Nature of Work Groups in respect to organizational behavior Essay

Nature of Work Groups in respect to organizational behavior - Essay Example The current business practices involve better management and handling of organizational projects. At present, we are seeing that training within organizations is transforming along with knowledge management projects, in hopes of enhancing corporate profitability. The enhancement of the business and corporate culture depends on the establishment and improvement of the workgroups. Organizations often pay less attention to individuals playing key roles in business and are more interested in how particular workgroups can effectively enhance performance, with a view toward establishing a better corporate culture. This outline establishes how this can be accomplished. This paper will present a comprehensive analysis of the work groups with respect to organizational behavior via an assessment of the role and contribution of work groups and a thorough analysis of their operational structure. This paper will also assess the diverse structure of work groups within business organizations. Most work groups share external and internal information, exchange data and expertise, discuss current trends, and provide information and feedback to organizational experts, customers, and others outside of the group. A structurally diverse work group is one in which the group members, through virtue of their dissimilar organizational roles, affiliations or positions, can elevate the group beyond the norm to serve as an exceptional sources of business knowledge. It is assumed that if group members of structurally different work groups connect in outside knowledge sharing, their expertise will be enhanced because of this dynamic sharing of information (Cummings-2, 20 01). Groups always play an important role in the development of an organization. However they have recently increased in significance as an essential component of organizational structure. In an effort to become accustomed to quickly varying environments, many work organizations have granted teams augmented independence

The Influence of Gender and Age on the Second Language Acquisition of Research Paper

The Influence of Gender and Age on the Second Language Acquisition of University Students in South Korea - Research Paper Example It is so important that some companies and industries like healthcare include English proficiency among their requirements (Lorenzo, 2007). Moreover, many families travel abroad for several reasons, and this may require that they speak the language of the country they are in other than their native language (Gordon, 2000). Like learning a native language, secondary language acquisition is influenced by a variety of factors and outcomes may vary depending on the leaning style of the student, age, gender, and even culture. Similar to secondary language acquisition, learning style is influenced by age and gender. Learning style is defined as a persons personal choice of the way or method on how he can best gather data, process it, and put it to later use in terms of concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation. It was suggested by Kolb (1976) that an individual learner has particular strengths with related to his particular learning style. Moreover, the term refers to the individual differences in approaches to learning based on preferences. It pertains to the ways in which an individual characteristically acquires, retains, and retrieves information (Felder and Henriques, 1995). A study conducted by Ramayah, Sivanandan, Nasrijal, Letchumanan, and Leong (2009) explored the relationship between learning style and gender among business students. The study used a questionnaire to collect and gather data, and classified the participants using VARK (Visual, Auditory, Read/Write, and Kinesthetic) by Fleming. A convenience sampling method was used to ensure that an adequate number of samples are able to participate. The results indicate that there is a significant difference between their learning styles in terms of gender, with female participants highly preferring a visual or auditory learning style than male participants.

Emerson and Thoreau Transcendentalism Beliefs Essay Example for Free

Emerson and Thoreau Transcendentalism Beliefs Essay Both Emerson and Thoreau use the images of eyes, vision, and perception to properly demonstrate their transcendentalist beliefs. Transcendentalism is defined as the â€Å"idea that our spirits have a deep connection with nature and our ideas transcend to the natural world. † By using the â€Å"transparent eyeball† and other uses of perception of the whole in nature in their works, both authors establish a strong belief of perception through transcendentalism within the natural world. Their works have many parallels between them regarding perception and ultimately the use of eyes. Ralph Waldo Emerson was a very important author whose ideas were adopted and adapted almost immediately after his works came to light. First, in Emerson’s piece, Nature, he introduces the audience to an idea of a transparent eyeball. He states, â€Å"Standing on the bare ground, my head bathed by the blithe air, and uplifted into infinite space, all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eyeball. I am nothing. I see all. The currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or particle of God. † (1112). The most influential line in this quote is â€Å"all mean egotism vanishes. † This exemplifies the idea that it is not a personal experience in which he is undergoing; it is, in fact, a spiritual involvement with the natural world. By using the impression of an eyeball, it shows that he sees all and is part of nature as a whole. â€Å"The ruin or the blank †¦ is in our own eye. The axis of vision is not coincident with the axis of things, and so they