Essay about Vitamix Revenue Recognition - 1116 Words

Vitamix Revenue Recognition – â€Å"Special Cases† Proper revenue recognition is important in because it has a direct impact on quarterly income statements, incentive calculations, investor confidence, and perception of an organizations financial health. The scandals at Enron and WorldCom illustrate how important properly recognize revenue is to the financial integrity of a company and how abuse can be extremely dangerous. (Labaton, 2006) To maintain consistency across organizations, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) relies on the standards published by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) to establish the guidelines for revenue recognition. (FASB, 2011) Companies can only recognize revenue if it is both realized and†¦show more content†¦The extended service plan does not start until after the factory warranty expires. Should Vitamix recognize the revenue received from the sale immediately or at the time when the factory warranty expires? Revenue Recognition Vitamix should recognize the revenue immediately because the cost of servicing the extended warranty can be reasonably calculated. The accounting team calculates the costs associated with servicing this warranty based on historical averages and accrues for it as a percentage of sales. Since we can estimate the cost, we can therefore produce an accurate net revenue amount because this amount is a conservative and reasonable amount of the realized and earned revenue. (Connors, 2011) Household Show Consignment Sales Overview To show the versatility and power of the Vitamix product, the company frequently demonstrates their machines at large retail locations. The retailer requires that they ship pallets of product to various retail stores and then Vitamix contracts with independent contractors to demonstrate the product. However, the retailer does not purchase the machines at that time, but requires that Vitamix manage that inventory for them. When a customer of the retailer wishes to purchase the machine, they take a machine along with any other products they wish to purchase to the retailers point of sale. The retailer sends Vitamix a purchase order for the machines processed through their point of sale system on a daily basis. Should

Communication In Business Free Essays

Many f our historic brands such as Johnnie Walker and Guinness were built on the same corporate citizenship that we hold today. We agree to the fact that we cannot change the world on our own. With our participation and continuous support towards the UN Global Compact, we can learn from others and show leadership. We will write a custom essay sample on Communication In Business or any similar topic only for you Order Now Though, here at Adagio Pl, we recognize that there are still many changes and improvements that need to be made among us and also among our supply chains. This submission hopes to continue our commitment to the UN Global Compact policies by proposing recommendations based on our experiences and mistakes to the local network. Our local network region chosen will be India. The recommendations are based on two principles of the UN Global Compact. The principles are 1) Principle 2: â€Å"Businesses should make sure they are not complicit in human rights abuses. † (The Ten Principles/ Principle 2 2012). 2) Principle 8: â€Å"Businesses should undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility’ (The Ten Principles/ Principle 8 2012). The recommendations are:- Encourage suppliers to Join the Suppliers Ethical Data Exchange (Sexed). Encourage other corporations to harness employee’s power. Recommendation 1 Our experience in developing countries has shown how complicity in human right abuses can arise when negligence occurred in the supply chain. We learned from our mistakes and come up with the following recommendation to prevent such thing from happening again in India. We Join the Suppliers Ethical Data Exchange (Sexed) (Adagio 2007). Through Sexed, suppliers will post a self-assessment of their practices and products. These can be accessed by any of their customers. At present we count 300 of our own suppliers in Sexed. The assessment of each supplier is then closely checked against the Ethical Trading Initiative standards of human rights. We encourage all suppliers of Adagio Pl to Join the Sexed. We also Join a group of food and drink manufacturers who have strong belief on the fact that their supply chains should operate in the highest standards towards human rights. We are currently working with suppliers assessed as non-compliant and try to make them improve. Incase there is no improvement from our supplier; we retain the possibility of seeking alternative sources of supply. This year, we stopped our business with one of our supplier in Asia because he was not willing to report his performance. Benefits and Implications Consumers: They are given information about the product that they will be using directly from our supplier. Moreover they will know whether or not the supplier is compliant with current human right policies. Suppliers: Getting involved in Sexed will definitely capture the interest of other companies in the product they made. Shareholders: By avoiding human rights controversies, the company will be protected against legislative and financial repercussion and as a result the company’s profit will not be affected. Recommendation 2 Since we’re been creating our 201 5 targets, we have been working hard to minimize our environmental impact. Targeting the obvious things can be straightforward. But to able to address our other impacts, we needed the knowledge and ideas of the people on the ground in our daily operations. We realized that the employee’s involvement could be the missing link to achieve our environmental targets. We come up with the Greening as recommendation (Adagio Sustainability Responsibility Report 2011). Greening is the codename for the strategy implemented to encourage employees to act in an environmental friendly way. The employees from different site will form teams known as the â€Å"GREEN TEAM†. Teams will compete to win Olympic- Tyler medals for completing environmental initiatives. These ranges from bronze medal projects to gold medal achievements. Winning sites will be chosen across the whole world and each winner will be awarded EYE,OHO to invest in the new environmental friendly project either on site or locally. Also depending on the success of the program, one idea is to launch a new platinum category to reward gold medal sites that will help another facility start a green team. Our business is about celebration and we try to bring that into everything we do. And also the reason why Greening will work is we tap our people’s sense of community and also their nominative spirit. Benefits and Implications Employees: Capture the interests of 20,000 people working on all level of our business in 80 sites across 40 countries and also provide a platform for the employees to share their idea. Consumers: This will create an impact in the mind of our consumers. People are starting to care for their future generation. They want to deal with firms who are environmentally responsible. Greening will definitely create something positive for our company. Environment: The purpose of Greening is the impact it has on the environment whilst the main purpose of the whole program. The award winning project will be implemented throughout all sites in the world. We are expecting achievements like cutting amount of water used by 60% or reducing amount of carbon dioxide emission by 50% on our site. Greening will definitely be beneficial for the environment. Challenges The implementation of the proposed recommendations will be a challenging task. The problem with the first recommendation is that withdrawing from a non- compliant supplier will only displace the problem rather than solving it. Our action could affect the supplier’s employees and owners. For small community, the loss in business of the supplier could have big economic implications. Our objective is to balance those risks and help the supplier to improve instead. The challenge faced due to the second recommendation is not all employees will be willing to take part in the program. Creating awareness among the employees is also of great concern for A success story We at Adagio Pl have responsibility towards our stakeholders and the environment. We continue to show our support to the principles of the UN Global Compact. We believe that the proposed recommendation could be used as a guideline by our local network and other corporation to fulfill their social contract towards their stakeholders. By creating innovative and smart CARS approaches, our business and our society will benefit hence continuing our success story. How to cite Communication In Business, Papers

