British Gas Business Essay Example for Free

British Gas Business Essay A review of the British Gas Businesses current approach to collating, storing and using HR data within the organisation. Findings Below you will find an overview of some of the data that the HR function within British Gas Business collects. Within this report I will identify two reasons why British Gas Business needs to collect HR data, and the current methods in which we store the data. I will also briefly touch upon some key legislation which if compliant, will reduce any financial or legal risks to the organisation. Absence Performance – appraisals, Learning and Development (LD) activity Employee Engagement results Equality/Diversity – To meet legal requirements Recruitment – Contractual information Employee Information â€Å"Accurate personnel records will help the organisation in many ways increasing the efficiency of recruitment, training and development, and promotion. They can also provide the raw data to monitor equal opportunities issues and the legal requirements placed on all organisations† [ACAS: Online 30th November 2014]. One of the areas where there is need for collation of data is we are able to track volumes of employees currently being performance managed within the organisation to then further identify whether this is a behavioral or skill issue where further training is required. This then helps us to define our learning programmes moving forward and tailor the content around any shortfalls which may have been identified through Training Needs Analysis (TNA) within performance management. Another area that the HR function collates data for is for Absence. â€Å"This is one of the longest-running causes of serious concern to managers. Unapproved absence from work causes a multitude of problems to managers and involves the organisation in significant extra costs†. (Currie et al, 2010, p.293). All absence data within each business unit (and then business wide across British Gas) is centralised using the data base Absence Manager. This helps us to track against our performance and resourcing for people and establish  whether recruitment or redundancy plans would benefit the long term strategy of the organisation. The Human Resource function currently use an Information System (HRIS) which runs alongside our main billing system called SAP. Within SAP all Line managers have access to view employee information (direct reports only), process secondments or job role changes, and change manage details. The benefit of this is that the data is easily accessible and is consistent in line with any people movements within the business. Alongside this system there is also a requirement for some documentation to be stored manually. This is then kept for 6 years, regardless of whether that individual is still in employment with British Gas Business. This is beneficial for any documentation which requires employee signatures or verification. This could be disciplinary documentation to any learning that has taken place. Using the internal HRIS British Gas Business complies with the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003, which covers the security and confidentiality of the retention of data. We do this by ensuring that access to the HR online system is done only registered through authorised access and then a further password security check. British Gas Business also ensures that it keeps written documentation for no longer than 6 years in line with the Principles of the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA). Once documentation reaches this age we contract to a disposal company to safely dispose of all confidential waste. The HR function also complies with all Subject Access Requests (SAR’s) which is governed by the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOI Act). Customers are able to place requests in writing to access all information held about them or their business on the organisations systems. The customer pays a one of fee of ten pounds and they are then issued with the information within 40 days of their request. Key Findings British Gas Business is fully compliant with all key legislation in collecting and storing data within the organisation. I see no risk, financially or strategically from the methods we are currently using. Bibliography Web ACAS. (2014). Personnel Data. Available: http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=717. Last accessed 30th November 2014. Books Currie, D (2010). Introduction to Human Resource Management. 2nd ed. London: Chartered Institute of Personnel Development. 293 Introduction – Activity 2 Analysis of absence data for the Customer Care function of British Gas Business from high level reported case volumes, to understanding the gender split of the absence recorded. Summary By analysing the data collated from our absence records, we can establish trends to enable the organisation to look to implement preventative measures to reduce overall long term absence levels. key findings Absence from the British Gas Business – Customer Care function is currently at its highest levels since 2010. The average number of days taken as absence within the short term sickness (STS) criteria (under 20 consecutive days), has increased from 4.6 to 5.5 days per employee per rolling 52 weeks. The increase in long term sickness (LTS) registered within the organisation has increased by 0.8% over the past 4 years. LTS cases for 2014 are split into the following reasons for absence and then subsequently by gender for all Stress (Work related) / Mental Illness reported absences. Of the 45 LTS stress (Work) related cases registered in 2014, 23 were for male employees. This shows us a change in trend from previous years. For the first time in over 4 years we can see the greater proportion of stress (Work) /mental illness related absences is now reported by the male employee population. conclusions In 2011 British Gas Business began its journey in implementing a new billing system. We can see a noticeable trend in the years following on from the  start of this journey, with the volume of work induced stress related absences reported within the function. Throughout the function we have also seen a high natural attrition in the leadership team in 2014. This means that we now have less experienced leadership population who are progressing our people through their long term sickness absences. Recommendations Identify potential learning gaps through Training Needs Analysis (TNS) â€Å"Test and Play† drop in sessions for all employees Full review of the learning documentation and the online learning environment Wellbeing events throughout the system change timeline to be ran throughout the function i.e. exercise programmes, healthy eating, fitness checks, stop smoking programmes. Engagement temperature checks amongst the employee population Team leader workshops in identifying stress and supporting employees Review the benefits package for the leadership population to reduce churn Validation of the process within the leadership teams from day 1 of absence registered, through the fruition of policy outcomes Wellbeing days across function for all levels to understand support tools references – Data British Gas Business – Absence Manager Data sample from 2010 – 2014. Accessed on the 17th November 2014. British Gas Business – HR Function – Team Leader Exit data – 2014. Accessed on the 19th November 2014.

