Reliable Source

Associate Level Material Appendix J Reliable Sources Worksheet Locate two sources in the University Library on a topic of your choice. Provide the required information for both sources. Source 1 †¢ Author: Kaylin , Lucy †¢ Date: Dec2011 †¢ Title: The Family Man †¢ Publication: Write a 100- to 150-word response to each of the following questions: †¢ Is the source reliable? How do you know? Yes, the source is reliable it explains exactly what your looking for as in the topic. The information provides tell you what’s it focus as The Family Man.In short detail the abstract get directly to the point on what the source of information will be about. What he does as a family man and how he is consider as The Family Man. He is not a father but he does support a small family of orphaned children and his intentions for them are good. †¢ Is the information relevant to the topic? Yes, the available information is relevant to the topic, while reading the abstra ct of the back it gives you a brief summary on what it is about. The Family Man is a man that is not a father but who supports a small family of orphaned children.He doesn’t get emotionally attached to the kids for what ever reason I don’t know but as a man he does support them and have good intentions for them but he just doesn’t express his emotions to them. This is a typical man at times. So yes The Family Man abstract does have relevant connections to the topic. †¢ Does the information reflect a bias on the author’s part? If so, what is the bias? With this source no this is information doesn’t reflect a bias on the author’s part. No one is against or being treated unfair. Source 2 †¢ Author: Kriesberg, Louis †¢ Date: May67 Title: Rearing Children for educational achievements in fatherless families. †¢ Publication: Write a 100- to 150-word response to each of the following questions: †¢ Is the source reliable? How do you know? Yes, this source is reliable it gives you accurate information about the topic and leads you to honestly of why married and husbandless mothers are compared to assess how certain concomitants of fatherless families may be related to attitudes and behaviors relevant for their children’s educational achievement. †¢ Is the information relevant to the topic? Yes, the available information is relevant to the topic.While reading the abstract of the back it gives you a brief summary on what it is about. Rearing children for educational achievement in fatherless families is basically explaining about the students that doesn’t have a father are not focused into the educational achievement and seem to me their always getting compared to the kids that has fathers and that’s focus into the educational achievement. †¢ Does the information reflect a bias on the author’s part? If so, what is the bias? Yes, this information is a reflection of bias on the author’s part being that the children with father’s always getting compared to the children with no father.

HRM Roles at Different Level Essay

The roles, functions and strategies of HRM are many and varied, and depend heavily on the nature of organizations, the vision and skills of practitioners, and changes in the external environments of organizations. These aspects will be discussed in greater detail in subsequent chapters, but such features as organizational size, history and ownership, government legislation and political factors have a significant impact on the ways in which practitioners carry out their roles. The vision and skills of practitioners allow these influences to be seen as pressures and constrictions or opportunities and challenges. The principal responsibility of HRM is to ensure that organizations have the right numbers, types and skill mixes of employees at an appropriate time and cost to meet present and future requirements. Thus, practitioners need to be aware of where organizations are going in the future, the nature of the external and internal labor markets, and the most effective strategies for m atching labor demand and supply. Practitioners need to operate at three distinct levels: strategic, operational, and functional. At the strategic level, practitioners are involved in corporate and human resource planning. At the operational level, they develop action plans to meet present labor needs. At the functional level, practitioners carry out the many activities that ensure employees are in the right place at the right time and for the right cost. Functions of HRM The Human Resources Management (HRM) function includes a variety of activities, and key among them is deciding what staffing needs you have and whether to use independent contractors or hire employees to fill these needs, recruiting and training the best employees, ensuring they are high performers, dealing with performance issues, and ensuring your personnel and management practices conform to various regulations. Activities also include managing your approach to employee benefits and compensation, employee records and personnel policies. Usually small businesses (for-profit or nonprofit) have to carry out these activities themselves because they can’t yet afford part- or full-time help. However, they should always ensure that employees have and are aware of personnel policies which conform to current regulations. These policies are often in the form of employee manuals, which all employees have. HRM is concerned to resolve the following key issues: i) What quantity and quali ty of employees will be required now and in the foreseeable future to satisfy or exceed corporate objectives? ii) Which strategies will be most effective in attracting, choosing and efficiently incorporating employees into the organization? iii) How can well-chosen employees be kept productive, satisfied and motivated to contribute to organizational growth and development? iv) What methods are appropriate to maintain effective relationships between employees, jobs, work environments and management? v) Which strategies are required to ensure that all HR activities are linked and accountable? vi) What systems are suitable for administering and evaluating the overall HR function? The functional areas that constitute an HR program and contribute to the resolution of these issues include: human resource policy, human resource planning, human resource information systems, work and job analysis, design and evaluation, recruitment and selection, diversity management, career management, employee and management training and development, counseling, discipline and separation, performance and quality management, remuneration and benefits, industrial relations management, financial management of employee schemes and overall accounta bility and evaluation, occupational health and safety etc. HRP: Concept and Meaning Planning is an essential process of management. Human resource planning (HRP)( provides the foundation for coordinating all the HRM functions. It also allows the HRM function to position itself to take the best advantage of fluctuations in the economy or labor market. The likely effects of future economic, social and legislative conditions, or organizational changes, can be converted from constraints and pressures to challenges and opportunities. Human resource planning has been explained in variety of ways. HRP translates the organizations objectives into teem of the workers needed to meet these objectives. HRP systematically forecasts an organizations future demand for and supply of employees. HRP is little like navigating a ship. It decides on a course and speeds toward destinations, with the constant need to take further readings and make necessary adjustments in order to reach that destination. HR Planning is the process of using an organization’s goals and strategy to fo recast the organization’s HR needs in terms of finding, developing and keeping a qualified workforce. In other word, HR planning is a process by which an organization ensures that it has the right number and kinds of people, at the right time, capable of effectively and efficiently completing those tasks that will help the organization to achieve its overall strategic objectives. HRP involves the process by which management determines how an organization should move from its current human resource position to its desired human resource position. Through planning management secures equilibrium between demand for a supply right number and right kinds of people at the right time at the right place. HRP is a two phased process by which management can projects the future Human resource requirements and develop Human resource action plans to accommodate the implication of projections. HRP may be expressed as a process by which the organization ensures the right number of people, right kind of people, at the right place, at the right time doing the right things for the achievement of goals of the organization. Objectives of HRP The eventual objectives of HRP are as follow: a) Establishment and recognition of future job requirements; b) To ensure the optimum and effective utilization of the human resources or work force (currently employed i.e. existing human resources); c) Assure supplies of right type of man i.e. to provide for the future human resource needs of the organization in terms of skill, qualification, number, age, sex etc. and d) Development of available human resource (training, experience and career planning). Benefits of HRP Human resource planning is concerned with the detailed planning of Human resource requirement of all types of employees throughout the period of the plan. It aims at right type of people from all sources to meet the planned requirements. Following are the benefits of HRP: a) Forecasting of long term Human resource needs to help the management to forecast the compensation costs involved; b) Anticipating Human resource needs to develop the existing Human resource to fill the future gaps; c) Human resource planning motivates the existing employees and creates favorable psychological climate for motivation; d) Human resource planning reveals the training needs of the working Human resource with the result, training and development programs, become more effective; e) Better developed Human resource results in reduced human resource costs; and f) Management succession gets the best contribution from the workers. Process of HRP The human resource planning process involves a determination of the future human resource requirements and action plans for meeting those requirements. Most of the organizations simply project requirements on the basis of past human resource growth. A substantial number related to their human resource forecast them anticipated business growth. A relation is also established with projected organization change, planned new product and services. Analyzing such factors as general economic condition, the organization business plan, past employment and anticipated change in HR policies and programs ultimately help to operate HR practice smoothly. The HRP process includes the following key factors: a) Human Resource inventory : Assessment of available resources; b) Human Resource forecast: Determination of future requirements. Another key element in the HRP process is the design of implementation plans and action programs to help achieve human resource objective. Implementing the human reso urce plan may include recruiting from inside or from outside. The organization may also approach to meet the future human resource needs by improving the utilization of the existing work force. HRP Process HRP and Strategic Planning In the past it may have been sufficient to rely on a loose relationship between the management of employees and organizational productivity or profitability. However, as earlier discussed, competitive industrial conditions demand that practitioner undertake strategic human resource planning to anticipate, prevent and resolve staffing problems in order to ensure the achievement of organizational objectives. Strategic planning is the process of setting major organizational objectives and developing comprehensive plans to achieve them. It involves deciding on the major directions of the organization, including its structure, strategies, policies and the contributions of its various resources. An important part of the strategic planning process is the determination of necessary labor requirements and the prediction of likely sources. A strategic corporate planning process usually includes: a) Definition of the corporate philosophy; b) Scanning of environmental conditions (both internal and external); c) Evaluation of the organizations strengths and weaknesses; d) Development of objectives and goals; and e) Formulation of suitable strategies. Limitations of HRP Long-range forecast are difficult and the plans are likely to be inaccurate. They are vulnerable to changes in economic conditions and market conditions. Although it is possible to predict the approximate number of vacancies that will occur in an organization as a result of deaths, resignation etc., there is no way of knowing which managers will have to be replaced or when this will occur. Human Resource Utilization Human Resource utilization is concerned with the efficient use of the organization’s existing human resources at its present level of development. Effective utilization of human resource requires two things. Firstly, people must be placed on jobs in such a way that the organization’s total human resource are most effectively allocated. The Second aspect of Human Resource utilization involves achieving optimum productivity from the work force after it has been allocated. This involves the complex motivational factors affecting individual, group and organization performance. Job Analysis: Concept and Meaning Job(analysis is the process of critically evaluating the operation, duties and relationship of the jobs. It is a procedure by which facts of each job are systematically discovered and noted. Job analysis reveals clearly what is being done and who can do it. Job analysis can be defined as obtaining information about jobs. Generally, job analysis involves the following steps: a) Collecting and recording job information; b) Checking the job information for accuracy; c) Writing job descriptions based on the information; d) Using the information to determine what skill, abilities, and knowledge are required on the job; and e) Updating the information from time to time. Job analysis is a procedure, by which pertinent information is obtained about a job, i.e. it is a detailed and systematic study of information relating to the operations and responsibilities of a specific job. It is the determination of the tasks which comprise the job and of the skills, knowledge, abilities, and responsibilities required of the worker for a successful performance and which differentiate one job from another. It is the systematic assembly of all the facts about a job. The purpose is to study the individual elements and duties. All information related to salary and benefits, working hours and conditions, typical tasks and responsibilities are required for the job analysis. The immediate products of job analysis are job descriptions and job specifications. Uses of Job Analysis Organizational Design: Job analysis is useful in classifying jobs and interrelationship among them. Responsibility commensurate with authority and accountability for various jobs can be specified so as to minimize duplication or overlapping. In order to improve organizational efficiency, sound decisions concerning hierarchical positions and functional differentiation can be taken on the basis of information obtained through job analysis. Human Resource Planning: Job analysis provides useful information for forecasting manpower requirements in terms of knowledge and skills. It also helps in planning for promotions and transfers by indicating lateral and vertical relationships between different jobs. Job analysis helps in determining quality of human resources required in an organization. It also facilitates division of work. Therefore, job analysis is an essential element of effective human resource planning. Recruitment and Selection: Information relating to the tasks, responsibiliti es, knowledge and skills serves as a realistic basis for hiring people. Job vacancy is advertised on the basis of job description and job specification. Job analysis provides understanding of what an employee is expected to do on the job. Such understanding serves as the basis for meaningful forecast of job performance. Selection methods are based upon such forecasts. Placement and Orientation: A clear understanding of job requirements helps in matching these requirements with the abilities, interests and aptitudes of people. Each job can be assigned to the person who is best suited for it. Similarly, the orientation program can be geared towards helping the employee learn the activities, tasks and duties that are required to perform a given job more effectively. Training and Development: Job analysis provides valuable information required to identify training needs, to design training programs and to evaluation training effectiveness. A clear idea of what is required on a job helps in deciding what is to be learnt and how. Similarly, employee development programs such as job rotation, job enlargement and job enrichment are based an analysis of job requirements. Performance Appraisal: Job analysis helps in determining performance standards in critical parts of a job. Employee performance can then be evaluated against known standards and critical activities. The superior can compare actual performance with the standards set with the help of job analysis. Career Path Planning: Job analysis provides a clear idea of opportunities in terms of career paths and jobs available in the organization. With the help of such understanding, employees and the organization both can make efforts for career planning and career development. Job Evaluation: Job analysis serves as the basis for determining the relative worth of different jobs. It therefore helps in developing appropriate wage and salary structures, with internal pay equity between jobs. Labor Relations: Information obtained through job analysis is helpful to both management and trade unions for collective bargaining. It can also be used to resolve disputes and grievances relating to work load, work procedures, etc. Employee Counseling: Job analysis provides information about career choices and personnel limitations. Such information is helpful in vocational guidance and rehabilitation counseling. Employees who are unable to cope with the hazards and demands of given jobs may be advised to opt for subsidiary jobs or to seek premature retirement. Health and Safety: Job analysis reveals unhealthy and hazardous environmental and operational conditions in various jobs. Heat, noise, dust, fumes, etc. are examples of such conditions. On the basis of such information management can develop measures to ensure the health and safety of employees. Sources of Information for Job Analysis According to George R. Terry, â€Å"the make-up of a job, its relation to other jobs, and its requirements for competent performance are essential information needed for a job analysis.† Information on a job may be obtained from three principal sources: i) from the employees who actually perform a job; ii) from other employees such as supervisors and foremen who watch the workers doing a job and thereby acquire knowledge about it; and iii) from outside observers specially appointed to watch employees performing a job. Such outside persons are called the trade job analyst. Sometimes, special job reviewing committees are also established. Methods of Collecting Job Data Four methods or approaches are utilized in analyzing jobs. These are: a) Personal observation: The materials and equipment used, the working conditions and probable hazards, and an understanding of what the work involves are the facts which should be known by an analyst. b) Sending out questionnaires: This method is usually employed by engineering consultants. Properly drafted questionnaires are sent out to job – holders for completion and are returned to supervisors. However, the information received is often unorganized and incoherent. The idea in issuing questionnaire is to elicit the necessary information from job – holders so that any error may first be discussed with the employee and, after due corrections, may be submitted to the job analyst. c) Maintenance of Long Records: The employee maintains a daily record of duties he performs, marking the time at which each task is started and finished. But this system is incomplete, for it does not give us any desirable data on supervisor relationship, the equipment used, and working conditions, Moreover, it is time – consuming. d) Personal interviews: May be held by the analyst with the employees, and answers to relevant questions may be recorded. But the method is time – consuming and costly. However, it may be noted that if a particular job is simple and repetitive, observation may be the only technique required. Otherwise, in most cases, interviews coupled with observation constitute the desirable approach. Caroll L. Shartle, Otis and Lenhert have provided the following suggestions for making the job analysis task simple: a. Introduce yourself so that the worker knows who you are and why you are there; b. Show a sincere interest in the worker and the job that is analyzed; c. Do not try to tell the employee how to do his job; d. Try to talk to the employees and supervisors in their own language; e. Do not confuse the work with the workers; f. Do a complete job study within the objectives of the programs; and g. Verify the job information obtained. Sources of Information about Jobs There are some sources that provide job information. These sources are basically divided into two parts. One is non human source and another is human source. a)Non human Sources: existing job descriptions and specifications, equipment maintenance records, equipment design blueprints, architectural blueprints of work area, films of employees working, training manuals and other job training materials popular literature such as magazines or newspapers etc. b) Human Sources: Job analysts; Job incumbents; and Job experts. Job Description: Meaning and Criteria Job description is a written statement that defines the duties, responsibilities, relationships and results expected of anyone in the job. It is an overall view of what is to be done in the job. Typically it includes is a written statement that defines the duties, relationships and results expected of anyone in the job. It is an overall view of what is to be done in the job. Typically it includes – job title, date, title of immediate supervisor, statement of the purpose of the job, primary responsibilities, list of typical duties and responsibilities, signature of the person who has prepared the job description and general Information related to the job (i.e. training requirements, tool use, transportation etc.). Criteria of a well-made Job Description 1) A job description must be up-to-date; 2) A standard form should be used for all jobs and positions with each category; 3) The title should be apt; 4) The job summary should give a bird’s-eye view of primary responsibilities; it should be uncluttered by detail; 5) Detailed description of duties should be as concise as is compatible with completeness; 6) The language should be simple, clear and concise.

