Amazon.com Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Amazon.com - Essay Example Amazon advertises extensively on the internet to help raise awareness of their brand. Also, Amazon maintains high-speed growth introducing new products and services available online. Innovations and adaptation policies help to appeal to a particular target audience in diverse markets. The main weakness of Amazon is a negative image of online banking and financial transaction. Many customers do not buy products online afraid of fraudulent actions of companies. Undeveloped banking sector in less developed countries prevent the company from rapid international growth. The opportunities included: high potential to growth based on the technological change and increasing number of internet users. The choice of communications mix should be the most cost-effective solution for achieving the organization's communication objectives. Call centers and the Internet give online booksellers great opportunities to promote its services. Competition and possible legal changes is the major threat forAm azon (Amazon Home Page 2009). In his book "Competitive Advantage" Porter identifies five forces that drive competition within an industry (Johnson and Scholes 54). The threat of entry by new competitors is possible but they will create a real threat for Amazon. The intensity of rivalry among existing competitors has a great impact on Amazon facing with strong competition (Barnes & Noble and other small online companies). Thus, Amazon has positioned itself as a superstore. Pressure from substitute products will not have a great impact on Amazon's activity. Today, Amazon proposes a wide range of e-texts and CD-ROMs which can be regarded as substitute products. The bargaining power of buyers is crucial for Amazon. The aim of customers is to pay the lowest possible price to obtain books or other products that they require. The advantage of Amazon is that it purchase in such large quantities that its suppliers are dependent on the customers' business. The bargaining power of suppliers does not have a great impact on Amazon because most firms are highly differentiated and need an effective distribution channels for their products (Amazon Home Page 2009). For Amazon, the most successful of four growth stages was the Growth stage. This success can explained by a strong web culture and environment created by its team. In order to be effective Amazon is responsive to external environmental influences. Amazon operates within a dynamic environment and it requires a structure and culture that are sensitive and readily adaptable to change (Johnson and Scholes 55). Amazon's organizational climate influences the level of morale and attitudes which members of the organization bring to bear on their work performance and personal relationships. Also, strong web culture attracts millions of buyers to this store. Web culture is based on non-price competition and strong brand image (Amazon Home Page 2009). Amazon.com is a leading internet-based company operating on a global scale. Amazon.com becomes the first mover in the e-retailing market proposing a wide product range to diverse customer targets. E-business allows the company to connect customer service and good levels, increases customer satisfaction and decreases retention artistries. The main strategy is a virtual bookshop which helps the company to promote and sell its products to customers. Similar to traditional marketing, a virtual bookshop

Strategic Human Resource Planning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Strategic Human Resource Planning - Essay Example "The range of activities and themes encompassed by SHRM is complex and goes beyond the responsibilities of personnel or HR managers into all aspects of managing people and focuses on management decisions and behaviors used, consciously or unconsciously, to control, influence and motivate those who work for the organizations - the human resources" (Price, 2007) What Charmagne was considering was a combination of this and Issues-Based Strategic Planning, under which goals are prioritized. According to her, producing products with good quality corresponding to the specifications of the contract is more important than getting the larger contract. She is also carrying out a cost-benefit analysis which helps her predict that recruiting trained workers from the market in this short span of time means high costs for the firm. Probably even higher than the benefits that they will enjoy from the large contract. However, she is more concerned with delivering a good quality product rather than motivating Proper Corporate Strategic planning comes with proper analysis of all the different aspects of the scenario, its alternatives and the external factors affecting decisions. Charmagne's strategy is not based on impulse but has facts, figures and practical study to support her argument. And when she is challenging Brian, this strategic plan will help her put forward her points to him concretely and more clearly.