Top Glove Business Case Study: Manufacturing Processes

Top Glove Business Case Study: Manufacturing Processes Introduction: Top Glove (TG) is the largest rubber glove manufacturer in the world and it started to operate in Malaysia since 1991. Initially, there is only one factory in 1991 with three production lines, but the company has expanded and grown dramatically to become the worlds largest rubber glove manufacturer where is it today with the following position: The Worlds Largest Rubber Glove Manufacturer Top Glove is a listed company in year 2001 in Bursa Saham Kuala Lumpur, and on a short span of slightly more than a year Top Glove Corporation Berhad listing has promoted successfully from the second Board to the Main Market of the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange on May 16, 2002. The company now has a shareholder fund of RM846 million or USD247 million with an annual turnover of about RM1.53 billion or USD447 billion as at 31 August 2009. It is also one of the component stocks of the FTSE Bursa Malaysia (FBM) Mid 70 index, FBM Top 100 index and FBM Emas Index. Philosophy The Business Philosophies of Top Gloves are they work for their Customers; Their take care of the interest of their Shareholders; They ensure that their Employees continue to contribute positively to the company and their take good care of the welfare of their employees and lastly, they work closely with their Bankers, Suppliers, Business Associates, and Government Authorities and Friends. The corporate Mission of Top Glove is to be a World Class Glove Manufacturer Providing Top Quality Products with Excellent Services through Continuous Improvement and Innovation. While the Slogan We strive to be the worlds Leading Manufacturer with Excellent Quality Glove Products and Services That Enrich and Protect Human Lives is the guide for Top Glove Moving toward their Vision. Top Gloves Business Directions is to Approach to produce consistently high quality gloves with efficient low cost and to earn two healthy dollars by spend one efficient dollar. In Top Glove Quality Policy, The way they doing business is emphasis on Quality and Productivity, with the duties to Continuously Improvement and Innovation, and the target towards Zero Defective in their production. Top Glove Corporate emphasis the value of increasing Global Customer Satisfaction, as they are doing the thing right at the first time and on every time; with Integrity and Total Commitment to their corporate, customers, and the community around the worlds. Besides that, Top Glove desired to produces the products that are Excellence in Quality and Competitiveness nevertheless, without ignoring the environment and keeps doing their corporate social responsibility. Addition, Honesty, Integrity and Transparency are Top Glove business Ethics. Lastly from the words by Top Glove Chairman-Tan Sri Dato Sri Lim Wee Chai: Our business rules are, We do not lose our Shareholders money; do not lose our health; do not lose our temper; and do not lose our customers. Principal activities Top Gloves Principal Activities are base on manufacturing and trading of High Quality Latex made Gloves. In depth, their companys Principal Activities are from producing and selling concentrate latex, manufacturing of gloves, trading of glove, provision of management, Property investment, investment holding and trading of machinery. Addition, the country of incorporation is majority wherein Malaysia and the others are in the Peoples Republic of China, United States of America, Thailand and Singapore. In Top Gloves Annual-report stated in Directors Report. The principal activities of the company are investment holding and the provision of management services. Besides, the principal activities had described in Note 12 to the financial statement. Where, there have been no significant changes in the nature of the principal activities during the financial year. Strategy to compete Customers satisfaction is the focus of Top Glove and it had placed a lot of emphasis in Research and Development to produce a wide and diversified range of high quality and value-added glove products in order to fulfill the expectation of their customers. The company also collaborates closely with the government agencies and Ministries to keep itself abreast of the latest development in rubber research technology. The company also uses state-of-art high technology and efficient automatic glove manufacturing machine to obtain the most products manufacturing yield and to remain as one of the most cost-effective and highest quality producer in the industry. With all these advantages and strategies, the company is able to compete with the competitors and stand out in the industry. Production Processes of Top Glove(TG) Company: One of the successful reasons that TG Company can succeed in their business is because they have a strong and good production process in their latex glove making. They believe that they must have the most modern and advanced glove manufacturing machineries if they wished to be continuing as a world-class cost effective glove manufacturer. They have invested substantially in the machineries that are needed to ensure that they can fully adopt the latest manufacturing techniques for all their production lines. Other than that, they to ensure that they can consistently produce high quality latex gloves are also using a continuous engineering process. Competent and experienced personnel also contribute in smooth production line and consistency in quality of the latex gloves even though they have modern machineries. In addition, an on-line quality control measures have been instituted throughout the manufacturing processes to ensure the highest quality products. The latex is a white, milky liquid that comes from rubber trees, which is either from native or hybrid trees. Mostly, TG gets its latex from buying through the rubber market while the remaining latex is from their own rubber plantation. The latex will be harvested from rubber trees when the trees trunk is swollen and also every day, after the rain has stopped during the rainy season. The latex is a natural product and it will coagulate easily, therefore it needs to be harvests from the rubber trees as soon as possible and then send to TG factory to be manufactured. When the latex is sent to the TG factory, the latex will be manufactured with a standardized method that is set by the company itself. The flow of the production process of latex glove in TG Company is former cleaning, coagulant dipping, drying, latex dipping, leaching, beading, vulcanizing, post leaching, slurry dipping, stripping, tumbling, and quality control. Former Cleaning Before the latex can be process to the coagulant dipping process into hand-shaped, the glove formers need to be cleaned before it can be used to form hand-shaped latex gloves. A quality production of exam gloves includes the environment of latex glove factory is clean. This also means glove formers must be cleaned to ensure there is no dirt or debris anywhere because it will affect the final product to possibly have defects like holes. Firstly, glove former must be dipping into an acid bath and then rinse with clean water. Secondly, an alkaline bath is used by dipping the glove formers in them to neutralize the acid and again rinsed in clean water. Lastly, an important step that is the glove formers are brushed to ensure the surface of the glove formers is consistent and eliminate pinholes on the latex gloves after it form. TG factory have multiple production lines that produce batches of disposable gloves. If there is any dirt or debris on the glove former, it can result in the