Comparison and Contrast of the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution Essay Example

Comparison and Contrast of the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution Essay Example Comparison and Contrast of the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution Essay Comparison and Contrast of the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution Essay A Comparison and Contrast of the Articles of Confederation and The Constitution To understand what the benefits and drawbacks  Ã‚  were, it is important to compare and contrast the positions in which the documents differ. I believe that they are thus: 1. Taxation The articles allow the congress to levy taxes on each state which means that the taxation burden has to be readjusted within each state among its populace and taxation is not equal Federally whereas in the constitution, the Congress levies taxation individually according to the position of each taxpaying individual making it equal across the board. . Justice there is no central justice system via the articles, there is no system of Federal Courts, each state handles its own courts and justice system and it causes problems with fugitives and inter-state criminal/civic legal issues especially as interstate extradition involved too much red tape hampering justice. This is not the case with the Constitution as it creates a F ederal Court System. 3. Trade The Congress regulates interstate trade whereas with the Articles, there is no existing provision for interstate trade regulation. . Amendments a unanimous 13/13 vote between all states must be imposed in the Articles while in the constitution, the rule of the majority or 2/3 of the Congress allows for amendment. 5. Representation each state in the Articles received 1 vote, 1 voice in the Congress but with the Constitution, representation in the lower house is according to the population of the state (dependent on district divisions) and each state gets 2 Senators. 6. Military the Congress cannot draft military manpower in the Articles it is up to each State to send troops whereas the Constitution allows for Federal Drafting creating a truly national Armed Forces. 7. Interstate Disputes The Articles had a complicated interstate dispute system, literally, each state can declare war on each other whereas the Constitution has a central interstate dispute management system as the Federal Courts handle arbitration. . Sovereignty Legislation The Articles declare that each state is Sovereign and a vote of 9/13 is needed to make a bill a law whereas the Constitution declares that there is one Supreme Law and Supreme Court in the nation and for a bill to be law, 50+1 in each house is what is necessary along with the approval of the Executive Office (President). Opinion/Review The biggest drawback for each of the representatives in the Continental Congress in terms of adopting the constitution and doing away with the Articles is convincing their once sovereign states to submit to one unifying rule of law and leadership that encompasses and is above all State law and rule. Federal means centralization and to adopt to these laws, to make them uniform across the board was a hard task. While the representatives had to convince each other and agree to a consensus that they will do away with each of their States own system of legal, judicial and administrative standards to conform with a universal system, they have had to convince their populace and the politics of doing so is enormous with pressure coming from all sides questions of power and who holds it is something that a lot of people fear and unsure about being unfamiliar with the ways of the other states as well as their politics. Imagine the European Union today the Articles of Confederation is like the EU constitution each country is sovereign. Now imagine them giving up each of their countrys complete independence to be part of a bigger whole, a bigger nation. It is a difficult task economically, socially and politically. Personally though if I lived during this period of history I would have shared the ideals of the colonist American Identity and I would have seen and understood how fully interdependent each state was to each other having shared one history as a British Colony. I would have fully supported the creation of a bigger, singular entity although I would feel a sense of insecurity on how it will pan out in the long run as there is a distinct difference in views