Home Depot Essay Example for Free

Home Depot Essay Organizational talent is where the organization has the best of the best personnel in as its staff. This covers all the departments of the organization from subordinate staff, production staff as well as the technical staff. Having such a staff base can be advantageous to the organization in terms of efficiency and quality service delivery. The Home Depot Company is one such organization that has the very best personnel as members of its staff. According to Bullard (2010), there are a few basic tactics in which and organization can make maximum of use of its organizational talent and they are: Remove your Constant Underperformers: It is a waste of resources to pay an employee whose performance is not worthy talking about. Therefore in order to remain with employees who can perform, it is wise to get rid of the nonperformers. This is one strategy that the Home Depot uses to improve its service delivery. Bad apples: There are many obstacles that an organization encounters in the day to day running of its activities; therefore for there to be smooth running of the business, the organization should get rid of these internal and external obstacles. Hidden gems: Each organization has the â€Å"silent performer†. This is the employee who is never in the limelight but delivers the best services for the company. Discovering this employee and nurturing him through motivation is the best way that an organization can use to ensure that the organizations talent is maximized. High-quality outside hires: Short term outsourcing can be beneficial for the company especially in technical areas. The human resource department should always be on the look out for those potential employees who can add value to the business and hire them when need arises. The Home Depot as an international brand intends to use the following management techniques to gain a competitive advantage in the Do It Yourself industry (Hewitt, 2007). Performance Management: The performance management allows the company to evaluate the individual performance of its employees and as such it can able to tell which employee fits in which department and how to ensure they deliver the best service for the company. Compensation Management: Nothing can be more motivation an employee as being rewarded for good performance. The Home Depot Company is one such company that ensures that its best performers are recognized and rewarded. This gives them more moral to perform and deliver quality work for the company. Learning Management: Employee training forums help them to be able to learn about new production as well as sales and marketing and as such they can be able to diversify and produce more quality goods. The Home Depot intends to use this management feature to ensure that their staffs especially in the production sector are well trained and conversant with the latest market trends and designs. Social Networking: Social networking can also be referred to as team building, even thou this concept is not new at the Home Depot company, it seeks to improve it and come up with diverse methods of networking and team building. Discuss the Key Channels that Home Depot Developed for Recruiting Talent By recruiting talent, the Home Depot has been able to build the following key basic channels of organization management as well as customer relationship management. The Home Depot has been able to discover capabilities that can be used to determine the success of the customer experience as well as the customer relationship management (Hewitt, 2007). Some of the capabilities include the design and implementation of viable customer relationship management (CRM). This will be used to ensure that clients’ needs are well taken care of. Another key channel that the Home Depot developed by recruiting talent is that it has been able to determine the most productive channel for each department. This has ensured that the level of production in the organization is on steady upward progress in each and every department (Hewitt, 2007). The last key channel of development that the Home Depot develops by talent recruit is that it has been able to build a mutual relationship between itself and its various business partners and associates. This has helped it to ensure that there is smooth running of businesses it the various franchises that it operates in and outside America. Discuss the Critical Programs used by Home Depot to Keep Talent in their Pipeline  The Home Depot has put in place a few programs / strategies that are meant to ensure that the staff it hires are not tempted to jump ship and search for greener pastures but they stay committed to their work. For the new recruits, they are first guided on the various functions of the department they will assigned to, after which they are given a challenge to undertake (Hewitt, 2007). The talent will feel â€Å"empowered† by the challenge given to him / her and will strive to deliver the best, however the management is always on the standby to ensure that they are given any support that they may require. In addition to that, the skilled talents are allowed to try out a variety of roles before they can be advised on the best carrier choice to take. Finally the talents are given an opportunity to try out new innovations and ideas that they might have, by so doing the talents will feel appreciated and as such it will hard for them to leave the organization (Hewitt, 2007). Discuss Three Lessons Learned by Home Depot related to Talent Management. Some of the lessons that the Home Depot learned in relation to talent management are: Investing in talent, give programs time to work, listen and respond to naysayers. Listen and Respond to Naysayers: In every organization, there is always positive and negative criticism coming in from all quarters. The Home Depot has learnt to use the public relation skills by always giving a positive and promising feed back to any criticism that is raise against it. In so doing the company has been able to draw admirers from different regions of the world. Youth Investment: The youths can be used to determine the future of an organization, this is because of their willingness to work, learn and deliver. The youths are also innovative and filled with creative ideas. The Home Depot extensively invests in the youths in all sectors and departments. The youth are then given the responsibility of delivering quality serviced for the organization. Time: The rush by most organizations to have instant results is what makes the programs the implement fail, however when it comes to Home Depot, it has learnt to give time for the programs it implements to develop, mature before the results trickle in. y so doing, the company has been able to reap maximum inputs from the output it gives. Summation / Conclusion The Home Depot Company is a sure that with good planning and implementation, any business can grow into an empire in the shortest time possible. In addition to that investing in youth talent is another way for a company to expand rapidly. The Home Depot should spread its customer base to other untapped market like Africa where there is a lot of potential.

