Mabel Dodge Luhan, An American Artist, Writer, And Social...

Mabel Dodge Luhan was an American artist, writer, and social activist, who helped make New Mexico the center of arts and culture that it is today, as well as help inspire the modern art movement, and spread the progressive/free-thought movement. In the enormous collection of literature attributed to her, Mabel admitted to having neurotic and sociopathic tendencies; she was a hypocrite, believed power and authority gave her life meaning, and acted out of emotion in most life situations. Although she admitted to being a person of questionable character, she was seen as a kind, compassionate, honorable, and intelligent woman, by her friends, colleagues, and lovers: Mabel was indeed a revolutionary. Born in Buffalo, New York, on February 26, 1879 to Sarah Cook and Charles Ganson, two members of America’s wealthy upper-class, Mabel had a privileged life. At this time, the United States was a growing world power, and its rate of industrialization persuaded many American’s tha t their Western, Anglo morals were superior to that of other cultures. Her parents were like those Americans who focused on the growing industrialization of America and upkeep of American ideals. Mabel was raised to be a â€Å"proper† lady, to wed, and be a good wife and mother, she received little attention from her parents, who substituted love for power, and she was raised primarily by their servants. Mabel grew rebellious of her parents and the ideology of the growing industrialized America, her rebellious

Effective Pedagogies Essay Online For Free - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 11 Words: 3260 Downloads: 3 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Education Essay Type Research paper Did you like this example? Introduction The purpose of this essay is to discuss effective pedagogies in education young people in the urban environment. By pedagogies I mean those methodologies concerned with teaching and encouraging learning. I will be looking at the dominant pedagogies in place in Britain and in the USA. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Effective Pedagogies Essay Online For Free" essay for you Create order I will also discuss the particular significance of these in the urban environment, and how inner-city schools needs may differ from those of more rural schools. It is worth noting here how we may define certain areas as being urban. Britain is, on the whole, an urban country. But in their book Urban Schooling, Leslie Bash and colleagues write that beyond using common sense definitions of towns cities or villages, an urban area might be identified as one where the population is high in proportion to the geographical area, and the housing dense. Urban areas are spaces of advanced economic activity, and also are defined by government/administrative/legal criteria. (Bash et al:1985:2) But besides stating the type of geographical area concerned, the terms urban and urban schooling also imply a number of social concerns. Urban neighbourhoods have come to be understood, certainly as ones which have a high proportion of ethnic minorities, often as ones where poverty and disadvanta ge can be found, and ones where tension and inequalities are rife. It can be seen, therefore, that a link has been made in popular public understanding, between neighbourhoods in which there are many Black/Asian/Hispanic residents, and neighbourhoods where there is poverty, disadvantage and tension. Bash et al write that urban schools reflect inequalities and tensions, because in the city the density of population and of numerous different communities make clearly visible these issues. (Bash et al:1985:49-50) Their definition of urban schools takes it as inevitable that they would be seen in this way. Walker, on the other hand, challenges the term: The definitional looseness with which the term urban education is used conjures up images of dysfunctional educational and social institutions, acute levels of poverty, and high degrees of underachievement. The fact that some urban communities do exhibit these characteristics does not mean that education in all urban contexts must take place within dysfunctional institutions or be characterized by high levels of underachievement. (Walker:2003:5) For the purposes of this essay, I consider it important that I discuss effective pedegogies for educating ethnic-minority children in Britain, and for educating those from working class backgrounds, and also that I discuss the issue of schools which are deemed to be failing. However, I do not wish to assume that all of these factors occur in conjunction with one another. Further, as stated urban areas are ones in which numerous communities exist alongside one another. Urban schools provide education for a large number of white and middle class children, and also a good number of extremely bright ones and so any pedagogical design should hesitate to accept the typical stereotype of children who attend urban schools as being none-white, and/or poor, and/or unintelligent. It is my view that the failing of past and current pedagogies have often been that the y fail to acknowledge diversity. And so I will argue that effective pedagogies would be ones which use the diversity of children within