On Some Motifs in Baudelaire

Seminar Questions 1. Modernism- Benjamin, Walter â€Å"On some Motifs in Baudelaire† Question 1: In â€Å"On some Motifs in Baudelaire† Walter Benjamin argues that extended exposure to stimuli, or shocks, in the environment alters the human experience of our world and creates a conditioned reaction within the crowd. How does this overstimulation shape our current society and was Benjamin correct in warning against it? Walter Benjamin implied that our minds are not equipped with the facilities to handle these shocks.These develop into environmental stressors and thus our decision-making skills are weakened and we just follow the person in front of us. While over stimulation is an epidemic in current times I do not believe it has created mindless hordes of people. The biggest effect of over stimulation is an individual’s continuous partial attention. Not being able to focus on one thing means focusing on multiple tasks and then not doing any of them completely. Our minds rapidly switch between a variety of separate channels.Initially, this may lead to fatigue. However, the mind can build off of this and become stronger. This is why current culture deems louder, brighter, faster, and shocking media as â€Å"better†. For society to notice anything it needs to be an attention grabber, and when society is constantly focusing on a variety of media you are bombarded with I do not agree that these shocks create a conditioned reaction within the crowd but I do believe they create them within the individual.An individual’s need to process multiple channels of information at once allows information that isn’t sold as the biggest, brightest, and best to fall through the cracks. ? Question 2: Walter Benjamin’s description of a flaneur as a â€Å"detached observer† describes a spectator who seems to maintain their individuality from the crowd. One that can break free from rationalized understandings while being opened up to new perspectives and experiences. Do modern cities and their architecture embrace the idea of the flaneur? Modern architecture embraces the alienating nature of modernity.It creates cities that encourage crowds and a fast-paced way of life. Commercial typologies like malls, subway systems, and high-rise office buildings create a certain environment that do not encourage individual reactions. When something is designed to garner a similar reaction from different types of people it lessens the chance for chaos and also allows a behavioural expectation to be set within a certain environment. When people are expected to react in similar ways it allows the people in charge to be better prepared for distinctive instances.Police can work better, government can create more effect universal policies and transportation can run smoother. Therefore, it benefits the rulers of a city to for modern architecture to follow the same instances. Perhaps the flaneur is the architect, but the vision and idiosyncrasies that the architect tries to instill within each project get syphoned out through different real world factors. Factors that include: budgets, client’s tastes, feasibility, and materiality. These factors chip away at truly city changing architecture and create an environment where the same projects continue to get churned out.

Position of Women in India

â€Å"Savitri fought with the God of Death (Yama) and succeeded in getting her husband back to life. Can you find any instance in the scriptures or history where a husband was prepared to do sacrifice for his wife? If the wife is dead, he is ready to have a second marriage. Such unfair things are happening in the world in respect of women. † -: Sathya Sai (Volume 31, Chapter 14 ‘Glory Of Womanhood') When we look at the Hindu mythology we see that women are supposed to be treated as Goddesses. One of the most popular festivals of Hindus is the ‘Navratra’ in which Hindus worship Goddess Durga (the worrier goddess), Goddess Lakshmi (the goddess of wealth and prosperity) and Goddess Saraswati (the goddess of Knowledge and Arts). On the last day of this festival, the daughters of the house are worshiped. But still in India we see that our society has grown so favorable towards the males. Hindu’s, even after referring to the daughters as Devi (goddess), expect a widow to jump on the pyre of the husband, a practice known as Sati. Dowry is still date given (even after being criminalized) to the groom at the time of marriage. The Gender imbalance can be traced down to Manusmriti in 200 B. C. which lays down the duties of a woman. â€Å"In childhood a female must be subject to her father, in youth to her husband, when her lord is dead to her sons; a woman must never be independent. † . The Manusmriti were used as a model for the framing of the Dharmashastra, which later became the local laws. Thus we can see the position of women in India today is because of century old traditions and customs. Even though the Constitution of India promotes gender equality through the notion of Equality and secularism providing a framework to treat all its citizens equal and commands that no discrimination should be made on the bases of one’s gender , gender discrimination still exists due to the presence of various personal laws. In recent years, India has witnessed many reforms for example the abolishment of sati and criminalizing sex determination. The Hindu Succession Act, 1956 The Hindu Succession Act, 1956 (HSA) amends and codifies the law relating to intestate succession among Hindus and aims to lay down a uniform law of uccession whereby attempt has been made to ensure equality of inheritance rights between sons and daughters. It applies to all Hindus including Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs’ . The section 6 of the act is as follows: ‘Devolution of interest of coparcenary property. – When a male Hindu dies after the commencement of this Act, having at the time of his death an interest in a Mitakshara coparcenary property, his interest in the property shall devolve by survivorship upon the surviving members of the coparcenary and not in accordance with this Act. Provided that, if the deceased had left him surviving a female relative specified in class 1 of the Schedule or a male relative specified in that class who claims through such female relative, the interest of the deceased in the Mitakshara coparcenary property shall devolve by testamentary or intestate succession, as the case may be, under this Act and not by survivorship. Explanation 1. For the purposes of this section, the interest of a Hindu Mitakshara coparcener shall be deemed to be the share in the property that would have been allotted to him if a partition of the property had taken place immediately before his death, irrespective of whether he was entitled to claim partition or not. Explanation 2. – Nothing contained in the proviso to this section shall be construed as enabling a person who has separated himself from the coparcenary before the death of the deceased or any of his heirs to claim on intestacy a share in the interest referred to therein. For example, F (th e farther who had an interest in the coparcenary property) has two sons A & B (who are also the members of the coparcenary) and a daughter D. In such a case on the death of A, D will get only 1/3 share from the share of A in the coparcenary property. While the sons A and B will get 1/3 +1/9 each. But this act remained under controversy as the laws of inheritance gave preference only class I heirs in a joint Hindu family. This included only the male members and excluded women. Due to this women of the family could not inherit the family ancestral property. But even before the amendment took place, in states like Maharashtra, and Karnataka, women were given equal rights. Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005 For a very long time female members of the family were not considered a coparcener. The family property was divided only amongst the male members of the family. But then thanks to the feminist movements in India, the law commission of India submitted its 174th report in the year 2000: â€Å"Property Rights of Women: Proposed Reform under the Hindu Law†. In this report it was suggested that female members of the family should be included under the list of coparcenary thus giving them the right to inherit property. As a result of this report and other feminist movements, the Hindu Succession Act was amended and the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005 came into force from 9th September 2005 ‘section 6 (l). Devolution of interest in coparcenary property. 1) On and from the commencement of the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005, in a Joint Hindu family governed by the Mitakshara law, the daughter of a coparcener shall,– (a) by birth become a coparcener in her own right the same manner as the son ; (b) have the same rights in the coparcenary property as she would have had if she had been a son; (c) be subject to the same liabilities in respect of the said coparcenary property as that of a son, and any reference to a Hindu Mitakshara coparcener shall be deemed to include a reference to a daughter of a coparcener: Provided that nothing contained in this sub-section shall affect or invalidate any disposition or alienation including any partition or testamentary disposition of property which had taken place before the 20th day of December, 2004. 2) Any property to which a female Hindu becomes entitled by virtue of subsection (1) shall be held by her with the incidents of coparcenary ownership and shall be regarded, notwithstanding anything contained in this Act or any other law for the time being in force in, as property capable of being disposed of by her by testamentary disposition. (3) Where a Hindu dies after the commencement of the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005, his interest in the property of a Joint Hindu family governed by the Mitakshara law, shall devolve by testamentary or intestate succession, as the case may be, under this Act and not by survivorship, and the coparcenary property shall be deemed to have been divided as if a partition had taken place and,- a) the daughter is allotted the same share as is allotted to a son (b) the share of the pre-deceased son or a pre-deceased daughter, as they would have got had they been alive at the time of partition, shall be allotted to the surviving child of such pre-deceased son or of such pre-deceased daughter; and (c) the share of the pre-deceased child of a pre-deceased son or of a predeceased daughter, as such child would have got had he or she been alive at the time of the partition, shall be allotted to the child of such pre-deceased child of the pre-deceased so or a pre-deceased daughter, as the case may be. Explanation. — For the purposes of this sub-section, the interest of a Hindu Mitakshara coparcener shall be deemed to be the share in the property that would have been allotted to him if a partition of the property had taken place immediately before his death, irrespective of whether he was entitled to claim partition or not. 4) After the commencement of the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005, no court shall recognize any right to proceed against a son, grandson or great-grandson for the recovery of any debt due from his father, grandfather or great-grandfather solely on the ground of the pious obligation under the Hindu law, of such son, grandson or great-grandson to discharge any such debt: Provided that in the case of any debt contracted before the commencement of the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005, nothing contained in this sub-section shall affect– (a) the right of any creditor to proceed against the son, grandson or great-grandson, as the case may be; or (b) any alienation made in respect of or in satisfaction of, any such debt, and any such right or alienation shall be enforceable under the rule of pious obligation in the same manner and to the same extent as it would have been enforceable as if the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005 had not been enacted. Explanation. For the purposes of clause (a), the expression â€Å"son†, â€Å"grandson† or â€Å"great-grandson† shall be deemed to refer to the son, grandson or great-grandson, as the case may be, who was born or adopted prior to the commencement of the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005. 5) Nothing contained in this section shall apply to a partition, which has been effected before the 20th day of December 2004. Explanation- For the purposes of this section â€Å"partition† means any partition made by execution of a deed of partition duly registered under the Registration Act, 1908 or partition affected by a decree of a court’ The main objective of this act was to include women in the category of coparcenaries so that even the female members could inherit property under any circumstances which could lead to a situation of where the family property is being divided amongst its members . The author submits that this amendment gave women the right they deserv ed and which had been denied from the very beginning. This amendment also opposes Section 23 of the original act, suggesting omission of the same as it does not permit any female heir to ask for a partition. In the earlier act only a male heir could chose to have a partition. The amendment on the other hand does not interfere with the special rights of those who are members of Hindu coparcenary except to provide rules and certain other regulations for division of interest of a deceased male. The Author also submits that the anomalies which still persist are because of the retention of the core essence of the Mitakshara joint property system. The system believed that making daughter coparceners would affect the share of other Class I female heirs like the deceased’s widow and mother. This would be because the coparcenary’s share would in fact come from the Class I female heirs. Another problem is the fact that coparcenary remains a primary entitlement of the males in the house. By this system the male heir is put before the female heir as this legal set up provides that the male heirs should inherit an additional independent share over and above what they inherit with the female heirs. In the case of a ‘Hindu female dying without a will; her property divides first to her husband’s heirs, then to husband's father's heirs and finally only to mother's heirs; more or less this property of a Hindu female is well kept and maintained within her husband’s hold. ’ .

