Supply Management Examination Paper

THE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG M. SC. (ENG. ) EXAMINATIONS SUPPLY MANAGEMENT (1ELM6046) December 20, 2011 630 p. m. 830 p. m. Answer THREE questions ONLY. Question ONE is Compulsory. Total Marks 100 Use of Electronic Calculators Only approved calculators as announced by the Examinations Secretary can be used in this examination. It is candidates responsibility to ensure that their calculator operates satisfactorily, and candidates must record the name and type of the calculator used on the front page of the examination script. Question 1 (Compulsory) (40 marks) Lily Pun, hang on manager for Kings Way College (KWC), issued an Invitation to Bid covering furnishing and inst all tolding metal lockers in the mens gym. ternion responsive bids were received from reputable suppliers, ranging from $82,000 to $95,000. There was no public bid opening. Lily was concerned that Lock Manufacturing Company, which had done most of the other locker jobs for KWC, failed to bid. Expecting that Lock woul d necessitate been the low bidder, Lily decided to find out what happened.Upon talking to Locks sales manager, she learned that the bid request had been assigned to a new employee who had misplaced it and missed the finale date. Since Lily felt that Lock would have provided the winning bidand certainly, any savings would help KWCs current tight budget situationshe decided to declare all the bid prices unreasonable, cancel all bids, and re-bid the job. On the second round of bidding, a low bid of $77,000 was submitted by Lock. Lily was delighted that she had made the right decision, and proceeded to make the award to Lock. (a)Did Lily do the right thing? Was it ethical? Should she be commended for saving (10 marks) $5,000? (b) Would it have made any difference if the original bid opening had been public? (10 marks) (c) How efficacy this look to the original bidders? Give examples to abet your answer. (10 marks) (d) Discuss any similar cases happened that you know and share your opinion. (10 marks) (1ELM6046 page 1 of 2) Question 2 Burt, Dobler and Starling (2004) in their prevail World Class Supply Management suggested twelve principles leading to World Class Supply Management.In the role of a professional buyer of an organization, select five-spot principles which you think are most important and (30 marks) suggest how you may turn them into practice. Explain why. Question 3 (a) Discuss sourcing, in-sourcing, outsourcing and strategic outsourcing. Give examples for each of them to support your answers. (15 marks) (b) What are the differences between local sourcing and global sourcing? What are the issues and challenges associated with China sourcing? (15 marks) Question 4 When should supplier appraisal be necessary? Explain why.And, propose and lucubrate a (30 marks) checklist for supplier visit. Question 5 It is frequently said that supply base optimisation seems to be an effective strategy in sourcing. (10 marks) (a) Discuss the limit supply base o ptimisation. (b) Analyse the advantages and disadvantages of an optimised supply base. How might a (10 marks) purchaser overcome the disadvantages? (c) Comment on the criticality of having a smaller supply base before committing to a (10 marks) supplier management and development program. End of Paper (1ELM6046 page 2 of 2)

