Tuesday, December 31, 2019

Short Story - 754 Words

â€Å"Please, call me Kassius and she’s in the bathroom. It was hard to get her to come to this event, ever since Gerard’s death, I haven’t even seen her smile once. It’s heartbreaking.† Paisley frowned. â€Å"Poor Malessica. She must really be going through a lot right now.† â€Å"I can always try to talk to her.† Sabra said. â€Å"I think the best thing we can all do is give the little lady some time.† Sawyer said. â€Å"Sawyers right.† Dorian added. â€Å"She’ll eventually get better, support her the best you can.† Claire sighed. â€Å"It’s all we can do right now.† Agreeing to this, the all followed Kassius to the dining hall, knowing the dinner was going to start soon. Isaac still thought about Malessica, despite agreeing to give her space and time.†¦show more content†¦Epsilon nudged Isaac, whispering in his ear. â€Å"If you have something to say to her you should say it. I can tell how you feel about her.† Isaac was surprised to learn Epsilon knew how he felt towards Malessica. Though it caught him by surprise, he knew Epsilon was right. Isaac had been through a lot of things with her. He started to understand his feelings for Malessica, trying to think of how he would try and break everything down to her. Swallowing his spit, Isaac decided to speak. â€Å"Mal, you mind if I talk to you after all this? It’s kind of important. â€Å"I don’t mind at all.† Malessica replied. â€Å"Is it anything specific?† â€Å"Sort of, but I’ll mention it later. I think it’d be better to talk where there’s not too much noise.† â€Å"There’s going to be a speech soon.† Malessica said. â€Å"After it’s done, we can go find somewhere to talk.† Isaac smiled. â€Å"Alright we’ll wait for the speech.† Costelios City, 7:02 PM Waiters and waitresses came to each table, handing out plates of appetizers before the speech started. Looking down at the Salad, Isaac moved it to the side. Epsilon looked at him, waiting for the green light to take it from him. Isaac allowed him to do so, turning his attention to the large speakers, listening to the music. Everyone ate their salads, not paying any mind to anything else. Kassius could be seen in the distance, fiddling with a microphone in his hand. Isaac knew the speech would be starting in a short amount of time, waitingShow MoreRelatedshort story1018 Words   |  5 Pagesï » ¿Short Stories:  Ã‚  Characteristics †¢Short  - Can usually be read in one sitting. †¢Concise:  Ã‚  Information offered in the story is relevant to the tale being told.  Ã‚  This is unlike a novel, where the story can diverge from the main plot †¢Usually tries to leave behind a  single impression  or effect.  Ã‚  Usually, though not always built around one character, place, idea, or act. †¢Because they are concise, writers depend on the reader bringing  personal experiences  and  prior knowledge  to the story. Four MajorRead MoreThe Short Stories Ideas For Writing A Short Story Essay1097 Words   |  5 Pageswriting a short story. Many a time, writers run out of these short story ideas upon exhausting their sources of short story ideas. If you are one of these writers, who have run out of short story ideas, and the deadline you have for coming up with a short story is running out, the short story writing prompts below will surely help you. Additionally, if you are being tormented by the blank Microsoft Word document staring at you because you are not able to come up with the best short story idea, youRead MoreShort Story1804 Words   |  8 PagesShort story: Definition and History. A  short story  like any other term does not have only one definition, it has many definitions, but all of them are similar in a general idea. According to The World Book Encyclopedia (1994, Vol. 12, L-354), â€Å"the short story is a short work of fiction that usually centers around a single incident. Because of its shorter length, the characters and situations are fewer and less complicated than those of a novel.† In the Cambridge Advanced Learner’s DictionaryRead MoreShort Stories648 Words   |  3 Pageswhat the title to the short story is. The short story theme I am going conduct on is â€Å"The Secret Life of Walter Mitty’ by James Thurber (1973). In this short story the literary elements being used is plot and symbols and the theme being full of distractions and disruption. The narrator is giving a third person point of view in sharing the thoughts of the characters. Walter Mitty the daydreamer is very humorous in the different plots of his dr ifting off. In the start of the story the plot, symbols,Read MoreShort Stories1125 Words   |  5 PagesThe themes of short stories are often relevant to real life? To what extent do you agree with this view? In the short stories â€Å"Miss Brill† and â€Å"Frau Brechenmacher attends a wedding† written by Katherine Mansfield, the themes which are relevant to real life in Miss Brill are isolation and appearance versus reality. Likewise Frau Brechenmacher suffers through isolation throughout the story and also male dominance is one of the major themes that are highlighted in the story. These themes areRead MoreShort Story and People1473 Words   |  6 Pagesï » ¿Title: Story Of An Hour Author: Kate Chopin I. On The Elements / Literary Concepts The short story Story Of An Hour is all about the series of emotions that the protagonist, Mrs. Mallard showed to the readers. With the kind of plot of this short story, it actually refers to the moments that Mrs. Mallard knew that all this time, her husband was alive. For the symbol, I like the title of this short story because it actually symbolizes the time where Mrs. Mallard died with joy. And with thatRead MoreShort Story Essay1294 Words   |  6 PagesA short story concentrates on creating a single dynamic effect and is limited in character and situation. It is a language of maximum yet economical effect. Every word must do a job, sometimes several jobs. Short stories are filled with numerous language and sound devices. These language and sound devices create a stronger image of the scenario or the characters within the text, which contribute to the overall pre-designed effect.As it is shown in the metaphor lipstick bleeding gently in CinnamonRead MoreRacism in the Short Stor ies1837 Words   |  7 PagesOften we read stories that tell stories of mixing the grouping may not always be what is legal or what people consider moral at the time. The things that you can learn from someone who is not like you is amazing if people took the time to consider this before judging someone the world as we know it would be a completely different place. The notion to overlook someone because they are not the same race, gender, creed, religion seems to be the way of the world for a long time. Racism is so prevalentRead MoreThe Idol Short Story1728 Words   |  7 PagesThe short stories â€Å"The Idol† by Adolfo Bioy Casares and â€Å"Axolotl† by Julio Cortà ¡zar address the notion of obsession, and the resulting harm that can come from it. Like all addictions, obsession makes one feel overwhelmed, as a single thought comes to continuously intruding our mind, causing the individual to not be able to ignore these thoughts. In â€Å"Axolotl†, the narr ator is drawn upon the axolotls at the Jardin des Plantes aquarium and his fascination towards the axolotls becomes an obsession. InRead MoreGothic Short Story1447 Words   |  6 Pages The End. In the short story, â€Å"Emma Barrett,† the reader follows a search party group searching for a missing girl named Emma deep in a forest in Oregon. The story follows through first person narration by a group member named Holden. This story would be considered a gothic short story because of its use of setting, theme, symbolism, and literary devices used to portray the horror of a missing six-year-old girl. Plot is the literal chronological development of the story, the sequence of events