Information Sharing for the Bullwhip Effect

Information sharing for the bullwhip effect: over- or underestimated? Bachelor thesis: Thesis Circle: Organization studies, 2nd semester, academic year 2011-2012 Time will tell†¦. A processes perspective on inter-organizational collaboration Name: ANR: E-mail: PC Jansen 770926 P. C. [email  protected] nl Information sharing for the bullwhip effect: over- or underestimated? Abstract This literature review investigates the effect of information sharing from a buyer to a supplier in a supply chain on the performance of that supplier, with taking in mind that the supplier has to combat the bullwhip effect.With the existence of the bullwhip effect, a supplier cannot make right forecasts and therefore has difficulties in planning its production and/or inventory control. This research shows that information sharing is the key solution to reduce or avoid the bullwhip effect and, by that, is positively influences the performance of the supplier in the chain. Keywords: Bullwhip, supply chain, information sharing, supplier performance, inventory control Thesis Circle: Time will tell†¦. A processes perspective on inter-organizational collaborationSupervisor: Remco Mannak Supervisor 2: Annemieke Stoppelenburg Name: ANR: E-mail: PC Jansen 770926 P. C. [email  protected] nl 2 Table of contents Table of contents 1. Introduction 2. Theoretical Framework 2. 1 Performance of a supplier 2. 2 Information sharing 2. 3 Bullwhip effect 3. Methodology 3. 1 Data collection 3. 2 Quality Indicators 4. Results 4. 1 Information sharing is the key solution 4. 2 Information sharing is not the key solution 5. Conclusion and recommendations 5. 1 Conclusion 5. 2 Recommendations for future research 6.Discussion and reflection 6. 1 Discussion 6. 2 Reflection 7. References 3 4 7 7 7 9 11 11 12 13 13 21 24 24 26 28 28 29 30 3 1. Introduction Collaboration is something which has occurred over all times and is a way for people as well as for organizations to accomplish any goal or wanted result. Min and Zhou (2002) stated that in today’s global marketplace, individual firms no longer compete as independent entities with unique brand names, but rather as integral part of supply chain links.According to Christopher (1992), a supply chain is the network of organizations that are involved, through upstream and downstream linkages, in the different processes and activities that produce value in the form of products and services delivered to the ultimate consumer. When looking at the downstream linkages, a supplier delivers his products or services to a buyer. The buyer has a recursive demand, and orders this demand to the supplier every period. The supplier, on his turn, has to deal with production scheduling and/or inventory control every period.However, dealing with those issues can be quite difficult for the supplier, when the demand of the buyer is variable and hard to predict. This problem, or phenomenon, is called the Bullwhip effect. Yu et al. (2001) descr ibed this phenomenon as that the variability of an upstream member’s demand is greater than that of the downstream member, and that the effect therefore largely is caused by the variability of ordering. The supplier’s uncertainty about the upcoming buyer’s demand can lead to inefficient productions and inefficient inventory control, which on their turn will lead to increases of costs or decreased in revenues.According to Chen (2003), information sharing is often suggested to combat the undesirable bullwhip effect. The importance of combating the bullwhip effect was elucidated by Yu et al. (2001), who stated that uncertainties will propagate through the supply chain in the form of amplification of ordering variability, which leads to excess in safety stock, increased logistics costs and inefficient use of resources (Yu et al, 2001). So, in order to reduce the chances for these negative consequences of uncertainties for the supplier, information sharing seems the key solution.According to Mohr and Spekman (1994), information sharing refers to the extent to which critical and proprietary information is communicated to one’s supply chain partner. Yu et al. 4 (2001) stated that while every single member has perfect information about itself, uncertainties arise due to lack of perfect information about other members. This seems logical, since a supplier can’t make the right decisions for his production schedule and his inventory control when he doesn’t know what the demand of the buyer will be. As Yu et al. 2001) stated, the supplier in the supply chain needs to make a forecast of its downstream site’s product demand for its own production planning, inventory control and material requirement planning. But, this forecast seems hard to make when uncertainties, by the lack of information, exist. However, there are some authors who don’t agree with this. Raghunathan (2001) for example stated that suppliers can do mu ch better in the case without information sharing, because the supplier can use its information about the retailer’s order history to greatly sharpen its demand forecast.This leads to a remarkable point, because on first sight it seems that the uncertainties, due to the bullwhip effect, can be solved by information sharing between the supplier and the buyer, but some authors have different thoughts on this point. This literature review will asses both views on the importance of information sharing in the supply chain to get a clear overview of its importance for the bullwhip effect and, by that, on the supplier’s performance. This leads to the following research goal and question:Research Question: What is the effect, according to the literature, of information sharing in a supply chain on the performance of the supplier? Conceptual model The following conceptual model will illustrate the goal of this research: Level of information sharing + Performance of the supplier Research goal: The aim of this literature review is to understand the effect of the level of information sharing in a supply chain on the performance of the supplier, where performance can be measured in terms of reductions in total costs and inventories.This paper investigates whether the performance of the supplier is positively influenced by the level of information sharing or not. 5 The unit of analysis: The unit of analysis in this research is on the level of the supplier. It could be expected that the level of information sharing has a positive effect on combating the bullwhip effect, and by that, on the supplier’s performance in the chain, since information can make the uncertainty about the buyer’s demand disappear. Yu et al. 2001) stated that while every single member has perfect information about itself, uncertainties arise due to lack of perfect information about other members. According to this theory, information sharing seems the key solution for reducin g or eliminating the bullwhip effect. Scientific relevance: The scientific relevance of this literature review lies within the contribution it brings to the field of research of the importance of downstream information for the supplier within a supply chain, in order to reduce or avoid the bullwhip effect. It gives insight in the importance of information sharing.Since many authors claim that information sharing is the key solution to reduce or avoid the bullwhip effect, but some on the other hand do not agree with this, this paper tries to give insight in what is true for this case. Practical relevance: The practical relevance of this literature review is that in our world a lot of companies are active in supply chains, and therefore, by this literature review, a supplier working in a supply chain is able to get insight in the importance of information sharing for their performance in that supply chain. 6 2. Theoretical framework 2. Performance of a supplier For the purpose of this research, only the supplier’s performance is being overviewed, and the buyer’s performance is disregarded. The reason for this is that the supplier and the buyer have different interests in the supply chain. The buyer only tries to get the best, in other words, lowest price, but the supplier on his turn also seeks to achieve good selling prices, reductions in total costs and inventories, and by that, increase his revenues. Because of these different targets, it is too complex to focus on both sides’ performance in this research.According to Slack et al. (2004), performance should always be measured against benchmarks, which could be historical standards, target performance standards, competitor performance standards, or absolute performance standards. In addition to that, Clifford (2000) stated that performance often is measured using quantitative measurements, in terms of the gains or benefits a company achieves in comparison to the costs invested. For this re search, the benchmark ‘absolute performance standards’ of Slack et al. 2004) will be used, since this benchmark takes performance on theoretical limits. This is what will be done in this paper as well. The performance of a supplier will be measured using theoretical quantitative measurements, in other words, at stated by Yu et al. (2001), by the extent to which a supplier achieves its specific objectives and benefits in terms of reductions in total costs and inventories. Since this is a literature review, no exact numbers will be used, but, as stated here above, theoretical quantitative measurements will be used. 2. Information sharing As stated before, the performance of the supplier is influenced by the level of information sharing. The reason for sharing information in the supply chain was stated by Yu et al. (2001), who stated that a supply chain partnership is a relationship formed between two independent members in supply channels through increased levels of infor mation sharing to achieve specific objectives and benefits in terms of reductions in total costs and inventories. Various authors described the concept of information sharing in supply chains.According to Mohr and Spekman (1994), information sharing refers to the extent to which critical and proprietary information is communicated to one’s supply chain partner. Lalonde (1998) reviewed five building blocks that characterize a solid supply chain relationship and considered sharing of 7 information as one of them. The other four are sharing of benefits and burdens, multiple contacts between economic entities, cross-functional management processes, and futureoriented collaborative processes (Lalonde (1998)). According to Yu et al. 2001), while every single member has perfect information about itself, uncertainties arise due to lack of perfect information about other members. In their paper they argued that the supply chain member should obtain more information about other members in order to reduce uncertainties. Li and Lin (2006) stated that in a highly uncertain environment with changing markets, organizations tend to build strategic partnership with their supply chain members to share information, increase organizational flexibility, and reduce the risk associated with the uncertainty.One of these risks could be the presence of the bullwhip effect. In their paper, Li and Lin (2006) concluded that generally, organizations with high levels of information sharing and information quality are associated with low level of environmental uncertainty. Furthermore, Li and Lin (2006) argued that, by taking the data available and sharing it with other parties within the supply chain, an organization can speed up the information flow in the supply chain, improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the supply chain, and respond to customer changing needs quicker. More precisely, according to Lehoux et al. 2010), if actors have access to the demand of the final consume r, the number of products kept in stock at each location, the quantity ordered in the past few years, etc. , and are ready to cooperate, they can make planning decision that will have a positive impact on the system. Sahin and Robinson (2002) stated that information sharing can occur at several levels. Under ‘no information sharing’, the only demand data the supplier receives are actual orders from his immediate customer. On the other hand, at the ‘full information sharing’ level, complete information is available to support the specific decision-making environment.According to Sahin and Robinson (2002), this complete information include one or more of the following: production status and costs, transportation availability and quantity discounts, inventory costs, inventory levels, various capacities, demand data from all channel members, and all planned promotional strategies. Lin et al. (2002) argued that the higher level of information sharing is associat ed with the lower total cost, the higher order fulfillment rate and the shorter order 8 cycle time. Seidmann and Sundarajan (1997) summed up a number of possible different information sharing arrangements.They showed four categories, based on the level of impact the shared information has on the buyer and supplier. The categories are as followed: exchanging order information, sharing operational information, sharing strategic marketing information, and sharing strategic and competitive marketing and sales information. In a supply chain, two different streams of information can occur: downstream and upstream. According to Claro and Claro (2010), downstream information refers to the information obtained from a supplier’s marketing channels, be they wholesalers, distributors or retailers.The wholesalers, distributors, or retailers can all be seen as a buyer in the context of this research, since they all place orders at an upstream member (a supplier). From this it can be derive d that upstream information refers to the information a buyer obtains from the supplier. For the purpose of this research, the focus will be on downstream information; the information a supplier receives from the buyer. This information is critical for the supplier’s performance because with this information the buyer will have to make its forecast for production and/or inventory control.The upstream information will be disregarded, since, as stated before, this research only focuses on the supplier, and therefore the buyer’s performance will be disregarded. 2. 