Month: March 2018

Learning Organization

LEARNING ORGANIZATION According to Peter Senge (1990: 3) Learning organization are: “…organizations where people continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free, and where people are continually learning to see the whole together”. Senge argues that organizations should have the sort of culture which allows them to shape there own future to a far greater degree as been the case in the past.

Organization must be constantly improving their performance and in order to do this both management and employees must be actively seeking ways in which they can improve performance. Pedler et al (1998). defines a learning organization as one that “facilitates learning of all its members and continuously transforms itself”. ORGANIZATION CULTURE Edgar Schein defines, “Culture is the deeper level of basic assumptions and beliefs that are shared by members of an organization, that operate unconsciously and define in a basic ‘taken for granted’ fashion an organization’s view of its self and its environment. Organizational culture “is frequently described as a set of shared meanings that influence or determine behavior” (University of Sunderland Study Manual, HRM 325, pg. 446). We shall now discuss the value to organizations in creating a learning organizational culture. One of the most influential strategic models of a learning organization is the blueprint provided by Pedlar et al. (1991). Demonstrated in figure 6. 3, pg. 319, University of Sunderland Study Manual, HRM 325. This model is reproduced in figure 1 below. CONCLUSION

The knowledge and service mode of learning empowers an organization to improve their effectiveness systematically by making better products and providing better services. Learning is one of the essential keys to productivity in knowledge work. If we are not continuously and systematically learning, others are, and they will reach the goals we are aspiring to reach before we do. Systematic organizational learning requires leaders to focus on all elements of the Corps culture. Strategic learning occurs when top executive leaders create a dialogue about alues and goals with customers, stakeholders, and partners and ask “How can USACE best help you succeed? ” They then align organizational strategy with this new learning “Culture is the collective programming of the human mind that distinguishes the members of one human group from those of another. Culture in this sense is a system of collectively held values. ” — Geert Hofstede Hofstede (1997) has devised a composite-measure technique to measure cultural differences among different societies: ?

Power distance index: The index measures the degree of inequality that exists in a society. ? Uncertainty avoidance index: The index measures the extent to which a society feels threatened by uncertain or ambiguous situations. ? Individualism index: The index measure the extent to which a society is individualistic. Individualism refers to a loosely knit social framework in a society in which people are supposed to take care of themselves and their immediate families only.

The other end of the spectrum would be collectivism that occurs when there is a tight social framework in which people distinguish between in-groups and out-groups; they expect their in-groups (relatives, clans, organizations) to look after them in exchange for absolute loyalty. ? Masculinity index (Achievement vs. Relationship): The index measures the extent to which the dominant values are assertiveness, money and things (achievement), not caring for others or for quality of life. The other end of the spectrum would be femininity (relationship). Learning Organization Defined

The learning organization is “an organization which facilitates the learning of all its members and continuously transforms itself. “8 Leveraging the Power of Knowledge Learning is the key competency required by any organization that wants to survive and thrive in the new knowledge economy. Market champions keep asking learning questions, keep learning how to do things better, and keep spreading that knowledge throughout their organization. Learning provides the catalyst and the intellectual resource to create a sustainable competitive advantage.

Knowledge organizations obtain competitive advantage from continuous learning, both individual and collective. In organizations with a well established knowledge management system, learning by the people within an organization becomes learning by the organization itself. The changes in people’s attitudes are reflected in changes in the formal and informal rules that govern the organization’s behavior. Knowledge communities organized around the principles of entrepreneurship have the best chance at success.

Case in Point Microsoft Sharing Knowledge Bill Gates is clear that high individual knowledge is not enough in today’s dynamic markets. A company also needs a high corporate IQ – intelligence, knowledge, and expertise of the company – which hinges on the facility to share information widely and enable staff members “to build on each other’s ideas”. This is partly a matter of storing the past, partly of exchanging current knowledge. “We read, ask questions, explore, go to lectures, compare notes and findings… onsult experts, daydream, brainstorm, formulate and test hypotheses, build models and simulations, communicate what we’re learning, and practice new skills,” says Gates… More Case in Point GE “Keep learning. Don’t be arrogant by assuming that you know it all, that you have a monopoly on the truth,” says Jack Welch to senior managers. “Always assume that you can learn something from someone else. Or from another GE business. Or even from a competitor. Especially from a competitor. ” At General Electric (GE) the sum is greater than its parts as both business and people diversity is utilized in a most effective way.

A major American enterprise with a diverse group of huge businesses, GE is steeped in a learning culture and it is this fact that makes GE a unique company. As Jack Welch puts it: “What sets GE apart is a culture that uses diversity as a limitless source of learning opportunities, a storehouse of ideas whose breadth and richness is unmatched in world business. At the heart of this culture is an understanding that an organization’s ability to learn, and translate that learning into action rapidly, is the ultimate competitive business advantage. “

Developing Human Resources Competency in the New Knowledge-driven Economy Excellent companies recognize that human resources are their #1 asset. With the Internet increasingly relied on as a source of knowledge and with rapid changes in science and technology, the amount of knowledge is doubling every 7 to 10 years. 10 This also hastens the obsolescence of skills and knowledge. The shelf life of academic degrees has been estimated to be only one year for computer science, two years for electrical engineering, and four years for business studies.

Training and skills development must therefore be a continuous process. On average, the training budget of an organization is about 1% of payroll. Excellent companies, on the other hand, spend about 4-5% and devote an average of 40-50 training hours per employee per year. Creating Your Future Knowledge is most productive when it is shared by all. A learning organization is “an organization that is continually expanding its capacity to create its future”. 1 It is continuously learning new ways of doing things and also (necessarily) involved in a continuous process of forgetting old ways of doing things.

Learning Environment A constructivist learning environment is a place where people can draw upon resources to make sense out of things and construct meaningful solutions to problems. It emphasizes the importance of meaningful, authentic activities that help the learner to construct understandings and develop skills relevant to solving problems. The Toyota Way: 14 Principles ? Become a learning organization through relentless reflection (hansei) and continuous improvement (Kaizen Mindset)… More JIT-Style Learning and Training

The best kind of quality oriented learning (and training) is just-in-time-style learning, that is, learning that happens on the job, knowledge which is applied immediately as needed, and learning by doing. The sooner you can apply the material you learned, the better you will understand it and the longer it will be retained. Innovative e-learning services create new opportunities for such on the job JIT-style learning and training. In particular, the first-ever Ten3 Business e-Coach provides most effective JIT-style e-learning opportunity which is available

Follow Simple Instructions

I once had a teacher who was big on following directions. He gave a very lengthy and extensive exam, which would take the entire class period to complete. Because we knew it was going to take every minute, we all started quickly without reading and following the directions. After grueling over the answers and working at a feverish pace, we began one by one getting to the final question, which wasn’t a question at all. It was a statement telling us to look at the top of the test paper. The statement said, “Directions: If you simply put your name on the paper and hand it in, you will receive 100 points for a perfect score.

Needless to say, we all felt pretty stupid for having not followed the directions. We could have saved ourselves a lot of stress. As simple as it seems, more often than not we all forget to follow directions. Do you remember starting to take a test in school and about half way through realizing that you were filling in the answers in the wrong space? You had to start over from the beginning because you did not follow directions. Well in the entertainment business not following directions can have much more severe consequences.

If you are on a job and you don’t fill out the production report properly, you may not receive all of the money that you are due. If you put your address in the wrong place, you may not receive your check at all. If you don’t fill out your tax form, you won’t receive your check. If you don’t list your social security number properly, you may not receive credit for the taxes withheld from your pay. These are all very serious matters that will have a direct impact on your life and career. When you get listed with an agency, you are asked to fill out forms with important contact information.

If you don’t follow the directions, the agency may not be able to contact you when they have a job for you because you didn’t fill the form out properly. We have had a number of people send in a payment along with their headshot and resume to be posted in the StarSearchCasting. com online talent database and they did not read the directions. We weren’t able to put them on until we sent them a listing agreement to fill out. The directions tell you to print out the agreement, complete it and mail it back with the other materials, but because we are all in a hurry, some people don’t read the instructions.

One of the most important reasons to read and understand instructions is because you will probably sign many agreements, disclaimers, and releases in your career. If you don’t take the time to read and understand what it is that you are signing, you could end up in a lot of trouble. You may sign away important rights or sign away most of the money that you will earn or give creative control of your career. If you intend to have a prosperous career, you will need to handle it with care. Take the time to read and follow directions in life and it will make life a lot easier.

Ethical Versus Unethical Behavior

Ethical versus Unethical Behavior Carlos Mercado University of Phoenix MGT 344 November 17, 2007 Ethical versus Unethical Behavior Companies establish ethics policies as a way to identify expectations of workers and to offer guidance on handling common ethical problems that might arise in the course of doing business. For an organization to determine whether a behavior is ethical or unethical, the terms must be defined.

The term ethical behavior refers to how an organization ensures that all its decisions, actions, and stakeholder interactions conform to the organization’s moral and professional principles; where as, unethical behaviors are considered when the actions of employees are not conforming to social or professional standards. Consequently, the purpose of this paper is to explain what factors determine whether behavior in organizations is ethical or unethical.

Factors that Determine Unethical Behavior In today’s business environment, pressure and stress to accomplish higher goals in a tighter time frame can cause companies to slip into unethical decisions and behaviors. According to a global survey commissioned by the American Management Association – which included over 1,000 managers and human resource experts, the number one factor that is likely to cause unethical corporate behavior is business objectives and deadlines (Schwartz, 2006).

Other factors such as furthering one’s career and protecting one’s livelihood rank second and third, respectively in creating an atmosphere where unethical behavior can occur (Schwartz, 2006). Some additional factors that lead to unethical behavior is having to work in an environment with cynical people or an atmosphere of diminished morale; improper training; and no consequences when caught. These factors are followed by the need to follow orders, peer pressure, desire to steal from or harm the organization, and paradoxically, wanting to help the organization survive (Schwartz, 2006).

Most people face a lot of stress in their daily life, there never seems to be enough time or money for things people need. Yet companies continue to expect employees to do more work with less people and resources, which can cause stress. Technology is replacing jobs historically done by humans and, last but not least, managers are just managers and not leaders. Factors that Determine Ethical Behavior The ethical criteria of gain should be considered when determining whether a decision or practice is ethical. Simply asking the question “who stands to gain from the decision? will assist in making that determination. Having a clear policy on ethical behavior is also a valuable tool. By creating an ethical climate within an organization, an environment is established that is conducive to ethical behaviors as well as protection from liability. Under the U. S. Sentencing Commission’s guidelines, “an effective ethics program may protect organizations from criminal penalties or lessen their impact should an employee violate federal law” (Fiorelli, 1992). Examples of Unethical Behavior

An example of unethical behavior focuses on an employee’s desire not to fill out paperwork while also following a company’s desire for sales. A consumer purchased a light fixture at a local hardware store. When the box was opened, the light fixture was broken and the consumer returned it to the store. A very helpful employee found the same light fixture, opened the box for the consumer to see that everything was fine and stated that since the consumer had the receipt; it would be considered an even exchange. The consumer decided to look around and do more shopping.

Upon passing the aisle where the employee had helped her, the consumer observed the employee putting the broken fixture back in the box and placing it back on the shelf. When asked why he was doing this (and pointing out that another consumer would be purchasing a broken item), the employee responded that he did not wish to fill out the paperwork on the returned item. Another example focuses on the United States Postal Service. According to the rules and regulations of the Postal Service they have a policy called “zero tolerance” which states, “The Postal Service will prevent acts of violence in the workplace. A maintenance mechanic in Houston, Texas was removed from his position for making threatening remarks against a supervisor in the presence of two co-workers. The Postal Service charged him with “Improper Conduct/Violation of the Zero Tolerance Policy on Violence in the Work Place. ” Several minor infractions can also be seen as unethical behavior. A Postal worker was caught utilizing a company computer to view nude pictures. According to the rules, computers can be utilized for personal use at a minimum but not for anything that would be criminal or against the regulation (PostalReporter, 2006).

Additionally, ethical problems in the workplace are commonly depicted in unethical behavior by an employee “borrowing” office supplies for their home, “unintentionally” falsifying documents, or “pinching” money from the organization. Nonetheless, a company must create and employ measures to determine whether a particular action or behavior is deemed ethical or unethical. Ethical Behavior Factors and Responsibility Leaders should act as role models for ethical principles of behavior.

The principles must apply to all individuals involved in the organization, from employees to members of the board of directors, and need to be communicated and reinforced on a regular basis. Although there is no universal model for ethical behavior, leaders should ensure that the organization’s mission and vision are aligned with its ethical principles. Thus, companies must create ethics policies for the purpose of maintaining professional standards for the good of the company; for example, a written code of conduct or code of ethics are formal principles created for the reason of upholding professional responsibility (Fiorelli, 1992).

Furthermore, Markkula Center for Applied Ethics (2007) illustrates decisive factors for making an ethical judgment, which are the utilitarian approach, the rights approach, the fair or justice approach, the common good approach, and the virtue approach. Each approach would have its own criteria for ethical decision-making. Needless to say, “making a good ethical decision requires a trained sensitivity to ethical issues and practiced method for exploring the ethical aspects of a decision and weighing the considerations that could impact our choice of action” (2007).

Conclusion Ethical behavior refers to how an organization ensures that all its decisions, actions, and stakeholder interactions conform to the organization’s moral and professional principles. However, there are factors that can contribute to unethical behavior(s) in the work place. Therefore, companies must establish ethic policies for the purpose of implementing guidelines; more so, managers and associates can make moral decisions for the good of the company. References: A Framework for Thinking Ethically. (2007). Retrieved November 15, 2007 from:           http://www. cu. edu/ethics/practicing/decision/framework. html Fiorelli, P. (1992). Fine Reductions Through Effective Ethics Programs: 56 Albany L. REV 403,407: U. S.. Sentencing Commission, 2004 PostalReport. com Blog (2006). Retrieved November 18, 2007 from: http://www. postalreporter. com/news/2006/07/26/postal-worker-fired-for-violating-usps-zero-tolerance-policy/ Schwartz, A. (June, 2006). Likely causes of corporate unethical behavior. GoStructural. com. Retrieved November 13, 2007 from: http://www. gostructural. com/article. asp? id=842

World War 1 vs World War 2

Despite the fact that the ‘trigger’ to World War 1 was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the war to end all wars or World War 1 was not preventable. Imperialism, alliances and militarism were the prime causes for WW1. Imperialism was the fierce competition between industrialized nations for resources. The competition from nations created tension and rivalries to gain colonies. The Alliances were needed to ‘keep’ the peace between all nations and ensure protection from each other. Instead of keeping the peace the Alliances were the source for the war, it caused confusion because of the secret Alliances.