The arc welding of mild steel

The arc welding of mild steel Introduction The microstructure of a material is significant when it comes to the properties and characteristics of a particular material. It would be perfect if the properties and characteristics, which are related to the microstructure, of the parent metal, heat affected zone and the weld metal is the same. However the probability of occurrence of such a situation is very less since the parent metals are used in the wrought form and the weld metals are used in the cast form. Wrought materials got superior strength, ductility and toughness when it is weighed against the materials in the cast form. Even then the weld metal properties draws near the properties of the wrought material, since it is a minuscule casting which is rapidly cooled. This situation is particularly related with the ferrous materials, which includes mild steel also (Houldcroft and John, 1988). The report holds the information regarding the development of microstructure during the arc welding of mild steel plate, changes which occur in the heat affected zone and the change in the structure of the steel when the carbon equivalent of the steel was increased. Mild steel Steel with a low carbon content of 0.25% is known as mild steel. Mild steel is easy to weld and fabricate because of its low carbon content since it would not get harden by heat treatment. This leads to the lack of hardened zones in the heat affected zones and welds, even though there is quick cooling. As the carbon content increases, the ease in welding reduces because of the quenching action (Davies, 1993). Welding Welding is primarily classified into two welding methods and they are (1) Plastic welding and (2) Fusion welding. It can be further fragmented into eight divisions on the basis of its specific processes and they are (1) Cold welding, (2) Thermit Welding, (3) Gas welding, (4) Resistance welding, (5) Arc welding, (6) Braze welding, (7) Forge welding, (8) Induction welding. The welding processes such as Cold welding, Pressure welding, Resistance welding and Forge welding comes under the Plastic welding division whereas the welding processes such as Gas welding, Thermit welding, Induction welding and Arc welding belongs to the Fusion welding processes (Clark, 1962). Arc welding The electrode material and shielding technique are the basis of classification of Arc welding processes. In mass production, the automatic welding technique is very important and the Arc welding technique is well adapted to it. Added on to this, Arc welding technique imposes a lot of flexibility to the joining of both thin and heavy sections of a material. Another trait of Arc welding process is that the heat application in this particular welding process is highly concentrated when compared to other welding processes (Clark, 1962). Microstructure of weld metal The microstructure of the weld metal is primarily dependent upon the alloy content of the carbon steel. Whereas in carbon, carbon manganese and micro-alloyed steel, the weld metal microstructure is mainly affected by the welding procedure and composition of the weld. According to Lancaster, 1999, the microstructure of Carbon-Manganese alloy steel is affected by the aspects such as cooling rate, composition, plastic strain and the presence of non-metallic nuclei. Figure 2.1 shows the effect of cooling rate and composition on structures produced in the weld. The above details show that the steel containing less than 0.30% C will have similar microstructures after the welding process. During the Arc welding of mild steel a number of discrete structural zones, such as unaffected, transition, refined, coarsened, fusion and deposited metal zones are formed. These zones are shown in the diagram and it is compared with the relevant section of the iron-iron carbide diagram. Many of these zones will not be having discrete line of demarcation and they appear to be merged together (Clark, 1962). Unaffected zone In the unaffected zone, the parent mild steel is not heated to an adequate amount to reach the critical range. Therefore, the structure is unchanged and the unaffected zone represents the archetypal grain structure of the parent mild steel. The figure shows the microstructure of the unaffected zone of mild steel. It consists of a typical combination of ferrite and pearlite (Clark, 1962). Transition zone Next to the unaffected zone, there exists a region where there is a temperature range, between the A1 and A3 transformation temperatures, in which a limited allotropic recrystallization takes place and this particular zone is known as the transitional zone. The transition zone has a microstructure of both ferrite and pearlite. But the size of the pearlite region will be different from that in the unaffected zone. The pearlite region will be much finer which is due to the heating of the mild steel to the critical range and due to the cooling after the heating process. During the heating process, the pearlite will be transformed into austenite and then transformed into finer pearlite grains on cooling (Clark, 1962). Refined zone After the transition zone, comes the refined zone. In this zone, the temperature is heated just above the A3 temperature and the finest grain structure exists in this region as a result of the extensive grain refinement. The figure shows the microstructure of the refined zone of the mild steel. The microstructure consists of much finer structures of pearlite and ferrite. These structures are formed from the austenite which existed at a temperature just above the upper critical temperature (Clark, 1962). Coarsened zone The region next to the refined region is known as the coarsened zone. In this zone, the temperature is higher than the A3 temperature and the grain structure will be coarsened. When it comes to the coarsened zone, the microstructure will be dominated by pearlite grains and ferrite will be of smaller grain. Due to the prevailed rate of cooling, the pearlite will show a higher rate of finer grains than that existed in the original pearlite areas, when it is magnified (Clark, 1962). Fusion zone The actual melting of the parent metal takes place when the temperature is higher than the solidus and the zone in which this takes place is known as the fusion zone. In the fusion zone, the microstructure will be of a very coarse structure. This type of structure is common in mild steel where the particular structure is formed from the large austenite grains when the cooling rate is of a medium pace. The following figure shows the microstructure in the fusion zone (Clark, 1962). Deposited metal zone The deposited metal zone is a zone along with the fusion zone where there is a coarse grain structure and it happens when a filler metal is added to the weld. The structure of deposited metal zone is shown in the figure. As you can see in the figure, the microstructure consists of columnar structure of ferrite and pearlite (Clark, 1962). Heat affected zone The possibility of performing a welding process without building up a thermal gradient in the parent metal is almost negligible. The temperature and the speed of the welding process is very influential in deciding the spread of heat into the parent metal. The thermal gradient will get compressed by the high power welding at high speed (Houldcroft and John, 1988). The schematic sketch of a weld, heat affected zone and relevant portion of the iron-carbide phase diagram is shown in the figure 3.1. The base metal is heated up to a peak temperature and it varies along with the distance from the fusion line. If the lower critical temperature, A1, was surpassed by the peak