A Risk Assessment on My Comrade's Suicide-Potential Essay

A Risk Assessment on My Comrade's Suicide-Potential - Essay Example I had, and continue to have, a good share of risks -- be it at school, work, home, or community for which I serve. However, there are still those risky experiences or scenarios which seemed to test my core values and character, as a whole. One particular scenario, which this paper attempted to examine, is an encounter with my comrade’s attempted suicide. Description My comrade had been deployed for the longest time (around six years) in Base X and considers the base his second home. Though, as a soldier, he recognized and was trained to understand the mobilized nature of a soldier’s life. He still felt unprepared after being informed of re-assignment. He was not only re-assigned to some far place, but also singled out of our troop (since only he was qualified for the particular mission). He was to spend one final week with us before his re-assignment. On the first two days, I observed his covert display of depression. With these observations, I resolved to profoundly ch eck on him. Potential Consequences Mandel (2007) defined risk as referring â€Å"to the expected loss associated with an event† (p. 14). At that time, it was what I saw as a consequence of my comrade’s depression and my probable lack of intervention -- the loss of his life and the guilt-stricken me. These potential consequences plagued and pushed me not to leave him alone and check on accessible firearms he could use. The Department of Health and Human Services (2001) acknowledged an individual’s â€Å"responsibility to intervene in a timely and effective manner† on suicide attempts (p. 78). Reflecting back, I seemed to strongly identify myself as having that responsibility. Probabilities Apart from his covert efforts in displaying depression, his words had a consistent sad tint in it. Though he tries to be elusive about how he feels or what he thinks, â€Å"out-of-character comments† would eventually slip. Phrases like, â€Å"it’s never go nna be the same,† or â€Å"I think I’m weary† got followed with deep sighs and a sarcastic or cynical smile. In other words, though my comrade made an effort on sounding alright, his body language illustrate how he genuinely felt. On the days that followed, he showed signs of withdrawal. Our troop-mates would shrug at this and say that his just preparing to get used to it. However, I just went more suspicious. At one time, I saw him clean his rifle; and though cleaning is part of our routine, I cannot help but notice the way he looked at it -- it was with reverence and gloom. All of my observations accounted to the higher probability of his suicidal attempt. Impact The risk factors I identified did not just have an impact on me and my comrade. The impact of the probable consequences will surely ricochet to his family, to our troop, and direct head. Though the possible taking of his own life is his decision; we, as part of our comrade’s support system, do h ave an immense culpability in fostering a ‘distanced environment’ that allows him to commit suicide. Risk Scale and Assessment On a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is no risk and 10 is the devastating loss of material assets or life, my assessment of the risk involved in this solution (i.e. my intervention) is 8. If my theory was wrong (i.e. his not going to commit suicide), then he would just laugh it off, recognize me as a true, caring comrade, and I would be extremely relieved. If my theory was right, then it would be crucial to be careful in my intervention. If I were hasty, or