The final cause leading up to the war was militarism, which was a result of imperialism and alliances combined. Militarism was the competition of military and artillery it supported and protected the colonies, while also securing national safety when Alliances were created. Imperialism forced European nations to compete against each other for economic resources. Karl Marx theorized that conflict is caused by competition, and the competition between nations would lead to war. A clear example of this was the Boer war in South Africa.

Great Britain was competing with the Dutch and the Zulu’s for land in Africa. In South Africa there were massive gold mines and plentiful diamonds. The Zulu’s, Dutch and the British had fought over who should rightfully own the land. In the end of the bloodshed, the British had conquered the area. Britain had the money, the men and the industrialization which to them made it an ‘easy’ victory. Imperialism called for militarism for the protection of the many newfound colonies. Bigger, more powerful militaries ensured protection against other nations who could over take ones colonies.

Industrialization encouraged national pride. The citizens supported their country’s actions, and the people just as their country competed against each other. This pride was shown all across nations. In Great Britain the had a well know saying ‘the sun never sets on the British Empire’. [1] In Germany they had the ‘hymn of hate’, which in the lyrics state their hate for the British. [2] Propaganda’s nationally and globally displayed hatred and pride all in the same poster. [3] Great Britain had taken over nearly half the land of Africa during colonization.

Frustrating to Britain, Germany had a piece of land called German east Africa in between Kenya and Nyasaland constricting the British from creating a railroad all the from the tip of Africa to the bottom. [4] Great Britain had such a great amount of national pride, to where they felt they could conquer Germany’s land. From early on Great Britain and Germany had tension and rivalries, along with the many other European nations, and the war released the tension and would ‘settle’ disputes. This competitive attitude was natural and by this Imperialism was inevitable.

Alliances were needed for the mutual protection. Alliances lead to conflicts, jealousies and differences that were not easily reconcilable. Alliances are able to scare countries into peace. For example in the 1860’s to 1870’s Germany was picking apart France. France needed protection from Germany, because France was to weak. When France and Britain paired up and became allies Germany was no longer a large threat. Meanwhile, as the other major European nations sought to expand their wealth and territories, they also looked for partners they could turn to in case of war for protection.

The countries felt threated by the competitions and small wars that were happening in Africa. These threats lead countries to form alliances to assure mutual protection among all nations. True to the military alliances, Europe’s powers formed sides officially after the assassination. The allies — chiefly Russia, France and Britain — were pitted against the Central Powers — primarily Germany, Austria-Hungary and Turkey. The only countries that were not in the alliances was Serbia, and Austria and in the end they started the war through the confusion. The confusion came from the secret alliances.

No country knew that such a minuscule country would have a strong alliance with one of the most powerful nations, Great Britain and Russia. Russia was Serbia’s alliance because Russia had ethnic and nationalistic ties to Serbia. Russia felt because Serbia had Slavic culture inside, and it was their duty to protect their own people. Alliances were needed for not only mutual protection, but also to secure peace. Militarism was a cause to WW1 but it also had been a result of nationalism, alliances and imperialism. Through nationalism people started to celebrate their states army and military by enlisting.

The more national pride a country had the larger the size of an army and navy would be. This nationalistic pride large armies and in the end nearly eight and a half million people died, while forty million were wounded in the course of a four year war. [5] With the alliances countries started producing technological advances to not only protect themselves but also show power. Methods increased and the war quickly advanced in technology. Countries felt the raising tensions and saw the alliances forming, so again countries would compete for the biggest and the most powerful weapons ever.

Soldiers would be highly skilled and trained for combat but it was almost futile to try to defeat a rail gun that could shoot 300 pound vessels. Militarism was not preventable because as industries advanced so did the military. The Industry had increased their weapon production for national security. Many countries were feared when they formed together and had new productions of weapons prepared for combat. Those preparations had prepared them for a war. Overall the war was not preventable. Imperialism forced competition among European nations and once the competition raised it was unstoppable.

They not only competed against each other for land but also the size of military to protect that land. Once the protection of the land was no longer the central focus they competed on the size of the weapon that they carried. The European nations had felt that their national security was at risk and created alliances for safety and protection. By the time of the assassination allied countries ensured each other safety. This all almost happened instantaneously and made it unpredictable and confusing.

The Illusive Dream Deferred

The Illusive American Dream Deferred The typical view of the American dream is illustrated by the various characters in the plays “The Glass Menagerie” by Tennessee Williams and the play “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry. Each character has their perspective as to what the American dream means and how to attain it. The protagonists in each family have their own individual dreams as well as their own barriers in attaining that dream. Although the social, economic and educational barriers are similar, the underlying barriers are quite different in each case.

The emasculation of Walter Lee and the strong family commitment of Tom Wingfield are their own personal barriers. The character Walter Lee of “A Raisin in the Sun” as well as Tom Wingfield of “The Glass Menagerie” are two individuals attempting to attain their deferred American dream. In the play “The Glass Menagerie”, Tom feels trapped and submissive to his family’s wants and needs. His commitment to his family often gets in the way of him pursuing his personal goals. He is the breadwinner who hates his warehouse job and eventually gets fired.

His dreams and aspirations of being a poet or joining the Merchant Marines and becoming a world traveler, are momentarily deferred for the sake and well-being of his family. So he escapes into his own world of poetry and movies, and dreams of better days. At one point he expresses his frustration by stating to his mother, “Look I’ve got nothing, no single thing”- “In my life here that I can call my own! ” (284; 3). Tom also states – “I go to the movies because – I like adventure. Adventure is something I don’t have much of at work, so I go to the movies”. I like a lot of adventure”. (301; 4) Statements of this nature help to illustrate the frustrations of his desire to change his current lifestyle. In this situation the needed family support and dependent relationships tend to be an enormous barrier for Tom in attaining his American dream. In the play “A Raisin in the Sun”, the protagonist Walter Lee Younger, is a dreamer, defiant husband, caring father as well as a belligerent son and brother. His get rich quick solutions to his families problems, comes into irect conflict with the rest of the family, especially his wife, Ruth. His frustration with his inability to attain the American dream is evident throughout the play. Walter exclaims to his wife at one point in the play, after her bitter remark “Oh Walter Lee…” “You tired ain’t you? Tired of everything. Me, the boy, and the way we live – this beat up hole. Ain’t you. ” (350; Act 1, 1) Walter seems to be expressing his frustration with his wives attitude and his own feelings of inadequacy.

In another scene Walter again shows his frustration with the lack of concern by his wife, in reference to his dream of owning a liquor store. “See I am trying to talk to you about myself and all you cam say is eat your eggs and go to work”. (351; Act 1, 1) Also in another scene Walter Lee reacts to hearing his Mama has no intention of paying for the liquor store with great indignation, “Oh – so you don’t aim to have to speak on that again? ” “So you have decided”. 361; Act 1, 2) All these comments tend to lend to the feeling of emasculation on Walter Lees part. Whether these feelings are imaginary or grounded in real life, they affect Walter Lees’ outlook on life. Although each play represents a different era in American history, A Raisin in the Sun also represents the threshold of the Civil Rights movement and The Glass Menagerie represents the post war era. Each protagonist (Walter Lee & Tom Wingfield) have a lot in common.

They both feel bound to their families and responsible for the livelihood of their families and they each feel that their current economic status leaves a lot to be desired. In Walter Lees’ case he is married and has a family and does no have the same options afforded Tom, who is single, and has no legal obligation to stay. In conclusion, Walter Lee and Tom have a lot of the same dilemmas in pursuing the American dream. Economic, social and educational barriers for each are similar, and they both are frustrated with their inability to provide a stable lifestyle for their families.

Through little or no fault of their own their dreams have been deferred, in Walter’s case poor planning (lack of knowledge in the business sense) and his end justifies the means attitude, which is relevant in his selfish distribution of the check and the fact that his wife may be pregnant does not temper his zealous ambitions. The prospect of abortion does not seem to bother him at this point. In Tom’s case frustration finally wins out over family commitment.

He has lost his job and inadvertently attempted to match his severely shy and dependent sister with a man that has been spoken for. His final solution is to walk out and follow in the foot steps of his father, who had abandoned the family long ago. Work Cited Hansberry, Lorraine. ”A Raisin in the Sun”. Exploring Literature. Ed. Frank Madden, 3rd ed. New York: Pearson, 2007. 350, 351, 361. Williams, Tennessee. “The Glass Menagerie”. Exploring Literature. Ed. Frank Madden, 3rd ed. New York: Pearson, 2007. 284,301.

Future Trends in Business Communication

FUTURE TRENDS IN BUSINESS Communication is process of sharing meaning by transmitting messages through media. Business communication involves communication for co-ordination of activities, dissemination of information, motivating people,negotations with the customers, media and other companies for mergers and acquitions. BUSINESS COMMUNICATION FUTURE OF BUSINESS COMMUNICATION GLOBALIZATION Rapidly developing processes of complex interconnections between cultures,societies,individuals,institutions world wide. 1 st century has ushered a new era in man’s on going quest for a better life and better world. Huge impact of information highway – vast and rapid share of information through communication channels like internet,3G phones, satellite communication. COMMUNICATION IN ORGANIZATION UNDERGOING CHANGE Organization Change- redesigning of business process, improvement in products & services, change in organization structure. Change important for organization to survive & remain competitive.

COMMUNICATION STRATEGY IN ORGANIZATION CHANGE Communication During Unfreezing State Leaders & Managers must be committed to importance of communication § Explaining issues, needs regarding change to employees Communication During Change State Managers must match action and words Provide detailed and accurate information to employees Communicate new roles and responsibilities Wipe out all misinformation in circulation Dealing with bad news Communication during freezing state Publicizing the success of change

Two-way communication Treat communication as a continuous process which never stops Strategic Communication PURPOSE The Why Question AUDIENCE The Who Question DESCRIPTION The What Question APPLICATION The How Question Cross cultural communication Culture International businesses with a highly diverse workforce in terms of nationality and cultural background face challenges from the differences in language, values, belief systems, business ethics, business practices, behavior, etiquette and expectations.

Cross cultural differences can negatively impact a business in a variety of ways, whether in team cohesion or in staff productivity. As we have seen above, different methods of communication are just one area in which cross cultural differences are manifested. In such multicultural companies, objective help may be needed through a cross cultural consultant who will show teams and individuals how to manage communication and work together more cohesively and productively.

Zara It System

Zara Case: Fast Fashion from Savvy Systems a gallaugher. com case provided free to faculty & students for non-commercial use © Copyright 1997-2008, John M. Gallaugher, Ph. D. – for more info see: http://www. gallaugher. com/chapters. html? Last? modified:? Sept.? 13,? 2008? INTRODUCTION The poor, ship-building town of La Coruna in northern Spain seems an unlikely home to a techcharged innovator in the decidedly ungeeky fashion industry, but that’s where you’ll find “The Cube”, the gleaming, futuristic central command of the Inditex Corporation (Industrias de Diseno Textil), parent of game-changing clothes giant, Zara.

The blend of technology-enabled strategy that Zara has unleashed seems to break all of the rules in the fashion industry. The firm shuns advertising, rarely runs sales, and in an industry where nearly every major player outsources manufacturing to low-cost countries, Zara is highly vertically integrated, keeping huge swaths of its production process in-house. These counterintuitive moves are part of a recipe for success that’s beating the pants off the competition, and it has turned the founder of Inditex, Amancio Ortega, into Spain’s wealthiest man and the world’s richest fashion executive.

Zara’s operations are concentrated in La Coruna and Zaragoza, Spain. A sampling of the firm’s designs, and “The Cube”, as shown on the firm’s websites. The firm tripled in size between 1996 and 2000, then skyrocketed from $2. 43 billion in 2001 to $13. 6 billion in 2007. By August 2008, sales edged ahead of Gap, making Inditex the world’s largest fashion retailer1. While the firm supports eight brands, Zara is unquestionably the firm’s crown jewel and growth engine, accounting for roughly two-thirds of sales2.

While competitors falter, Zara is undergoing one of the fastest global expansions the fashion world has ever seen, opening a store a day and entering new markets worldwide – 68 countries so far. The chain’s profitability is among the highest in the industry3. The fashion director for luxury goods maker LVMH calls Zara ‘the most innovative and devastating retailer in the world’4. Zara’ duds look like high fashion, but are comparably inexpensive. A Goldman analyst has described the chain as “Armani at moderate prices”, while another industry observer suggests fashions are more “Banana Republic”, prices are more “Old Navy”5.

Offering clothing lines for ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????? 1 2 Hall, 2008 Murphy, 2008 3 Sull and Turconi, 2008 4 Surowicki, 2000 5 Folpe, 2000 ? 1? women, men, and children, legions of fans eagerly await “Z-day”, each Zara location’s twiceweekly inventory delivery that brings in the latest designs. In order to understand and appreciate just how counterintuitive and successful Zara’s strategy is, and how technology makes all of this possible, it’s important to first examine the conventional wisdom in apparel retail. To do that we’ll look at former industry leader – Gap.

GAP – AN ICON IN CRISIS Most fashion retailers place orders for a seasonal collection months before these lines make an appearance in stores. While overseas contract manufacturers may require hefty lead-times, trying to guess what customers want months in advance is a tricky business. In retail in general and fashion in particular, there’s a saying: inventory = death. Have too much unwanted product on hand and you’ll be forced to mark down or write off items, killing profits. For years, Gap sold most of what it carried in stores. It was led by a man with a radar-right sense of style.

Micky Drexler, the iconic CEO who helped turn Gap’s button down shirts and khakis into America’s uniform. Drexler’s team had spot-on tastes throughout the 90s, but when sales declined in the early part of this decade, Drexler was left guessing on ways to revitalize the brand and he guessed wrong – disastrously wrong. Chasing the youth market, Drexler filled Gap stores with miniskirts, low-rise jeans, and even a much-ridiculed line of purple leather pants6. The throngs of teenagers he sought to attract never showed up, and the shift in offerings sent Gap’s mainstay customers to retailers that easily copied the styles that Gap made classic.

