Manage an information or knowledge management system Research Paper

Manage an information or knowledge management system - Research Paper Example ii) The policy guidelines do not draw attention to the areas of underperformance but it is the system performance that can be said to be underperforming or not. 6. True 7. A contingency plan is the process in an organization that prepares it to act coherently to an unplanned occurrence. It is normally a plan used as an alternative plan if the initial plan fails to function. Also known as the plan ‘’B’’. 8. To manage the problem of IT failure when it occurs, one would need to retrieve the information by contacting IT expert. The system can be traced immediately to find the lost data. However, managing this problem for the future, one need to be proactive in that, they need to realize that IT may fail any time; therefore, a data backup system is always required in place. Internet security system should be implemented to avoid data theft through hackers and data destruction through viruses and malwares. 9. Analysis, evaluation, probe, investigation 10. Brainst orming is the process of soliciting for ideas from a group of people in order to find solution to a given problem. This normally begins by the group focusing on a problem, the creatively developing various possible solutions to the problem and pushing ideas as far as possible. 11. False. Auditing finds mistakes and builds on them, not strengths. 12. False. One system cannot be reviewed in isolation since a system is continuous and one system is connected to the other systems. 13. Audits can consider the performance of system interfaces. 14. True 15. Organizational job design, performance indicators and how are suppliers to be used? 16. Organizational mission statement. 17. a, b, c & d. Assignment 2 Case Study 1 Date Incident Consequence Reported by 12/4/13 Request for employment records for a former employee Subpoena-law requirement Susan-HR department Action taken Date Modified File given 12/5/13 Modified By Job Title Sign Susan’s Supervisor Supervisor 1. Good quality inform ation is necessary for decision making purposes, planning, and reference purposes as well as proper management of an organization. 2. The benefits of information and Knowledge management system include assisting organizations to identify, select, organize, disseminate, and transfer information. It also helps the organization to share knowledge towards meeting its objectives. It enables the organization to compare itself with its competitors. The major drawbacks include failure of the system to deliver the expected outcome and the inability to use by some users. 3. Whether it will be able to provide a basis for the valuation of the company, whether it can stimulate the management in order to focus on the important things and whether the investment in Knowledge Management is justified. I & KMS require that measures like tight information security be applied to the organization’s information system. Confidentiality and legal consideration while dispersing knowledge is critical, keeping the organizational success-knowledge secret for economic prosperity are some of the measures that need to be applied. 4. The type of knowledge information that a sugar processing company uses in the demand side for example, include knowledge of things like; sugar consumption rate, sister companies sugar production capabilities, industry sugar production capabilities, cement import and export levels. Strengths The organization

Forensic Science 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Forensic Science 2 - Essay Example Due to his contribution in forensic science, sometimes he is referred to as the â€Å"Father of Forensic Toxicology† The police and other law enforcing agencies benefit most in forensic science as they use it as a tool for investigation and gathering the necessary evidence to close a given criminal case. As such, forensic science enables these investigating officers to analyze scientifically every piece of evidence that they come across at a crime scene and piece them together to come up with a conclusive motive, purpose, as well as evidence for the crime. For instance, they use forensic science to check on the fingerprints that they collect at a crime scene, and then use this evidence to point to possible suspects of a crime. Forensic science refers to the laboratory examination of evidence, using scientific procedures such as prototyping and anatomy. This matching of evidence from a crime scene enables the investigating officers to find important leads to the crime or case under investigating. For instance, the police can find a dead mutilated body at the crime scene and do not know whom it belongs to, and what happened in the moments leading to the person’s death. The police then apply forensic science to identify the body of the deceased, such as using fingerprints and running the results through a police database to find a matching record of the person. The scientific method shapes the prescription of forensic science because they all apply solely for the resolution of a crime or to find evidence related to a given crime. The application of science in law provides unrepuatble evidence in court for a crime because science does not lie. This helps in the fast resolution of legal hurdles and cases. For instance, a difficult case of conflicting paternity can be solved easily through application of forensic science under the examination of DNA composition of the child in question and

Concept Essay on effect of divorce on kids Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Concept on effect of divorce on kids - Essay Example They learn to cope with the circumstances resulting from divorce. Since all children possess unique qualities, they react to counseling strategies in their own ways. Their age and development phase counts very much toward their reaction to counseling. Moreover, the parent with whom the kids are residing must give proper care and attention to them. Although it is hard for the parent to resume a normal life (Berry, 1999, p.21), yet it is important for him or her to remember that they have to play double role for their kids now, both father’s and mother’s. The parent can also get them admitted in extra-curricular classes and activities like yoga, karate, swimming, and aerobics, so as to keep them busy. This will make them refrain from any negative thoughts. To make them live a healthy life, the parent should encourage them to spend quality time with friends, relatives, and neighbors- people who are one’s greatest â€Å"support network† (Heubeck, 2014, para. 6 ). In short, raising kids after divorce is never easy. The parent who is going to keep the kids must show extra courage and strength so that he may be able to carry the financial and emotional burden of the children. Otherwise, children may develop many negative behavioral

