Performance Measurement Essay Example for Free

Performance Measurement Essay Performance measurement tools have been used by many organizations or companies these days as one of their strategies in achieving success. Specifically, this tool is useful for detailed evaluation of the production process of one company, provide extensive guidance for the decision making process, and assess the performance of the company departments and individual employees. In general, measurement tools are created to give the company an easier access to a feedback system regarding its consistency in achieving their goals, and to provide them with options on how they can improve their current process. Basically, it gives companies a preview of how they are currently performing and where they might be heading. Another benefit of having a performance system is being able to better motivate the employees to do better with their jobs. However, such tool also has its consequences and the company should also be ready for it. Managers can easily monitor how their employees are doing by having a performance measurement tool. And one way for them to make their work performance consistent is by having a reward system. With this employees will really work harder with the hopes of attaining the reward. There have been many records and surveys that testified to the positive impacts of performance measurement tools to the employee work performance. In the US Municipalities, 9.6% of the respondents found the tool substantial, and 33.3% find it moderate. Moreover, these results are supported by the same survey conducted in other US counties, which gathered 31.5% of the respondents agreed to the accurate effectiveness of the performance measurement tool. In terms of its impact on employee motivation, 32-68% of the respondents agreed to its effectiveness. All these records only suggest that there are many organizational aspects that the performance measurement tool can improve. Below are some of the major points to consider to ensure that a company has a good performance measurement system are: †¢ The results should be kept clear and brief. †¢ A company has polished both its internal and external communication †¢ Employees and other stakeholders should know about the performance measurement tool. †¢ The manager should be able to establish a proper implementation of the performance measurement tool. †¢ Whatever results gained from performance measurement should be reflected with the employees’ salary, incentives, and recognition. Organizations have many ways of reflecting the results of the performance measurement results by giving them either monetary rewards, or additional off days. It is also ethical for an employee to receive a feedback directly from his or her supervisor, whether it is a positive or negative feedback. One of the most popularly used performance measurement tool is the dashboard. The most important information about the company can be found in the dashboard, such as the target and performance data reports, which can be printed out through a spreadsheet on a regular basis. This makes it easier for managers to access whatever information they need, instead of constantly waiting for someone else to give it to them. Information such as performance of the employees, organizational productivity, custom orders, and order fulfillment are some of the necessary information for managers. From this accessible information, the managers can readily make decisions for the company or with regards to any issue. Dashboards used to be highly static, meaning it is only capable of providing one preview of a data at a time. However, due to the technological advancements, dashboards are growing to be more interactive. Now, it is already possible for the users to upload their own data on the dashboard (Carr, 2008). Motorola first invented the six-sigma in 1980s, with the goal of providing better quality for the processes in various businesses, which many hug and small businesses are already using. This program is very useful in ensuring customer value and reliability. It was initially developed for quality control of businesses, but later on, companies are starting to use it to improve their communication system, thus resulting to more improved processes in companies. The major result of this is still higher quality of outputs. Apparently, the six-sigma program was developed for the sole purpose of enhancing the business processes, such as the variation reduction and financial reporting. Because of the goals, the result of the six-sigma program is well-improved customer satisfaction of most businesses. The technology behind this program is DMAIC methodology or defines, measure, analyze, improve, and control. Define stage is where the problem is identified, and then it is quantified during the measure stage. The causes of the problem are then identified during the analyze stage. Improving stage is when the problems are fixed. Finally, the control phase is putting everything in place assuring that the problem will not happen again (Six-sigma program, 2004). Perhaps, almost any type of organization has already experienced having a project fail. Any project failure can cost an organization a lot of millions. Common reasons for a failed project are cancellation and failure to complete it at the given timeline. Moreover, failure to specify project details will also lead to its failure, as well as lack of communication and project management. Finally, the major factor that leads to project failure is the lack of project measurement. It is one aspect of the project that actually sports any issue on the project and address them before the proper project kick off and implementation. These are some of the project development and implementation based on the EDA PM system: †¢ Performance measurement should be used to determine possible hindrances to a project. †¢ Project must be according to the priorities of the project. †¢ A strong project management system should be well established. †¢ It should be noted that implementation of the PM system can take a lot of time, effort, and at some point, money. Thus, a company should have the most competent staff to work on it, with the close monitoring and support of the top management. †¢ Performance measurement can also be used to easily recognize achievements from thee project. †¢ The duties and responsibilities should be clearly set for the entire phase from project planning to implementation †¢ Performance measurement will clearly identify the needs of the project. †¢ Consistency should be observed in terms of the project development and implementation with the company objectives and expected deliverables. In this method, the collect, analyze, interpret and report process in the project measurement should be identified. †¢ Business processes should include the project performance measurement in order for them to systematically collect, analyze, interpret, and report whatever is derived from the project development. †¢ Performance measurement should be objective, just, quantifiable, and results oriented, while including substantial qualitative information (Shayne, 2004). Performance measurement can have different functions: customer satisfaction, business development, employee motivation, and business process enhancement. It has been widely used as a tool to motivate employees to do better in their jobs, with the promise of incentives or rewards. Having a pool of motivated employees will eventually lead to high quality outputs. Moreover, performance measurement will allow a company to operate according to their goals, and have a way to analyze how the output of their current processes will go. It will also give the company a chance to improve certain areas, which they think are more useful in achieving their goals. Performance measurement is also a reliable tool for managers for their decision-making processes, because of its objectivity. References Carr, N. (2008). The Data Dashboard. American School Board Journal, 195(12), 42. Retrieved August 2, 2010, from Master FILE Premier database. Mausolff, C., Spence, J. (2008). Performance Measurement and Program Effectiveness: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach. International Journal of Public Administration, 31(6), 595-615. doi:10.1080/01900690701640929. Shayne, B. (2004). Performance-Measurement. Retrieved August 2, 2010, from http://www.performance-measurement.net SIX-SIGMA PROGRAM. (2004). In Encyclopedia of Health Care Management, Sage. Retrieved August 2, 2010, from http://www.credoreference.com/entry/sageeohcm/six_sigma_program

