Radiality as a Comprehensive Behavioral Model Essay

Radiality as a Comprehensive Behavioral Model - Essay Example The origins of the radiality as a foundational cultural model in the domain of spatial relationship may be traced to the island nation of Tonga (Bennardo 2009). Tongan language has only 3 linguistic representations of spatial relationships. This makes it a simpler study than languages with many more because correlation interpretation is reduced to fewer permutations. The concept of radiality impacts other realms of understanding within anthropology. It correlates with understandings of religious belief (Bennardo 2009). It explains theories about spatial navigation and material possessions. It also helps in our comprehension of kinship patterns. This method of interpretation contributes no less to our understanding of social relationships. It seems cognitive processes of language production and interpretation manifest in gross behavioral patterns. Methods of radiality modeling result in a broader understanding of social relationships with respect to language (Bennardo 2008). Looking for a cultural model of social relationships in Tongan, investigators collected linguistic, experimental, and social network data. They focused on the core concept of the model where 'Ofa is giving, either giving help from higher to lower or giving duty or respect from lower to higher. Surveys were formulated to study spatial linguistic correlations to cognitive beliefs. Three semi-structured interviews were used (Bennardo 2008). One was about how individuals perceive social relationships between others where participants answered questions about the existence and composition of groups in their village, their island, and country. Another was about individual personal relationships where participants answered questions about their relationships to other people in the village. Still, another was about indirect social relationships where participants told a story that occurred in their village that they thought represented village life. From 60 interviews of about 24 hours of audiovisual recordings verbal coders went to work. They conducted statistical analyses of words to uncover certain obviates. They applied methods of metaphor and keyword analysis to identify specific correlations (Bennardo 2008). Metaphor analysis included certain priorities: first to identify metaphors, second to sort them by type and identify key words, and third to locate organizational principles. Key word analysis included four words that appeared during the metaphor analyses: 'Ofa 'love'; Fatongia 'duty'; Kavenga 'lighter duty'; Faka'apa'apa 'respect.' The results of these tests yielded the following information about Tongan culture. Researchers found a number of relevant cognitive behavioral principles as a result of their statistical analysis. It seems society is hierarchical to the Tongans (Bennardo 2008). Individuals are located at different levels of the society's ladder. 'Ofa 'love' links these individuals to make them a whole. The king and elite are connected with the Divine as evident in the shininess of their bodies. This work has provided a greater understanding of language and relationships in Tongan society. How does radiality impact our understanding of social relationships It does so by providing a method of understanding for describing how language influences cognition and social behavior. Its pragmatic value is evident in its contributions to behavioral

Strategies to Sustain Competitive Advantage

Strategies to Sustain Competitive Advantage Q1: Using an appropriate model, evaluate the business model of a company of your choice, describing how the company differentiates itself from its competitors and sustain competitive advantage. 1. Executive Summary Cummins started off as diesel engine manufacturing company since 1919 and now growing as â€Å"power† leader in the world. Cummins expand network through company- owned distributor, independent distributor and dealer to serve customer globally. In 2009, Cummins reported net income of $428 million in $10.8 billion of sales [1]. Cummins have been diversifying its business to broad range of products from power generation, filtration technology, turbo technology, fuel system, emission controls and air handling [2]. Due to external pressure and growing market in Asia, Cummins recently setup Centre of Excellent in Singapore focus more on Marine and Offshore market. In this post module assignment, competitive strategy will only focus on Cumminss marine and offshore business. In this PMA, the value curve is based on own industry experiences assumption. However, analysis on financial will based overall Cummins business listed in stock market which named â€Å"CMI†. 1.1. Vision Statement â€Å"Making peoples lives better by unleashing the Power of Cummins† [3]. Cummins believe in by developing new technology will lead to better living for the people. 1.2. Mission Statement Cummins mission statement as quoted below [3] â€Å"Motivating people to act like owners working together† â€Å"Exceeding customer expectations by always being first to market the best products† â€Å"Partnering with our customers to make sure that they succeed† â€Å"Demanding that everything we do leads to a cleaner, healthier, safer environment† â€Å"Creating wealth for all stakeholders.† 1.3. Cummins compare with Industrial leader Figure 1 Financial Analysis CMI Vs Industry Leader [4] Figure 1 shows overview financial analysis of Cummins (CMI) compare within industry leader [4]. Cummins rank 35 among 379 diversified machinery industries in industrial goods sector for market capitalisation. Cummins stock values increase more than triple over the past 3 years and promise future growth with its business strategy [4]. 1.4. Ocean Strategy Ocean strategy has been introduced by W.C. Kim and R Mauborge since 2004. Starting then, this strategy is adopted and implemented successfully in various organisations globally. Recently, Malaysias Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak shared his experience on Ocean Strategy when dealing with increasing crime in the country [5]. He is using Blue Ocean Strategy as management tools in order to promote thinking out of the box. Key successful activities such as leveraged untapped resources when replaced police with soldier doing patrolling around countrys border and conduct training for new police force in the underutilised army facilities. This initiative save a lot of money from government and promote cross functioning role among government agency [5]. The principle of the ocean strategy is treating market as universe. There are two oceans available in the universe named Red Ocean and Blue Ocean. Red Ocean defined as known competition. In this Ocean, product is already well defined and competitors only able to compete with price [6] .Customer expectation on the product almost generic and not much technology can be developing in this area. For diesel engine in marine and offshore market, the competitors for Cummins include Caterpillar, MTU and Mitsubishi. How Cummins can break trough become market leaders? Cummins apply Blue Ocean Strategy when dealing with its business. Blue Ocean Strategy defines as untapped market which no competition and industries that do not exist at this point of time [6]. This in return will resulting higher profit compare with conventional approach. This clearly shows in W.C. Kim and R Mauborge studys on business launches in 108 companies. They summarize revenue and profit impact of business launches shows in Figure 2. In this study, 86% business launches within own boundaries (Red Oceans) and 14% business launches looking for new opportunities (Blue Oceans) [6]. Red Oceans approach focus on existing customer by improving their product and study shows that this resulted 62% on total revenue and 39% on total profit. In contrast, 14% of the businesses launches by creating blue oceans can bring in higher return which about 61% of the total profit [6]. Cummins spend heavily on research and development for past 5 years as shown in Figure 3. In 2010 alone, Cummins invest 414million in new technology development [2]. One of recent Blue Oceans initiatives is setting Marine and Offshore Centre of Excellent in Singapore. This business focus on the â€Å"Packaging† instead of selling conventional type of â€Å"bare diesel engine† like other competitor such as CAT, MTU and Mitsubishi. Figure 4 shows pictorial view on the value added components into bare diesel engine 1.5. Strategy Canvas Figure 5 shows strategy canvas of the marine and offshore diesel engine. X-axis represents critical success factors of the markets competition and Y-axis correspond to values perceived by marine and offshore customer. Marine and offshore is a mature and establish market. Engine makers always compete with price, image, brand, delivery, product performance and service availability. Cummins performs averagely in critical successful factors. However, in order to compete in the competitive market, Cummins break through conventional way by creating new team to focus on product value added specifically for marine and offshore customer. Cummins applied Blue Ocean strategy. Figure 6 shows Red Ocean strategy from others diesel engine maker and Blue Ocean strategy from Cummins. Q2: Using either Porters generic strategies or the Strategy Clock, identify examples of organizations following strategies of differentiation, low cost or low price, and stuck-in-the middle or hybrid. How successful are these strategies. 2. Porters 5 forces generic Strategies â€Å"Using the five forces framework, creative strategists may be able to spot an industry with a good future before this good futureis reflected in the prices of acquisition candidates† Michael Porter [7]. Porters five forces: Threat of New Entrants: Analyse potential new comer to market is important to understand potential future competitors Bargaining Power of Buyers: Buyers is the party that create demand for industry, understand buyers requirement will help to maintain competitive advantages. For example, bargaining power of buyers is high if product is standard. Threat of substitute products or service: Buyers always look for alternative or cheapest way to get products or service. Substitute product can bring the overall industry price lower Bargaining Power of Supplier: Supplier supply raw material or service to manufacturer. Bargaining power of supplier is high when to many buyer and less supplier in the market Rivalry among existing competitors: Current fast moving industry, its important understand the strategy of existing competitors. Example: How competitor gain competitive advantages or product differentiation. Porters 5 Forces allowed the company undertand and analyse own industry struture and futher help the management to decide on companys strategy. According to Porter, organisation is able to gain competitive advantanges by strategies the company using one of the â€Å"Porters Generic Strategies† as shown in Figure 8; 1) Cost Leadership, 2) Differentiation, 3) Focus [8]. 2.1. Cost Leadership Strategies Cost leadership strategies emphasize on low cost in company strategies. Company will offer low per-unit cost product or service to customer that sensitive to price. In order to become low cost provider, company can practise integration strategies (backward, forward and horizontal). There are few factors that will affect the strategies include economies of scale, learning curve, productivity, company structure, relationship with supplier and quality control. Several example organizations that practice this are Wal-Mart (general merchandiser), Air Asia (budget Airline) and Macdonalds (Fast Food) [9]. In this PMA, I will use Air Asia as example to study its business model and look into company successful factor. Air Asia strategy as illustrate in Figure 9, the company mission is to continue to be the markets carrier low cost provider. In order to compete with other aircraft carrier and achieve company vision for â€Å"Lowest cost airline†, Air Asia implement a few strategy to reduce operation cost. Strategy implemented as per below: 2.1.1. Keep operation cost low- NO frills In order to compete in this competitive market, Air Asia able to keep operational cost low by implementing few â€Å"NO†s in the strategy [10]: NO meal: No food or drinks will be provided free in the in-flight service. NO frequent flyer program: NO Membership or rewarding program which commonly used for others airline like Kris flyer for Singapore Airline and Skymiles for Delta airline. NO Seat assignment Ticket: In order to keep administrative cost low NO Entertainment: NO news paper and entertainment system such as movie, games and music. No ticket : Ticketless replaced conventional type printed ticket No waiting lounge: NO lounge provide in the airport 2.1.2. Single air craft fleet In order to streamline the operation, Air Asia phasing out its 14 Boeing B737 in 2010 and replace by only operate single air craft which is A320. Few advantages of using single aircraft as stated below Keep inventory cost low Saving cost in service and maintenance such as keeping same model of spares parts. No duplicated resource due to difference Air Craft experience needed Reduce time and training cost due to only one model. This allowed the company avoid going to through the expensive â€Å"learning curve† process and also may dissatisfied demanding customer. Michael and Nikos study on the organisation learning curves for customer dissatisfaction across airlines. They plotted estimate U-Shaped learning curve as show in Figure 10 and show evident that complaint rates followed U-shaped function of experience Able to increase fuel efficiency and improve productivity 2.1.3. Simplified distribution system Air Asia design simple user friendly system for customer to book and check- in their ticket. Customers are able to check in using own mobile as shown in Figure 11. This ticketless system is able to reduce waiting time for customer queuing to check- in at the airport counter. 