Salary Inequality in the Workplace - when do men still earn more Research Paper

Salary Inequality in the Workplace - when do men still earn more - Research Paper Example Despite the theories, there is no concrete evidence as to why salary inequality is still a problem, suggesting that the disparity is a social problem with a very hidden agenda to satisfy the needs of a patriarchic work environment. Why do Men Earn More? Allyn (2003) suggests that men earn more than their female counterparts due to the return on investment achieved through education. According to an empirical study, education is geared more to provide men with better understanding of computer systems. Thus, when men and women enter the workforce, men who receive complimentary benefits are assumed to have a better knowledge base associated with technology usage, giving them a salary advantage (Allyn 2003). Under this assumption, salary disparity between the different sexes is a product of the educational system and the provision of knowledge associated with technology. Is this a rational explanation for the aforementioned inequality? If so, one could easily blame the administration in today’s colleges and universities for not creating a diverse curriculum that provides men and women with the same quality learning outcomes. It is likely that many educators and administrators in the teaching environment would strongly argue against Allyn’s study results, suggesting that there are ample and equal opportunities for both female and male students in the schools’ attempts to provide identical learning systems. Many universities, today, make it part of their ethical policies to ensure uniform educational methods that provide equivalent instruction and coaching that facilitates scholarship for both sexes. Thus, if Allyn’s findings are accurate, there must be bias within the educational system that prevents women from attaining the knowledge in technology necessary to achieve equalized pay upon graduation. However, with no concrete research evidence, this is only speculation. Connell (1997) indicates that the salary disparity between men and wom en is quite simple: it is the product of a long-standing patriarchic society that was built by men and sustained by men, thus reducing opportunities for women to advance equally. Since the majority of executives in the business environment are male, there is the assumption that a patriarchic hegemony (domination) resides at the highest levels of the organization. Any attempts to undo the male-dominated workforce would therefore, under this theory, lead to backlash or even sabotage when women attempt to exert their own supremacy (Connell, 1997). Anyone in society with a thoughtful mind could surely support the notion that the workforce as it is known today was built on male governance. The vast majority of businesspersons in history were male, therefore creating authority and control systems in the business world borne of male-generated policy and procedure. It was quite rare in yesteryear for a woman to expand their education and knowledge in order to attain a position of prominence in the business organization. In this time period, it was commonplace for women to maintain a role as housewife and mother, sustaining the household as a reward for receipt of male earnings. This was the foremost role of women until the 1940s, but this mentality was altered in the 20th Century as

Concept Essay on effect of divorce on kids Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Concept on effect of divorce on kids - Essay Example They learn to cope with the circumstances resulting from divorce. Since all children possess unique qualities, they react to counseling strategies in their own ways. Their age and development phase counts very much toward their reaction to counseling. Moreover, the parent with whom the kids are residing must give proper care and attention to them. Although it is hard for the parent to resume a normal life (Berry, 1999, p.21), yet it is important for him or her to remember that they have to play double role for their kids now, both father’s and mother’s. The parent can also get them admitted in extra-curricular classes and activities like yoga, karate, swimming, and aerobics, so as to keep them busy. This will make them refrain from any negative thoughts. To make them live a healthy life, the parent should encourage them to spend quality time with friends, relatives, and neighbors- people who are one’s greatest â€Å"support network† (Heubeck, 2014, para. 6 ). In short, raising kids after divorce is never easy. The parent who is going to keep the kids must show extra courage and strength so that he may be able to carry the financial and emotional burden of the children. Otherwise, children may develop many negative behavioral

The Effect of “Publish or Perish” Motto on Academics Essay Example for Free

The Effect of â€Å"Publish or Perish† Motto on Academics Essay Retailing, warehousing and producing knowledge are the core missions of the academic scholars in the universities. Universities warehouse† knowledge through libraries; they disseminate or retail knowledge via their teaching function; and they produce or â€Å"manufacture† knowledge through research (Hunt, 2000). In order to accomplish these missions, namely to enhance the production and dissemination quantum of the knowledge, governmental institutions and university administrations use incentive and reward systems (Bloom et al. , 1988). These systems present in most universities acknowledge publications and citations as the evidence of scholarly achievement and necessity for promotion, grant, and tenure (Darko, 2003). However, incentive and reward systems in academia were considered to lead a publish or perish syndrome by keeping the academic staff under pressure (Bloom et al. , 1988). On the one hand, these