The Crucible for its historical aspect Essay Example

The Crucible for its historical aspect Paper The Crucible is a play written by Arthur Miller in 1952. It was set in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692 and tells us of the Puritan community. Puritans were extremely religious and felt it very important that their children learned to read the bible as soon as possible. To be judged a good person, you had to know your commandments and have a good knowledge of the bible and respect it. All the communities laws and teachings were based around the bible. The atmosphere in Salem is described in the book as acrimonious and joyless and was threatened by imaginary devils and the Indians. The inhabitants of Salem had to work very hard for their money and the communitys laws did not permit them to have fun. Even reading a novel was described as having fun and so novels, along with many other things, were banned, they were also obsessed with sin and damnation. As Salem had a theocratic society peoples sins were a matter of public concern. So prying into others lives to expose their sins was encouraged; this is why Abigail was praised for speaking out. The title, The Crucible is interesting because a crucible is a container used to heat metals at a high temperature. We will write a custom essay sample on The Crucible for its historical aspect specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The Crucible for its historical aspect specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The Crucible for its historical aspect specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The main reason for this is to remove impurities from substances. This is used as a continuous metaphor throughout the book. Some of the characters attempt to rid themselves of their impurities by undertaking heroic and brave decisions and actions. John Proctor refuses to name others who trafficked with the devil in Act 4: They think to go like saints. I like not to spoil their names. This also emphasizes my point of the importance of a person reputation in the community. Giles Cory also refuses to give the name of the person who signed the deposition against Thomas Putnam and is killed for contempt. This is told to us by Elizabeth Proctor in Act 4: He were not hanged. He would not answer aye or nay to his indictment; for if he denied the charge theyd hang him surely, and auction out his property. So he stand mute, and died Christian under the law We are told how he died the next time she speaks: They press him John. Also the community, especially the judges, thought that the hanging of the witches was preserving the towns purity. The time the book was written, 1952, it was the time of the McCarthy Anti-Communist trials. These trials are the main reason that Miller decided to write the play as he felt that what was happening now was exactly the same as the events which took place in Salem in 1692. Miller himself describes the McCarthy trials as a modern parallel. He says that McCarthy had been ruthlessly determined to hunt out communists as the judges of Salem had been in 1692. During the trials, McCarthy, like the Salem judges, asked the people who confessed to bring others down with them. If the named nobody then they would be punished for contempt. This is like the Salem witch trials. Miller himself was called up and underwent a long interrogation three years after the book was written. Miler told them that he had attended a meeting of communist writers nine years previous yet when asked to give the names of those also present, Miller acted as John Proctor did some three hundred years earlier and refused to give the names of others. Arthur Miller did not just write The Crucible for its historical aspect but he used it to inform the public of the events in America. The Essay. One of the first themes of The Crucible is intolerance. People who did not follow the communitys laws or went against what was normal were seen to be a threat to the public and against their religion. The communitys beliefs stated that everyone belonged to God or the Devil. (There be no road between). Anybody who had a conflicting opinion were said to be with the Devil. Intolerance did seem to affect the judges arbitration of the trials. Miller makes this apparent in Act 3, when Danforth says A person is either with this court or he must be counted against it. This shows a distinct intolerance to people who had different opinions and if they did so then they were against God. The overlapping of speech and interruptions are the dramatic devices which really bring out a characters intolerance. Parris continually interrupts and we are shown that Danforth is intolerant, if not impatient, by the way he interrupts Parris and orders him to be silent. In Act 3: (In his first real outburst, in which his contempt for Parris is clear) Mr Parris I bid you be silent! I think that this is a good move by Danforth because the way the book is written, people automatically dislike Parris and so by doing this Danforth earns a bit of respect for himself and shows the audience and the rest of the characters that he is still in charge of proceedings. Despite this, Miller tells us that he is not sure whether he made Danforth evil enough. Another example of intolerance is when Proctor grabs hold of Mary Warren in a bid to urge her to say what she knows, or at least what he has told her to say. This physical contact is another dramatic device that Miller uses in order to portray a characters feelings and in this case Proctors urgency and desperation. This action could also have been put in to show Proctors more aggressive side which Mary Warren informs Danforth does not exist. Another theme of the book is hysteria. This theme is probably the most important and prominent one. The trials only continue because people choose to believe what they are hearing about people despite the fact they may have known them all their lives. In The Crucible the hysteria escalates because people choose to accept the accusations of others, not just out of religious belief but out of revenge. (Sparknotes. com) A good example of this is Abigail Williams who uses the hysterical situation to accuse Elizabeth Proctor to try and have John Proctor to herself. She was sacked from her job as a servant to the Proctors because she committed adultery with John Proctor and Abigail wants him back. She seems extremely desperate to get him back and I think that she would go to any lengths in order to get what she wanted. Unfortunately for Abigail, Proctor refused to let her have her way and eventually died knowing he had purified himself. Mr. Parris also uses the situation to his advantage by managing to join the court and tries to get the condemned hung so that he can claim their land. He ends up a part of the court and uses his newly found status to attempt to alter Danforths mental path or in other words he attempted to make Danforth think as he did. Thomas Putnam also uses the hysteria to his advantage.

The Name of the Rose; Movie vs Essay Essays

The Name of the Rose; Movie vs Essay Essays The Name of the Rose; Movie vs Essay Paper The Name of the Rose; Movie vs Essay Paper Differences from the movie to the book can make a huge difference in a arsons outlook toward It; if the plot has drastic changes then the movie is rarely better than the book. Set in 1327, The Name of the Rose by Umber Echo will grab your attention from the first sentence and keep you entertained throughout the novel. The movie, which Is Introduced as a palimpsest of Umber ECHO novel has many drawbacks from making It as spectacular as the novel Itself. The Name of the Rose has two main characters, William of Basketballs and Dads of Milk. Dads is the first character to be introduced, but it is Dads in the future calling the events of William and his six days spent at the Abbey. William and Dads are brought to the Abbey to participate in a debate with a papal legation over the poverty of Christ as well as the status of the Franciscan order. However, upon their arrival, Addled, a young illustrator of the manuscripts, had been murdered and they are asked to help investigate the crime. During prayer the next morning, another body is discovered; Venetians, a young translator of the manuscripts, was found in a vat of pigs blood. William and Dads begin looking for a book that they believe both Addled and Venusians were reading. The only people allowed in the library are the librarian and his assistant, which makes the Investigation even harder. Bernard, the librarians assistant, goes missing on the third day. Continuing the Investigations, William deciphers a code that Venetians had left behind, which will help William and Dads get further into the library. On the fourth day, they found the Finis African, which is the room where they believe the book is hidden. The fifth day Severing, the herbalist of the Abbey, was found dead and the book that William had trusted him tit has been stolen. Malachite, the chief librarian of the Abbey, is blamed for the taking of the book. After Malachite died in prayer on the sixth day, it seemed as though William was going to solve the case, but the abbot then informed him that he did not want him investigating the crimes of the Abbey anymore. William and Dads find Jorge, a blind elderly monk who knows a great deal about books and the library, with the book In the Falls African and discovered the truth behind all of the murders. Jorge refused to let the book be read by anybody and ate all of the poisonous pages, knocked over a lamp and started the library on fire. When the library started on fire, there was little hope for the Abbey ever being as admired as it once had been (The Name AT ten Rose). When a book is created into a film, there are always details of the plot that are changed. The film The Name of the Rose, directed by Jean Jacques Unhand, has a similar plot as the novel but gives Off different effect. As said by David Wisteria, While the novel was a satisfying and complex mystery that inspired the intellect, the film is a satisfying and complex mystery that inspires indigestion (Wisteria). This statement makes clear the difference of movies and books; Books can give more in depth details about the characters, setting, and emotions while movies create a picture to see the details. I personally like reading books better than watching movies because of the detail the books give. In the book, Dads of Milk is a Benedictine novice whereas in the movie he is a Franciscan novice; the whole story can be altered when changes in the plot are made. With the novel being lengthy, it is hard to fit every single event into a movie without it being multiple hours long. One hinge that was cut out of the movie is a long dream that Dads had towards the end of the sixth day. Another thing that is obsolete from the movie is how the Abbot clearly assigns William to be the investigator of the murders that have been happening in the Abbey and the Abbot tells William that the difficult is forbidden at night. I think knowing that William is in charge of the murder case is key to understanding the plot, but if that is not shown in the movie it may be difficult for some viewers to understand what is happening until the movie