Pro Gun Control Essay

Persuasive Pro Gun Control Essay Gun control is a vital necessity to the welfare of our nation. Many people out there are supporting the â€Å"anti- gun control cause† with the excuse of â€Å"self-defense†. I believe that not everyone will handle a gun for self-defense. The possession of a gun is a sign of power. One of the bigger ambitions that one has is to have power and the easier it is to obtain a gun; the faster a criminal will gain power over an innocent person.When one is in possession of a gun, that person has complete control of their actions and may act upon the weapon however the person may please even if they know that their action will cause harm to defense-less people. There are many deaths caused by guns out there that could have been stopped by controlling the ownership of guns in our people. Alen Eppers ones said: â€Å"Dangerous laws created by well-intentioned people today, can be used by dangerous people with evil intentions tomorrow†. I und erstand that there may be different points of view to everything from everyone.This quote could be interpreted in two different ways but the way I see it is in favor of gun control. The well-intentioned people are the people out there trying to allow others to own a gun in order to use it as a self-defense tool, while the â€Å"people with evil intentions† are the criminals out there that use guns for the reason that they were constructed for: to kill. If the â€Å"well intentioned people† were to go against gun control and ban gun control, this law would make gun to be acquired easier to EVERYONE!Whenever a criminal decides that he/she wants to assault a random person in the streets, that person will be able to do so. Once the gun control is taken away, the violence will increase. People will be able to walk around the streets with guns so that whenever there is a fight, someone will die or get fatally hurt. Fights are not a â€Å"once in a while† thing. I know this. I witness this; I know that fight go on several times a week. Students fight for the smallest things. Middle and high school students are mature enough to control their actions and feeling. Teens are not â€Å"strong† enough.I always tell my sister that if she is not strong enough to control herself, she will never be strong enough to control others and will resort to the easiest ways to â€Å"eliminate† that person. She will do whatever is easier to get that stone out of her way rather than talking things over and controlling the situation. Not so long ago my neighbor’s daughter was killed by her ex. I am positive that this could have been stopped. I do not know how the man obtained the gun, but I am sure it was through an illegal way. He is not a policeman, he worked at a supermarket. He does not live in a violent area.He lived in Bergenfield with his girlfriend. The man did go buy a gun a day before because he knew that he wanted to kill his girlfriend . The saddest part is that he killed the girl because she wanted to break up with him. This is what we want for our country? For people to kill their former boyfriends/girlfriends because that person ended the relationship. This tragedy could have not been stopped by the girl having a gun with her. In fact, she might have had to face years of prison for murder and carrying a gun without a license. Sure, gun control will not eliminate violence or completely prevent criminals from obtaining guns.Criminals have their ways to go around the law but by having gun control the murders and assaults with gun will lessen. I know that everyone has rights but the 2nd amendment is misinterpreted. We are not in war with England anymore and do not need a militia, that is why we have a well-trained army. That right to bear arms does not mean everyone must have a gun. Yes, we have the right to bear arms, but only when needed. Everyone has â€Å"inalienable rights† and this girl had the right t o live, which was taken away by simply pulling a trigger. Death should be natural.Nobody has the right to take away someone else’s life. Lastly, if cars need licenses, then why are we against licenses for guns? A stirring wheel on hands of a drunken person is dangerous, but a gun in hands of a criminal is not? Cars could be dangerous, but in case of someone speeding too much, that person cans low down and save his/her life and the lives of others in, behind, in front and besides the car. This is not the same with guns. Once the triggered is pulled, one can’t slow down the bullet and decide that it should not kill the person. One cannot call the bullet back!Once the bullet is out, either the shot misses or it hits its aim. Why must one need a license to drive a car but not to be in possession of a gun? Let me ask you a question, what are licenses for? Who are they given to? Licenses are to protect others and keep them safe. These licenses are only given to those who are responsible enough to handle that specific object or matter. Licenses to be doctors are not given to fisherman and driving licenses are not given to people who cannot drive or who are blind. So why shouldn’t licenses be a requirement to own a gun?Aren’t they equally or more important to protect the safety that everyone yearns for? In conclusion, gun control can is very important for our security. Nobody wants teens with guns. Nobody wants mentally disabled people with guns. I am perfectly sure that not one person would want a gun to be given to a person with anger issues. Tragedies and unnecessary deaths could be prevented if there was a law approving gun control that was restricted to responsible, mentally and psychologically prepared people for the adequate usage of a firearm.

Cell Phone Abuse

Cell Phone Abuse At the present day, with the development of IT and information industry, cell phone gradually plays an indispensable role in our daily life. Nonetheless, for the benefit of our concentration, health and social interaction around us, more attention should be paid to negative impact on the overuse of cell phone. According to a study of two hundred students at Sanford University revealed that 34 percent rated themselves as addicted to their phones, while 32 percent worried they someday would be addicted.As a matter of fact, a vast majority of people suffer from the same problems. It is not uncommon that when they get ready for the day, their cell phones go with them everywhere. Despite the convenience and efficiency cell phones bring them, they fail to take into account the fact that too much addition to phones contributes directly to be unable to concentrate well on daily affairs. For instance, on account of depending on constant contact and instant information, when e ven having classes, a great many students cannot help checking the message or email on phones surreptitiously.Furthermore, when working, driving, just hanging out with friends or doing whatever, to be honest, we are bound to be extremely attached to our phones with enjoying the pleasurable feelings from the act of texting or receiving messages. When it comes to my relationship with cell phone, exaggeratingly speaking, it seems that if I am not called, texted, or commented on my blog, my soul will be lost; hence, it prevents me from focusing on doing my assignments or having a sound sleep. Apparently, excessively obsessed with cell phone distract us from noticing what important happen around us and getting things well done.Admit it, no one can deny the basic fact that cell phone not only provides us with a huge amount of information and various of applications, but also enables us to contact our friends and family immediately and conveniently. However, we tend to live under the illus ion that cell phone can get us more associated with the people and the community nearby, without awareness of the hidden fact that it has crept into every aspect of daily life, ironically weakening the basic human communication.For one thing, with the increase of cell phone use, face-to-face conversations in relationships are unwittingly unpopular with most of us; instead, we prefer to convey our affections by text messaging and cell phone conversations. It is showed by a Verizon Wireless survey that for the Augusta area there are close to 50 percent of its customers send and receive more than 100 text messages a week. † Moreover, Rick Pukis, an associate professor of communication at Augusta State University, says that texting may affect the way we interact with each other.Actually, as we all know, sometimes when we send the smile expressions in the messages, it is not exactly what we do on our faces. Worse still, in order to save time or just feel cool, we usually brief the words such as replacing â€Å"are† with â€Å"r†, which may makes us run the risk of losing the ability to communicate completely and intelligently. On the other hand, spending too much time on calling up or texting the friends we already knew decreases the chance of developing friendships with strangers, cutting off new conversations and potential friends in the public.As a consequence, without doubt, cell phone builds a wall between the community and us, exerting a detrimental influence on our social interaction. But at the same time, cell phone benefits us a lot, too. On the one hand, mobiles make it convenient for people to keep in touch with each other at anytime anywhere. With phones in hand, even though being abroad, we still can immediately share our daily life with friends by uploading images on face book. In this way, friends will feel closer to us and be able to express their affections to us as they like.In the abundant sunshine of friends and our family th rough the phones, our life will be more colorful and powerful. Additionally, under the pressure of working or studying, one of the ideal ways to relax and refresh ourselves is to do some recreation. For example, we can release the stress and adjust the mood by playing some funny games and listening to music, which help us have a better state to continue our next tasks. Therefore, to some degree, smart phones increasingly play a significant role in our life.

Anthropomorphy

The term â€Å"agent† in this case comes from the field of computer science and it refers to small programs (software agents) that are highly Independent, and are used to perform a number of tasks with title or no human Intervention. The purpose of anthropomorphic agents therefore Is to 1) make communication between the computer and the user more â€Å"human-like† and 2) to increase the automation of tasks.While many people find that anthropomorphic design Is useful because they believe it promotes positive attitudes and engages the user, many people have found that anthropomorphic design is distracting and inappropriately reduces user control and responsibility. To address these deferent perspectives, numerous research studies have been undertaken to evaluate the effectiveness of anthropomorphic agents. Unfortunately for both sides, the results have not been black and white. In some studies, such as that of Lester et al. 1 997), performance has Increased after a period of interaction with an animated agent, as compared with the same program without an agent. However, In other cases, such as that of Eden and van Mullen (2000), there has been no notable difference in performance between those participants interacting with anthropomorphic agents and those interacting with a text-based system. With these contradictory results, it has been difficult for educators and Interface designers to be completely sold on the Importance of anthropomorphic design.II. Overview of Anthropomorphic Design 3 A. Key interface design considerations 1 . The Role of the Agent Anthropomorphic agents can have many different roles that range from being a guide on the side, activated only at the user's request, to an ever present tutor helping the user to answer questions and resolve problems. Deciding what role the agent will have in the program is the most important step in the development process. An agent that performs an inappropriate role will only result in user rustic ation and anxiety.

