Systems that Transformed How the Organization Operates Essay Example for Free

Systems that Transformed How the Organization Operates Essay Abstract This paper details how UPS was able to stay relevant in the shipping and distribution world by updating old practices with new and proven technology. By spending some of their profits on a newer and more efficient way of doing things, UPS was able to stay ahead of their competition while receiving great reviews and profits from their customers. Specifics of who was impacted, how they were impacted, and what results occurred have been discussed in this paper. Mainly the workers, the business leaders, and the consumers have been affected by this change. When we look back at certain advancements that companies have made, what seems to be the common factor? Technology. Anytime a company rolls out new technology it is not because they want to waste their hard earned profits on something that might make their business business more competitive or increase their profit margin. They spend the money on the new technology because they know they will be more competitive and make higher profits than had they not. In any type of industry we can see examples of this being true, from the automotive, to the postal, and even the medical industry, the use of new technology has mostly lead to benefits that make companies stand out from the rest. One of the companies that has profited the most from new technology or the advancement of technology is UPS. UPS is known in the world as one of the largest parcel and freight delivery companies. Their main competition comes from companies like FedEx, DHL, and USPS (United States Postal Service. The  big wigs as UPS came together because they noticed customer ratings and efficiency rates were down and steadily decreasing year after year. After examining certain sectors of their business, they realized where the mistake was being made. Customer ratings were declining because of packages that were shipped to the wrong address, delivered at the wrong house, or lost in the may lay at UPS’s packaging warehouses and distribution centers all over the world. The way the company decided to rectify this problem was by purchasing and utilizing automated package sorters. They called it package flow technology and basically what it involves is the automatic and rapid sorting of packages to guarantee efficient and accurate shipments. The tradition of relying on human sorters to memorize hundreds of streets and back roads in particular communities leads to a small share of parcels that either are loaded on the wrong truck or misplaced among other customers packages, said Dan McMackin, a UPS spokesman in Atlanta. While the company still relies on people to load customers packages, UPS is investing heavily in technology to make the labor-intensive work more efficient. (Bennett, 2005) This change from people to machine did not sit well with employees who became laid off or switched to a different department, but after seeing the company rebound it was recognized as being the right choice and solution to their problem. The problem UPS did not recognize sooner was humans make mistakes and unfortunately too many were made and the company was placed in the public spotlight which caused this solution to come about. While it is true that often time’s companies choose new technology or manual labor, the results heavi ly favor the new technology. Nobody wants people to be laid off or lose their jobs to a machine, but in this day and age companies have to spend the big dollars in order to remain relevant and successful in today’s economy. The cost for this technology for UPS was not cheap by any means, in fact the upgrade from manual labor to automated machines cost an estimated six hundred million dollars. (Bennett, 2005) Besides the expense for rolling out this new system to all its distribution warehouses, UPS has the potential to still come out on top of this deal. When they devoted themselves to this newer way of doing things the results were less training time for employees and the ability to shift employees into areas that were lacking personnel or that demanded more personnel. The savings though in the year after this upgrade might even be greater than the initial cost and  put the company further ahead. UPS expects to gain immensely from the new system. Between now and 2007, when the system is fully installed , the delivery company expects to save $500 million to $600 million through a combination of less miles driven, less fuel consumption and less delivery miscues (Bennett, 2005) The people who were greatly affected by this change in procedure were the UPS drivers. Instead of going through their trucks looking for packages, the packages are loaded into specific areas of the truck and that information is transferred to the handheld scan tools the drivers use. The drivers seem impressed with the new technology and somewhat relieved that they can do their job no without the added stress of locating mislabeled or lost packages buried in their trucks. The future for this technology is not well known because it has seemed to rectify and solve all the problems that existed before. After all machines can do one thing that humans cannot, and that is do what it is programmed and instructed to do. The fact that a company is willing to spend this kind of money to hone their craft should speak volumes. At the beginning people were pessimistic but as the numbers started turning around and customer ratings increase, the company knew they made a wise choice. This was a turni ng point for UPS and the only thing they became concerned about was why they did not make the switch earlier. References Bennett, D. (2005). Package-flow technology delivers results for UPS. Crains Cleveland Business, 26(29), 8. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/198625167?accountid=458