2.1.4. Point to point network (≠¤ 4 hrs) All Air Asia flight is running by point to point network within 4 hours radius or less as its business model. This model only carry passenger from point A to point B without any connecting flight. This in order to keep operation cost simple in order to reduce costs [10]. 2.1.5. Optimum Aircraft Utilization Another way to keep operating cost low and maximizes profit, Air Asia increase productivity by optimise flight utilisation. Air Asia is the fastest in the region by achieving 25 minute turnaround time. Air Asia is able to achieve equal or more than 75% for last 5 years on the load factor. Once, Air Asia achieve close to 100% load factor for Bali Perth route. Load factor is defined by AirAsia as â€Å"numbers of passengers as a percentage of number of seats flown† [10]. On top of that, Air Asia applies â€Å"Tier based† system for ticketing which depend on supply and demand. When demand is low, the price is low. When demand is high the ticket price will also go high. This system is efficient especially during low season allowed Air Asia maintain the reasonable high percent load factor, 2.2. Differentiate Strategies Differentiation strategies offer service or product which unique perceived by customer. Differentiation strategies do not guarantee good payback especially current standard product offered in the industry is more than enough to meet customer expectation. There will a risk on implementing this strategy and need to study carefully on customer requirement before implementing. Product value added, extra servicing, products flexibility and better compatibility are some of the features that can create differentiate in the industry. Cost is not an issue in this strategy; hence company can demand higher price if customer strongly attached to offered differentiation features. Typical move in this strategy is product development. Organisations that apply these strategies include Apple (Lifestyle product), Raul Lauren (Apparel) and Maytag (Home appliance) Apple is applying differentiate strategies compare with other competitors in the industry by selling lifestyle product instead of conventional electronic gadget. In first 6 months of 2011, Apple spends 1.2 billion in research and development. This is about 40% increase compare with 2010 [13]. One of the successful examples when Apple launches iPad during 2010 and Steve Jobs defined iPad as â€Å"entirely new category of mobile devices†. Apple sold more than 15 million units worldwide after launching [14]. 2.2.1. Innovative and creativity product Apple is a â€Å"trend leading† company in the market. The company famous in creating innovative products and able to capture a significant market share after launching new products. Apple spends heavily in research and development because the company believe RD are critical for future growth and are able to create competitive advantages 2.2.2. Wide range of software and applications Apple created another successful platform for customer to download software and application. Traditional, example like phone, other competitor just focus on few simple features which only contains game, photography function, movie and some basic feature. By introducing new approach, Apple created â€Å"The App Store†. Now â€Å"The App Store† has more than 350,000 apps available for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch globally. The apps offered wide range of application from games, entertainment, utilities, social networking, music and others. In Jan 2011, Apple announces that more than 10 billion apps have been downloaded . 2.2.3. Apple store Unlike others competitors store which only focus on products price and feature, Apple differentiate by giving customer different shopping experience in the store. Apple design Apples retail store to give the patrons good impression of stylish, clean, fashion and stream-lined. The product like i Phone, iTunes and etc will placing in a place that customer can try out the features and application. 2.2.4. Provide good service and maintenance Apple provides good service respond compare with others competitors like Samsung and Nokia. In Singapore, Apple provides one to one exchange for i Phone if there is defect and still under warranty. This is different from some of the competitors, depend on the level of repair, some will take about 2 to 3 weeks. This will create some issue for some consumer that only has one hand phone. 2.3. Focus Strategies Focus strategies offers product or service to fulfil the requirement for targeted groups of customer in the industry [9]. Focus strategies can be categorized into 2; Focus cost leadership which focus on low cost solution in narrow market and Focus differentiation provide customised product or service to niche market [16]. Market penetration and market development can be use when applying focus strategies [9]. Focus strategies beneficial when competitors are not able to support on unique requirement of certain group of customer. Organisation which pursuing this strategies include IKEA (Furniture), Ferrari (Automotive) and Federal Express (logistic) 2.3.1. Focus Cost Leadership Strategy IKEA is the Swedish global furniture company that applied focus cost leadership strategy in their business strategy. IKEA offering wide range of home furnish product with low price so that many people can afford to purchase. In order to achieve the strategy, IKEA apply below concept: 2.3.1.1. Design and develop base on price In order to keep competitive price, IKEA design and develop product base on price. The price is â€Å"fix† even before the product is launch. The designer will have to work directly with supplier to ensure meeting low cost by optimised productivity, material efficiency and process improvement [17]. 2.3.1.2. Reduce logistic, handling and operating cost In order to reduce logistic, handling and operating cost, IKEA designer always consider flat-pack transportation and self-assembly during design and development phase. Flat-pack furniture is often delivered in multiple sub assemblies together with simple instruction manual and required customer to perform self assembly. This modular concept is able to save transportation, handling and operating cost. For example, assembled furniture tends to be more bulky and is more expensive to store in warehouse and transportation. Besides, that, IKEA is able to save operating cost by reduce one â€Å"Assembly† process in production . 2.3.1.3. Self-Service in IKEA Store In order t keep the operating cost low and reduce the needs of sales assistance, IKEA design the flow of store layout and display the product effectively by using â€Å"actual room† concept. For example, sofa is placed in â€Å"living room† section and bed is placed in â€Å"Bed Room† section. All the furniture is clearly labelled and useful information like dimension is easily located in the display product [17]. 2.3.2. Focus Differentiate strategy Ferrari is applying focus differentiate strategy by develop high performance car within automotive industry. Ferrari focus on high end consumer compare with other automotive competitors like Honda, Toyota or Ford which target more broad customer. Below is the strategy for Ferrari: 2.3.2.1. New Way of Purchase Car Ferrari compete created innovative approach by introduce new way of purchase car â€Å"Premium Ownership Program† to serve its target customer. This program include insurance, maintenance, warranty , Ferrari tailored made driving course and pit stop service which provide the customer â€Å"mind free† after owning and driving Ferrari car [18]. 2.3.2.2. Innovative Technology Ferrari developed own software to meet customer service expectation such as rapid response times, up to date database and personalise customer service. One of the latest features such as, the customer can view the look of the vehicle and change the preference in â€Å"Service configurator system† even in pre-order stage [19]. 2.3.2.3. Best Dealer Ferrari believes choosing the right strategic partner or dealer is the right way to serve the customer. In order to motivate the dealer, Ferrari created prestigious award Podio Awards for supplier or business partner recognition. 2.4. Stuck in the middle or Hybrid Strategies Porter does not recommend â€Å"Stuck in the middle† or Hybrid strategies if the company want to achieve above average performance in the industry. Company must choose either one of the strategy in the Porters Generic strategy. He claimed that it is difficult for a company to strategies the business to produce low cost product but still remain unique perceived by customer [8]. However, Rodney Goon argues on Porters theory and commented some of the company such as Singapore Airline (SIA) are able to success using â€Å"Hybrid strategy†. Figure 12 shows business strategy applied by SIA which plotted by Rodney [21]. Singapore Airline have been awarded 2nd place in World Top Airline in 2010 by Skytrax in Hamburg [22]. Figure 13 shows main operating cost for SIA. Top 3 costs consist of Fuel, Aircraft and People [23]. In order to achieve competitive advantages, SIA apply below approach: 2.4.1. Become Market Leader Differentiation Strategy SIA founded in 1972 started as small airline company and now evolve become the world trend leading company for Airline industry. SIA become market leader by setting trend started since 1970s when introducing headsets, drink and choice of meals in Economy Class. Figure 14 shows overview on SIA trend setting for more than 39 years in the industry. In 1991, SIA introduce satellite- based telephone to enable passenger to call to ground during flying. In 1998, in order to improve the quality and standard of in-flight meal, SIA formed International Culinary Panel which involves renowned chef from all over the world. By doing this, the passengers are able to enjoy world class cuisine even during travelling. In order to improve customer service satisfaction, SIA introduce in-flight entertainment system named Krisworld which include Audio and Video system. Passenger can watch movie, listen to music and playing game during flying. In 2004, SIA reach another milestone by flying world longest non-stop flight from Singapore to New York (Newark). In 2007, SIA flying new Airbus design A380 which is world largest passenger Aircraft from Singapore to Sydney . 2.4.2. Brand â€Å"Singapore Girl† Differentiation Strategy SIA successfully improve its service compare with others competitors by creating unique iconic image for SIAs air stewardess as â€Å"Singapore Girl† and promote â€Å"Youre a great way to fly† started in 1972. This iconic brand is famous of caring, elegant and good looking girl whom will provide good service for the passenger during on board the plane. â€Å"Singapore Girl† has continuously won many awards in Airline and Travel Industry over the years . 2.4.3. Low Cost -Cost Leadership Strategy â€Å"Everything behind The Scenes Is subject To Rigorous Control† quoted by Rodney . SIA spend heavily on the area that customer can be seen as discussed above in order to remain premium in the industry but cutting cost for area that behind the scene in order to remain cost compatible. Total cost for Singapore airline is about 14.2% is the lowest in the market compare with other competitors like American Airline which labor cost is approximately 31% of total operating expense . Other than that, average price per aircraft purchase is less than other airline provider. This is due to SIA is the market leader in trendsetting and always working with aircraft builder like Airbus when there is new product launching. First purchase in world for A380 allowed SIA command a better purchase price. Q3: What are the major advantages and disadvantages of an integrative strategy? 