and lifestyles between the Northern states and the Southern States. This is where, I think the Constitution triumphs over the Articles. I believe the Lockean principle of equality and I would have thought that to create an independent separate nation from the British Empire was right. The constitution empowers the citizens of the new American nation giving them a unified sense of governance and identity. Word Count: 759 References: (Web) usconstitution. net/constconart. html http://ocw. usu. edu/university-studies/u-s-institutions/comparison-of-constitution-and-articles-of-confederation  Ã‚   usconstitution. net/consttop_arti. html http://avalon. law. yale. edu/18th_century/artconf. asp http://home. earthlink. net/~gfeldmeth/chart. art. html Attachment(s):

Rostrum, As Used in Marine Life

Rostrum, As Used in Marine Life The term rostrum is defined as an organism’s beak or a beak-like part. The term is used in reference to cetaceans, crustaceans and some fish.   The plural form of this word is rostra. Cetacean Rostrum In cetaceans, the rostrum is  the upper jaw or â€Å"snout† of the whale. According to the Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals, the term  rostrum  also refers to the skull bones in the whale that provide support for the rostrum. Those are the forward (anterior) parts of the maxillary, premaxillary and vomerine bones. Essentially, it is made up of the bones we have between the bottom of our nose and our upper jaw, but the bones are much longer in cetaceans, especially baleen whales.   Rostrums look different in toothed whales (odontocetes) versus baleen whales (mysticetes). The toothed whales have a rostrum that is usually dorsally concave, while baleen whales have a rostrum that is ventrally concave.   More simply put, the top part of a toothed whales rostrum is shaped more like a crescent moon, while a baleen whales rostrum is shaped more like an arch. The differences in rostrum structure become pretty evident when viewing images of cetacean skulls, as is shown in the FAO identification guide here. The rostrum in a cetacean is a strong, relatively hard part of the anatomy. Dolphins can even use their rostra to   Crustacean Rostrum In a crustacean, the rostrum is the projection of the animals carapace that extends forward of the eyes. It projects from the cephalothorax, which is present in some crustaceans and is the head and thorax together, covered by a carapace. The rostrum is a hard, beak-like structure.   In a lobster, for example, the rostrum projects between the eyes. It looks like a nose, but it is not (lobster smell with their annentules, but thats another topic). Its function is thought to be simply to protect the lobsters eyes, especially when two lobsters have a conflict. The Lobster Rostrums Contribution to History In the 1630s, European warriors wore a lobster tail helmet that had overlapping plates hanging from the back to protect the neck and a nasal bar in the front, modeled after a lobsters rostrum.   Oddly enough, lobster rostrums have also been used as a cure for kidney stones and urinary diseases.   In shrimp, the rostrum is also known as the head spine, which is a hard projection between the animals eyes.   In barnacles (which are crustaceans but dont have visible eyes like lobsters do, the rostrum is one of the six shell plates that make up the animals exoskeleton. It is the plate located on the anterior end of the barnacle.   Fish Rostrum Some fish have body parts that are referred to as a rostrum. These include billfish such as sailfish (the long bill) and sawfish (the saw). Rostrum, As Used in a Sentence When the minke whale surfaces to breathe, its rostrum usually appears first, followed by the top of its head and its back.I needed to pass a kidney stone, so I roasted a lobsters rostrum and then mashed it up and dissolved it in wine. (Yes, this was purportedly a cure for kidney stones in the Middle Ages and Renaissance).   Sources American Cetacean Society. Cetacean Curriculum.Accessed October 30, 2015.Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. Crustacean Glossary. Accessed October 30, 2015.Perrin, W.F., Wursig, B. and J.G.M. Thewissen. Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals. Academic Press.  p.1366.St. Lawrence Global Observatory. American Lobster - Characteristics.  Accessed October 30, 2015.The Lobster Conservancy. 2004. Lobster Biology.  Accessed October 30, 2015.University of Bristol. Crustacea.  Accessed October 30, 2015.