Definition And Concepts In Building Refurbishment Construction Essay

Definition And Concepts In Building Refurbishment Construction Essay Although building cannot have an infinite economic life, it is widely acknowledged that the process of fabric and structural decline can be slowed down by routine maintenance programs. Occasionally, a shortsighted slumlord will direct a property manager to operate a property to get the maximum returns in term of rental. This usually occurs when an owner refuses to make any repairs except those necessary to keep the property operating. This type of owner treats building as an operating asset in state of an investment. Nowadays, this kind of situation is getting lesser and lesser cause more and more office building is being held as investment by public listed company of good reputation. This is true especially for building acquired and maintained by REITs company as the property portfolio. Nowadays, more building owners treat their property as an investment. This is especially true when they engage the service of a property manager. In this situation, property is being exploited by achieving the best return on capital possible and generates productivity from occupier. At the same time, the property will also be well managed in order to add capital appreciation to the property. Failure to maintain the property regularly can impair the structural integrity of the fabric, accelerating the decline in investment returns until the point where refurbishment options need to be considered (John R. Mansfield, 2000). Technically, refurbishment is the process of making as good as new, including essential modernization and renovations. But, Quah suggests that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“refurbishmentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  has become a generic, interchangeable term, apparently distinguishable from other specialist activities. Therefore, a clear definition of refurbishment is being quoted from other researchers to clear the doubts. Egbu (1996) considers à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“refurbishmentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  to encompass rehabilitation, alteration, adaption, extension, improvement, modernization and repair work carried out to an existing building to permit it reuse for various specific reasons. This definition tells the main reasons of refurbishment, which is to make sure a building is able to operate continuously, and offer better services that suit the demand of the tenants. Normally owners have different perspective when it comes to decide whether to refurbish or redevelop their office building. There are also no rules in the decision-making for refurbishment or redevelopment of office building. But, Reginald Lee from university of Reading has formulated three important issues when it comes to the stage when decision is required. The existing condition of the building needs to be surveyed. If the structural was sound, refurbishment might be considered. If it was very dilapidated, demolition and redevelopment mould probably be the only realistic course of action. This might occur where the structure has been allowed to deteriorate over a no of years, beyond useful refurbishment. The third issue concerning desirable level of refurbishment cannot be considered in isolation. As construction resource is limited and required a large amount of capital, a correct decision is important. Refurbishment by arresting decay extends the physical life of a building, thereby delays and defers expenditure on redevelopment to a large extend this will depend upon the degree to which it is possible to modify the internal layout to accommodate changing tenants requirements there is thus a relationship between the adaptability of the design, building life, maintenance costs and new construction cost. Older building do not make the best possible use of space for modern-day use. Normally in Malaysia, a design efficiency of 75% is considered the desirable norm of an office building. New high rise building aim to have a design efficiency of above 75% whereas buildings constructed between 1920 and 1970 have at best 60% to 70% efficiency. In order to adapt a building for today processes, refurbishment may become so intensive to make redevelopment a better alternative. Better use of space can often be achieved by a completely new design. If the existing space available is insufficient, the possibility of extending the premises may be considered. If space around the site does not permit this approach, some form of redevelopment may become essential. Te efficiency ratio (net let table area divided by gross floor area) of older buildings. A well conceived building today can have an efficiency ratio of about 80% If building cost is expected to rise drastically in the future, it is better not to postponed the decision for redevelopment by choosing refurbishment. The expected rise in building cost will have an effect on the decision

Psytrance and the Spirituality of Electronics :: Electronic Music