progresses. To help reduce the Engel of the movie, the main characters discussions about the time period and heretics was drastically cut down; also dialogue concerning comedy and religion is nonexistent in the film. Little changes like these can change the major effect of a story and it can sometimes even change the whole story itself. The Abbot himself is a strange character, both in the film and the book. He never seems to know what is truly going on, and he seems to change sides of the murder cases throughout the story. In the book, the Abbot becomes the sixth victim by Jorge trapping him in a ethereal, ultimately suffocating him to death; in the film, the Abbot Just stops making appearances. There could be many reasons why the Abbot Just stops appearing in the film: money costs, the movie would have been too long to make him a victim also, or the actor himself had health problems. Another character that never even makes an appearance in the film is Benny of Pascal. Benny was also a suspect in the murders and even helped William and Dads in the investigation for a short period of time. As the library is burning, Benny is suspected to die from running in and having he floor of the library collapse. Jorge is another character who keeps things interesting. The history of the Abbey librarians, who traditionally become Abbots later on, is cut out of the film. By cutting out the history of the librarians and the history of how Jorge was chosen for this position, Gorges motivation for revenge is cut down drastically. Gorges speech that is given in the book about the apocalypse and the ruin of the Abbey because of its pursuit of knowledge is cut down to merely an exclamation in the film, due too panic of Malachites death. The most notable change room the novel to the movie was the ending. In the novel, Bernard Gut, a Judge in the Inquisition, does not die and he takes Remixing, the cellarer of the Abbey, Salvatore, member of a heretical cult, and a peasant girl, from the village below the monastery, with him and his escorts. Remixing is taken to Avignon, which is the seat AT ten pope, Tort Nils trial Detour en Is Turned. Ass tan Bernard Gull will burn the girl on the way and that Salvatore, who is forgiven, may or may not be burned as well. The film has Remixing and Salvatore being burned at the stakes by Bernard Gut. Bernard Gui is then killed by the peasants and is not able to burn the girl, who escapes during all the chaos of the library burning (The Name of the Rose). Not set out to please a vast crowd of book buyers, Umber Echo wrote The Name of the Rose to amuse him with a tale of church politics and murder. As Said by Peter Burke from History Today, The Name of the Rose is worth reading for the literal sense alone, as a well constructed thriller, though even here intellectuality makes its appearance in the form of references to Cowan Doyle. The book can also be read as n allegory, a book about structuralism (Burke, Peter). There are many different ways to look at the book, as pointed out by Burke. Not expecting his novel to be a best seller in Europe and the United States, Umber Echo was shocked when in 1983 he found out his book was going to be turned into a movie. Elaborate sets, dim lighting and misty landscapes, created by director Jean-Jacques Unhand, gives the movie a kind of atmosphere that had no single mood. Announced as a palimpsest in the opening credits, shows how Unhand used plot synopsis to create this film. As Vincent Canny of The New York Times says, As Brother William, the voice of reason in an age of superstition, Sean Concern does his best to find the films proper tone, which should have been provided by Mr.. Unhand and the four people who wrote the screenplay. Mr.. Concern doesnt have an easy time of it (Canny, Vincent). With this review, I think most people were shocked with the popularity of the book, thinking the film would have been much better. Other reviews have some similar and some different opinions of the film. For instance, Mac from Time Out New York says The monks themselves are marvelous, a gallery of grotesques straight out of Burgher, and if the film has faults, they are quibbles: the murder mystery is solved too soon, and rather too much plot is crammed into the available space. (Mac). I agree with what Mac has to say, I think that the novel is too lengthy with too many important details to be left, making this a recipe for a disaster when trying to create a film. I also agree with Mac when he credits the monks on being marvelous and a gallery of grotesques straight out of Burgher because the monks were very well depicted in he film. Sheila Benson from The Los Angels Times says, From the moment the credits announce that Jean-Jacques Naiads film is a palimpsest of Umber Echos novel, you know that youre in for a heavy cultural weather (Benson, Sheila). This clearly states that Benson agrees with Canny and Mac when they say, too much plot for too little time. From the beginning, Unhand had many challenges when he took on the responsibility of fitting a 500-page novel into a two-hour film. There was no question that there would be changes in the plot, with the characters, and minor detail changes. Even though the movie was a palimpsest of the novel, Unhand still made his point and created a decent film.

Examples of Diffusion

Examples of Diffusion Diffusion is the movement of atoms, ions, or molecules from an area of higher concentration to one of lower concentration. The transport of matter continues until equilibrium is reached and there is a uniform concentration through the material. Examples of Diffusion Perfume is sprayed in one part of a room, yet soon it diffuses so that you can smell it everywhere.A drop of food coloring diffuses throughout the water in a glass so that, eventually, the entire glass will be colored.When steeping a cup of tea, molecules from the tea cross from the tea bag and diffuse throughout the cup of water.When shaking salt into water,  the salt dissolves and the ions move until they are evenly distributed.After lighting a cigarette, the smoke spreads to all parts of a room.After placing a drop of food coloring onto a square of gelatin, the color will spread to a lighter color throughout the block.Carbon dioxide bubbles diffuse from an open soda, leaving it flat.If you place a wilted celery stick in water, water will diffuse into the plant, making it firm again.Water diffuses into cooking noodles, making them bigger and softer.A helium balloon deflates a little bit every day as helium diffuses through the balloon into the air.If you place a sugar cube in wat er, the sugar will dissolve and evenly sweeten the water without having to stir it.

E-Commerce in Project Integration Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

E-Commerce in Project Integration - Essay Example These applications use electronic communications systems and technology of internet (world wide web) and local area networks.1 These depend on computer and non computer technologies. The usage of non computer technologies can be speed up using the e commerce applications. For example the sales and transportation activities can be speeded up by timely communication using computer technologies. According to a survey the ecommerce business applications generated $12.3 billion sales in 2003. this sales is apart from the general sales. The concept of electronic commerce was not same as it was now when compared to 30 years back. The concept has changed with the change of technology. In the present day usage and the needs the e - commerce applications usually integrate various activities in the project management. 30 years back, the interchange of data and funds transfer used to be the meaning of e commerce. They included the transmission of purchase orders and invoices electronically. The process of integration is not present in the beginning. E - Commerce is combination of technology and business. The name itself will represent that combination. It can be defined as the set of processes that execute the business. The analysis of the information available also is part of e commerce. 20 years back, the initiation of credit cards and ATMs occurred. This increased the speed of transaction. After that the e commerce introduced the enterprise resource planning systems. These included data mining and ware housing of data. The increase of databases resulted in increasing the capacity of analysing by the e commerce applications. At present the e commerce includes a wide range of business activities. These activities include number of processes like e banking, offshore manufacturing and e logistics. The growth of the economies of the countries started to speed up when the industries in those countries used e commerce for the integration of their activities. The reason is that it speeded up the execution of transactions and deliver y and production of goods. In this paper the application and advantage of using e commerce for integrating the construction project management will be discussed. 2. E-Commerce in Construction Business Like any other business, the construction business involves the sales, purchase, cash and information transfer and transportation of goods. Along with the aforesaid topics, the process of tenders was also involved. All the above mentioned activities, transactions and processes involved in them can be speeded up by the integration using the e commerce applications. As the groceries are ordered online by customers, similarly the construction material also can be ordered online using e commerce applications. This is possible if the vendor of the construction material also have e commerce applications and using them. This entry of e commerce into number of sectors removed the barriers of selling in number of types of goods. This decreased the investment in establishment of showrooms for many small sized and big sized businesses and industries. As the usage of e commerce decrease the flow of customers to the showroom along with

