Essay --

The Sorrow of War is a novel written by Vietnamese writer, Bao Ninh. First published in 1990, it came from being his graduation project to one of the most prestigious piece of literature in history. This work of fiction focuses solely on a seventeen-year-old male named Kien and his life from pre-war to post-war. What many people are oblivious to is the fact that Ninh had his own share of time in war when he served in the Glorious 27th Youth Brigade. Having said that, it is utterly safe to imply that Ninh’s time in war has a strong reflection in Kien’s characteristic traits and experiences that he endured in the novel. The Vietnam war was the struggle between the nationalist forces attempt to unify Vietnam under a communist government and the United States effort to prevent Communism from spreading even further. This explicit war lasted from 1959 through April 30, 1975. It was a very long, costly war that disturbed the peace of many nations during the 20th century. In total, more than 500,000 soldiers were involved in the conflict and the price that the fighting nations had to pay economically, politically, and morally were annihilating figures to look at. The United States, alone lost over 60,000 soldiers in Vietnam. Most of them were killed while some vanished in the thick jungles located there. In total, between 3.2 and 5 million people were disables, disfigured, or wounded for life. In comparison to the author, Kien served in the 27th Battalion and only â€Å"ten men survived from the Battalion after fierce, horrible, barbarous fighting† (Ninh 5). Ninh was also one of the ten men that su rvived out of the five hundred that had went to war. That kind of fate and fortune shared by both men is conferred in the Saintil2 n... ...o terms with his new identity, a survivor just like Kien. He hoped that the novel, The Sorrow of War will open the eyes of many who are oblivious to the effects of war and will at the same time help anyone that are in the same boat as him. By the end of the novel, Kien regained his self-confidence and focuses more on making his life better in the future instead of reminiscing on the past. The Sorrow of War ended in such an abrupt manner that shocked most, if not all, of the readers. Ninh commented on that fact by claiming that the only reason why the he chose the ending to be like that was to reflect on the suddenness of the Vietnam war. He also admits to having a strong personal connection to the novel, and in many ways Kien and Kien’s troop represents him and his troop. Aside from everything else, Kien will always be a part of Ninh that nobody but him understands.

The Evil Actions of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth in Shakespeares Play Essa

Macbeth is a tragedy written by Shakespeare roughly between the years 1603 and 1606. It was a play written following the death of Queen Elizabeth. The king at the time - James I of England/King James VI of Scotland was known to be a big supporter of theatre, witchcraft and demonology. Shakespeare and his associates soon into their career became known as the King’s men. The Kings ancestry was traced back to Banquo, a character from the play. At the beginning, Macbeth is spoken about by the three witches and we can tell that Macbeth must have had a reputation for being popular. He is called ‘brave Macbeth’; and is involved in bloody conflicts. Described as the hero, we learn that Macbeth himself killed Macdonwald in a battle that could have gone either way without the help of Macbeth’s talent on the battlefield. He is also portrayed as a heartfelt and caring man, when he himself decides that it is the wrong thing to do to murder the country’s own king – Duncan so that he can be king like the witches said. Everything about his character near the start of the play is good, and it seems as though he was the person people idolised at the time. Lady Macbeth gets a letter from Macbeth, in which she learns that the three witches had told Macbeth his destiny was to become King. ‘All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, thane of Glamis!’ ‘All hail, Macbeth, hail to thee, thane of Cawdor!’ ‘All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter!’ She thinks that Macbeth is too weak to do anything about confirming this prophecy, and as a result decided to transforms herself instead, hoping that with her support, Macbeth will allow the witches’ predictions to come true. She enters the play confident and ready for anything that tried to get in her ... ...t this is what they wanted to be, and what they thought they were for a while. However, when it came down to doing the dirty work, they couldn’t pull it off and they realized that they just weren’t those kinds of people. We know that Lady Macbeth couldn’t make it, because she committed suicide in the end from an â€Å"illness† caused by the murder; and Macbeth didn’t really want to become that way in the first place and was just influenced by his wife. I think that Lady Macbeth got caught up in the thought of her husband being the king, and she believed that she could become evil and that she was strong enough; but, in the end, she wasn’t, and Macbeth, rather than separating from her, letting down his wife and not getting involved in the evil acts Lady Macbeth thought she was capable of, went along with it, and in the end got killed from the acts of their selfishness.