manufacturer being forced to trash the entire batch of latex gloves. This reason shows the importance of glove formers that must be regularly inspected and cleaned before the molds are dipped into coagulant tanks. Coagulant Dipping After the glove former is cleaned, it will be coated with coagulant (eg. calcium nitrate) and be dipped into the coagulant bath to help the latex mixture adhere to the formers and to help ensure the latex is distributed evenly. The glove formers are dipped into the coagulant tank under TG workers control to extract the protein from the previous glove dipping and this dipping is done once for every production cycle. Drying Drying is one of the stations in production process of latex gloves manufacturing whereby the coagulant converts the liquid latex film into a wet-gel on the glove formers and will eventually travel through a series of ovens to dry the gloves and end the coagulation process. In brief, it is a process of drying the gloves from wet to readymade gloves. Latex Dipping Latex dipping is one of the stations in the production process of latex gloves manufacturing and the tank is filled with compounded latex. A latex layer will be formed on the glove former after it goes through this tank. The thickness of the latex glove is determined at the coagulating and dipping stage. The longer the time the glove former travels in the coagulant tank, the thicker the latex gloves will be formed. TG Company will ensure that the latex gloves that produce is high quality and safe to be use. Leaching This leaching stage can called as the pre-vulcanization leaching. It also known as wet gel leaching. Residual chemicals and proteins on the surface of the gloves are put into the leaching process to be removed after the drying of latex mixture. A longer leaching line can wash out latex proteins more effectively. Besides that, the water must be hot and fresh enough to make the proteins dissolve better. This step is a critical step to minimize the occurrence of latex sensitivity. The water temperature, process duration, and water exchange rate will affect the effectiveness of the process. Good leaching line can result in a good and quality latex glove. Beading Beading is a process whereby up to a dozen chemicals are added to help in next manufacturing process of latex gloves. The chemicals added are antioxidant that prevents deterioration of the rubber molecules in the final product by heat, moisture, and ozone. Chemical accelerators are also added to help control the next vulcanization process. Vulcanization One of the discovery key in manufacturing rubber is the vulcanization process. It is a curing process in the production process of latex gloves whereby the latex particles are modified by adding in accelerator chemicals to it. When all the materials are heated, sulfur atoms are chained with the rubber molecules to form a cross-link that gives strengths and elasticity to the physical properties of the rubber. This process ensures the rubber will not be torn and melt easily. Post Leaching This process is similar to the wet-film leaching previously, but it is a little different whereby it is carried out on the dry/vulcanized latex film. Therefore, it is also known as dry-film leaching. Time and temperature is the most important element to ensure effectiveness in the process of water extractives reduction. Latex gloves may be leached up to 24 hours to ensure its effectiveness. Slurry Dipping This stage is also known as wet even powdering. The slurry tank containing the cornstarch solution can prevent latex gloves from sticking in the tank. The slurry is also referred to as wet powder. The benefit of this powder is acting as preservation of the latex gloves and to assist in the latex gloves donning process. TG Company has followed the international method in the specific stage whereby the latex gloves will go through more ovens for further drying and additional rinsing cycles where the powder will be removed. The process of removing the powder is to avoid latex allergic reaction. Stripping At this stage, the latex gloves are stripping from the glove formers. There are two types of methods, which are manually or automatically stripping the latex gloves from the glove formers. TGs latex examination gloves are stripped by fully automated stripping machine. By using this fully automated stripping machine, TG can increase the quality and safety of the latex gloves they produced. The latex gloves will be sent to the next phase of the latex glove manufacturing process for final drying. Tumbling The tumbling process at latex gloves manufacturing process is to remove excessive powder on the gloves. The latex gloves are putting into the commercial dryers to ensure that the powder is more evenly distributed and excess powder can be removed. Powder-Free Gloves Powder-free gloves stage is a technology to prevent stickiness of gloves by avoiding powder usage completely by going through chlorination or polymer coating process. This is one of the important technology processes in manufacturing latex glove nowadays because most of the glove makers are producing the latex gloves with powder-free. Top Glove produces latex powder and powder-free gloves. Basically, the powder-free latex gloves are transformed from powdered gloves when the powder is removed. Before the latex gloves dried, the powder helps the latex gloves give uniformity as well as to prevent the latex gloves from molding together. The tackiness on the glove surface can be removed by rinsing the latex gloves in water. Then it is placed into a chlorine bath to transform the powdered latex gloves to powder-free latex gloves. The glove is turned inside out and the process is repeated. The powder-free gloves are placed back into the dryers when the bathing process is completed. Quality Control TG carries out its quality control in total quality management system. In total quality management system, the process includes regular testing of raw materials, close monitoring the manufacturing process, continuous improvement on quality control, maintain regular quality control, complying with stringent quality standard, target for zero defects, good instructional labeling, efficient work standardization, continuous improvements in packing and loading, close monitoring of production process, tensile strength machine, innovative auto-stripping system, visual air pump test, water tight test, physical dimension test, protein test and powder test in their manufacturing process of latex gloves. The visual air pump test, water tight test and physical dimension test will be carried out in this quality control stage while the other test will be carry out during each manufacturing process of the latex gloves. The air pump test serves to check for holes and visual defects in gloves while th e watertight test serves to check for pinholes rate on the latex gloves. Each country will have their own acceptable quality level (AQL) in allowing the company to export product to their country. For example, the companies that want export their gloves to United States, a 2.5 AQL in the watertight test or better. The physical dimension test is used to measure the dimension of the gloves whether to know the measurement does meet the inspection level of 4.0 that set in AQL. Packing Packing is the final stage in the manufacturing process of latex gloves. TG packs their latex gloves in flat and efficient layer-by-layer to ease the dispensing of gloves in order to avoid latex gloves difficult to dispense from each gloves later. This type of packing method can reduces waste and makes latex gloves easier to take out from the box. For example, we can dispense tissue