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Image as Text Response Critical Response   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Art by its very nature has the tendency to be labeled either â€Å"good† or â€Å"bad†. However there is no bad art, only art that has failed to connect with a viewer. To broadly label art as either good or bad is hypocritical, how could a Picasso be compared to a Rembrandt? The truth is it can’t, and that’s the deceptiveness of art in that it seems on the surface to be so easily criticized when in reality it’s a complicated process to undertake. The piece I chose to write about evoked such a response. People around me either hated it, or loved it, with most going to the former. A good art piece creates this kind of response, and in that respect this piece was doing just fine.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When I look at a piece of art, I let my eyes roam, exploring the surface. I feel whatever emotions the piece evokes, or any parts or techniques that interest me. After all of this, I still don’t dare judge it merely on good or bad. When you label something â€Å"bad† art, there is no coming back, it’s cursed with a tag. Even if this tag is incorrect, as it often is, you still have that impression in your head that â€Å"oh, I don’t like this piece, it’s bad†.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Another aspect to this is if you label a piece of art â€Å"bad† that means somewhere, floating around, is a piece of â€Å"good† art, which would imply a comparison. But how do you compare art? Even if two artists have both tackled the same topic, it is impossible and insulting to even claim to be able to compare them. A Renaissance piece and a Baroque piece have their own considerations and couldn’t possibly be criticized. Never is a piece of art better, all art is an island for consideration in its own sphere of influence.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Art creates its own emotions, and the reaction it creates, love it or hate it, is the very point of art. If you fall madly in love with a piece, it has succeeded. On the other side of the same coin, if you desperately hate that piece and want to burn it, it too has succeeded. It is when a piece of art has nothing to say that it is a failure, when it evokes no emotion, no reaction. It still isn’t a â€Å"bad† piece of art, the artist just hasn’t succeeded.

Aflac

Table of Contents I. Executive Summary†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 3 II. Company History†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦3-4 III. Company Financials†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 5 IV. Internal Factors & External Industry Analysis. 6-11 V. House of Quality & DMAIC†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 11-19 VI. Tree Diagram & PDPC†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 19-22 VII. Flowchart & Check Sheet†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦22-26 VIII. Consultants Conclusion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 26 IX. Works Cited†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 27 ? I. Executive Summary AFLAC, incorporated offers all different types of insurance including life, health, and accident insurance as being their top sellers. The insurance industry can often be a competitive one. There are many insurance companies, in the past few years, that have been greatly effected by the current recession in the United States. Some insurance companies needed government intervention to help them through this. AFLAC, just like other big companies out there, have gone through many problems. Building the House of Quality and using Deming’s five points will help this company succeed and train their employees better. Using flow charts, check sheets, and tree diagrams will show the employees the right way to do their work and can continuously improve at their work. Consultants will be overall most satisfied with these types of practices. II. Company History Aflac, also known as American Family Life Assurance Company, was founded in Columbus, Georgia in the year 1955. It was discovered by brothers John, Paul, and William Amos to sell life, health, and accident insurance (â€Å"Aflac Incorporated History). † Competition was very fierce back then and the little company did poorly. In the 1940s and 1950s, there were many cases of polio scares and had spawned insurance coverage written specifically for this disease. It was then that Aflac decided to sell cancer insurance (â€Å"Aflac Incorporated History). † In the year 1958, they introduced the world’s first cancer insurance policy. This wound up being a big hit for this company and had written over a million dollars in premiums and had expanded over state lines. This company grew very quickly. It grew very quickly in the decade of the 1960s. They developed a selling approach that was much clustered. This approach worked as employees were willing to make payroll deduction for premiums (â€Å"Aflac Incorporated History). † By the year 1971, this company was booming in over 42 states. In the 1970s, John Amos then decided to expand his company outside the United States. This started by Amos visiting the World Fair in Osaka and he then decided to market this idea to the Japanese (â€Å"Aflac Incorporated History). † The Japanese healthcare plan left them exposed to considerable expense from cancer treatments. After four years, the company finally got approved to sell health insurance overseas to the Japanese (â€Å"Aflac Incorporated History). † It was basically approved because after research, it would have not threatened existing markets and the Amos’s found notable backers in the insurance and medical industries. Aflac became one of the first insurance companies to enter the Japanese market, and it had an eight year monopoly with the Japanese (â€Å"Aflac Incorporated History). † Aflac has sought to supplement its cancer insurance by introducing new products and improving old ones to encourage the policyholders to add on or trade up (â€Å"Aflac Incorporated History). † The company boosted its name recognition in the United States from two percent to fifty six percent primarily through advertising, including the slots throughout the 1998 Winter Olympic Games and NASCAR races (â€Å"Aflac Incorporated History). Accident and disability premiums surpassed cancer premiums in the United States for the first time in the company’s history in the year 2000. The popular Aflac duck made its first appearance on television in the year 2001 for a commercial for accident insurance (â€Å"Aflac Incorporated History). † III. Company Financials With every company, the financial po rtion of the company will vary from year to year. AFLAC, which is one of the most trusted insurance companies and has the most popular commercials, has been doing very well over the years as an insurance company. This company has annual sales presently at over eighteen million dollars (â€Å"Aflac Financial Reports†). Ten million dollars of the eighteen million dollars in revenues were solely from the sales of the employees that worked for this company. This company is a publicly traded company located on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Over the years, this stock price has gone up and up every single year. It is now priced at fifty five dollars per share, which shows how successful this company has been over the years. Below, is a chart that shows Aflac’s stock price from June of 2009 to April of 2010 (Business Source Complete). It shows that in June of 2009, it was price at thirty three dollars per share. It had a significant setback right before September where it dropped under thirty dollars per share (Aflac’s Financial Reports. )† It has since resurged in the past ten months to be up to fifty five dollars per share. It shows that Aflac has not been affected by the recession, which is ongoing in the United States. IV. Internal Factors & External Industry Analysis The insurance industry is a very competitive industry. AFLAC’s main concern is the customer service problems and that the agents are not trained enough to help out the various customers the company deals with. AFLAC specializes in accident and health insurance mostly, with the option of life insurance as well (Business Wire). The industry as a whole is very successful. The most popular aspect that most people will recognize about this company is their memorable commercials featuring the AFLAC duck (Price 1). The duck’s familiar quack and voiceover by Gilbert Godfrey immediately shows that it provides worker’s compensation to its employees (Price 1). There are definitely way more strengths than weaknesses in this particular company. The strengths of this advertisement are its catchiness and cleverness of the advertisements design rather than its theme. The main theme of the advertisement should have gone in a more interesting way of the necessity of the worker’s compensation as part of one’s health insurance package (Price 1). However, the nature of the duck in AFLAC’s commercials makes the surface theme of the duck recognizable and that’s why AFLAC’s commercials with the duck are so popular and has been a big reason why AFLAC has been a solid company over the years. Moreover, in the strengths of this company, it also has to do with the sole person that the customer is dealing with (Wiki wealth). The main