Researh paper exploring overtime among salaried government employees Research

Researh exploring overtime among salaried government employees - Research Paper Example The Fair Labor Standards Act also advocates for bonus pay as part of workers’ salary. Extra payment and compensatory time for employees should be discussed by the employee and employer (Stone, 2005). This paper will look at a case involving a director of agency and employees who are demanding compensatory time, Florida administrative codes that focus on overtime, and how the agency can deal with such issues. Question 1 Compensatory time is an alternate method of paying overtime to employees for time worked over 40 hours for nonexempt workers. As a result, compensatory time should be agreed upon in advance as overtime. Moreover, there is a similarity between Compensatory principles and overtime principles. Compensatory time is only given to nonexempt workers as an alternative to compensation for the work they do overtime. In addition, employees are prohibited from working additional hours so that they can attain compensatory time off for utilization in the future. The directors ’ complaints are invalid. This is because workers of local organizations’ do not enjoy the privilege of compensatory time. Compensatory time should be an agreement between employees and employers (Ulrich, 1996). This will facilitate employers to pay employees their compensation in the form of compensatory time instead of actual payment for overtime. Nevertheless, the agreement between employers and employees before the employees engage in overtime work. Additionally, employees must voluntarily and deliberately accept to be paid in compensatory time instead of actual payment in case of overtime work. The employees must also be aware that the compensatory time is not guaranteed; it may be eliminated, preserved, or employed according to the rules on the same. In addition, employees who request compensatory time are the only ones who are permitted to enjoy the benefits. The compensatory time can only be awarded if the request time is appropriate and does not affect the dep artment’s operations (Stone, 2005). From these instances, it is evident that the directors’ claims are invalid. From the different viewpoints, the agency employees have not met the requirements for receiving compensatory time. We are not informed of a contract between the management and workers on compensatory time as a means of compensation for overtime work. Question 2 The directors of the agency do not have a valid claim on compensatory time. According to The Florida Administrative code section 112.061(6), organizations or agencies should pay the employees according to their regular time rate per hour. The normal working hours for excluded employees, including holidays, weekends, and additional time in which the employee receives payment, and time in official, overtime. Moreover, the Florida Administrative code maintain that workers who occupy excluded employment positions in the senior management service and an individual exempt service, for example, the agency adm inistrators, recognized as excluded career service employees, are supposed to perform their duties in relation the rules of the agency (Ulrich, 1996). In this case, the agency does not incorporate compensatory time as a form of overtime payment. Question 3 The agency should create a labor department to examine and compile employee information on working hours, wages, and additional

Cologne Cathedral and Amiens Cathedral Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Cologne Cathedral and Amiens Cathedral - Essay Example A good example of this is the Amiens Cathedral and the Cologne Cathedral which are known all over the world. Even though, the two were designed by one architect by the name Gerhard Von Rile, they vary in so many ways like structure foundations, building historical background and decorative designs. These two structures were included in the World heritage site simply because they have about 800 years of history, and hence their significant effect in the world1. At the beginning of Medieval, Rainald of Dassel decided to put up a suitable church that would attract so many church goers. In so doing this, he had to seek for assistance from a renowned architecture that had to offer his expertise in the designing and construction of the famous church. Background Information about the Buildings The Cologne Cathedral traces its origin at the beginning of the medieval period. This is after Rainald of Dassel had acquired some skills from the three kings and thus decided to construct the largest church. With the artifacts contained by the Cologne Cathedral during the Middle Ages, So many people were attracted to thus making it one of the most famous religion centers in the world at the moment. Some of the common artifacts include the Three Magi2. During the designing of the Cologne Cathedral, the architecture solely relied on the original design of the Amiens Cathedral both in terms of ground plan, width and even height measurements. A Latin cross was the main shape of the plan as commonly associated with the Gothic Cathedral. There were to be two aisles on both sides which were to offer support to the highest Gothic vaults. With these exceptional collections of relics, the Cathedral of cologne was outstanding, and perhaps this was the thought of Rainald of Dassel. He decided to implore Gothic architecture, which had become very common, in most parts of Europe especially France and England. Despite the design not being popular in Germany, he chose the French architect to c onstruct the Gothic Cathedral3. Fortunately