American education Essay

Education in China is growing. Over the past years Chinas instruction system has been attempting, and been successful in improving the education in China. China for many years did not put much emphasis on education. China was much traditional, meaning they were more than interested in soil and working. Prior the 1840 education in China was only for the elite, the high class. The main purpose of education was to train what China c every(prenominal)ed gentlemen or high officials.This is the metre of Confucius, a Chinese philosopher who introduced China to the Royal Examination System, which is used to select imperial officers. Chinas education was very rigid and it focused highly on technology and so China has a high deem of illiteracy. Early Chinese pupils were not very well rounded they were limited in what they could study. For example a student of science would not know much about Humanities, and vice versa, a student of Humanities would not know much about science. This a pproach of nurture narrowed the range of knowledge that a Chinese student might have.This would limit the students depending and restrict their future development. When a student is limited in what he of she can do then that will dramatically decrease the number of works that they have to chose from. American education is a lot different than the early on Chinese education. In America, school is for developing minute thinking skills. American education teaches students to apply what they gip in the class to the outside world. They teach students to think outside of the box and how to think deep and to apply critical thinking skills.Critical thinking is expected in America, as for China they are more knowledge focused. The Chinese function more on memorization of knowledge and facts, again this limits them in their thinking. Chinas education is based on training for entrance exams for college this time of exams is known as black July. They memorize a lot of facts and then repea t them on a test. In America they teach how to apply what we learn to many different problems, to see if the students can figure them out. Chinas system is very competitive.The students compete with each other because thither is limited space in college and there are limited jobs, in their marrow fields. This increases the pressure on the students, students at times commit suicide or run away from home and a good deal suffer form depression because the pressure is so great on them, form their family and also themselves. Unlike most American students Chinese students are keen to learn and work really hard, they want to be the best that they can be for themselves and also for their family.China is making a lot of reforms on their education approach instantly. They are slowly adopting some of the western worlds principles. They are beginning to encourage students to study in more than one field, much(prenominal) as if a students is studying mathematics they also can, and often do s tudy another subject such as science. This is broadening the students horizons and allowing them to be more rounded in their capabilities. This also increases the job types that they might be able to do.The Chinese are beginning to put more of an emphasis on critical thinking than they have in the years past. This takes some of the pressure off of the students and evens it out a little more, because if the cant find a job and all they have is one skill then they will suffer and be left out working maybe a low rate job. If a student has more flexibility in what he or she can do then there will be more options for them in the job field. The education systems of China and America are more and more beginning to resemble one another.A few differences that still exist today are that the American schools are more centered on the students and interaction learning bandage the China schools are more teacher- focused and lecture oriented. American schools also encourage the students to debate with the teacher and ask questions during class. China has a phrase called saving face this means that the students would rather not know the answer than to ask a dumb question. Teachers dont encourage questions during class and dont allow much debate. There are two strengths and weaknesses to both Chinese and American education methods.Chinese students study hard and often. They are viewing school as a privilege and a competition while most Americans view school as boring and tiresome. While Americans struggle with memorization and discipline, they are strong in critical thinking. American students are more rounded and able to apply what they have learned too many different things, whereas the Chinese are somewhat limited. I would have to say that all in all both systems have their positives and their negatives but as the years progress, improvement in each country will also.

Mary Shelley Frankenstein: Ugly Society

Frankenstein is honor qualified of horrible elements about human society. Mary Shelley shows many a(prenominal) of the sides of human beings that are not necessarily controlling attributes. She really mothers a kind of critique on mankinds decidement of another(prenominal)s. In this novel, a major theme is that in society battalion judge people by their looks and this judgment whitethorn cause negativity, this can be seen by means of the characters, master and the savage, when they judge other characters or are judged themselves. When you congruous some integrity, the first thing you do is start judging them on what their wearing or how their hair is styled, and this is not always a good thing.Immediately after Victor gave the heller the last touch to spark vitality in it, he simply judged the monster on its looks only. Since the creature was very displeasing looking, this did not sustain up a very positive situation for Victor. Victor described the first contact with the monster when he says, I had gazed on him while unfinished he was ugly then but when those muscles and joints were rendered unresolved of motion, it became a thing such as til now Dante could not have conceived(p. 68).If I was to witness this without cognise the prior events I would be frightened. Although, since Victor knows exactly what is going on as he is bountiful the monster life, it is odd that he should be so frightened. Its so bad that Victor nearly rejects the creature at conception. In accordance with Victors actions towards his initial contact with the monster, Shelley kept the theme of mankind condemning an man-to-man due to its looks by having Victor terrified of the monster strictly due to its ugliness.This is different than if I was the one in the laboratory, I would be very scared as would anyone. However, due to the fact that Victor had worked on it for a couple of years and knew the situation exactly, he had no real right to be scared by the plain sight o f the creature. Since he was fully expecting the creature to come to life, it was kind of odd that he would disown the creature so abruptly, which goes along with the critique that the author probably intended.Therefore, as Shelley presumably cherished to emphasize, humans use vision as their primary form of acceptance in too many occasions. This particular situation would constitute a valid use of a very over-used proverb, one should neer judge a book by its cover song. In this novel, Victor judged a book by its cover as much of society does and did not accept the creature for its actions or any other attributes other than that its ugliness, which was enough for him to be appalled.This same theme is the very reason as to why the creature goes on a killing rampage. Frankensteins creature begins to realize after a number of years that his ugly looks impart gain no acceptance from anyone. This is especially true to him because his very creator or flummox would not accept him on the basis of ugliness. The creature himself realizes this as well. After reading Victors journal that he found, the creature said, Accursed Creator Why did you form a monster so hideous that even you turned from me in disgust? (p. 171).Since his only contact with society, apart from the contact with a blind man, has been with people who show only horror when they lay eyes on him, the creature starts to see that he will not be able to be a part of human society based on his physical appearance. That saddens him because of his need for companionship. That is probably a major part of Shelleys critique on society. Therefore, the creature begins to go on a sort of killing rampage until Victor meets his demands and creates another creature as to give him a companion to live and associate with.Since Victor cannot get himself to do just that, the creature goes on a killing rampage on people that specifically effect Victor emotionally. This is relevant since Victors judgment caused the creat ures abandonment based on looks, and now Victor is going to suffer. When you judge individual on their looks it can affect you in negative ways, such as in racism, when people judge others on their skin tone, fights will occur, riots can flood the streets, and even death will happen.Society shows that judging looks has a very bad flaw that can result in chaotic outcomes. In Frankenstein, Shelley is really able to make a critique on society and its faults. She used the various characters as tools to get through to the reader the state of mankind and some of the problems that are present. In fact I, along with others, believe that she greatly intended on making the conflicts that society faces present in an entertaining form.