strength of this company is the agents that are hired to work with the various customers. If a customer has a great representative, it has come apparent that they would recommend the company to all their friends and family. Personally, having a good representative will keep the customer more calm and know that their insurance claims will be paid in a more efficient time period. In addition, having an agent that can answer all of the customer’s questions and concerns is a big thing as well. If the agent is intelligent enough to answer all of the inquiries the customer may have, the customer will overall have a great experience and would feel that dealing with a company like this would be overall a great experience for that individual. Many believe that the insurance industry can be a profitable one. The industry in itself can be a very successful one, but also can be risky at times. As many might already know, insurance involves pooling different funds from many uninsured entities in order to pay for relatively uncommon, but severely devastating losses which can occur to these entities (â€Å"Industry Handbook). In the United States, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999 was put into legislation. It stated that banks, brokerages, and insurance firms can come together to offer the customers a range of services (â€Å"Industry Handbook. )† In the insurance industry, this had led to an outrage of â€Å"Merger and Acquisition† activity. In addition, a majority o f liability insurance companies underwritten in the United States has been through big firms, which has been scooping up all different insurance industries (â€Å"Industry Handbook†). Insurance can also have some positive and negative effects on society and the economy as well. These are effects that are important and have to be monitored closely (â€Å"Insurance†). One negative about it is that it can increase fraudulent acts by individuals (â€Å"Insurance†). People will try to use insurance companies to try to get money out of them even if nothing extraordinary happens when they need money. On the other hand, it can help many families and individuals prepare for catastrophes and the effects of this on households and societies (â€Å"Insurance†). As one can see, the risk of insurance companies is that there can be access to fraud by individuals trying to exploit these companies for money. On the other end, this is a great way just in case a catastrophe happens in a family such as a deadly car accident, untimely death, or anything of that circumstance. Other factors need to be considered as well when talking about the internal and external aspects of this industry. Demographics is an important factor that needs to be considered. It can affect the sales for insurance, particularly the life insurance aspect (â€Å"Industry Handbook†). As people become older, they tend to rely more on life insurance products for their retirement. In more recent years, the insurance industry has made great headway in offering investments and savings type insurance products for their benefit (â€Å"Industry Handbook†). The Global Insurance Industry is also an important factor when it comes to insurance companies. The industry has to deal with the many fluctuations of the interest rates established. Global insurance premiums grew by 3. 4% to reach 4. 3 trillion dollars (â€Å"Reuters†). Insurance companies do invest in much of the collected premiums, so the income generated through these premiums is highly dependent on these interest rates (â€Å"Reuters†). For the first time in the past three decades, premium income has declined in inflation adjusted terms, with non life premiums falling by 0. 8% and life premiums falling near 3. 5% (â€Å"Reuters†). It has become apparent that this industry (insurance) is exposed to the global economic turndown on the assets side by the decline in return on investments and on the liabilities side by a rise in insurance claims (â€Å"Insurance†). It shows that AIG, a similar insurance company just likes AFLAC, was bailed out in September of 2008 and has had an enormous effect on AFLAC’s business and the insurance industry as a whole. The recession and the financial crisis that has gone on throughout the United States the past few years have shown that the insurance industry is sufficiently capitalized (â€Å"Insurance†). The vast majority of the insurance companies have had enough capital to survive, with only a few insurance companies asking the government for help. AFLAC was one of the companies that did not to have the government intervene into their company. The Five Forces Model, which originated from Michael E. Porter’s book, â€Å"Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors,† has become a frequently used tool for analyzing a company industry structure and corporate strategy (â€Å"Porter’s Five Forces Analysis†). These five aspects include Threat of New Entrants, Power of Suppliers, Power of Buyers, Availability of Substitutes, and Competitive Rivalry. First, the threat of new entrants is the first aspect in Porter’s Five Forces Model. In explaining this, it most nearly means that the easier it is for new companies to enter the industry, the more cutthroat the competition will be (â€Å"Porter’s Five Forces Analysis†). Barriers to entry can limit the threat of new entrants. When it comes to the insurance industry, it is not like any type of person or entrepreneur cannot come along and start an insurance company. The threat of new entrants lies within the insurance industry itself. AFLAC has been fearful in the past of being squeezed out by the big players (â€Å"Industry Handbook†). Another threat for AFLAC may be the other financial services companies entering the market (â€Å"Industry Handbook†). This might cause a direct threat to AFLAC and often hurt them in the long run. If a bank or investment company offered insurance products, it would directly hurt the success of AFLAC. The second aspect of this model is the Power of Suppliers. This most nearly means how much pressure suppliers can place on a business (â€Å"Porters Five Forces Analysis†). In the insurance industry, there can be an immense amount of pressure. The suppliers of capital might not pose a big threat initially, but the threat of suppliers luring away human capital does pose a big threat (â€Å"Industry Handbook†). In AFLAC’s case, they do not want suppliers luring away their human capital because they would lose a lot of business. Also, if this had happened, government intervention might have to happen if they were not doing well financially. For example, if a talented insurance agent is working for a smaller insurance company, there is a legitimate chance that they will be enticed away from the smaller company moving to a larger one. In AFLAC’s case, there have been a few individuals that have gone from smaller insurance companies to the more, popular large ones to move into a particular market that they are comfortable in. The power of suppliers has a huge effect on AFLAC and needs to be monitored closely. The third aspect of this model is the Power of Buyers. This is just the opposite of the Power of Suppliers. In this case, this most nearly means how much pressure customers place on a business (â€Å"Porter’s Five Forces Analysis†). The customer can hold substantial power when it comes to insurance companies such as AFLAC. A regular individual does not pose a threat to AFLAC when it comes to the power of customers. But, what do pose a threat to AFLAC, is the large corporate clients that have more bargaining power than AFLAC (â€Å"Industry Handbook†). Just like airlines and pharmaceutical companies pay lots of money in premiums every year and insurance companies try hard to get high corporate clients (â€Å"Industry Handbook†). AFLAC tries this approach so they can get more for their dollar and be successful in different ways of the insurance industry. The fourth aspect of this model is the availability of substitutes. If someone who uses AFLAC as an insurance possibility and the cost of switching is low, this could cause a potential serious threat to AFLAC (â€Å"Industry Handbook†). This aspect is a pretty straightforward one as there are various substitutes in the insurance industry. Most large insurance companies, such as AFLAC being one of them, offer similar services. Whether it be automobile, life, home, and health insurance, chances are that the competitors can offer similar services. Companies focusing on niche areas usually have a competitive advantage, but this advantage depends on the size and whether there are barriers of entry available (â€Å"Industry Handbook†). AFLAC is one of these companies that do focus on the niche areas of the industry and have the competitive advantage. It seems that they are going to be fine when it comes to other companies offering substitutes. The fifth and final aspect of this model is the competitive rivalry. This is the most important part of the model. This describes the intensity of the various companies in the insurance industry (â€Å"Porter’s Five Forces Analysis†). It is becoming a very highly competitive industry. The difference between one insurance company and another is not all that different (â€Å"Industry Handbook†). As a result, it seems that insurance has become a commodity, which means an area in which the insurance company with a low cost structure, greater efficiency, and good customer service will beat