this turned out positive since the cathedral become famous internationally. The Gothic style went through several evolution periods basing on the country. For example in France, the periods included Early, Lancet, Rayonnant and Flamboyant or late Gothic while, in England, there were three stages namely Early English, Decorated and perpendicular. In both cases, the last periods were the most sophisticated as its amazing development led to introduction of different styles. During construction using this style, the climate played a crucial role in determining the physical features of the medieval, Gothic cathedrals. The Amiens cathedral in France had between 3 to 5 portals leading to the central nave. This style was similar to the one used to build the Cologne cathedral in Germany except that the later was made mainly of bricks, as opposed to the stones used in the Amiens4. However, this might not have been the main reason why the design was chosen because during the Roman period, the Romanesque style was eminent. That was the main reason why the some Romanesque features still existed in the Cologne church before the Cologne Cathedral. It was only after the changes in the economy of the society that the Gothic style became prominent. This led to the powerful influence of the French which was evident in the Cologne Cathedral particularly the Amiens Cathedral. The construction of this church was not a walk in the park, as it was forced to stand still for some

Social Performance and Social Influence Essay Example for Free

Social Performance and Social Influence Essay Social psychologist, Dr. Robert Cialdini has researched basic principles that govern how one person may influence another. You will read about these six principles in his 2002 article The Science and Practice of Persuasion. Social Performance Aristotle first called humans social animals. People tend to gather, play, and work in groups. Groups fulfill a variety of functions such as satisfying the need to belong, providing support and intimacy, and assisting in accomplishing tasks that individuals could not accomplish alone, etc. In Chapter 13 of the textbook, groups will be defined as two or more people working together on a task in which the outcome is quantifiable. This discussion will focus on two major areas that have been researched since the end of the 19th century: social facilitation and social loafing. Social Facilitation At first glance, these terms seem to be opposing behaviors: social facilitation refers to the fact that people work harder in groups, whereas social loafing describes their tendency reduce their efforts when in groups. The difference, it appears, is how people view the individuals in their groups–whether they perceive those in the group as being with them us or against them. If group members are against them, they perceive them as competitors, evaluators, or sources of comparison, which is likely to increase or facilitate their efforts. If they are with them, sharing in the demands of the task and evaluation, they are likely to loaf or reduce our efforts. These findings appear counterintuitive. Research on social facilitation began with Triplett (1989) who observed that cyclists pedaled faster, or performed better, when others were present than when performing alone. He argued that the other biker was a stimulus, arousing a competitive instinct in the cyclist. He tested his theory by asking children to wind fishing reels either alone or beside other children. The majority of the children turned the wheel faster when working alongside another child than when reeling alone. Allport (1924) termed this effect social facilitation. Still, it seemed that many disagreed about whether the presence of others increased or decreased performance on tasks. Zajonc (1965) renewed interest in social facilitation, and suggested that the presence of others enhanced a dominant response–which is the most probable response on a given task. If the task is simple and well-learned, the dominant response will be facilitated. For example, if you were a skilled concert pianist, performing in front of others would increase your proficiency on the task; you would play beautifully. Since you are not skilled at this art, being observed by others would no doubt cause anxiety and would result in quite the opposite effect, inhibiting your performance. Zajonc was suggesting that the presence of others increases drive. Others were still arguing that it was the evaluation or the competition associated with others being present that produced the drive. Whether it was mere presence or evaluation apprehension that increased the drive, the drive theory remained the dominant thought of the time. Alternative approaches to social-facilitation effects fall into three classes: The first was the continued thought that the presence of others increases drive by evaluation apprehension. The second thought suggested that the situation places demands on the individual to behave in a particular way; individuals are engaged in self-presentation and self-awareness. The third idea argued that the presence of others affects focus and attention to the task, meaning that the task becomes cognitive. Hence, the controversy over whether it is the mere presence of others or evaluation that causes social facilitation is unresolved. Social Loafing Social facilitation research demonstrates that the presence of others sometimes enhances performance, yet at times reduces it. But, how does working with others affect motivation? Many would argue that groups should energize and motivate. The tendency for individuals to work less hard on a collective task than