Computer Networks And Internet Protocol Television Essay Example for Free

Computer Networks And Internet Protocol Television Essay The advent of computer has changed the way the world moves. Distance factor is no longer a problem. The physical might appear a big place with things at far off places but the world in virtual form doesn’t believe in distance. Everything can be achieved within minutes if not seconds. The whole technology behind this mega change is based on computer and is termed as Information Technology. This technology has led to the creation of a cyber world or electronically generated world with the help of computers connected to each other through suitable wires. Now words like cybercafe, cyber chat, cyberspace, cyber shopping, etc. have started making rounds. People can send electronic mails to far off places within seconds. Details and information are getting transferred within few seconds. People in Shanghai and New York are just seconds away. Transferring data in electronic form is actually the fastest way to transfer things. It’s not only the message transfer that has been revolutionized but also the business world. There are virtual shopping malls with website offering you a range of products ranging from computer peripherals to groceries. Companies are now providing details of their product through their website and are accepting customers’ requests of information and now even orders for products are being accepted. Everything is available. Money transfer can easily be done through wire transfer techniques. People do not wait. This world is not ruled by armed soldiers or any nuclear weapon. It’s the information which rules. The physical world just has to react on the outcome. Its role is just for receiving and sending. This high performing virtual world has made significant change in the performance of the actual world (Tanenbaum, 2003). Things in real world are now easier to comprehend. Outsourcing has helped in accessing low cost labor in far off Asian nations like India and China. Multinational companies like Microsoft, IBM, GM. , GE etc. have offices in almost in each part of the world with performance of each of these units can be monitored from any of its offices. Their offices have been networked though LANs i. e. , Local Area Network and WANs i. e. , Wide Area Network. They have virtually made themselves available to their customers any time anywhere and just a click away (Tanenbaum, 2003). 2. Computer System Network of computers A computer system and network of computers are actually two different but interrelated things. A computer system is just a normal computer including peripherals and software necessary for the functioning of the device (Webopedia). But if we talk of Computer Network, it can be defined in a very simple way as a network of computers (Princeton). But giving full importance to all factors getting into act when we talk about network, the definition which actually makes complete sense is none other than the two or more computers connected together to share hardware, software and data and has been implemented according to some topology (Tanenbaum, 2003). The network can have all peripherals located within an office or building. This arrangement is often termed as Local Area Network or LAN (Tech, 2006). If the same is achieved in a wide area i. e. , computers connected to the network are located at places as diverse as countries in different continents, we can call the same as Wide Area Network or WAN (Cisco, 2006). Calling all computers and other intelligent parts of it as nodes, the term network topology can be defined as patterns of links connecting a pair of nodes of a network. 3. Internet Protocol IPTV Technology related television services which include uplink and transmission has seen some of very revolutionary inventions of modern science. The television delivery system has now moved from terrestrial transmission through analog signals to encrypted digital signals through internet as well as IPTV (Anderson, 2006). The entertainment world through television is now very much eager to move from TV being delivered through cable to Internet Protocol Television with content being viewed through technologies used for computer networks (Lu, 2006). The last decade of the 20th century witnessed the massive growth in Internet Protocol based services. Now with the fast development of hardware and software technologies, this internet world has now developed to accommodate services like VoIP and many other telecom products (Wikipedia, 2007). It is a system which delivers digital television services to registered subscribers in a managed network with address based technology. The unique IP address of a subscriber provides him a virtual address over a network and creates a connection between the service provider and the television (Wikipedia, 2007). 4. Television through IPTV: a new experience IPTV is going to give the most electrifying experience to its subscribers. It’s not just seamless TV viewing but also more interactive and personalized. Things like participation in a game show or any discussion board will only require the use of the remote while sitting on the couch. Now the user will not feel being bombarded with a long list of channels rather get a very creative option to receive them with a much richer experience (International Engineering Consortium, 2007). The two-way signal broadcasting system through the network over which IPTV depends, allows the viewers to make selection that too on demand with time shift option. The additional services which can also be incorporated with IPTV are the Web Browsing i. e. surfing the internet, gaming with a game console with the current system and finally the communication applications which can enable email, MMS, Chat, etc (Telecom Italia, 2006). Figure 1 (IPTV delivery Infrastructure) The Set-Top Box which has made this IPTV happen which at one end is connected to the TV set while the other end to an ADSL connection can easily be made to supply Broadcast TV services (BTV) as well as Video On Demand (VOD) services. This BTV facilitates the simultaneous reception by the users of a traditional TV channel. And using multicasting protocols IPTV can make available services which are similar to experiences of a traditional TV like Free-to-air or Pay TV or a Pay-Per-view service (Luarel Networks). The same IPTV can be used by service providers to provide the VOD service which is made available on request. The VOD service requires implementation through IP unicast protocols (Ericsson, 2006). The enhanced IPTV can also make Personal Video Recorder (PVR) services available. The local PVR makes way for video-recording on the STB hard-disk with another set of functions for live, pause and replay. Similarly the Network-based PVR stores the data on the operator’s server which is generally used for VOD (International Engineering Consortium, 2007). On technological point, the IPTV makes way for better utilization of available infrastructure like the bandwidth. Traditional transmission technology actually sends more than hundred channels simultaneously while the IPTV requires just one channel to be sent to the subscriber at a time. Every time the user selects a channel or a program, a new streaming takes place with data related to the newly selected channel (Anderson, 2006). 