out the competitors (â€Å"Industry Handbook†). AFLAC has the historical characteristics of having a low cost structure and good efficiency, but the customer service is still â€Å"Up in the air. † In the long run, I believe we may see more consolidation in the insurance industry. Other companies may prefer to take over or merge with smaller companies, but AFLAC’s approach is to advertise and market with the AFLAC duck and so far it has been a success over the years these commercials have aired. V. Product or Service for Improvement (House of Quality, DMAIC) There is not one company out there in the world that cannot improve. Even if you are considered a â€Å"perfect company,† there will always be room for some type of improvement on a product or service. In AFLAC’s case, they have been a successful company, but at the same time, they have many concerns within their organization. Within AFLAC, there are multiple changes that could be made to their product or service. The most important thing to fix in their system is that it seems that the company does not pay the customers claims in an efficient amount of time. This can mean a certain wide of things, but more importantly needs to be fixed before this company loses more and more customers. Paying the claims on certain individuals and families have been delayed for as long as two years, which seems to be an unreasonable amount of time. Moreover in this, it seems the customer service is lackluster and needs to be improved as well. Building an improvement plan so this company can get better reviews and even improve financially is important. I believe the first aspect of this is to build what is called a House of Quality. The House of Quality is â€Å"A set of matrices used to relate the voice of the customer to technical features and production planning and control requirements (Evans, 294). The House of Quality relates the attributes of the customer to the technical features. This requires six basic steps needed to be successful. When it comes to AFLAC, building a House of Quality will be reliable in their organization. The first step of this model is to identify the customer attributes. The manager must apply Quality Functional Deployment, which is used to ensure custo mer requirements throughout the product or improvement design process (Evans, 293). It is vastly important to use the notion of â€Å"The voice of the Customer† so it is not misinterpreted by any type of designers or engineers. For AFLAC,I have developed three customer attributes that AFLAC deals with. The first one is the basic attribute, which also can be called the â€Å"Must haves†(â€Å"AFLAC Attributes†). These are expected by the various customers. The second attribute is the â€Å"Linear Satisfiers† (â€Å"AFLAC Attributes†). If this company uses this attribute more effectively, this will increase the customer satisfaction, which at some points, is lacking. The third customer attribute is the â€Å"Energizers† (â€Å"AFLAC Attributes†). This means that it is not expected or required, but creates high customer satisfaction when present and can make the difference in choices for the consumer. For AFLAC, the different type of customers might include single individuals, families, working unions, and government officials (Evans, 295). Therefore, there are many classes that need to be considered. The second step of this model is to identify the technical features that are necessary to meet the requirements of customers (Evans, 295). These technical features expressed the language of the designer and engineer. These are the people that form the basis for design and service activities in an organization. In AFLAC, these must be measurable to track the positive or negative results and the output will be compared to the goals of AFLAC. The roof of the House of Quality (Evans 297) shows the interrelationships between any pair of technical features. These technical features can include the premiums, fees, allocated income, less claims, and less operating expenses. They are classified into either a very strong relationship, strong relationship, and a weak relationship (Evans, 296). The third step of this model is to relate the customer attributes to the technical features. The customer attributes is applied to using Quality Functional Deployment. The customer attributes is to have a better â€Å"experience† than they have had in the past with AFLAC. As set up on the House of Quality chart, the customer attributes are listed down the left hand column with the technical features listed across the top (Evans, 296). Using a relationship matrix is the most effective way to show this. AFLAC’s customer attributes must show whether the final technical features adequately address the customer attributes. These technical features can affect several of the customer attributes. â€Å"The lack of a strong relationship between a customer attribute and any of the technical feature suggests that the attributes are not being addressed and that the final service will have difficulty meeting customer needs (Evans, 296). If the technical feature does not match customer attribute, then the designer might have missed something important. † For instance, in AFLAC the â€Å"Voice of the Customer,† all input is appreciated with expert experience, customer surveys or overviews, or any type of controlled experiments (Evans 296). AFLAC should implement customer surveys and overviews to see what the customers have to say about their experience. Within many companies, especially restaurant establishments, they give out survey cards and rate the service of the waiter and restaurant staff. AFLAC should implement this and read over these surveys so at each AFLAC branch, they can see what they are excelling in and what they are struggling in. This would be beneficial to the company as a whole and to the customers as well. The next step of the House of Quality is evaluating the competitive products or services. This evaluation helps highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the problem. In AFLAC’s instance, the strengths of this company is that they have a strong financial strength within the company, the coverage it provides, the portability, the cost, and the direct payment (Hartman 1). The weaknesses include delays on paying customer’s claims, poor customer service, and more concerned about processes than progresses (Hartman 1). This step enables the designers to seek the opportunities for improvement. This links Quality Functional Deployment to a company’s strategic vision and allows priorities to be set in the design process (Evans, 297). † Some customer attributes become key selling points and help establish promotional strategies. The next step is the evaluation of the technical features of competitive aspects and development of targets. This step is usually accomplished through internal testing and translated into measurable results (Evans, 297). With AFLA C, these evaluations are compared with the competitive evaluation of customer attributes to find inconsistencies. The inconsistencies with AFLAC is their customer service. Targets for each technical feature are set on the basis of customer importance ratings and the existing products strengths and weaknesses (Evans, 298). The final step in building the House of Quality is selecting the technical features to be deployed in the remainder of the process. This means â€Å"identifying the characteristics that have strong relationships to customer needs, have poor competitive performance, or are strong selling points (Evans, 297). † The cost and direct payments with AFLAC are the proper actions and controls to maintain the voice of the customer. Also, on the negative side, the poor customer service and the delay of paying customer claims are critical as well and do need the attention. The House of Quality shows the six steps and how they are to be evaluated in sequential order. They will either be a very strong relationship, strong relationship, or weak relationship. We have to focus to make sure AFLAC improves its processes. It is important AFLAC improves as a company as a whole or could face the financial crisis as AIG did in September of 2008. They need to improve on what they have been criticized for in the past. Using a six sigma approach would be beneficial to their improvement plan. This is an approach to measuring product and service quality (Evans, 93). â€Å"The late Bill Smith, a reliability engineer at Motorola, is credited with originating the concept during the mid 1980s and selling it to Motorola’s CEO, Robert Galvin (Evans, 94). † He wanted to improve product and service quality in his organization and wanted to achieve six sigma capability by 1992. The key concepts of this was think, focus, emphasize, ensure, provide, Create highly qualified improvement experts, and set stretch objectives for improvement (Evans, 94). Today, Six sigma is used as a quality framework and in service organizations. As part of the improvement plan, AFLAC needs to implement a six sigma approach called DMAIC methodology. â€Å"This is a standard problem solving approach used in Six Sigma (Evans, 264). The DMAIC stands for define, measure, analyze, improve, and control. AFLAC can use this methodology to help solve their problem of not dealing with the insurance claims in an efficient amount of time and the customer service that goes along with it. It is explained that the six sigma project