Impact on Cultural Differences in Software Industry in Singapore

Question: Discuss about the Impact on Cultural Differences in Software Industry in Singapore. Answer: Introduction In the current continuously transforming global business atmosphere, the issues associated with culture and the gaining knowledge about various cultures have become significant and has become a pre-requisite for the success of the organizations. The significance of culture and the differences in culture has become very much critical especially for the organizations functioning in the international markets and even having employees who hail from several cultures (Moran, Abramson and Moran 2014). It has been observed that since culture has the power to have an effect on the activities of the business, the organizations requires to consider the concepts related to culture in their daily operations in order to function successfully in the global environment. Culture and cultural differences are key issues for each and every organizations in each and every industry. As explained by de Carvalho, Patah and de Souza Bido (2015), these notions have become much more essential for computation due to the nature of making agreements, internationalization of the various procurement, partnering and joint venturing in the respective industries. It has been observed that with respect to the other industries there has been a rise in the strategic coalitions in the software industries even raises the importance of the cultural differences due to the communication of the employees from numerous cultures (Shah, Harrold and Sinha 2014). The benefits of managing differences in the culture in an effective manner have been explained by several researchers. It can improve the effectiveness of the firms and provide the company an extensive competitive edge. Conversely, the ineffectiveness to handle and manage the cultural differences can lead to adverse issues like the postponement of software services and fall in the productivity. Hence, gaining knowledge and taking care of the cultural differences in the software industry is become a significant topic specially in software industries in Singapore as there are various software companies functioning in the country and thus there are availability of employees who are hailing from numerous cultural backgrounds (Estleret al. 2014). Research Objectives The aims and objectives of the paper has been the most significant factors that would be influential for the development of the paper as these objectives would be helpful to the researcher for the completion of the paper in an effective manner. The aims and objectives with respect to this paper are given as follows: To determine how cultural differences are existent in the software industry of Singapore To understand the how differences in the culture has an influence in the communication system among the employees and themanagement To determine to what extent cultural differences has an influence on the outcome of the industries The actions undertaken by themanagement in order to deal with the issues related to cultural differences Problem Statement The statement of the problem has been the issues that has compelled the researcher to undertake this research in accordance to this topic. It is seen that with the advent of globalization there has been entry of new software firms in the economy of Singapore along with employees from various cultures. Culture plays a significant role in the development of any organization and it is seen that themanagement of the firm undertakes various strategies in order to establish an effective cultural environment. The degree of culture aids in the development of the software industry and as software industry is a developing sector, it is seen that there are employees from various cultural backgrounds are taken appointed and therefore understanding their impacts is of utmost importance that would be influential for improving the functional section of software industry. Thus, determining the impact of these differences requires to be identified in order to construct various strategies. Research Questions The research questions that has been framed are in respect to the problems that have been discovered by the researcher with respect to the cultural difference in Singapore. The research questions would be utilized in order to course the research and determine the impact of cultural differences in the cultural differences in the software industries in Singapore. The research questions are given as follows: Q 1. How can cultural differences have an impact on the software industries in Singapore? Q 2. How does the differences in culture have an impact on the relationship among the employees and the management? Q 3. What impact does the differences in the culture have on the operational activities of the software companies in Singapore? Q 4. What actions can be undertaken by the management in order to improve the differences in the culture within the organizations? Literature Review The literature review that is being constructed comprises of the suggestions that have been discovered from various other research papers constructed by the researchers with respect similar researches completed earlier. The review of literature tries to determine the meaning of cultural differences and the impacts that these differences have on the software industries. Rees-Caldwell and Pinnington (2013) has explained that there are various factors that had an impact on the differences in culture and identifying each of these factors would lead to development of various strategies that would be effective in the development of the organization. There are various definitions for culture and these definitions vary greatly with respect to the field of the research. Verner et al. (2014) defined culture as the simple method of what individuals does and what they perform like a society. Britto et al. (2014) has explained culture in the software industry is regarded to be the features of the industry, the values, goals and strategies of the organization where they function. Culture has numerous properties, which has been accepted widely. While investigating on the national cultures, it is seen that Niazi et al. (2013) has recognized four dimensions of culture and they include avoidance of uncertainty, power distance, collectivism and individualism and even masculinity and femininity. These four dimensions provide a framework for looking after the impact of the cultural differences on the management and even the company. This section of the paper would try to explain the main theme of the thesis that would be taken into consideration so that effective measures can be taken that would be influential for the construction of effective research with respect to the topic. It is seen that there are various aspects that are taken into consideration while understanding the impact of cultural differences in the software industry in Singapore. It is seen that it is essential to first understand the background of the software industry in Singapore and it is seen that there are Singapore has a unique software industry as the organizations are developing from time to time and therefore has strategies and policies that would enhance the industry. The culture that has been prevalent in Singapore is even analyzed and it is seen that Singapore has a diversified economy over as employees and individuals from various parts of the world migrate in this country and thereby making it a diversified culture (Rees-Caldwell a nd Pinnington 2013). It is seen that there are understanding the effects of cultural difference plays a vital role in the operational activities of the firm. The main factors that has an effect on the cultural difference requires to be determined so that effective measures can be taken that would be fundamental for improving the operational activities of the software industry and the relationship between the employees operating in the software industry. The evaluation of the software industry along with the factors that are interlinked with the software business provides extensive knowledge, which would be influential for the development of the firm. The analysis can be done by taking help of the past and the present trends and the influences the future indications that the software industry would undertake so that cultural differences would be mitigated. Evaluating the main theme with respect to the cultural differences can be an effective one and this would aid the researcher to i nitiate various activities that would be influential for the development of solutions with respect to the impact of cultural differences in the software industry in Singapore. There has been an expanding interest in the studies with respect to cultural differences in the software industry. Sderberg, Krishna and Bjrn (2013) has examined that there has been a connection among the cultural differences and the activities of the software industries with the perspective of Singapore. Singapore is a developing country and with the advent of globalization there has been entry of various software industries along with the existence of the domestic software industries as well. The rise in the level of competition has led to the companies hiring employees from various parts of the globe and thereby leading to the development of cultural differences in the industry. There are various aspects that require significant examination with respect to this topic as it has been observed that cultural differences has a significant impact on the functions of the software industries and therefore in order to rectify the differences and improve the relationship among the employees and the management and thereby improve the operational activities of the software industries as well. Research Methodology The methodology for the concerned research paper has been framed in order to aid the researcher to establishing a guideline or course that would be followed by the researcher in order to collect the data that would be best effective for the completion of the paper. The research methodology even aids the researcher to look for the kind of data that would be best useful for the collecting data that would meet the problem statement of the research and would help the researcher to identify the impacts of cultural differences in the software industries. The each and every step of the methodology that would be used by the researcher would be explained individually. Research Onion The research onion comprises of the various efficient progression with the help of which the research methodology can be constructed. Its effectiveness is dependent in its flexibility for any kind of research methodology and can be utilized in a variety of aspects(Gustafsson, Herrmann and Huber 2013). The research onion comprises of the various layers that would be used by the researcher to complete the methodology in an effective manner. The each layer of the onion will be explained as follows: Research Philosophy The research will be undertaken by taking help of the philosophy of positivism as it mainly concentrates on understanding the various impacts that are faced by the software industries due to cultural differences. The primary data that is gathered with the help of the positivism philosophy would improve the validity of the research. Furthermore, the outcome of the research would be quantifiable and observable (Fuggetta and Di Nitto 2014). Research Approach The present research would follow the deductive approach as the paper will mainly concentrate on examining the impact of cultural differences on the software industries in Singapore. The research would establish a hypothesis that is dependent on the recognized concepts and would examine the validity by comparing them with the primary data. Research Type The impact of cultural differences on the software industries operating in Singapore would be undertaken with the help of the primary research. It is seen that primary data would be influential for collecting the precise data as the responses of the employees would be influential for the development of the precise results (Bryman and Bell 2015). Research Design The primary research will be undertaken by taking help of the quantitative research design as this research involves investigating the associations, explaining the examining cause and effect relationships. The present research will examine the impact of cultural differences in the software industry in Singapore. Quantitative data would be gathered by surveying the individuals who are working in the software industry (Edison, Bin Ali and Torkar 2013). Descriptive research design would be undertaken for the completion of the paper as it has been observed that explained answers from the responses would be influential for the completing the paper effectively. Sampling Technique and Population The paper would either make use of the random or probability sampling technique in order to select the employees who are functioning in the software industry in Singapore. The researcher has decided to select employees of various ages and departments of the organizations. A sample size of 100 respondents would be sued for the completion of the paper in an effective manner. Time Table STEPS IN THE RESEARCH PLAN DEADLINE FOR THE COMPLETION Submission of the proposal 1st week Design of a research plan 1st week Gaining access to work in a particular area 1st week Literature Review 2nd week Sample frame 3rd week Design and testing of the questionnaire 3rd week Designing of the final questionnaire 4th week Interviews and posting 5th week Raw tabulation of the data 5th week Analysis of the data 6th week Report up findings 7th week Presentation of the final research product 7th week References Britto, R., Freitas, V., Mendes, E. and Usman, M., 2014, August. Effort estimation in global software development: A systematic literature review. InGlobal Software Engineering (ICGSE), 2014 IEEE 9th International Conference on(pp. 135-144). IEEE. Bryman, A. and Bell, E., 2015.Business research methods. Oxford University Press, USA. deCarvalho, M.M., Patah, L.A. and de Souza Bido, D., 2015. Project management and its effects on project success: Cross-country and cross-industry comparisons.International Journal of Project Management,33(7), pp.1509-1522. Edison, H., Bin Ali, N. and Torkar, R., 2013. Towards innovation measurement in the software industry.Journal of Systems and Software,86(5), pp.1390-1407. Estler, H.C., Nordio, M., Furia, C.A., Meyer, B. and Schneider, J., 2014. Agile vs. structured distributed software development: A case study.Empirical Software Engineering,19(5), pp.1197-1224. Fuggetta, A. and Di Nitto, E., 2014, May. Software process. InProceedings of the on Future of Software Engineering(pp. 1-12). ACM. Gustafsson, A., Herrmann, A. and Huber, F. eds., 2013.Conjoint measurement: Methods and applications. Springer Science Business Media. Moran, R.T., Abramson, N.R. and Moran, S.V., 2014.Managing cultural differences. Routledge. Niazi, M., Mahmood, S., Alshayeb, M., Riaz, M.R., Faisal, K. and Cerpa, N., 2013, October. Challenges of project management in Global Software Development: Initial results. InScience and Information Conference (SAI), 2013(pp. 202-206). IEEE. Rees-Caldwell, K. and Pinnington, A.H., 2013. National culture differences in project management: Comparing British and Arab project managers' perceptions of different planning areas.International Journal of Project Management,31(2), pp.212-227. Shah, H., Harrold, M.J. and Sinha, S., 2014. Global software testing under deadline pressure: Vendor-side experiences.Information and Software Technology,56(1), pp.6-19. Sderberg, A.M., Krishna, S. and Bjrn, P., 2013. Global software development: commitment, trust and cultural sensitivity in strategic partnerships.Journal of International Management,19(4), pp.347-361. Verner, J.M., Babar, M.A., Cerpa, N., Hall, T. and Beecham, S., 2014. Factors that motivate software engineering teams: A four country empirical study.Journal of Systems and Software,92, pp.115-127.

USC 2017-2018 Supplemental Essay Prompts Short Answer Questions

Want to be a USC Trojan? Bookmark this page to help plan your application essays for the University of Southern California! USC is one of the most popular colleges on the west coast. Located in Southern California, USC attracts a lot of students who enjoy nice, sunny weather all year round. Especially in a city like Los Angeles that offers students endless of cultural activities and internship opportunities they can take advantage of. On top of USC’s ideal location and weather, USC is well known for their undergraduate business and media studies. USC Marshall School of Business is ranked no. 9 for their undergraduate business program, specifically strong in accounting and entrepreneurship. USC Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism is also a popular choice for students interested in media studies, especially when paired with media internships available in an entertainment-focused city like LA. USC also has a very unique program called the Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy (IYA). Students accepted to the program will be studying Arts, Technology and Business Innovation. Over the 4 years, IYA students will gain an in-depth knowledge in art and design, engineering and computer science, and finally, business and venture management. The application requires an additional portfolio and is highly selective. On average, only 25 students are accepted per graduating class. Does USC offer what you’re interested? If you are applying this fall, here are the short answer questions and supplemental essays for the 2017-2018 application season: 1. Short Answer Questions Describe yourself in three wordsWhat is your favorite snack?Favorite app/websiteBest movie of all timeHashtag to describe yourselfDream job:What is your theme song?Dream tripWhat TV show will you binge watch next?Place you are most content?TIP: These short answer questions are meant to help the admissions office know a little bit more about you and your personality. Dont spend too much time on these questions, and be true to who you are! 2. Supplemental Essay #1 Please respond to one of the prompts below. (250 word limit) Prompt 1: USC believes that one learns best when interacting with people of different backgrounds, experiences and perspectives. Tell us about a time you were exposed to a new idea or when your beliefs were challenged by another point of view. Prompt 2:Describe something outside of your intended academic focus about which you are interested in learning. Prompt 3: What is something about yourself that is essential to understanding you? TIP: When you choose which essay prompt to write, take into account what essay topic youve chosen for your personal statement and what you plan on writing for the second supplemental essay. The admissions office will be reading your application as a whole, so it should all come together to tell them who you are, what youre interested and what USC can offer you to achieve your dreams. 3. Supplemental Essay #2 Describe how you plan to pursue your academic interests at USC. Please feel free to address your first- and second-choice major selections. (250 word limit) TIP: This is essentially your Why USC supplemental essay. Do your research about the program you want to apply. In fact, reach out to the professors in the department youre interested in studying and learn more about the program. Its important to know what USC offers, so you can talk about how those resources and facilities can enable you to achieve your interests or support your studies in a specific field. Do not just iterate what programs they have. This essay is about how USC can help you in a way no other universities can, and about how you can give back to the universitys community by being a part of it.Ourpremium plansoffer different level of profile access and data insights that can help you get into your dream school. Unlock any of ourpackagesor search ourundergraduate profile databaseto find specific profiles that can help you make an informed choice about where to apply!

