Essay Topics on Sustainability

Essay Topics on SustainabilityEssay topics on sustainability are not as rare as you might think. You can find a great number of resources that provide information on the topic, from online to the many literature and journals available in any library. Some of these resources are free and others cost you money. To choose a sustainable topic for your essay, there are a few important things to consider.The first thing to keep in mind is whether the essay will be intended for a classroom setting or for an advanced reader. Most people who write essays are required to do them for college credit. If you have chosen a sustainable topic for the course, then you will want to avoid any use of the term 'sustainability' in the content.Essays are a great way to connect with other students who study the same subject matter. In this case, you may find yourself sharing some views on the topic, which may be common among a group of students. Of course, the majority of all essays are written for teachers ' use. That does not mean that writing an essay about sustainability can go bad if a student is not clear on what the topic means to him or her. A balanced approach to the subject is a good idea.Environmental issues are generally considered to be large-scale problems, but they are often global in nature. That means that the solution is available across the globe, so environmental problems do not have to be local problems. Students need to be able to communicate this point and other environmental concerns in the essay. Of course, the environment itself must be addressed, but some environmental issues can be addressed from a perspective that is local. So, the focus should be on having a global perspective on the essay topic.Students will also need to understand that environmental issues are also international in nature. Since so many people are affected by the same environmental issues in different parts of the world, they need to work together to help deal with the environmental issu es in one part of the world and solve environmental problems in another part of the world. They also need to have ideas on how the world would be different if they could change their lifestyles and consume less than they currently do.Essay topics on sustainability usually involve a topic that is connected to the society as a whole. Of course, the benefits are directly tied to those in the present, but the future will include the effects of environmental changes. This is true of almost every aspect of the world, and a writer will need to communicate this to the reader. For example, global warming has a variety of causes, but the effects are global.In addition, a student needs to be careful to choose an essay topic that is relevant to the overall perspective. So, if an environmental impact is specific to a particular location, he or she needs to be careful to choose a topic that pertains to that particular place. The essay topics on sustainability usually discuss global issues that af fect everyone.These are the three key areas to consider when writing essay topics on sustainability. Other considerations include whether the topic will be a short one or a long one. Some students choose to work on one essay topic for several years before they finish it. A short essay may be finished in only a day, while a long essay may be finished in a couple of months.

Evaluation Of My Second Critique - 753 Words

For my second critique, I will be writing about a production that was not a play or musical (therefore, my third critique will be on a play/musical). The production that I have chosen to write about for my second critique was performed at my former high school, Tallulah Falls School. At my high school, a whole week is dedicated to recognize our international students and the nations from which they come from. During this time, international students teach the American students about their culture and customs. On the final day, the international students give demonstrations that help continue our education about their homes. This was always one of my favorite events to attend while a student at Tallulah Falls School. Luckily, several close†¦show more content†¦A lot of stepping was involved as was the use of clapping. There was also a significant amount of jumping. The dance felt both rustic and lively overall. Japan s performance, on the other hand, was more of a slow paced routine. However, this did not make Japan s performance any less entertaining. The four young women came out wearing what appeared to be shortened kimonos and traditional fans in their hands. They stood in a line with one behind the other. Once the music commenced, their arms extended out towards the audience. The Japanese students began to execute a mesmerizing dance. The long sleeves on their kimonos made them seem as though they were not spinning or waving, but flying. At other times it made it look as if they were moving in slow motion. Their fans only added to this effect. They were also able to slide around in between each other with brilliant ease. Also, I enjoyed the music of Japan s performance; the dancers danced to a Japanese Enka (folk) song. This only reinforced tone and traditional feel to the piece. South Korea’s performance began the performance with one of the Koreans singing a traditional Korean song. The song was slow, sentimental, and heartfelt. By the end of the song, some audience members had tears in their eyes. A few moments after the song concluded, approximately eight Korean female students walked onto the stage in modern dress—a stark contrast to the traditional

