Air Pollution Essay

Air Pollution is another major problem that is yet to be solved. The air is 99.9% nitrogen, oxygen, water vapor, and inert gases. We as humans depend on the air around us to live, without it we would die. Although we rely on this as an essential source for living, it is still littered and polluted with chemicals. Pollution of the atmosphere and the air around us is air pollution, and this is becoming more â€Å"popular† everyday. There are several main types of air pollution that include smog, acid rain, the greenhouse effect, and â€Å"holes† in the ozone layer. The types are extremely harmful to the environment and could result in serious damage. There are many causes of air pollution and there are many to blame. The first type of air pollution is smog. The word smog came from a newspaper article almost 50 years ago. The word is slang for smoke and fog, and that is indeed what smog is. Smog is a form of air pollution created by the photochemical reaction with sunlight and the chemicals in the air, and than this deadly mixture is released into the atmosphere. An example of how fatal smog was in 1952 with the incident, â€Å"London’s killer smog.† This incident happened in December of 1952, when a deadly wave of smog hit London killing over 10,000 people. Citizens walked through the streets with surgical masks on, waiting for a wind to raise and blow this terrible wave of pollution away. There wish came true on December 10, after almost a week of terror and many injured and dead people. Smog alone is just as fatal and dangerous as the other forms of air pollution. The other major types of pollution are acid rain, greenhouse effect, and â€Å"holes† in the ozone layer. Acid Rain is any precipitation that has an abnormal acidic amount. Acid rain is formed when chemicals are released from places like cars and factories, these chemicals rise and mingle in the clouds, and than return to earth in the form of precipitation. The Greenhouse effect is another import issue in air pollution. The Greenhouse effect is the trapping of heat and energy due to the gases that form a barrier in the atmosphere. The gases will let heat in but will not let all heat out. This is similar to what happens in a greenhouse. The ozone layer  is also at great risk. In places like Antarctica the ozone layer is disappearing rapidly. Scientists have different theories about that, saying that it is due to chemicals made on earth, the extreme temperature in Antarctica, and some believe it is a solar activity to blame. In any case it is obvious to see that the ozone laye r is in danger. CAUSES AND SOLUTIONS There are numerous causes to air pollution. There are two main causes of air pollution; fuel burning in residential, commercial, and industrial places is one cause. The other cause is automobiles creating immense amounts of carbon monoxide and other toxic fuels. The burning of chemicals releases fumes in the air polluting the atmosphere. Large factories are at blame in this case due to their large amounts of chemicals burned and of their large smoke stack which pumps these fumes into the air. Inside many factories they burn fossil fuels, these fumes than are sent into the atmosphere, further contributing to the air pollution problem Another major cause of air pollution is car fumes. Inside the engines of cars, fossil fuels are being burned, and than these vapors are omitted out through pipes in the car. The major chemical being pumped out of the car is carbon monoxide; this is a very toxic material and can be fatal if enough is in taken. Diesel engines are also very toxic. These engines contain over 450 different chemicals and about 40 of the chemical’s exhaust are considered toxic air contaminants by the State of California. Air Pollution also imposes the biggest threat of all; our health. Our health is the most precious thing to us and air pollution endangers this greatly. The people that are most vulnerable to the air pollution risk are young children, people with breathing problems, and elderly people. Short-term effects to air pollution include irritated eyes, nose, throat and upper respiratory system and other symptoms include headaches and nausea. Some long term effects of air pollution exposure are chronic respiratory disease, lung cancer, heart diseases and damage to important organs such as the brain. Although there are many problems there is also a number of solutions. By completely eliminating the pollution would solve all these problems, so by doing little things we all can make a big difference. Since cars contribute a great deal to the air pollution problem, by using them less would lessen the problem. By not using things like Styrofoam, which are made in a factory that had to burn fossil fuels, you are also helping your community. To eliminate pollution indoors always use clean and clear ventilation machines and filters. Lawmakers should also make more laws on air pollution and pass more bills pertaining to this subject. CONCLUSION There is many to blame when it comes to air pollution. There is the citizens who use cars (that give out carbon monoxide) and use material made in a factory. There are the factory owners, who let their factories run, although they know they’re polluting the air everyday. Than there is the government. Although the government is trying to stop it, they also contribute to the problem by not passing more laws about this situation. Everyone is at blame for the air pollution problem, but if we all work together we can fix our mistake and save the atmosphere. Air Pollution is an extremely serious matter that is not taken seriously. The future of the earth is in our hands and we should treat this with respect. We have the opportunity to change our future, the opportunity to alter the way generations live, we should treat this opportunity with care and kindness. We should be more aware of the things that are happening in the world and what we are doing when the car revs up and puff the smoke. As we drive away in our cars, we are driving our future generations into a tangle of trouble. Soon people will have to wear surgical masks when walking down the street. We cannot let this happen to our society! We must be aware, prevent, and do it. We must be in action at all times trying to save the ozone layer and trying to stop smog from occurring in great masses. Let’s drive away from air pollution and drive into a smog-free life!

Culture of China Essay

Education is one of the most important things during our life. I know the difference between Chinese education and American education. American high education is the best in the world, but when we talk about the basic education, most people will have different bifurcation. However, it is allowed in U. S. Americans think calculators go fast and are correct. So, when both students have an exam, then Chinese are better than American students. But when both students use some information tools, then Americans are really better than Chinese student. All appearance, Chinese students are better than American students when they manage and exploit cerebra, but when we compare how to use different information or how to spread cerebra, the American students are better than Chinese students. When we compare the Chinese basic education with America’s, then most people’s opinion are that Chinese education is for foundation education, and American education is for the cultivation of students’ creativity. In China, â€Å"seventy three percent people agree, and twenty four percent disagree with this. Also another three percent think Chinese education is foundation education, but student may be not learning much, while American education is for cultivating students’ creativity, but it can let students learn more. † China and America have totally different tradition and exams. Chinese education focuses on the knowledge to accumulate and indoctrinate, on how students use and manage the knowledge they learned in school, and on how to understand the knowledge system and structure. Reversely, American care more about how students use knowledge in society. It lets student challenge the knowledge, animadvert ideas, and focus on, exploit or create knowledge. These two types of attitude about education show us the different ways to understand knowledge, and also to show two countries with different education opinions. â€Å"In China, when comparing the education, sixty percent people think the best education model is uniting both advantages. It lets students have very good foundation education and good creativity. Sixty five percent disagree. Another thirty three people think, because the two types of education come from different culture, tradition and society background, it is really hard to combine. † The difference between China and America is mostly an education and knowledge difference. Such as, what is basic foundation education? We can have an example in math. In Chinese education, Chinese think it is basic to have calculation skills so everybody has to remember the entire concept. So, from elementary school to high school you are not allowed to use a calculator. American education focuses on improve student assuredness, self-determination, independence, and Chinese education focuses on strictness and preciseness. Good foundation education can improve creation; also it can improve student’s thinking. Good preciseness can improve comprehensive thinking. Also, could be an enemy to thinking. Education is culture, and different educations show different societies’ culture; the good American education system may not be good for Chinese society. So, different education has to follow the society background. Because different society backgrounds and different culture helps humans create a different country in the world, American education should be following the American’s culture. Also, Chinese education has to follow Chinese culture. A good education model for China is very important to the learning process, and also is very hard. Anyway, we only need modern education which is internationalization education system and localization education systems unite each other. That is going to improve our education skills.

Psychology Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Psychology - Assignment Example Psychology is the Science that create an understanding towards a logical thinking ability keeping humane in concise. It is a science which is not new but with us right from the human civilization. It is the way where an understanding is built up about the behaviour of a person, and methods could be devised to enhance what is lacking in the personality and how well an individual be groomed to have a sound and congenial influence on the society or social ambience of the individual. Besides the fact that lot of research has been carried out we are still at the tip of the iceberg to further dwell towards the understanding of psychology. So far an immense collection of theories that have been postulated over the years have been made and studied along with varies protocols and experiments that have been performed to resolve behaviour issues. Theories postulated are for different kinds of behaviour and not the same for all kinds of behavioural issue. Based on psychological theories humans are classified into various patterns and syndromes. Psychology helps these individuals to recover various therapeutic problems. Thus psychology encompass a study of behaviour including the activities and reactions; and the internal progression of views and judgments. The term "psyche" means soul and "logos" means a study. Thus psychology is not confined to any core study but it encompass a complete understanding of the nature as well as the way it was nurtured under a given set of conditions. Psychology sets its goal for its study as: Description of the issue or the subject, explanation, prediction of the possibilities and modifications that are possible. 1. Description- It describes the performance, that an individual displays and based on this analysis a psychologists try to comprehend if this attitude or behaviour is under normal or acceptable limits. For this, a psychologists analyzes, opinion and views, emotions, beliefs, mind-set, outlook and approaches,