3 Bullwhip effect Forrester (1958) was the first one to describe the bullwhip effect and identified the supply chain’s natural tendency to amplify, delay, and oscillate demand information, and demonstrates its effect in a serial supply chain consisting of a retailer, distributor, warehouse, and factory. So, this phenomenon is known as the bullwhip effect.According to Metters (1997), it is so called becaus e a small variance or seasonality in actual consumer demand can ‘crack the whip’ for upstream suppliers, causing upstream suppliers to alternately produce at capacity then experience downtime. Yu et al. (2001) described this phenomenon as that the variability of an upstream member’s demand is greater than that of the downstream member. Basically, they say, the bullwhip effect is largely caused by the variability of ordering. Lee et al. (1997) identified the five major causes of the bullwhip effect as (1) the use of ‘demand signal processing', (2) nonzero 9 ead times, (3) order batching, (4) supply shortages, and (5) price fluctuations. According to Sucky (2008), the bullwhip effect has a number of negative effects in real supply chains, which can cause significant inefficiencies. Huang et al. (2007) stated that the devastating consequences caused by the bullwhip effect are clear indeed, like a redundant inventory, excessive production and resultant costs, i neffective transportation and laggardly logistics, inefficient operations, and low economic benefits of supply chain system.Sucky (2008) agreed with this and stated that the bullwhip effect typically leads to excessive inventory investments throughout the supply chain as the parties involved need to protect themselves against demand variations. So, for the supplier, this means that the uncertainty about demand can lead to more costs, derived from those excessive inventory investments, since suppliers have to forecast their production and/or inventory control, without knowing for sure if this forecast is correct. According to Lee et al. 1997), to reduce uncertainties, and by that the costly bullwhip effect, suppliers and buyers should share demand forecast information as well as information on inventory levels, sales data, order status, and production schedules. The bullwhip effect was illustrated by Sterman (1989) by the ‘beer game’. This game is a role-playing simulati on of an industrial production and distribution system. The game is designed in a way that each participant has a lack of information and they cannot communicate with each other. Therefore, according to Lee et al. 1997), each player has to make his decisions relying on orders from the neighboring player as the sole source of communications. The results of this test confirmed the existence of the bullwhip effect, because they revealed that the variances of orders amplify as one moves up in the supply chain (Lee et al. , 1997). 10 3. Methodology The design of this research was an integrative literature review. No empirical data has been gathered, only existing scientific literature was used in order to do this research. Therefore, this research was pure theoretical.The level of information sharing was used as the independent variable and the supplier’s performance, which is based on the bullwhip effect, was used as the dependent variable. 3. 1 Data collection Since this researc h is a literature review, only scientific academic literature was used. Therefore, the reliability of this research was guaranteed. The literature was found by using ISI (Web of Sciences) and Google Scholar. Web of Sciences was used as primary database, and Google Scholar was used when Web of Sciences could not provide the articles it showed in the search results.If this was the case, mostly the articles were indeed found by Google Scholar. When searching literature on Web of Sciences, the citation database was only using the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI). Literature was partly searched and selected by some applicable search terms in ‘Web of Sciences’. Table 1 shows the most important search terms which were used. Those terms were used solely as well as in a combination together in order to find relevant articles. The search results were sorted by the times the articles were cited, in order to find the most important paper for my topic.The only problem which cam e up when using this strategy was that the newest articles, which could be important for this research, were very low in those search results, since they haven’t been cited that much yet. Therefore, after finishing this first sorting strategy, a second sorting was done as well, based on newest to oldest, to see if the last couple of years important papers regarding my topic have been written. The other part of data collection was done by looking at articles which were cited by the papers I viewed as important for my research.Search terms Supply chain Information sharing Supplier Supplier’s performance Table 1. Search terms 11 Bullwhip effect Downstream information Inventory control Demand process 3. 2 Quality indicators The reliability of this research was guaranteed, since only scientific academic literature was be used. All the literature that was used in this paper is high quality literature, because the used literature is published in well-known journals, and is pe er-reviewed.The confirmability is high for this research. The results will be able to be confirmed by others, since all statements, definitions and assumptions in this research were derived from previous literature. In this literature review, there has been consistent and correct referring to the authors. Next to that, the validity was also ensured, since more than just one database was used, so that all the relevant literature for this research was assured. The construct validity is enhanced as well.What had to be measured has actually been measured, since the concepts of this research were clearly defined and the used articles for doing this research were all using the same definitions and concepts. 12 4. Results Two different views on the importance of information sharing in order to reduce or avoid the bullwhip effect can be distinguished in the literature: a positive effect on one side, and on the other hand there are authors who do not agree that information sharing is the key solution to reduce or avoid the bullwhip effect. . 1 ‘Information sharing is the key solution’ The importance of information sharing for combating the bullwhip effect was clearly shown by the simulation study of Chatfield et al. (2004), who used a simulation model to examine the effects in supply chains of stochastic lead times and of information sharing and quality of that information in a periodic order-up-to level inventory system. One of their main findings was that information sharing reduces total variance amplification and stage (node to node) variance amplification.This, is what is needed to reduce or avoid the bullwhip effect. Chatfield et al. (2004) therefore indeed conclude that information sharing decelerates the bullwhip effect as we go up the supply chain, which could be the result of planning ahead, since the upper supply chain echelons would be responding to customer demand information before the demands actually show up in the form of an order from the downstream partner. The findings of Moyaux et al. (2007), also by a simulation study, are in line with this.They concluded that, with information centralization (buyer’s demand information available), the supplier knows in real time and instantaneously the market consumption. By this, the supplier will be able to manage his production schedule and inventory control in the best way. Sterman’s (1989) results from his ‘beer game’-experiment are in line with this, since they showed that the bullwhip effect appears when actors in a chain haven’t got all the information they need to make the right decisions about production and inventory control.Sterman (1989) stated that misconceptions about inventory and demand information (Lee et al. , 1997) causes the bullwhip effect. So, Sterman (1989) also states that the effect of information sharing on the supplier’s performance is positive since it helps to reduce or avoid the bullwhip effect. Croson and Donohue (2005) do not doubt about whether or not information sharing is the key solution; they see particularly sharing information on inventory levels as countermeasure to the bullwhip effect. According to them, from an operational perspective, inventory 13 nformation can be used to update demand forecasts and lessen the impact of demandsignaling errors and delays. In their paper, they stated that ‘analytical research on inventory management in two-echelon supply chains with a single supplier and one or more retailers (e. g. , Bourland et al. 1996; Lee et al. 1997; Cachon and Fisher 2000; Gavirneni et al. 1999) concludes that sharing inventory information can improve supply chain performance, with the upstream member (i. e. , the supplier) enjoying most of the benefits’ (Croson and Donohue (2005)).According to Croson and Donohue (2005), in these analytical models, inventory information provides the supplier with more timely and less distorted demand signals, and these signals are then factored into the supplier’s order decisions, and these factors result in lower safety stock and/or higher service levels in comparison with cases where no inventory information is shared. Lee et al. (1997) totally agreed with those findings. In their paper, as stated earlier, they analyzed four sources of the bullwhip effect (demand signal processing, rationing game, order batching, and price variations).With their demand model, they considered a retailer's singleitem multiperiod inventory problem, where the retailer (buyer) orders a single item from a supplier every period. In this setting, the supplier relies totally on the order data from the buyer. According to Lee et al. (1997), their result shows that such an arrangement will cause the supplier to lose track of the true demand pattern at the retail end, and, besides that, the supplier's inventory control based on this distorted information will inevitably suffer. Lee et al. 1997) concluded, based on th ese findings, that when sales and inventory data are shared among chain members, the supply chain as a whole can implement echelon-based inventory control which can yield superior performance to installation-based inventory control. Moreover, Huang et al. (2007), based on three simulation experiments according to the empirical practice of the three most representative Chinese companies in the steel industry, found that the bullwhip effect existed in this supply chain, and that the effect can be reduced by a control method they developed.Based on classical control theories and methods, combined with the empirical practices, Huang et al. (2007) concluded that the best way for firms to dampen and control the bullwhip effect is to take effective measures for information sharing, especially in this information society. More specifically, Huang et al. (2007) stated that managers should choose an appropriate method of controlling the bullwhip effect, which 14 as to be the usage of some adv anced information management system and management solutions, for example Advanced Planning System (APS), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), E-business, Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI), short-term inventory, and distribution optimization, is an effective way to control the bullwhip effect. Since those management systems are advanced information management systems, they are all based on shared information in the supply chain. The conclusions of Huang et al. (2007) therefore indicated the importance of information sharing to reduce or avoid the bullwhip effect.Ozer and Wei (2004) also showed how important the effect of information sharing can be for the supplier. According to Ozer and Wei (2004), both the cost and the base stock level decrease as customers place more of their demand in advance. Advance demand information, according to Ozer and Wei (2004), refers to the situation when customers place orders in advance for a future delivery. If this is the case, the supplier knows what the order will be for the upcoming period, and therefore, the uncertainty seems low or even eliminated.As a consequence of that, it is clear that the cost and base stock level decrease. However, Ozer and Wei (2004) even go further on this important role of information. Based on a numerical study, where they studied 350 problem instances, they stated that advance demand information can be a substitute for capacity and inventory. In other words, when a supplier receives full demand information from the buyer’s side, the supplier doesn’t even have to hold any stock, and by that, the supplier’s performance is influenced positively, since the supplier doesn’t have the risk of extra costs and inventories.One other way to show the value of information sharing in a supply chain was brought up by Cannella and Ciancimino (2011). Cannella and Ciancimino (2011) performed a supply chain stress test via a sudden and intense change in demand, and they distinguished diff erent supply chain configurations: traditional and information exchange. In the traditional supply chain, each level in the supply chain issues production orders and replenishes stock without considering the situation at either up- or downstream tiers of the supply chain (Cannella and Ciancimino (2011)).On the other hand, in the information exchange supply chain, the retailer and supplier order independently, yet exchange demand information and action plans in order to align their forecasts for capacity and long-term planning (Cannella and Ciancimino (2011)). Their main conclusion regarding the difference in these configurations is that the 15 bullwhip effect, inventory instability and intermittent orders are not completely eliminated, but are reduced with respect to the traditional supply chain, and that information exchange supply chains generally outperform the traditional configuration.This means that, ceteris paribus, all performance measures are superior to the traditional cas e (Cannella and Ciancimino (2011)). This conclusion is an important one for the research question of this paper, since it makes clear that the supplier’s performance is really dependent on whether information is shared or not. One other remarkable thing in their conclusion is that the bullwhip effect is not totally eliminated when information is shared in the supply chain. Dejonckheere et al. 2004) concluded this as well in their paper, when they showed that for the class of order-up-to policies, information sharing helps to reduce the bullwhip effect significantly, especially at higher levels in the chain, however, the bullwhip problem is not completely eliminated and it still increases as one moves up the chain. A new question one can come up with here is if it is possible to totally eliminate the bullwhip effect by information sharing. An answer to this new question is given by Chen et al. (2000).In their research, they provided a model based on the assumption that demand information is centralized, and all stages use the same inventory policy and forecasting technique. Centralized demand information means that customer demand information is available to every stage of the supply chain (Chen et al. , 2000). The findings of Chen et al. (2000) showed that providing each stage of the supply chain with complete access to customer demand information can significantly reduce bullwhip effect. However, according to Chen et al. 2000), the results also demonstrated that even when (i) all demand information is centralized, (ii) every stage of the supply chain uses the same forecasting technique, and (iii) every stage uses the same inventory policy, there will still be an small increase in variability at every stage of the supply chain. Reason for this, given by Chen et al. (2000), is that the supplier can never know the mean and the variance of buyer’s demand. This means that the bullwhip effect can never totally be eliminated from the supply chain, even if full information sharing is done by the buyer.Croson and Donohue (2006), who conducted the beer game-experiment of Sterman (1989), also concluded that the bullwhip cannot totally be eliminated. Croson and Donohue (2006) conducted the game under business students at the University of Minnesota and found that the bullwhip effect still exists when retail demand is stationary (not fluctuating) and commonly known. Reason for this was 16 given by Sterman (1989) itself, who noted that dynamic settings render decision making difficult, even when only one decision maker is involved, due to reduced saliency of feedback.For the purpose of this study this means that a supplier is missing the feedback or forewarning of when the buyer is running short on inventory. Therefore, uncertainty still exist since the forecast is hard to make, and the bullwhip effect will not be eliminated. However, Yu et al. (2001) stated that this is possible. Based on their case study of L&TT, a Hong Kong based mul tinational company which had to deal with a large number of new manufacturers and component suppliers in their industry, Yu et al. (2001) concluded that with access to the customer rdering information, the supplier can eliminate the amplified buyer’s demand variance in its replenishment process. Besides that, Yu et al. (2001), according to their quantitative analysis, stated that the supply chain partnership can not only help the members of a decentralized supply chain to eliminate the bullwhip effect, but also improve the overall performance of the supply chain. So, based on the findings of Yu et al. (2001), the overall performance of the supply chain can be improved. This means that the supplier and buyer should make information sharing arrangements, since it can be advantageous for them both.Seidmann and Sundarajan (1997) summed up possible different information sharing arrangements, showing the impact of information sharing on the operations, sales, marketing, and product ion strategies of the parties that contract to share the information. The four arrangements they summed up are exchanging order information, sharing operations information, sharing strategic marketing information, and an agreement where the information adds both strategic and competitive value to the party that receives it. The sharing strategic marketing information agreement seems the optimal agreement for the research question in this paper.According to Seidmann and Sundarajan (1997), arrangements like these occur when one organization owns information that it can derive little independent value from, but which another can use to generate operational benefits for the company it receives the information from, besides garnering strategic value for its own sales and marketing departments. This level can be very beneficial for the supplier. As Seidmann and Sundarajan (1997) stated, the information in this level can be used by the supplier’s sales and product development groups for improved demand forecasting, promotion scheduling, and segment-specific forecasts and therefore, in 17 hat situation, it is possible for a buyer to allow a supplier to access broad market information that provides the supplier with strategic and competitive benefits. A new point of discussion can come up here, because, according to Lee et al. (1997), sales data and inventory status data are proprietary for buyers, and they are not obligated to share this data with others, in this case, the supplier. Lee et al. (1997) in their paper do not state that sharing information can be advantageous for the buyer as well as the supplier as Yu et al. (2001) do, but they take in mind why the buyer would exchange information to the supplier.According to Li (2002), in line with this, buyers would not voluntarily share their information. He identified conditions under which the manufacturer would be able to buy retailer information. Claro and Claro (2010) concluded as well that sharing informa tion can be good for both sides in the supply chain. They found their results by doing a survey research under 174 suppliers and 67 buyers, with which they tested their hypothesis, which was: ‘the more downstream information a supplier obtains, the higher the degree of collaboration in a buyer-supplier relationship’ (Claro and Claro, 2010).The results supported the hypothesis. Claro and Claro (2010) showed that when downstream information is shared, so, from buyer to supplier, the degree of collaboration, in terms of joint planning, joint problem solving and flexibility in the supply chain is very high. These findings show that sharing the proprietary information can bring advantages for the buyer as well. An interesting point in the studies who showed that information sharing is the key solution for reducing or avoiding the bullwhip effect was brought up by Croson and Donohue (2006).As stated before, they conducted the beer game under business students, but for the pur pose of the study of this interesting finding the participants also had access to dynamic inventory information. According to Croson and Donohue (2006), the results suggest that members near the beginning of the chain exhibit a different impact from inventory information than those near the end. This means that having access to dynamic information will lead to a greater reduction of the bullwhip effect for suppliers like a manufacturer and a distributor, than for suppliers who are closer to the end consumer, like a distributor.So, from their findings, information sharing is very important for reducing or avoiding the bullwhip effect, but much more important for suppliers who are at the beginning of the chain than for suppliers who are closer to the end buyer. 18 ‘Information sharing is the key solution’ Chatfield et al. (2004) simulation model to examine different effects in a supply chain ? periodic order-up-to level inventory system Moyaux et al. (2007) ? simulation s tudy ? Findings: Information sharing reduces total variance amplification and stage (node to node) variance amplification.Sterman (1989) ? Beer-game experiment ? This experiment is used and conducted a lot in the literature Croson and Donohue (2005) ? Analytical research on inventory management in two-echelon supply chains with a single supplier and one or more retailers Lee et al. (1997) ? Analyzed four sources of the bullwhip effect ? With their demand model, they considered a retailer's single-item multiperiod inventory problem Huang et al. (2007) ? Three simulation experiments in the Chinese steel industry ?Based on classical control theories and methods, combined with the empirical practices Ozer and Wei (2004) ? Numerical study with 350 instances Findings: With information centralization, the supplier knows in real time and instantaneously the market consumption Findings: The bullwhip effect appears when actors in a chain haven’t got all the information they need to mak e the right decisions about production and inventory control Findings: Sharing inventory information can improve supply chain performance, with the upstream member (i. e. the supplier) enjoying most of the benefits Findings: When sales and inventory data are shared among chain members, the supply chain as a whole can implement echelon-based inventory control which can yield superior performance Findings: The best way for firms to dampen and control the bullwhip effect is to take effective measures for information sharing, especially in this information society. Managers should choose an appropriate method of controlling the bullwhip effect Findings: Both the cost and the base stock level decrease as customers place more of their emand in advance. Advance demand information can be a substitute for capacity and inventory Findings: The bullwhip effect, inventory instability and intermittent orders are not completely eliminated, but are reduced with respect to the traditional supply cha in, and that information exchange Cannella and Ciancimino (2011) ? Supply chain stress test via a sudden and intense change in demand 19 supply chains generally outperform the traditional configuration. Dejonckheere et al. (2004) ? The class of order-up-to policies Findings: ?Information sharing helps to reduce the bullwhip effect significantly, especially at higher levels in the chain ? Hhowever, the bullwhip problem is not completely eliminated and it still increases as one moves up the chain Chen et al. (2000) Findings: ? A model based on the assumption that ? Providing each stage of the supply chain demand information is centralized, with complete access to customer demand and all stages use the same inventory information can significantly reduce policy and forecasting technique bullwhip effect ?The supplier can never know the mean and the variance of buyer’s demand, so the bullwhip effect is never completely eliminated Yu et al. (2001) Findings: ? Case study of L ? With access to the customer ordering ? Quantitative analysis information, the supplier can eliminate the amplified buyer’s demand variance in its replenishment process ? The supply chain partnership can not only help the members of a decentralized supply chain to eliminate the bullwhip effect, but also improve the overall performance of the supply chain Claro and Claro (2010) Findings: ?Survey research under 174 suppliers ? When downstream information is shared, and 67 buyers so, from buyer to supplier, the degree of collaboration, in terms of joint planning, joint problem solving and flexibility in the supply chain is very high. Croson and Donohue (2006) Findings: ? Sterman’s (1989) beer-game under ? Members near the beginning of the chain business students exhibit a different impact from inventory information than those near the end ? Having access to dynamic information ill lead to a greater reduction of the bullwhip effect for suppliers at the beginning of the chain, th an for suppliers who are closer to the end consumer 20 4. 2 ‘Information sharing is not the key solution’ Eventhough a lot of authors, as shown here above, state that information sharing is the key solution for reducing or avoiding the bullwhip effect and by that improving the supplier’s performance, there are also authors who do not agree with this. For example Raghunathan (2001), based on analysis of the earlier study of Lee et al. (2000) and through simulation. Lee et al. 2000), studied the value of sharing demand information in a supply chain model with a nonstationary demand process. Their key findings are that the suppliers costs can be reduced as a result of information sharing. Raghunathan does not agree with this. According to Raghunathan (2001), a supplier can reduce the variance of its forecast further by using the entire order history to which it has access. Thus, Raghunathan (2001) stated, when intelligent use of already available internal informatio n (order history) suffices, there is no need to invest in interorganizational systems for information sharing.Next to Raghunathan are Cachon and Fisher (2000), who studied the value of sharing data in a model with one supplier, N identical retailers, and stationary stochastic consumer demand. They concluded that, for the setting they studied, implementing information technology to accelerate and smooth the physical flow of goods through a supply chain is significantly more valuable than using information technology to expand the flow of information. The reason they give is that when a retailer is flush with inventory, its demand information provides little value to the supplier because the retailer has no short-term need for an additional batch.According to Cachon and Fisher (2000), a retailer’s demand information is most valuable when the retailer’s inventory approaches a level that should trigger the supplier to order additional inventory, but this is also precisely when the retailer is likely to submit an order. Graves (1999) goes beyond this and gives an even lower value to information sharing in a specific, namely, zero. Graves (1999) developed a model assuming assume that each site in the system orders at preset times according to an order-up-to policy, that delivery times are deterministic, and that the demand processes are stochastic with independent increments.Graves (1999) concludes that information sharing provides no benefits to the supply chain, when there is no outside inventory source and an order-up-to-policy. 21 Gavirneni et al. (1999) furthermore studied different patterns of information flow between a retailer and a supplier. With their study they found that information sharing is does not always have a big value, in other words, is not always the key solution for reducing or avoiding the bullwhip effect.The objective in their paper is to determine a production strategy to minimize the supplier’s costs, under various sce narios that differ in terms of the supplier’s information about the downstream part of the supply chain. Their key observations, according to Chen (2003), are: (1) when the retailer demand variance is high, or the value of (s, S) is either very high or very low, information tends to have low values, and (2) if the retailer demand variance is moderate, and the value of (s, S) is not extreme, information can be very beneficial.A (s, S)-policy, according to Yu et al. (2001) means that an order will be placed to replenish the stock level to S at each time period if the stock level is less than the recorder point s. So, according to Gavirneni et al. (1999), in some situations information sharing is overestimated and is definitely not the key solution for reducing or avoiding the bullwhip effect. Dejonckheere et al. (2003) found some other solution for reducing the bullwhip effect and neither did say that information sharing is the key solution.Based on a methodology by control sys tems engineering, which includes transfer functions, frequency response curves and spectral analysis, they introduced a general decision rule that avoids variance amplification (bullwhip effect) and succeeds in generating smooth ordering patterns, even when demand has to be forecasted. Firstly, Dejonckheere et al. (2003) concluded that whatever forecasting method is used, order-up-to policies will always result in a bullwhip effect. Therefore, they tried to find a solution to reduce or avoid this effect. According to Dejonckheere et al. 2003), the crucial difference with the class of order-up-to policies is that in their proposed rule, net stock and on order inventory discrepancies are only fractionally taken into account. Their general decision rule has to expected benefits: (1) it is expected to detect and eject rogue variations in demand (high frequencies) so that excess costs due to unnecessary ramping up and down production or ordering levels are avoided, and (2) it is possible to quantify the amount of variability reduction by means of the same procedure (Dejonckheere et al. (2003)). 