Sunday, December 22, 2019

First Nations Midwifery - 1216 Words

TITLE: FIRST NATIONS MIDWIFERY NAME: SALAM IFEJESU STUDENT NUMBER: 200356851 COURSE NAME: INHS 100 INSTRUCTOR: JULLIET. O. BUSHI INTRODUCTION Midwifery has been practiced in several communities of the world since time immemorial. A midwife is a trained person, mostly a woman, who assists in the pregnancy, delivery and post-partum care of an infant. In most countries of the world, the act of midwifery has been neglected for more modern and westernized medical practices deemed safer. In the First nations community, midwives have always been an integral part of the health system assisting expecting women during delivery. In the mid nineteenth and twentieth century, midwifery was outlawed in many communities and reserves ‘for the sake of the health of the country’ (Parkland Memorial Hospital School of Nurse Midwifery). With the outlaw of midwifery in First nation reserves, expectant mothers were transported to hospitals and clinics in urban centers for delivery. With this came several new challenges for expectant first nations women and mothers including, ‘increased maternal newborn complications, increased postpartum depression and decreased breast-feeding rates’ (O’Neil et al., 1990, Smith, 2002 and Klein et al., 2002a. The relegation of first nations midwifery has done more harm than good because it makes the birth process more medical, has led to the inflict of new post natal diseases and has led to the neglect of the traditional and spiritual roles in childShow MoreRelatedThe Indigenous Peoples Of Canada1347 Words   |  6 Pagesthe worst environmental, educational, social and economic state in the Nation decades after initial contact (Canadian Population Health Initiative, 2004). As a direct result traditions pertaining to all aspects of Indigenous life were affected, specifically traditional means of health. In an attempt to figuratively breathe new life into a wounded community, efforts have been made to bring back the ways of Aboriginal midwifery in Nunavut, Quà ©bec and Ontario. Facilities in said provinces have beenRead MoreThe For A Midwife With The Univers ity Of Colorado Hospital ( Uch )1684 Words   |  7 Pageswhy would the mother want to choose a midwife? Midwifery is a natural approach to labor and delivery that offers a less intrusive kind of birthing environment, more birthing options, and midwives are able to accommodate the specific needs and wants of the mother. When a person has the correct information from a credible source regarding what a midwife really entails, the answer will be easy to decide. To get the correct information needed about midwifery, it is important to have various credible sourcesRead MoreNursing Is Defined As Moral And Medical1490 Words   |  6 PagesAustralia and United States of America (USA). Furthermore, this will explore the development, function and significance of the Australian National Competency Standards for the Registered Nurse according to the guidelines of Australian Nursing and Midwifery Council (ANMC). Finally, this will discuss about the Code of Ethics for Nurses and the Code of Pro fessional Conduct for Nurses in Australia. Traditionally, nursing education in Australia began with apprentices from public hospital whereby they wereRead MoreHealth and Society: Smoking in pregnancy Essay963 Words   |  4 Pageshealth and society, and the effects of smoking in pregnancy will also be discussed. ‘Health is a state of physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity’ (World Health Organisation, 2011) This definition was first cited by the International health conference in July 1946, and the definition has remained the same. Health is a way of life which is reflected upon every individual, factors such as the condition of your body, has an impact on your health overallRead MoreGovernment Funding For Midwifery Across Canada2050 Words   |  9 PagesGovernment Funding For Midwifery Across Canada Will Implement Positive Changes To Indigenous Women In Canada And Our Healthcare. Erin Gibbs: 200270053 INHS 100 Professor: Melissa Bendig University of Regina Due Date: October, 30th, 2014 Government Funding For Midwifery Across Canada Will Implement Positive Changes To Indigenous Women In Canada And Our Healthcare. Traditional midwifery has been practiced in indigenous culture for many generations. Midwifery is one of many traditionsRead MoreAssess and Workplace as a Learning Environment Essay1330 Words   |  6 Pagesindividual. Nursing is a competence based profession and registered nurse or mentors are accountable for assessing students skills and knowledge in clinical setting (NMC 2008).According to QUINN (2002) describes clinical environment as a holistic nation involving the learner. I am currently working as a community nurse with the district nurse team. Our patient are mostly elderly patients, and most of the elderly patient have a range of physiological, psychosocial functional needs , multiple co-morbiditiesRead MoreHealth Promotion in Realtion to a Midwife Essay2945 Words   |  12 Pagesof nutrition for infants and so is an important topic in the context of health promotion (Dearling, 1999). Health promotion is not an extended role of the midwife but a core competency. In its Cod e of Professional Conduct (2008), the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) outlines the role of the midwife to include supporting people in caring for themselves to improve and maintain their health. Midwives must work with others to protect and promote the health and well-being of those in their care (NMCRead MoreWhy I Want For A Midwife1984 Words   |  8 PagesWhy do I want to be a midwife? Introduction This essay examines the reasons why I want to pursue a career in midwifery. I want to be a midwife because I believe that I would enjoy helping people, specifically women, as they progress from pregnancy to child birth and then finally the post-natal stage. The qualities that I bring to the midwifery profession include being able to work well under pressure and the ability to work with different types of people; for example, working in a Rest Home (AlexanderRead MoreMidwifes and New Trends in Child Deliveries Essay1578 Words   |  7 Pagestrend, and more women are opting to have children at home. One of the keys to a successful home birth experience is the hiring of a midwife. A midwife is a trained medical professional with expertise in supporting women during their pregnancies. Midwifery is becoming more common because women want a more comfortable experience in giving birth, they want specialists that take mothers’ wants and desires into consideration, they want more co ntrol in the child-birth process, and they want to lower healthRead MoreRole of Community Midwives in Hospitals2411 Words   |  10 Pagesor younger demographic. The birth of a new life requires aid during the process, along with receiving assistance before and post pregnancy. Individuals offering such service are known as a midwife. The World Health Organization or WHO recognizes midwifery as a role that encompasses care of women during pregnancy, labour, and the postpartum period, as well as care of the newborn. Community midwives vary from those that work in hospitals. The former are involved from the beginning by scheduling

Saturday, December 14, 2019

India Post Strategy Free Essays

