the systemic circulation i.e. test dose plasma concentration-time will be identical with reference dose plasma concentration-time without showing any significant statistical differences ,then test dosage form will consider as therapeutically equivalent to the reference dosage form . Scope of Bioequivalence studies: To establish relativity between different formulations used during the development of a new produc t. The therapeutic equivalence of a generic product and the reference product can be demonstrated. Development of a modified release form of a product which has already approved as an immediate release formulation. Development of alternative salt form for pharmaceutically equivalent drugs. Bioequivalence studies are designed to establish equivalence between the test and reference products. If test and reference products are found to be bioequivalent,by this one can expect that the test product will also be therapeutically effective. Bioanalytical method validation includes all of the procedures that demonstrate that a particular method used for quantitative measurement of analytes in a given biological matrix, such as blood, plasma, serum or urine is reliable and reproducible for the intended use. Bioanalytical method validation parameters: Accuracy Precision Selectivity Sensitivity Reproducibility Stability Validation documentation is done, by using specific laboratory investigatio ns ,which ensures that the performance characteristics of the method is suitable for the intended analytical use. The analytical method is applicable only when the validation parameters are in acceptable range. Types of validation: A. Full Validation Developing and implementing a bioanalytical method for the first time. Full validation is required for a new drug entity. If metabolites are added to an existing assay for quantification full validation is required. B. Partial Validation:

Drugs and Alcohol in American Popular Culture Essay

Drugs and Alcohol in American Popular Culture - Essay Example As for the authors’ credentials, Dr. Primack is a faculty of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in Pennsylvania. He is also a faculty of the Division of Adolescent Medicine and therefore he has an authority regarding adolescent behavior in the context of medical science, for adolescent behavior is the main subject of this particular study. Moreover, he is also a recipient of the Physician Faculty Scholar Award from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The other author, Dr. Douglas is another faculty member of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Dr. Kraemer is a third faculty member of the same medical school. Dr. Douglas and Dr. Kraemer are affiliated with the Center for Research on Health Care of the same educational institution, and so it implies that they already have considerable background on how to conduct research on health care. The authors, being experts in their fields, with their medical degrees, with Primack’s expertise with adole scent medicine, and with Douglas’ and Kraemer’s experience with research on health care, make up a team of researchers that possess full credibility. The study is published by the National Institutes of Health, particularly PubMed Central and the U.S. National Library of Medicine. This is a reputable institution when it comes to research on health. This source is barely 3 years old and is certainly not that old for it to be considered unreliable or obsolete. The thesis advanced by the authors based on the results of the study is that there is an â€Å"independent association between exposure to cannabis in popular music and early cannabis use among urban American adolescents†. ... authors based on the results of the study is that there is an â€Å"independent association between exposure to cannabis in popular music and early cannabis use among urban American adolescents† (Primack et al.). The objectivity of the presentation and analysis of data lies in three facts. First, the sample size of 1198 American and African-American students is large enough to become representative of the group of adolescents exposed to popular music with cannabis content. Secondly, the researchers used statistical analytical tools like multivariable regression, bivariate analysis, and additional analysis in the form of finding out whether there was a correlation between cannabis use and alcohol, but of which the researchers have not found any significant relationship. Thirdly, the study is objective and credible because the methods used in the study had been preapproved by the University of Pittsburgh Institutional Review Board prior to the execution of the study (Primack et al.). If the procedure had not been approved by the board, it would not have been published by the NIH and it would not have been considered credible and objective. On the support to its claims, On the subject of comprehensiveness, the study was actually able to find the differences when it comes to various variables vis-a-vis the degree of correlation between exposure to popular music and cannabis use among the respondents: â€Å"Current use of cannabis was associated with higher exposure to cannabis in music, having a favorite artist with a higher number of songs with cannabis references, older age, lower grades, less demanding parenting, less supportive parenting, higher sensation seeking, and higher rebelliousness [while] ever use of cannabis was associated with higher exposure to cannabis in

Fashion Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Fashion Marketing - Essay Example The paper "Fashion Marketing" intends to consider care products and in definite the Tom ford Carine mock-lizard bag. This bag is stylish with intertwined smart and refined spacious compartments. It serves as the epitome of classic luxury. It is designed to make an impression especially for the models during the beauty shows. It is notable that, the market trend of this Carine Mock-lizard bag has been growing tremendously over the past years. This growth trends are attributed to the growing appreciation of the brand in the modeling and beauty industry. It is imperative to note that, model and beauty industry is attributed to change of fashion however, some fashion has been repeating. For instance, the Tom ford lizard bag has been in existence from as early 1970s, and it has been appreciated and embraced in beauty shows up to date. It is fundamental to note that, the shape and size of this product has undergone the transformation to suit the ever-changing demands of the model and beaut y trends. The brand products can be purchased from numerous stores across Europe, which include London, Birmingham, Manchester Exchange Square and Manchester Trafford. The environment under which these products are sold is not founded on competition but rather universal market environment. This is due to the target group, which is relatively perceived as rich because of the social status they hold in the society. On the other hand, the consumer might not prefer any specific outlet such as the city center or the Trafford centre.