a school to lead the design of a curriculum, rather than to try and force one set curriculum in spite of the students diversity. Before I go on to discuss methods of teaching and educating which are at work today, I would like to outline some history of state-provided schooling. In 1870, Forsters Education Act made school compulsory in Britain, for all children between the ages of 5 and 13. Although it was a legal requirement that all children attend, though, schooling was not provided free of charge. Evidently, poor families were disadvantaged by this, and although the Act ensured that children were educated after a fashion, it did little to narrow the gap between the calibre of educations received by rich and poor. Since the 17th Century, the church had been the only provider of formal education for poor children. Church-schooling had been pioneered in London, where the population was densest and so the need for education was highly visible. At this time, critics of the move to educate the poor argued that schooling was wasted on the working class. Children from poor families, the critics said, must get used to hard work and having to pay their own way. Even champions of schooling for poor children, seemed to be preoccupied with its advantages for the upper classes. Rather than being concerned with giving poor children a more equal chance in life, education was seen as a way of maintaining social control over the poor, and to ensure that poor children adhered to the desired social norms. (Bash et al:1985:14) Parliamentary enquiries in the mid 1800s, indicated that the poor did want their children to be educated, and that as Britains cities grew and grew, the churches simply could not cope with the number of children to be schooled. And so, as the result of Acts like Forsters, the government did become m ore active in ensuring all young people went to school. However, in Bash et als opinions, the system of schooling, by which the type of schools attended and the amount of education received depended on what the parents could afford, only perpetuated a culture in which working class children and middle/upper class children were poles apart. The authors state that, in their view, the British schools of the 1900s simply taught: The urban working class child to accept his or her position in life. 2. A belief that urban schools for the working class were generally bad schools, with unintelligent children and uncaring parents. 3. A curriculum that discouraged independence of thought, encouraged nationalism (and by implication racism) and confirmed gender stereotypes. (Bash et al:1985:16) The field of Urban Studies saw developments in both the USA, across Europe and in Britain during the 1960s, and this was tied closely to the rise in urban education. The book Education and the City, edited by Gerald Grace, brings together essays from both Britain and the US, based on a number of cities including London and New York. In 1975, urban sociologist Ray Pahl wrote that in all societies, metropolitan cities can be seen as an arena in which various social and cultural conflicts are played out. These conflicts appear in terms of economic and political factors, as well as in social and cultural interactions. Gerald Grace follows this argument in stating that metropolitan education is a crucial area of discussion, as urban schools are a space in which these conflicts have become clearly visible. Working class inner city schools make visible a wide range of cultural and pedagogic conflicts and contradictions. (Grace:1984:39) In inner London in 1980s, around 40% of school pupils were from ethnic minorities, and one in ten pupils first language was not English. The HMI report on Educational Provision in the Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) stated that Significant parts of the area suffer from urban decay and some have changing populations. The ILEA is faced with a combination of problems to an extent probably unmatched elsewhere in England and Wales. (Morrell:1984:196) Pedagogic writing has tended to be in a framework of deficit theory; the idea that urban education is deficient in various areas that might be expected of good education. (Grace:1984:39) It would become apparent that judgements about whether a particular curr iculum or a particular pedagogic approach was working would be linked to conflicting socio-political ends and not simply to some consensual version of an educational or individual norm. (Grace:1984:40) EDUCATION ON BOTH SIDES OF THE ATLANTIC When George W. Bush came to the US government, he introduced the No Child Left Behind Act, which he declared to be the cornerstone of my Administration. Speaking when the Act was passed, in January 2001, the President said, These reforms express my deep belief in our public schools and their mission to build the mind and character of every child, from every background, in every part of America. (George W. Bush, Jan 2001) The Act is based on four pillars, these being: Stronger accountability for results More freedom for states and communities Proven education methods More choices for parents. The NCLB website states, that: Under No Child Left Behind , states are working to close the achievement gap and make sure all students, including those who are disadvantaged, achieve