Course Project Essay

They are Public Website, Manufacturing Support System (MSS), Human Resources System (HRS), and Sales and Marketing System (SMS). Public Website provides information about each of the products, locations where someone can purchase them, and information about how to get warranty support. Details of warranty support and defect rates are not tracked, but the staff has anecdotal stories. The Manufacturing Support System (MSS) maintains the supply chain information necessary for manufacturing the company’s products, such as raw materials, vendors, and prices. The Human Resources System (HRS) maintains and tracks personnel and benefits information. And the Sales and Marketing System (SMS) track the sales and marketing efforts of the company’s sales force. Orders from this system are printed and sent daily to the MSS to be filled. As a senior member of the IT Management Team for SAI Toys, I agree with the Board of Directors and the CEO decision to stay on the forefront of geekness, and therefore the company should integrate all of  its IT systems. In addition, they want to develop a more robust Web presence and sell their products directly to individual customers in addition to selling through traditional retailers, as they currently are doing. My recommendation is that we need to hire more staff if SAI Toys want to stay on the forefront. The company needs to hire professional computer specialist. The integration of new the software into a newly expanded IT system which utilizes in some cases first generation coding on legacy hardware can create operational problems which in-house IT staff may be nable to solve. SAI Toys is not in the computer business. While computers are essential to the design, manufacture and marketing of their products, SAI Toys would be well served by having their IT systems vertically integrated and maintained in a cloud computing environment, eliminating most of their IT department employees in the process (Butcher, 2011). In this report, I will show how the company should go about implementing this ex ecutive directive. The report should include the following sections. The report will also outline the situation, weighs various alternatives, and I will presents a final recommendation for the company. The report will also include the current IT system, overview of the recommended system, the difference between In House and Outsourcing development, the stakeholders’ buy-in, the ERP project failed with lessons learned, and the company’s ROL ;amp; TCO. Current IT Situation To evaluate SAI Toys, using the basic analysis techniques will help us to have an overview of the company and its environment. SWOT is a tool that identifies the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of an organization. SAI Toys SWOT Analysis is to take the information from an environmental analysis and separate it into internal (strengths and weaknesses) and external issues (opportunities and threats). The Strengths of SAI Toys are: Experienced and successful marketing team, High brand recognition for their unique products, Substantial 25 member IT team, and Quality control ensuring positive consumer feedback. The Weaknesses of SAI Toys are: Highly competitive marketplace, Extensive and continuing R;amp;D investment, Cost containment, and Personnel costs for IT staff (Butcher, 2011). The Opportunities of SAI Toys are: Direct marketing and sales to consumers through company operated websites, Emerging international markets immediately accessible through the internet, and Substantial IT cost reduction through use of cloud computing. The Threats of SAI Toys are: Loss of market share, Major competitors integrating vertically and selling direct, and Changing technology requiring escalating engineering costs (Butcher, 2011). The Competitive Strategy Analysis is the second basis analysis technique to help us to have an overview of the company and its environment. SAI cannot afford the possibility of IT system failure given the highly competitive market in which they operate. New product design, manufacture, and marketing require that their IT system be fully functional 24/7 with no downtime. To sustain growth and revenue and stay ahead of potential competition SAI Toys will need to invest heavily in Research and Development (R;amp;D) on an ongoing basis (Butcher, 2011). This will include further investment in hiring skilled engineering personnel. Because SAI Toys creates unique products which may exclusively dominate a small segment of the market from which all of its revenue is derived, the introduction into the market of a competitor’s similar product with enhanced features and lower retail pricing may severely impact SAI Toys ability to generate sales and revenue (Butcher, 2011). Swimlanes Diagram: AS-IS Diagram Overview of Recommended System The various systems currently in place will be replaced or integrated into the new system. Assuming that SAI Toys has elected to develop an integrated IT system in-house utilizing its current IT structure but expanding operability to allow all four (4) distinct IT systems to communicate with each other, an Organizational Process Performance system evaluation is necessary which will derive quantitative objectives for quality and process performance from the organization’s business objectives (Butcher, 2011). The new system will be the ERP Implementation. There is a Process of ERP Implementation. While ERP is clearly a software solution for SAI, its implementation must be done on an incremental basis to limit interruptions to the existing business structure at SAI. Like all IT changes, problems can and will develop. To minimize the impact on SAI’s ongoing business operation the implementation of ERP should occur during the lapses between product launches or product design and development stages and implementation should be accomplished on a step-by-step basis, one application at a time. Limiting IT installations and disruptions to non-critical time periods will permit the least stressful adoption of the IT structure and allow SAI to maintain its revenue stream without incurring a loss (Butcher, 2011). There are numerous vendors who offer ERP software which would be easily configurable for SAI’s specific requirements. Microsoft, Oracle, Sage, Exact, SAP, and Intuitive each offer ERP software solutions which can manage companies like SAI with up to 1,000 users. Each of these can incorporate e-commerce platforms into the production and supply chain and provide SAI Toys management with instantaneous information reports including warranty claims, product claims, and defective product losses to together with consumer feedback in real-time (Butcher, 2011). Some new features in this system will include: 1) Improved customer satisfaction 2) Increased profitability 3) Reduced costs ) Improved quality and processing times 5) Improved business culture by bridging the gap between the production line and management 6) Improved business performance by focusing team members on eliminating waste across key business processes and workflows (Butcher, 2011). There are many companies out there that have successfully made the transition from a brick and mortar business to an E-Commerce. The E-Commerce can help the company grow and expand. An e-commerce platform can be used for advertising, production, supplier enquiries, negotiations, contracts, orders, billing, payments, and after sales service and other business activities in the process of interactive program management that can simplify the transaction process (Butcher, 2011). SOA would be of benefit to this project. A Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) design principle can be utilized during the phases of systems development and integration. A system based on SOA will package functionality as suite of interoperable services that can be used within multiple separate systems from the four separate systems. SOA also generally provides a way for consumers of services such as web-based applications to be aware of available SOA based services. For example, several disparate departments within a company may develop and deploy SOA services in different implementation languages and their respective clients will benefit from a well understood, well defined interface to access them. SOA defines integration for widely disparate applications for a web-based environment and uses multiple implementation platforms (Butcher, 2011). Rather than defining an API, SOA defines the interface in terms of protocols and functionality. An endpoint is the entry point for such a SOA implementation. Service-orientation requires loose coupling of services with operating systems and other technologies that underlies applications. SOA separates functions into distinct units, or services, which developers make accessible over a network in order to allow users to combine and reuse them in the production of applications. These services and their corresponding consumers communicate with each other by passing data in a well-defined, shared format, or by corresponding an activity between two or more services. SOA is therefore a continuum as opposed to distributed computing or modular programming (Butcher, 2011). Swimlanes diagrams- TO-BE diagram In-House versus Outsourcing Development The benefits and costs of developing this system in-house versus outsourcing the development or purchasing off-the-shelf are very important to consider. Off-the-shelf ERP packages are tested and proven performers which are an essential requirement for a company like SAI Toys which cannot afford the inevitable downtime associated with fragmented software design and installation. On a cost benefit analysis basis the investment in purchasing an off-the-shelf ERP software package is substantially less than the cost of downtime and system inoperability where an in-house software design fails (Butcher, 2011). The ability of the software vendor to de-bug an off-the-shelf system can be measured in minutes or hours versus the possibility and probability of several days of downtime with in-house developed software. The purchase price of an ERP software package can be amortized over a useful lifespan of five years or more and when compared to the prospective recurring downtime of in-house developed software the advantages of an ERP off-the-shelf solution cannot be ignored (Butcher, 2011). To avoid as many pitfalls as possible in the overhaul of SAI’s IT system it is recommended that SAI avoid in-house software development of this magnitude. While some of SAI’s IT staff may be proficient in software development there are the issues of minimum and exacting standards employed in the industry which may not be a consideration for in-house development. CCMI and ISO certifications should also impact the decision here. CMMI and ISO certification are an inherent part of these off-the-shelf software solutions which eliminates the uncertain standards that may be employed in in-house software development (Butcher, 2011). We should develop the system by Some best practices for managing the project type to having a better chance of success are Stakeholder Buy-in and Internal Politics The stakeholders of this system are essential. Once stakeholders are on board with the system development, they are likely to remain involved, supporting the program over its lifetime. We can get them to buy-in and support the system development by keeping them informed throughout the process of the system, including during the evaluation planning, implementation, and reporting phases (Innovation Network, 2002-2012). Stakeholders are valuable assets in evaluation planning, offering: * Assistance in decision-making about continued and prospective funding; * Perspective that helps the program learn, grow, and improve, and * Experience that informs program replication at other sites or organizations. The Stakeholders fall into three levels of program participation or involvement. There are: * Primary stakeholders  are typically major decision makers within a program, and are often the motivators behind an evaluation effort. They are often program staff, supervisors, senior managers, and funders. * Secondary stakeholders  have less contact with the administrative side of the program, but are still important to the evaluation effort. They include program participants and their families; direct service staff; and possibly other professionals providing subsequent services to program participants. Tertiary stakeholders  are more distant but are likely to be interested in evaluation findings — for example, potential program participants, the general public, or members of the same profession (Innovation Network, 2002-2012). There are other issues that may arise as a result of the internal politics in our company that could have a negative impact on the project. The best thi ng to do is to reduce the risk of project failure due to internal issues. Many systems development problems are in practice caused by a failure to perceive that specific stakeholders’ viewpoints were relevant. That failure causes whole groups of requirements, typically those related to scenarios involving the missing stakeholders to be missed. A similar result is obtained when one stakeholder assumes one scope for a product while another stakeholder assumes another. This occurs when a developer assumes that it will be sufficient to design, code, and test software but the purchaser hopes to have everything set-up and operators trained (Butcher, 2011). Stakeholder composition is a good predictor of project risk and therefore it should be cost-effective to characterize projects at their initiation according to their stakeholder impact. SAI can minimize internal politics by fully evaluating each stakeholder and assuring them that their input is critical to the overall success of the project. Each stakeholder then becomes part of the project team and has a vested interest in ensuring the ultimate success of the project. Team meetings bring all of the stakeholders together to discuss differences and eliminate issues which would delay or derail the project. Each team member realizes that their participation is equally important within their area of specialization or expertise fully under their direct control and unchallenged by direct confrontation. In this manner, each team member must demonstrate how their participation and overall cooperation contributes to the overall success of the project (Butcher, 2011). ERP Project Failures and Lessons Learned Studying ERP project failures is an essential part of project success. By identifying the same or similar issues that lead to failure in one company, SAI can take steps to avoid or eliminate those problems as they arise. Case studies also provide a precursor to the foreseeable problems that occur in ERP implementation allowing SAI management an opportunity to prepare for these problems by formulating a contingency plan. ERP project failures are common but this not unique to ERP. Every system has glitches regardless of the quality of design or the expertise of design personnel (Butcher, 2011). In the Case Study for Implementation Failure at Hershey’s Chocolate it was established that Hershey’s failed to use an incremental method of implementation, instead installing full software during periods of peak business. The resulting disaster from inoperability due to bugs and glitches resulted in a loss of peak season revenue for Hershey’s. Both corporate management and IT staff developed an immediate dislike for the ERP implementation. This could easily have been avoided had Hershey’s implemented the new software on a step-by-step basis during the off season when sales and revenue would have been less dramatically affected (Butcher, 2011). Hershey’s also tried to implement a variety of enterprise applications simultaneously which added to the stress of a seemingly failed project. In fact, there was nothing wrong with the ERP software but its implementation was a complete failure as the company tried to modify their business processes to suit the enterprise application which created further problems. The lesson learned is that implementation should be conducted one step at a time, each successful Installation reinforcing management’s initial decision to purchase. The ERP problems at Hershey’s are commonly repeated where management fails to realize the complexity of implementation and the necessity to proceed cautiously and maintain focus (Butcher, 2011). Return on Investment and Total Cost of Ownership Some metrics that we can use to determine if the system was a success is a disciplined methodology has been developed called  total cost of ownership  (TCO). It is designed to properly analyze the full cost of an IT investment. In order to calculate TCO properly, all related costs must be identified and captured. TCO models organize costs into two broad categories: 1. Direct costs:  Costs in this category are usually for activities and investments that are related to IT or support. They can usually be calculated by examining the actual or projected costs of hardware, software, people, and facilities. 2. Indirect costs:  These costs are not always visible and can be very difficult to measure and quantify. This type of cost crosses the entire organization’s business operations. Some examples of these indirect costs are Administration, Downtime, and End-user operations (Devry, unknown). In order to measure the metrics and figure out when baselines should be determined, we should developed methodologies for determining TCO. The first methodology is the Project initiation. This can be one of the most critical phases of a project. The reason why is because the following are determined: the expectations of the client, the type of relationship the organization will ave with the client (This can influence the management costs. ), and the project’s scope. Ideally, the objectives of the project should be defined at this stage, and the categories for TCO can be aligned with these project objectives. To determine the impact of any deviations from initial projections, an up-to-date TCO should be maintained at all times (Devry, unknown). The second methodology is the Cost Modeling. Th rough the entire TCO process a major activity is the TCO cost analysis. This continues to be refined as new information becomes available during the project. This activity includes classifying the costs according to the financial policies of an organization as well as defining the financial model for the project. The third methodology is the Cost Collection. Once the financial and cost model has been determined, all available cost estimates are collected. Once these are entered into the financial model, a baseline is determined. The total cost of ownership that is presented in this deliverable should be considered a snapshot in time. It is important that all stakeholders understand this and that the TCO may or may not change substantially from this point forward (Devry, unknown). The fourth methodology is Evaluation/Final Report. This is the development of a TCO project deliverable that goes to the organization’s stakeholders and decision makers. It typically includes the final project evaluation and a correlation of all finding recommendations and results. The last methodology is Ongoing Refinement of the TCO Model. It is very rare for all costs and contract negotiations in a large project to be finalized at the same time. Additionally, an implementation plan usually cannot be determined at the same time as, or even immediately after, delivery of the final report. As a result, the TCO is an estimate of project costs based on the data and decisions available when the report was researched and written. As key decisions regarding rollout and implementation strategy are reached, the TCO model should be refined to include the most current project cost estimates (Devry, unknown). Another metrics that we can use to determine if the system was a success is Return on Investment (ROI). The ROI (return on investment) is how much profit or cost savings is gained. An ROI calculation is sometimes used along with other business practices to develop a business case for an IT proposal. The overall ROI for an enterprise is sometimes used to determine how well a company is managed. The work performed to determine the TCO can be used to calculate the ROI. Even though many TCO costs are long term, they can be applied solely to the initial investment or divided between the initial investment and serve as an adjustment to the final value. While both methods are valid, they can give different results; it is important that the organization establish a policy for ROI computations across all projects (Devry, unknown). One of the more difficult aspects of an ROI calculation is determining the soft, or â€Å"people† benefits. Three considerations that impact these soft benefits follow: * Speed of adoption:  This benefit considers how quickly employees come up to speed using the new process, system, technology, or tools provided by the implementation. It indicates how quickly employees demonstrate the new skills or behaviors and adapt to the new roles that are required by a change. * Ultimate utilization or participation rate:  This evaluates the percentage of employees that are engaged and practicing the new way of doing things. Surprisingly, in many implementations, employees can avoid actively participating in workflows and procedures, and this can undermine the project in subtle ways. * Proficiency:  As the change is implemented, this examines how proficient and effective the employees have become. Many times, this proficiency, or ability to better perform their job function, is a significant part of the change’s original motivation. It measures not just the status after the change, but the ongoing improvement to the organization with the new systems, tools, and processes in place and the organizational and job changes fully implemented. Some examples include the time saved in performing a particular operation while using the new system, the improved close rate for sales and contracts brought by the use of a competitive information database, and the amount of waste reduced by new streamlined activities or processes (Devry, unknown). Conclusion In conclusion, my recommendation to SAI Toys is that they need to hire more staff if they want to implement this executive directive. If they can’t afford it or can cope with integrating all of their IT systems, then I would suggest they stick to manufacturing the toys in-house and shipped to brick-and-mortar retailers, such as Best Buy and Target, as well as e-Commerce only sites, such as ThinkGeek. com and Buy. com.