22 ‘Information sharing is not the key solution’ Raghunathan (2001) Findings: ?Analysis of the earlier study of Lee et ? A supplier can reduce the variance of al. (2000) and through simulation its forecast further by using the entire order history to which it has access Cachon and Fisher (2000) Findings: ? Based on a model with one supplier, ? Implementing information technology N identical retailers, and stationary to accelerate and smooth the physical stochastic consumer demand flow of goods through a supply chain is significantly more valuable than using information technology to expand the flow of information Graves (1999) Findings: ?Based on a model assuming that each ? Information sharing provides no site in the system orders at preset benefits to the supply chain, when times according to an order-up-to there is no outside inventory source policy, that del ivery times are and an order-up-to-policy. deterministic, and that the demand processes are stochastic with independent increments Gavirneni et al. (1999) Findings: ? Studied different patterns of ?When the retailer demand variance is information flow between a retailer high, or the value of (s, S) is either and a supplier. very high or very low, information tends to have low values Dejonckheere et al. (2003) Findings: ? Based on control systems engineering ? Introduced a general decision rule ? Whatever forecasting method is used, order-up-to policies will always result in a bullwhip effect ? Their general decision rule: (1) is expected to detect and eject rogue variations in emand (high frequencies), and (2) it is possible to quantify the amount of variability reduction by means of the same procedure 23 5. Conclusion and recommendations 5. 1 Conclusion The answer to the research question as stated in the beginning of this paper is provided in this section. The research question wh ere this research is based on was: ‘What is the effect, according to the literature, of information sharing in a supply chain on the performance of the supplier? To answer the research question, and to see if information sharing for the bullwhip effect is over- or underestimated, the literature around the topic of the bullwhip effect had to be assorted, and it showed that in two main streams exist in the literature when focusing on the role of information sharing for the bullwhip effect. In the literature, with exceptions (Raghunathan 2001: Cachon and Fisher 2000: Graves 1999: Gavirneni et al. 1999: Dejonckheere et al. 2003), information sharing as the key solution to reduce or avoid the bullwhip effect seems to have the upper hand.First, shortly the most important findings from the first view will be summarized, which was the view of information sharing as key solution to reduce or avoid the bullwhip effect in order to increase the performance of a supplier. Chatfield et al. (2004) and Moyaux et al. (2007) showed by simulation studies that with information sharing in the supply chain, the supplier is much more well-known about what is going happen, in other words, what the market does and what the buyer’s demand will be, and therefore, according to their findings, the bullwhip effect is reduced.Also results of some empirical studies showed that information sharing is the key solution. Huang et al. (2007) concluded that managers should stick to advanced information management systems for their company because this will reduce the bullwhip effect. Ozer and Wei (2004), with their numerical study, found that advance demand information will results in decreases of costs and inventory level, and therefore has a positive effect on the supplier’s performance. Yu et al. 2001), with their case study of L, concluded that when a supplier has access to the buyer’s ordering information, the supplier can eliminate the amplified buyer’s dema nd variance in its replenishment process. Claro and Claro (2010), by their survey research, even showed that not only the supplier can benefit from sharing information but the buyer can do as well, because when downstream information is shared, the degree of collaboration, in terms of joint planning, joint problem solving and flexibility in the supply chain is very high. 24The main findings of the other view, the view which finds that information sharing is not the key solution, were as followed. Raghunathan (2001) stated that information sharing is not necessarily needed, because a supplier can reduce the variance of its forecast further by using the entire order history to which it has access. Furthermore, Cachon and Fisher (2000) concluded that accelerating and smoothing the physical flow of goods through a supply chain is significantly more valuable than using information technology to expand the flow of information.Graves (1999) found that, in a specific market model, informati on sharing provides no benefits to the supply chain, when there is no outside inventory source and an order-up-to-policy. Dejonckheere et al. (2003) had a remarkable result. They introduced a general decision rule, which should detect the bullwhip effect and quantify the amount of the bullwhip effect, so that suppliers can respond to this in time. The arguments for information sharing as key solution seem stronger than the ones who say information sharing is not that important.The argument of Raghunathan (2001) for example, that a supplier can reduce the variance of its forecast further by using the entire order history to which it has access, seems not very strong. The findings of Raghunathan in fact were rejected by Croson and Donohue (2006) who conducted the beer game of Sterman (1989) under business students and found that the bullwhip effect still exists when retail demand is stationary (not fluctuating) and commonly known.This means that, even if a supplier has the order histo ry, the demand is known, and the demand is not really fluctuating, a supplier cannot make the right forecast since the bullwhip effect isn’t totally eliminated. The argument of Raghunathan (2001) can call up more discussion. Results from the past do not guarantee anything for the future, and especially these days with the economic crises, you never know what the market with do and how the financial situation of your customers will be.Therefore, making forecasts based on history seems not a strong argument. Other arguments saying that information sharing is overestimated all focus on specific situations, but it seems that overall information sharing is not overestimated at all in the literature. Much more authors, based on different (simulations) models and empirical studies, claim that information sharing is the key solution to reduce or avoid the bullwhip effect than authors who do not claim that, and this seems logical. Without enough information, a supplier 25 annot make r ight judgments about his production schemes and inventory control, since he doesn't know what the next period will bring for him in terms of the buyer’s demand. The results of this uncertainty for the supplier can be either a low inventory and the chance of not being able to fulfill the buyer’s demand because of that inventory, or the chance of having an inventory which is too large and being stuck with too many unsold products after the buyer’s demand. To avoid this effect, the supplier should have access to the necessary information from the buyer.However, as also stated by Li (2002), why would a buyer share this information, when it is not in any way beneficial for him? The information sharing arrangements of Seidmann and Sundarajan (1997) can bring the solution. Their third level, sharing strategic marketing information, is the one which suits the best in this case. The supplier and buyer should make this arrangement, so that the buyer shares the needed down stream information to the supplier. This information shared has strategic value to the supplier.The buyer, on his turn, could, in return for the information, ensure himself for example of better purchase prices. In this way, both parties can gain from the agreement. Claro and Claro (2010) came up with more descriptions of how the performance of the buyer could positively be influenced as well next to the performance of the supplier, by stating that joint planning, joint problem solving and flexibility in the supply chain are all possible consequences of a situation where information is being shared from buyer to supplier. 5. Recommendations for future research For further research it will be very interesting to investigate to what extent the performance of the buyer and supplier can be negatively influenced as well by information sharing within the supply chain. In the literature, as I have seen, a lot is written about the importance of information sharing, and the overall conclusio n is that information sharing is the key solution to reduce or avoid the bullwhip effect, and, by that, positively influences the performance of the supplier and also the whole chain’s performance.However, there hasn’t been done much research about possible negative consequences of information sharing within the chain and therefore this seems a gap in the existing literature. For example, what could happen when information is fully shared between suppliers and buyers, is that the suppliers get totally dependent on those information by controlling their production and/or inventory, and when the information for any reason suddenly is distorted, misinterpreted or wrong, a problem can occur. 26 6. Discussion and reflection 6. Discussion As it is clear from the results section and conclusion, two views on the importance of information sharing for the supplier’s performance exist in the literature. The conclusion shows that it can be stated that information sharing is the key solution to reduce or avoid the bullwhip effect, and, by that, has a positive influence on the performance of the supplier. The practical implication of this research lies within the insight it gives to actors in a supply chain. The insight is especially meant for suppliers, since this research focused on the supplier and not specifically on the buyer.The bullwhip effect seems a very common problem in supply chains and therefore it seems to be a topic which suppliers will often will encounter. This research gives insight in how the bullwhip effect can be reduced or avoided. As concluded, the first solution on sight seems easy. Suppliers should try to make the buyer share the needed downstream information, so that the supplier can make right forecasts, and wellover thought production and/or inventory control. However, one cannot ignore for example the general decision rule of Dejonckheere et al. (2003).They believe that their model can detect and quantify the bullwhip effect in time, so this might be a solution as well for reducing or avoiding the effect. However, no sequel study on their paper has been done and so, there hasn’t been any further prove of this model. The setting of this paper gives reason for discussion. In this paper, the focus has only been on the performance of a supplier and did not specifically focus on the buyer’s performance. This research even ignored more or less the buyer’s performance. Therefore, discussion can come up, since the supply chain has two sides: a buyer and a supplier.As said, this research only looked through the eyes of the supplier, in other words, how the supplier could reduce or avoid the bullwhip effect, by that make better forecasts and decisions about production and/or inventory control, and so improve his performance. The overall conclusion is that information sharing is the key solution. However, this is only in the interest for the supplier, while the other important player in this story, namely, the buyer, hasn’t been spotlighted in this story. In this paper it is assumed and concluded that a buyers should share his information, but the 7 paper did not really put a good focus on the buyer’s performance, and what the possible consequences of information sharing for the buyer could be. Another point of discussion lies within the literature used for this research. The problem is that a lot of authors use models in their paper to conduct, analyze and conclude about whether or not information sharing is important for the bullwhip effect, but those models differ from each other. Some authors use stationary market models, some use non-stationary, some use order-up-to policy models, some use order-point-quantity policies.In other words, authors use specific supply chain settings to make their conclusions, and therefore, this research includes a very broad scope on the topic, which means that conclusions made in this research are not applicable in every supply chain, since the supply chain settings can differ. 6. 2 Reflection When looking back on writing this literature review, findings literature was not the problem. Many articles have written about the topic ‘supply chain’ in relation to ‘bullwhip effect’, but this didn’t mean that it was easy to find the right literature.Because of the large quantity papers, a very specific search method was needed in order to find the really important papers to be able to answer the research question of this paper. One difficult point in doing this research was that many of the most important papers included very detailed and extensive statistical models, which sometimes made it very difficult to understand the papers in the right way and derive right conclusions from it. Besides that, it was important to focus only on the supplier’s performance and leave the buyer’s performance outside the focus of this paper.The reason of that is that the supplie r and buyer, as written before, both have their own values and interests, and therefore, if the paper would focus on both of these actors, more than one dimension will exist and the research will get too extensive. When the research goal and question were clear, soon it became clear as well that two views on the importance of information sharing for the bullwhip effect existed. However, I was hoping to find much more results on the second view, namely that information sharing is not the key solution. This was a disappointing thing in the research. 28 7.References Aviv, Y. (2001). The effect of collaborative forecasting on supply chain performance. Management Science 47(10): 1326–1343. Bourland, K, Powell, S, Pyke, D. (1996). Exploiting timely demand information to reduce inventories. European Journal of Operational Research, 92: 239–253. Cachon, G. , M. Fisher (2000). Supply chain inventory management and the value of shared information. Management Science 46(8): 1032à ¢â‚¬â€œ1048. Cannella, S. , Ciancimino, E. (2011). On the bullwhip avoidance phase: supply chain collaboration and order smoothing. International Journal of Production Research 48 (2): 6739–6776.Chatfield, D. C. , Kim, J. 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Optimal policies for a multi-echelon inventory problem. Management Science 6: 475–490. Claro, D. P. , & Claro, P. B. O. (2010). Collaborative buyer–supplier relationships and downstream information in marketing channels.Industrial Marketing Management, 39(2): 221–228. Croson, R. and Donohue, K. (2005), â€Å"Upstream versus downstream information and its impact on the bullwhip effect†, System Dynamics Review, Vol. 21 No. 3: 249-60. Croson, R. , K. Donohue. (2006). Behavioral causes of the bullwhip effect and the observed value of inventory information. Management Science. 52(3): 323–336. 29 Dejonckheere, J. , Disney, S. M. , Lambrecht, M. R. , Towill, D. R. , (2003). Measuring and avoiding the bullwhip effect: A control theor etic approach. European Journal of Operational Research 147 (3): 567–590. Dejonckheere, J. Disney, S. , and et al. (2004). The impact of information enrichme

