Ethics of Human Cloning Essay Example for Free

Ethics of Human Cloning Essay In 1971 James D. Watson claimed that one day human cloning would be workable and noted that â€Å"as many people as possible be informed about the new ways for human reproduction and their potential consequences, both good and bad†(Burley and Harris 2001, p. 69). Watsons statement was given little attention. In 1997, the birth of Dolly, today the worlds most famous sheep, caused widespread public excitement. Dolly became artificially produced clone and proof that cloning large animals like sheep or humans would be possible. More importantly perhaps, Dolly raises many different sorts of important questions for human beings. Human cloning has been met with widespread unease all over the world and generated a series of ethical issues that will be discussed in this paper. Main Body In opposition to productive cloning it is asserted that the method would be causing danger to human beings. For example, Dr Harry Griffin, the director of the Roslin Institute, Scotland, that successfully cloned Dolly the sheep indicates that: It would be irresponsible to try and clone a human being, given the present state of the technology†¦. The chances of success are so low it would be irresponsible to encourage people to think theres a real prospect. The risks are too great for the woman, and of course for the child (Griffin, 2001). However, while the possible success regarding human cloning may be low and there may be risks of undeveloped embryos, against this it could be claimed that similar arguments could have been directed against the potential efficiency of in vitro fertilization techniques (IVF). IVF was once considered unsuccessful but today is a well-developed and valued treatment for infertility. IVF would never have developed if negative reasons such as this were successfully used to oppose it. A second concern on the subject of human cloning is about the motivation of those who would want to clone themselves and others. On the one hand, it might be accepted that human cloning would make possible for infertile couples to produce genetically related children. On the other hand, there seems to be a worry that people may use human cloning not in order to found a family but with purpose to make a copy of themselves. In addition, there may be people who hope to produce copies of other living or dead individuals. For example, it was this motivation for cloning that was the theme of the fictional film The Boys from Brazil. In the film Hitlers genotype was cloned to produce a Fuehrer for the future (Harris 1998, p. 169). However, any clone of an existing person will not be a copy of that person. Having the same genotype as another individual does not make a clone the same individual and it is probable that effects from the egg and from the environment would make any clone considerably different from their genetic twin. While this may be so, it could be likely that those who employ human cloning with purpose to produce a copy of themselves or others will not be proper parents. As a result, the welfare of any produced child will suffer. The motivation of many parents to produce a child may also not withstand close examination. What would be a good motivation for wishing to have a sun or daughter? It could be claimed that all motivations to bring to birth a child are based, at least to some degree, on the selfish feelings of future parents. A third main concern on the regard of human cloning involves these kinds of worries about the well-being of the produced child. It may be possible that any child born as a result of nuclear somatic transfer cloning will experience disadvantage either because he/she is robbed of his/her genetic identity or because he/ she will not have an open future (Harris 1998, p. 169). To what extent is a cloned person robbed of his/her genetic identity? While most human beings are genetically unique, there seems to be no indication that permitting the birth of genetically identical twins derived from a single fertilized ovum robs anyone of their genetic identity or even that the fact that twins of this kind share a genetic identity is causing harm to these individuals. It could be stated, therefore, that it thus seems not clear why this factor should make human cloning unethical. It has been indicated (Holm, 1998) that clones created by means of nuclear somatic transfer cloning will live their lives in the shadow of their older genetic twin. As a result, the clones will not have the open future that most of ordinary people have and, it might be argued, human beings have a right to. Soren Holm, for example, argues that: Usually when a child is born we ask hypothetical questions like How will it develop? or What kind of person will it become? and we often answer them with reference to various psychological traits we can identify in the biological mother or father or in their families†¦In the case of the clone we are, however, likely to give much more specific answers to such questions. Answers that will then go on to affect the way the child is reared (Holm, 1998, pp. 160-161). Holms point of view is that producing a clone that lives life in the shadow of an older genetic twin is unethical as: It diminishes the clones possibility of living a life that is in a full sense of that word his or her life. The clone is forced to be involved in an attempt to perform a complicated partial re-enactment of the life of somebody else (the original) (Holm, 1998, p. 162). This means that while people usually claim for the importance of the moral principles of respect for individual autonomy or the power to make a decision for oneself without influence from outside, people are violating these principles by robbing clones this opportunity to live their lives in the way they want. The way the clones were produced will putt them in a position where they are living in a shadow. However, even if this claim is true that clones would live in the shadow of their genetic originals, it is not obvious that this fact should compel people to prohibit human cloning. Arguments that compel people to consider the well-being of a resulting child are questionable. It has been claimed that a person is only wronged by being brought to birth if he/she has a life so bad that it would be a cruelty rather than a kindness to bring it into existence (Bennett and Harris, 2002, p. 323). This kind of