temperature, then there will be a transformation from ferrite to austenite. This transformation will be complete and an austenitic microstructure is formed when the temperature goes beyond the upper critical temperature, A3. The ferrite structure is stable at room temperature and has bcc crystal structure whereas the austenite structure is stable at high temperature and has fcc crystal structure (Raj et al, 2006). The heat affected zone of an arc weld in steel is classified into three regions, such as supercritical, intercritical and subcritical regions, from a metallurgical perspective (Lancaster, 1999). The supercritical zone The supercritical zone can be classified into the grain growth region and the grain refined region. Coarse grain heat affected zone (CGHAZ) is the term which is used to refer to the region of heat affected zone where extensive growth of austenite grains takes place when the temperature goes beyond the temperature of 1300 degree Celsius. The region next to the CGHAZ, which is at a temperature range of 900 to 1200 degree Celsius, is known as the Fine grained heat affected zone (FGHAZ). In this region of the steel, the austenite grain size remains small (Raj et al, 2006). The intercritical zone The intercritical region is narrow when compared to other zones and partial transformation takes place in this zone. The region of HAZ, which is having a temperature range in between the critical temperatures A1 and A3 is referred as Inter critical heat affected zone (ICHAZ) (Raj et al, 2006). The subcritical zone In the subcritical zone, not much observable alteration in the microstructure will be there except the occurrence of a small region of spheroidization, which is difficult to detect. The tempered zone and unaffected base material comes under this zone (Raj et al, 2006). The microstructures such as ferrite and other metastable phases are formed during the cooling cycle of a welding process, from an austenite microstructure which was formed at high temperatures. For welds produced with adequate pre-heat or for high heat input welding, the cooling rate will be less and this leads to the formation of a mixture of ferrite and carbides whereas in a high cooling rate scenario, microstructures such as bainite or martensite are formed from austenite. The formation of bainite and martensite is also affected by the amount of carbon content and alloying elements. This particular trait of steel to form a hard microstructure such as bainite or martensite from austenite phase when cooled at high rate is generally referred to as hardenability and this increases with the austenite grain size and alloy content of the steel. Therefore in the case of mild steel, the microstructure of the heat affected zone (HAZ) is of carbide and ferrite after performing an arc welding even if it is performed without any preheating (Raj et al, 2006). The effect in the increase of carbon-equivalent of steel The carbon equivalent plays an important role in deciding the microstructure of the steel. Along with this, the cooling rate during the welding process too plays a decisive role in this regard. The probability of formation of martensite or bainite in high carbon equivalent steels is high and in order to avoid that situation, use of distinctive techniques, such as preheating and post-heating are required (Clark, 1962). Carbon equivalent calculation In order to discuss about the effect of carbon equivalent in deciding the microstructure of mild steel during the arc welding process, first we have to discuss the formula which is used to calculate the carbon equivalent of steel. The carbon equivalent can be calculated by the formula. CE= C% + (Mn%)/6 + (Cr%+Mo%+V%)/5 + (Ni%+Cu%)/15 (Davies, 1993). This formula is relevant to the plain carbon and carbon manganese steel but it is not applicable to micro-alloyed high strength low-alloy steel or low alloy Cr-Mo type. Due to Ito and Bessyo, the formula used by Japanese Welding Engineering Society is Pcm= C + Si/30 + (Mn+Cu+Cr)/20 + Ni/60 + Mo/15 + V/10 + 5B (Lancaster, 1999). As mentioned in the previous sections, the formation of hard microstructures such as bainite and martensite is dependent upon the cooling rate as well as the carbon equivalent in the steel. During the welding process of mild steel, the heat will be absorbed faster by the steel and creates a sudden fall of temperature (Raj et al, 2006). Here, steels with three different carbon contents are compared with the help of an Iron-Iron Carbide Equilibrium diagram. The steel with less than 0.83 percent carbon content is known as hypo-eutectoid steels, steel with 0.83 percent carbon content is known as eutectoid steel and steel with more than 0.83 percent carbon content is known as hypereutectoid steel (Clark, 1962). Steel with 0.1% carbon content This type of steel belongs to the hypo-eutectoid steel. As you can see from the Iron-Iron carbide diagram, when a 0.1% C steel is cooled at an appropriate rate from 2800 F to room temperature, a mixture of austenite and delta solid solution is formed from the delta solid solution and liquid. On further cooling, grains of austenite are formed from the former followed by formation of ferrite and austenite. By the time the cooling is done till the room temperature, a microstructure of ferrite and pearlite will be formed (Clark, 1962). Steel with 0.8% carbon content This form of steel has a composition which is very near to the composition of eutectoid steel. During the process of cooling of this steel from 2800F, the transformation starts from the molten state into a liquid and austenite form. Then on further cooling, formation of austenite followed by the eutectoid called pearlite will occur (Clark, 1962). Steel with 1.2% carbon content This form of steel belongs to the hypereutectoid steel. During the cooling process of this steel from 2800F, the transformation starts from the molten state of steel into a liquid and austenite form. Then on further cooling, there will be formation of austenite, combination of austenite and cementite, and ends with ferrite and cementite at room temperature (Clark, 1962). Conclusion Microstructure of steel is a very important deciding factor when it comes to its properties and behaviour. It is obvious from this report that the cooling rate during the welding process, composition of weld metal and the type of welding process plays a vital role in the formation of the different form of microstructures in the weld metal. The weldability and hardenability of the steel depends a lot on the carbon content of the steel to be welded. As the carbon content of steel increases, the weldability of that particular steel decreases and its hardenability increases. This proves that the composition of the weld metal plays an imperative role in the characteristics of a welded material. This report illustrates that the weldability of mild steel is quite good and the role of composition of mild steel in achieving so. It also gives you an idea about the various changes that occur to the microstructure of the mild steel during the arc welding process. References Clark, D. and Varney, W. (1962) Physical metallurgy for Engineers. 2nd edition New York: D Van Nostrand Company. Davies, A.C. (1993) The science and practice of welding, vol 2, The practice of welding. 10th edition Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Houldcroft, P. and John, R. (1988) Welding and cutting. 1st edition Cambridge: Woodhead-Faulkner Limited. Raj, B., Shankar, V. and Bhaduri, A. (2006) Welding Technology for Engineers. 1st edition Oxford: Alpha Science International Limited. Lancaster, J.F (1999) Metallurgy of Welding. 6th edition UK: Abington Publishing.