appear not transparent but opaque. The reason why the world lacks unity is because man is disunited with himself. † (1133). While things in Nature should be seen as transparent, we view them as impervious, which affects our perception within. Emerson also states, â€Å"There is a property in the horizon which no man has but he whose eye can integrate all the parts, that is, the poet. † (1112). This quote shows the importance of seeing the natural world as one. Emerson also wrote a poem called â€Å"Each and All. † In this piece, his main theme is the idea of gratefulness in the natural world. He explains that every moment in nature is a whole. He states, â€Å"I thought the sparrows note from heaven, Singing at dawn on the alder bough; I brought him home in his nest at even;—He sings the song, but it pleases not now; For I did not bring home the river and sky; He sang to my ear; they sang to my eye. † (341). This part of the poem is momentous, because it explains that although the moment of hearing the sparrow sing is over, he has taken it in through the eye and now it is a memory as a whole. By using perception of the eye throughout his pieces, Emerson shows a vital key of knowledge in the transcendentalism ideals. Secondly, Henry David Thoreau had a major influence on the transcendentalist belief with his work called Walden. Walden Pond was a place in which Thoreau went for two years to build his house and wrote a narrative based on his learning and understanding of himself and nature during his time spent there. The depth of the Walden Pond was about 104 feet deep and it was blue with a tint of green. This pond was unique because of its clearness of the water, and the fact that it almost looked like the iris of an eyeball. Throughout his work, Thoreau used the pond as a metaphor of his existence in nature. By using the themes of economic, political, environmental, individualistic, and finally transcendental, Thoreau described an understanding of seeing all in nature. As he describes his surrounding, we get an idea of him becoming a â€Å"transparent eyeball. † Because Emerson was one of the most influential and important friendships in Thoreau’s career, he was heavily impacted by the idea of the â€Å"transparent eyeball†. By continuously describing his individualistic tendencies he learns while being on Walden Pond, it is evident that he is becoming a â€Å"transparent eyeball. † As we continue reading, Thoreau states, â€Å"I wanted to live deep and suck all the marrow of life. † (1920). By relating his life to the Walden Pond and its significant depth, he establishes a powerful awareness of perception in nature. His point of perception is also demonstrated by how Walden, is structured. He goes through each season making cycles for what he completes and the perception in which he completes it. In the idea of transcendentalism, the use of eyes and perception are very important because it creates a real life clarification as to what really matters. Becoming one in nature is a major element within the transcendentalism belief, and each author who believed this obviously put an emphasis on this metaphor. Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau both had important transcendentalist ideas and contributed a great deal to other authors from then on. By allowing an eyeball and other uses of perception to explain all philosophy of transcendentalism, it simplifies the bigger meaning and allows readers to understand more effectively.

Importance Of Explicit Knowledge Information Technology Essay

Importance Of Explicit Knowledge Information Technology Essay This document deals about the importance of Explicit Knowledge in the organizations. Most of the knowledge occurs in the organizations in the form of tacit knowledge. Here we deal with how to transform the tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge. The accumulation, storage and reuse of the explicit knowledge. Here we are talking about the barriers in the acquiring of explicit knowledge. The use of technology for the purpose of accumulation, storing and reuse of knowledge is also discussed. Todays business environment knowledge is emerged as a driving force in the organization. The knowledge workers and their ability are very important (LI , BRAKE,CHAMPION ,FULLER,GABEL AND HATCHER-BUSCH 2009 : 347). Recent studies show that organizations success depends on its ability to learn and adapt to particular situation. The unique performance in the organization is the key to outperform their competitor.(LI , BRAKE,CHAMPION ,FULLER,GABEL AND HATCHER-BUSCH 2009 : 348). In organization there are mainly two types of knowledge exist tacit knowledge and explicit knowledge .Scholars noticed that most part of human knowledge is present in the form of tacit knowledge (UNGAN (2006):403) . Its in the minds of the people. Explicit Knowledge is the knowledge that is expressed and documented. The documented and codified knowledge will have a structure and is easily accessed by others. (STOVER 2004 : 164).To create true knowledge it is necessary to see tacit and explicit knowledge as complem entary and both are needed to knowledge creation. IMPORTANCE OF EXPLICIT KNOWLEDGE: Tacit knowledge is something that is acquired by individuals experience in particular area. It help him to find solution for problems faster than his colleagues It is acquired through once experience and experiment in particular field (STOVER 2004 : 165). Articulating the tacit knowledge, making tacit knowledge explicit is very important in the perspective of the organization (STOVER 2004 : 165).Explicit knowledge is described in structured language. It is mainly more technical data this knowledge is gained mostly through formal education or by structured study .This will help organizations to preserve their huge knowledge capital from losing. When employees leave organization