Mass Media Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Mass Media - Assignment Example (Marx, 1971). Conflict perspective of social change works as a social institution because both classes do struggle, lead class struggle to maintain their power and lowest classes struggle for gaining the income and power but the result is a clash. The outcome of the clash between opposing classes is not a compromise. On the contrary it is a birth of new conflict, one new born of struggle. In this manner, both societies and individuals change. On the contrary functionalist theory is basically based on homeostatic system, that is, assemblage of interrelated elements of society to make an equilibrium state like norms, customs, and traditions. Industries, educational departments, government, family are also the basic elements of society which are interrelated or interdependent. Like government provide education for the children and parents of the children give taxes in return (Wallerstein, 1974). It is the role of the society to fulfill six basic needs that are member replacement, member socialization, production of goods and services, preservation of internal order, provision and maintenance of sense of purpose and protection from external attacks. These needs are in a state of equilibrium with one another and when one changes than other one accommodates. Functionalist perspective also works as social institution because they interlinked the needs of the society. Like the family depends upon the school for the mental growth of their children so that in the future they will get good jobs (cliffsnotes.com, 2012). Interactionism perspective also work as a social institution because through which individual knows how to interact with their teachers, friends, elders and young ones. Through which individual... This essay makes a conclusion that the sociological theories have drastically changed the views of the society like through conflict perspective people knows they have to struggle and work hard for the society as well as for himself. Views of people towards society have become positively changed. Like the small child knows the meaning of competition, he knows he have to compete with other students for getting good marks. Mass media have greater impact on the views of the people like every banker knows he has to open more accounts as compared to other banker. Conflict perspective arises the competition spirit and struggle spirit that is so good for every society. This report approves that have discussed the impacts of the sociological theories that are the impacts of conflict theory is the enhancement of competition between two groups, like in two classes, between students, between two political groups. In this manner whole society has become socially changed. Functionalist perspective also has very positive impacts like through this perspective people could know that every segment of the society is necessary for each other for creating the balance in the society; in this manner society has become positively changed. Like without the religion the kid could be grown socially stable. He should have some religion as well as he also has his proper family for his mental growth. Interactionism perspective also has positive impacts on the society like after this theory people now know interaction is the compulsory element for enhancement of society.

Japanese Business Culture Essay Example for Free

Japanese Business Culture Essay What do you do to prepare for this meeting? In order to prepare for this meeting, apart from the usual prepaparation with regards to presentations, brochures and other information material, information about the product as well as the company, etc, I need to gather extensive information about the Japanese business culture as the peculiar characteristics of this particular trading company with whom we are meeting. It is extremely important in international business that one should pay attention to prevailing business culture, customs and peculiarities of the companies from other countries in order to conclude a successful business deal. Therefore, I need to peep into material describing the Japanese way of doing businesses, their negotiation styles, things which one should avoid during the meetings, etc. What do you want to know about the trading company? The first thing which I would like to know about the trading company is its similarity to the traditional Japanese companies which possess certain typical characteristics. For example, one of the important things to know about this trading firm will be whether it is part of Japanese Keiretsu or not. The knowledge of this information in advance will help me to identify key features of Japanese trading firms who are still part of the large groups or Keiretsu. Knowledge about few characteristics of the firm will help us to present ourselves in a more comfortable manner at deal stage. I am presenting below few important characteristics of Japanese firms: 1) Connections are very helpful in this country, but choose your intermediaries carefully: the Japanese will feel obliged to be loyal to them. Select someone of the same rank as the person with whom he or she will have dealings. Moreover, an intermediary should not be part of either company involved with the deal. 2) If you know a highly respected, important person in Japan, use his or her endorsement and connection. Before you enter into negotiations, request a consultation, and then ask if you can use the endorsement and connection to further your business efforts. This method of using connections is standard practice among Japanese businesspeople. 3)Generally, the Japanese are not receptive to outside information. They will consider new ideas and concepts only within the confines of their own groups. 4)The Japanese tend to think subjectively, relying on feelings rather than empirical evidence. 5)Getting acquainted is the purpose of the initial meetings. You may, however, introduce your proposal during these preliminary discussions. During presentations, and especially during negotiations, it is essential that one maintain a quiet, low-key, and polite manner at all times. The highest-ranking individual may appear to be the most quiet of everyone present. For a persuasive presentation, you must describe how your product can enhance the prosperity and reputation of the Japanese side. Making these claims effectively requires a thorough knowledge of Japanese economy, business, and product lines. The Japanese will commit themselves to an oral agreement, which may be acknowledged by a nod or slight bow, rather than by shaking hands. Contracts can be renegotiated; in Japanese business protocol, they are not final agreements. After gathering knowledge about these typical characteristics of Japanese firms, we will try to compare this particular firm with these characteristics by analyzing the available information. Â  source: http://www.executiveplanet.com/business-etiquette/Japan.html Comment to student: click on the link above. You will find many links on this page with respect to business culture in Japan. The Japanese have been raised to think of themselves as part of a group, and their group is always dealing with other groups. This is viewed on many angles internationally it is We Japanese vs. everyone else (more on that later), but in schools, companies, sections of companies etc. there are many groups and sub-groups and not always in perfect harmony and cooperation as it may look on the surface. Dealing with Japanese on a one-to-one basis usually comes very easy to non-Japanese, but dealing with Japanese as a group can be a different matter altogether. source: http://www.thejapanfaq.com/FAQ-Primer.html about the V.P. and his/her delegation? There are certain things which we need to know about the VP and his delegation. The strong hierarchical structure in Japanese business is reflected in the negotiation process. They begin at the executive level and continue at the middle level. However, decisions will often be made within the group. Generally speaking, in business meetings the Japanese will line up in order of seniority, with the most senior person at the front and the least senior person closest to the door. In addition to this rule however, you may find that the most senior person chooses where to sit. It is important to bear in mind that in contemporary Japan, even a low ranking individual can become a manager if his or her performance is good. (source: http://www.communicaid.com/japan-business-culture.asp ) Further, it is important to know few personal information about the visiting team. For example, their level of proficiency with English, whether or not a translator will be required, the age as it is directly related to seniority in Japanese culture, whether they have travelled abroad to US or other Western Countries before because it may have serious implications with respect to few culturally sensitive issues such as some Japanese men who have not been abroad are not used to dealing with women as equals in a business setting. ..about their inquiry? The foremost thing about their inquiry which I will like to know is the nature of relationship they are looking to establish with our company with respect to selling our products in Japan. For example, are they looking for some kind of manufacturing joint venture in Japan, or are they looking to take distributorship or license for our products. Such information will help us to present ourselves in a better and precise manner and will help us in coming to common ground with them. One of the sources for finding such information will be the local Santa Clara office of the company. Further, internet can prove to be a useful source for finding more information about the company such as its web portal, its partners and vendor relationships as displayed over the website, press releases and third party comments available on the web, etc. When starting business in Japan and entering into initial distributor contract negotiation, many foreign executives are probably unaware of the potential value of their products in Japan, but you can guarantee that the Japanese distributors on the other side of the negotiation will have a very good idea of the value. source: http://www.venturejapan.com/japanese-distributors.htm If you are doing business in Japan with a Japanese distributor, then you absolutely must negotiate a strong agreement before starting in the Japanese market. Â  Another issue to be aware of, and which if uncontrolled will have a significant impact on the final percentage of revenue you receive, is that the Japanese market is awash with multi-layered distribution channels. Your Japanese distributor may in fact be a master distributor who will pass your products through one or more layers of sub-distributors prior to it reaching its intended consumer or corporate buyer destination. In some situations its unavoidable for example, if your distributor sells to a large Japanese company you can expect that the customer will mandate a trading company (usually one of its subsidiaries) to handle the purchase and take a 5% 15% fee for its efforts. source: www.venturejapan.com/japanese-contract-negotiation.htm What do you want to highlight in the meeting with the V.P.? As discussed in the above paragraphs, it is very important in Japanese business negotiations with a distributor to explain to them the potential value of our products in Japan. It is important to present them with some revenue forecasts with respect to sales in Japan. First, you must know the Japanese value, not the US, UK, German, French or Italian value but the Japanese value of your product or service before you can negotiate a win-win relationship with a Japanese distributor. If you spent your first month doing business in Japan aggressively networking and information gathering you should have a pretty good idea of your products value. By comparing with your home market statistics you should also be able to extrapolate some reasonable revenue forecasts: idealized of course but an invaluable benchmark for contract negotiation with a Japanese distributor. Armed with the results of your first months Japanese business analysis, you stand a good chance of convincing a reputable distributor that they should put your product into their lead portfolio and invest in aggressively promoting it. Your ability to assert the potential Japanese value of your product and your ability to defend that value will support your justifiable contract negotiation claims to require transfer fees calculated on net revenues, not on your home market price list. The result is that you have a chance to get the best possible distribution deal for your company and a deal that could only ever be bettered by a direct entry into the Japanese market using a Japanese subsidiary company or office. source: www.venturejapan.com/japanese-contract-negotiation.htm If things look positive in that meeting, what would you expect to happen at the next stages of the discussions? Â  Even if the things look positive in that meeting, Japanese generally take time time finalize their decision as the decision making process can be very slow for Japanese firms. I expect the Japanese trading firm to extensively discuss the issue within their group in order to arrive at the final decision. From the pre-meetings, to the informal parties, the Japanese style of doing business will take the shape of an intricate spiders web, where few outsiders can fully understand the implications of what exactly is occurring. Japanese culture effects every aspect of daily life. The cultural tradition of Japan reflects a strong desire to be harmonious, efficient, and most important, to promote group solidarity, and this is best achieved by making decisions based on consensus. Robert Marshall elaborates by saying that, group decision making in Japan promotes unanimity in result through consensus {Marshall},[p. 7]. source: http://www.earlham.edu/~consense/scott2.shtml Comment to student: The above mentioned link is an excellent article on group decision making in Japan. Please read through it to gather more information on decision making in Japanese culture. How are your actions in this situation different from the situation in which you make the first move in order to find a licensee? The actions in this situation is different from my first move because I have a more informed and better view along with a clear understanding of the Japanese business culture and negotiation process now. My first move was a sort of unorganized effort to explore the Japanese markets. This situation is different in the sense that I am now preparing myself for specific company which has already shown little interest in our products and are ready to explore more about our company. It is very important to have clear understanding of Japanese culture, prevailign market conditions, information about the industry and knowledge of other peculiar characteristics before one can enter into a successful negotiation with a Japanese company. My initial failures have made me realize that in order to successfully conclude a deal with a Japanese company, one needs to present him in a manner that proves the value of our product with respect to Japanese market.

