Theorists have argued that in order for service operations to be Essay - 1

Theorists have argued that in order for service operations to be successful, they must adopt a production line approach to their delivery - Essay Example According to Gallouj and Weinstein (1997), discretion of products is the core enemy to its order, standardization, and quality. A production line approach aims at emulating an assembly line in production in that no products are discretely prepared by the employee to reduce the risk of poor quality or differentiation as the employee will engineer the product according to his personal interests thus the outcome is highly unpredictable same as the customer response to the same product. On the other hand using a completely automated and controlled production line approach will ensure consistency in all the products thus the consumers will always know what to expect in terms of quality and consistency. The advantages of a production-line approach to service operations include increased, efficient, cheap, high volume lucrative service operations and an increased satisfied customer database. According to Levitt (1976), if a service operation takes place with a management rationality and tactics copied from the manufacturing division it is bound to prosper because the manufacturing sector tends to think and act technologically while the rational service operations approach tends to look for solutions in the empowerment of the person giving the service. The conveyor belt/production line approach in service operation is considered as an old but effective method in increasing a films production as exhibited by its use in fields such as banking, airlines, and maintenance. This approach has been implemented in companies and firms such as IBM which produces computers for worldwide consumption, Citibank which is one of the biggest banks worldwide and McDonalds. These strategy approach is an efficient, capital-intensive system, automatic and discrete system that involves preplanning and routinizing employee activities to ensure consistency and simplicity of the process. Theorists argue that this approach

Discuss how the anatomical and molecular structure of the podocyte Essay

Discuss how the anatomical and molecular structure of the podocyte facilitates filtration in the kidney - Essay Example The epithelial cells in the podocytes are polarized in nature with a luminal and basal cell membrane. The cell membrane corresponds to the sole plates of the foot processes. The slit diaphragm is found between the luminal and basal cell membranes (Kriz et al, 1998). A thick surface coat of sialoglycoproteins covers the luminal membrane and the slit diaphragm. The podocytes have a high negative surface charge due to the sialoglycoproteins made up of podocalyxin and podoendin among others. This surface charge helps to maintain the interdigitating pattern of the foot processes. When the surface charge is neutralized by cationic substances like protamine sulphate, the processes draw back and cause tight junctions between them (Kriz et al, 1998). The abluminal membrane contains many proteins participating in the various functions of the glomerulus. Podoplanin is a recently described protein found all over the podocyte. Galatosamine residues of glycoconjugates and A13 (podocyte-specific pr otein) are found. The cell body has the large nucleus, well developed Golgi system, endoplasmic reticulum and lysosmes (Kriz et al, 1998).Podocytes play a significant role in the physiology and pathology of the glomerulus and form the basis of the filtration process in the kidney along with the slit diaphragm. The glomerulus has a glomerular filtration barrier which is deeply involved in the kidney functions (Pavenstadt, 2000). The podocyte is the most differentiated cell or highly specialized cell in the glomerulus for the functions. The podocytes stabilize the glomerular architecture by preventing distensions of the glomerular basement membrane and maintain the large filtration surface at the slit diaphragm. They account for 40% of the hydraulic resistance of the filtration barrier (Pavenstadt, 2000). The foot processes are contractile in nature with actin, myosin, alpha-actinin, vinculin and talin and connected to the basement