Gay Marriage Is Nothing Different Than Straight Marriage Assignment

Gay Marriage Is Nothing Different Than Straight Marriage - Assignment Example The assignment "Gay Marriage Is Nothing Different Than Straight Marriage" analyzes gay marriages and proves that they are nothing different than straight marriages. Nowadays, homosexual marriages exist in 15 countries of the world, including most areas of the United States and several Mexican states, as well as Scotland, England and Wales. It is very important to distinguish between the notions of homosexual marriage and homosexual union. The second one presupposes mutual living and time spending, while the fact of registration of marriage provides various rights for a couple. It includes the right to joint property, inheritance rights, social and health insurance, tax rebates and credits, the right to a name, the right not to testify in court against a spouse. The other advantages include the right to speak on a trustee behalf of a spouse in case of his incapacity due to the health conditions, the right to share parenting and education of foster children and other advantages, unavai lable for unregistered couples. â€Å"Nine states and the District, encompassing about 15 percent of the U.S. population, have legalized gay marriage. This includes three states whose voters approved it on Nov. 6. Though it was opposed by a clear majority, 57 percent to 35 percent, in a 2001 Pew Research Center poll, gay marriage now enjoys a 48 percent plurality†. The legislation of the US refers the family law to the jurisdiction of the states, which put the issue of gay marriages entirely in the hands of state governments.

Strengths and weaknesses of Wal-Mart's entry strategy into Mexico Coursework - 1

Strengths and weaknesses of Wal-Mart's entry strategy into Mexico - Coursework Example This is the reason why Wal-Mart decided to move south of the United States to Mexico. When one understands how this move came about, the strengths and weaknesses are easily distinguished. The strengths that can be accounted here included the already known name of Wal-Mart which spoke volumes about the kind of trust and confidence that the American consumers had in this retail giant. Also the everyday low pricing mechanism, and the highly efficient operations with state of the art logistics spoke at length of how Wal-Mart had made its name as a benchmark within the American retail spheres. This was the era of early 1990s when Wal-Mart had made a decision to explore the Mexican market. It teamed up with one of the already established retailers – Cifra, so that assistance could come in handy for both the chains. They decided to launch supercenters which would sell groceries and general merchandise. Wal-Mart had a win-win situation because it was entering into a completely new mar ket and its operations within the United States had taught it that diverse customers can be served well, if there was a proper hierarchy within tasks and when operations were handled amicably. Thus the strengths for Wal-Mart depended a great deal on how it entered into the Mexican markets and created a name for itself all over again. Even though it was renowned in the United States, the slow down in the home country meant that Wal-Mart had to come up with something different and new. This could have only taken place with entrance within a new zone, yet being attached with the United States in one way or the other. Mexico is a neighboring nation of the United States and hence there were fewer risks involved for Wal-Mart because the region was more or less the same. With these strengths, came the weaknesses as well. Wal-Mart did not quite study the Mexican shopping habits and since it had already teamed up with Cifra, it knew little about the shopping trends revolving around the Mexic ans. This was an important aspect related with Wal-Mart as it needed to find out more about them to begin with. The Mexicans preferred to buy fresh produce from local stores which included items like meat, tortillas and pan duice. This was an important understanding that must have been worked upon well by Wal-Mart before it decided to land within the Mexican market. Yet somehow there was a missing link present here. Since the Mexicans did not quite have large refrigerators at home, this meant that they bought on a regular basis. It actually asked them to come back again and purchase fresh produce. Also many Mexicans did not have cars which essentially meant that they could not shop much in one go. They would come back and buy small chunks though (Anand, 2009:171). This implied for fewer volumes of purchases on their part which defied the concept of large retail chains which were introduced by Wal-Mart in the first place. Hence the weaknesses were quite of a stringent nature as far a s Wal-Mart was concerned. These needed to be worked upon at to produce sound results. What this fundamentally meant was the fact that Wal-Mart was losing ground within Mexico and since it was a new market, anything to this effect was not at all appreciated by the head quarters. Wal-Mart knew that its strengths and weaknesses

COMM480 QUIZ Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

COMM480 QUIZ - Essay Example She is also responsible for assisting the International Students Association in its activities by coordinating transportation and booking venues. She is prepared to deal with anything that comes her way, as many international students require her expertise in applying for driver’s licenses, medical insurance, and travel documents. Although Nikki does much nitty-gritty work of taking care of everyone, she enjoys the rewarding experience. As the secretary of ISO, international students gravitate to the office and often share their stories with her. She feels that one of the most rewarding aspects of the job is having the chance to learn about all these different countries and cultures. â€Å"There was an Irish student a couple of years ago. Perhaps it is the fact that he came from a remote part of Ireland, but his hometown only eats food that are readily available. When he came to Albright, he was astonished by how common ice cream is and explained that ice cream was more of an occasional luxury.† Nikki recalls, â€Å"I was really surprised since I never expected ice cream to be so special.† Nikki said that her job allows her to connect with students on a more personal level since she helps with international students affairs. As a secretary, she can simply be a friend who is willing to listen and share your problems. She believes that international students can thrive in the close-knit community of Albright. Although many international students feel uncomfortable in the new environment and try to stay within their ethnic circles, Nikki encourages students to open up to ne culture and be confident in their English. â€Å"As long as you can take the initiative to try to interact with local students, you will enjoy your four years of college at Albright. After all, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity, as some of you might not come back to the United States afterwards and none of you will go to

