Implementing Lean Approach to Eliminate Non-value-added Activity Essay

Implementing Lean Approach to Eliminate Non-value-added Activity - Essay Example With regard to the second question, it was determined that the JIT significantly decreases the total NVA in the WSS when the huge stock level is declined. This causes the obvious reduction in the variable costs; for example, opportunity costs and warehousing costs. By contrast, the TPM results in better productivity and product quality due to the higher effectiveness of the machine, which is caused by better maintenance systems and practices. Concerning the third question, both external and internal factors are the obstacles and limitations of the Lean application. Ultimately, this pilot research study functions as a guidepost for manager’s of paperboard companies, as well as other continuous operation companies lacking adequate sufficient models, that are seeking means of applying Lean production mechanisms to their firm’s supply chain system. The term, ‘Lean Production’ or ‘Lean Manufacturing’, was first introduced in the seminal book, The Machine that Changed the World by Womack et al. (1990) in order to represent the evolutionary approach against traditional thinking from the 1920s, ‘Mass Production System (MPS)’. This method intends to add values on products or services from the customers’ perspective and enhance efficiency by eliminating wastes or non-value-added activities (NVAs) in the production or supply chain. It requires all people, both management and operational level, in the organization to take part in the improvement (Womack and Jones, 2003; Liker, 2004). The Lean was previously known as ‘Toyota Production System (TPS)’ after the company that developed it in the 1940s. This approach was behind the successful growth of Toyota and other Japanese manufacturers, especially in the 1980s (Ohno 1988; Shingo 1989; Liker, 2004).

Teaching strategies and adaptations shown to be effective for teaching Essay

Teaching strategies and adaptations shown to be effective for teaching individuals with learning disabilities - Essay Example Teaching Strategies for Learning Disabled Students Teaching strategies play a critical role in improving the learning abilities of learning-disabled children. Those strategies assist the teachers not only in interacting with learning-disabled children but also in improving learning and comprehension abilities of the children. Some of the most appropriate teaching strategies include repeated reading intervention, evidence based reading strategy, computer based teaching strategy, and reading comprehension strategy for the learning-disabled students. In repeated learning reading intervention strategy, repeated reading practices are used to provide multiple exposures to same words to the disabled children. â€Å"For students with or at risk for learning disabilities, developing fluency with reading connected texts remains a formidable challenge† (Chard, Ketterlin-Geller, Baker, Doabler, & Apichatabutra, 2009, p. 263-281). Evidence based and reading comprehension strategies are ver y effective in improving the literacy sills of the children.