Free Essays on Virtual Reality

Introduction Close your eyes and imagine yourself being able to jump off the Empire State Building and fly over New York City on your own personal tour. You catch a glimpse of Madison Square Garden and a breathtaking view of Broadway. Jump back a few hundred years into the medieval times and joust with a knight. One last visualization- you are playing baseball in Busch Stadium on the same team as Mark McGuire. The crowd is wild. You soak up the glory as you realize they are cheering for you! Now stop fantasizing. These things will probably never happen to you in real life. However, there is a way that you can experience the feeling that something like this is happening. If you’re open to new ideas and you have a good imagination, virtual reality maybe a toy for you! What exactly is virtual reality? Well, virtual reality can be defined as any medium where one feels a sense of â€Å"immersion† and â€Å"presence† in the environment generated or descri bed. This means that if your imagination is wild enough, watching any television show or reading a book can be virtual reality. I will define virtual reality as a highly interactive, computer-generated environment. Graphics-based virtual reality allows one to break the 2-Dimensional constraints of today’s familiar equipment and has many practical applications. Four of these applications are medical, space exploration and training, physical, and entertainment. Body Medical researchers have been using virtual reality techniques to synthesize diagnostic images of a patient’s body to do predictive modeling of radiation treatment using images created by ultrasound, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and X-ray. A radiation therapist in a virtual world could view and expose a tumor at any angle and then model specific doses and configuration of radiation beams to aim at the tumor more effectively. Since radiation destroys human tissue easily, there is n... Free Essays on Virtual Reality Free Essays on Virtual Reality Virtual Reality - What it is and How it Works Imagine being able to point into the sky and fly. Or perhaps walk through space and connect molecules together. These are some of the dreams that have come with the invention of virtual reality. With the introduction of computers, numerous applications have been enhanced or created. The newest technology that is being tapped is that of artificial reality, or "virtual reality" (VR). When Morton Heilig first got a patent for his "Sensorama Simulator" in 1962, he had no idea that 30 years later people would still be trying to simulate reality and that they would be doing it so effectively. Jaron Lanier first coined the phrase "virtual reality" around 1989, and it has stuck ever since. Unfortunately, this catchy name has caused people to dream up incredible uses for this technology including using it as a sort of drug. This became evident when, among other people, Timothy Leary became interested in VR. This has also worried some of the researchers who are trying to create very real appli cations for medical, space, physical, chemical, and entertainment uses among other things. In order to create this alternate reality, however, you need to find ways to create the illusion of reality with a piece of machinery known as the computer. This is done with several computer-user interfaces used to simulate the senses. Among these, are stereoscopic glasses to make the simulated world look real, a 3D auditory display to give depth to sound, sensor lined gloves to simulate tactile feedback, and head-trackers to follow the orientation of the head. Since the technology is fairly young, these interfaces have not been perfected, making for a somewhat cartoonish simulated reality. Stereoscopic vision is probably the most important feature of VR because in real life, people rely mainly on vision to get places and do things. The eyes are approximately 6.5 centimeters apart, and allow you to have a full-colour, thr... Free Essays on Virtual Reality Virtual Reality is considered one of the most exciting technologies today, constantly evolving and improving. According to Eric Drexler, a world known pioneer in this field, VR is "A combination of computer and interface devices (goggles, gloves, etc.) that present a user with the illusion of being in a three dimensional world of computer generated objects." The term ^virtual reality,^ is not finite in its meaning, but generally includes desktop VR, immersion VR, where the goggles and gloves are used, and projection VR. The virtual reality technology is not yet perfect and still too expensive for the common man. The use of high-end VR is mainly restricted to larger companies, and to special areas such as medical surgery and pilot training. Home users are limited to desktop virtual reality programs, which lets them navigate in three-dimensional worlds, but seldom gives the feeling of actually being there. The entertainment industry has yet to embrace the technol! ogy in full scale, but in his book ^Virtual Reality^ Howard Rheingold states ^Used today in architecture, engineering and design, tomorrow in mass-market entertainment, surrogate travel, virtual surgery and cybersex, by the next century ^VR^ will have transformed our lives.^ Will VR cause people to lose their grip on the real world, or is it just a continuation of previous developments that took people to imaginary places? People seem to always have escaped to ^imaginary worlds^, to get a way from the stress of real life and to relax. We have all experienced Greek theatre, read novels and been to the cinema, and lived ourselves into fiction stories that we identify with. Our imagination creates a fiction world, which leads us away from real life for a moment of time. In our own utopia, we forget contemporary problems of reality. Even though the virtual reality technology creates a utopia for us to explore, it is in a lot of ways different from other developments we know so well... Free Essays on Virtual Reality TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 3 WHAT IS VIRTUAL REALITY? 4 HOW DOES VIRTUAL REALITY WORK? 5 v The Three Levels of VR : 5 THE HISTORY OF VIRTUAL REALITY 7 VIRTUAL REALITY IN THE PRESENT 8 VIRTUAL REALITY IN THE FUTURE 9 THE TECHNOLOGY BEHIND VIRTUAL REALITY 9 v Video Display Devices: 10 v Audio Output Devices: 10 v Tactile Response Devices: 11 v Interactive Input Devices: 11 v Computers and Software: 12 IMMERSIVE & NON IMMERSIVE VR 12 v The Cave: 13 v Head-Mounted Display (HMD): 13 v The Boom: 14 v Input Devices and other Sensual Technologies: 14 v Shared Virtual Environments: 15 v VRML: 15 DRAWBACKS OF VR 16 THE SOCIAL IMPLICATIONS OF VIRTUAL REALITY 17 v The New Rules of Behavior: 17 v Adverse Effects: 17 Applications of VR 18 v A List of Existing VR examples: 18 DETAILED APPLICATIONS OF VR: 19 v Architecture: 19 v Visualization: 21 v Entertainment: 21 v VR in Movies: 22 v Manufacturing: 25 v Augmented Reality: 25 v Education & Training: 26 v Medical: 27 SUMMARY 27 CONCLUSION 28 BIBLIOGRAPHY 28 INTRODUCTION Throughout the many stages of media Virtual Reality (VR) has helped us to extend our perception, imagination and manipulation. VR is just an extra step on the long road, bringing the imagination as close and realistic as reality itself. After the first experiments in the fifties with complex kinesthetic devices like multiple cameras, senso-motoric devices and even smell generators, more elegant head-mounted devices were developed in the early nineties. Both defense research and the computer games industry were the main stimulators of VR. VR is everything and it is hard to describe what VR is not: It encapsulates all previous media, even books, slides, pictures, audio, video and multimedia. The typical contribution of VR is its effect of ‘immersion’; the user feels as if (s)he is in a different world. Both the sensations and the actions of the user should resemble as much a... Free Essays on Virtual Reality Introduction Close your eyes and imagine yourself being able to jump off the Empire State Building and fly over New York City on your own personal tour. You catch a glimpse of Madison Square Garden and a breathtaking view of Broadway. Jump back a few hundred years into the medieval times and joust with a knight. One last visualization- you are playing baseball in Busch Stadium on the same team as Mark McGuire. The crowd is wild. You soak up the glory as you realize they are cheering for you! Now stop fantasizing. These things will probably never happen to you in real life. However, there is a way that you can experience the feeling that something like this is happening. If you’re open to new ideas and you have a good imagination, virtual reality maybe a toy for you! What exactly is virtual reality? Well, virtual reality can be defined as any medium where one feels a sense of â€Å"immersion† and â€Å"presence† in the environment generated or descri bed. This means that if your imagination is wild enough, watching any television show or reading a book can be virtual reality. I will define virtual reality as a highly interactive, computer-generated environment. Graphics-based virtual reality allows one to break the 2-Dimensional constraints of today’s familiar equipment and has many practical applications. Four of these applications are medical, space exploration and training, physical, and entertainment. Body Medical researchers have been using virtual reality techniques to synthesize diagnostic images of a patient’s body to do predictive modeling of radiation treatment using images created by ultrasound, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and X-ray. A radiation therapist in a virtual world could view and expose a tumor at any angle and then model specific doses and configuration of radiation beams to aim at the tumor more effectively. Since radiation destroys human tissue easily, there is n... Free Essays on Virtual Reality The VR Centre for the Built Environment, a winner of an Office of Science & Technology Foresight Challenge Award, was established in June 1997 at University College London and Imperial College London. This is an interdisciplinary initiative involving the Bartlett, Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis, Centre for Transport Studies and the Departments of Computer Science, Geography and Geomatic Engineering at UCL and IC-Parc at Imperial College along with a consortium of 16 industrial partners. It aims to research, develop and disseminate ways of designing, producing and operating buildings and urban areas using virtual reality techniques. The VR Centre's role is to bring the full range of computer graphics, interaction and digital data to the virtual building that currently drives the design-development-operation cycle. Information, analysis and simulations are being synthesised to allow design teams and their clients to predict the performance of proposals at both the urban and building scale. Virtual models are being developed to capture information on performance during the operational life of the building so that this can be fed back into future projects. The Centre is focusing on three key generic technologies: Technologies to help clients and end users understand the consequences of decisions; Technologies to allow better visualisation and interaction with design proposals; Technologies to capture information about the operation of the built environment and to feed that information back into the design, construction and operation process.... Free Essays on Virtual Reality Virtual Reality Virtual reality (VR) is the use of a computer to create an artificial environment that appears and feels like a real environment and allows users to explore a space and manipulate the environment. In its simplest form, a VR application displays what appears to be a three- dimentional view of a place or object, such as landscape, building, molecules, or red blood cell, which users can explore. For example, architects can use VR software to show clients how a building will look after a construction or remodeling project. In more advanced forms, VR software requires that users wear specialized headgear, body suits, and gloves to enhance the experience of the artificial environment (Vance and Reed 34-58). The headgear displays the artificial environment in front of a users eyes. The body suit and the gloves sense motion and direction, allowing a user to move through, pick up, or hold items displayed in the virtual environment. Experts predict that eventually the body suits will provide tactile feedback so users can experience the touch and feel of the virtual world. Many games, such as flight simulators, use virtual reality. In these games special visors allow users to see the computer-generated environment. As the user walks around the game's electronic landscape, sensors in the surrounding game machine record movements and change the view of the landscape accordingly. Companies increasingly are using VR for more practical commercial applications, as well. Automobile dealers, for example, use virtual showrooms in which customers can view the exterior and interior of available vehicles. Airplane manufacturers use virtual prototypes to test new models and shorten product design time. Many firms use personal computer-based VR applications for employee training (Shelly Cashman Series ®Microsoft Word 2000 Project 2). As computing power and the use of ...

