American Eagle Airlines Flight 3379 Accident Research Paper

American Eagle Airlines Flight 3379 Accident - Research Paper Example   The research will conclude by providing recommendations of what needs to be done to prevent such accidents in the future. Air accidents have continued to occur despite the measures by the National Transport and Safety Board (NTSB), and the aviation industry. Recently, the aviation industry has witnessed major accidents, including the disappearance of the Malaysian Airline in 2014, and the recent German airline in the French Alps. The main causes of airline accidents have been cited to be inexperienced pilots, physiological and psychological factors, and weather conditions (Grossman, 2013). Most busy airlines overwork pilots and cabin crew, a situation that has been blamed for making pilots make wrong decisions. Fatigue is a major factor that interferes with the level of productivity and job satisfaction of cabin crew. Some pilots experience mental disorders, such as depression, hence affecting their judgment and prone to making the wrong decisions. The flagship airline flight 3379 crashed in 1994. The flight origin was Piedmont Triad International Airport and the final destination was Raleigh-Durham Airport. There were 18 passenger and 2 crewmembers (Aircraft Accident Report, 1995). The experience any mechanical problem until when the pilot received the clearance to land. The ignition light of one of the engines illuminated in the cockpit, calling for immediate intervention. It appears that the pilot panicked on realizing the speed of the plane began to decrease drastically. Without taking a moment to determine the cause of the incident, the pilot decided to execute a missed approach.

Conflict Analysis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Conflict Analysis - Assignment Example Tim is an Asian and Josh is the head boy at out campus. People around us became interested and formed two groups hooting and cheering, if one placed a valid point better than the other. I happened to realize that at national level, our foreign exchange students face discriminating attitude from most of us. They are unacceptable and have to prove themselves at every stage that they are worthy of being involved and being a friend. The surface problem seems like a simple idea of beating out the other; wittily. On the other hand it became quite evident to me that they have fixed mind set as to where each one stands in a society. To manage disagreements, any one of the strategies could be applied by both to resolve their dispute. Josh was competing and wanted to prove his superiority as an inborn and as a most popular boy around. However, Tim was accommodating Josh’s viewpoints initially and later on competing in the similar manner. The discussion took a personal turn, both of them started to accuse and humiliate each other .Their friendship was shattered in a nick of time. Only if they respected each other’s views and left the personal accusation aside th e situation would have been different. My observation was that power, expectations, situation, communicational skill and above of all self-concept play vital role in any conflict. We need to tackle people and their feelings and views prudently not judgmentally. Keeping in mind their background and sensitivity about certain matters because issues can be resolved and viewpoints can be changed by time, but one can not restore a relationship in its fullest form. A well-cultivated critical thinker keeps potential consequences in mind and figures solutions to complex problems. There should be open mindedness and well reasoned conclusions with practical implications as well regarding the

Stratospheric Ozone Depletion Research

Stratospheric Ozone Depletion Research A) Effects of Ozone on the Lower Atmosphere The lower atmosphere (Troposphere) includes 75% by mass of the atmosphere (concentrated). Natural sources of Ozone in the troposphere includes lightning. Approximately 10% of all atmospheric ozone is present in the troposphere. If ozone levels reach 20ppm, they are very poisonous to humans, animals and plants. It oxidises organic tissue which disrupts the normal biochemical reactions in the body, irritates the eyes and causes breathing difficulties. It can be detrimental to plants and agriculture, as it oxidises much more readily then oxygen, killing/spoiling the agriculture and destroying it. Sources of ozone in the troposphere include diffusion from the stratosphere, internal combustion engines, petrochemical smog, naturally from lightning and photochemically when nitrogen dioxide in polluted air is decomposed by sunlight. NO2(g) NO(g) + O(g) O2(g) + O(g) O3(g) Positive effects of ozone include that it can kill bacteria and viruses in water and thus is useful in purifying water supplies. B) Effects of Ozone in the Stratosphere Contrastingly to ozone in the troposphere, Ozone