unfortunate existence is sometimes characterized as an unworthwhile life. An unworthwhile life would be a life of extremely negative experience and worsening. Other lives that may be not perfect, but not so worthless as to deprive that individual of an amazing experience of living, are termed worthwhile lives. In this regard, the statement is that as long as a person is likely to have a worthwhile life he/she is not disadvantaged by being brought to birth. Thus, even if a human clone is likely to have a life that is somehow less than ideal, his or her suffering is unlikely to be such that it makes life unworthwhile. It could therefore be claimed that while being born a clone may not be the ideal way of coming into the world, it is the only opportunity of existing in this world and to have a life that is likely to be worth living. If this position was considered, it would establish human cloning as ethically acceptable at least on the grounds of giving the child a right to exist. Conclusion The topic human cloning has a number of ethically puzzling if not problematic features. Cloning will be one of the most hotly debated and least well-understood phenomena in near future. Today human cloning meets with overwhelming opposition. However, it is clear that human cloning turns out to be the perfect embodiment of the ruling possibilities for new age.

Designing a Projectile Launcher

Designing a Projectile Launcher INTRODUCTIONProjectile motion occurs when an object or particle is dropped or is fired at some initial velocity, where it moves along a curved path under the influence of gravity (Splung,2015). It is known that without air resistance the maximum range is achieved at a launch angle of 45 ° and is illustrated below in figure 1, the report will determine whether or not this remains true in real life.      Ã‚   . This report will include a design and construction of a projectile launcher and will investigate the relationship between the range and angle of a projectile. The launcher will use mechanical means to launch the projectile, it will also be able to reset so that the firing technique is identical every time and will be safe for the operator. AIM: To design and construct a projectile launcher that will be used to investigate the relationship between the range of a projectile and its launch angle. HYPOTHESIS: That the projectile will achieve a maximum range with a launch angle of 40 ° including the horizontal force of air resistance.INDEPENDENT VARIABLES: The independent variables is the angle of release, measured in degrees. DEPENDENT VARIABLES: The dependent variable is the range at which the projectile will land. CONTROLLED VARIBALES: The controlled variables are the handball projectile and the height of release. APPARTUS AND MATERIALS: Projectile launcher Handball projectile Sand pit Tape measure Protractor Design and construction of the projectile Launcher PROCEDURE Have projectile launcher on a table one metre above the ground and angle the projectile at 0 ° with a protractor. Load the handball projectile into the launcher and set the projectile in position so that it can be fired by the triggering release. Have the sandpit set up at the distance the projectile will land. Fire the projectile such that it lands in the sandpit and measure with tape measure and record results Repeat steps 1-4, 5 times with the constant height but varying the starting angle each time SAFETY HAZARDS Hazards Precautions/Actions Risk of projectile hitting someone As the projectile is continuously being fired from the launcher it is important for this experiment to be carried out away from other groups. Group members will need to stand away and watch from a safe distance. Also for the operator, in order to shoot the projectile without being injured they should use the projectile as intended and pull the trigger down carefully before letting go. Personal attire should be appropriate for laboratory work Any hanging or loose jewellery should be removed before conducting experiment to minimise chances of getting caught by any parts of the launcher as it can be easy to be caught by the steel pole if operator is not careful. Teacher is to be notified if it gets caught and to safely remove and look for any injuries because of the jewellery. Equipment should be firmly together So that the equipment does not breakdown mid trial and potentially injure someone, the equipment should be put firmly in place with everything intact before conducting any trial. RESULTS Table 1: Table of results Starting angle () Landing range   of projectile trial 1 (m) Landing range of projectile trial 2 (m) Average range (m) 0 2.26 2.30 2.28 20 2.46 2.40   2.43 40 3.06   3.01   3.04   45 2.45 2.94 2.70 50 2.75 2.74 2.75 Figure 3: Relationship between starting angle and average landing range Using the slope formula It is clear from table 1 that for this particular experiment the best angle to achieve maximum It is clear in figure 3 that ashad increased the resistance had also increased, this means that there is an directly proportional relationship between resistance and, indicating that the thicker the wire means less resistance as d2 will be inversely proportional to resistance, which is due to less collisions with thicker wires. Results shown in figure 3 shows little scatter around the trend line. This indicates a high level of precision in the results, indicating that there were minimal random errors. Possible sources of random error that may have reduce the precision of the result is slight misreading values in the protractor and this could have happened due to parallax error. The correct lining of sight needs to be used to avoid parallax error, the exact point is only measured if the mark of the protractor is exactly parallel to the eyes and is difficult to achieve with the human eye, and ultimately cannot be avoided. But According to the graph in figure 3, it is seen that there are no outliers from the trend line, which suggests that this did not happen. If this fault was from parallax error, a way to minimise this error is to have an instrument designed to eliminate this effect by placing a mirrored surface behind the launch angle so the operator can align eyesight with the scale with ease. Another random error is possibly setting up the equipment incorrectly, as having   Ã‚   Possible sources of systematic error that may have reduced the accuracy of the results may possibly