Data Analysis of American House Price Essay Example

Data Analysis of American House Price Essay 1. Terms of Reference This report is the outcome of an analysis and investigation of American house price in order to consider which factor influence the price. It is submitted as my project for Essential Data Analysis module on the Business Studies Programme. 2. Executive Summary The data was investigated using the software Minitab ver. 14. This program is very useful for analyzing big data set faster and easier. Through Minitab were created a graph for each requested point. In order o make the graph more understandable, it is provided a table with the more relevant statistic information. This allows a more comprehensive and understandable reading of the report and an easier and more efficient comparison among 2 or more variables in order to make a proper analysis. Correlation and Regression analysis was applied in order to establish the relationship between the price with the size and the distance to the nearest large town. We will write a custom essay sample on Data Analysis of American House Price specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Data Analysis of American House Price specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Data Analysis of American House Price specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The data set given as a sample to analyse contain data collected of 100 houses in America from 5 different township numbered from 1 to 5. Each house is described by its price, size, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, if it has or nor a pool and a garage, the distance from the nearest large town, how desirable it is (scale of value among 1 = very undesirable to 7 = most desirable), the township of belonging and its age. The aim of this report is to assess and evaluate the distribution of house price in America in the 5 townships used as sample. A conclusion is provided to summarise all the findings, interpretations and explanations followed by suitable suggestions. This report should help an investor to have a more clear background of which factor take into consideration before buying a house. 3. Introduction House and properties are ones of the fixed assets that have shown to have an increasing trend of value. Every year house prices in America increase with the inflation and gain even more value. The same applies worldwide to most of the house values. As the value of houses tend to increase overtime, a lot of people have decided to invest in properties. However, there are more factors to take into consideration before buying a house in order to evaluate if it worth the money asked on the market and if it will keep and increase its value. 4. Statistical Analysis: Findings The Findings of the report has been dived into 3 parts: a. The overall distribution of the house prices in the survey; this take into account all the house price within the 5 township without distinguishing for any other factor such as bedrooms and bathrooms number or size. b. An examination of the proportion of the houses with a pool. This proportion was then investigated in relation to the garage and in the 5 townships. c. An investigation of possible factors affecting the price such as the presence of a pool, the relationship with its size, the possibility of a link with the desirability and the distance to the nearest large town. 4.1 Overall Distribution of the house price By lLooking at Graph 1 it appears that the overall distribution is symmetrical. This is confirmed by comparing the value of the mean with the median: as the two figures have approximately the same value, it implies that the distribution is roughly symmetrical. The mean is the sum of all values divided by the datea set, 100. The distribution of house price varies between a minimum value of $127,70 and a maximum of $284,00 with a range of $156,30. However, 25% of the houses have a price between the minimum value of $127,70 and the value of the first quartile $179,93. 25% of the houses have a value between the third quartile $221,15 and the maximum value $284,00. The graph clearly shows that there is a higher concentration of houses with a price between Q1 ($127,70) and Q3 ($221,15). These represent 50% of the overall distribution. The value of the standard deviation indicates how spread are the data is spread in respect to the mean. 4.2 Examination of house with a pool As shown in the Graph 2 above, 55% of the houses (that represent 55 out of 100 houses in the data set given) have a pool. In the Minitab output the percentage equal the count because it is out of a sample of 100. As a result, 45% of the houses analysed does not have a pool. The Graph 3 shows the proportion of the houses with a pool and a garage. By looking at the table it is clear that the majority of the houses with a pool have also a garage, with 58,18% (32 out of 55 houses with a pool); while 41,82% (23 out of 55) houses with a pool do not have a garage. However, for houses without a pool, the proportion of houses without a garage is higher than houses with a pool where 82,22% (37 out of 45 houses) do not have a pool nor a garage. It is evident from Graph 4 that the proportion of the houses with a pool is not the same in all the 5 townships. In township 5, all the houses (100%) have a pool; followed by township 4 with a 94,4% of the houses. On the other extreme there is township 1 with only 13,33% (2 out of 15 houses) have a pool, followed by township 2 with 22,22% (6 out of 27 houses). As table 4 shows the proportion of houses with a pool are in ascending order with the number of township: township 1 has the lowest percentage and township 5 has the highest. This could be a coincidence. However, on the overall distribution, township 4 has the highest percentage of houses with a pool, with 32,73% (18 out of 55 total houses with a pool). 4.3 Investigation of Factors affecting the house price The box plot clearly shows that the overall distribution of the price for the houses with a pool is higher than houses without a pool. By comparing the data from table 5 it is clear that all the values relative to the distribution (mean, median, min, 1st quartile, 3rd quartile and maximum) for houses with a pool are higher. This leads to state that the houses with a pool are generally more expensive that houses without. Moreover, by comparing the mean and the median value for both groups, it is possible to identify that the distribution for the houses without a pool is skewed to the left or negatively skewed. This indicates that there are a few extreme low values that pull down the value of the mean. However, the * indicates that there is also an extreme high value of $250,20. By comparing at in the same way the houses with a pool it emerges that the distribution is roughly symmetrical because the value of the mean and the median are very close. Another important consideration about the distribution is given by the quartiles that in the graph are represented by the lower and higher limits of the boxes. The 1st quartile of the houses with a pool ($195,90) is higher than the 3rd quartile of houses without a pool ($192,05). This implies that 75% of houses without a pool haves prices similar to the lowest 25% of houses with a pool. However, the standard deviation measures how spread the data set is. The houses with a pool have a higher standard deviation, which impliesy that they have a more variable set in which each value is more distant to each other and to the mean while they are slightly more concentrate for the houses without a pool. By comparing the values of the range and inter-quartile range in relation with the standard deviation, it is clear that the houses with a pool have a higher dispersion in price and the prices are more spread out than houses without a pool. The scatter plot in graph 6 gives an indication that there is a relationship between the house price and the size of the house. The upward trend indicates that there is a positive linear relationship as both variables are moving in the same direction: when the size rises, the price rises as well. In this case it worth to continue investigating the relationship. However, the point are scattered quite broadly, so it is necessary to analyse the value of r in order to determine how strong the relationship is. The correlation coefficient (0,65) indicates that there is a positive (given by the sign +) relationship, and not very strong given by the value being lower than 0,8. The regression equation is Price = -11,1 + 0,0979 * sqrFt However, the value of the intercept is not statistically meaningful. This is given by the value T being -0,44 and also because logically a house price cannot be negative. In spite of this, the model is still good because the value T of the gradient (or slop) is statistically significant as T = 8,46. Nevertheless, the slope is very low and it indicates in increment of $0,0979 for each extra sqrFt. The value of R-Sq suggests that only 42.2% of the house prices are explained by the size. This implies that there are other more significant factors that explain the changes in price. By eye it is also possible to estimate that the houses with a square feeootage between 1900sqrFt and 2300sqrFt are more frequent. However, it is important to consider that this graph takes in consideration the houses over the 5 townships with or without pool and with different numbers of bedrooms and bathrooms numbers. The scatter plot shows the relationship between the house price and the distance to the nearest large town. It actually clearly illustrates that there is not a relationship between the two variables. This is confirmed by the correlation coefficient equal to 0,042. Moreover, as it is explained by the R-sq value, only 0,2% of the house price is related to this relationship. It is not necessary to continue this investigation any further. 5. Conclusion The following is a summary based on the findings: 1. The overall price distribution is roughly symmetrical and there is a higher concentration (50%) of houses with a price between $127,70 (Q1) and $221,15 (Q3). (Graph 1 Table 1) 2. The proportion of houses with a pool is slightly higher than houses without a pool: 55% against 45%. (Graph 2 Table 2) 3. The majority of houses with a pool have also a garage but the highest proportion does not have neither of the two. (Graph 3 Table 2) 4. The percentage of houses with a pool increase with the township with number 1 having a minority of houses with a pool and 5 having 100% of houses with a pool. 3 out of 5 towns have a higher proportion of houses with a pool. (Graph 4 Table 4) 5. Houses with a pool are more expensive that houses without. 75% of houses without a pool have a lower price than the 25% lowest prices for houses with a pool. (Graph 5 -Table5) 6. There is a positive relationship between the price and the size of the house; although this relationship is not very strong. Per each extra square feet the price rise of $ 0,0979. There is a higher concentration of houses with square footage between 1900sqrft and 2300sqrft. (Graph 6 Table 6) 7. There is a link between the price and the desirability of a house. However, this relationship is not very strong. (Graph 7 Table 7) 8. The distance between the house and a large city does not affect the price. (Graph 8 Table 8) 6. Recommendations Based on the above conclusions of the analysis, the following are suggestions for an investor interested in buying a house in one of the 5 townships: 1. The most popular and thus more demanded price for a house is between $127,70 and $221,15. For a Luxury house the highest demand would be between $245 and $275. Over this amount the demand is very low which imply that it is very exclusive. It depends by the main aim of the investor. 2. There is a slightly higher demand for houses with a pool. 3. If the investor decides to buy a house with a pool, it is suggestible to have a garage as well. Otherwise it is more convenient to have a house without any of the two. 4. If the house is in township 3 to 5, it is highly recommend to have a pool, especially for the last one. 5. The pool will make a huge difference for the value of the house. The value will rise by about 75% if it has a pool. 6. The bigger the house is, the more it values. However, houses with less than 1900sqrft are not very demanded. There is a medium demand for houses with a bigger size. 7. Desirability scale 6 has a highest average and median price and it had a good demand. 8. It is not relevant the distance between the house and a big city. NOTES: All the figures used to refer to the price are expressed as thousands of dollars ($ ,000). In order to determinate the demand, it has been used the assumption that the higher frequency has a higher demand. For example: in township 5 all the houses have a pool. It implies that every

Unattainable ideals Essays

Unattainable ideals Essays Unattainable ideals Essay Unattainable ideals Essay Despite the health risks of some procedures, cosmetic surgery has boomed in commercial cultures. In Brazil the number of plastic surgery procedure jumped between 1996 and 1999 by 50 percent, to three hundred thousand, with the majority for purely aesthetic reasons. (Guernsey 2006, p. 180). In the United States the number of women who had breast enlargement surgery increased from thirty thousand in 1992 to eighty seven thousand in 1997. While number of men getting tummy tucks and nose reduction also increased, women represent 86 percent of the total 7. 4 million cosmetic surgeries performed in the United States.Outside the West as well, women now go to great lengths to conform to a white, Western physical ideal. Young women in East (Guernsey 2006, p. 181). Asia undergo cosmetic surgery to create creased eyelids, while in China dieting has become a fad for urban teenage girls. With raising standards of living and an expanding market for beauty products, the Chinese body ideal has changed from large to small, When I was young, people admired and were even jealous of fat people since they thought they had a better life, the manager of a Chinese weight loss center recalled. She explained in 1999 that fat is now considered awful. Binge eating is commonly connected to bulimia, with cycles of binge eating and vomiting closely intertwined (Blackburn et. al 2006, p. 24). It is also commonly connected with the culture of being overly concerned of looking fat that is initiated by family, friends and the media (Guernsey 2006, p. 181). The extent to which women feel dissatisfaction with their physical appearance is evident by adolescence. In the contemporary United States over half of thirteen-year-old girls and three-quarters of eighteen-year-old girls express dissatisfaction with their bodies.A 1986 study found that 70 percent of fourth-grade girls reported concern about their weight and that about half of them dieted. By age eighteen 60 to 80 percent of Americans girls, but only 15 percent of boys, had been on diets. According to British therapist Susie Orbach, up to 60 percent of six-to-nine-year-old girls worry about their body shape and size. (Liu Yufanf, 1999, p. 23) A study of both white and Asian girls in Great Britain revealed that a preoccupation with thinness among nine-year-old girls had a direct beating on the development of eating disorders.Liu Yufang, a diminutive young woman in China, expressed the sentiments behind this widespread phenomenon: I always want to lose weight. Everyone I knew is trying to be thinner. Women who do not meet the standards of the ultra-thin models are more than likely to compare their own bodies to those of the thin models in advertisements. According to Gayle R. Bassenoff, author of this study, Women who already have low opinions of their physical appearance are at an even greater risk for negative effects from media images. (Liu Yufanf, 1999, p. 24)Distorted body image is the result of comparison with unattainable ideals. This motivates people on the preoccupation with dieting. Three quarters of a large sample of American women considered themselves fat, even though one-quarter were not technically overweight and an-other 30 percent were actually underweight. Of those now diagnosed with anorexia and bulimia in the United States, 90 percent are female. Obsessed with the intake of food and control of their weight, these women can lose more than 25 percent of their body weight, either through dieting and exercise of through eating bingers followed by purging.Long-term effects include loss of bone density and heart problems. Some, such as singer Karen Carpenter and gymnast Christy Henrich, have literally starved themselves to death. Although the anorectic women are usually portrayed as a white, middle-class American, other women are by no means immune from eating problems. In the United States, Becky W. Thompson argues, Latina and African American women may use food to anesthetize the traumas of racism and poverty.Between one-thirds of the American women of color she studied had been sexually abused, and Thompson found that these women were likely to dissociate from their bodies. As one of her subjects, Rosalee, put it, dieting is one of those last-ditch efforts to make everything all right in your life when that is not the cause of the problem to begin with. Dieting, Thompson suggested, provided a way to transform the abused body, while purging represented a rejection of the body held responsible for its own abuse (Media’s Effect on Body Image).