Writing for Professional Practice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Writing for Professional Practice - Essay Example This has resulted in the development of media and scientific literacies. While in the globalized world technologies spread at rapid pace, there are still over 860 million adults that are illiterate. Additionally, nearly 100 million lack access to school. The importance of literacy within contemporary society has not gone unnoticed. The United Nations has declared 2003-2012 the decade of Literacy as Freedom. The notion of literacy is witnessed in a variety of ways. This essay considers the various freedoms literacy offers in a globalized society. Analysis Considered from an overarching perspective literacy has been recognized as contributing to freedom in a variety of ways. An examination of literature on the subject of literacy freedom demonstrates thematic nodes. Many theorists have focused on literacy in terms of empowerment, including women’s right freedoms or emerging nations (Freire 2000; Freire 2005; Dighe 1994). Still, it’s clear that literacy extends to freedoms that relate to all elements of society. One freedom literacy affords individuals and populations is security. Indeed, insecurity has been prominently linked to illiteracy. This term is extended to insecurity in a variety of avenues. Not being able to read and write is a tremendously anxiety producing experience, as individuals fear social stigmatization, ridicule, or a variety of other conditions. While there is the potential that something awful may happen to an individual that is illiterate, Knobel (1999, p. 20) indicates that the very state of being illiterate is indicative of something terrible having happened. In many ways this perspective on literacy as granting the individual the freedom of mental and emotional help is not restricted to populations in Western societies, but can be extended globally, particularly in the emerging world. Bhasin (1984, p. 37) examined literacy in India. Specifically, she examined the construction and development of an educational institute named the Pratichi Trust. The study revealed that over time the girl’s that were admitted to the institute quickly gained the literacy skills of their male counterparts; in this way literacy afforded the freedom of gender equality. Gender equality, however, wasn’t the only freedom gained through this literacy. The study notes that soon the parents became involved and it encouraged a greater degree of community involvement and harmony. In Development As Freedom, Amartya Sen advances a framework that considers the relation between literacy and freedom (Sen 2000). The consideration of this framework reveals a number of prominent ways that literacy offers freedom in a globalized society. One of the central thorough-puts of Sen’s framework is the recognition that literacy often contributes to opportunities and options. The consideration in this way is that literacy must be considered in terms of development. This development extends to personal and professional modes and comprehensively influences the individual’s existence. Rather than specifically considering the way that literacy contributes to freedoms or the avoidance of unfreedoms, there is an emphasis on the social structures that the individual must navigate. The argument then is that development in literacy allows the individual the skills necessary for this navigation. Sen (2000, p. 284) writesn, â€Å"A child who is denied the opportunity of elementary schooling is not only deprived as a youngster, but also handicapped all through life (as a person unable to do certain basic things that rely on reading, writ- ing and arithmetic).† While Sen recognizes there are considerable freedoms that are achieved through literacy, perhaps even more important is the recognitio

Information Systems Has Revolutionized the Way We Work Essay

Information Systems Has Revolutionized the Way We Work - Essay Example The government employees and other officials that actively participate within the e-government program have also witnessed significant change in their work and delivery of services (Chadwick, 2006). The development of e-government framework and platforms has been necessitated by the need to improve citizen participation in government service delivery charter. The need for more citizen participation has been enhanced by the current democratization that has witnessed more and more citizens getting involved in the activities of their governments. The participation of citizens in the government activities occurs at different fronts and this has been necessitated by the current advancements in information systems (Axelsson & Melin, 2008). Most countries have implemented the e-participation program and this has improved the overall service delivery to the public. The first country to implement an e-government program was the United States, which worked towards developing a platform that it s citizens could interact by government officials at different levels. Other countries such as the United Kingdom and countries in Europe have also followed suit and integrated the applications of information systems into the programs (Farrell, 2011). The development of portal systems in the United Kingdom has been necessitated by the discovery of the internet and more advanced computer applications. Through the portal U in the country, government employees have been empowered on how to monitor environmental degradation from their workstations. This portal enables the workers to identify sectors of the economy with the highest greenhouse gas emission in the country and respond diligently. It also provides a platform for the public to register their concerns over the... This report stresses that information system has completely revolutionized the way we conduct business, interact with the government, do politics and search for jobs. Today the world is a one stop shop where at a dial of a button, an individual is connected to different people across the globe. Through the advancements in information systems, government has been opened for increased citizen participation in different aspects of government functionality. Information systems has also led to the advancement in the use of the internet which has provided room for the improvement in different business activities and communication between organizations and their consumers, business partners and suppliers. The development of information systems has significantly changed different avenues including how we deliver our jobs, live our lives and interact with our friends. However, this technology has produced insignificant revolutionary experience to how work is done generally. This paper makes a conclusion that despite the lack of revolutionary impact on the way we work and conduct businesses, information systems has significantly changed our lives and made work relatively easier. The speed of communication and the nature of conducting business transactions have been improved as compared to the years before its introduction. This paper has discussed how the advances in information systems have affected our lives and how it has advanced service delivery and citizen participation in e-governments.

Kant says that we should treat humanity.....never simply as ameans but Essay - 1

Kant says that we should treat humanity.....never simply as ameans but always at the same time as an end in itself. What does this mean Can a Kantian form of - Essay Example Is there, as Kant argues, a universal set of guiding principles that are applicable in all situations and all cultures? Are human rights and mans existence an end in itself, and not merely a means to reach an end? For the individual, a better sense of responsibility, obligation, and duty have become paramount in a social environment where individuals have the authority to make decisions that have the potential to do great good or intolerable harm. The purpose of this paper is to define and explain the meaning of Kants Categorical Imperative as it applies to individuals and moral agents in todays world of globalisation. The paper will further discuss humanity as an end in itself, rather than simply a means to an end. It will illuminate and demonstrate the paradoxes and challenges that are faced when we attempt to apply Kantian ethics to the modern world of globalisation. As human beings living in a world of interdependence, our actions not only reflect upon our own moral essence, but also impact others. Nobody lives in a vacuum and everything we do involves other people that have an equivalent moral and ethical value. Kant has contended that the treatment that is afforded the other agents in our transactions is not the means that we use to accomplish our goals, but is the goal in and of itself. According to Kant and Paton (1948, p.55), an imperative is categorical if it represents "an action as objectively necessary in itself apart from its relation to a further end". The categorical imperative removes any consideration for context and does not mitigate on the basis of time, space, situation, or culture. Kants categorical imperative is a guiding principle that invokes a sense of duty and obligation even when it contradicts the moral agents own feelings and emotions. Kantian ethics additionally contend that there are moral absolutes that must be adhe red to without regard

Abdul Qadeer Khan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Abdul Qadeer Khan - Essay Example The U.S government however, states that Khan remains a serious explosion risk to people. The appropriate judicial punishment of Abdul Qadeer Khan for his actions in arranging for the illegal sales of nuclear materials; he should be arrested, detained and his career ruined for being an embarrassment to the Pakistani government and the source of illegal bombs. According to Bernstein  (2009), through the sale of illegal nuclear materials, Khan posed as a security threat. The Pakistan government should charge Khan with espionage activities and criminal charges for these activities. They should also dismantle his network to eliminate sale of illegal weapon. The Pakistani government should agree to work with U.S. government to curb the sale of illegal weapons. This would control trafficking of illegal nuclear materials and security risks to people in countries such as Iraq and North Korea. They should also restrict his movements and he should not be allowed to meet his relatives and friend since the offence is one that affects nationals’ security. The people involved in the deals such as Bhutto and the president who also knew his deals deserve summoning for supporting Khan’s

American government Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

American government - Essay Example Age is another factor where the young tend not to vote considering perhaps that their voting would not make a difference showing a lack of understanding or trust in the system. Older voters, over the age of 45, tend to vote more as an age group. More recently, statistics have shown that citizens over the age of 60 have voted more than in the past (Cummings and Wise 328). Religion plays a role in voter participation as religious groups tend to reach out to their communities in organized action (Cummings and Wise 328). Finally, another socioeconomic factor is behavior of marginalized groups, who like religious groups, would gravitate towards community based campaigns. Also, a number of marginalized groups may feel disenfranchised and not participate in voting at all (Hay 20). Objectivity and bias in the press and the Court’s protection of its freedom: Objectivity in reporting means that the reporter strips away any personal bias and produces a report which is based on facts, is convincing, espouses human values, presents a fair context and has views from all parties concerned. In practice, however, it is easier said than done. When the founder of Christian Broadcasting Network, CBN, Pat Robertson, lost in his bid to win Republican nomination for presidential candidate in 1988, he came back to his network and accused the â€Å"liberal media establishment† of â€Å"masking their basic bias† while claiming objectivity (Vaughn 98). CBN is a network that appeals to the Christian right and conservative political agenda. The â€Å"establishment† he referred to were the three major networks considered liberal, ABC, CBS and NBC. So which side was biased ? It seems the answer lies in what the reader or viewer himself believes in but it is still important for a journalist associated with any organization to have made an attempt to be objective (Hachten XV). On another

