Why Did Men Continue to Fight in Ww1?

Why did men continue to fight in WWI? The Great War was fought between 1914 until 1918. It took the lives of millions of men and it is said to have had horrible conditions, the question still remains. Why did men continue to fight in the Great War? Was it because of their discipline in the army? Did they fight because of their friends in the army? Or were the conditions in the trenches not as bad as people say they were? This essay will argue that, even though all of these reasons were very important, the main reason men continued to fight was army discipline and comradeship.Army discipline was definitely an important factor for why men continued to fight. The army aimed to keep soldiers as disciplined as possible, therefore they made severe punishments for misbehaviour. For example, if soldiers refused to walk through â€Å"no mans land† the punishment would be to be shot by a firing squad, the firing squad would be your own battalion. This would be done to increase the disci pline of the rest of the battalion. They knew that if they were to disobey orders their friends and comrades would shoot them.However, around five million men served in the British army during the war; out of all these men, 3080 men were sentenced to death but only 364 were actually executed. This evidence suggests that perhaps army discipline was not the most important factor, however, 364 men might have scared most men enough to not disobey orders. The conditions of the trenches were said to be horrific and devastating, however the British army had very high standards of cleanliness and they were aware of what the soldiers needed to keep on fighting.They aimed to keep morale as high as possible and therefore provided more than sufficient amount of food, very good medical care, and tried to generally make the soldiers’ living conditions better. Efforts were made to keep the trenches cleaner; for example, rats were a big issue at the beginning of the war but as the war progre ssed, they were quickly eliminated from the trenches. Lice were also a problem so they fumigated, washed and ironed soldiers’ uniforms when they came out of the line. Since soldiers got taken care of, this was definitely one of the reasons they continued to fight, or at least made ighting more bearable. The men who fought in the war would often make friends in their battalions. This would definitely keep the men strong and able to fight. The soldiers did not want to let their friends down, and they all wanted to fight for their fellow soldiers. None of them wanted to die, but it was worst to die alone without their friends. They fought to keep their friends and themselves alive, so they could bear the war in the company of people they cared for. Sometimes, soldiers became such good friends, they went mad if their friend died, or they would continue to see each other after the war.Comradeship was a very important factor that helped them get through the war. You cannot generali ze why men continued to fight. Different men fought for different things. But most men probably fought for various reasons. The fact that the conditions were not so bad probably helped men a lot, as well as being able to fight with their friends. But the fear of death by the hand of their friends was probably what drove most people to keep on fighting in the war. It probably also helped other soldiers encourage their friends to keep on fighting, and therefore army discipline and comradeship are the most important causes.