People (HR) Performance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

People (HR) Performance - Essay Example Main Issues Related to HR The era of Frank Wood had been outstanding as all the operations of the business were under control. He made certain developments in his era such as identification of the various niche markets that helped the company to expand its operation in other parts of the UK. However, after his retirement, the company was handed over to his sons named Harry Wood and John Wood. At the initial stage, the company traded successfully under their leadership. However, their intention was just to take the profits out of the business, with little attention towards the infrastructure. It is evident from the case study that the performance of the two brothers had not been up to the mark as they didn’t have much interest towards the business. One of the most important tasks for a business man is to take into account the competition. It was just because of their poor performance that the company faced liquidity crisis. Now after Harry Wood left the business and Carol Clayt on bought 50% interest of the business, the partnership of the two companies seems to have not worked well. Thus, they had to sell off the business to Josiah Saint. Saint made an overall assessment upon the performance of the organisation and found out that the overall performance of the employees in the organisation had been quite poor. It was because of the carelessness of the employees that all the three factories namely the Buckhorn Western, Kilsby and Catesby factory faced the problem of high stock of raw materials and high wastages. The promotion manager’s performance, on the other hand, has not been satisfactory as well. It becomes evident from the case study that the employees of the organisation were not well aware of their roles and responsibilities. The staffs working at Imberholme didn’t take into account the suppliers’ working conditions as long as they got the products they wanted. This makes it evident that the attitude of the staffs at Imberholme did not match with the requirements of the organisation. Moreover, data showed that there was poor credit control. Thus, it can be said that the finance manager could not manage the trade well. The performance of the administrative department has not been up to the mark. It is also evident from the case study that the strict regulations and policies of the organisation had prevented the personnel of the organisation from performing well, which seem to have a negative impact upon the industry. It can be said that Mr. Saint had tried to address the main issues that had a major impact upon the organisation and the factors that were leading to the poor performances of the employees. The people in the organisation were also inefficiently managed. Solutions to the Problems The preservation, attraction and development of the high calibre people in the organisation can be the source of competitive advantage for any business. However, it becomes imperative for the companies to appraise the performance of their employees on a continuous basis because their performance may have positive as well as negative impact upon the growth of the organisation. Performance management is one of the key methods, which if effectively carried out may help the employees to understand that their contribution is being recognised. The performance managem

Managing change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Managing change - Essay Example Clearly, there is a separation of vision within the executive leadership group mandating an immediate necessity to unify this group by way of establishing a singular strategic goal for securing the banks continued growth and obtaining policies which enhance internal productivity. A common purpose derived of senior-level unity of vision is a missing element from the organizational climate and this level of division is having a profound trickle down effect on the banking staff which further creates a disorganized and uncertain culture. Further, the rigid top-down leadership hierarchy of command established within the bank prevents empowering staff to utilize their vast skills through self-managed contributions. The breakdown of communication in the Australian Regional Bank can best be defined in the organizations lack of development regarding customer relationship management and this collapse of communication is impacting productivity on all levels. Despite the banks history of substantial successes, radical change in terms of internal practice is proposed in order to move forward as a cohesive business entity. Developing a common purpose within the executive leadership group should be recognized as a primary objective in order to establish a clear path forward in terms of how the company intends to sustain growth in its industry. While some new executives continue to resist the direction proposed by the Chief General Manager, others are attempting to mimic opposing successes established in the executives previous career position. This division amongst leadership is substantially visible to the bank employees, creating a sense of confusion, doubt, and mistrust in terms of perceived manager/employee relationships. Lack of management visibility and support, especially for companies experiencing a transitional phase, will directly affect employees perceptions about whether or not the company is well-managed (Boles & Sunoo, 1998). Faith in

Communication Ethics and Society Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Communication Ethics and Society - Assignment Example The truth of the matter is there are many people who have college degree and have become successful in life. There are also other people who never attended college and have also become successful through the method Stephen advocates for. Moreover, not everyone can be successful as entrepreneurs. There are people who can only perform well as profession and as such they need a college education. It is unethical for Stephen to inspire young people to educate themselves using the Newspaper media. This is because according to the Journal code of ethics, Journalist should act independently and only look out for the interest of the reader. However, in this case, it is obvious that Stephen has some interest of promoting Thiel Fellow, an organization that he benefitted from. Being a beneficiary of this organization, he is seen to write these journal with the intention of encouraging students to forfeit going to college and joining this organization. These journals have also broken the first code of ethics which requires journalist to seek truth and report it. It is the work of the journalist to discern reporting and advocacy. These journals do not report but advocate for dropping out of school. The journals are therefore unrealistic and

Reflection on the movie the guardian 2006 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Reflection on the movie the guardian 2006 - Essay Example During training, Jake encounters Emily Thomas, a local school teacher (Stephen 2010). They develop a casual relationship since both of them believe that the time they have together is limited. After the end of the initial training period, thorough instruction commences at the academy. Jake arrives to class late after spending at Emily’s house (Stephen 2010). He is confronted by Ben. In as much as he is not expelled, Jake as well as the entire team gets punished for his lateness. Initially, Ben strives to compel Jake to leave. He later realizes that Jake is not only dedicated but also persistent. Jake meets Emily in a bar and narrates to her about how he beat the records for his instructor, Ben. An old friend of Ben named Maggie who works as a barkeep, however, informs Jake about the unbreakable records set by Ben at a ship fire rescue, where he tirelessly worked and saved the entire victims (Stephen 2010). Ben was able to save the only man left by holding him by the fingertips all through the entire flight. While landing, Ben extensively injured his shoulder and hand. Charlie Hodge, a friend to Jake, is not able to cope during instruction, with frightened victims in the water. He is also frightened of failing school. As a result, Jake decides to cheer him up by taking him out to relax while having a drink. While at navy bar, they take part in a fight and later end up in jail. Jake later comes back bandaged and base beaten (Stephen 2010). Despite all these, he takes the entire blame. Jake is confronted by Ben who is interested in knowing the reason for him leaving his forecast as an aggressive swimmer and narrates to him about all that he learned about Jake’s past. Ben learned that Jake, who was a designated driver on a night out, got involved in an accident that made him lose his relay team in high school (Stephen 2010). They therefore realize that they share a common ground of being the only survivors. Later, Jake is assigned

Primary Document Analysis Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Primary Document Analysis - Term Paper Example Eventually the practice of indentured servitude and subsequent freedom began to be replaced by outright slavery as practiced in the Caribbean islands. From 1619 to 1865, blacks were bought and sold in slave markets. Despite only about 300,000 slaves entering the shores of America, they have a rich and eventful history and by about 1700, 10 percent of the population of the American colonies consisted of slave labor. However in localities such as Northampton, these people not only acquired property but formed families and provided for the welfare of their children, much like white folks. What is even more surprising that despite their sad past, they did not shy away from the white population and exist in their own exclusive community- rather they mixed with the local population and earned a name for themselves by being industrious and dealing in equal measure with whites, servants and slaves. Discussion In ‘Myne Owne Ground’, the authors Breen and Innes explore the anteced ents and arrival of the blacks on Virginia’s Eastern Shores during the period 1640-1676. The surviving records are remarkably rich in detail, providing names like Payne, Emanuel, Driggus, Cane, Francisco and Grace. There were first names as well as family names; also reference to relationships like the term ‘wife’(Breen & Innes, 69). Records indicate that as much as 29 percent of the black population had gained freedom by 1668, a figure that stands out in all of black history. Some blacks arrived in Virginia via the West Indies, along with the sugar crops and it could be safely assumed that after spending a year in Barbados, they could speak English like a native and had also been exposed to the diseases and atmosphere of this new world. Going forward to the record of the Dutch trader Willem Bosman as recorded in 1701, he narrates the conditions of bargaining in the slave labor market and begins with the astonishing assertion that in conditions of slow economic g rowth, slave trading was a highly lucrative enterprise, even more advantageous than dealing in gold. Bosman notices that the practice of assigning the responsibility of the management of this trade to the captains of the ships did not always turn out beneficial for the slaves- in fact quite the contrary. Captains had too much responsibility on their hands already and could not be expected to handle the additional burden of looking after slave cargo. After a trader arrived at Fida and had satisfied the greed of the rulers by bribing them 100 pounds in Guinea currency equivalent, he was free to trade as he wished. But before he could do so, he was obliged to buy the King’s stock of slaves, that too at a price double or triple their going value in the slave market. If the King had no slaves, the factors were obliged to trust their lot of 200 odd slaves to the local inhabitants to be sold off in inland and remote regions, much in the same way as beasts of burden. For those humane enough to imagine that the sale of slaves meant the dissolution and seperation of their family unit, it was usually held that the slaves were prisoners of war anyway. When it comes to the matter of their trading, the slaves who are held in prison upon their arrival are brought out, stripped naked both men and women, and inspected minutely by chirurgeons. The good are placed on one side and the lame or faulty on another. These may be