Causes and Contributing Factors of Standardized Testing - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 3 Words: 1038 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2019/06/24 Category Management Essay Level High school Tags: Standardized Testing Essay Did you like this example? Standardized test taking has become the norm in the education system. In the 20th century, standardized tests were invented to improve schools, teacher practices, and educational methods. Unfortunately, it has contributed to severe dilemmas in the students education process. Standardized testing is a cause of limited student learning, biased teaching, and a contributing cause to the diminishing health of students. Standardized testing is the cause of limited student learning. The tests given only explore cognitive abilities, neglecting the other qualities that are essential to the student. Research proves that GED recipients score about the same as traditional high school students on the standardized test. While they are alike in that they generally obtain the same score, they also differ. GED recipients often lack basic qualities, such as curiosity and perseverance (How Standardized Tests Shape and Limit Student Learning). English and language arts (ELA) teachers could help students develop these non-cognitive skills that are essential to the learning process if they werent mandated to focus so largely on testing drills. Instead, teachers are forced to limit opportunities, eliminating the curiosity developmental aspect. They also have to cut back on large scale projects, which help to develop perseverance (How Standardized Tests Shape and Limit Student Learning). According to a report publish ed in 2013 by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), students can spend over 110 hours per year doing test prep and as many as 50 hours per year taking the test themselves. This means children dedicate roughly 15% of instructional time on preparing for and taking the standardized test (The Case Against Standardized Testing). Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Causes and Contributing Factors of Standardized Testing" essay for you Create order Standardized testing is the cause of biased teaching. Standardized testing has become the single and most important indicator of a schools performance. Unfortunately, quality in the public school classroom correlates with high test scores and what determines a good teacher is his or her ability to raise the scores of students taking the standardized test. A writer for the New York Times and high school English teacher, Mercedes Schneider, proves this to be true. She admits to being fearful of losing her job as a teacher if she didnt conform to the guidelines concerning the time being dedicated to standardized testing. At the end of the school year she was evaluated by a school administrator. The evaluation is based on two things: classroom observation and the results of her students testing scores. Although the evaluation is supposed to be equally based on those two aspects, poor student testing performance can and will override a positive administration observation, resulting in the teachers termination (Schneider). Standardized testing is a contributing cause to the diminishing health of students. Researchers discovered that elementary school students experience greater test anxiety on a standardized test in comparison to the regular classroom test. They hypothesized that one of the contributing factors may be the amount of emphasis educators put on the importance of doing well on these tests (Segool et. al). Although low scores come with consequences for the student, the majority of children feel pressured and stressed because they are aware that the score they receive will impact their teachers and administrators. A study of childrensperception of standardized test taking was conducted in 2012. It showed that even students in third grade understand the consequences of receiving a low grade on the standardized test (Dutro and Selland). A survey conducted by the Northwest Evaluation Association in 2014 reported that 55% of students believed that the purpose of standardized tests was to evaluate their schools (10). Elementary school students in El Paso, Texas were asked what, and if any, fears they had surrounding the standardized test. One student stated, Your teacher will feel bad because you didnt try. She gets paid for teaching you. She wants her boss to see what a good teacher she is but if you dont try, her boss wont know what a good teacher she is, (Strauss). The answer given by that student also shows that the consequences faced by educators and administration members directly and negatively affect the student. Prior to the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) act, a plethora of professionals that directly deal with children on a regular basis (child psychiatrists, teachers, and pediatricians), signed a statement that advised against additional standardized testing that NCLB would require (Rethink High-Stakes Testing). The statement claimed that requiring more testing would negatively impact students health. A school nurse and former board member of the National Association of School Nurses, took notice to this immediately. After NCLB was implemented and the additional testing began, she witnessed an unusual increase of students who came to her with symptoms that align with anxiety. The symptoms cited included headaches, insomnia, depression, vomiting, and poor attendance (Rethink High-Stakes Testing). There is evidence to prove that stress-related issues experienced by students are not getting better but unfortunately worsening. The New York State School Board Association reported that 61% of respo nding school psychologists in New York claim that since Common Core standards wereintegrated, the levels of test anxiety has risen drastically (Heiser et. al). A pediatrician in Florida stated that she experienced an increase of patients with stress-related issues around the time of testing. She believes the impact of standardized testing has worsened within the past 20 years specifically, in the past five to eight years (Thompson) which suggests that additional testing was the cause of this. A director of testing and accountability in North Carolina reported to the American School Board Journal that, administrators discard as many as 20 exam books a day because children vomit on them, (Toppo). In fact, vomiting during testing is so common that teachers and administrators are given guidelines on what to do in the event a student vomits on their test and/or answer sheet. The test coordinator provided by the Partnership for Assessment and Readiness for College Careers (PARCC) proves t his. The teachers are instructed to, put the soiled test into a resealable, plastic bag and if possible, transcribe the responses into a replacement document, (Archived Testing Manuals). Although standardized testing is beneficial for gathering information to better assess schools in America, the students are suffering for it. Research proves and will continue to prove that standardized testing is a cause of limited student learning, biased teaching, and a contributing cause to the diminishing health of students.

