High School and Graduation Essay

Time gets closer to the day we move our tassels from senior to graduate. Graduation steps on the back of our heels like the annoying freshman running late for class. It acts as if it is going to creep up on us, but we all know it will be here soon. It tip-toes in the back of our minds. Graduation: a day of freedom, maturity, and proof that nobody is any better than another. â€Å"There are many different ways of following through†¦ Sometimes it’s about going there, not getting there. Sometimes it’s the journey that teaches you a lot about your destination. â€Å" –Drake. This quote says a lot. He actually spoke at a graduation, and told that graduation class this same thing. This quote reaches out to me because I know my journey will be a rough journey. Becoming the person I want to be after high school is a journey all its own. I hope I get to where I want to be. Even if I do not, I have learned. Although graduation is only a few months away, I am getting nervous. I am nervous. But graduation day will be the day I go from high school student to adult. Age is just a number. Intelligence proves adulthood. I am proud to say I am looking forward to graduation day. I am looking forward to becoming an adult. I am looking forward to taking that next step in my life. I want the rest of my class to be as ready and nervous as I am because I will not feel alone. I know I am not the only one who feels this way. Every senior all around the United States is put in this position. We all do the same thing. We all walk onto that stage, shake hands, smile, wait for a picture and walk off with our high school diplomas in hand. Adults and older siblings did not lie when they told me that my four years of high school will be the best four years of my life. I have had an amazing four years. I have lost friends, gained friends, met some amazing people, and even met some people that I did not want to meet. I got put in positions I was not sure I was mature enough to handle. I handled them though. I got forced to make choices I did not know I needed to make on my own, but I made them and I know I made the right ones because of the person I am today. I am already ready to walk on that stage and smile. Smile big for those who made choices that caused them to not be able to walk with me. I smile for the  people who have tried to bring me down in life so far. And most of all I smile for myself, I smile because I made it. I made it to this graduation day; a day full of freedom, maturity, and proof that nobody is any better than me.

Carbonated Beverages

CARBONATED BEVERAGE INDUSTRY CASE ANALYSIS Team 4 Marketing Management/MGT-704 19 November, 2011 CARBONATED BEVERAGE INDUSRTY CASE ANAYLSIS Hypothetical Market Structure provides four different categories an industry can be classified. Each category identifies a specific role a target market is classified. The carbonated beverage industry is no different. It has four target markets and they are classified as market leader, market challenger, market follower and market nichers (Kotler & Keller, 2009, p. 301). The market leader is usually one company that â€Å"has the largest market share†¦ and usually leads the other [companies] in price changes, new-product introductions, distribution coverage and promotional intensity† (Kotler & Keller, 2009, p. 301). The market challenger â€Å"sets high aspirations† to market their resources to meet or exceed the market leader (Kotler & Keller, 2009, p. 308). The market follower’s strategy is â€Å"product imitation† of the market leader (Kotler & Keller, 2009 p. 310). The market nichers are different from the market leader, the market challenger and the market follower. The market niches are leaders in small markets that the other three marketers are not interested in developing specific products for. The Hypothetical Market Structure for the carbonated beverage industry is the Coca-Cola Company is the market leader. PepsiCo Inc. is the market challenger. Dr, Pepper Snapple Group (distributer of RC Cola) is the market follower and a market nicher is the Jones Soda Co (Beverageworld, n. d. ). The carbonated beverage industry is very competitive. The Coca-Cola Company is the carbonated beverage market leader and PepsiCo Inc. s the market challenger striving to increase its market share by creating a comparable but yet slight different products in which customers feel is better and have more value. The competition between market leader and challenge is severe. Both companies’ prices are very competitive and comparable, they offer carbonated beverage products that include cola based drinks, they distribute to similar markets and both have extensi ve marketing campaigns for their own products, as well as, campaigning against each other. It is these reasons we see the most dynamics of competition between the market leader and the market challenger. The Dr. Pepper Snapple Group (distributer of RC Cola) is the market follower to Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo. Inc. This is shown by how the pricing of Dr. Pepper Snapple Group is the same or less than the Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo Inc. The advertising campaign is minor and new products are not being developed the same as compared to the market leader and market challenger The Jones Soda Co. is a market nicher. It â€Å"incorporated unique marketing initiatives in its strategy† and was â€Å"recognized and awarded for its unique packaging that features constantly changing labels† (Jones Soda Co. n. d. ). It does not compete against the other three markets because it creates a customized product for a small niche group and not the masses. Therefore, while the Coca-Cola Company is the market leader, PepsiCo Inc. is the market challenger, the Dr, Pepper Snapple Group is the market follower and Jones Soda Co is a market nicher there is a lot of opportunity for all the d ifferent types of carbonated beverage industries and combining the right target market to a product is the key to market success. References: Beverageworld. (October 2011). Citing Websites. Worldwide 100. Retrieved November 16, 2011, from http://www. beverageworld. com/userfiles/documents/BB_Top_100. pdf. Jones Soda Corporation. (n. d. ). Citing Websites. About Jones Soda. Retrieved November 16, 2011, from http://www. jonessoda. com/company/about-us. Kotler, P. , & Keller, K. L. (2009). Marketing Management 13th Edition (Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, 07458) 301-312.

Pros and/or Cons of Stand Your Ground Law Essay

The infamous George Zimmerman case has stirred the controversy around Stand Your Ground laws and brought these laws to the public light, becoming the subject of vigorous nationwide debates whether these laws should be repealed or not. Like many controversial legislative, Stand Your Ground laws have their critics and proponents, and both sides tend to make valid points in defense of their position. The goal of this paper is to show cons and pros of Stand Your Ground laws. In Florida as well as 21 other American states, as stated by to the National Conference of State Legislatures, the above-mentioned laws are self-defense laws that relieve individuals of their â€Å"duty to retreat from an attacker before using force against them anywhere they are legally allowed to be† (Clark). While in general these laws do not use such a notion as â€Å"stand your ground† specifically, Florida together with nine other states has these words in its law. In Stand Your Ground law in Florida, particularly, it is stated that â€Å"a person who is not engaged in an unlawful activity and who is attacked in any other place where he or she has a right to be has no duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground and meet force with force, including deadly force, if he or she reasonably believes it is necessary to do so to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony† (qtd. in Clark). The major con of this law, as its critics think, is that it essentially gives individuals with malicious intent a legal loophole to avoid criminal prosecution for killing someone if these individual state that they had to defend themselves. Eric Holder, the US Attorney General, is among those opponents of Stand Your Ground laws who believe that these laws will allow individuals to provoke others to attack them first and then, as it can be deemed self-defense and these individuals will not have the duty to retreat, they will be able to kill them without fear of getting prosecuted (Cooke). In states with Stand Your Ground laws, people will not have to think twice whether they should use weapons to defend themselves against the attackers or retreat because they will have the right to kill their attackers. Such violence will breed further violence. Criminals may use this law to cover up the deliberate and premeditated killing of people. However, proponents of this law may respond to the above-mentioned claims of their counterparts as follows. This  critique of Stand Your Ground crumbles under the weight of the argument that â€Å"In almost every state, if and when an individual enters into an altercation with the deliberate intention of provoking the other party into threatening him with death or injury, they lose the right to claim that they were acting in self-defense† (Cooke). All individuals have the right to liberty and life and therefore, they have the right to defend themselves. Those who attack people violate their victims’ rights to live, so Stand Your Ground laws legally recognize these rights, attempting to â€Å"tilt the balance in favor of the attacked† (Cooke). Both, the opponents and proponents of Stand Your Ground laws have reasonable and sound arguments, but they need to find some middle ground regarding these laws that will satisfy both sides. Works Cited Clark, Korey. Nearly Half of States Have â€Å"Stand Your Ground† Laws like Florida’s. 2013. Web. 28 Nov. 2013. http://www.lexisnexis.com/legalnewsroom/criminal/b/criminal-law-blog/archive/2013/07/24/nearly-half-of-states-have-quot-stand-your-ground-quot-laws-like-florida-39-s.aspx. Cooke, Charles C.W. Stand Your Ground on Stand Your Ground. 2013. Web. 28 Nov. 2013 .

'Rage and Reason in a World of Manifestos' Essay

'Rage and Reason in a World of Manifestos' - Essay Example The Polemic Debord’s thesis in "The Society of the Spectacle" is that, â€Å"in societies where modern conditions of production prevail, all of life presents itself as an immense accumulation of spectacles. Everything that was directly lived has moved away into a representation.† (Debord, 1967) Debord provides a critique of the consumer society, with conspicuous consumption and packaged identities related to advertising and marketing images in contemporary culture. Formative Assessment Debord’s critique in "The Society of the Spectacle" was a formative influence on Baudrillard and others who developed post-modern media studies through the lens of semiotics. In understanding the use of symbols, signs, icons, and archetypes in mass-media advertising, the artist or designer can bring a critical method into the work that promotes reform and change through awareness of situationist themes. Discussion Debord states, â€Å"The spectacle is not a collection of images, b ut a social relation among people, mediated by images.† (Debord, 1967) One can consider this in the later critique of Noam Chomsky as this relates to the control of media discourse and the manufacture of consent for war and imperialism through propaganda techniques that relate to not only political discussion, but also the â€Å"lifestyle choices† that are pre-packaged and ideologically constructed. Debord’s critique can go towards the recognition of cultural hegemony in mass-media communications, and charts new territory in film and cinema in sampling surrealist, dada, and other modernist methodologies into a new form of expression. â€Å"The root of the spectacle is that oldest of all social specializations, the specialization of power. The spectacle plays the specialized role of speaking in the name of all the other activities. It is hierarchical society’s ambassador to itself, delivering its official messages at a court where no one else is allowed to speak. The most modern aspect of the spectacle is thus also the most archaic.† (Debord, 1967) One aspect this relates to is cultural hegemony and the viral means of propagation for critical strains of analysis. These critiques can also challenge cultural hegemony by the sampling and re-contextualizing the images of the mainstream culture into a new frame of reference, as Debord did in his film of the book. That philosophy is generally not filmed outside of surrealism is a bias, Debord goes to show the underlying patterns of belief that are unconscious in the mass-produced images of mass-communications, and how they also relate to authority and control. Debate In the second part of the book, Debord writes, â€Å"The spectacle is the moment when the commodity has attained the total occupation of social life.† (Debord, 1967) In the theory of transcendence related to symbols and signs, the signs are objects themselves pointing to other objects. In this manner, a type of ob jectification of being occurs in this critique, contrasted by transcendent activities such as free expression, true love, nature, poetry, ecstasy... romantic ideals in some manner repackaged in a post-modernist critique. Situationism as an outgrowth or evolution of Surrealism, dada, and critical theory as it relates to Marxism makes it a unique cultural expression at the formative point of the post-modern philosophy and aesthetic. Influence on professional practice The situationist