Impact Of Population Growth On The Environment Environmental Sciences Essay

Impact Of Population Growth On The Environment Environmental Sciences Essay The world has been experiencing a rapid increase in human population for the past 10, 000 years. According to the most recent U.N. statistics, population has grown from several millions back in the B.C. to over 6.6 billion in the 21st century. Even though the growth rate is gradually slowing, the U.N. population Division still expect the worldwide population to very much hit 9.1 billion by 2050. We have all known for long that the human population is no doubt the chief contributor to environmental woes. The humans are the one demanding fossil fuels to power their tech-savvy lifestyles, clearing forests for agricultural use, and polluting the environment with their industrial activities. More people means more demand for natural resources either mined or drilled from below the Earths surface to be burned for energy. Assuming that each person contributes to a certain amount of the total demand, one could very much imagine the kind of strain that this 2.5 billion of additional population is going to cause to the Earth. With the population expected to rise by that phenomenal amount, environmentalist and the others are getting more concerned with whether the Earth is still able to withstand that loads of demand. We also being concerned aims to examine the causes and impacts of this issue in the report, so that solutions could be proposed to alleviate it. 1.3 Focus In our opinion, we feel that if we can solve the problem of the rising human population growth, we can also solve the environmental problems that is likely to stem from it. The explaination for this reasoning is simple and rather fundamental. The problems merely justify the need to do something about it, whereas the causes is the one that set off the problems. As mentioned earlier on, the crux to the solutions lies very much with the causes itself. Therefore, one could very well expect us to first introduce the problems in the report, before moving on to the more crucial part, its causes and solutions. 1.4 Methodology Information used for this study was mainly obtained from secondary sources such as books, online databases, U.N. publications, and other useful websites. A listing of these useful sources of information can be found at the Appendix 1 as attached in the report. Human population The world population refers to the total number of living humans on Earth at a given time. For the past 10, 000 years, the world has been experiencing a rapid increase in human population. According to the most recent U.N. statistics, population has grown from several millions back in the B.C. to over 6.6 billion in the 21st century. Even though the growth rate is gradually slowing, the U.N. Population Division still expect the worldwide population to very much hit 9.1 billion by 2050. With most of the increase in Asia and Africa, in particular, the poorer nations that have no access to proper family-planning programmes. An alarming issue Rising human population We have all known for long that the human population is no doubt the chief contributor to environmental woes. However, what little know of is that the human population is only one of the several factors that affect the environment. The extent to which population increase can be considered a problem is still reliant on other factors. One widely used formula that could help us understand what factors could actually interplayed to cause that significant impact, would be the IPAT model that John Holdren from Harvard University came up with. This model represents how the total impact on the enviroment results from the interaction among population, affluence and technoloy. An Increased population intensifies impact on the environment as more individuals take up space, use resources, and generate waste. As the population gets older it gets more affluent too, thereby demanding higher living standards to satisfy their wants. To meet the humans instatiable wants, better technology would have to be developed to better mine fossil fuels, clear old-growth forests, or fish. Assuming that everybody has to be fed, clothed, housed and hopefully supported by gainful employment. An increased population would actually means the intensification of the impact that the human population has on the Ecosystem. Hence, the problem is not only that the population is burgeoning. It is also that the usage of the resources, and environmental damages are also increasing at a phenomenol speed. Approach All of us would have known by now that a rising global population has devasting impacts on the Earth. It not only erodes the living standards of the world population, results in poverty in already poor countries, affect a countrys economy, but most importantly has a negative impact on the Ecosystem. We will in this chapter, look in depth how the rising global human population develops into a problem, and the various environmental impacts it has on the Earth. The Problem of Rising Global Human Population Urbanisation is being defined as the physical growth of urban areas as a result of global change. Moreover, It can also be interpreted as the movement of people from rural to urban areas with population growth equating to urban migration. The United Nations project suggested that 60% of the worlds population would live in urban areas at the end of 2030. An increased in the population residing there would lead to an increase in consumption of energy, food, water, domestic goods, and land. To accommodate to this increase in demand, more resource extraction, manufacturing, and agricultural production will have to take place. Considering the limited existing resources of an urban city, an expansion of the city would be needed for the above mentioned activities to take place. This expansion of urban areas across the landscape is something also being defined as urban sprawl. In order for urban sprawl to take place, surrounding areas adjoining the edge of the urban cities will have to be made ready. This is usually done through habitat alteration such as, deforestation for urban cities surrounded by forest/mangroves, or land reclaimation for cities corteminous with islands. Environmental Impacts From the above illustration, we can see that a rising population will not only highten the rate of human activites but will also give rise to newer problems such as urban sprawl. All of these problems will then contribute to certain environmental woes which would interplay and lead to further consequences. The following are some environmental issues that are either the direct or indirect impact of a rising global population: Depletion of natural resources Global climate change Loss of biodiversity Depletion of natural resources Depletion of natural resources refers to the over exploitation of the exhaustible group of natural resources. This group of resources comes in the form of renewable and non-renewable resources. Renewable natural resources are those that can replenish themselves in a resonable amount of time, however, it can also be depleted should the rate of usage exceed the rate of regeneration. Whereas, non-renewable resources are those that only exist in a fixed quality, and either takes up to millions of year to replace themselves or does not possess the ability to recyle themselves. As the human population rises, human activities such as urban sprawl, resource extraction, manufacturing, and agricultural production are expected to increase too. As all of these activities each demand a certain type of natural resources and energy to support them, an increase in human activities would equate to an increase in demand for these natural resources. Some of the resources that are affected as a result of them are namely, fossil fuels, land, water, and minerals. Fossil Fuels Alongside the increasing demand for petrol and diesel to power transportation, industries and farming, huge quantities of fossil fuel such as crude oil is also needed in the manufacturing of plastic-made products. With oil production likely to increase by nearly 40% from 2006 to 2030; as a result of only the increasing world energy demand of 60%. The real demand for oil is believed to be much more higher. According to British Petroleum the current world oil reserves stand at 1238 billion barrels. And present yearly world oil production stands at 31 billion barrels.  If the current rate of oil discoverage were to remain stagnant or low, oil, the primary source of fossil fuel used to produce energy might very well be depleted before 40 years (The figure as calculated with current consumption rate and the level of reserves). The following is a graph (Figure 1.0) that highlighted the increasing gap between the production rate and discoverage rate of oil supplies. Figure 1.0 (adaptedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦..) Land and Water Land degradation refers to deterioration or loss of fertility or productive capacity of the soil. Urban sprawl can dramatically transform the properties of soil, causing it to lose its water permeability and ability to perform essential duties. These duties include the loss of ability to sustain soil biodiversity, crop cultivation, and the reduced effectiveness as a carbon sink. The following graph (Figure 1.1) showed the amount and types of land loss in various European cities that were the result of urban sprawl. Figure 1.1 (adaptedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦) On top of all that, rainwater which falls on areas with deterioted land will also be heavily polluted by tire abrasion, dust and high concentrations of heavy metals, which when washed into rivers will degrade the hydrological system. To add insult to injury, the level of water table will also decline as deterioted land can no longer allow water to penetrate throught it. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development,   If current trends continue, 90 percent of freshwater supplies will disappear by 2030. Setting all that aside, one still has to take into consideration the soaring increase in use of water for crop cultivation and human consumption. With the supply of water on the shorter end and demand for it on the rise, the UN Millenium Project, 2008a estimated that 3 billion people might face water scarcity by 2025. A remarkable increase from the current figure of 700 millions people. If nothing done about this, the Earth will very soon run out of arable land to support crop cultivation and no longer have enough safe drinking water to support the rising global human population. Minerals Minerals are the backbone of the human civilisation, they are needed in almost all sectors of industries. If we were to look into the manufacturing sector and bulding sector, some minerals used by them would be gold, silver, iron, cemet, and copper. Since there is a direct relationship between the human population and the industries, a booming population will also lead to an increase in the consumption of minerals. A good example to substantiate the direct impact a growing population would have on minerals would be the example on Spain. For years, the efforts to support the growing population in Spain, have resulted in major expansion of construction activities, mainly along the coast and around major cities. As a result, the consumption of concrete has also increased by a wide margin of 120 % since 1996, reaching a level of 51.5 million tons in 2005. Taking into account the non-renewable characteristic of minerals and the direct relationship it has with the human population. A surge in the human population might cause the limited stock of minerals to undergo depletion in the near future. Loss of biodiveristy Biodiversity may be defined as the variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome or the entire Earth. Biodiversity is earths primary life support system and is a pre-condition for human survival. As population grow, develop and modify their environment, their activities inevitably affect biodiversity. To understand the impacts of human population growth on biodiversity, a study into it had been carried out in Canada. The findings reveal that human activities such as agricultural activities, urbanisation, and manufacturing are the primary causes of the decline of biodiversity in Canada. Agricultural activities Agricultural is the production of goods and food through farming. It is reported that Agriculture has had a significant effect on biodiversity because of its prevalence over the landscape. Loss of native habitat in Canada due to farming has been significant. As a result of agricultural activities, Canada lost more than 85% of shortgrass prairie, 80% of mixed-grass prairie, 85% of aspen parkland and almost its entire native tallgrass prairie. Loss of habitat, coupled with farming practises of using only a few strains genetically-engineered crop, has resulted in the endangerment of a disproportionately large number of plants and animal species in Canada. To prepare a piece of land for agricultural activities, the natural vegetation has to be first removed from it. Without the natural vegetations protection, the topsoil, a surface layer of soil that is rich in nutrients and beneficial microorganisms, can be easily eroded away by surface water, or winds. In Quebec, it is estimated that 3.4 million tonnes of soil per year are eroded by water. Soil erosion renders an area barren and unsuitable for plants that were initially growing there. To add on to that, soil that has been washed away and deposited in waterways, also destroys the fragile life forms in it. If water can carry away soil, it can also cause the runoff of pesticides and fertilizers that are applied in abundance to commercial crops, and of course the wastes of cattle and livestock. In Quebec, between 1990 and 1991, an impressive amount of 190 000 tonnes of nitrogen and 120 000 tonnes of phosphorus were applied to agricultural lands in the form fertilizers, or were present as livestock wastes. As these excess nutrients enter the lakes and rivers, Eutrophication of aquatic environment can occur; altering and degrading the biodiversity of aquatic ecosystems. With 64 out of 105 developing countries studied by the UN Food and Agriculture Ogranisation seeing their population growing at a speed faster than the food supplies, the increase in agricultural activities worldwide is imminent. Therefore, one should expect the loss of biodiversity as a result of pollutants coming from agricultural activities to swell around the globe. Urbanisation It is estimated that between 1871 and 1991, the Canadian population living in urban centers have increased from19% to  77%. To accommodate to this increase, the initial urban centres that stand on 0.7% of Canadas total area, have been expanding over the last few decades. In the twenty years spanning 1971 to 1991, the total area of the Montreal Urban Community increased from 2674 km2 in 1971 to 3509 km2, the Quebec City area increased from 907 km2 to 3150 km2, and the Sherbrooke and Trois-Rivieres became classified as urban centers. With the majority of large cities located within the St. Lawrence lowlands, a ecozone that is very biologically rich. An expanding city is bound to displace the many species that depend on that ecozone as habitat. Manufacturing In Cananda, manufacturing is the main economy in Quebec, it not only employs the most number of people, but also contribute the highest proportion of Quebecs GDP. Due to the unique nature of this sector of industry, many harmful pollutants are constantly being emited from its operations. Water-borne pollutants include metals, organic chemicals, and suspended sediments that are usually found in industrial discharges. These toxic discharges when flow into the water, can inversely affect the biota in an ecosystem by killing them, weakening them, or deterioting their ability to reproduce. As mentioned earlier on, the majority of large cities are concentrated within the St. Lawrence watershed. Therefore, any harmful discharges from the industries can quickly reach and harm the living organisms in it. Air-borne pollutants include carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and acid precipiation that can usually be found in the smoke fumes from factories and motor vehicles. It had been found out that air emissions from the Inco steel smelter in Sudbury, Ontario were directly responsible for a significant portion of the acid rain in eastern North America. Consequently, the surrounding lakes, which is home to fish, mollusk and other amphibian populations, were acidified. Since these amphibian species will not be able to survive in acidic condition, a lake hit by acid rain will result in the death of them. Furthermore, air-borne pollutants such as carbon dioxide and methane also give rise to a whole new environmental problem, which is being known as Global Climate Change. We will in the following paragraphs look into what this is all about. Global Climate Changes Global climate change refers to the change in global temperatures and precipitation over time due to natural variability or to human activity. Climate change may be limited to a specific region, or may occur across the whole Earth. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPC), ever since the start of the industrial revolution, atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have rose from 280 parts per million to 379 parts per million in the last 150 years. Furthermore, findings also concluded that there is a higher than 90 percent probability that human-produced greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide have caused much of the observed increase in Earths temperatures over the past 50 years. While we all know that human activities were the cause of global climate changes, the main causes of the current global warming trend is actually the result of human expansion of greenhouse effect a process in which the heat leaving the Earth is being trapped by the greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases include, water vapour, carbon dioxide, methane, nitirious oxide, and chlorofluorocarbons. On Earth, the composition of natural greenhouse has been constantly altered by human activities. Over the years, the burning of fossil fuels like coal and oil has increased the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide. On a smaller scale, the clearing of forests for agriculture, industry, and other human activities, have also resulted in an increase in the concentrations of greenhouse gases. From the relationship between the human population and humans industrial activities, it is undisputed that any increase in the human population will lead to an increase of greenhouse emissions, which will eventually accelerates the rate of global climate change. The following table summarises the regional impacts of global climate change by the IPPC: Region Impacts North America Decreasing snowpack in the western mountains; 5-20 percent increase in yields of rain-fed agriculture in some regions; increased frequency, intensity and duration of heat waves in cities that currently experience them. Latin America Gradual replacement of tropical forest by savannah in eastern Amazonia; risk of significant biodiversity loss through species extinction in many tropical areas; significant changes in water availability for human consumption, agriculture and energy generation. Europe Increased risk of inland flash floods; more frequent coastal flooding and increased erosion from storms and sea level rise; glacial retreat in mountainous areas; reduced snow cover and winter tourism; extensive species losses; reductions of crop productivity in southern Europe. Africa By 2020, between 75 and 250 million people are projected to be exposed to increased water stress; yields from rain-fed agriculture could be reduced by up to 50 percent in some regions by 2020; agricultural production, including access to food, may be severely compromised. Asia Freshwater availability projected to decrease in Central, South, East and Southeast Asia by the 2050s; coastal areas will be at risk due to increased flooding; death rate from disease associated with floods and droughts expected to rise in some regions. Figure 1.2 (Adapted from: http://climate.nasa.gov/effects/) On top of all that, the global climate change also indirectly resulted in the loss of biodiversity. As the global temperature rises, crop that used to grow best at certain temperature, will not be able to adapt, and will die off eventually. On the other hand, the higher temperature will also melt the glaciers and the artic sea ice, a habitat to animals such as, polar bears and penguins. Conclusion According to U.N. population division, the worldwide population has a high likelihood of hitting 9.1 billion by 2050. From this figure, it is easy to see that even if the current world population of 6.6 billion does not increase it consumtion per capita, we will still have to use up more resources to support this higher number of population. Hence, there is an urgent need to do something about the rising global huamn population, as the devasting envrionmental effects we discussed earlier on have a direct relationship with it.