Memorial to Imaginary Choson King Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Memorial to Imaginary Choson King - Essay Example The largest population of Korea comprises of secondary people with the citizens being recognized as the owners of the country, since they influence the future. In this case, discrimination can result to rebel against the king, which may lead to undesired outcomes. Therefore, the secondary status groups act as a buffer between the ruling aristocracy and the numerous numbers of commoners; thus, they are significant for facilitating social stability. Prohibition against Remarriage of Women Marriage has been considered as an affair between two people, which should last beyond the death of the husband. In fact, the Confucians have an emphasis on exclusiveness of marital relationships; the legislators argue that there is need to prohibit remarriage of women, as a custom, during the Koryo. This is a form of discrimination, since there is no sound base for barring women from remarrying after the death of their husband. Moreover, there is the law that constraints the sons and grandsons of wom en, who have been married thrice from attaining a bureaucratic position, taking national examinations and receiving a post in administrative offices. This hinders them from effectively contributing to the economic development of the country. Discrimination can be considered sensitive, given that it is addressed in the State Code of 1485 without a direct outlaw of remarriage in women. In fact, sons and grandsons of remarried women are denied a chance to be eligible for civil military office. Therefore, the law hinders them from involvement in higher or lower civil service examinations. Consequently, it results to legal implications and facilitate the impossibility for remarriages in women. Nevertheless, women who have been remarried twice are not mentioned in this law, since the law is based on the basic law and ritual decorum related to human feelings. Therefore, this law is discriminating against poor women who live without supportive relatives, whereby they have trouble in maintai ning their chastity in a situation of being windowed in their early years. In this case, they are bound to make a decision of marrying for the second time, and there is no harm on ritual decorum. Therefore, laws barring their sons and grandsons from receiving high office should be expunged. Discrimination against Secondary Sons Since the beginning of the dynasty, there was a distinction between the main wife and concubines, which led to severe implications on the social status of the concubine’s sons. Consequently, the sons have been regarded as superfluous member in relation to the main descendant line, since their mothers are in the lower status in the society, which is attributed to being socially despised. They have been barred from examinations and becoming officials due to their personal initiatives; there are structural constrains of lineal consideration because of social imbalances. Barring secondary sons and their descendants from taking civil service examination and attaining a bureaucratic position is not a traditional law in Choson society. In fact, the law was compiled along with the State Code [1485], and since then, the law has been passed for a century. In fact, this form of discrimination has never been experienced in other counties such as China or other territories surrounding Choson society. Nevertheless, the reason behind barring of secondary sons from taking bureaucratic position is inappropriate maternal line in their generations. Consequently, they end up being frustrated and dying in the countryside, whereby their talents end up being wasted to the society. Peasants and Slaves Social differentiation has been accepted by the Confucians, whereby there are four categories comprising of

Value of Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM)

Value of Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM) Organizations worldwide are continuously trying to develop new and innovative ways to enhance their competitiveness. Bacallan (2000) suggests that some of these organizations are enhancing their competitiveness through improvements in their environmental performance to comply with mounting environmental regulations, to address the environmental concerns of their customers, and to mitigate the environmental impact of their production and service activities. Green supply chain management as a form of environmental improvement is an operational initiative that many organizations are adopting to address such environmental issues. Currently, the green concept is a critical issue for companies, but when the majority of businesses are cost focused, the idea of implementing and moving toward green practices is often seen as a costly strategy. Bowen et al. (2001) state that organizations will adopt green supply chain management practices if they identify that this will result in specific financial and operational benefits. According to Routroy (2009), Greening the manufacturing supply chain may result in one or more benefits, in terms of cost reduction, operational efficiency improvement, flexibility improvement, sales enhancement, customer value enhancement, and societal image improvement. Green supply chain management is also to enhance firms environmental performance through inter-organizational collaboration with business partners and increase efficiency by cost saving programs and proactive risk management practices (Hervani et al., 2005; Rao and Holt, 2005; Zhu and Sarkis, 2007). We will review the literature about Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM) concept and then we will see how it is translated within the supply chains. Then, the common purpose of this research will be to identify the link between GSCM and overall firm performance. We decided, based on the literature and on a specific framework (Rao Holt, 2005) applied in Asia, to tackle the concept of green supply chain management in Western Europe by including environmental initiatives in: (1) Inbound logistics; (2) Production or the internal supply chain; (3) Outbound logistics, including reverse logistics. Nowadays, how organisations are implementing GSCM and what are the impacts on their business? At the end of this research we will identify the best practices, and the way they are they measured. Moreover, we will see in what extent an effective Green Supply Chain Management could be a driver for innovation and business performance in manufacturing firms? Finally, we will see if Green Supply Chain Management lead to profitability and competitiveness. Our study will consider manufacturing companies in Western Europe. II Literature review Definition Green supply chain management Several studies have considered the concept of ecological sustainability as a framework for studying management practices in both operational and strategic contexts (Sarkis and Rasheed, 1995; Klassen and McLaughlin, 1996; King and Lenox, 2001). As part of this effort, other studies have examined the greening of supply chains within various contexts including in product design (Allenby, 1993; Gupta, 1995), process design (Porter and Van der Linde, 1995a; Klassen and McLaughlin, 1996), manufacturing practices (Winsemius and Guntram, 1992), purchasing (Handfield et al., 2002) and a broad mixture of these elements (Bowen et al., 2001a). It is not surprising that GSCM finds its definition in supply chain management. Adding the green component to supply chain management involves addressing the influence and relationships of supply chain management to the natural environment. Motivated by an environmentally-conscious mindset, it can also stem from a competitiveness motive within organizations. In this paper GSCM is defined as: Green Supply Chain Management GSCM = Green Purchasing + Green Manufacturing/Materials Management + Green Distribution=Marketing + Reverse Logistics Figure 1 shows this GSCM equation graphically, where reverse logistics closes the loop of a typical forward supply chain and includes reuse, remanufacturing, and/or recycling of materials into new materials or other products with value in the marketplace. The idea is to eliminate or minimize waste (energy, emissions, chemical/hazardous, solid wastes). This figure is representative of a single organizations internal supply chain, its major operational elements and the linkage to external organizations. A number of environmentally conscious practices are evident throughout the supply chain ranging from green design (marketing and engineering), green procurement practices (e.g. certifying suppliers, purchasing environmentally sound materials/products), total quality environmental management (internal performance measurement, pollution prevention), environmentally friendly packaging and transportation, to the various product end-of-life practices defined by the Res of reduction, reuse, remanufacturing, recycling. Expanding this figure, a number of organizational relationships could be found at various stages of thismodel, including customers and their chains, as well as suppliers and their chains, forming webs of relationships. Figure 1. GSCM graph The development of industrial ecosystems would be greatly supported by GSCM practices. Korhonen and Niutanen (2003) in their study of material and energy flows in the local forest industry in Finland suggested these flows were comparable to other economic and industrial systems. In the last two decades, the product-based systems perspective and the geographically defined local-regional industrial ecosystem have Porter (1991) argues the pressure to innovate from an environmental perspective comes from regulatory pressure, as firms respond in creative and dynamic ways to environmental regulation by introducing innovations improving environmental outcomes. Other studies concluded environmental innovation is the result of market pressures causing firms to become more efficient. Porter and Van der Linde (1995a, b) concluded firms respond to competitive conditions and regulatory pressure by developing strategies to maximize resource productivity, enabling them to simultaneously improve their industrial and environmental performance. Furthering this issue, Greffen and Rothenberg (2000) suggest suppliers can be an important source of enhanced competency for radical environmental innovation, which, in relation to an integrated technological system, demands capabilities beyond those likely to exist within a single company. The added competency brought by the supply chain partners is important. Other external pressures do exist and include environmental compliance, liability, issues of business continuity, the call for benchmarking to national, international, or industry standards, customer attitudes toward product take-back, and even pressures from inter-organizational information technology/data management systems. The innovation of GSCM/Performance Measurement is necessary for a number of reasons in response to external pressures. For example, business performance measurement, for purposes of external reporting, is fundamentally driven by the creation, maximization and defence of economic rents or surplus. These surpluses or rents in business come from distinctive capabilities such as brands and reputation, strategic assets, innovations, and the distinctive structure of relationships firms enjoy both internally with their employees and/or externally with their customers and suppliers. External reporting is also necessary to maintain organizational legitimacy with respect to environmental issues (Harvey and Schaefer, 2001). Sustainability. One of the major definitions of sustainability and certainly most well known is that of the Brundtland Commission (World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987, p.8): development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. This short definition includes the interest of understanding the environmental impact of economic activity in both developing and industrialized economies (Erlich and Erlich, 1991); ensuring worldwide food safety (Lal et al., 2002); ensuring that vital human needs are met (Savitz and Weber, 2006); and assuring the protection of non-renewable resources (Whiteman and Cooper, 2000). Unfortunately, the societal aspect of sustainability is complicated for firms to apply and provides little explanation regarding how organizations might recognize future versus present needs, determine the technologies and resources necessary to