Container Shipping Industry

Container Shipping Industry Outline the evolution of the structure in the container shipping industry and discuss the extent to which the structural changes are explained by increasing size of ships entering Introduction In the past especially in the last twenty years international container shipping industry and the related trade has been increasing at a tremendous rate. The period between 1980 and 2004 shows that international maritime trade grew at 2.4% compared to this the containerised cargo has increased at 8.6% with an increase of 600% over that period compared to 70% of the maritime trade. This phenomenal growth can be attributed to the many things including the growing importance of transhipment activities. As more shippers understood the advantages of container shipping ports increasingly made changes to the infrastructure and adapted to handling of cargo using containers. This growth of world container traffic has also led to an increase in the size of ships resulting in challenges and opportunities for the container shipping industry. And there is no instance of such a spectacular growth in the transportation industry. This paper outlines the evolution of the container shipping industry h ighlighting the main reasons behind the growth and development of the industry, moreover it also discusses the increasing size of the ships and its relationship with the container shipping industry. (Ircha, 2006. Volk) The Factors Behind the Growth of Container Shipping Industry Volk has studied the container shipping industry and point out four factors which have helped the container shipping industry in achieving its tremendous growth. Following are the four factors: (Volk) Significant Increase in Productivity The origins of containerisation can be found in the fall out from the 1956 Suez Crisis when the when the blocking of the Suez canal leading to an increase in demand for transportation this led to an investment of the shipping industry into ships, but the end of the crisis meant that there was an over supply of ships and eventually led to a prolonged recession in the shipping industry. In addition to this shippers are always seeking to minimise cost as the freight level generally doesnt cover the costs, this cost cutting potential led to the introduction of container ships and the LASH ships, but the container ships were much more successful. The introduction of the 20 feet and the 40 ft container led to far-reaching changes to the transportation industry, the productivity of the container shipping is 4 to 8 times to that of the traditional shipping. This enormous productivity led to the shippers being profitable even when the freight rates were low and thus remained competitive. However to really gain from the containerisation concept a lot of investment was needed in the transportation channels. Countries have gradually adapted to this change and have done it at their own pace. This is the reason that the structural changes have been taking place even today in many of the Asian, African, Baltic and Latin American Countries. The Containerisation of shipping is still in the process of penetrating many national markets this is the reason for its greater development compared too the general transportation market. Structural Changes in Shipping Due of Containerisation The structural chages in Cargo shipping industry led to the success of the container shipping industry. first many of the ports which were important were unable to make appropriate changes like creation of quays, installation of careanes etc. Due to this many important ports like Liverpool, and San Francisco were left behind. Because of concentration od cargo on a few ports led to the development of hinterland connections, for example Rotterdam and Antwerp have effective inland shipping and. Not all of the shipping industry was able to adapt to the change brought about by containerisation, because in addition to shipping the shippers had to invest in containers too. This limited the number of shippers whoi were able to containerise their business. Major difference is that has occurred because of containerisation is the increase in the efficiency of shipping. In the past ships used to spend weeks standing at ports, the trips between Northern Europe used to take eight weeks, however with the introduction of containers the trips time has halved to four weeks. With significant increase in the capital investment and fewer number of ports, and increase in the speed of ships and efficiency. Shippers now realise that the ships cannot be profitable sitting at ports as a result the idea of offering of multiple loops has emerged. Because the larger ships with containers could not reach all ports and since many poiorts did not have the capacity or the finances to support containerisation, ship rotation and feeder shipping, a network of shipping feeders has evolved. These ships function both inter-regionally and intra-regionally. There has been an evolution of the trading routes along with the evolution of containerisation. In the past the routes between different regions of the world were quite clearly defined, however with the intention of creating more efficiency, for this new concepts like the pendulum concept and the round-the-world concept evolved. The decrease in the transportation was and is passed on to the customer with increased cost reduction, the volume of cargo being transported from far-flung areas has become extremely cheap as the large ships with containers are able to achieve economies of scale. Increase in Trade Volume and its Relationship with Economies of Scale The increase in containerised trade has induced the shippers to use larger and larger ships and the large size of ships has led to economies of scale. The strategies adopted by the shippers to deal with this interdependency is to understand the limitations of investment in ships, generally ships last for about 25 year on average, therefore to cope with the steady increase in demand many shippers order ships which have extra capacity to deal with the future increase. Some shippers try to increase their market share so they can invest in more ships. The increase in capacity is not insignificant as it determines the volumes whish can be transported. Bigger ships also mean more containers, this is the reason that there is extremely stiff competition because the container ship markets have newer ships all the time increasing the competition as the customers benefit because of increased size of ships. Low transportation costs have simulated global trade as products and goods become more and more competitive on a global platform. This is the reason that containers are used for general cargo but also for break bulk cargo like transportation of salt from Australia to Europe. In addition to price container shipping is not only reliable, timely and has