Policy analysis 2 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Policy analysis 2 - Assignment Example This resulted to various birth complications during the delivery process. The introduction of Medicaid cover has enable sufficient access to proper medical services by pregnant women in the state thus increasing its birthrate. The year 2013 recorded increase in the number of registered births in the state of Georgia. The figure rose to 133,947 which depict a 25% increase when compared to the registered birth records in 2011. This is as a result of various approaches put into practice by the Georgia medical service council. For instance, the percentage Medicaid maternal cover for all pregnant women was raised from 25% to 40% thus reducing the labour expense by 15%. GORRC (2013). As a result, 53,579 births were covered by Medicaid in the year 2013. This included an approximate 50% (Gutowski et. al, 2010. Pg. 5) outpatient and inpatient lactation consultation fees where a cost per encounter was $250 (Breastfeeding Inc). The approximate medical saving per woman was $27.5 thus generating a total cost savings of $3683543 from the improved infant health outcomes. Women without lactation consultation were also entitled to the Medicaid fee. The improved infant health led to an increase rate of breast finding as women with no lactation consultation rose to 70% compared to 40% in the previous years (GORRC). This notion indicated a positive approach in infant health care increased the number of women who breastfeed to those using powdered milk (NRDC, 2010). Women who breastfeed were approximately 45, 221 while those who do not breast feed their children summed up to 8358. This approach reduced the incidences of Otitis to babies who are not breastfed and women in the stage of breastfeeding. Episodes of Otitis media reduced from 60% in 2011 to 40.42% in 2013 (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2011). Despite the improved infant health care in Georgia, the consultation fee ought to be high for the low income earners in the state. As a result, the figure of

A critical evaluation of contemporary leadership skills required for a Essay

A critical evaluation of contemporary leadership skills required for a large multi-department organisation. 2,000 words - Essay Example ddition, this assignment determines several leadership skills that are implemented by contemporary leaders to overcome different contemporary issues in this world. Moreover, this essay recommends some effective leadership skills that are required for leaders in order to overcome several contemporary issues in this current business environment. Finally, the study concludes by summarizing the major discussions that are discussed in this essay. Several leading organizations in this world are trying to capitalize on potential business opportunities in order to enhance their business growth rates. It is true that human resource department can be considered as an important department in multi-department organizations (Parris and Peachey, 2012). Global business environment is becoming highly competitive as several leading organizations within a particular industry are trying to develop and implement unique strategies in the business operation process in order to gain potential competitive advantages (Hirschhorn and Gilmore, 1992). First, it is important for a leader to consider the environmental context in the business environment in order to be a successful (House and Aditya, 2009). Intense market competition and market saturation are influencing some organizations to adopt and implement several unique strategies in their business operation processes in order to overcome contemporary business issues (Avolio, Walumba and Weber, 2009). An effective leader needs to consider the business as well as workplace environment in order to meet the company’s goals and objectives. It is difficult for a leader in a multi-department organization to control such a large team (Kelley, 1998). Therefore, it is important for the leaders must develop effective relationships with the employees and top level management of the organization (Meindin, 1995). In addition to this, leaders should enhance effective communication between the employees of several different departments in order to

National Honor Society Essay Example for Free

National Honor Society Essay Being nominated to become a member of the National Honor Society is a highly prestigious honor, and I am very grateful to be a candidate. I have always strove to do the best that I can to achieve the highest grades possible and to stand out amongst my peers. Not only do I focus on my academics, but I strive to be an outstanding asset to the student body throughout my years here at East Clinton High School as well. Getting admitted into the National Honor Society has been one of my goals since I first arrived here at high school, and I have recognized the standards for entry into the organization. I understand that to become an official member of the society, I need to acquire and demonstrate four key characteristics of an ideal National Honor Society member: scholarship, leadership, service, and character. To my acknowledgment, there are no questionable incidents that could be used to challenge my selection into the National Honor Society. I sustain a high grade point average of 3. 8 while engaging in college preparatory classes such as College English, Pre-Calculus, Chemistry, and – in a previous year – Biology 2. In addition to my current attending classes, I also take an online college math class that assists me in solving problems in real world situations. Education has been one of my first priorities since childhood, and I plan to further advance in my studies each day. I have in many ways shown my characteristic of scholarship. In addition to my scholastic achievements, I participate in various co-curricular activities that demonstrate my involvement with the school and community. I am a varsity athlete for the sports, tennis and track. This year I, along with my fellow tennis teammates were proud to present ourselves as the SBAAC League champions. In addition to that, we concluded the SBCN season with an undefeated title. It was my greatest pleasure to receive an SBAAC Scholar Athlete award from my tennis coach on the day of the awards ceremony. Spanish Club, headed by Mrs. Elizabeth De Leon, is a club that recognizes the Spanish culture and then incorporates the culture into entertaining service projects. I was one of several members to participate in a successful bake sale that raised just under 200 dollars. I was also a member of the Student Council my sophomore year, and together as an organization we successfully provided a wonderful homecoming for the student body. Above all, I was selected by my class advisor to represent the junior class as their Treasurer in the Prom Committee. As Treasurer, I am responsible for keeping track of as well as counting the incoming funds that are received from any fundraisers. In my spare time, I help raise money by volunteering to work at the concession stands for sporting events as well as any fundraiser that is active at the moment. I attend all Prom Committee meetings with an open mind and ready to formulate new ideas for the committee. Key Club, an international organization which provides service, is an organization I am proud to represent. I have pledged to uphold the objects of Key Club International since my freshman year to present day. I have participated in many service projects within Key Club. Some projects that I have aided in or with are the Ho Ho Shop, Sabina’s Historical Society Museum for Christmas around Sabina, and Highway Clean Up. Moreover, I was honored with the privilege to attend a leadership camp held by Kiwanis International in Ashley, Ohio. With the selection from my Key Club advisors, I was able to travel to a 3-day camp that was accompanied by inspiring students from other schools from all over south Ohio. There, I learned the principals of being a good leader, and also lead groups in assigned projects. At the camp, you were able to find inspired, motivated young adults who were kind and open-hearted. Being surrounded by peers who were comprised of excellent qualities enabled me to comfortably present myself and my character in an assertive manner. At school, I contribute my service by aiding teachers and students. As a junior, I offered to assist teachers with their work whether it may be grading papers or filing their documents. In addition, I was a library helper the first semester of this year. To conclude, my amount of service activity participation has demonstrated that the characteristic, ‘service’, is present. Taking on the position of Treasurer and a Student Council member are both examples of my leadership. However, I am a Yearbook Editor in School Publications as well. I am one of twelve yearbook editors that construct the contents of the yearbook. With such a position, it is imperative to attend events in which are in relation to what you were assigned. Being a part of the junior class fundraising and obtaining the position of Treasurer for Prom Committee is admirable. If being in Prom Committee has taught me anything, it is that you have set your priorities and acknowledge your responsibilities and to follow through with them. The Committee has taught me a great deal about being a leader.