Advantages and Disadvantages of Franchising

Advantages and Disadvantages of Franchising Franchising Franchising is arrangement where one party (the franchiser) grants another party (the franchisee) the right to use trade-name as well as certain business systems and processes, to produce and market good or service according to certain specification. The franchisee usually pays a one-time franchise-fee plus a percentage of sales revenueas royalty, and gains immediate name cognition, tried and tested products, standard building and decor,detailed technique in running and promoting the business, training of employees, and ongoing help in promoting and upgrading of the products. The franchiser gains rapid expansion of business and earningsat minimum capital-outlay. Feature of the franchise is that each buyer undertakes to fulfill the various conditions and requirements of the seller (franchiser), related to the production and sale of goods and the provision of related services to consumers. Thus, in the world market there are groups of companies united in a single system un der the auspices of a major international corporation. Its partners in the contract the franchisor provides advice on corporate location, selects equipment, helps in training, advice on management, and may also provide financial assistance. All this facilitates the standardization and unification of products and services of the companies included in the system of franchising provides unity on market events, style and design, the quality of goods and services sold the centralization of procurement related savings (and the additional benefit to the franchisor). Advantages of franchising mode are following (Kotler, 2002, p. 377): Rapid expansion of sales markets, the increase in sales volume and the territorial expansion of the business Absence of the cost of the vertically-integrated network management (reduction of personnel costs) A lower level of own capital investment Lift the prestige of the company and its trademark, recognition from the customers, increased confidence i n the quality and range of products a single company Income from the sale of the license and renting real estate franchise and equipment Profit from lending opportunities franchisees and reducing the time of turnover. Disadvantages of franchising mode are following (Kotler, 2002, p. 377): The likelihood of a smaller part of the profits from the franchise business than on their own Low reputation of one of the franchises in the absence of proper quality control can affect the reputation of the firm; Difficulty in controlling the reliability of financial reporting franchisee The franchisor is preparing a possible competitor in the face of franchisee company Joint ventures Joint ventures are often created for access to foreign markets, company’s decision to team up with their foreign partner, sharing ownership and control over the activities of the company. In world practice, there are many examples of well-known association of firms and corporations to tap new m arkets and gain competitive advantage. Creation of a joint venture may be the preferred method of access to foreign markets for the following reasons: 1. If the company lacks the financial, technological, managerial and other resources for self-development in foreign markets 2. If the government does not admit to its market foreign companies or subsidiaries without the participation of local capital for some political or economic reasons; 3. When the company, for economic reasons, team up with a foreign company for the joint production, the sale of which will provide the company higher profits due to the low cost of use of local resources (labor, raw materials, etc.)

Employee Empowerment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Employee Empowerment - Essay Example Autonomous environments, decentralized working conditions are actually some of the variants of employee empowerment. However, it's actually a strategy in which an employee is allowed to take the decisions without consulting the upper management and he/she actually owns his/her job. Since employees are allowed to make decisions, therefore they feel motivated and this strategy actually boosts up their performance. Through this strategy employees can serve the customer in an effective an efficient manner. Brainstorming, decision making capability, increased level of responsibility actually results due to empowerment. Through empowerment organization can attain competitive edge and total quality management i.e. quality in every aspect and operation can be achieved through empowering the employees. Different approaches and models are followed by different organizations in order to adapt the culture of empowering employees and adapting such a culture would benefit the overall strategy of the organization. Empowering the employees is all about the autonomy and the control they have on their respective jobs. Empowering with the transformational model actually means that leading and empowering the employees are working together and these two aspects are carried together to achieve the ultimate goal of the organization. Transformational model actually improves employee motivation and its satisfaction to work. The conventional working techniques are transformed and since they have a sense of ownership in their tasks therefore production quality of the employees improves. Employees lead from the front and they actually take calculated risks in order to earn more return. All the leadership traits are indulged in an employee when he/she is following the transformational model and besides leadership empowerment plays a positive role and enhances the working of the employees and develops a scenario in which an ordinary employee considers himself/herself as an entrepreneur. In the transformational model both leader and the subordinates motivates each other and help each other out and develop a situation in which motivation and morality becomes the cure of different problems. In an organization when a project is launched then it might be possible that the responsibilities of leaders and subordinates are different. But Transactional model actually results in coordination and although both the subordinates and the superiors started the project as separate entities but in order to achieve higher goals and superior targets they actually help each other in every aspect and ultimately raise the bar of their performance. Empowerment without the Transformational Model Leadership and empowerment, both are actually addressed in the transformational model. Empowering the employees in the workplace without the transformational model is a difficult task because a sense of autonomy might be developed but when an employee doesn't know how to lead and he/she doesn't practice leadership then it would be very difficult to achieve desirable results. Therefore the ultimate goa

Personnel Management Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Personnel Management - Case Study Example It is the human capital that drives the organizations' performance, hence playing a key role in all transformation efforts. In ACME Engineering knowledge management is managed by ensuring that people are left to enjoy what they do this is demonstrated the value attached to the people and the underlying principle of treating workers as a critical part of the organization. ACME Engineering embraces a multicultural approach, which easily deals with any emerging cross-cultural barriers. As long as workers are assigned the duties which allow them to practice their skills they will feel utilized well and do not stand a chance of moving out of the organization, say, in search of greener pastures. The fact that ACME encourages a relaxed work pace with the training which goes on in ACME, workers add to their existing knowledge, it leaves in them a sense of development and growth. In ACME a culture of belon... want to make decisions aimed at maintaining and managing the best talent at all costs for an organization can not afford the costs which come with high job turn over. Therefore strategic human resource management maximizes an organizations performance through the following: Strategic Planning. This involves implementation processes, which link the long-term goals of the organization with practical action plans. This results into activities and initiatives which aim at guiding the organization's growth. ACME as a company has gone out of the way in linking long-term goals through recruiting the majority of its workforce within the age group of 25-30 years. ACME encourages workers to see the opportunities ahead for such exist in the organization and they are made aware that they are the beneficiaries. These have a positive strategic role to play in the organization. When other organizations who recruited at the same time as ACME will be sending workers home through retirement, ACME will still be enjoying the fruits of its strategic planning because it may keep it's most experienced workforce say for as many as six or so extra years due to the age of its initial batch of recruits. Workforce Planning.Human resource managers must address the ever-changing workforce requirements. To achieve this goal, models should be developed bearing in mind the unique needs of each organization. As an organization, ACME has its own unique challenges but its version of strategic human resource management seems to be working well for it. How else do you explain its unique grading and appraising system whereby employees can raise even in the same job group to an extent of getting an extra 40% pay rise The fact that the organization encourages an open communication policy is a