Cookies Filled with Ice Cream Feasibility Study

Food is very essential for us. It is our need in order for us to live. There are many kinds of food that best suit on our taste buds. One of it is cookies. Cookies is the type of food that most of all like to eat because of its taste. Cookies is the kind of food that kids are attracted to eat. What with cookies that many, like to eat? We as student researchers delved into topic to find out what are the advantages of cookies that is filled with ice cream specifically in Bacolod City. Our study focused on advantages of cookies filled with ice cream. We choose Bacolod City people as our participants because related indication shows that many business creations are in the place that most people are present. We will present this research paper in order for us to know the taste and effect of cookies that is filled with ice cream in the consumption of people, reasons for eating, effects and the overall impact of eating cookies filled with ice cream in their daily lives. Our findings will be beneficial in both school and establishments’ in better understanding the advantages of cookies filled with ice cream. And we also offers different flavors of ice cream such as vanilla, mango, chocolate, and ube. Selecta is our choice from where we should get our ice cream to pair with the cookies. Significance of the Study: We conducted this research to find out the consumers’ reaction in the cookies filled with ice cream and the impact of it to different status quo. This will benefit various businesses and establishments on finding out the trend of consumers to better improve and innovate their products with an increase in profit. Our study can also help establishments that sell cookies to improve their relationship with their customers by satisfying them with irresistible taste and worthy service. Scope and Limitation: 1. Area of locality- Our study will focus on areas in the vicinity of Bacolod city 2. Subject or population- subjects will consist of people within Bacolod City. 3. Duration or Period- the study will be conducted in the months of August to October 2013. Logo: Chapter 2 Management Aspect Study Objectives: The primary reason for this study is to know weather the cookies filled with ice cream will hit the market. This is also to make a twist between eating a cookies with ice cream. This is also a solution for the hot weather here in the Philippines. Form of Business Organization: This busines is a PARTNERSHIP BUSINESS, consist of 6 partners. These 6 person will help each other to make their customers happy. Rules and Regulations: a. To be truthful and honest in all his/her endeavors particularly in his/her dealings. with a customer and to the business partners. b. To strictly observe all the rules and regulations enforced by the partners and not to violate them. c. To refrain from directly or indirectly misleading customers or verbally or nonverbally misrepresenting the company. d. To properly behave at all times and not to commit any act which may put his/her dignity and the business reputation. Duties and Responsibilities: a. All the 6 membersof this business is not only the owners of the business. They must also act as an employee and serve the guest well. b. All employess should maintain cleanliness within the area for food sanitation and safety. c. Owners and employees should treat each other regardless of what position the other one has to maintain peace and harmony in the company. Chapter 3 Product Description: Our signature cookies filled with ice cream is specially made for those who wants to eat cookies and ice cream at the same time. All of our products include a complimentary note card with your personal message whether it's for your parents, friend or even your partner in life. Production Process: First, all the ingredients are fed into a large batch tank. Instead of eggs and milk, dry egg powder and dry milk are most likely used. After everything is well-mixed, the dough is transferred to a machine with two feed rollers. The feed rollers turn to pull the dough into the machine and push it out through several openings of the proper shape/size (in this case likely a 2 inch diameter circle). As the product is going through the opening, a wire comes across and slices the cookie pieces off so that they land on a tray. The trays are then transferred to a large oven and baked in batches. Alternatively, the cookie pieces might transfer onto metal trays and travel through an oven continuously. After a cooling stage, the cookies are ready to serve with ice cream.