5. IPTV: More Advantages, More services More Business The IPTV will lead to a very new level of interactivity among Internet and data mainly as voice and video. A cable based TV network beams data in form of video mostly in MPEG format through an explicit bandwidth portion while the internet which enables high speed data transfer works on an IP based network and the data transfer is based on packets rather than streams. Both the technologies are technically very different. This IPTV is an amalgam of both the successful technologies. Being a data-centric application, the packets over this network can deliver both video as well as data (International Engineering Consortium, 2007). Figure 2: Telecommunications IPTV system solution The traditional cable network is often overloaded with more than 100 channels being transmitted simultaneously. So there is a limitation of maximum number of channels that can be made available to the subscriber. IPTV has a very clear advantage (Times News Network, 2006). Theoretically this technology can make almost infinite number of channels at the customer’s disposal. The transmission line actually transmitted a single channel which has been demanded by the customer. So the infrastructure usage per customer is negligible while opening a new era of almost every channel on the planet being made available to the user. The IP technology being a packet based product requires an acknowledgement to be sent to the source for every packet. This ensures that every packet sent by the source should remain intact and any loss of data will require resending of the same packet. This feature ensures very high quality of the product which the subscriber will receive (Anderson, 2006). The advantages associated to IPTV is not just conventional entertainment and advertisement based business but the technology can have its usage in developing new products which can make way to many other forms of businesses. The web based training is one of the many other possibilities. The IPTV network can be used to run different courses by making the videos of the classes available to the registered students (International Engineering Consortium, 2007). IPTV is the next big thing after telecom and internet. The business possibilities associated with this technology is almost as broad as the human thought. Almost all telecom companies are putting big money in exploration and marketing of this product (Blau, 2005). The business network and the corporate LAN’s may be greatest beneficiary with the delivery of videos and television content. The customized content delivery and the extremely secure network will reduce the theft cases to negligible. Customization facility will help the advertisers to understand the behavior of consumers and then will go for personalized ads that will translate into significant business returns (Iyer, 2005). 6. Conclusion The IPTV is going to be the next big thing in communication and media industry. With money pouring inform all big telecom companies IPTV is going to be a very serious business with entertainment becoming more and more customizable. The subscriber will experience a very different medium of entertainment with highest level of interactivity and almost innumerable possible services that too very much on his own wishes. 7. Bibliography Anderson, N. (2006) An introduction to IPTV. Available from http://arstechnica. com/guides/other/iptv. ars [Accessed 10 October 2007] Blau, J. (2005) Internet TV: Still Fuzzy, but Promising. IDG News ServiceAvailable from http://www. pcworld. com/news/article/0,aid,122138,00. asp [Accessed 10 October 2007] Cisco Systems, 2006. Wide Area Network. http://www. cisco. com/univercd/cc/td/doc/cisintwk/ito_doc/introwan. htm [Accessed 10 October 2007]

Effects Of Noise In A Data Communication

Effects Of Noise In A Data Communication This report will look into different types of noise that are associated with Unshielded Twisted Pair and Radio Waves. The noise that affects these transmission mediums such as thermal noise, crosstalk, multipath interference, intermodulation noise and impulse noise will be explored and the damages that it can cause to data being transmitted will be explained. I will also discuss the different modulation techniques and technologies that can be used to try and reduce the effect of the noise and reduce the risk of data loss through transmission. Introduction In 1962 Computer Scientist Joseph Carl Robnett Licklider developed ARPANET, which connected 4 computers across America; these computers were located in University of California Los Angeles, Stanford Research Institute, University of California Santa Barbra and the University of Utah. This network was designed for the purpose of sharing sensitive military data between different locations securely. However the first attempt at sending data over the network was not successful, as the UCLA computer crashed as they attempted to log into the computer at Stanford [1]. The result of these connection problems was the creation of TCP/IP and since then networks have grown in size and data rates and transmission mediums have evolved and new technology has been introduced, Noise has also started to play a part in how networks are built, as specific techniques can be put in place to try and reduce noise. Guided Media In a communication system using guided media, the signal is sent in the form of electromagnetic waves along a physical path. This physical path is what guides the signal, and can come in the form of 4 main media types, Unshielded