Business versus Environment Essay Example for Free

Business versus Environment Essay Businesses would always want to make more profit but this should be accomplished while also taking into account its social responsibilities. In the long run, there is an aggregate need for business entities to balance between profit and the adverse effects the business causes to the environment in its natural course of operations. Choosing not to consider the social and environmental costs associated with the business will result in less spending for operations but this in turn may affect the survivability of the business entity.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Many businessmen executives have realized that aggressive environmental programs result in profitability and competitiveness by reducing risks and avoiding additional costs from regulatory compliance programs. Environmental initiatives has its benefits for a business. It acts as morale and productivity boosters for the workers, enhanced brand image, streamline time-to-market and improved relations with regulators and the community. It is now understandable that an understanding of socio-economic, political and cultural processes and structures is necessary to understand environmental problems and in order to establish sustainable development.[1]   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It cannot be denied that through the course of its operations, business does affect the environment in many ways such as pollution and introduction of new chemical compounds which may prove harmful to people or the environment, genetic engineering and others. How a business affects the environment may be deliberate or accidental but there are also some businesses that improve the quality of the environment.[2]   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   To cite, all countries are very much dependent on the oil industry and the industry is essential in any kind of economy. It produces huge amounts of profit for oil producing countries while non-oil producing countries have showed dependence on oil because of the need to run vehicles or to fuel industries. But with the production of oil also stems a need to provide funding to numerous environmental concerns that arise with it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   An oil spill is just one of the risks associated with the oil industries. It is a grave threat to the marine ecosystem and also to the people living near the coastline who depend on the marine resources for their food and income. In an oil spill near the coast of Guimaras Islands in the Philippines, one of the oil tankers of Petron carrying millions of liters of oil sank to the bottom of the sea floor. The incident was the worst oil spill in the country which affected the 40,000 people living on the island who are mostly dependent on the sea. Guimaras Governor Joaquin Nava was frustrated over the absence of commitment from the government sector and Petron to solve the oil spill. Greenpeace on the other hand has much fear that the remaining 1.9 million liters of oil inside the sunken tanker will cause more damage when released into the sea. There was public demand that Petron immediately raise the sunken tanker to prevent more oil spillage or to pump out the remaining oil from its tanks. Relief operations were also needed to compensate for the people of Guimaras Islands because of the loss of livelihood. Greenpeace urged that the local government should hold the oil company liable and that it should be accountable for the long-term rehabilitation of the affected areas including the marine sanctuaries, mangrove areas, reefs and coral ecosystems.[3]   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The situation urged Petron to perform its social responsibility for the disaster or it would face charges from environmentalist groups or other consequences such as banning their products or paying fines if proven guilty when the case is brought to the court of law. Taking responsibility for the environmental hazards will even give the company a better image that it cares not only for profit but   also gives importance to its social responsibilities. The business should see that environmental concerns could turn into an instant marketing opportunity.[4] Instead of having bad effects, this could make the people patronize their products and instead of adding more cost, it would add more benefit.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Environmental degradation, although the more devastating effect, is not the only concern   brought about by oil spills. Fishermen are the ones that are greatly affected by such disasters because the fish are being killed. Oil spills also results in the ban of catching and selling fish and shellfish from the contaminated area to maintain market confidence and to protect fishing gear. Other industries that rely on seawater in their course of operations are mainly affected by oil spills. These may include hotel and restaurants that rely on tourist trade or water treatment plants.[5]   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   On the other hand, Transneft, an oil transporting joint stock company initiated the Baltic Pipeline System project which would would help in securing the safety of the environment through this pipeline system and also add a new transport route for Russian oil which is greatly needed. The system aims to minimize the negative impact of oil on the environment. The project is believed to be one of the most excellent projects in the history of Russia. In an ecological assessment of the construction of the Baltic Pipeline System, it was found out that the project complies with the environmental norms.[6] This action proves that safety measures can be done to ensure environment safety while also taking into account the needs of the economy.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Companies do affect people the same way that people affect the companies. Almost all countries have been dependent on oil and oil exporting countries have been gaining a lot of income from this. People rely on oil to fuel vehicles, run heavy machinery and others. The escalating prices of oil have urged many countries to find other sources of energy such as biofuels. This somehow reduced the dependence of mankind on oil.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A reduced dependency on foreign oil leads to economic problems for the oil producing countries. Low oil prices are good for oil consumers because it means less spending for petroleum products but this has adverse effects on oil producers such as the countries in the Middle East which is reflected in the performance of the economy.[7]  Ã‚   On the other hand, effects of rising oil prices can be seen when the US experienced oil shortages in 1973 and 1979. During these instances, the US reacted harshly and its citizens even get into fights at gasoline stations until an effort to conserve oil was established by the president.[8]   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Oil companies are expected by the the people to take responsibility for any environmental hazards caused by the company. One example is Shell Oil which has initiated and participated in many environment and social campaigns. However, the company still faces a lot of accusations that it still contributing greatly in the destruction of the environment and its refineries, depots and pipelines threaten human civilization.[9]   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A report states that Shell has been overstating its social and environmental performance and despite of adhering to its public commitment which is sustainable development, Shell has been putting the environment in much more trouble.[10] The report shows scenarios from different countries wherein Shell allegedly does not address social and environmental problems caused by faulty pipelines and others instead of going by its adherence to environment safety and sustainable development.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In Canada, Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn explains that there should be a balance between the environment and economic growth. He also said that the two are intertwined. He agreed that the solution to address the needs of the environment is balancing the its needs with the needs of the industry. He also emphasized the production of clean energy technology such as tidal energy. Other environment-friendly projects that Canada would pursue are development of clean coal, improvement of biofuel technology and technology that would reduce green house gases emissions and pollution.[11]   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Logging is another industry that greatly affects the environment. It is very harmful to the environment especially illegal logging. The loss of many trees result in many adverse effects such as the loss of habitat for many special of mammals, birds and other animals. It also contributes to global warming and other natural disaster such as flash floods and land slides.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the Philippines, illegal logging was a major factor in the loss of lives due to flash floods and even land slides during the rainy season particularly in the provinces of Quezon, Nueva Ecija and Aurora. Government hydrologist Richard Orendain said that it may be hard to determine whether floods may be attributed to illegal logging or just because of heavy rainfall although it is safe to assume that illegal logging has in   a way contributed to the natural disasters while Vice President Noli de Castro directly blamed illegal for floods and other past cases of flash floods and land slides.[12]   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In Indonesia, many people rely on the forests for their source of livelihood. According to Edward Pollard from the Galung Palung National Park, illegal logging is the major industry in the region. It is the main source of income for many citizens. However, despite economic gains from timber companies, the entire community does not receive much benefit with the diminishing resource. Illegal loggers constitute to a large decrease in forest resources and no taxes are being paid to fund development projects for the citizens. People who work as loggers usually come from poor families and logging is not a permanent and a stable source of income and with the rate of the depletion of the forest resources, people will have to find other sources of income in the future.[13]   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Indonesia has been plagued by illegal logging particularly caused by poverty and corruption. The exploitation of the natural resources was a vital factor in the economic development of the region but the government does not reap all the gains because of illegal loggers that contribute greatly to the depletion of natural resources but do not pay the necessary taxes which could have been used to fund various environmental problems.[14]   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Loggers should be responsible enough to aid environment because this is where they get their income. The rapid loss of forest resources which contributes greatly to global warming and loss of biodiversity would also affect the loggers. Instead of clear logging in which all the trees are being cut down in an area, loggers can resort to selective logging   which is much less harmful and would give the forest time to recuperate.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the end, there is a strong need for businesses to balance between their income and social and environmental responsibilities. It may not seem beneficial and actually results in more spending for the company. However, taking to account the social and environmental responsibilities of the business would prove beneficial in the long course of business operations. Just like in the logging business, taking aggregate measures to avoid total destruction of forest resources will ascertain that the business will not run out of available resources. Likewise, oil production, which is associated with many adverse effects to the environment, may still choose to have an environment-friendly image which could boost its marketing drive. These additional costs should not be considered as expenses but rather as investments. Bibliography Al Marashi, Habiba, Business vs. Environment, March 19, 2002, Retrieved   23 March 2008 from   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.dqg.org/qcentral/dqg_events/seminars/mar02/business.asp Petron oil spill affected 40,000 people says Governor, InfoShop News, 2006 Retrieved 23 March 2008,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   from http://www.infoshop.org/inews/article.php?story=2006082101433380 Economic Impacts, The International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation Limited, 2007, Retrieved   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   March 23, 2006, from http://www.itopf.com/marine%2Dspills/effects/economic%2Dimpacts/ Baltic Pipeline System, Transneft, 2002, Retrieved 23 March 2008, from   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.transneft.ru/Ecolog/Default.asp?LANG=ENID=219 Koepp, Stephen, Oil Prices, April 1986, Time Magazine,   Retrieved 23 March 2008, from   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,961087-1,00.html Refinery Reform/Global Community Monitor/Friends of the Earth, Behind the shine the real impacts of Shells work around the world, June 23, 2004, Retrieved 23 March 2008, from   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.refineryreform.org/PR_062304.html Behind the shine: The other Shell Report 2003, 2003, p.2, Retrieved 23 March 2008, from   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.refineryreform.org/downloads/shellreport_behindtheshine.pdf Barlow, John, Tories want balance in environment and economy, June 30, 2007. Vol. 32 No. 44,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Retrieved 23 March 2008, from http://www.westernwheel.com/070606/news-tories%20want   Ã‚  Ã‚   %20balance.htm Terra Daily, Illegal logging a major factor in flood devastation of Philippines, December 1, 2004,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Retrieved 23 March 2008, from http://www.terradaily.com/2004/041201072557.jj82upor.html The Timber Mafia, Consequences of Illegal Logging: Environmental Implications,2002, Retrieved   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   24 March 2008, from http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/content/2002/timber_mafia/resources/ [1]  Ã‚   Al Marashi, Habiba, Business vs. Environment, March 19, 2002, Retrieved 23 March 2008, from http://www.dqg.org/qcentral/dqg_events/seminars/mar02/business.asp [2]  Ã‚   Al Marashi [3]  Ã‚  Ã‚   Petron oil spill affected 40,000 people says Governor, InfoShop News, 2006, Retrieved 23 March 2008, from http://www.infoshop.org/inews/article.php?story=2006082101433380 [4]  Ã‚   Al Marashi [5]  Ã‚   Economic Impacts, The International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation Limited, 2007, Retrieved 23 March 2008, from http://www.itopf.com/marine%2Dspills/effects/economic%2Dimpacts/ [6]  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Baltic Pipeline System, Transneft, 2002, Retrieved 23 March 2008, from   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.transneft.ru/Ecolog/Default.asp?LANG=ENID=219 [7]  Ã‚   Koepp, Stephen, Oil Prices, April 1986, Time Magazine,   Retrieved 23 March 2008, from http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,961087-1,00.html [8]  Ã‚   Koepp [9]  Ã‚   Refinery Reform/Global Community Monitor/Friends of the Earth, Behind the shine the real impacts of Shells work around the world, June 23, 2004, Retrieved 23 March 2008, from http://www.refineryreform.org/PR_062304.html [10] Behind the shine: The other Shell Report 2003, 2003, p.2, Retrieved 23 March 2008, from http://www.refineryreform.org/downloads/shellreport_behindtheshine.pdf [11] Barlow, John, Tories want balance in environment and economy, June 30, 2007. Vol. 32 No. 44, Retrieved 23 March 2008 from http://www.westernwheel.com/070606/news-tories%20want%20balance.htm [12] Terra Daily, Illegal logging a major factor in flood devastation of Philippines, December 1, 2004, Retrieved 23 March 2008 from http://www.terradaily.com/2004/041201072557.jj82upor.html [13] The Timber Mafia, Consequences of Illegal Logging: Environmental Implications,2002, Retrieved 24 March 2008, from http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/content/2002/timber_mafia/resources/   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   resources_consequences1.htm [14] The Timber Mafia