Benefits of Green Supply Chain Management

Benefits of Green Supply Chain Management Consciousness about the environment has been on the increase in the past few decades. Worlds environmental problems such as global warming, toxic substance usage, and decrease in non-replenishable resources has caught up amongst the people now. The Governments around the world are releasing campaigns to take this problem to people. Quite a few organizations have responded by using ecological principles to their business, such as reducing the energy use of oil, using environmentally friendly material first, and using recycled paper for packaging. Ecological principles have been extended to many departments within the organization, including the supply chain. environmental management of the supply chain (GSCM) made its appearance in recent years. This concept encompasses all steps in the manufacture of the first to the last stage of the lifecycle, from product design to recycling. Green Supply Chain Management can also be used for other economic sectors like government, education and s ervices apart from manufacturing. The aim of this paper is to express the impact of green in the management of the supply chain. It starts with the basics of Supply Chain Management of the company at different levels. Then he covers the chronology and the benefits of Green Supply Chain Management. What factors influence society to adopt the Green Supply Chain?These factors can be classified according to different players such as government, whole of market, industry, competitors, and society. Since Green Supply Chain Management can be applied to various areas within the company, this document also addresses the implementation of Green Supply Chain Management in several areas.In addition, a few examples of Green Supply Chain Management application is also demonstrated to support the concept. Table of Contents (jump to) Introduction Basics of supply chain management Supply Chain Integration Chronology of GSCM Objectives of GSCM Listening to Environmentally Aware Consumers Profiting from Being Green Unawareness of Potential Benefits Green Design Green Operations The Case of Kodak: Green Technological Advancement Why Change to Green Supply Chain Management? Conclusion Introduction Supply chain management has been viewed conventionally as a process in which the raw materials are converted into finished products, and are then provided to the end-customer. This whole course of action requires extraction and exploitation of various natural resources. The point to be noted here is that however, we live in an era where environmental sustainability has become an important concern to business practices. Manufacturers for a very long time now have been facing the pressure to concentrate on Environmental Management (EM) in their supply chains. However it is not at all an easy task to perform. The blending of the green concept to the supply chain concept affixes a new concept where the supply chain will bear a straight relation to the environment. This fact is interesting because both these paradigms were contradictory in the past. Supply chains, from an operational point of view, are all about mining and exploiting the raw materials from the environment. This paper will present a general idea about the Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM) literature. Knowledge of the broader outlook of the Green supply chain is the most important step in getting an insight about the branch of environmental sustainability. There is a vast span of literature available on the subject of green supply chain management, especially from 1990s to the present. But the key arguments that were drawn out of the Green supply chain Management literature over the last almost two decades are the concepts of green design, green operations, green manufacturing, waste management and reverse logistics. The purpose of this paper, however, is to provide insights on some of these topics and present an overview of the academic standpoint of the Green Supply Chain Management literature. This paper will begin with discussing the traditional supply chain management and will then proceed by moving on to chronology of the Green Supply Chain Management. This paper will then furth er move on to talk about the idea of Green Design and Green Operations. At the end, this paper contains a brief talk about why organisations go for a Green supply chain? Basics of Supply Chain Management The term supply chain originated around the mid 1970s. Supply chain was used as a term for transferring on electricity towards the final customer. However the term supply chain management came into the picture not until the late 1980s. The potential benefits of integrating the various internal business functions which included purchasing, manufacturing, sales and distribution into one interrelated framework were discussed. Since then supply chain management has been defined as the integration of business functions involving the flow of materials and information from inbound to outbound ends of the business. Twofold or party relationships between the suppliers are becoming a part of the supply chain process. Here the formulation of a supply chain framework in terms of establishing contracts between firms can be seen. The opportunity to either vertically integrate or market their products in connection with other partners has been given to the organisations. Supply Chain Integration The concept of Supply chain management evolved dramatically around the early 1990s.It turned out to be so due the increasing importance of the relationship of the firm with other suppliers. One of the possible reason for this was the emergence of a globalised marketplace. The firms needed to become more integrative amongst other firms to reduce the susceptibility of its supply chain. There are various examples and case studies where the firms have become or are becoming more integrative to their supply chain partners. A few good examples can be 1.) the Japanese automotive industry and the Italian craft-based industry. The operational processes of the supply chain are enhanced by the help of the added factors such as Lean and Just-In-Time (JIT) Management. The requirement of the organisations to become dynamically quick to respond to the needs of customers has become increasingly important.The contributing factors that would make firms more competitive are: speed (delivering customer demand quickly), agility (responsiveness to customer demand) and leanness (doing more with less) The Chronology of Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM) An emerging field that fibres out of the traditional supply chain perspective is Green supply chain management (GSCM). Businesses have been sparked to become more environmentally conscious by the quality revolution in the late 1980s and the supply chain revolution in the early 1990s. Green Supply Chain Management has gained popularity in both academics and professionals to intend in reducing waste and safeguarding the quality of product-life and the natural resources. Now the important assets to achieve best and state of art practices are Eco-efficiency and remanufacturing processes. The demand of the Global markets and pressures from governments are forcing businesses to become more sustainable. In my personal opinion, increase in government regulation and stronger public mandates for environmental responsibility have brought these issues onto strategic planning agendas, and into the executive suites. The key argument that came out in the literature over the last two decades are the concepts of: green design, green operations, reverse logistics, waste management and green manufacturing . The very first green supply chain came into existence in 1989. It was the first of its kind literature that developed a finest forecasting system for organisations to use and to forecast products that can potentially be reused/recycled. This forecasting system, however, was exceedingly controversial as individuals returning containers is not typically known with confidence, so therefore, the findings were somewhat unintelligible. The first green design literature came into context in 1991 with the aim of considering the need for a green design to reduce the impact of product waste. Further Life-cycle analysis was an example of a structure that came out of green design. Green Operations in terms of reverse logistics was an important concept that came out of the Green Supply Chain Management concept. The use of plastics and bottle recycling came up by late 1990s and early 2000. Waste management is another topic that came out of the Green Supply Chain Management literature. Green Manufacturing, on the other hand, was not conceptualised until 1993. Objectives of Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM) The purpose of the whole supply chain must be green to help the company achieve its environmental objectives. To facilitate this, employees must learn strategies on green procurement, understand business practices, corporate social responsibility strategies define, develop logistics processes more efficiently, and learn about the alignment of the chain supply to meet the goals of corporate sustainability. Every company that manufactures and sells products uses packaging materials every day. Packaging is used everywhere starting from moving raw material to a manufacturer followed by bulk finished goods to a distribution centre and in the end the final product to the customer. The packaging material executes a number of tasks; protects the objects from damage, from the ecological circumstances, and also make the objects easier to transportation and to make the item eye-catching to the customer. However, as the publics opinion about the