have been a problem with the projectile launcher, not having consistency in the velocity at each launch which will affect the range of the projectile, to minimise this error is to have some sort of velocity measurer to keep consistency in the projectile launcher. the process of levelling eye level and where the values are located in the protractor. CONCLUSIONThe aim of this experiment was to design and construct a projectile launcher that will be used to investigate the relationship between the range of a projectile and its launch angle. This was attained by varying the angle of the constructed launcher and firing it at the same height with the same tension every time. It was clear from this experiment that there is a relationship between the angle of release of an object and the landing range and that they had a parabolic relationship. The hypothesis that the projectile will achieve a maximum range with a launch angle of 40 ° including the horizontal force of air resistance, was supported as it is seen in table 1 that the maximum range is achieved when launched at an angle of 40. Sources used: William Shakespeare was born in this house and grew up here with his parents and siblings. He also spent the first five years of his marriage living here with his wife Anne Hathaway. John and Mary Shakespeare were wealthy enough to own the largest house on Henley Street. John Shakespeare lived and worked in this house for fifty years. When he married Mary Arden she came to live with him and they had a total of eight children, William was the third to be born. In 1568 John became the Mayor of Stratford, which was the highest elective office in the town. On Sunday, dressed in his fine red robes, he would have been escorted to Holy Trinity church to attend mass. It was because of his fathers status as Mayor that William was privileged enough to have attended the local grammar school to begin his education. John Shakespeare died in 1601 and as the eldest surviving child, William inherited the house. He leased part of the property and it became an inn called the Maidenhead (and later the Swan and Maidenhead). The inn remained until 1847. When Shakespeare died he left the house to his eldest daughter Susanna, and when she died she left it to her only child, Elizabeth. Although she married twice Elizabeth had no children, so when she died the house fell to a descendant of Joan Hart, one of Shakespeares sisters. The house was owned by the Hart family until the late 18th century, until it went up for sale and was purchased by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in 1847. We have cared for it ever since. For the official guidebook of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust visit our online shop.

Time Management Essay -- Lifestyle Living

'Things that matter most should never be at the mercy of thing that matter least'. We let this happen much too often. Many of us waste our time on things that are neither important nor necessary, instead of using that time for things that are significant. Time management is not only how to get more out of your time, but really how to become a better person. Time is a very hard thing to manage, because we can neither see it or feel it until it has passed. Before we can manage our time we must know exactly what time is. The dictionary describes it as, the duration of one's life; the hours and days which a person has at his disposal. How we dispose of that time is time management. It's the way we spend our time to organize and execute around our priorities. Remember just because time is intangible doesn't mean that it is not valuable. I want to teach you about the background of time management, the different styles and how to use them, and how it will change your life. Background Time management today is not as it was in the past. It has grown with time. Stephen R. Covey places time management into four generations. He feels it has evolved the same way society has. Each generation grows on the one before it. For example, the agriculture revolution was followed by the industrial revolution, which was then followed by the informational revolution. The first wave or generation is basically notes and checklist. Which really only identifies the demands placed on our time and energy. Calendars and appointment books characterize the second generation. This reflects an attempt to look ahead. The third generation is current time management field. It?s the last two generations with the ideas of prioritization, clarifying values, and comparing the worth of activities. It also includes the idea of making a specific plan to accomplish goals and activities that we determined to be of value. Because this all may be too restricting for people they turn to the previous genera tions to preserve relationships, and spontaneity. And the last generation, which is just beginning to emerge, is a different type of time management. The challenge is not to manage time, but to manage ourselves. The generation focuses on relationships and results. Time management is forever changing. We each see it in our own way. It has been used since the start of time and will only improve. Just beca... ...nd this style of time management to be the best. It incorporates the best of time management styles and combines them altogether in a very logical easy to understand manner. How Does It Change Your Life   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Learning how to manage your time and successfully applying it to your life will liberate you. Really, time is the freedom and power we need to better ourselves. Once time management has become a way of life you will find your self-living a more relaxed lifestyle. Your whole life will become less stressful. While some stress is useful, it can help in focusing and increasing efficiency; too much stress creates problems. In fact, 70% of medical visits are stress related. Time management may very well improve you health. It may improve your career by helping you to be able to plan the use of your time so that tasks can be completed in timely manner, and so time is available for planning, thinking, and reflection. It will indubitably better your social life by giving you more time to spend with loved one. Also it will give you more personal time to yourselves. Because we are managing such a precious commodity that is time, the way it effects ourselves is endless and pr iceless.