meet those needs, and understand how to balance organizational responsibilities to numerous stakeholders such as shareholders, employees, society and the natural environment (Hart, 1995; Starik and Rands, 1995). Sustainability has been also investigated in the fields of management, operations, and engineering. Within the management literature, most of the current conceptualizations of organizational sustainability have focused on ecological sustainability (the natural environment), with little recognition of social and economic responsibilities (Jennings and Zandbergen, 1995; Shrivastava, 1995a; Starik and Rands, 1995). Sustainable refers to the triple bottom line, for economic, social and environmental. An approach to competitive advantage. A particular organization has competitive advantage when it achieves a higher return on investment than its competitors, or it is able to do so (Grant, 1996). Therefore, in order to have competitive advantage organizations must have the ability to obtain higher profit margins than other companies in the industry. Organizations with competitive advantage, however, might show not the highest profit rate. For example, competitive organizations might prefer, for one or another reason, to sell their products and services at a lower price than the maximum price it could mark. Two major types of competitive advantage can be enjoyed by organizations (Porter, 1985): cost advantage, which is the result of supplying similar products and/or services to low prices; and differentiation advantage, which comes from offering differentiated products and/or services to customers, who, in turn, are ready to pay an additional price which overcomes the additional differentiation costs. While the cost advantage position implies to have the lowest costs in the industry, differentiation advantage refers to offering something unique which is valued by customers. Competitive advantage can derive from one or more factors or sources. Firstly, literature on strategic management suggests the following major sources of cost advantage (e.g., Porter, 1985; Grant, 1996): scale economies, learning economies, production capacity management, product design, cost of inputs, process technology, and management efficiency. Secondly, sources of differentiation advantage include tangible and intangible aspects which are significantly valued by potential customers as to be ready to pay an additional price for them (e.g., Porter, 1985; Grant, 1996); tangible aspects refer to observable characteristics of the products and services, their performance, and complementary products and services; intangible aspects, in turn, include social, emotional, psychological and aesthetic considerations which are present in any choice of products and services. Recently, a major theoretical framework has been developed in strategic management literature which seems to be particularly appropriate for identifying the characteristics that a particular resource or capability must show in order to be a major source of competitive advantage. This theoretical framework is the resource based view of the firm theory. Performance Corporate performance measurement and its field application continues to grow. The diversity and level of performance measures are linked to the goal of the company or the individual strategic business units features. For instance, when measuring performance, organizations have to think about existing financial measures such as return on investment, profitability, market share and revenue growth at a competitive and strategic level. Other measures are more operationally focused, but may inevitably be linked to strategic level measures and issues. This is the case of customer service and inventory performance (supply, turnover). GSCM implementation Where to begin? Viable environmental sustainability programs require meaningful action across a broad range of processes. Some of the most impactful areas include: Production planning: The most valuable members of a supply chain are able to provide accurate forecasts and deliver reliably so as to help reduce over purchasing, over-production and waste Manufacturing: The adoption of techniques such as lean process improvement should result in less over processing as well as reduced energy intensive storage and waste Distribution: Network redesign. Smart routing, backhauling, fill optimization and mode switching à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬  all are likely to result in fewer freight miles Green design: The electronics and related high-tech industries practice collaboration as a means of optimizing the green aspects of their components and end-products; proactive and/or influential members of a supply chain can promote/pursue similar collaboration/ innovation Packaging: The greenest firms seek to minimize the environmental impact of packaging, not only by using less, but also by evaluating the energy, waste, recovery and other life cycle impacts of their packaging choices Recycled content: Companies score green points by maximizing their use. of these materials as well as by using materials in products that are in turn easily recyclable Warehousing: Challenge existing assumptions in light of higher energy costs and the need to reduce carbon footprints Green energy: More green points are available by using green or renewable energy sources à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬  although this can be difficult in regulated energy markets (and a factor in future location decisions) IT: Videoconferencing and remote servicing can reduce business travel; Energy Star rated PCs along with optimized power consumption settings can significantly pare energy costs Server farms: Energy efficient servers arrayed according to state-of-the-art cooling practices can generate enormous energy savings Ridesharing/telecommuting: A growing number of companies are working with municipalities to better optimize public transportation to their facilities. More companies are also enabling more workdays at home as well as providing incentives for carpooling Estates: Investments in building air tightness, insulation and energy efficient heating, cooling, lighting, plant and equipment can significantly reduce carbon footprints Green procurement: It is possible to reduce your carbon footprint by paying more attention to your own procurement. Supplier carbon footprint, ISO certifications, procurement distance have to be part of the selection criterias. Conceptual framework Greening the inbound function It is argued that greening the supply chain has numerous benefits to an organization, ranging from cost reduction, to integrating suppliers in a participative decision-making process that promotes environmental innovation (Bowen et al., 2001; Hall, 1993; Rao, 2002). Critical parts of the inbound function are the purchasing and supply field. Green purchasing strategies are adopted by organizations in response to the increasing global concerns of environmental sustainability. The Green purchasing should be able address reduction of waste produced, material substitution through environmental sourcing of raw materials, and waste minimization of hazardous materials. (Rao Holt, 2005) The involvement and support of suppliers is crucial to achieving such goals. (Vachon and Klassen, 2006). Furthermore, organizations are managing more and more their suppliers environmental performance to ensure that the materials and equipments supplied by them are environmentally-friendly in nature and are produced using environmentally-friendly processes. Min and Galle (1997) explore green purchasing to determine the key factors affecting a buying firms choice of suppliers, the key barriers and the obstacles to green purchasing initiatives. They also investigated the impact of green purchasing on a corporations environmental goals. Below listed subjects to get information on the green inbound phase of a supply chain: (1) Guiding suppliers to set up their own environmental programs; (2) bringing together suppliers in the same industry to share their know-how and problems; (3) informing suppliers about the benefits of cleaner production and technologies; (4) urging/pressuring suppliers to take environmental actions; and (5) choice of suppliers by environmental criteria. Greening the production phase or the internal supply chain In this phase, there are a number of concepts that can be explored, such as cleaner production, design for environment, remanufacturing and lean production. Hong, He-Boong, Jungbae Roh, (2009) highlight through their research that strategic green management needs the combination of integrated product development (IPD) and supply chain coordination (SCC) for desired business outcomes. Thanks to a survey on 580 manufacturing plants in the US, adopting cleaner production techniques, Florida and Davison (2001) showed that green corporations are innovative in their environmental practices, and these strategies emerge from a real commitment towards reducing waste and pollution. Lean production/manufacturing is also an important consideration in reducing the environmental impact of the production phase. In their research King and Lenox (2001), concludes that lean production is complementary to improvements in environmental performance and it often lowers the marginal cost of pollution reduction thus enhancing competitiveness. In addition, Rothenberg et al. (2001) identify that lean plants aim to minimize waste and buffers, leading not only to reduce buffers in environmental technology and management, but also in an overall approach to manufacturing that minimizes waste products. (1) Environment-friendly raw materials; (2) substitution of environmentally questionable materials; (3) taking environmental criteria into consideration; (4) environmental design considerations; (5) optimization of process to reduce solid waste and emissions; (6) use of cleaner technology processes to make savings in energy, water, and waste; (7) internal recycling of materials within the production phase; and (8) incorporating environmental total quality management principles such as worker empowerment. Greening the outbound function On the outbound side of the green supply chain, green logistics comprises all links from the manufacturer to the end users and includes products, processes, packaging, transport, and disposal (Skjoett-Larsen, 2000). Rao, (2003) and Sarkis, (1999) argue on the fact that green marketing, environment-friendly packaging, and environment-friendly distribution, are all initiatives that might improve the environmental performance of an organization and its supply chain. Reverse logistics and waste exchange and ore generally management of wastes in the outbound function can lead to cost savings and enhanced competitiveness (Rao, 2003). In order to address these environmental impacts of packaging, many countries now have programs and legislation that aims to minimize the amount of packaging that enters the waste stream, such as the Packaging Directive in the EU. The distribution, for the whole supply chain is a huge stake for green management. In fact the distribution results of a trade-off between efficiency and effectiveness firm strategy. For this reason is difficult to handle As part