Whos Your Congressman? :: essays research papers

Who’s Your Congressman? After several laps in circles in my head, I decided to give up. I did not know the person who was representing my district. The first step involved jumping on the internet and surfing for a "Congressman finder", if you will. I type the word congressman in the space provided. The search engine displayed several different topics to choose from and finally I see the site for a general purpose. Voila! I had become one step closer to find my Representative. After clicking in different places, I landed on the Postal Office web site. Why? You might ask yourself. This general site was to find my "guy" by typing in a five-digit zip code. I was thrilled and could hardly contain myself. I enter the code and it gives me an answer of "There are multiple Representatives who share your 5-digit ZIP code ( 21234 ). Please use the Postal Services ZIP+4 Lookup to determine your 9-digit ZIP code." In other words, I still could not locate this person who is representing my d istrict. I decided to actually do something smart. Look on my mail with the rest of my zip code. I put the code in and finally after thirty minutes of fighting for the truth, "The Honorable Benjamin L. Cardin, Maryland, 3rd" (www.house.gov) appeared. I was beside myself. The truth brought me Ben Cardin, a man with 57 years of age and fourteen consecutive years as the 3rd-District Congressman. How embarrassing is that? He has served seven terms and I found this news several days ago. The life of Ben Cardin began on â€Å"October 5, 1943† (The Sun, Sec B). After searching several books, magazines, and internet sites, I could not find any information about his life until 1964. In other words, twenty-one years of his life are not recorded publicly. In 1964, he "earned his BA degree from the University of Pittsburgh† (www.house.gov/cardin/bio 1), soon after he earns another degree. Only three years later in 1967, he becomes a "graduate of the University of Maryland Law School† (www.house.gov/cardin/bio 1). After the success of earning his BA and his Law Degree he decides he will serve in the Maryland House of Delegates. Mr. Cardin was a Delegate from 1967 until 1986. Following his â€Å"father’s and uncle’s footsteps† (The Sun, B) it seemed almost natural. During his time as a Delegate he was the "chairman of the Ways and Means Committee from 1974-1979† (www.

Donor Services Essay

1. What was Joanna Reed’s diagnosis of the situation in the donor services department? Sam Wilson was an American who ran the Guatemala branch of a U.S. aid agency. Joanna Reed’s diagnosis of the situation in his donor services department found many problems. LEADERSHIP – The biggest problem was that there was no leader who was accountable. Elena was the supervisor but she had no control. She also had no leadership skills and did not get respect because she was not bilingual and of a different religion. The supposed leader, Jose, spent almost all his time in the community services department. He did not pay attention and left things up to Elena. INEFFICIENCY IN WORK – The translators mostly did clerical work even though they were bilingual. The work in the office was divided into set tasks, one done by each person, and not divided evenly. Some workers had too much paperwork while the others had spare time. Those that had spare time did not help those loaded with work. There was also lack of training in English and in work, so quality was bad. The workers did not think about the job and used many extra steps and wasted time. TRACKING – The data was not shared in the department, so people had little knowledge about their job. There were no statistics about time, requests for information, or responses. There was little communication, plus there was resentment of Elena by some. Jose did not hear about problems or about good results. MORALE – The agency was run by a religion and Elena was not of that religion. However, everyone was proud of the agency and the religion. But morale was low because the workers did not use or improve their skills and had only a set and boring role to do. They are frustrated with the department. GROUP DYNAMICS – One translator Magdalena had experience, college education, and maturity. She had strong belief in the agency and was more professional. Three translators socialized mostly, and their leader Juana was outgoing with good oral English. Other translators had too much work. Everyone’s English was only fair. Supervisor Elena was left out. Elena was treated like just a watchdog. Boss Jose was not around much and paid no attention. 2. What should she recommend to Sam Wilson? (HOW) Joanna might have made these suggestions: LEADERSHIP – Magdalena might be a good supervisor instead of Elena. Magdalena had experience, education, belief in the agency, maturity, and professionalism. Magdalena could keep herself from making others dislike her by keeping a distance away from them. She could also have got respect. Juana could be given more leadership roles, to use her humor and outgoingness. Elena could do a job that required the hardest work. Jose could spend all his time in the community services department. INEFFICIENCY IN WORK – The working strategy was changed to divide all the work more evenly, so all workers did all jobs. They could be less bored and learn more through such training. They could work in a team environment, rather than be selfish for themselves. Joanna’s identified unnecessary steps, which caused the system to be slow; could be changed to a better workflow. The workers could be asked to think more about improvements. The workers could be trained more in translating, perhaps they could translate easy documents or parts of documents. Socializing could be minimized to break times. TRACKING – Statistics about time, requests for information, or responses could be kept and shared with all workers. Communication about problems or about good results would be increased through meetings, talks with leaders, and newsletters. MORALE – All workers could know all jobs and be given a minimum of boring work, while improving skills. The religion should be emphasized along with service to others. The department could link with community services more. Communication should be encouraged. Togetherness as a team with an important purpose whould be emphasized. GROUP DYNAMICS – The leader should be respected because of English languge ability and leadership skills and be of the right religion. Theleader should also be around all the time. The secondary leader should be a team worker and skillful in communication. The workers should respect each other and work as a team. All persons should have clear authority and responsibility. The workload should be fair. REWARDS – Joanna could recommend rewards to change both the workers’ and the managers’ behavior. They could get a bonus for achieving goals. They could get awards for service and efficiency. They could have a chance to go to higher positions in the agency. Perhaps they could visit the U.S.!

