Hybrid Cars Essay Example for Free

Hybrid Cars Essay Company: Within the company there are a few areas to look at regarding Toyotas introduction of the Prius. Areas such as financing, research, development, as well as others. When introducing the Prius, Toyota started early with its promotion of the hybrid. Spending US$15 million out of the US$190 million is spent on marketing in the 2002 year. Toyota informed its potential customers threw informative emails, TV commercials, and earth day give a ways. Toyota put a lot into research and development to come up with the hybrid with the advances in technology, such as the engine of the Prius. The engine combines a 1. 5 litre, 4 cylinder gas engine, with a 33-kilowatt electric engine that runs of a nickel-hydride battery. With this new engine and normal highway driving conditions the car is said to get 106 km per gallon. It is also rated one of the greenest vehicles on the market. Since North Americans complain about gas mileage, and want to be environmentally friendly this seems like the way to go. Suppliers: One of Toyotas major costs of manufacturing the Prius would be the nickel-hydride battery that the electric part fo the engine runs off of. This is also one of the main reasons why hybrid cars are so expensive compared to similar gas powered cars of the same size. But if manufacturers of hybrid cars were to see a yield in economies of scale then there would be more reason for producers of the battery to put more time and money into research and development of the battery and thus decrease costs of producing it. this would in term pass savings onto the potential buyers of the hybrid car. Customer Market: when looking for a way to market the Prius to consumers Toyota looked at what consumers wanted in a vehicle. Things like lower gas mileage, lower emmissions, and something that what technologically appealing. so with this in mind Toyota set out to design a car to appeal to all these things. with the combined electric and gas engine the Prius gets better mileage, and one of the greenest vehicles on the market. consumers have also been able to technologically modify there Prius, some have added DVD players and such, or programmed the cars computer to shower videos etc, on the monitors in the car. Competitors: introducing the Prius was the way in which Toyota planned to get an advantage over competitors like the big three auto manufacturers (ford, GM, DaimlerChrysler) none of whom had a hybrid in market when the Prius was released. the big three had plans of releasing hybrid vehicles in 2003, Toyota planned to stay on top of the hybrid market with its early release of a hybrid. Publics: there are a lot of different publics to take in mind. publics such as the media, government, citizen-action, local, general, etc. Toyota used a lot of these when it can to promoting the Prius. they ran articles, in vanity air, and newsweek, as well as running commercials on different television statements such as discovery, the history channel, and the learning network. it ran different taglines, such as A car that sometimes runs on gas power and sometimes runs on electric power, from a company that always runs on brain power. it also used tag lines that drew the customer in to find the meaning in it and also educating the customer on what exactly a hybrid was. Question # 2: Demographic Forces: this is one of the key forces that affect marketing plans it involves the study of people and when they want. Toyota looked at the different things that people wanted in a car. things like low fuel usage, and being environmentally friendly. using the information gathered Toyota came up with the combined engine that runs on gas and electric power to reduce mileage and also make it environmentally friendly. this hybrid would more likely be targeted to generation Y drivers. seeing as they are younger and more into the technological advances in society. it would also be marketed to the generation X drivers for the fact that they are more concerned over the outlook of the environment. Natural Forces: with natural forces marketers would be aware of trends, like the shortage or raw materials trend, the increase of population, and the government. with the government putting more emphasis on being environmentally friendly Toyota seems to have taken this to heart seeing as the Prius is one of the greenest vehicles on the market. also with the population tending to gather around more urban settings it is becoming more essential to have a vehicle with better gas mileage with more people commuting back and forth to work. Technological Forces: with the advances in technology recently people now except more from manufactures. Toyota seeing this used it to its advantage using the combined engine and adding other features as a computer system installed right in the car. it also used the internet as one of the ways it go to potential consumers to educate them on the Prius and what it was all about. which in turned created sales of the hybrid. Political: on problem with the Prius is that its not all that affordable. so makers of hybrid cars have gone to the government to see if there was a way to incorporate a benefit of driving a environmentally friendly car. while the US now offers a tax benefit for driving such a car there has yet to be any incentive in Canada. since there is no documented proof as of yet that driving one of these cars helps the environment they do not see the point in implicating anything yet. Cultural: the cultural force takes into account the values and beliefs of the consumer.like being friendly to the environment. valuing technology, etc. Toyota conformed to these by using the combined engine, not only is it environmentally friendly is also increased gas mileage. it also put a lot of new technologies into the Prius that consumers are finding many ways to use to their advantage. doing things like tweaking the computer system to play videos and mp3s, etc. Question # 3: Value proposition is essentially the full mix of benefits upon which the brand is positioned. Toyota sets the benefits to come from the higher gas mileage, the fact that it lowers emmissionsÃ'Ž