Critical Incident Logistic Response Structure Essay

Critical Incident Logistic Response Structure - Essay Example Units are commonly used in incident Planning, Logistics, or Finance/Administration sections and can be used in operations for some applications. Units are also found in EOC organizations." (Incident Command System, 2004) The Chief of Operations will make sure that all tactical operations at the incident site are carried out efficiently. It will be done immediately after the crisis and will also include recovery. The recovery will include air, water and land if necessary. This unit has to be capable of improvising and functioning under adverse conditions. The tactical team has to be able to immobilize within 72 hours at the maximum and be ready to bear hazardous conditions, even biologically hazardous conditions. This entails total assessment of the situation. The officer in charge of this particular branch will have to appoint different officers responsible for units such as collection, evaluation and status of the resources. There should also be a situation assessment analyst who makes sure that the officer in charge of Planning and the chief of operations are constantly informed of any developments in the crisis. In collections the officer in charge of that particular sub-branch will have officers under him who will be collection data such as (if they play a role in the crisis) weather forecasts reports, casualty information, incident scene reports etc. In evaluations the officer in charge there will receive all this information from the collections branch and make use of it by piecing all the information together. The intelligence information it will develop will not only assist in contingency plans but may be of use for the operations unit in tactical operations. There will also be a unit accountable for resources. This particular unit will be in charge of regulating all resources including human resources. They will make sure that the resources are efficiently spent and properly regulated. The situation assessment analyst will keep regular track of all this information and will keep reporting it to the Emergency manager and the chief of operations. He will also be required to make sure that any situation does not spiral out of control. Table1. Planning Overview Logistics This section is going to be responsible for providing all kinds of facilities and services such as transportation, shelter, hygiene, food, medical facilities etc. It has to be ensured that there are enough facilities present not only for the victims but for the relief personnel too. The logistics' section will actually be divided

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London Metropolitan Police Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

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Methods Of Minimizing Delays Construction Essay

Methods Of Minimizing Delays Construction Essay A successful construction project is accomplished when the project is completed and hand over to the owner within time, costs, specifications and quality required and to the satisfaction of stakeholders. Thus, completing a construction project on time is vital as it secure the rights of the participating parties on the project. When a project is delayed, it will cause the resources employed to be exceeded as what has been planned. This extra use of resources will lead to disputes and claims arise as extra costs will be incurred to complete the project by the participating parties. Abd El-Razek et al. (2008) identified that delay in construction project is considered one of the most common problems causing a multitude negative effect on the project and its participating parties. Delays are insidious often resulting in time overrun, cost overrun, disputes, litigation, and complete abandonment of projects (Sambasivan and Yau, 2007). Many projects are of such a nature that the client will suffer hardship, expense, or loss of revenue if the work is delayed beyond the time specified in the contract. Then, again, delay has cost consequences for the contractor: standby costs of non-productive workers, supervisors, and equipment, expenses caused by disrupted construction and material delivery schedules and additional overhead costs (Clough, 1986). Delay on project will affect the parties to the contract involved. Issues regarding entitlement to extra costs or prolongation of time for the project may arise as consequences to the project delay. Questions arise as to the causes of delay and the assigning of fault often evolves into disputes and litigation (Bolton, 1990). Thus, it is very important to find out the methods with relevant to its causal factors of delay so that the effects of the delay on the project can be reduced. This is because the project delay itself and also the resolution of disputes are both a waste of resources. It is important to predict and identify problems in the early stages of construction and diagnose the cause to find and implement the most appropriate and economical solutions (Abdul-Rahman and Berawi, 2002). Several researches had been carried out to studied and recommended on methods to minimize delay in construction industry in their studies of investigating causes or causes and effects of delays in either specific types of construction projects or in general, representing the overall construction industry. 3.2 Methods of Minimizing Construction Delays Assaf et al. (1995) in the literature review of his study of investigating the causes of delay in large building projects in Saudi Arabia, noted that studied by Chalabi and Camp (1984) suggested that in developing countries, where workers are relatively unskilled, adequate planning at the very early stages of the project was important for minimizing delay and cost overruns in most projects. Chan and Kumaraswamy (1997) conducted a study to survey the causes of construction delays in Hong Kong as seen by clients, contractor and consultants, and examined the factors affecting productivity. This study also suggests some useful pointers towards minimizing the problems causing delays on construction site. Following are the recommendations: The relationship between success on site and strong management teams underlines the need for effective site management and supervision by contractors and consultants. Manpower, at both the technical and the managerial levels, should have their own knowledge updated by continuous professional development schemes. This may be in the form of short training programmes or day release courses in educational establishments. Insufficient knowledge of the sites causes many delays in projects. The investigation of site conditions, together with the design of groundworks and foundations, should be thorough, complete and clearly presented before commencement of construction so as to reduce the impact of any unforeseen ground conditions. Effective data communication between various groups and levels involved in a project, emphasizes the need for efficient methods of information processing in the construction industry. To accelerate the communications and decision making among all parties, appropriate overall organizational structures and communication systems linking all project teams should be developed throughout the whole life of the project. The roles and responsibilities of those involved in the project team should be clearly defined, and the designated decision-makers should also be clearly identified. Comprehensive strategies need to be formulated to minimize variations, whether client-initiated or consultant-initiated, wherever possible. A clear and thorough client brief is considered the most useful strategy for reducing variations. Contingency allowances may be incorporated for inevitable variations. These allowances may be better quantified by using risk analysis techniques. Strategies should also be formulated to mitigate the impact of such inevitable variations after obtaining the consultants advice, together with the contractors inputs, on their cost and time implications. Value management techniques may be useful both when developing the design from the brief at the conceptual design stage, as well as in limiting any variations to those that are absolutely essential. The differentials in perception between the different groups of participants in the industry should be noted and discussed in suitable fora, with a view to bridging the gaps and avoiding or resolving some of the avoidable problems that have been highlighted herein. The results of the foregoing survey should be taken into consideration in developing a construction time prediction model for local building and civil engineering construction industries, as has been planned in the next phase of this research programme in Hong Kong. Noulmanee et al. (1999) investigated causes of delays in highway construction in Thailand. They suggested that delay can be minimized by discussions that lead to understanding Aibinu and Jagboro (2002) conducted a study to survey the problem of construction delays in Nigeria. The study was carried out to examine the effects of delays on the delivery of the projects in Nigeria and some recommendations were made to minimize the effects of the projects delays. A questionnaire survey was done over 61 construction projects to determine and assessed the impact of the delay projects on its delivery. Time and cost overruns were found to be the common effects of construction delays. The recommendations made to reduce the impact of the construction delays were: Acceleration of site activities coupled with improved clients project management procedures; and Inclusion of the contingency allowance in the pre-contract estimate. Chan and Kumaraswamy (2002), in their study of compressing construction duration in Hong Kong explored strategies used to compress construction durations for various types of building projects. The paper sought out the critical factors that contribute to the faster construction procedures in Hong Kong. The authors recommended specific technological and managerial strategies to be used to reduce the construction durations. Odeh and Battaineh (2002) in the study of causes of construction delay in traditional contracts suggested that to improve the situation of delays, a joint effort by all participants in the construction industry is needed by: Enforcing liquidated damage clauses and offering incentives for early completion. Developing human resources in the construction industry through proper training and classifying of craftsmen. This calls for providing incentives such as offering a tax deduction on money spent on training, and for authorizing trade unions or other agencies to regulate, follow-up on training, and classify trades. Developing human resources also applies to construction engineers who usually lack adequate managerial skills. There is an urgent need for offering training courses in scheduling, time and cost control, information systems, and management of human resources. Adopting a new approach to contract award procedure by giving less weight to prices and more weight to the capabilities and past performance of contractors. Adopting new approaches to contracting, such as design-build and construction management (CM) types of contracts. Such contracts reduce delays by limiting owner interference, improving the design, and improving the contractual relationships among all parties to the project. Frimpong et al. (2003) give some recommendations minimize delays in the study of causes of delay and cost overruns in the construction of groundwater construction projects in Ghana. Their recommendations are as follows: Appropriate funding levels should always be determined at the planning stage of the project so that regular payment should be paid to contractors for work done. In order to improve contractors managerial skills there is need for continuous work-training programs for personnel in the industry to update their knowledge and be familiar with project management techniques and process. Effective and efficient material procurement systems should be established within projects. Material procurement has the potential to cause major delays to construction projects. Therefore, material procurement process should be executed properly by improving procurement process in order to avoid supply delays. Developing effective and efficient technical performances in the groundwater industry through different types of training programs. The training should cover project planning, scheduling, time and cost control, and the information systems. There should be adequate contingency allowance in order to cover increase in material cost due to inflation. Nguyen