on an individual task is called social loafing. For example, those group projects at work or school where a few individuals did the majority of the work–social loafing. Research in this area has been conducted in a way that makes individuals believe that they are either working alone or working with others–then measures efforts toward the task. For example, Ringelmann (Kravitz Martin, 1986) had volunteers pull on a rope as hard as they could in groups of varying sizes. Their efforts decreased as group sizes increased. This was explained in two ways: their motivation decreased as groups size increased or maybe the larger groups were not able to coordinate their efforts efficiently. Researchers sought to tease apart these two factors, focusing on motivation. You can imagine that it was difficult to devise methods that lead participants to believe they were either working alone (when they were not) or with others (when they were working alone), which lends to the difficulty of studying social loafing. However, over 100 studies (Steiner, 1972; Griffith, Fichman, Moreland, 1989; Jackson Williams, 1985; Henningsen et al. , 2000) have tested the effects of groups on motivation, and social loafing has been replicated in most of these studies. Other theories have attempted to explain social loafing. Social impact theory states that when a group is working together, the expectation is that the effort should be diffused across all participants, resulting in diminished effort. Arousal reduction postulates that the presence of others should increase drive only when they are observers and reduce our efforts when they are coworkers. Evaluation potential suggests that social loafing occurs because individual efforts are so difficult to identify during a collective task; one can easily hide in the crowd or may feel they will not be acknowledged for their hard work. Dispensability of effort argues that individuals may feel their efforts are unnecessary or dispensable. The group simply does not need them. An integrative theory: the collective effort model states that individuals will work hard on a task only to the degree to which they believe their efforts will be instrumental in leading to outcomes they value, personally. Hence, the value they place on the task (and their efforts) depends on their personal beliefs, task meaningfulness, favorable interactions with the group, the nature of the rewards, and the extent to which their future goals are impacted by the task. Social loafing can be moderated, or reduced, when individuals efforts can be identified or evaluated, when individuals are working on a task they deem as important or of personal relevance, or when individuals are working with cohesive groups or close friends. Individual differences or characteristics also influence who engages in social loafing less because they value collective outcomes. For example, a need for affiliation, a hard work ethic, or high self-monitoring can influence effort. It should be clear that the mere presence of others is arousing. It appears that if others are competitors or evaluators they facilitate motivation to work harder. If individuals see others as a part of themselves, they can hide behind them or their efforts can get lost in the efforts of others. Further research in this area can help us determine how our view of others affects our motivation and performance. Social Influence Processes of Control and Change Social influence is one of the primary research areas in social psychology and refers to the ways in which opinions and attitudes influence the opinions and attitudes of others. Two types of social influence can be identified in groups: influence aimed at maintaining group norms (social control) or changing group norms (social change). The most common form of social control is conformity, where an individual complies with or accepts the groups views. Since the influence is typically within a context of a group of people influencing an individual, it is referred to as majority influence. Another type of social control is obedience, where individuals obey an authority figure, often against their will. For group norms to change, a small subset of the group must resist the majority view, which is termed minority influence. If minorities never resisted, group opinions would persist, fashions would never change, innovations would not come about, etc. It must be clear that the term majority refers to the larger group of people who hold the normative view and has power over others. Minority groups tend to be small, hold nonnormative positions, and wield very little power. This study textbook is concerned with two influence processes: processes that ensure that others adhere to the groups position (social control; conformity and obedience) or processes that aim to change the groups position (social change: innovation and active minorities). Social influence has studied how individuals conform to the majority, often by giving an obvious erroneous response to a question. According to Festinger (1950, 1954), this occurs because there are social pressures for groups to reach consensus, especially when there is a group goal. Individuals seek social approval and seek others to verify their opinions. Deutsch and Gerard (1955) distinguish between normative social influence (conforming to expectations of others) and informational social influence (accepting information from the group as reality). Another view is that people conform over concerns for positive self-evaluations, to have good relationships with others, and to better understand a situation by reducing uncertainty. Social influence also addresses why people