Essay about Value Chain Analysis - 3406 Words

Value Chain Analysis The article focuses on the main aspects of Value chain analysis. The activities entailed in the framework are discussed in detail, with respect to competitive strategies and value to the customer. The article includes tips for students and analysts on how to write a good Value chain analysis for a firm. Moreover, sources of findings information for value chain analysis have been discussed. The limitations of Value Chain analysis as a model have also been discussed. Introduction The value chain approach was developed by Michael Porter in the 1980s in his book â€Å"Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance† (Porter, 1985). The concept of value added, in the form of the value chain, can be†¦show more content†¦An efficient procurement department should be able to obtain the highest quality goods at the lowest prices. †¢ Human Resource Management This is a function concerned with recruiting, training,, motivating and rewarding the workforce of the company. Human resources are increasingly becoming an important way of attaining sustainable competitive advantage. †¢ Technology Development This is an area that is concerned with technological innovation, training and knowledge that is crucial for most companies today in order to survive. †¢ Firm Infrastructure This includes planning and control systems, such as finance, accounting, and corporate strategy etc. (Lynch, 2003). Figure 1 The Value Chain Source: Porter (1985) Porter used the word ‘margin’ for the difference between the total value and the cost of performing the value activities (Figure 1). Here, value is referred to as the price that the customer is willing to pay for a certain offering (Macmillan et al, 2000). Other scholars have used the word ‘added value’ instead of margin in order to describe the same (Lynch, 2003). The analysis entails a thorough examination of how each part might contribute towards added value in the company and how this may differ from the competition. In a study of SaudiShow MoreRelatedValue Chain Analysis1651 Words   |  7 Pagesorganization should adopt the various application of information technology. This will put the organization at the forefront in terms of innovation as well as give the organization a competitive advantage (Hitt amp; Robert, 2011, p.10). Value chain analysis is a model that was developed by Michael Porter to help an organization develop a strategy for its organization. Michael porter suggested that organization activities can be grouped into two major categories which include the following; primaryRead MoreValue Chain Analysis And Analysis1589 Words   |  7 Pagesdiscuss and explore the value chain analysis and the internal analysis in the strategic management. The focus of this report is to study the value chain analysis in detail along with the advantages and disadvantage of the value chain analysis. Also, the internal analysis is also discussed along with its pros and cons and the SWOT analysis of Next Plc. This report also discusses the way in which organizational resources are mixed to develop company’s abilities, Value Chain Analysis Keane (2008) statedRead MoreAn analysis of porters value chain1188 Words   |  5 Pagesfirms can gain a competitive advantage, it is useful to model the firm as a chain of value creating activities. For this purpose, Porter identified a range of interrelated generic activities common to a wide range of firms. The resulting model is known as the value chain. According to Porter (1985), Competitive Advantage arises out of the way firms organise and arrange discrete activities. Through using the Value Chain, the activities performed by a firm competing in a particular industry canRead MoreValue Chain Analysis For Costco1000 Words   |  4 PagesThe purpose of this paper