systems lead to a an increase in the quantity of books and papers (Bloom et al. , 1988); on the other hand, the quality of the generated knowledge may decrease since the academics aim to reach maximum number of publications (Nyilasy et al., 2007). As it is seen, these systems have both advantageous and disadvantageous. In this context, the objective of this paper is to analyze whether the incentive and reward systems have institutionalized a restrictive approach to knowledge development or they enhance and encourage the producing of the knowledge. On the other hand, it will be tried to compare the Turkey’s current academic environment with the other countries in the context of ethical academic behaviours. THE OBJECTIVE OF ACADEMICS  Marketing as a university discipline has several responsibilities such as; to society, for providing objective knowledge and technically competent, socially responsible, liberally educated graduates; To students, for providing an education that will enable them to get on the â€Å"socioeconomic ladder† and prepare them for their roles as competent, responsible marketers and citizens; to marketing practice, for providing a continuing supply of competent, responsible entrants to the marketing profession and for providing new knowledge about both the micro and macro dimensions of marketing; and to the academy, for upholding its mission of retailing,  warehousing and producing knowledge, its contract with society of objective knowledge for academic freedom, and its core values of reason, evidence, openness and civility (Hunt, 2002, p. 306). In parallel with this view, Irele (1993, p. 74) claimed that â€Å"A university has three functions to perform which are to conserve knowledge; to advance knowledge; and to disseminate knowledge. It falls short of the full realization of its aim unless, having provided for the conservation and advancement of knowledge, it makes provision for its dissemination as well†. It can be revealed from these statements that, production and dissemination of the knowledge are two of the core missions of universities. Knowledge produced by academic researchers tends to be distributed to the discipline through research books, journals, academic conferences, training and development courses ((Bloom et al. , 1988; McKenzie et al. , 2002; Nyilasy et al. , 2007). However, according to the American Marketing Association (as of now AMA) Task Force on the development of marketing, academic researchers do not produce and disseminate enough publications (Bloom et al., 1988). Furthermore, there is a dissemination problem that academicians are not successful in disseminating the knowledge they generate (Nyilasy et al. , 2007). In order to overcome these problems and increase the production and dissemination of knowledge, and also to become more competitive, university management boards apply incentive and reward systems (Bloom et al. , 1988). INCENTIVE AND REWARDS SYSTEMS At first sight, the incentive and reward systems may be seen well functioning that it leads to increase on knowledge generation and motivate the researchers. However there are several disadvantages and side effects of these systems and in the literature the outcomes of these systems have been criticized by several authors under the â€Å"publish or perish† mantra (List at al. , 2007;Bloom et al. , 1988; Nyilasy et al. , 2007; Brennan Ankers, 2004; Darko, 2003; Remus, 1977; Gad-el-hak, 2004). One of the best explanation of publish or perish doctrine made by P. Van Den Berghe (1970, p. 87) as â€Å"Publishing has become a compulsion. The average academic author does not write because he has something to say, because he hopes to contribute to knowledge, or because he has fun doing it; rather, he writes and publishes in order to improve his vita. This document is frequently the only thing about him which his colleagues will ever read; it is the passport to academic success; and, beyond the routine acquisition of a Ph. D. , published titles are the main ornament of a vita. On the other hand, there are some alternative views such as Blunt (1973) claimed that equating not publishing with perishing is an over dramatization of the present condition. In fact, in this context incentive and rewards refers to â€Å"tenure† and â€Å"promotion†. Namely, in order to get a tenure or promotion to the more senior academic positions it is essential to publish books, academic paper and be cited (Blunt, 1973). In addition, Remus (1977) claimed that publication is one of the most essential criterion for gaining tenure and promotion in a highly competitive academic environment which Remus defined this environment as a treacherous dog-eat-dog world metaphorically. Since AMA (1988) claimed that publications in the marketing field is not enough and there need to overcome the impediments in order to increase the quantity of the publications. The AMA assessed several suggestions to motivate the researchers; the researchers must be provided large scale funding source and faculty release time for their research; the average revision time of the journals must be decreased as much as possible, thus further expenditures of time and effort of both reviewers and authors will be prevented; special workshops and consortia must be supported related to the need of the researchers. To sum up, this system is very effective and advantageous in order to motivate the researchers and achieve a maximum number of publications. However, there are also some disadvantageous and side effects of this system. In the next section the negative effects of this system will be criticized. SIDE EFFECTS OF INCENTIVE AND REWARD SYSTEMS As discussed in the preceding sections, the system puts the researcher under the pressure of publishing more and more books, journals and conference papers. The strong and undesirable incentives motivate especially the young academics through knowledge development (Blunt, 1973). However, it is extremely short-term in orientation and the system discourages risk-taking in the development of new ideas, discourages investment in long-term projects on significant issues, and instead encourages minor improvements in establishing ideas (Bloom et al. , 1988). On the other hand, the young academicians have started to publish books without getting enough wisdom in a particular field (Gad-el-hak, 2004). When the researcher’s age and