environment is changing, companies are looking at how they can shift to greener packaging alternatives. A few of the suggested alternatives are: Recycled Content In packaging materials from recycled materials is available, including corrugated cardboard, molded pulp, cardboard, steel, newsprint, aluminum, glass and some but not all plastics. It is common practice to include some level of recycled content for certain packaging materials. Post-Consumer And Pre-Consumer Content The term post-consumer shows the finished products that were used by the consumer, then removed from waste for recycling. Materials recycled by households and non-residential users such as offices, manufacturers and retailers are included in the post-consumer materials. Examples of post-consumer materials include foam block, newspapers, glass and aluminum containers, and corrugated cartons. Pre-consumer content is different from post-consumer in that it includes the waste left by the methods of processing and printing, rejected by the manufacturer before it is used by the consumer. Either total recycled content by combining the totals for the period before post-consumer and / or the post-consumer recycled content is provided by the manufacturers. The environmental benefits are provided by both pre-consumer and post-consumer recycled materials. The use of recycled materials supply market with post-consumer items that are sorted to be recycled by consumers. Paperboard Packaging Cardboard is used for packaging materials in a variety of industries because of its cost, versatility and low durability. Increasing amounts of cardboard with post-consumer recycled materials are used by businesses because of its quality, cost advantage and a reduced impact on the environment. Companies have adopted the use of recycled cardboard in products reaching the consumer in mind to improve the quality, variety and availability of recycled cardboard. Various studies around the world today show that over 50% of products on supermarket shelves are packed in recycled cardboard. According to a survey conducted by the Alliance of recycled cardboard, 61% of consumers are more likely to buy a company that uses recycled cardboard packaging. The study also revealed that 77% of consumers felt better about a company that uses recycled cardboard and 80% said do something good for the environment when they buy products with recycled cardboard packaging. This suggests that the growing awareness of environmental issues by customers and the efforts that manufacturers regarding the use of recycled packaging does not go unnoticed. As companies move towards policies more friendly environment, a change effort that can be made throughout the supply chain that should not increase the overall cost is to improve the use of recycled packaging. Products such as recycled cardboard, which are now available are of high quality, low cost and are a major concern for consumers. Listening to Environmentally Aware Consumers As the community becomes more and more aware of the issues regarding the environment and global warming, consumers will be bound to ask more questions about the products they are purchasing. Some of the questions that the companies face today are: how green their manufacturing processes and supply chain are? How much is their carbon footprint? and How they recycle? Profiting from Being Green The myth that going green will result in lower profits and increased operational costs has disappeared as many companies now have realised that its not a bad thing and have been able to satisfy the customers desires to incorporate green initiatives in their supply chain processes and also convert it into increased profits. A number of companies have established the fact that there is a link between improved environmental performance and financial gains. Companies have had an insight into their supply chains and found out areas where improvements in the way they operate can result into increased profits. Just for an example General Motors condensed their clearance costs by $12 million by setting up a reusable container program with their suppliers. In a desperate attempt to reduce the costs throughout their supply chain, General Motors derived that the cost reductions they realised match the companys commitment to the environment, maybe General Motors may have been less concerned about the green issues if they were making record profits. Unawareness of Potential Benefits By reducing the environmental impact of their business processes, companies can find cost savings. Savings are often seen as an advantage to implement environmental policies, by re-examine the supply chain business, procurement, planning and management of material consumption for dispatch and delivery of finished products. Benefits attributed to reducing the environmental impact of a company are not in the minds of the executives of the supply chain despite the public emphasis on the environment. It shows that many executives are still unaware that improving the environmental performance of waste disposal and resulting low training costs, less the costs of environmental permitting, and often, reduced material costs. The expectation of an interest in environmental issues and environmental concerns by the community will not diminish as economic issues become more important because of the faltering economy.. Green Design Green design is a vital sub-theme to Green supply chain management. It encourages environmental awareness about designing a product or a service. Organisations have specific prospective to become eco-friendly in the direction of product re-manufacturing. Heavy industries that have intricate supply chains must take into concern the benefits of reverse logistics (RL). ISO14000 was introduced as a result of the Rio Summit on the Environment in 1992. The pressure groups calling for firms to encourage greening of their supply chains are growing. In 1998 a two-level location model is proposed on product recovery with the support of the Dutch government. The role of purchasing in reverse logistics system and design was examined. All the manufacturing plants that participated in the above mentioned model concluded that all of them were in favour of reverse logistics without government legislation having been imposed. Life-cycle Analysis Life-cycle analysis is an imperative part of Green Design. To measure environmental and resource related products to the production process life-cycle analysis was introduced. This measurement involves everything that comes in stages starting from extraction of raw materials, production, distribution, and remanufacturing, recycling and final disposal. Life cycle analysis scrutinize and enumerate the energy and materials used and wasted and measures the impact of the product on the environment. Government policies are also an additional feature for organisations to work in the direction of life-cycle analysis. Green Operations Reverse logistics Reverse Logistics (RL) is the contrary of traditional or forward logistics. A process where a manufacturer accepts previously shipped products from the point for consumption for possible recycling and re-manufacturing is reverse logistics. Various studies report that reverse logistics have been extensively used in automobile industries such as BMW and General Motors. Other companies such as Hewlett Packard, Storage Tek and TRW are also using reverse logistics as a supply chain process. Following reverse logistics would sooner or later help firms become more aggressive and competitive in their own industry. First stage in the recovery process is the Collection stage. For remanufacturing products are selected, collected and transported to facilities. To begin the converging process, the used products came from different sources and should be brought to product recovery facility. When sorting reusable products Sorting and Recycling are also an important mechanism. The collection schemes should be classified according to materials whether separated by the consumer (separation at source) or centralised (mixed waste). The end objective is to arrange products that can be reused to trim down costs of making new products. Implementation of GSCM to various areas Companies are investigating all aspects of their supply chain to reduce costs.A key element of any program of cost reduction is implemented waste reduction. There are a number of processes that can be used to reduce waste in the supply chain of a business. Design of product To identify where the use of raw materials can be reduced or high-priced materials be replaced, many companies are probing the design of their products. Indeed many businesses are reviewing each component to identify whether it can be manufactured or purchased at a lower price. Companies are examining cheaper and less wasteful materials when designing product packaging options. Raw material Management Every production process should be investigated to reduce the waste of raw materials. Waste material that cannot be recycled or reused must be redesigned in manufacturing operations processes. Even in processes that do produce waste that can be recycled should be examined due to the costs in recycling processes. Using Scrap Material The use reuse of waste material can be stretched out as well as minimizing the waste of raw materials in manufacturing processes. Improvements in the technology of reclaiming waste material means that companies that formerly discarded waste products now have the capability to reuse that material. The costs will inevitably fall helping more businesses with waste issues as the recycling technology becomes more available. Quality improvement Quality control is present in all manufacturing processes but usually aims on the finished product rather