Thinking, Values, And Beliefs :: essays research papers

Ideology is a way of thinking that reflect the social needs and political doctrines of an individual or group. There are many different people and different circumstances this results in a variety of different ways of thinking, values and beliefs. Our ideology grows with us from childhood. From the moment you are born the family influence begins to impact your thought process. A child is like a sponge that absorbs ideas and beliefs. Beliefs are taught to a child in subtle ways such as just listening to the parents and their opinions from everything including politics, social problems, moral issues and even opinions about how others behave. It is within the family unit that a person learns their moral values. It is from their parents that a child is taught right and wrong. Often this is through religious training. Religious beliefs or the lack of religious beliefs has a great influence on a person's beliefs and values. In the early years a child looks to their parents as the final authority on any subject. It's not uncommon to overhear a child explain something as being absolutely true because their mommy or daddy said so. As a child grow's older they see the world through outside influences such as the school system, the media, and their peers. School is often a child first opportunity to think for themselves. They experiment with ideas and values of their own. School teaches children to use a critical thought process. One way where this is done is if a child is given an opinion in a debate and they must find reasons to defend a certain viewpoint. They are exposed to a wide variety of viewpoint and opinions. Another source of influence on values and beliefs is the media. Free speech guarantees the rights of anyone to express their opinions. Children begin to form new beliefs and ideas of their own, the family influence is still there, but just not as strong. Also, peers become a major influence on a young person's thinking. To express their newfound values a child will often go through a stage of rebellion where they reject a lot of their parent's values. This doesn't mean that they have taken on a whole new belief system. It just means they are expanding the values, thinking, and belief system from the home with new ideas and thoughts. The country where you are raised is one of the major influences on a person's values and thinking process.