et al. (2004) studied the project success factors in large construction projects in Vietnam. Factor analysis was employed to categorize these success factors perceived by 109 respondents from 42 construction-related organizations. The success factors identified in this study were: Clear objectives and scope; Commitment to project; Top management support; Timely, valuable information from different parties; Effective strategic planning; Awarding bids to the right designer/contractor; Continuing involvement of stakeholders in the project; Frequent progress meeting; Adequate funding throughout the project; Availability of resources; Absence of bureaucracy; Community involvement; Clear information and communications channels; Accurate initial cost estimates; Systematic control mechanisms; Competent project manager; Multidisciplinary/competent project team; Comprehensive contract documentation; Up to date technology utilization; and proper emphasis on past experience. Five critical success factors were identified: Competent project manager; Adequate funding until project completion; Multidisciplinary/competent project team; Commitment to project; and Availability of resources. Obviously, the factors shown are mostly human-related factors. This implies that people play a decisive role regarding the success or failure of a project. Further, factor analysis uncovered that most of the success factors can be grouped under four categories, here titled the four COMs: Comfort concerns ensuring that resources, efforts and leadership are well aligned for the implementation of the project. It includes adequate funding throughout the project, comprehensive contract document, availability of resources, continuing involvement of stakeholders, and competent project managers. Competence requires having appropriate technology, experience, and specialties available for the project. It includes up to date technology utilization, proper emphasis on past experience, multidisciplinary/competent project team, and awarding bids to the right designer/contractor. Commitment ensures that all parties concerned with the project and all levels in the management hierarchy of each participating organization are willing to manage, plan, design, construct and operate the facility harmoniously. It includes commitment to project, clear objectives and scope, and top management support. Communication helps clarify and disseminate all necessary project information and status to all internal and external project stakeholders. The project will then have the opportunity to avoid failure and reach for success through the achievement of team-spirit and a sense of ownership. It includes community involvement, clear information/communications channels, and frequent progress meeting. Koushki et al. (2005) recommended some suggestions which could be used to minimize time delays and cost overruns in the study of investigating the delays and cost increases in the construction of private residential projects in Kuwait. They suggested that the owner of a new residential project in Kuwait to: Ensure adequate and available source of finance; Perform a preconstruction planning of project tasks and resource needs; Allocate sufficient time and money on the design phase; If cost-effective (depending on the size of the residential project), hire an independent supervising engineer to monitor the progress of the work and ensure timely delivery of materials; and finally, the most important factor of all, Select a competent consultant and a reliable contractor to carry out the work. Assaf and Al-Hejji (2006) suggested some recommendations that pointed out by all parties which are the contractors, consultants and owner to minimize and control delays in construction projects. Owners should give special attention to the following factors: Pay progress payment to the contractor on time because it impairs the contractors ability to finance the work. Minimize change orders during construction to avoid delays. Avoid delay in reviewing and approving of design documents than the anticipated. Check for resources and capabilities before awarding the contract to the lowest bidder. Contractors should consider the following factors: Shortage and low productivity of labour: enough number of labours should be assigned and be motivated to improve productivity. Financial and cash flow problems: contractor should manage his financial resources and plan cash flow by utilizing progress payment. Planning and scheduling: they are continuing processes during construction and match with the resources and time to develop the work to avoid cost overrun and disputes. Site management and supervision: administrative and technical staff should be assigned as soon as project is awarded to make arrangements to achieve completion within specified time with the required quality, and estimated cost. Consultants should look to the following points: Reviewing and approving design documents: any delay caused by the consultant engineer in checking, reviewing and approving the design submittals prior to construction phase, could delay the progress of the work; Inflexibility: consultants should be flexible in evaluating contractor works. Compromising between the cost and high quality should be considered. Finally; Architect/design engineer should focus on the following issues: Producing design documents on time: Architect/engineer should set a schedule to complete design documents on time, otherwise result in a delay of work completion. Mistakes and discrepancies in design documents: they are common reasons for redoing designs and drawings and may take a long time to make necessary corrections. Ibnu Abbas Majib (2006) in his study of causes and effects of delay in Aceh construction industry, Indonesia suggest some methods which can be employed to minimize construction delays. A total of thirty five methods of minimizing delays were identified in his study. The most effective methods of minimizing delays identified are to: Ensure adequate and available source of finance until project completion; Competent project manager; Availability of resources; Frequent progress meeting; Awarding bids to the right/experience consultant and contractor; Use of experienced subcontractors and suppliers; Multidisciplinary/competent project team; Accurate initial cost estimates; Competent and capable of clients representative; Use of appropriate construction methods; Perform a preconstruction planning of project task and resources needs; and Project management assistance. Abd El-Razek et al. (2008) conducted a similar study of causes of delay in building construction projects in Egypt from the point of view of contractors, consultants, and owners suggested that in order to significantly reduce delay a joint effort based on teamwork is required. Fugar and Agyakwah-Baah (2010) emphasized in their study of delays in building construction projects in Ghana from the perspective of clients, consultants and contractors that the adequate and timely provision of financial resources in building construction project management cannot be over emphasized. This is because the finance is the hub around which everything else revolves. Everybody and everything connected with construction is adversely affected by lack of sufficient cash flow. They made the some recommendations as follows: Construction clients must ensure that funds are available or adequate arrangements for funds are made before projects are started. The long and bureaucratic processes involved in honouring payments to contractors in Ghana must be shortened for efficiency and contractors payments must be honoured as and when they due in strict compliance with the provisions of the contract. Contract provisions which allow contractors to claim interest on delayed payments must be strictly enforced to serve as deterrent to clients. The idea of establishing a commercial bank for building and construction is worth revisiting so that contractors can have access to credit in times of liquidity difficulties. On the other hand, to overcome some contractors ineptitude which correlates directly with delay factors such as underestimation of cost, time of completion and complexity of projects, poor scheduling and control and poor site management, the researchers recommend the following actions. The Civil Engineering and Building Contractors Association of Ghana must institute measures to ensure that its members go through continual education so that the technical and managerial competences of contractors who belong to it can be improved. The acquisition of a certain number of credit hours in continual education should be a criterion for membership renewal. The Ministry of Works and Water Resources, the body responsible for the registration and classification of contractors wishing to execute public projects, must insist on its requirement that contractors must have in their employment certain key technical staff as a condition for registration. Above all, effective ways must be designed to verify the list of staff produced by contractors in support of their application and to ensure also that these key staff positions are continually filled by technically competent individuals. Summary 53 methods of minimizing delays were identified from the review of literature above. These methods will be used to develop questionnaire for surveying purposes. Followings were the methods identified: Perform a preconstruction planning of project tasks and resources. Continuous update manpower, both technical and managerial. Thorough and complete investigation of site conditions. Clear information and communications channels. Clear and thorough client brief. Include of the contingency allowance in the pre-contract estimate. Use value management techniques when developing the design from the brief at the conceptual design stage, as well as in limiting any variations to those that are absolutely essential. Accelerate site activities. Improve clients project management procedures. Enforce liquidated damage clauses. Offer incentives for early completion. Adopt a new approach to contract award procedure by giving less weight to prices and more weight to the capabilities and past performance of contractors. Adopt new approaches to contracting, such as design-build and construction management (CM) types of contracts. Determine appropriate funding levels at the planning stage of the project. Effective and efficient material procurement systems. Competent project manager. Multidisciplinary/competent project team. Commitment to project. Allocate sufficient time and money on the design phase. Hire an independent supervising engineer to monitor the progress of the work. Pay progress payment to the contractor on time. Minimize change orders. Avoid delay in reviewing and approving of design documents. Check for resources and capabilities before awarding the contract to the lowest bidder. Number of labours assigned should be enough and be motivated to improve productivity. Contractor should manage his financial resources and plan cash flow by utilizing progress payment. Continuous planning and scheduling during construction. Site management and supervision: administrative and technical staff should be assigned as soon as project is awarded to make arrangements. Produce design documents on time. Avoid making mistakes and discrepancies in design documents. Consultants should be flexible in evaluating contractor works. Compromising between the cost and high quality should be considered. Clear objectives and scope. Frequent progress meeting. Top management support. Timely, valuable information from different parties. Effective strategic planning. Award bids to the right/experience consultant and contractor. Continuous involvement of stakeholders in the project. Availability of resources. Absence of bureaucracy. Community involvement. Systematic control mechanisms. Comprehensive contract documentation. Up to date technology utilization. Proper emphasis on past experience. Use of experienced subcontractors and suppliers. Accurate initial cost estimates. Competent and capable clients representative. Use of appropriate construction methods. Project management assistance. Idea of enforce contract provisions which allow contractors to claim interest on delayed payments must be strictly to serve as deterrent to clients. Establishing a commercial bank for building and construction so that contractors can have access to credit in times of liquidity difficulties. Design effective ways to verify the list of staff produced by contractors in support of their application and to ensure also that these key staff positions are continually filled by technically competent individuals.