comply with acts that clearly cause harm to another. The study of obedience is intimately tied to one social psychologist–Stanley Milgram (1963). His post-WWII research aimed to understand why people willingly engaged in the atrocities perpetrated by the Nazis. People probably preferred to believe these were evil, disturbed men who were intrinsically evil? However, many of them claimed they were not responsible for their behavior. After all, they were simply following orders. In Milgrams (1963) classic study, he led participants (who were assigned to be teachers) to believe they were administering harmful shocks to the learners each time they made an error on a task. The experimenter (the authority figure) demanded they increase the level of shock for each incorrect response. As shocks increased, the receiver (the learner, who was out of the sight of the teacher) responded with distressed reactions. However, the teacher was encouraged, even demanded, to continue the experiment, even though he believed the learner was experiencing extreme distress. The question was, to what extent normal people would obey the instructions of the authority figure and administer harmful levels of shock to harm another individual. Milgrams results showed that a full 65% of all participants administered every level of shock, surpassing levels believed to do fatal harm to subjects. Milgrams findings have been replicated with consistent results. Why did they obey? Milgram offered the following explanations: (a) they had entered into a contract with the experimenter and did not wish to spoil the experiment; (b) they were absorbed in the experiment and lost sight of the implications of their actions; (c) the participants are acting for the experimenter; they may be pushing the buttons, but they are not responsible, the experimenter is. Notice these are all situational explanations; participants were put into a powerful role relationship with the experimenter. However, when the experimenter was not visible, or another participant played the role of the experimenter, obedience rates decreased, but did not fall to zero, indicating the role relationship did not fully account for their obedience. Milgrams research remains some of the most intriguing and influential in social psychology. Minority Influence Moscovicis (1976) book Social Influence and Social Change, he argues that minorities can create conflict by offering a different perspective, thereby challenging the dominant or majority view. Moscovici claims that people trying to avoid conflict may dismiss the minority position, and possibly denigrate it. However, when the minority demonstrates commitment to their position, the majority may consider the minority view as a viable alternative. He called this the minoritys behavioral style–meaning the way the message is organized and communicated. By standing up to the majority, the minority demonstrates that it is certain, confident, committed, and not easily persuaded. Researchers have compared majority and minority influence. Conversion theory is the dominant perspective and argues that all forms of influence, whether minority or majority, create conflict that individuals are motivated to reduce. However, people employ different processes depending on whether the conflict is the result of majority influence or minority influence. Comparison process suggests that people focus attention on fitting in, or complying with what others say. Their goal is to identify with the group and comply with the majority position, often times without examining the majoritys arguments in detail. Social comparison can drive majority influence, but cannot motivate minority influence, according to Moscovici (1976), because people desire to disassociate themselves with undesirable groups. Because minority groups tend to be distinctive, they stand out, and this encourages a validation process where some examine the judgments in order to confirm or validate them–to see what it is the minority saw or to understand the minoritys view. This process can lead to increased message processing which results in an attitude change on an indirect, latent, or private level. Convergent-divergent theory is proposed by Nemeth (1986) and simply states that people expect to share the same attitude as the majority and to differ from the minority (the false-consensus heuristic). Stress is the result of realizing that the majority has a different perspective than oneself, especially if one is in the physical presence of the majority. Stress narrows ones attention and majority influence, and then leads to convergent thinking. Minorities, on the other hand, do not cause high levels of stress, since they hold different views, which allows for less restricted focus of attention and leads to a greater consideration of alternatives that may not have been considered without the influence of the minority view. This results in creative and original solutions. Other theories that integrate minority and majority influence include mathematical models, objective-consensus models, conflict-elaboration theory, context/comparison model, and self-categorization theory. More contemporary models include social-cognitive responses with an emphasis on information-processing such as the elaboration likelihood model and the heuristic systematic model we discussed in an earlier chapter. New research continues to develop. Conclusion This module reviewed social psychological research that has made great contributions to the understanding of human behavior. Early research (e. g. , Triplett, 1898; Zajonc, 1965) led to the beginning of the relatively new field of social psychology.

