Avoiding the Retirement Bust Essay -- Expository Classification Essays

Avoiding the Retirement Bust    A recent Gallup poll indicates that nearly 75 percent of 30-to-49 year olds worry about not having enough money to live a comfortable retirement. In addition, 60 percent of those polled say they don't earn enough money to save for retirement. What do these recent polls suggest about many of the baby boomers' financial concerns? Fortunately, for those individuals who are inclined to take charge of their own destinies, several types of tax-deferred retirement savings exist. The government introduces these various retirement savings options to meet the specific needs of three distinct groups of income earners: the self-employed, employees of businesses offering retirement savings incentive plans and just about anyone else who has earned income and is interested in saving for the future.    The first type of option is known as either a Keogh or a Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) plan. These retirement savings plans were created for individuals who either have self-employment income or are partners in their own business. In bo...

Label Pro :: Essays Papers

Label Pro Gerri, The information on the manual is highlighted in yellow. LabelPro 3.0 for Windows Welcome to LabelPro 3.0, designed to take full advantage of the Windows 95/Windows NT 4.0 User Interface. LabelPro 3.0 comes with Win32s to allow it to work with Windows 3.1x as well. New Features in this Version: 1. Start Up Dialog: Helps you decide what task you want to accomplish . 2. Quick Input Assistant. Provides you pre-designed templates that are already linked with lists. All you do is enter the data and print. For example, an address label laid out in standard format. Its list contains fields for name, address, city, state and zip. All you do is enter the data and print. 3. Design Strategy dialog. Allows you to select what list, if any, you want to use with the design you are about to create. 4. Automatic Quick Step help provides brief instructions for the major dialogs in LabelPro. 5. Full Page Print Preview. 6. Re-designed merge fields dialog is easier to use and features an Undo button, if you change your mind. 7. Graphics Preview: You can now see a thumbnail of the selected graphic in the Open dialog. 8. Vertical text spread. You can now space your text evenly from the top to the bottom of a text box. On-line Help - Context-sensitive Help is available for menu commands by pressing the F1 key. - QuickSteps are available for most LabelPro dialogs. They are short instructions to help walk you through basic tasks. - On-line Help provides comprehensive procedures for LabelPro's tasks as well as a lot of other information. Product and Dealer Information Avery’s Consumer Service Centers provide product information for all Avery products. Call the Consumer Service Center to find where to purchase Avery products. Avery Technical Support Avery provides technical support by telephone for Avery software products including LabelPro. Avery support is also available on CompuServe (go avery). If you have a question about an Avery software product, and you cannot find the answer in the on-line help, call Avery Technical Support. Before you telephone Avery Technical Support, you should be at your computer with LabelPro running.