Anne Boleyn

Anne Boleyn lived a strategic lifestyle in the English court of Henry VIII. As a pawn of her family, she went from a small girl in the French court to the queen. Henry had an obsession with Anne and would stop at nothing until they were together causing many long term affects on England. Many people had different contrasting views of Anne Boleyn; on one hand she was viewed as a jezebel or concubine by the Catholics but at the same time she was viewed as a saintly queen by protestant writers. Both these conflicting portraits of Anne Boleyn have a degree of truth but at the same time are inaccurate. Through both of these characters Anne Boleyn’s relationship with Henry VIII caused many effects upon England during his reign such as changing how the church had been set up for thousands of years and the way women were viewed in this time. Anne spent part of her childhood in the court of the Archduchess Margaret, the daughter of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, and Mary, Duchess of Burgundy. Anne was around the age of 12-13, as that was the minimum age for a ‘fille d'honneur', also know as a bridesmaid or maid of honor . It was from there that she was transferred to the household of Mary, Henry VIII's sister, who was married to Louis XII of France. Anne's sister Mary was already in ‘the French Queen's' attendance. However, when Louis died, Mary Boleyn returned to England with Mary Tudor, while Anne remained in France to attend Claude, the new French queen. Anne remained in France for the next 6 or 7 years. During her stay in France she learned to speak French fluently and developed a taste for French clothes, poetry and music. While there in France Anne gained a very unique style and grace that made her very noticeable in the English court. Anne brought to England a new mold for a renaissance woman. She was literate and had received a formal education. Along with this Anne brought her French style that spread through the English court. In 1521 or early 1522, with war between England and France imminent, Anne returned home. When she first caught Henry VIII's eye is unknown. He was originally attracted to her sister, Mary who came to court before Anne . She was the king's mistress in the early 1520s and, as a mark of favor; her ather was elevated to the peerage as viscount Rochford in 1525. Mary herself would leave court with only a dull marriage, and possibly the king's illegitimate son, as her reward. Anne learned much from her sister's example. Anne's first years at court were spent in service to Henry VIII's first wife, Katharine of Aragon. She became quite popular among the younger men. She was not considered a great beauty; her sister occupied that position in the family, but even Mary was merely deemed ‘pretty'. Anne’s focuses were her style, her wit and charm; she was quick-tempered and spirited. Her most remarkable physical attributes were her large dark eyes and long black hair. It is likely that Henry sought to make Anne his mistress, as he had her sister Mary years before. Maybe drawing on the example of Elizabeth Woodville, Queen to Edward IV (and maternal grandmother to Henry VIII) who was said to have told King Edward that she would only be his wife, not his mistress, Anne denied Henry VIII sexual favors. We don't know who first had the idea of marriage, but eventually it evolved into â€Å"Queen or nothing† for Anne. How Anne was able to capture and maintain the king's attention for such a long while, despite great obstacles and the constant presence of malicious gossip cannot be explained. Henry was headstrong and querulous. But for several years, he remained faithful to his feelings for Anne and his desire for a legitimate male heir. He sent many love letters to Anne; his campaign to win her became a dangerous obsession lasting for seven years. My mistress and friend: I and my heart put ourselves in your hands, begging you to have them suitors for your good favor, and that your affection for them should not grow less through absence. For it would be a great pity to increase their sorrow since absence does it sufficiently, and more than ever I could have thought possible reminding us of a point in astronomy, which is, that the longer the days are the farther off is the sun, and yet the more fierce. So it is with our love, for by absence we are parted, yet nevertheless it keeps its fervour, at least on my side, and I hope on yours also: assuring you that on my side the ennui of absence is already too much for me: and when I think of the increase of what I must needs suffer it would be well nigh unbearable for me were it not for the firm hope I have nd as I cannot be with you in person, I am sending you the nearest possible thing to that, namely, my picture set in a bracelet, with the whole device which you already know. Wishing myself in their place when it shall please you. This by the hand of Your loyal servant and friend H. Rex His desire for Anne increased his efforts to secure an annulment from his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. During