than reducing waste. Minimizing the waste of raw materials as well as producing a quality product should be the goal of quality management. Improving the overall quality of a companys manufacturing process will reduce waste overall as it will increase the quantity of finished goods that pass quality inspection. The Case of Kodak: Green Technological Advancement Since the early 1990s, the need for technological advancement to Green Operations is becoming more popular. The new economy has encouraged firms to be more environmentally sustainable and eco-efficient. Kodak is an example of a company that has a remanufacturing line to the supply chain. It is reported that 310 million single-use cameras have been returned since 1990. Although the timing of returns of singleuse cameras is unknown, Kodak has managed to allocate 310 million singleuse cameras back into their production line. The reason for this success came from its own product design. Kodaks single-use cameras are simple, reusable and easy to recycle, and because of this, Kodak has managed to reuse their products and save costs. Xerox Europe, US Naval Aviation are also good examples of Green Operations. Companies are encouraged to have Green Logistics due to various legislations. Producer responsibility has always been, and is still, a growing concern. This concern is important because organisations are now beginning to become more rational in preserving the natural resources and the environment. Why Change to Green Supply Chain Management? There are different thrusts for companies to change to a greener supply chain than the existing one. Some organisations are simply doing this because it is the right thing to do for the environment even though some of the motivators are quite unclear. Maybe some are more fundamental to environmental change, but others may not. Studies, however, reveal that profitability and cost reduction are some of the main motivators for businesses to become green in the supply chain. Reverse logistics were motivated primarily by economic factors and not concerns about protecting the eco-system. The reverse logistics can only bring about profitability and reduction of waste. Advertising took this idea further and argued that Green Supply Chain Management practices are only about win-win relationships on environmental and economic performance. There are hidden values to reverse logistics and the companies need to admit it.. The customers, on average, return about 6% of the products they buy. These products can be from plastic bottles to boxes. If organizations can capture this 6% return from the consumers,they will be able to cost-save. Doing this, however, still remains an issue. Reverse logistics can cost-save only if done precisely. Saying this means that before going any further to green logistics, organisations must have a core vision to promote Environmental Management. Conclusion The intention of this paper is to briefly provide an outline of the Green supply chain literature. This paper argues that the ecological impacts of industrial activity has been reduced by the help of Green Supply Chain Management.. Key academics have argued different angles to Green Supply Chain Management. The concepts of green design, green operations, reverse logistics, waste management and green manufacturing are the key themes that came out of the Green Supply Chain Management literature over the last two decades. This paper, however, briefly discussed some of these issues and, first of all, a brief introduction to conventional supply chain management was provided, then a discussion to the chronology of Green Supply Chain Management and green supply chain as a discipline. Green design and green operations were briefly discussed next. The motive for organisations to go towards green operations was dealt in the last part of this paper. Even though Green Supply Chain Management has been scrupulously reviewed, there are areas around Green supply chain that still require further study. One is a gap in the literature in terms of the stakeholders views towards green supply chain. Stakeholders views can sometimes be contradictory to the companys point of view. Normally, when the word natural environment and sustainability comes into the picture, this is seen as a restriction to the organisations generation of profits by most operation managers and stakeholders. Some stakeholders would go against green supply chain management and some would not. This paper recommends that researchers should focus more towards qualitative study such as interviews in understanding the variation in different stakeholder views towards green supply chain management to depict the varied views about the concept and how this, in the end, implicates management decisions.

Constructivism Essay -- Philosophy Philosophical Learning Essays

Constructivism What is constructivism? Constructivism is a philosophy of learning that "refers to the idea that learners construct knowledge for themselves---each learner individually (and socially) constructs meaning---as he or she learns (Hein, 1991, p.1). In other words, "students construct their own knowledge based on their existing schemata and beliefs"(Airasian & Walsh, 1997, p.1) Constructivists deny the existence of one "true" body of knowledge that exists independently of the learners and espouse the idea that "there is no knowledge independent of the meaning attributed to experience (constructed) by the learner, or community of learners (Hein, 1991, p.1). Knowledge is "a personal and social construction of meaning out of the bewildering array of sensations which have no order or structure besides the explanations...which we [the learners] fabricate for them (Hein, 1991, p.1). To construct a meaning to the philosophy of constructivism, the misunderstandings of constructivism, its value in the world of teaching, a nd its influence in instructional technology will be discussed. Misunderstandings lead to an Understanding Because constructivism is sometimes viewed as a new pedagogy rather than a new philosophy of learning, many incorrect assumptions are made about its implications and applications to learning and the learners. By examining some of the misunderstandings surrounding constructivism, one can gain an understanding of the nature of constructivism and how its implications can be successfully applied to teaching. The first myth of constructivism is that "students should always be actively and reflectively constructing"(Clements, 1997, p.1). The constructivists view learning as "an active process i... ...The fallacy of constructivism. Clio, 24(3), 4 pages. Available at: Galileo Periodical Abstracts. Hein, George E. (1991, October). Constructivist learning theory: the museum and the needs of people. Paper presented at the CECA Conference in Jerusalem, Israel. Kamii, Constance and Janice K. Ewing. (1996). Basic teaching on Piaget’s constructivism. Childhood Education, 72(5), 4 pages. Available at: Galileo Periodical Abstracts. Lunenberg, Fred C. (1998, June). Constructivism and technology: instructional designs for successful education reform. Journal of Instructional Technology, 25(2), p. 75- 82. o’Donnell, Angela M. (June, 1997). Constructivism by design and in practice: a review. Issues in Education, 3(2), p. 285-294. Wilson, Brent G. (1997, March). Reflections on constructivism and instructional design. Instructional Development Paradigms, 18 pages.

Black Bean Revival :: Coffee Drinks Essays

Black Bean Revival Sitting in a corner or side booth with eyes bulging and steam rising from the small bowl of brew while pondering or talking was the common site of coffee shop goers that I’ve run across in my travels. Fueled by an interest as to why people buy more coffee than books at my former employment and why my mother orders coffee through a catalog for coffee drinkers by coffee drinkers is my search for reason and understanding behind the coffee bar explosion. The coffee shop revival and interest in high priced brew by the well to do is something that has been around for some time in the more metropolitan areas. In Seattle, Washington the whole coffee shop revival for generation X hit during the time that the grunge music genre developed. Not that everyone could afford the high priced brew, but that it was a place to hang out during the day and help keep the pied eyes open. A couple popular sleeper movies such as â€Å"Singles† and â€Å"So I Married an Ax Murder† have showed how some people’s routines often gravitate to the coffee shop. The show â€Å"Friends† also shows that in a more late 90’s perspective. This would seem to characterize certain divisions in clientele, but not so here in Fargo. Like many other genres that were part of a sub-culture, they, the neighborhood coffee shop are eventually making their way to the mainstream Around this area where the coffee shop trend is growing but not totally established, you might think that the strong shops are the ones that are incorporated or affiliated with a major nationwide branch. By this I mean that the shop has a network of personnel higher on the ladder to lend support from the company at large. Now this doesn’t mean that the smaller locally owned shops such as Atomic Coffee, Noah’s and Trentino’s aren’t successful; they are and at times just as busy or more so than their chain store counterparts. About the only upper hand that national chains have on the smaller local shops is the mass marketing to consumers through other chains such as Target and Daytons. What the smaller shops tend to do is include the community more. They advertise more local happenings and going on’s such as poetry readings and poetry slams, to an open mic night that would include music and other thought provoking talents that their customers poss ess.