Security Technology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Security Technology - Essay Example Security cameras are one aspect of business security that is commonly used across many different business types. Often a number of video cameras transmit their signals to a specific point, frequently a set of monitors. This system is known as closed-circuit television (CCTV) the name derives from the fact that although a television signal is produced it is not transmitted openly, and as a consequence cannot be picked up by exterior parties (Levine, 2000). The term CCTV can be technically used to refer to most types of video cameras; however, it is generally used to apply to those that are involved in security applications (Introna, 2000). In retail stores, CCTV systems are often used for security, monitoring both consumers and employees with the aim of preventing crime from occurring and for catching and prosecuting those that are involved in criminal acts within the store. I have worked at Best Buy since I was 17 years of age beginning in the sales department, and currently am the Security/Loss Prevention Manager for my store. This role comes with a high amount of responsibility and I take pride in doing my job well and ensuring that my staff do also. Throughout my career at Best Buy one aspect of technology which I have used extensively and consider crucial to my work is the CCTV network of security cameras which is present as part of our store security system. CCTV plays a significant role in maintaining the security of our store, and is helpful in a number of other aspects. Most importantly the CCTV system allows the monitoring of both consumers and employees behavior from a distance. Even though the presence of security cameras throughout the store is a well known fact, many people forget that the cameras are operating or hope that they are in a blind spot and act in a manner which they would not wish to be observed in. The most common example of t his is theft. The CCTV network is very useful for determining when and where shoplifting or acts of fraud occur, and as the system records the footage, it can then play a role in identifying thieves, in proving that an individual stole from the store, as well as providing a key role in internal investigations into employee theft and dishonesty. However, the monitoring of theft and dishonest practice are not the only uses of this powerful technology, it is also used other purposes such as finding lost children, determine the locations of staff members during emergency drills as well as acting as a deterrent to theft. This essay will consider the technology involved in CCTV, its history and how it is used as well as the legal ramifications occur as a consequence, with particular emphasis on the role of CCTV in retail security. Finally I will discuss my own personal experience with CCTV and how it affects my role at Best Buy. History One of the early uses of CCTV occurred in London in 1961 at an underground railway station. The purpose of the system wasn’t security, but was to allow drivers to ensure that the doors of the railway car were clear before they departed the station (Keval & Sasse, 2006). However, CCTV cameras were in use as early as 1940 and the industry has been growing ever since (Mohammed, 2010). The use of CCTV as a means of surveillance for public areas as well as business has become commonplace, and there are many different purposes for CCTV systems. One common example is the use of CCTV as street surveillance, looking for drug related activity, for the identification of missing persons, as well as for identifying any criminal activity (Keval & Sasse, 2006). Within retail stores consumers are observed through CCTV in the in order to look for illegitimate activity or evidence of theft. Monitoring is not limited to

Effects of Food Pricing on Low and Middle Class Americans Essay

Effects of Food Pricing on Low and Middle Class Americans - Essay Example There is a growing the consensus about food prices increase, has been primarily occasioned by three key elements. Firstly, the changes in climatic conditions have been blamed for decreasing farmer's production in the United States. Because of global warming and environmental degradation, the extreme weather conditions have resulted in poor harvest due to reduced rains, harsh snowy conditions that destroy crops and inhibit dairy production in the North America. Consequently, food prices have continued to rise due to fundamental shifts in demand and supply in global markets. The increase in genetically modified foods has resulted in an increase of prices due to expensive technology employed. Besides, many food-processing companies have laid down expensive groundwork leading to high prices of canned food items (French, 841S). In America’s social life, the lower-middle class families are struggling just as the families living in poverty since they cannot be able to afford sufficient diet meals due to increasing pricing on such commodities. With the families not able to purchase enough food for the entire family, it results in food insecurity. Food security is widespread in any American societies living in lower-middle class and who have children (Grossmann and Varnum, 81). Since food price is an essential determinant of diet, it is then likely that these families are unable to feed on balance diet, and their nutritional status is compromised. It is not surprising that these families are only able to access, and buy lowest cost diets and these diets are the least unhealthy in the market. With high food prices in the market, such families are not able to meet their costs hence fail to buy the nutrients dense diets that they need. In the market, the diets that are composed of low energy density rich food products are expensive compared to the ones composed if refined grains with added sugars and fats (Powell and Chaloupka, 229). The increase in food pricing thus creates a barrier for the lower-middle income class of American citizens to access the nutrients dense diets.  

Morris, note on sculpture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Morris, note on sculpture - Essay Example He was in the forefront of art movement in America which included process art and land art. His major works included â€Å"notes on sculpture†, anti-Form, creation of minimalist key exemplars like rectangular beams and cubes which had no figuration. I would characterize Morris’ status in art history as an influential art personality who changed the industry of art. This is due to his works that introduced indeterminacy and temporality in the field of art. According to Morris, (3), Morris defines the most fundamental components of sculpture as to include: mass which has to do with the bulk of the sculpture. This is important because it defines the sculpture’s edges the second one is space. This is that air around the given solid sculpture. It is important for linking separate sculpture parts and defines the sculpture edges. Additionally it can provide areas of emptiness in the sculpture when enclosed by a part of the very sculpture. Color, dimension, flatness and texture may also be some important elements of a sculpture including shape. Gestalt is a term used to refer to a pattern or configuration of elements that are unified as a whole. As such it implies some pattern. Morris used pyramids, cubes and polyhedrons that are regular to achieve this. He asserted that this forms when used can result in to one achieving a very strong sensation of Gestalt. Gestalt, thus he described to be patterns or even configurations that the whole is considered to produce greater significance that is better than when the parts are individually considered and are also different. Gestalt is generally the pattern brought by the whole and not an individual piece of the whole. Indeed Morris claims that sculptures exist in a situation and not as self-contained forms. This he asserts by arguing that sculptures communicate situations that the artist needed to depict (Morris, 17). As

Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Management - Essay Example Knowledge, understanding, skills development, attitude development, synthesis, analysis, comprehension etc are some of the major elements of learning. Knowledge and understanding represents the surface level learning whereas the skills development, attitude development, synthesis, analysis and comprehension etc are the symbols of deep learning. Critical thinking is necessary for the occurrence of deep learning. According to Pavlovich, (2007), Describing the experience, analysis of the experience, creation of new meanings and understandings and actions for change are the four major dimensions of critical thinking (Pavlovich, 2007, p.284). This paper analyses the importance of these dimensions in critical thinking process. Dimensions of critical thinking â€Å"The first dimension is the manner in which experience act as the context for personal learning. Reflection begins with asking the key questions that describe experience† (Pavlovich, 2007, p.283). It is often said that expe rience is the best teacher than anything else in this world. For example, a child who suffers burns from a candle flame may never tries to touch the flame again. What he knows from this experience is that candle flame or fire is extremely dangerous and it may present painful experience. It is not necessary that he may develop deep understanding from this experience. ... At the same time, fire is a useful entity for the human bad side. Critical thinking is the only way for a person to judge the goods and evils associated with things in this world. The second dimension outlined by Pavlovich, (2007) is the mental activity that reviews experience (Pavlovich, 2007, p.283). Moon (1999) defined critical thinking as a â€Å"mental process with purpose and /or outcome in which manipulation of meaning applied is applied to relatively complicated or unstructured ideas in learning† (p.155). It is not necessary that two people who suffered the same problem may learn similar facts. For example, everybody knows that smoking is injurious to health. Plenty of people died in this world because of smoking related diseases. However, only few people stopped smoking after realizing the dangers associated with smoking. There are plenty of people who continue smoking even after realizing the dangers. This is because of the differences in the mental activities of dif ferent people. Some people are ready to learn from the experiences whereas others are reluctant to learn from experiences. Some people think on long term basis whereas others think on short term basis. Those who stopped smoking can be labeled as long term thinkers whereas those who continue smoking can be labeled as short term thinkers. Paul & Elder (2002) have mentioned that â€Å"short term thinking, which leads to quick fix solutions, is largely the rule of the day† (Paul & Elder, 2002, p.5). On the other hand, long term thinking helps a person to secure his future even if he faces some short term problems. For example, a poor manager may fire an employee who underperforms, whereas a smart manager guide the employee to improve his