Enabling and Assessing Learning. Essay - 1384 Words

Enabling and Assessing Learning. In this assignment I will be exploring a range of concepts, principles and theories of learning and assessment that apply to FE and the lifelong learning sector. I will apply these concepts, principles and theories to review the learning of my own students in my specialist area and how to respond to learning needs. There are a number of theories and concepts of learning which have been identified by a number of theorists. The four main theories are Humanism, Behaviourism, Cognitivism and Experiential Learning. Beyond these are a range of other theories and concepts that apply to FE. Learning theories not only explore how people learn but how different people of different ages respond in different ways†¦show more content†¦Reactions can be measured in many ways whether it is through observation or assessment. Beyond behaviourism we can also explore the theory of cognitivism, this is based on the way learners organise their knowledge and patterns of thinking. Many theorists have explored cognitivism including Piaget, Vygotsky, Bruner and Mezirow. Piaget and Vygotsky based their findings on children while Mezirow concentrated on the study of adult learning. Cognitivist learning forms a social pattern and can work best in group based learning. Piaget and Vygotsky found that as children develop their ability to re-organise their knowledge grew and worked by listening and imitating others. Vygotsky is renowned for his Zone of Potential Development (ZPD) which demonstrates where the learner is at and where the teacher wants the learner to be. Cognitivism advances from behaviourism which is vague and applies only Andragogy learning processes. The Cognitive theorists argue that thinking is central to the learning process; it is much more than the modification of behaviour through positive reinforcement. They suggest that a learner must gain progressively more and newer knowledge, while at the same time, discarding old knowledge that no longer fits in their new understanding of the subject. I have found with my learners that cognitivism is demonstrated in their learning process. As learners move for instance from level 1 to level 2 they will discard orShow MoreRelatedEnabling and Assessing Learning2370 Words   |  10 PagesASSIGNMENT TWO ENABLING AND ASSESSING LEARNING Introduction The assessment process in a teaching environment is a necessary requirement to enable you to be able to measure a student’s knowledge and understanding. Assessments come in many different forms and use many different methods, each are important in obtaining an outcome to which the tutor can obtain positive outcomes. Gravells (2008) suggests that assessment is a process of determining if learning has taken placeRead MoreMethods in Performing Assessment962 Words   |  4 Pagesa sample of the abilities that are required in the curriculum† (Ian Reece, 2007, teaching, training and learning) Fairness: Fairness censures that everyone has an equal chance of getting a good assessment. â€Å"All learners are entitled to a fair assessment and should be given the best opportunity to demonstrate their ability† (Ann Gravels, 2008, preparing to teach in the lifelong learning sector) Authenticity: The work produced by learner in practical life. Currency: The work is still relevantRead MoreRole of Teacher1175 Words   |  5 Pagesteacher/trainer explaining its responsibilities (including the promotion of equality and valuing diversity) and limits. A/1.2 A/1.3 A/1.4 There are 5 stages to the teaching Learning Cycle. Enabling Learning Planning Learning Assessing Learning Quality assurance amp; evaluation Identifying Learning The learning cycle can start and finish anywhere on the cycle. There is no start and finish point. Identifying needs Before the students start the course a lot of pre assessment work canRead MoreEducational Assessment At Metro Academic And Classical Academy1142 Words   |  5 Pageslearn. Assessing student mastery and progress provides educators critical information needed to tailor instruction as a means of ensuring that all we do is rooted in our vision of ensuring a world-class education preparing students to be life-long learners and successful in an ever changing global community. Educational assessment at Metro Academic and Classical Academy is grounded in the following principles and values: 1. The purpose of assessment is to drive instruction and student learning. 2Read MoreExplain How to Plan Essay1008 Words   |  5 PagesUnderstanding the Principles and Practices of Assessment Q1 - Explain the Function of assessment in learning and development The assessment cycle continues until all aspects of the qualification have been achieved by the learner:- Initial assessment – Prior knowledge of the subject to determine teaching style. Assessment planning – agree what types and methods of assessments are to take place Assessment Activity – what methods, e.g. observational/ assignments/ questioning Assessment decisionsRead MoreTeaching Assistant Level 3 Assignment 11667 Words   |  7 Pagesto work together to achieve the best learning result. Lesson plans and structures will be implemented and will be catered for each learner; they will include teaching methods and techniques, assessments and targets. Teachers have policies, procedures and regulations to adhere to and within organisations will have to take into consideration budgets and resources. As a teaching assistant it is my responsibility to support the teacher in the planning of learning activities according to the relevantRead MoreEnabling Learning Through Assessment1705 Words   |  7 Pages3D Enabling Learning Through Assessment Part A Learning is something that everybody does, be it in the classroom or outside of it. Learning is an active ‘meaning-making process. Only information that has been structured and organised by the learner can pass into the long-term memory and then be used in real life. In order to