more geographical outreach, that industries and producers produce goods which can be containerised. In addition since the size of ships is increasing even today the transportation costs will continue to decrease as the growth of containers is more than proportionate. Deregulation and Liberalisation Deregulation and trade liberalisation occurred in the 90s particularly the Asian and the Latin American countries. Chinas entrance in world trade has also been a major part of this liberalisation. Because of this container industry has experienced an added impetus to growth. Structural Change due to Increase in Ship Size Gradually over the years, specialised container ships have steadily increased in capacity and dimension shippers try to find the economies of scale in an ever competive market. In 2004 half of the ships ordered were big enough to have a capacity of 5500 TEUs at the minimum, in addition the 36 percent of the all container ships planned for building have a capacity of 7400 TEUs. These huge ships are now becoming more common in the key trading paths which serve Asia. New orders for China Shipping Container Lines range between 8500 and 9600 TEUS. It is estimated that the new ships will be 334 metres long and 42.8 metres wide and have anticipated drafts of 15 metres or more. Even bigger ships depend on better engine technology for the vessels propulsion system. (Notteboom2004) It is believed that the next increase in ship size will be 12,000 TEUs or even more, as the limitation in the engines mean that it will take two engines for the ships larger then 10,00 TEUs. It is estimated that the maximum size of ships would be approximately 18,000 TEUs. This is based on the fact that Malaccan Straight between Indonesia and Malaysia has the relevant depth limits (Gilman 1999). Bigger container ships need: Approach channels and berths which are deeper Channels and turning basins which are wider larger container terminals which have more storage capacity and warehouses on land so that they can satisfactorily handle higher volumes of export and import containers. Outreach which is both higher and longer mechanized ship-to-shore support cranes, An extremely proficient and well-organised work force working round the clock to guarantee swift ship turnaround Cullinane et al (1999) have found that economies of scale exist in the case of Europe-Far East and trans-Pacific routes in ships with 8,000 TEU even if the limitations of ports are taken into consideration. As for trans-Atlantic route the range of 5,00 to 6,00 TEUs is ideal. However today there is less knowledge about the economies of scale related to super-big container ships. Some believe in the case of 18,000 TEUs the cost saving are negligible as they would lack flexibility. Adding post-panamax capacity can give a short-term competitive edge to the early mover, putting pressure on the followers in the market to upgrade their container fleet and to avert a serious unit cost disadvantage, i.e. the ‘me too syndrome as indicated by. A boomerang effect eventually also hurts the carrier who started the price war.   While others like Waals and Wijnolst,( 2001)insist that there would be cost saving based on hub-feeder arrangement. It is clear that the increase in scale of vessels has decreased the slot costs in container industry, however it is also significant that larger carriers have not been able to achieve cost saving from economies of scale (Lim, 1998). Moreover inefficient slot utilisation and the tendency to buy more cargo at lower rates can lead to lowered revenues. Graham states that the techniques like cost cutting by post-panamax building will not be helpful and instead will prevent the shipping industry from achieving stability. To him the danger of a brutal cycle of increase in ship scale, continuous building and decreasing margin is detrimental to the industry. he goes on to say that this increase leads to short term reduction in cost which pushes competitors into investing in still larger vessels this is confirmed by Helmick et al (1996) who thinks that it is a boomerang effect hurting the shipper who started it in the first place. Conclusion Containerisation has been revolutionary in terms of changes brought about in the transportation industry, and especially in the case of container shipping industry the change has not only led to its tremendous growth but also lowered prices. From the above discussion it becomes obvious that containerisation and subsequent steady increase in ship sizes has led to many changes however some people argue that the exercise to find achieve economies of scale is unending and this will lead to an increase in vessel size, which may go beyond 12,000 TEUs in the next few years. This is because shippers have tried to achieve savings in terms of fuel economy and economies of scale in larger ships, this is to have a larger market share and be successful in the sector. Larger ships do have lower costs per TEU than smaller ships. From the perspective of the ports, the larger vessels will be favoured in the longer rroutes, like Trans-Pacific, trans-Atlantic and Far East- Europe routes, with vessels larger than 8,000 TEUs. Ports have been gearing themselves up for bigger vessels trying to provide facilities to accommodate the huge sizes, this entails huge costs and structural adjustments, and however the incentive is to become hub ports, other ports have to make appropriate changes to remain competitive. References Cullinane, K., Khanna, M. and Song, D.-W. (1999) â€Å"How Big is Beautiful: Economies of Scale and the Optimal Size of Containership, Liner Shipping: Whats Next?† Proceedings of the 1999 IAME conference, Halifax, 108-140. Gilman, S., 1999, The size economies and network efficiency of large containerships, International Journal of Maritime Economics, 1(1) Graham, M.G. (1998). Stability and competition in intermodal container shipping: finding a balance, Maritime Policy and Management, 25(2), 129-147 Helmick, J.S., Wakeman, T.H., Stewart, R.D. (1996). Technology, intermodal transportation and port productivity: throughput maximization and environmental sustainability, The Journal of Urban Technology, 3, 11-38. Ircha, M C. (2006). Characteristics Of Tomorrows Successful Port in Crowley, Brian Lee (Ed.) The AIMS Atlantica Papers #4 http://www.aims.ca/library/Ircha.pdf. Lim, S.-M. (1998) â€Å"Economies of Scale in Container Shipping,† Maritime Policy and Management, 25: 361-373 Notteboom T E. (2004). Container Shipping And Ports: An Overview. Review of Network Economics Vol.3, Issue 2, 86-106 http://www.rnejournal.com/articles/notteboom-RNE_june_04.pdf Volk B. Growth Factors in Container Shipping. Elsfleth, Department of Marine Studies http://www.amc.edu.au/mlm/papers/AMC3_GRO.pdf Waals, F., Wijnolst, N.(2001). Malacca-max: container shipping network economy, Proceedings of the IAME 2001 conference, Hong Kong, 191-207