How effectively does Congress use its powers over foreign policy Essay

How effectively does Congress use its powers over foreign policy - Essay Example The inaction is due to change in the working culture of Congress where there is no strong verification and deliberation of policies. The authority to implement legislative power is not being fully utilised to make effective decisions. The Iraq War is considered as a slip because the Congress could not access relevant information on time. The Congress can boast of a glorious past when it could take action against the Vietnam war in association with the judiciary and the media. There are opportunities when the Congress can regain its stance to keep a check on foreign policies and reinstate its power as the legislative authority of the United States. One of the main powers of the Congress is oversight. The objective of Congressional oversight is to restrict the happening of mistakes or to contain events from becoming out of control. It is also to make sure that the legislations passed by the Congress are faithfully executed. The Congress verifies military decisions and maintains diplomacy in its activities. The power of the Congress includes the formulation of lessons from past catastrophes to avoid the recurrence of such events. A good congressional oversight reduces waste, keeps policymakers on toes, punishes scandal or fraud, scrutinises an agency or departments, its personnel and the implements longstanding foreign policies. The investigation of probable scandals usually turns out to be an exercise that moves from significant policy issues to a matter of publicity (Ornstein, N.J. & Mann,T.E. 2006 p.67). Tough congressional oversight is a contentious and messy process irrespective of who controls the Congress and the White Ho use. However, the process prevents errors from transforming into disasters and enables the administration to be more sensitive in their inactions and actions. From the year 2000 – 2006, congressional oversight of executives has

Payment plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Payment plan - Essay Example MFA worked by creating quotas that restricted the competition posed by imports irrespective of the benefits of price considerations (Isenheim, 2007 p6). Quotas helped remove some part of the incentives offered to foreign suppliers unlike quantitative restrictions that totally eliminate prices and costs from the transaction. In essence, the MFA set up quotas that restricted the amount of textile products that each country could export to another per year; when this threshold was reached, they had to wait for another calendar year to resume exporting to those countries under the MFA (Isenheim, 2007 p7). The MFA agreement covered specific products, not only those made from cotton, but also from wool and chemical fibre (Isenheim, 2007 p7). The quotas were provided or created through bilateral trade agreements and their implementation through unilateral measures in the event of â€Å"severe market disruptions or proof of an existing threat thereof† (Isenheim, 2007 p7). Poor developing countries were put in an advantageous position by the MFA since it allowed their products to compete on a level ground with cheap imports from developed countries. Developing countries like Bangladesh, which had readily available cheap labour, were as able to expand its textile industry to a stage where even after the abolishment of MFA, they were hardly affected, and it saw their revenues from the textile industry increase. This was because even after the MFA was done away with, they still had the largest pool of cheap labour compared to developed countries. This applies to all developing countries because they are characterised by the same conditions present in Bangladesh. The economic impact of MFA on developing countries was greater than its effect, in developed countries. The MFA helped developing countries attract substantial foreign investors, in the textile industry, and create millions of job opportunities, which worked

Decision-Making Process Paper Essay Example for Free

Decision-Making Process Paper Essay My name is Jovon Roberson, I will be discussing my decision making process. I will try to supply research supporting my ideas. The paper will describe some steps of my process. I will compare some similarity to the text, and explain how some of the steps might be different. Most decisions people make in their life time will definitely be easy and some maybe very difficult. I truly believe that each individual is in control of their own destiny and in complete control of the decisions they have to make in their life time. My decision to start school was clearly decided right after I was terminated from my job. I was ill at the time and desperately needed to file for the family medical leave of absence so my job would not be in jeopardy, but that was a total loss. Once terminated I clearly had to make some important decisions about the future of my son and I, while thinking long and hard about how I was going to make ends meet. I had a discussion with one of my best friends and I came to the grips that I needed more than what I was getting and this really was my only option going to school. My steps are somewhat different from the ones in the text, but it is clear they there were important steps to take while making my decision to go back to school and I really believe it was one of the best decision I could have made. My decisions would have been different very different but in reality the the steps in the text provided more proper steps and they would have been a more thought out process for me butat the same time my decision would have been the same. It would have been precise, more thought out some plans would have been setup, and short term goals would have been set, long term goals would have been into play and set as well. More thought would have been there to back everything up not just the goals set in my head they would have been on paper in black and white. I would have been better prepared for all my future intents. People gather and evaluate information when they face major decisions or milestones in their lives. The internet has become a more important source of information as people gain experience and as they embrace broadband (Copyright 2012 Pew Internet American Life Project). In this paper I have discussed some similarity to the text, and explain how some of the steps might be different. The decisions people make in their life time will definitely be easy and some maybe very difficult and how I truly believe that each individual is in control of their own destiny and in complete control of the decisions they have to make in their life time. I hope I have covered everything in this paper that you have asked for. I thank you for your attention and your time. References: Copyright 2012 Pew Internet American Life Project http://pewinternet.org/Topics/Activities-and-Pursuits/Decision-Making.aspx?typeFilter=5

Population Growth and the Arising Environmental Issues Essay Example for Free

Population Growth and the Arising Environmental Issues Essay Population is determined by the relationship of two factors. One being birth rate and the other is death rate. If the number of deaths is less than the number of births then the population is growing larger. In John Laffins novel The Hunger to Come data is present showing that the population will continue to grow and not stop; About 2050 the population will be 15. 000 million, a century later 82. 000 million and by 2350 a frightening 440. 000 million will be reached(Engelman, 47). Like all living organisms, humans grow and reproduce; however, compared to the rate of which food is grown and supplied, the birth rate rises at a much faster rate. This compared rate of growth is known as the Malthusian relationship. The Malthusian relationship concludes that human population will eventually grow to be too big, to the point where there will not be enough food supply and other vital resources. When this happens, famine and/or death will occur, unless a plan is put into place regarding how to limit population growth. One main problem which results in the Malthusian relationship would be uncontrolled fertility. Since the death rate is decreasing due to medical advancements it allows more births to happen. Humans without doubt will create a baby faster than the supplies needed to support them. This results in birthrate being dropped down to zero population growth. This can happen in many ways, providing women with contraception (birth control), abortion centers and by creating laws to prevent couples from having more then two children. Education on family planning and birth control is a primary factor in restraining population growth. A common problem that people think is associated with overpopulation is having nowhere to put everyone, but there are also many other environmental issues that it causes. More humans will be using more cars, burning more fuel, eating more food and drinking more water. This causes more air pollution, more lands are ruined and more water and food to disappear. Therefore, population control is necessary on a global level in order to protect our environment. Population growth is ruining the earth’s oceans and water sources. This causes a decrease in earth’s water supply for the future. Due to the fact that water is vital to survive, the water sources being polluted will not do humans well. Besides water pollution, population growth also pollutes the air, which causes the greenhouse effect and reduction of the ozone layer. The greenhouse effect is when gases build up around the earths outer atmosphere which literally turns the earth into a greenhouse. What this means is that the heat allowed into the earth’s atmosphere is trapped inside and not aloud back out of the earth’s atmosphere. This results in an increase of the earths temperature, therefore it causes natural disasters such as hurricanes and due to the increased heat, crops do not grow properly. With the greenhouse effect comes the disappearing ozone layer. The main purpose of the ozone layer is to regulate the amount of UV light coming down to the earth’s surface from the sun. The chemical chlorofluorocarbon which is found in air conditioning systems, when in the air breaks down the ozone layer. This relates to population growth because of how many families are being produced everyday which results in more communities being built which means more houses. Therefore, this means more air-conditioning units will be in use, which results in the chemical chlorofluorocarbon being let out into the air and breaking down the ozone layer. With the ozone layer being broken down, more UV light enters the earth’s atmosphere and causes humans to gain skin diseases such as skin cancer. Therefore, if population growth is controlled and there is less people, less air conditioning will be used, global warming and the breaking ozone layer could be prevented. Main causes of air pollution are the use of cars and industrial plants, both which let loose harmful fumes into the air. Acid rain is a result of air pollution, it occurs when too many toxins are released into the air. It is made by fossil fuels being burnt then released into the air as a gas which then reacts with sunlight, oxygen and moisture. Acid rain when precipitated pollutes water and damages many materials and resources. Another downfall to cars with population growth is the fact of cars having air conditioning. This is because more chlorofluorocarbon will be let into the air from the car’s air conditioning. With the population increasing, it is creating air pollution which is harmful to all living organism because they need clean air, one of the most important necessities of life, to breathe. Population growth also threatens the earths farming resources. For example the desertification of land, this occurs when fertile land is turned into infertile land. This can happen from overgrazing of cattle, or the topsoil being carried away (erosion). If too much water is used, it can cause desertification which is mostly caused by a growing population. The more people need food, the more land is being used in the wrong way to try and make food. Another way population growth affects our outdoors is deforestation. Forests are cut down for the demand of fire wood, agricultural space, paper products and more space to live. However, forests are needed for more than human needs such as to regulate the amount of carbon dioxide let out into the atmosphere. Let it be known that population control will not end all the problems, but it would allow more time for them to be fixed and alienate environment problems. The earths environment is not infinite and can come to an end if population control was not started. Actions must be taken now to correct the current situations with the world involving population growth, these actions are the increase of deforestation and desertification, the decrease of farmland, more water pollution, the deteriorating ozone layer and the greenhouse effect. It is evident that there is no way our population can keep growing at the rate it does now without negatively impacting our environment.

