Case study one and two Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Case study one and two - Term Paper Example The partner would have to buy in to acquire equity in the company. A good way to determine the valuation of Mystic Monk Coffee is to hire a consultant to determine the value of the firm. The new partner will provide the firm with cash that can be used to expand the business. The partner will also bring human capital into the organization. A second constraint the company faces is limited workforce capacity. The firm only has three employees. Once the new partner comes on board the company can solve the problem by hiring three additional employees. The new employees can help the company in its expansion plan. A growth plan of adding another store managed by the new partner can give the firm added exposure and it can double the revenues. The beer industry is the United States generates $100 billion in revenues annually. Beer is the most consumed alcoholic beverage worldwide. As a drinkable beverage beer has lots of substitutes. Beer can be substituted by water, sodas, tea, juice, and hot beverages including coffee and chocolate. If we narrow the product category, beer is an alcoholic beverage. Wines, rum, vodka, and other hard liquors are substitutes to beers. The bargaining power of the buyers in the beer industry is affected by various factors. The list below illustrates three of those factors and its relative power: There are several critical success factors in the beer industry. One important factor for success in the beer industry is advertising. Beer companies spend billions of dollars each year on advertising using multiple media channels including television, radio, billboards, and the internet. The target market that is aggressively targeted in advertising by beer companies is people between the ages of 18-35 years of age. A second critical success factor is customer loyalty. Beer companies depend on the repeated business of its customers to generate revenues on a

Language and Dictrionaries Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Language and Dictrionaries - Essay Example In his proposal for the new undertaking in lexicography, Richard Chenevix Trench made a bold statement by announcing that it is not the function of a dictionary to provide standards (5). Trench described the role of a lexicographer as one of "an historian of it [language], not a critic" (5), whose task is to "collect and arrange all the words, whether good or bad," and "to make his inventory complete" (6). James A.H. Murray (not the first editor, but who is commonly associated with the beginning of the dictionary) further expounded on the ideas proposed by Trench. Murray explicated that the role of a lexicographer, as a historian, is not simply to record words: but to furnish a biography of each word, giving as nearly as possible the date of its birth or first known appearance, and, in the case of an obsolete word or sense, or its last appearance, the source from which it was actually derived, the form and sense with which it entered the language or is first found in it, and the successive changes of form and developments of sense which it has since undergone. (47) However, the original OED was not able to achieve the truly descriptive model of lexicographical creation. Indeed, as adamant as Trench was on including "all the words, whether good or bad" (6), he conceded that "A Dictionary ought to know its own limits" (56). Trench especially protested against "the drafting into the Dictionary a whole army of purely technical words" (57). Interestingly, these words he did not consider as words but as mere signs (57). Another stratum of vocabulary that was originally banned from the OED was obscene terminology. Indeed, Bryson contends that much of the obscene vocabulary did not appear in the OED until after 1972 (222). Unlike Johnson's and Webster's dictionaries, the OED was no longer a work of a single person but "the combined action of many" (Trench, qtd. in Landau 79). To reflect the fluidity of the language and the mutability of the society, the OED editors continued making adjustments and additions to the dictionary. The first supplementary volume came out in 1933 - five years after the OED was published. In the OED2 preface, the editors recount that most of the additions for the Supplement and for the second edition of the OED concentrated on including more scientific vocabulary, slang, and words from different varieties of English. 1.1 Preface and Front Matter While often overlooked by users, most dictionaries boast a Preface/Front Matter. The aforementioned is often highly informative and as far as the lexicographer is concerned, an invaluable guide to the dictionary and, possibly, previous editions. As one turns to the 8th edition of the Concise Oxford Dictionary, one finds that the above stated holds true. Taken together, both the Preface and Front Matter provide a concise and precise guide to the edition and a guide to its distinctive features. The Preface explains the variations between the 8th and previous editions of the dictionary, outlining the changes made to the structure and layout. The breadth of these changes, as listed in the below, are a testament to the extent to which the edition's editors, sub-editors and collaborators determined to reflect the times and ensure that the Concise Oxford

Investigating Service User And Care Involvement Social Work Essay

Investigating Service User And Care Involvement Social Work Essay Introduction The following review will discuss the issue of service user involvement in the discharge/transfer procedure. The review was compiled by the author within a nineteen bedded Forensic Mental Health unit. The ward was at full capacity at the time of writing this review. The service users all had different levels of mental illness, each with a different history, level of cognitive awareness, degree of institutionalisation and willingness to adapt and change. This review will assess to what extent service users are involved with the care planning/discharge planning process in the ward and give possible recommendations on how this process may be improved. The review will consist of an introduction, aims of the review, methods of data collection, findings on a series of questions and answers on the extent of service user involvement in the discharge process, conclusions, and possible recommendations for change. It will conclude with a reflection piece. 148 Aims of The Review During this placement the author decided on a subject to review, this subject was service user involvement in discharge planning. While collating information for the review some questions arose these questions were: Does the service user feel included in decision making? How does the staff involve the service user in the decision making if at all? Has discharge been discussed with the service user? These questions lead to the author constructing some key questions to carry out in the review these will be discussed further in the findings. 91 Methods used to Construct review The data for the review was collected over a ten week period within the ward. The author consulted service users notes, attended multidisciplinary team meetings and conducted a series of semi-structured, one to one interviews with service users and staff, including a consultant, doctors, ward manager, nurses, nursing assistants and occupational therapists. A literature search was also carried out using accredited databases including CINAHL and the British Nursing Index. Relevant journal articles were found on these databases using keywords such as service user, involvement and mental health services. Nursing research books were also used to gather information along with web sites underlining national policies and models for mental health nursing. 110 Findings How are decisions made within the placement area regarding discharge planning? Throughout the weeks on this placement research was carried out by the author on policies and procedures for discharge planning. The one in particular that was found to be relevant was the Care Programme Approach (CPA). CPA is about early identification of needs, assignment of individuals or organisations to meet those needs in an agreed and co-ordinated way and regular reviews of progress with the patient and care providers. CPA is also about involving family or carers at the earliest point. The Care Programme Approach requires that patients should be provided with copies of their care plans and it has been increasingly common for patients who have been the responsibility of forensic psychiatrists to have copies of documents relating to their care. (DOH 2008). Systems were in place for comprehensive care planning. There was evidence to show that the service users social, educational and occupational needs were taken into account in the care planning process and other specialist interventions were available. In addition to this, in some cases, discharge planning was evident from an early stage (not long after admission), although in other cases a few months had elapsed before any document noted those discussions. Discharge planning is enhanced by the Care Programme Approach (CPA) a multi-disciplinary care planning systematic approach that involves service users and their carers. Care Programme Approach is the framework for care co-ordination and resource allocation in mental health services. Decisions for discharge are made through the multi-disciplinary team which consists of consultants, ward manager, nursing staff, occupational therapy and social workers. This will go forward to a tribunal where the service user will be invited to take part, here all the evidence will be put forward and a decision will be made. If the service user is restricted then the decision will be made by the First Minister. Most service users have long term mental health problems and complex social needs and have been in contact with mental health services for more than twenty years so never think about discharge. Being in hospital for so long has become part of their lives so service users see it as pointless being discharged, what would I do 360 What decisions/involvement does the service user have in this process? Service users are encouraged to be fully involved in all aspects of their care as far as they are able to. Service users past and present wishes should be taken into account, their views and opinions with regards to their treatment plan must also be recorded, as stated in the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) Act 2003. The principles of the act underpin any decision made relating to a detained service user in Scotland. The Milan Committee devoted a chapter in the act that referred to high risk patients it stated that service users should have the right of appeal to be transferred from a high or medium secure facility to that of a facility with lower security conditions. (Mental Health Care and Treatment Scotland Act 2003). Within this placement care and treatment plans are reviewed on a regular basis. Service users are expected to meet with their key worker and other team members on a regular basis, care plans are reviewed at these meetings and a mutual agreement will be decided, on the best way forward, once the care plan has been agreed by all the service user has to adhere to the care plan. Service users have the opportunity for regular one-to-ones with their key workers (weekly basis) or more regularly if they require. Service users have the opportunity to put forward their thoughts on discharge and any other aspect of their care at the review, such as their rights beliefs and their right to a tribunal (The Human Rights Act 1998).The review takes place every four months, again this is a multi-disciplinary meeting and service users are invited to attend with the support of advocacy or someone of their choice. The Human Rights Act 1998 gives legal effect in the UK to certain fundamental rights and freedoms contained in the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). These rights not only affect matters of life and death like freedom from torture and killing, but also affect your rights in everyday life: what you can say and do, your beliefs, your right to a fair trial and many other similar basic entitlements. During the time spent on this placement it was noted that service users and key workers met at the beginning of the week to discuss how they felt things have been for them, the service user has the opportunity to discuss what changes they would like to happen, this is then recorded in the service users notes and taken forward to the clinical team that week where it would be discussed if any changes in care and treatment would take place, the service user is then informed of any changes and decisions made. The opportunity arose for the author to take part in these weekly reviews, during this one-to-one time most service users were able to express their thoughts and feelings about issues they had encountered that week and describe what therapeutic strategies they used to get through it. The service user will be provided with a copy of the Treatment Plan Objectives, or informed in detail of the contents of the treatment plan, in the event that any learning or specific reading or language difficulty information should be provided in a way that is most likely to be understood. Arnstein (1969) constructed a ladder of participation which described eight stages of user participation in services, including mental health. These stages ranged from no participation to user controlled services. The above service users would be placed on the sixth rung of the ladder in the partnership range as they agree to share planning and decision-making responsibilities. 599 Does this placement area reflect its practice on local or national policies regarding service user involvement in discharge planning? When asked their views on the subject the Ward manager and senior nursing staff presented documentation which reaffirmed current practice within the ward. The Ten Essential Shared Capabilities (ESCs,) he explained was the model now being followed on the ward, has just been implemented into this area of placement within the last two years, which the ward staff have adopted well by providing a person-centred approach as much as possible. This new person-centred model embraced the ethos of the above, and senior staff stressed that good practice dictated that service users have the opportunity to appropriately influence delivery of care and support. A review of policies and procedures as well as discussions with staff provided evidence that the policies were actually in place. Throughout the placement, the author noticed that efforts were being made all the time to nurse according to the new model. Included were regular one to one sessions between nurses and service users to hear their views and thoughts, these already took place before the ESCs were introduced. Moreover some staff do find it difficult to adopt the ESCs and the mental health act due to the restraints of the environment (secure ward), however they are prepared to embrace the opportunity for further education and support. 226 Identify barriers and constraints. While on placement and conducting this review the author noted that one of the barriers to effective involvement came from some of the service users, due to the complex nature of the area the service users had become institutionalised and found it difficult to be thinking about discharge at this stage in their lives, so they just accept the way things are and do not get too much involved as far as care plans are involved and just say what they think the staff want to hear. In secure settings engagement of service users in assessment and treatment can be difficult, as there is a potential risk of perceived coercion. Moreover with the lack of medium secure facilities around this can hinder service users from moving on within the specified time limit agreed, as there are no provisions. . 138 Recommendations for Development Most service users were more concerned about their futures and life post discharge. They wanted their time between now and then to be concerned with preparing them for discharge. It was frustrating for many service users that they felt that little in the way of such preparation was taking place High secure units should ensure that at the point of discharge patients have a copy of their discharge care plan in a suitable format which includes appropriate information about the circumstances that might result in their return to secure mental health provision. However a recommendation that high secure units should ensure that factors to be weighed in assessing relapse are part of the risk assessment included in the discharge plan of all patients. The National Service Framework for Mental Health states that Service users and carers should be involved in planning, providing and evaluating training for all health care professionals (Department of Health, 1999). This is the case in most health care provisions but for more education, training and information to be more readily available. Strengthening the user perspective and user involvement in mental health services has been a key part of policymaking in many countries, and also has been encouraged by World Health Organization (WHO) in order to establish services that are better tailored to peoples needs and used more appropriately. .174 Reflection In this review, I need to reflect on the situation that took place during my clinical placement to develop and utilise my interpersonal skills in order to maintain the therapeutic relationships with service users. In this reflection, I am going to use Gibbs (1988) Reflective Cycle. This model is a recognised framework for my reflection. Gibbs (1988) consists of six stages to complete one cycle which is able to improve my nursing practice continuously and learning from the experience for better practice in the future. During the first week of placement I was encouraged to work closely with my mentor. This gave me the opportunity to orientate myself to the ward and get an overview of the needs and requirements of the service users. This also provided me with the chance to observe how the nursing team worked on the ward. During this time I have learned that if the concept of interprofessional working is to succeed in practice, professionals need excellent team working and communication skills. Good communication, as we have staged in our group work theory, is crucial in the effective delivery of patient care and poor communication can result in increased risk to the service users. I have learned the valuable skills required for good communication and will transfer these into practice by adapting to the local communication procedures. The NMC advices that at the point of registration students should have the necessary skills to communicate effectively with colleagues and other departments to improve patience care (NMC, 2004). In conclusion of my reflective assignment, I mention the model that I chose, Gibbs Reflective Cycle(1988) as my framework for my reflective piece. I state the reasons why I am choosing the model as well as some discussion on the important of doing reflection in nursing practice. I am able to discuss every stage in the Gibbs (1988) Reflective Cycle about my ability to develop my therapeutic relationship by using my interpersonal skills with service users for this reflection. 369