they take with them the huge amount of knowledge. (STOVER 2004 : 165). Valuable Knowledge will be wasted if organizations fails to collect , standardize and store and share the knowledge. The KM scholars believes that the articulation of knowledge helps the organization and individuals to access the knowledge in a cost effective way. Explicit knowledge is carefully organized and stored in data bases in priority basis .It should be accessible with high quality , fast and easily. The explicit knowledge can be reused for sole problems of similar kind (SMITH 2001 : 315).For instance Anderson consulting created methods to codify store and reuse explicit knowledge. They used a people to document approach. It took information from person who developed it and made independent to its developer. All the sensitive information is removed and it can be used in the same similar context (SMITH 2001 : 315).When knowledge is shared among the members of the organization , it can be viewed as organizational history and experience (BONTIS 1998 : 64). In small companies they manage their knowledge is by training the new employees. Its a costly process. Thats where the importance of comput er based learning comes. Transformation of tacit to explicit knowledge is important here (WICKERT AND HARSCHEL 2001:330). If a expert employee got sick or left the organization the expertise of that employee is not available for a fixed amount of time or permanently (WICKERT AND HARSCHEL 2001:331). In job market skilled and experienced workers are getting retired. New young workers are replacing them . So there is a high demand for sharing of experience . This can be possible by the articulation of tacit knowledge they have gained from their experience (JACKSON 2010:915). EXPLICIT KNOWLEDGE CREATION EXPLAINED IN S.E.C.I AND BA MODEL In S.E.C.I model externalization phase deals with the transformation of tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge. For knowledge transformation they use different methods. Some of the methods are storytelling , narrative and using some IT medias like emails, chat rooms etc. The knowledge should be structured so as it should provide accessible and reusable. Externalization should be structured then the knowledge can be made sensible and available for potential users(JACKSON 2010:911).Top management can influence the externalization of knowledge. They can encourage the teams to develop their own metaphor for what they should do (RICHTNER AND AHLSTROM 2010:1020).The creation of concept of a new product is the example of externalization. In combination phase the extracted knowledge is standardized and systematic procedures to combine the knowledge using computer database or an expert system. The internalization deals with the transformation of explicit knowledge again to tacit knowledge by t he use of stored explicit knowledge.(STOVER 2004 : 165). The meaning of Ba is place . Ba does not mean only the physical space . It is the concept of interaction . For the creation of knowledge a space is necessary. This space may be a physical one or a virtual like online one. There are four types of Ba . Among that dialoguing ba deals with the face to face interaction . It is the space where individuals share knowledge. The process of tacit to explicit knowledge conversion happens here. Dialoguing ba is more structured than the previous ba . In systematic ba the collected knowledge is combined to a more structured form. The use of information technology like online networks , group ware etc contribute to systemizing ba .The excersiing ba where the stored knowledge is shared through virtual media or print etc. The healthy interaction between all these ba can amblify the knowledge creation ( Nonaka,I.Toyama,R and Konno,N.(2000) :16-17). BARRIERS IN KNOWLEDGE ARTICULATION: Converting tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge is a tedious job. As we said tacit knowledge is embedded in the minds of the individuals. This make it difficult to formalize and express. There are some personal issues in articulating the knowledge. Individuals believe that articulating the knowledge one may lose his competitive advantage. Some people believe their knowledge is not worth expressing . Some KM scholars believe that language barriers also hinder the transformation of tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge. (STOVER 2004: 166) The culture of the organization also may be a factor that hinders knowledge generation and sharing in the organization. There may be political issues between the departments that prevent the transfer of knowledge. Sharing culture is very important before implementing any strategies in any organization (Syed-Ikhsan and Rowland 2004 : 100). Knowledge transfer requires groups or individuals to work together and share their expertise and knowledge. The knowledge transfer does not occur unless group or individuals shows a co-operate behavior(SYED-IKHSAN AND ROWLAND 2004 : 96). Individualism is one of the major factors that hinder the creation and transfer of knowledge in any organization ( Syed-Ikhsan and Rowland 2004 : 100). For the sharing of knowledge there should be trust among the employees. In project team leadership style also effect the process of knowledge sharing(MA,QI AND WANG 2008:101).The authoritarian style leaders give no chance for the team members to participate and share knowledge. While the democratic style leaders encourages team members to interact and share knowledge (MA,QI AND WANG 2008:101).Another factor that hinders the knowledge sharing in the public organization is limited access to the resources (Syed-Ikhsan and Rowland 2004 : 100).Time is one of the major factors that inhibits the process of a rticulating the tacit knowledge. Most of the employees have a little time for articulating their knowledge. Patrick and Lee done research and