The world has and entirely new definitions

The world of today is converted into a small sphere were distances have been abridged; connectivity around the globe is possible at the blink of an eye.The world has and entirely new definitions in respect to interdependence of social, technological, cultural, political and economics. A man of today is equipped with the power of that evolved slowly through the passage of time and eventually termed as â€Å"globalization†. Before examining its effect and the impacts it has on the world we need to identify what actually is termed as globalization.The Encyclopedia Britannica says that globalization is the â€Å"process by which the experience of everyday life †¦ is becoming standardized around the world.† While some scholars and observers of globalization stress convergence of patterns of production and consumption and a resulting homogenization of culture, others stress that globalization has the potential to take many diverse forms.In economics, globalization is the convergence of prices, products, wages, rates of interest and profits towards developed country norms. Globalization of the economy depends on the role of human migration, international trade, movement of capital, and integration of financial markets.The International Monetary Fund notes the growing economic interdependence of countries worldwide through increasing volume and variety of cross-border transactions, free international capital flows, and more rapid and widespread diffusion of technology. Theodore Levitt is usually credited with globalization's first use in an economic context.In wider aspects the world in now getting closer and closer into a small village, where there is an increased economic independence. Information technology has been the stepping stone for the this rapid change, telecommunication has set up unconceivable lines of communication which eventually has set up the fast moving trend of progress.Factors of globalization that is unrelated or without technol ogical change in general or information technology in particular does not seem to have a progressive trend, that is the major block of upward movement in the world economy is primarily because of the advancement in information technology.Perhaps the most important of these factors is the more liberal approach to international trade and foreign investment that has been adopted in many countries, developed as well as developing. As noted above from the science and technology point of view policy in developing countries, it is useful to abstract from all these other influences on globalization and focus instead on the respects in which globalization can be described as technological phenomenon.Until just a few years ago, very few people could have imagined that IT would have such an enormous influence on the societies and economies of countries all over the world. Among other things, IT, and particularly the emergence of the Internet with its openness and global reach, is having a dras tic influence on methods of business and communication.The IT revolution is taking place all over the world and Japan is no exception. According to provisional calculations by the Economic Planning Agency, the advancing IT revolution will boost Japan's real GDP by 6% over the next five years, an average of more than 1% a year. Although Japan's aging population with lower birthrate is inevitable, IT is expected to offset the negative impact of the expected decrease in population, according to the same provisional calculations.Globalization has stepped up the economy of the world; developing countries have had a rising uphill trend in its economies.