The Return: Shadow Souls Chapter 3

Time stopped. Elena found that she was instinctively groping for the mind of the one who was kissing her so sweetly. She had never really appreciated a kiss until she had died, become a spirit, and then been returned to earth with an aura that revealed the hidden meaning of other people's thoughts, words, and even their minds and souls. It was as if she had gained a beautiful new sense. When two auras mingled as deeply as this, two souls were laid bare to each other. Semi-consciously, Elena let her aura expand, and met a mind almost at once. To her surprise, it recoiled from her. That wasn't right. She managed to snag it before it could retreat behind a great hard stone, like a boulder. The only things left outside the boulder – which reminded her of a picture of a meteorite she had seen, with a pocked, charred surface – were rudimentary brain functions, and a little boy, chained to the rock by both wrists and both ankles. Elena was shocked. Whatever she was seeing, she knew it was a metaphor only, and that she should not judge too quickly what the metaphor meant. The images before her were really the symbols of Damon's naked soul, but in a form that her own mind could understand and interpret, if only she looked at it from the right perspective. Instinctively, though, she knew that she was seeing something important. She had come through the breathless delight and dizzying sweetness of joining her soul to another's. And now, her inherent love and concern drove her to try to communicate. â€Å"Are you cold?† she asked the child, whose chains were long enough to allow him to wrap his arms tightly about his drawn-up legs. He was clothed in ragged black. He nodded silently. His huge dark eyes seemed to swallow up his face. â€Å"Where do you belong?† Elena said doubtfully, thinking of ways to get the child warm. â€Å"Not inside that?† She made a gesture toward the giant stone boulder. The child nodded again. â€Å"It's warmer in there, but he won't let me inside anymore.† â€Å"He?† Elena was always on the lookout for signs of Shinichi, that malicious fox spirit. â€Å"Which ‘he,' darling?† She had already knelt and taken the child in her arms, and he was cold, ice cold, and the iron was freezing. â€Å"Damon,† the little ragamuffin boy whispered. For the first time the boy's eyes left her face, to glance fearfully around him. â€Å"Damon did this?† Elena's voice started loud and ended up as soft as the boy's whisper, as he turned pleading eyes on her and desperately patted at her lips, like a velvet-clawed kitten. This is all just symbols, Elena reminded herself. It's Damon's mind – his soul – that you're looking at. But are you? an analytical part of her asked suddenly. Wasn't there – a time before, when you did this with someone – and you saw a world inside them, entire landscapes full of love and moonlit beauty, all of it symbolizing the normal, healthy workings of an ordinary, extraordinary mind. Elena couldn't remember the name of the person now, but she remembered the beauty. She knew that her own mind would use such symbols to present itself to another person. No, she realized abruptly and definitively: she was not seeing Damon's soul. Damon's soul was somewhere inside that huge, heavy ball of rock. He lived cramped inside that hideous thing, and he wanted it that way. All that was left outside was some ancient memory from his childhood, a boy who had been banished from the rest of his soul. â€Å"If Damon put you here, then who are you?† Elena asked slowly, testing her theory, while taking in the black-on-black eyes of the child, and the dark hair and the features she knew even if they were so young. â€Å"I'm – Damon,† the little boy whispered, white around the lips. Maybe even revealing that much was painful, Elena thought. She didn't want to hurt this symbol of Damon's childhood. She wanted him to feel the sweetness and comfort that she was feeling. If Damon's mind had been like a house, she would have wanted to tidy it up, and fill every room with flowers and starlight. If it had been a landscape she would have put a halo around the full white moon, or rainbows amongst the clouds. But instead it presented itself as a starving child chained to a ball that no one could breach, and she wanted to comfort and soothe the child. She cradled the little boy, rubbing his arms and legs hard and nestling him against her spirit body. At first he felt tense and wary in her arms. But after a little time, when nothing terrible happened as a result of their contact, he relaxed and she felt his small body go warm and drowsy and heavy in her arms. She herself felt a crushingly sweet protectiveness about the little creature. In just a few minutes, the child in her arms was asleep, and Elena thought that there was the faintest ghost of a smile on his lips. She cuddled his little body, rocking him gently, smiling herself. She was thinking of someone who had held her when she'd cried. Someone who was – was not forgotten, never forgotten – but who made her throat ache with sadness. Someone so important – it was desperately important that she remember him now, now – and that she†¦she had to†¦to find†¦ And then suddenly the peaceful night of Damon's mind was split open – by sound, by light, and by energies that even Elena, young as she was in the ways of Power, knew had been kindled by the memory of a single name. Stefan. Oh, God, she had forgotten him – she had actually, for a few minutes allowed herself to be drawn into something that meant forgetting him. The anguish of all those lonely late-night hours, sitting and pouring out her grief and fear to her diary – and then the peace and comfort that Damon had offered had actually made her forget Stefan – to forget what he might be suffering at this very moment. â€Å"No – no!† Elena was struggling alone in darkness. â€Å"Let go – I have to find – I can't believe that I forgot – â€Å" â€Å"Elena.† Damon's voice was calm and gentle – or at least unemotional. â€Å"If you keep jerking around like that you're going to get free – and it's a long way to the ground.† Elena opened her eyes, all her memories of rocks and little children flying away, scattering like white dandelion silk in every direction. She looked at Damon accusingly. â€Å"You – you – â€Å" â€Å"Yes,† Damon said composedly. â€Å"Blame it on me. Why not? But I did not Influence you, and I did not bite you. I merely kissed you. Your Powers did the rest; they may be uncontrollable, but they're extremely compelling all the same. Frankly, I never intended to get sucked in so deeply – if you'll forgive a pun.† His voice was light, but Elena had a sudden inner vision of a weeping child, and she wondered if he were really as indifferent as he seemed. But that's his speciality, isn't it? she thought, suddenly bitter. He gives out dreams, fancies, pleasure that stays in the minds of his†¦donors. Elena knew that the girls and young women that Damon†¦preyed on†¦adored him, their only complaint being that he didn't visit them often enough. â€Å"I understand,† Elena said to him as they drifted closer to the ground. â€Å"But this can't happen again. There's only one person that I can kiss, and that's Stefan.† Damon opened his mouth, but just then there was the sound of a voice that was as furious and accusing as Elena had been, and which didn't care about the consequences. Elena remembered the other person she'd forgotten. â€Å"DAMON, YOU BASTARD, BRING HER DOWN!† Matt. Elena and Damon came to a twirling, elegant stop, right beside the Jaguar. Matt immediately ran to Elena and snatched her away, examining her as if she had been in an accident, with particular attention to her neck. Once again Elena was uncomfortably aware of being dressed in a lacy white nightgown in the presence of two boys. â€Å"I'm fine, honestly,† she said to Matt. â€Å"I'm just a little bit dizzy. I'll be better in a few minutes.† Matt let out a breath of relief. He might not still be in love with her as he once had been, but Elena knew he cared deeply about her and always would. He cared about her as his friend Stefan's girlfriend, and also on her own merits. She knew he would never forget the time they had been together. More, he believed in her. So right now, when she promised that she was all right, he believed that. He was even willing to give Damon a look that wasn't completely hostile. And then both of the boys headed for the driver's side door of the Jag. â€Å"Oh, no,† Matt said. â€Å"You drove yesterday – and look what happened! You said it yourself – there are vampires trailing us!† â€Å"You're saying it's my fault? Vampires are tracing this fire-engine-red-paint-job giant and it's somehow my doing?† Matt simply looked stubborn: his jaw clenched, his tanned skin flushed. â€Å"I'm saying we should take turns. You've had your turn.† â€Å"I don't recall anything ever being said about ‘taking turns.'† Damon managed to give the word an inflection that made it sound like some rather wicked activity. â€Å"And if I go in a car, I drive the car.† Elena cleared her throat. Neither of them even noticed her. â€Å"I'm not getting into a car if you're driving!† Matt said furiously. â€Å"I'm not getting into a car if you're driving!† Damon said laconically. Elena cleared her throat more loudly, and Matt finally remembered her existence. â€Å"Well, Elena can't be expected to drive us all the way to wherever we're going,† he said, before she could even suggest the possibility. â€Å"Unless we're going to get there today,† he added, looking at Damon sharply. Damon shook his dark head. â€Å"No. I'm taking the scenic route. And the fewer people who know where we're going the safer we're going to be. You can't tell if you don't know.† Elena felt as if someone had just lightly touched the hairs on the back of her neck with an ice cube. The way Damon said those words†¦ â€Å"But they'll already know where we're going, won't they?† she asked, shaking herself back to practicality. â€Å"They know we want to rescue Stefan, and they know where Stefan is.† â€Å"Oh, yes. They'll know we're trying to get into the Dark Dimension. But by what gate? And when? If we can lose them the only thing we need to worry about is Stefan and the prison guards.† Matt looked around. â€Å"How many gates are there?† â€Å"Thousands. Wherever three ley lines cross, there's the potential for a gate. But since the Europeans drove the Native Americans out of their homes, most of the gates aren't used or maintained as they were in the old days.† Damon shrugged. But Elena was tingling all over with excitement, with anxiety. â€Å"Why don't we just find the nearest gate and go through it, then?† â€Å"Travel all the way to the prison underground? Look, you don't understand at all. First of all, you need me with you to get you into a gate – and even then it isn't going to be pleasant.† â€Å"Not pleasant for who? Us or you?† Matt asked grimly. Damon gave him a long, blank look. â€Å"If you tried on your own it would be briefly and terminally unpleasant for you. With me, it should be uncomfortable but a matter of routine. And as for what it's like traveling for even a few days down there – well, you'll see for yourselves, eventually,† Damon said, with an odd smile. â€Å"And it would take much, much longer than going by a main gate.† â€Å"Why?† Matt demanded – always ready to ask questions that Elena really, really didn't want to know the answers to. â€Å"Because it's either jungle, where five-foot leeches dropping from the trees are going to be the least of your worries, or wasteland, where any enemy can spot you – and everyone is your enemy.† There was a pause while Elena thought hard. Damon looked serious. Clearly, he really didn't want to do it – and not many things bothered Damon. He liked fighting. More, if it would only waste time†¦ â€Å"All right,† Elena said slowly. â€Å"We'll go on with your plan.† Immediately, both boys reached for the driver's side door handle again. â€Å"Listen,† Elena said without looking at either of them. † I am going to drive my Jaguar down to the next town. But first I am going to get in it and get changed into real clothes and maybe even catch a few minutes of sleep. Matt will want to find a brook or something where he can clean up. And then I'm going to whatever town is closest for some brunch. After that – â€Å" † – the bickering can begin anew,† Damon finished for her. â€Å"You do that, darling. I'll meet you at whatever greasy spoon you've selected.† Elena nodded. â€Å"You're sure you'll be able to find us? I am trying to hold my aura down, really.† â€Å"Listen, a fire-engine-red Jaguar in whatever flyspeck of a town you find down this road is going to be as conspicuous as a UFO,† Damon said. â€Å"Why doesn't he just come with†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Matt's voice trailed off. Somehow, although it was his deepest grievance against Damon, he often managed to forget that Damon was a vampire. â€Å"So you're going to go down there first and find some young girl walking to summer school,† Matt said, his blue eyes seeming to darken. â€Å"And you're going to swoop down on her and take her away where no one can hear her screaming and then you're going to pull her head back and you're going to sink your teeth into her throat.† There was a fairly long pause. Then Damon said in a slightly injured tone, â€Å"Am not.† â€Å"That's what you – people – do. You did it to me.† Elena saw the need for really drastic intervention: the truth. â€Å"Matt, Matt, it wasn't Damon who did that. It was Shinichi. You know that.† She gently took Matt by the forearms and turned him until he was facing her. For a long moment Matt wouldn't look at her. Time stretched and Elena began to fear that he was beyond her reach. But then at last he lifted his head so that she could look into his eyes. â€Å"All right,† he said softly. â€Å"I'll go along with it. But you know that he's going off to drink human blood.† â€Å"From a willing donor!† Damon, who had very good hearing, shouted. Matt exploded again. â€Å"Because you make them willing! You hypnotize them – â€Å" â€Å"No, I don't.† † – or ‘Influence' them, or whatever. How would you like it – â€Å" Behind Matt's back, Elena was now making furious go-away motions at Damon, as if she were shooing a flock of chickens. At first Damon just raised an eyebrow at her, but then he shrugged elegantly and obeyed, his form blurring as he took the shape of a crow and rapidly became a dot in the rising sun. â€Å"Do you think,† Elena said quietly, â€Å"that you could get rid of your stake? It's just going to make Damon completely paranoid.† Matt looked everywhere but at her and then finally he nodded. â€Å"I'll dump it when I go downhill to wash,† he said, looking at his muddy legs grimly. â€Å"Anyway,† he added, â€Å"you get in the car and try to get some sleep. You look like you need it.† â€Å"Wake me up in a couple hours,† Elena said – without the first idea that in a couple hours she was going to regret this more than she could say.