they contradicted the views of Richard and Kabjian who says the fear of losing superiority and reward system are inhibitors of knowledge sharing. They also argues that the size of the company is not a problem in knowledge transferring (FONG LEE 2009:304) Some KM scholars like Swartz and Marwick argues technology is unable to provide a complete solution for knowledge capture . At many instance the experts find it is very difficult to trigger a knowledge person by query unless they are put into problem situation (JACKSON 2010 :911). Researchers found that the fear of not being adequately rewarded is the one of the barrier for the knowledge sharing. CAPTURING KNOWLEDGE: As we said conversion of tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge is difficult. There are several ways in which tacit knowledge can be made explicit. The formal ways of interviewing is a useful method. In interviews participants are asked structured questions. This format of interview should be made such that they shouldnt feel that the articulation is happening (STOVER 2004 : 166-167).The level of details available in documentation depends on the purpose of documentation (UNGAN 2006 : 404).For conversion of tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge the interviewer should accompany the knowledge worker in his process. In between the knowledge can be articulated. For this formal language is used (UNGAN 2006:407) . Individuals poses high level of tacit knowledge . If organizations fail to track it then it cannot be made explicit and will not reach its fullest potential (BONTIS 1998:66). The role of knowledge managers is very important. He can encourage the employees to share their knowledge and make them explicit (STOVER 2004 : 166-167). The knowledge management is riskier unless the organizations take initiatives and reward system for sharing of knowledge (SMITH 2001 : 312). For instance Buckman Laboratories recognizes their knowledge in their annual conference. Lotus one of the divisions of IBM evaluates the customer support workers on the basis of their knowledge sharing activities (BARTOL AND SRIVASTTAVA 2002 : 64). Xerox developed a system called Eureka which is meant for the maintenance engineers to share their ideas and experience .Once these ideas are posted they are verified and made available for service engineers all over the world. This help the Xerox in saving $100 million . Companies like Cap Gemini Ernst Young makes merit decision based on the knowledge sharing activity of its employees .In these companies the people who are posting ideas are evaluat ed and then posted into the knowledge contribution database(BARTOL AND SRIVASTTAVA 2002:67). Technology is important in collecting and codifying knowledge. There should be a strong framework for the systematic storing of knowledge. IT itself cannot helps something to get out of someones head. It is the role of managers to find out what is important for the organization . Some KM theorist like Pawar doubts the centralization of knowledge. He states that centralization of knowledge will reduce the cost of sharing the knowledge . He agrees the role of role of technology plays in the acquiring, storing and structured distribution of knowledge . Combining the intellectual property with IS will help the individual intellectual property to the group property (BONTIS 1998:66).KM combined with It will support the data mining and sharing of explicit knowledge (WICKERT AND HARSCHEL 2001 :333).Internet is one of the major repository of explicit knowledge(WICKERT AND HARSCHEL 2001 : 335). Knowledge exchange protocols can be used in transferring tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge. SOAP protocol which is used by physicians is one of the examples. This protocol helps to structure clinician patient conversation and helps to share issues by understanding the physicians thinking. This also helps in documentation of patient medical record (HERSCHEL,NEMATI AND STEIGER 2001:107).New generation tools such as wikis , blogs ,social networking etc. helps a greater collaboration in work place. This will solve some of the problems associated with knowledge capturing. These forms even can accommodate videos , images etc. It can be used to capture informal indicates of tacit knowledge (BARTOL AND SRIVASTTAVA 2002:64).This videos and images can then be summarized based on the content . They can be linked to topics of relevance and stored. These can be accessed through portals later (COAKES 2006:583). Mobile technology can be used for the capture of knowledge .In organizations there will be mobile workers will be advantaged by these technology. The challenge is how to incorporate the this knowledge to main memory. Information technology can be used as a powerful tool. It can be transformed from the role of storing and retrieving data to improve access to knowledge by removing the spatial obstacles of knowledge transfer. IT has got a ability to spread knowledge across different departments of the organizations (TOHIDINIA AND MOSAKHANI 2010 : 615). CONCLUSION: For any organization the Knowledge is very important. The conversion of Tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge is very risky process. There are the barriers like individualism, politics inside the organizational departments. The factor of trust plays a major role in conversion of knowledge . For some small companies the cost of knowledge sharing is not affordable. Technology can play a major role in the tacit to explicit knowledge transfer. There are new generation technologies that can be used for the this purpose. The reward system is one factor that will encourage knowledge transfer. The role of the management in promoting the knowledge conversion is very important . The uniqueness of knowledge the organization owns will brig the organization the competitive advantage.