Supply Chain Management and Zara

Zara Case Analysis Operations Management MBM1110 Table of Contents Executive Summary 3 Introduction 3 Outstanding Operational strategies Layout 4 Forecasting 5 Product life cycle 5 Product Design and Supply Chain Management Marketing 5 Just in time 6 Vertical Integration 6 Incorporation of Bershka Conclusion 7 Bibliography 8 Executive Summary Zara, a flagship chain store of the Inditex group owned by Spanish business tycoon Amancio Ortega is one of the top names in the mid-priced fashion industry. Zara was established in 1975 in Acoruna, Galicia, Spain and has expanded to 1395 stores all across the globe.It is said that Zara, unlike any other retail organization in the clothing industry takes just two weeks to design, develop and get a new product into the stores. However, the retail industry has a six month average to do so. By using its operational strategies in a very successful manner, Zara is able to launch 10,000 new products every year. This report will discuss the operational strategies that Zara uses which works as order winners and order qualifiers. It also discusses the strategies that they use which makes them one of the top names in the fashion industry.Introduction Zara uses very innovative strategies for its business. By doing so, Zara is able to avoid outsourcing its manufacturing proce ss to low cost and developing countries like most of the other companies in the industry. Zara does not even spend a lot of money on marketing, hence increases its profit margin. It however does spend on the layout of its stores. Unlike many of its competitors, Zara is a vertically integrated retailer since it controls most of the step in it supply chain by designing, producing and distributing itself.This unique business model has resulted in the emergence of one of the most successful retailers in the fashion industry. Terry Hill in 1993 came up with the terms ? order qualifiers? and ? order winners? , against which it is believed that manufacturing strategy should be determined (Add Reff. Hill, T. (1993), Manufacturing Strategy: Text and Cases, 2nd ed. , Macmillan Press, London. ). Order Winners are characteristics that serve as a competitive advantage for one firm over others.Order winners enable the customers to choose a particular firms goods and services over the competitors. Order winners in this case for Zara are: y High-end fashion at a reasonable price Even though Zara ¶s products are highly fashionable, they comparatively cost way less compared to other big names in the fashion industry Supply Chain Management y As discussed below in the report, due to Zara ¶s outstanding SCM, it is able to order order the latest in fashion every two weeks for a reasonable price. Thus, are able to offer something to their clients that none of their competitors can.Order qualifiers are the competitive characteristics that a firm must take advantage of in order to be a viable competitor in the market place. To provide order qualifiers, companies need only to be in par with the competitors, however, in order to provide with order winners, companies need to be way better than its competition. Having said that, order qualifiers are in no way less important than the order winners, in fact, they both complement each other. In Zara ¶s case the order qualifiers are: y Quality They offer good quality products at relatively cheaper price compared to the competition.Outstanding Operational strategies While Zara maybe a very successful high end retailer, the main facet of Zara that has got academics buzzing is its completely novel approach to its operations and supply chain for a retailer in high-end fashion. Layout The main intention of a layout strategy is to develop an economically viable layout that will be in line with the company ¶s Competitive requirements (Render & Heizer, 2005). Zara invests a lot in their store layouts to make sure that their store maintains the fresh and trendy look.They have a testing facility close to their head office in Spain, where they test different types of store layouts on a regular basis. Zara remodels each of its stores every five years in order to keep up with the current trends (Zara ¶s Business Model, 2010). The entire layout, including the furniture and the window displays are all designed at the testin g facility in order to maintain a standardized image globally. A flying team from the head office usually flies down to a new location to set up the store. Their motto is that they want the store managers to focus more on sales than anything else.Zara can afford to do this since they do not spend lot advertising and marketing campaigns. Forecasting One of Zara ¶s major competitive advantage over other retailers is it technique of forecasting. Unlike, other retailers, Zara has developed its business model around reacting promptly. Zara focuses heavily on its forecasting effort on the amount and the type of fabric it will purchase. Zara tends to do this since it ¶s usually cheaper to rectify mistakes on raw fabric as compared to a finished product. It also uses the same fabric to produce something else (Render & Heizer, 2005).Zara usually buys un-processed fabric and colors it according to the season based on market ¶s immediate need. By doing that, and by combining it with a hi gh-speed garment design & production process, it ¶s able to the deliver what the market is actually looking for at that time. Product life cycle In a typical Product Life Cycle Curve of the fashion retail industry, sales decreases as products move across the times line. However, Zara ¶s Product Life Cycle Curve is totally the other way round since it is in a high fashion industry and it offers products that are of the latest trends and designs with a life of maximum 5-6 weeks.Product Design and Supply Chain Management The entire process of product design is very unique compared to its competitors. Commercial managers and designers at Zara start working on the design of the fabric, the costs, raw material, selling price etc as soon as they receive the instructions from the Zara stores. Instructions are issued to cut appropriate fabric as soon as approvals are received. All the raw materials are distributed for assembly to a network of small family owned businesses that are mostly in Glacia and in Northern Portugal.Unlike its competitors, Zara ¶s high-tech distribution services system ensures that there is no style lying around at the head office. The finished products are quickly cleared through the distribution centers and are shipped to the stores within 48 hours. Deliveries ¶ are received twice a week by each store. This entire process of product design and supply chain management gives Zara a huge edge over its competitors. Marketing Zara has a very unique approach to marketing compared to the other big players in the industry.Unlike its competition, which spends 3-4 % of total revenues on marketing and advertising campaigns, Zara spends 0. 3%. This is a major competitive advantage over its competitors. Zara strategically locates all of their stores in prime retail districts for  µvisibility marketing ¶. As mentioned earlier about the product development cycles, customers are rendered immune to visit Zara stores very often since new items are st ocked weekly and are often not re-stocked. Zara creates a feeling of scarcity within the customers, and this makes them come back to the store frequently and make purchases.Just in time Just-in-time (JIT) is a strategy that is used for inventory management in such a way that it helps a business improve its return on investment by reducing in-process inventory and the associated carrying costs (Shingo, 1989). Zara follows a true JIT inventory system. Its inventory system is influenced by the pull of the customer instead of a push from the designer. This helps Zara to have a competitive advantage over the competition since it has a very low inventory to sales ratio. Vertical IntegrationZara is a very vertically integrated company by working through the whole value chain and is highly capital intensive. This is a unique model that let the company develop a strong merchandising strategy that led it to create a unique model of fast fashion system (Craig, Jones, & Nieto, 2004). Incorporat ion of Bershka Most big brands in the world regardless of the industry they are in usually have more than one brand name. In the fashion retail industry, Gap Inc. Owns few big names as Gap itself, Old Navy, Club Monaco, etc. It is a strategy used to penetrate different segments of a market and to increase the market share.It also tries to give consumers an impression that different brand names have something different about them. Companies also use the is strategy to create a specific brand for each and every market they try to target. Inditex has also used the strategy of penetrating different segments of the market by creating a different brand name for each segment (Inditex Annual Report, 2008). Inditex owns different brands such as Zara, Massimo Dutti, Pull and Bear and Bershka which tends to cater to different markets. Merging all of these brands or any two brands into one name would not make a lot of business sense for Bershka.The brand Bershka was launched by Inditex in the y ear 1998 with an aim of targeting the young fashion-conscious crowd. Incorporating Bershka into Zara ¶s operations would not be a very good strategic move for Inditex. Bershka currently owns 638 stores in 41 different countries, hence incorporating that in to Zara ¶s operations would raise lot of challenges for Inditex. Since Bershka and Zara both have a very different target market, formulating strategies for both of these firms combined will definitely effect the operations of the company in whole. Both brand names have established different clientele for themselves.Bershka currently targets the young and fashionable and Zara targets the fashionable crowd as well, however it has different demographics for it. Combining these two brands into one will result in loss of loyal customers and might also impact the company negatively. There ¶s no guarantee that Bershka ¶s existing clientele will shift to Zara, in fact they might just end up losing majority of that segment. Zara ¶s market share might increase by a very small percentage; however Bershka might end up losing a major chunk of its current clientele, which in turn will not be good for Inditex in whole. Conclusion Read also: Advantages and Disadvantages of Administrative Management