The inventory hot potato Drexler was left with crushed the firm. Gap’s same-store sales declined for 29 months straight. Profits vanished. Gap founder and Chairman Dan Fisher lamented “It took us 30 years to get to $1 billion in profits and two years to get to nothing” 7. The firm’s debt was downgraded to junk status. Drexler was out and for its new head, the board chose Paul Pressler, a Disney executive who ran theme parks and helped rescue the firm’s once ailing retail effort. Pressler shut down hundreds of stores, but the hemorrhaging continued, largely due to bad bets on colors and styles8.

During one holiday season, Gap’s clothes were deemed so off-target that the firm scrapped its advertising campaign and wrote off much of the inventory. The firm’s model of drawing customers in via big-budget television promotion had collapsed. Pressler’s tenure saw same store sales decline in 18 of 24 months9. A Fortune article on Pressler’s leadership was titled “Fashion Victim”, BusinessWeek described his time as CEO as a “Total System Failure”10, and Wall Street began referring to him as DMW for Dead Man Walking. In January 2007, Pressler resigned, with Gap hoping its third Chief Executive of the decade could right the ailing giant. ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????? 6 7 Boorstein, 2006 Sellers, 2003 8 Lee, 2007 9 Boorstin, 2006 10 Lee, 2007 ? 2? Contract Labor: Lower Costs at What Cost? Then, of course there are other problems with outsourcing production. Conventional wisdom suggests that leveraging cheap contract labor in developing countries can keep cost-of-goods low. Firms can lower prices and sell more, or maintain higher profit margins – all good for the bottom line. But there? s an ugly downside to contract manufacturing in the apparel industry, sweatshop labor.

Global competition among contract firms has lead to race-to-the-bottom cost-cutting measures. Too often, this means that in order to have the low-cost bid, contract firms skimp on safety, ignore environmental concerns, employ child labor, and engage in other ghastly practices. Despite the fact that Gap audits contract manufacturers and has a high standard for partner conduct, the firm has repeatedly been taken to task by watchdog groups, the media, and its consumers when reports exposed unacceptable work conditions that Gap failed to catch. This includes the Oct. 007 video showing Gap clothes 11 made by New Delhi children as young as 10 years old in what were described as ? slave labor? conditions . Gap isn? t alone, Nike, Wal-Mart, and many other apparel firms have been tarnished in similar incidents. Big firms are big targets and those firms that fail to adequately ensure their products are made under acceptable labor conditions risk a brand-damaging backlash that may turn off customers, repel new hires, and leave current staff feeling betrayed. Today? s manager needs to think deeply not only about their own firm? ethical practices, but also those of all of their suppliers and partners. DON’T GUESS – GATHER DATA Having the wrong items in its stores hobbled Gap for nearly a decade, but how do you make sure stores carry the kinds of things customers want to buy? Try asking them. Zara’s store managers lead the intelligence gathering effort that ultimately determines what ends up on each store’s racks. Armed with handheld personal digital assistants (PDAs) to gather customer input, staff regularly chat up customers to gain feedback on what they’d like to see more of.

A Zara manager might casually ask: What if this skirt were in a longer length? Would you like it in a different color? What if this v-neck blouse were available in a round-neck? Another level of data gathering starts as soon as the doors close. Then the staff turns into a sort of CSI in the forensics of trend-spotting, looking for evidence in the piles of unsold items that customers tried on but didn’t buy. Do there seem to be any preferences or disappointment in cloth, color, or styles offered among the products in stock? 12 PDAs are also linked to the store’s point-of-sale (POS) system, showing how garments rank by sales.

In less than an hour, managers can send updates that combine the hard data captured at the cash register combined with insights on what customers would like to see13. All of this valuable data allows the firm to plan styles and issue re-buy orders based on feedback rather than hunches and guesswork. The goal – to improve the frequency and quality of ‘sense making’ for the design & planning teams. DESIGN Rather than create trends by pushing new lines via catwalk fashion shows, Zara prefers to follow with designs where there’s evidence of customer demand. Data on what sells and what ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????? 1 12 Cho, 2007 Sull and Turconi, 2008 13 Rohwedder and Johnson, 2008 ? 3? customers want to see goes directly to “The Cube” in La Coruna, where teams of some 300 designers crank out an astonishing 30,000 items a year versus 2,000-4,000 items offered up at big chains like H&M (the world’s third largest fashion retailer) and Gap14. While H&M has offered lines by star designers like Stella McCartney and Karl Lagerfeld, as well as celebrity collaborations with Madonna and Kylie Minogue, the Zara design staff are mostly young, hungry Project Runway types fresh from design school.

There are no prima donnas in “The Cube”. Team members must be humble enough to accept feedback from colleagues, as well as share credit for winning ideas. Individual bonuses are tied to the success of the team, and teams are regularly rotated to cross-pollinate experience and encourage innovation. MANUFACTURING & LOGISTICS In the fickle world of fashion, even seemingly well-targeted designs could go out of favor in the months it takes to get plans to contract manufacturers, tool up production, then ship items to warehouses and eventually to retail locations.

But getting locally targeted designs quickly onto store shelves is where Zara really excels. In one telling example, when Madonna played a set of concerts in Spain, teenage girls arrived to the final show sporting a Zara knock-off of the outfit she wore during her first performance15. The average time for a Zara concept to go from idea to appearance in store is 15 days vs. rivals who receive new styles once or twice a season. Smaller tweaks arrive even faster. If enough customers come in and ask for, say a round neck instead of a “v” neck, a new version can be in stores with in just 10 days16.

To put that in perspective, Zara is twelve times faster than Gap, despite offering roughly ten times more unique products! 17 Contrast this with H&M, where it takes three to five months to go from creation to delivery – and they’re considered one of the best. Other retailers need an average of six months to design a new collection and then another three months to manufacture it. VF Corp (Lee, Wrangler) can take 9 months just to design a pair of jeans, while J. Jill needs a year to go from concept to shelves18. At Zara, most of the products you see in stores didn’t exist three weeks earlier, not even as sketches19.

The firm is able to be so responsive through a competitor-crushing combination of vertical integration and technology-orchestrated coordination of suppliers, just-in-time manufacturing, and finely-tuned logistics. While H&M has 900 suppliers and no factories, nearly 60% of Zara’s merchandise is produced in-house, with an eye on leveraging technology in those areas that speed up complex tasks, lower cycle time, and reduce error. Profits from this clothing retailer come from blending math with its data-driven fashion sense.

Inventory optimization models help the firm determine how many of which items in which sizes should be delivered to stores during twice-a-week shipments, ensuring stores are stocked with just what they need20. Outside the distribution center in La Coruna, fabric is cut and dyed by robots in 23 highly automated factories. Zara is so vertically integrated, the firm makes 40 percent of its own fabric and purchases most of its dyes from its own subsidiary. Roughly half of the cloth arrives undyed so ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????? 14 15

Pfeifer, 2007; and Economist, 2005 The Economist, 2005 16 Tagliabue, 2003 17 Helft, 2002 18 Sullivan, 2005 19 Surowiecki, 2000 20 Gentry, 2007 ? 4? the firm can respond as any mid-season fashion shifts occur. After cutting and dying, many items are stitched together through a network of local cooperatives that have worked with Inditex so long they don’t even operate with written contracts. The firm does leverage contract manufacturers (mostly in Turkey and Asia) to produce staple items with longer shelf lives, such as t-shirts and jeans, but this volume accounts for only about 1/8th of dollar volume21.

All of the items the firm sells end up in a 5 million square foot distribution center in La Coruna, or a similar facility in Zaragoza in Spain’s northeast. The La Coruna facility is some nine times the size of Amazon’s warehouse in Fernley, Nevada, or about the size of 90 football fields22. The facilities move about 2. 5 million items a week, with no item staying in-house for more than 72 hours. Ceiling-mounted racks and customized sorting machines patterned on equipment used by overnight parcel services whisk items from factories to staging areas for each store.

Clothes are ironed in advanced, packed on hangers, with security and price tags affixed. This means that instead of wrestling with inventory during busy periods, employees in Zara stores simply move items from shipping box to store racks, spending most of their time on value-added functions like helping customers find what they want. Efforts like this help store staff regain as much as three hours in prime selling time23. Trucks serve destinations that can be reached overnight, while chartered cargo flights serve farther destinations.

The firm recently tweaked its shipping models through Air France-KLM Cargo and Emirates Air, so flights can coordinate outbound shipment of all Inditex brands with return legs loaded with raw materials and half-finished clothes items from locations outside of Spain. Zara is also a pioneer in going green. In Fall 2007, the firm’s CEO unveiled an environmental strategy that includes the use of renewable energy systems at logistics centers including the introduction of biodiesel for the firm’s trucking fleet. STORES Most products are manufactured for a limited production run.

While running out of bestsellers might be seen as a disaster at most retailers, at Zara the practice delivers several benefits. First, limited runs allow the firm to cultivate the exclusivity of its offerings. While a Gap in L. A. carries nearly the same product line as one in Milwaukee, each Zara store is stocked with items tailored to the tastes of its local clientele. A Fifth Avenue shopper quips “At Gap, everything is the same”, while a Zara shopper in Madrid says “you’ll never end up looking like someone else”.

Upon visiting a Zara, the CEO of the National Retail Federation marveled “It’s like you walk into a new store every two weeks”24. Second, limited runs encourage customers to buy right away and at full price. Savvy Zara shoppers know the newest items arrive on black plastic hangers, with store staff transferring items to wooden ones later on. Don’t bother asking when something will go on sale, if you wait three weeks the item you wanted has almost certainly been sold or moved out to make room for ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????? 21 22

Tokatli, 2007 Helft, 2002 23 Rohwedder and Johnson, 2008 24 Helft, 2002 ? 5? something new. Says one 23-year old Barcelona shopper “If you see something and don’t buy it, you can forget about coming back for it because it will be gone”25. A study by consulting firm Bain & Co. estimated that the industry average markdown ratio is approximately 50%, while Zara books some 85% of its products at full price26. The constant parade of new, limited-run items also encourages customers to visit often. The average Zara customer visits the store 17 times per year, compared with only three annual visits made to competitors27.

Even more impressive – Zara puts up these numbers with almost no advertising. The firm’s founder has referred to advertising as a “pointless distraction”. The assertion carries particular weight when you consider that during Gap’s collapse, the firm increased advertising spending but sales dropped28. Fashion retailers spend an average of 3. 5% of revenue promoting their products, while ad spending at Inditex is just 0. 3%29. Finally, limited production runs allows the firm to, as Zara’s CEO once put it “reduce to a minimum the risk of making a mistake, and we do make mistakes with our collections”30.

Failure rates of the chain’s product line are reported to be just 1 percent, compared with the industry average of 10 percent31. While stores provide valuable front-line data, headquarters plays a major role in directing instore operations. Software is used to schedule staff based on each store’s forecasted sales volume, with locations staffing up, say at peak times such as lunch or early evening. The firm claims these more flexible schedules have shaved staff work hours by two percent. This constant refinement of operations throughout the firm’s value chain has helped reverse a prior trend of costs rising faster than sales32.

Even the store displays are directed from “The Cube”, where a basement staging area known as “Fashion Street” houses a Potemkin village of bogus storefronts meant to mimic some of the chain’s most exclusive locations throughout the world. It’s here that workers test and fine-tune the chain’s award-winning window displays, merchandise layout, even determine the in-store soundtrack. Every two weeks, new store layout marching orders are forwarded to managers at each location33. ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????? 25 26

Capell, 2006 Sull and Turconi, 2008; and Capell, 2006 27 Kumar & Linguiri, 2006 28 Bhatnagar, 2004 29 CNN, 2007 30 Vitzthum, 2001 31 Kumar and Linguiri, 2006 32 Rohwedder and Johnson, 2008 33 Rohwedder and Johnson, 2008 ? 6? Technology ? Systems. Just Ask Prada Here? s another interesting thing about Zara. Given the sophistication and level of technology integration into the firm? s business processes, you? d think that Inditex would far outspend rivals on tech. But as researchers Donald Sull and Sefano Turconi discovered, “Whether measured by IT workers as a percentage of total employees or total spending as a percentage of sales, Zara? IT expenditure is less than one-fourth the fashion industry average”. Zara excels by targeting technology investment at the points in its value chain where it will have the most significant impact, making sure that every dollar spend on tech has a payoff. Contrast this with high-end fashion house Prada? s efforts at its flagship Manhattan location. The firm hired the Pritzker Prize-winning hipster architect, Rem Koolhaas, to design a location Prada would fill with jaw-dropping technology. All items for sale in the store would sport with RFID tags.

Walk into a glass dressing room and customers could turn the walls opaque, then into a sort of combination mirror and heads-up display. By wirelessly reading the tags on each garment, dressing rooms would recognize what was brought in and make recommendations of matching accessories, as well as similar products that patrons might consider. Customers could check inventory, and staff sporting PDAs could do the same. A dressing room camera would allow clients to see the front and back view side-by-side as they tried on clothes. It all sounded slick, but execution of the vision was disastrous.

Customers didn? t understand the foot pedals that controlled the dressing room doors and displays, with reports of some fashionistas disrobing in full view, thinking the walls went opaque when they didn? t. Others got stuck in dressing rooms when pedals failed to work, or doors broke, unable to withstand the demands of the high-traffic tourist location. The inventory database was often inaccurate, regularly reporting items as out of stock even though they weren? t. As for the PDAs, staff reported that they “don? t really use them anymore” and that “we put them away so tourists don? t play with them”.

The investment in Prada? s in-store technology was also simply too high, with estimates suggesting the location took in just one-third the sales needed to justify expenses34. The Prada example offers critical lessons for managers. While it? s easy to get seduced by technology, an information system is actually made up of more than hardware and software. An IS also includes data used or created by the system, as well as the procedures and the people who interact with the system. Getting the right mix of these five components is critical to executing a flawless information system rollout.