Comparison and contrast essay Anchorage,Alaska and Key West Florida

Comparison and contrast Anchorage,Alaska and Key West Florida - Essay Example Perhaps. Key West, Florida and Anchorage, Alaska may be thousands of miles apart geographically and culturally, but in some ways, they are practically next door neighbors. The first striking difference between these two cities is obviously geography and climate. Key West is the westernmost island of the archipelago known as The Florida Keys. Close proximity to the Tropic of Capricorn and the warm currents of the Caribbean Sea give Key West a balmy average temperature of 82oF. Add to this an annual rainfall of nearly 40 inches per year and you have a pleasant climate capable of supporting a host of interesting vegetation while providing many hours of sunny weather to enjoy the waters surrounding the island. Of course, any city that has taken on the title of â€Å"Southernmost City in America† had better have plenty of warm weather and sunshine to back up their claim. Anchorage, while not the northernmost city in America is a great deal different than Key West. One has no need to look beyond the raw numbers to see that two more different cities could not be found in America in regards to geography and climate. Anchorage boasts and average annual temperature of 35oF with an average annual precipitation of just 16 inches (most of it of the frozen variety)(Hoare, 2008). Though summer days can reach into the mid 70’s, summer and winter weather is unpredictable in Anchorage. 40oF swings in temperature have been known to occur within the space of several hours. Anchorage enjoys long summer days due to its high latitude, but the subarctic climate surrounding the city dissuades most people from spending those summer days swimming in the frigid coastal waters nearby. An additional geographic feature that makes Anchorage much different that Key West is the nearby presence of active volcanoes. Occasional ash accumulation from these volcanoes poses a slight

Reaction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Reaction - Essay Example In my opinion, the number of people killed because of being captivated in the gas chambers and because of gas discharge in the chambers is also not fully known as there are different opinions about the number of killed people. Some say that the number of people reached 4 million; however, other people reject this statement and explain that only 1.1 million died in Auschwitz. Therefore, it cannot be said with accuracy about how many people died in actuality during the World War II in the gas chambers. The gas was not discharged day and night but only for twenty or thirty minutes as what I feel is that the gas was quite harmful and kept the power of killing many at one time and its efficacy maintained till late hours due to which, massive gassing was avoided. Therefore, from the interviews of David Cole, it is quite evident that Auschwitz divided in its three sites was used for massive killing. Works Cited Cole, David and Smith Bradley. David Cole Interviews Dr. Franciszek Piper, Direc tor, Auschwitz State Museum. 1992. Accessed on 24th February 2011 from http://www.codoh.com/gcgv/gcgvcole.html

Project 3 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Project 3 - Assignment Example Make this personal (as opposed to simply providing a book answer). Will you experience the consequence(s) of this behavior anytime soon, or do you not truly see this as a threat to your well-being in the next 5 years? 2. Using your knowledge of nutrition, list 3 advantages of the target behavior you selected. Again, please don’t just provide a book answer. What might changing this behavior provide to you today as opposed to 10 years from now? Is that worth the perceived â€Å"sacrifice† of changing whatever it is you’re currently doing? Why or why not? 7. Start to recognize any successes you have had in practicing this behavior, no matter how small. Look over the records you kept and/or assessments you completed. When were you successful in following the desired behavior even a little? Why do you think you were successful? 9. Increasing your knowledge of the advantages of practicing this behavior and/or the disadvantages of failing to do so can help motivate you for change. Using what you have learned in class so far, and/or other resources as needed, write a paragraph describing how you will benefit from making your target behavior a part of your lifestyle. If you need help finding a resource to help you, contact your instructor. 4. What are some of the obstacles that you have encountered that make it difficult to consistently practice this behavior? (Common obstacles are stress, lack of time, travel, and boredom.) List each of the obstacles you encounter (or anticipate encountering) and write one or more potential solutions to keep this obstacle from getting in your way of achieving your

The Role of Itil Essay Example for Free

The Role of Itil Essay 1. Within an IT support help desk environment, describe the role of ITIL standards in the provision of quality IT service management. An ITIL Service Desk uses a standard set of best practices for lowering costs and improving the quality of IT service delivery. The aim of a Service Desk is to act as the operational interface between the IT organization and its customers, for achieving an organization’s goals. An ITIL Service Desk isn’t only concerned with taking and responding to calls, but also managing the entire lifecycle of the request as it evolves through other relevant processes. For example, a call may start as a simple incident which may then turn into a problem which is also related to several other incidents. 2. The areas in which professional institutions operate extend beyond simply representing their members. Discuss briefly two examples of this. Professional institutions operate in more than representing their members. Other areas in which professional institutions operate are setting standards; one way they do this is by setting and enforcing standards of behaviour for its members. Normally this is done through some formal code of conduct or ethics. They also advise government. 3. Depending upon your job role within an organisation, certain professional institutions may be more suitable to support you. Identify two roles and discuss which Professional Institution would be most appropriate. The roles I have chosen are computer programmers and software analysts. A computer programmer writes computer software. The term computer programmer can refer to a specialist in one area of computer programming or to a generalist who writes code for many kinds of software. A software analyst is the person who studies the software application domain and prepares the software requirements and specification document. Software analyst is the connection between the software users and the software developers. It conveys the demands of the software users to the developers. The most suitable Professional Institution would be the IAP (The Institution of Analysts and Programmers) based in London. This would be the most  appropriate institution because the deal mainly in analysts and programmers. 4. Explain the range of ITIL standards available to practitioners. Release and Control, Support and Restore, and Agree and Define are three standards available. The Release and Control path to certification focuses on change management, release management, and configuration management. The Support and Restore path focuses on incident management, service desk processes, and problem management. The Agree and Define path focuses on service level management, and financial management. 5. Describe a typical hierarchy within a computing/IT department of an organisation and the types of professional development offered by professional institutions to support progression of the individual. There are many different types of hierarchy used in it/computing departments, one example is a human resources department. Director In the HR department hierarchy, the director oversees all functions. His duties include creating personnel policies and developing an employee manual. The director position also handles all personnel issues that may harm to the companys reputation. Directors ensure all necessary training programs are in place for new employees and existing staff members. This position answers to the company owner or vice president of the division, depending on the size of your company. Human resource division heads or managers report to the director. Management Division heads, managers and fist-line supervisors manage the day-to-day duties of human resource employees. Managers supervise analysts who may specialize in sections, such as compensation, benefits, recruiting, hiring, diversity and training. In smaller HR offices, some sections can be combined. Managers ensure that programs developed by the director are properly implemented and employee handbooks are regularly updated. Managers also directly handle sensitive HR (Human Resources) issues, such as discrimination complaints, so that lower-level employees are not included in the process. Specializing Analysts Each section in the Human Resources hierarchy contains analysts who are trained in specialized areas and report to management. Some positions conduct compensation studies to ensure that the jobs in a company offer competitive salary and benefits. Recruiting analysts look for the best places to market openings to gain the most qualified and diverse candidates. Benefit employees administer health insurance and retirement plans and workers compensation among other programs offered to employees. The diversity section ensures that the workplace is free from illegal discrimination policies and behaviours, while trainers educate staff on employee laws and other important company information. General Analysts If the business is small the human resources department may consist of a director and one or more analysts who are skilled in all areas. These generalists report to the director and perform the full scope of duties in the department. In a larger company, the generalist position can serve as the entry level before specialization is determined. The generalists spend time in each section while developing knowledge through training and experience. They eventually may be placed in areas where they can grow.

