Supply Chain Management

MBA 6th (Section-B)

Government College University, Faisalabad.
________________________________________________________________
ASSIGNMEN No.1
Q1: What are some strategic planning and operational
decisions that must be made by a retailer?
The important strategic, planning and operational decisions
that must be made by an apparel retailer like The Gap are:
a) Strategic decisions:
They should decide where to locate their plants. They should decide
if they are going to manufacture the products locally or from some
other country. They should decide where to locate their warehouses
and whose going to take care of them. They should decide where to
locate their stores and who is going to take care of them. They
should also decide if they are going to use their fleet for
transportation or use a third party.
Warehouse related
Where to locate warehouses; whether to manage them using
inhouse expertise or hire a 3rd-party?
Store related
where to locate stores; questions regarding the ownership of
stores. o Transportation related manage its own fleet or hire
someone else? o Manufacturing/supplier related where to
locate plants; whether manufacturing should be done
overseas; contractual terms to be negotiated with suppliers.
Long-term marketing strategy.

Installation of companywide ERP systems. Tactical decisions:

some of the tactical decisions could be related to demand
forecasts, the clothing lines/fashions to be introduced in the
coming seasons, warehouse/retail-outlet pairings etc. Also,
seasonal marketing drives.
b) Planning Decisions:
They should decide which plant will manufacture what kind of
clothes.
They should allot warehouses for different stores.
They should also decide on their marketing strategies.
They should also take a number of manufacturing decisions
based on demand forecasting.
c) Operational Decisions:
Operation decisions can occur at several levels. At the store
level, they could involve maintenance of account books,
staff/worker scheduling and allocation etc. At the warehouse
level, there could be decisions like order picking, restocking of
skus etc. At the manufacturing plant, operational decisions
could involve production scheduling, maintenance operations
etc.
All manufacturing decisions on the work floor. All kinds of
production scheduling should be carried out before hand.
All decisions regarding restocking of warehouses. All the
delivery dates for different orders. Maintenance of accounts at
the stores.

Q2: consider the supply chain involved when a customer

purchases a book at a book store. Identically the cycle in
this supply chain and the location of Push/Pull boundaries
and two process each in the push/pull phase.
When a customer purchases a book from the book store, a
complete supply chain cycle which involves procurement,
manufacturing, distribution, replenishment and customer
delivery takes place
The different supply chain cycles are quite separated in this
case because each cycle occurs at the interface between two
successive stages of the supply chain. The five supply chain
stagers eflect the work and involvement of five individual
parties however the book store accounts for only the retailer
stage because it serves no other functions within the supply
chain. Pull processes mean a process is initiated in response to
a customer order. Push processes, on the other hand, mean
process is initiated in anticipation of customer orders. The
push/pull boundary in any supply chain separates push
processes from pull processes. The push/pull boundary for the
bookstore occurs between the customer order cycle and the
procurement, manufacturing, and replenishment cycles. The
customer order cycle is a pull process because all processes
the customer order cycle are executed only after the customer
arrives. The remaining processes all take place prior to the
customer arriving so that all products a real ready in inventory
built up in anticipation of customer orders.
Procurement Cycle Manufacturing Cycle Replenishment Cycle
Customer Order Cycle Supplier
Publisher/Manufacturer

 Distributor Bookstore/Retailer Customer Order Arrives Push

Process Pull Process Procurement, Manufacturing and
Replenishment Cycles Customer Order Cycles

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. is an American public corporation that runs a

chain of large, discount department stores. It is the world's largest
public corporation by revenue and is founded by Sam Walton in
1962. It is the largest private employer in the world and the fourth
largest utility or commercial employer. Wal-Mart works on the
principle of maximization of value through innovation. As per WalMart the key competitive strategies are information sharing, faster
replenishment, availability of various products at low price,
prodigious infrastructure and service differentiation whereas the
supply chain strategies of Wal-Mart include customer satisfaction,
coordination between supply chain stages, availability of various
products at low price, value generation through marketing and sales,
services ,lower inventory levels and facility location. We can see that
many of the chief competitive strategies and supply chain strategies
actually overlap. Hence Wal-Mart has achieved good strategic fit
between the two

We know that the major logistical and cross-functional drivers to be

used for any strategic fit are facilities, inventories, transportation,
information, sourcing and pricing. For a PC manufacturer the
appropriate strategy for targeting both time-sensitive and priceconscious customers would include the following factors:
1. Facilities:
Facilities are the major indicators of supply chain performance in
terms of responsiveness and efficiency. For a computer
manufacturer it would be wise to locate the facility in a centralized
location and having a very good distribution network.
2.Inventory:
Inventory The firm should keep High responsiveness by keeping the
inventory close to the customer. This will help in attracting the Timesensitive customers and would come as value ads for the price
conscious customer.
3.Transportation:
it has impact on both responsiveness and efficiency. The firm should
use a transport that caters to both the segments of customers that
the firm is targeting.