from a tissue box easily and the idea is applied to the latex gloves box dispensers. This layered technique is often use by all glove manufacturers. Lastly, when all production processes are completely carried, the latex gloves will be keep in TG warehouse for labeling and then send to their particular customers. In addition, the latex gloves are also being exported to other countries. The production processes of Top Glove are repeated for all the production lines and to ensure the latex gloves that are produced are in high quality and safe for use. Strength of the Production Process: The machine technologies that TG used to make their production processes of latex gloves are result in superior quality and it is safe to use by all consumers. The production process in TG adopts the latest manufacturing techniques by using the modern machineries. Other than that, the production processes in TG helps their company to increase precision and productivity in their latex gloves production. This is due to the advanced and modern technology that applied in the production processes. In addition, the production processes also increase the flexibility in producing latex gloves. The production processes will also increase the process stability during the manufacturing process of latex gloves. It is because the production processes are carried under a systematic production processes. The products will be produced gradually by following specific production processes and to ensure the product is high quality produced. The efficient production processes is able to help TG in saving a lot of production cost. It is because the efficient production processes can ensure that they can produce latex gloves effectively and efficiently. Then, the production processes also helps TG in reducing the number of workers. This is due to most of production processes are fully operated by the machine technology. This helps TG to save cost in the workers. Weaknesses of the Production Process: TG needs to invest heavily in buying the modern machineries and need to hire more experienced personnel in their production process. TG uses modern technology in carrying out their production processes to make latex gloves. The machineries that bought were extremely expensive. Thus, the maintenance of the machineries is expensive and if there had any minor or major accessories spoiled; it will be costly to the company to repair it back. It is because the accessories that are used in the machines are not for common use by other manufacturers within the same field area or other field areas and it is difficult to look for substitutes for that specific accessories. TG always checks and maintains the effectiveness of their machineries to prevent it from being spoiled. In addition, TG also needs to hire more experienced and skilled personnel with higher salary to operate the specific machineries and carry researches. Some machinery needs special skilled and experienced personnel to take charge and TG does not simply hire a worker to operate the manufacturing machineries. The experts for such operations in the latex industry are much fewer in other fields. Thus, TG needs to spend more money to hire those experts that operate their operations. Facility Layout: The layout of a company is very important because it establishes an organizations competitive priorities in regard to capacity, process, flexibility, cost, as well as quality of work life, customer contact, and image. An effective layout can help an organization achieve a strategy that supports differentiation, low cost, or response. The objective of layout strategy is to develop an effective and efficient layout that will meet the firms competitive requirements. Layout design has the following purpose:- Higher utilization of space, equipment, and people Improved flow of information, materials, or people Improved employees morale and safer working conditions Improved customer/ client interaction Flexibility (layout need to be change from time to time) TG is a company that used work cell layout to produce its products. Work cell layout means an arrangement of machines and personnel that focuses on making a single product or family of related products. A work cell reorganizes people and machines that would ordinarily be dispersed in various departments into a group so that they can focus on making a single product or a group of related products. Once the work cell has the appropriate equipment located in proper sequence, the next task will be staff and balance the cell. Normally it involves two steps. First, determine the takt time, which is the pace (frequency) of production units necessary to meet customer orders: Takt time = Total work time available/ Units required Second, determine the number of operators required: Workers required = Total operation time required/ Takt time By doing so, the company can increased equipment and machinery utilization due to better scheduling and faster material flow. Diagram below shows the layout of Top Glove company and the description of the components inside the layout:- http://turnkey.taiwantrade.com.tw/En/DB/layout%284%29.jpg The space of the layout is 80m (length) x 50m (width) x 8m (height) which can be categorize as a big company. Waste water- All the unwanted or wastewater will stored in this area. Latex storage- This is the place to store latex that use to produce latex gloves. It place near to the dipping line and chemical dispensing compounding ball mills because it easy for mixing work which need to combine other raw material and chemical substances with latex to produce the latex gloves. WC- This is the place for workers to refresh themselves. Tools/Maintenance- Places that put or keep the tools and equipments that used to produce the glove and for maintenance purpose. All the tools and equipments will be keeping in a specific place that easy the workers to find it. Chemical storage- All the chemical substances, which are dangerous, will keep here to avoid any accident happen and make sure the workplace is safety. This room is just nearby of the chemical dispensing compounding ball mills to make sure that the compounding work can be carry out smoothly. Dipping line- This is the place where machine is design for examination and surgical latex gloves, which include the process of auto washing, coagulants agents dipping, latex dipping, drying, and beading, fore leaching, vulcanizing, post-leaching, wet powdering, cooling, and stripping. Chemical Dispensing Compounding Ball Mills- The place that carry out the work of compounding or mixing of the raw materials, chemical substances, latex and many other to produce the gloves. Chlorination- A process of producing powder free gloves by treating these gloves with chlorine. It also removes the first layer of protein to an acceptable level. Tumbler Dryer- It is a machine that tries to dry up the gloves after all the compound mixed together. Sterilization- The place that sterilizes the gloves using Gamma irradiation to eliminate all microbial life, including highly resistant bacteria spores. Worker Canteen- Places for workers to have their meals. Plant Officer- This is the office for plant officer who supervise the production work of the company. Q.C Room- All the finished gloves will send to this room for checking before send to customer. The workers will checked the gloves one by one and see whether there are any rejected glove that do not meet the quality standard of the company. Lap Testing- Lap for chemist to test for new formula or compound that can improve the existing glove or testing for new products. This is good for the company to fight with his competitors however; some cost may