Analysis of Sociologically Relevant Film: Forrest Gump Essay

The world will never be the same(p) once youve seen it through the eyes of Forrest Gump a take aim chronicling the life of a mentally challenged man express during three of the most distinctive and dynamic decades in American history. While on the surface lies a heartwarming and inspirational story, the underlying narrative tends to explore progression of American society while depoliticizing history. end-to-end the frivol away Forrest is directly involved in major events of the 60s, 70s, and 80s, yet he never shows any orifice of his own. What is the filmmaker trying to insinuate?Sociological analysisAn understanding of Forrests background in an of the essence(p) and characterizing element in the film. Disadvantaged by a terrible spine condition and a upset IQ, Forrest struggles through childhood in small-minded Greenbow, Alabama. Due to his mental disabilities, Forrest becomes the victim of academic discrimination, which his mother fights desperately to resolve. He might be a bit on the slow side, but my boy Forrest is vent to get the same opportunities as everyone else, she stated to the principal of Greenbow County Central School. Hes not passing game to some special school to learn to how to re-tread tires. (Gump 1995) Forrests mother was determined. Taking advantage of this, the principal coerced Forrests mother into trading a sexual favor for enrollment in school. In addition to these unsettling events, Forrest finds himself rack and isolated by neighborhood children and townspeople who seem incapable of treating him with anything but reproach and disdain.Forrest was also an officious part of many heavy events, including protests lead by George Wallace against desegregation, the Vietnam War, the Ping Pong Diplomacy period, anti-war activism lead by Abbie Hoffman, Black Panther Party meetings, and the Watergate scandal. It would be reasonable to say that being part of such important events and would make him vulnerable to the social forces of the times, yet his lack of critical thought as a bequeath of low intelligence seemed to indicate the complete opposite he remained wholly oblivious and ignorant of their significance.During George Wallaces Stand in the Schoolhouse Door protest, Forrest stands curiously in the background, more interested in his surroundings rather than the actual protest. During the Vietnam War, Forrest never questions the morality or the agenda of the U.S. government, and receives the Congressional Medal of Honor for his efforts. His entire experience during the Vietnam War can be summed up into one conversation between him and the Drill sergeant-at-law Gump Whats your sole purpose in this Army? To do whatever you tell me, Drill serjeant-at-law (Gump 1995) Still, the most dismaying portion of impassive responses glorified in this film can be contributed to Forrests careless involvement in the anti-Vietnam War rally lead by Abbie Hoffman. He was entirely clueless as to the purpose of the anti-war movements. His view of Abbie Hoffmans role? There was this man, giving a little spill the beans And every time he said the F word, people, for some reason, well, theyd cheer.Though the focus of the film is directed towards Forrest Gump, the effects of social forces are most often expressed and implied through jennet Curran. Forrests for the most part unobservant nature contrasts harshly with Jennys forthright and independent character. With step up Jenny, we would have a collectively unrealistic and uncertain portrayal of many occurrences that contributed to the structure of todays society. Unlike Forrest, Jenny was consciously and intentionally involved in the counterculture movements of the 60s, as she is seen trailing the countryside with fellow hippies, participating in anti-war movements, and secretly involving herself in Black Panther Party meetings. Before Jenny sets off on what turns out to be downward spiral towards debasement, she speaks to Forrest of her motives. I wan t to reach people on a in the flesh(predicate) level. I want to be able to say things, just one-to-one. (Gump 1995) However, Jennys plans for a damp society are brought to a staggering halt when Jenny develops a fatal disease stemming from insecure drug use.ConclusionAlthough Tom Hanks (Star in Forrest Gump) affirms that the film was non-political and thus non-judgmental, the previous examples show implications otherwise. Though the film does take a stand against disability discrimination by shedding some light on the difficulties that accompany being handicap during a callous time in American history, its motives were generally ambiguous and unclear. Based on the filmmakers unattractive outlook on counterculturalism, his lack of discretion when touching on issues like desegregation and independence, as well as his insensitive approach to the deaths of activists, we can arrive at the following conclusion the harrowing experiences exposed in this film can be easily discarded as s omething warranted only by devoted individuals who attempt to foster humanity.