Goals and Dreams :: Example Personal Narratives

Goals and Dreams I hate to shop. I do not use that word lightly either. I had probably rather clean out my closet than go shopping. My mom always did the shopping around my house while I was growing up. Though, when it came to shopping for clothes and shoes, attendance was required. I have always lived in a small town. It is one of those towns where the local beauty shop is full of gossip and the local restaurant is full of coffee-drinkers and cigarette smoke. My mom, my older brother, my younger sister, and I would load up in the car and drive to the shoe store. The shoe store just outside of the town was pretty well-known ... to us. It was a long, narrow, white block building with a gravel parking lot. Inside it had a section for purses, one for belts, some socks, and of course, shoes. I was always given the choice of whatever shoes I wanted. I knew though, to pass the "mother inspection," it was best if they were mostly white and low-top. When I found what I wanted, I had to try them on. I would walk around in them to see if the heel was going to slip up and down, check them out in those little mirrors they prop up in the floor, and (as the final stage of the analysis) have my toes mashed. My mom would get down in the floor and place her thumb at the end of my biggest toe. She always left this little dent in the end of my shoe, which I wasted no time popping out with the help of my toes. If there was "thumb-room" that meant there was growing room which, to her, seemed to be the most important part of shopping. It is funny how we buy our clothes and shoes anticipating growth. This is not a bad idea. (I cannot say that I ever owned anything that stayed too big for very long.) Most of my life has been centered around the "biggers" and "betters." It worked. Each of the phases of my life have been, in hindsight, progressively greater experiences. I never wanted to leave elementary school; then I had a blast in high school.

Public Police and Private Security Essay

Abstract         Public police and private security agencies will hardly find a compromise. Public police votes for limitation of private security rights. Private security becomes more popular with the increasing criminalization of the society. In reality, the objectives of public police and private security significantly differ.       The increasing popularity of private security agencies has raised substantial concern among the public police officers. The objectives of public police and private security differ, but public police agencies fear that private security will bury traditional policing standards, and will replace the major policies objectives and responsibilities.          In the general structure of public policing responsibilities, private security guards traditionally fulfill â€Å"supporting roles†. By hiring contractors, some federal agencies save up to 50 percent of their traditional expenditures. â€Å"One firm provides security for six major public transit systems around the country, transports prisoners, maintains booking and security for a juvenile assessment center, and supplies security for court houses in 40 states† (Youngs, 2004). Although private security agencies possess full range of policing equipment, personnel, and opportunities, such agencies are permanently restricted from fully participating in public policing. Potentially, private security and public policing could have similar objectives, but public policing remains purely a state structure. Public police agencies use private security firms to concentrate on their major tasks. In many aspects, these strategies remind outsourcing principles, which are often employed business. In Ontario, private security was given some freedom â€Å"to observe, report, and deter [†¦] elsewhere private security companies are offering quasi-police services in low-income housing projects† (Harman, 2000). Although private security and public policing could effectively combine their efforts, and work for the decrease of criminalization in the country, public policing insists on the fact that public police and private security cannot follow the same objectives.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Public policing continues fulfilling its â€Å"traditional crime-fighting duties. Private security carry out their mission of protecting their companies or clients’ people, property, and information, while at the same time serving the homeland security objectives† (COPS, 2004). Private security and public policing are still too far from joining their efforts and objectives for the benefit of criminal situation in society. References COPS. (2004). Private security / Public policing. Harman, A. (2000). Private security use debated. Law & Order, 48 (6), pp. 125-126. Youngs, A. (2004). The future of public / private partnerships. FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, 73 (1), pp. 7-12.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  

Ddos Prevention Best Practices

To begin with, system hardening should be implemented on all University workstations, and especially the Web servers. This means turning off any unused services, closing all ports except those that are specifically needed for the operating roles of the servers, and ensuring that an anta;plus solution Is in place and regularly updated. Additionally, a strong patch management policy and procedure should be used to keep University computing assets up to date.This is to help prevent the exploitation of newly discovered vulnerabilities, and is part of the hardening process. All publicly available services, such as Web facing servers, DNS servers, and application servers, should be separated from private university resources. The separation should include enclosing the public servers in a DMZ. The DMZ should have firewalls in place on both sides of the network, to protect from external threats, and Internal ones. This separation also Isolates the servers from the rest of the network, in th e event one of them is compromised.Furthermore, PLANS should be implemented to break up broadcast domains, and IP subletting used to control outwork traffic, further isolating the public systems from the internal network devices. Also, A split DNS scheme that consists of an external DNS server separate from an Internal DNS server can help limit the Impact of DNS Dos style attacks. Network Address Translation (NAT) should remain in place, as it also has the effect of hiding the internal network from the Internet. Moreover, the blocking of IGMP or ping attempts should be blocked, at least externally, so that attempts to Identify systems from the Internet are reduced.As part of capacity planning, consideration should be made to plan for excess. This should help to absorb any Dodos attacks by having plenty of resources to maintain network operations. This Includes having more than adequate switch and router bandwidth, CAP]. And frame/packet processing ablest. Additional consideration sh ould be made to use different Internet Service Providers (ISP) for redundant connections. In the event of an attack, this has the benefit of having alternate paths to the Internet, providing redundancy and load sharing.When upgrading or replacing network equipment, anta-DoS capable devices should be carefully evaluated and selected. Intrusion Detection/Prevention Systems (DIPS) should be deployed, with the emphasis on prevention at the network perimeter. An inline device will be more effective placed behind the external facing firewall. The firewall is configured to allow only traffic that Is desired, blocking all other traffic, while the DIPS Is designed to block specific traffic and allow the rest. An DIPS device that uses both signature- 1 OFF positives, and therefore a better chance of detecting attacks.The DIPS device should be capable of sending alerts via email, SMS, and pager communication methods to Taft. The DIPS should also be configured to alter the firewall filtering ru les on the fly, in the event an attack is occurring. A period of fine tuning is necessary to reduce false positives, and ensure information is not lost due to miscommunication. Ingress and egress filtering needs to be implemented. This involves configuring the firewalls to block unreliable IP addresses as specified in RFC 1918, using Access Control Lists (Calls).This will help prevent IP address spoofing, and computing assets from being used to attack other organizations outside the University IP address pace. Egress filtering should only allow IP addresses to leave the University that fall within the range of allocated addresses. Log monitoring and review of all network and server devices should be performed regularly. In addition, IT staff should be alerted when suspicious activity or events are detected. For instance, repeated failed attempts to access a network device might indicate a password hacking attack. Performance baselines of essential network and server equipment needs to be documented.This will provide a metric of network utilization under normal operating conditions. Excessive use of resources above equipment baselines might indicate a Dodos attack. Also, establishing a performance baseline will aid in capacity planning and provide data for scalability and growth planning. A honesty with relaxed security should be installed. Its purpose is to draw hackers away from actual University computing assets by providing an easier target. It needs to be completely isolated from all other critical assets. The honesty should also be monitored, as data obtained from attacks can be used to shore up the rest of the network.An Incident Response Plan (RIP) needs to be drafted and provided to all University administrative staff. Potential items in the plan should include Points of Contacts (POCK), and handling procedures if an attack is suspected. In conjunction with the RIP, an Emergency Response Team (RET) comprised of senior network and information security p ersonnel, as well as members of the management team, should formalized. This team will be tasked with the responsibility as first responders to an attack. The RET should also have a Plan of Action (POP) more detailed than the RIP.Items in this Lana should include detailed network documentation, disaster recovery plans, any business continuity plans, ISP support numbers, etc. The combined effect of all of the measures previously described, will significantly lessen the impact of a Dodos attack. By no means is this document complete, and should be considered as a living document. As new threats emerge, additional or even different methods may be required to be put in place. Technology also improves over time, therefore a periodic review of the practices described should be conducted, and this document adjusted accordingly.

Chinese reform of State Owned Enterprises

Chinese reform of State Owned Enterprises State corporations, globally, have poor business performance stemming from competing loyalties of these firms: to the state as their owners and to capitalism as businesses. This is no different in china State Owned Enterprises, which previously, languished under operational inefficiencies, massive debt due to their ease in getting government debt and consistent losses for most of them.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Chinese reform of State Owned Enterprises specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More These state corporations had to face restructuring to reduce production inefficiencies, improve management, increase their returns to the state, and compete with other organizations both at home and abroad. The reforms in China State Owned Enterprises have been an ongoing process, which has taken place over many years. It began with the management reform between 1978 and 1984. The focus of this period was to increase the capacity of management in the state owned enterprises.  Instead of all profits reverting to the government, the organizations would keep some of it for reinvestment after meeting state quotas. The reinvestment money was in technology, building expertise, and capital investment. The second stage focus was on the dual track system (1984-1992). In the dual track, management had greater autonomy over human resource: they could employ and fire employees. However, this was only to implement government agenda and not with a business motive. Secondly, the management could sell their products at 20% above state prices once they met production quotas set by the government, which were under regulation of state prices. Later in this stage, government relationship with management of state corporations had a change from general administration by the state to contractual contracting; Profit remittance also had a change to profit tax. Third stage of Chinese State reforms begun from 1992 with a focus on or ganizational and management structure. The reforms gave state corporations the ability to overhaul their organizational structure to improve their industrial competitivity. Additionally, leasing state corporations were permissible by law; employees and the public could invest in them partially or entirely sold to private organizations or public. In 1997, 500 largest state corporations held 37% of china industrial assets while contributing 46% of state tax. By 1998, 25% of Chinese state corporations had undergone restructuring, which rose to 86% 2001. 70% of state corporations had undergone some form of privatization in 2001.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The government state owned corporations share of GDP fell from 78% at the beginning of the stage two of the reforms in 1984, to 11%. This was, however, at the behest of massive layoffs within state corporations. Their redeployment and compensations have undergone further criticism by the people of China. The result of the efforts of China to reform its public sector has been enormous, but it is now crossing national borders. Western countries are now wary of the increasing influence of China state corporations, which can now bid competitively for contracts in the west. The awarding of western government contracts, and approval for mergers and acquisition to china state corporations has become quite a tacky issue. An example is China CNOOC intention to takeover Nexen oil (Canada) has undergone many political hurdles in its path to fruition. Given source of economic growth in china over the past three decades has been foreign investment that is now slowing due to a growing middle class; an increase of domestic investment is essential if China is to maintain its growth trajectory, Chinese State Owned Enterprises have a key role in this agenda.

The Brain of Computers essays

The Brain of Computers essays All desktop computers have a processor which is the brain or heart of computers also kwon as CPU (central processing unit) or microprocessor. The processor is make up of millions of microscopic transistors embedded in a circuit on a chip or silicon wafer. It reads instruction from software and tells the computer what to do. Machine instruction cycle happens millions of times in one second or more. The faster a processor cycles happens the quicker you are able to enhance your ability to run creative, entertainment, and communication and productivity application. The two main manufactures of desktop processors are Intel and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). The company Intel has produced many microprocessors. The newest ones are Intel Pentium 4 and Intel Celeron. Intel is always looking for new ideas to better its performance. Hyper Threading and Ultraviolet Lithography are some of the things Intel is working on. The Intel Pentium 4 processor is the latest on performing outstanding levels of performances and advanced features needed to tackle the most demanding proceeding needs. It is ideal for internet audio, steaming video, DVD authoring, image processing, MPEG4 creation, speech recognition, 3D CAB games, multimedia and multi-tasking. Intel Celeron processor balances value with performance that is affordable. It allows the user to browse the internet, send email, use educational programs, and play interactive 3D games. Intel Celeron is good for home computers, small office computer and productivity Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) also makes many processors. The newest ones developed by AMD are the Athlon processor XP, Athlon processor and AMD Duron processor. AMD Athlon XP performances extra and extraordinary applications required to meet cutting edge performances and use of the newest and greatest software applications. AMD Duron offers value and cost effective processor that allow the user ...