Royal Selangor IT System And Cloud Computing

Royal Selangor IT System And Cloud Computing 1. Introduction This report is commissioned by the request of Royal Selangor International (RS) for the purpose of analyzing existing IT infrastructure and draw out recommendations for RS to adopt to cloud computing technology. The current IT infrastructure that operates RSs business processes are analyzed. Data for the analysis are collected through interviews with RS management representatives. Based on these data and comparison with available cloud computing solutions, recommendation on the adoption of cloud computing are derived for RSs considerations. 1.1. Background Royal Selangors core business is retailing pewter artifacts and jewelleries. RS is a private owned company manufacturing and retailing fine quality pewter artifacts products worldwide and is now the largest pewter artifacts producer in the world. Founded in 1885 and based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, RS has expanded leaps and bounds to international recognition and has won several prestigious awards. The company recently celebrated its 125 years anniversary. The homepage URL of the Royal Selangor is http://www.royalselangor.com RS currently operates 3 brands under the company. RS on its own crafts and retails the pewter artifacts, Selberan which retails fine jewellery and Comyns, a brand that has 350 years old legacy in silversmiths. (Bernama 2011) RSs products are marketed through 3 channels as follows; RS owned flagship stores which are located at prominent shopping districts around the world, including London, Tokyo, Melbourne and Toronto. Distribution network to reputable retailers around the world. Online shop that serves both distributors and customers. The major part of RSs success is through the online retailing. RS are the pioneer in setting up its business for online shopping. It has enabled RS to spread its business internationally to distributors and also directly to end users. RS was awarded the CIO award in 2001 which recognizes the genius is IT implementation and strategy. (International 2001) The online shop has also provided RS channel to communicate with the customer and improves its services. RS has also established worldwide offices with warehousing facilities in major markets such as Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Britain and North America.   1.2. Corporate Structure RS is a family run business since it was first founded in 1885. Through 4 generations, the business has been passed on to succeeding family members. RS organization structure for the manufacturing business is as per Attachment A. The Managing Director is supported by two General Managers, managing and overlooking the entire operations from raw materials, production, research and development, marketing, e-commerce up to distribution and international marketing. Each section operates on its IT system for reporting and thorough tracking of the raw materials up to storage and distribution. Further detail analysis of the IT system of RS will be captured in Part 2. RSs Company Policy states the ambition of the company to maintain its status among the forerunners of the industry and to strive for excellence by being ahead of competition. In align with this policy, RS has adapted well with new IT systems to further improve its services to the customers. This is proven when RS opened its online store 10 years ago in 1996 while many industry players are still skeptical about online store. (Yee 2007) RS has structured its operations to run on a systematic IT infrastructure. Business processes of the group include the following: Financial department Human resource management Manufacturing Distribution Marketing Warehousing Customer relation management. 2. IT Infrastructure With over 1000 different products to be manufactured and distributed across local branches in Malaysia and also to 20 other countries directly, RS requires a system that could provide up-to-date and accurate information to the people involved. RS had embarked on various marketing strategies to expand the organisation and in the year 1996, ventured into the e-commerce with RS online shop and website promotion and advertising (International 2001). The subsequent business strategies, marketing, e-commerce system and web development have since been developed in-house to the specific needs of the organisation and RS wanting more control in its development and deployment. (Yoon Kit, Yong 2011, pers. comm., 1 April) Critical business processes especially for manufacturing and the retailing are being integrated and streamlined for speedier processing and better performance for the organisation. For the manufacturing department, integration and real-time updating of information for raw materials, work-in-progress and final goods are vital for the organisation to be leaner. Enterprise applications have the capability to provide accurate buying trends of customers and the information gathered have translate into a better inventory management for the organisation and also to the customers. As for the design team, IT is needed to speed up the design period and can help to transform new ideas into great products. Design information can be used for quick and clear generation of manufacturing ready drawings and used for virtual prototyping. All this can offer distinct advantage to RS over their competitors such as new products were created in pewter with an additional animated storybook. (Bao Shan, Yip 2011, pers. comm., 3 April) Retailing staff will benefit from the information on customers and also inventory to better serve the customer. Fast response and also delivery scheduling can help the retail staff to close sales deal quicker. Besides that, online marketing tools such as social networking are used to promote products actively. For RS, the strategic role of IT is very clear and it is for creating a competitive advantage over their competitors. (Yee 2007) 2.1. Computer Hardware Platforms For the routine tasks, desktop computers and laptops from Dell and HP running on Intel or AMD processors are provided. For the design team, Apple IMac is used as it is more suited for the modelling and designing purposes.   The mainframes are located in-house and consist of HP and Dell servers. These are dedicated for the critical applications such as the enterprise resource planning system (ERP), Storage Area Network, private automatic branch exchange (PABX) and the network systems between the offices and also the online shop. Cashiers at the respective branches are utilizing Point of Sales (POS) Terminals connected to the main servers for daily transaction processing. 2.2. Operating System Platforms For the general desktop computing or client level, RS is using Windows based operating system to manage the resources and activities of the computers. The Apple computers are supported with IMac OS X system. For the servers, RS is using Samba / Linux Server OS systems which are open sourced and it is easily adaptable to different servers and software. Centralised updates and patches are provided in-house by RS IT staff. 2.3. Enterprise Software Application RS is currently using the Baan ERP system and it was deployed in the year 1999. The system is used mainly in manufacturing, finance, human resource and warehousing. The Baan Client is running on the Windows based operating system. The selection of Baan was based on the capability of the manufacturing module of the Baan ERP system. 2.4. Networking / Telecommunication RS requires a reliable network and telecommunications setup because of the global presence and extensive distribution channels to more than 20 countries such as Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, China, Australia, United Kingdom, Canada and United States of America. Locally, there are about 21 outlets nationwide. They are using Unifi fibre optics broadband services provided by Telekom Malaysia. This is for the standard activities such as internet and correspondences and the network is managed via Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) suite. As for the dedicated leased line, it is connected to the offices and branches via the Cisco Networks. Cisco Core Switch provides the entire organisation connectivity for their Enterprise Data Routing and with the switching capability of the Intelligent Bandwidth helps to ensure optimum availability to their office and branches worldwide. Inter-office communication is using Lotus Notes as the integrated desktop client option for accessing e-mail and calendaring. The main office is utilizing PABX phone system which is able to support an enterprise wide phone and fax machines where as the branches are connected via standard public switched telephone networks. 2.5. Data management and Storage The Data management and storage for RS is quite large as it is to ensure that all product designs are archived and kept for future reference. The other requirement of the organisation is to provide a shared folder running on the server as the depository of the new product designs in use by the organisation. The major usage of a 20 tetrabyte space is for the designs of the products and the accessibility of the information by various departments. Baan ERP application and database usage accounts for about 200 gigabyte space and the Lotus Notes application takes up about 150 gigabyte space. The physical hardware for the storage comes from various original equipment manufacturer (OEM) sources and the main supplier is Dell. The hardware components are Dell / EMC CX3 which is utilizing Small Computer System Interface (SCSI)/Fibre hard disk for key production system. 2.6. Internet Platforms The key internet sites for RS are the online shop/e-commerce and the visitor center homepage. The other sites under the group are Comyns and Selberan which is also under the support of RS IT department. The web site was built with customers in mind it is to be used as a two-way communication channel for customers, as well as a one-to-one marketing and fulfilment tool. The web hosting of these sites has been outsourced to CSC to ensure service availability and network latency. These webhosting servers are running on the latest iteration of Microsoft IIS Servers. The website are maintained with Linux / Apache / MySQL / Perl/PHP/Python package as it is open-source and it is easily adaptable to suit RS applications. 2.7. Consultants and System Integrators Most of the system integration work is done in house leveraging on the knowledge available. Currently, RS is getting external consultant support for the Baan ERP systems when required. The e-commerce system initially was out sourced but due to the specific needs of the organisation, it is now fully developed and maintained in house. Others system integrators or consultants are being appointed when necessary. Issues that were identified are as follows:- To ensure interoperability between each systems. RS have basically two systems to ensure its interoperability which are the CRM and the ERP applications. As for the other platforms such as servers and data center, the software used are open source whereby customisation would be easier. Ensure constant communication and connection between shared information worldwide. The need to access to data and inventory in real-time and reliably. Maintain a well integrated and smooth supply chain especially for the online shop. It needs to be updated constantly and best practices are to be employed and cascade down to the operation levels. Implementation will be a major stumbling block due to the manufacturing processes being labour intensive. Maintenance of software and hardware systems 24/7. For storage, the challenge is managing the data and managing the systems that house the data. Software tools that track and manage storage resources efficiently are in high demand for these reasons. IT staff retention proved to be difficult. Internally, the IT department is supporting on hardware troubleshooting whereas the service or troubleshooting support will be provided by the external team of consultants. The current staff skill is sufficient to maintain and operate the system effectively. However, the staff education at the operator level is still lacking. Constant training and retraining is required. Cost reduction is actively pursued whenever there is chance as budget is always constrained. Since data storage continues to grow at 40% to 60% per year, the challenge is amplified to try to get the most from any new storage purchase. Challenges that are constantly faced by RS are listed below and a few are being actively pursued by RS. To maintain operation excellence in the whole value chain design, manufacture, distribution and retailing not only locally but also worldwide. Leaner production and shorter processing time and delivery schedules are key focus area for continuous improvements. (International 2001) To innovate and re-invent the â€Å"wheel† for the retailing and marketing of the products by using IT. Constantly RS need to find ways to market their products as the current marketing channel in local and overseas retail shops, on-line shop, corporate customers and the visitor center / showroom is not adequate. Currently each competitor in pewter ware has their very own website and they are promoting their products on line, retails shops and also at their main showroom (Tumasek 2011). RS have to look at the industry of premium giftware as well which would consider a worldwide market. Search Engine Optimisation programs, partnership with search engines and partnerships with other websites are areas to focus more in order to penetrate further into the international market. (Shankar 2003) To retain customers and to attract new customers are important. Major competitors such as Tumasek, Oriental Pewter, Mariwasa and Pewter Arts are constantly challenging RS. New designs and faster production and roll-out of products would ensure a greater market share. Providing better and more personal touch to customer service will benefit in the long run as customers would have greater perception of the product not only in terms of quality but also the service that comes with it. (Shankar, 2003) To constantly review the business strategies and if necessary upgrade or adapt the current system based on the specific needs of the organisation. The final call is that any new product or system purchased should move towards lower costs, better processes and common management.