3. Integrative strategy Organisation is able to gain competitive advantages by using integrative strategy. Integrative strategy can be categorized as vertical, backward, forward and horizontal integration. There are advantages and disadvantages when applying each concept and detail discuss as below: 3.1. Vertical Integration Vertical integration is business strategies which expand its business either through gaining control over company that distribute or selling its product (Forward integration) or taking control over company that provide the raw material for finish goods (Backward Integration). Figure 15 illustrate 4 typical stages for value added chain in PC industry (27). Example for Dell or Hewlett Packard, in order to produce a personal computer, assembly components such as chips, microprocessor and disk drive etc is needed from others manufacturing company (Intel/ Micron). Similarly, component parts manufacturing needs raw material like chemical, metal and ceramic to manufacture the component. Kyocera is one of the suppliers for those materials. Backward integration strategy in this case is trying to taking control over components parts manufacturing and raw material supplier. Whereas for forward integration strategy, PC maker try to gains control over the company that selling or distribute the final product such as OfficeMax and ComUSA [27] This company provide platform to reach end user. 3.2. Forward Integration Forward integration strategy involves increase ownership or control over retailers or distributor and illustrates in Figure 16. One of the effective mean of forward integration is through Franchising [9]. Approximate $2 trillion revenue created annually through franchising business every year globally. This equal to 4th largest Gross National Product in the world [28]. Advantages and disadvantages as discuss below: Advantages: Getting understanding customer better One of the companies using forward integration strategy successfully is Dell. Dell founded in 1984 by Michael Dell with one direction â€Å"selling final products to customer directly† [29]. By doing this, company able to reach end user and getting feedback instantly through companys distributor and retailer without filtering. Low development and training cost By introduce franchising; the company are able to reduce development and training cost. Franchisor will provide training, equipment and product to franchisee. This in order to skip the â€Å"trial error† phase for franchisee and able to help franchisee generate profit with less risk. Example companies like Subway, McDonalds and 7-eleven. Provide better services Company can provide better services through its own controlled network and services. Provide lower cost of sales In order to compete in this competitive world, price of the end product is always one of the critical successful factors for the company. Dell is using this strategy to reduce price bypassing third party involvement such as retailers etc. No mark up from other company in the finished goods Disadvantages: Increase bureaucratic cost Expanding business forward which also means that increase bureaucratic cost for whole value- added chain activities. Due to uncertain demand in current market, it will post some risk to the company Increase Inventory Getting control over distributors or retailer, indirectly manufacturer may have to manage whole product cycle inventory include end products. Company may incurred higher inventory cost if wrongly manage 3.3. Backward Integration Manufacturer need supplier provide raw material in order to produce its end products or service. Backward integration allowed company gain control toward supplier as shown in Figure 16. Advantages and disadvantages as discuss below: Advantages: Getting better quality control Company are able to apply standard quality plan throughout the value chain. This is especially important when dealing with sophisticated components such as crankshaft, piston and turbocharger for engine. By improving the quality of this critical component will increase competitive advantages among the rivals Reduce threat from powerful vendors By increasing control over the vendors, it will reduce threat from powerful vendors. Optimized supply chain â€Å"Keeping track of so many suppliers is onerous† says Mark Shimelonis of Xerox [9]. Nowadays, a number of companies following Japanese firms lead in managing the supply chain to ensure uninterrupted supplies and low prices. Lower structure cost Outsourcing is one of the examples of the backward strategy. Outsourcing strategy will able to reduce cost when company engaging third party specialist that performing charging lower than company own operate value-chain activity. Cummins outsource IT support to India Company and panel design to CMR or Auto Maskin to keep the company structure cost lower. Nike outsourcing its manufacturing plant in China due to lower labor cost [27]. Disadvantages: Technology change Technology change is inevitable in current competitive market. But backward vertical integration may lock a company â€Å"way of doing business† and prevent organisation changes due to technology change. One of the examples is when radio manufacturer acquired a manufacturer of vacuum tube in 1950s to reduce production cost. When, transistors replace vacuum tube in 1960s, the competitor rapidly change to latest technology. However for this radio manufacturer company, the management refuse to change and as the result, lost in the competitive advantages and cause business failure. Thus, backward integration can cause serious disadvantages when trying to match rapid technology change [27] Risk of information loss Increase control over the supplier which mean also potentially important information flow to the supplier. For example, Cummins need to provide important parameter and interfacing information in the engine control module to backward supplier like CMR and Auto Maskin in order to joints develop the engine protection panel. Technical drawing will be shared among backward supplier and manufacturer. Potential high cost Less supplier competition will lead to less efficiencies when produce a product. The backward support company will work in the â€Å"comfort zone† and less initiative. The manufacturer is â€Å"forced† to get the input from â€Å"internal supplier† even there will be some others external supplier can produce lower cost .As the result will cause potentially higher production cost . 3.4. Horizontal Integration Horizontal integration refers to company that use â€Å"single industry strategy† and seeking control over competitor in same market. A number of the company apply this concept as growth strategy. Merger and acquisition allowed the company to expand its core business and technical capabi Strategies to Sustain Competitive Advantage Strategies to Sustain Competitive Advantage Q1: Using an appropriate model, evaluate the business model of a company of your choice, describing how the company differentiates itself from its competitors and sustain competitive advantage. 1. Executive Summary Cummins started off as diesel engine manufacturing company since 1919 and now growing as â€Å"power† leader in the world. Cummins expand network through company- owned distributor, independent distributor and dealer to serve customer globally. In 2009, Cummins reported net income of $428 million in $10.8 billion of sales [1]. Cummins have been diversifying its business to broad range of products from power generation, filtration technology, turbo technology, fuel system, emission controls and air handling [2]. Due to external pressure and growing market in Asia, Cummins recently setup Centre of Excellent in Singapore focus more on Marine and Offshore market. In this post module assignment, competitive strategy will only focus on Cumminss marine and offshore business. In this PMA, the value curve is based on own industry experiences assumption. However, analysis on financial will based overall Cummins business listed in stock market which named â€Å"CMI†. 1.1. Vision Statement â€Å"Making peoples lives better by unleashing the Power of Cummins† [3]. Cummins believe in by developing new technology will lead to better living for the people. 1.2. Mission Statement Cummins mission statement as quoted below [3] â€Å"Motivating people to act like owners working together† â€Å"Exceeding customer expectations by always being first to market the best products† â€Å"Partnering with our customers to make sure that they succeed† â€Å"Demanding that everything we do leads to a cleaner, healthier, safer environment† â€Å"Creating wealth for all stakeholders.† 1.3. Cummins compare with Industrial leader Figure 1 Financial Analysis CMI Vs Industry Leader [4] Figure 1 shows overview financial analysis of Cummins (CMI) compare within industry leader [4]. Cummins rank 35 among 379 diversified machinery industries in industrial goods sector for market capitalisation. Cummins stock values increase more than triple over the past 3 years and promise future growth with its business strategy [4]. 1.4. Ocean Strategy Ocean strategy has been introduced by W.C. Kim and R Mauborge since 2004. Starting then, this strategy is adopted and implemented successfully in various organisations globally. Recently, Malaysias Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak shared his experience on Ocean Strategy when dealing with increasing crime in the country [5]. He is using Blue Ocean Strategy as management tools in order to promote thinking out of the box. Key successful activities such as leveraged untapped resources when replaced police with soldier doing patrolling around countrys border and conduct training for new police force in the underutilised army facilities. This initiative save a lot of money from government and promote cross functioning role among government agency [5]. The principle of the ocean strategy is treating market as universe. There are two oceans available in the universe named Red Ocean and Blue Ocean. Red Ocean defined as known competition. In this Ocean, product is already well defined and competitors only able to compete with price [6] .Customer expectation on the product almost generic and not much technology can be developing in this area. For diesel engine in marine and offshore market, the competitors for Cummins include Caterpillar, MTU and Mitsubishi. How Cummins can break trough become market leaders? Cummins apply Blue Ocean Strategy when dealing with its business. Blue Ocean Strategy defines as untapped market which no competition and industries that do not exist at this point of time [6]. This in return will resulting higher profit compare with conventional approach. This clearly shows in W.C. Kim and R Mauborge studys on business launches in 108 companies. They summarize revenue and profit impact of business launches shows in Figure 2. In this study, 86% business launches within own boundaries (Red Oceans) and 14% business launches looking for new opportunities (Blue Oceans) [6]. Red Oceans approach focus on existing customer by improving their product and study shows that this resulted 62% on total revenue and 39% on total profit. In contrast, 14% of the businesses launches by creating blue oceans can bring in higher return which about 61% of the total profit [6]. Cummins spend heavily on research and development for past 5 years as shown in Figure 3. In 2010 alone, Cummins invest 414million in new technology development [2]. One of recent Blue Oceans initiatives is setting Marine and Offshore Centre of Excellent in Singapore. This business focus on the â€Å"Packaging† instead of selling conventional type of â€Å"bare diesel engine† like other competitor such as CAT, MTU and Mitsubishi. Figure 4 shows pictorial view on the value added components into bare diesel engine 1.5. Strategy Canvas Figure 5 shows strategy canvas of the marine and offshore diesel engine. X-axis represents critical success factors of the markets competition and Y-axis correspond to values perceived by marine and offshore customer. Marine and offshore is a mature and establish market. Engine makers always compete with price, image, brand, delivery, product performance and service availability. Cummins performs averagely in critical successful factors. However, in order to compete in the competitive market, Cummins break through conventional way by creating new team to focus on product value added specifically for marine and offshore customer. Cummins applied Blue Ocean strategy. Figure 6 shows Red Ocean strategy from others diesel engine maker and Blue Ocean strategy from Cummins. Q2: Using either Porters generic strategies or the Strategy Clock, identify examples of organizations following strategies of differentiation, low cost or low price, and stuck-in-the middle or hybrid. How successful are these strategies. 