J.D. Salingers Franny and Zooey Essay -- Salinger Franny Zooey Essays

J.D. Salinger's Franny and Zooey Works Cited Missing In the novel Franny and Zooey, J.D. Salinger uses the Glass family to deliver his beliefs on religion and society during this time. One way in which he does this is by delivering the novel into two short stories. One deals with Franny, a young female who is at a crossroad with her beliefs, and the other deals with her brother Zooey who tries to help his sister through her difficulties. Once this book was published in 1961, it was an instant hit and made its way to the best-seller list. Over the years there were many critical essays written discussing Salinger’s intended purpose for this novel. In A Preface for â€Å"Franny and Zooey† John P. McIntyre explores whether Salinger’s main purpose focusing on religion was due to the fact that he wanted to prove that religion should be more spiritual rather then dealt with in society. After reading this essay, I agree with McIntyre because throughout Franny and Zooey there are several different situations which the read er can see where the novel seems to support this insight.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The first example of how the religion aspect should be spiritual is seen through Franny and Zooey’s character. Both were raised with a blend of religions by their older brothers. They feel as though this has made them abnormal, which is not true, because being able to understand these different religions have helped them in several different ways. In order for Zooey to understand what is wrong with his sister he talks he needs to her. While discussing what is going on in there lives, Franny starts to explain to Zooey how she went to college in search of wisdom yet has found none. Zooey then asks her what she wants from the Jesus prayer which Franny had begun to follow. He also states that if she is hoping to gain things from it then she is just like everyone else out there. Franny later answers by telling Zooey that she is worried and she doesn’t know her purpose for following these prayers. This specific discussion between the two illustrates their differences. They are individuals and by understanding these different religions and prayers, it has helped them be there own â€Å"spiritual person† rather then listening to society and being fake. In A Preface for â€Å"Franny and Zooey†, McIntyre says that â€Å"the worst they (Franny and Zooey) can say about our society is that they are too sens... ...ives in that consciousness and this is ‘the idea’ he has to get across to Franny† (McIntyre 4). So by agreeing with McIntyre, we see that Zooey is a real person and true to himself and to his beliefs. When talking to Franny Zooey explains to her that he doesn’t feel she understand Jesus, that she is making more lovable then he really is. He calls him the most intelligent man in the Bible. And with this it shows that this is a good example of how religion in the book is more spiritual than anything else especially though Zooey’s character.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Philosophy and religion are important topics that Salinger tries to put forth through his novel Franny and Zooey. Through Franny’s breakdown he shows how important it is to be different and believe in what you think it right, especially dealing with religion. While in Zooey he shows what it is to be this way with your own beliefs. John P. McIntyre’s essay A Preface for â€Å"Franny and Zooey† supports this idea that religion should be something spiritual rather impacted by society. â€Å"His (Salinger’s) primary concern regards the individual's spiritual life, that real relationship between the person and the active Presence of God† (McIntyre 6).