Exploring the Practices of Masculinities in School Assignment

Exploring the Practices of Masculinities in School - Assignment Example The author of the article has the viewpoint that the literacy strategies presented to teachers in recent support literature does not support the cause because they are restraining and restrictive. He claims that there is just a little effort towards developing a connection between gender and masculinity. He further argues that current strategies aimed towards building up the levels of boys’ literacy achievement do not move with the school board policy of acknowledging a diverse range of youth identities. The reason is that when more efforts will be driven towards including all youth identities in the scope of safe school policy, the focus on improving the literacy levels of boys will be overshadowed which will result in making the literacy level targeted policies useless for boys. The need is to bring alignment in the safe school policy and initiatives towards literacy achievement levels in order to provide a better environment for boys which they can utilize to improve their academic level while preserving masculinity. The author has begun the article by outlining the need or developing some quick fix strategies aimed towards increasing the learning potential of boys in such a way that they do not go parallel with the efforts towards providing a safe and secure school environment for multiple identities. In the second section of the article, the author has described and analyzed the efforts of Ontario Ministry of Education towards the cause of improving boys’ literacy level. The author has found that current initiatives are not able to accomplish the goal because they do not have the potential to prove their unique identity in front of the safe school policy which brings in together a diverse range of identities under one umbrella. According to the author, the problem is not here in this area. Rather the real problem lies in the fact when gay, lesbian, and other identities will be promoted in schools, the masculinity level of boys will be affecte d, as the behaviors and attitudes of all identities will mix with one another resulting in decreasing the demonstration of masculinity among boys. The author has finally suggested that Ontario curricular activities should be redesigned so that they become closely aligned with the safe school policies in order to help teachers, as well as administrators to work together towards the aim of increasing boys’ literacy achievement level while providing a safe learning environment for all youth identities. Critique of the Article This article by Michael Kehler discusses the efforts of The Ontario Ministry of Education to improve the literacy achievement rate of boys while acknowledging the efforts towards making safe school policy for a diverse range of youth identities, which include gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and others. I think the author has picked a good topic to write upon because it has become a need of today to save the masculinity of boys in a sexually diverse society. In t oday’s world, when sexual orientations are changing rapidly both for boys and girls, the need of today is to take steps towards saving the masculinity of boys so that the sexual orientation balance remains intact. Boys have to play hard

McClellands Learned Needs Theory Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

McClellands Learned Needs Theory - Assignment Example The individuals, who are achievement based, avoid both high and low risks and avoid norms for the fear of rejection at their workplace (Daft & Lane, 2008). Besides the need for the achievement, other people have a need for affiliation. This kind of people prefers to create and maintain social relationships and enjoys being a part of a particular group. They adhere to the norms in that culture, and they do not change them for the fear of rejection in their workplace. In addition, they prefer collaboration to competition and dislike high uncertainties and risks situations. This group of people works best in social areas like client interaction services and customer service. The other group of people has a need for power. In this class of person, they work to their best when they are in charge. They do well in competition hence doing well in goal orient (Daft & Lane, 2008). Employees are the most valuable resources in a company and therefore motivation is essential. Every bright idea, act of selfishness’ for the betterment of the organization, plan on money saving should be rewarded through online point system. An employee motivation increases their morale and reduces the turnover rates. To enhance employees’ motivation the management should break the monotonous of duty to reduce boredom and assign employees to challenging jobs. Secondly, in applying Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, managers do have a responsibility they meet the deficiency needs of the workers. Proper working environment should be created to develop full potential. In addition, the theory of needs requires workers to be assured of job security that lumps employees

Microeconomics - Types of Markets Research Paper

Microeconomics - Types of Markets - Research Paper Example In the long run, the firms are ought to make a normal profit and the market price is determined by the forces of demand and supply. However, an important point to note is the situation in the long run equilibrium. If demand increases to a great extent, the price will rise. Therefore, the demand curve will shift upwards causing firms to make supernormal profits. More firms would join the industry and hence, the price will fall again settling at the equilibrium rate. Also, if the average costs are greater than the average revenue then most firms would go out of business. Once the supply curve falls, prices tend to rise. Perfect competition means there should be no imperfections in the market which may arise due to lack of knowledge or immobility of resources. Nonetheless, these factors are unrealistic in this world. One of the important reasons why perfect competition does not exist in the real world is the economies of scale. In most of the industries, a firm has to be quite large to experience economies of scale. But in perfect competition, firms have an insignificant market share and are too small to achieve economies of scale. Once a firm expands and achieves economies of scale, it would lower its costs and gain market power. The firm can reduce the prices and drive out the smaller firms from the industry. Hence a perfect competition can only survive in an industry where there are no economies of scale. Although the perfectly competitive market model is not applicable to the real world setting, it plays a significant role in economic analysis and policy. The model can be used as a criterion to judge the deficiencies of the real world industries and can help the government to articulate policies towards the betterment of the industry. A single industry that produces a product is called a monopoly. This is not it, however, no close substitutes are present and barriers to enter and exit the market are high.  Such barriers include patents, heavy investments, copyrights or achieving economies of a scale comparable to the monopoly.  

Describe the difference between religion & magic, giving examples of Essay

Describe the difference between religion & magic, giving examples of each. (Give 2 + examples each.) - Essay Example It’s made up of different norms or practices agreed upon and practices by a society. In contrary to magic, a religion is usually accepted and followed devotedly and mostly act as a guidance that contains a moral code governing the conduct of a community. Religion can also be well explained through consideration of its essential characteristics; religious belief, unity of a society of the same faith and finally religious practices and belief (Frazer 38). As indicated by sociologist, religion is not just monotheistic, some religions for example Confucianism recognize no gods at all while others practice polytheism, that is, believe in many deities. Contrary to Adam and Eves story in the Bible, religion is not necessarily a revelation of origins of creation. Not all religions have similar myths of origin though they still fit within the correct definition of a religion. It is, therefore, correct to say that religion is a set of moral norms and principles concerning rules regulating behavior of its believers and sacred. All religion to a greater extent shares at least same features. For example, most religions embrace an individual responsible and is considered to specialize in religious practices (Frazer 41). Christianity and Islam are some of the example of religion. Magic, on the other hand, can be defined as the art that claims to influence or foresee natural events (Frazer 5). It mainly works by invoking the supernatural. Magic is, therefore, performed through superstitious practices and behaviors intended to cause a predetermined or desired end. Magic does require a general agreed set of beliefs or practice upon which its practice is derived as compared to religion. It can be real or manipulation of natural events to attain the desired outcome (Frazer 10). Some religions however incorporate a bit of belief in magic, especially those that arose from traditional practices. An individual who performs magic is assumed

Genesis 12-15, 18 summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Genesis 12-15, 18 summary - Essay Example Abram builds an altar in the mountain to honour him: making it a tradition in every places he pitches tent. He made covenant with God in this alter that on His (God) promises to him. There was a time famine struck the land he was dwelling in causing him to enter Egypt by lying that Sarai was his sister. The government officials see her beauty and forward her to Pharaoh who promises Abraham a lot of wealth and slaves in exchange for her. Later the lord strikes the house of Pharaoh with plaques after which pharaoh learns of the deceit thereby confronting Abram. In the end Abram leaves Egypt chastened and wealthy. Among the many promised to him, the lord likens his Abram’s descendants to the stars in the sky. Abraham goes through so much around that period and by chapter 15, the lord changes his name from Abram to Abraham and his wife from Sarai to Sarah. In chapter 18, the Abraham is visited by three people as he was sitting at the entrance of his tent. He greats them in recognition as his Lords and welcomes them in; offering food and a place to sleep. They ask of Sarah and promised Abraham that a time like that the next year, she will be carrying a baby. Of course due to her old age Sarah laughs it off. When walking out the servants noticed Sodom and Gomorrah and how wicked the place was. Abraham pleads with them not to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. The servants decide to leave that place without destroying it since Abraham had pleaded that there might about ten people who are still righteous in the eyes of the

Market Analysis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Market Analysis - Assignment Example Also worth to note is the eventual interaction between online shopping and the gaming market. Gamers continue to purchase their preferred games online as opposed to the traditional approach where games were mostly purchased over the counter. This will obviously affect such outcomes as packaging. Marketers will be forced to shift from their current packaging models that mostly involve compact disks and memory sticks to other packaging models that are friendlier to online shoppers. Already, gamers are flooding social media sites to enable them to find fellow gamers and to indeed play a video game over the internet. Gaming coders are also ensuring that their games contain the requisite social media links so as gamers can share their progress and achievements over the social media sites and in the process contribute to marketing of the game. Mobile phones and tablets are the other market disruptors in the gaming market (Kammerlander, 2013). The current gaming sensation, Candy Crush, that boasts of over 45 million monthly users mainly derived from social media platforms. The game is not available through traditional consoles but through mobile phones and tablets. Candy Crush has since been declared as the most addictive and popular social media games of all time. The Candy Crush statistics has since dwarfed those of the former contenders Angry Birds and Farm Ville. Since its launch in April 2012, the game has attracted over 550 million installations across Apple’s ios, Google’s Android and Facebook. Also notable is the fact that the game’s revenue model is mainly driven by an integrated online shopping platform where gamers can purchase extra lives and functions or even purchase more time in between the allowable lockout period that is applied after one fails to complete a particular level even after numerous repetitions. King, the company that manufacturers Candy Crush receives $875,000 in revenues in a single business day by integrating the

Concept of courage Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Concept of courage - Essay Example Fear is a prerequisite for courage. Fear is the consequence of an insight of vulnerability, which is recognized by the accurate or inaccurate assessment or estimation of a threat as outweighing the individual resources. The only validated scale used to calculate courage was of late produced by Schmidt and Koselka in a cognitive therapy research. The Courage measuring Scale used in this study was constructed 7-item scale. The first three items used were to assess the broad-spectrum of courage, while the last four items assessing panic-specific courage. The scales do not illustrate the number of situational domains, and the third item on the three-item scale questions participants if they are fearless. Despite the fear being said to be a precondition for courage, it is rated to be in a positive direction as other items that result in two high scores. One indicating courage and the other indicating a general absence of fear. Many analysis and correlations were used to see the sights of the relationships among courage, toughness, and physical illness. Hardiness or toughness was not found to be a considerable analyst of physical illness for the participants’ Hardiness was found to be a weak predictor of physical illness for men. There are no other variables in this study that were found to be an important predictor of physical illness, and the variations of the courage scores did not enhance the relationship between hardiness and physical illness when variance accounted for by gender was controlled.