be incurred for the research and development work. Packaging Area/Material- All the gloves that have go through Q.C checking will send here for packaging before sell to the customers. There are sufficient machine and material prepared for packaging work so that the glove will be pack nicely and keep in a good condition. Show Room- Room to display the products of the company. Customers who interested in the products of the company can take a look on the sample that show in this room. Company Office- Main office of the company where all the admin work of the company will carry out here. Finished Product Storage- The finished products will be stored here and waiting to send to the customers by the trucks. Strength of the Facility Layout: Top Glove used work cell layout as their strategy to produce their products to utilize the capacity of the company, which may bring a lot of advantages to the company. First, it can reduced work-in- process inventory which means there is less inventories or equipments needed to link up the work that is in different process because the work cell is set up to provide one piece flow from machine to machine. Second, less floor space required because less space is needed between machines to accommodate work-in-process inventory. For example, the tumbler dryer is place closely with the process of sterilization that uses to sterilize the gloves bacteria. Thus, it saves a lot of space between these two processes. Next, when the employees work in this kind of layout, it will heightened the sense of employees participation in the organization and the product which will encourage them to add responsibility toward the product quality because they directly associated with the products in their ow n work cell. For example, the employees who work as an operator in dipping line will feel motivated and carry out his work carefully when the manager empowered him to look after the machine or participate in any work that related to the dipping process. Lastly, increased equipment and machinery utilization is also one of the advantages because of better scheduling and faster material flow. When the glove is being chlorinate immediately it will proceed to the process of drying and after this it will go through the process of sterilization immediately as well. The fast material flow show that it utilize the machinery and equipment effectively. Weaknesses of the Facility Layout: However, there are still some weaknesses in this layout, which is the straight-line work cell layout as we can see in the dipping line. The workers in the dipping line are arrange in such way that sometime they will find that it is hard to divided their work evenly and more worker is needed compare to the U-shape work cell layout. This may cause social loafing in the workplace, which means some worker may work less as compare to his colleague. This is not good to happen in the workplace because it will lower down the morale of other worker who works hard but he just gets the same pay as his colleague who is lazy. Next, from the layout of the company, we also notice that there is only one main gate for exist and entry but no other emergency or back door in the layout. This is also a weakness of the company because there is no other emergency door for workers to escape if any accident happens. Goods and Service Design: The other strategic of this company is goods and service design. Top Gloves main productions are rubber gloves, synthetic gloves and surgical gloves. Top glove producing more latex glove as compare others glove, since latex gloves is a better choice of protection. The reasons are the latex is the main material in rubber gloves manufacture where it is the gold standard for durability. Where latex is referring to a milky, usually whitish, fluid obtained from over 1,000 species of trees and plants. It is the most important raw material used for the production of latex gloves, natural rubber latex, which derived from the Hevea Brasiliensis tree species found mainly in South East Asia though they originated from Brazil. It demonstrates superior elasticity, strength and barrier protection. It outperforms vinyl as well as any synthetic rubber in terms of maintaining barrier integrity in routine and high risks procedures. Based on the researches, the latex gloves provide up to 9 times more p rotection during normal use than non-latex gloves. The glove size is determined by measuring the circumference of the hand around the palm area with a tape measure. The usual size standard for examination gloves are of XS XL, while surgical gloves are of 6.5 8.5. The gloves thickness measured by depth protecting skin from exposure to elements. It was measured on a single wall using a micrometer over several parts of the glove, typically at the cuff, the mid-palm and the finger sections. The types of gloves are latex gloves, nitrile gloves, vinyl gloves, medical gloves, surgical gloves, disposable gloves, clean room gloves, household gloves, general-purpose gloves, and polyethylene gloves (PE glove). For example, the nitrile glove is one of the synthetic gloves that are produced from the synthetic latex of Acrylonitrile Butadiene Copolymer type, which is resistance to oil and exhibiting rubber-like characteristics. Its elasticity is good but less superior as compared to natural rub ber. It is generally more costly than natural latex gloves. Strengths of the Goods and Service design: The strengths of using this strategic which is the goods and service design are Top Gloves gloves are protect to lives and the price of it are low compare to other glove brands. When they manufacture the gloves, the gloves will test in the elongation or stretching test, to measure the strengths of the gloves. During extended surgeries, the practice of changing to a new pair of gloves prior to a critical procedure has been noted to reduce bacterial contamination. Weakness of the Goods and Service design: The weaknesses are poor donning techniques, which is can result in glove rips and tears. Healthcare personnel should take care to don gloves correctly and avoid excessive stretching. Thoroughly dry hands before sliding them into gloves. Quality Management: Quality is refers to the totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bears on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs. Every organization should manage and control of their products quality. It is important to help the organization to build a well reputation in the industry. By doing this, customer will more reliability on such product and finally help to gain the market share. Top Glove is a manufacturer company that pays much attention on the products quality. Top Glove committed and believes in top quality products, they are responsibility to ensure quality consistency and product reliability to all their customers and users. Before the products go into the packaging process and sell to the market, Top Glove has implemented the quality inspection process to make sure that their products are producing at the expected quality level. Top Glove is strongly stresses on Total Quality Management (TQM) and the Quality Control tests are conducted from the point we receive our raw materials straight through the production processes and the finished products points. Compulsory pre-shipment inspections are carried out before the delivery of each order. Top Glove is emphasis on stringent quality control procedures in line with ISO 9001 and in strict compliance with ASTM and EN 455 standards. Top Glove has using the tensile strength machine as the measurement of the stretch required to break the glove material. Glove without good vulcanized process tend to have higher tensile strength. Top Glove also has using the innovative auto-stripping system to removing the gloves from the formers, where they are turn inside out. By doing this, the productivity can be increase because it is faster than by using manual stripping. Air pump test has been used to check for holes and visual defects in gloves. Furthermore, water tight test also using by Top Glove to check on the quality of products which is a test that use to determine the AQL level of an examination gloves by checking on the pinholes of the particular gloves after filling up the gloves with 1000ml water and then check for any leakage in 2 minutes time. To ensure the quality of products, Top Glove has been conducted the protein test of the rubber. All natural rubber latex products contain protein. For latex gloves, it is t he measurement o