The Existance Of God :: essays research papers

The Existance Of God Either God exists or He doesn't. There is no middle ground, and any attempt to remain neutral in relation to God's existence is automatically synonymous with unbelief. It is far from a "moot" question, because if God does exist, then nothing else really matters; if He does not exist, then nothing really matters at all. This is kind of unfortunate for someone like myself, because I've always lived on that nonexistent middle ground. Until now I've never been put in a position where it was questioned. The last couple of years I've referred to myself as a recovering Catholic, but never redefined my religion (or lack thereof) since then. When I found out I had to take a stand in this paper one way or another, yes or no, black or white, it was unsettling. At that point it became more than a term paper. Can I, with a clear conscience, write a 15 page paper denouncing the existence of God? I kind of cringed as I imagined being struck down Indiana Jones style, and in that, I had my answer. So without further adieu, the next 15 pages is me, making my case (I think) for the existence of God. What better place to start, than Pascal's Wager. Pascal's Wager takes this angle: You must wager. There is no choice, he says, you are already committed. I liked the example he used of the toss of the coin, he wants us to see this choice as the gamble that it is. Before you put your money on either, examine the odds, says Pascal: One on side of the coin, heads: God exists and there is an eternal heaven to be gained and an eternal Hell to be avoided. On the flip-side of the coin: God does not exist, no heaven and hell to look forward to or fear, no rewards and no wrath. Choose God, says Pascal, If you win you win everything if you lose you lose nothing, though the odds are even, the rewards are not. Choose heads and win, and in the words of Willy Wonka, you win the "grand and glorious jackpot." Is this true? Is it wrong for me to take a theist's approach to this paper, and yet still disagree with Pascal's logic? Pascal says there is a full and happy life to be won, but isn't there also a full and happy life to be lost, depending on your ideas of full and happy?

On the Symbolism of The Scarlet Letter Essay

Introduction: Nathaniel Hawthorne is a great romantic novelist in America in the 19th century. His novel, The Scarlet Letter, is considered as the first American psychological novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. It reveals the psychological insight with which Hawthorne proved guilt and anxiety in the human soul. The Scarlet Letter is deeply concerned with ethical problems of sin, punishment, and atonement. The background of the story is set in Salem, Massachusetts, a strictly controlled Puritan town with harsh laws and fierce prejudices. Hester Prynne, a young wife whose husband is presumed dead, is being publicly humiliated for the sin of adultery. The proof of her sin is her baby girl Pearl. She conceals the identity of Pearl’s father to protect him from the harsh judgment of Puritan law. She however is doomed to spend the rest of her life marked as an adulterer by wearing a scarlet â€Å"A† on her chest. Hester’s husband meanwhile has arrived in the colony and taken up practice as a doctor. He makes Hester promise that she will not reveal his identity to anyone. It is the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, who is renowned as an especially holy and pious man. Wracked by guilt he starts to show outward signs of serious illness. Hester’s husband under the assumed name Roger Chillingworth moves in begins taking care of Dimmesdale. Chillingworth soon discovers that he is Pearl’s father. For revenge, Chillingworth uses his influence to multiply the feelings of guilt in the minister as a form of emotional torture. At the climax of the story, Dimmesdale confesses his sin and dies. Hester and Pearl leave the colony. Chillingworth’s gets the purpose of revenge but suddenly finds his life meaningless and dies within a year. Hawthorne is outstanding in literary skills, especially in symbolism. In this novel, symbolism runs through the whole novel where the scarlet letter â€Å"A†, the characters of story and the settings are all endowed with a deep symbolic significance. The main symbolism of the novel is represented by the colors, the scarlet letter â€Å"A†, the four main characters and the settings. The wide use of symbolism makes his characters to be recalled embodiment of psychological traits or moral concepts. Few literature works equals The Scarlet Letter in intensity and effective use of images and symbols. Significance: This paper attempts to illustrate Nathaniel Hawthorne’s wide use of symbolism in his masterpiece The Scarlet Letter, which shows its profound significance when facing the sin and the struggle of the human soul in the harsh Puritan society. The paper is mainly divided by sixth parts: the first part is the introduction of the author and the novel The Scarlet Letter; the second is the symbolism and its relation with the novel; the third is the symbolic meaning of the scarlet letter â€Å"A†; then the symbolic meaning of the four characters; the fifth part is the symbolic meaning of the settings as well as the places; the last part will be the conclusion of the paper. Literature Review: Many studies have related to the symbolism in The Scarlet Letter. In the past, studies are mainly focused on the symbolism of â€Å"A†, the main characters, the settings, and the places. This paper analyzes the symbolism in The Scarlet Letter systematically. The research on the symbolism of the Scarlet Letter â€Å"A†: There are many studies about the Scarlet Letter â€Å"A†, such as Zeng Yanbo’s The Symbolism in The Scarlet Letter. In her paper, he points out the letter A’s implied meaning changes as the plot develops; first it appears as the symbol of the guilt of adultery. It then changes into a symbol of alone and alienation, then into amazon, adamant and avenger, and it becomes a symbol of able and angel, finally it changes into aspiration for the new life, as well as amour and admire between Arthur and Hester. The symbolism of the four major characters: In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne gives different symbolic meanings to the four major charac ters. In Liu Huijuan’s paper On the Symbolic Meaning in Hawthorne’s Works The Scarlet letter, the author studies that the heroine’s name Hester Prynne contains the meaning of beauty, passion, amour, admiration and aspiraion. While the hero, Arthur Dimmesdale, whose initials AD, which also stands for adultery .The name of Hester’s husband Roger Chillingworth means agony, anguish and avenger. Hester and Arthur’s daughter’s name Pearl contains the meaning of precious, glorious and good virtue. The symbolism of the settings: In the novel, settings are one of major elements of symbolism, such as the scaffold, which is the  dominating point at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end of the story. In Zeng Yanbo’s On Symbolism in The Scarlet Letter, he illustrates that the prison represents the cruelty of the Puritan Society. The rose bush is the symbol of passion. The sunshine is the symbol of aspiration. Many people aren’t focus on one aspect of the novel. Zhang Julan makes a profound discussion about the symbolism in The Scarlet Letter, and reveals the significance of symbolism in the novel. Besides, she also discusses the sin, atonement and redemption of the God in the novel. In these articles, they all research the symbolism in The Scarlet Letter and the great significance of symbolism. This paper is focus on the symbolism in detail based on above research results. Thesis Statement: Symbolism: A symbol is something concrete that represents or suggests another thing that can’t be pictured in itself. The use of description of some outward object is to show some hidden meaning. Symbols are always in relationship, context and association, with which authors can change a wide variety of ideas into single, simple acts of understanding. In The Scarlet Letter, symbolism runs through the whole novel. Hawthorne’s emphasis on symbolism often makes the characters shadowy but with implied meaning to chew. The main symbolism of the novel is represented by the colors, the scarlet letter â€Å"A†, the four main characters, the settings and the places. Outline: Nathaniel Hawthorne is a great romantic novelist in America in the 19th century. His novel, The Scarlet Letter, is considered as the first American novel with symbolic meaning from the very beginning to the end. In The Scarlet Letter, the symbolic meaning can be divided into the following several aspects: The symbolism of the colors: It is commonly agreed that colors are used extensively as symbols in The Scarlet Letter. The most frequently employed color symbol by the author is red. Red represents Hester’s sin, as shown by the letter â€Å"A†. The use of the red color expresses how differently Hester and Pearl are viewed by the people of Puritan Society, who are shameful for Hester’s adultery. Besides, the red color, along with images of bright glow, shows Pearl to be the product of a moment of passion between Hester and Dimmesdale. As a red symbol of Hester’s sin,  Pearl is often identified with the color red. The symbolic meaning of the letter â€Å"A†: the letter â€Å"A† has many symbolic meanings in this paper. When it comes to the Christianity, â€Å"A† stands for forbidden apple stolen by Adam and Eve; â€Å"A† for the act of the Apostles; â€Å"A† for Arrogance. For Hester, â€Å"A† stands for alone, alienation, able, angel, aspiration and admiration. For Roger Chillingworth, â€Å"A† stands for amazon, adamant and avenger. The symbolism of the four characters: Hawthorne used the four characters as symbols in The Scarlet Letter. The four symbolize different aspects of sin. Hester Prynne stands for how sin can make one more independent and stronger, and Arthur Demmesdale symbolizes the harm of hidden sin. Pearl symbolizes the living scarlet letter with sunshine. Roger Chillingworth is the symbol of revenge. The symbolism of the settings and places: in the novel, settings are one of major elements of symbolism. For example, the prison symbolizes the harshness of the Puritan Society; the scaffold symbolizes the redemption of Hester and Arthur; the rosebush symbolizes the passion and amour between Hester and Arthur; the sunshine symbolizes hope. Reference: Arlin Tume. Nathaniel Hawthorne: A Biography. New York: Barnes & Nobel, 1961 Hawthorne Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. Beijing: The Commercial Press, 1996 Http://www.chuckiii.com/Reports/Symbolism_In_the_Scarlet_Letter.shtml Http://www.getfreeessays.com/show_essay/3178.html Http://www.gradesaver.com/ClassicNotes/Titles/thescarletletter/wwwboard/forum.html James Henry. Nathaniel Hawthorne: A Biography. New York: Harpoer Johnson Claudia D. Understanding The Scarlet Letter. London: Greenwood Press. Nathaniel Hawthorne. The Scarlet Letter in both Chinese and English, tr. By WangHong.et al. Bejing: Yili People’s Press, 2001. Spiller E. Robert. The Cycle of American Literature: An Essay in Historical Criticism. New York: The Fress Press, 1995 Weiren Wu. History and Anthology of American Literature. Beijing: Foreign Language and Research Press, 1991.