Operations Management

The process type McDonald's uses is batch process because there are moderate volume and moderate variety in their products and services. McDonald's products are semi-standardized as they are stocked pre cooked. When a customer makes an order, the product is then prepared. This shows high flexibility, for example, a customer orders a special order of McCracken without lettuce, the order will be processed within minutes. There is also high volume of production as McDonald's serves thousands of customers dally. Inning a batch process means that the speed of delivery Is dependent upon the speed and experience of the Individual worker. This process supports the business of McDonald's as they will be able to process the different types orders to cater to the different needs of customers, In the shortest time possible. To achieve that, moderate skill level of workers is required. The advantages of batch process are that it allows workers to specialist in specific lobscouse and use the speci alist equipment, different batches of different production an be made.On the other hand, there are also disadvantages of batch process. Firstly, specialization means that the workers are doing repetitive jobs, which can result to boredom. Secondly, the machinery needs to be reset and cleaned in between batches. This can be time consuming which in turns slows down the production. Also, when the hamburgers are produced by batches, they would keep them for as long as possible and eventually discard them if they were not sold. This will increase the cost for McDonald's. Operations Management OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT: as a competitive weapon mks [email  protected] ac. in http://mks507. vistapanel. net Prof. (Dr. ) Manoj K Srivastava Operations Management Area 1. The Systems Approach C O N T E N T S 2. 3. OM Definition Ten Critical Decisions 4. 5. The Cases 4V Typology of Operations 6. 7. Productivity Competitiveness 8. 9. Manufacturing Vs. Service? The History 10. The Future 1 Systems Approach Systems Approach Reduce waste†¦or enhance output†¦ 2 OM Definition What is Operations Management? What is Operations? a function or system that transforms inputs into outputs of greater valueOperations management (OM) is the set of activities that creates value in the form of goods and services by transforming inputs into outputs TYPES OF TRANSFORMATIONS †¢ †¢ Physical: Locational: as in manufacturing operations as in transportation operations What is a Transformation Process? a series of activities along a value chain extending from supplier to customer. activiti es that do not add value are superfluous and should be eliminated †¢ †¢ Exchange: Physiological: as in retail operations as in health care What is Operations Management? esign, operation, and improvement of productive systems †¢ †¢ Psychological: Informational: as in entertainment as in communication Value Engineering / Value Analysis ? Use ? Esteem ? Time ? Place 3 What Operations Managers do? ? Service, product design†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. ? Quality management†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ ? Process, capacity design†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. ? Location †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Ten Critical Decisions ? Layout design †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. ? Human resources, job design†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. ? Supply-chain management†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ ? Inventory management †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. ? Scheduling †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ ? Maintenance †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 4 The Cases Britannica StoryInvite your enemy onto the roof, then remove the ladder Sun tzu The Art of War 36 Stratagems 1988 1988-93 Britannica (Leader, 230 years experience, 1768), $1000 Microsoft encyclopedia from funk & Wagnall’s encyclopedia Searchability, Multimedia, Graphics, Timeline (20 feet), cross-links, updating 1993 1995 Price $300 (cost of CD:$1) (in-fact you can purchase encarta encyclopedia + a PC in Britannica price) Britannica has to jump in a business which was not its strength, Price still $1000 1997 Reduced to $125, later on free online, crashed twice Innovation in Operations McDonald’s Corp Olympic Flame ? ? ? Facing Increased Competition Smarter and More Demanding Customers Less Brand Loyal Switched to hamburger bun that does not require toasting. ? Customers prefer taste of new bun ? Saves time an d money, QSVC Model ? ? ? ? 10,000 runners 15,000 miles through 42 states in 84 days Two years of planning Must plan for no-show runners and rush hour traffic ? Cost of this operation in the neighbourhood of $20 million Innovation in Operations Ginger Hotel BillDesk No-frills, June 2004 No room service, travel desk, swimming pool Wi-fi, Two type of room: Rs. 999 and Rs. 1199, Prabhat Pani, CEO, Roots CorporationBillDesk, a property of IndiaIdeas. com Ltd. , 2000 Three Arthur Anderson Executives Third-party bill collection 25 Banks, 100 companies Just apply today. It only takes a few minutes. Once you're approved, you get your very own Zipcard. Reserve one of our cars – for a couple hours or the entire Day. Do it online or use a phone. We're easy. Walk to the car, then just hold your Zipcard to the windshield. The doors will unlock, and it's all yours! Drive away†¦ and return to the same reserved parking spot at the end of your reservation. It's that simple. And remember, gas and insurance are included too. 5Operations typology: 4V Approach Differences within sectors are often greater than the differences between sectors Financial services An account management centre at a large retail bank Financial analyst advising a client at an investment bank Furniture manufacturing Mass production of kitchen units Craft production of reproduction ‘antique’ furniture Hotels Value-for-money hotel Lobby of an international luxury hotel A Typology of Operations: 4 V’s Low Volume High High how many products or services are made by the operation? how many different types of products or services are made by the operation?High Variety Low High Variation in demand Low how much does the level of demand change over time? how much of the operation’s internal working are ‘exposed’ to its customers? High Visibility Low Implications Low repetition Each staff member performs more of job Less systemization High unit costs Flexible Comple x Match customer needs High unit costs Changing capacity Anticipation Flexibility In touch with demand High unit costs Short waiting tolerance Satisfaction governed by customer perception Customer contact skills needed Received variety is high High unit costs A Typology of Operations ImplicationsHigh repeatability Specialization Capital intensive Low unit costs Well defined Routine Standardized Regular Low unit costs Stable Routine Predictable High utilization Low unit costs Time lag between production and consumption Standardization Low contact skills High staff utilization Centralization Low unit costs Low Volume High High High Variety Low High Variation in demand Low High Visibility Low 6 Productivity Effectiveness Efficiency Productivity Types of Productivity Single Factor Productivity Output Labor Output Materials Output is of quality nature Output Capital Multifactor ProductivityOutput Labor + Materials + Overheads Output Labor + Energy + Capital Total Factor Productivity Good s and Services Produced All inputs used to produce them America West’s Reverse Pyramid system This is in contrast to the approach used by many airlines of just boarding all seats starting from the back of the plane and working forward. 7 Competitiveness Competitiveness The degree to which a nation can produce goods and services that meet the test of international markets while simultaneously maintaining or expanding the real incomes of its citizens. A firm is competitive if it can produce products [†¦ of superior quality or lower costs than its domestic and international competitors. (US-President`s Commission on Industrial Competitiveness 1985, S. 6) Global Competitiveness Ranking 1. Switzerland 2. Sweden 3. Singapore 4. United States 5. Germany 6. Japan 7. Finland 8. Netherlands 9. Denmark India 51 10. Canada China 27 Competition Within Industries Increases When ? Firms are relatively equal in size and resources ? Products and services are standardized ? Industry growt h is slow or exponential Barriers to Entry ? ? Economies of scale Learning curves Capital investment Access to supply and distribution channels 8 Manufacturing vs. services Degree of Servitization Manufacturing and Service Employment Manufacturing Employment and Production Services as % of GDP Tangibility Spectrum Economic Offerings can determine prior to purchasing can only be discerned after purchase or during consumption or use customer must believe in, but cannot personally evaluate even after purchase & consumption Differences Between Goods and Services Intangibility Heterogeneity Simultaneous Perishability Production & Consumption 9 History of OM Five Eras of Operations Management Journey of Operations Management Adam Smith uge increases in productivity obtainable from technology or technological progress are possible match human and physical capital, Division of labor Eli Whitney †¢ †¢ In 1798, received government contract to make 10,000 muskets Showed that machine tools could make standardized parts to exact specifications – Musket parts could be used in any musket Significant events in operations management ? ? ? ? Division of labor Standardized parts Scientific management Coordinated assembly line (Smith (Whitney (Taylor (Ford 1776) 1800) 1881) 1913) ? ? ? Gantt charts Motion study Quality control (Gantt (Gilbreths (Shewhart 1916) 1922) 1924) 10Where are we going? Exciting New Challenges in Operations Management Changing Challenges Past Local or national focus Batch (large) shipments Causes Low-cost, reliable worldwide communication and transportation networks Cost of capital puts pressure on reducing investment in inventory Global Focus Future Just-in-time shipments Low-bid purchasing Quality emphasis requires that suppliers be engaged in product improvement Shorter life cycles, rapid international communication, computer-aided design, and international collaboration Affluence and worldwide markets; increasingly flexible production processes Changing sociocultural milieu.Increasingly a knowledge and information society. Environmental issues, ISO 14000, increasing disposal costs Supply-chain partners Rapid product development, alliances, collaborative designs Mass customization Empowered employees, teams, and lean production Environmentally sensitive production, Green manufacturing, recycled materials, remanufacturing Lengthy product development Standardized products Job specialization Low cost focus Operations Management QUESTION 1 Operations management must be managed properly in order to improve an organization’s productivity and profitability. In the Cadbury World case, several micro and macro processes are involved and those processes bring some impacts to Cadbury World. Thus, Cadbury World must possess a sustainable micro and macro processes to achieve the best outcome and performance. Micro processes that involved are easily to manage compared to macro processes because macro processes are hard to manage or manipulate (Jae, Shim, Joel & Siegel, 1999).As a result, Cadbury World must put more efforts in solving the obstacles and troubles that occurred within the macro processes. First of foremost, we will be discussing the micro processes that involved in Cadbury World case. Within the micro processes, they can make some planning on their operation and strategic management processes to enhance their business and profitability. Micro Processes| Explanation and elaboration| Company| * Cadbur y has set up a team to improve their operation management. * More tickets collectors have been assigned in the exhibition centre to manage and help visitors when they need assistance. Cadbury is always open for criticism, feedbacks and recommendation to improve their operation management. | Customers | * Cadbury always attempting to fulfill all the requirements and needs from their customers and ensure their customers will have a wonderful trip in their exhibition centre. * This is because customers will affect their reputation and brand name if they are not satisfying with the services and products that provided (Galloway, 1998). * Other than that, Cadbury has launched some new products and add more elements into their exhibition programme to attract