Effective Technology Support Team Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Effective Technology Support Team - Essay Example The success enjoyed by Davies' team is proof of the fact that he enjoyed a rather effective technology support team. However, as we can see, his team was composed not only of his colleagues, but professors and graduates as well. This fact seems to point out, that for team success, it is not necessary to have a group of geniuses with a plethora of experience. So, what is it that actually determines how successful a team is Apart from having a well-defined objective, it is important for a team to have a clear process through which they will achieve that objective, i.e. the group defines and achieves a continuous series of 'small wins' along the way to a larger goal. In the example above, there were numerous problems the Stanley group faced along the way of the actual execution of the plan (such as the problem of controlling the car in dust and fog). However, the team was prepared for all the challenges they faced. Sure, they didn't have all the possible technologies they might need to get them through, but they had meticulously planned a specific line of action for each problem they might face. (Geoff Koch, former Intel editor, www.intel.com) A team can only flourish when it exists in an easy yet involving environment, in the sense that there is a lot of healthy discussion in which virtually everyone participates, but it limited to the teams' objective. If discussion gets off track, someone (whose role is pre-assigned) brings it back to the task in hand. After listening to each other, members just voice any and all ideas that come to mind. They do net hesitate considering the fact that their creativity may be labeled stupidity. They disagree and criticize each other frequently, but they always scrutinize each others' reason for doing so, so that they might work constructively towards the objective of the team. The purpose is simply not to dominate the dissenter, but to resolve the issue. Conversely, the dissenters don't try to dominate the group; they simple voice a genuine difference of opinion. If there are basic disagreements that can't be immediately resolved, the group figures out a way to live with them without let ting them halt its efforts. A decision is only taken when there is either unanimous or at the very least a general agreement, but never when there was confusion regarding both sides of a choice. (MacGregor D., n.d., The Human Side of Enterprise), (Kaztenbach & Smith, n.d. The Wisdom of Teams) However, this is the scenario where a team has actually been assembled and it sets out to perform the task at hand. But how is that team chosen in the first place, i.e. how does team building actually occur The first question asked about any team member is the level of intelligence. Are their brains capable of computing the amount of data necessary for the task When designing a particular system, there are a million different problems he might face.Will that person be able to address those issues Very simple put, does he have what it takes (patience, experience, judgment, analytical/problem solving capabilities, etc)to handle his job Additionally, it helps if the team members are curious about the things they actually research into. For e.g.