experience increase, they provide fewer contributions to the journals. The AMA stated the possible reason for this situation as following; (1) A sense that the rewards for research and publication have been less than expected or are simply insufficient to justify additional effort. (2) A cumulative frustration with the competitive review processes of the major journals of the field. (3) An increased need or desire for outside income during the middle years of ones career. (4) An increased capability to undertake activities that hold higher personal value (e. g. , teaching, consulting, administrative positions) than does research and writing(Bloom et al. , 1988, p. 4). Another important issue affected by the system is the quality concern. Publish or perish philosophy makes the researchers give more importance to the quantity of the publications rather than quality (Lofthouse, 1974). In order to get a tenure or promotion, most researchers focus on publishing as much as they can, even sometimes they use â€Å"cut-and-paste† to reach their goals. Furthermore, to fulfil the increasing demand for publishing papers, everyday more and more journals enter the academic market. Thus, there have been the journals stratified into several quality categories which fits different quality papers (Gad-el-hak, 2004). However, since journals are peer reviewed they can preserve their quality in balance (Bloom et al. , 1988). The quality concern is emerged in book publishing as well and probably more noteworthy that there is no need to be reviewed which makes it easier to publish a book than a journal article accepted (Gad-el-hak, 2004). Gad-el-Hak (2004) provided some extreme examples related to the quantity of publications. The first one is a dean of major school of engineering listed 52 papers that he wrote just in a year which equals to publishing a paper every week. In the second example, a professor was introduces at a meeting as the author of 80 books in his 20 year career which is equal to a book every three months. Citation documents the ? ow of information and the links within and among disciplines or other units of analysis (Goldman Grinstein, 2010). The number of citations is a dominant criterion for promotion, salary increases and funding. It also will determine to what extent the individual researcher is seen as a thought leader. On the other hand, it is an indicator of quality, innovativeness and contribution of the publication to the science. Therefore, the researchers try to maximize the number of times they are cited (Verniers, 2010). However, except the articles published in top journals which represent the core of a discipline, most articles receive few or no citation (Van Dalen Klamer, 2005). Also some researchers use make citation unethically. For example, authors generally do not actually consult some of the references they cite, some authors add references at the completion of a research because they support the researcher’s arguments or findings authors often reference well known authors in order to add credibility and prestige, and that misquotations of what is actually written in the references are prevalent (Goldman Grinstein, 2010, p.1389) As Hunt (2000) claimed another mission of academics is the retailing the knowledge in terms of teaching. However, since the â€Å"publish or perish† motto force the academics to focus on publications, especially the young academicians give less emphasis to the teaching function (Blunt, 1973). On the other hand, this motto also affects the relationship level between the practitioners and academicians. Brennan and Ankers (2004, p.  511) claimed that â€Å"It seems clear that although academics would like to get closer to practitioners, they are inhibited by institutional factors, such as academic reward systems and the â€Å"publish or perish† culture†. Since the Publish or perish culture suppresses the academics, they are tempted to perform unethical behaviours such as copying research, faking data and statistics, intentionally leaving out erroneous findings (Van Dalen Klamer, 2005). (List et al., 2007) made a research on this topic and proved that some researchers have falsified the research data; also they became co-authors of the papers without contributing. In addition, Remus (1977) very clearly identified the publication tricks as following; Joint Author Trick, colleagues write papers independently, and they add his / her colleagues name to the paper. Thus, in average both get more point. Experimental Trip trick, in some cases the academics force the students to participate in experiments. Thus, they can set up experiments in a very short time and free of charge. Graduate Student Gap, Graduate students perform great effort to show him qualified, so the academics may use them for library research, analyze and write up the data, or to find new creative research topics. Senior Author Trick, sometimes the junior academics use the name of senior, well-known authors in their studies without their contribution to publish their articles in top journals and books in quality publishers. Kitchen Sink Trick, since the data gathering phase is time consuming, they may use the same data more than once for different articles. In order to overcome the side effects of the publish or perish concept, Gad-el-Hak (2004) offered some suggestions such as; resumes submitted to promotion and tenure committees should be limited to listing only 5–10 the most significant publications; co-authors should contribute meaningfully to a publication and no name should be added merely because he or she is a member of a research group, or worse, the head of the group; journals should publish their impact factor and it should be an important consideration when libraries decide which journals to drop; Completed book manuscripts should go through peer review before publication. PUBLISH OR PERISH SYSTEM IN TURKEY In this section, as an academic member in a university, I will express my observations about the functioning of publish or perish system by comparing with the outside of Turkey. There is an incentive and rewards system in Turkey as well. For example, In order to apply for an Associate Professor position, academicians have to get at least 6 points by publishing books, articles, conference papers and being cited (UAK, 2012). In addition, The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) makes