in the stratosphere is essential to life on earth, as it absorbs ultraviolet (UV) radiation which can be harmful to living cells on earth as they can damage living tissues and cause skin cancers. Ozone in the stratosphere is commonly referenced to as â€Å"the ozone shield† as it protects living organisms on earth from UV rays. Ozone Reactions in the Stratosphere and their Beneficial Effects on Living Organisms Formation of Ozone in the Stratosphere O2(g) O(g) + O(g) O(g) + O2(g) → O3(g) Stratospheric oxygen absorbs UV light to form free oxygen radicals The oxygen radicals are highly reactive and combine with oxygen molecules to form an energized ozone molecule. Decomposition of Ozone in the Stratosphere O3(g) O2(g) + O(g) Due to the absorption of UV radiation, the Ozone layer acts as a radiation shield by absorbing medium and high energy UV rays. This protects living organisms as UV radiation can have very harmful effects on them including: Can cause sunburn on skin which can lead to skin cancer caused by a mutation in DNA Can form cataracts on eyes It can kill cells due to DNA readily reacting with UV rays It can impair photosynthesis in plants Many more†¦ Thus without the ozone shield in the stratosphere, life in the biosphere would be dramatically impaired and destroyed by harmful UV rays. A) Functional Groups and General Structure of Compounds Classified as CFC’s CFC’s – Chlorofluorocarbons are haloalkanes in which the hydrogen atoms have been replaced by fluorine or chlorine atoms. Haloalkanes are the products when alkanes react with halogens (members of group 7 of the periodic table). CFC’s generally contain â€Å"chloro† and â€Å"flouro† functional groups and no hydrogen atoms. The general structure of compounds classified as CFCs are haloalkanes whose hydrogens have been replaced by chlorine or fluorine atoms. E.g. B) Main Uses of CFC’s CFC’s were used as refrigerants and as propellants in aerosol spray cans. They have a variety of uses as demonstrated below. However due to the harmful effects of CFC to the environment and the ozone shield, CFCs are not used for these uses anymore. C) Reactions between CFC’s and Ozone that Result in the Destruction of Ozone in the Stratosphere. Effects of Small Concentrations of CFC’s that can Damage Large amounts of Ozone Reactions between CFCs and Ozone Synthetic CFCs are responsible for the destruction of the ozone shield, natural CFCs such as CH3Cl and HCl rarely reach the stratosphere as they readily oxidise in the troposphere. However, synthetic CFCs slowly diffuse from the troposphere into the stratosphere, where they undergo photodissociation (due to UV rays) to produce chlorine and bromine radicals that attack and destroy ozone molecules. e.g. CFC-11 Trichloroflouromethane (CFCl3) (Lifetime of 70 years) 1. In the stratosphere, the CFC comes into contact with short wavelength UV CFCl3(g) + UV → CFCl2 ·(g) + Cl ·(g) 2. The chlorine free radical then reacts with the ozone molecule Cl + O3 → ClO + O2 3. The ClO molecule reacts with free oxygen atoms which exist naturally from UV breakdown of O2 ClO + O → O2 + Cl This Cl Is then regenerated and able to attack more Ozone (Step 2) thus further demonstrating the harmful effects of even one CFC This reaction causes destruction of ozone in the stratosphere, due to the (previously used) synthetic CFCs for refrigeration, dry cleaning etc. Small Amounts of CFCs can still do harm: Evidence has shown that even small amounts of CFCs can damage large amounts of ozone. Firstly, CFCs generally have a long lifespan, ranging from approximately 57 (CFC-11) years to 333 years (CFC-12), and due to the fact that each Chlorine radical can be responsible for the breakdown of tens of thousands of ozone molecules, and due to their lifespan once released, even a small amount, will be around for many decades to come. In addition, most CFCs will almost definitely make their way up to the stratosphere as they cannot be destroyed at low altitudes as they are unreactive and they are insoluble in water and therefore cannot be washed out of the atmosphere by rain. Alternative Compounds for CFCs. A) Ozone Monitoring Instruments Ozone Concentrations in the Stratosphere Source: Earth System Research Laboratory, 2012, Viewed 07.06.14, http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/dv/spo_oz/spototal.html A) Analysis of Trends There are a variety of trends that can be interpreted from the above diagram. Based on the data above, before the 1980’s, the total ozone concentration was VERY high, at approximately 194 DU (Dobson Units), however there was a very rapid decrease in this concentration from 1980 – 1999, whereby in this 19 year period sees a 56% decrease in the amount of total ozone, a remarkably concerning figure. On a year round basis globally, total ozone concentration have caused a 3-8% decrease in the amount of ozone, this increased in the years between 