Cici’s Pizza Research Paper Essay

Introduction â€Å"Hi, welcome to CiCi’s! † This is the warm greeting that every CiCi’s employee will welcome every customer with when they walk through the door. This warm welcome is just one of the many things that CiCi’s does to exceed the customer service expectations that come with a buffet style restaurant. With competition lurking, and the economy pinching, great customer service has become a premium. This is why CiCi’s focuses so much on the customer’s wants and needs. The mission statement is as follows: Do â€Å"Whatever it Takes† to exceed each guest’s expectations. Background CiCi’s Enterprise is an American style buffet restaurant chain based in Coppell, Texas. There are approximately 600 franchised and corporately owned restaurants in 35 states. The company was founded in 1985 in Plano, Texas by Joe Croce and Mike Cole. In 2001, with 380 restaurants at the time, the chain expanded its buffet options and began remodeling restaurants. Four years later, CiCi’s had more than 500 locations, and was the fastest growing pizzeria in the United States. In 2003 Croce retired from the business, and passed ownership of the company to Craig Moore, a general manager in Dallas. Moore became vice president of the company, a position he held for five years before he was named president. As president of the chain, Moore oversaw the company’s operations and franchise growth, eventually announcing his retirement in 2009, after 17 years with the company. Michael Shumsky took over after Moore retired in late 2009. He had previously served as CEO of La Madeleine Restaurant, Inc. In addition to its current 600 restaurants, in 2010 CiCi’s announced plans to add another 500 restaurants in the next 10 years. CiCi’s has won numerous awards and has also been named one of the top 25 performing brands by The Wall Street Journal and a top 200 franchise concept by Franchise Today (CiCi’s Pizza, 2011). Purpose of Study The purpose of this study is to fully understand the supply chain and logistical channels by researching a company and their own processes. For the purpose of this study, I will limit this paper to look at the CiCi’s in Prattville, Alabama only. Also I will limit this to follow only pizza products through the logistics channel. Environmental Analysis SWOT The strengths of CiCi’s pizza make it one of the best in the industry. It offers a unique buffet experience with so many pizza varieties. Most of the competition in the industry only offers one style of pizza with one price, but at CiCi’s you can get up to 20 different varieties with one low price. If you don’t want to sit in the family oriented restaurant with the best customer service and eat then you have the option to order take out. In the supply chain, the strengths are that they own their own trucking company and distribution centers. With all these strengths under their name it is no wonder that CiCi’s is the 9th largest pizza chain in the United States. (Pizza Franchise Report 2011, 2011) The owner Michael Shumsky is not satisfied with the title 9th largest pizza chain in the US. The weaknesses of CiCi’s are that they have no delivery services while the other top competitors do. Also, because the price is so low, there can be a perception of low prices = low quality. The one other thing that is holding CiCi’s back from being in the top five is that there is 15 states in the US that so not have a CiCi’s in them. Simply put, there needs to be more franchises build in order for this company to rise to the top of the list. (JMC Restaurant Distribution INC. , 2011) One common quality of successful franchise owners is that all a weakness shows is that there are opportunities. CiCi’s can offer delivery services in order to make their customer service that much better. Also in order to make the company name and logo as popular as the top companies it needs to expand into the rest of the United States and have at least one restaurant in every state. Last, because CiCi’s is in the top ten of the industry, there are threats that come with that title, because there are many other business that are close behind them that what to take their spot. The Mellow Mushroom is a pizza buffet that is less than a mile from the CiCi’s in Prattville, AL. Mellow Mushroom offers similar services but at a higher price. One advantage that the Mellow Mushroom has is that is looks a little more elegant and upper class. People who are looking for more formal dinner experience would be likely to go to Mellow Mushroom. Another threat for the CiCi’s in Prattville, Al is that it is in a place where there are many food options available. Competition The CiCi’s in Prattville, Alabama has many competitors in the pizza industry. This creates a highly competitive market, which is good for the customer because that means that the customer service will be top notch. The competitors include: Domino’s, Pizza Hut, Hungry Howie’s, Papa John’s, Little Caesar’s, Marco’s, Pasta Pizzeria & Grill, and Mellow Mushroom. All these companies are within a 20 mile radius. In a lucrative market like the pizza one, the more competitors the better the customer service because it is so competitive. Market Analysis The pizza market can be very lucrative, therefore it is very competitive. There are low barriers to entry for this market because there is not a perfect way to make a pizza, so there is a lot of room for different types and different restaurants. CiCi’s has established itself as a top competitor in this market. The pizza segment of the food industry represents 11. 