payment for the articles published in top journals in order to motivate academics. However the side effects in terms unethical academic consequences of the system is very similar to the other countries. Probably, one of the most important factors is they are assigned many courses to teach and also they are charged with administrative work load. The most common unethical behaviours in Turkey are plagiarism refers to stealing from other authors’ publications without citation and permission, duplication which is publishing the same or similar papers in different journals or conferences, Fabrication which is making up unreal results and publish, and Salamization  refers to slicing up one research in more or less identical papers (Ruacan, 2008). As indicated in the AMA task force report (1988), most of the senior academicians slow up researching and publishing, instead they mostly focus on consulting to the private sector companies, administrative functions, organizing conferences in their most productive period in Turkey as well. On the other hand in order to increase the quantity of their publications some academics search for the journals, mostly in third world countries such as African journals, that they can easily publish their unqualified articles. Furthermore, some of the academics make a deal with publishing companies to publish their book. Actually, the aim is not selling the book and making profit. In most cases the only reason is just getting point to get a promotion or tenure. In addition, authors in Turkey use joint author trick which was stated by Remus (1977) to gain more point. For instance, there are three colleagues and each of them prepared a paper. If they publish them as single authored in an international journal, each will get 3 points independently. However, if they write the other two colleagues’ names as co-authors each will get 5. 4 point which is approximately twice of the former choice (UAK, 2012). CONCLUSION To sum up, producing and disseminating of the knowledge is one of the most crucial missions for the universities. To accomplish this duty, the administrative directors of the universities and Institutes of Higher Education use some incentive and reward systems. However, in some cases these strategies put the academic staff under the pressure which is called as the â€Å"Publish or Perish† motto. Thus, in order to survive in the academic world, the members sometimes look for some unethical ways such as plagiarism, salamization, duplication, fabrication, joint author, publishing unqualified books, and so on. While the quantity of the publications increases, their quality may decrease. In my opinion, being academic members must be encouraged by increasing the salary of the member, providing extra opportunities, to increase the attraction of being a faculty member. Thus, the more qualified people will demand to be an academician and the cumulative quality of the universities and academics will increase and probably there will be a decrease in the rate of unethical academic behaviour. On the other hand, some reformations must be made to prevent the unstandardized proceedings, patronages, and unfairness: In this way, the motivation and quality of the junior academic personnel will increase and they would be more productive. REFERENCES Berghe, P. (1970). Academic Gamesmanship, London: Abelard-Schuman Bloom, P. , Hirschman, E. , Mcaleer, L. , Group, T. M., Weitz, B. , Wilkie, W. , Dame, N. , et al. (1988). Developing , Disseminating , and Utilizing Marketing Knowledge, Journal of Marketing Vol. 52(October), pp. 1–25. Brennan, R. , and P. Ankers, (2004). In Search of Relevance: Is There an Academic-Practitioner Divide in Business-to-Business Marketing? Marketing Intelligence and Planning, Vol: 22(5), pp. 511–519. Darko, C. O. (2003). Scholarly Publ? sh? ng In Africa: A Case Study Of The Pol? cies And Practices Of African Un? versity Presses, Inpublished PhD Dissertation, Graduate School of the University of Stirling Gad-el-Hak, M. (2004). Publish or Perish An Ailing Enterprise ,Phisics Today,pp. 61-62 Goldman, A. , Grinstein, A. (2010). Stages in the Development of Market Orientation Publication Activity: A Longitudinal Assessment. European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 44 (9/10), pp. 1384–1409. Hunt, S. D. (2000). Marketing is , Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science Vol: 20,(4), pp. 301-311. Hunt, S. D. (2002). Marketing as a Profession: On Closing Stakeholder Gaps. European Journal of Marketing, Vol: 36(3),pp. 305–312. Irele, A. (1993), The challenge of university Publishing in Africa, with special reference to Nigeria. In Altbach PG (ed) readings on Publishing in Africa and the Third World. Buffalo: Bellagio. List, J. , Bailey, C. , Euzent, P. , Martin, T. (2007). Academic economists behaving badly? A survey on three areas of unethical behavior. Economic Inquiry, 39(1), 162–170. doi:10. 1111/j. 1465-7295. 2001. tb00058. x Lofthouse, S. (1974). Thoughts on â€Å" Publish Or Perish†, Higher Education Vol: 3 pp. 59 80. McKenzie, C. J. , Wright, S. , Ball, D. F. Baron, P. J. (2002) The publications of marketing faculty – who are we really talking to? European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 36 (November), pp. 1196–1208. Nyilasy, G. , Reid, L. , Rodgers, S. , Wang, Y. , Rettie, R. , Alpert, F. , Matthes, J. , et al. (2007). The academician–practitioner gap in advertising, International Journal of Advertising, Vol: 26(4) pp. 425-447. Peter Blunt,(1976), Publish or perish or neither: What is happening in academia, Vestes, vol. 19 (1), pp. 62-64. Remus, Wi?. (1977). Strategies for a Publish or Perish World or Why Journals Are Unreadable, Interfaces, Vol. 8 (1), pp. 64-69. Ruacan, S. (2008). Bilimsel Arast? rma ve Yay? nlarda Etik Ilkeler. Hacettepe Universitesi. Onkoloji Enstitusu. http://www. ulakbim. gov. tr/dokumanlar/sempozyum1/sruacan 2. pdf. (accesed 12. 12. 2012). UAK (2012), Criteria for Associate Professor Application, http://www. uak. gov. tr/temelalan /tablo11. pdf (Accessed 12. 12. 2012). Van Dalen, Hendrik P. and Arjo Klamer (2005), â€Å"Is There Such a Thing Called Scientific Waste? † Tinbergen discussion paper, Erasmus University Rotterdam. Verniers, I (2010), Essays on Marketing and Scientific Innovations, Unpublished PhD Dissertation, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University.