Traditional vs. Online Education

The battle between online education and traditional education has been raging since online school began. With online education, there is a higher chance for success due to the personalized approach to learning. Along with success in the learning area, you can also be successful in the business area of life. With online education, there is a much greater acceptance rate due to the â€Å"less strict† guidelines, as well as a broader area of class options because of the online aspect. For this reason, online education, is in my eyes, a much better choice than traditional education.Although face to face contact is considered the best form of education, online education is much more flexible than traditional education. Not everyone can make time to sit in a lecture hall at eleven a. m. five days a week. Since it is much easier to keep a job while attending an online school, it allows you to make other commitments as well as have other activities due to a regular income. It is easie r to keep a steady job and stay in school due to such flexible hours from an online education. Since Traditional classrooms have a schedule that you must stick to, it is much harder to keep a job.You can have other commitments as well due to the fact that most online schools have all assignments due on one day. You complete your degree while balancing your work and family responsibilities. At a traditional school, you are exposed to a variety of distractions in the classroom that are seemingly uncontrollable. While in an online school, because your classroom is wherever you choose, it is easier to stay focused without the distractions of the classroom. At home, you are able to control what is around you, unlike in a classroom where distractions are uncontrollable.Some online degree programs have frequent start dates, some even weekly. This allows you the opportunity to complete courses quickly. Online schooling gives you a broader spectrum of choices for your major as well as a much greater acceptance rate than traditional college. Online education would be ideal because of the flexible nature of classes offered. Since school online is well, online, they provide a much greater choice of classes and degrees that are more suitable for your own personal standards. You do not have to fight for classes as you would have to in a traditional school environment.So with all that, I consider online education to be a much more practical option for schooling. There are many more upsides to online education than there are down sides. In my opinion, there are many more downsides to traditional education than there are to online education. For this reason, online education, is in my eyes, a much better choice than traditional education. Although face to face contact is considered the best form of education, online education is much more flexible than traditional education.

Evaluation of Naturalistic Improvisation Essays

Evaluation of Naturalistic Improvisation Essays Evaluation of Naturalistic Improvisation Essay Evaluation of Naturalistic Improvisation Essay In our Drama lessons over the past few weeks, we have been working on a style of drama called Naturalism.  Naturalism is a style of drama, which accurately recreates the details of real life on stage. It attempts to make events/situations as realistic as possible, including the characters.  We were made to create and rehearse a naturalistic improvisation and present it to the whole class.  Firstly, we thought of a setting that we could act as realistically as possible. We didnt think of a plot. I.e. a classroom or a family round the dinner table etc. We then went off and thought about our own individual characters, then shared out ideas with the rest of the group. During rehearsal, we each thought about our characters status, objective, action and subtext. I based each of these things on specific features of different friends. I.e. one of my friends status would be very confident and conveyed to the audience by slouching on a chair but with her head up high. Another friends objective would be to get whatever she wanted etc. Status means how much confidence someone has and how much they are thought of in the world. My characters status was quite high (except she wasnt thought of in the world!!) until the end of our piece. She was very confident in herself and towards other people. She could have been seen as a bully. Her body language however, showed a moody teenager. She had her feet up on a chair that she had moved in front of her, she was moving her head and feet backwards and forwards to the beat of the music from her walkman whilst slouching down on another chair. The objective means what the actors aim is by the end of the scene or play. This is what they want to achieve. The objective of my character was to get some piece and quiet. Ashe was in detention, despite her refusal, with a miserable and boring teacher (David), her friend (Roxana), and an annoying new girl! (Vaishali). Vaishali wouldnt stop talking however much Nicola (my character) tried to stop her. My characters action started off as being very subtle. At the opening scene she was moving her head and foot to the beat of her music whilst playing with her nails. This made an affect as when Vaishali came in, Nicola suddenly became motionless as she stared at Vaishali. Apart from moving around a lot, the end of the piece involved Nicola looking in a mirror doing her make-up and hair. This involved more movement. Action means any kind of movement in a scene whether it be walking and dancing to running and fighting. Subtext is the invisible meaning behind what someone says. Just because they say it doesnt mean they mean it. Subtext can be shown through facial expressions and body language. In our improvisation, Nicola uses a lot of subtext. A lot of subtext was used towards Vaishali. Nicola appeared to look interested in what Vaishali was saying, but Nicolas facial expressions and body language showed that it was the complete opposite. Some subtext was used towards Nicolas teacher. When Nicola and Roxana threw some paper at him he questioned everyone. We lead him to believe that we would never do anything as rude as throw paper at someone and insisted that it was Vaishali. He believed them then, but the two girls got caught later on. I thought our piece of naturalism went quite well and I feel that I played my character quite natural and realistic as possible. There were only a few improvements that I think we could of made. They are:  1. Davids character could have been shown and introduced to the audience a bit more. I.e. he could have been included into our scenes more often.  2. Roxanas characters and mine could have been a bit more different, as we appeared practically the same. For example, we could have same characteristics but have completely different opinions that make us argue a lot. This could of happened on stage.  3. All of our characters could have been studied and explored in a great detail. We could of all found people to base our characters on, and either study them or ask them about themselves. I slightly id this but not to a great extent. I think this way; our characters would have been more natural, more real and more pure.