4.Information:
The firm should make use of the latest technology and information
present to reduce the cost and improve the responsiveness within a
supply chain.
5.Sourcing:
The firm should outsource few of the manufacturing processes. It
will increase the efficiency and the company can achieve significant
economies of scale.6.Pricing: Differential pricing strategies should be
used for the two types of customers. The Time sensitive customers
should be charged more for the extra value being provided

Q3: Describe how a company achieve strategic fit b/w its

supply chain strategy and its competitive strategy.
Competitive Strategy and Supply Chain Strategy A company's
competitive strategy clearly spells out the set of customer needs
that it seeks to satisfy through its products and services having a
defined set of attributes. The supply chain design or supply chain
strategy must be in alignment with competitive strategy. A supply
chain design can be taken up only after the competitive strategy is
finalised and a supply chain needs to be redesigned or modified
whenever there is a change in competitive strategy. Chopra and
Meindl use the concept of strategy to refer to what each function will
try to do particularly well. They indicate that product strategy
specifies the portfolio of products that will be offered for sale by the
company and product development strategy specifies the portfolio
of new products that the company will develop. A marketing and
sales strategy specifies how the market will be segmented and the
products of the company are positioned, priced and promoted. The

supply chain strategy determines the procurement process of the

raw materials, transportation of materials, manufacture of the
product, distribution channels, warehousing and transportation of
the products, and the follow-up services. The supply chain strategy
includes supplier strategy, operations strategy, and logistics
strategy. Design decisions regarding inventory, transportation,
operating facilities, and information flows in the supply chain of a
company are all part of supply chain strategy.
Chopra and Meindl argued that while there are many attributes of
the supply system which are to be understood from customer point
of view and built into the supply chain, one key measure captures
the variation for many of these attributes. That measure according
to them is implied demand uncertainty. It is different from demand
uncertainty. Demand uncertainty reflects the uncertainty of
customer demand for a product. Implied demand uncertainty is
uncertainty for a specific supply chain for the portion of the demand
it caters to. Implied demand uncertainty is defined in the context of
multiple supply chains supplying the same product. Multiple supply
chains come due to different attributes that they satisfy. An example
is a firm supplying a product, say medicines, 24 hours versus a firm
that supplies during normal day hours. The implied demand
uncertainty for the 24 hour firm can be high as on some days there
is heavy demand and some days very less demand and also the
demand for specific medicines can be high on some days and can be
even zero on some days.
Understanding the Supply Chain (Characteristics)
o Supply chain characteristics contribute to responsiveness and
efficiency.
o Supply chain responsiveness is measured by the abilities of the
chain to do the following:

Ability
Ability
Ability
Ability

to
to
to
to

respond to fluctuations in demand

provide short lead times
handle large variety of products
come out with innovations and highly innovative

products
Ability to provide a very high service level
Supply chain efficiency is the cost of making and delivering a
product to the customer. Increase in costs lower efficiency.
Achieving strategic fit
The greater the implied demand uncertainty, the more responsive a
supply chain has to be. More responsive supply chains are more
costly supply chains. When compared directly with less responsive
but more efficient supply chains, their costs may look excessive.
Expanding the Supply Chain Optimization and Strategic Fit Scope
Competitive strategy
Value chain analysis espouses three roles for marketing in a global
competitive strategy. The first relates to the configuration of
marketing. It may be advantageous to concentrate some marketing
activities in one or a few countries. A second role relates to the
coordination of activities across countries to gain leverage say, of
know how. A third critical role of marketing is its role in tapping
opportunities for upstream advantage in the value chain. More will
be said about value chain analysis in later chapters.
Generic approaches
According to Porter1 (1980) there are three generic approaches to
outperforming others in an industry - overall cost leadership,
differentiation and focus

The life cycle

As indicated in chapter one, successful global strategists have
also to be cognizant of the international life cycle. Successful
strategies start with a firm base in one region or country, then
expand as opportunities arise. These opportunities have to be

explored alongside careful analysis of the life cycle stage in one

or another country. Failure to do so may mean that the
opportunity has passed, whereas the firm may be under the
impression it is still there.
Strategies for success
Success can be achieved in industries by identifying growth
segments within an overall market, enhancing quality and
stressing operating efficiencies. In fragmented industries
success can be achieved by the creation of economies of scale.
In the poultry and beef cattle industry, for example, this means
feed lots and intensive rearing. Another way of overcoming
fragmentation is by "positioning" which must be consistent.
The three types of positioning strategy are market leader,
market challenger or market follower. In market leadership the
firm must work at maintaining its position, having got there
through, say, cost advantage or innovation, by being very
responsive to market needs. We saw in the case of Argentina's
beef and Brazil's frozen concentrated orange juice that success
was built on:
Economies of scale - low cost of production
Customer knowledge - shifting the product mix to meet
changing demand
Technological innovation - vacuum packing policy, bulk
transport
Infrastructural development - supermarkets, transport systems

Q4: Discuss the importance of expending the scope of strategic fit

across the supply chain.

The scope of strategic fit refers to the functions and stages within a
supply chain that coordinate strategy and target a common goal.
When the scope is narrow, individual functions try to optimize their
performance based on their own goals. This practice often results in
conflicting actions that reduce the supply chain surplus. As the
scope of strategic fit is enlarged to include the entire supply chain,
actions are evaluated based on their impact on overall supply chain
performance, which helps increase supply chain surplus
Intercompany Interoperation scope:
The most limited scope over which strategic fit and optimization can be attempted is one with
operation within a functional area in a company.
Intercompany Intra functional scope:
If the competitive strategy and supply chain strategy are aligned across all the operations
functions of the company and optimization is attempted in an integral manner including the
raw material inventory, manufacturing operations, finished goods inventory and warehouse,
and transportation, the scope is extended to intra company intra fuctional level.
Intra company Inter functional scope:
At this level of scope, the entire company's activities are viewed and modeled as one single
system, and optimization is done and company profit is maximized.
Intercompany Inter functional scope:
The Maximum Supply Chain Surplus view: At this level of optimization and fit making, the
entire supply chain is modeled as a system and optimization and fit is designed so that
supply chain surplus is maximized.