string(70) " have adopted a low cost strategy it is the most important objective\." Term Project ? Table of Contents Operations Constraints Matrix3 Flexibility3 Cost5 Quality7 Structural Decisions7 Capacity7 Facilities8 Process Technology9 Sourcing and Vertical Integration10 Infrastructural Decisions12 Operations Constraints Matrix Flexibility is about the operation being able to change what it does quickly. How quickly can the organization change the mix of products and services it is offering to the customer? Changing consumer tastes affects demand levels and the product range desired. For an organization to stay competitive, it needs to be able to respond to these changes with flexibility. We will write a custom essay sample on India Post Strategy or any similar topic only for you Order Now †¢Can the organization react to demand changes and increase or decrease the volume of output in response? †¢Is a wide range of products or services on offer? Can the organization bring new product/service designs to market quickly so it is in a position to meet changing customer needs? Providing flexibility in delivery options, both the manner and the timing give an opportunity for differentiation. In case of Indian Postal Service, they are high on flexibility parameter. The range of products / services for Indian Post suits to people from all economic level, almost all customers can avail all the services of India Post in all location. India Post postal services are under two heads, Mail services and Premium Services. Mail Services LetterThe communication is enclosed in an envelope and addressed Inland letter cardCommunication is contained on a sheet of paper with prescribed size folding, for transmission within India only. Post cardOpen communication on a card of prescribed size. Available in two varieties: Single reply post card. Post cards are for transmission within India only. Printed Post cardPost cards containing communication recorded by printing, cyclostyling or by any other mechanical process are classified as ‘Printed Post Cards’. Printed matter includes printed pictures also. Blind literature packetPapers of any kind, periodicals and books impressed in â€Å"Braille† or other special type for the use of blind are allowed to be transmitted by post as Blind literature packets. ParcelAnything can be sent in a parcel excepting articles whose transmission is prohibited. RegistrationThe postal article that is registered is given identification and is recorded at every stage of handling. Letters, letter cards, Book and Pattern Packets, Parcels, News papers prepaid with postage may be registered for transmission at any post office. The registered postal article is delivered specifically to the addressee. VPL/VPPThe Value Payable Letter or Value Payable Parcel is paid for at the time of receipt. Premium Services Speed PostSpeed Post is market leader in domestic express industry, for providing time-bound and express delivery of letters ’ documents and parcels across the nation and around the world Express ParcelExpress Parcel Post is an ideal service for sending the parcels up to 35 kg within India. It is fast and reliable, provides door-to-door convenience and pick-up from customer’s premises service. Business PBusiness Post is a one-stop shop service to manage entire mail-out process. It provides cost-effective and professional mailing services, including printing, collating, inserting, sealing, and addressing to meet specific business needs. Media PostMedia Post is an innovative and effective vehicle for Brand and Marketing Managers to communicate their corporate message across the nation. Greeting PostGreeting Post is an innovative product of India Post comprises of a card with envelop with pre-printed postage stamp upon the envelope. It used to express yourself perfectly on every occasion, festival or event. Logistics PostLogistics Post caters to any demand for moving goods, parcels and consignments in terms of delivery deadline and quality of service. It offers the possibility of monitoring the delivery progress at all times. Comparison with the other players in Postal / Courier service India PostDTDC CourierBluedart Courier No fixed delivery time guaranteeService include next business day delivery guaranteeService include next business day delivery guarantee Media post offer advertisement opportunity to marketing managerDedicated for courier and parcel delivery, no specific service like advertising Dedicated for courier and parcel delivery, no specific service like advertising Wide reach within India, specifically high penetration in rural IndiaWide reach but rural penetration is not as deep as India PostWide reach but rural penetration is not as deep as India Post Offers registered post service, where consignment is handed over to only specific addressee General service, and couriers can be received by any individual within corporation / homeGeneral service, and couriers can be received by any individual within corporation / home Consignment tracking is limited to premium products deliveryConsignment tracking facility is available for all kinds of deliveriesConsignment tracking facility is available fo r all kinds of deliveries Prices band is high and weight range starts from as minimum as 25gms for deliveryPrice band is narrow and weight range starts usually from 500gmsPrice band is narrow and weight range starts usually from 500gms Single delivery timing, no customized service as customer requires, although service for guaranteed timely delivery availableConsignment delivery can be defined by customers with a minimum duration of Next business day 1030AM within same time zone Consignment delivery can be defined by customers with a minimum duration of Next business day 1030AM within same time zone No special facility for weekends like Saturday or SundaySpecial pick up facility for Saturday and delivery on SundayNo specific delivery facility for weekends Proof of delivery is claimable on paid basisProof of delivery is visible online for freeProof of delivery is visible online for free Greeting card delivery, special printed card delivery service No special greeting card delivery se rvice at presentNo special greeting card delivery service at present Freight on delivery service available business Freight on delivery service available business Freight on delivery service available business International deliveries service available with maximum eight of 100kgInternational deliveries service available with maximum weight of 10000kgInternational deliveries service available with maximum weight of 100kg No packing, box packaging service, pick up service available on paid basisProvide packing, loading, box packaging service, free pick up serviceProvide packing box, box packaging services, free pick up service Cost is the last objective to be discussed but clearly not the least. For organizations that have adopted a low cost strategy it is the most important objective. You read "India Post Strategy" in category "Essay examples" The lower the cost of producing the goods the lower price that can be offered to customers, which in turn will boost sales and profits. Even organizations that seek to gain their competitive advantage through differentiation are keen to lower their cost basis because that will lead to improvements in profit levels. To be able to deliver a cost advantage an organization has to analyze where operation costs are incurred. When considering a service industry, like hospitals, the biggest cost element will be staff costs, then facility and technology costs followed by bought-in materials and services. Many costs in a hospital operation are fixed and will not vary according to the number of patients treated. That is to say those facilities like beds, operating theatres or laboratories are as expensive as are the highly specialized staff. These are all needed to be available if not all of the time, then most of it. That