Psytrance and the Spirituality of Electronics Electronic music is generally broken into techno, house, trance, hardcore, breakbeat, and ambient music, along with affiliated smaller genres that float between categories, like trip-hop, electro, IDM, and others. Ambient is easily recognized by its separation from dancing, which is normally manifested in slower tempos and less distinct rhythms. Breakbeat (of which drum'n'bass makes up most of the faster genres, while there are slower genres as well) is distinguished by an emphasis on ways of dividing a bar of 4/4 time other than the standard one. (Notably, there is a focus on the second half of the third beat, though this comes about in various different beat patterns.) Hardcore (an important subset of which is called â€Å"happy hardcore†) is distinguished by its extremely fast tempos (generally over 160 bpm) in 4/4 time. House is distinguished by its focus on the second and fourth beats of 4/4, though it also shares many stylistic characteristics with disco, funk, and other popular musics, that help distinguish it from trance and techno. Of these, techno is generally not as fast (around 100-120 bpm) and tends to be more minimalistic, while trance is more melodic. House and trance are by far the most popular genres of electronica, though house tends to be more popular in clubs and trance more popular at the parties often known as â€Å"raves†.1 Within trance, psytrance is distinguished by its generally higher tempo (135-145 bpm), more focus on sixteenth notes and exotic scales, and most noticeably, through the use of general sounds other than percussion and pitched sounds. Stylistic traits2 Formal features: Tracks tend to be between 6 and 12 minutes long, with most clustering around 7 or 8 minutes. Most of the tracks begin with about 30 seconds of very atmospheric sounds. These introductions convey some suggestion of the beat (but definitely not the bass drum), but in the tracks I have analyzed here, they are more beat-less than usual, and last much longer than usual, since several are the first tracks of their albums. Sometimes, there is a return to this ambient sound at the end of the track, but it is generally not as long. Between this introduction and conclusion, the body of the track has two halves. The first introduces the major thematic material, while the second rearranges it, sometimes altering the bass. Most of the themes are eventually layered onto one another at the end of each of these halves, creating two climaxes.

Aloha Products Essay

Q1. Evaluate the current control systems for the manufacturing, marketing and purchasing departments of Aloha Products. Solution: From the case we can see that Aloha products is structured on a cost basis; however the control system is attempting to measure each plant on a profit basis. Thus the company have a centralized control system. This means that the main office takes all the main decisions regarding purchases, production, sales, marketing and promotions in order to save costs. However, the plant managers are responsible for their profit and loss and are evaluated on the basis of their performance despite lack of adequate control over the activities by managers of the managed plant. This type of structure is an unfair way of measuring the performance of the individual production plants. Based on the current system evaluating the three major departments of Aloha Products are described below: Evaluation of manufacturing departments: There are three production plants within AP’s manufacturing department; each plant is responsible for their own profits and losses. Unfortunately the managers have no control over any of the major activities in their respective production facilities; the vice president of the manufacturing oversees all of the roasting, grinding, and packaging processes. Production schedules are provided to each plant manager for the current and following month. The plant managers also have no control over the green beans purchase, production schedule, production mix, or the costs of their inputs, as the purchasing departing assigns the costs based on specific contract for that shipment. If the inputs exceeded plant’s requirements, they are sold at the spot rate in the market, and could very well result in a loss. Evaluation of purchasing departments: The purchasing department is responsible for obtaining the required quantities and types of green coffee to be roasted in production plants. The level of sophistication and expertise needed makes this department a necessity; proper staffing is vital based on the complexity of the green coffee market. This department relies on the relationships with growers and brokers; for smaller firms, an important feature of this department is their ability to foresee demand and required inventory and subsequently entered into forward contracts with brokers anywhere between three to twelve months in advance. The costs of each shipment are based on specific contracts for those green coffee beans, which can vary based on the various price drivers as mentioned earlier. This can create diversified and volatile costs of inventory. Required inventory demand is based on communication between marketing (sales) and the purchasing department, any discrepancies at the current date is met by the purchases through the spot market, which incurs significantly higher costs. The costs associated with running this purchasing department are charged to headquarters of AP. Currently there is no communication between purchasing and manufacturing department. Furthermore, purchasing department does not need to report to head office or meet any performance measurement