Real Estate Business in Bangladesh Essay

Abstract: The term business communication is used for all messages that we send and receive for official purpose like running a business, managing an organization, conducting the formal affairs of a voluntary organization and so on. Business communication is marked by formality as against personal and social Communication. The success of any business to a large extent depends on efficient and effective communication. It Takes place among business entities, in market and market places, within organizations and between various group of employees, owners and employees, buyers and sellers, service providers and Customers, sales persons and prospects and also between people within the organization and the press persons. All such communication impacts business. Done with care, such communication can promote business interests. Otherwise, it will portray the organization in poor light and may adversely affect the business interest. Historical Background: Thousands years ago, people use to communicate orally. Greeks use a phonetic alphabet written from left to right. After that, many books appeared on written communication principles. In a result of this, Greek started her very first library. When communism was ruling China, communication had become the biggest challenge within the vast government as well as between government and people. 1st in China and then in Rome postal service was launched. After that paper and printing press was invented in china that made communication easier. Hence, today’s principles of communications are founded on a mixture of ancient oral and written traditions. Background: The word â€Å"communication† derived from the Latin word ‘communicare’ that means to impart, to participate, to share or to make common. It is a process of exchange of facts, ideas, and opinions and as a means that individual or organization share meaning and understanding with one another. In other words, it is a transmission and interacting the facts, ideas, opinion,  feeling and attitudes. It is the ability of mankind to communicate across barriers and beyond boundaries that has ushered the progress of mankind. It is the ability of fostering speedy and effective communication around the world that has shrunk the world and made ‘globalization’ a reality. Communication had a vital role to play in ensuring that people belonging to a particular country or a culture or linguistic group interact with and relate to people belonging to other countries or culture or linguistic group. What Is Business Communication: Business communication (or simply â€Å"communications†, in a business context) encompasses such topics as marketing, brand management, customer relations, consumer behavior, advertising, public relations, corporate communication, community engagement, reputation management, interpersonal communication, employee engagement, and event management. It is closely related to the fields of professional communication and technical communication. Media channels for business communication include the Internet, print media, radio, television, ambient media, and word of mouth. Business communication can also refer to internal communication. A communications director will typically manage internal communication and craft messages sent to employees. It is vital that internal communications are managed properly because a poorly crafted or managed message could foster distrust or hostility from employees.

How to Make Apple Pie

1-1/2 to 1-3/4 pounds Cortland apples (about 4 medium) 1 pound Granny Smith apples (about 2-1/2 medium) 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice 2/3 cup packed light brown sugar 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar 3 tablespoons cornstarch 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon; more to taste 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1 large egg white 2 teaspoons unsalted butter, softened, plus 1 tablespoon cold unsalted butter, cut into small (1/4-inch) cubes 4 to 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour 2 refrigerated piecrusts (or make your own with the Flaky Pie Pastry recipe at the bottom of the page) directionsPosition two oven racks in the lower third of the oven and heat the oven to 400 degrees F. To make the filling: Peel the apples, cut each in half from top to bottom, remove the cores with a melon baller, and trim the ends with a paring knife. Lay the apples, cut side down, on a cutting board. Cut the Cortland apples crosswise into 3/4-inch pieces, and then halve each piece diagonally. Cut the Granny Smith apples crosswise into 1/4-inch slices, leaving them whole. Put the apples in a large bowl and toss with the lemon juice.Combine the brown sugar, 1/4 cup of the granulated sugar, the cornstarch, cinnamon, kosher salt, and nutmeg in a small bowl. (Don't add this to the fruit yet. ) In a small dish, lightly beat the egg white with 1 teaspoon water. Set aside. Assemble the pie: Butter a 9-inch ovenproof glass (Pyrex) pie plate, including the rim, with the 2 teaspoons of softened butter. Rub 2 to 3 tablespoons of flour into the surface of a pastry cloth, forming a circle about 15 inches across, and also into a rolling pin stocking. If you don't have a pastry cloth, rub the flour into a large, smooth-weave, cotton kitchen towel and use a floured rolling pin.Roll one of the disks of dough into a circle that's 1/8 inch thick and about 15 inches across. Lay the rolling pin across the upper third of the dough circle; lift the pastry cloth to gently drape the dough over th e pin and then roll the pin toward you, wrapping the remaining dough loosely around it. Hold the rolling pin over the edge of the pie plate nearest to you. Allowing for about a 1-inch overhang, unroll the dough away from you, easing it into the contours of the pan. If the dough isn't centered in the pan, gently adjust it and then lightly press it into the pan.Take care not to stretch the dough. If it tears, simply press it back together — the dough is quite forgiving. Brush the bottom and sides of the dough with a light coating of the egg-white wash (you won't need all of it). Leaving a 1/4-inch overhang, cut around the edge of the dough with kitchen shears. Combine the sugar mixture with the apples and toss to coat well. Mound the apples in the pie plate, rearranging the fruit as needed to make the pile compact. Dot the apples with the 1 tablespoon cold butter cubes. Rub 2 to 3 tablespoons flour into the surface of the pastry cloth and stocking.Roll the remaining dough into a circle that's 1/8 inch thick and about 15 inches across. Use the rolling pin to move the dough. As you unroll the dough, center it on top of the apples. Place your hands on either side of the top crust of the pie and ease the dough toward the center, giving the dough plenty of slack. Leaving a 3/4-inch overhang, trim the top layer of dough around the rim of the pie plate. Fold the top layer of dough under the bottom layer, tucking the two layers of dough together. Press a lightly floured fork around the edge of the dough to seal it or flute the edge of the dough with lightly floured fingers.Lightly brush the top with cold water and sprinkle the surface with the remaining 1 tablespoon sugar. Make steam vents in the dough by poking the tip of a paring knife through it in a few places; it's important to vent well so that the steam