obviously has cost implications. Generally, the level of costs depends on the volume and variety of output and how variable is demand. Variety of outputs leads to greater levels of complexity and therefore increased costs. Cost is dependent on the other performance objectives. Improvements in each of the other four will lead to cost reductions. The relative priority of the performance objectives is determined by the demands of customers and the actions of competitors. Making these decisions on priorities links back to the statement in the strategy of what business the organization is in and who are its customers. Selling to customers who insist on error-free products requires the organization to concentrate on its quality performance. Consumer segments that are looking for low-priced products or services will lead the organization to emphasize its cost performance. In case of India Post, reaching to the mass is part of their mission. They operate at locations where, revenues do not even cover 15% of expenses. They have more than 89% of their offices in rural areas, where the cost of operation is usually higher than revenues. Even the post office in urban areas, the target given is to earn a profit of 5% beyond their operating cost. India Post caters primarily in rural areas and therefore its emphasis on offering very low / economical prices to customer irrespective of their operating cost. Private postal service agencies have their motive of earning profit from business, therefore they highly emphasize on providing value service to their customers. They focus on limited services designed to fulfill general need of customers. Their service portfolio is transforming from delight services to order winning services. They emphasize on excelling in providing order winner services and compete in limited range of services. Pricing offered by India Post: India post premier service of simple post card is in no comparison with any other service agency. It is most cost effective way of mail hitherto in India. Apart from post cards, letters, India Post offers standard fixed rates for all customers depending on distance (irrespective of place of origin or destination). Speed Post: WeightLocal (within municipal limits)Upto 200 Kms201 to 1000 Kms1001 to 2000 KmsAbove 2000 Kms Up to 50 gramsINR 15INR 35INR 35INR 35INR 35 1 grams to 200 gramsINR 25INR 35INR 40INR 60INR 70 201 grams to 500 gramsINR 30INR 50INR 60INR 80INR 90 Additional 0. 5 kg or part thereofINR 10INR 15INR 30INR 40INR 50 Express Parcel Post: WeightLocal (within municipaI limits)Upto 500 Kms. 501 to 1000 Kms. 1001 to 2000 Kms. Above 2000 Kms. Up to 2kg3550 607090 Additional 1kg or part thereof58122535 India Post does not offer the air-mail service for domestic deliveries, whereas private players like Bluedart, DTDC, and Firstflight etc have the air mail service that offers next day delivery guarantee. Therefore, the prices of services offered by different agencies can be compared on the surface mode. Cost of parcel up to 500gms 500gmsIndia PostBluedartDTDC ithin city30200 Ambala50200 Amritsar60200 Mumbai80200 Calicut90210 Cost of parcel up to 10kg 10kgIndia PostBluedartDTDC within city75250 Ludhiana114250 Ahmadabad156290 Mumbai270290 Calicut370290 India post is more cost effective and economical than other private players. It is high on providing cost effective services to its customer than its competitors. Due to its pan India reach, and easy access in rural areas, other private players cannot compete in cost factor. Quality, whether you are running a hospital or a retail superstore, is about doing things right so that error-free goo ds and services are delivered that are fit for their purpose. Quality encompasses both the quality of the design of the product in terms of aesthetics, reliability and performance and the quality of the process that delivers the product or service. Quality of delivery process has direct impact on costs and dependability. Quality is a major source of customer satisfaction or dissatisfaction. Poor quality products or poor quality of service are likely to put the customer off returning, leading to future lost sales. For service sector like postal / courier service, the primary quality factors can be following: †¢Ease of accessibility – availability, easy reach †¢Customer focus – language, service, waiting time Reliability of service design – useful for customer, trust on the service †¢Conformance to specifications – delivery on time as committed, rates as specified, influence to change or modify requisite service †¢High delivery performance – delivery at the right place, right time, right pers on Speed Speed is all about how long customers wait before receiving their service. Addressing the speed objective requires the organization to pay attention to the cycle time involved in their new product development. An organization also has to pay attention to its scheduling and capacity planning as well as inventory management to be able to deliver on the speed objective. Reducing inventory will also impact on obtaining a cost advantage. Speed is an important factor considering that a lot of parcels are required to reach on time and are often related to business. As such, almost all the courier services have a special service catering to this constraint. In case of India Post, .No. Services/TransactionSuccess IndicatorsService StandardsUnit AService Standards of various services for Departmental Post Offices 1MailsTime from posting / booking to delivery†¢ Excludes day of posting, holidays and Sundays. †¢ Maximum time. †¢ Articles posted before cut off time. Unit in Days /Minutes etc. 1. 2Delivery of First class mail i. e. , letters, postcards, Inland letter cards, etc. Local* and between Metro Cities** * Local – within Municipal City limits ** Metro- Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru. 2Days Rest of India4-6 1. 3Delivery of : †¢ Registered / Insured articles Express Parcel Post †¢ Second Class Mails i. e. Parcels, Book Packets, Registered Newspapers, etc. Local* and between Metro Cities** * Local – within Municipal City limits ** Metro- Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru. 3Days Rest of India5-7 1. 4Delivery of Speed Post articlesLocal* and between Metro Cities** * Local – within Municipal City limits ** Metro- Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru. 2Days Rest of India4-6 1. 5International EMS articles†¢ All International Mail articles are subject to customs examination. †¢ Period for customs examination/detention is not included in the service standards. 4-10Days DTDC on the other hand provides a lot of services catering to this need which is case specific: DTDC Domestic2-7 daysNormal deliveries (city specific) Value added service (Speed)Days to deliverSpecifications DTDC PlusAssured Next business day delivery†¢To metros and major cities in India Prime Time Plus (PTP) PTP 10. 30 and PTP 12. 00 within the next possible business day†¢Time-critical Business to Business (B2B) and Business to Customer (B2C) Segments. †¢From select origins to select pin codes at Metro locations. DTDC Blueassured second business day delivery†¢To places far and wide across the country In addition to it, DTDC provides money bank guarantee in case a delivery is not made on time on its Value added services. Blue dart Dart Surfaceline2-7 daysDistance specific Premium Services Dart Apex1-2 daysFor commercial shipments Domestic PriorityNext dayFor time-critical parcels DP 10. 30 and DP 12. 