Analytic Report - Outsourcing Essay Example for Free

Analytic Report Outsourcing Essay Offshore outsourcing, the sending of jobs to lower wage countries, has become a very popular practice amongst U. S. companies seeking ways to cut back on their operating costs. The idea of outsourcing has made for a highly emotional situation because of two dramatically different effects: it leads to layoffs and dislocations for workers. Well-educated workers in other countries are willing to work for a fraction of the wages paid to Americans, resulting in massive savings for American companies. The U. S. mports goods that would cost higher to produce domestically, and it creates and sells to other countries goods that would cost more for them to create on their own. The immediate problem resulting from outsourcing jobs is workers in the U. S. can become unemployed. The problem that causes a debate over outsourcing is even though it promises a better life for all involved; it causes hardships on the American workers when they are laid off. Economists argue that outsourcing is a bad choice because of the workers that are being laid off and displaced. In analyzing the Case Study IV-3 IT Infrastructure Outsourcing at Schaeffer (A): The Outsourcing Decision, both sides of the outsourcing debate are well represented. Once the Schaeffer board assigned the highly ambitious growth goals to Reitzel, the Vice President of Human Resources made the recommendation that they outsource some of its IT processes and resources. During the initial evaluation of the possibility of outsourcing, Schaeffer determined what the benefits would be of having a vendor manage their IT. They determined that they would be able to focus on core activities during growth periods, which would help them to meet the goals set forth by the board. Outsourcing IT will allow them to remain focused on those business activities that are important without sacrificing quality or service to their customers. Next, they would be able to achieve reduced overhead costs and better operational control. An outsourcing company could bring better management skills to a company than what would otherwise be unavailable to them. Another added benefit would be staffing flexibility. Outsourcing will allow operations that have seasonal or cyclical demands to bring in additional resources when needed and release them when they are finished. Outsourcing these functions can provide the additional resources for a fixed period of time at a consistent cost. Continuity and risk management would also be greatly improved because when you have periods of high employee turnover which add uncertainty and inconsistency to the operations, outsourcing would provide a level of continuity while reducing the risk that a substandard level of operation would impact the company and its customers. They also determined that outsourcing could help diversify and develop the staff by bringing in people with skills that are needed within the company and by providing training opportunities that had not previously been available for current staff. Once the idea of outsourcing was presented, a task force was created to analyze their current processes and map them in as great a detail as possible. This would help them to determine exactly what their outsourcing needs were going to be. They brought on an outside consultant who provided them with advice on how to proceed as well as detailed templates to assist them in gathering the necessary information to help them create the Request for Proposal (RFP). They determined that they wanted to outsource the data center, distributed computing (all desktops), voice (telephones), data networks, and the helpdesk. It was also determined that they did not want to outsource their development resources. The task force spent a year gathering data and filling out the templates so that they had a complete picture of their current services to better understand their outsourcing needs. They then spent several months preparing a 200-page RFP that could be provided to possible outsourcing vendors. After receiving two strong proposal responses, it was determined that ABC Corporation would be the best fit for Schaeffer’s outsourcing needs. There was a lot of negotiation to be able to bring the price within the needs of the company, but after several weeks of back and forth an agreement was reached. The next step was to get Schaeffer’s top management’s buy-in to the task force’s recommended solution. However, once the task force report was circulated internally, there were a lot of perceived disadvantages raised by its managers. One of the first concerns that was brought up with the consistency and priority of service that Schaeffer would receive. Most outsourced IT contracts are for a relatively long time-period. This is because of the high cost of transferring assets and employees as well as maintaining technological investment. The long time-period of the contract can cause three particular problems. One, difficulties in getting out of a contract if the supplier turns out to be unsuitable; two, problems in foreseeing what the business will need over the life of the contract hence creating difficulties in negotiating new services; and three, almost insurmountable problems in re-creating an internal IT department after the contract period is over or the relationship is terminated. Another major concern that was discussed was the impact to employee morale with the inevitable reduction in Schaeffer IT personnel, where some would be absorbed by the vendor but most would be given a severance package and laid off. And the employees who remain may distrust management after outsourcing because they will become fearful that their position could be targeted next. Administration should treat morale problems seriously and will need to work with staff to rebuild their trust and loyalty. The company is a major employer in the area so the decision to outsource could also have a ripple effect in the community by damaging their reputation. The vice president for finance of the Colbert division brought up the concern that the major benefits of outsourcing would only be beneficial to the Reitzel division whereas the other two divisions would incur additional costs without additional benefits. This concern led to a third alternative being suggested; outsource the IT infrastructure just for the Reitzel division. Based on the information included in the case study for all three alternatives, outsourcing should be the chosen solution. It is the most flexible solution for their growth goals. Outsourcing would allow for them to expand in areas more quickly without all of the time and costs associated with startups. The vendor already has the infrastructure to support the areas that they most want to expand into, allowing for quicker turnaround times in meeting customer needs and wants, especially for new business growth. If they kept the IT in-house, they would need to make a substantial investment of both time and money in expanding their services and support that would be needed for new business and it would need to be done very quickly to be able to meet the goals set by the Board of Directors. If they tried to adopt the third alternative, of only outsourcing the IT for the Reitzel division, it would negate all of the time and cost savings of the consolidation of the divisional IT groups into a shared services solution. It would then cause duplication of work and processes between the in-house IT team and the outsourced group, which would be impactful to the overall costs for all divisions. Each solution had its own pro’s and con’s, and needed to be evaluated against the best interest in achieving Schaeffer’s overall goals in the marketplace. Like it or not, change is an integral part of todays business climate. In the workplace, changes can occur as a result of new thinking, advances in technology, innovation and progress, knowledge and communication, as well as mergers, takeovers, layoffs, and downsizing. A lot of the concerns and disadvantages were voiced after the task force’s recommendation had been developed, presented, and circulated within the company. Communication is key! This could have been avoided by having better communication throughout the life cycle of the whole process, from the information gathering, to the development of the RFP, and the presenting of the final recommendations. A lot of people probably felt blindsided by the proposed solution to outsource the IT infrastructure because they have been conditioned to fear change. We must not lose sight of the fact that change is normal, and most of us will experience unpredictable changes throughout our professional lives. However, there is no doubt that everyone views change from a different perspective than everyone else. Many employees believe that management doesnt understand their side of the story, and managers often feel it is the employees who dont understand why the change is necessary. This is why communication is so vital during any change circumstance. Its been said that lack of communication is the number one reason why relationships deteriorate between employers and employees. Change will require open communication on both sides. None of us want to acknowledge that we doubt our ability to integrate new ideas, use new technology, or adapt to new organizations. We dont even want to think about whats ahead when outsourcing a whole department: new management structure, new processes and procedures, new terminology, new titles and job descriptions, not to mention the loss of longtime co-workers, friends, and family. The more we fight and resist the change, the more painful and frightening the changes will be. Resisting doesnt keep a new idea from taking hold; it simply makes the process longer and more painful. Change will happen no matter what. We will handle it better when we learn to move with the change – not against it. Its natural to fear the unknown and lack of control when it comes to embracing a new concept such as outsourcing that goes completely against the traditional workplace structure. There will be a lot of struggle during the transition period. We know we will have to work a lot harder. Are we willing to let go of the present to embrace the future? We may not know what the future will bring, but we are responsible for what we bring to the future.