achieve goals and progress in life we need to learn, be it every day survival skills or acquiring academic knowledge. To determine how much we already know or to determineRead MoreUsing Group Activities As Formative Assessment Essay1474 Words   |  6 Pageseducational system is characterized by an increase demand for accountability and high-stakes testing. The demand for such accountability and testing is demonstrated in the quest for the use of summative assessments that provide a summary of the learning progress of students. Generally, the push for increased accountability and high-stakes testing has contributed to the use of different kinds of assessments that are administered at the state, distr ict, school, and national levels. The use of theseRead More7.0School Assessment Process. School Assessment Process1451 Words   |  6 Pagesimportant for all schools to follow the Assessment Principles. According to the personal communications with Bindi (2017) at the beginning of each school year the assessment results from the previous year are used to place students into appropriate learning groups and plan what to teach. Bindi also noted that she tries not to assess to regularly as she finds it difficult to get accurate results within her classroom. Bindi (2017) stated that she integrates both formative and summative assessment intoRead MoreAlternative Main Post Option For Risk Management1168 Words   |  5 Pagesthe organization to resolve this vulnerability â€Å"So much depends on accurate valuations of assets and intangibles—such as customer goodwill, that it is essential to have accurate estimates or you risk skewing security resources to the wrong assets. Assessing threats and appropriate countermeasures is a key component of the asset protection life cycle. By understanding the risks associated with each asset, the value of each asset, and the cost of protecting the asset, organizations can make rational and

Catching Dreams Essay Example For Students

Catching Dreams Essay Dreams are a window into the mind. These may be our most elaborate, distinctive, revealing, and flamboyant creations; they have fascinated us for thousands of years. The Egyptians built temples for dreaming. The oracles of Greece pondered cryptic dreams as the â€Å"royal road to the unconscious.† Dreams allow us to view beyond that which we are and know in daily life; they hint of other dimensions of space and time. What do dreams really mean? Are they mirrors of your days, tunnels into pauses of the unconscious, or no more than the chance results of biological changes in the brain? No one knows the complete answer yet, but dream researchers are learning more and more about the reasons why we tell ourselves stories as we sleep, and how these tales reflect and relate to waking life. Dreaming is a product of the brain and its activity. Whether a person is awake or asleep, the brain continuously gives off electrical waves that can be measured by an electroencephalograph. At most times during sleep, the brain waves are large and slow. But at certain times, they become smaller and faster. During periods of fast brain waves, the eyes move more rapidly–this is known as Rapid Eye Movement, or REM sleep. Most dreams occur in REM sleep. During REM sleep, the pathways that carry the nerve impulses from the brain to the muscles are blocked. Therefore, the body does not move much during dreams.Actually, it has been said that the body lies completely still during REM sleep. Also, the cerebral cortex (the part of the brain involved in higher mental functions) is much more active during REM seep than during non-dreaming sleep. The reports of the dreams that fill our nights become more interesting and intriguing as days go by, but they sidestep a very fundamental question: Why are we dreaming at all?Traditional psychologists and psychiatrists may say that dreams are the arena in which we parade and encounter fears and wishes banished from daytime thoughts. But two Harvard psychiatrists, J. Allen Hobson, M.D., and Robert McCarley, M.D., believe that dreams are caused by stimulation of the brain, and that neurons and neurotransmitters, not buried memories and pains, are the â€Å"stuff† of which dreams are made of. But out of all theories before his own, and of all these theories thought today, Sigmund Freuds is the one that stands out the most. He believed that a dream represented an ongoing wish along with the previous days activities.They may even portray wishes that have been inside us since early childhood. In fact, he believed, every dream is partially motivated by a childhood wish. Another interesting idea was that nothing is fabricated during a dream and that they are biologically determined, derived completely from instinctual needs and personal experiences. Another psychologist whose theories never went unnoticed and did, as well, stir many opinions in the Dream field was Carl Jung. Jung disagreed with Freuds theories stating that the most effective method of dream interpretation was the use of series correlation. Series correlation is a process involving the analysis of dreams over a period of time. Jung suggested taking similar dreams and mounting them together to form a bigger dream in which then you begin to correlate any waking experiences with the images in your dreams.Like Freud, Jung categorized the mind into three parts: the collective unconscious, the personal unconscious, and the conscious. However, putting aside Freud and Jung, Hobos and McCarley beliefs on dreams are a bit different. According to the Harvard psychiatrists, dreams may be nothing more than the thinking brain’s effort to make sense of confusing signals from the brain regions involved in REM sleep. They view dreams as the psychological accompaniment of biological and chemical changes in the brain stem. .ubd7b2c171e609133a88f89cdaa6359cd , .ubd7b2c171e609133a88f89cdaa6359cd .postImageUrl , .ubd7b2c171e609133a88f89cdaa6359cd .