Financial considerations should forecast the return-on-investment (ROI) of any such effort (i. e. what will we get for our money and how long will it take to receive payback? ). And designers need to thoroughly test the system before deployment. At Prada? s Manhattan flagship store, the effort looked like tech chosen because it seemed fashionable rather than functional. MOVING FORWARD The holy grail for the strategist is to craft a sustainable competitive advantage that is difficult for competitors to replicate. And for nearly two decades now, Zara has delivered the goods.

But that’s not to say the firm is done facing challenges. Consider the limitations of Zara’s Spain-centric, just-in-time manufacturing model. By moving all of the firm’s deliveries through just two locations, both in Spain, the firm remains hostage to anything that could create a disruption in the region. Firms often hedge risks that could shut down operations – think weather, natural disaster, terrorism, labor strife, or political unrest – by spreading facilities throughout the globe. If problems occur in northern Spain, Zara has no such fall-back. ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????? 34 Lindsay, 2004 ? 7? In addition to the operations vulnerabilities above, the model also leaves the firm potentially more susceptible to financial vulnerabilities as the Euro has strengthened relative to the dollar. Many low-cost manufacturing regions have currencies that are either pegged to the dollar or have otherwise fallen against the Euro. This means Zara’s Spain-centric costs rise at higher rates compared to competitors, presenting a challenge in keeping profit margins in check.

Also a concern – rising transportation costs. As fuel costs continue to rise, the model of twice-weekly deliveries that has been key to defining the Zara experience becomes more expensive to maintain. Still, Zara is able to make up for some cost rises by increasing prices overseas (in the US, Zara items can cost 40% or more than they do in Spain). Zara reports that all North American stores are profitable, and that it can continue to grow its presence, serving 40-50 stores with just two US jet flights a week35.

Management has considered a logistics center in Asia, but expects current capacity will suffice until 201336. A center, say in the maquiladora region of northern Mexico, may also be able to serve the US markets via trucking capacity similar to the firm’s Spain-based access to Europe, while also providing a regional center to serve growth throughout Latin America, should the firm continue its Western Hemisphere expansion. Rivals have studied the firm’s secret sauce, and while none have attained the efficiency of Amancio Ortega’s firm, many are trying to learn from the master.

There is precedent for contract firms closing the cycle time gap with vertically integrated competition that own their own factories. Dell (a firm that builds its own PCs while nearly all its competitors use contract labor) has recently seen its manufacturing advantage from vertical integration fall as the partners that supply rivals have mimicked its techniques to become far more efficient. In terms of the number of new models offered, clothing is actually more complex than computing, suggesting Zara’s value chain may be more difficult to copy.

Still, H&M has increased the frequency of new items in stores, Forever 21 and Uniqlo get new looks within 6 weeks, Renner, a Brazilian fast fashion rival, rolls out mini-collections every two months, and Benetton, a firm that previously closed some 90 percent of US stores, now replenishes stores as fast as once a week37. Finally, firm financial performance can also be impacted by broader economic conditions. When the economy falters, consumers simply buy less and may move a greater share of wallet to less stylish but even lower-cost offerings from deep discounters like Wal-Mart.

Zara is particularly susceptible to conditions in Spain, since the market accounts for nearly 40 percent of Inditex sales38. Global expansion will provide the firm with a mix of locations that may be better able to endure downturns in any single region. **** Zara’s winning formula can only exist through management’s savvy understanding of how information systems can enable winning strategies. It is technology that helps Zara identify and manufacture the clothes customers want, get those products to market quickly, and eliminate costs related to advertising, inventory missteps, and markdowns.

A strategist must always scan ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????? 35 36 Tagliabue, 2003 Rohwedder and Johnson, 2008 37 Pfeifer, 2008; Rohwedder and Johnson, 2008 38 Hall 2008 ? 8? the state of the market as well as the state of the art in technology, looking for new opportunities and remaining aware of impending threats. With systems so highly tuned for success, it may be unwise to bet against “The Cube”. Tech for Good: The Fair Factories Clearinghouse The problem of sweatshop labor has plagued the clothing industry for years. Managers often eel the pressure to seek everlower costs and all too often end up choosing suppliers with unacceptably poor practices. Even well-meaning firms can find themselves stung by corner-cutting partners that hide practices from auditors or truck products in from unmonitored off-site locations. The results can be tragic for those exploited, and can carry lasting negative effects for the firm. The sweatshop moniker continues to dog Nike years after allegations were uncovered and the firm aggressively moved to deal its problems. Nike rival Reebok (now part of Adidas) has always taken working conditions seriously.

The firm even has a Vice President of Human Rights, and has made human dignity a key platform for its philanthropic efforts. Reebok invested millions in developing an in-house information system to track audits of its hundreds of suppliers along dimensions such as labor, safety, and environmental practices. The goal in part was to identify any bad apples, so that one division, say sporting goods, wouldn’t use a contractor identified as unacceptable by a the sneaker line. The data was valuable to Reebok, particularly given that the firm has hundreds of contract suppliers.

But senior management realized the system would do even more good if it the whole industry could share and contribute information. Reebok went on to donate the system and provided critical backing to help create the non-profit Fair Factories Clearinghouse. With management that includes former lawyers for Amnesty International, Fair Factories (FairFactories. org) provides systems where apparel and other industries can share audit information on contract manufacturers. Launching the effort wasn’t as easy as sharing the technology. The U. S.

Justice Department needed to provide a special exemption, and had to be convinced the effort wouldn’t be used by buyers to collude and further squeeze prices from competitors (the system is free of pricing data). Suppliers across industries now recognize that if they behave irresponsibly, the Fair Factories system will carry a record of their misdeeds, notifying all members to avoid the firm. As more firms use the system, its database becomes broader and more valuable. To their credit, both Gap and Nike have joined the Fair Factories Clearinghouse. About the Author: John Gallaugher is a member of the Dept. f Information Systems in Boston College’s Carroll School of Management. He has been teaching students about Zara since 2000, and his comments on the firm’s operations have been covered by the New York Times, among other media outlets. Prof. Gallaugher teaches courses and conducts research at the intersection of technology and strategy. He leads the School’s TechTrek programs, co-leads the Asian field study program, and has consulted to and taught executive seminars for several organizations including Accenture, Alcoa, Brattle Group, ING Group, Patni Computer Systems, Staples, State Street, and the U. S. Information Agency.

Writings, podcasts, course material, and research by Prof. Gallaugher can be found online at www. gallaugher. com. This reading is available to faculty for non-commercial use. Enjoy! If you do use it, please send an e-mail to john. gallaugher@bc. edu. More chapters and cases will follow in Professor Gallaugher’s forthcoming book “Information Systems: A Manager’s Guide to Harnessing Technology”, to published (in both free online and low-cost print version) by Flat World Knowledge (FlatWorldKnowledge. com). Thanks! ? 9? REFERENCES Bhatnagar, P. , “How do you ad(dress) the Gap? ”, Fortune, Oct. 11, 2004. Birger J. and Stires, D. , “CEO on the Hot Seat: Paul Pressler, Gap”, Fortune, Feb. 6, 2006. Boorstein, J. , “Fashion Victim”, Fortune, April 13, 2006. CNN, “Zara, a Spanish success story”, June 15, 2001. Capell, K. , “Fashion Conquistador”, BusinessWeek, Sept. 4, 2006. Cho. , E. , “Gap: Report of kids’ sweatshop ‘deeply disturbing’”, CNN, Oct. 29, 2007. video at: http://www. cnn. com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/10/29/gap. labor/index. html#cnnSTCVideo Crewswell, J. , “Gap Got Junked, Now What? ” Business 2. 0, March 2002. The Economist, “The Future of Fast Fashion”, June 18, 2005. Echikson, W. , “The Mark of Zara”, BusinessWeek, May 29, 2000.

Folpe, J. , “Zara has a Made-to-Order Plan for Success”, Fortune, Sept. 4, 2000. Gentry, C. , “”European Fashion Stores Edge Past U. S. Counterparts”, Chain Store Age, Dec. 2007. Hall, J. , “Zara is now bigger than Gap”, The Telegraph, Aug. 18, 2008. Helft, M. , “Fashion Fast Forward,” Business 2. 0, May 2002. Lee, L. , “Paul Pressler’s Fall from The Gap”, BusinessWeek, Feb. 26,2007. Lindsay, G. , “Prada’s High-Tech Misstep”, Business 2. 0, March 1, 2004. Murphy, R. , “Expansion Boosts Inditex Net”, Women’s Wear Daily, April 1, 2008. Kumar, N. and Linguri, S. , “Fashion Sense”, Business Strategy Review, Summer 2006.

Perez, S. , “Inidtex Profit Jumps 30%, But Sales Concerns Hit Shares”, The Wall Street Journal, Dec. 13, 2007. Pfeifer, M. , “Fast and Furious”, Latin Trade, Sept. 2007. Tagliabue, J. , “A Rival to Gap that Operates like Dell”, The New York Times, May 30, 2003. ? 10? Tiplady, R. , “Zara: Taking the Lead in Fast Fashion”, BusinessWeek, April 4, 2006. Ram, V. , “Spain Rains on Inditex”, Forbes, March 31, 2008. Rohwedder, C. , and Johnson, K. , “Pace-Setting Zara Seeks More Speed to Fight Its Rising Cheap-Chic Rivals”, The Wall Street Journal, Feb. 20, 2008. Ryan, T. , “Uncovering Zara”, Apparel Magazine, Jan. 2006.

Tokatli, N. , “Global sourcing: insights from the global clothing industry – the case of Zara, a fast fashion retailer”, Journal of Economic Geography, Oct. 2007. Sellers, P. , “Gap’s New Guy Upstairs”, Fortune, April 14, 2003. Sull, D. , and Turconi, S. , “Fast Fashion Lessons”, Business Strategy Review, Summer 2008. Sullivan, L. , “Designed to Cut Time”, InformationWeek, Feb. 28, 2005. Surowiecki, J. , “The Most Devastating Retailer in the World”, The New Yorker, Sept. 18, 2000. Vitzthum, C. , “Zara’s Success Lies in Low-Cost Lines and a Rapid Turnover of Collections”, The Wall Street Journal, May 18, 2001. ? 11?

Group Decision-Making, Leadership, Influence and Power: Illustrations from the Film “12 Angry Men”

The film “12 Angry Men (1957)” present a diverse group of twelve American jurors brought together to decide the guilt or innocence of a teenaged defendant in a seemingly open-and-shut murder trial case. The film illustrates the advantages and disadvantages of group decision-making, group developmental stages, leadership personality and models, social influence tactics and outcomes, and the bases of social power. The following advantages of group decision-making were demonstrated in this approximately 90 min black-and-white 1957 film: First is diversity.

A pool of varied cultural backgrounds, age groups etc, and different life experiences is a great strength of a group in decision-making. Second is enhanced memory of facts. The combine memory of a number of people is certainly better than that of an individual, and is tremendously advantageous in group decision-making. This was well demonstrated throughout the film in both the argument for and against guilty verdict, culminating in a fair fact-based decision of a “not guilty” verdict. A third and very important advantage is reduced influence of prejudice on final decision.

In group decision-making, individual biases can be recognized, challenged and eliminated as demonstrated by the film. Fourthly, another advantage of group decision-making that was shown by this film is the fact that a more creative and innovative solutions to problems could emerge from group deliberations than would in an individual decision making process. Fifthly, there is a collective understanding in group decision-making. The members together reach a decision after deliberation and discussions, so that everyone understand better how and why the decision and what action to be followed.

For instance, the film ended without the foreman or anyone actually announcing what verdict was to be taken to the judge. It was obvious to every member. A major disadvantage of group decision-making that was very obvious from the “12 angry men” is that it requires more time to reach a decision. Another is groupthink. Groupthink is an undesirable behavior in group decision-making whereby members strive for unanimity of decision without accurate assessment of required information to reach decision. This problem was well illustrated at the early stage in the film when all but one of the 12 jurors voted guilty”, and instead of deliberating, simply saw the guilty verdict as obvious, fair, unanimous, and the only alternative without any vulnerability to error of judgment. They thought they only needed to convince the only dissenting voice, and quickly pass on the unanimous decision required by the judge without carefully examining the facts. These are some of the typical symptoms of groupthink. Now, was the “12 angry men” jury effective at making decisions? The answer is yes, though inefficiently.

They were able through long arguments, evaluation and re-evaluation of the facts under the leadership of the opposition of a verdict without deliberation, Juror #8 reached a fair and unanimous verdict. All five stages of Tuckman’s group development theory- forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning were observed in the “12 angry men”, with the first three in a continuum. The forming stage started before the coming together in the room where they discussed and made the verdict decision. The jurors all listened to the murder case in the court and were clearly informed about their task by the judge.

Though there was apparently no formal introduction of members to each other, the jurors familiarized themselves with each other in informal discussions before and well into the deliberations, and also learn more about each other and the task through formal reasoning together and arguments against each other’s position. Arguments and brainstorming with each other accelerated as the jurors became more and more familiar with each other, and alternative interpretations of the facts. This formed the storming stage. Elements of the norming stage could be observed from the very start.

Implicit rules of mode of communication towards achieving assigned task’s goal were made, choosing to use voting as a way of showing percentage of agreement until a unanimous (100% “guilty” or “not guilty” vote) decision is reached. As brainstorming and arguments in the storming stage intensified, more and clearer guiding rules were implicitly made or became obvious to members. The performing stage was when the group reached a conclusive unanimous decision of “not guilty” verdict, culminating in the adjourning phase where the group completed its task, disbanded and dispatched from the room to their various individual ways.

In the film, Juror #8 stood out as exemplifying leadership characteristics. He demonstrated true leadership, able to make followers by influencing the minds, feelings and actions of others. Apparently, the entire over 90 min film is centered on this juror making followers of the rest 11 jurors and leading them to successfully complete the group’s task of reaching a fair and unanimous verdict. He started out by being the only odd man, choosing the difficult right over the easy wrong and declaring a non-guilty verdict.

But through showing of personal integrity and appeal, respect, and empathy, rational persuasion, inspirational appeal, and a sense of duty, he was able to force the jury to deliberate and eventually convinced the others that the accused was not guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. The first leadership model illustrated by the film “12 angry men” is shared leadership. The shared leadership model is particularly needed in group or team work, and it entails a simultaneous, mutual influence process in which the members share responsibility for leading regardless of formal roles and titles.