of outbound logistics, green marketing has an important part to play in the link between environmental innovation and competitive advantage (Menon and Menon, 1997). Encouraging suppliers to take back packaging is a form of reverse logistics that can be an important consideration in greening the outbound function, with a study by Dorn (1996) identifying an increase in market share amongst companies that implemented an environmentally-friendly packaging scheme. The product design step is more and more integrated within green supply chain issues because 80% of the environmental burden and cost of a product is fixed during this phase (Carbone, Moatti, 2008). Strategic variables to take in account for an empirical study; (1) Environment-friendly waste management; (2) environmental improvement of packaging; (3) taking back packaging; (4) eco-labeling; (5) recovery of companys end-of-life products; (6) providing consumers with information on environmental friendly products and/or production methods; and (7) use of environmentally-friendly transportation. Competitiveness Economic performance Bacallan (2000) suggests that organizations are enhancing their competitiveness through improvements in their environmental performance to comply with mounting environmental regulations, to address the environmental concerns of their customers (à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦). However, an interesting point to notice is that, as long as the market does not seek environmental value-drivers in the products and services it purchases, environmental issues are not necessarily considered by organizations and consumers. (Rao Holt, 2005) Fortunately, over the last few years there has been a growth in environmental awareness of consumers in general. Clearly a growing number of corporations are developing company-wide environmental programs and green products sourced from markets around the world. Therefore, environmental issues are becoming a source of competitiveness. All these efforts aim to improve environmental performance, enhance corporate image, reduce costs, reduce risks of non-compliance and improve marketing advantage. Nevertheless, some organizations are still looking upon green initiatives as involving trade-offs between environmental performance and economic performance. The financial performance of firms is affected by environmental performance in a variety of ways. When waste, both hazardous and non-hazardous, is minimized as part of environmental management, it results in better utilization of natural resources, improved efficiency, higher productivity and reduces operating costs (Rao Holt, 2005). Nowadays and in the future, a good green player could expect to increase its brand image and its market share and then improve its profitability against company without enough green concern while saving costs by innovative processes. To investigate the link between green supply chain management and economic performance we could refers to those key aspects: (1) New market opportunities; (2) product price increase; (3) profit margin;(4) sales; and (5) market share. And competitiveness: (1) Improved efficiency; (2) quality improvement; (3) productivity improvement; and (4) cost savings. Methodology To validate our research, an empirical, survey-based research approach will be taken. Based on the empirical studies through the literature, and a meaningful framework used in the relevant research of Rao Holt in 2005 applied on Asian companies. We choose to follow a common technique to validate the framework presented in the preceding section, a linear SEM (Stochastic Expectation Maximization) approach is used (JÃÆ' ¶reskog and SÃÆ' ¶rbom, 1993) to validate the causal relationships between the different latent constructs of: greening the inbound function; greening production; greening the outbound function; competitiveness and; economic performance. The questionnaire will be distributed to the supply chain managers and/or environmental management representative (EMR) or the chief executive of manufacturing organizations in Western Europe. In order to have both MNCs and SMEs ( Responses will be collected on a four-point and five-point Likert scale, and open-ended questions. The four-point scale served to force the respondents to check either on the negative side or on the positive side. The choice not to focus only on the leading edge ISO14001 accredited organizations (running environmental management) allow us to broader our research and then make a comparison between those without formal environmental management accreditation, and best players accredited. In terms of financial performance, this strategy will be interesting for identifying benefits and again do comparisons. Expected results. As this type of research was already done in South-Est Asia, our results will allow us to compare our findings and trend with those in South-Est Asia. We expect a response of 10%, therefore we will send to a consequent sample to get sufficient and tangible return. We will probably be able to confirm that greening the supply chain also has potential to lead to competitiveness and economic performance. As the current environmental concern in Europe is high, including governmental and customers pressures these research findings would probably show that firms that are greening their supply chains not only achieve substantial cost savings, but also enhance either sales, market share or exploit new market opportunities. The cost aspect will be important to assess as it is directly connected to the overall performance. The main limitation of this research will be probably the small sample of organizations, but the lack of empirical research in Europe will be also one of the main strengths of this paper. Therefore, the findings cannot be generalized to all organizations in this region or around the world. Finally, future research should empirically test the relationships suggested in this paper in different countries, to enable comparative studies. For further research, a larger sample will allow detailed cross-sectoral comparisons and establish international patterns regarding benefits from GSCM. Performance Measurement for Green Supply chain management: Context In supply chains with multiple actors, (vendors manufacturers, distributors and retailers) whether regionally or globally dispersed, it is difficult to attribute performance results to one particular entity within the chain, by the way performance measurement is really challenging. There are difficulties in measuring performance within organizations and even more difficulties arise in inter-organizational environmental performance measurement. The reasons for lack of systems to measure performance across organizations are multidimensional, including non-standardized data, poor technological integration, geographical and cultural differences, differences in organizational policy, lack of agreed upon metrics, or poor understanding of the need for inter-organizational performance measurement. (Hervani, A. Helms, M. Sarkis, J., 2005) Performance measurement in supply chains is difficult for additional reasons, especially when looking at numerous tiers within a supply chain, and green supply chain management performance measurement, or GSCM/PM, is virtually non-existent. With these barriers and difficulties in mind, GSCM/PM is needed for a number of reasons (including regulatory, marketing and competitiveness reasons). Overcoming these barriers is not a trivial issue, but the long-term sustainability (environmental and otherwise) and competitiveness of organizations may rely on successful adoption of GSCM/PM. The basic purposes of GSCM/PM are: external reporting (economic rent), internal control (managing the business better) and internal analysis (understanding the business better and continuous improvement). These are the fundamental issues that drive the development of frameworks for business performance measurement. It is important to consider both purpose, as well as the interrelationships of these various measurements. Supply chain management Supply chain management is the coordination and management of a complex network of activities involved in delivering a finished product to the end-user or customer. It is a vital business function and the process includes sourcing raw materials and parts, manufacturing and assembling products, storage, order entry and tracking, distribution through the various channels and finally delivery to the customer. A companys supply chain structure consists of external suppliers, internal functions of the company, and external distributors, as well as customers (commercial or end-user). Firms may be members of multiple supply chains simultaneously. The management and coordination is further complicated by global players spread across geographic boundaries and multiple time zones. The successful management of a supply chain is also influenced by customer expectations, globalization, information technology, government regulation, competition and the environment. Performance management and measurement Corporate performance measurement and its application continue to grow and encompass both quantitative and qualitative measurements and approaches. The variety and level of performance measures depends greatly on the goal of the organization or the individual strategic business units characteristics. For example, when measuring performance, companies must consider existing financial measures such as return on investment, profitability, market share and revenue growth at a more competitive and strategic level. Other measures such as customer service and inventory performance (supply, turnover) are more operationally focused, but may necessarily be linked to strategic level measures and issues. Overall, these difficulties in developing standards for performance measurement are traced to the various measurement taxonomies. Example taxonomic considerations include: management level to measure à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" strategic, tactical, or operational; tangible versus intangible measures; variations in collection and reporting; an organizations location along the supply chain or functional differentiation within organizations (e.g. accounting, versus marketing or operations). Similar to the performance measurement used, the performance measurement system may be unique to each individual organization, or unit within an organization, reflecting its fundamental purpose and its environment. Several studies have investigated the universal principles of performance measurement (Adams et al., 1995; Gunasekaran et al., 2001; Sink and Tuttle, 1990). These studies arrived at a number of conclus Value of Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM) Value of Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM) Organizations worldwide are continuously trying to develop new and innovative ways to enhance their competitiveness. Bacallan (2000) suggests that some of these organizations are enhancing their competitiveness through improvements in their environmental performance to comply with mounting environmental regulations, to address the environmental concerns of their customers, and to mitigate the environmental impact of their