Ikea Supplier Selection

Building a sustainable supply chain An IKEA case study Page 1: Introduction [pic] It is easy to think about the present without considering the future. Consumers want more goods and services to improve their standard of living. The problem is they make choices about goods and services that have long-term consequences for the environment. In our modern world, organisations need to show responsibility. This means that they use resources efficiently, do not harm the environment and consider how what they do affects the ability of future generations to meet their needs. [pic] IKEA aims to be a responsible organisation.It sells low-price home furnishing products around the world. These include furniture and accessories for kitchens, bedrooms, living rooms, bathrooms and children†s rooms. IKEA now has stores in 36 countries around the world. It has come a long way in its 60 years of business. IKEA vision The direction for the organisation is provided by its vision. This acts as a gui de for everybody within and outside the organisation about what IKEA wants to achieve. IKEA's vision is ‘To create a better everyday life for the many people. ‘ To meet its vision IKEA provides many well-designed, functional products for the home.It prices its products low so that as many people as possible can afford to buy them. [pic] However, in creating low prices IKEA is not willing to sacrifice its principles. ‘Low price but not at any price' is what IKEA says. This means it wants its business to be sustainable. IKEA supplies goods and services to individuals in a way that has an overall beneficial effect on people and the environment. Customers all over the world have responded positively to IKEA's approach. This is evident in its increasing sales. In 2006 IKEA had a group turnover of nearly 18 billion euros.Page 2: Sectors of industry and sustainable supply chains When consumers go to a retailer like IKEA, they will be looking at the different ranges of pro ducts and how they are presented. They may also look for quality customer service. However, consumers may not be aware that before products reach them, they must move from being raw materials through a variety of stages to become finished products suitable for sale. This is known as the supply chain. [pic]The supply chain involves a flow of production and processes through each of the three industrial sectors: [pic]IKEA takes its responsibilities seriously and organises its operations in order to have a positive effect upon the environment: [pic] †¢ It aims that all the products and materials it takes from the primary sector do not harm the environment. †¢ Its products are manufactured in a responsible way. The case study looks in detail how IKEA has achieved its aim to be a responsible business in each of the three sectors of the supply chain. Page 3: The primary sector [pic] IKEA is not a primary sector organisation but it needs raw materials to develop its products.It t herefore works closely with primary sector suppliers to ensure a sustainable impact on the people and the environment in which it operates. The primary sector involves the development of the raw materials. IKEA designs its own products. At the design stage, IKEA checks that products meet strict requirements for function, efficient distribution, quality and impact on the environment. Low price is one of the main factors that IKEA considers in producing well designed, functional home furnishings available to everyone. IKEA buys products from more than 1,300 suppliers in 50 countries.It uses a number of trading service offices across the world. They negotiate prices with suppliers, check the quality of materials and analyse the environmental impacts that occur through the supply chain. They also keep an eye on social and working conditions at suppliers. Environmental impact [pic] IKEA uses a tool – the ‘e-Wheel' – to evaluate the environmental impact of its products . The e-Wheel helps IKEA to analyse the four stages within the life of a product. This also helps suppliers improve their understanding of the environmental impact of the products they are supplying.Approximately 50% of IKEA's 9,500 products are made from wood or wood fibres. This is a good resource as long as it comes from sustainable sources. It can be recycled and is a renewable resource. [pic] IKEA creates many design solutions to minimise the use of materials. For example: †¢ some tables are made out of recycled plastic †¢ some rugs are made of material clippings that would otherwise be wasted †¢ products such as water cans are designed to be stacked. This means that more can be transported in each load, reducing the number of lorry journeys and therefore lowering fuel costs.Each of these ideas helps IKEA's products to be more sustainable and reduce the impact on the environment. Supplier codes of conduct A key part of IKEA's success is due to its communications with materials' suppliers and manufacturers. During manufacturing IKEA specifies to its producers that waste should be avoided. Where waste does occur IKEA encourages suppliers to try to use it in the manufacture of other products. IKEA has a code of conduct called the IKEA Way of Purchasing Home Furnishing Products (IWAY). This contains minimum rules and guidelines that help manufacturers to reduce the impact of their activities on the environment.The IWAY code complies with international legislation. A product in use should not have a harmful effect upon consumers or their environment. For example, it should not cause allergies. If it uses energy, it should do so