To Kill a Mockingbird Themes, Symbols, and Literary Devices

To Kill a Mockingbird Themes, Symbols, and Literary Devices To Kill a Mockingbird seems like a very simple, well-written morality tale at first glance. But underneath the easy markers of racism and heroism is a much more complex story. Your first hint is the sleight of hand author Harper Lee employs in the point of view, which is actually Jenna Louise Finch as an adult recounting her adventures as a child. The mature, grown-up perspective is buried under the rambunctious, naive perspective of her younger self so skillfully most readers forget that the story isn’t being narrated by a little kid. This allows Lee to explore her sub-themes of racism, justice, and innocence while masterfully dealing with her main theme: How our view of the world changes as we grow older. Maturation The story of To Kill a Mockingbird takes place over the course of several years, beginning when Scout is 6 years old and ending when she is close to 9 years old, and her brother Jem is 9 (though very close to being 10) in the beginning and is 13 or 14 by the end of the story. Lee uses the young age of the children to tease out many of the complexities in her themes; Scout and Jem are frequently confused about the motivations and reasoning of the adults around them, especially in the earlier sections of the novel. Initially, Scout, Jem, and their friend Dill make many incorrect assumptions about the world around them. They assume that Boo Radley is some sort of monster and ascribe near-supernatural powers to him. They assume that aunt Alexandra does not like them or their father. They assume that Mrs. Dubose is a mean old woman who hates children. And Scout in particular assumes that the world is a fair and honorable place. Over the course of the story, the children grow up and learn more about the world, and many of these initial assumptions are revealed to be incorrect. Lee explores the way that growing up and maturing into adults makes the world clearer while also less magical and more difficult. Scout’s rage against Mrs. Dubose or her teachers at school is simple and easy to comprehend, as is her terror of Boo Radley. Understanding the complexities underneath the behaviors she sees makes it more difficult to hate Mrs. Dubose or fear Boo, which in turn ties into the more obvious themes of racism, intolerance, and innocence in the story. The end result is that Lee connects racism with childish fears that adults ought not to experience. Prejudice There’s little doubt that To Kill a Mockingbird is concerned with racism and its corrosive effects on our society. Lee explores this theme with an initial subtlety; Tom Robinson and the crimes he is accused of are not explicitly mentioned until Chapter 9 in the book, and Scout’s understanding that her father, Atticus, is under pressure to drop the case and that his reputation is suffering because of it is developed slowly. Lee is not, however, solely concerned with racial prejudice. Rather, she explores the effects of prejudice of all kinds- racism, classism, and sexism. Scout and Jem slowly come to understand that all of these attitudes are incredibly harmful to society as a whole. Tom’s life is destroyed simply because he is a black man. Bob and Mayella Ewell, however, are also looked down upon by the town for their poverty, which is assumed to be due to their low class status and not to any sort of economic cause, and Lee makes it clear that they persecute Tom in part in order to assuage their own feelings of rage at the way they are treated, that racism is inextricably linked to economics, politics, and self-image. Sexism is explored in the novel through Scout and her constant battle to engage in behaviors she finds interesting and exciting instead of the behaviors that people like aunt Alexandra feel are more appropriate for a girl. Part of Scout’s development as a person is her journey from simple perplexity at these pressures to an understanding that society as a whole expects certain things from her solely due to her gender. Justice and Morality To Kill a Mockingbird is a surprisingly deft analysis of the differences between justice and morality. In the earlier parts of the novel Scout believes that morality and justice are the same thing- if you do wrong, you are punished; if you are innocent you will be fine. Tom Robinson’s trial and her observation of her father’s experiences teach her that there is often a stark difference between what is right and what is legal. Tom Robinson is innocent of the crime he is accused of, but loses his life. At the same time, Bob Ewell triumphs in the legal system but finds no justice either, and is reduced to drunkenly stalking children to compensate for being humiliated despite his victory. Symbols Mockingbirds. The title of the book references a moment in the story where Scout recalls Atticus warning her and Jem that killing mockingbirds is a sin, and Miss Maudie confirms this, explaining that Mockingbirds do nothing but sing- they do no harm. The mockingbird represents innocence- an innocence Scout and Jem slowly lose over the course of the story. Tim Johnson. The poor dog that Atticus shoots when it goes rabid has a name purposefully similar to Tom Robinson’s. The event is traumatic to Scout, and teaches her that innocence is no guarantee of happiness or of justice. Boo Radley. Arthur Radley is not so much a character as a walking symbol of Scout and Jem’s growing maturity. The way the children perceive Boo Radley is a constant marker of their growing maturity. Literary Devices Layered Narration. It can be easy to forget that the story is actually being told by a grown-up, adult Jenna Louise and not the 6-year-old Scout. This allows Lee to present the world in the stark black and white morality of a little girl while preserving the details whose significance would escape a child. Revelation. Because Lee restricts the point of view to Scout and what she directly observes, many details of the story are only revealed long after their occurrence. This creates an air of mystery for the reader that mimics the childish sense of not quite understanding what all the adults are up to.

American Hospital Assciation Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

American Hospital Assciation - Research Paper Example lth of individuals and the community as a whole and hence lends support to hospitals and health care systems that work for the betterment of community health. The organization which initially began as an association for hospital superintendents and addressed the concerns of hospital administrators later on provided membership access to executive officers, associates and institutions. These inclusions resulted in a change of the organization’s goal from simple interchange of ideas related to hospital management and economics to promoting efficient economic and hospital management. With the inclusion of institutional membership the objective was later extended to promote the health and welfare of the community at large, along with appropriate management of hospitals and dispensaries and to obtain the support and cooperation of hospitals and health care systems which had similar goals as the AHA. With these new objectives in place, the institution called for the development of outpatient services with emphasis on education and research. The revised mission in 1987 stressed on efficient leadership in public policies, advocacy and other services. Through its advocacy in courts and halls of the Congress the AHA has become the voice of hospitals and health care systems across the country. AHA is strongly advocating for the legal issues associated with healthcare and is laying emphasis on quality and accreditation of health care units keeping in mind the final goal of providing good quality health care to people. The achievements of the organization reflect its dual role in improving both hospital organization and public health. The AHA helped the establishment of the Blue cross and funding for the Commission on Hospital Care which in turn lead to the formation of the Hill-Burton programme. It also laid the foundation for the Medicare legislation which resulted in better access to healthcare facilities for the elderly. The AHA also established the House of Delegates

Professional Role and Future Goals Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Professional Role and Future Goals - Essay Example There are so lots of theories, styles and opinions that are linked through effectual leadership. I always believe that there is one kind of leadership style that is mainly efficient, and if I can only expand that style, I would be effectual as a leader. Being a leader, I truly believe that it is best to stick by what comes obviously. I believe that decision-making is one of the mainly serious reoccurring responsibilities that leader face in his organization. An excellent decision would assist any company achieve its strategic goals, counting meeting the needs and demands of the company's employees and customers. George Halvorson made a commercial-level planned decision when he decided to re-organize. He took the structural approach, which "focuses on redesigning organizations and jobs or labour situations." (Brockner, J., 2002, p.436-442) I would like to adopt this approach focal point mainly upon the elimination of work, rather than reducing the number of employees. I think it encompasses activities such as close down area of works; delivering, groups, separation and products, and redesigning tasks, and plummeting in general work hours (Cameron, K. 2004, p.189-211).

Human rights Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Human rights - Essay Example With regard to the concept of `permissible roughness of treatment, treatment or punishment can only be adjudged to be in breach of Article 3 ex post facto, essentially because it is only then that all the relevant circumstances can be considered. To reach firm conclusions as to the nature and effect of treatment or punishment before it occurs clearly departs from the principle of assessment after the event. Whilst endorsing that principle in Soering, the Court indicated that a departure from it may be appropriate in certain cases: â€Å"It is not normally for the Convention institutions to pronounce on the existence or otherwise of potential violations of the Convention. However, where an applicant claims that a decision to extradite him would, if implemented, be contrary to Article 3 by reason of its foreseeable consequences in the requesting country, a departure form the principle is necessary, in view of the serious and irreparable nature of the alleged suffering risked, in order to ensure the effectiveness of the safeguard provided by the Article.†2 Such a departure is justified on a number of grounds, besides the risk of serious and irreparable suffering. They include the principle of effective protection, the belief that the Convention is designed to promote and maintain democratic ideals, the fact that Article 3 admits of no exceptions or derogations3 and, more to the point, that Article 3 represents an absolute standard. In Soering, the United Kingdom Government argued that speculative ill-treatment is prohibited under Article 3 only if it is certain and imminent.4 Such a standard can be achieved only where the treatment is required by law and its occurrence is not simply a matter of speculation. Accordingly, since the death penalty and the death-row phenomenon were not necessarily automatic and inevitable,5 the

Management case Study Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Management case Study - Research Paper Example This paper will highlight some of these strategies and the possible outcome in its recommendation (Griffin) Zynga is a social gaming provider headquartered in San Francisco, California. The company develops social games that operate on mobile phone platform such as Apple iOS and android. In 2009 the company reached 10 million daily active users within six weeks (Abbey, 2009).The management of zynga need to put in place certain measure in order to double its customers and revenue. This case study will highlight the achievement of the company, and future planning to help the company compete favourably with others and stay afloat (Abbey, 2009). The company has a record of hitting 10million active daily users in the first six months, this is a great achievement but to maintain this number and even double them the management of the company need to put in place certain measures. This paper highlights some of the considerations that need to be put in place in order to achieve more. The company strength will rely mainly on formation of synergies with other companies where the synergy is the urge to form partnership relationship with other companies of similar goal and interest. There is positive and negative consequence of synergies and group cohesion needs to be considered. As a group become more cohesive, communication between members increases. In addition satisfaction increases as the group provides friendship and support against outside threat (Hitt & Jamie, 2007). There are negative aspects of group cohesion that affect the decision made by individual parties hence affecting group effectiveness. Issues may arise such as risk shift phenomenon, where there is a tendency of a group to make risky decision that an individual party would have handled. There may also be polarization, individual in a group can have moderate stance on an issue, and having discussed in a