more visitors and customers. Competitors| * Cadbury World has implemented SWOT analysis to identify their strengths and weaknesses and also the opportunities and threats from their outside environment. So that, they are able to gain th e competitive advantage among their competitors. | Intermediaries| * Cadbury requires several marketing intermediaries in promoting their activities and products. * As such, they have selected some marketing intermediaries to promote this Cadbury World exhibition event and help them to gain the profits. | Suppliers| * It is crucial to select the best suppliers to enhance the production of Cadbury.Due to this, Cadbury has implemented some analysis and works when choosing their suppliers because they always ensure their products have the high quality that can fulfill every customer’s requirements. | Table 1: Micro processes as applied to the case Cadbury World Macro Processes| Description | Demographic| * Several analysis have been implemented to analyze the preference and needs among people from different demographic profile. * This is because demographic profile is crucial when managing the requirements from different customers. Those analysis can be done according to several groups such as gender, age group, nationality, likeliness. | Natural| * Cadbury always seek for alternatives although their natural resources are still available and still able to support their operation and production. * This is because they believed that natural resources will be finished exploited in one day. So that, they want to put some efforts before the day to come. | Economic| * Economic trend must be aware from time to time to prevent Cadbury World business being affected during the economic crisis. Technological| * Cadbury always conscious and aware with the new technological and applied the technological elements into their operation system to gain the higher profits. * Besides, with the technological elements such as automated system or centralized system can help their operation system become more efficient and easy to manage the visitors that entering their exhibition centre. | Table 2: Macro processes as applied to the case Cadbury World Figure 1: Input-Transformati on-Output model (Cadbury World case) The model of input-transformation-output in Cadbury World case has been displayed in Figure 1 above.This model consisted of micro and macro processes because as mentioned earlier, micro and macro processes are very important for the operation processes in an organization. From the figure above, we will be discussing the micro processes of Cadbury World case in the form of input-transformation-output model. Those micro processes are company, customers, suppliers and competitors. Cadbury needs a lot of human resources such as manpower to carry out their daily operations process. Those manpower with the technological methods are essential to convert the raw materials from the input to the transformation process   (Tilanus, 1997).After that, the incomplete goods that in the transformation process will turn into the outputs which are products and goods that introduce to the markets. When the products introduced to market, Cadbury may get some feedba cks from publics or their customers and also their competitors. Hence, Cadbury must do some amendment on their operation processes within the internal management in their organization or review their suppliers to enhance their operation process. QUESTION 2 Process flow chart to show the ways of customers are being processed through the operation from start to finishThe process design that adopted by Cadbury World case is the product-based layout because the arrangement of the equipments in every section of the exhibition centre are clearly displayed in a logical sequence. Hence, the process design can provide the better understanding to their visitors if they wish to take a tour without guiding. This is because the product-based layout can eliminate the confusion of the visitors as the process flow is predictable and repeatable (Thompson, 1967)  . QUESTION 3 3. 1: The capacity of each processes in question 2 above The entrance 5-20 visitors x (60 minutes / 2-1/2 minutes) =  360- 480 visitors per hour The Marie Cadbury room * Original design (70 visitors x 1/3) x [60 minutes / (5 minutes + 1-2 minutes + 4 minutes)] =  131-144 visitors per hour * Peak times 70 visitors x [60 minutes / (5 minutes + 1-2 minutes + 4 minutes)] =  382-420 visitors per hour The packaging plant 30 visitors x [60 minutes / (3 minutes + 8 minutes) =  164 visitors per hour The demonstration area (15 visitors x 8 guides) x (60 minutes / 6-17 minutes) =  424-1200 visitors per hour * The shop [(60 minutes x 60 seconds)/15 seconds] x 3 checkouts =  720 visitors per hour * The restaurant: If the tables are allowed to sit with different families or groups of visitors (60 minutes/25 minutes) x 169 covers =  406 visitors per hour * If the tables are allowed to sit with one family or same group of visitors (60 minutes/25 minutes) x 53 tables =  128 visitors per hour The coffee and ice-cream  parlour (60 minutes/18 minutes) x 46 covers =  154 visitors per hour 3. 2: The project ed annual, weekly and hourly demand from the data in the case (Mid August to end of December 4. 5 months). Explain  the impact of seasonality on these figures. 1. The Entrance: 2. 5 minutes 2. The Marie Cadbury Room: 10 – 11 minutes 3.The Packaging Plant: 11 minutes 4. The Demonstration Area: 6 – 17 minutes 5. The Shop: 15 seconds = 0. 25 minutes 6. The Restaurant: 25 minutes 7. The coffee and ice-cream Parlour: 18 minutes After reviewing the case of Cadbury World, we can understand that the time required for each station in the case of Cadbury World when during the normal period are 84. 75 minutes / 3. 53 hours and 72. 75 / 3. 03 hours during the peak periods. Therefore, the projected demand are as below:- 1. Annual demand = 4. 5 x 30 x (3. 03 – 3. 53) = 409. 05 – 476. 55 hours 2. Weekly demand = 7 x (3. 03 – 3. 53) = 21. 21 – 24. 71 hours 3.Hourly demand = 3. 03 – 3. 53 hours Holiday season, weather, national celebration or event such as election can cause some impacts of seasonality that affect Cadbury World business and operation. From the Cadbury World case, the period of the exhibition event is held from mid of August to the end of December. During that period, Halloween and Christmas might influence their operation as people may wish to take a short travel to refresh themselves during these holidays. As such, Cadbury World can be a better selection. However, when the demand of seasonality increased, Cadbury World needs extra capacities to support their operation.If not, they will face some bottlenecks and affect their overall performance and profitability. QUESTION 4 4. 1 The ways that Cadbury world management has varied capacity to respond to changes in demand When the business of an organization is boosted up, this means that the demand has been increased as well. Thus, the organization need more capacities to prevent they fall into bottlenecks (Stevenson, 2010). In Cadbury World case, some bottleneck s might be occurred if they didn’t varied the capacity to respond to the changes of demand. Firstly, more ticket collected have been arranged accordingly in the entrance area during peak period.Those ticket collectors will apply the technological system such as automation system to handle the situation in the exhibition centre and also the safety of their visitors. Besides, Cadbury internal management team have implemented some actions to enlarge the space of parking lots during the peak period. After that, the shop, restaurant and ice-cream parlour areas will be amend to cater more visitors. 4. 2 The operations that occurred the bottlenecks in the process  and the ways that service can be amended to increase bottleneck capacity. Where are the bottlenecks in the process? How could service be amended to increase bottlenecks capacity? | The entrance| * Introduce online ticketing to reduce the time that needed to purchase the tickets. * Utilize information technology system to handle the safety of visitors that enter the exhibition centre. * Enhance the dependability and speed in the exhibition centre to provide the convenience to visitors. | The exhibition area| * Boost up the efficiency of Cadbury staffs that handle the visitors that enter this area. * Apply micro operation system and information technology method to reduce the delays problems and also eliminate the workload of attendant. Improve the process flow in Marie Cadbury room as it is the bottlenecks in this section. | The packaging plant| * Change the areas that show the brief videos. * Such as displaying the brief videos in the areas before entering the packaging plant to give a brief explanation and understanding to visitors. | The restaurant| * Amend the process flow because current process flow is inconvenient to visitors. * Redesign the serving points and serve more variety of food in each serving point. * So that, visitors can enjoy their favorite food without passing every serving poin ts. The restaurant design can amend to a round shape instead of row arrangement to increase the flexibility to visitors. | LIST OF REFENCES Galloway, L. (1998)  Principles of Operations Management. India: ITP. Jae, K. , Shim, Joel, G. & Siegel (1999) Operations Management. USA: Barron’s Educational Series. Stevenson, W. J. (2010) Operations Management. An Asian Perspective (9th Edition). New Zealand: McGraw-Hill. Thompson, J. (1967)  Organizations in Action. New York: McGraw-Hill. Tilanus, B. (1997)  Information Systems in Logistics and Transformation (2nd ed). USA: Elsevier Science Ltd. Operations Management The process type McDonald's uses is batch process because there are moderate volume and moderate variety in their products and services. McDonald's products are semi-standardized as they are stocked pre cooked. When a customer makes an order, the product is then prepared. This shows high flexibility, for example, a customer orders a special order of McCracken without lettuce, the order will be processed within minutes. There is also high volume of production as McDonald's serves thousands of customers dally. Inning a batch process means that the speed of delivery Is dependent upon the speed and experience of the Individual worker. This process supports the business of McDonald's as they will be able to process the different types orders to cater to the different needs of customers, In the shortest time possible. To achieve that, moderate skill level of workers is required. The advantages of batch process are that it allows workers to specialist in specific lobscouse and use the speci alist equipment, different batches of different production an be made.On the other hand, there are also disadvantages of batch process. Firstly, specialization means that the workers are doing repetitive jobs, which can result to boredom. Secondly, the machinery needs to be reset and cleaned in between batches. This can be time consuming which in turns slows down the production. Also, when the hamburgers are produced by batches, they would keep them for as long as possible and eventually discard them if they were not sold. This will increase the cost for McDonald's. Operations Management OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT: as a competitive weapon mks [email  protected] ac. in http://mks507. vistapanel. net Prof. (Dr. ) Manoj K Srivastava Operations Management Area 1. The Systems Approach C O N T E N T S 2. 3. OM Definition Ten Critical Decisions 4. 5. The Cases 4V Typology of Operations 6. 7. Productivity Competitiveness 8. 