Development of College Announcement Notification System

Development of College Announcement Notification System Chapter 1: Introduction Introduction This project proposal is created to propose an IT solution to the student of Sunway University. The main point that the author want to highlight is regarding the efficiencies for student in Sunway University. An example, inefficiencies that occur in posting the announcement that is post on the website or in the notice board, it is hard to inform to the student and also the staff may also forget to post the announcement that will inconvenient for the student itself. In order to solve those problems, the author proposed to create a website as a third party for the staff to post the announcement. The author feel that only a website is very simple and common nowadays, so to improve the effectiveness and give more efficiency, a SMS (Short Messaging Service) feature is added to the system. Every announcement is posted by the SCT Staffs in the website, a SMS notification will be sent to the student that already registered to the website. The content of the SMS just a brief notification abou t the title of the event, venue and time, for more brief detail the students can refer to the website. Other way to notify the students is used Email as an instant notifier, but consider using email as an instant notifier is not really effective because students didnt open their email every day but using the SMS as the instant notifier to notify the students are more effective because most of the student is own and bring their own cell phone, therefore the MS as an instant notifier is more appropriate. Since the advancement of the technology nowadays, using this system will help in reduce the paper usage. Project Objective To give efficiencies for staff of Sunway University who want to post announcement. To use SMS as an instant notifier, for example every announcement post on the website the student will receive a SMS about the annoncement. In long term of view, this system will help in notify student about things that happen in college. Project Scope To become the most useful media for announcement notification. When the system is run it involves the Sunway University students and staffs that want to use the service. The user of the system should be students of Sunway University and staffs. All users that want to use the system have to become member. Methodology Methodology is a formalized approach to implement the SDLC (System Development Life Cycle). There are many different systems development methodologies, and each one is unique based on the order and focus it places on each SDLC phase. Some methodologies are formal standards used y government agencies, while others have been developed by consulting firms to sell to client. Many organizations have internal methodologies that have been honed over the years, and they explain exactly how each phase of the SDLC is to be performed in that company. There are many ways to categorize methodologies. One way is looking at whether they focus on business process or the data that support the business. There are three types of system development methodologies, it is called Structured Design, RAD (Rapid Application Development), and Agile Development. Types of Software Development Methodologies Structured Design This is the first type of system development, it is introduced in 1980s. This methodology adopts the formal step by step approach to the SDLC, it moves logically from one phase to another phase. Waterfall Model This is the original structured design of methodology, with this methodology, the analyst and users proceed in sequence from one phase to the next phase. The key deliverables for each phase are typically very long and are presented to the project sponsor for approval as the project moves from phase to phase. This methodology is referred to as waterfall development because it moves forward from phase to phase in the same manner as a waterfall. Advantages of using waterfall model: It identifies system requirements long before programming begins It minimizes changes to the requirements as the project proceeds. Disadvantages of using waterfall model: The design must be completely specified before programming begins This model required significant rework, if there is a changes in the business environment, in order to going back to the initial phase need to go through each of the subsequent phase in return. Parallel Development This model of methodology attempts to address the problem of long delay between analysis phase and the delivery of the system. Instead of doing design and implementation in sequence, it performs a general design for the whole system and then divides the project into a series of distinct subprojects that can be designed and implemented in parallel. Once all subprojects are complete, there is a final integration of the separate pieces, and the system is delivered. Advantage of using parallel model: It can reduce the schedule time to deliver a system There is less chance of changes in the business environment causing rework Disadvantage of using parallel model: The approach still suffers from problem caused by paper documents It adds new problem, sometimes subprojects arent completely independent; design decisions made in one subproject may affect another subprojects Phased Development In this model, the overall system is divided into a series of version that are developed sequentially. The analysis phase identifies the overall system concept, and the project team, users and system sponsors then categorize the requirement into a series of version. Advantage of using phased model: Quickly getting a useful system into the hands of the users While the system does not perform all the functions the users need at first, it does begin to provide business value sooner than if the system were delivered after completion, as is the case with waterfall or parallel methodology. Disadvantage of using phased model: The users begin to work with the systems that are intentionally incomplete, it is critical to identify the most important and useful feature and include them in the first version, while managing users expectation along the way. Prototyping In this model, it performs the analysis, design and implementation phases concurrently, and all the three phases are performed repeatedly in a cycle until the system is completed. In this methodology, the basics of analysis and design are performed, and work immediately begins on a system prototype, a â€Å"quick and dirty† program that provides a minimal amount of features. Advantage of using prototyping model: It is very quickly provides a system for the users to interact with, even it is not ready for widespread organizational use at first. Reassure the users that the project team is working on the system Helps to more quickly refine real requirements rather than attempting to understand a system specification on paper, the user can interact with the prototype to better understand what it can do and cannot do. Disadvantage of using prototyping model: Its fast paced system releases challenge attempts to conduct careful, methodical analysis. This can cause problems in the development of complex systems because fundamental issues and problems are not recognized until well into the development process. Software Development Methodology Comparison After do research about the types of methodology that is appropriate to be used into the project. The author compared the 4 types of methodology that is compatible with the current development. The following table is the result of using the described methodology to the project. System Characteristic Waterfall Parallel Phased Prototyping Unclear User Requirement Poor Poor Good Excellent Unfamiliar Technology Poor Poor Good Poor Complexity of the System Good Good Good Poor Reliability of the System Good Good Good Poor Short Time Schedule Poor Good Excellent Excellent Schedule Visibility Poor Poor Excellent Excellent Table 1 Methodology Comparison Selecting the appropriate Methodology According to the project objective that the author proposed, author analyze each methodology that is already been researched. The author decides to use the Phased Methodology. The main reason on why the author uses this methodology is because the author would develop this system all by himself and the project will be easier to be built phase by phase. Other considerations in choosing this model are: User Requirement: the requirement of the system is clear, which is to address the problem of inefficiency and ineffectiveness of conventional way in notify the student for announcement. Familiarity with Technology: for designing the website, PHP, VB.Net language technology is going to be used, since it is still in area of the author expertise. System Complexity: the complexity of this project is at medium level, since the author familiar with the technology used in the project so it is not really difficult. However the author still need to do research on certain area of technology, for this case the knowledge of SMS gateway, and how to integrate the web based system with the SMS gateway. Duration: the duration of developing the project is approximately 4 months in order to fully complete the project. Development Method: it is a web based application that is built using the PHP, and VB.NET as the programming language. Area of Research Certain areas that we research for this project are: How to create easy and manageable database system? What is SMS (Short Message Service) portal and SMS (Short Message Service) gateway? How to integrate web based system with SMS portal? How to create easy and manageable database system? This part is one of the crucial parts in order to make a good web based application system. Therefore, creating an easy and manageable database system is really important. The database system that the author used to manage the College Announcement System web based application is MySQL. Several reasons become the consideration of choosing the MySQL software are, first reason is because the main programming language system that the author built is using the PHP technology, and PHP language has an integrated connector that able to connect it to SQL. Second reason, MySQL is open source software so it is free for download, it is will help in determining the project cost development. There is other software which is better than MySQL but looked back at the scope of the project; this is just an undergraduate project, then the author decides that using MySQL software is a wiser choice. The third reason, the author already took the MySQL subject during the study in Sunway University College, which is still in the author expertise. However, if this system wants to be implemented into the real organization, further study to create easy and manageable design is needed. When the project is already on the run, this would be very beneficial in doing maintenance of the application system. How to integrate the Web based System with SMS portal? As most people known that SMS is the most famous service that a mobile phone give. It is a service where the users able to send short text message from a mobile phone to another mobile phone. Basically the SMS would not work with just the mobile phone itself, it I because the Mobile Phone Network Operator that give the service so the SMS can be delivered to the recipient by the help of the mobile phone device as the medium to type the message. The SMS can travel all the way from the sender device to the recipient device must go through a pathway through a network called SMSC (Short Message Service Centre). SMSC works as a hardware that stores the SMS that is sent from a mobile phone then forward it again to the recipient. From the early of 1990s, the era when the first SMS is sent through the network using the mobile phone device. Nowadays with the advancement of the technology, SMS not only can be done through using mobile phone but can be integrated in other application such as web based application system, using the SMS gateway technology. However, the SMS that is sent still have to go through SMSC, which is still needed to use the SIM Card that is given by the mobile network operator. SMS gateway act as a bridge the platform that cannot use the mobile phone SIM Card to use the mobile service by using the GSM modem, in this case the mobile service is to send the SMS. The mobile SIM Card will be inserted into the GSM modem. GSM modem will act as the third party to connect to the SMSC. The web based application store the message that will be sent into the database, and the GSM will retrieve the data from the database and ready to send the SMS to the destination number. The basic function of SMS and e mail is the same, for email the sender need to enter the destination email and for SMS the sender need to enter the destination phone number. The difference is why SMS is more popular than email is because it is mobile and user can send and receive SMS wherever they are. The mobile advantage of using SMS is the reason that makes the author choose the SMS application system to be added into the College Announcement Notification system instead of using email. Another reason the author choose to use SMS is because most of the students in Sunway didnt have mobile phone that can handles in receiving and sending email, but most of the students have mobile phone that enable them to send and receive SMS. Therefore, using the SMS as additional software into College Announcement Notification system is the best choice, and the author also learn to use the GSM modem and the implementation of it into the system. Software / Hardware Requirements In order to make this project successful there are some hardware and software which is required to use in order to complete the project are: Software and Hardware requirement to develop the system. Software: SQL YOG: is the database software that the author chose to be implemented inside the College Announcement Notification system. SQL Yog had the user friendly interface and it is open source software. XAMPP: this software is applied as the localhost to compile the web based application. Adobe Dreamweaver: is the software that makes it easier to edit the coding for PHP, JAVA. Hardware: PC (with mouse, keyboard, monitor) / laptop with minimum specification: Intel Core Duo processor(1.66Hz), 1GB RAM, 60GB 5400 RPM HDD Software and Hardware Requirement to run the system. User Side Hardware Requirement: PC (with mouse, keyboard, monitor) / laptop with minimum specification: Intel Core Duo processor(1.66Hz), 1GB RAM, 60GB 5400 RPM HDD User Side Software Requirement: Web browser: Mozilla Firefox, IE, Google Chrome, etc Server Side Hardware Requirement: PC (with mouse, keyboard, monitor) / laptop with minimum specification: Intel Core Duo processor(1.66Hz), 1GB RAM, 60GB 5400 RPM HDD GSM Modem Server Side Software Requirement: Adobe Dreamweaver SQL Yog Web Browser: Mozilla Firefox, IE, Google Chrome, etc XAMPP Server side software requirement is needed to do the regular maintenance on the system. The development software