Friday, October 18, 2019

Thai Tao Restaurant Opening Speech Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Thai Tao Restaurant Opening Speech - Essay Example The researcher would like to give a special mention to the Thai Consulate General for Guangzhou for the continued support and valuable advice he has given them throughout the process of opening this restaurant. Someone else that the researcher would like to thank is his special friend for his generous support in the opening of Thai Tao restaurant. Could you imagine life without great food? The researcher has never personally experienced life like this, but he knows that at Thai Tao restaurant, great food is their specialty. They prefer quality food rather than quantity. The researcher states that their customers are of great value to them and they will treat them as if they are royalty. Their restaurant will be famous for only serving the very best of food to the right people. Dave Thomas, a great American businessman, once said, â€Å"It all comes back to the basics. Serve customers the best-tasting food at a good value in a clean, comfortable restaurant, and they’ll keep co ming back.† This sums up the type of restaurant that the author really want to become. He wants their customers to enjoy their experience so much that they never want to go to any other restaurant again. It is important to keep their customers coming back to the author can retain a good customer-business relationship. Thailand and China have had a long history of great friendship. The author appreciates this alliance and wants to bring out the very best in Thai and Chinese culture. he believes that these two cultures can be mixed to provide their customers with a nice casual dining experience at Thai Tao restaurant. Their restaurant will provide Southeast Asian cuisine, and they want to bring their Chinese customers the very best that Southeast Asian food has to offer. The author also desires to provide a happy atmosphere in which their customers can enjoy their meal. He believes that there is potential growth for Southeast Asian cuisine in the Chinese market. Their goal is to develop a great bond with their Chinese friends to make them even stronger. The thing that will make them stronger is their unique service and authentic food that will be unmatched by their competitors. The researcher wants to present honesty to their customers, and as such, he will offer distinctive food that will set Thai Tao restaurant apart from the rest. Next, he would like to applaud all of his staff for their efforts to put this all together over the last couple of months. Together, they are a team. Together, they are one family. Together, they can be united and strong. Everyone one of them at Thai Tao has one thing that they strive for: they will serve their customers food of the highest quality and give them a food experience to savor. Finally, the author would like to say that for them, this is just the beginning. This is the first step of their greater plan, which is to expand even further into the Chinese market. In the next two months, they will open another branch in China. But they will not simply stop there; they will establish Thai Tao restaurants all over China. they are prepared to accept that they will make mistakes along the way; however, they are committed to having the best well-known Southeast Asian restaurant in Guangzhou. This might seem like a lofty goal, but it is not.  

Thursday, October 17, 2019

What was the most valuable thing that you learned in BUS656 this term Essay

What was the most valuable thing that you learned in BUS656 this term - Essay Example This concept provides numerous ways to create market segments that can be used to leverage business potential. The highlighted point is that of defensible market segments, which would actually help in capturing market share for a large as well as small business. The defensible market segments not only create business but also sideline competition from others in the industry. Creation of defensible market segments allows a particular business to stay on the top until competitors surpass the defensible segments with better products and/or customers’ needs change. Defensible segments can be of value with the positioning strategy of the business, especially in weak market segments. Understanding customers’ buying behavior and needs help in creating defensible segments. In addition, customer behavior in terms of frequency of purchase, attitude towards a particular product and a new product of the same brand can be advantageous to creation of defensible market strategy. Positioning strategy of products aimed at defensible segments provides opportunity to increase market share of new products. Greater product differentiation and an established brand automatically increase purchase size of customers, but cannot create defensible segments. This module highlighted the significance of defensible segments and acquiring market share as well as identifying market segments that can be used to find a slot for a particular product. Understanding markets will also help in designing products to meet the market/customer demands, which may be used for positioning the products. Once the market and customer needs are identified, it becomes simpler to find positioning strategies accordingly. It is difficult to capture greater market share of products that create defensible segments. Here, a strong positioning strategy would be of great value for the business. Positioning strategy helps in putting