Homosexual Adoption Rights Essay -- Legal Issues, New Jersey, Foster C

New Jersey’s statewide parenting legislation espouses a progressive stance on the matters of same-sex parenting and child care in the processes of adoption and foster parenting. The Garden State allows for same-sex adoption; allows single homosexuals to adopt; and allows second parent same-sex adoption (â€Å"Same-Sex Adoption Laws,† n.d.). New Jersey has passed progressive laws and policies that prohibit discrimination charged against gay individuals in the adoption process (Sudol, 2010). New Jersey state law also bans discrimination against gay individuals in the foster parent process (2010). New Jersey Statutes Annotated 9:3-43 enables for any person to adopt permitted the said person(s) pass a background investigation and meet adoption criteria for eligibility(N.J.S.A. 9:3-43). Unmarried joint adoptive parents petitioning to adopt a child can do so because of N.J.S.A. 9:3-43. In re Adoption of two Children by H.N.R., 666 A.2d 535 (N.J. Super. 1995) permits second pa rent adoption; this statute exercises the possibility for an individual to petition for shared rights of custody with a parent who already possesses legal parental custody of a child. Several states prohibit joint adoption due to unmarried status. This statute is favorable for unmarried parents seeking to adopt in New Jersey. This New Jersey statute provides for an overall tolerant atmosphere for queer individuals and couples looking to adopt or become foster parents. In summary, laws and policies regarding same-sex adoption vary from state to state. The three common forms of adoptive guardianship are individual (single) parent adoption, joint adoption, and second parent adoption. Firstly, the most traditional type of adoptive parents is the single parent adoption. T... ...loving individuals and couples are being denied the chance of giving orphans a loving home. The numbers of orphans increasing in foster care services are disproportionate to the number of foster parents willing to adopt them. This fact alone without a shadow of a doubt calls to question the involvement federal government to revise law and policy to integrate the needs of same-sex parents and the growing orphan problem in the United States. The investigation of same-sex parents continues to produce evidence suggesting that children growing up in same-sex households report feeling more tolerant of other groups. The quality of parenting and family functioning are not inhibited by the parent’s sexual orientation. Lastly, children raised by same-sex parents do not exhibit psychosocial and emotionally disruptive behaviors (Children Welfare Information Gateway, 2011).