Flexible Intercompany inter functional scope:

The flexibility refers to dynamic situation. Physically, the participants in the supply chain keep
changing, products keep changing, technologies keep changing, facilities keep changing.
Mathematically, there are changes in number of variables and variable values. A supply
chain capable of optimizing and fit making dynamically is a flexible intercompany
interfuctional scope supply chain.

Q5: Identify the major drivers of supply chain performance.

Discuss the role of each driver in creating strategic fit
supply chain strategic fit between supply chain strategy and
competitive strategy.
As you simulate how your supply chain works, you learn about the
demands it faces and the capabilities it needs to be successful. Develop
your supply chain to meet these needs. Supply chain development is
guided by the decisions you make about the five supply chain drivers.

Each of these drivers can be developed and managed to emphasize

responsiveness or efficiency depending on the business requirements.
These five drivers provide a useful framework in which to think about the
supply chain capabilities you need. They are illustrated in this diagram:

Production

This driver can be made very responsive by building factories that

have a lot of excess capacity and that use flexible manufacturing
techniques to produce a wide range of items. To be even more
responsive, a company could do their production in many smaller
plants that are close to major groups of customers so that delivery
times would be shorter. If efficiency is desirable, then a company
can build factories with very little excess capacity and have the
factories optimized for producing a limited range of items. Further
efficiency could be gained by centralizing production in large central
plants to get better economies of scale.

Simulate your decisions about production in SCM Globe by the

products you define and the facilities you create to make these
products.

Inventory

Responsiveness can be had by stocking high levels of inventory for a

wide range of products. Additional responsiveness can be gained by

stocking products at many locations so as to have the inventory

close to customers and available to them immediately. Efficiency in
inventory management would call for reducing inventory levels of all
items and especially of items that do not sell as frequently. Also,
economies of scale and cost savings could be gotten by stocking
inventory in only a few central locations.

Simulate your decisions about inventory with SCM Globe by setting

production levels at factories and defining on-hand amounts for
different products at different facilities.

Location

A location approach that emphasizes responsiveness would be one

where a company opens up many locations so as to be physically
close to its customer base. For example, McDonalds has used
location to be very responsive to its customers by opening up lots of
stores in its high volume markets. Efficiency can be achieved by
operating from only a few locations and centralizing activities in
common locations. An example of this is the way Dell serves large
geographical markets from only a few central locations that perform
a wide range of activities.

Simulate this decision in SCM Globe by the method you use to select
locations for your facilities (factories, warehouses and stores) and
the storage capacities and operating expenses you define for these
facilities.

Transportation

Responsiveness can be achieved by a transportation mode that is

fast and flexible. Many companies that sell products through
catalogs or over the Internet are able to provide high levels of
responsiveness by using transportation to deliver their products
often within 24 hours. FedEx and UPS are two companies who can
provide very responsive transportation services. Efficiency can be
emphasized by transporting products in larger batches and doing it
less often. The use of transportation modes such as ship, rail, and
pipelines can be very efficient. Transportation can be made more
efficient if it is originated out of a central hub facility instead of from
many branch locations.

Simulate transportation decisions in SCM Globe by the modes of

transportation you select to move products between facilities and
the frequencies of those deliveries to different facilities.

Information

The power of this driver grows stronger each year as the technology
for collecting and sharing information becomes more wide spread,
easier to use, and less expensive. Information, much like money, is
a very useful commodity because it can be applied directly to
enhance the performance of the other four supply chain drivers.
High levels of responsiveness can be achieved when companies
collect and share accurate and timely data generated by the
operations of the other four drivers. The supply chains that serve
the electronics markets are some of the most responsive in the
world. Companies in these supply chains from manufacturers, to
distributors, to the big retail stores collect and share data about
customer demand, production schedules, and inventory levels.

SCM Globe simulates real-time information sharing between all

participants in a supply chain by making data about operating costs
and on-hand inventory available for all the facilities in the supply
chain. As you run a simulation you can see what is happening from
end to end across your supply chain. At present in the real world,
most companies are not able to see much about the overall status
of the supply chains they participate in. So in that sense the
information available from the SCM Globe simulations is not that
readily available to companies in actual supply chain practice.

Please note however that the cost of information continues to drop and
the cost of the other four drivers mostly continues to rise. Over the
long run, those companies and supply chains that learn how to
maximize the use of information sharing to increase their coordination
and get optimal performance from the other drivers will gain the most
market share and be the most profitable.

Q6: Understand the role that distribution play in the supply

chain.
In the ever-changing chemicals industry, distributors play an
important role in the supply chain. From just-in-time
procurement strategies to risk management, distributors can
bring real value to customers. In todays economy, distributors
are relied on heavily, as customers are more likely to order
smaller volumes of product more frequently. Established
partnerships with distributors provide for continuity and trust
of supply. The following discussion highlights some of the
challenges that distributors face, as well as benefits that they
can offer to both customers and suppliers.
Challenges

Chemical distributors face a variety of challenges. First, like

most of their customers and manufacturing partners, chemical
distributors are experiencing unprecedented price fluctuations
for materials, energy, and transportation. Unfortunately, these
distributors have little control over their number-one cost: raw
materials. This is driven by suppliers and their exposure to
macroeconomic factors (e.g., the price of oil falling from
$140/barrel to less than $40/barrel in a matter of months).