their eighteen-year marriage, Catherine had failed to give Henry a male heir to the throne of England, only producing a daughter, Mary. In 1527 Henry asked the Pope for an annulment of his marriage to Catherine so that he could marry Anne. Because the Pope did not grant Henry his wish, he and his Parliament passed the Act of Supremacy in 1534, which proclaimed the King as head of the Church of England. Although Henry VIII himself was a religious conservative, England slowly began to create the branch of Christianity known as Anglicanism, which often considers itself to have taken a middle road between Luther's and Calvin's Protestantism and Roman Catholicism. It also closely involved Parliament in the key decisions, including the Act of Succession, allowing representatives of the people a vital role in choosing the next dynastic monarch. During Anne’s marriage to Henry VIII, she had a large amount of control over the monarchy. She changed the face of politics in England. Anne Boleyn was intelligent and was not afraid of saying what she thought . It is known that she influenced Henry, and that is a reason why Thomas Cromwell, an English statesman who served as King Henry VIII's chief minister from 1532 to 1540 , conspired to get rid of her. Her influence over the monarch led to Wolsey's fall from grace, and Cromwell blamed her for affecting foreign policy and preventing an English-Imperial alliance. Yet Anne was a woman, and women of the time were not meant to have opinions and meddle in politics. After being married, Anne entered confinement for the birth of her first child on 26 August 1533. The child was born on 7 September 1533 and had the largest effect on England that Anne Boleyn caused. The healthy baby girl called Elizabeth was not the disappointment most assumed, nor did she immediately cause her mother's downfall. The birth had been very easy and quick. The queen recovered quickly. Henry had every reason to believe that strong princes would follow. It was only when Anne miscarried two sons that he began to question the validity of his second marriage. It was a tedious and frightening dance for Anne. During the two and a half years after Elizabeth's birth, she was rarely secure or certain of her position and the king's affections. The continued lack of an heir and Anne's miscarriages reminded him of Katharine. Like most of his contemporaries, the king blamed his wife when she did not conceive or carry to term. Anne had one last chance, and in June 1535, became pregnant again. She lost that child as well, in January 1536. She was reported to have said, â€Å"I have miscarried of my savior. † Katharine of Aragon died in January as well, just a few days before Anne's miscarriage. These events, taken together, pushed Henry into action. While Katharine lived, most of Europe, and many Englishmen, had regarded her as his rightful wife, not Anne. Now he was rid of Katharine; if he were to rid himself of Anne, he could marry again – and this third marriage would never be tainted by the specter of bigamy. He had her arrested, charged with adultery, witchcraft, and incest; the charges were ludicrous even to her enemies. As queen of England, Anne was tried by her peers; the main charge was adultery, and this was an act of treason for a queen. No member of the nobility would help her; her craven uncle Norfolk pronounced the death sentence. A skilled swordsman was brought over from France. She was assured that there would be little pain. She replied, with typical spirit, ‘I have heard that the executioner is very good and I have a little neck. ‘ Anne had prayed for exile and to end her days in a nunnery, but now faced a more tragic fate. She met it with bravery and wit. She was brought to the scaffold at 8 o'clock in the morning on 19 May 1536. It was a spectacle that had never happened before, the first public execution of an English queen. Anne, who had defended herself so ably at her trial, chose her last words carefully: ‘Good Christian people, I am come hither to die, for according to the law, and by the law I am judged to die, and therefore I will speak nothing against it. I am come hither to accuse no man, nor to speak anything of that, whereof I am accused and condemned to die, but I pray God save the king and send him long to reign over you, for a gentler nor a more merciful prince was there never: and to me he was ever a good, a gentle and sovereign lord. And if any person will meddle of my cause, I require them to judge the best. And thus I take my leave of the world and of you all, and I heartily desire you all to pray for me. O Lord have mercy on me, to God I commend my soul. ‘ She was bent at the scaffold and killed by beheading . Today, this woman who lived 500 years ago is still having books, programs and movies written and made based upon her life. Also there are many websites, blogs, and forums discussing her strategic life and notoriety. Anne Boleyn did not just affect England with her wit, grace, and strong determination, she affected the entire world.