2. Porters 5 forces generic Strategies â€Å"Using the five forces framework, creative strategists may be able to spot an industry with a good future before this good futureis reflected in the prices of acquisition candidates† Michael Porter [7]. Porters five forces: Threat of New Entrants: Analyse potential new comer to market is important to understand potential future competitors Bargaining Power of Buyers: Buyers is the party that create demand for industry, understand buyers requirement will help to maintain competitive advantages. For example, bargaining power of buyers is high if product is standard. Threat of substitute products or service: Buyers always look for alternative or cheapest way to get products or service. Substitute product can bring the overall industry price lower Bargaining Power of Supplier: Supplier supply raw material or service to manufacturer. Bargaining power of supplier is high when to many buyer and less supplier in the market Rivalry among existing competitors: Current fast moving industry, its important understand the strategy of existing competitors. Example: How competitor gain competitive advantages or product differentiation. Porters 5 Forces allowed the company undertand and analyse own industry struture and futher help the management to decide on companys strategy. According to Porter, organisation is able to gain competitive advantanges by strategies the company using one of the â€Å"Porters Generic Strategies† as shown in Figure 8; 1) Cost Leadership, 2) Differentiation, 3) Focus [8]. 2.1. Cost Leadership Strategies Cost leadership strategies emphasize on low cost in company strategies. Company will offer low per-unit cost product or service to customer that sensitive to price. In order to become low cost provider, company can practise integration strategies (backward, forward and horizontal). There are few factors that will affect the strategies include economies of scale, learning curve, productivity, company structure, relationship with supplier and quality control. Several example organizations that practice this are Wal-Mart (general merchandiser), Air Asia (budget Airline) and Macdonalds (Fast Food) [9]. In this PMA, I will use Air Asia as example to study its business model and look into company successful factor. Air Asia strategy as illustrate in Figure 9, the company mission is to continue to be the markets carrier low cost provider. In order to compete with other aircraft carrier and achieve company vision for â€Å"Lowest cost airline†, Air Asia implement a few strategy to reduce operation cost. Strategy implemented as per below: 2.1.1. Keep operation cost low- NO frills In order to compete in this competitive market, Air Asia able to keep operational cost low by implementing few â€Å"NO†s in the strategy [10]: NO meal: No food or drinks will be provided free in the in-flight service. NO frequent flyer program: NO Membership or rewarding program which commonly used for others airline like Kris flyer for Singapore Airline and Skymiles for Delta airline. NO Seat assignment Ticket: In order to keep administrative cost low NO Entertainment: NO news paper and entertainment system such as movie, games and music. No ticket : Ticketless replaced conventional type printed ticket No waiting lounge: NO lounge provide in the airport 2.1.2. Single air craft fleet In order to streamline the operation, Air Asia phasing out its 14 Boeing B737 in 2010 and replace by only operate single air craft which is A320. Few advantages of using single aircraft as stated below Keep inventory cost low Saving cost in service and maintenance such as keeping same model of spares parts. No duplicated resource due to difference Air Craft experience needed Reduce time and training cost due to only one model. This allowed the company avoid going to through the expensive â€Å"learning curve† process and also may dissatisfied demanding customer. Michael and Nikos study on the organisation learning curves for customer dissatisfaction across airlines. They plotted estimate U-Shaped learning curve as show in Figure 10 and show evident that complaint rates followed U-shaped function of experience Able to increase fuel efficiency and improve productivity 2.1.3. Simplified distribution system Air Asia design simple user friendly system for customer to book and check- in their ticket. Customers are able to check in using own mobile as shown in Figure 11. This ticketless system is able to reduce waiting time for customer queuing to check- in at the airport counter. 2.1.4. Point to point network (≠¤ 4 hrs) All Air Asia flight is running by point to point network within 4 hours radius or less as its business model. This model only carry passenger from point A to point B without any connecting flight. This in order to keep operation cost simple in order to reduce costs [10]. 2.1.5. Optimum Aircraft Utilization Another way to keep operating cost low and maximizes profit, Air Asia increase productivity by optimise flight utilisation. Air Asia is the fastest in the region by achieving 25 minute turnaround time. Air Asia is able to achieve equal or more than 75% for last 5 years on the load factor. Once, Air Asia achieve close to 100% load factor for Bali Perth route. Load factor is defined by AirAsia as â€Å"numbers of passengers as a percentage of number of seats flown† [10]. On top of that, Air Asia applies â€Å"Tier based† system for ticketing which depend on supply and demand. When demand is low, the price is low. When demand is high the ticket price will also go high. This system is efficient especially during low season allowed Air Asia maintain the reasonable high percent load factor, 2.2. Differentiate Strategies Differentiation strategies offer service or product which unique perceived by customer. Differentiation strategies do not guarantee good payback especially current standard product offered in the industry is more than enough to meet customer expectation. There will a risk on implementing this strategy and need to study carefully on customer requirement before implementing. Product value added, extra servicing, products flexibility and better compatibility are some of the features that can create differentiate in the industry. Cost is not an issue in this strategy; hence company can demand higher price if customer strongly attached to offered differentiation features. Typical move in this strategy is product development. Organisations that apply these strategies include Apple (Lifestyle product), Raul Lauren (Apparel) and Maytag (Home appliance) Apple is applying differentiate strategies compare with other competitors in the industry by selling lifestyle product instead of conventional electronic gadget. In first 6 months of 2011, Apple spends 1.2 billion in research and development. This is about 40% increase compare with 2010 [13]. One of the successful examples when Apple launches iPad during 2010 and Steve Jobs defined iPad as â€Å"entirely new category of mobile devices†. Apple sold more than 15 million units worldwide after launching [14]. 2.2.1. Innovative and creativity product Apple is a â€Å"trend leading† company in the market. The company famous in creating innovative products and able to capture a significant market share after launching new products. Apple spends heavily in research and development because the company believe RD are critical for future growth and are able to create competitive advantages 2.2.2. Wide range of software and applications Apple created another successful platform for customer to download software and application. Traditional, example like phone, other competitor just focus on few simple features which only contains game, photography function, movie and some basic feature. By introducing new approach, Apple created â€Å"The App Store†. Now â€Å"The App Store† has more than 350,000 apps available for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch globally. The apps offered wide range of application from games, entertainment, utilities, social networking, music and others. In Jan 2011, Apple announces that more than 10 billion apps have been downloaded . 2.2.3. Apple store Unlike others competitors store which only focus on products price and feature, Apple differentiate by giving customer different shopping experience in the store. Apple design Apples retail store to give the patrons good impression of stylish, clean, fashion and stream-lined. The product like i Phone, iTunes and etc will placing in a place that customer can try out the features and application. 2.2.4. Provide good service and maintenance Apple provides good service respond compare with others competitors like Samsung and Nokia. In Singapore, Apple provides one to one exchange for i Phone if there is defect and still under warranty. This is different from some of the competitors, depend on the level of repair, some will take about 2 to 3 weeks. This will create some issue for some consumer that only has one hand phone. 2.3. Focus Strategies Focus strategies offers product or service to fulfil the requirement for targeted groups of customer in the industry [9]. Focus strategies can be categorized into 2; Focus cost leadership which focus on low cost solution in narrow market and Focus differentiation provide customised product or service to niche market [16]. Market penetration and market development can be use when applying focus strategies [9]. Focus strategies beneficial when competitors are not able to support on unique requirement of certain group of customer. Organisation which pursuing this strategies include IKEA (Furniture), Ferrari (Automotive) and Federal Express (logistic) 2.3.1. Focus Cost Leadership Strategy IKEA is the Swedish global furniture company that applied focus cost leadership strategy in their business strategy. IKEA offering wide range of home furnish product with low price so that many people can afford to purchase. In order to achieve the strategy, IKEA apply below concept: 2.3.1.1. Design and develop base on price In order to keep competitive price, IKEA design and develop product base on price. The price is â€Å"fix† even before the product is launch. The designer will have to work directly with supplier to ensure meeting low cost by optimised productivity, material efficiency and process improvement [17]. 2.3.1.2. Reduce logistic, handling and operating cost In order to reduce logistic, handling and operating cost, IKEA designer always consider flat-pack transportation and self-assembly during design and development phase. Flat-pack furniture is often delivered in multiple sub assemblies together with simple instruction manual and required customer to perform self assembly. This modular concept is able to save transportation, handling and operating cost. For example, assembled furniture tends to be more bulky and is more expensive to store in warehouse and transportation. Besides, that, IKEA is able to save operating cost by reduce one â€Å"Assembly† process in production . 2.3.1.3. Self-Service in IKEA Store In order t keep the operating cost low and reduce the needs of sales assistance, IKEA design the flow of store layout and display the product effectively by using â€Å"actual room† concept. For example, sofa is placed in â€Å"living room† section and bed is placed in â€Å"Bed Room† section. All the furniture is clearly labelled and useful information like dimension is easily located in the display product [17]. 2.3.2. Focus Differentiate strategy Ferrari is applying focus differentiate strategy by develop high performance car within automotive industry. Ferrari focus on high end consumer compare with other automotive competitors like Honda, Toyota or Ford which target more broad customer. Below is the strategy for Ferrari: 2.3.2.1. New Way of Purchase Car Ferrari compete created innovative approach by introduce new way of purchase car â€Å"Premium Ownership Program† to serve its target customer. This program include insurance, maintenance, warranty , Ferrari tailored made driving course and pit stop service which provide the customer â€Å"mind free† after owning and driving Ferrari car [18]. 2.3.2.2. Innovative Technology Ferrari developed own software to meet customer service expectation such as rapid response times, up to date database and personalise customer service. One of the latest features such as, the customer can view the look of the vehicle and change the preference in â€Å"Service configurator system† even in pre-order stage [19]. 2.3.2.3. Best Dealer Ferrari believes choosing the right strategic partner or dealer is the right way to serve the customer. In order to motivate the dealer, Ferrari created prestigious award Podio Awards for supplier or business partner recognition. 