The Issue of Marketing and Environmental Factors Essay

The Issue of Marketing and Environmental Factors - Essay Example This paper will look into the marketing operations of McDonald's, addressing some of the environmental factors that have an influence on the marketing decisions of the company. To this effect, the paper will look into the effect of demographic characteristics of markets and cultural differences. Additionally, there will be a discussion on social responsibility, international relations, and technology. Partnerships among various businesses are vital if global marketing is to succeed. These partnerships are instrumental for McDonald's to become aware of territory that is uncharted and even builds the capacity to expand their operations into these regions (Gilpin, 2008). These interdependent entities are successful since they have access to large reserves of services and most importantly, ideas on how to improve the operations. Because of global interdependence, there are endless opportunities created for the expansion of McDonald's, within America and even outside its borders. Global interdependence creates the need for laws and agreements on what should be the convention in marketing practice that traverses borders. Since the inception of the idea of free trade, there has been numerous free trade agree agreements signed. For example, within Europe is the European Union. Such trade agreements expand the capacity of organizations like McDonald's to operate. When globalization creates increased capacity for such organizations to operate under subsidized tax rates, it benefits the expansion endeavors of the company (Werz and Fried, 2008). The success of the market for McDonald’s product is dependent on the knowledge of demographic attributes of their market. In order to know where to set up their maneuvers it is essential for them to be aware of some of the demographic characteristics of their target, for example, the age of the population, their eating habits and the income distribution.  

Contrasting the English and French Court Decisions in Dallah v Essay

Contrasting the English and French Court Decisions in Dallah v Pakistan - Essay Example The concept of Arbitration is a process by which parties which are bound by a contract can choose to settle disputes without engaging in any time-consuming litigation process. In most cases the parties enter into an agreement in their respective contracts about the arbitration methods that will be employed in case of any disputes that could happen in future. In some other cases such arbitration can also remain a statuary requirement. The process of Arbitration is being governed through various statues in different countries has acquired international recognition via conventions such as the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards 1958 (New York Convention).1 For many reasons Arbitration is the most sought after option than litigation as the process is quicker and also involves lesser expenses and a higher degree of transparency compared to litigations. Also in cases where a lower judicial standard could possibly compromise the outcome of a case, arbitration is the preferred choice for resolving disputes. In addition, cases of multinational companies which usually include parties to settle international disputes in contracts and where a higher degree of confidentiality is at stake; the process of arbitration would be more suitable to settle such discrete cases compared to the court litigations. In some other cases arbitration can be preferred by parties in order to ensure control of the proceedings throughout the case which could be vital for making crucial decisions. In the arbitration process parties usually have their choice of representation who would be involved in presenting their arguments in the case. Individuals with the necessa ry skills and legal expertise are mostly chosen to contend on their behalf. In addition, the parties also have considerable say in the appointment of the chairperson for the arbitration process. Choosing the process of Arbitration also provide parties

Business Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Business Strategy - Essay Example This framework is used to analyse the global pharmaceutical industry. In the given case, it can be noted that the pharmaceutical industry is characterised by a highly risky and lengthy research which is very costly. This industry is capital intensive given that the cost of developing a new drug is estimated at over $ 1 billion which deters other small players from entering it. The industry is also under stringent government regulation which makes it challenging for other competitors to enter it. It is not very easy to find a substitution for a drug given the complexity of the process involved in carrying out the research as well as the costs For instance, Lipitor could not be easily replaced or substituted in the given case study. The buyers are affected by various factors which affect their buying power. As a result of the global economic crisis, consumer spending power with regards to health care has been affected. However, those with medical insurance can afford to meet their heal thcare requirements. Unfortunately, about 46 % of the people in the US do not have medical insurance and this has a bearing on their buying power of the drugs. It also has to be noted that the government controls the industry since it is the largest purchaser of the drugs in a bid to control the health sector. Since this a sensitive sector, it can be noted that the suppliers have no bargaining powers since the industry is strictly controlled. The pricing regime is controlled by the government so there is no single supplier who can charge very high prices. There is intense competition for intellectual property among existing players as they compete to preserve their inventions. This industry is highly specialised and this is the reason why there is rivalry among existing players as they seek to dominate it. Over and above, it can be noted that the Five Forces Framework map is relevant in identifying the environmental forces affecting the global pharmaceutical industry. It can be note d that there are different factors that characterise this industry hence there is need to take these into consideration so as to be in a better position to establish the attractiveness of this particular industry. Failure to do so can result in wrong perceptions about the industry since it is a bit different from other industries. b). In order to establish whether these forces differ by industry sector as well as the place they can be placed in different sectors in the industry life-cycle, it is important to begin by explaining the meaning of industry or product life cycle. Basically, every product has a certain life cycle in the market. Therefore, product life cycle refers to the different phases passed by the product in the market from the time it is introduced until its withdrawal period (Strydom, 2003). The product usually passes through four distinct stages namely: introduction, growth, maturity and decline. From this definition, it can be seen that the five forces discussed ab ove differ by industry sector. For instance, the forces that operate within a clothing and textile industry are different from those operating in the pharmaceutical industries as a result of various reasons. First and foremost, it must be noted that the industry life cycle of the pharmaceutical

Early twentieth century arts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

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Critique Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 13