Garmin's Vivo Activity Tracker Line Term Paper

Garmin's Vivo Activity Tracker Line - Term Paper Example Developing high-quality data in the devices with measurements can give the company an improved accuracy, intelligence and position as a leading expert in terms of fitness and health. The data should comprise both burn and intake to give the ability to track maximizing accurate quality assessment. Thirdly, there is also the aim to appeal and identify unique user segments. As the firm’s market matures, it needs to have value propositions and focused customer agents. The credibility of being a trusted advisor can get achieved by rich connection and understanding with the company’s user base (Kotler & Kevin 54). Fourthly, Garmin will aim at building loyal customers. Creating a great users base community will be the major metric for the company in globalization space. The user base scale will develop more significant data and give great customer sharing that may only expand bolster user trust and loyalty. Fifthly, the company will use a platform technique. To develop a loyal user base and a lasting experience, Garmin will have to create a full end-to-end system that is functionally integrated. It should base on a uniting platform of the customers community and easily allow digital services, apps, accessories, and devices series are working together. Thus, this path can get achieved through organically developing full ecosystem part or rich partnerships. Lastly, following the above objective, Garmin will aim at building strategic partnerships. Being more intimate with customers’ needs meeting them and understanding where they are in fitness and health life. It means developing partnerships and affiliations with trainers, fitness programs, gyms, professional athletes, diet programs, corporate wellness programs, and insurance providers. It will provide an opportunity to broaden and scale user base at a low-cost marketing/sales model (Kotler & Kevin 36). Garmin’s primary target market will

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Thai Tao Restaurant Opening Speech Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Thai Tao Restaurant Opening Speech - Essay Example The researcher would like to give a special mention to the Thai Consulate General for Guangzhou for the continued support and valuable advice he has given them throughout the process of opening this restaurant. Someone else that the researcher would like to thank is his special friend for his generous support in the opening of Thai Tao restaurant. Could you imagine life without great food? The researcher has never personally experienced life like this, but he knows that at Thai Tao restaurant, great food is their specialty. They prefer quality food rather than quantity. The researcher states that their customers are of great value to them and they will treat them as if they are royalty. Their restaurant will be famous for only serving the very best of food to the right people. Dave Thomas, a great American businessman, once said, â€Å"It all comes back to the basics. Serve customers the best-tasting food at a good value in a clean, comfortable restaurant, and they’ll keep co ming back.† This sums up the type of restaurant that the author really want to become. He wants their customers to enjoy their experience so much that they never want to go to any other restaurant again. It is important to keep their customers coming back to the author can retain a good customer-business relationship. Thailand and China have had a long history of great friendship. The author appreciates this alliance and wants to bring out the very best in Thai and Chinese culture. he believes that these two cultures can be mixed to provide their customers with a nice casual dining experience at Thai Tao restaurant. Their restaurant will provide Southeast Asian cuisine, and they want to bring their Chinese customers the very best that Southeast Asian food has to offer. The author also desires to provide a happy atmosphere in which their customers can enjoy their meal. He believes that there is potential growth for Southeast Asian cuisine in the Chinese market. Their goal is to develop a great bond with their Chinese friends to make them even stronger. The thing that will make them stronger is their unique service and authentic food that will be unmatched by their competitors. The researcher wants to present honesty to their customers, and as such, he will offer distinctive food that will set Thai Tao restaurant apart from the rest. Next, he would like to applaud all of his staff for their efforts to put this all together over the last couple of months. Together, they are a team. Together, they are one family. Together, they can be united and strong. Everyone one of them at Thai Tao has one thing that they strive for: they will serve their customers food of the highest quality and give them a food experience to savor. Finally, the author would like to say that for them, this is just the beginning. This is the first step of their greater plan, which is to expand even further into the Chinese market. In the next two months, they will open another branch in China. But they will not simply stop there; they will establish Thai Tao restaurants all over China. they are prepared to accept that they will make mistakes along the way; however, they are committed to having the best well-known Southeast Asian restaurant in Guangzhou. This might seem like a lofty goal, but it is not.  