2.4. Stuck in the middle or Hybrid Strategies Porter does not recommend â€Å"Stuck in the middle† or Hybrid strategies if the company want to achieve above average performance in the industry. Company must choose either one of the strategy in the Porters Generic strategy. He claimed that it is difficult for a company to strategies the business to produce low cost product but still remain unique perceived by customer [8]. However, Rodney Goon argues on Porters theory and commented some of the company such as Singapore Airline (SIA) are able to success using â€Å"Hybrid strategy†. Figure 12 shows business strategy applied by SIA which plotted by Rodney [21]. Singapore Airline have been awarded 2nd place in World Top Airline in 2010 by Skytrax in Hamburg [22]. Figure 13 shows main operating cost for SIA. Top 3 costs consist of Fuel, Aircraft and People [23]. In order to achieve competitive advantages, SIA apply below approach: 2.4.1. Become Market Leader Differentiation Strategy SIA founded in 1972 started as small airline company and now evolve become the world trend leading company for Airline industry. SIA become market leader by setting trend started since 1970s when introducing headsets, drink and choice of meals in Economy Class. Figure 14 shows overview on SIA trend setting for more than 39 years in the industry. In 1991, SIA introduce satellite- based telephone to enable passenger to call to ground during flying. In 1998, in order to improve the quality and standard of in-flight meal, SIA formed International Culinary Panel which involves renowned chef from all over the world. By doing this, the passengers are able to enjoy world class cuisine even during travelling. In order to improve customer service satisfaction, SIA introduce in-flight entertainment system named Krisworld which include Audio and Video system. Passenger can watch movie, listen to music and playing game during flying. In 2004, SIA reach another milestone by flying world longest non-stop flight from Singapore to New York (Newark). In 2007, SIA flying new Airbus design A380 which is world largest passenger Aircraft from Singapore to Sydney . 2.4.2. Brand â€Å"Singapore Girl† Differentiation Strategy SIA successfully improve its service compare with others competitors by creating unique iconic image for SIAs air stewardess as â€Å"Singapore Girl† and promote â€Å"Youre a great way to fly† started in 1972. This iconic brand is famous of caring, elegant and good looking girl whom will provide good service for the passenger during on board the plane. â€Å"Singapore Girl† has continuously won many awards in Airline and Travel Industry over the years . 2.4.3. Low Cost -Cost Leadership Strategy â€Å"Everything behind The Scenes Is subject To Rigorous Control† quoted by Rodney . SIA spend heavily on the area that customer can be seen as discussed above in order to remain premium in the industry but cutting cost for area that behind the scene in order to remain cost compatible. Total cost for Singapore airline is about 14.2% is the lowest in the market compare with other competitors like American Airline which labor cost is approximately 31% of total operating expense . Other than that, average price per aircraft purchase is less than other airline provider. This is due to SIA is the market leader in trendsetting and always working with aircraft builder like Airbus when there is new product launching. First purchase in world for A380 allowed SIA command a better purchase price. Q3: What are the major advantages and disadvantages of an integrative strategy? 3. Integrative strategy Organisation is able to gain competitive advantages by using integrative strategy. Integrative strategy can be categorized as vertical, backward, forward and horizontal integration. There are advantages and disadvantages when applying each concept and detail discuss as below: 3.1. Vertical Integration Vertical integration is business strategies which expand its business either through gaining control over company that distribute or selling its product (Forward integration) or taking control over company that provide the raw material for finish goods (Backward Integration). Figure 15 illustrate 4 typical stages for value added chain in PC industry (27). Example for Dell or Hewlett Packard, in order to produce a personal computer, assembly components such as chips, microprocessor and disk drive etc is needed from others manufacturing company (Intel/ Micron). Similarly, component parts manufacturing needs raw material like chemical, metal and ceramic to manufacture the component. Kyocera is one of the suppliers for those materials. Backward integration strategy in this case is trying to taking control over components parts manufacturing and raw material supplier. Whereas for forward integration strategy, PC maker try to gains control over the company that selling or distribute the final product such as OfficeMax and ComUSA [27] This company provide platform to reach end user. 3.2. Forward Integration Forward integration strategy involves increase ownership or control over retailers or distributor and illustrates in Figure 16. One of the effective mean of forward integration is through Franchising [9]. Approximate $2 trillion revenue created annually through franchising business every year globally. This equal to 4th largest Gross National Product in the world [28]. Advantages and disadvantages as discuss below: Advantages: Getting understanding customer better One of the companies using forward integration strategy successfully is Dell. Dell founded in 1984 by Michael Dell with one direction â€Å"selling final products to customer directly† [29]. By doing this, company able to reach end user and getting feedback instantly through companys distributor and retailer without filtering. Low development and training cost By introduce franchising; the company are able to reduce development and training cost. Franchisor will provide training, equipment and product to franchisee. This in order to skip the â€Å"trial error† phase for franchisee and able to help franchisee generate profit with less risk. Example companies like Subway, McDonalds and 7-eleven. Provide better services Company can provide better services through its own controlled network and services. Provide lower cost of sales In order to compete in this competitive world, price of the end product is always one of the critical successful factors for the company. Dell is using this strategy to reduce price bypassing third party involvement such as retailers etc. No mark up from other company in the finished goods Disadvantages: Increase bureaucratic cost Expanding business forward which also means that increase bureaucratic cost for whole value- added chain activities. Due to uncertain demand in current market, it will post some risk to the company Increase Inventory Getting control over distributors or retailer, indirectly manufacturer may have to manage whole product cycle inventory include end products. Company may incurred higher inventory cost if wrongly manage 3.3. Backward Integration Manufacturer need supplier provide raw material in order to produce its end products or service. Backward integration allowed company gain control toward supplier as shown in Figure 16. Advantages and disadvantages as discuss below: Advantages: Getting better quality control Company are able to apply standard quality plan throughout the value chain. This is especially important when dealing with sophisticated components such as crankshaft, piston and turbocharger for engine. By improving the quality of this critical component will increase competitive advantages among the rivals Reduce threat from powerful vendors By increasing control over the vendors, it will reduce threat from powerful vendors. Optimized supply chain â€Å"Keeping track of so many suppliers is onerous† says Mark Shimelonis of Xerox [9]. Nowadays, a number of companies following Japanese firms lead in managing the supply chain to ensure uninterrupted supplies and low prices. Lower structure cost Outsourcing is one of the examples of the backward strategy. Outsourcing strategy will able to reduce cost when company engaging third party specialist that performing charging lower than company own operate value-chain activity. Cummins outsource IT support to India Company and panel design to CMR or Auto Maskin to keep the company structure cost lower. Nike outsourcing its manufacturing plant in China due to lower labor cost [27]. Disadvantages: Technology change Technology change is inevitable in current competitive market. But backward vertical integration may lock a company â€Å"way of doing business† and prevent organisation changes due to technology change. One of the examples is when radio manufacturer acquired a manufacturer of vacuum tube in 1950s to reduce production cost. When, transistors replace vacuum tube in 1960s, the competitor rapidly change to latest technology. However for this radio manufacturer company, the management refuse to change and as the result, lost in the competitive advantages and cause business failure. Thus, backward integration can cause serious disadvantages when trying to match rapid technology change [27] Risk of information loss Increase control over the supplier which mean also potentially important information flow to the supplier. For example, Cummins need to provide important parameter and interfacing information in the engine control module to backward supplier like CMR and Auto Maskin in order to joints develop the engine protection panel. Technical drawing will be shared among backward supplier and manufacturer. Potential high cost Less supplier competition will lead to less efficiencies when produce a product. The backward support company will work in the â€Å"comfort zone† and less initiative. The manufacturer is â€Å"forced† to get the input from â€Å"internal supplier† even there will be some others external supplier can produce lower cost .As the result will cause potentially higher production cost . 3.4. Horizontal Integration Horizontal integration refers to company that use â€Å"single industry strategy† and seeking control over competitor in same market. A number of the company apply this concept as growth strategy. Merger and acquisition allowed the company to expand its core business and technical capabi

Essay --

â€Å"The years that are gone seem like dreams—if one might go on sleeping and dreaming—but to wake up and find—oh! well! Perhaps it is better to wake up after all, even to suffer, rather than to remain a dupe to illusions all one’s life† says Edna at her appointment with Doctor Mandelet (151). In Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, Edna is constantly at odds with her own fears – her independence; however, over the course of the novel, Chopin reveals a deeper side to Edna. She does not fear being alone, she is afraid of being without herself. It is also revealed that her society is often against her self-discovering favoring a more traditional female role. In its final scene, The Awakening offers readers a more complex method to obtain freedom, death. Edna’s suicide reveals her final awakening, breaking free from all the pressures that bind her. Edna’s awakenings in Grand Isle and in New Orleans set her up for failure by forcing her to understand her lack of options. Edna’s first awakening is when she realizes that she is not happy with her life as a housewife. This awakening is realized while Edna is at a dinner party with Md. Ratignolle and her husband. When she arrived home, she â€Å"felt depressed rather than soothed† (75). She then goes on and â€Å"st[omps] upon her wedding ring† (76). This symbolizes Edna’s desire to escape from marriage altogether, but her inability to crush the ring shows her powerlessness to break free from her imprisonment. Edna breaks through the role given to her by society; she learns her own identity independent of her husband and children. Edna later realizes that she cannot be the same as Mademoiselle Reisz. Edna does not possess the carefree attitude of Reisz and stills struggles with social appro... ... and escape. With her death she is surrendering herself to freedom. Her death by sea is a symbol of her allowing herself to overcome her ambiguity about her personhood. In conclusion, The Awakening ended in the only way it could have, with Edna’s death. Edna’s lack of options and her fear of solitude lead to her death. However, Chopin turned her death into something much more meaningful than just a way to end the novel. Edna’s final awakening is realizing that she cannot do the things that wanted to do. With this she chooses death before overcoming her problems. Kate Chopin juxtaposes this fear of living alone with her fear of dying in a way that makes Edna seem triumphant. She revealed her suicide not as a defeat but as a triumph over social pressure and fears. Chopin used Edna’s death symbolizes her final awakening and her ability to overcome her obstacles.