Critique - Essay Example The change in the behavior of Zambrano’s participants is systematic and proves his claim that personal roles often change behaviors. Behaviors arise from people’s interaction with their immediate societies. As such, the roles coupled with the beliefs that the society has on such roles systematically influence the behavior of the people playing the role as the discussion below portrays. Both Plato and Zimbardo create an illusionary society by removing their subjects from the society to a new restricted space. While in the spaces, the perceptions of the subjects change based on their understanding of the surrounding. Zimbardo for example sought to establish whether the brutality in American prisons was a result of the guard’s sadistic personality or arose from the prison environment. He therefore recruits his subjects randomly from the society. The participants were normal individuals but without any prior engagements with prisons. As the participants spent more time in the prison environment, their behaviors began to change with the guards becoming increasingly aggressive in their behavior and brutal as they handle the prisoners. The prisoners on the other hand become increasingly submissive to the authority.in his study, Plato criticizes political structures and their effects in indoctrinating people thus influencing their beliefs and social understanding. â€Å"On the other hand, The Allegory of the caves is a discussion of politics: The Republic, from which it is taken, is a treatise on justice and the ideal government† (Plato 2). The limited space in the prison restricts the mindsets of both the prisoners and the guards especially when within the premises. The prisoners spent most of their time talking about the prison and prison life. Additionally, their prior understanding of prisons influenced their stories. The same is the case with the guards who

Marcel Duchamp and Dada Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

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Global Warming Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Global Warming - Essay Example This is a difficult dilemma, because the effects of climate change will manifest themselves in different ways in different regions, from pole to pole. The political reasoning of the problem solution suggests that all countries need to make coordinated and deliberate actions based on special international conventions on climate change. Scientists and international scientific community are now under a tremendous pressure, as a correct identification of climate change trends and its main consequences in the future will save humanity from immense ills and, vice versa, adoption of expensive measures without sufficient scientific grounds will lead to huge economic losses. Global Warming Its easiest definition runs that global warming is a gradual increase in average temperature of the Earth’s atmosphere and oceans in the 20th and 21st centuries. Scientific judgments, expressed by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, directly supported by National Academies of Sciences o f the Big Eight, say that the average temperature on Earth has risen by 0.7 Â ° C since the Industrial Revolution (the second half of the 18th century) and a considerable proportion of observed warming over the past 50 years was caused by human activities, primarily by gas emission (carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4)), that cause the greenhouse effect (Mank 1). The increase in average global temperature led to a decrease in continental glaciers. In addition, we should expect a decrease of the permafrost zone, which presently occupies a significant part of the planet, as well as anticipate changes in the methods of management, farming, construction, etc. in the zone itself. Measurements and calculations showed that for the last 100 years mountain glaciers have decreased by approximately 2.000 cubical kilometers; the annual decline averaged 0.06% of the total mass of Alpine ice. Signs of glaciers’ degradation are observed in all regions of the Arctic, where global warming manifests itself to the maximum extent. Climate warming leads to sea levels rise. Over the past 20 years the rate of increase has doubled and reached 2.5 cm/yr. This rise promises significant environmental consequences. Saltwater intrusion in deltas of the major rivers will destroy protected habitat for wild animals and birds, spawning grounds for fish. Sea level rise will increase a probability of devastating storms. The issue of dams’ building needs to be thought through today. About 70% of the seaside is currently being destroyed as a result of natural lift of water and increasing human activities. This process will be further exacerbated by global warming. So, according to the UN Environment Program data, in the Nile Delta, for example, one-fifth of the arable land of Egypt can be flooded by rising water, which will affect about 10 million people (Mank 3). Scientists state that in addition to sea-level rise, rise of global temperature will lead to changes in the quantity and distribution of precipitation. As a result, there is a strong possibility of natural disasters such as floods, droughts, hurricanes, etc.; harvests will fall in the affected areas and will increase in other zones (due to increasing concentration of carbon dioxide). Climate warming may cause a geographic