9. Manufacturing Vs. Service? The History 10. The Future 1 Systems Approach Systems Approach Reduce waste†¦or enhance output†¦ 2 OM Definition What is Operations Management? What is Operations? a function or system that transforms inputs into outputs of greater valueOperations management (OM) is the set of activities that creates value in the form of goods and services by transforming inputs into outputs TYPES OF TRANSFORMATIONS †¢ †¢ Physical: Locational: as in manufacturing operations as in transportation operations What is a Transformation Process? a series of activities along a value chain extending from supplier to customer. activiti es that do not add value are superfluous and should be eliminated †¢ †¢ Exchange: Physiological: as in retail operations as in health care What is Operations Management? esign, operation, and improvement of productive systems †¢ †¢ Psychological: Informational: as in entertainment as in communication Value Engineering / Value Analysis ? Use ? Esteem ? Time ? Place 3 What Operations Managers do? ? Service, product design†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. ? Quality management†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ ? Process, capacity design†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. ? Location †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Ten Critical Decisions ? Layout design †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. ? Human resources, job design†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. ? Supply-chain management†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ ? Inventory management †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. ? Scheduling †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ ? Maintenance †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 4 The Cases Britannica StoryInvite your enemy onto the roof, then remove the ladder Sun tzu The Art of War 36 Stratagems 1988 1988-93 Britannica (Leader, 230 years experience, 1768), $1000 Microsoft encyclopedia from funk & Wagnall’s encyclopedia Searchability, Multimedia, Graphics, Timeline (20 feet), cross-links, updating 1993 1995 Price $300 (cost of CD:$1) (in-fact you can purchase encarta encyclopedia + a PC in Britannica price) Britannica has to jump in a business which was not its strength, Price still $1000 1997 Reduced to $125, later on free online, crashed twice Innovation in Operations McDonald’s Corp Olympic Flame ? ? ? Facing Increased Competition Smarter and More Demanding Customers Less Brand Loyal Switched to hamburger bun that does not require toasting. ? Customers prefer taste of new bun ? Saves time an d money, QSVC Model ? ? ? ? 10,000 runners 15,000 miles through 42 states in 84 days Two years of planning Must plan for no-show runners and rush hour traffic ? Cost of this operation in the neighbourhood of $20 million Innovation in Operations Ginger Hotel BillDesk No-frills, June 2004 No room service, travel desk, swimming pool Wi-fi, Two type of room: Rs. 999 and Rs. 1199, Prabhat Pani, CEO, Roots CorporationBillDesk, a property of IndiaIdeas. com Ltd. , 2000 Three Arthur Anderson Executives Third-party bill collection 25 Banks, 100 companies Just apply today. It only takes a few minutes. Once you're approved, you get your very own Zipcard. Reserve one of our cars – for a couple hours or the entire Day. Do it online or use a phone. We're easy. Walk to the car, then just hold your Zipcard to the windshield. The doors will unlock, and it's all yours! Drive away†¦ and return to the same reserved parking spot at the end of your reservation. It's that simple. And remember, gas and insurance are included too. 5Operations typology: 4V Approach Differences within sectors are often greater than the differences between sectors Financial services An account management centre at a large retail bank Financial analyst advising a client at an investment bank Furniture manufacturing Mass production of kitchen units Craft production of reproduction ‘antique’ furniture Hotels Value-for-money hotel Lobby of an international luxury hotel A Typology of Operations: 4 V’s Low Volume High High how many products or services are made by the operation? how many different types of products or services are made by the operation?High Variety Low High Variation in demand Low how much does the level of demand change over time? how much of the operation’s internal working are ‘exposed’ to its customers? High Visibility Low Implications Low repetition Each staff member performs more of job Less systemization High unit costs Flexible Comple x Match customer needs High unit costs Changing capacity Anticipation Flexibility In touch with demand High unit costs Short waiting tolerance Satisfaction governed by customer perception Customer contact skills needed Received variety is high High unit costs A Typology of Operations ImplicationsHigh repeatability Specialization Capital intensive Low unit costs Well defined Routine Standardized Regular Low unit costs Stable Routine Predictable High utilization Low unit costs Time lag between production and consumption Standardization Low contact skills High staff utilization Centralization Low unit costs Low Volume High High High Variety Low High Variation in demand Low High Visibility Low 6 Productivity Effectiveness Efficiency Productivity Types of Productivity Single Factor Productivity Output Labor Output Materials Output is of quality nature Output Capital Multifactor ProductivityOutput Labor + Materials + Overheads Output Labor + Energy + Capital Total Factor Productivity Good s and Services Produced All inputs used to produce them America West’s Reverse Pyramid system This is in contrast to the approach used by many airlines of just boarding all seats starting from the back of the plane and working forward. 7 Competitiveness Competitiveness The degree to which a nation can produce goods and services that meet the test of international markets while simultaneously maintaining or expanding the real incomes of its citizens. A firm is competitive if it can produce products [†¦ of superior quality or lower costs than its domestic and international competitors. (US-President`s Commission on Industrial Competitiveness 1985, S. 6) Global Competitiveness Ranking 1. Switzerland 2. Sweden 3. Singapore 4. United States 5. Germany 6. Japan 7. Finland 8. Netherlands 9. Denmark India 51 10. Canada China 27 Competition Within Industries Increases When ? Firms are relatively equal in size and resources ? Products and services are standardized ? Industry growt h is slow or exponential Barriers to Entry ? ? Economies of scale Learning curves Capital investment Access to supply and distribution channels 8 Manufacturing vs. services Degree of Servitization Manufacturing and Service Employment Manufacturing Employment and Production Services as % of GDP Tangibility Spectrum Economic Offerings can determine prior to purchasing can only be discerned after purchase or during consumption or use customer must believe in, but cannot personally evaluate even after purchase & consumption Differences Between Goods and Services Intangibility Heterogeneity Simultaneous Perishability Production & Consumption 9 History of OM Five Eras of Operations Management Journey of Operations Management Adam Smith uge increases in productivity obtainable from technology or technological progress are possible match human and physical capital, Division of labor Eli Whitney †¢ †¢ In 1798, received government contract to make 10,000 muskets Showed that machine tools could make standardized parts to exact specifications – Musket parts could be used in any musket Significant events in operations management ? ? ? ? Division of labor Standardized parts Scientific management Coordinated assembly line (Smith (Whitney (Taylor (Ford 1776) 1800) 1881) 1913) ? ? ? Gantt charts Motion study Quality control (Gantt (Gilbreths (Shewhart 1916) 1922) 1924) 10Where are we going? Exciting New Challenges in Operations Management Changing Challenges Past Local or national focus Batch (large) shipments Causes Low-cost, reliable worldwide communication and transportation networks Cost of capital puts pressure on reducing investment in inventory Global Focus Future Just-in-time shipments Low-bid purchasing Quality emphasis requires that suppliers be engaged in product improvement Shorter life cycles, rapid international communication, computer-aided design, and international collaboration Affluence and worldwide markets; increasingly flexible production processes Changing sociocultural milieu.Increasingly a knowledge and information society. Environmental issues, ISO 14000, increasing disposal costs Supply-chain partners Rapid product development, alliances, collaborative designs Mass customization Empowered employees, teams, and lean production Environmentally sensitive production, Green manufacturing, recycled materials, remanufacturing Lengthy product development Standardized products Job specialization Low cost focus Operations Management OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT: as a competitive weapon mks [email  protected] ac. in http://mks507. vistapanel. net Prof. (Dr. ) Manoj K Srivastava Operations Management Area 1. The Systems Approach C O N T E N T S 2. 3. OM Definition Ten Critical Decisions 4. 5. The Cases 4V Typology of Operations 6. 7. Productivity Competitiveness 8. 9. Manufacturing Vs. Service? The History 10. The Future 1 Systems Approach Systems Approach Reduce waste†¦or enhance output†¦ 2 OM Definition What is Operations Management? What is Operations? a function or system that transforms inputs into outputs of greater valueOperations management (OM) is the set of activities that creates value in the form of goods and services by transforming inputs into outputs TYPES OF TRANSFORMATIONS †¢ †¢ Physical: Locational: as in manufacturing operations as in transportation operations What is a Transformation Process? a series of activities along a value chain extending from supplier to customer. activiti es that do not add value are superfluous and should be eliminated †¢ †¢ Exchange: Physiological: as in retail operations as in health care What is Operations Management? esign, operation, and improvement of productive systems †¢ †¢ Psychological: Informational: as in entertainment as in communication Value Engineering / Value Analysis ? Use ? Esteem ? Time ? Place 3 What Operations Managers do? ? Service, product design†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. ? Quality management†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ ? Process, capacity design†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. ? Location †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Ten Critical Decisions ? Layout design †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. ? Human resources, job design†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. ? Supply-chain management†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ ? Inventory management †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. ? Scheduling †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ ? Maintenance †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 4 The Cases Britannica StoryInvite your enemy onto the roof, then remove the ladder Sun tzu The Art of War 36 Stratagems 1988 1988-93 Britannica (Leader, 230 years experience, 1768), $1000 Microsoft encyclopedia from funk & Wagnall’s encyclopedia Searchability, Multimedia, Graphics, Timeline (20 feet), cross-links, updating 1993 1995 Price $300 (cost of CD:$1) (in-fact you can purchase encarta encyclopedia + a PC in Britannica price) Britannica has to jump in a business which was not its strength, Price still $1000 1997 Reduced to $125, later on free online, crashed twice Innovation in Operations McDonald’s Corp Olympic Flame ? ? ? Facing Increased Competition Smarter and More Demanding Customers Less Brand Loyal Switched to hamburger bun that does not require toasting. ? Customers prefer taste of new bun ? Saves time an d money, QSVC Model ? ? ? ? 10,000 runners 15,000 miles through 42 states in 84 days Two years of planning Must plan for no-show runners and rush hour traffic ? Cost of this operation in the neighbourhood of $20 million Innovation in Operations Ginger Hotel BillDesk No-frills, June 2004 No room service, travel desk, swimming pool Wi-fi, Two type of room: Rs. 999 and Rs. 1199, Prabhat Pani, CEO, Roots CorporationBillDesk, a property of IndiaIdeas. com Ltd. , 2000 Three Arthur Anderson Executives Third-party bill collection 25 Banks, 100 companies Just apply today. It only takes a few minutes. Once you're approved, you get your very own Zipcard. Reserve one of our cars – for a couple hours or the entire Day. Do it online or use a phone. We're easy. Walk to the car, then just hold your Zipcard to the windshield. The doors will unlock, and it's all yours! Drive away†¦ and return to the same reserved parking spot at the end of your reservation. It's that simple. And remember, gas and insurance are included too. 5Operations typology: 4V Approach Differences within sectors are often greater than the differences between sectors Financial services An account management centre at a large retail bank Financial analyst advising a client at an investment bank Furniture manufacturing Mass production of kitchen units Craft production of reproduction ‘antique’ furniture Hotels Value-for-money hotel Lobby of an international luxury hotel A Typology of Operations: 4 V’s Low Volume High High how many products or services are made by the operation? how many different types of products or services are made by the operation?High Variety Low High Variation in demand Low how much does the level of demand change over time? how much of the operation’s internal working are ‘exposed’ to its customers? High Visibility Low Implications Low repetition Each staff member performs more of job Less systemization High unit costs Flexible Comple x Match customer needs High unit costs Changing capacity Anticipation Flexibility In touch with demand High unit costs Short waiting tolerance Satisfaction governed by customer perception Customer contact skills needed Received variety is high High unit costs A Typology of Operations ImplicationsHigh repeatability Specialization Capital intensive Low unit costs Well defined Routine Standardized Regular Low unit costs Stable Routine Predictable High utilization Low unit costs Time lag between production and consumption Standardization Low contact skills High staff utilization Centralization Low unit costs Low Volume High High High Variety Low High Variation in demand Low High Visibility Low 6 Productivity Effectiveness Efficiency Productivity Types of Productivity Single Factor Productivity Output Labor Output Materials Output is of quality nature Output Capital Multifactor ProductivityOutput Labor + Materials + Overheads Output Labor + Energy + Capital Total Factor Productivity Good s and Services Produced All inputs used to produce them America West’s Reverse Pyramid system This is in contrast to the approach used by many airlines of just boarding all seats starting from the back of the plane and working forward. 