might be needed to fix error that might be occurred when the system on the run. Chapter 2: Literature Review Literature Review Literature Review is a critical look at the existing research that is significant to the work that is currently undergo. The author currently did a project; College Announcement Notification System is the project. College Announcement Notification System is a web based application system, which is proposed as a solution to Sunway University College regarding the poor information flow in Sunway University College especially School of Computer Technology. The author chose to propose the solution only to School of Computer Technology because of the course that currently taken is under it. College Announcement Notification System is a web based application, it is hoped the system would work perfectly and increasing the information flow within School of Computer Technology (SCT). The users of the system able to access the College Announcement Notification System via laptop or PC, as long there is an internet connection. The author think if it just a normal website, there is no uniqueness that makes my project different than the others. After doing research, the author decided to add the SMS feature as the instant notification system. Integrate the system with SMS feature; means need to deal with SMS gateway. The author aware that using the SMS feature is almost the same like adding the Email as the instant notification where the system is able to send automatically the posted announcement that is already posted in the website. Email is an electronic mail that worked same like a normal mail, where the users need to write the content of the letter, after that the address of the recipient is a must for the users to add. Email enables users to send and receive electronically over the internet. SMS and Email basically is the same, it contains text and to send it need to know the exact recipient email address for email and phone number for SMS. There are many email server company that is give services for the users to send and receive email such as Hotmail, Yahoo Mail, Go ogle Mail, etc. There is also an application that handles email such as Microsoft Outlook. Some advantages that email could give are emails is free for users to use like send and receive mail, it can contains richer message contents than the conventional mail did. However from the advantages that an email, there are also a few disadvantages of emails. With the advancement of the technology nowadays, the previous email only can sent the words but nowadays, users can sent not only words but can attach richer media such as picture, video, file, etc. This advantages of email were misused by some people, it enable them to send virus, malicious software, spam that can harm the recipients PC or laptop. In order to overcome this security issue, the email provider companies try many ways to increase the security but the spammer can overcome the security and still sent the spam email that may contain virus and malicious software. Using the email as an instant notification to the College Announcement Notification System is a good choice but users may not open their own email daily, usually users open their email whenever the feel like to open it. Therefore, the author proposed to use the SMS system as the instant notification. There are few reasons that become the considerations of choosing SMS to be implemented. First reason, the project is a notification system so SMS is the best choice because after the sender sent it then the recipients received it in instant. Second reason, if using email the recipients of the email need to open their own laptop or PC, and then open the email service web page, it will takes time and not instant. Most of the students nowadays had their own mobile phone and they carry their mobile phone everywhere they go, so it is one of the reason why the author choose to use SMS as an instant notification. Mobile phone user aware that open a SMS is faster than open an Email. Nowadays, ma ny mobile phone producers now produced a new mobile phone that can handles in send or receive an email. However mobile phone that can handles send and receive email is still too expensive for the most of the mobile phone users only a few that can afford that. But if the SMS only, most of the mobile phone users able to send and receive that because it is the basic function that the mobile phone offer. SMS (Short Messaging Service) As most people known, SMS is a protocol used in communication that gives way to exchange of short message from one mobile phone to another mobile phone (tech-faq.com, 2009). Nowadays mobile phone takes an important part because it provides connections to the others that in the past impossible to do. The main usage of the mobile phone is to enable users to make a phone call wherever and whenever they are, beside used to call others; other main function of mobile phone that is growing rapidly is the usage of SMS service. SMS stands for Short Message Service. It is a technology that enables the sending and receiving of messages between mobile phones. SMS first appeared in Europe in 1992. It was included in the GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) standards right at the beginning. Later it was ported to wireless technologies like CDMA and TDMA. The GSM and SMS standards were originally developed by 3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) is responsible for the development and maintenance of the GSM and SMS standards. As suggested by the name Short Message Service, the data that can be held by an SMS message is very limited. One SMS message can contain at most 140 bytes (1120 bits) of data, so one SMS message can contain up to: 160 characters if 7-bit character encoding is used. (7-bit character encoding is suitable for encoding Latin characters like English alphabets.) 70 characters if 16-bit Unicode UCS2 character encoding is used. (SMS text messages containing non-Latin characters like Chinese characters should use 16-bit character encoding.) SMS text messaging supports languages internationally. It works fine with all languages supported by Unicode, including Arabic, Chinese, Japanese and Korean. Besides text, SMS messages can also carry binary data. It is possible to send ringtones, pictures, operator logos, wallpapers, animations, business cards (e.g. VCards) and WAP configurations to a mobile phone with SMS messages. One major advantage of SMS is that it is supported by 100% GSM mobile phones. Almost all subscription plans provided by wireless carriers include inexpensive SMS messaging service. Unlike SMS, mobile technologies such as WAP and mobile Java are not supported on many old mobile phone models. (developershome.com, 2008) Usage of SMS As the mobile voice communication market approaches saturation, carriers are focusing on messaging as crucial value -added service to garner more mobile subscribers and generate greater market revenue. Specifically, SMS (Short Messaging Service) is emerging as one of the most important asynchronous communication that carriers provide. It is projected that in 2009 U.S subscribers will send over 126 billion messages via their mobile phone device, generating $8.6 billion revenues (Deng, Sun, Turner, Prince, 2008). Nowadays, people are presented with a wide variety of communication media such as email, instant messaging (IM), etc. To date, most researchers have focused on the use of SMS by teenager and young adult. Recently as SMS become the needs in our daily lives, older people also recognized the convenience of using SMS. It has been reported that over 74% of the mobile phone users worldwide is using SMS text messaging (Deng, Sun, Turner, Prince, 2008). How does the SMS works? Even if you are not talking on your cell phone, your phone is constantly sending and receiving information. It is talking to its cell phone tower over a pathway called acontrol channel. The reason for this chatter is so that the cell phone system knows which cell your phone is in, and so that your phone can change cells as you move around. Every so often, your phone and the tower will exchange a packetof data that lets both of them know that everything is OK. Your phone also uses the control channel for call setup. When someone tries to call you, the tower sends your phone a message over the control channel that tells your phone to play itsringtone. The tower also gives your phone a pair of voice channel frequencies to use for the call. The control channel also provides the pathway for SMS messages. When a friend sends you an SMS message, the message flows through the SMSC, then to the tower, and the tower sends the message to your phone as a little packet of data on the control channel. In the same way, when you send a message, your phone sends it to the tower on the control channel and it goes from the tower to the SMSC and from there to its destination. (howstuffworks.com, 2005) The SME (Short Message Entity), which is typically a mobile phone or a GSM modem, can be located in the fixed network or a mobile station, receives and sends short messages. The SME was sent to the SMSC.TheSMSC (Short Message Service Center)is the entity which does the job of store and forward of messages to and from the mobile station. After receiving the SME, then SMSC sent the SME to the SMS GMSC. TheSMS GMSC(SMS gateway MSC (Mobile Switching Center)) is a gateway so that MSC that can also receive short messages. The gateway MSC is a mobile networks point of contact with other networks. On receiving the short message from the short message center, GMSC uses the SS7 network to interrogate the current position of the mobile station form the HLR, the home location register. HLRis the main database in a mobile network. It holds information of the subscription profile of the mobile and also about the routing information for the subscriber, i.e. the area (covered by a MSC) where the mobile is currently situated. The GMSC is thus able to pass on the message to the correct MSC. MSC(Mobile Switching Center) is the entity in a GSM network which does the job of switching connections between mobile stations or between mobile stations and the fixed network. AVLR(Visitor Location Register) corresponds to each MSC and contains temporary information about the mobile, information like mobile identification and the cell (or a group of cells) where the mobile is currently situated. Using information from the VLR the MSC is able to switch the information (short message) to the corresponding BSS (Base Station System, BSC + BTSs), which transmits the short message to the mobile. The BSS consists of transceivers, which send and receive information over the air interface, to and from the mobile station. This information is passed over the signaling channels so the mobile can receive messages even if a voice or data call is going on. (logixmobile.com) How to send SMS using a computer? After done some research about how the SMS works, there are several ways in sending SMS using computer, they are (developershome.com, 2008): Connect a mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem to a computer / PC. Then use the computer / PC and VB commands to instruct the mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem to send SMS message. Connect the computer / PC to the SMS center (SMSC) or SMS gateway of a wireless carrier or SMS service provider. Then send SMS messages using a protocol / interface supported by the SMSC or SMS gateway. Connection between mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem to computer using VB command for sent SMS A GSM/GPRS modem is a wireless modem that works with GSM/GPRS wireless networks. A wireless modem is similar to a dial-up modem. The main difference is that a wireless modem transmits data through a wireless network whereas a dial-up modem transmits data through a copper telephone line. To send SMS messages, first place a valid SIM card from a wireless carrier into a mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem, which is then connected to a computer. There are several ways to connect a mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem to a computer. For example, they can be connected through a serial cable, a USB cable, a Bluetooth link or an infrared link. The actual way to use depends on the capability of the mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem. After connecting a mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem to a computer, you can control the mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem by sending instructions to it. The instructions used for controlling the mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem are called by using VB commands. The above figure showed the process of sending SMS using the VB application. In this case, the system that the author developed is using PHP that act as the third party to store the announcement data inside the database. After finish with the stored announcement, VB application is used to instruct the GSM modem to send SMS. As shown in the figure above, VB application will retrieve the stored data that will be sent as SMS. Then after retrieving the data, it will be sent to through SMS gateway until it arrived in the hand of the recipient. One of the benefits from using the VB application to send SMS is users will have a very reliable notification system, because before sending SMS intended recipient can be configured so it is received at the intended recipient. Using a mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem to send SMS messages has a major drawback, which is the SMS sending rate is too low. Only 6-10 SMS messages can be sent per minute (when the SMS over GSM mode is used). The performance is not affected by the connection between the computer and the mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem (i.e. the SMS sending rate is about the same no matter the mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem is connected to the computer through a serial cable, USB cable, Bluetooth link or infrared link) and does not depend on whether a mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem is used (i.e. the SMS sending rate is about the same no matter a mobile phone or a GSM/GPRS modem is used). The determining factor for the SMS sending rate is the wireless network. (developershome.com, 2008) Send SMS from Computer through SMS Gateway The way for sending SMS messages from a computer through a mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem has a major limitation, which is the SMS sending rate is too low. If you need a high SMS sending rate, obtaining a direct connection to the SMS center (SMSC) or SMS gateway of a wireless carrier is necessary. It can be difficult for small businesses or individual application developers to obtain a direct connection to the SMSC or SMS gateway of a wireless carrier since a wireless carrier may only provide such service to those who have huge SMS traffic. Buying SMS messages in bulk means the total fee will be very high (although the fee per SMS message will be low). (deve