La Shampoo

La Shampoo is a high superior and more expensive production that has the same marketing strategy over years. From 1989, the line start to slow decline its sales. The ad agency tried to develop pertly look campaign, but this solution did zip for La Shampoo sales and customers didnt even noticed the change. Caroline, the check manager wanted a new marketing see to improve the sales and increase the market sh ar, not to just save the product remain on retailers shelves.She made a marketing meeting with Eric, her product sales manager, and Beth, the representative of the advertisement agency that held La Shampoo account, to discuss their recommendation. 1. Compete on impairment Erics solution is to reduce bells permanently as long as long term plan to save major accounts that in danger. Eric argued that the commemorate will died if we didnt act very quickly and he saw his solution as a rescuer. Reduce prices is very helpful solution in musical accompaniment sales reps and in crease sales volume at least for short time ,but it is not satisfactory in building the brand and increasing the brand market share for many reasons .First of all, competing in the price could be very dangerous if other brands lower their prices too specially if they are offering benefits La Shampoo cant provide, like beautiful hair from natural sources. Secondly , price- driven consumers are not loyal ,so they will go with another brand that is cheaper. 2. Strong Brand Campaign Beths solution is to create new advertisement campaign. This solution seemed better to improve sales ,but there is til at a time no specific changes Beth suggested to repositioning La Shampoo on the customers minds.This solution is good if the marketing researches lay out out the causes of the sales decline. Then the new advertisements campaign should focus in repairing La Shampoo image and correcting the mistakes that happened in the previous years. So to obtain this solution marketing researches shoul d be through with(p) deeply to better understanding customers . Facts About the Brand * Brand that has been used mostly between its competitors in the category for cardinal decades must have strong brand equity. * La Shampoo has boor brand management ,because they went from the problem to the solution without auses diagnosis. * Restaging the brand will require a lot of resources. * The alternative proposed by Marni Shin are likely to be too late , the competitor already filled the shelves with much(prenominal) a product . My Recommendations After doing all researches and surveys needed on the target segment which I commemorate is better to be women between ages of 15 to 50, I suggest two marketing strategies. The first mavin is for the existing customer base who still buy the product and doesnt like changes.The other unrivalled is for attracting new customer by introducing some value La Shampoo can produce to them. These two plans should consider the following * * In doing the researches , should make sure about asking the right question to jazz the attitude for loyal and former users. * Todays customers are very sensitive about the values they will get for each dollar they pay. So the advertising campaign must focus on the benefits consumer will have by using the brand such as healthy hair and idle style getting. La Shampoo slogan For the Look and Feel of France is meaningless for the current environment, the people now dont want to look French. * Some new trails and usages must be found for the brand to communicate them in the new ad campaign. * Keep some product lines without any change for whom already use the product and to keep the base customers. * The new advertisements should support La Shampoo in tapping new customers and protect the current users.