EEC Position Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

EEC Position Paper - Essay Example While some claim that it is entirely possible to communicate with young babies by using a series of sign language based gestures, others argue that it can inhibit actual language development in the long term. This position paper strives to examine both sides of this issue in order to make an informed determination as to the efficacy of using baby sign language. One of the main arguments revolving around whether or not to use sign language with babies involves the notion that teaching signs to babies will help them to learn more words. It seems that little to no research affirms this belief, however, as it is more likely that body signs and symbols may simply improvement methods of communications between the two parties, and enable the parent to understand what the baby is actually trying to say. While this is certainly important, particularly for frustrated parents who simply cannot determine what their baby might be upset about, it does not indicate that babies actually are learning through the process (DeLoache & Chiong, 2009). To be clear, however, there are still many scholars that do contend that a combination of verbal speech and body or hand gestures can contribute to a baby expanding their vocabulary at an early age. This has been one of the disagreements that make advocating such a position, either in favor or against, so difficul t. It is important to note that baby sign language does not refer to American Sign Language, as it is more talking about communicative gestures made specifically between parents and their young babies. While it is possible to teach a baby American Sign Language, it would be similar to using any type of verbal language, and is not the focus of this study. When referring to the use of baby sign language, however, scholars are typically referring to the action of encouraging babies

Procurement Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Procurement - Coursework Example Although enacted more than a decade later the Procurement Law was designed to arrest if not prevent a repeat of the era which was considered the lowest ebb the construction industry have experience in the United Kingdom. Although generally applicable in construction project where the government is the primary client, both reports take into consideration one important aspect in construction projects that is the satisfaction of the client. This report shall tackle the procurement process in construction that is designed to deliver projects that will not only address the needs of the clients but also satisfy the requirements of the other leading proponents of the project. This report shall describe the differences and nuances of the different procurement route that is available in the construction industry to achieve the common goals of the clients, the project proponents and the organization tasked to carry out the project to its completion. This report shall likewise attempt to design or come up with a strategic procurement route that could be a hybrid or a combination of the different procurement route that is available to better achieve the requirement of the Principal of Heriot Watt University (HWU). ... This report shall tackle the procurement process in construction that is designed to deliver projects that will not only address the needs of the clients but also satisfy the requirements of the other leading proponents of the project. This report shall describe the differences and nuances of the different procurement route that is available in the construction industry to achieve the common goals of the clients, the project proponents and the organization tasked to carry out the project to its completion. This report shall likewise attempt to design or come up with a strategic procurement route that could be a hybrid or a combination of the different procurement route that is available to better achieve the requirement of the Principal of Heriot Watt University (HWU). The client in this case the Principal of Heriot Watt University (HWU) is contemplating to build a new auditorium, with 200 seats, high specification multimedia theatre with air conditioning and comfortable tiered seati ng that can provide excellent visibility. The auditorium will feature a full size interactive screen and computer driven presentation facilities perfect for conference, lectures and presentations. In developing the best procurement strategy for this requirement a prime consideration would be the complimenting or convergence of technology and the civil construction aspect that would provide the best comfort for the auditorium’s users. A Strategic Approach to Procurement In previous years, the construction industry has taken a passive stance in the delivery of its service to its client that could be from the public or private sector. This resulted not only to failed projects but extremely dissatisfied clients even if the organizations tasked to construct these projects only

EEC Position Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

EEC Position Paper - Essay Example While some claim that it is entirely possible to communicate with young babies by using a series of sign language based gestures, others argue that it can inhibit actual language development in the long term. This position paper strives to examine both sides of this issue in order to make an informed determination as to the efficacy of using baby sign language. One of the main arguments revolving around whether or not to use sign language with babies involves the notion that teaching signs to babies will help them to learn more words. It seems that little to no research affirms this belief, however, as it is more likely that body signs and symbols may simply improvement methods of communications between the two parties, and enable the parent to understand what the baby is actually trying to say. While this is certainly important, particularly for frustrated parents who simply cannot determine what their baby might be upset about, it does not indicate that babies actually are learning through the process (DeLoache & Chiong, 2009). To be clear, however, there are still many scholars that do contend that a combination of verbal speech and body or hand gestures can contribute to a baby expanding their vocabulary at an early age. This has been one of the disagreements that make advocating such a position, either in favor or against, so difficul t. It is important to note that baby sign language does not refer to American Sign Language, as it is more talking about communicative gestures made specifically between parents and their young babies. While it is possible to teach a baby American Sign Language, it would be similar to using any type of verbal language, and is not the focus of this study. When referring to the use of baby sign language, however, scholars are typically referring to the action of encouraging babies

Course project Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Course project - Coursework Example The company is quite strong compared to the peer group and the top competitors whose current ratio is 2.01 and 1.10 respectively. The strength emanates from the fact that the current ratio of the company is in between to indicate the assets are steering the growth of the company. The profitability ratio will measure the company’s ability to generate profits. Aswath argues that the gross margin indicates the percentage of net sales going towards fixed costs and profit (34-35). Macys aim for high gross margins that mean more money to cover fixed costs and increase profits. Asset management ratio is a good measure of the company’s efficiency and effectiveness in using the assets in revenue generation. Market value ratios relate to the stock price, observable market value and book value will get obtained in the company financial statement. Therefore, Equity Investors can extend credit to investors due to the report found in its financial ratios. The ratios show an upward trend to indicate that the company is

Anne Franks Post Capture Diary Essay Example for Free

Anne Franks Post Capture Diary Essay The following all takes place between the time of Anne Frank and familys capture and her death in Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp  4th August 1944  I dont know what happened. I just dont know. There is no way they could have found without some despicable, racist and selfish person turning us in. Margot hasnt stopped crying. She is depending on me. I have to put on a brave face no matter how terrified I am of our destination and what awaits us there. The truck we are on smells of urine and something else disgusting I cant imagine what is secreting out. They tell us that we are going to a prison where we can meet other scum like us. I think it is them who should be locked up. After all it is they themselves who are the scum 5th August 1944  We have arrived at our destination. I caught a glimpse of the name. We are in Weteringschan Prison. It means the prison of death. I can see why. Rotting corpses are all around. Many of us have vomited at the mere sight. However we have been told there is worse to come. I cant imagine a worse place than this. I am beginning to feel an illness about me. If I am sickening for something this early on, I will never survive. Soon they are shipping us off to Westerbork. I assume that where I will perish. Im so scared. I dont know how much longer I can bear this August 8th 1944  This is it. I cannot go on living anymore. They separated myself and Margot from Mummy and Pim. I kicked up such a fuss that Margot had to pull me back to keep the guards from shooting me there and then. There are no words to describe how melancholy I am feeling right now. I just have to sleep and hope that this fiendish life is all just a nightmarish dream  September 3rd 1944  I was shaken awake by guards early this morning. I was not awake enough to catch all of what they said but I caught the gist of it. Auschwitz Death Camp. Those words stroke fear deep into my heart. All hope of survival drained instantly from my body. I didnt have the energy to fight back, so I stumbled onto the train with what few belongings I had left and watched my screaming tearful mother reach out to us. I couldnt stop crying for the whole journey. Why are the Nazis doing this to us? What have we ever done to upset anyone? Ive tried to lead a good life but obviously god needs to make Jews repent for something. Maybe this is like Noahs Ark. God is cleansing the Earth of all bad things. Maybe we are bad. Maybe we do deserve to die September 5th 1944  Westerbork isnt as bad I thought. Apparently the Germans just let the Jews run the place as long we work hard. Me and Margot have been sentenced to potato peeling. There are worse jobs out there! I still miss Mum and Pim so much though. I hope theyre okay  October 19th 1944  My hopes lifted when we were sent away form this horrible place. They descended back down again as soon as I realised we were just being transported to the worst place I had ever heard of. Bergen Belsen December 24th 1942  What a way to spend Christmas. Crammed in a dark dank hole with hundreds of others like us. There appears to be an outbreak of a disease with yellow pustules oozing blood in the rest of the tents. It is only a matter of time before it reaches me and Margot. Speaking of Margot, she is sickening a lot worse than me. She is as pale as a ghost. I dont know how likely it is for her to pull through January 12th 1945  The Germans might as well have abandoned us. There is no food or water. Everyone is covered in mud and scars. We only have bits of cloth to cover ourselves with. Worst of all Margot is taking a new turn for the worse every day. She cant even walk anymore. She spends all day in bed, just coughing and spluttering. The little food I get goes to her. Im so cold. We cant last much longer  19th March 1945  I cant go on. I woke up this morning. Margot didnt. I cant even walk as I am so grief-stricken. All hope is lost. Hitler will conquer the world and it shall perish at his hands  It is believed Anne died within a few days of Margot. They both perished of Typhus in March 1945.