production and service activities. Green supply chain management as a form of environmental improvement is an operational initiative that many organizations are adopting to address such environmental issues. Currently, the green concept is a critical issue for companies, but when the majority of businesses are cost focused, the idea of implementing and moving toward green practices is often seen as a costly strategy. Bowen et al. (2001) state that organizations will adopt green supply chain management practices if they identify that this will result in specific financial and operational benefits. According to Routroy (2009), Greening the manufacturing supply chain may result in one or more benefits, in terms of cost reduction, operational efficiency improvement, flexibility improvement, sales enhancement, customer value enhancement, and societal image improvement. Green supply chain management is also to enhance firms environmental performance through inter-organizational collaboration with business partners and increase efficiency by cost saving programs and proactive risk management practices (Hervani et al., 2005; Rao and Holt, 2005; Zhu and Sarkis, 2007). We will review the literature about Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM) concept and then we will see how it is translated within the supply chains. Then, the common purpose of this research will be to identify the link between GSCM and overall firm performance. We decided, based on the literature and on a specific framework (Rao Holt, 2005) applied in Asia, to tackle the concept of green supply chain management in Western Europe by including environmental initiatives in: (1) Inbound logistics; (2) Production or the internal supply chain; (3) Outbound logistics, including reverse logistics. Nowadays, how organisations are implementing GSCM and what are the impacts on their business? At the end of this research we will identify the best practices, and the way they are they measured. Moreover, we will see in what extent an effective Green Supply Chain Management could be a driver for innovation and business performance in manufacturing firms? Finally, we will see if Green Supply Chain Management lead to profitability and competitiveness. Our study will consider manufacturing companies in Western Europe. II Literature review Definition Green supply chain management Several studies have considered the concept of ecological sustainability as a framework for studying management practices in both operational and strategic contexts (Sarkis and Rasheed, 1995; Klassen and McLaughlin, 1996; King and Lenox, 2001). As part of this effort, other studies have examined the greening of supply chains within various contexts including in product design (Allenby, 1993; Gupta, 1995), process design (Porter and Van der Linde, 1995a; Klassen and McLaughlin, 1996), manufacturing practices (Winsemius and Guntram, 1992), purchasing (Handfield et al., 2002) and a broad mixture of these elements (Bowen et al., 2001a). It is not surprising that GSCM finds its definition in supply chain management. Adding the green component to supply chain management involves addressing the influence and relationships of supply chain management to the natural environment. Motivated by an environmentally-conscious mindset, it can also stem from a competitiveness motive within organizations. In this paper GSCM is defined as: Green Supply Chain Management GSCM = Green Purchasing + Green Manufacturing/Materials Management + Green Distribution=Marketing + Reverse Logistics Figure 1 shows this GSCM equation graphically, where reverse logistics closes the loop of a typical forward supply chain and includes reuse, remanufacturing, and/or recycling of materials into new materials or other products with value in the marketplace. The idea is to eliminate or minimize waste (energy, emissions, chemical/hazardous, solid wastes). This figure is representative of a single organizations internal supply chain, its major operational elements and the linkage to external organizations. A number of environmentally conscious practices are evident throughout the supply chain ranging from green design (marketing and engineering), green procurement practices (e.g. certifying suppliers, purchasing environmentally sound materials/products), total quality environmental management (internal performance measurement, pollution prevention), environmentally friendly packaging and transportation, to the various product end-of-life practices defined by the Res of reduction, reuse, remanufacturing, recycling. Expanding this figure, a number of organizational relationships could be found at various stages of thismodel, including customers and their chains, as well as suppliers and their chains, forming webs of relationships. Figure 1. GSCM graph The development of industrial ecosystems would be greatly supported by GSCM practices. Korhonen and Niutanen (2003) in their study of material and energy flows in the local forest industry in Finland suggested these flows were comparable to other economic and industrial systems. In the last two decades, the product-based systems perspective and the geographically defined local-regional industrial ecosystem have Porter (1991) argues the pressure to innovate from an environmental perspective comes from regulatory pressure, as firms respond in creative and dynamic ways to environmental regulation by introducing innovations improving environmental outcomes. Other studies concluded environmental innovation is the result of market pressures causing firms to become more efficient. Porter and Van der Linde (1995a, b) concluded firms respond to competitive conditions and regulatory pressure by developing strategies to maximize resource productivity, enabling them to simultaneously improve their industrial and environmental performance. Furthering this issue, Greffen and Rothenberg (2000) suggest suppliers can be an important source of enhanced competency for radical environmental innovation, which, in relation to an integrated technological system, demands capabilities beyond those likely to exist within a single company. The added competency brought by the supply chain partners is important. Other external pressures do exist and include environmental compliance, liability, issues of business continuity, the call for benchmarking to national, international, or industry standards, customer attitudes toward product take-back, and even pressures from inter-organizational information technology/data management systems. The innovation of GSCM/Performance Measurement is necessary for a number of reasons in response to external pressures. For example, business performance measurement, for purposes of external reporting, is fundamentally driven by the creation, maximization and defence of economic rents or surplus. These surpluses or rents in business come from distinctive capabilities such as brands and reputation, strategic assets, innovations, and the distinctive structure of relationships firms enjoy both internally with their employees and/or externally with their customers and suppliers. External reporting is also necessary to maintain organizational legitimacy with respect to environmental issues (Harvey and Schaefer, 2001). Sustainability. One of the major definitions of sustainability and certainly most well known is that of the Brundtland Commission (World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987, p.8): development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. This short definition includes the interest of understanding the environmental impact of economic activity in both developing and industrialized economies (Erlich and Erlich, 1991); ensuring worldwide food safety (Lal et al., 2002); ensuring that vital human needs are met (Savitz and Weber, 2006); and assuring the protection of non-renewable resources (Whiteman and Cooper, 2000). Unfortunately, the societal aspect of sustainability is complicated for firms to apply and provides little explanation regarding how organizations might recognize future versus present needs, determine the technologies and resources necessary to meet those needs, and understand how to balance organizational responsibilities to numerous stakeholders such as shareholders, employees, society and the natural environment (Hart, 1995; Starik and Rands, 1995). Sustainability has been also investigated in the fields of management, operations, and engineering. Within the management literature, most of the current conceptualizations of organizational sustainability have focused on ecological sustainability (the natural environment), with little recognition of social and economic responsibilities (Jennings and Zandbergen, 1995; Shrivastava, 1995a; Starik and Rands, 1995). Sustainable refers to the triple bottom line, for economic, social and environmental. An approach to competitive advantage. A particular organization has competitive advantage when it achieves a higher return on investment than its competitors, or it is able to do so (Grant, 1996). Therefore, in order to have competitive advantage organizations must have the ability to obtain higher profit margins than other companies in the industry. Organizations with competitive advantage, however, might show not the highest profit rate. For example, competitive organizations might prefer, for one or another reason, to sell their products and services at a lower price than the maximum price it could mark. Two major types of competitive advantage can be enjoyed by organizations (Porter, 1985): cost advantage, which is the result of supplying similar products and/or services to low prices; and differentiation advantage, which comes from offering differentiated products and/or services to customers, who, in turn, are ready to pay an additional price which overcomes the additional differentiation costs. While the cost advantage position implies to have the lowest costs in the industry, differentiation advantage refers to offering something unique which is valued by customers. Competitive advantage can derive from one or more factors or sources. Firstly, literature on strategic management suggests the following major sources of cost advantage (e.g., Porter, 1985; Grant, 1996): scale economies, learning economies, production capacity management, product design, cost of inputs, process technology, and management efficiency. Secondly, sources of differentiation advantage include tangible and intangible aspects which are significantly valued by potential customers as to be ready to pay an additional price for them (e.g., Porter, 1985; Grant, 1996); tangible aspects refer to observable characteristics of the products and services, their performance, and complementary products and services; intangible aspects, in turn, include social, emotional, psychological and aesthetic considerations which are present in any choice of products and services. Recently, a major theoretical framework has been developed in strategic management literature which seems to be particularly appropriate for identifying the characteristics that a particular resource or capability must show in order to be a major source of competitive advantage. This theoretical framework is the resource based view of the firm theory. Performance