Capital Punishment :: essays research papers

Capital Punishment What type of society kills its own people? The American culture’s morals have accepted the death penalty as a reasonable punishment. However, who gives us the power to determine when someone’s life should end. People who murder others should be punished and pay the price of their crime, but not killed. Our society feels so strongly that murder is wrong and criminals should be killed. In actuality, we are committing the same horrid deed. Capital punishment is wrong for many reasons. Several states in our country have adopted the death penalty as a reasonable act. However, there has been no dramatic decline in violence among these states and others. Proving capital punishment does not deter crime. People are still killing and committing other horrible acts of crime. Another reasons the he death penalty is wrong is that it does not prove to be an effective punishment. Some criminals may look as dying as a way out. They would rather die than spend the res t of their lives in prison. Also it does not provide peace, justice, or happiness for a victim or their family. Robert Willies raped Debbie Morris and was later killed by lethal injection. Debbie Morris found no peace in Willies death. â€Å"Justice didn’t do anything to heal me. Forgiveness did.† (â€Å"Dad Man Walking: The Victim Who Survived† Debbie Morris and Gregg Lewis) A death of a criminal will not erase the past or make a victim’s life complete. Another negative of capital punishment is the high cost. Many dollars are spent during the legal cases and for things such as providing witnesses. Many people who are for the death penalty believe it costs more money to house a criminal in jail. That is wrong, if we can abolish the luxuries many inmates have, the cost is not as high. That way, a prisoner will the way he should live. Above all, capital punishment is morally wrong. A society that is so rich and powerful should not kill each other. We have n ot been given the power to kill someone.

Chipotle

Sec. 002 Team 1| GB 214 Operations Analysis: Chipotle Mexican Grill | Assignment 3: Supply Chain| | 1. Major Components/Inputs of the Product & Suppliers Chipotle uses several suppliers when ordering and receiving their food products. Chipotle’s main objective is to provide food with organic and naturally grown backgrounds. Because of these values, Chipotle prides itself in using suppliers that follow their guidelines of â€Å"food with integrity† structure, by meeting the requirements and goals for food safety, animal welfare, sustainability, and social accountability. Chipotle’s customer service manager, Shannon Kyllo, stated in her email that the company continuously changes its suppliers to source the best ingredients and also provided a list of their vegetable and dairy product suppliers. Calavo growers, Index Fresh and Mission Avacados supply Avacados to Chipotle, and their Romaine lettuce and cilantro suppliers are Taylor farms and Church Brothers. Daisy a nd Smith Dairy supply Chipotle with Sour Cream and the company gets its supply of cheese from Meister Cheese, Petaluma Cheese and Glanbia. Coca-Cola is Chipotle’s supplier for beverages and has had this contract since McDonalds were Chipotle’s main investors. 3 Also, the Mcilhenny Company supplies Tobasco as a condiment for Chipotle. 4 The industry leaders in Fast-food restaurant kitchen appliances are Southbend, Globe, Frymaster, Blodgett, Food Service Warehouse and Insigner. These companies are the top players who supply kitchen appliances to the major fast-food Chains, like Chipotle. 5 2. Type of Supply Chain and ServicesChipotle’s supply chain is unique from other fast casual restaurants and service firms, and does not have a set traditional supply chain. Of the four main supply chains, Chipotle’s supply chain resembles the Assemble-To-Order (ATO) supply chain the closest. This is because the customer has complete freedom of what ingredients go into t heir burrito/bowl/salad/etc. , but only with the ingredients that are behind the counter. So in that case, there is not complete freedom in designing a meal, but the customer can choose and amount of ingredients to be included in their food item.However, this is not set in stone, for their supply chain also contains elements of other supply chain methods, such as the Build-To-Order (BTO) supply chain, for the customer has some opportunity in the customization of their product (meal), but are limited to the design parameters (set ingredients) set by the firm. The stages of Chipotle’s supply are fairly simple. It starts with the acquisition of the raw materials (ingredients) that are shipped to one of their 22 independently owned distribution centers. 6 These ingredients come from within a 350 mile radius of the distribution center.The ingredients are then shipped out to the restaurants, where all of the ingredients are prepared in-house with the exception of the barbacoa and t he beans. Once the ingredients arrive at the restaurant, they are prepared and placed out ready to be made into burritos/bowls/salads/etc. When a customer comes to a Chipotle, they simply wait in line, then once at the counter, go down the assembly line of ingredients and chose which specific ones they want to include in their meal. When they are finished constructing their item, they pay the cashier and either take their meal to-go or have a seat in the dining area in the restaurant. 3. Supply Diagram (See Attachment 1) 4. Supple Chain/ Operations Strategy Chipotle believes that their unrelenting effort to revolutionize fast food through their unique way of production and people cultures will help them to move forward in building a valuable company for their stakeholders. 6 Chipotle focuses on its product differentiation, market segmentation, operational excellence, and customer intimacy. 