academic proficiency. (www.ed.gov/nclb) Stronger Accountability for Results Annual report cards are issued charting schools progress; these reports are distributed freely to parents and communities. Schools whose achievements fall below standards set by the state, are required to provide extra after-school tuition, summer schools and so on, to improve students education. If no improvement is made in the schools results after five years, dramatic changes are made to the way the school is run. The website does not explain what is meant by these dramatic changes. Further, although these extra lessons are available to any pupils who wish them, the families of the pupil are required to pay for them. Only students from low income families, and in schools which have been under-performing for over three years consecutively, can gain government funding for these privileges. More Freedom for States and Communities The outlines given focus on flexibility in terms of allowing an individual schools local district and state, to decide how money is spent. They may decide whether it would be more valuable to the school to hire more staff, or to provide further training for existing staff, for instance. There is no mention of increasing freedom for schools to decide on the curriculum for their pupils. Proven Education Methods Rigorous scientific research is used to prove certain pedagogies as effective. Children are tested annually to national standards, to ensure their ongoing effective education. But the website does not outline what these proven methods are. And, I would hesitate to assume that there are certain methods that will be effective for all young people in all communities, particularly in a society as diverse as the United States, in which one state will have an identity and culture very distinct from another. More choices for Parents In schools which fail to meet state standards for at least two consecutive years, parents may transfer their child to another public school within the district. This is also the case when a child has been the victim of violent crime inside school. Transport to the new school is provided by Title 1 funds. Parents with children in failing schools would be allowed to transfer their child to a better-performing public or charter school immediately after a school is identified as failing. (www.ed.gov/nclb) For one thing, the key phrase here is identified as failing. If a schools performance is measured by pedagogies standardised by the entire state, if not the nation, this leaves no room for an individual parent or family to decide that a school is failing their particular child, whether or not it is meeting state requirements. Further, the statement contradicts ones made earlier, which say that in fact a child cannot be transferred until the school has been failing for at le ast two years. In two years of formative education in a failing school, the damage may have already been done. Extra tuition must come from providers approved and registered by the state. What the website fails to conceal in its descriptions of these advantages is that a parents ability to transfer their child to another school is considered to be a privilege rather than a basic right. And by restricting when a child can be transferred, and which providers may give children extra tuition, the government is increasing its control over education and maintaining parents lack of choice. Walker has written that: Scrutiny of recent federal and state policies, for example the school choice movement, privatization initiatives, and the federal No Child Left Behind Legislation clearly reveals a trend towards affixing the blame for educational problems on the schools themselves. ( Walker:2003:12) In this view, she echoes the way that Bash et al described the education syst ems of early 20th Century Britain, and suggests that very little has changed! I believe that what is most central to these policies, is the assumption that there is one system of effective pedagogy, and one appropriate curriculum, which is correct and desirable for the entire nation. Any schools, and by extension any individual students, who find that these methods are not the most effective for them, are simply deemed to be failures. I find similar assumptions at work on this side of the Atlantic. Tony Blairs Labour campaign in the 1997 general education focused on education, education, education as the key priority for the new government. The system of OFSTED inspections entails four-yearly inspections of every school in the UK, grading them on certain standards set for the entire country. Government-trained and regulated inspectors observe lessons delivered by every member of staff, and carry out audits on records kept within the school. Its aims, therefore, are to stand ardise the calibre of teachers in every classroom in the UK, and to increase accountability for a schools systems of planning and administration. In the case of a school failing its inspection, it is placed on a warning list. The schools management is advised on the areas in which the school is deemed to be failing. A further inspection is then made, a year later, to ensure that systems have been put in place to improve the schools management, the teaching methods of individual members of staff, or