Metamorphosis Essay -- English Literature

Metamorphosis In the short story, Metamorphosis, the narrator describes Gregor’s new life as an insect. He then goes on to describe Gregor’s sister, Grete, with a reflection of Gregor’s opinion in the description. Kafka employs a number of stylistic devices including descriptive imagery, metaphors, and symbolism in the passage to describe the situation. While these devices on their own just provide a more complex method of painting the situation, the way they are assembled in the passage serves to depict a comparison of power between Gregor and Grete. The creation of such a multifaceted evaluation further increases the reader’s sympathy towards Gregor’s situation. Firstly, Gregor is characterized with many literary descriptors. â€Å"Sense of freedom† is the first occurrence of relevant descriptive imagery. The freedom is what he used to posses before the metamorphosis, however he no longer has liberty outside his room. That is where the second image of â€Å"looking out† the window comes into play. The looking out symbolizes Gregor’s reflection on the liberties he used to posses when he could leave his room, and of the outdoors, there by limiting his experiences. This is supported with the imagery of his vision weakening. The imagery reflects a tone of pessimism, in that Gregor is loosing hope for a recovery. All the imagery serves to sympathies with Gregor because his situation is depicted as bleak. The symbol of Gregor’s knowledge is his vision, which is the primary medium for humans gain knowledge. With his sight diminishing, he is no longer able to discover as much as would be able to normally and even starting to disbelieve his previous knowledge. This is mentioned when he said that if he had not known ... ...nd blended indistinguishably into each other. His quick witted sister only needed to observe twice that the armchair stood by the window; after that, whenever she had tidied the room, she always pushed the chair back to the same place at the window and even left the inner casements open. If he could have spoken to her and thanked her for all she had to do for him, he could have more her ministrations better; as it was, they oppressed him. She certainly tried to make light as possible of whatever was disagreeable in her task, and as time went on he succeeded, of course, more and more, but time bought more enlightenment to Gregor too. The very way she came in distressed him. Hardly was she in the room when she rushed to the window, without even taking time to shut the door, carefully as she was usually to shield the sight of Gregor’s room from the others.

An exploration of the different types of love in Shakespeare’s “Twelfth night”

What does Shakespeare convey about the nature and variety of love in this play? Shakespeare explores a great variety of themes in this play, the main one being love and its many different natures. The aim of this essay is to examine the text to discover ways in which Shakespeare portrays love using characterisation and style. Orsino is the first character to speak in â€Å"Twelfth night†; his first words are â€Å"if music be the food of love play on†. The main part of his speech describing his love for Olivia is consists of refined and eloquent language, which seems to be used to impress rather than to express his feelings, he also talks more of love its self than Olivia which makes you doubtful of his sincerity: â€Å"O spirit of love, how quick and fresh thou art†Love Poem â€Å"Love thoughts lie rich when canopied with bowers† He also thinks himself to be â€Å"as all true lovers are† in that the love he feels for Olivia is so intense that it is painful: â€Å"And my desires like fell and cruel hounds, E'er since pursue me† He is also portrayed as inconsistent, in the first seven lines of the play he tires of the music, which had been played proclaiming that it, is â€Å"not so sweet now as it was before†. This also hints at the fact that when he possesses something he will lose interest in it. Orsino is Shakespeare's representation of the melancholy, he is a man who will worship a woman he does not know, and is often thought to be in love with the idea of love rather than Olivia herself. It also appears that Orsino is lacking in self confidence for two reasons; the first is that he does not woe Olivia himself and the second is his craving for Olivia to adore him and be obsessed by him: â€Å"When liver, brain, and heart, These sovereign thrones, are all supplied, and fill'd (Her sweet perfections), one self same king!† The next main character to appear is viola. Viola represents true love in two forms; the first is her love for her brother. Her sincere love seems to contrast Olivia's weeping and obsessive grieving for her lost brother. It also appears as if she almost feels obliged to morn him in this way, to keep his memory fresh; â€Å"A brother's dead love, which she would keep fresh And lasting, in her sad remembrance.† This suggests that the grief is in some way an act to attract respect and attention. The language used by Valentine to describe her, in that it is eloquent and ends in a rhyming couplet, echoes this. Viola is also shown as a true lover in her love for Orsino. She is willing to sacrifice her own happiness for his and attempts to woe Olivia for him. Any other character would have tried to sway Olivia against him for selfish reasons. â€Å"My lord and master love you. O such love Could be but recompensed, though you were crowned The nonpareil of beauty† The way in which she speaks to Olivia also reveals her true love, in that she describes how she would woe Olivia were she in Orsino's place. It expresses the way she feels about Orsino and proves her to be self-sacrificing because she will not tell him, and will try and win Olivia. â€Å"Make me a willow cabin at your gate, And call upon my soul within the house; Write loyal cantons of contemned love, And sing them aloud even in the dead of the night† She is also in a position to love Orsino sincerely as she knows him completely; â€Å"Thou know'st no less but all: I have unclasped To thee the book even of my secret soul† Another fact, which proves her love for him, is that she expresses her thoughts in soliloquies. This shows that she is not attempting to impress or influence any one in the manner in which she speaks or by the content; â€Å"I'll do my best To woo your lady. Yet a barful strife! Whoe'er I woo, myself would be his wife.† The next lovers to be encountered are Maria and Sir Toby. These two represent love between friends and also sexual love, lust. They seem to be brought together by similar pleasures, for example the love of playing tricks. In this sense their love is more true than Orsino's obsession with Olivia. Sir Andrew joins Maria and Sir Toby in the above scene. He is depicted as similar to Orsino in that he is an unrequited lover with little chance of attaining his desire. His love seems even less genuine as there is very little mention of his feelings for Olivia or even of him seeking her love. Olivia then enters the play and mentions love almost immediately when declaring to Malvolio that he is â€Å"sick of self love†. The self-love Olivia mentioned is shown as another kind of love and also as a means to insert comedy into the play. Because Malvolio is so proud he is gulled by Maria's trick and thus follows humorous circumstances. Olivia seems to be as inconstant a lover as Orsino in that she immediately comes out of mourning when Viola attempts to woo her. She also transfers her affections from Olivia to her brother without realising that they are not the same person. Antonio is similar to viola in his love for Sebastian. He is devoted to him and would do anything for him with out looking for recompense, for example he gives him his purse in case he wishes to buy a trinket or toy. In conclusion I feel that Shakespeare depicts the multiple natures of love very successfully through out the play and shows strong contrasts between them.

My Trip to America Essay

The plane was taking off. Gravity pulled me lean on the back of the seat. Seeing the trees, roads, cars and buildings became more and more blurry in my sight, I felt my brain was blank. â€Å"Hey, I’m really going to leave tomorrow†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I called my best friend the night before I left. â€Å"Don’t forget to swim across the Pacific Ocean to visit me. † She said after the long silence. Yes, for me at that time, America was truly just Hollywood and Disneyland on the other side of the Pacific Ocean. But soon enough, I would find out the real America by myself. Before I knew, I was already breathing the air of San Francisco, my first stop. The Hip-Hop music coming from the radio was really loud, and people were trotting. I could even feel the fast beat of that city in the car. Something was not in that rush though — the pigeons. They were taking a walk leisurely on the street, did not afraid of people, as though if the hurry did not belong to them at all. That scene was never to be seen in my country. When the last piece of furniture was moved into my apartment, my dad signed: â€Å"we have a home in America now. † â€Å"chicago il. † In the first summer, I used to touch the unacquainted address on the envelope every time we got letters, practiced to recite telephone number and close my eyes to feel the wind. So my new life just had begun unconsciously. Almost nothing fitted what I imagined about the High School. Because it was a lot better than what I supposed. I thought I would be lonely, no one would talk to me, but actually at the end of the first of school, I already had known someone who I could consider as friend. Things were indeed not easy though. I held the map of the school building, and finally found my way to classroom after asking three people for direction. Teachers were nothing like the strict teacher in China, they were patient and funny. They were willing to be students’ friends. I used to say, â€Å"Sorry, my English is very bad. at the beginning of the school year every time when I finished talking with someone. Once I was sitting outside of school gate on the stairs and talking to a girl, when I said my formal conclusion sentence, she said â€Å"Oh no, your English is very good! † and gave me a shinny smile. In my memory, the sky of that afternoon was as limpid as a lake with glittering sunshine†¦ Honestly, I did not understand or feel much every morning when we put our right hand on the left chest and say the oath towards the flag. Until one day the school showed the commemoration of 9. 11 on the TV, I saw many teacher cried. I suddenly realized that America is their home, was just like someone attacked their home and hurt their sister or brother. The oath to the Stars and Stripes is not just about a verb, a pose; it’s about the feeling of home. Most sunny days of chicago are mild. I will sit in front of the desk and look up to those cotton-candy-like clouds through the window. Or I will always take a walk in the dusk on some clean and quiet bypath, the tip of the church, which is tinged by the orange afterglow and the tall Chinars along the path, which sings softly in the wind, always make me think I have crashed in to a fairyland. I know that I felt and still feel the love when I was singing the national anthem of my country, China. And America is where I live and study now. It is my second home. I am getting the excellent education here, I have met lovely and patriotic people here, and I have seen the charming scene here. I am experiencing a totally different lifestyle here. Close my eyes, I still can see the tears on my grandparents’ face in the airport; I can still smell the thick Natee on every street of San Francisco; I can still remember once there was a girl who was too nervous to decide whether to wear a pink or white T-shirt on the first day of school. After a year and a half living in America, I’m still that happy little girl, except when I think about America, it is not more far away across the Pacific Ocean, it is where my new life is, it is my home. And another thing is that I can be the person to show others the direction to the classroom now.