(Yee 2007) Strategies such as using setting up websites in native languages of the country they are going to market the product. Open source plays an important role with the servers in RS. (Yoon Kit, Yong 2011, pers. comm., 1 April) Most of the infrastructure servers are on Linux which gives flexibility in rolling out new servers as well as replicating our administration. RS uses a lot of the virtual machine ware so it is now easier to deploy new test and production servers on demand without having to submit capital expenditure and commission new machines. Constant updating of information and also skills related to open source would be vital for RS. 3. Cloud Computing   Cloud computing obtained its name from the metaphor for internet which represents an area on the network that resides outside (cloud) but is required to make the network complete. The control of the cloud is an external partys concern which is hosted and maintained by other parties and does not need the interference of the internal parties (Velte et al. 2010, p. 3). Examining the Cloud computing, it is basically a model for enabling convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources. These resources include networks, servers, storage, applications, and services that can be provided to the customers to assist its daily operations. As explained in NIST document, Cloud computing consists of five essential characteristics, three service models, and four deployment models (Mell Grance January 2011, pp. 2-3). The 5 Essential Characteristics On-demand self-service. Services are available to the customer at all times and without any need for intervention by the service provider. Broad network access. The system is web based and can be accessed from any internet enabled device such as through mobile devices, thin or thick client platforms. Resource pooling. The provider of the cloud computing services uses physical or virtual resources to serve multiple customers with different needs. The customer generally has no control or knowledge over the exact location of the provided resources. Rapid elasticity. Customers can scale up or scale down according to their own requirements. Additional services can be purchased at any time. Measured service. Customers accessing the system are easily tracked and controlled by means of storage, processing, bandwidth, and active user accounts. The 3 Service Models Cloud Software as a Service (SaaS). The provider offers an application that the customer can be accessed by different client platforms such as a normal client computer. The software is web based and does not reside in the customers computers. The devices only need to interface via a thin client interface such as the Web browser. The consumer does not need to physically install the software. Cloud Platform as a Service (PaaS). The capability provided to the customer to develop applications using the programming languages and tools provided by the provider. The customer will only have control of the application developed using the platform provided. Cloud Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). The provider only provides the infrastructure to the customer. The customer controls its own software and applications but has no control over the cloud infrastructure. The 4 Deployment Models Private cloud. The cloud services are provided to only one organization. Community cloud. The cloud services are shared by few organizations Public cloud. The cloud services are made available to the general public or a large industry group and are owned by an organization selling cloud services. Hybrid cloud. The mixture of two or more cloud deployment models which runs on a standard or propriety technology. To summarize the definition of cloud computing, it is where software, platform or infrastructure services that are made available to the customers at all times. The customers have relieved itself from the concerns of operating and maintaining the physical aspects of the system and enable them to focus on its core competencies.  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   Before exploring the adoption of Royal Selangor with cloud computing, the advantages and disadvantages of cloud computing will be explored in following chapters below to examine further the key positives that will help the company. Figure 3.1 illustrates the advantages and disadvantages of Cloud Computing. 3.1. Advantages of Cloud Computing 3.1.1. Financial Benefits Cloud computing provides new solutions for all sizes of businesses and industries. When modern businesses looks for ways to cut operating cost without losing much productivity, cloud computing serves to be a key part to assist the business to achieve the target. By improving server utilization and decreasing the number of servers, significant cost reductions can be seen and additionally, future capital expenditure can be controlled. Normally servers are designed to have redundancy as well as spares for future expansions. This translates to capital expenditures spent for facilities that are not utilized. Cloud computing provides enables the customer to only pay the amount of usages utilized which translates to cost reductions.   Also, theres a reduction in physical server depreciation cost. As pointed out above, fewer servers maintained by the company means less depreciation costs. In addition, it also directly reflects to energy consumption and facilities cost. Reduced servers require less energy to operate and smaller facilities. When a true comparison is done, using a fully cost model, the decision weighs more favourably towards cloud computing. And when the other advantages are taken into account then cloud computing can really stack up as a viable option (Group 2009, p. 6) . 3.1.2. Technological benefits Cloud computing has the ability for the system to expand and contract automatically based on the demand of the customer. For software, new users can be assigned to the system and start using almost immediately without much complications. The resource platforms such as storage, networks and servers are available on-demand and again do not require much intervention or effort by the customer to prepare the system. More significantly is the redundancy and back-up system available to the customer, ensuring that the data are safe and protected. 3.1.3. Operational benefits In terms of operations benefits, this can be referred as outsourcing the IT system and delegating the risk management. Service providers have to ensure that the system is available at any time and redundancy provided. The problems that have been concerns for companies running physical hardware, servers and data centers can now shift the risks to the service provider. Access to the system is also improved as it can be accessed from anywhere through an internet enabled device. This improved operation excellence as data are always available at anywhere, anytime to the users of cloud computing. 3.1.4. Environmental Benefits By using lesser servers through servers consolidation, energy consumption of the IT system is drastically decreased. This translates to lower and more efficient energy consumption. 3.1.5. Competitive Advantage Businesses can be more competitive by adopting to cloud computing. Cloud computing provide a quick and efficient start up for any small or medium size businesses. This enables them to have almost similar capacity as larger established companies in terms of IT systems. Also, with data easily available, it enables businesses in general to be more agile and response quicker to market. 3.2. Disadvantages of Cloud Computing While the advantages of cloud look promising, there are also disadvantages to the cloud services such as below:- 3.2.1. Security issues There is a need to look at the security aspect for cloud. The security risks that come with cloud computing ranges from user access, recovery, regulatory compliance and long term viability.   Sensitive data processed/stored externally brings with it an inherent level of risk, because outsourced services bypass the physical, logical and personnel controls† from in-house programs. The controls of user access and also content management access would need to be transparent and clear so customers are not worried about their data being compromised. (Brodkin 2008) 3.2.2. Lack of control For cloud computing, the hardware and software could be based in multiple locations all around the world compare to in-house systems. The control on the storage and security of the data will be the under the jurisdiction of the cloud vendor and users do not have much control over it. Performance and upgrading of the applications and data protection will be relying on the timeliness or scheduling of the vendors to update their software. 3.2.3. Lock-in to cloud vendors Users should be aware of the risk of lock-in to the cloud vendors. The consideration will be on whether in the future there is the need for changes or replacement of the software/platform/infrastructure selected initially and thus switching cost will be incurred. Based on the three types of cloud computing, the service and platform will have some sort of impact and difficulty if there is a need to change vendors. Selection of vendors that provide minimum lock-in should be preferred. (Petri 2010) There is also the need to ensure that the data that is held with the vendor will remain available even if they have been acquired or merge with other larger vendors. 3.2.4. Reliability on cloud functionality Cloud vendors based their business on providing high up-time and downtimes should be kept to a minimum. Overall hardware and network reliability from cloud vendors are considered to be at par or above par comparing to the average data center. However, there are instances when there is downtime and this would be considered to be unacceptable if it is too long and economic losses are being factored in. A few vendors will have strict service level agreements (SLAs) that provide themselves with a method of controlling the downtime. (ENKI 2011) Besides the downtime from servers, we need to look at the downtime created due to non internet service such as connection and bandwidth availability. There might be problem when the internet connection is not available or not sufficient to support the functionality of the applications. This would totally render the cloud application a total failure. 3.2.5. Data segregation Data stored in the cloud is generally in a shared environment and it is placed within the same location as other users. There is the need to ensure that the data is fully secured and only the authorised user can access it and the cloud provider should proof that encryption schemes were designed and tested by experienced specialists. Data can be totally unusable if there is complication during the de-cryption procedure. (Brodkin 2008) 3.2.6. Recovery of Data and Services There would be difficulty in accessing the data and service provided in the cloud as the user would not have any information on where the data is or how it is being stored. In the event of disaster, the cloud provider would need to setup a proper data recovery or restoration. There would be question on when can be data be ready for use once they initiate the recovery process. (Brodkin 2008) 4. Recommendation of cloud computing adoption/adaption The findings from above are analyzed against the factors that forms the Competitive Forces Model for IT Infrastructure (Laudon Laudon 2010, p. 223). This will provide an outline of RSs requirement to adopt cloud computing as its IT infrastructure. 4.1. Market demand for organisations services Internet sales have always been the forefront business of RS. 80% of RSs sales are from the online shop. (Yee 2007) Considering future trends, the e-commerce will keep on expanding and improving. The market demand is and has proven to be in abundance for RS to venture. With cloud computing, RSs operation can be more streamlined and improved and meet customers demands. 4.2. RS business strategy RS strive to be the best pewter manufacturer in the world and maintain its competitive edge over competitors. (Khay Chong, Saw 2011, pers. comm., 5 April) 4.3. RS IT strategy, infrastructure and cost RS plans to use IT to gain competitive edge over their competitors and to maintain their market position. The strategy has proven to be useful as it was acknowledge by the CIO Asia Award in 2001 and Intelligent Enterprise: Asias Intelligent 20 award for the E-commerce operations.(International 2001) Ventures into social media marketing and web collaboration with overseas online shop have provided the exposure and advertising advantage for them such as partnership with John Lewis (http://www.johnlewis.com) or Wesell Royal Selangor (http://www.wesellroyalselangor.co.uk/). 4.4. RS Information technology assessment Current setup is very centralized and all located within the main HQ. From the IT infrastructure study, we find that the hardware and software used within the organization are considered to be reasonable and commonly used in all industries. The use of open source have also help in ensuring that the system can be modified and be made better as they use it with constant upgrading. However the weakness could lie with the staff availability. With cloud computing, it is a perfect IT infrastructure for RS to adopt. Switching to cloud computing provides a feasible solution for RS to maintain its businesses outside of Malaysia with the same IT infrastructure. 4.5. Competitors IT Services In evaluating RSs competitors IT services, two main competitors namely Tumasek Pewter and Oriental Pewter are analyzed. Both Tumasek Pewters (http://www.tumasek.com/home.htm) and Oriental pewters (http://www.orientalpewter.com.my/home.htm) website does not have online shop. RS is the leader in pewter industry as its main competitors are not having the same IT services as RS. This is even more a reason for RS to adopt cloud computing. As the start-up of IT system are faster through cloud computing, the competitors will definitely offer the same services in the near future. By adopting cloud computing first, RS can be ahead of competition. 4.6. IT infrastructure investment in pewter/retail industry For retail industry, capital spending in 2008-09 at John Lewis (RS partner) was  £404m, compared with  £363m in the previous year. About  £30m represents investment in efficiency projects such as new Oracle finance systems recently implemented in Waitrose and the firms head office, and investment in maintaining and modernising its IT set-up. (Mari 2009) Investment into IT for manufacturing is continuing to grow for Asian manufacturer and focus is on cloud based applications capability to increase the efficiency of the organization such as gaining insight on customer behaviour, improve efficiency and productivity of manufacturing operations and in the supply chain from supplier and also to customers. (Yap 2011). Under the Malaysias Economic Transformation Programme, the wholesale and retail and tourism industry are place in the forefront of Malaysias economic development. Few key areas were earmarked for development and the key area with IT investment would be the globalisation of our products by means of virtual retail platform or malls. Investment of about RM 1.3 billion will be spent on this area which can help competitors of RS to develop their online shop. (PEMANDU 2010) RS is well aligned to adopt to cloud computing. Moving into cloud for an established firm like RS requires a strong management vision statement and support for the migration. Strategies had to be developed to enable the migration to be completed flawlessly and most important, without hampering any existing business processes. Strategies to be taken by RS are as follows; Business Review To establish the key objectives, tools that can be use is SMARTA objectives which is Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timely and Agreed. ( Williams 2010, p. 102 ) Project Management To setup a Project management team to manage the migration and keep all stakeholders satisfied. An Implementation plan will provide the necessary clear procedures for the migration. ( Williams 2010, p. 113 ) Adoption to cloud system shall be done according to recommended solutions as below; For the routine communications and content management, RS would be wise to look at the various applications offered from cloud computing. This would probably relieve some of the bottleneck for support currently faced by RS IT departments staff. Part of the RS marketing channel to corporate users would be beneficial if there was an application similar to what is being offered by Sales.Force.com. The sales value chain from i