standards. Ultimately power resides with upper management of the purchasing unit. Evaluation of marketing (sales) departments: Under the current structure, this department is centralized. The president of AP and vice president of sales are in charge of advertising and promotion of the final products. The marketing department also determines the budgeted sales, which are then passed onto purchasing department. Q2. Considering the company’s competitive strategy, what changes, if any would you make to the control systems for the three departments? Solution: The changes to the current control systems involves establishing accountability and effective communication among the three departments and providing key measures to evaluate the manager’s performance objectively. Recommendations for the current management control systems are as follows: Recommendations for manufacturing departments The manufacturing department is currently profit centre. However, the plants do not have control over the costs of the green coffee. Thus the main concern of this department as a whole should be efficiency; how well they can control the costs to roast green coffee. As such, here the recommendation would be to make manufacturing department’s plants be accountable for the costs incurred to roast and package the green coffee. The performance measure for the manufacturing department at AP should be evaluated based solely on the roasting, grinding, and packaging of AP’s coffees. It would be unfair to evaluate manufacturing as a profit centre, when in reality it has little to no control over product costs or sales. Since control over purchasing and selling will not be transferred to the manufacturing department in this proposal, it is logical to assess based on controllable factors such as cost/pound only. Thus instead of being assessed for the performance of the purchasing and marketing departments, plant managers will now have the incentive to ensure their costs do not vary from the standard. It will still be possible to evaluate roasting plants based on gross margin as well. However to ensure the plant managers are not penalized for the fluctuations in the costs of green coffee contracts, a standard cost for green coffee would have to established and used in the computation of gross margin. Recommendations for purchasing departments The purchasing department’s costs are being charged to central office. Due to this the purchasing department is not being held accountable for the contracts it is entering into. The purchasing department’s main concern should be actual contract costs. Thus, we recommend that the purchasing department be accountable for the difference between the actual costs per signed contracts and standard costs of green coffee raw materials. The actual costs should be measured in a similar manner to the current practice. Contract costs related to buying and selling in the spot market should not be included in the computed price per bag. A reasonable standard costing for the green coffee contracts will have to be established based on discussions between management and executives in the purchasing department. The standard costs could potentially be based on the average of spot price over past 6 months. Thus, the recommendation here would be that this standard cost be updated every quar ter, in order to provide accurate standard costs of green coffee raw materials. Recommendations for marketing (sales) departments The marketing department focuses its efforts on advertising and promotion, however, it is not held responsible for the costs it incurs or how accurate their sales forecasts/budgets are. There is a large costs associated with differences between the forecasted requirements and actual requirements. The difference results in the purchases or sales at the spot price for the green coffee, which tends to costs more than the forward contract prices. It is not reasonable for the marketing department to perfectly forecasts sales and therefore there should be leniency in developing a method of accountability for this department. The goal here is not only to hold each group accountable but also to make sure managers feel they are being evaluated fairly and motivated to improve performance. In keeping with this actual sales volume should be compared to forecasted sales volume. This will not only help to keep the marketing department accountable for their activities but will also allow the forecasts methodology to be reviewed and continuously improve. Thus on an overall basis, the company needs to establish goal congruence between the three departments. This can be achieved through emphasizing communication between departments; this would encourage the forecasts of purchases/sales to be more accurate. In order to increase the goal congruence and communication, the department should also be evaluated based on the overall measure for the firm. This measure could be Economic Value added (EVA) as when it is applied, managers will not just be focussed on their own departments profitability but also that of company as a whole. The EVA approach promotes the same profit objectives across different departments. Thus by keeping the same structural organizations and only changing the way each department is evaluated, the incentive plan for each department more accurat ely reflects what each department can control.