1995-200, where there was a low of total ozone concentration. However, in more recent years, 2010 to 2014 there has been a general increase in total ozone concentration, which can be inferred from the replacement of CFCs finally starting to impact (slightly) on the total concentration of ozone, this increase based on the data is 31%. The general pattern is that the total column ozone decreases during spring time, it can be inferred that the overall concentration of ozone decreases during this time of the year. This is because in an Antarctic winter, there is no U.V light to convert the chlorine molecule Cl2 into a Cl radical, which then destroy ozone molecules, and thus the concentration of ozone is higher in winter. In spring, the U.V light converts the Cl2 into Cl which then destroys ozone in a chain reaction, thus decreasing the total ozone concentration There are various peaks in the graph, in the years of 1988, 2003, 2011 and 2013, which may be due to limitation so of the instruments used. B) Montreal Protocol Effectiveness The Montreal protocol occurred in 1987, which the main aim was to control the production of ozone depleting substances (CFCs) worldwide. A number of amendments have been adopted to further ride ozone depleting substances. The protocol is applied in 193 countries. The main aims of the original agreement is as follow: Halt the use of Halons by late 1994 By the early 21st century, phase out the use of HCFCs Stop manufacture of CFCs by 1996 Allow for leeway with less developed countries but still get them to rid the use of these substances The Montreal Protocol (and amendments) has been effective as by 2006, the consumption of ozone depleting substances has been reduced globally by 96%. However, due to the long lives of the previously used ozone depleting substances, the total concentration will take hundreds of years to be completely down. However, the total concentration in the troposphere has generally been declining since the mid-1990s. Bibliography Thickett, G 2006, Chemistry 2 HSC course, John Wiley and Sons, Queensland, Australia. Role of Ozone, 2013, viewed 05.06.14, http://www.easychem.com.au/monitoring-and-management/the-atmosphere/roles-of-ozone Allen, J, 2001, Ultraviolet Radiation – How it Affects life on Earth, viewed 05.06.14, http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/UVB/ Environmental Protection Agency, 2010, The Process of Ozone Depletion, Viewed 07.06.14, http://www.epa.gov/ozone/science/process.html Clean Air Strategic Alliance, 2013, Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and Halons, Viewed 07.06.13, http://dwb.unl.edu/teacher/nsf/c09/c09links/www.casahome.org/chlorofl.htm Welch, C 2014, The Ozone Hole, Viewed 07.06.14, http://www.theozonehole.com/cfc.htm Cracknell, A 2012, Remote Sensing and Atmospheric Ozone, Viewed 07.06.14, http://books.google.com.au/books?id=YZzGFPnaEv0Cpg=PA94lpg=PA94dq=nimbus+4+satellite+ozonesource=blots=k3Ixvnqeupsig=Z_jW0D4jdcvG8hpjbb7d4QeUzBMhl=ensa=Xei=DpCSU-qHMsLtkQWJsIHQDQved=0CF8Q6AEwCg#v=onepageq=nimbus%204%20satellite%20ozonef=false ESA, 2013, Eathnet Online, Viewed 07.06.14, https://earth.esa.int/handbooks/gomos/CNTR1-2-2.htm The Canadian Ozone and Ultraviolet Measurement Program, 2010, Viewed 07.06.14 http://es-ee.tor.ec.gc.ca/e/ozone/ozonecanada.htm Earth System Research Laboratory, 2012, Viewed 07.06.14, http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/dv/spo_oz/spototal.html EPA, 2013, Ozone Layer Protection Glossary, Viewed 14.06.14, http://www.epa.gov/ozone/defns.html Bureau of Meteorology 2013, Ozone Frequently Asked Questions, Viewed 14.06.14, http://www.bom.gov.au/uv/faq.shtml Smith, R 2008, Conquering Chemistry Fourth Edition, The McGraw-Hill Companies, NSW, Australia 1 | Page

Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas Essay -- Film Movie Movies Films Las Ve

Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas The story begins abruptly, as we find our mock heroes out in the desert en route to the savvy resort of Las Vegas. The author uses a tense hitchhiker as a mode, or an excuse, for a flashback that exposes the plot. An uncertain character picked up in the middle of the desert who Raoul Duke, the main character, feels the need to explain things to, to help him rest easy. They had two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a salt shaker half-full of cocaine, and a whole galaxy of multicolored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers....Also a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of Budweiser, a pint of raw either, and two dozen amyls. They were on assignment from a fashionable sporting magazine in New York, to cover the 4th Annual "Mint 400" dirt bike and dune buggy race. A savage journey to the heart of the American dream.Before one can review the motion picture "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas", he must first research the full length novel of the same name. The book first appeared in 1971 in issues 95 and 96 of Rolling Stone magazine, published November 11th and 25th respectively. Although the two part series stated its author was someone called Raoul Duke, the story was copyrighted in 1971 by Hunter S. Thompson. Raoul Duke is actually the false name under which Hunter Thompson portrays himself as main character and narrator.The film was produced in the early goings of summer in 199...