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ubd7b2c171e609133a88f89cdaa6359cd , .ubd7b2c171e609133a88f89cdaa6359cd:hover , .ubd7b2c171e609133a88f89cdaa6359cd:visited , .ubd7b2c171e609133a88f89cdaa6359cd:active { border:0!important; } .ubd7b2c171e609133a88f89cdaa6359cd .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ubd7b2c171e609133a88f89cdaa6359cd { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ubd7b2c171e609133a88f89cdaa6359cd:active , .ubd7b2c171e609133a88f89cdaa6359cd:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ubd7b2c171e609133a88f89cdaa6359cd .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ubd7b2c171e609133a88f89cdaa6359cd .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ubd7b2c171e609133a88f89cdaa6359cd .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ubd7b2c171e609133a88f89cdaa6359cd .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ubd7b2c171e609133a88f89cdaa6359cd:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ubd7b2c171e609133a88f89cdaa6359cd .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ubd7b2c171e609133a88f89cdaa6359cd .ubd7b2c171e609133a88f89cdaa6359cd-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ubd7b2c171e609133a88f89cdaa6359cd:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: My Final Exam Story EssayMany believe that dreams are a way to get in touch with who we are and why we are here. They can give us answers to questions and solutions to problems. Dreams make us aware of underlying feelings and situations. But despite all these different thoughts and views on dreaming, there is still no proven fact on WHY we dream which is why there are so many opposing views on the topic. Whichever theory is true, we may never know, but from all the thoughts and ideas previously mentioned we can begin to decide for ourselves what we believe to be true and further help us into understanding our dreams.

Best Quotes About Friendship From the Greatest Thinkers

Best Quotes About Friendship From the Greatest Thinkers What is friendship? How many types of friendship can we recognize, and in what degree shall we seek each of them? Many of the greatest philosophers in both ancient and modern times have addressed those questions and neighboring ones. Ancient Philosophers on Friendship   Friendship played a central role in ancient ethics and political philosophy. The following are quotes on the topic from some of the most notable thinkers from ancient Greece and Italy. Aristotle aka AristotelÄ“s NÄ «komakhou kai Phaistidos StageiritÄ“s (384–322 B.C.): In books eight and nine of the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle divided friendship into three types: Friends for pleasure: Social bonds that are established to enjoy one’s spare time, such as friends for sports or hobbies, friends for dining, or for parties.Friends for benefit: All bonds for which cultivation is primarily motivated by work-related reasons or by civic duties, such as being friends with your colleagues and neighbors.True friends: True friendship and true friends are what Aristotle explains are mirrors to each other and a single soul dwelling in two bodies. In poverty and other misfortunes of life, true friends are a sure refuge. The young they keep out of mischief; to the old, they are a comfort and aid in their weakness, and those in the prime of life, they incite to noble deeds. St. Augustine aka Saint Augustine of Hippo (354–430 A.D.): I want my friend to miss me as long as I miss him.   Cicero aka Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 B.C.): A friend is, as it were, a second self. Epicurus (341–270 B.C.):  Ã¢â‚¬Å"It is not so much our friends help that helps us as it is, as the confidence of their help.† Euripides (c.484–c.406 B.C.):  Friends show their love in times of trouble, not in happiness. and Life has no blessing like a prudent friend.   Lucretius aka Titus Lucretius  Carus (c.94–c.55 B.C.):  We are each of us angels with only one wing, and we can only fly by embracing one another. Plautus aka Titus Maccius Plautus (c.254–c.184 B.C.):  Nothing but heaven itself is better than a friend who is really a friend. Plutarch aka Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus (c.45–c.120 A.D.):  I dont need a friend who changes when I change and who nods when I nod; my shadow does that much better.   Pythagoras aka Pythagoras of Samos (c.570–c.490 B.C.): Friends are as companions on a journey, who ought to aid each other to persevere in the road to a happier life. Seneca aka Seneca the Younger or Lucius Annaeus Seneca (c.4 B.C.–65 A.D.:  Friendship always benefits; love sometimes injures. Zeno aka Zeno of Elea (c.490–c.430 BC):  A friend is another self. Modern and Contemporary Philosophy on Friendship   In modern and contemporary philosophy, friendship loses the central role it had played once upon a time. Largely, we may speculate this to be related to the emergence of new forms of social aggregations.  Nonetheless, it is easy to find some good quotes. Francis Bacon (1561–1626): Without friends the world is but a wilderness. There is no man that imparteth his joys to his friend, but he joyeth the more; and no man that imparteth his griefs to his friend, but he grieveth the less. William James (1842–1910):  Human beings are born into this little span of life of which the best thing is its friendship and intimacies, and soon their places will know them no more, and yet they leave their friendships and intimacies with no cultivation, to grow as they will by the roadside, expecting them to keep by force of inertia.   Jean de La Fontaine (1621–1695):  Friendship is the shadow of the evening, which strengthens with the setting sun of life. Clive Staples Lewis (1898–1963):  Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival. George Santayana (1863–1952):  Friendship is almost always the union of a part of one mind with the part of another; people are friends in spots. Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862):  The language of friendship is not words, but meanings.