is to do a value chain analysis of Costco, identify their resources and capabilities, to conduct a SWOT analysis to identify the opportunities in which they are lagging and to form a strategy to move forward using the recourses and capabilities in the direction of utilizing those opportunities. Value Chain Analysis for Costco Conducting a value chain analysis provides a snapshot for identifying a firm’s relative competitive performance, core competencies, and for focusingRead MoreSwot Analysis : Value Chain1514 Words   |  7 PagesIntroduction Value chain analysis has proven to be a useful tool for knowing how an organization can create the greatest value for its customers. Michael Porter (1985) in his book competitive advantage states that â€Å"understanding how a business creates value are essential elements for developing a competitive advantage.† [1]. According to porter (1985) value chain is â€Å"the process view of an organization, the idea of seeing an organization as a system, made up of subsystems each with inputs, transformationRead MoreCompany Analysis : Value Chain Analysis Essay1291 Words   |  6 PagesValue chain represents the internal activities a firm engages in when transforming inputs into outputs. Value chain analysis is a process where a firm identifies its primary and support activities that add value to its final product and then analyze these activities to reduce costs or increase differentiation. Value chain analysis is also a strategy tool used to analyze internal firm activities. Its goal is to recognize, which activities are the most valuable (i.e. are the source of cost or differentiationRead MoreValue Chain Analysis of Aggreko2672 Words   |  11 PagesUniversity of Stirling Pre-Masters Skills for Business Environment Value chain analysis of Aggreko Name: Rita Date: 2011 Tutor: David Dick Value chain analysis of Aggreko 1. Introduction Currently, along with the increasingly development of globalization, every walks of life has to confront with the fierce competition. Even electric power market is no exception as well. Furthermore, more and more companies have not satisfied with the domestic market, they have focused onRead MorePorters Value Chain Analysis1879 Words   |  8 PagesThe value chain shows the internal steps a company or organization takes to transform inputs into outputs (Jurevicius, 2013). As the products pass through each stage or activity, value is added until they ultimately are ready to reach the consumer. Value chain analysis a process where a firm identifies its primary and support activities that add value to its final product and then analyze these activities to reduce costs or increase differentiation (Jurevicius, 2013). The use of value chain analysisRead MoreMcdonalds Value Chain Analysis5751 Words   |  24 Pagesservice restaurant industry in terms of market share and brand value. Com mitted in quality, service, cleanliness, and value, McDonald’s must deliver its product to consumers with consistency and efficiency. This report will explore how McDonald’s corporation maintains its operational excellence through support from integration of sophisticated technologies. It suggests that to be able to apply technology in organization, value chain process must be defined and by then, information technology canRead MoreUps Value Chain Analysis864 Words   |  4 PagesValue Chain Model and Competitive Force Model BUSA 310: Dr. Chris Lee Carl Field Justin Kelly Jacob Augustine Monique Becker Value Chain Model [pic] Value Chain Model of United Postal Service United Postal Service (UPS) and every business has a Value Chain Model in order to be able to make sure that you have the best values for your internal and external customers. We have two activities, which are the Support and Primary. The UPS Support activities involve the Firm Infrastructure