efficiently. When a product comes to the end of its useful life, it should be possible to reclaim or recycle the materials that make up the product. Such materials can then be re-used for making other products. Page 4: The secondary sector Manufacturers within the secondary sector create IKEA products from raw materials.A s products move through the supply chain, the process of value-added takes place. [pic] [pic] IKEA designs many of its products so that the smallest amount of resources can make the best products. For example, IKEA saves on resources by using hollow legs in furniture (e. g. the OGLA dining chair). Another example is by using a honeycomb-paper filling material instead of solid wood for the inside of table tops (e. g. the LACK series). As manufacturers or suppliers add value to products, the IWAY code of practice identifies IKEA's minimum requirements.The IWAY code of practice expects suppliers to: †¢ follow national and international laws †¢ not use child labour †¢ not use woods and glues from non-sustainable forests †¢ reduce their waste and emissions †¢ contribute to recycling †¢ follow health and safety requirements †¢ care for the environment †¢ take care of their employees The application of the code raises standards. Each of the requireme nts within the code of conduct helps to develop sustainable business activities. They have a positive impact on the business environment in which the suppliers operate.They also improve the experience of people working for those businesses. To monitor suppliers, IKEA regularly carries out an IWAY audit. This involves talking to employees and inspecting documents and records. IKEA visits suppliers on-site on a number of occasions to ensure that they are following the code of conduct. The code of conduct for suppliers and the work with other organisations underlines IKEA's commitment to ‘low price but not at any price'. Although IKEA wants its customers to enjoy low prices, this should not happen at the expense of its business principles. [pic]Sustainable partnerships In 2000 IKEA formed a partnership with UNICEF to work on a community programme in Northern India. The aim of the work was to prevent child labour by raising awareness and addressing the root causes. IKEA has also f ormed a partnership with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). IKEA and WWF have committed themselves to promoting the sustainable use of natural resources. This helps to ensure that forests can be used both now and in the future. To support sustainable partnerships with suppliers, IKEA works with other organisations. For example, IKEA and WWF actions have led to: a series of training courses for people in Russia, Bulgaria, Romania and China on responsible forest management †¢ the development of forestry plans in China †¢ demonstrations to managers in Latvia on the benefits of responsible forestry All these projects show IKEA's commitment to supporting sustainable practices. Page 5: The tertiary sector [pic] Businesses in the tertiary sector provide a service, such as banking, transportation or retailing. They do not extract the raw materials or make products themselves. 11% of businesses within the UK are retailers.In the tertiary sector, IKEA's retail stores add value to manufa ctured goods by providing a form of shopping different to the usual high-street experience. IKEA has more than 260 stores in over 36 countries. These meet the needs of consumers in a number of different ways: Retailing turnover in the UK was more than ? 250 billion in 2006. †¢ Each IKEA store is large and holds more than 9,500 products giving lots of choice. †¢ Within each store, there are a number of realistic room settings that enable customers to see what the products would look like in their own homes. The IKEA store is built on a concept of ‘you do half, we do half; together we save money'. This refers to, for example, the customer assembling furniture at home. †¢ Customers handpick products themselves using trolleys. †¢ IKEA provides catalogues and home delivery to save customers† time. †¢ IKEA stores have restaurants that provide Swedish dishes alongside local food choices. To make its activities more sustainable, IKEA has set up many loca l UK initiatives: [pic] †¢ In 2006 IKEA UK recycled more than 70% of its waste products. Its goal is to recycle 90% of materials. To reduce environmental impact, in 2006 IKEA UK started to charge for carrier bags. This reduced the use of carrier bags by 95%. In June 2007 IKEA UK removed carrier bags from its stores completely. †¢ In December 2006 IKEA UK gave a brand-new folding bike to each of its 9,000 employees. It also gave subsidised travel tickets to encourage them to travel to and from work on public transport. †¢ IKEA UK has provided low-energy light bulbs to its entire UK workforce and switched its fleet of company cars to low-emission hybrid models. Page 6: Conclusion [pic] IKEA's long-term ambition is to become the leading home furnishing company.However, for IKEA, getting there is not simply about developing profitability and market share. As a global organisation IKEA has chosen to undertake a leadership role in creating a sustainable way of working. It h as educated suppliers to understand how and why sustainable production is vital. This has helped IKEA differentiate itself from its competitors. Consumers are made aware of IKEA's commitment to sustainability through its involvement with many other organisations such as the WWF and UNICEF. IKEA is now considered by both suppliers and consumers to be a responsible company that they can trust.