Twisted Pair; Shielded twisted Pair, Coaxial or Fibre-Optic cables. However each of these mediums has several different standards of cables associated with them. This report will cover Unshielded Twisted Pair and the noise that can affect it. UTP UTP first originated in the 1970s, it consists of 8 insulated copper wires, each of these copper wires has a diameter of 0.4mm to 0.8mm, and these copper wires are twisted together into pairs, so there ends up being 4 pairs of 2 wires, then all 4 pairs are wrapped in a protective plastic sheath. However UTP is susceptible to several different types of noise that can lead to signal impairment and even cause the loss of data. UTP uses Manchester Encoding UTP Noise When a data transmission is received, the received signal is often modified from the original signal that was transmitted; this modification is caused by noise. Noise is defined as additional unwanted signals that are inserted somewhere between transmission and reception [2]. There are 4 different types of noise that will be researched; these are Thermal Noise, Cross talk, and Intermodulation Noise. These sources of noise can be placed into one of two categories, internal noise or external noise. Internal Noise is caused by the used of electrical components found in all communication systems. This internal noise could be produced by changes in current or imperfections on conducting materials. External Noise can be caused by different factors, such as lighting storms, or the use of large electrical machinery. [3] Thermal Noise Thermal Noise also known as Johnston or white noise was first observed in 1926 by John B. Johnston in Bell Labs. Thermal Noise is caused by electrons that become agitated at any temperature above 0, at this stage they begin to move in random patterns and bounce off other electrons, however in theory it could be stopped completely if all the components were kept at a temperature of absolute zero which is 0 Kelvin or -273.15 °C as this would mean that all the electrons would move at their slowest meaning thermal noise would be as good as eliminated, however to try and achieve absolute zero and maintain it would be extremely difficult . [4] Thermal noise is found across all the bandwidths typically used in a communication system and currently there is no practical way to completely eliminate it, however you can use different types of modulation to lower the frequency of the signal which in turn will lower the thermal noise, so for example if you had an Ethernet system and used PAM-5 modulation which has a frequency of 125MHz and this would give you a thermal noise value of 4.801510-13 WHz-1 at room temperature, where as if MLT-3 was used, you would end up with a thermal value of 1.20037510-13WHz-1 under the same temperature conditions. [5] To work this out the equation Pn= k . T. Δ f was used, where k is Boltzmans constant, T is the temperature plus 273, in this case 18 degrees plus 273 which ends up as 291 for T, and Δ f is the frequency of 125106 Hz for PAM-5 and 31.25106 Hz for MLT-3. Cross Talk Cross talk is caused by the coupling of the copper cables magnetic and electric fields, which causes some of the signal to become lost or distorted. There are two main types of cross talk, NeXT (Near End Cross Talk) and FeXT (Far End Cross Talk), NeXT is when the coupling of magnetic and electric fields occurs near the source of the signal and FeXT is when it occurs near the receiver end. To try and prevent cross talk in UTP cables, the copper cables are twisted into pairs, the number of twists per foot/meter is defined as the twist ratio, so a cable with a higher twist ratio will be more efficient eliminating cross talk, as the twisting of the copper wires makes it harder for the coupling of cables as the loop area between the wires is reduced. However if you have a cable with a high twist ratio that means that you will be using more copper cable and the signal will have to travel a further distance to the receiver, meaning attenuation could become a factor. [6] Intermodulation Noise Intermodulation noise may be present in any communications system that sends signals at different frequencies across the same medium. Intermodulation noise produces signals that are the difference, sum or multiple of the two original frequencies. Intermodulation noise is caused by the transmission medium, transmitter and receiver not being linear systems, meaning that instead of the output matching the input, the output is different from the input. It can be caused by signal strength being too excessive for the device to handle or a problem with one of the components. An example of intermodulation Noise would be if there were two signals, 10Hz and 15Hz sharing the same transmission medium and there was intermodulation noise present, these two signals could become one signal at 35Hz. This would mean that not only have the two original signals been disrupted it could potentially disrupt a third signal if there was another 35Hz signal sent out on the medium. To overcome intermodulation noise, you can use Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing, which is explained more in the multipath interference section under unguided media. [2] Unguided Media When using Unguided Media in a communications system, the signal is sent through the air via an antenna in the form of electromagnetic waves, these waves have no specific path to follow. Unguided media used for several different communications systems like wireless, Bluetooth, infrared and satellite. Each of these systems use different types of unguided media for example satellite uses microwaves, but this report will focus on wireless and the noise that can affect the radio waves wireless uses. Wireless The first radio waves were sent by Guglielmo Marconi in Italy in 1895 and in 1899 he sent the first wireless radio signal across the English Channel [7]. Wireless works by an Omni directional antenna sending out a broadcast of radio waves, these radio waves are sent at a specific frequency depending on which standard they comply to, for example if the standard being used is 802.11n then they will be sent at 2.4GHz or 5GHz. Wireless Noise Wireless can be affected by many different things. This is because radio waves travel through air meaning it can be affected by different types of weather, like rain or snow causing scattering, or obstacles such as trees or buildings causing reflections. However it