Lakewood WA Police Department Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Lakewood WA Police Department - Essay Example It successfully communicates with people from different backgrounds and also provides vital information, advice, and any time police assistance. Unlike the other police forces, Lakewood Police Department is unique for its objectives and functions. Lakewood police force is specially made for the enforcement of civil and criminal laws, holding the position of court compliance office and community service office, animal control, juvenile code enforcement etc. As per the ordinance No. 00471, the Police Department operates under the direction of City’s Chief Law Enforcement Officer, the Chief of Police, subject to the supervision of the City Manager. The Chief of the Police is appointed by the City Manager in accordance with the law and policies of city of Lakewood. In accordance with the relevant laws all other subordinates shall be appointed by the Chief (Ordinance No. 00471.City Council meeting minutes of March 17 2008). According to the regulation in Lakewood police, there are five office assistants, two evidence custodians, one crime analyst, one fleet manager, one evidence supervisor, one administrative assistant, one administrative supervisor and one administrative lieutenant all of whom contribute to the daily workings of the department (Administrative Unit). However the strength of the whole department has increased in the 21st century: â€Å"Lakewood’s 21st century department has 131 staff members, 105 commissioned , 12.5 community service officers, 2 animal control officers and 13.5 civilian support staff† (About the Department). The Department is divided in to several divisions for its smooth functioning. Among them Criminal Investigation Unit is one of the outstanding wings which includes Robbery Assault Unit, Special Assault Unit, Special Operations Unit and The School Resource Officer Program. Crime against persons like murder, robbery, kidnapping and missing cases come under the Robbery/Assault unit. The Special Assault

The Day of the Butterfly Essay Example for Free

The Day of the Butterfly Essay Honest, critical but not prejudiced or judgemental: comments about Myra having the smell of fruit or her clothes, which objectively point out her difference from others but does not judge her with contempt Characterisation: -Myra a)Looks awkward (sleepy eyes suggests she is tired or heavy-laden with worry unlike other carefree children; her clothes too big for her suggest she has to take on an adult role when she is too young to do it) b)uncommunicative girl who doesn’t fit in with the rest of the class c)poor (dress too big for her might be because it has been handed down), parents own fruit shop – she smells of ripe fruit. Her future is limited as she will probably have to help her family with the shop d)Immigrant ‘Brown skin’, her language is not American in its style ‘please teacher†¦my brother has wet himself’ e)Has to take on responsibility at a young age and does not have much opportunity to be a child f)Is quite frail and sickly – linked to poverty -Helen a)The narrator whose point of view the reader takes b)a person trying to be friendly to Myra. She is trapped between her sympathy for Myra and the rest of the class – takes the role of an ‘ally’ c) lives in the country (farm girl), also a little insecure – she used to do the same thing as Myra slowing down in case whoever was behind wanted to talk to her -Class a)A microcosm of ‘society’ b)A group that has â€Å"leaders† like Gladys Healey who bully students like Myra and â€Å"force† others, who act as followers to do the same or face similar marginalisation -Gladys Healey a)The class ‘leader’ that the other classmates follow ) She enjoys wealth and is popular because she has access to all good things associated with childhood – quality clothing -Teacher a)significant female adult character trying to help but in fact, may be more a part of the cause – artificiality (birthday party when it is not Myra’s birthday), persuading the class to play with Myra (because she is left out) â€Å"Do you think you would be very happy, if you were left back there? † b)represents the role of adults in social reproduction of class difference Mood: Reflective – which goes with the narrator reflecting on this childhood experience when she is a lot older â€Å"This sound [children playing on the street] made Myra’s future turn shadowy, turn dark. Imagery -symbol of blue butterfly, symbolising freedom