Jm Coetzees Waiting For The Barbarians English Literature Essay

Jm Coetzees Waiting For The Barbarians English Literature Essay This semester, we have looked at several works that have incorporated the theme of identity. One in particular, Waiting For The Barbarians by J.M. Coetzee , makes prevalent use of objectification language in establishing identity. Whether for the purpose of making torture easier for the torturer, or for simply creating a class for the purposes of social â€Å"planning† (i.e. conquest), objectification language is used by the characters in the story to make certain that we, as the reader, have an equally difficult time avoiding the objectification that the characters themselves are guilty of. Objectification involves establishing the identity of the â€Å"other† as well as the self in contrast to the other in whatever forms it may take. In this paper, I will briefly examine and respond to three critical analyses of Coetzee, each addressing the concept of objectification to some degree, then I will examine a typical critical response to the concept of objectification of t he self that argues that any serious intellectual analysis of the self must involve a degree of detachment. Is this same level of detachment necessary when analyzing the concept of the identity of the other? After all, Waiting For The Barbarians is only a book, right? By writing his poignant portrayal of the evils of humanity that sees itself as less than human, what is Coetzee trying to say? Can we escape the need to objectify? To begin, let us first look at Coetzees novel itself. It has the convenient quality of taking place in a completely fictional world that only resembles South Africa. At first glance, this would appear to be for the purpose of allowing the author creative exercise, as well as getting us to suspend disbelief. However, is this really necessary? Why cant his story take place in our specific history? Fictionalization gives us the ability to make poignant messages because the elements are all controllable. Youre dealing with a completely fictionalized world, so certain images can take on as much symbolic meaning as you wish, thus allowing for greater dramatic effect. Coetzees not just trying to tug at our heartstrings; such sentimentality would be insulting to an intelligent audience (if you have to resort to emotional appeals, what can really be said for the actual truth-value of your claim?). Instead Coetzee, by fictionalizing his work, is demonstrating how we cant escape this objectific ation. His character of the Magistrate, while the protagonist of the story, objectifies constantly in the novel. His dealings with the barbarian girl, intimate to the point of being sexual, are really no more personal than that between a lab technician and a guinea pig. The Magistrate (i.e. Coetzee) never even bothers to learn, or even invent, the girls name. His desire to help the barbarian girl, while good intentioned, is patronizing in the extreme. It is the same type of romantic notion as that of the â€Å"Noble Savage:† well-intentioned, but ultimately a figment of ignorance.   Besides, for every â€Å"Noble Savage,† there is a â€Å"Savage Noble.† The character of Colonel Joll, while guilty of objectification, is not guilty of the same variety as that of the Magistrate. He knows full well that the barbarians are no threat to the Empire, but he knows that their existence is necessary in order to preserve the social order. When no problems are left â€Å"outside,† they can only come from inside. His understanding of the barbarians only goes so far as necessary to assign them a motive, something that he can tell his superiors. This motive, of course, is completely fabricated, which begs the question, was his torture of the old man in the beginning even necessary? Does it simply serve to portray Joll as a sadistic murderer? I will now examine a critical response to Coetzees use of torture. Susan Van Zanten Gallagher discusses Coetzees moral dilemma in writing about torture and how he goes about trying to solve it. In responding to Coetzees two problems in writing about torture, namely that there is a fine line between portrayal of torture and the glorification of it, and thus exploiting the pain of the afflicted, and that of how to portray the torturer, Gallagher writes: â€Å"†¦in his allusions to un-centered language and the death of the metaphysics of presence, Coetzee also points to the moral vacuum that allows torture to exist in the contemporary world.†This moral vacuum involves objectification, detaching oneself from the moral (often emotional) issues.   Of the Magistrate, Gallagher writes: â€Å"with his combination of sexual and authorial images, his antonymic articulations, and his failure to discover meaning in words, the Magistrate seems to be wandering in the wilderness of deconstructive criticism†and that his â€Å"sexual and linguistic failures demonstrate his lack of authority.† Coetzee writes of him having looked into himself and seeing â€Å"only a vortex and the heart of the vortex oblivion.†Gallagher suggests that this is allegorical of how the author who chooses to write about torture â€Å"must struggle to articulate torture without falsifying it, to understand and to depict oppression without unconsciously aiding the oppressor, to find texts transparent enough to carry meaning.†One aids the oppressor by inventing the language that allows the oppressor to rationalize his actions. This objectification language is obvious in the rhetorical tool employed by Coetzee in creating an allegory that takes place in another time, albeit, a very self-aware one. As Gallagher puts it, â€Å"the effect of this time displacement is to reveal truths about any oppressive society, any society that employs torture as a technique.†In the name of intellectual â€Å"truth-revealing,† Coetzee has created a contrived world that only resembles the world in the ways that he needs it to in order to prove his point. By removing the concept of torture from a real social context, he can assign his own motivations to the torturers. By doing this, is he trying to ignore the real reasons people torture each other, or is he aware of this, and only uses this to demonstrate that we can only find truth if we fabricate it? Gallagher concludes her article by saying that â€Å"Coetzee identifies the absence of moral authority that results in torture with the absence at the heart of contemporary literature since the advent of deconstructive criticism.† This absence is of the ability â€Å"to write and proclaim the truth about this kind of oppression†¦completely and effectively.