Paikea and Garnder’s Intelligences

In the movie Whale Rider, Paikea, the main character, overcomes her struggles with Paka, her grandfather, and becomes the new leader of the tribe. Paka repeatedly rejects her throughout the movie for her gender. He is angry because she had lived after birth, while her twin brother did not. He scolds her everytime she attempts to try one of the excercises the boys are doing to see who will be the chosen one. Evaluating three of Gardner’s Eight Intelligences, readers can see how Paikea has naturalistic, intrapersonal, and also kinesthetic intelligences, and how she uses them to be a leader.Paikea has naturalistic intelligence, which is the ability to recognize patterns and relationships to nature. In the movie, Paikea gives speeches over her ancestry and history. She shows her knowledge over her Maori culture and the whales. A very good example of her relationship to nature is when she calls out to the whales. Paikea is one of the only ones who can call out to whales and be hear d. Towards the end of the movie she proves once again her intelligence, when she rides a whale into the water.Another intelligence Paikea has is intrapersonal, which is the ability to introspect and self-reflect. Paikea knows about her twin brother’s death after birth. She is aware that that is the reason Paka rejects her and although it hurts her, she does not resent him for it. Paikea also has poetic skills. Proof of this is her winning the poem and speech contest at her school. In the movie, Paikea is leaving New Zealand with her father and as they are driving by the water, she sees a whale.She realizes what she must do and asks her father to take her back home. Lastly, Paikea showed kinesthetic intelligence, which involves strength in physical movement and fine motor control. Paikea is surprisingly good in using the Taiaha, which is the traditional weapon used by males while fighting. She knocked down another boys taiaha during a scene in the movie. Paikea also shows her bodily motions while she is dancing with the rest of the girls at her school.Paikea also proves her kinesthetic intelligence when she is able to turn on the boat motor when her grandfather could not. She also swims to the bottom of the water to get her grandfathers whale tooth necklace back. In conclusion, these three intelliegences were shown well in Paikea throughout the movie. She overcomes the struggles with her grandfather and understands him for rejecting her. Paikea does not give up once in trying to show her grandfather that she is the one.

Ethics Essays Essay

In this essay I will be comparing the similarities and differences between virtue theory, utilitarianism, and deontological ethics. Ethical development is an important tool needed in today’s society. Virtue theory emphasizes the need for people to learn how to break bad habit of character, like greed or anger. These are called vices and stand in the way of becoming a good person. Place emphasis on which rules people should follow and instead of focus on helping people develop good character traits such as kindness and generosity. Will, in turn allow a person to make the correct decision later on in life. Utilitarianism, the ethical doctrine that the greatest good; the ethical doctrine that the greatest happiness of the greatest number should be the criterion of the virtue of action. According to philosophy, an action is morally right if it consequences lead to happiness (absence of pain and wrong if it ends in unhappiness (pain). Deontological ethics focus entirely upon the ac tions which a person performs. Those theories focus on the question, â€Å"which action should I choose†? Here are some description of the differences in how each theory addresses ethics and morality. Utilitarianism morality is the result of act. Focus on the consequences. A moral act is what will bring the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number of people. Virtue ethics morality stem from the identity or character of the person, rather than being a reflection of the actions. There are certain characteristics which are virtue. People possessing these virtues is what make one moral, one’s actions are reflection of their own inner morality. Boylan (2009). There are two major ethic theories utilitarianism and deontological, that attempt to specify and justify moral rules and principles. Utilitarianism (also called consequencelism) is a moral theory developed and refined in the modern world in the writing of Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) and John Stuart Mill (180 6-1873). Deontological ethics is in  keeping with scripture, natural moral law, and intuitions from common sense. Important point about deontological ethics is, first duty should be done. Humans should be treated as objects of intrinsic moral values. A moral principle is a categorical imperative that is univeralizables, that is, it must be applicable for everyone who is in the same moral situation. The difference between these three approaches to morality tends to lie more in the way of how moral dilemmas are approached, rather than in moral conclusions reached. A personal experience to explain the relationship between virtue, values, and moral concepts as they relate to one of the three theories. Utilitarianism is the one I would pick it deal with working in a team setting. As a scholar at University of Phoenix. I have worked in a team with several other classmate where we are assigned team work paper and presentations. A good teammate develop hands on skills that can lead his or her team to a success completed of all assignment. Reference Boylan, M. (2009). Basis ethics: Basic ethics in action (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. www. differencesbetween.net/science/health