Gay Marriage Is Nothing Different Than Straight Marriage Assignment

Gay Marriage Is Nothing Different Than Straight Marriage - Assignment Example The assignment "Gay Marriage Is Nothing Different Than Straight Marriage" analyzes gay marriages and proves that they are nothing different than straight marriages. Nowadays, homosexual marriages exist in 15 countries of the world, including most areas of the United States and several Mexican states, as well as Scotland, England and Wales. It is very important to distinguish between the notions of homosexual marriage and homosexual union. The second one presupposes mutual living and time spending, while the fact of registration of marriage provides various rights for a couple. It includes the right to joint property, inheritance rights, social and health insurance, tax rebates and credits, the right to a name, the right not to testify in court against a spouse. The other advantages include the right to speak on a trustee behalf of a spouse in case of his incapacity due to the health conditions, the right to share parenting and education of foster children and other advantages, unavai lable for unregistered couples. â€Å"Nine states and the District, encompassing about 15 percent of the U.S. population, have legalized gay marriage. This includes three states whose voters approved it on Nov. 6. Though it was opposed by a clear majority, 57 percent to 35 percent, in a 2001 Pew Research Center poll, gay marriage now enjoys a 48 percent plurality†. The legislation of the US refers the family law to the jurisdiction of the states, which put the issue of gay marriages entirely in the hands of state governments.

COMM480 QUIZ Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

COMM480 QUIZ - Essay Example She is also responsible for assisting the International Students Association in its activities by coordinating transportation and booking venues. She is prepared to deal with anything that comes her way, as many international students require her expertise in applying for driver’s licenses, medical insurance, and travel documents. Although Nikki does much nitty-gritty work of taking care of everyone, she enjoys the rewarding experience. As the secretary of ISO, international students gravitate to the office and often share their stories with her. She feels that one of the most rewarding aspects of the job is having the chance to learn about all these different countries and cultures. â€Å"There was an Irish student a couple of years ago. Perhaps it is the fact that he came from a remote part of Ireland, but his hometown only eats food that are readily available. When he came to Albright, he was astonished by how common ice cream is and explained that ice cream was more of an occasional luxury.† Nikki recalls, â€Å"I was really surprised since I never expected ice cream to be so special.† Nikki said that her job allows her to connect with students on a more personal level since she helps with international students affairs. As a secretary, she can simply be a friend who is willing to listen and share your problems. She believes that international students can thrive in the close-knit community of Albright. Although many international students feel uncomfortable in the new environment and try to stay within their ethnic circles, Nikki encourages students to open up to ne culture and be confident in their English. â€Å"As long as you can take the initiative to try to interact with local students, you will enjoy your four years of college at Albright. After all, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity, as some of you might not come back to the United States afterwards and none of you will go to