IT security and Control

IT security and Control According to Hawker (151), IT Security and Control include physical, logical and administrative measures organizations put in place to ensure data integrity, confidentiality, and availability to authorized users. Information system avail data to authorized users through validation and verification procedures. In addition, data integrity standards should be enforced when data is being transmitted to prevent it from unauthorized access, intentional or accidental modifications, or malicious damage.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on IT security and Control specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Comprehensive approaches subject organizations’ information systems to regular security checks in addition to system audits (Peltier 2). Regular system audits ensure that responsible organizational managers are able to track users and establish any potential sources of malicious attacks or unauthorized access. These measures are im plemented within and outside organizational boundaries. Organizations benefit from IT Security and Controls by integrating and aligning them to organizational goals and objectives. Peltier (1) argues that organizations have defined standards, policies, and procedures for implementing security measures and controls to prevent data loss or damage. Information can be sold or mined to enable radical decisions to be made. Peltier (2) argues that users should form informed decisions on system usage when login sessions commence and should be made aware that they are being monitored. Peltier (11) asserts that security and control measures such as firewalls implemented at different levels, risk analysis, encryption of data using different techniques, e-mail and other communication policies ensure that organizational information is kept confidential and made available to the intended parties. Firewalls filter outgoing and incoming data to ensure no corrupt data, or malicious software or compu ter programs accesses an organization’s information system. Organizations impose administrative controls on data, which is a valued asset, at different levels to ensure accountability and responsibility for system users. This may include passwords verifications and access rights’ mechanisms. Data integrity is maintained organization-wise.Advertising Looking for essay on it? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Logical controls ensure firewall protection for outbound and inbound data. An organization may not be at risk of loosing sensitive information to the outside when software is installed to control access to information in addition to implementation of access privileges to system users. Organizations benefit from the use of physical controls by enforcing policies such as the use of cameras and clear definition of duties. Thus organizational activities are monitored to avoid potential incidents and threat s to data corruption, espionage, and damage. Information is a valuable asset to any organization. It should be managed well. Gertz, Guldentops, and Strous (27) asserts that the movement of traffic in both directions enables a system performance evaluator to determine the vulnerability of system components and controls. Such performance measures can also be evaluated against the policies and objectives of an organization. Deviations from established benchmarks determine the degree to which performance of the information security controls are effective (Gertz, Guldentops, and Strous 57). Other measures include the use of software tools to evaluate performance standards of networked computer systems in addition to conducting tests to evaluate effectiveness of system security. A performance evaluation plan is developed by an organization and tests conducted against benchmarks to identify security loop holes. Information security and controls should be embedded in an organization’ s culture at personal and organizational levels. Tests should be consistent with organizational, management security control goals, and objectives (Gallegos, Senft, Manson, Daniel and Gonzales, 124). References Gallegos, F., Senft, S., Manson, D P., Gonzales, C 2004. Technology Control and Audit (2nd ed.). Auerbach Publications.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on IT security and Control specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Gertz, M., Guldentops, E., Strous, L 2001. Integrity, Internal Control and Security in Information Systems: Connecting Governance and Technology Web. Hawker, A 2000. Security and Control in Information Systems: A Guide for Business and Accounting Web.

Explain the differences between a group and a team Essay

Explain the differences between a group and a team - Essay Example To describe it briefly, it will be suffice to say that all teams are form of work group but not all groups are teams. There are several fundamental principles that distinguish the two. First is accountability. In groups, members are individually accountable within the group; they have to be alert from people within the group. In teams, however, individual accountability does exist but on a minimum level; teams are accountable mutually. Instead of reporting to one another or someone from amongst group, teams report to a higher authority. This means that teams are more united and open with each other. This also highlights the fact that usually groups work on lower levels while teams work at higher, more independent level in the hierarchy (Thornton, 2010). Secondly, members working in the group meet regularly to circulate information and discuss perspectives whereas team members just meet occasionally to make decision, plan, and solve any problems that arise in a meanwhile. This implies that team member share more trust than group members do, making them more self-reliant and confident of their own actions. Thirdly, group members work on individual goals while team members work on mutual goals. This shows more unity and togetherness that is shared by people working in the team. For instance, people in groups may work hard for promotion/to please their supervisors/ in order to get a pay upgrade but team members will worry less about such petty matters and try to get bigger tasks done. Fourthly, groups focus more on individual products while teams emphasize more on team products. Instead of getting their names high like in groups, team members focus more on efficiency and excellence, making merit the parameter for judgment. Next, groups have defined roles and responsibilities whereas team members are more liberal with these lines and feel free to share each other’s work. Lastly, in groups, manager, with little say from members, shapes the goals and tasks desi gned to achieve them. On the contrary, team leader brings the whole team together to shape the goals and delegate tasks on each member with their complete will. This gives a sense of ownership to the goal and creates a free environment where learning and creativity thrives (Levi, 2010). As the world is coming together to form a global village, it is important to embrace, appreciate and celebrate the diversity, which flourishes as people from across the world come together to accomplish goals of mutual interest. However, diversity is tough to handle since it requires a lot of compromise and patience to settle down with. Nonetheless, importance of diversity cannot be over-emphasized. With people from different backgrounds, religious views, ethnicities, social status, and education coming together on a common platform, the ideas generated, and discussions held are more multi-lateral and creative. In addition, the solutions found with diverse bodied thing tank are applicable to more tha n a single thinkers and work in more than a few conditions since its planners have put together their own personal experience in planning and critiquing it, refining into more applicable and garnishes the concept. On the other hand,

Ehtno-Drama (Drama Creation) Paper Baed on ELL(English Language Term

Ehtno-Drama (Drama Creation) Baed on ELL(English Language Learner) Interview - Term Paper Example He had to Google maps to know where to go and master the Google directions keenly not to get lost. This was because the one who brought him to America went back immediately because of problems that arose immediately after they took off from the Airport. On asking him on the initial difficulties he faced in America he said that he had problems in the English language which posed a barrier in communication. He describes an incident when he developed health issues and reported to the hospital in New Jersey. He was unable completely to communicate with the nurse at the reception. This made the nurse to confront him with a racist language. Telling him, â€Å"You immigrant why come to America and you do not know how to speak English?† Do you think we are terrorists like you? This he said made him to give up on the medication and go home. Lucky enough the health complication healed after some days without ant treatment. He further told me that from that day he enrolled for English lessons at a certain college in New Jersey so that in the future he could not face other discriminative encounters like that. He even stopped wearing his Arab clothes and wore like Americans to conceal identity on suspecting eyes. Further, on the question of a facing a different culture and how he overcome it he told me that despite the cultural differences between Qatar citizens and the Americans he coped well with it. He said that the American foods were different to theirs. Even living styles of the Americans were very different in terms of clothing, entertainment and interactions. He said that he observed that mostly the White Americans despise the Black Americans something that does not happen in Qatar. He said that the Qatar people are so friendly and welcoming to fellow citizens and foreigners. He had no problem with coping with American culture because with time he adjusted very well and become part of the citizens by making of many American friends who taught him

Ratios Tell A story assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Ratios Tell A story assignment - Essay Example However, it is very difficult for one to examine the whole financial statements of a company. Ratio analysis makes it easier for everyone to understand the profitability, solvency, and efficiency position of the firm. Ratio Analysis is a tool used for quantitative analysis of the information from the financial statement of a company. In spite of the advantages, ratio analysis has several drawbacks too. It consider only historical data, the future performance of the company cannot be predicted. It helps to evaluate firm’s financial status on the basis of past and present financial data of a company. In this study, comparisons of ratios have been made on different companies according to their financial indicators. A ratio analysis has been conducted to compare the profitability, solvency and efficiency of Wal-Mart and Safeway. Ratio analysis helps to effective analysis of the financial statement. The financial status of the companies can be easily understood by the help of the r atio analysis. Safeway vs. Wal-Mart Safeway Inc is a supermarket whereas Wal-Mart is general merchandise. Wal-Mart can also be classified as hypermarket. Hypermarkets are similar to big-box stores. The business of hypermarket is decisive on high volume, and low margin of sales. Wal-Mart is a typical supercenter covers around 150,000 square feet to 235,000 square feet area. It is the combination of supermarket and departmental stores, mainly situated in suburban or out of town locations. More than 2 lac brands can found here. Whereas Supermarket is a store based upon self service. It presents a huge range of food and household merchandise, divided into sectors. The range of foods and products are limited here rather than supermarket. There is a huge difference between the inventories of these two companies. It is because Wal-Mart sells more than 2 lac of different type of products whereas Safeway is limited with its narrow range of food and household products. Net PP&E are almost sam e (60%) in case of both the companies, because both of them are involved in retail business. The cash of Safeway is also less than Wal-Mart is due to the size of the business. Wal-Mart is more capable of generating cash in a higher volume to its variety of products. Adobe vs. Hewlett-Packard Adobe Systems Inc. is a software development company and Hewlett-Packard Company is a computer manufacturing company. In a computer manufacturing company, heavy processes are driven for manufacturing new products. The workers are needed to perform a specific task. After the completion of one task the next task can be performed by the next worker. A software development company includes research, development of new product, prototyping, modification, reuse, re-engineering, and maintains of other activities. Hewlett is having fixed assets near about 2 times higher than Adobe. As Hewlett is a manufacturing company it needs more instruments and equipments than Adobe. In case of both short term and L ong term debt, Adobe has none of these two because it is a service based company. It does not need extra money to run its business. In case of Hewlett the value of both short term and long term debt is higher. As the company runs factories, it needs money from outside to run its business. Amazon vs. Consolidated Edison, INC Amazon.Com is an internet retailer and Edison Inc has its business on electric utility. When a