selected is dealing with the insurance claims in a sufficient amount of time without any delays. Therefore, the first step is to define the process that needs to be solved or needs â€Å"help. † The problem must be described in operational terms. As an example for AFLAC, this company has history of poor customer service and not paying the claims in time. Therefore, this six sigma project is to improve customer service reliability. Along with this problem, shows that the various insurance agents that are employed with AFLAC seem to not be motivated enough to satisfy the customer. In most organizations including this one, the main job is to satisfy the customer and make sure he or she got the experience with the company and is walking away happy with the customer service. This drills down to a more specific process which is called project scoping (Evans, 264). The customers must be identified that have the most impact on this negative performance, errors or the customer complaints. This phase also needs to address project management issues. In a more timely effort, these AFLAC agents may need some motivation whether it be more of an incentive or extensive training practices to make sure every customer walks out happy. The next phase is the measuring phase. This phase main focus is on how to measure the internal practices of the problems (Evans, 265). It does require an understanding of relationships between process performance and the value of the customer. In AFLAC, every customer is important. Once this is understood, collecting good data, observation, and careful listening should be implemented (Evans, 265). With AFLAC, the high managers and CEO should be doing this type of aspect of this cycle. They should be doing the observation part of every AFLAC branch. Hiring a team of auditors would most likely be the smartest idea. The careful listening part should be by the various AFLAC agents. The auditors and CEO should be giving the individual feedback and the agents should listen on how they can improve their working practices. The third phase is the analyze phase. A huge flaw that happens in problem solving teams and approaches is a lack of emphasis on the analysis portion (Evans, 266). A lot of the time, companies just want to jump into a solution and miss the step of understanding how serious the problem is and identifying where it is coming from. This phase focuses on why defects and errors occur in the organization. The AFLAC auditors need to conduct experiments to be one hundred percent sure that the scope of the problem is accurate. These experiments generally consist of formulating some type of hypothesis and then collecting data and analyzing it (Evans, 266). AFLAC needs to implement a statistical thinking tool. This tool is a philosophy of learning and action based on three principles. These principles include all work occurring in a system of interconnected processes, variation exists in all processes, and understanding and reducing variations are keys to success (Evans, 323). Analyzing statistical thinking in AFLAC would be an immense of help regarding not paying the claims in a timely manner. Variation must exist in this process and AFLAC does not have variation in this type of process. This is why statistics is an important part of the Six Sigma training. Also, what also needs to be analyzed in AFLAC is to see if their also is a computer problem regarding the claims not going through their system. AFLAC pays all their claims online and doing a computer simulation of all computers in the offices would scope out if there is a possible problem with the computer. Once the cause is determined, the analyst, auditors, and teams needs to generate ideas for removing or resolving the problem and improve the performance measures (Evans, 266). One of the difficulties in this section of the DMAIC phase is the natural instinct to prejudge ideas before thoroughly evaluating them in full detail. â€Å"Effective problem solvers must learn to defer judgment and develop the ability to generate a large number of ideas at this stage of the process, whether they are practical ideas or not (Evans, 266). AFLAC needs to improve their customer service and paying their claims in a timely fashion. One idea that needs to be implemented is to have an online website to file the claims to AFLAC. This would be a big convenience to all AFLAC’s clients. On the website, it should also have a spot where you can track the status of your claim. This would save AFLAC lots of money and it would cause less hassle on the customer service line of all the customers asking if their claim has been paid or not. Switching it to online would be more efficient, save money and also would be easier to keep track of every claim. It is way more efficient being on the computer and being well organized than searching through a person’s file looking for it. Implementing the websites to file claims will make the turnover be lower of the amount of complaints regarding the customer service, but there still needs to be improvements. As for the poor customer service, their needs to be extensive training for the many insurance agents that are employed with AFLAC. It has become apparent that these agents were not trained fully on the job when they were originally hired. Implementing a plan where training must exist upon hiring an agent and it should be done every two years to ensure quality in these individuals. The final phase of DMAIC is the control phase. This focuses on how to maintain the improvements AFLAC has implemented. This means putting tools in place to ensure the key variables remain within the maximum acceptable ranges under the modified process (Evans, 266-267). Controlling these plans are vastly important. AFLAC should hire an individual outside of the organization to solely work and monitor the website where claims are filed and to see the status of the claims that are filed. The company will be paying the individual, but in the end, it will save them money and turnover will have gone down significantly. The individual will control these websites and make sure there are no downturns or technical difficulties in the operation of this website. As for the training process improvement, the individual will be trained by top management on an individual basis once every two years. This might seem to be a lot of training by retraining them every two years. Technology changes from year to year and different programs will most likely be established in the near future and it is very important that the agents learn the new development in technology to help them do their jobs on the computer. Training the individual might seem like a hassle to the co-worker, but in the end they will become a more positive individual because they will know that they are doing their job in the most efficient and successful way possible. VI. Identify Management Planning Tools (Tree Diagram, Process Decision Program Chart) Planning is one of the basic functions of every manager out there. The complexity of the business environment today means that planning is not always the easiest thing to do (Evans, 302). However, many different types of tools have been developed by several Japanese companies over the last half century as part of their planning processes (Evans, 302). These tools can be used to address problems typically faced by managers in an everyday role. There are all different types of management tools that can be used to show the improvement in a chart or just explaining it in words. These help the manager understand what exactly needs to be done to improve the process it is struggling or needs â€Å"help† in. With AFLAC, showing these different management tools to management and the lower level employees will help them understand what AFLAC is trying to do as a company and is finding many ways to improve themselves in the

Investigating how Businesses work Essay

Introduction For this assignment I am investigating how Marks and Spencer plc works, and I will look at its aims and objectives, functional areas, employment law, communication methods and organisational structure of the company. Marks and Spencer is a publicly owned company in the retail sector. It is in the retail industry and is a large company. The company has been running for many years. Marks and Spencer is one of the UK’s leading retailers of clothing, foods, homeware and financial services. It serves 10 million customers a week over 300 UK stores. Aims and objectives All businesses have aims, this helps them achieve and reach their targets to make their business successful. Therefore Marks and Spencer’s aim is to attract the customers with appealing, superior quality products at attractive prices. They do this by creating exclusive products for the customers. The company aims to put the customer first in everything they do and offer the highest values of customer care in order to satisfy them. In order to achieve the aims, businesses need to decide what objectives to take to help them. According to Marks and Spencer’s objectives are to: 1. Deliver the agreed minimum customer service standards 2. Carry out and develop new systems 3. Reduce theft and loss 4. Create a visually exciting store 5. Permit people 6. Improve effectiveness through managing risk 7. Recruit the right people to provide service standards 8. Deliver customer focused training Functional Areas In large businesses people