Creating a School Computer Lab

Creating a School Computer Lab 2.1 Introduction Schools play a substantial role in the development of the growing youth. One way of doing so is the use of computer to boost learning as we are in the technological era. In Bangladesh, given its status as a developing country, there is a greater need to equip many schools with computer laboratories for children to have access in order to enhance learning. Bangladesh Computer Lab Co, a nationally owned company specializing in installing computers for schools in the country has been engaged to build a computer lab for Dhaka Primary School in the capital city of Bangladesh under the project titled; Dhaka Primary School Computer Lab Build Project. This project is an initiative of the Government of Bangladesh through the Ministry of Education. All the planning is done by Jasmin Nahar and Janee Jamaludeen who are the project managers of Bangladesh Computer Lab Co. The main stakeholders to this project are; The Bangladesh Ministry of Education and the Dhaka Primary School Board of Governors working closely with the company to see this project through. The project is fully sponsored by the Government of Bangladesh valued at AUD 167,500.00 with a duration of 3 months. Generally, this project is responding to Dhaka Primary Schools need for a computer lab to deliver its computer classes to enhance quality in education for its students. 2.2 Project Scope Statement Definition 2.2.1 Project Scope Description This project is guided by its project management plan that captures its project charter meeting all requirements after a close consultation with its stakeholders and very much in line with the existing organizational process assets. The table below further provides information as part of the project scope statement. Â   Â   2.2.2 Project Deliverables Finalized Project Documentation All project planning documents such as the scope management plan, project charter, requirements documentation and organizational project asserts are finalized. Finalized Lab Design The designing of the computer lab is finalized and approved for implementation. Installation of 50 desktop computers 50 x desktop computers are installed at 25 per lab. 2.2.3 Project Exclusion Lab Maintenance The maintenance of the lab to meet minimum computer lab standards is the responsibility of the administration of the school and its Board of Governors. Commissioning of the Computer Lab The commissioning of the computer lab is the responsibility of the schools Board of Governors. Development of the Computer Lab and Computer Usage Policy The development of the computer lab and computer usage policy is the responsibility of the schools administration. 2.2.4 Project Assumptions Electrical Capacity It is assumed that the buildings provided by the school will meet the electrical capacity including the cooling system required for all the computers. Security and Accessories It is assumed that all security measures including fire protection are provided by the school and its Board of Governors. 2.2.5 Project Constraints Limited Time Frame The project must be completed within 3 months with no provision for extension. Compliance Issues regarding Procurement Process The project must comply with the governments procurement process. Project Objectives LFM and KPI Project Title: Dhaka Primary School Computer Lab Build Goal: Dhaka Primary School has got a school computer lab that is of high quality that can promote learning. Purpose: Respond to the call of building Dhaka Primary School Computer Lab to promote quality education. Objective: To fully install 50 desktop computers in Dhaka Primary School. Input Responsible Output Performance Indicators Means of Verification Project Management (Planning, Implementation Closure) Project Manager Finalized Project Planning Documents -Existence of Project Management Plan, Project Charter, Requirements Documentations and Process Assets. -Project Completion Reports -Monitoring Evaluation Reports Computer Lab Designing Project Manager Finalized Computer Lab Design -Existence of a computer lab design. -Approved Lab Design Project Communication Project Manager Established Communication Managed Plan -Existence of a project communication management plan. -Complete Project Communication Plan Lab Commissioning Stakeholders (Dhaka Primary School Board of Governors and the Ministry of Education Commissioned labs with certification -Existence of a Computer Lab Minimum Standards Report. -Certification Report -Project Commissioning Report Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE PROJECT: DHAKA PRIMARY SCHOOL COMPUTER LAB BUILD DURATION: 3 MONTHS Apr-17 May-17 Jun-17 WBS TASK ASSIGN TO WK1 WK2 WK3 WK4 WK1 WK2 WK3 WK4 WK1 WK2 WK3 WK4 1 Finalize Project Documents 1.1 Strategic Management Planning Project Director 1.2 Completion of Project Management Plan Project Manager 1.3 Completion of Project Charter Project Manager 1.4 Completion of Requirement Documentations Project Manager 1.5 Completion of Process Assets Project Manager 1.6 Approval of Project Planning Steering Committee 2 Finalize Lab Design 2.1 Designing the lab plan Project Team 2.2 Approval of the Lab Plan Project Manager 3 Installation of 50 desktop computers 3.1 Procurement Project Team 3.2 Licencing of all software Project Team 3.3 Lab minimum standards survey Project Team 3.4 Installation Project Team 3.5 Testing Project Team 3.6 Project Closure Report Project Director WBS Dictionary WBS TASK Date START END 1 Finalize Project Documents 1.1 Strategic Management Planning 01.04.17 16.04.17 1.2 Completion of Project Management Plan 01.04.17 16.04.17 1.3 Completion of Project Charter 01.04.17 16.04.17 1.4 Completion of Requirement Documentations 01.04.17 16.04.17 1.5 Completion of Process Assets 01.04.17 16.04.17 1.6 Approval of Project Planning 10.04.17 16.04.17 2 Finalize Lab Design 2.1 Designing the lab plan 17.04.17 24.04.17 2.2 Approval of the Lab Plan 24.04.17 30.04.17 3 Installation of 50 desktop computers 3.1 Procurement 01.05.17 21.05.17 3.2 Licencing of all software 22.05.17 28.05.17 3.3 Lab minimum standards survey 22.05.17 28.05.17 3.4 Installation 29.05.17 11.06.17 3.5 Testing 19.06.17 25.06.17 3.6 Project Closure Report 26.06.17 30.06.17 Linear Responsibility Chart (LRC) Activity Project Sponsor Project Director Project Manager Project Team Steering Committee Strategic Management Planning S R C I A Completion of Project Management Plan I A R I S Completion of Project Charter I A R S I Completion of Requirement Documentations I A R S I Completion of Process Assets I A R S I Approval of Project Planning I R C S A Designing the lab plan I A R S I Approval of the Lab Plan I R C S A Procurement C A R S I Licencing of all software I C A S I Lab minimum standards survey I C A S I Installation I A C R I Testing I A R S I Project