Distributors can remove selling and administrative costs from

the system and implement controls on freight expenses by
establishing strong relationships with local carriers, innovative
consolidation, and the use of third-party logistics providers, but
they also need to find new ways to bring real value to
customers. As manufacturers alter their pricing strategies,
distributors are potentially exposed to reduced profitability or
loss of business.
What is the Value of Distributors?

A Customer's Perspective
Customers may sometimes wonder, why buy from a middle
man when I can just go direct at a lower cost? There are
several answers, the most straightforward being that either the
buyer or seller in a direct relationship will have to perform the
function of the distributor. This adds cost to the equation,
which can be seen in several key areas.
In addition, distributors can typically offer a greater level of
flexibility than manufacturers, including quicker turnaround
times on orders - often as little as two hours. Most
manufacturers today supply orders based on 730-day leadtimes, excluding transit time to import products to the United
States. With just-in-time manufacturing principals in place at
many customers facilities, not to mention ever-changing
production schedules, customers do not have the luxury of
waiting four to eight weeks for materials to arrive. With
customers focused on increasing inventory turns and
improving working capital and revenue through operational
efficiencies, the distribution channel is critical to maintain
inventory strategically located near the customer base.

Supply Chain Management

MBA 6th (Section-B)
Government College University, Faisalabad.
________________________________________________________________
ASSIGNMEN No.2

Q7: identify factor influencing supply chain network design decision.

Q8: what is the role of network design decision in supply chain?
Q9: identify the components of a demand forecast.
Q10: Identify the types of decision that are best solved by aggregate
planning.

Q11: What role does forecasting play in the supply chain of a buildto-order?
Q12: In what way can improper incentives lead to lack of
coordination in a supply chain? What countermeasures can be used
of offset this effect?

Introduction to Academic Writing

MBA 6th (Section-B)
Government College University, Faisalabad.
___________________________________________________________________________
ASSIGNMENT # 1

(DEADLINE: September 5, 2016)

MARKS = 100

1. You are studying English at a private language school attended by many international
students. You are planning a surprise birthday party for a friend who has been feeling
particularly sad and homesick. Write to another classmate and invite him / her to the party. In
your letter:
(20)
Explain the reason for the party
Well I have many friend in my that group, I have a friend who always miss his family and
always be lonely and miss you family a lot. Well its not mean I do not miss my family
when I saw him its make me sad. So I have a chance to make him happy and give him
some surprise because today is its birthday so I am doing all this for my friend because he
have to be happy because its not his own country and neither is area where he used to live
all of his life. So I try my best to make him happy and I wish he be happy always this is a

reason and I have to let him know that making me his friend is his good choice so I am his
friend and I will prove it.
Give the date and time and place of the party
The time I will suggest it ofcouse after 8 pm because after that time he used to miss his
family so much and I have seen him very sad on that time so I have been noticing him a
while ago and I was already made my plan that on his birthday I will make a speaial day
for him and I will try to give some special gift from his family I am corresponding with his
younger brother what he like so he sent me his best T-shirt which he is like to wear when
he was in his country.
Suggest what the classmate could bring to the party
Well I will suggest that he is missing his family so we have to be show that we are his
family so one will be like his elder brother and sister and make him think that that you are
real ones
I want you to invite all and give some time by him own just thinking if we were on his
behalf what we feel? So I hope this give you best idea what make you to and yes if this is
possible then you just wear his kind of dress which he used to wear trust me guys you will
got tears in your eyes when you saw his happiness trust me it would be great feelings to
make someone happy.

2. You have received a job offer for a position you have wanted for a long time. You are
expected to start on September 1st. However, you can only start a week later due to
personal reasons. Write a letter to Mr. Ahmar, your new boss. In your letter:
Attention Mr. Ahmar

I am writing you a letter to explain the reason behind why I am not supposed
to join you on time and why I was delay. I was in some trouble due to some
current issues so having some personal family issues which makes me to
delay and I was feeling guilty. I will make you sure I will not do this again I
will surely let you before I hope you will consider my problem and give me a
second chance and I will make you very sure I will work hard for the job and
never allow you to complaint and do my best to make you proud for choosing
me

Apologize for delay

 Im so sorry for taking this long to write you back. I was away
for a few days and am digging out from the emails that piled
up! Its a giant, digital deluge.
I need to confess something: If even a few days go by without
me replying to you, I start to worry. Am I making you feel bad?
Am I being rude? And the most fifth grade fear of all: will you
be mad at me?
I find myself apologizing constantly. Im sorry for the delay in
replying, but. Sorry its taken me so long. I do it so often I
can cut and paste the phrases into each email reply. One day,
drowning in electronic apologies, it hit me: I have the curse of
the e-Good Girl.
Sure, everybodys got email problems. But if youre the kind of
person who worries about disappointing others, who wants to
be liked, who wants to do everything right, a mounting pile of
email lights your Good Girl issues up like a Christmas tree.
When I stop and think about it, I realize that letting four or five
days go by before responding to you is actually not a big deal.
With all the instant technology at our disposal (text! Chat!
Skype!), Ive gotten warped about what a long time really
means. The pressure for an immediate response has gotten
out of hand.
And my productivity suffers. When Im writing back to you, Im
not working on a lesson plan or a book chapter. Its just that
answering email is so darn attractive. It offers a satisfying
double hit of blazing through my to-do list and fulfilling my
need to be nice and please you. (By the way, it turns out the
book chapter doesnt say thank you. It doesnt think Im a nice
person for writing it, either).
In a highly scientific survey, I asked one of my best friends,
who works in publishing, if she ever felt like this. It was
Saturday morning and we were both trudging through our
inbox (yes, the word Saturday is what is wrong with that
sentence). When I asked her if she had the Curse of the E-Good
Girl, I could practically hear her sit up.