Amazon.com Vision, Mission and Strategy

Amazon.com Vision, Mission and Strategy Introduction Amazon was started by Jeff Bezos as the worlds biggest bookstore but slowly changed from this single-product model to a multi-product enterprise which deals with a wide array of products satisfying an even broader base of consumers. Rosier (2002) concedes that Amazon.com has established itself as a household brand in the USA and is arguably the best-known online brand.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Amazon.com: Vision, Mission and Strategy specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Since its birth, Amazon.com has moved from solely dealing with books to involving a myriad of other products. Kalakota and Robinson (2001) assert that an organization must continually strive to fulfill customer needs which include; convenience, consistency and reliability. Amazons venturing into different products thus complements the customer’s needs as opposed to sidetracking the original customer by offering them mor e convenience in that they can get not only books but also other products from the same place. Despite its diversification strategy, Amazon.com still engages in strong online branding so as to foster loyalty and a feeling of trust among its consumers (Arvidsson, 2006). In its book section, the company encourages people to write reviews on books thus offering a community-like interaction which generates emotional ties. This move underscores the fact that the company still holds the book section as one of its core entities and care is taken to maintain and increase its consumer base. These qualities and strategies have enabled the company to attain its goals and vision of being the world biggest bookstore and satisfying its client needs. Vision statement According to Hill and Jones (2009), a vision statement is a phrase that describes a desired outcome. The authors state that a vision statement should inspire, energize and help the reader develop a mental picture of the set target. As such, this is the proposed vision statement for Amazon.com: Acts as a foundation from which every aspect of our business is developed. It guides our operations by highlighting what is needed to accomplish our goals and objectives of achieving sustainable and quality growth.Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More People: provide a favorable working environment where people are inspired to realize their full potential. Portfolio: bring to the global market a range of online services that foresee and satisfy our client’s needs and desires. Partners: foster a successful network of clients and suppliers with whom quality and enduring value can be created. Planet: influence positive change that will facilitate in building and supporting sustainable communities. Profit: maximize long-term benefits to shareholders, all the while maintaining ethical practices in all our operations. Productivity: be an effective and proactive organization. Mission statement Hill and Jones (2009) define a mission statement as a written affirmation that outlines the core purpose of an organization and its focus. The authors state that in most cases, a mission statement remains unchanged over time. With this in mind, a satisfactory mission statement should be: Our mission is to run the best online bookstore, irrespective of the products and services that we offer. Considering the nature of our business, our ambitions must coincide with the principles that govern the products that exist in our stores. To state that our mission does not depend on the products and services that we offer is to undermine the importance of being an online bookseller. As online booksellers we aim to be the best in this line of business, no matter the size, nature and affiliations of our competitors. We will be at the forefront when it comes to innovating new and better styles and app roaches to bookselling. Our strategy will be in line with the set and evolving aspirations. Above all, we expect to be a benefit to the communities that we cater for, a useful resource to our clients, and an avenue through which different stakeholders can grow and prosper. Not only will we be a listening and caring partner to our clients and booksellers but also promote the idea that we are always at their service. Recommended implementation strategy While offering of † free shipping plans† and express shipping services is expensive and does cut into the profit margin of the company, Amazon.com should continue to offer these services to its clients. Competition in the online retail market is every increasing and as such, a company needs to give itself a competitive advantage over its competitors. These â€Å"super saver shipping† scheme offers one such means since it proposes to offer the consumers value added services thus setting Amazon.com apart from its compet itors. Considering that Amazons marketing strategy is pegged on an increase in customer traffic so as to promote repeat purchases and strengthen the brand name, the free shipping plan appeals to customers thereby leading to an increase in the traffic on the site. Pasiuk (2006) confirms that Amazon considered its free shipping offer as a marketing expense whose primary objective is to attract and retain customers.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Amazon.com: Vision, Mission and Strategy specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More While there is no doubt as to the increase in cost that Amazon.com incurs due to this schemes thus leading to decreased profitability, the increased traffic leads to increased turnover for the company. This leads to increased profits which compensate for the relative cost incurred in the provision of the services. Membership plans lead to loyalty and a sense of affiliation to the company by the consumers. These plans involve increased customization which entails tailoring of services so as to suit the unique case of the customers (Hill and Jones, 2009). While this does come at the cost of having to offer customized services which lead to rise in cost structure, it enables Amazon to respond to customer demands very quickly to the advantage of both the customer and the company. By upholding these strategies, Amazon.com will be able to meet and fulfill its mission and vision statements all the while maintaining a stable competitive advantage against its aggressive and ever-increasing competitors. References Arvidsson, A. (2006). Brands: Meaning and Value in Media Culture. USA: Routledge, 2006. Hill, C., Jones, G. (2009). Strategic Management Theory: An Integrated Approach. New York: Cengage Learning. Kalakota, R., Robinson, M. (2001). E-business 2.0: Roadmap for Success. California: Addison-Wesley.Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Pasiuk, L. (2006). Vault Guide to the Top Internet Industry Employers. USA: Vault Inc. Rosie, B. (2000, February). Amazon Leads Race to Expand Web Services. Retrieved from: ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID: 50804851).

Give up willpower this year - Emphasis

Give up willpower this year Give up willpower this year At this time of year, our thoughts inevitably turn to fresh starts and making resolutions for better ways to live and work. If youve pledged to give up cake or make the gym your second home, youre certainly in good company. My friend Philippa is one of many who have declared this Dry January (which I confidently predict will be followed by Wet February – you heard it here first). Or maybe youve decided its your working habits that need to shape up, that this is the year you wont leave writing up reports, emails and proposals to the last minute anymore. Its an issue many of us struggle with, and some to a very dramatic extent. I recently read of a man who always left writing reports until the night before they were due. Well, he did that until he discovered that he could get up at 4am on the actual day he had to submit them and write them then. Clearly, thats no way to live. And definitely not a great route to writing great reports. Being unsure of where to begin your document can lead to a lot of wasted time and (if were honest) procrastination. Too often, we dont start to write until the fear of writing something imperfect gets displaced by the fear of not writing anything at all. Of course, lots of people put off starting that crucial document or critical email for much longer than they might like to admit. The fear factor The trouble is that willpower sometimes just wont cut it. If your brain perceives something to be a threat (the prospect of failure), it will do all it can to avoid that threat until a bigger one (the consequences of not writing anything at all) comes along. Believe me, your willpower is not much of a match for millions of years of evolution. The way to get round this is to trick your brain by still avoiding the threat while doing something that actually moves you closer to finishing. So if writing is the problem, dont write. Plan instead. The art of getting started Most painters sketch out the general outlines of their pictures before putting paint to canvas. This gets all the elements in the right place and then naturally leads them into the act of painting itself. When you take time to plan, you do the same thing with your writing. In fact, planning is doubly useful. Not only does it overcome procrastination, it separates your writing and thinking processes. And that separation will produce much better results. Too many people use the writing process to work out what they think. This is actually dangerous. First, its likely to result in quite a disordered document or email. Second, it fools you into believing that what youve written is logical. More likely is that what youve written is the record of what could be a jumbled thought process – a record that you then inflict on the reader. Map it out There are many ways to plan. Lists are better than nothing. Mind maps are much better, as they are non-linear: they allow you to make connections between ideas that may not have initially occurred to you. But, however you plan, try not to do it on-screen: this will make it difficult to get the necessary perspective. And let’s not forget, your computer is also where all the tempting distractions of the internet lurk. So, instead, use a pen or pencil and a piece of paper. (Yes, paper.) And switch off – or even step away from – your screen if it helps. Since you’re unlikely to beat evolution, you may as well work with it to get the results you want. As well as have the occasional lie-in. Image credit: alphaspirit / Shutterstock

The Philosophical Naturalism Of David Hume Essay

The Philosophical Naturalism Of David Hume - Essay Example Humes influence is evident in the works of quite a lot of other philosophers, among whom are: Adam Smith, Immanuel Kant, Jeremy Bentham, Charles Darwin, and Thomas Henry Huxley. The diverseness of these writers shows what they gleaned from reading Hume; it reflects not only the richness of their sources but also the wide range of Humes empiricism. Contemporary philosophers recognize Hume as one of the most thoroughgoing exponents of philosophical naturalism. David Hume sought to develop more fully the consequences of Locke's cautious empiricism by applying the scientific methods of observation to a study of human nature itself. He was of the opinion that we cannot rely on the common-sense pronouncements of popular superstition, which illustrate human conduct without offering any illumination, nor can we achieve any genuine progress by means of abstract metaphysical speculation, which imposes a spurious clarity upon profound issues- that we are entirely unjustified in thinking that we can ever know anything about matters of fact. He thought that the alternative is to reject all easy answers; employing the negative results of philosophical skepticism as a legitimate place to start. Hume felt that since human beings live and function in the world, we should try to observe how they do so. The key principle to be applied to any investigation of our cognitive capacities is, then, an attempt to discover the causes of human belief. According to Hume, the proper goal of philosophy is simply to explain why we believe what we do. His own attempt to achieve that goal was the focus of Book I of his book, the Treatise of Human Nature and all of the first Enquiry.

Should the Sec replace the FASB Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Should the Sec replace the FASB - Research Paper Example Generally, FASB has five main goals: improving common understanding of the nature and purposes of financial reports, keeping accounting standards updated to reflect various changes in methods of conducting business and in the economy in general, promoting international convergence of accounting standards that are concurrent with making better the reasonability of financial reporting, taking into account quickly any areas of significance with regards to deficiency when it comes to financial reporting which maybe improved by way of standard setting, improving the usefulness of financial reporting by focusing on the important qualities of comparability and consistency and also on the primary characteristics of relevance and reliability.(Loren, John and Jefferson,2010) SEC stands for U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission .its mission is to protection of investors, maintaining fair, orderly, and highly efficient markets, and facilitating capital formation. The common interest of citizens is a growing economy which produces jobs, improves peoples’ living standard, and protects their savings. Thus the actions of SEC must be taken with an approach toward promotion of capital formation which is necessary for sustaining economic growth. (Young, 2003 p27) The SEC does oversee many key participants in the world of securities, including exchanges of securities, securities dealers, investment advisors, and also mutual funds. SEC is concerned with promoting disclosure of market-related information, protecting against fraud and maintaining fair dealing. SEC is the main overseer and regulator of the securities markets in the U.S., it also works hand in hand with a host of other institutions, including Congress, federal departments and agencies, the stock exchange, securities regulators, and many other private sector organizations. The main responsibilities of SEC are interpretation of

Accepted Accounting Principles related to Health Care Essay - 1

Accepted Accounting Principles related to Health Care - Essay Example Inother words, it separates the business from its owners and treats it as an economic unit. Only assets, liabilities, and owners equity related to the group or organization are on one financial statement. If there are sub entities, the financial records of these entities are maintained separately. The second principle is the going - concern concept which is a presumption that the group or organization will be running in the future and will not be liquidated in the next 12 months. It is a very concept in case of healthcare business because hospitals, nursing homes, etc. which do not intend to stay in business the net realizable value of the asset may be not ascertained and could be sold at a much higher price than they worth at the moment of sale. The third principle is the matching principle which is a combination of cash accounting and accrual accounting. The matching principle and cash accounting states that revenue or expenses are recognized only when the organization receives cash or pays cash. For example, medical equipments are recognized in the books of accounts only when the cash is paid out in entirety. The problem therefore is, all transactions that are not done on a cash basis and not done in the same accounting year are not recognized which gives a deceptive picture of what actually occurred a respective accounting year. On the other hand, when accrual accounting is done this gives the actual as to what occurred in that year. An example of this is if an organization provides care for a patient but does not receive reimbursement until the following year but the funds will be documented on the year the patient was cared for. The fourth principle is known as the historical cost principle and states that the cost of a resource is what the organization pays to receive the economic need. Historical cost does not reflect the current market valuation of the asset. Therefore the problem with the cost principle for example is if a hospital pays twenty