Concentration And Reaction Rate :: essays research papers

How concentration affects reaction rate. The aim of this investigation is to see how the concentration of a reactant in ratio to the reactor affects the rate of a reaction. When hydrochloric acid and Thiosulphate react together sulphur is liberated this means that as the reaction goes on the solution will become yellow and will change from being transparent to translucent to opaque. The sulphur is formed as a solid but not in the usual precipitation way. Na2 + S2 + 2HCL 2NaCl+SO2 + S2 +H2O To time the reaction I will draw a black cross on a piece of plain paper on which the beaker of reactants will be placed (HCL and Thiosulphate). When the chemicals come into contact with each other I will start timing with a stopwatch and will stop timing when the cross is longer visible through the beaker from above. A reaction: A chemical reaction between to chemicals can only happen if their molecules can collide into each other. Out of many collisions there will be a few successful collisions, which means that the two molecules will exchange electrons and that means that they have reacted. These molecules have to hit each other in the right direction and at the right speed; in short the rules for a â€Å"successful collision† are specific and complex. But if the number of collisions per second increase so will the number of successful collisions increase. This means that the rate of the reaction has increased. For a reaction to occur you also need the required activation energy which means that if there isn’t enough the reaction won’t take place although catalysts can lower this. Input Variables: Catalyst Concentration of acid or thiosulphate Temperature Light Temperature: If you increase the amount of energy in a group of molecules the reaction rate will increase. When you give energy to molecules they tend to move about a bit more. And this means that if they are moving rapidly from place to place they are going to have a lot more collisions and because they are having lots of collisions the chances are that they will have a successful collision a lot more quickly than if they weren’t. This basically means that reaction rate is increased as temperature increases. I believe that temperature is directly proportional to reaction rate. As you can see the graph is partly true to the above statement but gradually starts to curve off, this is because at a point the intense temperature will start to boil the liquids which means they will start to evaporate and concentration will be affected.