Operations and strategies of Bell Canada Enterprises

Operations and strategies of Bell Canada Enterprises BCE Inc. is Canadas largest telecommunications company for almost 25 years. It is established by Charles Fleefore Sise in 1880. This company provides wireline voice, wireless communications services, Internet access, data services and video services to residential and business customers. It headquartered in Quebec, Canada and employed 50,102 people. The subsidiaries included Bell Aliant, Northwestel, Telebec, and Northern Tel. (Company Profile, 2009) BCE Inc. operates in three segments: Bell Wireline, Bell Wireless and Bell Aliant. Bell Wireline provides telephone services mainly in Ontario and Quebec. They are included local telephone, long distance, internet access and information and communications technology (ICT) solutions and other communications services. Bell Wireless provides wireless voice and data communications products and services across Canada. Bell Aliant provides local telephone, long distance, Internet, data, video, wireless and other ICT services for customers in Canadas Atlantic Provinces, and in rural areas of Ontario and Quebec. BCE also provide telephone service to the customers in Alberta and British Columbia throung its Bell West unit and northern territories through Northwestel (Company, 2009). BCE provides high-speed Internet services to more than two million customers in Canada under the Bell Internet brand through digital subscriber line (DSL) technology. The company set a clear goal for themselves- for Bell to be recognized by customers as Canadas leading communications company and instituted a strategy to deliver a dramatically better customer experience, while attaining a competitive and cost -efficient operation structure. (Annual Report, 2009) Current Business Current Products, Services and Operations Bell Canada Enterprises (BCE, Bell) is the largest communications company in Canada providing a number of different services to people all across the country. BCE has three main segments in operation Bell Wireline, Bell Wireless, and Bell Aliant providing different services to people to make their life easier and more efficient. Bell provides wireline voice and wireless communications services, internet access, data services and video services to residential, business and wholesale customers (Reuters, n.d). The company has a number of other interests which include CTVglobalmedia incorporated, Skyterra Communications inc. and entities that operate the Montreal Canadians and the Bell Centre in Montreal. The company recently acquired The Source Electronics and the remaining part of Virgin Mobile Canada (Reuters, n.d). Bell continues to be an ever growing company that continues to lead the way in the field of communications in Canada by continuing to expand its products and services. Bell Wireline provides telephone, data and other communication services to residential and business customers in Ontario and Quebec but also offers services to businesses in Alberta and British Columbia. With the sale of local telephone, and long distance services under the Bell Home phone brand with internet service under the Ball Internet brand. The company also provides home television service to its customers under the Bell TV brand. Bell provides all necessary wireline services for any business or resident that decides to go with the company (Reuters, n.d). Bell Wireless provides wireless voice and mobile communication products to residents and businesses across Canada. With the sales of cell phone services being the biggest part of this segment of the company through the operations of Bell Mobility and Virgin Mobile Canada, along with wireless product sales from The Source (Reuters, n.d). BCE currently owns approximately 44.1% of Bell Aliant a segment of the company that provides local telephone, long distance, Internet, data, video, wireless, information technology (IT) services and products and other ICT services to residential and business customers in Canadas Atlantic provinces (Reuters, n.d). The company competes with a number of other providers to deliver services to Eastern Canada as it continues to grow the brand throughout Canada. Current Sales and Marketing Strategies Marketing, is a branch of the business where the company generates interest within the general public of their product. This area of business hooks, and latches on to the customers with the purpose of making the consumer a customer for life. Marketing is a vital component of the company and it is one of the main reasons companies can grow and expand. Bell Canada Enterprises owning one of Canadas largest telecommunications provider; competing with Rogers needs to have great marketing ploys to attract and keep customers. With the introduction of the internet companies are able to target a broad number of people with cost effective methods. A few examples of ways consumers are targeted over the internet are E-mail marketing, search engine marketing, online campaigns, online media planning placement and social media optimization. To keep customers another cost effective technique is mobile marketing. Everyone uses e-mail communication which is slowly edging out the pre-historic snail-mail (reference of using postal service). The e-mail is a great tool because it requires no cost to send; the message is sent instantaneously; and users can always keep their sent mail to refer back to. This provides company with a great way of communicating with current and potential customers. Bell Canada uses this to sell its product by e-mailing current customers on new products being offered, and emailing consumers on new products and promotions. It allows Bell to reach a mass amount of people without exercising major costs. Search engine marketing is another way a lot of companies advertise. Everyone who owns or has access to a computer uses a search engine at least once a day. This makes placing ads on these search engines a great opportunity to generate public interest and attract consumers. Placing ads on search engines can be expensive but the exposure the ads gain provides a good cost to benefit ratio. Bell also contacts consumers via telephone (home-phone). They use call-centers to call house-holds and market their products. Telemarketing however annoying it may seem when getting a call during dinner time is proven effective. With the recent boost in cellular usage a less annoying but as effective way to reach customers is via SMS messaging. SMS messaging is cheaper, because it cuts the costs of employing call centers . However the SMS can only be delivered to already existing customers. Which does not get the company new customers but it does help them promote packages and products. Social media presents a huge marketing opportunity for firms. Bell Canada uses this as aan opportunity to garner public attention of their products by having their own Facebook page. Also they run ads on facebook to broadcast themselves to the young and old who use facebook. Social media is not just limited to Faceook and MySpace it also includes Youtube. Youtube allows Bell to run ads for free; it is the single most cost effective way for Bell to gain consumer exposure of its products. It is limited to whoever searches for Bell on Youtube but the fact that its free to upload videos makes the cost to benefit ratio very appealing. Bell just doesnt post commercials on Youtube it also advertises on Youtube as-well. Marketing has evolved over the years. In the past it was just running ads on t.v, telemarketing, banners and flyers that got the job done. Today the internet has put those archaic methods to a limited use. Bell has changed its marketing techniques with the time and uses the internet to its full marketing potential. Current Finance and Accounting Strategies The management of BCE Inc. established a system of internal controls to assure the accuracy and completion in all material respects of the financial statements and the assets are properly accounted for and safeguarded. This is supported by an internal audit group that reports to the Audit Committee, and includes communication with employees about policies for ethical business conduct (Annual Report, 2009). The process of reporting financial statements is under the supervision of the President and Chief Executive Officer and the Executive Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer of BCE to provide assurance regarding the reliability and the accordance with generally accepted accounting principles for internal and external purposes. External auditing companies such as Deloitte Touche LLP, Independent Registered Chartered Accountants, have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets, and the related consolidated statements of operations, comprehensive income, deficit and cash flows. They also conducted their audits in accordance with Canadian generally accepted auditing standards and the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. The audits include examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements, assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation (Annual Report, 2009). Overall, BCE has effective internal control over financial reporting. Current Technological Strategy BCE is the largest communications entity in Canada, providing nationwide, reliable networking services to businesses and residents. To achieve this status, BCE has continued to push forward with leading edge technological advancements and strategies, covering a whole spectrum of services available, such as high speed and wireless internet communication, satellite television and local and long distance calling. A fundamental business step in attaining a successful company is first having a solid information and communications technology (ICT) strategy (BCE, 2010). Bell Canada Enterprise base their ICT strategies on being able to support government and enterprise establishments. They develop their products on connecting businesses to other businesses as well as customers. BCE also continues to upgrade internally, by investing 10% of their revenue into resources and development, to further their own effectiveness as well as recruit top talent to the company. They invest another roughly 3 billion dollars annually into their network, operating and business support systems. Another area incorporated in the technological strategy is Bell Canada Enterprise regularly works together with other leading technological companies to co-construct more innovative technologies which strengthen services the company provides, as well as increase productivity within. All enterprises today must be environmentally aware and continue to implement green issues in their technological strategy. Bell Canada Enterprise now bill customers through the internet, and by doing so they have eliminated 16.6 million pieces of paper and 468 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions, values that continue to grow. BCE also donates one dollar to the Nature Conservancy of Canada for every new client registration (BCE, 2006). Bell Canada Enterprise continues to grow, helping businesses nation wide, and by upgrading their own resources, they are further capable of providing the services they offer. The next direction the company is beginning to take is investing and developing VoIP (voice over internet protocol), which is far from the final frontier of communication that BCE will develop and provide to the ever-growing business world. Bell Canada Enterprises Five Year Projections Heading into the future Bell Canada Enterprises wants to continue to be the largest communications provider in Canada. In order to accomplish this, a five part imperative strategy has been put into place that will help maximize subscribers and revenue while improving on the reliable, consistent services that are already being offered to its customers. The five parts of this strategy include: Improving customer service, Accelerate wireless, leverage wireline momentum, invest in broadband networks and services, and achieve a competitive cost structure. Improving customer service is BCEs top priority as in order for the company to remain competitive, delivering excellent reliable customer service is must. That is why the company is executing programs such as Same Day Next Day service which enables the company to try and fix any problems with its wireless or wired service from its office first. If that fails they will send someone to the location within 24 hours to solve the problem. The better training of call centre, field service and channel teams enables them to be more efficient when dealing with customers and help provide the customer with the answer they are looking for. Accelerating wireless is another top priority as there is expected to be a continued grow in data usage. That is why the company is investing heavily into state-of-the-art broadband networks, devices and services that can provide the fastest service offered on the market. This provides the leverage the company needs to attract businesses and residents to its services allowing the company to expand. However, speed and reliability dont provide all the necessary leverage as to achieve maximize subscribers and revenue the company must offer competitive prices. This is done by building the most cost-effective company possible and maximizing efficiency and productivity of everything that is done within the company. Corporate Strategies Globalization and Adaptation In todays business market, globalization is essential for an enterprise. For a company to turn maximum profit, it must be able to reach and appeal to a number of different clientele, as well as exchange resources and technology. As the top communications provider across Canada, there are few areas nationally that are not covered by BCE thus, BCE has currently begun to touch other areas of the world. Bell Canada Enterprise has grown to become the monopolistic