Market and Competitor Analysis of Hotel Industry

Market and Competitor Analysis of Hotel Industry Market Analysis: Industry and Competition EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Businesses fail to define satisfaction in the same way that customers do. Customer relationship satisfaction is measured by repeat business and recommendation of the store to others (Thompson 2004, p. 104). While customers can agree to these behaviours only â€Å"60% of customers who named a business they were loyal to, said they would also shop at the competition† (Donogh 2000, p. 1). How consumers perceive a company or product depends upon varying factors different for each individual (Whelan 2004). It is part of the job of the e-marketing analyst to disseminate how their client will gain market share and competitive advantage through marketing schemes. With regard to the tourism industry and creating customer relations, it is important to remain unique and as individual as every customer. How does one do this with limited time and funding? Customization of a web site is key to advantage but also creating a unique experience on the web site and at the destination is part of niche marketing and a main cornerstone to any tactic. GENERAL OVERVIEW It is of utmost importance to carry out an analysis of the industry per business operations and define the competition. As part of this presentation, a market analyst should keep in mind different models in which to decipher the current state of the market and where to gauge an organisation’s advantage. For the purpose of this presentation and understanding the tourism industry, four models chosen for this analysis are: (1) SWOT analysis, (2) PESTEL analysis, (3) Michael Porters Five Forces and (4) Boston Matrix. By comparing and contrasting the Althorn web site with the competition of other stately English homes, one can better assess the marketing plan and continue to make appropriate changes. The web sites chosen for review with Althopr.com are as follows: (1) Balmoralcastle.com and (2) Muscottmillfarm.co.uk. MARKET INDUSTRY ANALYSIS: SWOT Analysis The Historic Monument Travel Industry Strengths and Weaknesses are considered internal factors while Opportunities and Threats are external to company (‘SWOT Analysis’ 2005). It is important to note the analysis using this tool is very subjective in nature. When it comes to niche travel, England’s stately homes, castles and historic monuments fall into a very distinctive category that surprisingly appeals to many travellers’ sense of history. What makes the online presence special is being about to capture history while maintaining a certain level of current events, even celebrity about staying somewhere unique. (S)trengths: Places like Althorp and Balmoral have the essence of royalty engrained into the image and experience. These places have been witness to infamous times in history and famous people as well. (W)eaknesses: Historical travel destinations may also have an air of affluence about them, which could limit their target audience potential. This feeling of being beyond reproach may send mixed signals to the common man. (O)pportunities: Because places like Althorp and Balmoral are well known to the public because of their relationships to royalty, this propels them into the spotlight more than other less known sites like Muscott Mill. These places like Balmoral have history but also many opportunities that a smaller place cannot take advantage of. Places like Balmoral and Althorp also have a following where product sales with branding becomes key to continued image and public awareness. This allows them more interaction and further investment into different ways to capture the audience such as private rentals and entertainment events like golf and concerts. (T)hreats: Consumers may be afraid to travel because of the war in Iraq and threats of terrorism, increased security being time consuming. Also times are tight for a lot of people due to increasing energy costs and lack increased spending power. Many people have chosen to stay home or vacation close to home. Places like Althorp need focus on local tourism. ALTHORP.COM: CURRENT AND POTENTIAL MARKETS PESTEL Analysis This strategy analysis takes into account external forces, which may have influence on the organisations success (‘PESTEL Analysis’ 2005). (P)olitical: The political force that may influence Althorp is its relationships with the surrounding local community. Many do not want to see their ‘neighbourhood’ tarnished or changed by the tourist traffic or see Althorp take advantage of their royal status. Environmental: This is a very trendy topic, the notion of ‘going green’ but needless to say something to consider adopting as part of the new image tactic. Also Althorp should consider the fuel demands of travellers and maybe run a promotion with a local hotel or petrol station. (S)ocial: Social forces at work externally could be a fear of flying or travel. Also in times of trouble, people band together, become closer within their communities. Althorp should consider looking closer to home and cultivating a relationship with locals. They should use the Internet as a tool to focus globally. (T)echnological: Obviously the web site is classy and reflects the overall image of Althorp as a stately home with beautiful grounds. The web site should using appropriate e-tools to continue consumer interaction. These e-tools vary from pod casting to blogging but also create a more intimate interaction with the public, which also reflects another image of Althorp being a special place for Princess Dianna. Continued evolution of the web site can bring a feeling of closeness to the site it lacks currently. This may involve further investment to update software and hire a Web master or graphic designer. (E)cological forces at work for Althorp include once again the price of fuel or energy source and its prolonged use at the site, the affect it has on the environment. Has Althorp considered what affect it may have on the global warming? It would environmentally sound for the company to research ways to conserve and protect the environment maybe through a conservation project in conjunction with another site. (L)egal forces or changes in the laws that govern travel are constantly in issue. Also Althorp must keep in mind a lot of times people are not culturally aware of differing laws that apply when travelling. It is important that not only the house watch for the risk legal issues cause but also look out for its employees giving the correct information to customers. THE COMPETITION: BALMORAL AND MUSCOTT MILL FARM BALMORALCASTLE.COM PORTER’S FIVE FORCES Customer Bargaining Power High Today’s Internet savvy consumer is educated when it comes to their travel plans. This gives the consumer power over places like Balmoral to match their need for a web site that will understand their intelligence. They know what they want and at what price they want it. They may chose a different destination if they don’t like the web site. Threat of Substitute Products and Services – Emerging This is where diversification of services at Balmoral becomes important and an asset. The future of these places depends on presentation of different formats and product specialty to keep the customer’s attention. These niche locations like Balmorals will meet consumer demand of specific needs. Supplier Bargaining PowerMedium The bargaining power of Balmoral is relatively medium because of the nature of the product. Balmoral must remain at above industry standard while maintaining the sense of class found and that level of services. Threat of New Entrants – Emerging New entries into the market, one would think should be low because of the designation of this being a niche destination as historical but the truth is places like Balmoral must compete outside their niche for capture of customers. They compete with theme parks and adventure vacations of the like. Many tourists because the information from the Internet is so vast are looking for something beyond the regular vacation. The Overall Level of Rivalry – Moderate There is a perception that the more densely populated the area becomes the higher the competition with the company struggling for market participation. This is an incorrect assumption because most of niche travel locations are operating online mainly suppliers to manufacturers or to the public. This results in less advertising and an environment where the competitive spirit is unvoiced. MUSCOTTMILLFARM.CO.UK Boston Matrix Analysis There are four areas that divide the matrix so that a place like Muscott Mill Farm can be differentiated from other stately English homes or working historic monuments. The place falls into one of these areas. The four areas are as follows: (1) Stars, (2) Cash Cows, (3) Question Marks and (4) Dogs (‘Boston Matrix’ 2005). Stars are tourist sites like Balmoral or Althorp that have a strong presence in the market and they are able to keep up, even be ahead of the competition. Balmoral, while stoically regal also maintains a global image because of it being the Queen’s summer residence. Cash Cows are smaller places of interest like Muscott Mill that are not in the spotlight and may be hidden from the average tourist’s mind (‘Boston Matrix’ 2005). Many smaller historical sites are becoming cash cows because of operating cost increases but also the aftermath of 9/11 remains. People are not as eager to travel and the price of airfare keeps people closer to home. Muscott Mill would be better off focusing on local markets for shorter weekend holidays. Question Marks are companies that have potential to make money if they are run properly (‘Boston Matrix’ 2005). A good example of a Question Mark in the industry would be smaller BB type places but not at the level of Musc ott Mill. They are constantly facing challenges with their operations management and particularly labour disputes. Dogs are companies that are just terrible, have no potential and should be out of business but continue to struggle (‘Boston Matrix’ 2005). Euro Disney is the prominent example. It has never lived up to the hype. Muscott Mill Farm remains at the bottom of the chain of advantage because it is not well known by the public as a destination. Its web site is quaint at best and not at all interactive but yet one can see the purpose it serves to at least introduction someone to its existence. EVALUATION OF MARKETING COMMUNICATION AND CRM A company’s marketing and recognition begins with its name. Because the business of tourism is greatly service oriented, it is of utmost importance that the company’s name has integrity. With time, as the organisation further establishes itself, the two will become interchangeable. The organisation has a reputation to uphold where market share remains wide-open and competitive advantage strong. Recently the house’s name and intellectual property in the forms of trademarks and brand has been at the forefront, in constant view thanks to e-business. John M.T. Balmer surmises that much of the problem with establishing a marketing framework for organisations is built on the concept that the notion of identity is vague to the corporation and therefore the consumer. Defining identity and therefore CRM becomes a challenge now especially as business practices change and shift to encompass all areas of focus and strategy. Balmer’s (2001) research writes of, â€Å"identity was a pressing issue for many institutions and that the question of identity, or of what the organisation is or stands for, cuts across and unifies many different organisational goals and concerns† (p. 250). Hence the confusion and challenge of figuring out exactly what identity is for a particular organisation because it is different for each. CONCLUSION The purpose of this presentation was to demonstrate different market strategy models that allow one to analyse not only the particular industry but also the competition. The niche travel destination market has its strengths and weaknesses but also these are areas that Althorp can use to make its marketing scheme better. The competition for the United Kingdom is vast but Althorp has many elements on its side as a special location for travellers. The main focus of any marketing scheme should be to know how to capture the mindset of the individual to reach a higher state of competitive advantage and this begins and ends with conveying the correct brand image. REFERENCES Allen, G 1999, Introduction to Marketing, Mountain View College, Mountain View, California. ‘Althorp’, Althorp.com, viewed 5 Aug. 2008, http://www.althorp.com.> Balmer, J M T, Fukukawa, K Gray E R 2001, The Nature and Management of Ethical Corporate Identity: Discussion Paper on Corporate Identity, Corporate Social Responsibility and Ethics, Bradford School of Management, England. Balmer, J M T 2001, ‘Corporate identity, corporate branding and corporate marketing seeing through the fog’, European Journal of Marketing vol. 35, 3/4, p. 248-291. ‘Balmoral Castle’, Balmoralcastle.com, viewed 7 Aug. 2008, http://www.balmoralcastle.com.>. ‘Boston Matrix or Boston Consulting Group Box BCG Box’, viewed 5 Aug. 2008, http://www.tutor2u.net/busines/strategy/bcg_box.htm.>. Donogh, J 2008, ‘Customer Loyalty—From the Customer’s Perspective’, viewed 3 Aug. 2008 www.refresher.com/!loyalty2.html>. Kotler P, 1999, Kotler on Marketing, Free Press, New York. ‘PESTEL Analysis’, viewed 5 Aug. 2008, http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/detail?type=RESOURCESitemid=1074451452> Peters, T 2003, ‘Helping Small Firms Put the ‘e’ in Trade’, International Trade Forum,  1 July. Pitturo, M 1999, ‘Get into the e-Commerce Without Betting the Store’, Journal of  Accountancy, 1 May. Porter, M E 1999, Strategy and the Internet, Harvard University Press, Cambridge. Porter, M E 1985, Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance. The Free Press, New York. ‘SWOT Analysis’, viewed 5 Aug 2008, http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/swot/.>. Thompson, H 2004, What They Want: Ten Myths About Your Customers, Prentice-Hall, Clifford Falls, New Jersey, p. 103-112. Whelan, D 2004, ‘Build It and They Will Come’, Forbes, 27 Dec 2004. APPENDICES APPENDIX A SAMPLE POSSIBLE QUESTIONNAIRE 1. How do you rate Althorp’s web site overall ease of use? (1=very easy; 5=very difficult) 2. Having Althorp’s picture of the web sites you visited (1: strongly agree; 5=strongly disagree; 6=no opinion) a. Reflects how you think about the web. b. Gives you more confidence in exploring the web. c. Slows down the computer too much. d. Helps you feel more adventurous. e. Lets you know where you are in the web. f. Takes too much time to use. g. Helps you move around in the web. h. Makes me feel like I’m travelling throughout the web. i. Takes up too much space on the screen. j. Makes web organisation clearer. 3. Please rate how you think Althorp would be for the following functions (very useful, useful, not useful, don’t  know): a. Pure Entertainment (games, chat, humor) b. Personal uses (hobbies, health, recipes, travel) c. Business (buy and sell, product info, banking) d. Academic (exchange data and results, communicate with colleagues, grad info). 4. I feel that looking for information on the World Wide Web using Althorp.com is: (Strongly Agree, Agree, Neutral, Disagree, Strongly disagree, Don’t Know): Easy; entertaining; confusing; complicated; intimidating; hard; boring; straightforward; simple; frustrating.