Boeing corporation crisis Essay

Attached is a report of the biggest crisis that the Boeing Corporation has ever faced in its existence. First it will describe the events leading up to the problem before it became a public issue. Then we will discuss in extensive detail exactly what the problem is that Boeing is facing and how they can overcome it. The team of xxx completed the research and the written report of the crisis. Boeing is an international supplier of commercial airline planes, military defense aircraft, and surveillance. Partially due to the September 11th attacks on the United States, the Boeing Corporation will be laying off 30,000 employees from their nationwide facilities. The layoffs will affect cities such as Los Angeles, Seattle, Houston, St. Louis, Philadelphia, and will affect employees from entry level to executive offices. The announcements of these issues have caused Boeing’s stock to fall to a surprising low and production levels to drop dramatically. XXX would like to thank XXX for giving us the opportunity to complete this research assignment. The research helped us learn how to more efficiently utilize the different databases available to us and put it into a format so it can be presented to a public organization or the media. The skills learned in the duration of completing this report will be able to be utilized when presenting to upper management a detailed issue and solutions to a specific problem. Boeing Corporation Crisis Cal State Fullerton Jean Fuller May 28, 2002 Executive Summary Today the Boeing Corporation is facing one of the largest crises in the history of the company. They are in the process of laying off a total of 30,000 employees from their facilities nationwide. The layoffs will take place in cities such as Los Angeles, Seattle, St. Louis, Philadelphia, and Atlanta. Most of the layoffs affect the commercial airline division, but the military defense and aerospace divisions will also be affected. The plan for the reduction in employee size began in July 2001, but the attacks on the United States on September 11th left the company having to lay off more employees. At the present time, Boeing is mainly focusing on reducing the amount of mandatory layoffs. This is going to be hard to accomplish because of the reduced demand for the company’s goods and services. In the future, Boeing’s focus will be on returning to a high level of production and profitability. They will be focusing on competing with the competition by increasing product innovation and reducing expenses that the company incurs during production in an effort to keep prices low. Due to economic slowdown and reduced spending by consumers, the Boeing Corporation was beginning to experience loss in revenues and a decline in production. Not more than three months later, the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York impacted the demand for commercial aircraft because of fear to travel by airplane. Also, heavy competition with Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, Boeing is not being awarded as many contracts with the United States military, which is causing a decline in revenues for the aerospace and military defense divisions. There are not many ways to overcome the entire problem, but there are some alternatives that the company can consider in order to reduce them. The alternatives are to distribute hours equally among the employees, reallocate employees into different divisions, offer severance pay, and to continue to layoff employees. Boeing has to be careful in the way that this particular situation is handled. If employees feel as though they are being treated unfair, they will not have job satisfaction and production may decrease. The best possible solution for the Boeing’s problem is to equally distribute the hours among the employees. By doing this employees will maintain their jobs. This will result in higher job satisfaction than other alternatives, and Boeing will not have to go through an extensive process to rehire when they return back to a stage of profitability. Boeing Problem Statement As Boeing faces one of the greatest financial crises in the history of the airline industry, Boeing plans to cut production workers, engineers and support staff by mid-2002 (Nyhan, September 2001). Because of a declining economy as well as terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11th, Boeing is laying off a total of 30,000 employees in all divisions of the corporation: aerospace, commercial aviation, and military defense. The layoffs will happen in Los Angeles, St. Louis, Seattle, Oklahoma, and the Puget Sound area, and will affect everyone from salaried executives to the hourly paid maintenance employees. Layoffs are a sign of company turmoil and should be avoided to maintain the company stockholders. Short and Long-Term Goals Boeing’s primary short-term objective is to maintain a reasonable level of profitability given the recent occurrences. It will attempt to accomplish this by reducing the amount of dollars that are paid to the current employees by either reducing their hours, or completely terminating their employment with the company. Because of current supply and demand of the company, profits will be reduced if the current level of employees is maintained. Boeing’s long-term objective is to be the number one supplier of commercial, aerospace, and military aircraft and technology. They aim to accomplish this by maintaining a level of profitability that satisfies the stockholders and corporate executives. They also want to maintain a high level of competition with the current