whatever changes have been desired. If the school continues to make no improvement, OFSTED has the power to remove members of school management, and ultimately to close schools down. It has long been the case that a schools achievements are judged largely on the number of passes gained in external examinations. I agree with Frances Morrell when she argues that, whilst no doubt exam grades are one valuable way in which pupils achievements can be objectively recognised, at the same time there are numerous other aspects of pupils development which cannot be tested by exam papers, and which should not be ignored. She writes that inspectors have often found that urban schools such as those in Inner London, stimulate qualities of creativity, of artistic expression, of articulateness, of initiative, co-operation and social concern among their pupils. FORMING EFFECTIVE EDUCATION Whilst pedagogical design for educating young people should, in theory, have individual young people themselves at its helm, I have found that education systems both past and present seem to focus more on social control and on reducing individual deviation from set social norm. The young people engaged in learning, and the methods by which they learn most effectively, seem to be secondary considerations compared to results tables and proven methods of gaining those results overall. Actual, individual young people have been lost in the midst of educational policy. In the UK, Connexions is highly individualistic in that it offers individual students personal interviews, and schemes of consultation which take place outside of the schools normal curriculum, and which aim to help the student find the most effective path for their own development. However, the scheme has focused almost entirely on students who are judged to be underachieving, or in some way disaffected. It is the resort turned to when something appears to have gone wrong. This assumes that there is one norm which all young people in school should aspire to, and that any students who do not ascribe to this are underachieving. Rather than celebrating individuality, its systems seem to discourage it and to seek ways of minimising it; and getting the individual student back onto a more acceptable path of work or study. Some questions that might be asked in designing ways of educating young people are, How are young peoples identities influenced by their experiences of school? How can young peoples own life experiences and situations be used to stimulate discussion and learning? And, similarly, How might young peoples styles of learning, their motivations and perspectives be used to influence pedagogy? Frances Morrell writes that education has to proceed in the face of such social and economic disadvantage among its pupils, and in addition to this, a sensitive and flexible response has to be made to a whole range of cultural and ethnic traditions which characterise a varied and cosmopolitan school population. (Morrell:1984:196) She argues that the practise of evaluating schools progress and planning their reform without taking into account their social and economic contexts, is flawed both factually and ideologically; it is clearly not only unscholarly but deliberately misleading. (Morrell:1984:196) For her, positive discrimination is essential; schools should receive resources depending on their level of socio-economic disadvantage. She also champions parental involvement at all levels of schooling, including meetings in which school staff consult parents for their opinions, and regular newsletters to be distributed to parents. (Morrell:1984:201) She believes t hat greater involvement of the Manual Trade Unions in education would be greatly beneficial. As working class children may find themselves less close to the ethos of the school than their middle-class classmates, and perhaps less able to identify well with the teachers educating them, many can find that they gain a sense of lower worth that they carry with them throughout life. As they expect school to have little rewards for them, so they come to expect similar in their working lives. Morrell believes that the Trade Unions, who since their inception have worked to make the rights of working class people a visible priority, may be able to give many students a greater sense of belonging, and higher expectations of their own futures. (Morrell:1984:204) Further, she encourages the employment of more specialist-language teachers; ones who can teach children in their own first languages; at the same time, the number of teachers of English as a second language should be increased as it is without doubt vital that all pupils do learn to be fluent in English. Similarly, Bash et al believe that national curriculum has not reflected British society today, and has distorted history and society to a Eurocentric bias. They consider it crucial for young people to be offered options to learn Bengali, for example, or Punjabi, instead of French or German especially if this is more useful in the community in which the student lives. They also echo Morrell in saying that children should be educated in their own first languages. To teach a child in a language they speak only secondarily is to immediately render them disadvantaged. (Bash et al:1984:101-102) But