Pre 1914 Short Stories :: The Red Room H.G. Wells Gotchi Horror Essays

Pre 1914 Short Stories Short stories were very popular in those times because they were published in magazines for house wives to read because they had nothing else to do other then clean the house while their husbands were working. Also the husbands would read them when they got home. In ghost stories the typical setting is usually a dark place or somewhere in the middle of nowhere. ‘The Red Room’, by H.G Wells is a classic gothic horror story set in the nineteenth century. Wells conveys the experience of fear in ‘The Red Room’ in many ways. The narrator first starts off by making a bold statement in which he mentions that ‘it would take a very tangible ghost’ to scare him. Since he knows that ghosts are thought to be invisible, he mentions tangible instead. Notice he says tangible. It could mean that a ghost wouldn’t scare him, as ghosts (according to others) aren’t tangible. Furthermore he shows his fearlessness by describing the old people in a ghostly way and yet he himself is not showing any fear at this stage. Wells also uses clever manipulation, for he manipulates the reader into thinking that fear is not present at all, which is not the case, because that aspect of fear is around him with the old people. So by him showing such a contrast in the fearless character of the narrator, and the fearful environment or people, he makes the narrator stand out and be thought of as very gallant indeed. There is an unusual and sudden increase in the build-up of fear as the old lady mentions something about so much to be seen in the castle and sorrow for what has been seen by the naked eye. Maybe the old woman means sorrow for the young duke who had to die. She might have also meant that so many people have tried to come out of ‘the red room’ alive and abolish the myth of the room being haunted, but much sorrow is felt each time when they don’t make it out alive. A sense of suspicion is built-up by the old folks in the castle, for the boy suspects them of enhancing the ‘spiritual terrors’ of the house by using their repetitive insistence. The narrator’s character at the beginning is one of a more bold nature, for, he mentions that if he is to see a ghost then he will become wiser for he would know what lays behind the door. Here you can notice that the narrator takes a much more tranquil approach to the situation, when he mentions as

The Holy Bible is Fact, Not Fiction :: Holy Bible Essays

The Holy Bible is Fact, Not Fiction The Hebrew word used for "day" is the word yom. Every other time the word is used in the Old Testament in conjunction with a number, a literal, 24-hour period of time is being described; what we know as a day. The word is never used metaphorically in the Bible. The verses most commonly used to say that the word day in Genesis could mean more than a 24 hour period are Psalm 90:4 and 2 Peter 3, which quotes Psalm 90:4. Psalm 90:4 - For a thousand years in Your sight Are like yesterday when it passes by, Or as a watch in the night. 2 Peter 3:8 - But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. Notice the phrases "are like" and "is like." The Greek word used in 2 Peter is 3:8 for that phrase is like is the word hos, a word used in a figurative comparison - the word as. We must always keep things in the proper perspective: Science is of men; the Bible is of God (2 Timothy 3:16 - "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness"). The almighty, all-powerful, omniscient, omnipresent God we worship obviously has the ability to create the world in an even shorter time; He could speak one word and it ALL would come into existence. He says in His Word that He created it in six days, why can't we let Him speak for Himself and take it at face value. God's Word is infallible, people ARE NOT. Exodus 20:11 - For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. Exodus 31:16-17 - 'So the sons of Israel shall observe the Sabbath, to celebrate the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant.' "It is a sign between Me and the sons of Israel forever; for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day He ceased from labor, and was refreshed." If we were to assume that Creation lasted more than 6 24 hour days, the "sign" the second passage speaks of would be a pretty poor sign - a comparison between a 6000 year creation and our 7 day week wouldn't be very meaningful.

Style Controversy :: Writing Styles Style Essays

Style Controversy Upon completion of the both stylebooks, Strunk and White and Williams, I have found that style is much more than whatever one sees fit for themselves. This is true at least for essay writing not necessarily creative writing. As with other debated subjects where guidelines are drawn as to what constitutes a good work of art, film, or music, writing has guidelines which good compositions fit into and can therefore be compared and contrasted with other works. That is not to say there is one way to do any essay but there are parameters which must be met and set for a paper to be critiqued. S&W would like to set up a correct way to do everything; according to them there is only one right way and everything else is wrong. This authoritarian point of view on writing is scary but some of the things they say are poignant. For instance when they speak of participial phrases, as I have mentioned in my first blog writing, they tell and show how to do this correctly and it is easily implemented. â€Å"A participial phrase at the beginning of a sentence must refer to the grammatical subject† (13). To someone who understands what a participial phrase is along with what and where the grammatical subject of a sentence is this makes sense. It is clear, concise, and effective one can quickly look to the rule for reference and continue on with their paper. When looking for quick reference on how to fix grammar mistakes this is a good way to go about finding answers but not for a stylebook. There needs to be more discussion. It would be nice to say that good style is just correct grammar and word usage but it’s not so. Williams knows this and blatantly points this out in his preface of the book. He acknowledges that his book is different from stylebooks in the past mentioning that this book is not for everyone. Williams divulges secrets of the trade in an interesting although sometimes hard to grasp conversation with the reader on all subjects of writing. This does include grammatical problems and word usage concerns but Williams explains both sides and shows how at times both ‘good’ and ‘bad’ aspects of writing can be right depending on the context it is used in.