Operation Management †Process choice and Layout planning Essay

Characteristics of project, jobbing, batch, flow, and process production systems, with examples for each. Project, jobbing, batch, flow and process production are the process types used in manufacturing. The figure below shows the trade off between volume and variety of outputs. In choosing one of these systems, high volume means low variety and high variety means low volume. (see figure 1) Project processes – The essence of project processes is that they are all different, so very low volume and very high variety. The identification of activities and their relationship are uncertain, they can change during the production process itself. Each job has a defined start and finish and the time interval between starting two different jobs is quite long. The resources must be organised exclusively for each project and they are re-allocated after the end of them. Examples of this system are movie production companies: obviously every single movie is different from the others. Jobbing processes – As for project processes, they deal with high variety and low volume. The difference is that the resources are not organised especially for each project, each product has to share them with many others. Although all the products require the same attention, each will differ in its exact needs. Jobbing requires a general purpose layout and highly skilled and versatile workers to interpret drawings and specifications. An example is a painter, who sells his own skill. Batch processes – With higher volume and lower variety than jobbing process, the essence of these processes is that each time they produce a product, they produce more than one. The size of the batch can be very small (e.g. two or three), therefore batch process becomes very similar to the jobbing, but usually the batches are large, with repetitive operations. They require  careful planning and control to ensure proper use and buffer stocks to â€Å"decouple† processes. Finally they typically implies high Work in Progress between work centres. An example could be the production of music instruments. Flow processes – This kind of process is dedicated to the production of a low variety of product in a high volume. Products are perceived as standard, even if there are superficial differences between them. The process does not have to stop to accommodate differences between products. There are not buffer stocks between processes, that means ‘zero’ set up time. All workstations must operate to the same cycle time. The classical example is an automobile plant, like every mass operations it is repetitive and predictable. Processes production – Characterised by very high volume and almost zero variation. Products lend themselves to flow, sometimes they are literally continuous, being produces in an endless flow. They require very high capital investment in equipment. The process is proved before beginning and it usually needs very low manual intervention. An example is the paper making. LAYOUT PLANNING Explain the differences between fixed position, product, process, and a cell system layouts, indicating a suitable application for each one. One of the most obvious characteristics of an operation is deciding where to put all the facilities, machines, materials, staff, etc. This is what layout concerns, the physical location of the transforming resources and the way in which the transformed resources flow through the operation. There are four basic layout types. Fixed position layout – The process recipient remains stationary and the equipment, machinery, plant and people, instead of the transforming resources, move through it. It happens because the product is too large or  delicate to move, or because it could object to being moved. The purpose should be to design so that all of the resources can easily access the point of delivery. There are two types of this layout: forming and treating, in which the nature of the materials changes, and assembly, like a spaceship building. Process layout – Its characteristic is that processes with similar needs are located together. The reason for this is that the transforming resources dominate the layout decision. Different products and different customers take routes unique to their own needs through the layout. The advantage is that grouping together common processes should increase their utilisation. Other advantages of process layout are high mix and product flexibility, relatively robust in case of disruptions and relatively easy supervision of plant and equipment. Examples are some hospitals departments. Cell layout – In cell layout the individual processes are moved together to form a cell. The transformed resources entering the operation are preselected to move to one part of the cell in which all the transforming resources to meet their immediate processing needs are located. Transportation costs are reduced, keeping high flexibility and high productivity. Examples could be snack bars in supermarkets. Product layout – In this case is the convenience of the transformed resources which dominate the operation decision, the opposite of process layout. Everything is arranged around the product’s progression through the system. The transformed resources flow along a line of process, following a predetermined route. The advantages of this layout are mainly the low unit cost for high volume and the low staff skill levels needed. An example is a canteen, in which the sequence of customers requirements is generally common for all customers. As shown in the figure below, volume and variety have different effects on the layout’s flow. When volume is very high and variety very low, continuous flow must be the major issue, when variety is very high and volume very low flow should be intermittent.