can also be affected by other devices transmitting at the same frequency causing signal loss. Multi Path Interference Multi Path interference is where a receiver receives multiple copies of the same signal, at delayed times, this mainly affects radio, as satellite or microwaves generally are line of sight so there would be no obstacles present for reflection to take place. However with radio waves it is caused by the antenna sending out broadcast signals, and these signals are then reflected between obstacles, and if these reflections arrive at the receiver it means that it will end up with several different copies of the same signal arriving at varying times, and depending on the different path lengths of the original direct signal and the reflected signals it could create a larger or smaller signal that is eventually received. Multipath Interference can cause a number of problems like data corruption, which occurs if there receiver picks up multiple different reflected signals and is unable to determine the transmission information, it can also cause signal nulling, where the reflected signals are received exactly out of phase with the original signal causing the original signal to be cancelled out. Not only can it cause data loss it can change the amplitude of the signal up or down, so if the reflected signals arrive out of phase with the original signal it will cause a drop in the signal amplitude but if they arrive in phase with the main signal the amplitude will increase. To try and reduce multipath interference a diversity solution can be used. This works by using two antennas with the same gain, that are separated from one another but within the range of the same transmitter, this means that one of the antenna receive most of the multipath interference allowing the other antenna to receive a normal signal. [8] Another way to reduce Multi Path Interference is to modulate the signal with Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing, OFDM works by splitting the signal up into 48 subcarrier signals. These 48 channels each carry a different portion of the data being sent and transmit them in parallel channels. [9] These subcarrier signals are modulated with BPSK, QPSK, 16-QAM or 64 QAM, and they have a convolution code rate of  ½, 2/3 or  ¾. The data rate of the signals is determined by the modulation used and the convolution code rate. Also there is 0.3125MHz frequency spacing between each of the subcarriers. [10] [11] OFDM also has a guard interval which means that any data arriving at the receiver will only be sampled once the signal has become stable and no more reflected signals are picked up that would cause changes to the phase or timing of the signal. Also because each subcarrier is on a different frequency any interference caused by reflected signals only affects a small percentage of the subcarriers meaning that the rest are received correctly. [9] Impulse Noise Impulse Noise is an unpredictable problem. It consists of short spikes of high amplitude or short irregular pulses, these spikes and pulses are generated from a variety of different unpredictable causes usually however they relate to some sort of electromagnetic instability for example a lighting storm or any faults present in the communications devices. Impulse noise generally affects digital signals worse than it does analogue signals, for example if voice data was sent as an analogue signal and there was occurrences of impulse noise, the voice data would still be understandable as the impulse noise would create short crackles in the data, however with a digital signal the result of impulse noise could mean that all the bits sent through the duration of the impulse noise could be lost, it can however be recovered by sampling the received digital waveform once per bit time, but it can still result in a few bits being in error. As impulse noise is unpredictable, there is no way to el iminate it, however to reduce the effects of it, Coded OFDM can be used, this is very similar to OFDM, in the way that it splits the signal into multiple subcarriers, however Coded OFDM also has forward error correction that is included with the data. Because this error correction is included with the data it means that any data lost by impulse noise can be corrected at the receiver. [12] Conclusion After researching different types of noise and how it effects data communications, it became clear that it is a factor present in all systems and cannot be completely eradicated, as it can be caused by several different external sources made my man and internal sources caused by the data communication equipment. However, different strategies, techniques and error correction systems have enabled us to limit the effect that noise can have on a system and this has enabled technology to advance, meaning the chance of losing any crucial data due to the effects of noise is sufficiently lower now that what it was years ago. Reflection Throughout this report I have gained a better grasp of different aspects of data communications, for example, noise is present in all systems as any electronic device creates noise through the movement of electrons, imperfections in conductive surfaces and fluctuations of current. I also increased my knowledge of different types of modulation, and how they work regarding changing the frequencies or sending additional data to help with error correction. I have also gained knowledge on how noise can be caused by different types of weather and how they can affect the electromagnetic field and cause detrimental effects on data communication systems. Not only did this report help me gain more knowledge on data communications, it also increased my knowledge on different aspects of physics, and how closely the two subjects are connected. I feel I completed this report to a reasonably high standard and found plenty of information available on the subject, however understanding this information was more difficult than expected as maths features highly in several of the sources I found, however this did not put me off, it simply lead me to try and comprehend the more complex maths side of the topic. Once I had completed the report I had to try and remove some parts as I had overshot the word count, this proved difficult as I felt I would be missing parts out if I removed some. Overall I would say I learned a great deal more about the complexity of noise and data communication systems.