00Time specific, within a day Blue dart, like DTDC provides money back guarantee in case a delivery is not made on time on its premium services. As such, Speed of India post is comparable to most of its competitors as far as value based services are concerned. Though, at few places delivery is guaranteed the very next day and before a specific time, which is not provided by India post. Some services like Air to Air which ask customers to collect the post from the Airport for a faster delivery is provided by some of its competitors. Also, unlike DTDC and Blue Dart do not provide money back guarantee on a delay though they provide money back guarantee if a parcel is lost or damaged. This feature allows other players to create a better perception among consumers with respect to speed. Dependability Dependability is, of course, about consistency. An organization’s processes have to be geared up to consistently meeting a promised delivery time for a product or service. Customers are unlikely to be satisfied by an increase in delivery speed if it is not matched by consistent performance. This will require that an organization has systems in place to identify problems early and be flexible enough in its planning to be able to move to a plan B as necessary. The dependability of India post is an issue. Though its registered post is known for dependability in terms of security and handling, but the consistency in speed is still a concern in terms of dependability. The targeted dependability of 95% deliveries on time is far from the reality. Though a lot of premium services are delivered on time, but the general posts are often delayed or sometimes are even lost. When talked to an employee working in India Post, Dependability came out as one of the major reasons why people prefer high priced courier services provided by competitors over India Post. Structural Decisions An effective operations organization is one that meets the need of strategic business units competitive strategy. Therefore, once the type of differentiation has been specified , management must ensure that its operations organization is configured and managed in such a way that there is no one best way for dealing with any business problem – whether one is making, delivering, or selling a service, designing a management information / quality system, or measuring performance. In every situation, one must make choices that reflect one’s context, goals, resources and personnel. Translating the business strategy into appropriate tangibles and intangibles involves different structural and infrastructural decisions and tradeoffs. The structural and infrastructural decisions in service industry are derived from manufacturing operations. Structural decisions address all the issues that are relevant to Capacity, Facilities, Process Technology and Sourcing (vertical integration). Capacity Capacity management is defined as â€Å"ensuring a service has the capability to meet the demand experiences, like wise capacity management is a response to demand†. Service delivery process depends on three basic factors to achieve the expected output: 1. Service load that illustrates the variety of service being offered, the variation of demand and the management of demand 2. Capacity task that illustrates forecasting methods, scheduling, bottleneck management, prioritizing and altering capacity that are used to manage capacity task successfully 3. Capacity leakage, in other words the degree that there are quality failures, scheduling losses, labor lateness, labor underperformance and changeovers Facilities Facility network is the configuration of an operating network in allocating various service centers and contact points. In Mail Service industry, facility is the reach of agency to the customers at different location and various services that can be offered in that service center keeping in mind the objectives and goals of company. India Post has one of the objectives as â€Å"To provide basic postal facilities, i. e. , collection and delivery of mails, within easy reach (1. 5 kms) of all people and businesses. This is to be achieved through opening of more post offices, relocation of existing post offices, giving out franchisees to individuals, shops, institutions, self-help groups, etc. In order to achieve this objective, they constantly thrive to open new service centers at desirable places and shutoff from redundant locations. Apart from post offices, there are approximately 5. 7 lacs letterboxes, processed by network of Mail Offices and conveyed by rail, road, and airlines all over the country to reach the customers. Postal operations at the post office counter encompass the entire gamut of basic postal service that include sale of stamps, booking of registered articles, insured articles, value payable articles, booking of parcels and other banking transaction. Below data shows the penetration of India Post in rural and urban segment. Year2011201020092008 Urban13904089. 78%13918289. 81%13914489. 76%12548980. 94% Rural1582610. 22%1579710. 19%1587110. 24%2954619. 06% Total154866100. 00%154979100. 00%155015100. 00%155035100. 00% State wise presence of post offices in India: Andaman102Dadar and Nagar Haveli39JK1656 Andhra Pradesh16152Daman Diu20Jharkhand3092 Arunachal Pradesh295Delhi531Karnataka9761 Assam4023Goa263Kerala5054 Bihar9015Gujarat8934Lakhasdweep10 Chandigarh51Haryana2662MP8031 Chattisgarh3119Himachal Pradesh2778Maharashtra12490 Manipur697Rajasthan10338 Meghalaya475Sikkim209 Mizoram409Tamilnadu11897 Nagaland328Tripura710 Orissa8192U. P. 17584 Pondicherry91Uttarakhand2719 Punjab3842W. B. 8700 Each facility center in the network is independent in itself, thereby satisfying the condition of Horizontal Networks, but each central / metro / common facility center is dependent on the traffic / mail at other service centers also, thereby working as Mixed Network Structures. India post has about 387 mail offices to process the mails through its network and conveyed by rail, road, and airlines all over the country. Facility decision in mail service sector includes the office layout, customer support, guidance, and customer interface with employees, basic facilities for employees and services available. India Post is oldest mail service in India and some of the offices of India Post are very old. The ambience, infrastructure, facilities is not comparable to private agency offices, which are equipped with modern infrastructure and facilities. â€Å"Project Arrow† is a step toward modernization of post offices. It focuses on creating conducive and friendly work environment for staff and customers, information technology enabled services and improving the quality of core business services, primarily focusing in rural areas. It has been implemented in more than 15000 post offices and more post offices are in process of implementation. In comparison to private service providers, India Post has maximum reach, are available at the last mile. Private agencies are working for profit maximization therefore they operate in limited space, and their presence is imited to metro cities and some critical business locations. Due to limited offices and service centers, they have made their offices IT enabled and customer friendly. Process Technology The meaning of the process technology lies behind the meaning of focus. Well-managed service organizations are characterized by a high degree of focus. Better focusing such as the utilization of classification schemes, refers to †¢to delivery systems that allow customers to have high contact with the system †¢easy segregation / sorting of mails †¢ease of tracking †¢improving the quality of delivery †¢connection of various location with centralized database †¢management information system and database maintenance Automation and information technology leads to cost savings, consistent and reliable services, it helps to increases the availability of a service operations and the