Video Game Ethical Issues

Kuan-Yu Lin Brenda Varda HMN-101-01 10/28/2012 Ethical Issue Essay: Final Draft Video games have always been an important part of the entertainment industry since its appearance in 1970’s. They have been played worldwide and effect many people. While the children are already playing the games, the number of women gamers, as well as the age level of gamers in general is increasing.As technology advances, video games with more diversity and real-life experience are slowly creeping into parts of our life and gaining its momentum in the society. Due to its quick development, many ethical issues associated with video games have been brought to our attention. Therefore, we should understand how video games are ethically influencing people within its realm. The four major ethical issues which will be discussed are issues of violence, education, stereotyping and addiction. Video games are enjoying fast-growing popularity, becoming a major component of young people's social lives and leisure activities.First of all, a major concern which has been discussed continuously regarding video games is violence. Violence in video games is considered as the visual presentation of characters fighting, gun shooting, physical injury or death to characters. Recently, more and more video games involving violent behavior are taking over the game selection on the shelves. Comparing to games made in the 70’s, 80’s, recent games feature tougher, more aggressive heroines and more games are made specifically for adults.Research consistently declares that most top-selling video games involve violence. In order to prevent the potential harm to children, youth and society of this negative influence, lots of research has focused on the consequence of violent video games. Video game research indicates that playing violent video games increases aggression, hostility, and aggressive thoughts. (Anderson, Buckley, & Gentile, 2007; Anderson & Bushman, 2001; Anderson, Carnagey, F lanagan, Benjamin, Eubanks & Valentine, 2004;Anderson & Dill, 2000).In their research, they conclude that engaging games which have content related to violence may possibly increase a person’s aggressive thoughts, feelings, and behavior in real life. Some other studies focusing on college student playing video games also point out that students playing violent games are also engaging in more aggressive behavior. It has been claimed by many critics of the media industry that the incident at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado on April 20, 1999 was caused by the influence of violent video games.It was shown on BBC news that both students shooters, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, had played and enjoy violent video games. â€Å"Relatives of people killed in the Columbine massacre are seeking damages from computer game makers, claiming their products helped bring about the killings. † Although video games can help players relieving stress, they can also affect gamer s in a harmful way. It is both the players’ and the game makers’ responsibility to be aware of the negative effects of video gaming. Games with harmful content might be leading negative effects; they still have values considered being beneficial in certain aspect.Games are popular in the community of youth and have many qualities that make them wonderful teaching tools. Through the educational perspective, both adults and children learn many things by playing video games. Games with positive content show positive effects. For example, playing a dancing video game can help children lose weight (Konami’s Dance Dance Revolution, 2007; O’Hannon, 2007; Epstein, Beecher, Graf & Roemmich, 2007). As mentioned before, videogames could be an excellent tool for learning. In particular, players are learning in an active way with practice and feedback.Because they are fun, children are highly motivated with video gaming, when people are motivated, they usually perform better, thus lead in to a better result. Also, games usually have clear objectives with adaptable difficulty levels. Games with increasing difficulty across levels allow player to apply past learning. Lastly, games allow children to apply to what they learn in different problems and contexts. Some believe that video games help improve life skill such as logic and problem solving. They also can improve hand-eye coordination and leadership skills, which can be useful