This type of leadership was very obvious in this film. Juror #1 had the formal role to lead the group, but every member had the responsibility to lead, and so members with some leadership qualities such as juror # 4, 8, 9 and 11, particularly, # 4 & 8 led the group simultaneously with juror #1 the foreman. The second leadership model that was illustrated in this film is the transformational leadership. This leadership model was well exemplified by juror #8 leadership. According to Kinicki & Kreitner (2009), transformational leaders transform followers by creating changes in their goals, values, needs, beliefs, and aspirations.

This is exactly what juror #8 did in this film, as already explained in the preceding paragraph. He was a successful transformational leader. About six influence tactics (Chapter 13 in Kinicki & Kreitner, 2009) were probably illustrated in the 12 angry men film, but I will discuss the most successful four used by Juror #8 to win over all the other jurors to join in his “not guilty” verdict. First, juror #8 used rational persuasion, a tactic that involves trying to convince someone with reason, logic, or facts.

Although, he stated clearly from the beginning that he did not intend to change anyone’s verdict, he started off by convincing the other jurors the reason it was necessary to spend sometime to discuss the case. And throughout the deliberation, he used logical reasoning and analysis of facts to convince the others that the teenage boy accused of murdering his father is not guilty beyond reasonable doubt. Secondly, juror #8 used inspirational appeal, a tactic that involves trying to build enthusiasm by appealing to others’ emotions, ideals, or values to convince his colleagues.

He made them consider the humanity of the situation, reminding them that a man’s life is at stake and that it would be unfair to just send a boy off to die without talking about it first. He added “Supposing we’re wrong”. He admitted that he did not necessarily believe the boy’s story, but he feels that the accused is entitled to a thoughtful weighing of the facts- the legal standard that they were given by the judge. He tried to instill doubt in the others regarding the witnesses who testified under oath, “supposing they’re wrong…Could they be wrong?….

They’re only people. People make mistakes. Could they be wrong? ” Thirdly, juror #8 employed consultation tactic which involves getting others to participate in planning, making decisions, and changes to bring others on board and together join to convince the rest. He used this tactics particularly in joining effort with the earlier converts such as the old man juror #9 to work together to convince the others. And fourthly, juror #8 used personal appeal or friendship. He ensured that he did not upset but entice others to reason along with him.

He was very respectful, did not accuse or harass, and spoke in soft voice even at a very difficult stage when he was the only dissenting voice. This friendly personality could be a major factor that made the old man juror #9 to give him the vote he direly needed to forge ahead with his right belief of the need to talk and carefully weigh alternative interpretations of the facts in the case. Juror #8 used these influence tactics successfully, and they resulted in commitment (substantial agreement) of the jurors to giving a well considered, fair, and unanimous verdict of “not guilty”.

They all became convinced that there were reasonable doubts in their mind as to whether the accused committed the murder or not. Two social power bases were apparent in the 12 angry men film. The first is expert power which refers to obtaining compliance through ones’ knowledge or information. A good example is when the old man juror #9 got Juror #4 to comply by pointing out the fact that the marks on the nose of the woman who witnessed in the murder case showed that she normally wears eye glasses.

They both agreed that since she was not expected to have had them on while sleeping, her claim that she saw the boy killing his father from across is faulty. The second is referent power or charisma which comes into play when one’s personality is the reason for compliance. This was clearly demonstrated by the old man’s (Juror #9) reason of changing his vote to “not guilty” to join juror #8 in the demand for a careful weighing of facts to reach a fair verdict. Reference: Kinicki, A & Kreitner, R (2009). Organizational Behavior: Key concepts, skills & best practices. 4th edition. Irwin/McGraw-Hill.

Paper Industry

1 For more Notes, Presentations, Project Reports visit a2zmba. blogspot. com hrmba. blogspot. com mbafin. blogspot. com Overview of Paper Industry The Indian paper industry has been historically divided on a three dimensional matrix identified by size, grades manufactured and raw material utilized. Generally, tariff rates have protected smaller units utilizing “unconventional” raw material. Over the years, the growth of various segments, investments levels in specific segments, technological changes, industry fragmentation and intensity of competition have been significantly influenced by the Government tariff policy.

The present Excise duty on Paper is 12 %. The Government of India from time to time has given some benefits to small industries in order to protect them i. e. the first 3500 tones produced by a mill is chargeable only @ 8 % and thereafter it is @ 12 %. The three main grades of paper manufactured in India are :1. Newsprint 2. Writing and printing. 3. Industrial Variety ( Craft paper and Duplex Board ) Over 550 players currently populate the industry and the estimated capacity is about 7. 00 million Metric Tones Per Annum (MTPA).

Fragmentation is severe in the “industrial” (packaging) grades, which rely on “unconventional” raw material such as waste paper and partly agro residues. This division generally comprises of units with an average size of about 10000 MTPA and contributes to 45% of the output of paper and paper boards in the country. Although the other divisions in the Indian paper industry are also fragmented by international standards, the degree of fragmentation is less severe. “Newsprint” till about 1995, was the sole preserve of large public sector units and was well protected by high import tariff barriers.

Nevertheless, imports contributed to about 50% of the domestic consumption. Since then, new domestic capacity with private investment has been allowed to be created. This 2 growth has relied namely on De-inked waste paper as a source of raw material. Currently import duty on newsprint is about 5% and domestic manufacture of newsprint is exempted from excise duty. This tariff structure for newsprint has seen Indian newsprint price closely mapping international prices. Imports still constitute about 30% of consumption and newsprint contributes about 10% of the total production of paper and paperboards.

The number of players in the newsprint segment is relatively limited and manufacturing capacities are larger than in the packaging grades segment. Historically, the bulk of the output of “Cultural” grades – comprising of writing, printing, office stationery paper and specialty paper has been the preserve of “large” producers, who use forest based raw material in integrated pulping facilities augmented by imported pulp. This segment has been consistently taxed at higher rates due to its size and use of “conventional” forest based raw material. Investment in plant has also been higher.

With relatively smaller number of players and high import tariff protection, prices of end products, generally perceived to be higher quality, have been high. Import tariff levels, although much lower now, still continues a significant barrier to imports. The high investment levels required and limited “conventional” fiber resources are the major deterrents to growth in this segment for both existing players as well as new entrants. “Lower end cultural grades” manufactured by smaller players using unconventional raw materials in low investment, low tech plants cater to consumers in the price sensitive sub segment of this market.

This sub segment depends significantly on the tariff differential based on size and raw material for its viability. The Indian Paper industry is going through substantial changes. Global demand for paper is expected to grow by about 4% p. a. over the next 5 years. The domestic demand is expected to grow at about 8% which will result in increase of demand by 30 Lakh tones approximately over the next 5 years. It is expected that customs duty on import of paper will decrease from the current level to the level of 10% over a period of time due to WTO compulsions.

The import of raw material for paper including pulp, waste paper and news print is likely to increase by at least 15% to 20% in 2005-06 to keep up with growing demand 3 for paper in the domestic market. Despite to the constraints like over crowded market and limitation in procuring the desired quality of waste paper, there are indicators of a revival in the Indian Paper Industry. In the current year, selling price has marginally increased and enabled the industry to partially offset the rise in cost of inputs, fuel & labour. The paper industry has an important social role to play for the country.

Use of paper is considered as an index of cultural growth. Key social objectives of the Government like eradicating illiteracy, making primary education compulsory etc. are very much related to the paper industry. The paper industry is also contributing towards fulfillment of various requirements of the industry as a whole like information dissemination, publicity etc. which in turn stimulate industrial growth of the country. The paper industry has, thus, a catalytic role to play not only for the overall growth of the industry but also for the living standards of the people.

The new millennium is going to be the millennium of the knowledge. So demand for paper would go on increasing in times to come. Because of paper industry’s strategic role for the society and also for overall industrial growth, it is necessary that the paper industry performs well. FUTURE PROSPECTS The globalisation of Indian economy has lead to a healthy growth of 6 to 7% industry and that is growth happening in all the sectors. Moreover the Per Capita consumption of paper in India is going up with the advent of packaging in the food industry.

Due to environmental concerns, the use of plastics is likely to be banned by the Government of India within a short span of time. Hence within 2 to 3 years we will be witnessing an explosive growth of packaging in India mainly in food, textile and export segments. The exposure to foreign packaging technology and the need to satisfy the export customers has led to a drastic change in the industrial packing sector. The 4 corrugators have started using high BF, high GSM paper instead of the regular grades and shifting from 7 ply and 9 ply boxes to 5 ply and 3 ply boxes.

The above change has resulted in more aesthetic and cost effective packing solutions. There is a very good potential market developing for such grades of paper in India. The market of high quality Kraft paper is now catered only by few manufactures from western and northern parts of the country. With the above changes in the industry it would be in the best interest of our company to put up a Kraft paper plant of 100 MT per day producing high B. F. , higher GSM paper and exploit the emerging market situations better.

The company envisages the following advantages by going for such a plant as follows: l) Most of the existing paper mills in South India operate with single wire machine, which can produce up to 24 BF only, whereas the new plant intended to be set up by SSPML is a twin wire machine which can produce high quality Kraft paper of 24 BF to 40 BF which is sold in the market at a premium. l By making high end paper in south India the company stands to gain a lot in terms of logistics costs when compared to the competition. l SJPML got the advantage of cost benefit while importing raw materials and exporting finished product. The possibility of exporting substantial quantity of the production to near by countries like, Sri Lanka and eastern African countries is also bright. This may also be substantiated from the fact that paper exports have risen at a CAGR of 14 % pa from 105000 tonnes in the year 2000 to 179000 tons in the year 2004. As a strategic measure to expand the international operations of the company, the company has already started a new business division – International Business Unit to handle the international marketing operations of the Company. ) The company intends to manufacture the paper by using Twin Wire Technology and also plans to incorporate all latest equipments to have a cost effective production. The twin wire technology employs two wires drawing pulp stock from two separate head boxes. The arrangement is in such a way that the wet webs come into contact before going to the press. 5 3) At present the Company is employing single wire technology wherein the pulp stock flows from the head box and gets distributed uniformly for further dewatering, pressing and drying to form a sheet of paper.

The twin wire technology is superior than the single wire technology due to the following factors: 1. Improves formation of paper. 2. Improves strength properties of paper namely, Burst factor, Tear factor, Tensile strength and Ring crush test values. 3. Reduces Cost of Production. The company will be able to derive the synergies of the existing plants and position itself as a largest Kraft paper manufacturer in south India by the installation of the plant. The market expectation for the increased production Capacity, Production, Raw Material and Import

Government has completely de-licensed the paper industry w. e. f. 17th July, 1997. The entrepreneurs are now required to file an Industrial Entrepreneur Memorandum with the Secretariat for Industrial Assistance for setting up a new paper mill or substantial expansion of the existing mill in permissible locations. The industry is a priority industry for foreign collaboration and foreign equity participation up to 51% receives automatic approval by Reserve Bank of India. Foreign investment even up to 100% is approved by FIPB on case to case basis.

Several fiscal incentives have also been provided to the paper industry, particularly to those mills which are based on non-conventional raw material. 6 There are, at present, about 515 units engaged in the manufacture of paper and paperboards and newsprint in India. The country is almost self-sufficient in manufacture of most varieties of paper and paperboards. Import, however, is confined only to certain specialty papers. To meet part of its raw material needs, the industry has to rely on imported wood pulp and waste paper. The production of paper and paper board during the year 2001-02 is 31. 2 lakh tonnes. The proportion of non-wood raw material based paper is increasing over the years. At present about 60. 8 per cent of the total production is based on non-wood raw material and 39. 2 per cent based on wood. The performance of the industry has been constrained due to high cost of production caused by inadequate availability and high cost of raw materials, power cost and concentration of mills in one particular area. Several policy measures have been initiated in recent years to remove the bottlenecks of availability of raw materials and infrastructure development.

To bridge the gap due to short supply of raw materials, duty on pulp and waste paper and wood logs/chips have been reduced. The capacity utilization of the industry is low at 62% as about 194 paper mills, particularly small mills, are sick and/or lying closed. Several policy measures have been initiated in recent years. Imports of paper and paper products were growing over the years. However, it has decreased during 2000-2001. Demand and Supply gap in Paper Industry Indian paper industry is the 15th largest in the world and provides employment to 1. 3mn people in the country contributing Rs. 5bn to the Government. The industry 7 has recorded a volume growth of CAGR of 5. 47% over the last 3 years. In 2003-04, it recorded a volume growth of 6%, in line with the GDP growth. Indian paper industry has a 1:1 correlation with the economy. The demand for paper is linked to the GDP Growth. The government is planning to target a GDP Growth of about 10% in 2-3 years. With this increase in the GDP growth the paper sector is expected to record a similar growth rate. The Indian paper industry has an installed capacity of 6. 7mn tons while, the effective capacity is estimated to be lower at 6. 5mn tons. The industry produced 5. 26mn tons of paper in 2003-04. Newsprint capacity in India is estimated at 1. 12mn tons however, domestic production is only 0. 59mn tons, while consumption of newsprint is 1. 1mn tons. Favorable demand – supply scenario to keep prices firm The demand for paper is influenced by various macro-economic factors like national economic growth, industrial production, promotional expenditure, population growth and the Government’s allocation for the educational sector. Domestic demand for paper is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6-7%.

India’s paper demand is expected to touch 8mn t. p. a by 2010. A leading global paper industry consultant projects a shortage of about 0. 7mn tpa by 2010. Proposed capacity expansions: Capacity expansions (which cost 50% less than new capacities) have been announced by most players, but would take 1-2 years to be operational. Capacity expansions of over 600,000 tons have been announced by the 7 large players in the sector WTO Impact WTO as discussed the implication of Indian Paper and Newsprint Industry as part of its negotiations and implications.

The Indian Paper Industry has important place in the industrial landscape. The paper industry has a strong backward linkage with forests and environment on one hand and consumers of a variety of products on the other hand. The manufacture of paper through pulp of wood or of other fibrous cellulosic material has been discussed at length. However, recovery of waste or scrap for paper and paperboard manufacture has been looked at from different angle 8 in the classification of products of Indian Paper Industry.