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Garmin's Vivo Activity Tracker Line Term Paper

Garmin's Vivo Activity Tracker Line - Term Paper Example Developing high-quality data in the devices with measurements can give the company an improved accuracy, intelligence and position as a leading expert in terms of fitness and health. The data should comprise both burn and intake to give the ability to track maximizing accurate quality assessment. Thirdly, there is also the aim to appeal and identify unique user segments. As the firm’s market matures, it needs to have value propositions and focused customer agents. The credibility of being a trusted advisor can get achieved by rich connection and understanding with the company’s user base (Kotler & Kevin 54). Fourthly, Garmin will aim at building loyal customers. Creating a great users base community will be the major metric for the company in globalization space. The user base scale will develop more significant data and give great customer sharing that may only expand bolster user trust and loyalty. Fifthly, the company will use a platform technique. To develop a loyal user base and a lasting experience, Garmin will have to create a full end-to-end system that is functionally integrated. It should base on a uniting platform of the customers community and easily allow digital services, apps, accessories, and devices series are working together. Thus, this path can get achieved through organically developing full ecosystem part or rich partnerships. Lastly, following the above objective, Garmin will aim at building strategic partnerships. Being more intimate with customers’ needs meeting them and understanding where they are in fitness and health life. It means developing partnerships and affiliations with trainers, fitness programs, gyms, professional athletes, diet programs, corporate wellness programs, and insurance providers. It will provide an opportunity to broaden and scale user base at a low-cost marketing/sales model (Kotler & Kevin 36). Garmin’s primary target market will

Time until the cubes go clear Essay Example for Free

Time until the cubes go clear Essay An investigation into the effect of diffusion on the size of a cell Introduction What I am going to do is place some agar phenolphthalein in a HCl solution and time until the cubes go clear. Theory Diffusion is the passive transport of how substances cross membranes. It is the movement of particles from of particles of a higher chemical potential to a lower one. In all diffusion the net flux of the particles transported is equal to physical property multiplied by the gradient. Diffusion happens because of the second law of thermodynamics; the entropy of closed system will always increase in time. Also substances being diffused go from a state of higher order to a state of lower order, so diffusion is a completely natural process for it requires no energy to happen. The rate of diffusion is dependant on a number of factors-   Particles will diffuse quicker when there is a high concentration gradient.   A short distance fro particles to diffuse across.   If the substance is small molecules they will diffuse quicker. Larger surface area increases rate of diffusion. For if there is larger surface area then it allows particles to diffuse faster as there is less resistance. The last one is the key one, as this one plus knowing the concentrations of the solutions allows you to work out the rate of diffusion by Ficks law. Surface area   difference in concentrations is proportional to rate of diffusion Thickness in membrane Hypothesis My hypothesis is that as you increase the surface area of the cells the rate of diffusion will increase. Preliminary Work. For my preliminary I gathered these results, I used 30ml of HCl for each cube, the results show that as you increase the surface area that the rate of diffusion deceases, this will be down to the fact that there is more indicator in the larger cubes. It also shows that my hypothesis is wrong, but I have already explained why. Surface area time to go clear (secs) rate of diffusion Apparatus 5 cubes of agar-phenolphthalein; 0. 5cm^3, 1cm^3, 2cm^3, 4cm^3, 6cm^3 250ml beaker 10cm^3 measuring cylinder mm rule. Scalpel 100 ml of 2M HCl Distilled water It is necessary to have a rule that measures in mm to ensure the cubes are measured accurately, it is the same for using the measuring cylinder as this is needed for the precision it posses in making the solution of acid. Distilled water is needed to ensure the results are reliable as tap water contains number of things that will offer resistance to diffusion. Variables The independent variable is the size of the agar cells, these will be made by cutting them up with a scalpel and measuring them to confirm, and I will have five different sizes and repeat the tests three times. The dependant variable is the time that it takes for the acid to make the phenolphthalein in the agar go clear, I will hold a piece of white paper behind the cube to ensure I am clear whether the test is over.   Control variables are the time which will be ten minutes, this will be time on a stopwatch, temperature will be kept at room temperature, the concentration of the acid will be kept the same, and it will be all made up at the same time this will ensure precision. The amount of phenolphthalein in the agar cells should be in equal proportion in all the cells as the agar jelly will come as one block. Safety This experiment is particularly dangerous but a number of precautions should be taken, goggles and gloves should be worn when handling acid as it comes at quite a high molarity. A cutting plate should also be used when cutting up the agar cubes. Disposal of the agar should be in the bin. Method Prepare agar cells using cutting plate and scalpel. Measure cubes using mm rule and trim if essential.   Measure out 30ml into a test tube   Place the cubes in the beaker and then fully submerge them in the HCl solution. Start stopwatch.   Turn the blocks frequently over the time. 2