speed of service delivery process that helps in marketing and customer benefits. In mail service, the level of automation depends on amount of load, types of services, quantity of parcels, cost, and risk appetite of the company. For India Post, the scope of Automation and upgradation in process technology can be defined in many areas: †¢Computerized booking of mails and parcels †¢Segregation / sorting of mail according to destination through bar code scanner †¢RFID technology to track the consignment location in real time †¢Hand held devices to confirm the delivery status on real time basis †¢Centralized data management Automatic loading of mails in the Transporting Mode †¢Automatic packing of goods and mail to utilize as full load (except in case of lower quantity) †¢Connectivity of al l facility centers to check the system information in real time †¢Advance booking and pick up parcel †¢Centralized database to better control the address database of customers India Post is lagging in automation of its process. It has implemented barcode technology in most of its services, but it is not fully supported by its aging staff. Most of the post offices in the rural areas are manually functioning. Many post offices, Mail offices, Administrative offices are not yet computerized. Automatic letter sorting machine is under installation in four metropolitan cities of India, which can increase the sorting speed to approx. 35000 per hour. In addition, Mixed Mail sorting machine are also under process of implementation to sort large size letters, parcels/packets to the speed of about 16000 per hour. These machines will help to automate the process with better speed, quality and efficiency. As compared to private mail service providers, most of the offices are fully computerized, with full system integration with centralized server. Their offices are connected with real time information system and the core business functions are controlled through IT. Sourcing and Vertical Integration Sourcing is an important structural aspect of an operations organizations encompasses decision regarding how much of the total work required to create and deliver its services will be done internally and how much can be outsourced from outside organizations. In service industry, outsourcing can reduce the cost of operation. Strategic control in the operation decides the level of outsourcing in mail service. India Post is operating under huge geographical exposure. As a part of its public service, it has to reach to the last consumer in the map. Establishing self-employed service centers at all operating location is costly proposition, therefore to maintain the presence and cost effectiveness it has to outsource some of its activities in the extreme areas of operation. Apart from its front office activities, India Post has scope for outsourcing at almost every stage of operation. Post office maintenance at certain location as per India Post terms and Condition †¢Transportation of dak / mail by road, rail and air through third party agency rather than self procuring the trucks and loaders †¢Deploying a local team for post office maintenance at distant location, but centralized control through district head or regional head post office †¢Dealership and franchise network apart from regular staff †¢Liaison with government organizations and PSU’s to deliver all the mails of govt. institutions through India Post Front office counter franchise India post has a franchise scheme that offers various products and services in urban and upcoming urban areas. Basic features of the Urban franchise model: †¢It provides only counter services, delivery and transmission lies with India post. †¢Provision of services under franchise across the counter for a minimum defined time schedule with flexibility to work round the clock Products and services offered †¢Sale of Stamps and stationery †¢Booking registered articles, speed post articles, money orders, e-post etc. †¢Functioning as an agent for PLI and provide related after sales service, including collection of premia (subject to fulfillment of criteria for PLI agents). †¢Marketing products for which the Department has a corporate agency or tie-up and provide related follow up services (subject to agreement with the other organizations involved). Providing retail and bill/tax/fine collection/payment services of the Department (Subject to agreement with the other organizations involved) †¢Facilitating the provision of e-governance and citizen-centric services (s ubject to agreement with the other organizations involved) †¢Any other service introduced by the Department in future through its outlets which is considered amenable to the franchisee model. (subject to agreement with the other organizations involved) Transportation Service The transportation of mail is through various modes 1. By hand 2. Surface line, road transport 3. Surface line, rail transport 4. Air line, Plane transport India Post has manages mail transportation with their own facilities as well as third party service providers. India post has huge employee base to deliver the post by hand to the recipients, but for the transportation on surface and air, it has its own vehicles and also arrangements with third party logistics vendors. Air transport – international deliveries, India Post has tie-up with premier DHL logistics Mail Motor Services (MMS) – For transmission of mail between mail offices and post offices between cities, India Post has its own fleet of 1282 vehicles, full-fledged maintenance workshop facilities Rail transport – for long distance transmission of mails, India Post has tie-up with Indian Railways Scope for Sourcing 1. Road transportation – India post can outsource the transmission of mails between cities and reduce the load of maintenance and fixed fleet expenses, third party service dedicated to India Post can help in focusing on timely delivery and maintenance of quality service. It offload the risk of transportation, maintenance expenses, buying-selling of vehicles etc 2. Franchise for rural areas – India Post franchise scheme is primarily for Urban Areas where the post office is justified but cannot be opened. For India Post, the focus of expanding the reach should be associated with cost factor. As in urban areas, the cost of opening a post office would be high. Similarly, operating cost in the far distant rural areas will also be high. In order to minimize the cost of operation, India Post can outsource some of its urban offices, and similarly rural office, where the cost of operation for local would be lesser than setting up self-employed service centers. 3. Long-term contracts with Customers – India Post can leverage on its wide presence, and govt. institution tag for getting long-term contracts with other govt. institutions and PSUs for delivery of all mails through India Post. This will ensure dedicated source of Income for India Post, and beyond that, it will be a great financial assistance to serve the rural areas. Infrastructural Decisions A company’s operations infrastructure is composed of its policies and systems governing a number of activities, from capital budgeting and equipment selection to organizational structure. Each of these systems often has repercussions and implications for other infrastructural and structural elements. Resource allocation and capital budgeting systems Human Resource systems India Post has workforce, which is old aged, there has been no fresh recruitment in India Post from many years for junior and senior level management positions. In the present system, where consumer are growing at fast pace, and the technology and information system is growing in the industry, there is need of well-informed and responsive workforce that can understand the existing IT and customers need. Due to aging workforce, computer literacy among the employees is not at par and training and development of employees has taken a back step in the policies of India Post. Although, India Post organizes many training program for its middle / senior level management employees but due to aging factor, the life expectancy in the organization as well the contribution in the organization is limited. Work Planning and Control systems Quality systems The quality system has been focused upon by India post since 2005-06. With the prioritization of computerization in 2006-07 for the development of India post, the Government has laid focus on improving service levels and to enable electronic networking of about 1, 30,000 rural Post Offices. Recently, A Plan costing Rs. 1877. 