Closure Report A R C S C R Means that the person (or role) is responsible for creating the deliverable. (Usually there is only one person who is responsible for creating a deliverable, although many people may provide input.) A -Means that the person (or role) approves the deliverable. S Means that the person (or role) provides support toward the matters pertaining to the deliverable. I Means that the person (or role) who is kept informed on the deliverable. C Means that the person (or role) is consulted on matters pertaining to the deliverable. Budget Summary Activity Description Costing (AUD) Administrative General Admin Overhead Costs including labour etc. $ 70,000.00 Project Planning, Implementation Closure Strategic Management Planning. Completion of Project Management Plan Completion of Project Charter Completion of Requirement Documentations Completion of Process Assets Approval of Project Planning -Stakeholder/Consultative Meetings -Designing of lab plan -Approval of lab plan -Lab minimum standards survey -Installation -Testing -Monitoring Reporting -Project Closure Reports/Consultations/Meetings $ 90,000.00 Procurement Purchasing of 50 desktop computers Accessories -Purchasing of Software Licences Miscellaneous $ 7,500.00 Total $167,500.00 Communication Plan Role Reporting Purpose When to Report Stakeholders Ministry of Education -Reporting to the Government of Bangladesh the start, implementation and closure of the project. After the start and end date of the project. Board of Governors -Reporting to Parents of the progress of the project. Monthly Parental Meetings Steering Committee -Management of the Project in consultation with the Project Director. Monthly -Report to the stakeholders status of the project. Monthly Scheduled Meetings Project Director Reporting to the Steering Committee on the Progress of the project. Monthly Scheduled Meetings Project Manager Report to the project director the operational status of the project. Bi-weekly Scheduled Meetings and informal meetings on regular basis. Project Team Reporting on the project implementation progress to the Project Manager On Daily weekly basis and informal daily meetings on regular basis when need arises. Risk Planning The project sees the following as immediate risks to the project and has identified mitigating factors to address these risks. No Project Immediate Risks Mitigating Factors 1 Time Limitations Identify at early stages the critical pathway of the project, and focus on meeting deadlines. 2 Government Procurement Compliance Process Maintain effective dialogue with stakeholders in the initial stages of the project and define the best approach to getting procurement issues solved. 3 Building not meeting minimum lab standards Conduct lab survey in the initial stages of the project to identify areas of need, negotiate with the Board of Governors and resolve issues before installation is conducted. Project Milestone Currently the project sees the following as milestones that need to be achieved; No Project Milestone Achievement Date 1 Project Planning Approval 16th of April, 2017 2 Computer Installation and Testing 25th of June, 2017 3 Project Closer Report 30th of June, 2017 Procurement Plan Below is a summary of the project procurement plan and fully guided the companys procurement policy. Date of Completion Activity/Item 16th of April, 2017 Development of the project procurement plan 16th of April, 2017 Approval of the procurement plan 16th of April, 2017 Identifying all expandable and non-expandable items for purchase 16th of April, 2017 Create Assert Registry 14th of May, 2017 Vendor Identification 14th of May, 2017 Preparation and Approval of Purchase Requests 14th of May, 2017 Preparation and Approval of Check Requisitions 18th of May, 2017 Payment of Items and Materials (All expendable and non-expandable items including 50 x desktop computers and their accessories and software licences 21st of May, 2017 Confirming delivery against delivery notes 21st of May, 2017 Register all items 30th of June, 2017 Prepare registry for project closure

Dylan Thomas Essay -- essays research papers

Dylan Thomas was born in October 1914 in Uplands, Swansea, where he grew up. His father, David John Thomas, had taken his degree at University College Aberystwyth and obtained a First in English, which he taught at Swansea Grammar School. His pupils found him quick tempered and intimidating, but he had a beautiful, sonorous voice for reading aloud, which his son inherited. Thomas' mother, Florence Hannah Williams, had been a seamstress before her marriage. Welsh was her first tongue, but her husband - although he did speak Welsh - preferred English. He was cynical about religion, whilst she was traditional in her piety. The name "Dylan" comes from a character in the Welsh Medieval Romance The Mabinogian. In Welsh it would be pronounced "Dullun", which Mrs Thomas was unhappy about, preferring the English pronunciation "Dillan". Thomas' childhood summers were spent at the Carmarthenshire dairy farm of his mother's sister, Ann Jones, and her husband, Jim. These holidays inspired the poem Fern Hill. Before the age of 11, he was writing poetry. He was also telling lies and pinching money from his mother's purse. In her eyes he could do no wrong, which was particularly irritating for his sister, Nancy. Thomas attended Swansea Grammar School from 1925-1931. When he started at the school he was small and pretty, so the bigger boys bullied him until they discovered he was aggressive and pugnacious and knew a prodigious number of swear-words. ...

The Chryslids - Plausible :: The Chrysalids

The Chryslids   - Plausible    â€Å"The Chrysalids† by John Wyndham is an entertaining yet plausible story. It compels the reader to think about human nature and our attitude to the world around us that we often take for granted. The setting of â€Å"The Chrysalids†Ã‚   is several hundred years after a nuclear war. What is left of civilization is a few small towns here and there all over the countries of the world.  Ã‚   The population is by the leadership what the â€Å"true image† is apparently meant to be.   If you are not of the true image then you are sent to live in the fringes. Many people and animals are born with birth defects caused by the nuclear radioactivity that is still present from the nuclear destruction of previous years. The population that is considered of the â€Å"true image† are cruel to the â€Å"freaks† or â€Å"mutants†. Some of the people in the novel are also very bigoted like David’s father. He thinks he is the king of the castle and can’t be wrong. If he says something it should happen like where he has an argument with the inspector about the giant horses or when he burnt that families cat because it didn’t have a tail eg â€Å"It is your moral duty to issue an order against these so called horses!!† Various people including David’s father all agree that deviants are from the devil and should be castrated or thrown out of society. Another thing is that people are forced to agree with the laws and if they don’t they are also thrown from society where they would either be killed or spend the rest of their miserable lives in the sloughs of the fringe people. Their attitude towards the world is OK I suppose. They don’t really use that much of the worlds resources in Waknuk or any of the other little towns around. They don’t need to think about how much longer the supplies of these materials are going to last because all that they are using at the moment is trees, which they seem to have plenty of, and water which they get from wells and rivers. There food they grow or hunt and cook and bake things over open fires I would assume.