Global Warming And Global Climate Change - 1565 Words

Global warming and global climate change has been a consistent news headline and global topic for the past two decades. From a political standpoint, there has been great debate as to whether or not humans are completely to blame, partially to blame, or to blame at all for the changes we are seeing in the Earth’s climate. However, from a scientific perspective, this is not the case. From the Kyoto Protocol, to dummy-downed explanation like in Al Gore’s â€Å"An Inconvenient Truth†, to NASA’s comprehensive monitoring of the Earth’s â€Å"vital signs†, the idea that the human race has had a gigantic and irreversible effect on the global climate is the consensus among the scientific community. According to one major study, ninety-seven percent of climate scientists—those who solely focus on studying the earth’s climate—agree that the changes we are seeing are very likely caused by human activity (â€Å"very likely† bei ng with at least 95% certainty). (W.R.L. Anderegg) Unfortunately, scientific evidence does not always correlate with proactive measures in society. Taking the United State’s government and society as a case study, large-scale projects or changes tend to be reactionary with contemporary issues. While frustrating, this fact can be somewhat understandable for a few major issues like military force or foreign economic aid (due prudence for the best course of action). Unfortunately, this doesn’t seem to be the case for the global climate; that is, Mother Nature does not wait forShow MoreRelatedGlobal Warming : A Global Climate Change1457 Words   |  6 Pageshappened by global warming like, increasing the temperature degrees, and melting the snow mountains around the word. However, global warming has played a major role in changing the weather all over the world. The climate change all over the world is a proof that the weather conditions are changing. 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When the idea of global warming first burst onto the main stage in the late 20th century, a majority of Americans were skeptical. Many of the predictions that the original scientists made proved to be incorrect, and often the scientific methods the scientists used were faulty. Since the early stages though, the science behind global climate change has gotten better. We now have more data and better modelsRead MoreGlobal Climate Change : The Global Warming1472 Words   |  6 PagesThe Global Climate Change Currently when human life is growing, human activities impact on the environment and climate to lead to global climate change. Climate change is a problem of the whole world, and that is the big challenge for human kind. So what is climate change? Evolution of how it? Climate change is the change of weather, climate, may be due to human or natural causes. The specific expression that we often hear about is the phenomenon does not stop warming the earth, the greenhouse effectRead MoreGlobal Warming And Global Climate Change1139 Words   |  5 Pages The topic of global climate change has been a much debated topic over the years. There is no real scientific consensus on global warming. However, much destruction has happened to the earth that questions the scientific or empirical link between extreme weather and global climate change. There are a lot of events that happens around the globe such as floods, increased precipitation, sea-level rise, and hurricanes that questions the theory of global climate change. Without any clear cut evidenceRead MoreGlobal Warming And Global Climate Change1531 Words   |  7 PagesIn the last twenty years, the issues surrounding global climate change have become increasingly dominant in the international community, as the implications associated with the global issue pose many threats to the environment and humanity as a whole. Beginning in the 1970’s, scientific research regarding pollution led scientists to discover that chlorofluorocarbons (CFC’s) where destroying the ozone layer , posing threats to plant and animal life, and humans as a rise in skin cancer followed. LuckilyRead MoreGlobal Climate Change : The Global Warming1633 Words   |  7 PagesThe Global Climate Change Currently, when human life is growing, human activities play an impact on the environment and climate, which leads to global climate change. Climate change is a problem of the whole world, and therefore remains a huge challenge for life on Earth. So what is climate change? Evolution of how it change? Climate change is caused by natural causes or by humans which possibly fluctuates the cycle of change in weather and climate. The specific expression that we often hear aboutRead MoreGlobal Climate Change And Global Warming1054 Words   |  5 Pagesreally isn t much of a secret that global climate change is happening. From the melting of the polar ice caps, to record severe temperatures, rise in natural disasters, rise in pollution, greater number of vector-borne and water borne illnesses, and much more. Unless there is something done to change the current technology being used to provide energy to the human population global climate change will only continue to get worse. Climate chang e is the biggest global health threat of the 21st centuryRead MoreGlobal Warming And Global Climate Change Essay1589 Words   |  7 Pagesdata necessary to identify Amazon’s global carbon emissions. The Earth’s climate has been rapidly warming for the past several decades due to the burning of fossil fuels, with the subsequent release of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases (GHG). Global climate change has already caused glaciers and sea ice to melt, plant and animal ranges to shift, sea level rise to accelerate, oceans to acidify, and droughts and heat waves to intensify. Indeed, climate change can be considered to be the main threatRead MoreGlobal Warming And Climate Change974 Words   |  4 Pagesabout global warming, whether it is true or false. Is there evidence to prove that global warming has impacted the climate due to the rise in the earth’s temperature? Climate change is a problem that is worldwide that should be reviewed. The rise in the earth’s temperature has caused some impact to the weather and climate changes to many places worldwide. This rise in temperature has the potential of causing drastic changes to the earth in many ways. It is time to view the global warming concerns