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Female Genital Mutilation - Essay Example Proponents of female circumcision emphasize social and cultural considerations of this practice (Shweder, 2002). However, the truth is that even though men believe this surgery keeps a woman’s virginity, FGM should be banned in all countries because it’s causing serious reproductive problems and other health complications in women. Although the practice of female circumcision remains unchanged for many centuries, debates about this ritual are relatively recent. Until the second half of the last century, the issue of FGM was barely known in the West, while in Africa it was rarely spoken about. Only about 50 years ago some European and American medical practitioners who worked in Africa together with African activists expressed concern about FGM and informed the United Nations, the World Health Organization (WHO), and other international organizations about the health risks associated with it. However, it was not until 1979 that the international community finally reacted to the problem of female circumcision: the only reasonable explanation for such delay was that the practice of female circumcision seemed so alien and strange to the Western countries that they did not even know how to react. Therefore, only in 1979 participants of a seminar organized by WHO in Khartoum and dedicated precisely to the issue of female circumcision and its implications for health issued a Statement recommending that governments of those African countries which practice female circumcision make efforts to eliminate the ritual. ... Although the practice of female circumcision remains unchanged for many centuries, debates about this ritual is relatively recent. Until the second half of the last century, the issue of FGM was barely known in the West, while in Africa it was rarely spoken about. Only about 50 years ago some European and American medical practitioners whom worked in Africa together with African activists expressed concern about FGM, and informed the United Nations, the World Health Organization (WHO), and other international organizations about the health risks associated with it (Platt, 2000). However, it was not until 1979 that the international community finally reacted to the problem of female circumcision: the only reasonable explanation for such delay was that the practice of female circumcision seemed so alien and strange to the Western countries that they did not even know how to react. Therefore, only in 1979 participants of a seminar organized by WHO in Khartoum and dedicated precisely to the issue of female circumcision and its implications for health issued a Statement recommending that governments of those African countries which practice female circumcision make efforts to eliminate the ritual (WHO, 1979). Nowadays, female circumcision is practiced in at least 28 countries located on African continent, namely in its northern part, although the prevalence rates across these countries range from 5% to 99%. Countries of Southern Africa and Arabic-speaking nations of the Northern Africa do not practice this ritual (Toubia, 1994). According to the most recent estimation, at least 100 million females are circumcised (Platt, 2000). Muslims, Animists, one Jewish sect,