Just In Time Essay

Just-In-Time or J-I-T is defined in the APICS dictionary as â€Å"a philosophy of manufacturing based on planned elimination of all waste and on continuous improvement of productivity. † To put it simply, it means products are produced in the necessary quantities at the necessary time, basically, everything happens just in time. It promises to provide a tailored solution for business matching none of the off-the-shelf software available in the market. It believes that it must adapt to its customers not the other way around. It takes its name from the idea of replenishing material buffers just when they are needed. Also known as lean production or stockless production, it seeks to improve profits and ROI by the reduction of inventory levels, by increasing inventory turnover rate, by the reduction of variability, by the improvement of product quality, by the reduction of production and delivery lead times and by the reduction of other costs like those that are associated with machine set up and equipment breakdown. It applies to repetitive manufacturing processes where it involves the same products and components being produced over and over again. J-I-T, a recognized philosophy, technique or way of working takes its root in Japan. Developed by the Toyota Motor Company in the mid-1970’s, it was originally known as Toyota Production System (TPS). Toyota’s Taiichi Ohno is after all the credited father of this way or working. He developed a system of production based on waste elimination. Waste, according to Ohno includes time and resources as well as materials. Just-in-time and autonomation were then born. The former means that items move through production as and when they are needed; and the latter means that production system must be automated to include inspection, where human attention was only called for when a defect was detected automatically, signaling a temporary stop in the system until the problem has been solved. J-I-T believes that waste and its many forms must be eliminated. These wastes can be in the form of materials, space and labor. Problems that may lead to the production of such wastes are paid close attention to. There has been a constant improvement on operation and procedures to finely tune them in to an increase in productivity. Ordering or holding costs can be reduced. And there must also be a continuous effort to strive to improve. This means an improvement on processes and systems to an efficient and competitive one. Moreover, a certain respect among the workers must be maintained. It assumes a stable environment and requires an active participation among the employees, the basics of industrial engineering, continuous improvement, small lot sizes and total quality control. Stock or inventory, overproduction, time spent waiting, transportation or movement, processing time as well as defects are considered to be unnecessary wastes. This techniques promises to render its users the benefits ranging from consistent high quality products, quality as a responsibility of every worker, uniform Master Production Schedule, standardization of components and work methods, product focus, preventive maintenance, reduced scrap, reduced re-work, reduced cycle times, lower set up time, smoother flow of production, less inventory, cost savings, higher productivity, more skilled and multi-tasking work force, reduced space requirements and improved relationships with suppliers and continuous improvement. Setting it apart from all the other traditional techniques applied which provides large amount of options available to its customers and accepts almost all orders, J-I-T targets a limited market in order to deliver high quality services at low cost. In terms of capacity, a traditional technique employs excess capacity designed into the system anticipating problems that may arise, they are highly utilized and are inflexible as opposed to that of J-I-T that minimizes waste of having extra capacity, and such is flexible and moderately utilized. In the traditional technique, there is a lot of space for inventory storage. Job shops are often converted to cellular manufacturing when J-I-T technique is employed. Traditional technique believes that long lead times allow more time to make decisions and get the job done. J-I-T on the other hand, believes that more accurate forecasting and planning can be done in short lead times. In terms of layout, a job shop in a traditional set up are spread-out to accommodate areas for stock rooms, tool cribs and work-in-the process inventories between the equipment. It even requires automated or semi-automated materials handling equipment in the form of conveyors and forklifts, another addition to an already big space requirement. In a J-I-T system, manual transfer is employed. Equipment is as close together to aid the handling over of parts from one worker or machine to the other. In terms of quality, in a traditional technique, goods are inspected at critical points and scrap rates are tracked. In the case of the J-I-T technique, workers themselves inspect parts to achieve the zero defects goal in the end. Toyota and its suppliers were alone in the use of the TPS for almost a decade. Not until the late 1970’s when other Japanese automobile manufacturers in the likes of Mazda, Honda and Nissan adopted the concept of J-I-T to continue to compete with arch rival Toyota. Then in the mid 1980’s US and European manufacturers like Chrysler, Ford and General Motors benchmarked the J-I-T philosophy. Other firms such as CM, Ford, Bendix, Harley-Davidson, IBM, Hewlett-Packard, AT&T and others have been strongly advocating J-I-T. There have been progresses in regaining competitiveness. Many firms are once again at if not near world class status. But J-I-T is not a revolution but an evolution. Not all accounts will be success stories. Managers only implement J-I-T when they are convinced that it can enhance the firm’s performance. This is true even though there have been a lot of testaments to the benefits that it claims to deliver to its clients. There have been studies that show that the implementation and maintenance of the J-I-T manufacturing systems will eventually reap rewards as measured by improved financial performance. J-I-T is not the end of an evolution- it actually is just the beginning. There will be new J-I-T generations to be born in the years to come. We all have to then learn how to embrace changes in order to improve and gain control of our growing enterprises. We can always take a pick amongst the ones available. The choice is ours to make. References Donath, Bob. Reduced warehouse storage/inventory costs. The IOMA Handbook of Logistics and Inventory Management, p. 310. Retrieved November 21, 2007 from http://books.google.com/books?isbn=047120935x.