 Totally, she said. I dont want clients to be mad at me, I

dont want friends to be mad at me. I dont want business
associates to think Im being disrespectful. I dont want people
to think Im ignoring them. But by doing so, Im making their
time more important than my time.

Suggest what you can do

In a tightly run job race, when the two top candidates have equal qualifications, the job
offer will always go to the most intelligently enthusiastic candidate. The problem for most
of us is that interviews are stressful events, and under stress our defenses go up and any
natural enthusiasm for our work is buried in a wall of stiff professionalism. This can get in
the way of winning job offers, because employers see enthusiasm for your work as signal
that:
You are more likely to invest yourself in developing competency in the skills of your
profession.
You will work harder and will turn in a superior work product.
You will be easier to work with, and more likely to become a productive team player.
However, while making yourself smile and saying you want the job shows enthusiasm and
is more than many people will do, its rarely enough.

3. Write an application to CEO of your company, requesting a temporary employment

in a foreign branch/outlet of the same company. Mention the solid reasons for this
request, without impairing your goodwill and prestige.
Temporary work or temporary employment refers to an employment situation where the
working arrangement is limited to a certain period of time based on the needs of the
employing organization. Temporary employees are sometimes called "contractual",
"seasonal", "interim", "casual staff", "outsourcing", "freelance"; or the word may be
shortened to "temps". In some instances, temporary, highly skilled professionals (particularly
in the white-collar worker fields, such as law, engineering, and accounting) refer to
themselves as consultants.

Temporary workers may work full-time or part-time depending on the individual situation. In
some instances, temporary workers receive benefits (such as health insurance), but usually
benefits are only given to permanent employees as a cost-cutting measure by the employer to
save money. Not all temporary employees find jobs through a temporary employment agency.
A temporary work agency, temp agency or temporary staffing firm finds and retains workers.
Other companies, in need of short-term workers, contract with the temporary work agency to
send temporary workers, or temps, on assignments to work at the other companies.
Temporary employees are also used in work that has a cyclical nature, requiring frequent
adjustments to staffing levels.

4. Write the detailed paragraphs of the following topics. Firstgenerate topic sentences
and then cover the three parts of paragraph in each topic.
Earthquake
(10)

An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the perceptible shaking

of the surface of the Earth, resulting from the sudden release of energy in
the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can be violent enough to toss
people around and destroy whole cities. The seismicity or seismic activity of an area
refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time.

Earthquakes are measured using observations from seismometers. The moment

magnitude is the most common scale on which earthquakes larger than approximately 5

are reported for the entire globe. The more numerous earthquakes smaller than
magnitude 5 reported by national seismological observatories are measured mostly on
the local magnitude scale, also referred to as the Richter magnitude scale. These two
scales are numerically similar over their range of validity. Magnitude 3 or lower
earthquakes are mostly imperceptible or weak and magnitude 7 and over potentially
cause serious damage over larger areas, depending on their depth. The largest
earthquakes in historic times have been of magnitude slightly over 9, although there is no
limit to the possible magnitude. Intensity of shaking is measured on the modified Mercalli
scale. The shallower an earthquake, the more damage to structures it causes, all else
being equal.[1]

At the Earth's surface, earthquakes manifest themselves by shaking and sometimes

displacement of the ground. When the epicenter of a large earthquake is located
offshore, the seabed may be displaced sufficiently to cause atsunami. Earthquakes can
also trigger landslides, and occasionally volcanic activity.

In its most general sense, the word earthquake is used to describe any seismic event
whether natural or caused by humans that generates seismic waves. Earthquakes are
caused mostly by rupture of geological faults, but also by other events such as volcanic
activity, landslides, mine blasts, and nuclear tests. An earthquake's point of initial rupture
is called its focus or hypocenter. The epicenter is the point at ground level directly above
the hypocenter.

Secrets of good ads

(10)
An advertising agency, either online or offline, is meant to make the products it serves
notorious among its potential consumers. Advertising is defined as the science of positioning
and creating brands and persuading consumers to buy them through messages in mass media.
The shoes you wear, the cars you drive, the food you eat and the drinks you consume are all
brands. Many even regard advertising as an art, because of its psychological implications.
Advertising is a creative and inclusive field unique in the business world. Advertising
agencies are like stores of ideas, and if you want to work with smart, creative, fun people in a
business that doesn't take into consideration race and gender issues, there's no business quite
as satisfying.
At its most basic level advertising, like friendship, is a three-stage process consisting of
awareness, trial and repeat. In the first stage, awareness, you hear about a brand. In the
second stage, trial, you're persuaded to buy it and try it. If you like it, you buy it again and
again. You're a repeat customer. Along the way, you find that you and the brand share the
same values. You wouldn't think about using anything else.
A brand is an image, a conception in consumers' minds. Implicit within the image is a unique
promise of value and trust that distinguishes it from its competitors. The job of an advertising