Wal Marts Sustainability Strategy Management Essay

Wal Marts Sustainability Strategy Management Essay Wal-Mart attained its present stature as a leader of discount retailer solely due to the innovative vision of its founder Sam Walton. Wal-Mart still today follows the traditional goals and philosophies left behind by Sam, coupled with the practice of keeping one step ahead of ever changing technologies and the nature of the business environment in which it operates. In spite of the controversies over different issues confronting it and still being faced, the future is bright, if and only if it strikes a comfortable balance seen increasing in its profit and recognizing its social and ethical responsibilities. Evaluation of Design process: The success of Wal-Mart lies mainly due its sound managerial decisions and the innovative implementation of sustainability strategies to dramatically reduce the companys impact on the global environment and in an effort to become the most competitive and innovative company in the world. The company believed in the three cardinal principles, that is To be supplied 100 percent by renewable energy; to create zero waste; and to sell products that sustaining our resources and the environment. The gist of the decision implementation by Wal-Mart lies in its ability to build a solid working relationship with both suppliers and employees, taking note of the most intricate details in store layout and necessary merchandising techniques, capitalizing in every cost saving technique, and creating a high performance spirit. Below are some of the important strategies implemented by Wal-Mart which were responsible for its success. One of it first initiative was to launch a campaign to encourage its s uppliers to provide environment friendly and safe products in recyclable or biodegradable packaging at no additional cost. Wal-Mart intended to influence its suppliers to spend more on RD so as to find the safer modes of processing and packing and that too without passing the cost on to them. This wasnt a strategy indented to make it rich, but it was a started as a campaign for environmental benefit and which earned them a lot of good will among environmentalist. Wal-Mart also started creating green shelf tags to mark the products the vendors created that were environmentally friendly. This was one of it first step towards sustainability. But slowly company lost track of its primary strategic priorities. Wal-Mart soon realized this and started to revamp its sustainable strategy in an effort to make it to be long lasting and deeply embed it in its operations as envisaged by Scott. Scott lead the sustainability strategy to keep the environmental improvements tightly coupled with the business value and profitability for the strategy to succeed as well as challenged themselves to find new ways to drive measureable results. Several proposals were considered and many of which had bigger ideas on how Wal-Mart could profitably reduce environmental impacts. In the initial proposals put forward Wal-Mart wanted to differentiate itself from its competition, maintain a license to grow, and remain consistent to its commitment and serving customer with everyday low prices by perusing an offensive strategy. The management realized that sustainability could represents the biggest opportunity for the 21st century and proposed that Wal-Mart and its complex supply chain could become even more efficient by making its operations even more environment friendly. They believed if sustainability was to be taken seriously, it meant not just the environment and but also includes health care, wages, ethical sourcing and globalization and everything as a whole. With this in mind Wal-Mart started its campaign initially focusing on the environment. Large part of it efforts were spent working with the various Government and Environmental agencies to identify which of its products and processes created greatest environmental impacts. After its large scale investigation Wal-Mart narrowed down the problem to 3 primary areas: Energy, Waste and Products, and decided that it would focus its environmental goals for reducing the Wal-Marts impact on the environment. Increasing energy efficiency, transitioning to renewable energy, and reducing waste in retail operations were decided to be the direct goals à ¢Ã… ½Ã‚ ¯ goals that could be achieved by making changes that were within Wal-Marts more immediate control. It understood that providing more sustainable products was an indirect goal which would also require the involvement of Wal-Mart suppliers and their help to accomplish . Wal-Mart also learned that the best way to generate good will is to serve society as it did for the hurricane Karina victims. It actively participated in helping provide relief to the people of New Orleans and its surrounding areas as a result earned the trust of every one. Next the company came up with 14 sustainable value networks with a leader identified who would be driving the sustainability in different parts of the business. As the sustainability effort picked up momentum it was quick to realize that the sustainability doesnt involve extra work but is only a new way of approaching ones own work. Hence it started assigning new responsibility for people in their existing position rather than creating new jobs and made it an integral part of the work every one performed. Other notable change of the implementation was to look outside, which was a major shift from the usual way Wal-Mart used to conduct its operations focused internally. The strategy represented a major cultural change for the organization, seeking ideas from all consultants, NGOs suppliers, eco-friendly competitors, academicians and even its critics. It is also engaged in a dialogue with the government regarding climate change and a curb on green house gas emissions. The collaborativ e approach was doing wonders and it decided to make it a part of the ongoing sustainability model. All across the 14 value networks, hundreds of external entities where asked to join and participate on an ongoing basis and the primary criterion was to include and engage folks who are genuinely committed to desired future outcomes. Wal-Mart started engaging in dialog with government policy makers regarding climate change. It opposed a carbon tax as it will be passed on to customers and therefore advocated a cap and trade system and endorsed proposals for market based programs for reducing green gas emissions. The networks were encourage to develop a sensing organization that is aware of the external business environment, and able to incorporate this perspective into business decisions that create long term value. The networks were give the freedom to define their own sustainability objectives and plot their own course. The strategy can briefly be summed up as ENGAGE , EXPLORE and EXP AND. Engagement mean looking beyond Wal-Marts traditional stakeholders to identify and work with a broader community of participants that could provide