What is culture Using examples, explain what socioligists mean when Essay

What is culture Using examples, explain what socioligists mean when they use the concept culture - Essay Example Hegel thought that the story of human history was the realization of certain ideals (freedom, the State, etc.) which had become universal to the human condition. It is that latter term which holds the greatest significance for any discussion of the meaning of culture: universal. Croce rightly saw the concept of ‘culture’ as being but the striving for the universal in the life of man. An individual’s culture is then the complete and absolute expression of all that is universal in his/her life. Croce also opined that ‘each true history is a contemporaneous one’ (Croce 1989, p. 14), the maxim for which he is famous. The implication here is that any perspective is greatly beholden to the epoch and place in which it is formulated. To apply his approach to historiography to his concept of culture requires no great leap of logic. Though culture strives for universality, it is still dependent on the individual in question: his/her language, faith, physical an d political milieu, and/or socialization. From Croce’s framing of culture, one can obtain an idea of its use in the general field of sociology. Though the meaning of ‘culture’ has altered over time from its Romanticist origins, it is surely one which, depending on the given sociologist, concerns the universal and uniform in the life of the individual, of which society is but a collection. Durkheim studied human culture through the nexus of what he referred to as the ‘collective conscience’. He conceptualised society and culture as being a sort of ‘collective psychology’ predicated upon understanding how and why values and beliefs were transmitted on a society-wide basis among individuals, regions, and generations. [Culture] is the ensemble of links which attach one individual to another and to society and which make of the mass of individuals a coherent aggregate. It is this [which] is the source of solidarity and which forces man to count himself among others, to base his

Innovation Essay and Reflective Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Innovation and Reflective Report - Essay Example The management of creativity is highly problematic. As may be inferred from Trott (2005), among others, the concepts of management and creativity appears to be antithetical with the notion of managing creativity' emerging as something of a paradox. Expounding upon this, Burns and Stalker (1961) emphasise that creativity is fundamentally founded upon freedom while management is premised upon control with the implication being that the management of innovation/creativity is synonymous with the control of freedom. Even while conceding to the somewhat oxymoronic character of the stated, the fact remains that within the organisational setting creativity has to be directed and managed in order to avoid its descent into purposelessness. Management is fundamental to the direction, as opposed to control, of creativity. Generic definitions of creativity, as proposed by Drazin et al. (1999:287) maintain it "as the process of engagement in creative acts, regardless of whether the resultant outcomes are novel, useful, or creative." This definition, even though it is a valid and legitimate descriptor of creativity, is indicative of a form of creativity and innovation which organisations strive to avoid. Within the organisational context, and as may be inferred from several researchers, creativity must be novel, useful and innovative (Singer and Adkins, 1984; Amabile, 1996; Drazin et al., 1999; Kennedy, 2001). Accordingly, the management of creativity

International human resource and organizational behavior Coursework

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Letter Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 11

Letter - Essay Example In this case, a major in Computer Information System would help me achieve my ambition in life by enabling me become equipped to join the information and technology world and develop the technology required to continue making the life of human beings better on earth.  While emphasizing on the importance of changing my major to Computer Information System, humanity cannot live oblivious of the fact that experiences at home, school, and work are undergoing many changes due to the various technological advancements taking place in today’s world.  Hence, as an individual who desires a career in a fast-changing environment, whereby I will always improve my performance while at the same time improving my knowledge, I believe that a major in Computer Information System will help me achieve this long-held ambition. Therefore, I kindly request you to help me achieve my ambition and realize my full potential. In addition, it is my considered opinion that I will be able to make an impact,  however  small, once I undertake a major in Computer Information System. In case of further clarification, please contact me by phone at [phone number] or by email at [e-mail

Lab experiment - microwave assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Lab experiment - microwave assignment - Essay Example The source of the signal that the system uses is termed as the Gunn Oscillator, which is at a signal of 10.5 GHz. the maximum output power that is recommended for the frequency ranges between 20 Mw to 10 Mw, and the recommended range may vary from time to time in different Gunn Oscillators. The output power may as well be varied by varying the voltage supplied that is received by the Gunn Oscillator via the unit cable attached to it (Campanella 2010). The devise consists of an adjuster, which helps to regulate the level of the power at the microwave point of input and in making of the measurements of the attenuator. This assignment makes use of the side-vane attenuator that uses the fiberglasses that are plastic in nature having resistive coatings in order to achieve the required attenuation. The fiberglasses are erected vertically with respect to the wave-guide and to the short walls in a parallel manner. The position of the blades on the wave-guide dictates the resulting attenuation of the whole system. Each attenuator is calibrated separately due to differences in the attenuation characteristics. Wave-guide support is a system component that acts as a stand and helps in the system stability. The system supports are in parts, one of the supports is the system base while the other is the plastic piece that is attached to the rod end. Wave-guides can be connected to the support by placing it gently onto the plastic piece of the system located on the rod top. The height of the system support is adjustable with the help of setscrews located on the base of the system. For the sake of this assignment, cross-guide couplers were used which consist of two- waveguides that are joined to one another at an angle of 90 degrees. Signals of the microwave that propagates from waveguide couples with microwave signals and finally dictates the coupled signal propagation. Two openings are recommended on the walls. These openings should be

Capital Budget. Disney park in River County Research Paper

Capital Budget. Disney park in River County - Research Paper Example The activity center will be the major area of operation for workers and where equipment will be stored. Also, from this place, daily operations involved running and management operations will be conducted. The center is also expected to generate revenue of approximately $500, 000 dollars annually once it has been fully constructed. This center is also expected to offer services like restaurants and hotel resorts, swimming pools, natural scenery viewpoints among other luxurious services (Finkler, 2010). It has been stated earlier on that Disney Park in River County was abandoned a long time ago. What remains are obsolete structures, the bulldozer will therefore be used to demolish those structures as plans for construction of a new activity center. The lifespan of the bulldozer, 8 years, makes financial. This is because it will be used to do heavy duties and as a result it is prone to wear and tear than the other assets. The two garbage trucks are expected to serve for 10 years. It is expected that these trucks, costing $300, 000, will enable the attainment of the project’s purpose. In addition to that, they will also be used in maintaining the cleanness of the County (Bierman, Harold & Seymour, 2005). Furthermore, River County can lease or rent the trucks to private organizations leading to generation of revenue. It is therefore expected that within a period of 10 years the trucks will have served purposes worth of their purchase.