†By fabricating his own context for the torture that he portrays, Coetzee is able to accomplish this, albeit a little unscrupulously. Its almost like creating a laboratory model where your theory holds true because you can ignore all compromising circumstances. By isolating his narrative in his own fabricated context, hes guilty of objectifying. He is asserting that all instances of torture are motivated by the same primary factors (hatred, etc.). However, I dont believe that this wasnt intentional. Coetzee is simply demonstrating that the only way to establish â€Å"truth† about a subject is to detach your self from it. We can thus establish what makes the torturers all the same, as well as identify what distinguishes the torturers from us, the reader. This kind of objectification language, the â€Å"perfect-world† scenario where youre always right, can lead to some interesting realizations, as long as one understands that its only fiction, and that the moral â€Å"truths† it espouses may not be applicable to the real world. It is also not the only kind of objectification that Coetzee employs in Waiting†¦. He also uses the concept of â€Å"literary† foreignness to highlight the short-comings of allegory. Rebecca Saunders, in her article â€Å"The Agony and the Allegory: The Concept of the Foreign, the language of Apartheid, and the Fiction of J.M. Coetzee, writes that â€Å"if allegory is structured by a fundamental foreignness between its literal and proper meanings, it is also characterized by that zone of error through which we have described foreignness.†She then relays the fact that Heraclitus and Philo both originally used the term allegory â€Å"to designate thought tinctured by uncertainty.†She also writes â€Å"Coetzees text not only dramatizes the zone of error that characterizes both â€Å"literal† and literary foreignness, but insists that a consequential relationship exists between them.†Ã¢â‚¬Å"Literary† foreignness, while inevitable when writing about events that havent happened to us, is the same problem that Gallagher wrote of: the problem of writing about something that we have chosen to distance ourselves while still maintaining a degree of authority. It is ironic that objectification is inevitable to establish â€Å"truth† when it may not actually be there while at the same time creating a sense of detachment that can cause the â€Å"truth† to be elusive in the first place. After all, allegory really only has truth in regards to itself (tautologous), and may not actually apply to the real situation it is purporting to describe. Saunders makes comparisons between the reportial language that Colonel Joll uses in his dealings with torture and the very idea of allegory: â€Å"It is a language in which every trace of foreignness has been deported: direct, literal certain. And that certainty is fortified by a careful management of context.† This management of context is what allows Coetzee to pass judgment with certainty. The third critical source I will examine is Barbara Ecksteins â€Å"The Body, The Word, and the State: J.M. Coetzees Waiting for the Barbarians.† She writes that the novel â€Å"is about language and the body in pain†¦[and] if its ending is desolate, it is so with a particular and moral-centered skepticism.†Even though the Magistrate comes to realize the error of his ways, his narrative still labels the native people â€Å"barbarians,† and thus he demonstrates his inability to â€Å"undo his habits of being. Neither as character nor as narrator does the magistrate point to the keen irony so evident in the etymology of the word â€Å"barbarian,†Ã¢â‚¬ namely, that which is not of the Empire. This is an example of how some degree of objectification is necessary: in order to maintain distinction between himself and the girl, the magistrate uses a term which does nothing but keep her at arms length. He cant even be concerned with her name, because doing so would cause her to cease to be different in any real sense of the word. As Eckstein puts it, â€Å"Imperialism is an assertion of objectivity†¦that converts anxiety about ones arbitrary location in time and space into an assertion that if nowhere is my home, everywhere is my home†¦. If I am there, you are other.†Objectification, here in the form of political definitions of â€Å"race† â€Å"serves imperialism and torture.†By employing objectification in defining the other, it claims to possess the same kind of certainty when defining the self. This certainty is that of distinction. â€Å"In demonstrating the differences within civilization and barbarity, animal and angel, the novel asserts one kernel of certain truth,† Eckstein writes. She then evokes the Magistrate: â€Å"Pain is truth; all else is subject to doubt†She then lays out the full â€Å"lesson;† â€Å"Torture produces the truth, for it produces pain, and pain is certain presence.† What has been said about the necessity of objectification? Patricia Sanborn writes, â€Å"The use of language to refer to the self necessitates some objectification.†She then writes, â€Å"In a study of which the self is the object, it is evident that the self is a certain kind of object. It does not lose its uniqueness because of the fact that other phenomena can also be objects.†Since, in writing about the self and our relation to the â€Å"other,† we inevitably treat these things as objects of inquiry, the first step in understanding anything, we have to accept that there is a degree of error that may be involved. Since we cant experience what others experience subjectively, our only other option is to objectify them. Coetzees novel is itself an objectification about the subject of objectification. It uses objectifying language because it is forced to by the subject matter. In order to discuss the suffering of the other, we first must distinguish the other fro m ourselves. Only then can we hope to understand our relationship with the other, and thus with ourselves (because everyone is someone elses â€Å"other†). It would seem thus, that the concept of identity and that of objectification are inexorably linked. In order to establish the identity of the self, you must first distinguish that of the other in reference to yourself. J.M. Coetzee, in writing his novel, demonstrates that, for all our moral dilemmas of objectification, we cant help but do it and say anything definitive about the world. Another persons pain is another persons pain, and we cant really experience it first-hand. We know for certain, subjectively, how we feel when we are in pain, but we cant know that of others, nor can we describe our subjective experience to them in any vivid sense of the word. Can we escape the need to objectify? No. Does this make us evil? No, just not omniscient. We only have simple human methods of understanding at our disposal, and we have to make due. Our human methods of understanding involve primarily language. Truths realized with a certain degree of dramatic (i.e. emotional) impact tend to have more poignancy. By choosing to use objectification language, Coetzee is trying specifically to cause an emotional response in the reader. We are supposed to be appalled, but in the end, we remain detached from the suffering because we know that its only fiction, even though it relates to the very real plight of those suffering under Apartheid. We are thus left wondering just how exactly we are supposed to feel about suffering that we dont â€Å"know.† In conclusion, J.M. Coetzees novel is notable for taking on the issue of inevitable objectification when dealing with the suffering of the â€Å"other.† His use of objectification language is poignant because it is necessary. We, as readers, are just as guilty of objectifying the barbarians, and thus detaching ourselves from their suffering as the Imperials in the book. Just as they arent â€Å"real† in the senses that are they are fictional, the barbarians arent real in the book because theyve been given that identity by the Imperials. They exist then in limbo, out of reach, but not too far removed from us.