The Hidden Key to E-Commerce Success

Order Fulfillment: The Hidden Key to e-Commerce Success By Fred R. Ricker and Ravi Kalakota n July 1995, a young Wall Street computer whiz named Jeff Bezos opened a bookstore offering more than one million titles yet virtually no inventory. His brainchild—Amazon. com—has grown since then from four employees operating out of a 400 square-foot garage in Seattle into an online company with a stock valuation greater than most Fortune 500 companies.His initial concept—a virtual bookstore designed to do business exclusively on The Internet offers a wealth of the Internet—was new business opportunities for obviously brilliant start-ups and established compaand well executed, nies alike. Yet while everyone as evidenced by wants a piece of the e-Commerce action, not everyone has laid the Amazon. com’s sucnecessary groundwork for success in gaining and cess. One of the most often overkeeping customer looked prerequisites is order fulfillattention and genermen t and distribution. Succeeding ating orders. n the e-Commerce age is every Yet the company’s bit as much about designing and success to date is executing these â€Å"blocking and dwarfed by the tackling† functions as it is about potential of its the latest technology. apparent ambition— to build the world’s most efficient consumer-direct orderFred R. Ricker is director of health-care supfulfillment system. ply chain strategy for Manhattan Associates Amazon. com enviInc. Ravi Kalakota is the director of the sions a â€Å"killer† supCenter for Digital Commerce and GCATT ply chain that can chair professor of electronic commerce at deliver virtually any Georgia State University.He is also the product—not just founder and CEO of e-Business Strategies. 60 Supply Chain Management Review I books— directly to customers better than its competitors. In fact, it took Amazon. com only one quarter after adding music to its offerings to become the N et’s leading music seller. The company currently is targeting the $150 billion pharmaceuticals market with a 40-percent stake in Drugstore. com. Today, the emphasis among more mature Web retailers like Amazon. com is shifting from marketing to fulfillment logistics—what happens after the rder is placed. Good fulfillment—taking the right product, putting it in the right box, shipping it, and gaining the customer’s approval on arrival—is a demanding task. We believe it is here—in the down-and-dirty details of consumer direct order fulfillment—that the epic battles for domination of the e-Commerce marketplace will ultimately be won or lost. The emergence of the e-Supply chain, a group of strategically aligned companies focused on delivering differentiable value, signals a shift in the nature of online competition.It involves rethinking traditional supplier relationships and the role of informationdriven fulfillment logistics. In the new network economy, establishing a sustainable e-Commerce position is as much about using the right fulfillment strategies to get your products or services to buyers as it is about having the right product at the right price. The key to success is being able to give customers what they want, Fall 1999 Illustration by Roger Roth when they want it, and how they want it—all at the lowest cost. That requires â€Å"real-time fulfillment† solutions.These rising demands have driven a three-phase evolution. First the e-Corporation, which focuses on creating and maximizing the potential of internal supply chains, evolves into e-Business communities, where distributors, suppliers, customers, and others are linked but not fully integrated. These communities then become the e-Supply chain, which requires business-process and technology synchronization across the entire chain. (Exhibit 1 depicts this progression. ) Unfortunately, much of the start-up planning for e-Commerce ventures a pplies old models to new enterprises.It assumes, for example, the existence of a brick-and-mortar support infrastructure for the fulfillment or the spontaneous development of that infrastructure. Like it or not, most e-Commerce retailers place their initial emphasis on the â€Å"exciting† areas: Web product development, traffic generation, dynamic or customized Web pages, transactions, and so on. Often, e-Commerce retailers give little thought to order fulfillment and distribution—a capability critical to the success or failure of Web commerce. Our research shows that the lack of an Fall 1999 ntegrated supply chain infrastructure or weaknesses in integrating multiparty logistics components can undermine the benefits of e-Commerce and hinder innovative responses to the competition. The e-Fulfillment Opportunity The Internet offers a rich new opportunity for direct consumer access, but it also raises new challenges. Web retailers find product fulfillment—picking a nd packing in very small quantities and shipping via parcel carriers—a particularly difficult activity. It often requires relying on third-party fulfillment vendors (a concept discussed later in this article) to do the job.But collaboration in fulfillment chains is no longer confined to conventional two-company alliances, such as between shipper and a logistics services provider. Today, groups of enterprises are banding together for a common purpose—to satisfy customer demand. A new form of competition is emerging: e-Supply chain vs. e-Supply chain. In the Internet book retailing war, for example, the competition is not only between Amazon. com and Barnes & Noble but also among groups of companies that make up the e-Supply chain anchored by each company. An e-Supply chain is, in effect, a virtual organizaSupply Chain Management Review 61ORDER FULFILLMENT process. ) Vendors could work within specified routing guidelines and still tender for trucks online in conjunction with other geographically close vendors to get full-truckload rates. Internet start-ups have the luxury of starting from scratch and defining their fulfillment infrastructure Business Process and Technology specifically for the products Integration being offered online. This is not the case for established Phase 3 E-Supply Chain companies like catalog companies or store-based retailers such as Wal-Mart, Borders, and JCPenney.These companies already have fulfillment and distribution networks designed to ship a variety of products in bulk quantities to hundreds of stores. They realize that they cannot layer home delivery on the existing infrastructure. The established companies must decide whether to extend their existing facilities for consumer-direct eCommerce or build a new set of fulfillment facilities tailored to low volumes and high-variety product mixes. The enlightened ones realize that they need to invent a new customer-driven fulfillment model that can extract enough costs o ut of the current model to justify home delivery costs.That new model, we believe, is an intercompany order-fulfillment and replenishment model. It utilizes business process synchronization to eliminate redundant processes among supply chain trading companies and to improve information sharing— doing away with excess labor, inventory, and holding costs. The design and implementation of such a coordinated and synchronized fulfillment infrastructure poses a major managerial problem. To shed light on this problem and provide a prescriptive roadmap, we address the following questions: What is the impact of current customer-direct business models on fulfillment strategies?What is the definition of consumer-direct fulfillment logistics? Why is having a consumer-direct model so important? What types of fulfillment strategies are currently employed in e-Commerce? What strategic business-process reengineering and synchronization steps can managers take when designing a consumer-direct fulfillment logistics strategy? Fall 1999 EXHIBIT 1 Evolution of the Network Economy Distributors Suppliers Internal Supply Chain Reengineering External Linkages Customers Phase 1 E-Corporation Logistics Providers Phase 2 E-Business Communities ion that encompasses a group of trading companies, all working together to slash costs and share profits. By optimizing not only their internal processes but also their mutual interactions, they realize the benefits of a truly integrated supply chain. This concept—business-process and supply chain synchronization—lays the basis for the next revolution in supply chain management. It takes supply chain integration to a new level of efficiency by requiring companies to focus on synchronizing business processes around standard interface points and upgrading these points as the industry evolves.Synchronization of these â€Å"touch points† eliminates costs associated with inefficient movement of goods, redundant processes, and excess inventory. In doing so, it promotes a dedicated collaboration of all supply chain trading partners—suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers, thirdparty providers, transportation companies, and retailers. Through e-Commerce, redundant processes among trading partners (such as multiple accuracy audits, receiving-dock appointments, and inventory planning activities) can be eliminated.The immediacy and availability of the Internet, once security and data cleansing issues are worked out, fulfills the promise of true synchronization. To take just a few examples, if vendors can gain access to a publicly available schedule on the Internet and book their own receiving appointments, they no longer need to send requests for appointments and wait for responses. Retailers would not need to research late payments if their customers could download payment status directly from the retailer’s Web site. (At least two major retailers have already begun this 62 Supply C hain Management ReviewThe Logistics of Consumer-Direct Fulfillment Three forces are converging to create an explosion in consumer-direct business models: technology forces are making it possible, market forces are making it viable, and social forces are making it inevitable. Keep in mind, though, that consumers demand more than an interactive experience. They want delivery convenience and lower fulfillment costs. They need to be assured of fast and reliable delivery. The value the consumer places on timely delivery can affect the logistics network design significantly. Time is money,† and digital consumers of the 21st century don’t have the same tolerance levels as their analog-world ancestors. Today’s consumers are yearning for instant gratification as never before. Partners in the supply chain must improve their efficiencies—from order capture to fulfillment— to provide that gratification. The goal of consumer-direct business models is to let cust omers select and configure products and services interactively, get a price quote, and receive a committed delivery date online.Companies serious about satisfying customers online must substantially change their process to make consumer-direct retailing and manufacturing attractive to the consumer. Companies must re-evaluate the complete fulfillment business model—promotions, merchandising, product selection, pricing, supplier relations, technical management, distribution, returns, and post-sale service. Each of these areas demands new processes, skills, and approaches. To satisfy a consumer-driven marketplace, companies must move beyond the singular mentality of intracompany optimization.Instead, they must focus on how intercompany business process synchronization can transform consumer demands into consumer satisfaction. As with a single company, core competencies of each component of the virtual organization must be evaluated objectively to eliminate inefficiencies. Manage rs of that virtual organization will continue to reengineer best practices, while at the same time: Building replenishment programs based on consumers â€Å"pulling† the product through the supply chain from the manufacturer. Employing new forecasting methods that reflect total pipeline visibility.Investing collectively in technology and equipment to capitalize on market opportunities. The success of consumer direct fulfillment logistics models depends on the successful integration of Fall 1999 four key elements: order-fulfillment planning, product execution, distribution management, and crossapplication integration. 1. Order-Fulfillment Planning. Rising customer expectations and short fulfillment deadlines call for effective planning that breaks artificial boundaries and bridges the gaps between the consumer and the other players in the supply chain.Fulfillment planning must consider the entire planning process— from manufacturing, through distribution and transportat ion—within a single integrated model. Fulfillment planning involves evaluation of multiple planning strategies such as: Establishing a sustainable e-Commerce position is as Profitable-to-promise: Should I take the customer order at this time? Available-to-promise: Is inventory available to fulfill the order? Capable-to-promise: Does manufacturing capacity allow order commitment?Select the plan that best meets the desired customer-service levels considering transportation and manufacturing constraints. It’s important to plan backwards from customer priorities and fulfillment deadlines. Thus, to generate a feasible plan, the fulfillment-planning process needs to consider all supply chain constraints simultaneously. These include transportation constraints such as truck capacity and weight, use of alternate modes, and availability of downstream resources such as loading docks. 