7 Competitiveness Competitiveness The degree to which a nation can produce goods and services that meet the test of international markets while simultaneously maintaining or expanding the real incomes of its citizens. A firm is competitive if it can produce products [†¦ of superior quality or lower costs than its domestic and international competitors. (US-President`s Commission on Industrial Competitiveness 1985, S. 6) Global Competitiveness Ranking 1. Switzerland 2. Sweden 3. Singapore 4. United States 5. Germany 6. Japan 7. Finland 8. Netherlands 9. Denmark India 51 10. Canada China 27 Competition Within Industries Increases When ? Firms are relatively equal in size and resources ? Products and services are standardized ? Industry growt h is slow or exponential Barriers to Entry ? ? Economies of scale Learning curves Capital investment Access to supply and distribution channels 8 Manufacturing vs. services Degree of Servitization Manufacturing and Service Employment Manufacturing Employment and Production Services as % of GDP Tangibility Spectrum Economic Offerings can determine prior to purchasing can only be discerned after purchase or during consumption or use customer must believe in, but cannot personally evaluate even after purchase & consumption Differences Between Goods and Services Intangibility Heterogeneity Simultaneous Perishability Production & Consumption 9 History of OM Five Eras of Operations Management Journey of Operations Management Adam Smith uge increases in productivity obtainable from technology or technological progress are possible match human and physical capital, Division of labor Eli Whitney †¢ †¢ In 1798, received government contract to make 10,000 muskets Showed that machine tools could make standardized parts to exact specifications – Musket parts could be used in any musket Significant events in operations management ? ? ? ? Division of labor Standardized parts Scientific management Coordinated assembly line (Smith (Whitney (Taylor (Ford 1776) 1800) 1881) 1913) ? ? ? Gantt charts Motion study Quality control (Gantt (Gilbreths (Shewhart 1916) 1922) 1924) 10Where are we going? Exciting New Challenges in Operations Management Changing Challenges Past Local or national focus Batch (large) shipments Causes Low-cost, reliable worldwide communication and transportation networks Cost of capital puts pressure on reducing investment in inventory Global Focus Future Just-in-time shipments Low-bid purchasing Quality emphasis requires that suppliers be engaged in product improvement Shorter life cycles, rapid international communication, computer-aided design, and international collaboration Affluence and worldwide markets; increasingly flexible production processes Changing sociocultural milieu.Increasingly a knowledge and information society. Environmental issues, ISO 14000, increasing disposal costs Supply-chain partners Rapid product development, alliances, collaborative designs Mass customization Empowered employees, teams, and lean production Environmentally sensitive production, Green manufacturing, recycled materials, remanufacturing Lengthy product development Standardized products Job specialization Low cost focus

Picasso: Artist Extraordinaire

It was as array of Blue all over – some were cold, some skeptic, some with the desire to escape and mellow in the sky. Some were intense and challenging, while some other were diminutive and soothing. Together they reflected the state of their creator, who was then at the crossroad of his life – Mr. Pablo Ruiz Picasso! The genius of the geniuses, Pablo Picasso has left quite a few messages for the rest of the world – and very important one at that – because it is in the essence of those messages, lies the secret of his success.His Blue period happens to be a prominent slice of a painter who would rise to the zenith of name and fame later, much like a phoenix from the debris of despair, pathos and taunting ambience. Even a peep into his life would evoke anyone to identify the Blue period as his springboard – anyone would be excited to discover that how much power a parsimonious condition can generate for those who are willing. His life highlights the positive impact of poverty and drudgery in the making of a genius.The canvas of Picasso's life, in fact holds a picture that would always speak about the potential of human mind – that it is like a magic spring – the more you suppress it, the more it garners energy to outmaneuver its obstacles – or, from another perspective, it is from the chaos the universe of Picasso was born! The facts of Picasso's life shatters a good many myths about ‘chances rule human', and substantiates the fact that it is ‘humans who create chances' – a lesson as sparkling as a diamond to those who are deprived by the affluence of even basic amenities to bloom to their best.Thus this essay makes a humble survey on the life and works of this master of the masters, Pablo Picasso, with special emphasis on Blue Period, and how it impacted the proceedings of his life after, before reaching its own conclusion about the special messages that one can learn from his life besi des, indicating on the impact of â€Å"Blue Period† over the artists' movements.The protagonist, the central character of this magical example of human triumph, Pablo Ruiz Picasso was born on October 25th in Malaga, Spain, in the year 1881 and went to live on earth for 91 years, holding a unique collage of events, inventions, rendezvous and, most importantly, time-winning creations between the years of his charismatic existence. Thus it is impossible to discuss the Blue period without knowing about his background, which had a solid bearing on the rest of his life. A child Picasso would mingle with the gypsies, the outsiders of the society – their bohemian lifestyle had been a source of attraction to him (Picasso: Magic).It was his father Don Jose, who was an artist, a museum curator and a teacher all rolled into one, identified the latent talent in Picasso very early and engaged the boy into art. After having initial lessons from his father at home, Picasso joined Acad emy of Fine Arts at La Corupa, Spain, where his father was a teacher. He was then only a boy of 14 years, but that did not deter him to master the nuances of anatomy. That stint was short-lived as the family moved on to Barcelona, Spain in 1895, where both father and his son joined the Academy of Fine Arts, one as a teacher and the other as a student.Here the genius in Picasso first appeared before the world, when he startled everyone by qualifying for the advanced classes, after proving his astounding capabilities through completing the entrance test in a single day, which even the older boys would have taken whole month to complete! The jury board [†¦ ] of the entrance tests instantly declared him a prodigy. (Picasso: Artist Extraordinaire) During their stay in Barcelona, Picasso came across a new experience, and that was of [†¦ ] nude study and painting of the models. His uncle, Dr.Salvador Ruiz Blasco, who was very much impressed by the talent of the young boy, had arr anged everything for Picasso in his house at Malaga (Picasso). Next year he had his first painting making way to an exhibition. And no wonder, Picasso felt he has outgrown this academy very soon – as he left it to join at the Madrid Academy – which he would leave too in no time – before joining the band of young avant-garde artists, writers and poets, who would gather at a local tavern, Els Quatre Gats and were known as â€Å"modernistes† (Picasso: The Early Years)This group would discuss the revolutionary ideas under the then context – like symbolism, graphic arts etc. and accorded the French art nouveau, which used simplified versions of artistic nuances. Most of them were plagued by parsimony, and thus were on the same boat of poverty and uncertainty. Picasso visited Paris in October 1900, and from then on kept on shuttling between France and Spain. At this time Parisian nightlife caught his fancy and that resulted in some of his works that depi cted dark cafe or the destitute people, besides his usual works of landscapes, portraits.That was the foundation of this great man before he decided to meet the world with his treasure of art – with no footing whatsoever in the elite circle in the Paris, which was considered to be the stepping stone for an aspiring artist. And, he came, he worked, and worked, and worked – before leaving behind a legacy of a goliath. Blue Period In walked 1901 – by then his childhood favorites, the gypsies, perhaps vanished into blue, but the spirit of their bohemianism might have helped him to shrug off the shortcomings of not being a blue-eyed boy of any of the denizens of the art world of Paris.Yet, how would he know someday the world would earmark his formative years before becoming a true-blue artist, as ‘Blue Period'! In this period, especially between the period 1901-1903, Picasso had been able to gain direction in his painting, while his personal started evolving ou t of the situations, other painters' works and his deep understanding of the situations. This was the beginning of the â€Å"Blue Period†, where Picasso decided to confine within the color scheme of blue – which has already been considered as the color of pathos by many. That idea and the ongoing [†¦] parsimonious culture among the budding intellectuals around provided him the necessary momentum to stick to his decision (Blue, 2007). Thus this new line of painting by him started appearing in public – where he consciously highlighted the hapless state of humans with the mastery of forms of and usage of blue, which proved to be revelation for the contemporary art world (Picasso: The Early Years). The period 1901 – 1904 is roughly considered as the â€Å"Blue Period† of this great painter, when he would do his paintings and sketches mostly with various shades of blue.That coinage might outwardly justify itself with this strange practice of Picass o – but on the deeper level, the same coinage carries the connotation of a lone struggle of a painter that was further made difficult by emotional swings with the death of his dear friend Carlos Casagemas – who committed suicide after failing in love. Casagemas was the bosom pal of Picasso. Thus the shock of death and horror of suicide dominated in his painting, â€Å"The death of Casagemas†, which also bears the testimony of his learning process – as the painting has clear influence of Van Gogh's style.The same can be said [†¦ ] about his his work â€Å"Portrait of Jaime Sabartes (the beer glass)', which reminds about ‘Absinthe Drinker', a painting done by Gauguin (Blue, 2007). He created three portraits of Casagemas as a corpse, the last of his pictures showing colors for a prolonged period. The â€Å"Blue Period† also holds an account of Montmarte's nightlife, where Picasso and his friends would visit regularly. Those carefree moment s, however marked by limitation to enjoyment or engulfed by the cloud of uncertainty, sparked the imagination of this great painter.There were plethora of events, adventures and moments of solitude and despair – a constant swing between those two extreme poles perhaps made him more resilient inwards, otherwise how could he depict the sorrows of others so vividly? One such instance might add some color to this essay. Once Picasso went to visit a women's