How has Japanese Cinema been Informed by Nuclear Disaster Term Paper

How has Japanese Cinema been Informed by Nuclear Disaster - Term Paper Example The style of the day is one of modern casual wear, except when our young protagonist and his friend go to school, then, they wear uniforms.   Whereas in other films, such as Akira Kurosawa’s (1990) Dreams, there is a stark contrast to the actors’ traditional kimono dress that is worn in those vignettes that portray even modern life in Japan, such as Sunshine Through the Rain, where the dress in the home is kimonos, which is presented against a backdrop of modern Japanese architecture reflecting the traditional architecture with modern materials.   The result is striking and beautiful cinematography that is spellbinding as the story in this short vignette. In Kikujiro (Kitaro, 2000), if there is anything that denotes the impact of the nuclear holocaust suffered by Japan at the end of the war, it is in the westernization of the society that is conveyed through the film.   However, it should be noted that Japan was, prior to the onset of the war, looking towards the west as a model of economic success (Keyser & Kumagai, 1996, 1).   Still, with the postwar occupation of Japan by the Allied forces, it might be logical to conclude that the westernization of Japan took on a different direction than the pre-war model.   Kikujiro (Kitaro, 2000) portrays the move away from tradition, into a modern society with modern social problems, such as gambling first and second family identity problems.   While these problems may have existed in Japan since the medieval times, it is the distinct westernized appearance of them in this modern day film that breaks with the tradition of what is usually both perceived and seen in the film as being Japanese. Whereas Japan’s move toward away from the traditional towards a more western model might have been the path in a pre-world WWII setting, nuclear holocaust and the presence of a western occupation following that event probably helped bring Japan to a western present much quicker than they might have arrived had it not been for western occupation following the war. Kikujiro (Kitaro, 2000) is the film that demonstrates modern Japan’s westernization.

Real Estate Statistics Project Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Real Estate - Statistics Project Example The sum appears quite intimidating for a middle class citizen. However, the deal was easy for Sam as all he had to do was sell his own smaller 2-BDRM 600 square feet flat for US$135,000 and make up for the difference with the help of mortgage loan. When he had purchased it, the price amounted to US$70,000 which he had raised with the help of mortgage loan and paid up a couple of years ago. Fortunately for Sam, the person who purchased his old flat was foreigner who paid up the amount Sam was looking at without a murmur. Coincidentally, the one from whom Sam had purchased the flat he is now living in was also a foreigner who was in a hurry to sell as he was moving out of the United States. Thus, the principles in buying and selling of properties are intact although they may have slowed down a bit due to the current recession. In Sam's case, he saved a significant amount having purchased a second-hand flat in a premium location. A brand new flat in the same location would have cost him at least 25% more. One may have to pay the agent some commission. However, despite the commission, the overall saving is quite high when compared to purchasing a brand new flat. Normally, when someone purchases realty, he or she has long time plans in mind. Except for housing agents, few may opt for purchasing properties for business purposes. The normal consideration for purchase of property is residential or business. Then the property may remain in the hands of the owner for decades unless he or she plans to sell it earlier for some reason. Again, normally nobody thinks much about the market value of the flat because, as residents, they do not want to dispose the flat. They need the flat for their residential or business purpose. They cannot do without the flat as it fits their lifestyle. Thus, the market value only serves as a prestige issue rather than any profit or loss in business terms. Likewise, properties purchased for business too are not overtly influenced by market trends since the purchase is based on long term requirements. If a firm desires to purchase property for commercial use, it will by all means go by the trends of its balance sheet rather than bemoan the market trends. Chain retailers and eateries such as MacDonald have powered their presence through prudent use of real estate. Real estate is a magnificent method for conserving wealth for those who have the means to purchase property and develop and d'cor it. So if you are very rich, investments in properties will most probably make you richer. This is because when you are rich, you will invest in doing up the property and the environments and this will naturally add to the property's worth. Secondly, as people realize that you have purchased certain property in a certain location, they will readily buy adjacent properties pushing property prices in the process. For instance, if

Importance of Internal and External Factors to Economic Development Essay

Importance of Internal and External Factors to Economic Development - Essay Example However, the biggest question in the minds of everyone is what has causes varying rates of economic development in a country. What are the reasons that have seen countries such as Japan and China emerge to become among the greatest economies in the world with a record time? Additionally, one would always want to understand whether the involvement of the government in the economic process causes accelerated economic growth or should the government give the private sector autonomy in determining how they conduct their activities. Additionally, countries do not live in vacuum but have to trade with their neighbors and their security may be threatened by the activities of others and therefore they have to keep into consideration the external factors in economic development. From the foregoing introduction, it is clear that one cannot argue entirely that the level of economic development in a country is attributable to only internal or external factors. Although interplay of both internal and external factors determines the path of economic development of a country, internal factors are the greatest determinants economic development of a country. The major internal factors that determine the pace of economic development in a country is the type of governance adopted. ... It is undisputable that the leadership of a country determines the level of economic growth that a country is able to achieve. In a country, governments hold much power and are expected to offer leadership in terms of economic and social developments that take place. Consequently, when a government fails to carry out an analysis of the impacts of its policies, this may spell out the starting point of its failure. The argument that governance really plays a role in determining the pace of economic development in a country is collaborated by Gerschenkron. When assessing economic backwardness in different countries, Gerschenkron argued that there is a strong correlation between economic underdevelopment and centralized bureaucracy in a country. The type of governance adopted determines the way in which the required capital for industrialization is mobilized and allocated. In a country where the government encourages private to public sector investment, the rate of economic development i s expected to become accelerated due to efficiency in resource allocation and monitoring thereby reducing wastage. In such an economy, the government concentrates in development of the right infrastructure required for development while the private sector provides and invests capital required for industrialization. Countries that promote public-private sector partnership in economy leads to development of free markets that have high productivity and efficiency. In countries where free trade thrives, high productivity is achieved since the owners of such resources closely monitor and control the production process unlike in countries where the government controls production. Government control in the production process leads to

Real Estate Statistics Project Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Real Estate - Statistics Project Example The sum appears quite intimidating for a middle class citizen. However, the deal was easy for Sam as all he had to do was sell his own smaller 2-BDRM 600 square feet flat for US$135,000 and make up for the difference with the help of mortgage loan. When he had purchased it, the price amounted to US$70,000 which he had raised with the help of mortgage loan and paid up a couple of years ago. Fortunately for Sam, the person who purchased his old flat was foreigner who paid up the amount Sam was looking at without a murmur. Coincidentally, the one from whom Sam had purchased the flat he is now living in was also a foreigner who was in a hurry to sell as he was moving out of the United States. Thus, the principles in buying and selling of properties are intact although they may have slowed down a bit due to the current recession. In Sam's case, he saved a significant amount having purchased a second-hand flat in a premium location. A brand new flat in the same location would have cost him at least 25% more. One may have to pay the agent some commission. However, despite the commission, the overall saving is quite high when compared to purchasing a brand new flat. Normally, when someone purchases realty, he or she has long time plans in mind. Except for housing agents, few may opt for purchasing properties for business purposes. The normal consideration for purchase of property is residential or business. Then the property may remain in the hands of the owner for decades unless he or she plans to sell it earlier for some reason. Again, normally nobody thinks much about the market value of the flat because, as residents, they do not want to dispose the flat. They need the flat for their residential or business purpose. They cannot do without the flat as it fits their lifestyle. Thus, the market value only serves as a prestige issue rather than any profit or loss in business terms. Likewise, properties purchased for business too are not overtly influenced by market trends since the purchase is based on long term requirements. If a firm desires to purchase property for commercial use, it will by all means go by the trends of its balance sheet rather than bemoan the market trends. Chain retailers and eateries such as MacDonald have powered their presence through prudent use of real estate. Real estate is a magnificent method for conserving wealth for those who have the means to purchase property and develop and d'cor it. So if you are very rich, investments in properties will most probably make you richer. This is because when you are rich, you will invest in doing up the property and the environments and this will naturally add to the property's worth. Secondly, as people realize that you have purchased certain property in a certain location, they will readily buy adjacent properties pushing property prices in the process. For instance, if