Searching For a Balance in Education :: Learning Education Essays

Searching For a Balance in Education The definition of "education" encompasses many different meanings. It can be defined as schooling, studies, learning, the educational system, and the list continues on. Both Adrienne Rich and Jon Spayde feel that education is composed all of these elements. But learning at a school, inside of a classroom is only the beginning. There is much more to learn other than what is inside of a text book. Learning, in large part, will come from experiencing the happiness, horrors, tragedies, and other lessons that life will bring us. We will not be able to truly appreciate our gift of knowledge until we learn to look within ourselves and to gain the self- awareness we need to recognize the meaning and importance of education. Spayde and Rich feel that a school education alone does not prepare us for the real world. Both Spayde and Rich give accounts of what they have experienced inside the educational arena. (66) Jon Spayde, author of "Learning in the Key of Life, ²s ntless experiences of many writers to illustrate the various types of education that exist in today ¹s society. He and his colleagues don ¹t necessarily believe that a formal education is the only way to learn, but instead there are various avenues for acquiring knowledge.  ³The whole world is a classroom, and to really make it one, the first thing is to believe it is. "(62) In Spayde ¹s essay, Elizabeth Sutton- Lawrence discusses Greek education, known as "in-the-street education,"where the Greeks "learned largely in part from first-hand experience. Socrates met and challenged his "pupils ²"in the streets, at dinner parties, and after festivals. ²"(us) Even if universities had been established in Greek times, Socrates, most likely would still have chosen to educate himself in the streets. He probably would have chuckled at the idea of formal schooling. (62) According to Spayde, not only did the Greeks believe in self-education, but so did other classical philosophers. They believed that to enliven the mind  ³"You need to be very alert to the world around you."(63) Awareness is so critical to our learning experience. We ¹ll never appreciate the beauty that life brings us if we don ¹t sit back and reflect on the experiences that we ¹ve learned from. New York Jazz and rock writer Gene Santoro expressed that we can also learn a lot from  ³popular culture. ² "Jazz", for example,  ³"is the artistic version of the American experience.