Helth and Saftey Childcare Assignment Essay Example for Free

Helth and Saftey Childcare Assignment Essay There are many legislations that influence healthy, safe and secure environment for early years settings. The Heath and Safety (young persons) Regulations 1997 states that ‘’Employers need to complete risk assessments for people under 18 years of age.’’ (Thornes 2008 pg84) It also states that if any hazards are the setting, then give them training that the student, trainee or work experience people may nee to do with that particular hazard. Another legislation is Health and Safety at work Act 1974. This legislation is the one that provides general guidance about all this health and safety and workers must have policies and procedures saying how the health and safety will be ensured and then follow these policies and procedures. Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (COSHH) 1994 is also part of the legislation for a healthy, safe and secure environment and states that a risk assessment should be done on hazards and make sure to store appropriate as the COSHH regulations are. Reporting injuries diseases and dangerous occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) 1995. E2 Describe the producers which will keep a child safe for each accident, illness or emergency. There are many procedures which keep children safe for each accident, illness or emergency and each childcare setting will have exclusion for illness policy. In my setting the exclusion policy states that all children should be excluded if they have an illness until recovered to prevent any one else in the setting getting infected. Any illness or accident will be recorded in the accident book and they do this in my work placement by writing down all the details of the incident or emergency. The child’s medical records must be checked, and where appropriate acted upon and then parents/guardians will be contacted to pick up their child. If parents/guardians are not reached, the child’s emergency contacts will be call up. In my work placement all staff follow this by carrying it out the correct way. Afterwards the child should be regularly checked to see if any think is more serious. One record copy of the child will be taken to the doctors to make sure staff deal with  any recorded conditions and then the staff at the setting can keep a record of it and keep in contact with parents/guardians. Every childcare setting will keep a record of the child’s symptoms and the actions; regular checks on the child and each time the action was taken. The staffs at my work placement setting always have copies if an incident or accident happens and make regular checks which they keep an up to date record of the child. On discovering a fire or alarm sound, the room leader should then gather the register, visitor book and nursery contact numbers. Nursery stuff will help get the children out the setting by evacuating the building from the nearest fire doors. Once left building all staff and children line up at the assemble point and when lined up the room leader checks register to check all children are present. Afterwards the staff and children must not return to the building until the building has been declared safe by the fire brigade. Once this has been done, the children and staff can return back to the setting safely. An example of an illness would be vomiting or diarrhoea. An example of an accident would be a child bumping his/her head. An example of an emergency would be a fire. E3 Plan the appropriate care of a child aged 1 for a full day in the setting. E4 Plan the appropriate care of a child aged 3 years for a full day in the setting. E5 Describe the issues that affect the planning of a challenging environment for children. There are many issues that affect the planning of a challenging environment for children. The first issue can be identifying children’s needs as this can stop the practitioner from being able to meet their needs in planning the challenging environment for them to be able to learn in, develop and take risks. The second issue can be equipment; is it safe and suitable because this is vital for the children to be able to have in a challenging environment and age staged appropriate equipment. The third issue that affects the planning of a challenging environment may be the size or layout of the area. The Forth issue can be environmental factors such as  temperature, safety, ect It will have an effect on how effective the challenging environment is. The fifth issue can be that is there supervision and enough of it. The sixth issue that affects the planning of a challenging environment maybe type of setting. The seventh issue could be consulting children as is it developmentally appropriate. E6 Describe the initiatives which influence the provision of challenging environments for children. + C1 Evaluate how two initiatives contribute to the provision of an enabling environment for children. A national initiative which influences the provision of challenging environments for children is Swedish school as they apply the Forest education approach. This national initiative influences provisions because children are learning in a different environment which has more outdoor and physical development on the children. They aim to let children explore and understand stuff in the woods and forest such as everyday products from wood. ‘’a unique way of working with young people in a woodland setting, helping them to achieve small practicable tasks, learning about fire safety, woodland management etc. It complements the Early Years curriculum in particular but also supports the 5-16 curriculum. Disaffected children, those with emotional or behavioral difficulties or exhibiting challenging behavior are all seen to benefit and can be turned around by the Forest School experience. Forest School particularly suits the kinaesthetic learner (those that learn by doing) who fails to achieve in a formal school setting. These children are immediately engaged in the tasks set as they suit their way of learning.’’ (http://www.infomat.net/infomat/rd741/rd1/database/Forest_Education/index.asp) A local initiative which influences the provision of challenging environments for children is Montessori such as The Oratory Day Nursery in Burnham. This local initiative influences provisions because children learn independently through tasks to meet their skill for their age without a ‘’long-term disadvantage in their gross motor skills’’ (Thornes 2008 pg250) They aim to make children do many activities which involve the children to use their hands. The Montessori approach is use in my current setting Oratory Day Care Nursery by having set activities for the children to choose from then let children do the activity whilst the practitioners observe and only interacts in the activity to give guidance. This approach also say that ‘’First education of the senses, then education of the intellect.’’ (Thornes 2008 pg250). E7 Explain the importance of helping children to manage risk and challenge in their environment. It is important for children to be helped to learn to assess and manage risk and challenge. It will be necessary for the adult to teach the child the skills he/she will need to learn about assessing and managing risk and challenge. The child can also learn to understand consequences of the challenge and risk themselves. It also teaches them, limits and binderies that they can take with them throughout their everyday life. Most importantly it teaches to progress in their education by developing and doing these challenges and risks with the adults help. In my placement I have seen this happen by practitioners allowing for the children to explore the garden for themselves and one girl was climbing up the little hill for the first time and slipped and fell over. This was a challenge for her because she had to get up to the top and her risk was that she fell but next time she will climb up the hill, she would know the risk and what may happen next time. ‘’All children both need and want to take risk in order to explore limits, venture into new experiences and develop their capacities from a very young age and from their earliest play experiences. Children would never learn to walk, climb stairs or ride a bicycle unless they were strong motivated to respond o challenges involving risk of injuries.’’ (www.freeplaynetwork.org.uk/adventure/manage.htm) E8 show an understanding of diversity and inclusive practice. Diversity and inclusive practise need to be understood and carried out in every childcare setting. Therefore each practitioner should remember to treat every child and their families fairly without discrimination. This can  be done by for example letting all children join in an activity and not saying they can’t play because of their colour, size, shape, disability, ability in activity. They should also not stereotype both the children and families that they work with. By doing this, practitioners can meet each child’s needs as an individual and are allowing for the rights of the children and their families to take place. ‘’Childcare workers are very influential in the promotion of children’s attitude and values. Children will take their cue from adult responses and reactions. Because of their powerful role, it is important that staff take issues of equality seriously and do not ignore them.’’ (Thornes 2008 pg93) In my current setting Oratory Day Nursery, all staff carrying out and understand diversity and inclusive practice by following the equal opportunities policy and enabling that each child gets the chance to develop, learn and play as an individual in the setting with the right to be heard and valued. D1 Explain how legislation can support strategies to establish and maintain healthy, safe and secure environments in early years settings. There are many ways that legislation can support strategies to establish and maintain healthy, safe and secure environment in early years settings. The most important thing that supports a healthy, safe and secure environment is having policies and procedures as this will help everyone in the setting to keep to the same rules. Having CRB checks will also support a healthy, safe and secure environment because they help protect the setting from any vunarble adults. Another thing will be regular body inspections to ensure the setting is following the policies and procedures and working to the right standards but also to see if anything may need improvement into better or is not good practise. Staff ratios can support strategies to establish and maintain healthy, safe and secure environment as without having the right staff the setting shouldn’t open. Training for many different things such as fire procedures will allow you to be able to put your knowledge and practise into your own work to keep everyone safe and secure in the setting. Having the right/appropriate resources is another way to establish and maintain healthy, safe and secure environment. The last thing would be you the practitioner yourself as you are the person who will enforce that all these legislations are done to protect the children, parents, staff and other professionals as well the setting. D2 Explain how establishing a safe environment can support the procedures necessary for accidents, illness and emergencies. Establishing a safe environment, should support the procedures necessary for accidents, illnesses and emergencies. Accidents, illnesses and emergencies cannot be totally predictable or happen through a risk or harm in an event. Many accidents occur in a work place and the main victim is a child. This is due to risks of injury and illness through lack of cleanliness, another sick child in the group, etc Injuries in a group can occur from the children not bringing adequate protection and not using the equipment the correct way. It can also be due to the work place itself because their many be mislabelled equipment, unsafe condition, faulty or broken equipment. However the accidents and illness can be due to the adult because he/she may have failure to follow the procedures, lack of tanning or worker error. Therefore all this needs to be followed the correct way in order to prevent any of this happening. It can be done by making sure everyone in the setting implements and understands the policies such as Health and Safety Work act 1974 or RIDDOR and procedure of the setting, make sure all illnesses and emergency are written, carry out risk assessments regularly, sterilise the equipment, throw away any broken or faulty equipment,, looking after children’s hygiene and insure the children know the rules. This will then creat and establish a safe environment which is safe and less of a risk for everyone in the setting. B1 Consider possible ways to maintain the safety and privacy of children and to respect their wishes. Ensuring a safe environment that allows children to have safety and privacy with respecting their wishes can be done in many possible ways. One example can be going to the toilet as this can make the child feel uncomfortable to go in front of his/her friends and having small toilets with cubicles will make them feel safe and give them privacy. The practitioner however should check to see if there is anything that can put the child at danger when going to the toilet such as chemical produces. When doing all this it allows  the staff in the setting to see over the chid and maintain the safety. In my setting I have seen this happen because when a child goes to the toilet there are small cubicles that adults can see child at any time and keep the safety and privacy that is recurred in any childcare setting. Another example can be when protecting the child such as child’s welfare. This would mean having all practitioners, other professionals, parents and students to be aware that they most not discuss any thing that is not relevant to others and keep any paper work confidential. I have seen practitioners in my setting maintain the safety and privacy of children and respect their wish by listening to them, valuing them as an individual, following the policies on safety, Every Child Matters and the CACHE Statements of Values to best practise. A Discuss the effect on practitioners of meeting the care needs of children. There are many ways of how and why practitioners may be affected when meeting the care needs of children and the support available. Practitioners may feel unhappy to see a child leave after a long time of care for them, grief if child in care dies or is badly injured, feel terrible if they do not get on with a child or the child is not progressing and have a sense of failure. They may also feel anxiety when having to tell a parent bad news or anxiety when a child has to have the social care services involved with them. There can be support given for all these things that a practitioner may be affected by to meet the care needs of children. One way can be by leading the practitioner the right way. Local education authorities can also give support by helping the setting out and working with them to help and develop the child at the best interest to. Another way can be by getting advice from support advisors. The last way they can be supported is by other colleagues and work together to improve the outcome and met the care of the Child’s needs more effectively. This will therefore result in making the child feel happy and enjoy activities or coming to the setting. It will also make child want to work with the practitioner and gain a better relationship. It can not only have an result on the children but also on the practitioner themselves because will feel happy or overwhelmed they are able to work with the child to meet their care needs and then have a better  positive communicating relationship with parents about their child to fit the care needs of that child. In my current placement, I have seen practitioners have an effect when meeting the needs of children and one example of this was the practitioner feeling upset, frustrated because this 4 year old boy who was unable to count his number after having taught him many different ways such as having him sing a song to learn to count as this was some think the boy liked doing. Reference: * Beaver. M, et al (2008) Childcare and education Cache level 3 Cheltenham: Nelson Thorns * www.freeplaynetwork.org.uk/adventure/manage.htm 26th October 2011 * http://www.infomat.net/infomat/rd741/rd1/database/Forest_Education/index.asp 26th October 2011 * http://www.extension.org/pages/25767/preventing-injuries-in-child-care 1st December 2011