2 Crores has been formulated to computerize the Post Offices in Rural areas to further improvise on this front. Project Arrow was launched in April 2008. The project envisages up gradation of Post Offices in urban and rural areas both in terms of upgrading and enhancing the quality of service in â€Å"core areas† and improving their â€Å"look and feel†. The project aims at creating a conducive and friendly work environment both for the staff and the customers visiting the Post Offices, providing all IT enabled services through secure connectivity, improving the service quality levels in the core business areas e. g. Mail delivery, Remittances both electronic and manual and Postal Savings schemes. The â€Å"Look and Feel† activity focuses on improvement in Branding, Information Technology, Human Resource and Infrastructure. Based on the audit report of Project Arrow conducted over 50 post offices of 10 states: 1. In terms of Performance on Mail Delivery, Registered letter performances were 99 %, where as the figures for Ordinary mail varied between 94 to 100%. For Speed post it ranged between 98 to 99 %. 2. In terms of time taken for delivery of letters, post offices scored between 90 to 92% during the 3 rounds of Audit though a higher score was expected. Till June 2012, the Project has been implemented in respect of monitoring of core areas in more than 15,500 Post Offices and â€Å"Look and Feel† has been improved in 1,530 Post Offices. The Government has recently started a new Automated Mail Processing Centre (AMPC) in Delhi on August 20, 2012 to improve mail quality with next-generation sorting centres and to modernize the mail processing operations at India Post. The new letter sorting machine can sort 35,000 letters per hour, while the mixed mail sorter can process 20,000 letters, packets and small parcels an hour. The automated sorting systems should â€Å"considerably† improve sorting errors and improve the quality of mail services, the government said, with the new mixed mail sorter scanning tracking barcodes automatically as items are being sorted. Processing efficiency should also improve because mail can be sorted in a single run, while manual sorting had required a second stage of sorting. As per an interview given by Siemens, the developer of AMPC, to the media; â€Å"The automation route will â€Å"significantly† reduce processing time and save â€Å"considerable† cost for the Indian postal department. Handwriting or language is no longer a barrier as the special IVR by Siemens can read various scripts e. g. Greek, Cyrilic, Arabic, Chinese, English, Hindi. For the postal centers at Delhi and Kolkata, this machine will be able to read English and Hindi and as a result will enable Department of Post to provide better and more efficient services with hig h level of productivity† . From quality aspects as such, the ministry is taking measures like the introduction of AMPC and Project Arrow to improvise the quality. Still, a lot of rural villages are not computerized and timely delivery of mails has been a major issue. Also, the technologies like AMPC need to reach out to more major cities for further reducing the cost and improve service levels. The Government provides money bank guarantee of Rs 500 on damage or loss of any parcel but no specifications regarding this are provided. As such, a lot of people prefer other courier services to send valuable or important mails/parcels. Measurement and reward systems One of the major problems with India post is the undefined promotion structure. The employees are bound for a fixed pay and no variable pay/ Incentives are provided. The promotion is based on experience rather than utility/ quality and irrespective of poor showing at work, job security is provided which makes the system lazy. Frequent transfer of employees and low growth potential for an individual are few other concerns which needs to be addressed upon along with a continuous feedback system of employees. Product and process development systems India Post although the oldest and most significant player in mail service but with time the competitors has taken a lead and the social obligation of India Post has put them in back step in process development, improvement and fast implementation. The project team for process improvisation works on the guidelines given by the members after approval for the Ministry of Telecommunications and IT, larger projects has to get the approval from the ministry before commencement. Organization structure The organization structure of India Post is a complex organization structure (Exhibit 1). It has many vertical layers and simultaneously horizontal divisions. India Post is a government body, therefore the bureaucratic organization structure is inevitable, it has members deputed by Govt. of India as well as personnel that are recruited by India Post itself. Due to various business dimensions (postal mail service, PF fund, MNREGA fund, Bank, Finance, Forex etc) of India Post, each business vertical is treated as separate business unit and therefore makes the structure more complex. The organization structure is a centralized, and bureaucratic, power to take decision lies with the senior management and staff is primarily to do the regular business / operational activities. Operations Strategy for India Post Considering, the fact that India post is the Govt. institutional body and their prime focus is to serve the mass market by offering its services at lowest possible rates with high quality and good speed. In addition, India Post desires to be self-sustaining organization, it involves trade-offs between operation strategy matrix parameters (Price, Quality, Dependability, Flexibility and Speed). They can make their product primarily in two segments: 1. Business Mails2. General Mails General Mails – it is for mass market focusing on public, for cost sensitive customers (primarily poor people), delivery of mails to any location with a specified time delivery. Business Mails – it is specialized service, other than just sending mails (other than General Mails), the prices should be competitive with other private players, delivery time specified, service customization as required by the customers. E. g. speed post, registered post, logistics, parcels and box parcel etc. Exhibit 1 : Organization Structure, India Post How to cite India Post Strategy, Essay examples

Friday, December 6, 2019

Business Communication Program