from the cooking apples won't build up and crack the top of the crust. To bake the pie, cover the rim of the pie with aluminum foil bands. This will preven t the edge of the crust from overbrowning. Place a rimmed baking sheet or an aluminum foil drip pan on the oven rack below the pie to catch any juices that overflow during baking.Set the pie on the rack above. Bake the pie until the top and bottom crusts are golden brown and the juices are bubbling, 60 to 75 minutes (to thicken, the juices must boil, so look for the bubbles through the steam vents or through cracks near the edges of the pie and listen for the sound of bubbling juices). During the last 5 minutes of baking, remove the foil bands from the edges of the pie. Cool the pie at least 3 hours and up to overnight before serving. Here are 20 of the Web's best apple pie recipes, along with a recipe for homemade piecrust. ltimate apple pie Cooking the apples separately before adding them to the crust keeps it from getting soggy, making this classic dessert especially good. See the recipe ;; crunchy caramel apple pie Go ahead, indulge. This apple pie features a crumb topping sprin kled with pecans and drizzled with caramel ice cream topping. See the recipe ;; no-peel apple pie How easy can pie get and still be glorious? Skip peeling the apples and use refrigerated piecrusts in a clever, simple recipe for fresh-baked pie. See the recipe ;; autumn apple pieTwo seasonal fruits in one luscious dessert: This two-crust pie is filled to the brim with an apple-cinnamon filling dotted with dried cranberries. See the recipe ;; mile-high apple pie Loaded with juicy apples, this luscious dessert recipe is drizzled with a gooey caramel topping. See the recipe ;; caramel apple cheesecake pie Caramel ice cream topping and toasted pecans add a touch of luxury to this luscious two-layer dessert. See the recipe ;; berry-apple fantasy pie Especially for fruit lovers: This golden, two-crust pie oozes with apples and fresh berries. See the recipe ;; asy apple pie calzones Serve this spiced apple-filled dessert calzone with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. See the recipe ;; triple-a apple pie Apples, Anjou pears, and apricots are the A? s that make this apple pie a knockout. See the recipe ;; rum-raisin apple pie Take apple pie in a whole new direction by adding brandy and raisins to this perennial holiday favorite. See the recipe ;; upside-down apple pie This gooey-good apple pie is hard to pass up. Serve for dessert with rich whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. See the recipe ;; apple-cherry pie Apple pie or cherry pie? No need to decide.This fruit pie recipe combines the best of both. See the recipe ;; apple-cranberry pie Saute the apples, spices, and cranberries in butter, and then put them in the pastry to make this delicious double-crust pie. See the recipe ;; apple-maple cream pie Fold in maple syrup and whipping cream with the apples to add a delicious twist to this dessert. See the recipe ;; dried apple cider pie The dried apples in this yummy dessert save you time because there's no peeling needed. See the recipe >> apple mincemeat pie Delicious fall flavors make this old-fashioned pie a holiday tradition in many families.At the grocery store, look for jars of mincemeat (no actual meat included, just fruit and spices) near the pie fillings during the holiday baking season. See the recipe >> cheesy apple pie There's rich cheddar cheese in both the pastry and topping of this tangy, out-of-the-ordinary apple pie recipe. See the recipe ;; perfect ending apple praline pie After this traditional pie is golden brown, top it with an oh-so-sweet pecan glaze for a dessert that is simply irresistible. See the recipe ;; apple-cranberry-hazelnut pie Hazelnuts in the pastry and the crumb topping add elegance to this mouthwatering apple pie.See the recipe ;; oatmeal-nut crunch apple pie This decadent pie is loaded with juicy apples and adorned with a streusel-lover's crunchy topping. See the recipe >> FLAKY PIE PASTRY ingredients 10-1/2 ounces (2-1/3 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour 1 tablespoon granulated sugar 3/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoo n baking powder 4 ounces (1/2 cup) chilled, unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes 4 ounces (1/2 cup) chilled vegetable shortening, cut into 1/2-inch pieces 5 to 6 tablespoons ice water; more as needed directions In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder.Chill for 20 to 30 minutes. Place the flour mixture in a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Pulse the dry ingredients together for a few seconds to blend. With the processor off, add half of the butter and half of the shortening. Pulse 5 times and then process for 5 seconds. Add the remaining butter and shortening and pulse again 5 times, then process for 5 seconds. You should have a mixture of both large and small crumbs. Empty the mixture into a large mixing bowl. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of the ice water around the edge of the bowl, letting it trickle into the crumbs.Flick the moistened crumbs toward the center with a table fork, rotating the bowl as you work. Repeat with the remaining 4 tablespoons i ce water, 1 tablespoon at a time. As you add the water, the crumbs should begin to form larger clusters. Once you've added 5 tablespoons water total, take a handful of crumbs and squeeze them gently; they should hold together. If they easily break apart, the mixture needs more water. Add the remaining tablespoon, 1 teaspoon at a time, checking the consistency after each addition. If the crumbs still fail to hold together, you can add additional water, but do so sparingly.Gather a handful of the crumbly dough and press it against the side of the bowl to form a small mass, flouring your hand as needed to prevent excessive sticking. Increase the size of this mass by pressing it into more of the crumbly mixture until you've used up about half of the total mixture in the bowl. Make a second mass of dough with the remaining crumbs. If some of the crumbs on the bottom of the bowl need more moistening, add a few drops of water. Form the two masses of dough into balls, dust them with flour, and flatten them into 4- to 5-inch disks. Pat the disks to release any excess flour.Score the tops lightly with the side of your hand to create a tic-tac-toe pattern. With cupped hands, rotate each disk on the work surface to smooth the edges of the disks. Wrap each in plastic wrap. our recipe partners EatingWell delivers delicious, healthful recipes, cooking how-to and nutrition news for people who are passionate about great-tasting food and lifelong healthy eating. EatingWell With a unique perspective on how Americans eat and cook, this chef believes uncomplicated recipes, bright flavors, and fresh food come from â€Å"real kitchens† dedicated to culinary honesty.Tyler Florence see all recipe partners Comments (0) your comment: You must be logged in to leave a comment. Register | Log In more smart savings Silver & Gold Heart within a Heart What a romantic Necklace for your special Sweetheart! Matching earrings also available. crazy4bling. com Privacy VSW FeatureLink free re cipe collections Delicious Chicken Salad Recipes Our Best Grilled Pork Chops Recipes Irresistible Cupcake Recipes Potato Salad Recipe Ideas Best-Ever Burger Recipes