Why Evolution Is True by Jerry A. Coyne (Penguin Books) Published in Essay

Why Evolution Is True by Jerry A. Coyne (Penguin Books) Published in 2010 - Essay Example These evolution theories contradict with the concept of the creationists. The creation concept says that the human beings are not evolved rather they are created at once and that animals and the human beings are different from their origin. Both the concepts of evolution and the creation are very much opposite to each other. The subject of the book is very important to be clearly understood in our own life. In other words we can also say that â€Å"Why Evolution is true† is the summary of all the facts of Darwin’s evolution theory and also the natural selection process. Natural selection process is explained very well by the Darwin. This means that the one living organisms who strives for the life gets the chance to survive in the competitive environment. With the help of his arguments, Jerry Coyne has showed that the natural selection process do not destroy the beauty of life rather it enhances or give advancement to it in a gradual manner, because the nature itself selects the suitable living beings on its own behalf. The process of natural selection basically means to find out the proper resources to live the life. The one who find out the available resources would be included in the list of the naturally fittest organisms thus striving for saving the life. In other words we can also say that the natural selection means the struggle for the existence. For this struggle the living beings may change their traits and this would be called as the gene variation according to the environment. The changing of traits may help living organisms to grab the best possible resources. This gene variation would help them to survive according to the environmental conditions. Actually each and every individual is composed of different combinations of genes. Some of these genes traits are helpful or other might be less important in the survival. Therefore the individuals may change such kind of traits and also adapting to those which are more

A History of Digital Dignatures

A History of Digital Dignatures History of Digital signatures Whitfield Diffie and also Martin Hellman throughout 1976, were the first that explained the idea of an electronic digital unique structure. It was while they simply conjectured in these kinds of techniques, and quickly after, Ronald Rivest, Adi Shamir, along with Len Adleman conceived the RSA protocol. This could be utilized to create ancient electronic digital signatures. Ddespite the fact that simply being a proof-of-concept, the plain RSA signatures are not secure. The initial extensively advertised software package to provide digital signature had been Lotus. It was introduced throughout 1989, and is usually employed by the RSA algorithm. To make RSA unique tips, create an RSA essential set containing the modulus d thats the product of two large primes. Also imagine the integers: e as well as d such that e d = 1 (mod f(n)) The actual signers general public essential is made of n and also e, and the signers solution key is made up of d. For an indication, there is a communication m, and the sign computes s = md (mod n) To ensure, the receiver checks that s e = m (mod n). While noted before, this kind of basic structure just isnt really protected. In order to avoid episodes, one can very first, and then can implement a new cryptographic hash function for the communication m. And then he can apply the RSA formula described previously mentioned to the result. This strategy might be established secure inside so-called arbitrary prediction model. Some other digital camera unique strategies have been quickly created soon after RSA. The primary are Lamport signatures, Merkle signatures (also known as Merkle trees or perhaps Hash trees), and Rabin signatures. Inside 1988, Shafi Goldwasser, Silvio Micali, and Ronald Rivest took over as very first to carefully outline the protection specifications associated with digital trademark strategies. They defined any pecking order regarding attack models regarding unique schemes, and also found the GMR personal structure, the first that can be which may prevent perhaps an existential forgery in opposition to a new chosen information invasion. The majority of early on personal plans had been of the comparable type: they call for conditions trapdoor permutation, such as the RSA perform, or perhaps in true with the Rabin personal system, computing rectangular modulo amalgamated n. A trapdoor permutation family is a family group associated with permutations, particular by a parameter, that is simple to work out inside the forward route, yet is hard in order to figure out inside the invert path with no by now knowing the private essential. Even so, for every parameter there is a trapdoor (exclusive important) that if identified, quickly decrypts what its all about. Trapdoor permutations may very well be public-key security techniques, in which the parameter will be the open public essential and the trapdoor will be the key, and also where encrypting corresponds to computing the particular onward direction of the permutation, whilst decrypting corresponds for the change direction. Trapdoor combining can even be seen as electron ic digital personal schemes, where computing the opposite direction with the entire secret key is thought of as signing, and research the actual forwards course is performed to verify signatures. Because of this messages, electronic digital signatures are often called determined by public-key cryptosystems, in which deciding upon is equivalent to decryption and verification is the same as encrypted shield, however this isnt the only method electronic signatures are usually calculated. Employed immediately, such a unique system is actually at risk of a new key-only existential forgery attack. To make a forgery, the particular attacker choices any haphazard trademark s and uses the confirmation process to look for the communication m equivalent compared to that signature. Used, nevertheless, this sort of unique isnt used right, but alternatively, the material to become signed can be initial hash to generate a short digest thats then closed. This forgery assault next, only generates the actual hash function output which refers to s, and not a message that leads for its benefit (which does not cause an attack). Within the random oracle model, this specific hash-and-decrypt form of unique is existentially un-forgeable, actually in opposition to a chosen-message assault. There are several top reasons to sign this type of hash (or perhaps message absorb) instead of the entire record. For performance: The trademark will probably be much quicker thereby save time considering that hashing is mostly considerably quicker than putting your signature on in practice. For being compatible: Mail messages are normally little bit guitar strings, however, many signature strategies run on other areas (including, in the case of RSA, amounts modulo an amalgamated number n). A new hash perform may be used to convert an haphazard feedback into the appropriate file format. With regard to ethics: Without the hash operate, the words to end up being signed might have to end up being divided (divided) in prevents sufficiently small for your unique system to do something on them straight. Nonetheless, the particular device in the agreed upon blocks is not able to acknowledge if every one of them is present and in the proper get. ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF DIGITAL SIGNATURES The main benefit thing about public-key cryptography can be the increase in security, as well as comfort. This is because the private keys never need to be transported or exposed to any person. In a very secret-key technique as comparison, the secrets recommendations should be carried (both physically and through a conversation station), and there might be a possibility that the opponent could find the secret during their transmitting. Another significant benefit from public-key programs is that they provide one way functions with regard to digital signatures. Validation by the way of using secret-key systems requires only the expressing associate of the key. But sometimes it needs interaction of a third party as well. Therefore, a new mailer can be easily repudiated by a previously authenticated concept. This is through proclaiming how the discussed solution ended up being for some reason affected by the events revealing the secrets. As an example, the particular Kerberos secret-key authentication method consists of a new central repository that maintains replicates in the solution recommendations of most consumers. This way an attack on the databases will allow widespread forgery. Public-key authentication, conversely, stops this sort of repudiation; every single individual offers single obligation regarding safeguarding his / her individual crucial. This particular residence associated with public-key authentic ation is frequently named non-repudiation. A problem with using public-key cryptography pertaining to encryption is actually rate: youll find well-liked secret-key encryption techniques which are drastically more quickly as compared to any kind of available today public-key file encryption strategy. On the other hand, public-key cryptography works extremely well using secret-key cryptography for the greatest involving all possible. For encryption, the very best option would be to combine public- and secret-key methods to achieve the two security benefits of public-key programs and the velocity benefits of secret-key systems. Your public-key technique may be used to defend the key which is used to ensure the bulk of personal files or even communication. Such a process is known as digital camera envelope.. Public-key cryptography may be susceptible to impersonation, nevertheless, even though users exclusive recommendations usually are not obtainable. A successful invasion with a qualifications specialist enables an adversary in order to impersonate anyone the particular adversary selects to by using a public-key qualification from your jeopardized expert to situation an integral in the adversarys option to the category of yet another person. In several conditions, public-key cryptography is not required along with secret-key cryptography on its own is risk. This consists of situations where protected secret-key arrangement may take spot, for example through consumers conference within an individual. It also includes conditions in which a one expert understands and also manages all of the recommendations. As an example, a new closed financial program. Since the management knows everybodys keys already, theres not a lot advantages for it to get public. Furthermore, in public-key cryptography it is normally not needed in single-user surroundings. For instance, if you want to keep the data protected, you can do so with any kind of secret-key file encryption algorithm employing, declare, your individual security password because magic formula essential. Generally, public-key cryptography is best suited with an available multi-user natural environment. Public-key cryptography just isnt meant to exchange secret-key cryptography, but instead to be able to dietary supplement the idea, to restore safer. The initial way of using public-key methods ended up being for risk-free crucial exchange, in the otherwise secret-key system, which is nonetheless among its major capabilities. Secret-key cryptography remains vitally important and is also the subject of a lot continuing review as well as investigation. A few secret-key cryptosystems are usually discussed inside the areas about prevent ciphers along with flow ciphers.