Finding a New Advertising Agency Essay Example for Free

Finding a New Advertising Agency Essay It started with a pair of certified letters to MINI USA’s Woodcliff Lake headquarters in northern New Jersey in the summer of 2005. One of the letters was addressed to Jim McDowell, vice president and managing director of MINI USA, the U.S. division of BMW’s MINI automobile brand. The other letter was to Trudy Hardy, marketing manager for MINI USA and a direct report to McDowell. Both letters were from Scheid, Roberts, and Reicher (SRR),1 MINI’s advertising agency since 2001, and both arrived at their respective destinations at almost exactly the same time. From her desk, which was not in the immediate proximity of McDowell’s office, Hardy sat back in her chair and opened the letter without the knowledge that McDowell had just received a similar letter. Her thoughts and feelings as she broke the seal of the envelope and read the one-page letter partly confirmed previous suspicions but, nevertheless, included a sense of great disappointment and some hurt feelings. A rare event in the client-advertising agency relationship, SRR’s letter informed Hardy that they would resign the MINI account in order to pursue a larger account with a competing German automobile manufacturer. For Hardy, it was during the next few moments that the gravity of the event began to sink in. SRR had been the ad agency for MINI ever since the months leading up to the U.S. launch of the new MINI Cooper, which was the first new car launched by the MINI brand since its acquisition by BMW several years earlier. In a time when the duration of a client-advertising agency relationship typically lasted for just about two years, the collaboration with SRR had been in her mind a productive one for almost five years. And in the same way that she believed the relationship had been extremely valuable  to MINI, it was also hard for Hardy to believe that the same did not hold true for SRR as well. In 2001, the MINI account stood as one of the first major SRR client wins when it was a start-up agency with fewer than 50 employees. SRR had now grown to more than 300 employees, and the launch of the MINI Cooper was an unquestioned success. In some ways, MINI and SRR had grown up together. 1 Although this case is based on actual events, Scheid, Roberts, and Reicher (SRR) is a fictional name for MINI USA’s advertising agency from 2001 to 2005. For simplicity, hereinafter, MINI is used as opposed to MINI USA. 2 The BMW Group maintained a general rule that each BMW brand have its own advertising agency. For example, SRR could not work for BMW and MINI at the same time. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Professor David Godes prepared this case with the assistance of Research Associate Peter Wickersham. HBS cases are developed solely as the basis for class discussion. Cases are not intended to serve as endorsements, sources of primary data, or illustrations of effective or ineffective management. Copyright  © 2007, 2008 President and Fellows of Harvard College. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, call 1-800-5457685, write Harvard Business School Publishing, Boston, MA 02163, or go to http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the permission of Harvard Business School. Hardy began to think of the task before her. In one sense, if she were the marketing manager for almost any other product, the selection of a new advertising agency might not have been such a critical task. But the MINI brand, in almost every respect, was unique—from the design of the car itself to the passionate owners of the car who, for example, often named their MINI Cooper as they would a pet or family member. MINI’s advertising since the launch of the Cooper had been highly unconventional, and although she had no immediate ideas of how to proceed in finding a new agency, Hardy knew that  the selection process would need to be just as unique. The BMW Group and MINI Mini History We went round the works, and I drove him at a hell of a speed—I’m sure he was terrified—but then he was so impressed by its road holding. We stopped outside his office. He got out of the car and he said, â€Å"Go ahead and make it.† — Alec Issigonis, head of design for the Morris Mini Minor (a.k.a, the Mini), conversation with Leonard Lord, chairman of British Motor Corporation (BMC), 19583 The twentieth century witnessed the creation of scores of automobiles, but it can be argued that only a handful of these cars transcended the others to become cultural icons. For some car enthusiasts, the short list of such cars might have included the likes of the Ford Model T or Volkswagen Beetle. For those living in the United Kingdom and Europe in the 40 years between 1959 and the end of the century, the Mini Minor and its descendants, including the original Mini Cooper, would almost certainly have been counted among them. The genesis for what was to become the Mini was attributed to Leonard Lord in response to the nationalization of the Suez Canal by Egypt in September 1956. Since it was thought this action might disrupt or restrict the shipment of oil from the Middle East, Lord commissioned Alec Issigonis to design a small car intended for those seeking frugal transport. The design requirements were few and simple: the ability to seat four people, use of a BMC engine, and an overall size smaller than that of current BMC cars. Issigonis formed a team of eight designers and engineers. In one of their first meetings together, Issigonis placed four wooden chairs on the workshop floor in two rows of two and asked four of his team members to sit in them. They then shuffled the chairs around on the floor until each could sit comfortably in a minimum of space. The rough dimensions were captured in chalk on the workshop floor; the passenger space required was to be at least 8 feet 9 inches long, Purchased for use on the MSc International Marketing, at Kings College London, Department of Management. Taught by Douglas West, from 12-Jan-2015 to 27-Mar-2015. Order ref F240566. Usage permitted only within these parameters otherwise contact [emailprotected] â€Å"Well, I guess they’re off to greener pastures,† he said in a matter-of-fact tone. After talking some more about the resignation, they soon turned their attention to finding a new partner. â€Å"Listen, I have total confidence in you to find our next agency,† McDowell assured Hardy. â€Å"It won’t be easy, but you know our brand better than anyone. The only catch is that we should probably have this nailed down before the end of the year, which means early December. Let’s talk more once you have an idea of where you’d like to take the search.