Reflection In Diversity Essay

The focus of this assignment is to explore a time when I felt like the â€Å"other†: invisible, excluded, or too visible. I will describe how I felt and what I learned from my experience of exclusion in the workplace. I will then connect my discussion to at least three concepts, examples, and /or quotes from the course readings or lecture. I am currently employed by a Dialysis provider that has several contracts to provide Acute Hemo-dialysis treatments to patients in a hospital setting. I have a primary hospital location, but I also travel to other hospitals in the area. I enjoy this position for many reasons, one being that I have a lot of autonomy. Others and myself see working as an Acute Hemo-dialysis Nurse as a prestigious position. Although I work alongside other Registered Nurses, as a contractor, most colleagues consider me the â€Å"other† RN. My contract status excludes me from all unit and daily hospital activities. I have adapted to this independent work en vironment. On occasion, the hospital is short on staff and requests my assistance. However, I am obligated to ensure I abide by the law and work regulations for my position and status. In the performance of my daily duties, requests for services outside of my contract arise. I regularly encounter such requests in the medication room and nurses station. Many hospital staff RN’s get offended when I have to decline assisting them. According to our textbook on page 85, discrimination is negative behavior toward a person based on his or her group membership (Bell, 2012). Many of the nurses from my company complain that hospital nurses discriminate against us due to our status. I understand my contractor status concerning co-employment laws. I am content with the service I provide and the rules governing my position. I do not allow such negative  interactions or opinions to interfere with my job performance.