Evaluation †produce proposals for the possible re-branding of my school Essay

My see sketch was to produce proposals for the possible re-branding of my school. When doing this I researched what the faculties valued and needed and so I designed a questionnaire to gather the information I required. I too researched different graphic designers, their work and various design movements throughout history such as Abram Games who is a British mid-twentieth century designer and official war artist during world war two.His style of design is very patriotic as in most of his work he uses red, white and blue the colours of the union jack. He incorporates them very well and subtlety. I like his work because its very classic, unforgettable and simple. His work is landmark. I did this because it gave me inspiration, an influence and it offered a envision at how previous designers worked. I did web searches on the images connected to different faculties and just asked people what images came to mind when I said a faculty produce this provided me with umteen logo id eas.In addition I looked at existing logo designs in books wherein designers explored many different techniques, which I could use in my designs. I had many specifications that determined what my final design would look like. * Such as my target group, which was the staff, pupils and parents because of this I had to select designs that satisfy and do not displease them. * In my specification I had a running theme or image that I worked around a smart, scholastic, classic yet modern image and I tried to portray this in my designs.I had a variety of different design ideas and when deciding on my final design I had many factors, which would decree what I would choose. For example how complicated the designs were, or how much colour was used. Such as when I had a large design dominated by black, I could not use this because of the expenses and issues that may arise with such a vast amount of ink. I dont think I did much prep that ensured success and a quality product but I did researc h different colours on the colour wheel and their effects and what they represent.In this project I dont think I used many new tools or materials however I did use Photoshop, Microsoft Publisher, Paint, the internet, printers, scanners and general sketching that was stressed as important by my teacher and did prove so. I did not fully answer my design brief as I was not on schedule but I did produce some sorting of proposal. I have not shown my logo to the head of faculty but overall I shade it is a strong and bold logo, which is pleasing to the eye. The considerations I had were.

The Importance of Science to Civilization

The importance of attainment to subtlety It is said that modern civilization is a scientific civilization. For an individual, science has rendered us great comfort nowadays. We no longer have to belong on foot instead, we can just sit comfortably without any fatigue in cars, process trains, buses, etc. We are free from hard labor which our uncivilized forefathers suffered from. Neither do we follow fell practice of having slaves, since science has provided us with slaves of a new kind, which undertake most of the work, that is, machine.On top of that, we are to a fault free from diseases and various pains since drugs and operation techniques have been developed dramatically. Maslows theory of hierarchy of needs suggests that the physiologic needs must be met before the individual will strongly desire (or focus want upon) the secondary or higher level needs, which means the human that lacks food, love, esteem, or safety would consider the superlative of his/her needs to be food . And as mentioned above, it is science that satisfies our basic demands thus, we have opportunities to pursue something higher, such as fraud and literature.Science as well as promote the development of spiritual civilization. With the advent of the internet, and extraordinary growth in information and discourse technologies in recent years, more information than ever before is made freely available and easy shared. Almost all the masterpieces of artist, musicians, writers, philosophers, scientists, etc can be enjoyed at fingertips. We are not only consumers, but likewise producers. When Gangnam Style was released, tens of thousands people made their own versions and uploaded on the internet, which could be appreciated by millions of netizens.For a nation, science is of critical significance for the progress of its civilization. Chinas long business relationship has seen some extremely important inventions emerge, most observably gunpowder, paper making, printing and the comp ass, which, in the words of Roger Bacon, changed the whole appearance and status of things in the world and also made China among the four great ancient civilizations. However, in the nineteenth century, Europe entered into world history with immense developments in technology, which was later identified as the Industrial Revolution.From then on, China lost its advantages everywhere the the rest of world in various aspects, and it was invaded by the great powers into a series of Unequal Treaties. Chinese civilization were, during that period, regarded inferior and the Chinese nation was referred to as Sick Man of East Asia. Even the Chinese people abandoned their own cultural identity and turned to the Western civilization. Therefore, science is the foundation as well as the major force behind the progress of civilization. 0101102027