You Can’t Say That: The Growing Threat to Civil Liberties from Antidisc

You Can’t Say That: The Growing Threat to Civil Liberties from Antidiscirmination Laws You Can’t Say That is a truly important book, for it reminds us that no social revolution, even the most morally justified, is costless. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 did indeed precipitate a social revolution, one that at long last began to deliver on the promise of the Emancipation Proclamation. Over the nearly half-century since its passage much has changed in America, and for African-Americans that change has been both grievously overdue and remarkable in its sweep, although still very much a work in progress. However, this is not a book that catalogues the successes of the antidiscrimination movement that burgeoned in the wake of the 1964 Act, but rather an elegy to what must count on the other side of the ledger, to what has been compromised in the noble quest for racial equality. In this eloquent and accessible book, remarkably free from the lawyer’s propensity to stultify the laymen with a blizzard of case law, it is clear that the principal cost has been to First Amendment values, sacrificed too cavalierly when they conflict with antidscrimination principles. One need only look to the publisher of Bernstein’s book, the Cato Institute, to see that the ideological landscape has been radically altered since the 1960s, when New Deal liberals still dominated the left, and the First Amendment comprised the heart and soul of their United States Constitution. Even earlier, before World War II, when Communists held sway on the left, the First Amendment was sacrosanct: to Communists it was their second favorite constitutional amendment, after the Fifth, prized as a stratagem to protect their freedom to subvert. For... ...ork’s most prestigious museums did not display enough art produced by women. Housing and Urban Development officials used the Fair Housing Act amendments to intimidate neighborhood groups that sought to exercise their free speech rights to campaign against group homes for the disabled, while those charging discrimination have sometimes been allowed by courts to enter into evidence a defendant’s past political speech. These examples are the tip of Bernstein’s iceberg. Even good causes can run amuck if fundamental constitutional principles are set aside: noble ends can be compromised by hasty or tainted means. This book is a red flag, which we ignore at our peril. Works Cited: You Can’t Say That: The Growing Threat to Civil Liberties from Antidiscirmination Laws by David E. Bernstein. Washington, DC: CATO Institute, 2003, 197 pages, $20.00

How Global Warming Impacts the World

Nowadays, we are concerned with the increasing temperature nowadays, which has a great effect on the earth. When it becomes hotter, the most evident change we can see is in sea level. Icebergs all over the world are melting and change from ice to water, which has larger volume. As a result, more space has to be occupied to contain water instead of icebergs, and sea level increases. Many beaches are getting smaller, and some islands are even disappearing. It was also reported that some countries based on the islands of East Asia had to move to Australia because of the increasing sea level. Animals and human are suffering from the process. Not only polar bears, but also penguins and other animals have less space to live on or less food to eat because of the melting icebergs. Meanwhile, they are used to cold weather and are forced by global warming to get used to a higher temperature, which may increase their death rate. Human are also affected. The number of people dying from extreme hot weather is increasing, which makes the others worry al lot. In an addition point, global warming also has impacts on agriculture. Weather conditions and soil change in response to global warming, and as a consequent, places like Russia benefit from global warming for they can grow more kinds of food in a larger area, while places like Africa suffer from the expanding deserts results from global warming. Despite agriculture, there are also other indirectly effects on economy and many other aspects, and people are now finding solutions for them. The first thing to do is giving out less Carbon dioxide or other gases related to global warming. To achieve the goal, less electricity should be used, car should be driven less frequently, and alternative energy resources should partly replace the traditional ones. Greater emphasis has been put on planting trees to absorb Carbon dioxide. In the short term, special zoos can also be set up for animals like polar bear to provide them with enough food and places. As it can be seen, climate change has directly or unconsciously impacts on ecology, agriculture and other aspects. Serious though it seems, it can be solved with technology and everyone's efforts.

Effectiveness of Software Quality Assurance in Offshore Development Enterprises in Sri Lanka