Monday, October 14, 2019

Self Directed Work Team (SDWT) Advantages and Disadvantages

Self Directed Work Team (SDWT) Advantages and Disadvantages A Briefing on Self Directed Work Team (SDWT) by Group 5 Self Directed Work Team is a powerful concept since the ancient Roman legion and today approximately 68% of fortune 1000 companies implement SDWT concept including Ford, GM, PG, FedEx, etc. (Lawler, Mohrman, Ledford ,1995). Definition Vecchio (2003, p.107) defined Self Directed Work Teams (SDWT) as â€Å"a highly trained group of six to eighteen employees that is fully responsible for creating a specific product†. And according to an article in Entrepreneur Connect   (Anon, 1995) â€Å"self -directed teams are small groups of employees who have responsibility for managing themselves and their work†. Success in todays challenging competitive environment is based on employee empowerment and team work (Boyett Boyett, 1998). This could be closely related to Herzbergs motivating factor which was later simply defined by Barbara (n.d.) as â€Å"what makes you work well†. Many companies are attracted to this innovation because of the prospect of flattening the organizational structure in these times when downsizing, flattening and work process reengineering are so crucial (Coates and Miller, 1995). SDWT leads to increased organizational effectiveness and employee satisfaction (Forsyth, 1999) which in todays business is being the competitive advantage (Ron Williams, n.d). Advantages of SDWT General Motors, Proctor Gamble Xerox by implementing SDWT resulted in approximately 30-40% improvement in productivity (Bruce,n.d.). In Kodak customer assistance centre SDWT resulted in 100% increase in profits (Anon, n.d.).FedEx improved their service by reducing the loss of packages and incorrect billing by 13%. Rubbermaid increased sales by 50% above projections Quality improvement. Increased productivity and reduced cost. Highly flexible. Simpler job classification and each member know every process through job rotation which will reduce dependency one person. Better innovation and creativity. Team members are motivated by job satisfaction, empowerment, trust, feel of ownership personal growth which in turn benefit the company as a whole. SDWT is being a vehicle for bringing in the Total Quality Management concept in an organization (Vecchio,2006,p.112) Following statistics based on a review of organization that transferred to SDWT (John Cotter, n.d.) well prove the positive impact. 93% reported improve productivity 86% reported decreased operating cost 86% reported improved quality 70% reported better employee attitudes Given the above advantages and success stories there are consequences and problems in challenging the success of SDWT and even driving to the opposite direction to failure. Consequences of SDWT Elimination of supervisory position. The need for shift from holding the decision making power to delegation and allowing autonomy. In other words supervisor should act as a facilitator and provide guidance to teams especially outside the teams areas of expertise. Supervisors should manage communication and monitor the effectiveness. Leaders promote team work and corporation (Brillhart, 1983). The key in supervisory role is to motivate â€Å"Self-Direction†. In an interview with Sterling Health USA, employees often quoted that â€Å"Before, the group leader made all the decisions. You didnt know why the decisions were madenow we do† (Peter, 1999). But is the team leader ready to accept the transition from holding the power to delegation? Is S/He ready to improve the skills to qualify as a facilitator? Requirement for heavy investment in training. Training needed for both supervisors and team members in building various skills. Cloke and Goldsmith ( 2002, pp 205-214 ) identified ten skills those are essential for members of the work teams to develop self management, communication, leadership, responsibility, supporting diversity, feedback and evaluation, strategic planning, shaping successful meeting, resolving conflicts and enjoyment. Williams (n.d.) mentioned â€Å"It is not uncommon for self-directed work teams to spend 20% of their time in ongoing training†. Organization willing to implement SDWT should have a clear training strategy including cross training opportunity and resources. Top management should design the training policy and budget for it. Need for more flatter and flexible organizational structure. The decision making authority is transformed to the team members to eliminate waste of time relying on approvals from managers. Self-direction, autonomy, empowerment are the key players in success of SDWT which is facilitated only on flat structures. Responsibilities assigned to workers in GM clearly indicate the need for flat structure.