Religion 111: Introduction to the Old Testament Essay

Course: Religion 111: Introduction to the Old Testament Instructor: Email: Department Chair: Division Chair: Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences: Credit Hours: 3sh Course Expectations: Outside of class- 20 hours per week REL 111 Introduction to the Old Testament: This course is an examination of the writings of the Old Testament, using an historical and interpretive approach to these writings. GER REL and Humanities Student Learning Outcomes Student Learning Outcomes Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to: Means of Assessment This outcome will be indicated by successful: –Trace the chronology of Israel’s history from the patriarchal period through the end of the prophetic era emphasizing its significant events, personalities, and cultural settings. –Performance on graded exams/quizzes. — Study questions — Questions of the Week –Identify the various literary genres present in the Old Testament. –Performance on graded exams/quizzes. — Study questions –Identify aspects of the different moral, ethical, and theological messages of the Old Testament. –Completion of research project. –Performance on graded exams/quizzes. — Study Questions — Questions of the Week –Develop an interpretive framework through the use of scholarly research tools and methods. –Completion of research project. Textbooks Meeks, Wayne A. Gen. ed. The HarperCollins Study Bible New Revised Standard Version. New York: HarperOne Inc., 1996. Coogan, Michael D. A Brief Introduction to the Old Testament: The Hebrew Bible in its Context. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009. The book can be purchased online through the MOC Bookstore at: http://moc.bncollege.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/BNCBHomePage?storeId=53551&catalogId=10001&langId=-1 Course Requirements 1. Careful study of each unit in the textbook, along with parallel reading in the Old Testament itself, is expected. The ability to respond to questions concerning the content of each chapter in the textbook as well as content material in the Old Testament which is related to it is essential. 2. The student is to submit written responses to four sets of study questions found at the end of each chapter in the Coogan text. A list of questions to answer for each week can be found under the assignments for each week on Moodle and in the Course Outline and Assignments at the end of the syllabus. These must be submitted via Moodle by 8:00 p.m. (EST) on the following dates: [Fridays: Oct. 4; Oct. 11; Oct. 18; Oct. 25]. Each assignment is worth up to 10 points. Late assignments (i.e., assignments turned in after 8:00 p.m. on the day due, even if one minute late) will be penalized 1 point per day for the first three days late. Assignments more than three days late (i.e., after Wednesday following the original due date at 8:00 p.m.) will receive a grade  of zero. Please note: 1 point is a big penalty; it roughly equals one and a half letter grades. All assignments must be formatted as follows: 12-point Times New Roman Font, 1-inch margins, single-spaced. In addition, you must type out each question along with its corresponding number, with your answer to the question below. You must use complete sentences and proper grammar and syntax in your answers. Failure to do so will result in grade deductions. When answering these questions keep these guidelines in mind: â€Å"Essay† means at least 300 words; â€Å"Discuss† means 125-200 words; â€Å"Identify† means two or three sentences; â€Å"List† means simply list the things asked for. All assignments must be saved in MS-Word format as a .doc or .docx file and uploaded as an attachment each week in Moodle. This is the only acceptable method to submit assignments. The file name on each assignment should follow this format: studentname-assignment#.doc (e.g., phelps-questionsweek1.doc). Failure to follow these guidelines may result in a reduced grade for the assignment. If you are unable to save and send your file as a .doc file, then you can do so as an .rtf or .txt file. Please note, however, that if you choose this latter option, you may be unable to view my comments, since I use the editing function in MS-Word to grade your assignments. It is the student’s responsibility to make sure that all sent files are in a readable format. Answers to all questions can be found in your textbook or in the Bible. There is absolutely no reason to consult other sources for the answers to the questions. Answers from the Internet or other sources will not be accepted. In addition, all answers must be written in your own words. Direct copying or cutting and pasting from the Coogan text or from any other source constitutes plagiarism and will result in a grade of zero. Be sure to cite your text and notes properly when you use them to answer questions; if you do not you are plagiarizing and will receive a zero. 3. Old Testament Research Project — in 3 parts. You will need to go into a  college or university library for research. (Your local public library will probably not have these sources.) DO NOT RELY UPON INTERNET RESOURCES FOR THIS PROJECT. A GREAT DEAL OF ONLINE CONTENT RELATED TO BIBLICAL STUDIES IS NEITHER SCHOLARLY NOR CORRECT (ESPECIALLY USER-GENERATED SITES SUCH AS WIKIPEDIA). The research project is due on Saturday November 2nd at 11:55pm, Week 5. For seated classes, they are due four days after the last day the class meets. The purpose of this project is to familiarize the student with resources that will enable them to study the Bible from a scholarly perspective. Your assignment will be graded for each section listed in this syllabus. You must use sources that are on this approved list. Please do not email me requesting to use sources not listed in each of the following sections. The sources listed represent the highest levels of scholarship and as such you will need to use one approved source from each section. Finding them will require visiting a college or university library. â€Å"I live hours from a college or university library† only means you will have to plan ahead so you can travel to one. You will need to plan, over the next 5 weeks, to go to a college or university library to find these sources. The MOC library has plenty of these sources on the shelf and they are ready to be used. Any other college- or university-level library will have some of them as well. If the college is religiously affiliated, the better chance you will have finding an increased number of approved sources. Public libraries are not the same as college- or university-level libraries. You do not need to buy these sources, which are often expensive, since you can find them in college libraries. Please note that many of these resources are reference works, and are not available for use outside the library. In other words, you cannot check out many of them. A. Scholarly Journals – Go to NCLive and access one full-text article from one of the religion journals listed below. Do not use a book review for your article. If you do not have the required password for NCLive, contact  the library. It is your responsibility to contact the library in a timely manner and understand how to access NCLive so that you can complete this portion of the assignment. Do not wait until the weekend before it is due. You need to plan ahead in order to have time to properly complete this part of the assignment. Remember you will need to have the current password for NCLive. In 2 – 3 pages: 1. Summarize the article. 2. Provide a brief biography of the author/s (one paragraph). 3. Identify three (3) things you learned about the OT or OT study from reading the article. Approved Journals available at NCLive are: Interpretation, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, Journal of Biblical Literature, Near Eastern Archeology, and Commentary. B. Bible Dictionary – Familiarize yourself with the dictionary. In a 2 – 3 page paper: 1. Describe the contents of the dictionary (how it is organized, what kind of articles are included, who is the author/editor, whether each article is authored by a different person, etc.). 2. Choose three (3) entries related to the study of the OT. Entries should be at least one column in length. a. Summarize the entry. b. Identify the author with a brief biography (1-2 sentences). c. Share at least one thing you learned from the article. Approved Bible Dictionaries: The Dictionary of Bible and Religion, William H. Gentz, ed. Dictionary of the Bible, James Hastings, ed Mercer Dictionary of the Bible, Waston E. Mills, gen. ed. Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible, David Noel Freedman, ed. The Westminster Dictionary of the Bible, John David The Zondervan Pictoral Bible Dictionary, Merrill C. Tenny, gen. ed. Harper’s Bible Dictionary, Madeleine S. Miller and J. Lane Miller The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, Keith Crim, gen. ed. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Geoffrey W. Bromiley, gen. ed. Anchor Bible Dictionary, David Noel Freedman, ed. C. Commentary–Choose one volume from a multi-volume Bible Commentary series. Do not use a one-volume commentary. The volume chosen should be on one of the books of the Old Testament. Familiarize yourself with the Commentary. In a 2 – 3 page paper: 1. Describe the contents of the commentary (how it is organized, what kind of information is included about each book, who is the editor of the series, what translation(s) the commentary uses, who is the author of the commentary on the book of the Bible in the volume you chose, etc.). 2. Choose a scripture passage and read what the commentary says about that passage (e.g. Genesis 1:1-2:4a; 2 Samuel 18:8-18; Psalm 1; Joel 2:28-29, etc.). Summarize what the commentary says about the passage and share at least two things you learned from reading about the passage in the commentary. Approved Commentaries: The Anchor Bible Series, The Old Testament Library, Smyth & Helwys Bible Commentary, Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching, The Cambridge Bible Commentary, Interpreter’s Bible, The New Interpreter’s Bible (note this is an updated version from The Interpreter’s Bible), Broadman Bible Commentary, Interpretation Note: The New Interpreter’s Study Bible is not an acceptable source, since it is not a multi-volume commentary. Please do not confuse this book with The New Interpreter’s Bible, which is acceptable, mentioned above. The research project must be formatted as follows: 12-point Times New Roman Font, 1-inch margins, double-spaced. All sources must be documented using proper documentation (MLA, APA, Chicago/Turabian). Note: If you use APA, you  must still provide the page number in your documentation. In addition, although each part of this research project is self-contained, a short paper in its own right, the final product should be one document (i.e., do not send three separate documents). Each section of the final project should be delineated clearly with the start of a new page; there is no need to include a separate title page for each section, however. There is also no need to provide a bibliography after each section; simply include one bibliography at the end of the paper as a whole, which should include all sources used in each of the three sections of the project. Failure to follow these guidelines may result in a grade deduction. It is very important that you include every section as explained. Failure to use approved sources or to include each specified section will result in points that are available NOT being earned. The project is due on Saturday _Nov. 2 @ midnight_ via attachment in MS-Word in Moodle. Again, the file name on the assignment should follow this format: studentname-assignment.doc (e.g., williams-finalproject.doc) No late assignments will be accepted. This project is worth up to 20 points. 4. Learning Forum Discussion Board. There is a â€Å"question of the week† to provide opportunity for critical thinking and response to the thinking of others in your class. Each student must enter a response to the question of the week in the Course Forum for that week by Thursday at 8:00 p.m. of weeks one through four (starting right now!). The initial response must be a minimum of 400 words. The student must also respond to the comments of at least two fellow students by Sunday at 8:00 p.m. of each week. There will be no points for late work. Each week’s responses are worth up to 5 points. To receive full credit, responses must show evidence of critical analysis and that you have read the course materials. Your response to other students must be more than â€Å"I really like your idea.