EFFECTIVENESS OF SOFTWARE QUALITY ASSURANCE IN OFFSHORE DEVELOPMENT ENTERPRISES IN SRI LANKA Malinda Sirisena, Department of Computer Science & Engineering, University of Moratuwa. ABSTRACT The aim of the research described in this thesis is to evaluate the effectiveness of software quality assurance approaches of Sri Lankan offshore software development organizations, and to propose a framework which could be used across all offshore software development organizations. An empirical study was conducted using derived framework from popular software quality evaluation models.The research instrument employed was a questionnaire survey among thirty seven Sri Lankan registered offshore software development organizations. The findings demonstrate a positive view of Effectiveness of Software Quality Assurance – the stronger predictors of Stability, Installability, Correctness, Testability and Changeability. The present study’s recommendations indicate a need for much emphasis on software quality assurance for the Sri Lankan offshore software development organizations. Keywords: Software Quality Assurance (SQA), Offshore Software Development, Quality Assurance Evaluation Models, Effectiveness of Quality Assurance. BACKGROUND INFORMATION Software Quality Assurance (QA) plays a major role in successful implementation and maintenance of a software project. In many organizations, QA has been simply traded-off to project cost [1]. The motivation of this research is to highlight the value of Software Quality Assurance against the economic cost. The IEEE standard ANSI/IEEE 730-2002 defines software quality assurance as â€Å"a planned and systematic pattern of all actions necessary to provide adequate confidence that the software conforms to established technical requirements†[2].QA is not only holding a direct relationship of meeting customer satisfaction, but it has a very high impact on project schedules and cost. Failing to pay attention is often resu lted in budget overruns and schedule delays [3]. Software Quality Assurance has paid back in many industries such as telecommunication, health, travel, law, hospital, government and schools in many American organizations. †¢ A system of teaching hospitals conservatively estimates $17. 8 million saved on an investment of $2. 5 million in quality management over a five-year time period. The University of Pennsylvania saved more than $60,000 a year from one project focused on reducing mailing cost. †¢ The U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reduced the time needed to produce the monthly Consumer Price Index (CPI), compiled by 650 people in five departments, by 33 percent with no loss in accuracy. [4] Even in Sri Lankan software engineering companies, have been recognized QA as an important element. In 2005, Affno (www. affno. lk) has won the National Best Quality Software Gold Award for their product – eTender, which developed for Sri Lanka Telecom to automate their tende ring process [5]. 2 THEORETICAL BASE OF THE STUDY 2. WHAT IS SOFTWARE QUALITY The IEEE standard ANSI/IEEE 730-2002 defines software quality assurance as â€Å"a planned and systematic pattern of all actions necessary to provide adequate confidence that the software conforms to established technical requirements†[2]. By going down the path of IEEE definition, there are two major camps when defining software quality[6]: 1. Conformance to specification: quality defines in terms of the level which the product or service meets its’ written specifications. 2. Meeting customer needs: meeting customer’s explicit or implicit needs, irrespective of any measurable product or service characteristics.Currently software quality assurance is measured in two ways: from technical perspective and from user perspective[7]. In the technical perspective of measuring software quality is based on specifications. Developers measure quality and ensure specifications in terms of errors i n code through testing process and through other mechanisms such as formal specifications, structured programming[8]. End-user perspective of software quality is measured through user experience to denote how well software meets user expectations. User dissatisfactions do not necessarily be resulting from failure to meet specifications or coding errors. . 2 SOFTWARE QUALITY MANAGEMENT PHILOSOPHIES This section of the literature presents different philosophies of quality from view points of quality management gurus. These quality management philosophies could be a good alternative to formalized quality models which the research is going to based on. Quality management requires customer satisfaction, prefers prevention to inspection, and recognizes management responsibility for quality[9]. 2. 2. 1 DEMING AND FOURTEEN POINTS FOR MANAGEMENT Walter Edward Deming defines quality in terms of customer satisfaction[10].Customer satisfaction is beyond conformance to specifications. According to Deming, the judge of quality should be the end user or the customer. Deming argues that management system should implement in a way that everyone in the organization to be responsible for quality of their output to the internal stakeholders. He introduced fourteen points for management for people to understand and implement necessary quality transformation[10]: 1. Create constancy of purpose for improvement of product and service: Stay in business and provide jobs through innovation, research, constant improvement and maintenance. 2.Adopt the new philosophy: For the new economic age, management needs to take leadership for change into a learning organization. 3. Cease dependence on mass inspection: Eliminate the need for mass inspection by building quality into the product. 4. End awarding business on price: Aim at minimum total cost and move towards single suppliers. 5. Improve constantly and forever the system of production and service: Improvement is not a one-time effort. Man agement is obligated to continually look for ways to reduce waste and improve quality. 6. Institute training: Workers should be trained properly on their jobs. . Institute leadership: Leading shall consist of helping people to do a better job and to learn by objective methods. 8. Drive out fear: To assure better quality and productivity, people feel secure. 9. Break down barriers between departments: Team work culture across departments. 10. Eliminate slogans, exhortations and numerical targets: Let workers formulate their own slogans. Then they will be committed to the contents. 11. Eliminate numerical quotas or work standards: Quotas take into account only numbers, not quality or methods. They are usually a guarantee of inefficiency and high cost.A person, in order to hold a job, will try to meet a quota at any cost, including doing damage to the company. 12. Remove barriers to taking pride in workmanship: People are eager to do a good job and distressed when they cannot. 13. Inst itute a vigorous programme of education: Both management and the work force will have to be educated in the new knowledge and understanding, including teamwork and statistical techniques. 14. Take action to accomplish the transformation: It will require a special top management team with a plan of action to carry out the quality mission.A critical mass of people in the company must understand the 14 points. 2. 2. 2 JURAN AND THE IMPORTANCE OF TOP MANAGEMENT COMMITMENT TO QUALITY Joseph M Juran proposes two meanings to quality[11]: 1. Quality consists of those product features which meet the need of customers and thereby provide product satisfaction. 2. Quality consists of freedom from deficiencies. In the handbook Juran propose quality as â€Å"fitness for use† rather than â€Å"meeting customer needs† he argues that it is not a feasible task to meet customer need. His view is much closer to the thought – â€Å"conformance to specifications†.Juran propose s three fundamental managerial processes for the task of managing quality. The three elements of the Juran Trilogy are[11]: 1. Quality planning: A process that identifies the customers, their requirements, the product and service features that customers expect, and the processes that will deliver those products and services with the correct attributes and then facilitates the transfer of this knowledge to the producing arm of the organization. 2. Quality control: A process in which the product is examined and evaluated against the original requirements expressed by the customer. Problems detected are then corrected. . Quality improvement: A process in which the sustaining mechanisms are put in place so that quality can be achieved on a continuous basis. This includes allocating resources, assigning people to pursue quality projects, training those involved in pursuing projects, and in general establishing a permanent structure to pursue quality and maintain the gains secured. 2. 2. 3 CROSBY AND STRIVING FOR ZERO DEFECTS Philip B Crosby is a â€Å"conformance to specification† adherer. Crosby summarizes his perspective on quality in fourteen steps that is built around four fundamental â€Å"absolutes† of quality management[12]: 1.Quality is defined as conformance to requirements, not as â€Å"goodness† or â€Å"elegance† 2. The system for causing quality is prevention, not appraisal. That is, the quality system for suppliers attempting to meet customers' requirements is to do it right the first time. Crosby is a strong advocate of prevention, not inspection. In a Crosby oriented quality organization everyone has the responsibility for his or her own work. There is no one else to catch errors. 3. The performance standard must be Zero Defects, not â€Å"that's close enough†. Crosby has advocated the notion that zero errors can and should be a target. . The measurement of quality is the cost of quality. Costs of imperfection, if corrected, have an immediate beneficial effect on bottom-line performance as well as on customer relations. 2. 2. 4 ISHIKAWA AND FISHBONE DIAGRAM Kaoru Ishikawa defines quality as â€Å"meeting customer needs†[13]. He further argues that no specific quality standard could ever define and following them does not meet the expected quality levels. According to Ishikawa, quality is a very broad concept which goes beyond product, service, process, information quality, etc.He introduced quality circles through Fishbone diagrams. 2. 2. 5 FEIGENBAUM AND TOTAL QUALITY CONTROL Armand Vallin Feigenbaum built his thought around â€Å"total quality control†[14]. Feigenbaum states that quality is a dynamic factor which must be defined in terms of customer experiences. He further states that quality should satisfy customers’ explicit and implicit needs[14]. 2. 3 SOFTWARE QUALITY MODELS Previous section focus on different view points of quality management gurus. These points wi ll be helpful in solving common quality management problems in Sri Lankan, offshore enterprises.Quality management philosophies presented in the previous section represent flexible and qualitative view of quality; this section will present a rigid and quantitative[15] quality structure, which will be a roadmap of identifying independent variables for current study. 2. 3. 1 MCCALL’S QUALITY MODEL Jim McCall’s quality model is primarily aimed towards the system developers and development process, however he has tried to bridge the gap between users and developers by focusing on number of quality factors, considering both user’s and developer’s priorities[16, 17].The quality model is organized around three quality characteristics[16]: Figure 1: McCall’s quality model organized around three types of quality characteristics McCall’s model furthermore elaborated with a hierarchy of factors, criteria and metrics around the three types of major pers pectives. Figure 2: McCall’s quality model Eleven factors on the left-hand side of the model represent the external view of quality as viewed by end users. These eleven factors attribute to twenty three quality criteria, which describe the internal view of software. The evaluation is done by answering each quality criteria with â€Å"yes† and â€Å"no†.Finally the quality level is derived as a percentage based on the responses received as â€Å"yes†. 2. 3. 2 BOEHM’S QUALITY MODEL Barry W Boehm’s model has similarities to McCall’s model. His qualitative approach of defining quality stems from three levels in the hierarchy, which ends with primitive characteristics[18]. These primitive characteristics individually contribute to the overall quality level. Figure 3: Boehm's software quality characteristics tree[19]. Quality measurement is carried out through extent or degree to which the product or service achieves each characteristic[19] . 2. 3. 3 ISO 9126Among the ISO 9000 series of quality standards, ISO has released the ISO 9126: Software Product Evaluation[20]. Figure 4: The ISO 9126 quality model [20]. ISO further proposes quality characteristics/guidelines to evaluate the above six areas of importance. Figure 5: ISO 9126 quality attributes Each quality factor/ six areas of importance is represented by sub-factors as depicted in the above diagram. Details of each selected attribute will be discussed in the next chapter. 3 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK This chapter elaborates how the conceptual framework for the study has been derived through the existing work identified in the literature review. . 1 EXISTING WORK Since the study is on evaluating software quality from software developing organization’s view, it is necessary to filter down the quality attributes discovered in the literature, only to represent developer view of software quality. Therefore it has been decided to take the union of developer related qu ality attributes from all three popular models referred in the previous chapter. It is not an easy task to differentiate developer oriented quality attributes from user oriented attributes as quality classifications are different from each model and some attributes are subjective to their multiple definitions.For a consistent interpretation of the quality attributes, the definitions of attributes have been used according to Software Engineering Institute’s (SEI) Software Technology Roadmap glossary[23] and ISO 9126[24] definitions. 3. 1. 1 DEVELOPER ORIENTED ATTRIBUTES FROM MCCALL’S MODEL McCall’s model mainly goes hand in hand with external quality factors. Following are the quality attributes extracted from McCall model, which are related to developer related quality based on SEI definitions. Selected Attribute Maintainability SEI Definition[23] â€Å"The ease with which a software system or component can be odified to correct faults, improve performance, or other attributes, or adapt to a changed environment. † â€Å"The degree to which a system or component facilitates the establishment of test criteria and the performance of tests to determine whether those criteria have been met. † â€Å"The ease with which a system or component can be modified for use in applications or environments other than those for which it was specifically designed. † â€Å"The ease with which a system or component can be transferred from one hardware or software environment to another. â€Å"The degree to which a software module or other work product can be used in more than one computing program or software system. † â€Å"The ability of two or more systems or components to exchange information and to use the information that has been exchanged. † Testability Flexibility Portability Reusability Interoperability Table 1: Developer related quality attributes from McCall’s model 3. 1. 2 ADDITIONAL ATTRIBUTES FROM BOEHM ’S MODEL Boehm’s model, which has put the utility perspective in terms of quality, is much similar to McCall’s model.After evaluating definitions, following two attributes were added to the list. Selected Attribute Understandability Modifiability SEI Definition[23] â€Å"The degree to which the purpose of the system or component is clear to the evaluator. † â€Å"The degree to which a system or component facilitates the incorporation of changes, once the nature of the desired change has been determined. † Table 2: Additional developer related quality attributes from Boehm’s model 3. 1. 3 ADDITIONAL ATTRIBUTES FROM ISO 9126 Following are sub-attributes taken from the ISO 9126 definitions.Selected Attribute Analyzability ISO Definition[24] â€Å"The capability of the software product to be diagnosed for deficiencies or causes of failures in the software, or for the parts to be modified to be identified. † â€Å"The capability of the so ftware product to enable a specified modification to be implemented. † â€Å"The capability of the software product to avoid unexpected effects from modifications of the software. † â€Å"The capability of the software product to be adapted for different specified environments without applying actions or means other than those provided for this purpose for the software considered. â€Å"The capability of the software product to be installed in a specified environment. † â€Å"The capability of the software product to co-exist with other independent software in a common environment sharing common resources. † Changeability Stability Adaptability Installability Co-existence Replaceability â€Å"The capability of the software product to be used in place of another specified software product for the same purpose in the same environment. † Table 3: Additional developer related quality attributes from ISO 9126 model 3. 1. 4 FINAL ATTRIBUTE LISTAfter anal yzing the above mentioned attribute lists and completing the preliminary studies, the list could filter down to the following for the current study. 1. Correctness 2. Testability 3. Changeability 4. Stability 5. Installability In the following sections, each of above attribute will be discussed in terms of their quality characteristics. 3. 1. 4. 1 CORRECTNESS SEI defines correctness as â€Å"The degree to which a system or component is free from faults in its specification, design, and implementation†[23]. McCall attributes correctness through[16]: †¢ †¢ †¢ Traceability Completeness ConsistencyThrough traceability, it makes possible to know the relationships of each module or component and thereby higher confidence states correctness. Completeness assures that there are no parts left in terms in executing a function of a system or a procedure; thereby 100% completeness ratio guarantees correctness. Inconsistent systems or functions will lead to higher error pro bability; therefore it is a part of correctness. Through the initial discussions with some key personnel, it was revealed that these characteristics are equally hard to reach to achieve Correctness. . 1. 4. 