work as a team in order to help the business run smoothly and effectively, they work together in different functional areas which relate to them. Businesses have these functional areas to help them achieve their aims and objectives. I will be looking at four functional areas, which are: 1. Human Resources 2. Finance 3. Marketing and Sales 4. Administration Human Resources Human Resources are involved with the staffs that work for the company. The staffs in this area are important because they are partly responsible for keeping the business successful. The Human Resources staffs are involved in: * Recruitment * Working conditions * Health and safety * Training and development * Employee organisations and unions Recruitment Vacancies for Marks and Spencer are mainly advertised in recruitment agencies, local or national newspaper, local job centres and careers offices. Marks and Spencer has a company policy to reply to every application sent. These applications are filed for 3 months and then are destroyed so applicants will have to reapply every 12 weeks. There are three ways to apply for a position in store management. You must be either a graduate/undergraduate with a degree or HND and GCSE Maths and English grade C+. For school or college leavers, with A Levels and GCSE Maths and English C+. Marks and Spencer look for people with high standards, who will enjoy working in the retail environment and they look for people who are good with customers or at customer service and people who will work harmoniously in a team. Working Conditions Marks and Spencer has several of working conditions, these include holiday entitlement, hours of work, pay etc. All staff, including temporary and permanent, is entitled to a holiday each year. This holiday entitlement runs from April 1st to March 31st. You can take a holiday if you have a contract of 13 weeks or more. Marks and Spencer has a store policy that all staff should plan and book their holiday in advance because the store operates on a first come first serve basis. They need to book their holiday before to avoid any disappointments. Health and Safety Many health services at Marks and Spencer are provided for the staff such as the staff doctor, store dentist and smear tests for the female staff. The staff doctor attends the store regularly to help and give advice. All staff is entitled to make an appointment if they wish to see the doctor. Every 6 months the store dentist also attends the store for a routine check. He will recommend treatment to staff if needed. A private medical is available to all permanent staff. Cervical smears are available for the female staff and wives of male employees every 3 years. Training and Development Marks and Spencer provide staff with training opportunities. The NVQ programme was one of the largest training programmes they had. At Marks and Spencer, people skills are important whoever you come into contact with, such as customers, suppliers or members of the staff. Employee Organisations and Trade Unions The employees do not officially have union representation, but are entitled to join a union if they wish to. The company wishes all its contacts with unions to be conducted in a decent and co-operative manner. It is illegal for management to interfere with the right of an individual to belong to an independent union as defined in the Trade Union and Labour Relations Act 1976. The types of job roles in human resources are: Job Title Job Role Human resources Managing the HR department and staff, involved with Manager industrial relations and trade unions negotiations, Implementing the organisations HR policies. Training/staff Responsible for training and staff development. development Health and safety Overseeing all the health and safety matters and Officer monitoring Personnel/staffing Keeping staff records, monitoring staff welfare officer HR administrative Administrative work relating to the human resources Assistants function. Finance Businesses need to manage and control the money coming in and going out of the business. They also need to understand this information in order to plan what to do next and to see if they need to make any changes. All businesses deal with: * Preparing accounts * Paying wages and salaries * Obtaining capital and resources. The major sources of finance include back profits, shares, banking facilities, hire purchase/leasing and trade credits. Preparing accounts The finance staffs at Marks and Spencer have to deal with a range of activities related to checking and recording of all amounts of money received and paid. These are entered into an account each customer has. When money is being received it is banked as soon as possible and also is checked carefully and recorded against each item sold and against each customer’s account. Every Business including Marks and Spencer has to pay its own bills. They will owe money for raw materials used in the manufacture of a product and for the services it uses. Paying wages and salaries Wages and Salaries are done by a computerised procedure. Marks and Spencer pay their staff monthly direct into their bank account, using a system called credit transfer. The company’s bank transfers money to all the employee’s accounts. The bank keeps payroll records, which shows how much each staff earns and how much they are meant to be paid, this helps the bank to transfer the right amount of money into the staff account. Obtaining capital and resources Capital is the money the owner puts into Marks and Spencer. This will be needed when the business starts trading. The money buys all the requirements Marks and Spencer needs. When the business starts to trade and make a profit, the profit is used to buy new stock to sell and also saved incase the company wants to buy new equipment. The job roles in finance are: Job Title Job Role Finance Director Giving advice to senior managers on the overall financial Policy of the organisation. Financial Manager Managing the finance function and staff. Advising on financial resources. Management Producing continuous financial information for Accountant management Credit controller Advising on credit policies. Ensuring that money owing to the company is kept within agreed levels. Payroll Responsible for overseeing the company payroll and Administrator salary/wage section. Ledger Clerks Assist the chief accountant in the recording of all financial transactions. Marketing and Sales Businesses carry out a range of activities to identify the customer’s needs and then try to provide for them. These activities include: * Market research * Promotion * Sales promotion Market Research Marks and Spencer has a separate department, which is involved with market research. Market research deals with customer feedback and external agencies. Other types of market research that are used at Marks and Spencer are through credit card, database, direct mailing, and telephone and through the customer services department. Market research can be carried out through primary and secondary research. Promotion Marks and Spencer have to decide how to promote their products, this usually depends on the type of product or service they want to promote Marks and Spencer advertise its promotion through corporate advertising, for example with seasonal products like strawberries in the summer. The major markets are the consumer markets worldwide but Marks and Spencer find their main shoppers are middle aged, middle class and female. Sales Promotion Sales promotions are campaigns, which offer special discounts and attract customers to try a new a product. Sale promotions at Marks and Spencer include offering free samples of food, special discounts and offers. Marks and Spencer set up campaigns for a few reasons such as attracting more buyers but mainly if a new product is not selling as well as it should be then the campaign is set up. The major customers for the products are the general public. The job roles involved in Marketing and Sales are: Job Title Job Role Marketing director Responsible for the overall marketing function and its aims and objectives. Sales manager Responsible for sales staff and the achievement of sales targets, often within the UK. Advertising In charge with advertising and agency staff over Manager publicity campaign. Export manager Responsible for overseas agents and the achievement of sales targets overseas. Market Find out consumer opinions on current and proposal Researchers goods and services. Order clerks Accept and process sale orders Administration The administration function helps a business run smoothly from day to day and keeping things up to date. It covers a number of different tasks including: * Clerical work, collecting mail, keeping records, organising meetings, responding to enquiries * Cleaning, maintenance and security Clerical work Every day Marks and Spencer would receive telephone calls that need to be answered, mails that needs opening and replying, a list of tasks to do, visitors that arrive at the reception some without a appointment, Fax messages, documents to sort out and need to prepare and documents that need updating etc. Every morning Marks and Spencer receive a number of mails, these mails are then sorted correctly, date stamped then delivered to different departments and individual staff. Marks and Spencer also arrange for their mail to be collected to sent out at a certain time. Marks and Spencer receive