information, subject matter expertise, and other resources to help Wal-Mart further define and achieve its environmental goals. Exploration included analyzing the life cycle of particular products. Exploration included analyzing the life cycle of particular products or services and investigating the related environmental issues. Determine where and how the company could change its business model to address the needs and concerns of this broader community, as well as its traditional stakeholders. Global logistics were able to leverage existing programs and quickly started to making progress by improving the fuel efficiency by 25 percent. As China is a geography and the fact that it touched all the networks Wal-Mart was in a fix as what is to be done. Wal-Marts goal was to build strong relationships and develop overall business partners for capable to attain excellent standards in ethical and environmental areas in the supply of quality and safe products and components and then spread this to other suppliers with whom business is to be developed. IN addition Wal-Mart intends to provide suppliers with Valuable knowledge and process assistance through relationships with NGOs in its networks. Wal-Mart set up compliance organization that monitored supplier performance in China and other countries around the world. Wal-Mart complains audit primarily focused on health and safety issues and it measured suppliers against its four identified metrics- Water treatment, Waste management, Banned chemicals and air emissions. Improvement in seafood network around the world was made possible through possible though implementation of MSC- accredited certifying agencies. MSE certification was entrusted to third parties which audited and certified fisheries and processes to ensure that products were managed sustainably from boat to plate. MSE certification firstly was to address sustainability of wild caught fish and later to ACC certification for farm raced fish. Wal-Mart identified 5 primary initiative for setting up of group to rally around MSC certification : Certification, Cluster Farming, Marine Reserves, Public Awareness, External collaboration. Wal-Mart goal was to increase the number of fisheries and processing plants in the MSC certification program. Supplies would refer the fisheries to MSC and have them use MSC eco labels on their products, in order to start buying as much certified fishes as possible. The direct cost of MSC certification was paid for by boat operators and processing plants. Immed iate benefits were seen through the certification initiative because of greater transparency in the sea food supply chain. As MS required a chain of custody to guarantee that the fish was virtually indistinguishable from the rest. Benefits through sustainability were seen in improved transportation efficiencies, elimination of stock-outs and raw material shortages, reduction in supplier costs though standardized packaging, etc. Wal-Mart delegated the implementation of MSC to the suppliers and the suppliers motivated to building the relationship were compelled to adopt the strategies there by gaining trust of Wal-Mart. This building relationships allowed Wal-Mart to talk on behalf of suppliers, defend their points and explain to other associates the importance of this relationships. In Electronic network Wal-Mart identified six key areas of focus: Material innovation, E-Waste, Legislation, Green Engineering, Metrics, Training and Education. Their strategy was to provide their customers with sustainable product choices utilizing a supply chain that improves the quality of life of all stakeholders. Wal-Mart had to make guaranteed orders to the suppliers sell only RoHS-compliant products to customers. By five years they made sure that every computer that they bought in US was RoHS compliant. Wal-Mart also introduced many initiative at reducing e-waste by starting may programs like recycling take-back programs. Wal-Mart also focused on advocating for national standards for both hazardous substances and e-waste. Organic cotton innovation project received top priority of the textiles network. They adopted clear standards (USDA guidelines) for organic cotton farming and manufacturing processes. Got permit to use a certain hazardous chemicals were safer substitutes were not yet commercially available. The strategy in cotton textiles is to develop and environmentally garment made of renewable material combine with he process is efficient with minimum wage and use of inputs with a minimum toxicity. When three chemicals were identified. with a negative ratings it encourage suppliers to use most sustainable substitutes. Wal-Mart was cautious in not sharing widely these metrics for a fear of boomerang on other products in itself, but only told customers that it cared for their health. The game changer project is to reduce the impact of environment and textile manufacture, which of recent origin. It also played it safe by not putting its green tags, not forced the manufacturer to take responsibility for promoting environment and health benefits for their products and left if for them to decide To conclude Wal-Mart saw and overwhelmingly large array of opportunities that remain untapped and decided to continue to identify and pursue the opportunities with max environmental benefits and business value. Improvements in Design and Design Process: Following are some of the strategies that they could implement to improve their business All the Wal-Mart stores can be made using Green constuction all over the world. Green buildings often include measures to reduce energy consumption, Water efficieny, Waste reduction etc. Solar panels could be installed at each the store locations, their by reducing the energy wastage. Energy for extravagant use can be reduced. The neon lights use for advertisement and display of products during late night hours can be given up, energy saved is energy produced. Expand activities in international markets beyond China in the Asian Sub continent. Instead of sticking to price alone importance may be given to quality with a marginal increase in price by Wal-Mart and let the neighborhood stores deal with products of low price to meet corporate social responsibility and to minimize resistance from neighborhood associations . To cut down costs the finished items which are of lesser weight compare to their original raw state like fish and textile may be processed at the place of their availability (even in foreign places) itself and move only the finished items to the distribution centers, and also taking advantage of differential labor cost in to consideration and their logistic advantages. Intense and mandatory training for all employees must be organized. All employees must have profound knowledge about the goals and strategy of the organization. we dont know the formulation, Manufacturers would decide to do this based on their own level of confidence in the sustainability-related attributes of their products Should never happen. Wal-Mart