Development of College Announcement Notification System Development of College Announcement Notification System Chapter 1: Introduction Introduction This project proposal is created to propose an IT solution to the student of Sunway University. The main point that the author want to highlight is regarding the efficiencies for student in Sunway University. An example, inefficiencies that occur in posting the announcement that is post on the website or in the notice board, it is hard to inform to the student and also the staff may also forget to post the announcement that will inconvenient for the student itself. In order to solve those problems, the author proposed to create a website as a third party for the staff to post the announcement. The author feel that only a website is very simple and common nowadays, so to improve the effectiveness and give more efficiency, a SMS (Short Messaging Service) feature is added to the system. Every announcement is posted by the SCT Staffs in the website, a SMS notification will be sent to the student that already registered to the website. The content of the SMS just a brief notification abou t the title of the event, venue and time, for more brief detail the students can refer to the website. Other way to notify the students is used Email as an instant notifier, but consider using email as an instant notifier is not really effective because students didnt open their email every day but using the SMS as the instant notifier to notify the students are more effective because most of the student is own and bring their own cell phone, therefore the MS as an instant notifier is more appropriate. Since the advancement of the technology nowadays, using this system will help in reduce the paper usage. Project Objective To give efficiencies for staff of Sunway University who want to post announcement. To use SMS as an instant notifier, for example every announcement post on the website the student will receive a SMS about the annoncement. In long term of view, this system will help in notify student about things that happen in college. Project Scope To become the most useful media for announcement notification. When the system is run it involves the Sunway University students and staffs that want to use the service. The user of the system should be students of Sunway University and staffs. All users that want to use the system have to become member. Methodology Methodology is a formalized approach to implement the SDLC (System Development Life Cycle). There are many different systems development methodologies, and each one is unique based on the order and focus it places on each SDLC phase. Some methodologies are formal standards used y government agencies, while others have been developed by consulting firms to sell to client. Many organizations have internal methodologies that have been honed over the years, and they explain exactly how each phase of the SDLC is to be performed in that company. There are many ways to categorize methodologies. One way is looking at whether they focus on business process or the data that support the business. There are three types of system development methodologies, it is called Structured Design, RAD (Rapid Application Development), and Agile Development. Types of Software Development Methodologies Structured Design This is the first type of system development, it is introduced in 1980s. This methodology adopts the formal step by step approach to the SDLC, it moves logically from one phase to another phase. Waterfall Model This is the original structured design of methodology, with this methodology, the analyst and users proceed in sequence from one phase to the next phase. The key deliverables for each phase are typically very long and are presented to the project sponsor for approval as the project moves from phase to phase. This methodology is referred to as waterfall development because it moves forward from phase to phase in the same manner as a waterfall. Advantages of using waterfall model: It identifies system requirements long before programming begins It minimizes changes to the requirements as the project proceeds. Disadvantages of using waterfall model: The design must be completely specified before programming begins This model required significant rework, if there is a changes in the business environment, in order to going back to the initial phase need to go through each of the subsequent phase in return. Parallel Development This model of methodology attempts to address the problem of long delay between analysis phase and the delivery of the system. Instead of doing design and implementation in sequence, it performs a general design for the whole system and then divides the project into a series of distinct subprojects that can be designed and implemented in parallel. Once all subprojects are complete, there is a final integration of the separate pieces, and the system is delivered. Advantage of using parallel model: It can reduce the schedule time to deliver a system There is less chance of changes in the business environment causing rework Disadvantage of using parallel model: The approach still suffers from problem caused by paper documents It adds new problem, sometimes subprojects arent completely independent; design decisions made in one subproject may affect another subprojects Phased Development In this model, the overall system is divided into a series of version that are developed sequentially. The analysis phase identifies the overall system concept, and the project team, users and system sponsors then categorize the requirement into a series of version. Advantage of using phased model: Quickly getting a useful system into the hands of the users While the system does not perform all the functions the users need at first, it does begin to provide business value sooner than if the system were delivered after completion, as is the case with waterfall or parallel methodology. Disadvantage of using phased model: The users begin to work with the systems that are intentionally incomplete, it is critical to identify the most important and useful feature and include them in the first version, while managing users expectation along the way. Prototyping In this model, it performs the analysis, design and implementation phases concurrently, and all the three phases are performed repeatedly in a cycle until the system is completed. In this methodology, the basics of analysis and design are performed, and work immediately begins on a system prototype, a â€Å"quick and dirty† program that provides a minimal amount of features. Advantage of using prototyping model: It is very quickly provides a system for the users to interact with, even it is not ready for widespread organizational use at first. Reassure the users that the project team is working on the system Helps to more quickly refine real requirements rather than attempting to understand a system specification on paper, the user can interact with the prototype to better understand what it can do and cannot do. Disadvantage of using prototyping model: Its fast paced system releases challenge attempts to conduct careful, methodical analysis. This can cause problems in the development of complex systems because fundamental issues and problems are not recognized until well into the development process. Software Development Methodology Comparison After do research about the types of methodology that is appropriate to be used into the project. The author compared the 4 types of methodology that is compatible with the current development. The following table is the result of using the described methodology to the project. System Characteristic Waterfall Parallel Phased Prototyping Unclear User Requirement Poor Poor Good Excellent Unfamiliar Technology Poor Poor Good Poor Complexity of the System Good Good Good Poor Reliability of the System Good Good Good Poor Short Time Schedule Poor Good Excellent Excellent Schedule Visibility Poor Poor Excellent Excellent Table 1 Methodology Comparison Selecting the appropriate Methodology According to the project objective that the author proposed, author analyze each methodology that is already been researched. The author decides to use the Phased Methodology. The main reason on why the author uses this methodology is because the author would develop this system all by himself and the project will be easier to be built phase by phase. Other considerations in choosing this model are: User Requirement: the requirement of the system is clear, which is to address the problem of inefficiency and ineffectiveness of conventional way in notify the student for announcement. Familiarity with Technology: for designing the website, PHP, VB.Net language technology is going to be used, since it is still in area of the author expertise. System Complexity: the complexity of this project is at medium level, since the author familiar with the technology used in the project so it is not really difficult. However the author still need to do research on certain area of technology, for this case the knowledge of SMS gateway, and how to integrate the web based system with the SMS gateway. Duration: the duration of developing the project is approximately 4 months in order to fully complete the project. Development Method: it is a web based application that is built using the PHP, and VB.NET as the programming language. Area of Research Certain areas that we research for this project are: How to create easy and manageable database system? What is SMS (Short Message Service) portal and SMS (Short Message Service) gateway? How to integrate web based system with SMS portal? How to create easy and manageable database system? This part is one of the crucial parts in order to make a good web based application system. Therefore, creating an easy and manageable database system is really important. The database system that the author used to manage the College Announcement System web based application is MySQL. Several reasons become the consideration of choosing the MySQL software are, first reason is because the main programming language system that the author built is using the PHP technology, and PHP language has an integrated connector that able to connect it to SQL. Second reason, MySQL is open source software so it is free for download, it is will help in determining the project cost development. There is other software which is better than MySQL but looked back at the scope of the project; this is just an undergraduate project, then the author decides that using MySQL software is a wiser choice. The third reason, the author already took the MySQL subject during the study in Sunway University College, which is still in the author expertise. However, if this system wants to be implemented into the real organization, further study to create easy and manageable design is needed. When the project is already on the run, this would be very beneficial in doing maintenance of the application system. How to integrate the Web based System with SMS portal? As most people known that SMS is the most famous service that a mobile phone give. It is a service where the users able to send short text message from a mobile phone to another mobile phone. Basically the SMS would not work with just the mobile phone itself, it I because the Mobile Phone Network Operator that give the service so the SMS can be delivered to the recipient by the help of the mobile phone device as the medium to type the message. The SMS can travel all the way from the sender device to the recipient device must go through a pathway through a network called SMSC (Short Message Service Centre). SMSC works as a hardware that stores the SMS that is sent from a mobile phone then forward it again to the recipient. From the early of 1990s, the era when the first SMS is sent through the network using the mobile phone device. Nowadays with the advancement of the technology, SMS not only can be done through using mobile phone but can be integrated in other application such as web based application system, using the SMS gateway technology. However, the SMS that is sent still have to go through SMSC, which is still needed to use the SIM Card that is given by the mobile network operator. SMS gateway act as a bridge the platform that cannot use the mobile phone SIM Card to use the mobile service by using the GSM modem, in this case the mobile service is to send the SMS. The mobile SIM Card will be inserted into the GSM modem. GSM modem will act as the third party to connect to the SMSC. The web based application store the message that will be sent into the database, and the GSM will retrieve the data from the database and ready to send the SMS to the destination number. The basic function of SMS and e mail is the same, for email the sender need to enter the destination email and for SMS the sender need to enter the destination phone number. The difference is why SMS is more popular than email is because it is mobile and user can send and receive SMS wherever they are. The mobile advantage of using SMS is the reason that makes the author choose the SMS application system to be added into the College Announcement Notification system instead of using email. Another reason the author choose to use SMS is because most of the students in Sunway didnt have mobile phone that can handles in receiving and sending email, but most of the students have mobile phone that enable them to send and receive SMS. Therefore, using the SMS as additional software into College Announcement Notification system is the best choice, and the author also learn to use the GSM modem and the implementation of it into the system. Software / Hardware Requirements In order to make this project successful there are some hardware and software which is required to use in order to complete the project are: Software and Hardware requirement to develop the system. Software: SQL YOG: is the database software that the author chose to be implemented inside the College Announcement Notification system. SQL Yog had the user friendly interface and it is open source software. XAMPP: this software is applied as the localhost to compile the web based application. Adobe Dreamweaver: is the software that makes it easier to edit the coding for PHP, JAVA. Hardware: PC (with mouse, keyboard, monitor) / laptop with minimum specification: Intel Core Duo processor(1.66Hz), 1GB RAM, 60GB 5400 RPM HDD Software and Hardware Requirement to run the system. User Side Hardware Requirement: PC (with mouse, keyboard, monitor) / laptop with minimum specification: Intel Core Duo processor(1.66Hz), 1GB RAM, 60GB 5400 RPM HDD User Side Software Requirement: Web browser: Mozilla Firefox, IE, Google Chrome, etc Server Side Hardware Requirement: PC (with mouse, keyboard, monitor) / laptop with minimum specification: Intel Core Duo processor(1.66Hz), 1GB RAM, 60GB 5400 RPM HDD GSM Modem Server Side Software Requirement: Adobe Dreamweaver SQL Yog Web Browser: Mozilla Firefox, IE, Google Chrome, etc XAMPP Server side software requirement is needed to do the regular maintenance on the system. The development software