Critical Success Factors in Supply Chain Management

Critical Success Factors in Supply Chain Management ABSTRACT In todays turbulent economic environment, firms are striving for ways to achieve competitive advantage. One of the approaches is to manage the entire supply chain to reduce costs and improve performance to create competitive advantage and business success. This dissertation explores and investigates how high technology firms use supply chain management to gain competitive advantage and increase business success. The research objective is to determine the critical success factors in supply chain management at high technology companies. This dissertation provides a theoretical framework to understand a firms performance and argues that supply chain management will help a firm to be competitive and successful. To this end, the critical success factors that make a company more competitive are identified. The research design is based on the established and recommended procedures of multiple case study research methodology; and this methodology is used to gather data from five companies in California, USA. The analysis is based primarily on cross-case analysis for the purpose of theoretical generalization about the research issues. The results identify two clusters of company behavior and characteristics, specifically traditional ‘old style manufacturing companies and progressive manufacturing companies. Each cluster of company behaves differently. At the traditional manufacturing companies, the selection of critical supply chain management factors is internally focused on factors that are manufacturing and quality focused, while at the progressive manufacturing companies the selection of critical supply chain management factors is externally focused on factors that are directed to customers and information systems. There are differences between critical supply chain management factors at high technology companies and benchmark (or commodity) companies that were selected in this study. The benchmark companies select supply chain management factors that focus on customer services and quality. This approach is, possibly, due to the fact that the benchmark companies deal in commodity type products and hence they have to focus on differentiating themselves through strong customer services and quality products. Additionally, with the help of supply chain metrics, financial performance data, and understanding the various companies, it is possible to determine which critical supply chain factors best can contribute to business performance. At the case study companies, an external focus on supply chain management factors such as a strong focus on customer relationship and management, gives better business results. Finally, this study has proposed a novel and new approach to improving customer satisfaction by using QFD methodology to identify performance gaps (and opportunities) from the customers viewpoint in supply chain management. If the companies wish to increase customer satisfaction, they have to use the QFD methodology to identify critical supply chain factors. The reason is primarily because performance gaps derived from customer needs emphasize what the customer wants and that is different from the internal perceptions of a companys managers. The initiatives that provide the greatest opportunity have been identified in this analysis. Overall, these findings can be used by high technology firms to select supply chain strategies that will lead to sustainable competitive advantage and hence improve their brand and business performance. CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION The genesis of this dissertation was a request from a high technology company to investigate the companys supply chain system and identify factors affecting the successful implementation of supply chain management. This chapter serves as an introduction to the dissertation. It comprises eight sections, which cover the background to the research, objective of the research and the research questions, justification and significance of the research, a brief description of the methodology, an outline of the structure of the study, key definitions, delimitations of this research, and the chapters conclusion. 1.1 Background A firms strategies, innovations, and well-planned activities will lead to sustainable competitive advantage and hence improve its brand and business performance. As firms strive for ways to achieve competitive advantage, they are looking for new ideas and solutions. This dissertation addresses the topic of competitive advantage, reviews how firms attempt to achieve it, and focuses on one aspect of competitive advantage managing the supply chain to increase competitive advantage and business success. The early understanding of competitive advantage is based on Leon Walras (1874, 1984) theory of perfect competition. In perfect competition products are homogenous, consumers and producers have perfect information, prices will reach equilibrium, and as a result profits are zero in the long run. A later approach is the Industrial Organization approach (Tirole, 1988), which argues that success comes from market power and a firms efficiency. However, the proponents of this approach agree that in the long term there would be industry equilibrium and little profit. One of the first researchers to propose a theoretical framework for understanding a firms performance is Michael Porter (1980). He takes a strategic and analytical approach to understanding competitive strategy, and argues that, â€Å"Every firm competing in an industry has a competitive strategy, whether explicit or implicit.† Porter asserts that, except for microeconomic theory, the strategy field and literature had offered few analytical techniques for gaining this understanding. Porter (1980) argues that with the right approach it is possible to break away from the economic equilibrium situation and achieve superior performance. Therefore he proposes a framework for analyzing industries and competitors and describes three generic strategies cost leadership, differentiation, and focus. He postulates that to be successful, the firm has to do well in one or more of these strategies. Porters (1980) ideas and proposals on achieving competitive advantage have influenced many other researchers to propose complementary theories on achieving competitive advantage. All the theories proposed by researchers are supported with examples of winning strategies implemented at renowned companies. The theories include an emphasis on planning (Porter, 1980, 1985), strategic approach (Hamel and Prahalad, 1990, 1998; Porter, 1985, 1990, 1991), marketing strategies (Day, 1994, 1999), value chain management (Porter, 1985), and supply chain management (Christopher, 1998; Poirier, 1999; Tyndall et al., 1998). A theory that has gained momentum in the last few years is the concept of supply chain management. In recent years, there have been numerous advances and developments in supply chain techniques and management. One of the reasons is that as trade barriers drop and markets open, competition has become more intense hence companies need to be more competitive and cost effective. An initiative to help achieve this is a supply chain management program. Supply chain management is the management of upstream and downstream activities, resources, and relationships with suppliers and customers, which is required to deliver products or services. In theory, if this is done well it will lead to competitive advantage through differentiation and lower costs as suggested by Porter (1980). Moreover, some researchers claim that effective supply chain management can reduce costs by several percentage points of revenue (Boyson, et. al, 1999). Furthermore, there has been little verification or research d one on measuring competitive advantage gained through supply chain management. Supply chain management is not a static concept or solution. Instead, new advances and techniques for supply chain management continue to mushroom. This tremendous growth in new ideas and processes is starting to influence and change the business processes and models of companies. Hence companies have many choices in selecting programs in supply chain management. In making their choices, companies need to plan for effective supply chain management, in order to gain competitive advantage. However, to ensure that effective supply chain management can provide business success, this study must determine the critical success factors in supply chain management that can provide competitive advantage. Furthermore, these critical success factors must be identified and conveyed to senior management in firms that want to have an effective supply chain management program. 1.2 Objective of this research The objective of this dissertation is to explore and investigate how firms scope, design, and implement supply chain management in order to gain competitive advantage. Most importantly, this dissertation endeavors to determine the critical success factors in supply chain management that can provide competitive advantage. It also explores and investigates the advances and new ideas in supply chain management and examines how firms scope, design, and implement supply chain management in order to gain competitive advantage. The genesis of this dissertation was a request from a high technology company to investigate the companys supply chain system and propose improvements to help make it more competitive. The company is headquartered in California USA, and this author works for one of the companys business unit as General Manager for Distribution. The request was to investigate the companys supply chain management system and to propose improvements that would make it more competitive This dissertation provides a theoretical framework to understand a firms performance and argues that supply chain management is an approach that will help a firm to be competitive and successful. Furthermore, in using supply chain management, firms are faced with choices on what supply chain techniques and developments to adopt for their businesses. This dissertation wil review the choices that high technology companies have today, and will make recommendations to select the best choices, or critical success factors, based on business and customer needs. Therefore, the research objective is to: Determine the critical success factors in supply chain management at high technology companies. In fulfilling this objective, this dissertation also addresses the following research issues: 1. Are there differences between critical supply chain management factors at various high technology companies? 2. Are there differences between critical supply chain management factors at high technology companies and non high technology (or benchmark commodity) companies? 3. Will a focus on external supply chain management factors give better business results? 4. Are perceived critical gaps (and opportunities) in performance derived from traditional methodology similar to those deployed from customer needs? In this study, the critical success factors to make a company more competitive are identified. To ensure a robust analysis and conclusion, the expectations and perceptions of respondents, involved in this study, are taken into consideration as well as customer requirements. 1.3 Significance of the research There are many theories and empirical studies on competitive advantage. However, the empirical studies, using mathematical models, tend to be limited in scope (Porter, 1991; Buzzel and Gale, 1990), and do not include supply chain management parameters. While there has been much research on activities that can provide competitive advantage, there is little knowledge on the process of selection and impact of supply chain management on the competitive position and business performance of a high technology firm. Firms need to understand how supply chain management can help them achieve competitive advantage. Furthermore, there is an expectation that high technology companies will use leading edge technology and invest heavily in supply chain management. This dissertation makes the following contributions: 1. Fulfils a request from a high technology company: The author of this study works for a high technology company, head-quartered in California USA, and was requested to investigate the companys (business unit) supply chain system and propose improvements to help make it more competitive. 