6 The product assembler to customer stage in chipotle’s supply chain directly aligns wi th its focus on operational excellence and customer intimacy in its operations strategy. Chipotle explains their goal of operational excellence with its statement, â€Å"The natural flow of our restaurant layout, including the floor plan and the design of our serving line, are designed to make the food ordering process intuitive and, we believe, more efficient. † The customers deal somewhat directly with the manufacturers of chipotle’s product in their stores with the assembly line. 6 Customers have limited choice in overall product but some choice in the specification (ingredients that go in their order) of the product. The assembly line allows customers to get their food fast and assemble then limitedly build their order. 6 All of this allows for a high degree of customer intimacy during the service. 6 The raw materials to distributor to product assembler stages reflect with chipotle’s focus on product differentiation and market segmentation. 6 Chipotleâ€℠¢s strategy is influenced by the fast and high quality food market. 6 Chipotle states, â€Å"Serving high quality food while still charging reasonable prices is critical to our vision to change the way people think about and eat fast food. 6 Chipotle serves â€Å"food with integrity† and part of the way they make this possible is with their supply chain. 6 The raw materials stage is the suppliers/outsourcers that provide the high quality ingredients that go into Chipotle’s product. 6 These go to distribution centers (distributor), which are all relatively close to the product assemblers (stores). 6 The food is then prepared by the product assemblers. 6 This allows Chipotle to have high quality, fresh food and makes them specialize in product differentiation. 6 5. Outsourced ActivitiesChipotle mentions that it currently sources most of its key ingredients like chicken, pork and beef from a limited number of suppliers. 6 But at the same time chipotle ventured into local outsourcing in 2008 when they launched a pilot program to outsource all its organic pork products for its Charlottesville, Va. , location from a local supplier, Polyface farms. 8 They felt that using local organizations to outsource would help them have fresh ingredients and ensure that the respective source follows their â€Å"food with integrity† motto. After the initial success of Chipotle, the executives realized that they had to improve one of their products — the shredded pork which they used in almost all their food items. 9 This is when Chipotle found an advertisement for the farmers of Niman Ranch, a pork supplying company. 9  Steve Ellis took interest in this supplier after he sampled some of its organically grown products. 9 Chipotle’s spokesman, Chris Arnold, stated after Ellis tried the pork: â€Å"What so impressed Ellis, in addition to the quality of Niman Ranch pork, was the way in which the Calif. based company raised its animals, from feedi ng practices to the land on which the hogs roamed. †9 The Niman Ranch experience completely changed the way Chipotle selected from their food suppliers, them having contracts with ranches in the Midwest for pork and livestock helped them cover a larger geographic region and facilitate the demand for Chipotle Mexican Grill. 9 Along with Niman Ranch, Canadian suppliers and duBreton Farms also supply pork to Chipotle. â€Å"Most of the chicken on the menu is supplied by Bell & Evans of Fredericksburg, Pa. , which also supplies to natural and organic retailers like Whole Foods.Chipotle gets its beef primarily from Loveland, Colo. -based Meyer Natural Angus and Golden, Colo. -based Coleman Natural Meats, in addition to smaller processors†. 9 6. Other Activities That Could Be Outsourced Chipotle produces several of their food products in house. After obtaining the necessary raw materials from outsourcing activities and suppliers, Chipotle then creates their signature salsa, g uacamole, crispy tacos, and tortilla chips. 10 These items are produced at least twice a day (Harris). Chipotle chooses not to use a supplier or outsourcing partner to make each of these products for specific and different reasons.For example, Chipotle's salsa is made internally to ensure a unique customization process (Harris). 11 Because Chipotle offers 4 different flavors and spiciness of salsa, Chipotle restaurants create their own salsa to offer customers a variety of choices that cannot be accurately duplicated by external outlets (Harris). 11 Guacamole is also prepared in house to provide Chipotles' customers with the best flavor possible. Chips and crispy tacos are internally created for the same reasons. 12 Chipotle takes pride in freshly preparing these signature items as well.As noted by customer service agent, Shannon Kyllo, Chipotle creates these in house items because of CEO Ellis's background within the culinary field and Chipotle's strive to produce fresh food the wa y they see fit, stating, â€Å"We're perfectionists. . . he [Ellis] is first and foremost a chef and he wants to maintain a high standard. . . They [Chipotle] have a saying that if you want to do something right, you have do it yourself so that is what we do† (Kyllo). 13 Because of Chipotle's internal processes, the restaurant chain believes it is producing the best and most unique experience at every location (Kyllo). 3 See Attachment 1 Work Cited 1. http://www. chipotle. com/en-US/talk_to_us/supplier/supplier. aspx 2. Shannon Kyllo. â€Å"Supplier list†. Email to Shrivats Agarwal. 22 Feb. 2012. 3. http://academic. mintel. com/display/294296/? highlight=true#hit1 4. http://www. rehobothfoodie. com/index. php/Rehoboth-Beach-Reviews/Mexican/chipotle-mexican-grill. html 5. http://www. foodservicewarehouse. com/equipment/c3040. aspx 6. http://www. sec. gov/Archives/edgar/data/1058090/000119312511039010/d10k. htm 7. http://www. triplepundit. com/2011/06/chipotle-moves-loca l-sourcing/ 8. ttp://grist. org/sustainable-farming/protein-we-only-serve-white-meat-here-excerpt/ 9. Petrak, Lynn. â€Å"Food With Integrity. † National Provisioner 221. 9 (2007): 22-26. Business Source Premier. Web. 17 Feb. 2013. 10. http://angelagarbes. com/2011/03/01/food-with-integrity-short-on-humanity/ 11. Ronnette, Harris. â€Å"Reply from Chipotle . † Message to Cam Amoroso. 20 Feburary 2013. E-mail. 12. http://www. chipotle. com/en-US/menu/fresh_cooking/fresh_cooking. aspx 13. Shannon, Kyllo. â€Å"Reply from Chipotle . † Message to Cam Amoroso. 21 Feburary 2013. E-mail.