The effectiveness of the Non Native Speaking Teacher Essay -- Language

Introduction With the number of English users around the word reaching a probable 2 billion (Crystal 2003), it can be confidently stated that the English language has achieved the status of the world’s lingua franca (Wardhaugh, 2006). The increase in the use of the language has led to an increase in the demand for English language courses (Nunan 2003). Therefore, this has also led to an increase in the demand for English language teachers. These teachers can be both Native Speaking Teachers (NST) and Non-Native Speaking Teachers (NNST). This essay will set out to evaluate the effectiveness of the NNST on learner acquisition of the target language. In this essay, the NNST will be used to refer to someone for whom English is not their language first language, but is a second or foreign language. Also, the target language referred to in this essay, is the English language. Another important point is that it will be necessary to support the arguments by comparing the NNST and NST. This essay w ill suggest that the NNST is as good as the NST when teaching the ESL class is monolingual Model (Learner vs. Language) Many people think that NSTs are the best model since they speak the language naturally (Sahin 2005). According to Rampton (1996), NSTs who do not possess teaching qualifications are more likely to be hired than NNST who are both as qualified and experienced teachers of English as a Foreign Language (EFL). Even students may generally look for NSTs because of their natural fluency. However, it might be argued that speaking a language and teaching a language are two separate issues. Medgyes (1999) draws a distinction between language model and learner model. He argues that NST are better language models, as learners may want to ... ...Oxford University Press. Rampton, M. B. H. (1996). Displacing the "native speaker": Expertise, affiliation, and inheritance. In T. Hedge & N. Whitney (Eds.), "Power, pedagogy & practice" (pp. 9-22). Oxford: Oxford University Press. R. Terrance R. Boak and Rodney C. Conklin. The Effect of Teachers' Levels of Interpersonal Skills on Junior High School Students' Achievement and Anxiety American Educational Research Journal. Vol. 12, No. 4 (Autumn, 1975), pp. 537-543 Sahin, Ismet (2005). The effect of Native speaker Teachers of English on the Attitudes and Achievement of Learners. Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies, Vol.1, No.1 Senel, M (2006). Suggestions for Beautifying the Pronunciation of EFL Learners in Turkey. Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies, Vol.2, No.1 Wardhaugh, Ronald (2006). An introduction to sociolinguistics. Wiley-Blackwel

Essay --

In the course of years of stock market study, two quite distinct schools of thought have arisen, two radically different methods of arriving at the answers to the trader’s problem of what and when. In the street jargon, one of these is commonly referred to as the fundamental analysis or statistical, and the other as the technical. The term technical in its application to the stock market has come to have a special meaning. It refers to the study of the action of the market itself as opposed to the study of goods in which the market deals. Technical analysis is the science of recording, usually in graphic form, the actual history of trading (price changes, volumes, and transactions, etc) in a certain stock or in â€Å"the averages† and then deducing from that pictured history the probable future trend. According to Park and Irwin (2007) recent studies indicate that technical trading strategies consistently produce economic profits in a range of speculative markets at lea st until the early 1990s. From a total of 95 recent studies, 56 studies find positive results regarding technical trading strategies, 20 studies obtained negative results, and 19 studies indicate mixed results. In pioneering work, Smidt (1965b) studies amateur traders in US commodity futures markets and finds that more than half of the respondents use charts exclusively or moderately in order to identify trends. Charts are working tools of the technical analyst, and they have been developed in a multitude of forms and styles to represent graphically almost anything that takes place in the market as well as to plot â€Å"index† derived thereform. From a more recent study, Billingsley and Chance (1996) found that about 60% of commodity trading advisors (CTAs) rely heavily or e... ...market quotation already contains in itself all that can be known about the future and in that sense has discounted future contingencies as much as is humanly possible.