The concept of Bhakti entails

The aim of this paper is to examine main concepts of Bhagavad Gita and either agree or disagree with them. Concepts examined in this paper are Karma, Bhakti, Samsara, Moksha, Dharma, and the three Gunas. The concept of Karma means that a person should follow his or her duty without thinking of the rewards for his or her actions. Bhagavad Gita teaches the following: ‘Therefore, without being attached to the fruits of activities, one should act as a matter of duty, for by working without attachment one attains the Supreme’ (Verse 19, Chapter 3).I agree to this concept, since religious purity is only attainable through self-sacrifice in the name of the Divine. Earthy preoccupations, such as attaining benefits for yourself by acting in a certain way, contradict the nature of religion, which calls for obedience and commitment to one’s duty. Every individual should find the right path and stay loyal to it. It will eliminate hesitation prior to action and render more leg itimacy to one’s deeds. The concept of Karma isn’t unique to Hinduism, since it is present in every major religion, yet in a different form.Following one’s religion implies that earthy consequences of actions matter less then those anticipated in the afterlife or subsequent incarnation. The concept of Karma is closed to the Western notion of deontological ethics. Deontological ethics puts morality over the consequences of an action. In fact, Kant's Categorical Imperative is one of the most vivid examples of deontological thinking since it establishes a universal moral standard for all the human being in all situations.The concept of Bhakti entails that there is an ultimate religious expression, during which a person can experience the highest degree of devotion to God and find unity with God. The blurring of the earthy and divine suggests that a piece of God is present in every human, and people should discover God inside them through seeking Bhakti. Bhagavad Gi ta says the following: ‘Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear’ (Verse 66, Chapter 18).This concept suggests that religious can provide ultimate guidance through life, and people should entrust themselves to God. Samsara is a cycle of rebirth that is perceived as a natural fact of life. It means that soul is immortal, while human body fades away. Bhagavad Gita ssays the following: ‘For certain is death for the born, and certain is birth for the dead; therefore over the inevitable thou shouldst not grieve’ (Verse 27, Chapter 2). This concept suggests that humans should pay more attention to spiritual matters rather then momentary desires.Furthermore, it teaches a philosophical approach to death as something inevitable and followed by rebirth; thus it is helpful in eliminating fear of death, which results in a more liberated earthy life. Moksha means liberation from the cycle of rebirth through achieving a state of ultimate self-realization. There are four components of Moksha: Shanti, Videh, Kaivalya and Swarga. Shanti is the greatest degree of peace and transcendence, which frees a human being from all the sufferings of earthy life. Videh is the knowledge that comes together with Moksha; it is the realization of self and the essence of the universe.Kaivalya is enlightenment every human should strive for. Swarga is a notion that is close to the concept of paradise in other religions. I should agree with this concept, since ultimate understanding of one’s true self is the only path to enlightenment. Self-realization can further lead to self-actualization, and self-actualization is on the top of the needs pyramid. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs suggests there are several levels of human needs: physiological needs (need for air, warmth, food, sleep etc.), security needs (need for an absence of threat of various nature), social needs (needs for love and a sense of belonging), ego needs (needs for self-respect and respect from others), and self-actualization needs (the needs for purpose, personal growth and realization of one's potentials). Therefore, the concept of Moksha in the sense of a state of ultimate liberty and self-realization is close to Western psychological theories. Dharma is the concept of cosmic order existing in nature and human society.It can be interpreted as righteousness, which is a way to uphold harmony in the world. It is used to explain the complexity of the word and the connection between God and nature. By agreeing to this concept one acknowledges the importance of harmony as the underlying value, both in nature and in term of spiritual harmony. Following the universal laws of conduct results in the absence of conflict and more fulfilled life on Earth. As for the three Gunas, they are Saatva (centered), Rajas (dynamic) and Tamas (inertia). In fact, these three Gunas perfectly reflect the nature of all proces ses.Saatva, which can be interpreted as harmony and purity, is a state that is different from both motion and inertia and signifies true piece of mind. Rajas, or energy and passion, reflects the ever-changing nature of the world. Tamas, or darkness and ignorance, refers to a state of inertia and motionlessness, both in physical and spiritual sense. This triad explains the path one should take to achieve Saatva through unleashing one’s creative energy and avoiding spiritual inertia. References Easwaran, Eknath (trans. ) (2007). Bhagavad Gita, 2nd ed. Tomales, CA: Nilgiri Press.