† With those words, McDowell left Hardy’s office. In addition to its small size (and in some cases because of it), the design of the Mini contained several other notable innovations. It was one of the first front-wheel-drive cars, and its engine was mounted transversely so as not to contribute more than two feet to the overall length of the car. The wide spacing of the wheels allowed for more efficient passenger space, and thus more than 80% of the overall dimensions of the Mini were devoted to luggage and occupants. The design of the Mini also had some other unique consequences. First, the Mini’s simple layout made it easy for owners to modify the interior and exterior of the car; as a result, customization of the car became common. Second, its wide wheel spacing and low center of gravity made the Mini suitable for development of a racing variant of the car. An acquaintance of Issigonis, John Cooper, created the Mini Cooper in 1961 to be driven in rally races. The Mini Cooper was quite successful,  winning the prestigious Monte Carlo rally in 1964, 1965, and 1967. In all, around 150,000 Mini Coopers were produced. The mass-produced version of the Mini was a success in terms of unit sales. It also attracted a cult-like following. Each of the four Beatles owned a Mini as did Peter Sellers and many other famous British celebrities of the day. In 1995, the Mini was voted â€Å"Car of the Century† by readers of Autocar, a U.K. car magazine. BMW Acquires Mini Although the Mini was universally considered a success, the same could not be said for the succession of parent companies that owned the brand. In 1968, British Leyland was formed when BMC merged with the Leyland truck company. In 1975, British Leyland went bankrupt, and the company—with classic brands such as Jaguar, Rover, MG, Triumph, and Mini—was bought out by the British government. In 1988, the collection of surviving brands, now referred to as the Rover Group, was sold to British Aerospace, another nationalized company. Along the way, there were notable investments made in the Rover Group by other car manufacturers, including Honda of Japan, which owned approximately 25% of the company at one time. Yet, the greatest investment and perhaps the biggest surprise occurred in 1994 when BMW, the German luxury automaker with 1993 sales of $18 billion, acquired Rover and its brands, including Mini, for $1.2 billion. In the eyes of senior management at the BMW Auto Group (AG), the vision for the purchase of the Rover Group was to take the company into a new international era. Bernd Pischetsrieder, who was named chief executive officer of BMW AG in 1994, explained it this way: â€Å"The key to success is continuously changing your focus over the long term . . . in the ‘80s, we focused on enhancing the engineering process. The  key emphasis for the ‘90s is globalization of the entire business, including financing, product engineering, styling, designing, manufacturing, and sourcing.†4 Similarly, some industry analysts believed that BMW could not afford to compete solely at the luxury end of a maturing world car market. The acquisition of the Mini brand and the decision to develop the new MINI was seen as a solid strategy to offer less expensive cars without jeopardizing the integrity of the BMW brand.5 According to an analyst with Commerzbank, â€Å"By slightly modifying an existing brand, effectively ‘inserting’ a new vehicle into it, it avoids having to pay all the upfront costs associated 4 J. P. Donlon, â€Å"Honk if you are global (interview with BMW CEO Bernd Pischetsrieder),† Chief Executive, October 1, 1994. 5 BMW differentiated the new version of the Mini from the original by capitalizing all four letters when referring to the new model (i.e., MINI). 3 Purchased for use on the MSc International Marketing, at Kings College London, Department of Management. Taught by Douglas West, from 12-Jan-2015 to 27-Mar-2015. Order ref F240566. Usage permitted only within these parameters otherwise contact [emailprotected]  feet 2 inches wide, and 4 feet 4 inches high. Ultimately, once the engine and luggage space were added, the Mini was designed to be just 10 feet in length (Exhibit 1). MINI USA: Finding a New Advertising Agency (A)  with developing a new brand. The costs of brand building cannot be underestimated, as anyone at Daewoo would be quick to point out.†6 Not included in the deal to divest the Rover division, notably, was the MINI  brand as well as the manufacturing facility near Oxford, England. â€Å"We knew we had a winner there. Much to the chagrin of the British, we held onto it,† McDowell would say later. Educational material supplied by The Case Centre Copyright encoded A76HM-JUJ9K-PJMN9I Order reference F240566 Designing a New MINI The design and development of the new MINI in the mid-1990s was to some at BMW the embodiment of the larger struggle to integrate the cultures of Rover and BMW. Between 1994 and 1999, there existed two separate MINI design teams—one British and one German. The British-based Rover designers and engineers for much of that time envisioned a revolutionary design of the new MINI. One such MINI concept was unlike, the previous Mini in almost every way but was seen as a contemporary interpretation of Issigonis’ vision of building a small car with maximum passenger space (Exhibit 3). BMW’s designers took a more evolutionary approach in terms of design combined with BMW’s reputation for delivering high-performance, driver-oriented cars. On one night in 1998 at his home in Munich, Frank Stephenson, a BMW designer originally from the U.S., cast himself into the role of Issigonis, who was known for doodling designs of cars on the back of napkins. On a kitchen towel, Stephenson sketched a series of updated versions of the original Mini to reflect modern trends in design and new technology; see Exhibit 3 for a sample sketch.7 In the end, it was Stephenson’s design that would form the basis of the new MINI. The official launch of the MINI was held at the Paris auto show in 2000. During the show, senior BMW AG executives and Stephenson unveiled the new MINI to a rousing ovation. In explaining its design, Stephenson said, â€Å"The MINI Cooper is not a retro design car, but an evolution of the original. It has the genes and many of the characteristics of its predecessor, but is larger, more powerful, more muscular and more exciting than its predecessor.