Problems Faced Before ERP Implementation

Problems Faced Before ERP Implementation Some data, coming from SAP R/3, goes directly into SAP NetWeaver BI data marts. But the rest, which comes from diverse systems that handle billing, customer relationship management (CRM), mediation, provisioning, and prepaid sales, goes first to a third-party extract/transform/load (ETL) system. The ETL system takes the data from every call that customers make every payment, every service call, and more and transforms it based on business rules before storing it in a third-party database About Reliance Infocomm Reliance Infocomm is the outcome of the late visionary Dhirubhai Ambanis (1932-2002) dream to herald a digital revolution in India by bringing affordable means of information and communication to the doorsteps of Indias vast population. Make the tools of Infocomm available to people at an affordable cost, they will overcome the handicaps of illiteracy and lack of mobility, Dhirubhai Ambani charted out the mission for Reliance Infocomm in late 1999. He saw in the potential of information and communication technology a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for India to leapfrog over its historical legacy of backwardness and underdevelopment. Working at breakneck speed, from late 1999 to 2002 Reliance Infocomm built the backbone for a digital India 60,000 kilometres of fibre optic backbone, crisscrossing the entire country. The Reliance Infocomm pan-India network was commissioned on December 28, 2002, the 70th birth anniversary of Dhirubhai. This day also marked his first birth anniversary after his demise July 6, 2002. Reliance Infocomm network is a pan India, high capacity, integrated (wireless and wireline) and convergent (voice, data and video) digital network, designed to offer services that span the entire Infocomm value chain infrastructure, services for enterprises and individuals, applications and consulting. The network is designed to deliver services that will foster a new way of life for India. Clarify clarify CRM is the product of clarify Inc. Customer Relationship Management is a comprehensive business strategy, focused on the process of acquiring, managing, retaining and partnering with selective customers to create superior long-term value for the company and the customers. In a nutshell, CRM strives to identify customers who provide the greatest return to the company, and to optimize relationships with those customers. CRM features Segmenting customers Responding uniquely to the best customers Having a 360 degree view, of a customer Measuring and driving down the cost of customer acquisition Attracting customers using the totality of the experience you provide Need for CRM Customers have the upper hand in most purchase transactions They are inherently less loyal They have rising expectations They no longer tolerate companies that dont get the basics right Advantages of CRM To gain a better understanding of customers wants and needs Allows companies to gather and access information about customers buying histories, preferences, complaints, and other data so they can better anticipate what customers will want. The goal is to instill greater customer loyalty. Used in association with data warehousing, data mining, call centers and other intelligence-based applications Faster response to customer inquiries Increased efficiency through automation Obtaining information sharable with business partners Deeper understanding of Customers Increased marketing and selling opportunities Identifying the most profitable customers Improved products and services through customer feedback Clarify Design Philosophy Flexible Wherever possible rules are held as data in the application Customizable Extremely easy to change look and functionality of screens Can add new fields, tables and relationships to the database Upgradeable We want you to be able to stay current easily Highly scaleable High volume with good response times Comprehensive and open data model More flexibility than most people need Can use any SQL-based tools for reporting, etc Internationalize Ability to deal with multi-currency, different languages, etc Workflow orientated Strong ownership paradigm so nothing falls through the cracks Use of standards The new applications include Clarify Customer Portal which stores customer information and lets customers communicate with a company via methods such as E-mail and online chat. Clarify eOrder lets customers shop online then takes orders and manages them through fulfillment; it works in conjunction with Clarify eConfigurator which determines customer needs and then helps configure complex products. Clarify eMerchandising lets businesses draw from customer analysis data and develop personalized marketing campaigns and product offerings Clarify Applications Call Center: ClearCallCenter Front end for Contact Center Agents Manages overall customer interaction Can be used as sales application or as a front-end to ClearSupport for hybrid sales/service. Operates in both relationship-based call centers and high-volume, one and done sales environments Sales Force Automation: ClearSales Handles prospects and leads Sales force automation Provides management of all aspects of the selling cycle, from lead through completed order. Provides an enterprise-wide view of sales and support activities in accounts for ongoing relationship management activities Customer Support: ClearSupport Is a trouble management system Single point of contact for service requests and problem reporting Comprehensive technical support management system, Handles calls that involve service requests, questions, etc. DSS is a data warehousing department that caters to the needs of the management by delivering vital information to business users to make timely and accurate decisions for business growth leading to effective and efficient operations to gain a competitive edge in the marketplace. DSS is a system that Collects data from multiple sources, Summarizes data as per business needs and creates reports at business operations DSS enables business users to centrally monitor and analyse information, monitor various events and enable them to react to those events by providing a single view of business information. DSS is a business-centric data warehousing department with an integrated workflow mechanism that supports streamlined business processes. It delivers high performance access to all information and applications on CRM, Billing, Product and Network domains. CRM applications delivered by a DSS enable business user to analyse number of customers, trends and usage patterns of individual customers, individual customer records, etc. It also holds information about customer service like Interaction and Cases handled by Call Center, Number of Interactions, Interaction Category, Number of Cases, Case Status, Case Category, etc. Product applications provide all pertinent information about the usage and performance of various products like SMS, R-Connect, R-World etc. Billing applications provide all pertinent information about the billing and outstanding of RIM customers. It holds in information of ADC Service Status, Billing Circle, CIOU Code, Channel Code, Channel Type, City, Customer Type, No.of Invoices, and No. of Payments, OG Barred Status, OTAF Month, Payment Option, Rate Plan, Service wise, Month wise, Zero Payment wise Billing Status. DSS offers three kinds of reports namely: OLAP Reports (http://dss.ril.com/) Business Intelligence Reports (http://dssbi.ril.com) Ad hoc Reports based on the data requested by the business user ETL The acronym ETL is used to describe the processes used by DSS to obtain data from external sources and make it usable to the DSS applications. ETL stands for Extract, Transform and Load. Extraction is the process of selecting and pulling data from the operational and external data sources, in order to prepare it for the warehouse. Also called Data Extraction. A good extraction is based on a Business Rule. Business rules are applied to data using constraints. There are two basic ways that the extract process is performed. Either the system providing information will give the DSS team a feeder file. This file will than be accepted by DSS and used to load tables. The other option is for the DSS team to write SQL code and actually perform in place extractions from source systems. In both of these cases, the timing, data volume estimates and source systems impacts need to be considered Transformation is the process of manipulating data. Any manipulation beyond copying is a transformation. Process includes cleansing, aggregating, and integrating data from multiple sources. Example: Address1, Address2, Address3 could be concatenated as one single field. Transformation is the biggest, most complicated, most resource intensive and most important of DSS process. The transformation takes raw, unclean, unformatted, unsynchronized, sparse, and often corrupt data sources and standardizes, cleans and matches it up enough to make it useful for further analysis. . BO Business Objects is a reporting tool for SQL compliant databases. It allows users to prepare custom reports from a number of databases simultaneously, which in turn facilitates advanced reporting and data analysis. Loading is the last step in the ETL process. Loading is nothing more than taking the outputs from the transformation process and putting it into an Oracle table. The process of moving extracted, transformed into the data warehouse. Generally the data is loaded to the Target table. Target table holds the intermediate or final results of any part of the ETL process. The target of the entire ETL process is the data warehouse. BW The SAP Business Information Warehouse allows you to analyze data from operative SAP applications as well as all other business applications and external data sources such as databases, online services and the Internet. The Administrator Workbench functions are designed for controlling, monitoring and maintaining all data retrieval processes. The SAP Business Information Warehouse enables Online Analytical Processing (OLAP), which processes information from large amounts of operative and historical data. OLAP technology enables multi-dimensional analyses from various business perspectives. The Business Information Warehouse Server for core areas and processes, pre-configured with Business Content, ensures you can look at information within the entire enterprise. In selected roles in a company, Business Content offers the information that employees need to carry out their tasks. As well as roles, Business Content contains other pre-configured objects such as InfoCubes, queries, key figures, characteristics that make BW implementation easier. With the Business Explorer, the SAP Business Information Warehouse provides flexible reporting and analysis tools for analyses and decision-making support in your enterprise. You analyze the dataset of the Business Information Warehouse by defining queries for Infocubes using the BEx Query Designer. By selecting and combining InfoObjects (characteristics and key figures) or reusable structures in a query, you determine the way in which you navigate through and evaluate the data in the selected InfoProvider. The layout of the report needs to be pre-defined before design. Reports are the final deliverable to the users. The process of report definition starts with requirement and ends with its development and testing by Business Analysts. During this process the Business Analysts interacts with report developer closely and fine tunes the outcomes in a back and forth form of process. The developer in turn technically chooses the InfoObjects (characteristics and key figures) already defined in the cube that needs to become part of the report. Benefits From the day we started operating our business, our managers had information about the traffic, how the products we launched into the market were performing, how our customers were using them, how we were acquiring new customers, and our customer interactions, Gupta explains. All these things helped us to provide services with lower costs, which is one of the reasons we were able to win the market. SAP NetWeavers ability to span corporate silos and offer a single view of corporate information lets the DSS team deliver solutions quickly and accurately. For instance, approximately 95 percent of the data is loaded from non-SAP systems, with 18 million records processed daily, and SAP NetWeaver is the key factor that made Reliance Infocomms success possible. An aggregate enhances performance by duplicating the data from an InfoCube and storing it in a summarized form so you can access it quickly for reporting. If you want great performance results with reports and you do use aggregates. Using SAP NetWeavers aggregate tool lets you increase flexibility while designing and can sometimes let you meet more than one business requirement with the same model. SAP Opportunities: 1. Integration Integration can be the highest benefit of them all. The only real project aim for implementing ERP is reducing data redundancy and redundant data entry. If this is set as a goal, to automate inventory posting to G/L, then it might be a successful project. Those companies where integration is not so important or even dangerous tend to have a hard time with ERP. ERP does not improve the individual efficiency of users, so if they expect it, it will be a big disappointment. ERP improves the cooperation of users. 