Kudler fine foods and the relevant market research

Kovacic, et al (2003) wrote a paper about the research they made which details how the group relied on a market research study to see if the product that they would like to sell, kulen in particular, to their target market including European countries like Germany, Austria, Italy and Switzerland. Through the market research they were able to find sufficient reason to launch a market test and eventually a full scale export operation, largely because of the use of market research. Like Kovacic, Kudler Fine Food’s company is also engaged in the sale of organic food to a particular target market. And while Kovacic has not started with the business and Kudler Fine Food already has, it does not make market research any less significant for any of the two. Kudler Fine Foods was able to put together a very sound marketing strategy and tactics that it uses to further improve its performance in the business front because of its effective implementation of market research.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Without the market research, Kudler Fine Food’s company is close to groping in the dark since the market research provided Kudler Fine Foods company several important information that it needs to know wherein marketing strategy and tactics greatly depend. Through the inclusion of the inputs of market research Kudler Fine Foods was able to detect not just the significant growth the company is experiencing, but as well as the capability and the viability of the company to finally expand the services. One of the many dilemmas faced by companies is the ability to know for sure when it is the right time to expand as well as to downsize just to ensure that sustainability as well as growth is possible and attainable. Through the input of the market research, the company was able to know that aside from starting on the correct marketing strategy that enabled the creation of a situation fit for starting company expansion, there are more and better marketing strategies that they can use to improve the performance of Kudler Fine Food in the business front. The market research also enabled the company to detect areas of development and improvement in operations. This is just as important because different aspects of the business drastically and quickly change. Sometimes, the reason and nature of such changes are reactionary and it is important for companies like Kudler Fine Foods to be able to detect facets of its operation which still needs a shot in the arm and still has a lot of room for improvement. Market research makes this data available through research and study methodologies that enables Kudler Fine Foods to get inside the minds of its customers, non-customers and even employees and using that opportunity to explore what one thinks is Kudler Fine Food’s weakest link so far that hinders them from operating in a level that is a notch higher. And finally, the market research also helped the company pinpoint exactly the frequency of the   improving consumer purchase which provided the necessary data to Kudler Fine Foods that the company’s current strategies are making it easier for increased loyalty of its consumers, which in turn results to improved profitability. Market research, after all, is geared in knowing, interpreting and digesting the pulse of the market and tactics and strategies in the future can be maximized if it is directed in the direction that market research points to. Additional market research is needed in the following areas that include the better profiling of competitors, internal marketing, knowing what both the patrons and non-patrons of Kudler Fine Foods expect from the company in the long and short term future including the introduction of new products or new services, the study of viable partnership or alliances with other companies the partnership of which can provide better revenue and sales performance for both parties involved, Market research should not always be focused on what a company wants to work on through self assessment; sometimes, it is also important that companies assess themselves by comparing itself as a company to other rival and competitor companies and see the differences as well as the advantages in favor of the rivals and the competitors and why such advantages exist in the first place. To be able to be consistent in the pursuit of staying ahead, a company must always understand the rival company’s next moves and thwart it or be a step ahead of it, and this can only be done by the integration of a more detailed profiling of rivals based on more market research. Know your enemy is the famous dogmas of every efficient fighter so that you have an improved judgment every time you decide and anticipates the rival’s next moves. While it may not always guarantee that the rival will become totally predictable, it will make your moves more calculated and not something which is loosely and randomly done like strategies done on impulse. Through the use of correct market research, the money a company spends for its marketing strategies and tactics (including promotions, advertisement, acquisitions, launching of new products, phasing out of old products, re-branding and brand re-positioning, etc) achieves expected goals. While most market research are generally capable of identifying whether or not a person likes a brand or not, or which particular brand he likes the most and the least; marketing strategy should never forget to cover its own base and make sure that it also knows what the employee wants and the extent of the company employees’ loyalty to the brand or the company’s products or services. Most market research efforts are focused too rigidly on knowing what customers want that what the employee wants are ignored, forgotten or removed from the equation, which should not be the case since employees, when outside the office, transforms not only into clients and customers but as well as first hand agents of product and service promotion that can ultimately translate into a highly probable long term client. Modern companies are already cognizant of the need for an effective internal marketing program and like external marketing; all a company needs is a market research. Knowing what both the patrons and non-patrons of Kudler Fine Foods expect from the company in the long and short term future including the introduction of new products or new services is an important (sub) topic of future market research because it can provide a glimpse of where Kudler Fine Foods should go in order for them to maintain the loyalty of its current patrons and to invite more individuals to become customers of the company as well. The study of viable partnership or alliances with other companies the partnership of which can provide better revenue and sales performance for both parties involved can be assessed better through the use of data from market research. This is a very tricky business and marketing move, but it is doable and can be a potential tool in improving sales, visibility and touching bases with the target market if the alliance is done with a viable partner in a set up that is as much as possible a win-win situation for both parties involved, or if not, with very minimal losses. Take for example the move of Starbucks and the bookstores and libraries. Starbucks' willingness to explore the possibility of setting foot on new grounds enabled such a new phenomena that â€Å"a growing number of the nation's 3,700 academic libraries — eager to lure students from wired coffee shops off campus — are following bookstores and public libraries in opening their doors to Starbucks† (Horovitz). The result was an improved brand recall and greater impact on its target market without the use of hard selling and traditional advertising, and its usual costs. It is important to mention that analyzing the significance of competitive intelligence possessed by Kudler Fine Foods in the development of the company’s marketing strategy and tactics was an important step towards the realization of the potency of such information and how it can help in the shaping and re-shaping of marketing policies so that it suits well with what the company wants to achieve regardless of the action and presence of its competitors. References: Horovitz, B. (2008). Something else to check out at library: Starbucks. USA Today. Retrieved January 12, 2008, from http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2007-09-27-starbucks_N.htm Council of American Survey Research Organizations (2001). Importance of Marketing Research. Retrieved January 12, 2008, from http://www.casro.org/media/Importance%20of%20Research.pdf Kovacic, D., Radman, M., Kolega, A., Markovina J, and Karolyi, D. (2003). Export Marketing of Slavonian Kulen: the Results of Market Research. Retrieved January 12, 2008, from www.agr.hr/smotra/pdf_68/acs68_33.pdf ;