2. Identifies the critical success factors in supply chain management from a high technology companys viewpoint. Often when reviewing critical success factors, only the perception of respondents is taken into account. However, in this analysis both the perceptions and expectations of respondents are taken into consideration. Such an analysis will be more robust and will allow performance gaps to be analyzed and understood. 3. Identifies the critical success factors in supply chain management from customers of high technology companies. To enhance the relevance of the conclusions, customer requirements are also taken into consideration by using the quality function deployment (QFD) methodology and these are compared to the high technology companies performance gaps. Such an analysis will allow performance gaps to be analyzed and understood from the viewpoint of customers of high technology companies. 4. Contributes to the understanding of how high technology companies scope, design, and develop their supply chain management system. 1.4 Research Methodology This study employs the qualitative research process using multiple case studies. There are several reasons for this: Since the focus of this research is on high technology companies operating in California, USA, there is a concern that there will be a small number of companies willing to participate in a large (sample size) quantitative survey. Furthermore face-to-face meetings with respondents can help provide understanding and information on several qualitative areas, such as: reasons for implementing specific supply chain factors (or strategies), customer needs data, and discussions and feedback on the questionnaire. Also, cases can be viewed and studied alone and across cases to provide comparison and contrast and richer details and insights regarding the research issues (Eisenhardt 1989; Stake 1994; Yin 1994). Hence this research will be done via a multiple case study approach using structured interviews with a questionnaire (Yin, 1994).5 1.5 Structure of the dissertation In addition to this introductory chapter, this dissertation consists of four chapters ( 1.1). Chapter 2 reviews the relevant literature, addresses the disciplines under investigation, and provides an overview of competitive advantage. The chapter then provides a detailed review of the current literature and practices of supply chain management. With that as the background, chapter 2 continues into identifying gaps in the literature and provides the rationale for selecting the research topic and issues. Chapter 5Conclusion and opportunities for further researchChapter 1IntroductionChapter 3Research methodologyChapter 2Literature review and research issuesChapter 4Data analysis and interpretationsChapter interpretations Chapter 3 discusses the research methodology used for this study and it includes: the justification of the research methodology, a discussion on preparation of the questionnaire and the data gathering process, the process used for data analysis and determining gaps, the process used to generate recommendations from the data, and concludes with a discussion on the limitations of case study research. Chapter 4 summarizes the data collected from the selected companies and respondents and aims to interpret the data in relation to the research objective. Each of the four research issues is analyzed, interpreted, and the detailed findings are presented. The chapter concludes with a summary of the research findings. Chapter 5 provides a summary of the findings and conclusions of the research objective and issues, discusses the contribution of the research findings to the literature and theory, reviews the implications of the findings, discusses the limitations of the research, and concludes with suggested direction for future research. 1.6 Key definitions Definitions adopted by researchers are often not uniform; hence key terms are defined to establish positions taken for this dissertation (Perry 1998). This will ensure that subsequent research, undertaken at a later stage, will better measure and compare what this dissertation has set out to do. †¢ Logistics: The management and movement of product and services, including storage and warehousing, and their transport via air, land, and water (Coyle, Bardi, and Langley, 1988). †¢ Supply chain: Consists of all inter-linked resources and activities needed to create and deliver products and services to customers (Hakanson, 1999). †¢ Supply chain management: This includes managing supply and demand, sourcing raw materials and parts, manufacturing and assembly, distribution across all channels, and delivery to the customer (Supply Chain Council, 2001). †¢ Supply chain agility or agile supply chain: An agile supply chain is one that is flexible and has a business-wide capability that embraces organizational structures, information systems, and logistics processes. (Christopher, 2000) †¢ Critical success factors (CSF): Critical success factors are those few things that must go well to ensure success for a manager or organization, and therefore may represent those managerial or enterprise areas that must be given continual attention. CSFs include issues vital to an organizations current operating activities and to its future success (Boynton and Zmud, 1984). †¢ Customer relationship management (CRM): CRM is the management of technology, processes, information, and people in order to maximize each customer contact by obtaining a 360-degree view of the customer (Galbreath and Rogers, 1999). †¢ Performance gap: This is a gap between the perceived performance and the expected importance of a factor (in this dissertation it is a supply chain factor). The performance gap provides an indication as to whether executives and managers are successful in translating their vision to their employees and hence such perception may give an indication regarding the degree of employees alignment with the organizations vision. If a factor is critical and has a negative value of factor alignment (perceived performance is less than the expectation), then the organization may have a potential problem with that factor. Information on factor alignment allows executives to develop a strategy to overcome the challenges associated with the gaps between importance and performance. (Martilla and James, 1977). †¢ Quality Function Deployment (QFD): QFD is a comprehensive quality tool that can be used to uncover customers spoken and unspoken needs, and convert these needs to product or service design targets and processes (Akao, 1990). 1.7 Delimitation There are several delimitations in this dissertation. †¢ The theoretical model derived from this dissertation is only applicable to the high technology companies. †¢ The dissertation is focused on companies operating geographically in California, United States of America, where there is a concentration of high technology companies. †¢ This dissertation is an exploratory research and will have to be tested for generalizability in later, more extensive, quantitative research (Perry, 1998). †¢ There is no scientific basis for choosing the number of cases in this dissertation. The number selected is based on the experiences and recommendations of the research and academic community (Eisenhardt, 1989; Perry, 1998). 1.8 Conclusion This chapter provides an overview of the dissertation. The aim, objectives, and justification of the research topic were discussed. The dissertation is an investigation on the impact of a supply chain management system on the competitive position of high technology business firms. It explores and investigates new ideas in supply chain management and examines how high technology firms manage and improve their supply chain management system. Furthermore, this dissertation will analyze the gaps and opportunities for supply chain management in high technology companies and give a set of recommendations. The methodology was briefly described, key definitions were explained, delimitations of this research were addressed, and the structure of the dissertation was outlined. With all the important areas of the research briefly introduced in this chapter, the following four chapters of this dissertation will present detailed description and findings of the research topic. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW AND RESEARCH ISSUES The previous chapter provided an overview of the dissertation and listed the objective, issues, and significance of the research topic. This chapter reviews the relevant literature and comprises of six sections. The review starts with a discussion on early approaches to understanding a firms performance and its competitive advantage. This is followed by the development of a theoretical framework and a discussion on contemporary approaches to competitive advantage. Next there is a discussion on supply chain management, followed by an overview of advanced supply chain management systems. The last two sections conclude with a discussion on gaps in the literature, identification of areas for further research, and the summary. 2.1 Early approaches to understanding a firms performance and competitive advantage One of the earliest (chronologically) approaches to competitive advantage is the microeconomic approach, or the idea of perfect competition (Walras, 1874, 1969). In perfect competition products are homogenous, consumers and producers have perfect information, prices will reach equilibrium, and as a result profits are negligible or low in the long run. However, according to Gill (1991), such a perfect economy is an abstraction, because there are monopolies, oligopolies, and perfect competition. Furthermore, there are also two kinds of competition: spatial and monopolistic. Spatial differentiation pertains to oligopolistic competition (Hotelling, 1929), and it meets consumers different tastes. Monopolistic competition assumes that small firms produce a variety of differentiated products (Chamberlin, 1933; in Gill, 1991). All these situations allow for profit maximization and higher profits (Gill, 1991). The industrial organization (IO) approach takes a richer approach to understanding a firms successful performance. IO differs from the microeconomic approach by introducing variables that explain real-world economic behavior. In IO, there are two competing hypothesis that lead to higher profits and success market power and a firms efficiency (Scherer, 1990; Tirole, 1988). Nevertheless, the IO approach assumes that markets and firms will reach equilibrium, and in equilibrium profits differences will not exist (Tirole, 1988). Both the microeconomic approach and the industrial organization approach assume that all firms would reach equilibrium and have equal profit and success. However, we know from a daily look at many firms performance on the stock market that profit and performance vary across firms, even when they are in the same business. Eaton and Lipsey (1978) have verified that differences in performance and profit exist between firms. 