In fact the paper industry which are eco friendly imports lot of waste paper into the country in the manufacturing of paper and paper board. Generally WTO implication is applicable to all the industries. How ever, in respect of paper industry where waste paper is the raw material and which is eco friendly, the impact is not harsh. SSPML is into manufacturing of paper out of the waste paper and is an eco friendly project. GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS, PERMISSIONS & TAXES 1. Central Excise: Central Excise is levied @8% for the first 3500 MT production and thereafter @12% on the value of the invoice.

The Company is availing permitted Modvat benefits as per Central Excise regulations. For import duty paid on waste paper procured from overseas the Company is entitled to adjust the entire duty paid component as that of Modvat credits. 2. VAT (Value Added Tax): VAT replaces the existing multipoint taxes levied by various states with effect from April ‘05. As that of other industries, the paper trade is also covered under VAT for domestic sales done in the state of Kerala. However for interstate sales CST is continued to be levied as per existing Government regulations. 3. Service Tax:

Being classified as a manufacturing industry, the industry even for Job Work on conversion basis will not be subjected to Service Tax requirements. A recent notification from Central Government also confirms such a stand. 4. Factory Licenses: All the licenses required under Municipality Act, Factories Act are obtained and duly renewed. 5. Pollution Control: 9 Necessary permission under effluent discharge Act is obtained and the facilities required to maintain the permission are in place. AVAILABILITY OF DOMESTIC WASTE PAPER Waste paper recovery system in India is very unorganized and unplanned .

As a result, large quantities of waste paper get diverted for cheaper packaging and other uses or get destroyed as rubbish. Bulk of waste paper collected by street collectors in metropolitan cities goes to household paper bag manufacturers. Due to lack of any grading/ classification system in context of waste paper, no sorting or segregation is done at source and so most of the waste paper varieties are collected in commingled form. The probable sources of waste paper collection are as under: Waste Paper Examples Newspaper, magazines, board cartons. Source Domestic refuse

Industrial refuse Office refuse Corrugated boards, duplex & other packaging board, paper sacks etc. Ledger files and papers from Govt. offices, Universities & large business organizations. Boards trimmings from converters & packaging manufactures, paper savings from printers Newspapers and magazines are usually recycled directly as wrapping and packaging papers by the grocers and pretty traders and therefore they are not available for mills in their first rejection. Other fibrous domestic refuse probably find their way as road sweepings. Trade refuse Road Sweeping

In India, collection of office refuse has not been very high mainly due to unavailability of a viable collection system. In practice, more than 80% of the paper consumed in India is being collected, of which only 20% is being made available to paper industry and the rest 60% is usually diverted for other diversified / secondary uses such as wrapping, packing etc. 10 The developed countries, which are the major players in paper recycling business, have a well defined and planned waste paper grading system in place, which facilitates the collection of recovered paper sorted in grades with a limited mixture of fiber types.

Due to limited capacities of landfill sites and (municipal) incineration plants, increasing waste disposal costs and environmental awareness a wide range of legislation / directives in various countries have been imposed which has promoted material recycling and reduced further , the generation of waste that requires disposal in appropriate facilities. These regulations set responsibilities for taking back used paper products and packaging material independent of the public disposal system and recycling them.

In India, however, no such regulations / law / directives are in force to promote use of recyclable resources, as a result of which the recovery of used paper is also low. As per the statistics available , the Indian paper industry is using more than 70% of imported waste paper in its total waste paper consumption . The general issues related with use of imported waste paper in Indian Paper Industry are: O O O O O Inconsistency in quality and varieties of waste paper grades. High level of contamination i. e. prohibitive & out throws.

Price fluctuation in the international market. High price for good quality waste paper i. e. low to negligible level. High ash content in paper leading to low fiber yield / tpaper and generation of inorganic sludge. contamination ISSUES RELATED TO WASTE PAPER BASED MILLS In spite of the fact that waste paper processing for paper making is considered to be an eco friendly process , there are certain technological & environmental issues still associated with waste paper based mills which needs to be addressed to improve its environmental compatibility.

Technological Issues : 11 The main objective of recycled fiber processing is the removal of contaminants and elimination of their effects as much as necessary to meet quality requirements. Removal of contaminants makes recycled fiber processing systems significantly more complex than systems for virgin fibers. There are several unit operations / stages viz. slushing, screening, cleaning, flotation, disperger etc. to remove the contaminants from recycled fiber stock.

The technology is well established to produce newsprint, packaging grades and fine papers and most of the mills in USA, Europe have state-of-art technology for processing of recycled fiber. In India, however, most of the recycled fiber based mills do not have appropriate system configuration for efficient processing, as a result the quality of finished paper is low. The level of technology in majority of mills is obsolete. The operational efficiency of equipments and machines are also considerably below the optimum level .

Due to lack of appropriate configurations, the amount of rejects generated are also high and is a major source of solid waste generated in such mills . Environmental Issues : Among the environmental issues associated with recycled fiber mills , solid waste disposal and management is the subject of main concern. Deinkined sludge generated from deinking plants in mills using printed waste paper for producing writing & printing grade of paper , consists of mainly fillers and coating pigments, fibers, fiber fines, printing inks and adhesive components.

A characteristic feature of the deinking sludge is its high ash content in the range of 40% – 70%. Traces of heavy metals may also be present in some cases. In most of the cases the heavy metal content is insignificant and sometimes even below the detection limit. The another important issue reported recently is the clandestine import of other waste like plastics, metal and cloth / rags etc (technically defined as prohibitive and out throws) along with waste paper.

OBESRVATION & REMARKS : Generally the waste paper being imported in the country are recovered in segregated form as per the request of the importer. However, some cases have been reported wherein municipal solid waste constituting of plastics, metal cans and cloth / rags etc (technically defined as prohibitive and out throws) have been illegally imported 12 in grab of imported waste paper This has led to the need of defining / formulating the permissible limits for the contaminants like plastics, metal cans and cloth / rags etc. in the imported paper .

At present, no data /guideline is available on this issue Therefore; it is recommended to undertake an indepth study on this issue so as to evolve permissible limits for prohibitive and outthrows in the imported waste paper consignments entering into the country. 13 CORPORATE PROFILE M/s Shree Jagdambe Paper Mills Limited(SJPML), incorporated in July, 1980 as a private limited Company, commenced its commercial production of Semi Kraft Paper on single production line in March, 1982 with an installed capacity of 1950 M. T. per annum based on agro residue.

In the year 1985-86 the capacity was increased to 3000 M. T. per annum & later in 1987-88 to 5000 M. T. per annum by adding certain balancing equipments. In 1990, SJPML added another production Line and increased the capacity to 10000 M. T. per annum. In 1993-94 the plant has been operated at 95% capacity utilization to give a production of 9587 M. T. SJPML has been promoted by Shri Man Mohan Kumar Goyal, Anil Shri Ramesh and Shri Kumar Goyal, Shri Surender Kumar Goyal, Shri Parveen Kumar Goyal who have Kumar Goyal professional background.

SJPML has been converted into a Limited Company on 28. 12. 94 and also enhanced its production capacity from 10000 M. T. At present to 20000 M. T. per annum through Modernization- cum-Expansion Scheme. During the year 1994-95 an other sister unit of SJPML for manufacture of Kraft Paper was incorporated as Shree Sita Ram Paper Mills Ltd. , at Village Nanasanja Taluka Jagadia, Distt Bharuch (Gujarat) with installed capacity of 20000 MT per annum. As accepted in open market, but due product of the company is well to Government policies of liberalising nternational trade, Import duty on Kraft Paper was reduced resulting dumping of Paper in India by multinational Companies and same also became a reason for down in production for the year 2001 to 2003. Similarly Excise Duty was also increased between 1994-95 to 2000-2001 from 0% to 5% and then to 8% and 16 % ( 2002-2003). 14 BRIEF PARTICULARS OF THE COMPANY The Company was incorporated under the name & style of M/s Jagdambe Industries(P)Ltd. , vide certificate of incorporation No. H-10725 Paper dated 31. 07. 1980, with Registrar of Companies, Delhi & Haryana, (New Delhi).

The name of the Company was changed to Shree Jagdambe Paper Mills (P) Ltd. , on 10. 02. 1994. Now Company’s constitution has been changed to that of a Limited Company on 28. 12. 94. The Company has General of Technical Development, India for manufacturing of Paper for No. 1020(89)DLR dated 17. 11. 1989 & registered Paper 10000 itself with vide Directorate Registration per Delhi, Ministry of Industry, Government of Board M. T. And memorandum for expansion of capacity to 20000 M. T. Has been filed with SIA as acknowledgement dated 23. 08. 94.

BRIEF PARTICULARS ABOUT PROMOTERS OF THE COMPANY The Project was promoted by Shri Murli Dhar Jhuthran and Shri Ramesh Kumar Goyal. Shri Murli Dhar Jhuthran retired as Director in 1982. After then promoters were Shri Man Mohan Kumar Goyal, the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Sh Ramesh Kumar Goyal, Managing Director, Sh Surender Kumar Goyal, Director(Sales), Sh Anil Kumar Goyal, Director(Production), Sh Parveen Kumar Goyal, Director (Personnel). Shri Man Mohan Kumar Goyal started his career at the age of 17 years by joining his father’s Brick Kiln business.

Being the eldest son of late Sh Ram Saran Dass Goyal, he was involved in planning and managing all business activities of the family. He has hands-on experience in running brick kilns, 15 Manufacturing of steel utensils, ice, managing agency, business of cement & match boxes, petrol filling station and all properties. In manufacturing of paper and now he is 1980, he came into the an established Industrialist with a 14 years of experience in paper manufacturing. Sh Man Mohan Kumar Goyal resigned from director ship of the company w. e. f. 15. 12. 2001 & shifted to Gujarat o look after day to day affairs of sister company Shree Sita Ram Paper Mills Ltd. , Shri Surender Kumar Goyal, B. A. , started his career by joining family business. Later he was instrumental in setting up of M/s Aggarwal Ice Factory. In 1982, he joined the captioned company as Director (Sales). He has been instrumental in developing network of dealers/agents and monitoring sales. Shri Anil Kumar Goyal, Chartered Accountant started his career by joining SJPML in the year 1984. Being an Accountant by profession he could read, analyze and plan the business to make the operations cost effective.

Shri Parveen Kumar Goyal, B. A. started his career in 1981 at the age of 18 years and joined SJPML. Due to his strong human relation trits he was also given the responsibility of handling personnel functions and inducted as Director, in 1984. Sh Parveen Kumar Goyal resigned from director ship of the company w. e. f. 15. 12. 2001 & shifted to Gujarat to look after the day to day affairs of sister company M/s Shree Sita Ram Paper Mills Ltd. , Bharuch 16 LOCATION OF MANUFACTURING PLANT AND ITS BRANCHES SJPML has free hold land measuring 126 kanal 13 marla, situated at Begu nearest railway station is 3 K.

M. at Sirsa. Road, Sirsa. Site is on metalled road about 2 K. M. from Sirsa. City in the municipal limits Works sector: Begu Road, Sirsa (Haryana) : Sector: Medium Scale Industry Registered Office : 161, Deepali, Pitampura, Punjabi Bagh, Delhi Branch : Shree Jagdambe Paper Mills Ltd. , 11, Jeet Building, Phase Ist, Ashok Vihar, Delhi NAME OF THE SISTER COMPANIES/CONCERNS a) Shree Sita Ram Paper Mills Ltd. , Taluka Jagadia, Village NanaSanjha, Distt. Bharuch (Gujarat) Shree Sita Ram Paper Mills Ltd. , incorporated in the year 1995 is sister company of Shree Jagdambe Paper Mills Ltd. involved in manufacturing of Multi Liner Craft Paper having production capacity of 20000 MT per annum. b) Shree Amba Paper (P) Ltd. , 73/4, Village Ghavera, Delhi c) Ahmedabad Chemical Trading (P) Ltd. , 44, Ekjot Apartments, Maduban Chowk, New Delhi 17 Both of two companies are the sister companies of Shree Jagdambe Paper Mills Ltd, based at Delhi, involved in trading for various types of paper and paper board. OUR CUSTOMER A loyal customer base is SJPML biggest quality endorsement. The institutional customers comprise brand-enhancing names like Action Shoes, Micro Teck, Lakhani Shoes Ltd. among others. CUSTOMER SERVICE The SJPML takes a holistic approach in the business of making paper and customer relationship enjoys a priority in this. The SJPML customer service stands for dependable quality, every possible choice and anytime product availability. Convenience : We provide customers the benefit of staggered delivery so that they do not need to keep a large inventory at their end; this maximises working capital efficiency Customer service : We weave the marketing and manufacturing functions together. Quick and punctual delivery has added to customer convenience PROCUREMENT OF RAW MATERIALS

Main raw material for the company is corrugated boxes/waste paper which is purchased through local suppliers. Company has adopted inventory control system for purchase Raw material. Decision for making purchase is taken by the Executive Director (Purchase) after considering the indents for requirement of raw materials, received from the production department. Director (Purchase) is assisted by team of purchasers, who calls quotations from different suppliers of raw materials. 18 RAW MATERIAL MANAGEMENT Director (Purchase) after considering lowest quotations along with sample of raw material, place order for supply of raw material.

TESTING/CHECKING OF RAW MATERIAL After receipt, consignment of raw material is weighted at company’s own weighing bridge. Weight as per company’s weighing bridge is tallied with the weighing slip as produced by the supplier of raw material. Bill of the material is also collected by the gate office for their necessary inward material entries. Weight of the raw material is tallied with the weighing slip/bill of the supplier. If the weight is not tallied with the weighing slip/bill due to shortage, it is immediately informed to supplier/driver.

A written consent on the back side of bill is taken for information of shortage to supplier. Vehicle is then allowed to go to raw material godown for unloading with prior intimation to quality checking supervisors. Raw Material Quality Supervisor got unloaded the material in his presence. Sample from different bundles of raw material is taken for checking of quality/moisture etc. If, moisture is found in any bundle, sample of same is handed over to laboratory technician, who tested the percentage of moisture in the material. A report is being prepared by Lab.