2. Efficiency Generally, ERP software focuses on integration and tend to not care about the daily needs of people. I think individual efficiency can suffer by implementing ERP. the big question with ERP is whether the benefit of integration and cooperation can make up for the loss in personal efficiency or not. 3. Cost reduction It reduces cost only if the company took accounting and reporting seriously even before implementation and had put a lot of manual effort in it. If they didnt care about it, if they just did some simple accounting to fill mandatory statements and if internal reporting did not exists of has not been fincancially-oriented, then no cost is reduced. 4. Less personnel Same as above. Less reporting or accounting personnel, but more sales assistants etc. 5. Accuracy No. People are accurate, not software. What ERP does is makes the lives of inaccurate people or organization a complete hell and maybe forces them to be accurate (which means hiring more people or distributing work better), or it falls. Challenges Even though the company started its DSS before the sales side launched, it still had to deal with multiple data sources across heterogeneous platforms a common issue for most organizations working with business intelligence (BI), and a challenge perfect for SAP NetWeaver Business Intelligence (SAP NetWeaver BI). Data granularity More granular models require higher data loads and more maintenance. While designing a model, its critical to keep the principles of star schema in mind. Star schema is generally considered the simplest data warehouse schema, and its characterized by very large fact tables that contain the primary information in the data warehouse in conjunction with smaller dimension tables that contain information about particular attributes of the data in the larger fact table. With this in mind, your model should achieve data summarization by a factor of 1:3 so that youre not working with more than 33 percent of your source data. Dimensions Group your information objects into dimensions so that each dimension has a balanced number of records, and put frequently used characteristics into one dimension so you can cut down on the number of table JOINs needed for the OLAP processor to churn out the data. Data deletion If you want to scale, you need to have a data-deletion process in place that the application owners have clearly agreed to and understood, and you need to have the deletion process in place at the modeling stage. Navigational attributes By using navigational attributes in SAP NetWeaver, you can maintain data consistency when dimensions change slowly, and you can reduce data-storage requirements, but you have to analyze this during the modeling stage to get the benefits. Problems the company would have been forced to have multiple copies and different views of the same data. Implementation Timetable 1999 Forms and begins construction of fiber-optic networks Late 2002 Launches and creates first Bl application March 2003 Has commercial launch Mid 2003 DSS starts rolling out Bl application July 2003 Gains 1 million new subscribers Late 2003/ early 2004 Bl applications roll out to additional locations. Six Critical Recommendations Guptas initial decision-support team of three people augmented by BI consultants from around the world has now grown to 65 staff members and counting. Gupta and his DSS team offer some critically important recommendations to those planning an SAP NetWeaver BI implementation. 1] Plan to scale. One way or another, all BI systems get bigger. Some get bigger because businesses keep generating data they dont really need, but most often products, pricing, and markets become increasingly complex, which is true for Reliance Infocomm. In order to compete, the company must span diverse geographies and offer a variety of products and services as business analysts identify shifting customer needs. In addition, the sheer growth in the number of customers presents the most obvious scalability issue. We are expecting the business to grow from 14 million customers to 20 million customers by the end of 2006, Gupta says. Those are the kinds of estimates we have to work with. 2] Involve the business. Simple at first glance, this fundamental rule is often overlooked but is critical to a DSS. At Reliance Infocomm, each analytic application has a business sponsor who owns the application, in addition to business analysts who help to translate the business requirements into IT implementation terms. This all affects how the DSS team sets up InfoCubes for the business units. How you model your business requirement with SAP NetWeaver is the most important thing, Gupta notes. If your model is bad, its not going to work and the information is never going to come out. So, mapping all your business objects into a multidimensional cube is the most important step and SAP NetWeavers features are excellent for modeling. When its time to build analytic applications, the DSS team builds only solutions that have clear business owners attached. This is critical for two reasons: First, business owners come to the DSS team only with business-driven needs (as opposed to IT offering what it thinks the business might need). Second, the DSS team knows it will get launch support to correct unforeseen problems quickly, as well as see that the users start putting the applications to use. How many awesome applications are built each year that fail for lack of use or business alignment? For this DSS team, that just doesnt happen. 3] Ensure data trust. Another problem with many BI installations is a lack of user trust of the systems, and it can happen at any level numbers dont match in front of a line-of-business manager or customers on the other end of the phone dispute the information available to your call-center employees. Business analysts, Gupta says, can be invaluable in resolving problems as the DSS team consolidates data from disparate systems into layers for the InfoCubes. Sometimes there can be a problem with the interpretation of the data, adds Arun Dhall, lead architect for Reliance Infocomms DSS team. For example, when you look at the number of customers acquired yesterday, people who just filled out the application form could be new customers, but as weve defined it, when a person actually registers with the network, thats when they become a customer. Its these common definitions used across the business especially when the numbers are both essentially accurate that build ongoing positive momentum for DSS applications. 4] Delete! Delete! Delete! At 3.5 terabytes (TB) in SAP NetWeaver and 30TB altogether, Reliance Infocomms DSS system is one of the largest in the world, but that doesnt mean it has to grow astronomically. To combat data bloat, We have very clear data-retention policies in place that decide how long the data is stored, Gupta says. We have 400 million records coming over per day, so if we were going to store all this information, it would be multi-hundred TB by now. This again, Gupta says, comes back to the business owners who understand that theres a cost to keeping information and who must decide how long they really need it. From an IT perspective, this policy not only keeps your data growth under control, it helps force the business managers to focus on what they really need from the DSS to achieve the desired results. 5] Dont skimp on look and feel. Many in-house applications are functional, but they look terrible and are hard to understand, which can adversely affect the success of the application more than IT bugs. You should be able to make a report that is not complicated and is easy to understand, Gupta says. If you give users a complex report, they will never use it. At every level, Reliance Infocomm employees are using DSS. Part of every application rollout is end-user education, and the company is now at the point where product managers want their own data marts so they can analyze the information themselves. Also, Gupta says, the information should come out fast. The largest Reliance InfoCube has close to 1 billion rows, and yet it generates consistent response times that let employees act in less than a minute. 6] Always chase and never give up. Guptas DSS team lives by this motto, which basically means that IT is empowered to push hard to find or chase down answers to any technical question or goal. The DSS team is very persistent, Gupta says, and it comes down to a culture of believing that anything is possible. If we can think it, we can do it, says Pramod Kejriwal, development lead for the DSS team. Our philosophy is we dont believe in giving anything up very easily. The philosophy has infected the business owners, too. Anything they think they need to help do their business in a better way, they ask; they should be thinking about business, not [whether something] is technically possible. Into the Future For now, the numbers clearly speak to Reliance Infocomms DSS success: More than 1,500 active users across India, 250 concurrently, more than 150 applications, more than 300 online analytical processing (OLAP) reports, more than 300 SAP NetWeaver BI reports, more than 200 monthly ad hoc reports all working with more than 24TB of data which make Reliance Infocomms DSS, an in-house implementation, one of the largest data warehouses in the world. More fundamentally important, though, is the fact that business users have adopted the DSS implementation as the single and most authentic source of corporate information, Gupta notes, which speaks to the companys ability to scale into the future. On the drawing board, Gupta looks forward to information broadcasting and implementing creative collaboration rooms using a revamped SAP NetWeaver Visual Composer (in SAP NetWeaver 2004s), management cockpit, planning and simulation model, data mining (APD), and actively working on even higher-performance analytics by using SAP Business Intelligence Accelerator (SAP BI Accelerator; also part of SAP NetWeaver 2004s) as an appliance tool with separate hardware that can index an InfoCube, which you can then use to run very fast queries. Whatever comes next, Reliance Infocomm has used SAP NetWeaver BI to create a DSS capable of handling one of the worlds largest BI workloads both now and in the future. Challenges with SAP: 1. Expensive This entails software, hardware, implementation, consultants, training, etc. Or you can hire a programmer or two as an employee and only buy business consulting from an outside source, do all customization and end-user training inside. That can be cost-effective. 2. Not very flexible It depends. SAP can be configured to almost anything. In Navision one can develop almost anything in days. Other software may not be flexible.