enquiries from a variety of people, companies and also other people from inside the organisation departments. Marks and Spencer try to answer these enquiries quickly with correct information. Marks and Spencer has a large amount of documents produce by organisations such as forms, fax/telephone messages, letters and reports. These documents are then filed and some are stored in the computer. Cleaning and maintenance Marks and Spencer employ cleaners to do routine cleaning duties. Some employees do the basic cleaning and the others don’t. If a cleaner is off sick, the supplier has to replace them as part of their contract. Security Marks and Spencer security staff are not employed by the company but by a specialist security firm. The responsibility of the firm is training and supply. The security staffs are responsible for patrolling the premises. The job roles involved in Administration are: Job Title Job Role Administration Managing the administration operations of the Manager organisation. Company A senior executive responsible for all legal affairs of the secretary company, dealing with shareholders, insurance and organising meetings. IT manager Managing all the IT requirements of the company, including Equipment and advising on future needs. PA/secretarial Responsible for providing secretarial and administrative Staff support, usually to senior managers. Equal opportunities and employment legislation Recruiting and keeping the right employees is important to every business. Both employers and employees have rights and responsibilities. These are safeguarded by employment law, not only by employee organisations and unions. The 4 main Acts are: 1. The Employment Rights Act 1996 2. The Sex Discrimination Act 1975 3. The Race Relations Act 1976 4. The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 The Employment Rights Act 1996 This act establishes a wide range of rights that employees have when they are being employed, for example: * The right to a contract of employment must be given within two months of starting employment and must include details such as name of employee and employer, date when employment began, rate of pay and when its due, hours of work, sick pay etc. * All female employees have the right to maternity leave, this can be up to 29 weeks and also can return to work afterwards. * Employees have the right to take time off to look for a new job, attending interviews and still be paid. * Employees have the right not to be unfairly dismissed. * Employees have the right to redundancy payments if an employee is dismissed because the job is no longer available. The Sex Discrimination Act 1975 This act makes it illegal for anyone to be discriminated against someone on the grounds of gender either directly or indirectly. In employment this applies to recruitment and selection for jobs and promotion, training the way you are treated in a job, dismissal and redundancy. The Race Relations Act 1976 This act makes it unlawful to discriminate against people of colour, race, nationality or ethnic origin. In the track of employment it is unlawful to discriminate in the arrangements for employment, which are: * In the interview or advisement’s * In the terms of employment * By refusing employment because of colour, race, nationality or ethnic origin. * In promotion and training * By dismissing a person The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 This act is concerned with discrimination against people with disabilities in employment. The disability may be physical, sensory or mental but must be relatively long-term. Employers must not treat a disabled person less favourable than others. Employers must be prepared to make reasonable adjustments to the workplace to help the disabled person do the job. Disabled persons who suffer discrimination can complain to an employment tribunal. Below are some examples of how employees at Marks and Spencer are protected by these Acts: 1st example A female staff from Marks and Spencer was pregnant and she was due to a maternity leave as agreed on for 30 weeks, she carried on working for a couple of weeks before she was due to the leave. When she took that leave, it happened to be longer than she thought, she had to take an extra few weeks of and when she came back, the job was still there for her. 2nd example New black female staffs were starting work at Marks and Spencer. On her first day, she needed to be trained and taught about the health and safety matters, this had to be done by a health and safety officer from Marks and Spencer. When she met the officer, he wasn’t very welcoming and didn’t seem pleased. He showed her around but the woman thought he wasn’t explaining very clearly and she was worried because she wouldn’t know exactly what to do if there was a fire, so she reported this to the employer and it seemed that he didn’t give her the full instructions, so another officer had to be arranged to train her. 3rd example A man applied for a job at Marks and Spencer, he was unsure whether he would get the job because of his disability problem but when they called him in for an interview he was surprised. They discussed his disability problem and the arrangements for him to work, so in the end they gave him a part time job, which he was very pleased about. Communication People working in different functional areas have to communicate with each other as well as with people outside the business such as customers and suppliers. In order to keeps the business running smoothly and effectively they need to keep the other people in the business well informed, to do this they might use: Internal External Telephone Telephone E-mail E-mail Pager Advertisement Face to face Internet Advertisement Fax Interview Letter Memo Video conferencing Notice Intranet Meeting Marks and Spencer Internal methods of communication to different functional areas are the telephone, email, fax machine, verbal meetings and appointments and also video conferencing, which are used around the country to save time on travelling and costs. The management team spend a high amount of time on the sales floor visiting various sections to see supervisors and staff. Marks and Spencer external communications include letters received from the charities, they receive about 10,000 appeals for support every year. External communications also include project work, Equal opportunities and also the company support projects, which help the elderly and the young and also people with special needs and those who require help in the members of the community. Due to the rising number of communications throughout the company, the communication problems have been encountered and one of the biggest problems has been to ensure everyone is informed. Due to the speed of the business, Marks and Spencer have to ensure that all the staffs try to ensure professional communication by being prepared and organised. The developments Marks and Spencer now have in mind is to improve and make communications more better through e-mail, to improve the in store telephone and the bleep systems such as changing to mobile phones and a speed dial network system. Below is a diagram showing how the functional areas communicate with each other externally and internally. Functional Type of Reason why Area communication Human -Telephone Confidentiality Resources -face to face Urgent -Letter Fast and easy to use -Meeting Saves time to talk to individuals Finance -Letter Security -E-mail Confidentiality -Meeting Get feedback from people quick Administration -Fax can be kept for future reference -Letter evidence and can be copied. -Email convenient while on the computer Marketing and -Meeting Group discussion, more ideas to share Sales Different functional areas use different communicational methods to communicate with each other, this is because employers need to know which type of communication to use for each purpose. For example, human resources might use the telephone or letter to communicate with a different functional area because it might be confidential, this way no confidential information is being reached out of the organisation. And also if a letter is being used, this can be kept for future reference and hard evidence for any purpose. Another type of communication is a meeting; this can save a lot of time and can get feedback from the people at the meeting immediately. Meetings also save time on having to discuss things individually. These types of communication can help Marks and Spencer achieve their aims and objectives, one of the main aims of Marks and Spencer is to put the customers first and to offer the highest values in customer care to satisfy them. To achieve this aim, Marks and Spencer keep the flow of information within the company, they keep the right people informed with up to date information so that when customers ask for certain information it will be as accurate as possible. The Marketing and Sales functional area keep the staff informed about the current range and prices of products for the benefit of the customers. When an order is being received, they pass it on to be sorted in order. To meet the needs of the customers, the staff’s listens to what customers have to say whether it is a good or bad thing and take that into account. Staff at Marks and Spencer has meetings to discuss any problems whether concerning about the customers or other matters so they can solve the problem maybe for the