(William,1999,p.11) Responsibility for quality control. Responsibility for maintenance and small repairs. Responsibility for safety. Responsibility for capital budgeting and operational budgeting. Responsibility for staffing. SDWT to begin performing takes long period. As per William (1999) SDWTs cannot be created instantly; it can take 2 to 5 years to fully implement. Some companies might not have the time or resources to go through this process Stages of forming SDWT: Stage one: (Start-Up) Goal preparation, explanation of purpose, member selection and building trust (6-9months). Stage two: (State of confusion) Technical assistance, feedback, implementing procedures to support self direction, and training. (6-9months). Stage three: (Leader centered team) Encouraging leadership activity among team members. (6-12months). Stage four: (Tightly formed teams) Resolving conflicts, start managing on own, communicating resource requirement and goals.(6-12months). Stage five: (Self direction) Maintain self confidence and self esteem of others. Strong partnership with internal and external customers. Consequently, if you look at the time and training involved in SDWTs it might not be suitable for an environment with a high employee turnover. Need for greater leadership development. As the organization would no longer function in a traditional manner the leaders or managers need to build their ability to allow and encourage such a high level of empowerment, which can be tackled with specially created programs (Coates and Miller, 1995). Problems of SDWT Team members approached the saturation point of learning through job rotation and would have achieved the maximum level of earning i.e. plant rate where no more room for psychological or financial boosts (Vecchio, 2006, p.113). Again while talking about pay as a motivator does it really matter? Can rewarding and recognition be the motivator to ensure continuing performance of the employees (Vecchio, 2006, p.84).   Also the performance measurement system should not create any competition within team members which will reduce co-operation and affect the success of SDWT. Another major challenge is getting people to remain committed to the improvement of the processes when they realize that they may be working themselves out of a job. The employees involved in self-directed work teams must have a great deal of trust so that employees are not concerned about their job security (Anon, 1995). Conflict management would be another critical and sensitive issue. Again each team member has different personalities and perceptions. Here comes the importance of required skills from facilitator. A culture of knowledge sharing has to be built in. Another question is that, are employees ready to be self directed? Whether they have capacity and skills? Of course proper training would be in place but still some employees prefer managers direction on what to do rather than deciding on their own. Here comes the need for selecting appropriate team members which is again depending on the talent of facilitator. Is the organization policies and culture is supportive in transferring power and authority to team members? Other problems would be signs of overconfidence which lead to members willing to take extra ordinary risk, members ignoring the ethical consequences, collective rationalization and underestimating capabilities of other groups which may lead to failure and financial losses.