Shakespeares Tempest :: essays research papers

I love the way Prospero speaks! Although I hate his character, his way of speaking is eloquently biting—whether he is speaking lovingly to his daughter or abusively to Caliban, he gets his point across beautifully. I tried with all my might to decide whether I like Prospero†¦ but to no avail. I had a bad taste in my mouth from the get-go because I remembered a comment about the ambiguity of the Caliban situation—how maybe he did try to rape Miranda, but maybe he didn’t, so maybe Prospero was noble by enslaving Caliban†¦ but maybe he was tyrannical. Prospero definitely reminded me of The Duke (Measure for Measure). Both played God-like roles, deceiving for a good cause yet deceiving nonetheless. I also love how Ferdinand sees Miranda, walks up to her, and says, â€Å"Hey baby, you single? A virgin? Attached? Wanna be a queen?† and that’s all he has to do. Besides Prospero’s fake-objections and all the wood-hauling, Miranda is as good as won. They have some really great lines between them—it’s one of my favorite love-dialogues. It probably helped that he thought he was gonna die and she had only seen two other men in her entire life. But love’s love. My favorite part was how he, a prince, stooped to a â€Å"patient log-man† level to prove his love for her, and how she offered to help while he rested! When Ferdinand first sees Miranda and promptly begins wooing, Prospero accuses him of attempted usurpation. I thought this was ironic†¦ and then realized that usurpation may be a theme that runs through the course of the play. Which it is. I think. Because Antonio usurped Prospero (right?), Prospero usurped Caliban, Sebastian is thinking about usurping Alonso, and Caliban is lookin to usurp Prospero. Maybe ‘usurp’ isn’t the right word for all of these cases—maybe ‘kill’ would suffice. I’m not sure of the exact definition of usurp, but I’m pretty sure a transfer of power via overthrow or murder plays a part. Onward to conventions! I saw lots of dark/light imagery, storms (of course), magic (also of course—there was a magic cloak, after all), nature vs.

My First Helicopter Ride

As I stood gazing at the monstrous contraption, I shivered as though ice had replaced my spine. The cold air that blew into my face engulfed my entire body. The multiple layers of clothing could not protect me against the swish of frosty air. The walkway leading up to the helipad was newly paved; I could still feel the soles of my shoes sink into the cement just a little as I walked up the path. It’s ironic how my heart did the exact same thing. It now felt like it was forcibly pressing against my lungs as I struggled to breathe; asphyxiated by terror. Weeds, dandelions and wild flowers were being blown helplessly about by the gargantuan blades. I knew how they felt. I was a small 7 year-old and this helicopter made me feel like a bug on a windscreen, hanging on for dear life. My mother must have been squeezing my hand too hard because I yanked it away from her as the pain finally registered in my central nervous system; I looked down at my hand just in time to see the blood rush back down my veins. Red roses grew wildly in thick batches by the entrance to the show grounds; the place where I was going to have one of the most memorable experiences of my life. The moonlight cast a ghoulish glow on the surrounding landscape, and the screeching of nearby cars pulling away to the highway made me realize how alone our family was; after all, we were the last people to go in the helicopter that day. The big metal structure shone a bright white under the moonlight, and the splotches of rusted metal hinted at the machines maturity, which wasn’t comforting at all. The spinning of the blades was deafening as we hurried towards the little â€Å"hobbit† door to enter the craft. The first thing I felt when I was hauled up into the craft was the constriction of my pupils, and then my eyelids wired shut. It was very bright in there. As soon as I regained visibility, I looked around and saw all these lights that were sourced by many buttons, switches and levers. The dashboard smelt of black coffee and cigarettes, and the floor of the helicopter was littered with cigarette-buds. I turned my head to look at my mother. I could see that somebody had made an attempt to scrub out a vomit stain on her seat. The earthy colours were at sharp contrast with the charcoal seats, and a thin layer of bleach had been used to try and remove it; like a criminal trying to remove blood splatter at a crime scene. Was it an omen, perhaps? My mother reached over and tightened my seatbelt, uncomfortably tight. However, with the sounds from the pilot’s radio headset combined with the humming and buzzing of all the small machines in the chopper, I was too frightened to care about the seat belt. All that was going through my mind was how my life was now in the hands of rows upon rows of illuminated buttons and do-hickeys. It was probably two minutes after buckling up that the craft began its slow ascent into the cold and seemingly insidious night. I could feel all my organs getting pulled down by gravity. In that moment, I became completely oblivious to the sound of the rotation of the massive blades above me, and only heard the ‘’lob-dup’’ of my heart. The light had been so bright as to temporarily blind me. The warmth of my mother’s reassuring smile contrasted the coldness of the night outside. As I peered through the window, I could see my father and little brother about to board the second helicopter. Their clothing was fighting violently against their bodies as the wind from the rotors blew over their heads. Slowly they started for the craft, with their mouths covered, as if walking into a big sandstorm. I could see them take very short, reluctant steps towards the door of their helicopter; as though they were trying to delay the jaw-dropping experience that was to follow. We started rising and rising until I caught a glimpse of the starry cosmos, and at that very moment, I was lost in my very first helicopter ride.