President FDR Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

President FDR - Essay Example This avidly explains the reason for being elected in office for more than two terms, unlike other presidents that preceded him. As a matter of fact, he was often cited to have realigned politics in America through various domestic policies. As such, he was able to redefine liberalism. Change in American politics was realized after 1932 when he was duly elected in office. He is remembered as the president who was optimistic and active as there are several contributions that were appealing to the American society. His tenure in office marked an improvement in the spirit of nationalism as many were proud of the new developments in the country. First, he was the figure behind annihilation of polio. During this time, polio was a scourge in the United States as it affected a large part of the population. However, after his election, he instigated various ways of reducing the effects of polio on the population. This was highly welcome as it was effective. Secondly, he worked with other elec ted officials in the government for the good of the population (Folsom, 2009). For example, he had close working relationship with the prime minister in Britain, Winston Churchill. Similarly, he worked closely with Joseph Stalin, who was the Soviet leader. With such close working relationship, they were able to lead their troops against the Nazi allied Germans and Japan during the Second World War. Similarly, he was able to offer support to Great Britain and china both financially and diplomatically. However, he remained neutral during this time. This is an approach that enhanced the democracy of America as it was seen as a country full of democracy. Though he was providing financial and diplomatic support to the other countries, he was also focused on ensuring the economy was on a developing track. There are various events that serve as a hallmark to the career of Roosevelt as an American president. Apparently, a number of polls have been cited to rank him as the third or second in the greatest American presidents. This shows he was committed to serving the American population through all times while in office. First, he was the person behind expansion of programs that are initiated by the government (Folsom, 2009). This was an initiative that redefined the government’s role in the United States to serve the entire population. For example, this was an initiative that advocated for social programs that are implemented by the government as it was instrumental in enhancing liberalism. This was a hallmark of strengthening the country for the coming generations as it was a benefit to the whole population. Roosevelt was elected in office at the wake of the great depression. This was a hard time for the Americans as they had to contain the harsh economic times. However, with the newly elected president, the American economy was able to contain depression (Greenstein, 2009). Apparently, the great depression was affecting many countries across the globe and it depended on the government officials and presidents to work out a plan to roll out depression. This was well articulated by the incumbent Roosevelt. In combating the great depression, he was able to create a number of programs in the country to help the population that was widely affected. This was done by creating new deal programs that would benefit the people that are worst affected. First, he created the civil