might be needed to fix error that might be occurred when the system on the run. Chapter 2: Literature Review Literature Review Literature Review is a critical look at the existing research that is significant to the work that is currently undergo. The author currently did a project; College Announcement Notification System is the project. College Announcement Notification System is a web based application system, which is proposed as a solution to Sunway University College regarding the poor information flow in Sunway University College especially School of Computer Technology. The author chose to propose the solution only to School of Computer Technology because of the course that currently taken is under it. College Announcement Notification System is a web based application, it is hoped the system would work perfectly and increasing the information flow within School of Computer Technology (SCT). The users of the system able to access the College Announcement Notification System via laptop or PC, as long there is an internet connection. The author think if it just a normal website, there is no uniqueness that makes my project different than the others. After doing research, the author decided to add the SMS feature as the instant notification system. Integrate the system with SMS feature; means need to deal with SMS gateway. The author aware that using the SMS feature is almost the same like adding the Email as the instant notification where the system is able to send automatically the posted announcement that is already posted in the website. Email is an electronic mail that worked same like a normal mail, where the users need to write the content of the letter, after that the address of the recipient is a must for the users to add. Email enables users to send and receive electronically over the internet. SMS and Email basically is the same, it contains text and to send it need to know the exact recipient email address for email and phone number for SMS. There are many email server company that is give services for the users to send and receive email such as Hotmail, Yahoo Mail, Go ogle Mail, etc. There is also an application that handles email such as Microsoft Outlook. Some advantages that email could give are emails is free for users to use like send and receive mail, it can contains richer message contents than the conventional mail did. However from the advantages that an email, there are also a few disadvantages of emails. With the advancement of the technology nowadays, the previous email only can sent the words but nowadays, users can sent not only words but can attach richer media such as picture, video, file, etc. This advantages of email were misused by some people, it enable them to send virus, malicious software, spam that can harm the recipients PC or laptop. In order to overcome this security issue, the email provider companies try many ways to increase the security but the spammer can overcome the security and still sent the spam email that may contain virus and malicious software. Using the email as an instant notification to the College Announcement Notification System is a good choice but users may not open their own email daily, usually users open their email whenever the feel like to open it. Therefore, the author proposed to use the SMS system as the instant notification. There are few reasons that become the considerations of choosing SMS to be implemented. First reason, the project is a notification system so SMS is the best choice because after the sender sent it then the recipients received it in instant. Second reason, if using email the recipients of the email need to open their own laptop or PC, and then open the email service web page, it will takes time and not instant. Most of the students nowadays had their own mobile phone and they carry their mobile phone everywhere they go, so it is one of the reason why the author choose to use SMS as an instant notification. Mobile phone user aware that open a SMS is faster than open an Email. Nowadays, ma ny mobile phone producers now produced a new mobile phone that can handles in send or receive an email. However mobile phone that can handles send and receive email is still too expensive for the most of the mobile phone users only a few that can afford that. But if the SMS only, most of the mobile phone users able to send and receive that because it is the basic function that the mobile phone offer. SMS (Short Messaging Service) As most people known, SMS is a protocol used in communication that gives way to exchange of short message from one mobile phone to another mobile phone (tech-faq.com, 2009). Nowadays mobile phone takes an important part because it provides connections to the others that in the past impossible to do. The main usage of the mobile phone is to enable users to make a phone call wherever and whenever they are, beside used to call others; other main function of mobile phone that is growing rapidly is the usage of SMS service. SMS stands for Short Message Service. It is a technology that enables the sending and receiving of messages between mobile phones. SMS first appeared in Europe in 1992. It was included in the GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) standards right at the beginning. Later it was ported to wireless technologies like CDMA and TDMA. The GSM and SMS standards were originally developed by 3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) is responsible for the development and maintenance of the GSM and SMS standards. As suggested by the name Short Message Service, the data that can be held by an SMS message is very limited. One SMS message can contain at most 140 bytes (1120 bits) of data, so one SMS message can contain up to: 160 characters if 7-bit character encoding is used. (7-bit character encoding is suitable for encoding Latin characters like English alphabets.) 70 characters if 16-bit Unicode UCS2 character encoding is used. (SMS text messages containing non-Latin characters like Chinese characters should use 16-bit character encoding.) SMS text messaging supports languages internationally. It works fine with all languages supported by Unicode, including Arabic, Chinese, Japanese and Korean. Besides text, SMS messages can also carry binary data. It is possible to send ringtones, pictures, operator logos, wallpapers, animations, business cards (e.g. VCards) and WAP configurations to a mobile phone with SMS messages. One major advantage of SMS is that it is supported by 100% GSM mobile phones. Almost all subscription plans provided by wireless carriers include inexpensive SMS messaging service. Unlike SMS, mobile technologies such as WAP and mobile Java are not supported on many old mobile phone models. (developershome.com, 2008) Usage of SMS As the mobile voice communication market approaches saturation, carriers are focusing on messaging as crucial value -added service to garner more mobile subscribers and generate greater market revenue. Specifically, SMS (Short Messaging Service) is emerging as one of the most important asynchronous communication that carriers provide. It is projected that in 2009 U.S subscribers will send over 126 billion messages via their mobile phone device, generating $8.6 billion revenues (Deng, Sun, Turner, Prince, 2008). Nowadays, people are presented with a wide variety of communication media such as email, instant messaging (IM), etc. To date, most researchers have focused on the use of SMS by teenager and young adult. Recently as SMS become the needs in our daily lives, older people also recognized the convenience of using SMS. It has been reported that over 74% of the mobile phone users worldwide is using SMS text messaging (Deng, Sun, Turner, Prince, 2008). How does the SMS works? Even if you are not talking on your cell phone, your phone is constantly sending and receiving information. It is talking to its cell phone tower over a pathway called acontrol channel. The reason for this chatter is so that the cell phone system knows which cell your phone is in, and so that your phone can change cells as you move around. Every so often, your phone and the tower will exchange a packetof data that lets both of them know that everything is OK. Your phone also uses the control channel for call setup. When someone tries to call you, the tower sends your phone a message over the control channel that tells your phone to play itsringtone. The tower also gives your phone a pair of voice channel frequencies to use for the call. The control channel also provides the pathway for SMS messages. When a friend sends you an SMS message, the message flows through the SMSC, then to the tower, and the tower sends the message to your phone as a little packet of data on the control channel. In the same way, when you send a message, your phone sends it to the tower on the control channel and it goes from the tower to the SMSC and from there to its destination. (howstuffworks.com, 2005) The SME (Short Message Entity), which is typically a mobile phone or a GSM modem, can be located in the fixed network or a mobile station, receives and sends short messages. The SME was sent to the SMSC.TheSMSC (Short Message Service Center)is the entity which does the job of store and forward of messages to and from the mobile station. After receiving the SME, then SMSC sent the SME to the SMS GMSC. TheSMS GMSC(SMS gateway MSC (Mobile Switching Center)) is a gateway so that MSC that can also receive short messages. The gateway MSC is a mobile networks point of contact with other networks. On receiving the short message from the short message center, GMSC uses the SS7 network to interrogate the current position of the mobile station form the HLR, the home location register. HLRis the main database in a mobile network. It holds information of the subscription profile of the mobile and also about the routing information for the subscriber, i.e. the area (covered by a MSC) where the mobile is currently situated. The GMSC is thus able to pass on the message to the correct MSC. MSC(Mobile Switching Center) is the entity in a GSM network which does the job of switching connections between mobile stations or between mobile stations and the fixed network. AVLR(Visitor Location Register) corresponds to each MSC and contains temporary information about the mobile, information like mobile identification and the cell (or a group of cells) where the mobile is currently situated. Using information from the VLR the MSC is able to switch the information (short message) to the corresponding BSS (Base Station System, BSC + BTSs), which transmits the short message to the mobile. The BSS consists of transceivers, which send and receive information over the air interface, to and from the mobile station. This information is passed over the signaling channels so the mobile can receive messages even if a voice or data call is going on. (logixmobile.com) How to send SMS using a computer? After done some research about how the SMS works, there are several ways in sending SMS using computer, they are (developershome.com, 2008): Connect a mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem to a computer / PC. Then use the computer / PC and VB commands to instruct the mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem to send SMS message. Connect the computer / PC to the SMS center (SMSC) or SMS gateway of a wireless carrier or SMS service provider. Then send SMS messages using a protocol / interface supported by the SMSC or SMS gateway. Connection between mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem to computer using VB command for sent SMS A GSM/GPRS modem is a wireless modem that works with GSM/GPRS wireless networks. A wireless modem is similar to a dial-up modem. The main difference is that a wireless modem transmits data through a wireless network whereas a dial-up modem transmits data through a copper telephone line. To send SMS messages, first place a valid SIM card from a wireless carrier into a mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem, which is then connected to a computer. There are several ways to connect a mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem to a computer. For example, they can be connected through a serial cable, a USB cable, a Bluetooth link or an infrared link. The actual way to use depends on the capability of the mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem. After connecting a mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem to a computer, you can control the mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem by sending instructions to it. The instructions used for controlling the mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem are called by using VB commands. The above figure showed the process of sending SMS using the VB application. In this case, the system that the author developed is using PHP that act as the third party to store the announcement data inside the database. After finish with the stored announcement, VB application is used to instruct the GSM modem to send SMS. As shown in the figure above, VB application will retrieve the stored data that will be sent as SMS. Then after retrieving the data, it will be sent to through SMS gateway until it arrived in the hand of the recipient. One of the benefits from using the VB application to send SMS is users will have a very reliable notification system, because before sending SMS intended recipient can be configured so it is received at the intended recipient. Using a mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem to send SMS messages has a major drawback, which is the SMS sending rate is too low. Only 6-10 SMS messages can be sent per minute (when the SMS over GSM mode is used). The performance is not affected by the connection between the computer and the mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem (i.e. the SMS sending rate is about the same no matter the mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem is connected to the computer through a serial cable, USB cable, Bluetooth link or infrared link) and does not depend on whether a mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem is used (i.e. the SMS sending rate is about the same no matter a mobile phone or a GSM/GPRS modem is used). The determining factor for the SMS sending rate is the wireless network. (developershome.com, 2008) Send SMS from Computer through SMS Gateway The way for sending SMS messages from a computer through a mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem has a major limitation, which is the SMS sending rate is too low. If you need a high SMS sending rate, obtaining a direct connection to the SMS center (SMSC) or SMS gateway of a wireless carrier is necessary. It can be difficult for small businesses or individual application developers to obtain a direct connection to the SMSC or SMS gateway of a wireless carrier since a wireless carrier may only provide such service to those who have huge SMS traffic. Buying SMS messages in bulk means the total fee will be very high (although the fee per SMS message will be low). (deve