for military training purposes.Having realized the efficiency and the joyful quality of learning experience in gaming, educators are able to take advantage of the positive learning characteristics of games by using the well-designed software in order to teach children more effectively. While the issues associated with violence in video games have caused huge concern among children, gender, and racial stereotypes in video games are also causing problems which require more attention. There is an unbalanced proportion betwe en male and female game players and developers. According to a recent study the average gamer age was in the mid to late 20's with 60% men playing and 40% women. †2 The whole gaming industry is overwhelmed by the male population. Most of the games on the market are targeted to only male players. Dietz’s, one of the earliest studies to examine stereotypical portrayals in video games, analyzed the depiction of women in a sample of 33 most popular Nintendo and Sega Genesis video games. The study categorized the female characters in those games into four possible stereotypes based on their appearances and behaviors. Females as sex objects or prizes, females as victims, females in feminine roles, and females as heroes or action characters. Not surprisingly, Dietz (1998) found that 41% of the games were devoid of female characters. Only 15% (5 out of 33) portrayed women as heroes or action characters, while 21% (7 out of 33) portrayed women as victims or as so called ‘d amsel in distress’. At the same time, in 28% of these games, women were portrayed as sex objects based upon physical appearance or sexually-oriented actions. Following the discussion of female character as indicator of sexuality, most of the female characters in video games have clothing that exposed more skin than the male characters. The research also found out that the female characters appearing in gaming most likely wear low-cut clothing. About half of the female characters have bare arms and legs with big busted figure. * In essence, these female characters in video games were portrayed in a stereotypical way in which they were exaggerated by sexy attire. That leads to the exclusion of female players in video game industry.Although the number of game designed for female gamers is increasing slowly, it is crucial for both consumers and game makers to make the video games more engaging for both sexes either by changing the content of the game or by expanding the choice of games. They should be designed in a way that they are attractive for both male and female players. Finally, the last ethical issue I want to talk about is the addiction of engaging video games. Some people spent immense amount of time playing video games and caused them to lose valuable time participating in activities which are more beneficial for them.However, video games could be considered as one of social activities because friends, siblings, and other relatives can play with it. Bibliography (not yet in proper MLA format, I will work on in for the final paper) http://evvy09. hubpages. com/hub/Video-Games-Have-Changed-the-World http://www. ethicapublishing. com/ethical/3CH12. pdf https://www. msu. edu/~pengwei/Mou%26Peng_gender%20and%20racial%20stereotype. pdf http://news. bbc. co. uk/2/hi/science/nature/1295920. stm

Fast Fashion

Introduction The clothing industry, as one of the most globalizes industries in the world (Fibonacci et al 1994), is currently undergoing a restructuring, especially the fast fashion sector. Fashion markets are synonymous with rapid changes and short product life cycles. Therefore, changes in consumer demand for newness and fashion trend force the emergence of fast fashion' strategy in retailers like Ezra and H;M and shifts in the focus of competitive advantage from price towards quick response.That is to say, clothing firms, which are adopting global or offshore sourcing strategy, are not noninsured to have more competitive advantages as before. However, the question is: should fast fashion retailers adopt quick response strategy instead of overseas sourcing strategy immediately, or adopt both strategies? In the first section, a literature review of the nature of fashion market and related arguments will be introduced. The overseas sourcing strategy and the quick response strategy w ill be explained with examples of existing clothing firms in the second and the third section.The fourth section will compare and contrast the advantage and disadvantages of these two strategies. Combining theoretical knowledge with empirical case studies, it is argued that companies could reach the maximum profit by adopting overseas sourcing strategy as well as quick response strategy. 