†8 Two production models were to be launched in the U.K. (its historical home) in July 2001: a base model called the MINI One and a more upscale MINI Cooper. A sportier MINI Cooper S was to be launched soon thereafter in the U.K., and both the MINI Cooper and MINI  Cooper S were scheduled for launch in the U.S. as well as other parts of the world in early 2002. Even though the first MINI Coopers were not scheduled to arrive until early 2002, work was well underway in 2000 to establish an organization to support  the launch of the MINI in the United States. MINI USA was established as a division of BMW of North America LLC and would share the same headquarters in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey, as its parent organization. Jack Pitney was named general manager of MINI USA, a unique distinction for someone with a marketing background as opposed to automotive engineering, manufacturing, finance, or sales. Kerri Martin was appointed MINI’s marketing communications manager. Trudy Hardy was also recruited in 2001 as brand communications manager of MINI, reporting to Martin. The MINI USA headquarters organization was designed to be small (fewer than 25 employees), nimble, and highly creative. From the start, the credo of the organization appeared to be, â€Å"If another car company might take the same approach, MINI ought not.† Martin, for instance, was commonly called by the title â€Å"keeper of brand soul† instead of marketing manager. Work proceeded quickly. By the end of 2000, www.miniusa.com was live and already receiving hits. As with the MINI USA headquarters organization, the existing BMW infrastructure was utilized to create a network of U.S. MINI dealerships. Nevertheless, in a similar fashion, great lengths were taken to establish MINI as its own brand. Approximately 70 dealerships in 31 cities were renovated to add an exclusive MINI showroom under a separate marquee. In total, across all U.S. dealerships, first-year MINI sales objectives were expected to be 20,000 units, an amount Pitney viewed as aggressive but within reach. Base retail sticker prices for the MINI Cooper and MINI Cooper S models were set at about $18,000 and $21,000, respectively, including dealer shipment fees. Additionally, leveraging the history of customizations to the original Mini, each model carried an extensive list of optional equipment and exterior color schemes. For instance, the car roof alone could be painted at the factory with one of more than 10 color schemes, including a black-and-white checkerboard pattern as well as an image of either the Union Jack or American flag. Early expectations were that the MINI Cooper S would capture approximately 80% of sales due to its larger engine and better acceleration. Depending on the amount of optional equipment selected, the total price of a MINI Cooper S could exceed $25,000. Given its design and price range, plans were to position the MINI Cooper as a premium small car—something that MINI saw as a new market niche. This was especially true because the MINI Cooper was smaller and more expensive than some of the better-established compact cars made by Honda, Toyota, and Nissan. Initial MINI marketing materials and media reports from auto shows portrayed the MINI Cooper as a â€Å"fashionable accessory to an affluent, urban-hipster lifestyle.†9 However, early market research also indicated that the target market for the MINI was not limited to a specific demographic group or socioeconomic class but rather was more of a lifestyle choice or mind-set. For example, in surveys conducted before launch, potential MINI buyers in the U.S. described themselves as â€Å"young at heart† or â€Å"free spirited,† a finding that was consistent among both young as well as older age groups. Moreover, the potential MINI buyer appeared to be less concerned by the opinions of others and was independent minded. MINI and BMW AG drew a number of conclusions from this initial research. First, it was decided that further research should closely examine the psychographic factors associated with the purchase of a MINI, since the most fervent of potential MINI buyers seemed to have a common mind-set about the car, which was something that Pitney and others hoped to explore in greater detail. Second, the research confirmed to them that, unlike the original Mini, the new MINI should not be marketed as a car for the masses but instead to a particular segment of car buyers. Third, although it created 9 Suzanne Vranica, â€Å"Cool Mini Cooper Prepares for Relaunch,† The Wall Street Journal, February 14, 2001. Pitney and Martin thus recognized the importance of selecting an advertising agency with experience in nontraditional advertising such as promotional events, online advertising, and direct marketing. None of the large advertising agencies known for television advertising were invited to pitch the account, a decision that many industry observers viewed as bold and against the grain. DaimlerChrysler’s Chrysler Group unit, for example, had recently consolidated its $1.5 billion ad account at Omnicom Group. MINI also decided to base part of the compensation of the ad agency on the collective opinions of its dealers, something that was unique in advertising. Following a fourmonth review, SRR was selected as MINI’s agency of record. A separate firm, Circle.com, was selected to handle their online technology strategy and customer relationship management (CRM) duties. Although MINI would not disclose it publicly, the MINI account was valued at about $25 million per year in term s of total marketing spend, a relatively modest size for an automotive client. Let’s Motor: The U.S. Launch of the MINI The U.S. Launch Campaign (2001–2002) By July 2001, in the eyes of Pitney, Martin, Hardy, and the rest of the MINI team, both the marketing strategy and the creative focus of MINI’s U.S. launch (scheduled for March 2002) were taking shape. Moreover, they felt that the desire to do things differently at MINI had been taken to a whole new level. Most significantly, the marketing team had decided not to use any television or radio advertising as part of MINI’s launch, an industry first for what was essentially an entirely new automobile brand in the U.S. market (it had been almost 40 years since the original Mini was sold in the U.S.). Instead, a phased approach using print and nontraditional marketing techniques was developed. During August and September 2001, MINI’s focus was  to build brand awareness primarily through print advertising in magazines. The tagline for the ads was â€Å"Let’s Motor,† a theme developed by SRR and that would be carried throughout the launch campaign in 2002. The use of the word â€Å"Let’s† at the beginning of each ad was intended to create a feeling of inclusiveness, and the tone of the ads was intended to be friendly and funny. For example, one ad read: â€Å"Let’s not use the size of our vehicle to compensate for other shortcomings. Let’s Motor.