communications provider throughout Canada by continuing to buy resource technology from smaller companies such as Northern Telecom, and joint-fund more research together (Canadian Journal of Communication, 1993). Through this purchasing of technology from other companies, or of the companies themselves as a whole (the purchasing of Virgin Mobile), then applying these resources and ideas within their own networks, BCE has been able to adapt to changes in technologies as they are discovered. As smart technology has been released by companies such as Apple and R.I.M, Bell has been able to make these phones compatible on their wireless and mobile networks. They have also continued to keep up with the television business, making their Bell Direct TV satellite frequency serviceable to advancements in high definition televisions. Building off the their ability to reach most of the nation through television, Bell Canada turned their eyes off of Canada, and to the entire world during the recent 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games. Bell retained the exclusive rights to be the partner of the Vancouver Olympics, built the network which broadcast every telecast of the games, making Bell the sole providers of every Olympic image seen on televisions throughout the world (Bell Canada Enterprise, 2010). Having completed projects and adapting to these changes, Bell can only continue to prepare to make new technologies compatible on their networks, and build off their success in delivering television signals to the entire world. With the demand for entertainment and convenience constantly growing in the economy, Bell will continue to globalize, in order to stay ahead of the game. Corporate Responsibility Adaptation and Projection Corporate responsibility have been a central element of Bells operation since the companys founding 130 years ago, and it remains a primary commitment of every member of the Bell Canada Enterprise team today (Corporate, 2009). Bell uses a diversity strategy to maintain a high standard of corporate responsibility. They comply with the employment equity requirements to aim for the four federally designated groups in recruiting, retaining and promoting (See Fig 1- Senior Management Positions BCE). The four federally designed group included women, visible minorities, aboriginals and people with disabilities. For the seventh consecutive year, BCE received a perfect 10/10 rating from Governance Metrics International in its 2009 global corporate governance study (Corporate, 2009) All employees must review the BCE Code of Business Conduct regularly and complete an online training course to ensure that they understand the contents. Moreover, BCE require all directors, officers and vice-presidents to declare annually that they obey principle and rules of the conduct code and support the standards (Corporate, 2009). Their objective for 2010 is to remain a leader in corporate governance and ethical business conduct by maintain best practices, transparency and accountability to their stake holders (Corporate, 2009) BCE is a very responsible and active company by making a significant investment in the local communities. Through the annual program of Walk for Kids Help Phone, they have raised more than $18 million in eight years. This funding are used for providing service, information and counseling to young people. In addition, employees and retirees collect school supplies for kids in need through the program of Backpacks for Kids. Since 2004, this program has contributed more than 17,000 backpacks to schools and community. In 2009, Bell Canada and Bell Aliant together contributed more $13 million in charitable donations. Employees and pensioners committed more than $2.1 million in charitable gifts and logged nearly 43,000 hours of volunteer time (Corporate, 2009). Their 2010 objective is to contribute to the well-being of society through their community investment programs. Business Strategies Technological Projection and Adaptation As technology continues to advance, BCE must continue to keep up with these developments to entice customers to their market. With demand for specific products changing day to day, Bell strives to stay the principal communications enterprise in Canada. Bell has recently released that they will be changing their internet service to the new Fiber to the Node-based (FTTN) broadband internet service, to provide a next generation internet experience. The fiber is driven to a node roughly 3,000 feet near the location, then a copper-based VDSL2 connection is used to connect the internet service to a customer. This idea will differ from the current fiber broadband service, in which the fiber is carried to the side of the customers home (Bell Sympatico, 2010). Bell currently runs on a 3G wireless network, but with the growing technology, BCE is upgrading to a HSPA (High Speed Packet Access) network, which will set the foundation for their eventual upgrade to the faster 4G LTE wireless network. The 4G network is the future of broadband mobile data speeds and multimedia for personal devices (BCE, 2010). Human Resources Projections and Adaptations Bell Canada Enterprise governs its business by putting into place strong policies and systems to guide the activities of the company in the right direction. This has been done by making sure that everyone within the company from the lowest level to the highest one maintains their ethical standards and practices while continuing to exceed the requirements and expectations of the public and the shareholders. This high standard is not limited to the employees of the company, but is also upheld for the people that do business with the company. The company seeks quality products and services from its suppliers while expecting them to act responsibly within the marketplace while also respecting the environment. The demand for high standards and the implementing of strong policies and practices has allowed the company to continue to grow through the years and will help lead the company into the future. Even with this high standard the company has maintained that a successful company is one when the employees are happy with where they work. Believing that work shouldnt just be a place to go every day but be more of a place you want to go and be actively involved in. This is done by creating a dynamic working environment by encouraging its employees to never stop learning and engaging in the decision making of the company. This creates a sense of company pride that is expected to show through in all work that is produced by the company whether it is with helping a customer to the improvement of broadband service. In doing this the company has scored a perfect 10/10 from rating agency GovernanceMetrics International in the global corporate governance study. Bell has also been a leading company in diversifying the work place with Bell Aliant leading the way in this department. With the hiring of a diverse workforce Bell Canada Enterprises has been able to connect to Canadas multi- cultural society. This has lead to Bell Aliant being recognized as one of Canadas Best Diversity Employers in 2009, as part of the Canadas Top 100 Employers project. Marketing and Advertising Projections and Adaptations As we have discussed earlier marketing is a key component of a companies growth. Bell Canada Enterprises which faces fierce competition from the likes of Rogers Communications, so it needs to keep energizing old and potential customers. In Chapter ____ we talked about current and sales marketing strategies. These strategies were mainly related to the internet and social media advertising. This trend will definitely continue in the future. The advertisement of future products and plans will greatly be induced in social media outlets. Companies are quickly realising the amount of useful information sites such as Facebook have. Facebook and Myspace as well as other social media sites contain a host of information on the users likes and dislikes; tastes in fashion, technology, and food. People on these sites often posts problems they are having with current corporations dealings. If one reads BCEs Facebook page it is full of complaints that current customers have with the companys telecommunications branch. Now this may seem like terrible a terrible publicity but one must consider that the only people who go on Bell Mobilitys Facebook page are current users. So this helps Bell realize what its doing wrong and fix it. BCE and other companies use crawlers to gather information from peoples profiles. They then use this information to send personalized ad campaigns to the consumer. SWOT Analysis Strengths One of BCEs biggest strength is the fact that it is already established itself as a major name in the telecommunications market. It is no up-start company vying for notoriety. Just about every Canadian citizen knows that Bell Canada is a telecommunications company. It is second largest in terms of subscribers for wireless operations and owns a majority of the network access lines in major residential areas. It is one of the nations leading digital television providers with 1.8 million subscribers. The number of internet subscribers are 2.1 million which is the most of any company. Bell holds a chokehold in telecommunications coverage in Toronto and Montreal which are major populous areas. BCE also owns a 44.2% stake in Bell Aliant which is the major telecommunications provider in Atlantic Canada. According to industry analysts, total wireless subscribers in Canada are supposed to increase to by 6million users by 2013. Overall the branding of BCE and its longevity thus far will keep B CE in a prominent position in the telecommunications market. Weaknesses We discussed how Bell is a major force in the Canadian telecommunications market which is also its biggest weakness. The figure of a growth of 6 million represents a total 29.5million people on cell phones by 2013. Canada only has a population of 33.3 million; this is not enough for major growth to occur within the company. Also the companys wireline segment has decreased. This accounts for about 55.8% of the companys revenue. If this segment decreases then profits will conversely decrease in the future. Opportunities BCE has invested its money in promising areas in order to capitalize on future opportunities. These future opportunities include in the broadband high-speed internet market which is rampantly growing. It is increasing rollout of its FTTN and pans to add a HPSA network alongside EVDO. The DTV market is also growing and Bell is already a strong player in this market. BCE owns a 100% stake in Virgin mobile expanding its coverage beyond Canada. It has also bought out the retailer The Source which sells electronic goods with over 750 high traffic locations across Canada. Threats BCE faces threats from all aspects of its business environment. Notable threats are from Rogers wireless and TELUS for wireless services and internet. Industry Analysis The wireless telecommunication industry is defined as an industry is including cellular (mobile) phones, pagers and any other wireless or cellular telecommunication service. Revenues are based on payments to operators of all of these services for subscriptions and usage (Industry, 2009). The Canadian telecommunication is an increasing industry with total revenue of $14.8 billion and a compound annual growth rate of 11.3% during 2005 to 2009 (See Fig 2). In addition, it generated a total economic value the total value of direct GDP contribution, output multiplier and consumer surplus of $39 billion for the Canadian economy (Industry, 2009). This is a very intensely competing industry due to the low level of service differentiation. Companies are competing each other through brand awareness, functionality and value pricing to attract more customers. Competition will increase as a result of new technologies and services in the future. Competition will also increase to the extent that n ew firms enter the market if additional radio spectrum is made available for commercial wireless services (Industry, 2009). The market will become more intense as it approaches higher saturation. Three leading companies in this industry are Rogers Communication, BCE Inc., and TELUS Corporation. Rogers accounts 37.2% and BCE Inc accounts 30.6% share of the market (Industry, 2009). Based on the financial ratios in 2009, BCE Inc. did not have great financial situation when compared to Rogers and TELUS. From the Fig 5 on Appendix A, Bell had pretty low profitability ratios, which means investors did not earn as much money in comparison with Rogers and TELUS. In addition, Bell had the lowest return of assets ratio among the two top competitors means that it earned less money per dollar of assets. Consequently, Bell did not utilize its assets to net income as effectively as its competitors. However, Bell had well control on its costs in the industry. It was able to convert its sales into actual profit effectively. Based on current ratio, Bell was unable to pay off its obligation on time. A current ratio with 0.69 means that for every dollar of current liability, Bell only had $0.69 of current assets (FP Infomart, 2009). In another word, Bell did not have the ability to turn its product into cash more easily. When compared with the industry, Bell had weak and unstable financial situation. The Price/Earnings ratio indicates that Bells shares were selling at a price that was 12.25 times its earnings per share. The P/E ratio is lower than the industry ratio, means that the investors are paying less for each unit of net income. However, Bell had a higher dividend yield than its competitors and the industry. Generally, big figures of dividend yield will attract more investors to invest in a company. Therefore, Bell has more investors than Rogers and TELUS, which means more capital, will be brought into the company and result higher revenue.