Hinduism and Buddhism in the United States Essay

This paper intends to compare the origin and basic beliefs of Hinduism and Buddhism. It also aims to state the roles that Hinduism and Buddhism played that contributed to the American Culture, both in the past, as well as, in the present. Last but not least, the paper will briefly discuss the effect/s that Hinduism and Buddhism have on the future American culture, as well as, how that particular culture impact these people. Origin and Basic Beliefs of Hinduism and Buddhism No particular name of prophet or any religious person for that matter is related to the foundation of Hinduism while Buddhism is said to be established by Buddha (Hinduism versus Buddhism, n. d. , n. p. ). Furthermore, followers of Hinduism believe in the Vedas and that there is only one â€Å"Supreme Being†, on the other hand, the advocates of Buddhism believes otherwise (Hinduism versus Buddhism, n. d. , n. p. ). Moreover, those people who practice Hinduism believe that their objective is to show faith in their God; collect material things, as well as, their desires and passion; and attain salvation (Hinduism versus Buddhism, n. d. , n. p. ). On the other hand, those who practice Buddhism has only one objective in life and that is to put an end to their sufferings (Hinduism versus Buddhism, n. d. , n. p. ). Roles that Hinduism and Buddhism Played that Contributed to the American Culture Hinduism in the United States is not yet very well known; however, because they are the most edified if compared to all the rest of the religions in the United States, they managed to share their beliefs to some of the Americans who delightedly converted into their religion (Rood, 1994, n. p. ). Also, the spiritual practices and other cultures that they possess became a fundamental part of the American culture because they have been given the freedom to do so in the United States (Rood, 1994, n. p. ). On the other hand, since, there are millions of Buddhism’s followers, the aforementioned became an integral part of the American culture as well (Rood, 1994, n. p. ). It began when an officer who fought during the Civil War became interested in the writings/scriptures of the aforementioned religion (Rood, 1994, n. p. ). Actually, it is because of the interesting beliefs and practices of both religions that’s why both have been and are still currently a part of the American culture (Rood, 1994, n. p. ). Effect that Hinduism and Buddhism have on the Future American Culture Hinduism and Buddhism will surely have an effect on the future American culture since both have already impacted the culture of the Americans then and now (Hinduism versus Buddhism, n. d. , n. p. ). Most likely in the future, there will be more schools that stress on the beliefs and practices of Hinduism and Buddhism (Hinduism versus Buddhism, n. d. , n. p. ). In addition, more American people will incorporate the beliefs of such religions in theirs because of great interest in the beliefs of those religions (Hinduism versus Buddhism, n. d. , n. p. ). Meanwhile these cultures will impact the American people greatly, they may be able to find ways to change their personality and may even attain their ultimate goals – happiness and salvation (Hinduism versus Buddhism, n.d. , n. p. ). References Hinduism versus Buddhism. (n. d. ). Retrieved April 23, 2008 from http://www. experiencefestival. com/a/Hinduism_vs_Buddhism/id/54137 Rood, R. (1994). Hinduism. Retrieved April 23, 2008 from http://72. 14. 253. 104/search? q=cache:R-6zli9PVKEJ:www. probe. org/index2. php%3Foption%3Dcom_content%26do_pdf%3D1%26id%3D692+Desire+for+Liberation+from+Earthly+Existence+%2B+Hinduism&hl=tl&ct=clnk&cd=5&gl=ph&client=firefox-a