Jack of All Trades

â€Å"Mom can I have a dog? † I cannot tell you how many times those six words came out of my mouth, almost everyday since about second grade I asked my mom for a puppy. Once when I was in fifth grade, my mom let me take home one of my aunt's dog's puppies. But at the end of the day she made me take it back. I was so close to getting what I had wanted for years. I had named the dog and everything, and as you can tell it still upsets me to this day. You're probably thinking, â€Å"Eh, every child wants a dog or some sort of pet, it's really not that serious. Oh but it was, I became obsessed with the idea of a puppy, every time I saw someone else with a new puppy or even an older dog I became jealous to the point of tears. It's not like I never had a dog, when I was born we had two, Buster, and Sheena. But they both died of old age by the time I was seven. We also had cats, and birds, and fish. But all of a sudden there was nothing left, it was me, my mom, and my dad, being an only child was always hard, but at least I had my animals to keep me company. Yeah, yeah, here it comes, being an only child isn't hard, you're spoiled, you get everything you want, and tons of attention. But have you ever thought of the hardships of being the only thing your parents have to focus on, or maybe the not having anyone to play with, you can only play dress up and school with yourself for so long before it gets extremely boring. Okay but I'm getting off topic, actually I've kind of been rambling on about nothing for the last couple of sentences, but I promise this will all have a point. My freshman year of high school, I began having a lot of issues with being alone, and not having anyone to talk to or keep me company. I began to struggle with my schoolwork, and everything began to spin out of control. I met James, he was amazing, but that's a completely different story for a completely different time and space. Now the wanting of a dog had kind of went away for a little, but now in my time of loneliness, and need, I think my mom finally realized how much I truly not only wanted but needed a dog to keep me company, because that year around my birthday my mom began to talk of getting a dog, (it might have also been because Simone's mom let her have a dog, and my mom felt bad because that's all I could talk about, so thanks Sandy. So we talked about getting a dog, and decided on a female Jack Russell, oh my, we were not aware of what we were getting into. We were told numerous times that these dogs were crazy, but we just said it couldn't be that bad, all puppies are hyper. We planned to keep her in a squared-off area in the basement, oh boy, were we mistaken. We ordered her from a farm in Missouri, the breeder seemed nice, and told us that she had a lot of energy, we got her at eight weeks, the breeder had named her Kayla, but we knew from the pictures that this name was just unbefitting. We decided on either naming her Sage or Zoi, and the second we picked her up from the airport we knew Zoi was the perfect name for her, she ran out of her crate right into my arms, while all the other puppies were hiding in the back corner of their crates, afraid of their new owners. It was raining but she wasn't afraid, the entire walk to the car she wiggled and squirmed eager to see everyone and everything around her. That first night, Simone and I figured it'd be a good idea to sleep downstairs with her, just in case, but we were in for a rude awakening, quite literally, she whined and cried every minute she was alone. Simone and I ended up staying up the entire night with her; this squared off corner in the basement was just not enough for this tiny little dog. The next night we tried keeping her in her crate, then a bigger cage, needless to say neither worked and she now sleeps in bed with my mom and dad. This dog was a handful; she chewed on everything, dirty underwear being her favorite snack. Her energy never seemed to end. She jumped played and barked all day, she was a very happy dog. Yet it just seemed like she was lonely, she carried this tiny stuffed puppy with her everywhere, and carried chew toys over to her favorite stuffed tiger. She'd whine and cry when it wouldn't play with them, maybe it was our imaginations, but it just seemed that the only way to tame her energy was to get her a companion. First we looked at the pound, but decided anything bigger might just hurt Zoi, so we ended up on the search for another Jack Russell, this time a male. We looked and looked, the first one we decided on ended up being sold already, so we finally decided on another dog, he was from Texas, and named KC. He came from a puppy mill, and when we got him he just didn't seem right, we were worried. At the airport we expected him to run right out into our arms like Zoi, but that's not quite what happened. He hid in the corner of his crate and cried, he seemed so afraid, we walked him to the car and I cuddled him in my arms, it was late, almost midnight, and I was worried how him and Zoi would react to each other. He didn't seem like a social type dog. When we got him home and put him down, he wiggled and squirmed, him and Zoi sniffed each other