SOAS - University of London Essay Example for Free

SOAS University of London Essay 1. Introduction Barclays PLC is one of the celebrated multinational bank holding companies, which has had a comprehensive international commercial impact in the worldwide. The first Barclays Bank was established on Lombard Street, London in 1862 (Barclays PLC Annual Report 2009), the group total income attained 32.292 million pounds in 2011. This report mainly analyses the environment and strategies of Barclays plc. Vision, Mission and value Vision: Barclays wants to set up an integrated universal banking model, possess diversification by business, geography, client and funding, as well as maintain an unremitting focus on customers and clients. Mission: Barclays Bank aims to â€Å"assistance people achieve their ambitions with right methods† (Barclays.com). Value: As Antony Jenkins, Chief Executive of Barclays Group (Barclays.com) represented, their corporate goal is to become a ‘Go-To’ bank for all stakeholders by setting up their own mode of thinking, working and acting in order to guarantee that consumers’ and clients’ demands are the central of operations. 2. Formal organization Barclays PLC partitioned into four major areas. Barclays Capital (BC) has the highest percentage of total income in the last decade compared to the other branches. BC is the investment banking department, offering clients a full scope of solutions to cater to their strategic advisory, financing and risk management needs. In September 2008, the financial crisis resulted in the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holding Inc  (LBHI), which BC then purchased and incorporated into the investment department, which lead in turn to a substantial increase in BC’s business and impact. Barclays Corporate provides integrated banking solutions to large corporate and financial organization internationally. Barclays Wealth focuses on private and intermediary clients worldwide, providing international and private banking, fiduciary services and brokerage. Investment Management was sold on 1st December 2009. However it used to manage the Group’s economic interest in Blackrock, Inc and the residual elements relating to Barclays Global Inve stors. Organizational structures Barclays implements the functional structure and product and geographical structure. Leadership is partitioned into three main sections: Board of Directors, Executive Committee and Chief Executive. The Board’s primary duty is to advance the long-term success by creating and delivering sustainable shareholder value. In setting and supervising the performance of strategy, the Board schedules ensure that the system is efficiently and highly administrable. Furthermore, the accurate risk management and regulatory oversight process of the Board are the center of organization, which delivers growth in a controlled and sustainable way. The Board of Directors includes Group Chairman, Chief Executive and non-executive Directors (Barclays Annual Report 2011 p13), their duty is to advise and constructively challenge management and supervise the success of the company. The Board representatives have obligations to the â€Å"day-to-day management of the Group to the Chief Executive† (Barclays Annual report 2011), who is turn in accountable for ensuring that the company is operating efficiently while conforming to the strategy and risk to the requirements. Barclays’ hierarchy clearly delegates responsibility for the management for all tasks. Utilizing functional organization encouraged specialized management and work efficiency, each department performance its functions. Furthermore, district directors are â€Å"responsible for the operation of the division and may be accountable for its profitability† (Hannagan T. 2008 p279), in overseas markets. The latter structure provides adequate control of wide-ranging areas of business and applies to employees with different qualifications, experiences and backgrounds. This structure avoids  over-centralization to a certain extent, allowing it to fit into different markets, due to the f act that the Group must rely on individuals to take actions to improve operations rather than handing down directives. 3. The Environment analysis PESTEL analysis PESTEL framework helps managers to categorize external impacts into six main areas and understand the key drivers of change to adjust the strategy. (Johnson,G. Scholes, K. 2009) Political: The Financial Times (Norris. F 2012) indicated that Barclays had been involved in a political storm owing to suspicion surrounding is manipulation of the London Interbank offered rate (LIBOR). LIBOR is one of the benchmark rates that form the operational bedrock of futures contracts, bulk commodity trading, individual consumption loans and Secured Line of credit. The action of Barclays may affect the policies of Central Banks, for instance Swiss National Bank, Bank of England and European Central Bank (ECB). The outside pressure might threaten the reputation of Barclays, which may encounter extensive lawsuit from the world’s largest banking groups as a result (Treanor J. 30.10.2013). Economic: â€Å"Market conditions in 2011 were particularly difficult as investors’ nervousness over global economic growth prospects grew and concerns about the fiscal deficit of certain Euro-zone countries became acute.† (Marcus Agius Group Chairman 2011) Since the economic resurgence impacted the share prices of banks by the Euro-zone debt crisis, Euro-group leaders committing to a system of enforceable fiscal rules for the repayment of their debt. Moreover, the action of the ECB to provide liquidity support to banks has helped boost confidence and the European downturn has shown a moderate upward trend. Social: Bob Diamond (Barclays Annual Report 2011) mentioned that banks need to become better citizens, not only because out of a sense of pure philanthropy, but also in order to deliver real commercial benefits in a way that creates actual value for society. Moreover, Barclays became the title sponsor of Barclays Premier League and Barclays Singapore Open Golf since 2004 and 2011 respectively. Technological: Barclays has strengthened the programming of IT system for effective, accurate and humanized services. Barclays chief Antony Jenkins has used several presentations to the public to announce his company’s great use of IT techniques that might prevent a ‘colossal mistake’ that would abolish 1,700 operating posts. (Treanor 2013) Environment: Barclays assists renewable energy firms in accessing finance from the capital markets and offers advisory services across the sector. In Ireland (Barclays Annual Report 2010 p27), Barclays has supported the erection of onshore wind farms and has played a strategic financing role in vital energy infrastructure project. Legal: UK promulgated Banking Act at 2009, strengthened the protection of depositors, formulated the bankruptcy institution, improved the Financial Services Compensation Scheme and remedied the institutional deficiency. To sum up, according to the PESTEL, the external impacts such as economic resurgence, social status, legal protection and world investment system are conductive to the further development, since the position and role of Barclays are relatively stable. 4. The strategic fit between the organization and environment Capital strategy and risk management are the core components of Barclays PLC, which aims to achieve the maximization of shareholder’s value. Barclays provides a feasible service by offering sufficient financial support to cover the Group’s existing and forecasted business requirements and correlative risks (Barclays Annual Report 2011 p41). The finance department guarantees that the Group and its legal subsidiaries possess sufficient capital and analyzes the possible hazards that may arise under the stressed conditions. Furthermore, the post-supervision department supports Barclays’ service rating, Group growth, environment changes and market. Risk management is highlighted by the Barclays PLC as one of its most important strategies. Its task is to: Identify and profile the significant risks of management’s new policies, ensure the operability of infrastructure to sustain the business growth, thereby pledging the financial returns remain feasibly deliverable under a range of business situations. â€Å"Optimize risk return decisions by taking them as closely as possible to the business, while establishing  strong and independent review and challenge structure.†(Barclays PLC Annual report 2010) Help executives and advisers improve and explain the further development and market positioning of the Group. (Murphy. D.2007) Porter 5 forces Porter’s diamond focuses on the internal impacts of market by analyzing the level of threats, suggests the inherent reasons why some nations are more competitive than others. Bargaining Power of Suppliers: The main suppliers to Barclays are equipment and technology services corporations. However, the bargaining power of these suppliers only represents a medium level of risk. The strategies are covered under building appropriate, strong and stable relationships with suppliers. Bargaining Power of Customers: Customers focus on the future benefits, appropriate human resource of the specific services and probable risks; hence they need some comparison with other banks that also provide the similar banking products. The power represents a medium level of risk. Threat of new entrants: Banking industry is an active business, and as such new entrance into the field could strongly influence the performance of Barclays on different levels, resulting in policy changes. Therefore, new entrants represent an area of high risk. Barclays’ strategies for mitigating this risk emphasize four points: guaranteeing the stability of each branch, enhancing capital usage efficiency, ensuring service quality, and pledging long-time running. Threat of Substitutes: Banking products have homologous functions with diverse emphasis. Consequently, this threat is low for the banking industry. Competitive Rivalry between Existing Players: This item includes regulatory risk and new products development. Regulatory risk arises from an inability to comply completely with the laws, regulations or criterion applicable especially to the financial services industry, such as general changes in regulatory policy, competition and pricing conditions, non-performing loan ratio and local consumers or depositor compensation. This bargaining power is at a high level. To summarize, Barclays should focus on the new entrants and existing competition by improve service and products quality, increase diversity  index, in order to promote market expansion. 5. Recommendations To preserve their position as the market leader, according to the analysis, Barclays needs to monitor the impact of regulatory changes. That might restrict the company’s project activities, results in the growing accounting cost and may impact the overall income of the Group as well as its social impact. In addition, introducing a non- risk leverage assessment system based on the value chain and risk management, available for evaluate the feasibility of the strategies and capital budgeting. Moreover, Barclays must improve their credit rating, as the scandal directly affected the investors’ psychology and the risk perceived by the public, resulting in a crisis of confidence. 6.1 References Barclays (2009) Barclays Annual Report 2009 [Online] Available at: http://www.barclays.com/annualreport09.pdf [Accessed 10th March 2010] Barclays PLC Official website Available at: http://www.barclays.co.uk Norris, F. (2012) The New York Times: ‘Bank’s Ability to Rig Rates Shows Need for Change.’[Online] Available at: http://www.cn.nytimes.com [Accessed 12th July 2012] Johnson, G., Scholes, K.,(2009) Exploring Corporate Strategy, London; FT. Prentice Hall. pp65. Treanor, J. (2013) The Guardian: ‘Barclays assisting with investigation into currency market manipulation’, [Online] Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/oct/30/barclays-cooperating-investigation-manipulation-currency-markets [Accessed 30th October 2013] Barclays (2011) Barclays Annual Report 2011 [Online] Available at: http://www.barclays.com/annualreport11.pdf [Accessed 08th March 2012] Treanor, J. (2013) The Guardian: ‘Barclays warned of ‘colossal mistake’ with plan to cut 1,700 branch jobs’. [Online] Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/nov/14/barclays-warned-mistake-cut-17 00-branch-jobs [Accessed 14th November 2013] Barclays (2010) Barclays Annual Report 2010 [Online] Available at: http://www.barclays.com/ammia;report10.pdf [Accessed 10th March 2011] Hannagan, T.,(2008). Management- concepts Practices, London: FT Prentice Hall. PP279 Murphy. D.,(2009). Understand Risk: The Theory and Practice of Financial Risk Management, London: Chapman Hall/CRC. PP39-46 6.2 Bibliography Ackrill M. Hannah L. (2011) Barclays: The Business of Banking, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Alan, M. (2008) The Oxford Handbook of International Business. New York: Oxford University Press. Campbell, D. Stonehouse, G. Houston, B. (2008) Business Strategy. Oxford: Elsevier Ltd Press. Economist: www.economist.com Observer: www.theguardian.com Barclays (2012) Barclays Annual Report 2012 [Online] Available at: http://www.barclays.com/ammia;report12.pdf [Accessed 8th March 2013]