Supply Chain Automotive Industry Essay Example

Supply Chain Automotive Industry Essay Example Supply Chain Automotive Industry Paper Supply Chain Automotive Industry Paper Abstract While sometimes characterized as â€Å"stable† the World automotive industry continues to experience dynamic change- change that sweeps across national borders. These changes have struck in particular, the U. S and the Japanese automotive industries. To succeed, auto manufacturers must manage large and complex supply chains, spanning many geographic regions, and pursue opportunities in diverse national markets. While national policies play an important role in shaping the environment for local manufacturing operations and resulting products, cost competition increasingly drives the industry toward global product offerings. This report explores several important dimensions of the forces of change facing the U. S. and the Japanese auto industry. We will present a comparison between the Asian and North American automobile manufacturing practices and in particular, the two companies, Ford and Honda Motors. A comparison will be made between the two markets on how each handles product varieties, their delivery methods from the factory to consumers, as well as the markets channels used. A comprehensive study is made to compare the automobile product varieties in the two regions and explain how customer choices and the effect of competition have led to this diversification in the products. The importance of marketing channels has gone largely unnoticed. For this purpose, marketing channel strategies will be discussed in detail. The relationships among suppliers, customers and logistics service providers will also be analyzed, in other words, the sourcing and the in-bound supply strategies. North America Asian ? Ford Motors â€Å"Ford Taurus† ?Honda Motor â€Å"Honda Accord† Table 1: North American and Asian automakers to be analyzed in this project These two models have been chosen based on the annual report posted at the corporate sites for both companies. Honda Corporate site shows that Honda Accord achieved its highest sales recently. The choice of Ford Taurus comes from the many similarities it has with Honda Accord concerning its size, price and de mands. iii 1. Introduction U. S. Sales of Honda Automobiles (by Model) Worldwide vehicle production ability is growing today more rapidly than it has in the last 20 or 30 years, and this has interesting implications for the world’s auto makers. Clearly most automobile manufacturers are very optimistic about the willingness of consumers to buy up this capacity. While environmental issues exist, they are not being factored into investment decisions about increases in car production capacity. At present, the world has the capability of producing 15 to 20 million more vehicles than it is currently buying. The last four years have been extraordinary for U. S. auto companies, earning them every year between 13 and 14 billion dollars. This is not bad financial performance for an industry that was viewed as dead in 1990, when both GM and Chrysler were on the verge of filing bankruptcy. This year again will be an outstanding year both for Ford and GM. In examining how the Japanese and U. S. auto industries have changed and adjusted to adversity, we find that the turnaround of the Japanese industry has had more to do with the value of the currency than it has had to do with fundamental change for several companies. While Japanese automobile companies have suffered fairly staggering losses over the last few years, both 2001 and 2002 showed improvement because of the stronger dollar. What happened to Japanese manufacturers during the bubble economy? First, all had huge, very unrealistic expectations about where the Japanese market was going. Japan is as saturated with motor vehicles as the United States, and yet during the last few years virtually every Japanese automaker built another factory to expand capacity and maintain market share. Companies rationalized this massive increase in capacity by believing that somehow their company’s market share would grow and another company’s market share would shrink. But that theory works only if there are other companies around willing to give up market share. This, of course, is no longer the case; the world has changed and it has changed very dramatically. ?1 In the case of the U. S. industry, however, substantial fundamental changes have occurred within the automobile companies themselves, allowing them to reduce excess capacity and in the process adjust their break-even points. Over the last decade and a half, for example, Ford has closed enough capacity and start to invade the Japanese markets. In terms of productivity in the factory, Japanese also have benefited from very close relationships with suppliers. In fact, they were able to get new cars on the market every four years, mainly because their suppliers were linked to the automobile company in familial relationships that entrusted the supplier to do a great deal of the engineering work for the manufacturer. In effect, the Japanese shifted a lot of their fixed costs onto their suppliers and became variable cost assemblers. That has been hard to replicate outside Japan because U. S. automobile companies were very highly vertically integrated. But companies such as GM and Ford are no longer as vertically integrated. The company is getting rid of this business, pushing the engineering responsibilities onto their suppliers. In sum, supplier relationships in the United States are firming up and look very much like the structure in Japan. Parts manufacturers now have specific expertise and technical capability to absorb engineering work from the auto companies. As a result, companies are now looking to five-year product cycles. Suddenly what factors things that have distinguished Japanese auto manufacturers in the past and enabled them to gain market share are being matched by U. S. and European companies. So what constitutes competitive advantage? For a long time the Japanese were able to offset their excess capacity at home with higher exports throughout the world but that export potential is no longer there, especially with regard