still more essentially, in my view, pedagogy should be altered to celebrate and utilise the diversity of students in a school, rather than to battle it and try to enforce standardisation. Bash et al write that in this situation, pedagogy would need to recognise the validity of the pupils own experiences and use these for work, discussion and explanation. (Bash et al:1984:101) Methods of educating young people must be open and flexible, and be prepared to change according to changes in culture and the influx of individual students in a school. To suggest that all schools and their curriculum should be standardised to one way of teaching, is in my view flawed. Ultimately, even if a curriculum is designed with good intentions, if it is conceived and delivered in a set way, it will only replace one form of domination by another. (Bash et al:1984:101)

Quality Indicators Relevant to Early Childhood Education Free Essays

There are various significant practices which promote health and safety in early childhood centres to take in to account. This essay focuses on nutrition across the early years, providing a safe environment and identifying and responding to childhood illness and how teachers can encourage and promote these practices to the children. Auckland Regional Public Health Service (2008) states that during early childhood, children form lifelong eating habits, therefore it is important to have a focus on nutrition across the early years in order to foster a healthy eating culture and enable children to develop healthy behaviours in relation to food. We will write a custom essay sample on Quality Indicators Relevant to Early Childhood Education or any similar topic only for you Order Now A teacher has an important role in helping children develop these behaviours and can promote healthy eating and healthy food choices in a number of ways. Teachers can promote good nutrition by including children in the cooking process or growing fruits and vegetables within the centre environment. These experiences provide ample opportunities for the discussion of nutrition and what is healthy and unhealthy. The Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Centres (Ministry of Education [MoE], 2008) asserts that children must be served food at appropriate times and that it is to meet the nutritional needs of each child. It explains that all food provided during the hours a service is open must be recorded. These records must show the type of food provided and be kept for three months after the serving date. Promoting food safety to the children is also an important aspect of nutrition, this includes role modelling the careful storage of food, hygienic preparation and use of tongs when serving food. Providing a safe environment gives children a better place to play and allows them the freedom to explore their environment without the risk of injury. MoE (2008) declares that ample and changeable indoor and outdoor equipment, resources and furniture must be provided for the children and that it also needs to be appropriate for the varying abilities of the children using it. Teachers are able to promote a safe environment by encouraging children to play safely. This includes sharing, gentle hands, walking feet, sun safety and water safety. The MoE (2008) is aware an area cannot be completely hazard free so requires a â€Å"hazard identification and management system† and uggests that all realistic steps are taken to minimise risks, be this by redirecting the children or limiting their access to areas where hazards may be. Another important way teachers can promote a safe environment is through active supervision and setting up engaging and appropriate activities for the children to be involved with. One of the most significant practices in promoting health, wellbeing and a safe environment is being able to identify and respo nd to childhood illness. Teachers need to be able to recognise the signs and symptoms of illness and be able to administer the appropriate first aid. The MoE (2008) declares that children who become poorly while at a service must be kept at a safe distance away from the other children in order to reduce the risk of contamination and the spread of illness. It is the teachers’ responsibility that this happens to protect not only the children but the teachers and whanau too. Healthy Messages (Ministry of Education, 1997) suggests that early childhood centres develop and change policies so that they promote a safe and healthy environment and that these policies are a good way to introduce children to healthy messages. For example, how to avoid the spread of infectious illness through personal hygiene procedures, washing of soiled children procedures and hygienic laundering and cleaning procedures. As discussed above, encouraging healthy eating and good nutrition, providing a safe environment and recognising and responding to childhood illnesses are all important practices to foster. Teachers have an important role in promoting these practices and by effectively performing them, they will be promoting good health and safety in an early childhood setting. Reference List: Auckland Regional Public Health Service. (2008). Food For Under 5’s: A practical guide to food and nutrition for early childhood education services. Retrieved 17th August 2012, from http://www. arphs. govt. nz/Portals/0/Health%20Information/HealthyEnvironments/Early%20childhood%20education%20centres/ECEC%20Food%20for%20under%205s/Food%20for%20under%205s%202008/Food%20For%20Under%205’s%20ECE%20resource%20Final%20Jun e%202008-1. pdf Ministry of Education. (2008). Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Centres 2008 And Early Childhood Education Curriculum Framework. Wellington: New Zealand Government. Retrieved 17th August 2012, from http://www. lead. ece. govt. nz/ServiceTypes/CentreBasedECEServices. aspx Ministry of Health. (1997). Nga kupu oranga: Healthy messages. Wellington: Ministry of Health. Republished on the web:  Ã‚   November 2003. Retrieved 25th August 2012, from http://www. arphs. govt. nz/Portals/0/Health%20Information/HealthyEnvironments/Early%20childhood%20education%20centres/Nga%20Kupu%20Oranga%20HealthyMessages. pdf How to cite Quality Indicators Relevant to Early Childhood Education, Essay examples

Measuring and Managing Sustainability Performance

Question: Discuss about the Measuring and Managing Sustainability Performance. Answer: Introduction Supply chain management is the important part of the business today. There are many companies who are adopting the process of supply chain management in the business. Each and every company has own supply chain strategy to produce or sort out the goods. There is the need to manage the supply chain by the companies to maximize the benefits. This report has described the supply chain process of a company. For discussion, the famous online retail company Amazon has taken. Amazon is the popular company which has best supply chain practices to provide high level of responsiveness for the customers. This report has analyzed the supply chain of Amazon and provided the recommendations to implement for the future (Wisner, 2011). Amazon is the famous American commerce company which is established in Washington, USA. In starting period, the company was only a bookstore but in present time, it is diversified into various types of products. The aim of the Amazon is to provide one stop shop experience to the customers so that they can find everything on the Amazon. Amazon is considered as the pure internet retailer in which the delivery of products is done by the Amazons network of distribution centers. By this operation, the company is able to provide wide range of goods and products with higher quality and at lower prices. The effective supply chain strategy of the Amazon makes the company able to provide high level of responsiveness to the customers. Still, there is strong competition in the market for the company but the company knows to make stability between the distribution cost and the service levels with the effective allocation centers and multi-tier inventory system (Simpson, 2016). The key flows in supply chain There are various ways to define the supply chain management in a company. The supply chain management can be defined as the total system approach to manage the flow of the money, material and information between the suppliers and the customers. For the effective and efficient supply chain, it is important for the company to focus on the key flows of supply chain management. By understanding the flow of product, information, return and the cash, company can get good position in the market (Stefan Roger, 2014). The various flows in the supply chain management of Amazon are as follows: This is the flow of information between the customers and suppliers. In the supply chain, the flow of information goes in both directions such as supplier to customer and customer back to supplier. Amazon uses its ERP system to process and manage the orders and details of the transactions which need to be carried out. The order in the Amazon starts with the searching, selecting the required items by the customers. For this, the email Id of the customers is considered to keep the record and to send the information regarding products (Pamela Pietro, 2011). This is the flow of product from the suppliers to all the customers. This flow is uni-directional as the direction of this flow is from supplier to customers. It moves basically suppliers to the customers. Amazon uses market place model in which buyers can deal directly with the sellers and the delivery will be done by the Amazon. Along with this, the company also uses just-in-time process to serve immediate orders. The products are procured by the company on order-to-order basis (Rashid Aslam, 2012). It includes the movements of the money from customers to suppliers. There are various modes of payments in the Amazon. Customers can pay the sellers through the net banking or can pay at the time of delivery of the products. It is the choice of customers to use the mode of payment. Customer verifies the product and pays the money to the suppliers (Ou et al, 2010). The return of the product to Amazon can happen if the third party is not able to delivery to specified address or customers do not accept that product. When any customer requests for the return of product than there are three main steps for return process i.e. replacement, store credit and actual cash-back (Schaltegger Burritt, 2014). Although the company is popular for its effective supply chain management