Merleau-Ponty on Beauvoirs Literary-Philosophical Method :: Philosophy Philosophical Papers

Merleau-Ponty on Beauvoir's Literary-Philosophical Method ABSTRACT: Modern philosophy from the mid-nineteenth century on, has been particularly interested in choosing, adapting, and in some cases inventing literary forms to fit the particular philosophical subject under investigation. Simone de Beauvoir, with her explicit rejection of any formalist division between literature and philosophy, is one of the most interesting contributors to the modern development of philosophical writing. The waters surrounding de Beauvoir’s contribution to philosophical method are somewhat muddled because the literary forms she used innovatively for philosophy — the novel and the short story — have (unlike, for example, the literary forms of Wittgenstein) resulted in writing which has been chiefly esteemed largely in terms of literature. In fact, many of her compositions rest simultaneously in both the categories of literature and philosophy. The significance of this aspect of her work was recognized by some of her contemporary philosophi cal associates, most particularly Merleau-Ponty. This paper draws on Merleau-Ponty to explore the philosophical ideas which inspired de Beauvoir’s methodology, and considers the nature and ramifications of her originality in terms of philosophy’s tradition of methodological diversity. 1. Philosophy's Literary Forms In this paper we want to examine a category error in which her fiction and philosophy are treated as mutually exclusive and separate categories. The underlying problem at work in contributing to this mistake is that of the conflation of a writerly form with the type of subject matter addressed by it. Falling into this confusion is particularly misleading for readers of Simone de Beauvoir because one of the most significant and fascinating aspects of her methodology lies in her explicit rejection of any formalist division between literature and philosophy. This is an intriguing aspect of her work which places it in an honourable and innovative philosophical position. It is not often enough noted that one part of the Western philosophical tradition — a part which is especially admirable — is the diversity of writerly forms which have proved useful to its major practitioners. The dialogues of Plato and Hume, the fables of the Enlightenment philosophers, the dramatic narrat ives of Kierkegaard, the parables and aphorisms of Nietzsche, as well as the essays of Kant and Sartre are all part of that heritage. Equally, the mathematician's "paper" used by Tarski and Russell, and the scientific paper adapted and made so fashionable by the logical positivists, and that strange literary form devised by Wittgenstein, so eccentric that it apparently remains without a name and yet has its antecedent in Spinoza's Ethics, all form part of the major lineage of ways in which philosophy has been successfully written.

Identifying Factors Which Affect the Job Satisfaction of Nurses Essay

We live our lives aiming for satisfaction. The satisfaction we want to achieve can be from our studies, our business, our health status, our body image, or our jobs. In health care profession, the article â€Å"The Determinants Of Job Satisfaction Among Registered Nurses† discuss the contentment of nurses with their jobs. Job satisfaction has a lot of factors that affect it. These factors include workload, stress level, personal needs, environment, relationship with co-workers and supervisors, and the number of hours that they are working in a week. In one research by Kalist and Okoye, they used the question on how would a nurse best describe their feelings about their principal nursing position to determine their job satisfaction of a population of nurses. Then they came up with â€Å"A nurse may respond to the question by indicating that she is either extremely satisfied, moderately satisfied, neither satisfied nor dissatisfied, moderately dissatisfied, or extremely dissatisfied† (D. E. Kalist, I. N. Okoye, 2011). The result of their study concluded that age, marital status, gender, salary, hours of work, position, and setting are the factors affecting the job satisfaction of nurses. They also came up with a result that women are more satisfied with their jobs more than the male population and married women reported higher job satisfaction. We can observe that most married women are more stable on their jobs because they tend to find a job that would meet their expectations or a job that would last long for them. They have also gathered information which would mean that in managerial positions, they have higher job satisfaction compared to the ones in non-managerial position. But in a study done by C. G. Andrews and J. Allen in their article â€Å"Analysis of Management and Employee Job Satisfaction, they have concluded that there is no significant relationship of job satisfaction between managerial and non-managerial position. Taking a closer look at their study, the population involved does not come specifically from the nurses’ population. They conducted their study in a general workplace setting. We can say then that the nurses, specifically, consider their position when it comes to their satisfaction at their jobs. Another author included additional factors that affect the satisfaction of these nurses such as â€Å"Recognition of frustrations, such as turnover, lack of internal empowerment, burnout, and, elimination of external sources of stress can decrease dissatisfaction in the health care setting† (J.L. Kettle, 2002). Most of the factors discussed on the first article are regarding the physiological needs of the nurses which should be considered and are mostly being considered by health administrators. The factors discussed by J.L. Kettle though are more into the emotional which are mostly being ignored but actually has an impact when it comes to job satisfaction of nurses. Understanding the job satisfaction of nurses is very important in the role of a health care manager. Nurses are the ones who get in touch with the patient most of the time and they are the ones who improve the quality of health care service given. Their satisfaction is very important just like the satisfaction of patients receiving the health care treatment. The emotional needs of nurses are as important as their physical needs. If their needs are being met, they will be able to provide a better service. Therefore, we can say that identifying and understanding the factors that affects the job satisfaction of nurses will definitely affect their performance. Peer Support: Peer’s Name: Ma. Lyngee Caduco She helped me pick a topic that is interesting for me and she advised me on the formatting of this paper. References Kettle, D.L. (2002). Factors Affecting Job Satisfaction in the Registered Nurse. Retrieved from:http://www.juns.nursing.arizona.edu/articles/Fall%202002/Kettle.htm Kalist, D.E, Okoye, I.N. (2001). The Determinants Of Job Satisfaction Among Registered Nurses. Retrieved from: http://journals.cluteonline.com/index.php/AJHS/article/view/6623/6699 Andrews, C.G., Allen, J. (2004). Analysis of Management and Employee Job Satisfaction. Retrieved from: http://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc31078/m1/1/