Benefits of an online business presence Essay

In this task I am going to explain the developments in internet technology, describe the benefits of an online presence and give examples of businesses that enjoy these benefits and finally explain the advantages of to businesses of having an online presence rather than having a purely offline presence. Broadband and other developments Nowadays, broadband connections enable data to be transferred much faster than narrowband. The connection does not tie up a normal phone line. The user can choose get online by an ADSL connection, a cable line, wireless or via satellite dish. Also the internet is low cost and is increasing in speed which benefits the commerce online. The new portable devices such as PDA offer the user easy internet access at any time. 80% of the UK can get broadband by ADSL and cable. Most of people use internet every day which enables a great share of data. Secure payments The increase of security enables the use of credit/debit card facilities. But the newspapers and magazine headlines about fraud and hackers quite obviously put people off. To be secured, all the online payments need to be private and confidential between the buyer and the seller, conveyed intact and without any changes during transmission and erased from the system after the process has been completed. The banks are increasing the security of the debit/credit cards of the user. To purchase an item online the user need to key in the password and the date of birth. Secure Electronic Transaction (SET) is a standard protocol for securing credit card transactions over insecure networks, the Internet. SET is not itself a payment system, but rather a set of security protocols and formats that enables users to employ the existing credit card payment infrastructure on an open network in a secure fashion. When the cardholder buys online the credit card company authenticates the card via digital signature. This proves that the cardholder is genuine. Web authoring tools Nowadays there are a number of web authoring tools such as the Microsoft FrontPage program which enables the user to create a website without any specialist knowledge. There are other programs such as the Dreamweaver, Fireworks and Flash technology used to create the effects and designs in a website. Businesses can easily build their website, which enables them to create a service online. Benefits of an online presence A web business presence have global â€Å"round† visibility which means they never close and are available from any location in the world at 24 hours 7 days a week. This benefit can increase the opportunity of trading of the website. Some examples of websites that enjoy this benefit are www.sainsburys. co. uk, www. amazon. co. uk and www. argos. co. uk. Some businesses operating online have opportunity of expansion to access to a wide range of customers especially from abroad. If the business offers an excellent service the opportunity is maximised. But there are worries for example the tariff barriers, quotas and environmental regulations. This is not a problem in the European Community as the goods can be freely traded between member states. Some websites that enjoy this benefit are www. ebay. com, www. hp. com, www. dell. com. A Small business with a good service and well designed can compete with larger businesses. There is an equality of presence regardless of size of business. The costumer never looks on the size of the business only on the service and product provided. Therefore a small business can compete with a larger one. Some websites that enjoy this benefit are www. zonepoint. co. uk and www. computeradvicecentre. com. A web business presence has the benefit of a rapid response to customer interest. But some firms don’t take advantage of this benefit. A web can provide several opportunities for customer contact for example the email messages. The speed of response is very important. A response over the internet is faster than the response by phone or letter. An online business presence enjoying this benefit is www. ebuyer. com. A web business presence has the opportunity to analyse online competition. It is quicker and easier to compare competitor activities online than by visiting their stores or obtaining information offline. Also the internet enables businesses to check new competitors and their market share. Businesses operating online have opportunity to keep up with customers. Businesses can check competitor’s status and then they can improve the product or service offered, speed of the delivery or the design of the website. The internet has made the life much easier. Achieving a responsive integrated supply chain A supply chain contains every single business that is involved in the eventual supply of a product or service. But there are problems associated with the supply chain. If the chain is long the price to the customer may be high and the chain is usually slow to respond to a rapid change. To combat these problems businesses tried to change the supply chain to shorten it, this is done by cutting out or by passing as many intermediaries, and to integrate it, to speed the things by changing the information in one stage to another. An example of business that has a simple and short supply chain is Dell. Dell manufactures computers and sells them online directly to the buyers. This means there are no wholesales and no need for retail shops. This speeds things up and reduces the final price to the customer. If the businesses improve their supply chain there many benefits that follows. Businesses can offer punctual delivery as a sales feature. The seller will have more control over delivery if the supply chain is short and integrated. One example of a business operating online that has this benefit is Dell. co. uk Other benefit is the opportunity for buying the products online. Businesses can improve the product delivery and reduce the time between the order and supply. Customers can check stocks online. If an item is currently out of stock many businesses put a note on the site and email the customer when stocks are replenished. One example of a business that has this benefit is ebuyer. com. Ebuyer is a business like Dell. It sells directly to the buyer; there is no need for retail shops. Online order tracking is another benefit. It enables the customers to check every stage of their order from the supplier’s website. The system sends automatically email to customer informing about tracking order. In other systems customers can check at any time the progress of the order. Ebuyer. com is a business operating online that enjoys this benefit. Businesses can reduce overheads and labour costs. A business that has a short and an integrated supply chain has more possibilities to process the orders more cheaply. This is because there is likely to be fewer staff required to process paperwork relating to customer orders, fewer shops required if the business deals directly to the customer, fewer intermediaries required and fewer staff needed to deal with the customer. Ebuyer and Dell are two examples of businesses that enjoy this benefit. Reduced stockholding Businesses can improve cash flow through fewer bad debts. Cash flow improves if the customer is paying as they make a purchase. The transactions over the internet are done by credit or debit card. The card payment is always checked and authorised before the goods are dispatched. Ebuyer. com can choose where to locate. Ebuyer only trades over the internet. It has more freedom in choosing the location than other types of businesses. A business can save money with affiliations with ISPs and portals. This works as the following: a business wants to show the location of the company, the business can do an affiliation using multimap to show it. One example is the BT website. Other benefit is the accessibility to different users. Disabled and housebound people have more advantages to shop at home over the internet. Also people who live in rural and remote areas don’t need to worry to go a shopping trip. Only one â€Å"click† can save money and time. Nowadays is increasing availability of public web access points. The internet kiosks and cybercafi s are a common feature in all large towns and cities. They enable anyone without a pc, or away from home, to access the internet easily. Also the pocked Pc’s and the portable computers, laptops, enable the access to internet at any time. Advantages of to businesses of having an online presence rather than having a purely offline presence Tesco are ale to sell a lot more groceries as they have both their stores and the home delivery service than Primark which only sells its product to customers who came into their stores. Tesco website would operate globally as well as locally for relatively little extra cost. Tesco can get a wide range of customers because they can buy online at any time. People don’t need to worry to go for shopping. Only by one â€Å"click† people can shop online. Also disabled people would prefer to shop online. Primark website only offers the information about the products and where to find retail outlets. In my point of view an online presence has more advantages than a purely offline presence. An online presence can get more customers selling online than an offline presence. The customers are very important for a business because without them a business can close. In conclusion, I mentioned the benefits of an online presence and the advantages of an online presence rather than a purely offline presence. BTEC First in Business Unit 8: Business Online.