but there are several areas on which business has to focus. In the supply chain flow, Amazon is doing well. There are some recommendations for the company. Amazon is much depended on the courier companies such as UPS and FedEx. Due to the unreliability of these courier companies, the image of the company can be hit. So, Amazon can set up its own transportation for the last mile delivery. Company can do this by creating its own delivery vehicles and personnel. The make process is important for the company as it manages the production and operations process in the business. Along with this, it is also helpful in providing the products to the customers in time. There are three main processes which are carried out in the production planning process i.e. inward processing, store management and outward processing. In the inward processing, there are the process such as physical inward of products, quality check and scanning and pre-packing of products has been done by the company. In the store management, put-list generation, order pending check and physical placement on shelves is done. At last in the outward processing, final packaging and placements in the respective delivery hub is done by the company (Yu et al, 2013). Material requirement process The company uses continuous review model. There are many strategies adopted by Amazon in material requirement process. Amazon is basically focused on the excellence of the products and producer on the publisher of products. The company has developed allocation infrastructure to provide fast delivery of products form the company directly to the customers. Further, Amazon is also outsourcing some of its inventories to the third party. It is helpful in cutting the operational cost and focusing on the core activities. In the Amazon, the material requirement process is unique. Once the item arrives, the staff scans and sorts it immediately. The policy of the company is to scan the incoming item within first 12 hours of its arrival. At the time of shipment, the company uses an algorithm to know the best shipping route and estimated time (Gao, 2014). It is noted that Amazon does not depends upon the computer system completely. Rather than using hybrid data gathering methodology, the company uses humans armed having barcode data collection software. This system is very helpful for the Amazon to make sure that the company can keep up with the shipment as the demand truck will leave to the fulfillment centre of Amazon in every 105 seconds. Along with this, to keep record of the material, the staff of Amazon keeps the similar items separate from each other and popular goods are stored in the various parts of the warehouses. Company keeps comparable items separate from each other so that employees do not keep wrong record of inventory. This is also helpful to locate the popular consumer goods in multiple locations to prevent from the blockage or inconvenience (Master, 2012). Amazon has implemented the supply chain to stay competitive over the competitors in the market. Amazon has used up lots of amount and effort to expand the competency of supply chain. Here are some recommendations for the Amazon for effective supply chain management. Amazon should do efforts for the long term success and growth. The company should set new international values for the long terms tactics in the ecommerce. Further, there is the need of careful management in the company to prevent the failure of supply chain management (Qi, Zhao Sheu, 2011). The supply chain forecasting Forecasting plays an important role in the business operations of every company. The forecasting can be considered as the most beginning input in the supply chain management of the organization. In each company, there are meeting holds monthly on the forecasting or products supply, production status, inventory value etc. all the user department must report in the meetings for the implementation of forecast related activities. There are mainly two types of forecasting methods which can be used for Amazon i.e. qualitative method and quantitative method. In case of e-commerce, only qualitative method is appropriate as the managers try to use only judgmental facts and forecasting approach in product oriented companies (Wu, Li . Xu, 2013). Under the quantitative approach, there are two models i.e. time series model which uses historical data to predict the future and associative model which uses explanatory variables to predict the future. Basically, quantitative forecasting uses statistical methods to analyze the future values of the company. Under the quantitative forecasting, models take current and historical trends. Qualitative Forecasting: This forecasting is less mathematical and intuition-based. For some unique products such as original iPhone, the statistical methods can provide inaccurate data and outcome as such types of products do not have enough data in the past so analyze the demand in the future. So, qualitative forecasting methods can be appropriate for some companies who do not have enough past data. This model uses historical demand for forecasting the sales of a company. This model is based on the assumption that to analyze the future demand of the products, past history of that product will be the best way. These methods are