must have a good understanding about the product they sell. Wal-Mart identified three chemicals which has bad impact on health such as chemicals which can cause Cancer and birth defects. Wal-Mart urged suppliers and vendors to use substitutes for these harmful chemicals. Although these three chemicals were substituted, Wal-Mart was unsure about the formulation and aftereffects of these chemicals which made them reluctant to promote or putting their green tags. As the result, the manufactures were forced to complete the necessary scientific research on these substitutes and use safe chemicals. Wal-Marts employees have a basic understanding about the green initiatives. The internal communication programs and external media coverage helps the associates to know more about Wal-Mart Strategy. The most beneficial and valuable input Wal-Mart receive to promote its green products is through its associates as associates are often Wal-Mart customers. These inputs helps Wal-Mart to save time as their employees need a little time to learn about customers preferences. The success of wal mart lies in its sound managerial decisions and the innovative implementation of these decisions. The company believed in the three cardinal principles of :- 1) Customer value and service 2) Partnership with its employees who are regarded as associates, and 3) Community service The gist of the decision implementation by wal mart lies in its ability to build a solid working relationship with both suppliers and employees, taking note of the most intricate details in store layout and necessary merchandising techniques, capitalizing in every cost saving technique, and creating a high performance spirit. All steps are taken to provide customers what they want at the apt time and that too at competitive prices and to build and maintain a reputation for absolute trustworthiness, The wal mart stores operate on every day low prices by passing on savings to their customers, the stores make constant efforts to improve key business process, managing them centrally and investing in them heavily for long term pay back. The stores were quick in testing , adapting and applying a range of cutting- edge merchandising approaches and was able to learn quickly from the success and failures of competitors. The company invested heavily in its unique cross -docking inventory system to achieve economies of scale, making it possible to supply goods just in time and at low prices. Cross- docking at the store level. The company provides individual managers more control at the store level. The company owns its own transportation system to move goods in time from warehouse to shelves much faster than their competitors. It has its own largest and most sophisticated computer system. Its Manually Parallel Processor computer system helps in tracking stock movement and collect timely information related to sales and inventory position disseminated through satellite communication system Wal mart has leveraged its volume buying power with its suppliers. It negotiates the best prices from its vendors and expects commitment of quality goods. The purchasing agents are much focused people. Even though it is a tough negotiator for rock bottom prices, the company worked closely with its suppliers to develop mutual respect and forge long term partnerships for mutual benefit. It also has an automated recorder system linking computers between P G and its stores and distribution centers. The interaction between P G and Wal Mart helps greater co-ordination; P G can reduce costs and pass on savings to wal Mart. Wal Mart buys American products whenever and wherever possible, if these products provide the sane quality and affordability as their foreign counterparts. Environment concerns the wal mart significantly .A prototype store was opened in Lawrence, Kansas, which was designed to be environment friendly, provide environment education and recycling centers. Wal Mart also adopts the low cost theme for its facilities. Temperature is controlled centrally to conserve energy (How successful is wal mart get details of increase in sales, debt position, operating costs, cost of sales and then comment) Problems Wal mart replaced the then leaders -Sears and Kmans in 1991 in retailing. Its strong competitive position and rapid growth performance cant be guaranteed for long. The top position enjoyed by it can be wiped out by one small bad move wiping out all good things in stroke, therefore every single move in its business operations will have to be well thought out and properly executed Wal marts success is mainly due to the single Business Strategy and its Corporate Social Responsibility. It would like to continue its strategy and push hard to increase its market share if not at least maintain it. This strategy has the risk of putting all eggs in one basket. Secondly, if the present trend continues Wal Mart will reach its zenith in the near future. Once this is reached, it will slow down and Company requires diversifying for future growth. Retail stores can compete on several grounds -service, price, exclusively, quality and fashion on which Wal Mart has the competitive edge. However, other merchants object to the entry of Wal Mart as they can not face the competition due to their small scale and many neighborhood stores were driven out. Mounting opposition to big retailers is now a serious problem with neighborhood associations promising to fight the retailers tooth and claws. As a result the road ahead of Wal Mart may not be smooth as expected in the future. Wal Mart increased the number of retail stores and also Super centre divisions to take up grocery retailing also. Wal Mart moved to overseas markets through joint ventures with an international division formed in 1944 to manage international growth located in South America, Europe and Asia. In 2005 October. Lee Scot, wat Marts President announced that Wat Mart was launching a sweeping business sustainability strategy to drastically reduce its impact on the global environment and thus become a competitive and innovative company in the world. He urged the associates and suppliers to be a good steward of the environment under the same time be profitable. He declared that Wal Mart is committed to the three aspiration goals of being supplied with 100% renewable energy, reduce waste to zero level and to sell product that sustain natural resources and the environment. Against it his background, Andrew Ruben, Vice President of corporate and business sustainability and director Tyler and Elm led the sustainability strategy and recognized the fact that the environment can be protected coupled with business value and profitability. With this end in view, Wal Mart focused on the companied three focal areas-sea food, electronics and textiles- and their effect in the companies operations, supplier relationships and results; and explain how the companies measuring and communicating its ideas about sustainability to its associates, customers and the general public.