1 2. Production Execution.With the advent of modular designs, more and more production functions are being performed at dedicated warehouses and distribution centers. The typical activities include light subassembly and sequencing, kitting, merging, consolidation, packaging, and labeling. Timing of the final assembly often drives the production plan for subassemblies. The process starts with the master production schedule for the finished product. An MRP (Manufacturing Resource Planning) system explodes this schedule to derive when, where, and in what quantities various subassemblies and components are required to make each product.Production also includes componentreplenishment strategies that minimize the amount of inventory in the pipeline and coordinate product Supply Chain Management Review 63 much about using the right order-fulfillment strategies as it is about having the right product at the right price. ORDER FULFILLMENT hand-offs between the various parties involved. Timely replenishment of warehouses is critical because customers will no longer tolerate out-ofstock situations. 3. Distribution Management.Distribution management encompasses the entire process of transporting goods from manufacturer to distribution centers and then to final consumption point. The process also may include packing, document preparation, customs brokerage, and inventory and warehouse management. One of the most important innovations here is the integration of distribution with transportation planning and scheduling through a comprehensive supply can address by utilizing standardized information formats and communication points between trading partners.Distribution center inventory has to be integrated effectively with the customer contact system. In high-velocity retail settings like the Web, customers quickly become unhappy if the seller is out of stock for what is advertised as in stock. Accurate distribution center inventory, updated frequently, is essential to running an effective online business. A Framework for e-Commerce Fulfillment Strategies In the face of increasing competition, absence of pricing power, and shrinking operating margins, companies will succeed or fail based on the efficiency of their fulfillment strategies.Business analysts often focus on the number of orders a company generates on the Web as an indicator of its competitive strength. But a more accurate measure may be the company’s process for rapidly and efficiently translating the orders into fill-rates that satisfy and exceed customer expectations. This section presents a framework of evolving fulfillment strategies. It then illustrates that framework with a wide array of examples and derives implications and guidelines for management. The framework is based on two dimensions: the structure and the operation of fulfillment strategies.On the structure dimension, the strategies are classified as either centralized or distributed. In a centralized structure, all warehousing, pickup, packing, and shipping are operated in a central site, usually a distribution or logistics center. In a distributed structure, warehousing, pickup, packing, and shipping or delivery are located at different sites. On the operation dimension, the fulfillment strategies are either self-operated if the fulfillment process is operated by the company itself or outsourced if it is done by third parties or partners.All of these strategies, discussed below, have trade-offs regarding investment, inventory costs, and operational complexity. Strategy A. Distributed Delivery Centers Fulfillment through distributed delivery centers is an acceptable approach for companies that are just getting online or for those that have a delivery funcFall 1999 â€Å"Time is money,† chain execution solution. Transportation-management software spans the life cycle of the shipment and allows customers to view all of their shipments across a network of multimodal transportation providers. Distribution anagement also means providing users with easy access to shipping, tracking, and del ivery data. Reverse logistics is another function of distribution management. Faster product obsolescence and more generous warranties have escalated the number of returns. Reverse logistics not only encompasses damaged or returned goods but also products designed for remanufacture, hazardous materials, and reusable packaging. 4. Cross-Application Integration. To be effective, companies need to seamlessly integrate the three elements of fulfillment logistics described above.At present, this rarely happens. Most Web servers only have a sporadic connection to the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system like SAP’s R/3, which controls accounting, production, materials management, and distribution. Thus, when the user wants to know when a product will be delivered, the Web application often cannot tell that user what inventory is available in the ERP system or at the third-party warehouse. These are precisely the kinds of problems that business-process synchronization 64 Supply Chain Management Review nd digital consumers of the 21st century don’t have the same tolerance levels as their analog-world ancestors. tion in their stores. This approach minimizes the upfront investment and can be set up quickly. It also facilitates strategies such as â€Å"Buy Here/Pick Up There. † This strategy allows consumers to place an order by phone or online at one store location and pick up the merchandise at another. Though distributed delivery centers do have their advantages (like the obvious reduction in shipping costs), they also can experience certain difficulties.For one thing, controlling inventory for every center at an appropriate level may result in operational complexity and incur expensive inventory costs. In addition, in-store employees often are unfamiliar with warehouse picking and packing procedures. Further, high employee turnover can make picking and packing quality standards difficult to maintain. Yet another problem is scheduling. To mini mize conflict with customers who are shopping during the daytime, picking operations often are scheduled for off-peak shopping hours.Although this may appear to be an efficient use of resources, the delayed picking may force an additional day into the delivery cycle, since carrier pickups may take place before the completion of the current day’s picking and packing activities. Strategy B. Partner Fulfillment Operations Some online retailers are using the partner fulfillment model, which means they have no inventory, no shops, and no product brands. Fulfillment is performed entirely by partners. This approach has clear advantages from the standpoint of inventory-carrying costs. But there are some disadvantages as well.This has been evident in the experience of Peapod, an online grocery retailer that provides online shopping and home delivery services. Peapod discovered that its initial strategy of partnering with local supermarkets for fulfillment meant charging consumers high delivery costs of up to $16 an order. This pricing level made it virtually impossible to build a customer base. To attract more customers, the company has begun to dismantle some of its partnerships and move toward a distributed-delivery fulfillment model by establishing its own warehouses in selected markets.The introduction of a distributed-delivery model, however, has put a strain on the company’s financial growth. Peapod management estimates that each new distribution center requires a capital expenditure of roughly $1. 5 million plus operating expenses. Peapod expects a net loss at each facility during the first 12 to 18 months of operation. In the long run, however, the new centers should give the company higher overall margins as well as greater operating efficiencies. Fall 1999 Companies will succeed or fail based on the efficiency of their fulfillment strategies.Strategy C. Dedicated Fulfillment Center Today, many online retailers have established their own dedicate d fulfillment centers. These players include Amazon. com, BarnesandNoble. com, Dell Computer, Micro Warehouse, and Insight Enterprises. This approach is well suited to the book and computer industry, where the fulfillment centers can facilitate prompt delivery. The dedicated fulfillment center model reduces delivery costs for low-margin items. Using this approach, companies can measure expected delivery time in hours—not days.The tradeoffs of this approach are: Low or unpredictable sales volumes. This will result in high inventory-carrying costs. High up-front investment. Depending upon its warehouse setup and flexibility, a distribution fulfillment center can incur high costs. It may, for example, require major systems modifications, automated warehouses, and conveyors. This option, moreover, can add operational complexity to the product and information flows. Yet even though this approach increases the up-front capital investment, it can reduce long-term operating costs.Dec reased flexibility. The operation’s scalability is restricted to the existing warehouse infrastructure. This may make it difficult to meet the variability in demand inherent in some retail segments. Strategy D. Third-Party Fulfillment Centers (â€Å"Virtual Warehousing†) As companies struggle to manage unpredictable demand better, they are turning toward third-party fulfillment centers (3PFs), which can be thought of as virtual warehouses. Through this approach, companies can lease the skills and facilities needed for order fulfillment rather than owning them.Third-party fulfillment companies offer flexibility in accommodating wide swings in demand over short periods. They also help facilitate inventoryreduction initiatives such as just-in-time programs. Another advantage of 3PF is the limited changes that must be made to legacy information systems. This option provides a much more robust capability than in-store fulfillment and minimizes operational impact. It also co nverts much of fulfillment into a variable cost offset by eliminating warehouse and Supply Chain Management Review 65 ORDER FULFILLMENT store costs associated with the sale of the product.This strategy allows retailers to leverage their buying power and extend product selection into lines not currently offered in their stores. The primary drawback of 3PF is few existing national fulfillment companies can accommodate a wide range of products. Even more problematical, ceding control of this critical aspect of the business represents a major paradigm shift for retailers. Depending upon the service levels required by customers, multiple fulfillment centers may be necessary to minimize delivery time—and this increases costs and required stock levels. y clear that customers don’t just buy products; instead, they buy the â€Å"service envelope. † They are looking to enter into a complex relationship with the selling company. Given the new reality, companies do not crea te value for customers by merely offering varieties of products. Rather, they must devise a logistics fulfillment strategy that envelops the product and meets customer needs such as convenience, reliability, and support. The choice of a fulfillment strategy depends on whether a company elects to compete essentially on customer responsiveness or operating excellence.In either case, the fulfillment strategy must support the overall business strategy. To ensure that this happens, a company needs to complete the following steps: (1) assess the competitive environment, (2) select the fulfillment strategy, (3) achieve business-process synchronization, and (4) design and implement the necessary cross-application integration. Importantly, the fulfillment strategy must take full advantage of new planning, warehousing, and transportation technologies that can cut order fill times dramatically.Assess the Competitive Environment The first step in fulfillment-logistics design is assessmentâ€⠀that is, identifying the opportunities, strengths, and weaknesses that will influence overall performance and viability of the fulfillment strategy. During the assessment phase, a company must gather information on the competitive environment across these strategic variables: Effectiveness. What are customers’ priorities and how are they changing? How closely does the overall design address the stated and unstated requirements of customers?Consider likely changes in buying patterns, potential competitors, long-run cost pressures, and new technologies. Value differentiation. Why do my customers buy from me? What makes my value proposition unique compared to the competition? Do customers appreciate the value in my offering and can this be leveraged into differentiated pricing strategies? The first step toward value differentiation is to map your customer’s entire experience with your product or service. Do this for each important customer segment. Capital intensity. Sh ould we choose a capitalintensive, high fixed-cost strategy?Or a less capital-intensive, flexible strategy? The e-Commerce impact on working capital outlay differs from retailer to retailer. It depends on such factors as the existing logistical infrastructure (dispersion of warehouses, existing product flow, etc. ), the Fall 1999 