Employee Development Programs :: Career Planning, Training and Development

Employee development programs are not a new idea in the United States. General Motors established one of the first corporate universities in 1927 with the General Motors Institute (Gerbman, 2000). The concept was slow to catch on, but in the 1950s a variety of organizations followed the same path. During the 1950s General Electric established Crotonville Management Development Institute and Walt Disney began Disney University (Gerbman, 2000). McDonald’s followed this trend with the establishment of Hamburger University to train its managers in the early 1960s (Garger, 1999). Despite these progressive organizations, employee development and career planning still experienced some growing pains. In the 1970s, career planning and development efforts were focused on young employees that seemed to have high potential. It was a way for companies to plan for the future and nurture young workers for senior management positions (Moses, 1999). This career path model fit well with the traditional commitment employees would offer to companies. Chris Argyris referred to this commitment as a â€Å"psychological contract† in which employers were almost guaranteed long term loyalty and commitment to the organization in return for giving employees job security, opportunities for promotion, and training (Feldman, 2000). The ability to get on this fast track to the top of a company diminished in the 1980s when companies were moving to a flattened hierarchy with less room for promotions. People quickly realized that they were reaching plateaus in their careers and the opportunities for advancement did not exist (Moses, 1999). The concept 5 of career planning became less realistic for both individuals and organizations because neither could count on long term commitment (Feldman, 2000). The stock market crash of 1987 was a major turning point in employee development. Daniel Feldman keenly states that, â€Å"where once large corporations were seen as bastions of job security, they are now seen as minefields of job insecurity† (2000). Not only were corporations flattening, they were also downsizing and restructuring to compensate for loss of revenue. These drastic changes in the job market also led to changes in employee development programs. Barbara Moses states that, â€Å"today, job security is dead and loyalty to the organization in the tradition sense has died along with it† (1999). Under this assumption, companies have to change the way they view employee development. Where once training and development were viewed as mechanisms for employees to move up the corporate ladder, promotion is no longer an incentive for employees because it is not a definite option.

Rubber Company

Atlas Tire and Rubber Company 1) What were Atlas’ major challenges prior to the promotion of Walter Harrison as CEO? The main challenges faced by Atlas’ were competitive and financial challenges. As for the first time from 1905 the company was facing losses for consecutive 2 years in row as the company was facing a severe downturn. This was all because of the new challenges, which the company was facing due to their growth and expansion policiesThe company was also facing the competitive challenges from the low prices import products which were affecting their price strategy resulting in low profits, heavy slump in the automotive market in America also pulled back Atlas to regain its flagship. Due to all these the stock prices dropped down to 20 years low resulting in cutting down of credit rating to junk – bond status. So during this declining phase, the company needs some major transformational changes so that Atlas can regain its position and pride back. 2) Wh y did Harrison focus on an integrated supply chain as a significant element of Atlas’ new strategic plan?As Harrison and his team found that Atlas lacked integrated supply chain capabilities due to which disjointed distribution network was there and various third – partly logistic companies were used which lead to many problems and challenges. And logistics was only considered as a storage and distribution function rather than a strategic supply chain process. As Harrison came out with a strategic plan â€Å" Seven Principle of Growth† for turning around the Atlas’s fate. Harrison special focused on a superior and integrated supply chain.He focused on Integrated Supply Chain because he strongly feels that this would streamline the order and its fulfillment process so that they can be more accurate and easy to use because of their simplicity. The main focus was to deliver â€Å"the right tire to the right place at the right time while keeping costs and in ventories low. † Harrison wants to create an extra edge over the other tire manufacturers by creating the much better service capabilities. 3) What did the UST President, Michael Brogran, do to better understand customer needs? UST business defines Atlas’ s U. S.Tire business, which has the worth of producing, and selling 100 million tires per year and was generating approximately 50 percent of Atlas Revenue. Michael Brogran strongly feels that the superior supply chain was a vision that existed only on paper so he just made a team to understand customer needs in a better way. The main step the team had taken was to work across customer verticals, which were Consumer tires, Commercial Tires and Off Highway Tires. This structure help Atlas to better understand the customer needs in different segment and to meet them in different ways as needs were also different.As the part of this new alignment to understand consumers needs better Brogran facilitates cross company colla boration to identify interactions and collaboration and to share the best practices so that every department can better understand their customer needs for better visibility and control. 