prison Called St. Lazare in Paris, and found nuns were serving as guards. That prompted him to paint â€Å"Two Sisters†, which evokes the image of Mary in mind, more because of the presence of blue rather than anything else (Picasso's).Then, there was this painter in his twenties, Picasso – cramped by extreme poverty and grief, was in all blue, before he became a star in the world of art. It was a period when he would find it difficult to arrange two square meals a day, save spending for oil paints and canvases or socializing with impresarios. Yet he worked on – that was the only thing he could do – he worked on with whatever he had with him – cheap blue color, a heart wailing for the lost friend, wondrous ideas in head, and, enormous zeal to communicate with his own visual language.And, it was that blue color, already recognized as the color of inner grief, had provided him the perfect medium for his message of the time. Thus it became blue all the way, deep, light, dark.. in every possible way it aided Picasso to express his sorrows in all possible dimensions – be it form, content or medium – all of them would echo the inner chaos of a twenty-year old who has just started the battle to gain his ground in one of most sacred colonies of art and culture, and right at the kick-off who received a jolt by losing his great friend and aide in Paris.It was that chaos which gave birth to the paintings like â€Å"Trait† (1901) or â€Å"The Tragedy† (19 03), which puts forth his desire and despair – while his self-portrait presents him as a happy-go-like romantic man with dreamy eyes, â€Å"The Tragedy† looked all gloomy, down in despair, where a family of three are looking downwards, visibly hopeless and as if nowhere to go, nothing to eat, and have nothing left to meet the basic needs of today, save the tomorrow! That was a beggar family whom Picasso covered by clothes, yet made naked with poverty, something he himself shared with them in this period.This speaks of the dichotomy that was prevalent in the time and also in the mind of Picasso, because, unless there was inspiration from both inside and outside by any means, Picasso wouldn't have been bent on to create such paintings of two extreme poles in close interval. Another interesting aspect of those paintings is their coming of age in a new avatar – that spoke of Picasso's own poor state, where he could not afford to buy canvases for new drawings and had to settle on the old ones. â€Å"What comes out in the end is the result of the discarded funds† (Picasso's Technique), he would say, perhaps to find a solace in his finesse in recycling!In fact, the researchers could find that the canvas used for â€Å"The Tragedy† contains sketches as old as 1899, while â€Å"The Tragedy† was finished in 1903. So much so, with the help of x-radiograph, they have been able to decipher that those sketches gave birth to one of his bullfight paintings. This clearly shows how misery had forced this great genius to abandon his work for the sake of new work. Perhaps all that boiled down to a sentiment, which saw a recurrence of the theme â€Å"like desolation of the outcasts† in his paintings of the â€Å"Blue Period†.Time and again researchers have identified Picasso's penchant for using excessive blue in this period as his conscious decision to use it as another medium of communication. And he did that with elan â₠¬â€œ the figures he depicted in this period was mostly of the lower rung of the society, ranging from beggars to prostitutes or the circus-people – even not to leave himself or his penniless friends – he dowsed all of them with blue to depict the world of despair that usually engulfs when people are caught with limitations and uncertainty.Obviously all his works are endowed with his mastery over form and content, yet it was blue that adds more dimensions to them, and at times, even issues more appeal than everything. He even would wear blue clothes in those days! Associating colors with sentiments was nothing new, yet the utilization of a color as the medium of the message was unique in his case. The use of blue color to depict sadness was prevalent even in the Anglo-Saxon culture (Pablo, 2007).However, Picasso's own statement, â€Å"It was thinking about Casagemus that got me started painting in blue† (Pablo Picasso blue period), helps all to associate his pers pective of blue as a language of inner grief or melancholy. This was supplemented by his own poor state where it became hard at times to arrange a good meal. â€Å"My dear Max, I think about the room on the boulevard Voltaire, about the omelets, the beans, the Brie and the fried potatoes. But I als think about the days of misery, and it's quite sad,† So he wrote afterwards to his friend, poet Max Jacob, the partner of his struggling days.Alongside, â€Å"Blue Period† was nonetheless a training session for Picasso, where he experimented with low light conditions, which perhaps gained momentum from the proverbial presence of pathos in blues or the prevalent culture of the then intellectuals who wanted to glorify by the poverty or take pride in the idea that an artist is generally considered as an outcast! There was definitely another reason, and that was his intense desire to be different from the crowd! The qualitative factors achieved by the use of blue also signify hi s tendency to experiment in those days.The paintings of a boy of twenty years as if serving as a passage to the dreamland with blue spectacles – that was something unthinkable before the traditional art. Some of his paintings would evoke a pall of gloom with the deeper shades of blue – yet the quality of luminance in them would make anyone stop and think about that gloom for a while. Thus, blue served for him as a strong language of visual communication. The presence of poverty and extreme difficulty has been reflected in most of his works in this period, either directly, or indirectly.For the first instance, the painting â€Å"Frugal Repast† depicts a destitute couple sharing a frugal supper of bread and wine; â€Å"Crouching Woman† depicts the hapless condition of a lonely, poor woman. He went back to Barcelona and started a painting with complex allegory called â€Å"La Vie†, a remake job over his earlier â€Å"Last Moments†, which took t urn from being a self-portrait to someone resembling Casagemus by its features, thereby making the journey of his â€Å"Blue Period† coming to a full circle with a tribute to the departed friend.Set in a studio, La Vie is considered as one of the most complex works done by him, and in the context of the period, contains the essence of his learning in the Blue Period, the lessons of which were mostly about the cruel side of the world, and were about how one could find the right path to move on. The scholars are still divided about the message hidden in this painting, where a nude woman clings to a male with only white loincloth on; who as if points towards another woman in heavy dress and holding a baby in her arms. These three figures stand behind a perspective that contains two canvases set on different layers, where[†¦] two clinging nude women adorn the upper canvas while another such figure is seen on her knees (â€Å"La Vie†, 2006). Perhaps this complexity, th is enigmatic, personal statement in â€Å"La Vie† speaks about the acorn that was now ready to bloom as a giant oak – this perhaps the most potent message conveyed by this painting of the master. Elements of Blue Period John Richardson, Picasso's biographer and his close friend, had almost devoted his life in deciphering the enigmas that are layered with Picasso's phases of evolution as a multi-dimensional creator.In that research, â€Å"Blue Period† holds a special place. Before anything, Richardson weighed certain elements that had influenced Picasso's mind right at his childhood. Richardson drew a parallel of Picasso's lifestyle with the philosophy of the gypsies and in the occult culture prevalent among the members of Andalusia, a region in southern Spain, which is the native place of Picasso. According to Richardson, the people of that region were found to be superstitious in nature, which would affect their actions too, and Picasso being one of them could not escape that influence.Because of being superstitious, once he found appreciation for using blue tone in that period and people accepted that, he had considered it as a good omen for his painting career and was stuck to it for quite sometime (Picasso: Magic). Even his days at La Coruna substantiates such claims of Richardson, where a young Picasso was deeply moved by tarot cards (Picasso: The Early Years). There can be another argument that points at a unique confluence of events that led to a series of ‘blue' creations by Picasso. This corroborates Richardson's assumptions too, by taking the superstition factor into account.This idea conjures up situations like Picasso's superstition about blue, his belief that blue is the messenger of inner grief, and his childhood and the then association with poverty or grief-stricken people. These situations might have been culminated into a series of paintings with blue tones – where Picasso wanted to give vent to his pent-up e motions, or he wanted to depict the haplessness of the poor or outcasts like gypsies or circus people, and he wanted to present them in a medium which he thought would convey the message best – blue.And he was conscious of his own poor state too – thus he didn't mind for once to operate from reality by including himself as one of the subjects of Blue Period. He did not ignore the pathos within him, and instead, accepted them as the way of life. This idea is corroborated by Jaime Sabartes, then his closest friend: â€Å"Picasso believed Art to the son of Sadness and Suffering†¦ that sadness lent itself to meditation and that suffering was fundamental to life†¦ If we demand sincerity of an artist, we must remember that sincerity is not to be found outside the realm of grief† (Picasso and the Mood).In all, this was the period where he was tested by all possible roadblocks, which had forced him to bring out his best to cope that challenge. This was the per iod when Picasso stepped into the mystic realm of spiritualism and ethereal ideas – all fueled by death, despair, poverty and uncertainty. Therefore, this period in his life had gifted him the prime elements of success, all in disguise – the required zeal, the expansion of mind and deep feeling for fellow humans. ConclusionThe Blue Period of Pablo Picasso is essentially a documentary of a collage of situations, which not only unfurls the stages of Picasso's blooming as an artist, but also refers to certain ideas about the then social condition, the locomotion of art and culture of Paris, etc. But the greatest messages lie in another direction – where this period talks about how one's childhood association creates impact on one's creative pursuits, or how a human being emerges as victorious in front of the challenges of extinction.This era also marks his coming of age with various types of practice, development of ideas and eventually the birth of a new style wit h seeds of his other periods like â€Å"Rose Period† or â€Å"Cubism†. The gathering of a bubbling gang of intellectuals at Montmartre or Picasso's association with them, all speaks about a wonderful movement of art and culture led by people who even took pride in considering themselves as outcasts for the sake of art.Together all these, â€Å"Blue Period† depicts a unique march of time, which not only benefited Picasso to rise his height in the future, but also it provided a solid documentation of time. Pablo Picasso's â€Å"Blue Period† is indeed a lesson to all who are interested to fight and win from the wretched state, besides the aspiring painters. It also highlights the effect of death and the power of humanity over the creative manifestation of perfection in an artist; rest lies with Picasso himself, who took away a lot of hint with him, leaving a big box of enigma for the posterity!Ends Works Cited â€Å"Picasso: Artist Extraordinaire. † . . 4 Dec. 2007 . Blue period. . 3 Dec. 2007 . La Vie. . Cleveland Museum of Art. 4 Dec. 2007 . Pablo Ruiz Picasso (Spain) 1881-1973. 4 Dec. 2007 . Picasso – Magic, Sex and Death. Ed. W Januszczak. 4 Dec. 2007 .Picasso and the Mood of a Painting. Color Vision and Art. 4 Dec. 2007 . Picasso. Ed. H. L. C. Jaffe. 4 Dec. 2007 . Picasso: The Artist's Studio. 3 Dec. 2007 . Picasso's Blue Period 1901-1904. . 4 Dec. 2007 .Picasso's Technique. 4 Dec. 2007 . Rubin, W. Picasso in the Collection of the Museum of Modern ArtRev. 5 Dec. 2007 . Warncke, C. P. Pablo Picasso 1881-1973. 5 Dec. 2007 Picasso: The Early Years, 1892-1906. 5 Dec. 2007. . Pablo Picasso blue period. 4 Dec. 2007. .