Barriers To Effective Supply Chain Management

Barriers To Effective Supply Chain Management supply chain management Abstract Purpose -The aim of this paper is to have a qualitative analysis of benefits,barriers and bridges to effective strategic supply chain management. Design/methodology/approach The author use a case study approach .Interview was conducted from Supplier, SC manager and retailer . Findings- Results shows that customer satisfaction is consider as the primary benefits by all chain partners. And primary barrier and bridge is adequate information system and human factors. Research limitations/implications Due to the resource and time constraint the findings of this research are only based on supply chain of a single organization. Practical implications -This paper provide a understanding of how managers ,suppliers and retailers view benefits .barriers and bridges of SCM. Originality/value Keywords Supply chain management, Strategic management, Relationship marketing Paper type Research paper Introduction In todays business world competition is very fierce. Due to the Globalization, advance technology, and Increase customer demand , organizations need to raise there bar of performance continuously. As Thomas Edison said, If there is a better way, find it. So managers must keep his advice in mind. And supply chain management is a better way to compete in market. Supply chain management is the management of activities from availability and procurement of raw material , their processing into finish goods and then distribution of these goods. The purpose of this encompassing process is to enhance the business of the company and satisfy customers. By Sandra Maria Stammberger Christopher argues that the real competition is not company against company, but rather supplies chain against supply chain. For example, Wal-Mart and its suppliers will battle Carrefour and its suppliers in consumer markets around the world. This study has looked at benefits and barriers to supply chain integration. Vital bridges to supply chain success are also explored. SCM can reduce inventory, improve productivity, enhance quality, and reduce both product development and fulfillment cycles. As attractive as the potential benefits of supply chain management appear; the barriers or roadblocks to achieving them appear equally ominous such as internal external turf protection, inadequate information system, poor collaboration among the chain partners etc. And bridges/solutions are the mirror image of the most of the barriers (e.g., poor management leads to barrier; careful management is the bridge). The purpose of the study is to provide an understanding of the benefits, barriers, and bridges to successful SCM. For this purpose data is collected from the supplier ,SC manager and retailer of PEPSI (Gujranwala). We conclude that there are numerous benefits of SCM but to achieve these benefits we have to overcome two main barriers that is technology and human barrier. Focus of managers and scholars must not be on any specific barrier, but rather consider these two in combination for strategic supply chains to be successful . We hope that the research methodology given in this study provide some useful insight to help managers and their companies as they make headway along the arduous journey to supply chain leadership This research article is comprised as follows: literature of SCM in terms of benefits, barriers, and bridges followed by research methodology.And the main part of article includes findings from in-depth interviews , and conclusion with some suggestions for future research. In this way this article provide valuable insight into the state and direction of supply chain practice research. Background: benefits, barriers, and bridges An enormous amount of material has appeared in current years about supply chain management in both academic journals and trade press. Driving forces of supply chain management The driving forces of SCM stem from two sources: external pressures and potential benefits from strategic SC alignment. External pressures include such forces as advances in technology and increased customer demand across national borders (Mehta, 2004); maintaining lower costs while meeting these diverse needs (Cook and Garver, 2002); and intensified competition utilizing relationships among vertically aligned firms (Togar and Ramaswami, 2004). These pressures have begun shifting the focus of individual firms vying for market presence and power to supply chains competing against supply chains (Bhattacharya et al., 1995). Top ten benefits ,barriers and bridges have been identified by Top ten benefits ,barriers and bridges Benefits Barriers Bridges Increased inventory turnover Internal and external turf wars Information transperancy Increased revenues SCM cost reductions Poor SCM planning Collaborative planning Product availability Lack of SCM vision IT architecture /internet Responsiveness Executive commitment Formal performance tracking Economic value added IT deficiencies Adopt strategic SCM vision Capital utilization Organizational structure /culture Attention to human factors Decreased time to market Lack of SC measures Suppply base reduction Reduced logistics costs Lack alliance guidelines Segmented customers: Poor SCM understanding Shared investment/benefits Benefits of strategic supply chain managemen Increased inventory turnover: Inventory turn reflects how frequently a company flushes inventory from its system. In SCM company has relations both with supplier and customer so they receive material on time and deliver goods to customer on time. So inventory turnover increases. . (Fawcett, S.E. and Magnan, G.M. (2001)). Increased revenues SCM cost reductions: Main source of cost saving is inventory management. Through SCM it is possible to reduce your inventory level and leads to cost saving. Other ways of reducing cost: Better trade relations and lower transaction cost Enhance asset utilization via shared resources Better product design that cost less (Fawcett, S.E. and Magnan, G.M. (2001)). Product availability: Involvement of supplier in new product development process can solve many problems like communications and new ideas are generated in collaborative design efforts rather than non-colleborative. In todays marketplace there is a need to have the right product available at the right time and right place at a lower cost than the competition. . (Fawcett, S.E. and Magnan, G.M. (2001)). Responsiveness: Responding to customers in a courteous, personal and understandable way is vary important.Quickly response to customers requests is possible through collaboration with chain partners.Close relationship with partners enables them to foresee their collaborators needs and handle unexpected events.Supply chain responsiveness requires exceptional/outstanding manufacturing and logistical flexibility to meet unique or special requests.And it is possible through integration. . (Fawcett, S.E. and Magnan, G.M. (2001)). Economic value added: There are two view points from which share holder value can be measured. 1) Internal view point (Economic value is used) 2) External view point (Market capitalization is used) EVA is calculated by deducting the cost of capital from its operating profit. Drivers of shareholder value are : Operating cost reduction ,fixed capital and working capital efficiency and revenue growth. There is no doubt that supply chain strategy affects all these drivers directly or indirectly. These are some of the strategies: Lead time of all incoming products is reduced by having partnership with the suppliers . By integrating processes .internal lead time can be reduced. By having a strong relation with distributor information flow from demand size is improved. (Christopher, M., Ryals, L. (1999)). Capital utilization: Capital utilization refers to how a companys assets are best used. Capital utilization is dollars of revenue generated in relation to dollars invested in assets such as account receivables, inventory etc. Examples of supply chain management connection: Demand planning Transportation management Inventory management Accurate forecasting (Timme, S.G. and Williams-Timme, C. (2000) Decreased time to market Successful companies create supply chains that respond to the sudden changes in market. Effective supply chain enables a firm to respond to the short term changes in demand and supply in the market because of collaborative relationship with suppliers and distributors. (lee(2004) Reduced logistics costs: In an integrated supply chain ,efficiency and effectiveness of operations can be improved by managing the movement of material throughout the firm in an organic and systematic way. This allow the firm reducing their purchase cost ,transportation cost and inventory and warehousing cost.( La Londe, B.J. and Masters, J.M. (1994), Emerging logistics strategies: blueprints for the next century, International Journal of Physical Distribution Logistics Management, Vol. 24 No. 7, pp. 35-47. La Londe, and Masters,). Barriers to effective supply chain management Internal and external turf wars: Conflicts within the departments and within organizations are fundamental barrier to SC collaboration. In most of the companies all departments such as marketing, finance , operation work independently. But when managers make decisions they only consider their own department and ignore the impact of their decision on other departments and on whole organization. And same is the case with supply chain partners each partner work only for its own interest. So A tug of war begins as each department and partner pull the organization in their favor. (Fawcett, S.E. and Magnan, G.M. (2001) Poor SCM planning: Supply chain management is a way to combine process and entrepreneurship. The concept of SCM begins with customer and integrates all activities from raw material procurement to finished product distribution. In many organizations SCM fails due to insufficient forecasting and poor planning process. For correct forecasting, planning process must involve appropriate players and relevant information. Andraski, J.C. (1998). Lack of SCM vision: One of the major barriers to SCM collaboration is that chain partners dont have clear and common vision of SCM. They hold different beliefs and values and supplier and customer dont share common goal. (Akkermans, H., Bogerd, P. and Vos, B. (1999), Lack of SCM vision: Lack of trust is one reason that channel partners are not willing to share information openly .because they have fear that if they share their weaknesses with their chain partners then they might use their weaknesses against them in near future. So Trust is pre-requisite in effective supply chain management. (Fawcett, S.E. and Magnan, G.M. (2001), Executive commitment: Top management should here be understood as the group of people that together constitute the highest management executive authority in a company. Top management is in a position to play an important role in successful SCM collaboration. A prerequisite for performing SCM is top management support. Almost all of the barriers such as incompatible technology ,conflict among supply chain members ,lack of employee willingness to share information can only be overcome with top management support. According to (Moberg et al., 2003) training and education are Important factors for top management to encourage and intensify. (Sandberg, Erik1; Abrahamsson, Mats(2010)) IT deficiencies: As because of globalization suppliers and customers are located all over the world so integration has become a major challenge .Lack of integrated information system is a major barrier as sharing of information is not possible without integrated information system. IT is like a nerve system of SCM. ( E.W.T. Ngai a,*, A. Gunasekaran b ,(2004) Organizational structure /culture: Organization culture and structure are also very crucial barrier to SC collaboration. If an organization is working independently for a long time then its very difficult for it work in collaboration with other chain partners. Lack of SC measures: In order to have a strong collaboration among the supply chain partners it is crucial to measure the supply chain performance.(Brewer and speh ,2001;) Measuring supply chain performance Lack alliance guidelines: Each channel partner in the supply chain has a separate plan for activities such as production plan and schedules. If an organization only have understanding of their on process and they dont have understanding of their customers and suppliers processes then there is a gap exist and organization cant improve their processes as external processes have an influence on internal processes. Lack of same performance measures across different departments and across the channel partners leads to conflicting behaviors both internally and externally. ( Barratt, M. (2004a) Poor SCM understanding: Employee dont have understanding of how SCM is beneficial for the organization and how it will benefit their job .This poor understanding is one reason they are not willing to contribute in SCM implementation. Bridges to effective supply chain management Information transperancy: ( yu zhenxin (2001) Each member of the supply chain should have complete information about the other members. If members are willing to share information then this leads to the improve performance of the whole system . Collaborative planning: Planning should be made with the involvement of all parties involve in the supply chain. Such as demand forecasting, production schedules etc may not be effective without the involvement of all partners. IT architecture /internet: With the passage of time SCM is becoming more and more complex and require online communication system .In order to enhance the buyer- supplier relationship different information technologies such as Electronic Data Interchange ,Internet And World Wide Web Are Used. Formal performance tracking: In order to have a strong collaboration among the supply chain partners it is crucial to measure the supply chain performance. (Brewer and speh ,2001;). Measurement of supply chain performance can help in Reducing cost ,Identify and target those segments of market which are more profitable((Lambert and Pohlen, 2001),better and improves decisions and test and employ new strategies Adopt strategic SCM vision: Chain partners should have clear and common vision of SCM. They should hold same beliefs and values and supplier and customer share common goal. (Akkermans, H., Bogerd, P. and Vos, B. (1999), Attention to human factors: A fundamental factor for the successful SCM collaboration is the human factor . People resist changes and they dont want to share information with others .So attention must be paid to human factors first as their willingness to implement effective SCM is the key to success. . (Fawcett, S.E. and Magnan, G.M. (2001)). Suppply base reduction: Supply base reduction is use by the firms to enhance quality , increase responsiveness , and reduce cost . Coke has adopted N+1 rule of thumb for determining maximum number of supplies. It means they have just 1 more supplier then required. (Fawcett, S.E. and Magnan, G.M. (2001)). Segmented customers: Organization should collaborate only with those suppliers and customers who are strategically important for the business. This segmentation play a very important role in successful collaboration.