E-bay Case Study

At least 30 million people will buy and sell well over $20bn in merchandise (in 2003) – more than the gross domestic product of all but 70 of the world's countries. More than 150,000 entrepreneurs will earn a full-time living selling everything from diet pills and Kate Spade handbags to  £30,000 BMWs and hulking industrial lathes. More automobiles, of all things, sell on eBay than even no. 1 US dealer AutoNation. So what does this add up to? ‘This is a whole new way of doing business,' says Whitman. ‘We're creating something that didn't exist before.It wasn't planned, but as users plunged into consumer electronics, cars, and industrial gear, eBay followed. Today, eBay has 27,000 categories, including eight with gross sales of more than  £1 billion each.eBay’s business modelValue in eBay is created by proViding a virtual world ¬wide market for buyers and sellers and collecting a tax on transactions as they happen. The business model of eBay relies on it s customers being the organisation's product-development team, sales and marketing force, merchandising department, and the security department.The organisation, headed by Meg Whitman, was founded in 1995, when Pierre Omidyar launched a basic site called Auction Web. His girlfriend wanted to trade her collection of Pez dispensers, but Omidyar had a broader vision in mind, namely empowering everyday consumers to trade without the need for large corporations. He even wanted traders to be responsible for building the community and deciding how to build the website. It worked; soon he found himself answering e-mails from buyers and sellers during the day and rewriting the site's software at night to incorporate their suggestions, which ranged from fiXing software bugs to creating new product categories.Some 100,000 messages from customers are posted per week in which tips are shared, system glitches are pointed out and changes are lobbied for. The COO, Brian Swette, is quoted as saying, ‘The trick is to keep up with what  buyers and sellers want. We've had to constantly change how we run. We start from the principle that if there's noise, you better listen.' Currently the technology allows every move of every potential customer to be traced, yielding rich information.Structurally, the business model is realised through 5,000 employees, roughly half of whom are in customer support and a fifth in technology. A key role in eBay is ‘category manager', a concept Whitman brought to eBay from her days in marketing giant P&G. Category managers direct the 23 major categories as well as the 35,000 subcategories, from collectibles to sports gear, to jewellery and watches, and even jet-planes.Conventional companies might spend big money on getting to know their customers and persuading them to provide feedback, but for eBay such feed ¬back is often free and offered without the need for enticement. Even so some of the company's most effective ways of getting us er input do not rely on the Net and do not come free. eBay organises Voice of the Customer groups, which involve flying in a new group of about 10 sellers and buyers from around the country to its San Jose (Californian) every few months to discuss the in depth. Teleconferences are held for features and policies, however small a change involve. Even workshops and classes are held teach people how to make the most of the site. Participants tend to double their selling activity on after taking a class.The company is governed from both outside and The eBay system has a source of automatic control in the form of buyers and sellers rating each other on each transaction, creating rules and norms. There's an educational system that offers classes around the country on how to sell on eBay. Both buyers and sellers build up reputations which are valuable, in turn encouraging further good behaviour in themselves and others.When that wasn't quite enough, eBay formed its own police force to patro l the listings for fraud and kick out offenders, the Trust and Safety Dept, now staffed by several hundred eBay employees worldwide. They do every ¬thing from trolling the site for suspicious listings to working with law enforcement agencies to catch crooks. eBay also has developed software that recognises patterns of  behaviour common to previous fraud cases, such as sellers from Romania who recently started selling large numbers of big-ticket items.eBay’s managementMeg Whitman's style and past has heavily influ ¬enced the management of eBay. When she joined the company in 1998, it