Corporate performance measurement and its field application continues to grow. The diversity and level of performance measures are linked to the goal of the company or the individual strategic business units features. For instance, when measuring performance, organizations have to think about existing financial measures such as return on investment, profitability, market share and revenue growth at a competitive and strategic level. Other measures are more operationally focused, but may inevitably be linked to strategic level measures and issues. This is the case of customer service and inventory performance (supply, turnover). GSCM implementation Where to begin? Viable environmental sustainability programs require meaningful action across a broad range of processes. Some of the most impactful areas include: Production planning: The most valuable members of a supply chain are able to provide accurate forecasts and deliver reliably so as to help reduce over purchasing, over-production and waste Manufacturing: The adoption of techniques such as lean process improvement should result in less over processing as well as reduced energy intensive storage and waste Distribution: Network redesign. Smart routing, backhauling, fill optimization and mode switching à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬  all are likely to result in fewer freight miles Green design: The electronics and related high-tech industries practice collaboration as a means of optimizing the green aspects of their components and end-products; proactive and/or influential members of a supply chain can promote/pursue similar collaboration/ innovation Packaging: The greenest firms seek to minimize the environmental impact of packaging, not only by using less, but also by evaluating the energy, waste, recovery and other life cycle impacts of their packaging choices Recycled content: Companies score green points by maximizing their use. of these materials as well as by using materials in products that are in turn easily recyclable Warehousing: Challenge existing assumptions in light of higher energy costs and the need to reduce carbon footprints Green energy: More green points are available by using green or renewable energy sources à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬  although this can be difficult in regulated energy markets (and a factor in future location decisions) IT: Videoconferencing and remote servicing can reduce business travel; Energy Star rated PCs along with optimized power consumption settings can significantly pare energy costs Server farms: Energy efficient servers arrayed according to state-of-the-art cooling practices can generate enormous energy savings Ridesharing/telecommuting: A growing number of companies are working with municipalities to better optimize public transportation to their facilities. More companies are also enabling more workdays at home as well as providing incentives for carpooling Estates: Investments in building air tightness, insulation and energy efficient heating, cooling, lighting, plant and equipment can significantly reduce carbon footprints Green procurement: It is possible to reduce your carbon footprint by paying more attention to your own procurement. Supplier carbon footprint, ISO certifications, procurement distance have to be part of the selection criterias. Conceptual framework Greening the inbound function It is argued that greening the supply chain has numerous benefits to an organization, ranging from cost reduction, to integrating suppliers in a participative decision-making process that promotes environmental innovation (Bowen et al., 2001; Hall, 1993; Rao, 2002). Critical parts of the inbound function are the purchasing and supply field. Green purchasing strategies are adopted by organizations in response to the increasing global concerns of environmental sustainability. The Green purchasing should be able address reduction of waste produced, material substitution through environmental sourcing of raw materials, and waste minimization of hazardous materials. (Rao Holt, 2005) The involvement and support of suppliers is crucial to achieving such goals. (Vachon and Klassen, 2006). Furthermore, organizations are managing more and more their suppliers environmental performance to ensure that the materials and equipments supplied by them are environmentally-friendly in nature and are produced using environmentally-friendly processes. Min and Galle (1997) explore green purchasing to determine the key factors affecting a buying firms choice of suppliers, the key barriers and the obstacles to green purchasing initiatives. They also investigated the impact of green purchasing on a corporations environmental goals. Below listed subjects to get information on the green inbound phase of a supply chain: (1) Guiding suppliers to set up their own environmental programs; (2) bringing together suppliers in the same industry to share their know-how and problems; (3) informing suppliers about the benefits of cleaner production and technologies; (4) urging/pressuring suppliers to take environmental actions; and (5) choice of suppliers by environmental criteria. Greening the production phase or the internal supply chain In this phase, there are a number of concepts that can be explored, such as cleaner production, design for environment, remanufacturing and lean production. Hong, He-Boong, Jungbae Roh, (2009) highlight through their research that strategic green management needs the combination of integrated product development (IPD) and supply chain coordination (SCC) for desired business outcomes. Thanks to a survey on 580 manufacturing plants in the US, adopting cleaner production techniques, Florida and Davison (2001) showed that green corporations are innovative in their environmental practices, and these strategies emerge from a real commitment towards reducing waste and pollution. Lean production/manufacturing is also an important consideration in reducing the environmental impact of the production phase. In their research King and Lenox (2001), concludes that lean production is complementary to improvements in environmental performance and it often lowers the marginal cost of pollution reduction thus enhancing competitiveness. In addition, Rothenberg et al. (2001) identify that lean plants aim to minimize waste and buffers, leading not only to reduce buffers in environmental technology and management, but also in an overall approach to manufacturing that minimizes waste products. (1) Environment-friendly raw materials; (2) substitution of environmentally questionable materials; (3) taking environmental criteria into consideration; (4) environmental design considerations; (5) optimization of process to reduce solid waste and emissions; (6) use of cleaner technology processes to make savings in energy, water, and waste; (7) internal recycling of materials within the production phase; and (8) incorporating environmental total quality management principles such as worker empowerment. Greening the outbound function On the outbound side of the green supply chain, green logistics comprises all links from the manufacturer to the end users and includes products, processes, packaging, transport, and disposal (Skjoett-Larsen, 2000). Rao, (2003) and Sarkis, (1999) argue on the fact that green marketing, environment-friendly packaging, and environment-friendly distribution, are all initiatives that might improve the environmental performance of an organization and its supply chain. Reverse logistics and waste exchange and ore generally management of wastes in the outbound function can lead to cost savings and enhanced competitiveness (Rao, 2003). In order to address these environmental impacts of packaging, many countries now have programs and legislation that aims to minimize the amount of packaging that enters the waste stream, such as the Packaging Directive in the EU. The distribution, for the whole supply chain is a huge stake for green management. In fact the distribution results of a trade-off between efficiency and effectiveness firm strategy. For this reason is difficult to handle As part of outbound logistics, green marketing has an important part to play in the link between environmental innovation and competitive advantage (Menon and Menon, 1997). Encouraging suppliers to take back packaging is a form of reverse logistics that can be an important consideration in greening the outbound function, with a study by Dorn (1996) identifying an increase in market share amongst companies that implemented an environmentally-friendly packaging scheme. The product design step is more and more integrated within green supply chain issues because 80% of the environmental burden and cost of a product is fixed during this phase (Carbone, Moatti, 2008). Strategic variables to take in account for an empirical study; (1) Environment-friendly waste management; (2) environmental improvement of packaging; (3) taking back packaging; (4) eco-labeling; (5) recovery of companys end-of-life products; (6) providing consumers with information on environmental friendly products and/or production methods; and (7) use of environmentally-friendly transportation. Competitiveness Economic performance Bacallan (2000) suggests that organizations are enhancing their competitiveness through improvements in their environmental performance to comply with mounting environmental regulations, to address the environmental concerns of their customers (à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦). However, an interesting point to notice is that, as long as the market does not seek environmental value-drivers in the products and services it purchases, environmental issues are not necessarily considered by organizations and consumers. (Rao Holt, 2005) Fortunately, over the last few years there has been a growth in environmental awareness of consumers in general. Clearly a growing number of corporations are developing company-wide environmental programs and green products sourced from markets around the world. Therefore, environmental issues are becoming a source of competitiveness. All these efforts aim to improve environmental performance, enhance corporate image, reduce costs, reduce risks of non-compliance and improve marketing advantage. Nevertheless, some organizations are still looking upon green initiatives as involving trade-offs between environmental performance and economic performance. The financial performance of firms is affected by environmental performance in a variety of ways. When waste, both hazardous and non-hazardous, is minimized as part of environmental management, it results in better utilization of natural resources, improved efficiency, higher productivity and reduces operating costs (Rao Holt, 2005). Nowadays and in the future, a good green player could expect to increase its brand image and its market share and then improve its profitability against company without enough green concern while saving costs by innovative processes. To investigate the link between green supply chain management and economic performance we could refers to those key aspects: (1) New market opportunities; (2) product price increase; (3) profit margin;(4) sales; and (5) market share. And competitiveness: (1) Improved