(Tang and Gattorna, 2003). Segmentation of customers is done on the basis of their buying behavior and services needed. Different supply chains are made for different segments. A different strategy and supportive culture and leadership style is required for different supply chains. To serve the segmented supply chain a further step is to segment the suppliers according to their abilities. Shared investment/benefits: For SCM to be more effective and successful there is a need to share benefits resulting from integrated SCM. Benefit sharing is as much important as information sharing . even though reliable and trust worthy information is available ,there should be a need to fairly allocate benefits among members otherwise it weakens their relationship. (Fawcett, S.E. and Magnan, G.M. (2001)). Methodology SCM removes the boundaries of the organization therefore it is known as boundary spanning activity (Bowersos et al,1999) . To Have a macro picture ,information is collected through channel analysis. In this way more generalized view about the benefits ,barriers and bridges can be obtained. Case studies The case study method is used for answering questions regarding what, why, and how related to SCM implementation. This method put emphasis on in detail qualitative analysis. In order to have a cross-channel analysis interview is conducted from supplier ,SC manager and retailer. A structured ,face-to-face interview was conducted and Confidentiality was ensured .Structured interviews are those conducted when it is known at the outset what information is needed. The interview has a list of predetermined questions to be asked. The interview guide was divides into general questions and questions about the benefits ,barriers and bridges faced by the organization. Average interview duration was 1 and half hour. And face-to-face interview helps in repeating and rephrasing questions if not understood by respondents, and clarify doubts. Interview consist of Open-ended questions. Results and discussion Top five benefits ,barriers and bridges Benefits Barriers Bridges Customer satisfaction Inadequate information system Adequate information system On time delivery Lack share risk and reward Sharing of risk and reward Response to customer request Lack willingness to share information Willingness to share information Order fulfillment lead time Lack employee empowerment Senior management interaction Cost reduction Measuring customer demand Supply chain training Benefits Customer satisfaction: Company customers are satisfied because company is in a position to fulfill their needs, deliver goods on time and at low cost through integrated SC. On-time delivery: The development of closer, cooperative relationships with chain partners together with the establishment of integrated systems and processes make it possible to consistently deliver goods and services to customer at the right time and at the right place. Respond to customer requests: Business analysts have been saying for years-that customers matter most. So response to customers need as quickly as possible is very important for the success of business. One way of doing this in todays competitive market is to develop strong relationship with suppliers, retailers and distributers. This collaborative supply chain enables all parties to respond to their customer speedily. Order fulfillment lead times: Supply chain integration also reduces order fulfillment lead times by having exact quantities on-hand when needed . Cost reduaction: One way of cost reduction is to reduce cost of inventory. Another is sharing of resources with your chain partners and also by reducing product development cost through integrated process. Some other benefits includes: Handle unexpected challenges More open and trusting relationships enable more accurate information to be shared on more timely basis. This helps in making Supply chain partners better able to foresee their collaborators needs and handle unexpected events (e.g unique or special requests ) Productivity One of the most important benefit due to which organizations are adopting SCM is to increase revenues and decrease costs. Productivity is the ratio of Outputs/inputs. if planned and managed correctly, changes in supply chain relationships can help in producing same outputs with low cost of inputs and ultimately revenue increase . This doubleimpact of supply chain management is motivating factor for organizations to build strong relationship with chain partners in order to constantly reduce the costs of purchased items and to work with them to improve their processes in ways that increase productivity. Product innovation lead times, Collaborative product development help to minimize product innovation lead time. Involvement of all the partners results in higher quality,lower cost and less time to market. To gain these benefits there should be a need to build strong relationship base on trust and communication is necessary to share technology, co-locate personnel, and accept supplier-generated design improvements. Overall product quality Through supply chain integration it is possible to shift the responsibity of quality to the supplier. Better quality is assured by supplier certification programs . Barriers Inadequate information system: Inadequate information system is that lack in quantity and quality of information if not enough information is shared or the information shared is of little value strategic SCM may fail. Lack of willingness to share risk and rewards: As employee dont have clear understanding of what SCM is and how will benefit their job so they are not willing to share their risk and reward. Lack willingness to share information: Lack of trust is one reason that people are not willing to share information openly .because they have fear that if they share their weaknesses with their chain partners then they might use their weaknesses against them in near future. So Trust is pre-requisite in effective supply chain management. Lack employee empowerment: Lack of employee empowerment is a barrier to SCM to be successful. As employee empowerment is one way to motivate employees to participate in making SC collaboration successful. Employee empowerment is a form of decentralization it means giving employees the power to make decisions regarding their job and tasks. One of these decisions includes making purchasing decisions .i.e. when and how much is to be purchased..This will leads to successful implementation of Just-in Time manufacturing concept. Measuring customer demand: Accurately forecast customer demand is very important for successful SCM integration . In case manufacturers and distributers fails to accurately forecast customer demands then there are chances of stock outs and organizations face difficulties in maintain adequate inventory level. Some other barriers includes: Organizational boundaries There are two kind of boundaries in any organizarion intra and inter-organizational boundaries. These boundries should be removed for successful supply chain integration. For successful supply chain integration intra and inter -organizational boundaries should be removed. inter -organizational boundaries overcoming the company boundaries and working closely with suppliers and customers. (i.e., functional, business process, information/materials flows, and information/communication technology integration) intra -organizational boundaries Integration between different discipline and functions, such as manufacturing, distribution, marketing, accounting, information, and engineering. Measuring SC contribution, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. Measuring Supply chain contribution is very important . these four measures can be used to measure supply chain contribution. Delivery: percentage of entire order deliver to the customer when he or she wanted it. Quality: for this purpose Customer satisfaction and customer loyaty is checked. Customer satisfaction includes giving customer what they expects. Customer loyaty is the percentage of customers who still purchase their products after purchasing once. Time: order fulfilment lead time is effected by inventory level. For total order-fulfilment lead time, first The time spent in inventory should be computed for each part of the supply chain (supplier, manufacturer, wholesaler, and retailer) and then added. Cost: measure cost along the supply chain is to measure efficiency in value added or productivity. One measure of efficiency is as follows: Efficiency = sales cost of materials / labor + overhead Lack resources for SCM Resource constraints represent Serious hurdle in supply chain integration efforts Although companies are trying to best utilize the people resources that they have, but due to their nature of always trying to do more with less, create problem of lack of resources. e.g The managers who are Conside to be best for handling supply chain initiatives because of their experience, work ethic, creativity, technical knowledge, and personal credibility are always in high demand. interviewed managers identified other critical resources constraints including capital and technology Bridges Adequate information system: EDI LINKAGES: ERP system is a single unified system in which several computer hardware and software components are used . This unified system helps in cross functional integration (e.g between all departments , accounting departments, as well as marketing, strategic management, and human resources, in addition to warehousing, Information Technology, logistics, and production. ). Organizations adopt ERP system in order to integrate data and process into a single unified unit rather than trying to synchronize data and process across different systems Sharing of risk and reward: Interview manager also highlighted the point that in order to build closer relationship they share both Risk and reward with their chain partners. Frequent communication: Open and clear broad line of communication should be develop (Mohr and spekman (1994)) Senior management interaction: Top management is responsible for integrated supply chain management. Only senior manager can remove the walls between the organization and between the organizations. Supply chain training: As supply chain is becoming more popular and technology focused ,the individuals directly involve with it are required to give additional training. Some ways of giving training to individuals are On the job training Take classes out of work Online training Some other bridges includes: Suppply base reduction, Vendor managed inventory (vmi), Use of total cost analysis, Common goals and shared mission statement, Use of cross-functional teams and cross-functional processes Suppply base reduction: Supply base reduction is use by the firms to enhance quality , increase responsiveness , and reduce cost . Coke has adopted N+1 rule of thum for determining maximum number of supplies.It means they have just 1 more supplier then required. VENDOR MANAGED INVENTORY (VMI). Supplier is responsible for managing inventory at customer s location .Customer is not required to reorder .Its the duty of supplier to maintain the stock of customer at optimum level. Use of total cost analysis As we all know that Competition in todays markets is much more then before.so in order to compete in market , organizations need to offer products at low price and high quality. Through SC collaboration it is possible to reduce Total production cost . by having long term relationship with supplier, supplier reduce the cost of their supplies.in this way total production cost is reduced. Common goals and shared mission statement For SCM cooperative efforts to be successful, increase understanding and respect for partners businesses is very important. This process involves common golas and shared mission statement.When they all have a common goal , combine efforts are made to achieve that goal .And decisions are made for the success of each party. Use of cross-functional teams and Cross-functional processes Effective supply chain requires coordination across businesses and within the business. Coordination within the business is possible through Cross-functional teams and process. . For example, a cross-functional team is often used to plan and control the master schedule for manufacturing. The team consists of representatives from marketing/ sales, production, human resources, and accounting/ finance. The team develops a forecast of future expected orders, plans the capacity of manufacturing, and schedules customer orders. Everyone then agrees to work toward executing this plan. Without a cross-functional team of this type, marketing makes a forecast, production uses a different forecast to plan production, and the capital is not made available to provide the capacity needed. Clear Alliance management guidelines. alliance management techniques, none of the interviewed firms have every one in place. Clear roles and responsibilities are defined and communicated. Risks and rewards are shared on a mutually acceptable basis Technology linkages can be used to routinize information exchange. Overall product quality Through supply chain integration it is possible to shift the responsibity of quality to the supplier. Better quality is assured by supplier certification programs . Conclusion and Limitations This article attempts to identify potential benefits ,barriers and bridges of successful implementation of SC integration . Results shows that all chain partners are enjoying many benefits from SC collaboration. Primary benefit mentioned by all chain partners is Customer satisfaction. In supply chain ,Supplier want to satisfy their customer (i.e. manufacturer) and manufacturer want end user to be satisfied. So for this purpose they must be aware of what customer expects from the product or service and then make efforts to meet their expectations . SC manager ,supplier and retailer do not share the same values and beliefs regarding the primary barrier and bridges of supply chain management. SC manager identify human factors as the primary barrier to SC collaborati