competition: Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin. If Boeing loses government aerospace and military defense contracts to the competition, there is a high probability that the company will become insolvent and declare bankruptcy. Details of the Problem Prior to September 11th, Boeing was going through trying times. Their satellite manufacturing operations were in a recession. This was due to the bursting of the internet and telecom bubbles (Laing, 2002). The Commercial Airline Industry was also facing a slowdown. This was a result of high fuel prices, labor cost increases, a softening of the national economy and low passenger traffic (Smith, 2001). Also, improvements in production efficiency for Boeing led to a plan to decrease up to 15% of its employees in the commercial-aircraft business. This efficiency in production was due to the industry’s first ever-moving assembly line for the final phase of the production process, which cuts unneeded steps (Holmes, 2001). Likewise, by the end of 2001, Boeing lost out on the largest military contract ever when the Pentagon picked rival Lockheed Martin to build the Joint Strike Fighter for shared use by the Air Force, Navy and Marines. This next generation manned fighter is expected to flow more than $200 billion in revenues over the next 20 years (Laing, 2002). But most traumatic for Boeing were the terrorist attacks on September 11th. They transformed what had been shaping up as a mild downturn in commercial jet orders into a veritable collapse in demand (Laing, 2002). After the attacks, the need to fly drastically declined due to fear and security issues that made flying a nuisance. This left the US Airline Industry in a serious crisis. Companies such as Continental, US Airways, American, and Delta cut up to 20% of their capacity (Smith, 2001). Source: www.bloomber.com The terrorist attacks resulted in Boeing’s stock to plummet. Prior to September 11th, Boeing’s stock was falling because of the downturn in the economy. From the graph above, we can see that the attacks made the stock price to fall from $50 a share to $30. This was a sign that investors knew the impact the terrorist attacks had on Boeing’s industry. After September 11th, Boeing planned to respond to these problems by cutting production rates by 50 percent (Nyhan, November 2001). On September 18th, one week after the attacks, Boeing announced at a press conference that it would layoff up to 30,000 employees by the middle of 2002 (Smith, 2001). On that day, Boeing reduced the level of employees by 12,000: 3,000 through retirement and attrition, and 9,000 through layoffs (Farley, 2001). Boeing also stated that their jetliner orders would decrease drastically. In the next three years 80% of their 2001 orders would be delivered (Smith, 2002). They also planned to cut their monthly production of aircraft by half, from 48 to 24. The director of people at Boeing’s commercial airplane unit said, â€Å"In order to match our reduced production rate, we will need to accomplish the majority of the 20,000 to 30,000 reductions in 2002 employment by midyear†. Members of the Associated Press and Kiro 7 Eyewitness News stated, â€Å"Last week Boeing officials announced plans to layoff as many as 30,000 employees, mostly in the Puget Sound area, by the end of next year because of plummeting demand for new planes and postponed deliveries since the terrorist attacks.† Boeing’s commercial airplane division is not the only division that the layoffs will effect. Surprisingly 5,000 of the 30,000 layoffs are predicted to come from the military division. The military division cutbacks are also due to the September 11th attacks, but they are mainly due to global economic slowdown (Klein, 2001). This comes as a surprise because the military division is expected to grow in a time of war or terrorist attacks. Stockholders may assume that the government will request an increased level of production of fighter jets and military bombers so that the United States can dominate in the war against terrorism. In addition, the layoffs will not only affect the Boeing employees, but also people outside the company. As many as 20,000 of the Boeing layoffs may occur in the Seattle area alone, resulting in an additional 34,000 jobs lost by Boeing suppliers, subcontractors, and others (Klein, 2001). Alternatives Before Boeing implements any solutions they must maintain a good level of communication with their employees. The employees must know the reasons for a particular action taken by Boeing in order to avoid any mistrust and confusion (Hoffman, 2001). For example, an employee will wonder why layoffs are taking place when Phil Condit, Boeing’s CEO, is making an annual bonus of $1.13 million (Webber, 2002). Boeing must carefully explain their plans and what they are hoping to accomplish through their actions. Boeing can reduce the amount of layoffs by implementing any of the following solutions: Distribute Hours Among Employees The first solution for Boeing is to spread the hours among the employees for each department. Every department is given so many hours it can use for each week at the beginning of the quarter, depending on the amount of business Boeing has. If those hours taken and spread among the employees for each department, not as many layoffs will occur. The hours will be spread out by reducing the workweek from five days to four. By cutting one day out of an employee’s schedule Boeing is able to give those hours to another employee, which under the circumstances would be laid off. Once four employees each receive a deduction in their workweek one employee will be able to maintain their job and