Marginal cost Essay

1 Monopoly Why Monopolies Arise? Monopoly is a rm that is the sole seller of a product without close substitutes. The fundamental cause of monopoly is barriers to entry: A monopoly remains the only seller in its market because other rms cannot enter the market and compete with it. Barriers to entry have three main sources: 1. Monopoly Resources. A key resource is owned by a single rm. Example: The DeBeers Diamond Monopoly|this rm controls about 80 percent of the diamonds in the world. 2. Government-Created Monopolies. Monopolies can arise because the government grants one person or one rm the exclusive right to sell some good or service. Patents are issued by the government to give rms the exclusive right to produce a product for 20 years. 3. Natural Monopoly: a monopoly that arises because a single rm can supply a good or service to an entire market at a smaller cost than could two or more rms. A natural monopoly occurs when there are economies of scale, implying that average total cost falls as the rm’s scale becomes larger. Monopoly versus Competition The key di erence between a competitive rm and a monopoly is the monopoly’s ability to control price. The demand curves that each of these types of rms faces is di erent as well. 1. A competitive rm faces a perfectly elastic demand at the market price. The rm can sell all that it wants to at this price. 2. A monopoly faces the market demand curve because it is the only seller in the market. If a monopoly wants to sell more output, it must lower the price of its product. A monopoly’s marginal revenue will always be less than the price of the good (other than at the rst unit sold). 1. If the monopolist sells one more unit, his total revenue (P Q) will rise because Q is getting larger. This is called the output e ect. 2. If the monopolist sells one more unit, he must lower price. This means that his total revenue (P Q) will fall because P is getting smaller. This is called the price e ect. Remember that demand tends to be elastic along the upper lefthand portion of the demand curve. Thus, a decrease in price causes total revenue to increase. Further down the demand curve, the demand is inelastic. In this region, a decrease in price results in a drop in total revenue (implying that marginal revenue is now less than zero). Pro t Maximization The monopolist’s pro t-maximizing quantity of output occurs where marginal revenue is equal to marginal cost. 1. If the rm’s marginal revenue is greater than marginal cost, pro t can be increased by raising the level of output. 2. If the rm’s marginal revenue is less than marginal cost, pro t can be increased by lowering the level of output. Even though MR = MC is the pro t-maximizing rule for both competitive rms and monopolies, there is one important di erence. 1. In competitive rms, P = MR at the pro t-maximizing level of output, P = MC . 2. In a monopoly, P > MR at the pro t maximizing level of output, P > MC . The monopolist’s price is determined by the demand curve (which shows us the willingness to pay of consumers). Question: Why a Monopoly Does Not Have a Supply Curve? 1. A supply curve tells us the quantity that a rm chooses to supply at any given price. 2. But a monopoly rm is a price maker the rm sets the price at the same time it chooses the quantity to supply. 3. The market demand curve tells us how much the monopolist will supply. A Monopoly’s Pro t Pro t = TR ; TC : Also, TR TC Pro t = ; Q Q or Pro t = (P ; ATC ) Q Q: The Welfare Cost of Monopoly The socially e cient quantity of output is found where the demand curve and the marginal cost curve intersect. This is where total surplus is maximized. Because the monopolist sets marginal revenue equal to marginal cost to determine its output level, it will produce less than the socially e cient quantity of output. Public Policies Toward Monopolies 1. Increasing Competition with Antitrust Laws. Antitrust laws are a collection of statutes that give the government the authority to control markets and promote competition. Antitrust laws allow the government to prevent mergers and break up large, dominating companies. (a) The Sherman Antitrust Act was passed in 1890 to lower the market power of the large and powerful rusts† that were viewed as dominating the economy at that time. (b) The Clayton Act was passed in 1914 it strengthened the government’s ability to curb monopoly power and authorized private lawsuits. 2. Regulation. Regulation is often used when the government is dealing with a natural monopoly. Most often, regulation involves government limits on the price of the product. While we might believe that the government can eliminate the deadweight loss from monopoly by setting the monopolist’s price equal to its marginal cost, this is often di cult to do. (a) If the rm is a natural monopoly, its average total cost curve will be declining because of its economies of scale. (b) When average total cost is falling, marginal cost must be lower than average total cost. (c) Therefore, if the government sets price equal to marginal cost, the price will be below average total cost and the rm will earn a loss, causing the rm to eventually leave the market. (d) Therefore, governments may choose to set the price of the monopolist’s product equal to its average total cost. This gives the monopoly zero pro t, but assures that it will remain in the market. Note that there is still a deadweight loss in this situation because the level of output will be lower than the socially e cient level of output. 3. Public Ownership. Rather than regulating a monopoly run by a private rm, the government can run the monopoly itself. However, economists generally prefer private ownership of natural monopolies than public ownership. 4. Do Nothing. Sometimes the costs of government regulation outweigh the bene ts. Therefore, some economists believe that it is best for the government to leave monopolies alone. Question: Should the government break up Microsoft? Price Discrimination Price discrimination is the business practice of selling the same good at di erent prices to di erent customers. Perfect price discrimination describes a situation where a monopolist knows exactly the willingness to pay of each customer and can charge each customer a di erent price. Without price discrimination, a rm produces an output level that is lower than the socially e cient level. If a rm perfectly price discriminates, each customer who values the good at more than its marginal cost will purchase the good and be charged his or her willingness to pay. 1. There is no deadweight loss in this situation. 2. Because consumers pay a price exactly equal to their willingness to pay, all surplus in this market will be producer surplus. Examples of Price Discrimination: 1. Movie Tickets 2. Airline Prices 3. Discount Coupons 4. Financial Aid 5. Quantity Discounts.