Effectiveness of Different Leadership Styles

Effectiveness of Different Leadership Styles Table of Contents Executive report Introduction Rationale and objectives Background Methodology Analysis of the findings Conclusion Reference Works Cited Appendix Executive report This report is done to compare the effectiveness of different leadership styles in different organizations, explain how organizational theory underpins the practice of management, and evaluate the different approaches to management used by different organizations. The purpose, problems and objectives of the research are outlined in the introduction as well as background information on both businesses. A methodology that explicitly tells how the researcher will go about conducting the research- methods and so on is also included. The research begins here in section two; the findings are analyzed and discussed. The objectives are restated then they are discussed, analyzed and evaluated respectively. A conclusion is also drawn from the whole report mainly giving a reminder of the issues that exist. Harvard style referencing is used to cite where some of the information and knowledge are obtain. Finally, there is an appendix which consists of an organizational chart for CDR. Introduction Rationale and objectives The importance of this research includes: Firstly, to afford the researcher the opportunity to assume major roles in leading a project. Secondly, allowing the researcher to assume management and administrative roles in order to attain knowledge, understanding and the skills of these areas. Third, to prepare and coordinate operational plans, display effective self-development and time management skills to satisfy an organization’s needs The objectives of the research are to: 2.1 Compare the effectiveness of different leadership styles in different organizations 2.2 Explain how organizational theory underpins the practice of management 2.3 Evaluate the different approaches to management used by different organizations Leadership Background Casa de Regalo is a nationwide partnership gift boutique established in 2009. It is located at Barbican Centre. They have ten dedicated and enthusiastic employees. Due to their unique tailor made products and services C.D.R is considered as the organization that satisfies seasonal giving needs. They specialize in a variety of unique merchandise ranging from specialty cards, flowers, toys and personalized printing services to specialty handcrafted gifts, jewelry, body essentials and customized apparel which are imported from your favorite places over the world. They also offer surprise delivery services. Providing exceptional customer service and customized products that are tailor-made to each customers personal style and also giving them the highest quality merchandises at an affordable price is our mission. We are aimed at making profit. KD consulting is a limited liability company established in 2008. It has twelve dedicated experts. We are a mobile company but our main office is located in Montego Bay. Our company provides a variety of services ranging from identify highest-value opportunities to addressing the most critical challenges and transforming enterprises. The trust and confidence in our capabilities that our clients are exposed to, is what differentiates us from other firms as well as our ability to enhance business performance, positively marketing them and ensuring their likelihood of making profit or achieving their goals. CDR is an international organization with the mission of providing expert advice and solutions for clients, therefore assisting small businesses to develop efficient plans for meeting their goals. Our aspiration strives through becoming the best consulting firm there is; providing quality service to all existing and start-up small businesses that seek our guidance. We also aim to be recognized as partner of choice by our clients and being technologically advanced in our fields of expertise while remaining practical and business oriented. Methodology The research is to design a management firm which is hired to assess a small business on behalf of an investor to help the company to explore the links between the organisation structure and culture and how these interact and influence the behaviour of the workforce. In order to assist the company secondary research will be conducted. Secondary data collection is published information that is already available from other sources. The internet will be my main source with its online dictionaries, articles, websites and books. This information collected from the secondary sources is pertinent to the objectives of the research. The researcher also used this type due to the fact that it is Inexpensive, information is easily accessible and immediately available and it will provide essential background to help to clarify or refine the research problem. The information accumulated is credible and is derived from the written work of authoritative individuals such as Jatin Vaid. The research began on February 9th and proceeded to February 26th. Data was collected from several sources from the online sources in order to obtain information related to the United Kingdom (UK) and local business organizations. . Analysis of the findings Compare and contrast different organizational structures and culture The structures There are three main types of structure. Product, matrix and functional Product Division Structure -These are popular among international companies with many products. Products that are similar are grouped under one product heading e.g. Perfumes and Cosmetics, each CEO focusing on a single product segment for its global market. Matrix Division Structure This tries simultaneously to deal with competing pressures for global integration and local responsiveness. Institutes overlaps among functional and divisional forms. It allows individual groups to share responsibility for new operations and enables them to exchange resources and information more Group willingly. Disadvantages includes: not championing their groups’ unique needs, therfore eliminate the multiple knowledge (Vaid, 2012). Functional Structure Specialized jobs are grouped according to traditional business functions. It is suitable for Company with a narrow product line, sharing similar technology. Highly efficient and assist in maximizing economies of scale The cultures Role Culture – focusses on rules, tasks, procedures and job descriptions Power Culture – power exercised by a one person with not much formal rules; Person Culture – the organisation is present for its members to benefit of; Task/Mission Culture – goal based with rewards for achieving mission and goals; 1.2 Explain how the relationship between an organization’s structure and culture can impact on the performance of the business Organizations are set up in specific ways to accomplish different goals, and the structure of an organization can help or hinder its progress toward accomplishing these goals. There are three main types of organizational structure: functional, divisional and matrix structure Culture consists of the shared values of an organization -the beliefs and norms that affect every aspect of work life, from how people greet each other to how major policy decisions are made Types of culture include: power culture, role culture, person culture and task culture. 1.3 Discuss the factors which influence individual behaviour at work The major factors that influence individual behavioral patterns, according to John Ivancevich and Michael Mattson are: demographic factors, ability and skills, perception, attitudes and personality. Demographic factors includes: race, age, sex, socio economic background, education and so on. The importance of studying demographic factors is to assist managers to choose the most fitting candidate for the specific job. Organizations rather persons belonging to a particular socio-economic background- well educated and young. They are believed to perform better than others. Skills and ability: skill according to Cambridge dictionaries is an ability to do an activity or job well especially because you have practiced it. Ability is the mental or physical power or skills needed to do something. Ability and skills highly influence individual behavior and performance. Persons tend to perform better in an organization if his skills and abilities are matched with the job. It is the manager’s job to match these skills and abilities off the employee to the job. Perception: a thought, belief, or opinion, often held by many people and based on appearances is referred to as perception (cambridge-dictionaries, n.d.). The study of perception is integral for managers as they need to provide a work environment that is favorable, so that the employees perceive them in most favorable way. If employees perceive it in a positive way they are more likely to perform better. Attitude: â€Å"An attitude is ‘a relatively enduring organization of beliefs, feelings, and behavioral tendencies towards socially significant objects, groups, events or symbols’ (Hogg, Vaughan 2005, p. 150).† (McLeod, 2009). Attitude is influenced by family, society, culture, organizational factors and peers. Managers in an organization need to create suitable work environments therefore tempting employees to have positive attitudes towards their respective jobs. If employees have positive attitude toward the job they perform better. Personality: the study of individual differences in characteristic patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving (American Psycological Association, n.d.). Factors that influence personality includes: heredity, family, society, culture and situation. Individuals tend to differ in manner while responding to the organizational environment. The most complex aspect of human beings can be regarded as personality. Conclusion Cultural influences and organisational structures can both inform and constrain the strategic development and ultimately the competitiveness of a business in order to maintain competitive advantage and avoid any strategic drift (where organisational factors and culture drive the business rather than the needs of customers and key stakeholders). Their impact should be considered regularly by leaders and senior managers and they should both be critically reviewed. Reference Works Cited cambridge-dictionaries, n.d. Ability. [Online] [Accessed February 2015]. McLeod, S., 2009. Home †º Social Psychology †º Attitudes. [Online] Available at: http://www.simplypsychology.org/attitudes.html [Accessed February 2015]. Vaid, J., 2012. Organization structure in international business. [Online] Available at: http://www.slideshare.net/jatinmaims/organization-structure-in-international-business [Accessed February 2015]. Appendix Chart showing organizational structure of Casa de Regalo .