Question: Discuss about the Business Communication Program. Answer: Introduction: Being the communication advisor of the organization. I have asked to design a communication program announcing a reduction in employees, when the company has just announces that they have recorded profitability. The plan needs to be devised that will minimize the amount of friction, tension down-time in the organization. Moreover the plan communication plan will include provisions for coping with difficulties after announcing the news of staff layoff. The organization employs around 1800 employees the layoff of 300 employees was the last resort measure even though the company was in profit. The reason behind layoff is because the company is incurring too much cost on automation which will reduce manual efforts and make the work process automated. Communication Objectives, Audience Analysis Communication Process The objective of the program is to ease the transmission of layoffs in the best possible way for the entire organization. By creating outplacement service developing a firm foundation for the workers that are being laid off, well be able to build a steady level of morale amongst the employees throughout. (Sollier, 2008) For the audience analysis well use the model Change Planning Worksheet which is adapted from Clampitt (2009). The model will help us in identifying the best means to relate the message of change to the prospective audience. There would be 4 main audiences that need to analysed and should be identified, i.e. the employees who are leaving the organization (laid off employees), those employees that would accept the early retirement option, employees who will stay with the organization those who are the part of the exterior audience (i.e. community public). There would be some variation in the channels messages for the external audience and for rest of the audience it would be very much similar. (Baily, 2009) For each group opinion leaders or lions need to be identified. These opinion leaders will assist in influencing the resistant members of a given audience. It is best to seek out the group who have accepted the changes (i.e. who are living the organization), as they will help the other group to understand the situation and will bring them on board. In the group of employees who are staying with the organization, the managers need to identified to assist reinforce why the changes were made, and try to support the goal of job security for future. For the audience external to the organization well run a PR campaign will seek out media. This would be the best way to reach out to the large audience. (Wagner Harter, 2010) Next step should be to analyse how the audience will be impacted. The people who are leaving the organization will have two major concerns i.e. uncertainty about their future they will be jobless. The people who will stay with the company would have a relief, but perhaps will be depressed for their lost colleagues. The external audience might be impacted by the concern over access to organization. They may see this decision as the weakness might fear the state of the organization. (Clmpitt, Philip,2009) In order to send the message right channel needs to be selected. The message is quite complex and non-routine. Hence, the communication channel that should be chosen should be richest, in order to give news to those employees who are directly impacted. The richest channel would be face-to-face communication, as this will allow for immediate feedback. For external audience, the channel chosen would be rich media, but will not be getting face to face treatment because they are in large number, the best way would be to conduct a press conference launch a PR campaign which could clearly demonstrate the concern for the departing employees. (Vroom, 2006) You are the chair of a local community service group. How would you encourage attendance, participation and commitment from members? Being the chair of a local community service group, I need to design a communication program which will encourage attendance, participation commitment from the members. Analyse the target audience Reasons for absenteeism from the meeting. Strategies to encourage the attendance participation commitment from the members Target Audience The target audience for this case will be the younger members between the age group of 24-34 years; the population for younger members constitutes approximately 80 percent of the total community group population. There are many reasons, younger members dont attend and participate in the local community service group, and some of them include: Some people of the group view the dinner/lunch meetings as intimidating or boring, as they might not know people in the event. Some of them are unaware of the events happening at their areas. (Porges Stephen, 2011) Objectives The objective of the program is not only to increase the attendance among younger members, but also to increase the participation commitments from the members. As engineers, we often succeed on repetition because it makes the planning simpler does not force us to think out of the box. However, we sometimes forget that people love new events enjoy change. (Connolly Viswesvaran, 2000) Communication Process In order to better communicate and reach out to the target audience well have to bypass many barriers that would include the cost for reaching out to the audience, there should be a quite high budget that needs to be allocated in order to complete this communication process. Also this task might be time consuming, as reaching out to the correct audience and ask them to participate will full attendance and commitment will be a biggest challenge. (Dobson, Deb, 2009) The best way to communicate and encourage the targeted audience (i.e. young people of the community) would be through face-to-face meeting, as this will allow for immediate feedback. The next way to communicate could be through print media, where in pamphlets and broachers could be printed and delivered to the residence address of the members. These pamphlets and broachers would include the information on the benefits of the program, how their participation and contribution can help the society, how they can get more information about the events happening in their society, important contact information and ways to contact the community head and how they can register themselves for the events and ensure their participation. (Mwah, 2012) Most of these events are conducted at the same location every month. For members who are working living on the outskirts of a region, may cause difficulties for them to participate. So, holding these events at different location may lead to success. Another way to encourage the young crowd and bring new attendance to the events would be to ask the younger member group to host a meeting at the location of their choice. Also, in order not to disturb the people routines, the meeting can be scheduled on weekends. (Saari Judge, 2004) Following these steps will encourage the young members of the community and will definitely lead to participation and commitment from the targeted audience. References: Bailey, Ben (2009). Personal Interview. Clampitt, Phillip (2009). Communicating for Managerial Effectiveness. Sage Publications, Inc,. Print. Dobson, Deb. Personal Interview. 2009 Vroom, V. H. (2006). Work and Motivation. New York: John Wiley. Saari, L. M., Judge, T. A. (2004) Employee attitudes and job satisfaction. Human Resource Management, 43(4), 395-407. Connolly, J. J., Viswesvaran, C. (2000). The role of affectivity in job satisfaction: A meta-analysis. Personality and Individual Differences, 29(2), 265-281. Porges, Stephen W. (2011). The Polyvagal Theory: Neurophysiological Foundations of Emotions, Attachment, Communication, and Self-regulation. New York: W. W. Norton Company. Sollier, Pierre (2008). Listening for Wellness: An Introduction to the Tomatis Method. MWah, L. (2012). Engaging employees a big challenge. Management Review, 88(9), Wagner, R., Harter, J. K. (2010). 12: The elements of great managing. New York, NY: Gallup Press..ozart Center Press.