† There are also negative empirical findings in numerous pioneer and widely cited studies of technical analysis in the stock market, such as Fama and Blume (1966), Jensen and Benington (1970), and Van Horne and Parker (1967, 1968). Sullivan et al (1999, 2003) and Olson (2004) are among recent studies that have shown that technical trading rules do generate positive economic profits before the 1990s, but the profits are declining markedly or are disappearing altogether as time passes and globalization occurs. Such results may be explained by temporary market inefficiencies in periods before the 1990s. According to Park and Irwin, 2007, there are two possible explanations for the temporary inefficiencies Essay -- In the course of years of stock market study, two quite distinct schools of thought have arisen, two radically different methods of arriving at the answers to the trader’s problem of what and when. In the street jargon, one of these is commonly referred to as the fundamental analysis or statistical, and the other as the technical. The term technical in its application to the stock market has come to have a special meaning. It refers to the study of the action of the market itself as opposed to the study of goods in which the market deals. Technical analysis is the science of recording, usually in graphic form, the actual history of trading (price changes, volumes, and transactions, etc) in a certain stock or in â€Å"the averages† and then deducing from that pictured history the probable future trend. According to Park and Irwin (2007) recent studies indicate that technical trading strategies consistently produce economic profits in a range of speculative markets at lea st until the early 1990s. From a total of 95 recent studies, 56 studies find positive results regarding technical trading strategies, 20 studies obtained negative results, and 19 studies indicate mixed results. In pioneering work, Smidt (1965b) studies amateur traders in US commodity futures markets and finds that more than half of the respondents use charts exclusively or moderately in order to identify trends. Charts are working tools of the technical analyst, and they have been developed in a multitude of forms and styles to represent graphically almost anything that takes place in the market as well as to plot â€Å"index† derived thereform. From a more recent study, Billingsley and Chance (1996) found that about 60% of commodity trading advisors (CTAs) rely heavily or e... ...market quotation already contains in itself all that can be known about the future and in that sense has discounted future contingencies as much as is humanly possible.† There are also negative empirical findings in numerous pioneer and widely cited studies of technical analysis in the stock market, such as Fama and Blume (1966), Jensen and Benington (1970), and Van Horne and Parker (1967, 1968). Sullivan et al (1999, 2003) and Olson (2004) are among recent studies that have shown that technical trading rules do generate positive economic profits before the 1990s, but the profits are declining markedly or are disappearing altogether as time passes and globalization occurs. Such results may be explained by temporary market inefficiencies in periods before the 1990s. According to Park and Irwin, 2007, there are two possible explanations for the temporary inefficiencies

Pay-For-Performance and Productive Workforces Essay -- business, compe

The company did not truly have a pay-for-performance process. In fact, what it did have was a pay-for-profitability process, commonly known as a profit sharing program. There is a substantial difference between pay-for-performance and profit sharing, both in terms of how the process is structured and how the payouts are determined. Profit sharing is a program based quite simply on how much profit the company makes, regardless of performance. In certain times, a company may not perform very well yet still make a profit. For example, on organization may incur large expenses, have inefficient use of resources and incomplete accounting of internal asset allocation. However, it may also have huge sales volumes, little competition and an enviable and desirable product. It is virtually successful in spite of itself. Can that actually occur? Examples abound: Circuit City, AOL, Xerox and so on. All quite successful companies, initially, but almost destined for problematic existence as a re sult of growth that occurred too fast too soon. They did not perform very well, yet were able to generate considerable profitability. A pay-for-performance program, on the other hand, is designed to reward measurable performance against certain standards. It is created by establishing measurable goals and objectives, assigning individuals to the goals with time bound periods of measurement and finally an evaluation of that individuals’ performance against those goals. The company may make a profit, but if the employee does not meet or exceed their performance goals, they may not receive any reward, or what is commonly viewed as a raise or bonus. True pay-for-performance does not just take profitability into account, unless generating profit was t... ... their office.(Robbins& Judges,2007) The benefits of telecommuting reduces absenteeism and tardiness. In addition, it also contributes to the green initiative by cutting down the amount of pollutants from motor vehicle travel. According to recent estimates indicate that between 9 million and 24 million people telecommute in the United States (Kurland & Bailey, 1999). Fortune 500 companies such as AT &T, IBM, and Merrill Lynch are just a few. In conclusion, if Sean Neal utilized the options listed, he could create a more productive workforce through incentives without affecting the company’s bottom line. In addition, Mr. Neal could boost morale which would create a more experienced work force through longevity of employment. By having an experience workforce Mr. Neal should see a significant increase in production and profit over a short period of time.