agency is to use every tool at its disposal to clothe the brand with substance and endow it
with personality and make it a trusted friend.
Consumers also buy things and services that reflect a brand reputation and fit with their own
personal values and aspirations. They may develop an emotional relationship with a brand,
buying it for the simple reason that they have always bought it, or because it reminds them of
their childhood, or because it gives them a taste of the glamour they want in their life.
Good advertisers can tap into this well of emotion. It's a maxim of advertising when products
are similar; the advertising has to rely on the difference in the experience. Advertising
attaches value to the product by creating the anticipation of a superior experience. (Just take a
look, for instance, at some of the shampoo television ads, which strongly imply that women
will be brought to the heights of ecstasy merely by shampooing their hair with the product.)
If the links between customer and brand are properly built, leveraged and translated into an
emotionally involving and gratifying experience, an intensely loyal, committed customer will
result. Virtually every business follows some variation of the 20/80 rule. Roughly, 20 percent
of customers generate 80 percent of sales. Their lifetime value to the brand is significant. The
best customers often become brand advocates and recruit new customers.
The underground railroad
The Underground Railroad was a network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19thcentury enslaved people of African descent in the United States in efforts to escape to free
states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists and allies who were sympathetic to their cause.
The term is also applied to the abolitionists, both black and white, free and enslaved, who
aided the fugitives. Various other routes led to Mexico or overseas.[3] An earlier escape route
running south toward Florida, then a Spanish possession, existed from the late 17th century
until shortly after the American Revolution. However, the network now generally known as
the Underground Railroad was formed in the early 19th century, and reached its height
between 1850 and 1860. One estimate suggests that by 1850, 100,000 slaves had escaped via
the "Railroad".
British North America (present-day Canada), where slavery was prohibited, was a popular
destination, as its long border gave many points of access. Most former slaves settled in
Ontario. More than 30,000 people were said to have escaped there via the network during its
20-year peak period,[6] although U.S. Census figures account for only 6,000.[7] Numerous
fugitives' stories are documented in the 1872 book The Underground Railroad Records by
William Still, an abolitionist who then headed the Philadelphia Vigilance Committee

5. Write a detailed essay on Global warming. The essay should be long enough to cover
all aspects of the topic.
(20)
Global warming and climate change are terms for the observed century-scale
rise in the average temperature of the Earth's climate system and its related
effects. Multiple lines of scientific evidence show that the climate system is
warming Although the increase of near-surface atmospheric temperature is the

measure of global warming often reported in the popular press, most of the
additional energy stored in the climate system since 1970 has gone into the
oceans. The rest has melted ice and warmed the continents and atmosphere.
Many of the observed changes since the 1950s are unprecedented over tens to
thousands of years.
Scientific understanding of global warming is increasing. The Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reported in 2014 that scientists were more than
95% certain that global warming is mostly being caused by human
(anthropogenic) activities, mainly increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases
such as carbon dioxide Human-made carbon dioxide continues to increase above
levels not seen in hundreds of thousands of years. Currently, about half of the
carbon dioxide released from the burning of fossil fuels remains in the
atmosphere. The rest is absorbed by vegetation and the oceans. Climate model
projections summarized in the report indicated that during the 21st century the
global surface temperature is likely to rise a further 0.3 to 1.7 C for their lowest
emissions scenario and 2.6 to 4.8 C (4.7 to 8.6 F) for the highest emissions
scenario.[15] These findings have been recognized by the national science
academies of the major industrialized nations and are not disputed by any
scientific body of national or international standing.
Future climate change and associated impacts will differ from region to region
around the globe.[19][20] Anticipated effects include warming global
temperature, rising sea levels, changing precipitation, and expansion of deserts
in the subtropics.[21] Warming is expected to be greater over land than over the
oceans and greatest in the Arctic, with the continuing retreat of glaciers,
permafrost and sea ice. Other likely changes include more frequent extreme
weather events including heat waves, droughts, heavy rainfall with floods and
heavy snowfall;[22] ocean acidification; and species extinctions due to shifting
temperature regimes. Effects significant to humans include the threat to food
security from decreasing crop yields and the abandonment of populated areas
due to rising sea levels. Because the climate system has a large "inertia" and
CO2 will stay in the atmosphere for a long time, many of these effects will not
only exist for decades or centuries, but will persist for tens of thousands of years.
[25]

Possible societal responses to global warming include mitigation by emissions

reduction, adaptation to its effects, building systems resilient to its effects, and
possible future climate engineering. Most countries are parties to the United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC),[26] whose
ultimate objective is to prevent dangerous anthropogenic climate change.[27]
Parties to the UNFCCC have agreed that deep cuts in emissions are required[28]
and that global warming should be limited to well below 2.0 C (3.6 F) relative
to pre-industrial levels,[c] with efforts made to limit warming to 1.5 C (2.7 F

Introduction to Academic Writing

MBA 6th (Section-B)
Government College University, Faisalabad.
___________________________________________________________________________

ASSIGNMENT # 2
100

(DEADLINE: September 5, 2016)

MARKS =

Choose 4 articles of your own choice regarding Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and
Economic Growth. Read the articles thoroughly and cover following areas;
A. Generate an attractive topic sentence of your article.