was more of a collection of geeks, handpicked by the pony-tailed Omidyar, than a blue-chip – something which underpinned Omidyar's recruitment of Meg. Meg, an ex-consultant, filled many of the senior management roles includ ¬ing the head of the US business, head of interna ¬tional operations and vice-president of consumer marketing with consultants.The result: eBay has become data and metric driven. ‘If you can't measure it, you can't control it', Meg says. Whereas in the early days you could touch and feel the way the organisation worked, its current size means it needs to be measured. Category managers are expected to spend their days measuring and acting upon data within their fiefdom.Some measures are standard for e-business and include how many people are visiting the site, how many of those then register to become users, how long each user remains per visit, how long pages take to load and so on. A measure Meg likes is the ‘take rate', the ratio of revenues to the value of goods traded on the site (the higher the better). She meas ¬ures which days are the busiest, directing when to offer free listings in order to stimulate the supply of auction items. Noise on the discussion boards is used to understand whether the community is in ‘supportive' or ‘ready to kill you mood' on a scale of 1 to 10. Normal for eBay is around3.  Ca tegory managers in eBay, unlike their counter ¬parts in Procter and Gamble, can only indirectly control their products. They have no stock to reorder once levels of toothpaste or washing-up liquid run low on the supermarket shelves. They provide tools to buy and sell more effectively. ‘What they can do is endlessly try to eke out small wins in their cate ¬gories – say, a slight jump in scrap-metal listings or new bidders for comic books. To get there, they use marketing and merchandising schemes such as enhancing the presentation of their users' products and giving them tools to buy and sell  better.'Over and above this unusual existence, the work envir-onment can be tough and ultracompetitive, say ex-eBayers. Changes often come only after PowerPoint slides are exchanged and refined at a low level, even ¬tually presented at a senior level and after the change has been approved in a sign-off procedure which includes every department. An advance in the ways shoes could be searched for took ten months to happen. Aware that analysis can mean paralysis, Meg commissioned consultants (who else) to benchmark the rate at which change is indeed implemented in eBay.eBay was rated as average amongst the com ¬panies surveyed. Over time eBay has upgraded its ability to ensure the technology does not rule. Until the late 1990s, the site was plagued with outages, including one in 1999 which shut the site down for 22 hours courtesy of software problems and no backup systems. Former Gateway Inc. Chief Information Officer Maynard Webb, who joined as president of eBay's technology unit, quickly took action to upgrade systems. Now the site is down for less than 42 minutes a month, despite much higher traffic.Meg is a leader who buys into the company in more ways than one. Having auctioned some $35,000 worth of furnishings in her ski condo in Colorado to understand the selling experience, she became a top seller among the company's employees and ensured that her learning from the experience was listened to by fellow top execs. Meg is also known for listening carefully to her employees and expects her managers to do the same. As the business is as much, if not more, its customers, any false move can cause revolts within the community that is eBay.Most of all eBay tries to stay aware and flexible.Nearly all of its fastest-growing new categories emerged from registering seller activity in the area and quietly giving it a nudge at the right moment. For example, after noticing a few car sales, eBay cre ¬ated a separate site called eBay Motors in 1999, with special features such as vehicle inspections and shipping. Some four years later, eBay expects to gross some $1 billion worth of autos and parts, many of which are sold by professional dealers.The democratic underpinning of eBay, whilst easily embraced by customers, can, however, take some getting used to. New managers can take six months to understand the ethos. ‘Some of the terms you learn in business school – drive, force, commit  ¬don't apply', says former PepsiCo Inc. exec William C. Cobb, now senior vice-president in charge of eBay's international operations. ‘We're over here listening, adapting, enabling.'