benefit of the customers who shop at Marks and Spencer. Organisational Structure of Marks and Spencer To make the business run successfully without any chaos, they organise their employees in functional areas and section so they know what to do. This helps the business to make decisions and carry them out. Every business has its own way of structure. Hierarchy Structure Marks and Spencer organisational structure of the business is a hierarchy structure, which is tall and has a number of levels. This type of structure may be large but also has some disadvantages as well as advantages within this structure. Below are the advantages and disadvantages. Advantages * Clear job role and lines of responsibility * Each level will have different opinions so therefore more ideas * Clear pay structure * A large number of colleagues * A range of facilities * Good promotion Disadvantages * Slow communication flow. If any staffs require information, this could take time. * Slow reaction to changes and challenges because many people have to be informed whether decisions or changes were going to be made. * Staff at a lower level may feel the manager at the top has no idea what they think or do Flat Structure Here is an organisational structure of a small company. As you can see, this structure is small and does not have many levels. This type of structure is called a Flat structure. This is very much different to the Marks and Spencer structure because Marks and Spencer is a large company. From the diagram structure we can tell that the company is rather small and has fewer levels. But there are also some advantages as well as disadvantages within this structure. Below are a list of the advantages and disadvantages of a flat structure. Advantages * Communication is quicker and more accurate * Good at responding quickly to new ideas and customer needs * Operate quite easily * Less management cost * Flexible working hours Disadvantages * Business is small * No one to share ideas with * May experience problems with shortage of staff if business is expanding.

Illegality and Various Consequences Essay

ILLEGALITY A contact to be legally binding it should be legal. The contracts which are against the law or the public policy are consider as illegal contracts. Courts do not enforce illegal contracts and treated as void contracts. There are four major criteria to decide the illegality of a contract. Contracts declared illegal by statute law. Statute law consists of both statutes and ordinance which had been legislated by the parliament of the country. Every contact should adhere to the statutes prepared by the parliament. If an element of a contract exceeded any statue that contract becomes illegal. A contract does not need to be a criminal offence in order to be decided as an illegal contract. For an example if there is a minimum price placed for a certain product by a statute such as â€Å"consumer protection act† and when a contract that goes beyond the price element fixed by the statute, then it becomes illegal thus court can void such a contract. Contracts that go against common law. In Sri Lanka, the Roman-Dutch law is considered as the common law. It is important to note that Roman-Dutch law only acts as a residuary law which contents only five present of the contract law. In respect of the three civil marriage laws, that is andyan marriage law Muslim marriage law and thesawalame law the Roman-Dutch law acts as a residuary law. That means regarding a particular issue, if three local laws are silent, Roman-Dutch law comes to enact as a residuary law. And some of the property always belongs to the government. Which means no can claim, own or destroy? Some recourse, for an example costs, forest and rivers always remain with state. Therefore if two parties get together and carried out a contract to cut-down trees in a forest, it becomes illegal since such a contract goes beyond the common law. Contracts void for being against the public policy. Sometime there may be situations where contracts may not break any laws but still they may become declared illegal due to the fact that such contracts violate the acceptable public policy. Therefore courts do not permit to form contracts which go against the public policy. However the term public policy is merely a legal term and does not indicate that it is related to existing government policies. In addition courts have prepared a list of contracts which are deemed to be opposed to public policy : a) Agreement for stifling precision and for outing Jury diction of courts are unlawful not enforceable. ) Agreement in fraud of insolvency law is illegal. d) Agreement for using improper influence of any kind with Judge or officer of justice is void. e) Agreement in restraint of the marriage of any person other then a minor is void. f) Agreement to procure marriage for reward is void. g) Agreement to pay money to parent or guardian in consideration of giving his daughter in marriage I void. Similarly, a promise by the bride’s Parent to pay money to the bridegroom or his parent I illegal. h) Traffic by ay of ale in public office and Appointment or title for monetary consideration I illegal. ) Agreement tending to create monopoly are void. j) Agreements in restraint of trade are void, partial restraint I allowed in sale of Goodwill. k) Contract unduly retrain individual liberty are enforceable. [http:// www. reportbd. com/articles/42/1 Noid-Contract/Page1 . html ] Contracts that go against the morality. Morality is the quality of being in accord with standards of right or good conduct or a system of ideas that fall into those same categories. [http:// www. allaboutphilosophy. org/definition-of-morality-faq. htm ]. Morality is depending on the culture, religion and other traditions in a country. It can be varies from country to country due to this reason. Morality is much broader than the statutory law. And when a contract is made it should adhere within the accepted morality and should not go against it. Courts can void such contracts that go against the morality. For an example when there is a relationship between an unmarried woman and a married person and if the particular woman decided to break their relationship, that particular person cannot take any legal actions against that woman ever since the promise of marriage contract between them is against the orality and thereby courts may declare it as an illegal contract which is voidable. Consequences of illegality. Enturpi Cauza If one is engaged in illegal activity, one cannot sue another for damages that arose out of that illegal activity. [http://www. duhaime. org/LegalDictionary/E/ Exturpicausanonorituractio. spx ]. In other words this means that if the contract is illegal such contracts are considered as void thus no legal consequences arise under this. This is because of the fact that courts do not enforce illegal contracts and even cannot be accepted for hearing at the court. Inpari Delicto Legal principle that if two parties in a dispute are equally at fault then the party in posse ssion of the contested property gets to retain it (courts will not interfere with breach of a contract, or which fails to take appropriate action (or takes inappropriate action) to limit or recoup a loss, may not claim damages. http:// www. businessdictionary. com/definition/in-pari-delicto- doctrine. html#ixzzOyxs2Napo]. Courts may accept some illegal cases under this rule. If the plaintiff is equally guilty as the defendant, the courts may hear the case and may provide remedies to the defendant. This is due to the fact that Inpari Delicto eemed that if the both parties are equally responsible for the illegality, then the defendant is in a stronger position whereas courts do not support the plaintiff to recover anything from the defendant. However there are some exceptions to the Inpari Delicto rule where the court may favors the plaintiff : 01). Where the guilt of the parties is not equal. When there is a possibility to prove that the guilt of the plaintiff is less than the guilt of the defendant, courts sometime may provide the remedies for the plaintiff. This could be happen if the plaintiff is able to prove that there is a mistake in the facts ade by the defendant at the time of making the contract. In such a scenario court may order the plaintiff to recover any money paid or should receive despite the fact that contract is illegal in nature. 2). Where the illegal activity substantially unperformed. This occurs when the illegal purpose of the contract is not carried out because one of the parties to the contract repents in time and prevents the illegal act to be executed any further. In such a case, the party who stopped the act to be carried out will be able to recover anything which he has paid to the other party . However this could be chievable only if it takes place when it would still have been possible to perform the contract. If the illegal purpose could not be realize for some reason that is out side the control of the plaintiff, he will not be able to recover the payment from the other party. 03). Unjust enrichment. The law only permits the persons to be rich in Just and acceptable ways. Law does not endure unjust enrichments. Therefore if the plaintiff is able to prove that the defendant has become rich in unjust ways due to the conduct of this contract, court may order the defendant to return the property that has acquired.