7% of all restaurants and accounts for more than 10% of all foodservice sales (Pizza Franchise Report 2011, 2011). Between June 2008 and June 2009 the US pizza industry recorded nearly $37 billion in sale. According to â€Å"Pizza Power†, PMQ magazine’s (Pizza Marketing Quarterly) Annual Industry Analysis, of the 67,554 pizza stores in the US, 59% are independently owned and control 51% of total pizza sales. Franchises and chains account for 41% of the market and for nearly half the sales. The following pie charts were sourced from PMQ’s 2009 annual industry analysis and depict the breakdown of pizza stores in the US and a breakdown of US pizza sales (Pizza Franchise Report 2011, 2011). CiCi’s pizza is included into the other top chains 15%. The pizza industry experienced a loss of market share and sales during the recession as skyrocketing cheese prices and an increase in the cost of wheat and other pizza essentials drove up the cost of pizza. Customer Analysis Pizza is enjoyed by people from all walks of life and eating out at restaurants is an essential part of the American lifestyle. According to the National Restaurant Association, 45% of adults say that restaurants are still a major part of their lifestyle and that they will continue to frequent their favorite restaurants. According to a survey completed by Mintel, 93% of Americans eat at least one pizza per month and 21% of 18 – 24 year olds purchase pizza more than three times per month. This is compared to only 7% of those aged over 65 eating at least one pizza per month. Pizza also proved popular with parents. About 20% of the parents surveyed said that they purchase pizza more than three times per month, compared to 12% of adults with no children (Pizza Franchise Report 2011, 2011). This customer group covers much of the target market for CiCi’s pizza. Because so many age groups love pizza, there are many target markets for pizza places to target. These customers look for more than just a good tasting pizza now, they look for a place with good deals and even better customer service. Supply Chain Activities CiCi’s, like many other businesses has a busy season. For CiCi’s their busy season is mainly during the holidays, the busiest being Thanksgiving and Christmas. For these special times of the year they need to forecast just how much more products they need in order to keep the customers satisfied. The forecasting is done by looking at the previous year’s sales during that particular time period; in addition, if there is any national media at that time. They take the dollar usage per item and multiply that by the projected sales to give them how much to order of each item; the items being flour, sauce, and pizza toppings (Hassell, 2011). Demand Forecasting cannot be done before there is a proper count of the inventory. Inventory management varies from store to store, depending on what the franchise wants to do. Most stores count inventory every Sunday night or Monday morning. The CiCi’s in Prattville counts inventory on Sunday nights. To manage the inventory they have a food cost program that you enter the ending count; the computer downloads the order and uses the previous count as the beginning. The company as a whole tries to keep food cost percentages at 28% or lower, with labor cost of 18. 5% or lower (Hassell, 2011). Once the forecasting is done, then it is time to place the order. CiCi’s uses an online order management system called ESOS (Exhibition & Sponsorship Ordering System). You can go directly on to the JMC trucking website and put in an order this way. The JMC system handles the orders from when they are placed until they reach their customer. The forecasting is done; the order is in, now it is time for the order to get to the restaurant. This is where CiCi’s takes a big leap from its competition, because of its transportation system. CiCi’s has become such a powerful force in the pizza industry partly because of attention to detail in the transportation channel. They own their own transportation service. JMC restaurant distribution Inc. is a full service distribution company founded by Joe Croce in 1990, after he found out that other distributors were not able to keep pace with his vision of great service, low prices and â€Å"whatever it takes† attitude. Today JMC serves over 600 restaurants in 35 states out of three distribution centers strategically located in Dallas, TX, Atlanta, GA and Richmond, IN. The opening of a fourth center is in the making in Arizona. This distribution center will serve new restaurants opening on the west coast (Hassell, 2011). JMC has a well maintained fleet of over 70 power units with 48†² or 52†² refrigerated trailers (some with lift gates), run consistent routes each week to CiCi’s restaurants, and return to our Dallas, Atlanta and Richmond, Indiana bases carrying freight for ourselves and others under JMC authority. JMC brings the same dedication to great prices and great service to its freight customers as it does to its restaurant customers. To date, JMC has served over 1500 freight customers handling a wide array of dry, refrigerated and frozen products throughout the United States (JMC Restaurant Distribution INC. , 2011). Just as important as the forward movement of goods, is the reverse movement. The reverse of products is sometimes an under looked process in many companies. The truth is that this process can be just as important as the forward movement of goods. CiCi’s does have a reverse process for damaged or broken products. For example, if a bag of flour that comes off the truck has a hole in it or it is leaking, there is a chance that it is contaminated so they throw the bag away. To compensate for the loss of the bag the receiving store will get one free bag of flour they