4) How did USTSC address the talent gap that they had in the organization? U. S. Tire Supply chain organization’s main objective was to integrate the planning and functional operations which included the responsibilities of contact centers, order management, pricing administration, distribution and delivery, billing and accounts receivable.USTSC was structured so that Atlas can understand & meet the needs of its customers that are classified under various segments likes consumer, commercial and off highway tires. The key goals of USTSC were – Lower the supply chain costs, – Boosting the customer services, – Improvement in the inventory management and associated working capital, – Simplifying the supply chain processes & management of the business. Initially USTSC c ame across major challenge with regards to talent gap.Reduction in headcount from several years impacted the internal supply chain analytical and execution capabilities. Moreover with five different 3PL (third party logistics) the focus was emphasized in managing the suppliers rather than the operations. After a thorough evaluation USTSC concluded that SCM (Supply Chain Management) was never a core competency of Atlas. In order to bridge the gap USTSC obtained assistance from organization that had expertise in planning and managing the complex supply chains.The synergy of these organizations was mutually beneficial to all the parties. Collaboration in supply chain planning, process development and service execution fetched superior results. Due to this synergy Atlas was able to leverage the expertise of Global’s supply chain & Global was in a position to gain a broader insight of Atlas’s requirements and supply chain capabilities. USTSC experienced a synergistic effect because of the Atlas-Global team and experienced more effective customer-supplier 3PL working model. Thus the talent gap was bridged by USTSC . Comment on the effectiveness of Atlas’ efforts to improve team-based strategic collaboration ? With the synergy of Global and Atlas, Atlas was in a position to leverage the expertise of Global’s supply chain & Global was able to derive a broader insight of Atlas’s requirements and supply chain capabilities. Alas-Global USTSC was able to develop team-focused, strategy-driven relationships that were unique in the 3PL industry. The organizations consistently maintained an active & effective coordinated participation across the supply chain sphere.Interactive teams from the three organizations facilitated the planning, developed and executed the key supply chain activities in order to achieve superior supply chain. The collaboration in team was very effective and was result oriented. The SCM team and the steering committee used to do brainstorming sessions to figure out new supply chain initiatives & at the other end the operations team and the SCM team evaluated and ensured the potential projects that could be implemented effectively and are favorable.The relationship building between the organizations was effective and there was a strong executive support from the top management. The organizations attained mutual benefits and they experienced more effective customer-supplier 3PL working model. There was effective synchronization in the strategies with regards to process design and execution. Allocation of resources was well planned and the responsibilities were well defined. More focused on the opportunities available. The integration of the team performance was able to create superior supply chain capabilities within the industry. . As O’Brien, what strategies would you recommend to Atlas to: A) Gain greater control over inventory; B) Optimize the flow of products in the supply chain. In ord er to gain control over inventory & to optimize the flow of products in supply chain: Implementing a centralized system within the 33 company owned regional distribution centers so that the information regarding supply chain, any innovations and critical information are accessible to everyone at one single point of time.Effective integration of the 4 third party logistics providers’ services would generate superior results. Forecasting should be done collaboratively by the Atlas sales group and manufacturing group in order to arrive at accurate estimates. Implementation of the ERP system like SAP would make it easy to figure out inventory analysis.A centralized system like SAP would also create transparency, easy availability of data, accessible to concerned department in a timely manner, constant flow of information, demand and supply of inventory can be balanced and can avoid instances like stock outs or over inventory carrying costs, more reliable and realistic, helps in d ecision making process, implementing a centralized approach in the transportation system, a well defined standard service parameter should be set and should get authorized by the compliance, regular audits and inspections should be done in order to check if there are any violations.