and from that second they were inseparable, but Dash (which is what we named him, after a character in the Disney movie, The Incredibles,) just still wasn't right, he had a swollen bee sting on his arm, and after taking him to the vets we discovered he had three different typed of worms in his belly. His nickname had been Wiggle-Butt, how appropriate. He was incredibly unhealthy, and we were thankful that we had saved him from that place he had called a home, no wonder he was so afraid. It was strange that these two dogs that were said to be the same exact breed were so completely different, but maybe that's why they got along so well. After Dash was nursed back to health, he slowly began to come out of his shell. These dogs were a handful alone, but together, oh my. Zoi was clearly the boss, and she let it be known. There were times when she beat the living daylights out of him, but he still followed her around, and whined and cried when she was gone. Dash was quite the interesting dog, he'd growl and bark at other people and dogs, but then run and hide behind you if you put him down. The two would chase each other around in circles around the house and yard, it's like they both had this endless amount of energy, I couldn't imagine Zoi would have lasted long at any other household. She ate everything, beat up Dash, ran away, jumped all over people, and scratched like crazy. Once we got Dash and Zoi, it was like having newborn babies, we had baby gates in every doorway, so that they couldn't get in and chew things, you couldn't open the door without holding them back or you would be in for a jog. Every time they got out it was a good twenty-minute journey to get them back. They'd run up to everyone that was outside, bark at other dogs, run into everyone's yard, and you'd have to jump and dive in order to catch them, it is not a fun thing to do. My favorite story would have to be the time my little cousin let Zoi out and my 40-year-old uncle chased her around in the January snow, eventually jumping, sliding, and diving only to miss her by an inch. These dogs were quite the handful. Nobody could come into the house without being jumped all over, and barked at. And you couldn't leave if you didn't give Zoi her treat first. Actually you still can't. You think after two years she'd be a lot calmer, well she's a little calmer. We tried obedience classes, yeah did not work to well, actually now she'll sit, bark, and play dead on command†¦ but other than that†¦ yeah. A few months after we first got them, we went away on vacation. We left Dash and Zoi with a family friend who raised and watched dogs for a living. I remember him saying, â€Å"Oh, I'll have her trained by the time you get back. † Yeah, not so much. Not even the man who watched ten dogs a day, could tame her. He's raised tens of dogs from puppies, all his dogs listen to his every command, but not Zoi, she'd run around take stuff, even beat up the larger dogs. The second we got back home we went to pick up our puppies, and you could tell that Jay (the man that had watched them) had had quite the time watching those two. He couldn't get rid of them quick enough. Zoi loves the water, but Dash is afraid of it. Zoi will jump right in the pool and swim around but Dash wouldn't go near it for anything. Zoi jumps in and climbs right out. She chases the hose when my dad is watering the lawn, tries to eat the backwash water from the pool. Another thing that she loves to chase is the vacuum, Dash once again is afraid, but Zoi chases and barks like always. Sometimes, they're too predictable. Another one of my favorites is when Zoi decides to take things for ransom. Her favorite I think is the remote control for the television. I can't tell you how many times I've seen her running around with that remote in her mouth waiting for her treat. It's not like she really wanted it, she'd drop it in front of you as soon as you reached for the bone box. And of course Dash reaps the benefits, so I think he encourages her to steal things. But after all of this, the second you sit down on the couch, or lay down in bed, they're both right there, lying on your lap. Dash will nudge and nudge until you let him under the blanket. They love, love, love to cuddle. Which is good, because so do I. They keep you warm in the winter, which is good since Zoi chewed the wire to the heater on the blanket, and the couch, so neither work. Okay two crazy dogs†¦ the point of this is? I'm getting to it, I'm getting to it, promise. These dogs have actually kept me sane. I'd have the longest day ever, but I know I could come home and have two amazing dogs jumping on me and kissing me. No matter what I need, I can turn to my dogs, if I need to play, or just cuddle. Zoi is like the dog version of me she can be hyper, loud, loving, all at once. She'll be angry one minute and kissing and loving you the next. She can't stay mad, kind of like me. Having these two amazing dogs has kept me sane. I'm no longer alone and bored all the time. They may be a pain sometimes fighting to leave in the morning, eating underwear, stealing socks and remotes. But I know at the end of the day I have two creatures that love me unconditionally.