not be laid off. The advantage to this solution is that fewer employees will have to be laid-off. Employees will have their hours cut according to seniority. Some employees that have been with the company for a number of years will not be affected by the action. By holding onto the employees and not laying them off Boeing will be prepared to handle new contracts as they arise. Boeing is predicting that the recent decline in contracts is only short-term and business will soon return to their previous levels. The disadvantage to the solution is that some employees will not be able to afford a reduction in hours. In this scenario employees will not be satisfied and hold each other responsible for less hours. If employees are not satisfied then their production will decrease due to their dissatisfaction. Re-Allocate Employees The second solution for Boeing is to train employees in other departments within the company. This will allow Boeing to reallocate employees in different departments rather than laying them off. With the commercial airline department being hit the hardest by the recent terrorist events, employees in that department could transfer to other departments if they possessed the knowledge. The advantage in training employees outside their departments is the value it will add to the employee. If an employee has the knowledge and know how to be productive and efficient in other departments, not just his own, they become an instant asset to the company. Due to their flexibility Boeing can move the employee around in accordance with demand. A disadvantage to this solution is that Boeing will incur high costs for training employees to do other jobs. A slowdown in production will also result due to the time spent on training. The transition for an employee to move from one department to another is difficult because the employee will not be as efficient. Severance Pay Early retirement packages will be available to qualified employees. The retirement packages to be offered will vary depending on the number of years an employee has with the company. For each full year of service an employees has with the company, up to twenty-six years, they will receive one week of pay (Hoffman, 2001). The employee can take the severance pay in either a lump sum or as an income continuation. The single lump sum plan pays the severance pay to the person in one check within one month of leaving the company. The income continuation plan will pay the severance pay on the regular paydays every two weeks (Boeing, 2000). The advantage to this solution is each individual makes their own decision and they have total control of what they want to do. Also high salaries will be eliminated as management personnel take the package. Once management leaves, the ones that find early retirement appealing, Boeing will be able to promote employees into those positions without having to pay the large salaries. The disadvantage to this solution is that not many jobs will be saved because not many employees will go for the early retirement package. Boeing will also lose experienced managers if they decide to take the early retirement package. If this solution is implemented Boeing will continue to layoff employees because not enough jobs will be cut. Continue Layoffs The last solution is to continue to layoff employees as necessary. This will allow Boeing to keep revenues high because the layoffs will occur according to the market. If Boeing does not get as many contracts as they expected for a particular quarter, the layoffs will help the company’s finances. The disadvantage to this alternative is the potential of business picking backup. The market for commercial jetliners is expected to boom in two years and Boeing needs to be able to handle the new contracts. If Boeing has to constantly train new employees as business increases, in an effort compensate for the ones that were laid-off, they will not be operating at full efficiency. Solution Boeing realizes that layoffs can’t be completely eliminated, however they want to reduce layoffs to the lowest possible amount. Boeing will accomplish that by distributing the hours in each department among the employees. This solution will allow Boeing to save jobs by reducing the employee’s workweek from forty hours to thirty-two hours. The management of each department will determine the hours to be cut and the number of employees that are affected. This will be implemented on June 1, 2002 throughout all departments. Most employees will be affected by the reduction in hours, and management must be prepared to cope with the initial negative reaction. In order to measure the results of the solution, Boeing must evaluate the impact on its bottom line along with the toll it’s taking on their employees. An evaluation will occur every six months and will be lead by top executives and the department managers. Once evaluated, a decision will be made by the board of directors on whether or not to continue with the reduction of hours or to incorporate a different action. The thirty-two hour workweek is expected to be temporary as analysts are predicting a turn around in demand for planes (Holmes, 2001). As production returns to capacity, hours will be returned back to employees according to seniority.    Reference List Airlines slash workforces. (n.d.) retrieved April 10, 2002, from www.proquest.com . Airwise News. (2001, September 22). Majority of Boeing layoffs in aircraft sector. Retrieved April 10, 2002, from www.dowjonesinteractive.com Associated Press Newswires. (2002, March). More Boeing layoff notices. 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