Benefits of Linux Operating System

Benefits of Linux Operating System TASK 01 Evaluate the benefit of Linux operating system as interoperable and alternative NOS for the company in the form of a feasibility report to include the following: The comparative Networking features of Windows and Linux. Interoperability features of Ubuntu with the existing Microsoft Windows Workstations. You need to install Ubuntu on a machine and configure network services for Windows and Linux mainly for file sharing and printing. Necessary screen shots have to be provided. Enumerate the various costs associated with the performance, security, support, and maintenance of the Ubuntu within the bank. Answers What is Windows? Microsoft Windows is a series of computer operating systems and GUIs (Graphical User Interfaces) produced by Microsoft Corporation. Windows was the first operating environment introduced by Microsoft in 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS. Windows was introduced because of the growing interest in Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs). Then Windows dominated the worlds personal computer market, overtaking the Mac OS, which had been introduced previously. Microsoft has introduced two parallel routes in their operating systems. One route is for Home users and the other route is for Professional IT users. The home versions have greater multimedia support and less ability for network and security. But Professional versions have low multimedia capabilities and better networking and security. Windows operating systems are commercial products and we should purchase license in order to use the products. And also the source code of windows products are closed and owned by Microsoft. Linux is a free and open source Operating System referring to Unix-type operating systems originally created by Linus Torvalds with the support of developers all over the world. Linux source code is freely available to everyone and anyone can freely modify and redistribute both commercially and non-commercially. Linux kernel can be defined as one of the best kernels that uses today. And further, many organizations have begun to use Linux based operating systems because of its high security and low cost. Linux is well known for its use in servers. And also Linux can be installed on vast variety of hardware, such as mobile phones, watches, mainframes, supercomputers and etc. Fedora, Suse, Mandriva, Ubuntu, Kubuntu and Red Hat are some popular distributions of Linux. Comparative Features of Windows and Linux Malware Threats Security is a vital feature that every Operating System (OS) should provide. Because operating system is a key requirement of every computer system. Therefore everything depends on it. Malware or Malicious Software is a computer program that is designed by computer criminals in order to damage the systems and theft important information from computer systems. Therefore a network OS should have a thorough security. Without security, the network is vulnerable to larger number of threats. Windows Microsoft Windows OS is the most popular operating system in the world. It runs nearly 90% of desktop computers in the consumer market, and is the main operating system of the vast majority of commercial and institutional users. Therefore this makes windows equipped machines larger target of malware (or malicious software) which is written by computer criminals who want to cause much damage to the system. According to the surveys that conducted by Kaspersky Lab have revealed that more than 11,000 malware programs for windows were discovered just in the second half of 2005. And also nearly one million Windows based computers have been infected with Botnets (Botnet is a small computer program used to control other computers remotely). In windows based computer systems some malware are very hard to remove without using an Anti-Malware program. Linux In year 2006 approximately 800 Linux malware were discovered. Most of the malware are propagated through the Internet. Usually Linux based malware are extremely rare. But there may have a possibility of spreading malware to the Linux based systems if they are connected with Windows based systems. Because of the rarity of malware threats, there is no initial requirement for Anti-Malware programs in Linux based systems. But anti-malware software such as ClamAV and Panda Security are rarely used for Linux servers for more security. Resource Sharing Computer Network is a set of interconnected computers that is used to share resources such as printers, scanners, information, storage and etc. Therefore operating systems should support for reliable resource sharing. Reliable resource sharing increases the networks performance. Linux and Windows belong to two different platforms. Though they provide different facilities, they provide they initial requirements of a network. Usually Linux performs well for file sharing and Windows performs well for Printer, Scanner and other hardware resources sharing. Cost For desktop or home use, Linux is very cheap or free, and Windows is so expensive. For sever use, Linux is very cheap when comparing with Windows. Microsoft allows a single copy of Windows to be used on only one computer. In contrast, once we have purchased Linux, we can run it on any number of computers for no additional change. For instance in year 2005, Windows XP Professional Edition was sold for $200 and Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition with 10 Client licenses was sold for $1,100. But we can download Linux distributions freely from their web sites. Otherwise we can purchase a assorted distributions of Linux in a box with CD and manuals and technical support for around $40 to $80. Bugs All software has and will have bugs (programming mistakes). Linux has a reputation for fewer bugs than Windows. Windows is developed by faceless programmers whose programming mistakes in Windows are hidden from the outside world because Microsoft does not publish the particular source code for Windows. Microsoft believe that their source code as a trade secret. In contrast, Linux is developed by hundreds of programmers all over the world. They publish the source code of the operating system to the world. Therefore it is stronger and less vulnerable for threats. That is why most of the organizations use Linux for their networks. Linux is getting update from many talented programmers all over the world. Network Configuration When comparing with Linux network configuration, Windows configuration is easier. Because of generally Windows is based on GUI (Graphical User Interface). Therefore anyone can understand Windows based network configuration without having much knowledge. But Linux is generally based on Command Line or Terminal and there should have a good knowledge about Linux in order to implement a network by using Linux. File System In Windows based systems the support NTFS, FAT, ISO 9660, UDF and others. But in Linux based systems they use ext2, ext3, ext4, ReiserFS, FAT, ISO 9660, UDF, NFS, JFS, XFS, and others. When comparing with Windows, Linux supports for many file systems. But now Windows has 3rd party drivers for ex2, ex3, ReiserFS, HFS and others. System Stability Windows operating systems based on the NT kernel and it much more stable than the other older versions of Windows. But if we are using unsigned or beta drivers, it can lead to decreased system stability. Linux window manager is a key component of X-Windows based GUI system and can be highly stable. Mechanisms used to terminate badly behaving applications exist at multiple levels, such as Ksysguard and the kill command. If the GUI fails Linux can use a text based system. This feature is a powerful feature in Linux for network stability. Interoperability features of Fedora 12 with Windows Within this task I used Fedora 12 instead of Ubuntu. Windows and Fedora belong to two different platforms. Therefore their mechanisms are different. That is why the feature interoperability is needed. Interoperability can be defined as the ability to work with each other. In order to exchange messages between each different platform reliably without any errors or misunderstandings, there should have a common background between each platform. Likewise Windows and Linux (or Fedora 12) also has that kind of common grounds that support for exchange messages between each platform. Samba Samba can be defined as a re-implementation of SMB/CIFS networking protocols. It was developed by Australian Andrew Tridgell. It provides various facilities for file and printer sharing between Windows, UNIX and UNIX like systems such as Linux, Solaris, AIX, and Apples Mac OS X server systems. Samba runs on most systems and now it has become a standard of most of the distributions of Linux (such as Fedora, Redhat, Mandriva, Suse and etc). When we need to share files and printers between different platforms such as Windows and Fedora, we should have to configure Samba. That is how we make interoperability between each platform. DHCP DHCP is short for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol, a protocol used for assigning dynamic IP addresses to devices on a network. With a dynamic addressing, a device can have a different IP addresses every time it connects to the network. Though some systems and devices are allow to change the IP addresses while it is still connected, DHCP also supports a mix of static and dynamic IP addresses. DHCP simplifies the network administration because the DHCP server keeps the track of IP addresses rather than requiring an administrator to manage the task. I consider that the DHCP is also an interoperability feature because it can assign IP addresses to any platform such as Windows and Fedora. When a LAN network has a mixture of a Windows and Linux based computers, DHCP can assign IP addresses to all computers without a barrier of the platform. X Windows System The X Windows system is a windowing graphical user interface that almost, but completely, entirely unlike Microsoft Windows and the Macintosh. This X Windows System is an open, client/server system that for managing a windowed graphical user interfaces in distributed network. Earlier UNIX based systems used Shell as an interface. Shell is an inbuilt special program that allows users to enter commands in a CLI or Command Line Interface. But the new versions of UNIX-like systems heavily use X Windows as a Windows like graphical user interface. Earlier it was very difficult to work with Windows and Linux through CLIs. Because of Window was completely GUI (Graphical User Interface) and Linux was completely CLI. But now the new distributions of Linux come with the X-Windows capability. Therefore now the both systems can work more reliably and easily as a whole. X Windows is also an interoperability feature that is provided by Fedora 12 in order to work with windows systems much easily. TCP/IP TCP/IP shorts for Transmission Control Protocol and Internet Protocol. Generally it is a protocol suit that is used for the internet. It provides easy communication across different platforms and provide basis for the global internet. And also it can be defined as a basic communication language or protocol of the Internet. It can also be used as a communications protocol in a private network (either an intranet or extranet). When we set up with direct access to internet, our computer is provided with a copy of the TCP/IP program just as every other computer that we may send messages to or get information from also has a copy of TCP/IP. In an intranet there may have computers with different platforms such as Windows and Linux. But using TCP/IP protocol we can connect these computers. Both Windows and Linux distributions support for TCP/IP. Therefore it can also be considered as an interoperability feature of Windows and Linux. DNS DNS is Short for Domain Name System. DNS is an Internet service that translates domain names into IP addresses. Because domain names are alphabetic, theyre easier to remember. The internet is based on IP addresses. Every time when we use a domain name, DNS server must translate the name into the particular IP address. In intranets also some organizations use DNS servers to name their network computers. Though it is a Windows based computer or a Linux system, it carries out its task perfectly. Because DNS also has a interoperability feature to work with different platforms. Enumerate the cost associated with the Performance, Security,Support and Maintenance of Fedora 12 within the Bank. For this Task I used Fedora 12 instead of using Ubuntu. Because Ubuntu do not have an inbuilt a Samba server facilities and it should be downloaded as a third party tool. But Fedora 12 has those facilities for printer and file sharing. Performance Performance is a vital part of a network. The efficiency of a network depends on the hardware and software performance. To the banks network I used one of the distributions of Linux called Fedora 12 as the NOS (Network Operating System). Generally Linux based operating systems are lightweight and need low performances. As the other distributions of Linux, Fedora 12 is also a lightweight operating system that requires low performance hardware. Bank is a place where many transactions are taken place every second across their branches and other networks. Therefore the banks network should be stable and reliable. Due to these reasons a bank should use trusted and reliable hardware and software in order to increase their network performances. Usually the costs of network devices are relatively high in the modern market. And also the network operating systems like Windows are extremely expensive. Therefore by using a free and open source OS like Fedora 12 we can reduce the money wastage. Further it does not need high performance computers for installation and does not consume lots of hard disk space like Windows does. Fedora 12 provides online updations and does not have a limit on installation. One copy of Windows can be installed to a one computer only. Otherwise we have to buy license. But Fedora 12 can be installed to any number of computers without any limitations. According to those above reasons I think that Fedora 12 provides good performances and also it is more cost effective when comparing with Windows. Security Security is a key requirement of a network. Otherwise anyone and any malware can attack and theft the important information from the network. Therefore OS (Network Operating System) developers try to increase OSs security features. If theres no security within an OS, then it is totally fails. Fedora 12 is a distribution of Linux and it is categorized as Free and Open Source Software. Linux based systems and their source codes are freely available to anyone and can be modified as required. Fedora 12 has also been developed by many programmers all over the world and it is a strong operating system. But windows based systems are commercial OSs and they do not publish their source code to the public. Therefore it is developed by limited programmers and there security is also limited. That is why we need third party security tools to protect windows based systems. The third party trusted and reliable Anti-Virus guards or third party security systems are more expensive and it is an additional cost to the windows based systems. But Fedora 12 has a strong in-built security mechanism (but Windows dont have) such as DPI (Data Packet Inspection) and ISD (Intrusion Detection System). Because it is developed by many programmers all over the world. Therefore it doesnt need any third party virus guards. The cost for additional security efforts has reduced in Fedora 12. Therefore Fedora 12 is a cost effective operating system when comparing with