Online Course Registration And Management System

Online Course Registration And Management System Currently the Microsoft IT Academy in Multimedia University Melaka using the website that hosted in MMU server to provide information regarding the course offered as well as the registration method to enroll on the specific course. As the course registration is still done manually, below is the summary of the problem on the manual method: User : It consumes time as user is not enabling to book the seat if they have not submitted the form manually together with official receipt to the instructor. The user can pay the registration trough many ways, such as Online Banking, but they still have to submit the official receipt taken from Multimedia University finance division. Administrator/Instructor : Administrators have to wait until the number of registrant fulfills the minimum requirement of the course to open class. All registration related must be done manually, as no online system available yet. Financial report must be also done manually in order to keep track of the financial progress of the courses. Project Objective The project objective will be focused on developing an online course registration to ensure the effectiveness of the flow of registration. Moreover the system will offer a complete management system that integrated with the online course registration to help the stakeholder for maintaining the flow process of the course. The registration process can be done online without the need of paperwork anymore. It is also help the student to get more information about the course process while they enrolled. The administrator will get easier way to determine the seat of the courses, keep track of the registration module, and generate report for the year to help them determine the development of the courses. The cores of objectives of the project are followings: To study existing course registration system in Microsoft IT academy of Multimedia University. Analyzing current course registration system, by interviewing the stakeholder of the system. To propose an online course registration and management system. To identify the user requirement for online course registration and management system. To develop an online course registration and management system. To evaluate the online course registration system that been develop. Project Scope The studies will develop an Online Course Registration, specifically for the Microsoft IT Academy in Multimedia University. With this system, it will affect the stakeholder of the Microsoft IT Academy Multimedia University Melaka Campus such as: Administrator /Instructor The Administrator for the system will be divided to several privileges on how they can use the system. Administrator for example, have all the privileges such as adding instructor, adding courses, update information, adding downloadable material, registration module, etc., but Instructor only have several privileges on what they can do and not do in the Online course registration and management system. Student/User Student will get a more accessible way in order to register and booked the seat for the courses. They also can get updates from administrator keep track on the progress of the course. Significance of Project This final year project for intelligence online course registration will not only provide basic feature to the user as well as administrator, but will be also completed with these features: Online Chat Helpdesk Support System The Helpdesk Support System will allow the user to interact with the administrator in case if they have certain question to be asked regarding the course or the registration flow. Security Security of the website is one of the main concerns to be improved as the registration is moving from traditional to online based. The reason is because user will send their confidential data to the system. Some user might use the same login ID or password, and without proper security, the data might be accessed by third party, or the user session is hijacked while sending the data. The security improvement will also provide log to the administrator in case there are some abnormality in the system after some user log in. As the security improved, we are giving the user a better understanding why they should trust our system. Limitation of Project In this project there are 2 objectives to achieve which are developing online course registration and management system for the Microsoft IT Academy Multimedia University Melaka. This project will focused on how to make the registration flow as simple as possible and also automated in the flow process. However there are limitations which is not be covered in this project. Even though the registration for the user will be done online, some flow of the process will be still done manually, such as submitting the official receipt of MMU to instructor. This is because of Multimedia University policy that not allows administrator to access the student financial report. Yet the system itself will allow user to upload the proof of payment trough online registration. Structure of Report This report consists of 5 main chapters. The first chapter, Chapter 1 which is Introduction presents overview of the project, the problem statement of the study state the problem occur on the current system, the project scope, objectives of the study that explain about the project main goals that need to be achieved, and structure of the report as well as the limitations of the project. Chapter 2 which is Literature Review state explains about materials used to study for the proposed system later, literature review also briefly explain some previously system that use same the technology in registration system. Chapter 3 is Methodology; and this chapter explains about the methods and tools that will be used to develop the system. It also gives some explanations why the methods and tools are chosen in the project. Chapter 4 which is the Proposed Solution and Implementation Plan or Design, this chapter presents the plans on how the system developed as well as the design of the system. This chapter mainly consists of diagrams to describe the design of the proposed system and some little explanation about the proposed system. Chapter 5 is conclusion; this chapter will summarize the conclusion of the objective stated. Chapter Summary In this Final year project the main objective is to propose and develop an online registration and management system that will facilitate the user as well as the administrator in order to keep the flow of registration more compact and efficient. This chapter explains the scope of the project which will affect the Microsoft IT Academy in Multimedia University Melaka stakeholder. Moreover in this chapter also describes about the problem that the current system where most of the flows still done manually. Chapter 2 Literature Review Online course registration and management system has become a necessity in order to create simple and accessible way to support today system. The internet has dramatically changed the role of Internet today (Cassidy 2002:1). Internet is the tool or vehicle for many applications, as well as to maintain registration for government, companies, and many events. This is happen as result of the simplicity of internet access in many part of the world. 2.1. Online Course Registration Johnson and Manning (2010) stated that the two biggest differences between registering online and mailing in your paperwork are time and technology. It can take time when users have to fill in the form, and then submit it in some other places. Instead of taking time, technology has helped us to make the registration procedure into the next level. You can find more information about the courses you want to take and in the same time fill up the form, pay the fees, etc. The staff that receives registration information most probably will process the information in same system, so by using online course registration and management system, we can save time. 2.1.1. Online Course Registration and Management System An Online course registration and Management System is systems that maintained the registration flow for the user and provide extensive capability for the administrator to maintain the content, report, and ability to add, update, or delete the content of a system. Currently there are many applications that have the ability to manage registration online. Some of them are very simple, and more complicated that use current technology. Almost all web based programming language support the capability to make online registration, such as PHP or .NET provide many option to build intelligence course registration and management system. A good system must be able to provide sufficient information and services needed by user as well as delivering extensive report to the administrator (Anggarwal.2003:233). 2.1.2. Existing Online Course Registration and Management System Most of the Online Course Registration and Management System are mostly used in educational institution and professional courses. This is to avoid time consuming of managing numerous users and prevent error from manual method. Based on that, people tend to use Online Course Registration and Management System. There is some Online Course Registration and management System that researched and improves, such as: Wylie Course Registration The C-Registration System will replace the existing mainframe course registration system at Wylie College. The new system will interface with the existing Billing System and Course Catalog Database System as shown in the context diagram below (see Figure 2.1). The C-Registration System will consist of a client component and server component as illustrated in Figure 2.2. The server component resides on the Wylie College UNIX Server. The server component must interface with the Billing and Course Catalog Database Systems on the College DEC VAX Main Frame. This interface is supported by an existing Open SQL Interface. The client component resides on a personal computer. The College PCs will be setup with the client component installed. Any non-college PCs must download the client software from the UNIX Server via the Internet. Once the client component is installed on the PC, the user may access the C-Registration System from the PC through the College LAN or Internet. A valid ID number and password must be entered in order for access to be granted. Figure 2.1 C-registration System Context Diagram Figure 2.2 C-Registration system overview The C-Registration system has many capabilities which will be explained the following table: Table 2.1 C-Registration capabilities Costumer benefit Supporting features Up-to-date course information The system accesses the Course Catalog Database for up-to-date information on all courses offered at Wylie College. For each course, the Students and Professors may review the course description, Prerequisites, assigned teachers, class locations, and class times. Up-to-date registration information All course registrations are immediately logged in the Registration Database to provide up-to-date information on full or cancelled courses. Easy and timely access to course grades Students can view their grades in any course simply by providing their user ID and password. Students may access the registration system from any College PC or from their home PC via the internet. Professors enter all student marks directly into the Registration Database from their PCs. Access from any College PC Students may access the registration system from any College PC or from their home PC via the internet. Installation of the client component of the C- Registration System on a PC is an easy to follow process using the internet Easy and convenient access from your PC at home Students may access the registration system from any College PC or from their home PC via the internet. Secure and confidential A valid user ID and password is required to gain access to the C-Registration System. Student report card information is protected from unauthorized access. Instant feedback on full or cancelled courses All course registrations are immediately logged in the Registration Database to provide up-to-date information on full or cancelled courses. Online Course Registration System for the Faculty of Engineering in University of Peradeniya In the system developed by the University of Peradeniva, there are some necessity in online registration course that should be included in the system, such as: Authentications and Authorizations of users; Administrators should be able to decide time period for the registration (before the start of the semester) and time period for the add/drop period (at the beginning of the semester); Administrators should be able to enter required data into the system such as courses, students, advisers and examination results; Advisers are allowed to view filled registration form of each student and accept/ reject the registration; Students should be able to view current courses and previous results, to register or add/drop new semester courses; Users should be able to change their passwords and personal information; and In the absence of a relevant adviser, the head of the department should be able to accept the online registration forms. All users have their own usernames and passwords to access the system and they have the ability to change their passwords. They will be given separate entry levels to access the system. Figure 2.2 depicts the use-case diagram of the system. Administrators are the staff officer at the Office who is responsible for course registration. They have the authority on deciding time durations, entering required details and finalizing registrations. Figure 2.3 use case of the online Registration in University peradeniya Advisors are all the department heads and lecturers who are assigned as advisers for students. They are capable of viewing courses, student details and results and accepting or rejecting registration forms. Student category contains everyone who has registered for a degree programme in the faculty. They are allowed to view available courses, their details and results, and to complete their registration forms and add/drop forms. The system that being used will be detailed explained in the table below: Table 2.2 system used in Online Course Registration of university peradinya Technology Usage Dream Weaver GUI Design CSS Additional Features in GUI Design ASP.net Programming Design Ajax Client Script Development SQL Server 2000 Database Design IIS Web Server to host the system Crystal Report 9.0 Generate reports. As the system works, it has not only reduced the burden of all parties involved in the course registration process, but also improved the process by reducing errors. Secure Online Application The real test of a secure Web Application occurs when it comes time for users to log in and access your site (Burnett,Mark.2004). Login screen is look simple. User just provide the username and password, the system will authenticate it to access the system. Authentication establishes a users identity. Once this identity is proved valid, the user is authorized (or nor authorized) to access various features of the Web application. 