efficiency; (2) quality improvement; (3) productivity improvement; and (4) cost savings. Methodology To validate our research, an empirical, survey-based research approach will be taken. Based on the empirical studies through the literature, and a meaningful framework used in the relevant research of Rao Holt in 2005 applied on Asian companies. We choose to follow a common technique to validate the framework presented in the preceding section, a linear SEM (Stochastic Expectation Maximization) approach is used (JÃÆ' ¶reskog and SÃÆ' ¶rbom, 1993) to validate the causal relationships between the different latent constructs of: greening the inbound function; greening production; greening the outbound function; competitiveness and; economic performance. The questionnaire will be distributed to the supply chain managers and/or environmental management representative (EMR) or the chief executive of manufacturing organizations in Western Europe. In order to have both MNCs and SMEs ( Responses will be collected on a four-point and five-point Likert scale, and open-ended questions. The four-point scale served to force the respondents to check either on the negative side or on the positive side. The choice not to focus only on the leading edge ISO14001 accredited organizations (running environmental management) allow us to broader our research and then make a comparison between those without formal environmental management accreditation, and best players accredited. In terms of financial performance, this strategy will be interesting for identifying benefits and again do comparisons. Expected results. As this type of research was already done in South-Est Asia, our results will allow us to compare our findings and trend with those in South-Est Asia. We expect a response of 10%, therefore we will send to a consequent sample to get sufficient and tangible return. We will probably be able to confirm that greening the supply chain also has potential to lead to competitiveness and economic performance. As the current environmental concern in Europe is high, including governmental and customers pressures these research findings would probably show that firms that are greening their supply chains not only achieve substantial cost savings, but also enhance either sales, market share or exploit new market opportunities. The cost aspect will be important to assess as it is directly connected to the overall performance. The main limitation of this research will be probably the small sample of organizations, but the lack of empirical research in Europe will be also one of the main strengths of this paper. Therefore, the findings cannot be generalized to all organizations in this region or around the world. Finally, future research should empirically test the relationships suggested in this paper in different countries, to enable comparative studies. For further research, a larger sample will allow detailed cross-sectoral comparisons and establish international patterns regarding benefits from GSCM. Performance Measurement for Green Supply chain management: Context In supply chains with multiple actors, (vendors manufacturers, distributors and retailers) whether regionally or globally dispersed, it is difficult to attribute performance results to one particular entity within the chain, by the way performance measurement is really challenging. There are difficulties in measuring performance within organizations and even more difficulties arise in inter-organizational environmental performance measurement. The reasons for lack of systems to measure performance across organizations are multidimensional, including non-standardized data, poor technological integration, geographical and cultural differences, differences in organizational policy, lack of agreed upon metrics, or poor understanding of the need for inter-organizational performance measurement. (Hervani, A. Helms, M. Sarkis, J., 2005) Performance measurement in supply chains is difficult for additional reasons, especially when looking at numerous tiers within a supply chain, and green supply chain management performance measurement, or GSCM/PM, is virtually non-existent. With these barriers and difficulties in mind, GSCM/PM is needed for a number of reasons (including regulatory, marketing and competitiveness reasons). Overcoming these barriers is not a trivial issue, but the long-term sustainability (environmental and otherwise) and competitiveness of organizations may rely on successful adoption of GSCM/PM. The basic purposes of GSCM/PM are: external reporting (economic rent), internal control (managing the business better) and internal analysis (understanding the business better and continuous improvement). These are the fundamental issues that drive the development of frameworks for business performance measurement. It is important to consider both purpose, as well as the interrelationships of these various measurements. Supply chain management Supply chain management is the coordination and management of a complex network of activities involved in delivering a finished product to the end-user or customer. It is a vital business function and the process includes sourcing raw materials and parts, manufacturing and assembling products, storage, order entry and tracking, distribution through the various channels and finally delivery to the customer. A companys supply chain structure consists of external suppliers, internal functions of the company, and external distributors, as well as customers (commercial or end-user). Firms may be members of multiple supply chains simultaneously. The management and coordination is further complicated by global players spread across geographic boundaries and multiple time zones. The successful management of a supply chain is also influenced by customer expectations, globalization, information technology, government regulation, competition and the environment. Performance management and measurement Corporate performance measurement and its application continue to grow and encompass both quantitative and qualitative measurements and approaches. The variety and level of performance measures depends greatly on the goal of the organization or the individual strategic business units characteristics. For example, when measuring performance, companies must consider existing financial measures such as return on investment, profitability, market share and revenue growth at a more competitive and strategic level. Other measures such as customer service and inventory performance (supply, turnover) are more operationally focused, but may necessarily be linked to strategic level measures and issues. Overall, these difficulties in developing standards for performance measurement are traced to the various measurement taxonomies. Example taxonomic considerations include: management level to measure à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" strategic, tactical, or operational; tangible versus intangible measures; variations in collection and reporting; an organizations location along the supply chain or functional differentiation within organizations (e.g. accounting, versus marketing or operations). Similar to the performance measurement used, the performance measurement system may be unique to each individual organization, or unit within an organization, reflecting its fundamental purpose and its environment. Several studies have investigated the universal principles of performance measurement (Adams et al., 1995; Gunasekaran et al., 2001; Sink and Tuttle, 1990). These studies arrived at a number of conclus

Chpl 500

The Early History of The Chaplaincy Liberty University Theological Seminary A Writing assignment Presented to Dr. Steve Smith In partial fulfillment for the course Introduction to Chaplaincy ministry CHPL 500 By Watson Rugano (L223514216) May 17th, 2011 Although it is still open for debate, there are suggestions that chaplaincy, as a function in the military, can be traced in the Old Testament. Consider the battle of the Israelites and the Amalekites.The children of Israel experienced victory as long Moses held his hands up in Prayer to God. Another example that is discussed in the book deals with the Priests who carried the Ark of the Covenant in some of the battles the Israelites were engaged in. Gideon is also looked at as playing the roles of a prophet, priest, and general. Doris Bergen is of the opinion that, â€Å"pointing to ancient precedents lends legitimacy and prestige to modern military chaplaincies, but it does not always accurately always reflect development in the pas t. The word chaplain as we know it today was coined from the Latin word capellanus which was derived from what Doris Bergen says was â€Å"the great royal relic of the patron saint of the Franks, the cappa. † But evidence of chaplains accompanying soldiers in battle was first noted with the Romans army in fifth century. Some of the duties that they performed involved caring for them by offering prayers and conducting mass. But an important aspect in the duties of the chaplain in those early days is best understood by a term Doris Bergen credits to Michael McCormick, which is, â€Å"liturgy of war. In liturgy of war, the chaplains â€Å"were not only part of an effort to achieve victory, they also represented a promise to warriors that their actions were just as good. † Some liturgical texts contain words uttered by soldiers in battle suggesting the influence of â€Å"religion. † The Roman soldiers were known to cry out loud, â€Å"Nobiscum, Deus! †-†Å"God is with us! † The Frankish warriors on the other hand would, together with their king, march around their camp â€Å"in procession, singing kyries and responding to their assembled priests’ chants: To Lord Charles and his army of the Franks, long life and victory! with the proto-Romance refrain, â€Å"Tu lo juval! † â€Å"(O God) Help him. The liturgy of war reveals how those entrusted with the spiritual care of the soldiers were used and also how those soldiers were affected by the words of the religious men among them. Constantine is known to have claimed seeing a vision of the cross which was an indication of divine help. And if his soldiers were to paint the symbol of the cross on their shields then, victory would be granted.His victory over the Roman Empire begun what was to be the Christianization of the conquered territory. But it was during the rise of the Carolingian monarchy that seems to have changed the history of war rituals. Doris Bergen men tions three factors that contributed to this change. These were, interest in performance of liturgy, nature of warfare had changed and ambition of the new monarchy which believed that both their activities were divinely sanctioned and that the ruler bore personal responsibility for subjects’ minds and souls.The revival of liturgy credited to the Carolingians and the application of a different kind of warfare in the middle east by the warriors of the first crusade that resulted in great success, would later give birth to what Doris calls â€Å"A new kind of war, a crusade, and with it, the liturgical rites that appeared to have stood the warriors of God in such good stead. Swathed in the success of the conquest of Jerusalem, the future of the liturgy of war was assured. †