Effective fulfillment strategy is dynamic, using multiple channels simultaneously to reach important customers. Strategy E. Build-to-Order The customized build-to-order model is an emerging fulfillment center strategy that extends beyond the traditional framework and adopts an integrating or boundary-spanning perspective.Companies working to coordinate build-to-order fulfillment logistics strategies need to: Synchronize and manage the entire flow of materials through a complex network of resources in their supply chains as opposed to simply managing inventory in warehouses. Turn their attention to maximizing the throughput, rather than focus on controlling fixed costs. Alter the material flow upstream quickly and proactively as demand and product mix change, rather than react to changes in customer demand at the end of the process.A fundamental requirement of fulfillment logistics is the dedicated collaboration of all supply chain trading partners to eliminate the costs associated with inefficient movement of goods, redundant processes, and excess inventory. Effective collaboration not only ensures that the order flows through smoothly but also provides two crucial capabilities: the ability to adapt to increasingly frequent changes in consumer tastes and e-Commerce technology and the ability to improve processes continuously.Designing the Right Fulfillment Strategy Design of the fulfillment strategy is central to the overall corporate strategy. It is becoming increasing66 Supply Chain Management Review nature of the products carried (for example, books Select the Fulfillment Strategy The second step in the design process is to select vs. produce), and the delivery demands of the an appropriate fulfillment strategy based on the findcustomer. Channel extendibility. Can the fulfillment design ings of the competitive assessment.Each fulfillment handle possible new products and services and strategy brings its own strengths, weaknesses, and incorporate new forms of customer interaction? trade-offs. These center on such issues as investEstablished companies must remain committed to ment, effectiveness, cost efficiency, operational coma portfolio strategy of customer interaction. This plexity, channel extendibility and scalability, and is based on the belief that valuable synergies exist risks associated with the business alliances. Exhibit 2, among online, catalog, and specialty retailing.To which summarizes the key characteristics of the five cite one example, EXHIBIT 2 online order desks A Summary of Five Fulfillment Strategies with sophisticated Type of Distinctive Major Potential Management walk-up interfaces Fulf illment Characteristics Strengths Weakness Challenges Strategy can be located strategically in Distributed delivery Distributed Easy start-up; Complex inventory Establishing sophisevery store so that centers Prompt delivery; management; ticated inventoryoperation sites; Operation in control.High inventory management sysSelf operated. shoppers can costs; tem; order products Unfamiliar with JIT inventory manand serve themwarehousing proce- agement. dures. selves. With an integrated portfo- Partner fulfillment Minimized up-front Service limited by Establishing orderDistributed lio strategy, estab- operations investment; partnership; routing system; operation sites; Less operational Low overall Maintaining stratePartner operated. ished companies responsibility; efficiency; gic alliance with can gain many Flexible delivery High inventory costs partners; new online cusarrangement; and inventory-man- Ensuring service Low shipping charge agement complexity. quality and reliability. tomers f rom the to customers. retail outlets. I n f r a s t r u c t u re Dedicated Avoids the higher High up-front Converting traditionCentralized inventory costs; investment; al warehousing to operation site; scalability.Can the fulfillment centers Easy to manage; Decreased flexibility. consumer-direct fulSelf operated. design handle Fast delivery; fillment; multiple products Reduced long-term JIT inventory mancosts of operation. agement. and a high shipment volume? Physical distribu- Third-party fulfillLeast investment; Few options Selecting the third Centralized No learning curve; available; party; tion can be a ment centers (3PFs) operation site; Third party No operational com- Risks in strategic Establishing intermajor logistical operated. lexity; alliances; organizational inforand administrative Limited changes to High operational mation systems with legacy systems; charge. the 3PF. headache. Online Minimized operaretailers are findtional impacts. ing that having to Build-to-order Spa ns both Minimum inventory; Over-customization; Synchronizing entire adapt their existcentralized â€Å"Pulling† ensured; Costs and resources flow of materials vs. ing infrastructure and distributed No stock inventory; of integration. anaging inventory; to handle small operations. Controlled fulfillAltering material ment. flow upstream vs. shipments going customer demand to millions of condownstream. sumers can be time consuming, complex, and expensive. The challenge is to keep each and every fulfillment strategies, is a managerial guide for customer satisfied while protecting the bottom determining which strategy is right for a company at line from erosion resulting from waste, errors, and a given situation. inefficiencies.How well do the available distribu- Achieve Business-Process Synchronization Intercompany business-process synchronization, tion strategies help accomplish that key objective? Fall 1999 Supply Chain Management Review 67 ORDER FULFILLMENT in its purest form, gives rise to the virtual organization in which all trading companies work together as one competitive supply chain entity—the e-Supply chain. In the virtual organization, each trading company shares its information and resources, which results in better planning and more efficient product movement.In making business-process synchronization a reality, companies typically will encounter these challenges: Design and Implement Cross-Application Integration Among the key objectives of intercompany collaboration are more sophisticated distribution services, such as frequent inventory replenishments, more customized packing of goods to reduce unpacking times, more creative packaging and labeling of goods to meet merchandising strategies, and more effective exchange of trading information in compliance with EDI standards.Achievement of these objectives demands an increased use of cross-application integration. Superior application integration in a supply chain is central to achievi ng superior fulfillment productivity and speed. An effective fulfillment-management system must have the ability to integrate with: 1. Integrated enterprise applications. Included here are the ERP systems that integrate the inventory management, marketing, and financial functions. 2. Integrated interenterprise systems. These are the supply chain management systems for transportation, order management, warehouse management, and demand planning.For instance, FedEx has integrated its logistics and transportation capabilities with the SAP R/3 system. For R/3 users, the solution will simplify every related process step from order entry through shipment and tracking by tightly integrating with FedEx. For FedEx, this capability creates a competitive barrier that other carriers have to overcome. 3. Distribution center management and warehouse management systems. Included among these solutions are facility management systems. Efficient management of a distribution center operation now requir es collecting information on customer orders, inbound shipments, products vailable on-site, storage locations, product weights and sizes, and outbound shipping data (including customer-specific shipping requirements, routing data, and carrier requirements). This information must be analyzed dynamically to determine the most efficient use of the distribution center’s labor, materials-handling equipment, and shipping and receiving areas. Today’s information technology revolution does not merely support new order-fulfillment strategies, it creates them. Technology Challenge. Intercompany businessprocess synchronization requires sophisticated technology applications.It can be difficult, however, to identify those systems that truly support this initiative. The Data-Sharing Challenge. Supply chain systems not only need to communicate with one another but also to integrate their business practice knowledge into each trading company’s business logic. The companies must work quickly and painlessly to integrate their trading partners’ knowledge into their own business applications. The Adaptability Challenge. All the information in the world cannot help if trading companies don’t have the flexibility to alter business processes as consumer demands change.In this regard, all trading companies face similar challenges. For instance, when UPS issues a rate update, thousands of customers must implement these changes by a specified date and time. Companies need to implement business systems that can be upgraded easily to move with the market. The Standardization and Compliance Challenge. When one major player in the supply chain decides to upgrade to a new technology or adopt a new technical functionality, the other players are challenged to synchronize accordingly.When there are thousands of â€Å"touch points,† or interface points, the challenge can become enormously complex. In a perfect world, all trading partners would migrate i n unison to the latest technologies to realize the maximum benefit. But it is not likely that an entire supply chain can or will do this at once. Thus, it is important to focus on synchronizing business processes around these touch points and upgrading them as the market evolves. 68 Supply Chain Management Review Acting in Unison for the Consumer Order fulfillment and replenishment is a core business process. What makes onsumer-direct eCommerce compelling to customers is not just the online shopping experience but on-time delivery, fewer fulfillment errors, extra service, and convenience. These are the things that customers value. When companies fall short in responding to those values, they risk alienating or losing customers as a result. Fall 1999 ORDER FULFILLMENT Many potential e-Commerce participants have underestimated the difficulty and importance of the fulfillment side of this market arena. They see fulfillment and distribution logistics as peripheral to their competitive s trategy.Companies need to recognize that such benign neglect is risky and wastes opportunities for competitive advantage. In response to pressures from powerful market trends and technological changes, they must inspect past practices, channel commitments, and vendor relationships vigorously. Effective fulfillment strategy is dynamic, using multiple channels simultaneously to reach important customers. Today’s information technology revolution does not merely support new fulfillment strategies, it creates them. Consumers interface with technology daily, raising the bar on what is expected on the fulfillment side.Meeting these rising expectations requires a conscious shift in fulfillment strategies and a technological infrastructure that ties together every aspect of the consumer-direct â€Å"fulfillment chain. † Interenterprise business-process synchronization is a key to success in this emerging real-time marketplace. Deep information exchange among supply chain partn ers brings opportunities to develop interenterprise strategies that become new sources of competitive advantage. Information integration allows companies to monitor daily trends, market conditions, product acquisitions, and planning functions.To achieve operational integration, manufacturers, distributors, and retailers must exchange information effectively with other supply chain participants at key interface â€Å"touch points. † Importantly, this includes providing real-time information to customers so they know the status of their order at any given moment. When all trading partners—including raw-material suppliers—perform all of the key supply activities in unison, they can make inventory decisions that lead to dramatically improved results.They can then share the rewards of producing the correct amount of the product, thereby lowering the cost of overproduction. Business-process synchronization also enables partners to respond quickly and easily to unplann ed consumer demand for items or for personalized and enhanced products—the kinds of things today’s Internet shoppers desire. The companies that employ business-process synchronization in the development of their consumerdirect order-fulfillment strategy will fulfill these consumer desires and emerge as the big winners in the Internet economy.Author’s Note Used as a reference for this article was a White Paper by Alan Dabbiere of Manhattan Associates titled â€Å"Business Process and Supply Chain Synchronization: Achieving Supply Chain Excellence Through Technology. † Footnote 1 Companies providing early versions of advanced planning capability include SAP’s Advanced Planning and Optimization (APO) engine, i2Technologies, Manugistics, and Logility. More sophisticated systems that integrate production planning and transportation planning are under development. 70 Supply Chain Management Review Fall 1999