History of Egypt Essay -- Historical Egypt Africa Cairo Essays Papers

History of Egypt The rich history of Egypt is tied very closely with the Nile River’s fertile banks and existence as a source of water. Flowing south to north, this massive river has had a tremendous impact on agriculture, transportation, religion, migration of populations, and culture as a whole. The narrow Nile Valley as well as the surrounding deserts provided defense and isolation from the arising cultures of the time. Over many centuries, the rainfall has affected the levels of flooding on the Nile and therefore the way in which the Egyptians had to live. This region is rich with cultural and historical records of the ongoing relationship of culture and society with the environment and the Nile. Cairo is the capital of Egypt and is the biggest city not only in Egypt but the Middle East as well. With a current population of over 15 million inhabitants, the city has evolved for over four thousand years with a variety of social and cultural influences. Northern Africa has been occupied by Ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, and Turks and monuments that still stand today are evidence of these influences. Cairo has been known by many names, including Memphis, Heliopolis, Babylon, and, Al-Qahira. The city was a center of religious development for Christianity, Judaism, and Islam throughout its thirty or more dynasties. Over 8,000 years ago, Northern Africa was rich with diverse wildlife including elephants, buffalo, hippopotami, and giraffe (Lamb). However by 5,000 BC, some of these species began to die out or migrate from this region, perhaps due to the increased migration of humans and settling near the Nile. The Nile was the best and only source of fresh water in the area and its annual flooding and receding le... ...In 1882, the British seized control of Egypt until it could repay its debts. Egypt gained its independence in 1952 and has continued to grow, with Cairo being the centerpiece of ongoing development (www.lonelyplanet.com). Throughout the 1960’s and 1970’s, the West Bank of the Nile River was concreted over to make room for urban sprawl. The relationship of the city with the Nile was becoming less cooperative and increasingly damaging to its natural state. Cairo expanded north into Nasr City in what has become an eyesore to the landscape. Cairo has even expanded up and over the Muquattam Hills, which once stood as a barrier to previous eastern growth. The rapid expansion of Cairo seems as if it will pose a serious problem to the Nile and its resources as transportation, industry, and residential construction litter the banks of the once coveted and worshipped Nile.