2.2 Contemporary approaches to achieving competitive advantage 2.2.1 Framework to understanding a firms performance One of the first researchers to propose a theoretical framework for understanding a firms performance is Porter (1980). He takes a strategic and analytical approach to understanding competitive strategy, and argued that, â€Å"Every firm competing in an industry has a competitive strategy, whether explicit or implicit† (Porter, 1980, p. xiii). He proposes a framework for analyzing industries and competitors and describes three generic strategies cost leadership, differentiation, and focus. He postulates that if a firm is able to do well in any of these strategies, it will gain competitive advantage. Porters concept is illustrated in 2-1. Generic Competitive Strategies†¢Overall cost leadership†¢Differentiation†¢FocusCompetitive Advantageof a Firm †¢ Cost leadership requires efficient-scale facilities, pursuit of cost reductions, and cost minimization in all areas of the firm. This will give more profit. †¢ Differentiation of product or service requires industry-wide differentiation, including design and brand image, customer service, and distribution or dealer network. Product or service differentiation will help increase customer loyalty and ensure repurchase. †¢ Focus on markets, buyers, or product lines can maximize profits. The framework, in 2-1, shows that the right strategies can provide competitive advantage. Porter (1985) also argues that competitive advantage come from the many discrete activities a firm performs in designing, producing, marketing, delivering, and supporting its product. Each of these activities contributes to a firms relative cost position and creates a basis for differentiation. This is the value chain, and a firm has to disaggregate its strategically relevant activities in order to understand the behavior of costs and the existing and potential sources of differentiation. A firm gains competitive advantage by performing these strategically important activities cheaper or better than its competitors (Porter, 1985), and this can lead to a higher profit margin. The value chain concept is illustrated in 2-2. Profit Margin Outbound Logistics Manufacturing Operations, and other Internal Processes Inbound Logistics Procurement Human Resource Management Technology Development Firm Infrastructure and Platform Services Customer Service Marketing and Sales Primary Activities Support Activities Supply Chain Approach Strategic Planning Approach Marketing Capabilities Approach The Value Chain and Theoretical Framework to Achieve Competitive Advantage Adapted from Porter (1985) and this literature review. Note 1: Key approaches to competitive advantage are highlighted with underlined Characters Note 2: The definition of supply chain implies all activities necessary to deliver a product (Hakanson, 1999). Therefore sales, marketing, and customer service activities can be construed as part of the supply chain approach shown in the . In this study, sales and marketing processes, such as demand management, order processing, and customer relationship management are included in the internal processes shown in the and in the supply chain literature review. However, sales and marketing activity, such as sales calls, advertising, product positioning, market research, and some post delivery support processes are excluded from supply chain activity. This is consistent with the approach taken by the Supply Chain Council and the SCOR (Supply Chain Operational Reference) model it uses to measure supply chain activity (Supply Chain Council, 2001). 2.2.2 Summary of contemporary approaches to competitive advantage Porters approach presents new thinking to competitive advantage (Rumelt, Schendel, and Teece, 1991) and has influenced other approaches to creating competitive advantage. Many of the other approaches to competitive advantage are summarized in Table 2-1. From the table, it can be seen that all the approaches to increasing competitive advantage, except for the early microeconomic and industrial organization approaches, fit the theoretical framework in 2-2. However, all these approaches to competitive advantage are complementary and not alternatives or conflicting theories they basically propose various segments of the theoretical framework shown in 2-2. The various approaches are discussed very briefly below, but the last approach (in Table 2-1), Supply Chain Management, is discussed in greater detail. 2.2.3 The strategic planning approach In essence, Porters (1980, 1985) approaches are strategic planning approaches, i.e. a firms competitive advantage can be planned for. This includes planning for differentiation in the value chain, low cost leadership, and focus. Nations can also be competitive (Porter, 1990). Nations need four conditions to gain competitive advantage and be successful. The four conditions are: factor conditions (education and skill levels), demand conditions (or market size), related and supporting industries, and company strategy and rivalry (Porter, 1990). Strategy is â€Å"lucky foresight†¦Strategy is always the product of a complex and unexpected interplay between ideas, information, personalities, and desire† according to Hamel (1998). What this implies is that one does not settle for obvious solutions and strategies but should look at alternatives, challenge assumptions, and look at new ways of delivering superior customer value and firm performance. Table 2-1 Summary of early and contemporary approaches to competitive advantage Approach Proponent Main idea/postulate Comments Microeconomic Walras (1874, 1984) Perfect competition results in negligible profits Ideas ignore monopolies, oligopolies, and product differentiation. Profit does vary across firms according to Eaton and Lipsey (1978). Industrial Organization Scherer (1990), Tirole (1988) Success comes from market power and a firms efficiency. All proponents agree that in the long term there will be industry equilibrium and little profit. Porter (1980) Porter (1985) Provides a framework for achieving competitive advantage. Every firm has a generic competitive strategy in cost leadership, market focus, or differentiation. The value chain disaggregates a firm into its strategically relevant activities. A firm gains competitive advantage by performing these important activities better than its competitors. Challenges the stereotype approach of perfect competition and industry equilibrium. Provides a prescriptive approach to achieve competitive advantage, but the ideas and solutions are essentially conceptual. Hamel (1998) Strategy is the product of a complex and unexpected interplay between ideas, information, personalities, and desire. A firm has to seek alternatives and new ways of delivering superior customer value and firm performance. The Strategic Approach and its Variations Value Chain Approach Strategic Approach Resource Based Approach Wernerfelt (1984), Barney (1991), Rumelt, Schendel, and Teece (1991). A firm has to identify specific, or rare, resources that lead to higher profits. Long-term superior performance comes from building product market positions that effectively utilize and maintain these resources. Examples of such resources include customer loyalty, and technological leads. If the resources are unique and difficult to duplicate, then the firm achieves competitive advantage. Table 2-1 (Continued) Summary of early and contemporary approaches to competitive advantage Approach Proponent Main idea/postulate Comments Market Strategy Marketing Capabilities Approach Resource-Advantage Theory Product Differentiation Day (1994,1999), Cool and Dierickx (1989), Aaker (1989), Caves and Ghemawat (1986). Also, Buzzell an Critical Success Factors in Supply Chain Management Critical Success Factors in Supply Chain Management ABSTRACT In todays turbulent economic environment, firms are striving for ways to achieve competitive advantage. One of the approaches is to manage the entire supply chain to reduce costs and improve performance to create competitive advantage and business success. This dissertation explores and investigates how high technology firms use supply chain management to gain competitive advantage and increase business success. The research objective is to determine the critical success factors in supply chain management at high technology companies. This dissertation provides a theoretical framework to understand a firms performance and argues that supply chain management will help a firm to be competitive and successful. To this end, the critical success factors that make a company more competitive are identified. The research design is based on the established and recommended procedures of multiple case study research methodology; and this methodology is used to gather data from five companies in California, USA. The analysis is based primarily on cross-case analysis for the purpose of theoretical generalization about the research issues. The results identify two clusters of company behavior and characteristics, specifically traditional ‘old style manufacturing companies and progressive manufacturing companies. Each cluster of company behaves differently. At the traditional manufacturing companies, the selection of critical supply chain management factors is internally focused on factors that are manufacturing and quality focused, while at the progressive manufacturing companies the selection of critical supply chain management factors is externally focused on factors that are directed to customers and information systems. There are differences between critical supply chain management factors at high technology companies and benchmark (or commodity) companies that were selected in this study. The benchmark companies select supply chain management factors that focus on customer services and quality. This approach is, possibly, due to the fact that the benchmark companies deal in commodity type products and hence they have to focus on differentiating themselves through strong customer services and quality products. Additionally, with the help of supply chain metrics, financial performance data, and understanding the various companies, it is possible to determine which critical supply chain factors best can contribute to business performance. At the case study companies, an external focus on supply chain management factors such as a strong focus on customer relationship and management, gives better business results. Finally, this study has proposed a novel and new approach to improving customer satisfaction by using QFD methodology to identify performance gaps (and opportunities) from the customers viewpoint in supply chain management. If the companies wish to increase customer satisfaction, they have to use the QFD methodology to identify critical supply chain factors. The reason is primarily because performance gaps derived from customer needs emphasize what the customer wants and that is different from the internal perceptions of a companys managers. The initiatives that provide the greatest opportunity have been identified in this analysis. Overall, these findings can be used by high technology firms to select supply chain strategies that will lead to sustainable competitive advantage and hence improve their brand and business performance. CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION The genesis of this dissertation was a request from a high technology company to investigate the companys supply chain system and identify factors affecting the successful implementation of supply chain management. This chapter serves as an introduction to the dissertation. It comprises eight sections, which cover the background to the research, objective of the research and the research questions, justification and significance of the research, a brief description of the methodology, an outline of the structure of the study, key definitions, delimitations of this research, and the chapters conclusion. 1.1 Background A firms strategies, innovations, and well-planned activities will lead to sustainable competitive advantage and hence improve its brand and business performance. As firms strive for ways to achieve competitive advantage, they are looking for new ideas and solutions. This dissertation addresses the topic of competitive advantage, reviews how firms attempt to achieve it, and focuses on one aspect of competitive advantage managing the supply chain to increase competitive advantage and business success. The early understanding of competitive advantage is based on Leon Walras (1874, 1984) theory of perfect competition. In perfect competition products are homogenous, consumers and producers have perfect information, prices will reach equilibrium, and as a result profits are zero in the long run. A later approach is the Industrial Organization approach (Tirole, 1988), which argues that success comes from market power and a firms efficiency. However, the proponents of this approach agree that in the long term there would be industry equilibrium and little profit. One of the first researchers to propose a theoretical framework for understanding a firms performance is Michael Porter (1980). He takes a strategic and analytical approach to understanding competitive strategy, and argues that, â€Å"Every firm competing in an industry has a competitive strategy, whether explicit or implicit.