Windows. And also it is the best choice for a cost effective banks network system. Support Computer operating systems and other software are not 100% perfect. That is why the manufactures provide support for their products. When a problem is taken place in a system, we can get the manufacturers support to solve the problem. And also manufactures provide patches and other updations to reduce the vulnerabilities of their products. Microsoft Windows also provide free updations and online support for their products after they are purchased. Though Windows provides free online support services for their products without any payments, Fedora and other Linux based operating systems do not provide free support services. If we need to get a support from Linux based system, we should pay some amount of money for their service. But they provide 24 hours update service for their products. In Fedora should have to pay for their services. Though the support service is not cost effective for the bank, the OS is totally free for download. Maintenance After installation and Configuration every computer system need to be well maintained. Windows systems are much easy to maintain because it doesnt need well trained persons (compared with Linux). But Linux systems are more complex and cannot install, configure and maintain if theres no knowledge of it. In order to maintain the Fedora system in the bank, the bank needs a well trained personnel or network administrator. Anyone cannot maintain a Linux system; therefore the cost of a Linux based network system administrator is higher when comparing with a Windows Network System Administrator. Manufactures support is always need for system maintenance. But we need to buy the service advices in Fedora form its manufacture. TASK 02 Research and produce a comprehensive project plan for the implementation of a VPN within the company. This should include the following: A brief overview of current VPN technologies (both hardware and software). Design a suitable VPN using appropriate Internet Service Providers (IPS) for the requirements of the bank. Identify and list the hardware and software required to implement the banks VPN. Produce a schedule for the implementation of the VPN, detailing the installation of any necessary hardware, network operating system upgrades and associated applications software required. Write a section of the report on the responsibilities and level of service required from an ISP in order to implement a successful VPN within the company. Answers Although the topic VPN or a Virtual Private Network is a much complex subject in networking field, the basic idea of a VPN is quite simple. A corporation may have a number of officers (or group of officers) in different locations, and each of these locations can have its own local network. In many corporations there are many employees working remotely by connecting to the corporations local network at home or on the road. And also business partners can join together in extranets to share business information. Interconnecting these separate networks and locations over a public network is called a VPN or a Virtual Private Network. The apparent simplicity of VPN makes us think that it is a simple concept. But there is an ever-increasing number of VPN types, and a huge range of technologies for implementing VPNs are available today. This makes us easy to decide the most appropriate VPN solution for our need. The most common way to interconnect sites has been to use ATM or Frame Relay (FR) leased lines supplied by a service provider. The following parts of this task describe the VPN technologies, cost effective hardware and software solutions and responsibilities and level of services required from the ISP (Internet Service Provider). VPN Technologies As I mentioned above, VPN is a complex subject in networking. Therefore different sort of VPN technologies are introduced for different purposes. These technologies provide secure and cost effective solutions for telecommuters, home based workers, road warriors, remote sales people, mobile executives and also for global business. Within this task I expect to provide a short description about the current VPN technologies that are widely used today. I divide these technologies into two major parts such as Hardware Technologies and Software Technologies. According to my perception, I believe that the VPN protocols that are used to establish a VPN connection should also be a part of the software technologies. Because these protocols are created by using specialized algorithms and programming languages. Therefore I consider those protocols as Software Technologies within this task. Software Technologies PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol) PPTP (Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol) and L2TP (Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol) protocol technologies are heavily based on this PPP (Point-to-Point protocol) technology. PPP was designed to send data across dial-up or dedicated connections. PPP technology is used to encapsulate IP packets within PPP frames and then transmits the encapsulated packets across a point-to-point link. PPP was specially designed to use between dial-up clients and NASs (Network Attached Storage). PPTP (Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol) PPTP is one of VPNs first protocols built on PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol) to provide remote access for VPN solutions. PPTP technology encapsulates PPP frames in IP datagrams using GRE or Generic Routing Protocol. PPTP uses authentication techniques within PPP. PPTP can be used for remote access and router-to-router VPN connections. The Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) uses TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) connection for tunnel management and GRE for encapsulation. L2F (Layer Two Forwarding Protocol) L2F was designed to transmit data from corporate sites to their users by using tunnels. This protocol or VPN technology was first implemented in CISCO products. L2F doesnt depend on IP and its the only way that it differs from PPTP. This protocol accepts other authentication mechanisms and allows tunnels to support more than one connection. L2F uses PPP for authenticate the remote user and its done twice at the ISP and then the second at the gateway to the connecting LAN. This is a Layer-2 protocol and handles IPX and NetBEUI as well. L2TP (Layer Two Tunneling Protocol) L2TP is a combination of L2F and PPTP and it exists in the second layer of the OSI reference model. That is why it named as Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol. L2TP is defied for packet media, Frame relay, ATM and X.25. It has its own tunneling protocol and uses PPPs PAP and other advanced mechanisms for authentication. Its encryption method is based on IPSec (Internet Protocol Security). IPSec (Internet Protocol Security) IPSec is a solution for VPN security and it exists in the third layer of the OSI reference model. IPSec uses number of encryption technologies to provide confidentiality and integrity of data. IPSec allows senders to authenticate and encrypt each packet. There are two modes of IPSec such as Transport mode and Tunnel mode. These two modes depend on the situation of security and traffic. Transport mode authenticates and encrypts the transport segment of an IP packet, and tunnel mode authenticates and encrypts the whole IP packet. VPN Client Software VPN Client software provides protected access to corporate resources via wireless, broadband, and dial-up connections with robust encryption and broad support across multiple connection types. Most of the modern VPN software simplifies the configurations of security policies and management of certificates through its graphical user interface. Microsoft, Netgear, Stone Gate and CISCO are some popular manufactures for VPN client software (But each of these manufactures use different sort of technologies to implement these VPN client software). Hardware Technologies VPN Router In network communication, data are transferred in the form of packets. Usually a router is a hardware device or a computer that looks at the IP packets and decides how to forward it. Routers operate at the network layer of the OSI reference model and that is used to connect networks or connect the networks to the internet. When a packet is received from the NIC (Network Interface Card) card, the router reads the IP address on the packet and forwards it to the appropriate network interface. The packet forwarding depends on the IP address and routing information that contains in the packet header. Even if the network architecture differs, the router has the capability to connect them. Though it can connect different network architectures, I cannot transform data from one data format to another (TCP/IP to IPX/SPX). Software for VPN router functions or normal router functions can be added to a server or a specialized computer that is optimized for communication. VPN Concentrator VPN Concentrator is a device that is used to combine several communications channels into one. And also it is further used to tie multiple terminals together into one line. Although a device called Multiplexor carries out the same function as VPN concentrator, the total bandwidth of the concentrators inputs is not equals to its outputs. The concentrator has the ability to store data temporary but the multiplexor does not have this ability. An Ethernet hub, which is a multiport repeater, is sometimes called as a concentrator. VPN Gateway Although a VPN Gateway can be implemented as both Hardware and Software, I consider this as a hardware technology because for the ease of categorization. VPN Gateway is a device (can be a Hardware/Software) that is used to convert packets from one network protocol to another. Gateway acts as an entry and exit point of data where some kind of processing is done on the information that passes through it. Sometimes the VPN Gateway also called as a router or Layer 3 Switch. Gateway is a device that is used to join two networks together. It can be implemented completely in hardware, completely in software or as a combination of both. VPN Firewalls Firewall can be implemented as both hardware and software or as a combination of both. But I included VPN Firewalls in the VPN Hardware category because for the ease of categorization. Network security is a major need of an organization. Firewall is one such solution that allows the computer to prevent unauthorized access of any application on the computer. Firewalls monitor traffic in the computer or the network. This monitoring can be done by the software in the computer or router. When using a VPN in an organization, the organization has a great requirement of using a firewall solution. Because of there may have a possibility of unauthorized access to the organizations confidential information. By using VPN firewall technology we can reduce the outside threats. Even though the above technologies directly look like just software and hardware, they all have a complex technology encapsulated within them. The above VPN technologies are widely used within the modern VPNs. Description of Banks VPN Due to the requirements of the bank I designed a VPN that provides cost effective networking solutions. The bank needs their agents and branches to connect to the banks network secure through VPN. Therefore I designed a network that provides the above facilities. When designing the banks network I assumed that the particular bank is the head office and the agent is another organization. Although the bank may have many agents and branches, Ive mentioned only one agent and a one branch within this network overview. Banks head office is the place where many of the confidential information about the transactions are stored. Therefore its network should be more secure than any other else. According to my VPN design I connected the banks network to the internet through an ISP (Internet Service Provider) in order to get the VPN access. The bank connects with the ISP directly using a VPN Router (this router is highly configured and cannot be accessed by the unauthorized VPN clients). Then I added a DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) in order to secure the LAN network from the unauthorized access. If the File server was implemented within the DMZ, it may vulnerable to the threats and there may have a possibility of information thefts. Therefore I implemented the File Server far away from the DMZ and its secured with two highly configured firewalls. Though someone can get into the DMZ in order to access the Web Server, he/she cannot penetrate the other firewall without proper authenticate information. All the co mputers within the Banks network can access the WEB server and File server according to their assigned privileges. Other agents and branches have rights to access the banks network (using Router to Router connection). Even though the VPN Routers and Firewalls (Hardware) are much expensive, they provide a great security to the Bank network. In order to reduce the software cost I recommend free and open source software for both servers and clients such as Linux, Open Office and etc. Hardware and Software required to implement the banks VPN According to my VPN design I need several kinds of software and hardware to implement the network. Therefore Ive chosen some products to which supports for VPN. Some products are little bit expensive but provide high security and reliable service to the banks network. When choosing the software to the network implementation, Ive chosen some widely needed software. Hardware VPN Router SMC Barricade VPN BR21VPN Router SMCBR21VPN The Barricade router which has built-in VPN support is an ideal networking solution for VPN. This router consists of load balancing WAN ports, DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) port and a 10/100 LAN port. It has a built in firewall to protect the network from the edge. This router supports protocols such as TCP/IP, VPN connections with PPTP and IPSec. The in-built firewall provides a great protection against DOS attacks (Denial of Service attacks) and also it provides flexible Access Control. This router has the ability to access remote corporate network securely through an authenticated and encrypted tunnel over the internet. Switch NetGear Pro-Safe switch is suitable for high-speed network on a small scale. This switch consists of five auto-speed-sensing 10/100/1000 Mbps UTP ports. And also this it has the capability to handle huge workloads (this feature is more useful because of the Web Server is connected to this switch within my VPN design). This switch can move large files across the network instantly and let devices to connect to the network painlessly. The metal chassis protects the interior working parts from physical damages. Hub Cisco FastHub 424 Ethernet Hub (WS-C424M) The CISCO FastHub 424 10/100 of high-performance Fast Ethernet repeaters deliver unmatched flexibility and low-cost managed connectivity to the desktop. The FastHub 424 10/100 provides ultra low-cost 10/100 autosensing desktop connectivity where dedicated bandwidth is not required. The FastHub 424 will be deployed as a high-performance solution for providing 10/100 Fast Ethernet connectivity to the desktop. This hub provides dedicated connections over extended distance (up to 2Kms) to upstream switches or routers. Firewall NetGear ProSafe FVS338 Firewall supports for 50 VPN Tunnels for Encrypted Remote Access. This VPN firewall with 8 Port 10/100 switch and Dial Back-up is an SNMP-Manageable, High Performance network solution that furnishes multidimensional security. Broadband capable VPN firewall comes with connection ins