Lab †Risk Essay

Name and Number: CIS 333 LAB#6 Instructor Name: Professor West Lab Due Date: 19 May 2013 1. What is the difference between a risk analysis (RA) and a business impact analysis (BIA)? Risk analysis is often identifying the potential threats and the associated vulnerabilities to the organizations . Risk analysis doesn’t view the organization from the mission critical Business Process point of view. More over BIA perceives the organization from the impact that is going to occur for an organization if the critical business processes are interrupted or tampered What is the difference between a Disaster Recovery Plan and a Business Continuity Plan? Disaster recovery is the older of the 2 functions. DR planning is an essential part of business planning that – too often – gets neglected. Part of this has to do with the fact that making a Disaster Recovery plan requires a lot of time and attention from busy managers and executives from every functional department within the company. Business continuity is a newer term which was first popularized as a response to the Y2K bug. In order to stop your company from bleeding money in these situations, you need a plan that will allow the organization to continue generating revenue and providing services – although possibly with lower quality – on a temporary basis until the company has regained its bearings. 3. Typically, a business continuity plan is also a compilation or collection of other plans. What other plans might a BCP and all supporting documents include? Technical backup Plan: How can you recover smoothly from technical glitches. Communications Plan: What communication will facilitate this recovery. Why is it important to have detailed backup and recovery steps within your disaster recovery plan (DRP)? 5. What is the purpose of a risk analysis? What is the purpose of a business impact analysis? Why are these an important first step in defining a BCP and DRP? The purpose of a Business Impact and Risk Assessment is to determine the approximate business value of IT assets, to assess the impact the loss of those assets would have on business units, and to assign recovery priorities to the assets. 6. How does risk analysis (RA) relate to a business impact analysis for an organization? The purpose of a Business Impact and Risk Assessment is to determine the approximate business value of IT assets, to assess the impact the loss of those assets would have on business units, and to assign recovery priorities to the assets. 7. Given the list of identified mission critical business functions and processed, what kind of company would you say this organization is, and what do you think are its most important business processes and functions? It Company; Risk Analysis & Disaster Recovery Plan to get the business up and running on the web 8. Given the prioritization list provided for the organizations identified business functions and processes, write an assessment of how this prioritization will impact the need for IT systems, applications, and data access? Recovery strategies should be developed for Information technology (IT) systems, applications and data. This includes networks, servers, desktops, laptops, wireless devices, data and connectivity. Priorities for IT recovery should be consistent with the priorities for recovery of business functions and processes that were developed during the business impact analysis. IT resources required to support time-sensitive business functions and processes should also be identified. The recovery time for an IT resource should match the recovery time objective for the business function or process that depends on the IT resource. Information technology systems require hardware, software, data and connectivity. Without one component of the â€Å"system,† the system may not run. Therefore, recovery strategies should be developed to anticipate the loss of one or more of the following system components: * Computer room environment (secure computer room with climate control, conditioned and backup power supply, etc.) * Hardware (networks, servers, desktop and laptop computers, wireless devices and peripherals) * Connectivity to a service provider (fiber, cable, wireless, etc. ) * Software applications (electronic data interchange, electronic mail, enterprise resource management, office productivity, etc. ) * Data and restoration Some business applications cannot tolerate any downtime. They utilize dual data centers capable of handling all data processing needs, which run in parallel with data mirrored or synchronized between the two centers. This is a very expensive solution that only larger companies can afford. However, there are other solutions available for small to medium sized businesses with critical business applications and data to protect. 9. For the top identified business functions and processes, what recovery time objective (RTO) would you recommend for this organization and why? The RTO must match or be shorter than the MTD 10. Why is payroll for employees and Human Resources listed as a co-number 1 business priority? It is listed as a number one because it is highly what runs the office and something very important for these to parts to be correct.

Branches Of Biology Essay

Levels of Organization Why do we need to learn about levels of organization? Helps us to understand how our world fits together Helps us to organize the structures of living systems and how they all work together 1. Organelles – â€Å" little organs† – Small structures inside of a cell that perform a specific function. – Examples include mitochondria, nucleus, and Golgi body 2. Cell- Basic unit of structure & function in life. Cells are the building blocks of all living things. 3. Tissue – A group of the same kind of cells working together for a specific purpose 4. Organs – A part of an organism made up of tissues that do a specific job. 5. Organ Systems – A group of organs that work together for a specific job. 9. Organism – Any living thing. 10. Population -A group of the same organism living together. – This word is often used to describe the size of the group. 11. Community- Several populations living together and interacting in some way. 12. Ecosystem – All the biotic communities plus all abiotic factors. MEANING OF PHILOSOPHY The word philosophy is derived from the Greek words philia (love) and sophia (wisdom) and means â€Å"the love of wisdom.