Technician for moisture and other prohibited contents like plastic strips, kaccha material, reel core material etc. present in the lot of raw material. Report is also signed by Lab. Incharge as well as supplier of material. Weight of moisture/other prohibited contents present in the material is deducted from the total weight of material. Lab. Report so prepared, is forwarded to Director (Purchase) for his information and signature purpose. Copy of the report is then given to supplier of raw material. If, supplier does not accept weight of moisture/prohibited contents he is allowed to take his material back.

Copy of the report, is attached with bill of supplier and handed over to gate department for entries in their inward receipt register. Rates of different type of raw materials are as under :- 19 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Corrugated Cartoons (Fresh) Corrugated Cartoons (used) Corrugated Cuttings (Fresh) Corrugated Cuttings (Old) Media (Kaccha Material) Media (Core Pipes) Rs. 8000/- PMT Rs. 7000/Rs. 6800/Rs. 6500/Rs. 5500/Rs. 5000/,, ,, ,, ,, ,, MANUFACTURING PROCESS ; Paper is manufactured using corrugated cartoons/waste paper, Chemicals and water. The manufacturing process can be bifurcated in to four stages.

A) PULPING : Corrugated Boxes/Waste Paper after cutting and dusting feed in to the pulpers for pulping. The waste paper can directly be beaten and washed in the beaters for pulping. B) PREPARATORY TREATMENT OF STOCK : Pulp, as it, is not fit for being converted in to paper and machine, the stock must be must undergo some preparatory treatment depending on the end product. Before going to the paper prepaid uniformly with a fixed thickness and be screened and refined by crushing so that it may be reduce in to fixed thickness with uniform properties in a uniform speed.

The treatment is carried out in appratus called refiner and sizing agents like alum, dyes, loading materials are added in the process to develop its strength. The main flow of pulp which is freed from tailings in the vibrating screen and fine pulp sieved out from the tailings are put together and sent to the centricleaners which work quite efficiently in removing fine dust. 20 C) PAPER MAKING : Prior to going in to the paper making machine the stock which has gone through necessary treatments, is diluted in the mixing box, down to the required consistency with the use of back water generated in the paper making process.

Similarly speaking, the paper making machine performs its function in this way :In the pulp stock which goes over travelling wire the fiber is separated from water & sheets of paper is formed. The wet sheet is pressed dried and smoothened by going through several sets of roll machines. To get M. G. Kraft Paper, the sheet is then passed through M. G. Dryer which imparts glaze to the paper. Paper is finally wound up by means of pop-reel machines. The out put of a paper machine is determined by the trimmed width of paper, the speed of machine and grammage of paper.

D)FINISHING OF PAPER : Paper and board intended for sale in reels and cut sheets is rewound & cut to certain fixed measurements. Defective paper and board sheets are removed . The rejected produce is returned to pulping section and mixed into the main flow of pulp stocks. DISPATCHES Reels so prepared, is then wrapped by plastic cloth and clipped with the help of plastic strips. Supervisor on duty mark a serial number, size and grammage on each reel for the purpose of identification. Wrapped reels are then weighted through electronic weighing scale. Weight as shown on the display is written in the reel by the supervisor.

Supervisor also maintained a register in which he entered weight of each reel along with serial number of the reel. Reel is then shifted in finished goods godown from where it is dispatched as per orders received. Complete record of reels manufactured and reels dispatched are forwarded to account office. 21 QUALITY CONTROL : SJPML has got a well equipped laboratory with all the latest equipments for test cobb value, Tear Factor, Burst Factor, Consistency, Degree SR and Grammage etc. NET WORK OF SALES SJPML has a wide range of net work of dealers spread all over the India, which covers mostly all the states of India.

CLIENTS SJPML keeps stringent control over quality for consistent quality which has helped it have clients like :a) b) c) d) e) f) g) h) i) j) k) l) Micro Tek, Parwanoo Action Shoes, Delhi H. P. Cotton Textiles Mills Limited, Hissar Baldeo Mange Lal, Ujjain Patel Paper Box, Udaipur Perfect Pack Ltd. , Faridabad Lakhani Group of Industries, Faridabad Ravi Sons, Chandigarh Kamal Boxes, Jalandhar Jay Ambe Overseas, Surat Industrial Packers, Daman Meiyappa Paper, Chennai 22 EMPLOYEES CAPACITY Details of employees are as under :1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

Repair & Maintenance Staff Engineering & Manufacturing Staff Clerk Supervisors Connected with Process Supervisors Connected with Production Supervisor Connected with Despatches Supervisor Quality Checking Officer Staff Security 15 18 10 5 5 5 5 5 5 SHREE JAGDAMBE PAPER MILLS LTD. , SIRSA PROCESS FLOW DIAGRAM Waste Paper Along with 12% Normal Moisture, 23 Stapple Pins & Adhesives) CONVEYOR VACCUM BOXES PRESS NO. 1 PULPER WIRE PART HEAD BOX PRESS NO. 2 SAND TRAP CENTI CLEANER DRYER DUMPING CHEST HIGH DENSITY CLEANER TURBO M. G. DRUM FLOW BOX MACHINE MIXING CHEST CHEST NO. 2 REELER ALUM ROSIN REWINDER FINISH PRODUCT THICKNER REFINER

Solid Waste to Boiler/ETP REMMUNERATION OF WHOLE TIME DIRECTOR Sri Surinder Kumar Goyal Sri Surinder Kumar Goyal a Post Graduate in Commerce and has been in the services of the Company as Director (Sales) since the incorporation of the Company. He will be entitled to the following remuneration as fixed at the Board meeting Committee and as approved at the Annual General Meeting of the Shareholders of the Company , in accordance with the provisions of Section 311, 198, 269 and 309 read with Schedule XIII and all other applicable provisions if any of the Companies Act, 1956 or any statutory modifications or re-enactment thereof. 24 1. 2. 3.

Salary Rs. 30000/- per month Commission : N. a. Perquisites House rent allowance at the rate of 50% (fifty percentage) of the Salary Medical expenses:- Medical expenses for the Director and his Family subject to a ceiling of one month’s salary in a year or three month’s salary over a period of three years Personal Accident insurance – an amount of the annual premium of which does not exceed Rs. 12000/Gratuity payable – Not to exceed half a month’s salary for each completed year of service. Provision of Car for use on Company’s business and Telephone at residence Perquisites shall be evaluated as per Income tax rules, 1962 wherever applicable.

Sri Anil Kumar Goyal Sri Anil Kumar Goyal a Chartered Accountant is in the services of the Company as Director (Finance) since the incorporation of the Company. He will be entitled to the following remuneration as fixed at the Board meeting Committee and as approved at the Annual General Meeting of the Shareholders of the Company , in accordance with the provisions of Section 311, 198, 269 and 309 read with Schedule XIII and all other applicable provisions if any of the Companies Act, 1956 or any statutory modifications or re-enactment thereof. 1. 2. 3. Salary Rs. 30000/- per month Commission : N. a.

Perquisites House rent allowance at the rate of 50% (fifty percentage) of the Salary Medical expenses:- Medical expenses for the Director 25 and his Family subject to a ceiling of one month’s salary in a year or three month’s salary over a period of three years Personal Accident insurance – an amount of the annual premium of which does not exceed Rs. 12000/Gratuity payable – Not to exceed half a month’s salary for each completed year of service. Provision of Car for use on Company’s business and Telephone at residence Perquisites shall be evaluated as per Income tax rules, 1962 wherever applicable.

Sri Rakesh Kumar Goyal Sri Rakesh Kumar Goyal a Graduate in Commerce and has been in the services of the Company as Director since 1996. He will be entitled to the following remuneration as fixed at the Board meeting Committee and as approved at the Annual General Meeting of the Shareholders of the Company , in accordance with the provisions of Section 311, 198, 269 and 309 read with Schedule XIII and all other applicable provisions if any of the Companies Act, 1956 or any statutory modifications or re-enactment thereof. 1. 2. 3. Salary Rs. 25000/- per month Commission : N. a.

Perquisites House rent allowance at the rate of 30% (fifty percentage) of the Salary Medical expenses:- Medical expenses for the Director and his Family subject to a ceiling of one month’s salary in a year or three month’s salary over a period of three years 26 Personal Accident insurance – an amount of the annual premium of which does not exceed Rs. 12000/Gratuity payable – Not to exceed half a month’s salary for each completed year of service. Provision of Car for use on Company’s business and Telephone at residence Perquisites shall be evaluated as per Income tax rules, 1962 wherever applicable.

Sri Manoj Kumar Goyal Sri Manoj Kumar Goyal a Graduate in Commerce and has been in the services of the Company as Director since 2000. He will be entitled to the following remuneration as fixed at the Board meeting Committee and as approved at the Annual General Meeting of the Shareholders of the Company , in accordance with the provisions of Section 311, 198, 269 and 309 read with Schedule XIII and all other applicable provisions if any of the Companies Act, 1956 or any statutory modifications or reenactment thereof. 1. 2. 3. Salary Rs. 20000/- per month Commission : N. a.

Perquisites House rent allowance at the rate of 30% (fifty percentage) of the Salary Medical expenses:- Medical expenses for the Director and his Family subject to a ceiling of one month’s salary in a year or three month’s salary over a period of three years Personal Accident insurance – an amount of the annual premium of which does not exceed Rs. 12000/Gratuity payable – Not to exceed half a month’s salary for each completed year of service. Provision of Car for use on Company’s business and 27 Telephone at residence Perquisites shall be evaluated as per Income tax rules, 1962 wherever applicable.

DETAILOF DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS Finance/Administration Department Mr. Anil Goyal is a Chartered Accountant, has a distinguished career in the area of Corporate Finance and brings with him a unique combination of skills from Accounting, Costing, Secretarial Services and Financial Management. He started his career in 1985 and added to his profile significant skills in the areas of Taxation, Costing, Insurance, Working Capital Management, Project funding by way of debt from multinational agencies, raising equity etc.

Ever since he joined SJPML he has been instrumental in bringing in the financial discipline and analysis that helped the Management to take various cost effective decisions. He has made significant contributions in identifying the financial institutions for sourcing the funds for the Mill Development Plan. Accounts Department Accounts Department has also been supervised by Sh Anil Goyal, Director Finance under assistance of Accounts Manager & Accounts Assistances. Under his supervision and new ideas company has a modern and high-tech accounting software and a well established computer lab.

Purchase Department Purchase of raw material is supervised by Sh Manoj Goyal, Director Purchase. Director Purchase is assisted by Purchase Manager and Raw Material Quality Managers. Production Department Production is supervised by Sh Rakesh Goyal, Director Production. He is assisted by the Production Manager and Plant Supervisors. He is the key 28 contributor to the process of developing the Quality Assurance and R Functions in the organization. His contribution in customer development and customized product development has been unparalleled.

Later on with his abilities in technical and administrative skills, took over the role of managing the Production Operations. He is specialized in the areas of Technical Sales, Customer service, and Product development. He is the critical In-house Resource for various Learning Events being conducted in various technical areas. Dispatch Department Dispatch Department has also been supervised by Sh Rakesh Goyal. He is assisted by supervisors and dispatch clerks. HR. Department SJPML’s Human Resource Processes are rooted in business priorities, market realities and long term oriented.

Inherent in them are the qualities like innovation, continuous learning and improvement in the work processes, talent identification and nurturing. SJPML through its concerted efforts aims at becoming the most preferred employer in the Industry and create one of the best places to work in the manufacturing sector. Our HR processes stem from the faith in Human Potential and its Creative Power. Our work culture that enable its Human Resources enjoy professional freedom. Our Learning Center is a forum where unique learning events take place as a part of the process of institutionalization of continuous learning.

The compensation package of the SJPML matches with the Industry Standards with qualities of flexibility, valuing talent and encouraging career growth. 29 Our Performance Management System encourages its Human Resources to add value and increase their contribution to the growth of the organization on a continuous basis thereby guarantees timely reward and recognition. Maintenance Department Extensive monitoring, analysis, and control would optimize mechanical/electrical systems, manage energy usage, pinpoint problem sources, and avoid unnecessary downtime.

For electrical maintenance SJPML has flexible solution with comprehensive energy consumption logs and immediate access to a range of electrical parameters, presenting information remotely via the company’s existing computer network. Power Measurement offered the right set of capabilities with its energy management software, installed on distributed workstations, and a network of intelligent power meters. The system proved to be a valuable aid in the design and operation of electrical installations.

Further operational savings are being realized, especially related to fast alarm response, and the system’s modular architecture facilitates affordable growth of all energy management applications. Energy Conservation SJPML has always been concerned and committed to improve the mill energy performance levels continuously. Basically because it realizes that natural energy resources available are finite with no way of replenishing the quantum consumed and also heavy investments are required for energy sector for meeting the demands and these resources are to be consumed with prudence to conserve the energy.

For SJPML, conservation of energy has become a way of life. It reflects and manifests itself in all the endeavors. SJPML realizes that this not only is a means to improve competitiveness, enhance profitability but also is a source of moral responsibility. 30 To achieve the above objectives of energy performance, SJPML has constituted an independent Energy Conservation Department and engaged reputed proven “Energy Consultants” as early as in 1987 for energy audit, 1990-91, 1996-97, 2001-02 for detailed energy audit with mass; and energy balance and in 2007 for energy audit.

These studies are conducted for identification and implementation of energy saving proposals, reduction in energy cost and wastage with improved housekeeping and monitoring practices. The department is bestowed with the functions of bringing awareness of; importance of energy to the employees by conducting in house training programs, by organizing energy conservation week celebrations, Energy Conferences, etc. The Energy Conservation department prepares and monitors daily energy performance of the mills through computerized daily energy performance reporting system.

SJPML has installed energy meters and measurement devices for all energy inputs like power, water, steam, fuels, compressed air and condensate return. The energy performance report indicates the figures of today and till date against best achieved norms for immediate comparison and for identification of variances on total and specific energy consumption figures of various sections of the mill for all the above energy inputs. These daily reports are put for specific discussions on energy performance in daily production meetings, for taking effective corrective actions.