Jesus Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Jesus - Essay Example The Sower and The Seed: Luke 8: 4-15 The parable of the Sower and the Seed was taught by Jesus and was likewise clearly explained in the Gospel. According to the parable, the sower was on the way to plant some seeds. On the way to the place where he was to specifically plant, some of the seeds fell in different places: in the way side, on a rock, and even on thorns. As expected, these seeds eventually withered and died. Only the seed which were planted in good ground became productive and bore fruits. Jesus likewise explained here that the seeds were the word of God and the different types of ground are people who listen to the word. The lesson that Jesus tried to impart was that people who are honest, who have a good heart, and are holistically prepared to receive the good message from the scriptures are the ones who would benefit from these words by living it, sharing them to others, and become productive from having learned from them. Those who are not prepared could just be expos ed to these words and teachings and not be able to apply them in their daily lives. Likewise, though not explicitly mentioned the sower could be the source of perpetuating the word of God; this could be the spiritual adviser, the priest, or even the Holy Scriptures where the Word of God could be found, or where these teachings would be relayed. Thus, the spiritual significance of this parable is deduced in terms of assuming the appropriate perspective: mentally, spiritually, physically, emotionally, and even socially, to receive, to imbibe, to share, and to apply what one would learn from the gospel readings and teachings of God’s words to appreciate the lessons which are relayed therein. The Good Samaritan: Luke 10:25-37 Another parable told by Jesus was the story of the Good Samaritan. The story apparently unfolded when a certain lawyer asked Jesus what should be done to inherit eternal life and the series of responses led him to subsequently ask who one’s neighbor i s (The New Testament Excerpts: Life of Jesus).

Develop a case study that analyzes the competitive position of an

Develop a that analyzes the competitive position of an actual business organization in a technologically-oriented ind - Case Study Example It is cited that iPhone gets the highest rate of press and the iPod sales in the market is of relatively large quantities. Even though it can be generally said that the company enjoys success courtesy of the products that it offers to the market, Apple Inc. pegs most of its success to Macintosh. According to the report from IDC the worldwide market for the company grew from 2.4% up to 2.9% from the year 2006 to the year 2007 (Miller, 2009). The consumer market on the other hand where Apple does compete effectively accounts for 10% of the worldwide market although the market command in the United States of America is relatively higher at 21%. In the year 2010, Apple continued to face stiff competition from its rivals for the very same market. In terms of the sales from the PCs, Apple ranked fifth in the year 2010. It is estimated that during that particular year, the first quarter was marked by shipment of 1.398 million Macs. The sales levels meant that Apple was only behind the main distributors of PCs which are: Dell, HP, Acer and Toshiba. It is therefore more than convincing that in the year 2010, Apple had its sales in PCs generally surge as negative sales trends were recorded as indicated above (Miller, 2009). In terms of the iPhone production, it is very true that Apple has been one of the most consistent companies in using the iPhone technology to develop very effective and modern mobile phones that are trendy in as far as technology is concerned. It is as a consequence of this that Apple still remains one of the most committed companies in producing the latest technology that can easily be used by virtually all the generations. The high levels of agility and commitment that Apple has towards producing the most competitive products in the market explains to a large extent why the company has continued to record steady rates of growth in the globe today. Strengths and weaknesses Apple Company is considered as one of the strongest companies in as far as inf ormation technology is concerned. The strengths of Apple Company have been very supportive in its market domination as will be seen in the later stages of the paper. Some of the strategic strengths are inclusive of product development that it has already established. Apple Company has already set high standards in the market in as far as the product it offers in the market is concerned. It is because of this strength that Apple has in the market, that it does not spend resources in inventing the market. The second strength about Apple Inc. is that it has established itself as a company that is oriented towards creating not only design but also utility (Miller, 2009). The products that are made by the company are very much easy to use and are also intuitive. The phones by the company are easy to use and also feel very nice in the hands given that they do not have many buttons. The marketing that is done by Apple Inc. is also a plus the company. It has clever marketing which strategic ally addresses the solutions to the problems that people do encounter with the use of other hardware form the main competitors of the company. Finally, the company enjoys a lot of strength in the fact that it trades on a very common and strong brand in the technology market. The brand name in apple has been very effective in promoting the commodities produced and