to the developed markets of North America and Western Europe. And in most markets of the developing world, the growth of home auto industries has hampered the ability of Japanese manufacturers to shift surplus capacity away from Japan. Even though exports are up substantially this year because of the weak yen, they are no where near the levels of a few years ago and certainly not high enough to absorb the excess capacity. Another trend influencing the automotive industry is consumer preference for certain features. Consumers are choosing safety (e. g. , airbags, antilock brake systems) with amenities (e. g. air conditioners, powerful engines, power steering, and compact disc players) over vehicles whose primary appeal is size and interior space. Factors influencing customer choices are performance, suitability to personal needs, and family lifestyle, safety, comfort, and appearance. Consumers are showing a taste for the practical, as embodied in the Toyota Camry and the Ford Taurus, both top sellers in the medium price range. Japanese automaker s, however, have 2 increased market share in the United States through new â€Å"luxury† nameplates: Lexus, Infiniti, and Acura. In addition, previously â€Å"compact† models such as Toyota’s Camry and Honda’s Accord have become larger and more luxurious. One of the most critical issues for the automotive industry today is competitiveness in cost, quality, and product offerings. Companies cannot survive in today’s market if they neglect any of these areas. Since that time, differences between the United States and Japan in productivity and quality have shrunk and effectively disappeared in new product development lead time, pointing to a dramatic overall improvement in the competitive position. Trends in the practices of the foreign competitors show an important part of the overall picture. Japanese trends show a strong emphasis on total product quality (e. g. , Honda, Infiniti), perhaps at the expense of lead time and development productivity (total engineering hours per development project). However, in part because of the rise in the value of the yen, the pendulum between â€Å"cost is no object† quality and cost-effectiveness is rapidly swinging toward the latter. Nevertheless, the Japanese demonstrate a strong command of the link between product design and lean production. The automobile is one of the most complex consumer products in existence. The automotive manufacturing process serves as the â€Å"moment of truth† for the entire design, development, supply chain, and manufacturing process. If the parts do not fit when the manufacturer attempts to put them together, the system has a defect that must be tracked down and eliminated. Thus, auto companies focus a great deal of attention on understanding and improving the manufacturing process. Across the world auto industry, the differences in regional averages in quality, productivity, and diversity are declining. Within regions, however, the variance in performance is high, with large gaps between the best and worst plants. Quality performance trends are similar to those for productivity. Much of the quality gap between Japanese companies and their American and European competitors has been closed. However, the variation among plants in each regional group is large. The greatest improvement is shown by European plants and by Ford plants in North America. While this improvement closed much of the quality gap with Japanese competitors, Japanese plants improved in Japan and in North America. The North American transplants have eliminated any gap in quality performance with their sister plants in Japan. As far as talking about the flexibility in manufacturing, the strategic advantages (the ability to assemble multiple product lines in a single plant) have been widely discussed over the past 3 decade. Companies that are able to produce a variety of products in their manufacturing plants have a number of advantages. Such plants are an important resource for a company with a product development strategy of high variety. In addition, flexibility enables plants to respond more effectively to changes in their competitive environment. The manufacturing plants with the highest levels of product variety have typically been those that produce many different models for export- Japanese plants in Japan and European plants. Ford plants in North America have typically been dedicated to one or a few models. The Japanese transplants started their operations in North America with low product variety while they established their production system philosophy and have slowly increased variety over time. The Japanese and U. S. utomotive industries operate differently. Japanese manufacturers typically ask suppliers regardless of location or national origin-to assume more responsibility for engineering design. In many cases, the Japanese automakers do not own patent rights to the designs for the parts they use, so that the parts suppliers must be quite specific. By contrast, American automakers usually provide detaile d designs and ask suppliers to bid on a part. We come here to the most important point in our project; the supply chain policies. The world’s automotive manufacturing sector consists primarily of about 20 very large multinational corporations. The automotive supply sector, however, comprises thousands of firms ranging in size from a few employees to more than 100,000. Drawing conclusions about such a large and diverse sector is much more difficult than for the manufacturing sector. Best practice in automotive supply chain management involves close, trusting relationships with long-standing suppliers that are intimately involved with the development and production of the components and subsystems they provide. In the past five years, Chrysler has aggressively incorporated those findings into its modus operandi, GM has largely rejected that hilosophy, and Ford has settled somewhere in between. On the surface, the advice to improve partnerships along the supply chain, drawn largely from Japanese practices, seems to have significantly helped Ford on its return to growth and profitability. At the same time, Honda insists on exerting extreme price pressure on its