2.2.1 User authentication Threats The primary threats with user authentication are: Account hijacking This involves taking over the account of a legitimate user, sometimes denying the rightful user access to his or her account. Man-in-the-middle Intercepting Web traffic in such a way that the attacker is able to read and modify data in transit between two systems. Phishing A type of man-in-the-middle attack in which the attacker lures a legitimate user to enter a password through a fake e-mail or Web form designed to look like that of a legitimate Web site. Unauthorized access Gaining access to restricted content or data without the consent of the content owner. Information leakage Revealing or failing to protect information that an attacker can use to compromise a system. Privilege escalation Allowing an attacker to gain the access privileges of a higher-level account. Sniffing Using a network-monitoring utility to intercept passwords or other sensitive information that traverses a network. Because the login form plays such an important role in authenticating users, it is important to protect the form itself from flaws. A poorly written login form is vulnerable to password sniffing, information leakage, and phishing. Furthermore, the form itself may be vulnerable to flaws such as SQL injection and cross-site scripting. 2.2.2. Secure Authentication In ASP.NET the IIS provides four standard methods for authentication: Basic authentication Digest authentication Integrated Windows authentication Client certificate mapping Basic Authentication Basic authentication works by prompting a Web site visitor for a username and password. This method is widely used because most browsers and Web servers support it. The benefits are: It works through proxy servers. It is compatible with nearly every Internet browser. It allows users to access resources that are not located on the IIS server. Basic authentication also has some drawbacks: Information is sent over the network as cleartext. The information is encoded with base64 encoding, but it is sent in an unencrypted format. Any password sent using basic authentication can easily be decoded. By default, users must have the Log On Locally right to use basic authentication. Basic authentication is vulnerable to replay attacks. Because basic authentication does not encrypt user credentials, it is important that traffic always be sent over an encrypted SSL session. A user authenticating with basic authentication must provide a valid username and password. The user account can be a local account or a domain account. By default, the IIS server will look locally or in Active Directory for the user account. If the user account is in a domain other than the local domain, the user must specify the domain name during logon. The syntax for this process is domain nameusername, where domain name is the name of the users domain. Basic authentication can also be configured to use user principal names (UPNs) when you use accounts stored in Active Directory. To prevent exposing user credentials to others on the network, it is essential that you always use SSL with basic authentication. Note that basic authentication causes the browser to send user credentials to every page on the same site or within the same realm, not just the login page. If you dont use SSL on every page, user credentials will be visible on the network. One way to prevent these credentials from being sent on unprotected content is to use a unique realm for protected and unprotected content. Digest Authentication Digest authentication has many similarities to basic authentication, but it overcomes some of the problems. Digest authentication does not send usernames or passwords over the network. It is more secure than basic authentication, but it requires more planning to make it work. Some of the similarities with basic authentication are: Users must have the Log On Locally right. Both methods work through firewalls. Like all authentication methods, digest authentication does have some drawbacks: Users can only access resources on the IIS server. Their credentials cant be passed to another computer. The IIS server must be a member of a domain. All user accounts must store passwords using reversible encryption. The method works only with Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher. Digest authentication is vulnerable to replay attacks, to a limited extent. Digest authentication is secure due to the way it passes authentication information over the network. Usernames and passwords are never sent. Instead, IIS uses a message digest (or hash) to verify the users credentials. In order for digest authentication to work, all user accounts must be stored using reversible encryption in Active Directory, which may be a potential risk. After this setting is enabled for a user account, the users password must be changed to create the plaintext copy. Digest authentication does provide more security, but for most Web sites, the limitations of this method outweigh the benefits. One interesting peculiarity with IIS is that when you send authentication headers to a client, it will send the basic authentication header before the digest one. Many Internet browsers use the first header they encounter and therefore opt for the weaker basic authentication. Integrated Windows Authentication Integrated Windows authentication is also a secure solution because usernames and passwords arent transmitted across the network. This method is convenient because, if a user is already logged on to the domain and if the user has the correct permissions for the site, the user isnt prompted for his or her username and password. Instead, IIS attempts to use the users cached credentials for authentication. The cached credentials are hashed and sent to the IIS server for authentication. If the cached credentials do not have the correct permissions, the user is prompted to enter a different username and password. Depending on the client and server configuration, integrated Windows authentication uses either the Windows NT LAN Manager (NTLM) or Kerberos for authentication. You cannot directly choose which one is used; IIS will automatically choose a method based on the server and client configuration. The Web browser and the IIS server negotiate which one to use through the negotiate authentication header. Both Kerberos and NTLM have their own advantages and disadvantages. Kerberos is faster and more secure than NTLM. Unlike NTLM, which authenticates only the client, Kerberos authenticates both the client and the server. This helps prevent spoofing. Kerberos also allows users to access remote network resources not located on the IIS server. NTLM restricts users to the information located on the IIS server only. Kerberos is the preferred authentication method for an intranet Web server. However, the following requirements must be met for Kerberos to be used instead of NTLM: Both the client and server must be running Windows 2000 or later. The client must be using Internet Explorer 5 or later. The client and server must be in either the same domain as the IIS server or in a trusted domain. Integrated Windows authentication has a few limitations: It works only with Internet Explorer 3.01 or later. It does not work through a firewall. The client will use the firewalls IP address in the Integrated Windows hash, which will cause the authentication request to fail. Client Certificate Mapping Client certificate mapping is the process of mapping a certificate to a user account. Certificates can be mapped by Active Directory or by IIS. Both of these methods require Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). There are three types of certificate mappings: One-to-one mapping Many-to-one mapping UPN mapping Certificate mapping is the process of linking a certificate to a specific user account. Normally, if we wanted to give a user authenticated access to the intranet; we would either create a user account or allow the user to log in using his domain account. Creating duplicate accounts is time-consuming, yet if users use their domain accounts, there is the concern that their domain passwords could become compromised. To provide better security and reduce the administrative workload, we could choose to issue each user a certificate. Certificates can be used to verify a users integrity. It is actually more efficient to use a certificate than a user account because certificates can be examined without having to connect to a database. It is generally safer to distribute certificates than user accounts. Furthermore, it is much easier to guess or crack someones password than it is to forge a certificate. Chapter Summary This chapter discusses the material research as well as basic understanding of the online course registration and management system. The material provided is to help and understand the project, and how the system can improves the registration and management system. Chapter 3 Methodology 3.1. System Methodology It is important to understand that an information system has a life cycle, just as living system or a new product has. System analysis and design constitute the key stage of system development life cycle (ISRD Group, 2007). System Development Life Cycle has several phases which are planning, analysis, design, implementation, and maintenance. Figure 3.1 System Development Life Cycle 3.1.1. Planning Planning is the first phase in the System Development Life Cycle, in this phase the necessity of the system has to be identified (Hoffer, et al., 2005). The objective, scope and the main reason to develop the system has been explained in previous chapter. 3.1.2. Analysis The second phase is the analysis phase, which during this phase an analysis on the system requirement is being held (Hoffer, et al., 2005). The output of this phase is a description of the recommended solution by determining the problems and requirements. In this phase information regarding of the project is gathered, the information gathered then can be studied to help the understanding about the project. In this project analysis phase determine what method used to build the system later on. In this phase, we interview the stakeholder of Microsoft IT Academy Multimedia University (see appendix for detail) In analysis phase, we determine: Detailed evaluation of current system Data Collection User Requirement 3.1.2.1 Current System Evaluation Figure 3.2 System flow of the system Figure 3.2 show the current system flow of the MSITA. The flow show that some part still done manually, such as filling form and registration (student have to download form from website, pay the course fees to MMU finance, and submit the official receipt to the instructor). The website that being used now is using ASP.NET as programming language, but there is no online registration capabilities. The website is used for content management system only. All the registrant will be input manually by the instructor. 3.1.2.2. Data Collection To ensure that we understand the flow of the current system, we need to identify the stakeholder of the system, such as: Table 3.1 Stakeholder No Stakeholder Name Stakeholder type Roles 1 Instructor Instructor of Courses Provide Course material, provide place/lab for the course exercises , manage registration for user 2 MMU Finance division Registration Payment Submission Receive Payment from Costumer, Issue Official Receipt for registration 3 Student User/Costumer Register for the course, submit receipt for registration, participate in course as scheduled, take certification exam From the stakeholder above, we already identify that the most influence entity are the User and Instructor of the course. We will then identify the problem on the current website. Function of Microsoft IT Academy Website As main website for student for : Check latest/available course offered by MSITA team. Check schedule for the course Check registration procedure (Download Registration Form) Download notes/material for the course (only for registered user) Technical Detail of Microsoft IT Academy Website Technology Used : ASP.NET Other Items considered Course material is given trough the class Registration of the course still done manually (student have to download form from website, pay the course fees to MMU finance, and submit the official receipt to the instructor). The reason why the registration still done manually : Sometimes there are changes in registration procedure (e.g. minimum requirement for the number of the student to open the courses, some courses is added/removed). Need the proof of payment to confirm student registration. Figure 3.3 MSITA website details 3.1.2.3 User Requirement As the main concern of the development in MSITA website, we need to make the registration process and also maintenance of the website online; these are the requirement of the proposed solution: Table 3.2 User requirement User Side Administrator Side User can register in the MSITA website as website member as option before they register to the course Administrator panel Student registered as website member need to fill course to take in future/next trimester in order to keep track the estimated number of course offered. Add/Remove course Student can fill the registration form trough MSITA website. Automatic Email to all student registered Student can upload scanned proof of payment trough registration form Registration module for administrator Student can fill option to take exam after course registration in order to get exam voucher Financial Report of the year 3.1.3 Design Design Phase required us to determine the logical and physical design of the system. We need to determine the system features and all other necessary requirement for the system. Later on in the next phase of the project we will transform the logical design into fully working system. 3.1.4 Implementation The fourth phase is implementation. In this phase the physical design of the system will be programmed into a working system (Hoffer, et al., 2005). In implementation coding, testing, and installation will be included. In coding, the system will be programmed to a working system. After it programmed the system will be tested to find errors and bugs in the system. Lastly, during installation the system will be installed and ready to use. In the phase 1 of the project implementation of the system is not going to be built. The implementation phase will be held during the second phase of the p