Bless Me Ultima The Growing Up Of A Young Boy - 680 Words

Bless me Ultima: The Growing up of a Young Boy Throughout the book Bless me Ultima, Tony, the young main character in the story, lost his innocence when exposed to the harsh world since he learned what life is really like. Ultima is a good witch who tries to guide Tony by teaching him morals and lessons. Narsico is percieved as the town drunk, but is a good person. Tenorio is the demon in this story, as he wants to destroy Ultima. This book is about Tonys experience in adjusting to the rough world at a relatively young age. Narsicos death with Tenorios desire to kill Tony made him realize his limitations and acknowledge the reality. Before these incidents, Tony imagined he could control incidents that happened†¦show more content†¦Before, Tonys parents, especially his mother, forced the religion of Christianity upon him. Tony believed it, since his parents did and he thought they were always right. Tonys parents did not him to question Catholisicm, but Florence made him realize you must question all beliefs at all angles. I personally think Tony will still believe in Catholisicm, but this event made him realize you must listen to all beliefs and question. Ultima told Tony he had to live to understand, since some questions are not answerable, and are only answerable through experience. Also, Tony learned from Ultima that recognition of your childhood is part of your future, and you must face the truth no matter how much agony you can suffer. When Tony was on his Uncles farm one summer, his Uncle told him to overlook differences, and evil is not evil, it is what you percieve of it. He also said people are not evil, they just have bad influences. If someone influential has a persuasive argument that seems to have a logical solution, people are influenced in a negative way since they do not know the whole story. In ways, Tony wishes Florence was with him, but he knows he can not look back on his life. He knows he must remember Florence, but if he kept dwelling on mourning for him, he would never be able to get on with his life. Yet, this made Tony realize he must wade through life, and you must not ever let evilShow MoreRelatedThematic Analysis Of Bless Me, Ultima1447 Words   |  6 PagesThematic Analysis of Bless Me, Ultima Bless me, Ultima is a book taking place in the 1940’s during world war ll in New Mexico, it is about a young boy named Antonio who is being torn this way and that by his mother, a Luna who wants solely for her son to become a man of knowledge and a priest. His father a Marez vaquero (cowboy) who wants him to be free like all the Marez men before him. Both parents are polar opposites from each other the Luna’s who represent the moon are quite, religious farmersRead MoreThe Struggles of Antonio826 Words   |  3 PagesBless Me, Ultima Essay The Struggles of Antonio In the beginning, Antonio is only six years old. He is at the center of a conflict between the Mà ¡rez values of his father and the Luna beliefs of his mother. His father would love for him to become a cowboy, but his mother desperately wants him to become a priest. â€Å" Once I had told my mother about my dreams, and she said they were visions from God and she was happy, because her own dream was that I should grow up an become a priest.