Parents Role Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Parents Role - Essay Example Considerable financial investments frequently match this poignant investment. Coaching, travel, equipments, facilities, etc. augment the price tag for sport involvement and parents raised up the tab. While we distinguish the prospective influence of parental involvement, we know little concerning how young athletes distinguish parental investment and support (White, S. A., & Duda, J. L. 1994). Nor do we recognize the prospective influence of parents on the psychosomatic variables of motivation and anxiety. Newsham & Murphey (1999) asserted that "the main purpose of sport is to create an opportunity for fun and growth. All the triumphs and heartaches that are inherent in sport can provide learning experiences and lessons that help pave the road to adulthood." http://www.coloradoperformance.org/psych.htm Basically, there are two dilemmas for girls and parents of elite gymnasts. Opportunities are not enthusiastically available, and parents, particularly fathers, do not keenly support their daughters to join in athletics. This is not, inevitably, a conscious omission, but one that is a product of society. Daughters do not have the similar openings in youth leagues their fathers had. Miller Lite and the Women's Sports Foundation (1985) carried out a poll and in which questions asked was, "In your opinion, which of the following are the biggest barriers to increased participation by women in sports and fitness" The random sample of more than seven thousand respondents claimed, as their number one answer, "Lack of involvement and training as children. This poll showed that more than thirty percent of the respondents did not participate on pre high school athletic teams. "The Wilson Report: Moms, Dads, Daughters and Sports" (1988) confirmed the Miller Lite findings. In a random telephone survey of more than thousand mothers and fathers, and 513 of their seven to eighteen-year-old daughters, only 35 percent of daughters seven to ten years of age and 28 percent of daughters eleven to fourteen years of age became associated in athletics through community organizations; 24 percent of seven to ten year olds and 18 percent of eleven to fourteen-year-olds become concerned through private organizations; and just 6 percent of seven to ten-year-olds and 11 percent of eleven to fourteen-year-olds participated through their church organization. Though, other resources show an increase statistics; yet, it is still inadequate. According to the 1993 "Miller Lite Report on Sports and Fitness in the Lives of Working Women," prior to the passage of Title IX in 1972, only fifty percent of all girls take part in sports; above sixty percent took part after the passage of the law. It is also found that participation in organized youth sport programs is an accepted part of childhood development in the United States to greater extent in comparison with Britain (Coakley, 1998) and has the potential to have an enormous influence on the self-concept of children (Smith & Smoll, 1990). Coaches' parched parents mostly influence whether the female sport experience is optimistic (Sabo, D. 1988). Over the past thirty years several findings have been reported concerning adolescent athletes motives to participate or end involvement in youth sports. (Harris, D.V. 1979, Gill, D.L., Gross, J. B., & Huddleston, S.

Business culture Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Business culture - Research Paper Example USA and South Korea have maintained a very strong and supportive relation among each other since 1960. The multicultural relation among these two countries has started since the Korean War during the early fifties. During the Korean War US played a very vital role towards South Korea to give them the financial and political support towards the establishment of new developed nation. Since then South Korea has grown fast and it has reduced its dependency upon the United States of America. United States is one of the largest oversees trading partners of South Korea, In 1998 due to the dictatorship of the ruling party United Democratic Front and Combined Force Command (CFC), the relation among US and South Korea has faced some frictions which made South Korea to divert their way from US. However, in 2007 June South Korea and United States of America have signed a free trade agreement (FTA) which helped them to sustain the positive trade relation among the two countries. Business relation has become very strong among these two countries but if the focus is given thoroughly towards the nature of doing business and the socio-cultural differences between these two countries then, it can be seen that, the way of doing business in each of these countries are totally different. It is very important to understand the socio-economic structure of any country to do business or to set up a new industry. South Korea’s business culture is very much different than the US. South Korea is the fourth largest developed economy among the Asian countries, but it would be a big mistake to presume what worked for Japan, China or any other Asian Countries are same for South Korea. In other hand United Sates of American (USA) is a mixture of many races, cultures and religions, it is the best known cosmopolitan country in the world. The free mind and mixed cultural balance have made USA the powerful business

Literature Review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Literature Review - Essay Example The public sector commercial banks are again divided into three groups – the State Bank group, other nationalized banks and the regional rural banks. As competition in the Indian banking sector has increased due to deregulation and dilution of government ownership in PSBs, opening up of the banking sector to the private banks and foreign banks, competition has intensified. The banking sector is no more limited to accepting deposits from the public and giving out to loans to public. They now provide innovative service with innovative style. ATMs, credit cards and internet banking have changed the way banks offer services. Banks have added other services such as bankassurances, money transfers, and NRI services (Mittal & Mittal, 2009) The marketing of services is different from marketing of products because services are intangible, heterogeneous, perishable and inseparable. Services cannot be patented, displayed or communicated (Zeithami & Bitner, 2000). Customer satisfaction in the services industry depends on employees’ actions (Douglas & Connor, 2003). How the service is delivered and how the service delivery process is perceived, holds importance in services marketing. The physical evidence in the service setting is extremely important, as according to Kotler, the place where service is bought is one of the most significant features (Hightower, Brady and Baker, 2002). Hence, intangible cues like the physical environment, the design, the landscape, the surroundings, the layout, the dà ©cor and the parking facilities – all create an impression on the five senses and determine how the service is perceived (Brunswick, n.d). In a bank setting, these act as interaction facilitator, thereby increasing performance. Thus, in services marketing the 4 Ps extend to seven Ps to include people, process and the physical evidence. When the service exceeds customer expectations,