1 . Literature Review Fashion retailers, such as Ezra, H;M, Benton and Marks ; Spencer have revolutionized the fashion industry by creating a concept of fast fashion'.The change in the culture of fashion from haute couture to fast fashion has attracted numerous researchers to identify and explore the nature of fast fashion market (Tokomak 2008, p. 22, Christopher et al 2004, p. 367, soul and -raccoon 2008, Tactile et al 2008). Accordingly, short life cycles, rapid prototyping and high volatility are identified as the key features of the fashion market. Compared to other industries, apparel product m anufacturing has unique features, for instance, numerous SKIS (stock keeping unit) in a season, hard to estimate customers' demand and wide range of products for basic to fashion items Non 2004).All these unique characteristics require a different approach to production sourcing, Soul and Turn-on (2008) pointed out that fast fashion retailers prefer using an opportunity-pull approach to the traditional designer-push model. By adopting the new approach, retailers could respond to the shifts in the market as quickly as possible. As a result, the more continuous production schedule (eight to twelve fashion ‘seasons') has substituted for the traditional two to four ‘seasons' calendar (Tactile et al 2008, p. 264, Dickens 2011, p. 316).In relation to global production networks, Dickens (2011) identified the ‘core' of a global production network as the circuit of four basic operations, which refers to inputs, transformation, distribution and consumption. Theoretically, th e quicker the production circuit flows, the higher the gross margin the company can gain. When we apply the theory into the clothing industry, the cost of production and the speed to response to changes in consumer demand are equally important. Both of them could contribute to the flow of production circuit.Since numbers of studies have elaborated the benefit of production relocation, the implementation of quick response strategy by fashion retailers has attracted the interest of researchers in recent years (Bristle et al 2003, Perry and Shoal 2000, leer and Bergen 1997). However, results of an exploratory study (Bristle et al 2003) shows that the advantages of quick response strategy have not been fully understood by fashion retailers. They tend to implement quick response strategy for internal supply chain management.Moreover, leer and Bergen (1997) tried to use formal model to examine the impact of quick response strategy on fashion retailers. Although there is companies already adopted both strategies, limited attention has been paid to the combined effect of these two strategies by researchers. Hypothesis: In an era of fast fashion, companies that adopt both global sourcing strategy and quick response strategy have better chance to succeed in the fashion looting market. 2. Cost, the most basic consideration. In order to have higher profit margin, one of the most effective ways is to cut down production costs.In view of the low labor cost in developing countries, global sourcing seems to be a good choice to reduce costs. With the development of global production networks and the increasing competition, fast all fashion clothing firms have shifted their manufacturing operations to low lost locations over the past decades. The shifts in the Shares manufacturer Levi Stratus's global strategy could vividly demonstrate how global sourcing strategy works and affect its supply chain. At first, the company was created in the USA.As it developed and became a global company, they began to employ workers all over the world. However, in face of fierce competition, Levi Strauss started to shift its operation to lower-cost countries in the late sass. By the year 2003, Levi Strauss closed the last four plants in North American and ‘has become an entirely offshore producer' (Dickens 2011 p. 318). The German fashion company Hugo Boss also provides similar example. In face of high production cost, namely high labor cost in domestic market, more and more fashion retailers choose to outsource their production.Moreover, some fast fashion retailers even have no manufacturing competency (Tokomak 2008). The representatives of this kind of retailers are Gap, H&M and Mango. As they do not own any factories, the only way for them do produce their products is outsourcing. The success of these retailers without factories proves the feasibility of global sourcing strategy. By contrast, when most retailers were busy outsourcing their production to lower cost countries, some fast fashion retails still insist on domestic sourcing strategy, for instance, Ezra, Benton and Marks & Spencer.They held the view that ‘market legibility and lean inventories may be more important than cheap labor' (Tokomak 2008). However, could efficiency really overcome the lost in higher production cost? Maybe no one could answer this question. If we take Ezra as an example and find out where Ezra produce the products, we could develop our own view. As a Spanish company owned by Inedited, Ezra produce its products mainly