The detailed monthly energy performance reports are also presented in monthly executive performance review meetings for identifying areas of improvement and for making; necessary exclusive decisions. Energy Consumption: SJPML, being an integrated pulp and paper mill, consumes steam and power for the production. Steam is generated not only for the process, but also captive power generation. The fuel for steam generation is husk, the solid waste dust generated in the process is also used as fuel. 31 The Mills has operating TG sets for co-generation, Double-Extraction-Condensing type of 12 MW capacity and fully condensing set of 5 MW capacity.

The 12 MW and 5 MW steam turbo generator sets are operated continuously. In the year 2006-2007 the fuel consumed in the boilers for process steam requirements and the power generation is a total of 197274 Tons out of which 108579 tons is used for process steam 88695 tons for power generation. Energy Conservation is an ongoing process. Realizing the need for energy conservation, SJPML puts its efforts for improving the energy performance on continuous basis. Description of the energy conservation schemes Installation of energy efficient booster water pump in paper machines.

Mill water header pressure is maintained at 2. 6 kg/cm2. The pressure could not be reduced to 2. 2 kg/cm2 due to bleach plants pressure requirement at 2. 5 kg/cm2. Booster water pumps of 2. 5 kg/cm2 pressure are installed in bleach plant and mill water pressure is reduced to 2. 2 kg/cm2. Investment is Rs. 6. 5 lakhs, savings Rs. 4. 43 lakhs per annum and simple payback period is 8 months. Conversion of non-lubricating type compressor into lubricating type and installation in paper machines: Compressors are unitized in power block area .

The removed compressor is converted to non-lubricating type and installed in paper machines there by unitizing four numbers of compressors in that area. Installation of energy efficient vacuum pumps in paper machines: 32 Paper Machine commissioned in 1966 has old version vacuum pumps of N14 E model. Two pumps are replaced with Nash make energy efficient pumps of 904 M2 model. SAFETY & ACCIDENT PREVENTION 1. The Safety and Accident Prevention activities at SJPML are monitored by a participative safety committee with equal number of members from Management and Workmen.

This committee is in existence since 1976. There are 3 department level safety sub-committees, which look in to local level safety and accident prevention activities in collaboration with the Safety Committee and Safety Department. The Safety Department is manned by qualified safety officers and other administrative assistance. 1. Accident Reporting and Investigation : All the accidents and near miss accidents are reported and investigated and reviewed by the Safety Committee. The accident data is analyzed and Safety Performance is measured monthly, quarterly and yearly and communicated to concerned depts. nd higher authorities. 2. Identification of Hazards : Frequent inspections are being carried out by using checklists. The Safety Committee and Sub-committees also inspect the plants regularly. 3. Safety Systems : Safety Work Permit System and Danger Tag System are in use for carrying out repair and maintenance works, hot works in fire prone areas, entry in to confined space, work on roof, excavation, etc. 4. Safety Training : 33 General and need based training is given regularly to all employees including cont. workmen 5. Motivation : National Safety Day is celebrated every year.

Many competitions like slogans, stories, posters, essays, etc. are organized on the occasion of National Safety Day Celebrations every year. An accident reduction contest is organized. . 6. Publicity : Posters, Slogans, Bulletins, etc. are displayed through out plant Safety Magazine is published 7. Personal Protective Equipment : Shoes are provided once in a year to all employees including contract workmen Helmets are provided to all employees All other Personal Protective Equipment is issued based on the need Some equipment like Self Contained Breathing Apparatus; Canister Masks, PVC suits etc. are kept in the depts. or use whenever and wherever those are needed 8. Emergency Planning & Preparedness & Response Emergency Plan is made and copies distributed to all concerned personnel. Periodic mock drills are being organized Emergency control centers established. Active role is being played in preparation of Off Site Emergency Plan being made by District Emergency Authority. 9. Occupational Health : Occupational Health Centre is established. One doctors and 2 nurses are working in Occupational Health Centre. It is operated round the clock Periodical medical exams are being carried out for the identified personnel. 4 This includes X-rays, Clinical examination; Blood exam; Lung function test; audio metric, stool exam; eye exam as per the requirement under Factories Act 1948 ENVIRONMENT CELL AT SJPML SJPML has established a separate, dedicated ENVIRONMENT CELL for Water and Air pollution abatement, which indicates the commitment of the Industry in controlling the pollution. ENVIRONMENT LABORATORY: Environment Cell is having an exclusive Environment Laboratory equipped with modern monitoring/testing facilities. Testing facilities available at Environment Laboratory. • • • • Water and Waste Water Testing AOX Testing Stack Monitoring Facilities Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Meteorological Station with automatic data logger The Environmental issues are reviewed in the daily coordination meeting chaired by Vice President (Operations). WATER POLLUTANTS AND TREATMENT MEASURES WASTE WATER TREATMENT: The main pollutants in the effluent discharged are Suspended Solids, B. O. D, and C. O. D etc. The wastewater from the mills is treated in Effluent Treatment Plant consisting of Primary Treatment to remove the suspended solids and Secondary 35 Treatment (Activated Sludge Process) to remove B. O.

D and C. O. D and then treated by Land Treatment process to remove even the Colour of the effluents. SJPML is the only mill discharging effluents upstream and drawing water from down stream. PRIMARY TREATMENT: Wastewater is passed through bar screens and perforated screens to remove any foreign material and pumped to primary clarifiers (2 Nos. ). of each 7500 M3. The settleable solids are removed from the bottom and clarified effluent from the top of the clarifier is taken to Secondary Treatment. SECONDARY TREATMENT (ACTIVATED SLUDGE PROCESS): The effluent from the Primary Treatment is taken to an aeration tank of 25000 M 3 volume.

There are 11 Nos. of mechanical surface aerators, each of 75 HP. Nutrients like Urea and SSP (Single Super Phosphate), are dosed in to the aeration tank as food to the bacteria. From the aeration tank the effluent is taken to the secondary clarifiers (2 Nos. ) of 6000 M3 each. The effluent after Secondary Treatment is pumped to Land Treatment. LAND TREATMENT: It is a well recognized fact that top layer of the soil maintains a Micro Environment within which soil Flora and Fauna decompose varieties of organic matter.

Thus, top layer of soil can be utilized for the treatment of Biodegradable Organic Waste water. Several conventional (natural, physical and biological) treatment processes occur in Land Treatment. Considering such capability of land for treating wastewater, land treatment is well recognized as Living Filter all over the World. As wastewater is discharged on land for treatment, part of it infiltrates down wards and part evaporates and part gets transpired by Plants. The remaining portion gets utilized under the influence of Land as Living Filter.

The removal of constituents from wastewater by filtering and straining action of soil are excellent in this RI system. B. O. D, T. S. S & Faecal Coliform are almost completely removed. It is also observed that the effluents after percolation through land is void of colour. The soil seems to be working as colour removal media which is 36 otherwise prohibitively expensive treatment. This is an additional benefit achieved through Land Treatment. AIR POLLUTION CONTROL MEASURES: In Paper Manufacturing Process steam is required at various stages.

For generating the steam the Mills has installed five Coal Fired Boilers and three Recovery Boilers, where in the black liquor is fired in the furnace to recover and reuse the valuable chemical in the process. The Mill also installed one Rotary Lime Kiln where the lime sludge (CaCO3) is burnt to get burnt lime (CaO) to reuse in the Causticizing Process. ELECTROSTATIC PRECIPITATORS: The emissions from the boilers contain dust particles (Suspended Particulate Matter, SPM) and contain gases like Sulphur dioxide and Hydrogen sulphide etc,.

In order to control the dust particles and gases from the boilers the Mills has installed most modern sophisticated Electro Static Precipitators as Pollution Control Equipments to all the nine stacks. INCINERATION SYSTEM: The Company has taken an altogether different approach to eliminate odour completely and installed “Non-Condensable Gases Handling System” consisting of Collection, Transportation and Incineration of NCG. The system is first of its kind in Pulp and Paper Industry in India to control Odour problem.

Thus the Mill is fully conscious of its social obligations towards the abatement of air pollution and had spent quite a lot of money towards pollution control measures and striving hard and putting all its sincere efforts for minimizing the pollution from the mills. 37 RECOMMENDATIONS OR SUGGESTIONS During my training in SJPML, I have got exposure of so many things related to this field. I am very grateful to SJPML to offer me such an opportunity. I feel that it is my responsibility to recommend some suggestions these will ultimately for the benefit of the company.

Some important recommendation or suggestions are as under:1. SJPML should check its supply & distribution channels. Presently company is selling their product through commission agents network. If company, sell its products through agencies/dealer network, company could get better realisation. 2. SJPML mostly deals in cash payment/advance payment transactions. If the company allows some credit period to the consignor, sales realisation & marketing position of the will automatically improve. 3. Paper manufactured by the company is mainly used by the corrugated units for manufacture of corrugated boxed used for packaging.

Presently improved global market demands corrugation in different colours & different patterns. If the company install such equipment’s through which they can manufacture packing paper in different colours, market position of the company will improve globally. 4. Presently company does not accept any order which is less than 10 M. T. There are many consumers with small-corrugated units in surroundings areas. 38 But due to policy of company they are not able to purchase product of the company. So, it is necessary company should change its policy to enhance its infrastructure. . Presently Company does not have any sales in south region. Company should advertise its product in south region to achieve better orders. 6. Companies Officer should held regular visits to their clients, end user with this they are able to find out any problem prevailing in market. 7. Company should improve its packing section. Presently reels of paper manufactured are packed in Hession cloth(Jute). It is better for the company if they start using plastic cloth for packing of reels which is much cheaper & strong than hession cloth LIMITATIONS:

The extent to which study is reliable, it is important to note the limitations under which the study has been conducted. These limitations are as follows:10. Due to shortage of time it was not possible to cover all the network of the Company. 11. It being my first attempt to undertake such a study, thus inexperience is also a obstacle to accomplish the project in proper way. 12. It is also difficult for me to get information about some other confidential clients of the company. For more Notes, Presentations, Project Reports visit a2zmba. blogspot. com hrmba. blogspot. com mbafin. blogspot. com

Mixed Marriage

Marriage is a compromise at best. However, when you introduce major differences into a marriage such as race, religion or nationality, there are additional problems you may face. Many couples only think about the love they feel for one another until confronted with some of the problems of mixed marriages. Mixed marriages have taken place since the beginning of time. As people explored and traveled, men would fall in love with local women and either stay or take the women back home with them. Marriages of mixed religions, races or cultures have traditionally met with resistance by either party’s family or friends, or by society in general.

However, the term also defines the union of two people from different religious faiths or different nationalities. Couples who choose to enter into a mixed marriage are not immune from problems anywhere. Although some places, such as large cities in the United States, are generally more accepting, smaller towns and other countries may not be so accepting. Fortunately, tolerance and acceptance is becoming more common as laws change and the percentage of mixed marriages rises every year. Other countries have laws that make life nearly impossible for those who marry someone from another country.

For example, Indonesia only recognizes the rights of citizens. If an Indonesian woman marries someone of another nationality, their children are considered citizens of the other country, even if the family lives in Indonesia. Upon the death of the husband, the woman will have to pay fees to sponsor her children, or they will be deported to their father’s country of origin. If the woman were to die in that same scenario, her husband and children would be left homeless, as they would have no rights to any property in her name. They would also be deported without a sponsor.

The problems of mixed marriages include resistance from family, friends and society, as well as individual ideas and expectations within the relationship. Family members may feel as though the person isn’t embracing his culture or religion. They may not understand the other person’s culture. Some family members may disown the person altogether. Fathers have commonly disowned their daughters for marrying outside their race or religion. Friends may have the same issues as family members, and may react by ending the friendship or degrading their friend or her new spouse.

Society may be cruel to the couple. Mean, ignorant comments, dirty looks, discrimination and sometimes physical assaults may be perpetrated by strangers who do not understand or approve of mixed marriages. Friends, family and society in general often have misconceptions of the people entering into a mixed marriage and the problems they may face. One common concern is that the person is losing his identity, culture or heritage. It is possible for both the husband and wife of a mixed marriage to accept, understand and embrace their partner’s differences while maintaining their own.

Partners in a mixed marriage often have to be stronger and more confident within themselves and their partnership than the average couple, due to the additional complications they will likely encounter from family, friends and society. Children are a common concern and source of problems within mixed marriages. Couples with different religious convictions may not agree on which faith to teach their children. The best way to avoid this problem is to discuss it at length before conceiving a child.

Although things may change once the child is born, in-depth discussions and compromises can dispel potential problems. Teaching the children both faiths and letting them decide upon adulthood is a compromise many couples make. Children born of interracial or multinational couples should be taught the culture and heritage of both parents. Making children choose to identify with only part of their background is a recipe for disaster later in life. Society has long used the excuse that opposition to mixed marriages is based on the problems children would have to face because of their parents’ decisions.

However, many notable children born to interracial or international couples have thrived. These people include renowned golfer Tiger Woods, actress Halle Berry and the 44th president of the United States, Barack Obama. The only real way to clear up the problems is to talk about them and come to a sort of understanding about what you will and will not be doing in your life. Sometimes, families just want to hear what the future will bring so that they know what to expect of a relationship. By avoiding the discussion, you might be inadvertently raising their hopes.

Have the conversation that tells family members what you agreed to in your marriage whether they agree or not is not something that you can control, but letting them know the truth is something that they can respect. Or at least, will respect in time. If your interracial marriage is having difficulties, don’t assume that the problem is based because of your racial differences. Here are some coping strategies to help deal with issues that could be hurting your interracial marriage relationship. •Do follow what you feel and truly believe in your hearts. •Do not let what others think about your marriage worry you. Do show mutual respect for one another and for one another’s cultures. If your differences are creating problems for you, brainstorm together for some solutions. •Do remain realistic about your differences and about what you have in common. •Do not ignore your differences thinking that they will just go away. They won’t disappear because you don’t talk about them. •Do work on bringing your families together. •Do not defend your parents if they try to interfere in your marriage. Take a stand together and set boundary. •Do help your children to understand and be proud their mixed racial identity.

Any view of interracial marriages must be taken in light of interracial relationships. In the current global climate, there is both increased tension and greater openness. People are more likely to engage in activities that cross racial and ethnic boundaries. However, there also continues to be prejudice and fear about racial ethnic groups with whom many people have little contact. Nevertheless, when people strive to understand the traditions, values, and beliefs that are endemic to the many groups that make up our global societies, then they will be better able and more inclined to work together for the good of all.