suppliers and aggressively negotiating division of the returns to innovations in supplied parts and subsystems. Automotive distribution and retailing were once given little attention because they were viewed as adjunct to the core business of engineering and manufacturing vehicles. However, in the past several decades, the pressures on the industry to make its factories and product development processes more efficient have spilled over into the distribution and retailing (post manufacturing) sectors- cutting profit margins and causing significant restructuring in the 4 distribution and retail industry base. This restructuring, although quite significant, has attracted much less attention than the manufacturing sector’s changes because it involves no dramatic dislocation of people, jobs, or economic base. These downstream segments of the supply chain are experiencing a shift from being capital intensive (focused on inventory investment) and people intensive (sales forces) to being more information intensive (having the right vehicle in the right place at the right time). Due to greater flexibility of labor and capital in the post manufacturing markets, this conversion from physical logistics to information logistics is shifting the power and leverage in the supply chain toward economic agents that are highly entrepreneurial and flexible. These economic forces have reduced the number of dealers in the United States (now approximately 22,000) and are expected to continue doing so. More important than the absolute dealer count is the trend toward segmentation of the many industries that make up distribution. Unlike the small group of relatively tightly organized supply chains, the post manufacturing sector is a much looser collection of organizations that are not so centrally focused around the automaker. The combination of high national productivity and the relative decrease in value of the dollar against the yen and the deutsche mark has made the United States a more attractive manufacturing site for foreign automakers. This development has provided a new source of investment, jobs, and training for Americans. Moreover, the transplant assemblers are significantly influencing the U. S. automotive supply base, both by encouraging traditional Japanese and German suppliers to set up transplant operations and by inciting the traditional U. S. suppliers to become more competitive. These improvements to the supply base, driven in part by the Japanese transplants, in turn benefit the American automobile manufacturing companies. The Japanese-transplant assemblers in North America have continued to expand their production and are now approaching a volume of three million cars and light trucks per year. The transplants represent an enormous positive economic impact for the United States, compared with having that many vehicles imported from Japan, for example. These investments have helped the Japanese companies as well, which would be in far deeper trouble had they not diversified their manufacturing base outside the high-priced labor and parts markets in Japan. The displacement of the automobile manufacturing industries employment and production with transplant production is more difficult to assess. In the main, it has decreased the financial and market dominance of the American auto industry, although none are currently threatened with survival concerns. It has also affected the geography of automotive employment within the United States. The combination of high national productivity and the relative decrease in value of the dollar against the yen and the deutsche mark has made the United States a more attractive 5 manufacturing site for foreign automakers. This development has provided a new source of investment, jobs, and training for Americans. Moreover, the transplant assemblers are significantly influencing the U. S. automotive supply base, both by encouraging traditional Japanese and German suppliers to set up transplant operations and by inciting the traditional U. S. suppliers to become more competitive. Japanese companies have constructed manufacturing facilities in many industries in the United States, including the automobile and electronics industries in recent years. However, it is the automobile parts industry that is currently perceived as being under siege. Nearly 50 Japanese automotive parts suppliers have constructed facilities here since 1979, most of them clustered around new Japanese automobile assembly plants in California, Tennessee, Michigan, Ohio, and Illinois. Hundreds more suppliers are reportedly planning American plants in the next few years and local governments throughout the United States are competing vigorously for them. Local government officials view the Japanese plants as a major source of investment, employment, and tax revenues for their communities. However, despite the warm welcome given the Japanese parts manufacturers by local communitiesand especially by the unemployed in those communitiesthey are resented by some of their American competitors. A subgroup of American auto parts manufacturers feels it is being discriminated against by U. S. -based Japanese automakers that prefer to purchase some of their parts from Japanese suppliers. In short, the industry subgroup feels it is being discriminated against because it is American, not because it cannot produce auto parts as well as Japanese companies can. In America, Honda introduced just-in-time parts delivery and rolling-model changes, which allows production of the old model right up until production of the new model begins. This approach continues to put customers first. The truth is that the customers will not just drive Hondas – they will drive Honda with their expectations. Another Honda difference is their flexibility. Honda plants have always been able to build more than one model on the same line. Recently Honda implemented an even more flexible manufacturing system that increases the speed and efficiency when introducing new models. Honda’s New Manufacturing System does this by standardizing production capabilities among its plants worldwide. This makes the shift within a plant to new model production less complex and more cost efficient.