† (4) All throughoutRead MoreEssay on Finding Ones Self879 Words   |  4 Pagesnovel, Bless Me, Ultima, Anaya presents the reader with the complications and difficulty of cultural identity and in the end suggests that a person can draw from several cultural traditions instead of just one in particular. The main character, Antonio, is the guide to Anayas lesson. Antonios parents, Ultima, and even his town present him with different situations and ideas that contributes to his identity. In the first chapter we are introduced to Antonio and his family. Antonio is a young six-year-oldRead MoreBless Me Ultima Reflection Essay1395 Words   |  6 Pagesabout everything that surrounds your life. These experiences can be so powerful that you question your entire existence. In Bless Me Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya, Antonio Mà ¡rez goes through many hardships that he endures throughout the plot which sparks many questions upon to himself. Being at a young age and coming up against such horrific experiences there is no doubt a young mind would have the need to seek answers as to why something like this would occur. Due to facing harsh realities, Antonio isRead MoreExamples Of Bless Me Ultima1246 Words   |  5 Pages Bless Me Ultima Topic 1 Amari Spleen Mr.Amoroso Pd.3 Spleen Page Two We wake up to the chirping of the birds and the annoying sound of our alarm clocks reminding us of the responsibilities that come about as the sun rises.After all the morning’s withdrawalsRead MoreEssay about Spirituality and Finding Ones Path in Life950 Words   |  4 Pagesconcerned with religion or religious matters†. In the book Bless Me Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya the themes of spirituality and independence are exactly what young Antonio is trying to find. This book portrays the struggles and positive experiences of a young boy on his route to finding his own identity. Finding your spirituality and your path in life is not easy for anyone and was proven very difficult for Antonio Marez. Antonio Marez grew up in a devout Catholic family where a solid sense of faith keptRead MoreTransformation In Bless Me Ultima1980 Words   |  8 PagesBless Me, Ultima is a transformative novel truly represented by the series of events that Antonio experienced. Throughout the story, Antonio was forced to transform from a boy to a man after the severity of tensions of opposites in his life caused him to question everything he had ever known. Antonio reflected upon battles of opinions in his own household, religious differences, and stepping outside of his cultural upbringing for the first time. When Antonio witnessed an extreme amount of death,Read More Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya Essay1652 Words   |  7 PagesBless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya Children believe what their parents tell them but as they get older they start to question that which used to be unquestionable. Bless Me, Ultima is a novel by Rudolfo Anaya about a young Chicano boy, Antonio Juan Marez y Luna, who is growing up and seeing the world for how cruel it really is. A wise old curandera, or faith healer, Ultima, arrives just before Tony receives his first glimpse into the world of men. Ultima gives Tony spiritual healing throughoutRead MoreBless Me, Ultima By Rudolfo Anaya1002 Words   |  5 PagesIn the novel Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya, Antonio matures a great deal for his age due to the violent actions he is surrounded by.   Ã‚  Ã‚   In the beginning of the novel the main character Antonio Marez, who was just six years old at the time, lives in a small town located in New Mexico. He lives with his parents, Maria and Gabriel, and two sisters, Deborah and Theresa. Tony also has three older brothers, but they are off fighting at War. During this t ime an older women by the name of La GrandeRead MoreBless Me Ultima Essay1362 Words   |  6 PagesBless Me Ultima LAP Topic 2 ​​​​ Brian Sandoval ​​​​Mr. Amoroso ​​​​AP Literature Period 1  Brian Sandoval​​​​​​​​9/20/17 Mr. Amoroso​​​​​​​​​AP Literature Bless Me Ultima Topic 2 ​The demons that haunt one by day do not go away by night; they merely lie in wait until one is sound asleep, ready to strike once more. Dreams are manifestations of one’s inner thoughts, both pleasurable and frightening. It is the brain’s way of working through the problems that plague the mind, serving as a warning