Electoral Process Essay -- Politics, Democracy, British Government

In most of the modern societies an electoral process is considered an important symbol of the democracy that represents the concept of freedom of choice and fairness. The UK coalition government is now facing the need to reform the process by choosing between FPTP system and AV. As the final decision can affect the whole society, it is necessary to carefully analyze advantages and disadvantages of both systems. FPTP allows a candidate to win by the majority of the votes. It is a straightforward system that requires comparatively simplified procedures. In addition, it usually provides stable and strong one-party government. Also, elected party usually governs effectively and carries on the manifesto promises. Another advantage is a good-organized constituency link between MPs and their constituents. They can easily contact their MP to have support (Coxall et al. 2003, Jones and Norton 2010). Finally, FPTP tent to limit extremist parties like fascist, racist and other â€Å"hate† parties, for example British National Party. However, there are several disadvantages that should be considered. The most important weakness and the major criticism of FPTP system is ‘wasted votes’ issue (Lowe et al. 2010, p.115). For instance, in 2005 the UK General Election 65% of overall votes was wasted (BBC news 2005). Each vote is significant as it affects final results. Moreover, wasted votes lead to depressed turnout. Less people are willing to vote as they think their votes are not counted or make no change because there is a constantly winning party called ‘Safe seat’. In the last election, for instance, many people wanted to vote for Liberal-Democrats party, ‘safe seats’ and wasted votes dissuaded them to do it (Lowe et al. 2010, Jones and Norton ... ...h, the problem of wasted votes and disproportional allocation become more serious year by year (P. Whiteley 2010). The statistics show that turn out in UK is increasing from 2001 year coming to the level of 65.1%. In addition, elections require huge spending from the government and parties (UK political Info 2010a, 2010b, Jones and Norton 2010). As UK government is currently facing a need to cut the budget up to 40%, AV is not a useful method (Pollwatch 2010, J. Bingham 2010). To sum up, AV system adoption is a quite controversial question. Although AV system is solving some problems of FPTP system and providing fairer conditions for candidates and electors, adoption of this system can be quite difficult for the UK Coalition Government in term of budget and time spent. In my opinion, it is better to remain current election system as careful analysis is required.

Mini-ethnography On Gamer Culture Essay -- essays research papers

â€Å"Man, Fragged by the LPB Sniper again!!!† That may sound like nonsense to the average person but to the seasoned Counterstrike veteran it speaks volumes. Today, millions of people of all ages are coming together on the Internet to compete against each other in a variety of online games. The most popular of which is an online modification of the game Half-life entitled Counterstrike. Counterstrike itself is comprised of players broken up in to two teams, terrorists and counter terrorists, who then compete against each other to achieve a range of goals in a variety of levels. People from anyplace in the world can log in to one of the hundreds of Counterstrike servers running on the Internet and team up with and play against anybody anywhere. To play the game players manipulate their characters movements inside the simulated scenario they see on their monitor. They do so by using the keyboard and mouse in tandem to move around the level, find opposing players and then â€Å"frag† or kill them with whatever weapon they currently have, there by eliminating them for the remainder of the round. However, in most cases the teams’ goals are more complex than just eliminating the other team. For instance, in one level one player assumes the role of the V.I.P. and his counter terrorist teammates try to escort him to a helicopter on the other side of the level. The terrorist teams objective is to find and assassinate the V.I.P. before he is able to escape. This and other missions like it create an exciting and adrenaline filled environment that are part of the reason gamers just can not quit. For the most part people team up with and compete against people they haven’t met and probably never will meet in a face-to-face manner. This yields some very interesting results. I was able to observe two peers of mine playing Counterstrike online in the same room on their separate computers on several occasions for extended periods. Also, I installed Counterstrike on my computer here in my dorm room and played online myself a number of times. The first thing that I noted and the first I am going to talk about is the player’s ability to create and maintain their own online identity. Every player in an online game of Counterstrike or any other game for that matter has his or her own handle or call sign. They are nicknames that the players come up with themselves and adopt as names ... ...10 dollars to gain access to an online server that acts as a simulated finite world for each person to place their character in. Players manipulate their character and basically live that person’s live in that finite simulated world that contains other players. They buy property, get a job and interact with other players. I was unable to actually observe anyone playing Everquest or play it myself. However it seems to take the level of interaction to new levels. For obvious reasons I find that a little unsettling. I think that is safe to say that many people actually prefer their simulated online personas and friends to their real life ones. That may pose new problems in the future. At the pace that technology is currently developing I think that soon the number of people who find more satisfaction and fulfillment in their â€Å"cyber lives† will only grow. Also, to speculate a little I think that in the future it will probably be possible to immerse yourself in a to tally simulated environment. Will be people totally isolate themselves and spend years inside life simulations oblivious to the real world but still perfectly content to live out their days in a Matrix like cyber dreamscape?