in Spain and Portugal (Wood 2010). Whereas their competitor found suppliers from worldwide low-cost countries, Ezra choose to produce products near its domestic market.That maximizes time efficiency. In fact, the unit labor costs in these two countries were low enough in the sass (Tokomak 2008), therefore, there is no need for Ezra to outsource its productions to other locations. It has the similar competitive advantage as other companies have, besides, by domestic sourcing and producing Just-in-time, Sara's production cycles are much faster than its competitors. In this respect, it is better for Ezra to adopt the domestic sourcing strategy. However, recent years, the geography of Sara's production network has become diverse.Ezra started to outsource and 34 percent of its production was carried out in Asia (Dickens 2011). Similar situation have also occurred in Benton and Marks & Spencer. On one hand, the unit labor cost among European countries has increased in recent years. On the other hand, the supplier firms in countries like Turkey, India and Asia have gained the ability to meet the higher requirement of flexibility and speed. It is inevitable for fast fashion retailers sourcing from these countries. However, companies should also be aware of the potential risks and hidden cost brought by overseas sourcing.Global sourcing strategy requires close coordination of R&D, manufacturing, and marketing activities on a global basis. Managing geographically separated R&D, manufacturing, and marketing activities, those companies face difficult coordination problems of integrating operations and adapting them to different legal, political, and cultural environments in different countries (Daniels et al 2013). Furthermore, separation of manufacturing activities involves an inherent risk that manufacturing in the value chain will gradually becomes neglected.Such neglect can be costly as continued involvement in manufacturing tends to lead to pioneering product design and innovation over time. An effective global sourcing strategy calls for continual forts to streamline manufacturing without sacrificing marketing flexibility. 3. Time, the growing consideration. With the wide spread of fast fashion' principle, fast fashion retailers are aware of the importance of efficiency. They notice that consumer demand is changing more rapidly and customers more discerning about quality and choice.Although a substan tial cost advantage can be gained by adopting overseas sourcing strategy, it cannot compress time in the supply system. To solve this problem, companies tend to choose the quick response strategy, which focuses on providing shorter lead times. According to Bristle et al (2003), quick response strategy was first developed as a result of the need to compete with offshore manufacturers in the USA. The quick response strategy emphasizes on flexibility and product velocity and relies on a measure of trust in sharing information (Barnes and Lea-Greenwood 2006 p. 63). In addition, while maximizing the diversity of products, quick response could minimize lead-times, expenditure, cost and stock of inventory. Quick response is not merely about reducing lead-time by the use of domestic or nearby sourcing strategy, it also involves the ability to gather latest information and use real-time data to understand the needs of the consumers. To some extent, quick response help to shorten the product cycle times and decrease risks and inventories at each stage of manufacturing and retailing operations.The Spanish Ezra, as mentioned before, is ‘an excellent example of a vertically integrated retailer using quick response methods' (Bristle et al 2003). Despite successful application of the concept â€Å"fast fashion† in H;M and Top Shop, Ezra utilizes the â€Å"fast fashion† strategy in all aspects dominant, fast fashion in Ezra meaner, within only two weeks from concept to sales faster than any other company. Unlike most of its competitors, Ezra still produces most of the products in Spain and Portugal and only outsource basic items in lower cost countries.By adopting quick response strategy, Ezra focused on creating a short, flexible, tight and innovative supply chain and tried to balance the higher labor cost by shorter (3-6 weeks) lead times. As a result, Sara's short deliveries have made it ‘as much as 12 times faster than the competition' (Newsweek 2001, p. 36, cited in Tokomak 2008, p. 30). Ezra launches almost 11000 new products in a year, which meaner the update speed is about two or three times a week. In 2005, sales grew by 21 percent over the prior fiscal year in Ezra, which makes Inedited ahead of H&M for the first time (Daniel et al 2013).The good result indicates that domestic sourcing still works as long as the company finds out a way to compensate for the losses in production cost. Having witnessed the successful experience of Ezra, competitors started