† Porter asserts that, except for microeconomic theory, the strategy field and literature had offered few analytical techniques for gaining this understanding. Porter (1980) argues that with the right approach it is possible to break away from the economic equilibrium situation and achieve superior performance. Therefore he proposes a framework for analyzing industries and competitors and describes three generic strategies cost leadership, differentiation, and focus. He postulates that to be successful, the firm has to do well in one or more of these strategies. Porters (1980) ideas and proposals on achieving competitive advantage have influenced many other researchers to propose complementary theories on achieving competitive advantage. All the theories proposed by researchers are supported with examples of winning strategies implemented at renowned companies. The theories include an emphasis on planning (Porter, 1980, 1985), strategic approach (Hamel and Prahalad, 1990, 1998; Porter, 1985, 1990, 1991), marketing strategies (Day, 1994, 1999), value chain management (Porter, 1985), and supply chain management (Christopher, 1998; Poirier, 1999; Tyndall et al., 1998). A theory that has gained momentum in the last few years is the concept of supply chain management. In recent years, there have been numerous advances and developments in supply chain techniques and management. One of the reasons is that as trade barriers drop and markets open, competition has become more intense hence companies need to be more competitive and cost effective. An initiative to help achieve this is a supply chain management program. Supply chain management is the management of upstream and downstream activities, resources, and relationships with suppliers and customers, which is required to deliver products or services. In theory, if this is done well it will lead to competitive advantage through differentiation and lower costs as suggested by Porter (1980). Moreover, some researchers claim that effective supply chain management can reduce costs by several percentage points of revenue (Boyson, et. al, 1999). Furthermore, there has been little verification or research d one on measuring competitive advantage gained through supply chain management. Supply chain management is not a static concept or solution. Instead, new advances and techniques for supply chain management continue to mushroom. This tremendous growth in new ideas and processes is starting to influence and change the business processes and models of companies. Hence companies have many choices in selecting programs in supply chain management. In making their choices, companies need to plan for effective supply chain management, in order to gain competitive advantage. However, to ensure that effective supply chain management can provide business success, this study must determine the critical success factors in supply chain management that can provide competitive advantage. Furthermore, these critical success factors must be identified and conveyed to senior management in firms that want to have an effective supply chain management program. 1.2 Objective of this research The objective of this dissertation is to explore and investigate how firms scope, design, and implement supply chain management in order to gain competitive advantage. Most importantly, this dissertation endeavors to determine the critical success factors in supply chain management that can provide competitive advantage. It also explores and investigates the advances and new ideas in supply chain management and examines how firms scope, design, and implement supply chain management in order to gain competitive advantage. The genesis of this dissertation was a request from a high technology company to investigate the companys supply chain system and propose improvements to help make it more competitive. The company is headquartered in California USA, and this author works for one of the companys business unit as General Manager for Distribution. The request was to investigate the companys supply chain management system and to propose improvements that would make it more competitive This dissertation provides a theoretical framework to understand a firms performance and argues that supply chain management is an approach that will help a firm to be competitive and successful. Furthermore, in using supply chain management, firms are faced with choices on what supply chain techniques and developments to adopt for their businesses. This dissertation wil review the choices that high technology companies have today, and will make recommendations to select the best choices, or critical success factors, based on business and customer needs. Therefore, the research objective is to: Determine the critical success factors in supply chain management at high technology companies. In fulfilling this objective, this dissertation also addresses the following research issues: 1. Are there differences between critical supply chain management factors at various high technology companies? 2. Are there differences between critical supply chain management factors at high technology companies and non high technology (or benchmark commodity) companies? 3. Will a focus on external supply chain management factors give better business results? 4. Are perceived critical gaps (and opportunities) in performance derived from traditional methodology similar to those deployed from customer needs? In this study, the critical success factors to make a company more competitive are identified. To ensure a robust analysis and conclusion, the expectations and perceptions of respondents, involved in this study, are taken into consideration as well as customer requirements. 1.3 Significance of the research There are many theories and empirical studies on competitive advantage. However, the empirical studies, using mathematical models, tend to be limited in scope (Porter, 1991; Buzzel and Gale, 1990), and do not include supply chain management parameters. While there has been much research on activities that can provide competitive advantage, there is little knowledge on the process of selection and impact of supply chain management on the competitive position and business performance of a high technology firm. Firms need to understand how supply chain management can help them achieve competitive advantage. Furthermore, there is an expectation that high technology companies will use leading edge technology and invest heavily in supply chain management. This dissertation makes the following contributions: 1. Fulfils a request from a high technology company: The author of this study works for a high technology company, head-quartered in California USA, and was requested to investigate the companys (business unit) supply chain system and propose improvements to help make it more competitive. 2. Identifies the critical success factors in supply chain management from a high technology companys viewpoint. Often when reviewing critical success factors, only the perception of respondents is taken into account. However, in this analysis both the perceptions and expectations of respondents are taken into consideration. Such an analysis will be more robust and will allow performance gaps to be analyzed and understood. 3. Identifies the critical success factors in supply chain management from customers of high technology companies. To enhance the relevance of the conclusions, customer requirements are also taken into consideration by using the quality function deployment (QFD) methodology and these are compared to the high technology companies performance gaps. Such an analysis will allow performance gaps to be analyzed and understood from the viewpoint of customers of high technology companies. 4. Contributes to the understanding of how high technology companies scope, design, and develop their supply chain management system. 1.4 Research Methodology This study employs the qualitative research process using multiple case studies. There are several reasons for this: Since the focus of this research is on high technology companies operating in California, USA, there is a concern that there will be a small number of companies willing to participate in a large (sample size) quantitative survey. Furthermore face-to-face meetings with respondents can help provide understanding and information on several qualitative areas, such as: reasons for implementing specific supply chain factors (or strategies), customer needs data, and discussions and feedback on the questionnaire. Also, cases can be viewed and studied alone and across cases to provide comparison and contrast and richer details and insights regarding the research issues (Eisenhardt 1989; Stake 1994; Yin 1994). Hence this research will be done via a multiple case study approach using structured interviews with a questionnaire (Yin, 1994).5 1.5 Structure of the dissertation In addition to this introductory chapter, this dissertation consists of four chapters ( 1.1). Chapter 2 reviews the relevant literature, addresses the disciplines under investigation, and provides an overview of competitive advantage. The chapter then provides a detailed review of the current literature and practices of supply chain management. With that as the background, chapter 2 continues into identifying gaps in the literature and provides the rationale for selecting the research topic and issues. Chapter 5Conclusion and opportunities for further researchChapter 1IntroductionChapter 3Research methodologyChapter 2Literature review and research issuesChapter 4Data analysis and interpretationsChapter interpretations Chapter 3 discusses the research methodology used for this study and it includes: the justification of the research methodology, a discussion on preparation of the questionnaire and the data gathering process, the process used for data analysis and determining gaps, the process used to generate recommendations from the data, and concludes with a discussion on the limitations of case study research. Chapter 4 summarizes the data collected from the selected companies and respondents and aims to interpret the data in relation to the research objective. Each of the four research issues is analyzed, interpreted, and the detailed findings are presented. The chapter concludes with a summary of the research findings. Chapter 5 provides a summary of the findings and conclusions of the research objective and issues, discusses the contribution of the research findings to the literature and theory, reviews the implications of the findings, discusses the limitations of the research, and concludes with suggested direction for future research. 1.6 Key definitions Definitions adopted by researchers are often not uniform; hence key terms are defined to establish positions taken for this dissertation (Perry 1998). This will ensure that subsequent research, undertaken at a later stage, will better measure and compare what this dissertation has set out to do. †¢ Logistics: The management and movement of product and services, including storage and warehousing, and their transport via air, land, and water (Coyle, Bardi, and Langley, 1988). †¢ Supply chain: Consists of all inter-linked resources and activities needed to create and deliver products and services to customers (Hakanson, 1999). †¢ Supply chain management: This includes managing supply and demand, sourcing raw materials and parts, manufacturing and assembly, distribution across all channels, and delivery to the customer (Supply Chain Council, 2001). †¢ Supply chain agility or agile supply chain: An agile supply chain is one that is flexible and has a business-wide capability that embraces organizational structures, information systems, and logistics processes. (Christopher, 2000) †¢ Critical success factors (CSF): Critical success factors are those few things that must go well to ensure success for a manager or organization, and therefore may represent those managerial or enterprise areas that must be given continual attention. CSFs include issues vital to an organizations current operating activities and to its future success (Boynton and Zmud, 1984). †¢ Customer relationship management (CRM): CRM is the management of technology, processes, information, and people in order to maximize each customer contact by obtaining a 360-degree view of the customer (Galbreath and Rogers, 1999). †¢ Performance gap: This is a gap between the perceived performance and the expected importance of a factor (in this dissertation it is a supply chain factor). The performance gap provides an indication as to whether executives and managers are successful in translating their vision to their employees and hence such perception may give an indication regarding the degree of employees alignment with the organizations vision. If a factor is critical and has a negative value of factor alignment (perceived performance is less than the expectation), then the organization may have a potential problem with that factor. Information on factor alignment allows executives to develop a strategy to overcome the challenges associated with the gaps between importance and performance. (Martilla and James, 1977). †¢ Quality Function Deployment (QFD): QFD is a comprehensive quality tool that can be used to uncover customers spoken and unspoken needs, and convert these needs to product or service design targets and processes (Akao, 1990). 