† Another began, â€Å"Let’s put away the middle finger.† In addition to initial print advertising in magazines such as Autoweek, SRR developed The Book of Motoring, a 5-inch by 5-inch glossy booklet designed to convey exactly what it meant to be a motorer. â€Å"How is motoring different from driving?† it posed to the reader. â€Å"Physically, they’re the same process . . . the difference is in the mind of the operator . . . when you drive, you go from A to B . . . when you motor you go from A to Z . . . it’s all about living . . . nobody can tell you when you’re motoring . . . you just know.† The book also suggested that motorers pay the toll for the car behind them or feed parking meters if they see a meter maid coming. â€Å"Motorers look out for one another,† the book said. The Book of Motoring could be obtained through BMW dealers or the MINI USA website. In October 2001, in addition to continued print advertising, the SRR and the MINI marketing team designed a series of promotional events and publicity stunts to create additional buzz for the brand. Purchased for use on the MSc International Marketing, at Kings College London, Department of Management. Taught by Douglas West, from 12-Jan-2015 to 27-Mar-2015. Order ref F240566. Usage permitted only within these parameters otherwise contact [emailprotected]  challenges for the manufacturing team in Oxford, England, it was clear that the target market would likely seek to make their MINI unique by adding optional features and color schemes. Finally, it also became apparent that limiting their advertising to traditional media such as television and radio would not be cost effective, since the MINI itself was not a mass-market car  and since its potential buyers seemed less interested in being part of the mainstream. In one example, for a Formula 1 car race in Indianapolis, MINIs were secured to the top of three fullsize sport-utility vehicles and were driven to the city from other parts of the U.S. carrying signs that read, â€Å"What are you doing for fun this weekend?† The same MINI-toting SUVs then toured some 24 U.S. cities (Exhibit 4). When curious onlookers asked about the car, representatives were instructed to give them a card that said â€Å"Coming to America† and directed them to the MINI USA website. Sporting events were also used as venues to promote the car. For instance, a MINI was placed in the stands of an Oakland A’s baseball game and in the Superdome for a Monday Night Football game (Exhibit 5). As part of this promotion, during the game, the announcer did a series of â€Å"callouts† that drew the attention of the fans in attendance to the MINI. As one example, he announced: â€Å"To the gentleman in Section 101, you’ve left your lights on.â €  When the in-stadium camera focused on the MINI in Section 101, its lights flashed and then shut off. This particular promotion also played a role in the firm’s attempts to anthropomorphize the MINI. When the official launch of the MINI Cooper began in March 2002, MINI and SRR continued their grass-roots marketing efforts and print advertising in combination with outdoor advertising using, most notably, billboards, which they felt were underutilized by other car brands. In all 45 markets where the new MINI was to be sold, teaser billboards were posted on the day that showrooms were opened. Instead of displaying the car or its logo, the billboards only included the company’s website, miniusa.com, and a single line of text. One billboard read, â€Å"XXL XL L M S Mini.† Another read, â€Å"The SUV backlash officially starts now.† Then, in April, a new series of  billboards were rolled out that included a photo of a MINI, the MINI logo, and the â€Å"Let’s Motor† tagline. Slogans included, â€Å"Let’s Sip Not Guzzle,† referring to its above-average fuel economy. The outdoor advertising was taken to the extreme in cities like New York, where a skyscraper was wrapped to represent the car’s two-tone paint job and a 29-foot-by-125-foot billboard was erected in Times Square. Though typically considered a traditional medium, print advertising was used by MINI as nontraditionally as possible. In late 2001, for instance, executives from 35 magazines were invited to MINI’s headquarters to brainstorm unique ways to market the new MINI in print. One noteworthy outcome of this session was a proposal to use the margins around news stories to hold advertisements. At launch, the â€Å"cornering ads,† as they were called, were run in six magazines, including Rolling Stone and Motor Trend. The ads said, â€Å"Nothing corners like a MINI† and contained a photo of the Mini Cooper S cornering the one-inch margin of the magazine page. Other aspects of the launch campaign included the following (Exhibit 6): †¢ More than 6 million magazine inserts of an abridged version of The Book of Motoring †¢ A series of MINI-inspired cartoons featured in The New Yorker magazine †¢ Other magazine inserts including an unscented MINI-shaped air freshener and a pullout car game. Another insert allowed readers to customize the car using peel-off stickers; accessories such as wheel covers, blowers, and racks could be placed on a photo of a MINI in the ad. In total, more than 30 million magazine inserts were published in magazines ranging from Car and Driver to Vanity Fair. The MINI organization was very  happy with the creative output of SRR. â€Å"Conceptually, just about every one of their ideas was spot on,† Hardy said. â€Å"Besides the fact that they really ‘got’ the brand, they also made sure that the ideas they showed us were fleshed out and developed. This extra effort on their part really made it easier for us to react to the ideas and to give them meaningful feedback so we could work together to make them come to life.† MINI and SRR planned to explore other advertising media as 2002 wore on, just not television. Rather than use TV advertising, for example, MINI opted to sign a deal with National Cinema Network, a movie theater network, to show 30- and 45-second advertisements on roughly 2,000 screens in five cities. 