Goods Spend Analysis

Individual Assignment Goods Spend Analysis Prepared by: Anjela Li Date: January 13, 2012 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Introduction3 2. Goods Spend Analysis: How is it conducted? 4 3. Key Triggers5 4. How spend analysis fits the procurement strategy6 1. Introduction Spend analysis  is the process of collecting, cleansing, classifying and analyzing expenditure data with the purpose of reducing procurement costs, improving efficiency and monitoring compliance. It can also be leveraged in other areas of business such as inventory management, budgeting and planning, and product development. There are three core areas of spend analysis – visibility, analysis and process. By leveraging all three, companies can generate answers to the crucial questions affecting their spending, including: ? What am I really spending? ? With whom am I spending it? ? Am I getting what’s been promised for that spend? Spend analysis is often viewed as part of a larger domain known as  spend management  which incorporates spend analysis, commodity management and  strategic sourcing. Companies perform spend analysis for several reasons. The core business driver for most organizations is profitability. In addition to improving compliance and reducing cycle times, performing detailed spend analysis helps companies find new areas of savings that previously went untapped, and hold onto past areas of savings that they have already negotiated. Benefits of Spend Data Management: [pic] 2. Goods Spend Analysis: How is it conducted? 3 major components of a spend analysis: Component |Activity |Typical deliverable | |(a)Opportunity assessment |Collect and validate category spend data/diagnose |High level spend analysis | | |company spend |Savings opportunity ranges | | |Analyze industry/market trends |Sourcing project plan | | |Prioritize and sequence opportunities |Sourcing maturity assessment | |(b)Creation of category profile |Define category spend by supplier, spend, |Detailed baseline spend analysis | |(c)Marketplace assessment |region/customer |Preferred parts list | | |Determine category requirements, specifications, |Industry and supply market analyses | | |forecast |Total cost components | | |Determine total cost components |Potential switching/change out osts (ex: replacement cost| | |Conduct detailed supply market and value chain analysis |of propane tanks when switching suppliers should be | | |Determine supplier universe and identify potential |considered when creating a sourcing strategy and in the | | |suppliers |analysis for potential savings) | | |Collect feedback from stakeholders regarding supplier | | | |performance | | 3. Key Triggers ? Spend by type of goods: provides visibility of what the money is spent for and enables further analysis to apply 80/20 rule to define the top 20% of goods that represent 80% of spend. A proper spend analysis by type of goods typically requires splitting main product categories into subcategories to provide visibility of â€Å"hidden† costs ? Spend by a Business Unit: provides visibility of spend by end customer, i. e. ho spends the money, compliance rate to the possible existing preferred supplier agreements and whether or not the spend is fragmented within the organization ? Spend by Supplier (enterprise view): allows understanding of who the money is spent with, how fragmented spend is within the supplier base and whether an opportunity exists for volume concentration ? Spend by Supplier (by Business Unit): allows visibility of the breakdown of spend among suppliers within a specific Business Unit. This helps to define whether there are common suppliers that are being used across all Business Units and whether an opportunity exists to gain a better price leverage by consolidating the volume for specific products across all Business Units. This type of analysis also prompts sourcing specialists to engage with stakeholders to understand whether there were any supplier performance concerns that might potentially impact distribution of spend and therefore, should be addressed and considered at the stage of building new strategic sourcing strategies 4. How spend analysis fits the procurement strategy A proper spend analysis allows to build effective sourcing strategies, which can be leverage oriented, relationship oriented or a combination of both (see Figure 1 below). The sourcing strategy for the category will depend on three factors: a) How competitive is the supplier marketplace? b) How aligned are your organization’s users on the need versus opportunity to test incumbent relationships? ) What alternatives to a competitive assessment exist for your organization in this or connected categories? Typically, if there are categories with High/Low Business impact and Low Market complexity the left side of the Sourcing Gemstone will be used: Volume Concentration, Best Price Evaluation or Global sourcing. If more complex markets are confronted (Ex: sole source supplier situation, single source supplier due to complexities in the product specifications and/or industry regulations, lack of substitute suppliers or products, other suppliers vs. the incumbent had critical performance issues in the past, long term industry shortage due to the economic downturn in the global market, etc. we may want to consider Product Specification Improvements, Joint Process Improvements or Relationship Restructuring strategies. It is also important to acknowledge that commonly, the higher the maturity of a specific category, the lower is the opportunity to capture high net dollar savings through a competitive event effort and the more is the need to focus on strengthening the relationship with your preferred supplier and reap the benefits of a joint effort in areas related to the right hand side of the Gemstone (Ex: p roduct standardization, electronic invoicing, product innovation, etc. ) Figure 1 [pic] Supply Market Complexity (High) ———————– High Business Impact