Evaluation of Hmv

TABLE OF CONTENT 1. Tasks Allocation3 2. Company Web Site (hmv. com. hk)3 3. Business Model and Value Proposition3 4. Evaluation Framework4 4. 1. Context4 4. 2. Content7 4. 3. Community9 4. 4. Customization12 4. 5. Communication15 4. 6. Connection17 4. 7. Commerce19 5. Fit and Reinforcement23 6. Competitor Comparison24 7. Reference List24 1.Tasks Allocation | Business Model, Competitor Comparison, Framework Design | Evaluations of Customization, Communication, Fit and Reinforcement | Evaluations of Community | Evaluations of Connection and Commerce | |2. Company Web Site (hmv. com. hk) |HMV is a British global entertainment retailer. The retail shops are selling music, videos, games and entertainment accessories. The HMV Website’s started in 1997 and provided the online selling and delivering services. |3. Business Model and Value Proposition | HMV’s online service is a Business-to-Customer (B2C). It has been provided the different services as selling, delivering and exchange at retail’s industry.To enable competitive advantage (value proposition), the business model of â€Å"Bricks and Clicks† is performed by HMV which integrates both offline (bricks) and online (clicks) presences and the services are available 24 hours a day for all countries. HMV specializes in both physical and digital products on music, video, games and entertainment’s accessories. |4. Evaluation Framework | The evaluation of hmv. com. k will be based on 7Cs framework, including context, content, community, customization, communication, connection and commerce. Each of the 7Cs will be evaluated individually and how HMV use it to â€Å"fit† its business model and value proposition and we also look into whether consistency exists among the 7Cs. |4. 1. Context | 4. 1. 1. Pros Targeted website www. hmv. com. hk has used black and shocking pink as the theme color throughout the site. It is consistent with brand image and banner of HMV.It matches th e symbol of HMV, which is shown HMV is a trendy and fashionable CD warehouse to their target customers such as teenager, the middle class and the working people. From the functionality aspect, HMV uses tab menu as navigation tool on the top of the page to present its product or service catalogs, so it enables users to move easily back and forth between different catalogs without clicking â€Å"back† button. Moreover, the design of the website has taken into consideration of different language requirement including English, Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese. The specific language environment can be easily changed by users.Moreover, HMV uses consistent image layout and packaging information, which helps customer to easily identify required products. It also presents the new release products in HMV, catalyzed by the type of product, such as new release of music and movies. And the special information that included the weekly top 10 sales ranking of product and the speci al offer of HMV is placed in the left hand side and right hand side of the main page. This design approach makes customer can find the important information, as known as the newest product is on sales in HMV recently in the center of the main page.On the other hand, the sales ranking and special offer information has put into left and right hand side in the page, when customer would like to know more about the sales information of HMV. The context of HMV fits its value proposition by using user-friendly tab menu which make users easily access the information and multi-language web interfaces. [pic] 4. 1. 2. Cons As a customer’s experience, an advertisement banner in the main page is quite annoying, because it started to play the promotion movie clip automatically. It does not provide any visible interface to let customer to pause or mute the promotion movie.Sometimes, customer will not prefer to see the advertisement, when the page is loading with the big band sound. [pic] 4. 1. 3. Recommendation To avoid inconvenient cause to customer on the advertisement, it is recommended to HMV that try to provide a movie interface as good as customers can play the promotion movie clip by themselves or mute the movie clip as default movie playing setting after the main page is loaded. |4. 2. Content | 4. 2. 1. Pros First of all, www. hmv. com. k is a specialty store which is selling physical products. It can be seen in the clear catalog and the sub-catalog in the top of each page. This catalog has divided HMV’s product into different type, such as â€Å"music†, â€Å"dvd†, â€Å"blue-ray†, â€Å"games† and so on. Therefore, it can be seen that HMV is a Mega specialty store which is provide multimedia to its customer. [pic] When customers click to the catalog and find his or her product that want to buy, HMV has listed the information of the product such as the price, the artist of the product, track list of the product and other p roducts that relate to the selected product.Through the information listed, customer can understand the detail of the product and the related products. As a result, the content of HMV fits its value proposition by providing sufficient information which move consumers close to purchase, because of more awareness. [pic] 4. 2. 2. Cons In the product information, only text and graphic information are provided to the customers review. As media warehouse, HMV does not provide more information such as promotion music clips or promotion video to its products. 4. 2. 3. RecommendationIt is recommended HMV to use more multimedia to aid HMV to have customer to understand the product of HMV such as promotion music clips or promotion video to its product. |4. 3. Community | 4. 3. 1. Pros The HMV does not have a community for users on its own websites. The strategy of HMV is using hyperlinks, connected to social networks. For example, Facebook, Tweeter and YouTube are integrated in HMV site to pr ovide information about latest products and discount, creates topics for iscussion and answer user's questions through these social networks. For these parts, HMV can function as advertisement and customer service. [pic] Information about latest products: Moreover, customers not only collect information passively, but also create topics and plan activities of interest to others. Apparently the degree of member participation is high and there are more user-to-user communications on these websites especially Tweeter and Facebook. Customer Service: While micro blog and social network are becoming more and more popular, it is reasonable that HMV mainly emphasizes on these websites.There is no need to create new sites, so the cost can be lower. And because micro blog and social network have millions of users, using those platforms to do advertisement and contact with customers are quite effective. Actually, micro blog and social network can be very useful tools for promoting for every B2 C company. As a result, the community of HMV can fit its business model, because they are effectively using external resource systems such as Facebook and Twitter to enable online HMV community and global communications. 4. 3. 2. ConsAfter browsing lots of products on HMV, we found that although, there is customer review section for each product behind the product introduction, only a few customers do the rating and hardly find customer reviews. Lack of comments, rating or references can influence customer purchase decision. As a consumer aspect, when buying a certain product on HMV site, they might interest other people's opinions for the references. 4. 3. 3. Recommendations Considering very few people write the customer review, there are three recommendations for HMV.Firstly, in order to grow the audiences, HMV can submit its blog to various search engines such as Google and Yahoo for making user attentions. Secondly, HMV can also build a music blog community for its fans to encou rage them to leave comments for making more interactive communications. This kind of communications might help to grow HMV’s audience and generate the customer reviews. The last suggestion is that the specific offer, discount or coupon can be provided by HMV, when writing a number of customer reviews by visitors. |4. 4.Customization | 4. 4. 1. Pros Log-in Registration: After log-in registration, users can access personal account details that contain personal information, payment method, wish list and order history, so that the users can be able to manage their personal HMV profile. Cookies: The feature of cookies is enabled by HMV to track our basket during site visit. For the â€Å"my basket†, the shopping items can be recorded by the users and saved by clicking â€Å"add to basket† button.The feature of â€Å"My Basket† also helps to provide personalized shopping basket to store the interested items, before performing business transaction. Content Pers onalization: HMV offers the features of content personalization by using â€Å"wish list†. For the â€Å"wish list†, it provides flexibility to allow users to specify their personal preferences and provides the way to keep track of products we may want to purchase at a later date. Moreover, the users can receive e-mails about sale promotions, based on a personal â€Å"wish list†.Even though, the HMV's unique customization tools try to a â€Å"fit† with its position as an innovative online music shop, we found that there are some customization features, company policies which should be improved with the following details. 4. 4. 2. Cons The web site provides some customization features such as personalized content and cookies, but there are four weakness points. First of all, HMV does not offer notification features to notify the consumers about the upcoming releases of our favorite singer.Secondly, HMV does not take responsible for any loss of privacy, dis closure or information with its web-site, this might cause negative band image for the users. Thirdly, HMV offers very limited content personalization in this stage, so that the users might not pay more attentions in their products or services. The last weakness point is that HMV does not offer the feature for reviewing visited products. 4. 4. 3. Recommendations There are limited customization features provided in HMV site.The recommendations are that HMV should consider to make sufficient privacy policy for protecting consumers, in order to build the positive band image. Although, the feature of cookies has been enabled for â€Å"My basket†, this feature should be improved, so that they can track and gather data and then return corresponding visited items, called â€Å"browsing history†. Moreover, the feature of product notification for upcoming releases of our favorite products should be provided to enhance competitive advantage. The last recommendation is about pers onalized contents, in order to address individual user needs and driving consumer behavior.According to the study â€Å"2008 ChoiceStream Personalization Survey†, there are 78% of consumers interested in receiving personalized content and 71% of consumers also believe that personalization can improve their experience [X]. Therefore, both implicit data and explicit data should be used in HMV site to provide customized experience for online shopping, called â€Å"tailoring by sites†. Implicit data should be generated by the user who choose to view the products by clicking on relevant links. Explicit data is provided by user [X].For example, â€Å"recommendation list† should be generated by HMV site to display similar category of products, based on your past shopping records. |4. 5. Communication | The overall communication of the website is good. It provides many communication channels, including email enquiry, FAQ, Phone, Facebook. Some of the Pros and Cons are l isted below: 4. 5. 1. Pros e-Mail Newsletters & Content-Update Reminders: The feature of â€Å"Newsletter† is an example of broadcast communications. The newsletters are sent via e-mail to inform subscribers about sale promotions or specific offers.Customers can choose either subscribe or unsubscribe newsletter at their discretion under â€Å"Communication Preferences† menu. Beside, the website also provides email alarm for new products and News Information broadcast, based on purchase history. As a result, customers can receive latest information via these channels. Moreover, personalized e-mail content is another type of one way information exchange from HMV to users, called â€Å"Content-Update Reminders†. The e-mail content is tailored by HMV to reflect each user's interests, based on â€Å"wish list†, so that the users from time to time to receive emails from HMV about sales promotions.Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ): The HMV site provides the list of questions and answers to support all commonly asked questions, called broadcast communication. It is very useful for users to know how to use HMV's web services such as configuration of cookie and checking order status, when they do online shopping. Innovative communication channels via Facebook: The feature of Facebook as social networking service is embedded in HMV site. It is an example of one-to-many, responding user. Users can share their comments regarding their experiences and respond. . 5. 2. Cons The customer service is not convenience, because the HMV does not offer the â€Å"Live HELP† support for 24 hrs. In modern life style, most customers go online shopping after working hours. Beside, the scope of FAQ session is insufficient as it only forces the basic questions. 4. 5. 3. Recommendations The service of 24 hrs â€Å"Live Help† should be provided by HMV for supporting time zone difference and providing quick response to consumers, by using read-time cha t system, like [pic] to provide the one-to-one personal Live communicational channel.Moreover, the website should enhance the FAQ session for the overall operations instead of providing the FAQ for the basic enquires only. |4. 6. Connection | 4. 6. 1. Overview The degree of target website HMV links to other website is low. In order to make a better understanding of the connection part, a similar online CD warehouse, Yesasia, is selected to compare with HMV: [pic] Base on the table above, it can be seen that HMV performs better than Yesasia.HMV has a better Google index pages and inbound links ranking, along with the Alexa ranking. But shows a little bit lower in Alexa inbound links. 4. 6. 2. Pros First of all, lesser external link may give customers the image that the company is professional. Consumers can far away from annoying advertisement. On the other hand, external link may generate some extra profit. The link here provides some latest information relating to the website. The refore, the tube from HMV can provide the customers with information about the fresh new goods. . 6. 3. Cons Although HMV has few external links, the link may not achieve customer expectation and the profit generated by this link might be low. Moreover, as HMV is mainly deal with the audios and games, which update very rapidly, so customers would more willing to have some links on introducing the latest information or selling some related products. 4. 6. 4. Recommendations As mentioned in overview, HMV need to lift the Alexa Inbound Links ranking. There are few suggestions that recommend to HMV.It can be delivered messages or published articles on the popular BBSs or Blogs linking to its own website and add the index link. Or it can exchange links with some related or similar website. |4. 7. Commerce | 4. 7. 1. Overview This website has most of the basic features of customer interface that support the aspects of trading transactions. 4. 7. 2. Pros Registration For the registration, the most impressive thing is â€Å"Individuation†. When registering, the website will record consumers’ preferences if permitted.Then it will email the information of the goods to the consumers according to their preferences. [pic] For the Shopping part, one very useful column is sales ranking. It is a good promotional way to attract customers and guide consumption. When I have no idea to buy what kind of staff, or I’m confused with which CD is good, it will be quite useful, like a shopping guide. Security Security gives an impression of convenience. Not like the general security methods by which customers need to install different kinds of digital certificates or USB key, HMV cooperates with â€Å"thawte†.Only one single click can achieve verification. It is convenient for the customers to a great extent. Besides, â€Å"Thawte† provided a security policy that guarantees all transactions inside HMV are trusted via security channel by using SSL aut hentication. Additionally, there is a guideline for customers to identify the site is safety while it has the Thawte Trusted Site Seal. [pic] 4. 7. 3. Cons Even though, HMV considers customization in registration, some negative user experiences also appear while using HMV registration interface.For instance, customers have to change their privacy settings in browser to allow the website to track the shopping cart and account details during visit, but most customers may not be willing to do so. [pic] Moreover, only one address can be stored. Usually, customer will have at least two addresses which are used for different purposes or at different times. So every time when customers want to ship items to a different address, they have to manually fill in the different address rather than choose one from the address lists. The function of shopping cart is very important in customer interface.However, it is not that 100% satisfaction. Whenever adding a product to shopping cart, the page w ill skip to the cart page. It is not convenient when customers want to continue shopping other items. What’s more, no recent history will be demonstrated about the items viewed by the customers. If the product is deleted by human mistake, customers have to go back to the original page and place the order again. 4. 7. 4. Recommendations In the registration module, information about more addresses and contact persons can be stored in the customer information.Shopping online is convenient but receiving packages sometimes could be a problem. So adding more information about delivery addresses and contact persons is necessary. Shopping cart could be more user-friendly. For instance, the deleted items can be recovered. It can operate as follows: [pic] Apart from that, what customers have to add to shopping cart can be stored in backstage and when they finish shopping, they can pay through their baskets. Furthermore, HMV can adopt â€Å"one click† shopping pattern which allow customers to make online shopping through one single click, like[pic].It is a good way to simplify purchase work flow. |5. Fit and Reinforcement | Communication is reinforced by customization (wish list) Commerce is reinforced by personalization Community is reinforced by communication (Lecture Note p. 58) Content is reinforced by customization HMV provides user-friendly customer interface to fit its business model for creating positive experiences and brand-building which make users close to purchase. 6. Competitor Comparison | |7. Reference List | [X] ChoiceStream, Inc. : Choicestream personalization survey. Research brief, 2008, pp 2-4. [X] Rayport, J. F and Jaworski, B. J. , e-Commerce, McGraw 2001. pp 113-165. [X] Probert, J. , Personalization In Digital Business, 2010, pp 1-2. ~ END