(5)

Net inflows of foreign direct investment (FDI) fell by 16% globally in 2014, to $1.2 trillion,
as a result of economic fragility, greater geopolitical risks and policy uncertainty. FDI flows
to developed countries dropped by 28%, to $499 billion, their lowest level in a decade.
Inflows to the United States fell by 60%, to $92 billion, mainly due to Vodafones divestment
of Verizon, while flows to Europe fell by 11%, to $289 billion. Owing largely to Asia,
developing economies share of FDI inflows is rising steadily: it accounted for 55% of the
global total. Services continue to gobble up the bulk of investment, accounting for 63% of the
global FDI stock, more than twice the share of manufacturing.
India to allow foreign direct investment from Pakistan
NEW DELHI: Improving the economic ties between the two nations, India on Friday said it
will allow FDI from Pakistan paving the way for industries from the neighbouring country to
set up businesses in the growing Indian market. "India has taken in-principle decision as part
of trade normalisation process to allow foreign direct investment from Pakistan...," commerce
and industry minister Anand Sharma said after a meeting with his Pakistani counter.

100% foreign direct investment regime in pharmaceutical sector

NEW DELHI: A high-level inter-ministerial group chaired by the prime minister has decided
to continue with the 100% foreign direct investment regime in the pharmaceuticals sector,
overruling concerns raised by the health and industry ministries about rising medicine costs
due to acquisitions of Indian drug companies by multinationals. But the takeover of Indian
drug companies by foreign companies, or brownfield investment, will face stringent scrutiny

B. Write introduction based on your selected variables. Also mention

the importance, gap, objectives and research questions of your study.

Variable and feature selection have become the focus of much

research in areas of application for which datasets with tens or
hundreds of thousands of variables are available. These areas
include text processing of internet documents, gene expression
array analysis, and combinatorial chemistry. The objective of
variable selection is three-fold: improving the prediction
performance of the predictors, providing faster and more costeffective predictors, and providing a better understanding of the
underlying process that generated the data. The contributions of this
special issue cover a wide range of aspects of such problems:
providing a better definition of the objective function, feature
construction, feature ranking, multivariate feature selection, efficient
search methods, and feature validity assessment methods.
Keywords: Variable selection, feature selection, space dimensionality
reduction, pattern discovery, filters, wrappers, clustering,
information theory, support vector machines, model selection,
statistical testing, bioinformatics, computational biology, gene
expression, microarray, genomics, proteomics, QSAR, text
classification, information retrievalIn management literature, gap analysis
involves the comparison of actual performance with potential or desired performance. If an
organization does not make the best use of current resources, or forgoes investment in capital
or technology, it may produce or perform below its potential. This concept is similar to an
economy's being below the production possibilities frontier.Gap analysis identifies gaps
between the optimized allocation and integration of the inputs (resources), and the current
allocation-level. This may reveal areas that can be improved. Gap analysis involves
determining, documenting, and approving the difference between business requirements and
current capabilities. Gap analysis naturally flows from benchmarking and from other
assessments. Once the general expectation of performance in an industry is understood, it is
possible to compare that expectation with the company's current level of performance. This
comparison becomes the gap analysis. Such analysis can be performed at the strategic or at
the operational level of an organization.Gap analysis is a formal study of what a business is
doing currently and where it wants to go in the future. It can be conducted, in different
perspectives, as follows:

Organization (e.g., Human Resources)

Business direction
Business processes
Information technology

C. Write literature review based on the relevant previous researches and propose
hypotheses. (Note: Focus on proper citation in APA style)

A literature review is a text of a scholarly paper, which includes the current knowledge
including substantive findings, as well as theoretical and methodological contributions to a
particular topic. Literature reviews are secondary sources, and do not report new or original
experimental work. Most often associated with academic-oriented literature, such reviews are
found in academic journals, and are not to be confused with book reviews that may also
appear in the same publication. Literature reviews are a basis for research in nearly every
academic fieldA narrow-scope literature review may be included as part of a peer-reviewed
journal article presenting new research, serving to situate the current study within the body of
the relevant literature and to provide context for the reader. In such a case, the review usually
precedes the methodology and results sections of the work. Producing a literature review may
also be part of graduate and post-graduate student work, including in the preparation of a
thesis, dissertation, or a journal article. Literature reviews are also common in a research
proposal or prospectus (the document that is approved before a student formally begins a
dissertation or thesis) Literature review in psychology compares research concerning
assumptions on the research question, the experimental methodology, the data assessments,
and the conclusions
The APA style refers to the method of writing research papers recommended by the American
Psychological Association. The APA style is used in the social sciences and is governed by
two basic ideas. The first is that a scientific paper attempts to show something that has
already been proven true, so it calls for the past or present perfect tense when you cite the
work of others. Second, the year of publication is important, so you need to feature it
immediately after any named source in the text.

Smyth (1972) found that children often studied while watching television.

Williams and Maier (1994) have defined a new theory of cognition.

D. Make a conceptual framework of your variables and their relationship. Moreover,

also mention where proposed hypotheses lie in that framework.