† Pythagoras was said to have been the first man to call himself a philosopher; in fact, the world is indebted to him for the word philosopher. It is said that when Leon, the tyrant of Philius, asked him of who he was, he said, â€Å"a Philosopher† and he likened the Philosopher to spectators at ancient games. Before that time the wise men had called themselves a sage, which was interpreted to mean those who know. Pythagoras was more modest. He coined the word philosopher, which he defined as one who is attempting to find out. According to him, men and women of the world could be classified into 3 groups: (1. those that love pleasure) (2. those that love activity) and (3. those that love wisdom.) MEANING OF PHILOSOPHY. Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is the rational attempt to formulate, understand, and answer fundamental questions. NATURE OF PHILOSOPHY 1. Philosophy is a set of views or beliefs about life and the universe, which are often held uncritically. We refer to this meaning as the informal sense of philosophy or â€Å"having† a philosophy. Usually when a person says â€Å"my philosophy is,† he or she is referring to an informal personal attitude to whatever topic is being discussed. 2. Philosophy is a process of reflecting on and criticizing our most deeply held conceptions and beliefs. These two senses of philosophy— â€Å"having† and â€Å"doing†Ã¢â‚¬â€ cannot be treated entirely independent of each other, for if we did not have a philosophy in the formal, personal sense, then we could not do a philosophy in the critical, reflective sense. Having a philosophy, however, is not sufficient for doing philosophy. 3. Philosophy is a rational attempt to look at the world as a whole. Philosophy seeks to combine the conclusions of the various sciences and human experience into some kind of consi stent world view. Philosophers  wish to see life, not with the specialized slant of the scientist or the businessperson or the artist, but with the overall view of someone cognizant of life as a totality. 4. Philosophy is the logical analysis of language and the clarification of the meaning of words and concepts. . Certainly this is one function of philosophy. In fact, nearly all philosophers have used methods of analysis and have sought to clarify the meaning of terms and the use of language. Some philosophers see this as the main task of philosophy, and a few claim this is the only legitimate function of philosophy. 5. Philosophy is a group of perennial problems that interest people and for which philosophers always have sought answers. Philosophy presses its inquiry into the deepest problems of human existence. Some of the philosophical questions raised in the past have been answered in a manner satisfactory to the majority of philosophers. Many questions, however, have been answered only tentatively, and many problems remain unsolved.   Ã¢â‚¬Å"What is truth?† â€Å"What is the distinction between right and wrong?† What is life and why am I here?   Why is there anything at all? IMPORTANCE OF PHILOSOPHY 1. The study of Philosophy enables us to think carefully and clearly about important issues. 2. In studying Philosophy, we learn to take a step back from our everyday thinking and to explore the deeper, bigger question which underpins our thought. 3. The focus in the study of Philosophy is to learn not what to believe, but how to think. 4. Studying philosophy sharpens your analytical abilities, enabling you to identify and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses in any position. 5. It hones your ability to construct and articulate cogent arguments of your own. 6. It prompts you to work across disciplinary boundaries and to think flexibly and creatively about problems which do not present immediate solutions. 7. Because philosophy is an activity as much a body of knowledge, it also develops your ability to think and work independently. BRANCHES OF PHILOSOPHY Historically, philosophical concerns have been treated under these broad categories: 1. Logic, 2. Metaphysics, 3. Epistemology, 4. Value theory A. LOGIC Logic is the systematic study of the rules for the correct use of these supporting reasons, rules we can use to distinguish  good arguments from bad ones. Most of the great philosophers from Aristotle to the present have been convinced that logic permeates all other branches of philosophy. The ability to test arguments for logical consistency, understand the logical consequences of certain assumptions, and distinguish the kind of evidence a philosopher is using are essential for â€Å"doing† philosophy 12. B. METAPHYSICS Another traditional branch of Philosophy traditionally known as metaphysics. For Aristotle, the term metaphysics meant â€Å"first philosophy,† discussion of the most universal principles; later the term came to mean â€Å"comprehensive thinking about the nature of things.† It means, usually, the study or theory of reality. The question of metaphysics is: what is reality? What is real? Is reality some kind of â€Å"thing†. Is it one or is it many? If it is one, then how is it related to many things around us? Can ultimate reality be grasped by five senses, or is it supernatural or transcendent? Metaphysics undoubtedly is the branch of philosophy that the modern student finds most difficult to grasp. Metaphysics attempts to offer a comprehensive view of all that exists. It is concerned with such problems as the relation of mind to matter, the nature of change, the meaning of â€Å"freedom,† the existence of God, and the belief in personal immortality. 13. C. EPISTEMOLOGY The technical term for the theory of knowledge is epistemology, which comes from the Greek word episteme, meaning â€Å"knowledge.† In general, epistemology is the branch of philosophy that studies the sources, nature, and validity of knowledge. ï‚â€" There are three central questions in this field: ï‚â€" (1) What are the sources of knowledge? Where does genuine knowledge come from or how do we know? This is the question of origins. ï‚â€" (2) What is the nature of knowledge? Is there a real world outside the mind, and if so can we know it? D. VALUE THEORY Value theory is the branch of philosophy that studies values. It can be subdivided into ethics, aesthetics, and social and political philosophy. In broad terms ethics concerns itself with the question of morality. What is right and what is wrong in human relations? Within morality and ethics there are three major areas: descriptive ethics, normative ethics, and metaethics. Descriptive ethics seeks to identify moral experience in a descriptive way.  We seek to identify, within the range of human conduct, the motives, desires, and intentions as well as overt acts themselves.