suitable at the condition when demand pattern does not differ from one year to next year. This method assumes that the demand forecast is connected with some features in the environment such as interest rates, state of economy etc. This method uses estimate to analyze the future demand with the environmental factors in the company. For instance, product proceeding is strongly linked with the demand. So, companies can adopt casual method of forecasting to identify the impact of environmental factors on demand (Acar, Everette Gardner, 2012). Recommended method for Amazon In case of Amazon, statistical forecasting method will be suitable for the company. There are lots of statistical methods including moving average, linear regression, weighted average, exponential smoothing, and Bayesian analysis which have been used for sales forecasting. This method provides accuracy in the forecasting of sales. In this method, large number of items and criteria are required for the forecasting procedures. Amazon is large online retailer having unlimited number of products. It is observed that the forecasting of bulk items is more accurate by the statistical methods. Under the statistical method, Bayesian forecasting model for online retail provides superior quantitative results as compared to other method of forecasting. Selection of right forecasting method is not an easy task as online retail business is affected by various factors such as fashion trends, seasonality and highly irregular pattern. So, statistical method can be able to provide desirable forecastin g outcome in some areas as compared to other methods (Soon, 2011). Conclusion The report is discussed about the importance of supply chain management in an organization. From the above discussion, it is observed that supply chain management is a significant element of business. By adopting proper and effective supply chain management, the company can better in the business. Although organizing raw material and inventory is not easy in the production process but Amazon is getting competitive advantage by proper and effective management of inventory and supply chain. Amazon is achieving competitive advantage over its competitors with its effective resources in the retail industry. Having supply chain in the business, employees of the company feel relaxed in the company as supply chain is very effective process in reducing the stress in the daily operations. Amazon has implemented the supply chain management process for the key business operations i.e. managing supplier and customers, managing inventory and providing services to the customers. The objective of Amazon is to provide best quality product which can meet the demands of the customers. So, supply chain management plays an important role to achieve the goals of the company in the competitive market. References Acar, Y., Everette, S., Gardner, J., (2012), Forecasting method selection in a global supply chain: International Journal of Forecasting, 28(4), 842848 Gao, Y., (2014), Amazons Inventory Strategy, accessed on 21st March 2017 from https://cmuscm.blogspot.in/2014/09/Amazons-inventory-strategy.html Master, N., (2012), Amazon's inventory management secrets, accessed on 21st March 2017 from https://www.rfgen.com/blog/bid/246924/Amazon-s-inventory-management-secrets Murray, M., (2016), Forecasting In The Supply Chain, accessed on 21st March 2017 from https://www.thebalance.com/forecasting-in-the-supply-chain-2221207 Ou, C.S., Liu, F.C., Hung, Y.C., Yen, D.C. (2010), A structural model of supply chain management on firm performance, International Journal of Operations Production Management, 30 (5), pp. 526-545 Pamela, D., Pietro, R. (2011), Supply chain integration and efficiency performance: a study on the interactions between customer and supplier integration, Supply chain Management: An International Journal, 16, pp. 220-230 Qi, Y., Zhao, X. Sheu, C., (2011), The Impact of Competitive Strategy and Supply Chain Strategy on Business Performance: The Role of Environmental Uncertainty, Decision Sciences, 42 (2), pp. 71-389 Rashid, K and Aslam, M (2012), Business excellence through total supply chain quality management: Asian Journal on Quality, 13(3), pp.309 324 Schaltegger, S., Burritt, R. (2014), Measuring and managing sustainability performance of supply chains. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, 19 (3), pp. 32-241 Simpson, S., (2016), The secrets behind Amazon's success, accessed on 21st March 2017 from https://www.cips.org/supply-management/analysis/2016/february/the-secrets-behind-Amazons-success/ Soon, W., (2011), A Review of Multi-Product Pricing Models: Applied Mathematics and Computation, 217(21), 81498165 Stefan, S., Roger, B (2014), Measuring and managing sustainability performance of supply chains Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, 19 (3), pp. 232-241 Wisner, J D (2011), Principles of Supply Chain Management: A Balanced Approach, Cengage Learning Wu, J., Li, L., . Xu, L. D., (2013), A Randomized Pricing Decision Support System in Electronic Commerce: Decision Support Systems Yu, Y, Hong, Z F, Zhang, L Liang, L Chu,C B (2013), Optimal selection of retailers for a manufacturing vendor in a vendor managed inventory system: European Journal of Operational Research, 225(2), pp 273284