The Impact of the Olympics on Greenwich Park Essays

The Impact of the Olympics on Greenwich Park Essays The Impact of the Olympics on Greenwich Park Essay The Impact of the Olympics on Greenwich Park Essay Greenwich Park is one of the oldest and most historic parks in the UK: it is one of Britains 33 World Heritage Sites, and is the only urban park in the UK to be such a site (Jennings, 2001). This fact, combined with the amenities and tourist attractions it provides, makes it one of the most important sites in London, and the UK in general. As a result of this historic important and the existing status as a major tourist attraction, Greenwich Park was chosen as a site for the London 2012 Olympic Games. However, this decision has created controversy, with arguments that the facilities for the Games will cause long term damage to the park and the surrounding area. As such, this piece will examine the history of Greenwich Park, its current status both within London and the wider UK, and how the plans for the Olympics, and after the Olympics, will affect the park. This will be achieved via reviews of the literature, a survey of the attitudes at students at Edinburgh and the users of the park, and a cost benefit analysis of the plans to use Greenwich for the Olympics. This methodology has been selected because it allows triangulation between the three sources of data: secondary desk research, primary survey research, and the cost benefit analysis (Saunders et al, 2007). In addition, the survey, whilst brief, will allow for a broad range of data to be collected, which will help direct the literature review and the cost benefit analysis in relevant directions. Greenwich was originally settled around the time of the ancient Romans, with its proximity to the Thames and the view afforded from the top of the hill making it a desirable and relatively secure location. However, the park truly came to prominence when it was inherited by the Duke of Gloucester, brother of the king, in 1427. Henry VIII was born in Greenwich, along with his two daughters, which truly cemented the importance of the park to England. The current layout was created in the 1600s, when the tree lined avenues were created, and the Queens House was built around the same time, by the wife of James I of England, the first of the Stuart monarchs. The Stuarts further enhanced the park, with Charles commissioning Sir Christopher Wren to build The Royal Observatory, taking advantage of the clear views of the sky from the top of the hill. Greenwich became world famous following Britains rise to naval prominence in the 19th century, and Nevil Maskelynes accurate measurements of time based on observations of lunar distances from Greenwich. As such, Greenwich Mean Time became the most accurate measure of time until the development of the atomic clock, and helped lead to Greenwich becoming a World Heritage Site in 1997 (Jennings, 2001). Today, Greenwich Park is primarily used as an amenity for people living in the local area, people from further afield, and also the students who study at the nearby University of Greenwich. The park is the oldest enclosed Royal Park in the UK, as well as being one of the largest parks in South East London, making it a key part of the region. The views from the hilltop include the City of London, the River Thames, Canary Wharf and the O2. In addition, Greenwich Park contains several of the most important historic buildings in London, including the former Royal Observatory and the Queens House, as well as the National Maritime Museum and the Royal Naval College. The picturesque setting and prevalence of historic buildings also make Greenwich Park, and Greenwich in general, one of the UKs main film locations; particularly for period dramas. Most notable, a significant portion of the TV adaptation of Jane Austens Sense and Sensibility was filmed in the Park (Jennings, 2001). The important historic nature of Greenwich Park, together with its picturesque nature and status as a tourist attraction, led to it being included as a venue for the Olympic Games in London in 2012. The park will be where the equestrian and show jumping events are held, as well as where the cross country and riding aspects of the modern pentathlon will take place. As part of this, a temporary cross country track will be constructed in the park, as well as a temporary stadium for up to 23,000, within the National Maritime Museum (London2012. com). These plans have raised some concerns amongst local residents that the construction of the stadium and track will result in significant and long term damage to the park and many of its trees and facilities. In particular, the fact that Greenwich Park is the only urban park in the UK designated as a World Heritage Site has led some to claim that it is not suitable as a venue for such a large and damaging event (Gilligan, 2008).

Elizabeth Freeman (Mumbet) essays

Elizabeth Freeman (Mumbet) essays Mum Bett was born in 1742 to enslaved parents in Claverack, NY. Her master was a Dutchman named Pieter Hogeboom. Colonel John Ashley of Sheffield, Massachusetts acquired Mum Bett and her sister, Lizzy, from their owner when he married Hogeboom's daughter, Hannah. While in the house one day Ashley, attempted to strike Mum Bet's sister, Lizzy, with a heated kitchen shovel. Mum Bett interceded and received a blow to the arm from which she never regained full use. Afterwards, she left the Ashley house and refused to return. Mum Bett worked as a server during a committee meeting and listened while committee members talked about the Bill of Rights and the new state constitution, she decided that if all people were born free and equal then she deserved to be free also. She decided to sue for her freedom. She appealed to Theodore Sedgewick, a lawyer from Stockbridge. Massachusetts and committee member to represent her in her judicial quest for freedom. She heard him speak out against slavery while at Ashleys home and was able to persuade him to take the case. Later, another one of Ashleys slaves joined the law suit creating Brom Brom 1. Massachusetts had no law in existence that supported the institution of slavery 2. If there was a law, it would have been annulled because the Massachusetts Constitution of 1780 stated that all people were born free and equal The jury ruled in favor of Brom and Bett and Mom Bett won her freedom. She was the first enslaved African American to sue for her freedom and win. This case was later used as a precedent for other cases and contributed to the termination of slavery in Massachusetts. Mom Bett changed her name to Elizabeth Freeman and worked as a paid Domestic helper ...

Tips to Increase Parental Involvement in Education

Tips to Increase Parental Involvement in Education True school reform will always begin with an increase in parental involvement in education. It has been proven time and time again that parents who invest time and place value on their child’s education will have children who are more successful in school. Naturally there are always exceptions, but teaching your child to value education cannot help but have a positive impact on their education. Schools understand the value that involved parents bring and most are willing to take the necessary steps to help boost parental involvement.   This naturally takes time. It should begin in elementary schools where parental involvement is naturally better. Those teachers must build relationships with parents and have conversations about the importance of maintaining a high level of involvement even through high school. School administrators and teachers are continuously frustrated in an age where parental involvement increasingly seems to be on the decline. Part of this frustration lays in the fact that society often places sole blame on the teachers when in truth there is a natural handicap if parents are not doing their part. There is also no denying that each individual school is affected by parental involvement at varying levels. Schools with more parental involvement are almost always the higher-performing schools when it comes to standardized testing. The question is how do schools increase parental involvement? The reality is that many schools are never going to have 100% parental involvement. However, there are strategies that you can implement to increase parental involvement significantly. Improving parental involvement in your school will make teachers’ jobs easier and improve student performance overall. Education Increasing parental involvement begins with having the capacity to educate parents on the ins and outs of how to be involved and why it is important. The sad reality is that many parents simply do not know how to be truly involved with their child’s education because their parents were not involved with their education. It is essential to have educational programs for parents that offer them tips and suggestions explaining how they can get involved. These programs must also focus on the benefits of increased involvement. Getting parents to attend these training opportunities can be challenging, but many parents will attend if you offer food, incentives, or door prizes. Communication There are many more avenues available to communicate because of technology (email, text, social media, etc.) than what there were just a few years ago. Communicating with parents on a continual basis is a key ingredient to increasing parental involvement. If a parent isn’t going to take the time to keep track of their child, then the teacher should make every effort to inform those parents of their child’s progress. There is a chance that the parent will just ignore or tune these communications out, but more times than not the message will be received, and their level of communication and involvement will improve. This is also a way to build trust with parents ultimately making a teacher’s job easier. Volunteer Programs Many parents simply believe that they have minimal responsibilities when it comes to their child’s education. Instead, they believe that it is the primary responsibility of the school and of the teacher. Getting these parents to spend a little time in your classroom is a fantastic way to change their mindset on this. While this approach will not work for everyone everywhere, it can be an effective tool to increase parental involvement in many cases. The idea is that you recruit a parent who is minimally involved in their child’s education to come up and read a story to the class. You immediately invite them back again to lead something like an art activity or anything in which they are comfortable. Many parents will find that they enjoy this type of interaction, and their children will love it, particularly those in early elementary school. Continue to involve that parent and give them more responsibility each time. Pretty soon they will find themselves valuing their child’s education more as they become more invested in the process. Open House/Game Night Having periodic open house or game nights is an excellent way to get parents involved with their child’s education. Don’t expect everyone to attend, but make these events dynamic events that everyone enjoys and talks about. This will lead to increased interest and eventually greater participation. The key is to have meaningful learning activities that force parent and child to interact with each other throughout the night. Again offering food, incentives, and door prizes will create a bigger draw. These events take a lot of planning and effort to do them right, but they can be powerful tools for building relationships, learning, and increasing involvement. Home Activities Home activities can have some effect in increasing parental involvement. The idea is to send home activity packs periodically throughout the year that requires the parents and child to sit down and do together. These activities should be short, engaging, and dynamic. They should be easy to conduct and contain all materials needed to complete the activity. Science activities are traditionally the best and easiest activities to send home. Unfortunately, you cannot expect all parents to complete the activities with their child, but you hope that the majority of them will.