A conceptual framework is a bit like a recipe or a plan. It provides an outline of how you plan
to conduct the research for your thesis, but it goes further than that by also positioning your
work within the larger field of research. Writing a conceptual framework can not only help to
guide your thesis to ensure that your research stays on track, but it also helps to guide fellow
researchers or advisers who are analyzing your thesis.
Create a Flow Chart
Conceptual frameworks are often visual in nature and allow those reading the framework to
understand the flow of your research. You can present this in whatever way makes the most
sense for your work, which can include a flow chart, mind map or diagram. For each
component of your research, you should show the variables that influence it. For example, if
you are studying childhood development outcomes, you might study home life, school and
community, which would each be influenced by different variables. For school, your
variables might be peers, teachers and learning disabilities. The more detailed you are with
your diagram, the more thorough your conceptual framework will be.

Write a Narrative
Not all conceptual frameworks have to include a diagram or graphic. You can present the
same information by writing a narrative. Your narrative should summarize the variables
influencing your research and explore how they may change your hypothesis. The narrative
should also explain the basic methodology for your research. Even if you include a diagram
in your conceptual framework, a narrative should also be included explaining these details for
those who prefer more in-depth information. Use bolded headers to separate the sections of
your narrative and to create a visual hierarchy of information.

Return and Revise

As you begin your research, you may find that certain elements of your conceptual
framework no longer work. You may discover new variables, or you may learn that your
hypothesis is incorrect. You may find additional research that challenges your own theory.
You should return to your framework and revise it as necessary. The document is not fixed in
stone. It should be considered an adaptable guide as you work through your thesis. It should
be seen as a partner to your thesis and should be updated as necessary.

E. Propose detailed methodology of study, covering all important aspects.

(20)

Methodology is the systematic, theoretical analysis of the methods applied to a field of study.
It comprises the theoretical analysis of the body of methods and principles associated with a
branch of knowledge. Typically, it encompasses concepts such as philosophical or theoretical
frameworks, theoretical model, phases and quantitative or qualitative techniques.[1]
A methodology does not set out to provide solutions - it is, therefore, not the same as a
method. Instead, a methodology offers the theoretical underpinning for understanding which
method, set of methods, or best practices can be applied to specific case, for example, to
calculate a specific result.
It has been defined also as follows:

"The analysis of the principles of methods, rules, and postulates employed by a

discipline
"The systematic study of methods that are, can be, or have been applied within a
discipline
"The study or description of methods

The methodology is the general research strategy that outlines the way in which research is to
be undertaken and, among other things, identifies the methods to be used in it. These
methods, described in the methodology, define the means or modes of data collection or,
sometimes, how a specific result is to be calculated. Methodology does not define specific
methods, even though much attention is given to the nature and kinds of processes to be
followed in a particular procedure or to attain an objective. When proper to a study of
methodology, such processes constitute a constructive generic framework, and may therefore
be broken down into sub-processes, combined, or their sequence changed. A paradigm is
similar to a methodology in that it is also a constructive framework. In theoretical work, the
development of paradigms satisfies most or all of the criteria for methodology. An algorithm,
like a paradigm, is also a type of constructive framework, meaning that the construction is a
logical, rather than a physical, array of connected elements. Any description of a means of
calculation of a specific result is always a description of a method and never a description of
a methodology. It is thus important to avoid using methodology as a synonym for method or
body of methods. Doing this shifts it away from its true epistemological meaning and reduces
it to being the procedure itself, or the set of tools, or the instruments that should have been its
outcome. A methodology is the design process for carrying out research or the development
of a procedure and is not in itself an instrument, or method, or procedure for doing things.
Methodology and method are not interchangeable. In recent years however, there has been a
tendency to use methodology as a "pretentious substitute for the word method[not in citation
given] Using methodology as a synonym for method or set of methods leads to confusion and
misinterpretation and undermines the proper analysis that should go into designing research

APA style is a format for academic documents such as journal articles and
books. It is modified in the style guide of the American Psychological
Association (APA), titled the Publication Manual of the American

Psychological Association. The APA states that the guidelines were

developed to assist reading comprehension in the social and behavioral
sciences, for clarity of communication, and for "word choice that best
reduces bias in language" APA style is widely used, either entirely or with
modifications, by hundreds of other scientific journals (including medical
and other public health journals), in many textbooks, and in academia (for
papers written in classes). Along with AMA style and CSE style, it is one of
the major style regimes for such work.
In response to the growing complexities of scientific reporting, subsequent
editions were released in 1974, 1983, 1994, and 2001. Primarily known for
the simplicity of its reference citation style, the Publication Manual also
established standards for language use that had far-reaching effects.
Particularly influential were the "Guidelines for Nonsexist Language in APA
Journals," first published as a modification to the 1974 edition, which
provided practical alternatives to sexist language then in common usage.
[3][4] The guidelines for reducing bias in language have been updated
over the years and presently provide practical guidance for writing about
race, ethnicity, age, gender, sexual orientation, and disability status
Important: Please carefully check your assignment instructions, or with
your lecturer, any specific referencing requirements.
Begin your reference list on a new page and title it References, then
centre the title on the page.
Double-space your reference list and have a hanging indent
Left align the first line of each reference with subsequent lines indented to
the right to a width by
5 -7 spaces or 1.25 cm.
All of the references in the reference list must also be cited in the text.
All references cited in text must also be included in the reference list
(unpublished items, such as personal
correspondence, are an exception).
List the references in alphabetical order by author surname/family name
according to the first listed author. (Note: the order of the authors on a
document is important do not rearrange them)
Provide organisation names in full, unless they are obviously recognisable
as abbreviations (e.g. APA for American Psychological Association).