† Instead, tell why you liked or did not like what the other student stated? These questions are not asking for your opinion. You must interact with the textbook, Biblical readings, and other course materials as well as your  classmates. Be sure to substantiate your thoughts with cited scholarly proof. This is not the place to pronounce judgment on other religious perspectives or the perspectives of your classmates. If you disagree with something you read, then support your position with scholarly proof (e.g. â€Å"Sunday School† answers will not be accepted). Any comment deemed out-of-bounds will be flagged and no points will be rewarded. In addition to your responses, you may post any thoughts, questions, new ideas, challenges to what you have always thought that you have gained from your reading and class discussion. Be sure to check the Forum throughout the week. I may post responses to your posts from time to time. I will indicate if you did not receive credit for a post so that you may make sure you have enough posts for that week. Sometimes I may ask you to elaborate on a comment. In order to receive full credit for that post, you will need to do so. It is recommended that you read all posts by the instructor and be familiar with all material raised during the discussion. Please note that posting all responses in one day or in a short period of time is equivalent to showing up to a seated class for a brief period. If you do not actively participate in the Forum, then by definition you are not meeting the minimum requirements and you will be graded accordingly. Actively participating means checking the Forum often and responding with in-depth answers which show mastery of course material. Minimum participation will yield minimum grades (that means a â€Å"C†). In order to fully discuss your topic, you will want to state what your thoughts were before doing your reading, what you learned from your reading (being sure to cite with proper citation course material in your response) and most importantly how your reading has affected your understanding of the topic. The questions for each week are as follows: Remember, answer using a minimum of 400 words: Week One: Initial post Sept. 26 by 8:00 p.m. Responses due by Sun. Sept. 29 at 8:00 p.m. Prior to taking this course, had you ever noticed that Genesis has two creation stories (1:1-2:4a and 2:4b- 2:25)? Based on your current study, what is the purpose of these stories? What are the major themes in these stories? Compare and contrast what they reveal about God. Compare and contrast what they reveal about what it means to be human. Compare and contrast the order of creation in each story. Week Two: Initial post Oct. 3 by 8:00 p.m. Responses due by Sun. Oct. 6 at 8:00 p.m. â€Å"The Ten Commandments† are found in the Old Testament in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5. Compare and contrast the versions of the Ten Commandments found in these two scripture passages. How do scholars account for their differences? What does the relationship between the Ten Commandments and Hammurabi’s Code reveal about the role of apodictic law in the Ancient Near East? Week Three: Initial post Oct. 10 by 8:00 p.m. Responses due by Sun. Oct. 13 at 8:00 p.m. Discuss the differences you have found in your studies between how judges were selected and their method of ruling, and how Kings David and Solomon were selected and how they ruled. How did the change from tribal confederacy under the judges to the monarchial society under a king impact the lives of the people? Week Four: Initial post Oct. 17 by 8:00 p.m. Responses due by Sun. Oct. 20 at 8:00 p.m. How does Coogan define Old Testament prophecy? Based on Coogan’s definition, how is the term prophecy often misunderstood today? Based on your readings in Coogan, to whom were the prophecies addressed and when were they expected to be fulfilled? What were several themes or concerns of the prophets of the Old Testament? Pay particular attention to Amos, Ezekiel, and Deutero-Isaiah (Isaiah 40-66)? 5. There will be a final exam which must be taken before 11:55 p.m. on Thursday, ___Nov. 7____. The final exam will be available beginning Saturday, _Nov. 2__. You may take the exam at your convenience during the last week of class. It is a timed exam and you will have 2 hours to complete  it. The exam may only be taken once, so once you begin the exam you must finish it. Once your time has expired, the exam is officially over. The best way to prepare for this exam is to review the text, your responses to the study questions, and your instructor’s feedback to your study question response. Please note: the student is responsible for having a reliable internet connection and a browser that are compatible with the format for the online test. Please Take Note of the Following Concerning All Assignments: If you are in an Online course: By signing up to take an online course, the student accepts all responsibility for having properly functioning computer equipment and for understanding how to navigate the online course—including but not limited to complete understanding of Moodle, the MOC email system, and how to submit assignments. In addition, students are responsible for turning all assignments in on time. In the event of an emergency that may hinder the ability to turn something in on time, students should contact the instructor before the assignment is due. If you do not contact the professor before the deadline, it is too late—not contacting me ahead of time means that you have chosen to miss the due date. Determining what constitutes an emergency and whether to accept late assignments is left solely to the instructor’s discretion. Grading System The student’s performance in this course will be evaluated as follows: Study Questions40 points (10 points per week) Discussion Board/Question of the Week responses20 points (5 points per week) Research Project20 points Final examination20 points Total Points100 points Grades will be awarded as follows (please note that the Department of Religion uses a 7-point scale): A=93-100 ptsExcellent, well above minimum requirements, superior work and subject mastery (In papers, little to no grammatical, spelling or formatting errors. Work contains clear evidence of superior levels of scholarly analysis, synthesis, and relevant application. In discussion board posts there is evidence of superior critical thinking and analysis of course material.) B=85-92 ptsAbove Average, above minimum requirements, excellent work and subject mastery (In papers, little to no grammatical, spelling or formatting errors. Work contains clear evidence of excellent levels of scholarly analysis, synthesis, and relevant application. In discussion board posts there is evidence of strong critical thinking and analysis of course material.) C=77-84 ptsAverage, minimum requirements completed, satisfactory understanding of subject (In papers, some grammatical, spelling or formatting errors. Work contains little to no evidence of scholarly analysis, synthesis and relevant application. Majority of work consists of recalling facts, making general summary statements and restating the thoughts of others. In discussion board posts there is evidence of understanding course material but little to no critical thinking or analysis.) D=70-76 ptsPoor, minimum requirements not met, poor work and understanding of subject (In papers, unsatisfactory amount of grammatical, spelling and formatting errors. No evidence of scholarly analysis, synthesis and relevant application. In discussion board posts there is no evidence of understanding, critical thinking or analysis of course material.) F=below 70 pts Failing, minimum requirements not met, failing work and understanding of subject. (In papers, below poor amount of grammatical, spelling and formatting error. No evidence of scholarly analysis, synthesis and relevant application.) Please note: I only give out the grade that you have earned. You are responsible for your grade. Communication The only acceptable form of e-mail communication for students is the MOC email account. Students may expect messages from me on this account. Failure to check your MOC e-mail account is not an acceptable excuse for missing messages. You are responsible for checking your e-mail on a regular basis (i.e., daily) for messages concerning this course. Failing to check your email on a regular basis is not an excuse for missing important information. If you have difficulties accessing Moodle or your e-mail account, contact Information Technology at pcsupport@moc.edu or call 919.658.2502 ext. 3022. Academic Questions, Comments or Complaints All academic issues must be first brought to your instructor. Your instructor’s contact information is at the top of this syllabus. In the event that you and your instructor cannot resolve an issue, the next step is to contact the Division Chair. The Division Chair’s contact information is also at the top of this syllabus. To access the Honor Policy and information about Student Success Center Resources and Moye library, please refer to Moodle or the following website: http://www.moc.edu/index.php/academic-honor-policy-and-info-resource Course Outline and Assignments Week One: 1. Email me to introduce yourself and to indicate that you have understood the syllabus. Note: this is the time to ask questions if you have them. If you do not have any questions at this time, I will assume that you understand the syllabus. Saying later on in the course that you have misunderstood something is not an excuse. Include the following statement: I have fully read the course syllabus and understand the assignments and  method of grading. I also fully understand what plagiarism is in relation to each assignment, study questions, forum, and project. You must type your name at the end of the email. If you do not fully understand the syllabus or the honor policy, make sure to ask any questions you may have before sending this email. 2.Read Coogan, Chapters 1-5. 3.Read related passages in the Old Testament. 4. Answer the following study questions, submitting your answers by [Friday __Oct. 4_____ ] at 8:00 p.m. (EST): Chapter 3: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Chapter 4: 1, 2, 3, 4 Chapter 5: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 5.Don’t forget to post your initial Forum posts to the question of the week by Thursday. Week One Initial post due Thursday Sept. 26 by 8:00 p.m. Follow up responses by Sun. Sept. 29 at 8:00 p.m. 6. Begin working on research project. Week Two: 1.Read Coogan, Chapters 6-10 2.Read related passages in the Old Testament. 3.Answer the following study questions, submitting your answers by [Friday __Oct. 11_____] at 8:00 p.m. (EST): Chapter 6: 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 Chapter 7: 1, 2, 3 Chapter 8: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 Chapter 9: 1, 2 Chapter 10: 1, 2, 3 4.Don’t forget to post your initial Forum posts to the question of the week by Thursday. Week Two initial posts due by Thursday Oct. 3 at 8:00 p.m. Follow up responses by Sun. Oct. 6 at 8:00 p.m. 5.Continue working on research projects. Week Three: 1.Read Coogan, Chapters 11-15 2.Read related passages in the Old Testament. 3.Answer the following study questions, submitting your answers by [Friday __Oct. 18____] at 8:00 p.m. (EST): Chapter 11: 2, 4, 5, 6, 7 Chapter 12: 1, 2, 3 Chapter 13: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Chapter 14: 1, 2, 3, 4 Chapter 15: 1, 2, 3 4.Don’t forget to post your initial Forum posts to the question of the week by Thursday. Week Three initial posts due by Thursday Oct. 10 by 8:00 p.m. Follow up responses by Sun. Oct 13 at 8:00 p.m. 5. Continue working on research projects. Week Four: 1.Read Coogan, Chapters 16-22 2. Answer the following study questions, submitting your answers by [Friday __Oct. 25____] at 8:00 p.m. (EST): Chapter 16: 1, 2, 3 Chapter 17: 1, 2, 3, 4 Chapter 18: 1, 2, 3 Chapter 19: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Chapter 20: 1, 2, 3 Chapter 21: 1, 2, 3, 4 Chapter 22: 2, 4 3.Read related passages in the Old Testament. 4. Continue working on your research projects. 5. Don’t forget to post your initial Forum posts to the question of the week by Thursday. Week Four initial posts due by Thursday Oct. 17 at 8:00 p.m. Follow up responses by Sun. Oct. 20 at 8:00 p.m. Week Five 1. Read Coogan, Chapters 23-24 and Appendix 2.Research Project must be submitted by Saturday, [__Nov. 2____] at 11:55 p.m. (EST). 2.Take the Final Exam by Thursday, [__Nov. 7____] at 11:55 p.m. (EST). NOTE: Late week 5 work will not be accepted. Non-negotiable.