1.7 Delimitation There are several delimitations in this dissertation. †¢ The theoretical model derived from this dissertation is only applicable to the high technology companies. †¢ The dissertation is focused on companies operating geographically in California, United States of America, where there is a concentration of high technology companies. †¢ This dissertation is an exploratory research and will have to be tested for generalizability in later, more extensive, quantitative research (Perry, 1998). †¢ There is no scientific basis for choosing the number of cases in this dissertation. The number selected is based on the experiences and recommendations of the research and academic community (Eisenhardt, 1989; Perry, 1998). 1.8 Conclusion This chapter provides an overview of the dissertation. The aim, objectives, and justification of the research topic were discussed. The dissertation is an investigation on the impact of a supply chain management system on the competitive position of high technology business firms. It explores and investigates new ideas in supply chain management and examines how high technology firms manage and improve their supply chain management system. Furthermore, this dissertation will analyze the gaps and opportunities for supply chain management in high technology companies and give a set of recommendations. The methodology was briefly described, key definitions were explained, delimitations of this research were addressed, and the structure of the dissertation was outlined. With all the important areas of the research briefly introduced in this chapter, the following four chapters of this dissertation will present detailed description and findings of the research topic. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW AND RESEARCH ISSUES The previous chapter provided an overview of the dissertation and listed the objective, issues, and significance of the research topic. This chapter reviews the relevant literature and comprises of six sections. The review starts with a discussion on early approaches to understanding a firms performance and its competitive advantage. This is followed by the development of a theoretical framework and a discussion on contemporary approaches to competitive advantage. Next there is a discussion on supply chain management, followed by an overview of advanced supply chain management systems. The last two sections conclude with a discussion on gaps in the literature, identification of areas for further research, and the summary. 2.1 Early approaches to understanding a firms performance and competitive advantage One of the earliest (chronologically) approaches to competitive advantage is the microeconomic approach, or the idea of perfect competition (Walras, 1874, 1969). In perfect competition products are homogenous, consumers and producers have perfect information, prices will reach equilibrium, and as a result profits are negligible or low in the long run. However, according to Gill (1991), such a perfect economy is an abstraction, because there are monopolies, oligopolies, and perfect competition. Furthermore, there are also two kinds of competition: spatial and monopolistic. Spatial differentiation pertains to oligopolistic competition (Hotelling, 1929), and it meets consumers different tastes. Monopolistic competition assumes that small firms produce a variety of differentiated products (Chamberlin, 1933; in Gill, 1991). All these situations allow for profit maximization and higher profits (Gill, 1991). The industrial organization (IO) approach takes a richer approach to understanding a firms successful performance. IO differs from the microeconomic approach by introducing variables that explain real-world economic behavior. In IO, there are two competing hypothesis that lead to higher profits and success market power and a firms efficiency (Scherer, 1990; Tirole, 1988). Nevertheless, the IO approach assumes that markets and firms will reach equilibrium, and in equilibrium profits differences will not exist (Tirole, 1988). Both the microeconomic approach and the industrial organization approach assume that all firms would reach equilibrium and have equal profit and success. However, we know from a daily look at many firms performance on the stock market that profit and performance vary across firms, even when they are in the same business. Eaton and Lipsey (1978) have verified that differences in performance and profit exist between firms. 2.2 Contemporary approaches to achieving competitive advantage 2.2.1 Framework to understanding a firms performance One of the first researchers to propose a theoretical framework for understanding a firms performance is Porter (1980). He takes a strategic and analytical approach to understanding competitive strategy, and argued that, â€Å"Every firm competing in an industry has a competitive strategy, whether explicit or implicit† (Porter, 1980, p. xiii). He proposes a framework for analyzing industries and competitors and describes three generic strategies cost leadership, differentiation, and focus. He postulates that if a firm is able to do well in any of these strategies, it will gain competitive advantage. Porters concept is illustrated in 2-1. Generic Competitive Strategies†¢Overall cost leadership†¢Differentiation†¢FocusCompetitive Advantageof a Firm †¢ Cost leadership requires efficient-scale facilities, pursuit of cost reductions, and cost minimization in all areas of the firm. This will give more profit. †¢ Differentiation of product or service requires industry-wide differentiation, including design and brand image, customer service, and distribution or dealer network. Product or service differentiation will help increase customer loyalty and ensure repurchase. †¢ Focus on markets, buyers, or product lines can maximize profits. The framework, in 2-1, shows that the right strategies can provide competitive advantage. Porter (1985) also argues that competitive advantage come from the many discrete activities a firm performs in designing, producing, marketing, delivering, and supporting its product. Each of these activities contributes to a firms relative cost position and creates a basis for differentiation. This is the value chain, and a firm has to disaggregate its strategically relevant activities in order to understand the behavior of costs and the existing and potential sources of differentiation. A firm gains competitive advantage by performing these strategically important activities cheaper or better than its competitors (Porter, 1985), and this can lead to a higher profit margin. The value chain concept is illustrated in 2-2. Profit Margin Outbound Logistics Manufacturing Operations, and other Internal Processes Inbound Logistics Procurement Human Resource Management Technology Development Firm Infrastructure and Platform Services Customer Service Marketing and Sales Primary Activities Support Activities Supply Chain Approach Strategic Planning Approach Marketing Capabilities Approach The Value Chain and Theoretical Framework to Achieve Competitive Advantage Adapted from Porter (1985) and this literature review. Note 1: Key approaches to competitive advantage are highlighted with underlined Characters Note 2: The definition of supply chain implies all activities necessary to deliver a product (Hakanson, 1999). Therefore sales, marketing, and customer service activities can be construed as part of the supply chain approach shown in the . In this study, sales and marketing processes, such as demand management, order processing, and customer relationship management are included in the internal processes shown in the and in the supply chain literature review. However, sales and marketing activity, such as sales calls, advertising, product positioning, market research, and some post delivery support processes are excluded from supply chain activity. This is consistent with the approach taken by the Supply Chain Council and the SCOR (Supply Chain Operational Reference) model it uses to measure supply chain activity (Supply Chain Council, 2001). 2.2.2 Summary of contemporary approaches to competitive advantage Porters approach presents new thinking to competitive advantage (Rumelt, Schendel, and Teece, 1991) and has influenced other approaches to creating competitive advantage. Many of the other approaches to competitive advantage are summarized in Table 2-1. From the table, it can be seen that all the approaches to increasing competitive advantage, except for the early microeconomic and industrial organization approaches, fit the theoretical framework in 2-2. However, all these approaches to competitive advantage are complementary and not alternatives or conflicting theories they basically propose various segments of the theoretical framework shown in 2-2. The various approaches are discussed very briefly below, but the last approach (in Table 2-1), Supply Chain Management, is discussed in greater detail. 2.2.3 The strategic planning approach In essence, Porters (1980, 1985) approaches are strategic planning approaches, i.e. a firms competitive advantage can be planned for. This includes planning for differentiation in the value chain, low cost leadership, and focus. Nations can also be competitive (Porter, 1990). Nations need four conditions to gain competitive advantage and be successful. The four conditions are: factor conditions (education and skill levels), demand conditions (or market size), related and supporting industries, and company strategy and rivalry (Porter, 1990). Strategy is â€Å"lucky foresight†¦Strategy is always the product of a complex and unexpected interplay between ideas, information, personalities, and desire† according to Hamel (1998). What this implies is that one does not settle for obvious solutions and strategies but should look at alternatives, challenge assumptions, and look at new ways of delivering superior customer value and firm performance. Table 2-1 Summary of early and contemporary approaches to competitive advantage Approach Proponent Main idea/postulate Comments Microeconomic Walras (1874, 1984) Perfect competition results in negligible profits Ideas ignore monopolies, oligopolies, and product differentiation. Profit does vary across firms according to Eaton and Lipsey (1978). Industrial Organization Scherer (1990), Tirole (1988) Success comes from market power and a firms efficiency. All proponents agree that in the long term there will be industry equilibrium and little profit. Porter (1980) Porter (1985) Provides a framework for achieving competitive advantage. Every firm has a generic competitive strategy in cost leadership, market focus, or differentiation. The value chain disaggregates a firm into its strategically relevant activities. A firm gains competitive advantage by performing these important activities better than its competitors. Challenges the stereotype approach of perfect competition and industry equilibrium. Provides a prescriptive approach to achieve competitive advantage, but the ideas and solutions are essentially conceptual. Hamel (1998) Strategy is the product of a complex and unexpected interplay between ideas, information, personalities, and desire. A firm has to seek alternatives and new ways of delivering superior customer value and firm performance. The Strategic Approach and its Variations Value Chain Approach Strategic Approach Resource Based Approach Wernerfelt (1984), Barney (1991), Rumelt, Schendel, and Teece (1991). A firm has to identify specific, or rare, resources that lead to higher profits. Long-term superior performance comes from building product market positions that effectively utilize and maintain these resources. Examples of such resources include customer loyalty, and technological leads. If the resources are unique and difficult to duplicate, then the firm achieves competitive advantage. Table 2-1 (Continued) Summary of early and contemporary approaches to competitive advantage Approach Proponent Main idea/postulate Comments Market Strategy Marketing Capabilities Approach Resource-Advantage Theory Product Differentiation Day (1994,1999), Cool and Dierickx (1989), Aaker (1989), Caves and Ghemawat (1986). Also, Buzzell an