2 TESTABILITY SEI defines testability as â€Å"The degree to which a system or component facilitates the establishment of test criteria and the performance of tests to determine whether those criteria have been met†[23]. Both McCall and Boehm have attributed testability to quality assurance on following characteristics[16, 18]: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Simplicity Instrumentation Self-descriptiveness Modularity and structuredness Accountability Accessibility Communicativeness. Simplicity of applications will make easier in testing comparatively to complex applications.Instrumentation makes possible to put probes in the system in order to deduce test data. Self-descriptive systems have inbuilt help or system documentation which will be sufficie nt to understand the system by going through. Modularity helps in isolating system tests which structuredness denotes consistent organization of the system. Accountability on system for which it is possible to measure the usage of the code[19]. Such measurements are typically covered by debugging tools, which exist specifically for programming languages. Accessibility of a system allows usage of its parts in a selective manner[19].This allows in creating flexible test scenarios. Through communicativeness, systems make easier to understand inputs and output, which makes easier to compose test cases. 3. 1. 4. 3 CHANGEABILITY ISO defines changeability as â€Å"The capability of the software product to enable a specified modification to be implemented†[24]. Changeability is an attribute defined in ISO 9126 and lacks supporting characteristic definitions. However changeability could be achieved through: †¢ Aiming simple solution rather than complicated systems as by nature si mple applications are easier to change. Low coupling of individual modules of a system as lower interactions make easier to change individual components. †¢ Designing the systems change in mind from the beginning while keeping application evolution. 3. 1. 4. 4 STABILITY ISO defines stability as â€Å"The capability of the software product to avoid unexpected effects from modifications of the software†[24]. Therefore stability in this context does not denote the ability of the system to show stable behavior when used. However, if modification often results in unexpected behavior, there will be a high impact on stability.Stability is directly influenced by Changeability. Low changeability is likely to show low stability. This will depict the fact that, trying to change a low changeable system will lead to a greater risk of instability. 3. 1. 4. 5 INSTALLABILITY ISO defines Installability as â€Å"The capability of the software product to be installed in a specified enviro nment†[24]. Installability requirements are generally specified in the form of an installation process. The target environment in this case will have to be known at the development time.Installability is measured as a percentage exercised of the total specified Installability requirements. In the Sri Lankan context, Installability is commonly referred as Deployability. 3. 1. 5 RELATIONSHIPS OF VARIABLES Having identified the variables and attributes, it had been decided to limit the study to following variables, after interviewing key quality assurance personnel in target organizations. Based on their arguments, on applicability to offshore organizations, the best suited variables have been selected for the study. Dependent Variable: Effectiveness of Software Quality Assurance Independent Variables: . Correctness a. Completeness b. Consistency 2. Testability a. Simplicity b. Modularity c. Structuredness 3. Changeability a. Simplicity b. Coupling 4. Stability a. Changeability 5 . Installability Having identified the variables, following relationships have been derived based on the reviewed literature in the previous section. Correctness Testability Effectiveness of Software Quality Assurance Changeability Stability Installability Independent Variables Figure 6: Schematic diagram for conceptual framework Dependent Variable 3. 2 HYPOTHESES FORMULATEDIn order to statistically test the derived conceptual framework, following hypotheses have been formulated. Since the study is targeted to test each independent variable separately, hypotheses also have been formulated independently to each independent variable. H01: there is no relationship between the Correctness of software developed and released to QA team), on the effectiveness of software quality assurance approach. HA1: the greater the Correctness of software developed and delivered to QA team, the higher the effectiveness of software quality assurance approach.H02: there is no relationship between the Tes tability of software developed and released to QA team, on the effectiveness of software quality assurance approach. HA2: the greater the Testability of software developed and delivered to QA team, the higher the effectiveness of software quality assurance approach. H03: there is no relationship between the Changeability of software developed and released to QA team, on the effectiveness of software quality assurance approach. HA3: the greater the Changeability of software developed and delivered to QA team, the higher the effectiveness of software quality assurance approach.H04: there is no relationship between the Stability of software developed and released to QA team, on the effectiveness of software quality assurance approach. HA4: the greater the Stability of software developed and delivered to QA team, the higher the effectiveness of software quality assurance approach. H05: there is no relationship between the Installability of software developed and released to QA team, on the effectiveness of software quality assurance approach. HA5: the greater the Installability of software developed and delivered to QA team, the higher the effectiveness of software quality assurance approach. RESEARCH DESIGN Research design will outline the roadmap of achieving the research objectives thorough the identified variables and theoretical framework. Details of study Purpose of the study Type of investigation Extent of researcher interface Minimal: studying events as they normally occur and defining a framework Study setting Measurement Measurement and measures Effectiveness of Software Quality Assurance in Emerging Offshore Development Enterprises in Sri Lanka Descriptive: quality evaluation framework Hypothesis testing: to validate the evaluation frameworkCorrelation: study of correlations to effectiveness against evaluation factors Noncontrived: study in real business environment Quality factors and their applicability through quality matrices and Likert scales Data analysis 1. Classification of data 2. Goodness of data Unit of analysis Sampling design Time horizon Data collection method 3. Hypotheses testing Individuals based on job categories in Offshoring organizations Judgmental sampling of individual in the entire population of offshore enterprises Crosssectional Interviews, Questionnaires, Observations Figure 7: The research design 4. 1 TYPE AND NATURE OF THE STUDYThe study was an empirical study through analysis of responses to the questionnaires which was formulated through the conceptual framework. 4. 2 DATA COLLECTION METHODS Since the study is on offshore software development organizations, it has been decided to collect data from all registered companies in Software Exporters Association Sri Lanka and seven other offshore software development organizations in Sri Lanka. There were forty seven registered members as of first August, 2007. Questionnaires were distributed to the key quality assurance person or to the most senior quality assurance person in each organization. . 2. 1 QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN A structured questionnaire was used to gather responses apart from the preliminary interviews. The questionnaire is divided in to four main sections. Section one has eleven questions, capturing organizational demographics of the responder. Section two has six questions, to capture responder’s personal demographics. Section three is the main section of the questionnaire which captures organizations’ software quality assurance, project specific demographics and responses to test the conceptual framework. Section four is targeted to capture additional information for the conceptual framework. RESULTS OF DATA ANALYSIS Responses received had been categorized to qualitative data and quantitative data. Qualitative data had been used to understand the responder’s and company background. Quantitative responses, where the scale data is measured have been assigned scores as per following table for statisti cal analysis. Response Selected Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree Score Assigned 1 2 3 4 5 Table 5: Rates given for questionnaire responses Each response was individually assessed to ensure data validity and integrity.Incomplete responses have been followed up with the responder with available contact information and have been able to complete in many instances. For the blank responses, score three was assigned in case the question is not applicable to the responder’s organization. Following summary shows the statistics of the questionnaire distribution and responses received. Number of Organizations that Questionnaire had been sent 47 SEA registered companies + 7 other offshore companies Total Responses Received 39 Invalid / Unusable 2 Number of Valid Responses 37Table 6: Statistics of questionnaire distribution responses received 5. 1 PILOT STUDY To test the primary data a pilot study was run among fourteen Quality Assurance Engineers at an offshore so ftware development organization, using a draft questionnaire. On the scale of reliability in order to treat results with credibility[25] and the internal consistency of the draft questionnaire, was checked by using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. The alpha coefficient should be above . 7 for the scale to be reliable[26]. The overall Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was . 81, thus the questionnaire was considered to have a good internal consistency and suitable for collecting the data for the main study. Details of Cronbach’s alpha are discussed under Analysis of Reliability Section, below. 5. 2 PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS All thirty seven organizations selected as valid responses are exporting software. 89. 19% of the selected organizations are locally owned while 10. 81% of organizations which are in Sri Lankan operation are owned by foreign parties. 64. 86% of the target organizations are project based companies while 21. 2% of the organizations focus only on their own pro ducts. However 13. 51% of the organizations undertake client projects while they market their own products. 10 8 No. of Organizations 6 4 2 0 1. 00 2. 00 3. 00 4. 00 5. 00 6. 00 7. 00 8. 00 12. 00 14. 00 No. of years in Sri Lankan Operation Figure 8: Analysis of organizations against number of years in operation According to the above graph, most of the Sri Lankan offshore organizations under the current study have started their operation two years before. 75. 68% of the responders were males and the balance 24. 32% were females.The average age of responders was 30. 11 years. On an average, they posses one year of experience in their current position in the respective organizations. The following chart represents the education level of responders. 30 25 20 Count 15 10 5 0 Non IT Graduate IT/Comp. Science Post Graduate Graduate Deploma MSc/MBA/Post Graduate Degree Other Education Level Figure 9: Education level of responders Majority of quality assurance heads in the target organizat ions posses Information Technology or a Computer Science degree. 3. 03% Little Early 9. 09% On Time 24. 24% Too Delayed 3. 64% Little Delayed Figure 10: Project completion against estimates Responders were asked to select a completed project/product when they responded to part 3 of the questionnaire. The above pie chart highlights the project/product completion time against the estimates of the selected projects by the responders. From the selected projects/products, majority have been completed with a little delay from the estimates. Mean and the variance are calculated for each question under each independent variable and the dependent variable through the assigned scores as per Table 5.Question No. Question Mean Variance Effectiveness of Software Quality Assurance 18 19 20 21 22 23 Software QA is a very important discipline in our organization Without QA our products/services will not meet current level of customer satisfaction Our Software QA approach/practice helps us in winnin g new businesses Our organization has adequate number of QA Human Resources Our organization has invested enough in Software QA tools Our Software Development or any other Process has considered QA as a major practice 3. 622 4. 081 3. 811 3. 919 3. 514 3. 865 0. 686 0. 99 0. 658 0. 465 0. 812 0. 842 Correctness 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 â€Å"If the systems or components we deliver meet specifications to 100%†, we can say that it’s a high quality factor Systems or components we deliver, always met specifications Uniformity of functionality/operations/navigation of the designed system always contributed to high quality System maintained Uniformity of functionality/operations/navigation across individual functions If a function of a system, completes its execution without in between failures, we can say it is a high quality factor.Our systems do not fail in executing a function or procedure to its completion Our QA team measures our systems, whether they meet specifications o r not 3. 703 3. 568 3. 703 3. 324 3. 243 3. 243 4. 108 0. 604 1. 141 0. 715 1. 003 0. 745 0. 634 0. 544Testability 37 If all functionality/operations/navigation of systems could be tested enough, then we can say it denotes high quality All the functionality/operations/navigation of our systems are properly being tested by our QA team Even the complex operations of our systems are represented by simple user interactions in order to make applications simple and user friendly Our applications are decomposed in to manageable modules in implementation in a practical manner Consistent organization of modules/code are evident in our applications Our QA team measures or put emphasis on testability (Simplicity, Modularity, structuredness) of applications during the QA cycle 4. 595 0. 303 38 4. 514 0. 312 39 4. 297 0. 270 40 3. 946 0. 330 41 3. 838 0. 417 42 4. 432 0. 308 Changeability 43 If a product allows a specified modification to be implemented without much difficulty, then we can say i t denotes a high quality factor Our systems do not need much effort to accommodate minor specification changes (i. e.Adding a new field to a form) at implementation or quality assurance stage Our systems maintain low interactions between individual modules, therefore it is easier to change individual components without affecting others Our QA team measures put much emphasis to test changeability and stability of systems during the QA cycle 4. 000 0. 111 45 3. 946 0. 164 46 3. 838 0. 251 48 3. 919 0. 299 Stability 44 If the systems avoid unexpected effects after modifications, it denotes a high quality or it’s a high quality factor After the design changes done to one module, our systems have very few side effects to other modules Our QA team measures put much emphasis to test changeability and stability of systems during the QA cycle 3. 595 . 359 47 3. 703 0. 437 48 3. 919 0. 299 Installability 49 If the system could be installed in a specified environment without challenges, it denotes high quality or it can be considered as a high quality factor Our systems do not get challenged during the installation in the agreed/specified environment Our QA team measures Installability of systems they test 3. 568 0. 863 50 3. 162 3. 541 0. 862 1. 311 51 Table 7: Means and variances of questions Frequency distributions of responses to each of above questions have been presented in Appendix 2. 5. 3 SECONDARY RESULTS ANALYSIS Primary data is further analyzed to derive more meaningful results.For statistical analysis, the ratings gathered through individual questions were summed up to derive scores for individual independent variables. Variable = sum of marks for relevant questions I. e. Correctness = Q30 + Q31 + Q32 + Q33 + Q34 + Q35 + Q36 Sample Mean, where, n = sample size, and = scores Sample Variance, Standard Deviation, Following table illustrates the statistics of independent variables, which denotes the effectiveness of quality assurance. Standard Deviation 0. 569 0. 552 0. 422 0. 327 0. 445 0. 752 Variable Effectiveness of QA Correctness Testability Changeability Stability Installability Mean 3. 802 3. 556 4. 270 3. 926 3. 739 3. 423 Variance 0. 324 0. 305 0. 178 0. 107 0. 198 0. 566Table 8: Basic statistics of independent variables and the dependent variable Following is the graphical illustration of above statistics. 4. 500 4. 000 3. 500 3. 000 2. 500 2. 000 1. 500 1. 000 0. 500 0. 000 Mean Variance Std. Div. Figure 11: Basic statistics of independent variables According to the above illustration, Testability contributes to QA effectiveness most while Changeability remains at the second position. Installability was rated as of least significant to the QA Effectiveness in the subject domain. 5. 3. 1 ANALYSIS OF RELIABILITY OF DATA Cronbach’s alpha measure is used to determine how well the target independent variables measure single, unidimensional QA Effectiveness latent construct.Cronbach's alpha can be written as a function of the number of test items AND the average inter-correlation among the items. N where, N = number of items and = inter-item correlation among items. Cronbach's Alpha Based on Cronbach's Standardized Alpha ( Items . 912 . 918 Table 9: Reliability statistics N of Items 28 Cronbach’s alpha for all twenty eight questions is 0. 912, which denotes that the collected data is acceptable for the research. 5. 4 HYPOTHESES TESTING Analysis had been done to test each set of hypothesis to find out whether there are relationships defined through the hypotheses exist among independent variables and the dependent variable.The correlations between the factors hypothesized to effectiveness of quality assurance shown in the following table: Set of Hypothesis/Independent Variable H1:Correctness H2:Testability H3:Changeability H4:Stability H5:Installability ** Correlation is significant at the 0. 01 level (2-tailed). Pearson Correlation/ Effectiveness of QA . 678** . 589** . 559** . 728** . 613** Sig. (2-tailed) . 000 . 000 . 000 . 000 . 000 Table 11: Correlations between hypotheses for quality assurance Hypothesis H1: According to Hypothesis H01, Correctness which is influenced by Consistency and Completeness has a positive relationship to effectiveness of software quality assurance approach. Since this hypothesis is supported by the data analysis (Sig. value was . 000, p