Library Services Essay Example for Free

Library Services Essay Libraries today have improved their services in order to provide both printed and electronic materials to the users. Majority of students prefer using electronic materials to do their research since it is convenient and faster. In order to become â€Å"information literate† and to successfully deliver successful research project, it is important to locate the relevant information. It is important to understand the difference between doing a critical substantive research and â€Å"surfing the net† (American Library Association, 2003) The first step to undertake when a certain research assignment that requires internet research or library is given is to determine the objectives of the assignment. The student first sets on the section that has the topic of research using the library reference collection. A statement of objectives or background information helps the student to select the appropriate library catalogs, printed indexes and article databases. If the student is conducting an internet search ‘a statement of objectives’ helps him/her to establish the appropriate search tool and locate timely and relevant materials. LIBRARY STRATEGIES After setting and establishing the research objectives, the next step involves breaking down the assignment in to research strategy steps that would help in accomplishing the stated objectives (Dempsey, 2007). The research strategy steps involves first defining the topic using an appropriate book that has the background information or using an encyclopedia. From there a list of keywords and relevant phrases are developed that help in the search. If the research requires printed material, library catalogs, printed indexes and article databases are used to find recent and relevant information in books, journals and magazines. When using electronic materials, keywords are typed on the search engines or internet directories to locate high-quality, relevant and authoritative web sites. Most libraries are co-operating in order to provide developed services to the users. Therefore it is necessary to locate a library that has diversified materials as it would grant recent and quality materials to choose information from a number of books, journals or websites. When searching for materials online, it is important to look for licensed sites to avoid problems with the law. Scholarly articles are the best materials to do a research from as compared to popular sources because they are free from bias. CONCLUSION Library research process can be broken down in to five easy steps namely defining the topic, selecting research resources for the particular topic, locating the information identified in the selected resources, evaluating the resources and finally documenting or citing the resources (American Library Association, 2003). To define a topic involves having clear understanding of the research objectives. The topic of research should be well understood and background search conducted using encyclopedias, subject dictionaries or thesauri, bibliographies or research guides and handbooks. In case it becomes hard to locate a book using library catalogue, the librarian can be requested to give instructions and direction. A concept map is a method used by modern libraries to find information in electronic and print research resources. Selecting resources for research depends on whether the research requires in-depth study or not. If the resources are for basic research, Short Loan collections or articles and books found in Desk Copy can be used. However for an advanced search abstracting journals, indexing publications or electronic journals are used to locate conference papers and articles that are relevant to the topic. Peer reviewed scholarly articles are recommended for conducting research because they go through external editing that verifies the authenticity and accuracy of information presented. Reputable magazines and newspaper are a good source of information so long as they have current information and are objective. All research materials should be properly cited and documented to avoid plagiarism. REFERENCES American Library Association. (2003). Toolkit for academic and research libraries (@ your library: the campaign for Americas libraries). Chicago, IL: American Library Association. Dempsey, L. (2007). The network reconfigures the library systems environment. Retrieved on July 19, 2010 from http://orweblog. oclc. org/archives/001379. html

Sixth Sense Essay Example for Free

Sixth Sense Essay The senses are basic: hearing, taste, smell, sight, and touch. These are the given senses that are apart of every living creature on earth. People have always wondered about the existence of the sixth sense. A sixth sense is a power of perception beyond the five senses. Many have theorized that the ability of the sixth sense is a skill that can be gained by appreciating nature, similar to the innate senses of an animal. The idea of the existence of a sixth sense has been misguided. The sixth sense we all believe is there, does not exist, there are only abilities or enhancement that have been misunderstood. Animals for along time have seemed to have a sixth sense but in reality it is their already enhanced senses that we are seeing. Animals have been able to detect or even notice things that cannot possibly be known. These are the main instances where animals’ sixth sense is misconceived. They are from a completely different world than we are. Animals have gained abilities that have helped them survive in nature. These heightened senses are due to the lack of one of their already basic senses. For example a bat with its blindness relies on its ears to detect waves, vibrations in the air in order to see. Animals in turn of needing something to replace the lack of one of their senses gains an ability. Humans have this capability as well. The human body can enhance a sense giving its host an ability that compensates for something lost. Humans are just as diverse as animals. We gain different abilities that are based on different factors like gender, heritage, and even the environment that one has grown up in. These factors are what makes an ability or even an enhancement even possible. One ability that have still yet to understand is instinct, an inborn pattern of behavior that is characteristic of a species and is often a response to specific environment, or can be defined as a powerful motivation or impulse. Every living creature has this ability inside them, it is just the matter of how in touch one is with the instinct that is inside them. Animals for some reason are more in touch with their instincts than we are as humans. Some believe it is for the reason that animals are more in touch with nature. Humans only seem to be really in touch with their instinct when they are in serious danger, when their senses are more focused because they know their life is threatened. Animals have forever been the thought to be the key of understanding what the sixth sense was. The fact that what they were observing was something other than a sixth sense lead their conclusions about the sixth sense to be misguided. There have been multiple events throughout history where animals have been noticed of having odd behaviors. In most cases animals’ behavior was due to a disaster or something strange they sensed. Most people have misunderstood there actions as something odd, different. People began to notice what was causing animals to act like this, when they found out why they wanted to know the how. How could the animals possibly know when there was a disaster? This is what lead people to believe there was a sixth sense. Their observations were not of a sixth sense but an animals heighted senses working in their favor. Throughout history animals have had weird behavior when it came to disasters occurring or even beforehand. The misconception of these animals is that these actions that they are exhibiting are due to a sixth sense. This is not the case, most scientist state that we are seeing the animals’ heighted senses at work. Animals have senses that are superior to ours as humans. Depending on the animals determines which of the senses maybe more enhanced. On February 4, 1975, an earthquake of magnitude 7.3 struck the Haicheng County, Liaoning Province. Before the earthquake hit local people saw hibernating snakes coming out from their holes into the snow. Through the period of the first three days in February the activity intensified even more, unusual behavior in larger animals such as cows, horses, dogs, and pigs was reported. (â€Å"The Use of Animals in Earthquake Prediction† 1) Events along this line is what people may misconstrue as a sixth sense that animals have, what people don’t really think about is the abilities or the heightened senses animals have that acts as a warning. Once we identify what abilities or senses that are enhanced, we can gain better understanding as to why these animals reacted the way they did in response to the earthquake. Snakes for instance, it is not surprising that they were the first to respond to this coming threat. They hear by picking up vibrations through their jawbones. The part of body in direct contact with the ground has an incredible sensitive stereo hearing, which enables a snake to sense and detect the position of prey (â€Å"Facts about snakes† 1). This ability can logically count as an early warning sign to an Earthquake. Snakes are not native to the environment that surrounds them, they notice the slightest change. By them being able to feel the vibrations in the ground they could feel the slightest tremble in the ground. Dogs on the other hand can hear higher pitched sounds that humans cannot hear. They often bark at vacuums because they hear a very loud annoying pitch. Dogs detect sounds in the frequency range of approximately 67 45,000 Hz (varies from different breeds), compared to humans with the approximate range of 64 23,000 Hz. Dogs have 18 or more muscles in their ears allowing them to be mobile, whereas a human has only 6. (â€Å"Understanding a Dogs Senses†1). These extra muscles allow dogs to move their ears specific directions as to better focus their hearing. Dogs with perked ears can usually hear well than dogs with hanging ears, especially if they can move their ears in the direction of the sound. This ability would also explain why the canine would be able to react to an earthquake or any disaster that affects the sounds waves in the air. By a canine directing and focusing it hearing on certain points, they would be able to determine if there is a threat coming. This is only one instance where animals abilities have save them or acted as an early warning sign from a natural disaster. What people have been seeing was the enhanced senses and abilities that animals have working in their favor. Humans on the other hand may gain an enhanced sense mostly in special cases. Scientist were working on determining what factors contribute to a blind person’s sense of hearing being enhanced. They know that it is possible; they did not understand why this was occurring. Some of their theories is that a sixth sense in the body could be acting on a blind persons hearing giving them a new way to see. After much research scientist discovered that it is the brain that is causing the enhancement of the hearing sense. When a human losses a sense a brain has to work harder in order to make up for what your boy has lost. We all know that the brain is a muscle and the more you use a certain area of it the stoner it will become. By a blind person losing their sense of sight their brain works their muscles in their ear more while makes the hearing capability stronger. This view of a sixth sense was proven wrong by that of science. The scientists determined that there was not a sixth sense that was working but, an enhancement due to that lose of another sense. A factor that people over look is that everyone already has a sixth sense. The only action that every living creature has is instinct. Instinct is the something that scientist have not been fully able to explain. A person’s, even an animal’s instincts are unpredictable because it depends on how in touch they are with this instinct that lives inside of them. My research has lead me to the conclusion that the closest we as living creatures have to a sixth sense is instinct. Instinct is an inward stimulator that affects our five basic senses. As we know a sixth sense is a power of perception beyond the five senses. By following this definition and the proof of the continued misconceptions of the sixth sense, the logical ideal sixth sense would be instinct. Instinct in some instances can be controlled by sheer will power or even through constant training. Instinct mainly relies on your brains reactions in order to be activated. Think of your brain as a trigger. Scientist have discovered that instinct is more often triggered when one is believe to be in danger (whenever life is threatened). The reason they believe animals are more in touch with their instincts is because since they live in nature their lives are constantly threatened. This in turn always keep them on edge. There sense are being constantly worked like a muscle, which allows them to get stronger. Humans on the other hand live a more comfortable life style. We have learned to make the environment around us work in our favor. We live a relaxed life, our lives are not constantly threatened, there are the instances where we get to a situation where our life maybe on the line which than beings out our instincts. To better understand the difference between the average human life style, compare it to a person who has been on the battle field for years. Their instincts have been working constantly. We notice the difference the people had n these environments when they return average society and try to return to their normal life style. They can’t turn it off because there body now feels, just like an animals, like there is always a threat that is about to pounce. There are more ridiculous ideas as to what the sixth sense could possible turn out to be with further study. Most people believe that we will be able to gain super human power like telekinesis. The power to move object without applying physical force. Being able to communicate without the use of talking but through thoughts. Scientist have not found any logical proof that this exist yet, they are continuing to do their research. This is only one of the possibilities that has been widely viewed as a possible sixth sense throughout the 20th and mostly the 21st. The misconception of the sixth sense are mostly simple. Most of the views on the sixth sense have been only enhancements and/or abilities. The fact that animals are so much different than us make it difficult to compare them to us. We live in completely different world so the sense that we have are different, the abilities we obtain are different, and the instinct we develop is different. Look deeper and you will find a true answer, there is always something under the first sheet that is laid down.