(Craig, 2005, p.219) Given the fact empowerment is a key to succeed in SDWT; will all the managers support this? Foegen (1999) stated on the loss of control: If one individual makes all the decisions in a given department, for example, his or her control is all-encompassing. Focus is obvious and unequivocal. But when authority is delegated, that focus becomes blurred, decision making is diffused, and responsibilitys locus is often less certain. He also stated delegation and empowerment can decrease the self image of the managers. The other pitfalls of empowerment would be lack of clarity, managements view as shared control / loss of control etc. Finally it would require numerous changes in processes and procedures and require a lot more time to make SDWTs successful in a unionized department. Conclusion Before a company can decide to implement self directed work teams, Coates and Miller (1995) point out certain situations or job fields in which this method may not work. These include: When there is a requirement for direction or supervision. This is often needed for jobs which may be unpleasant, arduous, fast paced or risky. When minimal team interaction is required. In jobs such as these employees may find it difficult to lead each other. When a lack of professional maturity exists among team members. An unwillingness to make the effort exists. The inability to meet regularly as a team. Work groups with any of these five characteristics would find it difficult to function effectively and may have to resort to the traditional method of management. Statistics shows that empowerment has about a 50% success rate and it is found that major reason for this is lack of management commitment to the change process. One of the companies failed by using SDWT is The Airline peoples Express. (Fisher, 2000, p.26). References: Anon. (1995) Taking the Mystery Out of Self -Directed Work Teams, Entrepreneur Connect [Online]. Available from:  http://www.entrepreneur.com/tradejournals/article/17227174.html   (Accessed: 21 August 2009). Anon (n.d.) Teams, the good, the bad and the ugly [Online] Available from: http://faculty.css.edu/dswenson/web/TDlearnCo/gains-lossesofteams.html (Accessed: 22 August 2009) Boyett, J. Boyett, J. (1998) The guru guide: The best of the top management thinkers. New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc. Brillhart, J.(1983) Effective group discussion. 5th ed. Dubuque, Iowa: William Brown Co. Bruce K.Bernard (n.d) Preparing for Self-Directed Work Teams [Online] Available from: http://209.85.229.132/search?q=cache:rEhTVduzfRMJ:www.ux1.eiu.edu/~bkbarnard/preparing2.ppt+self+directed+work+teams+pptcd=7hl=enct=clnkgl=ae (Accessed: 21 August 2009). Cloke, K and Goldsmith, J (2002) The End of Management and the Rise of Organizational Democracy. Questia Online Library [Online] Available from: http://www.questia.com/read/111621737?title=The%20End%20of%20Management%20and%20the%20Rise%20of%20Organizational%20Democracy (Accessed: 21 August 2009). Coates, D. Miller, M. (1995) ‘Self Directed Teams: Lessons Learned for Local Government, Public Management, 77 (12), p. 16, Questia Online Library [Online]. Available from: http://www.questia.com/read/5001654373?title=Self-Directed%20Teams%3a%20Lessons%20Learned%20for%20Local%20Government (Accessed: 21August 2009). Craig E. Johnson. (2005) Meeting the ethical challenges of leadership. 2nd ed. USA: Sage Publications Inc. Ed Rose Steve Buckley. (1999) Self Directed work Teams, A Trainers Role in the Transition. USA: Intersil Coporation. Foegen, J.H. (1999) Why not empowerment, Business and Economic Review, Apr-Jun 1999  Ã‚  [Online]. Available from: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa5313/is_199904/ai_n21437565/  (Accessed: 22 August 2009) Forsyth, D. (1999) Group dynamics. 3rd ed. New York: Brooks/Cole-Wadsworth. Jeffrey Christopher Bauer (2002) A Longitudinal Evaluation of The Impact of Organizational Structure on Role Ambiguity and Work Group Performance [Online] Available from: http://www.ucclermont.edu/~BAUERJ/JCBauerDissertationFinal.htm (Accessed: 21 August 2009). Kimball Fisher. (2000). Leading Self Directed Work Teams, A Guide to Developing New Team Leadership Skils. USA: McGraw-Hill. Peter B.Grazier (1999) Living with a self directed work team why self-direction works: A review of Herzbergs Concepts [Online] Available from: http://www.teambuildinginc.com/article_selfdirected.htm (Accessed: 21 August 2009). Robert P. Vecchio (2006) Organizational Behavior, 6th ed. Mason, OH, USA: Thomson Corporation South-Western. Robert T.Howell (2001) Fostering Self-Directed Team Members [Online] Available from: http://www.teambuildinginc.com/article_selfdirected.htm (Accessed: 21August 2009). Williams, R. (n.d.) Self-Directed Work Teams: A Competitive Advantage [online] Available from: http://www.qualitydigest.com/nov95/html/self-dir.html (Accessed: 20 August 2009).