next week when the truck comes in (Hassell, 2011). When the delivery truck comes to CiCi’s, carrying this week’s supply, it is the driver’s responsibility to unload the truck. The employees at the restaurant do not help with unloading. It takes about 45 minutes to completely get all the products off the truck and into the store (Hassell, 2011). Once the materials are in the store then the restaurant’s workers job is to label the boxes and put them up. The labeling and packaging of the boxes is not that importance in the CiCi’s supply chain, because the customer of the restaurant does not see what the bags of flour look like or how the pepperoni is packaged. What is important in the packaging is that the packages be able to withstand certain temperatures and weights because most of the trucks are refrigerated and carry lots of other products. Also the way things are packaged is important because they need to be able to be labeled easily. Damaged packages will be directed right back to the JMC in the reverse process. With the forward and reverse of all these products, transportation can get pretty expensive. The facility locations are very important because of this. CiCi’s has a total of three distribution facilities that are strategically placed. The biggest of the three facilities is the one in Dallas, TX. This facility covers all the states shaded in red in the picture below. Second largest facility is the one in Atlanta, GA. This one covers the states shaded in yellow. (JMC Restaurant Distribution INC. , 2011) That is where the CiCi’s in Prattville Alabama gets all of its products. Last, the states shaded in blue are handled by the facility in Richmond, IN. All the facility locations were made with the main roads, possible traffic, and distance in mind. Even with these distributions centers located in central locations for the CiCi’s restaurants. The procurement process does not have influence on the locations, because the raw materials come from all over, they receive bids on their products and JMC makes the decision based upon the quality of that product and the other ones. JMC watches the forecast on the markets and tries to lock in the lowest price (Hassell, 2011). As stated previously, the pizza industry is extremely competitive, and with his competitive market, customer service is a premium. â€Å"Hi, welcome to CiCi’s! † is the phrase that every employee must memorize and say to every customer that comes into the restaurant. Customer service is a component that this company really focuses on. On the website they have a list of guest promises that they stand by. They are as follows: to do â€Å"whatever it takes† to exceed your expectations, to say â€Å"Hi, welcome to CiCi’s, to guarantee you a full-hot-fresh buffet, and to use our names to make you favorite pizza, to serve you in a fun, sparkling clean restaurant, and to say â€Å"goodbye, come back and see us (CiCi’s Pizza). The pizza industry is so competitive that the best way to get new customers and keep the loyal customers is to have the best customer service around. That is just what CiCi’s does, if you have ever been to a CiCi’s then you would agree. Recommendations Pizza is very much part of the American way of life, with Americans eating approximately 100 acres of pizza each day, or 350 slices per second. Although the pizza industry experienced a decrease in sales during the recession, the beginning of 2011 has seen an increase in sales. The development and implementation of new technology and marketing strategies has enabled the pizza industry to adapt to growing consumer demands for cheap, fast, and convenient products. CiCi’s has done a good job establishing itself as a top competitor in this market. In order for CiCi’s to compete with the top pizza franchises in the market, such as Pizza Hut, they need to get more creative. CiCi’s needs to increase their marketing budget, this would create more awareness to their target customers and increase sales. CiCi’s need to become a household name and in order to do that there needs to be more franchises. Currently CiCi’s only has restaurants in 37 states. If they were to expand into all 50 states and increase their marketing then I believe the CiCi’s would be the best pizza franchise in the United States. Conclusion After all, the â€Å"do whatever it takes to exceed the guest’s expectations† is a great mission statement that CiCi’s defiantly goes by. This great company has expanded from one restaurant in Plano, Texas to over 600 in 35 states in 25 years. That is a great accomplishment, and they are not done yet. With a plan to build more restaurants in the future, you can expect to see CiCi’s at the top of the pizza industry very soon. The supply chain management is one of the best in the industry because they own part of their supply chain. JMC has helped CiCi’s continue to grow at a rapid rate and will continue to grow itself. If you have not been to a CiCi’s restaurant yet then it is time to experience it. References CiCi’s Pizza. (2011, November 7). Retrieved November 30, 2011, from wikipedia. com: http://en. wikipedia.org/wiki/CiCi’s_Pizza JMC Restaurant Distribution INC. (2011). Retrieved November 8, 2011, from cicistrucking. com: http://cicistrucking. com/about_jmc. html Pizza Franchise Report 2011. (2011). Retrieved November 24, 2011, from Franchisedirect. com: http://www. franchisedirect. com/foodfranchises/pizzafranchises/pizzafranchiseindustryreport20111/80/292#Ref1 CiCi’s Pizza. (n. d. ). Retrieved November 26, 2011, from Welcome to CiCi’s Pizza: http://www. cicispizza. com/_template. php#Scene_1 Hassell, M. (2011, November 12). Regional Manager. (J. Montgomery, Interviewer).