to follow the lead of Ezra. For instance, Benton now replenishes stores once a week, Forever 21 Inc. And Unique are able to get new products in store thin 6 weeks (Ordered and Johnson 2008). Another example that worth to be mentioned is the Next brand in the ELK. Base on the quick response strategy, the company uses a limited edition approach to accelerate the update speed.Moreover, in order to respond to the changes in demand as soon as possible, next has even purcha sed part of a multi-national clothing supplier to enable constantly changing ranges by reducing lead time (Bristle et al 2003). As we can learn from the case studies, time becomes a priority consideration in the fashion market. The adoption of quick response method should be able to make manufacturer to ‘adjust the reduction of different styles, colors and sizes in response to retail sales during the season' (Seen 2007). 4.Comparison between overseas sourcing strategy and quick response strategy One of the biggest differences is that overseas sourcing strategy uses cost as a competitive weapon while quick response strategy uses time. As we known, both cost and time are the keys for retailers to gain more market share and profit; The dilemma for fast fashion companies is: Whether fashion retailers should outsource production overseas for lower production cost or keep manufacturing nearby to facilitate speed. As highlighted earlier, the fashion market is volatile and unpredictab le.Quick response strategy emerges in such an environment. Compared to overseas sourcing strategy, which faces long transport times and difficulty in controlling over production, quick response strategy enables retailers to cope with uncertainty or changes in the fashion market. On the other hand, although domestic sourcing provides companies from paying for higher logistic cost and other hidden costs, offshore sourcing secures lower cost inputs, (Christopher et al 2004). It is argued that fast fashion companies need to adopt strategies that optimally mix overseas sourcing ND quick response to win the market.The changes occurred in Marks & Spencer over these years could help us understand the advantages and disadvantages of both strategies. As a major British retailer, it chooses to use local suppliers for decades. However, in face of the downward pressure on price, it abandoned its domestic sourcing strategy and started to relocate production overseas (Christopher et al 2006). Acco rdingly, the average hourly labor cost in the I-J is nine times higher than in Morocco and even nineteen times higher than in China, Pakistan and Indonesia.After adopting oversea suppliers, Marks & Spencer on noticed that they overlooked the related problems, such as the cost of transportation, the need to forecast styles, colors and volumes in advance and the risk of stock inventory. Facing the challenge of adopting global sourcing, Marks & Spencer tend to use â€Å"dual supply chains†. By combing global sourcing strategy and quick response strategy, â€Å"fashionable items† are manufactured in locations with a journey time no more than four days.For â€Å"basic items†, for which demand is easier to be predicted, Marks & Spencer continue producing them in lower cost locations (Christopher et al 2006). Likewise, Ezra has also adopted both strategies for its supply chain. Today, price is no longer the determined factor that concerned by customers. Many companies consider not simply price but also quality, reliability, and technology of components and products to be procured. These companies design their sourcing decision on the basis of the interplay between their competitive advantages and the comparative advantages of various sourcing locations for long-term gains.By contrast, they care more about the quality, design and the level of popularity. Therefore, companies have to find the balance between cost and time. If fast fashion tillers make good use of these two strategies, like M&S and Ezra did, the negative effect could be covered to a large extent. Conclusion Volatile markets, short product lifestyles and high product variety are the characteristics of today are clothing industry. This essay mainly discusses the adoption of two common strategies- global sourcing strategy and quick response strategy, in fast fashion clothing sector.Although most companies already have chosen outsourcing strategy to maintain the competitive advantage, t he nature of today's fashion market forces companies to consider the importance of speed and flexibility. The analysis of both strategies with the help of real companies' experience shows that both of them have positive and negative effects on fast fashion retailers. However, overseas sourcing strategy and quick response strategy are not mutually exclusive. In practice, the successful examples of M&S and Ezra have proved the feasibility of combing global sourcing with quick response strategy.