Character in Hamlet Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Character in Hamlet - Essay Example For instance, Hamlet’s relationship with Ophelia and her untimely death; Claudius’s plot to get Hamlet killed through the two minor characters: Rosencratz and Guildenstern; Polonius’s accidental death and so on. Among these minor characters Polonius’s son, Laertes, performs a vital role in the play. Over time, Hamlet’s character has come to be symbolic of indecision and postponement of action. In contrast to this is Laertes who is, in several ways, the exact opposite of Hamlet. This paper will explore what function Laertes serves in Hamlet and how this affects the reader’s perception of him. In the play, Laertes embodies quick decision-making and action and has been deliberately created to serve as a foil to Prince Hamlet, but is ultimately the more sympathetic character. Laertes is introduced in Act I, Scene II where Claudius with almost fatherly affection asks him of his news. Laertes reveals that he is about to return to France. The figure of Laertes then, is introduced at the beginning of the play but only to have him depart soon. His introduction, therefore, must be of some importance as it could easily have been postponed in the play. It is also significant that he is introduced before Hamlet himself. It is only after speaking to Laertes that Claudius turns to Hamlet: ‘But now, my cousin, Hamlet, and my son-.’ This turning from Laertes to Hamlet establishes right at the beginning, some degree of opposition between the two. It is as if Shakespeare, right from the start, deliberately and subtly positions Laertes in contrast to Hamlet. It is also significant to our argument that Laertes too is opposed, to some extent, to Hamlet from the beginning. He advises Ophelia to not take Hamlet’s profession of love for her too seriously: For Hamlet and the trifling of his favour, Hold it a fashion and a toy in blood, A violet in the youth of primy nature, Forward, not permanent, sweet, not lasting, The perf ume and suppliance of a minute; No more (I.iii.6-10). He also cautions her in no uncertain terms – ‘Fear it, Ophelia, fear it, my dear sister’ – that Hamlet’s affections may change. Laertes believes that ‘his will is not his own.’ Laertes, therefore, is the first character in the play to recognize Hamlet’s indecisive nature and notably, is the first to criticize or oppose Hamlet in any way. Structurally then, Laertes is cleverly presented in clear contrast to the main protagonist of the play. But Laertes is also quite different from Hamlet in behavior and action. Hamlet is crippled by the death of his father and is unable to act. His paralysis is so frustrating for him that he turns near suicidal, wishing that his ‘too too solid flesh would melt.’ Whereas, the death of his father only spurs Laertes into further action. He vows that he shall ‘be reveng’d’ and immediately sets upon taking his reveng e upon first, Claudius, and then, Hamlet. He is also successful in killing Hamlet, although not without getting himself killed in the process. It is significant to our argument that Hamlet and Laertes kill each other with the same poisoned sword. It is symbolic of their dependent opposition that one cannot die without killing the other in the process. We see then, that in terms of plot action Laertes is clearly established as Hamlet’s polar opposite: right from the beginnin

Marketing Plan for a Camera Phone Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 13

Marketing Plan for a Camera Phone - Essay Example From this study it is clear that the goals of the company are to launch the camera phone and capture at least 10% of the market in the first year. This means that the company has to ensure that the marketing is targeted and focused on the particular segments it wants the phone to be sold. Culture: The Company has a laissez faire and democratic culture in its dealings with employees and other stakeholders. This is part of the strategy to ensure that it remains in touch with the latest trends in the telecom space by aligning itself to the needs of the youth. Strengths: Apart from the technical strengths of the mobile phone and its perceived edge over the others in the design and features of the camera phone, the company also focuses on the emerging trends and tries to be ahead of the curve. According to the essay the Company hopes to gain market share proportional to the products that it is marketing and feels that this can be done. One of the aims of this marketing plan is to detail w ays in which the company can gain market share by targeting the customer segments appropriately. Market position: The Company does not have the market leader position but hopes to gain market share by launching its products into the market targeted at a particular segment and aimed at the brand conscious and style conscious customers. By this way, the company hopes to do well in the chosen market segments. Strengths: The competitors are well established and have a presence that is formidable. Only by playing to the company’s strengths in terms of features and style can the company hope to gain market share. Market shares: The market shares of the competitors are formidable but the company can rely on the product doing well in the market place. This is a sure way of ensuring that the market share is gained in a short time.

Substance Abuse Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Substance Abuse - Article Example Through the journaling technique, I took down relevant notes on shared information which are deemed crucial to the healing process. As I was attending the meeting, there were different thoughts that crossed my mind, such as (1) how dedicated and committed are the alcoholics and the family members who attended the meeting; (2) do they really see the group (Alcoholic Anonymous) as an effective tool for recovery; (3) how different are the views of new and old members in terms of AA facilitating ways for their recovery; (4) does it help the alcoholics more when family members are present; among others. Initially, the meeting started by the presider announcing relevant events and activities to be participated in by alcoholics, family members and interest guests. Then, during the discussion the presider reminds members of the Twelve Steps which are the guiding principles for recovery. Old alcoholic members who have fully recovered shared their challenges and rewards for undergoing the program; while members were still anxious and apprehensive to share experiences. Every experiences shared were expounded by the preside r where interesting thoughts were emphasized and confirmed through validating experiences of others. I honestly thought that it would be an instrumental contribution to be part of this community as a presider, a coach or mentor to assist people with drinking problems on the road towards