7 Purchased for use on the MSc International Marketing, at Kings College London, Department of Management. Taught by Douglas West, from 12-Jan-2015 to 27-Mar-2015. Order ref F240566. Usage permitted only within these parameters otherwise contact [emailprotected] By the close of 2002, there were several reasons for MINI and SRR to celebrate. Most obvious were the year-end MINI sales figures, which indicated that 24,590 units had been sold in a little over nine months. At that pace, first-year sales were projected to total over 30,000 units. In addition to the strong sales figures, a consumer survey indicated that brand awareness for the MINI among the carbuying public was 25%. A survey indicated that 75% of MINI buyers had read or heard about the MINI through  public relations and Internet exposure before the official launch advertising actually began in March 2002. The launch campaign also earned both MINI and SRR a significant number of awards, including Adweek magazine’s 2002 Guerilla Marketer of the Year and 2003 Media Plan of the Year honors, the 2002 Kelly Awards Grand Prize for Outstanding Magazine Advertising, and two 2002 Cannes Media Lion prizes. SRR also won the Best of Show Award and an award for innovation in marketing at the annual One Show awards, a prestigious event sponsored by the One Club for Art and Copy in New York. At the same awards ceremony, MINI USA received the Advertiser of the Year Award. Pitney was named one of two Automotive News Marketers of the Year (the other was awarded to Jim McDowell, vice president of marketing for BMW of North America). In January 2003, the MINI was selected as the North American Car of the Year by the same publication. The MINI Cooper and MINI Cooper S were selected as finalists for the Motor Trend Car of the Year as well. The Creative Work Continues (2003–2005) By all accounts, the relationship between MINI and SRR was felt by both sides in 2003 to have been a highly productive collaboration to that point. â€Å"Each day we came to the office thinking that we had one of the best jobs in the world. In a sense, SRR was just part of the family. We’d interact and debate ideas on a weekly, sometimes daily, basis,† Hardy described. â€Å"It was a close working relationship.† Over the next two years, MINI’s strategy of using primarily nontraditional advertising in combination with print and outdoor advertising continued, as did SRR’s ability to develop unique creative material in support of this strategy. One magazine campaign featured punch-out, assembleable versions of the MINI Cooper built on a 1:56 scale. About 4.4 million inserts were created, featuring two cars with different combinations of accessories, and came complete with assembly instructions; both cars became collectors’ items. In another campaign, consumers could pull out MINI cartoon-character decals from magazines. The stickers came eight per sheet and were designed to drive buyers into dealerships for a ninth sticker. Approaches like this one were well received by dealers, including Wayne Youngblood, general  manager of Motor City Mini near Detroit. â€Å"I’m thrilled with it; MINI marketing is quirky, fun, and it delivers customers that match the vehicle perfectly,† he said. â€Å"In my 30 years in the business, there has been no other product that commands as much excitement or attention as MINI.†10 Sales of the MINI Cooper continued to climb (Exhibit 7). In 2004, a MINI Cooper convertible was added to the model lineup. Changes would soon be underway, however. In March 2005, Martin announced that she was leaving MINI to become director of market development for Volkswagen of America, a company known for spending about $500 million annually in North American advertising. Around the same time, Pitney and McDowell made the unique decision to switch jobs as general manager of MINI USA and vice president of marketing for BMW of North America. But the ultimate surprise was SRR’s resignation of the MINI account in order to become the agency of record Purchased for use on the MSc International Marketing, at Kings College London, Department of Management. Taught by Douglas West, from 12-Jan-2015 to 27-Mar-2015. Order ref F240566. Usage permitted only within these parameters otherwise contact [emailprotected] for Volkswagen. By then, Hardy had assumed Martin’s duties as head of marketing, and one of her first challenges was starting over and finding a new advertising agency, which would not be easy given the unique relationship that MINI enjoyed with SRR. Advertising Agencies With each passing year of technological advancements, it was apparent to MINI and others that the foundations of any advertising firm—creativity and the ability to deliver creative content in a variety of media—were becoming less and less the exclusive domain of bigger advertising firms with extensive production staffs. Consequently, it was possible for a one- or two-person shop to perform the same creative services as a large, multinational advertising conglomerate with billions in revenues such as Omnicom, WPP, Interpublic Group (IPG), and Publicis. Advertising firms in 2005 could be categorized into either of these two groups, but a third group also existed. The â€Å"independents,† as they were called, were privately owned firms with anywhere from about 10 to 300 employees. As was the case with SRR, oftentimes these firms were started by young, entrepreneurial advertising professionals looking for creative freedom or autonomy following stints at one or more o f the publicly held multinational firms. Seen by some to be a competitive response to the growth of the independents, consolidation was a significant theme in the advertising industry during much of the 1990s and early twenty-first century. Over this period, the major holding companies appeared intent on expanding market share in order to gain economies of scale, diversifying their revenue streams, and serving clients as a one-stop shop while growing into large, multinational players. In 1993, for example, the top three agency holding companies captured a 36% share of the market. By 2003, this figure had increased to 50%.11 The increase in market share was largely achieved through acquisitions of independents and smaller holding companies, with the bulk of these acquisitions occurring from 1996–2001. One holding company, IPG, acquired 240 companies during that period. Another significant industry theme was the shift in agency compensation over the past decade from commissions to fee-based compensation. Traditionally, advertising organizations had been paid at a set percentage of an advertising budget for the creative work on an account; this percentage was  typically in the 12%–15% range but could be as high as 20%. A major criticism of this compensation system was that it did not align the agency’s pay with the success of a particular campaign or with the amount of work required to create the campaign. The fee-based system (or FTE model) charged production fees and employee hours along with a standard profit margin (e.g., 20%) for the advertising firm. In 2005, it was estimated that 80% of all advertising clients had moved away from commission-based compensation structures to enter fixed fees or a combination of fee and incentive compensation.