How to Stay Calm During Finals Week

While college stress is constant throughout the semester, college stress during finals week takes it to a whole new level. These six easy ways to rest and relax during finals week can help you make it through the madness. Remove Yourself From the  Stress Get time away/alone. Chances are, everyone you know at school is stressed during finals week, too. Take a few minutes to take a walk off-campus, treat yourself to a coffee in a place not full of stressed students, or find some other way/place that you can get yourself out of the finals-week environment, if even just for a few minutes. Unplug and Reboot Before Exams Spend 3-5 minutes not doing anything. This is often more challenging than it sounds. But take a few minutes to turn off all of your technology and sit and relax—even meditate, if you can. Those few minutes can calm your mind and your spirit while helping you  refocus and recharge. Have Some Fun Spend 15-20 minutes doing something purely for fun. The break for your brain will do wonders for its productivity later. Watch silly YouTube videos, read a trashy magazine, play a video game, or Skype with a friend far away. Hit the Gym Get some exercise in a low-stress situation. Translation: practice with your basketball team doesnt count. Go for a relaxing walk, ride your bike without knowing where youll end up, or go for a quick jog. And if its too cold outside, try something new in the gym. You might be surprised by how relaxed—and energized!—you feel afterward. Watch the Game Attend a sporting event.  If youre studying for finals at the end of the fall semester, chances are you can attend a football or basketball game during finals week. Leave your books in your room and really let yourself relax and enjoy, knowing that the time spent away will help your studying later. Get Things out of Your Brain and Onto Paper Make a list—and write down everything. For some people, making a list can really help reduce stress because it helps put things in perspective. The best way to get things organized  and to get a feeling of satisfaction is to write down every single thing you need to do—like eating breakfast/lunch/dinner, doing laundry, getting some sleep, and going to class. Getting things written down—and then crossed off—can do wonders for your sense of control and accomplishment during a very busy time.